Chapter 2 · 8 min

Chapter 2

2. Deposit Confirmed

Was it because they were worried I might change my mind while waiting for approval?

The moment I signed the voluntary resignation form, approvals from my direct superiors came through every ten minutes, as if they'd been waiting for it.

It took exactly one hour to pack my things and leave.

A few coworkers I'd been close with offered to throw me a farewell party, but I didn't have the time for that right now.

The prize money hadn't even hit my account yet, after all.

The Powerball I'd won was basically the American version of the lottery.

The one difference was that, unlike the Korean lottery where even first prize was usually around two billion won at most, the scale of the jackpot was staggering.

On top of that, like Gwak Cheol-yong getting his forty-nine busted twice, this Powerball had gone two drawings without a first-prize winner.

After doubling down twice like that, the jackpot had climbed to 2.3 billion dollars,

and since foreigners could only take the lump-sum option, it was cut in half, but even after taxes that still came to an unbelievable 1.1 trillion won!

I'd never even handled that much money in a game.

But the heart-pounding rush lasted only a moment,

and once my head cooled down, I was completely occupied preparing for the complicated process of claiming the winnings.

1. Plane ticket [∨]

2. U.S. bank account [∨]

3. Hire a tax attorney [ ]

···

The simple checklist had turned into a detailed upgraded version of ‘How to Claim Your Lottery Winnings.’

Plane ticket booked, U.S. account ready··· right, I still need a lawyer.

That was the most important part.

Since I traveled overseas often, I could skip most of the miscellaneous preparations, but taxes were a different story.

Even a rough calculation came out to at least 33%.

If the income was classified incorrectly, close to 50% of my hard-earned money could be ripped away in taxes before it ever reached my hands.

Still, I wasn't too worried.

Powerball drawings happened twice a week.

If you included the lotteries with slightly smaller jackpots, dozens of ordinary people suddenly struck rich every single week.

Naturally, there were law firms dedicated to handling their tax affairs.

And for a very affordable retainer, at that.

I was scheduled to meet the law firm tomorrow.

The location was Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the closest airport to the Texas Lottery headquarters.

***

- Ding-dong.

(Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The current ground temperature in Austin is······. )

The crackling announcement woke me from my sleep.

Outside the window, the jet bridge was already being connected to the plane.

Still half-asleep, I forced myself awake and made my way to the arrivals gate, which was crowded with people waiting to greet visitors from afar.

【Welcome. 】

Among them, an Irish-looking man holding up a carefully handwritten greeting in Korean spotted me and waved with a bright smile.

“Mr. Kim Woo-jin? ”

“Yes, that's me. ”

“Nice to meet you. I'm Reed Sullivan, the lead assigned to this project. ”

“Thank you for the warm welcome. Your Korean is excellent. ”

“You've got to learn everything you can if you want to make a living. ”

He was impressively smooth about it, too.

I wouldn't have minded speaking English, but having someone this fluent in Korean certainly made things easier.

“I've arranged a car to take you to your hotel. Shall we get going first? ”

“Yes, thank you. ”

Once I got into the car Sullivan had arranged, we were finally able to talk in earnest.

“When will I be able to receive the prize money? ”

“Since this is an unprecedented jackpot, we've received firm confirmation from the lottery commission that they'll expedite the relevant procedures as much as possible. At the earliest, you should be able to receive it within three weeks. ”

“And the anonymous claim is guaranteed, right? ”

“Yes. Since you purchased the ticket in Texas, the claim process will be handled privately, without any ceremony. The only people who know you've won Powerball are a few officials from the lottery association and our law firm. ”

“That's a relief. ”

I meant it.

There's a limit to how much money you should show off, after all.

The moment my face appeared plastered all over the news as the winner, it'd be like advertising to the entire world, ‘I'm a golden goblin sitting on trillions of won. ’

Being able to avoid that was another stroke of incredible luck.

“Haha, you're remarkably composed. ”

“Pardon? ”

“Most people get so anxious they bombard us with endless questions. With dark circles hanging all the way down here. ”

Sullivan pointed well below his eyes with one finger and made a comical face.

“I don't know. Maybe it's because the amount is just too large. ”

“The amount doesn't matter. It's all about your mindset. We're relieved too, thanks to you. At least we don't have to worry about reporting for work at the emergency room. Hahaha. ”

I finally understood what that mysterious comment meant exactly three days after arriving at the hotel.

***

“Haah. ”

I'd lost count of how many long sighs had escaped me by now.

My situation wasn't much different from that of a soldier counting down the final days before discharge.

Not that my living conditions were uncomfortable.

I was staying in a pleasant, newly built hotel, after all.

The problem was the endless waiting.

Separate from the lottery commission rushing the paperwork, I needed an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number before the winnings could be deposited into my account.

Commonly known as an ITIN.

And it took four whole weeks for the IRS to issue the damn thing.

Now the only remaining step was for the prize money to be paid out.

I could've returned to Korea in the meantime, but the lottery commission or IRS occasionally requested additional in-person verification, leaving me effectively trapped in Texas.

Going sightseeing here and there once or twice was fine.

But in the end, most of my schedule consisted of sitting around in the lounge café, sipping coffee like this.

Together with Sullivan, whom I'd grown fairly close to by now.

“By the way, Sullivan, don't you have any work these days? ”

“I'm doing it right now. This is a meeting with my client. ”

No.

This bastard was very obviously slacking off.

With the happiest smile in the world on his face.

His excuse was that he was reporting on the progress of my case, but in reality, all he did was show up first thing in the morning and kill time here.

At first, I'd secretly been glad to have someone to talk to.

But Sullivan had been clocking in at my hotel for nearly four weeks now.

It was only natural that I was starting to find him annoying.

“Law firm attorneys in movies and dramas are always running around without even enough time to eat. ”

“Yes. The busy teams are incredibly busy. As you know, lawyers aren't exactly paid all that well. I'm a little better off since my father is the head of the firm. ”

“Then surely you can at least buy the coffee without complaining. ”

“I bought it today. ”

“Because you lost the bet. ”

“Ahem. ”

I knew he had that polished rich-kid air about him.

Of course, getting him to buy me a cup of coffee over some silly bet wasn't a big deal, but for me it had actually been a fairly dangerous gamble.

A massive jackpot would be coming in soon, but for the moment I'd scraped together everything I had just to pay the retainer, so my wallet was in terrible shape.

Fortunately, perhaps the heavens hadn't completely abandoned me, because I kept winning these ridiculous little bets.

“More importantly, no call today? ”

“From Director Park Tae-hwan? ”

- Nod, nod.

“Not yet. He'll probably call soon, though, won't he? ”

- Bzzzz.

Speak of the devil.

The name ‘Asshole’ was displayed prominently on my vibrating phone screen.

I switched it to speakerphone so Sullivan could hear clearly, then answered the call.

“Yes, Kim Woo-jin speaking. ”

(Oh, Manager Kim. You've been doing well, right? )

“Yes, Director. Have you been well too? ”

(Me? I'm dying over here! Ah, nothing gets done at the company without you, Manager Kim! So, about that, have you thought it over? )

“Pardon? Thought what over? ”

(Becoming a permanent employee. I've already finished talking it over with the executive director, so all you have to do is come in and sign! You still couldn't find another job, right? )

“Couldn't? ”

(No, no! That came out wrong. )

“Pfft. ”

“Shh! ”

At the sound of Director Park Tae-hwan panicking, Sullivan nearly burst out laughing.

(Huh? What was that? )

“Nothing. By the way, if I become a permanent employee, what happens to my salary? ”

(Of course we'd raise it! )

“By how much? ”

(Well, first come back to the company and we'll discuss it with HR······. )

There was no reason to hear any more.

‘We'll discuss it with HR’ was about as meaningless as a promise to make me permanent next year.

“Take care. ”

(W-Wait! Then let's say you'll think a little more about becoming permanent. Take care of yourself, all right? You know, I've always really val—······. )

- Click.

It sounded like his pathetic farewell was going to drag on, so I quickly hung up.

“Pfft! That Director Park fellow really is devoted, calling you every single day. Anyway, you've earned today's coffee money, so shall we make the lunch bet somewhere a little nicer? ”

“A cup of coffee is barely thirty thousand won. What restaurant are you talking about? They really weren't kidding when they said rich people are worse. ”

“You can just win again, can't you? ”

- Bzzzz.

While we bickered back and forth, the phone I'd set down vibrated once again.

This notification, however, wasn't from Director Park Tae-hwan.

━━━━━━━━━━━

9:41 ▽ ▮

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▷ Chase

Total Checking

**** 7734

Available balance

$794,395,157.00

┌──────────┐

│ ↙ Deposit posted. │

│ +$794,395,157.00 │

│ Wire transfer · Aug 14 │

└──────────┘

━━━━━━━━━━━━

↗ ▤ ⋯

Transfer Statements More

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It was finally here.

The 790 million dollars I'd been waiting so desperately for, after taxes,

no, 1.1 trillion won!

“Lunch is on me today. ”

“Really? No taking it back later, all right? ”

“Yes. Let's go to the most expensive place we can find. ”

I turned my phone around and showed Sullivan the screen.

“My God! It came in! What are you planning to do with all this money now? ”

“I'm going to buy a hotel in Hawaii. ”

“What? A hotel? ”