Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Winning

Mother let out a scream-like sound, overwhelmed with joy.

“Jeong-hyeok! Heavens, this······ umph!”

“Mom, be quiet.”

I covered Mother’s mouth and warned her.

“There are shantytown people outside.”

Mother asked with her eyes, as if asking what the problem was with that.

“Those people, if they find out that there’s a 10-million-won first-prize winning lottery ticket here, how do you think they’ll act?”

Mother tilted her head.

“The forced demolition is right around the corner. Their eyes will turn upside down.”

Only then did Mother’s complexion change.

“I know. That they’re good people. But they’re people who are driven to the edge of a cliff right now. People who have families they need to protect.”

I know well.

How people driven to the edge of a cliff act.

In the back-alley world, it was an extremely common thing.

Even people who usually had good faces turn their eyes upside down when they reach the end.

“It would be fortunate if they don’t come looking with knives at night. At that time, are you confident you can protect this lottery ticket, Mom?”

Mother shook her head.

“So let’s stay quiet until all the people leave. Thinking comes after that. Okay?”

Mother nodded.

Only then did I remove the hand that had been covering her mouth.

“There’s no harm in being careful.”

The light in Mother’s eyes looking at me deepened strangely.

That was when.

Knock knock knock.

“Jeong-hyeok’s mom.”

Mother flinched in surprise and turned around.

Shadows of adults were cast beyond the aluminum sash door fitted with opaque glass.

I quickly put the lottery ticket into Mother’s cardigan pocket.

Before Mom could open the door, the aluminum sash opened with a rattle.

“What’s going on?”

“No, just. I was a bit worried.”

The neighborhood aunties stuck their heads through the door and looked around.

They say they came because they were worried, but with their eyes, they scan for anything valuable.

“It’s not a thief, right?”

“Nothing lost? Like jewelry or a bankbook.”

I’m thankful for the concern, but I had already taken all the valuables long ago.

“Phew, this place is as cold as a cold bone.”

“The landlord grandmother said she couldn’t fix the boiler, right? It doesn’t seem like she’s calling anyone.”

“From what I see, it doesn’t seem like you’ve found a house to move to either.”

“To pay the deposit and monthly rent, you need quite a large sum, right? How much do you have? If it’s Jeong-hyeok’s mom, you should have saved quite a bit selling vegetables.”

“You won’t even have a place to sleep tonight. If it’s really difficult, come to our house. I’ll rent you a room cheaply. Our coal boiler is working great.”

“If it’s the same price, come to our house. I can even prepare breakfast!”

At the suddenly ignited competition among the aunties, Mom couldn’t hide her awkwardness.

Then, the voices of the adult men were heard from the front yard.

It was urging them to go home now.

“We’ll be going now.”

“Jeong-hyeok’s mom, rest well.”

The people who had been gathered in the landlord’s grandmother’s front yard watching the lottery drawing broadcast amicably disappeared in an instant like the tide going out.

“······.”

Mother seemed to have a lot of thoughts.

I held Mother’s hand.

“Mom, let’s move. How about Hyunmu Apartment in Apgujeong?”

“Hyunmu Apartment?”

Because land prices in the Apgujeong commercial district are scheduled to rise vertically soon.

But the look in Mother’s eyes when she looked at me earlier bothered me.

“It comes out a lot on TV. Come to Apgujeong~♬ Hyunmu Apartment is good~♬”

So I deliberately sang the CM song in a childlike way.

Mother smiled gently and stroked my head.

“Cheonma Apartment is good too.”

“You’re talking about Cheonma Apartment in Daechi-dong, right?”

“At Cheonma~♬ Good schools~♬ Good academies~♬ New city new apartment~♬”

Because the school district is good.

That means apartment prices won’t fall thanks to parents with high educational zeal.

I tightly clenched both fists with my bracken-like hands and smiled.

“I’ll study hard and go to university.”

After seeing the bankbook Mother made for university tuition.

I wanted to fulfill Mother’s wish.

It was also a regret that I had to give up school because I was busy making a living.

“The best university in our country! How about it?”

“That would be really good.”

Mother stroked my head with a very happy expression.

Mother muttered softly to herself.

“Yes, our Jeong-hyeok also has to enter elementary school soon, and to enter university later······.”

I still haven’t been registered for birth and haven’t been entered into the family register.

“If something happens to me like yesterday, then what should our Jeong-hyeok, who will be left alone, do.”

It was a voice that had solidified her resolve.

So I asked subtly.

“Mom, what’s our Dad’s name?”

The only chaebol family that uses the surname Cha in our country is still only Taeseong Group.

One more thing.

The number I saw in Mother’s notebook was the home phone number of the Taeseong Group chairman.

“Dad’s name is Cha Seong-jun. Cha surname, Seong character, Jun character.”

For the first time, I properly learned the three characters of Dad’s name.

The feeling was strange.

‘Our father was the youngest son of Taeseong Group? The one who was supposed to take over Taeseong Construction?’

Before I thoroughly swept up Taeseong Group stocks in the past.

I scraped up every piece of information there was, from the family genealogy to the group’s internal affairs.

Taeseong Construction was the share of the youngest, Cha Seong-jun.

‘Taeseong Construction grew rapidly from the mid-70s by insanely winning overseas construction orders in the Middle East. That was our father’s doing.’

Father said he couldn’t come because he was laying roads in the Middle East.

It seems it wasn’t a lie.

‘The only thing that bothers me is······.’

Knock knock.

It was the second knock.

“Ahem ahem, if it’s okay, could you come to our house for a moment? Mother is calling you. She says she has something urgent to convey.”

It was a summons from the landlord’s grandmother.

“Kid, have you finished eating? Want to play with Uncle in the meantime?”

Anyway, this guy always messes things up at the important moments.

Naturally, my gaze toward Uncle Cheol-gu sharpened.

But Mother pushed my back.

“Yes, go with Uncle and come back. Mom will talk with the landlord’s grandmother for a bit and come.”

“······Alright.”

I had things I wanted to ask anyway.

I put on the new sneakers Uncle Cheol-gu bought me.

As soon as we arrived in the backyard, Uncle Cheol-gu asked abruptly.

“Kid, what’s going on with this?”

“With what?”

I pretended not to know, but in fact, I had an idea.

“So, how much did you win?”

“Uh, how did you know? Are you a fortune teller by any chance?”

When I deliberately narrowed my eyes and looked, Uncle Cheol-gu scratched the back of his head hard.

“It was a 1-million-won one.”

It was just a lottery ticket with a gold border?

It’s a bigger amount than I thought.

Because the shantytown demolition compensation is only 100,000 won.

So I was able to smile proudly.

“That’s good.”

“How did you buy this? Don’t tell me you knew in advance that this would win······ no, does that make sense? That can’t be. Ha, really······.”

Uncle Cheol-gu let out an empty laugh as if even he thought it was ridiculous.

I shrugged my shoulders.

The uncle held out the winning lottery ticket to me.

“Here. Take this back.”

“Keep it. I gave it to Uncle. Service.”

“Are you really telling me to keep this?”

“Then is a man going to be petty and take back what he gave?”

“That’s······, that is, I’m not the type to rip off a kid······.”

“Use it to help with moving or something.”

Uncle Cheol-gu made a dumbfounded expression.

“Then are you going to not move and keep holding out like this? What if the demolition team barges in when the landlord’s grandmother is alone? She’s old, what if she gets hurt?”

“That absolutely can’t happen!”

“Opposing the demolition is good, holding out is all good. But even when fighting, you have to fight after evacuating your family to a safe place. Moving comes first.”

“Right. I should do that.”

Uncle Cheol-gu nodded obediently.

“Hmm, where should I go. Probably Jongno or Euljiro side······.”

“Go to Gangnam.”

The uncle turned to look at me with round eyes.

“The government is actively pushing Gangnam development. Don’t you know from them relocating government offices and prestigious high schools to Gangnam? Land prices will definitely rise a lot.”

Buy when it’s cheap.

Don’t regret later while hitting the ground.

“Are you really seven years old?”

It just happened that way.

I deliberately changed the subject.

“Uncle, that document from earlier. U-gwang Construction.”

“Hey! I told you to forget that?”

“How are you planning to use that?”

How did you use it that a KCIA agent dies from being tortured by the KCIA?

“The kid doesn’t need to know.”

I engraved the character for endurance in my mind.

‘If you recklessly show off, you won’t avoid a dog’s death, this person. You die exactly like that.’

I saw it clearly with my own eyes!

Uncle, you die from being tortured because of that in a week!

Ha, I can’t tell you this outright.

‘I also owe a life debt for Mother, and King Yama told me to form connections well, so advice to save a life should be fine.’

Kindness with kindness.

Malice with malice.

Because I’m a person who is clear about favors and grudges.

'If that U-gwang Construction document is used properly······.'

It’s bursting with golden light like that.

It’s hard to just pretend not to know.

Good for me, good for Uncle.

A win-win method where everyone benefits came to mind.