TGMC 02

chapter 02

This was unbelievable.

Breaking up like this, all of a sudden?

Was this for real?

The situation was so absurd that a hollow laugh escaped me.

After a brief moment of shock, I turned my head to look at her.

We had dated for over two years.

We were close enough to have met each other’s parents.

We were a couple who’d been talking about marriage—so this sudden breakup felt even more unreal.

Kim Jihyun.

My girlfriend… no, my ex-girlfriend now.

“Hic…”

She lowered her head and began to sob.

Wait—you suddenly drop a breakup bomb on me, and now you’re the one crying?

Shouldn’t the sad one be me right now?

Still, even if it made me look pathetic, I wanted to know why.

I needed a reason.

“Why do you want to break up?”

She hesitated, then finally spoke.

“Being with you doesn’t make my heart race anymore.”

“……”

“I’m not sure anymore if I really love you.”

Not sure?

Every word she spoke stabbed straight into my chest.

Was this what they meant by killing with a single sentence?

Each calm sentence felt like it was tearing my heart to pieces.

I wasn’t ready to accept this breakup at all—but she was already delivering it to me.

I wanted to hold on to her.

But she wouldn’t be held.

Her mind was already made up.

“Won’t you regret it?”

“……No. I’m sorry, oppa.”

“No, it’s fine. If that’s how you feel, what can I do? Thank you… for everything.”

One thing that changed when I entered my thirties—

I became quicker at letting go.

If this had happened years ago, I would’ve cried for days, refusing to accept the breakup, desperately clinging to her.

But now was different.

Breakups had become familiar.

I’d learned to accept them with numb calmness.

Honestly, it was easier that way—less emotional exhaustion.

“Oppa… thank you so much. You always took care of me, bought me so many things… I’ve received so much from you…”

As she spoke, memories from the past two years flashed through my mind.

Now they’d have to be neatly packed away—turned into an album and stored somewhere deep in my head.

“Go home safely. I won’t walk you out.”

“Okay. Take care, oppa. Drive safely.”

She got out of the car and left without looking back even once.

“Ha…”

Watching her retreating figure, I let out a long sigh.

First, an unexpected first-prize lottery win.

Then, immediately after, a sudden breakup.

Everything was happening too fast for me to process.

“Let’s go back first.”

The pants I’d thrown into the laundry basket—

I needed to check if the lottery ticket was still there.

Surprisingly, the breakup didn’t hurt as much as I’d expected.

Somehow, I’d already grown used to partings.

* * *

I hurried out of the parking lot and pressed the elevator button.

The elevator was on the 11th floor.

It was coming down, but painfully slowly.

3rd floor… 2nd… 1st… B1… B2… finally B3.

Ding.

The doors opened and I rushed inside, pressing the 9th floor.

The elevator started moving up again.

The moment it arrived, I dashed out and unlocked my studio apartment door.

“Oh thank god.”

The laundry basket was still sitting right in front of the washing machine.

I dug through the pants I’d worn yesterday.

The lottery ticket was still in the pocket.

I pulled out the crumpled ticket and smoothed it open.

Then I checked the numbers.

〈2, 7, 19, 22, 28, 39〉

The last line—Row E.

I hadn’t made a mistake.

They were identical to the first-prize winning numbers.

Just in case, I scanned the QR code with my phone.

〈Congratulations!〉
Total winnings: ₩2,651,350,734

The number was crystal clear on the screen.

I hadn’t imagined it.

I really had won the lottery.

After income tax and local tax, I’d be left with about 1.8 billion won.

I’d literally become rich overnight.

“……Haha. This isn’t a dream, right?”

A 5,000-won ticket bought on a whim had turned into 1.8 billion won.

If I went to the Nongmin Bank headquarters tomorrow, I’d be able to collect the prize.

All 1.8 billion would be transferred straight into my account.

“What should I even do with this money?”

The joy of winning faded quickly, replaced by worry.

What was I supposed to do with 1.8 billion won?

Should I keep working?

The company I worked for was a solid mid-sized firm.

The pay was decent, but the work-life balance was awful.

Overtime at the drop of a hat, weekend shifts on top of that.

They paid extra, sure—but now that I didn’t need money anymore, was there any reason to keep going?

Should I return to farming?

If I hadn’t broken up with Jihyun so suddenly, I might’ve bought an apartment and kept working.

Even 1.8 billion won would be gone in one shot if I bought a decent apartment in a good school district.

But now, without marriage in the picture—

There was no reason to stay in Seoul.

Quitting my job and returning to my hometown suddenly seemed like a real option.

Atrophic gastritis. Reflux esophagitis.

Add stress-induced hair loss on top of that.

Choosing my health might be the smarter move.

After some thought, I made a call.

The closest person I could talk to about this—

my mom.

[Son, why are you calling at this hour? Weren’t you on a date?]

“Ah… the date. Well…”

My mom’s instincts were sharp.

The moment I hesitated, she caught on.

[Did something happen with Jihyun?]

“Well… we decided to break up.”

I figured she’d find out sooner or later.

So I told her honestly.

[You broke up? Suddenly? Why?]

“She says she’s not excited when she sees me anymore. That she’s not sure if she really loves me.”

[Bullshit.]

“Huh?”

[That’s all bullshit. She just didn’t want to tell you the real reason.]

Mom didn’t mince words.

“Do you think so?”

[You don’t need to worry about her anymore. If you’ve broken up, you’re strangers now. Erase her and find someone better. She’s out there somewhere.]

Haha.

Seeing how casually Mom treated it actually put me at ease.

I’d been worried she’d be shocked since we’d been talking about marriage—but I worried for nothing.

“I’m not thinking about marriage for a while. Oh, by the way… I wanted to ask you something.”

[Again? What now?]

“Mom. What would you think if your son quit his job and moved back to the countryside?”

[You want to return to farming? Why all of a sudden?]

“I just miss you. And I miss the house I grew up in.”

[You don’t remember how scared you were here as a kid? You used to hide under the blanket every night.]

“Haha. Of course I remember.”

When I was little, we lived in the countryside.

My parents and I stayed at my maternal grandmother’s house.

Back then, I hated that place.

At night, I’d hear what sounded like ghosts talking.

At first, I thought I was imagining it—but I wasn’t.

I could clearly hear conversations.

But whenever I went outside, there was no one there.

Just stray dogs or alley cats.

After that, I kept hearing those voices.

Eventually, my family moved to Incheon.

[You know you’ve never gone back to your grandmother’s house since we moved, right?]

I’d visited the two-story house my mom lived in many times—but never the house across the road.

I was scared I’d hear those voices again.

“Anyway, that was a long time ago. What do you think about me returning to farming?”

[Well… these days we’ve got delivery services and internet here too, but what would you even do? I can handle the restaurant on my own.]

“Uh… well…”

[If you come down here thinking you can laze around unemployed, I’ll kick you out immediately. I will not allow you to become a bum.]

Damn it.

I’d been thinking about living off my lottery winnings for a while—

but that idea was shut down instantly.

“What about YouTube? I heard it’s not bad these days.”

[YouTube? What would you even film out here?]

“I can figure that out little by little.”

[What are you really plotting? Do you seriously want to return to farming? Is this because you broke up with Jihyun?]

Mom asked in a worried tone.

I understood her.

No parent would be happy hearing their early-thirties son wanted to quit a good job and move to the countryside.

She probably hoped I’d keep working in Seoul, get married, and build a happy family.

“It’s not like that. I’ll come down soon and explain everything.”

[……Why is my son suddenly doing things he never used to?]

After promising to visit soon, I ended the call.

Then I contacted my team leader and told him I’d be taking a day off tomorrow.

Since I’d already deleted all my SNS profile photos, he probably guessed the reason.

But that was just the surface.

The real reason was to collect my lottery winnings at Nongmin Bank headquarters.

It still didn’t feel real.

Only when I saw 1.8 billion won in my bank account would it truly sink in.

* * *

Long past regular work hours, I drove to the Nongmin Bank headquarters near Seodaemun Station.

As soon as I entered the lobby, a staff member greeted me politely.

“How may I help you?”

“I’m here to collect lottery winnings.”

“First prize?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, right this way.”

Thanks to winning first prize, I was escorted to a VIP room—something I never thought I’d experience in my life.

I handed the staff member my lottery ticket and ID.

After a brief verification, they asked,

“How would you like to receive the winnings?”

“Could you deposit them into my account?”

“Do you have an account with our bank?”

“Yes.”

“Then we’ll process the transfer immediately.”

A short while later—

1.8 billion won was deposited into my account.

Contrary to what I’d read online, no one pressured me to sign up for funds or insurance.

It was surprisingly straightforward.

After receiving the money, I went down to the parking lot and immediately started driving again.

There was exactly one person left I needed to tell—right away.

My mom.

When I arrived in the countryside—

nothing had changed.

The place looked exactly the same as I remembered.

After lunchtime, I walked into the restaurant, now quiet.

Looking at my startled mother, I smiled and said,

“I’m here.”