Chapter 71
71. An Ordinary Monday (3)
2023.07.10.
Is this woman still out of it after waking up from her nap? What nonsense is she spouting about my money?
Not yet aware of how much money Heejin had borrowed from loan sharks and what she was doing with it, her husband asked irritably.
"What. What is it now?"
"Why is this? Why is it like this?"
Heejin mumbled, on the verge of tears.
"How did this happen?"
It was definitely 1.5 billion before she went to sleep?
- Convertible Amount: ₩1,510,200
The number on the monitor, no matter how much she stared at it, had only seven digits. Three '0's had vanished without a trace.
This couldn't be happening. The unit of measurement must have changed.
But it was undeniable reality. The Coin Graph, which appeared instantly with a single click, had plummeted off a cliff in the five hours Heejin hadn't been watching.
Heejin logged into the coin community she had joined. Posts were constantly being uploaded to the information room for 'KKA368,' the coin Heejin had bet everything on.
It's been announced that KKA368 company is going bankrupt. Withdraw your coins quickly. You need to withdraw now to preserve your principal!
Oh. Still, I'm glad I found out early and recovered my initial investment. Thank you.
They still have a conscience, at least. A company that tells you to escape in advance.
Did everyone cut their losses? Surely, no one is investing in such a risky coin without managing their information? You have to watch your coins even when you sleep. Always convert them before you go to bed.
This is a dream. This can't be happening.
Heejin shook the monitor and hit the PC tower, denying reality.
"My money! My money!"
"What do you mean, your money?"
Heejin didn't have time to answer her husband's question and called Mal-hee. Mal-hee didn't answer. But a moment later, Mal-hee called her back.
[Hey, it's a complete mess. Reporters are gathered in front of the house, and I can't get my head straight because of all the calls.]
Heejin asked Mal-hee, who was frantically delivering the day's news, tearfully.
"Where did my money go, Mom?"
[What are you talking about?]
"My mo-ney! Why did my money, which was 1.5 billion, become 1.5 million!"
[No, no, what are you talking about? If your money became 1.5 million, then what about my money, my money!]
"Mom, you couldn't withdraw your money either?"
[How can I withdraw money when the internet isn't working! Oh, how could this happen. Oh! Oh!]
Amidst the chaos, Mal-hee's voice was heard collapsing somewhere. Her father's voice, running over and shouting, 'Honey!' followed.
"Mom! Mom!"
Heejin screamed and got up from her seat.
"Drive, please. I need to go to Mom."
3 PM.
Heejin, who had rushed to Mal-hee's house with her husband, immediately ran inside.
"Mom!"
"I'm here. I'm here."
Instead of Mal-hee, her father Gyu-chil shouted from the main room. Mal-hee was lying down as if she had fainted, and Gyu-chil was massaging her arms and legs.
"What's wrong, Mom collapsed?"
"She's regained consciousness now."
"We should have gone to the hospital right away! What if something went wrong."
"How can I carry your mother out with reporters everywhere!"
"What are you talking about? Where are the reporters?"
Gyu-chil frowned and went to the window. He had even closed the curtains tightly, fearing that reporters would take strange pictures, and had holed himself up inside.
Gyu-chil's eyes widened as he nonchalantly opened the curtains at his daughter's nagging.
There were so many here just a moment ago? There seemed to be about thirty of them?
It was an eerie situation. The reporters who had filled the front of the house until Mal-hee collapsed were nowhere to be seen.
Meanwhile, Mal-hee opened her eyes faintly, groaning.
"Aigoo……."
"Mom, are you awake? Mom, you withdrew your money, right?"
"Help me up."
Mal-hee reached out to Heejin, gasping for breath. Heejin's husband helped Mal-hee up. Supported by Heejin, Mal-hee went to the PC in the next room.
"Mom, you withdrew your money, right? Huh? Help me……. I'll die if you don't have money……."
Heejin said imploringly in a trembling voice. Mal-hee stared at the monitor, panting. It was easy to connect to the internet, as if it had been a lie that it hadn't been connected a few hours ago.
Mal-hee immediately logged into her coin wallet. Mal-hee's coin holdings and convertible amount were prominently displayed on the home screen.
- Convertible Amount: ₩535,123
"What is this, Mom? What is this, Mom?"
"……."
"This isn't you, Mom, is it? You converted everything, right?"
"……."
"That can't be. You're trying to tease me, right?"
She couldn't hear her daughter's voice at all.
It was definitely 1.5 billion in the morning. The goal was 3 billion, but she had even decided to quit at exactly 2 billion without being too greedy.
"Aaaaaaaah! Uaaaaaaah!"
A ferocious roar erupted, like an elephant bellowing. She had never screamed like this even when her mother passed away or when she was diagnosed with liver cancer. Gyu-chil and Heejin chased after Mal-hee's breakdown.
"Honey, what's wrong! Heejin. Why are you doing this!"
"Uaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaack!"
"Haigooo, heueeeeeee. Heueeeeeee……."
Gyu-chil's gaze, alternating between his wife who was screaming and his daughter who was sitting on the floor and wailing, finally shifted to the monitor.
The value of the coin had completely collapsed.
4 PM. Incheon District Court.
He was constantly distracted during the trial because he received so many calls from unknown numbers today. Eventually, Hee-wook turned off his phone, finished the trial somehow, returned to his car, and turned it back on. He was about to take a nap before leaving for Seoul, but his phone kept vibrating incessantly.
Ignoring all the missed calls from unknown numbers, he picked out a familiar number. Hyun-ji's number, which he couldn't reach all morning, was displayed. Hee-wook immediately called.
Hyun-ji answered the phone quickly.
[Hello.]
"Did you have a good trip to Jeju Island?"
[Yang Hee-wook.]
He asked casually, annoyed that she had contacted him so late, but an even colder voice came from the other end.
[I've thought about it a lot, but I don't think it's going to work out. Let's call off our wedding.]
"What, what?"
[Let's stop seeing each other.]
"After taking the 55 million won ring……."
[Who was it that was trying to get that 55 million won ring for a few hundred?]
Hee-wook tried to argue, but Hyun-ji cut him off even more sharply.
[I heard you got the complaint. I can't live with a fake, after all. It's embarrassing.]
He was so dumbfounded that he was breathing heavily.
[I left the ring at your office. Do whatever you want with it, sell it, get a refund, or give it to another woman.]
He was jolted awake by the sincerity in her voice.
"Hey, Hyun-ji. Let's meet and talk. I even dumped Han So-eun to marry you."
[Then why did you dump Han So-eun. If you were going to do that, you should have dated her properly and married her. Why did you keep talking about Han So-eun whenever you drank, making me sick of it.]
"No. It's not like that, Hyun-ji. I told you. Han So-eun's boyfriend is that Kim Tae-joon. I was just talking about it because it was absurd. You know I only have you."
[That's enough. I don't like you anymore. I wonder if you only liked me because I'm from a wealthy family. Because you were after my dad's fortune.]
"No. Hyun-ji. Does that make sense?"
[Let's stop talking. It's just annoying to talk to you.]
Han So-eun has already left, and if I lose you too!
The Dubai company and the 4 billion won apartment floated into Hee-wook's mind and then disappeared.
[I'm going to quit the company too. I'm too ashamed to keep working there after being played by someone like you. I'm going to change my number because your mom keeps calling me. Goodbye.]
"Hey! Hey, Choi Hyun-ji!"
It was no use shouting at the phone that had already been disconnected.
Uaaaaaaah! Hee-wook screamed in the car and threw his phone. The phone did its job even as it crashed to the floor. Hee-wook picked up the phone again, grinding his teeth.
This time, the name 'Loving Mom' appeared. Hee-wook, who didn't have the energy to love his mother, answered the phone casually.
"Yes. Hello."
[Hee-wook. Where's Hyun-ji. Why isn't she answering her phone. Huh?]
Mal-hee's voice sounded precarious. No, it was beyond precarious, hitting his eardrums desperately.
"Mom, don't call Hyun-ji anymore. I broke up with her."
[What? When! Why did you break up with Hyun-ji! Apologize to her right now and bring her home!]
"It's because you're so annoying that she couldn't take it and left!"
Hee-wook yelled at Mal-hee's nagging. Soon after, Heejin, who had taken the phone from her mother, questioned Hee-wook.
[Hey, Yang Hee-wook. Did you break up with Choi Hyun-ji? No, right? Huh? That's not true, is it?]
"It's so noisy, I'm going to die."
Just as he muttered as if everything was a nuisance, his father's shout of 'Honey!' was heard over the receiver. Hee-wook, feeling uneasy, asked.
"What's wrong."
[Mom collapsed again. Come quickly!]
Heejin sobbed.
5 PM.
Hee-wook rushed home breathlessly.
No one had died, but the house somehow had the atmosphere of a funeral home. Hee-wook, stepping over the sounds of crying and groaning that filled the house like hills, glanced at Heejin sitting down and approached Mal-hee. Mal-hee was lying down, staring blankly into space.
"Mom, why aren't you going to the hospital and doing this."
"Is the hospital the problem now? Where's Choi Hyun-ji."
Heejin questioned him again. Hee-wook turned his head, spat out a curse irritably, and replied.
"I told you, we broke up."
"Then why did you break up. Bring her here right now!"
"Are you crazy?"
Mal-hee waved her wrist weakly as Hee-wook argued with Heejin in front of her. Soon after, Heejin's husband entered from the next room.
"Brother-in-law is here too."
"Doesn't the brother-in-law know anything about what happened today?"
"What happened?"
Hee-wook, who had been busy traveling to the district court for work, didn't know anything about what had happened in his house today, or what had happened in the internet world.
Heejin's husband found an article that kindly summarized the events from the day before yesterday to today, and the circumstances of how Mal-hee's liver transplant surgery became known, and handed it to Hee-wook. Only then did Hee-wook realize what all those calls he had received today were about.
The muscles in Hee-wook's face trembled as he checked all the events.
Hee-wook could immediately recognize who had created the controversy in the first place. His sister had often ruined perfectly good stores by posting articles like this on the internet.
"You wrote this."
"You to your sister……."
"Did you write it! Just answer me!"
Gyu-chil intervened, but Hee-wook didn't hear him.
Heejin shouted just as loudly.
"It's because of you that Mom is having a hard time! You drink every night and act like an idiot, saying Han So-eun, Han So-eun!"
Hee-wook's flashing eyes turned to Mal-hee.
"Is Mom even a mom after doing that?"
"What, what, what……."
Mal-hee stammered, bewildered by Hee-wook's sudden change.
"I saved you, and you repay me with evil?"
