EP.4

When her mother saw Nayoung crying, she felt sorry and couldn't bear to return to the living room.

As he was preparing dinner, sitting on a thorn cushion without even being able to change his clothes, I brought Nayoung, who showed no signs of stopping crying, to my room.

"Are you feeling better?"

Was it because he held her in his arms, buried her face in his chest, and stroked her back until she calmed down? Nayoung's face turned bright red.

I tried to hide my face with my long front hair, but I had already seen everything I needed to see.

"Mom, I didn't mean to say that out of bad intentions. So don't worry about it."

"Uh, uhm….."

I let out a deep sigh, as if I was disappointed in my mother for no reason.

Actually, it was a secret that I wanted to run to my mom right now and give her a high five and hug her.

"I don't care... More than that, Jihoon..."

"huh?"

"You say you like me... no...! Nothing...!"

If you had overheard the entire conversation between me and my mom, you would have heard my confession as well.

Therefore, Nayoung's face showed a strange look of anticipation, but she quickly shook her head, saying that there was absolutely no way she would like herself, who was fat and ugly.

Wouldn't love that is easily achieved be easily broken?

Additionally, I was already excited to imagine the scene where Na-young, whose looks have soared, gains confidence and confesses.

So, if possible, I didn't question her and asked her to wait for her confession.

Growling.

"..."

A cute sound came from Nayoung's stomach.

I blushed in a different way than before and lowered my head.

"Are you very hungry?"

Of course I was bound to be hungry.

Not only was it inevitable that I would be hungry in the evening, but I also moved my body a lot to lose weight.

Plus, even if you stay still, your energy gets used up quickly, so you're at an age when you're really hungry.

"I think you've probably finished preparing dinner by now… Shall we go out?"

I spoke carefully.

I felt resentful and annoyed at overhearing what he said earlier, but I nodded silently, wondering if it was anything compared to hunger.

When I came out to the kitchen, dinner was prepared as expected.

The only things left were two bowls full of rice and a spoon placed to match them, as if the mother had no intention of eating.

"Let's eat quickly."

I feel sorry for taking away my mom's dinner without knowing why.

Still, I can't help it... I ate dinner, forcibly convinced that I couldn't help it.

After finishing eating.

"Go into your room. I'll clean it up and then go in."

"huh..."

I sent Nayoung back to the room first, cleared the table, and then started washing the dishes.

"Let's just leave it alone. Mom will do it."

After washing and changing clothes, my mother came out and said to me while I was in the middle of washing dishes.

"No. Mom, can you not eat it?"

"Whew… I need to eat, but I'm not feeling well today."

After washing and setting up the last foamy bowl, I took off my rubber gloves.

"But you still have to eat it. Can I do something for you?"

"What is the kid doing?"

Most people don't cook because it's a hassle, but I used to cook my own meals to save a little money.

I may not be as good as my mom, but I can make it edible, but I think today is the time to show it.

"Jihoon."

"yes."

"These days, Dad's job has been hard, so Mom's been having a hard time too, so I think she said something strange. So don't worry about what I said earlier, and tell my friend… Nayoung, to have fun."

"yes."

I thought he came to the kitchen to fill his hungry stomach, but he smiled bitterly and turned away, probably to say something like that.

I didn't have any weight to lose, but I couldn't leave my mother to starve, so I made and brought her some Kimjaban rice balls, which I often ate while I was sleeping, and returned to the room.

"I'm sorry. It's too late, right?"

".....?!"

When I opened the door and went inside, Nayoung was startled and hid her hands on her lower back.

Was there something worth hiding in my room? I do not know.

"Nayoung. Why are you so surprised?"

"Uh, uhm... nothing... nothing."

"It's nothing. What are you hiding behind?"

"..."

Nayoung hesitated.

"I don't get angry if you see or touch something."

"really.....?"

"Of course. There's something to be angry about."

I may not have been proud when I was young, but I am really proud now.

"I'm sorry for touching this… so carelessly."

Nayoung finally showed what she had been hiding in a hurry.

As expected, it wasn't a big deal...

"Huh? Why is this here?"

Although it wasn't literally a big deal, at this point she had an unbelievable object in her hands.

When I saw that, my body stiffened.

Aside from the fact that I couldn't believe it, I was excited to see if there was a chance that our desperate situation at home could improve.

"My phone..."

That was none other than before regression. It was a smartphone that was like a companion that was with me for more than half of my day.

Why on earth is there a smartphone that is a model that is absolutely unacceptable in this day and age and boasts ridiculous performance? And one by one, my curiosity arose as to why I had not discovered it until now.

"Nayoung..."

"I'm sorry...!"

Nayoung narrowed her eyes, probably thinking that she was getting angry because she was just touching things carelessly.

But instead of getting angry, I just want to hug her big body with all my strength.

Previously.

"Where did you find this?"

"Under the bed..."

So I couldn't find it.

"Give me that."

"huh..."

I handed over the smartphone.

When I turned it on, the black screen was filled with bright light.

A smile spread across my face as the familiar wallpaper greeted me.

The time and date stopped and did not move from the day of the return.

"The Internet is working, but it looks like the updates aren't working."

The same goes for the internet. No new posts have been updated since that day.

With excitement, I went to the lottery site and looked up this week's lottery number, which had not been released yet.

A six-digit number came to mind.

"Ha, hahaha... Hahahaha!"

Sure enough, this week's lotto numbers may not be the same, but it was worth a try.

If only these lotto numbers are correct.

"The stock graph is still there."

As I searched for stocks, the corners of my mouth hung on my ears and I couldn't bear to let them go down.

"Nayoung!"

"Ji, Jihoon.....?!"

I laughed heartily, hugged Nayoung, and ran away.

Nayoung was embarrassed at first, but at some point her face turned bright red and she started running in sync with my movements.

*

I sent her home before the sun completely set.

Normally, I would have walked him to the house even if it was too much of a hassle, saying it was dangerous, but now I couldn't afford to do that at all.

I went to my mother's room with much lighter steps.

"What...? Buy a lottery ticket with these numbers?"

My mother looked at me with an incomprehensible expression as I suddenly told her the six-digit lottery number.

"Just once! Buy with this number just once!"

"Why is the kid suddenly saying it's a lottery?"

"Something is wrong!"

"What…?"

"There is such a thing! Can't you just pretend to be deceived and buy it?"

Even if I wanted to buy it, there was an age limit so I had no choice but to ask my mom to buy it for me.

"Lotto… Lotto… Sigh… I can't afford it, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy it as if I were grasping at straws."

I'm a mother who doesn't like things like gambling.

In some ways, I didn't like the lottery because it was similar to gambling, but my family's situation was so difficult that I nodded with a feeling of desperation.

I smiled happily, wrote down the six-digit lottery number clearly, and handed it to my mom.

My mom bought a lottery ticket without any expectations.

One thing I did was buy the lotto numbers exactly as I said. The remaining four were rotated randomly.

My mom wasn't really looking forward to it, but I was so excited that it felt like not much time had passed until the weekend.

So on the day of the draw.

When my mother was doing housework, forgetting that she had even bought the lottery ticket, I dragged her by force, made her sit on the sofa, and turned on the lottery broadcast.

Later, people became more interested in the lottery, and nearly 10 people won first place in each round.

However, at this point, some say that lottery tickets are a scam, so people do not buy them often, so there are often cases where the lottery is carried over without winning.

"It's not going to work anyway."

So my mom didn't have any expectations.

however.

"Huh...? Uh...?"

As more and more numbers appeared on the screen, all the numbers I had asked to buy appeared without exception.

My mother continued to stare blankly at the TV screen and at the lottery paper in her hand.

At some point, I even carefully straightened out the lottery paper.

"Jihoon... Mom, there's something wrong with your eyes, right?"

The broadcast was turned off while saying sincere congratulations to the winners of this episode, but the mother could not escape.

The lottery paper with all seven numbers, including the basic six digits and one additional number, was just a piece of paper a few days ago, but now I cherish it more than any other family heirloom.

"1st place. It's 11,471,863,140. If you take out taxes, it will fall below 10 billion won, but it's huge."

As a result of the smartphone, it did not take first place in this round.

So, you get to eat all of the first place prize money without taxes.

"Jihoon! I love you! I love you eeee!"

My mother, who had an astronomical amount of money close to 10 billion in an instant, showered me with kisses with a bright smile and a face filled with tears of joy.