My words seemed to catch Tae-kyu off guard.
[Why are you saying this? What's the reason?]
It was a natural reaction.
Suddenly telling someone to sell everything wouldn't usually be met with, "Yes, sure, I'll sell it right away."
Honestly, I wasn't entirely sure why I was saying this either.
But beyond logic, I felt a strong conviction—something primal. Sometimes instinct takes precedence over reason. And if I hadn't acted on it back then, I might not even be here today.
"Just trust me."
[Why should I?]
"Do you trust me or not?"
[What? Do you need some guarantee?]
I yelled in frustration.
"Just shut up and sell it! You won't lose anything by cashing out now. Do it immediately!"
[You're not making any sense. How am I supposed to agree without a proper explanation?]
"..."
How could I even explain this?
Instead, I decided to try a different approach.
"Remember when you wrecked Hyun-joo's car mirror while practicing driving? You were scared she'd kill you, so I took the blame. I begged her for forgiveness on your behalf, didn't I?"
Tae-kyu was flustered.
[Wh-why are you bringing that up now, you crazy idiot?]
"And don't forget, in exchange, you promised to grant me one wish. You still remember that, don't you?"
[You son of a...]
"Now's the time to fulfill that wish, pal! Sell the BantCoin. Now!"
There was silence on the other end of the line.
He was probably wondering why I'd bring up something from so long ago. I just hoped he'd stop asking questions and listen to me.
After a long pause, Tae-kyu sighed in defeat and grumbled.
[Fine. I was already planning to sell anyway. I even got a dollar account set up with my sister. I was going to sell gradually, but I'll do it all now like you said. Happy?]
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Good choice."
[When should we meet?]
"Tomorrow. I'll come to your place."
[Alright.]
I hung up the phone.
The hologram I had seen earlier had already disappeared. I wondered if I had just imagined it.
There's no way it was that spot-on, right?
"No way…"
Even if nothing came of it, selling now wouldn't cause any harm. If BantCoin's value rose again later, it might sting a little, but better safe than sorry.
The only thing I regretted was spending my "wish" on something like this.
"13.5 billion won…"
What's the current jackpot for the lottery? 2 billion won?
This was like winning the lottery several times over.
This kind of luck doesn't happen in real life, especially to someone like Oh Tae-kyu.
Then, a memory surfaced.
Back in high school, Tae-kyu once tricked me into thinking he'd won the lottery. I actually followed him to the NH Bank headquarters, only to see him burst into laughter before we even entered.
"Don't tell me this guy is lying again?"
Did I get fooled again?
***
Lying on my bed, I noticed the sun had already set.
*Screech!*
I heard the front door open.
Mom entered and smiled when she saw me.
"You're home, Jin-hoo."
"You're back?"
It had been a week since I last saw her during my final leave from the military.
Putting her bag down, she said,
"Let's go out for dinner to celebrate your discharge."
"Sure."
I got dressed and went out with her.
"What do you want to eat? How about some meat?"
"Anything's fine."
We went to a nearby pork ribs restaurant.
Mom picked up the tongs and scissors to grill the meat. Her hands, gripping the tongs, were rough and calloused.
I looked at her face.
There were fine wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. She looked noticeably thinner than the last time I'd seen her.
After Dad passed away, Mom became the breadwinner. Unlike me, who had the "luxury" of military life, she had been working non-stop.
She had spent her whole life managing the household. Without skills or a resume, the jobs available to a middle-aged woman like her were limited.
"Why aren't you eating?"
"Oh, I'm starting now."
I felt a lump in my throat.
Pretending to eat, I quickly lowered my head.
"Is your current job okay? is it tiring?"
"It's fine. I just sit and talk to customers."
"Don't you get difficult customers? There are a lot of those these days."
She chuckled.
"It's a well-of neighborhood, so everyone's polite and nice. Do you think finding such a comfortable job is easy?"
"That's a relief."
Soon, the table was piled with perfectly cooked meat in front of me.
"Stop grilling and eat some yourself."
"I eat plenty of delicious food at the department store. Don't worry about me, just eat."
I forced myself to chew and swallow the meat.
"By the way, when are you planning to go back to school?"
"I've got time. I'll think about it."
"Don't worry about tuition. I've already saved enough for it."
Korea University is a national school, so tuition is cheaper than private universities, but it's still a significant amount for an average family.
Mom must have set aside money from our already-tight budget.
"Okay, Mom."
***
That night, I laid out bedding on the narrow floor and lay down next to Mom.
Exhausted, she fell asleep almost immediately. In the dark, I could hear her coughing occasionally.
Maybe it was because the bed was unfamiliar, but I couldn't sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, I gave up and got up.
When I looked at my phone, it was 3 AM
Should I go to the convenience store and grab a beer?
I carefully went outside so as not to wake my mother up. The night air hit my face coldly.
"Hah..."
I thought things would come together once I re-entered society, but now that I was out, everything felt so uncertain.
I couldn't leave Mom to shoulder everything alone. I needed to earn money quickly.
Lost in thought, my phone rang on my way to the convenience store..
Beep-Beep!
Who would be calling at this hour?
It was Tae-kyu. I picked up.
"Hey! Why are you calling me at this time—"
Before I could finish, his panicked voice cut in.
[Something terrible happened!]
"Yeah, sure. Let me guess—you were lying earlier, right?"
[MountainHill just shut down!]
I spoke patiently, trying to calm him.
"Enough jokes, seriously."
But Tae-kyu shouted back.
[Does this sound like a joke to you!?]
"Wait... are you serious?"
[Where are you?]
"At home."
[Come to my place right now. See for yourself if you think I'm lying!]
He hung up.
"..."
Could it actually be true?
I hurried to the main street and flagged down a cab.
"Taxi!"
As it stopped, I got in and said,
"To Gangnam, please. Quickly."
***
Tae-kyu lived alone in a studio apartment in Yeoksam-dong.
I had visited so many times during my leaves that I even remembered the door code.
Entering the room, I saw the floor cluttered with gaming magazines and comic books, anime posters covering the walls.
His desk was a mess of tangled wires from his computer and gaming consoles.
And sitting in front of the screen was a short-haired guy with a stout build, thick-rimmed glasses, and a vacant look on his face.
"Hey! What happened?"
He didn't respond, instead pointing silently at the computer monitor.
On the screen was an internet forum.
- All my BantCoin on MountainHill is gone!
- Same here! I lost 150.387 BNT!
- That was my entire fortune! 😭
- What's happening?
- Give me my money back!
- I can't even log in to the exchange, and their phone is dead.
- CNN says MountainHill was hacked and shut down.
- The hackers stole all the BantCoin.
- Will MountainHill compensate us?
- Nooooo! You bastards!!!
I scrolled down, reading post after post.
Angry users, people in despair, some crying, others swearing, some even claiming they will commit suicide.
The forum was utter chaos.
"What the hell…"
I turned to Tae-kyu.
"Hey, explain this!"
"I told you. MountainHill shut down."
The exchange had gone offline right after he called me earlier. The website, which had been working fine, suddenly stopped responding.
If that were all, people might've thought it was just temporary maintenance.
But the real issue was that all the BantCoin in users' accounts had disappeared!
Their balances were drained without their knowledge, as if they'd fallen victim to phishing scams.
And it wasn't just a handful of people—every single MountainHill user had been affected.
Was what Tae-kyu said earlier true after all?
The first thought that came to mind was the 11,000 BNT.
"What about you? Did you lose it all too?"
"..."
Tae-kyu remained silent, his dazed expression unchanged.
A chill ran down my spine.
I shook his shoulders and shouted.
"Hey! Oh Tae-kyu!"
He finally looked at me, his eyes unfocused, and stammered.
"I… I sold it all earlier. Like you said. Around midnight."
"Hah!"
I felt my legs give out as relief washed over me.
At least he got out in time.
But then Tae-kyu grabbed my shoulders, his voice full of suspicion.
"You knew, didn't you?"
"Knew what?"
"That MountainHill would get hacked! You knew, didn't you?"
I shook my head.
"No, I didn't know."
"Then why did you tell me to sell immediately? It doesn't make any sense!"
"That's…"
Honestly, his reaction was understandable. Unless you were an insider, there was no way to predict a hack in advance.
Seeing me hesitate, he pressed on.
"Wait… did you hack them? Is that why you warned me?"
I was so taken aback I yelled.
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
But Tae-kyu looked at me, convinced.
"Come on, you can tell me. I won't report you to the police. Just be honest."
"It's not like that!"
In truth, no one was more confused by this situation than me.
"Let's talk, but calm down first."
I sat him down, and he started taking deep breaths to steady himself. After a while, he managed to calm down a bit.
"Alright, explain."
I hesitated.
Should I tell him about the hologram?
Tae-kyu was the only person I trusted besides my mom. If I couldn't be honest with him, then who could I trust?
Besides, no one else would believe me anyway.
After thinking it over, I decided to be upfront about what had happened.
"So, here's the thing…"
After hearing the whole story, Tae-kyu nodded, as if he understood.
"Oh, I get it. So while we were talking, you suddenly saw 'MountainHill Bankruptcy' pop up in a hologram, right?"
"Yeah, exactly."
He exploded.
"You're joking, right!?"
"...It's true."
Of course, his reaction was normal.
I let out a sigh and said quietly,
"This isn't the first time something like this has happened."
The first time I saw "it" was back in the military.