11:59 p.m.In the administrative office, the ticking of the clock sounded unusually loud.
"Thirty seconds left,"someone said.
The phones were still ringing."Should I press it now?""If it goes past midnight, is it invalid?""Just once more—"
The counselor, her voice already hoarse, repeated the same answers."Yes. You can submit now.""No. Cancellations aren't possible.""Yes. The results will be announced."
12:00 a.m.The server logs froze.The submit button turned gray.
Han Seo-jin leaned back in her chair."It's over."
No one clapped.Some lowered their heads.Others kept staring at their screens.
The final system numbers appeared.
Total attempts: 43,281
Valid applications: 29,774 households
Final supply: 3,100 households
Someone muttered,"…One out of twenty."
Do-yoon didn't look at the ratio.Instead, he opened the tab labeled"Automatic Rejection Reasons."
He stared at one line for a long time.
No specific reason.Simply, no available units.
〈Results Announcement〉
Three days later, 10:00 a.m.A single message was sent out simultaneously.
Truck City House TruckResident Selection Results
〈Selected – One Person〉
His phone vibrated.
He stood in front of a container office, still in his work clothes.With sweaty hands, he opened the message.
[You have been selected.]
Just one line.
He read it three times.Then, without realizing it, he laughed.
There was no one around,yet he bowed slightly, as if greeting someone.
"Thank you."
He wasn't sure who the words were meant for.
That evening, for the first time,he wrote on a cardboard box:
Moving belongings
〈Selected – A Family〉
Two children watched their mother stare at her phone.
"Mom, did it work?"
She couldn't answer.She opened the message again.Read it again.Then covered her mouth.
"…Yes."
The children shouted at once."Is it a real house?""Do we get our own rooms?"
She nodded."It's small,but we won't have to move anymore."
That night,for the first time,the children asked about the moving date.
〈Not Selected – Someone Else〉
The message was polite.
[You have not been selected.]
He looked at the screen for a moment,then placed the phone face down.
And went back to work.
"Didn't get it?"a coworker asked.
"…No."
"You okay?"
He thought for a second."Not really.But I can't say I'm surprised."
That night,he searched for the announcement again.
It was gone.
〈SNS – When the City Became Real〉
After the results were released,the same hashtags flooded social media.
#TruckCity#HouseTruck#IHaveAHome#IHavent
From selected applicants"I finally have an address.""My child doesn't have to change schools.""I didn't expect to cry like this.""Small or not, a home is still a home."
From those who weren't selected"I didn't make it, but I'm glad I know a place like this exists.""Please open another round.""This feels less like housing and more like a system."
One post, with the most likes, read:
I wasn't selected.But today, for the first time,I learned that a home I could belong toexists somewhere in this world.That feels like enough to get through today.
〈The Operators〉
In the meeting room,Kim Young-ah spoke quietly.
"The comments are… unusual."
"How so?"
"There's more explanation than celebration."
Do-yoon looked at the screen.
People weren't showing off their homes.They were explaining—to one another—why they had needed one.
Do-yoon said,"What we builtwasn't a house…"
He paused.
"…It was a reason to enter."
Han Seo-jin added softly,"That's why people are saying this."
A sentence on the screen read:
This isn't a place where being selected feels good—it's a place where even rejection makes sense.
〈Final〉
That night,a small sentence was added to the Truck City website.
House Trucks are not housing.They are the smallest unit of a citywhere people can start again.
And beneath the next recruitment notice,one more line appeared:
"In the next round,we will accept more."