Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 303

“Yes?”

At the unexpected words, the manager looked at Kang Jin-ho with a bewildered expression. Kang Jin-ho didn’t respond to the manager’s words and instead held out his hand to Kang Eun-young.

“Card.”

“Mom has it.”

Kang Jin-ho turned and politely extended his hand.

“Mother.”

“Alright.”

Baek Hyun-jung took out a card from her wallet and handed it to Kang Jin-ho. She didn’t know exactly what her son was planning, but she trusted that her son wouldn’t do anything foolish.

Kang Jin-ho presented the card he received from his mother to the manager.

“How many people can enter?”

“Sir, regardless of the grade, a maximum of three VIPs can accompany you.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the manager with a troubled expression before opening his mouth.

“Are there no exceptions?”

“No. Exceptions are not possible.”

“Is that so?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he understood, then took out his phone.

“Wait, just a moment.”

As soon as the manager saw Kang Jin-ho pick up his phone, he tried to stop him. For some reason, he had a feeling that if that call connected somewhere, the problem would become serious.

“W-where are you trying to call?”

“The secretary’s office.”

“Why the secretary’s office…?”

Kang Jin-ho replied in a calm voice.

“If one card isn’t enough, I’ll just get another one.”

The manager’s eyes shook.

Come to think of it, this man was someone who could easily do that. He was the kind of person who could make a call at the valet parking and get a top-tier VIP card issued on the spot. Getting a regular VIP card would be like pulling a tazo [a collectible card] out of a snack.

However, the moment his opinion was involved, everything that happened here would go straight to the chairman’s office through the secretary’s office. He was certain of that.

‘What should I do?’

He didn’t think he had responded incorrectly, but this was definitely not a good thing. No matter how correctly he responded, there was an emotional issue.

To put it bluntly, even if he was a son they had cut ties with, would Hwang Jung-hoo be happy to hear that his own son was turned away at his department store?

Up until now, even if he was in a bad mood, Hwang Jung-hoo, who was faithful to the rules, wouldn’t have made an issue of it…

‘Up until now, that is.’

Hwang Jung-hoo was getting old. As people age, they tend to cling to their families, and their affection for their children grows. If Hwang Jung-hoo made an issue of this, he could become the first case of someone getting into trouble for treating Hwang Jung-hoo’s son poorly.

If such a thing were to happen, it would be a headache.

The best thing to do was to prevent this from reaching Hwang Jung-hoo’s ears as much as possible.

“S-sir, just a moment.”

The manager, having thought things through, opened his mouth.

“Over there for a moment. Could we talk for a bit?”

Kang Jin-ho readily nodded and followed the manager to a place out of sight.

“Actually, it’s not difficult to let them accompany you. We have to follow the rules, but if the situation is ambiguous, we usually just mention that they shouldn’t do it next time and let them use the lounge.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“But that person is very sensitive. You know how he is. If I let him in and it goes upstairs, I might get a scolding from the chairman.”

“I see.”

“Do you really have to have them accompany you?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head.

Seeing the child holding onto his mother’s pants with one hand, his resolve hardened.

“Please let them accompany me.”

“…Sir.”

“I’ll make sure it doesn’t cause any harm to your side. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Why are you going so far?”

Kang Jin-ho quietly opened his mouth.

“Even if the other person is a bad guy, I don’t want to show a pathetic father’s back in front of his child.”

The manager’s eyes wavered.

He bit his lip and nodded.

“You can accompany them. I’ll take responsibility.”

“Thank you.”

“No. This is my choice.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and turned around.

The manager stepped forward and personally guided Kang Jin-ho.

“You can go in this way. Sir, please go in. Open the door.”

“Yes!”

As the door opened, Kang Jin-ho turned his head to look at Hwang Min-soo.

“Go ahead, former president.”

“Yes? Ah…”

Hwang Min-soo slightly bowed his head towards Kang Jin-ho.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

After letting Hwang Min-soo and his family inside, Kang Jin-ho turned to look at his own family.

“Mother. Go in first.”

“What about you?”

“…I’ll be out for a bit.”

“Huh? Why?”

When Kang Jin-ho hesitated to answer, Kang Eun-young pushed Baek Hyun-jung’s back and said.

“Let him die of lung cancer, let’s go, Mom.”

“Stop it! You little brat!”

Watching the two of them head inside while cursing, Kang Jin-ho quietly sighed.

Click.

Kang Jin-ho, having lit a cigarette, sighed lowly.

‘I shouldn’t be struggling, but I am.’

There was a time when he thought he could do anything if he could see his mother again, but as it is with people, as the time he spent with his mother grew longer, even something as simple as shopping together felt difficult.

How fickle humans are. Or maybe, it was just Kang Jin-ho who was fickle.

‘I need to reflect.’

The moment his mother said she was lonely, Kang Jin-ho was honestly shocked.

Since returning to this world, his goal had been to live happily and normally with his family. But in his obsession with appearances, he realized that he had been neglecting the things that were truly important.

The store with his friends was important, and the work of the council was important, but if he neglected his family’s happiness while focusing on those things, what good would it all be?

Kang Jin-ho took a drag of his cigarette with a bitter expression.

‘I need to think things through from now on.’

He thought he was making an effort, but he kept thinking about the things he was missing. He thought that life wouldn’t be difficult since he had martial arts and had developed his abilities, but living in the world was never an easy task.

He was feeling deeply these days that happiness required effort.

“Could I borrow a light?”

At the voice from behind, Kang Jin-ho quietly turned his head.

Hwang Min-soo.

The second son of Hwang Jung-hoo was holding out a cigarette, looking at Kang Jin-ho.

“Yes.”

Without a word, Kang Jin-ho took out a lighter from his pocket and handed it to Hwang Min-soo.

“Thank you.”

Hwang Min-soo took the lighter, lit his cigarette, and returned it to Kang Jin-ho. Hwang Min-soo quietly took a drag, exhaled the smoke, tapped the ash into the ashtray a couple of times, and then turned to look at Kang Jin-ho.

Then, he bowed deeply.

“Thank you.”

“No.”

Kang Jin-ho lightly shook his head.

“It’s not something to be so grateful for.”

“Thanks to you, I was able to save face.”

“Then I’m glad.”

Hwang Min-soo opened his mouth as if talking to himself.

“It’s been a long time since I stopped clinging to such things, but when I thought about my son watching, I couldn’t easily back down. Thank you for saving my face.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kang Jin-ho was uncomfortable with this conversation.

Perhaps the reason Hwang Min-soo was going through hardship now was because of Kang Jin-ho. If it weren’t for Kang Jin-ho, Jae-kyung would have been divided between the two brothers, Hwang Min-jae and Hwang Min-soo.

He didn’t think he had done anything wrong, but it was psychologically uncomfortable to be thanked by someone who had been harmed by his actions.

And another reason was…

‘If not being able to enter the VIP room is a matter of losing face, then ordinary people must have no face at all.’

Of course, he acknowledged that there was a social standing and a background that could make him angry about such things, but it didn’t look good to be so concerned about saving face just because he couldn’t enter a place that ordinary people couldn’t even step foot in.

If Hwang Min-soo’s son hadn’t been there, Kang Jin-ho would have definitely not given him a second glance.

“People need to know their place.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t have the qualifications, you have to admit that you don’t have them, but that’s not easy.”

“Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not someone who takes such things for granted. That’s why I only found out that my card was suspended now.”

“That’s true.”

If he had been going in and out regularly, he wouldn’t have been unaware of it.

“I was just going to buy my kid some new clothes since his looked worn out and take a break, but I guess I just went there without thinking. I should have backed down cleanly when they said I couldn’t go in, but people are just…”

Kang Jin-ho frowned as he watched Hwang Min-soo smile bitterly.

Why was this man saying these things to him?

Kang Jin-ho wasn’t a good person to listen to complaints. He didn’t have any particular relationship with him, and he wasn’t the type to have a conversation with, so he didn’t know why he was telling him all this.

Perhaps he just needed someone to talk to, but even so, this wasn’t a good place.

“I didn’t go inside.”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Hwang Min-soo as if surprised.

Then, Hwang Min-soo smiled awkwardly.

“There are a lot of people inside. There might be people who know my face, and it wouldn’t be good if I was seen there. It would cause trouble for my father.”

“Hmm…”

“Judging by how you persuaded the manager, you must be in a fairly high position in Jae-kyung. How is my father doing?”

‘I heard they cut ties, but I didn’t think he would be so out of touch with his father’s news.’

This was beyond cutting ties. It was something that could only happen if everyone around him, fearing Hwang Jung-hoo’s wrath, had cut off contact with him.

“He’s doing well.”

“That’s a relief. Perhaps…”

Hwang Min-soo, who was about to say something, sighed and shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing. It wouldn’t make sense for me to pass on such a message.”

“Please, tell me.”

Despite Kang Jin-ho’s urging, Hwang Min-soo only smiled bitterly.

“No. If I tell you to pass on a message, my father won’t look at you favorably.”

“It’s simple, just don’t say that your son asked you to pass on the message. I have enough sense to phrase it differently, so go ahead and say it.”

Hwang Min-soo’s eyes slightly trembled.

Hwang Min-soo, who seemed to be contemplating, quietly opened his mouth.

“My grandfather and my uncle all passed away from cancer. Please tell him to take care of his health since there’s a family history.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, well…”

Hwang Min-soo smiled bitterly.

“What else would an unfilial son have to say? He’ll get angry if he hears that I told you. It wouldn’t be good for his health if he got angry at his old age, so please don’t mention that you saw me. Then.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly watched Hwang Min-soo turn away.

‘Family, huh…’

The closest, yet sometimes more difficult than strangers, is family.

‘It’s not an easy thing.’

Just like everything else in the world.