Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 425

If there’s one thing that never changes in this world, it’s the truth that everything is bound to change.

Kang Jin-ho had been feeling that fact acutely lately.

Everything had changed.

His life, his surroundings, his entire existence.

Even the steadfast beliefs he had thought would never waver.

He had realized there was no such thing as eternal trust the moment he was betrayed by Cheongma, but this was entirely different.

The fact that a belief he had taken for granted, even more so than with Cheongma, had changed was breaking Kang Jin-ho’s heart.

Even if everyone else in the world changed, this person should never change. This person, at least…

But the fact that even this person’s faith in him was wavering was making Kang Jin-ho feel miserable…

“Are you listening?”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho was startled and nodded. Seeing this, Baek Hyun-jung clicked her tongue.

“You’re spacing out while your mother is talking.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“You’ve been out of it lately.”

“Yes.”

Baek Hyun-jung stared at Kang Jin-ho for a moment, then sighed.

There was a time when her eyes sparkled with trust and faith when they looked at him. A look that said, ‘Our son will do well no matter what.’

But now, the look in his mother’s eyes was full of distrust.

“Aren’t you going to the store today?”

“…Young-gi told me not to come.”

“Wasn’t it your store?”

“He said I was in the way…”

The sight of his mother sighing softly pierced Kang Jin-ho’s heart.

‘It’s declining.’

If this were a game and his trust level was displayed, the bar would have plummeted, cut in half.

“So, you’re just lazing around at home?”

“Don’t you have anything else to do?”

“I’m looking for something.”

“When did you say you were going back to school? Was it this fall?”

“…Next year.”

His mother’s eyes twitched.

At the same time, Kang Jin-ho’s heart also fluttered.

“So, you’re going to loaf around at home for the next six months, eating and doing nothing?”

“N-no, it’s not like that.”

“Jin-ho.”

“…Yes.”

“It seems like you’re losing your edge as you get older. You were practically a prodigy when you were little.”

No, Mother.

That’s a serious distortion of memory. I only got smart in high school. I was stupid before. My report cards and student records are still out there, why are you manipulating your memories?

“You know, people shouldn’t just play around.”

“Yes.”

“If you play, you’re bound to get lazy. If you keep saying ‘just a little more, just a little more,’ when you finally realize it, your body is already too sluggish to go back.”

“Yes.”

“…I guess you’ll take care of it, but…”

She said that, but her eyes were full of distrust. Kang Jin-ho couldn’t help but reflect on himself.

‘What did I do so wrong that my mother looks at me like that?’

It was very unfair to Kang Jin-ho.

Since his discharge from the military, he hadn’t had a proper rest. He helped out at his father’s store, opened a pizza place, went to the orphanage…

‘What did I do at home?’

Looking back, he could understand why his mother was like this. In the past, he could show her clear, visible indicators like his grades, which satisfied her trust, but recently, he would leave the store, tear his clothes, and come back wearing strange outfits…

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t been home for a while, and I just brushed it off.’

Looking back… wasn’t he a complete prodigal son?

Come to think of it, he had been making a fuss about running a store, but he had never brought any of the money home. In his mother’s eyes, he must have looked like a typical young man who was making a mess of things while trying to run a business.

And just now, he had said he was told not to come to the store because he was in the way…

‘A mistake.’

The gaze of his mother, who had always looked at him with a pleased expression, was subtle. That looked like the eyes of someone looking at a con artist…

“You’re not thinking of going back to school?”

Like a parent trying to push a troublemaking child into the military, Baek Hyun-jung was urging Kang Jin-ho to return to school.

“You said you were told not to go to the store? Then, shouldn’t you hurry up and go back to school? They say it’s hard to get a job these days if you graduate late.”

“…I have something in mind.”

“You don’t, do you?”

It didn’t work.

In the past, if he said something like that, his mother would have reacted with, ‘Okay, our son must have thought it through,’ but now she was doubting him.

Kang Jin-ho felt cold sweat trickling down his back. He had to restore this shattered trust somehow.

“Mom, are you picking on Oppa again?”

Kang Eun-young, wearing hot pants, appeared, slurping on a yogurt drink.

“You’re up? You slept a long time?”

“Yeah. I guess I didn’t get enough sleep because I was on a regional tour until last night. My whole body feels stiff.”

“Our little girl is working hard. Should Mom get you some herbal medicine?”

“No, I’ll gain weight.”

“Would you gain weight from that? You dance so much.”

“Oh, Mom. Do you think I lose weight from dancing? During my promotional period, I have to think of myself as a rabbit and eat only a tiny bit of grass to barely maintain my figure. This is such an unrealistic body.”

Kang Eun-young pointed to her body and smiled brightly at Kang Jin-ho.

“Oppa must be happy. Eating whatever he wants, sleeping as much as he wants, without having to do anything.”

“It would be nice if everyone in the world could live as comfortably as Oppa. I’m so jealous, so jealous.”

The more Kang Eun-young subtly scratched at Kang Jin-ho, the sharper his mother’s eyes became.

“Your sister is already working hard and earning money…”

The money I’ve earned is a hundred times more than what she’s earned? I have enough money now that I don’t need to earn any more.

“What good is money if the kid is becoming a loafer?”

I’ve been busier than ever recently?

“Sigh.”

There were many excuses, but all of them crumbled with just one sigh from Baek Hyun-jung.

“And you…”

“Yes.”

“Sit here.”

His mother pointed to the space in front of her.

Right now, his mother and Kang Jin-ho were sitting on the sofa. But pointing to the front meant she wanted him to sit on the floor. This was a very unreasonable act of violence. Why was she tormenting him like this when he hadn’t done anything wrong?

Kang Jin-ho stood up confidently and knelt down where Baek Hyun-jung had pointed.

“Pathetic~.”

Kang Eun-young added a comment from the side, but Kang Jin-ho confidently ignored her words.

“What’s going on with that person?”

“…Yes?”

“That Choi Yeon-ha!”

Kang Jin-ho looked down at the floor.

‘That groove looks kind of like a human face.’

He tried to escape reality somehow, but Baek Hyun-jung’s sharp voice forcefully pulled him back to reality.

“There was a dating rumor!”

Kang Jin-ho pursed his lips.

“Did you think your mother wouldn’t know? Just because it’s not in the news doesn’t mean I don’t know. These days, that kind of thing spreads through KakaoTalk [a popular messaging app in South Korea].”

It’s an amazing world.

Really.

“What’s going on? Are you the guy in that dating rumor, or is it someone else?”

“First… can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“What happens if it’s me, and what happens if it’s not me?”

“If you’re the one in the dating rumor, you should be punished! Not only did you not tell your mother properly about having a girlfriend, but you even caused a dating rumor!”

“That’s right!”

I don’t know if it’s true that a meddling sister-in-law is more hateful, but it was certain that his sister, who was adding comments, was more hateful.

“What if it’s not me?”

“If you can’t even manage your own woman and let her get snatched away, you deserve even more criticism!”

Ah…

He gets criticized either way.

“I think you can just criticize me…”

“Don’t talk nonsense and tell me straight. Is it you, or is it not you?”

“It’s me.”

“Oh my! Oh my!”

Kang Eun-young made a fuss.

“Are you going to go public with your relationship now?”

“…You, let’s talk.”

“Mom! Mom! It looks like Oppa is going to go public with his relationship without telling us! What should we do!”

“I said, let’s talk!”

“Sit down!”

Kang Jin-ho’s rebellion to punish Kang Eun-young was neatly suppressed by Baek Hyun-jung’s one word.

“Jin-ho.”

“…Yes.”

That low voice was more frightening to Kang Jin-ho than the shouts heard on the battlefield.

“Of course, you’re an adult, and you can take care of your own business, but Mom is like this. Do you know that the time you started slacking off and not working properly and the time Mom heard the name Choi Yeon-ha are the same?”

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

“It’s a misunderstanding, of course, it’s a misunderstanding. But have you ever heard this saying?”

“Yes?”

“When coincidence overlaps with coincidence and coincidence, it becomes fate.”

“Mom believes that our Jin-ho will do well. You won’t worry Mom, will you?”

“…Yes.”

“Okay.”

Baek Hyun-jung smiled quietly and patted Kang Jin-ho’s shoulder. But unlike before, Baek Hyun-jung was still looking at Kang Jin-ho with a slightly suspicious look.

“…A loafer has appeared, a loafer has appeared.”

I will catch him for sure.

I will, definitely.

* * *

“So, what did your mom say?”

“I’m dying.”

Kang Yu-hwan smiled. Seeing Kang Jin-ho so dejected made him laugh.

“From your mom’s perspective, it’s understandable, Jin-ho.”

“Yes.”

“Parents, you know, they’re people who can never be rational.”

“Objectively speaking, your mom knows that you’re living diligently, unlike most kids these days. But your mom isn’t comparing you to other kids, she’s comparing you to the old you.”

“Sigh…”

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply. Kang Yu-hwan smiled at the sight.

Kang Jin-ho wasn’t really suffering. He just wanted to escape his mother’s nagging. In the past, he wouldn’t have done anything that would cause him to be nagged in the first place, but if he was nagged, he would have tried to eliminate the cause thoroughly.

Kang Yu-hwan was just pleased that Kang Jin-ho was not taking any measures and was just hanging out at the cafe.

‘He’s showing some humanity.’

Sometimes, he thought his son was a bit too much. But lately, his son was showing a more typical side of someone his age.

“I’m against you living so rigidly. You’ve finally found some leisure, it’s too cruel to tell you to live like that again.”

“I haven’t exactly been living rigidly, but…”

“In my eyes, you were rigid.”

“…”

“It’s perfect timing. Since it’s come to this, why don’t you go on a trip?”

“Yes? Where to?”

“A trip.”

Kang Yu-hwan grinned.

“Traveling before going back to school is a must these days. You need to see a wider world. Instead of just saying you’ll go, why don’t you make a plan this time?”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

‘A trip…’

Come to think of it, he probably wouldn’t have the time to do that after going back to school. He had been to China recently, but for Kang Jin-ho, who had lived in China his whole life, that couldn’t be called a trip.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

“Okay, think about it.”

*Clink.*

Kang Jin-ho, who was about to say something more, turned his head at the sound of the bell.

“Huh?”

Choi Yeon-ha was smiling as she walked inside.