Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1047

“Let us go home.”

“Quitting time is a human right!”

Kang Jin-ho stared at Jo Gyu-min with a sulky look.

“You’re the second person I know who doesn’t go home from work.”

Of course, the first was Lee Hyun-soo.

“That’s why I know the pain better. You have to guarantee quitting time, if nothing else.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and put a cigarette in his mouth.

It was after Jo Gyu-min pleaded with him that they came out for a smoke together.

“I will let you go home.”

“After all the training is done? In the early morning?”

“No, now.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho said nonchalantly.

“I’m not that unreasonable.”

‘He seems plenty unreasonable though…’

As Jo Gyu-min looked at him suspiciously, Kang Jin-ho curled up the corners of his mouth.

“I know that there has to be a process for everything. I was planning to just give a warning today and let everyone go home. You have to keep to the rules.”

Jo Gyu-min smiled awkwardly. But his eyes trembled throughout the smile.

‘It’s eleven o’clock, you jerk!’

‘You’re already unreasonable, already!’

“But is something wrong?”

“…Kang Jin-ho.”

Jo Gyu-min sighed and said.

“I know you want the best for the employees, but that doesn’t mean you should restrict their lives. I don’t think making them work hard unconditionally is the answer.”

“Hmm.”

“First, they need to be able to have passion…”

“I don’t really understand…”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head and said.

“Are you saying it’s wrong to train and teach until late to improve their skills?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then what about high school students?”

Jo Gyu-min shut his mouth.

When Jo Gyu-min didn’t answer, Kang Jin-ho continued in a calm voice.

“I wasn’t like that, but high school students study until dawn and study again.”

“…That’s right.”

“Parents don’t stop them, they even pay for their tutoring and help them study, so they can devote as much time as possible to studying, right?”

Jo Gyu-min nodded silently.

“That’s right.”

“Then is that wrong?”

“Uh…”

He was at a loss for words.

Kang Jin-ho scratched his head. He looked like he didn’t understand.

“No one wants their children to succeed more than parents. The fact that those people want their children to invest all their waking hours in studying means they have determined that such excessive learning is definitely helpful, right?”

Jo Gyu-min stammered.

Where should he start explaining this? He could explain it if he wanted to. It was a problem with a system where too much was decided by a single test rather than long-term growth. But…

‘That’s a poor excuse.’

Kang Jin-ho lit a cigarette and said.

“I don’t know what the chairman meant when he told us to treat the employees like family. I think his intentions and what I understood might be different. But I think family is a relationship where you don’t consider the benefits and wish for that person’s happiness.”

“That’s right.”

“But that happiness is so ambiguous.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed and said.

“I think you need wealth and ability to be happy. I think ability is more important of the two. After all, maintaining wealth is also an ability.”

“That’s where the problem arises. Gaining ability is hard work. You have to work hard and give up a lot. You can’t be happy. But if you neglect your efforts to be happy now, you will inevitably be unhappy later.”

“It’s a matter of balance.”

“Yes. But I don’t know that balance well. So I have no choice but to learn from others. I have no choice but to refer to what other parents do for their children’s happiness, and the parents I know basically seem to feel that they have to give up a little happiness now for more happiness in the future. That’s why they push their children, who are at the age of growth, into academies [private tutoring centers] and make them study, even reducing their sleeping hours, right?”

Jo Gyu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with a new look.

‘This guy, he wasn’t just thoughtless.’

It was quite a serious concern.

“Kang Jin-ho, you’re right.”

“Huh?”

“But I think one thing is missing.”

“One thing?”

Jo Gyu-min smiled brightly.

“The process of believing in them.”

“Even if the results aren’t as good as you think, it’s just the beginning. In fact, I think most family relationships break down because they don’t trust each other.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

It made sense.

“It’s just the beginning. So, for now, please trust them more. Everyone will do well. If they don’t improve after you’ve trusted them enough, it’s not too late to stop then. In the end, impatience ruins relationships.”

Trust, huh…

Kang Jin-ho sighed.

It was difficult.

Human relationships were not easy.

“It would be nice if everyone was like Chief Jo.”

“It’s not easy to find someone like me.”

“I know.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

“Then everyone, get ready…”

It was that moment.

Bzzzz.

Kang Jin-ho’s phone started ringing. Kang Jin-ho reached out and grabbed the phone in his pocket.

‘Is it home?’

He hadn’t gone home until this time, so it was only natural that he would get a call. He hadn’t even said he would be late today.

But the name on the screen was not a family member.

“Huh?”

Park Yu-min.

It was a call from his friend.

Kang Jin-ho glanced at Jo Gyu-min.

“I’ll take this call…”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Kang Jin-ho moved slightly away from Jo Gyu-min and answered the phone.

“Why are you calling at this hour?”

[Jin-ho, do you have some time?]

“Huh? Time? Now?”

[Yeah. I think I need to see you now.]

“…Is something bad going on?” Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brow slightly. Park Yu-min was not the type to make appointments so suddenly. He usually contacted people a few days in advance. The fact that he was in such a hurry meant that something was wrong.

[It’s not like that, I just have something to say… To be exact, I have something to confess.]

“…Where should I go?”

[You know our dorm, right? Can you come there?]

“I’ll be right there.”

Kang Jin-ho hung up the phone and turned to Jo Gyu-min.

“Please tell the people inside to go home.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know exactly. I think I need to go check it out.”

“Yes. Please go ahead. I’ll pass on the message.”

“Okay, then.”

As Kang Jin-ho headed towards the underground parking lot at a fast pace, Jo Gyu-min shrugged his shoulders and walked inside.

“Everyone, go home!”

“Wh, what about the head of the company?”

“He had something to do and left first.”

“Hooray! Hooray!”

“Let’s go! Let’s go home!”

“Oh, I thought I was going to stay up all night!”

Watching the outpouring of enthusiastic reactions, Jo Gyu-min felt a little sad.

‘Like parents and children.’

Parents just want their children to do well, but children only care about whether they can play right now.

Kang Jin-ho’s method may have been a little wrong, but it was all for their own good, and seeing them so happy made Jo Gyu-min feel angry for no reason.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I called my mom…’

Thinking of his mother, who still tells him to be careful when driving and to eat properly, even though her son is almost forty, made him even more angry.

Somewhere, the BGM ‘Changing the wet spot for the dry spot’ seemed to be playing [a common phrase used when changing a baby’s diaper, implying a need to take care of someone].

‘You immature brats!’

Jo Gyu-min cracked his neck from side to side, making a snapping sound, and said with a slight grind of his teeth.

“Um…”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you so much!”

“Please do it again next time.”

‘I’m not on your side, you jerks!’

‘Do you know who I am?’

‘If you don’t know, I’ll have to make you know.’

Jo Gyu-min, who had put on a poker face, opened his mouth with a smile.

“Of course, the head of the company has gone home, but there is something to announce. You can go home today.”

“Oh!”

“But…”

Jo Gyu-min glared.

“From tomorrow, those who have not completed the day’s training will not be allowed to go home.”

“So, by any means! Whether you prepare, review, or get tutoring! By any means, I hope you will fully master the day’s training course.”

“As someone said earlier, it is definitely inefficient for Kang Jin-ho to stay and teach you. So, we will be recruiting instructors for the supplementary class as soon as possible. I will train you thoroughly as Kang Jin-ho wants.”

It was about a day later that the trainees realized that it was better to deal with Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho found Park Yu-min standing in front of the dorm and pulled his car up in front of him.

“J, Jin-ho.”

Park Yu-min waved his hand awkwardly.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s, it’s a bit difficult to talk here, is there a cafe or something? It’s the season, so no alcohol…”

“There’s a cafe with the lights on up ahead. Let’s go there. Get in.”

“Okay.”

Park Yu-min nodded with an awkward face.

When he opened the car door, Park Yu-min bowed his head and got into the car.

“I always feel this every time I get in, but this car’s door is weird.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

He had been in the passenger seat for years, but he said the same thing every time. The fact that he said that made Kang Jin-ho feel at ease, as if it was proof that Park Yu-min hadn’t changed.

“It’s cramped.”

“The seat is hard.”

‘No, is he just complaining?’

“If you can drive such an expensive car, you can buy a better car. One with wide and comfortable seats.”

‘This is a better car, you idiot.’

‘This is expensive!’

Park Yu-min had no sense of money in a different way than Kang Jin-ho.

If Kang Jin-ho was the type who knew that money was important but didn’t really intend to use it, Park Yu-min had no sense of money beyond what he thought was reasonable.

In the first place, he didn’t even care.

Kang Jin-ho closed the car door and stepped on the accelerator.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Park Yu-min looked around nervously.

“That, you know, Choi Yeon-ha.”

“Huh? Choi Yeon-ha?”

“Yeah. That person.”

“Why suddenly Choi Yeon-ha?”

Park Yu-min opened his mouth awkwardly.

“I, I went to a commercial shoot, and the actress I was working with was Choi Yeon-ha.”

“That’s amazing.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

It was true that coincidences overlapped in the world, but there were some amazing coincidences. Park Yu-min and Choi Yeon-ha were filming a commercial together.

“But why? Did something happen?”

“Th, that’s… I, I got a call, and I answered it, and…”

“Huh?”

“S, Se-yeon called…”

The car’s speed gradually decreased.

Finally, the car stopped, and Kang Jin-ho turned to Park Yu-min with a slightly stiff face.

Seeing his expression, Park Yu-min closed his eyes tightly and said.

“I, I was interrogated and I spilled everything. I’m sorry, Jin-ho!”

“Jin-ho?”

“Haha…”

Kang Jin-ho laughed awkwardly.

“I thought it was something big. Why is that?”