Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1309

“You’re having a hard time, aren’t you?”

“I know how you feel. It must be tough.”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

“Hang in there a little longer. Better days will come.”

Cold sweat trickled down her back.

‘What’s with this seating arrangement?’

She wondered if just sitting in the assigned seat was a big mistake. Sitting next to a stranger was a bit uncomfortable, but there was no other option.

However, Han Eun-sol realized something new today.

Sitting next to someone you vaguely know is three times more uncomfortable than sitting next to a stranger.

And that vaguely known person is…

“That’s how it is when you serve someone higher up.”

Why did it have to be Lee Hyun-soo?

Han Eun-sol was uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.

‘You’re my superior too, you know?’

Even though Han Eun-sol was the manager of MK and Lee Hyun-soo was practically a free agent without a proper position at MK, the power dynamics in reality weren’t always determined by titles or authority.

It was a well-known fact that Lee Hyun-soo was Kang Jin-ho’s first secretary. And since Kang Jin-ho was the chairman of MK, Lee Hyun-soo was effectively the head of the secretary’s office at MK.

In the past, the reason why the heads of the secretary’s offices wielded absolute power during dictatorships was because they were the ones who had the most face-to-face time with the dictator and could express their opinions.

Lee Hyun-soo was the same.

So, from Han Eun-sol’s perspective, Lee Hyun-soo was also a burden.

Besides…

Even though Han Eun-sol kept a bit of distance from the headquarters, she lived in MK and the people she encountered were MK employees, so she couldn’t help but hear stories about Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo.

The stories about Kang Jin-ho weren’t much different from what she knew.

There was a bit of apprehension and fear, more than Han Eun-sol thought, but there was definitely respect and trust for Kang Jin-ho. Even while talking, it was clear that they were careful not to speak carelessly about Kang Jin-ho.

But Lee Hyun-soo…

–

A demon, a demon!

–

If you see him, don’t even make eye contact and sprinkle salt, definitely!

–

Do you know how amazing the chairman is? He employs a demon as his secretary.

–

There must be exorcists in the world, but I don’t know why they don’t catch that guy. Or at least the police should come.

‘Quite the reputation.’

She had never seen anyone receive such an evaluation in her life, except for Choi Yeon-ha.

‘At this point, shouldn’t I be suspicious of Kang Jin-ho?’

Is he some kind of Pokémon master, or does he have a hobby of collecting dark attributes?

How can the evaluations of the person he spends the most time with at work and his girlfriend both be the worst?

‘I shouldn’t get close to them.’

Neither Kang Jin-ho nor Lee Hyun-soo.

But as if he had no intention of understanding Han Eun-sol’s feelings, Lee Hyun-soo kept talking.

She wanted to ignore him.

She didn’t want to get involved.

The problem was that each and every word he spoke was filled with genuine concern. Even though she tried to ignore him, she kept getting drawn in.

“No days, no nights, working hard but not getting recognized.”

“…That’s right.”

“Then they should be fine without you. If you’re away for a bit, they look for you like something happened.”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

“Is that something a person should be doing? Ugh, really.”

“I’ll die before my time.”

It was strange.

She thought she shouldn’t get close to him, but she kept agreeing with him.

It was a strange sense of camaraderie.

Han Eun-sol wasn’t on bad terms with the other managers, but it was hard to find common ground with them. This was because Choi Yeon-ha was fundamentally different from typical celebrities.

No matter how much they talked, there was no common ground. When they complained about how hard things were, Han Eun-sol could only see it as whining, and when Han Eun-sol started talking, they all reacted as if they were listening to a story of a hero who went through a dimensional gate and caught a dragon.

So, she couldn’t help but keep quiet.

But Lee Hyun-soo was different.

Lee Hyun-soo was someone who dealt with someone even more extreme than Han Eun-sol.

‘Come to think of it, Kang Jin-ho is worse.’

He was the one who was changing Choi Yeon-ha. He was the one who had solved the biggest challenge of the 21st-century Korean entertainment industry, which all the managers and agencies in Korea had struggled with and failed to find an answer to.

Of course, he hadn’t completely solved it.

Han Eun-sol looked at Lee Hyun-soo with new eyes. Thinking about it that way, Lee Hyun-soo seemed amazing.

“Um…”

“Yeah?”

Han Eun-sol spoke first for the first time.

“Is Kang Jin-ho… I mean, the chairman, is he also difficult?”

“Is the chairman difficult?”

“No, well, I didn’t mean it that way…”

“Manager Han.”

“Yes?”

“The chairman is a really good person.”

Han Eun-sol’s face slightly contorted.

‘Is this guy trying to get out of this by himself?’

“The problem is that a good person isn’t always a good person.”

“Yes?”

What did that mean?

Lee Hyun-soo sighed deeply and continued.

“It’s like that. You’ve been to the military, right?”

“Yes. I was honorably discharged as a sergeant.”

“Do you know who the most annoying guy in the military is?”

“…Isn’t it a crazy senior?”

“No. It’s a great senior.”

“Yes?”

Lee Hyun-soo waved his hand at Han Eun-sol, who was tilting her head in confusion.

“Why do you think ‘faking it’ exists in the military? It’s because it’s impossible for a human to handle everything by the book. Even the US military does it, you know? If a person lives by the book, they have to run around non-stop from 6 AM to 10 PM. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right.”

“What do you think it would be like if there was someone who did that?”

Han Eun-sol’s face paled slightly.

She thought she knew what Lee Hyun-soo was talking about.

If there was such a person, that unit would become hell.

“If there’s such a person, that person has to be a villain. They have to have a bad personality and harass and torment the others.”

“Isn’t it better to have a good personality?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Tsk.”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed and said,

“If such a person has a good personality, do you know what happens? A person with a bad personality would say, ‘Hey, you idiots! Why can’t you do what I do? That’s why you’re not good enough. Shut up and do as I say.’ ”

“Yes.”

“But a person with a good personality!”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled creepily and said,

“No, I did it too. So you can do it too. I’m not special. You can all do it if you try. So let’s work hard together.”

Goosebumps rose on her skin.

Han Eun-sol shook her head, shuddering. She didn’t even want to imagine it.

“…Is the chairman like that?”

“No. It’s similar, but the details are a bit different. To put it simply, the chairman is like a runaway train charging forward with good intentions. He’s the kind of person who would calmly say, ‘If you just try this hard, you can get this result, so why aren’t you trying now? You can do anything if you just try.’ ”

“…He’s a try-hard.”

“He’s the ultimate try-hard. The problem is that even if you want to argue with him, he does it right in front of you, so you have nothing to say.”

She understood.

A competent boss is someone you can learn from, but an overly competent boss is actually harmful. Because you can’t keep up. No matter how hard you try, all that’s left is self-loathing.

“Living with such a boss is more terrible than you can imagine. They don’t torment you personally, but they torment you with work.”

He was definitely a different type from Choi Yeon-ha.

Choi Yeon-ha didn’t torment people with work. Rather, she was quite easygoing in that regard. Compared to other top stars who created all sorts of trouble with work, she was strangely uncomplaining about it.

So much so that the time Han Eun-sol spent on set was the time she felt most at ease.

‘I can’t decide which is worse.’

She thought there was no one in the world who could torment her more than Choi Yeon-ha, but after listening to Lee Hyun-soo, Kang Jin-ho didn’t seem easy to deal with either.

It was hard to choose between the two.

By nature, Han Eun-sol was optimized for Choi Yeon-ha, but…

“Ugh.”

It was a difficult choice.

“It’s quite amazing.”

“What is?”

“How did people like that meet?”

“No.”

“Yes?”

“They met because they are those kinds of people.”

It was strangely convincing. Wasn’t this what they meant by a match made in heaven?

“Anyway, you’re having a hard time too. It must be tough to endure that personality.”

“It’s okay. I’m used to it now. More than that, you’re having a hard time too, manager. I didn’t know Chairman Kang Jin-ho was like that.”

“No, you’re having a harder time than me. The personality I see on the outside is like that, so how much worse would it be in reality? If you think about what you’re going through behind the scenes… ha.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“No. People in the same situation should understand and help each other.”

The two people who felt a strange sense of camaraderie looked at each other. At that moment, someone poked Lee Hyun-soo’s arm.

“What?”

Lee Hyun-soo turned to look at the person who had poked his arm.

“Why?”

“…She’s here.”

“Yeah?”

“I think someone’s looking for you…”

“Yeah?”

Lee Hyun-soo turned his head forward. Then, he froze stiff like someone who had seen Medusa.

Why…

Was Choi Yeon-ha here?

Lee Hyun-soo looked at Choi Yeon-ha, who was standing in the aisle next to his seat, with trembling eyes.

She was smiling slightly, but judging by the subtle twitching of her eyes and mouth, she had probably heard their conversation from the middle.

‘What was the last thing I said?’

Lee Hyun-soo, who boasted a great memory, couldn’t think of anything as if his head had been bleached white.

“H-here…”

At that moment, Choi Yeon-ha reached out her hand to Han Eun-sol.

“Hand cream.”

“Ah, yes!”

Han Eun-sol quickly took out the hand cream from the bag she had placed on the floor and handed it to Choi Yeon-ha.

“It’s quite dry. I’m glad I brought it. Right?”

“Yes. Y-yes, of course.”

“My heart is dry too.”

Cold sweat broke out on Han Eun-sol’s forehead. Anyone who knew Choi Yeon-ha would know that that smile was definitely not a smile.

‘C-cold.’

Suddenly, the air inside the plane felt cold. It seemed that they weren’t the only ones who felt that sensation, as coughs could be heard here and there.

Choi Yeon-ha smiled and looked at Lee Hyun-soo.

“What’s your name?”

“…Yes?”

“Your name.”

“…Lee Young-hee.”

“Ah, I see. Lee Young-hee, I hope you have a good trip.”

Choi Yeon-ha bowed her head slightly without erasing her smile and turned around. Then, she walked away towards the front with a calm gait.

Lee Hyun-soo, who had been staring at her back for a long time, quietly opened his mouth.

“Am I screwed?”

“No.”

Han Eun-sol smiled brightly.

“I’m the one who’s screwed.”