Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1242

A man was visible on the phone screen.

A neat, charcoal gray suit.

A snow-white dress shirt that looked like it could be dusted with powder, and a trendy navy slim tie.

His hair, neatly slicked back with pomade, added to his trustworthiness, and the long coat he wore over his suit completed the elegant look.

It was a bit of a shame that his eyes were slightly sharp, but it wasn’t a flaw. It actually enhanced his intellectual vibe.

‘Not bad.’

Lee Hyun-soo took a deep breath and put his phone away. With this, his external appearance was perfectly prepared. Lee Hyun-soo usually preferred a more casual style, but this wasn’t a situation where he could consider his preferences.

Gulp.

Lee Hyun-soo swallowed hard and looked up at the building in front of him.

A large building, entirely made of glass, loomed over him.

Not long ago, when he stood in front of this building, he had trembled with pride. But now, he was trembling for a completely different reason.

‘I can’t do this, seriously.’

Lee Hyun-soo took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He sighed deeply and walked towards the building.

“Loyalty! Team Leader, you’ve arrived!”

Lee Hyun-soo frowned at the guard who was greeting him in a stiff posture.

“Is this the military? Loyalty, my foot.”

“Guards are supposed to greet like that.”

“…Okay.”

Lee Hyun-soo didn’t want to say anything more and nodded in agreement.

“Do your job properly. Don’t let any riffraff in.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got all the riffraff in this neighborhood under control.”

“…I think you were born to be a guard?”

“Hehe, actually, this job is very similar to what I used to do, so I’m very satisfied.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head and headed for the elevator.

“Have a good one.”

“You too.”

Normally, when Lee Hyun-soo visited MK, he would go to his office first, but today, the office was the last thing on his mind. Something far more important was waiting for him.

“Hoo.”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at himself in the mirror inside the elevator and straightened his clothes again. It’s often said that etiquette comes from the heart, but that’s just something people say to sound good.

When you need to show respect, why do you tidy your clothes and clean yourself? Etiquette comes solely from one’s appearance.

When he reached his destination floor, Lee Hyun-soo took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator. He walked down the clean hallway for a while and bit his lip slightly as he looked at the closed door.

‘To catch a tiger… no, no. Damn it! What am I even talking about, catching a tiger! To not get killed by a tiger, I have to go into the tiger’s den… no, that doesn’t make sense either.’

Anyway, he had to go in.

Lee Hyun-soo raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

No, he was about to knock.

“What?”

But before he could knock, a sharp voice pierced his ears from inside.

“What? You’re not renewing the contract? Why?!”

“Uh, no… it’s not like I can do anything if they don’t want to renew the contract.”

“Is that what a manager should say! It’s your job to get the contract renewed!”

“…Weren’t you calling me a team leader before?”

“If you’re a team leader, you should get it renewed even more! And why aren’t they renewing all of a sudden? Who are they signing with?”

“I heard they’re going with Ha Min-jung…”

“Haaa Miiiiin Juuuuung?”

His hands were trembling.

“Seriously, are all the advertisers in Korea crazy about girl groups! Is every TV channel a music channel? Girl groups in dramas! Girl groups in commercials! Why? Why don’t you just put girl group pictures on your bathroom doors and live like that!”

“Sis, calm down, please. You’ve landed more than five new commercials, and you only lost one… Besides, your filming schedule is already packed. It’s not like losing one is a big deal… Aaaah! Don’t throw that! No, don’t throw it, let’s talk! Let’s talk! We promised not to throw things in the office… Aaaaaaaah!”

Should I just go back?

Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t help but fall into serious contemplation.

“Hey! Getting new ones is one thing! But don’t you know it feels even worse to have something taken away from you?”

“That’s usually for fresh, young kids… No! That’s metal! Put it down! Please!”

“Did you say Ha Min-jung?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going to break that bitch’s head next time I see her!”

Lee Hyun-soo stared at the ceiling with a blank expression.

After listening to the bickering for a while, things seemed to quiet down a bit.

Lee Hyun-soo took a deep breath and, after a few moments of hesitation, slowly knocked on the door.

Knock knock.

There was no answer. But Lee Hyun-soo didn’t rush and waited a little longer before knocking on the door again.

Knock knock.

Then, a response came.

“Come in.”

“Yes!”

Lee Hyun-soo opened the door with a tense expression. As he opened the door, he first noticed the more luxurious interior, different from the office he usually entered.

But the interior soon disappeared from his sight. The moment he saw the person sitting at the central desk, he didn’t care about anything else around him.

Choi Yeon-ha.

Choi Yeon-ha, sitting at the desk, looked at Lee Hyun-soo with her eyes raised. And next to her…

Han Eun-sol, with a face so sad it was hard to describe, was looking at Lee Hyun-soo with slightly teary eyes. Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes turned red as he felt an unknown sense of camaraderie from her pitiful appearance.

“Th, then, you two talk…”

Han Eun-sol walked past Lee Hyun-soo with a heavy step. Han Eun-sol, who was going out, glanced at Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo closed his eyes tightly as he realized there was a subtle pity in her eyes.

“You’ve worked hard to come here, Team Leader Lee Hyun-soo.”

“No, Director! I should have greeted you sooner, please forgive me for only visiting you now!”

Lee Hyun-soo closed the door and bowed ninety degrees.

Anyone who knew Lee Hyun-soo would have been shocked by the current scene.

Lee Hyun-soo was a man who was quick to kneel, but he wasn’t particularly polite. He would do as he was told, but he was not the type to take a low posture.

There was not a single person within the General Assembly who received a full bow from Lee Hyun-soo. Even to Kang Jin-ho, Lee Hyun-soo would only give a light nod.

And yet, Lee Hyun-soo was now bowing deeply.

“Isn’t that too much of a greeting? It’s making me uncomfortable. Don’t do that, come and sit down.”

“Ah… Yes, Director!”

But for Lee Hyun-soo, it was a very natural response.

‘If I mess up, I’m done for.’

What? Directors of the General Assembly? The Prime Minister?

‘Who cares about those guys.’

The directors of the General Assembly were people with undeniable power, but Lee Hyun-soo had never been particularly afraid of them. But this person was different.

Choi Yeon-ha.

The person Lee Hyun-soo was most uncomfortable with in the world was smiling and walking out from behind the desk.

‘Wow, look at the sweat on my forehead.’

Lee Hyun-soo had lived a rough life.

In his life, he had faced irredeemable murderers and devils who had been consumed by power. But none of them had ever made Lee Hyun-soo as nervous as Choi Yeon-ha.

Was it because Choi Yeon-ha was Kang Jin-ho’s girlfriend?

Absolutely not.

If you can communicate, no one is scary. Because you can solve everything through conversation. But for Lee Hyun-soo, Choi Yeon-ha was someone he had to deal with through conversation, yet she was someone he couldn’t communicate with.

For Lee Hyun-soo, who had always dealt with unreasonable thugs with his fists and reasonable people with words, an opponent who was unreasonable and whom he couldn’t use his fists on was like an unknown monster he had no idea how to deal with.

That’s right.

In other words, for Lee Hyun-soo, Choi Yeon-ha was his one and only natural enemy.

“Sit down.”

“Yes, Director!”

Choi Yeon-ha smiled as she sat on the sofa.

“You don’t have to be so formal. In terms of the company, you’re much more senior.”

“What’s important in a company isn’t experience, but position. A higher position means higher ability, and in a company, people with higher ability should naturally receive better treatment. Director, please don’t worry about it.”

“You’re also older than me…”

“A company is not a place where you are treated based on age!”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Choi Yeon-ha chuckled as if she found it amusing. Lee Hyun-soo sat stiffly and nodded.

“Yes. Please feel comfortable with that.”

“But if Team Leader Lee is so tense, it’s hard for me to be comfortable.”

“From what I heard from Jin-ho, I thought you were a more fun person…”

‘What did you say, Master!’

How could the words ‘Lee Hyun-soo’ and ‘fun’ ever be used together? Lee Hyun-soo, who had never been called a fun person in his nearly 40 years of life, couldn’t help but be flustered.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not ‘I’m sorry’…

Choi Yeon-ha, who was about to say something, chuckled.

“It’s okay. I feel like I’m just tormenting someone who’s nervous.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Don’t be so tense. This director position is just a title anyway. If you keep doing that, I’ll feel uncomfortable.”

Lee Hyun-soo subtly glanced at Choi Yeon-ha.

Looking at her softly smiling lips, he felt his tense heart slowly relax.

‘Was I too tense?’

It was at that moment.

“I’m going to break that bitch’s head next time I see her!”

Choi Yeon-ha’s cry from earlier replayed in Lee Hyun-soo’s mind. Lee Hyun-soo tensed his arms again, which had been about to relax.

‘Get a grip, Lee Hyun-soo.’

This woman is a monster.

No matter how nice she pretends to be, her true nature doesn’t change. This woman is the one who has captured and shaken Kang Jin-ho, whom no one but his family could touch. She is not someone Lee Hyun-soo can handle.

“Please understand today. I will try my best to be more comfortable with you in the future.”

“Hmm, well, I guess there’s no helping it.”

A slight disappointment flashed across Choi Yeon-ha’s face.

But Lee Hyun-soo could clearly see. That disappointment wasn’t about not being able to get comfortable with him. It was the disappointment of a spider not catching its prey in its web.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Yes, Director! It’s about a request from MK Group to you.”

“A request?”

“Yes. It’s about… MK is starting a new franchise business, and since you are the face of MK, we would like to ask you to be the model for the company…”

“Just a moment.”

“Yes?”

Choi Yeon-ha raised her voice, looking outside.

“Eun-sol! Team Leader Han Eun-sol!”

“Yes, Sis!”

“Come in! It’s work!”

“Yes!”

Han Eun-sol rushed in, opened her notebook, and sat down.

Then, with a completely different, business-like look, she looked at Lee Hyun-soo and said,

“I’m Han Eun-sol, Choi Yeon-ha’s manager. Let’s talk about business matters first.”

“…No, Director.”

“Ah!”

Han Eun-sol cut off Lee Hyun-soo’s words immediately.

“Business is business, and personal matters are personal. Right now, we’re talking about a contract, so please refer to her as actress Choi Yeon-ha. So, how much did you look into it?”

Lee Hyun-soo stared at Han Eun-sol with a blank expression.

This guy is a pro.