Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1507

“Seriously, just looking at this building makes me nervous,” Park Gyu-yeon said, shuddering as he looked at MK’s headquarters.

“It’s just a fancy building.”

“The CEO’s face is pretty fancy too.”

“Tsk.”

Ha Gwang-sik clicked his tongue as if telling him to stop talking nonsense, and Park Gyu-yeon pouted slightly.

‘It’s not a joke, I really feel that way.’

This huge building in the middle of Gangnam makes people shrink back. It’s even more so when you consider that the person they’re about to meet owns this building.

“How many CEOs have we met?”

“Those guys are just CEOs in name only; they’re just salaried workers. But Kang Jin-ho is the real owner. How is that the same? Didn’t you check the corporate share structure?”

“It’ll be quick once it’s listed [on the stock exchange].”

“Yeah. They’ll make a fortune when it’s listed.” Ha Gwang-sik didn’t reply and walked towards MK’s headquarters.

‘I wonder if they can even get listed.’

There’s no way this opaque company will get listed. To get listed, they’d have to reveal their internal structure, and that would cause a huge mess.

Or maybe this entire franchise business is just a process for money laundering.

No matter how hard he tried to see it in a positive light, Ha Gwang-sik couldn’t find anything positive about Kang Jin-ho.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

Ha Gwang-sik also entered MK’s headquarters with a slightly tense expression.

“What brings you here?”

As soon as they entered, a security guard blocked their path. Seeing this, Ha Gwang-sik narrowed his eyes slightly.

It wasn’t just because the other party was blocking them that he made that face. By nature, a company is a place where many people come and go. In a normal company, dozens of outsiders come and go every day.

But to immediately identify them as outsiders just by looking at their faces and block them, it was proof of how abnormally closed off this place was.

“Ah, hello. We’re from Jeil Economy. We’re here for the interview with the CEO today.”

Park Gyu-yeon presented his press pass, and the guard took it, checking the face in the photo against Park Gyu-yeon’s face.

“And this person?”

“What are you doing, senior? Give him your press pass.”

Just as Ha Gwang-sik was about to take out his press pass with a slightly annoyed expression,

“Hey, reporters, come this way!”

“Ah, Chief?”

The guard quickly bowed his head after spotting Lee Hyun-soo.

“This way.”

Ha Gwang-sik looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a subtle gaze, seeing the guard’s posture lower significantly.

‘He doesn’t look that impressive…’

He was a guard who looked like he could eat a bear whole. Even if these guys were polite and formal, they would still have a subtle pride in their masculinity.

That meant they wouldn’t easily show a servile attitude to those who seemed weaker than them. Even if those people were in a much higher social position.

Ha Gwang-sik was someone who could distinguish between social submission and personal submission. But this guard’s attitude was clearly not due to his position.

In other words, it meant that this ordinary-looking man could completely control this burly guard.

Ha Gwang-sik narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Lee Hyun-soo.

‘Ordinary… no, not ordinary. It’s subtle.’

Ha Gwang-sik, having confirmed Lee Hyun-soo’s sharp impression, approached him with a friendly smile.

“Hello.”

“Ah, yes. Reporters, please come in.” Lee Hyun-soo smiled and extended his hand to them. Ha Gwang-sik, who shook his hand, gripped it slightly harder and said,

“Thank you for agreeing to the interview.”

“It’s not like I agreed. And it’s not an interview, it’s a press conference.”

It meant that they weren’t here to dig into MK, but just to convey Kang Jin-ho’s position. Ha Gwang-sik’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

“Oh, my mistake. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, it’s okay. Come this way.” Lee Hyun-soo pressed a button and guided them into the elevator. Ha Gwang-sik, who got into the elevator without a word, looked at his reflection in the mirror and opened his mouth.

“The CEO must be very worried.”

“You have no idea. He can’t even eat properly. He’s so full of affection for the franchisees.”

“Haha, he can’t eat properly.”

Ha Gwang-sik laughed.

‘This guy is funny.’

Usually, even if it’s just an interview, the person facing the reporter is a little nervous. But this Lee Hyun-soo is not nervous at all; he’s joking around as if he’s going to play with them.

‘And he didn’t even give me his business card.’

At the timing when they should have exchanged business cards, he subtly opened the elevator. Very naturally.

‘That’s right. This is MK.’

Ha Gwang-sik smiled.

Coming in here, it’s even more clear. This is definitely not a normal company. And these guys are not normal people either.

There’s a smell.

A terrible stench was emanating from this guy, Lee Hyun-soo.

Kang Jin-ho would probably be several times worse.

Ding.

The elevator doors opened as it reached the top floor.

“This way.”

“Yes.”

Guided by Lee Hyun-soo, the two walked down the hallway leading to the CEO’s office.

The hallway was modern and simply decorated. In a way, it was even a bit desolate.

‘He’s not the type to show off…’

Usually, CEOs like to decorate even the hallway leading to their office lavishly. They think their authority comes from that.

And that’s not entirely wrong.

But Kang Jin-ho seemed to be far from that style.

Lee Hyun-soo knocked on the door in front of the CEO’s office.

“CEO, I’ve brought the reporters.”

“Tell them to come in.”

“Yes.”

Ha Gwang-sik clenched and unclenched his fist slightly at the low voice coming from inside.

‘Kang Jin-ho.’

It wasn’t their first meeting. They had met once before at MK’s opening ceremony. But at that time, Ha Gwang-sik didn’t know much about Kang Jin-ho.

He couldn’t say he knew him well now, but it was a time when he knew less than a tenth of what he knew now. So, the feeling was bound to be different.

‘I thought he was just a young second-generation chaebol [a wealthy heir], but I never imagined he’d be such a big shot.’

The door opens.

Ha Gwang-sik looked into the CEO’s office with an expression that couldn’t hide his tension.

The first feeling he had was ‘desolate.’

But that desolation was soon replaced by a different feeling.

The moment Kang Jin-ho stood up from his desk inside, the desolation turned into ‘heaviness.’

Kang Jin-ho, wearing a neat navy suit and with his hair neatly combed back, approached Ha Gwang-sik with slow steps.

Ha Gwang-sik bit his lip without realizing it.

A person with no emotional exchange.

When you think about it, he’s just a stranger approaching.

But how can you feel like this?

Ha Gwang-sik closed his mouth.

Overwhelming presence.

It felt as if the room was completely filled with Kang Jin-ho alone. Ha Gwang-sik, who had seen many big shots, was feeling this way for the first time in his life.

Park Gyu-yeon also seemed intimidated by Kang Jin-ho’s presence, twitching and trembling.

Kang Jin-ho, who had come right in front of Ha Gwang-sik, smiled slightly and extended his hand.

“I’m Kang Jin-ho.”

“Ah… Ah! Ah, yes! I’m Ha Gwang-sik.”

Ha Gwang-sik shook Kang Jin-ho’s hand without realizing it. It would be polite to present his business card first, but such a procedure was not on Ha Gwang-sik’s mind right now.

“Thank you for visiting from so far away. I should have come to you, but I’ve been a little busy.”

“No, it’s… CEO? Ah, what should I call you…”

Kang Jin-ho glanced at Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo then made a troubled face.

“Just call him CEO.”

Because it was a company that was made in a haphazard way, there were still ambiguous aspects to the titles. To be precise, it was right for Kang Jin-ho to be called CEO, but the problem was that Kang Jin-ho himself hated that title very much.

‘It does make him look a bit old.’

But CEO, you are actually very old inside.

“…Please call me Representative.”

Ha Gwang-sik, who had been pondering over the two different words, nodded his head.

“Then I’ll call you Representative. Representative, thank you for making time for us. I’m sure you’re very busy.”

Park Gyu-yeon looked at the back of Ha Gwang-sik’s head with a subtle expression.

‘That guy is funny.’

Before meeting him, he would chew people out like dried squid, but now that he’s actually here, he’s using honorifics without even thinking about it.

‘Well, I understand.’

Even Park Gyu-yeon wouldn’t be able to use casual language with Kang Jin-ho. Even now, Park Gyu-yeon was flinching at every gesture and glance from Kang Jin-ho.

‘He’s a real big shot.’

It had nothing to do with the position he held.

If you live a life where you meet many people, you will realize at some point. That there are just big people, regardless of wealth or power.

At least in Park Gyu-yeon’s opinion, Kang Jin-ho was one of those people.

“Please, have a seat.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Kang Jin-ho pointed to the seats, and Ha Gwang-sik and Park Gyu-yeon sat down. And Kang Jin-ho naturally sat across from them.

Ha Gwang-sik swallowed hard.

‘This is crazy.’

It was so awkward that Kang Jin-ho sat across from them instead of taking the seat of honor. It felt like this man should have a special seat prepared for him even if he went to a cafe.

“You’re here for an interview?”

“Yes? Ah… yes. We came because of the obstruction of business incident at Cafe Luo Go.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“That’s interesting. Even though the articles came out like that, no one wanted to interview me.”

“Ah… we didn’t have high expectations either, but thankfully the CEO agreed. Usually, in these cases, they refuse. They say an interview with the person in charge is enough.”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze slowly turned to the side.

Lee Hyun-soo, who received his gaze, turned his head and looked at the ceiling.

Kang Jin-ho, who let out a slightly uncomfortable groan, turned his gaze back and smiled.

“I hope we haven’t been rude.”

“It’s okay. An interview isn’t that difficult.”

Of course, it was a difficult task, but it wasn’t something to say in front of a reporter.

“Then let’s begin.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The two busily prepared their recorders and cameras. Then, they began to check the list of questions they had prepared in advance.

“Ah, just a moment.”

“Yes?”

Ha Gwang-sik narrowed his brow slightly and looked at Lee Hyun-soo.

Those who conduct interviews often decide on questions that should not be asked at times like this. If they say it in advance, the interview itself might be canceled, so they block the questions only after the meeting is set up.

Then the interview becomes meaningless.

‘Damn it, then that…’

“You absolutely must not forget the promise to put a big picture on the front page!”

What?

That?

Lee Hyun-soo said with the utmost seriousness.

“I even went to the hair salon this morning. Please make sure to take a pretty picture and publish it.”

Ha Gwang-sik turned his head with a blank face.

Kang Jin-ho, whose cheeks seemed slightly flushed, covered his mouth with his fist and coughed softly.

‘Seriously.’

Ha Gwang-sik sighed.

‘I don’t understand these bastards at all.’