Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1617

“The kids are adapting better than I thought.”

“Ah.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Indeed, even to his eyes, the shadows on the children’s faces had largely disappeared.

“At first, they seemed to have a hard time adjusting, but once they realized that no one around them would hurt them, they started acting like normal kids their age. I was so relieved.”

“That’s a relief.”

The director nodded.

“Of course, there’s still a lot to do. Some of the kids still have some trauma, so we’ll be working with the local child center to provide trauma therapy. And…”

“The foundation is also planning to hire a separate psychologist. I heard they’re looking into it.”

“Yes. I heard about that too. I’m so grateful. It can’t be easy to take care of even those kinds of details.”

“It’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho looked slightly embarrassed.

‘It’s like a hand that’s always ready to clap.’

Every time he said something, he was met with praise and gratitude, making it a little uncomfortable to lead the conversation. Well, from the director’s perspective, she was dealing with the chairman, so perhaps this was a natural reaction.

“The younger kids are slowly opening up to us, but the older kids are still a bit sullen.”

“Hmm.”

“They have a lot of scars, so it’s hard for them to trust easily. It’s a problem we have to solve.”

The director smiled quietly.

Kang Jin-ho glanced at her and opened his mouth.

“Are there any inconveniences in your work?”

“No, there aren’t.”

“Anything related to living conditions…”

The director shook her head.

“They’ve given us such a nice residence that we have no complaints. The staff likes it too.”

“That’s a relief.”

“There are no inconveniences in our work at all… Even if there were some minor inconveniences, that’s something we should endure.”

“Pardon?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head slightly at her words.

“I realized after coming here how easily we worked at Seongsim [a reference to the previous orphanage]. No, actually, it’s not that I realized it after coming here, but rather that I had forgotten what I already knew. Before coming to Seongsim Orphanage, that was our daily life…”

The director trailed off slightly.

She seemed to be organizing her thoughts for a moment before looking at Kang Jin-ho and speaking.

“I had forgotten how many children in the world are struggling. The reason I chose this job in the first place was to be a source of strength for those children, but somehow, I had become like that. It’s not easy for a person to maintain their initial intentions.”

“That’s true.”

The director turned her head slightly.

Through the open reception room door, they could see children running around.

“Hyung-taek, don’t run like that, you’ll get hurt!”

“Okay!”

The director smiled as she watched the child run off, barely listening.

“I used to just focus on the children I was in charge of, but now that I’m in the position of director, it’s like….”

“It’s hard, isn’t it?”

The director shook her head.

“It’s not that it’s hard for me, but rather that I now understand how difficult it must have been for the former director nun.”

At the mention of the former director nun, Kang Jin-ho gave a bitter smile.

“If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be living the way I am now.”

“I feel the same way.”

The director nodded.

“I may not be able to live like her, but I should at least try to follow half of what she did for the children.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled and nodded.

Just listening to her speak, he could feel how much she cared for the children.

Someone who didn’t know her might not believe it so easily, but this person had been taking care of children at Seongsim for over ten years. She was highly recommended by Jo Mi-hye and Han Jin-sung, so he could naturally trust her.

“I wanted to create many places like Seongsim Orphanage.”

“That’s a really big dream.”

The director looked dejected.

“It’s also a very burdensome thing for us to hear. It’s really hard to create a place like Seongsim. It’s not easy for children who have been hurt to trust and rely on each other like family.”

“I don’t mean to put pressure on you.”

“Yes, I know. But even if you didn’t say that, we already have that goal in mind.”

“Pardon?”

The director spoke with a serious expression.

“I also want to make this place like Seongsim Orphanage. No, my ambition is to make it even better than that. It won’t be easy, though…”

The director shrugged.

“So, it’s been chaotic lately. The new directors have created a group chat.”

“Oh, really?”

“Every night, all sorts of worries come up, then suddenly there’s a praise session for the former director nun, and then all sorts of worries come up again…”

He could roughly guess the atmosphere.

Still, it seemed better to share opinions with others in the same situation than to worry alone.

‘As long as it doesn’t turn into a women’s association.’

No, well, even if it becomes like a women’s association, it’s not a big deal, is it? They are actually women, after all….

“Anyway.”

“Yes.”

“Everyone is really grateful.”

“••••••Yes?”

“To the chairman.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened.

“Me?”

“Yes. To the chairman.”

The director smiled warmly.

“Just looking at the facilities, you can tell how much you thought about the children. Of course, we’ve seen you a lot at Seongsim, so we all know that you genuinely care for the children, but we never imagined you would go this far.”

“……It’s nothing.”

“The world would be a better place if there were more people like the chairman… Oh my, do I sound like I’m flattering you too much? Hehehe.”

Sweat trickled down the back of Kang Jin-ho’s neck.

‘Was she always this good at talking?’

If he had known this would happen, he should have talked to the childcare teachers more often to build up his resistance.

“There aren’t any problems yet. The problems will start now. Once the kids start to let their guard down around us, that’s when it will begin. Until then, it’s just a preliminary battle.”

“Ah…”

“Other than that, everything is fine. The new teachers who came this time all seem like good people. Oh, of course, the complete newbies are a bit teary-eyed. It must be harder than they thought.”

The director chuckled.

“Dreams are dreams, and reality is reality. Children are not as cute as you think, they don’t listen as well as you think, and they don’t like us as much as you think.”

That was true.

Even raising his own child, there were times when he was frustrated, so raising someone else’s child couldn’t be easy.

“It’s probably even harder because of the low pay.”

“Oh my, what are you saying? The pay we give at our orphanage is more than double that of other orphanages. Honestly, I’m worried about whether the orphanage can even operate like this.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“Those who were here originally deserve to be treated well, and it’s only natural to match the salaries for the new teachers. That’s how we’ll attract better talent.”

“That’s right.”

The director smiled slightly at Kang Jin-ho.

The short-haired high school student who used to come to the orphanage had grown up to be someone who ran an orphanage.

She had seen children grow up and become independent, but the director felt the passage of time most strongly when she looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“Don’t worry too much. Everyone is doing their best. No one doesn’t know how good of an opportunity this is and how good of a thing it is. The directors are racking their brains on how to make a better orphanage, and the childcare teachers are all working hard.”

“Thank you.”

“And the Seongsim kids often come by to create a good atmosphere. Those young kids have such kind hearts.”

At the mention of Seongsim, the director’s expression softened.

“You must be sad to leave a place you were so attached to.”

“Well, it would be a lie to say I’m not sad at all. But even though I’m sad, I don’t want to go back. It’s okay there without me, but it feels like I need to be here.”

Her voice was firm.

“Every time I realize how much the children have suffered, I feel guilty. While I was comfortably taking care of the children at Seongsim, the children here were suffering like this. If I had tried a little harder and tried to see more, I could have made at least a few more of them happy.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed as he saw the director’s hand trembling slightly.

“It’s not your fault.”

“That’s right. It’s not my fault… but I still feel that way.”

The director smiled lightly and said to Kang Jin-ho.

“So, I’m always grateful for giving us this opportunity. I’ll make it a really good place. Please trust me.”

“Of course, I trust you.”

He felt a warm sensation.

He even felt a little comforted by the fact that he and the people around him weren’t the only ones fiercely worrying about the orphanage.

‘Well.’

Kang Jin-ho had no right to evaluate these people.

He was just someone who gave money and nagged. But these people had chosen this profession because they wanted to help children.

It would be presumptuous for Kang Jin-ho to evaluate them.

“Is there anything else the orphanage needs?”

“Well, actually, we’re a bit short on daily necessities compared to before.”

“Daily necessities?”

Kang Jin-ho frowned. He had given instructions to make sure there were no shortages, so how could they be short on daily necessities? Unless something went wrong somewhere….

“Ah, it’s not like that. It’s because… we haven’t been open for long, right?”

“……That’s right.”

The director chuckled.

“Usually, orphanages receive a lot of donations of daily necessities. But since the newly opened orphanage is not well known, it takes some time for donations to come in. So, the amount we had set based on Seongsim is not enough.”

“Ah…”

He understood what she meant.

“Anyway, I’ll tell them right away so we can buy more.”

“Yes. We’ll discuss the other minor issues separately and let you know. I feel like we’re making too much of a fuss.”

“No. Please tell me everything, even the smallest things.”

“Ah…”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the director and said.

“We will provide all the support we can. If there’s anything you need, please tell me. And… it doesn’t have to be something you’ve done at the orphanage before. If it’s something the children need, please tell me anything. After discussing and considering it, we will provide support.”

The director smiled.

“Thank you so much for saying that.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then, can I make one request?”

“You can make as many as you want.”

“Please play with the kids for a bit before you go.”

“••••••Pardon?”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes wavered.

“It seems like they don’t have a very good image of chairmen or directors because of what they’ve experienced before. If you play and mingle with them, their bad image will disappear.”

“Ah, that’s….”

“You said you’d support anything, right?”

“Please.”

Kang Jin-ho squeezed his eyes shut as he looked at the director’s smiling face.

This is why you have to watch your words.