Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 207

Starting a Business (4)

“Why my brother?”

Choi Yeon-ha had to revise many of her thoughts with Kang Eun-young’s single question.

First of all, Kang Eun-young’s acting was not just okay.

‘Her tone is completely different.’

The image of a sweet girl who seemed ready to give Choi Yeon-ha her own liver had completely disappeared, and now a prickly, ill-tempered child was sitting in front of her.

If that was all acting, then Kang Eun-young was not just a junior who was good at acting, but a natural-born actress. With that face and acting ability, the entertainment industry would be in for a shake-up.

And secondly…

‘She’s… a bro-con [a person who is obsessed with their brother].’

She had only shown a slight interest in Kang Jin-ho, and now Kang Eun-young was glaring at her with the look of a venomous cat.

It meant that she was so agitated that the mask she had been wearing had instantly flown off.

“Oh my! You’re the first man to treat me like this!”

Kang Eun-young frowned at Choi Yeon-ha’s sudden remark.

“Or maybe… Ah! You’re the first person I’ve seen who’s so handsome! My prince!”

“…What are you doing?”

Choi Yeon-ha burst into laughter at Kang Eun-young’s question, which she couldn’t hold back any longer. It was a laugh that seemed a bit frivolous, but thanks to it, Kang Eun-young was able to relax her guard a little.

“I was thinking about which would be a more cliché story. If this were a comic, which way would be more popular?”

“The latter.”

“Hmm, I guess so. But unfortunately, this is reality, and I’m not a comic character. And I’m not a child with such pure emotions that I’d fall in love just by seeing someone’s face. Right?”

Kang Eun-young was readjusting her expression.

It was obvious, but Choi Yeon-ha, as a fellow woman, waited for her to get back into character. She didn’t want to criticize Kang Eun-young for being fake with her. She would probably be no different from Kang Eun-young when dealing with her seniors.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Because it’s a waste.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s such a waste of that face.”

Kang Eun-young nodded involuntarily as Choi Yeon-ha smiled. She didn’t know the intention, but she couldn’t help but agree with those words.

“Do you know how many good actors there are in Korea? If you just look around the acting scene, not just the people who are currently dominating Chungmuro [the Korean equivalent of Hollywood], there are so many people who act like they’re not even human. Compared to them, I should just bite my tongue and die.”

“Oh, senior, that’s too much.”

“It’s true.”

Choi Yeon-ha shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m not some acting prodigy. I don’t even know the ‘act’ in acting. But do you know how I get praised for being good at acting?”

“…If you’re going to say it’s because you’re pretty, I’ll be disappointed in advance.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but that’s the truth.”

Choi Yeon-ha said with a look of pity.

“There are probably over a hundred actresses in Korea who are better at acting than me. But there are hardly any actresses who are prettier than me. So, I, who can at least read a script, became a ‘great actress’. Do you know what that means?”

“No.”

“Being handsome is an incredible talent. At least in this industry. And your brother is like that. So much so that I’d want to see him even if he’s terrible at acting.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Eun-young sighed and gulped down the half-cold Americano.

“I understand what you’re saying…”

Kang Eun-young said sullenly.

“Isn’t that something the agency should be saying? Senior, are you planning to start your own business?”

“How about saying it’s the pure heart of an actress who feels sorry that a talented person is disappearing?”

“Yes, senior! I firmly believed that you were such a kind person. Oh my! You’re exactly as I thought you would be.”

“…Okay, stop it.”

It seemed like this girl had stopped acting in front of her. Then she should play along.

“I’m going to be in a movie soon, and the other actor hasn’t been decided yet. But I want to cast your brother.”

“That terrible actor?”

Choi Yeon-ha said with a refreshing smile.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Are you going to dub him again? That was possible because it was a short line, but if you dub the whole thing, it’ll be very awkward.”

“No.”

Kang Eun-young couldn’t help but gape at Choi Yeon-ha’s next answer. Anyone who heard it would think that this role was meant for Kang Jin-ho.

“The male lead is a mute.”

“…Crazy.”

In the end, Kang Eun-young even cursed in front of her senior.

“I can pass on the message. But I should tell you in advance that he’s not interested in that kind of thing, so it’ll be a waste of your time.”

“If casting was easy, everyone in Korea who makes movies would be successful, right?”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Anyway, that’s my problem, so Kang Eun-young just needs to give me your brother’s contact information.”

“Can I think about it?”

Choi Yeon-ha nodded and quietly looked at Kang Eun-young.

“Why?”

“Because you seem more comfortable now.”

“Is it because I have a bad personality? It’s because of you, senior. If you hadn’t said that, I wouldn’t have been like this.”

Choi Yeon-ha smiled.

“Still, your personality is better than I thought. I thought you’d have a terrible personality because of the rumors.”

“Rumors?”

“You had a falling out with Laen, right?”

“Laen?”

“The Voice.”

“Ah, them?”

Kang Eun-young nodded as if she finally understood.

“There are rumors that Laen can’t go on air and is under tax investigation. Before that, you also dissolved StarWiz and went to Code, right? There are rumors that you’re the real power in the entertainment industry. I heard that a big company is backing you? So I thought your real personality would be terrible.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kang Eun-young said as if it was nothing.

It wasn’t good for such rumors to spread, but she also knew that paying attention to every single one of them would be a waste of energy.

“Is it true?”

“What?”

“That you’re being sponsored by Jae-kyung?”

“Is that important?”

‘Then isn’t it important?’

Kang Eun-young didn’t know. Even if they had a hard time as trainees, there were people who never made it big even after their debut.

There were countless people who were beautiful, good at singing, and good at acting, but strangely never gained recognition and disappeared. That’s why background was important. There were kids who didn’t make it even with crazy pushes from major agencies, but they were still a thousand or ten thousand times better off than those who didn’t even get a chance to be pushed in the first place.

“But what should I do? To be honest, I have nothing to do with Jae-kyung.”

“…Ah, really? I see.”

It was an attitude that she wouldn’t dig deeper if she didn’t want to reveal it.

Kang Eun-young chuckled and said,

“It’s true. It’s not me, but my brother who has a relationship with Jae-kyung.”

Choi Yeon-ha’s eyes lit up slightly.

Kang Jin-ho had nothing to do.

All the obvious things like which franchise to choose, how much to invest in the interior, where the location was good, and how much to invest were all taken care of by Jo Gyu-min.

This alone was a bit off from Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo’s original intention. But Jo Gyu-min also knew that if he left this to Kang Jin-ho, the store would explode before he could even assess his management skills.

That’s why Jo Gyu-min decided to set up the store as much as possible and then leave it to Kang Jin-ho.

Thanks to that, Kang Jin-ho was…

“Here’s your espresso.”

“…I-is this an espresso?”

“Yes, sir.”

“The cup is, uh, really small?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I-it’s not just here, right?”

The man, who was bewildered by the small cup that looked like it belonged in a dollhouse set, didn’t know where to look.

‘Why can’t people tell the difference between an espresso and an Americano?’

There were more than one or two people like this. Kang Jin-ho, who was wondering if he should put pictures on the menu, bowed his head and turned around.

The man who was about to take a sip of the espresso would probably…

“Ack! It’s bitter! Aack!”

…end up like that.

Kang Jin-ho shook his head and walked to the counter.

Kang Ji-hwan wasn’t going to leave Kang Jin-ho, who had nothing to do, alone. While preparing, Kang Jin-ho was thinking about going back to unloading packages, but he was forcibly dragged to work at the cafe by his father.

‘Inefficient.’

The cafe was already becoming self-service, so he didn’t know why he had to serve like this.

“Oppa [an affectionate term for older brother used by females]! Please take a picture of me!”

“…Didn’t you take one this morning?”

“The sun is high now! The lighting is perfect now!”

“…Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply and walked towards the table.

“Oppa, you haven’t been coming out much lately, have you?”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Still, there are so few people in the store because you’re not here. The people who used to come every day don’t come anymore, so it’s lonely. Please come more often.”

‘Instead of that, it would be better if the customers stopped coming.’

Kang Jin-ho sighed quietly.

This wasn’t a zoo, so why would people come to a cafe to see someone’s face?

Recently, he hadn’t been coming to the cafe often, so the number of people had decreased, which made it more enjoyable to work.

“Jin-ho, wait a minute!”

“Yes?”

Kang Ji-hwan called out to Kang Jin-ho.

When he approached the counter, his father handed him a piece of cake.

“Give this to them. It’s on the house.”

“…Yes?”

What cafe gives a cake as a service to people who are drinking coffee?

“They come every time whether you’re here or not. Go give them the cake and take lots of pictures. Talk to them too!”

“Yes.”

Dictatorship is bad.

Kang Jin-ho, suffering from Kang Ji-hwan’s dictatorship, reflected on his own iron-fisted rule in the past in the Demonic Cult.

‘I’m sorry, Cheongma.’

If he had known it was like this, he would have listened a little more when they spoke.

He shouldn’t have ignored Cheongma’s words when he was spitting blood trying to stop him from sharing the Asura Technique.

Kang Jin-ho carried the cake to the table.

“This is on the house.”

“Oh my! Thank you!”

“Do you come often?”

“Yes. I used to come mostly in the evening, but I’ve been coming a bit earlier since yesterday.”

“Do you have something to do in the evening?”

“Ah, it’s not that.”

A slight anxiety flickered across the customer’s face. Kang Jin-ho didn’t miss that expression.

“Is something wrong?”

“…Don’t you know? A female college student was murdered here two days ago.”

“Murdered?”

Kang Jin-ho’s brow furrowed.

“She was attacked on her way home at night. They say it was terrible. There’s a lot of talk about a real psycho appearing.”

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and scanned the store.

‘I thought the number of customers had decreased…’

With such an incident, it was natural for the floating population to decrease.

“The police must be investigating.”

“Still, I’m worried. But I felt like I had to see oppa’s face, so I’m coming early. Hehe.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the customer with a subtle expression, then turned and went to the counter.

“Father.”

“Yes?”

“…One more free coffee, please.” Kang Jin-ho was also human.