Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 21

Park Yu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with an awkward expression, then lowered his head.

“Um… I…”

Kang Jin-ho frowned.

He couldn’t tell if Park Yu-min was lowering his head because he had done something wrong to him, or if it was just a habit.

What was certain was that Kang Jin-ho didn’t like Park Yu-min’s behavior, no matter the reason.

“You walk?”

“Yeah.”

“Where’s your house?”

“Home? My house is…”

Park Yu-min hesitated, then raised his hand and pointed to a place.

Park Yu-min was pointing to the top of a mountain far in the distance.

“It’s over there.”

“There?”

“Yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at the place Park Yu-min was pointing at. It was a mountain peak that would make even a healthy person’s legs ache just from walking up it.

Looking closely at the place Park Yu-min pointed to, there seemed to be a building there.

But Park Yu-min, with his bad leg, was going up there?

“Is that for real?”

“Yeah. Why would I lie… No.”

Park Yu-min, who was about to say, ‘Why would I lie,’ thought about what he had done and trailed off.

His conscience wouldn’t allow him to say such a thing.

“That’s high.”

“A little.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Park Yu-min’s leg, then turned his bicycle around.

“Get on.”

“Huh?”

Kang Jin-ho pointed to the back seat of the bicycle.

“Get on.”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll just walk.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at Park Yu-min.

“Are you afraid I’ll drag you into a corner and beat you up?”

Park Yu-min couldn’t answer Kang Jin-ho’s blunt question and lowered his head again.

Kang Jin-ho, even more displeased with that sight, shook his head and said,

“I wouldn’t do that. If I was going to hit you, I would have done it already.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Forget it, get on.”

Park Yu-min hesitated, then, feeling sorry for refusing again, he quietly got on the bicycle.

“Hold on tight.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s go.”

Kang Jin-ho put his foot on the bicycle pedal and lightly pushed down.

Whoosh!

But his definition of ‘lightly’ was off, and the bicycle shot forward as if it had a nitro boost.

“W-what, what is this! This bicycle! Why is it so fast!”

“Hold on tight. You’ll fall.”

Whoosh!

Kang Jin-ho’s bicycle entered a steep uphill road. The bicycle began to climb the steep slope, which was hard to walk up, at high speed as if it were going downhill.

And with a person on it.

“Aaaah!”

Park Yu-min, startled by the speed that felt like he was about to fall off, grabbed Kang Jin-ho’s waist.

Regardless, Kang Jin-ho calmly rode the bicycle up, and up, and up.

“J-Jin-ho, can’t you go a little slower?”

Kang Jin-ho replied nonchalantly.

“I am going slow?”

“This is?”

“Should I go even slower?”

With a dazed Park Yu-min on board, Kang Jin-ho’s bicycle climbed the hill and finally reached the top.

“Hmm…”

Kang Jin-ho clicked his tongue as if he was a little disappointed after reaching the top.

“It would have been nice if there was a bit more hill.”

He felt a bit underwhelmed because the hill ended just as he was getting warmed up. If the hill had continued a little longer, he might have been able to enjoy the refreshing feeling of sweating for the first time in a while.

Thud.

Park Yu-min, who had fallen off the bicycle, sat down on the ground and looked up at Kang Jin-ho.

“…More hill?”

“Yeah.”

“T-This is a place even motorcycles can’t climb!”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho said as if it was nothing.

“Bicycles are light.”

“That’s not what I mean!”

“You’re fixating on something trivial.”

Park Yu-min shuddered and shook his head from side to side.

“I’m never riding your bicycle again.”

“But you got here comfortably.”

“I think my lifespan has shortened.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled and asked Park Yu-min.

“So, where is your house?”

“There.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at the place Park Yu-min was pointing at.

“There?”

“Yeah.”

There, a dilapidated shack stood precariously.

Kang Jin-ho scratched his chin as he looked at the building.

He seemed to have seen similar buildings in the Central Plains [a historical region in China] in the past.

‘It’s like a hovel used by beggars.’

It was quite a shock to see such a building in modern times.

Seongsim Orphanage.

There was a decent sign on the fence in front of the building. The problem was that the decency of it looked like it was made by hand-carving wood.

“This is your house?”

“Yeah.”

“Does your mother run this?”

“No, I’m the one being run by it?”

Even Kang Jin-ho was momentarily speechless at the very apt expression.

So, that means….

Kang Jin-ho frowned slightly.

An orphanage….

It probably meant a place for orphans.

“Hmm…”

“Since you’re here… Do you want to have some water?”

“Sure.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had no reason to refuse, followed Park Yu-min inside without a word. As they went inside, they saw a rusty iron gate.

Screeeech!

With an ear-splitting noise, the gate opened, and a bunch of small children came rushing out.

“It’s hyung [older brother]!”

“Yu-min hyung is here!”

“Oppa [older brother]!”

Park Yu-min stroked and hugged each of the children who came rushing out, then brought his hand to his mouth and held up his fingers.

“A friend came, so be quiet, and I’ll play with you later. Okay?”

“Okay!”

“Yu-min, you’re here?”

“Yes, Director.”

A middle-aged woman with a kind face came out from inside, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“And this one?”

“He’s a… friend.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly bowed his head.

“I’m Kang Jin-ho.”

“Welcome. It seems like it’s the first time Yu-min has brought a friend. There’s nothing much to see, but please relax.”

“Yes.”

Kang Jin-ho drank the water that Park Yu-min brought, then went outside. It was impossible to have a conversation inside.

The place was so small and full of children that just listening to the children’s voices was enough to make his head spin.

For Kang Jin-ho, who liked quiet even in the Central Plains, this environment was like poison.

“You don’t look good?”

“How can you live in a place like this? I thought my ears were going to burst.”

“You get used to it after living here.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded lightly.

‘I made a mistake.’

Park Yu-min probably didn’t want to live in this environment either, but he had spoken too easily. He needed to reflect on that.

“Anyway, thanks for bringing me here.”

“Yeah.”

“I did something terrible to you.”

“…”

“I’m sorry.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced at Park Yu-min and then opened his mouth. If he didn’t ask now, he might never get the chance again.

“Why did you do it?”

Park Yu-min flinched and looked at the ground.

“I don’t really want to question you or blame you. I’m just curious. Why did you do it?”

Park Yu-min hesitated as if he was wondering whether to speak or not, then sighed.

“Did you see the house?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s falling apart, right?”

“Yeah.”

“The funding has been cut off for a while.”

“…”

“Since the national subsidies were transferred to local governments, the funding reviews have become stricter. Our orphanage was excluded from funding because it didn’t meet the requirements.”

“Excluded?”

“It means they want us to shut down the orphanage.”

“What about the kids?”

“They’ll be split up and sent to other orphanages. But these kids aren’t normal. They have some intellectual disabilities or health problems. If they go to other orphanages, they’ll be bullied or harassed.”

“Knowing that, the director can’t quit the orphanage. She’s been working day and night, using the money she earns, the support she’s managed to gather, and donations to barely make ends meet. It wasn’t enough, so we kept moving to cheaper places, and we ended up here.”

“I see. So?”

“That day… the person who came with the principal told me. If we get kicked out of here, where else would we go?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

He could understand somewhat.

“There’s… nowhere to go. There’s nowhere else to go. There’s nowhere else to go anymore. I have to leave the orphanage in two years. Until then, I’ve been delivering newspapers to help out, but I don’t know what will happen after that. But if we get kicked out of here, the orphanage will really have to close. Then what about those kids? What will happen to them?”

“Newspaper delivery? With that leg?”

“…”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at the sky.

He had lived as a cripple himself. He knew very well how much effort it took to walk with one leg being uncomfortable.

But to deliver newspapers with that leg.

“Do they hire you as a delivery person?”

“Well, this place is so steep that it’s hard for bikes to go around. There aren’t many people who want to deliver here.”

“You deliver in this neighborhood?”

“It’s not that hard. They bring the newspapers up here, and I just go down while delivering them.”

“Okay.”

Kang Jin-ho didn’t ask any more questions.

He already knew how the situation was going without having to look.

“I’m really sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have done that, but…”

“It’s okay.”

The fact that he was pressured and threatened didn’t erase the sin he had committed.

But Kang Jin-ho thought that there were also sins committed in unavoidable situations. He had experienced it himself many times.

“Still, it’s a relief that you can live.”

Park Yu-min shook his head sadly.

“No.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was stupid. I couldn’t have been more stupid.”

“I knew from the start that they weren’t the kind of people who would help us even if I did that, but I was stupid and forgot.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes narrowed.

“They want you to vacate the house.”

“Why?”

“They say there’s going to be redevelopment… It’s not being done by the government, so there’s no proper compensation.”

“You can resist.”

“With what power?”

Park Yu-min shook his head.

“We can’t resist. How? With what justification? The landlord is asking us to leave when the contract ends, so how can we resist? The contract ends next month. Then… there’s nowhere else to go.”

Park Yu-min covered his face.

“If I had known this would happen, if this was going to happen, I would have…”

Park Yu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“No, let me apologize. I think I’ll feel a little better if I do… I’m really sorry.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Park Yu-min and then nodded.

“I accept that apology.”

“Thank you.”

“Instead.”

“Huh?”

“Buy me a cola next time.”

“…I’ll buy you two.”

“Two?”

Park Yu-min laughed in dismay.

After that day, Park Yu-min’s allies disappeared from school.

Even those who had looked at him with pity when he was bullied by Choi Young-soo in the past now treated Park Yu-min with contempt.

He felt like he was left alone in the world.

What was even harder was that all of it was Park Yu-min’s own doing.

Park Yu-min thought that it was only natural that he was being treated like that.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Why… why did you give me a ride?”

Kang Jin-ho pondered for a moment.

Was it pity?

Or was it because it reminded him of his past?

Or was it something else….

None of them were clear answers. Kang Jin-ho chose the answer that he thought was closest to the truth.

“It’s just a whim.”

“A whim?”

“Yeah. I just saw you while riding my bicycle, and since I saw you, I talked to you, and since I talked to you, you seemed far away, so I gave you a ride.”

“Even though I did something so wrong?”

Kang Jin-ho said as if it was nothing.

“It’s a trivial matter.”