Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 321

“Can I re-educate my sons?”

It was an expected question.

Cho Gyu-min wasn’t so clueless that he couldn’t predict what would be said in this situation. He already knew what Hwang Jung-hoo would ask, and he even had a model answer prepared.

Cho Gyu-min took a deep breath and calmly opened his mouth.

“Unfortunately, people don’t change that easily.”

Hwang Jung-hoo listened to Cho Gyu-min’s words without any change in expression.

“It’s almost impossible to make a lively child calm. Parents usually think they can teach their children and lead them in the direction they want, but in reality, children just grow up as they are born, and parents only provide the environment and education. You can refine them through education, but it’s difficult to change their nature. Even for young children, it’s impossible to mold those who are old enough to your liking.”

“…I see.”

“It might be possible for a while. Because they’ve suffered. If they realize how incompetent they are without the Chairman’s protection, they will try to become someone the Chairman likes, or rather, try to look like a person for a while. But that’s only until the Chairman is alive. Will they really maintain that changed appearance after the Chairman’s death?”

Hwang Jung-hoo nodded quietly.

It was something he didn’t want to hear, but also something he wanted to hear.

He needed someone to tell him things more coldly than anyone else. And ridiculously, when he looked around, the only person he thought could speak to him without emotion or exaggeration was Cho Gyu-min.

“So, you’re saying I should give up.”

“That’s the answer I prepared so far.”

“Hmm?”

“And one more thing…”

Cho Gyu-min’s lips slightly twitched.

‘Why do I always have to add one more thing and invite trouble?’

He really needed to fix this damn nature of his. He should know how to shut his mouth and look away when he thinks it’s a loss, but he just can’t. His personality is so strange.

“Even so, I think it might be possible.”

“Isn’t that contradictory?”

“That’s why it’s not a prepared answer.”

“Why do you think it might be possible?”

“Because the person doing it is the Chairman.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It’s simple.”

Cho Gyu-min said with a slightly cocky tone.

“If Chairman Hwang Jung-hoo is educating his children, how could it not work? Even if raising a child is difficult, is it harder than building a conglomerate? If you set your mind to it, you can definitely do it. No, you have to do it.”

“What nonsense.”

Hwang Jung-hoo chuckled.

“I thought you were saying something, but it’s just useless nonsense.”

“No. This is important.”

“Huh?”

“When future generations evaluate the Chairman after you pass away, they will say, ‘Even the great Hwang Jung-hoo couldn’t do anything about his children.’ Wouldn’t that hurt your pride?”

Hwang Jung-hoo’s forehead slightly twitched.

“It’s not like the Chairman is going to run for president now, so you should start managing your reputation. And this is the biggest failure in the Chairman’s life so far. And there’s not much time left to make up for it.”

“You certainly have that.”

“What do you mean…”

“A talent for making people angry? When Kang Jin-ho told me I looked lonely, I felt bitter, but listening to you makes me angry.”

“So?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Hwang Jung-hoo looked at the distant sky.

“I know it’s not easy, and it’s something I have no justification for. But should I do it? My heart hasn’t moved yet.”

Hwang Jung-hoo quietly looked at Cho Gyu-min and asked.

“What do you think, if I were to hand over the management rights to those good-for-nothing bastards?”

“You worry too much. Chairman, it’s none of my business.”

“Oh?”

“There’s a good way out called resignation. With my experience, I’m sure I can make a living anywhere. I’ll just quit the company cleanly and find my own way, so you don’t have to worry about me.”

“You damn bastard.”

Hwang Jung-hoo laughed and took out a cigarette.

‘The only stain on his life…’

This hit home more than Kang Jin-ho’s words. To be precise, this had more justification.

“If I do decide to do it, will you help me with the methods?”

“I don’t recommend it. I have a clear grudge against them, so my emotions might get involved.”

“That’s welcome.”

“If that’s the case, then…”

Cho Gyu-min smacked his lips.

‘I always have to add one more thing and make trouble.’

Cho Gyu-min turned his head and looked at the air.

‘Is it over now?’

He imagined Kang Jin-ho, who would just nod as if he was no longer interested in the topic. But the corners of Kang Jin-ho’s lips, which Cho Gyu-min imagined, were slightly curled up.

‘A loyal subject, really.’

Cho Gyu-min irritably took out a cigarette.

“Boss, I think the store is stable now, right?”

“It seems so.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled as he looked at the customers filling the store.

‘Finally.’

Come to think of it, this store had a lot of trouble. Even though there were a series of huge events that would have caused any other store to go bankrupt ten times over, this store was still in the red, which shows how abnormal it was.

And he managed to normalize it.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing.”

Jung Soo-yeon smiled brightly.

“The basic foundation was already there. I just added a spoon to it.”

“We would have gone bankrupt without that spoon.”

“It’s all thanks to the boss’s hard work.”

“Anyway, you’ve worked hard.”

“Yes.”

The two smiled lightly at each other.

If you only saw this, it would be a heartwarming scene, but…

“What a load of crap.”

The world wasn’t so easy.

Kang Jin-ho flinched at the sharp voice coming from behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw Joo Young-gi looking at him with the words ‘grumpy’ written all over his face.

“What is it now…”

“It’s because the employees who worked hard while the boss was always out having fun did well. What did you do?”

Kang Jin-ho was speechless.

Recently, Park Yu-min had been calling Joo Young-gi a ‘fact bomber’. Because he was so merciless, only people with shattered mental states were left behind wherever he went.

“It’s not me, it’s because Soo-yeon worked hard.”

“Then it’s Park Yu-min who hired Soo-yeon or Choi Yeon-ha who said we needed someone in the kitchen who worked hard. Why are you getting praised for working hard?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Anyway, the boss is…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled as he watched Joo Young-gi click his tongue and head towards the hall.

‘Young-gi worked the hardest.’

Joo Young-gi was the one who struggled to run the store with Kang Jin-ho, who couldn’t grasp these things, and Park Yu-min, who was just kind and did what he was told.

He always complained a lot, but when Kang Jin-ho was away, he would just nag once and perfectly fill the spot.

Sometimes, it felt like Kang Jin-ho was freeloading at Joo Young-gi’s store, not the other way around.

“Young-gi.”

“Yeah?”

“What happened to that manager job?”

“Ah, that?”

Joo Young-gi said as if it was nothing.

“I got fired.”

“Huh?”

“Who would hire someone who doesn’t show up for work? I said I’d take a break for about half a year, and they called me recently and said I could keep resting.”

“Wow…”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Joo Young-gi with a shocked expression.

‘Come to think of it, that’s the normal thing to do.’

Joo Young-gi was so confident that he thought he had come up with another way out. But there was no way to not go to work. If there was such a way, no one in Korea would go to work.

“Then what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean what am I going to do? I only dipped my toes in that because you told me to. If it wasn’t for your sister, would I have done that kind of work? What’s so great about driving around screaming girls or guys who look like girls and pushing away kids who swarm like zerglings [a reference to a fast-moving, low-level unit in the game StarCraft]?”

“That’s a bit much.”

Park Yu-min, who was passing by, threw out a comment.

“There are people who make a living doing that. There’s no high or low in jobs.”

“It just doesn’t suit me.”

Joo Young-gi said firmly.

“A person has to have style. Would that job suit me? I want to do something that makes me look cool even when I’m just standing still.”

“Yeah. I think you do have a calling.”

“What? What is it?”

“A pizza shop manager.”

“…You bastard.”

Park Yu-min chuckled and headed to the kitchen.

“But that’s the job that suits you the most out of the ones you’ve done. It seems like it fits your aptitude. You can’t work under someone because of your personality anyway. Then self-employment is the answer, and you’re surprisingly meticulous, so I think you’d be good at this kind of work.”

“This is the best fit?”

“The best fit would be drug trafficking or arms dealing, but this seems better than that.”

“Let’s talk outside for a second.”

“I don’t want to.”

“It’ll only take a second. You bastard, I’ll show you stars in the middle of the day today.”

“Keep it, keep it.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly narrowed his brows as Joo Young-gi and Park Yu-min bickered and went into the kitchen.

‘Not bad?’

Park Yu-min probably said it as a joke, but there’s truth in every joke… Even Kang Jin-ho thought Joo Young-gi would be good at this kind of work. He had drive, but also meticulousness within that drive.

Besides, he had experienced it himself, so he wouldn’t harass his subordinates. The fact that the children from the orphanage who worked part-time in the hall especially followed Joo Young-gi was proof of that.

He didn’t seem to enjoy dealing with customers directly, but since the manager’s position wasn’t there to look after the hall, it wouldn’t be a problem.

‘It’s actually perfect?’

The more he thought about it, the more it suited Joo Young-gi. And Kang Jin-ho had already seen Joo Young-gi’s power. If only Park Yu-min and Kang Jin-ho were here, this store would have already gone bankrupt.

‘I should talk to him about it.’

When Kang Jin-ho returned to school, there would be no one to look after the store. Until then, he was planning to sell the store before returning to school. He was always sad about that, since he had grown attached to it, but if Joo Young-gi could take over the store, there would be nothing better.

The important thing was whether Joo Young-gi was interested in this kind of work, so he would have to set aside some time to talk to him.

“You’d be good at it…”

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly mumbled and got up from his seat. A customer was getting up. Park Yu-min saw that from inside the kitchen and ran to the counter. Kang Jin-ho picked up a tray and got up to clear the table.

At that moment, the door opened and a middle-aged man he had never seen before came inside.

“Is there someone here named Kang Jin-ho?”