Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 379

As Kang Jin-ho finished his explanation, Choi Yeon-ha sighed and said,

“So, in other words…”

The explanation was so long-winded that she needed to organize the situation a bit.

“The kids at the orphanage are all suffering from bullying, big and small?”

“Yes.”

“So you want to somehow change the kids to help them escape the bullying?”

“Exactly.”

“And you think you know how to help the boys, but the three bachelors in Kang Jin-ho’s crew can’t understand the psychology and habits of girls at all, so you’re asking for my help?”

“Yes.”

As Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded, Choi Yeon-ha pressed her temple with her index finger.

‘Oh, this is a headache.’

The things this guy asks about are always so complicated and difficult.

“How can you not have known about this situation when you’ve been living at the orphanage for so long? And now you’re suddenly trying to fix it?”

After saying that, Choi Yeon-ha felt like she had discovered her new calling.

‘My place is in variety shows, not acting.’

She was finding fault with the other person as soon as they finished speaking. After a few rounds on variety shows, she might get offers as a rising star in criticism. Her image would go to Andromeda, though [a reference to something being extremely far away or out of reach].

“I have nothing to say, even if I had ten mouths. I think it’s fortunate that I found out, even if it’s late.”

“Hmm…”

Still, he’s manly in this aspect.

It was good that he didn’t make unnecessary excuses. If she had to be picky, it wasn’t like he couldn’t have made excuses. Kang Jin-ho didn’t have to check on the kids’ school life.

Even if the kids were being bullied, it wasn’t Kang Jin-ho’s responsibility. Kang Jin-ho had no legal or moral responsibility for them.

Yet, Kang Jin-ho didn’t make a single excuse and said it was his fault.

“It’s already happened, so there’s nothing we can do about it. But girls…”

Choi Yeon-ha sighed.

‘This is complicated.’

Bullying among girls is completely different from bullying among boys.

It’s not as violent or direct as boys, but they secretly torment people.

Most of the bullying incidents that appear in the news are about boys, as boys’ bullying is more severe, but girls’ bullying subtly torments people and wears them down mentally.

Moreover, there wasn’t a good solution.

‘Usually, usually.’

The most troublesome thing about girls’ bullying is that it’s not proportional to their abilities. Kang Jin-ho’s words made sense. If they changed the kids to fight back against bullying, it might work for the boys.

But if a girl who is being bullied suddenly becomes successful, it’s just a change in frame from ‘an easy target’ to ‘a conceited and annoying girl.’

So, what should they do?

“It’s not an easy problem.”

“Yes. That’s why I’m asking for help. There’s no one around me to discuss this issue with.”

“Right, right.”

Choi Yeon-ha pressed her head.

‘Why did he have to bring this kind of thing?’

There wasn’t a good solution, but they had to solve it, and she couldn’t just abandon it.

‘There’s no way those guys can solve the girls’ bullying problem.’

Leave this case to these guys?

The aftermath was obvious.

The scariest thing in the world was an accident disguised as good intentions.

With innocent faces, they would not only fuel the fire but pour oil on it, and then dance in front of it.

She trusted Kang Jin-ho, but she couldn’t imagine him understanding the subtle psychology of girls.

“Haa…”

Choi Yeon-ha sighed deeply.

She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t heard it. It wasn’t like they were strangers, and she had already seen the kids once.

If she abandoned them because it was annoying and difficult, the remaining kids would be pitiful.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.”

“But.”

“Yes?”

Choi Yeon-ha asked subtly.

“Did this really have to come to me? You could have asked the women around you.”

Kang Jin-ho replied with a blank face.

“I don’t have any women around me?”

“…You don’t have any women?”

“Yes.”

“So… do you mean you don’t have any women to discuss this with, or do you mean you don’t have any close female friends at all?”

Kang Jin-ho’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I think it’s both. I don’t have anyone to discuss it with, and I don’t have any female friends. If I had one, it would be Eun-young, but Eun-young has been a trainee since she was young, so she’s not very familiar with school life.”

“Hmm, I see.”

A pleasant smile appeared on Choi Yeon-ha’s face.

‘He really doesn’t live up to his looks.’

It was truly shocking and terrifying that someone with that face didn’t have any close female friends. He had a face that would make women rush to get his number even if he just sat in a cafe, yet he lived such a hard life.

‘I’m the only one’ who lives like that with such superior looks around her.

Choi Yeon-ha suddenly felt depressed.

Thinking about it, she felt sad. She had thought that if she succeeded in this field, a joyful and happy life would follow. But after almost dying this time, she realized that if she died right now, her life would have nothing left but memories of working herself to death.

If she couldn’t enjoy the present, there was no way she could enjoy the future. Her goal wasn’t something she could achieve by working hard for a year or two.

If she hadn’t met Kang Jin-ho and had continued to focus on work without thinking that her life was strange, she would have become an old maid in her forties without ever dating a man or going on a proper trip.

“That’s terrible.”

“Yes?”

“Ah, no.”

Choi Yeon-ha shook her head.

‘I can’t live like that.’

It was something she never wanted to experience again, but the accident in the tunnel might be a turning point in her life. She had decided that she had to live without regrets, even if she died tomorrow.

Feeling a bubbling sensation in her heart, Choi Yeon-ha nodded.

“Then, if I solve this problem, what will you do for me, Kang Jin-ho?”

“Yes?”

“You’re not just going to brush it off, are you? With just a thank you?”

As Kang Jin-ho hesitated, Choi Yeon-ha glared at him.

“This guy, he’s the type to steal your nose while you’re looking [a Korean idiom meaning someone who is sly or takes advantage of others].”

“…I have a grateful heart.”

“Does it cost money to say thank you? I can say thank you a thousand times. If you’re really grateful, you have to show it. A ‘thank you’ in words isn’t a real thank you.”

As Kang Jin-ho became speechless and just blinked, Choi Yeon-ha sighed.

What could she expect?

It was better not to expect this man to do anything on his own.

“If I solve this, go on a date with me.”

“A date?”

“Yes, a date. Go to a movie, eat a meal, that kind of thing. Have a drink too.”

As Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brow, Choi Yeon-ha flinched.

“D-Do you not want to?”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

“It’s not that I don’t want to… you said I have to repay you, but I don’t know how that would be a repayment.”

“…You’re hopeless.”

“Yes?”

Choi Yeon-ha’s eyes flashed.

“That’s my problem! So, will you do it or not?”

“I, I will.”

“Okay. Deal!”

As Choi Yeon-ha said with a bright smile, Kang Jin-ho stared blankly out the window.

‘I don’t understand.’

Perhaps his life was too short to understand the complex female mind. Maybe he would understand it if he lived for another two hundred years.

As the day ended and it was time for the children to return to the orphanage, Kang Jin-ho drove towards the orphanage.

‘I was too careless.’

Someone had told him before. Just having the heart to care and thinking that he was doing something compared to those who didn’t care was just self-consolation.

Just because he had that heart didn’t mean that those who received it would get any better. A heart that doesn’t act is no different from a heart that doesn’t exist.

Saying that just thinking about them and being there was comforting was just a consolation to make each other feel better.

In that sense, Kang Jin-ho was someone who hadn’t done anything for the kids.

‘No, rather than not doing anything…’

He had recently learned thanks to Choi Yeon-ha. He was someone who had no sense of what to do to make others happy and comfortable.

He realized it thanks to Choi Yeon-ha, who was horrified as soon as they arrived at the orphanage. The environment that he had thought was okay was not okay at all.

Kang Jin-ho, who had gone through the military like a camping trip due to his life in the Demonic Cult [a fictional martial arts sect], couldn’t possibly have a critical view of other people’s living environments.

And the same was true for school life.

‘I should have paid more attention.’

Consideration for others comes from attention. It was necessary to pay attention and think about what the other person needed and act accordingly.

But all of that hadn’t been done properly.

‘Let’s look around a bit more.’

Kang Jin-ho bit his lip slightly. There were many reasons. Recently, he had been involved in various underworld affairs such as the Yeongnam Association and the General Assembly [likely references to organized crime groups], so he didn’t have the time to pay attention to other things. But Kang Jin-ho knew best that it was just an excuse.

Did not having time mean that his family had to suffer?

Did not having time mean that those around him had to endure hardships?

That couldn’t be the case.

If he didn’t have time, he could make time.

This wasn’t something he had to do. If he had paid a little attention and asked for help from others, he wouldn’t have come this far.

This was the price of indifference.

Feeling a slight ache in his chest, Kang Jin-ho parked his car on one side of the orphanage and got out.

As soon as he got out of the car, the door burst open, and Park Yu-min came out.

“You’re here?”

“How did you know I was here?”

“I can hear your car from 100 meters away.”

“…Really?”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head, looked at his sleek car, and sighed.

‘It would be nice if it wasn’t so loud.’

It was true that the rumbling engine sound made him feel good when he was inside, but it was a car that was scary to even start at night. It had no practicality at all.

“Where are the kids?”

“I’ve gathered them all.”

“Okay.”

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

‘I’m sorry.’

He should have paid more attention. Before the kids asked him for help, he should have thought about whether they were having a hard time.

‘There must have been this meaning too.’

The head nun’s words that she hoped he would become someone who could reach out first probably had this meaning too. It meant that he had to become someone who could understand the hearts of those who couldn’t reach out for help.

If the head nun was looking down at him now, what would she say?

‘Don’t worry.’

He had made a mistake, but he would fix it properly.

Kang Jin-ho nodded and walked into the orphanage.