Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 81

“Did anything happen?”

“What could have happened? It’s my vacation, so I’m just lazing around. I’m studying for the TOEIC exam [Test of English for International Communication]. What about you? Isn’t your fall season starting now? Aren’t you busy?”

“I still have some time.”

“That means it’ll be hard to see your face soon. Right?”

“Yeah.”

“Sigh.”

Han Se-yeon sighed deeply.

“Jin-ho went to the military, and you’re busy… I have nothing to do alone. If I had known this would happen, I should have become closer with other friends.”

“Why are you saying sorry?”

“I think it’s because so many things happened so suddenly. I can’t seem to get my head straight.”

Park Yu-min looked at Han Se-yeon, who was sitting across from her, with a slightly pitiful expression.

In just two weeks, Han Se-yeon’s face had become very worn. Her skin was dry and rough, and her hair, which was always neatly styled, had stray hairs sticking out everywhere.

Even if everything else was like that, the fact that the vitality had drained from her face was the final blow.

“Did you drink?”

“Are you crazy?”

Han Se-yeon shook her fist at Park Yu-min as if she was dumbfounded.

“Hey, what do you think of me?”

“Your face is just so worn out.”

“It’s because I didn’t put on makeup since I came to see you.”

“…Was it all makeup?”

Was she saying that she had been hiding her bare face with consistent makeup since high school?

“There’s a subtle aspect to that. Hey, makeup only works if the original face is decent. Do you think ugly people will become pretty just by putting on makeup?”

“That’s true, but…”

But from what she was saying, it seemed like she hadn’t completely lost her spirit.

“Did Jin-ho get in okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You went with him, right?”

“Yeah. Why didn’t you come?”

“Jin-ho’s mother and father were both there, what would I have said? I couldn’t say I was his girlfriend.”

“You could have.”

Han Se-yeon chuckled.

“How can I do that when it’s not true?”

“Weren’t you two dating?”

“It ended ambiguously. Jin-ho didn’t give me a clear answer, so what could I do?”

“That heartless bastard.”

Park Yu-min grabbed her head tightly.

Even in the situation of going to the military, if he didn’t give a clear answer, it was understandable that the person waiting would be anxious.

“I’m thinking of going to study abroad.”

“Study abroad?”

“Yeah. If I just go to school until Jin-ho returns, I’ll graduate two years after he comes back, and then there will be a gap between a working adult and a student, and there will be many problems in many ways.”

“That could be true.”

“There are many guys who change their minds in the military. And there are many stories of people waiting for two years and then breaking up as soon as they come back, so I’m worried.”

“Jin-ho isn’t the type to do that.”

“Really?”

“Cheating is something that busy people or people who are interested in women do. Where would Jin-ho find the motivation to meet another woman?”

“That’s true.”

Han Se-yeon nodded.

She, who had never once been called ugly, had been so persistent, yet that wooden-headed guy had remained calm. It was unimaginable and undesirable that he would flirt with another woman.

“But women just flock to him on their own.”

“Still, he doesn’t accept them because he finds it annoying, so it doesn’t matter.”

Han Se-yeon looked at Park Yu-min with a sulky expression and said,

“You seem to trust Jin-ho more than me? Are you two dating?”

“What are you saying!”

“I’m jealous. The original wife was here, but I was acting out of line without knowing my place.”

“Ugh.”

Although she knew that her grumbling tone was laced with worry about Kang Jin-ho, Han Se-yeon’s attitude was still a bit strange.

“Why are you so angry?”

“I just had that thought when I was alone.”

“What thought?”

Han Se-yeon stared out the window without saying anything, then turned her head, rested her chin on her hand, and stared intently at Park Yu-min.

“Yu-min.”

“Yeah?”

“What am I to Jin-ho?”

“Why are you suddenly like this?”

“It’s not sudden…”

Han Se-yeon sighed softly.

Seeing her expression so dark, Park Yu-min couldn’t even offer any comfort and silently waited for her to speak.

“I just had that thought. Jin-ho never really promised me anything, nor did he ask for anything. But I’m the only one who’s anxious and running after him because I like him.”

“But it’s not like Jin-ho is pushing you away because he doesn’t like you.”

“Hmm, you’re misunderstanding.”

“Huh?”

Han Se-yeon said firmly.

“It’s not that I’m upset because Jin-ho doesn’t like me or express it. It’s the opposite.”

Park Yu-min tilted her head, looking completely clueless about what Han Se-yeon was saying.

“What does that mean?”

“It means that Jin-ho might not like me.”

“Huh?”

“You said it yourself, Jin-ho has never pushed me away.”

“I did.”

“But with Jin-ho’s personality, if another girl liked him and ran after him, would he push her away?”

“Uh…”

Park Yu-min couldn’t find an answer for a moment.

“Right?”

“That’s true.”

“Until recently, I thought that heartless guy was just not interested in people, and that he didn’t know how much I liked him. But after Jin-ho was gone for two weeks, I started to look at myself coldly. And at some point, I had this thought. ‘Ah, maybe Jin-ho really doesn’t like me.'”

Park Yu-min scratched her head vigorously.

This kind of talk was poison to her.

What was she supposed to do when people who were in relationships kept coming to her, who had no dating experience, for advice?

“…There’s no way Jin-ho doesn’t like you.”

“He probably likes me, as a friend.”

Han Se-yeon said firmly.

“But the way Jin-ho treats me now is like a close friend, not more than that. But is it okay for me to hold onto him?”

Park Yu-min looked at Han Se-yeon with a sulky expression.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m not trying to say anything in particular. I just want to vent. If our relationship stays like this, Jin-ho won’t reject me in the end. That’s the kind of guy he is. But if a woman he really likes appears one day… both me and Jin-ho will be unhappy.”

“It seems to me that you’re looking for an excuse to break up?”

“Excuse?”

Han Se-yeon sighed softly.

“Yu-min.”

“Yeah, I’m listening.”

“Even if I’m a wild woman, I wouldn’t change my mind about a guy I liked after he went to the military for only two weeks.”

“I’m sorry. I went too far.”

“It’s very humiliating for me to say this. I’ve been so obvious about how much I like him, but in the end, I have to admit that he doesn’t have any romantic feelings for me. But what can I do when that’s the truth?”

“It’s just that Jin-ho is so clueless in that area.”

“Do you really think so?”

Park Yu-min rubbed her face.

‘It’s like stirring up trouble.’

Until now, she really thought so.

But as she calmly organized her thoughts, Park Yu-min couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

She had been calling him ‘clueless’ and ‘heartless,’ but Park Yu-min knew best that Kang Jin-ho wasn’t actually that clueless or heartless.

Kang Jin-ho had been consistently supporting the orphanage and her siblings’ lives even without being asked, and he had the meticulousness to find out when Park Yu-min was away and go to take care of chores.

Kang Jin-ho was also the one who would guess what was going on just by looking at Park Yu-min’s expression and step up to solve it.

If Kang Jin-ho, who treated Park Yu-min and others, and Kang Jin-ho, who treated Han Se-yeon, were not different people, then the difference between them was too severe.

‘Come to think of it, has Jin-ho ever contacted Se-yeon first?’

Kang Jin-ho had contacted Park Yu-min first many times, but it seemed like he had never contacted Han Se-yeon. It was Park Yu-min who had pushed Kang Jin-ho and subtly pushed him towards Han Se-yeon.

As Park Yu-min’s expression also became serious, Han Se-yeon sighed as if to say, ‘See?’

“You think so too, right?”

“Ah, no.”

“What do you mean, no?”

Han Se-yeon watched Park Yu-min’s flustered appearance with a sulky face, then leaned back in her chair.

“So, how can I be okay?”

“…So, what are you going to do?”

“What can I do? I’ll just have to wait and see.”

Han Se-yeon frowned as if she was frustrated herself.

“I’m talking like this now, as if I’m frustrated, but I know that if I see Jin-ho’s face again or if he shows even a little bit of liking, I’ll be all over him again, so I can’t say anything.”

Park Yu-min couldn’t find any words to comfort Han Se-yeon.

“It seems like my self-esteem is too low. I know that I need to be better to be a woman who suits Jin-ho, but I’ve just been waiting for Jin-ho to notice me, so there’s no way it would work out. So, I’m going to try to make an effort.”

“Effort…”

“If it still doesn’t work out, then there’s nothing I can do. If I keep holding onto something that won’t work out, both me and Jin-ho will be unhappy. I’m not that stupid of a woman, am I?”

“Hmm…”

Looking at Han Se-yeon, who was seriously opening up her heart, Park Yu-min picked up the Americano on the table and took a sip.

“One guy is making so many people suffer.”

“…I know.”

Park Yu-min turned her head towards the innocent window.

It was painful to look at her face, as she could imagine how Han Se-yeon was feeling.

‘Is he doing well?’

She suddenly became worried about Kang Jin-ho.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You don’t seem to have any interest in that at all.”

Han Yu-min’s face contorted rapidly.

“Do you think I can date by myself?”

“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You should at least introduce me to someone before saying that!”

“…I don’t have any friends either.”

“Ugh.”

It was a mystery how Han Se-yeon, who used to have a cloud of female followers around her, had ended up like this.

“When I was with you and Jin-ho, even though we were just three people hanging out, I never felt bored or lonely. But now, just two weeks after Jin-ho went to the military, I’m having an existential crisis.”

“That means we were relying on Jin-ho that much.”

“I guess so?”

It had only been two weeks, but Kang Jin-ho’s absence felt too big.

“Anyway, he has to be doing well. He’ll be on leave in three months, and if he sees us looking like we’re dying, Jin-ho won’t be happy.”

“Yeah, he has to be.”

Han Se-yeon’s voice was weak as she answered.

Park Yu-min was filled with a bad premonition as she looked at Han Se-yeon. She had a heavy feeling in her heart, thinking that this might be the beginning of a twist.

‘Come out soon, Jin-ho.’

The world without Kang Jin-ho was still too much for Park Yu-min.

At least for Park Yu-min, Kang Jin-ho was a friend and a support like no other in the world.

‘He didn’t cause any trouble, right?’

As she thought about Kang Jin-ho, who was probably working hard in the military, a strange sense of unease washed over her. Park Yu-min prayed and prayed that Kang Jin-ho would not extend his military service and would be discharged on time.