Descent of the Demon Master

Choi Yeon-Ha narrowed her eyes. “You're leaving already?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

“There is a place I must go to, you see?”

“Hnnnnng?”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't have a choice but to smile awkwardly. How could he not when he saw the hint of sulking in Choi Yeon-Ha's expression?

When that thought popped up in his mind, Kang Jin-Ho's figure began shrinking back. However, Choi Yeon-Ha's response turned out to be the exact opposite of what he feared.

“You won't cback here, right?”

“...No, I probably won't.”

Choi Yeon-Ha slowly nodded. “That means... After you finish your business, you're heading back to Korea right away.”

“Yes, most likely.”

“I see. Can't be helped, then. Take care of yourself, okay?” Choi Yeon-Ha coolly nodded.

Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes. “Huh?”

“Mm? What's the matter?”

“N-no, well...”

When Kang Jin-Ho couldn't immediately reply and fidgeted nervously, Choi Yeon-Ha smirked softly back at him. “What's wrong? Were you scared aboutbiting your head off for leaving so soon?”

“N-no, of course not.”

“I think that's exactly it, though?” Choi Yeon-Ha's smile only deepened as she spoke. “Rather than nagging you, I should be apologizing. I asked you to chere and hang out with me, but I kept dragging you to my workplace, then saddled you with annoying things, too…”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “I never thought they were annoying, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

“I'm just stating my objective observation.”

“Mm? Isn't it fine as long as I don't mind it?”

“Of course not! How can you decide who's right and wrong by yourself? When there's a clear deciding line? This time, I know it's my fault, and well... I don't have any excuses to give you. I don't even know where to begin my apology when I've done so many things wrong.”

“Miss Yeon-Ha, I don't have any thoughts of demanding apologies from you.”

“Don't worry, I wasn't planning to apologize, either.”

“...I'm sorry?” Kang Jin-Ho stared at Choi Yeon-Ha in confusion. Talking to her always made him feel like he was getting sucked into her pace.

“This thing called apology, it's not something amazing, you know?” Choi Yeon-Ha confidently spoke, “It only means you're trying to gloss over your mistakes with nothing but a few simple words. If apologies can resolve everything, why do we still have wars and laws and stuff?”

“...W-well, yes. You have a point.”

“So, in situations like ours, I shouldn't be wasting tapologizing but repaying you instead! That's what humans should do! Humans with morals, at least.”

Kang Jin-Ho was left speechless by Choi Yeon-Ha's mini-rant. Refusing the 'repayment' when she was so adamant about it seemed like a weird thing to do. Wouldn't it be like needlessly raising a fuss all on his own? Still, not saying anything right now would make the atmosphere a bit awkward, so...

Thankfully, though, it seemed Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't expecting Kang Jin-Ho to respond as she continued to speak. “But! This is a lot harder than I thought, you know?”

“What is?”

“I need to repay you, but... I can't think of anything I can do for you. I mean, you are richer than me, right? And you don't seem to want something, either…”

An awkward chuckle left Kang Jin-Ho's lips. He couldn't help but notice that the atmosphere had finally becweird. To compensate, he reached out to the coffee cup resting on this cafe's table, then carefully brought it to his lips to take a generous sip.

That was when Choi Yeon-Ha voiced her thoughts. “Should I just repay you with my body?”

The hot coffee flew out of Kang Jin-Ho's lips like a fountain. However, Choi Yeon-Ha expertly ducked to the side and avoided the spray as if she had already predicted this outcome.

“You're so predictable, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“N-no, hang on. I was just, uh, taken by surprise, that's all.”

“You don't have to react so viscerally like that to a joke, you know? I'll have you know, I'm not an easy woman like that.”

“I never thought that about you, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Choi Yeon-Ha narrowed her eyes a little. “You never really hoped to do that with me?”

“N-no, wait...”

“Hnnng? Sounds like you were secretly wishing for it...?”

“No, it's not true.”

Choi Yeon-Ha stopped her line of mischievous questioning and smiled mysteriously at Kang Jin-Ho. Her gaze ultimately proved a little too seductive for Kang Jin-Ho, and soon, large droplets of perspiration appeared on his forehead.

“You can be so adorable, you know that?” Choi Yeon-Ha gently chuckled.

“...”

When Kang Jin-Ho kept his mouth shut while fidgeting from the sheer awkwardness, Choi Yeon-Ha's gentle chuckle morphed into a full-on fit of giggles. “Don't be scared-stiff like that. Why are you so nervous when I'm letting you go without raising a fuss?”

“N-no, well...”

“Okay, so! Are you planning to leave right away?”

“...Yes. It seems I must leave around later today, in the evening. Delaying it any further won't do us any good, you see.”

“Mm, I see. It's too bad, but there's no helping it, I guess. You better stay safe, though.”

“Thank you. I will.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded, and Choi Yeon-Ha gently smiled back at him. Although...

There was a hint of unmistakable sadness behind that smile.

***

“Hmm...”

Choi Yeon-Ha mumbled while staring at the film set. On the surface, this scene didn't seem all that out of place. However, it seemed someone in this place didn't share that sentiment.

“...Noona,” Han Eun-Sol suddenly raised his voice.

“Yeah?”

Han Eun-Sol stared at Choi Yeon-Ha in slight disapproval. “Please get a hold of yourself, okay?”

“What do you mean? I haven't done anything, though? Is there something wrong?”

“Noona, please.”

“What? I'm completely fine, you know?”

Han Eun-Sol groaned. “...Aren't your legs getting numb?”

“Eh?” Choi Yeon-Ha looked down at herself and realized she had been sitting cross-legged all this time. When she tried to uncross them, though... She froze still after noticing that she couldn't feel anything in her legs. “W-what's going on?”

“Of course they should be numb. Noona, you've been sitting like that for one solid hour! I almost thought you turned into a statue.”

“Heol...?” Choi Yeon-Ha used her hands to uncross her legs and returned them to their natural positions. She still couldn't feel much of anything below her thighs. “T-this is so weird? Why haven't I noticed this? I mean, I'm completely fine, aren't I? So why?”

“Gee whiz, you're totally helpless, aren't you?” Han Eun-Sol slowly shook his head.

That was when Choi Yeon-Ha stared at him with her somewhat wet eyes. “Listen, Eun-Sol. Can you...”

“Uwaaahk! Don't stare atlike that! You makewanna stab you or something!”

“You stinking son of a...!” Choi Yeon-Ha withdrew her puppy dog eyes and began gnashing her teeth instead. Hearts of most hot-blooded men would've run wild if they saw this scene on a screen, yet Han Eun-Sol's honest impression after witnessing it with his own eyes was... He wanted to stab her?! Seriously?!

Not even a real little brother would say that! Seriously now!

“Anyways, Eun-Sol?”

“Yes, noona?”

“Why am I so... You know, uncool?”

“What are you talking about? I firmly believe that's not something Chungmuro's Ice Witch... I mean, the Ice Queen and all-around terrible human being, Choi Yeon-Ha, should be saying.”

“You...! Imma kill you one of these days for real!”

“Before that, can't you firefirst?”

“What? Didn't you say you want to stick by me?”

“Nope, noona. My mind's changed now. I can't remember why I wanted fand fortune by being your manager. I've recently realized that life is actually all about being content with what you already have. I don't care about for wealth anymore, so letlive my life stress-free. Pretty please?”

“Huh. Our little Eun-Sol had a dream, eh?”

“...So what's the problem now, noona?” Han Eun-Sol forcibly changed the topic back to the original discussion.

“If you want to be perceived as a cool person, what you say and do should stay more or less consistent, right?”

“Mm? Rather than being cool, isn't that more like... I dunno, what's expected from normal human beings? Well, I guess it's true that people with integrity do look cool, but what about it?”

“Why can't I do that, Eun-Sol? It feels like I can no longer do that lately.”

“...Noona, you were never like that, to begin with.”

“...You, are you trying to pick a fight with me? Is that it?”

“Noona, when a person starts thinking of truth as an attempt to pick a fight, I believe it's about tthey start reflecting on their life.”

“...I give up.”

Han Eun-Sol smirked softly when Choi Yeon-Ha threw her hands in the air.

It seemed Choi Yeon-Ha was dissatisfied with her current state, but Han Eun-Sol's opinion on this matter was the exact opposite of hers. The proof that he was right was with how he had been able to crack jokes with her until now.

Something like that was unthinkable to Han Eun-Sol merely half a year ago!

It seemed Choi Yeon-Ha wasn't fully aware of her own transformation yet. The current her had becso much mellower that she might as well be a different person from her past self. Of course, it was a positive transformation.

In life, a person needed to be sharp-edged and unforgiving at times. Those who couldn't do that were usually taken advantage of and roundly mocked as pushovers by other people. The problem with Choi Yeon-Ha, though, was that she was always sharp-edged.

However, encountering Kang Jin-Ho helped her to learn how to hide her always-visible claws. She seemed to have convinced herself that it was all an act to fool Kang Jin-Ho. However, when her acting had seeped into her daily actions, too? People would say she had becmellower.

Of course, she didn't seem aware of it.

In that case, what could possibly be a problem with how she was currently?

“What's the matter, noona? Is it because of Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yeah.”

Sure enough... Most of Choi Yeon-Ha's current problems stemmed from Kang Jin-Ho and ended with him, too.

It was getting a bit too cringey for Han Eun-Sol to tolerate anymore! If Choi Yeon-Ha liked Kang Jin-Ho so much, she should just stop mucking about and get on with things! What kind of nonsense was this that only made the people looking on from the sidelines feel so infuriated?

Flames of frustration burned inside Han Eun-Sol. Even after excluding his personal feelings from this matter and looking at this situation as objectively as possible... Weren't these two people such frustrating tease? Just what did they think they were doing? Not even elementary school kids would have acted like that with their dates!

“So, what's the problem?” Han Eun-Sol asked.

“Mister Jin-Ho said he needs to leave later today. He's got something to do, apparently.”

“Okay? So what?”

“I coolly told him to have a safe trip, but... Now that I'm here, I keep getting irritated by it.”

“...”

“I mean, can't he stay for a little longer? I'm working my butt off in the middle of nowhere, you know?”

“Hang on a minute, noona...”

“Yes, yes. I know,” said Choi Yeon-Ha while pouting deeply away. “I know it'swho asked him to cto this middle of nowhere but didn't spend much twith him. I know that, even after finally getting stoff, I threw all that away and rushed back here after only one phone call from the director. I also know that Mister Jin-Ho has already spent a lot of there even though he must've had his own busy itinerary and can't stay here forever.”

“...You know everything already, so what could possibly be the problem?”

“Eun-Sol... There's something wrong with me.”

“...Like what?”

“I get all that in my head, you know? But I just can't accept it.”

“...Noona, that's what people usually refer to as being a terrible person.”

“Can it, Eun-Sol. You think I don't know that?”

Han Eun-Sol slowly shook his head again as Choi Yeon-Ha unhappily shot back at him, her temper clearly rising.

Since timmemorial, it was the duty of the attendants to cto their boss's rescue if they couldn't readily figure out an answer. Although, Han Eun-Sol dearly would've loved not to get involved in this woman's romantic shenanigans!

He was already suffering from jealousy here, so to give Choi Yeon-Ha advice on improving her love life? What kind of bullsh*t was this!

Even so...

Han Eun-Sol objectively weighed the pros and cons between the pain from giving this woman his advice on her love life and the potential Hell in store while being dragged around by Choi Yeon-Ha in her current state. And then, he quickly made up his mind.

He feared that if Choi Yeon-Ha let Kang Jin-Ho leave like this, she'd suffer the side effects for the next month or so; if those side effects were limited to melancholy or the lack of drive, it'd be wonderful news. However, if it was in the form of hysteria, then... Not only Han Eun-Sol, but everyone sharing the film set could potentially experience Hell on Earth!

The only two people in the whole film set could have kept her in check, but Liu had beca useless idiot, while the director, Zhang Xiang, tucked his tail between his legs for sunfathomable reason. Which meant Han Eun-Sol would have to step forward now!

“Listen, noona...?”

“Ng?”

“I thought about why you are so uncool, and...”

“Ng?”

“You know what people are like, don't you? We all know we should do this and that, but how many of us can actually do it? If the world was filled with people who could always do what they thought was right, we should be living in a paradise by now, you know?”

“What are you trying to say, Eun-Sol?”

“What I'm saying is that this is a natural phenomenon. But the way you can't sit still and have to raise a fuss about it? I think it's because you haven't fully established what kind of relationship you have with Mister Jin-Ho.”

“...Establish?”

“Yup,” Han Eun-Sol landed the decisive blow next. “It's not like you're officially dating or anything. Now that he's going away, and you won't be able to see him or speak to him whenever you want to... Maybe you're nervous about another woman swooping in to snatch him away from you?”

“W-what? I thought we were already an item, though?”

“Sorry? How did you figure that?”

Choi Yeon-Ha nervously muttered, “We, uh, we smooched and stuff?”

Han Eun-Sol's expression grew cold. He even groaned as if he was dealing with irredeemable trash here. “Not even elementary school kids behave like that, noona. You gotta wake up.”

Choi Yeon-Ha trembled ever so slightly. Having finally recognized the source of her anxiety, she urgently asked her trusty manager for an answer. “T-then, what should I do?! Should I... pounce on him?”

“...”

For the first tsince his arrival, Han Eun-Sol was thankful that he was in the middle of China.