Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1083. Contemplating (3)

“N-no, hang on a sec...!”

Park Yu-Min wasn’t sure what to say here.

‘I think I need to stop this, but how?’

What would happen if Choi Yeon-Ha found out about Han Se-Yeon’s attempt to get closer to Kang Jin-Ho again?

‘I’m too scared to imagine it.’

Park Yu-Min couldn’t say he knew Choi Yeon-Ha well enough to predict how she would react. It wasn’t as if they had chatted at length before. And they hadn’t known each other for long, either. fгeewebnovёl.com

Even then, he was dead sure about this. After all, didn’t he get the chance to personally witness “it” earlier? Back when he answered the call from Han Se-Yeon during the filming of the commercial?

As a result of that encounter, Park Yu-Min now knew how Choi Yeon-Ha would react if another woman started talking about Kang Jin-Ho!

‘Gee whiz. That was terrifying.’

Out of all the scary moments Park Yu-Min had lived through, that encounter had to rank as one of the scariest of all time!

A beautiful woman would still remain beautiful even if she starred in a horror movie. Since a female ghost that's too attractive wouldn’t be scary enough, which defeated the purpose of a horror movie, casting directors avoided hiring actresses well known for their looks.

Even then, Choi Yeon-Ha was so terrifying back then. That experience was something else, alright!

If he could help it, Park Yu-Min never wanted to go through that experience ever again. Once was enough to reduce his lifespan, after all!

Before that, though...

“Se-Yeon? This won't be easy, but I gotta ask you something first...”

“Ng?”

Park Yu-Min quietly stared at the head-tilting Han Se-Yeon before calmly asking his question. “What are you hoping to achieve?”

“...Ng?”

“You know it’s too late to change anything.”

Han Se-Yeon grew quiet, her still eyes locking on Park Yu-Min. A short while later, she spoke in a tone noticeably more somber than before.

“You really have changed a lot, Yu-Min.”

“People change.”

Park Yu-Min didn’t want to say this out loud if he could help it. Good memories must stay as memories for them to remain good, after all! However, it seemed he had no choice now that things had come to this.

“Whether it’s you, me, or Jin-Ho... none of us are the same as before. Even if you try something now, we can never go back to how things were.”

“Sure, I get that,” said Han Se-Yeon, clearly defiant and not backing down. “You think I wouldn't know that? I'm not a kid, Yu-Min. And I'm not trying to make things go back to how they used to be, okay?”

“Then, why?”

“Are you trying to tell me I must avoid Jin-Ho for the rest of my life?”

“...”

Han Se-Yeon pouted, obviously unimpressed. “It’s not like I’m guilty of a major crime, right? What’s wrong with me trying to normalize things so we can be in touch and maybe even meet up now and then like friends?”

Park Yu-Min calmly asked, “Is that what you really want?”

“What do you take me for?” Han Se-Yeon frowned, her voice getting sharper and more on edge. “I’m not as shameless as you think, okay?”

The atmosphere cooled almost instantly when she said that. And then, both of them went silent. Whether it was Han Se-Yeon or Park Yu-Min... neither of them said anything.

Even after some time passed, the two avoided meeting each other’s gazes.

Han Se-Yeon finally broke this uncomfortable silence first. “I know. I know things won’t go back no matter what I try.”

“Then, why?”

“Since it can’t go back, we should stay complete strangers now? Is that it?”

“...”

“Isn't that notion just as wrong? Wouldn't you say?”

Park Yu-Min sighed deeply again. What Han Se-Yeon said wasn’t wrong. If they had been friends without this history between them, he’d have sided with her in a heartbeat.

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Yes, yes. Do whatever you want, good sir.”

“Why did you do it back then?”

“...” Han Se-Yeon clamped her mouth shut. She remained silent for a long time, but her composure eventually returned, allowing her to speak as nonchalantly as before. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t understand. Because you know what I mean.”

“...Seriously now. You're not the same cute little Yu-Min anymore,” said Han Se-Yeon while loudly tutting away, her gaze deliberately locked somewhere outside the cafe's window.

She rested her chin on her hand and contemplated something for a while before quietly muttering away. “Because, it didn't feel like we were dating.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s as it sounds.”

Han Se-Yeon's posture seemed to crumble a little. She leaned against the seat back, then her head rolled back to stare at the ceiling. “You know. You're supposed to feel your heart flutter when you're with someone you like, and you end up doing other stuff together...”

“...You mean, that kinda stuff?”

“Don't look at me that way. Everyone in their early twenties thinks about the same stuff, anyway. You know, the physical stuff? A bit more intimacy? I guess that sounds weird, but you get what I'm trying to say, don't you? That's what I thought dating someone should be like, but...”

Han Se-Yeon’s voice grew more withdrawn.

“...Yeah, that’s how it was.”

“Breaking up because of stuff like that?”

“It was important to me,” Han Se-Yeon curtly replied.

Park Yu-Min still stared back at her, unable to understand her motivation.

She sighed softly.

“Yes, I get what you're implying. It doesn’t sound like anything special. Special enough to end a relationship, anyway. I get that. But that's where it all began.”

“Began? What did?”

“Well...” Han Se-Yeon tapped on the table with her finger. “It began from those seemingly small things and snowballed into something bigger. Why do I get the feeling that this dude doesn't enjoy hanging out with me? Maybe he doesn't like me? Also, doesn't he seem to enjoy hanging out with his other friends more than being with me? Maybe he was never interested in me in the first place?”

“...Wow. That went downhill pretty fast.”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Still, that doesn’t sound like a reason for you to break it off?” Park Yu-Min asked curiously, then began drinking his smoothie through a straw. But then...

“Hey. Have you ever dated your dad before?”

Fuuuuuuuuph!

The smoothie projectiles violently flew out of Park Yu-Min’s mouth and generously sprayed everything in his front. However, Han Se-Yeon proved how quick and nimble she was by expertly dodging the spray.

“What are you doing! That’s disgusting, Yu-Min!”

“...Oops, my bad.”

Although Park Yu-Min quickly apologized, he had a feeling that most people would react similarly to him when asked about such a thing.

While Park Yu-Min wiped the mess on the table using the cafe’s napkins, Han Se-Yeon muttered unenthusiastically. “That’s what it felt like, you know?”

“I don't get it at all, Se-Yeon. You know what, though? I don't want to know what that feels like.”

“Tell me honestly, okay? Did you think Jin-Ho liked me back then?”

Park Yu-Min nodded. “Yeah, I did.”

“But, compared to you?”

“Huh? You mean... Eh...” Park Yu-Min’s jaw fell a little before he clamped his mouth shut.

He realized this was a tricky question to answer. Not because assigning ranks was tricky. No, it’d be because...

‘...The fact that I can compare us is the problem.’

These two relationships shouldn't have been comparable. After all, “love” and “friendship” were two different things even if they were different types of affection. However, Kang Jin-Ho's relationship with Han Se-Yeon was like...

“Yup, that’s what I’m talking about,” Han Se-Yeon continued on in her unenthusiastic tone. “I’m not saying Jin-Ho was toying with my feelings. I’m not stupid enough to let him do that to me, okay? It’s just that I never got the feeling that Kang Jin-Ho the man liked me as a woman.”

“Really? If he didn’t like you as a woman, what then?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how to describe it. The closest female friend in his circle of acquaintances, excluding his family members? Something like that? So he doesn’t have a reason to say no to me being his girlfriend?”

“...Don't you think that's a bit harsh?”

“All I’m saying is that’s how I felt back then. Besides, you were thinking of something similar just now, weren’t you?”

“...”

Park Yu-Min just grimaced in silence, unable to argue back.

‘Of course I wouldn’t know the truth.’

No matter how close friends were, there were bound to be some secrets. Things others couldn’t know.

Park Yu-Min was a close friend of Kang Jin-Ho and Han Se-Yeon. That didn't mean he should know all the ins and outs of the relationship between those two. And that was precisely why he couldn't say anything.

“Hence, that thing about dating your own dad. Imagine it for a second. How would you feel? How would he act? He’d care about me more than any other person in the world. He’d try to be understanding. And he’d give me unconditional love. But can you say that's a romantic relationship?”

“No, you can’t.”

“A relationship can’t just exist on the feelings of liking someone. It needs more. But Jin-Ho, he... He didn’t want anything from me.”

“Uhm...”

Han Se-Yeon began gulping down her coffee.

After calming her inside down with the drink, she put the empty cup down and stared straight at Park Yu-Min.

“I’m sure it’s not easy for you to understand. But women can get a little hurt from stuff like that, you know? I was young back then. Yes, I’m still young, but back then? I was too immature and thought that Jin-Ho was acting this way because he didn’t like me enough. That I was incompatible with him.”

“But isn’t that, like, issues with his personality and stuff?”

“You shouldn’t expect a girl trying to have a relationship to make rational decisions, okay? If people could always rationally figure out whose fault it was, couples would never fight, and we’d never hear about divorces ever again. Wouldn’t you say?”

“Se-Yeon, you... I think your Korean has improved after studying in the UK.”

“I'll take that as a compliment,” said Han Se-Yeon with a somewhat wry chuckle. “Even though that's how I felt, I tried to hold it in. I thought yes, stuff like that is understandable because it's Jin-Ho. But then... he didn’t call me once while he was on vacation from his military service.”

“...”

“That was when it all went... pop!” Han Se-Yeon raised her voice while miming a balloon blowing up. “Yes, that’s when it all blew up.”

Park Yu-Min’s expression stiffened after realizing what vacation Han Se-Yeon was talking about. He hurriedly tried to say something.

“Knowing Jin-Ho, he probably didn’t give you any excuses about what happened, so let me clear up what happened back then. Jin-Ho couldn’t call you because...”

“No, it’s fine. You don’t have to explain,” Han Se-Yeon calmly cut Park Yu-Min off.

“Wait. Hear me out first...”

“I’m telling you, it’s fine. I already know there must’ve been a reason. Not just any, but a reason grave enough to stop him from calling me. I can tell.”

“Come on, Se-Yeon.”

“I’m not being sarcastic, okay?”

Park Yu-Min paused after noticing the wry expression on Han Se-Yeon’s face.

She smiled awkwardly. “That's how Jin-Ho operates, after all. There must've been a grave matter taking away all of his attention. Back then, though... I was too desperate to consider that. Even if Jin-Ho was busy saving the world back then, I probably wouldn’t have been willing to understand.”

“But that’s because...”

“Because I was too young.” Han Se-Yeon chuckled with a cramped face while waving her hand dismissively. “Yes, I know. It’s all my fault. I messed up. Thanks to my stupidity, we grew apart, and it’s become so weird and uncomfortable between us now.”

Park Yu-Min sighed deeply.

‘I don’t think you can blame this on anyone, though.’

Now that he heard her side of the story, it became easier to understand why things happened that way.

Kang Jin-Ho had always been that type of person. Even though that was true, telling Han Se-Yeon to one-sidedly match his pace because he wouldn't match hers was too unfair for her. Too cruel, in fact.

“So I thought maybe I was not good enough for Jin-Ho. What if I change myself for the better... No, I'm not talking about how I look, okay? I meant me as a person. I thought our relationship could improve if I became someone better. That's why I went to study in the UK and worked hard to improve myself.

“You know what's funny, though? When I was over there all by myself, I began thinking about all these different things. And then, I realized what was actually the problem. As it turned out, I was just too immature.”

“...I see. Then, what now?”

“Mm?”

Park Yu-Min wordlessly stared deep into Han Se-Yeon’s eyes. He looked at her for what felt like an eternity before finally breaking the heavy silence.

“So, what you’re saying is you want to be Jin-Ho’s friend from now on? And nothing more than that?”

“...”

Han Se-Yeon silently turned her head away.

It was hard to tell if she wanted to avoid Park Yu-Min’s probing gaze or just needed a moment to think. He didn’t urge her on and patiently waited.

He had a hunch that her thoughts were more in disarray than he could ever imagine.

Eventually, she muttered weakly. “I... I don’t know for sure.”

“...”

“I don’t know what I want exactly. But people can’t be certain about everything in their lives, right? That’s... how I feel. Whatever happens, I don’t want what we had to end on a sour note. An unfinished note. If we’re breaking up, I want it to be definite. Not something wishy-washy.”

“But isn’t that too...”

“Besides, who knows? There’s that one in a million chance, right?” Han Se-Yeon suddenly grinned brightly. “So, please help me. Isn’t this what friends are for?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not what that idiom means.”

“Pretty please?”

Park Yu-Min groaned deeply.

‘Yup, she’s always been this way.’

Han Se-Yeon was a master at asking for a favor that couldn’t be refused. Even though she already knew what the outcome would be.

Park Yu-Min shook his head. “I’m warning you ahead of time, but it’s not gonna work out.”

“Yes, I get that.”

He studied her expression for a moment or two before nodding slightly. “...I’ll talk to Jin-Ho. See if he’s willing to meet you.”

“Thanks, Yu-Min.”

Han Se-Yeon thanked him, but Park Yu-Min had a feeling he didn’t really deserve it.

‘I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing.’

Having said that, Park Yu-Min chose to help Han Se-Yeon out not for her sake. Not entirely, anyway. The thing was, he too agreed with her sentiment. It was always better to resolve any loose ends. Lingering unresolved feelings were never a good thing.

...Even if such feelings were one-sided, like in this case.

“...I better pray I don't get beaten up to death, though,” Park Yu-Min powerlessly muttered.

Han Se-Yeon tilted her head. “Eh?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Park Yu-Min shook his head before looking up at the ceiling.

‘Will I be able to keep this situation secret from Miss Yeon-Ha?’

I guess it’ll be impossible, then?

Tsk.