Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1318. Working Together (3)

Lee Hyeon-Su asked, “It must’ve been hard for you, right?”

“...”

“Yeah, I know, I know. How can I not? It couldn’t have been easy.”

Han Eun-Sol finally replied, albeit in a meek voice. “N-no... It’s not that bad.”

“No, I understand, okay? But don’t give up, man. The good days will come for you sooner or later.”

Cold sweat trickled down Han Eun-Sol’s forehead. How the heck did they end up sitting so close like this?

While boarding the plane, he wondered if it was a mistake to sit on a spot they had assigned for him. Traveling alongside a total stranger would be a little awkward, but he didn’t have a say in the matter, after all.

But Han Eun-Sol learned something new today. And that was...

As it turned out, sitting next to someone he vaguely knew was at least three times more uncomfortable than sitting next to a total stranger!

Worse still, why did that person he vaguely knew have to be...

“Yeah... This is what having a superior is like, my man.”

...Why did it have to be Lee Hyeon-Su!

Yes, Han Eun-Sol was feeling very uncomfortable right now. Nay, supremely uncomfortable!

Actually, you’re also my superior, you know?!

Even though Han Eun-Sol was a department head in MK, and Lee Hyeon-Su was nominally an outsider with no “fixed” role in the company... In reality, the power dynamics didn’t wholly depend on one’s titles or authorities.

Lee Hyeon-Su being Kang Jin-Ho’s Number One personal assistant was a well-known fact. And, as long as Kang Jin-Ho was MK’s chairman, Lee Hyeon-Su would effectively be the Chief Secretary of MK.

During the military dictatorship days, the Chief Secretaries of the regime could wield unlimited power. Why? Because they could have an honest face-to-face discussion with the dictator. Lee Hyeon-Su was in that exact position.

As such, from Han Eun-Sol’s perspective, sitting next to Lee Hyeon-Su was proving to be very uncomfortable!

On top of that...!

Although the nature of Han Eun-Sol’s job meant he was somewhat removed from MK’s core business, he was still its employee, and frequently ran into other MK employees in the corridors of their HQ. Which meant he’d often hear stories about Kang Jin-Ho or Lee Hyeon-Su.

The things he heard about Kang Jin-Ho mostly matched what he already knew. While the employees seemed a little more scared of their boss than Lee Hyeon-Su, and maybe even in a little bit of awe, they all had one thing in common, and that was their respect and faith in Kang Jin-Ho.

Such was their reverence that Han Eun-Sol could sense their unwillingness to talk anything bad about Kang Jin-Ho in normal conversations.

However, the situation with Lee Hyeon-Su was... Well...

-I’m telling you, he’s the devil. THE devil!

-If he walks past you, don’t look him in the eye, okay? And don’t forget to scatter salt afterward!

-Do you get how incredible our chairman is? He even has a devil as his secretary!

-I hear there are bona fide exorcists in this world, so why haven’t they exorcised that man yet?! Or, at least call the cops for his crimes against humanity!

Yup, those were some serious evaluations, alright!

Throughout his admittedly brief life on Earth, Han Eun-Sol could swear that he had not heard someone other than Choi Yeon-Ha get bad-mouthed like that.

At this rate, maybe Han Eun-Sol should suspect Kang Jin-Ho instead? Since he wasn’t some kind of Pok**on trainer or something, maybe he had a hobby of collecting people with pitch-black hearts?

How could people’s evaluation of the boss’s girlfriend and his secretary be so uncannily similar?

Yup, I must create as much distance as possible!

Han Eun-Sol was talking about distancing himself away from Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su, of course!

Unfortunately for him, though, it seemed Lee Hyeon-Su had no desire to be understanding of his junior’s plight and continued to yap about some inane things.

Han Eun-Sol oh-so desperately wanted to ignore Lee Hyeon-Su. He definitely did not want to get involved, either.

But the problem with that was... He could sense that every word leaving Lee Hyeon-Su’s mouth was filled with sincerity and genuine concern! Despite Han Eun-Sol’s concerted effort to ignore his fellow passenger, his ears couldn’t help but perk up.

“Whether it’s the middle of the day or night, they don’t give a damn. And they don’t notice all the hard work we do, too!” Lee Hyeon-Su said.

“...Yes, that’s true.”

“But they can’t even do anything without us around, either. If we vacate our positions for a little bit, they’ll urgently look for us as if an Earth-ending crisis has happened or something!”

“Y-yes, also true.”

“Honestly, trying to humor them all the time should be outlawed or something, man. I’m telling you!”

Han Eun-Sol nodded away. “Y-yes. We’ll probably die young, that’s for sure.”

How odd. Even though he told himself to create some distance, why was he enthusiastically agreeing with this dangerous dude! Was this the so-called kinship? Camaraderie between men?

It wasn’t as if Han Eun-Sol didn’t have good relationships with other managers. Even so, he often didn’t feel that sense of kinship with them. That was because Choi Yeon-Ha was fundamentally different from other, more ordinary celebrities.

No matter how much Han Eun-Sol conversed with them, he just couldn’t empathize with their experiences. Watching them complaining about how difficult their work had been only made Han Eun-Sol think of them as whiny little babies. And when he complained about his work life to them, his peers would often react as if he was telling them a story of a brave warrior entering dimensional gates to slay dragons in some unnamed dungeons.

No wonder he couldn’t speak about his trials and tribulations to his peers. But Lee Hyeon-Su was different. After all, wasn’t he working for someone arguably even more... unbelievable than Choi Yeon-Ha?

Yeah, that’s right. When you think about it, Mister Jin-Ho is even more incredible, isn’t he?

After all, here was a man responsible for changing Choi Yeon-Ha. She was seen as the greatest quandary in the entertainment industry of 21st century South Korea that every manager and talent agency president racked their brains to solve but ultimately failed. Yet Kang Jin-Ho took care of such a problem without breaking too much sweat!

...Of course, he hadn’t completely resolved the problem, but still!

Han Eun-Sol couldn’t help but view Lee Hyeon-Su in a new light just then. Thinking that way had made him realize how amazing Lee Hyeon-Su actually was.

“Excuse me, Mister Lee...?”

“Yeah?”

For the first time in this conversation, Han Eun-Sol initiated the discussion first.

“Is Mister Jin... Oops, I mean, is the Chairman also, you know? Insane to work with?”

“Insane to work with?”

“Yes. N-no, not in the negative sense, but, uh...”

“Department Head Han?”

“Yes?”

“Chairman is a very, very nice guy.”

Han Eun-Sol’s expression crumpled ever so slightly. What the hell? Is this bastard trying to save his skin?

“The problem is that... Well, there are times when being a nice guy makes you a bad guy.”

“Sorry?”

Han Eun-Sol tilted his head. What on earth was this guy talking about?

Lee Hyeon-Su groaned deeply. “Let me explain, then. You’ve already served in the military, right?”

“Yes, I have. I reached sergeant before getting my discharge.”

“Good. Then, you must know who’s the absolute worst in the military to follow, don’t you?”

“Isn’t that, uh... An as*hole senior officer?”

“Nope. The right answer is an excellent senior.”

“Sorry?” Han Eun-Sol blinked his eyes, his head tilting from left to right.

Lee Hyeon-Su dismissively waved his hand. “Why do you think folks going through their mandatory military service try their best to cut corners? That’s because doing everything by the book is totally impossible for mere mortals like us. Heck, even the American soldiers cut corners, you know? If you try to do everything the field manual tells you to, you’ll be working from six in the morning till ten in the evening without a moment’s rest!”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“However, imagine if we actually have someone who can do that.”

“...!”

Han Eun-Sol’s expression cramped up slightly just then. He had figured out where Lee Hyeon-Su was going with this explanation. If someone like that really existed, the base that soldier was in would’ve turned into Hell on Earth!

“If a soldier like that was a real existence, that dude should be a villain. With a villainous personality who loves to torment and bully his juniors with how superior he is to everybody.”

Han Eun-Sol tilted his head again. “Huh? I don’t get it. Wouldn’t it be better for someone like that to be, I don’t know, a saint?”

“What a foolish assertion, kid. Tsk...” Lee Hyeon-Su muttered, a loud groan escaping his lips. “Do you have any idea what kinda crisis will happen if a soldier like that is a saint? If he’s a villain, he’ll always shout at people with stuff like, ‘Hey, you useless sons of b*tches! Even I can do this, so why can’t you? That’s why you’re all useless trash, okay?! Just shut the hell up and do as you’re told!’ You get what I’m saying?”

“Uhh... I guess so?”

“However! If that soldier is a saint!”

A weirdly slimy smirk suddenly formed on Lee Hyeon-Su’s face.

“Listen, brother. I know you can do this. Remember, I did it, too. So, there’s nothing stopping you from succeeding. I’m not anyone special. Just a little more effort, and you can do it, too! That’s why let’s work hard, together!”

Goosebumps broke free on Han Eun-Sol’s skin. He shuddered in dread before hurriedly shaking his head. He didn’t even want to imagine that situation.

“So, uh... The Chairman is someone like that?”

“Well, yes and no. He’s kinda like that, but it’s the details where things diverge a bit. Simply put, our Chairman is like a runaway train charging blindly forward while fueled by the power of good intentions. He’s the type of dude who will tell you to your face, ‘Why are you not putting in enough effort right now, when you can achieve good results by working hard? Effort can solve everything.’ without batting an eyelid.”

“Aha. So he’s basically an effort-a-holic.”

“He’s an extreme effort-a-holic. But the real problem is that you can’t even complain about it because he actually can do all those things!”

Han Eun-Sol could figure it out now.

You could learn a lot from a competent senior. However, a senior that’s waaay too competent would only bring harm to their juniors! After all, the juniors wouldn’t be able to follow in the senior’s footsteps. No matter what they did, their only reward would be this crippling sense of inferiority.

“That’s right,” Lee Hyeon-Su nodded contemplatively. “Working for a boss like that is unimaginably horrifying. He might not torment or bully you as a person, but he will make your life a living hell with work!”

For sure, Kang Jin-Ho seemed a totally different type compared to Choi Yeon-Ha.

She didn’t torment people through work. Actually, one could even say she was a lot more easy-going when it came to her work. Compared to other top stars who created all sorts of trouble while at work, she would suppress her dissatisfaction to an inconceivable level sometimes. In fact, Han Eun-Sol could relax the most when he and Choi Yeon-Ha were at filming locations.

I can’t tell who’s worse.

Han Eun-Sol used to think no one in this world could torment him more than Choi Yeon-Ha. However, Lee Hyeon-Su’s testimony had made him realize that Kang Jin-Ho might be a strong contender for that title!

Deciding who was worse proved rather tricky. Inclination-wise, Han Eun-Sol had already been optimized to handle Choi Yeon-Ha’s antics, but...

“Mmmm...!”

What a difficult quandary this was, trying to decide who was worse!

Han Eun-Sol chuckled helplessly. “Isn’t this so weird?”

Lee Hyeon-Su cocked an eyebrow. “What is?”

“How did two people like that hook up, I wonder?”

“Slight correction, kid.”

“Sorry?”

“They hooked up because of who they are.”

“...”

That oddly sounded persuasive. Maybe the concept, A Match Made In Heaven, was applicable in this case?

“In any case... Yeah, you must’ve been through a lot, man,” said Lee Hyeon-Su. “Trying to endure her personality must’ve taken a lot out of you.”

“No, I’m fine. I’ve gotten used to it. Rather than me, though, you must’ve been suffering a lot, Chief Lee. I didn’t know Chairman Kang was that kind of person, you see?”

“Nah, you have it worse than me, kid. I’m an outsider, and she still comes across as... As a you-know-what. In that case, how much worse would her real self be? I can already imagine what you must go through when no one’s looking, and... Haaah...”

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“Nah, it’s the least I can do. I mean, people stuck in the same fate should be more understanding of each other and try to help out whenever we can, right?”

The two men stared at each other after experiencing this inexplicable sense of fellowship. But that was when someone poked Lee Hyeon-Su in the arm.

“What was that?” Lee Hyeon-Su turned his head and stared at the person who had poked him. “What is it?”

“I think, uh...”

“Huh?”

“Someone is, uhm, looking for you...?”

“Eh?”

Lee Hyeon-Su turned his head once more, this time toward the front of the plane. And then, he froze still in his seat as if a Medusa was glaring at him.

“...”

“...”

Why... Why was Choi Yeon-Ha in the economy class?!

Lee Hyeon-Su’s trembling eyes locked on the figure of Choi Yeon-Ha standing near his seat. Although there was a subtle smile etched on her lips, judging from the way her cheeks and the corners of her lips twitched ominously, she must’ve heard their conversation from around the midway point.

What was the last thing I said?

Lee Hyeon-Su usually prided himself on boasting superb memories, yet he couldn’t recall anything right now, as if his brain had completely blanked out.

“W-wh-why...?”

Before the stuttering Lee Hyeon-Su could ask, “Why are you here?” Choi Yeon-Ha reached out to Han Eun-Sol and said, “Hand lotion.”

“A-ah, yes, noona! Here!”

Han Eun-Sol moved faster than a bolt of lightning to pull out a bottle of lotion from his bag resting on the floor and presented it to Choi Yeon-Ha.

She smiled weirdly. “It’s really dry in here like a desert, don’t you think? Bringing along a hand lotion was a smart move. Wouldn’t you agree, Han, Eun, Sol?”

“Y-yes, noona. I definitely agree.”

“Yeah. My heart is also dry like a desert, though.”

“...”

Cold sweat began flooding down Han Eun-Sol’s forehead. Anyone who knew Choi Yeon-Ha also would know that her smile was not a real smile.

Why... Why is it so cold in here?

It felt like the temperature in the cabin had plummeted to the level of the Ice Age. It seemed Han Eun-Sol and Lee Hyeon-Su weren’t the only ones feeling this way, because other passengers were also coughing and sneezing away.

Choi Yeon-Ha smiled oh-so brightly while staring at Lee Hyeon-Su next. “And what is your name, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“...S-sorry, ma’am?”

“Your name.”

“It’s, uh... It’s Lee Yeong-Hui.”

“Aha, I see. Mister Lee Yeong-Hui. I hope you’ll have a pleasant trip.”

Choi Yeon-Ha kept smiling eerily while bowing slightly at Lee Hyeon-Su, then turned around to leave. Her leisurely steps took her beyond the economy class and past the cabin divider, and eventually out of the two men’s view.

After watching her walk away for what felt like an eternity, Lee Hyeon-Su quietly muttered, “H-hey, I think I’m in deep sh*t now.”

“Nope,” Han Eun-Sol smiled brightly. “I’ll be the one in deep sh*t later.”

“...”

Lee Hyeon-Su and Han Eun-Sol groaned deeply together.