Descent of the Demon Master-Chapter 1337. Executing (2)

Han Eun-Sol cautiously asked, “Did... something happen during dinner?”

Choi Yeon-Ha’s somewhat dazed gaze slowly shifted toward Han Eun-Sol’s face.

“Hey, Eun-Sol?”

“Yes, noona?”

“Just what did you eat while growing up to become so lucky?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“It’s just that I’m jealous, okay? Jealous!”

“...?”

Han Eun-Sol tilted his head this way and that. What was up with this weird atmosphere?

His companions were acting weirdly after they returned from their supper. Choi Yeon-Ha looked half out of her mind, while Lee Hyeon-Su’s face was haggard like a soldier who briefly fought in an active war zone. And cold sweat caked his face on top of that, too.

The only person who looked totally unaffected was Kang Jin-Ho, but he had always been like that, anyway.

Han Eun-Sol stared at the unidentified large box in the middle of the hotel suite. “And what is that?”

Choi Yeon-Ha muttered listlessly. “It’s supposed to be a present?”

“A present? Did you run into someone during dinner?”

“...”

Choi Yeon-Ha sighed deeply before staring at Han Eun-Sol again. She should’ve dragged him to dinner even if the latter was unwilling to go.

While she and others were going through hell, Han Eun-Sol was lounging inside this luxurious suite and enjoying himself doing probably nothing important. Merely thinking about that was enough for her blood pressure to spike much, much higher!

“You wanna know who we ran into?”

“Yes, noona.”

“I can’t tell you, ‘cuz I don’t know, either!”

“Ehh?”

Han Eun-Sol’s jaw slightly fell as he stared back at Choi Yeon-Ha. However, what could she say when she wasn’t sure? It wasn’t a lie to say she didn’t know who that was, after all!

“But, well...” Choi Yeon-Ha sighed deeply again. “I think our thing about getting roles will sort itself out now.”

“Eh?”

“Look, I also don’t know how to explain, okay? But it’s gonna get sorted out. That’s what he said. He said he’ll allow all our contracts to go through.”

Han Eun-Sol gently smiled at Choi Yeon-Ha. “Noona... Are you high right now?”

“Of course not! You dummy!”

“Then why are you saying all this nonsense!”

“Yes, it sounds like nonsense. I can’t argue with that.”

When Choi Yeon-Ha readily acknowledged the absurdity of her story and plopped down on the sofa again, Han Eun-Sol was stunned into silence.

She was being serious?

As her manager, of course he knew how she operated. As such, he could tell that Choi Yeon-Ha wasn’t joking right now.

But Han Eun-Sol couldn’t just believe her story. First of all, it was the Chinese government that had decided to limit Korea’s cultural expansion into China. When things were like that, a few select people couldn’t just decide they didn’t like this and start rebelling against it! That would never be allowed in this country.

Even in South Korea, its citizens couldn’t just rebel against the policies of the government, so how much worse would it be in China?

Worse still, if those sons of b*tches from CNTV tried to retaliate by spreading nasty rumors about Choi Yeon-Ha, the high-ranking government individual they mentioned would single her out and interfere at every turn. How could a situation that seemed so insurmountable get resolved so easily?

It was not for nothing that Han Eun-Sol had given up like this.

“Noona, please...! Explain properly! What happened?”

“I don’t get the situation myself, so how can I explain anything?”

“Wha? Just what...”

That was when Lee Hyeon-Su, who had been sagging on the other sofa, muttered weakly. “It’s as she said.”

“Sorry?”

“I’m sure he won’t go back on his words. His pride is bigger than the Asian continent, after all.”

A wry smirk floated up on Lee Hyeon-Su’s lips just then.

He would never trust anything coming out of Cai Kechang’s mouth. That bastard was fully capable of going back on his promises without batting an eyelid, after all. However, Cai Kechang didn’t make those promises, the Crimson King did.

Lee Hyeon-Su was the type to confirm and suspect everything and everyone, but even then, he couldn’t imagine the Crimson King breaking his promises. That man might be an enemy, but his promise was as trustworthy as promises could get.

Han Eun-Sol finally lost his cool.

“What the heck?! Stop talking in riddles and tell me what the freak happened, will ya! Sheesh!”

“Eiii, seriously?!”

Choi Yeon-Ha yelled in irritation but still began her description of the stressful dinner.

***

Han Eun-Sol blinked her eyes. “What the... Just who was that man?”

“Don’t ask me. Ask him,” said Choi Yeon-Ha while pointing in a direction.

Han Eun-Sol slowly turned his head and glanced at Kang Jin-Ho. But he quickly realized that expecting an answer from the Chairman of MK was asking for a miracle and shifted his attention to Lee Hyeon-Su instead.

“Well, uh...” Lee Hyeon-Su opened his mouth to say something, only for a loud groan to escape from his lips instead. “Fuu... It’s hard to explain who that man was. Just think of him as a hidden powerful figure in China.”

“A hidden powerful figure?”

“Yeah.”

Han Eun-Sol frowned in confusion. Was such a thing even possible in the modern era, though? Maybe, since this was China. Hadn’t he already learned through experience that anything was possible in this country in the past few days? And that he shouldn’t be surprised at this point?

“T-then... Will everything work out? For real?”

Choi Yeon-Ha tutted. “Probably?”

“Holy cow... What kind of situation is this? And I was dreaming about pigs last night, too!”

“Pigs? How about dogs, though?”

“Dogs? Yeah, I think they were in my dream, too.”[1]

“...”

Although Han Eun-Sol was joking around, the significance of this development wasn’t lost on him. He and Choi Yeon-Ha might have hopped on a plane to China with much swagger and confidence, but the truth was... They knew the odds of signing deals and contracts were very low. The best they could have hoped for was signing two contracts, tops. Maybe.

But now, they might get nearly ten?

No, no, wait! This is not all good news.

The filming schedule would become impossibly tight at this rate. Besides, Choi Yeon-Ha wouldn’t have enough stamina to survive this ordeal, either.

So, the maximum number of contracts they could handle simultaneously should be no more than five.

We gotta pick only the most lucrative contracts out of them all. Also, the ones that will help noona cultivate a favorable image long-term!

Han Eun-Sol still wasn’t sure of what happened, but was there a need for him to sweat over stuff like that? When his superiors were already here for that purpose? Indeed, he only had to take care of his business, and that would be all.

“Okay, noona! First of all, let’s start by accepting all the offers for the commercials.”

Choi Yeon-Ha blinked her eyes in stupefaction. “...?”

“The real problem is with movies and TV shows, anyway. If I’m being honest, though? I think taking the TV role will be better.”

“Eun-Sol, you gotta calm down first.”

“No, no! You’re wrong, noona. We gotta move quickly on this one. Who knows when they’ll contact us?!”

“Urgh...”

Choi Yeon-Ha held her head while lying down on the sofa. She still couldn’t make heads nor tails of this situation.

That whole experience felt like a weird dream. Starting from the moment Cai Kechang guided her group into the restaurant and until they returned to this hotel... It felt like she had traveled to a different world.

Ah. So this is the world Mister Jin-Ho lives in.

His world existed separately from hers.

Even though both existed at the same time and occupied the same space, his world was ever so slightly not aligned with hers.

This weird, disharmonious sensation must be from briefly stepping foot into that world.

Choi Yeon-Ha pouted slightly while shifting her gaze over to Kang Jin-Ho. He was deep in thought, no discernible expression on his face.

Well, it can’t be helped. Right...?

Choi Yeon-Ha obviously knew this was not Kang Jin-Ho’s fault. But whenever she was reminded of how she’d never understand certain aspects of his life, a subtle hint of sadness would creep into her heart.

She sighed, then glanced at Han Eun-Sol. “For now, let’s wait. I mean, that guy could have been putting on airs for all I know...”

Riiiiiiing!

Before she could finish, though, Han Eun-Sol’s phone began ringing noisily. He hurriedly snatched it up off the coffee table and confirmed the caller’s number.

“Eh? Ehhhh?!”

Han Eun-Sol gasped loudly, then answered the call.

“Y-yes, this is Han Eun-Sol speaking.”

When he stammered ungainly in Chinese, an urgent voice flew out from the phone’s speaker and burrowed into his ear.

“N-no, please slow down! If you speak that fast, I won’t be able to understand you. Yes, please, a little bit slower... Ah, ah! Yes, yes! Of course.”

Han Eun-Sol’s face grew more and more flushed with excitement.

“Yes, yes! Ah... But that’s too sudden... How about in two days? We can reach your city by tomorrow morni... Sorry? You’ll come here instead? T-then, sure, yes, we can do that.”

After squeezing the phone between his shoulder and ear, Han Eul-Sol looked at Choi Yeon-Ha and used his free hands to create the shape of a camera. He was trying to say that one of the ad agencies had called him.

“Okay, we’ll see you at ten! Yes, of course. Yes... Ah, please hold on, I just got another call... Yes, I’ll call you back as soon as possible. Thank you...”

Han Eun-Sol hurriedly tapped on the answer button on his phone.

“Hello, this is Han Eun-Sol, the department head of MK Entertainment. Yes, yes, I... But I thought you didn’t want to work with us? Sorry? The situation has changed? Oooh...”

The corners of Han Eun-Sol’s lips began curling up higher and higher.

“I’m not sure. How about we can take our time and discuss it in detail...?”

While listening to Han Eun-Sol, Lee Hyeon-Su slightly turned his head to look at his boss. He chuckled wryly after exchanging glances with Kang Jin-Ho.

“I didn’t know Cai Kechang was such an impatient man, sir,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“No, it’s not that he’s impatient,” Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged.

“Sorry?” 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

“The underlings must’ve heard that this is what the Crimson King wants.”

Lee Hyeon-Su slowly nodded. That made sense, didn’t it? How often would the Crimson King issue orders like this? The ones responsible for Choi Yeon-Ha’s situation probably never had the opportunity to fulfill the Crimson King’s orders before.

But now, the Crimson King told them to do something for him. In that case, these people urgently fixing this situation as if their lives depended on it made total sense. And they must’ve called the various agencies and production companies to explain the urgency of this situation... Along with the threats of ripping their heads off if they didn’t fix the issue right away!

No wonder Han Eun-Sol’s phone was ringing off the proverbial hook so late at night.

“Aha, but... We’re not really keen on resuming a contract negotiation that went down the toilet already, so... Sorry? You’ll double the amount? Oh... Yes, of course. We like money. Money is great, but... Even if it’s double the amount, you know this, don’t you? My talent is a bit particular about things like this, so when her pride is stepped on... Sorry? You’ll triple the amount?”

Lee Hyeon-Su grimaced slightly while observing Han Eun-Sol.

This brat... He’s gonna be a big fish one day.

Even as he was fielding calls from the potential employers, Han Eun-Sol found enough mental leeway to sit on a chair, cross his legs, and arrogantly lean back. A cigarette dangling between his lips would’ve been enough to complete the image of a confident businessman pressing home his advantage.

“Huh. Well, I’ll be...”

Lee Hyeon-Su couldn’t help but chuckle softly.

Of course, he understood how elated Han Eun-Sol must be right now. For the past few days, all he got in return for his hard work was cold shoulders and creeps drooling over his actress, after all. Now that this crappy situation had turned on its head, though, he must be over the moon, soaring through the heavens, etc, etc...

Lee Hyeon-Su leisurely spoke into the phone. “Yes. Then I’ll call you again tomorrow. No, no, I’m not saying we’ll meet tomorrow. I’ll call you tomorrow. We don’t have any free time tomorrow as I’ve already set up meetings with other interested parties, you see? Yes, yes.”

Lee Hyeon-Su tutted while listening. You don’t have any bloody meetings lined up, you brat! It’s no good for a youngster to be so naughty, you know!

“Sorry? You want to know who else we’re talking to? Hahaha, you know we can’t divulge that info,” said Han Eun-Sol glibly. “Please understand that my talent has only one body, so it’s unreasonable for her to sign on with every offer coming her way. Still, I should let you in on this tidbit since it’s you. We were thinking of looking at all the offers coming our way and picking the best ones. Of course, we’ll look at your offer more favorably than others.”

Before one phone call could end, another one came through. While answering all these calls, Lee Hyeon-Su began jutting his chin out more and more until he was almost staring at the ceiling.

“Yes. Then, goodbye.”

Tap!

Han Eun-Sol finished the last call, quickly opened the memo app on his phone, and organized the schedule without missing a beat. When he finished doing that, he tossed the phone on the coffee table before shooting up to his feet.

His eyes, filled with tears of gratitude, were staring in the direction of Lee Hyeon-Su.

Feeling a bit sheepish now, Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled awkwardly. “Come on, man. You don’t have to.”

Even though Han Eun-Sol was over the moon with joy, Lee Hyeon-Su wasn’t so keen on a grown-ass man ardently thanking him.

However, Han Eun-Sol hurriedly walked over in Lee Hyeon-Su’s direction anyway, as if he didn’t want to brush this matter aside.

Lee Hyeon-Su chuckled. “Come on, man. Just buy us a meal next time. We should be helping each othe...”

“Can you step aside for a moment?”

“...Eh?”

Han Eun-Sol pushed Lee Hyeon-Su aside as if the latter was in the way.

“...”

He then quickly rushed to Kang Jin-Ho and bowed his head deeply.

“Chairman! I give you my word that I’ll serve for the rest of my life!”

Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes in stupefaction. “Huh?”

“With this, our entertainment division can now look forward to a rapid improvement in the revenue stream! I swear to you, we will not disappoint you, sir! Thank you for this opportunity, Chairman!”

“Uh... Sure thing.”

“Ehehe, but, I was wondering...”

Kang Jin-Ho subtly cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

Han Eun-Sol began rubbing his hands as a business smile bloomed on his face. “It’s regarding all these Chinese contracts, sir.”

“Yeah?”

“Will it be okay for our agency’s other talents to handle all the smaller contracts noona can’t fulfill?”

“...”

“Just this once, sir! Once we get these deals signed, our agency will finally be able to soar through the skies, sir! I’m sure you’ve already been informed about this, but the talents in our roster are some of the best in the industry! So, uh... Do you mind making one more phone call?”

“...”

Lee Hyeon-Su slowly shook his head.

This brat... He really will become a big fish one day. Seriously!

1. Pig-related dreams are considered good omens regarding one’s financial situation in Asia. As for “dogs”, it’s a play on a Korean slang term, “Gae-kkum”, literally translated as dog dream, which means a crappy, unpleasant dream. ☜