Descent of the Demon Master

The trio didn't need long to learn that the situation was worse than they thought.

As soon as arriving at the Seongsim Orphanage, they summoned all the kids to the living room and started investigating. After establishing the grave nature of the situation, Kang Jin-Ho decided to not open the pizzeria the following day and instead spent it interviewing everyone in the orphanage.

The result turned out to be horrifying.

“What the f*ck! What's wrong with these kids...?!” Ju Yeong-Gi angrily kicked a chair. “They aren't some brain-dead wackos, so why were they all cracking silly smiles and saying everything's all cool and sh*t?! Especially after they got bullied in school! Are they psychos or something?!”

Park Yu-Min glared at him. “Don't insult the kids that way!”

“...My bad. It's just that I'm f*cking pissed right now, you see.” Ju Yeong-Gi huffed angrily for a while after apologizing. However, his anger still didn't subside, so he yanked out a cigarette and mouthed it.

While watching Ju Yeong-Gi light the cigarette and start puffing on it, Park Yu-Min sighed deeply. “What should we do now?”

“Well, what can we do?”

“We need a plan, right? But…” Park Yu-Min muttered in a slightly dazed face. “...Would things be different if Sister Yi was still alive?”

Kang Jin-Ho quickly rebuked his friend. “You shouldn't say that, Yu-Min.”

“But…”

“This is not your fault. Besides, were things different when Sister Yi was still alive? Did you ask her for help when bad things were happening to you in school? No, you also chose to say nothing, right?”

Park Yu-Min slowly nodded at Kang Jin-Ho's rhetorical question.

'It's impossible to say something, isn't it?'

Telling the truth to someone else wouldn't solve this problem, after all. As a matter of fact, this problem would only make the others angry after hearing about it. In that case, sharing wasn't caring. It certainly didn't lighten the burden. It only made things harder for everyone.

Park Yu-Min knew this all too well. Each and every school day was an unbearable hell, but he knew nothing would change by telling others about his struggles. Then again, Choi Yeong-Su back then wasn't someone who could be toppled just because everyone in the orphanage worked together.

That was why Park Yu-Min had to keep his mouth shut and endure the abuse.

What tormented Park Yu-Min wasn't the orphanage kids getting bullied at school. The fact that he couldn't be the strength these kids could rely on when they needed help... that was what had been tearing him inside.

If Park Yu-Min was in their shoes, he would also not say anything first. However, failing to consider the possibility of the orphanage kids experiencing the same kind of bullying he went through felt like the painful proof of Park Yu-Min's thoughtlessness. This thought made containing his overflowing emotions that much harder.

Click...

Kang Jin-Ho lit a cigarette and quietly smoked it for a while. He finally broke the heavy silence by addressing Park Yu-Min. “Yu-Min, that's enough of blaming yourself.”

“...Got it.”

“Humans can't do everything by ourselves. We didn't know, so it couldn't be helped. Now we know the truth, so focus on that. Focus on how to deal with this situation. The more you waste time kicking yourself, the longer the bullying the kids will have to endure.”

“I hear you.” Park Yu-Min muttered weakly. It sounded like he still hadn't gotten over the guilt, but his expression indicated that he had acknowledged the importance of finding the solution first.

His resolution was all good and well, but they were still nowhere near the solution to the core of their problem.

“Okay, so… What should we do about this situation?”

“...Mm.”

“...Huh.”

No one could say anything useful. Ju Yeong-Gi jerked his head back and started groaning loudly. “Bloody hell, what a freaking headache this is turning out to be! Did you know that not even the almighty government can save a bullied kid? All those super-smart and learned pros couldn't find a solution, so what can we Three Stooges do by ourselves?”

Ju Yeong-Gi's words were disparaging, but they still accurately pinpointed the core of the current problem.

“The Ministry of Education might have failed, but we can do this.” Kang Jin-Ho suddenly declared. It seemed he had other ideas.

“How? Dude, it's easier said than done.”

“No, it isn't as hard as you make it out to be. We are not trying to solve the bullying problem in the entire country. We only need to solve the problem affecting fifteen or so kids. That's all. And we have more options available to us than a government department relying on our tax money.”

“...Well, that is true.”

“Let's not overcomplicate this situation. Yeong-Gi, you said there is only one reason for the bullying, didn't you?”

“I did.”

“In that case, we just have to eliminate that reason.”

“No, wait a minute. Listen to me…” Ju Yeong-Gi groaned in frustration. “There's a big difference between trying to prevent something and fixing something that's already happened. What you're proposing is like giving a flu shot to a kid who already has the flu.”

“That's better than not doing anything, is it not?” Kang Jin-Ho tersely asked.

“Well, that's true, but…” Ju Yeong-Gi scratched his head.

'F*cking hell. This is one tough problem, isn't it?'

They could sit here and come up with lots of ideas the whole day. However, would any one of those ideas even be effective?

Ju Yeong-Gi slowly shook his head. “Honestly... I think we're in serious trouble, boys.”

“Explain.”

“No matter how many ideas we can think of, none of them will work.”

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“What makes you say that?” Kang Jin-Ho and Park Yu-Min tilted their heads.

“Well…” Ju Yeong-Gi sighed at length. “I didn't wanna say this, but... You know, there's that thing. Should I call it the Theory of the Weak?”

“Theory of... the Weak?”

“Yeah. That thing about how the bullied aren't entirely free from the blame.”

Park Yu-Min immediately started frowning. “What are you talking about? Are you blaming the orphanage kids now? What did they do wrong, then? Nothing! The fault is with the bullies, so why do you want to blame the victims?!”

“I bloody knew it. This is why I didn't want to say anything,” Ju Yeong-Gi grunted in irritation. “You think I don't know that? What crime would victims be guilty of in the first place? Obviously nothing. All I am saying is this. The perps aren't the only ones responsible for creating a situation.”

“...” Park Yu-Min narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything.

Ju Yeong-Gi grimaced a little and addressed Park Yu-Min. “Sorry about this, but... We need to be honest here, Yu-Min.”

“Mm?”

“When you're out on the street going somewhere... You can feel other people staring at you, right?”

Park Yu-Min slowly nodded. He walked with a noticeable limp, which attracted attention even if that was the last thing he wanted.

“And you must've been subjected to unjustified crappy treatments, too.”

“...Yeah, that did happen.”

“In those cases, did you do something to deserve all that? The answer's a no, am I right? Being born this way isn't your fault, after all.”

“What are you trying to say, Yeong-Gi?”

Ju Yeong-Gi sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Right. The orphanage kids haven't done anything wrong. The fault is with the bullies. However, none of this would've happened if the kids didn't look like pushovers. Having no parents isn't their fault. Having no money isn't their fault, either. And being too nice and kind isn't their fault. But this isn't about who's at fault or not. Being easy targets is the reason we have this situation. Exactly like how you haven't done anything, but people still look at you weird just because you are disabled.”

Ju Yeong-Gi looked apologetic as he explained himself. It seemed he felt bad about using Park Yu-Min as an example.

“In that case, who should we blame?” Ju Yeong-Gi scratched the back of his head. “Do we blame you for being disabled? Or do we blame the rest of society for not treating the disabled like normal people?”

“Obviously...!”

...The latter. Park Yu-Min wanted to retort that the latter was at fault. The world that couldn't even accept the disabled as normal people without discrimination was wrong and needed to be changed. However, that was nothing more than idealism.

“I... I get what you're saying, Yeong-Gi.” Park Yu-Min helplessly nodded.

“Those bullies won't change. I'm telling you, those twerps will never change their ways. You think punks born that way can become nice people? Educate those twerps to resolve this situation? Thanks for the laughs, but that ain't gonna happen, dude. This is what they are. Their nature. Besides, this isn't just unique to people. Get a pack of dogs together, and you'll see for yourself. These dogs will start biting and tormenting the weakest in their group. They'll bite the weak dog for no reason and then even steal the food, too.”

“Okay. So what must we do, then?” Park Yu-Min sighed deeply.

“I'll be honest. Most solutions people can think of aren't gonna work. Our side isn't to blame. Great! But so what? The ones getting beaten up are still on our side, anyway. If the other side ain't gonna change, our side should.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded.

'Right. This is what humans are like.'

It was human nature to bully the weak to extract some kind of benefit for themselves. Education constantly drilled the concept of not bullying the weak into people's minds, but that ironically proved how much humans were inclined to do just that. And Kang Jin-Ho wasn't going to deny the unfortunate reality. He saw enough times back in Zhongyuan the tragic fate awaiting those without strength.

“I see. In that case, the solution is actually simpler than we think,” Kang Jin-Ho quietly muttered, prompting his friends to stare at him.

“Simple? How?” Ju Yeong-Gi tilted his head.

“We only have to change the kids.”

“Come on. That's not as easy as it sounds.”

“Not really. It shouldn't be hard,” Kang Jin-Ho confidently said.

That was when Ju Yeong-Gi scowled deeply. Probably because Kang Jin-Ho was a freak of nature who could do anything he wanted without breaking a sweat, he had this unfortunate tendency to view practically everything in this world as a non-challenge.

If changing who you were was easy, why would anyone struggle mightily to do just that?!

“Listen, Jin-Ho. Changing the kids' personalities will be a lot tougher than you think.”

“I didn't say their personalities need to change.”

“Huh? Then... what?”

The corners of Kang Jin-Ho's lips curled up. “No need to change their personalities, fellas. Besides, that isn't going to solve the bullying problem, anyway. Yeong-Gi, you said the core reason why bullies go after Seongsim's kids is that they look like pushovers, didn't you? In that case, we should ensure they are no longer pushovers. That will solve the problem, no?”

“...Well, yeah. I guess.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. “So, I propose that we focus on that aspect.”

“Huh?”

Questions and confusion dyed Ju Yeong-Gi's expression.

***

“Fuu-wooo…”

Choi Yeon-Ha stepped off the treadmill and wiped the streams of sweat from her forehead.

'I've grown a lot weaker.'

She never missed a day of exercise even during the packed shooting schedules. Her profession of acting had an unfortunate quirk of having a very flexible meal- and sleep-time schedules once the filming had commenced.

And to absorb such a grueling, punishing shooting schedule, an actor needed a healthy body. On top of that, they also needed to look after their figure, so exercising was an absolute must.

Choi Yeon-Ha stared at her reflection in the mirror mounted on a wall opposite the treadmill and frowned in dissatisfaction.

“This isn't good enough!”

Although she hadn't gained weight, she still lost some muscle mass. That meant her 'Healthy Beauty' score had fallen. Being slender was obviously important, but an actor like her needed curves in all the right (?) places, too! That was the only way to make the costumes she put on come alive!

“I'm gonna get them all back!”

An unyielding drive began burning in Choi Yeon-Ha's heart.

Now that her goal was set, there was no point in looking back. Choi Yeon-Ha was no longer the same doubtful woman. With a crystal-clear goal, she must do what she used to do in the past to achieve it. Namely, resorting to whatever means necessary and charging forward!

'Hmm. Is it because my mind is made up? I feel so weirdly refreshed.'

Choi Yeon-Ha felt relaxed. Comfortable, even. So much so that she wondered if all the uncertainty and anxiety plaguing her back in the hospital were nothing more than her imagination.

She even began suspecting that the root of her psychological issues was the unfamiliar environment of the hospital.

“Well, whatever. My condition is back to normal, so...!”

Although Choi Yeon-Ha had never challenged a target like this before, was there a need to change her approach? If she kept pouncing on the target and hitting on him, well...!

Suddenly, Choi Yeon-Ha's phone began ringing off the proverbial hook.

“And I told them I ain't gonna answer, too!”

Choi Yeon-Ha frowned deeply. That call must be from her stupid manager, asking her to take a look at another throwaway script...

“...Ng?”

Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes grew into a pair of large round dots at the name 'Kang Jin-Ho' appearing on the phone's screen.

'What's gotten into him?'

To think this man would call her first! Did today's sun rise from the west or something?

The wise old men of yore once said that a correct mindset would open a lot of doors, and sure enough, it felt like things were going Choi Yeon-Ha's way after she had steeled her resolve.

Choi Yeon-Ha coughed to clear her throat, then picked up the phone.

'How should I greet him?'

Should she sound somewhat happy to hear from him? Or sound disinterested like the usual? Or... Should she pretend to be busy to raise her value, so to speak?

All those options had their pros and cons, making it difficult for Choi Yeon-Ha to decide.

She finally settled on the option of answering the phone in her 'usual' self and cautiously tapped on the green 'answer' icon. After bringing the phone to her ear...

“Hi. What can I do for you?”

Choi Yeon-Ha's expression instantly grew tearful after thinking she sounded a little too cold just now. And when she nervously waited for Kang Jin-Ho's response...

“...Huh?”

When there was no reply, Choi Yeon-Ha checked the phone's screen, only for her expression to crumple in displeasure.

“He already hung up?!”

What kind of a man was this impatient?! If no one answered the phone immediately, couldn't he have waited for a few seconds more? How could he hang up so soon?!

Now royally irritated, Choi Yeon-Ha quickly dialed Kang Jin-Ho's number. A few ringtones later, his familiar voice came on line.

“How could you hang up so soon! A man should be more patient, you know! Why did you call me, anyway!” Choi Yeon-Ha yelled in irritation and listened to Kang Jin-Ho while frowning deeply. Soon, though, she began tilting her head at what he said. “You… need my help?”