CH 325

“Sorry? You're looking for Jin-Ho?” Park Yu-Min tilted his head.

“Yes. I heard that a university student named Kang Jin-Ho can be found here.”

Park Yu-Min was puzzled by this middle-aged man.

'Never saw this man before, though...?'

He prided himself in knowing almost everyone in Kang Jin-Ho's circle of acquaintances, but this middle-aged man was a total stranger, someone he had never seen before. Then again, his knowledge ended at 'almost', so...

“Uhm, yes, Jin-Ho's inside. Please wait. Jin-Ho! Someone's looking for you!”

Kang Jin-Ho turned his head slightly to look, and his expression froze almost instantly. He silently stared at the middle-aged man without moving an inch.

Park Yu-Min tilted his head. “What are you doing?”

"Mm..." Kang Jin-Ho finally got moving when his friend urged him. He walked toward the middle-aged man waiting for him in measured steps. "Who?"

The middle-aged man retorted. “Huh. Aren't you a rude dude?”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't respond and simply held the man's glare.

“No need to be that tense, fella,” said the middle-aged man.

Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"Maybe you haven't heard about what I'm like? Is that it?"

"No, I've heard enough stories about you. So much so that I could be the real, undisputed expert in all things related to you in this world. And yes, I'm well aware of how much you hate having your territory intruded upon like this. That's why I'm only dipping my toes in. If I dared to step any further in, my head might go flying in the blink of an eye!"

Kang Jin-Ho smirked a little at the middle-aged man's snarky attitude. The ones behind him wouldn't notice it, but the middle-aged man would have seen the clear murderous intent bubbling within Kang Jin-Ho's smirk just then.

Kang Jin-Ho maintained his smirk. “You're rather relaxed, aren't you?”

“No, not at all.” The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders. “If I'm being honest, I'm just desperately suppressing my desire to flee from here as soon as possible.”

"You sure know how to run your mouth, too."

"No, I'm being serious. I have to acknowledge you, after all. It seriously feels like I have a foot inside a lion's den right now. However, I didn't think I could speak to you face-to-face without going to this extreme."

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and silently stared at the middle-aged man.

The man straightened his jacket. “Can you spare me a moment of your time?”

“My time, is it?”

“Be kind to me since I managed to come all the way here. It was pretty difficult for me to come here, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled coldly alongside the middle-aged man laughing affably.

***

“Okay, so... Who was that uncle, anyway?” Park Yu-Min muttered quizzically while staring at the pizzeria's exit.

A middle-aged man showed up out of nowhere and asked for Kang Jin-Ho. Then, they chatted briefly and left the store altogether.

All Kang Jin-Ho said to his friends was that he'd be back soon before leaving. That didn't give Park Yu-Min a chance to stop Kang Jin-Ho and ask what was going on.

"Does Jin-Ho know who that uncle is?" Park Yu-Min continued to mutter, only to realize that Ju Yeong-Gi hadn't said a word until now. "Hey, Yeong-Gi?"

“Mm?”

“Did something happen?” Park Yu-Min tilted his head.

In any other circumstances, Ju Yeong-Gi would've started his nagging train by now, complaining that Kang Jin-Ho went out to play again. But now, his mouth was firmly clamped shut. No wonder Park Yu-Min found this response puzzling.

“Stop minding it, Yu-Min.”

“...Hey, now. No need to be that curt.”

“I wasn't talking about me. Stop minding who that uncle was, okay?”

“Eh?”

“Don't get curious about who that uncle was. And don't ask Jin-Ho what happened when he's back.”

Park Yu-Min's head tilting intensified. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Don't ask and just do as I say, okay? You think this big bro's gonna give you bad advice or something?"

“Hmm...” Park Yu-Min wordlessly stared at Ju Yeong-Gi before nodding in acceptance. He agreed that despite being a lot of things, Ju Yeong-Gi wouldn't deliberately hurt his friends.

'Still, why doesn't he want me to ask questions?'

While Park Yu-Min was stewing in his suspicions, Ju Yeong-Gi continued to scan the pizzeria's exit, his expression stiff.

'That uncle... He's not someone ordinary.'

Despite his young age, Ju Yeong-Gi had experienced his fair share of rough and unsavory things over the years. Back when he was still involved in the shadier side of Korean society, he got to see many big fishes in that part of the world, so he could tell.

That uncle had a familiar smell. The dangerous kind, that was.

The evil and dank smell wafted off that uncle. Such a smell could only ever come from the folks who would stop at nothing and resort to everything in order to get what they want. Ju Yeong-Gi didn't know why a man emitting such a smell came to see Kang Jin-Ho, but it couldn't be something pleasant, that was for sure.

'Damn it. What has Jin-Ho been doing, I wonder...'

The fact that his friend stepped outside with such a dangerous man slightly worried Ju Yeong-Gi. However, the 'Kang Jin-Ho' he knew also defied any attempts to understand him, anyway.

"...I'm sure he'll manage it somehow."

Ju Yeong-Gi let out a lengthy groan.

***

The man started first. "So, then. Should I say it's a pleasure to finally meet you?"

“Let's cut to the chase, shall we?” Kang Jin-Ho curtly replied.

“Hmm...” The man shifted his gaze toward the nearby Han river's flowing water, then took out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. He lightly shook it to half-extract a cigarette and offered it to Kang Jin-Ho.

However, when Kang Jin-Ho didn't respond, the man smiled awkwardly. “Come on, now. Let's loosen up a little. I hate this kind of atmosphere.”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression remained the same as he stared at the middle-aged man. Eventually, though, he took the cigarette and mouthed it. He used his own lighter to light the cigarette up and leisurely sucked on it.

The middle-aged man also began smoking. For a while, the two men smoked in silence before the middle-aged man raised his voice again. “I'm guessing you know who I am?”

“Maybe…”

“Judging from your reactions so far, you seem to have a pretty good guess?”

“Just a guess, nothing more.”

"Then, it's time to confirm that guess, isn't it? Yes, I'm none other than Kim Seok-Il."

“...” Kang Jin-Ho remained unperturbed.

Kim Seok-Il, the leader of the Yeongnam Group, frowned slightly. “Huh. Aren't you a fearless one?”

“That’s your name. And then? What are you trying to say?”

Kim Seok-Il chuckled hollowly. Did this punk really not know the name of the boss of the group at war with him? Seriously?

'I can't tell whether he's a ballsy one... Or just plain crazy.'

Neither was good news for Kim Seok-Il, though. If Kang Jin-Ho was indeed insane, that meant Kim Seok-Il had to deal with a lunatic. That was never a pleasant thing. However, if Kang Jin-Ho was so sure of himself to the point of not giving a damn about the boss of the Yeongnam Group, that was probably even worse news for Kim Seok-Il.

“...If I reintroduce myself as the Yeongnam Group's chairman, will that be easier for you to comprehend?”

"Oh, I see." Kang Jin-Ho nodded disinterestedly.

Kim Seok-Il spat out a groan. 'Provoked the wrong sleeping lion, is that it?'

Kang Jin-Ho was the de facto ruler of the Korean Martial Assembly, the organization about to wage a winner-takes-all war against the Yeongnam Group.

Even after removing his emotions from the equation, Kim Seok-Il still was, without a shred of doubt, Kang Jin-Ho's biggest enemy right now. Even then, Kang Jin-Ho was not perturbed at all despite the sudden appearance of an enemy he had not met before.

Obviously, Kang Jin-Ho was no dullard. Kim Seok-Il knew that couldn't be true since he received reports on all the things Kang Jin-Ho had done. Which meant...

“...You aren't surprised by me, then.”

“I only made a rough guess.” Kang Jin-Ho leisurely smoked away.

Kim Seok-Il narrowed his eyes. “Since you're remaining calm, can I take that as a sign that we can hold a civilized conversation?”

“Calm, you say?” Kang Jin-Ho smirked derisively. “If you have something important to say, get on with it. I'm trying very hard to suppress the urge to crush your skull right now, you see? You made a smart choice by coming to see me during the day. If we were at night, you'd be dead already.”

Kang Jin-Ho's tone remained composed, unflustered. However, that only made his words more chilling.

Kim Seok-Il grimaced. 'Indeed, a barking dog doesn't bite...'

In other words, Kang Jin-Ho didn't feel the need to use a threatening tone to heighten the tension in the air. No extra spice was needed when speaking the truth or something like that.

Kim Seok-Il sighed under his breath. '...I'm not sure just where things have gone wrong.'

The sudden appearance of Kang Jin-Ho signaled the beginning of Kim Seok-Il's plans going down the drain. According to his plan, Kim Seok-Il should've eliminated Lee Jung-Geol by now and finished swallowing up the leaderless and lost Martial Assembly.

Unfortunately, the introduction of a variable named Kang Jin-Ho threw a wrench into that plan, and now, Kim Seok-Il found himself preparing for all-out open warfare with the Assembly instead.

“Understandable. You and I aren't exactly in the position to have a cordial chat like this, after all. Just hearing your name makes me sick to my stomach, you see,” Kim Seok-Il sourly muttered.

“...”

“In fact, I was getting ready to kill you using whatever means possible up until a few days ago. I'm sure it's the same story for you, too.”

Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. “Get to the point.”

"Hmm..." Kim Seok-Il slowly nodded. "I'm requesting a ceasefire."

Kang Jin-Ho smirked derisively. “Are you done with your bullsh*t?”

Kim Seok-Il's expression crumpled. "I also don't want a bloody ceasefire with you. Only you have managed to completely ruin my plan like this in my entire life, after all! If I had a choice, I'd have cut your goddamn head off right now, no matter what it takes!"

"Then, why don't you go ahead and try?"

Although, it's up in the air whether you can succeed or not.

“Of course, I want to try, but the situation has changed too much for that. Now isn't the time for us to bicker amongst ourselves.”

“Didn't I warn you not to beat around the bush?” Kang Jin-Ho cocked his eyebrow.

"Bloody hell...!" Kim Seok-Il grunted and explained in irritation. "A few days ago, my men stationed at the airport detected a group of Jap bastards arriving in the country."

“The Japanese?”

"Yes! More specifically, the bastards from Nanahoshi-gumi that Lee Jung-Geol scouted all because of you. They must be here to find out the situation in Korea. And only yesterday, the Nanahoshi-gumi bastards demanded us to release information on you and the Martial Assembly's situation."

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “So what?”

"...What do you mean, so what?!" Kim Seok-Il began raising his voice in anger. "The Chinese can't spare us their time because of their ongoing civil war, but that's not the case with the Japanese! Sure, countless organizations are in a messy jumble in that country, but they have learned to respect each other's territory. Other than an occasional confrontation or two, none of those bastards fights with their lives on the line."

Kang Jin-Ho didn't respond and quietly listened.

"Which means those bastards are always searching for an opportunity to extend their claws into Korea. It's just that they were wary of getting stabbed in the back and worried about China's response. That's why they haven't openly moved yet," Kim Seok-Il stopped there and angrily sucked on his cigarette. "But now, Lee Jung-Geol has given them the opportunity! And all thanks to you, they now have the pretext, too! They will use you as their justification to devour the Martial Assembly, and then... They will try to stand on top of entire Korea soon after that."

Kang Jin-Ho still didn't show much of a response.

Frustration got the better of Kim Seok-Il, and he began raising his voice again. “I'm also pissed about the fact that a ceasefire has to happen and that I might even have to join hands with you. However, if we remain at odds with each other, those Jap bastards will take everything away from us in the end! Basically, all our hard work will only reward someone else. Get my drift?”

Kang Jin-Ho leisurely nodded in silence.

“That is why I'm asking for a ceasefire. We can continue where we left off after driving the Japanese out of this place, anyway.” Kim Seok-Il gritted his teeth. 'What a crappy situation this is.'

Kim Seok-Il himself was busy yapping on about how he'd stop at nothing to kill Kang Jin-Ho. That was only a few days ago, yet in that brief window of time, their situation flipped on its head completely.

Although Kim Seok-Il loathed to admit it, Kang Jin-Ho was the Martial Assembly's real leader. Bang Jin-Hun sitting pretty on the Assembly Master's seat was nothing more than a figurehead. Meanwhile, Lee Jung-Geol had given up on all of his authority and slunk off to the background.

If Kang Jin-Ho died in this kind of situation, the Martial Assembly would instantly fall into a power vacuum. Bang Jin-Hun alone wouldn't be able to regain control of this ship in that case. Even if Lee Jung-Geol were to return to power, things wouldn't change much either.

Taking into account the strength of the Japanese, there was no guarantee the combined might of the Yeongnam Group and the Martial Assembly would be enough to ward the invaders off. So, if the two Korean martial organizations were to remain at odds with each other... That could potentially lead to the second Japanese Occupation of Korea.

Kim Seok-Il might have dedicated his entire life to the pursuit of power, but he still had no desire to see the Japanese taking over Korea's hidden world anytime soon.

“So, I'm gonna take your silence as a tacit agreement for a ceasefi—” Before Kim Seok-Il could finish, he saw something eerie. And that was...

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes…

Kang Jin-Ho was grinning while staring at Kim Seok-Il. It was as if he was so, so amused and entertained by all this.

Kim Seok-Il felt a deathly chill invade his body at that eerie grin.