CH 389

“I shall now use this tough hockey stick to demonstrate.”

Kang Jin-Ho used his fist to lightly drum on the hockey stick resting on the floor at an angle, making the stick's body bounce up and down.

“Tell me, do you think I can use my bare hand to break this?”

“No, that's not possible, Jin-Ho hyung.”

“You think so? However, it is possible. Behold.”

Crack!

Kang Jin-Ho pushed at the stick with his fingers. The hockey stick didn't offer much resistance before snapping in half.

“...!”

A stunned silence descended in the gymnasium.

'What did I just see?!'

Could Jin-Ho hyung have broken that stick ahead of time? I mean... Why would there be a hockey stick in a basketball court storage room? That would be stran...

“Something like this isn't hard at all,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Crack, crack, crack...!

Han Jin-Seong's jaw dropped lower and lower as he watched Kang Jin-Ho use nothing but his fingers to break the hockey stick again and again.

It wasn't only him, though. Every child present could only look on in pure stupefaction.

A disbelieving boy even picked up one of the broken pieces to inspect it from every angle and even tried to bite it. However, he still couldn't find anything suspicious!

“H-hyung! Jin-Ho hyung!” Han Jin-Seong hurriedly raised his hand.

“What is it?” Kang Jin-Ho glanced at him.

“C-can we really do something like that if we keep doing this training?”

“Well... As I said, this isn't as hard as it looks.” Kang Jin-Ho casually shrugged his shoulders. “However, you still need the bare minimum physical strength. You want me to be honest with you all? I can teach you a few moves right now. Then, beating up those punks tormenting you will be as easy as taking candy from a baby.”

“...Really?”

“However, how long will the freedom you earn that way last?” Kang Jin-Ho addressed the children in a calm yet cold voice. “Did you decide not to resist because you weren't confident of winning a fight against them? Or was it because you knew winning 'unconvincingly' wouldn't have changed anything?”

“...”

“Yes, you might be able to eke out a victory once. However, that will only summon more of those punks out of the woodwork. And then, they will try to blindside you next. In that case, what would have changed for you? If you wish to truly change your situation for the better, the only option is to make sure they would never dare to come after you. Then, you won't have to get physical to solve the bullying problem. That is why you must stop whining and get up.”

“...Yes, hyung.”

While watching Kang Jin-Ho putting the orphanage kids through their paces again, Park Yu-Min's expression progressively grew grimmer.

'There's something wrong with this picture.'

Of course, Park Yu-Min didn't think Kang Jin-Ho was wrong. Kang Jin-Ho being wrong was unimaginable to Park Yu-Min, after all! Even so, this scene was... Rather than wrong, it'd be more correct to say it was heading in a weird direction.

'I was wondering what you meant by making sure the kids won't get hurt again, but this... Are you trying to create weapons of mass destruction, Jin-Ho?!'

Choi Yeon-Ha suddenly asked Park Yu-Min. “What exactly is Mister Jin-Ho trying to do here?”

Park Yu-Min stopped observing the situation and looked at her. “Oh, uh... What happened was…”

“Yes?”

Park Yu-Min briefly explained what was going on.

Choi Yeon-Ha tilted her head after listening to the explanation. “...So, Mister Jin-Ho is doing this out of a caveman-like mentality of... If you don't want to get hit, beat up the other party? Is that it?”

“Well, if you put it that way, yes.” Park Yu-Min nodded.

“What is he even thinking…” Choi Yeon-Ha groaned loudly.

Rather than disappointed, Choi Yeon-Ha was worried. What a Kang Jin-Ho-esque solution this was. So much so that even Choi Yeon-Ha had expected something similar to this!

Kang Jin-Ho and his friends were way too... straightforward. That was Choi Yeon-Ha being kind with her evaluation, of course. If she was being more critical, then...

'They are so simple-minded!'

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Choi Yeon-Ha's hunch was on the money. Kang Jin-Ho had no mental capacity to comprehend bullying situations, after all!

No, wait. Rather than not comprehending the act of bullying, it'd be more like not understanding why bullying happened in the first place.

A plan like this might have worked back when Kang Jin-Ho was still a student. However, anyone trying to resolve their issues through fists might get labeled as a brainless brute in this day and age!

'So annoying...'

Choi Yeon-Ha sighed deeply.

'Oh, well. This isn't a priority for me, anyway.'

Choi Yeon-Ha decided to focus on her matters instead. “Mister Yu-Min?”

“Yes?”

“Doesn't look like I'm needed here, so where are the girls? I don't have a hobby of watching boys resorting to cavemen-like antics, you see.”

“...Girls are back in the orphanage.”

“Hmm, really?” Choi Yeon-Ha got up from the chair and walked over to Kang Jin-Ho. “Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes?”

“Give me your keys.”

“My... keys?”

“Yes. Your car keys. I figured I should head back to the orphanage to talk to the girls. Me being here won't be any help, anyway.”

“...Oh!” Kang Jin-Ho nodded.

That was when Park Yu-Min took out Kang Jin-Ho's car keys from his pocket and handed them to Choi Yeon-Ha.

“Well, then. Later,” Choi Yeon-Ha exited the gymnasium while the keys jingled in her grip.

“Hmm? Doesn't Miss Yeon-Ha seem more energetic than before?”

“Really? I thought she's about the same?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

Park Yu-Min sighed deeply at his friend's reaction.

'What's the point? I might as well save my energy...'

***

'Seriously now, what are they thinking!'

Choi Yeon-Ha groaned nonstop while stepping on the accelerator. To satisfy her curiosity, she followed Kang Jin-Ho into the training center. But what she saw in there made her question Kang Jin-Ho's sanity. Why was he needlessly forcing those kids through that hardship?

Choi Yeon-Ha admitted that her understanding of the dynamics of the men's world was sorely lacking. Even then, she was 100% certain Kang Jin-Ho's method was primitive and dumb. She was confident of her evaluation because this kind of issue transcended the boundaries of genders.

“Right. I agree with the importance of having power.”

On the index of jungle-like environments, 'school' would be ranked a lot lower than the 'entertainment industry'. Even the trainees signed with talent agencies had to fall in line with the already-established hierarchy, after all!

The 'power' in the entertainment industry was popularity and public awareness. Depending on how one utilized this power, burying a few people wouldn't be all that difficult.

A talented upstart getting blacklisted by the industry after getting on a popular star's bad books happened frequently. And a blacklisted upstart eventually converting their talent into power to turn the tables on the popular star tormenting them happened just as frequently, too.

If Choi Yeon-Ha wrote a book detailing all the juicy behind-the-scenes ongoings of South Korea's entertainment industry–the part that most people never got a chance to hear about–she might end up with an epic bestseller capable of putting the five hundred years of the Joseon dynasty into shame!

As a survivor of such a 'jungle', Choi Yeon-Ha couldn't agree with Kang Jin-Ho's method where violence was the be-all and end-all. In her view, power was something much more... versatile than that.

'Power' to her was all about gaining an upper hand over her opponents. Power was all about crushing her enemies!

Simple violence was nothing more than a one-dimensional power.

“I knew it. Without me, nothing meaningful can be done, now can it!”

The right thing to do when someone shouted at her, 'Show off your skills!' would be to humor them appropriately, no?

Choi Yeon-Ha stomped on the accelerator to drive the red Lamborghini and quickly arrived back at the orphanage. She then unhesitantly stepped inside the orphanage building, her high heels issuing sharp clicking noises on the ground.

'Hnng~!'

Was it because today was Sunday? Choi Yeon-Ha could see several girls sitting in the living room.

“Attention, everyone!”

“Ng?”

Girls turned their heads toward the doorway to see who it could be, only for their eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets.

“C-Choi Yeon…”

“Never mind that!” Choi Yeon-Ha abruptly cut off the girls, then smiled refreshingly. “I have something to talk to you about, so can you gather all the girls here? Please?”

***

“Choi Yeon-Ha?!”

Confusion surrounding the purpose of Choi Yeon-Ha's sudden visit swept across the Seongsim Orphanage. Despite the commotion, gathering the girls in one spot went smoothly. After asking the orphanage workers to leave them alone, Choi Yeon-Ha scanned all the girls gathered in this large room before loudly tutting away.

“Tell me, you girls are not popular at school, am I right?”

Several girls looked triggered by that question. However, the rest lowered their heads in shame. As these girls were never extroverts, to begin with, they couldn't bring themselves to openly challenge Choi Yeon-Ha.

“Okay, girls. Look. Take a closer look at me.” Choi Yeon-Ha pointed at herself, then smiled refreshingly. “Tell me, does it look like I face lots of problems or annoying things in my life?”

“...No, unnie.”

“We're all girls here, so you can tell, right? Being pretty is a woman's weapon. But you girls are... Hmm, how should I say this…” Choi Yeon-Ha shook her head in disappointment. “No, no. This won't do! Even if you girls are still students, you mustn't live your lives this way. You already know this, don't you? Some girls will look stunning even though they are wearing the same school uniform as you. But some other girls will remain practically invisible no matter what. And then... Girls with a truly impeccable style can't be messed with carelessly, even if they have weird personalities. You all know what I'm talking about, don't you?”

Several girls nodded in agreement.

“Okay! Let's start with something small, shall we? You see, the thing with us girls? Whatever we want to do, it must start with getting prettier first. But why is that? Why? Why do we need to start by getting prettier first?”

One of the girls raised her hand high up.

Choi Yeon-Ha nodded at that girl. “You may speak.”

“...Because, if we don't, someone might say that an ugly hag is trying to show off?”

“Bingo!” Choi Yeon-Ha smiled refreshingly again. “Good. Have you heard of the concept of ‘Haters gonna hate’ before?”

“No, unnie. We haven't.”

“It's simple. Brats who are determined to kick you down will find whatever excuse possible to hurt you even if you do your best. What would those b*tches say if you get good grades? An ugly hag that dares to study hard? Well, at least you should focus on getting good grades regardless of what. Then, what if you have a ton of money? They'll say, why don't you use that money to fix that ugly mug of yours? What's the point of having money when your face looks like that?”

The girls' eyes grew wider and wider as they listened. Choi Yeon-Ha's remarks had already gone past 'biting' and into the territory of 'stabbing and twisting the knife'.

To think the 'Choi Yeon-Ha' they saw on the TV was actually someone like this!

'She's so cool!'

'I'm sooo having a girl crush on her right now!'

However, the confident figure of Choi Yeon-Ha seemed to... shine so brightly in the eyes of these girls. Women who were slender, pretty and cutesy might be a big hit with the boys, but such qualities didn't work with girls. The truth was, a forceful attitude like Choi Yeon-Ha's worked much better on them.

“Yes, I know. And you know it, too. Since it's no one but us here, let's all try to be frank, shall we? As I said before, being pretty is a powerful weapon for us girls. And it's the most effective weapon, too. Let me ask you, do you want good grades or look pretty?”

“Look pretty, unnie!”

“Yep, that's what I thought.” Choi Yeon-Ha shrugged her shoulders. “So, we shall start with that first. Your first priority is getting prettier. That alone won't fix all of your problems, but I'll provide you with after-sales service, so no need to worry about a thing, okay? I'm the type to honor my promises, you know!”

“Uhm, but…”

“Mm? What is it?”

The girl spoke in a worried voice. “Unnie, you're pretty, to begin with, so you can do all that stuff, but... Can we even do what you say? Our foundations are…”

“Nonono!” Choi Yeon-Ha wagged her index finger. “Don't you say that. Don't say you're ugly, okay? Even if you don't feel confident about your looks, it's gonna be alright. This is why looking after yourself is so important. Your problem is that, well, none of you has been looking after yourselves. Once I put you girls through a round of professional touch-ups, you'll easily become super-eye-catching among regular folks, so rest your worries, okay?”

“...Oh, okay.”

Choi Yeon-Ha smirked while standing imperiously before the girls. “Don't you trust me?”

That was when sparkles began shooting out of the girls' eyes.

'We can trust her, right?'

'Well, her face is all the proof we need, right?'

If someone other than Choi Yeon-Ha declared such, these girls would have laughed that person out of the room. However, the woman before their eyes was none other than Choi Yeon-Ha. Who would dare to question what Choi Yeon-Ha had confidently declared?

“Well, then! Everyone here is agreeing to participate, right?”

“Yes, unnie!”

After confirming that all the girls consented by nodding vigorously, Choi Yeon-Ha pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “...Hello? Yes, it's me, Chief Park.”

Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes scanned the girls twice.

“Seventeen girls. Ages ranging from elementary school senior years to high school. Please prepare what we talked about earlier. By the way, if I find that some third-rates are trying to touch these girls, I'm gonna be bitterly disappointed in you, Chief Park. ...Ng? You're short of hands? Why?” Choi Yeon-Ha's expression hardened slightly. “...In that case, cancel them.”

A panicked voice came from the other side of the line, but Choi Yeon-Ha remained unperturbed.

“In that case, tell them to call me. Then I'll cancel them myself! How dare some measly idols decide they want to take over my slots! Especially when they are only good for occasional concerts and not much else! Should I call them now?”

Choi Yeon-Ha listened to the harried voice on the line, then smirked deeply before ending the call.

“Well, then! Ladies, shall we be on our way?”

It seemed like having a foul personality could come in handy sometimes!