CH 394

Bang Jin-Hun stood before the orphanage boys, scanned them, then slowly nodded away. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance, gents. I'm Bang Jin-Hun from the Korean Martial Assembly. So, you're the... weaklings who need my training because you couldn't even handle the juvenile horsesh*t from some weak-ass punks.”

“...!”

Han Jin-Seong suddenly wanted to take a look at a mirror. He was curious about what color his complexion was right now. If his guess was correct, it should resemble a piece of pure-white paper.

Bang Jin-Hun slowly raised his hand to remove the pair of sunglasses.

'...Sir, I think you should just keep those on.'

Usually, sunglasses were meant to enhance the manliness of those who put them on. And, when worn by a rough-looking man, it'd strengthen the impression they gave off. Obviously, that was putting things politely. Sunglasses made gangsters look even more thuggish, after all!

However, it might be a better idea for Bang Jin-Hun to keep wearing his shades. Hiding his sharply-burning eyes would improve the impression he gave off by hundreds of times. No, make that thousands of times!

With those sunglasses still perched on his face, Bang Jin-Hun looked happy-go-lucky enough to advise the kids, 'If those punks try their crap on you again, just grab a nearby chair and smash their heads in. Got that?'

However, with the sunglasses off, Bang Jin-Hun had transformed into an intense wolf who would wordlessly place sashimi knives in the kids' hands.[1]

And no, Han Jin-Seong wasn't kidding here. Bang Jin-Hun might really do that!

“Mm... Good. I like what I can see. You all have good postures.”

That made sense. Rats would be frozen stiff like them in front of a snarling cat, after all!

Han Jin-Seong suddenly had an epiphany. He realized why neighborhood strays would start wetting themselves when an animal control officer from a dog pound appeared nearby. This Bang Jin-Hun, he... He seemed quite experienced in this kind of thing.

Pitting an animal control officer against a mixed martial arts competitor would be like abusing the animal control officer. However, dogs still wouldn't care about who was stronger between the two humans.

“No need to sweat, boys,” Bang Jin-Hun snorted gruffly. “Two weeks. That's all we need. I will mold you all into human weapons in two weeks.”

N-no, hang on. You don't need to go that far!

That's not what we want, you know?!

“Good. Very good. I like your eyes. They are filled with fighting spirit. Good!”

And your eyesight is crappy, too?! This is absolutely hopeless!

Han Jin-Seong looked at Kang Jin-Ho with pleading eyes.

'Hyung, this is a joke, right? Jin-Ho hyung?'

However, Kang Jin-Ho sneakily avoided the pleading gaze and looked away.

'No, this is wrong, hyung! Definitely wrong!'

Even if the boys had failed to follow Kang Jin-Ho's guidance, throwing them into a tiger's den without any warning like this was still uncalled for!

Han Jin-Seong stared piercingly at Kang Jin-Ho, his eyes containing desperation and hope against hope that couldn't be verbalized in this situation for various reasons!

“Keuh-hhhhm!” Kang Jin-Ho fake-coughed, then addressed the boys. “I'll be popping outside for a minute. Discuss your future training regime with Mister Bang Jin-Hun.”

Discuss? Discuuuss?!

Do you mean the 'discussion' where people talk to each other until they get to a common ground? That discussion, hyung?

Are you telling us to discuss with that hulk of a man, hyung!

Unfortunately, it seemed Han Jin-Seong's desperate cries in his mind had failed to reach their intended target. Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly turned around and left through the doorway. A tall, handsome young man standing outside the doorway bowed deeply when Kang Jin-Ho walked past him. Kang Jin-Ho briefly bowed back at this young man before continuing on his merry way.

The young man fixed his suit, then stepped inside the gymnasium as a clearly-haughty air emanated from him.

'Who is this dude now?'

Why was this new entrant so annoying to look at? Was today the Unique Impressions Convention or something?!

“Well, then...! Shall we find out how well-equipped you are physically?” Bang Jin-Hun smiled contentedly. “Rest your worries, fellas. I'm a pro. I'm a super expert at training people, you see? The methods I'll use to train you will be noticeably different from your previous instructor, so all you gotta do is stop worrying and follow my advice. Well, then!”

A deep grin formed on Bang Jin-Hun's face.

“Let's start off with a stamina test first.”

All the hair on Han Jin-Seong's body stood up just then.

***

“You did the right thing.”

Jo Gyu-Min, who had been waiting for Kang Jin-Ho outside the training center, welcomed him with a bright smile.

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head. “I'm still not sure if this is the right thing to do.”

“No, it is the right thing. I assure you.”

“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho frowned in dissatisfaction.

Jo Gyu-Min chuckled and pushed a fresh cigarette in Kang Jin-Ho's direction.

Kang Jin-Ho mouthed the cigarette and flicked his fingers to light it. After sucking in a lungful of smoke, he quietly muttered, “I'm still worried, you know…”

“It's unsurprising for you to feel that way. Even so, you must try and stop worrying about them. That is one of the things you must work on,” said Jo Gyu-Min as his expression hardened. “If I'm being honest with you, Mister Jin-Ho... I'm not in total agreement with others on this matter. Well, I know you wouldn't have incorrectly judged the limits of those boys, after all. If they stick to your methods, I honestly believe they can become strong in the shortest time possible, even if the road there will be quite bumpy.”

“Mm? In that case, why did you stop me?”

“Because there was no need for you to get personally involved, Mister Jin-Ho.” Jo Gyu-Min stopped there to pull out a cigarette for himself. He mouthed it, lit it up, then slowly released a cloud of grayish-blue smoke.

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “There's no need for me? Why?”

“Well…” Jo Gyu-Min explained his thought process in a weighty voice. “Mister Jin-Ho, you are still not fully cognizant of your status in the hierarchy. Tell me, do you think you need to be personally involved in the boys' training?”

“...I don't follow?”

“If it's something you can delegate to someone else, that's what you should be doing, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“Delegate…” Kang Jin-Ho's brows furrowed a little.

He didn't think Bang Jin-Hun would do a better job training those boys than him. Kang Jin-Ho was confident of being more knowledgeable than anyone in all things related to martial arts and cultivation, after all. However...

Since the orphanage boys were non-martial artists with zero martial arts knowledge and cultivation, it shouldn't ultimately matter who trained them.

“And Assembly Master Bang even brought along a helper with him, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“Yes, that he did,” Kang Jin-Ho nodded. Was that young man's name Cheon Tae-Hun? Kang Jin-Ho could still recall his face and name.

“That means even Assembly Master Bang believes he doesn't need to get personally involved in this matter, Mister Jin-Ho. He'll probably set the stage before delegating the task to his subordinate. In other words…” Jo Gyu-Min sighed under his breath. “Mister Jin-Ho, you've been doing a task that Assembly Master Bang's subordinate could have handled by himself. This is a serious waste of resources. Incredibly inefficient, too. A person at the top must not get involved in a matter like this, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“But I did it because I can.”

Jo Gyu-Min smiled brightly. “You do know that Chairman Hwang has experienced all sorts of trials and tribulations throughout his life, yes?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Yes, I do know.”

“Now then... Please imagine what will happen if Chairman Hwang puts on a hard hat and acts as a site supervisor of one of his construction projects.”

Kang Jin-Ho grimaced. That would lead to utter chaos. A huge uproar.

The other supervisors assigned to the project would feel like a ticking time bomb was hung around their necks. The perceived threat of their heads rolling off their shoulders if they made a mistake would make everyone receiving Hwang Jeong-Hu's orders very nervous. And some might even go overboard with their desire to show off their loyalty, too.

The more Kang Jin-Ho thought about it, the more convinced he became that there was nothing to gain and everything to lose from that situation.

“...Yes, that scenario doesn't sound good.”

“And what you've been doing until now is similar to that hypothetical situation. Mister Jin-Ho, it's about time you recognize your position.”

'Recognize my position, is it...'

Kang Jin-Ho sighed deeply. He didn't have to worry about any of this stuff while occupying a position so much loftier than the current one. But now, he had to.

The ways of life back in Zhongyuan, when things were unimaginably tough but much more straightforward, and the current era's were just too different and difficult to acclimatize.

“Oh, and one more thing, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“Yes?”

“You should learn how to command people better.”

“...?”

“I've repeatedly told you this. Mister Jin-Ho, you don't need to personally step up in every little task.”

“That's not the case for this particular situation,” Kang Jin-Ho firmly stated his opinion.

Jo Gyu-Min sighed deeply. “Of course, I understand how deeply you care for these kids. However, from the children's perspective, you personally overseeing their training or someone else doing it won't make much difference.”

Jo Gyu-Min was busy spitting out an opinion that would've made Han Jin-Seong freak out and hurriedly deny it if he heard it.

“Mister Jin-Ho, your role is to help them reach their goals. In my opinion, you don't need to be present during every step of the way. Insisting that you want to keep getting personally involved is nothing more than satisfying yourself, not for the sake of those kids in there.”

“...Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho's expression stiffened a little. Satisfying himself, was it...?

“I get that you're nervous, Mister Jin-Ho. I'm sure it feels like other people aren't doing a good job in your view. However, just like I told you the last time, not even ten clones of yourself would be enough to keep up with your workload if you insist on doing everything your way. At least for this matter, please trust us.”

“Trust, is it...?”

“Yes,” Jo Gyu-Min grinned confidently before landing the decisive blow. “Don't you trust me?”

“...”

“I'm Jo Gyu-Min, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“I do trust you.”

Something about this conversation resembled a revival meeting, but that didn't change the fact that Kang Jin-Ho trusted Jo Gyu-Min. As long as it wasn't related to martial arts, letting Jo Gyu-Min handle it was ten times more trustworthy than Kang Jin-Ho fumbling his way through it. At least, that was what Kang Jin-Ho believed.

“Here, here. How about one more?” Jo Gyu-Min chuckled and pulled out a fresh cigarette.

When Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly nodded, Jo Gyu-Min expertly placed the cigarette between Kang Jin-Ho's lips before lighting it up.

“By the way... Since when did you grow so close to Miss Choi Yeon-Ha? I almost thought you two were married, you know?”

“Fuuuuuuuuuht?!” Kang Jin-Ho spat out the cigarette at the velocity of a rocket, then stared at Jo Gyu-Min with wide-open eyes.

'Oho, would you look at this reaction?'

Jo Gyu-Min faintly smirked. He didn't expect to see such a reaction from Kang Jin-Ho. Kang Jin-Ho from a few weeks ago would've ended the misunderstanding with a curt 'It's nothing like that.'

So, to think someone like that would react this viscerally! Did Kang Jin-Ho become a little more civilized, more round-edged? Enough to start reacting like a normal human being?

If that wasn’t it...

“Well, this isn't such a bad development, now is it? Although she might seem a little lacking in certain areas, someone like her is still one heck of a catch, wouldn't you say?”

“...What do you mean by that?”

“I've received reports on her private life, and Miss Yeon-Ha's prior relationship status is so clean that we might as well call it 'perfect'. And she's not involved in any shady things, either. She's also one of those incredibly rare types in the entertainment industry—a self-made man—or woman, in this case. Furthermore, she has the drive and guts to succeed, and people evaluate her highly due to her pride and passion for her work.”

“...Sounds like you've investigated her behind her back, Mister Gyu-Min.”

“No, not at all.” Jo Gyu-Min firmly shook his head. “I know you're not a fan of going around someone's back like that. So, how could you suspect me of doing what you don't like? All I did was read through this, you see?”

“Read through... what?”

Kang Jin-Ho blinked his eyes when Jo Gyu-Min presented his phone and turned the screen on. A document soon appeared on the screen, seemingly containing all the information on Choi Yeon-Ha.

“What is this?” Kang Jin-Ho cocked his eyebrow.

“Not too long ago, the construction arm of the Jaegyeong Corporation hired Miss Yeon-Ha as its model. This document was compiled with the data her team had handed over, plus the result of the investigation performed by Jaegyeong's team.”

“Wait, is doing something like this even allowed?”

“Of course. Please don't think that corporations don’t do due diligence before dumping hundreds of millions on an advertising campaign, Mister Jin-Ho. What if the model we hired gets mired in an unsavory scandal? No amount of monetary compensation will make up for the knock on our public image. So, it's only obvious that our side will investigate first and make sure there are no skeletons to worry about. The other side already knows about this. Since both sides know, it's not going behind her back, Mister Jin-Ho.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. Why did that sound a little... ambiguous for his liking?

Jo Gyu-Min slowly rubbed his chin. “However, Miss Yeon-Ha's personality is a bit… Hmm… As a model, her personality doesn't really matter. However, as your girlfriend…”

“It's not like that,” Kang Jin-Ho curtly cut Jo Gyu-Min off.

“Finally. You're acting like Mister Jin-Ho that I know.” Jo Gyu-Min started chuckling again.

Kang Jin-Ho winced a little. “By the way… Mm…”

“Yes?”

“What… am I supposed to do?”

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Jo Gyu-Min smirked meaningfully. “You just keep doing what you do best, Mister Jin-Ho. I told you already, didn't I? Delegate tasks that others can handle, and you do things befitting your station.”

“And I have no idea what that is.”

“It's actually rather simple,” Jo Gyu-Min snapped his fingers, his smirk deepening. “Throw money around, of course.”

“...I'm sorry?”

Kang Jin-Ho dazedly stared at Jo Gyu-Min.

1. Korean gangsters usually resort to sashimi knives as their go-to weapon of choice. ☜