CH 423

Some time ago...

“What do you think courage is, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“I'm sorry?”

While making an indifferent face over a cup of coffee, Choi Yeon-Ha threw a question at Kang Jin-Ho. “I have to say the line, 'Be brave', during one of the scenes I'm filming tomorrow.”

“I see,” Kang Jin-Ho replied disinterestedly.

“But that scene... I can't tell if the writer is a weirdo or something, because I feel like that line shouldn't even be in that scene, you know? What's being brave got to do with that scene?” Choi Yeon-Ha continued to rant despite her audience's lack of interest. “I mean, my character isn't even trying to inspire a crowd or something, you know? My character is simply talking to another character whose mother is dying of an incurable disease. I'm trying to comfort this person, so why that weird choice of words?”

“I see.” Kang Jin-Ho responded dryly again.

“Why am I saying ‘Be brave’ in that situation? Don't you think the writer wanted to write 'Be strong' instead? Your mother is dying, yet you gotta be brave? Isn't that a wrong word to use in that situation? I think I'm going to complain to the writer tomorrow.”

Kang Jin-Ho listened to Choi Yeon-Ha without saying anything, then brought the coffee cup to his lips. After enjoying the aroma of his warm Americano, he finally replied to her previous question. “Mm... I don't think the writer isn't really wrong to write that line.”

“...Mister Jin-Ho, you got bad grades back in school, didn't you?”

That was when Kang Jin-Ho's brows quivered a little. To think that this woman would dare to question Kang Jin-Ho's grades when he easily earned himself a free university pass!

As Kang Jin-Ho firmly believed boasting about his grades and academic achievements was mildly shameful, he hadn't said anything until now, but... Defending his honor seemed necessary when an unwarranted assault suddenly came his way.

“My school grades were quite acceptable, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

Choi Yeon-Ha tilted her head in genuine confusion. “Ng? You don't look like that kind of person, though?”

“...I'm not lying, though.”

“Eiii~. I have a knack for judging people's aptitudes, you know? And well... I just don't see you as a diligently-studying type. Be honest with me. Don't worry, I won't make fun of you. You aren't even attending university, anyway.”

“I've been taking time off my university studies, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes grew as large as saucers at that revelation. “Eh? You actually attend university?”

“...” Kang Jin-Ho groaned under his breath.

What was so surprising about him being a university student? Choi Yeon-Ha reacted as if a max-level laborer she met at a local construction site turned out to be studying for his doctorate in quantum physics!

“Whoa. I gotta say, you really, definitely don't look that way, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“That's an insult, yes?”

“Mm, I'm not sure. Is it an insult or a praise? Good-looking people usually suck real bad at studying, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho realized he was in the same boat as Choi Yeon-Ha. Because he, too, couldn't tell if she was making fun of him or not!

“Which university, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“It's Jaegyeong.”

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“Heol?” Choi Yeon-Ha frowned in doubt as if she just couldn't believe it. “You better not be pulling a fast one on me just because it's hard to uncover the truth, okay?”

Kang Jin-Ho replied testily. “I said, I'm not lying.”

“Really? Seriously? Truly?”

“...Is there a reason for me to lie about something like that?”

“Well, no. It's not that, but... Mm... How should I say this...” Choi Yeon-Ha frowned while scratching her head. “It's a bit like... Finding out that Zhang Fei won first place in the state examination? Something as shocking as that?”

“...Do I look that hopeless at studying to you?”

“Mm, well... Mmm... Mmmmm...”

“...It's fine,” Kang Jin-Ho tutted before he became expressionless again. What did it matter even if Choi Yeon-Ha viewed him as a rock-for-brains who couldn't study?

Choi Yeon-Ha's face brightened as if a lightbulb went off in her head. “Okay, how about this? Mister Jin-Ho, you haven't read lots of books, have you?”

“Books? What kind?”

“You know, books. Literature.”

“Mm... Other than textbooks, well…” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow while tilting his head. If it was about reading books, Kang Jin-Ho had checked out plenty of secret manuals containing deadly techniques during his life. However, did those things even qualify as literature? Even if he argued that was the case, his hunch told him that those secret manuals didn't fall under the category of 'literature' Choi Yeon-Ha was talking about.

“I knew it. No wonder you have such a hard time figuring out the context.” Choi Yeon-Ha grinned in satisfaction like a full-bellied cat.

That content expression only soured Kang Jin-Ho's mood somewhat, however. Brushing this matter aside with a dismissive shoulder shrug would be like an insult to his intelligence. So, he decided to explain. “Sometimes, that kind of response is necessary.”

“I'm sorry?” Choi Yeon-Ha tilted her head.

“Most people think courage is what keeps them going forward.”

“...Mm? I guess so?”

“However, sometimes... Enduring can also be a true test of courage. You need courage to stand your ground and never retreat.”

“...” Choi Yeon-Ha's expression grew complicated.

Kang Jin-Ho continued to speak. “Saying 'Be brave' to a person experiencing their parent's passing seems linguistically weird, but it's not difficult to understand why one would say that, at least in my opinion. After all, you need courage to not look away and endure the present and future that cannot be avoided or changed.”

“Oh...” Choi Yeon-Ha nodded as if she finally understood it.

Kang Jin-Ho smirked a little. “Was that a good-enough explanation?”

“Nope. I just had a thought that you might really be a Jaegyong Uni student, and that kinda creeped me out a little, you see? Wow, this is like... Totally inconceivable, you know what I mean?”

Kang Jin-Ho's grip on the coffee cup stiffened a little.

***

Now, back in the present...

'Ah. So he wasn't a student in a prestigious university for nothing...'

Back then, Choi Yeon-Ha couldn't understand what courage had to do with enduring something. But now, she had gained the perfect understanding of that notion.

Accepting the profession of acting as her calling meant Choi Yeon-Ha got to experience all sorts of things in her life. Once during the filming of a movie, she had to jump into a pit of fire. And in another film shoot, she had to jump off a tall building while entrusting herself to a razor-thin wire attached to her torso.

Choi Yeon-Ha evaluated herself as a courageous person while performing in action scenes that most actresses would've never endured. Of course, that wasn't her having an ego trip. Even the production crew and her peers in the industry all called her courageous or, at the very least, driven, after all! However, she finally realized that what she thought of as courage wasn't really that but something else.

Being brave at the possibility of death wasn't really courageous at all. True courage was when not backing down or compromising despite acknowledging the harm about to fall her way.

And Choi Yeon-Ha was now standing on the stage of true courage to test her mettle. She was not on a film set, and no one was watching her next move. This was the issue of whether Choi Yeon-Ha could be proud and unashamed of herself in the future.

Even if she tried to run from here, no one in this wide world would blame her. However, Choi Yeon-Ha already knew. People might not point fingers at her, but she couldn't fool her own heart. If she abandoned this young child, who was relying only on her, and ran from here, Choi Yeon-Ha would never be able to trust herself.

What she needed was the 'courage' Kang Jin-Ho talked about. Courage to stand her ground and not retreat!

Cold sweat trickled down her spine while her heart pounded madly. Simply staring at the mad giant leisurely closing the distance weakened Choi Yeon-Ha's knees and her teeth to start clattering all on their own. Unlike her body's reaction, though... The glare burning in her eyes did not waver. Not once.

She was terrified. Of course she would be. How many people in this world would not be terrified by a madman like this giant? However, courage wasn't the absence of fear. Real courage was not backing down in spite of one's fear.

Choi Yeon-Ha kept telling herself that and tried to stand even firmer than before.

Whatever happens to her... She'd never back off! That was her resolve.

“Heh, you're shivering, aren't you?” The mad giant cackled. “For most people, thoughts and words come first, rather than actions.”

“...”

“It's not hard to meet someone with courage. I bet you half the people in the street will probably think no one's more brave than they are. They'll think that if given the right opportunity, they will demonstrate how courageous they can be,” The mad giant smirked insidiously. “And I've met plenty of idiots like that in my life. That's the unique thing about the world I live in, see? Most idiots I meet are all posers, you know? Showing off as if they are some kinda hot shot! Do you know what is the best way to deflate those inflated egos?”

The mad giant finally stood mere inches away from Choi Yeon-Ha and smirked while looking down at her. He then lowered his head near her ear and whispered, “The answer is… to hurt them.”

“...!”

“Slowly. Oh, so, very... slowly. While taking my time, see?”

Choi Yeon-Ha bit her lower lip in silence.

“I usually start with their fingers first. After breaking every little bone in their hands, I'll start pulling out their nails, one... by... one! And when all the bones are broken, and all the nails are pulled out from those flappy, limp fingers, I... I crush them with my feet until they burst apart like maggots!” The mad giant's sinister smirk grew into a loud cackle. “At this point, most idiots are begging me to let them go. Tears and snot and whatever dripping down their faces and all! They all ardently beg me to spare them. To let them go! While apologizing for whatever they did!”

The mad giant leisurely reached down and grabbed Choi Yeon-Ha's hand.

“Some idiots with guts can sometimes endure me crushing their five fingers to mush. Weaklings without guts, though? They will start breaking down even before I get a chance to crush one finger. And they'll beg me to play with someone else besides them. So... Which one will you be, I wonder?”

Choi Yeon-Ha looked up and glared straight into the mad giant's eyes.

Smirk!

A barely-contained smirk of derision formed on Choi Yeon-Ha's lips.

The mad giant tilted his head. “What's up with your smirk?”

“That's because you're a loser.”

“What?”

Choi Yeon-Ha glared at the giant with eyes full of contempt and ridicule. “You spouted some bullsh*t about teaching Mister Jin-Ho that other people are also humans. As it turned out, though? You are just a psycho who enjoys torturing people.”

“Hah?”

“And that is why you're a loser. Someone who will never match Mister Jin-Ho's class,” Choi Yeon-ha growled snarkily at the giant. “At the very least, he doesn't try to justify his actions. But you keep trying to justify yourself. With justifications that no one can understand beside you. So, do you want to know what I think of you?”

Choi Yeon-Ha openly laughed in mockery at the giant.

“You're nothing but a psycho. An insane moron. All the crap coming out of your mouth is nothing more than some bullsh*t you thought up on the spot. That's why you will always be a stinking loser. A loser with no hope and future.”

“...” The giant didn't say anything, his expression a mixture of bewilderment and fury as he glared at Choi Yeon-Ha.

All she had to offer for that glare was her middle finger. “Do whatever you want, you loser. I will never cry or beg you.”

“...Little lady, I'm gonna make you regret those words,” The mad giant growled menacingly.

That was when a man's voice suddenly resounded out from above. “No, that's not going to happen.”

The mad giant hurriedly looked up. Almost at the same time, the ceiling caved in... And Kang Jin-Ho accurately dropped between the giant and Choi Yeon-Ha!

“...! You!” The giant discovered Kang Jin-Ho and tried to rip Choi Yeon-Ha's arm off.

However, Kang Jin-Ho was simply faster. While falling at what seemed to be the speed of light, Kang Jin-Ho stomped down hard on the elbow of the giant holding Choi Yeon-Ha's arm.

Cruuuunch!

“Kkeuh-huk!”

The mad giant's arm twisted and bent in a weird direction as a bone-breaking noise echoed in the bathroom. The giant hurriedly retreated while holding his arm.

Kang Jin-Ho stood protectively in front of Choi Yeon-Ha and Oh Min-Ji, then glared coldly at the giant. “You sure caused a mess.”

“Kang... Jin-Ho...!”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. “Do I know you?”

“...!” The giant's eyes grew bloodshot almost instantly.

His life was thrown into disarray precisely because of Kang Jin-Ho. His once-great life turned 180 degrees on its head and spiraled into despair and misery after that fateful day!

However, Kang Jin-Ho... He didn't seem to remember that day's incident. Even though it happened not too long ago!

“You... You...!” Just as the mad giant was about to yell...

Kang Jin-Ho coldly cut him off. “Doesn't matter.”

BANG!

Kang Jin-Ho punched the mad giant through the bathroom wall and coldly muttered while watching his target land some distance away. “No point in listening to a dead man, after all.”

Kang Jin-Ho weightily walked out of the bathroom and headed toward the mad giant as intense killing intent gushed out of his eyes.