Chapter 225: Open for Business (1)

That would be when Kang Jin-Ho stopped questioning himself. But then, a little while later...

“Jin-Ho...”

Hey, you. Didn't you say something earlier about reaching out to weaker people than you? I think I replied that you're already that kind of a person, to begin with. But, uh... Maybe I should revise that statement a bit?

Park Yu-Min was covered in a layer of cold sweat while staring at Kang Jin-Ho, who was gripping his mouse hard with his eyes ablaze.

From Park Yu-Min's perspective, his friend was a superman capable of doing anything he wanted. Whether in sports or academics, Kang Jin-Ho could do everything quite well. Unfortunately, though...

No matter how good he was in everything, it wouldn't necessarily translate into a good result all the time.

[DEFEAT]

Kang Jin-Ho shuddered at the little word floating up on the computer monitor. “But, why?!”

Park Yu-Min clamped his mouth shut.

“Why am I losing?!”

“...”

“Yu-Min, explain!”

“W-wait, even if you ask me for an explanation...!” Park Yu-Min groaned loudly when Kang Jin-Ho stared at him with a face of a man who couldn't understand nor accept this outcome. “Jin-Ho, you know this is a team-based game, don’t you?”

“Mm. Yes, I know that.”

“In that case, you should be helping out your team. You can't win just because you got stronger than your allies, you know!”

“Why not?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Isn't it fine for me to become stronger than anyone else and quickly kill the opposition?”

That was... not wrong. Yes, that was not exactly wrong, but...

“No matter how strong you are, what's the point if the opposition is stronger than your allies? You think you can win against all five opponents?” Park Yu-Min groaned loudly again.

Kang Jin-Ho replied in a confused voice, “...But, can't I solve that problem by becoming strong enough to fight all five?”

This was hopeless. This guy... he was definitely hopeless!

If this were a game of soccer, Kang Jin-Ho would be the type to hog the ball, dribble it to the opposition's net all by himself, and score a goal. If this were a game of baseball instead, then well... He would be the type to go for a scenario of shutting out all nine innings by himself and then hitting a winning home run to win the game by 1:0.

However, when Park Yu-Min thought about it...

'...Hasn't Jin-Ho been doing that all this time?'

That realization left Park Yu-Min in shock, his eyes twitching non-stop. It didn't matter whether it was soccer or baseball, Kang Jin-Ho found it only obvious that he should deal with everything by himself and win. In that case, maybe the issue was not with how he played computer games, but... But, his view on life itself had to be changed first!

Park Yu-Min faltered at that thought, then pointed at the computer monitor. “J-Jin-Ho, listen, okay...? L-let's think about this first.”

“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.

“Look closely, okay? Your allies are weak, right?”

“Mm...”

“And you're supposed to help the weak, right? Right?”

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes quaked powerfully just then. He looked confused and uncertain.

Park Yu-Min quickly landed the finishing blow. “Look closely. This is like a... Like democracy, okay? It doesn't matter whether you do your lone wolf thing or not; there's no point if all your team members get wiped out.”

“Hmm...”

“Remember when one of your team members was in danger of getting killed right next to your position, but you were nonchalantly farming away? You shouldn't do that. You were supposed to revive your team member.”

“Hmmmm...” Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head some more, and his expression remained confused. He seemed to be trying hard to understand, though. But then... “Let me ask you something...”

Park Yu-Min replied in uncertainty, “Yeah?”

“This game's ultimate aim is to win, right?”

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“Yeah, that's right.”

“In that case, am I not helping by getting strong enough to win by myself?”

“...And how will you win against five opponents?”

Kang Jin-Ho confidently declared, “Simple. Get strong enough to beat all five.”

For some reason, Park Yu-Min thought that he had gotten a glimpse at the secret to Kang Jin-Ho's strength. By having this kind of mentality, a person would inevitably become strong, probably…

Regardless of what, though...

'Yup, might as well forget about this match, then.'

The chat window was awash with all sorts of colorful expletives and insults.

- Holy sh*t. From start to finish, I haven’t seen the face of our tower. Has anyone seen our tower?

- Didn't you see him pop in and out by the enemy Inhibitor? He was treating that like the national highway.

- He's got a lot of horsepower but no control at all. All he did was go straight and nothing else.

As for the other comments flooding the chat window, they were definitely not safe for work.

'Yes, I sympathize with you all,' Park Yu-Min groaned. However, there was one thing he couldn't quite understand. 'How come Jin-Ho's already diamond tier?'

Despite Kang Jin-Ho's peculiar mindset, he was still winning some matches through his crazy physical specs and the supernaturally-developed sixth sense to sniff out a kill. That roused a sense of shock and terror in Park Yu-Min.

“Well, then. Now...” Kang Jin-Ho gravely stared into the monitor.

“...Yeah?”

“Let's play the match together.”

“...Okay.” Park Yu-Min nodded as his trembling hand slowly gripped the mouse.

'He's lost three games in a row, so if he losses another one, Jin-Ho's gonna throw a tantrum...!'

That evening, Park Yu-Min finally regained his gaming sense from his heyday.

***

Kang Eun-Yeong confidently stated her business. “I'll try to talk to my orabeoni.”

Choi Yeon-Ha's eyes opened wide. “But, didn't you say it's impossible not too long ago?”

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“The coast is clear now, you see? I think the thing that was bothering my orabeoni has been taken care of now. He's almost back to his old self.”

“Hmm…” Choi Yeon-Ha slowly scratched her cheek. “But, uhm... Is Mister Jin-Ho’s temper that bad? If you can't even talk to him just because he's not feeling happy about something... Doesn't that indicate how terrible his personality is?”

“Rather than his personality being terrible, it's more like…” Kang Eun-Yeong pondered how she should go about explaining herself but failed to come up with an adequate comparison and decided to just go for it. “Usually, my orabeoni is so unchanging that he can come off really boring, you know? But there are rare occasions when some things happen, and he becomes super scary. Should I say it happens once every few years? I'm his family, so I can notice it, but the others won't see it.”

“Really?” Choi Yeon-Ha tilted her head. It seemed that Kang Jin-Ho wasn't a bad person, after all. Which made sense when she thought about it. If he were a bad-tempered man, he probably wouldn't have stayed docile during that filming fiasco by the seaside. That whole thing was so stressful, yet he complained not even once and got through the filming somehow, didn't he? “Okay, I got it.”

“But, you shouldn't get your hopes up, senior.”

“Mm? Why not?”

Kang Eun-Yeong declared confidently again. “He won't do it, anyway.”

Choi Yeon-Ha narrowed her eyes. In the past, she thought that a little sister having a brother complex meant the little sister would act all cranky and stuff, but now, she had revised her opinion slightly.

Yes, Kang Eun-Yeong did suffer from a brother complex, but she was also someone who could accurately and objectively evaluate her older brother.

“Why do you think that?” Choi Yeon-Ha asked after her stubborn streak kicked in. “Let's be honest here, being a movie star is one of the top dream jobs, is it not? And so many people wish they could be surrounded by adoring fans, too. It's weird for me to openly say this, but... How many jobs out there do you think will pay more than being a movie star or an idol? It can't be that many, right?”

“Yes, that's true.”

“And, even if he himself is not interested, surely he must know that his face is more than good enough to work as a movie star. Right?”

“Nope, he probably doesn't.”

“Let's not act like this, shall we?” Choi Yeon-Ha chuckled in dismay. “Do you really think all those male actors claiming to be unaware of their good looks are being honest? They are just bullsh*tting to avoid the label of cocky bastards, that's all. You go to their houses, and I promise you, you'll find out how glued to their mirrors they are. And some of them use several times more makeup than I do. They even buy their own private makeup refrigerators, too! Everyone has eyes, right? In that case, how can they not know that they are good-looking?”

Kang Eun-Yeong shook her head. “I'm telling you, he doesn't.”

“...?” Choi Yeon-Ha frowned. Her opinion of 'people are all like that' was clashing with her theory of 'Kang Eun-Yeong knows her oppa the best and wouldn't lie about that, usually,' causing a bit of confusion in her mind. “...Are you being serious?”

“I should clarify myself and say that it's not that he doesn't know, but more like he isn't interested in those kinds of things. He didn't even know who you were, senior. Hmm, should I say he doesn't care much about people's outer appearances? I think it's safe to say he's suffering from acquired face blindness.”

“Wow...” Choi Yeon-Ha leaned back in amazement. So, there were really people like that, then? She couldn't help but find Kang Jin-Ho even more of a mystery.

She toiled and persevered for ten years in the entertainment industry where the best way to survive was to put on a thick mask on one's face. No wonder she found this character named Kang Jin-Ho so fascinating to behold. Well, he existed in a totally different universe than hers, after all!

Kang Eun-Yeong continued, “He's completely uninterested in the entertainment industry, you know? If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have come anywhere near it.”

“E-even so...”

“First of all, my oppa doesn't like to be the center of attention. Fans? He might die of annoyance if his fans show up, you know? I mean, he shudders from dread at the prospect of customers showing up at the cafe just to talk to him.”

“Oh...”

“So, he tried to weasel out of working part-time in the cafe, but him not showing up for a few days saw the revenue falling off the cliff, so our dad forced him to come back to work in the last few days. Although, I would say people stopped showing up after his fifteen minutes of fame was over, but whatever.”

Choi Yeon-Ha believed that all humans possessed a desire to be noticed by others around them, so Kang Jin-Ho's mindset was completely incomprehensible to her. “B-but I'm sure his mind will change after working as an actor for a while. Forget about getting people's attention for a moment, he's gonna make lots of money making movies, after all! He's simply acting that way because he doesn't know how much he could earn by becoming the next face of the Korean Wave. With his looks, Mister Jin-Ho will make a killing in China and Japan, too. No, wait. I think he'll also be mega-popular in those territories, you know? More than at home, I think.”

“Money, you say?” Kang Eun-Yeong replied with a hint of mockery in her tone. Choi Yeon-Ha didn't miss that, and her expression froze stiff. “Senior. Even if you keep making movies and pocketing the paychecks for the rest of your life, it still won't even be half of what's sitting in my oppa's bank account right now.”

Choi Yeon-Ha was left speechless by that. Did this girl even know how much she makes per production?

'...She probably knows.'

This little girl was craftier than she looked on the surface. Kang Eun-Yeong had to have already analyzed such things before saying all these put-downs.

Kang Eun-Yeong smirked and continued, “I honestly believe I'm making pretty good money these days, but it's nothing more than chump change for my oppa, you see?”

“...I'm not sure what to believe here.” Choi Yeon-Ha slowly shook her head. Considering how much top-ranked idols in the country took home... There couldn't be all that many people in Korea qualified enough to call that amount of money 'chump change.'

“The bigger problem is... My oppa is the kind of person who doesn't need money.”

“Ng?”

“Even though he has so much money, the only things he buys are cigarettes and stopping by at a PC Room occasionally! He eats his meals at home, and our mom has to buy him new clothes! And I have never, ever seen him go out on a date before, too!”

“Hang on, isn't that like... a bum?”

“Well, technically...”

‘But that's the lifestyle of a generic penniless bum, isn't it?’

Choi Yeon-Ha blinked her eyes in confusion.

Kang Eun-Yeong smirked softly at that. “I guess you've never met a type like that, senior. My oppa's a rare breed of a person, after all. Let me repeat that he's totally, utterly, genuinely uninterested in the entertainment industry. He didn't even know who you were, senior.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup. He really had no idea about you, senior. He only found out about you on that day at the filming location.”

“...!” Choi Yeon-Ha's jaw slowly fell. Her eyes twitched after receiving a pretty substantial mental damage.

How could anyone not know about her in this day and age? Sure, she may have been more selective with her projects lately in an effort to cement her image as a proper actress. And she had stopped shooting commercials, too, so she wouldn’t wear out her welcome in the public's eye. That naturally led to a decrease in exposure. Even so, she used to be everywhere only three years ago. Back then, she had never lost the top spot of the most beloved actress in the country in various surveys for three years in a row!

Quite literally, she used to dominate the position of people's favorite actress, but Kang Jin-Ho actually had no idea who she was—could he be a spy from the North?

Kang Eun-Yeong cruelly landed another blow. “And my oppa doesn't even watch TV.”

“Ah?!”

“If you want my orabi to remember you, you better forget about the entertainment section in the news and appear in the current affairs columns instead.”

“...I'll have to decline.”

“In any case, I'll try to talk to him about it, but please don't get your hopes up. We'll get flatly rejected, anyway.”

'This... is a matter of pride!'

Choi Yeon-Ha's expression stiffened. She coughed to clear her throat first, then held her head high. “Listen, Miss Se-Ah.”

“Yes?”

“Let's not beat around the bush, and can you deliver a message to your oppa? Tell him that I'd like to speak to him personally.”

“Mm? But he'll definitely say no since he can't be bothered?”

“...Just pass along the message, please. No, wait! Please do whatever it takes to set up that meeting. I'll take over from there.”

“Hmm. It won't be that easy, though…” Kang Eun-Yeong frowned deeply but nodded away in the end. “It will be tough, but I think I can make it happen if I try.”

“Thank you.”

“Only verbally, though?”

“...I'm sorry?”

Kang Eun-Yeong smirked deeply. “Well, all the cards are on the table now, so it's time to negotiate, don't you agree?”

“Negotiate?”

“Yes, negotiate. If I set up that meeting between my oppa and you, senior, what will you do for me?”

Choi Yeon-Ha stared at Kang Eun-Yeong staring back at her without a hint of shame and thought that maybe Kang Jin-Ho wasn't the only one with a peculiar personality in the Kang family.

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