Chapter 1235. Dominating (5)

Chapter 1235. Dominating (5)

“Okay, so...”

Choi Yeon-Ha held her head while plopping down on the nearby couch.

“No, it’s... Okay, so...”

Choi Yeon-Ha’s trembling hand reached out to a cup resting on the coffee table. However, when she realized it was empty, she began chewing on her lips in frustration.

“Water! Hurry!”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kang Jin-Ho shot up to his feet and quickly brought a cup of water. Despite the coldness of the water, Choi Yeon-Ha unhesitantly one-shotted the whole glass before putting it down roughly on the table.

“Okay, so...”

She repeated the same thing three times already. Of course, it wasn’t as if Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t understand her reaction. Anybody in her situation would’ve been just as flabbergasted as she was.

In fact, most ordinary people would fall into a panicked state after learning about the existence of the martial world.

Kang Jin-Ho was a man living his third life. And not only that, he was the ruler of South Korea’s martial society, too! Imagine how flabbergasted you’d be after learning about all those things.

Choi Yeon-Ha gazed sharply at Kang Jin-Ho. “Everything you’ve said, it’s all true, yes?”

“...”

“What am I even asking here? Of course they are all true. A cat writing King Lear will happen first before you learn to cook up a story this fantastical.”

Why did it feel like Choi Yeon-Ha had been subtly dissing him for a while now...?

Although Kang Jin-Ho had a few things he’d like to get off his chest, his lips remained shut thanks to the guilty conscience still bubbling in his heart.

One wrong thing muttered, and even he couldn’t predict what kind of predicament might beset him.

“Okay, so, people with superpowers live in this world, and...”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly. “Not superpowers, but martial arts...”

“Same difference!”

“...Of course.”

Choi Yeon-Ha scowled deeply. “So, not only the person before my eyes can use superpowers, but he actually died twice, too?!”

“...”

“And his actual age is over five hundred years old?”

“No, not true,” Kang Jin-Ho firmly replied. “I lived during that era, not I’ve been living since that era, Miss Yeon-Ha.”

“But it’s true that you’re at least over a hundred years old!”

“

Uh, well

...”

That part was a bit trickier to deny.

Of course, denying it was not impossible, since his three lives weren’t connected to one another. For instance, Kang Jin-Ho’s second life had concluded in the most indisputable way imaginable, which was death.

Since that was the case, it’d be more correct to say the current Kang Jin-Ho had gone through a rebirth.

Just because he could remember his previous lives, the years he had lived must be added to the current one? That didn’t seem fair. Although, Kang Jin-Ho knew his case was a little more unique than that.

“Miss Yeon-Ha, physically I’m only twen...”

“Let’s skip meaningless excuses, shall we? Mister Wrinkly Grandpa?”

“...”

That stung.

It stung even more than getting cut with a sharp blade.

While Kang Jin-Ho moaned weakly from the pain, the merciless Choi Yeon-Ha continued to groan loudly.

“I figured maybe you were Chairman Hwang Jeong-Hu’s hidden heir. Or an illegitimate child of a powerful politician. Heck, I even prepared myself in case you turned out to be the boss of a powerful crime syndicate. But this? What kinda fantasy is this?”

Choi Yeon-Ha furiously scratched her head, causing her long hair to flip around nonstop.

“Okay, so! To summarize...”

She then snapped her head toward Kang Jin-Ho, her eyes blazing.

“Mister Jin-Ho, you’re the boss of this Korean Martial Assembly or whatever it’s called, which is an organization full of superpowered people, and MK is its subsidiary. Is that it?”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. “Yes.”

“So, you were never a boss-in-name-only, but an actual, real chairman?”

“Yes.”

“Aigoo, my head...” Choi Yeon-Ha groaned again while furiously massaging her temples. “More water.”

“Of course.”

Kang Jin-Ho left to get more water, allowing Choi Yeon-Ha to lean against the couch and stare at the ceiling in stupefaction.

‘Kinda feels like I’m stuck in a movie...’

And the genre of this movie was ‘Sci-Fi’.

Shouldn’t it be ‘Fantasy’? Or maybe even ‘Mystery’?

Neither was correct, since it felt like her mind had been thrown into the Andromeda Galaxy or something right now! In that case, science fiction sounded like the most sensible genre.

‘Holy cow. This is way more out-there than I thought it’d be!’

If someone else other than Kang Jin-Ho had told her this outlandish tale, Choi Yeon-Ha wouldn’t have hesitated to pick up her phone. And then, while smiling politely, call the nearest asylum! She would’ve told them to come here as quickly as possible and catch this deranged person.

However, as far as Choi Yeon-Ha knew, Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t the type to spew unnecessary lies. Besides, for a lie, what he said was far too detailed and grand in scope.

Anyone capable of spinning a lie like this should stop wasting their talent and try their hands at being a novelist. The thing was, though, Choi Yeon-Ha knew Kang Jin-Ho had zero talent in that area.

‘In other words, everything he said must be true...!’

But wasn’t this way too outlandish to be a part of reality?

“Here, more water,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

Choi Yeon-Ha stared dazedly at him before reaching out and pinching his cheek.

“...

Huh

?”

“Since I can touch him, he’s a real person, not just my imagination...”

Choi Yeon-Ha stopped pinching Kang Jin-Ho and accepted the cup of water. Her lips continued to twitch and quiver to say she still hadn’t gotten her wits back.

“Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Yes, please speak.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but...”

But she still seemed stuck in a state of disbelief, though...?

“I’m telling you, I am not, but... You know, right? That,

uh

, thing. Some things, like...

Umm

... Like, you kinda understand but don’t quite get it? That kinda feeling? It’s all...

Mm

, weird and not fitting, that kinda feeling. You get it, right?”

“I have no idea what you mean, but I think I get it.”

“You do? So I’m not the weird one? Right? Okay, so...”

Choi Yeon-Ha swallowed her saliva down her dried throat.

“So, is there anything you can prove what you said is true? Something so undeniable? And can be witnessed with my own eyes? Stuff that ordinary people can’t...”

That was when a single lick of flames suddenly lit up from the tip of Kang Jin-Ho’s finger.

Choi Yeon-Ha immediately clamped her mouth shut. “...”

The flame grew rapidly in size before gradually growing smaller to the size of a matchstick’s flame.

“That... Wow... I think I’m gonna lose my mind.”

Choi Yeon-Ha’s jaw fell while looking like a drunkard who had knocked back three full cups of single-malt whiskey in a row.

It felt like she had taken in far too much information, and her brain couldn’t keep up with processing them all.

‘Yup, I’m definitely insane, too.’

She couldn’t help but think that way, because this revelation hadn’t soured her feelings toward Kang Jin-Ho.

Choi Yeon-Ha knew there had to be an incredible secret behind Kang Jin-Ho, but never imagined said secret was a bombshell... No, a bloody nuke!

Obviously, she had already noticed that Kang Jin-Ho possessed abilities no ordinary person could possess. And she had grown to view him, at least subconsciously, as a half Superman. However, that was a mere figure of speech. How could she have known that Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t... wasn’t really a human being!

No, that wasn’t right. He was a human being. Just that he was a very, very

weird

human being!

Choi Yeon-Ha groaned again. “

Argh

... Is smoke coming out of my head now?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Mm? You are not smoking, though? Oops...”

He fake-coughed and sneakily backed away when Choi Yeon-Ha shot him a glare. That careless mouth of his almost got him in trouble just now.

Kang Jin-Ho falteringly said, “

Umm

, excuse me...?”

“No, hold on. Please wait a little longer, okay? I’m still processing the info.”

“...”

Only after groaning, sighing, and sucking in deep breaths multiple times did Choi Yeon-Ha finally regain her former composure. Although her face was still flushed, her expression was almost back to normal.

“

Hah

...”

She groaned one more time, a much shorter one this time, then stared intently at Kang Jin-Ho’s face. Her slightly trembling hand reached out toward his cheek.

She began caressing his face before suddenly grabbing his cheek and pulling at it, hard. However...

“...”

When Kang Jin-Ho didn’t even respond, Choi Yeon-Ha yelled unhappily. “At least act like it hurts!”

“...! Ouch, ouch!”

“Dammit!”

Choi Yeon-Ha let go of Kang Jin-Ho’s face and began gritting her teeth.

“Argh! I totally got scammed! Oh, my, gosh! And here I was, thinking that you were younger than me!”

Was that important right now? Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but think that Choi Yeon-Ha’s thought process was straying in a weird direction.

“Look here, Mister Fraud!”

“Yes?”

“How could you hide something like that?”

“...”

“No, no. Of course you must hide it. Otherwise, everyone would’ve treated you like a loon.”

At least she was aware, so that was something.

“Very well. Got it. Whatever the case may be, thank you for being honest with me,” said Choi Yeon-Ha.

Kang Jin-Ho cautiously asked, “Do you... believe me?”

“How can I not believe you? Sure, I might have thought you were yanking my chain if you had the history of acting like a goofball or a playboy. But you’re probably the world’s most serious man. No way you’d make up a story like that with that kinda expression.”

Choi Yeon-Ha pouted deeply.

Her confidence didn’t originate from a realm of logic here. She knew Kang Jin-Ho too well, after all.

Maybe she shouldn’t carelessly claim that after listening to this bombshell of a revelation, but still! She could tell what kind of emotions Kang Jin-Ho was feeling while telling her all these things.

His face did not belong to a person lying through their teeth.

Choi Yeon-Ha continued to pout before sighing deeply at the frowning face of Kang Jin-Ho.

“Please don’t make that face, Mister Jin-Ho.”

“...What face am I making, Miss Yeon-Ha?”

“It’s not like I’m gonna start treating you with disgust, you know? Why do you look like you don’t trust me? We’re adults here, aren’t we?”

“...”

Did I do that?

Kang Jin-Ho touched his face. Ordinary people wouldn’t sense anything by touching their faces like he had done, but Kang Jin-Ho’s ultra-sharp senses should tell him what his current expression looked like.

However, it didn’t feel any different from his usual face.

Now this was such a mystery to him. Even the most advanced, sensitive measuring equipment would have a hard time noticing the minute changes to his expressions, yet Choi Yeon-Ha didn’t have any issues picking all the changes up.

“Don’t worry about me,” said Choi Yeon-Ha. “I just need a little more time to get used to this. I haven’t processed everything yet. Since there was a lot to process, you know?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. He was thankful that Choi Yeon-Ha wasn’t in a state of shock. It was just that...

“

Whoo

. I think I’ve finally calmed down,” said Choi Yeon-Ha after finishing the cup of cold water. After wiping the corners of her mouth off, she got up.

Kang Jin-Ho flinched a little. “W-what’s the...”

“Come over here.”

Kang Jin-Ho ungainly got up.

“Hurry.”

When Choi Yeon-Ha urged him on, Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly nodded and hesitantly approached her.

He stood right before her nose, and she wordlessly peered up at his face. But then, she wrapped her arms around him in a bear-like hug.

Kang Jin-Ho instinctively flinched and began squirming.

“Be still, Mister Jin-Ho! Stop being coy, okay?”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho froze still like a statue, his face full of nervousness.

Pat, pat.

Choi Yeon-Ha gently patted him on the back.

“Sorry. I should’ve started with this first. It’s just that I was really taken aback, you see?”

“...”

“You’ve gone through so much, Mister Jin-Ho. So much. It must’ve been really difficult for you.”

This... was so strange.

Indeed, this emotion was so strange.

Just as Choi Yeon-Ha had said, Kang Jin-Ho had lived for well over a century. His physical body getting younger also led to his mind getting younger, but the life experiences from all those years hadn’t gone anywhere.

Despite his experience, though, he was panicking at this strange emotion welling up from deep within his chest.

Choi Yeon-Ha continued to pat him on the back.

“The way you spoke about it as if it hadn’t affected you makes it so much sadder, you know? I mean... It must’ve been so hard for you, trying to deal with it all by yourself.”

Kang Jin-Ho bit his lip, hard.

He never believed a day would come when someone actually

understood

him and sympathized with him. He wasn’t going around looking for sympathy either, anyway. He simply had done far too many bad things to ask for a luxury such as sympathy from others, after all!

Even so...

The warmth coming from his back caressed him as a human being. It touched and began mending the cracked

something

inside.

It was somewhat ticklish. And warm. As warm as the sunlight of a lazy afternoon.

“You struggled a lot. But it’s gonna be fine now.”

Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes.

Ah! I...

I’ve been wanting to... hear that from someone. Hear that simple thing...

Memories of a gentle hand touching him one cold winter night suddenly entered his mind. The hand that belonged to a collapsed and dying person, yet still remaining so warm and gentle...

He used to think he’d never feel that warmth again as long as he lived.

The hand that belonged to his martial master...

‘Sister Yi.’

A person who could caress and mend other people’s wounds, a person who could shield and embrace blistered and festering wounds; someone who...

...Who could extend a helping hand first. Someone who could reach out to the scared but needy people and gently pat them on the back, saying everything would be okay now.

Wasn’t it strange? Kang Jin-Ho was supposed to become that person, yet here he was, finding so much solace and comfort from a pair of slender, small hands patting him.

Kang Jin-Ho wrapped his arms around Choi Yeon-Ha and held her closer.

She was initially taken aback, yet a gentle smile soon bloomed on her face. She even gently patted him on the head.

“It’s gonna be alright.”

Kang Jin-Ho could hear the ticking of the clock, the whir of the refrigerator, and the breezes brushing past the windows.

“Everything’s gonna be alright now.”

A person’s body felt warm.

Within this unexpected solace, along with a caress he didn’t anticipate... Kang Jin-Ho sank deeper into this warmth with the face of a child.

While looking a little embarrassed, but definitely a little warmer, too.