Chapter 1250. Coming to Visit (5)

Chapter 1250. Coming to Visit (5)

Ju Yeong-Gi whined in a slurred voice. “Come on, guys~! Let’s have one more round~!”

Park Yu-Min’s expression while replying could only be described as cramped. “...We should go home, Yeong-Gi.”

“What home?! When the sun hasn’t risen yet? Imma, Imma drink till morning sun shines on my dome!”

“L-look, over there! It’s sunrise. You can see it, right?”

“

Uhhh

? Is that the sunrise?”

Park Yu-Min pointed at a nearby streetlight to fool Ju Yeong-Gi.

“You see it, right? It’s time to head home, dude. Come on, let’s go.”

“No, wait. I, I still wanna drink some more...”

Clearly drunk out of his mind, Ju Yeong-Gi’s half-closed eyes lazily scanned the surroundings before locking on the figure of Kang Jin-Ho.

“

Ohhh

~, my friend-o, Jin-Hooo.”

“...”

“Did you know you’re so f*cking handsome? I kinda hate you for that.”

As his expression distorted in annoyance, Ju Yeong-Gi drunkenly flipped a bird at Kang Jin-Ho. All Kang Jin-Ho could do at this sight was groan softly.

Park Yu-Min glanced at him. “Jin-Ho, can you grab a taxi for us?”

“

Mm

...!”

Kang Jin-Ho looked around before raising his hand toward an incoming taxi. The vehicle slowly rolled to a stop before him.

The taxi driver wound the passenger window down and asked, “Where to, mister?”

“...” Kang Jin-Ho silently stared deep into the taxi driver’s face before asking a question himself. “Can you take my friend home?”

“

Huh

? Depends on where he stays, obviously.”

“Does that mean I must tell you where first?”

“

Huh

. You know what? Find another taxi, mister.”

Whiiirrr...

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The passenger side window began closing without a care in the world. Unfortunately for the taxi driver, though, his opponent tonight just so happened to be the one and only Kang Jin-Ho.

Grab!

Whir! Whiiiiir!

“

Huh

? What’s going on? Why isn’t the window closing?”

That was because Kang Jin-Ho was holding the glass, ensuring that it was going nowhere.

“Can we enter your vehicle now?” Kang Jin-Ho asked again.

“N-no, hang on...”

“Can, we, enter?”

The taxi driver flinched nastily after noticing the look in Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes. “Y-yes, sir! Of course! Please get in!”

All humans were born with survival instincts, after all!

Kang Jin-Ho looked back at his friends. “Hey, Yu-Min! I found a taxi.”

“Got it. Come and help me with this idiot. He’s too heavy for me.”

“Okay. Coming.”

Kang Jin-Ho briskly walked over and lifted Ju Yeong-Gi by the latter’s shoulder.

Ju Yeong-Gi whined again. “No... Don’t wanna... I wanna drink more... Why aren’t you morons listening when an adult is talking?”

“The one who’s not listening is you, though.”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled wryly while loading Ju Yeong-Gi to the backseat of the waiting taxi. Ju Yeong-Gi resisted a bit but eventually folded himself inside.

The taxi driver grew slightly more panicky after noticing Ju Yeong-Gi’s physique and facial features, and kept sneaking a scared glance in the trio’s direction.

Kang Jin-Ho stared at the driver next. “Please take care of this guy.”

“O-oh, no problem, sir. Nothing to worry about. M-mister, where to?”

When the driver asked that to Ju Yeong-Gi, Kang Jin-Ho grinned brightly while closing the taxi door.

There seemed to be a bit of back-and-forth inside the taxi before the vehicle smoothly set off.

Kang Jin-Ho muttered, “He’ll be fine, right?”

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” said Park Yu-Min with a casual shoulder shrug.

That taxi driver had functioning eyes, so he wouldn’t try to scam Ju Yeong-Gi.

Park Yu-Min glanced at Kang Jin-Ho next. “What about you? Where’s your car?”

“I didn’t bring it.”

“How come?”

“I had a hunch that we might go out drinking, that’s why.”

“Good thinking.”

The truth was, whether the concept of driving under the influence even applied to Kang Jin-Ho or not deserved a thorough examination. If DUI was interpreted as driving a vehicle after having a few cold ones, then sure, it could apply to him. However, if the metric of measurement was how much alcohol was present in one’s bloodstream, then...

It did not apply to him at all!

Alcohol was simply too inadequate as a poisonous substance to harm Kang Jin-Ho’s physique. It got ‘purified’ less than a second after entering his body, after all!

With a body like that, did the concept of DUI even matter to Kang Jin-Ho anymore?

However, Kang Jin-Ho was consciously trying his best to avoid driving after knocking back a few glasses regardless of whether it posed an actual threat to him or not.

If he kept breaking this law because it didn’t apply to him, he’d eventually reach a point of breaking all laws without a second thought. Of course, some events in the future would no doubt force his hands. Still, he saw no reason to break laws just because they slightly inconvenienced him.

Park Yu-Min asked another question. “Are you gonna grab a taxi, too?”

“Well...” Kang Jin-Ho turned his head and looked up at the heavens. The darkness of the skies looked right back at him. “My home’s not too far from here, so... I’ll just take a walk.”

“Really? Okay. I’ll go ahead first, then.”

“Yeah. Be careful on your way home.”

Despite saying his goodbye, Park Yu-Min remained in his spot, staring at his friend.

“Hey, Jin-Ho?”

“Yeah?” Kang Jin-Ho replied while waiting patiently.

“It’s been a busy year, right?”

“

Mm

...”

“Let’s hang out more often next year, okay? We both have a ton of stuff going on, but... I heard that once people start using their schedules as excuses to stop hanging out, it’ll be over.”

Kang Jin-Ho gently smiled. “Got it. Yeah, we should.”

“Great. Say hi to your mom and dad.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head. “Why do you sound as if this is the last time we’ll hang out this year? We might run into each other tomorrow at Seongsim, you know?”

“

Heh

. I figured I should say that. Anyways, later, Jin-Ho!”

Park Yu-Min smiled refreshingly while waving his hand, then climbed into a waiting taxi.

Kang Jin-Ho watched the taxi carrying his friend drive away before slowly turning around to head home. His steps were still, yet not all that heavy.

How should he describe today...?

‘Well, I feel great.’

Maybe because he had shared booze with friends for the first time in a while, this warm, soothing feeling had settled in his heart tonight.

His brisk steps soon took him past the bright neon light-filled main street and entered a much quieter back alley.

The night was cold. Warm breaths leaving his lips scattered in the air like cigarette smoke. Kang Jin-Ho looked at the white breaths as the reminiscence of the distant past washed over him.

Back then, when he was trying to survive in Zhongyuan with the body of a frail little child...

The one thing he feared the most wasn’t loneliness or hunger, but the bitter cold threatening to freeze his limbs off.

As he huddled up as much as possible below the freezing wall of some random person’s house, he wondered if the snowy-white breaths leaving his lips had the power to paint the entire world in pale nothingness.

During those days, winter had been far too cold and cruel to Kang Jin-Ho. However, what about now? Why did this coldness wrapping around him not feel as brutal as back then?

Why was that? Because of his cultivation? Or maybe the modern era’s winter was comparatively warmer?

‘That’s... probably not the case.’

This feeling seemed so strange and unfamiliar. It could be because his mind was still mulling over what Park Yu-Min asked about earlier.

“Are you happy?”

That question embarrassed Kang Jin-Ho somewhat.

Such a question shouldn’t be thrown around so carelessly, because the answer was not easy to formulate. Especially more so if it was Kang Jin-Ho, since he had never thought about whether he was happy or not.

‘Am I happy...?’

Kang Jin-Ho stopped walking and silently stared at the distant skies above. It was still as dark as before.

A starless night sky stared back, just like always.

Once upon a time, he ardently wished to see that sky again. Some people might find a sky filled with cascading waterfalls of stars much more beautiful, but not him. To Kang Jin-Ho, such a night sky only symbolized the fact that he was somewhere incredibly far away from his former life.

This night sky, with the starlight drowned out by pollution, was Kang Jin-Ho’s sky. The one he missed and longed to see again...

He had to overcome another death to return to this world. And now, he lived a life he couldn’t have imagined in the past. He had a family always ready to welcome him. And he also had a home he could return to at any time.

In this life, he had friends he could drink together with and talk about this and that. And comrades supporting him all the way. Better still...

‘I even have someone to nag me, too.’

A gentle chuckle leaked out of Kang Jin-Ho’s mouth when Choi Yeon-Ha’s face popped up in his thoughts.

He always wanted to have all these other things if he could return to the modern era, but someone like Choi Yeon-Ha entering his life was out of his expectations.

What would the Kang Jin-Ho stuck in Zhongyuan think if he saw the current Kang Jin-Ho?

‘These are all too nice for someone like me.’

The way Kang Jin-Ho saw it, he didn’t deserve any of these wonderful things.

So, then. Was he happy?

It seemed pointless to answer that question.

Back when Kang Jin-Ho found himself trudging through a life filled with unbearable despair, he often wished he’d never wake up from his sleep. Surviving a day had already been hellish, but the thought of enduring another day like that instilled untold dread in him.

Compared to those days...

Every day he was alive now felt like a miracle.

It all felt undeserving. Far too much so.

“

Fuu-woo

...”

Pure-white breaths lazily drifted away into the night sky. Kang Jin-Ho dazedly stood all alone in the middle of an alley, illuminated by the dim street lamps, to stare at the darkness above.

The memories of an uncaring sea of stars he saw as his consciousness faded away overlapped with the darkness in his view.

‘Isn’t this strange?’

Why did he become calmer, more comfortable, while staring at such an inky-black sky?

After standing there staring at the heavens for a while, Kang Jin-Ho resumed walking again. Every step he took brought the distant flickers of light closer.

Kang Jin-Ho’s life shouldn’t be all that different from those lights.

At times, things seemed so far away. Sometimes, things must’ve been illusions, fragments of his fevered imagination. Yet, by walking forward diligently, all those things had become a part of his life now.

Whether it was his family, the one he thought he’d never see again...

Or the warmth he believed he’d never feel again...

Even the ordinary life where he could joke around and laugh out loud like an ordinary person...

They were all his now. That was why...!

‘I’m sure things won’t change in the future, either.’

Yes, things could get difficult later on. So much so that they could make him want to quit.

However, by diligently walking forward like how he had been doing so until now, Kang Jin-Ho would one day find himself holding on to everything he had wished for.

That was what he believed now.

‘Am I happy now?’

Before long, Kang Jin-Ho arrived before his family’s residence. He wordlessly stared at the building and spotted the light coming out from the windows.

This scene felt so familiar, yet it also felt so awkward and unfamiliar at the same time.

Kang Jin-Ho walked up to the front gate and silently opened it to step into a small front yard, a garden. As he reached the front entrance, he found himself sucking in a deep breath for some reason.

He sometimes wondered this to himself. What if all these things were illusions?

What if he was still at the peak of ten thousand demons? And several deadly weapons were still sticking out of his body right now?

Maybe this lengthy and eventful third life was nothing more than a fantasy the dying Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor had cooked up in his head.

Fears like that sometimes tormented Kang Jin-Ho. But that was because he still couldn’t quite believe that all these excessive, undeserving things he had acquired were real.

However, whenever he got scared like that...

Kang Jin-Ho typed in the passcode for the door lock, then cautiously opened it. After stepping inside, he closed the door behind him and began taking off his shoes.

“I’m home.”

“Orabiiiiii!”

The moment he said something, his hearing caught the loud thumping of human feet quickly getting closer. Kang Eun-Yeong jumped out of the hallway and charged straight into Kang Jin-Ho’s chest.

He caught his little sister while making a cramped face. He also didn’t forget to rub his aching chest.

He never taught Kang Eun-Yeong how to attack using internal energy, so why was her attack power so high?

Kang Eun-Yeong asked, “Were you out drinking?”

“Yeah, a little.”

“That’s no good! You might turn into a drunkard, you know!”

Kang Jin-Ho couldn’t help but smile at that. Before he or his sister could say anything else, though, their parents emerged from the main bedroom.

Kang Jin-Ho’s mother greeted him first. “You’re a bit late today, son.”

“It somehow turned out that way. Why weren’t you asleep, mother?”

“How can I go to bed when my unfilial son hasn’t come home yet?”

“...”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong smiled gently. “I’m just kidding! You know what day it is today. Your father and I have been spending some quality time together. That’s all.”

“What are you saying in front of our kids?” Kang Yu-Hwan hurriedly yelled, his face flushing. “Kuh-hum! You must be tired, son. Hurry and wash up. Oh, wait. Maybe you’re a bit peckish after staying out so late?”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “No, it’s fine, father. I had supper with my friends.”

“Even so, hanging out and drinking with friends will make you hungry. Honey?” Kang Yu-Hwan glanced at his wife next. “Is there any leftover we can quickly prepare for our son?”

“You’re worried about nothing, dear. Just because I don’t worry about your food, you think I will do the same for our son, too? Jin-Ho, quickly wash up. I’ll whip something up for you in the meantime.”

Kang Jin-Ho’s smile got progressively cramped up. “N-no, mother. I’m really okay.”

“Hurry and wash up. Now.”

“...”

Kang Jin-Ho staggered to his room, his expression awkward and stiff.

“Wait, orabi! What about my present? It’s Christmas, right? It’s the time for exchanging presents, you know?”

“...”

While gently pushing away the clinging Kang Eun-Yeong, Kang Jin-Ho chuckled airily.

Maybe all these were indeed fragments of his imaginations, a product of his dream. After all, he had done too many despicable things to deserve happiness in reality like this.

Even so...

Even if all these things were products of his dream, at least one thing seemed certain now.

Clack...

After closing the door behind him, Kang Jin-Ho closed his eyes for a little while without turning on the lights.

-Are you happy?

A deep smile formed on Kang Jin-Ho’s face.

“Yes. I am.”

Definitely so.

A belated reply quietly left his lips.