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Korea, and the world, is facing its greatest threat. Your abilities will definitely be able to defend this world.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“Yes, yes. Sure.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Yi Ji-Hyuk let Choi Jung-Hoon’s sincere, heartfelt plea enter one ear and leak out the other without caring much about it. He put the pamphlet down nonchalantly.
“…What is your answer?” (Seo Ah-Young)
“Mm. My answer, is it. Fine, I’ll give you one… But before that, I gotta make sure of one thing first.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
“Okay.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“Well, it’s a bit awkward to say it out here, so why don’t we meet again tomorrow morning? It doesn’t feel right to talk about this at home, so find us a suitable place, please.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Choi Jung-Hoon nodded his head.
The meaning of him willing to come out and meet them was simple – Yi Ji-Hyuk was almost ready to cross the threshold of unwillingness and join them. So, there was no need to raise a fuss over this small matter.
“In that case, we understand your intentions. Then, we shall be on our way now.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“I won’t see you out.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)
Choi Jung-Hoon and Seo Ah-Young apologised once more and left the apartment.
And after they exited from the building, Choi Jung-Hoon fished out a cigarette and lit it up.
“Why did you do that?” (Seo Ah-Young)
“What do you mean?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“What possessed you to play a game, of all things?” (Seo Ah-Young)
Choi Jung-Hoon smirked slightly.
“So I could persuade Mister Ji-Hyuk, ma’am.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“And what are you even talking about now?” (Seo Ah-Young)
“The really important thing here is what Mister Ji-Hyuk’s thoughts are like. Me explaining to his mother, that was the same as me explaining directly to him, you see. You saw him sitting next to her, yes? That guy is the type that wouldn’t give a rat’s a*s if something’s being explained to him, but whenever his mother is involved, he’ll show up and listen attentively. He’s the perfect example of an annoying person, who loves to do the exact opposite of what everyone asks of him.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“Sure, now that you put it like that….” (Seo Ah-Young)
“Outwardly, even though it seems like his mother holds all the decision making rights, for our current problem at least, how Mister Ji-Hyuk perceives us is the most crucial part, ma’am. Our biggest hurdle was that, his first impression of us was not very good, which led him to hold a not-so favourable view of us. So, I had to do something to resolve that negative sentiments.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“And so, you came up with playing video games?” (Seo Ah-Young)
“Wouldn’t you say the end result was satisfactory?” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“It does feel like that way…” (Seo Ah-Young)
“While playing the game, if I won and pulled him in that way, I’d say things wouldn’t have worked out all that well in the long run. I lost deliberately enough times to butter him up, you see. Thanks to that, I’m convinced he holds much more friendly intentions towards us now.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
“But, he isn’t even a little kid, you know…” (Seo Ah-Young)
“No, that’s not true. He is exactly like a little kid. Think about it. Mister Ji-Hyuk went missing at a young age. And he even lost his memories. In that case, his mental age is no better than a high schooler at most. And we both heard the stories from his student days, that he wasn’t the most mature type of person, even back then. So, you see? A method befitting a kid needed to be utilised.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
….Seo Ah-Young had to admit that what he said sounded rather convincing. More or less.
‘This guy… he definitely has the skills of a con man, doesn’t he?’ (Seo Ah-Young)
He sounded really convincing right now.
“Okay, so what’s going to happen now?” (Seo Ah-Young)
“Tomorrow, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk will feign defeat and agree to our terms, and join the KSF. I guarantee it.” (Choi Jung-Hoon)
Seeing that victorious smile on Choi Jung-Hoon’s face, Seo Ah-Young felt the waves of relief wash over her.
Yes, I wasn’t wrong to trust this man.
This man, he is none other than THE Choi Jung-Hoon, after all! (Seo Ah-Young’s inner monologue)
Now that she thought about how this time-wasting tug of war was coming to an end soon, this feeling of refreshment began tickling her all over.
Unfortunately, though… they didn’t know.
They had no idea just what kind of a man Yi Ji-Hyuk was.
Their defeat was guaranteed the moment they chose Yi Ji-Hyuk as their opponent. What they had failed to realise was that the price to pay for this slip up would end up quite ridiculously enormous.