Chapter 106: Struggling (1)

Chapter 106: Struggling (1)

“Hello, it's Jo Gyu-Min speaking,” Jo Gyu-Min answered his phone and tensed up immediately after hearing Kang Jin-Ho's voice on the line. “Yes, Mister Jin-Ho!”

That voice sounded cold and withdrawn. It was completely different from what Kang Jin-Ho had sounded like earlier in the morning. However, Jo Gyu-Min didn't find it weird or suspicious. He knew this was Kang Jin-Ho's true voice, after all.

“Understood. I'll be right there.” Jo Gyu-Min ended the call and shot up to his feet. While dashing outside his office, he cried out to his subordinates. “Investigate all the available information on the Seongsim Orphanage! Right now!”

A new emergency situation had descended on Jaegyeong's Office of Secretaries.

***

Vroooom...

Jo Gyu-Min drove his car quickly to the hospital where Kang Jin-Ho said he would wait.

'Why is he suddenly talking about the orphanage, I wonder '

Jo Gyu-Min wasn't sure why he was doing this, but his job was to 'do as told.’ Since Kang Jin-Ho had asked him to investigate the matters of the orphanage as thoroughly as possible, Jo Gyu-Min had his underlings gather as much information as possible in the small window of time he had been given.

Jo Gyu-Min called Kang Jin-Ho on the phone as he got near the hospital. “Hello, Mister Jin-Ho? I'm almost at the hospital. Where are you?”

- I'm by the front entrance.

“Then, I'll head that way. Please wait a little bit longer.” Jo Gyu-Min ended the call and drove the car to the entrance. He could see Kang Jin-Ho standing in front of the building.

Kang Jin-Ho recognized the vehicle and waited until it came to a stop nearby, then hopped into the passenger's seat.

Jo Gyu-Min asked worriedly, “Why are you here in a hospital, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“Haven't you investigated as I asked you?”

“Could it be because of the orphanage's director, Sister Yi Hye-Suk?”

Kang Jin-Ho, who had started feeling a little doubtful about Jo Gyu-Min's ability, quickly nodded in relief.

Jo Gyu-Min grabbed the steering wheel. “For now, should I take you home?”

“No, I brought my bicycle with me. Can we talk someplace nearby?”

“Of course. Let me take you to a cafe.”

“Is there somewhere quieter than that?”

Jo Gyu-Min's eyebrows rose up slightly. A cafe wouldn't be noisy, so the implication behind that question could only mean that Kang Jin-Ho wanted to have a quiet chat between just the two of them. “In that case, how about in my car?”

“That's fine...”

“Understood.” Jo Gyu-Min drove the car to a remote corner of the parking lot. He figured they could just talk after finding a spot with low foot traffic. He eventually located a suitable spot and parked his car there. He then reached to the backseat to take out a removable ashtray and placed it in the cupholder. “How about a smoke?”

“...?”

“Please go ahead. It seems I'll have to smoke one myself as well.”

Jo Gyu-Min's intuition which had been finely honed by serving Chairman Hwang for quite some time had proven its worth. When Kang Jin-Ho didn't move, Jo Gyu-Min took out his own cigarette and offered it. That was when Kang Jin-Ho silently accepted it.

Jo Gyu-Min lit up Kang Jin-Ho's cigarette, then mouthed one himself. After both men took a couple of deep puffs, Jo Gyu-Min asked, “Why did you ask me to look into the orphanage, Mister Jin-Ho?”

“I learned that Director Yi is sick.”

“...Yes, she is.”

“What will happen to the orphanage after she passes away?”

"Hmm..." Jo Gyu-Min scratched his head. “Mister Jin-Ho. Although Sister Yi Hye-Suk is in charge of the Seongsim Orphanage, it's not affiliated with the Catholic Church. In other words, she has been working as its director in her own personal capacity.”

“Yes. I'm also looking for someone to manage the orphanage.”

“But, as I told you earlier...”

“That's not what I meant. I'm not looking for a manager, but a caretaker to look after the kids. Yu-Min's doing that by himself at the moment. The people who worked there seemed to have all left after Sister Yi collapsed.”

“Mm, I see. If we're talking about people who will work in shifts for monthly salaries, I think we can find someone.”

“I'll leave it to you, but please hurry. As for their wages, I'll take care of that, so please focus on finding suitable people.”

“Understood.” Jo Gyu-Min handed over a USB drive containing the relevant information. “Here, this has the info you asked me about. I wasn't sure if it's really necessary, but I brought it with me just in case.”

“Thank you.” Kang Jin-Ho bowed his head before climbing out of the car. “Well, then. Until next time.”

“Of course. If you need anything, call me.” Jo Gyu-Min bade goodbye and drove away.

Kang Jin-Ho sighed deeply, then trudged back to where he had parked his Golden Elephant.

***

Kwa-kwakwakwa!

Kang Jin-Ho pedaled away on his bicycle; his thoughts were messier than before.

'Why do I feel so frustrated '

Today was the first day of his leave, and he should be feeling chuffed, but all he could feel right now was bitterness, frustration, and dissatisfaction. As if to the knot in his chest, Kang Jin-Ho pedaled even harder, and he found his mood improving just a little as refreshing winds buffeted him.

“Uwaaaah?! What was that?!” The driver of a car traveling at around sixty kilometers per hour freaked out after spotting a bicycle shooting past him. “S-Should I check the black box or something?! What just happened here "

Despite leaving behind a wake of countless freaked-out people, Kang Jin-Ho paradoxically had no idea what was happening behind him due to his speed.

After scything through the city at a breakneck pace for a while, he began reducing his speed as he got closer to his home. His pedaling slowed down to a crawling pace.

'This isn't something I can resolve by myself.'

Kang Jin-Ho's brows furrowed deeply when he reached that conclusion. He would have already taken care of a problem requiring brute strength. Unfortunately, there were far too many things in this world that physical strength couldn't do anything about.

'I'm... powerless.'

Kang Jin-Ho finally reached his home. He stored his Golden Elephant in the garage and stepped outside, but his legs felt heavy and lethargic. He raised his head and watched the sun setting over the Western skies.

Unlike the setting sun that remained resolutely the same whether it was the modern era or Zhongyuan, Kang Jin-Ho currently didn't possess even one-tenth of his former strength. And no, it wasn't as simple as his lack of martial prowess.

The status Kang Jin-Ho had enjoyed back in Zhongyuan was incomparable to the modern era. He could have changed the world with just one word from him. Yet, now... This sense of powerlessness was utterly devastating.

'Right. I can't do anything without others helping me.'

When he looked back, all the problems he had encountered after his return had only been resolved with Jaegyeong’s help. Sure, he could have resorted to violence and vent his anger, but unleashing a tidal wave of unbearable societal pressure to utterly sink his opponents? It was impossible for him.

In addition, Kang Jin-Ho instinctively sensed that matters fixable through violence would only get rarer with time. The more systematic a society became, the harder it would be for an individual to resolve matters with their own power.

Kang Jin-Ho stayed outside and stared at the distance in a daze, as he was lost in his thoughts. His goal had always been about living an ordinary life, but now... He knew the truth.

The 'ordinary life' was simply a person enduring the thunderstorm and moving on with their life. Submitting to unfair pressures, never resisting your fate, and obediently accepting your spilled blood as a trial given to you by the heavens—that was what living an ordinary life entailed.

However, could Kang Jin-Ho accept all those things? Could he lower his head; no, grovel on the ground, for the sake of living an ordinary life when a powerful force like the government or a corporation suppressed his family

'I'm just thinking whatever I want, huh.'

He had always been insisting on living an ordinary life, but Kang Jin-Ho began thirsting for power when he had to bow his head a little. Was it because of human nature, or had he always been someone with a tendency to pursue the path of supremacy? For now, he couldn't tell, other than...

'This can't go on.'

The decision that would bring about a massive change to Kang Jin-Ho and the world at large was made on this very day.