Chapter 777: Stabilized (2)

Those eyes could only be described as confused. And when Kang Jin-Ho was confronted by those eyes, he had no choice but to flinch and shudder. At the very least, the person before him should not make such a face while staring back at Kang Jin-Ho!

That person's head slowly cocked to the side. And then, his brows furrowed. However, such simple gestures were still more than enough to let Kang Jin-Ho know what kind of words would register in his hearing next!Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

“Who are you?”

“...”

“Who are you, mister?”

“...Uh-whew.” Kang Jin-Ho sighed under his breath. “I’m sorry for not calling you earlier.”

“No, hang on, mister. Please tell me who you are first. Do we know each other?”

“Come on, man. I’m sorry, okay?”

Ju Yeong-Gi narrowed his eyes even more while peering closely at Kang Jin-Ho before loudly clapping his hands. He even theatrically nodded as if he could remember everything!

“Aha. Now I remember. Your name was... Kang Jin-Gu, yes?”

“It’s Kang Jin-Ho.”

“Yes, that’s it. That was the name... I’m sorry, young man. Maybe because I’ve gotten older, it’s difficult for me to recall the names of people I haven’t seen in years.”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly looked up at the pizzeria’s ceiling.

‘I can’t even talk back since I’m in the wrong...’

It seemed the people of this world valued the idea of phone calls more than the person's actual presence. Back in Zhongyuan, exchanging letters once a year was sufficient enough for people living a little distance away from each other. But now! To think the modern-era folks would behave as if their relationships had ended just because of one month of zero phone calls...!

“So, what brings you here, young man?” Ju Yeong-Gi snarkily asked.

“I’ve come to see my friend, old sir.”

“Your friend, is it? Your friend... I see, I see. Why don't you take a seat, young man? You bringing up your friend has reminded me of something...”

Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly settled down on the chair pointed out by Ju Yeong-Gi.

Ju Yeong-Gi weakly plopped down on Kang Jin-Ho's opposite side like a tired old man, rested his chin on his hand, then began his story. “Friends, friends... Yes, that is a wonderful notion. Once upon a time, I was also blessed with a friend. A really wonderful friend, actually. Met during my mandatory military service, too. And I used to think I wouldn't mind doing whatever for that friend...”

“Now hold on for a sec...”

“If only that friend was still alive! You two would've gotten along so well... Goodness me. It seems I've been rambling just now. So... Who is the friend you've been looking for?”

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression became even more cramped. “I said I’m sorry.”

Ju Yeong-Gi slowly raised his middle finger. “If apologies can solve everything, there wouldn’t be any wars in this world, you punk.”

Hot steam gushed out from Ju Yeong-Gi’s blaring nostrils. “Fine, fine. It’s all good, I say! I understand that being preoccupied makes it harder to call your friends. Since I know your social skill is as barren as a lone half-dried oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert, an event like this shouldn’t come as a surprise. That’s right, I should be more understanding. Sure. However!”

Ju Yeong-Gi's eyes gleamed dangerously as the volume of his voice grew. The killing intent gushing out from those eyes even forced Kang Jin-Ho to flinch and back off. What a historical moment this was, the one and only demon emperor retreating from an opponent in fear!

“I considered all that and sent you DMs, yet you ghosted them all? On all three occasions, no less?”

“...”

“Now, listen well, my friend. No, my former friend. Three Consecutive Ghosting signifies the end of people's relationships. It's the same as declaring that you're closing the book on this particular relationship and people should not contact you anymore. Do you understand that?”

“There's no way it's that bad?” Kang Jin-Ho frowned while tilting his head.

Ju Yeong-Gi suddenly asked a customer enjoying her food at the next table. “What do you think, miss?”

“Yes, it's the same as ending the relationship for good.”

“Well, you heard the lady.”

Kang Jin-Ho was rendered speechless when the woman didn't even take one second to consider her response. But how was he supposed to know that human relationships could break off by not responding to a handful of brief messages?

Just how meticulously "considerate" was he supposed to be in the modern era, anyway?!

“...It seems I’ve made a big mistake, Yeong-Gi,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Mistake?” Ju Yeong-Gi extended his hand far out, then slowly waved it from left to right. “Listen, my friend. No, my former friend.”

“Can you, like, stop saying that...?”

“A mistake is when something you didn't intend happens. What you intentionally did can no longer be classified as a 'mistake', okay? And ghosting someone is not a bloody mistake!”

‘...Did someone die while I was away?’

Kang Jin-Ho couldn't help but wonder if it was fair to be treated like a murderer when all he did was read DMs but not answer them.

“So, why do you wish to rekindle this forgotten friendship after all this time, oh the traveler from a distant land?”

“...Let’s stop that here. Please?”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned. He was dizzy from all these verbal assaults.

Ju Yeong-Gi chuckled helplessly. “Should I say, as expected of you, dude?”

Kang Jin-Ho's groan deepened. “If I do something that's expected of me one more time, I might as well jump in a lake and drown.”

“Yup. I’m not surprised. You must be getting dragged over the coals by everyone.”

“I-it’s not like I do this all the time, though! I don’t even go on vacations, so can’t you just let me off the hook today? My friends are here, you know?”

“Why would you need vacations?! All you do is lounge around every day doing nothing! Besides, you can't even get the customers' orders right! So why! Do you! Need vacations! And, and! Why do you want to leave when we don't even have enough time to breathe while dealing with the flood of customers?!”

“But we have our employees, no? Don't worry, I'll speak to them before leaving and make sure there won't be any mishaps in the dining area while I'm not here. Pretty please? Ng?”

“Fine! Leave! And don’t you ever come back! Get out, now!”

“W-what...?”

Kang Jin-Ho silently closed his eyes while listening to those yells. And Park Yu-Min was responding broadly similarly.

A short while later, Ju Yeong-Gi making a triumphant face emerged from the kitchen. “Alright! Fellas, let’s hit the road!”

“...Sure thing.”

“I told you, I can go whenever I want! Nothing to worry about here!”

“Hey, Yeong-Gi?”

“What?”

“We heard everything.”

“...Really?”

Ju Yeong-Gi’s shoulders powerlessly slumped.

***

“She's a tigress.”

Ju Yeong-Gi sounded sincere as he put the beer mug down. However, his voice clearly lacked energy.

“And I thought she was a cute little rabbit, you know? No, actually... I did think she had this crafty fox-like side to her, too. But, uh... That's kinda alluring in a way, right?”

Park Yu-Min grimaced a little. “...It depends.”

“But when her rabbit mask came off, it's not a fox but a bloody tiger, guys. Forget nagging; she's flailing me alive lately! I won't have any back skin left if this keeps up...!”

To say Ju Yeong-Gi was whining like a kid, he sounded too somber. Since Park Yu-Min hadn't experienced anything even remotely similar to his friend's situation, he wasn't sure how to empathize with it. As for Kang Jin-Ho, though...

“...I hear you, Yeong-Gi. I hear you.”

Unsurprisingly, he fully sympathized with his friend. He could easily guess what it felt like to be ‘harassed’ by a tiger-like girlfriend. After all, hadn’t he already reached that point with...

‘...! I b-better call her soon.’

At least Kang Jin-Ho could endure his family and friends scolding him for not contacting them sooner. However, he knew he wouldn’t last ten minutes of Choi Yeon-Ha’s pointed nagging digging into his tender flesh!

“Still, you look happy, Yeong-Gi,” Park Yu-Min commented while chuckling away.

Ju Yeong-Gi sheepishly mumbled quietly. “Well, uh, how I feel is like...”

“Eh?”

“It's difficult to explain, but... Okay, so, let's say I freaking love cakes covered in whipped cream.”

“Okay...?”

“But I hate raisins.”

“...?”

“So, it feels like raisins are stuck inside this incredibly delicious cake. Since it tastes so good, I enjoy eating it, but these raisins are making me... You know.”

“Oh. I think I get it now,” Park Yu-Min animatedly nodded. He got a pretty good picture now.

“Yeah. Even then... I still like this cake, you know?” Ju Yeong-Gi roughly scratched his head. “Only someone with a personality like that can tolerate dating me, right? Your average kind girls wouldn’t be able to handle me, anyway.”

Park Yu-Min tilted his head. “What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with you.”

“Nah, it's fine, you brat. I know what I'm like, okay? I know I'm full of hot air but don't have much substance to back it up.”

“Really? For a dude with no substance, aren’t you doing well for yourself? Your pizzeria is always packed with customers, too.”

“I can’t take all the credit for that, you know?” Ju Yeong-Gi chuckled sheepishly.

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded while listening.

‘He really has changed.’

The Ju Yeong-Gi from the past would've said it was all due to his abilities while his nose punched right through this pub's ceiling. But now...

“Now that we’re talking about this topic...” Ju Yeong-Gi chuckled while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah?”

“I'm thinking of proposing to her.”

The eyes of Kang Jin-Ho and Park Yu-Min nearly fell out of their sockets.