Descent of the Demon Master

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“I really needed this compact, you know? What a relief, though! We couldn ’t even apply the foundation because I forgot this thing.
The filming could ’ve been delayed.” Kang Eun-Yeong sighed in genuine relief.

Her reaction helped to ease a little bit of Kang Jin-Ho ’s annoyance at needing to come this far from home.
“Why do you need this makeup so much?”

“Oppa, do you have any idea how different it is between looking at a face with your eyes and through a camera lens? Makeups specifically for filming exist for a reason, you know.”

“…If you say so.” Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head.

He knew nothing about the entertainment industry, so what else could he say here? From his perspective, his little sister throwing a fit over a single compact and forcing her brother to bring it all the way to Yeongdeok seemed very much an over-the-top behavior.
Then again, Kang Jin-Ho sympathized with Kang Eun-Yeong ’s desire to do everything right for her first drama appearance, so he decided to stop whining about it.

Kang Jin-Ho shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay, so.
I ’m done here, right?”

“Orabi[1]~!”

“What now?”

“…Can you go and buy me gimbap?[2] Pretty please?”

“Huh?” Kang Jin-Ho groaned.
“Can ’t you ask Yeong-Gi? Where is he, anyway?”

“Yeong-Gi oppa ’s still in the middle of his ’orientation ’, you see? And the manager oppa before him quit, so I have no one right now.
As a stop-gap measure, I ’ve got myself a temp manager, but, uh…
I don ’t know where he is right now.”

Kang Jin-Ho stared at his sister with a less-than-impressed gaze.

’

’Just how badly did she treat her manager for him to quit? ’

Kang Eun-Yeong might be his little sister, but even he couldn ’t lie and say she had a nice personality.
It was just that she couldn ’t go wild at home thanks to Kang Jin-Ho ’s iron-fisted rule and Baek Hyeon-Jeong ’s constant nagging.

On the outside, though, no such restrictions existed, so Kang Jin-Ho could already picture how bad his little sister ’s unruly behavior had to be.

’Hopefully, things will improve with Yeong-Gi around. ’

Ju Yeong-Gi had a knack for keeping his juniors in line.
Since he had also experienced unreasonable bullying in the military, he also knew not to go overboard with keeping people in check.

Kang Jin-Ho muttered in a disproving voice, “Do it in moderation, will you?”

“I haven ’t done anything, though!” Kang Eun-Yeong shot him a sharp glare.

“Just how badly did you torment your manager for him to run away?”

“…Oppa, you ’re sooo wrong about me bullying him.
He was too used to an idol ’s schedule and couldn ’t adapt when I got this part and that ’s why he quit, you know!”

“Sure, sure…” Kang Jin-Ho waved his hand dismissively as if he didn ’t want to hear any more words.

Kang Eun-Yeong puffed her cheeks.
“Whatever.
Just buy me gimbap, will you? I think I ’m gonna die of starvation soon.”

“You haven ’t eaten anything until now?”

“How can I eat when I ’m about to receive the baptism of cameras?! What if my face gets swollen from eating the wrong food!”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.
“Then, why do you want gimbap now?”

“…I ’ve reached my limit, oppa.
I think I ’ve overestimated myself.
I ’m really, really dying of starvation right now…”

’Aigoo, you dumbass… ’

Kang Jin-Ho groaned inwardly while shaking his head.
This girl might be his little sister, but…
She seemed beyond salvation, didn ’t she?

He was about to say something when the trailer ’s door suddenly flew open to interrupt him.
A man and a woman stepped inside.
Kang Eun-Yeong sitting in the makeup chair and getting tended to hurriedly shot up and bowed ninety degrees.
“Good day to you! Sir!”

“You, too.
Carry on with the makeup, please.
We don ’t want to waste any more time, after all,” said the man.
The impression he gave off said that he didn ’t suffer fools and could be quite abrasive.
As for his attire, he had a baseball cap pushed down low on his head and a matching baseball jumper on his torso.
Rounding out his look was a pair of clean jeans and sneakers.
He seemed to be a rather pragmatic person.

“Yes, sir!” Kang Eun-Yeong hurriedly settled back into the makeup chair.

The man responsible for Kang Eun-Yeong ’s stiff attitude scanned the makeup work done to the girl, then offered his ’opinion ’ to the makeup artist.
“Make her look more vivacious, please.
We need her to come across as more unruly, after all.”

’Mm? Then, she won ’t need any particular makeup, though? ’

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.
Kang Eun-Yeong was already unruly, to begin with, so what was the point of making her look that way? The casting choice seemed quite on-point in Kang Jin-Ho’s opinion.

’

The man looked at Kang Eun-Yeong through the makeup mirror and addressed her, “I just wanted to check up on you since it ’s your first day of shooting.
I hope you can do your best, Miss Se-Ah.”

“Of course! I ’ll do my absolute best! Director!”

“Not ’director ’, PD, Miss Se-Ah.”

“Yes, Director!”

The PD smiled wryly.
Still, he seemed satisfied by Kang Eun-Yeong ’s response.
Maybe he thought he made the right call by casting her.

“Are you nervous, Miss Se-Ah?” the woman with the PD asked Kang Eun-Yeong.

Kang Eun-Yeong nodded several times while making a nervous expression, something even Kang Jin-Ho hadn ’t seen before.
“Yes! No, I-I mean, I ’m not nervous, senior! I ’m fine!”

’…How can a person ’s words not match their own expression? ’

Kang Jin-Ho silently mulled while observing his sister.
If an actor could use nothing but their facial expression to show how nervous they were on camera, that person would probably win every acting award during the end-of-the-year award ceremony!

In any case…
Why was she so nervous, though?

Kang Eun-Yeong couldn ’t sit still while talking to this woman as if having a conversation with her was a massive honor or something.
She was so fidgety and nervous that even the makeup artist had to tell her to sit still several times.

The woman, whom Kang Jin-Ho assumed to be another actress, kindly spoke to Kang Eun-Yeong.
“I ’m glad we get to make this project together, Miss Se-Ah.
I ’ve been enjoying your music, and I hope you can be as dedicated to this project as well.”

“I ’ll do my best, senior! And working together with someone I admire so much is like a dream come true for me!”

“Eiii, you ’re putting me on a pedestal there, Miss Se-Ah~.”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes, thinking that his guess was correct.
Since this woman was with the PD, she had to have some clout in this production.
Maybe she was the top-billed actress? However, Kang Jin-Ho ’s interest in the pair ended there.
Who they were or what they did were none of his concern.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced back at his sister.
“You don ’t need anything else besides gimbap?”

The PD cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Kang Jin-Ho.
However, his slightly-stiff expression softened almost instantly.
“Miss Se-Ah, this gentleman is…?”

“Ah.
He ’s my older brother, sir!”

“Aha.
I thought as much.” The PD nodded appreciatively.
At first, he was planning to admonish a mere road manager daring to interrupt the PD and the top-billed actress’ conversation.
After taking one look at Kang Jin-Ho ’s face, though, the PD instantly realized that such a face wouldn’t belong to a mere manager.

Just as the PD was about to introduce himself, the trailer ’s door suddenly flew open again.
A pale-faced assistant director urgently rushed inside and cried out, “PD, sir! We have a problem!”

1.
This is a shortened and more informal/playful version of ’Orabeoni ’.
☜

2.
’Gimbap ’ (also romanized as ’kimbap ’) is a Korean dish made from cooked rice, vegetables, fish, and meats, that are rolled in ’gim ’ (dried laver/seaweed) and served in bite-sized slices.
☜