The Returner
chapter-52

Chapter 52

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 morefriendlyintentions 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 .