Chapter 495: Agonizing (5)

Chae Dong-Hyeok was an ordinary salaryman.

And the firm he worked for was an exceedingly ordinary trading company specializing in exports and imports. Although, he did have a slight problem. And that problem was his job... which dealt exclusively with China.

Simply put, China was a country where every known issue with humanity could be found. A collection of utter bizarreness, if that made sense.

All sorts of nonsensical things that shouldn't happen elsewhere happened frequently within China. Things that an ordinary Korean like Chae Dong-Hyeok had a hard time wrapping his head around!

What was the 'calling' for all trading company employees? Of course, the answer might change depending on the company itself. However, for Chae Dong-Hyeok? He only had one job to do. And that was calming and pacifying all the errors and exceptions not falling within the field operations manual through whatever means possible before letting them back into the mainstream, so to speak.

'Easier said than done, though...'

His job was excruciatingly cruel and horrible. The biggest misconception an average Korean citizen had was that everyone else around the world could be reasoned with since they all operated on similar levels of common sense.

Unfortunately, a Korean's common sense would fly right out the window as soon as stepping foot in another country. And this 'tendency' was especially more pronounced in China, as its influence on the rest of the world was expanding at a breakneck pace with no signs of slowing down any time soon.

The Chinese corporations were under the government's protection. Which allowed them to often ignore the terms of the contract. There should be a lot of extreme jobs in this world, but Chae Dong-Hyeok was 100% certain that his job had to be just as absurd as theirs!

The truth was on his side on this one. After getting his job, he spent more nights in China than in his own home back in South Korea. If only he had been assigned to the firm's Chinese branch, to begin with! Chae Dong-Hyeok might have forged ahead with a mindset of everyone being practically the same whether they were Koreans or Chinese.

Too bad for him, though... His role was to act as a liaison between the Chinese branch and the headquarters in South Korea. Thanks to this part of his job description, the time spent sleeping in an airplane was beginning to overtake the hours spent on his own bed for Chae Dong-Hyeok!

However, that much was fine. Yes, he could grin and bear this much just fine.

How many salarymen in the world didn't experience some level of hardship during their work? After all, a lowly worker like him had to work even longer hours if he wanted to get paid just a little more.

'Even so... Isn't this too much?!'

Chae Dong-Hyeok could keep his cool on problems arising from his work. What made his blood boil was something else, though. Like... unexpected external hurdles unrelated to his actual work!

For instance, things like the hotel room he booked in advance not having any air conditioning! Or when said hotel, which supposedly operated on a fixed price system, suddenly demanded extracurricular fees!

The stress from the territory called common sense being invaded like this was enormous. And the current situation was reminiscent of that.

“Is it possible to get one more serving?” The passenger next to Chae Dong-Hyeok asked that question to a flight attendant.

And this gent was the reason for Chae Dong-Hyeok's stress going through the roof.

Currently, he was in the plane's first class. His company's president bit the bullet and booked a seat in the first class as a reward for Chae Dong-Hyeok earning a massive contract for the firm. Then again, he somehow managed to convince one of the hardest-to-please customers in the world, so he deserved that much!

'Even so, couldn't you give me a fat bonus instead?'

Never mind the economy class, Chae Dong-Hyeok still wouldn't have any complaints riding in the dang luggage compartment if the president handed him a fat bonus instead! Unfortunately, the president's knowledge of employee welfare didn't extend to 'cash bonuses', so that dude often wasted money in this manner.

Even so, Chae Dong-Hyeok hadn't planned to express his dissatisfaction since this first-class ride was still better than nothing. However...!

Chae Dong-Hyeok held his head in despair. He always thought the first class was reserved for the rich, but this...! Of course, not every well-heeled folk would be high-class or dignified. He knew that much.

Even in South Korea, quite a few wealthy people had to go through a torrid time after their less-than-stellar behaviors were aired to the public. So, no one was still stuck in such a backward mindset these days. Even so...

Even so, wasn't this going overboard somewhat!

Chae Dong-Hyeok slightly turned his head to his side. And his vision was immediately filled to the brim by a massive torso. This passenger's super-broad shoulders and all the throbbing muscles made the spacious first-class seat look like the tiny seats from economy class.

Even the passenger himself was fidgeting and shifting around, clearly uncomfortable from the 'narrowness' of his seat. However, anyone with functioning eyes would be able to tell that the poor seat wasn't to blame here. No, the fault lay squarely with that humongous physique of the passenger!

Of course, Chae Dong-Hyeok wasn't dissatisfied with his fellow passenger's gigantic body. After all, he believed everything was relative. One's physique couldn't become this gigantic just because one wanted it to be, no?

So, Chae Dong-Hyeok was fully prepared to look beyond the illogical body size of his fellow passenger. But what he just couldn't look past in this case was...!

'Why are you bloody topless in here, you lunatic!'

Why was this overly muscular man topless inside the bloody airplane?! Could it be that... even the thinnest, flimsiest garment could rob him of more seat space and make the plane journey more unbearable?

Whatever the reasons might be, Chae Dong-Hyeok was now treated to the sight of rippling muscles whenever he decided to crack open his eyelids. And he didn't exactly have a say in the matter, either!

How was he supposed to interpret this situation, then?

Sure, clothing was meant to protect the wearer. A fashion statement to announce to the world that you were a so-and-so type of person!

However, this humongous man's torso didn't seem to be in need of protection. None whatsoever. All garments made out of fabric would've come across as flimsy and brittle while trying to 'protect' all those rippling muscles, anyway!

What about fashion, then?

'Who cares about a fashion sense with a physique like his?!'

No clothing on this God's green Earth could do a better job of announcing a man's presence than those rippling muscles. In that sense, what meaning would be there for this muscular man to put on any sort of clothing? However, there was something crucial to consider here.

People wore clothes out of respect for their neighbors too, now didn't they?! It was a basic manner even a child knew, wasn't it!

However, no one tried to stop this bare-chested man from boarding the plane. Were the flight attendants all insane? Or maybe Chae Dong-Hyeok was losing touch with reality instead?

No, never mind stopping him, the attendants were visibly nervous about offending this muscular bare-chested man!

'Okay, fine. I get why.'

Even Chae Dong-Hyeok himself was trying his absolute best not to meet eyes with the muscular passenger in the next seat.

Look at that muscular physique, for crying out loud! Those wild MMA fighters would often boast about how their bodies were deadly weapons in and out of the ring, but even they would probably stop using that term immediately after clapping their eyes on this bare-chested man's physique!

Hell, even an AK-47 seemed less dangerous than that muscular torso!

“One more serving, attendant,” said the muscular, bare-chested man.

Chae Dong-Hyeok sighed under his breath even before realizing that he did. The bare-chested man with a deadly weapon-like physique had already consumed ten servings of first-class airplane food.

Chae Dong-Hyeok started wondering if the airplane food would stop being for-free after a certain point and whether a person's stomach could even store ten servings of food or not.

'Even if it's China...!'

Since China was a large country teeming with lots and lots of people, plenty of 'bizarre' folks could be found among its population. Even so, Chae Dong-Hyeok had a hunch that a bizarre individual like this bare-chested man was still a rare oddity even in China. Especially if the qualifier also included enough financial clout to board the first class!

Chae Dong-Hyeok seriously pondered if he should call a newspaper or a TV station about this encounter. A once-in-a-lifetime bizarre human being was heading to South Korea, after all!

“Hmm...” the bare-chested man instantly hoovered up the plate of food and pushed it away while grinning in satisfaction.

“Should we prepare more, sir?” the nervous flight attendant asked cautiously.

However, the bare-chested man leisurely shook his head. “No, it's fine. This is enough snacking for now.”

'Snacking?!' Chae Dong-Hyeok almost fell out of his chair just then. 'Did this dude really say all that food was a snack?'

“I can have a proper meal after touching down, after all. However, do you have any lamb dishes on board?”

“My sincerest apologies, sir. We don't have any lamb included in our menu...”

“Mm, that's unfortunate. Still, I'd like to enjoy some lamb on my way back...”

“Sir, we'll ensure your orders are ready if you book with us in advance,” said the flight attendant.

'Holy cow. Will they need to bring a whole sheep on the plane or something?'?Chae Dong-Hyeok slowly shook his head. 'I... Right, let's just forget about this.'

One of the invaluable life lessons he learned during his time in China was that he shouldn't let himself get swept up in other people's pace. Otherwise, he'd lose himself eventually.

While thinking that China, not France, could be the birthplace of the concept of 'tolerance', Chae Dong-Hyeok put on the sleeping mask and leaned back in his chair.

***

“...I really don't wanna get involved in this, you know?” Chae Dong-Hyeok muttered in dismay.

He understood that the 'best' way to maintain his inner peace was to stop caring about other people's business. Unfortunately for him, though, if everyone was capable of doing that, this world would've been filled with saints and sages, not chaos and mayhem!

After disembarking from the plane and barely dragging his tired feet to the airport's immigration checkpoint, Chae Dong-Hyeok was greeted by an unexpected sight. No, maybe he had a hunch he'd witness something bizarre again today. n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

The bare-chested man was standing tall and proud by the passageway leading to the checkpoint. All the other passengers had already gone through the checkpoint by now, but this humongous man just stood there, his arms across his chest and silently staring ahead. It was as if he had no desire to step across the checkpoint.

“...”

And the members of the airport security manning the checkpoint were tensely staring back at the bare-chested man. Which was... unsurprising, given the circumstances!

Judging from the looks on the faces of those security members, they probably wanted to urge this giant to step through the checkpoint already. However, none of them had the courage to raise their voice after taking one look at all those rippling muscles.

Which was understandable, really. If Chae Dong-Hyeok was in their shoes, he also wouldn't have the balls to urge this gigantic man to do anything. The pepper spray canisters in these security guards' possession were pitifully inadequate to deal with all those rippling muscles, after all!

“Uhm, excuse me, sir...?” One of the security guards finally stumbled forward and addressed the bare-chested giant. The poor dude must've been forced into this unenviable position by his fidgety superior's glare. Or maybe he got too tired of this tense silence. “Sir, please step through this way.”

If someone filmed this scene and uploaded it online, the Incheon International Airport could acquire the honor of the world's friendliest airport. Even if the long-dead three generations of one's grandparents came back to life, the courtesy shown today would never be matched in scale!

“No. I will not step through,” said the giant with a casual wave of his hand. He spoke as if the guard's polite words had nothing to do with him.

However, that hand movement only looked like a hand waving from Chae Dong-Hyeok's position. The security guard must've thought that huge hand was coming straight for his face or something. And he could've experienced a moment of death just then. The sensation he must've felt probably couldn't be replicated even with a bullet brushing past his face.

“B-but, sir...” The security guard faltered.

Even before he could finish, though, several burly men could be seen rushing toward this spot from afar. These men, kitted out in black suits and sunglasses, were visibly caked in cold sweat. They stood in line and rank in front of the bare-chested giant before greeting him with a ninety-degree bow.

“Our sincerest apologies, sir! We misread your arrival time!”

“Mm...!” The giant pursed his lips and weightily nodded.

“Sir! The prepared exit is not this way. Please follow us to the other exit. We have a car prepared for you, Sir Vator.”

“Mm...!” The giant nodded again before turning his head slightly to stare at Chae Dong-Hyeok.

Chae Dong-Hyeok didn't have a choice but to flinch grandly when the giant named Vator stared at him and him only.

Vator muttered, “This man stood around me at the cost of his own schedule in case I needed help in this foreign land.”

The black suited-men animatedly nodded away. After all, it was supposed to be their role to ensure Vator wasn't unduly troubled. Although Chae Dong-Hyeok's original intention wasn't like that... Vator's words still registered as 'This stranger went out of his way to help me because you did not show up on time' in the ears of these men.

“Compensate him appropriately!” said Vator.

“Yes, sir!”

Vator followed the black-suited men's lead and went back the way he came. One of the men stayed behind to confirm that sight before approaching Chae Dong-Hyeok to bow to him. “Thank you for your assistance.”

'Huh? He's speaking Korean?' Chae Dong-Hyeok slightly tilted his head.

Up until now, the giant and the men conversed in Chinese as if it was a matter of course. But this black-suited man was speaking in fluent Korean to Chae Dong-Hyeok.

“Here. Although it's nothing much, please take this,” said the black-suited man while taking something out from his jacket's inner pocket.

Chae Dong-Hyeok saw what that was, and his eyes opened super wide.