Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Jina barely touched her food. She was fiddling with her spoon absentmindedly while Shinho looked at her with a worried expression. Minho and Gayoon were not home yet while the other two ghosts were still tailing the Kang family so it was just Jina and the household staff in the mansion that night.     

"Are you still worried about my elder brother?" Shinho asked.     

Jina looked around to make sure none of the staff were around before replying in a hushed tone, "He really hates me. I'm sure he's gonna make my life miserable!"     

"I'll protect you!" Shinho claimed. "I can push him away if he tries to hurt you!"     

"I can handle him myself," Jina assured him. "I'm just worried that he might try to find out my secret!"     

After the prank she played on him, Siwan had become increasingly suspicious of her and she was sure that he was going to try to find out about her ability. She hated to admit it but Kang Siwan was smart and he would not stay mum.      

"We'll have to be careful," Jina decided. "And don't tell my parents about this. They're already working hard to help you. If they hear about this, they would go berserk. Especially my dad. So shush!"     

"But you should tell this to someone!" Shinho suggested. "I've seen my elder brother with his friends. I used to sneak out of the cellar every once in a while whenever my dad wasn't around. My brother and his friends...they're not nice at all."     

He recalled how his brother used to treat his own friends in a rude manner which shocked Shinho. When his mother was alive, she used to tell him not to be rude to others so Shinho always followed whatever she taught him. She even told him not to anger his father so no matter how badly his father treated him, Shinho always obeyed him and stayed quiet.      

So he was shocked when he saw his brother and his friends picking on others.     

"I can send an entire army behind them!" Jina scoffed. "My ghosts will haunt them till they're old and wrinkled! I just hope he doesn't find out my secret."     

After hearing how her own mother was bullied by others, Jina had no desire to let others know of her powers. The less attention she got from humans, the better her life was.      

"What I don't understand is why your mother let your dad take you away," Jina frowned. "You said you were living with her, right?"     

"I was living with her till last year," Shinho said sadly. "But then, she began to act strange. She was staying out late and sometimes came in the morning. I was left alone with the neighbors to take care of me while she was out. Then one day, she told me that she was gonna send me to my dad. That he was going to come and fetch me."     

"Then what happened?" Jina asked.     

"I cried," he went on. "And begged her to let me stay. But she was adamant on making me leave. I don't know why. Then my dad came and dragged me away. I screamed for mom but she didn't come out to say goodbye to me."     

His tone was full of sadness as he recalled the day his dad took him away. Hyeri, his mother, had her back turned to him. She refused to show him her face and even when he cried for her, she did not turn back. He had thought he saw teardrops falling on the ground where his mother stood but before he could be sure, his father forcibly took him away. There was something wrong with her and he knew it.      

But now, he would never know.     

He was so lost in his thoughts, that he got startled when Jina's arms wrapped him in an embrace. Even though he was cold, to her, he felt warm.     

"It's okay," she assured him in her innocent childlike voice. "You're with us now. We're your family now. The bad people can't hurt you here."     

Unbeknownst to her, Shinho was blushing hard. If he was alive, he was sure his heart rate would have gone through the roof.      

"Thanks," he mumbled. Jina smiled and let go of him.     

"Let's play hide and seek after dinner!" she exclaimed. "I'm done with homework anyway so we can play for a long time!"     

"Yes!" Shinho agreed. Jina nodded and quickly finished her dinner, feeling more cheery. Shinho happily watched her, feeling at ease. For the first time, he had a friend who accepted him just the way he was. He also found a family who were kind and loving to him. Even in death, there was a peace which he thought he would never find. His little mind could not comprehend the irony but his tender heart was happy.     

I wish, I could be with everyone for longer, he thought. But as he watched Jina's smile, there was another wish which was propping up in his heart.     

If he ever got another chance at life, he would do everything to protect his friend. Even if it meant dying again and again.     

….     

"Aren't you done yet?" Mina frowned. It was evening and Haejong was still insisting on hanging out with her.      

They had roamed around all the shops in the vicinity and even though he had spent an entire colony's fortune, he was still not done. WIth great difficulty, she managed to make him sit at a cafe where she ordered some coffee with her own card.     

"You said you'll hang out with me all day," he pointed out.     

"And the day is over, so let me go!" she snapped.     

"It's not midnight yet."     

"I...I've got a surgery tomorrow," she lied.      

"I know your schedule," Haejong smirked. "You don't have any shifts tomorrow."     

"Are you stalking me?" she demanded.     

"I merely asked my men to look into your schedule for my next medical check-up," he shrugged.      

"Ugh!"     

She whacked his arm but Haejong was unfazed. In fact, he was feeling uncharacteristically lighthearted after spending the day with her.      

"Lemme buy you something," he insisted as they walked past more stores. His eyes fell on a ruby necklace with a platinum chain topped with tiny sapphires on it. It was not a heavy necklace but definitely a classy one which would suit someone of Mina's caliber.     

"No," she said firmly. "I'm not taking anything else from you."     

"I thought you love expensive things," Haejong said, raising an eyebrow.     

"Oh, I am an open golddigger," Mina declared. "But I have boundaries too."     

"Just take it!" he insisted, trying to push his credit card in her hands but she shoved it away.     

Haejong had tried to buy her more presents but she adamantly refused. Except for the shoes, which she accepted out of pity, she would not let him buy anything else for her. No matter how much of a selfish person she was, she would not take presents from anyone else but Kanji. And definitely not from someone like Haejong who earned blood money.     

"I'm not gonna take another gift from you," Mina said. "Never. I took the shoes out of sympathy but no more."     

"Aren't you getting cocky, doc?" he asked in a cool tone. "Do remember that you're talking to a mafia lord."     

"Precisely why I'll never take anymore presents from you," Mina asserted.      

Haejong studied her with an amused expression. "I really don't understand what goes on in your mind!" he laughed. "You'll chase rich guys like Jang Kanji, but not me? I'm rich too!"     

"Kanji is not a killer," Mina said bluntly. "You are."     

Her words made him peer his eyes. Did she not know about Jang Kanji's true profession?      

"You speak as if you've met many killers!" he scoffed. But to his surprise, she nodded.     

"I've met one myself," she admitted. "And also saw tons of my patients dying in their hands. So, if I take your presents, I'll keep on thinking how the one who gifted me might be responsible for killing one of my patients."      

She glanced at the shoes Haejong had given her and it killed her conscience for accepting it even out of pity.      

"You're the one who pulls the trigger on people," she went on. "So you don't know what it feels like to be the one receiving the bullet. You don't know how it feels to see a patient suffering because of an attempted murder and despite the best efforts, die in front of you in your own arms."     

Mina did not realize that her hands had gone cold, recalling the horrors of CCK and the cries of her numerous patients who died in front of her. Haejong felt as if his heart stopped when a single drop of tear fell from Mina's eye. He tried to reach out to wipe it off but she backed away.     

"I don't think I can take those shoes anymore," she stated, her voice cracked. "And I'm not sorry for it."     

"Listen-"     

Before he could finish, Mina quickly picked up her bag and left empty handed. Haejong did not follow her but stared at his coffee cup. The loneliness which was kept at bay by her presence was beginning to seep back in.      

"A gold digger who couldn't be bought with money," he mused. He sat there for a while, lost in his own thoughts as he sipped his coffee.     

Mina left the mall, trying to calm herself down. The cool air hit her face which felt soothing but her heart was still beating fast. Talking about her buried guilt had opened a Pandora's box.      

Her mind drifted to all those patients who died on her operation table, begging her for one more chance at life. Their lives were cut short by others and even with their pleading, Mina was unsuccessful in saving them. Their deaths might not be her fault but she felt as if their blood was on her hands.     

Slowly taking small steps, she tried to force herself towards her car. Her eyes were dejected, looking on the ground as she walked when they fell on a pair of feet. She slowly looked up to find a familiar figure standing in front of her.     

Kanji. He was looking at her with an intensity which she had never seen in him before.     

Not a word passed between them but they kept on looking at each other. She wanted to tell him many things. She wanted to yell at him for breaking her heart but she also wanted to hug him. There were many things she wanted to do with him and him only.     

Instead, she walked past him, not looking back. Kanji stood there, letting her go. He knew very well that she was hurt and he was helpless too.      

The scars of their past had led them on different paths which would never intersect. They were destined to be apart.     

Forever.