Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

I'M PLEASED TO INFORM YOU THAT MONEY LOVING CEO'S DETECTIVE LOVER WILL HAVE A SEQUEL!     

WHO'LL BE THE NEW LEADS? OF COURSE IT'LL BE OUR NOT-SO-LITTLE JINA AS A GROWN, BADASS DETECTIVE! AND ACCOMPANYING HER WILL BE AN EQUALLY BADASS ML WITH ANOTHER COOL ABILITY *wink*     

TITLE: DR. DEMON     

It'll be published a few days after MLC ends! Enjoy~     

....      

Junwan had summoned Gayoon into his room to talk about a few new cases which had popped up. The latest one was a gang war which was erupting between two of the country's most notorious mafia factions.     

"Gang war?" Gayoon frowned.     

"Hmm," Junwan replied. "Ever since the death of the previous head of the Lin faction, the rivalry between the Jang family and Lin family had intensified to the point of bloodshed. All this time, it had been a mere cold war but now it's a nuisance to us."     

He took out the photographs of a few dead bodies. Gayoon examined them. The victims were well dressed men but she immediately recognized some to be notorious gangsters who controlled much of the underworld.     

"This is Yang Jay," she pointed at one of the pictures. "One of the most dangerous drug lords. And this guy...his codename is Eagle. A gold smuggler."     

"Yang was from the Lin faction while Eagle from the Jang family," Junwan stated. "While the Jang's are known to smuggle mostly gold and illegal consumer goods, they pose a threat to the Lin's because they control most of the trade routes. The Lin's are into the more dangerous trades like drugs, gold and illegal substances. They also control several gangs which are notorious for assassinations and murders. Jang's, too, carry out methodical assassinations but only if they're paid for by a government or legal entity."     

"They're like yin and yang but in a more twisted way," Gayoon muttered.     

"But it all changed when the heir to the Jang family killed off the previous head of the Lin faction," Junwan went on. "A few months ago, the body of Lin Cheng had been found in a construction site. He had been killed by the Jang's for sure."     

"How can we be so confident that Jang's did it?" Gayoon asked. "He had many enemies, right?"     

"Because the bullet found in his body was a special one," Junwan revealed. "Only the Jang family's top most members possessed this bullet. It's been specially made for them. Which means only the mysterious head of the Jang family and his heir used this bullet. If my information is correct, the heir to the family is now handling all the business. He was the one who ordered the kill or in this case, killed Lin Cheng and dumped his body into the cement. But the construction workers found the body the next day and informed the cops."     

"The Lin's placed Cheng's grandson in charge and he's more ruthless than his grandfather," he went on. "He's cracking down on all the Jang family members and is aiming to kill the leaders. These guys won't back down until one of them is successful."     

"Do we have any pictures or identity of these people?" Gayoon asked.     

"Sadly no," Junwan sighed. "They operate in the shadows. We only have their surnames but let's face it. Thousands of people have these surnames in the country and not all of them are related to crimes! These two have been careful in hiding their identities. And now, they're killing each other's men openly. It's a challenge to their rivals."     

Challenge huh? Gayoon wondered. Killing each other's men simply to challenge their rivals. What sort of a twisted relationship was this?     

"In a way, they're cleaning up the crimes from the street," Junwan winced. "It's ironic right? But the higher ups are now pressurizing us to stop their menace. The latest victim, a member of the Lin clan, was killed in broad daylight in a cafe. What if a civilian had gotten hurt? Or worse? We'd become the laughing stock!"     

"I'll find them," Gayoon promised. "And bring an end to their madness."     

She picked up the files and left the room. Sitting down on her chair, she studied the files carefully and looked over the MO of both the families. Even though they were rivals, the Jang's and the Lin's had so far kept a good grip over the other underworld gangs. No one could dare to operate without their permission. The families had so far maintained a strained relationship based on a fragile truce treaty.     

But it all changed when the Jang's murdered Lin Cheng. Somehow, the mystery of Lin Cheng's murder was the key to this war. If the murderer was apprehended before the Lin's could get their hands on him, then this blood war could stop.     

Let's find out then, shall we? Gayoon vowed.     

….     

Shinho was sitting on the floor watching Jina whose brows were furrowed in concentration. Lately, she had been learning how to draw. It was almost an obsession for her now because she wanted to perfect her art and draw her invisible friends. Yumi got annoyed when Jina made her sit for long hours to make her portrait only for it to turn out to be the drawing of a bunch of sticks.      

Casper, on the other hand, sat patiently for the long hours and even posed just like how Jina ordered him to. He even clapped at the caricature she drew which looked nothing like him. And now, she was making Shinho go through the torure but he did not mind. He would do anything to see her smile.     

"Done!" she finally announced and held up the drawing of a bobbing head over sticks.      

"Nice!" Shinho complimented even though it was nowhere close to looking like a human being. But Jina seemed so happy that he did not have the heart to tell her that otherwise.     

"I'm getting pretty good at it, huh?" she asked excitedly. Her large eyes beamed hopefully, as if trying to get a praise from him. Shinho smiled and ruffled her hair.     

"You are!" he said. "Draw more pictures for me, would ya?"     

"Really?" she asked. "You want me to draw more pictures of you?"     

"Yes!" Shinho nodded. "As many as you want."     

Jina was so happy that she did not notice a strange sadness in Shinho's eyes. He was gazing at her with a mixture of immense happiness and infinite grief, as if he was fighting with himself. There was something in his heart which he wanted to tell her but he simply did not have the courage to do so. If she knew, her smile would disappear. But it was something he must do.     

Just then, Minho entered the room.     

"Jina, it's time for bed!" he told her. "Your mom will be late tonight. She told you to sleep."     

"Ten more minutes!" she insisted but Minho shook his head.      

"Bed. Now."     

He was sternly gazing at her. She groaned and stood up to prepare to sleep. Walking towards the bathroom, she closed the door while she changed into her pajamas. Once she was out of sight, Shinho grabbed her crayon and wrote something on the paper before putting it near Minho's foot.     

Minho looked down to see that Shinho had written a message.     

"Uncle, I want to talk to you," he wrote. "Alone."     

Minho frowned and said, "Let's go to my room then."     

He picked up the paper and crayon before heading towards his and Gayoon's bedroom. Shinho followed suit. Minho lay the paper and crayon on a desk for Shinho to write on it.     

"What do you want to talk about, Shinho?" Minho asked. Shinho took a deep breath, wondering what to say. He picked up the crayon and began to write while Minho watched.     

Once he was done writing, Minho's eyes widened in shock first but gradually came to a realization.     

"Is this...is this what you want?" he finally asked.      

"Yes," Shinho wrote. "It's what I wish for."     

For a long time, Minho did not say anything. He was not sure how Jina was going to react but this was for the best. Even though his heart was not agreeing to Shinho's decision, he knew that he could not stop the little boy.     

Shinho did not know how to express his feelings to the people who took care of him. Even if he met them after death, he had the most fun with them and wished that he could live with this family longer.     

"Thank you," he whispered. Minho could not hear him but he felt a slightly cold yet, calming swish by his ear. On instinct, he knew that Shinho had expressed a brief gratitude to him.     

"No," he simply said. "Thank you."