Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Kanji and Mina were staring at Minho, judging him intensely after he had finished his story. Minho looked at them, hopeful that they would be able to help him.      

"I never told her we'll break up," he said. "I merely told her our relationship would not be profitable but that too because I was really angry at her! I was angry at her actions. I still am. But I never told her to break up! I was just waiting to see what she would do."     

They were at his office, discussing the recent developments. Kanji and Mina were already aware of Gayoon's abilities but they did not know that Minho was being such a jerk to her behind their back. They had assumed that everything was alright but it seemed that nothing was fine.     

The duo were quiet for a while before Mina spoke up.     

"Kanji, you know what to do."     

Kanji nodded and stood up. He walked over to Minho's side and said, "Minho, I'm not sorry for doing this."     

"What are you-"     

Kanji smacked his head hard.      

"Oye!" Minho yelled angrily. "What's the big idea?"     

"You colossal idiot!" Mina yelled at him.      

"I agree with her," Kanji sighed and went back to his seat. Minho had summoned them to his office that morning. At first, they thought that the money lover probably had a minor tiff with Gayoon but they did not expect the situation to be so dire.     

"She's the one who passed the curse to Jina!" he protested. "And didn't tell me!"     

"Would you have believed her if she had told you?" Mina countered. "You'd have thought her to be crazy! You didn't even believe Jina when she tried to tell you about those spirits! Besides, did you even ask Gayoon why she was signing up for surrogacy? Brother, she was eighteen! Have you ever stopped to think that why would an eighteen year old sign up for surrogacy?"     

"I thought she was in for the money," he murmured.      

"And did she take any?" Kanji countered. "No. She refused to take the money after the procedure was done. And you didn't even meet up with her! Just saw her profile and after checking on her background, you agreed. You didn't even ask her why she was so desperate to enter this deal. And on top of that you make her sign that stupid contract where she can't meet her child! For eight years, you didn't even attempt to meet her. At least you could have met her then and talked with her. But no! You were adamant on remaining anonymous."     

Minho did not consider all those possibilities. He was curious about Jeon Gayoon but to him, as long as she was willing to go through the surrogacy and posed no threat to their secrecy, he did not bother to find out more. Except for that one time when he went to the nursing home to check up on her, he did not meet her face to face.     

All these realizations made him feel even worse.      

"And on top of that, you spewed all that nonsense about profit and whatnot to her!" Mina exclaimed. "That too right after she had that awful experience. Do you even have any idea what she went through with the CCK? Hell, do you even have any idea what she went through with those ghosts she used to see?"     

"If she had a bad experience with those ghosts, then she should know what her own children would go through!" Minho argued. "And yet, she passed it on to Jina-"     

"That ability would have passed on to any children she might have had," Mina reasoned. "Whether it's with you or someone else! Besides, what she did might not be right, but it wasn't wrong either."     

"What do you mean?" Minho scoffed. "Passing on such a dangerous ability to a child! Who knows what horror Jina is going to see in the future?"     

"Oh please!" Mina snapped. "Both you and I know that humans are worse than ghosts. In case you haven't forgotten, it was me and Gayoon who had to suffer the torture of CCK. Not you! We were the ones who went through the pain he inflicted. You only dream of his lighter every night but we...we relive the pain and fear over and over again! That monster's touch haunts us in our dreams and we can't get rid of those memories. If I had the chance to do what Gayoon did to get rid of her powers, I'd do it in a heartbeat! If it means that I'll be free of those memories, then whether it's one or thousands of babies, I'll do it."     

Her monologue caught the men by surprise. There was a quiet conviction in her words because she fully understood why Gayoon would take such a drastic step.     

"You don't know the pain of being haunted by a real monster," she whispered, her body shivering as she recalled CCK's sinister words. "I've only met one monster and it was enough to make me live in fear for the rest of my life. But Gayoon...she met hundreds of such monsters. And she even told you that she has her own CCK. A monster which had traumatized her to the point that she was forced to take up surrogacy and get rid of her abilities. Don't you think you're being too judgemental about her?"     

Kanji held her palm while Minho was shocked by the realizations. Mina was right. He might have confronted the CCK but she lived through his torture that too twice. Moreover, Gayoon was hurt the most physically and mentally.      

He did not understand the pain she might have gone through at such a young age and for the first time in his life, Hwang Minho felt immense guilt at what he did. Gayoon was right to be angry at him after how coldly he treated her for the past one month. And that bloody neat freak made his mood even worse.     

"I don't know what came over me yesterday," he admitted. "I was such an asshole to her!"     

Kanji and Mina were surprised at his use of slangs. Minho, despite his heated temper, never used curse words or slangs but now he was insulting himself.     

"What do I do?" he asked, feeling desperate. "Should I buy her gifts? Maybe a property? Or jewelry? Or-"     

"Stop with the buying," Mina said sharply. "Not every girl is like me who'd be pacified with a shopping spree."     

"You can follow my rules of love!" Kanji piped up. Both the siblings threw him a dirty look.     

"Your rules will never work on anyone!" Mina snapped. "Listen to me brother. You guys rushed into this relationship with too many secrets which is why all this is happening. This time, you gotta take it slow but in a smooth way."     

Minho looked at her quizzically which made her sigh.     

"Firstly, apologize to her directly," Mina advised. "And then, follow what I'm about to say to you."     

For the next one hour, Minho listened to his sister with apt attention. When she was done, both the men saw her in a new light.     

"I thought you were just a mindless shopaholic," Minho frowned.     

"And a gold digger," Kanji added.     

"I'm all those and a lot more," she winked. "I'm not a doctor of hearts for nothing ya know!"