Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Junho sat on the chair, looking miserable while Shujin went about doing her business. Looking at the ex-tycoon, she groaned in frustration. Ever since he found out that Gayoon was dating his son, he had been constantly worrying about her like an overprotective parent and fussing how his son is no good for her.     

"Are you still depressed over Gayoon dating Minho?" she sighed.     

"I wonder how he treats her," Junho said. "Is he attentive towards her? Is he making sure she's taken care of? What if the servants are rude to her? Or worse, he's cheating on her! He's my son and I was a playboy before my wife straightened me up! What if he's worse and treats Gayoon like dirt?"     

"What is this, some kinda dramatic novel?" Shujin snapped. "Even in those books, parents of the male lead oppose their sons' marriages because of wealth and status. And here you are, opposing a relationship because your son is bound to be a playboy like you? If he was a playboy, then why would he choose surrogacy? Wouldn't he have done it himself?"     

Junho pursed his lips and pouted. Shujin was right. If his son was a playboy, then he would have directly knocked up someone else but Junho did not care. He was still worried for Gayoon and wanted to make sure that she was happy. If Minho was not out for his blood, he would have been charging towards the mansion, bringing his daughter, grandchild and proxy daughter-in-law to live with him. His son could live in the streets for all he cared!     

"What if he's not treating her right?" he asked, feeling worried. "I've raised Gayoon with a lot of care! If he dares to hurt her I'll have Shinjin unleash all the ghosts at him!"     

Shujin shook her head in dismay while Junho imagined all the ways he would make his son pay if he ever hurt Gayoon.      

"All relationships will have problems but you know very well Gayoon can handle it on her own," she explained. "Do you really think a guy can bully Gayoon and get away with it? She's been raised by you and me! She'll probably make the guy bend to her will."     

"That is true," Junho nodded and took a deep breath.     

He was reminiscing how the children have grown up. Even if he did have his reservations about Minho, he was glad that his son grew up to be a good person and Mina also chose to do a career in medicine rather than live off her family money for the rest of her life. The little glimpse of Jina also assured him that Minho had raised her well.     

The thought of the little girl brought a tear to his eyes. She had the same eyes as Gayoon while retaining her father's spirit. The girl had no fear and she was able to tackle ghosts in her own innocent way. She was aware of the bad ghosts but it was her faith in the good spirits which kept her safe all these years.     

But one day, she would see the horrors of the gift she had been given and soon, it would turn into a curse. What would she do then?     

"You're worried about Jina," Shujin guessed. They had told her everything about Gayoon and Minho's child and it saddened her to see the little girl being bestowed with so many responsibilities.      

She had also met the girl when she went to meet Gayoon at the hospital and it surprised her to see the bond the little girl shared with her mother. It was as if they were never apart and Jina was completely devoted to Gayoon. The latter also showered her child with all the love she had, not holding back at all. Minho seemed a little distant and Gayoon had told Shujin about his offer.     

At first, Shujin was outraged at his so-called contract but in Minho's point of view, Gayoon did knowingly pass on a curse to the little child and which father would be able to tolerate that? Shujin still did not reveal the details of the contract to Junho otherwise he would charge towards the mansion and an ugly confrontation between the father-son duo would end up complicating matters even worse. Hence, she kept her mouth shut and let the kids figure out their lives on their own.     

Suddenly, Junho's phone rang up. To his irritation, it was Shinjin.     

"Ugh!" he scowled. "He must have called me to bail him out of another fraud case."     

Since Shinjin was a shaman, he frequently ran into people who would think of him as a fraud and lock him up in jail. Whenever that happened, Junho would have to use his network among the exorcists' society to bail him out.     

"What is it?" he asked, picking up the phone.     

"Junho, there's an emergency!" Shinjin's frantic voice came from the other side.     

"Are you in jail again?"     

"No!" Shinjin replied. "It's not that. I just sensed something bad."     

Junho frowned. Whenever the shaman sensed something like that, then ominous things were in store for them.     

"What did you sense?"     

"I think one of our captured ghosts has escaped!" Shinjin revealed. "I've been sensing something odd for a while so I used the ouija board to contact nearby spirits. One of them informed me that a ghost we had captured in the past has escaped and is plotting something!"     

Junho froze in fear. A ghost had escaped? How was this possible? Someone must have disturbed the place where they had buried the ghost's locker in and hence, unleashed it into the world once again.     

"Which ghost is this?" he demanded. Shujin watched as all the color from Junho's face disappeared, leaving nothing but fear and anxiety.     

"What happened?" she whispered but he motioned her to stay quiet.     

"I don't know, but it must be an old one," Shinjin said. "The longer the ghost stays in this world, the stronger they become. I'm guessing this ghost is also powerful because the spirits in the ouija board refused to take his name."     

Junho was now panicking. Which ghost had escaped? And how?     

"I must revisit all the spots where we buried the captured spirits," Junho instructed. "And see if they're still undisturbed."     

"Let me come with you-" Shinjin said but Junho cut him off.     

"You stay here and deal with the business here," he said. "I'll go to the spots and check. You might be needed here. If anything happens, let me know. I'll only be a phone call away!"     

"Alright," Shinjin said and hung up the phone. Shujin was alarmed to see Junho so worried and scared.     

"Did a ghost escape?" she gasped.      

"Yes," Junho replied in a grim tone. "We don't know which one."     

Shujin was now truly worried. If a ghost had escaped, then it would come to take revenge on the people who trapped it. She watched as Junho packed his bags and headed for the door.     

"Be careful, Hwang," she warned. "This ghost will be more powerful than before and captivity has increased its thirst for revenge. It won't be easy to recapture again unless you can get rid of its last remaining property which is tying it to this world."     

Junho sighed and nodded. If he had the thing the ghost's were attached to in the past, then he would have easily eliminated them. Unfortunately he did not have them and had to contain their spirits in boxes after exorcism.     

What calamity are we gonna suffer now? He wondered as he strode through the front door and got into his car. He must find out which spirit had escaped before it was too late.     

.....     

"Will you be going to the reunion?" Jaewan asked Gayoon as they had dessert. Minho was still scowling as he tried to swallow the sweet dish in front of him. In an attempt to impress Gayoon, he ordered the duck and the dessert but truthfully, he was not fond of any of those dishes. He did not like duck because of the smell and he was not a sweet tooth either. Yet, he painfully managed to swallow it all in order to show that he liked the same things as her.     

But he was pretty sure he would get sick later on.     

"Uh, I'm not so sure," Gayoon admitted. She did not have fond memories of that high school and there was a solemn expression on her face which did not go unnoticed by Minho. Jaewan, too, understood her predicament. After all, she suffered a lot during her school time.      

The kids at class used to bully her a lot because they perceived her as a freak. At first, Jaewan had not believed her claims to see ghosts but after seeing how she was tormented by them with his own eyes, he was forced to accept that she was telling the truth and hence, he had nicknamed her the ghost girl.     

"Gayoon, many years has passed by," Jaewan told her. "I'm sure everyone would be delighted to see you there. Besides, I'm going and I need a date!"     

"Why?" Minho shot at him. "You couldn't get a partner so you're asking her as a last resort? Maybe she has a date already."     

"No I don't!" Gayoon claimed, feeling irritated but also pleased that she had Minho on her whim. Even if jealousy made him look petty, she could not help but be amused at his actions. He was willing to do anything for her forgiveness and the game was turning out to be fun.     

"I still don't have a date," she replied. "I'd love to go with you, oppa!"     

Minho shot Jaewan a dirty look but the neat freak was too happy to care.     

"The reunion is next Thursday at our old school compound," Jaewan said. "Did you know the old library building is being torn down to make a mall?"     

Library building? School? Minho frowned.     

"Really?" Gayoon asked in astonishment. "Well, the building is old and our school shifted front here years ago. Right after we graduated, the school was moved to D-Town. So there's no point in keeping the building anymore. Is this why they're doing a reunion? To gather the alumnus one last time at the old school compound?"     

"Yep!" Jaewan shrugged, taking a sip of his juice. Minho was no longer able to hold in his curiosity.     

"Which area is this?" he asked.     

"It's near S-Town," Jaewan replied. "Blooming Sun High School."     

Minho did not say anything further but took out his phone and sent a text to Kanji.     

"Find out everything you can about Gayoon's time in Blooming Sun High School," he wrote. "About her classmates too."     

The two friends were chatting and Jina was happily browsing through her phone so no one saw what Minho was doing. He scooped more of the disgusting dessert in his mouth but his mind was elsewhere.      

If Mina was not wrong, something had happened to Gayoon in that school and the way she was hesitant to go, only added to his suspicions. Exactly what happened to her there?     

I must find out, he decided.