Confess To Me
Confess To Me
"Six of Hearts," Mina said, putting a card on the table, the face turned backwards. Kanji looked at it, thinking hard.
"Bluff!" he claimed. "You're bluffing!"
"Am I?" Mina smirked and turned the card around. To his shock, it was a six of Hearts.
"Son of a-"
He was about to curse but an invisible hand whacked him. Casper had hit his head, preventing him from using bad words in front of Jina.
"What was that?" he yelped in fright, looking around.
"That was Casper," Jina replied. "He does that whenever someone tries to use slang in front of me."
They were playing Cheat and so far, Mina was winning every round. No matter how much he tried, Kanji could not win against her apt ability to read people. Moreover, since his credit card was on stake, her senses were extra alert, examining his every expression while calling out his bluffs.
"So I win this round again!" Mina declared. She scooped the credit card from the table and happily clapped, thinking of all the things she was about to buy.
"How come you only claim my credit card?" he asked in annoyance. "Am I your personal slave or something?"
"Yes," she said without hesitating. "Only I can use your card and no one else!"
"And how many other guys have given you their cards?" he asked sullenly.
"Many tried," she claimed, holding the card against the light to make sure he did not give her a fake one. "But I'll only use your one."
"Is it coz I'm the richest one?"
There was a short pause as Mina tried to come up with an explanation.
"No. It's coz they're just not you," she finally stated. "It's no fun going on a shopping spree without you."
She flashed him an evil smile which made him pout. Jina was also examining the card alongside her aunt while Yumi, too, was eager to use it.
"This is a black credit card!" Jina said in awe. "You can buy anything with it! I've seen Jaewan oppa use it!"
"Jina, tell your aunt to buy me the limited edition CD of Jaewan oppa's first album!" Yumi begged.
"Who the hell uses CD's nowadays?" Jina frowned.
Kanji and Mina stared at her. She was talking to the invisible ghosts again. While Kanji was scared of them, Mina was curious.
"Jina, what's the brat saying?" Mina asked. She knew that there was a teenage ghost among them and she even suspected that the girl sometimes broke into her closet to check out her dresses.
"Who is she calling a brat!" Yumi protested. "First she takes advantage of Kanji oppa's kindness and now she's calling me a brat?"
"Aunt always talks like that!" Jina said, trying to pacify the ghost but Mina's anger was also flaring.
"Is the brat trying to insult me?" Mina exclaimed.
"No aunt-"
"Yes I am!" Yumi bellowed. "Stop bankrupting my Kanji oppa!"
"What the hell is the ghost saying?"
Even though Mina could not see nor hear the ghost, she was still arguing with the teenager as if she knew where the latter was. Yumi was also cursing back at Mina, both of them driving the little kid crazy.
Kanji could only watch the strange scenario in front of him while Casper shook his head in dismay. It astounded them that the spirit seer in the Hwang family was the sane one out of all of them. With a money loving father, ferociously strong mother and shopaholic aunt, it was a miracle that Jina turned out to be the only normal one.
Mina scowled and sat back. "Another round!" she declared. "And this time, we'll put our gold credit cards on stake!"
"I'd love to but it's past Jina's bedtime," Kanji said flatly. "Look at the time! We've been playing for hours!"
Mina glanced at the clock and to her shock, it was almost midnight.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed. "I was supposed to put Jina to bed hours ago!"
"I'm fine!" Jina insisted. "Can we see one more round? This time I wanna bet too!"
"Er…"
Mina and Kanji looked at each other. If Minho and Gayoon found out that they were gambling in front of Jina, both of them would be flayed alive. They were so immersed in their game that they forgot that it was not an appropriate thing for a child to watch.
"Jina," Mina began. "You shouldn't be playing this at your age. It's not a good thing to play."
"But you two played it," Jina frowned. "And even lied to win. Come to think of it, isn't that cheating? Did you cheat to win this card game?"
Uh oh, Kanji thought. Mina but her lip and glanced at him before turning back to Jina.
"I will buy you anything you want if you don't tell your parents that we were playing cards in front of you," she swore.
"If your parents find out, they'll kill us!" Kanji begged. "Uncle Kanji will also buy you anything you want if you just keep your mouth shut."
Jina contemplated the offer. Yumi leaned towards her ear and whispered, "Ahn Jaewan is having a fan event tomorrow at T-Town Square. Tell them to take you there."
"That's a good idea!" Jina exclaimed. She turned to the culprits and said, "Take me to Ahn Jaewan's fan event tomorrow. And I want two autographs!"
"Done!" Mina said. "Both of us will take you there tomorrow!"
Jina and Yumi were excited while Casper merely nodded. They were going to meet their Jaewan oppa!
"Now off to bed!" Mina said.
"Okay!" Jina said and scurried off towards her room upstairs with the ghosts in tow. Mina sighed and began to pack up the cards back into the deck. Kanji silently watched her clear up the area. She put the deck away before finally slumping on the couch next to him.
"You still can't win against me in cards!" Mina giggled.
"Maybe I just let you win," he shrugged. She playfully pinched him.
"Git!" she snickered. "You know I'd hate it if you do that."
Kanji shook his head. "You know me too well," he sighed. "By the way…"
He turned to face her, curious about something. "What did you mean earlier when you said that you don't use your other boyfriend's cards because they're 'not me'."
Mina gave him a strange look before replying, "They're not the pushover that you are."
Kanji frowned at her words. Her playful tone had turned a little hard and before he could say anything more, she got to her feet.
"I should go to bed as well," she said. "I had a long surgery today."
With that, she hurried to her room, leaving a very confused Kanji behind. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it, looking down.
"Stupid Kanji!" she said softly. "I never had any boyfriends. It was always you! And yet, you won't tell me what I really want to hear."
Despite his playful claims that he would marry her someday, the silly guy never worked on those feelings. She had been waiting for ages for him to ask her out but the guy kept on trodding around the subject while flirting with other girls. Was she merely a childhood friend whom he only loved to tease and nothing more? Did his words mean anything at all?
She stared at the credit card in her hand. Her shopping sprees were mere excuses to spend time with the idiot who was always busy chasing other girls. Even that day at the hospital, her blood boiled when she saw him with that nurse, she could not help but feel jealous. He would go around claiming to everyone that Mina was his girlfriend and yet, never bothered to ask her out!
Was he an idiot?
"Tch! Stupid Kanji!" she cursed again. "Just confess to me already!"
She slumped on to her bed, clutching the pillow to her chest. Sleep evaded her as she half hoped that he would knock on her door and tell her something but he did not.
Meanwhile, downstairs in the guest room, Kanji was talking on the phone.
"Are you sure it's him?" he asked in a low voice. Unlike his usually cheery tone, he was hardened and emotionless as he spoke.
"I'm sure boss," the voice of his subordinate came from the other end. "Shin Jaewoo was the one who sold us out to the Lin family. They found out about our interference in the stock market and acted before we could buy those shares."
Kanji was silent for a while before saying, "Kill him. He betrayed us and needs to be punished."
He paused before adding, "Don't hurt his family. Make sure he's killed somewhere far away from them. I don't want a little girl to end up witnessing her father's death."
"Understood boss," his subordinate replied. "Will do."
Kanji hung up the phone and lay on his bed, struggling with his own thoughts. He knew very well that Mina was expecting him to go to her and formally confess his feelings for her. His heart was screaming at him to go and confess to her at that moment but he was intentionally holding himself back. It pained him, but it was a necessary choice.
Beneath his happy demeanor, hid many secrets which even Mina did not know about. There was another side to him which he hid from the world. His hands were stained by blood as he handled the dirty world of the mafia alongside his father.
Their businesses may be legal but those were merely a cover. The Jang family had tremendous influence in the underworld. His family had been running the mafia activities for years, even murdering rival gang members for their gain. Kanji himself did not hesitate to take down the opposing factions, a fact which only Minho knew about. Mina was still unaware of his facade and despite his flirtations, he did not want her to get involved in his dark world. He could never do that to her.
"Guess we'll not have any happy ending," he sadly mused.