Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Minjung was writhing in her bed, her body sweating as she tried to fight off the nightmare she was seeing. Her breath was coming in shorts while she mumbled incoherently. Seungjo's panicked face flashed in front of her as she watched him fall to his death. He was falling and falling, deeper into the unending hole which was sucking him in.     

She woke up with a start, breathing heavily. The whole place was pitch black and for a few seconds, she felt scared of the darkness. Her room no longer felt like her own and she was feeling claustrophobic. Getting off the bed, she opened the door and flicked on the light. Everytime she slept, her mind kept on repeating Seungjo's death in front of her.     

The guilt was eating her alive. Her mental state was in shambles and even though she wanted to go to the police, she was terrified that they would not believe her. After all, she had the biggest motive to kill him and there was no reason to believe that it was an accidental death.     

But was it an accident? A nasty voice in her head sneered at her. Minjung gulped and sat on her bed, lost in thought.     

No. It was not an accident. She had truly pushed him because she wanted him dead. She wanted to kill that monster with her own hands and there was a part of her which relished in his demise. But she was afraid of that part. Minjung may be arrogant and a bully but even she had a conscience.      

That monster wanted to hurt Gayoon as well. Even if she was not on good terms with Gayoon, after what Seungjo did to her, Minjung would never want him to hurt another girl. Something in her snapped the moment she realized that he would not stop assaulting others. His terror had only just begun.      

She lay back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes were dry and blank as she tried to cope with her thoughts. Her parents had been worried about her lately because she spoke so little and had shut herself away. No matter how many times they asked, Minjung refused to speak. What will happen when they find out that not only their daughter was molested but also killed someone? Would they be able to withstand the shock?     

"Please, end this," she begged to herself. "Just end this."     

Rolling over on her side, she closed her eyes, trying to shut away the pain. A cold air was brushing her skin and she was shivering but did not care. All she knew was that she was a murderer who would be punished if she was caught.      

I'm a murderer, her conscience told her. I'm a murderer. A murderer.     

As her inner voice kept on chanting the phrase, a lone figure stood next to her bed, watching her. Park Seungjo was observing the girl, no, the murderer. She had the galls to kill him and separate him from his Gayoon. This Minjung had been a nuisance in his path to love and now, she was going to pay.     

But he was patient. Torturing her was going to be a slow yet, satisfying process for him. What she did to him was unforgivable and he would make sure that she would pay.      

Now, his Gayoon needed him.     

…     

Gayoon was pacing in her room, deep in thought. Minjung had not called nor texted her and she was getting worried. What if Seungjo had hurt her? Or worse, what if she hurt herself? How did all this become so complicated?     

"Damn it!" she cursed. "Even ahjusshi had to be out of town in such a critical moment!"     

She cursed the stupid spirit who was haunting the river in some remote village, sincerely hoping the pretty boy's looks rot off. It was hard enough to deal with Park Seungjo when he was alive and now that he was a spirit, the guy was going to be a damn nightmare!     

"Gayoon?"     

Shujin walked into the room.     

"Yes grams?" Gayoon asked.     

"I'll be going over to the neighbor's house to help arrange some food boxes for the deceased boy's mother," Shujin said. "She'll need all the support we can provide for the funeral so a few of us decided to cater for her free of cost. Dinner is in the fridge. And make sure all the charms are intact."     

"Yes grams," Gayoon said. She had not told her grandmother about what happened in school with Minjung and Shujin only thought of the incident as an unfortunate accident and Gayoon had no intention of telling her otherwise. The less people knew about Minjung, the better it was.      

She escorted her grandmother out of the house and locked it firmly behind her. Adjusting the charms at all the doors and windows, she was fairly sure that no spirit could enter her house.      

"This should do it," she murmured and headed back upstairs. She took out her phone and dialed Minjung's number again. She had little hope of receiving a reply but she wanted to know how the girl was doing.     

The dial tone rang for several seconds before cutting the call off. Minjung was still not receiving any calls and Gayoon was debating whether to head over to her house or not.      

Suddenly, her phone's notification rang up. Could it be Minjung? She wondered and quickly opened the message.     

To her slight surpirse, it was a video clip. In it was Minjung's sleeping figure, lying in her bed. There was no one else in the room but Gayoon was frowning. Who was taping her?      

Suddenly, there was a shuffle of footsteps and the screen went black.      

"What the hell?" Gayoon muttered. The timer on the video was still playing and she could hear Minjung's faint breath as well but why was the screen black?      

"HA HAH!"     

The pale figure jumped in front of the screen, making her yelp in shock. Park Seungjo's sinister face reflected in front of her as he smiled sadistically at the screen, relishing the fear he had created in her heart.     

"Gayoonie," he said in a gleeful tone. "You can see me? I know you can see me! I know everything about you, Gayoonie…"     

Gayoon was staring at the screen, shocked by his appearance. How did he find out? Was it when they momentarily exchanged a glance? But would he be able to figure it out just by that?     

"The rumors are true then," he cackled. "You can see me! Even in death, my love can't escape you, my dear Gayoonie…"     

"You must be wondering what I want," he said in a playful tone. "The answer is simple. I want you, Gayoonie. Only you. I might be dead, but that doesn't mean we have to be apart, right? We can be together. All you gotta do is…"     

He leaned closer to the screen. Gayoon was petrified by his evil smile which was making the hair on her skin stand.     

"Kill yourself," he revealed. "Kill yourself, Gayoonie. Join me in death so that we can be reunited! Join me, my love. Come to me!"     

"Never," Gayoon whispered. "Never."     

"I know you're saying you won't do it," Seungjo sighed. "Have it your way then. I won't force you to kill yourself. You'll do it on your own. I know it."     

Why is he saying that? Gayoon thought in alarm. What is he planning?     

Seungjo glanced at Minjung's sleeping figure and then back at the screen. "I'll just torment everyone else around you," he snickered. "Until you give in."     

Before Gayoon could curse at him, the recording ended. Panicking, she dialed Minjung's number. Please pick up, she prayed. Please…     

"Hello?" Minjung's gloomy voice came from the other end.     

"Minjung!" Gayoon exclaimed. "Are you home? Are you safe?"     

"I-I am," Minjung stammered.      

"Minjung, sleep in your parents' room tonight!" Gayoon begged. "Don't sleep alone! Please, just listen to me!"     

"Is it because you're afraid that I'll go to the police and tell everything? Or that I'll harm myself?"     

Minjung sounded almost hurt. Did Gayoon think that she would do something like that?     

"I just want you to be safe," Gayoon said. "I don't know why, but I feel that you should not be alone until all this is over. Please, Minjung. Go and sleep in your parents' room tonight. Talk to them and communicate with them more. I'll stop by in the morning to check on you."     

"Fine," Minjung agreed. "I'll go and sleep with mom. Dad is out of town so it's just us in the house for a while."     

Gayoon nodded and hung up the phone. She stared at her phone for a long time. Park Seungjo was not gone at all and worst is that he had completely embraced his new life as a spirit.     

Normally, spirits would be angry at their deaths and refuse to believe that they had died for a long time. After a while, this denial turned to resentment and then to a vengeance. A lot of spirits were good and chose to accept their fates but others were malevolent. It took a while for their wrath to manifest into abilities which could harm humans.     

But Park Seungjo had not only accepted his death but was taking advantage of his newfound powers. He had learnt a lot of things in a matter of hours which greatly worried her. He was enjoying his death and yet, held an intense desire for revenge.      

What the hell will he do now? Gayoon thought. Inwardly, she knew that whatever he was planning was going to end in bloodshed.