Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

The next morning, Gayoon made her way to Minjung's house. She looked around nervously to keep out an eye for Seungjo's ghost. He was nowhere in sight but that was more troubling to her. She knew very well that the ghost was targeting Minjung and it baffled her that he did not hurt her yet. Seungjo's tricks were unpredictable which made him more dangerous than any other ghost she had ever encountered.     

Gayoon took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A tall, slim woman in her early forties opened the door.     

"Gayoon!" Minjung's mother, Hyomin, exclaimed. "You're here so early in the morning!"     

"Good morning, aunty," Gayoon greeted. "It's Saturday so I thought I'd bring Minjung her homework and some breakfast as well."     

"That's so kid of you," Hyomin said, feeling overwhelmed. "Come in!"     

She stepped aside to let Gayoon enter the house. "I'm afraid, Minjung is still not doing so well," Hyomin sighed, feeling worried for her daughter. "She still won't tell us what happened and why is she so depressed all the time. Her father and I had been trying to help but…"     

Her tone was full of anguish and disappointment. Gayoon could tell that she was helpless seeing her once lively and somewhat arrogant daughter wither away. Gayoonw ished she could tell her what happened but thinking of Minjung, she did not have the guts to.      

Sexual assault was not something their society was considerate about especially when it came to victims. People jeered and taunted the victim's family to the point that some people even blamed the victim for it. As an aspirant police officer, Gayoon was shocked to learn that the laws were not favorable to the victims either. She had been reading up a lot on those laws and it appalled her to see the state of affairs when it came to a lot of the cases which were being handled. No wonder Minjung opted to stay quiet. It was not the ideal solution but for victims like her, it was the only way to protect their families.     

"Is she awake?" Gayoon asked.     

"She didn't sleep all night," Hyomin grimaced. Gayoon gave her a small smile and patted her arm, trying to comfort the older woman. She might not have been fond of Minjung before but in the recent weeks, they had begun to see each other in different lights. Minjung even took steps to apologize to her for the past, which was made Gayoon feel grateful as well.     

"I'll go and talk to her," Gayoon said. "And see if she tells anything."     

She was about to go upstairs when Hyomin had an idea and held her wrist.     

"Gayoon, why don't you do one thing?" Hyomin asked. "Can you take her out today? You guys can go shopping or to the mall? Go have a nice lunch? I'll pay for it if you want! But please, could you take her out? She's been cooped up in that room lately and I'm afraid she'll go insane if she stays there any longer."     

"I…" Gayoon fumbled but then thought about the suggestion. Maybe a change of scenario will help Minjung's state. After all, the more she dawdled on the past, the more she would hurt herself.     

"Alright," Gayoon nodded. "I can take her out. We'll go to the mall and have some fun!"     

She gave Hyomin a wide smile and headed upstairs towards Minjung's room. The latter was sitting on an Ottoman near the window, staring outside as if in a trance.     

"Minjung!" Gayoon exclaimed. "I brought you breakfast!"     

Minjung looked up to see Gayoon holding a basket full of muffins and pancakes.     

"I'm not hungry," she mumbled but Gayoon was not going to hear any of it.     

"Your mom gave me the mission to take you out today!" she declared in an attempt to be cheerful. "And I agree! You need to go out and live! You can't stay here forever."     

"I don't feel like it," Minjung said. "I'm fine in here-"     

"Come on!" Gayoon said. "You can't stay in here because of…"     

She looked around to make sure that no one was overhearing their conversation before lowering her voice.     

"You can't stay here like this because of that monster!" she said in a hushed tone. "Why are you letting him haunt you like this? What wrong did you do? That guy would have assaulted you or someone else if you hadn't stopped him. Whatever happened was out of self-defense. He is to blame for his own fate."     

"Gayoon," Minjung began. "It wasn't self-defense. I had the choice to punch him and run but I didn't! Something snapped in me when he was talking about what he did to me and how he was going to do it with you as well! I don't know why but at that moment, I had to push him to his death! I wanted to push him to his death!"     

She glared at Gayoon, a mix of anger and sadness flashing in her eyes. Gayoon sighed and held her hand.     

"You did not do anything wrong," she said in a firm tone. "If it wasn't you, it would have been me. And tomorrow, he would have done this to someone else. So, stop worrying too much and start coming out of your shell. Let me help you in this! I'll listen to all your sorrows and try to help you in any way I can. Just trust me, alright?"     

Minjung merely nodded and sighed. She had learnt one thing over the past few weeks that there was no way to get rid of Gayoon when she was determined.     

"I'm kinda jealous of you," she admitted. Gayoon blinked in surprise.     

"Jealous? Of me? Why?"     

"Now that I think about it," Minjung began. "You never let bad things bring you down. Even when I was bullying you, you used to hit back with your wits. People made fun of you, tormented you. I was one of those people. And yet, you came back to school the next day as if nothing was wrong. You just brushed it off. I'm jealous that you have that ability."     

It was one of the rare times when Minjung opened up to her. Gayoon was silent for a while before replying, "I get affected too. I was afraid too. It would be a lie if I said none of it affected me."     

"Then how did you deal with it?" Minjung asked.     

"I don't know," Gayoon admitted. "I guess I always thought that people could be worse. Things could have been worse. And then I told myself that as least I'm still alive. I can eat, breathe and live a life without regrets."     

I also don't want to end up like the ghosts who stay back in this world, looking to fulfill the wishes they couldn't when they were alive, she added in her head.     

"So, I learnt to forget the bad things and only welcome the good things," Gayoon said. "It's just that, everyone has a different approach to life. Some want to live with regrets. Others don't. It's perception, really. You just gotta choose yours."     

Minjung contemplated her words for a while. Gayoon was startled when she suddenly stood up and walked towards her closet.     

"Where are you going?" Gayoon frowned.      

"Didn't you want to take me to the mall?" Minjung shrugged. Gayoon was surprised and smiled widely.     

"You'll come with me?" she exclaimed. "Really?"     

"Yeah," Minjung shrugged. "It wouldn't be too bad, I guess. But I'll warn you. I don't buy cheap stuff so you better have your wallet ready."     

Gayoon laughed at her dry joke and nodded. "Sure!" she said. "Feel free to empty my already empty wallet!"     

"You are a useless friend then," Minjung sighed, making Gayoon pout. Unbeknownst to her, Mimjung was smiling as she took out fresh clothes to change into.     

….     

The headmaster was nervously checking out the well dressed man sitting across him. He was at school even on a weekend and under normal circumstances, he would not have agreed to a meeting during a holiday. But the circumstances were not normal because sitting right across him was the country's most powerful man, Hwang Minho.     

Minho was studying the cowardly headmaster. He had been trying to get his hands on a land in the downtown for a long time so when the local school property was on sale, he looked into it. The property value was very high because it was at the intersection which connected the uptown area, marketplace, the business center and the other road led to the airport highway. It was the perfect spot for him but Minho held back from buying it right away.     

Instead, he waited for the price of the lant to fall. Other businesses were not ready to pay such exorbitant amounts either but once the price fell, Minho was the first one to buy it. Apparently, the death of some kid had deterred other firms from buying it.     

"Is the case closed, Headmaster?" he asked in a cool tone. "I hope the student's family found some closure from your end."     

"Yes!" the headmaster exclaimed. "They did! The student's death was an accident and nothing more! We've taken care of it."     

Minho raised his eyebrows. He was skeptical of how the headmaster 'took care of it' but did not ask any more questions. As long as his money was not being wasted, he did not care much.     

"I'll stop by tomorrow night at this property to inspect the conditions," Minho said. "I'd have done it tonight but I have a meeting to attend with some delegates from Shanghai."     

"Why at night, sir?" the headmaster asked. "Why not check out the property now?"     

"Because the true condition of a property can only be assessed during the night," Minho explained. "The soil quality in the dark, nearby wilderness and the traffic during night time are also important factors. During the day, it's crowded so it's hard to determine the quality of the property. Nighttime is ideal for inspection. At least in my experience it is."     

"I-I'll assign a guard to help you out then," the headmaster offered.     

"Alright," Minho said. "I'll return tomorrow."     

He stood up to leave and was almost at the doorstep before pausing to turn around.     

"One more thing," he added. "I bought this property despite the controversy attached to it. I hope there won't be any such mishaps from now on."     

There was an underlying threat in his words which made the headmaster nervous. Hwang Minho's money was important for the school because they needed funds to build a new school. If another mishap occurred, they might lose Minho's money and the school would go bankrupt in bearing the expenses.     

"Yes sir!" the headmaster stated. "We won't let another accident happen here!"     

Minho eyed him warily before exiting the room, leaving the headmaster feel scared and intimidated.      

I can't let this chance go, the headmaster thought. His mind was itching to get the money from Hwang Corporations and let the deal go smoothly. He was not going to let it fail. Never.