Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Over the next few days, Minho had been busy with the hospital project. He tried to find the spot where Hyeri had hidden the proof but Danny was always accompanying him which made it increasingly difficult for him to find the box. It was as if Danny was almost obsessed with the project, interfering in every aspect to turn it into a success.     

"You care a lot about your image," Minho one day pointed out. They were at the hospital's cafeteria where Danny invited Minho for lunch in order to discuss further business prospects. Minho was swallowing his food with great difficulty. The more time he spent with that idiot, the more he felt like throwing up.     

Unfortunately, the hospital project was attracting investors and even though Minho was not keen on continuing it further, he had to admit that the success would be profitable. His mind was already scheming how to get Danny thrown into prison so that the board of directors could take over the hospital, making it easy for Minho to acquire the property himself.     

Seeing more money and Kang Danny in jail would indeed be the cherry on top for him.     

"Image is everything in this world," Danny stated. "It is what sells. We have to carefully craft an image in order to ensure our survival. But you seem to be a person who does not care about his image. After all, people call you a raging volcano."     

"My employees call me Vesudas," Minho shrugged. "Vesu from the volcano Vesuvias and Das from the Greek myth of Midas. I might be a raging volcano but whatever I touch, turns to money. I don't care about what people think of me as long as I make money."     

"Ahh...money!" Danny sighed. "Can't live with it. Can't live without it."     

"I live pretty fine with it," Minho said.      

Danny studied Minho for a while before saying, "Sometimes, I envy you."     

That caught Minho off guard. "Envy?" he echoed. "Because I earn money? I thought you earned money too."     

"Everything is so easy for you," Danny said in a sweet tone which did not hide his malice. "You have it all thought out. You begin a project and it turns out to be a success. Everything you do is perfect. You have it all. Billions of dollars, a beautiful lover and an obedient daughter. It's as if god created you to be perfect."     

Minho's jaws tightened. Even though Danny was sugarcoating his words, the disdain was clear. But even if Danny had been genuine, Minho would have hated what he had just said.     

"Easy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He leaned forward, his eyes sharp and blazing as he addressed Danny's remarks.     

"My father abandoned us after killing my mother when we were children," he revealed. "I raised my sister in our foster home. When I turned eleven, I was sent to a boarding school where I was tortured and beaten up everyday simply because I wanted to talk to my baby sister. It continued for two years until my godfather found out."     

Danny looked as if someone had slapped him a million times. Every word coming out from Minho's words were heavy, throwing Danny under a huge burden.     

"And when I turned twenty, I took up the mantle of a falling empire," Minho went on. "Instead of going to college like normal guys of my age, I was toiling away day and night to restore the business I had once aspired to take over. My image was already gone thanks to my dad. I had nothing to lose. So I forgot all worries about image and only worked to gain my inner peace. Earning money made me happy and it was the only thing that mattered."     

"And when my sister went off to college," Minho gritted. "I became lonely. I put my heart and soul into raising her but when she left to chase her own dreams, I decided that I genuinely wanted a family of my own. And it took me years to build that. So no, Dr. Kang. I didn't have it easy. I wasn't handed everything on a gold plate like you were. I had to earn that gold plate."     

Danny clenched his jaws, looking away in shame. He had assumed that as the richest man in the country, Minho was used to a luxurious life. Minho was not sure why he said all that to Danny but seeing how the man had dismissed his life as an 'easy one' it hurt his pride. The doctor was raised in a lavish bungalow with servants and infinite money so he had no idea about other people's sufferings.     

Then again, the spiteful creature had kept his own son in captivity before killing him for the sake of his own image so Minho was not even surprised that he had such a sickening view of other people's lives.      

"I didn't mean it that way!" Danny quickly corrected himself. "I just-"     

"I know what you meant and I'll still say that you were wrong about my 'easy' life," Minho said curtly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting at my office. I'm heading off."     

The doctor nodded and watched Minho leave. His hands clenched around the coffee cup he was holding, anger bubbling in his heart. Hwang Minho always looked down on him and it was beginning to annoy Danny. It was as if the man hated him and Danny could not figure out the reason. He was beginning to feel that Hwang Minho had ulterior motives in agreeing to the hospital project and it was not going to end well for Danny.     

I must find out, he decided.     

….     

The children were playing happily at the playground. Jina was chattering with her friends, sharing her food with them and laughing. She was enjoying their snack break and they were discussing Ahn Jaewan's newest single. She had not seen the idol for weeks because he was on a tour but he had kept in touch and was going to return to the country in a few days so she was excited.     

She was chatting happily when she noticed a pair of dark eyes glaring at her from afar. Siwan was sitting by the benches with his gang, angrily scowling at her. She stuck out her tongue at him and turned away. Siwan was affronted by her rudeness.     

"She insulted you so much!" Siwan's friend, Greg, remarked. "Hwang Jina. The snooty princess of the school."     

"Her dad is the richest guy in the town," a pug faced girl spoke up, also glaring at Jina. Her name was Lila Shin and she was the daughter of the Shin family whose businesses were taken over by the Hwang Constructions. She immensely disliked Jina for the latter's popularity and hung out with Siwan.     

"I wanna teach her a lesson," Siwan gritted. "If only I could make her pay…"     

Lila glanced at the smiling Jina, hating her even more. Then an idea struck her.     

"How about we stick her mouth shut?" she grinned. "That'll teach her a good lesson!"     

"How do we do that?" Greg frowned.     

"We can put glue in her drink!" Lila smirked. "If she drinks glue, her mouth would be shut, right?"     

Siwan thought about it for a while. He had never tried this sort of prank before but that sounded right. After all, glue can stick things together so it should stick her mouth as well. That would be funny. He could already imagine Jina's mouth being stuck together and she would run around, struggling to speak.      

"Let's do it," he grinned. "Today. During the last period when we'll have joint PE with her class."     

Let's see how long can you keep your mouth shut, he thought inwardly.