Outing (2)
Outing (2)
"You drive an eighteenth century Impala now so I see that your energy has decreased," Jina said in a cheeky way. "Are you scared that you'll be bested by a kid? Old man?"
"Call me an old man again and I'll box your ears, ya brat!" her grandfather threatened her.
Jina stuck out a tongue at him. "Scaredy cat!" she teased.
"Scared? Me? Never!" Junho claimed. "We'll ride this thing today and I'll show you that I'm not scared!"
Jina shook her head in disbelief. He was as stubborn as her dad which made it even more comical to her. Junho put on a brave front and marched ahead with his granddaughter, determined to conquer the giant monster which was spread almost fifty feet high into the sky.
Unfortunately, all his big talk came crashing down when he stood at the line and stared at the tracks. Those things soared so high that it seemed as if they disappeared into the sky! The coaster was speeding like a monstrous demon, making rough noises as it swooshed by. He could hear the screams and cries of the passengers who were begging to get off the ride. Some of them held on to their seats for dear life as the monster sped them away.
"So cool!" Jina squealed, her eyes beaming while Junho gulped. Who the hell invented this thing?
The ride finally arrived at the station and the passengers were beginning to get off. A lot of them were dizzy and almost spun to the floor while some were throwing up at a corner. Junho's feet were shaking hard.
"Are you scared, old man?" Jina asked with a devilish smile. "We can skip it and look for rides which suit your age."
A nerve twitched on Junho's forehead while Jina snickered at the old man. Her grandfather's expressions were so funny that she could not help but tease him. Who knew that granddads were this easy to control?
Junho steadied himself. "I'm not scared!" he said out loud. "When I was younger, I made people older than me cry! I was the unbeatable Hwang Junho, after all! The most powerful man in the country who could takeover companies and earn money in seconds-"
"Old man, can you hurry it up?" Jina sneered. "You're blocking the line."
Sure enough, there were people grumbling behind him. They were urging him to go forward so that they could ride the coaster.
Did these people have a death wish? He wondered. Junho turned back to the coaster and took a deep breath.
"Let's go!" he said, pulling Jina with him. They got into the coaster. Junho attached Jina's seatbelt firmly and made sure her hands were on the handles.
"I'll be fine!" she exclaimed. "Tie your own belt!"
"Don't you dare move your hand from the handle!" Junho warned but Jina merely shrugged. She was smug at her grandfather's expressions and she wanted to tease him further. But the poor guy was praying to all the gods he knew and even muttering a chant to exorcise demons in an attempt to protect his poor heart which was beating fast. They were quite high up and he did not dare to look down.
"Old man, are you alright?" Jina asked when Junho's face went completely pale. "There aren't any ghosts here so why are you so scared?"
"Shut it!" he gritted. "I'll show you how brave I am!"
"Okay, but if you scream even once, you'll buy me a new Barbie doll which I have been eyeing for a long time!" Jina snickered.
Junho sighed. This one was definitely the daughter of the Hwang family. Like father, she too, used his weakness to her advantage.
My poor wallet, he lamented. First the dad used to rip me off and now the daughter! Can I ever get a break?
The coaster began to move and Junho was counting his remaining lifelines. This was it.
They slowly glided ahead towards a long fall. Junho, scared for his life, grabbed Jina's hand.
"In case you're scared," he claimed.
"I'm not scared."
The sadistic child was even more excited. In fact, her eyes widened when they were at the edge while her poor grandfather was scared out of his mind.
"Here we go!" she announced and the coaster dropped down, speeding faster than light. She yelled in delight while Junho's cries of fear echoed throughout the whole park.
The mighty ex-tycoon turned out to be a scaredy cat after all.
…..
Kanji was in his study, looking over the information his men had brought him. A few days ago, his men had killed off Eagle, a prominent member of the Lin family. They were tipped that Eagle had assassinated one of the gang leaders employed by the Jang's which led to a full out shootout.
With great difficulty, Kanji had to order the hit even though he was keen on maintaining a truce with the rivals. Haejong and he never went head to head against each other because both of them were assessing each other.
But Haejong was smart. He had strategically taken out several of his men without bloodshed. In fact, he used their own spies against the Jang's and planted evidence on Kanji's men to frame them. The police had rounded off many of their men which was a huge blow to the Jang's.
In retaliation, Kanji planted his own spies in their ranks. The gangs under the two clans, however, were restless. They wanted blood and erupted in very serious gun fights which were causing the fatalities to increase day by day.
"A gang doesn't operate unless someone is pulling the strings," he said thoughtfully. Ever since he was blamed for the death of Lin Cheng, the tensions between the groups have peaked. There was no proof who killed the old man but the Lin's blamed it all on Kanji because the last person to have seen Cheng alive was him.
It was true that Kanji had gone to the spot where Cheng had summoned him but the old man never showed up. The next day word came that he was found at a construction site, dead. His face had been badly bashed to the point that at first, no one could recognize him. Haejong was able to recognize him only because of the mark of a tattoo on his hand. The tattoo was of a dove entangled by green vines, something only the head of the Lin family could have.
As the current head of the family, Haejong sported the tattoo somewhere.
His thoughts were interrupted by the beep of his phone. It was Yeonjoo.
"What is it?" he asked her.
"I have information for you," she said. "We need to meet up. Now."
Kanji groaned. This woman always called him under the pretense of giving information but in reality, was trying to seduce him. He was not interested in sleeping with her but she was pestering him that she would reveal everything to the Lin family if he did not comply.
So he usually slipped sleeping medicines in her drinks every time they were together and pretended the next day that they had sex. She was not a particularly smart woman. If it was not for her information, he would have discarded her long ago.
"I'll be there," he said in a steely tone. Picking up his coat, he headed towards the parking lot outside where his car was. Getting into it, he started the engine and drove away.
Unbeknownst to him, Mina's car just pulled up outside the mansion. Jason had summoned her that day to check up on her. He had sensed the tension between her and his son so he wanted to talk to her about something.
But when Mina saw Kanji driving away, her heart fell. He did not even notice her but she saw him after so many days that she could help in feeling sad. The distance between them only made her more miserable. Was he feeling the same?
I should talk to him, she decided. Enough of this silly push and pull!
Revving up the engine, she began to follow his car.