11:59 (32)
11:59 (32)
I'LL GIVE A MASS RELEASE IF WE REACH 500 COINS!
.......
Shujin was busy watering the plants when Junho staggered into the house. She looked up to see the man was depressed and crestfallen.
"What's going on?" she frowned. "Why do you look as if someone died?"
Junho slowly dragged himself towards a chair and sat on it. He looked older than his actual age and his eyes were on the floor while his fingers were clasped with each other. Shujin reached over and sat opposite to him.
"Junho," she called his name. "What happened?"
Taking a deep breath, he said, "I saw her yesterday. My daughter."
Shujin's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-you saw your daughter?" she stammered. "Where? How? Did she recognize you?"
"No," Junho said, sadly shaking his head. "She was a baby when I left. But I knew it was her."
He narrated how he saw Kanji at the hospital and to avoid detection, he went into a store where he bumped into Mina. Upon finishing his story, Junho's eyes were starting to brim with tears. He tried not to cry but his wretched feelings would not stop overwhelming him. His daughter, his little Mina came in front of him and he could not even hug her.
Shujin did not speak but let Junho pour his heart out.
"She was hardly a year old when I left," Junho reminisced. "When she was born, my wife and I were beyond ecstatic. We've wanted a daughter for a long time and after giving birth to Minho, Suna had some issues with conceiving again. But finally, after ten years, we had Mina. We were so happy. Our family was complete."
"I never let her out of my sight," he went on. "Can you imagine that I took months off of work to take care of her? Suna was so annoyed at me for working from home but I wouldn't let the nannies raise my precious daughter!"
He let out a sad snicker as he recalled how he carried baby Mina around the house while Minho would play all sorts of pranks to take his sister away. Junho used to fuss over his children and all of them drove Suna up the wall once she arrived home from work.
"You miss them a lot," Shujin said. "Why don't you go and meet them? The statute of limitation is over! The police can't arrest you."
"They can't but Minho is still looking for me," he remarked. "Probably to punish me in his own way."
"What do you mean?" Shujin asked sharply. "Your son wants to punish you? What do you expect him to do? Kill you? Torture you? Is this some kind of mafia movie?"
"He has assigned an officer to look for me," Junho revealed. "For the past twenty six years, he had been looking for me and almost caught me a few times too. But in all honesty, I don't want to face them without catching their mother's killer. I know they won't believe me but I don't care. The day I destroy that spirit with my own hands, I can finally face my children again…"
Shujin sighed. The complicated relationship between Junho and his children would be his downfall. She had tried to coax him into contacting them for many years but he was too scared of meeting them. Minho's wrath did not bother him but he could not face his son without resolving Suna's murder.
"She's a doctor now," he mused. "My little girl is a doctor! I wish Suna was here to see her. She would have been proud of Mina."
"And your son?" she probed. "Isn't he some bigshot in the business world?"
"Apparently he's the richest man in the country," Junho sighed. "Net worth being over a hundred billion dollars. Pfft! Back in my day, my net worth was over two hundred billion! Damn kid couldn't even surpass his own father! I could make that much in my sleep!"
Shujin shook her head in amusement. I sincerely hope the son is not as fond of money as the father is, she thought.
….
"Twenty million dollars?" Minho raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me to spend twenty million dollars on this land?"
He was in his bedroom, leaning against a couch while talking on the phone with Lawyer Lee. The old man had called him up regarding a land in the city for their new project.
"Think about it Minho," the lawyer said. "The locals in that area don't want you to occupy that land! They've sent in a special request!"
"The whole area had been sold to the developers," Minho countered. "That land is ours and they can't interfere even with legal means. And you're telling me to buy another land worth an additional twenty million for this project? That too within the city? If I had to buy land in the city, I wouldn't spend that much on it! I know that the land you're talking about could be sold as low as one million given how poor the soil quality is. Any building constructed there would collapse within years!"
Lawyer Lee sighed. "Alright," he agreed. "But you should give up on that land. It's going to bring you nothing but trouble! I've heard it's cursed too-"
Minho snorted. Who believed in all that in this day and age?
"Leave the business decisions to me," he declared. "You should go ahead and see if the locals will create any nuisance there. Get protection from the authorities if you have to."
"Fine," Lee replied and hung up. There was no point in trying to make him understand. Minho was as stubborn as a bull when it came to money.
Minho hung up the phone and looked at the time. It was 9 PM and Gayoon had not arrived home yet. That careless woman, he sighed inwardly and decided to go home.
Once he reached his mansion, he went up to his bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes before texting Gayoon.
"Where are you?" he wrote. Within a few seconds, her reply arrived.
"Just got in," she wrote back.
Minho smirked, wondering what her reaction would be once she found out about their new arrangements.
...
Gayoon had just entered the house and unlike last time, the staff were more courteous to her. Kim came forward to help her.
"Madam, your things have been shifted today," she informed her with a courteous smile.
"Shifted?" Gayoon frowned. "Where?"
"In the master bedroom," Kim replied. "Young Jina's exams are about to start and she would need complete privacy so the master had your things shifted to his room."
Gayoon let out a hiccup. "H-his room?" she stammered, her face turning red. That damn money lover!
She nervously went upstairs and headed straight for his bedroom. He was casually sitting on the couch, typing away on his phone.
"Why am I being shifted here?" she asked with uncertainty.
"Strategically, my room is right in the middle of this floor so if anyone broke into Mina or Jina's room, you'll be able to reach them more quickly," he explained not looking up from his phone.
Gayoon was about to argue back but he added, "And given that we're dating, I assumed that you'd not object to it. Why? You want me to move you to another bedroom? But it'll be very far from the main rooms so you might not notice when an intruder breaks in. It's a big house, you see."
"B-b-b-b-but…"
She could not think of an argument at all. The very thought of living with him in his room was making butterflies flutter in her stomach but she could not reveal that to him!
"It's a little too early, don't you think?" she hesitantly asked. "We just started dating and now we're living together and…"
She gulped. Her mind was suddenly filled with very explicit scenes wondering how Minho looked without his shirt off…
Stop it! She told herself, feeling embarrassed.
Minho's lips curved into a sly smile which did not help the butterflies in her stomach at all.
"What are you implying?" he asked innocently. "We're simply sleeping here. Are you hoping for something more to happen?"
Gayoon's red face turned into a darker shade of scarlet. "No!" she exclaimed. "Absolutely not! I'll take the couch then-"
"This couch is too small," Minho pointed out. "It's a one seater."
"I'll sleep on the floor then!"
"The futons have been all washed today. No extra ones left."
Gayoon gaped at him in dismay. He was saying all this with a straight face, making her blush even harder. How come he was so shameless?
"Go and take a shower, detective," he said. His voice sounded as if he was highly entertained by her. "Don't worry about anything else. It's not like someone is gonna attack you here."
To her immense surprise, he ruffled her hair. I'm afraid I might be the one who'd end up attacking, she thought in despair as Minho strode over to go to bed.
"Where are my clothes?" she asked.
"Inside that walk-in closet," he replied, picking up a book to read. "The last shelf."
Gayoon hurriedly picked up her clothes and dashed into the bathroom, trying to cool her thoughts.
"We're just gonna sleep," she chanted. "Only sleep. Sleep…"
Taking a deep breath, she decided to push back those thoughts and take a shower. Minho was still reading his book when Gayoon emerged out of the bathroom in a loose t-shirt and white pajamas. Her wet hair was wrapped by the towel while she seemed shy and hesitant.
Minho sighed and put several pillows in the middle of the bed. "There you go!" he said. "None of us are gonna cross this barrier. Alright?"
"Uhh...okay," she squeaked. Without another word, she lay on the right side of the bed, putting as much space as possible between them. Minho could feel her nervousness but only shook his head in amusement. For some reason, it was fun to tease her.
"Good night," he yawned and shifted his position so that he faced away from her. The fun was over. The girl would die of embarrassment if he teased her any further.
Gayoon mumbled a weak "Good night" and closed her eyes, trying to sleep. It did not take her long to fall asleep since she was already tired from work.
After a while, Minho felt something wrapping him tightly. Startled, he woke up to find Gayoon had kicked off all the pillows in her sleep and had settled on his back. Her thigh was over his waist while she hugged him close, snuggling against him.
Minho did not say anything but smiled a little and went back to sleep, letting his little pet rest in peace.