Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

For a moment his mind went completely blank. How was this possible? The man who was CCK was lying on the hospital bed! Minho had shot him years ago and he had seen those wounds himself. There was no way the CCK was a female and that too so young!     

Yet, here she was. Or rather 'it' was. Somewhere in his mind, he knew that whatever was standing in front of him was not  human but rather something which could not be comprehended with logic. Dohyun knew exactly what the CCK had told him all those years ago. The same words, the same taunts and jeers. Most of all, it had that same cold tone, devoid of any feelings or humanity. Its eyes had changed right in front of him, throwing out all doubts he had.     

It was him and Minho knew it.     

"Shocked?" CCK asked gleefully.     

Gayoon watched helplessly as Minho kept on pointing the gun at Dohyun. The latter, as CCK, was keeping no stones unturned in tormenting him and she knew that he could shoot at Dohyun any moment.     

"You see, after you put me in a coma, I was nothing!" the CCK narrated. "And now...now I'm back to have my revenge on you!"     

"You're lying," Minho bluffed. He feigned denial because he knew that it wanted him to be afraid of it. He had to control the shaking of his hands with great difficulty as he kept his aim straight at Dohyun.     

"Am I?"     

To all of their horror, Dohyun's neck began to slowly rotate like a clock. It twisted her neck with a sadistic grin on her face. As her head twisted, Minho and Kanji felt the bile coming up their throat. Kanji could not help but rush to a corner and throw up while Minho kept his cool. Whatever it was in front of him was trying to make him relent to the fear.     

"How did you turn out like this?" Minho asked. He was buying time for the backup team to arrive and arrest Dohyun on sight. Or shoot her dead. Whatever was required to get rid of the CCK, he was fine with it as long as it was gone.     

"I am an enigma," the CCK claimed in its dual voice. "A shadow you cannot escape from! I have dreamt of this moment for so long. You called me a monster but you...you, my friend, are the bigger monster. You hide behind a mask of elegance while we both know that you're itching to kill him."     

The mention of Minho's father was enough to make him unhinged. The CCK knew his weakness and was exploiting it to its heart's desire.     

"Your father was a scumbag who destroyed your family," it went on. "Didn't he kill your mother? How was it again?"     

"Min...ho…" Gayoon whispered but her voice was too weak. He did not hear her silent pleas but kept his focus on the possessed Dohyun. She must tell him what it was trying to do otherwise it would be too late.     

"How did he do it, Hwang Minho?" the CCK pressed. "What did he do to her?"     

"Shut up," Minho muttered.     

"Do you want to see it?" it whispered.      

"Min...ho…" Gayoon tried to reach out for him but she could not move. Kanji kept his grip on her but he was too shocked to say anything.      

"What's going on?" he whispered as he watched Minho trying to fight the demons he had been struggling with for years.     

.....     

Its words were bringing back the memories of that night. The ten year old Minho, who had woken up in the middle of the night, was slowly descending the stairs. It had been many days since their mother had been sick. Their father forbade them from going into the bedroom and he was locked in with her, taking care of her. The little boy wondered what was going on with his parents and why they were being so secretive. But no matter how many times he tried to enter the room, his father would not allow it.     

Suddenly, there was a sound of breaking glass. Startled by the noise, Minho made his way towards the source of the noise. It was coming from his parents' bedroom. Mina was asleep in her little cot upstairs and he was the only one home.      

Is it a burglar? He wondered. Stepping towards the master bedroom, he held his breath as he reached out for the doorknob.     

Before he could reach it, a strange voice rang in his head.     

"The gates of hell are opening again…"     

It was for a brief moment but someone or rather something just spoke into his ears. He was not sure what it was. Was he imagining things?     

His mother's shrill cry broke his reverie and he forgot everything else. Bursting through the door, the horrifying sight of his father standing over his mother's corpse met his eyes. The older man turned around to face his son.     

"I'm sorry…"     

Those were the last words he heard before the little boy passed out of shock. All he could remember, was a faint smell of sulphur lingering in the air.     

...     

"Did you see it?" The CCK asked. Minho was panting as if he had been running for hours. The cold seat was falling from his forehead and his appearance was disheveled by the memories he had just seen. The CCK had unearthed them and was using them against him.     

"The father you had once looked up to," CCK taunted. "Killed your mother."     

"Shut up…" Minho repeated. His finger was on the trigger, ready shoot. He no longer cared for the law and wanted to shoot every single bullet into that hideous thing's head.     

"You failed to catch him!" the CCK jeered. "You failed your mother!"     

Something in Minho snapped. He could no longer tolerate the thing which was tormenting him. The torture was going beyond all limits and the nightmares could no longer be kept at bay.      

"You've had your chance," he said quietly. "No more."     

Gayoon wanted to scream at him to stop but her voice was too weak. She could not stop him nor tell anything coherently to Kanji. The latter had no interest in stopping Minho either because the CCK was beyond any redemption.     

Minho's finger was on the trigger, ready to fire…     

"DAD STOP!"     

Minho turned in shock to see Jina standing at the door with a strange looking man. She was looking at him, pain stricken and scared.     

"Don't shoot her!" Jina exclaimed. "It's the black shadow doing all of this!"