Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

"Thank you, dear," she whispered. "Take care of yourself too."     

"I will," Gayoon promised. "Goodbye, Aunt Suna."     

Shinjin's eyes rolled up as the spirit began to leave his body. He lowered his head and slowly opened his eyes.     

"Shinjin, are you alright?" Minho asked, shaking the man a little with his left hand. Shinjin was startled and looked around.     

"The spirit is gone?" he asked.     

"Yes," Gayoon replied. "We've recorded everything."     

"Alright," he nodded. "Close your eyes again and I'll finish the ritual."     

Everyone closed their eyes while Shinjin began to chant.      

"Thank you, Kim Suna for your wisdom and time," he chanted. "May you find peace in your afterlife. For now, goodbye."     

Another gush of cold air passed by and after a few seconds, warmth returned again. Shinjin opened his eyes to address the duo.     

"You can let go of the disk now," he stated. "And let's go outside to listen to the recording."     

They did as he instructed. Wrapping up the session, Minho glanced one last time at the top of the stairs. He might not be a Seer, but he felt his mother was probably standing there, watching them leave. Their hearts connected them and he did not need to see the dead in order to realize his mother was smiling at him.     

"I'll bring them, mom," he promised. "Wait for us till then."     

Suna was watching her son and his lover leave with a smile on her face. The poltergeist apparated beside her, silently seeing them leave.     

"Do you think they can complete the work?" it asked. "It's very dangerous."     

"It is," Suna admitted. "But you don't know my husband. That man will move heaven and hell for his family. That demon has no chance."     

….     

Outside, Shinjin heard the tape with full concentration. After listening to it, he was quiet for a while.     

"Everything depends on the last one minute," he said thoughtfully. "And the red moon night is going to be very dangerous. The powers of the supernatural creatures increase on that night but so do the senses of the Seers and Transporters. So a hybrid like Jina will feel the extra pressure on her. But the only way to trap him forever in the dead realm is to have him cut down by the reapers at exactly that minute."     

"What do we do then?" Minho demanded. "We can't use Jina to trap the demon!"     

"Taking him out in the World of the Dead is the only way," Shinjin pointed out. "You don't stand a chance against him here."     

"Are you saying that we'll have to use our daughter to trap a demon?" Gayoon exclaimed. "This is insane! We are not doing that!"     

"You can use me," Minho insisted. "I'm a Transporter too!"     

"True," Shinjn replied. "Then we'll need Jina on this side to open the portal for Junho and I to exorcise the demon."     

Minho and Gayoon were not keen with this plan but there was no other choice.      

"But we keep Jina as less involved as possible," Minho finally said. "Put more charms around her to protect her."     

"Alright," Shinjin agreed. "The demon will try to take her soon so I'll make more charms so that it can't touch her. But for the exorcism to be successful, I'll need to know more about Anyal. Different demons have different kinds of powers. We'll have to learn as much about him as possible. I'll head to the national libraries for information."     

"Why the local libraries?" Minho frowned. "Just use the internet."     

"The national libraries have archives by ancient scholars and shamans who have delved into demons and spirits," Shinjin explained. "Not everyone can access them and they're not on the internet. Remember when you tried to find out about the demon, you couldn't find much information on it? As a registered shaman, I can get access to them for research purposes."     

"We'll come with you," Gayoon offered. "The more we all know about the demon, the better."     

"Alright," Shinjin said. "Let's go then."     

All of them got into the car and drove off towards the city library. After an hour, Gayoon pulled up in front of the national library which was situated at the southernmost part of the city. With over twenty segments within the library, it was one of the largest national buildings in the country with documents and records dating back to over five centuries.      

"This is it," Shinjin stated. "We'll be looking at the Occult & Demonology section."     

"Demonology?" Minho frowned. "What the hell?"     

"It's not how it sounds," Shinjin explained. "Unlike popular belief, the subject doesn't deal with demon worship or cults. It explains a vast area of supernatural elements and how to harness their powers. It includes maths, science, history, geography etcetera. Basically, it has almost all subjects in it and explains them via the perspective of the supernatural elements. Demons are a big part of it. We'll be looking for the ones which work directly in hell under the big boss called Devil."     

"Work?" Gayoon scoffed. "You're making it sound like they are employed in hell or something. With employee benefits and all."     

"Do they get paid?" Minho joked. "Holiday bonuses and all?"     

"Aish!" Shinjin scowled. ""How am I supposed to know the benefit system of hell? It's not like I'm keen to go there!"     

He grumbled as he led them towards the occult section. Thankfully, the library was kept open 24x7 because there were many universities nearby. Students from the neighboring dorms could come and go anytime to collect materials for their research and hence it was decided by the state to keep the library accessible to them at all times.      

Even though it was nearly midnight, there were many students who were up, working on their projects or researching. They quietly passed by the regular sections, trying not to disturb anyone. Shinjin led them to the fourth floor where the whole section was dedicated to Occult & Demonology."     

"They actually have an entire floor dedicated to this?" Minho whispered, not believing his eyes. Hundreds of shelves stood in front of him, each shelf almost twenty feet high. They were full of carefully categorized books and documents of the study of occult and the supernatural, some dating back to the twelfth century.     

"Let's split up," Shinjin suggested. "We're looking at three sections. One is about the afterlife and spirits. The other is about hell and the third one is about demons. We're gonna be here for a while so brace yourselves."     

Gayoon stared at the large collection of books and groaned. Minho was also exasperated at the amount of things they would have to study but there was no other choice.      

"Let's go," he said.      

…..     

"You are an idiot!" Jina scolded Kanji, who was sulking in Haejong's body. "Who told you to chase my aunt like that?"     

"I wanted to confess as soon as possible," he mumbled like a kid but Jina only scowled at him. They were in Haejong's ward. The doctor had checked up on him and said that the progress was good so he could be discharged the next day alongside Mina.     

"I let you borrow my body to confess to her," Haejong said in his mind. "Not to scare her!"     

"I thought that what matters is the heart!" Kanji claimed. "Even if I'm in someone else's body, she should be able to sense me, right? I mean that's how it goes in movies-"     

"Are you an idiot?" Haejong's voice rang in his head.     

"Who taught you that nonsense?" Jina frowned. "All she saw was uncle mafia acting like an idiot. Thanks to you, she banned him from visiting her!"     

Kanji was dismayed. He lay on the bed, sad and heartbroken. All he wanted was to confess but it seemed that he kept on scaring Mina away. Am I ever gonna get the chance to express how I feel?     

"Umm…"     

All of them looked around to find Mina standing there. Kanji or rather Haejong's heart skipped a beat when she approached them, looking a little apprehensive.     

"Are you alright?" she asked in a timid tone. "Like really alright?"     

"I'm fine!" Kanji claimed, jumping up. He winced in pain when he slightly pulled a muscle around the wound. A low voice hissed in his head.     

"Don't harm my body!" Haejong snapped at him. Jina looked from Mina to Kanji who was still wincing. I should leave them alone, she decided.     

"I'll go and find the old man!" she declared.      

"He's at the cafeteria," Mina replied. "Tell one of the nurses to take you there."     

Jina nodded and exited the room, leaving them alone. Kanji was blushing furiously, tongue tied in front of her. It was awkward to see her after the things that had transpired. She sat next to him.     

"Does that hurt?" she asked. "Your injury?"     

She was a little concerned. The way he sat up, he must have pulled a muscle and it might cause the stitches to come off.     

"A-A little…" he mumbled.     

"Turn around," she ordered. Kanji did as he was told and to his slight embarrassment, Mina lifted his hospital grub to check the wound. He felt her slender fingers on the wound, making his heart pound faster. Inside his head, Haejong was also silent, happy to feel her touch.      

"Doesn't seem to be bleeding," she concluded. "Don't jump around like that for a while otherwise the stitches will rip off."     

She lowered the grub, covering his back. Kanji hesitated before taking a deep breath.      

"I'm sorry for scaring you earlier," he apologized. "I...I just wanted to cheer you up."     

"Yeah, I know," she said. "But it was just weird to see you act like…"     

She was about to say 'act like Kanji' but stopped herself. It had been four days since she was admitted and he still did not visit her. Her eyes traveled to the door every time someone entered only for her heart to be disappointed.      

He really won't come, she kept on telling herself. Yet, she could not stop herself from hoping for a glimpse of him.     

Kanji looked at her sad face, his heart being torn to shreds. They were so close and yet, so far.      

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up," she went on. "But I'd like it if you don't act like him. You are you and Kanji is...well, Kanji."     

"I was just trying to become your friend," he slightly snorted. "But I guess I have a long way to go."     

"No, you don't."     

He looked at her in surprise. Mina was smiling at him.     

"You don't have to try to be my friend," she said. "Because you already are a friend to me. But if you are my friend, then you'll have to be Kanji's friend too. You can't hurt him. Ever. And he can't hurt you either."