Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

The fair had picked up pace as the hours went by. A large crowd had gathered by afternoon and more activities were beginning to take place. There were some mascots who roamed around and played with the kids while carnival rides were installed to increase the hype. As the sun began to set, soft fairy lights were lit to illuminate the area while people enjoyed their day off.      

Mina dragged Kanji to all the stalls she could find. The girl was quite energetic when it came to shopping, not eating nor stopping.     

"Oi!" she called at him when he sat down to rest. "Come on! We gotta check out the home appliance stalls!"     

"Five more minutes," Kanji begged. Even though he was not really tired, Haejong's body was wearing out.     

"Her shopping has no end, huh?" Haejong remarked in a sardonic tone. "No wonder you're always broke."     

"At least she spent her own money," Kanji replied. Mina had gone back to the jute shop earlier and haggled with the seller so much that the poor guy began to cry and gave back Kanji his money. In fact, Mina extorted even more from him to the point that the rug cost only a couple of dollars.     

In return, Kanji was now carrying a dozen bags in his arms while Mina shopped to her heart's content. She was beaming with joy and grabbed his arm.     

"Oh come on, you lazy bum!" she exclaimed. "Think of this as practice for your new life."     

"What practice?" Kanji frowned.     

"Now that you're no longer working in the mafia," she said. "You might as well get used to working hard! What'll you do when you get a job and start earning? You'll have to walk to places, visit people and carry heavy stuff! Which is why, I am teaching you how to survive in the real world!"     

"By making me carry your shopping bags?" Kanji winced.     

"If you can carry the burden of my shopping bags, you can achieve anything in the world!" Mina claimed. Kanji could hear Haejong going 'tsk tsk' in his head.     

"All the best in handling her," he said and went quiet. Kanji gritted at his rival who was clearly enjoying his misery. But none of that mattered to him. All he cared about was to make every moment count with Mina.     

I have to make sure that I can make this moment memorable for her, he decided. Mina dragged him to a stall which was different from the others. Instead of a thatched hut, it was a red tent. A strong but pleasant smell of spices and flowers came from within and Mina was a little excited.     

"I think they sell herbal skincare stuff there!" she said. "I've been meaning to buy them!"     

"You already have all the expensive skincare products at home!" Kanji whined.     

"So? I'll buy them for you," she shrugged. "Your skin is too dry."     

"Women love my skin!" Haejong's angry voice rang in his head.     

"Except Mina," Kanji shot back at him. "And she's right. Your skin is dry. Don't you moisturize?"     

"That's rich coming from someone who had oily skin," Haejong sneered.     

"It was moisturized!"     

"What the hell are you doing standing there?" Mina asked warily. "Come on!"     

She motioned him to follow her inside the tent. Kanji sighed and went after her. Mina was right; it was a small apothecary shop which sold herbs and spices but not just for skincare. There were different segments of herbs labeled for things like luck, knowledge, power etc. There were herbs like rosemary, cloves, tulsi and chillies along with flowers like roses, violets, tulips and many more. He could not recognize some of the unusual plants but the tent was giving him a very strange feeling.      

"Welcome."     

Kanji yelped and spun around to find a woman in her forties. She wore heavy beads and a black colored shawl. Her dark hair was tied in a bun and her beady eyes were gazing at the couple who just entered.     

Mina was also startled by the woman because when they had entered, there was no one inside the tent. She must have been hiding in the shadows, watching them enter.     

"Hi," Mina greeted. "We're just looking around. Where are the skincare products?"     

"On your right," the woman said but her eyes were fixated on Kanji. Mina seemed to have not noticed but Kanji was unsettled by the woman. It felt as if she was seeing right through him and he looked away from her. The woman strode towards Mina and was showing her some of the organically made soaps and creams. Mina was busy checking them, choosing a few items for her collection.     

"Would you also like to have your fortune read?" the woman suddenly offered.     

"Fortune?" Mina frowned.      

"What lays ahead for the two of you as a couple," the woman said in an ominous tone. Kanji shifted and did not answer while Mina was also uncomfortable.     

"We're not a couple-" she began but the woman cut through her.     

"A relationship with no name," the woman remarked. "Two souls tangled in different worlds. Can you sense the faint presence which you miss the most?"     

"Let's go, Mina," Kanji said but she was rooted to her spot.     

"I say we try it," she insisted. "For fun! I know it's all rubbish but still. Won't it be fun to guess?"     

Kanji wanted to refuse but seeing Mina's hopeful eyes, he simply could not refuse her outright.      

"That woman is weird," Haejong warned.      

"Let's see what she does," Kanji told him.     

The woman led them to the back of the tent where three cushions had been laid on the ground. She motioned them to sit on one cushion.     

"I'll prepare some tea for you," she offered. The woman walked towards a table and poured two mugs of tea for them and put the tray in front of them. Kanji handed Mina a cup before taking the other cup. The tea was cold so Mina downed it in one go.     

Kanji was about to drink his tea when Mina said, "I'm loving this tea! Gimme your cup as well!"     

"Eh?" Kanji frowned when she took his cup away from him and drank it all in one go. She smiled at him and put the cups away.     

What is it with her? He wondered but did not think too much into it. Mina always had a habit of taking his things and even if he was in someone else's body, he still could not refuse her demands.     

The woman raised an eyebrow at Mina's action but did not make any comment. She sat opposite to them and said, "Give me your palm."     

Mina extended her hand for the woman to read. The woman stared at her palm for a long time, reading the lines before looking up to face Mina.     

"You were born with a golden spoon in your mouth," she guessed. "But your childhood was anything but golden. You had a brush with death when you were young and you brushed it again in your twenty sixth year. Am I correct?"     

Mina shifted uncomfortably in her seat but the lady went on.     

"You have everything in life," she whispered. "Money, family and an empathy towards other people. However, the thing you seek right now is not written in your fate."     

Her eyes briefly flashed towards Kanji who avoided her gaze. Mina was silent for a while before bursting into a laugh.     

"What I'm seeking right now, is a Pashmina!" she giggled. "You're right. I've looked all over this place but no luck."     

The woman pursed her lips, not amused by Mina's remarks. "You do not understand the lines of fate," she whispered.     

"No, but I do understand that I need a Pashmina shawl," Mina lamented. "It's the only thing I can't find here."     

She turned to Kanji and said, "Let's go to the other shop and search for a Pashmina shawl. I really need one. My old shawl was ripped off after it got caught on a nail."     

"I told you that all this is a bunch of bullshit!" he told her. "But you're the one who insisted on having your palm read."     

"Just for fun," Mina shrugged. "You go and wait outside. I'll pay for my stuff and join you."     

The woman shook her head in dismay and headed towards the counter. Kanji went out of the tent while Mina stayed back to pay for her things. As she took out her wallet, the woman was giving her a strange look.     

"You knew it was peach tea I had served," the woman revealed. "And you stopped him from drinking it."     

Mina froze in her actions but did not comment and continued to count the cash in her purse.      

"You do realize that this is unnatural," the woman went on. "I'm a shaman. I can help your friend and exorcise the spirit-"     

"Thirty dollars right?" Mina asked coldly. "I'm not paying for the awful tea. It was disgusting."     

She thrust the money into the woman's palm and picked up the bag. As she turned to leave, the woman added one last warning.     

"Nothing will come out of this," she stated. "That spirit will have to leave someday. He doesn't belong to this world! It's unnatural!"     

Mina turned around to face the woman with a cold expression. "There are many monsters in this world which don't deserve to live here," she said. "Yet, they're roaming around freely, killing and torturing others while pure souls like him are the victims of those monsters."     

"He's dead and he'll leave soon," the woman pointed out.     

"Well, then I'll spend the rest of our remaining days smiling so that he can leave in peace," Mina said in a sad tone. Her heart had been beating erratically around 'Haejong' for a while but she was sure that something was amiss. It was not until their talk at the beach when she finally realized that the person she was speaking to was not Haejong but Kanji. She did not know how, but she knew it was Kanji.      

And the final nail in the coffin was the moment he tried to bargain with the seller in the morning. Only one idiot would buy a cheap rug for five times the price.     

The woman sighed and shook her head.     

"Good luck," she wished Mina. "When the time comes, give him a proper goodbye."     

Mina turned away from her and slowly walked outside. Kanji stood there, busy scrolling through Haejong's phone. She watched him with a sorrowful expression, trying to control the insane grief which was overwhelming her.     

It was almost impossible to hold back her tears and never had she used so much of her willpower to rein in her emotions. Mina's limit was breaking but she knew that she could not fall weak. Her breath was getting heavier and she wanted to cry her heart out but if she did that, Kanji would be hurt. The love they shared had killed him and the guilt was eating Mina from the inside. How did they end up like this? Why did they end up like this?     

Kanji turned around to find Mina standing there. "What happened?" he asked in alarm when he noticed that she looked sad.     

"I forgot to buy a matching table cloth with the jute rug!" she exclaimed, suppressing her tears. "We've got to go back to that shop!"     

She quickly turned away to hide her sadness and walked as fast as she could. Kanji sighed in relief, following her all the way back to the first stall.