Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

He was pointing the gun at his men who had dared to lay their hands on Mina. The men cowered in front of their boss, shaking in fear while Mina was too stunned to speak. Boss? Heir to the Jang clan?

"B-boss!" one of the men squeaked. "Forgive us! We-"

BANG!

More blood splattered on the walls, staining them red. Mina came to her senses and dragged herself towards the unconscious girl to protect her while the series of gunshots echoed in her ears. She felt blood and organs splash everywhere as the bullets hit the men mercilessly. Kanji was like a robot, shooting down every one of his men with his own hands.

"STOP!" Mina begged. "STOP IT!"

But he did not heed to her and kept on shooting every man until the last one whimpered, begging for forgiveness.

"Boss!" he pleaded. "Forgive me! Please!"

"Kanji, don't-" Mina yelled but once again, her pleas were interrupted by a gunshot. Kanji stood there, bloodied and unaffected as if what he did meant nothing to him. The smiling and moronic Kanji she knew was replaced by this cold, unfeeling man whom she no longer recognized.

Once the smoke and dust ebbed, Mina saw the massacre in front of her. Several men lay there, dead or whimpering in agony. Most of them were shot in the head, killing them instantly. Mina gasped in horror, the image haunting her more than the CCK ever did. Her heart was throbbing hard in her chest and she turned to look at Kanji who was still unaffected.

"Since when…" she began. "Since when were you involved in this?"

Kanji did not reply but slowly walked towards her. His dominating aura was engulfing her, strangling her but she stood up, not looking away. Was this the Kanji she loved? Or did he never exist?

"Go home, Mina," he ordered. "This isn't the place you should be."

"Neither should you!" she shot back. "This...this isn't you, Kanji! I don't know what made you join the mafia but I know you don't want to do this!"

He wordlessly turned away but Mina was not done. She grabbed his shoulder and forced him to face her.

"Is this why you were creating a distance between us?" she demanded. "Tell me, Kanji!"

Tell me, she begged in her thoughts. All those warnings against Haejong, his unwillingness to confess to her even though it was clear he cared for her more than a friend and the petty games they were playing. Was it all to hide this?

"I'm in love with you, Kanji," she finally confessed. "Let's just stop running and tell each other the truth."

Kanji stood there, not saying a word but simply staring at her while his mind was mixed with pain and dilemma.

"Just tell me, Kanji," she begged. "Is this what you were really hiding? Kanji, I'll help you to leave! I know you don't want to remain like this! The Kanji I know would never refuse me! If you want to leave, let's leave! We can go far away where none of this...this mafia stuff can touch us! We'll start anew-"

"You are mistaken, Hwang Mina."

If Mina had not seen his lips move, she would have never believed it. But Kanji really said those words. He took a step towards her and briefly glanced over her shoulder.

Peeking from behind a corner, was a very familiar face. Oh Youngdo.

He was listening in to their conversation and had seen Kanji's bloodlust over a woman. Kanji was sure that he was upto no good given that his boss was nowhere around.

Kanji turned to Mina who was pleading at him with tears in her eyes. The pain in his heart was unbearable and at that moment, he wanted nothing more than to take her hand and run away, leaving everything behind. But the life he chose would not let them live in peace. His enemies would follow him everywhere in an unending cycle of pain.

And the one who would suffer, was the girl he loved the most. His love would turn into a slow poison for her, something he could never give her on will.

"I was putting distance because you're my friend's sister," he stated. "Out of respect for Minho, I didn't tell you what I really did. And your brush with CCK made you traumatized so I hid the nature of my work. But that's it. I don't wanna leave my clan. I like it here and I want to stay."

"Kanji," Mina said, her voice quivering. "Why are you lying to yourself? You think that this…"

She pointed at the bloodbath behind them. "This is what you want?" she demanded. "Do you really mean it?"

Looking directly at him, she asked, "Did you kill these men because they were harming the woman you love or did you kill them because you're their boss? Tell me the truth. Why did you really kill them?"

This was it. This was his chance to tell the truth and that was all she needed. If he just told her the truth once, she would be ready to run away with him. All he had to do was tell the truth.

"I killed them because they were harming my friend's sister," he shrugged. "It's what I do, Mina. I kill people. It's my job to do so. Just like how your job is to save them. It's all business. It's not for love but for responsibility."

There was no hesitation in him when he said that. No matter how much it hurt him, he needed her to leave that place before Youngdo could hurt her. For some reason, his instincts told him that the Lin family's right hand man was there on his own accord and not on Haejong's orders. Seeing him with Mina would only endanger her life and if Youngdo found out that she was his weakness, god knows what he was going to do.

Mina stepped back. She finally knew the truth. He never loved her. Not even a bit.

"At least I'm not in the dark anymore," she mused bitterly. "And now that I know you don't feel anything for me, I guess I can move on."

She took off her jacket and knelt down to cover the injured girl who was still whimpering. Pulling her gently, Mina supported her weight.

"For the sake of our friendship," she said. "Tell the people in this place to let me take this girl to the hospital. She's injured and needs medical attention."

Kanji took out his phone and relayed the information to the guards downstairs.

"You can go now," he said in a hard tone. 

"Also," she went on. "I'll send over all your gifts and everything I bought using your cards to your mansion tomorrow. They're really meaningless now that I think about it."

Kanji snorted. "That's almost millions of dollars worth of goods," he said. 

"They're all intact," she revealed. "Never used any of them because they were too special for me. But I guess they're no use to me anymore."

With that, she slowly dragged the injured girl away, leaving him behind. Kanji stood there, not moving but as soon as she was out of sight, he went back into the room. Slumping against the door, he fell on the floor, silently crying.

Outside, Youngdo came out of his hiding place. He had witnessed the exchange and was surprised that he recognized the girl. She was the doctor his boss, Haejong, was also chasing.

"Looks like she's of no use," he muttered. "Oh well."

Taking out a phone, he dialed the emergency number.

"Hello, police station?" he asked. "I want to report a gunfight and a murder a the red light district. The murderer is none other than Jang Kanji, a top businessman and heir to the Jang mafioso."