Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

"AAAGHHHHHHHH!" Mina screamed on top of her lungs, startling Kanji. She kept on screaming loudly into nothingness. Some of the passersby stared at her in shock, wondering what the crazy woman was doing but she did not care.

"YOU PUNY ASSHOLE!" She cursed out loud. "BASTARD! DO YOU ENJOY PLAYING WITH PEOPLE LIKE THAT? TAKE YOUR MAGAZINE AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS, YOU-"

"Is she cursing you?" Haejong wondered.

"Probably," Kanji muttered.

Mina continued with her stream of curses, her heart dwindling between frustration and confusion until her voice gave out. She was coughing violently, her throat dry and wheezing.

Kanji rushed towards her and slapped her back as she coughed.

"What the hell are you doing?" He scolded her. "Screaming like that?"

"W-water!" she wheezed. Kanji shook his head and ran back to the car. He took out a water bottle from her bag before dashing back to her. 

Mina stood there, still coughing. She thanked him and drank from the bottle to calm her lungs.

"What are you doing?" he asked warily. "You just got discharged! You shouldn't be screaming like this…"

Mina did not reply but walked back to the dry sand and sat on it, not caring about dirtying her clothes. Kanji pursed his lips but sat next to her while she cleared her head. He waited for her to talk but she was gazing at the sunny horizon which lay ahead of them. Her eyes were unfocused as if she was in a deep thought but unable to express them to anyone.

"Are you alright?" he finally asked.

"No," she stated. "I'm not."

She ran a hand through her damp hair, trying to seek answers to her dilemma.

"You're thinking of Kanji, aren't you?" he asked. 

"Of course I am!" she snapped. "Why else would I be screaming in the middle of a beach? For kicks?"

She scowled at him but Kanji was inwardly happy that she was questioning the fake Kanji's motives. 

"Don't be too happy," Haejong warned him. "She's confused but that guy still has your memories. He might use them against you. Don't let that happen."

Right! Kanji realized. "But as you said," he went on. "Jang Kanji is too late. I mean, he didn't even come to visit you until the very end. Do you really think that his feelings towards you changed?"

Mina glanced at him. She was studying him intently as if she was trying to read him like a book. 

"Feelings don't change overnight," she admitted. "But I can't deny that his words still have an effect on me. I come out here quite often to let out my frustrations. Whenever I feel like screaming at Kanji, I come here and just let it all out! Afterwards I go to a bar, get drunk and then go home."

She spoke a little more freely now, feeling relaxed now that she had cursed Kanji to her heart's extent. Those curses do not mean anything; she would probably go running back to him again. But…

"Did you…" she began but trailed off.

"Go on," Kanji coaxed her.

"Did you notice anything strange about Kanji?" she asked. "Like, he felt as if he was a different person?"

Inside his head, Haejong was whispering, "She's doubting him! Go ahead and make your move!"

"W-what makes you say that?" Kanji asked her.

Mina did not reply but merely shrugged. "I don't know," she sighed. "It was like...the moment he came to visit me at the hospital, I just didn't feel that way for him. Whenever he's around, my heart would beat fast and I'd be flustered or look for a reason to be closer to him. But yesterday when he walked in, I felt nothing. Like really, nothing. It was as if he was a stranger…"

She did not elaborate on the exact reason but something in her was screaming that what she saw was not real. It was as if Kanji stood in front of her and yet, she could not see him.

"Why is this happening?" Mina asked out loud. "He kept on rejecting me, brutally at times. Yet, he'd kill people to protect me. He pretends that he doesn't love me and now, suddenly he wants to be with me. All his sides...it's so confusing! I just wish that I could change him for the good. So that he stays with me only and does not make me so confused..."

She curled up and hid her face in her knees, trying to coll off her head.

"Who knows?" Kanji mused. "If we had all the answers, then the world would have been a better place. Unfortunately, we don't have the answers and people keep on unleashing their worst sides. We can't change everyone."

Mina slowly raised her head to look at him with a quizzical look. "Haejong…" she began.

"What?" Kanji asked. She stared at him for a while but then shook her head.

"Nothing," she claimed. "How's your wound?"

"It's fine," he shrugged. Mina looked away from him, thinking hard. Suddenly, she stood up.

"Let's go back home," she suggested. "The air here isn't good for the wound. Let's go."

Quickly turning away, she headed back to the car. She was still thinking something but Kanji did not notice the frown on her face. They slowly walked back towards the car and got into it. When she revved up the engine, Kanji decided to ask her something.

"Why do you think that Jang Kanji was not acting like himself yesterday?" he queried, feeling curious. "I mean...it was him. He confessed to you. Shouldn't you be happy?"

Mina backed up the car and swerved it around. She stepped on the pedal and began to drive.

"He wore a dark green shirt," she simply stated. "And if there's one thing I'm sure about Jang Kanji is this: He never wears green shirts. He hates that color."

Kanji smiled to himself as the car sped off. He thought that Mina would be swayed by Anyal's fake words but it seemed that her feelings went beyond appearances and even she was beginning to sense a deceit.

And then his smile faded. He glanced at her ruefully, wondering what was going to happen once she found out that he was dead.

"How are you going to handle her then, Jang Kanji?" Haejong asked in his head. "Will you be able to leave her like that?"

"No…" Kanji said in his mind. "The last image I saw before my death was her crying face. So the last thing I want to see before I leave is her smile. That's my only wish, Lin Haejong."