42 Kanji's Dilemma

Jongin was sweating profusely as the Vesudas in front of him glared at him. The CEO was angrily flipping the pages of the file in front of him but he was not really reading it. Instead, he looked as if he was about to murder someone.

"S-sir?" Jongin stammered. "I-is something wrong with the reports?"

"No," Minho gritted. "This proposal will fetch me a hundred million dollars."

He was scowling while saying that which only confused Jongin more. The CEO was earning money and yet he was upset. Why?

"Are the number not good enough, sir?" he asked.

"They're perfect!" Minho snapped, roughly turning the page. "I'm earning more than Kanji!"

Eh? Jongin blinked. The CEO's irritable attitude made no sense to him. Why was he so angry when he was making a lot of money?

"Sir are you alright?"

"No."

Jongin gulped. He did not want to ask what had happened. Was the CEO dumped by a woman?

He immediately dismissed the thought. The CEO getting dumped was an impossible notion. Every woman in the elite class wanted to become Mrs. Hwang. Even the existence of Jina did not bother them as long as they got the title of being Hwang Minho's wife. Minho was the one who kept on systematically rejecting them with petty reasons. Mostly, because a lot of the women he came across only get backing from their families instead of earning their own money from scratch.

The whole logic confused Jongin but he did not dare to say it out loud. The volcano was about to erupt any moment.

Meanwhile, Minho was feeling extremely annoyed at what had happened. More specifically, what happened in the morning.

The darn woman left! She left him alone without a word! When he woke up, he found himself alone. She left him no note nor any sort of message which only infuriated him. She could have at least paid him back for the drinks!

It really irritated him that after last night, she would just leave him, Hwang Minho of all people, hanging like he was a fleeting one night stand.

Jongin looked in worry as Minho muttered words like "Leaving me there," and "Not even a call."

Was the CEO really dumped?

Suddenly the door burst open. Both of them looked up to see Kanji's smiling face at the entrance. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with a flower garland around his neck.

Uh oh, Jongin thought. Minho's face only reddened at the sight of his rival. This man was the root of all his problems!

"Hi hi!" Kanji greeted cheerfully, ignoring his best friend's murderous glares. "Missed me?"

"Get out," Minho said, clenching his fists.

"How rude!" Kanji pouted as he sat across Minho's desk. "Won't you say hello to your one and only best friend?"

"Jongin, that'll be all," Minho barked at his assistant.

Jongin yelped. He took the file and quickly scurried out of the room, not wanting to anger the CEO any further. The Vesudas was already at his maximum point and staying near him would be like poking a sleeping dragon in the eye. He desperately prayed that the CEO would not end up murdering Kanji.

Inside the room, Kanji was smiling at his best friend's mortified expression.

"So, how was your time with the detective?" he asked brightly. "Did you guys manage to get down and dirty?"

Minho shot him a deathly glare. "Thanks to your schemes, I got entangled in a murder mystery instead!" he stated angrily.

"You didn't kill her did you?"

"Not her! Lee Shawn and his partner and...it's a long story."

Kanji sat back and frowned. He had read the papers that Kim Joon had killed the real Lee Shawn and impersonated the victim for months to get hold on some money.

"All I wanted was for my best friend to finally lose his virginity," he sighed. "Who knew you'd end up in a murder case instead?"

"All thanks to your little schemes," Minho sneered. "And weren't you in Mexico? What's with the Hawaiian attire?"

"I was supposed to go to Mexico but I thought of visiting my beloved Mina in the Stated," Kanji sighed. "But she threw me out of her college campus and imposed a restraining order against me. So I had to dwell in the sorrow of rejection in Hawaii."

"Seems like even my sister hates you," Minoh scoffed. "Give it up. You can't win her over."

"At least I try. One day, I'll surely succeed, my future brother-in-law," Kanji declared. "While you still couldn't seduce the hot detective. I mean what are your good looks useful for if you can't even hook up with the mother of your child?"

Minho groaned. He mumbled something which Kanji could not catch. He reached out to take a glass of water from Minho's table.

"What did you say?" he asked, drinking the water.

"We...we kissed."

Kanji choked and spluttered out water from his mouth.

"WHAT?" he exclaimed. "YOU WHAT?"

Was he hearing it right? His best friend had his first kiss?

"Y-y-you kissed her?" he asked, still not believing Minho's words. "No way!"

"We did!" Minho said. "Last night. And this morning, she was gone!"

"Morning…"

Kanji looked as if Christmas had arrived early. "You guys slept together?" he asked. "So you lost your first kiss and your virginity in one night? SWEET!"

"Nothing else happened," Minho said sharply. "The woman fell asleep in my car."

"You could have just taken her home."

"Well that was difficult…"

Kanji waited for Minho to elaborate but to his annoyance, the latter refused to say anything further.

"But then, why are you so angry?" Kanji asked shrewdly. "Is it because she left without notice?"

Minho did not reply but his reddened face told Kanji everything. Gayoon must have freaked out in the morning and left without saying a word to Minho which only made him angry. The man did not know it, but he was attracted to her.

"But what about the contract?" Kanji reminded him. "The contract clearly states that Gayoon could be jailed if she ever attempted to meet you or her child-"

"Why would she leave like that?" Minho fumed, following his own train of thought, completely ignoring Kanji.

"What did you want her to do then?"

"Drop her home after having breakfast at the hotel," Minho said. "And probably meet up with her later to discuss...things."

"What sort of 'things'?"

"I don't know," Minho shrugged. "Stuff. About her job. What she likes and dislikes."

Kanji wanted to bang his head against the wall. His best friend was a money lover but had no idea how to attract a hot honey for a date. It was up to him to push the Vesudas.

"Why don't you call her for dinner tonight?" he suggested. "And you can talk about...things."

"We should," Minho said thoughtfully. He picked up his phone and dialed Gayoon's number.

Gayoon, who was sleeping peacefully, was suddenly awakened by the ringing of her cellphone. She cursed loudly before answering it.

"What is it?" she demanded groggily, not caring who it was.

"Hotel Bravida," Minho said. "8 o'clock tonight."

Minho's voice made her frown. Why was he calling her again? Was it about Jina again?

"Eh?" she asked in confusion. "Why?"

"Don't be late."

Before she could reply, he hung up. Eh?

Minho leaned forward, feeling triumphant. "We'll have a civilized conversation about how irresponsible she was for running away this morning," he declared.

Kanji, who witnessed the scene, wanted to smack both of them in the head. Idiots, he thought in dismay.