Money Loving CEO's Detective Lover

Chapter 192: Punishment Time

By the time Jina and Mina arrived home, Gayoon and Minho were already there, waiting for them. They were at the patio, having the snacks which Ms. Kim brought for them. As soon as she entered the premises, Jina happily ran into the arms of her mother while Minho noted that Mina looked a little lost. 

"Mom, I met Ahn Jaewan again!" Jina exclaimed. The mention of Ahn Jaewan made Minho's mood go sour.

"Why?" he scowled. "Isn't it bad enough that he's on my television screen 24x7? Now you gotta see him offscreen too?"

"He's my friend," Gayoon said sharply. "And you promised that you won't be jealous of him anymore."

Minho grumbled and sat back, silently planning ways to throw mud at the neat freak the next time they came face to face. 

"I also signed autographs for people," Jina sighed. 

"Autographs?" Gayoon frowned, looking at Mina who sat next to her. 

"Your daughter turned into an overnight sensation after Ahn Jaewan spotted her and invited her to the stage," Mina snickered. "You should've seen her with the crowd. They went nuts!"

"A weirdo even tried to scout me," Jina added. "I said no. Not gonna give up my food for fame!"

"You guys seemed to have a lot of fun," Gayoon noted. "I can't believe I missed it! I could've met Jaewan oppa again!"

"Haven't you seen him enough for a week?" Minho sneered. "Why do you have to see him again?"

"Because he's a friend and I want to meet him!" Gayoon insisted.

"Yeah, well he'll be busy cleaning his toilets and also the neighbors' ones!" Minho claimed. "The bloody neat freak is preoccupied with his extracurricular activities."

"He just likes to be clean," Gayoon stated. "That's not abad thing. I'm sure a little neatness won't harm anybody!"

"That's rich coming from someone who stuffed her closet with junk," Minho muttered under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Mina was tired of their bickering while Jina only looked from her mother to her father, wondering whom to side with. Finally, both of them decided that enough was enough.

"I'm going to take a shower," Mina announced. "Then I'll have to go to the hospital for a night shift."

She paused before adding to Gayoon, "Ahn Jaewan passed a message for you. Your old high school is having a reunion and you've been sent an e-card. Check your email."

"And I have to read my fanmails," Jina said, hopping off her mother's lap to follow her aunt back into the house. Both of them were glad to be out of the lovebirds' childish bickering. Gayoon glared at Minho who was still sulking like a kid.

"Why are you so jealous of him?" Gayoon asked warily. "He's just a friend."

"He wants to be more than a friend," Minho gritted. "Men can be very persistent when pursuing someone and I can tell that he still has feelings for you."

Gayoon shook her head, slightly amused and also annoyed by his words. 

"You can let go of your petty jealousy because I have no such feelings for him," she assured him. "He's just a friend!"

"Obviously," he said in a matter-of-fact way. "But you don't know men. They only have one thing in mind."

"As if you don't have that thing on your mind!" Gayoon scoffed. After last night's date and seeing how he went out of his way to find those loopholes in her rules, she had no doubt that Hwang Minho was not merely a money lover but also had an extremely shameless side to him.

Strangely, he reminded her of Junho. She could not help but find similarities between the two men and wondered what would happen if they ever came face to face.

Even ghosts would be too scared to see a showdown between these men, she thought warily.

"I'm a different case!" Minho claimed. 

"How so?"

"Firstly," he said, holding up a finger. "I have quite a few things on my mind. Jina, you...that thing and you and money."

Gayoon was astounded by his brash confession and could only gape at him. Did this man have no shame or was he just oblivious to what he was saying?

"Secondly," he went on. "We're dating so it's fine for me to have those thoughts but if any other man has them then they'll have to face my-"

"STOP IT!" Gayoon yelped, covering his mouth with her palms. He was still muffling his nonsense but she was too embarrassed to hear any more of it. Her heart was beating so fast that she was afraid that she would get a heart attack. 

"How can you say...how the hell can you talk about all these things so freely?" she demanded, blushing furiously.

"I read it all in the magazine Kanji lent to me," Minho replied. "He told me that it has everything I need to know about women. Apparently, women like it when men are honest with them. It's the first thing that was written in that article!"

He said that in such a serious manner that it was almost comical. But Gayoon felt like digging a grave and burying herself in it. The man read it all in a magazine! That too lent by Kanji of all people?

"I'm outta here!" she declared, jumping off the bench and scurrying back inside while Minho tailed her. 

"The magazine also stated that girls like it when their boyfriends fondle them-"

"STOP IT!"

Gayoon tried to run back inside the house but Minho grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. Her heart was thumping loudly and before she could react, he softly pressed his lips against hers. It was a short peck but his gesture was making butterflies flutter in her stomach and her cheeks heated up. She lost count of how many times he made her knees weak and admittedly, she was liking whatever he made her feel. 

"Did you learn this from a magazine too?" she pouted. All those shameless flirtations was from a dumb magazine? Who the hell wrote that crap?

Minho winked and gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. Gayoon could not help but feel the goosebumps on her body when he slightly brushed his finger against her skin. She bit her lip, unconsciously expecting him to kiss her again and when he began to lean closer, she shut her eyes, anticipating the warmth of his lips.

Minho smirked and kissed her cheek instead. Gayoon opened her eyes, too shy to face him. She turned around and ran off, leaving him to smile at her antics. 

Unbeknownst to Gayoon, Minho had thrown away the magazine Kanji had lent him and he had uncharacteristically swallowed up his pride for her sake. He was about to head in when Gayoon returned again, this time flared up like an angry kitten. 

Minho's smile faltered when he saw what she was holding in her hands.

"No way!" he said. Gayoon flashed an evil smirk and held out the bunny costume.

"Punishment time," she declared.