บท 17: The Two Rivals

Minho was tapping his feet impatiently. Jongin and Lia were looking at him, feeling very nervous. They had just delivered some bad news to the CEO and he was not amused.

"So you're telling me that we managed to get the contract but they will only pay us forty percent of the profit?" he interrogated them. He was looking like a hawk eyed investigator who was about to pounce on them any moment.

"We tried to negotiate for fifty!" Jongin claimed. "But they said it was too expensive and were about to hand it over to JK Limited so we had to agree…"

Minho gritted his teeth. He was eyeing them like a lion marked its prey. They were shivering in fear.

"Are you saying that I pay you two hundreds of thousands of dollars so that you can fail to make a mere ten percent negotiation?" he yelled at them. "If the client doesn't pay me fifty percent of the profit, I'll cut the money from your pay!"

Jongin cowered but Lia stood her ground. "Sir, we still got the contract," she pointed out. "JK Limited was desperate to get it but we managed to get it from under their noses."

"With a ten percent cut!" he exclaimed. He got off his chair and went towards the window. He pointed outside and said, "They are catching up to us! Do you know how much is the difference between our profits now?"

He held up one finger. "One percent!" he barked. "Only one percent! What are you guys doing slacking off? Go and work!"

"Yes boss!" they exclaimed and scurried off. Minho glared at them as they dashed away to fix their mistake. He was getting annoyed at the incompetence of his employees. As if Hwang Minho would ever settle for a forty percent profit sharing!

He looked outside at the building right opposite his. Just seeing that place greatly irritated him but Jang Kanji knew exactly how much Minho would be annoyed at it. That is precisely the reason he built his office right opposite to Minho's one.

Jang Kanji was the second most powerful man in the country after Minho and also his self-proclaimed best friend. Unlike Minho, Kanji was easygoing and casual. In the business world, he was a professional rival to Minho but outside it, he clung to Minho like a child. No matter how many times Minho tried to shake him off, it was almost impossible The guy kept on bothering him and hovered especially around his sister Mina.

Suddenly, the door to his office burst open and the familiar yet irritating face flashed in front of his eyes.

"Hi hi!" Kanji greeted. "I noticed you were looking at my building all morning so I assumed you wanted to see my handsome face my friend!"

Kanji was a couple of years younger than Minho and equally handsome. He had jet black hair with bright eyes and boyish features which made him look much younger than his real age. He was shorter than Minho by a few inches. Unlike Minho, who preferred to wear stylish suits, Kanji wore very casual clothes. His shirt was untucked and his tie was loose. The guy looked more like a runway model than the CEO of a company.

Minho felt his nerve twitch. "What are you doing here?" he asked warily.

"I came to congratulate my bestie of course!" Kanji laughed. "For getting the contract!"

He was holding a box of pastries and red roses, two things Minho hated the most. He did not like sweets nor flowers. He preferred to keep his life free from either of those things.

"I don't like sweets," he said curtly but Kanji was not having it.

"Oh come on Minho!" he pouted. "You should accept gifts from people."

"You know very well I don't like either of these gifts."

Kanji threw an arm around Minho's shoulder, unfazed by the murderous looks he was getting. "Oh come on! Don't be such a baby! Take them for our little Jina! You know how much she enjoys her uncle Kanji's treats."

Minho groaned. Due to his overly optimistic personality, Kanji got along well with Jina. He was also one of the few people who knew about the truth behind Jina's birth. Knowing how reserved his friend was, Kanji had suggested the idea of IVF many years ago when Minho was contemplating having an heir for the business.

"Fine," Minho finally agreed. "I'll take them for Jina. Anything else?"

"Let's go and grab lunch," Kanji suggested. "There's this new burger joint I wanna try!"

"Greasy food?" Minho scoffed. "No thanks! I prefer to stay healthy."

"Eat a salad then!" Kanji snapped. "But you're coming with me! It's so annoying to have a best friend and rival who is so stiff."

He shook his head in disdain. No matter how much Minho tried to kick him out under the pretense of being a rival, he knew that he was the only friend Minho had. Ever since they were children, Kanji was the one who forced Minho to go to places with him. He was always so engrossed with making money that Minho rarely enjoyed the little pleasures of life. His short temper and desire to make profits for the company stemmed from the fact that his father had murdered his mother. Before that, Minho was a fun loving kid.

But after that incident, something in Minho changed and he was obsessed by reinstating his company's former glory. Even after achieving his goal, he found it difficult to let go of his obsession and strived to make even more money. Until Jina's birth, he was like a robot who only knew how to earn money. The entry of that little girl melted Minho's cold heart.

"Fine," Minho groaned. He knew there was no way he would be able to kick out the pesky person who claimed to be his best friend. Kanji yelped in joy and pulled him out of the office.

The employees tried not to look at the two gorgeous men walking by but they could not help but steal a glance. Jinri felt as if her eyes were being blinded by the stunning visuals walking past her.

"Who is that?" she whispered at Lia.

"That's Jang Kanji," she said. "The CEO of JK Limited."

Jinri's mouth fell. "What?" she hissed. "Our rival company's CEO?"

"They might be our rival but the CEO is our CEO's childhood friend," Lia explained. "Both of them are close even though our CEO would never admit it."

She sighed as the two men walked away, oblivious to the stares they were attracting.

….

Minho looked around him in disdain. Kanji had brought him to a small streetside burger joint for lunch. The place was not so crowded but Minho was attracting a lot of attention for his formal attire. It was small and served only a few customers. There was a counter upfront where Kanji had placed an order for a double sized cheeseburger with extra meat and cheese with jalapenos and cola while Minho only asked for a tomato salad.

Other than them, there were only five or six other customers who were ogling at Minho. He tried to ignore their stares.

"This looks very unhygienic," Minho commented, scrunching his nose.

"Relax!" Kanji assured him. "The food is great! Let's order soju!"

"I don't drink during the day."

Kanji snorted and muttered, "Killjoy."

An elderly waitress brought their orders and placed them on the table. Kanji pounced on his burger, taking a large bite.

"Mmmm…"

It was cheesy and greasy, exactly up to his taste. "You don't know what you're missing," Kanji said, feeling peaceful. Minho shook his head and kept on eating his salad with a fork and knife. Unlike Kanji, he preferred to eat neatly and properly.

The bell on the entrance dinged as a new customer walked in. The other customers stopped eating and stared at the new entrant. Kanji, who was facing the front door, gaped as the new customer walked in.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed. Minho frowned and turned to floor his gaze. His eyes widened in shock.

Gayoon stood there, her clothes all bloodied and dirtied with mud. Her pale face was soiled by dirt.

She ignored all the customers and looked straight ahead not even noticing the two gorgeous men sitting at the corner. Instead she charged towards the counter where the elderly waitress gaped at her in shock.

"Ahjumma, you're under arrest for murder," Gayoon announced.