Chapter 122 - Alike Minds

KJ looked around his house in misery. Last night, even though the others had cleaned up the place before leaving, they had misplaced some of the furniture. The couch was ten degrees south from its original spot while the dining table was twelve degrees north. His house plants, which usually stood on the windowsill, were kept on the coffee table instead. Even though these seemed like minor transgressions, for a perfectionist like KJ these were travesty.

Unfortunately, his muscles were still not well enough to do any heavy lifting. While he could do light stretching, heavy workouts were completely out of the question.

Cursing Madam Hong in his head, he proceeded to put the house plants back to their rightful places. He then whipped up a quick breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and orange juice. He also took out a Jade's bowl and poured cat food in it. As soon as he put it down, the cat rushed over to gobble its meal. Undoubtedly it was very hungry; KJ had woken up very late and it was almost afternoon.

"You must have been starving," he mumbled, petting the cat. He missed Jade's company. It was still difficult to process that Jade was the spirit of his unborn son. The image of Mirae's mangled body, lying on the ground still haunted his dreams. The only assurance he got was from the fact that he inadvertently saved her from such a cruel fate…

Ding!

KJ broke away from his reverie. Someone was at the door. 

"Open the door, KJ!" Mirae's voice came through.

Surprised by her sudden visit, he opened the door.

"Do you need-" KJ started to ask but she barged in.

"Are you having lunch?" she asked.

"Brunch," he corrected her. "I just woke up."

"Good, make me some," she beamed at him hopefully. 

"Where's Ash?" he frowned. "Didn't he stay over?"

"He did," she said. "He made breakfast and even left the lunch in the fridge before he went to the studio but…"

"But what?"

"I ended up overheating the lasagna and it got burnt," she said sheepishly. KJ managed to suppress his laughter. Typical Mirae, he mused.

"And I'm a lousy cook," she went on.

"How did you survive all these years without cooking?" he snickered. 

"Knicked food from Heroine or Riggs," she said, settling on his dining table. "Or had Psycho deliver me food. After I moved in here, there is this ahjumma across the street who makes amazing food so I used to go over to her. But she's sick today and since you can cook, here I am!"

She smiled at him, batting her eyes hopefully. "Alright," he groaned outwardly. Inwardly, he was glad to get a chance to cook for her again.

He chopped up some onions while the oil heated on a pan. Spreading the onions on the hot oil, he diced some chicken. Once the onions turned brown, he poured the chicken in it and sprayed salt over it. He took out some cooked rice from the fridge and poured it on the mixture. He then took out a bowl, whisking in it some eggs and milk. Taking out another pan, he heated more oil and poured the egg mixture in it.

Once it was partially fried, he sprayed the chicken and rice onto the omelette. Using a spatula, he rolled the egg over the rice mixture and flipped it, waiting for it to finish cooking. Taking out a plate, he poured some ketchup on it and held the plate over Mirae, who was looking at him in awe.

"I want that," she drooled, reaching out for it.

"Not so fast," KJ said sternly pushing her away. "I seem to recall that someone once kicked me out of her house and never apologized."

"You were disturbing something," she replied distractedly, still trying to reach for the plate but he was too tall. 

"If you want this, you'll need to apologize," he said smugly. If there was one thing Mirae could not let go of, it was food.

She debated for a while but the delicious smell of omurice made her stomach growl.

"Fine!" she conceded. "I'm sorry for kicking you out that day. Besides, we're friends now. So I can entertain you and the others at my place once in a while. I won't cook though!"

"That'll do," KJ said triumphantly, handing Mirae the plate, who immediately pounced on it with a pair of chopsticks. 

"Tasty…" she complimented with her mouth full. "Needs salt though."

She reached out for a shaker on the table. KJ, who was taking a bite out of his scrambled eggs, immediately stopped her.

"That's pepper!" he exclaimed. "You're allergic to it."

"Huh?" Mirae frowned. "How did you know I'm allergic to pepper?"

Oh damn!" KJ cursed himself. How was he going to explain this? 

"How did you know I'm allergic to pepper?" she asked again. "I don't recall telling you this information."

"Ash told me," he calmly lied. "He once mentioned in passing that you're allergic to it."

He pretended to concentrate on his breakfast. She was still looking at him suspiciously.

"But why are you really here?" he asked, changing the subject. He knew she had visited him for a reason other than lunch. Mirae noticed his anxiety but did not comment.

"I've had my men fish out information," she said. "It seems like Teppei is one of Ziko's inner members. However, Ziko himself is merely one of the main puppets of the Cartel. Or to be precise, he was one of the puppets of the Cartel."

"Was?" KJ frowned. "What do you mean?"

"How to put this?" Mirae wondered as she scooped up more omurice into her mouth. "The Cartel is cracking from the inside. No one knows who the real mastermind behind its creation is. But it also seems like the Cartel members themselves don't know who their boss is. All this time, he had been hiding behind the shadows, controlling everything."

"All this time, the system worked," she continued. "The boss was behind the scenes, gathering a large army without revealing his face. But Ziko's faction got too restless. They were in it for the money first but now they want control. Cracks are opening up and the Cartel's owner can no longer control him."

"But then why isn't he doing something about Ziko?" KJ pointed out. "My experience with the Cartel taught me a few things. Firstly, whoever this owner is, he seems to have a very deep history with my grandfather. Some sort of unresolved grudge. Otherwise why would he keep on targeting my family?"

"Secondly," he said. "The Cartel isn't kind to traitors. If Ziko really is coveting the top spot, then why is the owner of the Cartel letting him do whatever he wants? And lastly, why now? The Cartel did not chase me for many years after I entered the showbiz. Why are they targeting me now?"

His questions put Mirae into deep thought. She too had wondered many times what the Cartel was after and why they suddenly decided to target KJ again after so many years. 

"I don't know about the last two questions," she finally said. "But if we dig deep, we can find the answer to the first one at least."

"We need to find out what happened between your grandfather and the Cartel," she reasoned. "The Cartel was definitely formed by one of his enemies. The main question is, who is it?"

"My grandfather had many enemies," KJ said in dismay. "Everyone wanted him dead."

"But this person wants the entire Kwon family line to be wiped out," Mirae said, leaning forward. "Which means, his hatred is rooted deep. He doesn't want to kill you. He wants to destroy you."

Her words sent a shiver down his spine. He recalled the events of the original timeline. The Cartel had targeted Mirae of that timeline and even tried to forcibly abort their child. Which meant, simply killing KJ was not enough for them. They wanted the Kwon family line wiped out.

"Is there any way we can find out what happened in your grandfather's past?" Mirae demanded. "There must be something. A photo album, notebook, database. Anything?"

"He never discussed business with me," KJ shook his head. "He knew I hated being the heir to his empire. Which is why he never forced me into following his footsteps."

"But there must be something," Mirae asked in a frustrated tone. "Think KJ. He must have mentioned some story. A friend who turned foe or some kind of betrayal. Anything?"

KJ thought hard but his mind was blank. He tried to skim through the memories he had recently acquired. Then it hit him.

"Yes…" he replied in a daze. "There might be something."

"What is it?" Mirae asked curiously.

KJ wanted to slap himself hard. How could he have forgotten such a crucial piece of information?

"My parents," KJ said. "They were killed by the Cartel's men. If we find their killers, we may be able to track down the main culprit."

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