The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 5

Im Soon-kyung sighed and picked up the radio.

“Soonnet dispatching.”

-Soonnet dispatching

It had been about an hour, not months like before. But, as they say, humans are creatures of adaptation. Even though it was only the second time, Shin Hae-soo quickly gathered his thoughts and tried to assess the situation.

‘What should I do? Should I go straight to that karaoke place? No, he must have checked around here before going there. It would be a disaster if I went ahead and he saw us first and slipped away.’

Hae-soo, as before, checked the CCTV footage of the victim and the kidnapper and relayed the route to the violent crimes unit. This was the start of the full-scale search.

“That way.”

“Yes?”

Im Soon-kyung questioned Hae-soo, who shouldn’t know this area, about giving directions.

Hae-soo wanted to say ‘gut feeling’ but stopped himself, thinking he would sound crazy, and chose a more plausible excuse.

“Assuming the criminal doesn’t have a car, he would have gone to a place that’s neither too close nor too far from the scene of the disappearance, and not easily noticeable. Is there a karaoke place down that alleyway?”

“Oh… yes, is this… criminal psychology… or something?”

“Yes, I have to study to catch the criminal… let’s go.”

“Yes.”

They arrived in front of the karaoke place where he had encountered the criminal before. Hae-soo stopped as he was about to open the car door.

“Do you have a gun?”

“Yes? Ah, I have a taser.”

“Take it out and bring it.”

“…Yes.”

Im Soon-kyung took out the taser with a doubtful expression.

Hae-soo entered the secluded underground karaoke place and immediately addressed the owner.

“We are searching for a kidnapper. Please cooperate. Lock the door and wait outside. Quickly.”

“Huh? Huh?”

Although he didn’t raise his voice, the karaoke owner, sensing the intense atmosphere, answered dazedly and got up.

Hae-soo didn’t even open the room doors but pretended to look at the small windows and said to Im Soon-kyung.

“There’s a back door. Im Soon-kyung, wait at the back door. With the taser.”

“…Yes.”

Im Soon-kyung couldn’t understand Hae-soo’s actions, which seemed as if he knew the criminal was already here, but he was intimidated by the energy he exuded and followed him silently.

Swish

The room where the criminal came out before; you can’t properly see who’s inside through the small window.

Because it’s not transparent glass, but semi-transparent glass with diagonal lines like a bathroom window.

However, it couldn’t block the sound.

Slap! Slap!

-Hey, you bitch, stay still!

Hae-soo immediately burst open the door. He saw the victim lying on the karaoke sofa and a man on top of her, slapping her.

The man, with his hand raised, stopped and slowly turned around.

“What the fuck!!”

Tadatadak

Seeing Hae-soo, he distorted his face like a demon and reached inside his clothes. Something sharp was visible.

Hae-soo quickly stepped on the table and ran, kicking his face with his toe.

Thud! Bang!

The criminal hit his head hard on the sofa and bounced off, collapsing on the table.

Hae-soo grabbed his hair and dragged him to the entrance, throwing him down and twisting his arm.

Snap

“Ugh!”

The criminal, who had fainted, regained consciousness from the pain of the bone breaking and screamed. In his right hand was an awl.

The same size as the hole in the woman’s neck he saw before.

Click clack

Hae-soo stepped on the man’s back and handcuffed him.

“I’m arresting you as a flagrant offender on charges of attempted kidnapping, rape, and assault. If you exercise your right to remain silent, I’ll tear your mouth apart.”

“C, Chief Shin…”

Im Soon-kyung, who was guarding the back door, came over at the loud noise and stared with wide eyes. Hae-soo pointed to the victim with his chin.

“Call it in. Call an ambulance too.”

“Yes, yes… This is Soonnet, Sunrise Karaoke, we’ve apprehended the kidnapper…”

At the news that the kidnapper had been caught, not only the detectives but also the police officers searching nearby came to watch.

“Hey, his face is a mess?”

“You broke his arm too… won’t there be any repercussions?”

At the police officers’ worries, a detective with a sharp impression shook his head.

“He deserves to be beaten to death. This bastard was released from prison two days ago. Convicted of rape and murder, he served 10 years for diminished responsibility back then, but it wasn’t enough. He should rot for the rest of his life now.”

“Ah…”

“He brought an awl to kill again. It’s fortunate we caught him before anything big happened. You saved a life. Good job.”

“Good job.”

The detective stared at Hae-soo intently, shook his hand, and took the criminal away.

The victim, who was still not fully conscious, was taken by ambulance to the hospital.

In the patrol car heading to the police station, Im Soon-kyung narrowed his brows and tilted his head silently, then turned his head sharply when they stopped at a light. His face was serious.

“How did you get it right in one go? Did you see it in criminal psychology? Or is it a detective’s intuition?”

Hae-soo was troubled. He already had a headache, and he knew this question would come, but how should he answer? If he said he saw it in the future, he would be considered insane.

Then, the most suitable reason came to mind.

“I was lucky.”

“Ah, ah…”

Im Soon-kyung was stunned, blinked a couple of times, and then looked forward again.

When they returned to the police station, the team leader came out and grabbed Hae-soo’s shoulders.

“Wow, you’re amazing, probably because you’re from the detective division, catching a murderer on your first day of work. Thank you for your hard work. I’ll try to handle the excessive force issue from the drunkard earlier. Go home quickly.”

“Thank you.”

Hae-soo changed into casual clothes and got into his car, immediately letting out a long sigh.

It was a long day. He went on more than twenty dispatches, went back to the past and caught a murderer, and saved a life.

‘How is this happening…’

The police officers leaving work glanced at Hae-soo’s car. More precisely, they looked at Hae-soo inside.

Even though it was his first day at work, he had made the police station noisy with excessive force and the arrest of a rape-murderer.

Hae-soo, feeling the attention, drove his car towards home.

A neat studio apartment 10 minutes away from the police station by car, a newly rented monthly studio apartment he got when he came to Gangjin City.

Splash splash

He washed his face in the bathroom and looked in the mirror, then raised both hands.

The sensation of blocking the victim’s neck with these hands, where blood was gushing out, was still vivid. It’s definitely not a dream or a vision.

Going back to the past, not just once, but twice.

Hae-soo slowly recalled that time and thought of the commonalities between the two incidents.

Assault or murder, desperation… the scene?

Just desperation alone isn’t enough. There must be an incident involved.

And time, the first time it was a few months, this time it goes back to about an hour before the incident at the scene.

Hae-soo went to sleep thinking about trying again tomorrow.

***

The next day, he went to work at the police station and was preparing for work when a young woman wearing a neat dress came in.

Usually, only people who are drunk and can’t control their bodies come, so her appearance attracted attention.

A police officer approached her with a kind smile.

“What brings you here?”

She checked the police officer’s name tag, looked away, and looked around before asking.

“Is Detective Shin Hae-soo… here?”

“Ah…”

Even though he had only worked for a day, all the team members knew Shin Hae-soo’s name.

Hae-soo turned his head and looked at her. He had only seen her eyes closed, but he knew who it was right away. It was the female college student who almost had a big accident yesterday.

“This is Shin Hae-soo.”

“Ah, thank you for yesterday!”

The female college student bowed 90 degrees, her greeting loud enough for everyone at the police station to hear.

“I just did what I had to do.”

“Yes, yes…”

She didn’t leave and just stood in front of Hae-soo with her head slightly bowed. She was fiddling with the paper bag she was holding carefully with both hands, not even handing it over.

Hae-soo asked calmly.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Ah, that’s…”

Hae-soo didn’t realize it, but quite a few eyes were on them. Not only police officers but also civilians.

The team leader called Hae-soo and gestured with his chin.

“Detective Shin, it’s okay, go out and have a conversation. You shouldn’t be so stiff with someone who came to thank you.”

“Ah, yes, let’s go out.”

Hae-soo left the police station headquarters with her.

Other police officers muttered as they watched their backs.

“Those were the days. Young and youthful.”

“It looks good.”

“What? She just came to say thank you, why are you talking like they’re dating or something?”

“I know, those old guys are always like that…”

A shelter in a corner of the police station parking lot.

It’s a shelter with four benches and wooden pillars, and a leafy ceiling above to protect from rain and sunlight.

As soon as she sat down, she handed Hae-soo the paper bag. Inside were milk and sandwiches.

“…I didn’t buy many, but there were more police officers than I thought, so I couldn’t give them inside.”

“Ah, you don’t have to give me things like this.”

“Please accept it. I was really… grateful yesterday.”

A thank you with a trembling end; you can feel the sincerity. Even though Hae-soo has been a police officer for 7 years, his heart fluttered as if he had returned to his early years when he received such thanks.

Hae-soo looked at her slightly. The swelling had subsided, but there were scratches on her cheek from the criminal’s fingernails.

“You should only drink enough alcohol to control your body.”

At Hae-soo’s advice, she hit her thigh with her fist and muttered.

“Ah, I don’t usually drink that much, but I failed the exam…”

A person who almost had a big accident has a pretty confident expression. It’s a relief that she’s brighter than I thought.

There are plenty of crimes if you’re at the police station, but how many times will an ordinary person experience something like this in their lifetime?

Nevertheless, the fact that she can have a bright expression in just one day means that there is hope that it will not remain a trauma.

“Please be careful in the future.”

“…Yes.”

She quickly makes a sullen expression.

Then, her eyes changed slightly and she touched her neck.

“But… it’s a bit strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“I… thought I was going to die. I was stabbed here and here with an awl, but when I woke up, there were no scars and nothing like that happened. It felt so real…”

Hae-soo’s eyes widened. Does the person in that overlapping space-time also retain the memories of that time?

Confused and unable to say anything, she smiled awkwardly and waved her hand.

“I’m sorry. I said something too out of the blue, right? Anyway, thank you so much for saving me.”

“Ah… no. It’s my job.”

Silence fell again. She was quiet too, and Hae-soo had nothing to say, so he got up from his seat. He took the paper bag she gave him.

“I’m on duty, so I’ll be going now, take care.”

“Yes, go, go!”

She clenched both hands and raised them up and down towards Hae-soo.

Hae-soo was embarrassed by the gesture. He couldn’t think of how to respond for a moment.

After thinking about it, he decided to respond with a similar pose.

He was embarrassed to take this pose, so he gritted his teeth and raised one hand and clenched his fist tightly. He was holding a paper bag in one hand, so this pose was the best he could do.

However, her face turned pale when she saw that. She bowed and quickly left the police station.

It was fleeting, but fear was reflected on her face.

‘It’s going to be hard to overcome in just one day, especially since that memory is overlapping…’

Hae-soo misunderstood on his own and entered the police station headquarters. And he recalled what she had said. But the incident didn’t wait for him to sort out his thoughts.

-This is Baekhana, a student reporting near the Baekha Apartment playground in Yongsu-dong.

A student report usually refers to delinquent students engaging in smoking, drinking, loud noises, etc.

Im Soon-kyung, who happened to be Hae-soo’s partner and team leader, was the youngest of the team leaders.

Therefore, Im Soon-kyung got up quickly before the team leader could even speak and received the call.

“Soonnet dispatching.”

At the playground that Im Soon-kyung arrived at, there were about six students wearing school uniforms sitting in the gazebo, openly smoking.

When I got closer, I saw that they had properly spread out newspapers in the gazebo and placed soju [Korean distilled spirit] bottles and snacks on top.

Three male students and two female students; one female student was sitting on a male student’s lap, and the male student was tightly wrapping his arms around her waist.

‘These kids are really fast these days.’

“Oh, it’s a police officer.”

“Wow- it’s the police.”

The students extinguished the cigarettes they were smoking with exaggerated gestures and sat down obediently.

Hae-soo scanned them with dry eyes and asked, fixing his gaze on the soju.

“Where did you buy the alcohol and cigarettes?”

At Hae-soo’s question, a female student made a flower 받침 [flower 받침 is a Korean gesture where someone cups their hands around their face like a flower] and answered brightly.

“Of course~ I stole it from my dad, right?”

“They brought it all from their house. Their house runs a convenience store.”

“Shut up, you bitch, hehe anyway, we were wrong. We won’t make any noise, we’ll clean this up neatly, and we’ll leave right away. Please forgive us just this once. Okay?”

As if they had all made a promise, they sat down in a row in the correct posture and waited for Hae-soo’s answer. Seeing that, Im Soon-kyung said to Hae-soo in a small voice.

“I don’t think they’re going to cause any big trouble, so how about just taking their information and sending them home?”

Im Soon-kyung is the team leader because Hae-soo is a rookie, but in just one day, Im Soon-kyung naturally gave Hae-soo the decision-making power.

Gangjin City has more reports to deal with than just these guys. There are also many people, so we need to call one more 순마 [patrol car], so Hae-soo was going to do as Im Soon-kyung said.

Swish

At that moment, Hae-soo’s eyes sparkled. He slowly approached the female student who had made the flower 받침 and squatted down in front of her.

“Huh? Why? Do you want to see here?”

The female student pointed to the inside of her skirt with her index finger and smiled playfully. The corners of her mouth trembled slightly. At this age, they mistakenly believe that looking cheap makes them look strong.

Hae-soo still waved his hand to the side with dry eyes.

“Move.”

“What? You want me to spread my legs? This cop is crazy! Hey, are you recording? Kyaa!”

Hae-soo pushed her and the male student next to her, separating them.

Then, someone was visible under the gazebo, hidden by their legs.

A female student with a dirt-stained school uniform and scarred legs.

< #5. I was lucky. > End