The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 14

‘I am a time-traveling psychic.’

I can’t just blurt that out, can I?

Shin Hae-soo was deep in thought.

He seemed to recognize that what Secretary Gu experienced wasn’t a dream or hallucination, but Hae-soo directly admitting it would change everything.

No matter how kind Secretary Gu is, he’s fundamentally someone who handles money.

People change countless times when power and money are involved. An angel can turn into a devil in an instant.

If I tell him about my ability and he believes me, this good person might change, wanting to use me in any way possible. It’s a path that could ruin him as well.

On the other hand, what are the advantages? Nothing comes to mind right now. Even if something does, it won’t outweigh the potential risks.

I should keep it a secret that only I know for the rest of my life.

“You may experience post-traumatic amnesia. A victim in a case I recently handled had a similar experience. If the accident was severe, it seems the brain creates extreme situations.”

“…Ah, um…”

“You’ll be fine in a few days. If you’re asked to explain your actions, just say you saw a car driving in reverse while you were on your way to a lead building, and it looked dangerous, so you jumped in.”

Secretary Gu stared into Hae-soo’s unwavering eyes and nodded as if he had made up his mind.

“I understand. Whatever answer you give, one fact remains unchanged. Mr. Shin saved me. I will dedicate this second life to Mr. Shin!”

“Please don’t. It’s burdensome.”

“Trust me. I will do my best to make you rich!”

“Just eat your ramen. It’s all soggy.”

“Yes!”

Slurp, slurp.

Hae-soo and Secretary Gu slurped up the broth and swallowed the bloated ramen in one gulp.

That night.

Hae-soo lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Secretary Gu is particularly smart and has a good memory, but there’s no guarantee that this won’t happen again in the future. Then how should I deal with it?

A reset is only an hour, and that hour is a situation where every minute and second is crucial. I have to concentrate all my attention and rack my brain to save the target.

But in the midst of that, I have to act so that my ability isn’t suspected?

‘This won’t do.’

Hae-soo blinked. What if time is delayed because I’m worried about this and the target dies?

The guilt would be indescribable.

Even now, after the reset, there are two lives I missed, and since then, every night when I close my eyes, that situation comes to mind, and I simulate countless scenarios, thinking, ‘Could I have saved them if I had done this? What if I had done that?’ I developed insomnia.

What comforts me is that ‘I did my best.’ If I didn’t even have that, I would collapse.

‘Let’s just focus on saving people.’

***

The next day.

Shin Hae-soo woke up early in the morning, put on his running clothes, and ran along the promenade that stretched along the stream.

Today was his day off, so he was trying to complete a two-hour run for the first time in a while, but he stopped when the stab wound throbbed as he neared the finish.

‘It’s uncomfortable.’

It healed quickly in my early twenties, but it was a pity that my recovery wasn’t the same as before as I got older.

Some blood is also seeping out. Hae-soo grabbed the affected area and headed home.

At that moment, a call came from an unknown number.

“This is Police Officer Shin Hae-soo.”

-This is Ahn Seo-eun. Is it a good time to talk?

A calm and restrained tone, and a clean and pleasant voice, giving off the feeling of an announcer.

“Yes, it’s fine.”

-I have something to tell you in person. When would be a good time for you?

Why would a daughter of a conglomerate want to meet a police officer? Especially a low-level police officer like me, Hae-soo couldn’t think of a positive reason.

However, recalling her actions in front of the hospital, he had a feeling that she wouldn’t approach him with bad intentions.

“I’m available now.”

At Hae-soo’s answer, a pleasant, light laugh was heard over the receiver. Now she seems a bit more human.

-You’re so cool. Where should we go?

“Yes, this is…”

A little later, the convenience store in front of Hae-soo’s house.

A luxury foreign car that doesn’t fit in with this neighborhood is parked in front of the convenience store.

Hae-soo and Ahn Seo-eun were sitting facing each other at the convenience store’s outdoor table. A handkerchief that Chief Kang had laid out was placed on her chair, and Chief Kang was standing behind her, fidgeting.

Hae-soo simply stuck a straw in a banana milk and pushed it towards her.

“Thank you. I should be buying you something.”

“It’s two plus one [a common promotion in Korean convenience stores], so it’s okay.”

“Two plus… yes.”

Seo-eun looked at the straw for a moment, glanced at Hae-soo, put her red lips to the straw, and took a sip of the banana milk.

Surprisingly, no lipstick smudged on the straw.

“I’ve been trying to think of a reason why the director would meet this low-level police officer. But I can’t think of anything. What brings you here?”

“You’re very direct. Chief Kim, who was next to me at the time, was a relatively skilled bodyguard who held a team leader position at Daesung Guard. But Officer Shin Hae-soo easily subdued the troublemaker who pushed him away helplessly.”

“It wasn’t easy, though it was a short time. He was a particularly strong guy.”

Ahn Seo-eun smiled slightly and looked Hae-soo straight in the eye. Her eyes sparkled like before.

“I would like to hire Shin Hae-soo as my personal bodyguard. I will provide a satisfactory annual salary.”

A satisfactory annual salary, since Ahn Seo-eun is personally scouting, it would be at least 100 million won [approximately $75,000 USD, a significant sum in Korea].

Since the Daesung Group’s headquarters is in the dangerous Gangjin City, bodyguards are essential, but it has been difficult to find trustworthy and skilled people. Most of them are just gangsters who have done a little exercise.

Hae-soo didn’t answer immediately but drank the banana milk and remained silent.

Thud.

He put the empty milk, which he had drunk in one go, on the table, and only then did Hae-soo open his mouth.

“Do you catch a lot of bad guys when you’re next to Ms. Ahn Seo-eun?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not a police officer to make money, but to catch a lot of bad guys. I don’t need money.”

“Ah… am I being rejected?”

“Maybe.”

She smiled slightly. Her reaction to having her offer rejected was too sophisticated.

“I can’t help it. Taking someone like Mr. Shin out of the police force would be a great loss to national security.”

She shrugged her shoulders and took out a gold envelope from her handbag and pushed it towards Hae-soo.

“This is a gift I was originally going to give you, so I’ll leave it here. I put a lot of thought into it, so I hope you like it.”

“Something like this…”

“It’s not money.”

Hae-soo tilted his head and opened it on the spot. It was a donation certificate to an orphanage. 100 million won in Shin Hae-soo’s name.

“Hmm…”

Ahn Seo-eun smiled at Hae-soo’s ambiguous expression.

“I thought a lot about it, and I think I’ve succeeded halfway. Then I’ll be going. I’ll see you again next time.”

“Next time… Yes, I’ll take the gift. Please go in.”

She showed a more comfortable smile, as if she felt relieved that her offer had been rejected. Then, she took an elegant step and left the convenience store.

For a moment, the convenience store felt like a high-end restaurant.

‘I heard that the third generation of chaebols [family-owned conglomerates] are loved a lot and grow up without any rough edges, I guess that’s true.’

Although each chaebol is at opposite extremes, Ahn Seo-eun’s words and actions, the first chaebol Hae-soo has met other than the clumsy nouveau riche, were enough to break the prejudice against chaebols.

“Ah.”

Just before the car door closed, Hae-soo seemed to have something to say, and Ahn Seo-eun, who quickly caught on to this, stopped Chief Kang from closing the door.

“And I recommend rehiring that friend named Chief Kim. The opponent was bad, but his response wasn’t bad. Even if I wasn’t there, Ms. Ahn Seo-eun wouldn’t have been seriously injured.”

“Hmm… I’ll consider that. Thank you for your words. Then.”

Hae-soo watched the back of Ahn Seo-eun’s car for a moment, then turned his gaze away and cleaned up the trash on the outdoor table.

*

On the way back in the car, Ahn Seo-eun looked at that figure in the side mirror.

“He’s a true police officer. Right?”

“Yes, it would be great if there were more police officers like Mr. Shin Hae-soo.”

Chief Kang was freshly shocked that Hae-soo had handed him a banana milk. In a good way.

“Chief, didn’t you dislike Mr. Shin Hae-soo?”

Chief Kang was startled and strongly denied it.

“Me? No? You’ll be punished if you hate the police.”

Ahn Seo-eun covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then looked out the window.

‘A true police officer, huh…’

***

“No, I’m telling you I’ll pay! Take the card! Do I have to give you cash???!”

“You don’t have to pay, so please sit down. And take your card, what is this card, Yu-Gi-Oh? [a popular trading card game]”

“No, this old woman made a pass at me first, you know?”

“What do you mean I look like an old woman, you old geezer!”

Shin Hae-soo returned to his daily life. The police box still reeks of alcohol.

Hae-soo took a breather after sitting a drunken woman on a chair in the police box with Officer Lim.

“Oh my, there are a lot of reports of drunk violence today.”

“Alcohol is the enemy.”

-This is Baek Hana, a report of drunk violence in Yongsu-dong.

“Sigh, sending Soonnet [a police dispatch system].”

As soon as he arrived, there was another report of a drunken rampage. Hae-soo answered on the radio and immediately took off.

On the way to the location transmitted from the situation room, he saw that the narrow two-lane road was blocked. It was strange because there were no traffic lights nearby.

“What is it, looks like there’s been an accident.”

Several cars were tangled in the middle, completely blocking both lanes. An ambulance and a taxi were also visible there.

A middle-aged man, who appeared to be a taxi driver, came out and shouted at the ambulance driver, pointing his finger.

“There was an accident! You crossed the center line! Where are you trying to run off to?”

“We have an emergency patient, so we need to go quickly. Please understand. Let’s talk after we come back.”

“Emergency patient? Haha, that’s funny, I’ll take responsibility if the patient dies, so call 119 [Korean emergency number, similar to 911] and send them! Do you think I haven’t dealt with private ambulances before? I know everything! You don’t have an emergency medical technician in your car, so you’re trying to go quickly, right?”

“We have one. Please move.”

“You have one? Haha, I need to check, you scammer.”

Even if you only listened to the conversation for a moment, you could understand the situation. There was no need to understand the situation; if there was an ambulance and a patient, the priority was obvious.

Hae-soo deviated from the lane, passed the car in front, and said.

“Officer Lim, hold on tight.”

“Yes? Yes!”

Vroom, vroom, crash!

Hae-soo’s patrol car boldly crashed into the taxi. The taxi driver, who was outside, was startled and fell on his butt.

Crash!

And once more, only then did the taxi deviate from the lane and completely pushed out of the road.

“What, what are you doing, you crazy police bastard!!!”

Hae-soo ignored the barking taxi driver, pulled the car back, and said to the ambulance driver.

“Go ahead.”

“Ah… yes! Thank you!”

As the ambulance driver tried to get into the car, the taxi driver followed with gritted teeth.

“Hey! Where are you going- Keuk!”

Hae-soo got out of the car, grabbed the taxi driver by the collar, and dragged him to the corner. He didn’t care about the black box or cell phone filming.

“Let’s talk, mister.”

< #14. Ambulance > End