The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 105

105. Suspects

“Hmm….”

The call was abruptly cut off. When he called back, the phone was switched off.

As Shin Hae-soo stared blankly at his phone, the team leader offered a few consoling words.

“That guy has a terrible personality. Well, who among them doesn’t?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

He wanted to leave someone like that alone, but if an accident happened, the police would be blamed. Hae-soo immediately requested the location tracking of Gu Gwang-heon’s cell phone from the intelligence department and called the other person, Park Seo-young. She still didn’t answer the phone.

“Didn’t you say Park Seo-young is married?”

“Oh, I think so. Her husband’s number should be there too, right?”

“Yes.”

Hae-soo called Park Seo-young’s husband and finally got through. Unlike Gu Gwang-heon, he asked calmly.

-So, you’re saying my wife is in danger for some reason? And you’re a detective now.

“Yes, I’m currently heading to the address listed in the background check record. I’ll be there in 5 minutes. If you are away from Park Seo-young, please stay put, even if it’s just you, her husband.”

-Ha… Okay, come on over. I’m at home, so let’s go find her together.

Park Seo-young wasn’t at home, but her husband was there instead. The husband told them to follow his car, and their destination was an orphanage called House of Hope.

“Kyaa! I’m going to Auntie!”

“Auntie Seo-young is running away!”

“Kids, just a minute, just a minute, let’s finish this and play together.”

“No! Let’s play together, Auntie!”

A woman without makeup was hanging laundry on the clothesline, playfully running away from the children. She seemed very close to them, as if she had been there for a long time.

“Is that… her?”

“Yes, she’s been coming here since before she got married.”

The children froze at the appearance of three adult men, but Park Seo-young recognized her husband and approached him.

“Honey? Who are these people…”

With the children watching, the team leader smiled as kindly as possible and said.

“Yes, hello, Park Seo-young. I’m Kwak Soo-cheol, the team leader of the Chungnam Metropolitan Investigation Unit. Can we talk for a moment?”

“Metropolitan Investigation Unit…”

Surprisingly, Park Seo-young had already told her husband about her past before they got married. She was shocked to hear from the team leader that other people had been murdered.

The husband also became very serious and held Park Seo-young’s hand tightly.

“…In the end, I’ll be punished. Me too.”

“No, what are you saying, honey? You’ve been regretting and atoning your whole life, right? It won’t come, it won’t come to us. Even if it does, no one can hurt you. I’ll protect you.”

“No… If you get hurt because of me… I can’t live. But… I’m scared, what should I do?”

The husband hugged Seo-young’s head and trembled as he spoke.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. That’s why the detectives came like this; nothing will happen.”

Hae-soo felt complicated as he looked at the couple.

She had committed an unforgivable sin in the past, but she had been atoning for it her whole life. Is it right to punish her? What choice will the culprit make?

It doesn’t matter what choice he makes. I have to stop him. That’s all I can think about.

“We have to make sure nothing happens. To do that, we need your active cooperation. First, did you receive the video from that time?”

Seo-young glanced at her husband and nodded.

“Has anyone related to that incident in the past come to see you?”

“No… there wasn’t.”

After talking with Park Seo-young, they learned a new fact: she was quite close to the victim, the female student. However, the female student fell out of favor with the group, and Seo-young bullied her to survive.

Unlike the others, they had heard testimony that Seo-young was not close to the group.

After the female student died, Seo-young suffered from extreme guilt and continued to live a life of atonement by helping people in need.

“I recommend that you stay somewhere other than your home until the culprit is caught, and receive personal protection from the local police station. Just let us know your location, and we’ll make the request.”

“Yes, I’ll talk to my husband…”

“Yes, then…”

Hae-soo and the team leader turned away, leaving the couple leaning on each other.

The team leader, who had boarded the car, tilted his head, staring at Park Seo-young as if her current appearance was quite shocking.

“Is she really… atoning for her sins?”

“I don’t believe that people change, but it’s not easy to fake it for over 10 years.”

“That’s true.”

The team leader put the gear in drive and stepped on the accelerator.

“I wonder if Oh Gyeong met him? He’s not saying anything.”

“Shall we call him?”

“No, I don’t want to bother him. He’ll contact us when he’s done.”

“Yes.”

* * *

A store with a reddish glow; the smell of blood stimulated the tip of the nose as they opened the door.

“Welcome.”

Oh Gyeong glanced at the carcass of a cow hanging on one side of the store and asked the man who greeted him.

“Are you Kang Jin?”

When a man he had never seen knew his name, he gave him a slightly wary look. At the sight, Oh Gyeong showed his police badge in his wallet.

“I’m a police officer. Can I talk to you for a moment?”

At the mention of the police, a middle-aged man inside came out. He seemed to be the boss.

“What’s the police doing here? Jin-ah, did you do something wrong?”

“What do you mean? I’m not a kid.”

“Yes, he didn’t do anything wrong. Can I talk to Kang Jin for a moment?”

“Ask him.”

Oh Gyeong and Kang Jin faced each other again, and Kang Jin turned around and plopped down at a table in the corner. He didn’t even offer Oh Gyeong and the youngest [junior officer] a seat.

“What’s going on?”

Oh Gyeong narrowed his eyes when he saw a large wound between Kang Jin’s index finger and thumb.

“How did you get that wound?”

Kang Jin paused, then stroked the wound with his hand and said.

“I haven’t been working here long, so I’m still clumsy.”

“Ah, I see. It’s not easy to handle a knife. What did you do before that?”

“Well, this and that… Do I have to tell you that too?”

Annoyance and displeasure seeped into Kang Jin’s eyes.

Oh Gyeong shrugged his shoulders.

He seemed to be defensive in general.

“No. I was just curious, because you look fit.”

“Yes.”

Oh Gyeong explained why he had come to see Kang Jin. Everyone who received the video had been attacked, and four out of five had died.

Even with the news that his friends had died, and the fact that he himself could be a target next, he wasn’t very surprised or scared.

“…So, you’re saying I should request personal protection?”

“Yes, it’s best to take a break from work for a while until the case is closed and request personal protection in an area where the culprit is hard to find.”

“I can’t take a break from work because of a guy who might come someday. What happens if I request personal protection? Will the police follow me around 24 hours a day?”

“Ah… no. That’s impossible, but the local police station and the precinct will periodically patrol the radius of activity that Kang Jin has informed them of 24 hours a day, and if you shake the personal protection smartwatch they gave you, they will immediately dispatch to Kang Jin’s location.”

Kang Jin nodded slowly.

“That’s a pretty meaningful system. Did the other friends request personal protection?”

Oh Gyeong paused. There were only three people alive, and he didn’t even know how the other two besides Kang Jin were doing.

But sometimes a white lie is necessary.

“Yes, they all requested personal protection and said they only live within their radius of activity.”

“Okay. I’ll apply. Thank you for your concern.”

After parting with Kang Jin and getting into the car, Oh Gyeong tilted his head, looking at the butcher shop.

“Ah, something, something is similar…”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t remember well… Ah! The counselor, it was similar to the counselor.”

“Yes? The counselor? Are you talking about that person’s tone?”

The youngest couldn’t relate at all and asked back. Then Oh Gyeong shook his head.

“No, not the tone, the feeling. My TV broke a few days ago, and I talked to a counselor, and it was similar to that feeling.”

“Feeling… are you talking about…?”

As the youngest couldn’t grasp the vague words, Oh Gyeong continued with a sharp look.

“When talking about personal protection, it’s not that he’s curious about how they protect him, but that he’s asking questions to find out what problems there are.”

“…Ah! Now that you say that, I think that’s right.”

“Yeah, the way he asked about his friends, I have a bad feeling…? How tall was that person?”

“Are you talking about the CCTV suspect? He looked about 180cm [approximately 5’11”] tall.”

“Does he look about that tall too?”

“Yes, definitely.”

Oh Gyeong waved his hand while holding the walkie-talkie.

“He’s staring at us. Let’s move the car for now.”

“Yes, hyung [older brother/term of respect].”

Oh Gyeong drove far enough away from the butcher shop and radioed.

“This is Oh Gyeong, did you meet Kim Seon-ham, hyung?”

-Yeah, I met him. Did you see Kang Jin?

“Yes, tell me what Kim Seon-ham said about the suspect’s description.”

-Nothing much, man, about 180cm tall, scary eyes, that’s it.

Oh Gyeong narrowed his brow at the team leader’s words. Unlike his usual glib self, his eyes were fierce.

He put his mouth close to the radio and said urgently.

“Now that I think about it, isn’t it most likely that one of the perpetrators is the culprit since he doesn’t have any family or friends?”

-Why, what is it?

“Kang Jin, he’s bothering me.”

-Your gut feeling is unnecessarily good, okay, keep a close watch on him. We’re going to meet the last one, so radio in periodically, and if nothing happens, say nothing.”

“Yessir, good work.”

As soon as Oh Gyeong hung up the radio, he contacted the intelligence department and requested a detailed investigation of Kang Jin.

“He was a promising judo athlete… but he fell from grace after that incident… Ugh, he had a lot of violent incidents since high school, and he’s been to prison twice for violence.”

“No wonder he had a scary impression.”

Oh Gyeong stared at the youngest for a moment, then touched his cheek and said.

“Really? I strangely felt friendly.”

“Yes?”

“Never mind.”

Oh Gyeong and the youngest parked the car far away and followed Kang Jin.

He left work a little early and actually went to the police station to request personal protection. Oh Gyeong, who had confirmed that he was wearing a smartwatch on his left arm, had a troubled expression.

“Is it not him…”

“I’ve heard that you have to suspect and dig into even the smallest things.”

“Uh, yeah, keep chasing him, from faaar away.”

“Yes.”

He headed to Kang Jin’s house, and he went inside and didn’t come out until dawn.

“Hmm… I have a feeling this is going to be a long game; if this goes wrong…”

At that time, the team leader’s urgent radio call rang.

-Park Seo-young’s smartwatch went off! We’re heading that way!

“Damn it! Send the location!”

The youngest immediately started the engine and stepped on the accelerator.

* * *

Meow, meow.

At Park Seo-young’s parents’ house, a cat on the living room sofa was shaking a smartwatch from side to side.

“Ha….”

“Um.”

Park Seo-young, with a sleepy face and in her pajamas, greeted the police and detectives with an apologetic look.

“I’m so sorry… I left it next to me when I was sleeping, but Nyangnyongie… [cat’s name]”

The team leader waved his hand with a forced smile.

“No, no, it’s okay. It’s a hundred times better than when that notification is needed. I’m glad. Haha.”

“Thank you for saying that….”

“Okay~ let’s go back now. It’s time for everyone to sleep.”

At the team leader’s words, the police officers and Hae-soo who had been dispatched turned around and moved their feet. At that moment, a pitch-black curtain covered Hae-soo’s eyes.

A dark space, musty dust, the smell of dirt, and the sound of wind seemed to be heard nearby.

In front of him, Gu Gwang-heon, whom Hae-soo had met a little while ago, was tied up in a large letter on the floor covered with plastic.

-Aaaah! Aaaah!! Help me!!!

The owner of the gaze stared down at Gu Gwang-heon. In his right hand, he held a wide cooking knife, and his emotions were mixed with a bit of anger and pleasure.

-Scream until your vocal cords are torn; maybe, just maybe, someone will come and save you…

Step, step.

-Oh, oh, don’t come! Don’t come!! Shit! I thought you only killed the guys who came out in the video!! I didn’t come out, did I? Why!

The owner of the gaze raised his right hand.

-My eyes are the camera.

At the same time, he slammed the wide knife down between Gu Gwang-heon’s legs.

Thwack!

-Kkeuaaaaaaack!!!