The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 116

116. Passing the Police Exam

Shin Hae-soo froze at Ha-ru’s bombshell announcement.

Ha-ru looked up at him and poked his cheek with her index finger.

“You’ve gotten a taste for poking these days.”

Ha-ru quickly lowered her hand and bowed her head.

“I’m sorry.”

“Hmm… what made you decide to become a police officer?”

Hae-soo hadn’t expected this career path at all, so he couldn’t guess why she had chosen to become a police officer.

Ha-ru glanced around, casually noticing the wounds on Hae-soo’s hands and neck, then met his eyes and opened her mouth.

“It’s cool.”

“What is?”

“Protecting citizens from crime and tracking down and arresting criminals is cool in itself.”

Hae-soo was always startled whenever Ha-ru used words like ‘act.’ It made him think he had done well to send her to a Korean language academy at the right time.

“Well… it’s not as cool as you think, okay? You see me up close, Ha-ru. I often skip my favorite meals, I don’t have enough time to exercise or train or sleep, I can’t leave work on time, and if a case breaks out, I can’t leave work at all….”

Hae-soo was ranting about the hardships of being a police officer—no, a detective—when he stopped, realizing he was talking to Ha-ru’s sparkling eyes.

Speaking about it himself made him realize that being a detective was impossible. But Hae-soo had no intention of quitting. And Ha-ru already knew that.

“How can I do everything I want while catching criminals? You have to put in that much effort. I’m prepared.”

“…I understand. You wouldn’t have decided this overnight. I’ll support you and help as much as I can.”

Ha-ru felt a pang of guilt because she had decided this today, but she had no intention of backing down.

Ha-ru placed her hands on her stomach and bowed deeply.

“Thank you!”

He felt like he should give her an allowance. Instead, Hae-soo cheered on Ha-ru’s choice with a pot of budae jjigae [a spicy Korean stew with noodles, meat, and vegetables].

The police force that Ha-ru wanted to join was the notorious violent crimes unit, but strangely, he wasn’t worried.

* * *

Daesung E&M Building Sk Lounge.

“…Police? Really?”

“Yes.”

Seo-eun’s heart sank at Ha-ru’s words.

“Why, why? When did you start thinking about becoming a police officer? Is it… because of Hae-soo?”

Unlike Hae-soo, who could read the minds of criminals but knew nothing about women’s feelings, Seo-eun immediately guessed the reason.

Ha-ru was silent for a moment, feeling the sting of being right on target, then nodded.

“No matter how strong Hae-soo is, you never know what kind of situation might arise. There are many strong people in the world. I think I can be of some help if I’m by his side.”

Seo-eun sensed Ha-ru’s sincerity in her words. It was the same feeling Seo-eun had when she saw the wounds Hae-soo had when he returned home.

Seo-eun had been wondering how to keep him from getting hurt, whether she should support him with expensive protective gear, but Ha-ru had been thinking and choosing in her own way.

“I… understand. But I’m still very sad. I thought I could trust Ha-ru with my life….”

Seo-eun was more sad to be separated from Ha-ru than to have Ha-ru get closer to Hae-soo. Her beautiful face showed disappointment.

“I’ll work as a freelancer when I have time off.”

“Haha, a bodyguard freelancer, that’s refreshing?”

Seo-eun gave a hollow laugh at Ha-ru’s style of consolation.

“Then I’ll keep Ha-ru’s name as an honorary bodyguard. You can come back anytime, and occasionally give advice to junior bodyguards as a current police officer and former bodyguard.”

“I’m still a current bodyguard. And I heard that civil servants can’t hold concurrent positions.”

“It’s okay if I don’t pay you. I can handle that kind of thing.”

“I understand.”

Ha-ru didn’t like being separated from Seo-eun, her only friend.

She immediately accepted Seo-eun’s offer.

Ha-ru decided to work as a bodyguard until she passed the police written exam.

* * *

Holiday.

Ha-ru was sitting on the terrace, studying hard. Her study method was unique. She didn’t have any writing tools like pens or pencils. She didn’t write on a laptop or tablet either.

Since Ha-ru had never really studied properly in her life, except at language school, Hae-soo thought she would quit soon.

But he was impressed that she sat down and studied so persistently.

However, there were only three months left until the police exam.

Hae-soo brought her a healthy juice and some neatly cut fruit and said.

“Think of this exam as an experience and prepare without pressure. Take the exam and then do it properly in the second half of the year. If you run too hard from the beginning, you’ll get tired later. Ha-ru, you’re smart, so you’ll be able to pass quickly.”

“Thank you. I have a question. In the Criminal Procedure Act….”

* * *

While Ha-ru was diligently preparing for her bodyguard work and the first half of the year’s police recruitment, the year passed.

Hae-soo turned thirty-two, and Ha-ru turned twenty-four.

The members of the Violent Crimes Unit were all given special bonuses for their achievements, so they were promoted by two ranks instead of one.

Except for the team leader, all three had been promoted last year, so it was considered impossible to be promoted again in just one year, so their achievements were rewarded with additional pay raises.

The members actually liked it.

“If we get promoted, we’ll all have to split up anyway.”

The team leader nodded at Oh Geng’s words.

“I didn’t even expect it. It’s not easy to get three mugunghwa [national flower emblems, symbolizing high achievement].”

“Ah, I need to push Hyungnim [older brother/senior colleague] out of the way and become the captain.”

“I’m not going to get promoted because I don’t want to see that happen.”

“I don’t want any more team members to change here either!”

“Well, I wish we had a new recruit.”

“That’s right, there’s too much work, too much, we’re too short-handed.”

“That’s right.”

Oh Geng moved his ten fingers in the air, pretending to die. Hae-soo nodded deeply in agreement. As the Violent Crimes Unit’s reputation grew, requests for cooperation poured in from all over the place.

* * *

Not long after, Ha-ru took the first half of the year’s public recruitment exam. Strangely, after that, she didn’t touch her police studies at all.

Hae-soo didn’t ask her if she had done well on the exam. He assumed that she had taken the exam once, realized the reality, and decided to continue working as a bodyguard, so he cooked her kimchi jjigae [spicy Korean stew with kimchi and tofu] as a sign of comfort.

Some time later, Ha-ru handed Hae-soo her cell phone as soon as she got off work.

“First half of the year’s public recruitment written exam passers… Ha-ru?”

Ha-ru nodded her head vigorously.

“Yes, the exam was easy. I was sure I would pass.”

“Th, that’s what it was?”

Ha-ru seemed smarter than he thought.

After the exam results were announced, she had a farewell party at Daesung Guard.

Many male bodyguards mourned at the farewell party as if they were breaking up with a lover.

“Our guard mascot is leaving….”

“It was a dreamlike year.”

“After all, she was a flower that didn’t belong in this rough world.”

* * *

Physical exam day for written exam passers.

Young and healthy future female police officers gathered in one place. Among them, Ha-ru was especially noticeable.

The assistant instructors dispatched to help with the exam narrowed their eyes when they saw her.

“Why did she come here? She stands out more than in the picture. Did she apply to get into public relations? She should just be a celebrity.”

“I hate girls like that the most. Girls who try to live their lives easily by trusting their faces. Those are the girls who make the police look bad.”

“She looks weak. If we’re lucky, she might get filtered out here.”

“I guess so.”

Ha-ru heard their conversation, but didn’t even twitch an eyebrow.

A moment later.

The two assistant instructors both had their mouths wide open.

This is because all of Ha-ru’s physical exams far exceeded the standards for female police officers, easily taking first place, and even ranked in the top tier of male police officer standards.

Beep-

“Number 37, 11.48 seconds….”

After the 100-meter run measurement was completed, one of the assistant instructors muttered with a blank face.

“Why did she come here…?”

It was the same words as before, but the nuance was different.

“I guess… she should be a track and field athlete. What’s the record for women’s track and field in our country? She didn’t break it, did she?”

“I guess not… or did she…?”

They later found out that Ha-ru had surpassed this year’s female athlete’s record, although not the all-time record in Korea.

Ha-ru finished the physical exam with the best score, barely passed the interview, and finally passed.

* * *

Violent Crimes Unit Headquarters.

Bang!

Team Leader Kwak burst into the room and shouted.

“What is going on?! Four new recruits have joined the Violent Crimes Unit, all from the famous 321st Special Forces!”

At the team leader’s words, Oh Geng asked Hae-soo.

“Hae-soo, how many classes did you teach when you went as a special instructor?”

“321st and 322nd classes.”

“Oh, really? Then go say hello. Ah, it was only for two weeks, so they might not remember you very well.”

Hae-soo nodded.

“That’s probably true.”

Two weeks is a very short period of time. Also, after graduating from police academy, if you spend a year working at a police box and experiencing new things, your memories of school will be completely forgotten.

The team leader crossed his legs and sat down, complaining.

“Ugh, why is it so easy for them to get into the Violent Crimes Unit, but we can’t get any new recruits?”

“It’s famous for handling a lot of Conan-level [referencing the detective anime series *Detective Conan*] violent crimes here, so it’s rumored to be the number one avoided unit.”

At Oh Geng’s words, the team leader stood up again in excitement and said.

“Avoided unit? It’s kind of fun here if you have two lives! We catch a lot of heinous criminals, we go to the hospital often, and we often do thrilling undercover work!”

“Hearing that, it’s all true. It’s worth avoiding.”

“I’m really happy right now!”

“Woo Gang-cheol, who seems like the most normal person on our team, is actually a huge special case.”

As soon as he heard Oh Geng’s words, Hae-soo stood up slightly, brought his face closer, and asked. Oh Geng turned his head slightly.

“Do I seem abnormal?”

“Uh, even asking that seems abnormal! You’re scary, I’m sorry, don’t look at me like that.”

“Hmm….”

At that moment, someone knocked on the Violent Crimes Unit headquarters door.

Knock knock

“Huh?”

“Who is it, come in.”

Creak

Four fresh-faced police officers in uniform were standing in front of the door.

Hae-soo recognized them immediately. They were police officers who had been trainees in the 321st class.

One of the men was Kim Woong-min, who had been the representative of the trainees, and the other was Oh Mi-yeon, the daughter of National Assemblyman Oh Seong-joo.

“Salute! Reporting!”

“Hey, why are you reporting to us? If you report that, you have to come to the Violent Crimes Unit?”

At Oh Geng’s words, the 321st class quickly lowered their hands. The words ‘come to the Violent Crimes Unit’ had the same effect as saying ‘a tiger is coming’.

All four are precious police officers.

Each of them worked hard in different districts, singing about wanting to become a detective, and finally received orders to become detectives after taking 1st and 2nd place in arrest rates in each district.

They came to say hello as soon as they were assigned to this place, after hearing that Hae-soo was here.

The team leader asked them.

“Why didn’t you apply here?”

At Oh Geng’s direct question, they were quick to avoid each other’s eyes. Oh Mi-yeon tentatively opened the floodgates.

“I respect Instructor Shin Hae-soo, but….”

“The training at that time allows us to get back on our feet whenever we have a hard time…!”

“It’s an honor just to work in the same station.”

“I’m satisfied!”

The team leader crossed his arms and stuck out his lips at the new recruits’ answers.

“So, you’re saying you don’t want to come here.”

“How did the rumors spread?”

The Violent Crimes Unit had a good atmosphere because a large number of new recruits had joined, but the Violent Crimes Unit members were even more discouraged.

* * *

The news that the Violent Crimes Unit members were having a hard time because no new recruits were coming reached the Chungnam Provincial Police Chief.

The chief, whose term was coming to an end this time, became very serious when he heard the news.

“Hmm, the Violent Crimes Unit is so good, why is that? It’s not good if our members are having such a hard time. I think we need to do some proper promotion.”

The chief’s aide said quietly to his concern.

“It’s not official, but there is an applicant for the Violent Crimes Unit….”

At the aide’s words, the chief’s head perked up.

“Huh? Who is it?”

“It’s a new recruit who just finished training. Should we send her as soon as Police Officer Sa-bo passes?”

“A new recruit? Heh heh, that’s a good spirited friend. Hmm… we need to fill it with someone to revive our Violent Crimes Unit’s morale. What were her grades during training?”

The aide raised his index finger and replied.

“She received the highest grades in all practical subjects.”

“Oh… really, that’s what it takes to be in the Violent Crimes Unit.”

“But, she’s a woman.”

“Huh?”