The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 122

122. An Unfair Daughter

Boseong Plaza Police Station.

A large woman stormed in, her face contorted in a scowl, and immediately grabbed the hair of the nearest female officer.

“Is it you? Is it you!!”

“Ugh, what are you doing?!”

“Are you the bitch who killed my dad?! You slut!!”

Shin Haesoo, who was preparing to leave for the day, started to move towards her. Just then, a gust of wind swept past.

Whoosh-

A familiar scent, a familiar figure, Haru darted out like the wind.

Thwack, thwack-

In one swift motion, Haru grabbed and twisted the woman’s fingers, freeing the female officer’s hair, then seized the woman’s wrist, moved behind her, and slammed her elbow with her knee.

Crack-

“Aaaagh!!!”

The slender arm seemed to have snapped the thick arm, which was twice its size. No matter how thick it was, it was just a mass of fat, not muscle. It might have the strength to support the fat, but Haru’s technique was superior.

Judging by Haru’s eyes and demeanor, she seemed to be contemplating whether to break it or not. That alone was a huge improvement.

Haesoo approached, took Haru’s hand, released the woman’s arm, and said,

“Good job, but unless they have a weapon, try not to break anything.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The freed woman shoved Haru away and shouted,

“What the hell are you doing, you bitch! Are cops allowed to beat civilians? Huh?! Is it you? Are you the one?!”

Haru didn’t dodge and was pushed back by the woman’s hand.

Haru’s frail body was pushed back by the weight of the shove, and Haesoo quickly caught her.

Just then, the station chief, who had been out on patrol with Team Leader Kwak, came in, his beady eyes gleaming, and shouted,

“What’s going on here?!! Pushing a police officer in the police station? Do you want to go to jail?!”

“Wh-wh-what?! Jail?!”

The woman hesitated when the police officer, who looked high-ranking, came out so aggressively and even mentioned jail.

“No, no, they killed my dad! Give me back my dad! Sob-”

She suddenly burst into tears, expressing her grievances, and the station chief, leaving Haru and the innocent-looking Officer Soon behind, explained calmly.

“…As you can see from the report time, according to the doctor’s opinion, it was already past the golden hour [the critical time period for effective treatment]. It’s unfortunate that Mr. Kang Dong-shik passed away… but it’s not because our police officers did anything wrong.”

Just when she seemed to calm down, the woman slammed her fist on the reception desk again and shouted,

“Then when did my dad start feeling like that! Exactly! Don’t the police know that? While taking our tax money?!”

“Sigh… this is really something.”

She was crying and looking for her dad, so it was hard to crack down on her, and it was understandable how much pain she must be feeling from losing someone precious, so it was hard to treat her harshly.

While the station chief was at a loss, Team Leader Kwak stepped forward and continued,

“Let’s find out when the stroke symptoms started. Officer Ha, and that… innocent-looking officer, track Mr. Kang Dong-shik’s movements. He was walking, so it should be easy to track.”

The station chief was slightly surprised by Team Leader Kwak’s decision. Then, he said quietly, so only the team leader could hear,

“You’re going to track all that? That’s going to be a lot of hard work.”

“Getting cursed like this is also hard work. It’ll be quick, it’s our guys’ specialty.”

“Hmm… let’s get some of the standby guys to help, how many should we assign?”

“It’s okay, we only need our guys.”

The team leader said that and made eye contact with Haesoo, and Haesoo nodded and went outside.

As Team Leader Kwak predicted, Kang Dong-shik, who had suffered brain death due to a stroke, had been walking, so his movements could be easily tracked.

He was captured on camera drinking with a middle-aged man who appeared to be a friend at an outdoor table at a convenience store less than 100 meters from where he collapsed.

They drank for about two hours, then he parted ways with his friend and staggered away.

There was about a 40-minute difference between the time he parted ways with his friend and the time he was reported. He collapsed not long after getting up from his seat.

After checking the CCTV on the main streets in front of and behind the alley where he collapsed, he was seen staggering into the alley, supporting himself against the wall, but he didn’t come out from the back.

He had collapsed and been left unattended for 30 minutes.

Even though she already knew the result, the woman shed tears as she waited for her father to come out from the back CCTV.

“Dad, Dad… why aren’t you coming out, sob, why aren’t you coming out…!”

Since it was already past quitting time, Haesoo sent Team Leader Kwak back and took charge of the case with Haru and Officer Soon.

Haesoo waited for the woman to calm down before speaking.

“Do you know the friend who drank with your father?”

“Sniff, yes… Mr. Park who runs a motel over there… then Mr. Park killed him! He must have known my dad wasn’t feeling well! How could he send him home alone like that!”

She suddenly became furious again and started stomping away. Judging by how she was trying to blame others for his death, there seemed to be more to it than just sadness.

Since they had to go see that Mr. Park, Haesoo didn’t stop her and followed behind.

Knock knock knock!

“Mr. Park!! Mr. Park, open the door!”

She pounded on the iron gate of the rather old-looking house as if it would break.

After all that commotion, the man they had seen on the CCTV soon opened the door.

Creak-

“Who is it? Who’s trying to break down the door… huh? Aren’t you Dong-shik’s daughter?”

“Mr. Park!”

Just as the woman was about to get angry at the man, he pointed his finger at her and got angry first.

“You, you!! You shouldn’t do that! You brat! Treat your dad well! How can you tell your parents to go die? Huh!”

“…Huh?”

“I heard everything yesterday, you applied for some diet thing and told him to lose some weight and get married, and you told him to go die, or you would die! As a father, can’t he even tell his old maid daughter to get married? He was so upset, clutching his chest, he drank twice as much as usual, saying he had to die according to his daughter’s words!!”

“Ah, ah… Dad, Dad….”

The woman could no longer blame anyone else after hearing the man’s words. She collapsed on the spot and sobbed.

She blamed herself for thinking she had killed him and regretted the words she had said.

After confirming this, Haesoo led Haru away quietly.

Officer Soon also followed with a pitiful expression.

“Dad, Dad, it’s my fault, Dad, I’m sorry, I’ll never do that again… sob, Dad.”

Mr. Park was bewildered and stared at his friend’s daughter, who was usually tough and argumentative, now crying her heart out in front of his house.

After living for a long time, you can learn a lot by intuition. Mr. Park stared at her for about 30 seconds, then knelt down to her eye level and asked in a serious tone.

“Hey, what’s wrong, did something happen to Dong-shik?”

“Mr…. Mr., Dad, Dad can’t wake up….”

The woman couldn’t bring herself to say that her father was brain dead and only shed tears, and Mr. Park, based on her reaction, became convinced of his ominous guess and shed tears with her.

“Oh no, oh no, Dong-shik, Dong-shik, oh no….”

After a long period of crying, the two headed to the hospital where Mr. Kang Dong-shik was lying.

Haesoo, Haru, and Officer Soon had already passed their quitting time, so they disbanded there.

* * *

Boseong is a bit far from Gangjin City, so the police department arranged accommodation for them since it was far from their homes. To be exact, they had to find their own accommodation and then claim the expenses.

Kang Soodea had secured a studio apartment near the police station as accommodation. It was almost like a police residence, as police officers would come to support during the summer.

Haru, being the only female, had a room to herself in a two-person room.

Haesoo and Haru walked side by side along the beach road.

The sea was dyed red as the sun set. Perhaps it was because of the romantic atmosphere created by nature that the people who had been playing boisterously in the waves were gone, and there were many couples walking barefoot on the sand.

The couples were holding hands or arm in arm, and the men and women who were about to become lovers walked with their shoulders close together, their hands almost touching.

Haru stared at them for a moment, then turned her gaze away. Now that she looked, she and Haesoo looked exactly like that.

As if possessed, Haru slowly raised her head and looked up at Haesoo. As she stared so intently, Haesoo also turned her head.

Haru didn’t avoid her gaze. As their eyes met, and Haesoo’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

Buzz-

The vibration rang. Haesoo quickly averted her gaze and checked her phone.

Police officers, especially detectives, must always check their phones 24 hours a day.

“Um, Haru, the team members are at a grilled shellfish restaurant, do you want to go?”

“No, I don’t.”

Haru’s voice was as cold as ice. Since Haru’s emotional fluctuations were almost non-existent, Haesoo quickly noticed her change.

She turned her head and saw that her lips were pouting as she fixed her gaze on the front.

She looked like a child.

Haesoo chuckled and put her phone away.

“Okay, I don’t really want to either, let’s go to the accommodation.”

“…Yes.”

Haru’s heart was quickly relieved at the thought that Haesoo wasn’t just sending her to the accommodation but going with her.

He walked quietly with her, then thought about what had happened today.

“Haru.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“How was this case, didn’t you think it was absurd?”

“A little, I did. It was a case where you could tell that I wasn’t responsible with just a little thought.”

“That’s right, but the person who has been harmed, or the person who has lost someone precious like now, can’t think that normally. People are selfish animals.”

“Um….”

“The violent crimes unit takes on cases that have already happened, so things like this don’t happen often, but the police station is deployed to the scene where the incident unfolds in real-time, so you always have to be careful, you can be blamed for even a small mistake.”

Haru tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand.

“Why is a police officer who was dispatched to mediate or help blamed?”

“Originally, when an incident happens, someone has to take responsibility for the anger to subside, so the world looks for someone to take responsibility, and the easiest target is the police officer who was dispatched to the scene.”

“The easiest target is the police….”

It’s bitter, but it’s true. The more socially controversial the case, the more often the police are used as scapegoats to appease public anger.

“You have to be especially careful in cases where there is no perpetrator and only victims, like today. You handled today well. If recording is not possible at the scene, at least record it, take this with you.”

Haesoo handed Haru the recorder pen she had. It was a recorder pen that recorded 24 hours a day and had plenty of storage space.

However, Haru was frightened when she heard Haesoo’s words. She had gotten away with it this time, but if she had thought the drunk was just sleeping, she could have taken him to the police station, laid him down, and left him unattended for a long time.

In a similar situation, there was no guarantee that Haru would always make the right choice, so she was even more frightened.

“Police officers aren’t doctors, so can’t they make mistakes? If a generally accepted measure goes wrong, won’t the police protect them?”

Haru’s eyes looked up at Haesoo pitifully.

Haesoo clicked her tongue bitterly.

“The higher-ups… don’t protect you, they try to cut you off so they don’t get hurt, I don’t know about this station chief right now. So always think about the worst-case scenario and act accordingly.”

“I understand.”

“Okay, should we buy some bibimmyeon [spicy Korean noodles] and triangular kimbap [Korean rice ball] over there?”

Haesoo pointed to the convenience store. Haru’s eyes widened as if she had never had a serious expression and quickly moved her feet.

“I want to buy cheese too.”

“Okay, and one for me too.”

* * *

Gangjin Police Station Violent Crimes Unit Office.

A woman in a striped two-piece suit and red high heels burst in.

Behind her were two men in suits carrying paper boxes full in both hands.

The violent crimes unit detectives’ eyes were immediately drawn to her appearance. She looked around and took off her sunglasses.

“Wow.”

“Ah…!”

“Wh-who, no, who are you looking for?”

Just by her appearance, she exuded the aura of an actress, and when she took off her sunglasses, her face shone even more, and the detectives couldn’t help but admire her.

She narrowed her beautiful brows and opened her red lips.

“Where is Kang Soodea?”

“Ah, ah, Kang Soodea, uh, he went to support the summer police station. I think it was Boseong Beach….”

“Boseong Beach… thank you.”

She nodded her head and turned around and walked out.

“Secretary Kang, I’m going to use my summer vacation.”

“Sudd-suddenly?”

“Yeah, it’s too hot. It’s a good thing, I’m tired of the swimming pool. I should go swimming at the beach.”

“…Yes, I’ll pack your swimsuit.”