The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 129

129. Counter-Suit

30 minutes prior.

Police Officer Ahn Ji-sung was on patrol with a probationary officer.

“Eek!”

“You little shit, hold still, do it right!”

“Ugh, it hurts.”

At that moment, they saw a group of young men and women on the beach, and among them, a man with a thick gold necklace was punching a woman in the stomach.

The woman teared up but braced herself again, offering her stomach. She was wearing a bikini, and her bright red stomach was clearly visible.

Officer Ahn didn’t hesitate and immediately ran towards them.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Stop!”

The police officers rushed over, but the man glanced at them dismissively and prepared to punch the woman again.

“What the hell, here I go…!”

Just before he threw the punch, Officer Ahn charged in and pushed the man away.

The man was quite muscular, but he was pushed to the sandy ground by Officer Ahn.

“Huh? Ah! Ah, what the fuck?”

“What are you doing?! How dare you assault a woman in front of the police?”

The man frowned, then suddenly smirked and asked the woman.

“Hey, Strawberry, did I hit you?”

“Huh? No, we were just playing around, right? Why are you like this, mister?”

“…What?”

The woman, called Strawberry, completely changed her expression and went to link arms with the man.

Officer Ahn was taken aback by her changed attitude, and the man sneered and abruptly pushed the woman’s arm away.

“Ah!”

“Oh my?”

“Ah, shit, ah, I think my arm broke when I fell just now.”

“What? Honey, are you okay?!”

“The police are assaulting people! The police are assaulting people!!”

Officer Ahn was frustrated, but there were no CCTVs [closed-circuit television cameras] around, and with the woman acting like this, there was nothing he could do.

Having been a police officer for decades, he knew all too well that in situations like this, if the victim acted this way, he would be at a great disadvantage.

The probationary officer glanced back and forth between the man and Officer Ahn, then raised his radio.

But Officer Ahn shook his head slightly at him and met the man’s eyes.

“I’m sorry. I misunderstood and made a mistake.”

The man got up, approached Officer Ahn, and tapped his cheek with his other hand, sneering.

“Oh, you funny old cop. You think it’s okay to kill someone and just say sorry? You don’t know how precious I am, do you? Your worth isn’t even worth the dirt between my toes.”

Officer Ahn’s face turned blue.

This was the worst kind of troublemaker. He realized he had run into the wrong young punks.

The man stepped back, sat arrogantly among his friends, and gestured with his chin.

“But, with the generous understanding of a leading member of society, I’ll give you another chance. Apologize properly. If I don’t like it, there’s no settlement. I’m so rich that I don’t even need that kind of thing, got it? Do it.”

The probationary officer was furious at his attitude and stepped forward.

“No, it wasn’t on purpose…”

At that moment, Officer Ahn stopped him with his hand and shook his head.

Judging by this guy, he would throw mud if anything went wrong. He had to think of his wife and children.

“Don’t interfere. Tell Soe that I’ll be a bit late…”

Officer Ahn looked dejected, braced himself again, and bowed deeply to the man.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

“I can’t hear you. Louder!!”

“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me!”

“This old man, really! How can citizens feel safe if a police officer has a voice like a mosquito?!”

The man yelled and forcefully threw sand in the police officer’s face.

Thud-

At that moment, Shin Hae-soo and Haru saw the scene. Haru couldn’t stand it and tried to step forward, but Hae-soo grabbed her wrist.

Haru reflexively grabbed Hae-soo’s finger, twisted the wrist of the grabbed hand to pull it out, and then stopped.

Her eyes widened, shocked that she had unconsciously twisted Hae-soo’s finger.

Hae-soo shook his sore hand and silently stepped forward.

If a middle-aged police officer with a long career was acting like this in front of thugs, there must be a good reason.

If Haru intervened here, it would be like adding fuel to the fire.

Swoosh.

“Sir, what’s going on?”

The men and women couldn’t help but turn their attention to Hae-soo’s physique, which couldn’t be hidden even by his uniform.

“Oh, another cop came?”

The man with the gold necklace passed Hae-soo and looked at Haru behind him, his eyes sparkling.

“Oh, what’s this? Hey, Strawberry, I think that cop is prettier than you?”

At the man’s words, Strawberry glanced at Haru and frowned.

“What are you talking about? She’s had a lot of work done [plastic surgery].”

“You had work done here too.”

“Aww, honey!”

Officer Ahn whispered to Hae-soo so that only he could hear.

“It’s nothing… I made a mistake…”

At that moment, the man stood up and interrupted.

“Old man, your juniors are here, so let’s stop here. Ah, and I’d like to let it slide, but I can’t just let the police use violence against a good citizen, can I? I’m going to file a lawsuit through a lawyer, so get lost.”

“I’m sorry. Please, just once… show leniency…!”

Officer Ahn grabbed the man’s arm with a desperate expression, but he shook it off sharply and glared at him.

“I told you to get lost, didn’t I? If you get lost, I’ll think about it again.”

“Yes, please…”

Faced with the man’s fierce eyes, Officer Ahn eventually turned away with the probationary officer.

Haru gritted her teeth as she watched the middle-aged police officer walking away with his shoulders slumped.

“Tonight, I must take that gold necklace’s head. Don’t worry. I’ll take off my police uniform and handle it without anyone knowing.”

Hae-soo covered Haru’s tightly clenched fist with his hand and calmed her down.

“Stay still. Sometimes things happen that can’t be solved with force. Let’s not make things bigger.”

“Haa, haa…”

Haru turned her gaze to the sea and took a deep breath to calm her anger.

* * *

A few days later, Officer Ahn Ji-sung received a notice that a lawsuit had been filed against him. Officer Ahn felt like his world was collapsing.

Officer Ahn’s partner, the probationary officer, confirmed it and burst into anger.

“That crazy bastard, really! After all that…!”

“That crazy bastard is from the Ilseong Group’s owner family, Bae In-sung, the son of the president of Ilseong Electronics…”

“Look at his name, In-sung, In-sung… Ugh.”

The police chief frowned and sighed deeply, but couldn’t think of a good solution.

Most people would just let it go or settle, but these rich and entitled children of powerful families often confirm their superiority by suppressing the police or prosecutors, who are symbols of public authority.

It was a common occurrence, and that’s why the police had to work hard not to provide any excuses.

“There’s only one way to do it right. Ahn, let’s go to the hospital and beg together. He’s still a person, what else can we do?”

“Ha… Okay. I guess we have to. But, I’ll go alone. I don’t want to share this humiliation with you, Chief. It’s my fault.”

“No. It’ll be more effective if we go together. That’s how those guys are. We can kneel a hundred times more.”

The chief and Officer Ahn bought a fruit basket and headed to Ilseong Hospital, where Bae In-sung was hospitalized.

“I’m sorry. He refuses visitors.”

“Ah…”

But they couldn’t meet him.

The same thing happened the next day and the day after that. He didn’t answer the phone, of course.

He was about to be suspended from duty.

Hae-soo felt sorry for Officer Ahn and visited Ilseong Hospital with Haru during the week before going to work.

“So, while I distract the nurses, Hae-soo, you secretly go into the VIP room and meet him, is that… Mmph!”

Hae-soo covered her lips with his finger and nodded.

“Quiet, operation start.”

“Operation start.”

The elevator doors opened, and the two walked in different directions.

Hae-soo went to the bathroom, gargled with soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] he had brought in advance, and put on the tattoo sleeves he had prepared on both arms.

Then, he strode up to the nurses sitting at the central counter in the ward.

Hae-soo’s eyes were already half-glazed, and the nurse who found him was terrified and moved back.

Thump.

“Chaeyeon, is that Chaeyeon?”

“Y-yes?”

“No, do you know where Chaeyeon is? I’m Chaeyeon’s boyfriend, no, her ex-boyfriend…”

“Ch-Chaeyeon isn’t here.”

“She’s not here? Why isn’t she here? Just let me meet her once. I have something to say… Hic.”

If he made too much noise, the guards would come up quickly and things would get out of hand. Hae-soo kept a moderate line and acted so that the nurses couldn’t pay attention to anything else.

“Eunmi, quickly, quickly contact Chaeyeon.”

“Yes? Ah, yes, yes.”

‘…Is there really a person named Chaeyeon?’

He roughly scanned the names on the duty roster and called out a woman’s name that wasn’t there, but it seemed to be in another department.

The problem was that he chose a common name. It would be difficult if the real one came up. A unique surname, a unique surname…!”

“Chaeyeon… a person who says he’s your ex-boyfriend came here…”

As one nurse made a call, Hae-soo brought his face closer and shouted.

“Chaeyeon! Myung Chaeyeon! I miss you! Come here quickly!”

“Oh my! C-calm down. Calm down, Nurse Myung Chaeyeon, did you hear that? Please come and take him away.”

‘Is that the right answer? It was Myung?’

While Hae-soo was panicking inside, the elevator came up and a nurse with the name tag Myung Chaeyeon appeared.

Hae-soo turned his head away and covered his face.

“Nurse Myung Chaeyeon… this person…”

“Ah, yes, that…”

At that moment, Haru was seen coming out of the VIP room. At the same time, a nurse named Myung Chaeyeon put her face in front of Hae-soo’s eyes. Her pale white skin was impressive.

“Excuse me, wh-who?”

“Mmph, mmph, uuph!”

“Kyaa! H-hurry, get a plastic bag! A bag!”

Hae-soo left the screaming nurses behind, covered his mouth with one hand, and ran to the emergency stairs, shaking his stomach.

Hae-soo and Haru successfully met outside the hospital after completing their special mission.

“Did you get anything?”

“No.”

“I thought so…”

“The name tag was that person’s, but it was a completely different person. I found out her face and name.”

“It’s probably someone unrelated. Ilseong Hospital… the doctors, the hospital, and the patients are all in cahoots.”

“What should we do?”

“It’s hard to meet a doctor without a formal investigation, and we can’t persuade or threaten them. We should meet Officer Ahn first.”

* * *

Boseong Plaza Police Station.

When he went to work, he met Officer Ahn Ji-sung, whose face was much thinner than yesterday.

Hae-soo took him to the break room and conveyed the situation.

“…His arm was fine. The lawsuit states that his right arm was fractured, but I directly witnessed him swinging a baseball bat with his right arm.”

Hae-soo showed him his cell phone. A video clearly showed Bae In-sung swinging a baseball bat with both hands.

“If you file a counter-suit, we will take the case and proceed properly.”

Officer Ahn bowed his head.

“I was just giving up, but thank you. Thank you for caring so much… I will proceed.”

“You made the right decision.”

* * *

A few days later, Bae In-sung, with his lawyer and secretary in tow, appeared at the police station after being counter-sued.

In the police station’s reception room, the chief, Officer Ahn, Hae-soo, and Bae In-sung and his group sat facing each other.

“Ha, are these guys crazy? Do you know who I am… Counter-suit? False accusation?”

The chief glared at him with his unique bulging eyes and said.

“We will never let go of the act of framing and insulting a current police officer.”

“What are you going to do if you don’t let it go? What can a mere police officer do? Go ahead and try to do whatever you want! Can you even touch a hair on my head? You guys messed with the wrong person!”

Bang!

Bae In-sung slammed the table and left the police station. As soon as he came out of the station, he shouted to his secretary.

“Get all the information on that old man and that nasty-looking bastard next to him, including their family, relatives, and friends! How dare these puny commoners mess with me?”

“Yes, Director.”