The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 156

156. Part-Time Job: Money Transport

Daesung Hospital, Inpatient Room.

Nurses and the doctor on duty rushed over when the patient, who had been unconscious, woke up.

“Patient, can you see me? What’s your name?”

“Kang Jung-rye….”

“Yes, that’s right. Your pronunciation is good too. And who are these people? Are they guardians?”

The doctor asked the nurse, looking at Jung Young-soo and his girlfriend.

The nurse shrugged.

“Kang Jung-rye only has one son as her guardian, and this isn’t him. What’s your relationship to her?”

Eun-mi, flustered, darted her eyes around, then grabbed Young-soo’s wrist and pulled him out.

“No, I… let’s get out of here, honey.”

Since the newly awakened patient was more important than the suspicious people, the medical staff didn’t follow them.

“Honey, what happened was…”

Eun-mi was about to make excuses when she ran into someone in the hospital hallway.

A large man with sharp eyes, and a familiar woman next to him.

It was the friend who helped Eun-mi with her schemes to swindle money from men.

She was the last person she wanted to run into here with Young-soo, her new mark.

“W-what…?”

Eun-mi stammered, unable to finish her sentence, and Young-soo sighed softly and stepped forward.

“I… told you before, a close hyung [older brother/male friend] lent me money… Introduce yourself, this is him.”

At Young-soo’s introduction, Shin Hae-soo extended his hand and said,

“I’m Shin Hae-soo, an investigator from the Violent Crimes Division of the Gangjin Police Station. Let’s go together, Ms. Jin Na-rae.”

“H-huh?”

Understanding the word ‘police,’ Eun-mi, no, Jin Na-rae, turned her head to look at Young-soo. Young-soo met her gaze calmly.

“Honey… what’s going on… Ah, damn it, let go! Don’t touch me! I’ll report you for sexual harassment!”

She sharply slapped Hae-soo’s hand away.

Her mask was instantly stripped away, and Young-soo stood there blankly with his mouth half-open, shocked by her true nature.

Swish.

At that moment, Haru, who had been hidden behind Hae-soo, stepped forward.

“I am placing Jin Na-rae under arrest for fraud. Resistance will result in additional charges for obstruction of justice.”

“Hey, hey, damn it, let me go!”

Young-soo bitterly watched the back of Jin Na-rae, who had been his lovely girlfriend until just moments ago, being arrested and dragged away.

* * *

A few hours earlier.

Before the Daesung Hospital database hack, Jung Young-soo’s phone rang.

-Shin Hyung: [Photo]

“This is…!”

It was a student ID photo. The face was different, but the name ‘Kim Eun-mi, Department of Dance’ was clearly written below. The student ID number was also the same.

There was a possibility of a namesake, but Shin Hae-soo wasn’t someone who would contact him without checking.

It turned out that Kim Eun-mi of the Department of Dance had dropped out, and Jin Na-rae was a friend of a friend who came to the blind date, hastily using a fake identity to fill the void, just like Young-soo.

Even the real friend from the Department of Dance didn’t know Jin Na-rae’s real identity and was just a casual friend she met at a club.

Jin Na-rae was a repeat offender with three prior convictions for fraud. The victims were all men, ranging from young men to middle-aged men.

Headquarters Interrogation Room.

Jung Young-soo and Jin Na-rae were facing each other alone. Young-soo was silently gazing at her with sorrowful eyes.

She was glaring at Young-soo with a venomous look, like a cat that had fallen into water.

“Who are you? Were you playing with me, knowing everything?”

“…….”

“What the hell! Say something! Your eyes are so greasy right now! Lower them before I gouge them out!”

Young-soo quietly lowered his eyes and opened his mouth.

“I loved you.”

“What the hell! If you loved me, drop the charges!”

“That wasn’t true love. I hope you will be reformed.”

Before a single tear could fall, the man Jung Young-soo turned around and left the interrogation room.

Surprisingly, Jung Young-soo proceeded with the charges but decided not to receive any compensation for the damages.

‘I was happy for a while because of her, so that’s enough.’

* * *

After Jin Na-rae, the con artist who was Jung Young-soo’s first love, was indicted, Hae-soo was worried and called him to check on him.

“What are you doing? Come out, I’ll buy you meat.”

-No, thank you. I’m busy making money. And if you need anything hacked, let me know. I’ll tear it apart, bone and all.

“Okay….”

Young-soo’s voice was filled with an inexplicable anger.

* * *

[Potato Market] [A South Korean online marketplace, similar to Craigslist]

*Looking for someone to do a simple errand (50,000 won)

I’m in a situation where I urgently need someone to withdraw cash. If you give me your account number, I’ll transfer 2,050,000 won, and you just give me 2,000,000 won.

Address: 23 Garoyeong 1-gil, Yongsu-dong, in front of GT26 City.

“Oh, what’s this? An easy part-time job?”

Kim Young-shik, a twenty-year-old who had just quit his part-time job at an internet cafe, immediately applied for the sweet errand that would earn him 50,000 won in a few minutes.

-Buyer: I’ll do it.

-Seller: Okay, please send me a photo of your ID and your bank account to receive the deposit. Please cover the last digits of your resident registration number.

-Buyer: -_-? Why?

-Seller: I can’t just give you 2,000,000 won without any information. What if you run off with it?

-Buyer: Oh, that’s right, okay, I’ll send it. [Photo]

-Seller: Confirmed. If you verify that you’re at an ATM near the meeting place, I’ll transfer the money.

-Buyer: You’re picky. I won’t run off with it.

-Seller: It’s 2,000,000 won. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. There are plenty of people who want to do it.

-Buyer: No, I’m going now~

As the seller said, Young-shik went to an ATM near the meeting place and uploaded a verification photo.

Ting

-Deposit: 2,050,000 won

-Balance: 2,083,340 won

“Oh, shit, it’s real? Ah, should I just take the money and run?”

-Seller: It’s a 10-minute walk to the meeting place, right? Please withdraw the cash and come. If it takes more than 10 minutes, I’m sorry, but I’ll report you to the police right away.

-Buyer: Ah, yes, yes, I’m going.

He didn’t know what she would report him for, but Young-shik was intimidated by the word ‘police’ and immediately withdrew 2,000,000 won in cash and headed to the meeting place.

Then, he received another message.

-Seller: I’m sorry, but could you come up a little further to Sun PC Cafe [Internet Cafe]?

-Buyer: Ah… yes, yes.

“What is this, making me do a dog training course or something.”

Young-shik grumbled and went to Sun PC Cafe. It wasn’t too far, about 200 meters away, so he found it quickly.

There, he met a woman wearing a hat and a mask, but with pretty eyes.

She was wearing a crop top and hot pants, and she looked good at a glance.

“Um, excuse me, are you….”

“Yes, the money?”

“Ah, yes, here.”

The woman went to the corner, counted the money right away, and smiled at Young-shik.

“That’s right. Thank you. Did you come alone?”

She asked an additional question. Young-shik, who had never had a girlfriend, felt his heart pounding.

“Yes? Yes, alone, yes, haha, ah, you’re beautiful.”

“Ahaha, thank you. Um… I saved your phone number, can I contact you later if something like this happens again?”

“Oh, of course. Please contact me anytime. You can contact me anytime.”

“Okay, you’re kind. Then.”

“Yes, yes, go in!”

Young-shik stared intently at her receding figure, then turned away with regret.

He kept refreshing his KakaoTalk [Korean messaging app] friends list. Soon after, her profile picture appeared. She was still wearing a mask, but her eyes alone were beautiful.

That night.

-AngelRich: Knock knock

She texted him first.

-Youngshik: Yes! Hello?

-AngelRich: Yes, hello, about that errand earlier…

-Youngshik: I know! I’m so happy you texted me first.

-AngelRich: Hehe, you’re funny. Do you live alone?

‘Huh, alone? What does it mean to ask something like this?’

Young-shik was already imagining having an outdoor wedding, going on a honeymoon to the Maldives, having two children, and even seeing grandchildren.

-Youngshik: Yes, yes, of course, isn’t life alone?

-AngelRich: I see, what about your family?

-Youngshik: Ah, my family is in my hometown, Deokseon.

-AngelRich: Deokseon… that’s far. Do you contact your family often?

-Youngshik: Ah, I should do it often… once a month? What’s your name?

-AngelRich: Hey, do you want to work with me and make a lot of money?

‘Together?’

Young-shik thought that if he could work with her, who was showing interest in him, anywhere would be paradise.

-Youngshik:…Yes? Of course?

-AngelRich: See you tomorrow. I’ll send you the address tomorrow. It’s a secret from everyone else.

-Youngshik: Ah, yes, yes, great! See you tomorrow! Our secret!

As soon as Young-shik woke up, he took a clean shower, styled his hair, put on the only suit he had, and waited for a call.

Then, at 1 p.m., he received a call from her and headed to the meeting place.

“You were here first?”

“Ah, yes, of course.”

“This way.”

She took Young-shik to a secluded place. There was a car parked there.

Beep beep

She opened the back door of the car. There was no one inside. Why the back door instead of the passenger seat?

As Young-shik was wondering and not going in right away, a man appeared from somewhere, grabbed Young-shik by the scruff of his neck, and pushed him into the car.

“Ugh!”

As soon as he was forced into the car, a man with a fierce look got in from the opposite side.

The woman, who he thought was an angel, got into the driver’s seat.

The man who had forced Young-shik into the car immediately searched his pockets, took out his phone, and turned it off.

“W-what the hell is this…!”

The woman started the engine, stepped on the accelerator, and said,

“You said you wanted to make money with me. Don’t worry. We won’t hurt you.”

* * *

Gangsu Unit Headquarters. A whiteboard had a photo of missing person Kim Young-shik, the masked woman, and the car believed to have taken Young-shik.

Team Leader Kwak pointed to the masked woman with his chopsticks and said,

“Judging by this woman’s height, weight, and large eyes, there’s a high possibility that she’s the same person the transport part-timers were talking about. She’s not just a disposable transport person.”

It had been two weeks since the young man named Kim Young-shik went missing before it was reported. They were assuming that because his phone had been turned off for two weeks.

After checking, it was confirmed that he had been lured into a voice phishing [phone scamming] transport part-time job that was popular these days, and he disappeared the day after he did one transport.

The phone call history was clean. It was the work of professionals.

“We need to catch that woman. It can’t be just one person.”

“But it’s hard to find her with just that. The car’s license plate has already been changed.”

Haru tilted her head and asked.

“But why would they put so much effort into kidnapping a man with nothing? Organ trafficking?”

Oh Geng was about to answer Haru’s question when the youngest muscle-monster stood up.

“Ha, junior, that’s because they’re trying to lure him into the phishing family. He’s young and inexperienced, and if he’s a young man on the brink with only debt, he’s more likely to do it even if it’s an openly illegal job. If he’s no longer needed, they might just take his organs, so it’s important to find this person.”

“Um… then if we find this person, we can catch the voice phishing group too?”

“That’s right.”

“But how do we find him?”

“Um….”

Then, Team Leader Kwak said,

“So, I was thinking of an undercover investigation. One person goes in as bait, just like Kim Young-shik got caught. What do you think?”

“Hyung, you sometimes say things like that so casually. Is going undercover easy? That’s like sticking your hand into a tiger’s den. Those voice phishing bastards don’t care about the police or anything. We’re all going to die!”

At Oh Geng’s cry, Hae-soo raised his hand.

“I’ll do it. Undercover.”

Everyone’s eyes were on Hae-soo, and Hae-soo was looking at Haru.

In fact, Haru, who could lower their guard, would be suitable for the undercover investigation right now, but he couldn’t put her in any more danger.