The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 176

176. My Daughter Was Strong

Standing against the light, Shin Hae-soo’s face and muscular body were shadowed. He appeared to be a large man.

Among the group, someone of similar height to Hae-soo stood out. The tallest, a leader-type youth with a nose piercing, glanced at Haru behind Hae-soo, narrowed his brows, and stepped forward.

“Hey, mister, what’s your business here? What conversation are you talking about?”

Hae-soo chuckled and casually draped an arm over the youth’s shoulder.

“Well, it looks like you guys are in a bit of trouble, so I thought I’d offer some help. What’s going on?”

The pierced youth irritably shrugged off Hae-soo’s arm and retorted,

“What are you talking about, mister? Don’t try to act tough in front of your girl. Just get lost, unless you want to get beat up by some young punks—”

In a swift motion, Hae-soo extended his thumb and forefinger, grabbed the piercing in the youth’s nose, and ripped it out.

“Kkeuaaaak!!”

The pierced youth clutched his bleeding nose and collapsed. Hae-soo tossed the piercing in front of him and looked around at the others, his expression hardening.

“I’m not asking nicely; I’m threatening you. You guys are holding a female student captive, right?”

The thugs’ eyes widened, and they avoided Hae-soo’s gaze. Just then, the pierced youth, fueled by pain and anger, lunged forward, throwing a wild punch at Hae-soo with his bloodied face.

“You son of a bitch!!”

*Thud-*

Hae-soo effortlessly caught the fist with one hand, grabbed the youth’s neck with the other, and lifted him high into the air. Hae-soo was so tall that the youth’s feet dangled precariously close to the parking garage ceiling.

“Woah,” someone gasped.

“Heok!” another exclaimed.

The onlookers couldn’t help but gasp. Hae-soo stared for a moment at the pierced youth’s terrified face, suspended high above, before slamming him to the ground.

*Bang!!*

“Keuheok!”

The pierced youth writhed in pain. Hae-soo placed his foot on his back, immobilizing him, and continued speaking to the others.

“Her name is Kwak Eun-jung.”

This time, several of them flinched. Some didn’t seem to know her name. Hae-soo showed them his ID and stated,

“I’m a detective. Where is Kwak Eun-jung right now? If you don’t tell me in three seconds, you’ll end up like him.”

“She’s in room 305!”

“Three… lucky you. What’s the password?”

“It’s 2580!”

Hae-soo clicked his tongue in disappointment and made eye contact with Haru. Haru nodded and immediately ran up the stairs.

According to the thugs, only female students were upstairs. Since they were also accomplices, Hae-soo couldn’t let them escape, so he remained downstairs.

The male student who had quickly assessed the situation and shouted out the information at Hae-soo’s words stood frozen, while the three students behind him twitched and tried to move.

“Uh-uh.”

At Hae-soo’s warning, their movements stopped instantly.

“You guys are accomplices too, right?”

They exchanged nervous glances, desperately trying to deny their involvement.

However.

“If you move even one more step, I’m ripping off your big toe.”

“…….”

His tone was almost gentle, as if talking to children, but those who heard him vividly imagined their big toe being ripped off, revealing the stark white bone beneath.

The threat worked, and they stood still, paralyzed by fear. Hae-soo, still with his foot on the pierced youth’s back, picked up his radio.

“This is Baek-net, at Haedoji Villa on 32 Cheongyeong-ro….”

While Hae-soo was distracted by the radio call, the remaining group of thugs exchanged glances and nodded solemnly. They foolishly believed they could win through sheer numbers, no matter how big he was.

They looked at each other and mouthed the numbers without making a sound.

‘One’

‘Two’

“Three!”

“Three!!”

Simultaneously with the shout of three, the four of them, including the student who had given the room number and password, charged at Hae-soo.

The corner of Hae-soo’s mouth, who had been gazing at the night sky, curled up slightly in anticipation.

* * *

*Scritch, scratch.*

Haedoji Villa, room 305.

Kwak Eun-jung’s uniform was marked with shoe prints, her hair was disheveled, and her face was scratched by sharp fingernails, leaving her cheek sunken.

“Kyahaha!”

“Ha, it feels so good to step on that bitch.”

“Why are you already feeling good, you bitch? We’re going to step on her again later.”

The female student with the rose tattoo turned to look at Kwak Eun-jung and raised a soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] bottle.

“Hey, sit pretty and wait. After we finish this, it’s round three. Looking forward to it?”

Kwak Eun-jung met her gaze, then lowered her eyes slightly. The rose tattoo girl grinned, pleased with her apparent submissive demeanor.

*Scritch, scratch.*

However, that humiliating act was a calculated step back for a leap forward.

Kwak Eun-jung was rubbing the rope binding her wrists against the sharp corner of a dresser.

There were four female students in front of her, but they were all so engrossed in drinking alcohol that they couldn’t even drink properly, and they didn’t notice Eun-jung’s strange behavior.

*Click-*

Eun-jung’s face lit up with a surge of hope.

She felt like something terrible would happen if she stayed with these crazy girls, so she put all her effort into rubbing the rope. After almost an hour, she was finally able to cut through it.

It was the result of working even harder, thinking that now was the only chance, especially since the guys had gone out in a group to buy more alcohol, and she knew she could never beat them.

*Creak, creak.*

Eun-jung rotated her stiff wrists behind her back and stood up with a cold smile playing on her lips.

She had already done enough image training on how to deal with these bitches.

*First, grab the nearest chair and smash it down on the head of Yang Jang-mi, the most annoying one.*

*Thwack!!*

“Kyaeuk!”

*Thwack, thwack!!*

She aimed carefully and hit her two more times to make sure she couldn’t get up easily. Blood flowed from her head, but she didn’t care.

In the meantime, two of the female students who were still somewhat sober tried to confront Eun-jung. Eun-jung quickly grabbed a soju bottle and smashed it into one of the female student’s face.

*Bam-*

“Kkeoeok!”

*Thwack!*

She stretched out her leg and kicked another one in the stomach.

“Eohuk-”

*Beep, beep, beep.*

At that moment, Haru entered, pressing the password. However, Eun-jung was so out of it due to the excessive adrenaline rush that she didn’t hear the sound and was only focused on the battle in front of her.

“…Hmm.”

Haru was about to jump in and teach the female students a lesson, but she stopped when she saw the scene in front of her and Eun-jung’s burning eyes.

*Thwack, thwack, bam!*

Judging by their eyes, reflexes, and the smell, the four female students seemed to be already drunk, but Eun-jung, who had been beaten up quite a bit, was not in good condition either. Nevertheless, she was almost overwhelmingly pushing back against the four of them alone.

Haru quickly assessed the situation, crossed her arms, and nodded in approval.

“She fights well… practical experience is important.”

*Bang!*

Eun-jung finished off one of the female students with a headbutt and unconsciously gasped for breath.

“Haeck! Haeck, haeck, heoeck….”

As oxygen was supplied to her brain, she finally felt the breeze blowing from the front door and turned her head in fear.

And, she discovered the supreme, beautiful being standing in front of the front door with her arms crossed.

The moonlight was shining behind her like a halo, and her slightly shadowed face was reminiscent of a charming female boss from the underworld.

Eun-jung’s face naturally flushed, and she covered her cheeks with both hands, not even realizing that her hands were covered in blood.

She wanted to crawl into a rat hole because she thought Haru might have seen her looking like a toughie.

“O-oh, th-that, H-Haru unnie [term for older sister or female friend], how…!”

In Eun-jung’s gaze, who was bowing her head and stammering, she saw Haru’s feet, stepping on the floor with her shoes on.

*Thump.*

A slender hand was gently placed on Eun-jung’s head.

“You were awesome.”

With those short, impactful words, Eun-jung’s eyes glazed over from the overwhelming happiness, and she collapsed on the spot. Surprised, Haru quickly caught her.

At that moment, Hae-soo came upstairs. His clothes were also stained with blood here and there. He checked Eun-jung’s condition in Haru’s arms and his eyes flashed with anger.

“She fainted?”

“Ah, um, yes.”

“Those bastards….”

To the detectives, a family member of the same team is their own family. Hae-soo exuded such a murderous aura that even Haru flinched for a moment, and he pushed her aside and entered the room.

“Heueu….”

However, he couldn’t bring himself to punish the middle school girls who were all passed out, so he punched the wall in frustration.

*Bang, bang, crash!!*

He suddenly remembered the haggard face of the chief, and with his bleeding hand, he picked up the radio.

“Eun-jung… we found her.”

* * *

The news that the daughter of the violent crimes unit chief of the Gangjin Police Station had been kidnapped and imprisoned quickly spread throughout the unit, and after a while, the detectives who had been out on other cases temporarily returned when they heard the news that the kidnappers had been apprehended.

A strange sight unfolded, with the four female students in the center, surrounded by a swarm of dark-faced detectives.

“You little bastards, how dare you mess with a police family? And the daughter of the violent crimes unit chief, no less?”

“You’re not even 14 years old, are you? You’re going to feel to the bone what happens when you mess with a police family.”

“Are you really crazy? Kidnapping and imprisonment? Don’t you want to end your life?”

“I heard there were guys involved too? Where did those bastards go?”

Hae-soo answered Team Leader 2’s question.

“The men are not in good condition, so they were taken to the hospital first.”

“Ah?”

Team Leader 2 tilted his head, then looked back at Hae-soo as if something had occurred to him. Hae-soo quickly avoided his gaze.

Soon, the detectives were dismissed and the detectives from Team 4 were taking statements.

“I’m the one who got hit more! Look at that bitch’s face!”

“Quiet!”

They still didn’t realize the seriousness of the situation and claimed Eun-jung’s violence, arguing for mutual assault, which they had heard somewhere.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman entered the violent crimes unit office demurely. The female student with the rose tattoo was startled to see the woman.

“M-mom….”

The woman’s eyes suddenly flared up when she saw the female student.

“You little bitch with nothing but shit in your head, you finally messed up!!”

She grabbed the female student’s hair, pulled her back so that the chair overturned, and mercilessly beat her face with the bag she had brought.

*Bang! Thwack, thwack, thwack!*

“Die, die! You bitch!!”

She was beaten thoroughly in that short time, and the detectives let her go for a while before belatedly stopping her.

“Hey, why are you doing this, in the police station.”

“Oh, stop, stop, I understand your feelings, ma’am….”

* * *

The students involved in the incident were 15 years old, so they were not juvenile offenders and would be transferred to juvenile criminal court.

Yang Jang-mi, the ringleader, received 8 years for charges such as special assault, kidnapping, and imprisonment, and the rest, both men and women, received 5 years.

If the victim had been mentally weak due to frequent bullying, the outcome might have been even more terrible, and Chief Kwak wanted to add attempted murder, but he couldn’t include that charge.

After the trial, Chief Kwak and the defendants stood facing each other in the hallway before being transferred.

Five men and four women, a total of nine people, looked each other in the eye, one by one, and memorized their faces.

“After you get out… either get your parents to persuade you or go alone, but make sure you get the hell out of this country. If I ever see you again, I’ll make you regret living in this world.”

A threat that conveyed Chief Kwak’s sincere anger, who was known as a sage because he had never been seen truly angry, even when he was joking around.

The students flinched.

At that moment, Chief Kwak’s energy was scarier than the muscle monster or even Hae-soo.

“Heo,”

“Ha, geez.”

They instinctively felt fear, but the thugs pretended not to be scared and let out hollow laughs. However, they couldn’t even utter a single word properly.

* * *

Eun-jung’s hospital room at Daesung Hospital.

The mental shock that Chief Kwak and all the team members had been worried about was overshadowed by something else.

Kwak Eun-jung’s heart was floating, with the image of Haru when she first saw her at the housewarming party, and the image of Haru standing in the doorway, bathed in moonlight, coming to save her, floating around in her head.

“She’s so cool, why did she quit? She’s the best, will she come back? Hmm…”

The cool police officer that Eun-jung imagined perfectly matched Haru’s strength plus extreme beauty. But she felt as disappointed as if it were her own business that Haru wasn’t a police officer.

“…I’ll do it!”

It was the moment Eun-jung’s future dream was decided. She thought that since strength came with being a police officer, she had to be just as strong to avoid causing trouble as a woman while being a police officer.

Her body was too weak now. She only had guts.

-Pull-ups are the best, pull-ups are the best exercise for your body, my daughter can’t do it.

And the words of her exercise-zero dad came to mind. Eun-jung searched on the tablet that her dad had left behind.

“Woman… pull-ups….”

And the video with 2 million views that appeared on the very first line of the search results.

Eun-jung clicked on it, and her whole body trembled with goosebumps.