The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 192

< #192. Taking the Initiative >

Subway entrance stairs.

A grandmother wearing a hat stood still on the stairs, holding a square package. Then, she nudged the sleeve of a passing young man.

“Excuse me, young man.”

The young man noticed the grandmother, took out one of his wireless earphones, and asked,

“Yes?”

“Could you please carry this up to the top for me?”

It was a square package, about a foot [30 centimeters] on each side. The young man readily nodded.

“Ah, yes, yes, give it to me.”

Thinking the grandmother couldn’t possibly be carrying anything too heavy, he tried to lift it quickly, but—

“Ugh!”

It was much heavier than he expected, and the young man was slightly taken aback. However, it wasn’t so heavy that he couldn’t lift it at all, so he struggled up the stairs.

“Put it down if it’s too heavy.”

“Ah, no, no. Huff.”

As he climbed the stairs with the grandmother, a shadow fell over them.

He looked up and saw a large, sharp-featured, muscular man staring at them. Next to him was a beauty so stunning she could make your eyes pop out, but the man was so intimidating that he didn’t dare to look at her.

“Hey.”

“M-me?”

The young man, already frightened, replied, but the man’s gaze was strangely off.

The man suddenly came down the stairs, raised one foot, and stretched it out towards the grandmother.

Thud!

“Heup!”

“Oh my!”

The young man was horrified, dropped the package, and turned around, facing an unbelievable sight.

Ta-da-dak, tak-

The grandmother who had asked him to carry the package had done three consecutive back rolls and landed stably on the middle step.

The young man, as well as the people around them, were momentarily stunned and stared blankly at the grandmother.

Shin Haesoo walked down the stairs and said to the grandmother.

“Kim Jjoksae.”

Kim Jjoksae was the con artist who had An Seoeun sell ice cream for him in Boseong. [Boseong is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, famous for its green tea fields.]

He was a master of parkour, with movements so swift that it was hard to chase him for even a day, and also a master of disguise.

After he had An Seoeun sell ice cream, Haesoo had checked his movements, and it seemed that he disguised himself habitually, even when there was no purpose.

When Jjoksae heard Haesoo call his real name, his eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t remember Haesoo. However, when he found Haru next to him, he pointed at her with his index finger and muttered.

“Oh, pretty lady, I think I saw you once before… Ah, a cop! I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?”

He naturally turned his body to run away. On the other side, Hwang Jangsoo, with a similar build to Haesoo and an even more menacing impression, was standing.

“Why are you trying to run away if you didn’t do anything wrong?”

“It’d be weird if I didn’t run away after seeing your face.”

“Pfft.”

Haru chuckled at the glib reply. Jjoksae grinned at the sight.

Haesoo and Hwang Jangsoo narrowed the distance, and Jjoksae, thinking it was better not to resist, stood still.

Haesoo put his hand on his shoulder and said.

“Jjoksae, let’s do a side job.”

“A side job? Out of the blue?”

***

A traditional market with a large floating population.

The Shin Haesoo group mingled with the people and walked inside. Traditional markets have fewer CCTV cameras than other places, and there are many blind spots.

Haesoo entered a blind spot and walked through a passage that felt like an underground shopping mall selling seafood.

He exited through stairs connected to a building in the middle. It was a three-story building, mostly restaurants, and a law firm on the third floor that was struggling to get by.

Taking the elevator, Haesoo pressed the 1st floor button in a slightly unusual way with his thumb.

Ding-

Then, a strange sound that was not usually heard in elevators rang out.

Zhiiiing-

The elevator went down. Jjoksae was surprised and grabbed the handle, feeling like he was going down even though it was the 1st floor.

“Wh-what is this?”

Hwang Jangsoo smirked, and Haesoo stood silently in front of the elevator door without saying a word.

Zhiiiing-

The elevator soon stopped, and the door opened. Then, another rusty iron door blocked the way.

As soon as the elevator closed, they heard the sound of it going up immediately.

Haesoo put his thumb on the door lock next to the iron door, and with a click, the iron door slid back slightly.

Kkiiieek-

“Whoa…”

Opening the iron door, which was three times thicker than it looked from the outside, revealed a new world.

The walls, both above and below, were raw exposed concrete, with weak LED lights sparsely lit.

On one side, there was a large screen board, and in the middle, there were tables and chairs, exercise equipment, and a huge monitor installed on another corner wall.

Next to it were six monitors, and Jung Youngsoo was sitting in front of them.

Youngsoo turned around in his chair to greet them.

“Oh? Is that grandmother the new member?”

Jjoksae ignored the absurd question and just looked around.

Haesoo nodded roughly to Youngsoo, and Youngsoo quickly noticed that the grandmother was not a grandmother by looking at Jjoksae’s gait and actions.

This was a commercial building that Haesoo had purchased, and he had remodeled the original basement floor, removed the basement 1st floor button while changing the elevator, and made it so that it could only be accessed with fingerprint recognition.

“Register your fingerprint here, and the emergency exit is over there.”

Haesoo gestured with his chin, Jjoksae turned his head, and Hwang Jangsoo pushed the bookshelf aside. Then, a dark staircase appeared.

Jjoksae, who had been looking around with wide eyes, finally realized the reality and asked.

“What… what kind of work is this? It’s scary.”

“It’s for you.”

“…For me?”

‘What the hell is he talking about…?’

Haesoo thought that it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it was for Kim Jjoksae, who lives in this country, as it was for the country.

Haesoo turned his body and looked at his team members and continued.

“From tomorrow, I will be going to work for the Special Investigations Unit. The specific mission will be determined when the investigation direction is set.”

At that time, Kim Jjoksae blocked Haesoo’s path.

“Mister, no matter how I think about it, I don’t fit in here, this smells dangerous, it’s not a normal side job.”

Haesoo stared down at him quietly, then walked somewhere. He opened a drawer and took out a black plastic bag and handed it to him, saying.

“Ten million a month, advance payment.”

Jjoksae didn’t immediately understand what he meant and inadvertently received it and looked inside slightly.

It was heavily packed with 50,000 won bills. It was certain that ten million a month meant ten million won. And that was raw, without taxes. [Ten million won is approximately $7,500 USD.]

Kim Jjoksae immediately changed his attitude and rubbed his hands together.

It was too much money to refuse.

“President, weekend work! Overtime! I can do anything. Just give me any job, President.”

“After all the work is done, all the money paid must be reported for taxes. Our work must minimize illegal activities.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. I’ll do as you say, President.”

Jung Youngsoo chuckled and turned his head to Haesoo.

“Hyung-nim Shin, but didn’t you say there was one more person?”

Haesoo glanced at Haru and replied.

“That person, I only take her out when needed.”

“…Take out?”

Youngsoo tilted his head, not knowing what he meant. Hwang Jangsoo didn’t say anything either, but he didn’t seem to know, and only Haru’s complexion was serious.

***

The Special Investigations Unit headquarters was set up in a closed school gymnasium in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.

Three of the most formidable and skilled violent crime teams from across the country joined.

Gyeonggi Northern Province Violent Crimes Unit 1, Seoul Gangnam Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 1, Gangjin Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 4.

Gyeonggi Northern Province was Violent Crimes Unit 1, led by Jo Ara.

They had arrived first, and the next to arrive, Gangjin Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 4, entered and greeted them happily.

“Oh! Northern Province hyungs! [Hyung is a Korean term used by males to address older male friends or brothers.]”

“Kuh!”

They approached each other without hesitation, bumping shoulders and squeezing their biceps tightly to ask about the well-being of their muscles.

“Oh, you’ve gotten bigger than before?”

“Kihya, hyung-nim’s trapezius muscles have risen even more.”

“Oh, you can tell? I’ve been hitting the incline a bit lately.”

“Ah, as expected.”

The team members took turns changing their postures and examining the muscles they had built up, and Team Leader Jo Ara shook her head at the sight.

Haesoo saw that Gyeonggi Northern Province Unit 1 had joined and had a reasonable suspicion that Assemblyman Jo Gamchan’s influence had been involved.

Team Leader Jo first greeted Oh Gyeong and approached Haesoo, extending her hand.

“We meet again. It’s too frequent to be a coincidence.”

“That’s how it is.”

At that time, one of Team Leader Jo’s team members approached and snidely remarked.

“Oh, what’s this, is our team leader hitting on him right now?”

Team Leader Jo closed her eyes and let out a small sneer before turning her body.

“Let’s get to work then, Hyeongseok-ah!”

“Yes, hyung-nim!”

A team member named Hyeongseok approached, grabbed the arms of the team member who had made the snide remark, and lifted him up, and Team Leader Jo punched him in the stomach.

Thud!

“You haven’t”

Thud!

“Been hit”

Thwack!

“Enough yet?!”

“Keuheok, I’m, I’m sorry. Loyalty…”

When Hyeongseok released his hands, the team member grabbed his stomach and collapsed, and Team Leader Jo nodded in satisfaction and turned her head back to Haesoo.

“Just kidding, just kidding, I’m just very close with my team members.”

“Keuk, cough, ugh.”

The team member vomited a little stomach acid. Haesoo gave a forced smile and nodded.

Kkiiieek-

At that time, the gymnasium door opened, and the last team, the detectives from Gangnam Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 1, entered.

Gangnam Police Station, which handles violent crime cases second only to Gangjin Police Station, Violent Crimes Unit 1, which is leading among the seven teams.

They were all as burly as Haesoo’s team.

The detective leading the way, swaggering, was of a similar build to Haesoo, with comparable muscles, and short hair close to bald, with a long scar on the left end that looked like it had been hit by an axe, making him look even more vicious.

He glanced at the Gyeonggi team and the Gangjin team and frowned, waving his hand.

“Aish, dust.”

The atmosphere instantly turned cold. Oh Gyeong, as the team leader, took a step forward to greet them and extended his hand.

“Welcome. Gangnam Police Station detectives, let’s work well together in the future…”

Tak, tak-

The scar-faced man brushed the dust off his shoulders with his hand and passed by without acknowledging him. Oh Gyeong, who had quite the temper, momentarily froze.

Just as the youngest member was about to step forward in anger.

“Ah, uh, Kang Beom.”

Oh Gyeong knew that the name Kang Beom was the team leader of Gangnam Unit 1.

Kang Beom glanced at Oh Gyeong’s hand, only replied with the name, and passed by without acknowledging him.

Behind him, the four Gangnam team members passed by without acknowledging Oh Gyeong.

Oh Gyeong stood still for a moment, then forced a smile and turned around.

Kang Beom went to the desk in the middle as if it were natural, turned around, sat on the edge of the desk, and looked around at the detectives again. His gaze stopped on Jo Ara in the middle.

“What, I thought the name sounded feminine, but it was really a woman?”

“Hush, watch your mouth…”

Jo Ara stopped a team member from stepping forward and opened her mouth.

“Yes, well, honestly, I don’t have the physical strength to run around as much as the men. But don’t worry, my brainpower isn’t lacking.”

“That’s something we’ll have to see… So that’s Gangjin Police Station Unit 4?”

The team member who had been hit by Jo Ara was about to say something in anger but stopped at the change of target, and Oh Gyeong and his team members reacted to Kang Beom’s words.

“Yes, we are Gangjin Police Station Violent Crimes Unit 4.”

The intention to take the initiative was so obvious that Oh Gyeong’s words didn’t come out nicely.

Kang Beom muttered to himself as if he were talking to himself.

“I’m so busy, but Gangnam Unit 1 came, but it’s Unit 4… Is Gangjin crazy?”

“…What?”

Oh Gyeong slightly raised his eyebrows.

At that time, Kang Beom took his butt off the desk, got up, and clapped his hands.

“Well, anyway, the bigwigs have already gathered us, so there’s nothing we can do, and I hope you follow the instructions well in the future. We didn’t do that at our station. If you’re going to say things like this method doesn’t seem right, get out right now.”

Kang Beom spoke as if he had already naturally become the leader of the Special Investigations Unit.

At his words, Jo Ara was dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh, and Oh Gyeong frowned and cracked his knuckles.

At that time, Kang Beom pointed at Oh Gyeong with his finger and beckoned.

“You have a dissatisfied expression? Come out here.”

The tip of his index finger was pointing directly at Oh Gyeong.

Oh Gyeong bit his lower lip, wondering what to do in this situation, whether to just endure it or to establish a strong presence from the beginning.

“Are you going to leave?”

A voice was heard. It wasn’t the voice of Oh Gyeong or his team members, or Jo Ara’s team members. It wasn’t heard from here in the first place. It was from a different direction.

Kang Beom also noticed this and looked around.

“Who is it?”

Thud, thud, thud-

A trivial sound of slippers dragging, with no weight felt, an ajusshi [middle-aged man] with a slightly protruding belly revealed himself from the darkness.

That ajusshi, Chief Kwak, frowned and replied.

“Who do you think it is, you son of a bitch? It’s your boss. What the hell are you doing trying to act like the boss to our guys? You want to get your ass beat?”