The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 196

< #196. Sudden Acceleration (2) >

The loud noise immediately drew everyone’s attention.

“W-what was that!”

“A child?”

“Did a car hit them?”

A large man was sprawled on the ground, protectively holding a child.

Sensing something was wrong from the worried murmurs, the child’s mother turned and recognized her daughter.

“H-Haeun, Haeun-ah!!”

The woman pushed her way through the crowd and rushed towards them. The man holding the child slowly released his grip.

The child, who had been tightly closing her eyes, opened them slightly at the sound of her mother’s voice and lifted her head.

“Mom…”

“Haeun-ah, my baby, come here!”

As the woman embraced her child tightly, the driver got out of the car and angrily confronted Hwang Jang-su and the child.

“Why did you suddenly jump out like that?!”

Even as he spoke, he was aware of the onlookers and kept his voice down. The executive he was supposed to pick up was right there.

He couldn’t be too aggressive, but he needed to make it clear that it wasn’t his fault.

At that moment, the large man slowly stood up.

A black suit, a black shirt, a height of nearly 190 centimeters [approximately 6’3″], a closely shaved head, and several scars on his face.

He hadn’t seemed so intimidating when he was sprawled on the ground with the child, but just looking at him now was enough to scare anyone.

The man, Hwang Jang-su, slowly turned his head, looked at the driver, and said flatly.

“What?”

“W-well, I, uh, you suddenly…”

“Excuse me, are you alright?”

Just then, the child’s mother approached Hwang Jang-su and asked if he was okay. The driver inwardly sighed in relief.

“Ah, I’m fine. Is our little princess alright?”

Jang-su bent down and smiled at the child. The scars on his cheek deepened, creating an even more unsettling impression.

The child couldn’t answer and began to sob.

“Sniff, hng, hng…”

Meanwhile, the car owner, Executive Director Yang, approached and examined the car. It wasn’t in good shape after being hit by such a large man. The front bumper was dented, and the hood was crumpled.

“Tch, just my luck… Who are you? Do you work around here?”

Hwang Jang-su gave his signature intimidating smile and took out a business card from his pocket.

“Ah, yes, well, I’m a reporter passing by.”

“W-what? A reporter?”

Executive Director Yang’s eyes widened at the word ‘reporter.’

“Are you the car owner? Since I ran into it, I should naturally pay for the repairs. Give me the shop’s number, or better yet, give me your phone number now.”

“Why is a reporter suddenly here…”

“Ah, well, I heard there’s been a protest going on for over two years, so I wanted to see if it was really happening… Ah, of course, I didn’t see anyone beating up the child’s mother or hitting her with clothes. I didn’t take any pictures either. Don’t worry!”

“N-no, this person is making things up! Beating up, hitting! That’s nonsense!”

Jang-su opened his mouth as if he had made a mistake, then covered his mouth with his hand and nodded.

“Ah, yes! My lips are sealed.”

Executive Director Yang, fearing that the car accident would complicate matters, eventually had his secretary give Hwang Jang-su his business card, and Hwang Jang-su finally left the scene.

*

On the way from the KD Motors headquarters entrance to the bus stop, Hwang Jang-su walked with the child and her mother.

“I heard from a young woman earlier that you saved my child from danger. I’m so grateful. I don’t know how to repay you…”

“Oh, it’s only natural to do what I did. It’s enough that our little princess wasn’t hurt.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Haeun, who was startled and quickly hid behind her mother.

“That Executive Director Yang… I’ll take care of the car compensation. You saved my child, so it wouldn’t be right for me to suffer financial loss…”

Hwang Jang-su paused for a moment.

He had already investigated the woman, Kim Sun-hee, and knew how severe her financial difficulties were, so he was genuinely touched by her willingness to handle something that could cost a large sum of money.

“Ah… no, it’s alright. I was planning to meet that person using that as an excuse, so instead, could you perhaps give me an interview about the one-person protest, as you mentioned earlier?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes… I’m happy to do so.”

Kim Sun-hee was suspicious of Hwang Jang-su’s intimidating appearance, which could scare off even gangsters, and his claim to be a reporter, but the fact that he had saved her daughter was undeniable, so she felt obligated to agree.

The interview was to be held at Kim Sun-hee’s house. While traveling on the same bus to her house, the child, Haeun, became less wary and gradually started talking to Jang-su.

“Mister… why do you look so scary?”

“Hmm, I wonder… I worry about that too.”

“Are you a brave rescuer? Did you come to save Haeun?”

“Huh? Ah, haha, I suppose you could say that?”

“Wow!”

Thanks to the innocent Haeun, the atmosphere softened a bit.

Kim Sun-hee’s house, which required a long walk from the bus stop, was an eight-pyeong [approximately 285 square feet] studio apartment. She used to live in a two-room villa, but after her husband passed away, she sold it and moved here.

She took out a folding table that she had stored behind the refrigerator and handed him a cup of instant coffee.

“I’m sorry. I don’t have anything else to offer.”

“Oh, no, this is my favorite coffee.”

Hwang Jang-su was able to hear in detail about the sudden acceleration incident from Kim Sun-hee.

Hearing it from the person involved, there were definitely many things he had missed in the data.

Hwang Jang-su, who was diligently taking notes, turned to the side.

The child, Haeun, was five years old and seemed to be growing up well.

Whenever her mother got up, she tried to help, and when they were talking, she would alternate her gaze between them with bright eyes, but she wouldn’t interrupt the conversation until there was a break.

‘…Hmm.’

Although he had never raised a child, Jang-su could sense that this child had become mature early due to her difficult circumstances.

“…So, how do you make a living…?”

“I work. I work as a cashier at a supermarket, but these days, many places are switching to self-checkout, so I’m moving around a lot. I work on weekends and rest on weekdays. KD Motors doesn’t have many people on weekends, so I have to go on weekdays.”

“Hmm… yes, that must be very difficult.”

“…Yes.”

As the interview went on, Haeun was reading a fairy tale book in the corner. Sun-hee glanced at Haeun, lowered her head, and answered heavily.

“It’s like hell. I feel so sorry for Haeun…”

Jang-su clenched his fist. While working in the loan shark business, he had dealt with many customers who asked for leniency due to their difficult circumstances, but he had never met someone with such an unfair story.

As a result, his emotions took precedence over his reason.

“I, I will definitely help you.”

“…Pardon?”

Kim Sun-hee seemed rather taken aback by his determined statement.

She had met quite a few reporters so far. She had gone to them herself, and she had met many reporters who wrote articles that exploited her and Haeun’s pitiful situation to gain sympathy and views.

She had met all the reporters in the hope that it would somehow help her receive an apology, recognition, and compensation, but they only used her, and hardly any articles were properly published. Even if they were, they quickly disappeared.

And when she contacted them, they would avoid her with various excuses or block her altogether.

After experiencing countless such reporters, Sun-hee was wary when someone suddenly appeared after two years and offered to help her so openly.

Seeing the suspicion in Sun-hee’s eyes, Hwang Jang-su raised his fist to give her more confidence and said,

“I will somehow make that Executive Director Yang, that ba… person, KD Motors, kneel!”

-Hwang Jang-su, get a grip, if you keep this up, you won’t be deployed to the field anymore.

Jang-su flinched at Hae-soo’s voice in his ear, but his eyes remained the same.

His passionate eyes and serious expression only added to Kim Sun-hee’s suspicion.

“…I appreciate your words, but why are you trying to help us…?”

Hwang Jang-su heard the voices of his team members in his ear.

-Look at him, that guy’s impression makes it impossible to trust him.

-Hae-soo, I’ll go.

-No, sit down, both of you sit down, Hwang Jang-su, you said it, so you clean it up.

Jang-su nodded.

“Yeah.”

“Pardon?”

“Ah, yes, I…”

Jang-su glanced at Haeun, then looked back at Kim Sun-hee and widened his eyes.

“I don’t want to be a reporter who only raises views with sensational articles. I want to be a true reporter who has a positive influence on this region, on this country. That’s why I’ve been looking for people who have suffered unfair treatment like Kim Sun-hee.”

“…Ah.”

Kim Sun-hee saw a hint of sincerity flicker in Hwang Jang-su’s eyes.

How long had it been since she had encountered such selfless kindness at the edge of a cliff? Sun-hee’s eyes welled up with tears.

***

“Ah, should I really become a reporter? The moment I said that, the blood of a man boiled in my chest?”

Jjok-sae raised both hands and clenched and unclenched them.

“I was cringing so hard.”

Hae-soo, who was watching the monitor next to Young-soo, stretched her back and said.

“My blood was boiling too.”

“Right? Right? This hyung [older brother/male friend] used to be good at public speaking.”

“I wanted to beat you up.”

Hae-soo’s eyes flashed with murderous intent. Jang-su flinched and looked around.

“Huh? Hey, why are you like this? There are kids watching.”

Hae-soo placed her hand on his shoulder, massaged it, and said.

“Stick to the script, stick to the script. If things go wrong, your bones will go wrong too.”

“Hehe, our friend’s jokes have become very brutal these days. Is she going to a joke academy?”

Hae-soo silently pressed down hard on his shoulder and moved away.

Jang-su shook his head as he watched her leave.

“She’s getting more brutal every day. She was such a pure child in high school.”

“What was she like? Hae-soo in high school?”

Before he knew it, Ha-ru had approached and asked with wide eyes. Jang-su was slightly surprised, then narrowed his brow slightly as he recalled those days.

“Hmm… she would throw punches without thinking, give righteous lectures regardless of age, and her white shirt would be stained red with blood… those were fun times.”

Ha-ru stroked his chin with his index finger and nodded.

“Hmm, everyone’s the same when they’re young.”

“I guess so.”

Seeing the two of them sympathizing, Jjok-sae rubbed his shoulders with both hands.

Goosebumps had already spread all over his body.

‘What, mommy, it’s scary here…’

*

KD Motors repair shop, Executive Director Yang’s car, driven by his driver, enters.

A short mechanic wearing a hat pulled low came out to greet him.

“This is Executive Director Yang’s car, so take good care of it. Huh?”

“Ah, Executive Director Yang, I understand. I’ll replace everything with brand new parts!”

“You understand me well, then good work.”

“Yes, goodbye!”

The mechanic bowed deeply to the driver. Next to him, another mechanic muttered as he watched him leave.

“The owner is an executive, not him. Why is he acting like that? Anyway, these days, slaves don’t know their place and act all high and mighty like that?”

At the mechanic’s words, the short mechanic, Jjok-sae, grinned and replied.

“Then we have to make them realize their place.”

*

The next morning, Executive Director Yang’s mansion.

The driver arrived first, took the car out of the garage, parked it in front of the front door, and turned off the engine. Executive Director Yang had instructed him to turn off the engine again when he wasn’t there to save on gas.

And Jjok-sae was watching the scene from afar with binoculars.

A little later, when Executive Director Yang came out, the driver quickly opened the back door for him.

Jjok-sae pressed the transmitter and opened his mouth.

“Executive Director Yang is out.”

-Okay, press it.

“Are you really pressing it? Is this really happening now?”

-Press it. If you were scared of that, you wouldn’t have started this.

“Yes!”

Beep.

Jjok-sae pointed a black remote control towards Executive Director Yang’s car and pressed the button. Nothing happened yet.

Executive Director Yang got in first, and the driver got into the driver’s seat and started the engine. At that moment.

Vroom!

The car suddenly lurched forward. The driver, as well as Executive Director Yang, were startled and their eyes widened as if they would pop out.

Crash! Bang! Boom!

The car traveled about 100 meters before crashing into two bed mattresses that were standing in front of it and stopped.

Jjok-sae confirmed with his binoculars that the driver and Executive Director Yang were safe and opened his mouth.

“Mission clear, follow-up mission commencing.”