The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 233

< #233. Drug Operation >

Park Sun-hoo tumbled backward from the sudden kick, rolling once.

“Aaaaaah!”

His wife screamed, and the startled baby cried with all its might.

Three burly men in black suits swaggered through the door, their boots thudding into the room.

The one with a bushy, bandit-like beard and a gold necklace stepped forward and squatted down.

“Oops, there’s a baby here. Hello, baby?”

At the mention of the baby, Park Sun-hoo snapped to attention and stood up. He grabbed a frying pan and brandished it at them, saying,

“W-What do you people want?!”

“Oh, I’m so scared. What are you going to do with that? Hit me.”

When Sun-hoo hesitated to attack, the man continued.

“I’d like to beat you to a pulp right now, but it seems like you don’t know what you did wrong, so I’ll explain it to you. Remember that quick delivery you picked up on the 23rd at the Venus Hotel in Yongsan-dong?”

Park Sun-hoo takes quick delivery jobs as well as regular deliveries. They pay relatively well, and sometimes there are ‘honey deliveries’ [high-paying, easy jobs] that pay four or five times more.

“Y-Yes, I picked it up.”

“Yeah, if you picked it up, you should have delivered it. Why did you pocket it? Were you that greedy? Aish, this damn baby is so loud!”

“I delivered it exactly as I was told… Let’s talk outside.”

As he answered, the bearded man cast a murderous glance at Sun-hoo’s baby, and Sun-hoo hurriedly led them outside.

“Oppa [term of endearment for older brother or boyfriend/husband from a woman to a man]…”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, stay here.”

Just before leaving, the bearded man turned halfway and said to Sun-hoo’s wife.

“Lady, if you report this, your husband will die. Think carefully.”

Thud. Click-

Sun-hoo took the men outside, and as soon as the door closed, the bearded man grabbed Sun-hoo’s hair and slapped him.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

“This bastard dares to tell me to go outside. Hey, drag him over here.”

“Yes, sir.”

They took Sun-hoo to their car in the parking lot downstairs.

Sun-hoo desperately tried to recall the events.

They said the quick delivery he received on the 23rd was the problem. He received a bouquet of flowers in the hotel parking lot and definitely delivered it to the agreed location. That was all. But this was happening.

Sun-hoo bled from his torn lips as he answered.

“I-I really did deliver it properly…”

“Yeah, sure, they all say that. Let’s see how long you can keep lying.”

Just as the beating was about to resume, the bearded man stopped his men.

“Stop. Hey, Park Sun-hoo.”

“…Yes.”

The bearded man took out a knife, held it to Sun-hoo’s cheek, and threatened him.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re lying or not. Anyway, there was a delivery accident, so you have to take responsibility, right? In a democratic society.”

“How… How do I take responsibility…?”

“Thirty million [Korean Won, approximately $25,000 USD].”

“…What?”

“What you lost was worth 30 million won. I’m being an angel and not charging interest. Have it ready by next week.”

“I-I don’t have that kind of money…!”

Smack!

Sun-hoo was slapped several more times by the bearded man. The bearded man grabbed Sun-hoo’s chin with his index finger and thumb and sneered maliciously.

“Your wife looks decent. You could pay it off in a week if we just used your wife all night. How about it? Want to hand her over?”

“Absolutely not! If you touch my wife…”

“If I touch her, what? What, you little shit, you haven’t been beaten enough.”

The bearded man stepped back, and two of his men began to beat Sun-hoo again.

“We can’t touch your wife, but we can touch our money? You’re a really selfish bastard.”

Thud-

Park Sun-hoo, thoroughly beaten, was thrown onto the cement floor.

The bearded man stepped on his head with his boot and said.

“One week. I’ll be back in a week.”

“Ugh…”

“Oh, do you know our names? Do you know where we live?”

Sun-hoo struggled to shake his head.

“I know your house, your number, your wife, your baby. I know everything.”

The bearded man took his foot off Sun-hoo’s head.

“Go ahead and report it. It’ll be fun.”

The car door closed, and they left. It was a stormy 30 minutes.

Left alone, Sun-hoo felt like he had a nightmare. But the throbbing pain all over his body and the metallic taste in his mouth proved it wasn’t a dream.

* * *

Park Sun-hoo gave up all his work and searched for the person who made the quick delivery that day and the person who received it.

However, he received the quick delivery directly from the hotel parking lot and paid in cash, so he couldn’t find out any personal information.

“Can I see the elevator CCTV? I really need to know who it is.”

“I’m sorry, you need to bring the police to see it.”

“Ah… Please…”

In the end, Sun-hoo couldn’t identify either the person who ordered the delivery or the person who received it.

He also checked the motorcycle’s black box [dashcam], but the person who received it was wearing a hat and a mask, so he couldn’t even tell if it was a man or a woman.

One week later.

The grim reapers in black suits came again.

In the parking lot in front of Park Sun-hoo’s villa.

“Did you get the money ready?”

Sun-hoo had been wasting time looking for people, so he hadn’t been able to work for a few days. He handed them 10 million won [approximately $8,300 USD], including the money he had earned this time and the money he had saved up.

The bearded man grinned as he checked the money, but suddenly his expression turned fierce.

“What about the rest?”

“I’ll get it soon…”

Pow! Pow! Pow!

Sun-hoo’s once handsome face was once again covered in bruises. The healing wounds reopened, and blood flowed down.

The bearded man squatted next to Sun-hoo and muttered.

“I’m really an angel, that’s the problem. I’m helping you out because you have a kid and I feel sorry for you. You’re really…”

Just as Sun-hoo was feeling hopeful at the bearded man’s words, he continued.

“Run deliveries. Take the designated items to the places we tell you to. We’ll deduct 50 [5 million won, approximately $4,150 USD] from each delivery. How about it? Aren’t I an angel?”

Sun-hoo’s face turned pale.

It was obvious that he would be delivering something suspicious. It was illegal. It was against the law. When Sun-hoo hesitated, he got up and walked towards the entrance of the villa.

“Or your wife can go out and whore herself.”

Sun-hoo hurriedly followed him and grabbed his arm.

He stopped and looked down at Sun-hoo’s hand, and Sun-hoo, frightened, let go of his hand and said.

“I-I’ll do it.”

* * *

The places where Park Sun-hoo made deliveries were unusual.

Inside the cistern in the last stall of a public restroom, inside the handrail of an apartment staircase, in a trash can in a park.

Each one was a strange and incomprehensible location.

The bearded man was watching him from afar. Next to him was a sturdy, bandit-like middle-aged man.

“Is that him? The guy we’re passing this on to this time?”

“Yes, there’s plenty of evidence, isn’t there?”

“Looks like you caught a sucker. You trashy bastards.”

“Hey, we have to live too. That’s how we can thank you, boss, and all that.”

Slap-

The bandit middle-aged man slapped the bearded man across the face with a blank expression. The bearded man’s expression twisted, but he quickly relaxed it.

“Don’t call me ‘boss,’ you little punk. Where did a gangster like you…”

“I’m sorry.”

“Alright, get lost.”

* * *

Sun-hoo completed five deliveries for the bearded man and was on his way home after working hard on regular deliveries.

As he parked his motorcycle in the parking lot and took off his helmet, two unfamiliar men approached.

It was the bandit-like middle-aged man.

“Park Sun-hoo?”

“Yes? Who are you?”

The bandit showed him his police identification card and said.

“You are under arrest for drug trafficking. You have the right to remain silent, and you have the opportunity to explain.”

“What? N-No, wait a minute.”

Sun-hoo was flustered, but he couldn’t resist strongly because he felt guilty.

As Sun-hoo was getting into the detective’s car, someone spotted him.

“What, Jian’s crush?”

It was Jjoksae, who was taking a lap around the neighborhood. He immediately picked up his phone.

“Hey, Jian, I just saw that crush of yours…”

* * *

One hour later.

In front of Park Sun-hoo’s villa, under the streetlight, his wife was swaying back and forth with her newborn baby in a baby carrier, rubbing her cold hands.

Her husband was coming home late today.

Two women cautiously approached her.

“Excuse me…”

“…Yes? Wh-Who are you?”

Sun-hoo’s wife was terrified when strangers approached her after the gangster incident. It was no exception even for women.

“Sister, do you remember me?”

At Jian’s words, Sun-hoo’s wife became wary and looked at the name tag on her school uniform.

Then she repeated the name a few times and her eyes widened.

“Oh, you’re…?”

Although the schools were attached, Jian was a middle school student when she was a high school student, so they rarely saw each other.

However, Jian often lingered around Sun-hoo, so they often ran into each other, and Sun-hoo’s wife had spoken to her a few times.

“Um… I saw it earlier…”

Jian carefully conveyed the fact that Sun-hoo had been arrested by the police.

Jian stopped her from going to the police station right away, saying that she was checking with a police officer among her acquaintances.

Jian and Haru took her inside and listened to the whole story, and Hae-soo went to the police station where Sun-hoo had been taken.

“What’s going on?”

An officer from the Sangmun Station Narcotics Division, who looked like either a detective or a gangster, approached, and the detective asked warily.

“I’m Detective Shin Hae-soo from the Gangjin Station Special Team. Is Park Sun-hoo here?”

Hae-soo deliberately revealed his identity. Being in the toughest Gangjin Station in the police force, and being in the Special Team, exerted a considerable amount of power, even though it wasn’t visible.

And the rank of Detective was not great, but it was a position that could not be ignored.

At his question, the youngest detective in the Narcotics Division jumped up and turned around.

“Ah yes, Park Sun-hoo… I think he’s in the detention center.”

“Can I see him for a moment?”

“That’s…”

At that moment, a bandit-like middle-aged man came in, dripping water from his beard as if he had just washed his face.

“No, you can’t. Detective Choi, that’s your problem. You have to cut off what you can’t do.”

Hae-soo’s head slowly turned. The sharp gazes of the bandit and Hae-soo met.

“Are you the detective in charge? I’m Shin Hae-soo.”

The bandit ignored Hae-soo’s outstretched hand and wiped his face with a towel.

“A drug addict’s acquaintance? This smells a bit fishy. Oh, don’t take it personally. This is my job.”

“…Yes, anyway, please investigate thoroughly so that there is no unfairness.”

“What’s unfair about a drug addict? If you didn’t know, cut ties cleanly this time. I’m telling you as a senior in life.”

“…I’ll be going.”

Hae-soo captured his greedy eyes in his own and left the Narcotics Division.

Clunk-

As the door closed, the bandit muttered to himself, looking at the door.

His face was full of annoyance.

“Damn it, why did you release a rat with connections to the Special Team? These bastards, really…”

* * *

Unless a report is filed with the relevant branch, it is not easy for the police to investigate first. That is a personal action. It is the prosecutor’s job to dig into suspicions.

So Hae-soo first focused on the cases that the Special Team was in charge of and ordered the hideout team to investigate the Park Sun-hoo case.

A few days later.

Dark hands approached Sun-hoo’s wife, who was suffering because she couldn’t see or talk to him due to the visitation ban.

“Hey lady, where’s your husband? He owes me 20 million [Korean Won, approximately $16,600 USD] and went into hiding. What’s going on?”

“It’s you guys, you ordered my brother to deliver drugs, didn’t you?!”

“What nonsense are you talking about? I only told him to pay back the money. I guess he even resorted to drug delivery to pay back the money quickly. Oh, what about our money then?”

Sun-hoo’s wife glared at him and said.

“Bring my brother, bring my brother back!”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

The bearded man grabbed her hair and pulled it back.

“You have to pay it back. Come on out.”

“Aaaah!! Let go of me?!”

The bearded man dragged her out of the stairs. Inside the house, the baby burst into a sharp cry at its mother’s scream.

“Shut your mouth? This bitch needs to get hit first to understand.”

Just as the bearded man raised his hand to slap her.

Thwack!

A can of cider flew and accurately hit the back of his head.

He frowned and turned his head. A person wearing a black mask, a black hat, and tight-fitting training clothes was standing at the bottom of the stairs. With a slender figure and protruding hips, it was obviously a woman.

The bearded man let go of Sun-hoo’s wife’s hair and turned his body completely.

“Who are you?”

The Cider Girl looked at Sun-hoo’s wife and opened her mouth.

“Go inside and lock the door.”

She hesitated for a moment, then hurriedly went inside. It was because the baby was crying as if it was about to suffocate.

“Who the hell are you?!!”

With the bearded man’s roar, one of the burly men next to him swaggered down the stairs.

“Hey, come here.”

When he came down about three steps.

Tadat- [onomatopoeia for a sudden movement]

The Cider Girl suddenly took something out of her arms and explosively jumped forward.

The burly man reflexively reached out to grab her, but she twisted her body to avoid him, stepped on the wall twice, and rose almost as if her body was touching the ceiling of the hallway.

Thwack!

She hit the burly man’s temple with her knee, and the burly man’s body collapsed sideways as if he had been hit by a tranquilizer gun.

Whack!

Just before his head hit the stair railing, she *jjigeotda* [Korean word for ‘stabbed’] the burly man’s face with something in her hand.

“Cough!”

Both cheeks of the burly man had wooden chopsticks, as if they had just been received from a convenience store, piercing through them.

Swish!

The Cider Girl pulled out the wooden chopsticks without regret and *barabomyeo* [Korean word for ‘while looking at’] gestured with her finger at the bearded man standing in front of Park Sun-hoo’s front door.