The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 40

“Hey, hey, where are you going!”

“What, what is it? An incident?!”

Oh Geng and the team leader shouted at Shin Hae-soo’s urgent appearance. However, Hae-soo ignored their shouts and left the office.

Thump.

“Haru-ya!”

As soon as he opened the front door of Friends Language Institute, he saw Haru with a teacher holding a cell phone in front of the desk.

The teacher smiled awkwardly and shook his cell phone.

“You didn’t have to come so urgently… I tried calling again, but you didn’t answer. Your boyfriend must like Haru a lot.”

When registering for the academy, she only said she was a guardian and didn’t clearly state their relationship, so the teacher thought they were lovers.

“The victim, where is the victim? How badly were they hurt?”

“Huh? Victim?”

When the teacher couldn’t understand what he was saying, Haru stepped forward.

“I… didn’t hit anyone.”

“Ah… then?”

“Ah, haha, that’s… Haru got 100 points on her dictation test!”

The teacher said more brightly to ease the hardened atmosphere.

Haru blushed, lowered her head, and glanced at Hae-soo. Her eyes were intense, asking for praise.

“Her skills are improving day by day compared to the test. So, I was wondering if we should move her to the advanced class… I called to discuss that.”

The teacher’s voice gradually decreased because she felt guilty even though she didn’t do anything wrong.

Hae-soo nodded with a proud face and patted Haru’s shoulder.

“Good job, do you want to go to the advanced class?”

“Yes…”

“Okay, please move her to the advanced class.”

“That’s great. There are many people in the advanced class who are the right age, and it will be more fun!”

Thus, the Haru case, which he left as if he were dispatched on an emergency, ended in vain.

Not long after that, it was a holiday, so Hae-soo was at home to greet Haru, who was returning from the academy.

Haru was humming an odd tune that didn’t match the beat, and Hae-soo asked as she happily entered.

“Did you make any friends at the academy?”

“Friends… I made friends. Sam Kim, David Oh, Seo Tae-yang, Ha Jung-hoo…”

Hae-soo narrowed his brows slightly. They are all male names.

“How many men and women are in the class?”

“Men… six, women eight.”

There are even more women, but she only made male friends.

“They are kind… and friendly. Should I buy you something delicious? Should I take you somewhere fun? Should I show you a movie? Do you want to drink with me? Do you want to do something with me…?”

Hae-soo’s expression gradually distorted. Haru was scared by the sight and shut her mouth.

“Okay, that’s what you mean…”

Haru just said yes, yes, I understand.

After hearing the story from Haru, Hae-soo fell into deep thought with a serious expression.

He couldn’t stop imagining it in his head. He sees shady-looking foreigners hitting on Haru. He also sees the innocent Haru falling for it.

If he uses physical force, Haru will take care of it on her own, but this kind of shady kindness is difficult to break through.

‘I need to take special measures.’

Hae-soo looked at the ceiling and lay down, then turned to Haru, who was trying to go to sleep.

“Haru, from now on, if those men talk to you…”

*

Friends Language Institute.

When it was break time, the men approached Haru without fail.

Haru quickly fiddled with her cell phone.

The men were amazed to see Haru’s cell phone wallpaper. The wallpaper featured a man with a brutal scar and body, topless, exercising.

“Ah, Haru likes men with good bodies? This *oppa* [term used by younger women to address older men they are close to] also has some muscles, do you want to touch them?”

“Boyfriend.”

“Ah, you have a boyfriend, of course you do, Haru is beautiful.”

Ignoring the foreigner mindset that doesn’t care at all even if there is a goalkeeper [someone already in a relationship], Haru opened the photo album and showed the photos taken together as if to prove it.

Both Haru and the man were looking straight ahead with stiff faces as if taking a proof photo. But there were a few dots on her boyfriend’s face.

“Really, but what’s on here?”

“It’s blood. He is a detective who catches bad guys. He often comes with blood on him.”

“Ah…”

Only then did the men begin to slowly back away.

***

Gangjin Police Station.

It’s the day Dong Nam-cheol is dismissed. His father was not kicked out of the party, but his position has been significantly narrowed due to this incident.

Shin Hae-soo escorted Dong Nam-cheol, who was dishonorably dismissed.

“Thanks.”

“W-What? What is it?”

“I’m disappointed I couldn’t throw you in jail since you messed things up with your own hands, but don’t you dare come near the police again.”

“This son of a bitch, until the end…”

Hae-soo merely smirked, raising the corner of his mouth, and extended one hand. Dong Nam-cheol stared at that hand for a moment, then let out a sigh, suppressing his anger, and grabbed it.

“Ha… Aaaagh!”

Hae-soo gripped his hand so hard it felt like his bones would shatter. He couldn’t pull his hand away and knelt down on both knees in front of the police station’s main gate.

“Don’t swear, or you’ll get in trouble.”

Hae-soo gave a cold warning, released his hand, and turned to enter the police station.

Dong Nam-cheol looked at his retreating figure, his eyes welling up with tears.

“That bastard, he’s just stupidly strong…”

He muttered very quietly, just in case he could be heard.

*

Hae-soo’s face, as he entered the office, wore an unusually pleasant expression.

It was refreshing, like a rotten tooth had fallen out, going beyond just being sick of it.

Hae-soo knocked on the partition of Team 1 and said,

“Would you like to go to the sauna after work? My treat.”

“What’s up with the homebody? The team leader next door got fired two times in a row, yet you look so bright.”

“It’s really the first time Hae-soo has suggested going somewhere first, but I have to pick up the kids from daycare today, what a shame.”

“It’s my wife’s birthday, how about going tomorrow?”

At that moment, the youngest member raised his hand enthusiastically.

“I’ll go!”

“What, Muscle Monster, didn’t you say you had a date with your girlfriend?”

“I just told her to meet me next time.”

“To that extent…?”

Hae-soo nodded, looking at the youngest member with sparkling eyes.

*

The Sesamcheon hot spring, located on the outskirts of Goam-dong, where Gangjin Police Station is located.

“Aheuh.”

“Eueuh.”

Four burly men covered in animal tattoos swaggered in.

Others who were already washing or in the bath flinched and slowly moved away from them.

“Brother Viper, your body seems to be getting better and better.”

The man called Viper flexed his pectoral muscles and replied.

“Really? I worked out my chest a bit yesterday. What about you? Is that all fat? When I was your age, I was flying around, splitting two heads of Gangdu [Gangdu is likely a gang name] bastards with one swing of an axe.”

“Wasn’t that during the Blue Night Massacre? Wearing Samseon slippers [cheap rubber slippers].”

“That’s right, those slippers still haven’t broken.”

“As expected, a living legend. Hey guys, Brother Viper is the famous Yongsu-dong Slipper.”

“You’re amazing, Brother!”

“Hehe, it’s all old news, old news…”

Viper trailed off, shifting his gaze to the entrance. The other men also turned their heads to follow him.

Bulging, throbbing.

A huge man who looked to be at least 190cm tall [approximately 6’3″] entered. The reason Viper was drawn to him was that despite being so tall, his body was very thick. With every step he took, his bulging muscles clearly revealed their presence.

The tattooed men, who had been swaggering around, fell silent. Viper cautiously watched him and said quietly.

“Never seen him before.”

“That’s what I’m saying. It’s rare to see talent like that these days…”

“Guys like that are all about the body; they’re terrible in a real fight. He doesn’t even have a single scar on his body.”

“As expected of Brother Viper. Should we find out which crew he’s with?”

“No, no need to make things unnecessarily complicated. Let’s just watch…”

At that moment, another man followed him in. He had an incredible number of scars all over his body, including what looked like gunshot wounds.

If the muscular man had well-maintained, bulging muscles, this man possessed steel-like muscles. Even from a distance, a chilling aura could be felt.

The tattooed men looked at him, then instinctively turned their heads away in unison.

Viper, who had been observing them out of the corner of his eye, saw the muscular man bowing politely to the scarred man.

“I’ll go into the bath first.”

“Go ahead.”

The tattooed men tensed up as they heard the two of them talking.

Ssshhh.

As the muscular man entered the same bath, the tattooed men glanced at him furtively. They didn’t say anything, just in case they were overheard.

Then, the scarred man also entered.

“Hoo…”

The scarred man slowly scanned the bath with his expressionless eyes.

The tattooed men averted their gazes without realizing it, and Viper tried to hold out until the end, but the moment his eyes met, his survival instinct kicked in, and he quickly lowered his head.

The scarred man wrinkled his nose once and turned his head towards the muscular man.

“What did you do with that corpse back then, maknae [youngest member/junior] ?”

“Are you talking about the dismembered one? I took care of it cleanly.”

The tattooed men flinched at the brutal words, brutal faces, and brutal conversation. They felt viscerally that these men were the real deal, not just bluffing.

“Good job. Was that your first time seeing a corpse?”

“My third.”

“Well, you’ll be seeing them often from now on.”

“I’m mentally prepared. Please guide me well.”

As the two were talking, Viper couldn’t stand it any longer and subtly got up from the bath.

“Ah… the water’s a bit hot…”

As if they had been waiting for it, the other tattooed men followed him. They moved their feet with extreme caution, trying not to make any noise.

However, the tattoos on their bodies were so flamboyant that they couldn’t help but stand out.

The scarred man’s gaze followed them.

“You there.”

The four of them flinched simultaneously and froze like a still frame. Viper, who was at the very front, couldn’t even turn his head and remained still.

“You there, carp.”

Viper was the only one with a carp tattoo covering his entire body. Viper had no choice but to slowly turn his head, with the nicest smile he could muster.

“Me… you mean me?”

“You dropped your scrub.”

Following the scarred man’s index finger, he saw a green scrub on the floor.

“I’m sorry!”

He quickly picked it up and left at an incredible speed. Not wanting to be outdone, the other tattooed men followed him.

Shin Hae-soo tilted his head.

“What are they sorry for?”

“For the tattoos…? Maybe.”

“I guess so. Tattoos seem to be in fashion these days. They look so innocent.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

***

The next day, Gangjin Police Station, Violent Crimes Unit.

He was enthusiastically working out his forearm muscles when his phone rang.

[Officer Lim Sia]

It was Officer Lim, who used to work with him at the precinct. Now she had been promoted to Officer Lim.

“This is Shin Hae-soo. What’s the matter?”

-Detective Shin, we received a suicide report in Jijeong-dong and came here. We’re contacting you because the deceased is related to a case your team was in charge of.

“What’s the identity of the deceased?”

-Early 20s… female. Her name is Shin Ira.

Shin Ira, the woman connected to the celebrity murder case and the congressman.

“I’m going there now.”

Hae-soo answered the phone and stood up from his seat, making eye contact with the maknae. Hae-soo nodded, and the maknae nodded back and immediately grabbed the car keys and left the office.

Seeing this, the team leader narrowed his eyes and muttered.

“What’s this? Since when have you guys been communicating with your eyes? I’m hurt.”

“Shin Ira committed suicide.”

“What the…”

The team leader and Oh Gyeong stood up at the same time.

*

Violent Crimes Unit 1 moved in a van, and Hae-soo, as if promised, moved separately on his motorcycle.

He had to get to the scene as quickly as possible since he didn’t know what the situation was.

When he arrived at the scene, the precinct police officers who had arrived earlier recognized Hae-soo and saluted.

Officer Lim greeted him as he entered the house.

“Detective Shin.”

“It’s been a while. Has the estimated time of death been determined?”

“Around 4 hours ago.”

It was already too late to reset [referring to time travel or reversing events]. Shin Ira’s body was lying on the floor of the main room. The marks on her neck were severe. She had hanged herself.

“Where was she hanging from?”

“Here, the main room’s veranda [balcony].”

Hae-soo narrowed his brow and headed to the veranda. A noose was made from the rope supporting the ceiling-mounted drying rack.

The moment he saw the knot used to make the noose, his vision blurred and overlapped with a certain illusion.

“Uh.”

Hae-soo suddenly felt dizzy and staggered.

“Detective Shin!”

The way the knot was tied, the method of suicide, the place where she hanged herself, were all the same.

It was the way Hae-soo’s father had committed suicide.

< #40. Familiar Knot > End