The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 55

Shin Hae-soo immediately looked for Haru’s contact information and was about to press the call button, but stopped.

‘It’s a good thing, in a way.’

Just this afternoon, he was worrying about how to get Haru to be independent. This is perfect timing. It’s not like she’s the type to get hurt by someone after leaving, and she’s smart enough to take care of herself.

Being with him is dangerous for Haru.

Hae-soo silently prepared dinner without sending Haru a single text or making a single call.

Fwoosh… Click.

He opened the rice cooker and paused. Without realizing it, he had made enough rice for Haru as well.

He sat alone at the table and took a spoonful of rice.

-S-Shibal, it’s delicious.

He chuckled, remembering when Haru had strangely expressed her admiration. Recently, she had been eating each spoonful of rice with emotion and gratitude.

Seeing that, Hae-soo had unknowingly become more grateful for the present.

After finishing his meal, doing the dishes, and showering, he habitually looked at the corner of the bed.

-What up? Shoo-shoo-shook.

-Ugh, that’s cringe.

He remembered her playing phone games there, spouting out strange words from time to time.

They say you might not notice when a space is filled, but you know when it’s empty. Having lived together for several months, it felt like her traces were left in every corner of the house.

However, that shadowed figure standing tall in the middle of a sea of blood came to mind.

‘It’s for the best. It’s for the best.’

He can’t let her go through something like that again. Hae-soo vowed as he lay down on the bed.

He also missed that strange gravitational pull of her tugging on his sleeve every time he went to sleep. Looking at it this way, there really wasn’t a single part of Hae-soo’s life that she hadn’t melted into.

He was quite tired, but he couldn’t fall asleep easily.

How will she eat? She’s never bought food outside alone before… What if someone hurts her? Where will she sleep? She doesn’t even have anywhere to go, yet she just left like that…

Hae-soo didn’t stay up all night worrying about Haru, but he didn’t fall asleep until dawn.

*

The next day.

Shin Hae-soo always works out with Hwang Jang-soo at his gym before going to work, unless there’s something special.

Thwack! Bang!

Hae-soo charged in first, knocking away Hwang Jang-soo’s rubber dagger and arm, and pushed him with his shoulder.

Hwang Jang-soo took a few steps back, shaking his head and trying to extend the dagger. But before he could extend it, Hae-soo charged in again.

Thud! Pow!

“Ugh.”

Hae-soo relentlessly attacked, planting a fist in Jang-soo’s stomach. He was wearing gloves, but they were open-finger gloves, so the shock absorption was minimal.

Jang-soo clutched his stomach and rolled around on the floor before throwing the dagger away.

“I’m done, I’m done!”

Usually, Jang-soo would attack first, and Hae-soo would block and counterattack, but today, he came in as soon as Jang-soo even took an attacking stance.

Jang-soo, who had known Hae-soo since he was young, found the emotion in his expressionless face and asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just want to clear my head.”

“Okay, I’ll go hard too!”

“Come at me.”

Thwack thwack pow!

Jang-soo once again staggered backward, clutching his stomach.

“Ugh, seriously.”

*

Shin Hae-soo used Hwang Jang-soo as a punching bag to sweat it out and went to work at the police station.

There were reporters gathered at the entrance of the police station. As Hae-soo rode in on his motorcycle, someone recognized him and shouted.

“Oh, it’s Detective Shin!”

“It’s Detective Shin Hae-soo!”

“Detective Shin! Could you say a word about the detective retaliation case a few days ago!”

Hae-soo was bewildered and ignored them for the time being, parking his motorcycle inside the station and entering the building.

The chief, who had been watching the scene through the window in his office, called Hae-soo in.

“Detective Shin.”

“Yes, Chief.”

“I respect your personal opinion, but I’d like you to take this opportunity to give a clean interview and send those people away. Wouldn’t it improve the Gangjin Police Station’s image? Of course, if you don’t want to, I’ll take care of it myself.”

Hae-soo didn’t really have a reason to avoid the interview. Rather, it would be a welcome thing if a good perception of the police spread.

“I will.”

A vacant auditorium next to the police station’s main building.

An impromptu press conference was held. Reporters sat around Hae-soo, bombarding him with questions.

“Are you the same Detective Shin who caught the serial killer of the surrogate drivers who was planning a crime?”

“Yes, I am.”

“How did you deal with the gangsters who planned revenge? Did they all have knives? Can you show us?”

“Yes, all four of them had knives, and like this… Um, would four of you like to come out?”

“Ah, I don’t think you need to show us. You’re amazing!”

“Three of them died. Was it so urgent that you stabbed them to death?”

“A knife becomes urgent even when a child is holding it. You’ll know if you experience it.”

“How do you attract so much crime?”

“I don’t know. My looks?”

“You look like you’re for crime prevention.”

“The public wants to know Detective Shin’s personal information. Are you willing to disclose it?”

“My occupation, age, and name have all been revealed. What else is there to disclose?”

“Your face. Your face.”

Hae-soo waved his hand.

“I don’t have a face to be proud of, and there are many times when I have to go undercover, so it would be difficult if people recognized me.”

“You’ve been photographed a lot, though?”

“There’s a difference between being photographed haphazardly and being photographed properly with all my pores showing.”

“Then how about revealing just your forearms instead?”

“I can do abs too.”

Hae-soo got up, took off his uniform, and showed off his body in a tight-fitting functional short-sleeved shirt.

No matter how thin the new material special anti-stab suit is, it’s hard to keep wearing it in the summer, so he only wears it when he goes out on a call.

“Whoa…”

“Wow…”

“His body is the plot.”

People couldn’t help but be amazed by Hae-soo’s steel-like muscles and the many scars as split as his muscles.

Click click chwazazak-

“Does Detective Shin Hae-soo have anything to say to the public?”

“Ah…”

Hae-soo turned his head, stared straight at a reporter’s camera, and opened his mouth in a low voice.

“If you’ve done something bad, turn yourself in. It will hurt a lot if I come to catch you.”

“Oof.”

“Ugh…”

The reporters stopped typing and collectively moved their bodies back from his fierce energy.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

A female reporter asked. Her long, black hair reminded him of someone.

Yes, even if she becomes independent someday, he shouldn’t let her leave now with the misunderstanding that she was a nuisance.

Hae-soo stared at her for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Haru, who ran away from home, come back.”

“Ah, is that your pet’s name?”

Hae-soo smiled silently.

“I see, thank you for the interview today.”

“Thank you for your hard work. I’ll go back to work now.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you for the refreshing interview, Detective Shin!”

Several reporters, who were pleased with Hae-soo’s style of answering even minor questions seriously, gave him their business cards out of goodwill, even though they didn’t get an exclusive.

***

A hectic day and then it was time to leave work.

Shin Hae-soo jumped up as soon as it hit six o’clock.

“I’m leaving work first.”

“Oh, what? Weren’t we going to eat fish cakes after work?”

“Let’s eat them tomorrow, something urgent came up.”

Hae-soo immediately called Haru. The phone was turned off. He asked Jung Young-soo to track the phone’s location, and the last place the phone was turned on was near the grocery store where they went shopping.

‘Where did she go…’

Hae-soo searched here and there from that place and asked Ahn Seo-eun, but he couldn’t find Haru.

Step, step, step.

Hae-soo slowly climbed the stairs. His feet were heavy. He had a wish that Haru would be there like a surprise event when he entered the house.

Thud.

Hae-soo’s feet stopped abruptly as he reached the front of the house.

He could see a woman squatting on the stairs leading to the upper floor. Next to her was a neatly packed luggage bag.

She slowly raised her head and looked up at Hae-soo. Her lips, swollen from crying all day, parted slightly.

“I was a nuisance. But… I want to live with you, landlord. I don’t want to be apart. I won’t do that again. So please don’t abandon me.”

Hae-soo’s eyes gradually widened as he listened to Haru’s confession-like words, as if she had been preparing for a long time.

Haru’s true feelings, which he was hearing for the first time. Until now, he had thought that she wanted to be independent. He had been training her to achieve her goal as soon as possible.

Since she hadn’t experienced independence, or because it was the first place she had stayed after coming out of that terrible underground world, her attachment might be deeper. It might change later.

But now, the answer has been decided.

“I found you.”

Haru’s eyes widened at Hae-soo’s words.

Hae-soo reached out his hand. Haru grabbed his thick hand and stood up.

*

As soon as Haru came in, she had a 폭풍 [storm-like] meal. Hae-soo watched the scene with a pleased expression and spoke to her.

“Where were you? Why was your phone turned off?”

Haru put her hand in her pocket and took something out, placing it on the table. It was money. Two 50,000 won bills and three 10,000 won bills.

“I can’t keep relying on you, landlord, so I earned money. My phone was turned off while I was working. But… when it got dark, I missed this house and you so much. I know I’m a nuisance, but…”

“You’re not a nuisance, you did well, so what kind of work did you do?”

Haru stopped eating and stared blankly at Hae-soo with a spoon in her hand. Then, she blinked twice and pretended to move something with both hands.

“Delivery… It was a job of moving big boxes.”

“택배 상하차? [Delivery loading and unloading?]”

“Ah yes, that’s right.”

Hae-soo’s brow furrowed. No wonder Haru looked a little haggard. It turned out that she hadn’t just spent time outside all day, but had even done extreme work and received proper pay.

“No, such hard work…”

“Huh? It was okay. They helped me a lot.”

“Helped you? With 택배 상하차? [Delivery loading and unloading?]”

상하차 [Loading and unloading] work is not something that anyone helps with. Everyone is too busy handling their assigned work.

Hae-soo suddenly remembered what a beautiful actress had said when she recalled her part-time job.

-The customers were kind, the colleagues were kind, and the boss was kind. Ah, the world felt kind?

“Yes, and everyone was kind. I’ll earn money from now on.”

Indeed, her face had triggered kindness and the instinct to help.

Originally, 상하차 [loading and unloading] is a place where you listen to a combination of curses you’ve never heard before from the supervisor all night, let alone kindness.

Hae-soo shook his head.

“No, don’t do it for the time being. Let’s start by finding a job that suits you.”

“Ah… aptitude, yes, I understand.”

Haru, who had become grimy, showered and fell asleep quickly.

Hae-soo looked at her and vowed to move to a safe house that was difficult to break into.

***

Internet Cafe, [Match Fight]

A cafe with the description ‘A gathering of true strongmen where fighters from all over the country join to fight each other and determine the rankings.’

[(Link) The Hot 경찰 [Police Officer] These Days, Can’t Lose, Right?]

This is the 경찰 [police officer] called Shin, who everyone is praising on the internet these days. He 역관광ed [turned the tables on] four gangsters who came to retaliate alone. Three died, and one was seriously injured because he cut off his ankle ㄷㄷ [sound of shock or disbelief]

-Maga99: He has a good body, but don’t the cafe hyungs [older brothers/respected figures] have plenty of bodies like that?

-Moondiya: Moondiya, the hyungs [older brothers/respected figures] are much better. That 짭새 [slang for police] isn’t even a 짜바리 [low-level police officer].

-dlfader: Wow, as expected of the hyungs [older brothers/respected figures]. No matter how much the 짭새 [slang for police] flies, he can’t even lift his tail in front of the hyungs [older brothers/respected figures].

-SeungwooThink: These days, gangsters are 비리비리 [weak], so you can’t trust them. I fought 2:1 with a neighborhood gangster, and they were 개좁밥 [very weak]. Gangsters are all 문신 가오충 [tattooed show-offs]. Even if four people had knives, they would all be one-hit wonders. It’s annoying that they’re 심하게 물고빠는 [excessively praising] something that’s not a big deal.

-Superior’s Intestine: I think the same way, hyung [older brother/respected figure]. I have a good idea. How about we formally 재끼고 [challenge/take down] that 경찰 [police officer] this time and upload a video to make our cafe famous?

-SeungwooThink: If you 재끼고 [challenge/take down] a high-level expert like that, challenges from hidden experts will pour in…

-CloudAndLight: I’ll participate too.

-Superior’s Intestine: Wow, 지려따!! [amazing/awesome] Aren’t you the Incheon regional 맞짱 [one-on-one fight] competition champion hyung [older brother/respected figure]? This game will end too easily, right?

-SeungwooThink: I have to go and assist you since the Incheon hyung [older brother/respected figure] is going.

-AuraJo: The 강동구 [Gangdong district] boss from Seoul will also participate.

-Superior’s Intestine: 지려따! [amazing/awesome] 디져따 [He’s dead!] Detective Shin! I’ll be the cameraman. Hyungs [older brothers/respected figures], let’s spread the fear of our 맞짱 [one-on-one fight] cafe to the world!

-CloudAndLight: Let’s set a date.

-Moondiya: CrazyㅋㅋㅋㅋIt’ll be so fun, I have to go 현관 [on-site], but how do you know where he is?

-Superior’s Intestine: We know where the police station is, so we can just wait near there until he gets off work. I’ll do a preliminary survey. I’ll set a date and post an announcement here, hyungs [older brothers/respected figures]!

<#55. Haru Runs Away From Home> End