The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 94

The Police Are Too Strong – Episode 94 (94/255)

Perfect Spell Checker for typos, spacing, and foreign words

Gangjin City outskirts, a run-down area.

Few people on the streets, and single-story buildings with cracked walls lined the area.
There, a small food cart was set up near what was called the main street where cars still passed.

[Muscle Loss Food Cart]

“Welcome!!”

“Kya-oop!”

Two young women entered the food cart and were startled by the spirited greeting.

“Speak softly, you’ll scare the customers.”

“Ah, yes, s-sorry.”

Inside, two muscular men filled the small kitchen. Haesu and the youngest.

“Ah, n-no… One serving of tteokbokki [spicy stir-fried rice cakes], please.”

“One serving of tteokbokki!”

Haesu reflexively repeated the order and placed the tteokbokki on a plate.

The two women ate the tteokbokki, then exchanged glances and ordered two more servings.

“It’s delicious. We’ll come again. Good work!”

As they left, a man wearing a hat pulled low over his eyes, who had been picking at an eomuk [fish cake] skewer in the corner, raised his head.

It was Team Leader Kwak. He shook the wooden skewer with a serious expression and said.

“How long do we have to do this?”

“I don’t know. It’s hard to make them come to us when we’ve only been looking for them.”

“The youngest does all the cooking, what’s hard for you?”

“Um, being in the kitchen together?”

The team leader craned his neck and looked into the kitchen. It was cramped with all the muscle.

“It’s too intimidating for you to come out and serve, just stay there.”

“Yes.”

-Haesu, get me some eomuk broth, it’s addictive.

“Understood.”

Haesu poured eomuk broth into a paper cup and went outside. Across the street, a 봉고 [Bongo] car was parked, where Ogeng was staking out.

How did it come to this?

Gangjin City was known as a crime city, and this area was notorious as a blind spot with hardly any CCTV.

This year, missing persons cases had tripled, and drug trade captures had more than doubled. There were also rumors of a group approaching men with intimidating looks, large builds, and seemingly hopeless lives.

The chief received the report and speculated that these three were connected.

He speculated that the missing were being kidnapped and sold to China, and Chinese drugs were being brought in.

They bring in drugs and have a lot of money, but kidnapping is labor-intensive and they have few people, so they are looking for new talent.

There was already some evidence to support this theory, so the chief received permission directly from the commissioner and assigned the case to the Violent Crimes Unit.

The job was big, and since the guys were elusive, the first goal was to make them come to them.

However, for days, only ordinary customers increased, and the gangsters were nowhere to be seen.

“Two servings of 잔치국수 [banquet noodles]! Two servings of tteokbokki here!”

“Yes! Ah, we’re out of 국수 [guksu] noodles, 선, 혀, 형님 [Seon, hyeo, hyungnim]!”

“Oh no, sorry customers. You might have to wait a bit.”

During lunch or dinner, Haesu was so busy he was out of his mind with customers.

Then, Ogeng’s voice came into his ear.

-They’re coming. They’re here. Black sedan, black suits, two big guys! I have a feeling.

At Ogeng’s message, tension appeared on the youngest’s face. Haesu paused, finished serving, and the team leader naturally ate tteokbokki as if he were a customer.

As Ogeng said, two large men opened the vinyl door and came in.

“Wow, smells good.”

“That’s right, 형님 [hyungnim – older brother/respected elder].”

The two men, reeking of gangsters, were about to sit in the corner when one of them stopped.

“Haesu?”

At the familiar voice, Haesu turned his head sharply. Hwang Jangsu was looking at him with a dumbfounded expression.

Haesu looked at him, then quickly averted his gaze and quickly thought about how to deal with it.

‘Why is that guy here? Is he related to the missing drugs? No, he hates drugs. But… I can’t rule it out.’

Then, Jangsu, seeing Haesu’s troubled face, spoke first.

“Ah, never mind, sorry. Just looked like someone I knew, give us four servings of tteokbokki, can we just take the 어묵 [eomuk – fish cake]?”

“Yes, you can pay for the number of 어묵 [eomuk – fish cake] skewers when you pay.”

Jangsu nodded and received the tteokbokki and ate it.

“It was worth coming here.”

“That’s right. It’s sweet, salty, and spicy. 형님 [Hyungnim].”

“Where to next?”

“Yongsu-dong Spicy Tteokbokki. 형님 [Hyungnim].”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Haesu watched them leave intently. Hoping it wasn’t so.

As the customers left, the team leader asked Haesu.

“Striker, who was that guy earlier?”

The team leader, who usually called gangsters ‘gangsters’ or ‘that bastard,’ asked cautiously, starting with the title.

Haesu answered calmly.

“He’s a high school classmate. He’s a loan shark… and we still work out together every morning.”

“Ah… I see, he has a good impression for someone who’s a loan shark.”

Hwang Jangsu was famous for having a terrible impression.

The youngest didn’t ask any questions. Everyone had a lot they wanted to ask, but they were not usually close to Haesu, so they held back.

That night, Hwang Jangsu called.

“Yeah.”

-What are you doing there? I heard you’ve been doing better lately, was that quitting the police and running a food cart? You should have told me.

“Ha… what’s the point of telling you, why did you come there.”

Haesu hoped that he wouldn’t say he had business near there.

-I went to the food cart to eat, why else would I go?”

“Your area is far from there.”

-What area… Actually.

“Actually what.”

-I’m bored these days, so I’m looking for good restaurants. Your food cart is a bit famous around here, they say the tteokbokki is good, so I went, would I have any business in that neighborhood?

“Ha… damn.”

A sigh of relief comes out. He remembers the conversation Jangsu had with his subordinate earlier. They were purely looking for good restaurants.

“Did it become that famous?”

-Not that much, just a little famous because the name is unique? I’m sensitive to rumors.”

“Then… have you heard any rumors about missing people and drugs happening a lot in that neighborhood these days?”

-Missing? Drugs?

Haesu had secretly hoped so, and after hearing about the good restaurants, he trusted Jangsu and told him the truth.

He thought that even if he was in the same underworld, he might know some small information.

-I don’t know about missing people, but I’ve heard rumors that there are a lot of guys trying to sell drugs. Anyway, if that’s the case, your business shouldn’t be doing well.

“Is that so?”

-Of course, if you’re trying to bring in guys who are at the end of their rope, would you approach guys who have a bright future because your business is doing well? You have to be a little unfriendly, have tattoos, there’s something that erases them well, Ogeng, you buy it.

-Henna? Is that right? Anyway, got it.

It was not easy to get dragon tattoos, so he bought snakes or roses online and attached them.

Following the team leader’s words, they only put up two menus: fried tteokbokki and fried 어묵 [eomuk – fish cake].

The two women who were surprised by the youngest’s greeting before came again.

“Oh, we came here because the tteokbokki was delicious… are you not selling it?”

“We’re not selling it.”

“Aww… then give us fried tteokbokki.”

When they gave them fried tteokbokki with 초고추장 [chogochujang – vinegared gochujang] sauce in a separate 종지 [jongji – small dipping bowl], they dipped it in and their eyes widened.

“What kind of taste is this?”

“I, it’s unique.”

As the menu changed according to the team leader’s wishes, the number of customers decreased significantly. Only then did Haesu and the youngest breathe a sigh of relief and worry properly.

“Senior, how long do we have to wait for them to come?”

“Two weeks, if they don’t come in two weeks, we have to quit.”

The team leader shook his head at Haesu’s words.

“One month, let’s hold out for one month, they say there’s no other way to catch those bastards, Violent Crimes Team 3 is investigating them now, but there’s nothing.”

“Um… I understand.”

When they were bored because there were so few customers, a woman and a child came in.

“Welcome.”

“Hello. Let’s sit here.”

“웅 [Ung – baby talk for yes], tteokbokki… uh? You don’t have tteokbokki?”

The youngest smiled as kindly as possible at the boy, who was about ten years old, and shook his head.

“No, we have fried tteokbokki.”

“The kids said the tteokbokki here was delicious, so we came…”

“Mom said she’ll make it, let’s go.”

“I want to eat the one here, my friends have all tried it…”

As the child sulked, Haesu and the youngest exchanged glances. Haesu nodded, and the youngest nodded back and said to the child.

“Then wait a little, I’ll make it for you.”

“Really? Yay, that’s great!”

“Oh my, you don’t have to…”

“It’s okay. As you can see, we’re not busy right now.”

The team leader, who suggested changing the menu to fried food, also chuckled in the corner and watched the heartwarming scene.

The youngest quickly made tteokbokki, and the child took a bite and liked it, raising his thumb.

“It’s really, really delicious!”

“Haha.”

At that time, Ogeng’s radio came on.

-Three big guys, three big guys, this time it’s really unusual. They’re going in.

As soon as Ogeng’s radio was heard, three large men roughly opened the vinyl door as if tearing it open and entered.

Kaak- ptoo!

As soon as they came in, they spat phlegm on the floor. Haesu and the youngest’s faces hardened.

They sat down in the middle, and one of the men, who looked like the youngest, raised his chin and looked back and forth between Haesu and the youngest and said.

“Hey, bring me the best thing you have here.”

“I’ll give you three servings of fried tteokbokki.”

“형님 [Hyungnim], they say it’s fried tteokbokki.”

“That kid is eating tteokbokki?”

“That’s right. Hey, bring me the regular tteokbokki that kid is eating.”

“…Yes.”

At the word ‘kid,’ his expression frowned. But the mother and child couldn’t say anything or turn their heads because of their scary energy.

They gave them tteokbokki, but they barely ate it while observing Haesu and the youngest.

“Mom, eat it, I saved some for you.”

At that time, the child’s innocent voice was heard. The big guys were scary, so it was a small voice, but it was well heard because the food cart was quiet.

He only left two tteokbokki and told her to eat it. Still, his sincerity was admirable, so the mother chuckled.

“No, Mom doesn’t have to eat it.”

“Mom likes tteokbokki.”

“It’s okay, Seung-hoo, you eat it all.”

“Yay.”

The child quickly ate the two and carefully asked, smacking his lips in disappointment.

“Mom, can’t I eat this again?”

“We decided to eat only one serving today, let’s go now.”

“Ah… when can I eat it again?”

The mother quietly counted on her fingers.

“Sleep ten nights, then Mom and Seung-hoo can eat as much as we want.”

“Hing, how can I wait ten nights!”

The child whined a little, and at that sound, the man who seemed to be the leader among the big guys slammed the table with his palm.

Ttanggeurang!

The tteokbokki plate turned around and fell to the floor.

“You 씨팔 [ssibal – a Korean curse word]! Really! You’re making me lose my appetite by whining so much, not even 거지 [geo-ji – beggar], huh?!”

The mother and child were startled and quickly lowered their heads.

“So, sorry. I’m sorry.”

“Hoo-eeng…”

The child burst into tears. He was so scared that he cried as quietly as possible.

But the big guy had no intention of stopping.

“Is it all over if you kill someone and say sorry? If you made me feel bad, you have to make me feel good, hey, if you want to eat that much, eat this, then I’ll take care of your mom.”

“Hic, hee-eung, hic…”

As the child only took a step back in fear, the big guy frowned even more and looked at the mother.

“Or your mom can eat it, crawl over like a 거지 [geo-ji – beggar], or get your ass beat.”

The mother looked back and forth between the child and the tteokbokki that had fallen on the floor. A look of 고민 [gomin – worry], then just as she took her butt off the seat.

Cheol썩-!

Somewhere, a rag flew and stuck right on the big guy’s face. At the sight, the subordinate trembled and took the rag off his face.

The big guy was about to say something, his lips trembling with anger, when another mid-bass voice stopped him.

“Wh, what-”

“Wipe.”

“Wh, what?”

“Wipe, the floor.”