Chapter 44
Yu Hye-mi, who runs a small cafe in Dobong-gu, had recently been dealing with a troublesome problem.
Running a store alone as a woman isn't easy.
Especially when it's a neighborhood business.
It meant she had to care about what the people around her thought.
So there wasn't much she could do besides forcing a bitter smile at the customers' crude jokes.
But what had been happening lately was not something she could brush off with a bitter smile.
An old man who said he ran a local junk shop had been approaching her.
"Ah. Ms. Yu. I'm actually loaded."
"Ah... yes."
"If you marry me, you'll be blessed beyond belief. Blessed."
"Hahaha... yes. I see."
The old man who'd been hitting on her at the counter.
His blatantly lewd advances had now crossed the line.
He'd wait outside until closing time, then approach her.
Somehow he found out her phone number and even sent texts at night.
He even came all the way to her front door.
Yesterday, he even personally brought over a package she'd ordered to the shop.
From the CCTV, it looked like he'd picked up a package that had been sitting in front of the store before opening and brought it over later, but that alone was enough to make her skin crawl.
Now, those things were even starting to scare her.
.
Please, just stop.
Even after she pleaded with him not to come near her, he only spouted nonsense about how women are attractive when they play hard to get and kept trying to get closer.
It's scary.
When she woke up at night and looked out the window, he was there, grinning up at her while holding onto a handcart.
The stress had gotten so bad that she even dreamed about him, and in the end she filed a stalking report with the police, but
she thought there would be nothing the police could do.
But then.
But apparently someone at the level of a section chief at the police station was going to personally stake it out and stop him.
Since she hadn't really trusted the police all that much to begin with, she was a little moved.
'At least my tax money was worth it.'
Then one day, while she was feeling relieved like that.
It was around the time she got home after working until late as usual.
"Hye-mi~! Your husband is here!"
She froze at the chilling drunken voice.
She slowly turned around.
From the upper floor of the villa where she lived,
the man was walking down toward her.
"Playing hard to get is charming too. But come on, let's stop this now and live together, hmm?"
"P-please don't do this..."
"Don't give me that. You like it, don't you? Hmm?"
"I really... really hate this...!! It's absolutely disgusting..."
"...What?"
"Please, stop this..."
"Hey. What did I even do?"
The man's expression changed, even though he'd been smirking with a lecherous grin just a moment ago.
Cold eyes.
A twisted face.
"You too, you fucking bitch. Were you just planning to use me like all the other bitches?"
"W-what are you talking about..."
"You always smiled at me!! You were always kind to me and only me!!"
Rage filled his eyes.
Smiled at him?
If a person running a business doesn't smile at customers, who is she supposed to smile at?
Kind to him?
She had only treated him as much as one treats a customer.
He was mistaking all of that for goodwill on her part, deluding himself that behind it all she was after his money.
Yu Hye-mi trembled uncontrollably.
"W-well, for someone in business, that's only natural... Kyaaah...!!"
What came out of the man's embrace
was a sharp knife.
Seeing him descend the stairs with it pointed at her, Yu Hye-mi felt all the strength drain from her body.
Fear.
Primal fear of death was swallowing her whole.
"P-please don't do this..."
"You fucking bitch. You should've stayed quiet and come with me when I was speaking nicely from the start, it would have been fine."
His hand reached toward Yu Hye-mi's head.
He was going to grab her hair and drag her away.
Her legs went weak, and her whole body trembled like a leaf, leaving her unable even to react.
Yu Hye-mi squeezed her eyes shut.
And at that moment.
-Thwack!!
"Ugh!!"
The fear that had been pressing down on Yu Hye-mi just moments ago vanished at the pathetic scream.
Yu Hye-mi slowly raised her head.
Standing before her was none other than Gong Yoon-seok.
The police officer who had said he'd protect her even if he had to lie in wait.
"Ah..."
"Are you all right?"
"That man had a knife! He had a knife!!"
"I saw it."
With a blank expression, Gong Yoon-seok walked toward him.
The man who had been knocked backward by a blow grit his teeth and picked up the knife.
"You, you bastard!! Do you know who I am!"
The man shouted furiously and charged at him.
Seeing him wildly swing the knife like he didn't even know how to use it properly, Gong Yoon-seok calmly stepped inside his range and seized the hand holding the knife.
And then.
-Crash!!
A clean throw.
Seeing the fallen man groaning, unable even to breathe properly, Gong Yoon-seok handcuffed him.
All of it.
had been recorded on Gong Yoon-seok's body cam.
***
Just as I was about to take a break after finishing today's raid, my phone rang.
It was Gong Yoon-seok, whom I'd exchanged numbers with last time.
"Hello."
-Mr. Kang.
"Yes. Did you catch that stalker all right?"
-...If it wouldn't be too much of an imposition, may I come see you?
"So you caught him. Sure. Where should we meet?"
-I heard you live in Jongno. I'll come to you.
"Do you know the address?"
-Yes. I heard it from Chief Kang.
"Then come on over."
I had just hung up and was thinking of doing a bit more hunting when
my phone rang again.
It was Gong Yoon-seok.
-I'm here.
"Huh? Did you call when you were already nearby?"
-Yes.
"All right. I'll come out now."
I threw on some clothes and went outside.
Near the officetel where I live, Gong Yoon-seok, whom I'd seen last time, stood with a complicated expression.
Hmm.
The future had changed.
The conflict with Kang Injeong had disappeared.
The future in which Kang Injeong's junior was injured because of his orders had changed.
It must have been a change brought about because he trusted me.
"Hello."
"Yes. Hello. Let's go to a cafe I know first."
I took him to the cafe.
Mr. Shin Young-soo recognized me and greeted me with a smile.
"A new face."
"Haha. Yes. One latte, please... What would you like?"
"An Americano is fine."
"Yes. Two of those, please."
"I'll pay."
"Huh? No..."
"I'm technically a police officer, so if I let a civilian treat me, I'll get complaints."
In that case.
Gong Yoon-seok didn't say anything else.
Was he thinking about what to say?
Then I'd speak first.
"You seem conflicted that things worked out even though you broke the rules."
"...Haa. Yes. Acting according to Mr. Kang's fortune-telling, in truth, isn't really in line with police principles either."
The police should act through thorough investigation.
That's the minimum safeguard for handling the immense power of state authority.
He said that calmly.
"But... if we'd followed the rules, that person would have suffered serious harm."
"Ms. Yu Hye-mi, was it? Is she all right?"
"...Yes. Thankfully."
He said gravely that, although she'd been startled, she was stable now.
"Is it wrong to uphold principle?"
"Well? I'm not a police officer, or even a civil servant, so it's hard for me to say."
For a civil servant, nothing is as important as principle.
"If you break one rule, don't you end up breaking another? It was the same when I was at the orphanage."
Once you start breaking one rule, it's easy to see everything else collapse too.
"But there are also many people who get hurt because of those principles. Hmm. We're human, aren't we? I think humans should at least be able to judge for themselves what's right and wrong."
"...Haa. That's difficult."
"That's just how life is."
At just twenty, even I know that much, so he should too, having come up through the elite track and seen all kinds of things in police work.
"But if you take only the good, wouldn't everything work out fine?"
"Take only the good..."
"The reason I give advice to police officers is simply because I want a better world."
It's not that I'm trying to use the police to line my own pockets.
Gong Yoon-seok looked at me intently.
"Do you have any intention of becoming a police officer?"
"If it's a special recruitment where I don't have to take the exam, I might give it a shot..."
I know very well that I'm not smart enough to pass the civil service exam for police officers.
And what Gong Yoon-seok wanted now wasn't just someone at the level of a regular patrol officer, but someone who would walk the same elite path he had.
"You're asking for a lot."
"This is fine as it is. It's not like I'm saying I won't cooperate with the police."
"Haa. I see."
Just then, the coffee arrived.
I sipped my latte and said to Gong Yoon-seok,
"Well then. Since you've come all the way here, why don't you draw a card?"
"...Pardon?"
He stared at the tarot cards I held out, then drew one with trembling fingers and turned it over.
The reversed World card.
He looked at the card for a moment and asked,
"What's... going to happen?"
"You're investigating a serial theft case at Dobong Police Station, right?"
This will gradually grow into a terrorist-level threat, eventually involving hostages, but
for now, it's nothing more than a series of petty thefts.
If something that would later take a shovel to stop can be stopped now with a hoe, it's better to stop it early.
"Huh? Yes."
"I'll tell you where that culprit is."
"....!!"
Gong Yoon-seok's eyes flashed.
"Where... is it?"
"He's in Yongsan. The exact location is..."
I told him the address of the motel where the wanted criminal was hiding.
After receiving the address I gave him, Gong Yoon-seok kept his mouth shut for a moment before saying,
"...Thank you."
"What thanks? Isn't helping the police as a decent citizen only natural?"
Well. Then we've said everything we needed to.
Shall we head back in now?
"I enjoyed the coffee."
.
.
.
A few days after meeting Gong Yoon-seok.
I was loafing around at home when Kang Injeong contacted me.
He said they caught him.
Good.
After checking the message and getting ready to slack off again in earnest, Gong Yoon-seok called me.
"Hello."
-Mr. Kang. This is Gong Yoon-seok.
"Yes. Go ahead."
-Thank you, sir. Thanks to you, I was able to resolve things smoothly.
"Haha. I'm glad I could help."
-So, the thing is... sir. Are you by any chance interested in a resort?
"Huh? A resort? All of a sudden?"
-There's a resort I usually go to every year. It's quite nice, so I'd like you to go in my place and enjoy yourself.
I looked it up online, and it turns out they have not only a Dunsa collaboration, but also a cosplay event, and they're even bringing in celebrities for a concert.
Wow.
I have to go.