Octopus Gate (3)
“Sang-gu, does this even make any sense?”
“Tell me about it. This is a first for me too, even after all these years on the force!”
Jeong Pil-sang, the duty officer at Gangnam Police Station, stuck out his tongue as he stared at his direct subordinate, Sergeant Choi Sang-gu.
Working in Gangnam, the heart of Korea's nightlife district, they had seen countless drunken brawls and assaults. But the scene before them now was utterly baffling.
A dozen or so men were sprawled out, each groaning in pain. Inside the detention cell next to them, two dusty-looking guys were face-deep in bowls, slurping up ox bone soup like vacuums.
“…So, let me get this straight. These two got into a fight with those dozen guys over there, and they ended up looking like total wrecks?”
“Yes, sir. Those bastards seemed right at home in a police station—ordered ox bone soup the second they got here.”
“The report says fifteen perps, but there’s only nine here. Where’s the rest?”
“Six are at the hospital ER. They need immediate surgery… For now, we’ve got these two in holding as the aggressors.”
“But those two in there… they look kinda familiar, don’t they? Nah, couldn’t be.”
“No way, sir.”
“Hyungnim, this ox bone soup’s pretty good. Way richer broth than that Gomja joint in front of our station.”
“Yeah. The kimchi’s solid too.”
Kim Gwang-il slurped down another mouthful and glanced around before whispering low.
“But hyungnim, why’d you sneak Gyu-cheol hyung out of this? Favoritism much? You drink soju with him, and I’m the one stuck in cuffs getting dragged in?”
“Gyu-cheol didn’t throw any punches. He just ate his food. He’s got stuff to handle outside.”
As Cheol-gu soothed the grumbling Gwang-il, a voice full of righteous indignation filled the station.
“We were just out for a company dinner! Then that camo-jacket prick over there and his gorilla buddy started shit with us and threw the first punches outta nowhere!”
The guy in the gray suit pointed accusingly at them, raising his voice. The same bastard who’d swung a baseball bat at Cheol-gu.
“Alright, alright, calm down and let’s go over this step by step. Where’d the trouble start?”
The duty cop was jotting down notes across an iron table.
“Club Octopus.”
“Octopus… Got it. Just hang tight here for a sec.”
The cop’s eyes narrowed as he stood and headed off somewhere. The gray suit guy ducked his head, barely suppressing a smirk, then turned toward Cheol-gu and mouthed something silently.
“Gwang-il, what the hell’s that prick mumbling?”
“Hold on. I’m the lip-reading master, right? His mouth’s saying… ‘You’re fucking dead meat now, you sons of bitches!’ Those goddamn bastards!”
Gwang-il grabbed the cell bars with both hands and shook them like a maniac.
“Hey, hey! You’ll pop your gut after that fancy dinner. Behave.”
“Shoulda folded that bastard’s spine in half! Fuck!”
Just then, the original note-taking cop returned with a guy in a leather jacket. The gray suit’s eyes lit up, and all the downed thugs struggled to their feet. Meaningful glances passed between them, then the leather jacket slung an arm around the gray suit’s shoulder and muttered low.
“Gotta be more discreet. If you make a scene like this, even I can’t cover for you.”
“Yes, hyungnim. I’ll be careful.”
“Good. Tell Bang the director I’ll drop by later.”
The leather jacket didn’t spare a glance at Cheol-gu and Gwang-il as he gave orders to the beady-eyed duty cop. Soon, the whole crew shuffled out the station doors en masse.
“What the—hyungnim, they’re all just walking out? No statements taken! And that gray suit flipped us off on his way!”
As Gwang-il yelled from under the bars, peering out, the beady-eyed cop called out.
“You there, in the colorful camo jacket—come on out. Name, workplace, resident ID number?”
“Kang Cheol-gu.”
The cop, mechanically opening his laptop, froze mid-motion. His beady eyes widened as his head slowly lifted.
“No way… that Kang Cheol-gu?!”
“Yes. I work Violent Crimes at Gangcheon Station.”
All eyes turned to him, followed by a burst of murmurs.
“It is him. I thought he looked familiar when he came in…”
“Still, no way. Kang Cheol-gu getting booked at our station?”
“Ahem! Anyway, since a public servant got into it with civilians, we’ll have to file a report.”
His voice feigned calm, but his fingers trembled visibly on the keyboard.
“Inspector Kang, care to explain the sequence of events?”
“Yes. At Club Octopus, there was drug trafficking—”
“Outta the way. Kang Cheol-gu got hauled in here for beating people up?”
“Chief Lee, you can’t—”
A thunderous roar shook the air as a hulking man barged between them. His flushed face suggested a few drinks with dinner.
The beady-eyed cop’s brow furrowed with a deep sigh. ‘Of all times, why’d Chief Lee have to show up now?!’
A 30-year veteran, Chief Lee had been passed over for promotions time and again due to his hot temper, drunken antics, and petty bribe-taking. He blamed it all on hotshot academy grads like the young elite brass. Ever since seeing Kang Cheol-gu’s record-breaking promotion to inspector on TV, he’d ground his teeth at every mention. Running into him like this? Disaster.
Breath catching, the beady-eyed cop ignored him as Chief Lee plopped into the interrogation chair.
“Move! I’ll handle the report. Listen up, Kang Cheol-gu—you’re in for it. I don’t play favorites just ‘cause we’re both cops. What kinda cop beats up civilians? Bullshit!”
“Were you drinking on duty? And isn’t protocol to state your affiliation and name first when one cop questions another?”
“Ha! You cocky little—”
Chief Lee’s meaty hand grabbed Cheol-gu’s collar and yanked. The original note-taker rushed over in a panic.
“Chief Lee, wait!”
“What? Spit it out!”
The cop glanced nervously between them before speaking carefully.
“…They said not to lay a finger on Inspector Kang.”
“Who the hell said that?”
“Councilor Park Man-cheol.”
‘Looks like Gyu-cheol handled things right.’ Cheol-gu nodded slowly as Chief Lee’s eyebrows twitched.
“Hmph! Heard you’ve got backing. Doesn’t work on me.”
His words said one thing, but his grip on Cheol-gu’s collar loosened instantly.
“Have a seat. How’d Park the councilor find out?”
“Think you can handle knowing?”
“You little shit!”
The chair scraped back violently as Chief Lee lurched up, but the beady-eyed cop clung to his waist.
He’d just taken a call—his phone hand shook as he thrust it forward.
“Ch-Chief Lee! Take this!”
“Goddammit, what now?”
Grumbling, Chief Lee snatched the phone.
“Yes, Gangnam Violent Crimes, Lee Pil—”
—This is Lee Myung-ho, head of Presidential Security Unit 22.
“Gah! L-Loyalty!”
—Kang Cheol-gu’s in there for assault, right? Touch him, and I’ll skin you alive and deep-fry you. Got it?
“Yes! Yes, sir. Crystal clear!”
No matter how reckless Chief Lee was, you didn’t mess with the head of the president’s detail. The booze wore off fast; his knees buckled.
* * *
“Y-Yeah, Director Bang. I got this. Haha! No thanks needed—we’re tight.”
In the Gangnam Violent Crimes Squad 2 office, Team Leader Jeong Gi-su hung up and hummed a tune.
Club Octopus’s director Bang paid regular tribute on top of monthly bribes—and extra “cleanup fees” for messes like this.
‘Gangnam’s the golden egg. Squeeze it slow and steady.’
Imagining his counterparts scraping by on meager pay elsewhere brought a grin. Life offered the easy fast track or the hard slog. From day one in uniform, Jeong had picked the former—and it’d always paid off. Nodding contentedly, the door nearly flew off its hinges as the beady-eyed cop burst in.
“Pant pant! Team Leader Jeong! You gotta come downstairs!”
“What’s the panic?”
“Those Octopus assault guys from earlier.”
“Yeah? What about ‘em? Don’t tell me they’re connected.”
Jeong’s voice rose. Two guys knocking out over a dozen had mildly surprised him, but he hadn’t cared. ‘Gym rats or some provincial gangsters, probably.’
But what if they were wanted branded gangsters?
‘Jackpot today. Lucky break!’
Swallowing hard, eyes gleaming, Jeong heard the beady-eyed cop’s furious shout.
“They’re from Gangcheon! One’s Kang Cheol-gu himself. Councilor Park Man-cheol and 22 Security Chief Lee Myung-ho called direct. They’ll shred every cop who touched ‘em!”
“Wh-Who’s taking the statement? Not you, right?!”
“Chief Lee snatched it!”
Racing down, the first-floor interrogation scene was pure absurdity. Chief Lee? The illiterate hothead who’d mouth off to the chief while wasted—a maxed-out sergeant major type. Yet there he was, hands clasped politely, head bowed like his mind had snapped.
“I said I ain’t leaving! This ox bone soup’s just my style.”
“We apologize! Please come out.”
“We’re begging you!”
At the cell entrance, a gorilla-sized brute matching Chief Lee’s bulk clung to the bars, refusing to budge, while three or four detectives pried at him.
In the chaos center stood a man in a military jacket.
‘Kang Cheol-gu!’
How had he missed it? The lure of “special bonuses” had blinded him. The same Kang Cheol-gu who’d nuked an entire precinct chief over that academy violence scandal stared back with a pale smile.
“Hello. Kang Cheol-gu from Gangcheon Station. You must be Team Leader Jeong Gi-su?”
“…Haha, yes. N-Nice to meet you. First time in person, right?”
Kang Cheol-gu stepped forward. Jeong’s brain spun like mad.
‘Out-of-precinct cop picks a fight with gangsters? Fine, shit happens. But not ID’ing himself even after getting dragged in? That’s deliberate. Did a task force pop up without me knowing?’
Jeong’s face drained to ashen. Like a snowball rolling downhill, his imagination snowballed toward doom.
‘Park Man-cheol’s involved, with Lee Myung-ho backing him. Park’s a shoo-in for congress, and Lee’s the president’s inner circle.’
“Aigoo, Detective Kang. That was too much of a prank. Hiding your badge from fellow cops…”
He had to dodge this bullet. Jeong flashed affable smiles, gauging Cheol-gu’s mood.
Then—
“Team leader, we have a visitor.”
“Hey! Can’t you see I’m talking to Detective Kang?”
The beady-eyed cop barged in cluelessly at the worst moment.
“But—”
“We locked up an on-duty cop by mistake—fixing the misunderstanding comes first! What’s more important?!”
“…B-But!”
The guy who usually read the room like a pro was off today. Irritation bubbling, Jeong opened his mouth to yell—
The beady-eyed cop squeezed his eyes shut and blurted:
“Ch-Chief Kang Hyeok, Security Commissioner, is here!”
Kang Cheol-gu’s father. Number two in Korea’s police hierarchy. Jeong’s vision blurred as his mind plummeted into the abyss.
‘No wonder luck was shining today.’