Saving the Chief

Hwang Dongchul spoke to the Detective Division Chief standing outside the door.

"And who might you be, junior?"

"I am Superintendent Han Tae-kyung. Who am I speaking to?"

"I'm Hwang Dongchul. An old colleague of Chief Lee Chungki, the man you've all been searching so desperately for."

"Senior. I don't know what you want, but let's start by talking this through."

"Hahaha! The Chief and the Division Chief say the exact same thing. Don't you think it's a bit too late to talk things through?"

"It's not too late. Even now..."

"Wait!"

"Senior."

"Shut up! I said shut your mouth!"

A strange presence felt from behind.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Sensing something amiss, Hwang Dongchul whipped his head around.

"Why did he tie you up so tight? Chief, you can't untie this with your hands. Where's a knife?"

"In the desk drawer... Oh no! Look out!"

I was caught.

Hwang Dongchul, who had been standing by the door, realized what was happening and began marching toward us.

I let go of the ropes I was untying and stepped forward to face him.

Hwang Dongchul tilted his head and questioned me.

"When—no, how did you get in here? There was no one else but Lee Chungki."

"I came the same way you did."

"...You scaled the wall of the building?"

"There wasn't exactly another way, was there?"

"You've got a decent head on your shoulders."

"Thanks for the compliment."

They say compliments can make even a whale dance, but this was hardly the time for a jig.

Seeing Hwang Dongchul drop into a stance, it was clear he had no intention of chatting for long.

"A young punk with a smart mouth. Do you even know I'm your senior before you run your trap?"

"Senior? You're a hostage-taker. Cut the nonsense and let's get this over with. It looks like that door is going to open soon anyway."

"Fearless. I like that."

Hwang Dongchul quickened his pace as he closed the distance.

But it wasn't me who lacked fear; it was him.

He was approaching completely unguarded, his face wide open.

Knowing it was a trap, I still threw a one-two punch at his face. Since he was prepared, there was no way it would land.

"Got you!"

Before I could even pull back my fist from the empty air, Hwang Dongchul dropped his center of gravity and shot in for a takedown.

Having lost my balance, I was helpless against the momentum of his head-on charge.

Thud!

Barely a second or two after we clashed, my butt hit the floor.

His head, buried in my stomach, was still exposed, but throwing punches from the bottom position wasn't going to do much damage.

My opponent was a wrestler skilled in ground fighting.

If I allowed him to transition into a submission or a mount here...

I would likely lose consciousness without even getting a chance to fight back.

Yet, at that moment, it was Hwang Dongchul, not me, who got goosebumps all over his body.

"Heh. Your pattern is way too predictable."

"...You're laughing?"

"You still haven't figured out the situation, have you?"

Instead of trying to save my lower body, I grabbed his head.

Gripping his hair with my left hand, I pulled the ballpoint pen out of my pocket with my right.

"This turns the tables. Move carelessly, and your eardrum might get ruptured."

The tip of the pen pressed into his thick ear.

I pushed it in barely half a centimeter—less than a fraction of an inch—but it instilled a terror far more intense than pointing a gun at him.

"Don't move! Resist, and it goes deeper."

Click!

I clicked the button of the pen to show I wasn't joking.

To my ears, it was just a faint click, but to his auditory canal, it sounded like a deafening explosion that made his eyes bulge.

"D-Don't. I'm staying still. I'm not moving."

"Good boy. Legs together, arms behind your back. Attention!"

Hwang Dongchul trembled, completely consumed by fear.

Threats directed at the eyes or ears are nearly impossible to endure through sheer willpower.

Even someone prepared to die can turn into a coward begging for mercy in an instant.

I didn't have handcuffs to secure him, but the situation was practically resolved.

Since I scraped my palms scaling the wall, I needed to get compensated for my hard work.

"Hwang Dongchul, you are under arrest for threatening a police officer, unlawful confinement, and attempted murder. You have the right to an attorney..."

He was sprawled over me, and I was barely holding onto his head.

Fearing he might overpower me if I let go, I endured the uncomfortable position.

"Ugh, when are they coming in?"

Fortunately, the wait wasn't long.

Rattle, click!

The detectives, having unlocked the door with a spare key, finally burst into the Chief's office.

"Freeze...?"

The detectives froze, unsure of where to point their Tasers.

The Chief was tied up, Hwang Dongchul was lying face down with his hands behind ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his back, and I was holding Hwang Dongchul's head, cleaning his ear...?

"Detective Min, what on earth ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you doing?"

"Hurry up and handcuff him. My legs are falling asleep."

"Oh? Right. Got it!"

Having lost all will to fight, Hwang Dongchul complied quietly with the arrest.

The Detective Division Chief personally untied the ropes binding the Chief.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Chief?"

"I'm fine."

There were no physical injuries, but the situation was grave.

A suspect under interrogation had broken into the Chief's office and tied him up—an unprecedented disaster.

The faces of the detectives who entered the office were uniformly grim.

If this got out to the public?

The officers of Seongam Police Station wouldn't be able to show their faces anywhere.

The Chief, who should have been the most shaken, calmly gave orders to his subordinates.

"Everyone below team leader, return to your posts."

The Detective Division Chief, the Detective Team 1 Leader, and the Violent Crimes Team 1 Leader, Na Sangdo, remained in the office.

"Detective Min, you stay too."

"Yes, Chief."

The five of us, including myself, took our seats around the conference table.

An awkward meeting began, with no drinks or writing utensils in sight.

After a long silence, the Chief let out a brief sigh and spoke.

"This incident..."

"..."

"...forget it ever happened."

"Excuse me?"

It was what everyone secretly hoped for, but they needed to clarify the meaning of his command.

"Are you saying we should sweep this under the rug?"

"Yes. Go down and tell your team members. Erase everything you just saw and heard from your minds."

The Detective Division Chief, trying to do his duty, asked,

"We can keep it from the reporters. But we still have to charge him for breaking into the Chief's office with a weapon."

"If he wanted to hurt me, he wouldn't have bothered tying me up. He came because he had something to say to me. Exclude this part when forwarding the case to the prosecution."

"But that's..."

"I'm asking you as a favor."

The hostage was asking to forgive the hostage-taker.

A man who could have died if his luck had run out.

The duration of his confinement was far too short to suspect Stockholm syndrome.

What on earth was the Chief thinking?

I was probably the only one in the room who wasn't wondering why.

Hanging from the window sill waiting for my chance to slip inside, I had overheard their entire conversation.

It had to be one of two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠things.

Either the Chief felt some sort of responsibility toward Hwang Dongchul, or he wanted to use his authority to erase the incident to avoid a blemish on his career.

I believed it was the former.

Even with a weapon pressed against his throat, the Chief hadn't acted cowardly.

It was a completely different side of him than the image I had built up in my head.

"Even if you don't understand, please follow my wishes just for today. I ask you once more."

"...Understood."

The Detective Division Chief accepted the order on behalf of the others.

Since the highest authority in Seongam Police Station was asking, they had no choice but to comply, no matter how puzzling it was.

"Everyone except Detective Min, please head down. Make sure to keep your team members quiet."

"Yes, Chief."

Why was he keeping only me? It was awkward.

Was he going to thank me?

"Detective Min."

Lee Chungki spoke to me once the door closed.

"Yes, sir."

"You heard everything, didn't you? The conversation between Hwang Dongchul and me."

"Yes. As it turned out."

He nodded, as if he had expected as much.

"What are your impressions of Hwang Dongchul?"

"He was tough to handle. If I had let my guard down for even a second, I would have been the one on the floor."

"I'm sure. Hwang Dongchul was once the ace of the Hyeongsan Police Station. Just like you are the ace of Violent Crimes Team 1 now."

Why was a man who used to view me as a thorn in his side suddenly praising me? Was he finally acknowledging my worth?

"In my eyes, the two of you share many similarities. To be honest, I'm worried you might end up like him, Detective Min."

"...Sir?"

"He had a strong sense of justice and a deep loyalty to his colleagues, just like you. That's why I cherished him. But his view on criminals was entirely different from mine."

Why was this conversation taking this turn?

"Do you believe violent criminals can be rehabilitated?"

"Do you want my honest answer?"

"Yes."

"I believe a person's nature doesn't change easily."

"So you think people can't be fixed?"

"Yes, pretty much."

"If you want to work under me, you must believe that anyone can be rehabilitated."

"..."

"If we conclude that evil people will always be evil, why would we need prisons? We should just execute them as soon as they're caught. After all, releasing them only lets pests plague society again. Isn't that right?"

He could have just told me not to cross the line, but instead, he was using extreme examples to try and persuade me.

"The world we live in is built on the assumption that anyone can be reformed. That is why human rights are applied so broadly."

It didn't really resonate with me, but it sounded like a never-ending lecture that wouldn't stop unless I agreed.

"I will keep that deep in my heart."

"Thank you for listening. You may go back to work."

I was glad he wrapped it up quickly, but still, I was the savior who had just rescued him. How could he not say a single word of thanks...?

"Ah, and Detective Min."

"Yes?"

"It was impressive that you risked danger to come save me. And congratulations on your promotion, even if it's a bit late."

"Thank you, sir."

In the end, the word "thanks" never crossed his lips.

Ding!

As I left the Chief's office and headed toward the elevator, a notification sound chimed.

"Right, it would be disappointing if I saved a life and got nothing in return."

I opened the Beomjappa app and checked the unread message.

"A Rose of Sharon?"

What on earth is this used for?

Just as I only later learned that points were needed to level up, the purpose of the Rose of Sharon was currently unknown.

"Let's check the reward first."

Since I spent 100 points to level up, I had 35 points left. The math checked out, but...

"A cash reward of only thirty thousand won? Are you kidding me?"

I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but it was still thirty thousand won.

"Isn't that a bit too cheap for a Chief's life?"

The criteria for calculating rewards remained ambiguous.

This case could have been interpreted as attempted murder, yet the reward was ridiculously small compared to the severity of the crime.

"I even scraped my hands climbing the wall..."

I needed some healing.

I thought of the 3.547 billion won accumulated on my Black Card.

Greed is a trap.

I was already receiving far more than I deserved.

"Ah, whatever. I'll just take what I can get."

"Finish up whatever you're working on by seven. Now that Detective Min is back, we have to throw him a grand welcome party."

Team Leader Na urged the team members to finish their paperwork.

The team consisted of only Inspector Choi Doyeong and Sergeant Park Inhyeok. With me joining them, our manpower had increased by fifty percent.

Sergeant Park Inhyeok hummed a tune, clearly planning to dump his paperwork on me.

"Hey, rookie. I'm so glad you're back."

"Don't even think about dumping your homework on me. I'm going to be busy myself."

I had to go out into the field, catch criminals, and get promoted. I also needed to raise my level and catch the culprit who shot my mentor.

I hadn't returned to Seongam Police Station just to clean up after my seniors.

"Whoa, you've changed a bit, haven't you?"

"Now that I'm an Investigator, I have to pull my weight. Please forget the Officer Min of the past."

"Who made our rookie like this?"

"If you don't like it, why don't you recruit a new junior?"

"Like that's up to me."

Just then.

"Detective Min."

Officer Song Hana of the Support Team called out to me, holding something in her hands.

"Yes?"

"If you're not busy, could you help me for a second?"

It looked like she was planning to pin something to the bulletin board in the Violent Crimes Team office.

"What is that?"

"A wanted poster. They told me to put up a new one because there were some updates."

"Should I hold it here?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

A sudden breeze fluttered the wanted poster in my hands.

It felt as if the twenty violent criminals on the poster were waving and saying hello to me.