Has This Ever Happened Before?
Macheon District Office, Annam City.
Crumpled paper cups were strewn messily across the old conference table.
The district chief sat with his arms crossed, lost in thought, while the patrol team leaders faced one another across the table.
"No matter how I look at it, this just isn’t right."
The leader of Patrol Team 2 shook his head firmly.
"I’ll admit he works fast and gets the job done. But even so, he’s still a probationary officer. We can’t forget that."
Team 1’s leader joined in as well.
"He’s only been at the district office for a few months, and now you’re talking about a special promotion? That doesn’t make sense."
The district chief, who had been drumming his fingers on the table while half-pushing his chair back, finally spoke.
"It’s not without precedent. Nine years ago, at Ulsan East Police Station, there was a probationary officer who got a special promotion to patrolman after only a year."
"What? How was that possible?"
"It was possible, all right. While he was at the district office, he caught a burglar involved in a specialized theft ring and also earned recognition for groundbreaking work preventing fatal traffic accidents. Of course, under the promotion appointment regulations, the actual promotion took effect only after his regular appointment."
"So he held the appointment ceremony and the promotion ceremony at the same time? My God."
"Naturally, that kind of thing is rare even nationwide. It probably only happened because the district office was pushing hard for him."
The men who had been shouting with such fury fell silent.
They had never imagined there might actually be a precedent.
"Even so, this really is too much. Let’s be blunt—if the younger officers find out, what are they supposed to think? A rookie down there gets promoted to patrolman before someone above him? That’ll absolutely wreck morale."
"I agree. This could shake the very foundation of the district office."
Team Leader Kang Taewon of Team 3, who had been listening quietly to the opposition, finally spoke.
"First, I’ll do my best to speak as objectively as possible, even though he’s my own boy."
Leaning forward slightly, Kang Taewon met each team leader’s eyes in turn.
"Song Tan already has a record from his days as a Central Police Training student—he subdued an armed assailant barehanded. He even received a commendation from the commissioner for that. And on his very first day here at the district office, he arrested a suspect in an attempted sexual assault on a minor in the act. Compared to the officer in Ulsan you just mentioned, I don’t think he’d be falling short in terms of achievements. What do you think?"
Silence fell, and no one had a rebuttal.
"Until now, I believed good policemen were made. But this time, that belief was shattered completely. He’s not a man who became complete later—he’s a monster who can only be described as someone born already finished, born to be a police officer."
Kang Taewon’s veins stood out in his neck as he raised his voice as if spitting blood.
"And earlier you were all worried about morale among the lower ranks... Of course, if a reward is incomprehensible, you should object. But when someone does well, shouldn’t we back him to the hilt and say he did well? That’s how the other guys get motivated and work harder too."
One of the team leaders, watching the room carefully, said cautiously, "I get what Team Leader Kang is saying, but even so, a special promotion is a bit much. A special raise would be one thing. Getting rank points increased while still a probationary officer is already impressive enough."
Kang Taewon shot back hard.
"What are you talking about!? There’s a precedent, I’m telling you! If he’s achieved even more than that precedent and gets less in return, what do you think people will say? They’ll say the seniors blocked the path of a talented junior, no matter what. I don’t want to be that petty kind of senior."
"What? So you’re calling me petty now?"
As the atmosphere grew heated, the district chief rapped the table to get everyone’s attention.
"You all seem to be misunderstanding something. This one isn’t coming from me. The chief of investigations at Annam Police Station called me personally. He asked for my agreement because he wants to put Song Tan on the special promotion list."
"Why would the chief of investigations get involved?"
Everyone looked puzzled.
Ordinarily, there was no reason a probationary patrol officer would have any direct connection with someone as high-ranking as a chief of investigations.
"Don’t tell me... does he have some huge backer?"
"Backer, my ass. You all know about the voice phishing ring that got wrecked at Annam Police Station this time, right? The cybercrime unit and the foreign affairs unit handled it, but Song Tan made the decisive contribution in catching the mastermind."
"Huh? Why was he even involved in that...?"
The other patrol teams didn’t know that Song Tan had been asked for support by the foreign affairs unit, which was why they sounded so surprised.
The district chief relayed everything exactly as he had heard it from the chief of investigations.
"He got the intermediary, who’d been playing dumb, to open his mouth and squeezed out crucial information. On top of that, he provided the key idea that lured the ringleader back to Korea. The way the chief kept praising our district office’s youngest officer, you’d think he was about to wear his tongue out."
The team leaders listening to him slowly let their mouths fall open.
"Good grief..."
By then, it was almost embarrassing how hard they had just been opposing the idea.
Probationary officer or not, at that point a special promotion was only natural.
"What the hell kind of guy is he... ? Did he really come back from being a cop somewhere?"
"He’s only twenty-three. What, do you think he had time to play cops and robbers as a kid? Where would he have gotten actual police experience?"
Once they heard his age, the team leaders were even more at a loss for words.
"I didn’t call you all here to say whether it’ll happen or not. I just wanted to give you a heads-up in advance so nobody starts talking behind my back later. I was informed of this just like you were, so remember we’re all in the same boat. Make sure the guys below don’t get needlessly rattled, all right?"
"Yes, sir..."
The answer that came back was far from cheerful, but what else could they do?
When the chief of investigations was openly saying he would take care of the achievement for him.
"Ha... Damn, I’m jealous."
"So he’ll get promoted to patrolman as soon as his probation ends? At twenty-four? Jesus."
All they could do was be intensely envious.
***
Inside Team 3’s patrol car.
Holding the steering wheel, Yoo Kyung-ho pretended not to care while straining to hear Song Tan’s phone call.
[Do you like your gift?]
It was a call from Moon Dong-cheol of the cybercrime unit.
"I don’t know how to thank you. I’m almost worried it’s too much..."
[Too much, my ass. If it hadn’t been for you, we never would’ve caught that bastard. The whole team agrees.]
"The senior officers worked hard to catch him. It feels like I just got on the bandwagon and took the credit."
[Really? Then when your probation ends, just come over to cybercrime. If you say the word now, I can talk to the chief right away. You can skip the detective-track exam and come in through support assignment.]
"As I said last time, I intend to go to the violent crimes unit."
[You’re a strange one, all right. That place is for people who grind themselves down with their bodies and survive on pure grit. A sharp guy like you should come to investigations.]
"Thank you for the generous offer, but I’m sorry."
[All right, kid. There’s still plenty of time, so I’ll keep trying to convince you later. Anyway, separate from that, your special promotion review is going up.]
"I appreciate you looking out for me."
[We’re the ones who should be thanking you more. Because of you, we caught the bastard we’d been chasing for two years. Ahem. Anyway, I’ll call you again. Good work.]
"Yes, Team Leader. Take care."
And with that, the call ended.
"Who was that this time?"
"Team Leader Moon Dong-cheol from cybercrime."
When the car stopped briefly, Yoo Kyung-ho let out a dry laugh.
"First foreign affairs, now cybercrime? Good lord, it’s like all the princes are courting you in tears."
With a playful grin, Yoo Kyung-ho glanced sideways at Song Tan.
"So? How does it feel, getting promoted to patrolman in less than a year after appointment?"
"It’s not even confirmed yet."
"Cold bastard. Not even a flicker on your face."
Shaking his head, Yoo Kyung-ho stepped on the gas again.
"Still, I’m jealous. At this rate, are you going to catch up to the Police University graduates too? Let’s see—patrolman at twenty-four would mean..."
Counting on his fingers, Yoo Kyung-ho’s eyes suddenly gleamed.
"Holy crap, you might be able to make lieutenant by thirty. Assuming, of course, you pass every promotion exam straight through."
Apparently pleased with himself, Yoo Kyung-ho grinned and held out a stick of gum.
"When you end up in a high position later, don’t forget to look out for me, all right? Remember—I was your first field trainer."
"I’ve always been grateful to you, senior."
That wasn’t just formal courtesy.
By letting his brand-new partner handle most of the work, he wasn’t trying to steal the credit, which made him a more than decent field trainer.
At least, as far as Song Tan was concerned.
"Tsk. What a shame. Having such a gifted partner and coasting on it felt great, but then you go and leave so quickly."
Clicking his tongue, Yoo Kyung-ho asked casually, "So? Foreign affairs or cybercrime?"
"I told you, I’m going to the violent crimes unit."
"That’s disappointing. You’re even hiding it from me?"
"I really am going to the violent crimes unit. Of course, they’d have to accept me first..."
Yoo Kyung-ho let out a baffled sigh and rolled his eyes.
He looked at Song Tan as if he were a lunatic.
"I’m not saying violent crimes is bad, but... why turn down cybercrime on purpose? That’s not a place some rookie can get into easily. If you do well there, you might even get transferred to a station detective squad."
"Promotion is good, and so is my career, but I prefer getting out there myself and catching criminals with my own hands. That’s why I became a police officer in the first place."
Yoo Kyung-ho stared at Song Tan in silence for a moment, then gave a snort of laughter.
"Anyway, you’re a freak. There isn’t a single thing about you I can predict. You’re irritating for no reason."
"Pardon?"
"No, thinking about it, maybe it doesn’t matter whether it’s cybercrime or violent crimes. Wherever you go, just don’t forget you had me as your trainer."
They kept up their idle chatter as the patrol car reached the area near their destination.
A quiet rural village on the outskirts of Annam City, lined with single-family homes and townhouse complexes.
"How about samgyeopsal and soju after work?"
"Sounds good."
"Then let’s wrap this up quick and get going. We just need to tell the old man that his daughter’s worried sick about him, and that’ll be that, all right?"
Just as the afternoon shift was getting underway, a report came into the situation room.
It said his elderly father hadn’t been reachable since yesterday.
It was one of the more common types of calls the district office received, and most of the time the old folks simply hadn’t realized their phones were off.
"This must be the place."
At the edge of the village stood a newly built country house with a low wall and a neat, well-kept exterior.
"Excuse me! Sir! Police here in response to a report! Are you at home!?"
Yoo Kyung-ho shouted over the wall.
No answer came back.
"Maybe he’s already asleep? It’s still too early for that, though."
It was late afternoon, but the sun was still blazing bright.
Yoo Kyung-ho moved toward the front gate.
The gate was unlocked and slightly ajar.
"Sir! We’re coming in!"
Yoo Kyung-ho carefully went in first.
The yard was spotless, with not a single weed in sight, and the flowerpots still showed signs of recent care.
"Huh!?"
Suddenly, Yoo Kyung-ho let out a startled cry.
Bright sunlight poured in through the large living room window, and someone was lying face-down motionless in front of the dining table.
"Shit."
Instinctively realizing that something was very wrong, Yoo Kyung-ho shot Song Tan a look.
After pulling on the nitrile gloves and shoe covers Song Tan handed him, Yoo Kyung-ho rushed to the front door.
Click, click—
The front door was locked tight.
"Senior! Over here!"
Song Tan pointed at the living room window that had been left slightly open.
The two men climbed through it and hurried to the dining table.
A faint, sharp sour smell stabbed at their noses.
"Damn it..."
The dead man was slight, his shoulders sagging, his forehead pressed to the edge of the table.
Brown stains marked his lips, and foam clung around his mouth.
On the table sat a mug, three empty soju bottles, a plastic bottle that looked like pesticide, and a folded sheet of paper laid out neatly beside them.
Yoo Kyung-ho placed a hand at the old man’s neck, then furrowed his brow and shook his head.
"Don’t touch anything else around here. If we mess with the scene, we’re all screwed."
"Understood."
Yoo Kyung-ho grabbed the radio hanging from his shoulder.
"Ha-bong Village, 59-4. One deceased male found. No breathing or pulse at present. No visible external injuries. Requesting support from the homicide unit."
While Yoo Kyung-ho was busy with the radio, Song Tan studied the dead man’s face closely, then pressed two fingers to the old man’s wrist and sent a thread of minute internal energy into his body.