What Happened at the Central Police Academy
On Christmas Eve, with carols drifting over the streets from every direction, Song Tan was heading to Chungju to begin his life at the Central Police Academy.
He rode in his father’s car, having been granted a special leave.
Song Bong-gu glanced over at him and asked carefully, “Nervous?”
Song Tan, who had been staring blankly out the window, shrugged. “What’s there to be nervous about? It’ll probably be a lot like military life anyway.”
After passing the police exam, he had gone straight into military service, and only after two years had he finally been able to enter the Central Police Academy.
Becoming a police officer and finishing military duty were separate matters, after all.
For Song Tan, it was no hardship.
Once he’d passed the exam, there’d been no need to rush, and the regimented life of the army had been perfect for building his body.
That was why he had deliberately volunteered for the front lines in Gangwon Province.
Clean air, after all, was far better for training an internal energy cultivation method.
Thanks to that, he’d even managed to accumulate a tiny thread of inner power during his service.
The body that had once been nothing but bones had filled out with muscle, and in the meantime he had even grown a little taller. Now he at least fell within the bounds of an ordinary person.
Even so, he still couldn’t completely shake the impression of being lean and slight.
“Honestly, I’m more nervous than you are.”
Song Bong-gu picked up the water bottle, even though he wasn’t thirsty, then set it back down again. His dream of becoming a police officer, something his physical disability had once made impossible even to dare to hope for, had been achieved by his son—the son he treasured more than his own life. The emotion swelling in him was impossible to describe.
“You’re the youngest successful candidate ever, and you even took down a snatcher. Of course you’ll draw more attention.”
Song Tan scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed. “You’re not still bragging about that all over the neighborhood, are you?”
“What are you talking about? I’m going to keep at it for another ten years at least.”
In fact, the moment the article naming him the youngest police recruit that year was published, Song Bong-gu had gone around proudly boasting about his son to anyone who would listen.
Even though it had been a local paper no one else seemed to read.
“Just tell people a guy tripped over his own feet because he got lucky and got tangled up in me.”
“In the end, you still caught him, didn’t you?”
Song Tan shook his head. He knew full well that no matter what he said, it would be useless.
In truth, while he had been taking the police exam, he’d had an encounter with a pickpocket on the subway.
He had caught sight of a man slipping a woman’s wallet from her handbag, and as a police hopeful he couldn’t just stand by and watch, so he had casually tripped the man and sent him sprawling.
When the woman’s wallet flew out of the man’s pocket, the crime was exposed.
He had intended to slip away afterward, but, of all people, the woman who’d been robbed turned out to be a local newspaper reporter.
As a result, a single moment of meddling had come with a fairly brutal price.
“Anyway, work hard once you get there. From what I hear, if your grades are good, you can get assigned to a better post.”
“I’ll do fine. Moderately. Like I did in the army.”
Don’t stand out.
Don’t attract attention.
Keep a middling presence, as if he were there and not there at all, and secure the posting he wanted.
That was Song Tan’s resolve before entering the academy.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The front gate came into view, bearing the words, “Young police officers, the nation believes in you.”
Song Bong-gu parked in a suitable spot and patted his son on the shoulder.
“Do your best. And don’t get hurt, not ever.”
“Why don’t you come inside with me instead of stopping here?”
“It’s just a stone’s throw from here. You can walk the rest of the way. Why would I need to take you all the way in? You’re not a child.”
He said that, but Song Tan knew the truth.
His father was doing this because of his disability, worried that his son might suffer some sort of disadvantage because of it.
After seeing his son mocked by the other children at his elementary school entrance ceremony, then coming home in tears, the father had never once attended a public event like this again.
“Come on. Let’s go in together. I’ve got a lot of luggage.”
“You stubborn brat. You really are.”
Song Bong-gu hesitated for a moment, then.
“Shall I, then...?”
He pretended to give in and pressed the accelerator again.
He still couldn’t completely hide the excitement on his face.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The great field of the Central Police Academy was packed with people.
Families, friends, and lovers all took photos together, sharing in the happy day.
“All right, let’s take it. Move a little closer together, please.”
Song Bong-gu, who had been standing awkwardly beside Song Tan, shuffled a step closer.
He was so stiff he made a carved wooden doll look lively by comparison.
And yet he still couldn’t hide the happiness spilling from his face.
“Thank you.”
Taking the phone from a passerby, Song Tan looked at Song Bong-gu.
“I’m really going in now.”
“You’ll be staying here for about four months?”
“Yes. They say they’ll start allowing short leaves and overnight passes later, so I’ll come see you whenever I have time.”
“It’ll only be for a short while, so why would you come all this way? I’ll come down instead. Just tell me when you’re out.”
“I’ll do that. Then.”
“And I’m telling you again, don’t get hurt. Don’t go overboard trying to prove yourself, either.”
“Don’t worry about that. That won’t happen.”
Only after seeing his son’s confident smile did Song Bong-gu finally manage to turn away.
Watching his father’s back for a long moment, Song Tan listened to a brief orientation under the tent in the middle of the field before heading to the dormitory.
When he arrived, there was already someone there.
“Oh! At last, a roommate!”
The man looked to be in his late twenties. He sprang to his feet and greeted him, his shaggy hair and thick-rimmed glasses making him look half disheveled, half earnest.
“Hello. I’m Jeong Dae-yun.”
“Ah, yes. Nice to meet you. I’m Song Tan.”
“Song Tan? No way! I love Songtan budae jjigae!”
Jeong Dae-yun, attempting a forced instant bond without warning, began chatting nonstop from that point on.
“I got into the police force on my fourth try, and seriously, you have no idea how much hell I went through in Noryangjin... But listen, I ended up kind of flirting with this girl I studied with...”
As the torrent of chatter poured over him, Song Tan gave the appropriate responses and looked around the room.
On the desks were name placards listing each student’s name, class number, and service number.
Only then did it feel real—that he had truly entered the police academy.
“But then she got in first, dumped me right away, and immediately upgraded to a police classmate...”
The hellish monologue finally ended only after the other two roommates arrived.
The remaining two were twenty-nine and thirty-one respectively, and both had easygoing personalities, so they became friendly with one another quickly enough.
And so the chaotic first day of admission passed, and the next day the first stage of training—feared by all and called the initial Stage One—began in earnest.
Stage One consisted mostly of physical training: drill practice, conditioning, group exercise, trekking, and a march of aspiration.
Of course, for Song Tan, who had only just been discharged from the army, none of it was unfamiliar.
He completed every exercise diligently, neither too much nor too little, like water poured into water and alcohol into alcohol—there, but not there, unobtrusive and steady.
As planned, he attracted no one’s attention.
He got through the first week without incident, and at last Stage Two began.
From that point on, they traded their training fatigues for duty uniforms and started taking classes in arrest techniques, firearms, driving, and more.
And today was the long-awaited first class in arrest techniques.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The Choshim Hall of the Central Police Academy.
Police Captain Kim Yeong-tae, who was in charge of the arrest techniques course, swept the trainees with his sharp gaze.
“Arrest techniques are the most essential skills a police officer can have when it comes to effectively apprehending suspects. And let me say this again: this is not exercise. It’s a legitimate method of subduing a person. If you screw around and get hurt, you’ll be dismissed immediately, so keep that in mind.”
The trainees’ mouths shut tight under the pressure of his frightening face and heavy aura, one that made him look like a gang boss.
Once Kim Yeong-tae decided the atmosphere had been set, he continued the lesson in earnest.
“The most important thing in arrest techniques is breakfalling. A cop who can’t learn how to fall is the first one to die in the field. Understood?!”
“Yes, sir!”
Kim Yeong-tae climbed onto the mat himself.
Then, without warning, he threw his body backward.
A soft, soundless landing.
“That’s the basic move. Now follow me.”
From there, the trainees began hurling themselves down awkwardly.
“Your head! Protect your head! If you don’t guard it, you’re finished in the field!”
Kim Yeong-tae’s voice cracked like a whip.
Frightened stiff by his savage, beastlike intensity, the trainees moved even more energetically.
Soon the blue mats were filled with the sound of ragged breathing.
Seemingly pleased by the sight of the exhausted trainees, a faint smile touched Kim Yeong-tae’s lips.
It vanished quickly, like an illusion.
“All right, now we’ll start actual subduing techniques. You there. Come up here.”
At Kim Yeong-tae’s command, a broad-shouldered trainee rushed forward in a panic.
“Give me your hand.”
The moment he held it out, Kim Yeong-tae seized his wrist and twisted.
No, “twisted” was almost too strong a word; he had merely turned it at a slight angle.
“Aaaah!”
Despite his size, the trainee dropped to his knees on the spot.
“As you can see, you can upset an opponent’s balance with very little force.”
Kim Yeong-tae let go of the wrist and added, “Remember this. A police officer is not someone whose job is to harm others. From here on, you’ll practice in pairs. There’ll be a test at the end, so don’t think of slacking off. If not a single one of you can throw me, then we’ll be doing special night training tonight.”
The trainees’ eyes began to blaze.
They couldn’t afford to waste their precious free evening time on additional discipline.
“Aaaagh! Damn it! That hurts, asshole!”
“Quit whining, punk.”
The practice, filled with groans and cries of pain, came to an end.
“I’ll call you one by one. Come up and try to subdue me.”
At Kim Yeong-tae’s booming voice, the air in Choshim Hall grew even heavier.
The first trainee called stepped forward with every sign of nerves.
In the end, he missed his timing and couldn’t even get a proper grip on the wrist, and just as Kim Yeong-tae pretended to step back, he abruptly shifted his center of gravity. Then—
Thud—
“Guh!”
The trainee was the one who went flying instead.
“Pathetic. Next.”
The second. The third.
The results were all more or less the same.
Some put too much strength into it and slipped; others had their arms taken away by Kim Yeong-tae before they could do anything.
Is it even possible to knock that guy over?
That was the same thought running through every trainee’s mind as they watched the scene unfold.
“Tsk, tsk. This class is really hopeless.”
Frowning deeply, Kim Yeong-tae finally pointed to the last person.
“You there. Come out.”
At once, every eye in the room turned to Song Tan.
And one by one, they failed to hide their disappointment.
He didn’t look remotely athletic at a glance.
This is so screwed.
Damn it, we were supposed to have a snack party today.
Under his classmates’ whispers, Song Tan walked toward Kim Yeong-tae.
Quite calmly, too.
“All right. Grind your teeth and give it a shot. If you manage to throw me, I’ll let you take a special leave.”
Kim Yeong-tae held out his thick, pot-lid-like hand.
At the same time, Song Tan shot out and snatched his wrist with lightning speed.
Kim Yeong-tae flinched and tried to wrench his wrist free with brute force.
Before Kim Yeong-tae’s center could shift, Song Tan’s foot stepped in half a beat faster.
In that split second, Song Tan examined his stance.
The angle of the shoulders. The direction of the toes. Which leg held the weight.
He calculated all of it and twisted lightly—without pulling, without pushing.
Not the wrist, but the elbow connected behind it, then the shoulder beyond that, and the full weight the shoulder was holding up.
If you touch the center, the force follows on its own.
The instant Kim Yeong-tae reacted by applying force, that force became his own axis. Having lost his balance, the bulky body spun in midair like a windmill blade.
Thud!
Kim Yeong-tae, miserably sprawling, looked up at Song Tan in complete disbelief.
“Um... does that mean I can take the leave? The special overnight pass?”
Kim Yeong-tae had no way of knowing.
He had no way of knowing that the reward called a special overnight pass was sweet enough to shake even Song Tan’s determination to stay absolutely out of sight.