Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Victim Protection Duty
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Even though most of the paperwork had been handed off to others, Lee Jae-hyun and Park Dae-hyung still had to handle the bare minimum themselves.
It couldn’t be helped.
In the end, only those who had been out there on the scene knew exactly what had gone down.
Thanks to that, Lee Jae-hyun had gone home early that day to get some solid rest, but the moment he clocked in the next morning, he had to dive straight into writing up the incident report.
After grinding through the report, Lee Jae-hyun glanced over at Min Ji-hye, who was yawning.
Min Ji-hye wasn’t one to show her emotions much, so seeing her yawn was pretty rare.
She snapped back to her usual blank expression in no time, as if it had never happened.
Once she wrapped up the paperwork she’d been working on, she leaned slightly toward Lee Jae-hyun.
“Jae-hyun.”
“Yes, Sergeant Min Ji-hye.”
It wasn’t often that Min Ji-hye initiated conversation, so Lee Jae-hyun replied with a touch of freshness.
Even in his previous life, she’d been the last team member he’d gotten close to, despite warming up to the others.
Part of it was that she handled more support work than fieldwork, but that was just how she was.
She wasn’t the type to go out of her way to bond with people.
On top of that, before his father’s death flipped the switch for him, Lee Jae-hyun had just been your average cop.
Min Ji-hye admired cops who truly lived the job, so she hadn’t bothered getting close to him.
Lately, though, she’d started opening up a bit to the changed version of Lee Jae-hyun, treating him as casually as the rest of the team.
“Not too busy today?”
“Same as usual, I’d say… What’s up?”
A patrol officer’s schedule was always the same.
Waiting around, patrolling…
Responding to calls, handling complaints.
That was pretty much the whole gig.
“No, the team leader said to handle protection duty for Kim A-young, and that we could take anyone.”
“Am I the lucky one?”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded slightly at the mention of protection duty and asked.
Victims or witnesses at risk of retaliation or further harm could report it to the police and request protection.
In Kim A-young’s case, she’d come to the station herself to report.
Thanks to her visit, they’d nabbed Gu Hyun-seok for the child assault.
But that didn’t rule out someone—maybe a business partner or employee blindsided by losing their job or gig—trying to get revenge on her.
Especially since Gu Hyun-seok had been neck-deep in illegal operations.
That’s why Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin had spoken with her directly and filed the protection request.
It got approved right away, so they could start today.
Kim A-young could probably breathe a little easier now.
Protection duty did make people safer from crime, to some extent.
Of course, it wasn’t foolproof.
A lot of folks got the term wrong—it wasn’t like personal bodyguard service.
There weren’t enough cops to assign one to everyone who requested it.
Still, the police did what they could with limited manpower to keep those under protection safe.
One method was this: swing by the protectee’s location once or twice a day for a quick check and temporary watch.
Then do focused patrols around the area—tailored patrols like that.
It was pretty much the best they could do.
“Yeah, we’ve got to hand over the watch and explain everything since it’s the first day… Going with Inspector Park feels too intimidating for me.”
“Hmm. Yeah, it would be a bit much.”
On the first day of protection duty, there was a mountain of stuff to explain, just like Min Ji-hye said.
But imagine explaining all that with Park Dae-hyung—looking like a mob boss—standing there silently.
No way that wouldn’t freak someone out.
Lee Jae-hyun agreed, and Min Ji-hye let out a small chuckle before continuing.
“What, you think I’d go with the team leader? Or Inspector Kim Seok-hyun? It’s either you or Jun-ho in the end, and Jun-ho’s too much of a hassle. So, you’re it.”
Min Ji-hye seemed to prefer tagging along with someone more comfortable than a higher-up.
That left Sergeant Kim Jun-ho or Patrol Officer Lee Jae-hyun, and well…
Min Ji-hye and Kim Jun-ho just didn’t click.
To be precise, Kim Jun-ho could get along with anyone, but Min Ji-hye found his cheeky, chatty vibe annoying.
“What time are we heading out?”
“Before dinner—check on her, grab a bite, and head back.”
“Got it.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded lightly in response.
A patrol officer’s tasks were the same wherever you went.
Just learn, do the grunt work—that was it.
Might as well use the time with Min Ji-hye to check if Kim A-young and the kid were okay.
Lee Jae-hyun spent the rest of the day handling his usual duties.
As always, he’d occasionally flip open his notebook, trying to jog more memories, and pondering how to prevent the child kidnapping set for next week. Time flew by.
“Man, reporters are something else.”
How much time had passed?
Kim Jun-ho muttered while staring at his monitor.
Min Ji-hye looked up at his words.
Kim Jun-ho turned to her and spoke.
“The kid’s assault is already hitting the news.”
“Reporters move fast—nothing new. They’ve probably heard about it everywhere.”
Depending on the case, but unless there was an embargo, stuff usually leaked same-day these days.
Yesterday’s incident blowing up in articles today wasn’t shocking.
Of course, a little substation like Hanseong didn’t deal with headline-grabbers often…
It was a bit novel, but Team 4 was already getting used to it.
From Myeong Jin-han to Han Sun-ah and Park Chun-beom—they’d all made the papers.
Time to get accustomed.
Apparently not for Kim Jun-ho, though.
He looked thrilled to have something to talk about, sneaking out of his chair to say more.
“Jae-hyun.”
“Yes. Head out now?”
“Yeah, let’s go. Before Jun-ho opens his mouth again.”
“We’ll be back.”
Min Ji-hye stood and headed out first.
Lee Jae-hyun gave Kim Jun-ho a quick bow and followed her lead.
* * *
“So… if anything threatening comes up, I just press this right away?”
Sitting by the hospital bed, Kim A-young pointed at the smartwatch and asked.
Lee Jae-hyun nodded right away and replied.
“Yeah. No matter where you are, we’ll get there as fast as possible—probably within ten minutes.”
They’d just handed over the smartwatch and explained how it worked.
Kim A-young examined it curiously for a moment, then looked up and bowed to Lee Jae-hyun and Min Ji-hye.
“Thank you. For looking out for us.”
“No problem. It’s our job.”
He meant it—no special effort, just doing what needed doing.
That’s how Lee Jae-hyun saw it.
At his response, Kim A-young smiled softly, then continued in a voice tinged with laughter.
“Looking back calmly, I must’ve seemed totally unhinged. Barging in saying my daughter was dead, even accusing me of killing her.”
“It’s fine. Given the situation. Whatever happens, come to us anytime and report it—we’ll do our best to help.”
“Really… feels reassuring.”
After saying that, Kim A-young shifted her gaze to her daughter lying in the hospital bed.
Jeong Nara.
Six years old this year—a far too fragile child to endure an assault that left her unconscious from shock.
The girl was asleep, medicated.
With broken ribs, pain was inevitable.
Painkillers helped manage it, but keeping her asleep longer than active was best for recovery, so they’d adjusted her meds accordingly.
At least the docs said she’d bounce back soon—small mercy.
“She’s cute.”
Before he knew it, Serhen had appeared in midair, hovering right above Jeong Nara, peering carefully at the child.
She watched with an uncharacteristically gentle expression.
Then, Jeong Nara squirmed a bit, furrowing her brow.
She’d shifted unconsciously in her sleep, and the rib pain hit.
Serhen saw it and flicked her hand.
Black energy flowed from her palm, seeping into Jeong Nara’s chest.
The girl’s face relaxed instantly.
Lee Jae-hyun couldn’t believe what he’d just seen and glanced at Serhen.
“What? Can’t a demon help someone?”
‘No, it’s not that… just unexpected.’
“Kids deserve protection, no matter who they are or what they are.”
Fair point.
Children needed protecting.
Lee Jae-hyun agreed with Serhen deep down.
“We’ll head out for a patrol around the area now. Even if it’s not urgent, call if you feel uneasy.”
Meanwhile, Min Ji-hye said goodbye to Kim A-young and turned to leave.
Lee Jae-hyun followed her out of the room.
Slide.
The door closed smoothly.
“Good work. Let’s circle the hospital and A-young’s place, then grab dinner.”
“Yes.”
That’s when a brown-haired woman approached them.
Neither Lee Jae-hyun nor Min Ji-hye recognized her, so they both eyed her curiously.
The woman smiled brightly and spoke in a soft voice.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello. What can we do for you?”
“…”
Min Ji-hye responded immediately to the greeting.
But Lee Jae-hyun froze at the oddly familiar voice.
He’d heard it somewhere before.
Definitely, not long ago…
Before Lee Jae-hyun could pinpoint it, the woman spoke again, introducing herself.
“I’m Yoon Min-ha, reporter with Dongyoung Daily. Mind if I ask a few questions about the case?”
The Yoon Min-ha from Dongyoung Daily who’d called while he was eating gukbap with Sergeant Oh Seo-hyun.
It was her.