Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: The Reporter's Lucky Break
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Dongyoung Daily's senior reporter, Yoon Min-ha.
The incident that all reporters had been digging into since yesterday: the attempted murder of a six-year-old child.
It was a massive case—attempted murder, and of a six-year-old child at that—so Yoon Min-ha had been moving quickly to chase down leads.
She'd made calls to her usual contacts, piecing together the scattered bits of information.
She'd even made it to the hospital where the victim was.
Of course, she couldn't directly request an interview with the victim.
Some unethical hacks—what people called "trash reporters"—might try that.
But Yoon Min-ha wasn't trash.
She had put in a lot of effort over the years to live as an upright journalist.
Sometimes her principles caused her a bit of regret or loss... but she still hadn't abandoned them.
And that's exactly why she was able to arrive here faster than the other reporters—because she stuck to those principles.
'For now, at least snap a photo of the hospital.'
Yoon Min-ha subtly took a shot of the hospital's main entrance, then moved inside to look around.
Now what?
As she pondered for a moment.
Her eyes caught two police officers in uniforms.
She couldn't approach the victim, but asking the cops a few questions wasn't weird.
She quickened her pace and approached them.
One had a blank expression, with a strangely cat-like face.
Next to him was another cop who looked more like he'd be perfect playing a cop in a drama than actually being one.
Yoon Min-ha instinctively knew.
Ah, the cat-faced one would be easier to approach.
His blank expression might make the guy next to him seem more approachable at first glance.
But he looked rock-solid—no casual question would get through; it'd just bounce right off.
She approached, introduced herself, and quickly confirmed their ranks and names—only to be caught off guard.
It was Lee Jae-hyun, the patrol officer she'd spoken to on the phone not long ago.
She felt both surprised and glad to see him.
In person, he seemed even more like a veteran detective than she'd imagined.
It wasn't just his looks—his whole demeanor screamed experience.
"The initial reporter..."
Even when she asked about the initial reporter, he cut off Min Ji-hye—the higher-ranking inspector—and dodged the answer, which surprised her a little.
It meant he knew the intent behind her question and the impact of his response.
In the end, she realized cracking Lee Jae-hyun was key; going after Min Ji-hye would be pointless otherwise. So she shifted her target to him.
She'd been interested in him from the start anyway, so it worked out.
'Is he really connected, or just super experienced... or maybe just lucky?'
Time to probe.
That's what Yoon Min-ha thought as she chatted with Lee Jae-hyun.
He answered what he could and neatly shut down the rest.
Even with her last rushed question—one that might be sensitive, so she approached carefully.
There could be controversy over excessive force, so she cautiously asked who had made the arrest at the scene.
And Lee Jae-hyun's response...
'Wh-what?'
His silent gaze fixed on her made Yoon Min-ha freeze and step back.
It was an atmosphere like a bullet loaded and ready to fire at any moment—she realized she'd messed up.
She didn't want to get on his bad side, so she quickly opened her mouth to smooth things over.
"I think I really made a mistake..."
But as she spoke.
She realized his gaze wasn't on her.
'Behind me...?'
He was looking past her, at whatever was behind.
The moment Yoon Min-ha realized that.
"Huh?"
Lee Jae-hyun suddenly bolted past her, charging like a bullet.
"Wh-what?"
"Hey, Lee Jae-hyun! What's going on all of a sudden?"
Yoon Min-ha muttered in confusion.
Min Ji-hye, who was with her, shouted at him too.
She followed their gaze and saw him chasing some guy.
The man noticed Lee Jae-hyun coming and started running away in a panic.
The moment she saw that, Min Ji-hye's face returned to its usual blank expression, and she dashed forward.
Left alone, Yoon Min-ha instinctively chased after them.
'I don't know what's happening.'
But following those two was sure to yield a story.
She didn't know who the guy was, but he was running from cops, so he must have done something wrong.
Yoon Min-ha ran fast.
'Man, why are they so quick?'
Lee Jae-hyun was insanely fast, and Min Ji-hye was keeping up at a serious speed.
Worried she'd lose sight of them, she pulled out her smartphone to start recording.
Crash!
Lee Jae-hyun caught up to the guy in an instant.
The two tumbled across the ground in a flash, making a huge racket.
And just like that, Lee Jae-hyun was on top of the man's back.
"Jeong Woo-min, arrested on fraud charges..."
Lee Jae-hyun barked it out as he yanked handcuffs from his belt and snapped them on the man's wrists.
Yoon Min-ha's mouth fell open a bit as she watched.
'Okay, definitely not just riding coattails.'
No way his record was padded with connections.
Whether it was skill or luck, though—that was debatable.
Yoon Min-ha thought that to herself, glancing at her smartphone screen.
Fortunately, the red recording light was blinking away.
A thick smile spread across her lips.
'Jackpot.'
She'd landed a big one.
* * *
Lee Jae-hyun cuffed Jeong Woo-min's wrists and stood up.
Jeong Woo-min: wanted for fraud, on the run after leaving behind a wife and young daughter.
The guy had evaded capture for three years already, but blood was blood, apparently.
He'd seen the news about the injured daughter, come looking, and bam—right in Lee Jae-hyun's sights.
Jeong Woo-min let out a sigh, grunting as he rolled over to sit.
Min Ji-hye arrived right after, huffing out a rough breath.
Lucky break.
If Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin hadn't sent the photo, he might not have recognized him.
Or if Jeong Woo-min hadn't looked a little anxious, glancing around.
Hell, if he hadn't come to the hospital at all.
"It's definitely Jeong Woo-min. How'd you spot him from that far away in such a short time?"
"I spent yesterday staring at his photo, so luckily, I saw him."
Min Ji-hye looked at Jeong Woo-min's face, pulled out her smartphone, compared it to the photo, and spoke.
She gazed at Lee Jae-hyun with admiring eyes.
Spotting and nabbing a criminal on the fly like that—even veterans struggled with it.
And here was a mere patrol officer, Lee Jae-hyun, recognizing Jeong Woo-min and catching him in seconds.
Sure, he'd been studying the photo yesterday, and it was still fresh enough to remember.
But picking someone out on the street from a single photo was tough.
Especially a criminal being cautious, even wearing a hat.
"Ah, officers... just give me a chance."
Jeong Woo-min dropped to his knees and begged Lee Jae-hyun and Min Ji-hye.
Naturally, it fell on deaf ears.
"Save it. Tell it to the judge later. We catch 'em—you know, we're not the judging type."
Lee Jae-hyun said that and gestured for him to get up.
But Jeong Woo-min didn't budge, bowing forward instead.
"Urk!"
With his arms cuffed behind him, he couldn't brace and smacked his forehead on the ground.
He let out a short groan but kept talking.
"No, really—visiting my daughter, what's wrong with that? Why arrest me like this!"
"Visiting your daughter? Nothing wrong with that. Fraud, though? That's wrong."
Borrowing from loan sharks and getting hurt—that was Kim A-young—and coming to see his daughter Jeong Nara? Not wrong.
But fraud was.
The guy had scammed tens of billions of won.
Money for a whole house—yeah, that was definitely wrong.
"Ah, officers, really... I've gone straight now. Living clean. Just came to see my wife and girl—please, just once..."
"Gone straight?"
"Yeah, really. Living honestly now."
Jeong Woo-min nodded vigorously, awkwardly rolling onto his side to sit.
With the cuffs, that was the comfiest position he could manage.
Lee Jae-hyun chuckled dryly and nodded at the guy's wrist.
"So why haven't you turned yourself in yet? And what's with the luxury watch on your wrist?"
Cuffed or not, there was still a watch on his left wrist.
Crown logo—anyone could tell it was high-end.
Easy to spot while cuffing; he even saw diamonds instead of numbers.
Thousands at least.
Wearing that and claiming he'd gone straight? That was beyond shameless.
"No, this is fake. I'm really living clean..."
"Exactly."
Jeong Woo-min rushed to protest his innocence, but Lee Jae-hyun cut him off with a nod.
"Huh?"
"It's fake, right?"
"Yeah, totally fake. I've gone straight, living honestly day by day."
That was the point.
The watch on his wrist being fake.
Whether it was real or not didn't matter.
If real, he lied as easily as breathing.
If fake, he still had the con artist's vibe.
"Even the watch on your wrist is a scam—'honest' my ass."
"No, come on..."
Lee Jae-hyun's firm words left Jeong Woo-min staring like, *What kind of guy is this?*
Meanwhile, Min Ji-hye made a call to report in.
Watching her, Jeong Woo-min finally gave up and spoke again.
"Okay! Officers, I'll admit my crimes clean. But before we go, can I just see my daughter's face one time?"
"Yeah, let's talk at the substation first. Got it? Cooperate nicely, and I'll let you see her photo."
"Ah..."
Even his plea—admit guilt if he could just see his daughter's face—didn't work on Lee Jae-hyun.
Of course not.
Criminals like him would say anything and bolt at the first chance.
Jeong Woo-min sighed and hung his head.
Min Ji-hye finished reporting and approached.
"Reported the situation. We can haul him back now."
"Got it."
"And..."
Min Ji-hye glanced behind Lee Jae-hyun.
He turned around.
There stood Yoon Min-ha, smartphone camera pointed right at them, beaming innocently.
In that moment, Lee Jae-hyun realized.
*Ah, can't stop the story from breaking now.*