Chapter 94
Chapter 94
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: A Friend's Gratitude
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The visitor arrived at the hospital shortly after Lee Jae-hyun woke up.
Slide.
The sliding door opened, and Oh Seo-hyun poked her head in.
She spotted Lee Jae-hyun lying in bed and gave a light wave.
Lee Jae-hyun waved back in greeting.
Oh Seo-hyun strode over and held out the box of drinks she was carrying.
“I didn’t want to show up empty-handed, so I grabbed these on the way.”
“Thanks.”
“How’s the body holding up?”
“Never better.”
Lee Jae-hyun shrugged as he spoke.
Sure, his whole body throbbed, but still... this had to count as the best it could be.
How many big guys had he taken down yesterday?
He hadn’t counted exactly, but roughly thirteen or so.
This wasn’t some movie or drama—this was real life, against real adult men, proper gangsters at that. Coming out unscathed after facing over a dozen was impossible.
At least he hadn’t gotten hacked by a hand axe or stabbed, leaving permanent scars or disabilities. That was something.
“Su-jin said you suddenly groaned and passed out.”
“Yeah, well. Guess the adrenaline crash hit, and suddenly everything hurt.”
That’s what happened the moment Serhen’s power faded, but luckily the timing let him use that excuse.
It wasn’t suspicious at all, so Oh Seo-hyun just nodded lightly.
She was trying to play it cool, but worry showed on her face.
“Well... anyway, here’s the update: PMC’s under investigation, and Park Man-seok personally is being probed for narcotics. Kim Jin-cheon, the branch manager at Daehan Bank...”
“I saw it on the news.”
“Oh, you did?”
Min Ji-hye paused mid-explanation at Lee Jae-hyun’s words.
Lee Jae-hyun nodded slightly.
What he was curious about wasn’t PMC, Park Man-seok, Kim Jin-cheon from Daehan Bank, or Do Kang-cheol of the Axe Gang.
This whole incident started with the school bullying case involving Song A-ram and Choi Su-jin.
Solving the others’ crimes mattered, but his original goal was the priority.
“Yeah, tell me about the kids. A-ram and Su-jin.”
“A-ram ended up not dropping the charges. She’s pushing forward.”
“Good.”
He’d expected as much.
All the interference was gone, and Song A-ram could exercise her rights as a citizen without pressure. Of course she’d keep going.
Hearing it from Oh Seo-hyun still felt good.
“Oh, and Su-jin filed her complaint too. I just helped her submit it on the way here.”
“That’s a relief too.”
“Yeah, but if they want a settlement, they’ll probably have to throw some money at them.”
“You think the kids will settle?”
“No way.”
Absolutely not.
Song A-ram wouldn’t, and neither would Su-jin. She was tough as nails.
You could tell just from how she’d endured the bullying herself and still told Song A-ram not to drop the charges.
Neither would ever settle.
Park Hyun-jin, Kim Sun-woo... the other kids too. Life was about to get a lot harder for them.
“Lee Jae-hyun.”
“Yeah?”
He was relieved the kids were set on pursuing justice properly.
Then Oh Seo-hyun called his name out of the blue.
Her voice carried an awkwardness, and Lee Jae-hyun blinked at her curiously.
“Thanks again.”
“Outta nowhere?”
“I was debating whether to drink or not. If you hadn’t shown up, I probably would’ve.”
Lee Jae-hyun shook his head at her words.
He got why she was thankful, but he’d seen her at the scene.
She was sharp enough to make the right call, and even without him, she would’ve chosen not to drink.
“Nah, they kept pushing, so you’d have thought it was weird too.”
“Still, I was torn. It’s a numbers game—maybe drink a little and dig out more info.”
“...”
He understood her mindset, so Lee Jae-hyun couldn’t easily respond.
He’d made a similar call himself, once or twice.
Taking that first hit from Park Man-seok.
The safest play would’ve been for him to step up and subdue Park Man-seok right away.
But he chose to take the hit first, risking a big impact from one punch that might’ve left him unable to follow through.
He’d taken that risk to establish self-defense.
And to provoke the guy effectively.
It worked out well.
But that was only because the ‘result’ was good. It didn’t make it not dangerous.
“Honestly, if I’d stayed conscious, I could’ve handled Park Man-seok... but passed out, I’d have been useless.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded slightly and smiled at her words.
Oh Seo-hyun wasn’t a cop because of rock-paper-scissors.
If she’d stayed awake, she could’ve taken Park Man-seok.
No guarantees without injury, though.
Oh Seo-hyun shrugged and continued.
“It was risky, but thanks anyway.”
“Friends don’t need to keep saying thanks. Let’s skip it.”
Lee Jae-hyun said lightly.
Truth be told, among work contacts, she was the first he could call a ‘friend’ in both lives.
Park Dae-hyung counted in a broad sense from his past life, but same-age? This was a first.
Seeing Min Ji-hye and Kim Jun-ho treat each other like friends despite ranks had made him a bit envious.
So Oh Seo-hyun’s presence wasn’t unwelcome.
He’d felt a sense of kinship from the start, same class and all.
At his words, Oh Seo-hyun let out a soft chuckle and nodded.
After a brief silence and more nodding, she went, “Ah.”
“Yeah?”
“Our team leader wants to see you.”
“Huh...?”
Lee Jae-hyun blinked in confusion at her casual remark.
Oh Seo-hyun from Incheon Western Police Station’s Violent Crimes Unit.
Who else would she call ‘our team leader’?
Only Choi Jeong-hyeok, head of the unit.
“He heard about your big contribution and wants to meet. I said I’d let you know.”
“...Uh, thanks.”
“If you’re not up to it, you can just say no...”
“Nah, I should go see him.”
Lee Jae-hyun shook his head slightly at her suggestion to bail if he wasn’t feeling great.
He didn’t really have a choice.
How do you turn down the Violent Crimes chief wanting to meet?
* * *
He didn’t stay in the hospital long.
Just one day in bed, then Lee Jae-hyun got up.
The doctor recommended two more days of rest, but he wasn’t the type to enjoy lying around anyway.
His parents and the Hanseong Police Substation Team 4 weren’t thrilled about his discharge after just a day.
Made sense.
Parents worrying about their son? Normal.
Team 4 had seen him push himself firsthand.
They knew how brutal tangling with gangsters was.
‘Still...’
No reason to stay in a hospital bed when his body was fine.
Sore muscles lingered, but it felt like normal post-workout ache.
Tolerable enough—no need to delay work.
Plus, he knew how badly Serhen craved evil karma, so he hurried.
Lee Jae-hyun entered the now-familiar Incheon Western Police Station.
Inside, he was hit with a chaotic scene right away.
Even on a weekend, it was buzzing.
Some of the criminals nabbed last night by him and the station’s Violent Crimes team were part of it, but...
“Hey, just one thing, Officer Choi.”
“Inspector Lee, come on, please.”
Reporters prowled like hyenas everywhere, scavenging for scraps.
A major case had broken.
Narcotics, murder instigation, attempted murder, aggravated assault—heavy hitters all.
Nationwide, journalists were fired up for scoops.
An emergency briefing had happened, but details were scarce.
Here, the first to snag specifics would rack up views.
Knowing that, they’d swarmed Incheon Western.
Lee Jae-hyun ignored the reporters eyeing him for intel and kept walking.
But he couldn’t fully escape their net.
“Excuse me, hi. Wushin Daily...”
“I know nothing.”
“Usually the ones who know everything say that...”
“...”
“We’re just trying to eat too. Help us out once, and we’ll return the favor.”
The Wushin Daily reporter smiled at him.
But Lee Jae-hyun had little to say.
He couldn’t spill every detail from last night.
No time anyway.
If he were sharing, it’d be with Yoon Min-ha from Dongyoung Daily, who was friendly.
This case was Incheon’s turf, really.
He’d contributed big, but as an outsider, blabbing about it looked bad.
Lee Jae-hyun shook off the reporter and hurried on.
His destination: Oh Seo-hyun’s desk.
“Oh, you’re here?”
She spotted him and stood right up.
She’d been buried in paperwork, but dropped it without hesitation.
Partly because she prioritized him over it.
But mostly another reason.
“I told them you were coming today, so he’s waiting.”
“Yeah.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded at her words.
Today, he was here to meet Choi Jeong-hyeok, who led Incheon Western’s Violent Crimes Unit.