Unbeliever (2)
Kang Injeong couldn't stand it.
If he'd listened to Kang Noah.
If he'd moved in the direction Noah suggested, no victim would have appeared.
Noah had told him about the culprit in the serial robbery-murder case.
So all they had to do was catch him or keep him under surveillance.
But there was interference.
A punk who graduated top of the police academy without any real field experience.
That arrogant rookie, Gong Yunseok.
He was the one who got in the way.
"Kang Noah is just some streamer, a fortune teller without any scientific evidence. If we move our officers based on what he says, the public will laugh at us."
He said it outright to the station chief, and in the end, the chief sided with Gong Yunseok.
It wasn't just because Gong Yunseok's father was a big shot.
Common sense backed his words.
But the field doesn't always run on common sense alone.
And this was the result of following common sense.
Kang Injeong's junior.
The junior he'd asked to secretly protect the next victim had been stabbed.
And not just him—the victim had been stabbed too.
The culprit fled and died after getting hit by a car.
But in the end, all that remained was the stigma of incompetent police and the death of a person.
Kang Injeong couldn't stand it.
If they'd followed Noah's words from the start.
If they'd guided the investigation based on his prophecy, none of this would have happened.
"Gong Yunseok!!!"
He flung the door open.
The man sitting there with a stern face slowly stood as Kang Injeong entered.
"Because of you!! Because of you, Hyeonsik...!!"
"So you're saying that's right, Senior? That we police should follow the words of some unknown orphan fortune teller?"
"If it helps the investigation!! If it prevents victims!! We use fortune tellers or whatever it takes!!"
"That's what makes the law collapse!! That's what destroys the rules!!"
"Shut up!!"
Kang Injeong's fist, unable to hold back his rage, slammed into Gong Yunseok's face.
And.
For that, Kang Injeong received a suspension.
In the end, no one was happy.
I was baffled, but he didn't deny my words.
He knew at least that the future I saw was accurate.
"Me... punching that guy? Uh, yeah. I guess I did feel like doing it once. Why?"
"Because your investigation directions clashed."
I told him the future I'd seen, and Kang Injeong's expression gradually hardened.
"Honestly... Gong Yunseok. That guy's not wrong."
Pinpointing the culprit with a prophecy and surveilling him until he tries to commit the crime, then catching him.
According to Korean police law, it's absurd.
"I think Teacher Kang is right."
"I'm Noah's friend too, and I have no intention of saying it's wrong for Noah to select and stop dangerous people with good intentions."
She let out a small sigh.
"But it's natural for outsiders to find it ridiculous. Even I doubted Noah's words at first."
So Gong Yunseok must be the same.
"Then should I introduce Teacher Kang to Gong Yunseok?"
She meant that since I've already done some work, showing him that might turn Gong Yunseok from an obstacle into an ally.
Han Yuna fell silent.
"That seems like the best way... but the problem is you, Noah."
"Huh? Me? Why?"
"Are you okay with that?"
"With what?"
"According to the future you saw, that guy might suspect you."
He's the type who emphasizes science, law, and rules.
I laughed at the idea that meeting me might make him hostile instead.
"If he gets hostile, I just won't meet him."
Worst case, we could get help from those two prosecutors.
Han Yuna let out a small sigh at my response.
"I know someone too, so if things go south, I'll help."
"Haha. This feels reassuring."
A faint smile touched Han Yuna's lips at my thanks.
Good. So tomorrow, it's been a while since I'll head to the police station?
The next day.
I was lounging at home when I got a call from Kang Injeong.
-Did you have breakfast? Lunch not yet, right?
"Ah. Yeah. Thinking of grabbing something quick."
There was leftover pizza from yesterday in the fridge.
I'd planned to nuke that in the microwave for lunch.
-Come on, you can't just grab something. Come out. I'll buy.
When I went out, Kang Injeong was waiting.
"What do you want?"
"Pork stir-fry or pork cutlet?"
An offer no carnivore could refuse.
Kang Injeong grinned.
"Pork stir-fry it is."
Pork stir-fry rocks.
We went into a diner near my officetel and ordered pork stir-fry.
Cheap and hearty portions, so it fills up fast with people.
"Straight to the station after eating?"
"Yeah. No need to drag it out."
We quickly filled our stomachs.
Sob sob. It was delicious. Another good meal today.
After we ate, we rode his car to Dobong Police Station.
I'd felt it before, but even without committing a crime, coming to the police station puts me in a bad mood.
"Your expression looks off."
"Back at the orphanage, the brothers and sisters who went to the station were never there for good reasons."
Orphans don't have many reasons to go to the police station.
Usually, it's for bad stuff.
I remembered visiting a brother from the same room who'd gone out into society and got caught stealing after a few months.
"It's natural for criminals to get punished. But what he stole was diapers and formula."
"Diapers and formula?"
"Yeah. Well... how to put it."
That brother had been dating a sister from another orphanage while there.
They got married right after turning adult, because they'd gotten into trouble before leaving.
"And?"
"The baby was born, but how were two people fresh out of the orphanage supposed to raise it well?"
They worked their bones off, but that couldn't solve poverty.
On top of that, his wife got hurt at work and couldn't even do part-time jobs anymore.
"That's... they could have gotten support through the community welfare center."
"They didn't know back then. Honestly, you don't know unless you seek it out."
Anyway, no money for diapers or formula.
So he got desperate and broke into a mart's warehouse to steal, got caught.
"What happened?"
"The director paid his fine and got him out. The mart owner showed mercy too... I heard he's working at another big mart now, introduced by that owner."
"...I see."
Kang Injeong's expression soured.
I didn't mean to make him look like that.
"This is it, right?"
I remembered it from last time.
It was when I grabbed the door to the detective division office.
"Damn it!! This is so frustrating I can't even!!"
The door flew open.
It yanked me forward since I was holding the handle.
"Huh? Who..."
A guy with a build and face you'd avert your eyes from on the street.
And.
The face from Kang Injeong's future.
Kang Injeong's junior, the one who believed my vision and surveilled the suspect.
The man who'd been stabbed protecting the victim and fallen into critical condition.
Gi Hyeonsik.
"I know him."
"Huh? Senior?"
"Why are you so pissed off again?"
"No, Senior...!! Listen! How am I supposed to work with that stuck-up rookie...!!"
He seemed pretty angry.
From a quick glimpse of his past, there'd been friction with his new boss, Gong Yunseok, over investigation methods.
"Law? Rules? All good. But those bastards ignore law and rules, so how do you catch them fussing over that?!"
"Hey hey. Calm down. Everyone can hear."
"Let them hear!!"
He stormed off, huffing.
Kang Injeong watched him go with regret, then entered the office with me.
"That's Gong Yunseok."
There were no walls separating the first and second detective teams.
A young man in his late twenties, dressed in a suit, sat in a spot similar to Kang Injeong's.
"They say he's top graduate of the police academy."
"Oh..."
"He built some record at his first posting and got that seat... but the detectives under him aren't happy."
"I see..."
The man, coldly reviewing documents.
Gong Yunseok slowly stood.
And approached us.
"Chief Kang. Please check these documents."
"Haha. Sure."
"But... who is this?"
"Someone helping with the investigation."
"Is that so?"
His sharp eyes behind the glasses fixed on me.
"Gong Yunseok."
"I'm Kang Noah. Nice to meet you."
"I don't know what case you're a witness for, but we police always protect witnesses, so please don't worry too much and trust us."
He was serious.
Too serious.
He didn't even realize that seriousness was eating away at him.
"Teacher Kang?"
"Hm... this could be dangerous."
Gong Yunseok clings to rules and principles for a reason.
The problem is it's almost trauma-level.
It'd take more than ordinary shock to change his stance.
So give him an extraordinary shock?
I held out a stack of cards to him.
"...Pardon? Why this..."
"Want to flip one over?"
"...This?"
Looking dubious, Gong Yunseok flipped the card I offered.
It was Death, upright.
His expression hardened.
"Gong Yunseok. I'm Kang Noah, an internet streamer. A fortune teller."
"....."
His face soured at the word "fortune teller."
Before he could speak.
I struck first.
"Gong Yunseok. I know your police academy classmate, your close friend. That he killed the man who tormented his brother."
".....!!! "
Gong Yunseok's eyes widened.
"You think it's all your fault for not stopping it."
"...What are you."
His eyes sharpened.
But still, I had to say it.
"Gong Yunseok. That's not your fault."
Gong Yunseok stepped closer to me.
I didn't avoid his cold, menacing gaze.
Alright. Now let's change his thoughts and his future.
So he stops being bound by principles and rules, missing the field.
And ultimately gets played by a terrorist, fails to catch him, and despairs as dozens of hostages die.
Let's change that future.