Dongyeong Ilbo’s senior reporter, Yoon Minha.
The case that all the reporters have been digging into since yesterday—the attempted murder of a six-year-old child.
Attempted murder, and of a six-year-old at that. It was a huge case, so Yoon Minha was quick on her feet, moving fast to gather material for her article.
She made calls to all her usual contacts, piecing together the fragmented information one by one.
She managed to arrive at the Hospital where the victim was staying.
Of course, it was impossible to directly request an interview with the victim.
Some unscrupulous reporters, the so-called ‘Giregi’, might do that sort of thing.
But Yoon Minha was not a ‘Giregi’.
She had worked hard to live as an upstanding reporter.
Sometimes, her Shin-nyeom had led to minor regrets or even losses… but Yoon Minha still hadn’t abandoned her convictions.
And because of that, because Yoon Minha had consistently kept her standards, she was able to arrive here faster than the other reporters.
“For now, I should at least take a picture of the Hospital.”
Yoon Minha snapped a photo of the Hospital’s front entrance, then walked inside to look around.
Now, what should I do next?
She was considering her options for a moment.
That’s when she spotted two police officers in uniform.
Even if she couldn’t speak to the victim, there was nothing strange about throwing a few questions at the police.
She quickly made her way over to the officers.
One of them had an expressionless face, somewhat reminiscent of a cat.
Next to him was an officer whose looks seemed more suited to an actor pretending to be a policeman than to an actual policeman.
Yoon Minha instinctively noticed.
Ah, the one that looks like a cat must be the easier target.
The expressionless one might, at first glance, seem like the tougher nut to crack compared to the man beside him.
But just by looking, you could tell he was solid—he wouldn’t be fazed by ordinary questions, and anything trivial would bounce right off.
She approached, introduced herself, and after quickly confirming the rank and name of the officers, Yoon Minha couldn’t help but feel surprised.
Wasn’t this Sergeant Lee Jaehyun, the one she had spoken with on the phone not long ago?
It was both embarrassing and a little pleasant.
Seeing him in person, he looked even more like a veteran detective than she had imagined.
It wasn’t just his appearance—his attitude, overall, gave off that impression.
“The initial caller…”
Even when she asked a question about the caller, he avoided answering, interrupting Sergeant Min Ji-hye, who outranked him, instead of responding himself. That surprised her.
It meant he was fully aware of the intention behind her question and the possible impact of his answer.
In the end, she realized that if she couldn’t get past Lee Jaehyun, there was no point in trying Min Ji-hye.
Since she had always been interested in Lee Jaehyun anyway, it was actually better for her.
“Is he really this guarded, or is he just that experienced… Or maybe he’s just lucky?”
Time to probe a little.
Thinking so, Yoon Minha struck up a conversation with Lee Jaehyun.
He answered what he could and cut off what he couldn’t—cleanly and without hesitation.
When she hurriedly threw what she thought would be the last question, it was the same.
“This one might be sensitive, so I should approach carefully.”
There could be controversy about excessive force, so she cautiously asked which officer had carried out the arrest at the scene.
And Lee Jaehyun’s answer was—
“What, what is this.”
Lee Jaehyun kept silent, simply staring at her, and Yoon Minha had to involuntarily step back.
The air around him was so tense that it felt like a bullet could fly out at any moment—she realized she shouldn’t mess with Lee Jaehyun.
She didn’t want to get on his bad side, so she quickly tried to smooth things over.
“I must’ve really made a mistake just now…”
As she said this,
Yoon Minha realized that Lee Jaehyun’s gaze wasn’t directed at her.
“Behind me…”
He was looking past her, behind her, not at her.
The moment she understood that—
“Huh?”
Lee Jaehyun abruptly darted past Yoon Minha, running like an arrow.
“What, what is this.”
“Hey, Lee Jaehyun! What’s with you all of a sudden?”
Yoon Minha muttered in confusion.
Sergeant Min Ji-hye, who had been with them, also shouted at Lee Jaehyun.
Turning her gaze toward Lee Jaehyun, she saw him chasing after a man.
The man must have noticed Lee Jaehyun pursuing him because he suddenly broke into a run.
Seeing this, Min Ji-hye’s expression instantly returned to her usual blank look as she sprinted forward.
Left alone, Yoon Minha instinctively chased after Lee Jaehyun and Min Ji-hye.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but—”
One thing was certain: if she followed those two, she’d get a scoop for sure.
She didn’t know who the fleeing man was, but he must have done something wrong if he was running from the police.
Yoon Minha dashed after them.
“Wow, why are they so fast.”
Lee Jaehyun was incredibly quick, and Min Ji-hye was keeping up at a remarkable speed as well.
At this rate, she was going to lose them from view, so she hurriedly pulled her Smartphone from her pocket to start recording.
Crash!
In an instant, Lee Jaehyun caught up to the man.
The two of them tumbled across the ground in a brief scuffle, loud noises echoing around.
Before she knew it, Lee Jaehyun was straddling the man’s back.
“Jung Woo-min, you’re under arrest for fraud…”
Lee Jaehyun swiftly spoke, pulling out handcuffs from his belt and locking them on the man’s wrists.
Watching this, Yoon Minha’s mouth fell open slightly.
“It’s definitely not about padding his stats.”
No, this wasn’t about getting credit for an easy arrest. Definitely not.
She just couldn’t tell whether he was skilled or simply lucky.
Thinking that to herself, Yoon Minha glanced at her Smartphone screen.
Thankfully, the red light was blinking, proving she was recording.
A wide smile formed on her lips.
“A big catch.”
She’d bagged a big one.
***
Lee Jaehyun cuffed Jung Woo-min’s wrists and stood up.
Jung Woo-min, a wanted fraudster who had abandoned his wife and young daughter and gone on the run.
He’d been on the loose for three years now, but in the end, a father was still a father.
He’d come after seeing the news that his daughter was hurt, and ran right into Lee Jaehyun’s gaze.
Jung Woo-min let out a sigh, snickering as he turned and sat, while Min Ji-hye came over, breathing heavily.
It was pure luck.
If Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin hadn’t sent over that photo, he wouldn’t have noticed.
Or, if Jung Woo-min hadn’t looked around anxiously, he might have missed it.
No, actually, if he hadn’t even come to the Hospital, he never would have been caught.
“It really is Jung Woo-min. How did you recognize him from so far away in such a short time?”
“I looked at photos of Jung Woo-min all day yesterday, so I was able to recognize him.”
Min Ji-hye looked at Jung Woo-min’s face, then pulled out her Smartphone to compare it to the photo, and spoke.
She looked at Lee Jaehyun with eyes full of admiration.
Recognizing and arresting a criminal in an instant like that—even veteran detectives would have trouble doing that.
Yet Lee Jaehyun, just a Sergeant, recognized Jung Woo-min and immediately chased him down and succeeded in arresting him.
Even if he’d been looking at Jung Woo-min’s photo since yesterday and could remember his face easily.
It’s not easy to recognize a person just from a single photo when you see them walking down the street.
Especially when the criminal is wearing a cap and approaching carefully, it’s even harder.
“Ah, um… Officers, please, just give me a break…”
Jung Woo-min dropped to his knees, begging Lee Jaehyun and Min Ji-hye.
Of course, it didn’t work.
“That’s enough. Save that for the judge. Our job is to arrest you, not to decide your fate.”
Lee Jaehyun gestured for him to stand up.
But Jung Woo-min didn’t make any move to get up, instead bowing forward.
“Ugh!”
Because his arms were cuffed behind his back, he banged his forehead on the ground.
After a short groan, he continued,
“No, seriously, is it such a crime to come see my daughter and then get arrested like this?”
“It’s not a crime to come see your daughter. But fraud is a crime, isn’t it?”
Borrowing money from loan sharks and injuring A-young Kim and coming to see his daughter, Jung Nara, wasn’t the problem.
But fraud was.
He’d committed fraud worth billions of won.
Enough to buy a house, and that was obviously wrong.
“Please, officer, I swear… I’m living honestly now. I just came to see my wife and daughter once, just give me a break…”
“You say you’ve changed?”
“Yes, I mean it! I’m really living a diligent life now.”
Jung Woo-min nodded vigorously, struggling to sit a bit more comfortably, as much as the handcuffs would allow.
That was the only posture he could manage to sit with the cuffs on.
Lee Jaehyun smirked and pointed at the man’s wrist with his chin.
“Then why haven’t you turned yourself in until now? And what’s with that luxury Wristwatch on your wrist?”
Even with the handcuffs, a luxury Wristwatch with a crown logo—instantly recognizable—sat on his left wrist.
It was easy to spot as he put the cuffs on, and he’d noticed the watch was studded with diamonds instead of numbers.
At minimum, a watch worth thousands.
Wearing a watch like that and saying he’s turned over a new leaf—he really had no shame.
“No, this is a fake! I’m really living honestly…”
“Right.”
Jung Woo-min quickly tried to protest, but Lee Jaehyun cut him off and nodded.
“Huh?”
“You said it’s a fake.”
“Yes! It really is a fake. I’m honestly just scraping by day to day.”
That was the point.
The fact that the Wristwatch on his wrist was a fake.
Whether it was genuine or fake, it didn’t really matter.
If it was real, then he was lying as naturally as breathing.
If it was fake, it meant he still had the tendency to commit fraud.
“A fake Wristwatch is already fraud, so don’t talk to me about being honest.”
“No, wow…”
At Lee Jaehyun’s resolute words, Jung Woo-min stared at him as if to say, “What kind of guy is this?”
Meanwhile, Min Ji-hye was on her phone, reporting the situation.
Watching her out of the corner of his eye, Jung Woo-min seemed to realize there was no hope, and tried again.
“Okay! Officer, I’ll confess everything cleanly. But can’t I just see my daughter’s face once before I go?”
“Let’s go to the precinct first and talk. If you cooperate, I’ll let you see a photo of your daughter.”
“Ah…”
His plea to see his daughter’s face before being taken away didn’t work on Lee Jaehyun.
Of course.
That’s what criminals always say—they just want a chance to run away.
Jung Woo-min let out a sigh and hung his head.
Meanwhile, Min Ji-hye finished her call and approached.
“I’ve relayed the situation. We should take him in now and head back.”
“Yes, understood.”
“And…”
Min Ji-hye glanced behind Lee Jaehyun.
He turned around as well.
There, aiming her Smartphone camera at them, with a bright smile on her face, stood Yoon Minha.
At that moment, Lee Jaehyun realized.
“Ah, there’s no stopping this story from getting out now.”