Chapter 59: Only Arrest

Ilsan West District Police Station.

Strong Crime Unit Team Leader Oh Min-seok walked forward with a tired face.

He hadn’t been home in days because of the constant flood of cases, and this was now the seventh day.

He was on his way to the Section Chief’s office, having been summoned by Kim Hocheol, the Strong Crime Unit Section Chief.

He was already dying from all the work, and if the Section Chief was calling him directly, it was obvious—he was probably about to be asked to take on a few more cases, which he hated.

This time, for the sake of his team, he was determined to refuse properly. Oh Min-seok raised his hand and knocked on the door in front of him.

Knock knock.

“Yeah, come in.”

From inside, Kim Hocheol’s voice called out.

Oh Min-seok let out a sigh and opened the door, stepping inside.

As soon as he entered the Section Chief’s office, the first thing he saw was Kim Hocheol on the phone, looking grave.

He gestured for Oh Min-seok to wait a moment, then finished the call.

“Yes, understood. I’ll put together a team and send them right away.”

Seeing Kim Hocheol finish the call with those words, Oh Min-seok felt a sense of foreboding.

Why was that?

He just knew the team that was going to be put together would be his.

And sure enough.

Kim Hocheol gestured for him to sit on the sofa, and as soon as Oh Min-seok sat down, he spoke.

“Min-seok.”

“Ah, Captain… We really can’t do this. At this rate, the whole team is going to drop dead.”

As soon as his name was called, Oh Min-seok reflexively protested.

They already had a pile of cases, and if they got more, it would be a disaster.

They needed to focus on each case to solve it somehow, but cases kept piling up, making it impossible to handle them properly or focus.

He had requested reinforcements so many times, but not a single person had been added—only more cases.

Kim Hocheol, knowing both Oh Min-seok and the team’s situation, let out a small sigh before continuing.

“It’s a Child Kidnapping Case.”

It wasn’t just any case. It was a Child Kidnapping Case.

Oh Min-seok had nothing left to say.

If it had been something like drugs or assault, he might have said they’d finish what they were working on first or have another team take it.

But child kidnapping was on another level.

As Oh Min-seok fell silent, Kim Hocheol continued.

“Drop everything else for now and focus solely on the Child Kidnapping Case.”

“How old is the kid?”

Hearing that they had to focus solely on the Child Kidnapping Case, Oh Min-seok nodded as if it were a given.

Other cases were also a race against time, but most of the cases Oh Min-seok was currently handling already had deceased victims.

But now, a child’s life was on the line—if anything went wrong, the child could die.

It was important to find and catch whoever killed the already dead, but wasn’t it more important to save a living child from dying?

Instead of answering Kim Hocheol’s order, he asked a question.

How old was the child?

The younger the child, the shorter the golden time.

“Eleven. It’s a boy. The kidnapper is currently demanding a ransom of fifty million won. During the kidnapping, they’re believed to have used a Sleeping Pill, and even a current Police Officer was made to ingest a sleeping pill.”

“Insane bastards…”

An eleven-year-old boy was still young, but old enough to understand right from wrong.

The golden time was a little longer.

And they even used a Sleeping Pill during the kidnapping?

“That’s actually a relief.”

The kidnapping itself was never good, but the use of a Sleeping Pill meant the child’s resistance was minimized.

The more a child resists and makes a fuss, the higher the chance the kidnapper will kill the child.

If they used a Sleeping Pill, the child would have fallen asleep and wouldn’t resist, so the chance of being killed was lower.

Of course, the chances of escape had basically vanished…

But honestly, after a child has been kidnapped, escaping with their own power was practically impossible anyway. It was actually better for them to stay still and unharmed.

However, the fact that even a current Police Officer was made to ingest a Sleeping Pill was quite a shock.

Truly insane people.

They even dared mess with the police?

Well, anyone who would think to kidnap an eleven-year-old kid wouldn’t be afraid of messing with a police officer.

Thinking this, Oh Min-seok looked at Kim Hocheol.

Kim Hocheol continued his explanation.

For now, at the scene, it looked like the main suspects were a woman in her sixties and a man in his thirties. The probability was high that those two committed the crime, but you need to review that again.”

“Understood.”

Oh Min-seok rubbed his brow and nodded.

The perpetrators of the Child Kidnapping Case were a woman in her sixties and a man in his thirties?

Definitely not a common combination.

A child’s life was at stake. Right now, the case hadn’t spread yet, but the media would go crazy if they caught wind. You need to solve it before that happens.

“Yes, of course.”

The moment the Child Kidnapping Case hit the media, the golden time would lose all meaning.

Once the crime was exposed, the kidnapped child was almost certain to die.

After being exposed, there would be no reason for the culprit to take the risk of carrying the child around any longer.

And then, criticism would pour onto the police for failing to maintain public safety.

That’s why the child needed to be rescued as quickly as possible before the media caught the scent.

With a serious expression, Oh Min-seok nodded in response.

Kim Hocheol waved him off.

“Go quickly now.”

“Captain.”

“What?”

Oh Min-seok stopped Kim Hocheol as he was about to turn away.

But once he had called out, Oh Min-seok couldn’t find the words and hesitated.

Was this really the right decision?

Oh Min-seok hesitated for a moment, but quickly remembered that time was of the essence.

He wasn’t sure if this was really the right decision, but…

He had to act first and think later.

“For this case, please let us have just one more person in addition to my team.”

“Who? No one above inspector level.”

“Just a Patrol Officer.”

Kim Hocheol made a puzzled face at his request.

It was understandable.

A case racing against time, and he was asking for just a patrol officer?

Even to Oh Min-seok, it seemed odd.

“A Patrol Officer? Well… do as you like. Request the support under my name.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to solve the case.”

“Handle it quietly, not with a lot of fuss.”

Since time was tight, Oh Min-seok saluted Kim Hocheol, who told him to handle things and get going fast.

Kim Hocheol reminded him to keep things quiet and not let the case reach the media.

As Oh Min-seok nodded in response, he suddenly remembered the image of Lee Jaehyun crashing through the pet shop’s glass without hesitation.

“…I’ll make sure to solve it.”

In the end, all Oh Min-seok could do was promise a “solution” as he left the Police Station.

***

At the Hanseong Capital Region Police Station, Team 4 was working to devise a response to the Daehyun Choi Kidnapping Case.

Since the case itself revolved around Team 4, they naturally had to take the lead.

PoSoon, whom Kim Junho had raised, died from an overdose of Sleeping Pill, and Lee Jaehyun had ingested the sleeping pill directly and fell asleep.

Given those circumstances, it was obvious who would take the initiative.

However, a Child Kidnapping Case wasn’t something a single Police Station team could solve alone, so the other teams tried their best to help as well.

A meeting was held with all the Team Leaders present.

As a result, Oh Cheol-jin, Team Leader, was currently attending that meeting.

“In the end, all we can do is try to intercept in the middle. The most likely spots are the Rest Areas.”

Park Daehyung spoke up.

At his words, Lee Jaehyun fell into thought.

Rest Areas—a plausible suggestion.

They were convenient to access, a bit away from the city, and suspicious movements would be relatively easy to spot.

If the kidnapper was clever and cautious, they might have chosen a Rest Area as the location for the exchange.

However, since the deal didn’t go through even in the previous life, there was no guarantee how Park Yech’an and Go Hyunsook might change their plans.

He couldn’t say anything carelessly, but, in Lee Jaehyun’s personal opinion…

“It could be a Rest Area, but if I were the kidnapper, I wouldn’t choose a Rest Area.”

There were several reasons.

The prevalence of CCTV.

And above all, while Rest Areas were good for keeping an eye out for suspicious movements…

Conversely, if the police were already on alert, they could easily be considered suspicious themselves.

And most decisively,

“The escape route is a single direction.”

No matter where you try to run, it’s ultimately the Expressway.

If it were an ordinary road, there’d be multiple routes and less CCTV, but on the Expressway, most exits are covered by CCTV.

In fact, before you reach an exit, there’s basically only one direction you can go.

There were pros and cons.

If the criminals were using the police but still wary of them… then they’d probably avoid choosing a Rest Area.

That was what Lee Jaehyun thought, but he didn’t say it out loud.

It wasn’t impossible that they’d choose a Rest Area, and there was no need to narrow their vision.

So, as everyone did their best to ponder and analyze…

Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin, looking a bit exhausted, walked over to where Team 4 was gathered.

“Team Leader, how did it go?”

Kim Junho couldn’t hold back and asked before Oh Cheol-jin even opened his mouth.

Kim Junho was always talkative and often asked first, but…

This time, his mood was different.

After all, PoSoon had died.

It was only natural that Kim Junho seemed different from usual.

He was more serious, and unlike his usual self, joking around while solving cases, he was facing this one with a completely different attitude.

“For now, they’ll be forming an official team. Strong Crime Unit Team Leader Oh Min-seok will be in charge, and they requested support.”

“Of course we need to provide support,” Min Ji-hye replied, as if it were obvious.

It was a Child Kidnapping Case.

Not just Hanseong Capital Region Police Station Team 4, but all teams—even teams from other stations—would send support.

However, Oh Cheol-jin shook his head, indicating it wasn’t just simple support.

“No, not just support… They requested a dispatch.”

A dispatch meant literally sending one of their team members over.

It made sense, since the Strong Crime Unit was always short-staffed…

But with so much support coming from nearby stations, was a dispatch really necessary? That question couldn’t be helped.

“A dispatch? From our team?”

“Yeah.”

As Kim Junho asked, Oh Cheol-jin nodded.

Park Daehyung rubbed his brow and spoke.

“Was it just a general support request, or was someone specifically requested?”

“They specifically requested someone.”

Oh Cheol-jin answered simply.

Naturally, the other team members’ gazes fell on Park Daehyung.

He was close with Team Leader Oh Min-seok, and used to be a detective.

So, everyone assumed it would be Park Daehyung who was dispatched.

But Park Daehyung, without changing his expression, looked at Oh Cheol-jin and spoke.

“Who is it?”

“The youngest.”

At his question, Oh Cheol-jin answered right away.

Park Daehyung, as if he’d expected it, nodded.

“No way…”

Min Ji-hye muttered in disbelief.

Lee Jaehyun, now about to be sent to the Strong Crime Unit as a dispatched member…

“Not bad at all.”

Saw the current situation as an opportunity.