Chapter 3: The Checkpoint Where Time Returned

Patrolling is one of the most basic duties of a Police Officer.

Lee Jaehyun was as familiar with it as he was with eating meals, having done it countless times.

However, since he had spent the past few years as a Detective, it had been a while since he’d gone on patrol like this.

Lee Jaehyun tried to calmly assess the situation, scanning his surroundings.

All the passing scenery belonged to the jurisdiction of the Hansung Capital Region Police Station where he had worked, so he recognized every corner.

“At the very least, it’s certain I’ve gone back to the past.”

Meeting Se-re-hen, making that contract with her, returning to the past—it all seemed undeniably real.

Anyway, the sights before him were clearly from ten years ago.

While he was deep in thought,

A hissing sound crackled from the Walkie-Talkie.

— Drunk Disturbance Report at Hyemin Restaurant, Anmi-dong intersection.

Drunk and Disorderly.

To put it simply, someone was getting drunk and causing a commotion.

The most common job at the Capital Region Police Station was cleaning up after Drunks.

When they get drunk and even start raising a ruckus, responding isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Still, perhaps because it was a familiar situation—

Even with a head full of complicated thoughts, his body reacted first.

“Should we take this?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lee Jaehyun instinctively asked Park Daehyung, and as if reacting on pure instinct, Park Daehyung nodded and immediately picked up the Walkie-Talkie.

“Sooma Two, Dispatching.”

— Roger. Sooma Two, Dispatch. Four sturdy males, so please be careful.

“Understood.”

Sooma, Dispatch, Send-out.

Familiar radio lingo.

‘Sooma’ refers to Patrol Car. Usually, they call it ‘Soonma.’

The number that follows indicates which Patrol Car in the Capital Region Police Station, so ‘Two’ means the second one.

‘Songbal’ is departure.

‘Balsong’ is assignment—being dispatched.

Back when he first became a Police Officer, he stumbled over this radio talk.

But now, it was second nature—even with his eyes closed.

Yet, as Lee Jaehyun set down the Walkie-Talkie, he felt a subtle sense of unease.

Something was oddly familiar.

Was it because this was a common occurrence in the past?

As he was feeling that vague sense of discomfort, Park Daehyung glanced at him from the side.

What’s this? Just yesterday, you were all hesitant. But today you’re on point? Guess you’ve finally pulled yourself together?”

“Ah, yes…”

Lee Jaehyun just nodded, unable to come up with a proper answer.

Even so, the strange sense of familiarity that enveloped his body felt oddly out of place.

***

On their way to Hyemin Restaurant, where the Drunk Disturbance Report had come in, it was already noisy from afar.

“Geez, what a mess.”

Park Daehyung sighed as he spotted a red plastic table rolling around in the street and parked the car.

Lee Jaehyun, still in the passenger seat, couldn’t move his body even when Park Daehyung opened his door.

For good reason.

“I remember now.”

On the way here, he realized why everything felt so familiar.

The discomfort and déjà vu wasn’t just because Drunk Disturbance Reports were so common.

Hyemin Restaurant in front of his eyes, the red plastic tables and chairs scattered outside…

And the four burly men, using their bodies as canvases for tattoos, snickering among themselves…

He even remembered what they had said.

“Didn’t they say ‘Ora, jjane’ back then?”

Just as Lee Jaehyun recalled this,

“Hey? What are you looking at, huh?”

One of the thugs spoke.

Instantly, Park Daehyung’s face hardened.

Lee Jaehyun let out a slight laugh and opened the car door to step out.

“She said my wish could come true.”

Today was the very day his father died.

Which meant—

His father was still alive.

In other words, his wish had truly come true.

But he couldn’t let his guard down.

Again, today was the day his father would die, and the culprit still hadn’t been caught.

“All right, gentlemen. You can’t do this here. What’s all this, breaking tables?”

Though Park Daehyung let out a sigh, he did his best to calm the situation.

The job of a Police Officer is to first de-escalate, smooth things over, and if necessary, mediate so everyone can go home safely.

If it were so simple, why would Police Officers have such a tough time…?

Anyway, for now, the best thing they could do was calm the parties involved.

Lee Jaehyun thought quickly.

He recalled today’s memories from his previous life.

After resolving the Drunk and Disorderly case, he had immediately gone to conduct a DUI checkpoint.

It wasn’t long after that he met his father.

There was no time to waste.

He didn’t know what variables might arise, so the best thing he could do was quickly wrap up the situation and move on to the DUI checkpoint.

“Hey, what do you know about any of this, cop? The lady here started it with us first!”

“Stop saying that and calm down, please.”

“Ugh, you’re seriously annoying.”

As Park Daehyung frowned at being called ‘cop’ with disdain and stepped forward,

The thugs, despite Park Daehyung’s gangster-like physique, didn’t seem intimidated and even patted him on the shoulder.

At that moment, Lee Jaehyun finished sorting out his thoughts and stepped forward.

There was no need to waste time here, nor any need to coddle a bunch of drunk troublemakers.

Even if he was just a Police Officer attached to the Capital Region Police Station now, the blood of Lee Jaehyun, the ‘Mad Dog’ who used to hunt down vicious criminals, hadn’t gone anywhere.

“Sergeant Park Daehyung, let me handle this.”

“Huh?”

As Lee Jaehyun strode forward, Park Daehyung looked at him in surprise.

Seeing Lee Jaehyun—smaller in stature and with a gentle appearance—step up, the four thugs simultaneously burst into laughter.

“And who are you supposed to be?”

“I’m a Police Officer. So how about you show some respect?”

“Respect, my ass… Get lost, you punk…?”

One of the thugs swung his hand at Lee Jaehyun.

But Lee Jaehyun didn’t even blink as he caught the man’s wrist midair.

In his previous life, he might have hesitated, but now, these guys were far too easy for him.

The thug, surprised to have his wrist caught, trailed off mid-sentence.

For a moment, he tried swinging his other fist at Lee Jaehyun.

And then—

Crash!

“Gah?!”

As soon as Lee Jaehyun caught the swinging fist, he flipped the man effortlessly, sending him flying onto the half-broken red plastic table.

The thug landed on his back, smashing the table and letting out a low scream, his entire body stiff.

Seeing this, the other thugs blinked in disbelief, then rushed at Lee Jaehyun.

“This crazy bastard…!”

Even as three men charged at him at once, Lee Jaehyun remained calm and handled them without so much as batting an eye.

First, the one sloppily dressed in a sleeveless shirt.

Thud.

He easily dodged the wild punch and countered with a solid uppercut to the jaw.

A clean hit to the jaw—no one can stay standing after that.

That one went down without much resistance.

Thump.

The thug crumpled forward, becoming an obstacle for the other two coming at Lee Jaehyun from behind.

Lee Jaehyun moved so as not to trip over his fallen colleague, watching the remaining attackers as they swung wildly at him.

He grabbed the head of one of the staggering men with his right hand, raised his knee, and smashed it down.

Crunch.

“Aaagh!”

A scream and a splatter of blood.

The last one remaining—

“Stay still, you punk.”

Was already being subdued by Park Daehyung.

Glancing at Park Daehyung, Lee Jaehyun began restraining the thugs one by one.

“All four of you are being arrested on charges of insulting a Police Officer, obstructing the performance of official duties, and property damage. You have the right to an attorney, the right to make excuses, the right to refuse disadvantageous statements, and you can apply for an arrest warrant review. Do so if you wish.”

He cuffed them one by one, though of course, they didn’t go quietly.

“What, Korea Police do this to good citizens? What is this?!”

“You were drunk, broke tables, threatened a lady, insulted Police Officers, and assaulted them—how are you good citizens?”

Lee Jaehyun ignored their protests, as if to say, “Spare me,” and finished the arrests.

These punks weren’t important right now.

Getting this over with and heading out for the DUI checkpoint was the top priority.

His hands moved quickly.

***

Meanwhile.

Park Daehyung, who had responded to the Drunk Disturbance Report with Lee Jaehyun, was struggling to hide his bewilderment.

They’d only been working together for a month.

Which meant Lee Jaehyun was just one month into being a Police Officer.

A greenhorn, just starting to get the hang of things.

“Just earlier, I thought something was off.”

He’d suddenly woken up from dozing in the office, looking completely out of it.

Ever since they’d received the Drunk Disturbance Report, something had felt off.

Wasn’t this the guy who, just yesterday, would always respond half a beat late, hesitating and fumbling?

But today, he responded instantly, took the report, and announced the Dispatch right away.

And upon arrival, something even more unbelievable happened.

Normally, he’d be reluctant, barely engaging with the troublemakers, clearly just wanting to send them off as quickly as possible.

But just now, he volunteered to handle the situation himself, then subdued one of the punks in an instant.

“It was honestly shocking.”

He’d always seemed passive and gentle—even in these situations, he’d usually just try to talk the Drunks down.

But now…

Suddenly he’d taken down a Drunk in the blink of an eye, then swung his fists without hesitation at the other thugs rushing in.

It made Park Daehyung wonder if the kid had eaten something strange.

“It’ll be tough to move all of them in our Patrol Car, so I’ll put in a Support Request.”

See that?

The guy who just single-handedly subdued three tattooed bruisers was calmly requesting Support.

“What the… is with this guy?”

Even the look in his eyes was different.

Maybe something had changed inside him.

Or maybe he’d had a bad day and just snapped at the Drunks—he wasn’t sure.

“It’s been a while since I felt this refreshed.”

At least for now, Park Daehyung decided to think positively.

People might call it excessive force, but every rookie ends up using too much force and writing up statements at least once.

“Yeah, let’s put in a Support Request. And tell them to bring more handcuffs when they come.”

“Roger.”

At Park Daehyung’s words, Lee Jaehyun answered calmly.

Even Park Daehyung himself was baffled by what had just happened,

But in any case, he didn’t dislike this change in Lee Jaehyun.

He smirked and nodded.