Chapter 13: Sergeant Days and Quiet Resolve

For the next few days, Lee Jaehyun lived as a ‘Sergeant’.

There wasn’t anything special about being a Sergeant.

If you compare a Sergeant to a regular company employee, it’s no different than being a rookie.

At first, you stick to your superior, learning how to fill out paperwork and running errands.

After getting some experience, you start responding to reports, handling investigations, arrests, and all sorts of tasks.

In fact, since you’re lower than even a conscripted police Corporal, it’s routine to be looked down on by others.

The treatment is so poor that some people quit soon after finally passing the grueling police exam.

It wouldn’t be wrong to call a Sergeant a ‘cleanup guy’ in practice.

That’s what being a Sergeant is.

“I’m just lucky to have met such good teammates.”

Lee Jaehyun truly thought that, at least in that regard, he was fortunate.

Since being assigned to the precinct, he’d never once been treated unfairly.

But right now, he did have one small complaint.

Lee Jaehyun looked down at the documents stacked on his desk.

“Who would’ve thought I’d be doing this from scratch again…”

He set his pen down on the finished paperwork and let out a heavy sigh.

It was Park Daehyung, his superior, who had made him do this to teach him the ropes.

Going back to the past was nice and all, but this kind of thing was uncomfortable.

As he sighed repeatedly, Park Daehyung dragged his chair over to Lee Jaehyun’s side.

“You’re too young to be sighing like that. Are you done?”

“Yes, I finished everything.”

“Yeah? Let’s see.”

Park Daehyung reached out and took the documents from the desk.

He ran his eyes quickly over the paperwork, but soon Park Daehyung’s face stiffened.

“What is this?”

He raised one eyebrow as he stared at Lee Jaehyun.

Lee Jaehyun tilted his head at Park Daehyung’s unusual reaction.

“Is there a problem?”

He asked anxiously inside.

After all, ever since he’d become a Detective, he’d worked mostly in the field, so his paperwork skills had dulled.

Still, he thought he’d done a decent job.

Maybe, to Park Daehyung, there were a lot of shortcomings.

As Lee Jaehyun nervously swallowed, Park Daehyung continued.

“Hey, did you take some kind of personality test or something?”

“Excuse me? Personality test?”

At such an unexpected question, Lee Jaehyun unwittingly answered in a dumbfounded voice.

But instead of responding, Park Daehyung turned his head toward Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun, who was sitting next to Lee Jaehyun.

“Sir, can you take a look at this for a second?”

Park Daehyung called him over, handing over the paperwork Lee Jaehyun had filled out.

Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun chuckled and rolled his chair over.

“What is it?”

“I just finished writing this. Please take a look.”

Kim Seokhyun glanced over the documents he received and immediately let out an exclamation.

“Oh, this is almost perfect! Did the rookie really do this?”

“Right? That’s what you think, too?”

“How long has the rookie been here? Just over a month?”

“Yes, about that long.”

Wedged between Park Daehyung and Kim Seokhyun, Lee Jaehyun sat stiff and couldn’t move.

After answering Kim Seokhyun’s question, Park Daehyung turned to Lee Jaehyun.

He rolled his eyes up and down as he continued.

“Just a few days ago, you were bumbling around, but yesterday, you suddenly started acting like a different person. Any relation?”

“No, not at all… I just thought I wasn’t pulling my weight, so I studied hard.”

Park Daehyung grinned, muttering almost to himself as he questioned.

Feeling like he’d been caught out, Lee Jaehyun quickly made up an excuse.

Maybe it was because he was a former Detective.

He really had sharp instincts.

“Really? You always looked half dead, so I thought you were just a new guy hoping for job security. Looks like I misjudged you.”

“Ahem.”

Park Daehyung laughed heartily and patted Lee Jaehyun’s back.

He really did have a good sense for people.

Having been caught out twice now, Lee Jaehyun cleared his throat and averted his gaze.

His eyes fell on the clock on his desk.

Ah, it’s already time… “Park Daehyung, sir, would it be all right if I headed out a bit early?”

“Hm? Ah, it’s already the end of your shift. Yeah, go on home. If you run into any suspicious persons on your way, be sure to report it.”

When Lee Jaehyun asked politely, Park Daehyung checked the time and waved his hand, joking around.

Ever since Lee Jaehyun had caught the Serial Murder Case culprit, the team always sent him off with those words whenever he left.

But unfortunately, today he wouldn’t have time to look for any suspicious people.

Lee Jaehyun bowed his head, quickly packed up his things, and stood up.

Park Daehyung, watching him hurry, chuckled.

“What’s got you rushing out so fast today? Something going on?”

“My mother has a health checkup today. I promised to go with her.”

“Really? Then you’d better hurry. Leave the cleanup to me and get going.”

With those words, Park Daehyung waved his hand.

He probably wanted to go home and rest, too, since it was quitting time.

He was being considerate of Lee Jaehyun.

Once again, Lee Jaehyun bowed his head deeply to Park Daehyung.

“Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

After saying his last goodbye, Lee Jaehyun left the precinct.

He ran toward the hospital where his mother was waiting.

***

Lee Jaehyun looked around the bustling hospital.

Myungseok Hospital.

It was a major hospital, and since it was the weekend, there were lots of people.

“Wow, there are so many people. We should’ve come on a weekday. I wonder if we’ll even get the checkup done today.”

“We made a reservation, so it shouldn’t take too long.”

His mother kept glancing around, sounding worried.

Lee Jaehyun gently held her hand, trying to comfort her.

He’d wanted to avoid the crowded weekend, too, but with his work schedule, today was the only day he could accompany her.

The reservation was made days ago; they just had to do the checkup today.

As they waited, chatting idly, a news broadcast played from a TV on the hospital wall.

—The suspect in the Serial Murder Case, Mr. S, was transferred to the prosecutor’s office today. Mr. S was arrested on the 17th…

Just a few days ago, the very case that Lee Jaehyun had solved.

Myung Jinhan’s Serial Murder Case.

Hearing news about a case he’d been involved in, Lee Jaehyun couldn’t help but flinch.

“Finally, we can feel a bit safer. I couldn’t live in peace with maniacs like that around. Good thing the police did their job.”

His mother sighed in relief and glanced at him.

He’d decided with his father to keep it a secret from his mother, so she had no idea that it was Lee Jaehyun who had caught Myung Jinhan.

She coughed once and then spoke.

“Son.”

“Yes?”

“Are you going to be the one catching those kinds of heinous criminals in the future, too?”

She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Lee Jaehyun was taken aback by his mother’s expression.

The way he remembered his mother, she was always worried, telling him to stay away from dangerous work.

“Why is that?”

Why had his mother’s reaction changed?

The answer came quickly.

There was only one thing different between his previous life and this one.

His father’s death.

After his father was killed by Myung Jinhan, his mother had become extremely depressed.

It was only natural for her to worry about her son chasing after criminals, after losing her husband to one.

As Lee Jaehyun struggled to adjust to his mother’s changed attitude—

“Ay, never mind. How could you catch people like that, anyway?”

She shook her head and continued.

Even though his father was still alive, her heart was the same—she worried for her son.

Feeling his mother’s warm affection, Lee Jaehyun couldn’t help but smile.

“Song Mihyun, please come this way. Family, please wait outside.”

“Oh, okay.”

A nurse came to escort his mother.

Just before entering the exam room, his mother turned back to Lee Jaehyun.

“Son, I’ll be right back. Don’t cry while I’m gone.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

She joked with a smile, teasing him.

Lee Jaehyun laughed and waved at his mother.

It had been a long time since he’d seen her looking so bright.

“This must be because Father is still alive…”

He couldn’t be sure, but it was probably true.

That was the only difference between this life and the last.

“I’m glad.”

Lee Jaehyun let out a sigh of relief.

Thanks to returning to the past, he’d saved his father, and his mother was cheerful again.

Now, the only thing left… was treating his mother’s cancer.

That was why they’d come to the hospital.

“And… I need to catch those bastards, too.”

Lee Jaehyun remembered those who had killed him in his previous life.

Hyunmin Group.

And their henchmen.

Just thinking about them made his jaw clench.

Grit.

Lee Jaehyun found himself unconsciously grinding his teeth and balling his fists.

They were the ones who broke into his mother’s hospital room and sent him photos of her.

And that wasn’t all.

They had gotten Park Daehyung, who tried to help him, demoted, and they had killed Lee Jaehyun himself.

To demote and kill a Detective in Korea.

He couldn’t just let them get away with it.

“This time, I’ll climb step by step and expose everything properly.”

Did those guys act that way only back then?

No, Hyunmin Group had caused a stir more than once.

Each time, they must have covered it up the same way.

He’d uncover everything and make them face the law.

And to do that, Lee Jaehyun couldn’t remain just a Sergeant.

There were limits to what a mere Sergeant could accomplish.

He had to change his position quickly.

The best way would be… to catch criminals like a true police officer, get recognized for his achievements, and earn a Special Promotion.

But that required real accomplishments.

If he started arresting criminals from now on, he could build up achievements one by one.

While thinking about that, Lee Jaehyun closed his mouth for a moment, gazing at the hospital room his mother had entered, then spoke up.

“Se-re-hen, come out for a second.”

As soon as he called for Se-re-hen, she revealed herself in the air.

“This is the first time you’ve called me first. What is it?”

Se-re-hen looked at Lee Jaehyun with a curious expression.

She looked like she’d been waiting for something to do.

“I just want to ask something.”

“Anytime, ask away.”

“When we arrested the drunk and with Myung Jinhan, you absorbed the Karma, that black energy, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Can you see that all the time with your eyes?”

Lee Jaehyun looked straight into Se-re-hen’s eyes as he asked.

Se-re-hen consumed Karma.

And until now, she had always acted and spoken as if she could naturally see ‘Karma’.

Lee Jaehyun wanted to confirm whether Se-re-hen could really see the Karma of criminals.

If she could see the black energy, then she was practically a walking criminal detector—he could build up achievements much more easily using her.

That’s why he asked, but…

“Of course. Well… I can see it right now, too.”

Se-re-hen nodded and pointed her finger somewhere.

At her unexpected answer, Lee Jaehyun’s face stiffened.