Lee Jaehyun carefully walked behind the Gukbap Restaurant Owner’s daughter, Song Aram.
If anyone saw them, they might misunderstand the situation, but Lee Jaehyun was serious.
Se-re-hen, too, wore an expression more serious than any she had shown before as she accompanied Lee Jaehyun.
She seemed quite angry.
Lee Jaehyun was a bit surprised to see this side of Se-re-hen for the first time, but now was not the time to worry about her expression.
How far had they walked following Song Aram?
A small Playground so hidden it would only be found if one was looking for it on purpose.
Song Aram stopped there.
“Oh, Aram, you’re here?”
A female student waved her hand and greeted Song Aram.
Wearing a School uniform openly, it was easy to tell she was a student.
Judging by the same design as the uniform Song Aram wore earlier, she must attend the same School as Song Aram.
Beside that girl stood another female student in the same attire, and two male students as well.
“Anyone can see they don’t look like the best crowd.”
Lee Jaehyun furrowed his brow at the sight of the students casually smoking cigarettes.
There might be adults who don’t care if Minors smoke or drink, but—
Lee Jaehyun was a Police Officer.
Honestly, he had become a Police Officer just to make a decent living.
If it were his former self in a past life, he might have felt a little uncomfortable seeing Minors smoke and drink, but wouldn’t have gone so far as to frown or intervene.
It was something that happened often, and he would have thought it wasn’t something he could resolve alone, so he would’ve just let it go.
But now, it was different.
Hadn’t he decided to live as a proper Police Officer?
Wasn’t that only natural?
Regardless of whether these kids were using School Violence against Song Aram or if they were really her friends—
Just those actions alone made it impossible for Lee Jaehyun to see them in a good light.
And then, Song Aram’s next action deepened the frown on Lee Jaehyun’s brow.
“That’s it, right? I’m leaving.”
Song Aram pulled out a fifty-thousand won bill she’d just gotten from the store and handed it to the girl who greeted her, then spoke.
Seeing this, Lee Jaehyun quietly stepped forward toward the group.
Apparently, they still hadn’t noticed Lee Jaehyun, as they remained focused solely on Song Aram.
“Hey, Aram. Why so cold, you’re just going to leave like that?”
“You’ll buy cigarettes for us, right?”
The girl asked with a thick smile.
Lee Jaehyun couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up.
“You can’t smoke here. You look like High School students…”
“Excuse me, mister? Who are you, suddenly butting in? We’re adults, you know.”
At Lee Jaehyun’s appearance, Song Aram looked at him in shock.
The girl who had taken the fifty-thousand won bill and was ordering cigarettes from Song Aram sighed in annoyance.
Then, naturally, the male student next to her stepped up to block Lee Jaehyun’s way.
Lee Jaehyun snorted at the sight of a kid in a School uniform confidently claiming to be an adult.
“Then, please show me your Badge.”
Lee Jaehyun calmly requested an ID, and the male student clicked his tongue, lightly tapping Lee Jaehyun on the shoulder.
“Talking about IDs, huh? Who are you anyway?”
The boy spoke in a rough voice.
Lee Jaehyun met the boy’s glare for a moment, then turned to look at Song Aram.
Song Aram only stared back at Lee Jaehyun with an expression that showed she didn’t understand the situation at all.
It would be natural to be dumbfounded to see someone you met at a store appear before you like this.
Lee Jaehyun shrugged and spoke.
“I’m Aram’s Cousin.”
At his words, Song Aram’s expression shifted as if she found it absurd, but she didn’t deny it.
“Cousin? Anyone can see you’re an old man, though.”
The girl said with a look of utter disbelief.
It might have been a hurtful comment to some, but Lee Jaehyun showed no reaction.
He just checked the girl’s name tag to remember her name.
Park Hyunjin.
Even her name somehow matched the image of School Violence.
She let out a nasal snort and stared at Lee Jaehyun, then opened her mouth.
“So you’re her Cousin.”
Park Hyunjin, the girl, approached Lee Jaehyun with a tone that mixed playfulness and possibly intentional acting.
Song Aram, standing next to Lee Jaehyun, flinched and took half a step back.
Seeing Song Aram’s reaction, Lee Jaehyun could easily tell that Park Hyunjin was at the center of School Violence toward Song Aram.
“What, you have such a good-looking Cousin and never bragged about him to us? Aram, that’s not fair.”
As she said this, Park Hyunjin stretched out her hand toward Song Aram and lightly tapped her shoulder.
Song Aram couldn’t even react, her face stiff.
After seeing this, Park Hyunjin snickered and turned her gaze to Lee Jaehyun.
“Uh, Cousin.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“Um… could I ask you for a favor? We’re not adults yet, but we will be next year, you know? It’s only a few months away. Isn’t it a little unfair that just because of those few months, we can’t buy cigarettes?”
While speaking, Park Hyunjin held out the fifty-thousand won bill she’d received from Aram to Lee Jaehyun.
Lee Jaehyun looked down at it and smirked.
He had planned to show the minimum courtesy, since they were Minors, but seeing them act so brazenly, he no longer felt the need to be polite.
After all, there’s no reason to be kind to criminals.
“So, you want me… to buy you cigarettes?”
Maybe it was because Lee Jaehyun’s atmosphere had suddenly changed.
Park Hyunjin furrowed her brow.
However, one of the other friends, not noticing the change, jumped in excitedly.
“Wow, our Oppa really gets it. We’re best friends with Aram, you know? We’ll keep being super close, so it’s okay if we ask you this favor, right?”
“Goodness. Maybe I didn’t make myself clear earlier.”
As Lee Jaehyun spoke, he checked the name tags of the friends next to Park Hyunjin.
Oh Yeonseo, Kim Seonwoo, Park Hansol.
After confirming all their names, Lee Jaehyun took out his own Badge.
“Yes?”
“I’m a Police Officer.”
As he said this, he held out his Badge to the group.
Watching their expressions instantly change, Lee Jaehyun spoke nonchalantly.
“Alright, shall we all go to the Police Station together?”
“F-For what reason? Even if we’re Minors, it’s not illegal to smoke, you know?”
Oh Yeonseo, the girl, stuttered in obvious panic.
It was a little ridiculous, but she wasn’t wrong.
There was no law specifically prohibiting Minors from smoking.
So, victims are left helpless.
Selling cigarettes to Minors is illegal, but those who buy them aren’t actually breaking the law, so they boldly lie and attempt to purchase them.
However, Lee Jaehyun didn’t lose his calm expression at Oh Yeonseo’s words.
Of course not.
Smoking by Minors wasn’t grounds for arrest, but there were plenty of other reasons.
“Should I list them out one by one?”
“Go ahead, try.”
At Lee Jaehyun’s words, the boy Kim Seonwoo replied sharply.
Smiling lightly, Lee Jaehyun continued calmly.
“First, you smoked in a Smoking Ban Area, right? That’s a Fine of 100,000 won. See the sticker over there?”
Lee Jaehyun pointed to the smoking ban notice sticker, and Kim Seonwoo’s face twisted.
“Well, paying 100,000 won isn’t a big deal.”
Oh Yeonseo interjected.
Lee Jaehyun shrugged and went on.
“I’m not done yet. There was also extortion, right?”
“That was just borrowing money, not extortion…”
“You can explain that at the station. There’s a witness here, so try saying that there—it’ll be perjury. And just now, you tried to use your relationship as Aram’s Cousin to bribe a Police Officer.”
“No, we never—”
“You tried to bribe a Police Officer to run an errand for cigarettes? Even just attempting to bribe is enough to be arrested on the spot.”
Honestly, the kids’ words and actions just now probably wouldn’t be officially recognized as Bribery of Police, but—
Well, it was still something he could press on if he wanted.
“This guy’s really something.”
Even the usually quiet Park Hansol reacted to the mention of Bribery of Police, exclaiming in disbelief, but Lee Jaehyun pressed on.
“And here’s the most important part: School Violence.”
As soon as he firmly uttered “School Violence,” Oh Yeonseo jumped in protest, waving her hand.
“No, mister! When did we ever do School Violence? Where’s the proof, do you have proof?”
Oh Yeonseo tried to keep arguing, but Park Hyunjin, perhaps sensing the situation, cut her off.
“It wasn’t School Violence. We’re just friends helping each other, there was just a misunderstanding.”
“If there’s anything you didn’t like, we’ll apologize, right? Sorry, Aram. I didn’t mean to borrow money, and I’ll fix my habit of hitting the person next to me when I laugh. Okay?”
She was pretty smooth.
Park Hyunjin’s Apology was quite skillfully worded, and from that, Lee Jaehyun realized she was cleverer than he’d thought.
But, regardless, it didn’t matter to Lee Jaehyun.
Whether Park Hyunjin was clever or not, she’d still face the judgment of the law.
School Violence still wasn’t considered a serious crime, but since there were bruises on the victim and the period of harm seemed long, this time, a heavier punishment might be possible.
Of course, compared to what Song Aram suffered, it might not be much…
“At least, it might bring her some comfort.”
Thinking this, Lee Jaehyun spoke.
“Well, you apologized, so that’s that. Whether Aram accepts it is up to her. Now, I have work to do. Smoking in a Smoking Ban Area—Fine of 100,000 won each. And as for Bribery of Police… that’s a really serious crime.”
“Is this guy crazy or what?”
Unable to stand Lee Jaehyun’s persistence about Bribery of Police, Oh Yeonseo finally spoke up.
Lee Jaehyun raised his gaze and looked Oh Yeonseo straight in the eye.
“You just cursed at a Police Officer, right? That’s an Insult charge. That’s a 1,000,000 won Fine, you know?”
He’d been on the force for years—how could dealing with a handful of High Schoolers be difficult?
Responding smoothly to Oh Yeonseo, Lee Jaehyun watched as, in the end, it was the students who surrendered first.
“Ugh, whatever… let’s go.”
Oh Yeonseo rubbed her arm as if she’d gotten goosebumps out of disgust.
Park Hyunjin, as if finding the situation either amusing or absurd, let out a laugh and turned away.
“Alright, see you. I’ll come to School myself to collect the Fine tomorrow.”
As the students left, Lee Jaehyun called out to their retreating backs.
Situation resolved.
All that remained was a conversation with Song Aram.
Compared to dealing with those delinquent students, talking with Song Aram was much more important and difficult for Lee Jaehyun.
He couldn’t help but feel nervous.
When he looked at Song Aram, she was staring back at him, still a little dazed.
Lee Jaehyun cleared his throat and spoke carefully.
“Um, would you like to… maybe have some Ice Cream while we talk?”
He asked, forcing a smile.
Song Aram blinked her eyes and looked at him.