Lee Jaehyun looked at Park Daehyung, who was staring quietly at him, and took a half step back.
He had been staring right into the Safe while talking to Se-re-hen.
How must that have looked to Park Daehyung?
Even without thinking deeply, it was obvious what Park Daehyung might have been imagining.
A police officer’s salary isn’t much.
If you’re just a patrol officer, it’s even less. So if an officer like that is staring for ages at a Safe filled with several hundred million won… well… Anyone would have similar thoughts.
He’d probably been misunderstood.
But Lee Jaehyun didn’t bother to explain.
It was true the demon had tempted him, and it was also Lee Jaehyun who overcame it.
No, to be honest, it wasn’t so much that he overcame the temptation of money—he just didn’t want to take the money from this Safe, that’s all.
But in the end, isn’t the result the same?
Lee Jaehyun handed the bundle of documents in his hand to Park Daehyung.
“It’s the Evidence Ledger. These bastards kept their records unbelievably tidy.”
“…That’s a lot.”
At Lee Jaehyun’s words, Park Daehyung didn’t say anything more about the Safe.
He simply glanced at the money inside, then turned his gaze to the documents and slowly flipped through them.
“Most of these are five hundred or a thousand, huh?”
“How many people do you think actually come here looking to borrow a few thousand at a time? Most are just trying to put out a sudden fire.”
At Park Daehyung’s words, the one called ‘First’ answered enthusiastically.
Park Daehyung glanced at First with eyes that seemed to ask, What’s with him?
Lee Jaehyun chuckled and spoke up.
“They even told me the Safe combination, asking me to put in a good word with the judge.”
“Oh? Is that so? We’ll make good use of it. Try to cooperate nicely, will you?”
At Lee Jaehyun’s words, Park Daehyung made a little sound of understanding and nodded.
Honestly, neither Lee Jaehyun nor Park Daehyung had any real power to speak well to a judge.
Sure, as the ones writing up the case record, they could phrase things favorably here and there.
But really.
There was no reason to go out of their way to help reduce a criminal’s sentence.
“Of course. Detectives, I’ll cooperate with whatever you need.”
Maybe he was hoping for even the slightest sliver of hope, or maybe he really didn’t know any better.
First gave a foolish smile.
Lee Jaehyun and Park Daehyung glanced at him, then at the same time turned away.
Just as the big guys, still pressed to the ground, finally managed to settle themselves into a sitting position with stifled groans,
Backup finally arrived.
The only one groaning in real pain was Goo Hyunseok.
The others had just taken a few punches, but Goo Hyunseok’s ribs had literally broken—two of them.
Even just breathing would hurt, so of course he’d be complaining.
Not that the others were fine, of course.
No bones were broken, and no internal organs were injured, but still, if you take a punch from a grown man with all his strength… It’s impossible not to be dazed.
They just chose to sit quietly instead of moaning out loud, that’s all.
Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin and Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun came up the stairs, huffing and revealing themselves.
Normally, Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun looked like someone you might see at the counter of a rural supermarket.
But now, he entered the office wearing a rare expression of anger.
Of course, as soon as he stepped into the office, that expression changed.
“What the… is this…”
Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun blinked, scanning his surroundings.
Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin let out a small sigh.
“Hey, Daehyung. Did you really need to go this far? It’s not like everyone beat on the same guy—just this Goo Hyunseok fellow…”
“That’s exactly why it’s only this bad. Also, it wasn’t me.”
Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin naturally assumed Park Daehyung was the one responsible for the scene and scolded him.
Park Daehyung shrugged his shoulders, earnestly trying to prove it wasn’t his doing.
“So, if that’s the case, just how bad is this Goo Hyunseok guy? …Wait, it wasn’t you?”
Mid-sentence, as if noticing something strange, Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin furrowed his brow and looked at Park Daehyung.
It was a look that said, “How could this not be your work?”
Park Daehyung laughed awkwardly and jerked his chin toward Lee Jaehyun.
“It was the Rookie. I’m telling you, don’t blame the wrong guy.”
At that, Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin and Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun naturally turned their heads to Lee Jaehyun.
Lee Jaehyun, looking at the big guys leaning against the desk or slumped on the floor, scratched his cheek and spoke.
“Lieutenant, aren’t we supposed to cover for each other’s mistakes as Partners?”
“If it was a mistake, I’d cover for you. But this is attempted murder.”
Park Daehyung answered immediately.
A ‘mistake’ is just a mistake.
It means a slip-up, or sometimes refers to the skin a snake or an insect sheds.
It’s not much use.
But a ‘skin’?
That’s useful anywhere—they say a tiger leaves behind its skin even when it dies.
So, this was something to be scolded for, but also something to be proud of.
Understanding Park Daehyung’s meaning, Lee Jaehyun let out a light laugh.
And knowing full well that it wasn’t a joke about covering for each other as Partners because he didn’t understand, Park Daehyung also laughed along with Lee Jaehyun.
“Well, well… The Rookie pulled off another job.”
“At this point, he’s not a Rookie—he’s a Top Rookie.”
Sergeant Kim Junho, who’d followed in, spoke up.
At Kim Junho’s words, Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin made a curious face.
“Top Rookie? What’s that?”
“It’s like, the best among the rookies. He’s our top performer, so of course he’s the Top Rookie.”
With that, Kim Junho gave his signature greasy yet gentle smile and placed a hand on Lee Jaehyun’s shoulder.
Pat, pat.
“You did great, our Top Rookie.”
“No, Sergeant Kim Junho, you worked hard too.”
“Me? I didn’t do much. I just made a bunch of phone calls in the office.”
Kim Junho shrugged as he replied.
Even though he said that, Lee Jaehyun knew he’d put in a lot of effort and just smiled.
“Well, shall we get these guys out of here one by one?”
With a clap, Kim Junho rubbed his palms together.
Bringing eight grown men back to the Capital Region Police Station wasn’t easy, but the guys cooperated better than expected.
First, who confessed the Safe combination from the start, went without saying. Even ‘Second’ eagerly asked if there was anything more he could do, saying to let them know if they needed anything.
The rest, seeing how First and Second acted, lost even the will to resist.
Only Goo Hyunseok tried to make a fuss…
“I’ll go.”
“Uh, thanks in advance.”
Goo Hyunseok couldn’t be transported to the station anyway, what with his broken ribs.
He needed to go by ambulance, and it was decided Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin would accompany him.
Just before the transfer, Se-re-hen stepped forward and absorbed all their Evil Karma.
With a single wave of her hand, she gathered all the black energy into her mouth and showed a satisfied expression.
She waved her hand at Lee Jaehyun and spoke.
“Not bad. I’ve finished my business, so I’ll be going. Keep up the good work.”
In response to her farewell, Lee Jaehyun nodded once.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
At Park Daehyung’s words,
Lee Jaehyun started up the car.
With the criminals in tow, they sped down the Sumagadoro.
***
Interrogating those guys and writing the paperwork was a real hassle.
Fortunately, Lee Jaehyun and Park Daehyung managed to escape paperwork duty.
After dealing with those hulking thugs, they were given a break.
Lieutenant Kim Seokhyun and Sergeant Kim Junho shooed them out of the office, saying, “We’ll handle the paperwork, so go put some ointment on if you need it.”
They had taken a few punches, but there wasn’t anywhere that needed ointment.
So Lee Jaehyun and Park Daehyung quietly stepped outside and stared blankly at the vending machine in front of the police station.
“What do you want to drink?”
“I’ll just have coffee.”
“Yeah, me too. I need a coffee.”
At Lee Jaehyun’s words, Park Daehyung inserted a few coins into the vending machine and took out two cans of coffee.
“Thank you.”
As Lee Jaehyun accepted the coffee Park Daehyung handed over, he gave his thanks.
Park Daehyung chuckled and spoke up.
“I’m the one who should thank you, you punk.”
Saying that, Park Daehyung gave Lee Jaehyun a rough smack on the back.
Lee Jaehyun turned to look at Park Daehyung.
Whether Park Daehyung didn’t notice his gaze or was deliberately avoiding it, he looked up at the darkening sky and continued speaking.
“Earlier, when you took on those four big guys. You did that because you thought I couldn’t handle them, right? I never imagined I’d be worried over by a rookie in my life.”
“Ah… Of course, I know you could handle four on your own, but since there were a lot of them, I thought it would be better for me to get hurt rather than you.”
Park Daehyung could definitely take on those guys.
Maybe not a regular cop, but Park Daehyung was a former detective.
His habits from his detective days still lingered.
He kept up with exercise, and whoever the opponent, whatever the situation, he always stayed prepared.
But even so, if it came to a fight, Lee Jaehyun felt more comfortable being the one at the front.
Hearing Lee Jaehyun’s answer, Park Daehyung laughed heartily.
He kept silent for a while, then spoke again in a cautious tone.
“Being a cop is really tough.”
“……?”
Lee Jaehyun looked at Park Daehyung, puzzled by the sudden statement.
Park Daehyung shrugged and continued.
“We have to fight criminals like this, but the salary is peanuts.”
“Well, that’s the police life.”
Catch criminals and, in exchange, get paid a pittance—that’s what being a police officer is.
Lee Jaehyun replied in a light voice.
He understood why Park Daehyung brought this up, so he answered as casually as he could.
Probably because he’d seen Lee Jaehyun lingering by the Safe earlier.
Sure enough.
After hesitating for a moment, Park Daehyung looked off into the distance and spoke quietly once more.
“…Do you need money?”
“Well, to be honest, I do.”
He needed money.
Like he’d said earlier, to break the Cartel of that conglomerate family.
Not all criminals are poor.
To go after those with money, Lee Jaehyun knew from his past life’s experience that money was necessary.
He needed it for that.
“Is it for your family?”
“No, it’s personal circumstances… But it’s okay.”
It was really personal—he needed to take revenge on Hyunmin Group, so it was accurate to call it personal.
At his answer, Park Daehyung didn’t ask any more.
If he said he was fine, what more could be said?
“Well, all right. Thanks for doing a good job… Even though breaking a rib made me feel refreshed, from now on, try to go a little easier.”
“Yes, sir.”
Park Daehyung warned him to be careful, or else there could be lawsuits and compensation claims, then downed his coffee in one shot and continued.
“Thanks for seeing things through to the end.”
“You worked hard too, Lieutenant.”
Lee Jaehyun replied in a cool voice.
He’d caught a guy who’d almost killed a six-year-old child with his fists.
Today, he could say, “You worked hard,” without hesitation.
Of course, at that time, Lee Jaehyun had no idea that this case was not completely over yet.