Chapter 68: The Arrest at Gonjiam Station

Lee Jaehyun shut the car door with a thud and lifted his head.

Right before his eyes, Gonjiam Station stretched out.

It wasn’t especially large, but it couldn’t be called small, either.

If they searched the entire station, they’d definitely find Park Yech’an somewhere inside.

After all, it was a subway station, so no matter how many people came and went… looking for a man, especially one covering his face to some extent, might not be that difficult.

Moreover—

“Let’s hurry inside.”

Se-re-hen, looking ready, spoke as she gazed at Lee Jaehyun.

For Lee Jaehyun, all he could do was keep an eye out for suspicious people, but Se-re-hen was different.

Because she could see the weight of evil deeds with her own eyes, she was unmatched in finding criminals in such crowded places.

Maybe it was the thought of soon devouring the evil karma of the child abductor.

Or perhaps, as before, Se-re-hen was especially sensitive to crimes against children, which made her particularly eager this time, too… Regardless, seeing Se-re-hen’s motivated appearance was rather reassuring.

Lee Jaehyun gave a slight nod, then stepped forward into Gonjiam Station.

The other detectives were probably already inside, searching as discreetly as possible.

Oh Min-seok, the Team Leader, entered the station with Lee Jaehyun, and spoke into his radio.

“Constable Lee Jaehyun and I have entered. Everyone, report your positions.”

— I’m in front of All Star Coffee.

— I’m by the Sundubu Stew place, but nothing yet.

— Uh, I’m at the east restroom. Okay, I’ll be there soon.

Everyone communicated by radio, their earpieces in, some of them sounding so natural it was like an ordinary phone call.

If you were in the restroom, using the radio could tip off someone that the police had arrived, so talking like this wasn’t strange.

“Team Leader, I’ll move over this way.”

“Alright, I’ll check the opposite side as I go.”

Lee Jaehyun quickly checked the station map on his smartphone before speaking.

According to the information Se-re-hen provided, the child’s mother had left the bag of money inside a drawer-like place.

Inside the station, the only thing close to a drawer would be a locker.

That meant he’d have to focus his search around the lockers to find Park Yech’an.

Lee Jaehyun walked briskly, then suddenly stopped when he spotted a man approaching the lockers located under the escalator, behind a column.

He wore a black hat and a mask.

Of course, just wearing a hat and mask didn’t make someone a criminal, but his demeanor seemed tense and sharp.

And then—

“Oh, that’s him.”

Se-re-hen’s single sentence turned Lee Jaehyun’s suspicion into certainty.

The moment the man keyed in the combination and opened the locker, Lee Jaehyun started sprinting.

“Suspect spotted, by the escalator, near the lockers.”

— Roger, confirmed.

Everyone responded briefly, their bodies moving quickly at Lee Jaehyun’s call.

Perhaps hearing the footsteps, the man pulled the bag from the locker and spun around rapidly.

Lee Jaehyun locked eyes with Park Yech’an.

“Shit…”

Park Yech’an, clutching the bag, started running like a madman.

But, there’s a reason detectives are detectives.

When it comes to catching fleeing suspects, their experience far surpasses that of ordinary police officers.

Naturally, they moved to form a formation and surround him.

Park Yech’an, realizing that large men were approaching from the direction he was running, hesitated for a moment and tried to move quickly to the side.

But, in that brief pause, Lee Jaehyun had already caught up to him.

He raised both arms and tackled Park Yech’an to the ground.

Crash!

Park Yech’an rolled across the floor.

The bag of money was pushed aside.

Two detectives rushing from that direction grabbed the bag.

As Lee Jaehyun tumbled forward, he rolled once on the ground, quickly got up, and raised his head.

Ugh…

Park Yech’an, lying on his side, let out a small groan, then tried to get his body moving.

“Don’t move.”

In an instant, Lee Jaehyun climbed on top of him, subduing Park Yech’an.

Park Yech’an struggled to break free from Lee Jaehyun’s grip.

But since Lee Jaehyun was pinning him down, escaping was impossible.

Having just run at full speed, Lee Jaehyun was still breathing heavily, but as he calmed his breath, he kept his gaze fixed on the subdued suspect.

He wanted nothing more than to punch him right then and there…

“Whoa, what was that?”

“Damn… Did he just catch a criminal? What’s going on?”

As mentioned, this was a busy area with lots of people.

If he hit him here, someone would definitely take a picture, and then there’d be a whole fuss about excessive force.

So Lee Jaehyun dropped his fist and focused solely on restraining him.

“Police! Please, everyone, step back.”

Team Leader Oh Min-seok tried to control the crowd gathering at the commotion, but it was no use.

Other detectives tried to hold people back as well, but dozens had already stopped to watch.

Everyone was raising their smartphones to record, and there was no way to stop all of them.

Meanwhile, Park Yech’an continued struggling to break free from Lee Jaehyun.

Even in the midst of this, he didn’t forget to threaten them.

“You bastards. Don’t you get it? If you keep this up, who knows what’ll happen to the kid? Only I know where the child is!”

Park Yech’an yelled desperately.

Even now, he was insisting he’d acted alone, trying to lie.

Lee Jaehyun could only laugh dryly at the sight.

“Cut the crap and stay still.”

“If you take me in, I’ll never talk. You’ll never find the kid, and then it’s over for you all!”

When Park Yech’an finally threatened that the child would die, Lee Jaehyun clicked his tongue and spoke.

“Enough. Go Hyunsook has already been caught, and the child was sent to the hospital.”

“…What? What the hell are you talking about? Don’t mess with me!”

At the mention of Go Hyunsook, he visibly faltered, his eyes filled with panic.

Lee Jaehyun pressed down even harder on the suspect’s arm as he resisted more fiercely than before.

He rummaged through his pocket for the handcuffs…

“Ah, right. I don’t have them.”

He’d already used the handcuffs on Go Hyunsook.

In the chaos, he hadn’t had the chance to grab a spare cable tie, either.

Lee Jaehyun quickly looked around.

“Team Leader, can you toss me your handcuffs?”

He glanced toward Oh Min-seok and requested the handcuffs.

Team Leader Oh Min-seok, blocking others from getting too close, pulled out his handcuffs and threw them.

Lee Jaehyun reached out and caught the handcuffs in one hand.

At that moment—

“Hah!”

Park Yech’an shoved Lee Jaehyun hard, breaking free.

Having once worked as a farmer in the countryside, Park Yech’an had a sturdy body.

With all his strength behind the shove, even Lee Jaehyun was pushed back.

And so Park Yech’an managed to break free and tried to run once more.

“Perfect… Just what I wanted.”

Lee Jaehyun had wanted to punch Park Yech’an anyway.

Now that he was resisting and even trying to run…

“No choice. I’ll have to subdue him again.”

And now, the situation was urgent.

Naturally, a bit of physical force was necessary.

Lee Jaehyun raised his fist immediately.

Handcuffs in his hand.

As Park Yech’an tried to dash off again, feet moving fast—

Lee Jaehyun slammed his foot into the ground and lunged forward.

His twenties spent in intense physical training to pass the police exam had left Lee Jaehyun’s body in peak shape.

And no matter how much farm work Park Yech’an had done, he was still a man in his thirties.

There was no need to say who had the physical advantage.

Thanks to that, Lee Jaehyun moved just a step ahead of Park Yech’an.

Thud!

Lee Jaehyun’s fist landed hard on Park Yech’an’s side.

“Guh?”

Park Yech’an let out a guttural groan, doubling over.

His body tilted, and his attempt to run turned into a roll across the floor.

His ribs might not be broken, but there was probably a fracture at least.

“Go ahead—try running one more time. Please.”

Lee Jaehyun said, as he slowly cuffed Park Yech’an’s wrists.

But all Park Yech’an could do was writhe in pain, unable to escape Lee Jaehyun’s grasp.

***

Groaning in agony as he was forcibly dragged away, Park Yech’an saw Go Hyunsook sitting in the squad car and thrashed violently.

“M-mom…”

“…Aht.”

Just for that moment, maybe he’d even forgotten the pain from being hit.

With a look on the verge of tears, he stared at Go Hyunsook, then twisted again, trying to escape the detective’s grip.

Of course, there was no way he could get away.

In the end, Park Yech’an just glared at Lee Jaehyun, face twisted in resentment.

“Hey, you bastard! Come here!”

He shouted, calling out Lee Jaehyun.

Lee Jaehyun clenched his fist and walked over in response.

As he strode up to Park Yech’an, Go Hyunsook started shouting at the top of her lungs.

“You hit my son, I’ll sue you right away!”

At the word “sue,” Lee Jaehyun and the other detectives all burst out laughing.

“Seriously, you’re old enough to know better—what kind of nonsense is this? Ma’am, do you still not understand the situation?”

Team Leader Oh Min-seok stepped forward in front of Lee Jaehyun, snapping sharply at Go Hyunsook.

Oh Min-seok knew there was no need for Lee Jaehyun to do anything more here.

Lee Jaehyun understood his intent and lowered his fist.

He hadn’t really planned to hit him anyway.

He just wanted to quickly load him into the squad car.

After all, if a suspect resists fiercely and gets hurt while being put in the car, that can’t be helped.

“You—!”

Go Hyunsook tried to protest again, but before she could get another word out, Lee Jaehyun quietly moved.

Pretending to help the detective loading Park Yech’an into the squad car, he lightly stepped on Park Yech’an’s foot.

“Ow! Damn it!”

Park Yech’an screamed, instinctively curling up.

In the same motion, Lee Jaehyun pressed his palm against the spot on Park Yech’an’s side he’d punched.

“Aaagh!”

Go Hyunsook’s voice was drowned out by Park Yech’an’s cries.

In the end, writhing in pain, Park Yech’an was shoved into the squad car.

Lee Jaehyun shut the door.

With a loud click, the squad car soon took off.

Lee Jaehyun watched the squad car grow distant, clenching and unclenching his fist, exhaling a long breath.

Having punched someone while gripping handcuffs, his fist was bound to bear some marks.

As Lee Jaehyun looked at the red mark on his hand, the corners of his mouth curled up in a small smile.

His hand was a bit sore and stiff, but…

It didn’t feel bad.

“Good work.”

Team Leader Oh Min-seok patted Lee Jaehyun’s shoulder and spoke.

Lee Jaehyun gave a small nod and replied,

“Thank you, Team Leader Oh. You worked hard, too.”

As he spoke, Se-re-hen suddenly appeared at his side and spoke up.

“Can I go chase after him and have my meal now?”

Se-re-hen licked her lips as if in anticipation.

Lee Jaehyun gave a small laugh.

“Yeah, go eat.”

He gave Se-re-hen a firm answer.

Now, it was truly over.