“Honey…… I’m sorry.”

It was a 6-person ward at Daesang Hospital.

Jung Taeyoon was holding the hand of a woman lying down with her eyes closed. His face, in mourning clothes, was full of tears.

“His wife is lying down like that, and he lost his child in an accident.……. Tsk tsk, what a pity. It seems like he came out because he was worried about his wife in the middle of the child's funeral.”

The guardians of the same ward, who were whispering quietly, tapped Jung Taeyoon on the shoulder.

“……Yes?”

“Young man, I'll call you if anything happens, so take a break. Looking at it, it seems that your situation is pitiful.”

“……Thank you.”

Thanks to their consideration, Jung Taeyoon trudged out of the ward. By the time he walked down the hallway and couldn't see the ward.

“Ha f*ck, the guy I met at the bar is killing me.”

His voice and expression changed in an instant.

Jung Taeyoon, who was looking around, stretched and turned his neck.

“Phew, it's hard to pretend to be sad now.”

Jung Taeyoon stretched his body and plopped down on a long chair at the end of the hallway. The plan was successful, and the insurance money he so longed for seemed likely to come soon.

But the guy at the bar he met yesterday.

‘What the hell did that bastard…….’

He said he was a police, but he didn't seem to be a police at all.

‘He looked like a gangster more, and he knew too much about me…….’

It was when Jung Taeyoon was rubbing his chin and nodding his head.

“Didn't even pay for the drink yesterday?”magic

Startled by the sudden voice, Jung Taeyoon's head turned sharply.

“Wh, what!”

“Thanks to you, I paid for the alcohol you drank?”

Before anyone knew it, Hyunsoo was at the end of the long chair where Jung Taeyoon was sitting.

“Wh, what, you!”

“I told you yesterday, I’m a police. But when I went to the funeral, your mother-in-law said you would be in the hospital.…….”

Hyunsoo turned his head around.

“Is this the ward?”

“Who, who are you!! You're not a real police!”

“Bastard, have you lived only by being deceived?”

Hyunsoo took out his ID and showed it to Jung Taeyoon, who was screaming with a grim face.

“……No way……?”

“Inspector Lee Hyunsoo of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Major Crime Investigation Team 1.”

“You, you were a real police……?”

“Jung Taeyoon-ssi, you are under arrest for murdering your adopted son, Jung Jihoon-gun.”

“……What?!”

Jung Taeyoon jumped up.

“What, what nonsense is that!”

“A recording of the murder plot with Kim Seoyeon-ssi has been found. I'll let you hear the recording when you meet each other.”

When Hyunsoo got up after Jung Taeyoon, his eyes flashed.

The moment when Jung Taeyoon, who had pushed Hyunsoo away, took off his feet to run away.

“…….”

Police waiting somewhere blocked his way.

Police everywhere.

Hyunsoo snatched Jung Taeyoon’s arm, which was stiff with dumbfounded eyes.

“You can't run away today.”

* * *

“Get-together?”

The next morning.

Hyunsoo was having breakfast with his grandmother after a long time.

“Eung, I got another one.”

The grandmother clicked her tongue as she looked at Hyunsoo's dark circles that came down to the tip of his chin.

“No matter how young you are, you're not using your body carelessly, right? Wake up, if you don't take care of your body properly, you'll be hooked in one shot.”

“Aigoo, I get it. Nothing dangerous this time. Well, it was more of a terrible thing than a dangerous thing.”

A case in which a child's life was taken for money in the name of a parent. Too young a life had been lost by greed.

At that time, the grandmother, who was looking at Hyunsoo's expression, gently pushed the plate of egg rolls.

“What? Egg rolls are Grandma's favorite.”

“It's okay, if you want to catch the bad guys again, you'll have to fill your stomach.”

It was when Hyunsoo smiled at his grandmother's words.

Ding dong-

“?”

At the sound of the doorbell, Hyunsoo rose from his seat and headed to the front door.

When the door opened, what he saw was a strange woman whom he had never seen before.

“Who are you?”

“Inspector Lee Hyunsoo?”Hyunsoo frowned at the woman spitting out his name.

“Yes, but…… who are you?”

“Hello, I'm Seo Gaeun, a reporter for TN Broadcasting.”

“Yes?”

Hyunsoo's head tilted. At the same time, the door swung open.

“Who is our pretty lady here?”

The grandmother approached before he knew it and put her face next to Hyunsoo and smiled at the woman.

“Ah, you're Detective-nim's grandmother. Hello, I’m Reporter Seo Gaeun of TN Media.”

Reporter Seo Gaeun bowed her head gently.

“Aigoo, so you are a reporter? But…… Which broadcasting company is TN Media?”

“Ah, it's not a broadcasting company, it's a small media company on the Internet, Grandmother.”

“Small media…… Of course! Come on in, come on in. You've been working so hard since the morning…….”

“Ah, Grandma!”

The grandmother slapped Hyunsoo on the back, complaining that her ears hurt.

“Aigoo, why you punk! My ears are going to fall off!”

Then Hyunsoo let out a shallow sigh and opened his mouth in a soft voice.

“She’s a reporter we don't know. You can't just let someone you've never seen come into the house!”

Then, he took off his grandmother's hand holding the door, and turned his head toward Reporter Seo Gaeun.

“Anyway, I don't know what it is, but if you ring the doorbell one more time, it will be considered a home invasion and you will be arrested.”

“No, Detective-nim, I have a question about this case you solved……!”

Slam!

The front door was closed with the unfinished words of Reporter Seo Gaeun.

“De, Detective-nim!”

At the sound of Reporter Seo Gaeun's voice that followed, the grandmother shook her head.

“Leave a pretty girl outside and close the door so coldly, tsk tsk.”

The grandmother, who was staring at Hyunsoo with pitiful eyes, raised her voice.

“That's why you don't have a lover, even if it's the first time you've seen that lady, if she comes to visit in the morning, you should let her have breakfast.”

“Grandma, how can you believe that woman is a reporter? Uh? What would you do if she were a robber?”

“What do you mean what would I do! I'll tell her to steal it!”

“Are you for real…….”

Hyunsoo, who was staring at his grandmother, moved to the table. Then, with a sigh, he picked up his coat.

Ding dong ding dong- Because the doorbell kept ringing.

“I'll be back from work, so if someone rings the doorbell outside, don't open it, okay?”

“I'm know, you punk! Take care of your body!”

Hyunsoo opened the front door with a hasty farewell.

Then, the eyes of Reporter Seo Gaeun, who was still waiting, sparkled.

“Haa…….”

* * *

“I heard that you investigated to the end even though you knew he was the head of the district's son. There must have been external pressure, but how did you endure it?”

“I heard that you have arrested the son of the chairman of a construction company before, so how did you take charge of the case?”

“I heard you're going to get a solid indictment with solid evidence, is there any secret?”

Residential alley.

Reporter Seo Gaeun was chasing Hyunsoo as he walked to the parking lot, holding a notebook and a pen.

No, to be precise, she was sticking close to him and spitting out questions without a break.

“I heard that you solved the case of killing a son by faking it as an accident for insurance money. May I ask how you solved it?”

Hyunsoo stopped in his tracks as if he couldn’t do it at the bombarding questions.

“Look here, Reporter Seo Gaeun-nim.”

“Yes, are you finally answering me?”

“I came out because I thought my grandmother would be tired because you were being so loud since the morning, but I didn't say I was doing an interview.”

“Grandmother seems to like me? And if you don't like the interview, just answer the question.”

“No, that's not it……!”

Hyunsoo touched his forehead.

As if she had prepared, her eyes twinkled at the question she spat out nonstop. She was not an ordinary reporter.

Hyunsoo, who was rolling his eyes about how to get rid of this reporter, flashed his eyes.

“No, but how did you know my house?”

“Ah, when I went to Seoul Police Agency, was it Team Leader Heo Insung of Team 1? That person told me.”

“How can Team Leader-nim carelessly……!”

It was obvious that he gave the address to the reporter even though he knew that she would harass Hyunsoo. The disciplinary committee was canceled, and this was Team Leader Heo's only revenge as he couldn't do anything.

Hyunsoo tousled his hair.

“You should never give out my home address to other reporters, you know?”

“Yes, but will you let me interview you then?”

Hyunsoo, who looked at Reporter Seo Gaeun for a while, turned around and started walking again.

“That's what I’m going to do!”

“Just one. I'll take one question.”

At Hyunsoo's words, Reporter Seo Gaeun, who was chasing him, grabbed Hyunsoo's arm and stopped him.“All right, I'll just ask one thing.”

“Yes.”

“What is the reason?”

“What reason?”

“Those bad guys, the reason why you crazily catch them without caring about the connections, money, and power behind them.”

* * *

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency parking lot.

After parking, Hyunsoo got out of the car and turned on his cell phone.

“Reporter Seo Gaeun of TN Media…….”

She was a reporter whose name he had never heard of before.

A young new reporter who was said to be active in the social affairs department of a major broadcasting station. Politicians and chaebols were covered, and their private affairs were reported. She made a name for a few years like that. And nobody heard her name since.

“Did she get fired from the broadcasting station and went to a small Internet media company…….”

It was well deserved.

Since there was a strong bond between the political circles, business circles, and major broadcasting stations, it was natural that a new reporter from a broadcasting station attacking the political and business circles would be cut off without even knowing.

Hyunsoo searched for Reporter Seo Gaeun in the search bar.

[Sanheung County Councilman, illegal gambling and prostitution…….]

[Gulre Timber Company, Forming Illegal Slush Funds and Deferring Wages to Subcontractors…….]

All articles were published by small Internet media company. No views, no comments.

The ripple effect would have been small.

No matter how much the scoop was brought, the articles would have been buried in silence due to the powerful people who silenced the mouths of major media outlets with money.

Hyunsoo put his cell phone in and moved to Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

‘It didn't seem like she wanted anything…….’

She was a woman who gave up her career to protect her reporter spirit. It was a bit early, but she was a reliable reporter who would one day be on the side of Hyunsoo.

It was when Hyunsoo entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

“Did the interview go well?”

Team Leader Heo Insung approached Hyunsoo with a smirk.

“No, because she has a pretty face, so I told her to get along with you.”

“That's a serious crime, too, Team Leader-nim. Telling her my address.”

“So sensitive.”

Shaking his head, Team Leader Heo Insung tapped his arm.

“Commissioner-nim is looking for you.”

“Pardon?”

“I don't know if he likes you or your reputation, but go now.”

* * *

Hyunsoo was climbing the stairs of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

As he took one step at a time, the words of Reporter Seo Gaeun, whom he had just met, came to mind.

‘What is the reason? Those bad guys, the reason why you crazily catch them without caring about the connections, money, and power behind them.’

Reporter Seo Gaeun's question was honest. She was genuinely curious about Hyunsoo's actions, not having other thoughts.

‘Why am I so persistent in catching criminals?’

Why.

Because he saw the scene of the incidents in his head? Because he felt the victim's resentment in his heart? Because he hated criminals who go around proudly after committing a crime?

As he continued to move, Hyunsoo took his cell phone out of his pocket.

Then the screen turned on, showing the wallpaper. It was a picture of Hyunsoo's parents who passed away.

‘Even if you see the scene of the crime, even if you know the victim's injustice, even if you want to kill the perpetrator terribly, there are people who can't be caught.…….’

The 4th floor lobby.

When Hyunsoo finished climbing the stairs, he heard the news from the TV in the middle of the lobby.

[……Daesang Group's stock price is skyrocketing. According to experts' analysis, it's all thanks to Vice Chairman Lee Yongseok…….]

‘Lee Yongseok…….’

In front of the lobby, Hyunsoo stopped walking.

Vice Chairman Lee Yongseok was the older brother of Hyunsoo's father, Lee Hanseok.

‘Let's go slowly. As meticulous as possible, without any gaps.’

He couldn't put off his parents' revenge forever.

The power of those who could be sure to be suspects would grow. Now he had to grow his own size.

Hyunsoo turned and walked down the hallway.

There was a sign in front of the room of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner at the end of the hallway.

‘Kim Taek, the Commissioner Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.’

He was a typical snake that stuck to the liver and to the gallbladder*. But also a snake mad with desire.

Those who lost their reason and pursued only greed were rather easy to deal with.

‘He likes me?’

It was plain to see-through.

His intention was to take advantage of Hyunsoo, who had good public opinion, to take the position of Commissioner General.

‘Alright, use it to your heart's content for the commissioner's seat.’

Hyunsoo's mouth slowly opened as he stopped.

‘I'll use you to my heart's content too.’

Then he turned the door knob of the commissioner's room.

__________

*Literally means Thinking only of the benefits that will return to them, they join one side and the other side without a backbone. Or in other word, it means Opportunist.