A Japanese restaurant in Yeoui Province.

In the VIP room, Commissioner Kim Taek and Congressman Cha Hyunchang were clinking glasses in a bright atmosphere.

“Thanks to Congressman Cha's very straightforward personality, things were done quickly, thank you.”

“It's okay, it doesn't look like it, but Commissioner Go asked for so many things that I was actually just about to feel a little burdened.”

Commissioner Go Junhwan had received various rewards under the pretext of Congressman Cha Hyunchang's son.

Commissioner Kim Taek, who knew this through the recording, poured a drink with a light smile.

“It won't affect other lands. I also told the Metropolitan Crime Investigation well…… Probably, there will be no more talk about land in the media.”

In the end, Congressman Cha Hyunchang was worried about one thing.

Congressman Cha had made a profit by selling the information on the land that would soar with news of development soon. That was why he didn't want the media to pay attention to the land.

“That's great. Then why did Commissioner Go hide slush funds there and create this uproar…….”

Congressman Cha Hyunchang poured alcohol into his mouth. In any case, to Cha Hyunchang, Commissioner Go Junhwan was not important, but a powerful police officer.

Commissioner Kim Taek of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

It was not a bad choice for Cha Hyunchang to fill him in Go Junhwan's place instead.

“I look forward to your kind cooperation from now on. Commissioner Kim.”

“Aigoo, I should be the one to ask for your kind cooperation.”

The two glasses collided once again.

* * *

A little time passed, and Commissioner Kim Taek, who said he had work to do, left first, and Congressman Cha Hyunchang was sitting alone and eating.

Knock knock-

“Uh? Commissioner-nim? What, did you forget…….”

Congressman Cha Hyunchang was looking down. Soon the door opened. And it wasn't Commissioner Kim Taek who came in.

“Who……?”

It was Hyunsoo.

He closed the door with a bright expression and bowed to Congressman Cha Hyunchang.

“This is Inspector Lee Hyunsoo of Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Commissioner Go Junhwan's location of slush funds was found by.…….”

“Ah! That Inspector Lee Hyunsoo!”

Congressman Cha Hyunchang nodded with a happy expression as if he knew Hyunsoo.

“Nice to meet you! I really wanted to meet you, but here you are! Thanks to you, I'm going to move on lightly over something that's almost going to cause a big problem.”

“It’s nothing, I just did what I had to do.”

“But why are you here…… Ah, are you here to see Commissioner Kim? But Commissioner Kim left a while ago.”

Hyunsoo shook his head as he saw Congressman Cha Hyunchang making a regrettable expression.

“No, I'm here to see Congressman Cha today.”

“Me?”

Hyunsoo sat in front of Congressman Cha Hyunchang. Then he found an empty glass, naturally poured alcohol into it, and opened his mouth.

“The land in front of Commissioner Go Junhwan’s land, I just bought it.”

“……Pardon?”

“It's going to explode soon, so I'm looking forward to it.”

“Ah, haha.”

Congressman Cha Hyunchang smiled awkwardly.

A detective from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency who knew information about the land. Perhaps it was Commissioner Kim Taek's plan, he smiled and thought.

But even that was short-lived.

Congressman Cha Hyunchang's face hardened in an instant. It was because of what Hyunsoo said next.magic

“Congressman Cha heard about the land from a local city hall official, right? The name is…… Park Doseok?”

“…….”

Cha Hyunchang's pale face proved that what Hyunsoo was saying was true.

Hyunsoo took out a new chopstick and burst out with a small laugh as if it was fun.

“For a politician, your poker face is too bad. How can you make it so obvious with things like this?”

Then, he ate the sashimi in front of him and looked at Congressman Cha.

Congressman Cha Hyunchang was still out of his mind. Hyunsoo took the sashimi once again and ate it.

“Ah, this one is good. Is it because it's expensive?”

“Hey, look here…… Inspector Lee Hyunsoo.”

“Ah, and one more. Your son's drug injection and transaction charges, you stopped them from being received, through Commissioner Go?”

“How, how did you know that...…….”

Hyunsoo took out several photos from his pocket while chewing on the sashimi and threw them on the table.

It was a photo of a young man resembling Congressman Cha Hyunchang with powders believed to be drugs.

“And yet this son of yours can't get his act together, and he's still on drugs. He's been spilling evidence like this.”

“…….”“Child rearing is the hardest, right? He doesn't listen to you, he doesn't even know you saved him…….”

“What do you want?”

The cold voice of Congressman Cha Hyunchang blocked Hyunsoo's words.

“What I want.”

Hyunsoo put down his chopsticks.

“Arrest…….”

“What……?”

“……It wouldn't be too fun to say arrest, would it?”

Hyunsoo smirked and drank the cold water. Then, he waved his hand at Congressman Cha Hyunchang, who was waiting for his answer.

“Don't worry, I'm not here to catch you.”

“Did Commissioner Kim Taek make you do this?”

“Are you serious?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do I think Commissioner Kim Taek-nim has that much guts? No, do you think he has that much brain to plan to this extent?”

Congressman Cha Hyunchang's eyes rolled over. His son's drug case was also a reason, but Congressman Cha initially wanted Commissioner Go Junhwan to sit in the position of Commissioner General.

No matter how the cartel is prevalent in the world, you need to have some level of skill to fit into the game.

Therefore, Commissioner Kim Taek was just a shell filled with corruption without any skills.

“That…… no.”

“It's an independent action, of course I'd like to sign the contract alone.”

“Con……tract? What…….”

“Officially, hold hands with Commissioner Kim Taek-nim, and unofficially, hold hands with me.”

* * *

‘Commissioner Kim Taek.’

A crosswalk opposite the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

When the green light turned on, Hyunsoo moved.

‘And Congressman Cha Hyunchang.’

By catching Commissioner Go Junhwan, Hyunsoo put them both in his grasp. Of course, he couldn’t completely control them, but this was enough.

In particular.

‘Congressman Cha Hyunchang.’

He had been on the elite politician's course. A man at the end of a perfect power pyramid with connections, backing, money, and everything.

If it were an ordinary police officer, he would have been a difficult person to see even if one sat as the commissioner of a local police agency, but Hyunsoo was different.

‘Parents who love their son dearly.’

And Commissioner Go Junhwan, who held that weakness, had gone, so Hyunsoo grabbed that weakness.

Now, with that weakness, Hyunsoo was thinking of using Congressman Cha Hyunchang.

Then.

“Here comes the traitor.”

Team Leader Heo Insung and other detectives blocked Hyunsoo from entering the entrance of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

“Is it okay to do that to a person who is like a family member?”

“Yeah, that's also the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency’s Commissioner-nim?”

“Because of you, the police are going to get cursed at.”

Even at a glance, they didn't have good opinions of Hyunsoo. Team Leader Heo Insung, who stood in the middle, grinned and spat out words.

“People with wrong nature will do wrong things wherever they go, you turned the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency upside down, In any case, the shame of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency is you all alone.”

At Heo Insung's words, the detectives next to him burst into laughter.

They are not kids, what are they doing, ganging up on one person?

Hyunsoo, who sighed a little, opened his mouth with a smirk.

“Well, strictly speaking, it's not because of me. After all, it's Commissioner Go Junhwan's fault for taking the money and hiding it in the ground.”

“So, you have such a hard time catching Commissioner Go Junhwan and giving him to the Metropolitan Crime Investigation Unit, right? You did a great job.”

Hyunsoo lightly shook his hand at Team Leader Heo Insung, who tried to humiliate him somehow.

“It's okay because I have earned the trust of Commissioner Kim.”

“……You, you're not the kind of person who cares about things like that. Changing so abruptly…….”

“You don't know that, I thought I was greedy for the position again.”

Hyunsoo tapped Team Leader Heo Insung, who blinked his eyes, on the shoulder and turned around.

“Then I’ll go now, because Commissioner-nim may call me again. Have fun chatting.”

Hyunsoo moved leisurely, waving his hand. He felt stinging glances from behind, but it didn't matter.

‘Team Leader Heo Insung.’

He hadn't done anything big yet, but he was also blinded by greed, so Hyunsoo didn't know when he'd do something stupid.

‘I need to keep an eye on him.’

At that time.Hyunsoo's cell phone rang. The caller was Han Daesung, team leader of Team 2.

“Yes, Team Leader-nim. How are you doing?”

“Since you have caught Commissioner Go Junhwan, wanna grab a drink together?”

* * *

[……Commissioner Go Junhwan of the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency was arrested this afternoon. Illegal slush funds and…….]

A pub where the news aired.

Team Leader Han Daesung and Hyunsoo sit across from each other over chicken and two glasses of beer.

“Good job.”

“It’s nothing.”

The two beer glasses collided.

“How's Grandmother doing?”

“She is fine, but she is very stubborn. Since she's old, she wouldn't listen to me even if I told her to go to the hospital.…….”

Hyunsoo let out a faint sigh. Then Team Leader Han Daesung shook his hand while eating chicken.

“Similar to you, maybe it's because you're family now. Stubborn people”

“Why am I stubborn? I'm so flexible.”

“A flexible bastard, broke the window of a lawyer's car like that? And then arrested the commissioner like nothing happened?”

“That’s…….”

Then, someone tapped Hyunsoo on the shoulder. When he turned his head, Senior Inspector Shin Miye was standing there.

“Just the two of you having a drink? That's sad. You caught the criminal with me.”

“Uh? Senior Inspector Shin, why are you here…….”

When Hyunsoo tilted his head, Team Leader Han Daesung opened his mouth.

“I called her, let's have a drink.”

“?”

“My classmate. Including Team Leader Heo. The three of us.”

Thus Senior Inspector Shin Miye joined the table.

Senior Inspector Shin was gulping down a new glass of beer and looked at Hyunsoo.

“But I'm sorry though. Inspector Lee took all the hard work yet we took all the credit.”

“It's okay. Commissioner Kim Taek-nim wanted that, too. If the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency caught him, it’s obvious that they would say that it was to target the position of the Commissioner General.”

“That's right. Now, shall we make a toast together?”

So the three of them tilted their glasses.

“……However, Team Leader Heo Insung was hit by an uppercut while fooling around with her…….”

The story of Team Leader Han Daesung, who was excited to meet his colleague after a long time, continued.

“……I should have beaten that bastard Heo Insung so he couldn't wear a police uniform.…….”

When the story of memories continued like that.

Hyunsoo's head turned at the sound of the news that was airing on the pub’s TV.

[……It is breaking news that Park X, the head manager of Sangma Construction, committed suicide. With the information obtained exclusively by our broadcasting station…….]

Senior Inspector Shin Miye asked Hyunsoo, who turned his head to watch TV.

“Do you know this company?”

“Ah, yes? It's not like that, but I think I've heard of it somewhere.”

Hyunsoo shook his head and smiled awkwardly.

“Let's cheers one more time.”

Hyunsoo, who hurriedly raised his beer glass, diverted his attention.

Beer glasses collided once again, and Hyunsoo drank the beer. But at that moment, his mind was on the news streaming on the TV.

‘If it is Sangma Construction, obviously…….’

It was a familiar company.

Daesang Group, whose owners were not only the bloodlines of Hyunsoo but also the ones who killed his parents, this company was one of Daesang Construction’s affiliates.

‘Sangma Construction, which traded with Daesang Construction…….’

Hyunsoo's eyes flashed as he put down the empty glass on the table.

‘This is it.’

__________

T/N: As you probably know, Korea is a country that attaches great importance to etiquette, age, position, and hierarchy. Therefore, in everyday conversation, they often add suffixes like "-nim" or "-ssi" when talking about other people.

However, there are rules when adding these suffixes. Suffixes can only be added after the first name or title, not after the last name.

Lee Hyunsoo-ssi (O)

Hyunsoo-ssi (O)

Detective-nim (O)

Lee-ssi (X)

Detective Lee-nim (X)

In the raw, the Korean phrase for “Detective Lee” is "이 형사님" => “Lee Detective nim”.

However, in English, the title is put before the name, that's why I translated "이 형사님" into “Detective Lee nim” instead of “Lee Detective nim”. And precisely because "-nim" can't be added after the last name, it ends up being “Detective Lee”.

This is why some places I add "-ssi" or "-nim", and in some places I don't. I just want to emphasize that, although I don't add the suffixes in some places, in the raw dialogue in Korean, the speaker does add suffixes to show hierarchy and position.