AR Ch 1 part 1

PR by neji

The weather made people want to kill someone. The heat wave was so bad that all appliance stores were running out of air conditioning units. On top of that, the approaching monsoon brought a sticky humidity to the air. Jiwon stood in the middle of the eight-lane road and blew her whistle. Her blue shirt was drenched in sweat and clung to her skin.

Beeeep!

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That damned subway construction had been going on all year, and it didn’t look like it would be completed anytime soon. The streets were like a blocked stomach, and the cars were like food flowing in. They became stuck as they filled the road. And why did there have to be an accident on today of all days when she was all alone?

Smash. When Jiwon heard the strange sound, she turned her head. A small car had run into the bumper of a black sedan. Jiwon swallowed a curse as she walked over. She felt like her head had been roasted by the heat emanating from the scorching asphalt. Policeman Oh had left to go to the bathroom. When was he coming back?

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“Sir.”

When she tapped on the tinted windows of the car, it opened halfway. The driver had turned off the engine.

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“That must have surprised you. Can you move your car to the side for now?”

“Ah, fuck. I just got into an accident. Can’t you see that I’m calling the insurance company?”

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The driver spit out his words in an annoyed tone as he gestured to his phone. Jiwon wiped the sweat dripping down her forehead and swallowed a sigh before opening her mouth.

“I understand. Do you see that camera on the traffic light at the intersection? Your accident has been recorded, so please don’t worry and move your car. If you block the road at a time like this, the traffic will explode out of control.”

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Horns began to blare from the cars behind them. It was only to be expected because the car was blocking the right-turn lane. The driver didn’t even look at her as he murmured a response.

“That’s none of my business.”

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“Excuse me?”

“Ah, I was just talking to myself. Please don’t misunderstand. Yes, hello? You’re the insurance company, right?”

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As the window began to roll up, Jiwon grabbed it and spoke in a low voice.

“Ah, fuck… I’m already feeling like shit, but now I have to deal with this bullshit.”

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The window went back down. The driver looked up at her in disbelief.

“Wh-What? What did you just say to me?”

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“I was just talking to myself, sir.”

The man frowned as if he couldn’t believe those words had left the mouth of someone who was wearing a police uniform. Jiwon spoke up in a nonchalant tone.

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“You went day drinking, didn’t you?”

“Hey, how can you say that to the person who was hit by another car? I wasn’t even doing anything wrong.”

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The driver huffed in indignation as his eyes bulged.

“Your face is too red. We need to perform an alcohol test. Please get out immediately. You are not allowed to drive one meter while under the influence of alcohol.”

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“Wow, I can’t believe this… Hey, be prepared to pay for accusing an innocent person if the breathalyzer comes back negative!”

Vroom, the car’s engine let out an aggressive sound as the driver turned around the corner before parking a little ways away. As expected, the most effective way to deal with people who just didn’t get it was to act a bit devilish.

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“I apologize. My child was sick, and I wasn’t paying attention…”

The driver of the small car that had hit the expensive sedan from behind had a very pale face. Jiwon glanced at the small infant crying in the carseat in the back. Then she pulled out her wireless radio and requested an ambulance.

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“An ambulance will be coming soon. I’ll move your car out of the way, so please remain calm and look after your child.”

“I need to get to the hospital as soon as possible. I’ll tell the insurance company to take care of this accident and…”

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“Do you want to get into a bigger accident and kill your child?”

When Jiwon cut her off in a sharp voice, the mother stopped speaking. Her reddened eyes trembled with rage.

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“H-How can you say such a thing?”

“You’re in no state to be driving right now, so that is why I’m being harsh. Can’t you see that you got into an accident because you weren’t in your right mind? Do you want to put yourself in a position where you ask us to save your child first? Take your child and get onto the sidewalk now! It’s dangerous.”

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The trembling, pale mother seemed to have regained her senses when Jiwon barked out her order. Her eyes were red as she pulled her child into her arms and began to comfort it.

“What the… What are you two whispering about?”

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The sedan driver huffed with rage and loosened his necktie as he approached them. When one side was finally untangled, the other side brought trouble. 

“What? Day drinking? You should accuse that ahjumma of day drinking! How can you treat the victim like this?”

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“Ahjussi, if you keep behaving like this, you will be charged with obstruction of justice. It’ll become a whole bigger mess than it needs to be.”

“Hey! Who are you calling ‘ahjussi’? I’m still a bachelor!”

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The man rolled up his sleeves as he drew nearer. Jiwon pulled out her handcuffs and held them up to him. All the cars behind them had now come to a complete stop, and the entire intersection was filled with the sounds of cars honking and angry shouts. There was nothing else she could do. There was no doubt that her colleague that had claimed to have gone to the bathroom was now sitting on the toilet as he scrolled through the stock charts with bloodshot eyes. 

“I ask for some understanding given the traffic situation.”

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“Try me. If you really think you can do it, go ahead and… Huh? Huuuh??”

She grabbed the huffing man’s wrist and twisted it behind him. The man exclaimed and walked backwards as he found himself being apprehended in an instant. Jiwon ignored the man’s shouts that his arm was going to pop out of its socket and placed his wrist inside the handcuff. She took the other handcuff and locked it onto a metal fence. 

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“This is why the police are called pigs these days! You call yourself police? As someone who works for the people of this country, how can you do this?! That’s why you’re stuck in an intersection like this! I’m going to sue and demand compensation for this!”

Jiwon ignored his threats and moved the car. Then she quickly put the whistle back in her mouth. Fweeet! The congested traffic began to flow out of the intersection like vomit. She didn’t care whether she was called police or a pig. If this was what she had to do in order to clear up the traffic, she’d gladly take it. She continued to make hand gestures as sweat dripped down her forehead and stung her eyes.

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* * *

Rumble. 

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Jiwon slid open the door and entered the gopchang¹ restaurant filled with dense smoke. An old fan was slowly rotating as it blew the recycled air around the room. It smelled like soju and burnt fat. 

“Hey, over here.”

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Two days before her disciplinary leave had ended, Chief Hong called her out and was drinking pitifully at a corner by himself. Jiwon vowed to get out of this neighborhood once her lease agreement was finished. 

“What brings you here?”

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“Sit down for now.”

When Chief Hong had persuaded her to live here because he knew the owner, she shouldn’t have listened to him. If only she had known then that he was the type of person to call someone out frequently, she wouldn’t have moved here. Wearing clothes that smelled like a grandpa, Chief Hong filled her glass with the clear soju. As Jiwon threw it back in one gulp, the pungent fragrance began to spread throughout her nose.

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“Chief, if you’re feeling lonely, then just get remarried. Right across the street from my place, there’s a business that can arrange international marriages. They had it on a banner.”

“Are you talking about those scamming bastards that bring kids from the southeast? I heard that those sons of bitches even began using North Korean defectors.”

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“It might not be a scam. There are many folks who live well even in their old age.”

Jiwon flipped over the roasting gopchang so that it wouldn’t burn as she replied.

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“Why would my wife deserve something like that? Coming all the way to a foreign country only to marry someone like me.”

“I guess so. That’s true. Your ability to objectively assess yourself is your strength.”

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Chief Hong glared at her as he clicked his tongue. Jiwon ignored him as she put the steaming gopchang into her mouth and chewed.

“Don’t worry about me. Shouldn’t you be worried about yourself?”

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“Why would I be worried about myself? Ah, that’s hot. Fuck.”

As the scorching juices oozed out of the gopchang, it almost burned the roof of her mouth. She hissed out a hot breath as she tried to cool the piece of meat in her mouth. Seeing this, Chief Hong sighed.

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“Your mother is worried about you. She’s afraid you won’t get married and grow old and die alone.”

“Why would I be alone? I have my mother, and I even have a chief who consistently calls me out when the time is right.”

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Jiwon poured herself a glass of soju. As the liquor filled her oily mouth, the flavor of the gopchang and the aroma of the soju paired together very well.

“And I would also like to get married, but it’s just not working out. What else can I do? Whenever I go to a marriage meeting, I always get dumped. Now even my mother has given up.”

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“You said that the men who liked your photo always end up cutting contact once they actually meet you. I can already see exactly what you’re doing whenever you see them.”

Chief Hong’s words went in one ear and out the other as Jiwon laughed. She recalled how the last man she met had even gotten up and left before they finished their meal.

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“He wanted to know what kind of work I do at the precinct, so I told him about one instance.”

“What did you tell him?”

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“About the time back when I was in the patrol division. We discovered an old man who had died alone in the middle of summer. He hadn’t been found for one month. The constable I was with threw up as soon as we saw the corpse. Ah, the gopchang is delicious. Aren’t you going to eat?”

“You always talk about something inappropriate whenever we’re eating a meal…”

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Chief Hong frowned and threw back another glass of liquor. Then he looked at Jiwon and changed the subject.

“Despite your mother’s wishes, it seems that you will not be getting married and living a normal life. So why don’t you just work for me instead?”

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“I don’t want to. If I enter a more active, powerful police force, my mom will faint.”

Jiwon had already heard Chief Hong’s request tens of times, so she turned him down without any hesitation. As if he’d been expecting this answer, Chief Hong continued to press her.

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“If you didn’t want to disappoint your mother, you wouldn’t have become a policewoman in the first place.”

“It’s a hundred times better than being unemployed. Don’t look down on someone who passed the national exam.”

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“So is that why you received disciplinary action for beating up an innocent civilian? You kept making such mistakes while working in the patrol division, so they transferred you to the traffic division. But if you’re making the same mistakes there, what’s going to happen next?”

Chief Hong poked her in a sore spot. Jiwon looked him dead in the eye and attacked back.

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“There are a lot of people who curse at me, but there aren’t any who charge at me with a knife. I like living this way.”

“Aigoo, do you really enjoy not having anyone to see on your day off and being shut up in your one-room apartment, cracking open a can of beer as you watch crime dramas? Are you happy?”

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He spoke as if he had really seen her daily life with his own eyes, but it didn’t bother her.

“Yes, sir. And if a certain someone didn’t bother me, it would be the best.”

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Jiwon nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and turned her eyes back to the snacks on the table. Now that she had been called all the way here against her will, she planned on eating her fill before heading home.

“Jiwon, you have good intuition. You have a good head on your shoulders, and you’ve got guts. I’m just disappointed that all your talents are going to waste like this. Let’s take this opportunity to transfer you. I’ll put in a good word to the higher ups.”

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Chief Hong’s voice was earnest. Jiwon wanted to end the conversation here.

“I’m not the only one who has good intuition, a good head, and guts.”

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She crunched on a piece of cucumber. The salted cucumber was incredibly salty.

“What more is it going to do other than shorten one’s lifespan?”

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Jiwon frowned as she spit out the cucumber. Chief Hong’s lips pressed down into a tight line. There was no way he didn’t know who she was talking about. His expression darkened.

“Regarding Detective Park… I’m sorry.”

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So why was he bothering someone who was doing her own thing?

“It’s fine. You’re ruining the liquor.”

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Her father died after being violently stabbed by the mob. This happened because he hadn’t been able to wait for support from headquarters and went into a violent crime scene on his own. And Chief Hong, a new recruit at the time, had been there as well.

“Seriously, don’t call me out like this anymore. I don’t care that you’re my father’s old colleague. I’ll just ignore your calls from now on. I’ll take my leave now.”

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Jiwon glanced at Chief Hong’s bitter expression and stood up. Whenever things went south like this, it was usually because of the violent crime incident. She wanted to hurry home and catch up on all the videos she had to see, but Chief Hong grabbed onto the hem of her clothes.

“Chief, why are you being so pathetic? If someone else saw this, they’d think I was some kind of super elite agent or something. Seriously.”

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“Just take a look at one photo before you go. It’s the guy I’m supposed to work on this time.”

Chief Hong picked up his cell phone and flipped to a photo. Then he held it out to her. Jiwon didn’t look at the photo and nodded her head.

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“Oh, he’s handsome. Good luck with your operation.”

He wasn’t so stupid as to introduce her to another man in a marriage meeting, so she knew it was a criminal. Well, whoever he was, it was none of her business.

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“Your mother recognized him as soon as she saw the photo. You can’t tell who he is?”

Jiwon suddenly froze.

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“Why did you show this to my mom?”

Because Chief Hong worked in the violent crimes division, the men he pursued were all in the mob. They were people who had nothing to do with her mother. Chief Hong silently placed his phone on the table and filled his glass with more soju.

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Crackle. She could smell the gopchang burning on the grill. She felt that something strange was going on, so she snatched Chief Hong’s phone and held it up.

The location of the photo was an airport. The image was blurry as if it had been enlarged from a surveillance video. However, there was no way she didn’t recognize the main focus of the photo. Despite the rotten quality of the photograph, she could still clearly see the distinct facial features that exuded self-assertiveness. It would have been strange if Jiwon and her mother hadn’t recognized the person in the photo in one glance. He was in the middle of a group of men in black suits. She could clearly tell who was ranked at the top and who was ranked towards the bottom from the way they were spread out.

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“Shin Seokju…?”

The name she hadn’t called out in a long time left her lips. Just the act alone pricked her heart.

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“They say he’s a leader of the Hanseong faction. He took up residence abroad and operated there, but he returned to the country a month ago.”

The loud ruckus of the restaurant disappeared in an instant. She could only hear Chief Hong’s voice in her ears.

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“Shin Seokju is… what?”

The humid air suddenly grew cold. Chief Hong repeated the unbelievable words once again.

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“He’s in the mob.”

Impossible.

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Chief Hong gestured to her as he looked at her with sunken eyes.

“Sit down for now.”

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Jiwon moved to sit back down, but she couldn’t. Her limp legs had caught onto something, and she stumbled to the floor. A loud crash rang in the room as shot glasses and side dishes fell haphazardly onto her body.

“Hey, you alright?”

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Jiwon pushed Chief Hong’s hand away and got up. The liquor she had thrown back began to come back up and stung her throat. That jerk had always been like this. He had suddenly disappeared from her peaceful life, and he came back into it like a bomb.

Boom, boom. She felt like she heard the ticking of a time bomb. It didn’t take long for her to realize that it was the sound of her own heartbeat. Jiwon clenched her hand around the cell phone and glared at Chief Hong. Her eyes were wide open as a scorching heat oozed out.

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“Start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”