Goseong Apartment, Building 101 Entrance.

A student in a school uniform was being carried on a stretcher into an ambulance.

Shin Haesu got into the ambulance with the youngest member of Team 2, who had arrived late. Someone had discovered Kyungjun after he fell onto a car and called it in.

Though he was still breathing, there was no guarantee he was safe. Falling from the 11th floor would have left his body in a complete mess.

“Haa… Haa… Hah, hah—”

As they moved, Kyungjun’s breathing grew weaker. The paramedic placed an oxygen mask over his face and unbuttoned his shirt to examine his abdomen.

“I think there’s internal bleeding… How much longer?!”

The paramedic shouted toward the front, and the driver responded.

“Less than a minute!”

“Grrkk—”

Just then, Kyungjun convulsed and coughed up blood foam.

“Hey! Stay with us! We’re almost at the hospital!”

Screech—

The vehicle stopped, and as the back doors opened, doctors and residents rushed in to check his condition, then quickly transferred him inside on a stretcher.

It was urgent—he was taken straight to emergency surgery.

In front of the operating room, Haesu and Seokhun finally let out a long breath.

Shff.

When Haesu turned his head, Seokhun flinched, unable to meet his eyes.

“Kim Seokhun, tell me everything… in detail.”

Seokhun swallowed hard. He had no idea how Haesu had arrived before him, but he didn’t dare ask.

It was because of the terrifying aura emanating from him.

“W-well… I got to know Kyungjun through the assault case I was investigating. It was reported as mutual violence, but he had far more injuries, and his behavior made me suspect bullying. I wanted to dig deeper, but then… the murder case happened…”

Overcome with guilt, the rookie confessed everything.

Just then, a middle-aged man in a suit and glasses came running up. He grabbed Seokhun by the arms and asked desperately,

“W-what happened? Where is Kyungjun hurt?”

“That’s…”

Seokhun, weighed down by guilt, couldn’t find the words. Haesu answered in his place.

“He attempted suicide.”

“W-what?”

At Haesu’s dry response, Kyungjun’s father collapsed to his knees on the spot.

“Kyungjun… my son…”

Neither Haesu nor Seokhun could offer him any words of comfort. Kyungjun’s condition had been critical when he was brought in.

The father, in shock, struggled to stay upright. Haesu placed a firm hand on Seokhun’s shoulder and spoke.

“You stay here. I need to go to the station.”

“Y-yes, got it…”

Seokhun saw the murderous glint in Haesu’s eyes but was too afraid to stop him. He didn’t have the courage to hold back the detective known as Gangjin Station’s monster.

Bang!!

The Violent Crimes Division’s office door slammed open with enough force to nearly break it.

Dong Namcheol, who had been leaning back with his legs on his desk, watching his monitor, jumped in shock and shouted.

“What the hell! You scared the shit out of—huh?”

Step. Step. Step.

Haesu strode toward him with a murderous expression, as if he was ready to kill someone.

“W-what— Agh!”

Thud!

Haesu’s foot sank into Namcheol’s stomach. Namcheol let out a strangled groan and collapsed back into his chair.

“Are you even human?”

Haesu raised his palm and twisted his waist before slapping Namcheol across the face.

Smack!

“Are you a goddamn human being?!”

Smack!

“A detective covering up a case?!”

Thud!!

Thud, thud—

Something fell to the floor—either a chunk of his tongue or a wad of blood, along with several white teeth.

Namcheol, barely conscious, raised his hands in a feeble attempt to defend himself.

“Guhhh… W-wait, wa…”

He was still sitting in his chair, which had now slid back to the edge of the window.

“Haesu! Haesu, stop!”

“What the hell is going on?!”

At last, the other detectives rushed in and grabbed Haesu, trying to restrain him.

But Haesu had no intention of backing down this time.

He grabbed hold of the fingers clutching his arms and wrenched them backward.

Crack, pop—!

“Aagh!”

“Ugh!”

“S-sir!”

He twisted them just short of breaking bones before shaking them off and charging at Namcheol again like a wild beast.

Just standing near him was enough to make the air feel suffocating.

Smack! Smack! Thud!

He slapped Namcheol repeatedly before delivering a final palm strike to his chin, sending him and his chair toppling to the floor. Namcheol’s eyes were already rolling back.

But Haesu wasn’t done.

He grabbed the nearest landline phone and raised it above Namcheol’s head.

“Sir!”

With a heavy voice, the rookie lifted Haesu off the ground.

“Get a hold of yourself!!”

On instinct, Haesu twisted his waist, about to slam his elbow into the rookie’s face, but stopped.

After a few seconds of silence, he slowly lowered the phone and tapped the rookie’s thick forearm.

“Let go, I can’t breathe.”

“A-ah, yes, sorry.”

Hearing the change in Haesu’s voice, the rookie assumed the rampage was over and released him.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Haesu swung the phone down on Namcheol’s head.

Crack!

The phone shattered, and blood seeped across the office floor. Haesu glared down at Namcheol like he was trash before turning on his heel.

Minutes later, after Namcheol was sent to the hospital, both Teams 1 and 2 gathered to hear Haesu’s account of events.

Team 2 couldn’t lift their heads, and as the Team 1 leader listened, his face grew redder and redder.

“You bastards! If something like this happens, you tell me immediately! That kid’s still in surgery, right? If he doesn’t make it, you’d better be ready to hand in your resignations! Got it?!”

“Yes…”

“Yes, sir, we’re sorry.”

Team 1’s leader had always been a gentle, neighborhood-uncle type. Seeing him explode in rage like this shocked even Haesu.

Team 2 members just kept their heads down, repeating their apologies.

"Send the murder case to the Violent Crimes Unit and investigate the assault case together with us. As for Team 2's leader… that bastard is not fit to be a cop. He must take full responsibility for this."

The Team 1 leader's eyes burned with fury.

"Shin-dol, come see me."

Haesu flinched. It was always scarier when a normally gentle person got angry.

The team leader took out two mixed coffee cups, handed one to Haesu, and headed up to the rooftop.

"What are you going to do? No matter how justified it was… you beat him to a pulp. You think they'll just let this go? I heard he has powerful connections. If you're not careful, you might end up eating prison food."

"That bastard won't be sending me to prison."

The confidence in Haesu's expression made the team leader smirk and point at him with a finger.

"Ah, I see. You had something up your sleeve all along, didn't you?"

"I won’t deny I lost control and beat him up."

"That so? Well, if there's anything I can do to help, just let me know. I want to work with you for a long time."

"Don't worry about it."

A few days later.

The warm afternoon sun bathed the VIP room of Seongdeok Hospital. Dong Namcheol's snoring echoed throughout the room.

Just then, his phone rang.

"Ugh, which bastard… Yes, Father?"

- You son of a bitch!!

The sudden shouting made Dong Namcheol flinch and pull the phone away from his ear.

"F-Father?"

- You trying to kill your own father, huh? What the hell is this? You tried to cover up a case? And you secretly investigated a murder case under the Violent Crimes Unit 1’s jurisdiction without reporting it?

"No, it's just that… I was trying to help my team—"

- You brainless idiot! I heard you got your ass kicked by that Shin Haesu guy because of this. Is that true?

"…"

- Don't even think about pressing charges or making a fuss. Keep your damn mouth shut and stay out of the media’s sight. Got it?

Dong Namcheol's expression darkened at his father’s words. Normally, he would obey without question, but this was something he couldn't back down from.

"What? No, Father, your son got beaten up by some nobody! I had to get ten stitches in my head, and I lost three teeth! Sure, I neglected the case, but assault is still assault! That bastard needs to rot in prison!"

- Even if the case wasn’t directly related, the public will see it as if it was, you dumbass! That Shin Haesu guy is being hailed as a righteous cop fighting against injustice!

"…What? What kind of bullshit—"

- You don't understand how the world works, do you? Because of you, I’m about to get kicked out of the party! Do you have any idea how hard it is for an ex-cop to become a congressman? And you dare ruin everything I built?!

"What? No, that's not—"

- Shut up and stay the hell out of sight! Understood?

"Father? Father?!"

The call was abruptly cut off. Dong Namcheol scowled and searched for news articles.

There was no need to look hard. The case had already flooded the news.

[Kangjin Police Department’s Violent Crimes Officer, Dong XX, Neglects Case – Team Members Come Forward]
[Middle School Student’s Suicide Attempt – Officer Dong XX Revealed as the Only Son of Congressman Dong XX, a Former Police Officer]
[Police Negligence Leads to Tragedy – Student Lim XX in a Coma for 34 Hours]
┗ And people wonder why cops are called ‘pigs’
┗ This is straight-up murder
┗ He’s not even dead yet, how is it murder?
┗ You think comas are like TV dramas? 90% of the time, they never wake up
┗ Where the hell did you get that 90% statistic?
┗ Look at the police department’s organization chart, only one guy with the surname Dong (link)
┗ Wow, he acts like trash and even looks like it
┗ Fire everyone involved and send them all to prison
┗ Start by removing that congressman, for fuck’s sake
┗ Yeah, when a kid is trash, the parents are usually worse
┗ I heard one of his fellow cops beat the shit out of him. He’s in the hospital now
┗ At least one decent cop exists

As Dong Namcheol read through the articles and comments, his face twisted more and more. He never imagined the situation would escalate this much overnight.

"Fucking hell!"

He threw his phone across the room. Just then, there was a knock at the door—though the person didn’t bother waiting for a response before stepping inside.

Sharp eyes, a business-like smile, glasses, a recorder, a tablet—definitely a journalist.

"Hello, Officer Dong Namcheol? I’m Joo Seokjin from JoCheong Daily. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"No. I have nothing to say. Get out."

"Just one question. Did you personally take over a murder case meant for Team 1? What did your father have to say about this?"

"Who the hell—Get out! I said get out!"

"Did you order the temporary hold on the assault case involving Lee Kyungjun? Just a simple yes or no!"

"I don’t fucking know!"

Dong Namcheol was injured but still mobile. He slipped into his slippers and bolted out the door to escape.

Outside, a swarm of waiting reporters spotted him and immediately gave chase.

Meanwhile, at Yongsoo Middle School, where Lee Kyungjun was a student, it was lunchtime.

Baek Jungpil sat by the classroom window, smoking a cigarette while scrolling through news articles on his phone.

"Jungpil, man, I’m scared shitless. You think the cops will come to our school?"

At his friend’s worried question, Jungpil chuckled and flicked the cigarette ash.

"Don’t be a pussy. Listen up. The pigs did what pigs do best and neglected Kyungjun, right?"

"Yeah."

"That loser Kyungjun jumped off his apartment and is now in a coma, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, can he tell them anything? Or do you think all those bystanders who watched him suffer for months will suddenly grow a conscience and start talking? Kyungjun is lying in a hospital bed, and I’m sitting right here in class. Get it?"

His friend raised both hands in admiration, giving him two thumbs up.

"Damn… Jungpil, you’re a fucking genius. That was badass."

Tack—

Jungpil flicked the cigarette butt onto the classroom floor and scanned the students around him.

His friend quickly stomped out the cigarette and tossed it into the trash.

"So listen up… Every single one of you bastards is an accomplice, so don’t even think about running your mouths. Got it, you little shits?!"

The students flinched and murmured weak responses.

With his towering height of 180 cm and weighing over 90 kg, Baek Jungpil was a monster among the second-year students of Class 3. To them, he was nothing less than pure terror.