Mo Chang-gwi's eyes widened as he looked at the person violently grabbing his collar and slamming him into the wall.

He had never imagined, not even in his dreams, that Shin Haesu would appear in front of him from a faraway country across the sea, and this soon at that.

He had merely planned to toy with the Japanese police, who were ignorant of who he was—but now, the opponent wasn’t good.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Haesu’s fist, as big as a pot lid, pounded toward Mo Chang-gwi’s face.

Despite that, Chang-gwi merely tilted his head slightly, dodging the close-range punch with minimal movement.

As a result, Haesu's punch only shattered the unlucky wall, tearing flesh and drawing blood.

Swoosh, swoosh—

Just as Haesu was about to launch another attack, Chang-gwi slashed at his side with a knife. Haesu instinctively blocked with his forearm.

Chang-gwi's brow furrowed slightly. From long experience wielding blades, he could feel it. Even though he wasn't holding it with his hand, the sensation from the knife’s tip was clear.

It struck a material that couldn’t be cut. It wasn't a stab-proof vest reinforced with steel plates.

“You're wearing something interesting.”

Chang-gwi feinted a slash toward Haesu’s eyes, then slipped away and aimed for his throat.

Swoosh, swoosh—smack!

Haesu blocked every attack with a hardened expression.

Attacks that came to fixed locations were easy to defend. Besides, if Chang-gwi tried to stab, the special stab-proof vest would push back the parts taped to his arms, making it ineffective.

His strongest weapon—stabbing arteries for quick incapacitation—was effectively sealed.

But Chang-gwi was still Chang-gwi.

As Haesu lightly blocked an incoming slash and shoved with his shoulder, Chang-gwi stumbled back a few steps, then again lunged with his blade toward Haesu’s neck. Just as Haesu raised his guard, a knee strike flew in from his blind spot and hit his side.

Thud!

Feeling a sharp impact as if a rib had cracked, Haesu staggered sideways before regaining his stance.

Chang-gwi, pleased that his knee strike had landed properly, grinned.

The heavy sensation in his knee was immensely satisfying.

“Now what? Looks like you've got more places to guard.”

“You think you can win?”

But—

At Haesu’s heavy words, Chang-gwi’s face hardened rapidly. As he said, even with both hands intact—no, even stronger now—there seemed to be no hope of winning against Haesu.

Hadn’t he ultimately lost even when his hands were fine?

But Chang-gwi, who had never once fled from a one-on-one fight, continued his brawl with Haesu for the sake of his pride.

Slash, slash—bang, bang!!

Chang-gwi’s blade cut Haesu’s cheek and the back of his hand.

In that moment, Haesu grabbed Chang-gwi’s left arm, slammed him to the ground, and struck his chest with his elbow.

A tactic to sacrifice flesh and take bone.

“Gahk!”

Chang-gwi felt his breath cut off and his vision briefly darken. Only then did he set aside his unyielding pride.

With his stubbornness gone, a more brutal gleam filled his eyes.

He slashed at the back of Haesu’s hand, escaping his grip and rolling away to put distance between them.

Though only for a moment, they could now compare each other's condition.

Chang-gwi was barely breathing, ragged and worn. In contrast, Haesu had only minor scratches on his hand, neck, and cheek—he was still in one piece.

“Once my hand heals, you’re first. I’ll come find you. See you then.”

“Who said I’d let you go?!”

Though Haesu roared like a wild beast, Chang-gwi ignored him and bolted through the broken door. Because his ankle was twisted from the earlier slam to the ground, he limped as he fled.

Haesu quickly gave chase.

Tap tap—

“Ugh!”

On the path he had taken, a local Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit detective who had come after Chang-gwi late was clutching his neck and collapsing.

Haesu didn’t even check the wound, instead pulling out his phone and tossing it to him before continuing the chase.

Fortunately, the detective’s carotid artery wasn’t severed.

It was a mistake—and a stroke of luck—that would never have happened if Chang-gwi’s hands had been in perfect condition.

Tap tap tap—

The distance between the two narrowed.

No matter how quick Chang-gwi was, running away on a bad leg through maze-like alleys in a foreign land wasn’t easy.

When he was about to be caught, he seized a middle-aged man walking nearby and held a knife to his throat. The startled man flailed until he felt the blade and froze.

Even Haesu, who had charged in like a beast, came to an abrupt stop and stepped back.

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Shut up and back off.”

“Fine. Alright.”

Haesu held his palms up to show trust and stepped back. But his gaze remained locked on the enemy.

Chang-gwi, holding the middle-aged man hostage, quickly scanned the surroundings and retreated backward.

After moving several meters—

Two muscular men suddenly appeared at the fork. One of them was a detective Chang-gwi recognized—Oh Gaeng.

“Long time no see.”

“What the hell, you son of a bitch!”

Realizing he was surrounded, Chang-gwi tried to swing the middle-aged man toward them.

At that moment, the middle-aged man grabbed Chang-gwi’s collar and shouted—

“What do you think? They’re my teammates, you murderer bastard!”

At the same time, Team Leader Kwak tripped Chang-gwi’s leg and slammed him down.

Chang-gwi instinctively reached out to brace himself, but the blade touched the ground first, tearing the tape, and the knife fell away. His abnormal hand lacked the strength to bear his weight, and his wrist bent awkwardly.

The makeshift stitching tore open, his wrist split like a gill, and blood gushed out.

At that moment, the entire Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit pounced and pinned down his arms, chest, and lower body.

Haesu pressed his knee into Chang-gwi’s chest and smashed his face with an unrelenting punch.

“You…”

Smash!

“think…”

Smash!

“human lives…”

Crunch!

“are toys?!”

Crack!

“Hey, stop, stop!”

“Rookie! Grab him!”

The rookie and Oh Gaeng hurriedly restrained Haesu.

From the unrestrained fury of his blows, half of Chang-gwi’s face was crushed. One eyeball grotesquely bulged out.

But because Haesu had focused only on his face to avoid brain damage, Chang-gwi was still alive.

In Korea, it wouldn’t matter, but here, killing someone—even a criminal—complicates things. The team members desperately held Haesu back.

Though Haesu was a Korean officer, he could be treated as a civilian killing another civilian here.

“Urrgh…”

As Haesu regained his composure, Team Leader Kwak finally turned over the barely groaning Chang-gwi, cuffed him, and had two officers lift him by the arms.

“We finally caught this bastard.”

“So this is the infamous Mo Chang-gwi…”

The rookie felt a strange mix of emotions seeing such a terrifying criminal up close.

Despite his severe injuries, the senior members of the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit still watched him tensely—that sight felt deeply uncanny.

As he moved to carry him away, a man suddenly jumped out from the alley.

He was a local detective. And he was not in his right mind. His face was a mess of tears and snot, and his eyes were bloodshot red.

The shock of losing both his team leader and senior officer, comrades who had crossed the line of death with him over five years, had hit him hard.

“Th-that bastard, that bastard….”

Team Leader Kwak couldn’t communicate with him, but he gently patted the man’s shoulder and passed him by in a gesture of comfort.

Click.

Just then, a faint sound was heard. The team leader whipped around and shouted.

“No!!”

Bang!!

Before anyone could stop him, the detective pulled the trigger, shooting Mo Chang-gwi in the chest. The skin on Chang-gwi’s back burst open, and blood splattered on the youngest member standing behind him.

Haesu quickly twisted the detective’s arm, snatched the gun away, and threw him to the ground, pinning his back with a knee.

“He, he… has to die! That thing has to die!”

For a moment, the scene froze.

Mo Chang-gwi collapsed to the ground. The last remnants of consciousness slipped away completely.

After a few seconds of heavy silence, Team Leader Kwak cautiously pulled Haesu back and helped the detective to his feet. Then he turned to the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit members and spoke.

“This bastard came at us with a knife, so we returned fire. You all know, right? If he had a gun, I would've shot him myself.”

Everyone nodded silently. Without a translator, the local detective just sat down blankly on the spot.

Seeing that, the youngest approached him, handed back the gun, and used gestures and words to communicate his thoughts.

“That guy… attacked… we shot… that’s what we all believe… you’re not at fault… got it?”

The detective slowly lifted his head. His eyes, previously unfocused, seemed a bit more alert. He looked around at the Special Unit members and then bowed deeply to the team leader.

As the detective had hoped, the bullet that tore through Mo Chang-gwi’s lungs had already killed him by the time he was moved to the ambulance.

On the way to the hospital, the team leader asked the youngest from the car.

“Young one, I noticed earlier—you speak Japanese pretty well? When did you learn it?”

The youngest answered shyly and quietly.

“I didn’t really study it… just picked it up living here and there.”

“What? What’s with that tone?”

“Heh.”

“What is this… I suddenly feel like smacking you.”

The youngest returned to his usual speech only after getting his tongue caught by Oh Gaeng once.

With that, the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit wrapped up their 2-night, 3-day investigation in Japan and boarded the return flight to Korea with Mo Chang-gwi’s corpse.

Incheon International Airport, immigration area.

The detectives had rushed off to Japan with only one change of clothes each, so their clothing was still stained with blood.

Haesu, whose clothes were the most bloodstained, had tried to wash them in the restroom, but they only looked worse.

Disheveled, they disembarked the plane and began walking when several waiting reporters spotted Haesu and shouted.

“Hey, it's the Special Unit!”

“The Special Unit is back!”

Click click click!

Suddenly overwhelmed by camera flashes, the team members were visibly startled.

Just then, two stunningly beautiful women stepped forward from the crowd and raised their tablets.

[Chungnam Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit is the best!]

[Welcome back from catching the vicious criminal ^^]

They were Ahn Seo-eun and Haru. With their appearance, the reporters quickly redirected their cameras toward them.

“What’s this? What’s your relationship with the Special Unit?”

“Are you Detective Shin’s girlfriend?”

Ahn Seo-eun said nothing and simply smiled at the team members. Haru, seemingly having learned from Seo-eun, also gave a slightly awkward smile.

The team leader grinned as he looked at them.

“Korea sure is great. Thanks to our assault guy, my shoulders feel like they could pierce the ceiling.”

As they drew closer, Haru was the first to approach Haesu and bowed her head.

“You worked hard.”

Seo-eun then made eye contact with each team member and addressed the team leader.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. We’ll take you home.”

“Wow…!”

After handing over Mo Chang-gwi’s body to the Korean CSI team who had been called in advance, Seo-eun led the team to two luxury vans parked outside. At a glance, they looked brand new.

“Please ride whichever one is comfortable for you.”

The team leader quickly walked toward the front van.

“I’m getting in this one.”

“Ah, sir! Let me ride with you. Let the junior guys take the other van—I just want to nap quietly on the way.”

“Don’t snore.”

“I don’t snore, okay?”

The youngest bowed deeply to the team leader and Oh Gaeng, who were bickering in the van.

“Team Leader, Oh Gaeng, thank you for your hard work! See you at the office!”

Haesu also gave a polite nod beside him.

“Yes, good job to you too. Rest well on the way back.”

As their van departed, Haesu got into the second van, where Seo-eun and Haru naturally joined him.

At the front of Seo-eun’s van, Secretary Kang stared at her in disbelief.

She met his eyes and playfully waved her hand outside the car.

“Director Kang, go straight home. Shoo, shoo.”

“Ha… haha, understood. See you tomorrow.”

Inside the car.

With Seo-eun and Haru naturally sitting on either side of Haesu, the youngest was pushed to the back, sitting alone in awkward solitude.

But he was used to situations like this—he distracted himself with a video call to his girlfriend to ease the loneliness.

Haesu, already exhausted, found himself unable to say anything and simply stayed silent.

Seo-eun was the first to speak.

“I heard it was an incredibly dangerous criminal. I was really worried.”

“Yes, he was probably the worst among those I’ve ever caught….”

Just then, Haru, who had been staring straight ahead, suddenly turned and cut in.

“I was also very worried.”

“O-oh, yeah. Thanks.”

Not to be outdone, Seo-eun pointed at the back of Haesu’s hand with her index finger.

“Is this where that guy injured you?”

The distance between them was close enough to almost touch. From Haru’s perspective, it definitely looked like contact.

Haesu brushed over the back of his hand with his other hand, looking sheepish as he answered.

“Yes, well, it’s fine now… what are you doing?”

Haesu narrowed his eyes and turned his head slightly. Haru had poked his neck with her index finger.

“You were injured here too. If it had been two centimeters deeper, you wouldn’t have made it.”

Haesu gently took Haru’s finger and lowered it slowly.

“Yeah… it’s okay now.”

Seo-eun continued the conversation casually, but Haru stayed silent, her eyes fixed on Haesu’s wound.

After returning to the Gangjin Police Station and wrapping up the case, Haesu was on his way home.

When he stepped inside, Haru was sitting upright on the couch in the same bodyguard outfit she wore in the van earlier.

“What’s this? Why are you sitting like that? How long have you been there?”

Haru bit her lower lip and suddenly stood up.

“I’ve made a decision.”

“What decision?”

She clenched her small fist tightly and raised it to her chest.

“I’m going to become a police officer.”

“…What?”