#166. Peace. 2
* * *
Hye-rim Lee, who visited the chairman's house, went into the study.
Chairman Lee, who had been standing still and looking out the window, twisted his body and created a wrinkled smile.
“Are you here?”
"grandfather……."
Lee Hye-rim didn't know what to say.
The gaze looking at my grandfather was only wavering.
But soon he opened his mouth.
“Shouldn’t you be… at the hospital?”
The chairman smiled a little more deeply as he carried his luggage on his back.
“Is this why you’re so worried about Grandpa?”
"that is……."
Hye-rim Lee covered her mouth with her hand without realizing it.
My eyes became hot and then my eyes became moist.
My grandfather, who usually looked stiff and cold, looked completely different today.
His hair was as white as frost, and his shoulders looked small, as if they could hold a rock without shaking.
Wrinkled hands too.
Some people are afraid of this grandfather's appearance, while others admire him.
Some people call him cold-blooded.
Suddenly, he remembered his grandfather handing him a lollipop with his wrinkled hands when he was little.
“That’s so wonderful… … . Sit over there.”
Despite those words, when Lee Hye-rim failed to sit down, Chairman Lee approached her, patted her shoulder, and made her sit on the sofa.
The chairman also sat down and looked out the window for a moment.
“The weather is really nice today. It’s a good day.”
“Grandpa, you have to be hospitalized for now… … .”
Chairman Lee, who had been looking out the window, turned his gaze to her and cut her off.
“Hye-rim, it may seem a little early, but it’s natural. That’s how all things are. When you’re born, you grow, and when you stop growing, you grow old and get sick.”
Lee Hye-rim spoke hurriedly with reddened eyes.
“Grandpa, I’ll find a doctor. There might be a way to cure it. I… … .”
“It’s pointless. They said it could slow down the progress.”
Lee Hye-rim bit her lip.
Have you ever worried about your grandfather?
I don't think that's ever happened.
Because there was nothing to worry about for my grandfather.
But at this moment, he seemed pitiful, hopeless, and powerless.
“You know that it’s a secret that this old man is sick, right? Not even from your father.”
"……yes."
The chairman nodded.
The children could have bribed the doctors and kept their illness from them, and they could have taken advantage of the illness that was making them sick.
That could be the case.
Among spiders, there is a species called the leaf-sac spider.
They even offer their own bodies as food to their newly hatched chicks.
I think children might be like that.
Conversely, you may not be aware of your illness.
“Hye-rim, you did something wrong.”
Hye-rim Lee, who was hanging her head, shook her head slightly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Raise your head and look at this old man.”
She slowly raised her head and looked at Chairman Lee.
Immediately, the image of her grandfather appeared in Hye-rim Lee's eyes.
The smile he had been wearing before had disappeared without a trace, and he had turned into the indifferent, direct look in his eyes that he usually had on his grandfather.
“Once you find a weakness, you have to hold on to it until the other person falls over. You have to be selfish for yourself. It is a luxury to think of others within the same set time frame. You have to be stubbornly selfish. Otherwise, you will get stabbed in the back of the head.”
Lee Hye-rim shook her head.
“I can’t do that. I can’t do it, Grandpa.”
Chairman Lee, who had been expressionlessly blank, smiled again as if nothing had happened.
“Hye-rim, this old man has one favor to ask. Can you grant it?”
Lee Hye-rim nodded her head slowly.
My grandfather was not in a position to ask for a favor,
“Tell me everything, everything.”
“Will you be my personal assistant from now on?”
Lee Hye-rim's eyes widened. The tears that had been forming in her eyes suddenly fell.
"yes?"
“You know what I mean. As the illness worsens, your vision narrows and your thoughts become dark as if the lights were out. Your mind will also wander. Hye-rim, you will be my ears and mouth. Don’t worry. I will give you a generous salary. Hahaha!”
The salary that the chairman was talking about was not in terms of money.
It was possible to spin off an affiliate or transfer shares.
Because to become one's own ears and mouth, one must have that much strength.
The chairman never wanted his children to fight and roll in the mud, causing the Shinwha Group to falter.
Lee Hye-rim answered, wiping her eyes.
“Okay, I will, Grandpa.”
The chairman slowly nodded his head while looking at Lee Hye-rim.
“Sometimes, a selfless mind can come up with clever ideas.”
This was said about Lee Hye-rim.
“Hey, what kind of guy is Shin Woojin? He doesn’t seem like the type of guy who only sells Brain Food and grass, right?”
“I’m just… … . I’m a person who wants to try everything. I’m a person who definitely does what I want to do.”
“He’s a funny guy, Hye-rim.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“Keep that guy by your side. He’ll be a great help. Water him and give him some sun. Keep him like that.”
Lee Hye-rim nodded slowly.
"yes."
Grandfather couldn't help but not know.
I'm saying the opposite.
When I was thirsty, Woojin gave me water, and when it was shady, he gave me warm sunlight.
“I will do that.”
Several years have passed since then.
* * *
10 o'clock at night.
It was a bustling local area with many bars.
There was a man there who used a telephone pole as a toilet to take a nice pee.
Women passing by on the street frowned at the sight. But the man urinating had a smile on his face.
“Kk kk kk, you’re dying to see what’s mine, aren’t you bitches? Ah~ It’s so refreshing.”
He urinated with satisfaction and then pulled up his pants.
He was the one who came out on purpose even though there was a bathroom in the bar. When he turned around to go back into the bar.
“Fuck, this is surprising!”
The police were standing right behind him.
It was none other than Woojin.
“Sir, you have violated Article 3, Paragraph 1, Item 12 of the Minor Offenses Act. May I see your ID?”
He blinked his eyes and made a sly smile.
“Sir, I was in such a hurry. I couldn’t have wet my pants. Just give me a break.”
Woojin shook his head at his informal speech.
“You came out of the bar across the street called ‘Today is the only day’? Considering the distance between the bar and here, you could have held it in even if there were people in the bar’s bathroom. Judging by the amount of urine you released, I think it’s very likely that you came out on purpose. Sir, please give me your ID.”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t bring my ID.”
“Then please tell me your resident registration number.”
“Oh, I don’t know! How dare you be so rude. Just do what you’re told. Instead of going around catching people who need to pee, report them properly and on time! Don’t listen to the police and go around! You’re being rude.”
As he was about to sneak past Woojin, Woojin's voice grabbed his ankle again.
“I’ll work hard so that you don’t hear the sound of the police officer’s voice. And don’t feel too bad about it. Every year, the number of fines for public urination is between 7,000 and 9,000. If you don’t cooperate, you’ll be charged with obstructing official duties… … .”
He forced a smile again.
“Just let me see this once. I won’t do it again.”
“If you keep speaking to me so informally when we first meet, I too… … If you don’t pay within 10 days of receiving the notice, you will have to pay a surcharge.”
He swept his hair up.
“How old are you, kid?”
“I’m twenty-eight.”
“You still have blood on your head… Are you a police officer?”
“Hey. If you keep doing this, I’ll take you in for obstructing official duties.”
“Ha! Me too!”
“Hurry up and give me your ID. If you don’t have one, tell me your resident registration number.”
He couldn't say anything else and just threw his ID card at me as if it was dirty.
So Woojin paid the fine and got back into the car.
And he spoke to his senior, who was holding the steering wheel and had his eyes closed.
“Let’s go.”
The senior spoke with his eyes closed.
“It’s good to work hard, but if you deal with everything that’s obvious, you’ll get tired. We’re on patrol right now. Don’t forget that.”
It had already been two weeks since Woojin became a police officer.
"All right."
Woojin drove his car again to go on patrol.
Today is the weekend.
Weekends are a battle against drunkards who hang out like laundry.
The senior said.
“Oh my… … What kind of troubles will torment me today?”
at that time.
-… … Report received. Please dispatch a nearby patrol car. Please dispatch.
Woojin immediately grabbed the radio and answered.
“Officer Shin Woo-jin, let’s go.”
As Woojin put the radio down, the senior opened his eyes and looked at Woojin.
“Hey. Isn’t Officer Cho closer there? Haven’t you figured out the patrol location yet? Didn’t I tell you to memorize it?”
“I memorized it. But if you make a left turn ahead of me before Officer Cho, we’ll be faster.”
“Oh my… … Where did this come from. Okay, let’s go. Let’s go.”
The senior couldn't say anything more to Woojin.
The reason was that the guy knew the geography better than I did, as if it were my hometown.
Is that all?
I thought I could handle everything, from civil to criminal law, like a lawyer.
In that way, the car Woojin was driving was able to arrive at a residential area surrounded by rice paddies and fields.
It was a single-family house with a yard, just like you would find in a rural village.
In the yard there were people who looked to be in their early fifties gathered as if they were watching something.
“Who reported this?”
A woman who looked to be in her late 50s spoke in response to the senior's words.
“It’s me. I came here to give you some sweet potatoes. The door is locked from the inside and won’t open. And I think there’s a strange smell.”
The senior knocked on the door.
“Are you there? This is the police. Are you inside?”
But there was no answer as the reporter had said.
“I should get this… .”
The senior muttered and looked around. He was looking for a window.
At that moment, Woojin, who had called 119, approached from behind.
“Let me open it.”
What Woojin was holding was a hoe.
“You’re going to open the door with that?”
"yes."
“Try it.”
Woojin put the hoe through the crack in the door and started moving it around.
And then pull the doorknob.
Suddenly.
The door opened and the view inside the room was revealed. It was dark so I couldn't see very well.
The senior turned on the flashlight and illuminated the room.
And I could see.
A woman who appeared to be in her late 60s was lying on her side, not moving at all.
Her hair was dyed with blood, and it was Woojin who moved first.
He went right inside, felt her breathing, and felt her temperature and pulse with his hands.
“He passed away.”
The amount of bleeding was small, so I checked my abdomen to see if there was any possibility of intra-abdominal bleeding, but that wasn't the case.
The direct cause of death was death by blunt force trauma.
However, the amount of bleeding was significantly less.
As expected, it was the opposite of what Woojin had thought. The opposite meant that the murder scene was not the room.
At that moment, the senior spoke as if shouting.
“Don’t touch anything! Get out of there now. Quickly!”
Woojin left the room as if he was listening to his senior's words.
The senior spoke to Woojin again.
“Keep the residents out and stay calm. Okay? You’re a police officer. Stay alert!”
"yes."
Woojin went outside, asking the residents for their cooperation.
And while the senior was making contacts here and there, Woojin followed the small blood trail he had seen in front of the door.
It was dark so he couldn't see very well, but Woojin could see it clearly.
The bloodstains that appeared like water drops grew larger and more numerous.
* * *
That moment.
Someone came into the police station where Woojin was working.
“How did you come here?”
The man smiled faintly and looked around the inside of the police station.
None other than Prosecutor Kim Cheol-woong, no, now a member of the National Assembly.
“I told you, it’s really unique.”
Then the police asked.
“Huh? Are you… … Representative Kim Cheol-woong?”
Kim Cheol-woong nodded with a friendly smile.
“Thank you for your hard work. Where are you, Officer Shin Woo-jin?”
