#170. Peace. 6
“I’ll just eat one fish cake.”
Woojin's eyes, which were bringing the fish cake to his mouth, moved once more for an instant.
It was a woman selling yogurt.
She was selling yogurt, located across from the elementary school gate.
It was she who always appeared at this time.
And then they stay for 30 to 40 minutes and then leave.
I don't know about other people, but Woojin knew the reason very well.
We are waiting for a child named Semi, who is in the first grade of elementary school.
She shows up right at the end of the school day, gives Semi some milk or yogurt, and leaves.
Something strange was discovered there.
Even though she doesn't seem to be Semi's mother, she shows strong maternal love.
Actions like wanting to hug but hesitating and stroking the head, or the subtle expressions while looking at Semi are like that.
Every time I touch Semi's hand or stroke her hair, regret appears in the muscles of her face.
It means that the self-consciousness is fighting the unconsciousness.
Other people might think they were just acquaintances, but in Woojin's eyes, it looked a little different.
To put it into words, it's easy to think of it as just looking at and touching something you want but can't have.
It's the same today.
She waves as Semi comes out of the front door carrying a red bag.
Semi raises her hand bravely and crosses the crosswalk towards her.
She knelt down on one knee as if trying to get down to the child's eye level and stroked Semi's head.
He even touches up the way you dress.
She soon gave Semi a chocolate milk and gave yogurt and milk to Semi's friends.
Semi chatted with her a few more times, bowed, and headed to the snack bar.
It was where Woojin was.
She, who had been keeping her eyes fixed on Semi, took charge of the customer who came to buy yogurt.
“Hello?”
Semi nodded as she recognized Woojin.
Because I saw it a few times at the snack bar.
Woojin smiled faintly.
And then, feeling her gaze on him as he handed the yogurt to the guest, Woojin opened his mouth.
It was quite a deliberate act.
“Hello. Did Mom buy you some chocolate milk? It looks delicious.”
Woojin had said this to Semi before, but he asked again to confirm.
“No, he’s my mom’s friend.”
"friend?"
"yes."
Woojin nodded slightly and didn't say anything else.
I just took another piece of fish cake and put it in my mouth. No, I dipped it in soy sauce and ate it.
Because fish cakes taste best when dipped in soy sauce.
Just then a yogurt vendor approached us riding an electric scooter.
It was because Woojin looked suspicious while talking briefly with Semi.
She, who had been looking Woojin up and down from the electric kit, eventually erased her suspicious gaze, got down from the electric kit, and stroked Semi's head.
“Semi, don’t just eat tteok-kkochi. Eat kimbap and tteokbokki too. Auntie will buy you some.”
“Really?”
"then."
She smiled and patted Semi's head again, but Semi's face was conflicted.
“I told you that Mom is coming home early today and that we should eat together….”
She tilted her head at Semi's words.
“Mom, you went to work?”
“I said I was taking a vacation today and would come home early. I said I would buy a cake… .”
For a moment, a subtle expression appeared on her face and then disappeared in an instant.
A slight dilation of the pupil was observed.
She asked Semi worriedly.
“Vacation? Why?”
"I don't know."
She thought for a moment, then smiled again.
“You can eat cake and eat some more. Here, please give me some kimbap, tteokbokki, and sundae.”
Woojin left the place after seeing Semi smiling and her looking at him smiling again.
Then I returned to the car, changed into my police uniform, and watched from afar.
She wiped Semi's mouth and took care of her various things as if she were a very young child.
Woojin nodded, muttering briefly.
“Excessive consideration and overprotection destroy independence.”
If you are designed from such a young age, you will inevitably end up maladapted to society.
But that wasn't the problem.
The problem that Woojin was looking at was why she was acting this way.
Unusual behavior and psychological emotions displayed on her face.
And the dilation of pupils that responded to the word vacation.
An algorithm began to form clearly in Woojin's head.
As time passed, she waved goodbye to Semi and left.
Woojin started the car at the same time.
Tutututututu.
The police car began to move with the sound of stone dust crunching against its wheels.
* * *
Kim Cheol-woong was sitting in his office, tapping his fingers on the table.
Woojin's special promotion was nothing more than a phone call.
A police officer who solved a murder case.
Arrested after a dangerous duel with a knife-wielding criminal.
The article that was to be published in the press had already been prepared.
They were just waiting for Kim Cheol-woong's signal.
“I’ve come to have these kinds of worries as I live. Oh, really.”
Kim Cheol-woong found it funny that he was worrying about something.
Anyone could see that it was a special promotion, and it was a position that no police officer would turn down.
But Woojin is different.
He was the kind of guy who could kick down the office door and come barging in, asking why I gave him a promotion.
Kim Cheol-woong got up from his seat and approached the window.
If Woojin continues to receive special promotions and rapid promotions, how far can he go?
at that time.
It seemed like Woojin's words that I had heard at the pork belly restaurant were tickling my ears.
'Congressman Kim Cheol-woong, I'm fine with it as it is.'
Kim Cheol-woong rubbed his chin.
Then, as if asking a question, he suddenly started talking.
“What’s the difference between a police officer and a sergeant? Huh? Isn’t it just a difference?”
But then you become a sergeant in less than a month.
Just then the secretary opened the door and came in.
“Did you call?”
Kim Cheol-woong asked, scratching his cheek.
“Was my voice loud?”
"yes?"
“No, I didn’t call.”
As soon as the secretary left, Kim Cheol-woong immediately brought the cell phone to his ear.
It was a call to detective Kim Tae-hyun.
“It’s me.”
-Yes, sir. Did you have a nice time meeting Woojin?
“I thought you looked more handsome in the time since I last saw you.”
-Why did you call?
Kim Tae-hyun's voice was blunt, but full of affection.
It wasn’t just a matter of seeing each other once or twice, and I had spent more than a year or two with Kim Chul-woong on various incidents.
It was the same for Kim Cheol-woong.
The two were like a connection that was connected by Woojin.
“This time, Woojin is going to be promoted. What do you think?”
-What are you talking about all of a sudden? Are you talking about a gift or something?
Because it was Woojin who helped Prosecutor Kim Cheol-woong become a member of the National Assembly.
“The day I came, the culprit was still being caught. Murder, man, criminal.”
-… … .
“Isn’t that enough to warrant a promotion?”
-I think so too… but do you think Woojin will like it?
“That’s what I’m saying.”
-Just ask Woojin.
“Of course he’ll say it’s okay. The other cops will probably say it’s normal and refuse once.”
-Then ask me three times. I'm busy. I'll hang up now.
The call ended like that, and Kim Cheol-woong put one hand on his side.
“I… really. It’s so damn hard to pay off debts.”
Kim Cheol-woong, who had been muttering, spoke again as if shouting.
“I don’t know. I do whatever I want. I don’t know! I don’t know!”
* * *
Meanwhile, Woojin was looking at the villa Semi was in from inside his car.
The time is 4 p.m.
Then I got a call from my senior.
-Are you still at the police station?
“No, I was just trying to get back.”
-Is it really okay if I don't go to the hospital?
“Yes. I’m already better.”
At that moment, Woojin saw a woman who looked to be in her late 30s walking towards him.
“I will return now.”
-okay.
After finishing the call, Woojin got out of the car and approached the woman.
She looked a lot like Semi, her body was tilted in a way that made her unconsciously head towards the villa, and most of all, she was holding a cake in her hand.
Woojin said, looking at the white medicine bag sticking out of her bag.
“Excuse me. I would like to ask you something.”
She was walking with her eyes on the ground for a moment, then she lifted her head and brushed her hair.
The sweat that had formed on Woojin's forehead was captured in his vision.
She nodded slightly after confirming that Woojin was wearing a police uniform.
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“Have you seen a man wearing a black hat and a white long-sleeved T-shirt on your way here?”
Her pupils rose unconsciously as if she was reminiscing about the past. It was only for a moment.
“No, I don’t think I’ve seen it. Is there something going on in the neighborhood?”
Woojin shook his head.
“It looks like someone stole bread from the convenience store.”
“Ahh… … I don’t think I’ve seen anyone like that on my way up.”
“Okay, but are you okay? You seem uncomfortable somewhere. Is there anything I can help you with?”
People tend to unconsciously close their eyes when they feel dizzy or vertigo.
The idea is to temporarily block out your vision to calm the brain from the overwhelming amount of information being sucked into it.
It was in the same context that Semi's mother briefly fixed her gaze on the floor.
Her symptoms include dizziness, sweating, and mild pupillary constriction.
She smiled and said in response to Woojin's worried question.
"are you okay."
“I have one more question. I heard that the man in the black hat was also holding a blue heater. Is that by any chance…?”
“I don’t think I saw it. Oh, sorry. I need to go to the bathroom right now.”
Woojin nodded and made way.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
“Good luck.”
As she said that, she moved a little faster than before.
Woojin watched her like that from behind.
Dizziness, sweat, and toilet.
I took a vacation because I wasn't feeling well.
And someone welcomes that vacation.
Woojin took a deep, slow breath.
Semi's mother also gives off a distinct vegetable smell.
Semi, her mother, and the yogurt vendor, another shadow seemed to catch Woojin's eye.
Woojin, who had been quietly looking at the third floor, started to search through the trash cans nearby.
As time passed, darkness fell over Semi's house.
* * *
The senior asked Woojin, who was driving and patrolling.
“Are you really just an acquaintance?”
He was asking about his relationship with Rep. Kim Cheol-woong.
“Yes. I have known him since the days when he sent me as a prosecutor.”
“Wow… … You’ve got some solid connections. You’re a goldmine. A goldmine. But judging by the fact that you even came to see me, I guess we’re not ordinary friends.”
“It’s annoying sometimes.”
The senior blinked.
The congressman is annoying… .
At that moment, Woojin's cell phone vibrated.
There was no caller's name, only a number.
But Woojin could intuitively sense who it was.
“Yes. This is Officer Shin Woo-jin.”
-Ah, mister. Black! Black! Sob~!
Woojin immediately turned the steering wheel at Semi's tearful voice.
It was Woojin who handed Semi his business card when she entered the house.
“I’ll go now.”
The car tilted as I made a sharp left turn.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“A report has been received.”
Stop it before it happens.
