Episode 5: With Reason, Not Emotion
The article had garnered around 500 comments, and the response was decent.
- Watched the full CCTV footage, and it’s hilarious. The other cops didn’t even understand what was happening and were trying to stop the officer at the checkpoint.
- This cop’s crazy. Caught a murderer on a hunch. Insane.
Of course, not all the comments were positive.
- Gogeon Police Station? Isn’t that where the cop who got scared of thugs is from?
└ Yup, that’s the place. And this cop is that cop.
└ For real? It’s really the same guy?
└ Scared of thugs but not a murderer?
└ Isn’t this some staged case for media play?
But those comments had low upvotes, and rebuttals filled the replies below.
- Staging a case by creating a murderer? People who believe that are seriously dumb.
- These kinds of people are why hardworking cops lose their drive.
It had been a few months since Jin-woo fled from thugs.
For most people, that incident was a distant memory.
And now, a new memory was taking its place.
“The precinct chief and reporters are coming at noon, so hurry up and get changed,” the station chief said.
There was only one reason the precinct chief was coming with reporters.
The Seoan City Police Department had been under fire because of the thug incident.
But catching a murderer by chance had given them an opportunity to restore their reputation.
The precinct chief was eager to use the media to his advantage.
Thanks to that, the station chief was thrilled.
Ever since the thug incident, he’d been walking on eggshells around the precinct chief, but now he could finally hold his head high.
“Hurry up and change! They might take photos, so fix your hair too.”
Jin-woo went to the locker room, changed into his uniform, and came back out.
Team Leader Oh Sung-min stood beside him.
“Watch your words in front of the reporters.”
Oh Sung-min was worried.
Since Jin-woo’s amnesia, his personality had changed.
His confidence bordered on arrogance, seeping into his tone and demeanor.
Oh Sung-min patted Jin-woo’s arm with a friendly smile as the precinct chief and reporters stormed in.
Jin-woo, the station chief, and Oh Sung-min stood side by side, saluting.
The reporters captured the moment, and the precinct chief approached Jin-woo.
His gaze was peculiar—a mix of admiration for catching a murderer and disdain for the embarrassment caused by the thug incident.
But the precinct chief was a professional.
He quickly dropped the odd look, smiled, and shook Jin-woo’s hand.
“Keep that sense of duty and protect the public’s safety.”
“Yes, sir!”
That was it.
The precinct chief said a few more pleasantries, then turned to leave.
Having achieved his goal of taking photos with Jin-woo, he had no reason to stay.
The man had used Jin-woo, who’d worked all night, and left without a care.
But Jin-woo’s schedule wasn’t over.
The reporters swarmed him.
“How did you know he was a murderer?”
“Did you really figure it out in one go?”
Jin-woo broke a sweat answering, but the interview went smoothly.
Then one reporter stirred trouble.
“Officer Lee Jin-woo? You’re the one who got into a car accident while running away, right?”
“Yes.”
“You caught a murderer, so why did you run from those thugs back then?”
The label of the cop who fled would follow Jin-woo for life as long as he lived as Lee Jin-woo.
The problem was, he had no memory of that incident.
At that moment, Oh Sung-min stepped in.
“That incident happened when Officer Lee Jin-woo was off duty, trying to stop a group of drunk thugs from assaulting a citizen. There were seven of them. Is it easy to take on seven thugs alone, without backup?”
Oh Sung-min passionately defended him.
He explained that while Jin-woo was intervening, the citizen escaped, but unfortunately, the thugs turned on Jin-woo.
They attacked him with wooden bats, leaving him no choice but to retreat.
“I’d like to ask you reporters: He sacrificed himself to save a citizen. Does that make him a pathetic cop?”
“…”
“Or does he have to fight seven thugs like in a movie to be a cool cop?”
The reporters nodded, scribbling down Oh Sung-min’s words.
By 1 p.m., the reporters finally left.
“Let’s have a smoke and go home to sleep. Man, I’m exhausted,” Oh Sung-min said.
Jin-woo and Oh Sung-min went to the rooftop.
As Oh Sung-min lit his cigarette, Jin-woo asked,
“Is that true?”
“What?”
“That I was off duty, saving a citizen, and there were seven thugs…”
Oh Sung-min grinned slyly.
“Kid, it’s a lie.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry about it. No one’s going to file a complaint, and reporters eat up stories like that. Did you see their faces? They loved it.”
Oh Sung-min stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.
Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Jin-woo.
“Oh, right. They’re wiping your disciplinary record clean.”
“What?”
“You caught a murderer. They’re clearing it as a reward.”
That was welcome news.
Jin-woo had thought the precinct chief was just using him, but this was a good deal.
To climb the ranks, it was best to erase any trace of a disciplinary record.
Leaving the police station, Jin-woo didn’t head home.
Dragging his tired body, he boarded a bus.
Originally, his plan for the day was to nap briefly, wake up at 1 p.m., and visit a certain place.
Now, sitting in the back of the bus, he closed his eyes for a moment as he headed to his destination.
He arrived in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do.
Jin-woo walked through the village with familiar steps and soon reached the base of a small mountain.
‘Let’s climb.’
The slope was steep, but he ascended without stopping.
By the time he reached the summit, it was 5 p.m.
Standing there, Jin-woo gazed at the open view across from him.
The mountain opposite belonged to Baek Dong-ha.
He had a private villa there.
In the summers, he used to bring his children to dip their feet in the valley—a memory that was beautiful then but now felt horrific.
‘Enough.’
He hadn’t come here to dwell on painful memories.
Across the way, Baek Dong-ha’s mother rested.
Jin-woo took a bottle of soju from the plastic bag he’d brought.
He filled a cup and placed it toward the direction of her grave.
“Mother… your unworthy son, Dong-ha, is here.”
The reason Jin-woo came was to deliver a message to Baek Dong-ha’s mother.
He had never called Lee Jin-woo’s mother “Mother.”
But he couldn’t live like that forever.
From now on, he had to call her “Mother.”
He thought it was only courteous to the original Lee Jin-woo and his family.
But first, he needed to pay his respects to his real mother.
“I’m sorry, Mother…”
His mother had left only one dying wish:
“Siblings must stay close and care for each other.”
Baek Dong-ha had failed to keep that promise.
He had a younger brother.
They had started Jinbaek together, enduring tough times side by side.
But as Jinbaek grew, greed for money destroyed their brotherly trust.
His brother had schemed to take over Jinbaek, colluding with politicians to send Baek Dong-ha to prison.
But there are no secrets in this world.
Baek Dong-ha learned of the plan and acted first.
His brother ended up in prison instead.
“…I’m sorry.”
Jin-woo pressed his forehead to the ground, sobbing.
He had sacrificed his brother to protect Jinbaek, only for it to be stolen by Jo Hak-ju and Jin Woo-ryung.
He had no face to show his mother.
After sobbing for a long while, Jin-woo stood up.
He poured the remaining soju into the air and made a vow.
“When I return, I will have destroyed everything.”
With that, he turned away.
His eyes gleamed colder than ever.
Climbing the mountain had taken nearly two hours, but descending was quick.
Reaching flat ground, Jin-woo brushed the dirt off his clothes and headed back to the village.
The world had already darkened.
In this rural area with no streetlights, night fell faster than expected.
In the distance, he saw a car’s headlights.
But the headlights were swerving erratically.
It was obvious the driver was drunk.
‘Even here, there’s a crazy bastard.’
Jin-woo quickly stepped to the side of the road.
He pulled out his phone to report it to the police.
But as the car approached, his brow furrowed.
‘No way.’
It was the white Bentley he’d bought for his youngest daughter, Baek Seo-yeon.
Of course, it wasn’t the only white Bentley in South Korea.
But its destination was clear.
Despite swerving, it was heading straight for Baek Dong-ha’s villa.
As it drew closer, it became undeniable.
The license plate.
It was Seo-yeon’s car.
And then, a deafening crash! echoed through the air.
The car had crashed.
White smoke rose from the hood, and the tires screeched, still spinning as if the accelerator was pressed.
At that moment, something else appeared before Jin-woo’s eyes.
***
Scene:
Baek Seo-yeon was anxiously biting her nails, staring at a laptop.
The screen displayed article headlines:
[MC Jung-geun Secretly Drugged a Woman’s Beer]
[Suspicious Cover-Up by Jinbaek Entertainment. Mass Contract Terminations by Jinbaek’s Actresses]
[Jinbaek Entertainment’s Stock Plummets!]
Baek Seo-yeon slammed her laptop shut in frustration.
“What the hell are they doing?!”
***
That was it.
Jin-woo’s vision returned to reality.
‘…Drugs? MC Jung-geun?’
Jin-woo didn’t know who MC Jung-geun was.
He could only guess that some incident might erupt because of him.
But that wasn’t the priority right now.
His gaze turned to the Bentley, smoke billowing from its hood.
The tires were still spinning with a loud whine.
Jin-woo rushed to the car and peered inside.
The windows were heavily tinted, and it was night, making it hard to see.
But it was clear Baek Seo-yeon was alone.
He tried opening the car door.
As expected, it was locked.
It wouldn’t budge.
Jin-woo picked up a large rock and hurled it at the passenger-side window.
Crash!
The expensive car didn’t break easily.
He threw the rock again—one, two, three times.
It still didn’t shatter.
But he couldn’t stop.
He kept throwing—one, two, three more times.
Jin-woo couldn’t pinpoint what he was feeling.
Was it the desire to save the daughter he’d raised for decades?
Or was it the urge to seize the opportunity tied to an incident that might involve Baek Seo-yeon?
Smash!
The window finally shattered, and Jin-woo hurriedly opened the door.
A pungent smell of alcohol stung his nose.
As expected, she’d been driving drunk—completely wasted.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.
He checked Baek Seo-yeon’s condition.
Thankfully, she wasn’t dead.
Her injuries weren’t severe.
She was just unconscious.
Jin-woo’s actions were swift.
He dragged Baek Seo-yeon out and left her in a safe spot.
Then he rummaged through her belongings, found her phone, and called her secretary.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“This is Yangpyeong. Your lady’s been in an accident.”
“…What? An accident?”
“Come quick, before anyone else notices.”
Jin-woo ended the call and ran a hand over his face.
He slowly looked at Baek Seo-yeon.
He’d vowed that the next time he saw her, he’d kill her.
But his heart ached.
It felt like it was being torn apart.
Letting go of the bond he’d built wasn’t easy.
He could still imagine her running to him, calling out, “Daddy!”
But Jin-woo shook his head.
That was enough sentimentality.
Baek Seo-yeon was Jo Hak-ju’s daughter.
To start his ruthless revenge, he had to throw useless emotions in the trash.
He had to act with reason, not emotion.
That was his resolve.
Moments later, a black car pulled up.
A woman in a black suit stepped out—her short, neatly cropped hair giving her a sharp, charismatic look.
‘Kim Ji-won.’
Jin-woo knew her well.
Her name was Kim Ji-won, Baek Seo-yeon’s secretary, who held a law degree.
He remembered picking her himself.
“You’re the one who called?”
“Yes.”
Kim Ji-won gave Jin-woo a brief nod, then hurriedly checked on Baek Seo-yeon and the car.
After confirming everything was alright, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
“No need for thanks.”
“But why didn’t you call the police?”
Jin-woo gave a cold smile.
“Oh, I am the police.”