By Zephyria 
—Team Leader, do you copy? Ddong-sik has arrived at the entrance.
Lee-eum brought the radio to his lips. “Understood. I’ll head in five minutes after arrival.” While steeling himself before the arrest, Jeong Nam-su was beside him, lowering the air conditioner temperature in the sweltering heat.
“Wow, it’s seriously hot. I feel like it gets hotter every year. I wonder if we’re all going to go extinct at this rate.”
I think he said something similar last year. Lee-eum let out a small chuckle and kept a close eye on the outside. He had received a tip that a drug deal would take place here early this morning. The location was a port far from Seoul, lined with massive containers.
This spring, Lee-eum was promoted and assigned to the narcotics investigation team. Three months later, a spot opened up on the team, and Jeong Nam-su applied, which is why they were now working together. As always, Jeong Nam-su adapted quickly, befriending the new team members.
Others envied him for becoming a team leader at such a young age, but in reality, there wasn’t much difference between being in the violent crimes unit and the narcotics team. If anything, there were more crazies here. Watching the drug-addicted scum he encountered day after day, there were times when he felt like he was losing his own mind.
While lost in thought, a photo arrived. In the picture, a Golden Retriever was smiling brightly. The dog’s name was Nup-juk, a stray he had picked up from a playground last winter. At first, he tried to find the owner, but since there was no chip or missing person report, Nup-juk was eventually adopted into Lee-eum’s home.
“Nup-juk has grown a lot.”
“Yeah. He seems to keep growing.”
When he first brought him home, the dog was so calm that he wondered if he was a senior dog, but that turned out to be a huge misconception. Exactly one week later, the dog began turning the entire house into a disaster zone. The vet told him the dog was less than a year old. He was still a baby. Perhaps that was why he was so curious, affectionate, and prone to causing trouble.
Just then, three black cars passed between the containers. Two were vans and one was a sedan. The tinting was too dark to see inside, but he guessed they were the thugs gathered for the drug deal.
Checking the time, Lee-eum departed exactly five minutes later. As they approached the destination with all lights off, he spotted the cars gathered in front of a container at the edge of the port. The team members following him all got out of their cars and lined up behind Lee-eum.
“Wow—this is huge. When is the backup arriving?”
“Why are you worried about that much? We have this, don’t we?”
Officer Choi, famous for his vigor, snapped open his expandable baton. While everyone was preparing and waiting in hiding, footsteps were heard from behind. He turned to see colleagues from Team 1.
“Sorry. I had a sudden urge to pee on the way here.”
At Team Leader Park’s words, Nam-su shook his head.
“If it’s that bad, shouldn’t you go to a hospital? That’s a serious condition.”
Team Leader Park flared up and scolded Nam-su.
“Team Leader Kim, how are you educating your subordinates? He’s talking back to me. Is this okay?”
Lee-eum forced a smile. Park was a man much older than him with a strong tendency to be a ‘kkondae,’ but he was someone with a lot to learn from. Others mocked him for his slouching shoulders, his habit of wearing toe socks, and the smell of a lonely bachelor, but few were as sincere about their work as he was.
“Oh, they’re here. They’re here.”
Someone spoke, and a group of men dressed in black was walking toward them from a distance. Seeing the black bags they carried, they were definitely the Russians who had come for the contact.
Everyone waited with bated breath, and a moment later, a man stepped out of a car. The man, with a cigarette in his mouth, was a handsome figure known by the nickname ‘Ddong-sik.’ It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most of the drugs currently circulating in Seoul came from this man.
“Here comes the Drug King.”
“Drug King my ass. He’s just a thug.”
“Ah, I feel like my bladder is about to burst again.”
“Hold it in, Team Leader. Just go over there and let it fly on those guys.”
“You crazy bastard. How can you say that? I have my dignity as a detective.”
While trivial conversation passed back and forth, the men opened the bags to verify something. Lee-eum took a deep breath and stood up. “Let’s go.” As he stepped out from the truck and approached the men, he sent a radio transmission.
Entering now.
No sooner had he spoken than colleagues sprang out from the opposite side. The drug addicts, realizing the situation too late, hurriedly grabbed their bags and began to flee. Lee-eum chased them with all his might. He had to catch them today. He couldn’t spend any more time on stakeouts. Because today was a truly important day for him as well.
“Isn’t he picking up?”
“Yeah. It says it’s turned off.”
“I’m going crazy! Seriously. Why is this guy like this?”
Kim Malk-eum was on the verge of tearing out her carefully styled hair. Inside, hotel staff were busy preparing for the meeting between the two families. The family members would be arriving one by one soon, yet the most important person wasn’t answering the phone.
Even when she called again, only a message saying the call couldn’t be connected played, and her anxiety was melting away to the point of flooding the floor. Then, Kim Mid-eum narrowed his eyes.
“Could he have run away?”
“What?”
“Maybe he realized he didn’t want to get married. Choi Won-joon is the kind of person who can be quite exhausting, after all.”
“Me?”
At the sudden voice, Kim Mid-eum startled and looked back. Choi Won-joon was standing there with a clean-cut face, though it was unclear when he had arrived. Kim Malk-eum grabbed him and checked if he had contact with Lee-eum. Upon hearing that he wasn’t answering, Choi Won-joon smiled with an apologetic expression.
“I think his phone got smashed during a dispatch at dawn. He just contacted me saying he’s on his way.”
Kim Malk-eum let out a sigh of relief but then snapped.
“He knows perfectly well that the family meeting is today, and he goes on a dispatch? Is he crazy?”
“Well, criminals don’t move according to a schedule. You two know that better than anyone.”
Since he wasn’t wrong, they both shut their mouths. Choi Won-joon slyly led Kim Malk-eum and Kim Mid-eum inside. He told them not to be angry and to wait, saying they should be understanding because he’s busy. Anyone else would have thrown a fit if their future spouse was late to a family meeting. The first thought that came to mind was that Choi Won-joon had a remarkably easygoing nature. Though, that was likely limited to Kim Lee-eum.
When the families arrived, Kim Malk-eum looked at her father with a very nervous expression. Chairman Choi Seung-gil and her father had barely managed to get on good terms, and they had even gone on a couple’s golf trip a month ago.
That was where the incident started. While playing golf, their competitive streaks kicked in, and they eventually fought to the point of almost swinging golf clubs at each other. Recalling that day, Madam Lee had lamented that she and her in-law were the most pitiful for having to live with two men who were old in body but children in spirit.
Even while the mothers of the two families were chatting affectionately, the two gentlemen exchanged tense glares. Kim Malk-eum already felt drained and only hoped this meeting would end peacefully. Just then, the door opened and Kim Lee-eum rushed in. Contrary to her worries, he was well-dressed, but he had a deep purple bruise on his face.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
As Lee-eum sat down, he looked at Choi Won-joon. Won-joon’s face contorted, and Madam Lee, who was beside him, gasped and screamed.
“Oh my goodness! What happened to my son-in-law’s face?”
Lee-eum rubbed his cheek with an awkward expression. During the arrest, clubs had been flying, and he thought he was fine since it was a glancing blow, but by morning, a deep purple bruise had surfaced. He tried to cover it, but since time was tight, he had no choice but to come as he was.
“Are you okay?”
As soon as Choi Won-joon asked, Madam Lee’s eyes welled up with tears. In contrast, his own family remained calm. They seemed to wonder why there was such a fuss over a single bruise on the face when it wasn’t like a limb was broken. Madam Lee, unable to bear it, asked for a piece of memo paper and told him to write down the name of whoever did this. That action made him burst out laughing involuntarily.
“Does my daughter-in-law’s mother like our son that much?”
At the blunt question from his father, Kim Chun-sam, Madam Lee smiled brightly.
“Of course I do. How lovely is he? You raised him so uprightly that just looking at him makes me happy. I’m so grateful to both of you. Don’t you feel the same when you look at our Won-joon?”
Lee-eum’s mother replied that it was only natural and that she had no regrets since her son had found such a wonderful partner. Kim Chun-sam, who had been silent, also mentioned that he was grateful she felt that way and that he liked Choi Won-joon as well.
Then, he suddenly offered a drink to Chairman Choi. He suggested they play golf just the two of them next time, and promised not to fight. Everyone burst into laughter at that, and the awkward atmosphere thawed, turning into a warm and friendly gathering.