Team Dinner
"It's fine. You guys go without me."
Team 3 office.
Detective Kim Seok-ho shook his head at the proposal to go for a team dinner.
"Let's go together, Detective Kim."
Ju-won approached Detective Kim Seok-ho. However, perhaps Ju-won makes him uncomfortable.
When Detective Kim Seok-ho shook his head without a word, Officer Han Geon-woo grabbed his arm.
"Detective. It's beef, beef! Plus, Chief Myeong is treating us, so there's no price limit, let's go!"
His eyes seemed to waver slightly at the mention of beef, but Detective Kim Seok-ho soon shook his head firmly.
Then Officer Han clung to him.
"Why are you like this, Detective Kim! Do you perhaps dislike beef? Then although it's a shame, shall we switch to pork?"
Still, his expression remained firm.
Detective Kim Seok-ho opened his mouth.
"It's not that, I'm not in the mood to eat."
Sighing like that, it seemed he wouldn't participate in the dinner.
"Isn't this illegal? The meat is melting in my mouth? Are there drugs in the meat?"
A short while later, a restaurant near Gangjung Police Station.
Detective Kim Seok-ho, with wide eyes, is putting beef into his mouth successively.
He definitely seemed to say he wouldn't go, but he is eating incredibly well.
"Slurp. I really think we need to test this. Why is it so addictive? Did they really put something in it?"
Looking at Detective Kim Seok-ho eating the meat most deliciously, Officer Han looked at him with an incredulous expression.
"Detective Kim, you said you weren't in the mood to eat..."
"Officer Han, do you act on your moods?"
"...Yes?"
"Regardless of how you feel, you have to do what needs to be done, don't you? Professionally."
"Ah..."
He didn't seem to have this kind of personality originally.
Just as Officer Han Geon-woo tilted his head,
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu raised a glass filled to the brim with alcohol.
"Come on now, since the Chief is treating with his personal card today, let's eat until our stomachs burst."
"Yes sir!"
The team members, including Ju-won, raised their glasses high.
"Let's drain the bank account of Chief Myeong, who roasts us about performance every time! Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
Just as the glasses of the Violent Crimes Team 3 members clinked.
"Were you talking about me?"
Chief Myeong Geon-hyeong appeared.
"Chief!"
Everyone put down the glasses they were holding and stood up.
"I think I heard my name."
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu waved his hand quickly.
"Eh-hey, not at all. You must be tired lately, hearing auditory hallucinations."
"I was tired, but thanks to Team 3, I think I can sleep with my legs stretched out today. Good work."
The team members shouted.
"Thank you!"
Chief Myeong Geon-hyeong burst into a chuckle at the booming voices.
"I didn't know you were guys who could square your shoulders like this; seeing you always shrinking away, I thought you were just narrow-shouldered guys."
"Chief, you haven't eaten, have you? Join us before you go."
"Team Leader Gu acting generous with my card? Forget it."
Chief Myeong took his wallet from his inner pocket and pulled out a card.
"Eat until you burst, as this might be the first and last team dinner."
"Yes sir!"
Having handed over the card like that, Chief Myeong Geon-hyeong leisurely left the restaurant.
"Auntie, 4 more servings of beef here please!"
"Please give us 2 soybean paste stews as well!"
By the time the grill was changed a few times and the stomachs of the Team 3 members were full.
"Haa."
A deep sigh burst out from one side of the table.
It was Detective Kim Seok-ho.
Empty soju bottles lined up in front of him.
While everyone was filling their stomachs with meat, he had been filling his stomach with alcohol from midway.
"Team Leader, shouldn't we stop Detective Kim?"
Unable to watch any longer, Officer Han Geon-woo voiced his concern.
Then Team Leader Gu Jin-gu glanced at Detective Kim and shook his head.
"Leave him be, he's having a hard time lately."
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu, perhaps a little drunk too, gulped down water with a flushed face.
Watching Team Leader Gu, Terra's voice was heard in Ju-won's head.
[Generally, the recommended daily alcohol intake for an adult male is a maximum of 2-3 glasses. Excessive consumption may pose a risk of liver disease or heart disease in the long term.]
'I know that too.'
[Detective Kim Seok-ho seems not to know.]
Ju-won glanced at Detective Kim Seok-ho.
'He probably knows. But sometimes when things are tough, there are times you want to do things excessively, aren't there?'
[There is a saying that too much is as bad as too little.]
They say artificial intelligence functions develop further through continuous learning, and it seems that saying is true.
Somehow, compared to when they first met, Terra seems to speak more.
'Yeah, you're so smart.'
[Mr Ju-won, please drink just one glass.]
'Me? Why?'
[Will you not look at the analysis book today? You haven't studied at all for the past few days to catch Kim Gap-du. Remember, you caught Kim Gap-du because you studied. Not because you drank alcohol.]
It seems certain that the nagging is progressively developing.
Just as Ju-won was calming Terra inwardly saying he understood.
"Inspector Lee."
Detective Kim Seok-ho called Ju-won with a heavily slurred voice.
"Yes, Detective Ki..."
"Are you happy acting all high and mighty by yourself?"
"Pardon?"
Detective Kim Seok-ho, with a bright red face, looked at Ju-won with unfocused eyes.
Like a person just before making a mistake at a drinking party.
Noticing Detective Kim's condition, Officer Han Geon-woo quickly stopped him.
"Detective Kim, you seem very drunk, I think you should go home now..."
"Tsk! Quiet!"
However, it seems he is quite drunk.
Detective Kim Seok-ho, shaking off Officer Han Geon-woo's hand, shouted looking at Ju-won.
"Inspector!"
"Um, Detective. Before you really make a mistake..."
"I have something to say! Be quiet!"
Unable to watch any longer, Team Leader Gu also stopped him.
"Detective Kim, no. You're too drunk. If you have something to say, tomorrow..."
"Yes! I admit it! You're great! So you're even more annoying! Inspector Lee, looking at you makes me feel so pathetic!"
"Huh?"
But what is this sudden confession?
Ju-won, Officer Han, and Team Leader Gu blinked.
"Even without family to rely on, you live so diligently, who am I to... who am I to act like that... even though you outrank me, I'm older... it's embarrassing."
As if reflecting on his past actions, Detective Kim Seok-ho bowed his head.
The restaurant was quiet for a while.
Then, glug glug.
Detective Kim Seok-ho poured alcohol into his glass, but Ju-won snatched that glass away.
"If you drink too much, your mother will be worried."
"Inspector Lee..."
Tears flowed from Detective Kim Seok-ho's eyes.
"I'm sorry, I was wrong all this time."
"It's fine, I understand."
"To such a generous person, I... I'm sorry..."
The drunk Detective Kim Seok-ho hugged Ju-won, and the flustered Ju-won soon hugged him back.
Officer Han and Team Leader Gu watched Ju-won and Detective Kim Seok-ho become close for the first time.
"Are you two filming a drama?"
Eventually bursting into laughter, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu picked up his cigarette pack and stepped out of the restaurant.
"Phew, youth, it's youth."
In front of the restaurant.
Chii— click.
With a cigarette in his mouth, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu took out his mobile phone.
However, a new message popped up on the phone. It's his wife.
Team Leader Gu pressed the call button.
"Oh, honey. I'm at the team dinner right now..."
-I heard the culprit attacked with a box cutter? You aren't hurt anywhere, right? You weren't stabbed, right? Not even scratched? No blood, right?
Team Leader Gu burst into a smirk at his wife's rapid-fire nagging.
"He didn't attack me. I wasn't there at that time, don't worry."
-Phew, that's a relief. Then who did he attack? Did anyone get hurt?
"Inspector Lee. You know, you remember him? The friend you said was too handsome to be a police officer."
-Oh my! Is Inspector Lee okay?! He isn't hurt anywhere, right? Did you take him to the hospital?
"Hahaha, goodness, not even a hair on him was hurt. Maybe they planned the operation well with Officer Han, they say Officer Han fired a Taser gun from behind. But I'm a little sad, somehow your voice sounds more worried about Inspector Lee?"
-Anyway, this pot-bellied husband! Would I really mean that? I'm worried because Inspector Lee is someone's child too. Anyway, so much jealousy.
"Is that true?"
-Would it be fake then?
"But the word pot-bellied is a bit hurtful..."
-Then lose some weight! I'm hanging up now, I have to go into a meeting. Don't come home too drunk.
"Alright, work hard."
Putting down the phone, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu smiled with the cigarette in his mouth.
It's been a happy day after a long time.
Case resolution, teamwork, the dark clouds are clearing and the sun is coming out.
Just as Team Leader Gu exhaled cigarette smoke, the phone rang again.
This time it was a call from Chief Myeong Geon-hyeong.
"Yes, Chief."
A short while later.
The dinner table is quiet.
Perhaps because of Detective Kim Seok-ho, who is completely drunk and sleeping with his head on the table.
Officer Han and Ju-won are drinking quietly.
"I'll go to the toilet for a moment."
"Ah, right."
Officer Han headed to the toilet, and
Just in time, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu returned to the table after finishing his call.
"Good work, Inspector Lee."
"Team Leader."
As Team Leader Gu Jin-gu poured alcohol into Ju-won's glass, Ju-won shook his head.
"Not at all, we caught him all together."
"Let's be honest with me. Without you, we couldn't have caught him. A week? A month? No, even if given a year, we wouldn't have found a single hair of Kim Gap-du. Ah, and this."
Snatching Ju-won's glass and downing the alcohol, Team Leader Gu handed over a memo paper from his pocket.
"What is this?"
"The phone number of the reporter who scheduled the interview. It's a KBN reporter, says they want to interview you."
Thud!
Emptying the glass, Team Leader Gu patted Ju-won's shoulder.
"First broadcast debut, congratulations."
"If it's an interview, we should do it together, why..."
"We were going to do it together. Our youngest is in their second year of middle school and really likes celebrities on TV. If this dad went on TV, they'd probably brag about it for a year? But."
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu's gaze turned to Detective Kim Seok-ho.
"Initially, the KBN reporter wanted everyone to do it together, but Detective Kim opposed it."
"Pardon?"
"I was next to the Chief when the call came from the KBN reporter, and he adamantly opposed it. Doing it all together. Saying your contribution was too great, no, practically like you solved it alone."
"...."
"Inspector Lee."
"Yes."
"You will be able to do it. Because you have justice and ability."
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu patted Ju-won's shoulder with his thick hand.
And simultaneously, Terra's voice overlapped.
[Correct. Mr Ju-won can do it.]
🔥 Hey legends! Quick updates! 🔥
💥 Can't wait for the next chapter? Good news—ALL advance chapters are available on Patreon for just $5! No more waiting, just pure binge-reading goodness! 🚀
👉 patreon.com/cyci07
✨ Power Stone Challenge! ✨
If we hit 100 power stones, I'll drop 2 bonus chapters! Let's see if you guys can make me suffer! 😂
💬 Enjoying the story? Leave a review and let me know your favorite moment so far! It helps the novel grow and reach more readers!
Thanks for all your support—you guys are awesome! ❤️
_________________________________________________________________________
🔥 Hey legends! Quick updates! 🔥
💥 Support me on my Patreon account!
👉 patreon.com/cyci07
✨ Power Stone Challenge! ✨
If we hit 100 power stones, I'll drop 2 bonus chapters! Let's see if you guys can make me suffer! 😂
💬 Enjoying the story? Leave a review and let me know your favorite moment so far! It helps the novel grow and reach more readers!
Thanks for all your support—you guys are awesome! ❤️