WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 64: Fame Is Often Exaggerated (1)

──────

"So, who was the culprit?"

"How should I know, punk? Worry about the vomit on your clothes. You stink."

"What? When did that get there? Ah... Must've happened when I was helping that drunk woman earlier."

A few days after the dinner-expense case wrapped up on a pleasant note.

"Rookie, you free this weekend? My wife keeps insisting we have you over for dinner."

"Yes, I'm free."

"Then let's have dinner together."

Kang Jin-ho had been invited to Precinct Chief Raphael's home. Most Koreans would have reserved a restaurant and gone out for a meal together, but Raphael, as his name suggested, was from the West, so he had invited him over instead.

Officially, it was to encourage a subordinate who had worked hard. In truth, it was Raphael's way of repaying Kang Jin-ho for covering for him during the last case. His family had probably also made a fuss about wanting to meet the subordinate who had become so famous lately.

When the weekend came, Kang Jin-ho put on neat casual clothes for the first time in a while and knocked on the front gate.

"Welcome! I've heard so much about you."

"Ah, hello. Thank you for inviting me."

The precinct chief's wife, smiling warmly, greeted him. Behind her, a girl in a school uniform peeked out.

"...Hello."

"That's my daughter. She's in her second year of middle school. Say hello. He's one of Dad's coworkers. You know Officer Kang Jin-ho, right?"

"I already said hello..."

"Say it again."

"Hello..."

The daughter greeted him shyly as Raphael appeared behind her with a playful grin. His wife lightly smacked his shoulder.

Kang Jin-ho watched the family in silence, then suddenly remembered his own family back in Korea.

"..."

"Oh, I've kept you standing out here too long. Come in, come in."

It wasn't a particularly pleasant memory, so Kang Jin-ho quickly composed himself and stepped inside. When he sat at the dining table, the first thing he noticed was a large turkey.

"Um, I know this might not be the right place to ask, but..."

"Mmm, ask away. Make yourself comfortable."

"...Why did you invite Eun-yeong too?"

The next thing that caught his attention was Eun-yeong, sitting beside him.

Is this... a dream? Why is Eun-yeong here?

He secretly pinched his thigh, but all he felt was a sharp sting.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Raphael leaned closer and spoke in a low voice, looking confused.

"...Aren't you two dating? I asked Eun-yeong, and she said you were...?"

"...What?"

"I mean, come on. You go to crime scenes together, your desks are next to each other, you're always chatting while you work, and you only ever patrol with each other. I heard you two attended the Gallon family party together last time. And you're saying you're not dating?"

"..."

Kang Jin-ho parted his lips to argue, then simply shut them again.

When he thought about it, Raphael was right.

They came to work at similar times. They patrolled together. They went from scene to scene together. They had even attended a party together.

Objectively speaking, didn't that make them look like they were dating?

"Setting the precinct chief aside, why did you say we were dating, Eun-yeong?"

"Huh? I wanted to have dinner with the precinct chief too."

Eun-yeong answered with a bright smile, then leaned in to whisper in Kang Jin-ho's ear.

"Besides, you promised there was something you'd teach me. Didn't you?"

"...Well, this should be a lovely dinner."

Giving up in the end, Kang Jin-ho quietly picked up his fork and knife.

Dinner was lively and warm. The precinct chief's wife carved the meat herself and placed it in front of Kang Jin-ho, while Raphael enthusiastically recounted Kang Jin-ho's accomplishments in his usual cheerful voice.

By the time half the food had disappeared, everyone was sipping their drinks and chatting comfortably.

"Excuse me, unnie."

The precinct chief's daughter, who had been quietly eating the entire time, suddenly spoke to Eun-yeong.

"Why did you become a police officer?"

"Hm?"

"It's just... I have nothing to write for a career survey at school. You're really pretty, so I was wondering why you became a police officer."

"Mmm..."

Eun-yeong put down her fork and sank into thought. After a moment, she smiled gently.

"Because I was curious."

"Curious?"

"Yeah. I've always wondered why people do the things they do."

Eun-yeong's tone turned serious.

"Why does one person steal someone else's belongings while another gives away their own? Why can some people endure while others can't? I thought I'd learned a lot by looking around the world in my own way, but I still couldn't find an answer."

"Ah..."

"People who do good deeds are easy to find. You can just go see them because they aren't ashamed. But people who do bad things... usually hide. So I chose to become a police officer."

"So you didn't have some great sense of duty or clear purpose?"

"Sweetheart, you can become a police officer without that. What matters isn't your intention. It's what you're doing right now."

Raphael added, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. Kang Jin-ho stopped eating and stared blankly at Eun-yeong.

To be honest, he didn't know much about Eun-yeong as a person. All he knew about her was her notoriety, her unusual personality, and her face.

Yet just then, he felt like he had glimpsed who Eun-yeong really was. Maybe she had become a villain out of curiosity too.

If, if that was true... if even the same curiosity could lead somewhere different depending on its direction...

"Oh, that reminds me, Jin-ho."

Raphael set down his glass.

"Next month, the new rookie class will be assigned to their posts. We might get one at our precinct too."

"What? Already?"

"Already, my ass. You've been here for quite a while now. It means you're getting a junior."

Raphael chuckled as he refilled Kang Jin-ho's glass.

"Come to think of it, I won't be able to call you rookie anymore. From now on, I'll have to call you Officer Kang."

"..."

Rookie. It was the label that had followed him ever since he first opened his eyes in this city, but the time had come to shed it.

He'd been in this city for quite a long time now. Everything that had happened since then flickered through his mind like a distant memory.

A junior. I'm going to have a junior.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Looking a little sentimental, Kang Jin-ho clinked his glass against Raphael's.

* * *

After dinner, on the way home.

Kang Jin-ho and Eun-yeong walked down a relatively deserted alley. Perhaps the streetlights were broken, because only a few of them were lit.

"Ma'am."

After walking in silence for a long time, Kang Jin-ho spoke first.

"My ability isn't actually some kind of instinct."

"Hm?"

"My ability. It's not intuition or a gut feeling or anything like that."

Kang Jin-ho looked up at the dark sky and continued calmly.

"There's... something like an encyclopedia in my head. It has information about the incidents that happen in this city. That's why I can figure things out even when I only take a quick look at a case. When I try to make excuses for how I found out, the way I solved it ends up sounding forced."

"Hmm... So Lethe saw your encyclopedia."

Eun-yeong didn't look particularly surprised. She didn't ask any more questions either. She only slowed her steps and tilted her head.

"Why did you tell me the truth?"

The night breeze stirred Eun-yeong's long black hair.

"Did you want to be honest? Or..."

Eun-yeong trailed off and stared directly at Kang Jin-ho. Even in the darkness, her crimson eyes shone clearly.

"Was it a calculated move?"

"What?"

"You figured I'd find out sooner or later, so you thought it would be better to tell me first. Getting caught while hiding it would be the worst outcome, so it would be better to tell me willingly and earn at least some trust. That kind of calculation."

"..."

Kang Jin-ho didn't answer. What she said was partly true.

He was uneasy. Eun-yeong seemed to have already figured out part of it, and if that was the case, he wanted to show at least a little sincerity by laying his cards on the table first.

Still, there was more than one problem with telling her that outright.

As Kang Jin-ho wondered how to begin, Eun-yeong let out a small laugh.

"HiCiSi. Well, what does it matter if it's both?"

"You aren't angry?"

"Why would I be? Honesty calculated in advance and honesty that comes naturally, the result is still the same honesty."

Eun-yeong walked ahead with her hands clasped behind her back. Then she turned halfway around and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

"And Jin-ho, I don't dislike that you're calculating."

"...What?"

"Knowing there's an encyclopedia in your head is far less interesting than watching you struggle over whether to tell me about it. Information is just a tool, right? What matters is the person using it."

Eun-yeong openly admitted that she had been watching him, as if she no longer had any intention of hiding it.

"See you tomorrow~"

With that, she gave a light, fluttering wave and walked toward the other end of the alley. She passed beneath the streetlights, but no shadow fell at her feet.

"..."

Left alone in the darkness, Kang Jin-ho started to take out his phone, then let out a long sigh.

"Ah, shit... I don't want to go to work."

Now, he had no idea what was what anymore...

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried