Chapter 4 - Seoul's Violent Crime Section

Soo Min entered the police station and walked down the hall to Violent Crime Section's room, immediately sitting at her desk. In the office there was already Oh Han Eul, 32 years old detective, slim and the tallest person in the Section, measured almost 190 cm, with big black eyes and currently dark brown hair, with delicate, almost feminine, face features. He was very ambitious but lazy and behaved like the real star of the Section, with the appearance and personality of an idol, he also took care of himself more than many women Soo Min knew, even changing hairstyles much often than necessary. In general, Han Eul was a narcissist who liked to play with women and avoided the permanent relationships like fire. He liked to drink and party in clubs during his spare time, loved K-Pop and was an die-hard fan of the girlgroup GFRIEND. But one had to admit that he sang and danced well, as Soo Min learned several times when their Section went to noraebang, a Koean karaoke room. However, he was the second meanest colleague after Joo Chan. Not only did he laugh at his jokes, but also teased her himself many times.

The another already present person was Kwon Dae Shim, 43 years old, taller than Soo Min by only a few centimetres, with narrow black eyes and simply arranged, short cut black hair, the rest of his face was angular, with a sharp nose. Since taking over the function of the head of the Section, Dae Shim began to arrive earlier than usual. He had a beautiful ex-model wife and 17 years old son, who looked exactly like him, was his pride and Dae Shim constantly talked about him, praising his academic and sport achievements. But generally, he was a boring companion, preferred to go fishing alone rather than spend time with others. His hobby was collecting stamps, he loved reading books, but wasn't interested in football, movies or music.

Dae Shim's predecessor, Kim Jung Ho, simply called officer Kim by everyone, was already 60 years old and retired. He was slightly thicker than the rest, short, had gray eyes and black hair lightly dusted with gray color. His face was round, most of it took the chubby cheeks and a double chin, the rest were small eyes and nose. His expression was always friendly, he looked like the kindest grandpa in the world and that was also his personality. Officer Kim was generally nice to people, unless they behaved inappropriately or were criminals. Only when he interrogated some scum did others see the darker side of officer Kim, but most importantly, he was damn good at his job, becoming a walking legend of the Violent Crime Section and maybe even the whole Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Soo Min and the other detectives idolized officer Kim from the beginning and tried to learn as much as possible from him. Unfortunately, just yesterday he emptied his desk completely and invited the entire Section for the weekend to his wife's restaurants for a farewell party. Normally, Soo Min avoided work-related parties as much as she could, but officer Kim was always nice to her, and if heard Joo Chan's silly jokes, he would always reprimand him. She knew that Dae Shim will rather stand on the side of Joo Chan, or simply ignore the matter, that's why Soo Min missed officer Kim even more.

Another detective, 37 years old Noh Sang Kyu, came not so long after her, and as always in a hurry. He was the same height as Soo Min and had the most muscular body of the entire male section. Sang Kyu loved exercising and, regardless of fatigue after work, always found time for it. At first, he attended a public gym, but when got a substantial bonus, he created his own exercise room in the basement of his home. In addition, Sang Kyu had chocolate-colored eyes and black hair always cut as short as if he were still in the army. His character could be described as a typical macho, only entertainment he recognized was one worthy of a real man, which in his opinion were sport, cars, video games, going to football matches and meeting friends over a beer or soju and talking about women. He behaved like a master and ruler to his wife, but strangely treated his children quite gently. He had two sons, 14 year old twins and a daughter who was 12. Sang Kyu usually came to work late because of his three children that he had to drive to school every day, so nobody blamed him. But today, apparently, he managed to take care of everything faster and came five minutes ahead of time. Soo Min had to admit that of the entire Section he was the least that troubled her. It was true that Sang Kyu laughed at Joo Chan's jokes with everyone, but he never said anything unpleasant to her personally and sometimes she had the impression that he felt a little embarrassed that didn't have courage to say anything to defend her.

Lee Jung Mo, the youngest - only 26 years old detective - came right after Sang Kyu. He was tall, but a few centimetres shorter than Han Eul, which made him second in terms of height. However, Jung Mo was a lot thinner than him, almost frightfully skinny. Han Eul was slightly muscular so it gave him a bit bigger size, while Jung Mo had more like a teenager's body. It looked as if he had stopped developing in high school. One could think that he would probably fit in his old school uniform. At first glance, Jung Mo seemed too petite for a policeman and gave the impression that during the dangerous action he could break in half. However, despite his appearance, Jung Mo was very physically fit, quickly ran and fought quite well. Furthermore, he was a partner and seemed to be the best friend of Min Joo Chan. Jung Mo joined the Section a year ago, and because back then Soo Min clearly stated that she didn't need any partner, he found himself under the wing of Joo Chan. And unfortunately, along with the specifics of the detective's work, he also learned from him the love for chauvinistic jokes. Overall, Jung Mo was a cute boy, a bit naive but at his age it wasn't that weird, he was also clearly an optimist, sometimes could be as joyful as a small child. But if the situation demanded it, Jung Mo could get to work seriously. The whole Section considered him an official mood maker for the entire unit. In general, if it wasn't for the fact that he made friends with Joo Chan, Jung Mo would be a pretty cool guy.

As for Min Joo Chan, a 35 year old bachelor and probably the greatest male chauvinist Soo Min met in her life, he was quite handsome despite the fact that his face did not stand out from the crowd. Joo Chan was a head taller than Soo Min, he had broad shoulders and a well-built chest, but from the waist down his hips and legs had the same proportions, which gave him a slightly comical look. His unofficial nickname was "tree-man" and he really looked a bit like that - straight and thinner base, and on top an extensive crown of branches and leaves. He was a very good detective, but still not better at solving the cases than Soo Min. However, his personality was really terrible. Not only was he a male chauvinist, but in general was proud, he easily became angry, especially if someone insulted his concept of honor. He wasn't much older than Soo Min, but his views were worse than her mother's. Joo Chan believed that a that a woman should stay at home, look after her husband and children, and even if was going to work, she should choose a job more suitable for her gender. And according to him, working in the police, and especially as a detective in Violent Crime Section, was inappropriate and too dangerous for a woman. In addition, she should know her place even at work. Even if achieving better results, a woman was to speak respectfully to male colleagues, especially if they were older or worked longer than her. And not only that Joo Chan himself had such old-fashioned views, he was also imposing them on everyone around. And unfortunately he seemed to have a huge impact on the people around him, especially men. Some admired and wanted to be like him, others were just afraid. All in all, it wasn't a surprise, while still at the Police Academy, Joo Chan achieved the best results in direct combat and martial arts. He was extremely strong and agile, therefore the most effective in directly catching criminals and immobilizing them. If someone got into his hands, wasn't able to break free. However, when it came to more mental work, deduction and resolving ambiguities, he was much worse. Therefore, more complicated and mysterious cases were not his strength. It could be said that Joo Chan for sure was the Violent Crime Section's muscles, while Soo Min definitely the brain. The rest of detectives were, more or less, somewhere in the middle.