Pricking The Persimmon That You’re Not Allowed to Eat (3)
Buzz-
[I have arrived, young master.]
It was a message from Chief Kim.
I headed out the front door and spotted the foreign, luxury car.
“You’ve arrived right on time.”
“Of course. That is my job.”
“Have you bought the goods?”
“Yes. I swept the shelves clean.”
I greeted him cheerfully as I climbed into the back seat.
The trunk was probably packed full of all the sweets and toys that were sold at a supermarket.
“By the way, it hasn’t been that long since you closed that case, so why are you still so busy?”
He was probably talking about the battle with the Joongmae Gang aboard the ferry. I playfully replied.
“Who ever said that? That everything was all wrapped up.”
“They say that all the gangsters were caught. Doesn’t that mean that it’s over? And the victims were rescued as well. The elders of the family even had dinner with Congressman Jang Man-Chu not that long ago.”
Wow. The bear performs the tricks, while the man takes the money.3
After swinging my hammer like crazy for them, they couldn’t even give me a single call?
Seeming to notice my downturn in mood, Chief Kim immediately tacked on further information.
“The Congressman handed me a business card, while promising that he was very eager to meet with you, young master. I placed it in the pocket in front of your seat.”
I opened the pocket of the seat in front of me.
There was a business card along with a handwritten letter that was practically dripping with gratitude.
The card had Congressman Jang Man-Chun’s personal phone number.
“He said that you might be busy arranging the transport of the criminals to China, so he wanted to first convey his sincere feelings of gratitude towards you. The president as well.”
“My father too?”
“Yes. He said to make sure to stop by the house when you’re free.”
Hmm. For now, I should store the letter and the card in a safe place.
As he skillfully steered the car, Chief Kim asked me a question.
We seemed to have chosen a good time for our visit, as we were approaching Aeryuwon without any delays.
“In any case, why are we heading to an orphanage?”
“I want to donate some money.”
“Oh. Aren’t you doing quite a lot of good deeds these days? Once you die, you might just be treated as a saint.”
“Reality is stranger than fiction.”
As someone who was reincarnated instead of being sent to the underworld, I felt that I had the final say on this matter.
The car slowly pulled into the gate of Aeryuwon.
Just like last time, the children were running around the playground.
“The fact that I’m a police officer, it’s a secret. Once I head into the principal’s office, you’ll have to help me out a bit.”
“Uh?”
Leaving behind a bewildered Chief Kim, I got out of the car.
Judging from what I saw of his appearance back then, in front of the Silla Hotel, it was clear that he would be trembling from nerves if I had told him in advance.
“Hey? It’s a guest!”
“It’s the uncle who came back then!”
“He came back!”
“But there are two uncles this time?”
The children rushed towards us in a pack.
With a smile that seemed on the verge of sliding off his face, Chief Kim opened the trunk.
The children’s eyes started to shine like gems.
“Whoaaaaa!”
“Awesome!”
“That one’s mine! Dibs!”
“Who said you could do that?”
No matter how good the facilities are, they were living in a shared space rather than their own homes.
So they couldn’t help but be happy with a new snack or toy.
While trying to calm the children down, I unwrapped the presents in the trunk.
“Children. Please, for heaven’s sake, form a line. Hey now. I clearly saw you take something already!”
While Director Kim was sweating buckets trying to handle the children, one child caught my eye.
It was a young girl with beautifully braided hair.
She was sitting on a bench far away and looking at us without drawing any closer.
I approached the child and offered her a cookie.
“You didn’t get one, right? Would you like to eat this?”
The child considered it for a moment before shaking her head.
“No. I’m fine.”
“Why? It’s tasty.”
“I’m getting a mom and a dad soon. I can ask my parents to buy it for me then. But my friends won’t get to eat this often, so…”
“By chance, are you So-Yeon?”
The young girl’s eyebrows jumped up when I said her name.
She tilted her head to the side, as if wondering how I knew it.
So she was the girl that Sang-Beom and Ji-Hye had been talking about.
They said that she would be getting adopted soon. But her face didn’t look very happy about it.
Footnote:
3 A korean idiom that has a similar meaning to, ‘what one man sows, another reaps’. It basically refers to a situation where someone else takes credit for your work.