My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 319

“I don’t know what you’re planning, but you shouldn’t act rashly.”

Cha Ji-seung’s eyes narrowed warily at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Did they already say something?”

“It’s not that. I looked into what kind of person Shin Gal-dong is. That’s why I’m telling you this, just in case. If you attack him impulsively, Cha Ji-seung, you’ll only end up getting torn to shreds by his counterattack.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? Just endure and suffer?”

Cha Ji-seung gritted his teeth. Seeing him like that, Park Do-joon shook his head.

“That’s not it. I just need more time to look into this case.”

“You need time?”

“Aside from the fact that Cha Ji-seung and Seven Days are being treated unfairly, you haven’t actually suffered any damages yet.”

Because of that, even if you report it to the police, they can’t punish him, and of course, they can’t protect you.

“So, we need to find something else to tie him to.”

“Something else?”

“Yes, we need to connect him to a case unrelated to True Tree, so it doesn’t look like you’re retaliating for this. Otherwise, you’ll definitely end up in a bad situation.”

“Where would we find something like that?”

“Well, I think the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

“Yes, it’s impossible for there not to be something. The problem is just finding it.”

“You’re going to investigate this case independently of the police?”

Lee Ji-soo looked worried at Park Do-joon’s words.

“Senior, wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“I have no choice. The target is Shin Gal-dong. Not just anyone, but the only son of Shinguk Ilbo [a fictional major newspaper]. A man who will inherit Shinguk Ilbo in the future. If they find out I’m investigating someone like that, the police might send a hitman themselves.”

It’s not a joke. Although it’s not publicly known, the number of suspicious deaths within the police force increases every year, and usually, righteous officers are the targets of such deaths.

The reason they’re considered suspicious deaths is that, contrary to the image of the police retaliating if you touch their families, some of these cases are not openly investigated by the police.

In fact, in a case Park Do-joon profiled before his regression, he mentioned that the perpetrator was an insider in the police force, but ultimately, the perpetrator was never identified or arrested.

“Until now, even if I caused them trouble by creating difficult problems, they could pass it off as coincidence… but this is different.”

Not just anyone, but touching the only son of Shinguk Ilbo?

It’s a dangerous act where a fellow police officer who was drinking with you just yesterday could have a lead bullet lodged in your head today.

“So, I have to track him secretly.”

“But even if you do that, the police will eventually have to handle the case later, right?”

That means no matter how much Park Do-joon investigates and exposes, it will ultimately be covered up.

“Well? I’ll have to look into that later.”

Park Do-joon frowned as he spoke.

“The important thing is to find Shin Gal-dong’s weaknesses first.”

Would a guy who demands sexual favors not commit other crimes? That’s impossible. There must be some vulnerable areas, and if we can find them, we can prevent him from retaliating.

“But what will they say upstairs? Senior, you don’t have any vacation days left, do you?”

“They’re not assigning me any cases anyway, right?”

“Haa~ That’s true. Do you even know how much they’re pressuring us upstairs because of you, Senior?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Don’t even mention it.”

They sent him to a school violence prevention campaign to prevent him from achieving results. But in a place crowded with celebrities and reporters, he even fired a blank shot and exposed school violence. The principal of the school was fired, and even a superintendent came to investigate thoroughly.

“After investigating, it turns out they’ve been doing that for a long time.”

“Isn’t that obvious? If they only fought once or twice, it’s not school violence.”

“And the school has been hiding it while knowing about it.”

And that’s what exploded and hurt many people. The victims, thinking that media attention was their only chance to live, reported all the facts of the damage, and the crimes were beyond imagination.

“And they’re blaming that on me?”

“The team leader is yelling at us for making a quiet case noisy.”

“So, they’re not assigning me any work at all?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. Then it’s simple.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll just say I’m investigating a cognitive case, what else?”

A cognitive case refers to a case where the police recognize a crime and investigate it, even if there is no report or accusation. No matter how reckless the police are, they can’t tell you not to investigate a cognitive case.

“Moreover, you don’t have to report everything during the investigation of a cognitive case.”

“But that’s not going to be easy, is it?”

Of course, not everything works out just because it’s a cognitive case investigation. Otherwise, everyone would just investigate cognitive cases and slack off, and then later say, ‘I was wrong.’

Originally, even if you recognize a case, you have to proceed with other cases given by the police.

However, right now, Park Do-joon is unexpectedly accumulating achievements, so the police can’t easily assign him anything.

“And is there a suitable case? You’re not saying the Shin Gal-dong case is a suitable case, are you?”

That’s not even a cognitive case; if you even mention the ‘Shin’ character, a hitman will immediately deliver a lead bullet to Park Do-joon’s head via rocket delivery.

“No? There isn’t one?”

“Yes?”

“I have to find one now.”

Park Do-joon shrugged his shoulders and said.

“Originally, the world is wide, and there are many cases.”

And Park Do-joon was confident he could find one.

# The Cycle of Eating and Being Eaten in Life

Life sometimes flows in completely unexpected directions. No matter how much of a profiler you are who reads people’s minds, you can’t predict how they will move.

Of course, you can predict the parts about crime to some extent, but when it comes to revenge, especially if there is little data, the situation goes in truly unpredictable directions.

Just like now.

“I heard you’re targeting Shin Gal-dong?”

A man approached Park Do-joon, who had left work. He informed him that Hong Geun-jong was looking for Park Do-joon. Park Do-joon followed him to Hong Geun-jong’s house. And there, he found Hong Geun-jong drunk.

It was a luxurious house, but all the lights were off, and only a faint light was in the living room, where Hong Geun-jong was sitting.

“How did you know?”

Park Do-joon asked, looking at the bottles of alcohol scattered around.

“It seems my head is finally clearing up.”

“Usually, when you drink a lot, isn’t it supposed to be the opposite?”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t have called you. And you wouldn’t know I’m targeting Shin Gal-dong either. You don’t drink when things aren’t organized; you drink when you have a lot of worries. Worry isn’t just about something not working out; it also arises when you have to do something.”

“You’re quite skilled.”

Hong Geun-jong said that, grabbed a bottle of whiskey in front of him, and held it out.

“Will you drink?”

“No, I’ll pass.”

At those words, he didn’t offer a second time, put it to his mouth, and gulped it down. Then, he put it down with a thud.

“No matter how much I drink, I don’t get drunk.”

“It’s a kind of arousal effect that appears when stress is severe. Usually, that symptom appears when you feel a threat to your life.”

“A threat to my life…”

Hong Geun-jong smiled bitterly at those words.

“You’re not wrong. A threat to my life.”

“You’ve been betrayed or abandoned by your father, I presume?”

Hong Geun-jong’s eyebrows twitched at those words. Then, he chuckled.

“I won’t lie. My father has no intention of abandoning Woo-jong.”

It was obvious to anyone that Hong Woo-jong had attacked him. And knowing that, Hong Geun-jong told his father that he needed to find a way to control Hong Woo-jong.

“But do you know what he said?”

“He probably told you not to rashly suspect your brother without evidence.”

“How did you know that too?”

“If a father is protecting his child, or rather, if he’s acting like it, that’s the appropriate thing to say.”

“Acting… Yes, you’re right. Acting.”

Hong Geun-jong smiled bitterly. While thinking that Park Do-joon’s words were strange, he retraced his father’s actions. As a result, like Park Do-joon said, he increasingly felt that his father and Hong Woo-jong were birds of a feather.

“I was suspicious. But he wasn’t worried about me at all.”

A real father should be worried about him. He lost two fingers, and his left leg’s Achilles tendon was severed, so he would have to live as a disabled person for the rest of his life.

“But do you know what he said to me? He asked me when I could start working again.”

If he really understood his child’s pain, he would say that resting is better than going to work. No, even if it’s not his child, that’s normal.

“But he thinks my disability won’t be a problem for working.”

After all, he’s not the one writing the documents; he’s the one reviewing them, and even that is done on a computer, so not having two fingers isn’t a reason not to work.

Furthermore, most of his work is internal, and there’s no problem with limping. But Park Do-joon’s words that he wouldn’t be able to empathize with the pain were true, and that came to Hong Geun-jong as fear.

“My father doesn’t like me.”

“Both you and Hong Woo-jong are just tools, after all.”

There’s only a judgment of who is a more efficient hunting dog. Of course, it’s not that there’s no affection as a father at all. In fact, there are several records of psychopaths showing paternal love.

However, such paternal love tends to fade little by little as the child grows, and then their true nature gradually emerges.

‘Especially when the perception changes from a protected object to an object of use, it becomes even more so.’

Hong Geun-jong, who has become an adult, is now an object of use, not a protected object, and in that case, even the very small paternal love that psychopaths or sociopaths have will fly away like dandelion seeds scattered in the wind.

“That human has no intention of protecting me.”

Hong Geun-jong draws a line, calling him ‘that human.’ To say that about his own father, Hong Chang-sik, means that he has virtually made up his mind.

“So, you’ve decided to survive.”

“Yes, that’s why I called you.”

“I’ve said it many times, but I have no intention of getting involved in that.”

Hong Woo-jong has Han Sung-gi, but Hong Geun-jong has no one. Having someone who can predict you on the other side is an extremely disadvantageous situation in a fight.

“Three times the police salary. No, I’ll give you five times.”

“I have a lot of money. You must have found out, right?”

Honestly, Haneul Industry is growing rapidly, and half of it is Park Do-joon’s money. Even if he quits the police right now, he has no problem making a living.

“Is that so? Then let’s make a deal.”

“You must have met Chairman Bae Deok-gi.”

“Yes, he told me not to exploit you but to make a deal.”

“If it’s a deal, there’s no reason to refuse.”

“Our group will receive supplies from Haneul Industry. You know we’re doing well, right?”

“I know.”