My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 360

Ju Gi-beom was a terrible human being. Just as Park Do-joon predicted, he used gaslighting to control female students, offering them to Oh Bang-hwan as sex toys to advance his career.

Of course, he also took advantage of them himself from time to time. Even high school students might have resisted, but Ju Gi-beom was cunning. He exploited the fact that middle school students, fresh out of elementary school, were less likely to fear or resist teachers.

In particular, vulnerable children—those from impoverished families with unsupportive parents, orphans, or victims of emerging school violence—were prime targets for Ju Gi-beom’s gaslighting.

“So, Hong Woo-jong’s plan has been completely thwarted.”

Although his motives were unclear, Hong Woo-jong must have been trying to exploit Oh Bang-hwan’s weaknesses. But realistically, there’s no leverage to be found in a child sex offender, especially one who raped students at his own school.

“Is it over then?”

“No.”

Park Do-joon shook his head.

“We have to catch the real culprit.”

They had cleared Oh Bang-hwan of the false murder charges, but the person truly responsible was still at large.

# Discard if Useless?

– Mr. Oh regularly received underage sex favors from Ju Gi-beom, a teacher at Ogi Middle School…….

– The police have determined that Mr. Oh is not guilty of murder. However, they are investigating him for child sexual abuse charges…….

– Currently, there are more than three victims within the school, and the police are planning to extend the investigation to former students.

Oh Bang-hwan’s name was redacted, but everyone knew that the perpetrator “Mr. Oh” referred to him. People were shocked by the unprecedented situation.

– Are we watching an American crime drama?

– I know, right? It’s not enough to clear his name; they’re finding other crimes to nail him for?

– He wouldn’t open his mouth no matter what; there was a reason.

– Seriously, are these guys supposed to be educators?

Kwon Gang-won’s death dominated the media, and rumors about the Ogi Academy Foundation were already widespread.

Not only the police but also the Office of Education launched a large-scale audit of the Ogi Academy Foundation and the school. Furthermore, Oh Bang-hwan’s wife initiated the divorce proceedings he had desperately tried to avoid.

But all of this was no longer Park Do-joon’s primary concern.

“They don’t even say thank you after we spoon-feed them [do all the work for them],” Lee Ji-soo grumbled, watching the news. They had essentially delivered Oh Bang-hwan, a notorious rapist, to the authorities. He had even been falsely accused of murder.

They orchestrated a truly dramatic scene, which the police announced as their own achievement.

“I’m sorry. The chief is a bit…,” Detective Kim Man-hyeok said apologetically, scratching his head. The chief was happily boasting in the media as if he had solved the entire case himself.

“Well, it’s not like I don’t understand. It’s always like this.”

A profiler is not usually the one in the spotlight. Strictly speaking, they are there to assist. So, someone else taking credit for a case they solved is nothing new.

“The important thing is catching the culprit.”

“So, the culprit is probably Hong Woo-jong, right?”

“Probably.”

Otherwise, there’s no reason for Hong Woo-jong to suddenly try to prove Oh Bang-hwan’s innocence.

“Can we tie Hong Woo-jong to it?”

Park Do-joon shook his head at Lee Ji-soo’s question.

“It’ll be difficult. Do you know what kind of person Hong Woo-jong is?”

“I guess so.”

He’s not the type to leave a trail. How else could he shamelessly continue his political career even after trying to kill his own siblings?

“Then, can’t we clear Kwon Gang-won’s name?”

Jeong I-yeon bit her lip as she spoke.

“This case started with the goal of catching Kwon Gang-won’s killer in the first place.”

“That’s true.”

But unexpectedly, Oh Bang-hwan, the prime suspect, is now going to jail for other crimes.

He’s certainly ruined beyond repair, but if they can’t track down Kwon Gang-won’s actual killer, then the means have become the end itself.

“We have to investigate anyway.”

Park Do-joon said, looking at the crime scene once again. More precisely, he was looking at the small lake where the body was found.

“This place has no real significance. Do you know why?”

“Yes, this is literally a location where they wanted the body to be found, so they dumped it here.”

“That’s right. So, analyzing this place won’t reveal the culprit’s characteristics.”

Because they didn’t choose this location themselves but were acting on someone’s orders.

“Senior, then doesn’t that mean it’s meaningless?”

Jeong I-yeon asked, sounding dissatisfied. But that’s what someone unfamiliar with profiling would say.

“It’s not entirely meaningless. The act itself is a subject of analysis.”

“Act?”

“Yes, the culprit dumped the body here. They even used the same vehicle as Oh Bang-hwan to dump the body.”

And in the process, they even replaced the license plate with one matching Oh Bang-hwan’s.

“You can buy license plates if you have money. They’re not even that expensive in the first place.”

In China, a huge number of fake license plates used for crimes in Korea are imported. The price isn’t high either, only about 500,000 won [approximately $400 USD].

In reality, there are more cases than you think where the police get tricked while tracking numbers based on CCTV footage, even though it’s not publicized.

Ordinary people may not know that, but there’s no way Jeong I-yeon, a lawyer, wouldn’t know that.

“I know. It’s impossible to track using the license plate. Realistically.”

“Then?”

“We have to track down a group that can commit contract killings [hired assassinations].”

“There’s more than one or two such groups?”

The scale of contract killings in Korea is larger than you think.

To be exact, the scale of contract violence is large.

“Especially how many cases are there where they come over from China, commit the crime, and run away?”

“I know that. Don’t you know? The police just keep it quiet.”

Furthermore, Korea is right next to China, and China has hundreds of thousands, even millions, of members in violent organizations. If they come in for a short time, take care of business, and run back to China, tracking them down is impossible.

No, in the first place, since you can’t identify the perpetrator, you can’t even ban them from entering the country.

In fact, there was a case where a criminal who went back and forth between Korea and China, committing contract violence, was arrested, although it wasn’t made public. And he had disabled as many as ten people.

It was such a big deal that the media predicted that if this were to break, it would lead to a diplomatic crisis between China and Korea, so they had no choice but to cover it up.

“Yes, but at the same time, there’s one thing that’s certain.”

“What is it?”

“The culprit is still in Korea.”

“The culprit is still in Korea?”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

Jeong I-yeon and Kim Man-hyeok asked in surprise. It was completely different from what they were thinking.

“Wouldn’t they have fled overseas by now?”

“That’s right. Senior, if it were me, I’d let them escape. It’s a big deal if they get caught.”

Kim Man-hyeok and Jeong I-yeon seemed to agree. Only Lee Ji-soo understood Park Do-joon’s words.

“Well, maybe what you’re saying is right.”

“Why?”

“Hong Woo-jong would hate situations he can’t control.”

“What does that mean?”

“He doesn’t trust the Chinese.”

Jeong I-yeon couldn’t easily understand Lee Ji-soo’s words. What does not trusting them have to do with being in Korea? Park Do-joon explained the situation more clearly for Jeong I-yeon.

“As I’ve said many times, Hong Woo-jong is quite thorough in his preparations. And he knows how to endure.”

“I know that.”

“And thinking back to when we saw him last time, he’s also showing a very vulnerable side when faced with unexpected variables.”

“Vulnerable to variables?”

“Yes, he really hates when variables arise.”

For example, when Hong Woo-jong met Park Do-joon at Hong Geun-jong’s wedding, he acted quite hostile towards Park Do-joon. Of course, that’s understandable. Park Do-joon had disrupted all his plans. If it weren’t for Park Do-joon, he would have definitely swallowed Daeguk Group. By now, both his brother and sister would be dead.

But because of Park Do-joon, he failed to kill them, and at the same time, their assets were about to be transferred to someone else.

“Looking at his actions towards me at that time, Hong Woo-jong has a very low ability to adapt to unexpected situations.”

If that were the case, instead of emotionally attacking Park Do-joon, he would have smiled and greeted Park Do-joon and tried to find a way to stab him in the back.

“It’s one of the symptoms that commonly appears in psychopaths.”

Lee Ji-soo said, agreeing with those words.

“Dealing with sudden situations is largely an emotional area.”

“Ah, is that so?”

“Yes, when someone suddenly cries, people try to comfort them. But psychopaths don’t understand that emotion, so they get angry.”

“Hmm…….”

“In reality, social adaptation training for psychopaths isn’t about learning emotions. It’s about learning how to respond to situations.”

Realistically, it’s almost impossible to teach psychopaths, who don’t understand emotions at all, about emotions.

How can you explain the sea to someone who has never seen it even once? At least the sea has a shape, but human emotions have no shape and are different for each person.

“So, usually, social training for psychopaths focuses on teaching them what behavior is normal in what situation.”

“But Hong Woo-jong never learned that.”

“That’s right.”

Hong Woo-jong never learned that. As a result, when he faces a situation he has never experienced, he doesn’t know what to do. And that manifests quite aggressively.

This is the typical behavior pattern of a psychopath.

“Considering his tendencies, he won’t keep the culprit far away. The culprit is probably Korean.”

Kim Man-hyeok, who had been listening quietly to Park Do-joon’s words, tilted his head.

“Why?”

“In case he needs to use them again?”

“He’ll want to control them.”

To put it accurately, there is a high possibility that he is anticipating betrayal.

‘There’s also the fact that I threw out bait last time.’

Furthermore, Hong Woo-jong has failed twice. This is probably the first time for him, who has lived such a planned and thorough life, to have such an experience.

“People who are obsessed with control sometimes take risks to maintain that control.”

“You’re saying he won’t let the culprit escape to places like Japan or China? Most people do that, though?”

Detective Kim Man-hyeok tilted his head at Park Do-joon’s words. As a police officer, he had seen many contract violence cases. And in the process, the most common thing that happens is hiring Chinese nationals to commit assault, as Park Do-joon said earlier.

Once they come in, commit the crime, and immediately leave the country, investigation and tracking become impossible, and if you can’t track them, you can’t prevent them from entering the country again next time.

“The purpose of the crime isn’t assault or murder. If that were the purpose, maybe, but since that’s not the purpose, he hasn’t sent them overseas yet.”

If that were the purpose, it would be plausible enough. But if that’s not the case, realistically, if you send them to China, you’ll have nothing.

“Why?”

“A contract killer wouldn’t be crazy enough to maintain contact for years, would they?”

“Is that so?”

“This is a murder case, but the purpose is blackmail. This is quite different.”

The behavior patterns of blackmailers and murderers are quite different. You could say that they are not similar at all except for the fact that they are both crimes.

Profiler’s Instinct