My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 105

“That’s right. I was kicked out.”

The person who snitched on a fellow police officer couldn’t be kept inside the police station. The police threw a fit and demanded her replacement, and the media company called her back.

“Anyway, what are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“You need to build connections to even get a story.”

The biggest reason they make someone a resident reporter is to build connections within the police force, a kind of professional courtesy.

But since you didn’t build connections and instead arrested a police officer, it’s safe to say those connections are gone.

“A senior colleague told me something.”

“What is it?”

“One important connection is much more valuable than 100 meaningless ones.”

Seo Ju-ran, who had been looking at me with sparkling eyes, lowered her head and shouted,

“Please take care of me!”

“Huh, am I being roped in here?”

“Yes!”

“Well, I look forward to working with you too.”

Park Do-joon nodded readily. Having decided to live a different life from his past, there was no reason to live like before.

“Then give me some information, hehehehe!”

“What information?”

“Come on, you know… This isn’t the end, is it?”

A reporter’s intuition, perhaps?

It was telling that Seo Ju-ran sensed there was something hidden.

“This is the first information share since I left, so please take good care of me.”

Park Do-joon chuckled at Seo Ju-ran’s words.

“Well, I don’t think it will end like this either.”

There is definitely a mastermind behind this. Of course, that’s just the beginning.

***

“You’re here?”

As Park Do-joon entered the office, he saw the team leader sitting back in his chair with a tired face.

“You look tired. Did something happen?”

“Wouldn’t it? Do you even know who you arrested?”

“I know. But you can’t openly say anything about it, can you?”

No matter how much Park Gu-gang is on their side and how much they want to favor him, Park Gu-gang committed a crime. He even tried to kill a reporter.

Even if it was just an attempt, and even if Seo Ju-ran is just a rookie reporter, she is still a reporter.

The media company wouldn’t just stand by and watch an attack on a reporter, so this incident couldn’t be easily covered up.

In other words, this is something that Park Gu-gang can’t escape no matter how hard he tries.

“I know. But… you know what the main job of the audit department is, right?”

“Of course, it’s covering up incidents.”

“That’s right.”

“Ah, I see what you mean.”

It’s been a long time since the audit department’s main job became covering up incidents instead of auditing and kicking out corrupt police officers.

In that situation, the head of the audit department was arrested for attempted murder. Would the head of the audit department just sit still?

“If the punishment is severe, he’ll keep blabbing.”

The team leader clicked his tongue. If that happens, there would be more than a few people within the police force who would get hurt.

“So, the higher-ups are in an uproar. They want you to say something to downplay the incident.”

It is true that Park Gu-gang tried to harm Seo Ju-ran. But Park Do-joon stopped him before he could.

“Well, this case is ambiguous.”

Whether this is attempted assault or attempted murder depends on Park Do-joon’s judgment at the scene. And if it’s attempted murder, he can’t avoid prison, but if it’s attempted assault, they can somehow cover up the incident.

“Since they can’t call you directly, they’re harassing me.”

“What would you like me to do?”

“Tell them to fuck off.”

The team leader said nonchalantly.

“Looking at the situation, it’s clearly attempted murder.”

Assault, that is, hurting the other person, often happens when you are upset with the other person and get angry.

In simple terms, assault is a kind of private revenge.

Whether it’s past anger or present anger, it’s assault that happens to resolve that anger.

“But Park Gu-gang was perfectly fine in that situation, right?”

“Yes, he was perfectly fine.”

He was clear-headed and not angry or upset. And realistically, if Seo Ju-ran survived, it was certain that his life would be ruined.

“In that situation, all that’s left is to silence the other person, and there’s no way to stop the survivor from speaking. So, in that situation, Park Gu-gang was trying to kill Seo Ju-ran.”

Park Do-joon also nodded in agreement with the team leader’s words.

“But the higher-ups want to cover it up at all costs.”

If it’s simple attempted assault, it can end with a suspended sentence, and there may be strong disciplinary actions such as suspension or pay cut, but there is a high possibility that he can keep his position as a police officer.

Even if he can’t get promoted because of that, he can just leave on his own, and that’s the end of it.

“But attempted murder will send him to prison.”

Perhaps Park Gu-gang used that to put pressure on those around him, threatening to blow up the case.

“Well, the thoughts of those guys are obvious.”

The team leader frowned.

“Then I’ll report it as attempted murder for now.”

“Yeah, do that.”

Of course, the team leader wouldn’t be swayed by outside harassment.

Why is he still a team leader when all the other colleagues are getting promoted? It’s partly because of his special position as a profiler, but also because of his personality, which doesn’t care about colleagues or anything else.

“By the way, team leader, what do you think?”

Park Do-joon said, slightly raising his eyes. And the team leader, seeing that signal, said as if it were obvious.

“Why are you asking that? It’s obvious.”

“How far will it go?”

“It’s not the prosecutor’s office. There’s a victim there.”

“Well, that’s true. And even if Park Gu-gang is the head of the audit department, he doesn’t have the power to make personnel decisions.”

You can investigate and shake things up. But taking away that position is not within Park Gu-gang’s authority.

“Decisively, Park Gu-gang was not the team leader at the time of the incident.”

Park Gu-gang was not the team leader at the time of the incident. To be exact, he became the team leader four months after the incident occurred.

In other words, Wang Su-jin was not qualified to make a deal in the beginning.

“I think it’s probably the chief of police….”

At Park Do-joon’s words, the team leader frowned.

“How do you know?”

‘Because he becomes the mayor later.’

Later, the chief of police becomes the mayor. Not the mayor of Seoul, but the mayor of a small city in his hometown, but that doesn’t change the fact that he entered politics.

And a lot of money goes into the mayoral election. How did the chief of police earn that money? Obviously, with police revenue.

Of course, becoming the chief of police in Seoul means entering the promotion track, but that doesn’t mean you earn a lot of money. I remember that clearly because it wasn’t related to the case.

The chief of police became the mayor in his hometown three times.

‘But I can’t say that.’

But I can’t say that.

“You can tell by the chief of police’s style. He seeks credit and sucks up to the higher-ups. He also tries to get along well with the media.”

“That’s true.”

“Usually, people with a lot of greed do those things.”

“Well, that’s true.”

In Korea, people who work silently are inevitably at a disadvantage. They often have their achievements taken away by others.

Especially in public service organizations like the police, that happens a lot. Just looking at the achievements, the team leader is qualified to become the chief of police, but he is still not a team leader, is he?

“It’s not very common to have someone who has the power to make personnel decisions, is likely to contact a con artist in a major case later, and is greedy enough to join hands with him.”

Park Do-joon said that and paused for a moment before saying.

“And I should check, but I think he was originally in the economics department.”

Of course, police officers rotate, but if they have a lot of experience in the economics team, they are likely to know a lot about fraud methods and transactions.

“And the chief of police is an old-school police officer.”

“Well, that’s true. Well, that could be a problem.”

It’s not that being an old police officer is the problem. What Park Do-joon is talking about is the historical context. And the team leader understood that right away.

“The areas of justice and crime have changed little by little over time.”

What this means is that the area of crime was much wider in the past than it is now.

For example, in the past, it was very common for teachers to ask parents for money.

In fact, if parents didn’t give money, there were a lot of cases where teachers ostracized students and encouraged ostracism in the classroom.

As the times developed and Korea developed, morality also developed, so now receiving money itself has become a very dangerous act.

“Well, if you’re the chief of police, your morality is stuck in the past.”

A person who came up before the times changed and was not influenced by the morality of the present age. When they rule above like that and naturally lose their own morality, they are often involved in crime.

“It’s like that even in the military, so it’s amazing if you’re the chief of police.”

There are guys who act like they have power and act up even if they only have the rank of sergeant in the military. Even 20-year-olds in the military are like that, but if you are someone who has ruled a region for a long time as the chief of police, the possibility of corruption is even greater.

“Besides, isn’t it Seoul?”

Seoul, where all the money and power gather. The very fact that you came to Seoul is, in the end, a promotion track. In fact, most of the people who have been police chiefs in Seoul go up [get promoted further].

‘And the fact that he was the mayor is a problem.’

It’s not that Park Do-joon hates the chief of police because he was the mayor. The problem is something else. He was even the chief of police. Of course, if you want to run for mayor, it is advantageous to run for election in this area.

Of course, the mayor of Seoul is not an easy position, but it is certain that this is the root of his life.

‘But he went to his hometown.’

Simply because he likes his hometown? That’s not it. There’s probably something else. Probably a problem that was quietly covered up, so it wasn’t revealed to the outside.

Instead of blowing up the problem, it is common to just receive a resignation, and in that case, it is difficult to start political activities in the area.

“But touching the chief of police is dangerous….”

Anyway, he is a superior. Even a direct superior. Even just touching Park Gu-gang, who was a high-ranking official, Park Do-joon is already a target of being buried alive in the police society. Touching Park Gu-gang, who is in another team, is that much, but touching the chief of police, who is a direct superior…

“You’re going to lose your job.”

The team leader’s words were not a joke. Park Gu-gang is a director-level official. The guys who protect him probably don’t have the power to make personnel decisions.

Even if they do, they won’t try to blow things up. All they can do is call the direct superior, the team leader, and say something. That’s the end of it.

A Profiler’s Calling