My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 140

“But as I’ve said repeatedly, honor isn’t something I can acquire. It’s something someone gives.”

The problem is that Park Geo-seok already has a profession with its reputation buried in the gutter. Even if he earns 100 points of honor by doing other good deeds, he loses 1,000 points for running a room salon [an establishment where customers are entertained by hostesses].

“Of course, if there are no problems, you can conceal it. But what if problems arise? Then the past will devour you.”

“Do you think so?”

“Surprisingly, people take such issues seriously. Prejudice greatly affects people’s judgment. Kim Do-gun suffered from that, didn’t he?”

“Ah, I suppose so.”

He also said he was wronged, and people around him tried to help. But he had the weakness of having worked as a waiter in a room salon, and people who thought he would naturally lie ignored him.

“And Shin Cheol-gwang knows that too.”

He’ll think he can cover it up no matter what he says because he believes he has a much better advantage in terms of power and honor.

“But we’re going to show him that’s a mistake. Hehehe.”

Park Do-joon smiled, his eyes sparkling.

# Those Without Honor

“What? There was an error in the profiling?”

“Yes, no matter how I look at it, it seems Park Geo-seok is the culprit, not Kim Do-gun.”

“No, why now? What do you want me to do all of a sudden?”

Shin Cheol-gwang urgently took leave and came down to tell the police the facts, insisting on a reinvestigation.

“I’m only human, so I can make mistakes, can’t I?”

“This isn’t just any mistake; it’s a huge one.”

The detective in charge of the case at the time was seething inside. Back then, he had identified Kim Do-gun as the culprit, so they investigated in that direction and, because it seemed highly likely, they put him in jail.

But now, an error?

‘Damn it, I can’t even beat that bastard to death.’

He really wanted to beat him to death, but he couldn’t. He knew, and the world knew, that his older brother was a member of the National Assembly [South Korea’s unicameral legislature].

Of course, if he even uttered a single curse word, his career would be over that day.

“I think it’s best to properly investigate and arrest Park Geo-seok.”

“Let’s just… cover it up. This is a bigger problem than you think. There are disciplinary issues too…”

Like all police officers, he valued his own discipline more than someone else’s life, so he tried to quietly cover it up.

‘Damn it. I wish I could.’

But Shin Cheol-gwang couldn’t do that. He wished he could, but the human rights lawyer on the other side was too powerful.

“It’ll be difficult. The lawyer on the other side is too prominent. She’s the daughter of the CEO of a mega law firm in Seoul.”

“How big could she be?”

“Moonlight Law Firm.”

“Moonlight? Why is Moonlight involved?”

“Her father is the CEO of Moonlight Law Firm.”

“What the hell.”

Moonlight Law Firm is one of the most well-known law firms in the country. It frequently appears in the media, and it’s a place where only the top tier of the legal profession can enter.

If the daughter of such a place is involved?

“It seems impossible to cover it up.”

“Why are you telling me this now?”

“Well, I don’t have any responsibility.”

“What?”

“A profiler isn’t in charge of the investigation, are they?”

“That’s…”

A profiler is someone who provides direction, not someone who directs the investigation.

In other words, if this case goes public, the target of punishment isn’t the profiler but the detective in charge of the case.

The detective, realizing the meaning of those words, contorted his face but couldn’t say anything.

‘Damn it, I’m screwed.’

Shin Cheol-gwang’s brother was already a huge burden, and now Moonlight Law Firm was involved. Moonlight Law Firm was more frightening than Shin Cheol-gwang’s brother; they weren’t an easy target.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Reinvestigate.”

“You want me to reinvestigate and put Park Geo-seok in?”

“That’s what you’ll have to do. Oh, of course, you’ll have to make a deal to prevent any complaints later.”

At those words, the detective gritted his teeth, but he had no way to resist.

***

“Hehehe!”

Park Geo-seok clenched his fist, his eyes gleaming.

“That was so much fun back then.”

The sight of someone under him, the light of life slowly fading from their eyes.

That feeling revealed his true nature.

That feeling of dominating someone. And the happiness. The joy of his enemy’s destruction. All of it was so blissful.

“Not enough.”

But at the same time, it was empty. After killing Lee Mi-yeon, he savored the moment he killed her. And he remembered that joy again. But as time passed, the more he savored it, the more blurred the joy became.

Just like how even the most interesting movie becomes boring after watching it hundreds of times, murder was the same.

Naturally, people were bound to seek new pleasures.

“Isn’t there a suitable one? No, I was lucky this time. It’s better to do it a bit more safely.”

There was no option to not do it or to receive psychiatric treatment.

“They’re just whores who are dirtying the world anyway, right? Nothing will change even if some of those bitches disappear. No, isn’t it better? Because the world becomes cleaner, you see. Hehehe.”

Even though he knew he was taking money from them, he began to rationalize himself.

“Yeah, I should do it quietly this time. Who would be a suitable one?”

How surprised he was when Shin Cheol-gwang first came to him? Fortunately, they were on the same page, so he was able to cover up the case by giving him a considerable amount of money, but he didn’t want to go through that again.

“I should also create a place where I can dispose of the bodies in a suitable location.”

He had plenty of money. So that wasn’t difficult. He thought that way and began to worry about who his next victim would be.

As he was having such pleasant thoughts, someone came to see him.

“Excuse me, Chairman, you have a visitor?”

“A visitor?”

“Yes, it’s Attorney Jeong I-yeon.”

“What? Who? I don’t know anyone like that.”

“She said she came because of the last case?”

At those words, Park Geo-seok frowned. But since a lawyer had come all the way here, he decided to meet her. Soon after, Jeong I-yeon was guided inside.

“I’m Attorney Jeong I-yeon.”

“I’m Park Geo-seok.”

He greeted her like that, but his gaze was fixed on Jeong I-yeon’s neck.

‘She’s pretty. What kind of expression will she make when she dies? Hehehe!’

Park Geo-seok, who was unconsciously thinking such thoughts as if they were natural, realized it.

“Ah, what did you say just now?”

“About the previous case.”

“What case?”

“I’m investigating the Lee Mi-yeon murder case.”

At those words, the joy of murder instantly disappeared from Park Geo-seok’s mind. Because the story he wanted to hide the most had come out.

“That case? It’s a pity.”

“The police said they’re reinvestigating the case.”

“Yes?”

Park Geo-seok was momentarily flustered and asked back because it was the first time he had heard of it. Of course, Jeong I-yeon didn’t know that fact. But Park Do-joon explained that by doing so, you can stimulate and move the other person.

“That’s right. They say they’re doing a proper reinvestigation. They said they found evidence of Kim Do-gun’s innocence.”

“That can’t be?”

“What? Do you know something?”

“That’s…”

He couldn’t say he knew something. Because he was the one who handed over the related data.

“The police are convinced there’s another culprit. And they’re investigating that person.”

“Hahaha, is that so?”

“Yes, you’re talking as if you don’t know anything.”

“I can’t know all the details of the police investigation.”

Park Geo-seok said, trying to hide his anxiety. But his eyes were already shaking.

“Officially, Profiler Shin Cheol-gwang admitted that his profiling was wrong. So the police have reopened the investigation. And they even found out that the victim moved by taxi. They used a taxi company called Jangho Transportation.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, they even found out the drop-off location.”

At those words, Park Geo-seok clenched his fist without realizing it.

“But why are you telling me this…?”

“I’m the lawyer defending Kim Do-gun. So it’s better for him to get out as soon as possible.”

“So why are you telling me that?”

“Confess.”

“What?”

“I’m telling you to confess. If you can’t avoid it, confess and receive a lighter punishment.”

“Why would I? Who did I kill?”

Park Geo-seok flared up without realizing it. He was feeling fear just from the fact that she had come to find him.

Shin Cheol-gwang had come to him when there was nothing.

But now, if they’re reinvestigating? Of course, the direction will be towards him.

He knew that Kim Do-gun had said several times that he was the culprit, but the police had ignored it.

However, if they reinvestigate, the story changes. He becomes the prime suspect.

“Who says that? Who says I’m the culprit?”

“The police.”

“What?”

“I’m a lawyer. I don’t have the right to investigate. So who could have told me that? Why are the police starting the investigation so urgently now?”

Park Geo-seok felt goosebumps at Jeong I-yeon’s smiling face.

“I told you. I recommend that you confess if possible. Wouldn’t that be good for you and for me?”

Jeong I-yeon finished those words and stood up. And she left the place.

“What the hell.”

And the face of Park Geo-seok, who was left behind, was distorted like a fierce demon.

***

“It looks like he’s coming out?”

“He probably is. That’s the only person who can ride such a high-end vehicle. The vehicle number matches too.”

Park Do-joon quietly moved, following the vehicle coming out of the underground parking lot. Not knowing that Park Do-joon was following him, Park Geo-seok was moving somewhere urgently.

“Where is he going?”

“Probably to the murder scene.”

“The murder scene?”

“The culprit reappears at the scene. It’s a very natural and common saying in the investigation industry. But have you ever thought about why that is?”

“Huh? Well?”

“Because of fear.”

“Fear?”

“Yes. The fear that there might be traces or evidence of themselves.”

They return to the scene to eliminate it, fearing that there might be genes or evidence they unknowingly left at the murder scene.

“Maybe that’s the first profile humans learned.”

It was an era when there was no such thing as profiling, but it was a story that was treated like common sense among investigators.

“And since you stimulated him, the other party will try to clean it up.”

If an investigation comes in, evidence may come out from there, and they may lose the money hidden there.

“Ah, so that’s why you told me to say that I found the place where he got off the taxi.”

“Yes. And the taxi company is the same, since that guy doesn’t know about it anyway.”

It’s a psychological trap. They talked as if they knew everything, but there’s no way to find out the details calculated in cash unless it’s the police with investigative power.”