My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 153

“Ah… when you mention a handsome real estate agent…”

“He’ll probably be quite thin and have a slight build.”

Since cross-dressing isn’t common, Park Do-joon elaborated.

“He’ll be on the younger side.”

The male real estate agent’s eyes lit up at the word ‘young.’ He knew most in the industry were older, making a young agent stand out.

“That sounds like the owner of Haengun Real Estate?”

“Haengun Real Estate?”

“Yes, that’s right. The owner of Haengun Real Estate fits that description perfectly.”

At thirty-one, he’s young for the real estate industry. He opened Haengun Real Estate at twenty-eight, starting very early.

“You suspect him?”

“Doesn’t he have trouble socializing?”

“Hmm, that’s true; he doesn’t attend gatherings.”

“Gatherings?”

“There are gatherings among the local agents. We can’t always avoid each other. But he skips them.”

Most attendees are older, so I thought that might be why he doesn’t come, but he generally keeps to himself.

“Could it be that he’s……”

“Could you keep this confidential for now?”

The man nodded vigorously. He had been following the news and heard about a crazy person sacrificing people as offerings.

He didn’t want to become an unjust sacrifice.

“Thank you.”

Park Do-joon smiled faintly.

“How did you know?”

“Real estate agents are bound to be connected.”

When trading real estate, you can’t do everything alone. If you’re lucky, it’s possible, but these days, the chances are slim.

For example, if you list a property at agency A, a buyer might come to agency A, and they’ll take all the brokerage fees. But if you go to agent B, A and B will split the fee.

“Naturally, real estate agents trade because of such arrangements.”

Through these transactions, they inevitably know each other.

“And an agent from far away wouldn’t come all the way here.”

They’ll gather nearby and talk, learning a little about each other.

“Certainly, it’s better to quietly resolve this than awkwardly request a list of agents.”

The team leader smiled, pleased. If the police were involved, they would ask the association for photos, requiring a warrant, and information leaks could cause the criminal to flee.

“But this involves only one person.”

He won’t talk to protect himself.

“Here it is. Team leader, stay here. Two men looking for a room might raise suspicion.”

“Alright.”

Park Do-joon left the team leader and entered the real estate agency on the second floor.

Haengun Real Estate. Like most agencies, it wasn’t very big. A man was staring intently at a book.

‘Hmm.’

He held a Japanese original text.

‘Looks like a Japanese genre novel.’

Judging by the cover, it’s likely.

“Welcome.”

The man, reading, noticed the customer and pushed the book away slightly as he stood.

‘He’s embarrassed to be reading.’

Otherwise, he would have closed the book and put it on the desk. Instead, he closed it and subtly placed it on the chair, covering it with his body.

He’s surprisingly ashamed of reading it.

Most customers don’t care what he’s reading. An adult comic would be embarrassing, but most customers wouldn’t recognize a novel written in Japanese anyway.

But he’s hiding it….

‘He’s ashamed, huh.’

And unconsciously. Someone nearby might strongly disapprove of him reading it.

So he hides it habitually.

“What brings you here?”

That’s a strange greeting for a real estate agent. People usually come to look for a room.

“I’m looking to see some rooms.”

“Monthly rent [a fixed amount paid each month]? Or Jeonse [a large, lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent]?”

Usually, they try to make a good impression. But the man didn’t seem interested. His face showed annoyance.

Park Do-joon said, “Do you have a business card?”

“Ah, yes, a business card.”

The man handed over a card, annoyed.

‘Yang Do-shik, huh…….’

Park Do-joon, receiving the card with Yang Do-shik’s name, looked at him.

‘He doesn’t seem interested in doing business properly.’

Real estate agents actively promote themselves. That’s true in any industry.

That’s how they make money. But Yang Do-shik wasn’t. He looked annoyed and wanted him to leave quickly.

An ordinary person might not notice, but Park Do-joon is a profiler. He sees every minor action in detail.

‘He keeps looking at the side where the book is.’

Unless the book holds a big secret, it’s an unconscious desire to see it. And no one does that in front of a customer.

If you go to a restaurant and the employee only watches TV, who would want to eat there?

The same goes for real estate.

“I’m looking to buy an apartment.”

“What size?”

“I want a place that’s about 48 pyeong [approximately 1,706 square feet].”

In Seoul, a 48-pyeong apartment is expensive. They should welcome it. But Yang Do-shik doesn’t change much.

“Well, there are currently no 48-pyeong apartments available.”

He could check the computer. A property might come up. But Yang Do-shik doesn’t even check.

“Is that so?”

“Yes, there are currently no properties available. I’m sorry.”

“Well, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll come back later.”

Park Do-joon didn’t talk long to avoid suspicion and left, heading to the team leader in the car.

“Did you meet him?”

“Yes, he didn’t seem interested in doing business.”

“Really?”

“Yes, even when I said I was looking to buy a 48-pyeong apartment, he didn’t even check. He didn’t seem interested in working.”

“Hmm, if that’s the case, it’s definitely strange… Then that doesn’t align with our profiling, does it?”

Park Do-joon thought he was in a hurry for money and wanted to have his parents declared dead rather than missing.

But he’s not interested in money?

“Of course, that could be the case. But if he thinks money will come to him soon, he might not be interested in small amounts. If billions of won are coming, would anyone care about a few million?”

“Well, I can’t deny that.”

It’s just one possibility. It doesn’t fit the behavior of a typical real estate agent.

“Besides, didn’t we expect the culprit to have serious communication problems?”

“We did. Did he seem like that?”

“Yes, he did.”

The basis of communication is empathy and commonality.

Understanding feelings or sharing opinions.

But even with a customer, he wasn’t interested in talking, only in his book.

“It’s a serious symptom of communication disorder.”

Could such a person handle a normal real estate transaction? Probably not easily.

“Well, if you do something else while talking, people will think you’re ignoring them.”

Then they won’t want to do business. There are other agencies, and he doesn’t have exclusive properties, so why bother?

“So he’s the most suspicious suspect.”

“Yes, but what’s worrying is that he’s strangely stable.”

“What’s wrong with being stable? Didn’t we think the culprit was likely a sociopath or psychopath with little emotional fluctuation?”

“That’s true. But it still affects their daily life, especially if they’re strapped for cash.”

“You’re talking about yourself, not someone else.”

Sociopaths and psychopaths are insensitive to others, but not necessarily to their own lives. Otherwise, they would choose suicide.

“Our expectation was that he would be short on funds.”

Then he should show it. But Yang Do-shik isn’t.

“The case isn’t going to resolve naturally.”

“Could it be?”

“The crime may have been committed or may be imminent.”

The team leader’s eyes widened.

“Let’s move quickly.”

“I think we should.”

If he hadn’t been identified, it would be hard to learn about him, but now it’s easier.

“Yang Do-shik suffered huge losses in futures [contracts to buy or sell assets at a predetermined price and date].”

“In futures? How much?”

“The loss is approximately 2 billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD] or more.”

“Damn it.”

Futures are a way to trade something without actually having it.

For example, with oil futures, you contract to sell in two months, setting the price now.

If oil is 1,200 won per liter now, it could be 1,100 or 1,300 won then.

But the trader must trade at the contracted price.

If you contract at 1,200 won per liter, you must buy and supply it even if it rises to 1,400 won.

Conversely, the buyer must buy at 1,200 won, even if it falls to 1,000 or 800 won.

“It seems he invested in oil futures.”

“How did you know?”

“It seems like that’s the only transaction that could have caused a big loss recently.”

“That’s right. He lost everything investing in Saudi Arabian oil futures.”

With global oil scarcity, the US pressured oil-producing countries to increase production.

After relations with Russia soured, Russian gas and oil imports were blocked, causing an energy crisis.

To prevent that, the US considered lifting economic sanctions on countries like Iran.

“He must have thought Saudi Arabia would agree to increase production.”

So he bet on the price of oil falling.

“But Saudi Arabia told them to ‘eat shit’?”

“Yes.”

Saudi Arabia, or OPEC, refused to increase production, protecting their power and prices.

The reason was the US lifting sanctions on Iran to lower oil prices.

It’s not easy to lift sanctions, but they can’t restart them against Iran or permanently sanction Russia.

Because Europe relies heavily on Russian energy.

A Professional Profiler