My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 473

“Yes.”

“To be honest, if there had been any signs of abnormality there, would it have even reached me?”

That couldn’t be. The NIS [National Intelligence Service, South Korea’s primary intelligence agency] isn’t an organization that would miss something like that. Moreover, the Daeguk Group’s research institute is flush with money.

While the Agency for Defense Development reportedly treats its researchers like slaves, the average annual salary at the Daeguk Defense Research Institute is 240 million won [approximately $180,000 USD based on current exchange rates].

“But the fact that they couldn’t find anything means the answer is obvious. No signs of abnormality.”

“…….”

“The real important thing isn’t this.”

The documents the NIS provided were the researchers’ asset details. But looking at those won’t reveal any evidence of betrayal.

“The NIS has been tracking industrial spies, especially those involved in defense-related industries, for decades. They wouldn’t miss someone with unusual activity in their asset records, would they?”

That’s why Park Do-joon just skimmed through it.

“And logically, would the person who received that money keep it in a bank?”

Of course, they’d keep it in cash or store it separately in the form of gold bars.

“So, this is meaningless, but you’re still reading it?”

“The fund details are meaningless. But the asset details are meaningful.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just because there’s no evidence of bribery doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be suspicious, right?”

There’s no way the NIS wouldn’t know what Park Do-joon knows. Hiding assets in cash or gold bars is too obvious.

“But we can weed out people who are unlikely to be involved.”

“What do you mean?”

“Suspecting everyone is the NIS’s way, but that’s inefficient.”

Park Do-joon said, tapping the documents.

“Take this person, for example. It’s safe to say there’s almost no chance they’d betray us.”

“Why is that?”

There was a photo of a researcher with an awkward smile attached.

“He’s been married for five months.”

“That’s not a reason not to betray us.”

“More accurately, he doesn’t have the mental capacity to betray us. The human mind isn’t infinite.”

People can’t focus on their work if they’re preoccupied with something else.

“The reason this person is suspected is probably because he’s been making more mistakes lately, his performance within the company has declined, he’s distracted, and he can’t concentrate. Isn’t that right?”

Yoo In-hye’s face flushed red at those words. What she gave Park Do-joon was just asset details, but in reality, they were keeping a close watch on that researcher because of those circumstances. Of course, they hadn’t found anything.

“But that’s probably because he went through a lot of trouble preparing for the wedding. And, hmm, it looks like he got married through a matchmaking arrangement, and it seems like the other party is a bit greedy. It looks like the other family is of a higher class.”

Yoo In-hye’s face hardened at those words. That wasn’t information included in the asset details. Of course, the NIS had dug it up like they were picking lice.

“How did you know that?!”

“It seems like it’s related to his work… which means he had to pay a lot of attention to other things. Didn’t I just say that?”

The human mind isn’t infinite.

“If the marriage had been the result of a love affair, he probably wouldn’t have suffered that much. If they had been dating for a long time, they would have adapted to each other and been ready to live together.”

Of course, there are still a lot of complaints even then. But getting married after a long courtship and getting married quickly through a matchmaking arrangement definitely have different stress levels.

“But what do you mean the other family is of a higher class?”

“This is what I mean.”

Park Do-joon tapped the address.

“This address is a bit far from the research institute.”

“That’s a place where you can live comfortably with a research institute salary, isn’t it?”

“Ah, I’m not saying he received money. Well, if he’s a researcher at the institute making 300 million won a month [approximately $225,000 USD], he could afford it. But the problem is that it’s far.”

People naturally want to find a home close to their workplace.

“And in the case of marriage, the influence of those with jobs or those who earn more money is strong in that regard.”

If someone from Suwon marries someone from Incheon, and the job is in Suwon? If the person living in Incheon is unemployed, the marital home will unconditionally be in Suwon, not coming from Incheon.

“But looking at the address, it takes at least an hour.”

Even considering that the research institute is in a remote area, it’s quite a distance. There are small towns and plenty of amenities in between, so why would you bother finding a place in a big city?

“Moreover, the workload of the researchers is beyond imagination.”

Would such a person want to commute two hours a day? Of course not.

“From the man’s perspective, he would have thought, ‘Since I’m eating and sleeping at the research institute most of the time, let’s just do whatever they want.'”

“Hmm…….”

“But that in itself often leads to the judgment that the other person is superior to them.”

If the wife was really unemployed and there wasn’t a particular problem, he would have suggested finding a house near the research institute if possible.

“It’s not that he doesn’t have money, but prioritizing the other person’s opinion means that the other person is more likely to be superior. But no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem like his wife is superior.”

The wife’s occupation isn’t listed, but her age is twenty-five. A whole nine-year difference.

Twenty-five years old is adulthood, but it’s too early to achieve something groundbreaking.

“Then you can see that the wife’s parents have more power.”

“…….”

Yoo In-hye couldn’t say anything to that. Because in reality, the wife’s family has much more money. Her parents were also big business owners.

“But that’s not proof that he’s not a spy, is it?”

“It’s not proof, it’s a matter of psychology.”

Park Do-joon said with a smirk.

“It’s not a love marriage, it’s a matchmaking arrangement, and buying a house for the other person can be an act that hurts your pride.”

If you’re a researcher at the Daeguk Defense Research Institute and your annual salary is 300 million won, you can be seen as a truly recognized person in Korea. The work is hard, but you can’t deny what he’s achieved.

“But such a person suppressed his pride and got married to suit the other person. What does that mean? It means that he judged that the woman he was going to marry and her family were worth it.”

“So?”

“Selling defense technology to China means considering the possibility of fleeing to China if necessary. But would such a person bother suppressing his pride?”

Of course not. Because if he really gets caught and runs away, it’s impossible to get help from his in-laws.

“The psychological choice to suppress one’s pride is an act caused by expectations for the future.”

People don’t have a reason to bow their heads when they don’t have expectations for the future. In other words, the fact that this person suppressed his pride and went in means that at least this person wants to settle down properly in Korea, even with the help of his in-laws.”

Yoo In-hye couldn’t say anything to that. Because the NIS considered him one of the most suspicious people.

His work attitude was like that, and although it’s not written there, the relationship between the couple wasn’t very good either.

“But he’s a suspicious person because his marital relationship isn’t very good either.”

Park Do-joon snorted as Yoo In-hye made an excuse, perhaps because her pride was hurt.

“It’s strange if someone who got married through a matchmaking arrangement, not a love marriage, doesn’t have conflicts in the early stages of the marriage. Besides, even though this man bowed down, it doesn’t mean he has no pride at all, does it?”

If you’re a researcher at the Daeguk Defense Research Institute, you can be said to be in the top 0.1% of researchers in Korea.

“Would such a person have no pride? And as I said, would a woman from a wealthy family have weak pride?”

Both of them will have sky-high pride, and it would be strange if they didn’t fight in the early stages of their marriage.

Even ordinary couples bicker and fight to gain the upper hand in the early stages of their marriage, so it would be even stranger if people full of pride didn’t fight.

“Ah.”

Yoo In-hye exclaimed without realizing it, then quickly shut her mouth as if she realized she had acknowledged the other person. Park Do-joon smirked at the sight. Then, he leisurely spoke to her.

“The culprit is probably not a desperate person. It’ll be a group.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s true that desperate people betray easily, but not all betrayers are desperate. In fact, there are many people who betray for various reasons even if they are not desperate.”

Extracting information through threats? That’s too common a method.

“And it’s a method that doesn’t work as well as you think.”

“It doesn’t work?”

“You don’t know much about it because you haven’t tried other tactics.”

Park Do-joon turned his head and looked out the window. As they got closer to the research institute, the buildings gradually disappeared, and empty spaces appeared.

“The biggest reason for betrayal is not giving up, but dissatisfaction.”

Yoo In-hye, who didn’t have much experience yet, couldn’t understand Park Do-joon’s words.

Daeguk National Defense Science Research Institute.

Operated by the Daeguk Group, it is one of the largest defense research institutes in Korea, along with the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. And realistically, it has more investment and better facilities than the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses.

Bang!

A sound of something exploding can be heard in the distance. But people don’t particularly stir. It’s not unusual for something to explode and something to fly around every day in this neighborhood.

“This is Park Do-joon.”

“This is Director Lee Sung-moon.”

In the director’s office at the research institute, Lee Sung-moon, the director of the Daeguk Research Institute, rubbed his tired eyes and said. He was usually impeccably neat, but his eyes were bloodshot, showing how much fatigue had accumulated over the past few days.

“You look tired?”

“The situation is what it is, but we can’t stop the research.”

“I understand.”

“If you understand, please catch the culprit quickly.”

Lee Sung-moon’s words were extremely sharp.

‘I guess so.’

At first, they might have used their own methods to track them down, but as time passed, the NIS couldn’t find anyone after all. In that situation, the NIS would be desperate, and as a result, they would have started interrogating the researchers indiscriminately.

As a result, the researchers would have started to feel tired and uncomfortable, and they would have complained to the director.

“I understand. No one in the world likes to be accused of being a criminal.”

Even if it’s an understandable situation, if it becomes a personal matter, the person who doesn’t get angry is the culprit.

From the culprit’s point of view, they would feel tension rather than anger at such a pursuit.

“First, I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

“Let’s finish it at once. How many times are you going to ask the same question?”

“Because of the situation.”

While soothing Lee Sung-moon, who was annoyed with Park Do-joon, Park Do-joon asked him.

“First of all, all the computer records have been deleted?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”