My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 598

“Considering all those possibilities, Jo Ah-min is likely the ringleader of that group, and Choi Min-ji is her second-in-command.”

“Jo Ah-min?”

“Yes, even for someone as clueless as you, it’s pretty obvious. It’s rare for someone to encourage a friend who’s about to get married to have a one-night stand.”

Bachelorette parties happen, and they aren’t inherently bad. Many involve drinking and celebrating the upcoming marriage, like a game.

It’s like the old joke that marriage is the tomb of life.

“But it’s extremely rare for that to actually lead to a one-night stand.”

“So, the bachelorette party is just an excuse.”

“Right.”

And since you can’t force or demand a one-night stand, it’s likely an individual choice.

“From that perspective, Jo Ah-min is the prime suspect.”

“And Choi Min-ji, who paid the bill, is second?”

“Right, and considering the circumstances, Choi Min-ji’s family probably isn’t one to mess with either.”

She might be slightly below Jo Ah-min in the pecking order, but if her family was completely inferior, Jo Ah-min wouldn’t associate with her. Sharing secrets like that means they are either very close friends or so deeply intertwined that if one goes down, they all go down together.

“Either best friends or dying together? That’s just like…”

“Yes. It’s a similar relationship to Jo Han-seop and Park Tae-woon. People often learn how to build relationships from their parents.”

“Hmm.”

“The important thing is this.”

Apart from Jo Ah-min, the remaining three are from families that are not to be taken lightly.

“And that day, when I took out the handcuffs, Choi Min-ji showed more embarrassment than surprise or panic.”

“Really?”

“Yes. The changes in her expression and emotional display were subtly different.”

In fact, at that time, Choi Min-ji’s face turned red, and she seemed primarily ashamed.

“If she was worried about getting fired from the company, she would have shown panic or fear rather than shame.”

In a desperate situation, feeling ashamed first means she’s not worried about punishment but dislikes people talking about her.

“That also means she has the power to cover up the incident.”

“You can make such an analysis just by looking at her face?”

“It’s not about the face but about analyzing human emotions.”

Park Do-joon said that to Jung Kwang-ho and chuckled.

“The important thing is this: In the current situation, Choi Min-ji is the leader within the group, and she hates being isolated as a leader.”

If word gets out that information leaked from her, she will be ostracized.

“Conversely, what if everyone asks her for help and she, as the leader, sets the direction?”

“Ah!”

Jeong I-yeon, being a woman, understood immediately. In fact, this situation is not their problem but Jo Ah-min’s problem. If they find themselves in a difficult situation, they will cut ties with Jo Ah-min.

Jo Ah-min is ranked first, so it’s not easy to cut ties, but if someone… for example, Choi Min-ji, who is ranked second, takes the lead and instigates, they will naturally distance themselves.

“Maybe a clear direction will emerge?”

“Really?”

“Yes, you’re not a lawyer, so you wouldn’t know.”

If the friends claim it was a one-night stand and a kind of party, even a military tribunal can’t unconditionally pin the crime on him.

“Moreover, Moonlight has power.”

“Power?”

“I mean, they can make it public.”

If it’s a conscience declaration from the closest friends, they can use that as an issue to denounce the court, and even if there are key personnel from the prosecution and the court behind it, they can’t pressure them to overturn it.

“Furthermore, their base is in Daegu [a major city in South Korea]. If it becomes a big issue in Seoul, they won’t be able to stop it even if they want to.”

“I understand what you mean.”

“So, we just need to summon the friends who were there that day?”

“That’s right.”

“But we don’t know their contact information?”

“Choi Min-ji will know.”

“But she said she wouldn’t help?”

“I told you, Choi Min-ji hates being isolated. So, she’ll hand it over. Hehehe.”

# Divide and Conquer

“No, you’re twisting my words!”

“We didn’t say we wouldn’t call you to court. We only said we wouldn’t reveal that we heard it from you.”

“What’s the difference if you do this!”

Choi Min-ji had no choice but to rage. She had no choice but to rage when they contacted her again and said that a subpoena would be sent to her from the court soon.

“Why? Does it give you a headache because you’re trying to fight Jo Ah-min’s family?”

The investigation into Choi Min-ji’s family was already over. And as Park Do-joon expected, Choi Min-ji’s family was also a relatively well-off family in the Daegu area, so-called local tycoons.

“That’s…”

“Don’t try to refuse to appear as a witness by putting pressure through the court. You probably know this.”

Park Do-joon leaned back on the sofa leisurely and glared at Choi Min-ji coldly as he spoke.

“Moonlight Law Firm, which is backing that side, is not an easy place to deal with. Your father or grandfather will probably know if you tell them.”

Choi Min-ji’s face gradually turned red at those words. And Park Do-joon drove the wedge even further into her.

“But if you ask questions about this, your parents or grandfather will probably just tell you to get married, which would be troublesome for you.”

Birds of a feather flock together. If you’re a woman who has a bachelorette party before getting married and goes out with other women, your personality is obvious. And the gang that hangs out with such a woman is also obvious.

As expected, as soon as that story came out, Choi Min-ji’s face changed as if it was rotting.

“Of course, if you help us, we can give you some benefits.”

“What do you mean? You won’t call me to court?”

“No, that’s impossible. But we can help you hide who spoke first.”

“How?”

“Wouldn’t it be enough to summon the other three to court at once?”

In fact, there were many opportunities to obtain their contact information during the investigation. It’s just that it wasn’t revealed because the police didn’t investigate properly.

“If the other three are summoned, you won’t know who spoke first.”

“Do you think Ah-min’s family is easy to deal with? It’s not hard to find out about that.”

“No, you won’t know. This is an unofficial investigation.”

“What?”

“No one knows that we’re conducting this investigation.”

Of course, there is no report, and we have never reported it. So, no matter how hard Jo Ah-min’s family tries to find out who’s behind it, they can’t find out anything. Because there are no traces.

Of course, if they really set their minds to finding out, there’s nothing they can’t do, but to do that, they inevitably have to go through Moonlight.

“Our Moonlight Law Firm is not a family that politely hands over data to people who look down on us and try to take us lightly.”

Jeong I-yeon said confidently. The reason they are being careful in this trial is not because they are afraid of Jo Han-seop, the Chief Judge of the District Court, or Park Tae-woon, the Chief Prosecutor of the District Prosecutors’ Office, but because there is no reason to escalate the fight.

“Can you definitely hide me?”

“Yes, wouldn’t it be better than being 100% exposed, at least?”

Choi Min-ji frowned at those words. That’s right. If they find out that she spoke, her family and she will be attacked. But if she joins hands with the other two, Jo Ah-min’s family won’t be able to touch them easily either.

“Okay. But… you know?”

“We obtained the data from an anonymous informant during the defense.”

Park Do-joon smiled and said.

“So, what are the names of those two?”

Soon after, Moonlight requested the other two people, including Choi Min-ji, to testify. And as expected, Choi Min-ji and the others hurriedly met separately to start talking.

“What happened? Wasn’t our involvement supposed to be hidden?”

“It was originally, but I don’t know where it leaked from.”

“I’m going crazy.”

The three of them grabbed their heads, but that didn’t change the situation. The only good thing was that all three of them worked in Seoul, so the documents were sent to their Seoul homes, which were their registered addresses, rather than going directly to their families in Daegu.

“Min-ji, do you know anything?”

“I don’t know either. Woon-ah, what about you?”

Seo Woon-ah said with a sullen face.

She was also from a family in the legal profession, so she had looked into it.

“That man… was sentenced to 10 years in prison.”

“What? That severely?”

Choi Min-ji pretended not to know, even though she knew it all too well. She had to protect herself.

“I didn’t think it would be that bad.”

“But what should we do? If we go, should we say it was an unfair accusation?”

“What about us if we do that?”

“We’ve already been caught. It seems like they know everything and are calling us?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Moonlight submitted a defense brief, and the content is that it was a consensual relationship, not rape.”

“That’s what they always say, isn’t it?”

“But they mentioned that it was during a bachelorette party.”

“I’m going crazy.”

Another person’s face sank at Seo Woon-ah’s words.

“What should we do? Ah-min told us to keep our mouths shut, didn’t she?”

“No, that’s what we talked about when we were outside. If we go to court, that… what is it? Aren’t we going to get caught?”

“Perjury. That’s right. We’ll get caught for perjury.”

Fortunately, even if Choi Min-ji pretended not to know and spoke vaguely, Seo Woon-ah, who was a lawyer’s daughter, immediately recognized it and answered.

“That’s serious. We could really be dragged away, have our heads shaved, and then get married [a hyperbolic expression implying severe consequences].”

“No, what did we do?”

“It’s not what we did, it’s because of that crazy bitch Jo Ah-min.”

Choi Min-ji glanced around slightly, and when she saw an opportunity, she immediately asked.

“We didn’t tell her to have a one-night stand, and she went out because he was handsome. It’s not like that’s only happened once or twice.”

“That’s true.”

“No, if she got caught, she should have just shut her mouth.”

If she had just said she drank alcohol and slept alone, it wouldn’t have come to this.

But as the situation became unfavorable, she put the rape charge on the wrong person to save herself, and the situation became a mess.

“So, what should we do? We can’t go out and commit perjury, can we?”

“No, the other side already knows everything and summoned us.”

Seo Woon-ah also said that with a somewhat guilty face.

“Min-ji, what do you think?”

“That’s…”

Choi Min-ji was a little relieved that Seo Woon-ah was also looking into the situation to cut ties. And thanks to that, she was able to make up her mind more easily.

“I don’t think we have any reason to lie.”

“What? Are you betraying Ah-min?”

“Frankly, it’s not like Ah-min has done anything for us, and honestly, we won’t see her after she gets married.”

“We won’t see her?”

“That’s right. Her fiancé knows everything and is covering it up, so would he like us to meet her?”

“Ah…”

Of course, he’ll probably think they’ll all flock together again and have affairs. Doing that before marriage and doing that after marriage are completely different issues.

“Well, if it’s Prosecutor General Park Woon-tae’s family, it wouldn’t be strange if they chained her to a room [another hyperbolic expression].”

Seo Woon-ah nodded as if she knew it too.