Sociopaths are good at investigating - C2 - Catharsis

“Where did you put the colored pencil set?”
The teacher approached Ji-hye with a worried expression.
“It’s on my desk.”
“Are you sure? Did you put it somewhere else?”
“I’m sure. I left it right here on top.”
Ji-hye’s face was already on the verge of tears.
The teacher furrowed his brow and opened Ji-hye’s backpack zipper.
“This is strange. Let me check your bag one more time…”
“The colored pencil set…”
At that moment, I interrupted the teacher and asked Ji-hye,
“When did you buy it?”
“This morning. I bought it at the stationery store on my way to school…”
“Then when was the first time you took it out of your bag?”
“I took it out during second period English class.”
Now, we were in the middle of class.
The teacher, seeing me standing in front of Ji-hye, spoke up.
“Jung-tae, sit down, I’ll take care of this…”
“Then there’s no need to listen to the flat tones.”
“…What?”
My mind was racing.
Things seemed to be solving themselves faster than I expected.
But I had to express my thoughts in a way that others could understand.
“What I mean is, we don’t need to consider other classes.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The culprit is in our class.”
The teacher looked at me with wide eyes.
“A culprit? Tak Jung-tae, watch your words! You can’t just accuse your classmates like that!”
“I heard it too. Ji-hye took out the colored pencil set during English class and showed it off to her partner.”
But I continued my argument without flinching.
“Second period English class ended seven minutes later than usual. So, we only had three minutes of break time before third period Science. During those three minutes, Ji-hye went to the bathroom, and no students from other classes entered ours. And then the colored pencil set went missing.”
“Don’t continue…”
“If it’s not in the teacher’s hands or Ji-hye’s bag, then it must have been taken by someone in our class.”
The teacher looked flustered as he dug through Ji-hye’s bag again.
But nothing came up.
Step—step—
I walked to the front and stood by the teacher’s desk.
Once you reduce the number of suspects, solving the problem becomes easier.
The other party is just ‘kids.’
“Could those who went to the bathroom during break time raise their hands?”
Looking at the children’s expressions, they seemed overwhelmed by the classroom atmosphere.
About half of the students raised their hands.
I examined their faces closely.
They all had teal colors, except one, who had an orange shade.
“Then, could the person who took Ji-hye’s colored pencil set raise their hand?”
When I asked again, all the raised hands went down.
No one raised their hand.
Only one had orange.
“Someone’s lying twice in a row.”
The students were only about ten years old.
If someone lied, it was obvious.
As I said this, the one with the orange color turned red, then turned bright red.
“Teacher.”
I called out, and the teacher, who had been resting his chin and watching the kids, turned to look at me.
“There’s a student in the class who has a habit of twitching his eyebrows slightly when he lies.”
The student in red froze, and his actions stopped.
“He did the same thing when he got caught stealing milk last time and was scolded.”
“…!!”
“The student in the back, Yeong-cheol. He’s the one who took it.”
Upon hearing this, Yeong-cheol’s eyes started to shake uncontrollably.
But—
“Jung-tae.”
The teacher still seemed unconvinced by my words.
“Just because Yeong-cheol’s milk came out of his locker last time doesn’t mean that this time he stole the colored pencil set. You shouldn’t judge a friend with colored glasses.”
“Then why did Yeong-cheol lie about going to the bathroom?”
“…What?”
“Yeong-cheol sweats a lot, and every time he goes to the bathroom, he washes his face. But he never carries a towel, so his face is always wet.”
I paused for a moment before speaking again.
“Yet, Yeong-cheol raised his hand saying he went to the bathroom, with his face looking so smooth.”
The teacher checked Yeong-cheol’s face and then sealed his lips, turning back to me.
“Check if what I’m saying is true.”
“Jung-tae, if you’re wrong and Yeong-cheol didn’t take it, you’ll get in trouble. Suspecting a friend is as wrong as stealing something.”
With that, the teacher walked toward Yeong-cheol’s locker.
“Oh, it won’t be in the locker. Yeong-cheol has a star-shaped personality and wouldn’t hide something in a place where he’s been caught before. Check the drawer or the backpack.”
“…”
The teacher glanced at me with disdain before heading to Yeong-cheol’s desk.
He reached into the drawer—
“Yeong-cheol…”
And sure enough, the colored pencil set with a Barbie doll character emerged.
The name “Park Ji-hye” was written on the label.
As soon as the teacher confirmed the name,
“Get down on your knees and put your palms out!!”
The teacher struck Yeong-cheol’s palm with a switch.
*Sigh…*
Watching Yeong-cheol get hit, I felt a shiver run down my spine.
The thrill of reading what is hidden, not what is revealed.
It was a catharsis that I could not possibly describe with words.

***

As I went through my school years, my thoughts became more refined.
My imagination and creativity were concentrated, and I learned to control them.
Now, I can express my thoughts without using words like red, stars, or flat.
But that doesn’t mean my heart remained calm.
I often felt uneasy, and sometimes those feelings grew uncontrollably.
At those times, I immersed myself in uncovering hidden truths.
I read crime thrillers, indulged in documentaries about unsolved cases,
and even researched century-old mysteries.
Strangely, doing so made my heart feel calmer and even brought me joy.
School lessons were still boring.
But in order to learn what I wanted in college, I had to do well on exams.
The high school exams were more structured than those in elementary school,
and scoring well wasn’t that difficult.
So, I entered the school I wanted—[Police University].

*

University lectures were much more interesting.
Learning to collect evidence and uncover criminal charges, rather than just dealing with numbers and history, excited me.
I particularly enjoyed the debate classes.
The process of exchanging opinions and developing thoughts was enjoyable.
I was more diligent in my studies than ever before, and as a result, my grades were excellent.

“Today’s topic is the legislative intent behind the crime of drunken disturbance at government offices under the Minor Offense Punishment Act.”
Once again, I was focused on the lecture.
The man standing at the podium was Professor Jang Gyu-seok.
He conducted all his classes through debates.

“Who would like to share their opinion?”
When he asked, a male student raised his hand and stood up.
He glanced at me briefly before speaking.
“Drunken disturbance at a government office refers to causing a scene, making loud noises, or acting aggressively while drunk at a government office. The punishment for this crime is a fine of up to 600,000 won, detention, or a minor fine.”
His name was Lee Han-cheol.
He had entered the university as the second-best student in our grade and had maintained that position ever since.
He always led the class with passion and dedication.
Other students said that Han-cheol worked so hard because he was jealous of me.
Jealousy.
I looked up the definition in the dictionary: “The feeling of dislike or resentment toward someone else’s success.”
I understood what it meant, but I couldn’t truly empathize with that feeling.
It was an emotion I had never experienced.
The emotions I clearly understood were “boredom” and “excitement.”

“In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the duties of a public official do not fall under the category of official duties, meaning they could not be punished for obstructing official duties. Until that time, there had been no law to punish individuals who caused trouble in government offices while drunk.”
Because of this, my criteria for liking or disliking something were clear.
I didn’t like boredom, but I liked things that excited me.
The reason I enjoyed the Police University lectures was because they were exciting and fun.

“For the safety of police officers and the efficiency of their work, this had to be addressed. That’s why the crime of drunken disturbance at government offices was legislated. Moreover, this law provides a basis for the criminal punishment of actions that hinder the performance of public duties while drunk. In many ways, this law was essential and necessary for police officers.”
But not every lecture at the Police University was always interesting.
There were times it became dull and tedious, just like now.

“Well spoken,”
Professor Gyu-seok nodded in satisfaction.
The other students had similar reactions.
“Anyone else want to share their opinion?”
Perhaps because Han-cheol’s opinion seemed perfect, no one else spoke up.
I stayed quiet without raising my hand.
Because—

“Tak Jung-tae. Do you want to share your thoughts?”
I knew my turn would come naturally.
Since the beginning of the semester, the debate class had turned into a showdown between Han-cheol and me.
There were only two people who confidently expressed their opinions.

“I agree with Han-cheol’s opinion.”
“Oh, really?”
“But…”
Hearing Han-cheol’s opinion made me itch to speak up.
“I disagree with the conclusion.”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
“I think the crime of drunken disturbance at government offices should be removed from the law, for the same reasons Han-cheol mentioned.”
I couldn’t understand why everyone was agreeing with Han-cheol’s opinion, which made no sense.

Applause followed.