Chapter 12 – Secret Temptation – Part 5

Chapter 12 – Secret Temptation – Part 5

The tutor blinked repeatedly.

“Woojin, you didn’t memorize the answers, did you? You have to be honest, okay?”

It was Hyerim, staring blankly at Woojin, who answered his question, which sounded as if he was about to get angry.

“Woojin just saw this workbook for the first time today…”

The tutor checked the answers one by one, as if he couldn’t believe it.

This makes no sense. It really makes no sense.

‘This is crazy…’

He got them all right. His mouth quickly opened.

“You didn’t just memorize the answers, did you?”

“No. Aren’t there more difficult CSAT problems?”

At Woojin’s question, he cleared his muddled thoughts.

He could have definitely memorized the problems and answers thoroughly.

There are often kids like that.

Students who try to memorize everything they see without trying to understand the problem.

The guy in front of him must be like that too.

He couldn’t solve problems like this.

He quickly wrote down the problems in an empty notebook.

He was creating new problems that weren’t in the workbook.

For a moment, excited, he forced himself to suppress a laugh.

‘This bastard. How much must he like Hyerim to…’

In his mind, he pictured Woojin wrestling with the workbook day and night.

Soon, having finished the problems, he slid the notebook to Woojin.

And, contrary to his true feelings, he said in a gentle voice,

“Can you try solving this one too?”

“I’ll try.”

Woojin’s gaze fell on the problem.

Not many candles passed like that.

“What’s the answer?”

At Woojin’s words, the tutor broke into a wide smile.

‘Kid, I knew it.’

He, maintaining a pleasant smile, began to speak.

“The answer is ‘1’. Shall we all figure out why?”

Then.

“There’s an error in the problem, so the answer cannot be ‘1’.”

“What?”

Woojin’s hand, holding a pen, moved to the notebook.

“For the answer you mentioned to be ‘1’, it needs to have a square like this to be valid.”

As Woojin wrote numbers into the problem, his brow furrowed.

“What are you talking about…”

He carefully examined the problem he had created himself.

“Ah…”

The kid was right. Due to his excitement, he had made a mistake in the process of creating the problem.

Yes, this was a mistake.

“I made a bit of a mistake because I made the problem in a hurry.”

At his words, Lee Hyerim’s eyes widened as she looked at Woojin.

The kid who’s preparing for the GED solves problems at lightning speed, and now…

“What? Woojin is teaching the teacher?”

“Hyerim, that’s because the teacher made a mistake…”

“Teacher, can you also solve each problem within two or three candles?”

“Well… I haven’t timed myself…”

“Have you seen people solve problems like Woojin?”

“I wonder…”

Hyerim giggled.

“Hey, Shin Woojin. You’re really amazing! Are you a genius or what? What’s your true identity?”

While Lee Hyerim and the tutor tried to comprehend Woojin’s existence, Woojin calmly spoke.

“I think I’m good at Korean, but please teach me English too, not just math.”

“Oh? Oh, okay.”

He quickly opened the English workbook.

“Can you solve this problem?”

This time too, Woojin finished 10 pages in less than a minute.

‘This is insane…….’

The tutor looked at Woojin in disbelief, and Hyerim burst out laughing at the sight of the two of them.

It was as if the student and teacher had swapped roles.

Just then, Woojin’s cellphone rang.

It was a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello.”

When he answered the phone, a man’s voice came through.

-Hello? Is this Shin Woojin’s phone?

“Yes, it is. Who is this?”

-Ah, I’m the detective in charge of the Itaewon Alley Incident. Could I see you for a moment? I have a few questions. Are you busy?

“No.”

-That’s good. I need to talk to you in person, so I’ll come to you.

“This is……”

Woojin told him the address without hesitation and got up from his seat.

He had decided there was nothing more to learn from the tutor.

“Where are you going?”

“I think I need to meet a detective.”

Hyerim’s eyes were filled with curiosity.

“Did they catch the criminal? Should I come with you?”

“No, I’ll meet him and tell you about it. You might get tired too.”

Woojin’s words filled Lee Hyerim with a sense of contentment. It was as if Woojin was protecting her.

As Woojin, now wearing his backpack, moved towards the entrance, the tutor quickly spoke up.

“You had some problems memorized, didn’t you? How on earth did you study?”

The tutor’s tone was one of complete disbelief.

Woojin, who was putting on his shoes, turned around and said,

“I read a few books.”

Woojin said

He was like a walking library.

Also, ten minutes was more than enough time to read a 500-page book.

Even after Woojin left, the tutor, still in disbelief, scanned the problems Woojin had solved again and again.

Lee Hyerim watched him flipping through the workbook like a madman, then let out a small laugh.

‘That pervert, I didn’t want him to tutor me anyway, and now I have a reason.’

***

After meeting the detective, Woojin was entering the police station.

A suspect had been apprehended, and they wanted a witness to identify him.

“As I told you, he was wearing a hat and a mask, so I couldn’t see his face.”

“Yes, just the feeling, just the feeling is enough.”

This was the witness who had accurately described the criminal’s appearance to the police at the crime scene.

If he was indeed the criminal, the witness might remember something.

Woojin then entered what appeared to be an interrogation room.

Behind the glass, two men were seated: one was a detective, and the other was the suspect.

“What do you think? Does he seem like the right person?”

He shook his head at the detective’s question.

The criminal and the suspect had similar builds. However, that alone wasn’t enough to identify him as the criminal.

Woojin, who had been carefully observing the suspect, opened his mouth.

“What is that person saying?”

“Oh, do you want to hear his voice?”

The Detective pressed the button, and the voice from inside the glass was heard.

“It’s really not me. It’s really not.”

Woojin slowly nodded his head.

“He’s lying.”

“Huh? Lying?”

“He’s constantly touching his nose. When you lie, a substance called Catecholamine is secreted in your body, and this substance increases blood pressure around the nose and eyes. He feels itchy. That’s why he’s periodically touching his nose. Chewing his lips with his teeth, and constantly touching his face with his hands are unconscious actions he takes because he wants to take back his lies.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If you look at his eyes, they move to the upper left every time he speaks. His pupils moving to the upper left indicate he is recalling the past, but moving to the upper right indicates he is imagining. Look at his pupils. They repeatedly dilate. When the Sympathetic Nervous System is activated, the pupils dilate. And the Sympathetic Nervous System is activated when you lie.”

The Detective smiled bitterly.

“Someone almost died. This is no time for games…”

Woojin continued speaking, unconcerned.

“There are three main actions people take when they are in danger: freeze, flight, or fight. Look at that. The Suspect has crossed his legs into an X and fixed them to the chair legs. He chose to freeze. Like an animal playing dead when it encounters a predator. He has no choice, because this is a confined space, so he can’t flee or fight with handcuffs on. Even if he’s innocent, he might take that posture due to anxiety from psychological pressure. However, if we combine all his actions and solve it like a math problem, his non-verbal cues tell us that he is lying and taking that posture because he is anxious that his identity will be exposed.”

Detective Kim sighed and chuckled.

Is he a kid who dreams of being a profiler?

“I also see him swallowing frequently and raising his eyebrows to emphasize his words. It’s as if he’s trying to hypnotize the other person into believing he’s right. One side of his lips also goes up a few times. That’s contempt, which often appears when someone is lying.”

Woojin, who had his gaze fixed on the Suspect, opened his mouth again.

“Detective sir, if someone suddenly startled you from behind, could you turn around without any reaction? When things aren’t going well, you’ve probably covered your eyes with your palms. Or looked at the ceiling. When something bad happens, you sigh deeply, right? I’m telling you about things that naturally happen, those kinds of things.”

One of the Young Detectives, who had been listening quietly beside him, blinked as if lost in thought.

Could he turn around without being surprised? When things weren’t going well, he rubbed his eyes with his palms as if washing his face, and then when he sighed…

Of course, he did. Everyone else did too.

The Young Detective’s eyes widened slightly as that thought reached him.

‘Everyone does? There’s a pattern?’

Then Woojin’s voice flowed into him again.

“Tell them there’s a witness. That’ll work well on someone like him. Make your gestures big. Surprisingly, a confession will come easily.”

The Young Detective shouted.

“Sir! Let’s just try it!”

He then burst into the Interrogation Room, pointed his finger at the Suspect, and said,

“You’re screwed, you bastard, a witness has come forward!”

The Suspect’s eyes widened as if they would tear. Soon, he bowed his head deeply and ruffled his hair.

“Ah, damn it…”

Then he slowly raised his head and said,

“It was definitely not premeditated.”

“What?”

“It really wasn’t premeditated.”

The Suspect had vehemently maintained his innocence.

At his empty confession, the Young Detective turned his head and stared blankly at the glass.

That’s where Woojin was.