The northern weasel was sleeping so soundly that he knew nothing of the world around him. When he felt himself being lifted into the air, he jolted awake in alarm.
"Screee!"
"Oh, sorry. I woke you up."
The apartment owner apologized and set the little animal, whose fur was standing on end, down on the sofa.
Hae Dam quickly assessed the situation.
The living room reeked of alcohol, which probably explained why the terrace door was open. The display cabinet was also wide open.
After setting Hae Dam down, the apartment owner stared at the cabinet with a puzzled expression.
He took out the very bottle from which Hae Dam had devoured seven ginseng roots.
"......"
Then he turned to look at Hae Dam.
"Squeak."
The weasel made the frailest, cutest sound he could manage, pretending he knew absolutely nothing.
"Did you drink alcohol?"
Breaking into a cold sweat, Hae Dam began vigorously grooming his fur.
"What on earth... You wouldn't eat meat or canned tuna, but you drank alcohol...? Can ferrets even drink?"
Hae Dam felt unfairly accused.
He hadn't drunk any alcohol. He had merely eaten the ginseng roots that had been soaking in it.
The apartment owner returned the bottle to the display cabinet, locked the door with a key, then walked over and crouched in front of Hae Dam.
"You seem to have gotten some of your strength back. Maybe it's because it was ginseng liquor."
"Squeak!"
"Still, I should take you to the clinic. I need to stop by the university, so I can't take you right now. Just rest for another hour."
"Squeak!"
Hae Dam continued making adorable little noises.
When the apartment owner raised his hand, Hae Dam naturally assumed he was about to pet him and stretched his neck toward it.
But the hand went toward the cushion instead of the adorable weasel.
The man kneaded the cushion until the stuffing was evenly distributed, then scooped Hae Dam up and placed him on top of it.
His intentions were clearly kind, but Hae Dam wasn't satisfied.
I want him to pet me...
Even in human form, Hae Dam loved being touched by people. In animal form, however, that instinct grew even stronger. The moment he saw a human hand, he became desperate to be petted.
"Squeee."
He caught two of the fingers moving away from him between his front paws.
The apartment owner didn't seem particularly startled, but his hand stopped in midair.
Hae Dam pulled the man's index and middle fingers toward himself, rubbed his tiny head against them, and graciously allowed him to enjoy the softness of his fur.
"......"
After watching for a moment, the apartment owner used his free thumb to stroke Hae Dam's face.
He was still clumsy.
He touched Hae Dam's nose, folded his ears backward until they felt uncomfortable, and stroked his fur against the grain or in completely random directions.
But Hae Dam stayed still and let him touch as much as he liked.
Perhaps it was because the man's hands were so large.
It felt nice.
The apartment owner spent quite some time petting him before realizing how late it was. He hurriedly got ready and left the apartment.
The moment Hae Dam was alone, he transformed back into a human.
Time for me to get to work, too!
He could have left through the terrace, but he decided to go out in human form for now.
Opening the front door revealed a long corridor.
He followed the completely empty hallway until he reached another door. Only after opening that one did he finally find the elevator.
There's only one apartment on each floor? This place really is expensive.
Marveling at the luxury, Hae Dam stepped into the elevator.
Only then did he realize he was on the thirtieth floor.
Fortunately, he didn't encounter any other residents on the way down to the first floor.
"Good morning, sir. Have a pleasant day."
A security guard who had been standing by greeted him with impeccable politeness.
The guard was wearing a suit.
"You have a great day, too!"
Hae Dam returned the greeting brightly.
It took him quite a while just to get out of the apartment complex.
There were three separate walking trails reserved exclusively for residents.
Only after passing through the main entrance, which bore a warning sign reading "Residents Only—No Unauthorized Entry," did Hae Dam take out his phone.
The moment he turned it on, notifications came flooding in.
Ignoring them for the time being, he opened his map application first.
He intended to find the nearest subway station or bus stop, but the address displayed on the screen startled him.
"This is really far from Korea University!"
Korea University was in the heart of Seoul, but he was currently in Goyang.
The nearest subway station was about a thirty-minute walk away.
The apartment complex wasn't even a large development. It consisted of a single building, surrounded by the Han River, parks, and quiet residential neighborhoods.
Don't university students usually rent places near campus? Especially when they've got that much money... Oh, I guess it doesn't matter if you have your own car.
As he headed toward the nearest bus stop, he made a phone call.
The other person answered after just one ring.
"Ah, Hae Dam! Why are you only calling now?"
"Something came up. Did you find Kkaengi?"
"Yeah. Kkaengi was waiting quietly right where you said. I got the little one back to the owner safely, and I transferred the money, too. I also picked up your camera and put it in the locker you told me about. I was worried sick because you weren't answering. Where on earth were you all night, and what were you doing?"
"I was just eating."
"What? How much food did you stuff your face with to spend twelve whole hours...?"
The previous day, Hae Dam had received a case from Totam.
Totam had been contacted by a Korea University student who had lost a rabbit adopted just three months earlier after trying to take the animal on a walk despite its reluctance.
The student had spent four days searching without catching so much as a glimpse of the rabbit before sending Hae Dam an emergency rescue request.
After asking around among the longtime animal residents of the campus, including Nuteori, Hae Dam had finally located the rabbit.
But just as he was about to begin the rescue, his head started spinning and his vision blurred.
He hurriedly consumed the emergency red-ginseng stick he always carried for situations like this, but it didn't help.
With his consciousness fading, he had barely managed to send Totam the rabbit's location.
The rabbit was timid and easily frightened, so Hae Dam had been worried. It was a relief to hear that the rescue had gone well.
"I've told you this before, but you really need to hire an assistant. You keep disappearing on people because you're working alone. It worries me."
Most animal detectives worked with assistants.
Hae Dam also understood the need for one, but because of a secret he couldn't reveal, he couldn't simply hire anyone.
Just then, his bus arrived.
Hae Dam thanked Totam and ended the call.
After carefully checking that the case fee had been deposited into his account, he opened his email inbox.
Ajji's Older Sister
December 3, 7:08 p.m.
Detective, please save our Ajjiㅠㅠ
Gyeontam
December 3, 8:11 p.m.
Four-month-old puppy ran away in this freezing weather
kimmarry
December 3, 10:30 p.m.
Hello, this is Haemtam. Long time no see :)...
Ten emails had piled up overnight.
That was roughly three times as many as he usually received.
Why have so many animals lost their humans in the middle of winter?
Worry creased his pale brow.
Hae Dam was an animal detective.
From finding missing animals to offering advice on concerns like "Why on earth is my dog behaving this way?", he solved all sorts of animal-related problems.
These days, practically every animal detective maintained social media accounts on platforms like GemTube and Gemstagram.
Hae Dam, however, did none of that.
He didn't have business cards or even an official website.
All he had was an email address.
He had built his entire business through word of mouth, right from the beginning.
Hae Dam had been doing this work since he was fifteen.
After the ginseng-gathering couple died, he had suddenly found himself living alone at a young age.
He began taking whatever part-time jobs he could find.
His food expenses were so enormous that he had to earn money even during the hours he should have spent studying. Eventually, he dropped out of school.
One day, after finishing a night shift at a convenience store, he was heading home against the flow of people hurrying to work.
It was spring, but the wind was bitterly cold.
A flyer fluttered down in front of him.
MISSING CAT
(Photo)
Distinguishing features
Korean domestic cat with one ear slightly clipped
White fur on front paws
Heart-shaped stripes on back
Last seen
(Map)
Reward: 500,000 won
Please don't try to catch the cat. Send videos or photos instead.
010-0000-0000
The photograph showed a grumpy-looking cat sitting in a loaf position.
Hae Dam quickly figured out where the flyer had come from.
There was a veterinary clinic directly ahead.
He walked over to put the flyer back up and discovered that the area outside the clinic was covered with missing-animal notices.
A chubby cat sprawled on its back with its belly exposed.
A Chihuahua wearing a quilted vest.
A Shih Tzu smiling cheerfully with the hair on its head braided into three sections...
At that point, Hae Dam hadn't used his animal transformation in over a year.
When he was younger, he had transformed into an animal whenever he had the chance, happily rolling around to his heart's content.
But back then, he had been an adolescent whose emotions changed dozens of times a day.
He hated the fact that he was the only being on Earth who could transform like this.
He was also struggling with an identity crisis, unable to decide whether he was an animal or a human.
At the time, he had resolved to live as a human.
He wanted nothing to do with anything involving animals, and he refused to speak with them.
He had tried to erase the very knowledge that he could transform into an animal and communicate with other animals from his mind.
This time, too, he had intended to put the fallen flyer back where it belonged and leave.
But then another notice caught his eye.
My only famly Pleese help me find my dog I will give you 500,000 won Its all the money I have.
Unlike the other flyers, this one had been written by hand in crooked, uneven letters.
Even the photograph had been cut out and pasted on rather than printed directly onto the page.
It showed a yellowish dog curled up comfortably on a yellow linoleum floor, looking like a freshly baked loaf of bread. Beside the dog was a plate piled high with discarded sweet potato skins.
They're offering five hundred thousand won.
At first, it had been about the 500,000 won.
There was no denying that Hae Dam had been after the reward.
The missing dog's name was Hwatu, and Hwatu was ten years old.
The dog belonged to an elderly woman who lived alone.