Chapter 50: What Sleeps and What Wakes

Lee Jaehyun carefully sat down in his seat and leaned slightly toward Min Ji-hye, who was next to him.

Since he had taken half a day off this morning and returned to find the mood this tense, he felt too self-conscious to say anything loudly.

“What happened?”

Lee Jaehyun asked cautiously, watching for any reaction. Min Ji-hye glanced over at Kim Junho, then tapped Lee Jaehyun’s arm.

“Step outside with me for a moment.”

“Okay.”

Stepping outside together, Lee Jaehyun and Min Ji-hye went to the vending machine in front of the Capital Region Police Station.

“Coffee?”

“Yes, that’d be nice.”

Lee Jaehyun nodded in response.

Min Ji-hye pressed the button on the machine twice, holding it down each time.

Clunk. Clunk.

Two cans of coffee dropped noisily.

Min Ji-hye handed one of the cans to Lee Jaehyun with a quiet sigh.

With a somber expression, she began to explain the situation.

“Since last night, it seems PoSoon ran away from home.”

“Oh no… You haven’t found her yet?”

Just yesterday, Kim Junho had promised to buy PoSoon a Tower if he got a bonus.

It must have been last night that the cat ran away.

Lee Jaehyun didn’t keep pets himself, so he couldn’t completely understand how Kim Junho felt. But even so, if a beloved cat ran away, the worry would be overwhelming.

At Lee Jaehyun’s question about whether PoSoon had been found, Min Ji-hye shook her head, denying his assumption.

Still, her face was set.

“No, she’s been found.”

Finding her was a relief, but… Judging by Min Ji-hye’s expression, it didn’t seem to be good news.

And sure enough.

Min Ji-hye’s next words brought grim news for Kim Junho.

“She was found while searching around the house before heading to work this morning, but she was already dead. Apparently, she ate something she shouldn’t have…”

Lee Jaehyun let out a soft sigh. “Ah…”

Kim Junho’s delighted face and voice from yesterday, when he talked about buying the Tower, flashed through his mind.

Min Ji-hye seemed at a loss for words, hesitating a moment before continuing.

“Anyway, let’s avoid mentioning cats around Junho today, just in case. Be careful.”

“Mm, understood.”

Lee Jaehyun nodded.

At his neat reply, Min Ji-hye took a sip of canned coffee and looked up at the sky.

Clear, and high.

“Sergeant Min Ji-hye, have you ever seen PoSoon?”

“Well, I haven’t actually seen her in person. I’ve never had a reason to go to Junho’s place. But I did see pictures—she was cute.”

After answering, Min Ji-hye gently shook her head and changed the subject.

“What about Myung Jinhan’s pet shop Glass Door? What did you decide?”

“Oh, I took care of it last night.”

He’d dealt with it right after work yesterday.

No need to drag it out if it’s nothing good.

Taking care of it quickly and not worrying about it anymore was the best way to keep his peace.

“How much did he ask for?”

“He asked for 400,000 won, so I gave it to him.”

It was a bit expensive, but he didn’t want to be bothered with it anymore, so he immediately transferred 400,000 won.

At the mention of 400,000 won, Min Ji-hye’s eyebrows twitched.

Normally, she didn’t show much expression, but today she seemed to have a wider range of faces, which was refreshing.

Well, it probably meant that, like him, Min Ji-hye wasn’t happy with either Kim Junho being so down or Myung Jinhan demanding damages from Lee Jaehyun.

“Not 200,000 or 300,000, but 400,000?”

“Still, the bonus covered it, and the Team Leader helped out, so it was resolved smoothly, thanks to them.”

“In the future, don’t go around breaking doors. Hold back even if you’re angry. 400,000 won… what a waste.”

With that, Min Ji-hye took another sip of coffee.

After a short pause, Sergeant Park Daehyung showed up.

“Anyone got money?”

“Wow, Sergeant, saying that with that face should be a crime, you know?”

Min Ji-hye smiled slyly at Park Daehyung.

Park Daehyung touched his own face as if to say, “What’s wrong with it?”

With a chuckle, Lee Jaehyun put coins in the vending machine.

“What would you like?”

“Coffee for me too.”

“Yep.”

Clunk.

Once again, a can of coffee dropped with a loud noise.

Park Daehyung drained the can in one gulp and let out a satisfied sigh.

“Man, it’s suffocating in there. I haven’t felt that awkward around Junho in a while.”

“He says he’s fine, but this is the first time I’ve seen him so quiet while working with him.”

At Park Daehyung’s words, Min Ji-hye nodded in agreement.

As Lee Jaehyun was about to change the subject—

“Park Daehyung, Lee Jaehyun.”

“Team Leader, you’re here.”

“Yes, Team Leader.”

Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin approached from the direction of the vending machine, looking for Park Daehyung and Lee Jaehyun.

Both responded quickly, and Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin clicked his tongue before speaking.

“Hey, a report came in. You two go check it out. In front of Han Seong Elementary School… there’s a dead cat, and they’re asking for it to be removed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lee Jaehyun answered immediately at Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin’s words.

He understood why Team Leader Oh had picked Park Daehyung and him.

If Kim Junho went out… it’d only make the already heavy mood worse.

Lee Jaehyun finished his canned coffee and threw it in the trash bin.

Clang.

With a dull, heavy sound, the coffee can disappeared into the bin.

***

“There’s a dead cat, so please remove the body.”

Police officers aren’t cleaning contractors, so removing animal bodies isn’t exactly police work.

But sometimes, the police get sent out on such calls.

In fact, there are a lot of absurd requests.

Like, “My kid’s late for school, can you drive him?” or “Can you watch my child until I get home late?” or “Help me move my things.”

There’s all kinds.

There are even calls about stray cats, with all sorts of variations.

Some want the people feeding the stray cats caught, while others want those driving the cats away punished.

Basically, a neighborhood scapegoat.

Cases like today, where they’re asked to remove a dead cat, are best solved quickly by just taking care of it on the spot.

It’s not really the police’s job, but if the police don’t do it, someone else still has to.

Usually, the District Office’s cleaning contractor comes out to handle it.

But if the District Office cleaning contractor is busy? Then sometimes the Community Center or another place dealing with civil complaints steps in.

That’s why, even though it’s not in the job description, when a report comes in, the police try to handle it if possible.

From the police station’s perspective, there’s no need to quarrel with the Community Center, District Office, or City Hall, so everyone tries to get along.

Driving the Squad Car to Han Seong Elementary School, they found a boy, who looked like a middle or high school student, and an old lady standing together.

“Hello.”

“Oh, hello.”

As Lee Jaehyun approached with a smile, the boy bowed awkwardly.

The old lady also offered a gentle smile.

“Who made the report?”

“Oh, I did.”

The boy raised his hand.

He looked embarrassed as he spoke.

“Well, there’s a dead cat in front of the elementary school, and I thought the kids would get scared. This grandmother covered it up so the kids wouldn’t see.”

“Kids shouldn’t see something so gruesome.”

“You did a great job.”

At the boy’s words, the old lady waved her hands.

Lee Jaehyun smiled, thanked them, and turned his gaze toward the cat.

Maybe it hadn’t been dead long—it looked just like any other living cat.

There was no sign of decomposition, and without any visible wounds, it looked even more ordinary.

“Are you sure it’s not just sleeping?”

“I thought it might be sleeping too, so I tried nudging it, but it didn’t wake up. Even when I rolled it over, it didn’t move at all.”

The boy gingerly prodded the cat with his foot and tried to roll its body.

But the cat just sprawled limply, not moving at all.

“There aren’t any visible injuries… Did it eat something bad?”

“Looks like it,” Park Daehyung said, approaching and inspecting the cat with Lee Jaehyun.

Usually in these situations, the animal had been hit by a car.

Sometimes, even if it wasn’t a hit-and-run, the animal might have gotten hurt somewhere, the injury worsened, and then it died.

But since there weren’t any visible wounds… they could only guess it had eaten something bad somewhere.

“Um… I think I’ll head off now.”

While Lee Jaehyun and Park Daehyung were talking about the cat, the boy who made the report stepped in.

“Ah, thank you for reporting it. We’ll take care of things and send you an SMS when we’re done.”

“Thank you.”

The boy bowed and hurried away.

Lee Jaehyun turned to the old lady who was still watching and spoke with a smile.

“We’ll take care of this, so don’t worry. You can go on your way, ma’am.”

“I’ll help. This isn’t something you should be doing.”

“It’s all right.”

As the old lady rolled up her sleeves and came over to help, Lee Jaehyun quickly waved his hands.

He appreciated her kindness, but this was something he could handle.

It wasn’t the sort of task he wanted to burden the old lady with.

Lee Jaehyun, who always tried to be stern with criminals but courteous to ordinary citizens, offered a polite goodbye, then strode toward the cat.

He carefully reached out to pick up the cat.

“…?”

It was warm.

If it was dead, its body should have gone cold.

Just as Lee Jaehyun was feeling a strange sense of doubt—

Twitch.

The cat moved.

Just a moment ago, it hadn’t even twitched when its body was rolled over, but now it moved on its own.

“Huh?”

Park Daehyung exclaimed in surprise.

Lee Jaehyun quickly set the cat back down.

The cat weakly moved its front paws first, then, with difficulty, opened its eyes.

Meow…

It let out a feeble cry, yawned widely, then came to its senses.

As the cat stood up on all fours, Park Daehyung let out a bewildered laugh.

“What the? It was just sleeping?”

“Now I know what it means to sleep like the dead.”

Lee Jaehyun shook his head in disbelief and added,

“Phew… That’s a relief.”

The old lady, watching from behind, exhaled in relief and spoke.

“I’m glad too. Thank you for standing guard this whole time. We’ll be going now.”

“You came all this way, you’ve worked hard. Hang in there.”

“Yes, thank you.”

After thanking the old lady, Lee Jaehyun got back into the Squad Car.

It was a close call, but a much better ending than having to dispose of a dead cat.

“Hearing that PoSoon died from eating something bad had me feeling down, so I’m glad this one was just sleeping.”

“Same here.”

“But how can a cat sleep so deeply it seems dead? It’s amazing.”

As Lee Jaehyun nodded at Park Daehyung’s words, he suddenly felt a flicker of unease and furrowed his brows.

Something about this was oddly unsettling.

It was a purely bad feeling—one he couldn’t explain.

“Sergeant Park Daehyung.”

“Hm?”

“You don’t know exactly what PoSoon ate to die, do you?”

“I have no idea. Well… I just heard Junho’s younger sibling is looking into cat cremation services.”

Park Daehyung shrugged as if he really didn’t know.

Still troubled by his lingering unease, Lee Jaehyun started up the engine, his expression uneasy.