The Search for Tan
As the cats headed for the door, Lee Jun spoke up.
"How about asking the park friends first? They might have seen Tan."
The instant Lee Jun said what he'd been meaning to say all along, the cats stopped dead in their tracks.
"That's right-ong. Hyung-nim's got it-ong. We'll go ask at the park-ong."
"I'll take Bluebird."
"Hyung-nim-ong, I'll take Neulpureun-ong."
They were asking him to open the door. The cats said their piece and started forward again, and that was when Sapsaree spoke up.
"I-I'll help too, I will!"
His tail thumped the floor as he said it. The cats drew themselves up, chests thrown wide.
"Sapsaree-ong. I'm the top cat in this territory-ong."
"And I'm the Second-in-Command."
"We'll bring Tan back-ong."
"Don't you worry, Sapsaree. We'll find him. But Hoesaegi."
"What is it, Kkamnyangi-ong?"
"We can't have a bunch of cats roaming around. Tan'll get scared and go into hiding."
"You've got a point-ong. Then I'll go look-ong."
"No. I'll find him."
"Kkamnyangi-ong, I'm better at searching than you are-ong."
"That's not true. I'm better."
"I'm better-ong."
The two of them bristled and bickered, a full-blown war of nerves, and Lee Jun opened his mouth to break it up. Kkamnyangi got there first.
"Hoesaegi. You've never had to hide."
"That's true-ong. I've never hidden in my life-ong."
"I've lived in hiding. That's why I know every place worth hiding in."
"I know them too-ong."
"Not like someone who's actually lived it."
Hoesaegi puffed out his chest and lifted his chin high.
To the cats of this district, the name Silver Rain was legend itself. The greatest Territory Leader there had ever been — and now Silver Rain the King Boss. A leader was expected to know every last corner of the territory he managed. That much went without saying. Which meant he had a thorough grasp of every district in the area.
Kkamnyangi let out a dry little snicker at that.
"Have you ever lived in that cave past the thicket?"
"No-ong."
"I have. What about the hole between the walls?"
He meant the gap in that crumbling old fence.
"No-ong."
"I have. So I can find him better than you."
Kkamnyangi gently set a paw as soft as a cotton puff on Hoesaegi's shoulder. A gesture that said, plain as day, that he would find Tan better than Hoesaegi ever could.
Hoesaegi blinked a few times, then nodded.
"That so-ong? Then I'll leave it to you-ong."
Leaving it to him did not mean Hoesaegi thought Kkamnyangi was better. He simply didn't want to crush the other cat's determination.
If Kkamnyangi can't find him, I'll find him myself-ong.
Unaware of what was going through Hoesaegi's mind, Kkamnyangi answered with a look of pure triumph.
"Just wait."
Lee Jun, who had been listening to the whole exchange, spoke up.
"Thanks, Kkamnyangi. Still, we might need Hoesaegi, so how about this? He hangs back and watches, and if you need him, he jumps in."
Lee Jun wanted them sent out together, just in case something unexpected came up.
"Understood-ong."
Hoesaegi agreed, already thinking he would step in if Kkamnyangi slipped up or got it wrong.
"That much is fine."
Kkamnyangi accepted Lee Jun's decision just as readily, thinking, Watch closely, Hoesaegi. This is how you run a search.
"Then put these on. They're clothes that let me find where you are. You know the ones, right?"
Kkamnyangi and Hoesaegi already wore GPS collars, but Lee Jun fitted them with slim harnesses besides. Those had GPS units attached as well.
"We know-ong. There's a sparkly thing on here that lets Hyung-nim find us-ong."
"That's right. So don't you dare take these off. And be back once the sun goes down."
"Obviously. We've got to eat."
"We have to come back for dinner-ong."
Lee Jun took the cats to the park.
First stop was Neulpureun Park. The moment Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi appeared, the park cats lit up with delight.
"King Boss! You've come?"
"Kkam Boss! Welcome."
"Hehe, King Boss is here."
"Kkam Boooss!"
Hoesaegi was the King Boss, the leader of leaders, and Kkamnyangi was Kkam Boss, short for the Black Boss. The cats came crowding in to greet them. One swayed his tail and curled the corners of his mouth into a smile. Others rubbed their whole bodies against the two of them, working off how much they had been missed. A few bounced and hopped in circles around their feet.
The ways they said hello were all different, but the look in their eyes was the same. Respect. Trust. And a fierce, deep affection.
Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi answered with warm, pleased smiles — and then, at the exact same moment, they blurted out the same greeting.
"You eaten-ong?"
"Food?"
It was the very thing Lee Jun always said.
"We have."
"It was delicious!"
The cats answered with bright faces, reporting that this morning's breakfast had been tasty too. Hoesaegi looked satisfied, then told them why he had come.
"Yesterday a fellow named Tan lost his way-ong."
"Who's Tan?"
Sogeum-i, standing right in front of Hoesaegi, asked it first.
"A newcomer who showed up yesterday between the Bluebird and Neulpureun territories-ong."
"He's got a home. He ran away from it."
Kkamnyangi put in.
"His home? He must not have liked it there."
"I like my home, though."
"Mine's nice too."
The cats turned their heads to look at their own hiding cubbies.
"I don't know why he left-ong. But Meongmeong Hyung-nim said we have to find this Tan fellow-ong."
Every mouth snapped shut. They locked in. If Meongmeong Teacher said to find him, then they would find him. There was no other reason needed.
"Understood! But what's Tan look like?"
"Black all over. Only his eyes are a bit like Hoesaegi's. And they said he's smaller than we are. A boy."
Kkamnyangi laid it out, and Norangi, who had been listening with grave care, spoke up.
"Understood. I'll assemble a search party at once."
"Wait-ong!"
Hoesaegi threw a front paw up in the air. Norangi didn't even ask why. He bowed his head on the spot.
"Yes, sir."
Norangi trusted Hoesaegi absolutely, and followed him the same way. His ears pricked, waiting for the order.
"Tan scares easy-ong. If a search party goes roaming around, he'll hide-ong."
"Ah! So we just find traces, then? Even if we spot him, we don't approach?"
Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi both smiled.
"That's exactly it-ong. If you find where he is, you come to me or Kkamnyangi — or you go to Mongmong Animal Hospital and tell Hyung-nim-ong."
"Understood."
"Yes!"
"There's something else I need from you-ong."
"Please tell us."
"Check whether any cats like Jjaek are prowling nearby-ong. Those ones will absolutely go after a newcomer-ong."
In other words: keep the watch tight.
"It'd be just as bad if he ran into Mangchi, or Geondal-i, or Meokbo."
Kkamnyangi followed Hoesaegi with a few names worth watching, and the park cats nodded hard.
"That's right. Those ones are so, so scary."
"They're real bad ones."
Some of the park cats said they were terrifying. Others just called them rotten.
"That's right-ong. Tan's timid and he doesn't know the roads around here. We have to find him before those ones get to him-ong."
Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi went to Bluebird Park and gave the same orders there. Then they set out to find Tan.
"Kkamnyangi-ong, if you need me, say so-ong."
"Won't happen. You just watch."
Kkamnyangi answered with total confidence and got to work.
"We have to start the search from Tan's house."
He headed for the house Lee Jun had pointed out before they went to Neulpureun Park. Before long he was at the foot of the apartment building, taking in the surroundings.
Hmm. They said he bolted from up there, didn't they?
Kkamnyangi looked up at the second-floor window. Something jutted out below it. The outdoor air-conditioning unit.
"There's a big rock. He would've gotten down easy."
He studied the alley. It split off in several directions, but Kkamnyangi looked at only one — the path that ran to a dead end.
That fellow definitely went that way.
The alley he had picked was the quietest, the one with the fewest people. He walked into it, then stopped short, backed up a few steps, and poked his head to the right. From outside you could barely see it, but inside there was a space big enough to hide a body.
A place like this is perfect for hiding.
A fine spot for staying unseen. That Tan fellow ought to have been in a place like this. Kkamnyangi clicked his tongue and kept searching.
He moved through the apartment alleys as stealthy and swift as a shadow. He knew these lanes inside out.
If I cut around that way, there are a few hiding spots.
The narrow gaps between buildings, thick with weeds — perfect for tucking a body out of sight. As he walked toward them, his ears and whiskers never stopped moving. He gathered up the noise of the surroundings and sifted out any scent that didn't belong, and he searched the apartment neighborhood down to the last corner. Alleys. The seams between buildings. Vacant lots. Even the handful of houses scattered through the villa streets. He went through the yards as thoroughly as everything else.
Along the way he ran into underlings from his old days.
"Good day, Sha— …Kkamnyangi-nim."
"Right. Any sign of a newcomer lately?"
"No, sir. None."
"Got it. If a newcomer shows up, don't even think about putting him in his place. Report to Milo, and just keep track of where he is."
"Yes, sir."
He searched without rest, and at last a dead-end alley opened in front of him. Over the wall, a thicket of brush.
"Hmm. He didn't go over that wall and into the brush, did he?"
It was the place he had first lived in hiding after leaving Bluebird. Kkamnyangi turned his gaze down the path that led there. A high wall cut off his view. A very high wall. If there had been something to push off from, a cat could have cleared it — but there was only the wall, standing tall. To get over it you had to jump from the bare ground, which meant you needed serious spring in your legs.
The cats in this district who could make that jump, you could count on one hand. Himself. Hoesaegi. Milo, maybe, and Norangi. A timid fellow who had only ever lived in a house would never, ever get over that wall.
"Still. Better check."
He glared around for sharp claw marks on the wall, or even a few caught hairs. Nothing.
Kkamnyangi even went looking through the old spots where his more fearful underlings used to hide. There was no trace of a newcomer anywhere. And then, before he knew it, the dark had begun to settle over the streets.
Hoesaegi, who had been watching him the whole time, let out a small, soft meow.
"Kkamnyangi-ong. Hyung-nim is waiting-ong."
It was a tiny sound, but it reached Kkamnyangi's ears perfectly.
"Is it that late already?"
"It is-ong. Hyung-nim will worry-ong."
Meaning that if they didn't go now, Lee Jun would get worried enough to come looking. They couldn't make Hyung-nim worry. Kkamnyangi turned around without a fuss.
"All right. Let's go."
Back at Mongmong Animal Hospital, Kkamnyangi shook his head from side to side.
"I couldn't find Tan."
"You still worked hard looking. Thank you."
Lee Jun soothed him as Kkamnyangi stood there with his head hanging, crushed by the failed search. That was when Hoesaegi spoke up.
"I'm hungry-ong. Hyung-nim-ong, food-ong. After we eat, I'll go find Tan-ong."
"Now? It's dark out."
"That's right-ong. Kkamnyangi failed-ong. So I'll find Tan-ong. I search well at night-ong."
Hoesaegi threw his chest out as he said it, his whole face full of the confidence that he could find what Kkamnyangi had not.
"I told you he isn't there. I looked that hard and I still couldn't find him. That Tan fellow's already gone to another territory."
"Kkamnyangi-ong, I am Silver Rain-ong!"
You couldn't find him. Of course I will. The look on his face was that sure.
A sharp crack of sparks seemed to leap where their eyes met in the air between them. Hss. Hss. Hss. The two cats huffed hard through their noses, and Lee Jun simply reached out and stroked both their heads.
"All right, all right. Let's eat first. You're hungry, aren't you?"
"That's right-ong. Hungry-ong."
"Hungry."
They dropped the staring contest and hurried to their bowls. Then, as if the war of nerves had never happened, they put their heads together and ate like they were starving. They lapped up water in a noisy rush, and went straight back out to search.
This time Hoesaegi was in the lead, and Kkamnyangi was backup.
"Kkamnyangi-ong, watch closely-ong. This is how you run a search-ong!"
Hoesaegi started from Tan's house too. Whoosh — thump — whoosh. He used the outdoor unit below Tan's place as a step and was at the window in a single run. Then he sniffed along the frame, huff huff huff, working over the sill. That was when he found a few strands of fur.
That'll be Tan's fur-ong.
He pushed his nose into it. His golden eyes gleamed, rare and bright.
It's faint, but there's a scent-ong.
The corner of his mouth curled up, and he dropped back to the ground. Then he swept the alleys faster and cleaner than anyone. The streets were already pitch dark, but that was no trouble for Hoesaegi. Every contour of this district lived in his head, and his steps were unhurried, almost leisurely.
He'll have gone up high-ong.
Wherever he went first, Hoesaegi always climbed to the highest point. From up there he would learn the lay of the streets, map out his route back to Neulpureun Park, and take note of where any unfamiliar faces were lurking. He sprang up into the nearest tree, sat, and worked his whiskers, flaring his nose to catch whatever scents were mixed into the air. Sometimes he let the wind bring them to him, thinking through where a newcomer named Tan might be.
No scent-ong.
The smell he had caught on Tan's windowsill a moment ago was not in the air.
He's not nearby-ong. Did he go home, maybe-ong?
From the way Hyung-nim had talked, the old house had sounded far. Hoesaegi himself could have gone that distance easily enough — but would a timid fellow have made it that far?
I'll look around nearby, and if he isn't here, I'll tell Hyung-nim we should try the old house-ong.
He dropped down from the tree and walked the alleys.
Cars-ong. They hide under cars a lot-ong.
Whenever a parked car appeared, Hoesaegi checked the driver's seat first. Once he was sure no person was inside, he checked underneath. Between the tires, too. He went over the undercarriage with painstaking care. He even went to the clothing donation bin and looked it over, tapping the side with a small front paw. Tap, tap, tap. Quite a few of his subordinates had crawled in because it looked so soft, and then been unable to get out. If a cat were in there, they would hear his signal and meow back, begging to be rescued.
Hoesaegi searched for three hours. In the end, he couldn't find him either.
Kkamnyangi, who had been trailing behind, came up beside him. The look in his eyes said, plain as day, that Hoesaegi was no better off than he had been.
"Hoesaegi."
"What is it, Kkamnyangi-ong?"
"That Tan fellow's a coward. He won't be in places like that."
Kkamnyangi was saying Tan wouldn't be anywhere Hoesaegi had just looked.
"But Kkamnyangi-ong, you looked too, and Tan wasn't there-ong."
"I searched in the daytime, that's why he wasn't. If I look again, he'll be there."
Hoesaegi's failure had given Kkamnyangi his confidence back. He held his head stiff and high as he said it. Hoesaegi, still unwilling to admit that his own search had failed, shook his head hard.
"If he's a coward, he'll be hiding-ong. He won't move even at night-ong."
"Once they get hungry, they all start moving."
"Hmm. Hunger is hard-ong. Then let's check that yard and go back-ong."
At that, Kkamnyangi wanted to look alone.
If I searched again I could find him in a flash. But Hyung-nim said to stick together…
Remembering Lee Jun's words, Kkamnyangi nodded.
"Fine. If he isn't in the yard, you follow me."
The two of them walked all night. In the end, they never found Tan.
Around the time the sky began to pale, Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi, Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin, and Sapsaree were all gathered at Neulpureun Park. Lee Jun let out a long breath. They hadn't gotten anything useful from the park cats either.
"It's been two days. This is already the third."
The cats sighed beside him too.
"Did he shoot up into the sky or sink into the ground?" Go Gi-jin said. "We tore the whole place apart with them cats and he ain't there. Where in the world did that fella get to?"
While Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi had been hunting for Tan, Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin had clocked out and gone walking the streets with the guardian, looking for him too.
"That's what I mean. If we're like this, the guardian must be worried sick."
"That's what I'm sayin'. The guardian's pitiful enough — and that Tan, poor little fella, he's pitiful too. Out there with nothin' in his belly, shakin' like a leaf, I bet."
"Yeah. He must be."
That was when Hoesaegi spoke.
"Hyung-nim-ong, Tan might have gone home-ong."
"Home? The old house he used to live in?"
"That's right-ong. There's no Tan-scent-ong."
"Scent?"
"That's right-ong. There was fur at the house-ong. But that smell isn't anywhere at all-ong."
"Fur? There was Tan's fur on the windowsill?"
"There was fur-ong. It'll have been Tan's-ong."
Sapsaree's eyes went round as saucers.
"Hyung-nim-ayo. Benefactor Hyung-nim-ayo. I'll go find Tan, I will."
"You, Sapsaree?"
"Sapsaree-ong, Tan's afraid of you-ong."
"But I can find Tan by scent, I can. Benji Hyung-nim taught me, he did."
Sapsaree looked up at Lee Jun, his eyes bright with resolve.