The Red Fox (2)
"Was there damage to people's homes?"
The materials Gong Yeonsu had brought said there had been. He rushed into an excuse, claiming he'd kept it quiet because someone might demand the fox be exterminated rather than captured.
"Even so, it wasn't serious. A few chickens kept at those homes got eaten, that's all. And we've already compensated the owners in full."
So no person had been attacked. Relieved, I nodded. That much was nothing.
"We need to capture it as quickly as possible, both to keep any further damage from happening and to stop the fox from being killed by someone's pet dog. The trouble is, it's so quick that catching it hasn't been easy. That's why I've come to ask for your help, Mr. Shin."
He dipped his head in a please-I'm-begging-you bow, and I answered with a light smile. I'd had nothing to do, and now a job had dropped into my lap. Secretly, I was delighted.
"Don't worry. I'll help."
"Um... then, about the fee...?"
It was no secret that I charged close to a million dollars a head at the pet hotel. Naturally, the question was what it would cost to get someone who made that kind of money to so much as move. Gong Yeonsu watched me, his face drawn tight with nerves.
"Forget it. How much budget do you think is set aside for catching one wild animal? If I took a fee for this, you could spend that same money hiring part-timers and probably catch it with a human wave."
"Thank you!"
As if he'd fitted a spring into his waist, Gong Yeonsu kept bowing, pouring out his thanks. I waved him off and told him I'd move first thing tomorrow. I had nothing else going on anyway, and I had no intention of making him wait around for days. How was I supposed to endure being bored that long?
"Yes! Then I'll see you tomorrow!"
Saying the sooner the better, he left with nothing more than a promise to meet the next day.
And the moment morning came, I started getting ready at once.
"You're really taking So-eun too?"
"Yeah. If you want to charm a fox, you need the right bait."
"Why is So-eun bait?!"
"Ack!"
My back was already burning from the morning swat, and I had to squirm, but I stubbornly kept at the preparations. First came helping Noona—who would be running the cafe in my place—move the animals over. All of them, that is, except the three who'd be looking after So-eun, today's assistant.
"Take me with ya too! C'mon!"
"And how am I supposed to trust you? I'd count it a blessing if you didn't wriggle off halfway and start snatching people's food."
"Ptoo!"
Daepodong turned his disappointment at being left behind into pure outrage. It couldn't be helped. The raccoons put their own greed ahead of actually helping with the work. Turn them loose on the mountain to find a fox, and they'd spend every last bit of it hunting for their own snacks. That much was obvious.
"Boss, can't I go too?"
"Even if you went, there's nowhere to run. Too many trees. You'd have to keep stopping."
"Then I'm not interested. Have a nice trip!"
Maru showed a flicker of interest too, but it was literally just a flicker. She liked nothing but running in a straight line, and a mountain thick with trees was not to her taste. Fortunately, no other animal showed any regret, or even any curiosity, about So-eun coming with me. They'd all grown used to cafe life and content with it—if anything, they seemed reluctant to leave that territory at all.
I headed straight back home and started on the rest of the preparations.
"Cheongho, you can carry this, right?"
"More than capable, sir."
I loaded him with a bag packed with everything So-eun would need: first-aid supplies and bandages, of course, along with the snacks she liked and a change of clothes. Stuffed as it was, the bag was thick, but Cheongho slung it on and moved this way and that as if there weren't a single problem.
"All right, shall we head out?"
"Ung!"
So-eun, perched on Bboni's back and staring straight at me, nodded with a bright, innocent smile. I loaded Bboni, Cheongho, and Ilgito—the rabbit So-eun was attached to—into the car, then buckled So-eun into her car seat, and at last the preparations were done.
We headed for the spot Gong Yeonsu had given me in advance. Noona and I had been on dates there more than a few times, so finding it wasn't hard. When we pulled into the parking lot, he was already waiting with several people who looked like a capture team.
"Good to see you!"
The moment I stepped out of the car, he greeted me with obvious delight. I returned the greeting, then got the animals and So-eun out at once.
"By any chance... are you planning to bring your daughter along as well?"
Watching So-eun climb down and cling to my leg, Gong Yeonsu looked a little uneasy. He clearly thought that taking a small child along would slow the search for the red fox.
"You don't need to worry. If anything, she'll probably make it easier to catch."
"What do you mean by..."
Rather than answer, I set So-eun on Bboni's back, then fitted her with a helmet and protective gear sized exactly for her, just in case. Bboni knew So-eun was riding and was fully aware of that height, so a problem was almost impossible—but it was, quite literally, just in case.
"Let's go."
Gong Yeonsu couldn't quite wipe the unease from his face, but he seemed relieved that she was at least on horseback, and he started moving quickly. We set off up the mountain path, and not one of us showed the slightest sign of tiring. Cheongho, out in front as if the safety of the whole party rested on him, and Bboni, stepping lightly even with So-eun on her back, didn't look tired in the least. Even Ilgito, hopping along on the ground behind them, moved with room to spare.
"Huff... hahh...!"
The one who was actually a problem was Gong Yeonsu.
"If it's too much, why don't you rest? I'll find it on my own."
"B-but..."
"Catching a red fox doesn't exactly take a crowd. The capture team can move on its own, and I'll move on mine."
"Understood."
He hesitated a moment, then nodded, and we split up. He'd handed me a small radio first, of course, so we could reach each other easily whenever we needed to.
"So-eun, let's go!"
"Ung! Go!"
I took the lead and broke into a run, and Bboni with So-eun aboard, Cheongho, and Ilgito all took off after me. Living alongside animals that were anything but standard-issue, my own body had long since left ordinary behind. I ran to the rapid beat of my own footsteps, and the trees whipped past on either side. A glance back showed So-eun and the animals keeping up just fine.
But no matter how we dashed this way and that across the mountain, there wasn't so much as a single hair of the red fox to be seen. I'd stopped for a moment, wondering what to do, when So-eun came up and tugged at my hem.
"Appa. Oveeer there."
"Over there? Oh...!"
I followed her pointing finger, and there was something that looked a little red, or maybe a little orange. Shading my eyes from the sun and focusing, I could make out a creature that was unmistakably a fox. I hurriedly pulled a small piece of jerky from Cheongho's bag and pressed it into So-eun's hand.
"So-eun. Want to take this and go over there? Give it to him the way you give snacks to the animals at home."
"Ung! I wanna!"
She nodded hard, and the moment I set her down from Bboni she went toddling straight for the red fox. I worried she might fall, but the worry proved pointless; she reached him in no time. Spotting her approach, the fox made to flee for an instant—then, as if he'd fallen completely under her spell, he just stared at her in a daze.
"Eat!"
"Uh... uhhng...?"
So-eun walked right up to the fox that hadn't run from her and held out the jerky. Distracted by her charm, and by the sweet smell of it right in front of his mouth, he set to work chomping the piece down.
"Got you, you little rascal!"
I'd been watching. Then I crept in and grabbed him. Only then did the fox in my grip come to his senses—and go limp. He'd realized there was no more running.
"Aigoo! I've gone and been bewitched by this little sprite. Sorry, wife... I'm goin' on ahead."
Clear-headed again, he said something strange. From the way he said "wife," I could tell he wasn't alone. There was a mate. I pulled out the radio at once.
"Mr. Gong. I've caught the red fox. Let's meet up and take a look."
"...Really? I'll head there right now!"
He answered in a voice that was urgent and delighted at once, and before long he found his way to where I was.
"Oh! It really is a red fox! We suffered so much and still couldn't catch it—how on earth did you?"
"All thanks to my daughter. Right?"
"Riiight~!"
So-eun echoed me and broke into a dopey little grin, and Gong Yeonsu and the capture team, without even realizing it, put on dad-smiles and looked thoroughly pleased. They soon snapped out of it, though, and demanded to know how I'd actually caught the thing. Words seemed like a waste, so I decided to show them, shifting the red fox from side to side in front of So-eun.
"...Is he in love with your daughter or something?"
I held him up and moved him this way and that, and every time I did, the fox's eyes refused to leave her.
"So-eun tends to be rather loved by animals."
"Oh..."
The capture team, Gong Yeonsu included, clapped as if it were something incredible and stared at the scene in a daze. But there was one important fact I had to tell them.
"Though there does seem to be one problem."
"A problem? Is the red fox injured?"
"Not that... From the way this guy says 'wife,' it seems like there's a female as well."
"What? Is that true?"
I nodded, and Gong Yeonsu started muttering to himself.
"I'm sure I heard there was one sighting report from somewhere the GPS didn't track... Don't tell me? It wasn't just someone mistaking another animal—there really was a wild one?"
He muttered it with a serious face, then looked at me with gleaming eyes.
"Mr. Shin Suhwan. By any chance, could you also help us capture that female?"
"Yeah, well..."
It didn't seem particularly difficult, so I nodded. And just as I'd expected, finding her wasn't hard at all. The male we'd already caught was cooperating very enthusiastically.
"Keheheng! Please, scratch a little more right there!"
Nestled in So-eun's arms, the fox basked happily in her touch while singing out, in elaborate detail, the location of the den where his so-called wife would be. Thanks to him, we caught the other red fox in less than ten minutes.
"Haigo, you wretch! You got yourself bewitched by that little sprite and sold your own wife out?!"
"Keeeng! The fox is dying!"
Caught side by side and shut into a somewhat roomy cage, the pair launched into a marital spat—though it was entirely one-sided, the female laying into the male without mercy. I was watching with a snort of laughter when Gong Yeonsu sidled over.
"Mr. Shin. Thanks to you, we captured both of them safely. Truly, I don't know how to thank you..."
"Aiyu, it's fine. I get to raise two red foxes out of this, after all."
"...Pardon?"
He looked startled. It was nothing other than me saying I intended to keep the foxes. Naturally he tried this argument and that, hoping to take them with him, but So-eun had already taken a liking to both, and I couldn't give them up either. I decided to land a blow he had no way to refute.
"Are you confident you can care for them better than I can?"
"Th-that's..."
Asked whether he could care for animals better than a Druid, Gong Yeonsu couldn't say a word. He exchanged a few calls with his superiors, then nodded.
"Please, I beg you to take good care of the red foxes. They're a native species, so if at all possible, the breeding as well, by all means... It's rare that we've caught a male and female pair..."
He told me the essentials, the rabies shots and the rest, and had no choice but to head back, looking thoroughly regretful.