The Thief of Three Meals House
"Ughhh! I'm so tired."
Whine, whine...
As soon as Dojin stepped out of the shower, Ttorang-i began to whimper.
She already knew what was about to come out of Dojin's mouth.
"Ttorang-i, you did a great job today. It's time for bed now."
Whine... whine...
"Oh, does Ttorang-i want to play more? Still, no. That's it for today. Instead, I'll play flying disc with you tomorrow. I saw the package arrived earlier."
Whine... whine...
Despite Dojin's words, Ttorang-i continued to whimper, putting on her most pitiful act.
She didn't forget to rub her face against his hand while warily reading his expression.
Dojin felt his resolve waver for a moment at the sight, but he quickly steeled his heart and guided Ttorang-i toward the workshop.
The cushion inside the workshop was her designated bed.
"You're much more stable now, Ttorang-i. Even the famous dog trainer on TV said it's better for dogs to sleep separately."
Even the director of the Good Doctor Animal Hospital had advised that unless a pet suffers from severe separation anxiety, it is best for them to sleep in a separate space.
"In the case of normal dogs, if they constantly sleep in the same spot as their owner, they might not sleep well due to a sense of responsibility to protect their owner. Or, their dependency might increase, potentially leading to separation anxiety. Ttorang-i's case is unique, so it was unavoidable for a while, but once she recovers to a certain extent, I highly recommend separating your sleeping quarters."
Those were the words the director had told Dojin when he visited the clinic for Ttorang-i's follow-up treatment.
Dojin had taken the director's advice to heart.
From that day on, he had gradually begun to separate his sleeping space from Ttorang-i's.
Whine?
Ttorang-i had been confused at first when Dojin, who used to sleep with her in the night-duty room, nudged her into the workshop.
Of course, he couldn't enforce a strict separation right from the start.
Since Ttorang-i was an abandoned dog, he was worried it might trigger her past trauma.
Therefore, the method Dojin chose was a step-by-step separation.
On the first day, he sent her to the workshop for just thirty minutes before calling her back to the night-duty room.
On the second day, it was an hour. Then two hours.
Then four hours.
And on the fifth day, he didn't call her back to the night-duty room at all.
They were completely separated.
Whine... whine...
"No matter how pitiful you act, it won't work. We worked so hard to finally sleep in separate rooms, didn't we?"
Though it sounded simple in hindsight, separating Dojin and Ttorang-i's sleeping arrangements had been no easy feat.
Even though Dojin left the doors to the night-duty room and the workshop open so Ttorang-i could see his face to feel secure, she had whimpered endlessly.
It was a constant whine pleading to go to Dojin immediately, and as a dog owner, enduring this was incredibly difficult.
On top of that, the moment he looked away even for a second, she would sneakily eye him and slip back into the night-duty room.
A large dog approaching while cautiously reading its owner's face?
How many dog lovers could possibly resist such a sight?
But Dojin did not react.
Ttorang-i was smarter than she looked; if he gave in once, she would surely repeat the behavior next time.
"Now, go on in and sleep. Good girl, right?"
Woof...
At Dojin's words, Ttorang-i dejectedly trotted toward the workshop.
With her ears and tail drooping, she looked back at Dojin periodically, but Dojin's resolve did not waver.
He did not want to undo the separate sleeping routine they had established through a painful process for both Ttorang-i and himself.
"My brother can be surprisingly cold-hearted sometimes, you know?"
"That's the right way to do it. Do you want to sleep with Ttorang-i even after you get married?"
Do-hee and Seung-wan, who were watching Dojin and Ttorang-i from the hallway, whispered to each other.
Since their bedroom was on the same floor, they unintentionally ended up witnessing the nightly parting of the two every single night.
"Huh? I don't mind, though?"
"You'd better think carefully about that. Having her in the marital bedroom? Do you think you can have a hot night with her staring at you two with that innocent face?"
"Are you crazy?! What hot night?!"
"You're the crazy one. You're a grown woman, why act so coy? Are you not going to do anything after you get married? Are you marrying Mr. Dojin just to torture him?"
"B-Be quiet! If you don't come in quickly, I'm locking the door!"
Her face flushed red at Seung-wan's words, Do-hee hurriedly ducked into the female teachers' lounge.
Dojin had previously knocked down the wall between this room and the adjacent classroom to create a spacious bedroom for the two women.
"Honestly, she knows everything but still acts so innocent."
Smirking at the embarrassed Do-hee, Seung-wan soon followed her inside.
Once Seung-wan vanished into the bedroom and all signs of human presence faded away...
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
A white figure appeared in the hallway.
After scanning the hallway illuminated only by the dim nightlights, the figure quietly began to wander around.
Just like always.
Tonight was no different.
"Uggghhh."
"Good morning, Oppa... What's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"Huh? Oh, I slept without a pillow last night, so my neck is a bit stiff."
"Huh? You don't use a pillow?"
"No, I do. But it vanished."
"Huh? That can't be. Didn't you just misplace it?"
"I thought so too at first and searched everywhere, but it's gone. It's not like that room is huge, so there's no way I could have missed it."
As Dojin pointed toward the night-duty room he had just stepped out of, Do-hee and Seung-wan, who was listening nearby, nodded in agreement.
Unlike their own bedroom, the night-duty room Dojin used as his bedroom was not very large.
If their bedroom was about the size of one and a half classrooms, the night-duty room Dojin used was barely half of one.
Losing something in such a cramped space defied common sense.
"That's strange. We're the only ones on this floor, so it's not like anyone could have stolen it."
"Hmm, I suspected as much, but neither of you knows anything about it, right?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"There's no reason for me to go into Mr. Dojin's room. Maybe Do-hee would, though."
"I-I wouldn't either! Why would I go in there?"
Do-hee's face flushed bright red, clearly thinking of something suggestive at Seung-wan's remark.
Normally, Dojin would have chuckled at how cute Do-hee looked, but right now, his expression was serious.
"...Is there something bothering you?"
Seung-wan asked, noticing Dojin scanning the hallway with a grave expression.
Her tone had grown cautious, matching his.
"Actually, things have felt a bit off lately. Have either of you had any belongings go missing?"
"Me? Not really...? Seung-wan, what about you?"
"Me neither. All I have here are my clothes and personal gear, and I check those daily."
"I haven't seen that floral dress you wear often lately, though?"
"Ah, I threw that away. Meok-bo threw up all over me while I was holding him. I tried to wash it, but it was unsalvageable."
"Ugh."
"Speaking of which, I haven't seen your plaid skirt either."
"Oh, that got torn. It caught on a shelf in the cat room, and I moved without noticing. Rip! It was beyond saving, so I laid it to rest."
Having finished their exchange, the two women looked back at Dojin.
It was their way of saying everything was fine on their end.
Dojin spoke with a slight sigh of relief.
"Well, that's a relief. My things keep disappearing, so I was worried the same thing was happening to you two."
"Wait, did something else disappear besides your pillow?"
"Yeah. My hat, socks, and a few pieces of clothing are missing... Oh, and when I woke up this morning, one of my slippers was gone too."
"No way."
"This is... a bit strange."
At Dojin's words, the two women also adopted serious expressions.
Losing one item could be a simple mistake, but having things vanish consecutively like this was highly unusual.
"I'll look around one more time. The chances are slim, but I might have just left them somewhere and forgotten."
"Yeah, we'll help look around too."
And so, the mystery of Dojin's disappearing items seemed to settle for the moment.
However, the moment they stepped into the office, they had no choice but to admit that this was far more serious than they had thought.
"...The action cam is gone."
"Huh? The one you wear on your chest, Oppa?"
"It really is. The chest strap is completely gone too."
Ever since he had accidentally captured great footage with the action cam, Dojin had made it a habit to wear it constantly.
However, since a single camera couldn't cover the entire day, he always kept spare cameras charging in the office.
Yet, all of those spare cameras had vanished.
Even the strap he had taken off before going to bed last night was gone.
"It looks like we have a thief."
Dojin and Do-hee nodded at Seung-wan's remark.
There was no other logical explanation.
Then, Do-hee pointed out something odd.
"But isn't this weird? Everything else is untouched."
At Do-hee's words, Seung-wan and Dojin scanned the office.
Just as she said, the other electronic devices in the office remained exactly where they were.
The TV, laptop, speakers, large monitor, and even the tablet.
Items of similar or even higher value than the cameras were perfectly safe, yet only the cameras had disappeared.
The confusion on the three faces deepened further.
"Let's check the hallway CCTV first. The cameras were here before I took a shower, so we only need to check the footage after that."
At Dojin's suggestion, the three gathered in front of the security computer.
It was the dedicated computer for the CCTV system.
Since the Three Meals House was so spacious, there were many CCTVs installed, making a dedicated management computer essential.
Click, click.
Dojin entered the security key and opened the folder displaying the second-floor hallway.
"Did we finish up around ten last night?"
"Yeah, we dispersed around then, so we should probably start watching from the nine o'clock footage."
Since the CCTV footage was saved in three-hour blocks, starting with the 9:00 PM video was the best way to see what happened after 10:00 PM.
At Do-hee's suggestion, Dojin played the 9:00 PM video and dragged the playback bar forward.
The footage sped past, showing the group laughing and chatting as they walked along the hallway.
Although they called it "getting off work" at 10:00 PM, this place was essentially their home, so it was just their normal routine after dinner.
Once everyone finished showering and retired to their respective bedrooms, the hallway lights went out, leaving only the dim nightlights.
"Nothing seems out of the ordinary here."
"Maybe they broke in during the early morning? Let's check the next one."
"Yeah."
Dojin played the footage from midnight to 3:00 AM.
However, this video showed no changes either.
Half of the video, which looked almost like a still photograph, played through without incident.
Suddenly, Seung-wan called out to Dojin.
"Wait a minute! Just now, the office door looked strange. Rewind the video."
"Okay."
At Seung-wan's request, Dojin used the keyboard to rewind the video.
If he dragged it with the mouse, he risked skipping past it too quickly again.
After pressing the key five or six times...
"Right there!"
Dojin paused the video at Seung-wan's shout, his eyes widening slightly.
Sure enough, unlike the previous frames, the office door was slightly ajar.
But the problem was that no one could be seen opening the door and entering.
"What? Why is there no one there?"
"I... I know, right? Why is it like this?"
Seung-wan replied hesitantly to Do-hee's question.
Her confident tone from just a moment ago when she spotted the anomaly was completely gone.
"...We can't tell much from this angle. We need to check another camera."
The current camera angle captured the office entrance and the hallway behind it.
Since it only showed the upper bodies of people entering the office, if a thief had crawled or crouched low, they would likely remain unseen.
Click, click.
Dojin played the footage from a camera positioned further down the hall, facing the office entrance.
Although it was too far to clearly identify a face, this angle would at least show who had entered.
However, as Dojin watched the screen, a look of sheer absurdity washed over his face.
The same went for the two women beside him.
"...That's Ttorang-i, right?"
"It's Ttorang-i."
"How did she open the door?"
Around 2:00 AM, Ttorang-i emerged from the workshop, paced the hallway for a moment, and then used her front paws to open the office door and slip inside.
A few seconds later, she walked out with a very familiar object clamped in her jaws.
It was the action cam Dojin thought had been stolen.
Ttorang-i went back and forth into the office several more times, carrying out the remaining action cams and straps, before neatly closing the office door with her front paw.
"...Well, she certainly knows how to lock up behind herself."
"I don't even know if we should praise her for this..."
After sharing a dumbfounded look, the three of them burst into hollow laughter and headed toward Dojin's workshop.
They figured Dojin's cameras would be hidden there.
Although Ttorang-i had wandered around the hallway with the cameras, she had ultimately headed back to her own bed, so they were almost certain.
Dojin also suspected that the other items he had lost recently would be there as well.
Woof?
As the three entered the workshop first thing in the morning, Ttorang-i, who had been sleeping in, lazily opened her eyes.
Amused by her look that seemed to ask, What's going on so early? the three first checked her crate.
Since Ttorang-i was sleeping on her cushion, they decided to check the crate first.
And just as they expected, Dojin's belongings were inside.
"It's my slipper. I knew it, Ttorang-i, you took it, didn't you?"
Woof?
Ttorang-i, who had been looking anxious ever since they approached the crate, slowly stood up once her hidden treasure was discovered.
She desperately tried to read Dojin's expression.
Rather than actually being scared, she was acting cute, knowing that Dojin found this behavior endearing.
"That's not going to work, you rascal. Where did you hide the rest of the things?"
The only thing they found in the crate was Dojin's slipper.
Since the other items and the cameras were nowhere to be seen, Dojin boldly searched the cushion Ttorang-i was sitting on.
He was suspicious of the way Ttorang-i kept her bottom firmly planted on the cushion despite being awake.
And his suspicion hit the mark perfectly.
"Found them. But... why is there only one?"
The chest strap he had taken off right before bed and one action cam were tucked under the cushion, but the rest of the items were missing no matter how hard he searched.
Dojin turned around to interrogate Ttorang-i, but she was already gone.
She had slipped away the moment Dojin started lifting the cushion.
"This little rascal, where did she hide the rest?"
"Hey, do you think she might have another hiding spot like this?"
"Another spot?"
"Well, in the video earlier, Ttorang-i was wandering all over the place with the camera in her mouth. What if that wasn't just a night stroll, but her visiting her secret treasure troves?"
At Do-hee's suggestion, Dojin and Seung-wan's eyes lit up.
Come to think of it, Ttorang-i's behavior in the video had indeed been peculiar.
"...We need to look at the footage more closely."
Dojin, now wearing the retrieved chest strap and action cam, headed back to the office.
It was time to analyze the footage in earnest.
To put it simply, Do-hee's prediction was spot on.
The only problem was that there wasn't just one hiding spot, and they weren't limited to the main building.
The science lab, the playground, the vegetable garden, and the storage shed.
Ttorang-i had created a total of four treasure troves to store Dojin's belongings.
The pillow and the remaining action cams were found in the science lab.
His hat was in the playground, his socks were in the vegetable garden...
And his missing clothes were discovered in the final storage shed.
"Isn't this basically a curse? I think I saw something like this in a Japanese horror movie."
"Stop saying scary things."
Seung-wan grimaced at Do-hee's joke.
She was notoriously weak when it came to ghosts and the occult.
"But this is unusual. Don't cats usually open doors?"
"Huh? Usually, yes."
"Bo-ri and her kittens stay quietly in the playroom, but Ttorang-i is the one opening doors and sneaking out. It feels like the dog and the cats have swapped roles."
"...Now that you mention it, that is strange. That shouldn't be the case."
Considering cats' natural instinct to hate confinement and love escaping, it was indeed bizarre.
Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Seung-wan spoke up.
"Go ahead to the playroom first. I'm going to check the CCTV footage."
"Huh? Okay."
After sending Do-hee ahead, Seung-wan sat at the security PC and pulled up the CCTV feed monitoring the cat playroom.
"No need to watch the daytime footage, so I'll skip that."
Cats were mostly nocturnal anyway.
Besides, they spent most of the day together, so there was no reason to watch the daytime recordings.
It was just as Seung-wan played the footage from 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM.
"Kyaaaaak!"
Do-hee's scream echoed from the first floor.
Startled by the sound, Seung-wan rushed toward Do-hee without even pausing the video.
On the screen, the playroom door slid open smoothly, and six cats began to pour out into the hallway.
The mother cat and her kittens stretched briefly in the hallway before dispersing. When they returned, each of them had something wriggling clamped in their mouths.
Creatures with eight legs, six legs, and some with too many to count were carried back into the playroom, squirming in the cats' mouths.