The Scent of an Intruder
Yeo-won leaned against the wall the moment she reached her front door. Her breath came in short gasps. She had thought she was simply walking quickly, but it seemed she had practically run the whole way.
The image of Jae-young’s shattered expression kept flickering before her eyes. An inexplicable wave of guilt crashed over her, tormenting her the entire journey home. Yeo-won shook her head fiercely to dispel the thoughts. Sleep had already fled, yet she still wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed.
She entered the passcode, stepped inside, and was kicking off her shoes when a strange sense of unease prickled at her skin.
A cup lay abandoned on the floor in front of the shoe cabinet. It was the same cup that had definitely been sitting on the sink when she left.
Maybe I knocked it over on my way out, she thought, picking it up and setting it back in place. Then, almost instinctively, she turned her gaze toward the living room. Her eyes widened at once.
The living room was in complete chaos.
Objects that had been perfectly fine when she left were now scattered haphazardly across the floor.
Did a burglar break in? There’s nothing here worth stealing, though.
Yeo-won reached for one of the items on the floor, then froze. The window right in front of her was still locked.
She rarely opened the windows, so they stayed locked almost all the time. The bedroom window would surely be locked as well, and the bathroom and kitchen windows were too small for a person to squeeze through.
Did they come through the front door…?
That didn’t make sense either. The apartment had looked completely normal when she entered the passcode. If someone didn’t know the code, there should have been signs of forced entry or tampering, yet the door lock was pristine, without a scratch.
At that moment, a news story she had seen a few days ago flashed through her mind.
A psychotic killer who had disguised his crime as a burglary, distracted the homeowner, hidden inside a closet, and then emerged to murder the resident.
Yeo-won swallowed dryly. That killer had been arrested, but there was no guarantee another lunatic wasn’t using the exact same method. Her eyes darted around the floor. The irregularly scattered objects clearly showed signs of deliberate rummaging.
If it had been an ordinary thief, something should have been missing.
The only things in Yeo-won’s home with any real value were her electronics. Yet the wallet and watch she had left on the desk remained untouched.
The instant she saw those two items, suspicion hardened into certainty. Then she heard a faint noise coming from the bedroom. Yeo-won flinched violently and whipped her head around.
The bedroom door, which she had definitely closed when she left, now stood halfway open.
Her mind went blank. Sometimes humans were far more terrifying than ghosts.
She had to get out. Run first, then call the police. The moment she clenched her fists and prepared to sprint for the entrance—
She noticed a suspicious bulge rising from the middle of the neatly arranged comforter.
It was far too small to be a person hiding.
But the size was exactly like…
With a face that said it can’t be, Yeo-won swallowed hard. After a brief hesitation, she gathered her courage and headed for the bedroom. She stepped carefully through the mess of scattered belongings and quietly pushed the bedroom door open.
There was no presence to be felt, yet a peculiar scent lingered in the air.
Sweet yet somehow musty. If she had to compare it, it was similar to the smell of earth after rain.
Yeo-won narrowed her eyes at the bulging comforter. Then she pulled the blanket back.
A clump of orange fur came into view.
The ball of fur was curled up tightly, sleeping as if the world no longer existed.
“Ha.”
Yeo-won let out a hollow laugh. At the same time, her legs gave out and she sank slowly to the floor.
“Cheong-sil…”
At the sound of Yeo-won’s voice, Cheong-sil’s eyes cracked open just a little. Still half-asleep, he blinked several times, then stretched all four legs out in a luxurious yawn.
His stiffly upright tail trembled before flopping limply downward. He smacked his lips, looked around, and finally spotted Yeo-won.
His honey-colored golden eyes sparkled. Joy flooded those large round eyes.
Human! I found you-seumnidayo!
*
“……”
“……”
Yeo-won and Cheong-sil sat facing each other, staring. The floor was such a disaster that they had no choice but to sit on the bed to talk.
After a long stretch of silence, Yeo-won, who had been frowning in clear displeasure, finally spoke.
“So Shin-wol sent you?”
“That is correct-seumnidayo.”
“Ha.”
A bitter smile curled at the corner of Yeo-won’s mouth. His intention to monitor her was blatantly obvious. Of course. She hadn’t expected him to leave her alone, but she never imagined he would send Cheong-sil into her home.
So that’s what he meant at the end.
The remark about hoping she would be useful this time. It hadn’t been directed at her—it had been meant for Cheong-sil. Come to think of it, the three days they had agreed upon were almost up, yet she couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking.
Her head, which had been consumed with thoughts of Jae-young, cleared in an instant. Or rather, it became even more complicated. She set that aside for now; there was still something else she was curious about.
“Why on earth did you turn my house into this mess?”
Yeo-won slowly scanned the room. Looking at it again, it was even worse than she thought. Not only the desk, but the drawers and closet had all been thoroughly ransacked. Just thinking about cleaning it all up made her energy drain away.
“It was to find you, human-seumnidayo.”
“Right. So you searched the closet and the drawers to find me. Those tiny little drawers and that closet.”
“Exactly-seumnidayo!”
Cheong-sil nodded proudly. He seemed to think it was praise. Yeo-won already knew that common sense didn’t apply to this fox. She rubbed her throbbing forehead and continued.
“How did you even find this place?”
“I received spiritual energy from Lord Shin-wol-seumnidayo.”
Yeo-won’s eyes widened into perfect circles.
“You received spiritual energy?”
“Lord Shin-wol gave me his spiritual energy so I could protect you from bad things-seumnidayo! Cheong-sil is no longer the same Cheong-sil as before-seumnidayo!”
Yeo-won froze. Bad things? She recalled the ghost she had brushed past earlier that afternoon. Goosebumps rose on her arms at the mere memory, and she rubbed them as she asked cautiously.
“By bad things… for example…?”
At her question, Cheong-sil went completely still. Even the tail that had been gently swaying stopped dead in the center. He blinked his round eyes and tilted his head.
“…Now that you mention it-seumnidayo. What exactly are they-seumnidayo?”
“……”
Silence fell. Just what exactly had Shin-wol trusted this creature with? Yeo-won opened and closed her mouth in disbelief before simply giving up on trying to understand.
“Fine. Let’s say that’s true. Was there anything else he said?”
“Ah!”
Cheong-sil let out a bright exclamation as if he had just remembered. He would have forgotten if she hadn’t asked. Yeo-won, no longer surprised by anything he did, gave a dry laugh.
“What did he say?”
“Umm.”
She had expected something about when they would meet again or a way to contact each other. After all, he wasn’t the type to send regards.
After thinking hard, Cheong-sil perked his ears and spoke as if the memory had finally surfaced.
“He said, ‘Be careful of cats,’-seumnidayo.”
“Cats?”
Cheong-sil nodded. After that, he seemed to grow bored with the situation and hopped down from the bed. As Yeo-won watched him bat a fallen ballpoint pen across the floor with his paw, she asked again with a confused expression.
“What does that even mean?”
“Cheong-sil doesn’t know-seumnidayo. More importantly, human.”
“Hm?”
Cheong-sil turned only his head to look at her. His pupils had become thinner than before.
“You’re going to get scolded by Lord Shin-wol-seumnidayo.”
“Me? Why?”
“There’s a strange scent on you-seumnidayo.”
With that, Cheong-sil leaped back onto the bed. He began circling Yeo-won, sniffing intently. While she sat frozen by the sudden behavior, Cheong-sil rubbed his nose with his front paw and declared cheerfully.
“It really does smell-seumnidayo!”
“Smell?”
Yeo-won quickly lifted her arm and sniffed. Come to think of it, she had stayed up all night and left immediately without showering.
“Is it because I haven’t washed yet today? Is that why I’m going to get scolded?”
Cheong-sil shook his head vigorously.
“That’s not it-seumnidayo.”
The frustrating conversation was starting to irritate her.
“Please, Cheong-sil. Can you just tell me properly? I have no idea what you’re saying like this.”
“Lord Shin-wol absolutely hates it when his territory is invaded-seumnidayo.”
“I still don’t understand.”
“Everything that has invaded Lord Shin-wol’s territory has disappeared-seumnidayo.”
“……”
“The thing clinging to you carries a similar scent-seumnidayo.”
With those final words, Cheong-sil said nothing more. He was now busily poking at every object in Yeo-won’s room out of curiosity, while she was left alone to ponder the incomprehensible statement for a long time.