Chapter 53
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: Stray Cat (2)
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“A cat with a human face?”
Taeju asked again for confirmation. The man nodded.
“I haven’t heard any other details. They didn’t want to talk about it in depth.”
The child had been reluctant to elaborate. He wanted to press for more, but no parent could bring themselves to interrogate a terrified kid like that.
The man had no choice but to back off.
“So, you haven’t seen the cat yourself, then?”
The man nodded at Taeju’s question.
“Yes, honestly, I’m not even sure if such a cat really exists. But I couldn’t think of any other reason for my kid to be that scared.”
That was why a man who neither believed in ghosts nor had ever believed in them had no choice but to come here.
“Then the request is pretty much set in stone.”
The man nodded at Taeju’s words.
“Could you tell me what my son saw, and why he saw it? And make sure he never sees it again?”
The man’s requests were straightforward. And desperate.
But Taeju couldn’t give a firm yes right away.
“We can probably manage that, but it won’t be easy as things stand.”
The man’s expression visibly hardened at Taeju’s words.
“Is there something else we need?”
“Yes.”
Taeju nodded.
“The first thing we need to figure out is what exactly your son saw. Only then can we handle the rest of your requests.”
The man nodded at Taeju’s explanation.
“But based on what you’ve told us, we can’t tell what it was.”
The man didn’t argue—it made sense—but he clenched his hands anxiously.
“Your son’s in such bad shape he couldn’t come here with you?”
The man nodded.
“Yes, I thought about bringing him at first, but he’s not in any condition. So I came alone for now.”
“I see.”
It was disappointing, but better than forcing him. Taeju decided to do what he could for now.
“Mind if I ask a few questions about your son?”
“Sure...”
“Was he always the fearful type?”
“Fearful?”
The man pondered Taeju’s question for a moment before shaking his head.
“I’d say he’s about average for kids his age. We’ve watched horror movies together sometimes, and even if he got scared, he could play it cool. Just think of him as a typical kid that age.”
“I see.”
“But why do you ask?”
Taeju thought for a second before answering the man’s question.
“Well, most people would be startled by a cat with a human face, but I doubt they’d be as terrified as your son.”
It might be enough to make an elementary or kindergarten kid freak out completely.
But for a middle schooler who could act unfazed during horror movies, it shouldn’t cause that level of fear.
“...You’re right.”
A shadow fell over the man’s face.
“It must be bizarre and eerie, sure, but it’s hard to imagine it being scary enough to tremble for days.”
Unless he was unusually timid to begin with, his son’s state was abnormal in itself.
“So there must be some other reason.”
“Yes. At least based on what we’ve heard so far.”
Taeju nodded and tapped the table thoughtfully for a moment.
“During the funeral, did anyone else spot something similar? Or see your son shaking like that?”
“Hmm, no. Nothing like that. And he wasn’t like this when the burial started. No guests mentioned anything to me either.”
“Then he must have seen it on the way back from the funeral home, or toward the very end.”
“I’m not sure myself, but timing-wise, yeah.”
Ding-a-ling.
Sia returned just as the two were talking.
“A client’s here.”
She announced her arrival with her usual confident poise. The man blinked at the sudden newcomer.
“...And you are?”
“Staff here.”
Sia introduced herself boldly. The man nodded as he spotted the ornament on her arm.
“Perfect timing. I was feeling stuck on my own. You know anything about cats with human faces?”
Sia responded indifferently to Taeju’s question.
“Hard to say from that alone. There are tons of yokai with human faces. Any other features?”
Taeju summarized what they’d heard so far.
“Still tricky.”
Sia frowned.
“What’s so tricky about it?”
At the man’s question, Sia began explaining slowly.
“There are loads of yokai with human faces. Way too many. Even your common dokkaebi could be called a human-faced thing.”
“But what my son saw was a cat with a human face.”
“Exactly. That’s the weird part.”
Sia chimed in.
“Was it really a cat, though? If the head’s human, who can tell if it’s a cat or some other quadruped?”
“Well...”
“And if he was too scared to look closely, it’s even harder to say if he just called it a cat or knew what it was. We’d need to ask him directly.”
The man looked stunned, like he’d been hit. Sia pressed on regardless.
“One thing we can be sure of: it wasn’t tiny like a mouse or huge like a cow. Hmm... cat the size of a big dog? I don’t know cats well. Point is, size is all we’ve got to go on for sure.”
The man nodded, getting it.
“Yeah, makes sense. So the key is that it causes fear?”
But even that wasn’t much help. Taeju added his thoughts.
“The fear factor doesn’t narrow it down much either. Yokai are scary by nature. Unscary ones are the rarity.”
The man couldn’t help frowning, even if he understood.
It meant they couldn’t do a thing right now, despite his son’s terror.
“Feeling fear might actually be a good sign.”
The man gave Sia a puzzled look at her words.
“Fear kicks in when there’s a threat. It helps humans avoid what they should.”
Fear fuels ghost stories, but it also protects people.
A strange symbiosis.
If rumors spread of a monster on a dark road at night, people avoid it. And that makes it the monster’s turf for real.
Fear carves out the monster’s home while keeping people away.
“So feeling fear means your son’s instincts are warning him off danger. Sure, some yokai exploit that...”
Sia trailed off, wondering if she’d said too much, but the man seemed a bit relieved.
“If he wasn’t scared at all, that’d be worse.”
“Exactly. In a way, he might be handling it the best he can as a kid.”
The man looked somewhat reassured.
“Hold on a sec,” Sia said, rummaging for materials and starting to craft something.
“Here, take this for now.”
She quickly made a simple talisman and handed it to the man.
“What’s this?”
“A protective charm. We don’t know what’s going on yet, so we’ll investigate and get back to you. Head home for today. It’s makeshift, but it’ll last a day.”
The man groaned.
“So tomorrow, we talk to him directly.”
He crossed his arms, deep in thought.
“We could do a phone call if it’s impossible, but seeing him in person is probably better, just in case. How about we come to you tomorrow, or you bring him? What works?”
The man pondered Taeju’s question before replying.
“With his condition, it’d be better if you came to us.”
Taeju liked that too—they could check out the house. He nodded in agreement.
“Oh, what about the cost?”
Taeju gave his standard answer to the man’s question.
“We don’t take money. Once it’s done, the Director will visit. He’ll tell you what’s required.”
“Huh? Like, how much exactly...?”
The man furrowed his brow. Taeju knew it sounded shady, so he always added:
“We really don’t take cash, so no fixed price. But we won’t ask for anything unfair—don’t worry.”
No one had ever heard that without getting anxious. The man’s face fell, but he set up the appointment and left. For his son, he had no choice.
“See you tomorrow at the agreed time.”
Taeju bowed politely to the man. Once he was gone, the two started talking shop.
“So, what now?”
“What do you mean? Same as always. Coffee first.”
* * *
Back from the funeral home, Taeju and Sia were playing the day’s recording for Seol.
“What’s a cat with a human face?”
Seol asked, having never heard of such a thing. But they were just as stumped.
“Beats me. We’ve got nothing solid either.”
Sia replied casually.
Woli was minding the counter a bit away but stretched toward them, curious.
“Hey! Speak up! I wanna hear too!!”
Sia ignored her, sprawling face-down on the table.
“Hey! Sis! Don’t pretend you didn’t hear!!”
Sis? Taeju shook his head and leaned back in his chair.
“Hmm, but that cat... is it even a cat?”
“Who knows. We can’t be sure. Let’s just call it a cat for now. Need a name for it.”
Taeju yawned slightly as he answered Seol.
“So what’d the cat’s face look like?”
“Hmm... I’m kinda curious about that too.”
Taeju and Sia didn’t know either.
“Dunno. What do you think?”
Sia asked Seol. Han Seol thought it over before saying:
“Maybe its face was super menacing? That’d explain the terror after one look!”
“The face?”
Taeju pictured a fierce cat face and burst out laughing.
“Could be.”
Sia eyed him oddly, thinking it was a solid idea as he stifled his chuckles.
“If it’s scary just from the face... it probably isn’t human at that point.”
“True.”
“Actually, if it is, I kinda wanna see it.”
Taeju joked.
“Wonder how ugly it’d have to be to scare someone that bad.”