Chapter 54
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: Stray Cat with a Human Face (3)
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“Was the amulet effective?”
[Well, honestly, I’m not sure. My son’s condition didn’t improve.]
The next day, around lunchtime, the two headed to the address the man had given them. Unable to take days off work, the man was on the phone with Taeju from his company.
[But it didn’t worsen either, so maybe it did have an effect.]
“That amulet was the type designed to keep evil entities from approaching the area. I don’t know if it truly worked, but at least that thing hasn’t shown up around him again.”
In a sense, it wasn’t great news. It meant his condition hadn’t improved at all despite the time passed. The man let out a brief groan before asking.
[By the way, what you said you’d look into yesterday…?]
“Nothing much.”
There wasn’t even a single ghost at the funeral home. Taeju relayed this.
[I see. Then everything rides on today.]
The man spoke somberly. Taeju asked him.
“Does your son know we’re coming?”
She was worried that if his condition was that poor, the boy might get scared and refuse to open the door.
[Yes, I told him. I was debating whether to take another day off because he gets anxious without family around, but he actually seemed relieved when I said someone was coming.]
“That’s a relief.”
The man fell silent for a moment.
[…Please take good care of my son.]
Guilt seeped into his voice. Considering the man’s situation and feelings, Taeju reassured him.
“We’ll do everything we can.”
With that, the call ended. Taeju stood in front of the provided address with Sia.
“Wow, the house is… huge.”
It was a spacious standalone home. Though on the outskirts, the man was clearly wealthier than expected.
“I’ve never been in a house like this before.”
“Me neither.”
The two were overwhelmed by the grandeur of the place.
“At this point, even ringing the bell feels intimidating.”
But they couldn’t just stand in front of the gate forever. They decided to play rock-paper-scissors, with the loser ringing the bell. A house this impressive made even pressing the intercom nerve-wracking.
“Why do I always lose?”
In the end, Taeju was the one to ring it. She always lost the first round. Not just this time.
“Luck’s a skill too.”
Sia giggled as she watched Taeju press the bell from behind.
As soon as Taeju rang, the sound of the intercom camera activating buzzed. Then, with a clunk, the gate swung open.
No voice came from the camera. They’d half-expected an invitation to enter, so it was a bit disorienting, but the open gate surely meant they should come in.
“Uh… we can go in, right?”
“Probably.”
The two cautiously stepped inside.
Past the gate was a courtyard. Not overly large, but impeccably maintained.
“It’s so neat.”
“And pretty stylish.”
The decorations and plants blended harmoniously. It clearly took some expertise to achieve that look.
“The house is amazing.”
It was nice enough that Taeju found herself thinking she’d like to live in one someday.
“That way? Let’s hurry.”
Sia, her mood lifted by the impressive house, headed toward the entrance first, with Taeju following. As Sia debated knocking, the door opened from within.
“…Hello.”
A boy appeared—looking a bit timid, but far more composed than expected.
“Hello!”
The boy shrank back at Sia’s confident greeting.
“Um… are you the people Dad mentioned?”
“That’s us.”
Taeju spoke from behind, watching the exchange.
“I’m Taeju, and the one in front is Sia. We heard you’re dealing with some trouble, so we came by. How did your dad introduce us?”
“…People who solve those kinds of problems.”
The boy said it awkwardly.
* * *
They were led to the dining room, and Siwoo excused himself to bring tea. As soon as they were alone, Taeju said.
“Even looking again, he doesn’t seem as bad off as we heard.”
“Yeah, definitely.”
The boy’s name was Siwoo. His face was a bit pale from the ordeal, but he seemed like any ordinary middle school boy.
Considering they were strangers, Siwoo’s demeanor was remarkably calm.
“As always, things are getting weird again,” Taeju said.
“How does it always end up like this? Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Mostly normal cases, with weird ones only occasionally?”
“What standard is there in our line of work?”
Sia said with a wry smile. Taeju had to agree.
“But isn’t this a bit odd?”
Sia poked at the safety cushions wrapped around the table’s sharp edges.
“Aren’t these squishy sponge things for houses with little kids?”
What had caught Sia’s eye most were the colorful safety cushions on every pointed corner.
They weren’t there for aesthetics—especially with the garden outside showing clear tasteful flair.
“Why would someone who made the courtyard so stylish put these here?”
They clashed horribly with the surroundings. It would make sense in a home with toddlers, but there were no young children here.
“Yeah. They’re barely worn and spotless, so they must’ve been added recently on purpose.”
They weren’t relics from Siwoo’s toddler days, at least.
As the two chatted, Siwoo returned with the tea.
“Did I keep you waiting long?”
“No, thank you.”
He’d even prepared a plate for the tea bags. Taeju thought the boy must know a thing or two about tea as she took her cup.
“Smells great.”
Siwoo hadn’t brought a cup for himself. He sat across from them and said.
“Ahaha… yeah?”
His appearance was worlds apart from the stories they’d heard. Taeju tilted her head slightly.
“I’m relieved you don’t seem as bad off as we were told.”
“Huh?”
His hands trembled faintly, and he seemed a little tense, but it was the sort of reaction you’d expect from someone shy around strangers.
Of course, one could argue his condition had improved dramatically overnight, but if so, his father would’ve mentioned it.
“Looking back, has it stopped feeling so scary?”
At Taeju’s question, Siwoo shook his head.
“No, it’s still scary.”
“Then what exactly frightened you?”
Siwoo couldn’t answer Taeju’s question. It didn’t look like fear had choked his words—it was more like utter bafflement.
“If it’s hard to put into words, would you mind starting from the beginning? Tell us what happened.”
“…It can’t just resolve itself automatically?”
Siwoo asked, without much hope but unable to not ask. Taeju nodded.
“Yes, unfortunately. We don’t even know what ‘it’ is yet. We can’t offer a clear solution without understanding.”
“I see.”
Siwoo said, sounding crestfallen.
“But what I went through is exactly as I told my dad.”
“Even so, please tell us. Hearing it directly might reveal something new.”
At Taeju’s words, Siwoo nodded.
“It’s really a simple story.”
He began abruptly: the day his grandfather passed suddenly, and how he’d rushed to the funeral home.
“When I heard Grandpa had died, it didn’t feel real. But he was old, after all. And his health… wasn’t great.”
That might be why his father had taken it relatively calmly.
“Throughout the funeral, most of the people coming and going were strangers to me. I knew a few relatives, but that was it.”
“That must’ve been tough.”
A middle schooler at a funeral home was an awkward age—too old to fuss over like a little kid, but too young to know what to do.
So he’d ended up on the sidelines the whole time.
“Truth be told, I shouldn’t have, but I snuck out for a bit now and then.”
“I see.”
Taeju could understand that.
“What did you do outside?”
“Not knowing the area, I couldn’t wander far. That’s when I saw the cats. Normal cats. There were tons around the funeral home, and they didn’t avoid people.”
It would’ve been a welcome distraction for a bored kid. Taeju nodded, having seen for herself how cats swarmed just a short distance from the funeral halls.
“Yes, we checked it out. But they were all just ordinary cats.”
“Yeah. Of course those cats were normal.”
Siwoo said he’d gone out whenever he had free time to play with them.
“Nothing more or less than semi-tame strays used to people.”
Siwoo nodded at Sia’s words.
“Nothing happened on the other days. The problem was the last day. That’s when they said we’d all go together by bus.”
“That’s how it’s done these days.”
Taeju nodded. And from that point, the boy’s complexion visibly worsened.
“Even after I got on the bus, it sat there for a long time. Bored, I was looking outside. That’s when I spotted a cat far off.”
Siwoo said he’d waited happily, hoping the cat would look his way.
Then, suddenly, he sensed something off. One cat was freakishly huge.
The moment he wondered if any of the cats he’d seen were as big as a car tire, a cold sweat trickled down his spine.
“That cat had a human face.”
Siwoo nodded at Sia’s words.
“Yeah. That cat… had a human face.”
Until moments ago, he’d wanted the cat to turn and look at him. Now, he desperately wished it wouldn’t.
But he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Caught in a limbo where he couldn’t stop or keep looking, the cat—or it—turned around and met Siwoo’s gaze.
Before Siwoo could even scream, the bus finally departed.
He said he’d trembled uncontrollably, convinced it had seen him, oblivious to the rest of the proceedings.
Unfortunately, his shaking resembled grief closely enough that no one noticed his state until the funeral ended.
“So that was when you locked eyes with the cat with a human face.”
“Yes. That’s when.”
Siwoo’s hands were slick with cold sweat from the tension. Seeing him wipe them on his sleeve, Taeju asked.
“This is strange. I still don’t fully understand why you were so terrified of that cat. There’s more you haven’t told us—or your father. Right?”
Siwoo fell silent at Taeju’s question. In this case, silence meant affirmation.
“Honestly, when we first saw you, we thought you seemed much better than expected. Way better than your dad described. But he wasn’t lying, so it’s obvious there’s another secret.”
“Yeah.”
Siwoo admitted readily.
“Is it something you can’t tell us?”
“No, it’s not hard to tell you all.”
Siwoo began.
“But… could you not tell my dad what I saw?”
His voice was desperate. This was it—the real key point.
“If possible, sure. But if it’s too important, I can’t promise.”
“…Even so, will you keep it secret as much as you can?”
“That much, I promise.”
Taeju nodded in the end. Without that assurance, Siwoo wouldn’t say a word.
“The thing is… I wasn’t scared just because it was a cat with a human face. Well, I was, but… not because it was just any human face.”
Siwoo’s anxiety visibly spiked. Taeju, having some inkling, simply nodded.
“I see.”
“That face… that was the problem.”
“The face itself.”
In a way, Seil had been spot-on. She really had good instincts.
“What did the face look like?”
Taeju pressed. Siwoo still hesitated to answer. It wasn’t raw terror—it was the sheer horror of voicing it.
“P…please, really don’t tell my dad. As much as possible.”
“Yes, we won’t.”
Only after Taeju’s reaffirmation did Siwoo squeeze his eyes shut and say.
“The cat’s face… that face… it was my late grandpa’s face. Exactly as it was right before he passed, identical to the portrait photo.”