Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: The Sleeping Cat
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Lee Jae-hyun carefully took his seat and leaned slightly toward Min Ji-hye next to him.
Having taken the morning off, he felt the awkward atmosphere and didn’t want to speak too loudly.
“What’s going on?”
When Lee Jae-hyun asked while glancing around, Min Ji-hye flicked her eyes toward Kim Jun-ho before nudging his arm.
“Come out for a sec.”
“Yes.”
Lee Jae-hyun followed Min Ji-hye outside to the vending machine in front of the substation and bought a drink.
“Coffee?”
“Yes, sounds good.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded.
Min Ji-hye pressed the button twice with a firm push.
Clunk. Clunk.
Two canned coffees dropped with a loud noise.
Min Ji-hye handed one to Lee Jae-hyun and let out a small sigh.
Her dark expression softened as she began explaining the situation.
“Looks like Posuni ran away last night.”
“Man... Still no sign of it?”
Kim Jun-ho had just yesterday promised to buy Posuni a cat tower with his bonus.
It must have happened in the evening.
Lee Jae-hyun didn’t own any pets, so he couldn’t fully understand Kim Jun-ho’s feelings, but he could imagine the worry over a missing cat.
Min Ji-hye shook her head at Lee Jae-hyun’s question, denying it.
Her face remained stiff.
“No, they found it.”
“...”
Finding it was good, but her expression wasn’t bright, so it probably wasn’t great news.
Sure enough.
Min Ji-hye’s next words were terrible news for Kim Jun-ho.
“He found it searching around the house before coming in this morning, but it was already dead. Must’ve eaten something bad...”
Lee Jae-hyun let out a soft “Ah...” of sympathy.
The image of Kim Jun-ho’s excited face and voice from yesterday flashed through his mind.
Min Ji-hye hesitated, unsure what to say, then continued.
“Anyway, let’s not bring up cats around Jun-ho today. Be careful.”
“Got it.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded crisply.
After his neat response, Min Ji-hye took a sip of her canned coffee and looked up at the sky.
Clear and high.
“Have you ever seen Posuni, Inspector Min Ji-hye?”
“Well, I’ve never been to Jun-ho’s place, so no. But I saw pictures. It was cute.”
Min Ji-hye answered, shook her head slightly, and changed the subject.
“What happened with that pet shop’s glass door from Myeong Jin-han?”
“Oh, I handled it last night.”
He’d taken care of it right on his way home.
No point dragging out something unpleasant.
Better to settle it quick and forget.
“How much?”
“They asked for 400,000 won, so I paid.”
It felt a bit steep, but not wanting to deal with it anymore, he’d transferred the money right away.
Min Ji-hye’s eyebrow twitched at the 400,000 won figure.
She rarely showed much expression, but today she was full of them—refreshing.
It meant she didn’t like Kim Jun-ho being down or Myeong Jin-han demanding compensation from Lee Jae-hyun.
“...Not even 200 or 300, but 400,000 won?”
“The bonus covered it, and with the team leader’s help, it worked out fine.”
“Don’t smash doors next time, even if you’re mad. Hold back. 400,000 won... What a waste.”
Min Ji-hye said, taking another sip of her canned coffee.
Just then, Inspector Park Dae-hyung appeared out of nowhere.
“Rich folks.”
“Wow, say that with that face and you sound like a criminal, Inspector.”
Min Ji-hye teased with a slight smile.
Park Dae-hyung touched his face, as if wondering what was wrong with it.
Lee Jae-hyun chuckled lightly and fed coins into the vending machine.
“What’ll you have?”
“Coffee for me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Clunk.
Another canned coffee dropped with a racket.
Park Dae-hyung chugged it down in one go and exhaled heavily.
“Man, the vibe inside is suffocating. Feels like forever since I’ve had to watch out for Jun-ho.”
“He says he’s fine, but it’s the first time I’ve seen him so quiet at work.”
Min Ji-hye nodded in agreement with Park Dae-hyung.
As Lee Jae-hyun opened his mouth to add something.
“Park Dae-hyung, Lee Jae-hyun.”
“Team Leader.”
“Yes, Team Leader.”
Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin approached the vending machine area, calling for Park Dae-hyung and Lee Jae-hyun.
They responded quickly, but Oh Cheol-jin clicked his tongue and spoke.
“We got a report. You two handle it. In front of Hanseong Elementary... some cat’s dead, they want it removed.”
“Understood.”
Lee Jae-hyun replied immediately to Oh Cheol-jin’s order.
He got why he’d singled them out.
If Kim Jun-ho went, the already heavy mood would worsen.
Lee Jae-hyun finished his canned coffee and tossed it in the trash.
Clang.
It made a dull thud as it vanished into the bin.
* * *
Remove the cat corpse.
Police weren’t janitors, so body removal wasn’t their job.
But sometimes they handled it.
Ridiculous requests came often.
Like giving a kid a ride to school because they were late.
Or babysitting until late because parents were out.
Or helping move stuff...
Varied.
Stray cat issues brought calls too, in all sorts.
Catch the feeder. Punish the chaser.
Police were punching bags.
Cat corpse removal like this? Just do it to resolve quickest.
Not police duty, but someone had to.
Usually, district office cleaning services handled.
If busy, community centers did.
So, reports got handled when possible.
Substations avoided fights with offices, mutual courtesy.
Driving the patrol car to Hanseong Elementary, a boy looking middle or high school age and an old lady stood aside.
“Hello.”
“Oh, hello.”
Lee Jae-hyun approached smiling; the boy bowed awkwardly.
The grandma smiled softly.
“Who reported it?”
“Me.”
The boy raised his hand.
He looked embarrassed right away.
“It’s an elementary school. A dead cat might scare the kids. This grandma blocked it so they couldn’t see first.”
“Kids shouldn’t see ugly stuff.”
“Oh, you’ve worked hard.”
The grandma waved it off at the boy’s words.
Lee Jae-hyun smiled, thanked her, and eyed the cat.
Freshly dead, it looked like any live one.
No decay, no visible trauma.
“Not sleeping, right?”
“I poked it thinking maybe, but no reaction. Even flipped it—no movement.”
The boy gingerly nudged it with his foot, rolling it.
The cat flopped limply, unmoving.
“No trauma... Ate something bad?”
“Probably.”
Park Dae-hyung joined Lee Jae-hyun, inspected, and commented.
Usually roadkill.
Or injury worsening.
No wounds here, so bad food likely.
“Um... I’ll head out.”
As they discussed the cat, the reporting boy interjected politely.
“Thanks for reporting. We’ll text when handled.”
“Thanks.”
The boy bowed and hurried off.
Lee Jae-hyun smiled at the lingering grandma.
“We’ll take care of it, no worries. Go on home, ma’am.”
“I’ll help. Not your job.”
“It’s fine.”
She rolled up sleeves to assist; Lee Jae-hyun waved her off.
Kind, but his job.
Sharply just to criminals, polite to civilians—Lee Jae-hyun bowed neatly, turned, and strode to the cat.
Lifting it carefully.
“...?”
Warm.
Should be cold if dead.
As Lee Jae-hyun puzzled.
Twitch.
The cat moved.
Moments ago unresponsive, now self-moving.
“Huh?”
Park Dae-hyung yelped in surprise.
Lee Jae-hyun set it down.
Front paw twitched weakly, eyes struggled open.
Miiiaow...
Weak mew, big yawn, then alert.
Park Dae-hyung chuckled absurdly at the standing cat.
“What. It was sleeping?”
“Now I get ‘dead asleep.’”
Lee Jae-hyun shook his head, bemused.
“Phew... Glad.”
The grandma, watching, sighed in relief.
“Yeah. Thanks for watching it. We’ll head out.”
“Busy yet came—good luck.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Lee Jae-hyun bowed to her, remounted the patrol car.
False alarm, but better than corpse duty.
“Posuni supposedly died from bad food—had me down. But sleeping? Whew.”
“Yeah.”
“How sleeps like dead. Wild.”
Lee Jae-hyun nodded at Park Dae-hyung, but a sudden unease creased his brow.
Something off.
Pure bad vibe, hard to explain.
“Inspector Park Dae-hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t know what Posuni ate that killed it, right?”
“Nope. Heard Jun-ho’s brother’s looking into cremation.”
Park Dae-hyung shrugged cluelessly.
Lee Jae-hyun, unease lingering, stepped on the accelerator with a sour face.