Unearthing the Puppy's Remains
At the village entrance, right by the bone haejangguk joint where the dead dog was most likely to have met its end, they ordered one regular and one special. All this hustling was for the sake of eating well, so why not fill up properly while poking around? Any other agency would've been too busy checking CCTV in the missing dog's activity range to even get near the village. They'd probably scarf down a convenience store kimbap to avoid losing the case to another team.
"The stone pot's hot, so be careful."
"Thanks, we'll dig in."
Two young women in suits showing up at a rural diner— the owner auntie piled on extra out of pity for their hard work. The "regular" magically turned into "special," and the special became extra-large; they couldn't bear to leave any and stuffed it all down. If it hadn't tasted good, they would've ditched it, but the tender spine meat with mustard sauce was divine.
"Aigoo, you must've been starving. This reminds me of my daughter—take this yogurt to go too."
"You didn't have to, but thank you! It was delicious!"
They paid twelve thousand won in cash, got a yogurt each, and stepped out feeling stuffed to the gills.
"Ahh—I'm so full."
"We gotta come back here every time we're in the area. Tastier than Seoul hot spots."
"Yeah. Save it on the map app and share."
"Got it."
Their clothes reeked of haejangguk, so instead of hopping straight into the car, Seo-ah sent Hyeon-a to the nearby supermarket for breath fresheners. Hyeon-a dashed in grandly, declaring she'd grab anything, and came back with bottled water and five packs of Ice Sher.
"Ice Sher? What junk food is this?"
"It's nostalgic jelly. Thought it got discontinued recently and was all gone."
"You just bought whatever caught your eye."
"Wanna try one? Then you'll get it."
The individually wrapped packs looked legit enough for domestic snacks. Seo-ah popped one in her mouth— not bad as dessert.
"This is midway, so I'll grab a quick shot with him up ahead."
"Go for it."
Filming was just an excuse; it felt more like goofing around, chasing each other. Throwing a dog treat and commanding fetch? Overkill. After a good romp to settle her stomach, Hyeon-a returned beaming, hopped in with the puppy.
"Boss, let's roll."
No desire to drive late after a full dinner. Seoul to Osan could stretch three hours in traffic, so they'd crash at a nearby corporate training center.
Korea had mountains everywhere. Veer off the main road into the village, climb endless slopes, and you'd hit the end of drivable paths quick. No eerie vibes. Curious elders eyeing the unfamiliar car late evening? Normal.
"Check tomorrow? Full belly's making me sleepy."
"That's why you move more. Sleep right after eating and you'll gain weight."
Seo-ah had done all the driving so far, yet Hyeon-a tossed out the fat comment casually.
"Sadly, I never gain weight no matter what. Seen those mukbang folks?"
"Liar. All that on your chest is fat."
"Fine, let's say it only piles on my boobs and butt."
Seo-ah smirked at Hyeon-a's exaggerated glance at her chest, parked haphazardly by the road, and got out. This far in, the story was obvious: snatched the fat stray pup, simmered it into bosintang, dumped head and bones behind the hill. Textbook rural case. Other possibilities existed, but unlikely here.
"Go confirm where it is yourself."
From here, no memory to guide—pure puppy nose. Felt natural enough. Grabbing a military folding shovel, they trailed the dog up the mountain path. Curious elders lost interest quick; no tails.
"Night mountain paths always feel spooky."
"No one's following us, so watch your step. No piggyback if you trip."
"Duh. Grew up rural—better at mountains than you?"
Seo-ah shut up seeing Hyeon-a lugging heavy cameras, sweating buckets in early spring despite her cocky reply.
The puppy, nose to the ground, suddenly perked up and bolted one way.
"Found its trail?"
-Woof! Woof!
They approached the excited pup barking at a tree base. Fresh digging marks everywhere.
"Here."
"Hold on. Gotta film."
Hyeon-a set up the tripod, framed the shot perfectly.
"You didn't wanna come out, so I'm selling it."
She waved at the camera, explained briefly, then slowly dug where the pup nosed. As she went deeper, her digs slowed like excavating relics; pup yawned, flopped beside her. Animals get buried shallow—shin-deep max. No funeral rites, lazy to dig deep, just enough post-rain not to pop out. Perfect shin height.
Shovel hit something thunk—off-feeling jolt through the handle.
"Found it. Hang on."
She handed the shovel to waiting Seo-ah, grabbed the camera.
"Buried here. Cause of death needs checking, but..."
She filmed the plastic bag wafting rot stench. Half the size in client's photo—state predictable.
"Tch... gotta cut this out."
"Ugh, hate touching this crap."
Thick work gloves on, Seo-ah hauled the bag up; unknown bugs plopped off. Protocol was photos to client, but midnight gore shots? Dicey.
Bag held head, neck, four legs, tail—torso gone.
"Bosintang."
"Elders went all-in on health tonics. Just the essentials harvested."
Stealing and eating someone's dog was crime, but untouchable here. Calling cops over a dead pup? Embarrassing. No CCTV beyond pickup, no pinpoint suspect.
"Eww, the smell."
Even close-up filming Hyeon-a backed off, muttering future voiceover.
No need whole corpse; Seo-ah yanked the blood-crusted collar. Rest back in hole, reburied.
"Got that water? Rinse the blood off."
"Yeah."
Collar cleaned, tag matched client's description. Case closed—Hyeon-a whooped nonsense.
"Yaaay—!"
"...What was that?"
"Other channels have signature sounds. Made mine. Whaddya think?"
"Hm... nice."
"Tch, your 'nice' usually ain't mainstream."
"Then don't ask, you brat."
Scooped the flopped pup post-mission, set atop smoothed dirt. Before zombie rot drew national eyes, quick cleanup. Wipe the belly rune—simple act erased the memory construct inside. Done.
"Whoa, drops dead instantly. Burned last life?"
"Kinda. Delayed death a bit."
"Bury it too?"
"Nah. Leave exposed—scavengers, maggots speed decay."
Stretched waist, checked watch: past 9 PM. Rare hike left shoulders aching. Hot bath soak needed for this fatigue.
"Head down."
"Yeah. Packing camera."
Light steps descending—ten-million-won case solved. Seo-ah had parental allowance and gifted buildings, but earning big herself lightened the heart. Now cut off for "quit rebelling, come home."
"Ah, hurry and crash."
"Nearby lodging?"
"Told ya, training center."
"Ack, bad memories there."
"Employee dorms. We're exec suites."
"Ooh... endgame boss vibes."
Entered training center by golf course, prepping for opening. Post-shower, checked collar USB: gigabytes of pup photos from arrival. Worth ten mil? Yeah.