The moment the door to Garam Bookstore opened, Chichi was the first to lift her head.
Jingle.
“A customer?”
Garam, who had been working through a workbook behind the counter, lifted his head too.
But the person who had come in wasn’t a customer.
“Hey.”
It was Seo Dahye.
Her school uniform skirt was on, her bag was slung over one shoulder, and she was holding a bag of bread in one hand.
Garam lowered his gaze back to his workbook.
“Why are you here?”
“Is that any way to greet a friend?”
“You come here every day.”
“You should still be happy to see me.”
Dahye came up to the counter and waved the bag of bread.
The savory smell spread through the store, and Chichi came running immediately.
“What is it? What is it?”
“It’s not for you.”
Garam said it first.
Chichi looked up at him with an aggrieved expression.
“I haven’t even seen what it is yet.”
“I can tell from your face.”
Dahye, of course, couldn’t hear Chichi.
She only saw Chichi standing by her feet with her tail raised and bent down with a smile.
“Chichi, you’re all over the place today too.”
Chichi looked at Garam.
“She was complimenting me, right?”
Garam didn’t answer.
Dahye set the bag of bread on the counter.
“The old lady next door said you should eat this.”
“Again? I already had lunch.”
“Tell her that yourself.”
Garam clamped his mouth shut.
He didn’t want to do that.
Dahye pulled over the chair beside the counter, looking satisfied.
She set down her bag and took out a workbook.
Kkami had been watching her from the window. He slowly got to his feet.
Dahye’s eyes lit up at once.
“Kkami.”
Kkami remained still.
“You’re pretty today too.”
Kkami swished his tail once.
As he turned a page in his workbook, Garam said, “He says he likes that.”
Dahye smiled.
“Really?”
Kkami said, “Of course.”
“You’re taking that awfully confidently.”
Garam muttered it under his breath, and Dahye tilted her head.
“What did you say?”
“He says you have good taste.”
“Right?”
Dahye grinned happily.
Kkami looked pleased too.
They couldn’t understand each other’s language, but somehow, they communicated perfectly well.
Garam watched the two of them for a moment before lowering his gaze back to his workbook.
“You really came here to study?”
“I did.”
“Looks more like you came to see Kkami.”
“Both.”
“At least you’re honest.”
Instead of answering, Dahye reached a hand toward Kkami.
Kkami hesitated for a moment, then rubbed his chin once against the back of her hand.
Dahye’s face immediately brightened.
“Garam.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to go home today.”
“Go.”
“Kkami likes me.”
“That’s your imagination.”
Kkami said quietly, “I do like her, but I don’t want her sleeping here.”
Garam thought about it for a moment, then translated.
“Kkami says you should go home too.”
“You just made that up, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t.”
“You look suspicious.”
Just then, Gramps spoke from the armchair without even opening his eyes.
“You two are noisy.”
Garam looked at him.
“I was being quiet.”
“Your friend is your responsibility too.”
“Why?”
“You brought her here.”
“She came on her own.”
Dahye laughed.
“What did Gramps say this time?”
“He says we’re noisy.”
“Who?”
“Both of us.”
Dahye turned toward the armchair and folded her hands.
“Sorry, Gramps.”
Gramps opened his eyes.
“What’s she doing now?”
“She says she’s apologizing.”
“She can’t understand what I’m saying, but she knows how to read the room.”
“I’ll tell her you complimented her.”
“Don’t.”
Garam stifled a laugh and picked up his pencil again.
It was an ordinary afternoon, no different from any other.
Boss was still outside, and Goro was nowhere to be seen.
Chichi spotted a small ornament dangling from the end of Dahye’s bag strap and reached out a paw, but Garam stopped her once.
Kkami claimed the seat beside Dahye.
Gramps began dozing off again.
And about ten minutes later—
Jingle.
This time, it really was a customer.
Dahye lifted her head first.
Garam set down his pencil too.
A middle-aged woman stood in the doorway.
She was holding a folded sheet of paper in one hand.
The woman looked around the store.
The bookshelves.
The counter.
The cats.
And the paper posted on the door.
“Is this… the place that takes cases?”
Garam took off his glasses.
“Yes.”
Dahye naturally picked up her workbook and moved to the seat beside him.
Garam gestured toward the chair in front of the counter.
“Please, have a seat.”
The woman hesitated briefly before sitting down.
Kkami approached slowly.
He didn’t let strangers touch him right away.
He simply sat a short distance away and watched her.
Garam took out his notebook.
“What brings you in?”
The woman placed the paper in her hand on the counter.
It was a newspaper subscription receipt.
“My newspapers keep disappearing.”
Garam blinked.
“Your newspapers?”
“The ones that arrive in front of my house every morning.”
“How many times has this happened?”
“This is the third time since the start of this week.”
Garam wrote in his notebook.
Missing newspapers.
“They don’t disappear every day?”
“No. They vanish every few days, strangely enough.”
“Could it be that they weren’t delivered?”
The woman shook her head.
“That’s what I thought at first too. But when I called the newspaper company, they said they had definitely delivered it.”
“Did you check with the delivery person too?”
“I asked him directly this morning. He said he left it in front of the entrance.”
Garam thought for a moment.
“Is it a house or an apartment?”
“A house.”
“Do they leave it outside the gate?”
“No. They open the gate, come inside, and leave it beside the front door.”
Garam’s pencil stopped.
“Then whoever takes it would have to come all the way inside your property.”
“That’s why I’m scared.”
The woman’s face stiffened slightly.
“It seems excessive to call the police over a single newspaper…”
“Yes.”
“But if someone keeps coming inside my house, then it’s not just about the newspaper, is it?”
She was right.
Garam wrote a few more lines in his notebook.
“Do you keep the gate locked?”
“I don’t usually lock it during the day. The neighborhood is old, so everyone does the same.”
“What about security cameras?”
“There aren’t any.”
“Does anyone else live there with you?”
“It’s just my husband and me, but he leaves for work early in the morning. I’m home.”
“About what time do the newspapers disappear?”
The woman thought for a moment.
“They arrive around six thirty, and I usually go outside around seven thirty.”
“So sometime in that hour.”
“Yes.”
Garam nodded.
Just then, Kkami took a step closer to the woman.
Her tense hands were fidgeting in her lap.
Kkami stared at those hands for a moment, then carefully placed one paw beside her chair.
The woman looked down at him.
“Oh my.”
Kkami slowly closed and opened his eyes once.
Some of the tension left the woman’s face.
“What a pretty cat.”
Kkami glanced slyly at Garam.
Garam pretended not to notice and kept his eyes on his notebook.
The woman watched Kkami for a moment, then spoke again.
“I wasn’t sure whether I should come. It seemed like such a small thing.”
Garam looked up.
“You thought it was nothing?”
“It’s only a few newspapers.”
“But it keeps bothering you, doesn’t it?”
The woman was silent for a moment.
Then she nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then it isn’t nothing.”
The woman’s eyes widened slightly.
Garam closed his notebook.
“I’ll look into it.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“You investigate things like this too?”
Garam glanced briefly at the paper posted on the door.
“It’s something you lost.”
The woman gave a small laugh.
“I suppose it is.”
“It’s already too late today, so the best thing would be to check tomorrow morning.”
“In the morning?”
“Starting around the time the newspaper arrives.”
“But you’re a student. Is that okay?”
Garam paused for a moment.
Dahye lifted her head beside him.
Garam answered in the most matter-of-fact tone possible.
“As long as it’s before school.”
Dahye’s mouth fell open.
Garam didn’t look at her.
“Could you give me your address?”
The woman wrote down her address.
Garam accepted the paper and tucked it into his notebook.
“Is there anyone who often comes around your house?”
“No one in particular.”
“What about cats or other animals?”
“Cats?”
The woman tilted her head.
“Stray cats sometimes climb onto the wall.”
A tiny spark lit in Garam’s eyes.
“Do you remember what kind of cats they are?”
“There are gray ones and a black one… I’m not sure.”
“That’s okay.”
That was enough for now.
The woman stood.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you.”
Jingle.
The door closed.
A brief silence followed.
Then Dahye spoke immediately.
“Hey.”
Garam organized his notebook.
“What?”
“Before school?”
“Yeah.”
“What time?”
“I have to get there before six thirty.”
Dahye stared at him.
“Are you insane?”
“Why?”
“You’re a high school senior, and you’re going to stand watch over a newspaper at six in the morning?”
Garam answered with complete seriousness.
“Six thirty.”
“Is that supposed to make it better?”
Kkami said from beside him, “It doesn’t.”
Garam looked at Kkami.
“You too?”
Dahye couldn’t understand him, but she seemed to catch on from the mood.
“Kkami’s giving you a hard time too, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.”
“See?”
“He’s taking your side.”
Dahye laughed as if she couldn’t believe it.
“Want me to go with you?”
Garam shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“You can’t get up in the morning.”
Dahye’s mouth snapped shut.
“…I can get up.”
“You almost overslept today.”
“That was because the bus—”
“Did the bus turn off your alarm too?”
“Hey.”
Kkami listened to the two of them and swished his tail with satisfaction.
Just then, Goro emerged from the darkness beneath the bookshelf.
“Tomorrow morning will work?”
Garam looked at him.
“You were there?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since the beginning.”
Dahye jumped when Goro suddenly appeared.
“Whoa, you scared me.”
Goro glanced at Dahye once, then turned his gaze back to Garam.
“I should watch near the front door, right?”
“Probably.”
“We need to find out whether a person is taking it.”
“Yeah.”
Goro gave a short nod.
“I’ll get there first.”
Garam said, “By yourself?”
“It’s better if they don’t see me.”
That was true.
If someone was deliberately taking the newspaper, they might stop the moment they realized someone was watching.
Goro was perfect for hiding and keeping an eye on things.
Kkami said, “If a person comes out, I can hold them down.”
Garam thought about it.
“We’ll see how things go.”
Dahye looked back and forth between Garam and the cats.
“Are you seriously having a meeting with them right now?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s amazing.”
“After watching you do this for years?”
“It’s amazing every time I see you arguing with a cat.”
“We’re not arguing.”
Kkami watched Dahye quietly, then said, “Sometimes we are.”
Garam protested indignantly, “No, we’re not.”
Dahye laughed.
“That sounded like arguing just now.”
Garam simply closed his notebook.
Footsteps sounded outside.
Jingle.
Boss came in.
He swished his short tail once as he entered and looked around as usual.
Then he sat in front of the counter.
Garam said, “We got a case.”
“What is it?”
“Someone keeps taking newspapers.”
Boss looked at Garam for a moment.
“Newspapers?”
Chichi had already given up on Dahye’s bag strap and come closer.
“We’re going to find them?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Garam looked at Chichi.
“I’m debating whether to bring you, since I never know what you’ll spot and run after first thing in the morning.”
Chichi’s eyes grew wide.
“I won’t run.”
Boss said, “You will.”
“I said I won’t!”
“What if something moves?”
Chichi thought for a moment.
“Well…”
Kkami finished for her.
“That means she will.”
Chichi fell silent.
Garam held back a laugh.
“We’ll go and see tomorrow.”
Boss asked, “Where’s the house?”
Garam showed him the paper with the address.
Boss couldn’t read the words, but when he heard Garam describe the neighborhood, he lifted his head.
“That place.”
“You know it?”
“I pass through sometimes.”
“Anything unusual there?”
Boss thought for a moment.
“There are lots of cats in the morning.”
Garam immediately asked, “Why?”
“Don’t know.”
“How many?”
“Different every day.”
Boss paused, then added, “Seems like someone feeds them.”
Garam narrowed his eyes slightly.
Newspapers and cats.
There was no evidence yet that the two were connected.
But there was one more thing to check tomorrow morning.
“Gramps.”
Garam turned toward the armchair.
Gramps had opened his eyes at some point.
“I heard.”
“Do you know that neighborhood?”
“Of course.”
“Could you ask the cats who live there?”
Gramps moved his tail slowly.
“Ask them what?”
“Whether they’ve ever seen someone taking newspapers every morning.”
Gramps thought for a moment, then said, “It’ll be faster to see for ourselves tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Some of them won’t remember what they saw yesterday if you ask them at night.”
Garam paused.
“…Are cats’ memories really that bad?”
“They’re good at forgetting things they don’t need.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“Humans are similar, aren’t they?”
Garam couldn’t argue with that.
Dahye tilted her head.
“What did Gramps say?”
“He says we should see for ourselves tomorrow.”
“Cats are pretty rational.”
Gramps cracked open one eye and said quietly, “I like that friend of yours.”
Garam looked at him.
“Why?”
“She recognizes me.”
“She can’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Still good enough.”
Garam smiled faintly.
Then he opened his notebook to the first line again.
The newspaper that disappears from the doorstep.
Below it, he wrote down the time and address.
Before 6:30 a.m.
Dahye looked at it and sighed.
“You’re really going.”
“I took the case.”
“You’re a student preparing for the CSAT.”
“I know.”
“What if you fall asleep at school tomorrow?”
Garam thought for a moment.
“I’ll sleep during lunch.”
Dahye stared at him for a while.
Then she shook her head as if she’d heard this kind of thing many times before.
“At this rate, you’ll take a case even on the day of the CSAT.”
“I won’t take one that day.”
“Thank goodness.”
Garam opened his workbook again.
“Study.”
“Who’s telling whom?”
Dahye opened her workbook too.
Kkami settled back into his spot beside Dahye, while Chichi noticed an eraser rolling across the floor and nudged it with her paw.
Garam said, “Chichi.”
Chichi stopped.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t touch that.”
“Why?”
“It’s Dahye’s.”
Without even looking up, Dahye said, “Give it to Chichi.”
Chichi’s ears perked up.
Garam looked at Dahye.
“You’ll spoil her.”
“Seems like she’s already spoiled.”
“You heard her.”
Chichi happily pushed the eraser along.
“She said I can have it!”
Garam sighed.
The ordinary afternoon began rolling along again.
Only, tomorrow morning was going to be a little different.
Someone was taking the newspaper left in front of the door.
Three times.
At irregular intervals.
And every morning, cats gathered around that house.
Nothing was connected yet.
Garam paused his pencil for a moment as he wrote an answer in the margin of his workbook.
Then he started moving it again.
It was something he could confirm.
Tomorrow morning.
Starting after the newspaper arrived.