Garam woke up three minutes before his alarm went off.
To be precise, it wasn't because of the alarm.
Something was scratching outside his door.
Scrape.
Scrape, scrape.
Garam opened only his eyes beneath the covers.
A brief silence.
Then again.
Scrape.
Garam slowly sat up.
His phone screen read 5:42 a.m.
His alarm hadn't gone off yet.
Garam got out of bed and opened the door.
There was no one outside.
Instead, a pair of yellow ears suddenly popped up from below the stairs.
“You're up?”
“Chichi.”
“Yeah!”
Garam looked down at Chichi over the stair railing.
“Don't tell me you've been waiting here all night.”
“Nope.”
“Then?”
“I came early.”
“What time?”
Chichi thought for a moment.
“I don't know.”
Garam rubbed his eyes.
“I told you not to come up to the second floor yesterday.”
“I didn't come up.”
Chichi sounded very confident.
“I was on the stairs.”
Garam was silent for a moment.
She wasn't technically wrong.
“That's basically the same thing.”
“No, it isn't.”
Apparently, the distinction was pretty important to Chichi.
Garam didn't bother arguing further and headed for the bathroom.
“Give me ten minutes.”
“Okay!”
“And don't make any noise.”
“Okay!”
Garam closed the door.
A moment later.
Something rolled around downstairs.
Clatter.
“…Chichi.”
“I didn't do it!”
Garam closed his eyes.
That was generally hard to believe.
The morning air was still cold.
Garam locked the door of Garam Bookstore after throwing a thin zip-up hoodie over his school uniform.
Chichi had already gone as far as the mouth of the alley before turning back.
“Come on, let's go.”
“Quiet.”
“Why?”
“Everyone's still asleep.”
Chichi looked around at the houses.
“People sleep a lot.”
“It's because it's this early.”
Gramps didn't come out.
Neither did Kkami.
Boss was sitting beside the flowerpot in front of the bookstore, while Goro was nowhere to be seen.
Garam looked around.
“Where's Goro?”
Boss answered.
“He left first.”
“When?”
“A little while ago.”
That was Goro, all right.
Garam checked his phone.
6:03 a.m.
The client's house was about a ten-minute walk away.
The newspaper would arrive around six thirty.
They had plenty of time.
When Garam started walking, Boss naturally fell into step beside him.
Chichi ran excitedly alongside them.
“What if I find it today?”
Garam asked, “Find what?”
“The person taking the newspaper.”
“So what if you do?”
Chichi raised her tail.
“Two treats.”
“No,” Boss said immediately.
Chichi bristled.
“Why does Boss get to decide?”
“Because you won't be finding it alone.”
“Then two treats for everyone.”
“Even less possible.”
Garam said, “How about one and a half?”
Chichi thought about it for a moment.
“Then one and a half.”
“How are you going to give someone half a treat?”
“Cut it in half.”
Boss said nothing and kept looking straight ahead.
Garam was reminded once again that negotiating with Chichi could wear him out before breakfast.
The client's house was tucked inside an alley lined with old detached homes.
Low walls.
A small gate.
The yard and front entrance were visible beyond it.
Garam stopped at the corner of the alley.
“This is it.”
Boss surveyed the area around the house.
“Yeah.”
Chichi poked her head out.
“There isn't a newspaper.”
“It probably hasn't arrived yet.”
Garam checked the time.
6:17 a.m.
And right then.
A low voice reached them.
“I'm here.”
Garam turned his head.
Golden eyes appeared from the shadow beneath the wall.
“Goro.”
“Yeah.”
“When did you get here?”
“Earlier.”
“See anything?”
“No one's come yet.”
Goro was hidden in the narrow space between the wall and a parked car across the street.
It was a spot a person would hardly notice while walking past.
Garam nodded slightly.
“Let us know when the newspaper arrives.”
“Okay.”
“Chichi.”
“Yeah!”
“You stay here.”
Chichi immediately asked, “Why?”
“You'll give us away if you run around.”
“I can not run around.”
Boss and Garam looked at Chichi at the same time.
Chichi shrank a little.
“…I can mostly not run around.”
Garam looked around, then pointed to a small flower bed beneath the wall.
“Sit over there.”
Chichi reluctantly went over.
Garam moved behind a utility pole across the alley.
A student in a school uniform standing outside someone else's house at dawn was suspicious enough, but it was still better than standing right in front of the gate.
Time passed.
6:24.
6:27.
6:31.
Then the sound of a bicycle came from far away.
Boss's ears moved first.
The newspaper delivery person entered the alley.
A large stack of newspapers was loaded onto the back of the bicycle.
The delivery person slipped newspapers in front of several houses with practiced ease, then opened the client's gate.
Two steps into the yard.
The newspaper was set down beside the front entrance.
Then the delivery person left immediately.
Garam checked the time on his phone.
6:33 a.m.
The delivery had definitely been made.
The bicycle disappeared at the end of the alley.
Chichi whispered, “Now we just wait?”
“Yeah.”
Ten minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
Fifteen minutes.
It was still quiet.
Chichi spotted a tiny flying insect beside the flower bed.
Her eyes shifted toward it.
One of her front paws lifted slightly.
Boss looked at her.
Chichi slowly lowered her paw.
“…I didn't catch it.”
“Good job,” Garam said quietly.
Chichi looked delighted by the praise.
And that was when it happened.
Goro spoke in a very low voice.
“He's coming.”
Garam's gaze turned toward the gate.
Someone was walking in from the end of the alley.
He was a fairly old man.
A gray jacket.
Black pants.
A plastic bag in one hand.
The man walked slowly until he stopped in front of the client's house.
He glanced around.
Garam tensed slightly.
The man pushed the gate.
It opened.
He went inside.
“He went in,” Chichi whispered.
“Yeah.”
The man walked up to the front entrance.
He bent down.
And picked up the newspaper.
Garam's eyes narrowed.
He really had taken it.
The man folded the newspaper and put it in the plastic bag.
Then he walked back out through the gate as if nothing had happened.
Garam was about to move.
Boss blocked his way.
“Wait.”
Garam stopped.
“Why?”
Boss watched the man's back.
“Something's off.”
“What?”
“He's not in a hurry.”
Garam looked at the man again.
For someone who had stolen a newspaper, he was far too calm.
The way he had looked around seemed less like he was worried about being caught and more like he was simply checking the road.
Most of all, the man hadn't tried to hide the newspaper.
The mouth of the plastic bag was still open.
Goro spoke from the shadows.
“Let's follow him.”
Garam thought for a moment.
Then he nodded.
“Yeah.”
It would be better to find out where he was taking it than to confront him right away.
The man didn't go far.
After passing through two alleys, he went behind a small multi-unit house.
Garam followed at a safe distance.
Boss never lost track of the man's route, while Goro used the shadows beneath walls and cars to move far ahead.
Chichi looked desperate to run, but this time she stayed beside Garam.
“Is that guy a thief?” she asked.
Garam didn't answer right away.
“We don't know yet.”
“But he took the newspaper.”
“Yeah.”
“Then isn't he a thief?”
“Not everyone takes something for the same reason.”
Chichi looked confused.
“Then we can just ask him why he took it.”
“That's why we're watching him first.”
The man stopped in front of something resembling a small shed behind the multi-unit house.
Several boxes were stacked beneath its old panel roof.
The man squatted in front of one of them.
He took the newspaper out of the plastic bag.
Then he unfolded it.
Garam narrowed his eyes.
He wasn't trying to read it.
The man was tearing off several sheets at a time and lining the inside of the box with them.
Chichi tilted her head.
“What is he doing?”
At that moment.
A tiny sound reached them.
“Mew.”
Garam stopped.
Again.
“Meow.”
A cat's cry.
The man shifted slightly to the side.
The inside of the box came into view.
A small cat was curled up inside.
A young calico kitten that still looked very small.
One of its front legs was wrapped in a bandage.
Garam's expression changed.
Chichi's ears stood straight up.
“It's a baby.”
Boss looked into the box as well.
The man removed the old newspaper and laid down fresh sheets.
Then he placed a small towel on top.
He took out a water bowl and a small bag of cat food from the plastic bag.
Garam said nothing for a moment.
Goro had already come as far as the wall nearby.
“So that's what it was,” he said.
Garam nodded slightly.
The reason he needed the newspapers.
At least part of it was clear now.
But that didn't erase the fact that he had taken newspapers from someone else's house.
Garam thought for a moment, then walked forward.
“Excuse me.”
The man spun around in surprise.
“Huh?”
He looked thoroughly flustered when he saw Garam.
“What is a student doing here this early?”
Garam looked back and forth between the man and the box.
“I came because of the newspaper.”
The man's face stiffened.
“The newspaper?”
“You took it a little while ago.”
A brief silence passed.
The man looked down at the newspaper in his hand.
“So you saw me.”
“Yes.”
The man let out a long sigh.
“I'm sorry.”
He didn't start with an excuse.
That surprised Garam a little.
“Why did you just take it?”
The man looked at the kitten in the box.
“I found it here a few days ago.”
“Was it hurt?”
“I don't think it was hit by a car. Its front paw was badly swollen, like it had gotten stuck somewhere.”
Garam moved closer to the box.
The kitten shrank back slightly when a stranger appeared.
A small voice reached Garam.
“I'm scared.”
Garam stopped at once.
He didn't move any closer.
“What about a vet?”
“I took it to one.”
The man continued, “They said the bone was fine and it just needed the wound treated. I was going to take it home, but my wife has severe allergies to cat fur, so I couldn't bring it inside.”
“So you've been taking care of it here?”
“Just for a few days.”
The man held up the newspaper with an awkward expression.
“It kept making a mess inside the box, so lining it with newspaper made things easier.”
Garam asked, “Couldn't you buy newspapers separately?”
The man looked uncomfortable.
“That would have been the right thing to do.”
“Then why did you take someone else's?”
“At first, I thought it had been thrown away.”
“The one sitting in front of the entrance?”
“No, the first one.”
The man waved a hand.
“I was passing that house and saw a few days' worth of newspapers on top of the recycling box outside the gate. So I took one.”
Garam listened quietly.
“And the next day?”
“I was passing by at dawn and saw another newspaper there, so…”
The man trailed off.
“I figured taking one wouldn't hurt.”
“You did it three times.”
“…Yeah.”
The man lowered his head.
“That was my mistake.”
Garam looked at him.
It didn't seem like he had started with bad intentions.
But the client had been frightened by the fact that someone kept entering her home.
Having a good reason didn't make that fear disappear.
Garam said, “The owner of the newspaper is really scared.”
The man raised his head.
“She is?”
“Because someone kept coming inside her gate.”
The man's expression hardened.
“Oh….”
Only then did he seem to consider what he had done from someone else's perspective.
“I never thought about it that way.”
“I think it would be best if you told her yourself.”
The man hesitated.
“Now?”
“It should be okay. She'll be home in the morning.”
The man glanced at the box.
“What about the kitten?”
Chichi stepped forward at once.
“We'll watch it!”
Garam looked down at Chichi.
“You?”
“Yeah.”
Boss also moved closer to the box.
The kitten seemed to relax a little after seeing Boss and Chichi.
Garam thought about it, then said, “It should be fine for a little while.”
The man still looked worried.
“What if it runs away?”
Goro quietly moved behind the box.
Seeing that, Garam said, “It won't run away.”
The man looked at Garam strangely.
Garam simply smiled.
“Because the cats are here.”
“…Really?”
The man still looked like he didn't understand.
Of course he didn't.
Kkami joined them on the way back to the client's house.
He came down from the top of a wall without Garam noticing when he had appeared.
Garam asked, “Why are you here?”
“Gramps told me.”
“Told you what?”
“That you'd gone looking for the newspaper.”
Kkami glanced at the man.
“Is that him?”
“Yeah.”
“The thief?”
Garam shook his head.
“It isn't that simple.”
Kkami didn't ask anything else.
Instead, when he noticed the man's steps growing slower and slower, he moved closer to Garam.
“He's nervous.”
“Yeah.”
When they reached the gate, the man let out a long breath.
Garam rang the doorbell.
A moment later, the client came out.
“Oh, it's you, young man.”
Then she spotted the man beside Garam.
Her expression immediately hardened.
The man also hesitated before lowering his head.
“I….”
The client asked, “Who are you?”
After a long hesitation, the man answered, “I'm the person who took the newspaper.”
The air instantly went cold.
Shock and wariness appeared on the client's face at the same time.
“What did you say?”
“I'm sorry.”
The man bowed his head at once.
“I took it.”
The client's voice rose.
“Why are you coming into someone else's home and taking their newspaper?”
“Well….”
Garam didn't step between them.
He waited for the man to explain himself.
The man told her everything, starting with how he had found the kitten.
The injured front paw.
The vet.
His wife's allergies.
The makeshift box.
And the newspaper.
At first, he had thought the newspaper had been discarded, and after that, he had taken even the fresh newspapers without giving it much thought.
The client's expression gradually changed.
Her anger hadn't disappeared completely.
“But you should have told me.”
“You're right.”
“It isn't about the price of the newspapers.”
“I know.”
“Do you know how scared I was, with someone constantly coming into my home?”
The man bowed his head again.
“I'm truly sorry.”
Then Kkami quietly approached the client.
He sat beside the hand that had been moving in agitation.
The client looked down at Kkami.
He simply sat there, still.
As if he were waiting for her to calm down.
The client let out a sigh.
“Where is the kitten?”
The man answered carefully, “In a temporary shelter behind the multi-unit house over there….”
“You said it was hurt?”
“Yes.”
A brief silence.
The client sighed again.
“If you need newspapers, just ask.”
The man looked up.
“Excuse me?”
“My husband puts his newspapers out for recycling every day after he finishes reading them.”
“Just don't take the new ones.”
“Of course not.”
“If you need the ones we've finished reading, you can take them.”
The man's face went blank.
“Is that really okay?”
“On one condition.”
The client spoke firmly.
“Don't ever come inside the gate without permission again.”
The man nodded repeatedly.
“Yes. I absolutely won't.”
Only then did Garam finally relax a little.
Kkami said quietly, “That ended well.”
Garam answered just as quietly, “Yeah.”
The client looked at Garam.
“Thank you for finding him.”
“I didn't find the newspaper.”
“But you found out who took it.”
Garam thought for a moment.
That was true, too.
“Then I guess the case is closed.”
“Yes.”
The woman smiled.
This time, her face looked much more at ease than it had yesterday.
As soon as Garam arrived at school, he dropped his head onto his desk.
Dahye came over to the desk beside him and looked down at him.
“Hey.”
“Yeah.”
“You really went?”
“Yeah.”
“What time did you get up?”
“Around 5:50.”
Dahye stared at the back of Garam's head without saying anything.
“So?”
“I found him.”
Garam answered with his face buried in his arms.
“Who took it?”
“An old man.”
“Why?”
“To line a box for an injured kitten.”
Silence fell for a moment.
Dahye said, “…What? It's hard to even be mad at him.”
“It was still wrong to take someone else's stuff.”
“True.”
Dahye leaned against the desk beside Garam.
“Did you resolve it okay?”
“Yeah.”
“What about the cat?”
“It went to the vet, and they said it just needs to be cared for a few more days.”
“I want to see it.”
Garam lifted his head slightly.
“Want to go after class?”
Dahye's face brightened.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Is Kkami coming too?”
“Why would Kkami come?”
“It'd be nice if he did.”
Garam dropped his head back onto the desk.
“You care more about Kkami than the kitten.”
“I care about both.”
“Liar.”
Dahye laughed.
The bell rang.
Their homeroom teacher entered the classroom.
Garam slowly sat up.
He opened his textbook on the desk.
His eyes were already starting to close.
Dahye whispered, “I'll wake you if you fall asleep.”
“Okay.”
“But you owe me a snack from the school store.”
“Fine.”
Garam took out his glasses and put them on.
Outside the window, the morning sunlight was growing brighter.
Somewhere, newspapers would be delivered today as well.
And somewhere, inside a small box, a kitten would be sleeping on freshly laid paper.
And one more line would soon be added to Garam's case notebook after school.
The newspaper disappearing from the doorstep.
Below that.
Resolved.
Episode 5: The Person Who Took the Newspaper — End.