Chapter 19: Echoes Beneath the Downpour

The sound of water abruptly stopped.

“What?”

“I saw it a little after eight when I went out to direct traffic.

It ran toward Seoheung Elementary School.

I only saw the tail, body, and back, but it looked a lot like Rambo.

Sergeant Park is sure it was Rambo.”

Tae-i let out a heavy breath.

“We haven’t searched there yet because it’s outside his territory.

Is that Seoheung 7th Street?”

“Yeah.”

Since a cat’s territory is usually around 2 kilometers, they had only searched inside and along the borders of that range.

Tae-i shrugged and started quickly rinsing the dishes again.

“I’m not sure.

It might have been Rambo, or it might not have been.”

That’s why Mu-yun hadn’t mentioned it until now.

If Rambo appeared outside their expected range, other animals could too.

If so, they needed to separate the locations where the incinerated animal skulls had been found, the arson site, and the GPS trail Bap-al had left as separate incidents, and then find where the perpetrators might appear again.

And if there were multiple perpetrators, they would naturally have to separate Tae-i from the case.

Tae-i finished the dishes, dried his hands, and walked over.

“By the way, what are you going to do if you find Rambo?

Are you going to kidnap him?”

“Kidnapping is a crime.”

Mu-yun chuckled and lay back down, looking up at the ceiling.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.

I just… I want to be certain that the cat in those ashes wasn’t Rambo.

That’s all for now.”

He wasn’t searching so hard because he wanted to catch and keep a stray cat he’d only met twice.

Maybe once he confirmed it was safe, this obsession would disappear in an instant.

Because once he saw it with his own eyes, he felt he could let go of the mental burden created by the excitement he’d felt when the incident occurred.

“If what you saw really was Rambo, he’ll probably show up around there again.

It might not be that he moved territories because of the fire; he might have been pushed out of his original territory.”

“Pushed out?”

At the unexpected words, Mu-yun looked up at Tae-i.

Tae-i gave a bitter smile.

“As far as I know, the name Rambo was given about three years ago, right?

They said he was already full-grown then, so he’s probably four or older.

For stray cats, the average lifespan isn’t very long.

If younger cats push him out, the one who loses the fight gets chased out of the territory and has no choice but to move.”

“The law of the jungle.”

Tae-i laughed softly at that.

“It’s natural.

In a way.”

Mu-yun recalled that even the last time he saw Rambo, he had been picking a fight with other cats.

He thought it was possible that Rambo had gotten into a fight in his new territory.

“Let’s check Goyeomgol Small Sports Park first before going toward the school.”

“We’ve already been there several times.”

“That’s true, but… According to a shelter worker, someone has been leaving food on the hiking trail behind the public parking lot these past few days.

And there was also a report about someone putting a food bowl under a parked car down there.”

He remembered the shelter worker sighing, saying that because people set up feeding stations under other people’s cars, animals that could be rescued end up getting hurt.

Even after the car owner had warned them several times, they kept doing dangerous things, so he had filed a report.

“That’s dangerous.”

Tae-i also frowned.

“It is.

But since it’s still cold, I somewhat understand them flocking toward cars with warm engines.

Still, it’s dangerous.

Anyway, these days there are many missing animals, so the shelter tries to reduce the haphazard feeding stations and lure them to a few safe places to operate them.

But they said they haven’t seen Rambo there yet.”

At Mu-yun’s explanation, Tae-i nodded in understanding.

“So you want to recheck because a new feeding spot has appeared in the territory.”

“Yeah.

Especially in this weather, I thought he might be somewhere he can avoid the cold or find food easily.”

Tae-i turned his head toward the balcony.

The weather was still gloomy, and the raindrops on the window had grown a bit larger, as if the rain was getting heavier.

“Then let’s go before it rains more.

They said precipitation will be higher in the afternoon than now.”

At that, Mu-yun gazed silently out the window.

***

The wipers wiped away the rain incessantly.

The road, which would normally take less than five minutes, was clogged with cars today.

The sound of raindrops pattering on the car roof was ominous.

“It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.”

“I know.

I wonder if they’ll come out.”

Mu-yun wiped the fogged-up window with his palm and looked out at the street.

Aside from the cars lined up on the road, there were few people outside.

He was secretly worried that animals wouldn’t be out on a day like this.

“All we can do is hope they come out.”

Tae-i said that, then looked ahead and checked the signal.

He turned on the blinker to move into the left-turn lane, waited for an opening, and slowly edged in.

“Not going straight up?”

“Instead of Geumjin-ro, going through the school and the back road behind the apartments will be better.”

When Mu-yun asked, Tae-i nodded and explained.

Crossing the main road that divided Seoheung 3-dong and 2-dong, behind the area where five apartment complexes stood in a row, there was a narrow back alley not even on the map.

Mu-yun knew about the road because Sergeant Park had told him.

He had never been there since it wasn’t in his patrol area, though.

Tae-i smoothly followed the signal, turned into the alley, passed through a school zone, and went further inside.

When they arrived at a barren field that didn’t even appear on the navigation, a concrete road appeared, built for farm machinery to travel between the fields.

Tae-i calmly drove onto it.

The road wasn’t paved, so the car jolted over bumps.

Mu-yun gripped his seatbelt tightly.

The road was narrow, with no guardrails on either side, directly adjacent to rice paddies, but Tae-i drove as if he were very familiar with it.

“You’ve driven this a lot, haven’t you?”

Tae-i chuckled.

“How many times since I first started work?

There are still people who set fires, saying they’ll burn weeds and plastic trash from farming around the dry rice paddies.”

Even though firefighters went around explaining safety guidelines until they were hoarse, saying that burning weeds could lead to burning down the mountain, some people wouldn’t listen.

Having lived that way for decades and never started a fire, some would get angry, accusing the firefighters of scaring them and threatening them.

Even though the Fire Services Act had been revised and strengthened, making things stricter and reducing such incidents, there were still places that hadn’t changed.

At Tae-i’s explanation, Mu-yun sighed shortly and stared at the still-empty rice paddies.

“If people would just stop doing what they’re not supposed to, they wouldn’t become criminals.”

“It’s dangerous, but it’s convenient and fast, I guess.”

Burning dead weeds, killing bugs, cleaning up.

They’d even report it to the fire station in advance and ask what the problem was.

But because it was behind an apartment complex, even just seeing smoke would trigger a fire report, so the fire station had to respond regardless.

Mu-yun remained silent.

Tae-i quickly navigated the narrow road, which seemed like it could tip over at any moment, and pulled into the Goyeomgol public parking lot.

Perhaps because of the rain, there were noticeably fewer parked cars than usual.

Mu-yun grabbed an umbrella, got out of the car, and visually estimated the location of the clearing said to be inside the mountain trail.

He had been told to follow the narrow, sloping path behind the sports park restroom, a bit away from the parking lot.

“Is that it?”

“Yeah.”

Tae-i had packed wet cat food cans in his pocket instead of a bag to lure the cats.

He didn’t forget the treats either.

After checking the quiet sports park, which felt like only the two of them were there, they strode forward.

They were careful to avoid stepping in the puddles gathered here and there.

“We should have worn work boots.”

Tae-i muttered as he carefully tiptoed along the edge of a puddle that would definitely soak him up to his ankles if he stepped in.

Mu-yun also tiptoed and scurried past like a dancer.

He could already feel his socks getting damp.

Passing through the traps laid out everywhere with no way around, they finally reached the base of their destination.

As soon as they looked up, they clicked their tongues seeing rainwater mixed with yellow soil forming a small stream flowing down the path.

“Let’s give up on our shoes.”

Then at least our minds will be at ease.

Mu-yun patted Tae-i on the back with an open palm and walked ahead.

“Even if it’s not Rambo, I hope someone comes out to greet us.”

Tae-i hooked the umbrella over his neck and took out a can from his pocket.

He tapped the top of the can with his fingertip, looking skilled.

“Won’t they not hear it because of the rain?”

The rain had lessened a bit in the short time since they parked and walked, but it was still pouring heavily.

Tae-i smiled.

“They’ll hear it better than we will.”

Mu-yun nodded and then stepped aside from the path.

As if understanding without being told, Tae-i flicked the top of the can louder.

“Rambo―.”

It was a higher, gentler, more cajoling voice than his usual tone.

As if telling the cat not to run away, as if letting it know they weren’t there to hurt it, Tae-i called Rambo.

His uniquely low, husky, thick voice rose in pitch, but it had a tone that naturally inspired trust.

Remembering his own voice, which hadn’t lowered much even after his voice change, Mu-yun stepped forward, his feet growing heavier with clinging mud.

They said it would take only a few minutes, but whether because the shelter worker was particularly good at climbing mountains or because of the rain, the clearing was not in sight.

Tae-i, walking ahead, finally stopped.

Mu-yun, following behind, caught his breath and checked their surroundings.

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