SLC 40

‘Secretary Kang. This is Kim Jinkyung.’

The moment he received the call, Kang Uicheol’s heart skipped a beat. As soon as the call ended, he finished making all the necessary preparations and got behind the wheel. He put three tight lipped bodyguards in a separate car and had them follow behind.

While driving, he looked up the ownership information tied to the motel address Kim Jinkyung had sent him by text. He transferred 100.000.000 won to the motel owner first, then called him. He said that he was the one who had just made the transfer, and that if the motel was vacated within 10 minutes, he would transfer an additional 100.000.000 won. The motel owner responded in a dazed voice, saying just a moment, then asked who was calling. He must have checked his account.

‘Please vacate within 10 minutes. Everyone except the two male guests who just checked in.’

The motel owner, still sounding confused, replied that aside from those two, there were no other guests.

‘Then you just need to leave yourself. If you’re out before this call ends, I’ll transfer another 100.000.000 won.’

The motel owner vacated the premises immediately without saying another word. Kang Uicheol transferred the remaining amount and told the owner not to linger anywhere nearby. The motel owner answered enthusiastically that he would do so. The purchase price of a roadside motel in a quiet rural area didn’t even reach 300.000.000 won. Since the owner received 300.000.000 won in a single day, no matter what happened to the motel afterward, it wasn’t a losing deal for him.

Kang Uicheol called Kim Jinkyung again.

‘How is the young master right now?’

‘… He doesn’t seem to be doing well.’

The voice on the other end of the line trembled. That was more than understandable. Anyone would be terrified if they saw that sight. He himself had been the same.

More than 10 years ago, on a rainy day, he received a phone call. It was news of an accident. A truck driver who had fallen asleep at the wheel on a wet road crossed the center line and crashed into a passenger car. It was an ordinary piece of tragic news. The only unusual points were that the person in the car was the only daughter of Chairman Choi Dojung, who had no sons, and that there had been a ferocious beast inside the car, one whose origin was unknown.

The woman died instantly at the scene, and the police said they had shot the beast dead because it was difficult to capture alive.

‘I have no idea why there was an animal in there.’

The police officer’s voice on the other end of the line was filled with confusion.

‘What about the child?’

That was the first question the chairman asked after listening in silence.

‘A child?’

‘There was a child. They were together. I spoke to her on the phone before she left.’

‘There was definitely only one woman in the car…’

‘Find him!’

After yelling the order, the chairman threw the phone away. That was not enough for him. He swept everything off the desk and threw it on the floor.

Kang Uicheol, who had been standing nearby, held his breath. He had spent nearly 10 years at the chairman’s side, but this was the first time he had ever seen him lose his reason and explode in anger.

Kang Uicheol sent people out to search the surrounding area. They combed every inch, without leaving a single gap, within the range a 5 year old child could have traveled alone. But no matter how thoroughly they searched, not a single person claimed to have seen a young boy wandering by himself. The black box of the vehicle had been completely destroyed and was unusable. To make matters worse, there were no CCTV cameras on the surrounding roads.

While Kang Uicheol was racking his brain, someone contacted him. It was a local resident who had seen the banner advertising the enormous reward.

‘Well, that day I happened to pass by the area on my way back, and I saw the accident scene by chance.’

‘Yes. Go on.’

Because countless people had been calling nonstop to spin useless stories or outright lies for the sake of the reward, Kang Uicheol’s voice was extremely dry.

‘Um, what I saw was, well, kind of strange. You said you were looking for a child, but it wasn’t that…’

The middle aged man continued haltingly.

‘I saw a wild animal.’

‘Ah, yes. I see.’

Fuck. Of all things.

‘It was like a pitch black cat, but it was a bit too big to be a cat. What should I call it? A lynx? No, what was it? Anyway, it was the kind of animal you’d expect to see in a zoo…’

At that moment, the ferocious beast said to have been at the accident scene came to Kang Uicheol’s mind. Even after hearing that report, the chairman hadn’t said anything in particular. He hadn’t asked why it was there, or what kind of animal it was. As if it was only natural for it to be there.

Kang Uicheol asked him to wait a moment and prepared to take notes. He asked for the caller’s name and address and said he would visit in person. In cases like this, meeting face to face was more helpful in judging the truth than talking over the phone. There weren’t many people bold enough to lie shamelessly while looking someone in the eye.

That evening, he went to the witness’s home. The witness, who lived in a shabby house, described what he had seen in as much detail as possible. He went on at length about how horrific the accident had been, and how far the truck driver’s body, which had been flung out through the windshield, had rolled.

After rattling off all that unnecessary information, the witness continued.

‘But that black, monster-like animal was in the driver’s seat, so everyone was in an uproar. Even the firefighters couldn’t get into the car. Then suddenly, something crawled out from under the car.’

‘What exactly was it?’

‘It looked like a cat, but it was about this big. Probably.’

The man spread his hands about 1 m apart to show the size.

‘It suddenly jumped out and ran off, and it was so fast that I shouted, “Look at that! Look at that!” But nobody else saw it. It disappeared in an instant.’

‘……?’

Kang Uicheol lowered his eyes without saying a word. How much of this should he report to the chairman?

‘Um, but I did see something, so I can receive the reward, right?’

The man asked while watching his reaction nervously. Kang Uicheol stood up and handed him his business card.

‘Send your account number there.’

The man’s face brightened. Kang Uicheol reported everything he had heard to the chairman in detail. Even after hearing it all, the chairman didn’t react.

‘… What should we do?’

Kang Uicheol clasped his hands together and cautiously asked.

Chairman Choi Dojung was a loan shark known as an underground tycoon capable of mobilizing the largest amounts of cash in South Korea. He was a cold and cruel man. Even Kang Uicheol, who had been through more than enough in the underworld, couldn’t bring himself to meet Chairman Choi Dojung’s gaze.

‘That kind of thing…’

Just as Chairman Choi Dojung was about to continue, a call came in. It was from the police. More precisely, it was from the National Police Agency Commissioner. When news spread that Chairman Choi Dojung’s only daughter had been in a traffic accident, the commissioner himself had come to his house early that morning.

‘Yes. I’ve received the call.’

The commissioner informed him in a trembling voice that items presumed to be his daughter’s belongings had been found in the accident vehicle. He said it seemed necessary for him to come and confirm them in person, and Chairman Choi Dojung stood up immediately.

Inside the bag presumed to be her belongings, there wasn’t much of anything. A few cosmetics, a handkerchief, a wallet, wet wipes, and a single letter.

‘Normally, these should be handed over to the bereaved family after the investigation is concluded, but as a father myself, I couldn’t keep to the rules and contacted you, Chairman Choi.’

The police chief handed over the letter with a regretful expression. It was a level of regret that only Chairman Choi could have received.

After returning home, Chairman Choi Dojung went into his study alone and read the letter. Less than 1 minute later, he opened the study door and came back out.

‘Let’s go.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘The accident site. And contact the person who said they saw Seongha that day.’

‘Seongha? Who is Seongha? And who is this person who saw him?’

‘Suhyeon’s son.’

Choi Suhyeon was the name of Chairman Choi Dojung’s daughter. Kang Uicheol immediately had the car prepared. While driving toward the accident site, he asked cautiously.

‘… If it’s someone who saw Young Master Seongha…’

‘You said it yourself earlier. You said there was someone who saw something at the accident scene that day.’

‘That’s, well, I mean…’

At the moment he repeated what the witness described, he felt as if he was about to step on something he should never step on. Kang Uicheol silently drove the car. A distance that would normally have taken 2 hours was covered in less than 1 hour.

‘So, it crawled out of the car and went that way, I think.’

The witness, whom they had summoned to the accident site in advance, pointed with his hand in the direction where the black cat had disappeared.

Chairman Choi Dojung ran down the slope.

‘Seongha!’

He shouted and looked around. All around them were vinyl greenhouses filled with large and small flowerpots.

‘We already had people search around here too, but they couldn’t find anything.’

Kang Uicheol hurried after Chairman Choi and spoke.

‘Of course they didn’t! They were looking for a child!”

‘What?’

Kang Uicheol couldn’t immediately understand.

Then what were they supposed to be looking for?

Chairman Choi Dojung entered a greenhouse and began searching every corner thoroughly.

‘Seongha! Mok Seongha!’

The old man shouted his grandson’s name until his throat started burning. Kang Uicheol called his name as well. They searched the area for nearly 1 hour. They combed through every greenhouse, even those a short distance away from the accident site. But they couldn’t find anyone.

‘Chairman. Please let’s go back now. I’ll continue searching for the rest…’

The sun was starting to set. It was too much for the old man’s stamina. Chairman Choi’s clothes, and even his shoes, were soaked with sweat.

‘We have to find him.’

Chairman Choi Dojung stubbornly shook his head. He knew that his precious daughter had cut ties with him because of a marriage he opposed, and that they had only recently started contacting each other again.

He couldn’t have gone far. They had to find him.

He had lost his only daughter to an accident, and it was impossible to imagine how immense that loss must be. The police cautiously suggested the possibility that the grandson had never been in the car to begin with, but Chairman Choi didn’t believe it. He said his daughter had told him before leaving that she was going together with her son. No child’s body was found at the accident site, and there was no one who claimed to have seen a child. But Kang Uicheol didn’t want to argue over those facts. If Chairman Choi said they had to find him, then he had to find him.

He followed Chairman Choi and thoroughly searched the inside of the greenhouses.

‘Seongha! Seongha!’

They entered a greenhouse set up near a farm clustered with apple trees.

‘Seongha!’

Peering into the greenhouse filled with pots of small flowering trees, the old man called the name with veins bulging on his neck.

‘Chairman.’

Kang Uicheol grabbed Chairman Choi’s arm. Something pitch black was lying in the corner. Before he could even warn him to be careful, Chairman Choi rushed over.

‘Seongha! Seongha!’

What they thought was dead slowly lifted its head. It was a black cat. No, it was something a bit larger than a cat, just as the witness had said, an animal that belonged in a zoo.

‘… Seongha!’

At Chairman Choi’s call, the animal looked at him.

In its gaze, Kang Uicheol read ‘understanding.’ It was a look only a rational human could have, never an animal.

Kang Uicheol could tell that this was the existence Chairman Choi had been searching for.

Chairman Choi bent down and slowly took the animal in his arms. As if it had fulfilled its duty, the animal lost consciousness.

‘Call a doctor.’

‘… Which doctor should I call?’

‘Call both!’

Kang Uicheol arranged for a nearby doctor and a veterinarian. Aside from a long gash across its back, there were no major problems. The veterinarian explained that even that wound had healed considerably, as if someone had treated it.

‘Then is it going to be alright?’

‘Yes. For now. I was worried about dehydration, so I connected an IV. You can keep an eye on it.’

A look of relief passed through Chairman Choi’s eyes.

‘Um, but panthers are endangered animals, so private ownership is against the law…’

Chairman Choi didn’t respond. Kang Uicheol quietly took the veterinarian outside.

They brought the black panther back to the Seoul residence. That was how life together with the panther began. Kang Uicheol found it hard to believe that the panther was the ‘child’ Chairman Choi had been searching for. But since Chairman Choi believed it, Kang Uicheol had no choice but to follow his will, so he called the panther ‘the little young master.’ He was simply too small to call it just young master.

The ‘little young master’ refused to eat food given by anyone else and didn’t even turn his head when called. He responded only to the chairman’s call and only put in his mouth the food he gave him. Later, that range expanded to include the person who prepared the chairman’s meals, but he never ate food given by anyone else.

The picky panther was intelligent. At times, it made Kang Uicheol wonder if there really wasn’t a human soul trapped inside. But Chairman Choi, who had found the ‘little young master,’ shut himself away in his study and hardly showed himself. The little young master always waited in front of the study for his grandfather. Feeling sorry for him, Kang Uicheol tried several times to approach the little young master and play with him, even though he got bitten again and again.

That day as well, Chairman Choi was shut up in his study, and the little young master lay in front of it, blankly staring at the closed door. Kang Uicheol, who was passing by, tried to grab the little young master’s tail and suggest they go for a walk. But in the moment he looked away, a small child appeared in front of him instead of the black panther and stared at him.

‘Uh….’

Before he could even speak, the child returned to the form of a panther. A shiver ran up Kang Uicheol’s spine.

‘Chai-Chairman!’

He urgently knocked on the study door. When Chairman Choi was in the study, it was an unspoken rule not to call out to him first. But this time, he couldn’t possibly follow that rule.

That day, Kang Uicheol explained in detail to Chairman Choi what he had seen. Color returned to Chairman Choi’s face. It was the first sign of hope he had shown since his daughter died. Chairman Choi rushed out of the study and lifted the black panther into his arms.

‘You’re Seongha, right? Can you turn into Seongha? Hurry and do it again. Hurry.’

But the black panther only thumped his tail against the floor, showing no change. Chairman Choi was visibly disappointed. But after that, the ‘little young master’s’ sudden transformations appeared sporadically. Every time the little young master became human, Chairman Choi was overjoyed. He warmly welcomed his grandson who had returned to human form. Chairman Choi carefully explained to his grandson where this place was and who he himself was.

‘I know, maternal grandfather. Choi Dojung.’