Yoon Taehee first learned of the mermaid's
whereabouts four days ago.
When did I ever tell you to like me?'
That night, Yoon Taehee stumbled home in a state of complete intoxication, barely able to control his body.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he headed for the pavilion. Even though he had sobered up from the alcohol, his body and mind were still reeling. Yoon Taehee was in ruins. However, he was the type of person who could think about what he needed to do and what he could do even in the midst of crumbling
ruins. Today was the day a client was scheduled to visit in the morning.
As soon as he arrived at the pavilion, Yoon Taehee immediately slumped over the table. His head felt like it was about to split from the hangover, and his stomach ached as if it were being wrung out. His mood was terrible, to say the least. He was deeply distressed and in a very bad mood. Yoon Taehee muttered.
"The mermaid, haven't you found her yet?"
Paehyeon, who had been quietly standing by, wore a dark expression. He had been roaming around the seaside for days, asking spirits and ghosts for information about the mermaid, but there had been no significant results. Paehyeon bowed his head deeply.
"...No, I'm sorry."
At the news of no progress, Yoon Taehee said nothing.
The quiet silence was so ominous and frightening that Paehyeon found himself wishing the client would arrive soon.
"Leader, you're here."
Just then, Saero appeared with a bright expression and spoke up.
"Leader, a friend of my friend has come with a request. He says he has something to say to you, Leader. If you have a moment, could you listen to his story?"
Saero opened his mouth with a wide smile. This was one of the changes that had occurred as rumors about Byeoksadan spread widely outside. Perhaps thinking they had gained allies, ghosts would sometimes come to Byeoksadan, even through several connections, to ask for help.
They called them requests, but in reality, they were more like complaints.
"What rudeness is this, coming without an appointment? Send them away."
Paehyeon frowned and tried to stop it. This was because the Leader seemed to be in a very bad mood,
and there was no reason to receive someone who had come without an appointment. At that moment, the Leader raised his hand to rub his face tiredly and weakly said, "It's fine, tell them to come in."
As Paehyeon was making a displeased face at this, Saero quickly opened the door. As the door opened, a four-legged beast walked in with light, dignified steps.
The one who had come to see the Leader was a fierce-
looking cat.
"Hello. I am a cat spirit, called Fatty."
The cat spirit who introduced himself as Fatty had very plump cheeks. If it had been an ordinary cat, communication would have been impossible, but the cat before them was a ghost, so they could understand each other. Fatty jumped onto a chair, curled up, and sat down. Cat spirits were animal ghosts born from cats harboring grudges, and likewise, they had no shadow.
Cat spirits originally appeared in rural areas or mountains, but in modern times, as the number of stray cats being mistreated in urban areas increased, cat spirits could be found quite frequently in various places. Cat spirits, left with only their wild instincts, enjoyed hunting animals and eating their internal organs, and these prey included humans. Even in cities, human corpses with their organs torn out were occasionally discovered once or twice a year.
"Well, hello. What brings you here?"
Yoon Taehee, who had been slumped dejectedly on the table, reached out his hand. Fatty approached with his fierce face and very naturally and politely rubbed his head against Yoon Taehee's hand.
"I am in charge of the alley in Sungin 1-dong. I first greeted Saero last year when he was rummaging through a used clothing collection box, and we've been in contact since then."
"I see."
"There's a very wicked human, and I've come to ask you to teach him a lesson."
At the cat spirit's words, Yoon Taehee spoke with a bland expression.
"Don't you sometimes hunt humans too? If so, couldn't you punish him directly...?"
The cat spirit became serious and, swishing his tail back and forth, continued speaking.
"What are you saying? It seems you have some misunderstandings about us cat spirits. If I may be so bold, 'll clarify this clearly. We cat spirits do not carelessly harm humans. We only hunt those who persecuted or tormented us when we were alive. No, it's not hunting, it's righteous punishment."
The cat spirit stretched his flexible body and continued speaking.
"And we cat spirits have a principle of not interacting with humans. We protect our stray cat comrades, hunt rats or go hunting, and live freely."
Cats, snakes, and other creatures commonly referred to as spiritual beings among ordinary people for their intelligence and wisdom often continued to influence the living or remained in the human world even after their lives ended. Among them, there were animal spirits that had as clear intelligence as humans. While their reasons for taking root in this world might differ, cat spirits living in urban areas were like guardian deities to stray cats.
"We don't take revenge on innocent humans. We only remember and retaliate against humans who have done bad things to us. And most cat spirits are favorable towards humans. This is because, with memories from our time as stray cats, there were
many humans who fed us in every alley, so we are grateful to humans."
Yoon Taehee nodded as if he was listening.
The cat spirit's story continued as follows:
For several years now, there has been an evil person who has been tricking one of our naive cat spirits into doing bad things. Let's call this naive one 'Kim Jjangdol'. The name Kim Jjangdol was given by the human he lived with when he was alive. Anyway, Kim Jjangdol was used to human touch, so even now as a cat spirit, he longs for humans.
However, we cat spirits do not mingle with humans.
Even if we meet someone who can see us, we pretend not to notice. It's because that's beneficial for both sides. But Kim Jjangdol, having memories of being loved by humans when he was alive, seems to have been secretly following humans without our knowledge.
Kim Jjangdol met an evil person on the street a few years ago. That person was a human with open spiritual senses, so they recognized Kim Jjangdol and patted his head. From then on, they often met and became acquaintances.
But one day, that evil person made a strange request to Kim Jjangdol. They said they would bring a person and asked Kim Jjangdol to extract their gallbladder.
Kim Jjangdol, who often followed that evil person, complied with the request. Extracting a gallbladder is no big deal for us, after all.
However, as I mentioned earlier, we cat spirits have a principle of not harming humans who bear no grudge against us. If we need to hunt for necessity, we raid chicken coops, hunt in the mountains, catch rats, or target pigeons.
But that evil person's requests didn't end with just one. The evil person would lure an unfortunate person every week and order Kim jangdol to extract their gallbladder. This went on for several years. Kim Jjangdol has been suffering great mental anguish from extracting the gallbladders of people he has no connection with.
So recently, Kim Jjangdol, plagued by guilt and remorse, finally couldn't take it anymore and told that evil person that he couldn't do it anymore, that evil person that he couldn't do it anymore, that he would quit. Then, the evil person who had been kind and affectionate towards Kim Jjangdol suddenly changed their attitude and threatened to report all of us to Naryecheong. How can there be such a human in this world?
"Report you to Naryecheong?"
Yoon Taehee, who had been listening quietly, rested his chin on his hand with bored eyes.
"Yes, so Kim Jjangdol, in a fit of anger, said 'Go ahead and tell them, go ahead and tell them, and stormed out of there, then told me, the alley boss, everything that had happened."
"..."
"I tried to think it was just an empty threat, but the problem is that the evil person knows where we cat spirits hide. We haven't been able to live in peace for a single moment since that day. We thought about hunting that evil person, but they're not an ordinary human, so it wouldn't be easy to deal with them."
"I see. That person must be a gwijae. Since you said his senses were opened..."
"No. That evil person is different from ordinary gwijae."
"Different how?"
"According to Kim Jjangdol, that evil person is not an ordinary gwijae, but a mermaid."
Yoon Taehee, who had been listening quietly, froze.
Paehyeon, who had been listening nearby, was equally surprised. They hadn't expected the topic to lead to mermaids at all.
"..What? A mermaid?"
"The evil person secretly told Kim Jjangdol that they were a mermaid and needed to eat human
gallbladders to grow legs, and that they had to eat gallbladders regularly once a week to maintain human legs, otherwise scales would grow on their legs over time."
A flash of madness crossed Yoon Taehee's eyes.
"Gallbladders..."
Finally, the Leader and Paehyeon exchanged glances.
"So that evil person would lure a person once a week, bewitch them with mermaid powers, and then bring them to Kim jangdol on the seventh day to extract their gallbladder. The bewitched person doesn't remember the time they were under the spell."
The cat spirit, who had been continuing his story, suddenly puffed up and swatted an empty teacup on the table with his front paw. The teacup fell to the floor and shattered. Paehyeon flinched and frowned at this. Saero, who was standing nearby, was also startled and shouted, "What are you doing!"
"Oh gosh! I-I'm sorry. It was just a habit..."
The Leader, disregarding the broken teacup, said, "It's fine, continue your story."
"Actually, Kim Jjangdol tried to keep the fact that the evil person was a mermaid a secret until the end, but I found out after pressing him repeatedly. The evil person had begged him not to tell anyone. So Kim Jjangdol is now trembling in fear. The only ones who can protect us are you gentlemen, the intelligent ghosts."
The cat spirit raised his front paw and menacingly extended his claws.
"That evil person's name is Shin Jihye."