Dojin raised one eyebrow.
“Fire Cat? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you coming in?”
“Ae-aeng….”
“I can’t understand a word you’re saying. Just get in here already. Immortal Iri is waiting. You did bring the curio, right?”
…….
The Fire Cat rolled its eyes around, then—
“AENG!”
It suddenly transformed into a blazing fireball and bolted down the alley.
“You little fuck!”
So that’s why Master told me to catch it if it runs!
Dojin kicked off the ground and took off after the Fire Cat. A blazing ball of fire rolled down the alley at breakneck speed, and an even faster Jangsa sprinted after it.
Even though a soccer-ball-sized red-hot flame was rolling along the ground, the humans walking through the alley ignored it—until they noticed a huge, terrifyingly handsome man pounding toward them at full speed. Only then did they shriek and scramble out of the way.
Thankfully, Dojin managed to grab the Fire Cat by the scruff at the very end of the alley, just before it reached the main road.
“Hey, you—fuck. Seriously, I—”
With people watching, Dojin couldn’t finish his sentence without looking like a lunatic. The fireball thrashed wildly in his arms. Though it was burning fiercely, to Dojin it felt only slightly warm. Hugging the Fire Cat tightly to his chest, he headed back to the rental shop. Iri was already waiting outside the front gate.
“Ae-aeng….”
The Fire Cat reverted to its feline form and let out a weak cry. Dojin found this drooping, listless figure oddly familiar and wondered, ‘Where have I seen this before?’ A moment later, watching the Fire Cat get scolded by Iri, he realized—
Ah. It’s exactly what I look like when I’ve done something to get chewed out.
***
Dojin and Iri parked the car in an alley across from Singo High School and stared at the main gate, where dismissal hadn’t started yet.
“So. The person who has the curio is in that school, right?”
“Ae-aeng….”
The Fire Cat nodded weakly, still clearly deflated from having just been scolded.
This was the full story as they heard it from the Fire Cat.
A few months ago, the Fire Cat had fallen for another cat and had been courting her. She was beautiful, but her brain was so pure and empty that conversation was impossible. Still, the Fire Cat liked her—Lili.
One peaceful day, as they were quietly nurturing their affection, Lili’s human owner bought her a puzzle toy, and that peace was shattered. The puzzle was too difficult, so Lili couldn’t properly get her treats. She started snapping at the Fire Cat and using him as an outlet for her stress. The Fire Cat explained the solution countless times, but Lili’s memory was pure to the point of being nonexistent.
In the end, the Fire Cat decided to borrow a curio from the rental shop: the ‘Deadlock Necklace’. A curio that presents a solution to an immediate problem. The Fire Cat planned to put it on Lili so she could easily conquer the puzzle and enjoy her treats in peace.
‘You said Lili’s a house cat, right? Be careful not to let humans see.’
“Ae-aeng!”
That was a month ago—the very moment the Fire Cat had confidently told Immortal Iri not to worry, despite the repeated warnings.
For a while, everything was peaceful. The Fire Cat only slipped the necklace onto Lili when humans weren’t watching, letting her claim her treats with ease. Lili, full and happy, would even groom him. They were blissful days.
But a few days ago, for some reason, Lili’s human gave the Fire Cat a puzzle toy as well. The treats in that house were delicious, and unable to restrain his greed, the Fire Cat expertly stole the treats for himself. The human compared the Fire Cat to Lili, then wordlessly retreated into their room.
Naturally, Lili got angry. On the verge of being dumped outright, the Fire Cat had no choice but to put the necklace on her.
He never even dreamed that the human had been watching that moment.
“Ae-aeng….”
“You should’ve come running here that very day. What were you thinking, showing up a whole week later? And you call yourself a yokai?”
“Aeng. Aeng-aeng.”
“I don’t understand a damn thing you’re saying. If you’re living in Korea, learn some Korean.”
“Ae-aeng!”
The Fire Cat, transformed into a cat, snapped its head away with a hmph.
“Master, what’s he saying?”
“He’s asking how you can call yourself a Taoist when you can’t even understand yokai speech.”
“Hey, you can’t even tell that I’m not a Taoist. And you call yourself a yokai?”
The Fire Cat leapt from Dojin’s knee to Iri’s. Though it had been thoroughly scolded, it still seemed more afraid of Dojin than of Iri.
Though Iri had reprimanded the Fire Cat, he wasn’t truly furious. Stroking the cute yokai’s fur, Iri looked toward the school gate.
“There are still four hours until school ends?”
“Yes. But honestly, sneaking in wouldn’t be hard, right? I could guide you straight to Yoo Jaeho’s classroom right now with my incredible stealth arts.”
“And then what would we say? He won’t just hand it over nicely.”
“We tell him we’re the owners of this red cat and that we want the necklace he stole returned. He did steal it, after all, so he’ll feel guilty.”
“He’s already developed greed toward the curio. He’ll never give it back.”
According to the Fire Cat, Yoo Jaeho wore the necklace on his arm at all times. After experiencing visible, supernatural phenomena—seeing solution steps and answers appear during a pop quiz—he never removed it, not even for a second. Not even when showering.
“Then we use force. Or Taoist arts. Or Master’s mysterious abilities. We’ve got plenty of options.”
“True….”
Recovering the curio itself wouldn’t be difficult. The problem was—
“We also have to erase his memory. And for that, his guard has to be completely down.”
“You can’t erase memories if he’s unconscious?”
“Even if he’s unconscious, he has to have been in a state without suspicion. Otherwise, when you erase the memory, the soul resists, and the thread doesn’t come out smoothly.”
“Thread?”
“The memory thread. You’ll see later. Anyway, to remove all risk factors completely, he has to be unguarded.”
Hearing this, Dojin finally realized how serious the situation was.
If you suddenly obtained an incredible object that showed you the answers to problems, anyone approaching you would look like a bandit trying to steal your treasure. And if someone as big and intimidating as Dojin came near, Jaeho would bolt the moment their eyes met.
“What about sneaking in while he’s asleep?”
“It’s 11 a.m. right now, and it’ll be at least twelve more hours before he falls asleep. Jaeho’s already had the curio for over 120 hours. The longer we delay—even by a minute—the more dark desire accumulates, which negatively affects the soul.”
“I’ll go get sleeping pills. Let’s knock him out now.”
“…That could harm his health. Let’s look for alternatives first. If nothing works, then we’ll use it.”
“Yes.”
At that moment, the Fire Cat let out a slightly aggrieved cry.
“Ae-aeng. Aeng.”
“What did he say?”
“He says Yoo Jaeho isn’t a bad kid at heart. He’s just been stressed from studying lately, and that’s why he got greedy over the curio. He says it’s environmental, so we shouldn’t blame him too harshly.”
Dojin’s expression stiffened in a strange way.
“‘Ae-aeng, aeng’… those three syllables carry that much meaning…?”
This was serious in an entirely different way.
“Aei-aeng.”
“And now?”
“He says Jaeho’s anxious because he’s the only one among his friends without a girlfriend.”
“Why bring that up all of a sudden—oh!”
Dojin exclaimed as if struck by inspiration.
“I’ve got it. A way to lure him out alone to a secluded place with his guard completely down.”
“What is it?”
“Write a pretty letter that says, ‘I have something to tell you. Let’s meet during lunch today.’ That’s it. It’s a co-ed school, too. The moment he sees it, he’ll lose his mind and sprint out of the classroom. I’ll go hit the stationery store real quick!”
Dojin confidently hopped out of the car. A short while later, he returned with several cute letters decorated with pink hearts and a pretty pink pen.
“Alright. Now we just write a nice letter and secretly leave it on his desk.”
“Nice…?”
“Yes. Pretty, like your face, Master.”
Dojin didn’t give the pen to Iri. He wrote it himself.
[To Jaeho
Hi.. There’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time, and I wanted to confess before too much time passed.
Could you come to the back of the school at 12:30?
I’ll be waiting… – DJ]
“What do you think? Won’t he skip lunch and come running, thinking he might finally get a girlfriend named Dajeong?”
“The content is fine, but the handwriting….”
Iri smiled awkwardly. Dojin’s handwriting was so violently messy that it looked less like a love confession and more like a duel challenge.
“Then why don’t you try writing one, Master?”
“I don’t think mine will be any better.”
“Still, try it once. We’ll let the Fire Cat choose which one’s better.”
Dojin grinned slyly. Iri could see right through his intentions, but went along with it anyway.
Iri wrote the exact same message. His handwriting was elegant, refined, and dignified—so perfect it looked like it had been printed.
“It’s really pretty, but there’s no way it looks like someone his age wrote it. It looks like the handwriting of a hermit living deep in the mountains. It’d just make him more suspicious.”
Despite saying they’d let the Fire Cat choose, Dojin neatly slipped Iri’s letter into an envelope and tucked it into his pocket. Shaking his head as if he’d expected this all along, Iri pulled out his phone.
“One of our customers is a Wia with beautiful handwriting. I’ll ask them.”
“Wait.”
Dojin placed his hand over Iri’s. His large palm completely covered the phone screen. When Iri looked up, silently asking if he had another idea, Dojin shrugged.
“There’s someone nearby, isn’t there? Someone who can write in authentic high school girl handwriting.”
“…….”
“My little sister goes to this school.”
Dojin’s younger sister—Kim Dohui.
Coincidentally, she attended Singo High School.
