Even a Lonely Squirrel Has Its Burrow - Chapter 143

“After checking from the air, it’s been confirmed that there’s an unused building at the specified location. It seems it used to be used as a training center or something similar, but after checking the surrounding area, we found out that no one goes in or out of the place anymore.”

There was a high probability that Ryu Beomju had returned to his original form and was guarding the area nearby. For a tiger, a natural-born hunter, the only way to observe the vicinity without being detected was from the sky, and fortunately, one of Eun Soohyuk’s secretaries was an eagle shifter, making it possible to get help.

When Sa Muheon confirmed through him that there was a building at the location Garam had sent, his heart began to race.

Now that he knew where Garam was, all he had to do was come up with a way to safely extract him. To do that, he first needed to lure Ryu Beomju away.

After thinking for a moment, Sa Muheon remembered something and pulled out his phone.

-Yes, Director Sa.

“Mr. Han, I think this is the right place.”

-That’s a relief. Should I send more people there?

“No. We can’t handle a tiger shifter with ordinary means anyway. Please contact the number I just sent you instead.”

There was a brief silence, as if Mr. Han was checking the message Sa Muheon had sent. Then came his voice, sounding flustered.

-This is…

He sounded hesitant, reluctant. But Sa Muheon spoke firmly.

“Just make the call for now. If you tell them we’ll hand over what they want, they’ll understand and come.”

-…Yes, understood.

As Sa Muheon had predicted, the party Mr. Han contacted responded immediately, saying they would send someone. However, they added that the person was away for the moment and it would take another day. Though the urgency of the situation made the extra day hard to accept, someone from that side was essential right now.

Fortunately, the person Sa Muheon had been waiting for arrived at the scene early the next morning.

“I came as quickly as I could since you said it was urgent. Looks like I made it just in time.”

The man grinned as he spoke and acted familiar with Sa Muheon. But Sa Muheon didn’t take the hand the man extended for a handshake and got straight to the point.

“Can you take him down?”

“Even among tiger shifters, I’m likely a far superior specimen.”

The man answered with confidence. Last time they met, in the club when he had been affected by a heat-inducing drug, Sa Muheon had found him unpleasant. But now, he actually seemed somewhat reliable.

After hearing his reply, Sa Muheon called Ryu Beomju. The other party answered immediately, as if he had been waiting.

“All the goods are ready. We’ll hand them over at the time you want.”

-Director Sa, now you’re finally making sense. As long as you’ve prepared everything I asked for, I’ll hand that rat over without trouble. Don’t worry.

It annoyed him that Ryu Beomju kept referring to Garam as a rat. But Sa Muheon merely furrowed his brow slightly and didn’t let his emotions show.

Anyway, his gloating would soon come to an end.

“There’s one last thing we need from you.”

-What is it?

“I need to confirm that Garam is safe.”

-Tsk, how annoying…

Ryu Beomju clicked his tongue and muttered. His openly annoyed tone was irritating, but Sa Muheon coaxed him gently.

“Wouldn’t we need to be sure the hostage is unharmed too? If you can’t even show that, it just sounds like the hostage isn’t safe.”

At that, Ryu Beomju muttered something under his breath. It wasn’t clear, but it sounded like cursing.

Thankfully, it seemed Sa Muheon’s words had convinced him, as the sound of footsteps followed. Soon, a door was heard opening, and Ryu Beomju spoke in an annoyed tone.

-This is the last time, got it, Director Sa? If you bother me again, I can’t promise what I’ll do to this rat.

“Let’s just get this over with. We’re both busy.”

Sa Muheon kept his tone as calm as possible. Judging by the sounds over the receiver, Ryu Beomju had stopped somewhere.

-This brat is still sleeping.

“What?”

-Ah, hold on. Since you were so eager to see him, take a look for yourself.

The moment Ryu Beomju said Garam was sleeping, Sa Muheon felt his heart sink. There was no way Garam would still be peacefully asleep after the loud door noise they’d just heard. Was he sick? Sa Muheon’s heart began to pound anxiously.

Soon, Ryu Beomju switched to a video call, and Garam’s figure lying on the floor came into view. The clothes he’d been wearing were tossed roughly into a corner of the small space, and Garam was curled up on top of them. Seeing him clutching his tail and curling up like that, Sa Muheon couldn’t help but be reminded of a day from the past.

-See? Told you, he’s fine.

But Ryu Beomju, unaware of anything strange, continued nonchalantly. Sa Muheon barely managed to steady his trembling voice.

“…Is he really asleep? He should’ve woken up by now.”

-Ha…

At his question, Ryu Beomju sighed as if it was troublesome and reached toward the lying Garam. Anger surged at the sight of him handling Garam roughly without care, but more than that, Sa Muheon was worried by Garam’s complete lack of reaction.

“See? He’s fine. He’s breathing.”

Ryu Beomju brought Garam’s body close to the phone screen as if to prove it. And just as his gaze flicked momentarily toward the phone display, Garam’s shut eyes suddenly snapped open. Sa Muheon opened his mouth to speak, but before he could make a sound, Ryu Beomju let out a scream.

CHOMP—!

“Agh! You damned rat, how dare you!”

Everything happened in an instant. Garam bit the hand holding him, and in pain, Ryu Beomju loosened his grip. Without missing the moment, Garam escaped.

After that, all that could be heard was Ryu Beomju shouting and cursing. The screen went dark with a loud crash, as if the phone had been thrown somewhere.

Sa Muheon’s heart began to race. Judging by Ryu Beomju’s enraged voice, it seemed Garam had managed to escape safely.

The situation had changed.

Once it was certain that Garam had escaped, Sa Muheon immediately hung up the phone. Now that Garam had gotten away, there was no longer any need to keep up the back-and-forth with Ryu Beomju.

“The area around the building is all forest. If a squirrel is determined to hide and only move through the trees, even a tiger would have a hard time spotting him right away. I’ll search from the air for now.”

“Then I’ll approach from the ground.”

When Eun Soohyuk’s secretary stepped forward and said he would search from the air, the man standing beside him spoke up in a relaxed tone. Sa Muheon nodded as he glanced at the man.

“Rescuing the hostage is the top priority.”

“Understood. If I find him first, I’ll extract him immediately.”

Eun Soohyuk’s secretary nodded and promptly returned to his main form and took off. The large eagle quickly widened the distance and disappeared.

“And you…”

“I’ll handle my approach. It’s been a while since I encountered another tiger shifter.”

The man who had arrived at Sa Muheon’s request smiled confidently and walked off. His back as he entered the forest looked overly relaxed. The others who knew his identity watched him tensely.

“Director.”

“He’ll come down as soon as he finds him. Garam seems to be injured, so please arrange a nearby hospital in advance.”

“Yes, understood.”

Though he answered, Chief Han couldn’t take his eyes off Sa Muheon, clearly worried. But Sa Muheon walked away without hesitation. Before long, his figure vanished completely among the dense trees.

“Pii…”

After entering the forest, Garam immediately climbed the nearest tree. Unlike the ones in the park, the trees here were much taller. Fortunately, it was a decent environment for a squirrel like Garam. Once he got up into the trees, he was confident he could move through the branches and avoid getting caught by Ryu Beomju, who had returned to his main form.

After climbing to the top of the tree, Garam tried to figure out where he was. The building he had been imprisoned in was sitting isolated in the middle of this mountain, with no residential areas nearby.

But when he looked a bit further down, he saw a road stretching out. He figured that if he climbed down there and followed the road, he could get to a populated area.

“…Pip.”

I can do this. Garam nodded with determination and scurried down the tree.

As he moved along the sturdiest-looking branches, Garam came to a stop when he felt pain in his leg.

He had tried to push through the pain to get as far as possible, but this seemed to be his limit for now.

“Pheehew…”

Fortunately, he found a knot hole in the tree that looked like a bird had once stayed there. Garam checked and saw that the inside was completely hollow, so he crawled inside and hid.

Once inside, the tension finally eased, and the pain washed over him.

“Pit, piiing…”

A wave of sorrow suddenly overwhelmed him. Relief at having escaped and the fear he had felt during the escape tangled together, and tears started to fall before he knew it.

But he wasn’t completely out of danger yet—there was still a chance he could be caught by Ryu Beomju at any time. Garam struggled to stop crying and lay down inside the hard tree.

At the very least, he needed to rest for now. A thought briefly crossed his mind—how nice it would be if everything was magically resolved when he opened his eyes.