Even a Lonely Squirrel Has Its Burrow - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

 

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Today, Sa Muheon was not in a good mood.

 

He couldn’t stop thinking about the squirrel’s strange behavior last night. Was it because he had taken so long to name it? He regretted not giving it a healthy, long-lived name sooner. The thought that his delay might have made the squirrel sick left him increasingly anxious. What if the squirrel had collapsed somewhere? The more he thought about it, the less he could concentrate at the office.

 

“Nothing urgent to report, right?”

 

“Pardon? Oh, no, nothing for now.”

 

“Then I’m heading out.”

 

“What?”

 

The bewildered voice of Jang Seokgyu followed him, but Sa Muheon dismissed it lightly and left the office.

 

On his way home, countless ominous scenarios played out in his mind. Trying to shake off the thoughts, he arrived home and rushed inside.

 

But the squirrel, which usually came out to greet him at the sound of the door, was nowhere to be seen. A bad feeling crept over him.

 

“Little one?”

 

Sa Muheon began searching the house from top to bottom. But no matter where he looked, the small squirrel was nowhere to be found. The jacket he was holding slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.

 

The squirrel was gone.

 

His mind went blank. Sa Muheon stood there, dazed, for a while before snapping out of it and resuming his search.

 

“Little one, where are you?”

 

His voice trembled slightly as he called out for the squirrel, though he didn’t realize it himself. After combing through the house several times, he had no choice but to accept that the squirrel had truly disappeared.

 

“Ha…”

 

It was undeniable. The squirrel had vanished without a trace. There weren’t even any open windows it could have escaped through. He had no idea how it could have disappeared.

 

“Haah…”

 

Standing in the middle of the living room, Sa Muheon ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out how the squirrel could have escaped. Then, he suddenly remembered something he had forgotten.

 

“Oh.”

 

His eyes lit up. He turned around and headed straight to the study. The sound of the study door opening was louder than usual. Sitting down at the computer, he began searching for something.

 

“It has to be recorded somewhere…”

 

Muttering like a madman, he opened and played a file. He had never thought he’d need it, but now, the suggestion from Chief Han to install cameras around the house just in case was proving invaluable. With trembling hands, he started reviewing the footage, scanning the house from the moment he left.

 

“Starting here…”

 

9:47 a.m. The footage showed him leaving through the front door. The camera also covered the hallway in front of the room where the squirrel had been. Even after he left, the squirrel stayed in the room for quite a while.

 

The squirrel’s odd behavior from the previous night was still bothering him. He wondered if it had collapsed in that room, but quickly shook off the thought.

 

He had already searched that room thoroughly after last seeing the squirrel there. If the squirrel had been lying there, there was no way he would have missed it.

 

Sa Muheon patiently continued watching the unchanging footage.

 

“Ah…”

 

His eyes widened. The footage now showed 10:18 a.m. Quite some time after he left, the squirrel finally emerged from the room. It hurriedly scurried out, as if it had something urgent to do.

 

Sa Muheon’s gaze followed the camera feed in the direction the squirrel was heading.

 

The squirrel was heading to the dressing room, which faced his bedroom. There were no cameras inside the dressing room, but the hallway leading to it was under surveillance. Without any hesitation, the squirrel entered the dressing room. Sa Muheon tilted his head slightly.

 

“Why did it go in there…?”

 

He had prepared plenty of food on the living room table, the squirrel’s favorite spot. Yet, it completely ignored the living room and went straight to the dressing room, as if it had planned to go there all along. Once inside, it didn’t come out for a long time.

 

Even when he had checked the dressing room earlier, the squirrel was nowhere to be seen. However, there were plenty of places to hide in there. It could have nestled among the clothes or bags, or even hidden in a pocket he hadn’t thought to check.

 

I should have installed a camera in the dressing room, too.

 

Sa Muheon couldn’t hide his nervousness, biting his lip as he stared at the footage. He decided to check the recording up until the time he returned, in case the squirrel had left the dressing room and gone elsewhere.

 

“…What.”

 

But soon, his eyes widened as he stared at the monitor. Sa Muheon muttered unconsciously and slightly parted his lips.

 

On the screen, a man appeared.

 

The dressing room door opened slightly, and a man peeked out. He glanced around the empty house before heading straight to the front door.

 

“……”

 

Sa Muheon paused the video and closely examined the man.

 

The clothes the man was wearing looked a bit too big for him. Even through the footage, it was clear that the man didn’t have a small frame, yet the clothes still appeared slightly oversized—clothes that, no matter how he looked at them, seemed to belong to Sa Muheon. The thought that he might be a thief crossed his mind, but he quickly shook it off. After all, the dressing room had no windows leading outside.

 

Sa Muheon’s gaze turned cold. Replaying the footage, he zoomed in on other camera angles. The camera facing the front door captured the back of the man heading toward the exit. Unfortunately, the camera in the direction of the dressing room was too far to clearly capture his face, and the front door camera only showed the door, not his face.

 

If only he turned around just once, Sa Muheon felt he could identify the man.

 

Standing in front of the door, the unidentified man slowly raised his hand. It looked like he was about to press the door lock button and leave, and Sa Muheon unconsciously swallowed hard. But instead of pressing the button right away, the man hesitated for a moment.

 

Then, as if reading Sa Muheon’s thoughts, he slowly turned his head.

 

“……”

 

It was a youthful face. He looked no older than twenty, with soft, downy features. He had the kind of good looks that would draw anyone’s attention at least once.

 

And Sa Muheon recognized that face.

 

He reached out and grabbed the file he had casually tossed onto his desk. It was something Chief Han had delivered the previous night. With rough hands, he opened the file and pulled out a photograph tucked inside. The face frozen on the monitor matched the one in the photo.

 

Sa Muheon shifted his gaze to the name written on the document.

 

Kang Garam.

 

Below it, the words that followed caught his eye.

 

21 years old, Squirrel Shifter.

 

“Ha…”

 

A faint, bitter laugh escaped Sa Muheon.

 

The puzzle pieces in his mind began falling into place, and he started to understand the situation.

 

The squirrel that had suddenly disappeared. Thinking back, it had always displayed an unusual level of intelligence. The way it cried in response to his words often felt oddly like a real conversation.

 

“Haha…”

 

His hand tightened around the photograph, creasing its edges.

 

From the strange behavior Chief Han had exhibited during his report the night before, to the way the squirrel chirped as if bidding him farewell that morning—it all made sense now.

 

Sa Muheon’s gaze was fixed on the words “Squirrel Shifter,” as if glued to them.

 

“So that’s how it is…”

 

His murmured words carried an eerie tone, tinged with a faint trace of amusement. Smirking, Sa Muheon resumed the paused footage.

 

The squirrel—Kang Garam—was taking in the view of the house as if engraving it in his memory. He bit his lip and turned his head. The door opened, and he stood there for a long moment, looking outside. Then, slowly, he stepped forward.

 

After taking one step outside, he seemed to hesitate as if lost in thought, before quickly running off.

 

Having watched everything, Sa Muheon stood up. An irrepressible smile played on his lips.

 

“…Kang Garam.”

 

He had thought that giving the squirrel a good name would ensure it stayed by his side for a long time. But the little creature had run far away before he even had a chance to name it. As it turned out, it already had a rather fitting name.

 

“Garam, Kang Garam…”

 

The name, with its soft ring that somewhat resembled “squirrel,” seemed to suit him perfectly. Unlike his round and adorable animal form, his human appearance carried sharp, striking features—surprisingly handsome.

 

Chuckling, Sa Muheon took out his phone. Dialing a number from his contacts, it didn’t take long for the call to connect.

 

“Director, I heard you stepped out earlier—”

 

“Ah, Chief Han. I need you to handle something for me.”

 

“What do I need to handle…?”

 

“I need to find someone.”

 

Sa Muheon’s lips curled into a bright, confident smile. His expression brimmed with expectation and amusement.

 

“Send some people to the location I’m about to give you. I’ve got somewhere else to be.”

 

His gaze returned to the photograph in his hand. In it, Garam was smiling brightly.