Wicked Fox

Chapter 5

MINMIN OVERSLEPT, WHICH wouldn't usually bother him, except it was Saturday and he was supposed to help in the restaurant. 

He shuffled down the hall to look in on Dubu. She lay curled in her small bed. With a low whimper, she tried to limp over. 

"Oh, you brave girl," Minmin crooned, giving her a gentle hug. He still wasn't sure if he was mad at Dubu or relieved she was okay. Probably an even mix. 

He'd been up half the night with thoughts of goblins and gumiho. Halmeoni used to tell Minmin stories about dokkaebi tricking humans and nine-tailed foxes eating the livers of men. Horror stories camouflaged as fables to teach lessons. But those types of stories were supposed to stay in books, not come to life and almost choke him to death. 

He tried to convince himself last night had been a vivid hallucination. But he couldn't ignore the bruise on his temple, a reminder of the girl's head coming into contact with his. And the strange stone that had come out of her. His fingers still tingled from it, like it had sucked out his very energy. 

When Minmin shuffled down the rear staircase, the sound of the bustling restaurant greeted him. 

Voices drifted up from the back room, but he ignored them until the words animal attack stopped him in his tracks. 

"Thank you for coming to let us know, Officer Kai," Halmeoni said. 

"Detective."

"Sorry, Detective Kai."

"We're letting the neighboring apartments and businesses know so they can be on the lookout. It seemed like a wolf or a wild dog came down from the mountains, so be careful."

Minmin froze, absorbing the words. Animal attack? Like a fox?

"We'll let our customers know," Halmeoni said as the door opened. "Come by anytime if you're in the mood for a good home-cooked meal." 

The door shut, and Minmin heard his halmeoni make her way to the front kitchen. 

Minmin wondered if the animal attack could be connected to that girl. 

He shouldn't worry about her. She'd told him not to speak of last night, so it would be the easiest to forget it completely. 

As he entered the back room, Chaeyoung swung through the kitchen door, balancing a tray of dirty plates. Her graphic tee and ripped jeans were covered by the knee-length apron for Halmeoni's restaurant. 

"What are you doing here?" Minmin blinked owlishly at her. 

"Your halmeoni said you were sleeping like the dead. She didn't want to wake you, so she called me and my mom. It's a madhouse out there." 

There was no accusation in Chaeyoung's voice, but his shoulders hunched with guilt. 

He'd been helping out with the restaurant since he was little. He used to sit for hours, cutting the tails off soybean sprouts and pinching closed the shells of dumplings. Now he was a glorified waitstaff and delivery boy. 

"I was going to call you," Minmin said, tapping a serving spoon against the counter as he considered his next words. 

Chaeyoung was always available when he needed a sounding board. And after last night, he definitely did. Since they'd grown up together, Chaeyoung had heard all of his halmeoni's fables, too. 

But the girl's threat still rang clear in his head: You will tell no one about what you saw tonight.

So instead, he asked, "Did you ever believe in dokkaebi?"