“But bulgae…” Seokga pauses as he thinks of the cheerful, tail-wagging canines who work at the behest of Dalnim and Haemosu. “Those dogs aren’t shifters. Whoever we’re looking for has a human form, as well. And I haven’t seen a jangsan beom in centuries.”

The tiger-shifters are exceedingly rare, on the brink of extinction just like their mundane Panthera tigris counterparts. Their dwindling numbers are possibly due to their meager lifespans. Unlike creatures such as the immortal gumiho, jangsan beom live around one to two hundred years on average—rather short for such a powerful creature. The last one he saw was the one he rode during the Okhwang coup. It had been a supremely annoying monster, using its voice mimicry to imitate Seokga’s own voice and deliver faux orders such as Spin around and touch your nose! at the least opportune moments for its own amusement. Only the consequences of that coup had been as embarrassing as the sight of his army following some ridiculous choreography.

In hindsight, it’s really no surprise that his siege ended on such a pathetic note.

There had been other jangsan beom in that realm, Seokga remembers, but only a few.

“Statistically speaking, we’re probably looking for a samjokgu. On each of their three paws, they have four claws—and know how to use them.”

“It’s not impossible that it’s a jangsan beom,” Somi says quietly. Seokga doesn’t even spare her a glance as he continues to riffle through the papers. “I…think I saw one, once.”

“Unlikely,” Seokga dismisses. The gumiho is clearly frightened of Unruly samjokgu, but there’s no point in pretending that it’s more likely that a jangsan beom did this. Living in scared denial doesn’t solve cases.

Somi falls into seething silence.

“Based on what you heard, we’re looking for a female samjokgu shifter, likely no younger than thirty.” It’s the “snooty” tone that gives her away: In Seokga’s experience, it takes a while to perfect such an impressionable tenor. Twenty-somethings can try, of course, but hints of their not-so-recent teenage whines always slip out eventually. “But we can also check the passenger lists for a female jangsan beom, as well,” he adds grudgingly as Somi continues to glare at him. It’ll be easy enough to do. The papers crammed into this particular cabinet are physical lists of passengers, hundreds of pages full of names and other personal details printed onto the thin white paper. Now that their suspect list has been so narrowed down, they can easily use these sheets to find the perp…

“Wait.” Hajun’s voice is sharp enough that Seokga looks up, brows raised. “A female samjokgu over thirty…A snooty voice…”

“Are you going to add anything worthwhile or repeat what I just said?” he demands irritably, turning back to his hunt.

“But I know someone who fits the profile,” the idol replies, voice tight. “It’s—”