Prologue: Insects everywhere
1 Acorn Playground
2 Dodam's house
3 Fresh Raw Fish Restaurant
4 Meow Meow Punch
5 Green Gate House
6 Apsan-gil 2-beonji
7 Kim Do-dam and Min Geon-ha
Epilogue: Yeochi and Bejjangi

“Call me the insect detective!”

The book begins with a single picture.
It's someone's desk.
Insects of all sizes live in cages lined with shelves, and the front wall is lined with insect specimens of all kinds.
On the desk is a small notebook spread out along with scrapbooks and writing instruments that could be used for notes.
You can also see insects drawn by someone inside.
Just by looking at the title of the book, you can guess the protagonist's love for insects, but from the very first scene, readers can see how seriously and passionately Kang-chung loves insects.


While other children write their diaries, he records the weather and the changes in his 72 companion insects in his journal, and his wish is to meet rare insects like the 'ghost butterfly' or the 'large scarlet butterfly'.
So when I introduced myself, I asked to be called 'Insect Doctor', but my nickname is 'Kkangchung'.
Because people around him don't like it when he keeps talking about insects, Chungi keeps his mouth shut at school and devotes himself to his hobbies after school and on holidays.


But one morning, Dodam, the only friend in the class who calls Chungi "the insect doctor," comes to visit.
Cheddar, his pet cat, has gone missing, but his food bowl is full of strange bugs, and Kang-chung demands to know the truth! He doesn't like mammals, and even lost a duel with Cheddar over a rare butterfly, so he's not the least bit interested.
But then suddenly a good idea comes to mind.

New thoughts were wriggling in my head like caterpillars breaking out of eggs.
If I solve this case, I will become a 'detective' who solves cases with insects, not a 'doctor' who likes insects.
You can proudly say that you were caught eating dried mealworms in milk instead of cereal, or that a cricket escaped from its cage and was found in the bathroom.
"Isn't it natural for an insect detective to be with insects wherever and whenever?"
(Page 35)

The reason Chung-i became a detective was because he wanted to like insects 'confidently' without worrying about what others thought.
Many people have something they particularly like, and it is said that it is natural to respect their tastes.
However, there are not many people who are favorable to the 'six-legged creature' that Chungi likes.
Adults, in particular, love to evaluate children's hobbies.
Whether that hobby is useful or helpful for studying! But there are children in this world who prefer rocks, characters, insects, and reptiles, rather than books, cats, or cars.


And like Chungi, I want to talk a lot about why I'm so passionate about that object and like it to my heart's content.
Because love doesn't come from need.
"Insect Detective Kang-Chung - Find the Lost Cat Cheddar" is a story that anyone who has ever been passionate about something, not just insects, can relate to.
And it makes you think about whether you've ever truly respected anyone's tastes.


Insects know the truth, and insects know insects.
The reason Kang Chung readily accepted Dodam's request was because he was confident.


“If you have maggots, half the problem is solved.
If you look at the insects tangled in the food bowl, you can tell what the food is and what condition it is in.
You can tell what Cheddar ate and when.
Who gave it to you
You just have to find it.
“Then you’re looking for Cheddar too.” (Page 34)

Chung-i, who ran to the scene of the incident wearing a vest filled with the tools he usually uses for gathering, carefully examines Cheddar's food bowl.
Dodam thought that Cheddar would be sick because he ate food infested with maggots, but Chungi deduced that it took a while for flies to lay eggs in food and for those eggs to turn into maggots.
Moreover, before you know it, cleaning insects such as cadaver beetles and bombardier beetles have gathered.
It didn't take long to figure out that the food was seafood, and squid at that.
Chung-i uses his experience of keeping a daily insect journal to meticulously record various clues and evidence.
And then we go and find the suspects that the clues point to one by one.
Cat Daddy loves the kittens Cheddar gave birth to, but somehow dislikes Cheddar.


Moreover, the old man's car is full of collecting tools that are very familiar to Chungi.
At the raw fish restaurant where he went to find squid, he was a little disappointed to hear that there was no place in the neighborhood that sold squid, but he discovered a familiar 'feeler' in a red garlic net that the older brother who worked at the raw fish restaurant had thrown away.
Grandma Tongjang is upset that Cheddar ruined her oat field, and her son Geon-ha's mother, who is in the same class, is always worried that Cheddar's crying will disturb her son's studies...
There are so many people in the neighborhood who dislike Cheddar that the investigation becomes difficult.
Moreover, why do cherry trees, cherries, and cherry musk beetles appear everywhere I go?

The process by which Chungi tracks down the missing person's case is quite exciting.
With his habit of recording even the temperature and humidity, and his keen observation skills, he gathers clues by observing people, and he persistently tracks them with the patience of waiting for a caterpillar to turn into a butterfly.
Moreover, the readers also hold their breath whenever a surprising clue is discovered that can only be seen by Chungi, who knows insect ecology well.


What happened to Cheddar in late spring when the skylark was climbing the cherry tree?

One of the big variables is that Chungi doesn't know much about mammals.
After discovering the 'oat leaves' left at the scene and hearing Dodam's testimony, Chungi learned that cats deliberately eat grass to make their fur vomit up.
This is my first time meeting kittens.
Although he had a grudge against Cheddar for biting a butterfly without knowing the value of rare insects, his heart is gradually moved after hearing about the hardships Cheddar had to endure as a stray cat.

Chung-i finally uncovers the truth behind the incident, and Cheda returns safely to Dodam's arms.
Chungi is thrilled that most of his deductions were correct, but the adults don't seem to think the case has been solved.
When the adults say that Cheddar should be neutered, Dodam replies that he will ask Cheddar's opinion.
Adults are frustrated, wondering if they can communicate with cats, but only Chungi understands what they mean.
This is because I had the same thought while looking at the stag beetle in the breeding tank.

The life of a stag beetle is to climb up and down trees with legs that have sharp hooks, and I'm interfering with it.
Do you think Dodam would think the same thing when he sees Cheddar? A cat's life is about marking territory by urinating outside, playing with insects, birds, and mice, socializing with other cats, and even having kittens.
(Page 133)

If you listen carefully to what adults say, it seems like neutering is something that is done for Cheddar.
But is that really true? Chungi can't easily say yes.
The cherry musk beetle, which is the key to the case, is classified as a 'pest' that must be 'eradicated' because it kills cherry trees.
But the sky cow just lives the life it was born to live.
Aren't the ideas about what's best for some life, or what's harmful to some and beneficial to others, all human-centered? What's best for Cheddar, for the sky cow?

"Insect Detective Kang Chung - Find the Lost Cat Cheddar" doesn't provide any answers.
It just tells us that the right answer humans come up with may not be the right one for all life.
Chungi, who likes only insects and hates mammals, naturally becomes interested in the lives of cats, and projects his own relationship with insects onto the relationship between Dodam and Cheddar.
This is because, regardless of taste, I have a heart that respects all beings within the framework of ‘life.’
This book opens up a larger world for us through the eyes of a child protagonist who views even the smallest life from the same perspective.
Readers who have lumped them together as flies, ants, and butterflies at best, and even then have turned away from them because they are disgusting, will come to realize through this book that countless creatures they were unaware of are living alongside us.
And we will think about how to live together.