Kkotnimi's Hidden Pain
These days, Hoesaegi felt as if he were walking on clouds. More than a week had passed since his birthday, and yet the congratulations kept coming. Some days he received them several times over. He had even been given presents. Today was no different.
Ttangkhongi, visiting the animal hospital for the first time in quite a while, set a treat from his mouth down in front of Hoesaegi and offered his congratulations.
"Heard it was young Hoesaegi's birthday. A bit late, but congratulations all the same."
"Elder Hyungnim, ong. Thank you, ong."
"Hyungnim, congrats from the bottom of my heart!"
Kakkong-i, who had come along, held out a fish-cake-skewer toy and added his own well-wishes.
"Kakkong-i, ong! Thank you, ong!"
Having thanked them both, Hoesaegi went on.
"Wait just a moment, ong."
With that, he padded down from the cat tower, paws going softly one after another. Near the tower sat two boxes — one decorated with a picture of a dog, the other with a picture of a cat. Hoesaegi pulled two pouches from the dog-picture box, carried them back in his mouth, and set one in front of Ttangkhongi and one in front of Kakkong-i. Beaming from ear to ear, he said,
"Take these, ong. They're my present, ong."
On his birthday, Hoesaegi had watched his friends feast on a table piled high with food, and the sight had filled him with warmth. Everyone kept saying how delicious it was, their faces lit up with bright smiles, and he had loved that so much. And then the friends who had not been there had come to mind. How wonderful it would have been if they could have eaten and played together too.
The very next day, as if Hyungnim had read his heart, Lee Jun had given him two boxes packed full of treats and told him to share them whenever the friends who had missed the birthday cake came by. The pouches now sitting in front of Ttangkhongi and Kakkong-i were those very snacks.
"Much obliged. I shall enjoy these."
"Hyungnim, I'll eat it real good!"
Watching his two friends smile down at the treats, Hoesaegi grinned just as brightly.
Every animal who knew Hoesaegi had come to celebrate his birthday. The Rascal Trio were among them.
"Hyungnim Hoesaegi, happy birthday."
"Congratulations."
"Hyungnim, may you live a long life."
"Jageun Hoesaegi, Juhongi, Kkotnimi — thank you, ong."
Hoesaegi packed treats for the three of them just as he had for everyone else. And the Rascal brothers, whose appetites matched their hulking frames, tore the pouches open on the spot and ate what was inside.
Crunch-crunch. Chomp-chomp.
"Hooo... that's good!"
"Munch munch. This is actually delicious."
Jageun Hoesaegi and Juhongi polished theirs off in an instant, smacked their lips, and started walking off.
"W-water. Let's get some water."
"Water for me too."
The two of them headed off in search of a water bowl. Kkotnimi, however, was still nibbling away. Compared with the way Jageun Hoesaegi and Juhongi had inhaled theirs, he was slow — but to Hoesaegi's eye, he did not look as if he were eating particularly late. So Hoesaegi simply watched. Then Jageun Hoesaegi, having drained an entire water bowl, came back and opened his mouth.
"Huh? Kkotnimi, you're still eating?"
"Yeah. You feeling okay?"
Juhongi chimed in as she walked over.
"Ah, no. Me, sick? Where would I be sick?"
With that, Kkotnimi swallowed the remaining treats in one gulp. Then he declared, bold as brass,
"See? I'm perfectly healthy!"
"That so?"
"Doesn't look like it to me?"
The two of them looked him up and down, but their interest faded just as quickly.
"Let's go to the playground."
"Yeah, let's go play."
Just then—
"I'll come too!"
Sapsaree, who had been nearby, stood up and put on a rather serious face.
"W-well, shall we?"
"...Yes."
The ones who knew Sapsaree's power answered in tiny, crawling voices and trotted after him. Kkotnimi, though, just stood there watching. Hoesaegi asked the Bull Terrier, who was planted stiffly on all four legs,
"Kkotnimi, ong. Aren't you going, ong?"
"I-I'll go too. I'm going."
Kkotnimi hurried after the three of them. But he kept stopping, over and over, as he went. Watching Kkotnimi recede into the distance, Hoesaegi muttered,
"Strange, ong."
Was he sick, the way Jageun Hoesaegi and Juhongi had said? The thought crossed his mind, but Hoesaegi shook his head.
"Kkotnimi said he wasn't sick, ong."
Still — when Hyungnim came out of that big room, he would tell him. Hyungnim had said to always speak up if anyone was hurting, or even looked like they were.
Meanwhile, every step Kkotnimi took was agony.
Ugh, it stings. It stings so bad.
With every step, that private place — the place where poop came out — burned something fierce. It stung. Sometimes it itched, too. And his belly hurt. But his anus hurt worse, so there was no room left to worry about his stomach.
If he could just run like mad, he might forget the pain — but this was Mongmong Animal Hospital. Meongmeong Teacher had said they were only allowed to run in the playground. Meongmeong Teacher's words were to be obeyed, no exceptions. And so Kkotnimi could not bring himself to run. He just trudged along, step by dragging step.
J-just a little farther and I'll be at the playground.
Then I can run like crazy. Clinging to that thought, Kkotnimi walked with exquisite care. And at last, when he reached the playground, Kkotnimi broke into a huge grin.
"I-I can finally ruuun~!"
The laugh that burst from the deepest part of Kkotnimi's chest made his tiny triangular eyes shrink down to little black dots.
Huff, huff, huff.
Snorting hard through his nose, Kkotnimi charged. Kkotnimi the Bull Terrier — a living slab of muscle — detonated all the energy he had been bottling up from not being able to run, and piled the irritation from the sting and the pain right on top of it.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The moment Kkotnimi took off, Juhongi and Jageun Hoesaegi, who had arrived first and were already playing, fell in beside him.
"Oh yeah! That's my brother!"
"Run, run!"
Playing as three really was better than two. The three of them pounded around the edge of the playground with everything they had.
In the center of the playground stood various pieces of play equipment, and Ttangkhongi and Kakkong-i had each claimed a gym ball and were working on their balance.
"Hyungnim, that looks fun, don't it?"
"Young Kakkong-i ought to go have a run as well."
"How about you, Hyungnim?"
"I'm quite all right here."
"Then can I jump in too?"
Kakkong-i bounced over, calling out,
"Hyungnims, you're wicked fast!"
"I'll run too, da-yo."
Sapsaree joined right after Kakkong-i. With five of them sprinting, the pace picked up even more.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
And then, in the middle of that five-dog stampede, a piercing scream tore through the playground.
"Guhh... agh!"
The scream had come from Kkotnimi's mouth. He let out a death-cry and crumpled to the floor. Then he screamed again.
"Aaaagh!"
A scream even louder than the last. Kkotnimi lurched to his feet, planted his long, egg-shaped head against the floor, hiked his rear end toward the sky, and trembled on all four legs.
From the anus sitting dead-center in that hiked-up rump, droplets of blood went plip, plip onto the floor.
Three hours later, Kkotnimi found himself laid up in a hospital room. Neither on his belly nor properly on his back, but sprawled awkwardly on his side, Kkotnimi lamented,
"Nnngh, what kind of sorry state is this!"
The inside of his rear end was burning him alive. And worse than that — his belly was killing him. It hurt so badly that even the time Jageun Hoesaegi had kicked him in the stomach during one of their roughhousing brawls had not compared.
"Aigoo, oww!"
It hurt when he breathed out. It hurt when he breathed in. Of course Kkotnimi's belly hurt. Ever since his anus had started hurting, he had been holding in his poop as much as possible. Going was just too painful. And so constipation had set in, and his belly had started to ache. Ache in the belly meant he did not want to eat, and eating less made the constipation worse. Harder stools meant his anus hurt even more. A vicious cycle, over and over.
"My butt hurting is already enough to drive me insane, and now my belly too — aaaagh!"
Curled up like a shrimp, Kkotnimi roared. He wanted nothing more than to slam his four paws against the floor in a rage, but he could not.
N-no. Absolutely not! I almost went to the Dog Star doing that just now!
One round of jump-vibrations tormenting his anus had been plenty. Kkotnimi never wanted to feel that pain again.
"Haaah, what kind of sorry state is this!"
He used to have energy to burn even after running around all day. Now even a single step was hard. The only thing he could do was crouch there.
Just then, the door opened and his brothers walked in.
"Kkotnimi, does it hurt a lot?"
"Kkotnimi, you okay?"
Kkotnimi, who had been crouched down, sprang to his feet.
Ugh... ahk!
He barely managed to swallow the scream that tried to burst out.
Those guys — if I tell them my butt hurts, they might tease me.
If he said it was his anus, of all places, they would go ooh-la-la and never let him hear the end of it. Just say I twisted my leg while running. Thinking that, Kkotnimi had sprung up. And in that instant, a dull, spreading pain started deep inside his rear.
This much, he could take. Kkotnimi kept his usual expression and lifted his left hind leg. The moment he did — zzzt — a vicious spike of pain shot through his anus.
Ugh... ah!
Gritting through it, Kkotnimi said,
"I'm fine. I just hurt this a bit while running. I'll sleep it off and be good as new."
Please let that be true. Kkotnimi bluffed for his brothers, pretending it did not hurt.
"Yeah, you'll be fine. Hyungnim Hoesaegi got his completely broken leg put back together — something like this'll heal in a day."
"Right, Sapsaree Hyungnim's leg hurt too, and now he's bouncing around good as new, isn't he?"
That's a leg! Mine is my butt!
Kkotnimi screamed internally.
"Kkotnimi, I'll stay with you."
"Let's all three of us stay together."
Jageun Hoesaegi and Juhongi, worried about him being alone, crouched down beside the hospital kennel.
G-go away. I want to be alone!
That way he could scream or get angry or whatever he needed. But he could not say that.
"No. I'm fine."
"Even so!"
This time he really wanted to shout — but then came the clomp, clomp of footsteps. It was Meongmeong Teacher.
"Kids, that's enough for today. Go eat."
When they fought, they went all-out without mercy. But they were family. They were brothers. Family looked after family. The two of them wagged their heads and answered,
"We want to eat with Kkotnimi."
"That's right. Kkotnimi hasn't been eating well lately. We'll eat together."
Kkotnimi was touched by his brothers' answer. But the pain right now was bigger than the touching feeling.
"Thanks, guys, but go. Go eat."
"What about you?"
"He'll eat here."
"Okay. But Teacher — will our Kkotnimi's leg be better by tomorrow?"
In that instant, Kkotnimi's face flushed scarlet.
Ugh, that idiot. Why would you ask that? Why?
Teacher would definitely tell them what was actually wrong with him, and then they would use it to tease him forever. The anus that had briefly stopped hurting started up again. So he scrunched his face into a fierce scowl and snorted.
Huff-ha, huff-ha!
"Hmm... tomorrow might be tough. I think he'll need a few more days of treatment."
"Hah! It hurts that much?"
"And we didn't even know — we kept asking him to play every day... that's not why he's hurting so much, is it?"
"It's not because of you. Teacher will treat him with everything he's got, so let's go home and eat."
Meongmeong Teacher led the brothers outside. On the way out, he glanced back, met Kkotnimi's eyes, and smiled.
Click.
The moment the door closed, Kkotnimi let out a long breath.
"Hoooo, thank goodness."
He had always thought Meongmeong Teacher was a good teacher. He really, truly was a good teacher. He was lying there comfortably, thinking that, when Meongmeong Teacher came back. Kkotnimi started to get up, and Teacher said,
"Just stay comfortable."
In Teacher's hands was a cat.
Aigoo, what kind of cat is only the size of my front paw? No — smaller than that, even?
Kkotnimi looked back and forth between his own foreleg and the cat in Teacher's hands. No matter how he looked at it, the little thing was tiny and scrawny, all skin and bones.
"Oppa!"
Huh? Oppa? Me? Kkotnimi blinked his tiny triangular eyes at the cat.
"This little one is Donggeuli. She's eight months old. And this oppa here is Kkotnimi. All right, say hello to each other."
What on earth was going on? His brothers had finally left and he had been about to rest in peace — and now who was this? A sigh rose in Kkotnimi's throat, but he greeted her the way the good teacher had asked.
"Ah, hey. I'm Kkotnimi."
The moment he said it, the scrawny little thing that looked ready to tip over at any second — when had she even gotten down? — came patter-patter-pattering over and plastered herself against the glass door.
Hahk — she scared me!
Kkotnimi had forgotten there was a glass door, and his heart nearly dropped out of his chest. Tiny as she was, if she had actually run into him and thrown herself on him, his rear end would definitely have caught fire. He drew a big breath in and let it out, trying to calm his startled heart, when the little one stuck to the glass said,
"Oppa! I'm Donggeuli. I'm gonna get huuuge like Oppa!"
How exactly are you going to get like me? He wanted to say it, but looking at this Donggeuli creature gazing up at him with sparkling eyes, he could not bring himself to open his mouth.
"S-sure. Go ahead."
"Heehee, otay. I'm gonna get big like Oppa and chomp-chomp the food that goes crunch too."
She wants to eat kibble? Then what has she been living on until now? He wanted to ask that too, but somehow this also felt like a question he should not ask. So Kkotnimi blinked and turned his head toward Teacher. Teacher was looking at him with a warm, pleased smile — the kind that looked like praise for a job well done.
What did I even do right?
While Kkotnimi was thinking that, Teacher spoke.
"From now on, you two are going to eat together for a while. So get along."
At Lee Jun's words, Kkotnimi's expression grew even stranger, while Donggeuli — who looked as if she did not have an ounce of strength — bounced up and down.
"I get to eat with Oppa! With Oppa, I—"
"Donggeuli, I told you not to jump."
Teacher called out something, but it did not reach Kkotnimi's ears.
Grrk... glurk.
A strange sound, and Donggeuli's body coiled tight — and from her mouth, foam began to bubble up in clouds.