Just a Little Longer
Donggeuli hung her head and gagged, a wet, wretched sound tearing out of her. Every muscle in her body had gone rigid—back, legs, all of it locked tight. Each time the retching seized her, foam burst from her mouth, and Kkotnimi, who had a clear view of her face, went white with horror.
"Hiiik!"
A scream slipped from Kkotnimi before he even knew it. His tiny triangular eyes flew wide as he stared at the grotesque scene unfolding right in front of him. He had been lying on his side. Now, without quite meaning to, he was standing bolt upright on all four legs, every limb clenched with tension.
Whenever Donggeuli let out another heave and bore down, the force in Kkotnimi's body only tightened further. Even the magnificent slabs of muscle he had developed so proudly bunched and jumped with nerves and excitement. His anus tightened of its own accord.
In that instant, a single drop of blood fell from it with a soft tick. The lump that had formed inside, compressed by the strain, had burst. He should have been hopping in place, yowling that it hurt—but Kkotnimi did not move a muscle. Because right before his eyes, a creature was suffering as if she were about to leave for Cat Star at any second.
"Blaaargh!"
Donggeuli, who looked smaller than his own paw, cried out once more and spat up foam. In that same instant, Kkotnimi's front paw struck the glass door.
Thud.
Until a moment ago, that glass had been a comfort. It had meant his brothers could not get at him, and that this tiny, precious life would not come tumbling into his arms. In this moment, though, it was nothing but an obstacle. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to comfort a creature in that much pain. And the glass stood squarely between them.
Bang. Bang.
Kkotnimi struck the door again. That was when Doctor Bow-wow's voice reached him.
"Kkotnimi, you mustn't touch Donggeuli."
Of course not. He didn't know where it hurt, but you did not put your paws on someone who was hurting. Kkotnimi knew that perfectly well. He dipped his head in a nod.
A click, and the glass door swung wide. Kkotnimi walked over with the most careful steps he had, then simply stood there, right beside her.
That was when it happened.
A soft rustle. Donggeuli leaned her body against his front leg. It was like being leaned on by a puff of cotton; he could not feel the slightest weight. She's lighter than my toys. Seen up close, she was far smaller, far lighter, and far more pitiful than she had ever looked through the glass.
Kkotnimi looked down at the little thing panting against his leg, each breath a struggle. Even just watching her was exhausting. She looked so wretched that his own pain receded into some distant, forgotten place, and he wanted to do something—anything—for her. He wanted to lick her until she felt better. He wanted to gather her up and ask if she was all right. But the doctor had told him not to touch her, and that left him with nothing he could give.
Kkotnimi looked up at the doctor.
"She'll be all right in a little while."
She did not look all right. She looked as if she would keep foaming at the mouth until she simply collapsed. But the doctor said she'll be okay. So… she will be okay. A strange calm settled over him.
And a moment later, the foam that had seemed as if it would never end simply stopped. Donggeuli let her small body slump against Kkotnimi's leg and spoke in a tiny voice.
"Keh… eck. That was so haaard!"
A little sigh slipped from her small mouth, and a matching whooo of relief slipped from Kkotnimi's. He had seen that no more foam was coming, and the breath went out of him all at once.
"…… You okay?"
"Uh-huh. Thanks to Oppa, it stopped super fast!"
What was that supposed to mean? A little of the tightness left Kkotnimi's chest at the brightness in her voice, and he cocked his head.
"Heheh, Oppa's legs are the best—so sturdy. I leaned on you as hard as I could and you didn't even budge!"
Donggeuli rubbed her head against his leg.
"Uh—uh…?"
Kkotnimi startled. What if the foam started up again? And yet, strangely, it felt good. The sight of that cotton-fluff creature leaning on him and smiling was… really, really nice.
"Heheh, I'm gonna get strong just like Oppa. I'm gonna eat lots and get huuuge!"
The first time he had heard her say that, he had thought it was impossible. Now he found himself hoping it would happen. It was a strange thought, but it came with a simple conviction: if this tiny, dust-light creature grew bigger, she would not have to hurt like this.
"Y-yeah. You do that."
"Heheh, Oppa!"
The head that had been rubbing against his leg now wrapped around it in a tight hug. Wanting to look even sturdier, even stronger for her, Kkotnimi locked every muscle he had.
Flex.
The muscle swelled. At the same time, the force drove hard against his anus. The hemorrhoid protruding inside was mashed in a slow, grinding press.
"Nn…gh."
Kkotnimi swallowed the scream that tried to claw its way out, forcing it back down his throat. Blood, though, dripped to the floor. Tick, tick, tick. Not a single drop this time—a full ten of them.
Donggeuli saw it fall.
"O-Oppa… does it hurt?"
Two round eyes looked up at him. Worry clouded those sunken pupils.
"You okay?"
Doctor Bow-wow was looking at him with concern as well.
"I-it doesn't hurt. I'm fine."
It hurt so much he wanted to sink to the floor and cry, but Kkotnimi held on and squeezed the words out. Then he answered the doctor, too, as promptly as he could.
"I'm okay."
"You little guy. Hang on just a little more. A few more days and it won't hurt."
Really? It really won't hurt anymore? Kkotnimi blinked his small eyes up at the doctor, and Donggeuli looked at him and her voice went wobbly.
"Y-yeah."
This was the same creature who had not shed a single tear while she was coughing up foam, and now she was the one getting teary over him. Kkotnimi lifted a front paw and stroked her—no pressure at all, just the lightest brush of fur on fur.
Even that seemed to please her. Donggeuli looked up at him and beamed.
"Heheh, Oppa!"
"You two."
Doctor Bow-wow petted Kkotnimi and Donggeuli at the same time.
"Hang on a little. You'll be better soon."
The doctor's smile was so gentle that it really did feel as if a little time was all it would take. Perhaps that was why Donggeuli grinned wide and shouted at the top of her small lungs.
"Doctor Bow-wow! I'm hungry!"
"Are you? Ready to eat, then?"
The mere mention of food sent hunger crashing through Kkotnimi. Until now, he had been in too much pain to notice, and after that a shocking turn of events had driven the thought clean out of his head. The instant he realized he was hungry, his stomach announced it with a magnificent rumble.
Grrrrrooooowl.
"Oppa, are you hungry too?"
"Y-yeah."
"All right, you two. Let's eat. Just a moment."
The doctor stepped out, and Donggeuli grinned as she spoke.
"Heehee, I'm gonna eat a ton."
Kkotnimi, who had barely managed a bite these past few days, wanted to eat a ton as well. And yet another thought sat right beside that one: he shouldn't. No. If I eat a lot, it'll hurt. Eating a lot meant he would have to poop, and that was agony. Being hungry hurt. Going was agony too. Ah, this is miserable.
He was sighing one heavy sigh after another when a savory smell came drifting in, rich and warm. He swallowed without meaning to.
"Th-that smells so good."
Beside him, Donggeuli burst out,
"F-food! Oppa! It's food!"
Before she had even finished, the door flew open.
"All right, kids. Dinner."
A bowl was set on the floor with a quiet tap. A s-special meal. The kind he got only sometimes—rarely, even—filled the bowl to the brim.
In a rush, Kkotnimi forgot every resolution about not eating and brought his mouth toward the bowl, already working his tongue. That was when an important fact struck him. Th-there's only one bowl. Which meant— Do I have to share this with Donggeuli? Then she should eat first.
Kkotnimi took a step back. Lee Jun stroked him.
"Kkotnimi, eat."
"What about Donggeuli?"
"Hers is right here."
The doctor held something up and gave it a little shake. Kkotnimi's eyes went huge. He remembered, suddenly, having his blood drawn in the exam room before he had been brought to the ward. He recalled the sharp needle punching through his skin, and his face crumpled.
In the next instant, the doctor took that same sharp, painful thing and pushed it straight into Donggeuli's mouth.
"Hiiiek!"
Kkotnimi let out a shrill cry and surged forward. She looked so pitiful he wanted to save her. Then something he had never imagined began to happen.
Slurrrp, slurrrp, slurrrp.
A tremendous sound filled the ward. Wh-what is that? He blinked, and there was Donggeuli, sucking away at the pointed thing with her mouth—both tiny front paws clamped tight around the doctor's hand.
"D-Donggeuli, you okay?"
He asked it carefully. She looked at him. The sucking sound cut off.
"Uh-huh! Oppa. It's super yummy. You eat some too, Oppa."
He rolled his eyes, unable to make sense of any of it, and Doctor Bow-wow explained.
"Kkotnimi, Donggeuli is eating right now."
Standing on two legs with her head thrown back, making those little slurp-slurp sounds—that was eating? The doctor seemed to catch the question on his face, and smiled.
"Donggeuli has to eat standing up. If she ate the way you do, the foam would come right back up."
Eating on her hind legs. How pitiful. Kkotnimi's eyes drooped.
"That's so sad."
Donggeuli heard him.
"Oppa! I don't hurt. So I'm not sad!"
"R-really?"
"Yep. I'm brave Donggeuli. That's why it doesn't hurt!"
"You heard her. So you eat too, Kkotnimi. That's how you'll get better faster."
"Okay."
Kkotnimi lowered his head and took the special meal into his mouth. The wet, savory food slid straight down his throat. Gulp. After that, it went down in a steady, unstoppable stream.
Only for a moment, though. He jerked his head up in alarm. More than half the special meal had already vanished. He swallowed, staring down at what remained. He still wanted it—badly—but he could not bring himself to put his tongue to it again. Ah, I ate it. Now what? He had eaten, which meant his stomach was going to hurt worse. And he was going to have to poop. If I poop, my butt hurts so much. I can't go. I shouldn't go.
The thought had no sooner formed than his belly seemed to cramp, and he seemed, suddenly, to need to go.
"Nngh!"
"Oppa! Oppa, does it hurt?"
This from the same Donggeuli who had just declared herself brave at the top of her lungs. Kkotnimi declared it right back, just as loud.
"N-no. It doesn't hurt."
"But Oppa, why are you eating that?"
"Eating what?"
"Those oppas and unnies over there eat the crunchy-crispy food, don't they? Isn't that way, way yummier?"
"Huuh? This is way tastier, though?"
Desperate to go, Kkotnimi crossed his hind legs and stared down at his own bowl, filled with the moist prescription cans that Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi called Mallang-gogi. How could anyone say this soft, savory special meal isn't tasty? If his stomach would just stop hurting, if he just didn't have to go, he could put away three bowls of this. No—five, easy.
He stood there with all four legs in a tangle, thinking it, when Doctor Bow-wow took out something rectangular and spoke.
"Dr. Go, bring it in when you're ready."
"Sure thing."
A moment later, the strong doctor came in.
"Dr. Go, lift Kkotnimi for me."
"Like this?"
"Yeah."
All at once his whole body was dangling in the air. In that instant, his belly cramped so hard he thought he would die. But he absolutely could not go. A creature smaller than his own paw had just shouted that she was brave. He was not about to be the one who screamed.
Kkotnimi clenched his teeth. Doctor Bow-wow said something to him.
"Kkotnimi, hang on a bit."
Of course he would hang on. That was what he was thinking when, suddenly, something pushed into his anus—a long, smooth slide.
"Aaaah—aaaaaah!"
An anus, a butt, was a place things were supposed to come out of. Not a place things went in. That was how Kkotnimi had understood the world for as long as he had been alive. In this moment, he learned he had been wrong.
"I-it's going iiiin—aaaaah!"
Kkotnimi shouted through locked teeth. Something strange—something warm, and slick, and utterly wrong—was pushing its way up inside him.