Who Hurts More?

Jageun Hoesaegi was already in enough pain to die, and now some stranger he'd never even met had picked a fight out of nowhere. He snapped.

"Hey, this really hurts, you know?"

Jageun Hoesaegi put the old sayings into practice exactly as written — and flopped down in a heap.

The instant his bandaged paw tapped the floor—

"Gyaaaah!"

He shrieked and bolted upright. Then, taking exquisite care that his right front leg wouldn't touch a thing, he gingerly lay down on his left side.

A moment later, as he groaned in pain, a voice reached his ears.

"What a drama queen, honestly."

"...It hurts! You've never been in pain like I am right now... nngh... that's why you don't get it. I'm in so much pain!"

Jageun Hoesaegi was a terrible fuss-maker. He hadn't always been this bad, but living with Kkotnimi — who had a hide like iron — and Juhongi — who boasted a thick layer of subcutaneous fat — had made it inevitable. Whenever the three of them played and someone got sat on, if you didn't yell that it hurt, they'd just keep crushing you.

Whether he was a fuss-maker or not, Jageun Hoesaegi was in genuine, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠terrible pain right now. Being hurt was bad enough; being unable to move at all made him even crankier. Still lying on his side, he glared at Mungchi.

When he grinned with his long pink tongue lolling out, Jageun Hoesaegi the Siberian Husky looked so cute and innocent you'd want to give that fluffy rump a thorough, affectionate thumping. But that wasn't the whole of his face. The upward-slanted corners of his eyes, the cool blue irises set with black pupils — if he so much as flashed those eyes, they showed white on three sides, a glare that was downright terrifying. Add the pointed ears, and when this sharp-featured creature crumpled his face and glared, even Mungchi, who prided himself on his guts, flinched.

But Mungchi was a tough guy. He wasn't about to tremble over something like this. To cover up the fact that he'd flinched, he came on even harder.

"Doesn't look like it hurts that much. If it really hurt, you'd at least have pong-pong pins in your leg like me. You said you don't have any, right?"

He meant the pins they'd driven in to stabilize the bone. But Jageun Hoesaegi, who had no idea what a pong-pong pin even was, snorted.

"I'm in a ton of pain, okay? So I don't have the energy to play pong-pong or tang-tang or whatever with you! You go play, since you're not hurting!"

"I'm hurting more!"

The two of them squawked at each other, each insisting he was in more pain. It was inevitable: the biggest fuss-maker of the Rascal Trio had just met the biggest fuss-maker of the Cotton Balls.

If Kkotnimi had seen this scene, he would have laughed them both to scorn. It was the exact opposite of Donggeuli — who looked no bigger than either of their paws — throwing up as if she were emptying out every organ in her body and still saying it didn't hurt at all.

Anyway, the two of them kept up their ridiculous argument over who was in more pain. Of course, in accordance with Mongmong Animal Hospital rules, they kept their growling to a low volume. But this was Mongmong Animal Hospital — a place full of dogs and cats with exceptionally sharp ears. In no time at all, word of their spat had spread through the entire hospital.

Patter-patter. Tip-tap-tap.

Kakkong-i and Mongi, who'd been on the 1st Floor Animal Playground, hurried up the stairs with a few other dogs, walking so fast they were practically running toward the second-floor ward. Close behind, the Pomeranian Mongsil and Ttangkhongi came padding up the stairs as well.

On the way to the ward was the 2nd Floor Cat Playground, which doubled as a walking path. From the cat tower there, Kkamnyangi, who'd been sprawled out, opened his mouth.

"Kakkong-i and Mongi are coming with their friends. I smell Jamong too?"

"Mongsil and Elder Hyungnim Ttangkhongi are coming too, ong."

The two of them twitched their noses as they spoke.

"Where's everyone going, though?"

Just then, Kakkong-i's voice drifted in from outside.

"Mongi-hyungnim, reckon Mungchi's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hurtin' more, yeh?"

"I fink Li'l Grey's the one who's huhtin'. He was yellin' that it huhts, y'know."

Hearing that, Hoesaegi muttered.

"Looks like they're going to visit Jageun Hoesaegi, ong."

"That guy must've gotten hurt pretty bad, huh?"

"He would have, ong. When the hyungnims brought him in, he was screaming that it hurt at the top of his lungs, ong."

"If we're talking about screaming, that Mungchi wasn't exactly quiet either. No — Mungchi actually yelled louder."

"That's true, ong. But he probably doesn't hurt much now, ong."

"Pssh, not hurting? You saw him yesterday. He was groaning like crazy."

"That was probably just the itch, ong. Let's go see, ong."

"Yeah."

The two cats climbed down from the cat tower and stepped out of the playground, where they ran into Ttangkhongi and Mongsil, who were walking over at a leisurely pace.

"Oh, Hoesaegi, Kkamnyangi — are you young ones off to have a look as well?"

"Are you oppas going to watch too?"

At their questions the cats tilted their heads, then Kkamnyangi asked,

"Watch what?"

"We're going to visit Jageun Hoesaegi and Mungchi, ong."

This would be their first visit to Jageun Hoesaegi, but the cats had already visited Mungchi twice — once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Sapsaree had gone with them, of course. The three of them would go to the ward, play with Mungchi — who always looked bored — and check whether anything hurt.

With a sense of smell incomparably sharper than any human's, these three would make the rounds of the ward, and if they caught even the slightest off smell, they reported it to Lee Jun immediately. Of course the doctors came in and out of the ward constantly, taking meticulous care of every patient. But even they couldn't detect the things these three could: a change in breath before a patient vomited, a slight shift in body odor before a fever spiked, or the sour-funky smell of a wound whose inflammation was getting worse. That was the work these three were doing.

Hoesaegi, Kkamnyangi, and Sapsaree hadn't started out knowing how to spot abnormal symptoms and report them. It was a skill they'd picked up naturally, watching Lee Jun examine and treat patients.

One day, a dog had come in with a badly festering wound, and while Lee Jun was treating it, Kkamnyangi had remarked in passing that a dog waiting in the lobby smelled similar. When they examined that dog later, it had come in because a wound had gone bad too. Lee Jun had praised Kkamnyangi as remarkable, and from that day on, the three of them reported to him whenever anything seemed even slightly off about an animal visiting the hospital. That included not just smells, but behavior ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and expression too.

What the three of them did because they wanted praise from the hyungnim they adored had become, for Lee Jun, a powerful weapon that raised his treatment success rate. That was why they stopped by the ward twice a day.

And this was a fact every regular at the hospital knew. Ttangkhongi nodded at Hoesaegi's words.

"Ah, I see. Off on the afternoon visit, then."

"That's right, ong. But what are you going to watch, Elder Hyungnim, ong?"

"We're going to see which of the two young ones is hurting more."

"Jageun Hoesaegi oppa will be hurting, and Mungchi oppa will be hurting too."

Mongsil, who had undergone leg surgery herself, let her eyes droop. She added,

"I was in so much pain back then too..."

The day her ribs had broken and punctured a lung, and a plate had been set into her fractured femur. Mongsil remembered that day — the day she'd been in so much pain she'd nearly gone to the Dog Star. Just thinking about it made her heart pound, and the pads of her paws grew damp with sweat. Even the legs that could now run just fine started to ache all over again.

One of Mongsil's legs had gotten a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠plate; the other had only been put in a cast. Having experienced both kinds of pain, she couldn't judge which of the two — Jageun Hoesaegi or Mungchi — was hurting more.

"As young Mongsil says, I expect both of them are hurting."

"Seems that way, but — huh? I hear talking. What's that about?"

Kkamnyangi stopped mid-sentence and pricked his ears. They'd been walking as they talked, and now they were right in front of the ward — where a full-blown war of words was already underway.

"Let's go in, ong."

The four of them hurried into the ward.

"Friends with pong-pong pins pong-ponged into your legs — you all know how much this hurts, right?"

Lee Jun had explained to Mungchi why he mustn't move after surgery. He'd described the plate laid against the broken bone and the pins driven in to hold it, in a cheerful voice, as "pong-pong pins pong-ponged into your leg." It had been meant to keep him from being scared — and Mungchi had remembered it word for word and was now repeating it.

"I know! I was in so much pain I almost moved to the Dog Star!"

"That's right, that's right. My noona cried for days thinking I was going to the Dog Star, and just remembering it now... sniff, here come the tears..."

"It hurt. I don't even want to think about it now."

"Aigoo, how much that must've hurt!"

Dogs who'd had pin surgery in their legs like Mungchi and Mongsil all took Mungchi's side, sniffling. The pain from back then — the kind that had felt like it would snuff out their breath — was creeping back to life. Perhaps because of that, the dogs gazed at Mungchi with glistening eyes.

"I'm hurting too! Do you guys even know how much this hurts? Do you?! Guh!"

Jageun Hoesaegi shot back, his brow furrowed as hard as it would go.

"H-hey, don't make a racket in here, all of you... ah, ow ow ow."

Painkillers were in his system, but it hadn't even been a few hours since the injury. The swelling was still severe, and it hurt terribly. On top of that, with everyone taking Mungchi's side, the pain seemed to surge in all at once. Jageun Hoesaegi shut his eyes and groaned.

"Jageun Hoesaegi's the one who hurts more, ong."

In that instant, Jageun Hoesaegi's drooping pointed ears pricked straight up. The eyes he'd squeezed shut because he couldn't stand looking at the friends taking Mungchi's side slowly opened.

"Huh? Jageun Hoesaegi didn't even get those big things pong-ponged into his bone, right? If he didn't get them, it doesn't hurt that much, does it?"

That came from Mungchi's camp.

"That's why it hurts more, ong. Because they didn't put them in."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kkamnyangi asked Hoesaegi.

"Just wait a moment, ong."

So saying, Hoesaegi trotted out of the ward with a dong-dang-dong-dang of paws.

"Where'd he go?"

"Maybe he's fetching Meongmeong Teacher? To have him say who's hurting more."

"Could be, I suppose."

Curious as to why Hoesaegi had left, every gaze in the room turned toward the door. Even Jageun Hoesaegi, who wanted so badly to roll around from the pain, narrowed his eyes and watched it.

A moment later, Hoesaegi reappeared with Sapsaree. And Sapsaree had a treat bag in his mouth.

"Hyungnim, what'd ya bring that for? Them fellas are layin' there hurtin' and we're gonna eat by ourselves? Put that away, c'mon."

Kakkong-i shook his head as he said it — words that, had Lee Jun overheard them, would have earned him a hearty pat on the rump for being such a thoughtful friend.

"Of course not, ong. We're not going to eat them, ong."

Then why bring treats they weren't going to eat? Dozens of pairs of eyes in the ward stared at the treat bag, full of questions.

"Watch closely, ong."

Sapsaree pulled a long stick treat from the bag and set it on the floor. Hoesaegi snapped it in two.

A murmur ran through the room.

"Wh-what? Are those for us to eat?"

He'd said they weren't going to eat them — so had he broken it so they could? As everyone tilted their heads, Hoesaegi spoke.

"Mungchi's leg broke like this, ong."

"Ugh!"

"Eugh..."

At Hoesaegi's words, everyone grimaced. Some dogs even looked down at their own legs.

"When young Hoesaegi puts it like that, it feels as though my own leg has broken."

"That's right, yeh. My legs are shakin' somethin' fierce. Mungchi must've been hurtin' somethin' awful."

"That's right, ong. It hurt, ong."

Hoesaegi had been in pain himself, and he'd also watched his underlings groan in agony with broken legs.

"But once it's put back together like this, it doesn't hurt, ong."

Hoesaegi fitted the broken treat back together and stuck additional treats alongside it, then continued.

"Meongmeong-hyungnim attached pong-pong pins like this so the broken leg couldn't move, ong."

"Ah, so those treats are the pong-pong pins."

They weren't pong-pong pins — they represented the plate — but the meaning Hoesaegi wanted to convey got through.

"With the pong-pong pins there, it won't move."

"That would be so, yes."

Hoesaegi's blunt, brilliant explanation was easy to understand. The dogs nodded, agreeing with him. Even Mungchi nodded.

"But Jageun Hoesaegi didn't get any pong-pong pins, ong."

So saying, Hoesaegi swept away the treats that had stood in for the pins.

"Eek, then what happens, yeh? It just collapses, don't it?"

"That's right, ong. That's why Jageun Hoesaegi mustn't move, ong. If he moves, this happens, ong."

Hoesaegi tapped the snapped-in-two treat with a front paw. The pieces that had been held together split apart again, and the watching dogs flinched.

"Aaagh!"

"Ow!"

"N-no..."

Mungchi and Jageun Hoesaegi flinched the hardest — because they felt their legs break all over again. Watching this, the dogs thought:

The explanation Hoesaegi had started in order to argue that Jageun Hoesaegi was in far more pain had, in that moment, become a lesson.

"Then Jageun Hoesaegi's gotta be hurtin' way worse, yeh."

"He would be, ong."

At the words that he was the one hurting more, Jageun Hoesaegi's face filled with emotion. Hyungnim Hoesaegi took my side. He lifted his head a little awkwardly and gazed at Hoesaegi with eyes full of respect.

But Kkamnyangi, who'd been standing right next to Hoesaegi, stepped forward. And he began to contradict him.

"That's not it."

"What's not it, ong?"

Instead of answering Hoesaegi's question, Kkamnyangi plucked a tissue from the box in the ward, held it in his mouth, and trotted over. Then he wound the tissue round and round the snapped stick treat.

"Hyungnim did this to Mongsil before."

"Heehee, that's right. Meongmeong Teacher wrapped my leg up just like this."

Mongsil smiled, remembering.

"How was it then?"

"Thanks to Meongmeong Teacher, it didn't hurt at all."

"See? If you wrap it round and round, it doesn't hurt. And this is just wrapping it, but..."

Kkamnyangi went over to the treat Hoesaegi had snapped in two earlier. And then—

"Like this!"

With his claws, he punched a hole in each half of the broken treat.

"Eeeeek!"

"Nooo!"

The friends crowded around reacted even more violently than when the treat had been snapped in two.

"Pong-pong pins have to punch holes like this. So Mungchi's leg has holes in it, which means it hurts way more."

Watching his friends' reactions, Kkamnyangi flashed a triumphant little grin, as if he'd won.