Wink
Wink.
Wink, wink.
Gkamnyangi blinked one eye.
He had just squinted at Hoesaegi again when Hoesaegi—who had been watching him since morning—asked a question.
"Gkamnyangi, are we going to see Grandpa and Grandma tomorrow, nyaong?"
He meant the therapy volunteer visit.
"That's not it. We don't go tomorrow. Three nights of sleep, then we go."
The answer came not from Gkamnyangi but from Sapsaree. Sapsaree had been counting the days on his thick paws, waiting for the next volunteer outing—because that was when he would see Benji, who had started joining them on their therapy visits.
"Three nights is plenty, ong! Gkamnyangi, practice hard, ong!"
"Practice? Practice for what?"
Gkamnyangi asked with a blank look, still blinking.
Watching him, Hoesaegi grinned.
"I know everything, ong. I'll show you, so watch closely, ong!"
With that, Hoesaegi winked—one eye closing as the corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile. A thoroughly natural, thoroughly charming wink.
Sapsaree's eyes went round with awe.
"Whoa! Th-that's so cool!"
Basking in the praise, Hoesaegi held his head high and turned to Gkamnyangi.
"You've got to do it this cool if you want Lady Nana to like it, ong!"
At the sudden mention of his girlfriend's name, Gkamnyangi blinked rapidly, looking puzzled. Hoesaegi saw it and spoke again.
"Gkamnyangi, ong! That's not how you do it, ong. Look at me, ong."
Hoesaegi closed one eye just as before. Still a charming wink. Sapsaree pounded the floor with his front paws.
"Wooooah! Hyungnim, th-that's insanely cool!"
But Gkamnyangi, still blinking and having missed Hoesaegi's wink entirely, grumbled under his breath.
"What's with those two?"
My eyes are itching like crazy. Why are those two making such a racket?
He blinked again against the itch, then went on.
"Anyway, what's this about Lady Nana all of a sudden? She'll like it? Like what?"
His eyes still itched, but he was curious enough about what Lady Nana was supposed to like that he asked. Hoesaegi answered with a look of complete confidence.
"I know you're trying to wink at Lady Nana, ong. But you're still way too clumsy at it, ong."
"I was winking?"
"That's right, ong. You've been practicing your wink for Lady Nana all morning, ong."
Gkamnyangi stared at him, incredulous.
"Me?"
"That's right, ong. You've been blinking at me since morning, practicing, ong."
"That's right. Gkamnyangi-hyung was blinking at me too. I thought it was weird 'cause it was only one eye—was that wink practice?"
"That's exactly it, ong. Gkamnyangi, I'll teach you a truly magnificent wink, ong. Trust me, ong!"
What on earth is this Hoesaegi going on about? Gkamnyangi was so flabbergasted he couldn't even speak.
While Gkamnyangi huffed in disbelief, Sapsaree was practically dancing in place as he turned to Hoesaegi.
"Oooh! Hoesaegi-hyungnim, won't you teach me too?"
"Alright, ong. If you do exactly as I say, Sapsaree, you too can become a wink master, ong."
The instant Hoesaegi finished, Sapsaree plopped himself down. Sitting ramrod-straight, his eyes sparkled with eager light.
"Watch closely, ong. You start like this, ong."
Hoesaegi demonstrated, then said, "Now you try, ong."
"Like this?"
Sapsaree blinked the way he'd seen.
"Sapsaree, ong. You can't close both eyes, ong. Close just one, ong."
"L-like this?"
Sapsaree closed his eyes—one fully shut, the other halfway.
"Well done, ong. A little more practice and you'll have it, ong. Now it's Gkamnyangi's turn, ong."
Gkamnyangi snorted.
"Don't make me laugh. Winking? I'm way better at it than you!"
Even as he spoke, he blinked again—then suddenly brought a front paw to his eye and started scratching, groaning.
"Augh, it itches."
In that instant, Hoesaegi flew at him and locked his paws around Gkamnyangi's.
"Gkamnyangi, ong, no, ong! If you scratch your eye, something terrible will happen, ong!"
Stopped mid-scratch, Gkamnyangi wailed.
"Let go! It itches, I said! Aaaagh!"
"You can't, ong. Hyungnim said scratching your eyes with your paws is dangerous, ong. Don't you remember, ong?"
He meant the time Gkamnyangi had eye surgery.
"I know. That's why I've been holding back. But it itches too much—I can't take it. Let go!"
"You can't, ong. What if you go blind again, ong?"
Gkamnyangi froze. In an instant, the struggling cat went still. Then, voice trembling:
"I... I can't go blind."
"So hold on, ong. You held on back then too, ong."
Hoesaegi comforted him.
"O-okay."
A moment later, Hoesaegi said, "You washed your face too much yesterday, ong. That's why it hurts, ong."
"Is that it?"
"That's right. I saw it too. Gkamnyangi-hyung washed his face a whole lot last night."
"That's it, ong. I'll go tell Hyungnim that Gkamnyangi's eyes itch, ong."
"It doesn't hurt."
"He said to tell him even if it just itches, ong."
"That's right. Hoesaegi-hyungnim, I'm coming too."
"Gkamnyangi, you stay here, ong. We'll go and come back, ong."
The two of them trotted off in search of Lee Jun.
"He's over there, ong."
"That's right. I can smell Benefactor-hyungnim from over there."
They arrived at the surgery suite. A bright light glowed above the operating room door.
Hoesaegi knew well that when the surgery light was on, you had to wait until someone came out. He turned around.
"Let's come back in a bit, ong."
"Then I'll wait here."
"I'll wait, ong. Sapsaree, you go play... no, ong. Let's go back to Gkamnyangi together, ong. Let's stay by his side, ong."
Memories of looking after a blind Gkamnyangi came flooding back, and Hoesaegi broke into a run.
"Let's go together."
Sapsaree followed.
When they returned, Gkamnyangi was trembling from head to tail.
"Gkamnyangi, ong, what's wrong, nyaong? Does it hurt a lot, nyaong?"
"No. I'm holding it in."
At the news that he was holding back from scratching an itch, Hoesaegi's and Sapsaree's mouths fell open. Even if it wasn't an eye, they both knew all too well how agonizing it was not to scratch an itch.
Hoesaegi thought, It itched less when I was eating something tasty, ong.
A thought, once it occurred, had to be acted upon. He asked Gkamnyangi:
"Gkamnyangi, ong. Isn't there anything you want to eat, nyaong?"
"Uh, no. I'm so itchy I might as well go to the Cat Star. Eat? What would I even..."
The moment he thought about food, a rich, sticky Churu appeared before his mind's eye. And the treats he'd gathered by the sackful for his companions.
"Now that I think about it... I could go for a savory, crunchy snack."
"Got it, ong. Wait here, ong."
"A-and the sticky, slurp-y delicious one too."
"Understood, ong."
Hoesaegi trotted to the reception desk and tapped Jang Sora's leg. She scooped him up with a bright smile.
"Hoesaegi, you're here? Are you bored?"
"Not bored, ong."
Hoesaegi meowed his answer, then stated his actual purpose.
"Nuna, ong. Give me the savory crunchy ones and the slurp-y snacks, ong."
"Are you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry, ong. They're for Gkamnyangi, ong."
"Alright, alright. Lunch is coming up anyway, so eating a little early is fine. Today's meals for you guys..."
Everyone at Mongmong Animal Hospital loved Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree. And when you love someone, wanting to give them just one more treat is only natural.
Watching the hospital staff sneak the three of them snacks at every opportunity, Lee Jun had started to worry they'd end up overweight again, the way they had last summer. So he'd come up with a solution: lunchboxes. Each container, labeled with one of their names, held the snacks they were allowed to eat at the hospital that day.
Jang Sora pulled out the lunchboxes and showed them to Hoesaegi. On the outside of each, one of their faces was printed large—decorated so the three could recognize their own.
"Hoesaegi, pick one."
"Give me this one, ong. And this one too, ong."
"Hmm? This one's Gkamnyangi's. Pick from these."
"Gkamnyangi's going to eat it, ong!"
Just as Hoesaegi tapped Gkamnyangi's lunchbox with a small front paw, a booming voice came from behind.
"Looks like you're tryin' to take that to Gkamnyangi, ain't ya?"
It was Go Gi-jin. Hoesaegi looked up at him.
"Strong Brother, ong, Gkamnyangi's itchy, ong. That's why he's going to eat this, ong."
"What now! Gkamnyangi's hurtin'?"
"He's not hurting, ong. He's itchy, ong."
"Let's go have a look. Where's it hurtin'?"
"Oh my, Gkamnyangi's in pain?"
Jang Sora hurried after Go Gi-jin's long strides, and as Hoesaegi followed the two of them, he called out:
"Strong Brother, ong, Nuna, ong, give me that, ong! Gkamnyangi's going to eat it, ong!"
"The third eyelid's quite swollen. The conjunctiva's badly thickened too. It's congested... and there's yellow discharge at the inner canthus."
At Lee Jun's words, Go Gi-jin asked quietly, "It ain't herpes or calici, is it?"
He was asking whether it might be infectious conjunctivitis caused by herpesvirus or calicivirus.
"Well, there's no coughing and the mouth looks clean, so it should be fine... but hand me the thermometer."
"Here y'go."
Lee Jun brought the thermometer Go Gi-jin handed him near Gkamnyangi's rear.
"Takin' a temperature without pokin' it up the rear. World's gotten nicer, hasn't it?"
In the old days, you had to insert a thermometer into the rectum to take a temperature. These days, non-contact thermometers meant there was no need to stick anything anywhere.
"It has. I got scratched plenty of times taking temperatures the old way."
"Ain't that the truth. 38.5, is it? That's normal."
Dogs and cats run about two degrees hotter than people. Lee Jun glanced at the thermometer and nodded.
"It's normal. Gi-jin, what are the symptoms of calicivirus?"
"Upper respiratory, y'know. Sneezin', runny nose, coughin', and a fever. Can't eat, oral ulcers, stomatitis—those are the big ones, so I don't reckon it's Gkamnyangi."
Go Gi-jin said this looking at Gkamnyangi, who wasn't coughing and whose mouth was clean.
"Good eye. Anything else you can think of?"
"For calici?"
"That's right."
"Arthritis. And laryngeal edema."
Hearing Go Gi-jin's answer, Lee Jun smiled.
"You know it well. That's right."
"Hyungnim laid out all the feline infectious diseases last time, didn't ya?"
"Then remember this too. Systemic vasculitis. Multiple organ failure."
"Got it. You said the mortality rate's high not just in kittens but in adult cats too, right?"
"That's right. It's a very dangerous disease. And herpes?"
"That's similar to calici too. Like a cold, y'know. Coughin', sneezin', runny nose, not eatin' well. Conjunctivitis, keratitis, and..."
Go Gi-jin looked at Gkamnyangi as he continued.
"So other than the conjunctivitis, nothin' else matches."
"That's right. It's probably pollen or fine dust. Still, we need a definitive diagnosis, so tell Dr. Yu to send out a PCR test—that's a genetic amplification test."
"Got it. So what do we do till the results come back?"
"What do you mean, what do we do? We put in eye drops."
"Still, it'd be better if he didn't stay with the others, wouldn't it?"
"It should be fine, but..."
Lee Jun turned his gaze to Hoesaegi and Sapsaree, sitting bolt upright on the exam room floor, watching Gkamnyangi being examined. Worry filled their eyes. What with the poking of Gkamnyangi's eyes with strange instruments, and the grave conversation between Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin, they had every reason to look that way.
Hoesaegi's eyes met Lee Jun's.
"Hyungnim, ong. Is Gkamnyangi hurting a lot, nyaong?"
"I don't think so, but we'll need a few days to be sure."
Lee Jun answered honestly, then continued.
"By any chance, are any of your subordinates having eye trouble?"
"I don't know, ong."
"I don't know either."
Gkamnyangi answered too.
"Alright. Just in case, when your subordinates come by, tell them to let us know if anyone's eyes hurt."
Even now, the park cats took turns visiting Mongmong Animal Hospital every day. And Lee Jun still kept the special-meal days, two or three times a month, without fail. So Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi were in contact with the park cats almost daily.
"Even if it just itches like Gkamnyangi, should they say so, nyaong?"
"Yes. Tell them to report itching too. And for the time being, don't stay by Gkamnyangi's side."
At the instruction not to stay with him, Hoesaegi and Sapsaree startled.
"Why, nyaong? If his eyes hurt, we have to stay beside him, ong."
"Of course. If he's hurting, we have to watch over him."
"That's true, but it might be contagious."
In the case of herpetic conjunctivitis, healthy animals often recovered on their own—but it was, in fact, contagious.
"What's 'contagious,' nyaong?"
"It means your eyes could get itchy and gunky, just like Gkamnyangi's."
In that instant, Hoesaegi slowly edged backward. Sapsaree did the same.
"I-I want some water, ong."
"Me too. I'm going to get a drink!"
The two of them bolted from the exam room.