A Voice Restored
Scarlet fluid, milky-white liquid, yellowish discharge, and pale foam filled the entire monitor.
"Aigoo, that's a whole heap of pus, that is."
"Looks like he's been sick for a long time."
Lee Jun answered as he suctioned away the exudate. A moment later, a dark crimson mass appeared on the screen.
"The mass is bigger than I thought."
Go Gi-jin, who had been watching the monitor, spoke up.
"Aigoo, how on earth did he even live with somethin' that big hangin' in there? Poor little fella must've had a real rough time of it. Couldn't even eat, I bet?"
"Eating's the least of it. A mass that size in that location—even breathing wouldn't have been easy."
"That's just it. How'd he hold out till it got this far?"
Go Gi-jin let out a heavy sigh. Lee Jun found himself sighing too. You should have come to me before it got like this. If he had, the tumor on the monitor never would have grown so large, and the inflammation never would have set in.
Pity gathered in Lee Jun's eyes as he gazed at the screen.
"Instinct, I suppose. Show a weakness out there and you get culled."
"...How much must this little guy have suffered?"
"It must have been hard."
Hard to endure the pain—and even harder to hide it.
Lee Jun's eyes sharpened as he watched the monitor.
"It's all cleared now."
Which meant all that remained was to remove the mass. Lee Jun's hands quickened—delicate, yet swift. In an instant, the lump filling the screen came away. And then—
Thunk.
Lee Jun dropped the mass onto a stainless steel tray.
"Send this for a biopsy."
"Got it. Still, we'll need to treat him for a good two weeks, won't we?"
"Probably. We'll have to."
"So we'll keep him here till then?"
"That'd be best. He'll need a liquid diet for a while."
"I'll look after him."
"You will?"
"Yep. This little fella looks just like our piggy-cat back in Hongseong. Can't take my eyes off him."
"I'd appreciate that."
And just like that, Go Gi-jin became Jjaek's attending veterinarian.
R-run! Hurry and run!
Jjaek flailed all four legs, shouting at One-eye. But still no words came out. So this time he mimed running on all fours, paddling wildly at the air.
That was when it happened. A mosquito seemed to be buzzing somewhere nearby—a thin whine-whine at his ear. He lifted a front paw toward it. This damn mosquito! He meant to swipe it away. He tried to.
But something clamped down on his paw and held it fast.
Tch!
Fine—the other front paw, then. Jjaek pulled out the other one and tried to wave it. That paw wouldn't budge either. He put strength into his hind legs. Those wouldn't move either.
He wasn't even angry. First my voice goes strange, and now my legs won't work!
Urgh. How did I end up this pathetic...
Tears welled and spilled from his tightly shut eyes, drop by drop. The wetness at the corners made his eyes open of their own accord—and something huge and golden glittered right in front of his face. Two of them.
Blink. Blink.
Jjaek's eyes slowly opened and closed. Then a shiver ran down his spine, sharp as a needle. Those were the eyes he feared most in the world: the terrible golden eyes of Silver Rain.
"Eek!"
Jjaek bolted upright. R-run. He thrashed and tried to move, and Hoesaegi opened his mouth.
"Jjaek, ong. You mustn't move, ong. If the pointy thing pops out, we're in big trouble, ong."
"That's right. This line can't come out."
Jjaek had no idea what they were talking about, and he didn't want to know. The only thing packed into his skull was that he had to run.
That was when a voice broke in.
"Uhhuhuhung— C-Captain! Captain, are you all right, sir?"
One-eye was calling for him, tears welling and spilling over.
"O-One-eye..."
"Y-yes, it's One-eye, sir. One-eye! Our Captaain!"
"You—you...?"
Jjaek started to speak, then clamped his mouth shut. No way I'm letting these guys hear my voice like this.
One-eye, who had no idea what was going through his captain's mind, looked utterly startled.
"C-Captaain... d-does it hurt a lot, sir? Hueeeeng..."
One-eye sank down on the spot and wept in earnest, then went on through his tears.
"Kkueup—even though you're hurting this much, you're still worrying about me, o-our Captaaaain..."
He kept crying as he patted the hospital cage with his paws.
"Jjaek, ong. You're lucky, ong. Our hyungnim treated you, ong."
"That's right. You're going to be okay now."
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi said it with smiles, and Jjaek's pupils trembled. Why? Why are they looking at me and smiling? Are they laughing at me because I look like this?
The only memories Jjaek had of Hoesaegi were of getting beaten. The sight of that cat grinning at him was terrifying. Gkamnyangi was no better. Jjaek inched backward—but inside the little crate, there was nowhere left to go.
Thud. He huddled into the farthest corner of the cage.
Hoesaegi spoke to him there.
"Jjaek, ong. You can't stay like that, ong. You have to take big breaths, ong."
"Yeah, you have to. Hyungnim said so."
The two of them drew in air until their bellies swelled, then let it out in a long whoosh. From his corner, Jjaek watched them and blinked. The second I stick my belly out, they're going to kick it. That's what this is.
Naturally, he didn't listen. He tucked all four paws under himself in a Sikppang Position and guarded his stomach.
Then a voice he had never heard before reached him.
"Jjaek, yo—if you stay like that you'll be in big trouble, yo. Stretch your front legs out, yo. Like this, yo!"
Someone had lifted their head. An enormous dog was looking at him and talking, great mouth wide open. Jjaek's fur stood on end. He bared his teeth and growled.
"Kyaook!"
It wasn't a growl he had decided to make. It was the natural thing you did when you saw a target.
Then his pupils shook as if an earthquake had hit them. M-my voice sounds weird.
He tried growling again, quieter this time.
"Kyao... ook?"
It should have come out as a ruined geoeok or a gyaook—but that was a kyaook. Jjaek's head tilted to one side. Th-that's strange. Why is it coming out right?
The door burst open, and a human voice came through. A person stepped inside. Jjaek's body went taut of its own accord; already crouched, he curled himself even smaller.
"You with us?"
Those few words, and the tension melted out of him like water.
"M-Meongmeong Teacheer?"
"That's right. Your voice has come back a lot. How is it? Does your throat hurt much?"
Meongmeong Teacher smiled as he spoke to him. M-my voice has come back? Jjaek's broad face swung to the right, then to the left.
"Jjaek, don't move your head like that. For a while, it's better if you stay still. That's how you'll get better faster."
What did that mean? Jjaek was still turning it over when the words continued.
"That's how you'll get your voice back sooner, too."
Ah. Right. His voice.
"T-Teacheer!"
"Yes. How do you feel?"
"I-I-I mean. My voice—aaaah, aaaaah?"
He tried raising it again mid-sentence. It was a little off, but not all that strange. No—it's too good! It's too good! This was the kind of voice you had after you'd been yelling at the top of your lungs.
"M-my voice is coming out. It's coming out so well."
He tumbled the words out in a rush of joy, and Meongmeong Teacher laughed as he answered.
"How's your breathing?"
Now that he mentioned it, the breathless feeling was gone.
"It's good! It's good."
"Good. If we keep treating you for a while, you'll be just fine."
Heh. Heheh.
A laugh rose in him. Even with Hoesaegi—his greatest enemy on earth, the most terrifying cat alive—looking straight at him. Even with Gkamnyangi, that annoying, frightening one, smiling too. He just laughed.
Getting his voice back alone would have been enough to send him leaping. And now he could breathe properly as well. With a body like this, he could go back to the Song-i Park he missed so much.
But something was odd. Why did those two look so happy to hear he was going to get better?
Jjaek asked Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, who were smiling with the same expression as One-eye.
"But why are you lot laughing?"
"Jjaek's not gonna hurt anymore, ong. That's why we're happy, ong."
"Jjaek, our hyungnim said he's going to fix you, remember?"
Why would they be glad that I'm getting better? These are the ones who wanted me weak—so why?
The way those two were smiling still felt suspicious, somewhere deep in his chest. And yet, strangely, his heart eased. It was the first ease he had felt since leaving Song-i Park. No—far more comfortable, far more snug than even then. Even with the humans he so thoroughly disliked swarming around outside.
That night, Jjaek fell into a deep sleep without a single worry in his head.
The next day, Jjaek was purring in his sleep in the hospital cage when he drifted awake without meaning to. Th-that smells good.
Sniff, sniff, sniff. His nostrils flared on their own. His tongue slipped out and lapped at the empty air. His stomach answered just as naturally.
Gurgle.
The door burst open, and a huge human came in. Jjaek snapped into a defensive crouch on instinct. Meongmeong Teacher was fine. Other humans were not.
"Kyaook!"
He bared his teeth and let out the loudest cry he could. His prime-of-life voice hadn't fully returned, but it wasn't so embarrassing he needed to hide it. Heh. He'll shake in his boots when he hears my sharp, magnificent warning.
Jjaek glared at the huge human, full of confidence. The smell still drifted toward him, warm and savory. He was in attack stance, but the rich scent pushing into his nose was hard to bear. Sniff, sniff, sniff—his nose twitched whether he liked it or not.
Then—click. A sound, and his body lifted into the air.
"Kyaokokok!"
He let it out again, bold as anything.
"Aigoo, look at you, gettin' your strength back already. That's a relief."
Ong?
He wasn't running away? Jjaek flicked a startled glance to the side. The huge human spoke to him.
"You'll have even more energy once you eat. How 'bout it? Wanna eat?"
Nod, nod.
Jjaek's head dipped of its own accord. Even though the human he hated most in the world was holding him.
A little later—lap, lap, lap, lap. Th-this is too good.
Jjaek stood in a circle with the other four, happily eating the liquid diet.
"Jjaek, ong. Is it tasty, ong?"
He didn't want to stop eating just to answer, so he gave his tail a lazy sway.
"Thank goodness. When this guy was crying gyaok-gyaok, it was really pitiful."
"Th-thank you, sir. King Boss, Black Boss—thank you for saving our Captain, sir."
One-eye, eating beside them, bowed his thanks to the two cats. Those two saved me? Jjaek wondered as he worked through the prescription can. Wait—that's right. How did Meongmeong Teacher even find me?
A voice reached his ears as he thought it.
"We found you together with Sapsaree, ong."
"That's right. Sapsaree said we should go down that alley."
"Hehe, Sapsaree-nim, thank you, sir!"
"That's not it, yo. The hyungnims said Jjaek would be near that alley, yo. I just followed them, yo."
After that, One-eye and the three of them kept the conversation going. Lap, lap, lap—the food went down as easy as water, rich and savory, and Jjaek thought, So those three were out looking for me. Heh. Heheh.
It just felt good. He had thought he would live out his days alone and lonely and then go to the Cat Star. And they had gone looking for him. A laugh rose in him all by itself. The wariness he had felt the day before, meeting Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, eased a little.
And then another thought drifted up. That Hoesaegi never does throw the first punch. Which meant that if Jjaek didn't attack, that one wouldn't come at him either. It's not time yet. I'll stay quiet until I've built my strength back up. That way he could keep eating this delicious food, and he wouldn't get attacked. And he could stay beside the one who had given him his voice back—Meongmeong Teacher. I'll go back once I've got my full strength. That was the only way he could lead his underlings safely.
That was what Jjaek told himself. And there was one more thing he liked about this bunch. Nobody here makes fun of One-eye.
Wherever they went, most cats mocked One-eye. That was why, whenever Jjaek met a new pack, he established dominance first. The main point was to make the other side tremble—but underneath that, it was also so One-eye would never be given an opening to be laughed at.
These three, though, didn't mock One-eye at all. They didn't look down on him either. They treated him exactly the same as any other animal.
A grin tugged at the corner of Jjaek's mouth. He just laughed.
And so a day passed, then two... then several more. His voice returned, bit by bit, to a sound that was good to hear, and the sticky stuff that had clogged his throat and made him miserable hardly formed anymore. Meongmeong Teacher... hehe. He had a feeling he was growing fonder and fonder of the one who had fixed him like this.
Ahem. Ahem.
Jjaek cleared his throat, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Wow. Even my throat hurts less now.
His body felt so much better that a little hum rose in him on its own—and then a peculiar scene caught his eye.
"One-eye is so cool, yo."
"Ah, no, sir. Sapsaree-nim is way cooler, sir. Not me, sir."
Three sharp lines sprang up between Jjaek's brows, which had been riding high on a good mood. What's that one doing? Picking a fight with One-eye?
He was glaring at Sapsaree when Sapsaree answered.
"No, yo. If you wink like this you look like a super cool animal, yo. But it's hard to walk like that, yo. One-eye walks really well, though, yo."
"Th-thank you."
Huh? What does that mean?
He was still turning it over when Gkamnyangi appeared. And why is that one wearing that thing on his head?
Gkamnyangi had something fluffy pulled over his head, one eye covered with a glittering patch, and he walked up and planted himself in front of the two of them, chin lifted high.
"How about it? Cool, right?"
"I'm cooler, ong."
Bounce, bounce. Hoesaegi said it and came over at a near-run. And what's that one doing now? Hoesaegi had shown up wearing the same strange thing as Gkamnyangi. One eye covered, too—exactly the same.
Jjaek clicked his tongue at the pair of them. Those two already have huge heads, and they show up wearing something even bigger? Puts you in a bad mood. Cats with big heads and thick, fluffy fur, wrapping themselves in something bigger still—it made you want to shrink back without meaning to.
He wanted one. If he put that on his own head, he'd look even more impressive. But there was something he wanted even more. I really want that shiny thing. The glittering patches covering Hoesaegi's and Gkamnyangi's eyes. Jjaek coveted them fiercely. They were already proud, flashy cats—and now they looked even flashier, even cooler. Both of them do look pretty magnificent.
He was about to nod along with the thought when Sapsaree's voice rang out.
"One-eye is way cooler, yo!"
If it was strength, Hoesaegi was the best. If it was looks, Hoesaegi was the best, and Gkamnyangi came next—every cat here knew that. What's that one even talking about?
That was what he thought. And yet, strangely, a smile bloomed across his face. Across from him, Hoesaegi's and Gkamnyangi's faces crumpled in unison.