A Tiger's Prusten
Ahh. That's good.
Just the smell of it was enough to lift his spirits. Seorak buried his nose in the elephant dung and drew in a long, deep breath, and for the first time in quite a while, he felt genuinely happy.
Lately, his mood had been at rock bottom. The worst of it was this eye. First it had gone hot, and then at some point it had started to throb — a sharp, stabbing ache. The throbbing only grew worse, until it hurt the way his paw had hurt that time he smashed it against a rock.
Nobody likes being in pain. Seorak was no exception. His eye hurt so badly he thought he might die of it, as if stones were slamming into the socket again and again — and to make matters worse, he could not even open it. Part of that was the pain, but even when he tried, the lid simply would not lift. The eye had swollen shut, and tears ran from it in a constant, miserable trickle.
As the inflammation deepened, his appetite collapsed with it. The food he used to grumble was never enough had become something he could barely stand to look at. Instinct still lingered, though — or perhaps it simply was not quite that unbearable yet — because he forced it down, mouthful by reluctant mouthful.
The miserable days stretched on. And then, one afternoon, a strange scent pushed its way into his nose.
A creature he had never seen before.
And that creature was peculiar.
He called my name.
Seorak remembered it clearly. The stranger had walked right up and said, without preamble, Hey, Seorak. Hello.
It went straight into my ear.
The voice had slid into him more cleanly than even the kind person who brought his food every day. Seorak had felt a little strange about that. But only for a moment. He was hurting, and this odd newcomer seemed to be picking a fight, so he had flared up in a sudden rage.
I'm in pain. Go away. That was the meaning of it. It feels awful when you come close while I'm hurting.
Besides, he could barely see out of one eye. However magnificent and long his whiskers were, however well they read the world around him, not being able to see what was in front of him was deeply uncomfortable. It was the first time in his life he had ever experienced such a thing. Naturally, everything made him anxious.
He hated the pain. He hated the blurry world. He hated all of it. And more than anything, he hated the thought of the others noticing. He had to hide it. If another animal realized he was hurting — that he had gone weak — that could not be allowed.
So Seorak, concealing his pain, had bared every tooth he had and threatened the stranger with everything in him.
But the stranger had known exactly where he was vulnerable. The creature had suddenly swelled himself up, made himself enormous, and come straight for the hurting eye.
I almost fell for it.
Seorak had roared with all his strength and driven the stranger off. He must have looked truly savage, because Park I-chan had called it a horror show, and even Keeper Ji Hyun-woo had said he had never seen Seorak that furious.
Either way, Seorak had chased him out.
When he ran, he called my name again. And he said it would hurt less.
Which meant the stranger had come because he already knew Seorak was in pain. That night, Seorak had not slept a wink. He had sat up until dawn, waiting for the next ambush.
And sure enough, the stranger had come back. Seorak had threatened him even more fiercely.
And then the creature held out something savory.
It was suspicious. He told himself he should not eat it — but perhaps it was the days of barely touching his food, because his mouth moved on its own. He snapped it up.
And then—
It was so good.
He had eaten this kind of food before. But of everything he had ever been given, this was the best. Soft, and moist besides. The exquisitely marbled Hongseong hanwoo beef had scored a direct hit on a fat-loving carnivore's every preference.
Saliva welled in his mouth at the memory. But only for a moment. Seorak pressed his nose back into that wonderfully fragrant dung and slipped into a kind of rapture.
Mmm. This is excellent. Truly excellent.
He drank the smell in through his nose until his lungs were full. A whole harmony of scents soaked into him. The overpowering richness of elephant dung came first, and woven through it were the body-scents of people.
Mmm. The good people's smell is nice too. Well, that one I only see now and then.
Ji Hyun-woo was the one who always brought tasty things, so he was good. Park I-chan only appeared occasionally, and he was not particularly threatening.
And this one…
Among all those scents, Seorak picked out Lee Jun's. And unlike the first time, it did not feel so unpleasant. Perhaps that was only because it had drifted in on the blissful smell of elephant dung.
Well. This one brought me this wonderful thing. And he gave me something delicious, too. Ah — what I just ate was delicious as well. Wait. This one… is he a good one?
Anyone who would keep handing over delicious food and then offer something this fine on top of it — was he not a rather good creature? Seorak rolled on the elephant dung and thought so.
Then, suddenly, the smell grew stronger. Seorak fixed his gaze on the place where the scent that had so completely disarmed him was billowing even thicker — right above the spot where he was crouched with his nose buried in bliss.
Huh? That's him.
Then why did he smell so good?
The newcomer Seorak had already begun to suspect was a decent sort was now pouring out that wonderful smell in waves. Anyone who has ever stepped in dog droppings — or had to clean up a patch that has been thoroughly mashed underfoot — knows the truth of it. A smear always smells stronger than a clump.
Lee Jun had plastered elephant dung all over himself — not his actual body, of course, but the padded jacket he was wearing — and Seorak looked at him with misty eyes and surged to his feet.
And then—
Aong!
Seorak made a happy little sound, aong, aong, and rubbed his whole body against the bars.
Clang, clang, clang.
Even the noise the cage made was adorable. Lee Jun grinned and spoke to him.
"Hey, Seorak. Hello!"
The same greeting as the first day. But this time Seorak kept his eyes softly closed and poured out aong after aong.
Aong aong aong!
His heart was wide open.
"This guy really is just like a cat."
If Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi ever saw Seorak like this, they would not be frightened in the slightest. They would be thrilled they had made a great big new friend. Lee Jun smiled, picturing the scene Kwak Suho had talked about — Hoesaegi and Kkamnyangi dangling from Seorak's legs, Sapsaree pressing his forehead to the tiger's.
"Come here. Come here."
Seorak wanted the newcomer who smelled so wonderful to come a little closer, and he stretched out a forepaw. Standing now, he reached toward Lee Jun — though the paw could not actually pass through the bars. The sound of it striking the iron rang out, bright and cheerful.
Clang, clang, clang.
"Seorak."
"That's right, Newcomer."
Being called Newcomer tugged the corner of Lee Jun's mouth upward.
"That's right. I am the newcomer. And the reason this newcomer came to see you, Seorak, is to make your eye stop hurting."
The second time he had heard those words. Stop hurting. They stirred something in a tiger who wanted nothing more than for the pain to go away.
I don't want it to hurt.
He felt good right now, it was true — but the eye still ached. It was a little better than a few days ago, yes, but he wanted it to stop hurting even more. And it would be nice if the blurry world turned sharp again.
And yet. To put his finger so precisely on the weak spot…
So this newcomer really did come here to attack me?
The thought threatened to smash the good mood he had been enjoying. A growl rolled up on its own, and his face arranged itself into a threat.
Grrrr.
"Seorak. I'm not here to attack you. I'm here to make you better."
"What is that supposed to mean? Attack? And what is this 'make you better'?"
"Your mouth hurt a little while ago, didn't it? But it doesn't hurt now. And your paw hurt too, right? It stabbed and stabbed — but it's all right now, isn't it?"
Seorak listened to the newcomer and thought it over.
That's true. My paw used to stab and stab, and now it doesn't. And when I eat meat, my mouth doesn't hurt either.
"Yes. That's what 'fixing' means. It means making it stop hurting."
"Grr… I see."
Seorak understood what fixing meant. But something still felt off.
How does the newcomer understand what I'm saying?
A flicker of unease passed through him as he studied the creature in front of him.
"The same way your paw stopped hurting, I'll make your eye stop hurting too. I'll fix your eye."
"F-fix it. Please. Make it stop hurting."
He ought to have asked how this creature could speak with him at all. Instead, a plea tumbled out of his mouth.
That was when something settled, lightly, on the head he had pressed against the bars. Then a hand moved through his fur, stroke after gentle stroke.
It was strange. That was all it was — and yet he felt wonderful.
Pff. Pfrrrrrr. Pft-t-t-t-t.
Prusten — the sound of affection — spilled out of Seorak in a happy, helpless rush.
Bang.
Park I-chan shoved open the door of the zoo's animal hospital and shouted.
"They're in! He got them in! Our Lee Jun — Dr. Lee Jun put eye drops in Seorak's eyes!"
At those words, everyone sitting in the hospital shot to their feet.
"What? Is that true?"
"He got the drops in?"
"Really?"
Every face in the room went wide with shock as they stared at Lee Jun, who had come in with Park I-chan.
"Yes. Thankfully."
Lee Jun answered with a smile, and sounds of delight broke out all around him.
"Wow. So it actually worked."
"Good heavens. Eye drops. In a tiger."
"Hoo. What a relief."
And in the same breath, a different kind of remark poured out.
"Ugh, what is that smell?"
"Oh wow, that is rank."
"Did you two step in something?"
Park Hyun-joon, the clinical husbandry team leader, who had been celebrating only a second earlier, looked at Lee Jun and Park I-chan and asked. Elephant dung might not smell as terrible as people imagined, but that did not mean it had no smell at all. And Lee Jun had mashed it and smeared it into his clothes, which had only concentrated the stink. On top of that it was winter, and every window was sealed tight, so the odor had packed itself solidly into the room — even though Lee Jun had stripped off the padded jacket before he came in.
Lee Jun looked embarrassed.
"Ah. That's my fault. I'll head out for today and come back tomorrow."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Go where?"
"That's right, Jun. You can't leave."
After Park Hyun-joon, Park I-chan caught Lee Jun as he tried to go and turned to his colleagues.
"This guy — no, this director — threw his whole body on the line to calm Seorak down. Do you understand?"
When Park I-chan told them what Lee Jun had done in the enclosure, the room went slack with astonishment. And then, faces filling with respect, they began to clap.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
The small animal hospital rang with applause.
"That's incredible. How did you even think of that?"
"Wow! That is genuinely amazing."
"I respect you, Director Lee!"
"Director Lee, you are something else. I already knew you were impressive, but this is the best. The best."
Team Leader Park Hyun-joon put up a thumb, and the other veterinarians, still clapping and cheering, put up theirs as well.
"The best."
"Thank you, Director Lee."
"Our Seorak — his eye is going to make it, thanks to you."
"That's right. Honestly, we've been losing so much sleep over that eye."
The veterinarians, who had already been able to guess at the prognosis, were genuinely overjoyed at the news that Seorak had taken the drops.
"It's thanks to all of you for waiting. Now that we can get the medication in, we'll treat him properly."
"That's true — but I have a good feeling about this."
"Then that's wonderful."
Just as Team Leader Park Hyun-joon had said, Seorak's eye treatment went smoothly. Lee Jun was busy, but he stopped by the zoo every day to put the drops in.
"There's our Seorak! Chin up~!"
Aong!
Seorak set his eye to the small opening and lifted his face, and Lee Jun gently drew the lower lid down and tapped a drop in.
Seorak's body flinched — just once. That was all. He stayed sitting right where he was.
"Aww, our Seorak. What a good boy. Well done. Eat this, and then we'll wait just a little."
Lee Jun slipped a piece of meat into his mouth. Seorak swallowed it in one gulp and lifted the corners of his mouth as high as they would go.
A big, toothy grin.
Park I-chan watched the smiling tiger and clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"Aigoo, Jun, you are something else. I sent you that SOS, but I never thought you'd take it this far. Never."
"I see it every time, and it still amazes me."
Ji Hyun-woo added his own wonder, and Lee Jun answered with a smile.
"Seorak is just good and clever. He figured out that if we put this in, it stops hurting."
"Still — the one who taught him that the drops make it stop hurting is you, Director."
"Yeah, that's true. Anyway, Jun, you really are incredible. Look at that. He's opening his eye properly now, isn't he?"
"I know. He barely even scowls anymore. And he's eating well, too."
Watching the two of them beam, Lee Jun's expression turned a little bitter. The drops needed to go in several times a day, but that was simply not realistic. After finishing his own clinic hours he would come to the zoo and manage once, maybe twice. Because of that, Seorak's eye was not improving as dramatically as it could have. Lee Jun found the situation frustrating.
"If we could put them in more often, he'd heal faster. That's the part that bothers me."
"Aigoo, even this much is amazing."
"He's right. This is something nobody else even dared to attempt."
"Still. More would be better."
"Well, yes, but the fact that you come every single day is already more than we can thank you for…"
"Even so."
"If I could put the drops in the way you do, Director, that would be ideal — but Seorak won't allow it. I'm sorry."
Ji Hyun-woo apologized to Lee Jun. And he had reason to. Lee Jun had explained to Seorak that more drops would mean a faster recovery. Seorak had been immovable. Anyone but Lee Jun, he had said, was out of the question.
Lee Jun sank into thought.
"It would be so much better if Keeper Ji could do it. That guy is stubborn."
When Lee Jun came home to Golmokjib, the three of them asked their usual question.
"Hyung-nim-ong. Seorak's eye doesn't hurt anymore, nyaong?"
"Hyung-nim. Did Seorak's eyes get all round again?"
"Seorak isn't hurting, is he?"
Lately, the moment Lee Jun walked through the door, asking after Seorak had become their daily ritual.
"Yeah, it's a little better. But it's not healing fast."
"Why isn't it healing, nyaong?"
"Why?"
"It hurts? Why does it still hurt?"
The three of them nearly leapt into the air at the news that it was not healing quickly. Lee Jun explained the situation, half complaining. When he had finished, Hoesaegi turned to Kkamnyangi.
"Kkamnyang-ong. Do you hate it when Meongmeong Nunim puts the water-tok in, nyaong?"
He was asking whether Kkamnyangi minded Jang Sora putting drops in his eyes.
"It's fine?"
"Is that so, ong? But Seorak will only let Hyung-nim put the water-tok in, ong."
"That guy's just a coward. That's why."
"This is bad, ong."
Hoesaegi crossed his paws and put on a thinking face, and Sapsaree, who had been listening beside him, grew equally grave.
"This is bad, it is. He's gotta get better fast, he does."
Even Kkamnyangi joined them in looking worried. The three of them sat like that for a moment. Then Kkamnyangi's face set, as if he had come to a decision, and he looked straight at Lee Jun.
"What is it, Kkamnyang?"
"Hoo. Hyung-nim. I'll talk to Seorak. Tell him he's got to take the water-tok in the morning and at lunch, too."
Hoesaegi's and Sapsaree's eyes went perfectly round.
"A-are you serious, nyaong? K-Kkamnyang-ong. The other party is Seorak, ong."
"Hyung-nim. That's Seorak, it is. You're going to Seorak?"
At the suggestion that he would actually go see Seorak, Kkamnyangi nodded.
"That's right. Let's go, Hyung-nim."
Kkamnyangi looked at Lee Jun with a face of absolute resolve.