Gifts for Seorak
The sky was growing darker.
Gkamnyangi tipped his head back to look at it, smacked his lips, and let out another long, weary sigh.
Haa. I have to go, don't I? I have to go, but…
He had declared it like a proclamation — that he would go see Seorak — so go he must. But why did his heart feel so heavy?
No. It wasn't heaviness. It was fear.
Just thinking about the moment Seorak had thrown back his head and roared was enough to set his whole body trembling, his fur standing on end.
Ugh, why does that guy have to yell so loud? It's terrifying.
Irritated at Seorak for no good reason, Gkamnyangi found his mouth going bone-dry. He trudged off toward the water bowl.
Splash, splash.
He lapped up a little water, then trudged weakly back and hopped up onto the cat tower where he had been lying only moments before. He stared out the window and sighed once more.
Hoesaegi, who had been watching him the entire time, finally opened his mouth.
"Gkamnyangi-ong. Are you scared-nyaong?"
"Wh-what? Scared of what?"
Caught with his true feelings showing, Gkamnyangi's voice came out louder than he meant it to.
"Going to see Seorak. That wasn't what you were afraid of-nyaong?"
"M-me? Why would I be?"
"Then why do you keep going haa~ like that-nyaong?"
"Th-that's…"
Damn it, his eyes were too sharp!
Gkamnyangi hated that Hoesaegi knew he was frightened. They got along well enough now, but hadn't they once been enemies? He had challenged him to duels more times than he could count on his toes, all because he had to win. He did not want a cat like that seeing him look weak.
Gkamnyangi rolled his eyes, then blurted something out.
"I-I feel sorry for Seorak. That's all."
"Ah! Is that it-nyaong?"
"Th-that's right! You've never had your eyes hurt, so you wouldn't know, but when your eyes hurt, they hurt so, so much. You want to roll around on the floor."
"I-is that so-nyaong?"
"It is! It hurts so much you want to jam your face into the ground. It hurt so much I wanted I could go to the Cat Star."
Once he started talking, the truth came spilling out.
"It hurt that much-nyaong?"
"Yeah."
Hoesaegi set one small, fluffy forepaw on Gkamnyangi's shoulder.
"Gkamnyangi-ong. You were brave-ong. You endured it well-ong."
Huh?
He had just been saying whatever came into his head to hide how scared he was of Seorak. The truth had leaked out in the middle of it. That was all. And now he was being called brave? Gkamnyangi's eyes went round as coins.
Hoesaegi's cotton-puff of a paw patted his shoulder a couple more times.
"Brave Gkamnyangi-ong. You'll be able to get Seorak to take his drops in the morning too-ong."
"Y-you think so?"
Why was this guy suddenly taking his side?
Hoesaegi's encouragement left Gkamnyangi feeling strangely off-balance. And yet, somewhere underneath, a little courage seemed to be taking root.
Then Hoesaegi said something that gave him even more.
"I'll go too-ong. I'll go and stand right beside you-ong."
"You're coming too, Hoesaegi?"
"That's right-ong. It's better if we go together-ong."
Sapsaree, who had been sitting nearby listening to his two hyungnims talk, gathered his own courage.
In the video, Seorak had been a coward who was afraid of paper — but in real life, hadn't he been absolutely terrifying?
Sapsaree remembered the day his two brave hyungnims had gotten into a name fight with the Rogue Trio at the Neulpureun Park playground, and he himself had gone whooshing through the air off Jageun Hoesaegi's paw.
But Seorak is enormous, he is. So, so much bigger than Jageun Hoesaegi, and so much scarier, he is.
Which meant he had to protect his hyungnims. No matter how frightened he was.
Sapsaree swallowed hard. Then he said what he had decided.
"I'm going too, I am! Gkamnyangi-hyungnim. Sapsaree's going with you, I am!"
Lee Jun finished his last appointment, changed out of his scrubs, and muttered to himself on the way out.
"That little guy really is something else."
He had taken one look at Seorak, fled in a blind panic — and then turned around and volunteered to go talk him around, because he felt sorry for him.
"Still. If he says he's scared, I won't take him."
Fear was an enormous source of stress. Push it too far and it could strain the heart. Or bring on idiopathic cystitis.
Having made up his mind, Lee Jun stepped into the lobby — and huffed out a laugh.
Gkamnyangi, Hoesaegi, and Sapsaree were all standing there with toys in their mouths, tails waving back and forth.
"What on earth have you got there?"
Tap, tap, tap.
Hoesaegi dropped a big fish plush on the floor. Gkamnyangi set down a little mouse toy. Sapsaree deposited a yellow duck plush roughly the size of Hoesaegi himself — the kind with a pocket you could stuff treats into — and they all spoke at once.
"A present for Seorak-ong."
"We're going to give them to Seorak."
"It's Seorak's, it is! We're giving it to Seorak, we are!"
"Is that right? Seorak's going to love these."
All three of them grinned, tails swishing gently.
"That's very kind of you. I'll tell Seorak that Hoesaegi and Sapsaree brought him presents too."
Lee Jun reached down to pick up the toys — and Hoesaegi planted a forepaw on the fish plush with a firm thwack.
"I'll give it to him myself-ong."
Beside him, Sapsaree pressed down on the duck plush and answered too.
"Me too, I am! I'm going to give it to Seorak myself, I am!"
"You're coming too?"
The look on Lee Jun's face said, Didn't Seorak's roar knock you all flat last time? The three of them answered with their heads held high.
"That's right-ong. We're going together-ong."
"That's right, we are! We're going with the hyungnims, we are!"
Gkamnyangi glanced at the other two and answered a beat later, looking distinctly relieved.
"I was going to go by myself, but these two say they're coming along."
"Is that so? You're all very good."
"Let's go-ong."
"Alright."
In the car on the way to the zoo, the three of them sat pressed together hip to hip, each clutching a toy tight.
When they arrived, Lee Jun fitted them with vests — the same ones they had worn for the Santa Dog campaign. Then he tucked little clumps of elephant dung into the vest pockets and explained.
"Seorak likes this smell, you see? That's why I'm putting it in. Same way you two like that smell, Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi."
He pointed at the catnip-stuffed fish toy.
"Is that how it is-nyaong?"
"That's right. So even if you don't like the smell, try to bear with it. And this is not for eating, understood?"
The three of them nodded so hard their heads bobbed. Hyungnim had said it, so they would keep their word. That much was written all over them.
And Lee Jun's plan worked.
Seorak took one look at the three of them and let out a roar — but there was nothing threatening in it at all. Because the sound that came out was:
"Awaoong!"
Creatures whose instincts were built to detect danger caught the change at once. They smiled and offered their greetings.
"Seorak-ong. A present-ong."
Hoesaegi slipped his bribe — no, his gift — through the bars. Seorak sniffed the fish plush, then swished his tail back and forth.
The moment that tail moved, Hoesaegi's mouth curled up at the corners.
"He likes it-ong."
Now that Seorak had taken to Hoesaegi's gift, Gkamnyangi pushed the mouse toy through the bars.
"Seorak. A present."
Seorak batted at that one too, clearly delighted.
"Hehe. He likes it."
Gkamnyangi laughed, and Sapsaree stepped forward from where he had been waiting a little behind them and held out the duck plush.
"Seorak-ayo. A present, it is!"
But the duck was bigger than the two toys before it, and only the head made it through the bars.
Sapsaree froze, then turned a bewildered face toward Lee Jun. The look said, Why won't mine go in?
That was when it happened.
Chomp!
Seorak caught the duck in his teeth and hauled it through. Being a cloth toy, it somehow made it inside.
And then—
Squeak squeak squeak squeak!
The sound came from Seorak's mouth as he held the duck. The funny look on his face made all three of them sag with relief.
"Hyo! Thank goodness-ong. But Seorak's face is enormous-ong."
"It is. Huge, and magnificent."
"That's right, it is! So, so huge, it is! The biggest, it is! So cool, it is!"
Last time they had been too busy fleeing in terror to get a proper look. Now the three of them offered their honest impressions of Seorak.
At the words huge face and magnificent, Seorak — who was hugging the fish plush, squeaking it in his mouth, and batting the mouse toy with a forepaw — pricked his ears.
Unaware of this, the three of them chattered on.
"But his eyes hurt, so I feel sorry for him-ong. And he's so handsome, too-ong."
"That's right. If his eyes were just a little clearer, he'd be even more magnificent. I was like that once."
"That's right, it is! When Gkamnyangi-hyungnim's eyes hurt, he looked so pitiful, he did. But now he's so cool, he is!"
"Hmm. I am rather magnificent, it's true."
"That's right, it is. When Seorak's eyes get better, he'll be even cooler, he will!"
"He's magnificent now-ong. But he'll become an even more magnificent Seorak-ong."
Twitch?
Seorak's ears stood up even straighter than before.
Even more magnificent, they said?
Hmm. The corner of Seorak's mouth lifted.
That aside—
"Y-you. Your eyes hurt too?"
Gkamnyangi startled so hard he nearly jumped. The voice rumbled as if it were echoing out of a deep cave.
"Y-yes. That's right, sir."
The honorifics came out on their own. He even sat up on his hind legs, both forepaws folded neatly and politely in front of him.
"Hmm. But your eyes are clear. Both of them, round and bright. How is that?"
"That's because they put the drops in, sir."
"Hmm. I get the drops put in too. But this eye still hurts. I still cannot see well."
"Th-that's because I-I had the drops put in a lot. A whole lot, sir."
"I have them put in a lot too."
"I-I had them put in continuously, sir. Seorak-nim only has them put in at night, so…"
"That's right. Newcomer! Put them in for me continuously as well."
Seorak looked at Lee Jun as he said it, and Gkamnyangi waved both forepaws in a frantic no.
"Th-that won't do, sir."
"And why not!"
The rumbling grew a little louder. Gkamnyangi's body flinched on its own. He swallowed hard.
He was scared. But he had to say this. Gkamnyangi drew a deep breath and answered.
"Th-that's because if our Hyungnim keeps putting the drops in, he'll collapse again!"
"Th-that's right-ong. Big-headed Seorak-nim-ong. Woof Noonim put the drops in for Gkamnyangi too — I mean, she put them in, sir-ong."
"That's right, sir. Noonim put them in too. If Hyungnim keeps doing it himself, Hyungnim will have a hard time."
Seorak, who had begun listening in earnest at some point, asked back.
"He shouldn't have a hard time?"
"That's right, sir. We don't like it when Hyungnim is in pain."
"That's right-ong. It's good if Hyungnim doesn't hurt-ong."
"That's right, it is! Seorak-ayo — I mean, Seorak-nim-ayo — not hurting is good, isn't it? It is, isn't it?"
"That's right. I don't want to hurt either."
"It's alright, it is! Even if Noonim puts them in, it's alright, it is! Not hurting is good, it is!"
"Th-that's right, sir. As long as it doesn't hurt, that's all that matters. Who puts the drops in is nothing compared to the hurting. It's a trivial thing, sir."
The words Gkamnyangi had wanted to say to Seorak were coming out of his mouth now, and there was no stopping him.
"Handsome, magnificent Seorak-nim. All of a sudden I couldn't see a thing in front of me. I was so scared. And my eyes hurt so, so much. It hurt so much I wished I could go to the Cat Star."
Clang!
Seorak's forepaw struck the bars. Not as a threat. The small, puny Gkamnyangi was so pitiful that the paw had simply gone out on its own.
"It was like that?"
"…Yes, sir. But Hyungnim fixed me. It stopped hurting. And now I can see so, so well."
Gkamnyangi said it with a happy little smile, and Seorak looked at him for a long moment.
"…That's good."
"Yes, sir. Hyungnim — I mean, Seorak-nim can be like me too. If they keep putting the drops in Seorak-nim's eyes, continuously. Later on it gets really itchy, but that's the proof it's stopped hurting. You have to endure it, sir."
"That's right-ong. If it itches, that means it's getting better-ong. It means you can see-ong."
Seorak seemed a little less frightening now. Hoesaegi had slipped back into his usual way of talking.
That aside… it hurt, so how was it supposed to get itchy? Seorak huffed a laugh, the corner of his mouth curling, and said,
"Puny little things, saying puny little things. Still. The thought that it won't hurt anymore — that feels good. Newcomer."
"Yeah?"
"I want the drops put in continuously too."
"You do? I can't come during the day, though."
"Well. If it's a decent person, it should be fine. Even this tiny one endured it. A handsome fellow with a face as big as mine can endure it even better."
Pat-pat-pat-pat.
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi applauded with their paws.
"S-see? That's Seorak-nim with the big face for you."
"Seorak-nim-ong! Magnificent-ong. The best-ong."
"So cool, it is! His face is so big, it is!"
Sapsaree bounced up and down on the spot, overjoyed.
Watching the three of them, Seorak laughed.
"You little things. You're cute."
The three of them plastered themselves against the bars of the smiling Seorak. Hoesaegi tapped the great forepaw that had slipped through the gap.
"Seorak-nim-ong. Your paw is enormous too-ong. Magnificent-ong."
Gkamnyangi stroked it gently as well.
"Yeah. It's really big. Seorak-nim is magnificent, sir."
"That's right, it is! Seorak-nim-ayo, so, so cool, you are!"
Lee Jun watched the three of them chattering away at Seorak and thought,
I don't know how you got him to open up. But thank you, you three. Thanks to you, I think Seorak's eyes are going to heal completely.
From that day on, Seorak allowed Keeper Ji Hyun-woo's hands on him.
Once the eye drops could be put in starting in the morning, Seorak's eyes improved at a visible rate, and within a few days Ji Hyun-woo had taken over the drops entirely. Lee Jun tracked the recovery through the videos and photographs the keeper sent him.
Kwak Suho watched Lee Jun smiling quietly down at his phone and asked,
"What's got you in such a good mood?"
"Seorak opened his eyes."
"Oh — they're all the way open now?"
"Yeah."
"Let me see."
Choi Woo-jin, who had just popped a piece of grilled gopchang into his mouth, held out a hand. Lee Jun passed him the phone, then picked a sundae sausage off the grill and ate it.
Kwak Suho watched this, his face wrinkling faintly.
"Honestly. With all this delicious gopchang right here, you're eating sundae?"
"What? It's good. Anyway — you got what you wanted, so you're happy, right? Happy?"
"Come on. Calling eating gopchang a fulfilled wish is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Hey. If we came all the way out to Wangsimni, that counts as a fulfilled wish."
"The way you talk, people would think we traveled to the other side of the country."
"It is far. You saying it's close?"
"Please. You want far, you go as far as Hongseong. Right, Gijin?"
"That's right. Speakin' of which, how 'bout we head down next day off? This here's tasty enough, but over there's the real deal, I tell ya."
"Alright, let's go. Come on — while we're at it, let's drink."
"What does going to Hongseong have to do with drinking? Seriously?"
He said that — and then Lee Jun held his glass out toward the soju bottle in Kwak Suho's hand anyway. Kwak Suho poured as he asked,
"By the way, you fed the kids before you left, right?"
"Gave them snacks too."
Kwak Suho smiled at that.
"Those little guys. They really are cute. And so good."
Lee Jun nodded and picked it up.
"They are. They really are."
"That's true. But Jun — it's nice having three of them, right? Easier on the heart than being home alone, I mean."
"Yeah. It is."
Lee Jun was picturing the three of them resting at home when, back at Golmokjib, those same three were each asleep in their own spots. They had eaten an early dinner, and for once the evening was quiet.
That was when a sudden thud sounded.
All three of them bolted upright and looked toward the window.
"A sound-ong."
"That's right. I heard it."
A dark shape wavered against the window. Hoesaegi, who had been looking out, lowered his head.
"It was the wind-ong."
Gkamnyangi put on a look of bored disappointment and answered too.
"It was the wind. I'm going back to sleep."
"That's right, it is. Sleep, let's sleep."
Sapsaree lay back down and closed his eyes. But his ears stayed pricked straight up.
He was not the only one. Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had their eyes shut as well — but their ears, like Sapsaree's, stood alert, listening to every sound beyond the window.