The Sound That Wasn't the Wind
They had been listening to the sounds outside for a full hour.
Hoesaegi yawned.
Auuuong!
Then he flopped onto his back and splayed all four legs wide.
"I'm going to sleep-ong."
No more suspicious sounds were coming, which meant he could rest easy. Gkamnyangi joined him, stretching all four legs out with a long, luxurious sigh.
"Uuuugh... I'm going to sleep too. Good night."
Sapsaree, who had been lying on his belly with his ears still pricked, rolled onto his side and spoke to his cat brothers.
"Good night, hyungnims."
The three of them drifted off in the quiet of Golmokjib.
On any ordinary night, their rumbling snores would have started up at once — but not a sound came.
Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin had the next day off, so they lingered over drinks and didn't come home until after midnight. The three animals greeted the returning pair with tremendous enthusiasm.
Lee Jun laughed at the sight of them.
"Anyone watching would think we hadn't seen each other in a month."
"Heh heh, ain't that the whole point of livin' with these kids?"
"That's true. Who else would ever greet us like this?"
"That's how it is, y'know."
The three of them fell asleep to Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin's praise — this time snoring away as usual, rumbling just like always.
Watching them drop right back into sleep and start snoring, Lee Jun smiled.
"Looks like they were sleeping pretty hard."
"That's what I'm sayin'. That's why they start snorin' the second they hit the floor. But watchin' 'em pop right up even from a sleep that deep — that's somethin' to be proud of, ain't it?"
"It is."
Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin went to bed thinking how remarkable the three of them were.
Listening to Lee Jun's breathing beside them, Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree sank into a deeper sleep. Only then did their hearts finally settle.
The next day, the three of them reported to Mongmong Animal Hospital as usual. After checking on their friends in the inpatient ward and reporting to Lee Jun, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi headed to the hospital lobby and sprawled out on the cat tower, while Sapsaree went downstairs to the Brave Ones' House.
Hoesaegi gazed out the window, lost in thought. That sound last night was strange-ong. He was turning over the suspicious noise from the night before.
As the one responsible for his subordinates' safety, Hoesaegi was sensitive to even the slightest change. If something felt off, it was off. And last night's sound had been suspicious in the extreme.
That wasn't the wind-ong. Wind goes "shik" or "shung"-ong. So it hadn't been a natural sound at all — it had been something artificial. There was a creak-ong. And a "toong" sound too-ong. Hoesaegi thought for a moment. And there was a "thump-thump" kind of sound too-ong.
While Hoesaegi was sorting through the sounds his ears had caught the night before, Gkamnyangi was thinking along the same lines.
The noise from outside the house had been strange, just as Hoesaegi thought — but what bothered Gkamnyangi even more was the smell. Hmph. That smell last night... I'd never smelled anything like it. It hadn't been one of the usual scents. It had been something unfamiliar. The doors had been shut tight, so it hadn't been strong — but it was a new smell all the same.
While the two of them were reconstructing the previous night, Sapsaree was having similar thoughts.
"Sapsaree hyungnim! Here it comes!"
Ggungggung-i sent the mini gym ball rolling so hard it made a pong. The ball lofted for a moment, then bounced — thump-thump-thump — right up to Sapsaree.
But Sapsaree made no move to hit it. He tilted his head and muttered to himself.
"That's not the sound, no."
Dangdang-i, standing beside him, kicked the ball away and asked,
"Huh?"
"That's not it either, no."
Far from answering the question, Sapsaree only said something even more puzzling, so Dangdang-i asked again.
"Sapsaree hyungnim, what are you talking about? What sound?"
"There was a strange sound outside the house last night, there was."
"What kind of strange sound?"
Dangdang-i shook his round, boxy face from side to side.
"A suspicious sound, it was. A sound I'd never heard before. The hyungnims said it was the wind. But it wasn't the wind, no. Wind goes 'whoosh,' 'shung,' sounds like that."
"That's right. When the wind goes shung-shung, it gets super cold."
When Sapsaree made the sound of the wind, Dangdang-i picked up the thread and added his own thoughts.
"When it goes whoo-whoo, it gets super cold. But it's not cold at all right now. And that scary whoo-whoo sound doesn't happen much."
Of course it didn't. They were in a solidly built building, and underground at that — almost no sound reached them.
"That's right. The whoo-whoo is wind too. But last night's sound wasn't whoo-whoo either, no."
"So what was it?"
"There was a rustling sound. And..."
Just then, Sapsaree broke off mid-sentence and pricked up his ears. His eyes sparkled.
"That was it, right there. Did you hear it?"
Thud-thud-thud.
It was a small sound, but Sapsaree's ears caught it perfectly. Then it vanished. Whoever had made it had probably gone upstairs, or disappeared into the elevator.
Sapsaree pricked his ears, then corrected himself.
"Similar, but different. Yesterday it went 'thuuump-thump, thuuump-thump.'"
He said it with complete conviction, but the Brave Ones couldn't make sense of it.
"What's a thuuump-thump?"
"Dunno. Must be a sound we don't know."
"Yeah, must be. Sapsaree hyungnim knows way more than we do."
The Brave Ones looked at Sapsaree with eyes full of respect and came to that conclusion.
"But Sapsaree hyungnim. Why that face? You're brave no matter how suspicious or scary a sound is."
"Yeah. You even made Seorak — that huge-faced one — get down on his knees."
"Come on, no way Sapsaree hyungnim is scared. He's just curious, that's all."
The Brave Ones brought up the tale of making Seorak kneel that Sapsaree had told them, emphasizing just how brave their hyungnim was.
Listening from the side, Sapsaree flinched.
Seorak's terrifying gaze. That earth-shaking roar that made your legs give out and made you want to squeeze your eyes shut just from hearing it. He had never in his life met anything so frightening.
They had grown close enough later that Seorak would poke his flesh through the bars and Sapsaree would rub against him — but the terror of that first meeting was carved into his mind the way a name is carved into stone. Aigoo, it was so, so scary.
Maybe that was why he'd been so sensitive to last night's sound. The fear that there might be other terrifying beings in the world. The fear that something even more terrifying than Seorak might appear — that was why he'd gone so sharp at an unfamiliar noise.
A sudden chill ran through Sapsaree. He gave a little shiver, then said to the Brave Ones,
"That's right. I'm curious, I am. You have to know every sound you've never heard before."
"Wow! Sapsaree hyungnim really is amazing. That's why he knows everything in the world."
"Of course he does. There's nothing Sapsaree hyungnim doesn't know."
"Yeah. Hyungnim knows it all. Tell us everything."
The Brave Ones had learned how to climb mountains, how to walk across wide plains, and how to play all kinds of fun games from Sapsaree and their brilliant trainers, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi. So Sapsaree, who insisted you had to know even the most trivial unfamiliar sound, looked magnificent to them.
Basking in the Brave Ones' burning, reverent gazes, Sapsaree was thinking something else entirely. No. If a terrifying one shows up, I have to notice right away. So he had to keep his ears open for unfamiliar sounds. And if an unknown one appeared, he had to strike back immediately. The hyungnims can't get hurt. So he would stand and fight.
Thinking this, Sapsaree looked down at Dangdang-i, recalling the stories he'd heard from Ggungggung-i and the others. Dangdang-i was proud and brave for friends much bigger than himself. So I have to be proud and brave too. Fight with his head held high — or hold the line long enough for the hyungnims to escape. Either way, the moment a sound came, moving immediately without delay was the advantage.
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had reacted so sharply to last night's sound for the same reason.
The two of them had lived believing they were the strongest in the world. And in truth, Hoesaegi had never once met anyone stronger than himself. Even Jageun Hoesaegi had only fallen short in raw strength — Hoesaegi had never, not once, looked at him and felt fear or the urge to run.
Seorak had been different.
Both Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had learned, upon meeting Seorak, that terrifying beings existed in this world. There might be another terrifying one like Seorak-ong. If such a one appeared, not only the Golmokjib family but the Evergreen family as well might be in danger.
"I need to stay on guard-ong."
He couldn't let himself grow slack. Just as Hoesaegi steeled himself, Gkamnyangi muttered,
"We have to be careful."
Because whoever had made that sound last night might be as terrifying as Seorak.
"Gkamnyangi-ong, careful of what-ong?"
"Ah, nothing. Just talking."
Gkamnyangi didn't want Hoesaegi to catch him looking weak, so he covered.
"Is that so-ong?"
"Y-yeah. I was just going to tell the subordinates to be careful not to go atchoo since it's winter."
"That's right-ong. Going atchoo in the cold is serious-ong."
"R-right. So I was going to look around, and if anyone's cold, I'll even give them my vest."
"I'll do the same-ong."
The two of them, who had started out wondering what last night's suspicious sound had been, arrived at a plan to check whether their subordinates were having any trouble getting through the winter. It was a completely different conclusion from where they'd started — but a useful and worthwhile plan in its own right.
Just as the two of them were thinking of their subordinates, Lee Jun came out of the exam room, carrying in his arms a cat with a jet-black back and a white belly: Doobu.
The corners of Gkamnyangi's mouth lifted on their own. Seeing a friend who looked like him just made his heart feel warm. In that mood, Gkamnyangi waved a front paw.
"Doobu, you okay?"
"Ung, the Diwectow did a keung for me. Doesn't huwt."
That meant a nebulizer treatment had cleared her nose right out.
Before coming to Mongmong Animal Hospital, Doobu had lived for a long time with chronic nasal inflammation. Perhaps because of that, her nose had grown fragile, and she ended up visiting the hospital from time to time in the cold of winter or when the spring pollen flew.
Just as Doobu said, she did seem much better.
"No more chik-chik sounds-ong."
"Right."
"If any of the subordinates start going chik-chik, I'll tell hyungnim-ong."
Thinking there might be subordinates coughing chik-chik like Doobu, Hoesaegi spoke up.
"Yeah."
With that thought, the two of them said goodbye to Doobu and promptly told Lee Jun,
"Hyungnim-ong, we're going to check on the subordinates-ong. If they're going chik-chik like Doobu, that's serious-ong."
"I'm going too. If the subordinates are going chik-chik, I'll tell hyungnim."
"Going to see your friends?"
"That's right. If they go atchoo, that's serious."
"That's right-ong. We can't have subordinates going atchoo-ong."
"All right, let's go. The weather's gotten cold — seems like we've been seeing quite a few kids like Doobu lately."
Just then, Jang Sora, who had seen Doobu's guardian out of the hospital, spoke to Lee Jun.
"Director, the kids' blankets are here."
In winter, when it snowed, things got damp. A blanket soaked with moisture from the snow only dropped body temperature further. So Lee Jun replaced the park cats' blankets at regular intervals — sometimes having them washed until they were fluffy and swapping them in, sometimes providing new ones entirely.
That was why Jang Sora and the staff checked for decent blankets every time they browsed pet shopping sites. A few days ago, Jang Sora had found cat sleeping-bag blankets that looked warmer than the ones they had. She'd reported it to Lee Jun and been told to order them immediately. Those blankets had just arrived.
Lee Jun asked with a smile,
"Oh, they are? Are they nice?"
"I haven't looked yet. I was just about to open them."
At Jang Sora's words, Lee Jun turned his head this way and that, then pointed at two large boxes sitting there.
"Those?"
"Yes."
The cats trotted after Lee Jun as he walked over to the boxes, paws padding along behind him. When he opened a box, their eyes went round.
"It's... it's huge-ong."
"Whoa, even Seorak could fit in there."
And then — pong — they leaped up into the box.
Crinkle-crinkle.
At the sound of eight little paws treading on plastic bags, Sapsaree pressed his face right up against the box of sleeping-bag blankets and giggled.
"Heehee, it's squishy. It makes a sound, it does."
The plastic made noise, but what was inside was fluffy.
"Sapsaree-ong. That's right-ong. It's fluffy-ong."
"Heheh, this sound is nice too."
Crinkle-crinkle. Gkamnyangi stomped on the plastic with delighted little steps.
"Nice, right? Go on, kids, pick one each."
At Lee Jun's words, the cats' ears pricked up.
"Pick whichever one you like. These are blankets, you know."
Lee Jun pulled one of the items from the box and peeled off the plastic. The flat blanket whoomp-whoomp puffed up. Watching it swell, the cats' eyes swelled right along with it.
"I-it looks good-ong."
"It looks warm."
"Right? It looks warm."
Lee Jun smiled and slipped his hand into the sleeping-bag blanket. Wrapped in the soft microfiber, his hand felt warm.
"Nice."
"W-warm-ong."
Beside Lee Jun, Hoesaegi patted the blanket with a front paw and smiled.
"It's warm. And fluffy."
Gkamnyangi pressed it with little pokes and smiled too.
"See? Which one do you like?"
At Lee Jun's question, the two of them shook their heads firmly.
"I'm fine-ong."
"That's right. We're fine."
Having said that, the two of them muttered as if they'd planned it.
"If the subordinates go inside this and sleep, they'll be warm-ong."
"The subordinates would like this..."
Hearing the cats mutter, Lee Jun looked at them with fond pride.
"These are theirs. Blankets for your subordinates to cover up with."
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi's eyes went huge.
"I-is that so-ong?"
"For our subordinates?"
"That's right. They say it's going to get colder tomorrow, so this worked out well. Let's take them along when we go check if any of the kids are coughing."
Kkieohong!
Eongeohong!
The cats bounced up and down with joy. Then they wrapped themselves tightly around Lee Jun's legs.
"Thank you-ong. Hyungnim-ong, thank you-ong."
"Hyungnim! Thank you, thank you."
The cats were so happy they could have cried, and Sapsaree was simply delighted.
"Heehee, this is good, it is."