The Sound from Yesterday
After finishing clinic hours that evening, Lee Jun took Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi to Evergreen Park.
On any other day he would have walked, but he had the sleeping-bag blankets to bring, so he quickly went home and came back with the car. It was already past seven. Being winter, the sun was sinking low, and the world around them had grown dark.
But the eyes of the three animals gazing out the car windows were fiercely bright. Cats and dogs were naturally more active at night, true — but they were also scanning for any dangerous presence nearby.
Then the wind came whistling through, loud enough to hear even inside the closed car.
"They say the temperature's going to plummet starting tonight. It's going to be freezing."
"That's what I'm sayin'."
"Good thing we decided to go today."
"An' a good thing the blankets arrived in time, too."
The sleeping-bag blankets had been delivered at just the right moment.
"We got lucky."
Stopped at a red light, Lee Jun's gaze shifted in the rearview mirror to the three looking out the windows. Do they instinctively know it's getting colder? Well — they've been through plenty of cold winters. Of course they would. Looking at the cats staring out into the dark, his heart felt heavy. They were probably listening to that wind and worrying about their subordinates.
If only for Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, who were worrying about their people, Lee Jun resolved to check the park cats' hiding cubbies thoroughly.
Their destinations were Evergreen Park and Bluebird Park.
Jjaek's subordinates, who had lived in Song-i Park, had settled in Evergreen Park once winter began to arrive. Cats cling fiercely to their territory, but they had adapted with surprising ease. Compared to Song-i Park, Evergreen Park's Cat Town was luxurious beyond measure — abundant food, and a warm hiding cubby for each of them. That, Lee Jun suspected, was why the integration had succeeded.
And so there was no need to go all the way to Song-i Park.
The car headed first for Evergreen Park.
That was when Sapsaree's ears pricked up.
That's yesterday's sound, it is.
As Sapsaree turned to look back, Gkamnyangi's nose twitched. His magnificent whiskers trembled.
That smell.
The scent he had caught for the first time just the day before came flooding into Gkamnyangi's nose.
That's the same sound as yesterday, ong.
Hoesaegi pricked his ears and scanned their surroundings. Sapsaree did the same, concentrating on the sound.
Clomp-clomp. Clomp-clomp.
That's it, it is. That was the sound. But it's getting closer, it is!
Just as Sapsaree tensely looked toward the source of the sound, the car carrying them passed right by it.
Sapsaree craned his head around to look at the receding figure. But it was already far away. He couldn't see who it was.
They just went past, they did.
As Sapsaree's shoulders drooped, Hoesaegi wore the same expression.
It's gone far, ong.
The scent is fading.
The three of them tilted their heads with identical faces.
Just a passerby?
Did the same pedestrian walk past our Golmokjib too?
Probably.
And while they were thinking that, they were already in front of Evergreen Park.
Sapsaree got out and walked on his own; Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi were carried in Lee Jun's and Go Gi-jin's arms as they headed into Evergreen Park.
The moment they stepped inside, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi sprang from their arms.
They padded toward the cat tower, and from far off, Norangi came running. He had been standing sentry in a tree, and the instant he sensed Hoesaegi's presence, he had come flying.
Even as his tail spun in delighted circles, the greeting was impeccably formal. Norangi stopped in front of Hoesaegi and bowed his head low.
"Boss! Welcome."
"Norangi-ong, have you eaten, nyaong?"
The words Lee Jun always asked whenever he saw an animal — Have you eaten? — flowed automatically from Hoesaegi's mouth as well.
"Yes, we have. The subordinates have all eaten their fill as well."
At Norangi's report, the corners of Hoesaegi's mouth lifted.
"Is that so, ong? Nobody hurt, nyaong?"
"No, none."
Not just Norangi — no one was hurting. Folded into that answer was the meaning that they were getting through the cold well, too.
Just as Hoesaegi was pulling that smile even higher toward his ears, cats came running with a pitter-patter of paws.
"King Boss~~!"
"King Boss!"
"King Boss, Black Boss, hello."
The cats greeted every one of them.
"Has everyone been well, ong?"
"Yes!"
Nyaong, nyaong — the cats answered in whispering meows, their faces bright.
They gazed at Hoesaegi with eyes full of joy, and Hoesaegi looked back at them with the same expression. The difference was this: the cats were simply happy that their eternal boss had come, while Hoesaegi, in that brief moment, was checking his subordinates' condition as he smiled.
None of them look sick, ong.
They looked fine — but there could still be ones who were hurting.
Hoesaegi turned to the current leader, Norangi.
"Norangi-ong, any subordinates coughing, nyaong?"
"None."
"That's a relief, ong."
"We're not cold. It's warm."
"There's no wind, either."
"That's right. We sleep like this!"
Sogeum-i stretched all four legs out wide as she spoke. That was how warm it was inside the hiding cubbies — warm enough to sleep sprawled open, not curled tight against the cold.
Namgoong Construction had built new hiding cubbies this time around. Made with better insulation than last year's, they held heat far more effectively, and the cats were having a much warmer winter for it. They were getting through the season in comfort.
Heeheehee. Everyone looked at Hoesaegi with bright smiles, then soon shifted their gazes to Lee Jun. Hoesaegi did the same. Being able to stay warm on this freezing winter day was all thanks to Meongmeong Teacher, after all.
Meeting those grateful eyes, Lee Jun smiled.
"You guys look healthy. That's a relief. Kids, I brought new blankets. I'll swap them out for fresh ones."
Ehohoho!
The cats bounced and bounced with delight. A short while later, when Lee Jun laid the new blankets inside the hiding cubbies, their reaction was explosive.
In and out. The cats ducked into their houses and came back out, then wrapped themselves tightly around Lee Jun's and Go Gi-jin's legs.
"I-it's so warm."
"Heehee, it's so fluffy."
"Hohong hohong, it's so, so good."
Looking up at the two of them, every cat's eyes had curved into crescent moons.
"It's going to be cold today. Don't wander around outside tonight — sleep well. Oh, I put snacks in too, so eat those if you get hungry."
"Yes!"
Watching the cats rejoice over the new blankets, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi forgot the suspicious smell and sound they had noticed on the drive over.
And at Bluebird Park, the reaction was just the same as the Evergreen Park cats'.
By the time they had looked after everyone and come home, it was well past eleven.
Hoesaegi neatly gathered his two front paws and bowed his head low.
"Hyungnim-ong, thank you, ong."
The Cat Town, upgraded even further from last winter. The cats had spoken with one voice.
We're not cold.
And it was true — not a single cat was coughing.
That alone was more than enough to be grateful for, and then there were the fluffy, warm new blankets on top of it. The corners of Hoesaegi's mouth curled up as he thanked Lee Jun.
"Hyungnim, thank you."
Gkamnyangi said it wearing the same expression as Hoesaegi.
"Heehee, all the friends were smiling, they were."
Sapsaree was simply happy that his cat friends weren't cold, and that they had been smiling.
"Don't mention it. I'm more grateful that everyone's healthy. The New Year's coming, so let's have a good meal with your friends soon."
"Heehee, that's good, ong. Thank you, ong, Hyungnim-ong."
"Wow! Really?"
"Yeah. While we're at it, want to eat on my day off?"
"W-we're eating, ong?"
"Yeah. Let's eat after you've slept four nights."
"Yeah, yeah, got it, ong!"
"A-alright."
The two were in such a good mood they bounced in place, and Sapsaree bounced right along with his two hyungs. The three of them bounced around for a good while, then fell asleep.
That night, the sound from the day before — the one they had heard on the way to the park — did not come.
The next day, the three who came in to Mongmong Animal Hospital delivered the good news to One-eye and Jjaek.
"W-we're eating with the subordinates?"
"I-is that really true?"
"That's right, ong."
"Ah, and none of your subordinates were coughing, either."
"I-is that so?"
"Yeah. Everyone's doing well."
"Feel good?"
"Yes, i-it is good. Sniff!"
"Thank you, sir."
Jjaek and One-eye answered with reddened eyes, then quickly came down the stairs and walked toward Lee Jun.
And then —
Bow. Bow.
The two neatly gathered their front paws and greeted him.
"M-Meongmeong Teacher, thank you."
"Thank you, sir!"
"You guys, what's with the formal greeting over something like this?"
Lee Jun ruffled both their heads and went into the exam room. Watching him go, the two murmured.
"Boss, I believe we are truly happy, we are."
"Yeah. We're really fortunate. He's a truly kind man."
Jjaek answered while looking at the closed door. Then he quietly slipped up to the second floor. Lee Jun was a kind benefactor he was grateful for — but he still found the first-floor lobby, with so many people coming and going, uncomfortable.
That day at the animal hospital, the three were the same as always. They checked on sick friends, welcomed visiting friends, encouraged the ones who had come for the first time. They slept some, too.
Then they came home.
That night.
Grronk, grronk. While Lee Jun was snoring away, the three opened their eyes at the same time.
Sound, ong.
Smell.
There's a sound, there is.
It was that suspicious sound from just the day before. The three quietly crept up and went to the window.
But then —
Vroom. Along with the sound of a car, both the sound and the smell vanished.
In the dark room, the three animals' eyes met.
But they said nothing. If they made a sound, their sleeping hyungnim would wake.
Hyungnim needs to sleep, ong.
Hyungnim mustn't wake.
It's Hyungnim, it is. He has to sleep, he does.
Because their hyungnim must never collapse again.
The three quietly returned to the bed. But they did not go back to sleep. In case that suspicious sound came again.
They finally drifted off toward dawn, and the next morning they ate breakfast in a daze.
"They said it would get cold, but it's gotten way too cold."
"It's minus fourteen degrees, it is."
"Fourteen degrees?"
"Yessir, and they say the wind chill's over minus twenty."
"Ugh, that's brutal. If we take the kids out today, we'll be in real trouble."
"Reckon so."
"Yeah. Better to just rest at home. We've been going out too much lately anyway."
Lee Jun went on, looking at the three whose eyes were still full of sleep.
"They still look half-asleep. I should have them rest at home for a while. They look tired."
"Well, they need rest too, they do."
"Right? Anyway, I wonder if they were cold at night. Gi-jin, let's mix their kibble into a hot broth today."
As it had gotten colder, Lee Jun had opened the small shed in the garden as a sarangbang — a gathering room for the neighborhood cats. He had renovated it the previous year to have heating, and it was serving well as a shelter for them on freezing winter days.
"Sure thing, Hyungnim."
Lee Jun followed Go Gi-jin into the kitchen, calling the kids as he went.
"Hey, kids."
"Yeah, Hyungnim-ong."
"Hyungnim!"
"Hyungnim, it is."
Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree, who had been padding after the two of them, answered with smiling faces as if they had been waiting for it.
"Stay home today. It's too cold, so rest well at home. Play with your friends outside, or whatever."
Hyungnim's word was law. Instead of saying Why? I'm going to Mongmong Animal Hospital, the three answered:
"Got it, ong."
"Yeah."
"Got it, I will. I'll stay home, I will."
And so, for the first time in a good while, the three got to rest thoroughly at Golmokjib.
"Hyungnim-ong, have a good day, ong."
"Hyungnim! See you when it's dark."
"Hyungnim, it is. Please give your friends their medicine so they don't hurt."
After seeing Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin off to work, the three immediately fell asleep. To catch up on the sleep they had missed at night.
The three of them lay by the living room window. For a while, the only sound in the living room was their soft, low snoring.
They had been asleep since before eight in the morning, and they opened their eyes around noon.
Sapsaree woke first.
"Uuuuungh!"
Sapsaree stretched his four long legs out as far as they would go, then the first thing he did was go to the bathroom. After a good, satisfying pee, he lapped up water in long, thirsty gulps.
At this hour he would normally be running around playing with friends at the animal hospital. Having slept in, he was bored.
Sapsaree looked at his hyungs. Neither Hoesaegi nor Gkamnyangi showed any sign of getting up.
"Heigh-ho, it is."
Sapsaree let out a short sigh and wandered around the house.
Patter, patter, patter.
He walked on the mats laid over the floorboards so they wouldn't slip, so his footsteps were quiet. But to cats sensitive to sound, they were not quiet at all.
And these were Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, who were especially sensitive to any change in the sounds around them.
Hoesaegi, who had been awake since Sapsaree started peeing, cracked his eyes open and watched Sapsaree wandering around. Not that he had any intention of getting up.
So he closed his eyes again — and Sapsaree, who had a ghost's sense for the fact that Hoesaegi was awake, came over.
"Hyungnim, it is. I'm bored, I am."
But Hoesaegi did not budge.
Sapsaree quietly sighed again. Then he went over to Gkamnyangi, who still had his eyes closed a little ways off.
"Hyungnim, it is. Are you awake?"
"No. I'm not awake."
"Is that so, is it? Then why are your ears moving, are they? Your whiskers are moving too, they are."
"Hmph! I always move my ears and whiskers while I sleep."
"Gkamnyangi-ong. Isn't that because you're awake, nyaong? Play with Sapsaree, ong."
"I said no. I'm still sleeping. Hoesaegi, you play with Sapsaree."
Tap, tap. Hoesaegi struck the floor twice with his tail as he answered.
"I'm sleeping too, ong."
"I'm sleeping too."
Whoosh, whoosh. Gkamnyangi flicked his tail twice as well. Then he added, as if muttering,
"Sapsaree, this hyungnim should play with you, but let's sleep just a little more… huh?"
Gkamnyangi, who had been saying he would sleep a bit more, suddenly bolted up and looked out the window.
"That's right, ong, let's play a little later, ooong?"
Hoesaegi, who had been apologetically speaking to Sapsaree, did the same.
Sapsaree, too preoccupied with the sound outside to even register what the two had said to him, ran to the window.
"That time — that's the sound, it is!"