Don't Go Far
The cats who had been sprawled along the windowsill were already on their feet, shoving their heads through the curtains to peer outside.
Sapsaree joined them, and six eyes gleamed.
They rolled to the right.
They rolled to the left.
Six round eyes tracked together, and at the same time six pointed ears, standing sharp and tall, twitched and fidgeted.
After some five minutes of nothing but eyes and ears in motion, Sapsaree was the first to let out a long sigh.
"It was the same sound, dayo."
"That's right, ong."
"Yeah."
The sound they had heard the day before, and the day before that.
The three of them lost interest at once.
Hoesaegi, still looking out the window, spoke.
"I'm going outside, ong."
He meant to check on his subordinates at the warehouse Sarangbang, and Sapsaree's tail swished back and forth.
"I'll go out too, dayo."
He had been cooped up indoors all day and was bored enough to follow Hoesaegi out.
Gkamnyangi watched the two of them, then flicked his head away and padded back to his spot.
"Go ahead. I'm going to sleep."
Hoesaegi and Sapsaree slipped out to the yard through Kongdol-i's dedicated door in the kitchen, and Gkamnyangi slept.
And so the three of them spent a peaceful day.
The next day was still bitterly cold, so the three of them did not go in to Mongmong Animal Hospital and rested at home instead.
Peaceful days, identical to the one before.
They slept long, sprawling afternoon naps, and when hunger stirred they got up, went to their individual bowls of treats, and picked whatever snack they fancied.
"I'm going outside, ong."
"Going to see your subordinates?"
"That's right, ong."
"Go."
Gkamnyangi lay sprawled, waving his tail in lazy arcs.
"I'm going over there, dayo."
Sapsaree announced he was heading up to the second floor — meaning he intended to explore the rooms upstairs.
Gkamnyangi waved his tail again.
"Go ahead. I'm going to sleep."
Hoesaegi went outside, Sapsaree went upstairs, and Gkamnyangi settled in by the window to sleep. The living room was still. Gkamnyangi drifted off before long.
His nose twitched in his sleep. A smell. The same smell from yesterday, and the day before that.
After several days of it, he had grown more or less accustomed.
Gkamnyangi sniffed a couple of times, then sank back into sleep.
Meanwhile, Sapsaree, who had gone upstairs, entered Go Gi-jin's room first. After exploring it, he moved on to the room beside it.
It was a room used for storage, full of interesting things tucked into every corner. He had once found a ball in here, and another time he had discovered photographs of Kongdol-i and Lee Jun.
This was the room that held Kongdol-i's treasure house.
What else might there be? He was wandering with his nose stretched out, sniffing as he went, when a sound came from outside.
Tak. A very small sound.
But Sapsaree's ears reacted at once.
They pricked. That's the sound, dayo. The sound that had been going on for days.
Then came footsteps — thud-thud, thud-thud.
This sound, too, was one he had been hearing for days.
A familiar sound is not a dangerous sound.
Sapsaree soon lost interest in the noises outside and went back to his exploration.
Meanwhile, Hoesaegi was chatting with his subordinates.
"It's so wonderful. It's so, so warm here that I don't go to the Moving Stones anymore."
A car that has just been switched off stays warm for a while, which is why cats gather beneath them in winter to escape the cold. That was what the cats were talking about.
"Hehe, same here. It's always warm, and it doesn't move, and also…"
An alley cat went on, looking at the food bowls heaped high with kibble.
"There's lots of food, too."
"The water's really warm as well."
"That's a relief, ong."
Hoesaegi smiled gently, watching his subordinates grin with such obvious satisfaction.
Then he added something.
"Tell the other subordinates, too, ong. Don't go under the Moving Stones, ong."
There had been cats who had gone to the Cat Star after falling asleep under a car because it was warm.
"Make sure you tell the kittens who don't know that Moving Stones are scary, ong."
"Yes, sir."
Just as Hoesaegi was telling them that cars were dangerous, a sound came from outside.
Tak — something closing. The same sound, ong. The sound from yesterday, and the day before. The same smell.
A sound he would have ignored and let pass if it had been yesterday.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
The sound Sapsaree had heard and dismissed.
But within that familiar sound, a sound he was hearing for the first time lived alongside it.
Rustle, rustle.
A dry, crispy sound that cats adore.
The moment Hoesaegi heard it, though, his fur stood on end. That's strange, ong. It was clearly a pleasant sound — so why was his fur standing up?
He would have to go and check.
Hoesaegi said to his subordinates,
"Stay here, ong. I'm going on patrol, ong."
"Please, King Boss. Allow us to escort you."
Eolugi, who held a sort of boss position in this alley where Golmokjib stood, bowed his head to Hoesaegi, and the calico beside him stood as well.
"King Boss, I'll go with you too."
"Me too."
Hoesaegi looked at the cats who wanted to come along.
Every one of them had similarly short fur. They would feel the cold several times more keenly than he did, with his long coat.
"No, ong. It's cold, ong. I'll go alone, ong."
Hoesaegi shook his head at his short-furred subordinates and went outside.
Then he patrolled the yard. Nothing here, ong. In that case, he would climb up high and look.
Hoesaegi leaped onto the tree standing in the yard.
A tree with all its leaves gone, nothing left but bare branches.
He could not hide his body, but his field of vision opened wide. He could even see the road beyond the wall. A Moving Stone, ong. Those mysterious stones you could ride to go whoosh-whoosh far away. Hyungnim's is over there, ong. Hoesaegi turned his head toward where Lee Jun had parked his car.
To Hoesaegi, cars were objects of both love and hate.
They were grateful beings that carried him to mountains and fields and the sea, and to friends he wanted to see.
But they were also terrifying beings that had crushed him flat.
Hoesaegi recalled the time he had been hit by a car — how much it had hurt, how agonizing and frightening it had been — and his shoulders trembled.
It was good, and he was grateful, when he was with Hyungnim. When he was alone, they were still a source of fear.
As he watched the car with those thoughts in his head, something glittered. A light, sparkling.
What was that?
Before he could even think, Hoesaegi's eyes locked onto it.
Just as they always did when a red laser was shone against a wall.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The light darted dizzyingly up and down and side to side.
In an instant, Hoesaegi leaped down from the tree. Then he whooshed up onto the wall.
Even then he was fixed on the red laser light, and the light kept moving along the wall beyond.
His body and his eyes followed it, shifting slightly. He even dropped to his belly and crawled; he stretched his neck long from atop the wall. That was when it happened.
BOOM!
A tremendous sound.
He flinched.
Hoesaegi's body froze solid.
Then the sounds came in a rush.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Sounds too much to bear.
Hoesaegi's body shrank in on itself.
At that moment, they came again.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Enormous sounds that would not stop.
Even Hoesaegi, however brave and stout-hearted he was, trembled from nose to tail.
His fierce golden eyes shook.
The thought that seized the head of Hoesaegi, crouched low against the wall: I have to hide, ong.
Agile as he was, Hoesaegi launched his body before he even registered that he was thinking it.
Whoosh!
He leaped down from the wall. Then he ran with everything he had.
He dashed.
And something settled over the head of Hoesaegi as he ran in a frenzy.
At the same instant, Hoesaegi screamed.
In the United States, more companion animals go missing between July 4th and 6th than at any other time of year. Lost animals flood local shelters until the doors can barely hold them.
The reason is fireworks.
Some states ban fireworks and some do not, but during those days fireworks displays and festivals erupt nationwide — and on an enormous scale.
Cats and dogs, terrified by the tremendous roar of the exploding fireworks, flee in a panic.
How do animals that are at home manage to run away?
Through windows, through dog doors, through any house door left standing open — they simply run.
To escape a boom too frightening to endure.
That is how bad it is. There are even special volunteer shifts at animal shelters on that day: volunteer work to soothe the animals startled by the fireworks held in celebration of Independence Day.
The sound of fireworks exploding causes enormous stress in animals. Especially if they are already in a heightened state of tension at a stray-animal shelter.
The volunteers gathered there use every method they know to reassure the animals until the fireworks finally stop.
That is how terrifying the firework sounds were that boomed right beside Hoesaegi.
No matter how brave he was, no matter that he was the leader of his pack, no matter that in Eunpyeong-gu the mere name Silver Rain made cats tremble —
And even though he had become friends with Seorak, whose face was enormous and whose roar was terrifying!
The firework sounds pounding as if they would shatter his eardrums…
He had to run. There was no other choice.
So he had been running in a frenzy when a net came down over him.
A net he could see through. A net he could walk in, if he tried.
He dashed.
Hoesaegi pushed forward.
But the net surrounding him did not disappear.
It swayed — and his body could go no farther.
Slip, swish-swish.
This time he tried going sideways. The net was still in front of his eyes, clinging and draping over his body.
Tak, tak, tak.
He struck out with his front paws. He tried his hind paws too.
Still immovable.
Irritated beyond measure, Hoesaegi let out a sharp yowl.
"UAAH-AEOOHONG!"
Then, a slide of movement.
Someone approached, wafting the very smell that had been hanging in the air for days.
That person reached a hand toward Hoesaegi.
"KYAAOOK!"
Hoesaegi unsheathed his claws as far as they would go and bared his teeth.
"I won't let this stand, ong!"
He would drive those claws into the bastard in front of him. Then he would scratch him and run.
He would show him!
Having made up his mind, Hoesaegi launched himself.
Whoosh!
But — thud.
Because of the net, his body would not move as he wanted.
That did not mean he was going to give up.
Hoesaegi's golden eyes gleamed as he leaped once more.
Taat!
And in the end, he was bound.
Hoesaegi, his whole body constricted, bared his teeth and growled.
"KYAAOOK!"
Just you wait until I get you. I'll bite you to pieces.
Hoesaegi put all his strength into his jaw. His opponent took no damage at all. Instead —
Chomp!
The face of Hoesaegi, who had bitten down with everything he had, twisted.
"That hurts, ong!"
His teeth went numb. His jaw went numb.
He had bitten, but it was not a biteable situation.
Instead —
Slide!
He was put into a kennel.
"L-let me out, ong! I'm getting out of here, ong!"
Scratch-scratch-scratch-scratch-scratch!
Hoesaegi clawed at the kennel without mercy, screaming.
"KYAAOOOK! KYAAK! KYAAOOOK!"
Hoesaegi kept screaming even as his body shook. Then, thud. The shaking stopped.
Hoesaegi's eyes trembled. A Moving Stone, ong. The eyes of Hoesaegi, who often rode in Lee Jun's car, would not stop shaking.
Clever Hoesaegi knew all too well that if this thing moved, it would go far, far away. I-I can't go far, ong. Going a little far was one thing — he could get from home to Mongmong Animal Hospital on his own just fine. But finding his way from home to where Seorak was, that would be hard alone. Yom-yom-i's house is too far, too, ong. If he ended up going somewhere that far… N-no, ong! Hoesaegi screamed with all his might.
He cried out to the Hyungnim who came to mind first, begging to be saved.
"Strong Hyungnim, ong! I-I'm here, ong!"
Then he cried out to Strong Hyungnim.
"Gkamnyangi, ong, Sapsaree, ong, I-I'm here, ong! Save me, ong!"
Ordinarily he would never have asked Gkamnyangi for help — not in a thousand years — but right now he simply screamed.
He wanted help even from Gkamnyangi's paws. The same went for Sapsaree.
Hoesaegi screamed for Lee Jun and his family to save him until his voice gave out.