The Meaning of Home
Morning at Golmokjib always began on a bright note.
It started with the cheerful laughter of Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree.
But that laughter had vanished from Golmokjib. It had only been two days, and yet those two days had felt impossibly long.
A space that had sunk into gloom.
And into that space, laughter had returned.
Hoesaegi leaped down from the bed the moment he woke and padded through every corner of the house, beaming.
"Hehe, this is our home-ong."
Ah—but of course, the very first thing he did upon waking was greet Hyungnim.
Bubibubi.
He burrowed into Hyungnim's arms, still heavy with sleep, and rubbed his whole body against him, soaking up the warmth.
He greeted Gkamnyangi and Sapsaree, who had shared the same bed, as well.
In the old days, he would have given them nothing more than a bleary-eyed glance. The way one does with brothers, with blood kin living under the same roof.
Though, actually, he was a touch gentler than that. Blood relatives didn't share a bed, for one thing—and if they caught each other's eye, they'd snap something like, "What are you looking at?" They'd wear thoroughly unpleasant expressions, too.
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had always been closer than that. Warmer. And now they were closer still.
To Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi was a comrade who had risked his life to escape a battlefield together. A bond thick with brotherhood-in-arms.
Hoesaegi wriggled over beside Gkamnyangi. He pressed his rump and flank flush against Gkamnyangi's body and, at the same time, draped his plush tail across Gkamnyangi's back.
A toasty warmth.
Both of them loved that warmth so much they grinned at each other.
"Gkamnyangi-ong, this is our home-ong."
"Yeah. This is our home."
It was an awkward thing to say as a morning greeting, but neither of them could have asked for better words.
And of course they didn't forget to greet their precious little brother, Sapsaree.
"Sapsaree-ong, did you sleep well-nyaong!"
"Sapsaree, you sleep okay?"
Sapsaree, who'd been lying right beside them, answered by lazily tapping both of them with his long tail.
"I slept real well, I did! Did you hyungs sleep well too?"
"You bet! Slept like a rock."
"Slept great-ong."
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi gazed at Sapsaree with fond, lingering eyes, and Sapsaree gazed back at his hyungs with bright, sparkling ones.
And then—
Pong. Thump. Thud!
As if they'd planned it, all three hopped down from the bed at once. Then they left the room and made a circuit of the house.
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, overwhelmed with gratitude at being back in Golmokjib. Sapsaree, overjoyed that he could see his two hyungs again. And so the three of them went over every inch of the place—the living room, the bedrooms, even the second floor.
Just as they had once patrolled every corner of Neulpureun Park and Bluebird Park when those had been their territories.
Ah, but there was a difference. In the parks, their nerves had always been honed sharp, on guard for possible intruders. Now they trotted about with hearts full of nothing but joy. Simply being in this wonderful place—that was enough.
Not that Neulpureun Park or Bluebird Park were any less wonderful. They were wonderful places. Places that made the corners of their mouths lift just thinking about them. That was Neulpureun Park. That was Bluebird Park.
To Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, those two parks were home. They thought of their hometown parks often. But they didn't ache with longing. They could go whenever they pleased, and they saw their subordinates' faces every day. And they knew those subordinates were living comfortably. So when they thought of their hometown parks, they smiled.
Jjaek and One-eye thought of their hometown just as often.
Their hometown was Song-i Park.
They were living at Mongmong Animal Hospital now, but to both of them, Song-i Park was home, territory, and sanctuary of the heart. Their subordinates would be the same. Circumstances had them staying at Neulpureun Park, but their hearts would always be in Song-i Park.
Even if it was a cold, hungry place… it was the place that came to mind when they closed their eyes, and the place that came to mind when they opened them and looked up at the sky. That was Song-i Park. Because it was home.
That was what a hometown was. A place always on your mind. A place you missed with a piercing ache.
The moment Jjaek opened his eyes, he thought of home—of Song-i Park. The tall tree he had always climbed like a reserved perch, surveying every direction. In spring and autumn, lying up in that tree with a gentle breeze washing over him had felt so good. On scorching summer days he'd napped in a dense thicket in the corner, and there was the broad stone slab where he'd shared food with his boys whenever he'd brought some back.
As he was thinking of that beloved park, a sound came from beside him.
Krrrk, krrrk, krrrk!
One-eye was snoring, all four limbs splayed, belly offered up to the sky, wearing the most peaceful expression in the world.
Jjaek took him in for a moment.
This guy. One-eye sure sleeps easy.
Jjaek had always thought of One-eye as the type who slept curled into a ball. Every time he'd looked, the kid had been sleeping all coiled up. But thinking about it now—
He was always on edge.
He'd been holding himself ready, never knowing when danger might strike. He'd been tense.
Hmph. This place really is good.
Always safe. Food overflowing. Water whenever you wanted it. And that wasn't all. On a cold day like this, it was so, so warm. No whistling wind. No cold that cut to the bone. The finest den imaginable.
Jjaek sank into thought as he watched One-eye, still snoring, sleeping as if he hadn't a care in the world.
Hmm. The boys say Cat Town is great, and this guy loves it here too.
Then what became of Song-i Park—their hometown and their territory?
Winter made life hard, sure, but summer wasn't so bad. Plenty of trees, thick grass—an excellent place to stay hidden. Plenty of shade from the blazing sun, too. The shortage of food was the hitch.
No… that was the most serious problem of all.
To be honest, you couldn't call Song-i Park a good territory. Because there wasn't enough food. So why had Jjaek and One-eye clung to Song-i Park all this time? Simply because it was where they'd been born and raised?
That could be part of it. But more than that, you could say Jjaek had insisted on the place precisely because it was poor in food and harsh to live in.
If Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had heard him say that, their eyes would have gone round.
"Jjaek-ong! A place with no food is a bad place-ong."
"Jjaek, you've got it all wrong. You can't live somewhere there's no food, you idiot."
Something like that. But for Jjaek, it had been the best place there was. Because a place with no food almost never saw outsiders invading. The optimal place to live with One-eye, who had no strength and couldn't see out of one eye. That place had been Song-i Park.
Even if he explained this, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi would just go round-eyed again.
"Jjaek-ong, you have to give One-eye lots of food-ong."
"Yeah, you moron. So instead of staying in Song-i Park with no food, you should've gone somewhere better."
Like that. But that was because Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi didn't know what Jjaek had been like in the past.
In the past—back when One-eye was still a tiny little kid—Jjaek had been terrible at fighting. Not just terrible. When he ran into big guys, he ran. Every time. A coward.
So how had he become the boss of Song-i Park?
Luckily or unluckily, the Song-i Park Jjaek had lived in saw few newcomers. It was such a barren place to settle that cats came and then left. And Jjaek, with no confidence in a fight, had never been able to bring himself to leave for some other district rich in food. He'd just wandered the sparsely populated Song-i Park, scraping by.
But not every cat who came to Song-i Park left. Among them were cats who meant to settle there. To those cats, Jjaek—the old-timer of the place—was a thorn in their side. In a place short on food, eliminating even one extra mouth was the law of nature. Fights were inevitable.
Jjaek could no longer run or dodge. Where was he supposed to go, dragging along One-eye, who could barely see and was sickly and frail?
Jjaek had to protect One-eye, with whom he'd happened to meet and formed a bond of fierce affection. One-eye, whose eyes were swollen shut, who couldn't even see what was in front of him.
That desire to protect him—that was what made the coward Jjaek start to fight. And as he fought, at some point he had taken Song-i Park. He had become its true boss. A coward transformed into a fighter.
Jjaek had held that place. He had held Song-i Park. And he'd gained subordinates, too.
Anyway, to Jjaek, Song-i Park was another version of himself. That was why Song-i Park was so precious.
Perhaps because he'd been turning it over in his mind ever since he'd heard the day before that Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had gone a round with Neopdede and his lot, Jjaek found himself wanting to go to Song-i Park.
Nobody'll be there, it being winter and all.
Song-i Park would be just as it had been when he'd left it. Jjaek didn't think he could lose his territory. Who would come live in a place that cold, with no food? You'd be better off going to Neulpureun Park or Bluebird Park and asking for a little food.
Of course, Jjaek himself had never done that.
Anyway, Jjaek wanted to go to Song-i Park. He wanted to see it with his own eyes. He wanted to see that his hometown was still there, safe and sound.
When Meongmeong Teacher comes, I'll bring it up. We can't stay here forever, after all.
And that wasn't all. His own boys, boarding at Neulpureun Park. What were they thinking? They might say it was great—warm backs, full bellies. But they might also hate living on someone else's sufferance, watching their step.
Then Jjaek looked at One-eye, still snoring away.
This guy likes it here, doesn't he? No—he loves it.
And if that was the case, what should he do?
Jjaek's eyes grew moist as he gazed at One-eye sleeping in that utterly unguarded pose. Because it occurred to him that they might have to part.
Just then, One-eye opened his eyes. One eye still closed, the other open. It looked like a wink. In that state, One-eye offered Jjaek his morning greeting.
"Boss, did you sleep well, sir?"
A subordinate who winked the instant he opened his eyes in the morning. Jjaek rather liked that greeting from One-eye. He put on a gentle smile and returned it.
"Yeah. You sleep alright?"
"Yes, hehehe. I slept so, so well, sir. King Boss and Black Boss are back, too. By the way, when will we get to eat with our boys?"
Looking at One-eye's big face, beaming so brightly, Jjaek thought:
I'd be pretty bored if I couldn't see this guy. Who else is going to wink at me with one eye every morning?
Not bored—he'd be lonely. He'd miss him. Jjaek wrapped that feeling up and labeled it boredom.
"Who knows! The hyungs are back, so we'll eat together soon enough, won't we?"
"We will, won't we? Hehehe. Just thinking about seeing the boys has me in such a good mood, sir."
One-eye set off with a little bounce in his step, and Jjaek followed at a leisurely pace.
"Hmm, hmm. What's for breakfast today?"
"The soft meat, maybe? Or the crunchy food? Hehe, both are delicious, but I'd love the soft meat, sir."
"Eh, I like both."
"That's true, sir. When have we ever been picky about breakfast?"
"That's a fact. A day we got breakfast was a day we'd hit the jackpot."
"Exactly, sir. Hehehe. Meongmeong Teacher is so wonderful. Ah—it's Teacher."
"So it is. Meongmeong Teacher and the hyungs."
Just as they'd said, the playground door opened and Lee Jun, Hoesaegi, and Gkamnyangi came in. Sapsaree ambled in a little behind them.
Lee Jun spoke.
"Kids, let's eat with your friends tomorrow afternoon. Sound good?"
"Oh! T-tomorrow, you mean?"
"Tomorrow?"
"That's right-ong. We'll all eat together at Neulpureun-ong."
"Our boys are coming to Neulpureun too."
"Hehe, it's our friends! We're all gonna eat together!"
Everyone was smiling, and Jjaek smiled too—a grin that rose of its own accord at the thought of gathering in one place with his boys for the first time in so long.
The next day, when Jjaek met his boys at Neulpureun Park, he smiled even more brightly than the day before.
Until he heard what Milo, the Territory Boss of the Bluebird district, had to say.
In the middle of a full-blown feast, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi were sitting in a huddle with Norangi and Milo, the Territory Bosses of their respective areas. And the mood was not right.
Jjaek caught on in an instant.
A meeting of former bosses and current bosses… Something's gone wrong. Don't tell me it's our kids?
It was entirely possible there had been friction between his own boys living at Neulpureun and the cats of the Neulpureun district.
Jjaek's ears pricked up, straining to catch even a scrap of the conversation among the four of them. And… his hunch seemed more or less on the mark.
Hoesaegi came bouncing over to Jjaek and opened his mouth.
"Jjaek-ong, come here a minute-ong."