Never Yield Our Homeland
Jjaek had meant to go alone. There was no helping it now.
He had believed he could settle the present matter quietly, by himself. Was this not the homeland he had defended through struggle all this time?
Well. This fellow ended up coming along in the scramble of it all.
Jjaek's gaze slid sideways toward One-eye — One-eye, who had grown to fight every bit as well as he did.
At this very moment, Lee Jun believed the two of them were enjoying a rare, pleasant stretch of time with their underlings at Cat Town. The underlings, for their part, believed Jjaek and One-eye had followed Lee Jun back to Mongmong Animal Hospital. And the two of them were walking toward Song-i Park, taking the knife-edged wind of this freezing day full in the face.
Shuffle, shuffle.
It had been a while since they'd been outside, and it was cold — truly cold. Jjaek gave a brief shiver of his shoulders, then trudged on. Beside him, One-eye did the same.
Ugh, it's freezing.
If he was this cold, the Boss had to be cold too, didn't he?
"Boss, aren't you cold?"
"I'm fine. You? Cold?"
"Ah, I'm not cold."
"If you're cold, say so. Truth is, I'm a little cold myself."
"Is that so? I-I'm a bit cold too."
"Figured as much. The hospital's a pretty good place to live, isn't it?"
"Of course. It's wonderful. Oh, and the underlings like it too. They say the Hiding Cubbies are so warm. And the food's delicious."
"That's a relief."
"Yes. At first they weren't happy about having to live packed in with the others, but they say it's decent enough now?"
To Jjaek, One-eye's words sounded like this:
So, Boss, it seems the underlings have grievances. They were lamenting how long they have to live under someone else's captain.
That was how it sounded. Perhaps what Jjaek heard was the truth. But in the present situation, he had neither the mind nor the presence of spirit to ask about such things, and he answered offhandedly.
"That so?"
"Yes. The little ones do meow and pick fights, but other than that they say it's good."
So they'd gotten into scrapes with the Neulpureun lot. That was what he thought, when—
"Still, you know, lots of food, it's warm, plenty of water — they say it's good."
"That's true enough."
"Right? Those rascals — seeing them smile, it looked like they were happy, you know?"
One-eye was not, by nature, a talkative fellow. And yet here he was, chattering away so warmly. When he got like this, it meant there was something he wanted to say. And Jjaek had a fair idea what that something was.
Jjaek stopped walking and looked at One-eye.
"One-eye. Speak."
One-eye suddenly, slyly, turned his head aside.
"Speak about whaat?"
"You know what."
One-eye's big head made a slow, full rotation, and then the words burst out.
"S-so, Boss, what was that you said a moment ago? About our Songi District..."
Ah. This one. He'd heard. That was why he'd insisted on coming along. Well, nothing for it, then.
Jjaek took stock of the situation in an instant and answered.
"Some bunch has apparently occupied our territory."
"I-is that really true? What kind of guys are they? No, wait — why our territory? It's a hard place to live, isn't it?"
As if he'd been waiting for this, One-eye poured out every question he'd been holding back in a rapid-fire burst.
"I don't know either. That's why I'm going to see."
"S-so then? If they're there, what will you do? You won't just leave them, right? Right?"
This was what he'd been dying to know.
"We'll drive them out."
"Th-that's right! We have to drive them out. It's our homeland — we can never let it be taken! Isn't that so?"
Listening to One-eye's excited words, Jjaek felt a strange ease settle over his heart. Ah. This one thinks the same as I do.
"Of course. We'll drive them out."
Jjaek, who had thought he might have to do this alone, squared his shoulders wide. With a subordinate who shared his will at his side, of course strength would well up in him. Confidence surged, pumping through him.
Whoever they are, I'll beat them to a pulp. And make them pay the price for coveting his sacred homeland. That was what he thought.
"That's right. Those guys must have no idea how strong you are, Boss. They've got to be from somewhere else. Oh, absolutely. I mean, they don't know who our Boss is!"
From the mouth of a fellow who was ordinarily so dignified and composed, a ceaseless stream of chatter poured forth, heaping praise upon Captain Jjaek. Listening to it, Jjaek found himself filling more and more with confidence. For a cat who already felt at ease simply from having One-eye beside him, the parade of praise that followed was like being given wings.
The shuffling steps began to change. The chest that had been hunched inward opened wide. His chin lifted of its own accord, and the face that had been lowered snapped up to look straight ahead.
The trees in the distance, the vast sky. Every bit of it was a familiar landscape. The very road that led to his homeland, Song-i Park.
Stride, stride, stride, stride.
Looking ahead as he walked, Jjaek's steps filled with force. There was no more shuffling Jjaek.
One-eye was the same. Thump, thump, thump, thump. He walked vigorously at Jjaek's side, his face set and solemn.
They were only two, but they looked as magnificent as knights in full plate marching toward the battlefield.
Bwooooooo! A march so powerful it was as if a war-horn were sounding. Stamp, stamp, stamp. Click, click, click. Not a hair's breadth of discord between their steps.
And at last, before the two walking with those solemn faces, their destination appeared. The homeland they had missed so dearly: Song-i Park.
Halt. Halt.
As if they had made a pact, Jjaek and One-eye stopped at the same instant. And they fixed their eyes on the same place. That place was a tree. The tree where Jjaek had always sat watch.
Jjaek opened his mouth.
"One-eye!"
"Yes, Boss. Give your command."
One-eye was utterly serious.
"We're going to wipe out those invaders to the last one."
Not mere intruders — invaders. He did not know who had coiled themselves up in there. But to Jjaek, they were already the enemy.
"I receive your command."
"Good. But, One-eye."
"Yes, Boss!"
"If — if, I mean."
"Yes."
"If we find ourselves outnumbered. If we're driven onto the back foot."
The expression on Jjaek's face as he spoke grew even more grim.
"That could never happen, Boss. Who could possibly beat us?"
Hup! At One-eye's words, Jjaek drew a great breath and continued.
"Even so, you never know with a cat's fortunes. How could I have known I would fall so ill?"
"Ah, that's..."
One-eye had nothing to say.
"That's why I'm saying this. If something like that happens, you run."
"Whaat? Run?"
"Yes. Run. I'll buy you time, so you make sure you get away safe. Don't you dare get hurt."
"That's unthinkable! We won't lose — but even if, even if something like that happened, how could I leave you behind and run, Boss?!"
"Anyway, I've said it. You are not to get hurt. Not ever."
Jjaek, who had chosen the path of fighting for the sake of a tiny One-eye. The One-eye he had protected all this time because of that. Even in this moment, Jjaek wished for One-eye not to be hurt.
"N-no. We will win. We will never lose!"
Jjaek and One-eye met in the air — the earnest light in the eyes that looked at each other. It was only an instant, but it felt as though a very long time had passed.
Jjaek spoke first.
"If that time comes, you live looking to the King Boss and the Kkam Boss the way you look to me."
"That will never happen. Think about it, Boss. We've taken beatings, sure — but has our home, our homeland, ever been taken from us?"
"Never."
"That's right! Of course it hasn't. If they hit us, we take the hits. We can take being hit. But this One-eye!"
One-eye put on a resolute expression and looked at Jjaek.
"Will never let our homeland be taken. Not while our Boss is here. Of course not."
Gulp. At One-eye's determined face, Jjaek swallowed.
Right. If my subordinate is steeling himself like that... That's right. I am Jjaek. That's right — Jjaek. The Jjaek who never yields!
Jjaek steeled his resolve and took the step he had halted.
"All right. Let's go."
"Yes, sir!"
At last, the two of them entered Song-i Park. And the moment they were inside, Jjaek roared.
A cry that rang out as thunderously as if Seorak himself had loosed a roar.
"Kh!"
One-eye, standing beside him, trembled as well, and the cats wandering nearby fled in a panic, their souls scared out of them. The cats who hadn't managed to run in time dropped flat to the ground, their faces gone pale.
But then.
"Who goes there!"
A voice like a sharp blade scraping against steel rang out, piercing and metallic. Jjaek and One-eye found the source of the sound at the same time. Easily. The origin of the voice was right up in the tree.
A pitch-black cat was looking down at them from above. Head, tail, paws — every part of him was wrapped in jet-black fur, and his bulk looked considerable as well. It was the tree that was as good as Jjaek's designated seat.
Jjaek's eyes went as wide as they could possibly go. His body puffed up far larger as well. The black spots scattered across his white back seemed to have doubled in size. That was how furious Jjaek was.
"Do you have any idea where that is, that you dare sit there?!"
That is my place. How dare you be there? That was what it meant.
"What business is it of yours where I sit?"
Jjaek did not answer that. He said what he had to say.
"Get out. Now!"
Once more Jjaek's sharp voice thundered through the park. But the other cat, wearing a look of utter distaste, leapt down from the tree in a single bound. A considerably imposing sight.
In that instant, Jjaek felt that this one was no ordinary opponent. He hadn't so much as flinched at Jjaek's signature — that sharp, charismatic cry — and his physical bearing said the same.
Hmph. Looks like he can fight.
All the more reason to drive him out, then. Before he could take this territory.
Jjaek loosed another great roar of rage.
Kwehhhhhhhk!
Hmph. The other one fired right back.
Nyaaaak-nyaaaak-aaak-aaak!
Not the slightest bit cowed. In a moment like this, seizing the initiative came first.
Jjaek launched himself — whoosh! — to unleash his powerful hind-leg kick, and then a rapid-fire barrage of front-paw strikes.
That was when it happened.
"Boys. Grab this one."
"Yes, sir!"
One of them answered. But contrary to that single reply, fully five cats came charging out in a rush and attacked Jjaek.
"Ugh!"
Not one — five attacking at once. Far more than he'd expected. Caught in the ambush, Jjaek went down.
Seeing Jjaek fall, One-eye flew into a rage.
"Y-you! How dare you hit our Boss? I won't let you— kh."
One-eye didn't even finish speaking before he was struck by one of them and went down.
One-eye, down?!
Jjaek, who had been kicked down by the five, got back up. And whoosh! He launched another hind-leg kick and threw himself at the one who had struck One-eye.
Kwaang! He cried out loud and flew through the air with a whoosh. But against five — no, six, counting the one from the tree — it was not enough.
Whump. Tap. Rat-tat-tat. Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
In a short span of time, Jjaek took an enormous barrage of cat-punches. He crumpled onto the freezing ground.
"Bosssss!"
One-eye ran toward the fallen Jjaek. But he was stopped at once.
"Tsk. Where do you think you're going?"
Bam bam bam bam.
Under the cat-punches pouring down without pause, One-eye's body shook wildly, like a rag doll. Then one of those cat-punches came flying at One-eye's eye. The good eye. The one that could still see.
One-eye dodged at once. But his body would not obey. The terror that if that punch landed, this eye too might go dark.
One-eye screamed.
"W-wawawawaang!"
As tears welled and spilled, a voice like steel being scraped came, thin and faint.
It was the voice of his hero. Captain Jjaek.
One-eye forced his uncooperative face to turn. Everything looked blurred. The world ahead was so, so blurry he could not see properly. One-eye wrung out every last bit of strength. He dragged that strength up into his eyes.
"I-iiiiit!"
Heat rose in his face until it was burning hot. On this freezing day, no less. And then he saw. His hero, lying fallen.
In that instant — whoosh! A cat-punch came flying. Straight at the eye he had forced into focus. The eye that was looking at his hero!
He would not let them take this eye.
"Iit!"
One-eye sprang to his feet. Rising as if in flight, he looked at his captain — at Jjaek. And into One-eye's ears, the captain's voice drove itself once more.
"Khh! B-Boss!"
One-eye ran. Not toward where Jjaek lay — toward the entrance of Song-i Park!