A Day in the Life of That Cat
While I was busy teaching the animals how to act, Auntie Yeonhui had tapped the writers she knew and come back with several scripts.
"For starters, could you pick out the ones worth filming—the ones you think the animals could actually pull off? Oh, and please bear in mind these aren't finished scripts. I did ask people I know, but they don't get paid until production is locked in, so the quality isn't exactly high."
"Hmm... Let me take a look."
I turned at once to the stack of scripts.
A Dog Who'll Make You Happy? Oh... A person gets reincarnated as a dog and makes the one they loved happy. Not bad...
Taken on its own, the first script I read was pretty solid. A younger sibling dies despite an older sister's devotion, nursing them through illness; reborn as a dog, that sibling then brings happiness back to the sister, who has sunk into grief. It was exactly the sort of material a drama wants. There was just one problem.
It needed the sibling, the sister, and a handful of other characters besides. A script that called for a human cast rather than an animal one was not what I needed right now.
"We'll have to save this for later, if a separate chance comes along. Using actors right from the start is a bit..."
"All right. I'll have them hold onto that one."
Auntie Yeonhui nodded, and I worked through the scripts that were still left, one by one. From among them I chose the one that looked decent and would be easiest to shoot as things stood.
"A Day in the Life of That Cat. We'll go with this. It's the only script that doesn't need any actors for the time being. It's close to a documentary, and there is narration... but I can do the narration myself."
"Understood. I'll tell them to finish the script. I'll let you know once it's done, so please wait."
"I'm counting on you."
Auntie Yeonhui shot me a thumbs-up—leave it to me—and vanished once more up to the third floor. Watching her climb the stairs while dialing someone, it was obvious she was calling the writer.
About a week later, word came that the script for A Day in the Life of That Cat was finished. The moment it was, I started filming it exactly as written.
"Namcat goes about his own routine again today."
Watching the footage we'd already shot, I started recording the narration. The video itself was finished, so all that remained was laying my voice over the cut.
With the opening down, I moved to the next shot and carried the narration on, blending the written script with a little ad-lib.
"Namcat starts his day early in the morning. At dawn. Cats are nocturnal by nature, but under the influence of the people they live with, he's become diurnal."
In truth, ever since Namcat had started living with me—someone he could actually talk to—he'd shifted from staying up at night to the type who was awake by day.
"Waking at dawn, Namcat checks whether anything happened in the house overnight. Anything that blocks his path, he shoves aside without mercy."
"Mrraow!"
Chikin-i, stepped on mid-snooze, let out a miserable whine. Namcat, of course, didn't spare him a glance and kept walking.
"After one circuit of the house, Namcat goes straight over the wall. To a fellow who beat an owl and can hold his own against a military dog, a wall is no obstacle at all."
Namcat really had scaled the wall and slipped out of the house. If I hadn't already known from the CCTV we'd installed, that shot would have shocked me.
"Once over the wall, Namcat makes a round of the house and the cafe as well. Oh—and that's when he comes face to face with a stray cat passing by."
"The hell are you? You gonna scram?"
"Cats are territorial, of course. Deciding his turf has been invaded, Namcat lets out a light hiss and threatens the stray. But the stray, who has no idea how strong Namcat is, bares his teeth at him without a shred of fear."
"You scram."
"Guess we're doing this."
"Each insisting this place is his territory, the two cats end up colliding."
The moment the line ended, Namcat on the screen charged the stray. He slipped the oncoming Nyangnyang Punch with ease and proceeded to beat the other cat down.
"The stray was far too easy an opponent for Namcat. In the end, he had no choice but to tuck his tail and bolt."
"All that attitude, and he was nothing."
"It was the usual victory, but Namcat is pleased, and he finishes the rest of his patrol with a haughtier stride than usual. Finding nothing unusual besides the stray, he heads home again around the time the others are waking up."
With barely a running start, Namcat scaled the wall and came back inside. There was a structure meant to keep people from climbing over, but it did nothing whatsoever to stop him.
"You're back?"
"When Namcat returns home, Poksini—already awake—comes to greet him. Whether it's his strength she likes or not, she responds to him with great affection."
Poksini really did like Namcat. He wasn't quite as far gone on her as she was on him, but he showed plenty of fondness of his own.
"Namcat rubs lightly against Poksini, who came out to meet him, and they groom each other. The two of them are the only four-legged couple in the house."
They licked each other so thoroughly that if they'd been people, slapping an adults-only rating on it wouldn't have raised an eyebrow.
"Once he's finished tidying himself up, Namcat heads to work with the other animals. The cafe right next door is his workplace. Inside, he makes for the table at the center of the lobby, because that's where his favorite cushion is."
"Mmm."
"After kneading the cushion this way and that until it's just right to sit on, Namcat curls up on it, thoroughly satisfied with himself."
Namcat on the video even looked faintly as if he were smiling, pleased with his own handiwork.
"And that's when the customers start coming into the cafe. The moment they step through the entrance, they buy animal treats from the snack machine."
"Hand it over."
"Namcat grabs them one by one—the people who've bought treats and are heading to the counter for drinks. Because he's planted himself between the counter and the snack machine, every last person has no choice but to get caught."
"All right. Toll."
"The customers pay Namcat a toll in treats and head for the counter. Having scored a handful of snacks in a flash, he looks blissful as he polishes them off at speed. The plan is to finish every last bite before the customers who've ordered drinks can get in his way."
Treats demolished, Namcat greeted a few people coming toward him with something like welcome. If they'd approached while he was still eating, he would have been annoyed—but the snacks were already gone, so there wasn't a trace of his usual prickliness.
"Knowing he can get something tasty by acting cute, Namcat demands treats from the customers who come up to him. Once he's turned on the charm, secured plenty of snacks, and feels full, he starts prowling again."
Belly full, the place he headed was the lawn.
"Birdbrain. Wanna loosen up a little?"
"......I shall not fight thee. I have already given up."
"Aw, don't be like that."
"Go yonder and fight Cheongho, who is stronger than thee."
"Namcat asks Yubu for a spar, but Yubu refuses him. Having witnessed a match against Cheongho, the former military dog, he's lost all will to fight. Thanks to that, Namcat can't help feeling terribly disappointed. A spar with Cheongho isn't something you can do halfway—it's grueling work."
Unlike the daily back-and-forth with Yubu, fights with Cheongho happened about once a week. A spar with Yubu could pass for a warm-up. A spar with Cheongho, where he had to go all out for real, took a great deal of preparation even for Namcat.
At any rate, disappointed that he couldn't warm up, Namcat prowled the cafe again. The geese, who had memories of getting smacked around one way or another, avoided him, and the rabbits—sensing a predator's aura—huddled together and trembled.
Footage followed of him loafing around the cafe all day and taking treats off people. Then the video blurred forward at high speed, and it was evening.
"When evening comes, Namcat heads for a corner of the house. For a secret date with Poksini."
Namcat slipped through the narrow gap first and moved to a tucked-away corner that wasn't easy to reach. A moment later Poksini arrived after him, and a romance for two began.
"Namcat and Poksini groom each other, showing their affection. Then, after revealing that affection for a little while, Namcat suddenly moves—to prepare something tasty for his mate."
Setting Poksini gently aside, he scanned the area at once and headed into the house. Then he approached two raccoons sprawled near the kitchen.
"What?"
"Get the treats out."
"......Somebody stash 'em?"
"Steal 'em. I'll keep watch."
"For real? Since when do you pull this?"
"Shut up. Hurry."
Namcat recruited the two raccoons, then watched as they started ransacking the kitchen.
"To get treats for his mate, he joined forces with the raccoons. He even took on the job of holding off the humans who kept anyone from stealing snacks, and of cutting off Cheongho—those humans' faithful hound—if he tried to approach."
He looked as if he were on guard in case I, Noona, or Cheongho came near. And luckily for him, until the raccoons opened the drawer and cleaned out the treats inside, neither I nor Noona—nor even Cheongho—came anywhere near them. Of course, that was only because we stayed away, exactly as the script required.
"Having gotten the treats by teaming up with the raccoons, Namcat carried them in his mouth back to Poksini. There, he spent a pleasant time with her, as she happily welcomed the male who had brought her something delicious."
Namcat enjoyed himself with Poksini until the sun had fully set and a deep dark settled in. And with that, the short, documentary-like video titled A Day in the Life of That Cat came to an end.
"Great work!"
Auntie Yeonhui, who had been watching the recording, came over, told me well done, and held out a drink. Moisture for a throat gone dry from talking felt pretty good. Still, something nagged at me.
"But... is this really all right? Now that we've shot it, it's closer to an observational variety show than a drama, isn't it?"
"So what? The people watching will think it's a drama. And it's not as if there's no fiction in it."
At Auntie Yeonhui's utterly unbothered reply, I let out a short laugh, asked her to handle the rest of the editing, and got up from my seat.