Vol. 2 Chapter 25: 25
Translated by Chef
Edited by Chef
“Sir, we’re here.”
Inseop, who was taking a nap, got up in surprise at the taxi driver’s words .
“I’m sorry.”
“You must have been very tired.”
Inseop took out a 10,000 won bill from his wallet and handed it over. After receiving the change, Inseop thanked the taxi driver.
“Drive safely. Thank you.”
Inseop got out of the taxi and went up to the house. As soon as? he opened the front door and went inside, his legs gave out. He hasn’t slept well for days.
He used to wake up and search for Lee Wooyeon’s na on his phone to see if there were any articles posted. Even when he confird that everything was okay, he was not relieved. The anxiety was only getting worse like an obsessive compulsive patient. The hardest thing was pretending to be calm in front of Lee Wooyeon.
Even today, when CEO Kim showed him an article written maliciously by a reporter, he thought his heart would stop. As he drove to Lee Wooyeon’s house, all he could think about was the driver. Did Kang Youngmo read the article? Maybe he was spreading strange rumors using this article as an excuse. If Lee Wooyeon finds out about it…
Even when Lee Wooyeon suggested that he go to sleep, he was not shaken. He had to drive early in the morning because there was a local schedule the next day.I wanted to sell my soul if I could sleep an extra hour. But he told himself that he should never do that. He never wanted to see people around him get hurt because of his weakness.
“You have to wake up.”
Inseop patted his cheek a couple of tis and got up. He endured the temptation to get into bed right away and took cat food and water. Lee Wooyeon’s words ca to mind that cats once fed by humans rarely find food on their own. From then on, he climbed the stairs, determined to take care of the cat’s food no matter how late it was.
Halfway up the stairs to the rooftop, he heard sothing indicating the presence of a person.
Inseop, who did not expect to et soone at this ti, was startled and stiffened his body.
“Oh. Room 501.”
“Hello.”
It was the son of the owner. The man, who looked well over 40, was smoking in a stretched T-shirt and sweatpants every ti he saw him. Even now, the sll of cigarettes stung his nose. He thought he shouldn’t judge people by their impressions, but Inseop was particularly difficult and reluctant to see the man in front of him.
“Where are you going at this hour?”
“’On the rooftop for a while….”
Inseop quickly hid the food behind him and answered. It was a relief that the stairs were dark.
“Rooftop? Why there?”
After thinking about it for a while, Inseop boldly said, “I’m going to smoke.” He thought it was a big deal because he kept improving his lying skills. If he keeps deceiving people like this, he thought he might receive a heavy punishnt.
“Cigarettes? What kind of cigarette is that small thing? You’re naughtier than you look”
Inseop asked back, “What?” when the owner’s son said that with a grin. He didn’t really understand the Korean slang that was used.
“Are you the one who hasn’t cleaned up the cigarette butts?”
“No, I’m not. If I smoke…I cleaned it up right away.”
In fact, even if he didn’t smoke, he cleaned up all the cigarette butts when he saw them. He was concerned that it might be swallowed by cats.
“Hey. By the way, do you have a cat or sothing?””
“What? Oh, no.”
Inseop shook his head. It wasn’t a lie. Lois stayed on the roof after giving birth in the corner of the rooftop, and Inseop only occasionally took care of them by giving them food. Still, he always cleaned up the ss because he thought it would cause damage to others, but his heart was pounding.
“Okay. Then keep the tailpipe clean in the future.”
He tapped Inseop on the shoulder and went down the stairs. Inseop ran up to the rooftop quickly. He looked around, but he couldn’t see the cats. Inseop took out the feed bowl and poured the feed.
“Lois. Lois”.
Inseop waved the plastic bag containing the food and called the mother’s na.
Whenever he did that, Lois would show up out of nowhere with the kittens. His heart skipped a beat with anxiety that sothing might have happened to the cats because of the owner’s son’s comnts about the cats.
“Lois…”
He heard a cat owing sowhere. When he looked back, the mother and her kittens had appeared and were hurriedly walking towards him.
“I was worried. Co here quickly”
Inseop filled the bowl with feed. He filled an empty bowl with water and kept it to the side. Inseop, who was happy to see the kittens drinking water with their little tongues, suddenly turned his head.
“Lois, why don’t you eat?”
The mother, who did not even co near, let alone eat, stood far away
“ow,” he cried softly.
“What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?”
Inseop approached the mother cat and stroked her hair.
The cat cried while avoiding Inseop’s hand. Inseop frowned at her unusual behavior, then checked her hand and held his breath.
“Where are you hurt? What is this blood?”
Inseop picked up the mother cat’s body and looked around. However, no wounds could be found anywhere. Inseop turned around to check the kittens. John was nowhere to be seen. There were tis when he joined the al late, but he couldn’t shake off his anxiety at all.
“Where is John?”
.
As if the mother cat was giving an answer, she said “Nyaaang” and cried for a long ti. Inseop put the cat down. The mother started walking ahead as if asking him to follow her. Inseop followed the mother cat. The cat stopped in front of the outdoor unit of the air conditioner that was spinning with a heavy sound and looked up at Inseop. Striped hairs were visible through the gaps in the outdoor unit.
“John. Why are you in there again?”
John, the weakest and smallest, always fell behind even among the pups. Even when he was eating, he was pushed out so that he had to feed him separately.
Maybe that’s why Inseop cared the most for John.
“John. Let’s eat. Co out.”
Inseop called the baby’s na in a friendly voice so as not to be surprised. But John didn’t budge.
“If you don’t eat quickly, your brothers…”
Inseop, who was talking, paused and shut his mouth. He realized that John’s body, which he thought was curled up in a corner, was stretched out on the floor. Inseop reached out through the gap and grabbed the kitten’s body. Inseop frowned at the warm feeling. He managed to get the cat out.
Even while watching, Inseop didn’t realize for a while what he was looking at. His white, soft fur was all wet and soaked in dark red liquid.
“…blood”
The hand holding the bloody little body trembled. Beside him, the mother cat let out a long, thin cry and rubbed against Inseop. His mind went blank. His stomach groaned and he heard the sound of his heartbeat in his ears. His blood-soaked body rose and fell feebly, letting out shallow breaths. He had to do sothing. With trembling hands, Inseop rummaged through his pockets and took out his cell phone.
“Call, 911, no 119, at this ti the veterinary hospital is…”
Inseop quickly searched for a 24-hour animal hospital. He tried to find the nearest place and called, but for so reason, the call did not go through. He thought he should find another place, so he hung up the phone and tried to search again. However, the cell phone slipped from his hand because of the blood and fell to the floor.
Inseop quickly picked it up and listened. Tears covered his eyes. Inseop hit himself hard on the cheek. It’s not the ti to cry. At tis like this, he had to be more calm. Any delay could have killed John.
Inseop thought of soone who could help him. He calmly looked up the number and pressed the call button.
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