The animal abusers and their parents were all punished without exception. Every day, a storm of blood raged. Abusers under the age of 18 were sentenced to life imprisonment instead of execution, and with that, the case was temporarily resolved.
Of course, punishing the criminals didn’t bring back the cats that had already died. The same went for the missing cats. Naturally, this included Gamja as well.
“Yellian, shall we go out today? I heard the night market is open.”
“I’m tired.”
Yellian, who used to get excited at the mention of going out, no longer showed any joy. He acted as if something that had been holding up his life had crumbled away.
Leonard sat beside Yellian, who was staring blankly out the window in a daze.
“I know I can’t fill the void left by Gamja. But it hurts me to see you like this.”
“…….”
“So I’m not going to tell you to cheer up or to get better soon. I just… want you to know that there’s someone who cherishes you this much.”
At these warm words, Yellian was left speechless. Tears welled up in his eyes out of habit. Just as a single tear was about to roll down his cheek, it happened.
“Aeowak.”
At the sound of a cry coming from somewhere, Yellian’s eyes widened. Leonard’s did too. The two of them exchanged surprised glances for a brief moment before turning their heads toward the source of the sound.
“Gamja!”
There stood Elton, holding Gamja in his arms. Yellian reflexively jumped up from his seat.
As he rushed to Gamja in an instant, Elton handed over the Gamja he was holding to Yellian. Yellian hugged Gamja with all his strength.
“Wak.”
He hugged so tightly without realizing it that Gamja let out a strange sound, but Yellian neither let go nor loosened his grip. He was terrified that the moment he let go of Gamja, he would disappear again.
“Elton, how did this happen?”
“I heard a cat crying behind the knights’ indoor training area, so I went to check, and there was Gamja. I don’t know how long he’d been there. Anyway, as soon as I confirmed it was Gamja, the knights were all mobilized to capture him. I wanted to inform my lord right away, but everyone was so focused on catching Gamja that I couldn’t report it earlier.”
“Thank you……. Thank you…….”
Yellian barely managed to squeeze out words of gratitude through a throat choked with tears. He wanted to see Gamja clearly, but the tears kept pouring out endlessly, making Gamja look blurry. Even so, the warmth of Gamja in his arms was fully conveyed.
“Where on earth have you been, what were you doing? Did you eat? Your brother really… really thought something had happened to you……. Do you know how worried I was? Where did you go……. No, never mind. Just… thank you for coming back.”
Seeing Yellian stammering through tears, Leonard let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
He had no idea how to fill the empty corner of Yellian’s heart that had been left vacant by Gamja’s disappearance. He knew full well that no matter how hard he tried, he could never fill that void. That’s why it had been so painful for him.
“I’m so glad. That he came back safely.”
“Is your arm okay now?”
“Ah, yes. They say it’s healing well.”
“That’s good to hear.”
At Elton’s response, Leonard nodded. Leonard felt indebted to Elton in many ways.
Just protecting Yellian from the assailants’ ambush was already a huge debt, and now he had even found Gamja. Though Leonard knew words couldn’t fully express it, he opened his mouth.
“Thank you. I owe you a lot.”
“How can you say such a thing? I’m the one who owes my life to my lord. How could I forget the kindness of saving me when I was starving to death on the streets?”
“You still remember that?”
“Of course. How could I forget? It was the moment my sewer-like life changed.”
Leonard didn’t say anything. Saving Elton had been a whim even he didn’t fully understand.
He was a kid starving to death on the streets, yet his gaze was still alive. That’s why Leonard couldn’t leave him to die. It had already been several years since he brought him to the duke’s estate, fed him, clothed him, and trained him.
“Miyaaok. Waeowak.”
“Are you hungry? Shall I get you some food? Wait a moment.”
At Gamja’s cry, Yellian hurriedly poured a full serving of cat food into Gamja’s dedicated bowl, which had been left untouched in a corner of the room.
Then, Gamja started eating the cat food while making ‘Wongnyangnyanyanyak’ sounds. As Yellian carefully stroked Gamja’s back while he ate mindlessly, he spoke with his gaze fixed on Gamja.
“Leonard, this isn’t a dream, right?”
“No. It’s not.”
“……In my dreams, Gamja came back, and I watched him eat like this. It happened so many times that I was scared this might be a dream too. I’m so relieved it’s real.”
At Yellian’s words, Leonard smiled warmly. It was because Yellian was smiling. The stifling feeling in his chest finally felt like it could breathe fully again.
* * *
“You said we’re going to the night market, so why aren’t we going! That’s unfair, ugh!”
[Kyuoong Kyuoong!]
“I said let’s go to the night market four days ago. Things are different now; I’m busy.”
At Leonard’s words, Yellian pouted his lips and hugged poor Gamja tightly. Gamja let out a discontented ‘Myak’ cry. Whether or not, Yellian didn’t let go of Gamja.
From the day Gamja returned until today, Yellian had been holed up for a different reason than before. He spent all day staring at the returned Gamja. He couldn’t focus on anything else. He felt that if he took his eyes off Gamja, he would disappear again.
Only after spending four days like that did he finally feel that Gamja was truly by his side. And only then did the thought of going out start to emerge.
While thinking about going out, he recalled Leonard mentioning last time that the night market was open and suggesting they go together.
But when he brought up going to the night market, Leonard, perhaps burdened with more work in the meantime, flatly refused, saying he was busy.
Yellian clung to Leonard, holding Gamja as if staging a protest. Even Geumdong seemed to find the scene amusing and joined in, barking loudly in agreement with Yellian’s words.
“Geumdong, isn’t this brother totally unfair? Right?”
[Kyuoong!]
“Gamja, go over there and pretend to accidentally bite him hard.”
“Myaak.”
“I can hear everything.”
“Goodness, why are your ears so sharp?”
It was obvious he meant for Leonard to hear, but when Leonard pointed it out, Yellian deflected by complaining about how sharp his ears were. Finding Yellian both cute and funny, Leonard finally put down the quill pen he was holding.
“Heck, why, why are you putting down the quill pen so fiercely?”
“Fine, let’s go to the night market.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. Gamja, Geumdong, brother will be back soon. I’ll bring some treats for you guys on the way back.”
Yellian, as if he had never complained, brightened up and started getting ready to go out. Leonard, too, suppressed a spreading smile and began preparing to go out. It wasn’t long before the two of them could leave the duke’s estate.
* * *
“Let me ask you just one thing, Yellian.”
“What is it?”
“Wasn’t suggesting we go to the night market meant as a date?”
“Ah……. It was, but I’ve also been indebted to you a lot. And anyway, the more people, the merrier, right?”
“…….”
Leonard was extremely displeased. He had even postponed his busy work to come to the night market at Yellian’s request, only to run into Elton and Larissa at the entrance of the market.
He didn’t care how the two of them ended up together, and meeting them wasn’t a big deal, so he was just going to pass by. But Yellian saw them and suggested they all hang out together.
He thought the two would tactfully decline, but to his surprise, they happily agreed. As a result, his cozy date with Yellian went down the drain.
Leonard glared at the three of them with a displeased expression. The three were laughing constantly, enjoying the night market as if something was so amusing.
“Leonard, let’s try that. They say you use a fishing rod to hook a reward.”
Oblivious to his feelings, Yellian spoke cheerfully. Seeing Yellian’s bright smile, Leonard couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh before eventually smiling himself.
He couldn’t help it. He liked Yellian so much that he had no choice but to yield.
Comment