A Dragon That My Cat Brought Home

“Take it to the vet sometime and get him checked out.”

“Yea······. Nothing is probably wrong with it, right? No tumors or something.”

“In terms of weirdness, what could be stranger than no belly button? I was surprised back then, so I don’t think I’ll be surprised by anything I see now. Don’t worry too much and just bring it.”

Noona smiled, patted my shoulder, and pet Baek-Ho and the baby’s hair before returning home. The little baby was playing around, clinging to the tail of the white tiger, not paying attention to my worries.

After waking up, instead of just eating and sleeping like before, it runs around. It’s skilled at following round Baek-Ho, and the baby also sleeps in the Baek-Ho’s arms because it likes Baek-Ho. Yeah, he’s the one who brought it home, so he will also have to care for the baby.

Just looking at the sight of a tiny baby sleeping sobbingly buried under the chin of a large Baek-Ho in a sunny place under the autumn sunlight makes me feel mushy inside. What if there is no belly button, and what if there is a lump on the head? Just grow up a healthy little baby.

******

– Meow!

I woke up to the sound of Baek-Ho’s startled cry and then jumped up and screamed.

Our little baby fell into the water!

A bowl about the size of a bowl of naengmyeon was used as a bowl for Baek-Ho’s water, and the little baby was bobbing in it. A four-week-old can literally drown in a plate of water and die. I thought it wouldn’t be able to climb up that water bowl; I was too careless.

“Baek-Ho! What are you doing not taking the baby out!”

Walking on my knees, I dove for the water bowl …

‘Huh?’

Our little baby! Are you swimming around instead of drowning in the water? The little boy, pounding his feet and fluttering, looked at me, making a ‘Piyang?’ sound as he laughed. I’m sure he just laughed.

Cats hate water. With very few exceptions, most cats don’t like bathing and jump around like they want to kill me if I do. Even the innocent and clever Baek-Ho hates bathing… I couldn’t help but laugh at how pleasantly the little boy was sitting in the water bowl and playing with the water.

“Are you exceptional? A cat that likes to play in the water.”

I calmed down from my shock and brought a towel.

“Still, you can’t play here. This is cold water. What if you catch a cold when you’re still too young? Come here.”

“Piyah~”

“Huh?”

I was surprised once again as I lifted the fluttering little boy to get him out of the water, making a dissatisfied sound.

Its hair was barely wet. Drops of water rolled down and glistened on the soft, smooth bluish-grey fur. Our little one was a waterproof cat.

The little baby’s hair had grown quite a bit, and it didn’t feel fluffy like normal kittens, but thick, smooth hair. I thought it was because it was short-haired.

I grabbed the little baby struggling with his short arms and legs and looked at its fur. The outer coat was moist, but the undercoat was not wet. It was also different from ordinary cats, whose faces were soft and shrunk half the size when wetted with water. Come to think of it, it looked similar to the fur of an otter I saw at the zoo.

“Baek-Ho, have you ever picked up an otter?”

Is this a real baby otter? But otters have small eyes, but our little boy already has big eyes. And even otters have belly buttons. I guess I’ll have to go to the vet.

I put the little baby in the cage on Saturday and left the house to go to my sister’s hospital.

“Oh. Young man Myung-Hoon. Where are you going? Are you going to the vet?”

I ran into a middle-aged couple living in the apartment opposite. I got to know this couple because I found their lost dog in the past.

“Oh, it’s not Baek-Ho? Myung-Hoon, did you bring in a new cat? Let’s see it. Oh, it’s a baby.”

“Oh my gosh, look at the color of your hair. It’s really special. I think it’s Russian Blue. Can’t I take it out just once?”

“No. You’re still too young and can’t just take it out in the streets.”

“Your brother and sister are both very stubborn. Right honey?”

“Yea, you’re right. You and your noona need to loosen up more.”

Because they are neighbors, they greet each other when we meet, but in reality, I don’t like this couple. They say that they have had dogs for a long time and raised cats, and they love animals very much, but from my point of view, these people are not animal lovers. The couple only likes dogs and cats that have a clear breed and are expensive.

We ask about Baek-Ho’s breed because they think Baek-Ho is a British Shorthair. They said the baby must be a Russian Blue when they first saw it. They said, ‘he’s a brishot!’ the first time they saw Baek-Ho.

It is not a bad thing to like a breed dog or a cat. Everyone can have a favorite breed, and just as people like dogs and cats, there are people who don’t like them. The reason I don’t like this couple is that they have no manners for animals and for people as well.

I saw them pass by another dog owner who was taking a native Hwanggu puppy for a walk in the park, and as soon as he saw Hwanggu, they hated it and held their Bichon Frize in their arms like they were aristocrats, scared of it hurting their little young master.
TN: Hwanggu is similar to a Shiba
TN: Bichonn Frize is a small fluffy white dog

“Why are they raising such a street dog in Seoul. They have no class.”
TN: Seoul, the capital of Korea, is one of the cities richer people tend to live in.

They also say it loud, so the other dog owner must have heard it. But the Hwanggu dog owner isn’t an asshole, so he must have just walked by acting like they didn’t hear anything.

It’s not like that when managing and raising a dog such as Bichon Frize well. They don’t care about its health, letting it walk without a leash, and when it goes missing, they accuse other people that they stole their dog and are a nuisance. With pity, I ran around the neighborhood to find it for them, but since then, I have suffered from pretending to know the couple.

I once sheltered a stray cat with a broken leg. As expected, we ran into each other on the way to the hospital, but at that time, I did not know the nature of this couple very well, so I answered all their questions promptly.

“Oh my. It’s a stray cat? Isn’t it dirty?”

“If you have a broken leg, just euthanize him. There is no need to have surgery for it? The person who wanted to adopt it? They must have a lot of money.”

“Whether it’s a dog or a cat, you should have a dog you can show off.”

They say they have a history of sending their former dog to a shelter because it was ill.

I sometimes think someone who thinks of animals as ornaments are even worse than someone who doesn’t like animals in the first place.

******

Let’s shake off this bad feeling. I bravely headed to my sister’s veterinary hospital.

Finally, on the day of the hospital check-up. Will our little baby’s secret be revealed today?