I entered the examination room, walking hesitantly. Why am I here? I thought I was here to get Nabi’s vaccination today…
I quickly turned around. Thankfully, Bora and Nabi had also entered the examination room. I breathed a small sigh of relief at that.
“Hana? Please have a seat here.”
“Okay…”
I sat down in the examination room as instructed by the vet. But is this person really a vet? They looked completely different from the vet I saw last time. I was diligently filling out the questionnaire the vet handed me, thinking it was all for Nabi, but all the questions were about my health.
“Uh… uh…”
Even someone as clueless as me could figure it out by now. That’s right. It wasn’t Nabi who was here for a check-up—it was me. With trembling hands, I glanced at Bora. She gave me an awkward smile, as if she already knew what was going on.
I continued filling out the questionnaire with shaky hands, but I felt a different kind of gaze from behind. I turned around.
Nabi, in her cage, was also looking at me and… smiling? I could tell. Her expression was pure glee. I tried to leave the examination room, but Bora grabbed me.
“Hana! Just endure it for today!”
“No!!!”
I struggled to escape Bora’s grasp but failed. I frantically looked for Nabi. I couldn’t believe this. I took Nabi out of the cage and said, “B-Bora, Nabi looks sick!”
“Meow!”
Nabi slapped my cheek with her paw, as if telling me to stop talking nonsense. Seeing this, Bora said, “Nabi seems perfectly healthy.”
“Ugh…”
The thought of being trapped in this prison-like place made me depressed. And then I saw something I shouldn’t have—the huge syringe next to the vet. They were definitely going to stick that in my arm and cruelly draw blood. My face turned pale.
I told Nabi that the hospital wasn’t scary, but that was a lie. Hospitals are terrifying. I clung to Bora’s pants, desperate to escape. I had to get out of here to prevent the horrors of today’s check-up!
I had a duty to protect the world! My mind was a mess, but Bora was firm. She sat me back down on the examination chair.
“Ugh…”
I had no choice but to finish the questionnaire. It was clear they were going to stick that syringe in me and take my blood. I’d rather deal with mosquitoes. At least mosquitoes don’t hurt when they suck your blood. But this syringe was going to give me a world of pain.
“Now, Hana. There’s something we need to do for your check-up today~”
“I won’t do it!”
“Haha…”
The vet smiled kindly at me and then pulled something out from the desk. I glanced over, curious. It was a delicious-looking candy. I turned my head away and said, “Are you trying to bribe me with candy? It won’t work!”
The vet, seeing my reaction, pulled out another candy. My resolve began to waver. One candy was one thing, but two? That was a bit much. Then the vet sealed the deal.
“Don’t worry, Hana. Nothing scary will happen today.”
“Huh?”
“There won’t be any blood draws or anything like that. It’s just a simple health check-up.”
If they weren’t going to stick me with a syringe, there was nothing to fear. Most of the tests were just boring, not painful. I smiled slightly and asked the vet, “Then what’s that syringe next to you for?”
“Oh, this? It’s for Nabi’s blood draw to check her health.”
As soon as the vet finished speaking, a cry came from behind.
“Meow!!!”
Nabi was desperately trying to escape her cage. I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Sorry, Nabi, but you’ll have to take the syringe for me. That’s the fate of a pet, isn’t it?
In some old tales, a dog wets itself to save its owner from burning to death. Nabi had to do the same. It was only right for her to take the syringe for me! I finally smiled…
“Alright, I’ll make sure to get a good check-up too!”
I followed the doctor’s words with a big, goofy smile. Nabi was wandering around inside the cage.
I had no idea how many times I’d drifted today. The only silver lining was that Nabi was the one dealing with all the pain. I felt bad for her, but this was just another trial she had to go through.
And so, Nabi and I successfully completed our health check-ups. However, Nabi was so sulky that she wouldn’t even eat her Churu treats. I had to put in a ton of effort to cheer her up. In a way, I was the servant, and Nabi was the boss.
—
Making Nabi’s food didn’t take as much time as I thought. That’s because I had acquired a cat food factory that was already up and running. The factory owner was happy to retire with a hefty payout, and the employees were thrilled to join Starlight Food, a booming company. It was a win-win situation for everyone.
So, all I had to do was tweak the factory’s ingredients and design a bit. I removed the regular meat and replaced it with high-quality beef from Starlight Farm. Some might think beef in cat food is overkill, but I didn’t care.
Kim Sehee decided that making Nabi’s food was the top priority, so she put other thoughts on the back burner. Running the factory didn’t cost much anyway. In fact, Hana probably earned thousands of times more than what it took to keep the factory running.
And as soon as the food was made, it was sent through Starlight Food’s distribution network. We only needed to produce enough to keep the factory from losing money.
We weren’t ready to fully enter the cat food market yet, but Starlight Food’s loyal fans would undoubtedly go out of their way to buy this cat food. The brand had a cult-like following.
Once the food was ready, Kim Sehee tested it on other cats. Since only the meat was changed and everything else remained the same, there shouldn’t have been any issues. Still, it didn’t hurt to test for any unexpected side effects or reactions.
As soon as the food was poured into the bowls, the cats in the cages went wild. The smell alone was enough to lure them in. They acted like addicts seeing drugs, desperately trying to escape their cages. It was as if they thought they’d die if they didn’t get to the food right away.
Kim Sehee watched the scene and said, “I expected this, but the reaction is way more intense than I thought.”
“Right? They never reacted this strongly to the old food.”
The cats had never been this enthusiastic about the previous food. They’d just wander over and eat it casually.
When the cage doors were opened, the cats bolted out like crazy and buried their faces in the food bowls. Seeing them eat so happily made the staff smile.
I had been worried that changing the ingredients might make the cats dislike the food. Cats are notoriously picky and would refuse lower-quality food. But seeing this, I realized there was no need to worry. The cats were inhaling the food without pause.
“This will be perfect for Nabi!” Kim Sehee said, holding a bag of cat food with a picture of a cat printed on it. In the corner of the bag, the words “Starlight Food” were prominently displayed.
“Boss, how should we handle retail sales?”
“Aside from giving some to Nabi, we’ll send the rest to the stores we’re contracted with. The food will keep being produced, after all.”
Nabi’s lifetime supply of food was made in a single day. We couldn’t let the rest go to waste, so we planned to send it to stores partnered with Starlight Food. Of course, we priced it as low as possible. We just needed to sell enough to keep the factory running. Beyond that, we didn’t have any other plans for now.
