Potato Pup

Tiger Tales

Kenny and Jake Ji were both born to a tigress that had been bred in captivity. The breeder had cruelly torn them away from their mother when Jake was barely six months old and barely weaned off of milk. Fortunately, they had been sold together as a pair, so the brothers wouldn't be separated.

Kenny wondered if they were being sold to a rich person, someone who wanted exotic pets to show off his wealth. It didn't seem like that would be a bad idea, so long as he and Jake are well fed and had a large space to roam around and exercise. If a rich person wanted to show off their pets, wouldn't it be better if they were in the best condition? If they were in terrible condition—malnourished and wounded—they would not look presentable enough to be shown off.

Unfortunately for Kenny and Jake, they were sold to a gang of teenagers. The teens reeked of cheap booze and cigarettes. They didn't even have a proper place for the tigers to stay; the gang kept the tigers in an abandoned warehouse that was also serving as their hideout.

They were given freedom to roam around most of the warehouse unchained, but they were not allowed to leave without permission. Manwol trained Kenny to attack people on command, which he learned how to do quickly and easily. Jake was still too young to go on any missions or start training, so oftentimes he stayed curled up in a corner when Kenny was forced to go on missions.

Jake was often lonely, and Kenny constantly worried about how Jake would be treated while he was away on missions. Fortunately, there was one Manwol member with a shred of humanity left in him: Anthony Nam, whose nickname was Anton.

Anton was the main caretaker of the tigers. Judging by how he was treated by the other members, he ranked lower that most of them. He helped clean the blood from Kenny's fur whenever he returned from a mission. He also fed them and made sure to play with Jake when Kenny was out on a mission. Anton also gave them lots of pets.

Life wasn't exactly that comfortable for the two tigers, but at least it was a little upgrade from how the breeders treated them.

~🥔Potato Pup🐶~

Changyeon sometimes brought the tigers with him when he and the Manwol executives had meetings with a gang across the Han River, Cheongang. He wanted to show off to Janghyeok, who only had a single wolf in Cheongang's canine unit.

Changyeon often rudely used Kenny as a footrest, annoying the tiger who just resigned himself to his fate, knowing that any attempts at fighting back would be met with punishment.

Joowon picked Jake up and started petting the cub's fur. "Soft."

"Anton bathes them in cat shampoo and conditioner," Changyeon said.

"His fur is soft and fluffy," Joowon said.

"Hey." Doyoon placed a paw onto Joowon's arm. "Pet me instead. I'm Cheongang's wolf."

Joowon petted Doyoon with one hand, and he continued to pet Jake with his other hand. 

"You wanna buy Jake?" 

"No!" Kenny was horrified by the offer and abruptly stood up. 

Joowon saw Kenny's expression and said, "No thanks." He placed the cub next to Kenny, and have Kenny a light pat on the head.

"Hey, I was joking." Changyeon kicked Kenny. "Who said you could stop being a footrest?"

~🥔Potato Pup🐶~

Kenny was furious when Changyeon started training Jake in the same harsh manner Changyeon had been training him. Whenever Jake was not up to Changyeon's expectations, Changyeon harshly kicked and stomped on the tiger cub.

Kenny snapped and lunged at Changyeon. He left several scratches and cuts on his face, arms, and torso before he was forcibly dragged off by the others Manwol members. They beat him, and Kenny screamed in pain when he felt a bone in his back left leg break. After what felt like an eternity, he was left whimpering on the cold concrete floor.

Anton applied first aid, and he brought Jake over to Kenny. The cub cried and nuzzled against his older brother.

"You need to run away," Anton told them, "because things will only get worse from here. I don't know where you two can go, but it needs to be away from here. You're only going to get hurt if you stay."

Anton's right, Kenny thought, but where will we go? It doesn't matter if we don't have a set destination. Right now, we need to escape. I can't let Jake suffer like I have. He deserves a better life than me.

Kenny rested for a few hours. He waited until he was sure that there weren't many Manwol guards around. In the middle of the night, he and his brother left Manwol.

~🥔Potato Pup🐶~

The two brothers ran, and although Kenny struggled due to being able to only run on three of his four legs, he refused to stop. They only stopped when they were completely exhausted, and Kenny collapsed.

"Kenny?" Jake laid down next to his brother.

Kenny was already unconscious.

Jake whimpered and cuddled closer to his brother.

~🥔Potato Pup🐶~

Kenny couldn't clearly tell what was happening. His vision was blurred and unfocused. He heard voices—human voices—but none of them sounded like they belonged to any Manwol member.

"Jake?" His voice sounded so weak, and he wasn't even sure if his little brother could even hear him over everything.

"I'm right here, Kenny." Jake's voice was nearby and the cub hugged his big brother. "These...These humans are good people. They're going to help us."

Kenny wanted to scold Jake. He wanted to call him naïve for trusting humans when all the humans they've encountered had treated them so cruelly. However, he remembered Anton. He remembered how Anton was different from the breeders and how he was different from the rest of Manwol.

The world isn't only full of bad humans. Good humans exist too.

~🥔Potato Pup🐶~

Kenny and Jake had been saved by Donald Na and Kingsley Kwan, two humans that had been passing by when they had seen the collapsed tigers. After Kenny had been discharged from the vet, Donald and Kingsley had brought the tigers to their house. They had decided to adopt them.

"Donald can understand some animals like cats and dogs," Jake told Kenny, "but Kingsley can't understand animals at all. That's why Kingsley doesn't believe that Donald can understand us."

"That's surprising," Kenny said, "This is the first time we've met a human that could understand us."

"We prefer to eat meals together as a family three times a day if possible," Donald informed, "but if we have plans during the day and are busy, we'll at least try to eat breakfast and dinner together. The four of us are a family now. Welcome to our family, Kenny and Jake."

Kenny cried. He and his brother had finally found a home. He and his brother were finally safe.

~🥔Potato Pup🐶~

Author's Note: I finally finished this chapter that tells the story of how Jake and Kenny ended up with Donald and Kingsley