Thank You, Doctor Bow-wow!
"Thank you?"
"My friend didn't go to the Dog Star."
Benji barked at the top of his lungs, his whole face splitting into a wide, open-mouthed grin.
Woof-woooof! Woof woof woof!
It was a bark every bit as thunderous as the one he used to announce a discovered target. Meeting Doctor Bow-wow had filled him with joy.
"Benji, your friend didn't go to the Dog Star? Did you stop your friend from eating something dangerous?"
That's our Doctor Bow-wow, all right. He understood everything this dog was saying in a single breath.
Benji threw his head back as high as it would go and answered at full volume.
"Yes."
"How did our Benji help his friend?"
The voice was gentle, laced with praise. Benji's long tail swayed in lazy, contented sweeps.
"Heheh."
In high spirits, Benji curled the corners of his mouth into a broad smile and launched into his story.
"This dog has an excellent sense of smell."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. A scent this dog has caught even once is never forgotten. When this dog plays the scent-finding game with Master, this dog finds every last one."
"Benji's so good at it!"
The praise lifted his mood in a strangely wonderful way, and Benji felt even better.
"Sapsaree told this dog. He said never, ever eat anything that smells savory and looks tasty and crunchy like kibble."
Benji, with his excellent memory, had packed the warning Sapsaree, Hoesaegi, and Gkamnyangi had given him a few days ago tightly into his head.
"Yesterday, while out on a walk, this dog smelled something savory and incredibly, incredibly delicious."
"I see. And then?"
When Doctor Bow-wow listened so intently, Benji's words picked up speed.
"This dog was carrying out an order, so this dog hesitated for a moment."
Nod, nod. Right in front of him, Doctor Bow-wow nodded along, affirming his thinking.
"But this dog had to carry out the order."
"I'm proud of you."
"No. It is simply what this dog must do. No matter what happens, this dog carries out orders!"
Benji's eyes flashed as he answered, then he pressed on.
"So this dog went after the target this dog was supposed to find. But the target and the savory smell were coming from the same place."
The moment the words left him, Benji's heart rate suddenly spiked. He was reliving that moment.
"The target had the savory-smelling thing in his mouth. It was the bad thing that made Sapsaree, Hoesaegi, and Gkamnyangi collapse!"
"Oh no. He had something round and savory in his mouth."
"That's right. This dog shouted immediately. Don't eat it! If you eat that, you'll go to the Dog Star!"
"So your friend didn't eat it?"
"Correct. The target jumped in surprise and dropped it. This dog stomped it into the ground with both paws, over and over. But there was a lot of it. This dog kept burying it."
"You did wonderfully, Benji. You really did something important."
At Doctor Bow-wow's praise, Benji puffed out his chest.
"This dog told the target. If you eat that, you'll go to the Dog Star. Doctor Bow-wow said so. Then the target said thank you. The target said Doctor Bow-wow's words must always be followed."
Benji rattled off the outcome, then added one more thing.
"So this dog decided to become friends with that target."
"You did so well. You really accomplished something big, Benji."
Stroke, stroke, stroke. A warm hand ruffled his head, and Benji felt wonderful. And then — a delicious flavor that slipped right onto his tongue. Benji's eyes sparkled.
"I-it's delicious."
"I'm glad. Sapsaree asked me to give this to you if I ran into a friend."
"Sapsaree, you say?"
"That's right. What you just ate is Sapsaree's favorite treat. When I told him I was going to meet a friend today, he said I had to give it to you."
Benji, who had been listening closely, tilted his large face, and his eyes lit up.
"Is Sapsaree this dog's friend?"
He had picked up on the part about going to meet a friend.
"That's right. Next time you meet, be good friends."
"Understood. Sapsaree is also this dog's friend's benefactor. This dog will be friends with the benefactor."
"Good. But Benji, just a little while ago you went all the way over there and met a dachshund friend."
"That's right."
"And after that, you went back to the entrance — over there. And then you came all the way back here again."
"That's right."
Benji recalled exactly what he had done and answered.
"Benji, do you like going back and forth like that?"
"Because it is a task that must be done."
"A task that must be done?"
"This dog is carrying out a command game."
"A command game?"
"That's right. This dog likes scent-finding games."
At the word game, the corner of Lee Jun's mouth lifted ever so slightly.
Thank goodness. He thinks of it as play, not as work.
He had already known as much, but hearing it directly put his heart at ease.
"Benji, can you tell me what kind of game it is?"
"Before the game starts, this dog takes a scent. Then this dog finds the target that matches that scent."
"And they tell you where it is?"
"No. This dog has to find it. This dog always finds it."
Benji lowered that pride-filled face of his. Ah. He wants to be petted. Lee Jun stroked Benji's forehead. It must have been the right answer, because Benji lolled out his tongue and grinned.
From the way he's talking, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his head. Still, I'd better ask why he kept going back and forth along the same path.
Lee Jun didn't stop stroking him as he asked.
"Benji, why did you go back and forth like that? You went all the way over there a little while ago. But instead of keeping going, you walked back that way and then walked all the way here again. Does that have something to do with your command game too?"
"That's right. This dog is adapting to a new game."
"A new game?"
"Yes. This dog is good at the scent-finding game, isn't he? So this dog started a new game that's even more fun."
Benji's eyes shone, bright and eager, as he explained the new game to Lee Jun.
"It's a game where this dog remembers several scents at once and finds every last one of them. Right now, this dog is finding all the orders given from over there."
"From over there?"
Lee Jun turned his head toward the entrance.
"That's right. This dog has already found two. Only one left to find."
"So one was the dachshund's scent, and the other was mine."
"Correct. Find one more, and this dog receives a gift."
A gift. He's not even in the middle of training. They're giving him a reward? Lee Jun asked, his expression puzzled.
"You get a gift?"
"That's right. Yesterday this dog completed the command game and received a piece of meat this big. It was extremely delicious."
Lee Jun listened and thought it over. So he ate meat yesterday, and he's treating that as a reward. Benji had, in fact, been given meat after his walk the day before — but it had been a special meal his guardian had offered to help him recover his strength.
Putting that aside, what is this scent-finding game supposed to be? It sounds like he's just picking up every smell on the ground. There must have been some kind of misunderstanding.
He decided to ask the guardian later, and played along with Benji's words.
"Did you? That must have been nice."
"That's right. Today this dog will complete it and receive a gift as well."
The meat from the day before must have been truly delicious; Benji licked his chops.
"I see. That's great."
"Yes. It is good."
The expression on Benji's face as he answered did not look all that happy.
Hm? Is there something he wants to eat besides meat?
For Lee Jun, who wanted to do something — anything — for a dog who had worked so hard for his country, this was nothing at all. He asked.
"Benji, is there something you want to eat besides meat? Tell me. Then I'll ask your owner to change the gift."
"Really?"
Benji's voice brightened far more than it had a moment before.
"Of course. Naturally."
"Then this dog wants to see Master."
"Master?"
"Yes. Once this dog can do the game perfectly, this dog will go to Master. But this dog wants to see him now."
Lee Jun replayed the entire conversation in his head and nodded.
Ah. So that's it. Benji hasn't used the word "Master" until now.
Which meant he did not think of his current guardian as his master.
He believes that once he masters this new game, he'll go back to his original owner.
Lee Jun was turning over this considerable problem when Benji's eyes sparkled and he went on.
A faint sheen of tears had gathered in Benji's shining eyes.
"So even with your leg hurting, you were still playing because…"
"This dog is fine. This much does not hurt. This dog wants to see Master. This dog wants to see Master and play the new game together."
He missed his master so much that he was enduring the pain, straining to master the new game so he could see him. Lee Jun thought he understood, now, where the word faithful hound had come from.
No — he had always known that animals were loyal. He had simply never imagined loyalty quite like this. His chest grew tight.
You faithful boy…
Lee Jun gathered Benji into a firm hug and looked toward the entrance. He had been talking with Benji for quite some time, and the guardian still had not come in — which meant someone was explaining the situation to him.
Just as he guessed, Han Na-hyeok was standing at the entrance with a man who appeared to be the guardian.
This boy still doesn't know he's been separated from his former master. He may have been apart from him before, for training or some other assignment.
He might be reading this situation as more of the same. Lee Jun didn't know what Benji's life had been like before, but that was how he pictured it.
At least he doesn't seem to be depressed. That's a relief.
In that case, how was he supposed to tell a dog like this the truth?
Lee Jun decided he would hear out the former owner and the current guardian first, then find a way to talk about it. For now, he focused on Benji's injured leg.
He loves games. What if I could get him to think of treatment as a game too? The important thing right now is healing that leg.
Lee Jun remembered how warmly Benji had regarded Sapsaree. He added Benji's abundant curiosity and his love of food into the mix, and a plan took shape.
"Benji, you want to play with Sapsaree, don't you?"
"That's right. This dog and Sapsaree are friends now, so this dog wants to play together."
"Good. But there's a game Sapsaree's been completely hooked on lately."
"What is it? Is it fun?"
"Scent-finding games are fun too, but the game Sapsaree's been so into lately will be fun as well. The gifts are huge, you see."
At the word gift, Benji's ears pricked straight up.
"The treat you just ate was tasty, right?"
"It was delicious."
"There's a cookie that big, you know."
Lee Jun spread both arms wide, and Benji's eyes went round as saucers.
"Th-there are cookies that big?"
Lee Jun answered him, and his conscience gave a guilty twinge. The treats Sapsaree had been eating lately were the dog biscuits Ju Mi-seon made, each no bigger than two knuckles. They were nowhere near the size Lee Jun had just described.
"Of course there are! That's the gift Sapsaree always gets when he completes the game."
As he said it, Lee Jun thought, Chef Joo will make them… right?
"Well? Interested?"
"Yes! This dog wants to try!"
Curious Benji snapped up the bait Lee Jun had dangled, hook, line, and sinker. Lee Jun flashed a grin and went on.
"But Sapsaree's really, really good at that game. Wouldn't it be a little awkward if you weren't? You were always the best, weren't you? Best of Best — BOB Benji!"
Lee Jun leaned hard on the nickname. In that instant, Benji's eyes flashed.
"That's right. This dog was always the finest. This dog is BOB Benji."
"Then how about practicing a bit before you meet Sapsaree?"
"Of course. This dog is confident this dog will be the best at the new game as well."
"Great! Just trust me. I'll make you the best."
"Really?"
"Of course. Who do you think I am? I'm the teacher who saved Sapsaree's life! Making you the best at a new game is easy!"
Lee Jun felt faintly ridiculous, but he called up the bold, utterly self-assured look Hoesaegi wore when addressing his brothers and subordinates, and spoke with shameless confidence. And it worked.
"Th-that's right. Doctor Bow-wow saved Sapsaree. Doctor Bow-wow, please make this dog the best at the new game!"
Meeting those bright, shining eyes, Lee Jun's conscience twinged again.
Ah. I feel like I've become some kind of cult leader…
He folded that embarrassment neatly away in a far corner of his heart and answered.
"All right! Just leave it to me. I'll make you the very best — and when you're the best at the new game, I'll tell your master to come see you!"
"Understood. This dog will practice with everything this dog has."
"Good. Practice starts now! Let's go!"
Click, click, click. With crisp, disciplined strides, Benji followed Lee Jun toward the entrance.