Three Little Bears
Drumroll—!
Round ears, round faces, and set inside those faces, rounder still—a pair of round eyes each.
Three bears lifted their heads with proud dignity before the gathered crowd.
Hoesaegi Bear. Gkamnyangi Bear. Sapsaree Bear.
"Ohhh my gosh! So—so cute!"
Jang Sora's cry, half scream and half gasp, set off a cascade of exclamations that filled the lobby of Mongmong Animal Hospital.
"Oh my, oh my, oh my!"
"Good heavens, they're too adorable!"
"G-good lord."
Even Cha Wuk, who had gifted them the bear hats in the first place, stood with his mouth hanging open, letting out a dazed little laugh.
"Heh. Well, I'll be."
Every gaze in the lobby locked onto the three of them at once. The trio glanced at one another, their pupils blown wide, and then off they went—walking so fast it was practically a run, paws going pat-pat-pat across the floor.
Their destination was the ramp leading up to the second floor.
Watching their retreating backs bounce up the slope, Cha Wuk turned to Lee Jun with a distinctly wounded look.
"Wh-why are they running away? Did putting on the hats put them in a bad mood?"
His voice had gone limp and droopy.
"They wore those lion hats just fine…"
Could the Cha Wuk everyone knew—cold, arrogant, untouchable—actually make a face like that? Lee Jun blinked at the unexpected sight, then smiled.
"Haha, I don't think that's it. They've probably gone to look in the mirror."
"A mirror? Our little cuties look in mirrors?"
"Of course they do. Everyone's saying how cute they are, so they want to see for themselves. You know how it is. Cats can't stand not knowing something."
"Hahaha, they really are adorable. And seriously smart, too," Yoo Daehyun said, laughing from the belly.
Cha Wuk jumped on it at once.
"Hey, you watched the videos and you still don't know? How smart do you think these kids are?"
"You talk about them like they're yours, you know that?"
"Whatever… Anyway, I just hope they like them. They'll like them, right?"
Cha Wuk's voice trailed off, and Jang Sora picked it up without missing a beat.
"Of course, Director. They were just too precious. The lions were cute, but the little bears are adorable too."
"She's right, Dr. Cha. They're going to love them."
"They really are too cute. I'm kicking myself for not getting a picture."
"Same. I was so busy staring I completely forgot to take one."
The guardians were still chiming in one after another when a clattering rumble shook the ramp, and the three of them came thundering back down.
One look at their flushed, shining faces made it obvious they had forgotten every rule about walking inside the hospital.
They skidded to a halt in front of Lee Jun. Hoesaegi reared up on his hind legs, planted his front paws on his hips, and yowled at the top of his lungs, his voice bright as a song.
"Ahahaha! Hyungnim-ong. My face got so, so much bigger-ong!"
Gkamnyangi struck the exact same pose and belted out a tremendous nyaaaho!
"Eheheh, I'm Face Boss Gkamnyangi! I'm the strong Gkamnyangi!"
Fwoosh-fwoosh-fwoosh.
Sapsaree shook himself hard from side to side. His long coat rolled like a wave, making his already considerable bulk look even bigger.
"I-I'm Sapsaree-dayo!"
He barked it out like a roar, voice ringing off the walls.
Even those who couldn't understand a word the three of them were saying had no trouble reading the message.
They loved the teddy-bear hats. They loved them a lot.
"So you like them, you little rascals."
Cha Wuk smiled, a real one, and reached out to stroke all three. The wariness they had shown him and Yoo Daehyun not long ago might as well have never existed. They beamed into his hands.
Hoesaegi wound himself around Cha Wuk's legs in greeting.
"Thank you-ong. I think I've gotten stronger-ong."
"Heehee, thank you. My face got bigger and it feels great."
"Me too-dayo. Thank you-dayo. My face got bigger and it feels so, so good-dayo."
Gkamnyangi and Sapsaree offered Cha Wuk their own grinning thanks, and Yoo Daehyun, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.
"I knew this guy wanted to bring these for a reason. You just wanted to hog all their popularity, didn't you?"
"Shut up. Just take the picture."
"I'll take it for you."
"Dr. Cha, our Manager Jang is great with a camera. Strike a pose."
"Oh—you're the one who took the lion-hat photos, aren't you?"
"My goodness, you know about those?"
"Ahem. Then I'll leave it to you."
While Cha Wuk was being photographed, Yoo Daehyun went on.
"You have no idea how much Dajeong bragged after she sent me those pictures. I had to pull a night shift just to pry that photo off this guy. A whole night shift."
"Did you really? You could have just contacted me. I have even cuter ones…"
"Please. Don't give them to him."
The last part was a whisper, barely more than a breath, but Cha Wuk's ears caught it anyway.
"I heard all of that, you know? Lee Jun—you have to give them to me too. Anyway, these guys are really friendly. It's not like they've even met me before. Hahaha."
He seemed to have already forgotten how wary they had been of him only minutes ago.
"They like everyone I like. They're ridiculously good at telling the people I like apart from the ones I don't."
"True enough. They pick up on good people and bad people faster than humans do."
"So that makes you a good person, then?"
Yoo Daehyun looked at Cha Wuk.
"Can't you tell just by looking at them?"
At some point Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi had settled into Cha Wuk's arms, and Sapsaree had glued himself to Cha Wuk's side, sniffing industriously—snff, snff, snff.
"I think they just find your smell interesting."
Cha Wuk pretended not to hear a word of it and turned to Lee Jun.
"Lee Jun, has the head chef gone home? I hear her coffee is supposed to be incredible."
"Ah—she's still here."
Ju Mi-seon came in around ten-thirty and left between five and six. Even when they told her to go home earlier, she would insist there was nothing to do at the house, so she cooked lunch, made snacks for the staff, and only then clocked out. Lately a kitchen assistant had been helping her, which made things considerably easier.
And today Lee Jun had asked her a special favor. She had almost certainly already set a table for Cha Wuk and Yoo Daehyun.
"Shall we, then?"
Lee Jun led the two of them to the cafeteria. The cats rode in Cha Wuk's arms; Sapsaree walked beside the three men with his chest out, every step a statement.
Click. Lee Jun opened the cafeteria door.
"Chef Ju, your guests are here."
"Welcome, welcome."
"Good afternoon. I'm Cha Wuk."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Chef Ju. I'm Yoo Daehyun. I hate to impose the first time we meet, but—this is a small thing, just a token."
Yoo Daehyun held out a modest shopping bag.
"Oh, you really didn't need to—"
"It's nothing at all. Hand lotion. I picked it up when I was buying some for our own hospital staff. Ah—it's unscented, so these three shouldn't mind it. Hahaha."
He glanced at Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree as he said it. Then, to a thoroughly flustered Ju Mi-seon, he added,
"I've heard Chef Ju's coffee is the stuff of legend. Might we try a cup?"
He slipped the bag into her hands as he spoke, and tacked on one more thing.
"There are two, so the two of you can share. We'll leave it to you, then."
"Th-thank you. I'll brew you something really delicious."
Lee Jun watched the exchange with quiet admiration. How did he even know there was a kitchen assistant? He had probably asked Cha Da-jeong. They say the staff at Daehan almost never quit. That's all thanks to Dr. Yoo, isn't it. He would look after every single employee with that same careful attention he had just shown Ju Mi-seon.
Lee Jun had the feeling he had already learned a great deal—and he hadn't even received the hiring-and-management tips yet.
Before long the table was set with coffee, scones, and banana cake.
"Wow. This is unreal. You guys eat like this every day?"
"That's what I hear. Dajeong's always posting pictures of whatever she just ate, just to torment me."
Yoo Daehyun took a sip of coffee and went on.
"Hey, Cha Wuk. I thought Dajeong wasn't coming back to our hospital because of you. Turns out it might be Chef Ju's cooking."
"…Yeah. I think you're right. This is delicious."
Cha Wuk nodded, then turned in his seat and offered Ju Mi-seon a proper greeting.
"It's excellent."
"Th-then I'll leave you to your conversation."
Ju Mi-seon bowed and slipped out.
"Wow. She made these herself too, didn't she?"
"She did."
"You've got so much luck it's ridiculous. I'm jealous, Lee Jun."
"Luck's exploded, all right. Surrounded by walking luck charms. Eating like this every single day. I'm genuinely jealous."
"Thank you."
It was true, so Lee Jun bowed his head.
"That said, I'm still a long way from actually running this hospital. I have to be able to trust the other vets completely, and I still can't do that."
He laid the worry out honestly.
"Feels like the place would fall apart without you, doesn't it?"
Lee Jun nodded slowly at Cha Wuk's words.
"Yes. I know that's not how it should be, but I can't seem to get there. And the roster of vets still isn't full enough, either."
"We were the same. You know what it was like when the two of us first opened? If you added up every day we actually went home in those first six months, it probably wouldn't even make a full month. Right, Cha Wuk?"
"That's right. If you'd done a surgery that day, not going home was just a given."
"Everyone's like that. But a year goes by, then two, and it gets so hard you start wanting to give up. What are you supposed to do when your body won't even get out of bed? That's when you have no choice. You have to start leaning on other people."
Ah. So the seniors were exactly the same as me.
Lee Jun felt a sudden, steady kinship with the two men sitting across from him.
"If you hate that idea, the only other option is a one-person clinic. Then the range of cases you can take shrinks, and surgery is off the table entirely."
"Exactly. You couldn't take a surgery unless the patient could go home the same day or the next. And that's not the kind of hospital you want to run, is it?"
"Why even ask something that obvious? Look at how much he's grown this place in a year."
Cha Wuk's question was answered by Yoo Daehyun, but Lee Jun spoke up himself.
"You're right, both of you. I do want to grow it. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hesitating. To grow a hospital you need a lot of staff, and I keep wondering whether I can fill every one of those seats with the kind of people I'm hoping for. How did you two hire your people? I hear tenure at Daehan Animal Hospital is long these days."
Staff at animal hospitals tended not to stay long. That went for veterinarians and support staff alike.
"That's simple. Only the good ones were left."
"Sorry?"
"You've heard the rumors about our hospital, right? Six months at Daehan counts as five years anywhere else."
"I have."
No veterinarian could have missed that story. Lasting six months under Cha Wuk was considered proof of serious grit.
"Do you know how much I suffered? I'd hire them and the vets would quit day in and day out. That's how I ended up with over a thousand numbers saved in my phone."
"A thousand?"
"And that's after I cleaned it up once. If I'd just left it, it might have gone past two thousand."
"That's impressive."
"He's got a bit of a star complex. He exchanges numbers with everyone he meets."
"Star complex? This is all your fault. You drive the vets out at the drop of a hat."
"What did I ever say? They ran off on their own."
"Aigoo. This is what I live with."
Lee Jun looked at the two of them and smiled. It was a good thing to watch. Whatever one of them said, the other took it; there were no real misunderstandings, and no matter what happened, they would have weathered it together. I can talk that openly with Woo-jin, Suho, and Gijin, can't I?
Come to think of it, he had some pretty wonderful friends of his own.
Lee Jun's smile deepened.
Yoo Daehyun spoke to that smiling face.
"Lee Jun, don't overthink it. Most people are good people. Some are a little greedier, some a little less—that's all."
"That's true. And in our line of work, the most important thing—no contest—is skill. Skill."
"That's true too. However decent someone is, if they don't have the skill, they can be a friend. They can't be a colleague."
Coming from Cha Wuk, it would have been expected. Hearing it from Yoo Daehyun, who looked like the warmest man in the room, caught Lee Jun off guard.
Yoo Daehyun seemed to read that thought, and added,
"We save lives. There's no way around it."
"That's exactly right."
Lee Jun thought so too. The most important thing was saving lives. That was what he worked toward every single day.
"And you know our work isn't exactly easy, right? If you don't actually like animals, you won't last."
That was true as well.
"And even a good person has to be a good fit with you. If they're not, there's nothing you can do. So if you think someone's all right, hire them and work together. Do that, and you'll naturally end up with vets who are your people."
"Right. The ones who are going to leave will leave eventually anyway."
Cha Wuk nodded as he said it, and Yoo Daehyun stared at him as if he could not believe his ears.
"I'm not wrong. Our vets are all good people."
"They're still there even with you throwing your fits, so of course they are. Our staff are angels, you hear me? You should be grateful."
"Yeah, yeah."
Cha Wuk shrugged and took another sip of coffee.
Yoo Daehyun looked at him for a moment, then said,
"This guy put me through hell, but I'm grateful for one thing. If you're not a decent person, you can't stay at our hospital. We ended up with good people by default. It wasn't that I hired well."
Not that he had selected only good people—that they had been filtered through Cha Wuk, and the good ones were what remained.
"So don't weigh every candidate to death. Just hire. Do that, and eventually only your people will be left."
"And you don't even look like you need to worry."
Cha Wuk tossed the remark out like a pebble.
"Me?"
"Yeah. You've got these three. What's there to worry about?"
He looked at the trio.
"They'll filter out all the bad people, won't they?"
"Ah. I suppose they would."
"Of course they would. An animal's instinct. You can't underestimate that."
Come to think of it, the three of them had disliked Aji's previous owner on sight. But that was because they already knew what Aji had been through…
The thought sat with him a moment, and then another followed. Someone who hates animals might say ugly things, or even hurt them, in places people aren't watching.
In that case, these three really could help.
He was still turning that over when Cha Wuk spoke again.
"By the way, Lee Jun—you've got your boards, right?"
He was asking whether Lee Jun held an American veterinary license.
"My boards? I do, but…"
"Good. If the chance comes up, let's work together."
Lee Jun had no intention of turning down a chance to see, with his own eyes, just how well the rumored Dream Team actually synced.
"Call me anytime."
"And Lee Jun—when are you going to hire vets?"
"I've already reached out to the school. Word should start coming in."
"I'll look around too. And when resumes come in, tell me. They're all kids I know through someone or other."
"Thank you, Dr. Yoo."
Cha Wuk stroked Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi as he spoke.
"This one is a good judge of people, I'll give him that."
"And whose doing do you think that is?"
"This is really good. Could I get another cup?"
"Go easy, you. That's your third cup today."
Lee Jun burst out laughing at the two of them. The way these seniors look after each other is probably how they've made it this far. It was like looking at himself with Kwak Suho and Choi Woo-jin. And it was like looking at Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree beside them, wearing their teddy-bear hats, giggling with pure delight.