A Reunion Without Filters
"Kim Dong-wook, what did you just say?"
Choi Woo-jin stormed into the room alongside Lee Jun, his temper already flaring. Kim Dong-wook looked at him and scowled.
"What? Did I say something I shouldn't have? The whole world knows you vets are money-hungry."
Kim Dong-wook glanced around at his classmates as if seeking agreement, then added,
"Am I wrong?"
An awkward silence dropped over the room in an instant. The others quietly averted their eyes, ducking Kim Dong-wook's gaze as if afraid the sparks might fly their way.
Kim Dong-wook sneered at them.
"Cowards. You guys used to throw fits about getting ripped off at the animal hospital — about how the bills were way too expensive."
He pinned a few of them with a hard stare as he went on.
"Go on, look away. See if that makes all those complaints of yours disappear. You all think the exact same thing I do."
"Hey, hey, Kim Dong-wook, that's enough. Just because your mouth has no filter doesn't mean you can say whatever you want — not to friends we haven't seen in ages."
The class organizer cut him off, then turned to Lee Jun and Choi Woo-jin.
"Cut him some slack. This guy's got no filter. Don't just stand there — come in and sit down."
"Yeah, sit down. You probably haven't even had dinner yet."
Kwak Suho stood and showed Choi Woo-jin and Lee Jun to their seats.
"Yeah. Just ignore that guy."
"He probably got chewed out by his boss today. Let it roll off and ignore him."
The organizer and a few of the others looked after the two of them. Then the organizer threw a rebuke Kim Dong-wook's way.
"Come on, do you always have to talk like that and kill the mood?"
"Well said. Since you brought it up — how did I kill the mood? I just stated the facts."
"What would you know? Are you already drunk-talking?"
"Drunk-talking? I've only had a few drinks!"
Kim Dong-wook's face twisted into a scowl, and he called out to Lee Jun.
"Hey, Lee Jun."
Speak kindly, and you'll be spoken to kindly. Having been insulted the moment he walked through the door, Lee Jun's reply came out thick with irritation.
"What?"
"You and Choi Woo-jin — you know those vets who show up on TV, right? When they go on air rescuing animals and treating them, is that really because they love animals?"
Kim Dong-wook glared at Lee Jun and Choi Woo-jin.
"Why are you even asking something that obvious?"
Lee Jun glared right back. He could tolerate a lot of things, but he would not stand for anyone diminishing the hard work of veterinarians — his own, or anyone else's.
Choi Woo-jin felt the same.
"Kim Dong-wook, you've got eyes, don't you? Can't you see how hard those people work to treat those animals?"
"Exactly. Last week I watched Animal Praise — or was it Animal World? — they rescued a brown mutt that got hit by a car and operated on it. Man, I actually teared up. You couldn't do that without a real sense of calling."
"I saw that episode too. Those doctors were incredible. The dog was in so much pain it was snarling with those huge teeth bared, and they didn't even flinch."
"Right? Look, even if it means getting on TV — those animals are vicious, loud, filthy. Ugh! I could never do it. Like he said, you couldn't pull that off with just an ordinary sense of duty."
"I think so too. Why would you put yourself through all that if you didn't actually care? They were even running around in the mountains in the rain. I could never do that."
A few of the classmates chimed in to back Lee Jun and Choi Woo-jin. Kim Dong-wook's mouth curled up on one side, and he spoke.
"How old are you guys, still taking that stuff at face value? It's all a drama. They're just putting on a show. You don't even know."
With that, Kim Dong-wook picked up a beer bottle and filled his empty glass. Then, like a man whose insides were on fire, he downed it in one shot and went on.
"Donating their skills for poor little animals? Give me a break. Those vets on TV? They're all just advertising their own clinics. You've all been around the block enough — how can your heads still be full of flowers?"
"What? Full of flowers? You son of a—"
Yoon Tae-yoon, the most hot-tempered of the group, exploded.
"I said full of flowers because that's what it is. Donating their skills? Treating poor little animals? Don't make me laugh. Hey, listen up. Those vets who go on TV sniveling about how pitiful the animals are? It's all an act. An act. The second a clinic gets on television, it's packed to bursting. Packed!"
That was when it happened.
Bang.
The sound of a fist striking the table filled the room. Kwak Suho, his face twisted with fury, had slammed his knuckles down.
"I leave you alone and there's nothing you won't say? Did you see it? Did you?"
Kwak Suho growled, his voice low.
"And if I did, then what? Kwak Suho, be honest. Lee Jun's animal hospital — before it was on TV and after. Completely different, wasn't it?"
"You—! Mongmong Animal Hospital was famous long before he ever got on the news, you idiot!"
"Oh, covering for him because you're close, huh."
"What?"
Kwak Suho's face flushed with rage as he braced his hands on the table, about to stand. Lee Jun stopped him.
"That's enough. We haven't seen each other in ages — why are we doing this?"
"Hey, Lee Jun, doesn't this even make you mad? That guy's saying you stuck your face on TV for the money."
Kwak Suho snapped, his scowl still firmly in place. Choi Woo-jin, whose own expression hadn't softened either, chimed in.
"Leave him. He's going to see what he wants to see and think what he wants to think. Don't bother. Just let him think whatever he wants."
Lee Jun had no desire to start a fight at a reunion they'd waited so long for. Echoing that sentiment, he moved to calm the still-agitated Kwak Suho.
His anger hadn't actually subsided, though. Choi Woo-jin, sitting beside him, was equally furious. Scowling as hard as he could, Choi Woo-jin turned on Lee Jun as if to vent.
"Hey, Lee Jun, doesn't this piss you off? You treat those kids so well. If he watched you with them for even a day — no, forget a day, even an hour — he wouldn't be able to run his mouth like that. Right?"
"Of course. This guy's grinding his own health down treating those kids."
Kwak Suho growled along in agreement.
Lee Jun didn't want to sow discord among friends he hadn't seen in so long — not on his account. But while he might have let it go if the insults had been aimed at him alone, he had no intention of sitting quietly while Kim Dong-wook tore down the entire veterinary profession.
So Lee Jun spoke to Kim Dong-wook, his tone a warning.
"Kim Dong-wook, I don't know what you've seen that makes you say these things, but I want you to understand this much. Veterinarians treat animals with everything they've got, whether you acknowledge it or not. Day and night — it doesn't matter."
Lee Jun held Kim Dong-wook's gaze as he continued.
"Sure, there are probably vets who go on TV to make money, like you said. But even those veterinarians give it their all when they're treating and operating. I'd like you to understand that."
It wasn't as if there were no veterinarians who used television appearances to promote their own clinics. Lee Jun had pointed out that even those veterinarians practiced with dedication, but Kim Dong-wook's reply still dripped with contempt.
"Oh, is that so?"
"This bastard—!"
Kwak Suho glared at Kim Dong-wook with a look that could kill. The classmate sitting next to Kim Dong-wook jumped in.
"Kwak Suho, calm down. And Lee Jun, Choi Woo-jin — you guys try to understand too. This idiot Kim Dong-wook has some bad memories with animal hospitals."
"Even so, that's no reason to go after a friend we haven't seen in ages."
The organizer added his voice, then turned to Lee Jun.
"Lee Jun, cut him some slack. This guy's a bit twisted."
Having said that, the organizer looked back at Kim Dong-wook.
"You, apologize to Lee Jun. You know he's not that kind of guy."
"How would I know?"
"That temper of his, I swear!"
That was when it happened.
Crash!
This time the sound came from another direction — a glass slamming hard against the table — followed by a thick, booming voice.
"Hey, Kim Dong-wook. I don't know what happened to you, but I will not forgive you for ruining the taste of this alcohol."
Shin Tae-jin, the group's notorious heavy drinker, scowled at Kim Dong-wook as he spoke.
"Agreed! Kim Dong-wook, you punk! We finally get to see each other and drink, and you're going to ruin it?"
"If that's how you're going to be, then leave. Go talk to a wall — curse Lee Jun out or don't, I don't care. I need a drink right now!"
"Yeah, while we're on the subject — are people all good? There are bad ones too. Vets are people. They're not all the same."
"That's right. I think you're doing really good work, Lee Jun."
"Exactly, exactly. You have no idea how much I brag about you being my friend."
"Same here. While we're at it, show us those little cuties of yours."
"Yeah. I thought Hoesaegi was so cute. Can I see him if I visit your hospital?"
"For me it's Sapsaree. That one was so dignified."
"Isn't Gkamnyangi just the cutest? I'd love to see him in person. Lee Jun, while we're at it, let's take a picture together."
"Yeah. I tell people I'm friends with you and nobody believes me. Let's take a proof shot."
With more than twenty people gathered, everyone except Kim Dong-wook spoke up in support of Lee Jun. Kim Dong-wook shrugged and turned his head away.
Then, as if the way everyone was circling the wagons around Lee Jun didn't sit well with him, he started in again.
"Good work, my ass. He's raking it in too. You guys know how much it costs when you take a dog that's got diarrhea and vomiting to the animal hospital?"
"I dunno, like twenty or thirty thousand won?"
"It'd be more than that. There's no insurance."
"Exactly. That's it. They use 'no insurance' as an excuse to completely rip you off. Diarrhea? Hospitalize. Vomiting? Hospitalize. They open their mouths and it's always admission. And why do they run so many tests? Anyway, a hundred thousand won disappears just like that."
The noisy room fell silent in an instant. After a brief hush, a very cautious voice spoke up.
"Is that true?"
"It depends on the symptoms. Sometimes it's twenty or thirty thousand won. If it's something serious like pancreatitis, it can get expensive, like Kim Dong-wook said. Sometimes even more than that."
Lee Jun answered honestly. One of the classmates who'd been listening picked up the thread.
"That's terrifying. One wrong move and a whole month's salary could just vanish."
"No kidding."
Kim Dong-wook shot back, triumphant at his classmates' reactions.
"Hear that? Way more expensive than it is for us humans."
"That's a misunderstanding. For us humans, the National Health Insurance Service covers it. Animals don't have anything like that. If you actually look at the numbers, we're struggling too."
"Don't make me laugh."
"It's true. Do you have any idea how expensive the diagnostic equipment is? And the medications — those come in at a fortune too. And that's not all. Staff salaries? Just to draw blood from a dog or a cat, you need at least two people. When you're dealing with aggressive ones, you need even more hands. You all know how expensive labor is, so why are you acting like this?"
"'Earn in the front, lose in the back' — that's our industry in a nutshell. And then you factor in the rent and it's just… ugh. I don't even know why every animal hospital has to be on the first floor."
Choi Woo-jin added this to Lee Jun's explanation, giving a theatrical shudder.
"Now that you mention it, animal hospitals really are almost all on the first floor."
"It's for accessibility. Even going up to the second floor would be so much better."
"That's because you guys set up on the expensive first floor to make more money. And then you dump that cost on us pet owners."
"Alright, alright, that's enough. We didn't get together to fight. Kim Dong-wook, you choose. You staying, or you leaving?"
"What…"
Kim Dong-wook shut his mouth and turned his head away. He didn't want to leave.
The organizer shot him a look, then turned to Lee Jun.
"Lee Jun, try to understand. You heard just now — it sounds like this guy had a bad experience at an animal hospital. Or maybe he got scammed by a vet."
"Yeah, yeah. Forget what he said and let's just drink."
"Right. We finally got together — we can't just sit here scowling. Come on, time's wasting. Let's drink."
Shin Tae-jin, the group's unofficial drinking champion, bellowed. At that, the glug-glug-glug of drinks being poured rose from all around the table.
Shin Tae-jin — the same heavy drinker who'd just said time was wasting — stood up.
"My friends! We're finally together! And what is it we do?"
"We drink!"
"That's right! Everybody raise your glasses!"
Clink, clink, clink.
"Fill 'em uup!"
Everyone raised their glasses, filled to the brim. Lee Jun raised his own beer glass, filled so full it sloshed at the rim.
In the old days, with appointments the next morning, filling a glass like this would have been unthinkable. But now Mongmong Animal Hospital had a roster of capable veterinarians besides Lee Jun. He'd taken the advice of those around him — that working himself into the ground wouldn't last — and was trying to allow himself more breathing room than before. Enough breathing room, at least, to share a drink with classmates he hadn't seen in so long.
At Shin Tae-jin's cry, everyone roared as one.
"Drink uuup!"
"Drink, drink!"
After a few rounds, the sharp edge of the atmosphere began to soften. The conversation turned once more to Lee Jun's success, but Kim Dong-wook merely scowled, no longer voicing his complaints the way he had before.
He genuinely despised veterinarians who were only in it for the money. That didn't mean he wanted to shut out his classmates, too. Still, he had no desire to join in when they praised Lee Jun's success. No — he refused to acknowledge it.
He plays the saint with a few pitiful dogs and cats, then lines his pockets behind the scenes. He's definitely raking it in.
Until the drinking party broke up, Kim Dong-wook's opinion of Lee Jun remained unchanged.