Keeping the Doors Open
From just a few words out of the guardian's mouth, Lee Jun understood the situation at once. Looks like nobody properly explained the surgery fee.
Watching Baek Junwon flounder in front of a guardian who had come to complain left a tightness in Lee Jun's chest. He understood Junwon's fluster. He understood the guardian's shock at the cost, too.
Worried he might only be making Junwon more uncomfortable, Lee Jun was about to step outside and wait when their eyes met. He seized the moment and pointed toward the door, but Junwon's look told him to sit and stay. Left with no choice, Lee Jun hoped the situation would resolve itself as he carefully made his way to a waiting-room chair and sat down.
That was when Baek Junwon spoke to the guardian.
"Ma'am, would you mind stepping into the exam room for a moment? I'll go over everything again."
"No. Say it here. Don't take this behind closed doors."
The guardian, thoroughly furious, refused to budge.
"Understood. Please wait just a moment, then. I'll bring a tablet and explain."
"Fine."
Baek Junwon practically ran to the director's office and came back out to the lobby with a tablet in hand.
"Ma'am, this is a photo of Gippeum-i's legs. See here—both legs are a little twisted, aren't they? The right is at stage three, and the left is progressing into stage four."
"I already know that. That's what they told me at the neighborhood clinic."
"Yes, you did mention that. And as I explained a moment ago, looking at Gippeum-i's right leg, we suspect a cruciate ligament tear. So we'll need to do a cruciate reconstruction as well."
"Hold on, Doctor. You said the left leg hurts more, and now you're telling me the right cruciate is torn? That doesn't make any sense."
"Ah—it's not torn through. It's stretched."
"Whatever. You said that was the less painful leg, and now it needs cruciate surgery too? That's ridiculous."
"That's because Gippeum-i has been putting her weight on whichever leg hurts less when she walks. Keep that up long enough, and the leg that used to hurt less can end up hurting worse. Don't you shift your weight off a sore side when you're in pain, too?"
"Hmph."
The guardian seemed to find some sense in that, and had nothing more to say.
"So the reconstruction surgery is four hundred and forty thousand won. And since you said you didn't want Gippeum-i to be in pain and requested a pain-relief patch, that's another hundred and fifty thousand."
"What? You're charging for that too? Come on. Just throw that in as a courtesy."
"Ah, that's a bit difficult, ma'am. The unit cost per patch is quite high... Shall I take it off the estimate, then?"
Baek Junwon's voice had dwindled to a crawl. The guardian answered without hesitation.
"Absolutely not. Do you know how much pain our Gippeum-i is in? Just knock a little off the total."
"Ah, yes. Then I'll take thirty thousand won off. And this is today's exam fee—that's eighty-two thousand won, but I'll put it down as sixty thousand. And Gippeum-i will need to be hospitalized for a week, so that's three hundred thousand in boarding. That brings us to two million three hundred and twenty thousand won, and I'll make it two million two hundred thousand for you."
"Well, you should have just done that from the start. But honestly—you didn't just sneak that extra charge in there, did you?"
"No, not at all. If you have doubts about the exam, I'll send you these images and you can take them to another animal hospital and ask."
"No, that's not necessary. I came because I heard the director is good at surgery, so that's fine. I'll make the appointment."
"Yes. Our manager will show you the way."
As Baek Junwon answered, a staff member addressed the guardian.
"Ma'am, right this way, please."
The guardian gathered the brown poodle in her arms and followed the staff member into a small room.
Watching them go, Baek Junwon pointed somewhere with his hand. Looks like he wants me in the director's office.
Baek Junwon started walking, and Lee Jun followed. A moment later, the two of them sat facing each other in the director's office.
"You've been working hard."
Instead of answering, Baek Junwon just stared at Lee Jun. After several seconds, he let out a long sigh.
"Haa... How do you even do this?"
"Do what? Run an animal hospital?"
"Yeah. It's nothing like just seeing patients. Nothing like it. I feel like the blood's just draining straight out of me."
"You look it. Two weeks and you've already gone gaunt. You've wasted away."
"I bet. When I look in the mirror, it feels like someone else is standing there."
Watching Junwon sigh, Lee Jun said,
"You've made a habit of sighing."
"I know. But the second I have a spare second, a sigh just comes out. Especially what you just saw, right? When a guardian comes at you like that, all I can do is sigh."
"You handled it just fine."
"That one was still relatively reasonable. You wouldn't believe how many people just refuse to listen."
"It's all about the money, isn't it. Is the surgery fee that high?"
"You're not wrong. It's reasonable from our side, but for the people paying, it's expensive. It's not like I'm running a charity, either... Haa!"
"Guardians think all we do is cut and stitch. Does the equipment run expensive?"
At Lee Jun's words, Baek Junwon nodded and began listing off the surgical equipment in his OR, one by one.
"The inhalation anesthesia machine is a latest-generation model, the C-arm too, the fluoroscope as well. Those are all expensive pieces of equipment, right? And the consumables are all pricey, and so are the meds."
"Is that all? You've got to pay the anesthetist's salary too. Hey—if you start thinking about all that, the surgery fee's only going to get bigger."
"You're right. We opened this place because we wanted to see these kids recover faster. But the guardians don't know that's where we're coming from, and they just keep saying it's too expensive. It's disappointing, and it's frustrating."
Baek Junwon let out another long sigh.
"I think I might've made the wrong call. Maybe I should just go back to being an employee. When I was just doing surgery and seeing patients, I never thought about any of this. So why do I shake like this when I have to tell a guardian the fee?"
"You'll get used to it after a few times. If that's too hard, hire a counseling manager separately."
"I might have to. It's the same for me, and for Taejun, who's in the middle of an exam right now. We're both terrible at talking. Just terrible. Director Kim used to rattle it off so smoothly."
"Go learn from him."
"Should I?"
"Go ask him. Ask how he talks about fees so smoothly, and he'll say something that hits you right in the chest."
"Something that hits me in the chest?"
"Yeah. You've got to cover the staff's salaries. Pay the rent. Loan interest, utilities, and then you've got to replace broken equipment. Pay off the equipment you bought. You might bring a lot in, but what goes out isn't small either, you know? Think about all of that, and he'll tell you the surgery fee just comes out of your mouth on its own."
At Lee Jun's words, Baek Junwon's shoulders gave a little shudder.
"Ugh, listening to you, I feel like I have to wring out courage I don't even have."
"That's right. Like I said a minute ago—you two opened this place because you wanted to do good surgery on kids with bad legs. So they could run around without it coming back."
"Yeah. It doesn't sit right, seeing kids who need a second surgery. Better to get it right the first time."
"If that's how you think, then you need to collect your fees properly, even more so. I'm not saying overcharge. I'm saying you have to earn enough that your hospital doesn't shut its doors, and that you can actually live. The amount you just collected—how could you possibly charge less than that?"
"Ah... that's true. Charge any less and it's a loss. You couldn't run an animal hospital. Jun, listening to you, I feel like I just woke up."
"Of course. If we're going to keep doing this work, there's no other way. Guardians go to the hospital when they're sick, too. They go, and they pay the bill. Sure, they pay national health insurance every month, so they get help from the National Health Insurance Service, but—"
"That's true. If we got subsidies from the Service, treatment would be cheaper, but that's impossible."
"Exactly. So we have to work at it. If more animals come in for treatment and surgery, costs can come down. Honestly, the surgery fee you just quoted was on the cheap side. Plenty of places charge over two million just for operating on both legs. And your hospitalization fees are cheap, too."
"That's the same for you, though. Except your guardians tell you to charge more, and ours say it's too expensive. That's what's eating at me."
"That's exactly why you should charge what you decided. Don't discount for one person and charge full price for another. Just don't. And anyone who's decided on a surgery this big will have at least roughly looked up what it costs before they came."
"I think you're right. Gippeum-i's family did come from pretty far away."
"So what you need to do is charge a fair fee—enough that the hospital stays open and you can keep doing surgery. And then do the surgery really, really well."
"Haa... I think you're right. I was overcomplicating it."
"Of course. We're all doing this to make a living. And if you end up earning a bit more, you can do some good with it."
"Is that why you work so much? To earn enough to build that animal medical center and the Animal Sanctuary you've been dreaming of?"
"Well, that would be nice. Turns out I'd have to earn a whole lot, though."
Lee Jun answered with a small laugh. Baek Junwon added,
"Well, if I start making money, I'll chip in a bit."
"Oh, music to my ears. No taking that back later, got it?"
"I'll vouch for that."
A voice came from behind them.
Lee Jun turned around, smiling.
"Kang Taejun, how've you bee— wait. Huh. Your face has wasted away too."
"Yeah, well. It'll get better bit by bit."
"That's Kang Taejun for you. The icon of positivity!"
"Like you're one to talk. Anyway, thanks for coming."
"Don't thank me. I should've been at the opening. Sorry about that."
"We all know how busy you are. Ugh, I'm wiped. I talked nonstop for an hour and my throat's all raspy."
"A lot to explain, huh?"
"Yeah. There's a lot to go over, and then I have to explain all the rehab exercises too."
"That's true. I wonder if they even realize you invest an hour and a half—sometimes two hours—and charge eighty thousand won for the exam."
"Some of them get it. Some of them get angry and ask if it isn't already included in the surgery fee. That's how it goes."
That was when a light knock sounded from outside the door.
"Director Kang, Somang-i's guardian is looking for you?"
"Oh, is that so? Was there something difficult in what I explained?"
Kang Taejun went out, and through the open door, voices drifted in.
"Director, I think the bill came out wrong."
"Where do you think the mistake is? Let me take a look and I'll tell you. Hmm... Somang-i's guardian, this looks correct to me?"
"No, Director. The rehab treatment Somang-i received isn't on here. You did the exercises with him, and that laser? You shone that red light on him too."
"Ah, you mean the far-infrared. That was me demonstrating so you could do it for Somang-i at home."
"Then you should still charge for the rehab you did."
"That's the same thing. I was demonstrating so you could do the rehab exercises with Somang-i at home."
"Even so. Just hearing that if we work hard at rehab, Somang-i might not need leg surgery—that alone made me so happy. And you explained every step in detail while actually doing the exercises with him. Please charge us."
"Hahaha, no. You can just go."
Listening to Kang Taejun and Somang-i's guardian, Lee Jun smiled.
"You heard that, right? You two are doing well."
"Y-yeah."
Baek Junwon answered with a look of surprise, but a faint smile was blooming at the corners of his mouth.
"I think the guardians can tell. How much care we put into treating their animals. How much we cherish them."
"Seems that way."
"So don't worry. Just keep going the way you believe is right."
"Yeah. That helps."
As Lee Jun and Baek Junwon smiled, Kang Taejun came back into the room.
"Whew. I don't know. Why do I feel this good?"
"Of course you do. The guardian acknowledged you."
"Yeah, that's it. Sometimes it's hard, dealing with a sick animal and the guardian both. But times like this, the joy doubles. I'm happy because cute little Somang-i smiled at me, and I'm happy because Somang-i's guardian recognized us and was grateful."
"That's the job. Here—this is a gift."
"What is it?"
"What do you think? Best thing you can get at a grand opening is cash."
"Wahaha, Jun, you really are a great friend. Yeah. You're a true friend."
"Oho, if I'd put a little more in the envelope, you'd be calling me hyungnim?"
"Obviously."
Hahaha. As the three of them laughed, Baek Junwon spoke to Lee Jun.
"Jun. You ever think about making a video of the kids?"
"Of what?"
"When I visited Meongmeong that time, I saw Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree doing rehab exercises like it was nothing. Think you could make a video of that?"
"Yeah, he came over that day and said if we filmed them doing rehab, we'd have less to explain."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Honestly, when we demonstrate the rehab exercises for guardians, we tell them to record it, but we can't show them everything every time, so it's always felt like something's missing."
"So a video like that would help?"
"Yeah. Those three are popular, so a lot of people would watch."
"Yeah? I'll think about it."
That was what Lee Jun said out loud—but already, in his head, a rehab video of the three of them was clicking into place, shot by shot.
Lee Jun stayed about another hour after that, talking about this and that with his friends. Most of it was about running an animal hospital. Maybe because all three of them had become veterinarians out of love for animals, the conversation always flowed in the same direction.
"Jun, if I make a lot of money, I'll definitely sponsor your dream."
"Me too. So let's make a lot of money."
"Yeah, yeah. Just hearing that is enough. Thank you."
"Hey, that's exactly what I said to you two weeks ago. You told us we'd do well once we opened. And I answered the same way you just did."
"Yeah, I remember. I did."
"Hahaha. So. Your dream of founding a sanctuary—that'll work out too."
"That'd be nice. No—I'll earn a lot of money and I'll build it."
He didn't know when it would be. But he would make it happen.
Visiting the animal hospital his friends had opened, Lee Jun quietly renewed the goal he had been carrying all this time.