Hope Takes Root
Creak.
The rusted iron door swung open. Thwack! A rustling unfurl — and a woven mat spread across the floor.
Creak, thwack, rustle. Creak, thwack, rustle.
The sounds fell into rhythm as if they had found a beat, carrying through the farm, and bright, joyful cries layered over the top.
Kuuuwoooor!
Kuwang-kuwang-kuwang!
Kuwaooo-waaang!
And over all of that came another sound still: the Somang-is, their spirits soaring, stomping and bouncing on the mats — thud-thump, thud-thump, a delighted drumming of paws.
Clunk, thump-thump. Clunk, kugu-koong.
Every noise ringing through the farm gathered itself into a beautiful performance, and a melody of joy unfurled across the Donghae Rescued Bear Farm, a place that had been melting under a heat fierce enough to dissolve a body where it stood.
Haennim-i, wiggling her rump in a happy little dance, was one of the musicians too. Watching her friends beam, her own mood lifted right along with theirs.
"Hehehe. This is nice!"
Her backside didn't hurt, and the floor was all squishy-soft. Feeling as good as she had ever felt in her life, Haennim-i called out to Lee Jun, who was busy laying down that softness for every one of her friends.
"Banana Oppa! Thank you!"
Haennim-i's greeting was only the beginning. The rest of the Somang-is poured out after her.
"This is so, so good!"
"Hehe. My feet don't hurt. Thank you."
"Hihi. Even when I roll around like this, it's all squishy."
"Yeah, yeah. It feels like tumbling on Momma's belly."
"Yeah, that's it! It's so, so soft. Thank you!"
How soft could a woven mat possibly be, after all?
But for the Somang-is, who had spent their entire lives on rusted, hole-riddled raised wire-mesh cages, even a simple mat was unimaginably plush and snug.
And there was another reason it felt so snug. Until just the day before, they had taken the full brunt of sunlight hot enough to scorch flesh. Now a dim, gentle shade had fallen. Shade cloths had been draped over the cages, and the sun could no longer punch through.
The floor was squishy-soft. The light no longer stabbed at their eyes. And as if on cue, a breeze came drifting through.
"I-I'm gonna sleep. It's so, so soft, I can feel a nap coming on."
"Mm-hm. My eyes don't hurt either. I'm gonna sleep."
"Me too!"
One by one, the Somang-is stretched out on the floor.
Watching them, Kang Han-ul smiled.
"They really love this, don't they? Look how happy they are."
"Can you imagine how good this must feel? I doubt they ever even dreamed they could sleep like this."
"Yeah. Just watching them is making me so happy."
Kang Han-ul stood for a long moment, gazing at the Somang-is as they settled in and tried to sleep. Then he went on.
"These guys, when they get to the sanctuary — they're going to pass out, aren't they? From being too happy."
"That would be wonderful. I really hope that's what we get to see."
The day they would leave for the Animal Sanctuary was now less than two months away. Lee Jun took in each of them, one by one, and hoped they would all stay safe until then. Once he had committed every face to memory, he spoke.
"All right. Now we just need to put these in and we're done."
"Yeah. True — but you think they won't chew these up?"
There was still one more gift left for the Somang-is: the ice packs Lee Jun had mentioned.
He had been turning over the same question for days — how to make a hot summer even a little less brutal for them — and the ice packs had been the answer he landed on. Reusable ones, made of sturdy plastic. Wide, but narrow enough to slide easily between the tight cage bars. Filled with water and frozen, so they were safe besides. If he froze them and pressed them into the Somang-is' arms, it would do them good.
The day before, Namgoong Hyun had asked Lee Jun whether they needed anything else besides the sun canopies. Jun had mentioned the sturdy plastic ice packs in passing, saying he was planning to order some.
I never thought he'd actually get them. And frozen, no less.
Somehow — Jun still wasn't sure how — the ice packs had arrived packed in a cooler, frozen solid. And now Go Gi-jin was hauling that cooler over.
Lee Jun smiled at Kang Han-ul, who was eyeing the box with open worry.
"Don't worry. These kids are smart, you know."
Go Gi-jin came up beside the still-smiling Lee Jun. Jun pulled an ice pack from the cooler and walked to the cage directly in front of him.
Haennim-i, who had been beaming at him, gave her rump a happy little bounce. That meant she was glad. Lee Jun slipped the ice pack through the bars and held it out.
"Haennim-i. Hug this and you'll feel nice and cool."
"Cool?"
Haennim-i tipped her round head to one side.
It meant cold, like snow in winter. Or cool, like a wind that cuts to the bone on a freezing day. Or—
There were plenty of ways to explain it. The problem was whether the bears would understand any of them. A dozen thoughts flickered through Lee Jun's mind, and then he simply shook his head. At times like this, experience was far faster than explanation.
"Yeah. Go on, hug it."
Haennim-i did not ask why. She just gathered the ice pack into her arms.
"Okay!"
And then—
Five seconds, maybe. Lee Jun watched her eyes go wide.
"Wow, wow! It's weird. Banana Oppa, I'm not hot! It's cold but I'm not cold! Good. Good. So, so good!"
Haennim-i, who had no word for chilly and no word for that pleasant summer coolness, raked together every word she knew to describe what she was feeling now.
Watching her, Lee Jun found her impossibly precious — and, at the same time, the sight left a bitter ache in his chest.
The feeling of drinking cold water on a midsummer day. The hush of cool air when you step indoors out of the heat. She had lived her entire life without knowing any of that. He could hear it in those few scattered words.
"Feels good, right?"
"Yeah, yeah! So, so good!"
As good as her words claimed, apparently — Haennim-i clutched the ice pack tight. Lee Jun spoke to her gently.
"You mustn't chew on that."
He hadn't wanted to use the words you mustn't with Haennim-i. But there was no other way to explain it.
"Okay. I love it so, so much! I won't chew it."
She said it with the will of someone who would never break a thing so precious. The Somang-is around her pricked up with interest. Lee Jun explained it to the rest of the bears, then slipped an ice pack into each cage, one by one. Every bear reacted exactly as Haennim-i had.
"Hold onto it," Lee Jun told them, "and when it's not cold anymore, put it out here. Then I'll give you another one that's cold again."
He taught the Somang-is how to reuse the ice packs, and the bears answered with a joyous, full-throated roar.
Kuwang!
Watching him, Kang Han-ul and the volunteers shook their heads in slow disbelief. All except one. Go Gi-jin alone wore an easy expression, chuckling under his breath.
"Those animals sure do listen to our hyungnim, I tell ya!"
On a scorching afternoon, the Somang-is enjoyed a cool nap for the first time in their lives. And when evening came, they ate their dinner with happy, smacking relish. Lee Jun watched Haennim-i put away her nutrient porridge at impressive speed and smiled, quietly pleased. Then he finished her dressing and spoke to her.
"Haennim-i. Oppa's going to come back after a few nights, so in the meantime eat well, and take your medicine well too!"
"Okay! Banana Oppa! I'll eat well. I'll take my medicine well too."
Haennim-i said yes to every word Lee Jun spoke, as she always did.
"That's my good Haennim-i. And you have to be good for the tap-tap here too, all right?"
He said it while he and Kang Han-ul worked Sugar Therapy over the wound on her backside, and once again Haennim-i answered with a smile.
Leaving her behind, Lee Jun headed for the office and spoke to Kang Han-ul as they walked.
"I just hope her liver can hold out. But we can't stop the medication, either..."
Haennim-i's wound was a mixed bacterial and fungal infection. She had to be on both antibiotics and antifungals.
"I know."
For a moment, neither of them said anything. In that silence they arrived at the office door. Kang Han-ul put his hand on the knob and spoke.
"Still. I'll tell you this — just seeing Haennim-i smile that brightly is enough to make me grateful."
"That's true. Not being in pain is the best thing there is."
The voices of both men — the one speaking and the one answering — had gone very quiet.
One week later, Lee Jun returned to Donghae.
Haennim-i greeted him with her whole body.
"Oppa! Banana Oppa!"
She threw her arms around him and scrubbed her head against his chest. Lee Jun stroked her head.
"Have you been well? Did you listen to the teacher?"
"Yes! I like the teacher!"
"And here — it doesn't hurt?"
He pointed to the wound on her backside.
"Yes! It doesn't hurt even a little! Hehehe, Banana Oppa~!"
Haennim-i's face was as bright as her name. Beside them, Kang Han-ul put in a word of his own — and Lee Jun looked at him, puzzled.
"But sunbae, what happened to your face?"
A week apart, and Kang Han-ul's cheeks had gone hollow.
"Ah, well. Work's been rough, that's all."
That wasn't it. For a good three days after Lee Jun had left, Kang Han-ul hadn't been able to sleep. The weight of having to do Haennim-i's dressings himself had sat on him like a stone. Would she stay still for it? Facing the dressings alone, he had worried himself to pieces. That was what had worn him down.
But a day passed, then two, and he learned that what Lee Jun had told him was true.
"Just like you said, Haennim-i really does listen. She stays perfectly still even for the dressings."
"She's a good girl. And it looks like she's recovering well, doesn't it? At this rate, it'll just heal over on its own."
"Looks that way to me too. And she's been taking her medicine well."
"I'm glad."
Yes. Kang Han-ul, sitting down beside Lee Jun, stroked Haennim-i with a look of fond pride. Haennim-i, pleased by the attention, gave a happy little hehe.
A short while later, the dressing done, Lee Jun and Kang Han-ul stepped back out of the cage. Kang Han-ul turned to him.
"Listen. You don't have time, do you?"
Whatever Kang Han-ul had actually said, what reached Lee Jun's ears was something else. Can you make the time?
"What is it?"
"It's like this. The day these kids get on the plane isn't far off."
"Ah. You want me there when we transport them."
"That's about the size of it."
Loading bears onto a plane was no small undertaking. It took a great deal of specialized help. Lee Jun was more than willing to be part of it.
"Of course I'll be there. There's so much to do."
If he could help it, Lee Jun wanted to get these bears — these Somang-is — onto that plane without putting them under. He was already planning to walk Kang Han-ul through the idea, step by careful step.
Kang Han-ul, hearing the same answer, was thinking something entirely different. Right. If Jun handles the anesthesia, these guys won't even get agitated. It'll be much safer.
Two men, standing in the same spot, thinking entirely different thoughts — and wearing the exact same expression as they looked at the Somang-is.
Lee Jun walked toward them with a fond smile.
"They really do love those, don't they."
He was pointing at the ice packs.
"Just like you said, they actually put the packs outside. Not a single one of them wrecked theirs."
"That's what I've been telling you. These kids are smart."
Lee Jun spoke to the bears.
"Does it feel nice and cool when you hold that?"
Kkuong-kkuong!
The bears answered in chorus. Lee Jun smiled at them.
"Just wait a little longer. A whole new world is going to open up for you."
The Somang-is had no idea what he meant. They only knew that the ice packs were wonderful, and they laughed their kkuong-kkuong laughs. Watching them, Lee Jun laughed too.
A little later he came back to Haennim-i, giving her her medicine as he spoke.
"Haennim-i. After a few more nights, you're going somewhere really, really good."
"Go? What's that? Is it something tasty, like bananas?"
Haennim-i had no grasp at all of what going meant. She had never, in her whole life, been moved from one place to another. How was he supposed to explain it to a creature like that?
Lee Jun drew a long breath, then began, slowly.
"Haennim-i. Sleeping here is nice, right?"
He ran a hand over the mat on the floor, and Haennim-i's face lit up.
"Yes! So, so nice, Banana Oppa."
"Well, you're going somewhere much wider and much softer than this. When you get there, you'll be able to run around on all four feet, and you'll be able to stretch out and roll around as much as you want."
"Uuuh? But I roll around now too? Oppa, wanna see? When I roll around now, it doesn't hurt even a little."
Haennim-i tapped her backside with a front paw as she said it. What she meant was that she was happy because even rolling around in her narrow cage didn't hurt anymore.
"That's good. I'm glad. But you'll be able to roll around in a place much, much bigger than this."
"Bigger?"
"Yeah. You could roll all the way from here to where Taebaeki is."
Taebaeki was the bear in the cage farthest from Haennim-i's.
"Wow, wow, Taebaeki!"
Haennim-i's eyes sparkled, and she waved her front legs. From a little way off came a kuwang-kuwang, and Taebaeki reared up the same way, lifting both front legs and waving them back.
Haennim-i tipped her round head, looking wondrous, but she did not miss a single word.
"Hihi. I can walk over to Taebaeki too, just like that!"
Beyond the bars, a turtle dove was toddling along, tap-tap, and Haennim-i bounced her rump as she watched it.
"Hihi. I can even touch the wiggle-wiggle trees!"
Looking at the trees — a word she had learned from Lee Jun — Haennim-i could already feel herself wrapping her arms around one. A warmth bloomed in her chest, and her spirits lifted, because the word hope had settled deep in her heart.
A hope she had never known until now. That hope was putting down roots. In all sorts of ways.
And of all those ways, the one that set Haennim-i's heart fluttering most was this: she would be able to see her friends up close.
"This close, like with Banana Oppa?"
"Yeah. You could even hold front paws and swing them together, like this."
Lee Jun took both of Haennim-i's front legs and gently shook them.
"You can play a little game, like this."
"Heeheehee. Shake-shake-shake."
Haennim-i put her own strength into it, swinging her front legs as she spoke.
"Hihi. I'll roll over to Taebaeki. And I'll go to Teongteongi too, and I have to give Cheondungi a great big hug."
Told she could go right up to her friends the way she could with Lee Jun, Haennim-i began to name her wishes.
Her friend who used to bang on bone-dry water bowls — Teongteongi. Her friend who, whenever it rained, would stick his tongue way out and catch the rainwater, loving every drop — Teongteongi. She was going to go to the friend she had only ever seen through layer upon layer of bars. To the friend who had always knocked on empty bowls, tung-tung-tung.
"Whenever there was a bang over there and a flash-flash, Cheondungi would go kuweeeeng~ and cry."
Her friend who trembled so hard at thunder that they had named him Cheondungi. Every time that friend had shaken and wailed, Haennim-i had wanted to go to him and hold him tight.
"Hihi. When Momma who went to Bear Star hugged Haennim-i tight like this, I wasn't scared at all."
Haennim-i gathered Lee Jun into a full, deep hug as she said it. If she hugged Cheondungi like that, he wouldn't be scared either.
"That's right. You go and do everything you want."
There was a catch in Lee Jun's voice as he answered. It hurt, watching a child call the most ordinary things in the world a wish. And it filled him with joy, knowing that wish would come true so soon.
Whether she understood any of that or not, Haennim-i kept her arms around him and grinned, wide and shining.
"Hihi. I can meet my friends!"
Happiness, it turned out, was a virus — and a fiercely contagious one. As the Somang-is grinned their wide, silly grins, the Donghae Rescued Bear Farm became a flower field. A flower field in full bloom with blossoms of happiness.
The Somang-is smiled, and the volunteers smiled. Lee Jun, who had always felt the guilt first whenever he thought of these bears, laughed with them in this moment, at least.
They look like they own the whole world just from this. Once they get to the sanctuary, they're going to love it, aren't they? I'm so glad they're going, even if it's only now. So, so glad. And... thank you.
Inwardly, Lee Jun offered that thanks to every person who had worked and suffered to bring them this far.
In that good, lifted mood, he began the Somang-is' health exams. He looked them over, listened to their chests, asked them how they were feeling, and drew their blood. When the Somang-is stuck a front leg out through the bars, Lee Jun took hold of it and drew the blood in a long, smooth pull.
Beside him, Kang Han-ul gathered the filled tubes and let out a big, incredulous laugh.
"Well, I'll be. It actually works. It really does. How are these kids just sticking their legs out like that?"
"Because they're good kids."
Lee Jun praised the Somang-is as he drew their blood. Haennim-i, whose dressings he had been doing, was no exception. If anything, it was essential — she was on strong medication. And Haennim-i, as always, listened well.
He was drawing her blood so easily — and then, in an instant, Lee Jun's face went dark.