Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Gray Comes Home
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Laughing out of nowhere while talking about Gray's home.
"What the heck, man?"
"He's probably just exhausted and not sleeping enough..."
"Yeah, sleep deprivation can cause hallucinations."
The two looked at Lee Jun with pity.
"Haha, what a cute guy. How do you even come up with that? No, wait, I get it."
Muttering even more incomprehensible things, Lee Jun stood up and headed into the hospitalization room.
"Gray, do you want to go to the park?"
Even humans get homesick when they're hospitalized, so surely Gray felt the same.
His colleagues visited every day, but he must still miss the park.
[I want to go meow. But...]
Gray's leg twitched.
With legs like these, could he climb trees like before?
In his current state, he could barely walk on the dirt ground.
And even that would be very slowly.
He wouldn't be able to run away, and even getting water would be a huge struggle.
No, he might not even be able to drink water.
There were only two places in the park to drink from.
Both were up high.
He'd never thought of them as high before, but now they seemed impossibly tall.
No one knew better than Gray himself that he couldn't jump anymore.
His colleagues definitely wouldn't leave him alone. But that wasn't good.
The basic rule of park life was that you had to take care of your own body.
Gray let out a long sigh.
[If I go back to the park now, I'll just be a burden to the others meow.]
Lee Jun could guess what Gray was thinking.
To comfort him, Lee Jun opened the cage door and stroked Gray's forehead.
Relaxed by the gentle touch, Gray purred and continued.
[But if Woof Teacher wants to join the park crew, I'll put in a good word with the others meow.]
"Puhahaha."
Laughter burst from Lee Jun's mouth again.
[If I give the okay, they'll all welcome you meow!]
Gray was satisfied.
He could finally repay his lifesaver, Woof Teacher.
Rub rub.
Messing up the fur on Gray's forehead, Lee Jun said,
"That's not it. We're going to my house. You can move around a bit now, so from now on, let's commute together."
He didn't quite get it, but the words "together with me" made Gray smile.
Nya ya~
***
Sway sway.
Nestled comfortably in the gently rocking bag, Gray felt great.
['How long has it been since I saw the outside world meow!']
Gray curled up the corners of his mouth as he peered through the lattice at the streets and scenery.
Sniff sniff sniff.
A mix of scents flooded his nose—some familiar, some brand new.
Gray kept turning his head left and right, taking in the sights.
But the path they were on felt familiar.
It was the same road he'd followed Lee Jun across the street on when they first met.
[It's the alley meow.]
Lee Jun, unable to hear over the road noise, spoke up.
"We're heading to that house at the end."
Ah, there.
Now realizing where they were going, Gray's mouth curved up even more.
['We're going to Alley House meow.']
A moment later, the Alley House door opened, they passed through the yard, and another door slowly opened.
His view shifted downward... click.
The carrier door opened.
"Gray, come out slowly. But no climbing or jumping."
Gray had heard from Lee Jun multiple times why he couldn't jump.
[Got it meow!]
Gray poked his head out of the carrier and surveyed his surroundings.
Sniff sniff sniff. He sniffed the air.
[It's Woof Teacher's scent meow.]
There were other smells too, but very faint.
Which meant in this new space, it was just Lee Jun and Gray.
Swipe.
One of Gray's round front paws emerged from the carrier and touched the living room floor.
Poof.
It was the rug Lee Jun had rushed out to buy and laid down the day before, worried about Gray's bad leg.
It was a texture Gray had only recently discovered.
It felt just like the inside of the hospitalization cage.
Tap. Tap tap.
Gray tapped the floor a few more times with his paw. The same soft poof each time.
Watching him, Lee Jun chuckled.
['Looks like he's amazed. Makes sense—this is his first time in a human home.']
Lee Jun let Gray adapt at his own pace.
Soon, Gray's body slid fully out of the carrier.
Then he walked out slowly.
His casted hind leg dragged a little, but his expression was relaxed.
Seeing that, Lee Jun smiled.
['He's already recognized this as a safe space.']
Relieved, Lee Jun went to his room and changed into casual clothes.
Gray took careful steps, one by one.
As he walked, his eyes widened.
[It's soft everywhere meow!]
The sensation under his paws was plush.
Walking on grass or weeds or sand piles felt soft too.
But this was different.
No crunch like grass, no sinking into soft dirt with grains between his toes.
Just pure softness.
No pebbles either.
Walking with his bad leg felt effortless.
Gray set off to explore the living room.
When Lee Jun returned to the living room, Gray was sitting in front of the cushion under the sofa, pressing down on it with his paws.
"You like that?"
[This one's even softer meow.]
Gray answered while kneading the rug.
"That's your cushion. Rest on top of it."
[My cushion?]
"Want me to lift you up if it's hard to climb?"
[I can do it meow.]
For the first time in his life, Gray climbed onto his very own cushion, his expression a mix of emotions.
He seemed happy, but his round eyes darted around.
[What is this meow? So soft meow!]
"You like it?"
[Y-Yeah meow. First time with something like this meow!]
Lee Jun smiled warmly at Gray and asked,
"You hungry? Let's eat."
[I want Churu meow!]
"That's a snack. For your first day home, let's have something special."
Lee Jun went to the kitchen and pulled out some chicken breast.
"Sometimes this hits the spot."
A moment later, Gray's eyes sparkled as he took a bite.
He'd had chicken breast before, but never fresh-grilled like this.
[D-Delicious meow!]
"Right? I'll make something tasty next week too."
Lee Jun planned to do special meals like this once a week.
But Gray, face buried in his dish, lost to the flavor, didn't hear.
After finishing, Gray thought of his colleagues.
[It'd be great if we could eat together meow!]
"You rascal. What a leader. Next time, we will."
That night, Lee Jun laid out a blanket next to Gray's cushion and lay down.
['Lying here like this... reminds me of when Kongdori first came to this house.']
Lee Jun had wanted to sleep in bed with Kongdori.
But Grandpa said it was dangerous if Kongdori fell off.
Still, Lee Jun threw a tantrum about sleeping together.
In the end, Grandpa, Lee Jun, and Kongdori slept side by side in the living room.
['Over a month like that.']
Recalling those memories, Lee Jun stroked the Gray lying beside him.
At his touch, Gray flopped onto his back, belly up toward the ceiling, and soon purred himself to sleep.
***
The next day, Gray woke up feeling amazing.
The plush, cozy bed was a first for cat life, and having his lifesaver Woof Teacher right beside him was the best.
Of course, he'd slept near Woof Teacher in the hospital too.
But the glass door had separated them—he couldn't touch him like this.
Tap, tap tap.
Gray nudged Lee Jun lightly.
Lee Jun twitched.
This time, Gray hopped down from the cushion, went to Lee Jun's side, and leaned against him.
['Warm meow.']
Feeling great, he lay next to Lee Jun and closed his eyes.
Lee Jun felt great too.
The molrang molrang warmth drew his hand up automatically, wrapping around Gray.
Long fur slipped between his fingers.
Lee Jun's mouth curved up.
['Kongdori must be hungry.']
Kongdori never woke a sleeping Lee Jun.
He'd just lie next to him and nudge until he got up.
No escaping the push of a strong schnauzer—eyes would open on their own.
It'd start soon.
But nothing happened.
Lee Jun cracked his eyes and looked at the warm Mongchi.
['Huh, why does Kongdori look so small?']
Lee Jun's hand, stroking what he thought was Kongdori, froze.
Something hard touched it.
Bolt upright. Lee Jun sat up and looked.
"Ko... oh, Gray."
It was a mistake.
But Lee Jun's face lit up.
"Man, I slept like a rock. Haven't in forever."
***
Commuting with Lee Jun, Gray recovered astonishingly fast.
A week later, Han Na-hyuk visited Meongmeong Animal Hospital and jumped in surprise at Gray trotting after Lee Jun.
"No way—already walking this well?"
"He was prancing around at home, so the bone must've fused nicely. You know, seniors—bones heal better with weight-bearing."
"Sure, but is it okay letting him roam outside like this? What if he jumps?"
"He won't."
"Hey, don't jinx it. He couldn't before, but soon as he feels better, cats gonna cat. You know they have jump instincts?"
"This one's different. He's the posh leader cat."
"What're you on about?"
"Anyway, how's work going?"
"Namgung CEO's coming today with blueprints."
"Blueprints? Already?"
"Must be from his existing plans—he just tweaked based on our input. They're impressive."
"You saw them?"
"Yeah, checked 'em at the office. Said he's building a big one—scale's whoa, massive."
"That big?"
"Yeah, when he said 10 stories, I was like, okay whatever."
"No hospital uses a whole building."
"Right? So I didn't think much. But the renders? Floor plans? Jaw on the floor."
"That much?"
"Yeah, it'll be the biggest in the country probably. Construction guys are on another level."
"Can't wait to see what wowed you so much."
"Just wait. He's due any minute."
"Namgung CEO's coming?"
"Yeah."
"To ask about the scale for the Our Yard Shelter hospital."
Lee Jun was surprised.
It hadn't been long since he'd asked for shelter hospital support, and now they were discussing it.
"Already? Don't those things take years even after talk? I figured after my medical center, we'd break ground."
"Me too, but this guy's different. Check the medical center blueprints when he arrives. You'll freak."
"I wanna see, but it's not my center—why show me?"
"Nah, he specifically wants to show you. Says you need insider eyes. And he's right—old centers had bad flow. ORs too high up."
"Yeah, kinda."
"Anyway, opportunity—study 'em. Your dream's building a center, right?"
Lee Jun nodded in agreement.
"So take chances like this. You can't just demand to see 'em."
That's when it happened.
"Director, building an animal medical center has been your dream?"
Han Na-hyuk's loud voice had drowned out Namgung Hyun entering, so Lee Jun greeted him awkwardly.
"CEO, you're here."
"Yes. I thought you preferred running a local clinic, Director..."
Lee Jun felt awkward.
He might've misunderstood it as disliking working at Namgung's center.
"Haha, no—it's different from what you're aiming for."
"How so?"
"Hmm, simply put, a place combining the best of local hospitals and full centers?"
"Can you elaborate?"
Intrigued by Lee Jun's words, Namgung Hyun asked what the differences were.