The Coffee He Brewed

Woof!

Haru's hearty bark pulled Jang Pan-ho out of his thoughts.

"Aigoo, our Haru. Did you have a good time?"

She truly must have, because she barked again — a big, bright woof, woof! — and wagged her tail for all she was worth.

"Aigoo, you little rascal. You're going to wag that tail right off."

"Look at our Haru — she's spinning her tail-copter!"

"Tail-copter? What on earth is that?"

"That's what you call the way she's wagging right now. So fast you can barely even see it."

"Hmm. Now that you say it, it does look like a propeller spinning away. Where did you hear a word like that?"

"Su-jeong told me. She said you see it when they're really happy."

Yoo Yeonju answered simply, gathering Haru into her arms.

"Did our Haru have that much fun? Was playing with your friends over there really that wonderful?"

Haru woofed once more, then nuzzled her head into Yoo Yeonju's chest, rubbing and rubbing.

"Oh, how precious. Our Haru even answers properly!"

Watching his wife gaze down at Haru with such tender, proud eyes, Jang Pan-ho found himself smiling too. They really do look happy. Both of them — Haru and his wife.

And it struck him, then, how often he had been seeing Yoo Yeonju smile lately. Never mind that his own face had brightened just as much.

"This seems like a truly fine place."

He said it because she liked it here, and because Haru liked it here.

"Doesn't it? It's such a lovely spot. A playground like this, so many trees, everything so clean, and plenty of places to sit and rest."

Yoo Yeonju looked at her husband, who was smiling back at her, and spoke only in her heart. And the best thing of all is watching you smile in a park.

After Janggoon left their side, the very word park had vanished from Jang Pan-ho's world. It had not been a decision so much as a quiet erasure. And it was not only the park near their house, the one Janggoon had loved. Any place with trees and open ground where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dogs came to play — Jang Pan-ho turned his face from all of them. Watching other dogs enjoy themselves with their people had simply hurt too much.

Yoo Yeonju understood that pain better than anyone. And so the sight of her husband here, in a park where dogs ran free, wearing a clear, unguarded smile, filled her with a joy almost too large to hold.

The Director is such a good man. It was already more than I could thank him for, that my husband opened his heart again because of Sapsaree. And now he's given us a gift as big as this.

She had no idea how they would ever repay such kindness. In her heart, Yoo Yeonju sent a silent thank-you toward Lee Jun, who would be over at the Cat Town along the path to the playground.

She tipped her face up, and her voice came out brighter still.

"Look at the sky. Isn't it so high? That blue… ah, I really do love an autumn sky."

Jang Pan-ho followed her gaze. She was right. It was a vast, towering blue.

"Honey, let's come often. Won't it be stunning once the leaves turn?"

"Let's. It's not as if we have anything else to do. While we're on the subject, we'll come again tomorrow. Haru seems happy here too."

Even as he said it, Jang Pan-ho felt a lift of anticipation — the simple fact that tomorrow they would return to this beautiful park.

A little while later, once they were home, Haru went straight to her cushion and collapsed into sleep. A few days ago she had still slept curled into a tight little ball. Now her face was turned to the ceiling, all four legs stretched out as far as they would go.

The look that settled in Jang Pan-ho's eyes was one of relief. So she thinks of this as home now. He didn't let it show. He only watched her, smiling. Though he did think, Aigoo, this little one, showing off her whole belly like that… she'll catch a chill. I ought to cover her with a blanket.

He was just getting up when Yoo Yeonju came over.

"Oh my. Sleeping like that, she'll get a stomachache."

She said it as she draped a thin lap blanket over Haru — the very same thought her husband had been having. Then she stood there smiling down at the little shape beneath the blanket.

"Haru must have been exhausted. She's sleeping like the world doesn't exist."

"The little one. She played so hard…"

"She must have loved it, don't you think? Oh — look at her. She's smiling."

"So she is. Was it that good, little one?"

Before they knew it, the two of them had settled in right beside her. Yoo Yeonju glanced at her husband.

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"I would."

Jang Pan-ho nodded, then added,

"No — I'll make it. Coffee all right for you?"

"Oh, I'd love that. If it's coffee you brewed, I'd get up out of a dead sleep to drink it."

"What are you saying? What if you can't fall back asleep?"

"Well, if I can't, I'll just watch our Haru all night. It's not as if tonight is the only night we have."

"Hah hah hah. Listen to you, talking nonsense."

Having his wife fuss over him like that was not, in fact, an unpleasant feeling. It was a rather good one. His steps toward the kitchen were lighter than usual.

Yoo Yeonju, for her part, had meant every word. He's brewing the coffee. How long has it even been?

Jang Pan-ho had no gift for cooking. Yoo Yeonju was too good in the kitchen for him to have ever needed one, and in the years of his youth it had hardly been common for a man to set foot in there at all. He could not cook. What he had done instead was appoint himself the household barista — and for a man who had spent his career as a researcher, it may have been the work that suited him best. Grinding the beans fine, measuring the water's temperature and volume, weighing out the grounds until every part of it was exactly right.

He had kept at it until his wife and daughter called it delicious, and these days both of them praised him for it. Jang Pan-ho had loved that time too — the unhurried hour of coffee with his family, with Janggoon there among them.

And now, after so long, that unhurried, comfortable hour had begun again, in the house in Bulgwang-dong that belonged to Jang Pan-ho and Yoo Yeonju.

The beans began to grind — a low, even whir — and Yoo Yeonju stroked Haru as she listened. Haru seemed to love the touch. Even with all four legs already splayed, she stretched them farther still, until her head came to rest against Yoo Yeonju's crossed legs. The corners of Haru's mouth curled up a little more. Then she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cracked her eyes, just barely.

"That's it, Haru. Go on and sleep."

She made the smallest sound — a tiny whimper — and closed her eyes again. Soon she was snoring, soft and shallow. Yoo Yeonju kept stroking her as she murmured,

"Haru likes being petted while she sleeps, just like our Janggoon did."

Some dogs, she'd heard, would bite if you touched them in their sleep. How sweet this one was. She looked at Haru a moment longer, then spoke to her in a voice almost too small to hear.

Yoo Yeonju was truly grateful to the little dog who had brought laughter back into the house. And then, unbidden, another thought arrived. I really hope nobody comes looking for her. Just that. A hope that no one would come to take Haru away — that no adopter would appear, and that from now on Haru would simply go on living in this house with them.

The wish only grew as she drank the coffee Jang Pan-ho had brought her.

"It's really delicious, honey."

"Is it? I wasn't sure it would come out right, it's been so long. I'm glad you think so."

"As if your touch would ever fail."

The air between them was as clear and blue as the autumn sky.

While Jang Pan-ho and his wife sat over their coffee, a tea time of its own was in full swing on the second floor of Mongmong Animal Hospital.

"Heh heh, there ain't a single thing our Chef Joo can't do, I tell ya."

Go Gi-jin took a huge bite of the pound cake Ju Mi-seon had made and beamed.

"It's so darn good even Hyungnim's eatin' the whole thing!"

He was not wrong. Lee Jun was eating the cake — Lee Jun, who almost never put anything sweet in his mouth, save for the glutinous rice cakes that carried his grandfather's memory.

"It's delicious, Chef Joo."

"I'm glad it suits your taste, Director."

"It really is wonderful."

Yeo Un-hyeok added his praise from the side, then turned to Ju Mi-seon.

"Chef Joo, might I have another cup of coffee?"

"Of course. But Dr. Yeo, you've already had two today, so I'll brew you a decaf."

"Thank you."

"Aigoo, our Chef Joo's thoughtful as can be, too! Then I'll take another cup myself."

"And another for you as well, Director?"

"I'd be grateful. Ah — and a bit more of this cake, if I may. Maybe it's because I was at the park for the first time in a while, but I'm craving something like this."

In that warm, easy atmosphere, Yeo Un-hyeok spoke up.

"Ah, that's right. Haru's guardians came in today, didn't they?"

"They did."

"In just a week, Haru's become a full member of that household, hasn't she?"

"I figured those elders'd be just like that. From the first day they brought her in, they looked so heartbroken they didn't know what to do with themselves. And that ain't even all — they bought up every supply in the place, didn't they?"

"Seems that way. I went to the park with the two of them, and the whole time Haru was playing they couldn't take their eyes off her for a second. Haru adores them too."

At Lee Jun's words, Yeo Un-hyeok fell quiet, as if turning something over.

"Anyway, it's a real mercy that little one ended up in such a good home. But you reckon her old guardian's gonna turn up? Don't think so, do ya?"

"If they were going to show, they already would have."

Lee Jun, who had heard the story from Haru herself and knew how things stood, let out a sigh. That was when Yeo Un-hyeok, who had been sitting silent, opened his mouth.

"As you said, Director, if they had meant to find her, they would have made every effort. They would have checked the stray-dog notice boards. They would have gone to their usual animal hospital and asked for help because they'd lost her."

"Well, if they'd had a mind to find her, they would've by now."

Yeo Un-hyeok nodded at Go Gi-jin and went on.

"I hope a proper adopter for Haru turns up soon."

"Huh? But she's doin' just fine where she is, ain't she?"

"It's still temporary. You know as well as I do that for a timid one like Haru, keeping her home changing is no good. It would be better if she went to a real home before she bonds any more deeply with the two of them."

"Dr. Yeo has a point. If she grows truly attached to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠them and then has to go to another house, it would be a terrible wound."

"She'll think she's been abandoned again."

Lee Jun could explain the situation to Haru. How she took it, though, would be hers alone. She might miss Jang Pan-ho and his wife terribly. She might resent them for abandoning her all over again. No. It'll be both. She'll resent them and miss them at the same time. Both of them.

Thinking of what lay ahead, the pound cake that had been so delicious a moment ago sat on his tongue like grains of sand.

"Then why don't those two just adopt her themselves? They're already takin' such good care of her. Ain't that so? They give her her medicine without fail, and they even said they wanted to leave her here at the hospital so she could get her walks. Where else are you gonna find folks like that?"

"I think the same as you. But that's not something we can force. Their hearts have to want it."

"That's right. From Haru's side, that would be best — but we have to consider their position too. The truth is, Pet Loss Syndrome is a far more serious problem than people think."

"That's true."

Lee Jun felt the weight of Yeo Un-hyeok's words. I thought I would never have another companion animal in my life.

After Kongdol-i had gone to the Dog Star, Lee Jun had lived a life paved with regret. He had hated himself for not catching the illness sooner. He had felt foolish — stupid, even — for believing those peaceful days would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simply go on forever. He grieved the days he had been careless with Kongdol-i, never realizing that peaceful time would someday end. He regretted not taking him on one more walk. He regretted not holding him one more time. He hated himself for not smiling at Kongdol-i one more time, for not stroking him more.

And in those years paved with regret, Lee Jun had thrown himself into his studies, hoping no other guardian would ever have to become what he had become. If you caught a disease even a week earlier, that was a week longer you got to live with your companion. He was still studying now, still throwing himself into every case — hoping there would be no illness at all, and if there was, wanting to find it even a day sooner. There had been another reason, too. He had not wanted to go home to an empty Golmokjib, so he had buried himself in work.

And yet…

He turned his gaze. Out in the hallway beyond the kitchen, Sapsaree sat with proud composure. Beside him, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi were sprawled in a lazy heap, rolling about.

I never thought I'd end up living with these guys.

They were a blessing, those three. Because of them, Golmokjib held warmth again, the way it used to. They had filled that hollow house with noise and life, and they had taught him to understand animals more deeply than he ever had.

Looking at the three of them, Lee Jun thought, If only Mr. Jang and his wife could make a fresh start, the way I did.

But that was theirs to decide. Even Lee Jun could not know how deep the couple's grief still ran.

"We can't know how great their sorrow really is."

The same words left Yeo Un-hyeok's mouth, as if he had read Lee Jun's mind.

And there was someone else thinking the same thing they were.

"He did. And it was delicious, I tell you."

At her daughter's words, Yoo Yeonju wanted to say, And what exactly is so impossible about that? What left her mouth was something else entirely.

"I know. Can you come this week? You should taste your father's coffee too."

"Ah, that's right, isn't it? Then maybe next week?"

For a moment, silence ran down the line between mother and daughter. When no answer came, Jang Su-jeong went on.

"I want to. I do. But I can't say that in front of your father. What if he goes back into his study?"

This time it was Jang Su-jeong who had nothing to say. After a brief quiet, Yoo Yeonju went on.

"That's for your father to decide."

Yoo Yeonju let out a sigh, thinking the same thing Lee Jun had.