Welcome, Friends
Lee Jun left the house before dawn, telling the three of them to rest at Golmokjib. He'd have to get to the animal hospital so early, he said, that they would only end up tired.
But the three of them shook their heads hard.
"We have to welcome our friends-ong."
"Our friends are coming."
"It's our friends-ayo! We're waiting-ayo!"
They wanted to greet the friends who had suffered so terribly, who had been through so much.
And so Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree sat at the window of Mongmong Animal Hospital from before first light, watching the world outside. The cats perched at the very top of the cat tower in the lobby; Sapsaree sat on his own cushion beside it.
On any ordinary day they would have made their rounds of the inpatient ward, then dozed or sprawled on this very window-side cat tower, or up in the 2nd Floor Cat Playground. Sapsaree wouldn't have been much different. After checking on the inpatient friends with Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, he would have gone down to the 1st Floor Animal Playground to play, or wandered the lobby at his leisure.
Instead, the three of them sat bolt upright, not lying down at all, staring out the window and nothing else.
Jjaek and One-eye weren't so different. Still uneasy around people, they lingered near the second-floor stairs, or at the window of the 2nd Floor Cat Playground where they could see outside.
In any case, all five of them had their attention fixed on the world beyond the glass. They even refused snacks.
And so they sat for a long time, still as mannequins, watching the window—until Hoesaegi's eyes lit up.
"They're here-ong!"
"Ohh! They're here. Our friends are here!"
"They're here-ayo, hehe, they're here-ayo!"
Three tails whipped back and forth. Then they watched what was happening outside. In their hearts they wanted to rush out and greet them that very instant, but…
"Let's wait-ong."
"Let's do that."
"Hehe, it's our friends-ayo!"
When the Hyungnims were busy moving about, waiting was the wisest course. The three of them knew instinctively when to step in and when to stay out of the way. So did Jjaek and One-eye.
The five of them offered only the quietest of welcomes, and otherwise simply watched the situation unfold outside.
"Welcome-ong!"
"You did well to come."
"Hehe, friends-ayo, this is our Mongmong Animal Hospital-ayo!"
"Congratulations."
"You won't hurt anymore."
Whether those five distinct greetings actually reached the dogs, they couldn't know.
They waited, and eventually the outside grew quiet. After a little more time, the Hyungnims appeared in the lobby.
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi came bounding over, light as leaves. Hoesaegi wrapped himself tightly around Lee Jun's leg; Gkamnyangi flung himself around Go Gi-jin's.
"Hyungnim-ong!"
"Hehe, Hyungnim!"
And Sapsaree rubbed his head insistently against both Lee Jun and Go Gi-jin.
"It's our Hyungnims-ayo!"
The three of them were so happy, so proud of what the two men had done. Jjaek and One-eye, who came walking over a beat later, felt the same.
"Hyungnims! You've worked so hard."
"H-Hyungnims, thank you so very, very much."
"Hard work? Those friends did the hard part. I didn't do anything."
Watching Lee Jun answer with a bright smile, the five of them exchanged glances.
Hyungnim worked the hardest-ong.
That's right. The leader is always weary.
Is that so-ayo?
That's right. Being the leader is a tiring, difficult place to stand.
Of course it is, of course.
The three who knew well what it meant to be a leader understood Lee Jun's exhaustion, and One-eye, who had watched such a leader from the side, looked at Lee Jun with pitying eyes. Sapsaree gazed at him with a look that said being a leader was really something.
The five of them were proud of Lee Jun, who pulled off extraordinary things as if they were nothing at all.
That aside, their friends had arrived, so…
The five of them exchanged glances once more. Ten eyes sparkled, and all five nodded at the same time, their faces set with resolve. Hoesaegi spoke as their representative.
"Hyungnim-ong, we're going to give the friends something delicious-ong."
"That's right. We're going to go give them something tasty."
"Toys too-ayo!"
"W-we'll tell them to sleep in the Hiding Cubbies."
"Th-that's right. They have to sleep one to a room."
"That's right-ong. That's how they won't hurt-ong."
"Hehe, this is our Mongmong Animal Hospital-ayo."
It might have sounded like a jumble, but Lee Jun understood perfectly. It meant: eat lots of delicious things now, and rest easy.
"Alright, that's what we'll do. So, are you all heading downstairs?"
Mm-hmm. All five nodded at once.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Ggungggung-i shook his face from left to right. The giant yarn-ball toy clamped in his mouth caught the momentum and bounced up and down, tapping lightly against his muzzle. He bit down a little harder and whipped his head back and forth even faster—whoooosh—and the end of the yarn toy smacked his face harder and quicker than before.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
Ggungggung-i was in such a good mood that his eyes curved into crescents and he grinned, hehe.
He had never, in all his life, bitten down this hard on anything.
No—he had bitten things, plenty of times. When he was little, he had even bitten his friends hard. But then the friends had said it hurt, and they wouldn't play with him anymore. In those narrow Floating Cages, mouth-and-paw games with his friends had been the only thing there was to do, and being told he couldn't do even that had been a thunderbolt from a clear sky.
After his friends had turned him down a few times, Ggungggung-i had taken to biting the iron bars instead. It had hurt every time. The metal was too hard, and sometimes a jutting wire stabbed him. After that, he had never bitten down hard on anything again.
Beside Ggungggung-i, who was happily shaking the yarn toy in his mouth, Challang-i and his friend Chorong-i were playing tug-of-war with the other end of a skein. Then Challang-i dropped it. He had lost.
That meant Chorong-i, the winner, ought to claim the yarn as the spoils of victory, carry it off a little way, and hog it all to himself. But Chorong-i did no such thing. He picked the skein up in his mouth and held it out to Challang-i. Take it, the gesture said. And the tug-of-war started all over again.
It wasn't about having the toy to yourself. The game itself was what they loved. This play, too, was something they were trying for the first time, and the two of them had fallen for tug-of-war completely.
A whoosh, a clattering roll, the rapid patter of paws. A whoosh, a clattering roll, the rapid patter of paws.
That was the sound of Dangdang-i rolling a little ball. His paw pads hurt, but running felt too good. It was amazing. So he didn't sit still, didn't lie down—he kept moving. And that rolling ball was endlessly fascinating. A flick of a paw and the ball went trundling off all by itself, far away. Then he would patter after it and roll it again.
Dangdang-i had fallen for ball play for the first time in his life.
Some of the dogs were playing with toys like that. Many others had been captivated by softness.
"Hehe, this is so weird."
"Yeah, yeah. I lay down like this and it doesn't hurt here. Way better than that place before."
The mattresses were far better than the cages they had ridden in on the truck. The dogs rolled and tumbled in their individual rooms, built like Hiding Cubbies, and delighted in it.
And so each of them was spending this strange, comfortable time in his own way when, all at once, every pair of ears pricked up.
"I-it's our Benefactor."
Lee Jun was here.
"B-but I hear other sounds too."
"Yeah, and there's a smell?"
The dogs in the basement grew restless. Lee Jun's scent alone would have been fine, but these were smells and sounds they had never known. Some stopped what they were doing. Some came out of their Hiding Cubbies. Some who had been in the central space darted back into a Hiding Cubby and vanished.
They moved in different ways, but every one of them fixed on the same place: the door. Staring at it, or pricking their ears toward it.
A thin tension hung in the air. Then the door opened.
And then—
A little head poked into view. Then another. And another. And another—four round heads, one after the next. And then, last of all, with a great tada!, a big face thrust itself through the doorway.
Thud.
Ggungggung-i dropped the giant yarn-ball toy from his mouth. The other dogs did the same. Every last one of them let their toys fall and locked onto the new living creatures.
That was when it happened.
The smallest one, who had poked his head out first, came bouncing over with a bright meow.
"Friends-ong! Welcome-ong!"
Right behind him, a black creature spoke.
"Welcome to our Mongmong Animal Hospital."
Then a fierce-faced little creature and a broad-faced one came walking in.
"Don't worry. You won't hurt anymore."
"You won't be hungry either. Friends!"
And last of all, a creature smaller than the dogs themselves but far bigger than the little ones who had entered first called out,
"Friends-ayo! Are you hungry-ayo? Let's eat-ayo!"
At the word eat, drool trickled from the dogs' mouths. Then their tongues lolled and they smacked their lips.
The reason they smacked their lips even in the face of these strangers was simple. Right behind the newcomers, the one who had brought them to this good place had appeared. A being they were so grateful for, so precious.
"Hehe, our Benefactor!"
Ggungggung-i, who was standing at the very front, wagged his tail in greeting, and the other dogs scrambled over one another to welcome Lee Jun too.
"Well? How is it? Do you like it here?"
The dogs answered as one, a chorus of barks that said yes.
"Good. I'm glad you like it."
"But it's so weird. My body's not shivering. It was so, so cold I had to stay pressed up against my friends, but… hehe."
Dangdang-i, standing beside Ggungggung-i, smiled.
"That's right-ayo. It's so, so warm-ayo. This is our Mongmong Animal Hospital-ayo!"
At Sapsaree's words, Dangdang-i's head tilted to one side. He had no idea what that meant.
That was when Gkamnyangi's eyes narrowed, fixed on Dangdang-i. He walked over in small, measured steps, then—whoosh, whoosh—his front paws moved in a dazzling flurry.
Something dropped to the floor. It was the vest Gkamnyangi had been wearing. He picked it up in his mouth, set it down at Dangdang-i's feet, and said,
"Wear this."
You're short-haired like me, so you'll be cold—but if you put it on, you'll be warm. He left that part unsaid, certain Dangdang-i would understand well enough.
His intention did not land. How was anyone supposed to know what a thing was for, when they had never seen one in their life?
Dangdang-i blinked his big eyes at the vest.
Gkamnyangi, with no way of knowing what Dangdang-i was thinking, was flustered.
Huh? He doesn't like it? That can't be.
It was the vest Miss Woof had put on him, saying it was so pretty. Hoesaegi and Sapsaree had looked at it with envious eyes, too.
Donggeuli said it was so pretty as well.
And that very day, Donggeuli had put on a vest just like Gkamnyangi's and loved it.
It was a rare and beautiful vest. And he had been rejected.
Gkamnyangi was a little wounded. Just as the hurt was about to show on his face, a soft, warm hand came to rest on his head.
"Our Gkamnyangi is so good…"
The mouth that had been about to poke out in a pout tucked right back in, and the corners curled up. Hehe—a laugh was rising—when that gentle voice came again.
"Dangdang-i has never seen one of these before. That's why he doesn't know what it is."
Ah. So that was it. That was right. This kid was a friend who had lived in a terribly pitiful, strange place.
The curled corners of Gkamnyangi's mouth came back down. Then he said, quietly,
"If you wear this, it's warm."
He lifted his head and looked up at the owner of that warm voice—at Hyungnim. Put it on him, the look said.
"Alright. Let's do that."
Benefactor Hyungnim put the vest on Dangdang-i. A little bigger than Gkamnyangi, Dangdang-i couldn't fasten the buttons; the vest only barely wrapped his back. But even that alone was a complete shock to him.
Dangdang-i's eyes went huge. His already nearly popping-out eyes looked ready to actually pop.
"I-it's warm."
"Right? It's a present from Gkamnyangi to you."
"A present?"
"Yeah. A present you give a friend. A welcome present."
Gkamnyangi said it with a grin, and the corners of Dangdang-i's mouth trembled.
"Hnnh… a f-friend."
"That's right. A friend. You're a friend, and you're a friend too."
"That's right-ong. Friends-ong. Hyungnim-ong. We're going to give things to our friends-ong."
"Got it. Kids, these guys have something for you."
Lee Jun dumped out the big box he had brought. Biscuits, chews, chicken jerky, stick treats—every kind of snack at Mongmong Animal Hospital came pouring out in a clattering rush.
The dogs, already flaring their noses at the savory smell, thumped their tails. Some of it they had tasted the day before, so they smacked their lips. But it didn't occur to them to go and take it themselves. They wanted it, though.
So as their paws twitched, something dropped, thump-thump, at their feet. It had fallen from the little ones' mouths.
"Friends-ong, eat-ong."
"This is a popular one."
"It's tasty-ayo."
"Eat slowly. There's more."
"You can eat again tomorrow. So don't gobble it down."
They had already been warming to these five, who were so easy and unreserved with their Benefactor, Lee Jun. And now the five were looking after them too. The dogs from the Floating Cages threw their hearts wide open in an instant.
The five felt the same. Before long they were swaggering around the basement as if they owned it.
Sapsaree, in an especially wonderful mood now that a whole bunch of big friends had appeared, told them even the tiniest things.
"Friends-ayo, you pee here-ayo."
"Here?"
"That's right-ayo. If you go somewhere else the smell is nasty-ayo."
"I-I like it when it smells nice."
"Mm-hmm, here is really nice."
They wanted, more than anything, to be free of that horrific stench.
"You poop here-ayo. Then it smells nice-ayo. And water, you drink it like this-ayo. If you spill it it's nasty-ayo. Your paws get all soggy-ayo."
Thanks to Sapsaree's warm, familiar manner, the dogs quickly learned how to live comfortably.
Lee Jun felt grateful to the five all over again.
"Thanks to you, these friends are settling in fast, and they're eating well too… thank you."
Hehe. The five of them smiled at Lee Jun, feeling so, so good. Lee Jun stroked their heads, one by one, calling each of them by name.
"Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, Sapsaree, Jjaek, One-eye. You five are the best. Truly magnificent."
The five smiled even more brightly than before. They had heard their favorite praise of all: that they were magnificent.
They passed that joy on to their friends.
"Friends-ong, you are truly magnificent friends-ong."
"That's right. You're magnificent."
"Friends-ayo, you're magnificent-ayo."
Mm-hmm. Jjaek and One-eye agreed with the three. They had survived that narrow, filthy, strange place, so they really were incredibly magnificent friends.
Lee Jun, looking fondly at the five and the dogs, spoke.
"Kids, these friends are going to get examined, alright? To find out where it hurts."
Before he had even finished, the five's eyes sparkled. They had all had examinations themselves. But that wasn't why their eyes sparkled. It was because after the exams, you stopped hurting.
"Could you explain to these friends for me?"
"Hyungnim-ong, I am Hoesaegi-ong."
So don't worry. I'm very good at explaining. That was the look on his face as he answered. Gkamnyangi, standing beside him, lifted his chin.
"That's right. I am Gkamnyangi."
"I am Sapsaree-ayo!"
"Alright. I'm counting on you. You all have fun playing, then."
Members of the Mongmong Animal Hospital family would be coming down now and then to check on the dogs, so he turned away without worry. Staff would be watching the cameras in real time, too. But there was something Lee Jun trusted even more than that.
Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree.
If a problem arose with the dogs, these three would tell him immediately. And so Lee Jun's steps were light as he closed the door and left.
"Whew. At least I don't have to worry about the exams now. Still, I hope none of them are in really serious shape…"
The dogs Lee Jun had brought were the ones whose heartworm infection kits had shown two lines.
"Dr. Yoo and Dr. Yeo have been checking under the microscope whenever they have a moment, so…"
Yoo Mu-hwan and Yeo Un-hyeok were taking it in turns, whenever they had time, to examine under the microscope the blood collected the day before, looking for microfilariae.
"Chest radiographs and an echo should do it, but can Dr. Cha handle the echocardiograms alone?"
Ideally Lee Jun, who could actually talk with the dogs, would do all the exams himself. There simply wasn't enough physical time for that.
"They're all good kids, so they'll take it well enough. And they're all young, so there shouldn't be any other major problems, right?"
These were dogs with no economic reason to be kept for long. They were young, then, so there wouldn't be any serious diseases.
Heartworm was a matter of maternal antibody transfer to begin with, so if the mother dog had been infected, transmission across the placenta was only to be expected.
But there was something Lee Jun did not know. Dangdang-i was quite a bit older than he thought.