He's Coming
Just as Go Gi-jin had told Lee Jun, the atmosphere at Mongmong Animal Hospital was unspeakably bleak.
Yoo Mu-hwan approached Jang Sora, who was sitting at the reception desk, and asked,
"Still no word from the hospital?"
"......Yes. Nothing yet."
"Ah. Is that so?"
That was all Yoo Mu-hwan said. His shoulders sagged, and he trudged back the way he had come. Haa. He still hasn't woken up. I should go see him after work. He was walking toward the exam rooms with that thought when Cha Da-jeong came toward him from the opposite direction.
"Dr. Cha."
"......Yes."
Cha Da-jeong answered in a lifeless voice.
"Our director was fine, right?"
He meant the test results.
"Yes. He was fine."
"Nothing wrong with his head, either?"
"No. His head was fine too."
"Then why haven't we heard anything yet?"
"I know. That's why I was going to go after work today."
"I was thinking of going too."
"Then let's go together."
"I'll come too."
Both of their heads turned toward the stairs. Kim Jaeyeon was coming down.
"Did the surgery go well?"
"Yeah. Dr. Yeo is watching the vitals."
"Ah. Okay."
"But seriously. Isn't our director taking way too long to wake up?"
"I know, right."
"That's what I'm saying."
The two of them answered Kim Jaeyeon in the same drained voices. The three of them, so downcast, were a portrait of the hospital's mood as it stood.
Not the 1st Floor Animal Playground — the 2nd Floor Cat Playground.
There, five animals had done nothing but cry and cry for days. Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, Sapsaree, Jjaek, and One-eye. Those five.
Hoesaegi, crouched with his head pressed to the window of the 2nd Floor Cat Playground, sniffled and muttered,
"Hing! Hyungnim-ong......"
A little farther off, but still by a window that looked outside, Gkamnyangi — who had cried himself into collapse — muttered as well.
"Keup! Hyu... Hyungnim......"
Like the two cats, Sapsaree had been looking up at the sky from the window and crying. He muttered too.
"......Hyu, Hyungnim-ayo. I miss you-ayo."
The fur around the eyes of the three who longed for Lee Jun was damp through. Jjaek and One-eye were no different. Both of them, outer corners of their eyes drooping and mouths jutting in misery, had their heads planted against the glass. The window where the two of them sat was not far from Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi.
Ordinarily they would have kept their distance. But if they did, they might miss the moment their benefactor — their most precious one — appeared. Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree had claimed spots at the window for the same reason. Even as they cried, they never stopped watching the world outside, in case Lee Jun might show himself. They pricked their ears at every sound from beyond the glass, missing not a single one.
And so all of them were worrying over Lee Jun. Without playing. Without running around.
Then, in the vision of the five looking up at the sky, a pure white cloud appeared all at once. Until a moment ago, the sky had been empty. The five gazed at that white cloud, each sinking into their own thoughts.
It looks all fluffy and savory, ong.
To Hoesaegi, the billowy white cloud looked like steamed egg custard. And the moment steamed eggs came to mind, the first time he had seen Lee Jun rose up of its own accord.
Hyungnim smiled at me, ong. He gave me delicious food too, ong.
Just as the rumors had said, he was a truly good Hyungnim. And that thought had held, unbroken, until this day.
No, ong. Even better, ong. Even even better, ong. Really, really good, ong.
A Hyungnim who had grown more and more beloved since they first met. And that Hyungnim was sick now. They said he was so sick he couldn't even open his eyes — that he just kept lying there.
Hyungnim-ong! Please open your eyes, ong. Hyungnim-ong......
Perhaps because he wished so hard for Hyungnim to open his eyes, the fluffy cloud began, at some point, to look like Hyungnim. The face of the Hyungnim he loved most, smiling. Hoesaegi's eyes grew distant and misty.
Hyungnim-ong. I miss you, ong.
He missed him so much. He wanted to see that smiling face. With that thought, he looked up at the cloud floating in the sky.
Beside him, Gkamnyangi, who had collapsed onto his side, also looked at the white cloud and remembered the first time he had seen Lee Jun.
Hyungnim was looking at me and smiling.
The benefactor who had given light to him when he had been living in despair, certain it was all over because he could no longer see.
Hyungnim, open your eyes...... please!
Gkamnyangi gazed at the pure white cloud and longed for his Hyungnim.
Sapsaree, too, like Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, looked at the cloud floating in that sky and thought of Hyungnim. The difference from the two cats was that he thought of Kongdol-i as well, together with Lee Jun.
He looks like Hyungnim and King Big Brother-ayo.
The corners of Sapsaree's mouth, which until now had been jutting out in a sad expression, began to lift little by little. Because it seemed as though Hyungnim and King Big Brother were smiling inside that pure white cloud.
Sapsaree, still looking up at the sky, tilted his head.
That's strange-ayo. It feels like King Big Brother is looking at me-ayo. Like he's looking at us and smiling-ayo. Like he's even waving his paw like this-ayo.
Then I should wave too.
Sitting there and looking up at the sky, Sapsaree waved one front paw back and forth. Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, who had been looking at the sky together, turned their gazes on him.
"Sapsaree-ong, what are you doing-ong?"
"Sapsaree, what are you doing?"
The same question.
"King Big Brother is doing it like this-ayo. So I am too-ayo."
What's he talking about? Has the kid gone a little off because Hyungnim hasn't come for so long? Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi said it with their eyes.
Gkamnyangi-ong, Sapsaree's acting weird, ong.
He misses Hyungnim so much he's like that. Let's just understand.
Got it, ong.
Having finished their conversation with their eyes, the cats looked at Sapsaree with pitying gazes. Sapsaree paid those looks no mind and sped up the waving of his paw — and then he sprang to his feet and started waving both paws, his hips swaying right along with them. And then,
"Hyungnim-ayo! I'm here-ayo! We're here-ayo!"
He barked it loud. Woof, woof. Sapsaree, who ordinarily barked in a quiet, whispering way.
The startled cats called to him.
"Sapsaree-ong! Snap out of it-ong."
"Sapsaree, c-calm down."
Jjaek and One-eye also stared at Sapsaree with startled eyes, but Sapsaree even started thumping the window with his thick front paws.
"Hyungnims-ong. King Big Brother is calling us from over there-ayo. King Big Brother called us-ayo. Answer him quick-ayo."
Stamping his paws, even. Sapsaree's behavior was far too strange — and yet, strangely, they felt they ought to follow along. So the cats followed Sapsaree and cried out, waving their front paws back and forth.
"Hyungnim-ong, we're here-ong."
"Hyungnim! Here, here!"
Jjaek and One-eye followed the three as well, waving their front paws and calling out.
"We are here."
"We are here. Over here!"
And in that moment, as everyone waved their front paws and looked up at the sky, the five animals' eyes went round as saucers. Because there, inside the pure white cloud, the Hyungnim they missed so desperately — the one they longed to see — was waving his hand.
"Hyungnim-ong!"
"Hyungnim!"
"Hyungnim-ayo~~!"
"Uh—uh?"
"Heu......!"
Their eyes going round with shock lasted only a moment. The five looked up at the sky and cried out loud.
"Hyungnim-ong! We're here-ong!"
"Hyungnim! I miss you — we're here!"
"We are here. Please open your eyes."
"I miss you!"
As the four cats cried out toward the sky, only Sapsaree said something else.
"King Big Brother-ayo! I understand-ayo!"
Then he shouted it for all he was worth.
And then he kicked off from the spot and ran.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud.
From the playground into the hallway, and then down the stairs Sapsaree ran, and behind him the four cats ran too. Because it seemed as though Sapsaree's words were true.
When the five came down to the first floor, Jang Sora looked at them with startled eyes. Because it was so strange that the five, who usually moved about so quietly, had come running. Because the five, who had been so wilted these past few days, were beaming.
"Oh my, you kids!"
Aeohohong!
Nyao-oho!
Nyaong-nyaong.
Yaoong.
Wooo-ooo~~.
Just as the five burst into happy laughter, Jang Sora's phone rang.
The hospital room was filled with meows and woofs. The sounds coming from the phone Lee Jun was holding.
"So you're saying they came running, laughing, even before Manager Jang picked up the phone?"
Kwak Suho asked Go Gi-jin, watching Lee Jun on the video call.
"That's what she said. Those little ones'd been glued to the second floor, nothin' but starin' out the window."
"That's amazing."
"That's just it. Didn't have a scrap of strength in 'em, just holed up on the second floor."
"How did they know?"
"It's amazing."
Kwak Suho, Choi Woo-jin, and Go Gi-jin all wore expressions of wonder, their eyes on the phone Lee Jun was holding. Lee Jun, who was on the call, was astonished as well — because of the torrent of chatter the five had poured out while he was talking with Jang Sora.
They saw me in the clouds? And I was there with Kongdol-i?
Had he, perhaps, thought of them because he had heard those voices?
Yeah. They must have called for me then. They called, and that's what woke me.
At some point, Hoesaegi and the other animals had suddenly come to mind. That must have been thanks to those kids.
After ending the call, Lee Jun found himself thinking this: Kongdol-i might have told them to wake me up.
Lee Jun remembered Kongdol-i, who had smiled so brightly looking at him. And then the other animals, one after another.
Kongdol-i, Geumdal-i, Cha-cha, Haennim-i, Teun-teun-i, Nuri......
A faint smile formed on Lee Jun's lips as he thought of the animal friends who had told him, beaming, that they were doing well.
Yeah, kids. You take good care of yourselves there. I'll take good care of myself here. I'll eat well, sleep well. And I'll work hard for your little brothers and sisters.
As he was turning over the words Kongdol-i and Kongdol-i's siblings had said, Go Gi-jin spoke.
"Hyungnim, I'll head on in now. If the doctors are comin' this way, I figure I oughta be over there."
"Ah, right. Sorry, Gi-jin. Everyone's had a rough time because of me, haven't they?"
"Rough time? You're the one who had it the hardest, Hyungnim. I'll send the doctors in, then."
"Okay."
Watching Go Gi-jin's back as he turned to go, Lee Jun added,
"Gi-jin. Thank you."
Go Gi-jin, who had been holding the doorknob, paused, then answered in a small voice.
"......It ain't that. Hyungnim, I'm the one who's grateful."
And in a voice even smaller, he added,
"I'm really, truly grateful you woke up."
Click. The door shut, and Kwak Suho opened his mouth.
"That Gi-jin kid. He was really worried about you. His eyes have been all puffy these past few days. I don't know for sure, but he was probably crying every night."
At Kwak Suho's words, Lee Jun recalled what he had heard a little while ago. Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi said so too. That Strong Hyungnim cried and cried at Golmokjib.
This was something he couldn't say to the two of them. Even if he did, they wouldn't believe it. But I can pass on what Cha-cha and Geumdal-i said. He could just say he had a dream.
Lee Jun looked at the two of them and opened his mouth.
"I had a dream, you know?"
The gazes of the two, who had been staring at the door, landed on Lee Jun.
"A dream?"
"Yeah. A really good dream."
"What kind of dream, that you were smiling like that?"
At Kwak Suho's words, Lee Jun's eyes widened a little.
"Smiling?"
"You were smiling. Not the whole time, but every now and then you were smiling."
"Well, sometimes you frowned too. Anyway, you'd smile and then frown, but you wouldn't wake up, and aigoo, I really......"
"Is that so."
Lee Jun nodded.
"So, what was the dream? Was it so good you didn't want to wake up?"
Yes — but those words wouldn't come out. It wasn't something he could say to the two who had been eating themselves up with worry for his sake. So Lee Jun brought out the words Cha-cha and Geumdal-i had asked him to pass on.
"Geumdal-i said to tell you to take care of yourself, Suho. And eat well."
Kwak Suho blinked, then his eyes grew larger and larger.
"Geumdal-i? Our Geumdal-i was in your dream?"
"Yeah."
"Th-then what about our Cha-cha? Did you see Cha-cha?"
Both Kwak Suho and Choi Woo-jin looked at Lee Jun with serious eyes. There was not a trace of thinking it was some strange dream. Rather, it was the look of people envious that Lee Jun had met the two of them in a dream.
"Cha-cha said to tell you to take care of yourself too. And to eat a little better."
At Lee Jun's words, Choi Woo-jin's face twisted.
"That little guy...... he couldn't even eat, twisting himself up with hunger, and he says that."
A look of apology. Looking at Choi Woo-jin like that, Lee Jun continued.
"Cha-cha said thank you. He said thank you. He said not to be sorry."
"That little guy......"
Choi Woo-jin let out the same words as before. But his face was a little different. From the twisted expression, a smile was slowly blooming.
Watching Choi Woo-jin let out a small laugh, Kwak Suho asked Lee Jun,
"Did our Geumdal-i say anything else?"
"He did."
"What did he say?"
"He said he's doing well, so don't worry. So you eat well too, and live a long, long life."
"......Did he?"
Moisture clung to Kwak Suho's voice as he asked again.
"Yeah."
"What about Kongdol-i? Was Kongdol-i there too?"
"He would have been. The three of them were always stuck together."
"Yeah. He was there. Kongdol-i was there, and Cha-cha, and Geumdal-i, and Haennim-i was there too."
"Haennim-i too?"
"Yeah. Haennim-i's two front paws were so pretty......"
Lee Jun slowly poured out the story of the dream. The two of them only nodded now and then, concentrating on Lee Jun's story, trying not to miss a single word that came from his mouth. And when Lee Jun's story was finished, the two of them let out sighs of relief.
"So that's how it was. They're doing well."
"Thank goodness."
"Yeah. Ah, and Cha-cha said to be sure to pass this on."
"What?"
"Mm. He said he's got a tight hold on Geumdal-i, so don't worry?"
At Lee Jun's words, Choi Woo-jin's eyes went wide, and Kwak Suho burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha. That little guy. I guess even Cha-cha felt sorry watching this one tremble in front of Geumdal-i. He's still worrying about that even over there."
At Kwak Suho's words, Choi Woo-jin's face went bright red.
"Hey, hey. Do you know how vicious that Geumdal-i was? You shouldn't be laughing like that."
Choi Woo-jin glared at Kwak Suho as if it were unfair, and added,
"Aargh! When I think about what I went through with that guy!"
"Hey, hey. That's because you picked on our Geumdal-i first. Our Geumdal-i is so sweet. Right, Lee Jun?"
Lee Jun couldn't answer. Because both Choi Woo-jin's words and Kwak Suho's words were true. To Lee Jun, Geumdal-i had been incredibly kind — but to Choi Woo-jin, he had been a fierce Geumdal-i.
How do I put this so these two don't start fighting?
As he was searching for the right words, Lee Jun looked at the two of them and let out a small laugh. Because both of their eyes had gone hazy and distant. Choi Woo-jin was probably thinking of Cha-cha, and Kwak Suho of Geumdal-i.
Looking at his two friends, their expressions so happy, Lee Jun closed his mouth.