Beongae Isn't Hurting Anymore
It was the night Lee Jun came home from his third visit to Cheongju Zoo.
The three of them stood in a neat little line at the front door, waiting to greet him.
Hoesaegi wrapped his front paws tightly around Lee Jun's right leg.
"Hyungnim-ong, I missed you-ong. Did you give Beongae his treat-ong?"
Hoesaegi had missed Lee Jun — and he was curious about Beongae, too.
Gkamnyangi clung just as tightly to Lee Jun's left leg.
"Hyungnim, did you eat? Did Beongae climb up the tree?"
Gkamnyangi was pouring out the very same feelings as Hoesaegi.
Then Sapsaree rubbed his whole body back and forth against Lee Jun's legs, and in doing so bumped into Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi as well.
"Heehee, it's Hyungnim-ayo. This is our home-ayo."
What he meant was that this moment — Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Lee Jun all here together — was the best thing in the world.
Sapsaree had hated those few days when Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi were gone. That was why right now felt so good.
Feeling the warmth of all three of them, Sapsaree giggled and asked,
"Hyungnim-ayo, Beongae doesn't hurt-ayo?"
"Yeah. He doesn't hurt anymore."
At Lee Jun's words, the three of them bounced in place.
"He doesn't hurt-ayo! Beongae doesn't hurt-ayo!"
"Heehee, Beongae doesn't hurt-ong."
"Beongae doesn't hurt anymore."
They opened their mouths wide and laughed, overjoyed.
Then Hoesaegi asked,
"Hyungnim-ong, did you click Beongae-ong?"
"Yeah. A cool hyungnim clicked away for us."
Meaning Kwak Suho had captured it all on video.
"Heehee, really-ayo? I want to see-ayo."
"Yeah, let's watch, Hyungnim."
"Alright. Shall we?"
When Lee Jun sat down on the sofa, the three of them filed up after him and settled into their spots.
A moment later, the zoo appeared on the television.
The instant the footage of Lee Jun walking through the open grounds cut to Beongae, smiles bloomed across all three faces.
"It's Beongae-ong. Beongae-ong!"
His eyes shining with welcome, Hoesaegi waved a front paw at Beongae on the television. They had never met even once — but Beongae was already a friend.
"Beongae!"
Gkamnyangi was the same. He greeted his friend-through-the-screen with the same pose as Hoesaegi, while Sapsaree's tail went flap-flap-flap and his eyes sparkled.
"It's Beongae-ayo, our friend-ayo!"
Their gazes locked onto the television as if of their own accord, and before long they were concentrating so hard they looked ready to tumble right into the screen.
On the screen, Beongae was lying on a broad stone in something close to the sikppang position. In front of his folded forepaws, toys were piled high.
A fish plush, a little mouse doll, a fishing rod with a huge feather attached, a giant yarn ball made of sturdy rope, a soccer ball, and a rugby ball.
Every last one of them was a gift from Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, and Sapsaree.
Beongae was clutching the toys to his chest as if they were precious, gnawing firmly on the yarn ball.
Sapsaree's long tail started wagging at high speed.
"That's the one I gave him-ayo! Beongae likes the one I gave him-ayo!"
Delighted, Sapsaree let out a hearty laugh. Beside him, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi felt a little left out.
Not a lot. Just a tiny bit.
And that tiny bit of disappointment found its way out.
"Beongae-ong, chewing on the fish plush is fun too-ong."
A hint that he should play with the one he had given.
And as if he had heard Hoesaegi, Beongae turned his head and chomped down on the fish plush he'd been holding.
Then, just as Hoesaegi had said, he started chewing — yum, yum, yum.
Not with his fangs, but gently, with his front teeth.
It felt as though the fish plush was so precious he didn't want to shred it with his canines, so he was only mouthing it softly.
Whether that feeling reached him or not, the corner of Hoesaegi's mouth tugged up into a grin.
"Heehee, Beongae-ong~~!"
The disappointment from a moment ago vanished completely. Gkamnyangi, on the other hand, felt a little more left out.
Tch. Play with the one I gave you too. That one's really fun.
Gkamnyangi's gift was the mouse doll.
Just as Hoesaegi had voiced his disappointment, Gkamnyangi spoke to Beongae on the screen.
"Beongae! Tap it right there. Then that guy runs away, you know? It's super fun!"
He clenched both hands — or rather, both cotton-pad front paws — tight.
That was when it happened. Beongae's short, round ears gave a little flutter. Then he pushed himself up from where he'd been lying, and—
Tap!
He bopped the mouse doll on the back with one enormous forepaw. It wasn't an accident. He pressed the exact right spot.
And then the mouse doll moved.
As it went scurrying across the broad stone, Gkamnyangi sprang to his feet and gave a Paw Clap.
Bam!
"Yes, that's it! Beongae, you did it!"
Beside him, Hoesaegi and Sapsaree's eyes sparkled too.
"Ohh! Well done-ong."
"Wow! It's moving-ayo!"
Six eyeballs were glued to the screen, ready to be sucked right in — and that was when Beongae's own eyes went wide enough to pop.
Awoong!
Startled and bewildered, Beongae froze for a beat, then his expression turned sharp.
And then — whoosh! He shot forward and caught the mouse doll.
Or rather, he tried to. But the mouse doll had already tumbled off the edge of the broad stone slab.
It lay on the ground, flipped on its back, little legs still paddling at the air.
Watching Beongae stare at the upside-down mouse in confusion, Gkamnyangi shouted,
"Beongae, bite it! Bite it and pick it up!"
"That's right-ong. Beongae-ong. Bite it and lift it-ong. Then it'll go again-ong."
Serious faces. Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi put all their strength into their front paws and shouted.
They called out a few more times like that, and on the screen, Beongae dropped his head, clamped the mouse doll in his mouth, and lifted it up.
"Well done-ong."
"That's it! Beongae's good at this."
"Beongae's so cool-ayo."
As the three of them got excited all over again, the corner of Lee Jun's mouth curved up.
That guy, honestly. It's like he put on a surprise show for these kids just because he got presents. How did it line up that perfectly? Amazing. Just amazing.
The way Beongae had moved as if he'd heard every word the three of them said struck Lee Jun as so uncanny that a smile settled on his lips.
But Beongae still didn't know how to play with the mouse doll. So he chomped down on it hard — like he was trying to crush prey in his jaws.
Gkamnyangi yelped in alarm.
"Beongae, that's a toy. You can't bite down hard on it."
In that same instant, another voice overlapped with Gkamnyangi's.
"Beongae, that's a toy. It's something for you to play with. Like this."
Gkamnyangi's voice from the sofa and Lee Jun's voice from the screen had overlapped.
In that moment, Beongae's face suddenly grew to fill the entire screen. He had come running over to where Lee Jun and Kwak Suho were.
A grinning face appeared, and Beongae's voice came through.
Then Beongae flopped over onto his back and rubbed his body against the ground in a full Bubibubi.
They weren't in his den, and there was distance between him and Lee Jun, but Beongae didn't hold back an ounce of his joy.
The three of them giggled at the screen.
"Beongae, your face is huge-ong."
"Beongae went keh-hung. Heeheehee."
"It's Beongae-ayo. He's enormous-ayo!"
While the three of them were laughing and watching Beongae, Go Gi-jin sat down on the floor in front of the sofa.
"Hyungnim, that fella's all better now, ain't he?"
"Yeah. Clean. Completely. When I looked today, even the spot where we put the Penrose drain had healed up nicely."
"Eutta, that fella was lookin' mighty fine, then. Climbed up the tree too, did he?"
"Yeah. Watch — here he comes."
A moment after Lee Jun finished speaking, Beongae sprang up into the tree.
Incredibly agile, and fast.
"Wow! Th-that's amazing-ong!"
"Whoa, he's so fast."
"Whoa-oh! B-Beongae's so fast-ayo. He's so cool-ayo."
The three of them stared at Beongae in the tree with their mouths hanging open. Go Gi-jin's expression matched theirs exactly.
"That fella's somethin' else, ain't he? Downright incredible."
"He was magnificent."
Lee Jun chimed in with his eyes still fixed on the screen, replaying the jump he'd seen that afternoon.
"You know why that guy's named Beongae — Lightning?"
"Beats me. 'Cause he's a fast runner, so they named him Lightning?"
"That's right, apparently. They're not as fast as a cheetah, but they can still hit sixty kilometers an hour."
"Mighty fast, that."
"That's why they named him Lightning, they said. Because in this life, it didn't seem like he'd ever get the chance to run that fast."
Lee Jun passed on the words Nam Hoseong had spoken like a lament.
Who knows? If you give him a name like that, maybe he'll get to run across a wide-open savanna to his heart's content — even if it's only in his dreams.
Nam Hoseong's eyes had been wet as he spoke, watching Beongae.
The truth is, Beongae was born in the zoo, so even if he ended up on the savanna, he'd have a hard time surviving. He's never hunted his own food in his life. This place is just… home, for him.
Recalling Nam Hoseong's bitter expression, Lee Jun remembered the rest of what he'd said.
That's why I wish his home were at least a little bigger. That's my hope. That our kids here could live even a little more spaciously, a little more comfortably.
And Nam Hoseong had been putting that hope into practice. Together with the entire zoo team.
Widening the enclosures. Working themselves ragged for the animals' Behavioral Enrichment.
Lee Jun believed that kind of devoted heart would reach the animals.
No — it already has.
Walking through the zoo, looking at the animals he passed, that was what Lee Jun had thought.
The easy expressions. The faces that smiled now and then. Watching them play, having fun. And now and then, catching the chatter as they gossiped with their companions.
"That fella's mighty handsome, ain't he? That aside, though — everybody's faces look happy, don't they?"
As it happened, the living room television had switched from Lee Jun greeting Beongae to footage of him strolling through the zoo.
While the enclosures were on screen, Lee Jun said to Go Gi-jin,
"I heard that zoo even releases animals back onto the grounds."
"That right? So that zoo over yonder does wildlife sanctuary work too, does it?"
"Seems like it. Ah — they said they once released some squirrels from the holding enclosure into the zoo. Looked like they were doing well. Lots of chestnut trees there, so they don't have to worry about food, either."
"And it's wide open, too. That's a mountain over yonder, ain't it? No danger of cars gettin' 'em, so that's a blessing."
"You'd think so, right? I've only been there three times, but I found myself thinking later on — if our Animal Sanctuary could be a place like that, that'd be wonderful."
Listening to Nam Hoseong talk about the squirrels, Lee Jun had thought of Yom-yom-i.
Yom-yom-i and his friends, who would be hibernating right now at Veterinarian Go Panseok's farm in Hongseong.
And it seemed Go Gi-jin had thought the same thing.
"Yom-yom-i and his bunch'd be happy livin' in a place like that, too. They're at my father's farm now, sure, but a wide-open place like that would be even better, wouldn't it?"
"That's true. Honestly, how long is it going to take for a burned mountain to recover? If there's a good place like that in the meantime, it'd be nice for them to settle there."
And if that place were the Animal Sanctuary he was going to build, even better.
Food in abundance, and a way to keep them warm through the cold winter days. Lee Jun let the thought pass through him, however briefly.
While Lee Jun was thinking that, Go Gi-jin still had his eyes locked on the screen.
"Eutta, that's mighty fine. Must be 'cause it's a mountain — looks wide open as all get-out."
Lee Jun asked the admiring Go Gi-jin,
"Want to come next time?"
"That'd be great."
"Alright. Then let's pick a date and go together."
"Sounds good. Heh-heh-heh. I'll get to see that Beongae fella in the flesh."
As Go Gi-jin lit up, Hoesaegi — who had been staring straight at the two of them — cut in.
"Hyungnim-ong, I want to go too-ong. I want to see Beongae-ong."
"Beongae? We're going to see Beongae? Me too, me too, I wanna go."
"I'm going too-ayo. Hyungnim-ayo, Sapsaree wants to go too-ayo."
No, kids. You can't go to the zoo. Seoul Zoo was something we got permission for.
Lee Jun wondered how to break this news to the three of them, whose eyes were shining bright with expectation.
That was when the phone rang.
Meow-nyang-nyang-nyang-nyang, woof-mrrf-woof-woof-woof-woof!
It was Go Gi-jin's cell phone.
Go Gi-jin picked it up.
"It's Ma? What's she want at this hour? Eutta, I bet Father still ain't come home."
Go Gi-jin's mother would occasionally call him like this when Veterinarian Go Panseok hadn't come home even late at night.
And then she would proceed to talk behind Go Panseok's back. Going on about how he'd fallen into some drinking den and wasn't even thinking of coming home.
So Go Gi-jin figured that was surely it, and tapped the screen.
"Hey, Ma. You had your supper?"
It was nearly eleven at night, and Go Gi-jin opened with a greeting asking whether his mother had eaten.
Then, right on its heels:
"Where's Father? Still drinkin', is he?"
"No, your father's over thataway. The police station, I mean."
"Eutta. What's he doin' over there? If he'd been drinkin', he oughta just come home quiet. What's he goin' to the station for? Don't tell me he went over there lookin' for Uncle Gyeongsin?"
Veterinarian Go Panseok ending up at the police station after a drink was hardly a first, or even a second — Go Gi-jin's voice on the call was the same as always.
"What'd you say? Father's been arrested?"
Go Gi-jin's voice got loud.
Beside him, Lee Jun's voice got loud too.
"What? Taken in? Why? Why would Director Go have been taken to the police station?"
At Lee Jun's words, Go Gi-jin answered with a vacant look on his face.
"S-so they're sayin' Father beat somebody up?"