The Finest Interviewers
Gkamnyangi had gone so limp and blissed-out in Lee Seongwoo's arms that Hoesaegi found the whole display suspicious — suspicious enough to climb onto the stand and test the man himself.
And then… some thirty seconds after being scooped up by Lee Seongwoo.
Hoesaegi cried out too.
"Hahh… p-pass… it's a pass, ong!"
After Gkamnyangi, now Hoesaegi. Sapsaree poured out his grievances at the two who had so easily declared a passing grade.
"Hyungnims! Snap out of it! We still don't know why the new teacher wants to join our family! We have to find that out!"
A cool-headed judgment, worthy of an interviewer. A sharp point, fairly made.
But to the cats who had already fallen to the devilish rub-rub, none of that mattered anymore.
"Sapsaree-ong, it's fine, ong. That stuff doesn't matter, ong."
"Yeah, what's so important about that?"
Sapsaree nearly jumped out of his skin.
These were the same hyungs who had stressed — eyes blazing — that they absolutely had to find out why anyone wanted to join the pack. And now they had gone weird. Far too weird.
Sapsaree shot Lee Seongwoo a look of deep suspicion, then whispered in a low meow so only his cat hyungs could hear.
"Hyungnims, what if the new teacher is a coup d'état?"
Sapsaree, whose mission in life was to root out every last coup, stamped his paws in agitation.
As a boss, how many coup-plotters had Hoesaegi seen in his time? He'd flattened every last one of them.
Hoesaegi answered offhandedly.
"Sapsaree-ong, don't worry, ong. Just seize the initiative and put him in his place, ong."
"Yeah. Who do you think Hoesaegi is?"
Gkamnyangi piled firepower onto Hoesaegi's casual answer.
Watching the two of them, Sapsaree grew even more uneasy. Look at that. The hyungnims have fallen hook, line, and sinker. No doubt about it. It's a coup d'état. He pouted, his whole face full of discontent.
Gkamnyangi, sitting right beside him, took one look at that expression and let out a long sigh.
"Hey, Sapsaree. Trust us."
"Trust you about what?"
Here he was, carrying out his interviewer duties with such care, and the cat hyungs were just melting away. Sulking, Sapsaree shot back tersely — but Gkamnyangi was already pointing elsewhere.
"Look at Hyungnim. He's smiling."
"Look at Hyungnim?"
Sapsaree's face, which had been glaring at Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi with such dissatisfaction, turned.
And then he answered.
"That's right. Hyungnim is smiling."
"That means he's a good new teacher."
"It does?"
"Yeah. Anyone Hyungnim smiles at is a good person."
"That's true, that is."
Then Hoesaegi, still nestled in Lee Seongwoo's arms with a drowsy look on his face, spoke up.
"Sapsaree-ong, Kongji said it didn't hurt, ong."
"That's right. Kongji was smiling."
"Hyungnim is smiling. I smiled too. Look — Hoesaegi's smiling too."
Come to think of it, everyone was smiling. Everyone except him. Why is everyone smiling? I'm not smiling. He didn't know what it was, but the feeling of being left out made Sapsaree cranky.
Sapsaree was the type to smile along whenever Hyungnim and the cat hyungs smiled. But he was already in a snit, so he huffed a puff of air through his nose.
"Hmph! I'm going to watch a little longer! No coups allowed!"
That was when a gleam lit Lee Seongwoo's eyes as he held Hoesaegi. Wow. That's a Sapsali for you. He'd heard that Sapsalis were brave dogs with a strong instinct to protect their families from strangers and unfamiliar animals, and Lee Seongwoo found himself deeply impressed by Sapsaree's wariness of him. What a magnificent guy. So dignified. It was praise that would have delighted Sapsaree had he heard it — but Lee Seongwoo kept it to himself.
Meanwhile, watching Sapsaree give Lee Seongwoo the cold shoulder, Lee Jun hesitated, if only for a moment. Hmm. If I pass Dr. Lee right here and now, Sapsaree's going to feel left out, isn't he? He recalled how proudly the three of them had strutted around these past few days, declaring themselves the interviewers.
It wasn't as if they'd only puffed up their chests, either. The three of them had put their heads together, pondering what made a good teacher. They hadn't even spared the effort of asking their friends.
Lee Jun had watched it all from the side.
They'd worked that hard. He ought to respect that.
Having made up his mind, Lee Jun's gaze shifted from Sapsaree to Lee Seongwoo. That said, I don't think Dr. Lee has had dinner. He recalled the rumble that had come from Lee Seongwoo's stomach just a moment ago.
Lee Jun was the kind of person who never stopped asking if you'd eaten. A man like that couldn't possibly send a hungry person on his way.
"The interview time was awkward — you probably couldn't eat before coming. You must be hungry?"
"Ah, no, I'm fine."
"I'm hungry too, actually."
"…"
Lee Seongwoo, who was in fact starving, offered a silent affirmation.
"We've got a cafeteria on the third floor of the hospital. If you're not in a rush, why don't you go up and have a meal before you leave?"
The Mongmong Animal Hospital cafeteria was open to every veterinarian, regardless of which school they'd graduated from or which class year they belonged to.
Lee Seongwoo knew of it too.
"Ah, I've heard of it. They say the Mongmong cafeteria is really delicious… I've been wanting to try it if I ever got the chance."
"Well, today's your chance. Shall we?"
Lee Jun headed up to the third-floor cafeteria with Lee Seongwoo, and the three animals trotted along behind them. They didn't go inside, though — they sat themselves down in the hallway outside the door.
"Huh? What about them?"
"They don't go into the cafeteria. They'll wait until we come out."
"Wow, that's impressive. Most of them would throw a fit wanting to come in with you."
Lee Seongwoo let out a sound of genuine admiration and lowered himself onto one knee. Then he praised the three of them.
"Hoesaegi, Gkamnyangi, Sapsaree. Are you standing sentry? You guys are really cool. Magnificent. Amazing."
Jakbeom, the cat at home, absolutely loved being praised. Good job. You eat so well. You're so good. You're so handsome. Say those things and he was over the moon.
It might have been the gentle look in Lee Seongwoo's eyes and the way he carried himself when he offered praise — but either way, Jakbeom adored it when Lee Seongwoo complimented him and rubbed his back.
He'd done it for Jakbeom every day, so the praise came out naturally. And Jakbeom was a sensitive cat who could tell instantly whether a compliment was sincere or perfunctory.
Lee Seongwoo's praise had genuine feeling in it.
Praise was a universal free-pass language, whether you were human or animal. And if there was sincerity in the words, the effect was instant.
Hoesaegi's and Gkamnyangi's eyes narrowed to slits. They were smiling, that was why.
A teacher who was already a master of the rub-rub had now discovered how cool they were, too.
Hoesaegi grinned.
"New teacher-ong. You already noticed how cool I am, ong?"
"Hmm. The new teacher really is a good teacher."
The two of them had already given Lee Seongwoo a passing grade. Curious how Sapsaree would take it, Lee Jun's gaze shifted to him.
The fur at the corners of Sapsaree's mouth twitched. He was smiling. Looks like he's in a good mood. Then there was nothing to worry about.
Lee Jun's guess was right. After the meal, while Lee Seongwoo was having coffee, Lee Jun stepped outside for a moment and talked with the three of them.
"So, kids. What do you think of the teacher eating in there?"
"He's good, ong. We'll keep watching, ong."
"Well, he seems good. But I'll watch a bit more."
"Sapsaree?"
Sapsaree thought it over. The new teacher is suspicious. That's why I have to keep watching. And to do that, the new teacher had to be nearby — otherwise he couldn't figure out whether it was a coup d'état or not. Having made his decision, Sapsaree spoke.
"Me too. I'll keep watching."
"Got it. I'll go with your decision and tell the teacher to come give beans to your friends."
The three of them nodded, and Lee Jun carefully stroked each of their heads.
"Thank you. You did a great job with the interviews. You were excellent interviewers."
At Lee Jun's praise, the corners of all three mouths curled up.
"Hehe, that's right, ong. I am an excellent interviewer, ong."
"Me too! Ahem! Gkamnyangi is an excellent interviewer!"
"Me too! Sapsaree is an excellent interviewer too!"
The three of them held their heads high and preened. Lee Jun found them so admirable. And so cute.
The corners of his mouth lifted on their own. Smiling, he said to the three of them,
"That's right, that's right. Thanks to you, I think we'll be able to pick a good teacher. So I'm counting on you from here on out, too."
The three of them answered with thoroughly self-assured faces.
"Got it, ong. Trust me, ong — no, trust us, ong."
"That's right. Hyungnim, trust us."
"Hehe, us! Trust us!"
From then on, the three of them put on a spectacular showing.
When Mongmong Animal Hospital posted a notice that it was hiring veterinarians and staff, applicants poured in — several times more than the last time they'd hired. And from among them, the three animals picked out exactly the kind of people Mongmong Animal Hospital was looking for.
People who had the skills, and who cared about animals.
This was the three of them's gift: a "sense" that uncannily told them whether an applicant truly cared about animals or not. On top of that, a technique-discerning ability that only those on the receiving end of treatment could know. Whether someone held you safely without hurting you, for instance. Whether they jammed away at your ears during a cleaning as if those ears weren't attached to a living creature, or whether they were careful about it. Things like that.
"It's a pass, ong. The friends are smiling, ong."
"Pass. Did the beans without hurting."
Not that they shouted "pass" for every applicant they saw.
"No. It hurt. It hurt a whole lot."
Sapsaree, who had volunteered for the ear-cleaning practice, shook his head in displeasure as he said it.
In any case, the three of them threw themselves into their interviewer duties with everything they had.
The staff selected that way numbered fifteen. Five veterinarians and ten technicians would be newly joining Mongmong Animal Hospital.
The day after the decisions were made, Lee Jun spoke before starting the morning meeting.
"Starting next Monday, ten of the fifteen people who've become our new family will come in first. The remaining five will join us gradually."
At the news that three veterinarians and seven technicians would be coming in first, the faces of the staff in the meeting brightened.
"We still can't use the basement, so it'll be cramped. I know you'll be busy, but I trust you'll all guide the new doctors well."
That it would be cramped was true enough. The basement remodeling had only just begun, and it would take about another month before the renovation was complete. They'd only added staff to the original floor space, so things were bound to get crowded.
Even so, Lee Jun had his reasons for deciding to bring the new staff in.
"You've all worked so hard this whole time, so let's get the new family members settled in quickly and then rest a little. Take your paid leave, too — don't put it off."
The past year at Mongmong Animal Hospital had been an extraordinarily busy one. Naturally, the staff had been extraordinarily busy too. And yet not a single person had complained. They'd worked hard. Even when told to rest, they hadn't.
"You need to take time off too, Director."
"That's right. You should be the first one to rest, Director."
When the staff all spoke up together, telling Lee Jun to rest, he found himself at a loss for words. I'm the one who stirred up all the extra work that made us busy. Mongmong Animal Hospital had always been busy, but Lee Jun had taken on extra projects, and people from outside had sought him out, and the staff's workload had grown along with it.
You didn't even need to think about anything else — just looking after the Brave Ones was enough. That the staff were overworked was a fact.
And yet here they were, saying that.
Lee Jun's chest grew warm. I really am a happy person. Because there were so many good people like this.
He wanted to keep working with people like this for a long, long time. And for that, health came first.
Lee Jun wanted the staff — the Mongmong Animal Hospital family — to rest a little. And he knew. He had to rest himself, or they wouldn't be able to rest easy.
"I was already planning to rest a bit anyway. Once these new doctors settle in, we should go to a five-day week."
"You have to rest. You really have to!"
"Exactly. Director, you absolutely have to."
"You have to promise. Director, I want to work at our Mongmong Hospital for a long time. If you collapse, we're in real trouble."
When Yeo Un-hyeok, who was usually taciturn, put in a word, Cha Da-jeong piled on from beside him.
"That's right, Director. I'm going to keep working at our Mongmong Hospital too. So you can't get sick, Director!"
"Understood. I'll rest well from now on. I want to keep seeing all of you for a long, long time, too."
Lee Jun smiled, and the staff smiled. The pleasant atmosphere carried on, and in that atmosphere the new staff adapted easily to Mongmong Animal Hospital.
There wasn't a single prickly person among the existing Mongmong family who would haze the newcomers, and besides, it was a group of people who all fundamentally cared about animals. A common ground formed easily, too.
In that warm atmosphere, the new staff picked up the work quickly. If the air had been sharp-edged, adapting might have been hard — but there was none of that at Mongmong Animal Hospital.
In truth, Lee Seongwoo had played a large role in the new staff mixing freely with the existing staff from day one.
You could also call it the work of the three — Mongmong Animal Hospital's trio.
First, Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi.
"New teacher-ong, hold me, ong."
"No, hold me."
Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi climbed into Lee Seongwoo's arms the moment he arrived at work. Of course, they'd only done so after confirming there were no friends in the lobby. If there had been friends around, the doctors would have needed to give them beans, so they wouldn't have even thought of being held.
Just as the rumor went that most of the staff had applied to Mongmong Animal Hospital because they loved Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi, everyone envied Lee Seongwoo. Existing staff and new staff alike.
They each tossed a comment at Lee Seongwoo as he held the two cats.
"Dr. Lee, I'm so jealous."
"Same. So jealous. Holding Hoesaegi was my dream…"
"It took me a month and a half after joining before I could hold Hoesaegi…"
"Took me three months, actually."
Lee Seongwoo, soaked in everyone's attention, laughed.
"Haha, maybe it's because I have a cat at home who looks like this guy Gkamnyangi."
"Oh my, Dr. Lee, you have a cat?"
"Yes, an all-black one…"
"Oh, I have a tuxedo at home."
"Me too. Ah, not a tuxedo — a cow cat."
Meaning a cat with a white coat dotted with black patches.
"Our Neulbom is a spotted one. Ah, our Neulbom isn't a cat — it's a hamster. A Campbell's hamster. Also called a fancy hamster."
"I've never seen a spotted hamster."
"They are a bit uncommon. I'll show you a picture later."
What followed was a cascade of pet coming-outs from the staff. That was how they quickly grew close, exchanging information about the animals they kept at home.
Time passed, and it had already been ten days since the new staff started coming in.
Perhaps because it was a day of heavy snowfall, the animal hospital was quiet. Naturally, Lee Seongwoo had Hoesaegi and Gkamnyangi in either arm, administering the rub-rub, and the staff had clustered around to watch.
One of the technicians murmured, as if to herself,
"I'd love to touch Gkamnyangi's pink jelly pads just once. I saw them in a video once and they looked so squishy."
That was when it happened. Gkamnyangi, nestled in Lee Seongwoo's arms and feeling so good, flopped a front paw straight up.
And there they were — Gkamnyangi's pink jelly pads.
A chorus of gasps burst out.
"Ahhh~~!"
"Th-that's so cute."
"Oh my god, they look so squishy."
The devilish pink jelly pads that no cat lover on earth could resist falling for. Every gaze in the room was sucked toward Gkamnyangi's pink jelly.
The corners of Gkamnyangi's mouth — Gkamnyangi, who craved the spotlight — curled up. The eyes looking at him, not Hoesaegi, were intoxicating.
When all the attention swung to Gkamnyangi, Hoesaegi — who had been feeling so good in Lee Seongwoo's arms — grew flustered. Why, why isn't anyone looking at me, ong! I am the magnificent Hoesaegi, ong! He quickly scanned the room. Hoh-ong! They're looking at Gkamnyangi's paws, ong. Well then, I can't lose!
Hoesaegi dangled a front paw up too. And then — fwaah — he spread his toes wide.
Just as he'd guessed.
"Oh my! Oh-my-my-my, Hoesaegi! That's so cute!"
"Haha, well now. How adorable."
Ordinarily, these were cats who would have hated being called cute. But in this moment, that sound was far too good. Because the faces of the family looking at them were like the faces of people waiting for orders.
He'd been a boss for years, after all. The words tumbled naturally from Hoesaegi's mouth.
Then Gkamnyangi cried out too.
"Line up and I'll let you touch them!"
A majestic feline roar of authority!
Watching from the side, Lee Jun said with a laugh,
"I think they're going to let you touch them?"
Oh my, oh my. Really?
The staff said as much as they shuffled into a line.
Lee Jun watched them for a moment, then started walking.
"Who's at the Brave Ones' House? Gijin and Dr. Jung, I think? I should go down and take over."
He figured he'd use the quiet spell to head down to the Brave Ones' House.
That was when a familiar figure caught his eye outside the window.
Kwak Suho had arrived.
Kwak Suho came into the animal hospital, saw the staff clustered in a crowd, and asked,
"Something going on?"
"Not really. We're just taking it easy because it's slow."
"Yeah, I guess people wouldn't come to an animal hospital on a day like this."
"Pretty much. But what brings you out in this snow?"
"What else! I came to see our little cuties. But why's Sapsaree over here? Does he want to go for a walk?"
Sapsaree was standing a little apart from their cluster, looking magnificent — and as it happened, that spot was right by the hospital's glass door.
The reason Sapsaree was there was simple. He was still watching Lee Seongwoo.
"It's just, these guys are a bit wary of unfamiliar people. He's checking out the new doctors."
"Ah, I see. You clever little guy. Sapsaree, you're magnificent."
At Kwak Suho's praise, Sapsaree's tail gave a pleased little wag. Kwak Suho stroked Sapsaree's back as he spoke to Lee Jun.
"Why, you got some time now?"
"Time?"
"You've got a lot of new doctors now. Meaning you've got more time to rest."
"Ah, that? The new doctors are adapting so well that I am a bit free."
"Is that riiight?"
Kwak Suho's face lit up all at once. Lee Jun asked him,
"Why, is something up?"
"Not so much something up as… Lee Jun, can you spare about a week? If a week's too long, like five days?"
"Why?"
"Africa?"
Lee Jun's eyes went wide as he looked at Kwak Suho.