Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Sapsari, the Guardian Sapsal
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The Sapsari is one of Korea's representative native breeds, alongside the Jindo and Pungsan dogs.
Once on the brink of extinction, the Sapsari is now designated as a natural monument and is being preserved and studied at the Sapsari Breeding Research Institute in Gyeongsan, Gyeongsan Province.
Lee Jun had been dispatched to that institute for about a month.
Perhaps because of that, his eyes filled with affection as he looked at the Sapsari collapsed limply like a rag.
“Why are you, so brave, in such a state?”
Back at the institute, Lee Jun had grown fond of the blue-gray Sapsaris because their fur color reminded him of Kongdori.
This collapsed Sapsari was a blue-gray one as well.
Lee Jun quickly checked its heart sounds with a stethoscope.
The heart was beating, albeit a bit slowly.
Moreover, when Lee Jun touched its body, the Sapsari's eyes slowly fluttered open.
Its unfocused pupils were filled with wariness.
Bold and valiant Sapsaris are affectionate and loyal to their owners but fiercely wary of strangers.
The fact that it was showing its temper even in a state where it couldn't move meant it still had some strength left.
A faint smile crept onto Lee Jun's lips.
“That's a relief.”
Lee Jun quickly scanned the Sapsari with his eyes. But its long, matted fur made it insufficient to assess its condition.
“I'll have to do a physical exam.”
Even though it was weakened, a sensitive Sapsari would startle at a stranger's touch.
It might even resist and worsen its condition.
Lee Jun spoke to the Sapsari.
“Hey, buddy, I'm going to touch your body now to check where it hurts. If it hurts when I touch somewhere, let me know it hurts.”
Even after saying that, the Sapsari tensed up as soon as Lee Jun's hand touched its body.
Lee Jun kept reassuring it that everything was fine as he continued the physical exam.
His hand, moving from the head down the back to the thighs, suddenly paused.
“What's this? A snare?”
Feeling a chill, Lee Jun hurriedly examined the rope-like thing gripped in his hand.
Thorny vine branches were tightly wrapped around both thighs and hind legs. Thorns were embedded in places along the branches.
“Damn!”
It might seem minor, but for animals that can't use their front paws like hands, it's a huge threat.
The more they struggle to remove the vines wrapped around their body, the tighter they bind.
Lee Jun pulled scissors from the house call kit in his backpack and carefully cut the branches wrapped around the Sapsari's legs.
[That hurts so much.]
Shadow, who had experience with this, grimaced and said worriedly.
At that moment, the Sapsari's ears perked up briefly before returning to normal. It meant it had heard Shadow.
As Lee Jun was cutting the branches, he felt a warm liquid on his hand.
He immediately parted the fur and checked the skin.
Through the dark red pus, the raw flesh was visible.
The vine branches that had constricted the leg had pierced into the flesh.
The surrounding area was swollen as well.
‘Damn! Necrosis might have set in?’
Lee Jun swallowed a groan inwardly and sped up cutting the stems.
‘Whew, the stem's buried in the flesh. How desperately it must have struggled to escape...’
The vine stem, tightly bound, had dug into the flesh when it exerted force to loosen it.
The thorns embedded in its long fur made it even harder to remove the stem from its body.
The more it struggled to detach the stem, the tighter the branches constricted the leg.
How much it must have suffered alone?
“That must have hurt a lot.”
Perhaps sensing Lee Jun's genuine concern, the Sapsari let out a long sigh, “Hoo.”
“Hey, buddy, just hang in there a bit longer.”
In this situation, that was all Lee Jun could say to the Sapsari.
[Buddy, that must hurt.]
Shadow gently placed his front paws on the Sapsari's shoulder and said.
His voice was full of worry.
It was then.
The Sapsari barked in a small, hoarse voice.
[I'm Sapsari, not Buddy.]
It wasn't said to Lee Jun.
The Sapsari was correcting its name to Shadow.
Hearing that, Lee Jun swallowed a sigh inwardly.
‘Sapsari, huh. Did it dislike the name I gave it? Or does it really like being called a Sapsal?’
Sapsaris are also called Sapsari or Sapsari.
Pondering why it chose one as its name, Lee Jun soon shook off the thought and focused on cutting the vines.
Cutting the vine stems from a leg covered in blood and pus wasn't easy.
Lee Jun carefully snipped away at the vine stems.
Every time Lee Jun's scissors touched the leg, Sapsari flinched and trembled.
Shadow, watching from the side, shook his pupils left and right.
[I-I wasn't hurt this bad.]
Shadow gently hugged Sapsari's front leg and said.
[They're untying what's binding your legs, so don't be scared.]
[That's right-meow. They're not trying to harm you-meow.]
Sapsari is sensitive and dislikes strangers' touches, but it's a smart dog.
It knew Lee Jun was trying to help, and that the cats were comforting it.
Perhaps that's why, surrounded by a stranger and cats it had never seen, this situation oddly put Sapsari at ease.
That didn't mean it had fully let its guard down.
It was just enduring because it couldn't do anything with its own strength right now.
‘As soon as I get even a little strength, I'll bolt.’
Even as Sapsari thought that, Lee Jun's hands didn't stop moving.
Lee Jun cut the vine stems quickly but carefully.
As soon as the last stem was cut, strength entered Sapsari's eyes.
It still hurt enough to want to bite its leg off, but the constricting sensation was gone.
“Now I'll untie this part, so bear with the pain a little.”
Lee Jun moved on to the next vine stem.
He cut it the same way as before, and Sapsari felt the same sensation.
Once the vines binding both legs were gone, Sapsari tried to stand by putting strength into its legs. But no strength came.
Awoo!
Panicked, Sapsari howled.
“It won't move well right now.”
Lee Jun stopped Sapsari from struggling to stand and continued.
“This might sting, so hang in there.”
With that, Lee Jun poured antiseptic on the wound.
Cough-cough-grrr!
Sapsari let out a loud howl. It hurt so much that, despite having no strength, it even sprang up on its front legs.
[Hang in there-meow. Then you can walk later-meow.]
[Trust Big Brother. You'll heal.]
The cats spoke to it again.
It had no idea what they were saying, but strangely, it believed them.
‘They don't seem to be lying.’
Even in pain, Sapsari thought calmly.
After finishing the disinfection, Lee Jun wrapped the area where muscle was exposed with bandages and said to Sapsari.
“I'm going to take you to our hospital. We'll treat this there, so let's go for now. Got it?”
At the words of taking it along, Sapsari's body stiffened.
It didn't want that.
But the cats' following words were tempting.
[Big Brother will treat you-meow.]
[If Big Brother treats you, you can walk.]
At the words that it could walk, Sapsari leaned into Lee Jun.
When they brought it to the parking lot, Ttangkongi's owner-friend, the restaurant owner, approached.
“Oh no, buddy, what happened?”
“It was wrapped tight in thorny vines in the nearby forest.”
“Good heavens.”
The restaurant owner was startled and said to Sapsari.
“Why didn't you bark! Scream that it hurts to death, that you're hurt, loud enough to shake the mountains! Huh? If you had, we would've come to rescue you... Oh dear, how scared you must have been that you couldn't even bark? Huh?”
The restaurant owner vented frustration while looking at Sapsari.
Lee Jun felt bad, knowing who she was angry at.
“We should take it to the animal hospital for treatment first.”
“Th-thank you. Thank you so much, Director.”
“I'll contact you later.”
“Please take good care of buddy.”
“Yes, then.”
Lee Jun hurried to the car.
The moment Sapsari saw the car, its pupils shook left and right. But soon it let out a deep sigh.
Lee Jun laid the Sapsari in the kennel in the back of the car he had brought and told it they were going to the hospital.
“Gray, Shadow. Let's go.”
As Lee Jun turned to call the cats, he saw the two cats surrounded by the local cats.
“Oh right, I forgot to say goodbye to them.”
Lee Jun approached the group of cats and said.
“Kids, thanks for today. Cheese-nyang-i, you worked hard today.”
[N-No, it's nothing.]
[Thank you-meow, we found Sapsari thanks to you-meow.]
[Thanks.]
[No, it was an honor to meet Gray-nim and Shadow-nim.]
[It was an honor.]
After Cheese-nyang-i, the cats greeted him.
Lee Jun told them he'd come back soon with a thank-you gift and hurriedly headed to Meongmeong Animal Hospital.
When Lee Jun's car arrived at the animal hospital, Go Gi-jin, who had been waiting, swiftly picked up the kennel and headed to the treatment room.
Before leaving, he had explained Sapsari's condition to Go Gi-jin.
The moment Go Gi-jin opened the kennel to take out Sapsari.
Grrrrr.
Sapsari growled.
But it had no strength, so it wasn't threatening at all.
“Oh dear, even injured, this one's still got some fire left in it.”
“That's good.”
“Exactly-yu. Much better than ones that are completely limp-yu.”
Go Gi-jin said that and lifted Sapsari by the scruff, placed it on the treatment table, and quickly proceeded.
He shaved the matted bloody fur, hooked up fluids, ran blood tests...
Thanks to Lee Jun explaining from the side, Sapsari endured this strange series of procedures.
Hadn't it been completely bound just moments ago, unable to move?
Thinking back, this felt like someone scratching an itch.
That didn't mean it didn't hurt.
However, the pain soon started fading. Drowsiness suddenly washed over it, and its eyes grew heavy.
After days of suffering without sleep, it felt like a dream as its condition improved. Then, a familiar voice came.
“Sleep well.”
Soon after, Sapsari fell into a deep sleep.
***
But then...
Tap, tap, tap.
Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap.
Something like a Somi mallet kept hitting its body?
It said to sleep, so why disturb it like this?
It had finally gotten to sleep comfortably.
Annoyed, Sapsari opened its eyes.
It bared its teeth, intending to bite whatever was disturbing its sleep.
Grrrr.
[Wake up-meow.]
[Wake up. You need to breathe deeply.]
Two cats were chattering down at it—they were the cats that had encouraged and comforted it from the mountain.
Sapsari closed its mouth and retracted its teeth.
No matter how angry it was, it couldn't bite these two. But it had to say something.
[L-Leave me alone.]
[No-meow. You need to breathe deeply-meow.]
[Then you won't hurt later.]
The cats taught Sapsari how to breathe, just as they had done.
Sss! Haaa!
As Sapsari breathed as the cats instructed, a familiar voice rang out.
It was the benefactor who had saved it and lulled it to sleep.
“Oh! You're doing great. Yes, breathe like that so your lungs don't collapse. It must be tough, but keep breathing like that for a few hours.”
It didn't understand the words, but Sapsari breathed as the cats and the benefactor instructed.
It was hard, but it felt like it should.
‘It won't hurt.’
Of course, strength still hadn't returned to its body. But it didn't hurt.
That alone made Sapsari thrilled, as if it could fly.
‘And I'm not hungry either.’
Over the past few days, Sapsari had wandered on the edge of death in extreme pain.
Its legs hurt like they were breaking, and its stomach was starving.
Its throat was parched like fire, and eventually, its mind grew delirious.
Even as its consciousness faded, Sapsari thought of its owner.
It believed its owner would come save it.
But it didn't keep thinking that.
From the moment it got out of the car, it waited endlessly, but the owner never came.
Would such an owner come now?
Sapsari's pain was tormenting, but the owner's absence hurt and saddened it more.
Moreover, the dogs it saw on the mountain all had owners.
It too had once roamed the mountains well with its owner...
Sapsari watched blankly as owners held and petted their dogs.
Holding onto hope that its owner would soon appear and pet it too.
And now.
“Good job. And thank you.”
It didn't know what was good or thankful about. But Sapsari loved the benefactor petting its head.
“Good job-yu. Such a brave one. How did you endure that long time alone-yu?”
A large hand stroked its body.
However, it didn't feel good being petted by this person.
Grrrrr!
Sapsari bared its teeth and growled.
“Oh my, seeing you throw a tantrum means you're feeling better now-yu? That's a relief-yu!”
Huh?
Sapsari blinked and looked at the large person. The large person was smiling at it.
It had made its scariest face, so why was he smiling?