Why Are You Laughing Like That?
"Hmm, overall, the kids are in better shape than I expected."
"Is that so? That's a relief."
At the words of the director of the Good Doctor Animal Hospital, Dojin and his group let out a sigh of relief.
Having spent the last few days bustling around and caring for them, they had grown quite attached.
Just then, the director turned to look at Dojin and the others.
"...By the way, are you all alright? For some reason, you look like you're in worse shape than the dogs."
"..."
"Haha..."
At the director's remark, the three of them, including Dojin, could only offer awkward laughs.
In truth, just as the director said, they were in a much worse state.
Dohee and Seungwan, in particular, were trembling all over just from standing still.
I-I can't even lift my arms.
Ugh... my back...
It felt as if every muscle in their bodies was screaming for mercy.
If it weren't for the checkup, they would have plastered pain relief patches all over themselves and collapsed onto a bed immediately.
Seeing the two of them like that, Dojin didn't even dare to make eye contact.
Haha, I guess it really was a bit too much, wasn't it?
If Begter, Obei, and a few members of the security team hadn't stepped in to help midway, they probably still wouldn't have finished bathing them.
And when am I going to clean the shower room?
The shower room, where they had bathed over thirty dogs—thirty-seven, to be exact—was a literal war zone.
Just gathering the fur piled on the floor would easily yield enough to make one or two wigs.
On top of that, there were tiles broken by dogs thrashing around during their baths...
Dogs shaking their wet, dirty bodies and splattering filthy water all over the walls...
Shelves meant for storing clothes chewed to splinters...
The list of things to clean up and repair was too long to count.
I might as well just build new shelves for the shower room.
The existing cabinets were so badly chewed up that they were beyond saving.
Rather than trying to salvage them, it was better to just build and install new ones.
While Dojin was recalling the events of earlier, the director, having finished examining the rescued dogs, turned to him.
"First of all, as I mentioned earlier, their condition isn't as bad as I feared. However..."
The director hesitated, pushing up his glasses. It was a clear sign that there was a problem.
Anyone could tell that something was wrong.
As a regular customer of the Good Doctor Animal Hospital, Dojin could guess why he was acting this way.
"Please, speak freely. You know me. I'm not one to skimp on treatment costs."
"...That's true. Haha, I guess I was worrying over nothing again."
Whether it was new treatments, non-covered experimental drugs, or long-term therapy—no matter how expensive the resulting bill—Dojin had never once hesitated.
He always chose what was best for the animals, regardless of the cost.
Still, I thought he might hesitate at least a little this time.
The patients weren't just one or two dogs, nor were they his own pets.
There were nearly forty of them, and from what he heard, they had no connection to Dojin whatsoever.
Anyone else in this situation would hesitate.
Yet Dojin was preparing to pay the treatment costs as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
His attitude was as casual as someone buying instant ramen at a convenience store.
"Ahem! First, we need to take a few of the dogs to the clinic for X-rays. There are also some that require ultrasounds."
"Do they need blood tests? Since you're already here, wouldn't it be easier to draw the blood all at once?"
"Haha..."
At Dojin's offer to go even further, the director laughed awkwardly and shook his head.
"I wish we could, but it will be difficult today. Not only are we unprepared to draw blood from this many animals, but some of them aren't even in a stable enough condition for it."
Dojin nodded at the director's explanation.
Even though Dojin and his team had done their best to care for them, there were still dogs that couldn't even support their own weight.
The smaller dogs were in particularly bad shape, as they were too fragile to endure the harsh environment and high-density confinement.
Drawing blood in their current state would only put unnecessary strain on them.
"For today, we'll only take these specific dogs to the clinic. It would be better to examine the rest sequentially after that."
With those words, the director handed over a pre-checked list.
It was just as Dojin was reviewing the list.
Suddenly, a commotion arose behind him, and a voice called out to him.
"Hoho, so this is where you were, Dojin."
"Huh?"
Turning around at the familiar voice, Dojin quickly walked toward the speaker.
That was how important this person was to him.
"Director Wang? What brings you here so suddenly without a word?"
"Hoho."
At Dojin's words, Director Wang's smile widened.
She could feel both surprise and delight in his voice.
This was one of the reasons she was so fond of Dojin.
Meeting someone who was genuinely happy to see her without any ulterior motive was a rare thing, even for someone in her position.
"I had an event to attend nearby, so I decided to drop by on my way."
"An event?"
"Hoho. You remember the equipment we donated to the fire station recently? Apparently, it has already saved the lives of several firefighters since it was distributed."
"Oh! That's amazing! So? Did you receive another letter of appreciation?"
"Well, something like that. Goodness, I told them it wasn't necessary, but they insisted on calling me all the way to City Hall to present it."
Despite her dismissive words, Hye-seok's face was filled with pride.
It wasn't because of the award itself, but the satisfaction of knowing she had saved innocent lives.
And to add to her joy, there was the reaction of Dojin standing right in front of her.
"Wow! That's really incredible, Director. You did something truly wonderful. You absolutely deserve that letter of appreciation!"
"Hoho, look at you making a fuss. That's enough, stop it."
Despite her words, Dojin's excitement didn't cool down.
If anything, he was getting so worked up that he was ready to ask the kitchen to prepare a special celebratory meal.
To an outsider, it would have looked like Dojin was the one receiving the award, not the director.
Satisfied with his reaction, Hye-seok stepped in to calm him down.
"Alright, that's enough, you're making my head spin. More importantly, there's someone I'd like to introduce to you."
"Pardon? An introduction?"
Dojin turned his gaze to the side of Hye-seok as he spoke.
There was only one person she could be referring to.
Although Hye-seok had arrived with a large entourage, most of them were bodyguards and Jo Yeong-jin, whom Dojin already knew.
However, the moment Dojin looked at the unfamiliar man, he tilted his head in confusion.
I feel like I've seen his face somewhere before.
He was certain they had never met, yet the man looked strangely familiar.
It wasn't a face he had seen in the media, like a celebrity or an influencer.
But with Hye-seok's next words, Dojin realized exactly who he was.
"Meet Jeong Han-seon, the Mayor of Paju."
"Ah!"
An exclamation escaped Dojin's lips.
He finally understood why the face was so familiar.
Ah, because he's a future member of the National Assembly.
Though he was currently the mayor, in a few years, he would run for the National Assembly.
He would win the election by an overwhelming margin.
That was how much trust he had built with the citizens of Paju during his term as mayor.
Dojin himself had voted for him without hesitation in his past life.
Even after his election, he had worked tirelessly for Paju without any scandals, easily securing his reelection in the following general election.
And now, that very man was standing right in front of him.
"Haha! It is a pleasure to meet the young man Chairman Wang has praised so highly. Hello, I am Jeong Han-seon."
"Ah! Hello, Mayor. I'm Baek Dojin. I'm a YouTuber."
"Oh! A YouTuber! That's wonderful. Actually, I've been meeting with some YouTubers lately. Have you heard of that public official from Chungju? Seeing what he does made me wonder if we should create a similar promotional channel for our city."
"Ah, you mean the PR Man."
Realizing who the mayor was referring to, Dojin nodded.
At the same time, he was secretly surprised. At this point in time, the Chungju PR Man wasn't that famous yet.
He was only just starting to appear on the humor boards of a few online communities.
Yet the mayor not only knew about him but was already looking to benchmark his success.
This alone showed that he wasn't just a bureaucrat who sat behind a desk.
However...
Finding a talent like the PR Man is going to be near impossible.
There was only one PR Man.
Although many copycats emerged after the Chungju City channel blew up, none of them managed to replicate his success.
After all, the reason the Chungju channel succeeded was the synergy between the PR Man and the mayor.
Without the combination of an attention-seeking official disguised as a public servant and a mayor who gave him complete creative freedom, Chungju wouldn't have succeeded either.
As Dojin offered an awkward smile, Hye-seok looked around and asked him a question.
"By the way, what is all this? Was the temporary shelter you planned to build meant for these dogs, not the villagers?"
"Ah, this... It's a bit of a long story..."
At Hye-seok's prompting, Dojin explained the events of the past few days.
"So, when we checked the action cam footage, we saw a truck dognapping them."
"Hmm..."
"My goodness..."
Hye-seok and Han-seon frowned when they heard about the dogs disappearing from the neighboring villages and the culprit being an undocumented worker.
"We ended up catching him in Boseok-ri. But during the chase, the stolen dog came out and..."
"Oh!"
"What a clever creature!"
They listened with interest as he described the capture of the culprit and the subsequent retaliation.
But their amusement was short-lived.
As Dojin went on to explain the current situation, the faces of both elders began to darken.
"So we've been looking around, but there isn't a single facility that can take these dogs in right now."
"..."
"..."
Even after Dojin finished speaking, neither of them said a word.
They simply looked around at the dogs.
Whimper...
Woof! Woof!
Grrr...
Dozens of dogs were scattered across the open field, playing.
Without context, it would have looked like a peaceful scene, but knowing the truth made it feel incredibly sorrowful.
At that moment, Hye-seok turned to the mayor.
"Mayor, is what Dojin said true?"
"...I am not entirely sure myself. Animal shelters tend to have a lower priority compared to other municipal projects. Let me look into it immediately."
Han-seon acted quickly.
He had his secretary connect him to the department in charge and received a report on the shelter's status in no time.
Unfortunately, the report was no different from what Dojin had described.
"Currently, all 300 dog kennels and 80 cat cages are completely full. Although eight stray dogs are scheduled to be euthanized in a week, even then, we won't have the capacity to take in that many new dogs."
"...I see. Understood. Keep up the hard work."
"Yes, Mayor."
With that, the call ended.
"...This is embarrassing. I had no idea the city-run facility was in such poor condition."
"Hoho, not at all. I hear it's rare for a shelter to house more than a hundred animals at a time, so this is actually quite impressive."
Since the mayor had put the call on speakerphone, everyone had heard the details.
Because of this, no one present blamed the city's shelter or Han-seon.
It was clear that the city was already doing the best it could with its resources.
After listening to a quiet whisper from Yeong-jin, Hye-seok turned to Han-seon with a mysterious smile.
"Mayor, do you have any interest in expanding the animal shelter?"
"Pardon?"
Perhaps because it was such an unexpected proposal, a look of bewilderment crossed Han-seon's face, which usually remained calm under any circumstances.
Hye-seok continued before he could recover.
"Hoho. Paju already sees a high number of abandoned animals due to the Imjin River, does it not? Why not take this opportunity to expand it from a simple dog shelter into a comprehensive animal rescue center?"
Han-seon pondered her words for a moment before shaking his head.
"That is a bit... If it were possible, I would love to do so. However, from the budget to the manpower, it's not something we can resolve in the short term."
Han-seon's expression grew even darker.
As the head of the local government, it weighed heavily on his heart to admit to his citizens that the city lacked the capacity.
But then, a magical word arrived to lift that heavy burden from his shoulders.
"The Chairman runs a foundation. We will provide official support from our side."
At the words of Yeong-jin, the man standing behind Hye-seok, Han-seon's eyes lit up.
"Support?"
"Yes. We can provide everything from funding to the necessary personnel, and if needed, we can even train replacement staff in advance. With that level of backing, wouldn't you be able to operate an animal center on a much larger scale than now?"
"Certainly, that would be more than enough, but..."
Han-seon trailed off, turning his gaze to Hye-seok.
He was asking if the employee's words were indeed true.
Hye-seok nodded in confirmation.
"Hoho, what Chief Jo says is true. We happen to have a foundation with idle hands, so providing support won't be difficult. However..."
Hye-seok paused, a meaningful smile playing on her lips.
"Since it will be a center receiving support from a private foundation, an audit will be necessary."
"..."
It meant they wanted to conduct the audits themselves.
Naturally, Han-seon fell into deep thought.
Even if it were run by the state, regular audits were standard, so that wasn't the issue.
The concern was that if Hye-seok, who was providing both the funds and the manpower, also handled the auditing, it could lead to corruption—or at least the appearance of it.
Even if there was no corruption, others might raise issues about it later.
Sensing his hesitation, Hye-seok spoke in a gentle tone.
"Hoho, you don't have to worry too much. I plan to leave the auditing to a third party."
"A third party...?"
At Han-seon's question, Hye-seok slowly turned her head.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...?"
Dojin tilted his head.
He had been quietly watching the situation unfold, but now, Hye-seok's gaze was locked onto him and wouldn't budge.
For some reason, that look felt incredibly ominous.
"...Hoho."
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"...Hoho, it's nothing."
"It definitely doesn't feel like nothing."
"Hohoho."
"Why... why do you keep laughing like that?"
"Life is just pleasant, hohoho."
"You laughed again! What is it? Why do you keep laughing so suspiciously?"
"Hohoho. Chief Jo, the weather is getting chilly. Let's go inside and have some warm tea."
"Yes, ma'am. I will escort you. Dojin, we'll be using the reception room."
"Pardon? Ah, yes, go ahead... No, wait! Don't just brush past me! Please explain!"
"Hohoho."
Despite Dojin's cries, only Hye-seok's laughter echoed across the open field.