A Man Like a Bear
A man like a bear.
I opened my eyes.
White ceiling. Fluorescent lights. The sharp smell of disinfectant.
...A hospital?
Yeah. A hospital. An IV was stuck in my arm, and the heart monitor kept beeping away.
...Something felt off.
My body was light. That one-ton lead-weight sensation was gone. And I was cold. No fur meant cold.
...No fur?
I slowly lifted my hand.
Whoa...
A hand.
A human hand.
Five fingers.
Nails, not claws.
Skin, not brown fur.
...For real?
I flipped it over.
Not a bear's paw pad— a human palm.
Flipped it again.
Yep. The back of a hand. A human hand.
...Seriously?
But then.
I closed my eyes and opened them again.
Huh...?
Where the palm should have been, a manhole-cover-sized bear paw stared back at me.
Blink.
Human hand.
Blink.
Bear paw.
Blink.
Palm.
Blink.
Bear paw.
...What the hell is this.
Every time I blinked, a bear's forepaw and a human hand overlapped like afterimages, the two hands crossing over each other. A bizarre feeling that both of them were truly mine.
I turned my head.
A small mirror hung on the hospital room wall.
What was reflected there—
Deep brown fur.
A massive snout.
Small, round dumpling ears.
A bear.
...I'm still a bear!!
My heart dropped. But the instant I blinked, the reflection in the mirror changed.
What looked back at me was a human.
But the size of him was insane.
His shoulders spilled past the edges of the bed, and his forearms were as thick as a grown man's thighs.
The IV line wrapped around that arm looked like thread wound around a log.
Anyone who didn't know better would mistake that bear-like build for a fighter or a gangster.
...I-is this me?
When I tilted my head, the man in the mirror tilted his head too.
Yeah. Hard as it was to believe... that was me.
I had no idea where this body had come from, but there was one piece of good news.
At least on the outside, I was wearing a human shape. Not a bear.
I was turning over why something like this would happen to me when it hit me.
...That voice.
The sound I'd heard in the darkness came back to me.
I'd prayed to God that I wanted to be human. That I wanted to speak with this mouth. That I wanted to hold someone's hand with these hands.
And that wish...
...He actually granted it?
I opened my mouth.
"...Ah."
Sound came out.
Not a growl. A human voice. My voice.
"Ah... ah... a-e-i-o-u... ah... ah..."
It was rough, like my throat was cracking open, but it was unmistakably human speech.
Tears came.
I didn't know why I was crying. But I couldn't stop.
Then.
Knock. Knock.
Someone rapped on the hospital room door.
"Excuse me. Could we speak with you for a moment?"
The door opened and two men in suits walked in.
One looked to be in his mid-forties, with sharp eyes. The other was a young man in his twenties holding a notebook.
"I'm Team Leader Lee Jeong-woo from the ○○ Police Station Violent Crimes Unit. How are you feeling?"
"...I'm fine."
A human voice left my mouth. Words were getting through.
My chest swelled at the fact, but I had to hold it in for now.
"Glad to hear it. Just a few questions."
Detective Lee pulled up a chair and sat.
"You were unconscious when we found you at the scene. Do you remember anything?"
"...No. I opened my eyes and I was here."
It wasn't a lie.
I really did open my eyes and find myself here.
Leaving out the part where I'd been a bear before that.
"Have you ever seen the faces of the people from that smuggling ring?"
"...I don't really know. I think they were all wearing masks."
"I see."
Detective Lee flipped through his notebook.
"For context—the facility we raided was the hideout of an organization running illegal animal smuggling and human trafficking at the same time."
Human trafficking.
That word sent a chill down my spine.
"You were discovered in the basement of that facility along with the other victims. You were being held, and you'd collapsed without consciousness."
Detective Lee flipped another page and added,
"More precisely, it was on the animal confinement side. A large iron cage had been smashed open from the inside, and the floor was littered with fur and spent tranquilizer dart casings. You were lying right in the middle of it."
...I was found there?
"Oh, and one more thing I wanted to ask."
Detective Lee continued as if something was bothering him.
"There's evidence a large bear was being held at that facility. Crushed bars, footprints, that sort of thing... Did you happen to see the bear?"
I'd seen it in the mirror...
"...No."
A lie. But what was I supposed to say? That bear is me?
I used to be a bear and then I became a person?
Answer like that and I'd either be headed for a psych ward or the detective would just laugh and walk out.
"Is that so. The strange part is—the traces of a bear are clear, but there's no bear."
Detective Lee scratched his chin.
"It just vanished. A one-ton bear."
It didn't vanish. It's sitting right here. On this hospital bed, with an IV in its arm.
"We're currently tracking the bear through the mountain range. If you remember anything related, please contact us."
Detective Lee held out a business card.
I took it.
With a human hand.
"Ah, and one more thing."
Detective Lee stood and added,
"Do you know what a Kodiak bear is?"
"...Pardon?"
"It's a bear that lives in Alaska. The one that escaped this time is that species, apparently. Biggest on record. The whole place is in chaos because of that thing. A UFC champion got carried off to the hospital, the entire mountain's been locked down. The news is calling it the Monster Bear."
...That Monster Bear is me, though.
"Hope they catch it soon."
After the detectives left, the hospital room fell quiet again.
I looked down at my hand once more and blinked.
Blink.
Palm.
Blink.
Bear paw.
Hmm...
Other people saw me as human.
The police, the doctors, the nurses.
All of them saw a person.
But I knew.
This wasn't a human hand.
It was the forepaw of a one-ton Kodiak bear that had sent a UFC champion flying in a single hit.
Only the surface had changed. The essence was still a bear.
Rachel Kim.
UFC Asia matchmaker.
Korean-American.
The woman the fighting world called the Iron Lady.
Looking at her face alone, you wouldn't pin that nickname on her.
Sharp, striking features and long blonde hair cascading down her back.
A beauty who would turn heads anywhere.
But that beauty was a UFC matchmaker.
The person who decided who fought whom on the world's greatest combat stage.
Fighters' fates sat in this woman's hands.
Rachel was walking down a hospital corridor right now, on a call.
"How's Dominic?"
—Multiple fractures. Three ribs, two places on the left arm. No threat to his life, but they're saying at least six months of rehab.
"Six months... Forget a comeback. He's completely wiped for next season."
—That's not all. Dominic was filming, remember? The documentary production company is talking lawsuit. Who takes responsibility for safety management.
"...Damn it."
A curse slipped from the beauty's lips.
She'd left dignity back in the industry.
"What about the sponsors?"
—Two of them have opened contract reviews. They say the Monster Bear incident doesn't match their brand image.
Rachel let out a sigh.
One Kodiak bear was shaking the entire UFC Asia schedule to pieces.
Dominic's injury.
The documentary lawsuit.
Sponsors peeling away.
The media spotlight locked on.
The butterfly effect one bear had set off was rattling the whole industry.
"...Have you found out anything about that bear?"
—Still tracking it, they say. A one-ton Kodiak just vanished completely. Even the police are spinning their wheels.
"That's ridiculous. How does a one-ton animal just disappear."
—Don't take it out on me. Oh, and one more thing. You know they pulled a survivor out of that smuggling outfit's hideout?
"A survivor?"
—There's a guy who was found in the same facility where the bear was being held. They processed him as a smuggling victim, but apparently he might know something about the bear. Sounds like he's pretty much the only lead they've got.
"So that man saw the bear?"
—Who knows. Police still haven't confirmed it. But he was found right where the bear had been. He has to know something.
Rachel thought for a moment.
To get the full picture of Dominic's incident, she needed to know about that bear.
And if the person who would know the most about that bear was this survivor...
"...Which hospital?"
—○○ University Hospital. Private room.
"I'll go."
Rachel ended the call and stepped into the elevator.
Fourth floor.
Outside the private room.
Rachel paused in front of the door for a moment.
She started to knock, then peered through the slightly open crack instead.
Someone was sitting on the bed.
...?
First impression.
Big.
No—big didn't cover it.
The hospital bed looked small.
It didn't feel like a person sitting on a bed so much as something large perched on top of one.
Rachel pushed the door open and stepped in.
"Excuse me. Just a—"
Her tongue locked up.
Rachel Kim.
UFC matchmaker.
A woman who shook hands with heavyweight champions, coordinated fights for light-heavyweight monsters, and dealt with the most dangerous men in the world as a matter of routine.
That woman's instincts were sounding an alarm.
Dangerous.
She didn't know why, but dangerous.
The man turned his head.
Their eyes met.
His gaze was gentle.
No hostility in it.
If anything, a bewildered expression.
...What. He's got soft eyes.
But her body wouldn't listen.
Her heart was racing.
W-what is this...?
Rachel scanned the man's body with professional eyes.
Shoulders.
So broad they completely overhung the bed, like a doorframe.
Neck.
Thick as a bull's.
The traps had erased the boundary between neck and shoulder.
Forearms.
The patient gown sleeves looked ready to burst.
As thick as an ordinary man's thighs, with veins rising like ropes.
And his hands... the size of small manhole covers, making the IV needle look ridiculously tiny.
And the overall impression was, how to put it...
...A bear.
Yeah. He looked like a bear.
Dark brown hair, a massively built frame, a heavy presence.
He was just sitting on the bed, and the whole room felt weighted down... as if a wild beast were sitting there.
Rachel had seen thousands of fighters.
Heavyweight champions. Monsters inflated on steroids.
But this was different.
This wasn't a body that had been built.
It was a body he had been born with.
The grain of the muscle was different.
Gym-made muscle was clean and ordered.
But this man's muscle was wild.
Irregular, rough, explosive.
Like a body forged for survival...
...This is a human body?
Rachel was unconsciously raking her eyes over the man when—
"...Um."
He spoke first. For all the rough, imposing look of him, his tone was unexpectedly mild.
"Who are you...?"
Rachel finally snapped back to herself. Embarrassment hit a beat late at the realization she'd been staring at a stranger's body in a daze.
"Ah, hello. My name is Rachel Kim. I'm with the UFC."
"...UFC?"
The man's eyes widened. He reacted to the word UFC.
A small reaction, but Rachel didn't miss it.
Does he... maybe have an interest in fighting...?