Hodu's Blue Spot
I rang the doorbell, the door opened, and I was allowed inside.
Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.
A garden straight out of a movie spread out before me. In the yard, a dog that looked vaguely indifferent was tied up, and an older man who seemed to be the gardener was pruning flower branches.
I wanted to at least pretend I came to places like this all the time, so I walked straight ahead without turning my head as much as possible.
Following the stone tiles, I reached the front entrance. Once again the door opened on its own, and this time someone inside greeted me.
"Good day. You must be Mr. Kang Junhyun?"
"Yes."
"The therapist, I believe."
"Yes, that's right."
"This way, please. If you wait in the drawing room, Madam will be with you shortly."
Huh. They even have a butler?
I stepped into the house feeling like I was dreaming.
According to Lee Mikyeong, the woman she'd introduced me to was named Han Seoyeon. Age thirty-five. Married. They'd met at a social gathering, she'd said.
What kind of woman would she be?
Judging by everything so far, the only conclusion I could reach was that she ran around with Lee Mikyeong meeting younger men.
Did she have kids? How impressive must her husband be to own a house like this?
My head was full of random thoughts like that.
Fuck, how does a plate even have a Gucci logo stamped on it? I pulled out my phone and checked the price of something that looked similar—four million won for a single place setting.
If she was the kind of person who spent that freely, I figured she'd throw around serious money once she was blown away by a massage.
Just then, the butler's voice from earlier drifted over from the living room side. I couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but it sounded somehow urgent.
Being the type who can't stand not knowing, I stood up and cracked the drawing room door open just a little—and the butler's voice came through crystal clear.
"Hodu! You can't go in there! Ah!"
The moment I opened the door, some massive presence squeezed through the gap. It happened in an instant.
Huff—huff—huff—huff—
Before I could even react, a soft golden mass pushed its way in. It was a retriever-type dog.
"Hodu! M-Mr. Kang Junhyun, you mustn't open the door. Do you have any idea how heavy this thing is? Even when I try to take him out, he won't listen."
He wasn't wrong. The dog was one of the massive breeds even among retrievers—big enough that a ten-year-old kid could ride him around and it wouldn't look strange.
Hodu panted his way over to a corner, curled up, and sat. His face looked sweet, but for a dog his expressions were surprisingly varied—mischievous, you could say. The little bastard looked like he never listened.
The butler who'd come inside grunted and strained trying to move Hodu, but it was useless.
"He absolutely won't listen to anyone but his owner. And he's so strong... You don't have a dog allergy, do you?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Ah. That's a relief. But I have no idea why he's like this today. He's been whining since earlier and panting like crazy. I should take him to the vet soon."
The butler started unloading his worries like we were old friends.
"Ever since I started working here, my biggest concerns have been having a dog this size inside the house and an extremely vicious one out in the yard. Honestly, I fretted so much about quitting over it. New people who come to work here all end up leaving because of these dogs. But both the master and Madam absolutely dote on this one. If anything happened to him, they'd probably kill me."
"...So Han Seoyeon is really fond of dogs?"
"Of course. There was a whole uproar last time. Hodu ran a high fever and we were out looking for an emergency animal hospital in the middle of the night. We all had to stay on standby until morning. She's extremely devoted."
"Then wouldn't she be shocked if she saw him like this right now? Even to me he seems to be panting pretty hard."
"Well... it could just be this... Maybe he can't adjust after we turned on the boiler because it suddenly got cold?"
"I-I don't know the first thing about dogs either."
Sigh—
The butler looked pained as he stroked Hodu's panting head.
"What's wrong with you~ Why are you like this today? If Madam comes and sees this, I'm going to get scolded again~"
At first I'd thought he was a serious person, but the more I learned, the more gaps he had.
I quietly watched Hodu. The long golden fur made it hard to tell, but I'd gotten more experienced than when I first started.
When I examined him carefully, piece by piece, it gradually began to show.
Hodu's current condition.
"I don't know much, but this isn't normal."
"Who's not normal?"
A woman's voice from behind me. The butler and I both startled and shot to our feet at the same time.
Even at a glance, this woman was Han Seoyeon. She wore glossy leather pants that fully showed off her legs, a crop top that exposed her navel, and a sheer cardigan over it—and she looked impossibly refined.
Her figure was long and lean with no excess fat.
My gaze climbed higher and settled on her face. White, doll-like features. Until now I'd assumed anyone who looked like this was all photo filters, but people like this actually existed. Her eyes were huge, and the double eyelids were so straight and regular they almost looked artificial.
She'd clearly had some work done, but with a face like that, I had to give it to her. She was too pretty. Flawless skin that made it impossible to believe she was thirty-five.
"M-Madam. You startled me. You could have at least made some noise..."
"Why? Were you trying to do something to Hodu behind my back?"
"N-no... it's just... Hodu's been in rough shape since this morning."
Whine—whine—
The moment his owner appeared, Hodu immediately started whimpering.
Han Seoyeon quickly stroked Hodu's forehead, then brought her hand to his nose.
"His nose is dry. Something's definitely wrong. Get ready to go to the hospital right away."
"Ah... but we have a guest right now..."
"Does that matter?"
I locked eyes with the butler for a second. He was apologizing with his gaze—begging me to forgive his difficult madam's words.
"Hodu is dying right now and you think I'm going to get a massage just to take care of my own body? Get ready to go out. Now."
"Ah... yes... I'll start the car right away..."
"No."
Two syllables that cut straight through their conversation. No.
Those words had come from my mouth.
Han Seoyeon twitched her eyebrows and looked my way.
"You're Kang Junhyun? What did you just say?"
"I said no. Taking Hodu to the hospital won't fix him. It's not something else—it's a muscle problem."
"Ha, you don't seem to know when to stay out of things. Are you a vet or something? Or can you treat my baby yourself? Butler Kim. Why aren't you starting the car already?"
"Ah... yes..."
"I can treat him."
I spoke with absolute certainty.
I trusted my Miracle Hand more than ever. Hodu's problem was already laid bare before my eyes in every detail. And I'd already finished designing how to fix it.
"If you leave it to me, treatment is possible. If not, you'll just be wasting time. It's not urgent, so if you want to waste time, be my guest."
"..."
Han Seoyeon crossed her arms for a moment and glared at me. But she couldn't keep it up for long. Hodu immediately let out a whimper.
"Hurry."
I stood still and waited for Han Seoyeon to continue. The woman who'd looked so full of pride looked down at Hodu with worried eyes and spoke.
"Hurry up and do something. But if you try anything funny, I won't let it go."
"Then please step aside for a moment."
Huff—huff—huff—
I took hold of Hodu's leg as he lay panting and stroked it.
Beside me, Han Seoyeon was half-doubting, half-helpless. I shot her a sidelong glance.
Honestly, going to an animal hospital and getting a muscle relaxant injection would solve it simply. Then slowly apply medicine to the swollen area or use a compress, wrap it in a bandage, and keep him from using it for a while—he'd recover.
But I had no intention of handing that opportunity over to a vet.
This was a skill only I could perform, something no one else could copy. Not showing my ability in front of a rich person like this would be insane. I needed to make money. And the idea of being pushed aside because of this dog was completely ridiculous.
I slowly stroked Hodu while gradually moving my hands upward. Then I began rubbing the faintly glowing blue spot.
It's not coming loose easily.
Which meant it had hardened solid.
Hold on. If I remove a hardened blue spot, the body's surface heats up and secondary spots form as a result. Hodu's body turning into a furnace was as clear as day.
If that happened, Han Seoyeon would completely lose it.
But to heal Hodu's current state, I had to remove this blue spot. Right in front of Han Seoyeon, I began pressing hard on the upper part of Hodu's leg.
"Wait. Aren't you pressing too hard?"
"It's fine. I'll handle it. And Han Seoyeon—decide clearly whether you're entrusting this to me or not. I'm confident I can completely cure Hodu's condition. If you're not going to trust me and leave it to me, I'll stop."
"Ha. So what is it then. What's the actual diagnosis?"
"Muscle distortion. I don't know the cause, but Hodu's leg has lost function. That said, it's not so bad he can't use one leg. He doesn't feel pain well either, so he kept using it. Has he done anything active recently? Like a walk where he ran hard?"
"Hmm, my husband took him to the park and let him run around. Throwing a ball and having him fetch it. I told him not to... honestly."
"Yes... that seems to be it. He probably gritted his teeth and ran around even though he was hurting, just so he wouldn't disappoint his owner. Because of that the inflammation spread and it got to this point."
"Ha... doesn't he need a shot or something?"
"That's what I've been saying from the start. If you want to send him to the animal hospital, send him. But if you leave it to me, he'll be completely cured—whereas the hospital will only give temporary relief."
"Fine, just do whatever."
"You're trusting me, right?"
"Ah, I said I get it."
While talking, I completely removed the hardened blue spot on Hodu. Immediately his surface temperature shot up to scorching levels. On top of that, the difference between the outside air and Hodu's body heat made steam start rising.
"Oh my god. What's happening right now?"
"While Han Seoyeon was doubting me, the situation got worse. But don't worry. I can fix all of it."
Calmly, I began slowly working free the red spots that had formed in place of the blue ones that had vanished from Hodu's body.