Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 124

124.

Hugging Simba, I entered the examination room, where they took pictures of various parts of his body with different medical devices. Having no knowledge of these things, I simply acted like a baggage cart, repeatedly lifting and lowering Simba.

“Uh… hold on, why is Simba’s joint here like this?”

I inhaled sharply at the concerning news.

“Wow, if we had examined him a little later, he might have had a dislocation… and his muscle mass is normal…”

The researcher muttered something while scanning the photos, his eyes sharpening.

“It doesn’t seem like a fall, so is it congenital?”

“If it’s congenital, wouldn’t it have been discovered too late? It wasn’t there during the last checkup.”

“That’s true… but his activity level has increased recently, so it might just be showing now. We need to do a deep examination of his muscle mass. Hmm, you’re Ji Dong-hwa, right? Could you lay Simba down here?”

At the researcher’s words, I carefully lowered Simba. His eyes were filled with anxiety as he looked at me. I quietly smiled, and as if understanding the meaning, he gently licked my hand.

The researcher, watching this, said with a smile,

“Oh, it seems Simba trusts Dong-hwa?”

“…Pardon?”

“Look here. When a baby tiger perceives danger, it tries to move as close as possible to its parents, or someone it can trust.”

I watched Simba struggling to come to me and took a deep breath. Is this really possible? To gain trust in just one day, is it something someone like me deserves?

“There are people like that. People who are naturally trusted by animals. I’ve always envied those people, and now there’s one here.”

“……Thank you.”

I’ve never raised an animal, but this unearned trust is truly fascinating. Will Rogers once said that if there are no dogs in heaven, he wants to go where they went when he dies, and now I think I understand that feeling a little.

“No, isn’t it just because you look at him without fear or distance that he’s acting like this?”

“No wonder he follows Dong-hwa more than me; it’s a difference in talent.”

Simba’s exclusive caretaker laughs cheerfully. I’m glad she seems happy, even though she could be upset or feel bad.

“Well, you’re generally well-liked by animals other than Simba, aren’t you?”

The researcher quickly moved his hands, fiddling with some machinery. It seems to be an MRI machine. I know the principle and what the machine is for, but I felt a little scared. I was afraid that this machine might reveal some grim prognosis.

* * *

After all the tests were completed and the photos and videos were examined in detail, the researcher clicked his tongue and said,

“We’ll have to do a procedure…”

The final conclusion after all the tests. The heavy atmosphere in his words filled me with an ominous feeling, and I raised my hand, disregarding politeness, and opened my mouth.

“Is it, serious…?”

“No, it’s barely even a procedure…. However, he’ll have to stay still for about a day while getting an IV drip, okay?”

I let out a sigh of relief and stroked Simba’s head, who was still looking up at me with anxious eyes from the examination table.

“…They say it’s okay, Simba.”

Simba rubbed his head against my hand and closed his eyes.

“But, now that I think about it, why do you use honorifics with Simba, Dong-hwa?”

It was because I grew up watching my father use honorifics with animals, but I just smiled. It wasn’t a question that he desperately wanted an answer to anyway.

“Then, Jin-woo, let’s take Simba to the operating room. Dong-hwa, could you wait outside for a bit?”

I slowly nodded, stroked Simba’s body once, and waved my hand. I could hear whimpering, but what could a moron without medical knowledge do?

Sitting outside, listening to Simba’s cries, I sighed for a moment.

Damn it, the problem was that I gave the child too much affection while doing a one-day job experience. If it were a person, I would have kept my distance enough, but why is it so difficult with animals?

Moreover, in such a short time. It’s because Simba’s cuteness is excessively heavy, and because he’s an animal, not a human.

* * *

# ‘Am I Working?’ Ji Dong-hwa Middle Part Edited Version.

[Simba, who needs to receive antibiotics for a day]

After a caption briefly summarizing Simba’s procedure, the scene continues with Ji Dong-hwa sitting still outside the operating room, staring blankly at the door.

[And Simba’s kin waiting for him to come out]

The caption already recognized Ji Dong-hwa as a feline creature. Ji Dong-hwa was still completely motionless, looking straight ahead.

[…Are you Simba’s father?]

A scene flashes in the lower right corner showing the Bloosom members watching the video in the studio.

“No, Dong-hwa, you were like that for an hour?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow…….”

Chae Ha-min quietly admired, speechless.

In the meantime, the scene of Simba finally appearing and Ji Dong-hwa jumping up from his seat are intercut.

“Oh! Dong-hwa was waiting here? Let’s go inside!”

The situation that followed was clear and simple. Simba entered a narrow, square room where it seemed difficult to move properly, and a small IV was inserted into his leg.

Ji Dong-hwa looked at Simba, placed a chair in front of him, and sat down, quietly watching Simba.

“Kyaung….”

“…Are you in pain, Simba?”

As the feeling of pity dripped from his voice, the other Bloosom members in the lower right corner went wild.

“No, Hyung [older brother/male friend]! You’ve never shown or let us hear that kind of voice or expression!”

“That’s right! Even when we begged you to let us escape from the studio, you just smiled and told us to be quiet!”

Ji Dong-hwa looked around at everyone with a slightly dumbfounded expression before answering.

“…Become even half as cute as Simba, Eden, and then talk.”

“Even Eden is this cute! Why only look at Simba! I’m sad!”

Ji Dong-hwa’s eyes widened for a moment as he watched Ryu Eden puff out his cheeks and wiggle his fingers, but he soon regained his composure, took a deep breath, and then focused on Simba’s figure in the screen again, wearing a faint smile.

The other members didn’t seem to feel much different, and only Chae Ha-min, forcing a smile, comforted Ryu Eden, who was completely ignored by everyone, by saying that he was kind of cute.

Back to the situation at the animal research center. After Simba was isolated, the caretaker and Ji Dong-hwa worked hard together to clean up Simba’s surroundings and take care of his food.

And finally, dinnertime arrived.

“Oh, but Dong-hwa didn’t come to the cafeteria for dinner. Did something happen?”

“…Nothing happened.”

[Nothing really happened!]

A caption followed, showing Ji Dong-hwa simply sitting in front of Simba without eating for no reason.

“That’s too much! You’ve never gone on a hunger strike for us!”

Ryu Eden playfully said, sounding upset, and Ji Dong-hwa, with a slightly colder expression than before, stared at his face for about 3 seconds before turning his head back to the screen and focusing on Simba’s figure.

After that, the screen continued in fast motion, quickly showing Ji Dong-hwa sitting in front of Simba.

“Oh, oh?”

“What, Dong-hwa didn’t just leave early, he didn’t come in at all!”

In the meantime, the caretaker also returned and sat next to him, and around 1 a.m., she got up and left the medical room. Even then, Ji Dong-hwa just sat still, watching Simba, checking if he was uncomfortable if he whimpered, and quietly waving his hand if he woke up and cried.

And the clock is zoomed in.

4 a.m. Ji Dong-hwa is still sitting upright, motionless. He brought a book, having received permission from the researcher, and was quietly reading it. He read a book about veterinary medicine, looking at Simba in between.

When the clock is shown again, it indicates 5 a.m. Ji Dong-hwa is still just reading the book. He carefully examines each sentence in the book with a serious expression, and the fast motion stops.

“Kya…ung…….”

“…Are you in pain?”

Ji Dong-hwa briefly closes the book and makes eye contact with Simba inside the glass. Simba seemed relieved to see Ji Dong-hwa in front of him.

“Well, after reading the book, it says that it can be structurally healed with a cast for now.”

“Kyaung.”

“You were born with a weak body, but do you know the story? A four-leaf clover is said to be created when a three-leaf clover is injured while growing. Pine trees also have a more beautiful appearance when they overcome adversity. Perhaps Simba, because he is weak now, will be able to grow into a more magnificent tiger later.”

Then, without fail, the Bloosom members shout.

“It’s cheesy!”

“He doesn’t even change his expression and says those lines so well!”

Ji Dong-hwa is usually shy, but he doesn’t seem to be embarrassed by that kind of thing, ignoring everyone and smiling warmly at Simba’s face.

And unlike the members, Simba clearly doesn’t understand the words, but he stands up and proudly raises his head.

“No! Dong-hwa! Me too! I’m also a clover!”

Chae Ha-min shouts. It seems she felt wronged that Chae Ha-min’s birth flower is clover, but he didn’t do it for her.

“…Ha-min, you’re strong.”

“I’m weak too!”

This time, the clock appears again. 8 a.m. The caretaker opens the door and is startled.

“D, Dong-hwa, you didn’t not go in, did you?”

Ji Dong-hwa looks at the caretaker for a moment and continues with a smile.

“…Yes, I went in and just came out.”

“Um, well, okay! Thank you for checking on Simba!”

Thus, Ji Dong-hwa’s last day with Simba dawned. Whether Simba knew it or not, from the moment he opened his eyes while sleeping until now, he still seemed happy to always see Ji Dong-hwa’s face, looking only at Ji Dong-hwa and purring, regardless of whether the caretaker came or not.

* * *

Once it was determined that the cast was properly in place and the IV was completely administered, Simba returned to the enclosure.

He whined as if something uncomfortable was installed on one leg, but when the caretaker and I worked together to try to play with him with food and snacks, he seemed to feel a little better.

“…Dong-hwa must be sad. It’s hard to part when they follow you so well.”

Sad. I think while pulling the rope in front of Simba. And after much deliberation, I come up with an answer.

“…I think so.”

Damn broadcasting station guys. I’d rather they make me do physical labor; my heart is troubled.

“I also had the hardest time when I had to say goodbye to the animal I was in charge of in the past. So, Dong-hwa has a free pass to our research center! As long as I’m Simba’s caretaker, you’re always welcome! I think Simba would like it too.”

What are you saying so casually?

“…Is it really okay at the research center? After all, I’m an outsider and not an expert.”

“Well, Simba will relieve stress just by looking at Dong-hwa, so what does it matter? If you’re really worried, I’ll fight the director of the research center! If I get permission, that’s it!”

Well, a short-term battle is originally for generals to decide the outcome, but I’m too weak to fight the director of the research center. A one-on-one duel between an employee and the director of the research center. It sounded like trying to survive the collision between the Earth and the Sun, beyond hitting a rock with an egg.

Noticing my uneasy gaze, the caretaker smiled slightly and added a word.

“That person is my father!”

……Oh, dear. A corrupt group utilizing a biological connection more powerful than all the social products created by humanity.

“Thank you. Would it be okay to exchange numbers?”

I’ve met a wonderful person.