Hello Vet! How are you?

Chapter 29

“Didn’t you know? Those guys these days are…”

Um Jinhan stopped speaking and glanced at Lee Joon and Choi Woo Jin.

“Let’s head to the practice room, seniors.”

“Practice room? Were you in the middle of a class?”

“Yes, it’s practical time for the third-year students. They’re lining up now.”

“Teach them well. They need to learn properly to get it right the first time without multiple attempts.”

“That’s why you seniors should help out. You’re the best practical instructors.”

“Lee Joon is a perfect tutor.”

“Exactly. Please pass on some of your skills to the juniors.”

“Alright, Lee Joon, go show off our cohort’s prestige.”

“And why does prestige matter here?”

“Hey, it’s only right to enlighten those who are clueless. Today’s their lucky day, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I’m saying. Come on, seniors, let’s go.”

Lee Joon was dragged by the two to the practice room.

As they climbed the stairs, the sound of barking dogs and people’s voices grew louder.

『Agh, it hurts!』
『It hurts, you rascals. Why do you keep poking me!』
『Aren’t you going to let go of my front leg? I’ll bite you for sure!』

Growls, arrr, woof woof, bark bark, arf arf.

The sound of angry dogs barking echoed,

“Hey, stay still. I said don’t move!”

“I’m not moving. It’s your hand that’s shaking…”

“Hey, what are you doing stabbing the needle there?”

“Quicker, it’s getting angry.”

The panicked voices of the students rang through the hallway.

‘Was I like that back then?’

Lee Joon felt guilty towards the dogs he had awkwardly drawn blood from as a novice.

Upon reaching the practice room, Um Jinhan opened the door and shouted loudly.

“Alright, everyone, attention!”

At Um Jinhan’s voice, the students’ chatter stopped momentarily.

However, the excited barking of the dogs didn’t cease.

『Hey, you’re here just in time. Save me, will you? I can’t live because of this guy.』
『Right, doctor, please save me. Look at my front leg, it’s all frazzled from how much it was poked.』
『Can’t I go home and rest now?』

The dogs laid out their complaints to Um Jinhan individually.

“Um Jinhan, you seem to be greatly trusted by the dogs, don’t you?”

“What?”

“I’m saying you must be giving them lots of treats.”

“They deserve it for their hard work. As you said, it’s depressing to work hard and not eat properly. Besides, they’re always grateful and apologetic, so I take extra care of them.”

“That’s true. So, you’ll give them something nice after today too?”

“Of course. I prepared plenty of chicken as a special meal.”

At Um Jinhan’s words, the dogs perked up their ears.

They reacted to the term ‘special meal’.

Lee Joon, noticing this, smiled brightly and said,

“Did you all hear that? Your doctor is going to give you a special meal soon. So hang in there a little longer.”

『Yay, I think they said something about a special meal.』
『What do you think they’ll give us today?』
『They said chicken, you fool!』
『Fool? Then are you a coward? Crying because you got poked once!』
『What? Coward?』
『Yeah, coward!』
『Bah!』

The dogs, already on edge, started bickering.

Thinking he couldn’t let this go on, Lee Joon spoke up.

“Hey! Are you not going to quiet down? Blacky, Whitey! If you two fight noisily one more time, no special meal!”

The two dogs continued growling, undeterred by Lee Joon’s words.

They seemed to think, surely no human could understand them.

“Alright, if you dare call each other cowards again, I’ll tell your doctor to not give you anything until tomorrow.”

Lee Joon reluctantly threatened the dogs.

『What? He seems to understand what we’re saying.』
『Y-yeah, it seems that way.』

“I understand you. So be quiet!”

Finally, the dogs silenced.

The sudden silence left the students bewildered.

Um Jinhan, too, was taken aback but quickly regained composure.

“How is it, everyone? This is the greatness of ‘Vet-nim’s’ ability.”

“Wow!”

“Vet-nim?”

The practice room, once silent, buzzed with excitement.

Um Jinhan looked around at the enthusiastic students with a proud expression.

“Yes, this is the Vet-nim you’ve all been admiring and respecting.”

A hush fell over the practice room once more.

The silence was so deep that one could nearly hear the rolling of eyes.

However, this silence was soon broken.

“Wow!”

“Is it really true?”

“Is it truly Vet-nim?”

“The director of the Woof Woof Animal Clinic?”

“Vet-nim is our senior?”

“I told you. He’s our school senior.”

Each student shouted something.

The room was noisy once again.

The surprised dogs too took advantage to start barking again.

Lee Joon, though pleased by the welcome, feared it might lead to chaos, so he spoke up.

“Quiet!”

As soon as Lee Joon spoke, the dogs stopped barking.

The chattering students fell silent too.

“Wow, that’s effective! Quieting both the dogs and the students at once, as expected of Vet-nim.”

“Vet-nim, really. But what’s going on with them?”

“I told you, senior, you’re like a role model to the current students.”

Even before Um Jinhan finished speaking, the students rose from their seats and flocked around.

“Vet-nim, could you sign my surgery book?”

“Me too.”

“Me, too.”

“I want to catch some of Vet-nim’s energy.”

Each student brought two books—one was theirs, the other belonged to students who couldn’t come because they were with the dogs.

As students eagerly sought his autograph, Um Jinhan shouted.

“Everyone, you’ll get your autographs later. For now, sit back down.”

Some returned to their seats, but a few lingered around Lee Joon, unable to let go.

“B class is especially lucky to meet the busy Vet-nim in person, right?”

“Yes!”

“So, you want to spend this precious time just getting autographs? I can understand, but remember Vet-nim is quite busy.”

With that, students gradually returned to their places.

Lee Joon greeted the students.

“Nice to meet you. I’m your senior and the director of Woof Woof Animal Clinic, Lee Joon.”

“R-really a senior?”

“It’s true. He really is the director.”

The students looked at Lee Joon with even brighter expressions than before.

“Yes, and he is a senior from our surgery department.”

Um Jinhan added, stirring a buzz among the students.

“S-Surgery? Vet-nim is from surgery?”

“No way. That means Vet-nim was like those upperclassmen too.”

The students found it hard to believe, glancing back and forth between Lee Joon and Um Jinhan.

Finally, one student spoke, accepting the idea.

“It’s hard to imagine Vet-nim was one of the surgery seniors, but considering our school’s top surgical skills, it makes sense.”

“Listening to you, it all makes sense. So to become as skilled as Vet-nim, surgery is the answer.”

“Oh? I was planning to apply to surgery too.”

“You too? Me too.”

Listening to the students’ words, Lee Joon, Choi Woo Jin, and Um Jinhan exchanged amused glances.

Lee Joon spoke on behalf of them.

“It would be great if all you passionate people joined surgery. Professor Song would be thrilled.”

The students’ determination was a refreshing piece of news for graduate students who often complained of a shortage of hands.

Lee Joon smiled at the students as he continued.

“But do you all really want to go to the surgical graduate school?”

“Yes!”

Everyone answered in unison.

Lee Joon’s smile deepened at their enthusiasm.

“Alright. Since you’re juniors, I’ll speak frankly. You need to be thoughtful. Do any of you know what the life of, say, instructor Um is like?”

No one responded to this question immediately, hesitant and sheepish.

“Then how about other graduate seniors from the surgery department?”

As Lee Joon asked again, students began to hesitantly answer.

“They’re here all day.”

“They live at dormitory, eating and sleeping there?”

“Beggar… slaves… ah, no, a ghost exactly…”

Some students caught themselves mid-sentence, seemingly shocked by their own words.

“That’s right. You’ll be here at the Animal Hospital University all day, with no time to go home sometimes. Just think of it as being here the whole day. Of course, not all of them are like that.”

“But, then?”

“If you want an easy life, go home, relax, and when writing your thesis papers, just skim through with a translation tool. Stay at school only during your shifts.”

Upon hearing Lee Joon’s words, the students exchanged curious glances.

Then they nodded as if realizing the truth with Lee Joon’s next words.

“But in this field, the more cases you see, the faster your skills improve. The more skilled you are, the more animals you can save with your hands.”

Lee Joon raised his hands as he spoke further.

“To do that, you need to see more cases and practice frequently. So where’s the time to go home? Anyway, those considering surgery should keep this in mind.”

With that, Lee Joon wrapped up the graduate talk and shifted the subject to practicals.

“Let’s get started on the practicals. Handling IV lines is harder than you think, right?”

“Yes.”

The students responded in unison.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside, and the back door of the lab opened with students peeking inside.

“Who are you all?”

Um Jinhan asked.

“We, uh, heard Vet-nim is here…”

“We came to see Vet-nim.”

“We want to greet Vet-nim too, sir!”

Word about Vet-nim had reached the student group chat, and students who read that Lee Joon was here had come.

Realizing this fact, Um Jinhan laughed and said,

“The word got out quickly. Come on in, everyone.”

The students rushed inside.

All eyes were on Lee Joon.

With eager expressions, they quietly entered, sitting in empty seats or standing in the back.

Some students stood outside, unable to enter.

“I really don’t understand what’s happening.”

Lee Joon looked puzzled at Um Jinhan and Choi Woo Jin.

He had only come to greet his mentor, yet here he was surrounded by younger students.

Even by those he had never met before.

“It’s because you’re popular, senior. Please teach us a thing or two. Show everyone the know-how of the legend, the one-shot-one-kill man who never misses an IV line!”

The nickname “One-Shot-One-Kill Man” was given to Lee Joon because he could always set up an IV line in one go, no matter the animal.

“I’ve heard that legend somewhere.”

One student murmured softly.

“Me too. But I thought it was a lie.”

“It doesn’t seem like a lie. That must be Vet-nim.”

“Wow.”

The students gazed at Lee Joon with sparkling eyes.

Under their watchful gaze, Lee Joon surveyed the dogs in the practice room.

‘For the first time, it’s better to use a dog with visible veins.’

For those experienced, it didn’t matter whether the skin was dark or light.

However, since he was demonstrating his know-how, it was better to choose one with clearly visible veins.

‘Okay, Whitey will do.’

Lee Joon approached Whitey and said,

“I need you to assist a bit today.”

『Me?』

“You seem the bravest. I promise it won’t hurt.”

With promises of double special meals and mentioning courage, Lee Joon managed to secure Whitey’s cooperation in staying calm.

『Well, in that case…』

“Thank you.”

As Um Jinhan prepared the IV lines and catheter, students crowded around Lee Joon.

Some who couldn’t see climbed onto chairs or experiment tables.

Observing this, Lee Joon pointed to the back of Whitey and said,

“You can come over here if you want to see.”

“But isn’t that where the restrainer will block our view?”

“It’s fine. I won’t use a restrainer so you can have a clear view.”

Drawing blood or taking X-rays required correct positioning above all.

Usually, another person, called a “restrainer”, helped hold the animal in place — doing such tasks without a helper was tough even for seasoned vets.

Setting up IV lines without a restrainer was rarely done.

But here Lee Joon was, about to do just that.

The students looked doubtful when told they could see well without a restrainer.

At Lee Joon’s command, Whitey extended a front paw.

Swish!

“Well done. Whitey, you’re not only brave but also smart.”

Pleased by Lee Joon’s praise, Whitey followed his instructions obediently.

Whitey remained still as the catheter broke through the skin and entered the vein, with blood pooling in the catheter.

“Wow, it went straight in.”

“Amazing, truly amazing!”

“Incredible! Vet-nim, you really did it without a restrainer on your first attempt.”

“It’s not just the restrainer, look at that reaction from Whitey. Wasn’t he usually aggressive? No mask or neck collar, yet so calm.”

“Yeah. Wasn’t he the one who growled while pulling his paw back when I tried to grab the vein?”

“But… he is Vet-nim, after all.”

“Right. If anyone, it’s possible for Vet-nim.”

The awe-filled voices of students echoed throughout.

When they tried, dogs would growl, bark, or struggle fiercely to pull their paws away.

They constantly needed multiple attempts to successfully find the vein.

Yet Lee Joon did it effortlessly.

Without a muzzle or neck collar, Whitey sat quietly with the IV line attached to his front paw.

The practice room, already buzzing with excitement at Lee Joon’s near-magical demonstration, grew even more heated.