Moonlight: Stars, Eclipses, & Full Moons

Trust

Jaehyun's POV

Believe it or not, I wasn't always certain about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew the things I liked to do and focused on those things, but it wasn't until I started unknowingly shadowing Uncle Lay at the vet clinic that all of the pieces started to fit together. But even then, I never fully pictured myself staying and working in the town I grew up in. There were plenty of clinics out there I could have gone to, but ending up there felt somewhat destined and was, I suppose, a more comfortable decision for me to make at the time. 

There was one other vet who worked there with Uncle Lay, and he was the one who first established the hospital nearly 40 years ago now. Dr. Jang was the one who gave the lone wolf with no formal experience in veterinary medicine a chance when he was "miraculously" able to tell him what was wrong with a client. And while I definitely didn't have Uncle Lay's healing ability, he seemed to trust me just as much, which was a great source of happiness for me. He was a kind man who loved his community more than he loved himself, but all of the years of hard work definitely started to show after I started working there as a permanent doctor. By then, I was already building on the reputation I established as a resident doctor, so naturally, he entrusted me with more and more clients as time went on. Even so, it still came as a surprise to me when he asked me to take over the clinic completely. 

We had just closed up for the night, and I was in the back making sure the few patients who had to stay overnight were comfortable. "Just so you know, while you were handling that walk-in earlier, I cleared Monggu. His owners will be here in the morning for him," he said to me shortly after walking into the room. 

"Okay," I replied with a nod. Coincidentally, he was the last one I needed to check on, so when I reached him, I stuck some of my fingers between the bars to rub his nose. "You hear that, bud? You get to go home tomorrow. Yeah, I bet you're excited, huh?" He lifted his head and licked my fingers once, making me chuckle softly and pet him once more. "Good boy." I heard Dr. Jang chortle from behind me and turned around. "What? Don't tell me you never talk to them in a baby voice?"

He shook his head, now seated comfortably in one of the swivel stools. "It's not that. I was just laughing at a memory, that's all," he said. I turned around a little more and blinked curiously, which silently encouraged him to explain. "I was just remembering the day you were born and how happy your dad was that he got a son despite the fact that he turned out nothing like him, well except maybe in the face." That made me laugh again. His accompanying smile softened and he exhaled in the same manner. "Now look at you, fully grown up with a family of your own and doing a better job than I ever did when I was your age."

"Oh, don't say that. Everyone who comes in here respects you for a reason," I said as I stepped away from the cages and pulled up a seat next to him.

He shrugged and shook his head again. "Just doing my job, nothing deserving of praise." I rolled my eyes a little but smiled; it was very like him to underestimate his impact. "But no, seriously, you've been doing a great job these past few years and I couldn't be prouder of the doctor you've become. Seeing you grow from a quietly curious little kid who followed Yixing around here like a shadow to the man you are now, it puts a lot of things into perspective for me, makes me think that Yixing and I had a positive impact on someone during our time." His demeanor turned a little more serious as he moved around on the stool, and his eyes fixated on me. "I'm not getting any younger, and as humble as I try to be, I can count on one hand the number of days I've spent not thinking about the clinic, let alone the number of days I've taken off. And well, I've been thinking that before it's too late, maybe I should do some more of that. Which is why I wanted to ask you what you think about taking over for me full-time?"

Shock was what I felt first, then confusion. "Wait--you mean like the entire clinic? J-Just me?"

"Well, you can hire more help if you want, but yeah...I want to pass the entire clinic down to you," he clarified, adding in a few nods for extra affirmation.