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. 

"Oh wow," I said with wide eyes. I took a deep breath in an attempt to start processing everything. "The entire clinic...I-I'd have to think about it, talk to Jeongsoo."

He nodded his head a few times. "Of course, of course, I wouldn't want you making such a big decision without him. And if you can't or don't feel right about it, I can find someone else to take my place. I just thought I'd ask because I know you'd treat this place with the same respect I do. Frankly, there is no one else I'd entrust my life's passion to but you." His words were heavy, and I felt their weight almost immediately on my heart. "Just give it some thought. There's no pressure."

He said that, but it certainly didn't feel like it. I had never thought of one day taking over for him and wasn't sure if I could even handle that much responsibility, especially with a business as beloved as the clinic. Sure, I was doing okay then, but I wasn't alone and I never thought I was good at handling things alone. I exhaled again; this would require a lot more than just some thought.

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I was still feeling dazed when I walked in the front door of the house as my thoughts continued to circle around Dr. Jang's proposition. I took my shoes off and set my things down just as I normally would, but it was like I was floating just slightly outside of my own body in the process. The only thing that brought me back was the sound of Minah's babbling voice coming from the kitchen. I sighed and tried to clear my head by shaking it a little before following the sound. She was in the baby carrier that she was very quickly outgrowing as Jeongsoo cooked dinner, probably drooling over the back of his shirt. The sight offered me temporary solace and brought a smile to my face as I joined them in the kitchen. 

"Oh hey, you're home," Jeongsoo said as his initial grin grew into a full smile. I kissed him once we were close enough. "How was work?"

"Fine." I was obviously lying and was sure he'd know right away, but I distracted myself by paying attention to Minah. "Want me to take her?"

"Please, my back is starting to feel wet." I chuckled as I carefully grabbed her from the carrier, allowing him to remove the carrier from his body altogether. He pulled on his shirt to see if he could get a look at the back of it and ended up sighing under his breath. "Good thing I'm doing laundry tomorrow," he said as he let go and let it fall back into place. "Yeah, you little drooler. You're lucky you're such a cutie." He pinched her cheek, and her response was to giggle and lay her head against my shoulder. The sound of food simmering away in the pan was the only noise between for a little after that until he spoke up again. "So are you gonna tell me why work wasn't fine or do I have to pull teeth?"

The smile on my face fell, but I kept bouncing Minah in my arms. I sighed, so badly wanting to follow my instinct to not say anything, but knew I couldn't--not with him anyway. "Dr. Jang basically told me he planned on retiring soon today," I said.

Jeongsoo raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah..." I paused for a beat. "...and he wants me to take over for him."

His eyes became even wider and he turned more of his body toward me. "Wow, that's...that's a big question to ask someone."

"Tell me about it," I said with a sigh and stressed eye roll as I adjusted Minah in my arms before she could slide down any more than she already had. "He said I could take my time and think about it, but it's a lot to think about. I mean, we just moved into our first house and Minah just turned two, so the timing isn't great, which is like pretty much the story of my life at this point." I exhaled again. "I have no idea if I'm ready for this."

"Yeah, I get it. It's a lot," he said, nodding his head slowly as he leaned against one of the counters and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"Can't you just do your beta thing and tell me what to do?" I said, pouting a little as Minah smushed her face against my cheek. 

He laughed. "Isn't that an alpha thing?"

"Traditionally, yeah, but let's pretend."

He laughed a second time, lowering his head a little in the process. "Even if I was an alpha, I wouldn't tell you what to do. I don't think I could," he replied, causing me to sigh in disappointment. "But I do know how important your work is to you, how hard you've worked to get where you are, and obviously, he sees that too otherwise he wouldn't have asked you. So if there's even the smallest inkling in your heart that is telling you to do this, then I think you should listen."

My eyebrows knitted slightly. "But it would mean more work for me, which would mean less time at home. The clinic may be small, but our client numbers aren't," I reasoned. 

He shrugged then nodded in acknowledgment. "Yeah and that's not great," he said. "But what also wouldn't be great is you wondering constantly if you made the right choice or if you missed out on something." Admittedly, he got me with that one. I know there's no way to know what could have been, but that didn't mean the thought wouldn't occupy my mind. He took a few steps forward and rubbed my arm. "No matter what you choose, we'll make it work. We always do."

At least the smile and kiss he gave me before he went back to the pan on the stove were comforting even if his words only gave me more to consider. Minah kissed my cheek next, likely mimicking Jeongsoo like she had to tendency to do. I laughed and sighed simultaneously as I looked at her and caressed her head. "Can you tell appa what to do?" I said. 

She hummed and a determined expression came over her face. "Appa food," she pushed out, spinning her torso around to point back at Jeongsoo. 

We both laughed at her response. "Right, priorities. Food first," I said. 

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If I'm being honest, after that, I did the opposite of what I should have been doing. I tried to think about it. I even wrote down a pros and cons list, but it didn't exactly make the decision any easier no matter how many times I looked at it. So after a few days, I gave myself a break from it all. I just wanted to pretend for a while that everything was normal and that I didn't have to make another major choice that would permanently alter my life. 

Dr. Jang hadn't really brought it up again at all since that day, but even then, the more I tried to ignore it, the more terrible I felt. He deserved to live out the rest of his life free from work; even if he chose to wear them, there were still shackles on his ankles keeping him tied to the clinic and he deserved to take them off after so many years. Sure, I could say no, I wasn't ready. I didn't genuinely think he would have had a problem with hiring another vet to replace him. But if that was his first choice, he wouldn't have asked me to take over, and that was weighed on me the most. It couldn't have been an easy thing to leave behind your life's work and put it into the care of someone else, and I didn't want to disrespect the amount of time he must have spent thinking about that. This was the man who believed in me and nurtured me, the man who would never let me leave the clinic without a lollipop when I was a kid, the man who had quite literally known me since I was a baby and even helped me deliver mine. He was practically a third father to me and just like I didn't want to let my parents down, I didn't want to let him down either. 

We had just closed up for the night, and I made sure the last vet tech made it out safely before locking the clinic door and flipping the sign to display closed instead of open. I let out a slightly tired breath as I walked to the back room, where Dr. Jang looked like he was finishing checking up on the overnight stays. He noticed me as I stepped through the doorway and smiled. 

"All locked up?" 

I nodded. "I should probably sweep up out there, but I might end up doing it tomorrow before we open." He laughed at my response and then stood up with a small grunt. I watched quietly as he reorganized some files for tomorrow, and that was when I had my final moment, the thing that usually always happened whenever I was stuck between two choices. The thing that always pointed me in the direction I needed to go. "Um, about what you said before--you know about the taking over the clinic--I..." I trailed off for a moment as he looked at me, asking myself if I was really about to do this. I was. "...I think I will."

His mouth fell open a little, but other than that, he began smiling brightly in response. "And Jeongsoo is okay with this? It'll be a big change for the both of you," he said, now fully facing me. 

"He said I should follow my gut and that he didn't want me to regret not doing it if I wanted to," I said. I chuckled softly and rolled my eyes. "Very helpful as usual."

"Well, good. It's good to have a strong support system, even if they don't necessarily make the decision-making process easier," he replied. 

"Yeah." I nodded and let out another faint laughing sound. I then sighed and rested against a nearby filing cabinet. "Just when I thought I was done jumping head first into things, here I am again."

Dr. Jang smiled warmly and approached me. "You doubt yourself entirely too much, kid," he said as he laid a hand on my shoulder. "And besides, it's not like I'm going to just not show up tomorrow. I may be old, but I've still got more than enough left in me to make sure you're not in the dark. You won't be alone in this."

I tried to smile back at his reassuring face. "Are you sure about this? Trusting your life's work to me?"

His smiled widened and said, "I've never been more sure of anything in my entire life."