Super Zoo

Suming had just left the waterside pavilion and hadn't reached the zoo's main entrance when he heard a burst of 'Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf's itchy...' music from behind. Turning around, he saw a tour vehicle flashing its lights and charging toward him at a super high speed of forty miles per hour...

Suming frowned. The tour vehicle's top speed was around forty, and it rarely even reached that; in the park, for safety and viewing pleasure, they normally drove at less than thirty miles per hour. What was the driver thinking, racing like that—itching for a thrill? Courting death!

The vehicle screeched to a halt right in front of him, and Mrs. Tong hopped out hurriedly from the back seat.

"Leader, don't go just yet, we have a foreign guest today..." Mrs. Tong panted.

Suming was taken aback. "If you were coming by car, there was no need to exhaust yourself like this, was there?"

"So we have a foreign guest, big deal. Our zoo has seen plenty of foreigners before..." Suming spoke nonchalantly, "They don't come to see me anyway. They're here to look at the animals, enjoy the attractions, we'll take them to Whisperwind Pavilion for a meal, and then we'll fleece them good. Why do they need me to be there? If it really can't be helped, just show them the live Nicolas Cage, oh, and remember to charge them..."

Suming didn't say it, but even when Nicolas Cage himself was at the zoo, Suming mostly didn't accompany him. Should he, the director, be expected to attend to any group of foreigners? With the zoo expanding and becoming more international, would he ever get a break?

"It's not your usual foreign visitor..." Mrs. Tong had caught her breath and said, "They asked specifically for you—a Korean..."

"A Korean..." Suming paused as if he suddenly remembered something, then listened to Mrs. Tong continue, "It's a young man. He said over the phone that he has a very serious illness, and it wasn't easy for him to come all this way to see you..."

Suming's eyes lit up, and he remembered, "Is his last name Park? Something like Youngming, or handsome, dashing maybe?"

"Yes, that's it, Park Cheol-bin!" Mrs. Tong replied.

Suming fully remembered now. He had encountered Park Jeong-ui on the mountain, and he had a paralyzed nephew named Park Cheol-bin. Suming had even promised Park Jeong-ui that if the day came when they proved the Three-legged Firebird had indeed found the elixir of life, he would help his nephew if circumstances allowed.

The Three-legged Firebird was there, and what seemed to be the elixir of life appeared to be the centuries-old creature in the small lake. However, whether it could cure diseases was still questionable; at least for now, it did not seem to have the miraculous effects of reviving the dead.

Regardless, the guy was just a kid, sick and coming from far away. Regardless of the existence of the elixir of life, Suming figured he owed it to Park Jeong-ui for their history of battling Ninja monsters together to extend some hospitality.

"Alright..." Suming nodded and took a seat on the Itchy Egg tour vehicle, "Let's head back to the office. Mrs. Tong, help me change my ticket... Ah, never mind, just cancel it. I don't even know what this kid is here for or when he'll be leaving. If the ticket can't be canceled, it's fine..."

Back in the office, after making a few phone calls and arrangements, Park Cheol-bin arrived in the afternoon.

A black Toyota van drove straight through the zoo's back entrance and stopped below the office building. Two assistants looking people came out first and opened the rear door.

Out of the rear door came a woman in a long black dress and a black veil. Through the thin veil of her hat, one could make out her beautiful features.

"Hello, Mr. Su, I'm Zhebin's mother, Song Zhiya. Sorry to trouble you." The woman bowed slightly, speaking fluent Chinese with a voice that suggested she was in her late thirties.

"No need to be polite, I'm on good terms with Mr. Park Jeong-ui." Suming chuckled, but then looked at Song Zhiya, dressed as if in mourning, "Has someone in your family passed away? I'm terribly sorry, I was unaware..."

"My husband Park Young-myeong and my brother-in-law Park Jeong-ui both passed away..." Song Zhiya's voice was calm, indicating she had moved past the initial stage of grief.

Suming was taken aback. Given Park Jeong-ui's situation, he knew nothing good would come of his return to Korea, but he hadn't expected that both brothers would die.

"What happened?" Suming asked instinctively.

Song Zhiya bowed slightly again, "Mr. Su, as a woman, it's not my place to speak of men's affairs. Would it be okay if Zhebin discussed it with you?"

Her voice was soft, carrying a kind of pitiable charm that made it hard to refuse. Suming nodded, "Of course." Park Cheol-bin was the main reason for the visit to the zoo and he hadn't appeared yet.

But wasn't Park Cheol-bin still a child? And ill at that, could he make himself understood? Normally, one would expect his mother to lead the conversation. Now, it seemed reversed, as if the son was in charge.

While they spoke, two assistants emerged from the rear of the vehicle, one carrying a wheelchair and the other holding a 'person'.

He referred to it as a 'person' because Suming couldn't think of any other term.

A male dressed in very loose clothing, his age unidentifiable, with wrinkles only an elderly person should have etched across his face, his hair a withered gray-white. The ill-fitting garment hung loosely on his frail body, and the hands exposed were like withered vines, almost transparent skin veining with fine blue blood vessels...

If Suming hadn't known this was a 'person', he would have mistaken him for a creature tortured in hell and escaped.

"Hello, Uncle Su, I am Park Cheol-bin. My uncle always spoke of you when he returned," said the small demon with a genuinely clear voice, offering Suming a smile that was somewhat frightening.

"You... What kind of illness is this?" Suming furrowed his brow, having never come across such a patient. Park Cheol-bin's appearance was so shocking that Suming had even neglected—

This was no mere illness; it was as if the heavens had cursed him!

Anyone else might have given up on life, but Park Cheol-bin's laugh carried a sense of optimism and sunshine, as he sat in his wheelchair, "I don't know what the illness is, but having it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It gives me more time to study and read than other people. Uncle Su, to immerse oneself in the ocean of knowledge is also an interesting life."

"Good kid." Suming touched Park Cheol-bin's little hand, unable to hold back his pity. "Come on, let's not stay outside. Uncle will take you to eat."