A yawn escaped the carmine-haired girl while re-stocking the chips at aisle number seven. She grabbed the last chip bags from the box she had been balancing on her knee and placed them neatly at the top of the shelf. Once done, she went to throw the box out. While pushing the box into the dumpster, she caught sight of a small individual moving, the fluffy tail catching her attention.
"What the-"
"Hissss!"
"AH! The devil!"
She ran back inside and slammed the door shut behind her, thank God none was coming in at that moment. She then, with extreme caution, peeked through the small window and saw a pair of ears and whiskers coming from behind the dumpster. The gray and brown tones of the fur were dusty and looked in desperate need of good grooming. The eyes of the cat caught her attention the most. They were an almost fluorescent green, and Miyeon couldn't stop herself from starting right into them, it was almost hypnotizing.
"Kitten." She whispered, a smile chipping up. The small creature looked so adorable now while licking his paw, and Miyeon almost squealed at the cuteness overload. Then, a second later, she let out a real squeak, but because a sudden hand had dropped on her shoulder.
"Yeon-Yeon, if you don't get back to work right now, I will leave you here by yourself and all of this cleaning." Haruki stood beside her, a mop in his hands. They happen to share the third shift today, and Haruki was cleaning the floor, and somehow, Miyeon had ended up stepping on his shiny work. He was pissed. Miyeon had learned that Haruki never used nicknames unless trying to sound more passive than he actually felt, hearing her not-so graceful nickname told her she was better off doing what the shorter guy said.
"Right on it!" She said, forgetting the small creature outside and going back to work. Haruki smiled and continued cleaning. Tonight was going to be so long, and it didn't help that it was a weekday, and they had lectures tomorrow starting at nothing later than 8:00 am.
The pair continued working well into the morning, and at around two o'clock in the morning, when their boss came in to take over the shift before Wendy who started at 8:00, both youths darted out and sprinted towards the bus station. They took the same bus, neither one heading home but somewhere else. Screw their professor for changing lecture time, screw their boss for making them work the specific day of such a dreadful class, and screw their homes for being as far away that going to them was just not worth it.
But, bless Jihyo's eavesdropping and her mother vibe, she had not even given them an option and told them to come to the café after their shift, they could use the sofa's to sleep, and she instructed them to bring a pair of clothes, so they could shower and head to school looking less beaten and more alive. As soon as the pair arrived, they unlocked the back door and headed upstairs. Also, bless Yeonjun because he was unwilling to let them sleep downstairs. The small living room at the upstairs apartment was prepared with two pull-out couches, blankets, and pillows. They each crashed into them at once and drifted off to sleep.
Miyeon was unaware of a small individual following them with stealth all the way here. Now, there was a dangling tail hanging from the corner of the couch she had flopped onto. The feline purring in content, and with no ill intention, set to sleep beside the redheaded human that had awakened his curiosity. Following her and the other short human had been a wise decision.
In the morning~
Junseo and Jisoo were entering the café and greeted the male twin behind the counter. Not long after, Jisoo took a small cup of coffee and headed out, her class had agreed to study early today as midterms approached. English majors were struggling this year, or at least it seemed like that.
Junseo waved as she left, and sat down for a minute since his own shift didn't start until 8:00 am. Now, it was barely 6:50. He sat down peacefully, watching as Yeonjun sleepily attended the early customers, mostly office workers who needed the caffeine as drug dealers needed naive teens. He chuckled a bit and leaned to take a sip of his coffee.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Startled by the scream, Junseo choked out a bit of his drink, burning his hand in the process. It took him a minute to take in the sound, and when he did, his mind immediately matched the pitch of the sound to a familiar voice.
"Miyeon…" He whispered, before dashing upstairs. He had no idea why Miyeon was here, nor why did he care, his mind had just sent an instruction to move, and he had obeyed. He made no effort to stop.
"God! What is wrong with you!?" His mind registered the sound of another young friend.
"Haruki?" He felt a bit confused, but he swung the door open to the apartment upstairs, just to be greeted by a scene not really out of the ordinary given who was involved.
"Get it away from me!" Miyeon had climbed on top of Haruki's shoulders, the shorter one making a great effort to not drop her. Which proved to be difficult as the girl was a hysterical mess, kicking and screaming while pulling at his hair. It all appeared as if she was trying to escape a murderer or monster. This was why when Junseo spotted the small dotted kitten, sitting at the edge of the bed, wanting to get close to Miyeon, the tall guy couldn't stop the small giggles that turned into a full-on laugh. The sound of his laugh caught Miyeon's attention, the girl was so terrified she even forgot her rivalry with the brunette.
"Hey! You're good with cats, get that thing away from me!" Miyeon stated, panicking.
"I'm here, too!" Haruki sounded offended that she doubted his skills with cats.
"Yes, and you're doing great, sweetie," She smiled at him, patting his hair, just to then pull his head back again as the kitten approached. "Now, hold your ground, and Don't. Let. Me. Fall." She rolled her legs around his shoulders, making an effort to stay away from the range of the cat.
"What is wrong with you? Where is the whole 'I'll befriend every cat to ever exist' speech now?" Haruki asked, and Junseo approached the cat silently.
"That!" Miyeon pointed at the cat. "Is Satan in disguise! That little bastard scared the crap out of me yesterday! He followed me here to punish me! There is no other reason…" She continued to rant when Junseo picked up the cat and noticed how it was stretching out a paw towards Miyeon, purring happily.
"Or maybe it just likes you?" Junseo said, and disregarding Miyeon's screams of protests, walked up to her and placed the cat over Haruki's head. After the feline made eye contact with Miyeon, and before this one could scream, his tongue snaked out and licked the tip of her nose.
Miyeon froze.
The cat. The cat liked her. It wasn't hostile. It had no killing intent. For God's sake, the thing was purring. It took another lick to the cheek, and the cat nuzzling his face against hers for Miyeon to finally blink out of her shock. Her mouth made a perfect 'o' as she stared in amazement at the cute kitten. Junseo smiled softly, allowing himself to capture her facial features brightening at something so simple and her pure happiness just shining. Of course, the magic was broken when said person let out a high-pitched squeal, the frequency hurt his ears so much that he had to cover them. He winced and noticed the cat patting his poor ears as well.
'I know the feeling, bud.' He thought with pity, the cat almost gave him a nod in agreement, before being lifted by Miyeon, who kicked her way out of Haruki's shoulders, consequently making the poor boy fall backward. The glasses guy was grateful he landed on the comfy mattress.
Miyeon continued to beam happily, rubbing the feline and snuggling it while she ran towards Jihyo, who had been at the small kitchen calmly watching the whole event with a tea mug at hand. Miyeon instantly hovered over her, talking rapidly and almost bouncing in excitement.
"I finally got one to like me!" Miyeon squealed.
'That will change if you keep doing that.' A collective thought crossed the mind of her friends while they took pity on the cat. But for some reason, even though it was obvious the squealing hurt him, it was like the cat understood her excitement and just let her be. Which made the scene all in all more adorable.
"Here, let me take him, so you can get ready." Jihyo offered. Although reluctantly, Miyeon gave up her new friend, and walked back to her bag. She smiled apologetically at Haruki and unconsciously greeted Junseo with a smile. Her mood had been uplifted enough for her to not let his presence be a hindrance. She grabbed her bag and walked to the bathroom to get ready.
"Ok, so," Junseo asked, Haruki looked up at him while going through his own bag.
"We stayed the night here because we worked late. Apparently, the cat followed us and ended up here. When I woke up this morning I saw it and tried to pet it. Miyeon felt the movement and woke up. It seems to be the same 'devil' that she saw yesterday by the store's dumpster." Haruki explained while getting a comb out and brushing his hair.
"She panicked when she saw it." Haruki finished explaining. Junseo laughed a bit, he was going to mock Miyeon about this later. But, he would let her have her fun with the kitten. He glanced at the clock on the wall, 7:30. He said his goodbyes and left the room for work since he still had to change to his uniform.
As he made his way to the far end of the building, keys clicking and swinging while he hummed a happy tune, he stopped dead in his tracks.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" He asked himself at loud. He had not just imagined Miyeon petting the cat, and he had certainly not felt fuzzy and warm at the image of her smile. The heat of his face betrayed his own denial. He speeded walked all the way and did everything he could before his shift in a rush. A couple of students passing by the hallways arched their eyebrows, silently judging the behavior of the brunette.
"Miyeon! Hurry up!" Haruki called from downstairs, not long after the rushed steps sounded.
"I'm coming, dude!" Miyeon smiled at him, her mood being high up in the clouds, Haruki gave her a teasing smile.
"Someone's happy." He gently bumped his shoulder against hers. "Is it someone I know?" He asked.
"Yes, he is." She gently shoved him aside. "He shall be named Loki." Miyeon smiled. Haruki rolled his eyes, noticing his teasing had flown over her head with no reaction. It took him a minute to actually register the name of the new cat.
"Loki?" He asked, confused.
"Yeah, you know, like the English word." She said, at this point they were walking through the stairs to get to the third floor.
"I might be wrong, but isn't he a Nordic god, though?" Haruki asked, they were almost at the front door of their class.
"What? No! It's a word in English!" Miyeon and him stopped in front of the door frame, it was 7:55 am. They entered the salon, and greeted their professor while going to sit in the middle part of the classroom. There, they continued their discussion.
"No, he is a Nordic god." Haruki retorted.
"Why would I name a cat after a Nordic god that I didn't even know existed?!" Miyeon asked, but both failed to notice an approaching figure.
"You just said his name!"
"No, I didn't"
"You said you were going to name him Loki!"
"Yeah, is a cute way of saying 'Luck' in English."
"..."
"It is. Isn't it?"
"...You little- That's 'LUCKY' you dumbass!"
"..."
"I can't believe you seriously-"
"Ms. Lee, Mr. Sakurai." Both froze and looked up at the old guy, with an irate expression and crossed arms over his chest.
"As much as I appreciate you, Mr. Sakurai, for enlightening our dear Ms. Lee," He leaned forward and the other two leaned back. Intimidated.
"My class has started, and unless you two want to be here with me tomorrow at 7:00 am, I suggest you pay attention now." Haruki looked horrified, meanwhile Miyeon counted whether that amount of sleep would get her through the day. Once her calculations came to an end, she and Haruki shook their heads and apologized.
Not a word was uttered after that for the rest of the class.
Later, that afternoon, Haruki had left early to meet up with Jisoo because she needed help with an interview, Haruki was in charge of styling her outfit. Miyeon now walked to the elevator to make her way down and get something to eat at the café before lunch rush started.
But, the damn metal thing was taking too long. She remembered walking up the stairs this morning.
"But…" She thought. "Going down is easier." With that, she marched towards the exit sign that led to the emergency staircase. She was now on the fifth floor, and she had to go all the way down to the second floor in order to go out of the building and towards the café.
She remembered the kitten from this morning and that added a little skip to her walking down the stairs. That until another sound caught her attention. Just like yesterday, she saw something moving on the floor below. If she turned the corner now, she would be on the second floor.
But, there were people in that small hallway already.
"I asked you to leave me alone." A female voice firmly said, although the tremble in her voice was evident. Miyeon instantly went into protective mode. But, she had to analyze the situation first. She heard a deep chuckle and peeked through the corner.
A tall guy was hovering over a not so short girl. She looked almost like Jisoo's height, and the fact that the guy was almost a head taller was a real worry to Miyeon. She flinched when she saw him slam his hand against the wall above the girl's head. The other girl, too, flinched. But in an act of bravery, maintain eye contact with him. Miyeon covered her mouth, and for the second time this week she let out a small squeak that was muffed by the guy's strong and demanding voice.
The reason she squeaked, however, was because again, someone had put their hands on her shoulder.
"What the hell are you looking at, pipsqueak?" Junseo's voice, although Miyeon would never admit it, came as a choir of angels singing Hallelujah on a Sunday morning.
He had crouched down to match her, and even then, he still peeped over her head. He took in the scene and understood the way Miyeon seemed to be in a high alert state. The guy was still talking, and the girl seemed to tremble slightly more with every word.
It was disgusting to watch. Junseo made an attempt to get up, his keys dangling a bit. Miyeon stopped him, putting a hand over his belt to quiet down the sound. She looked at him and mouthed a 'Not, now'
Junseo stared at her incredulously, was she planning to just watch?
Miyeon wasn't, but in situations like this. It was best to make it seen as if they hadn't seen anything and just focus on getting the girl out of there. She came up with an idea, and just like that, without voicing it. She sprang up and walked out of the corner, a completely different person.
"Oh God, I'm sorry, I will just…" She pretended to be ashamed and covered her face, just then she acted as if peeking and as if she had recognized the girl.
"Oh! It's you! Come on, I've been looking around for you." She braced the confused girl's arms and started to pull her away. The taller guy stopped her, of course.
"Where do you think you're going?" His voice sent a shiver down her spine.
"Umm...I-I '' Miyeon noticed Junseo had come out of the corner, a trash can with wheels out of nowhere accompanied him as well. They locked eyes and Miyeon turned to face the guy.
"I was...taking out the trash?" She asked and made a run for it. As if on clue, the taller guy was slammed from behind by the trash can, and by inertia, or by Junseo pulling and flipping him over, was now inside the trash can. Upside down, and with his feet wiggling out.
'Run, bitch, run!' Junseo mouthed, the three made a real run for it.