It was nearing autumn when Nayeon first noticed the small ball of fur diligently stationed by a telephone pole and mounds of full garbage bags. The soft bunch of fur housed underneath haphazardly stacked cardboards was either a very malnourished cat or a larger kitten; and Nayeon was pretty sure the animal wasn’t there before. To be perfectly honest, Nayeon didn’t think much of the animal when she first noticed the makeshift cardboard tent, surrounded by pre-schoolers who were poking and prodding the cat with sticks and fidget spinners. At the sight of the white kitten with a small dark grey patch on its head, Nayeon felt herself internally squeal, but that was it. She had continued her way back home and the memory of the cat was already gone from her head by the time she kicked off her shoes at the vestibule of her apartment.

Then she started noticing the cat a lot more after that day. On her way to catch the subway, on her way back from the convenience store, zig zagging back home half-drunk late into the night; her eyes automatically peered over to the spot where the cat’s cardboard tent was. In the back of her mind, she might’ve been worried because the fall air was getting noticeably more crisp. After a month of almost religiously taking attendance of the ball of fur, Nayeon’s step faltered at the soft mew coming from the designated cat spot. Shifting the weight of her bag that was swung over her shoulder, Nayeon pivoted towards the tent and crouched down to peep underneath the cardboard cover.

Two small bright eyes peered back up at her from the back corner of the ripped box cover, and Nayeon offered a finger towards its general direction while smacking her lips to call it over.

“Hey kitty,” Nayeon cooed, clicking her tongue. “C’mere.”

Inside the makeshift shelter, there were scraps of food strewn about, most likely from the garbage bags right next to the tent. Nayeon cringed at the smell, but kept clicking her tongue at the cat that seemed on high guard.

“Come see, cat-cat,” Nayeon continued to urge, slightly frustrated that the kitten simply chose to burrow itself into the corner and ignore her.

“Rude,” Nayeon hissed under her breath before stretching her legs out to stand up and continued on home. This is why I like dogs better- she grumbled to herself, flipping her hair at the kitten’s disrespect.

-

Her street leading home was noisily decorated with lights, garlands, and tacky dancing Santas, which was in equal parts festive and cheap. Walking home after a particularly heartwarming family Christmas shindig, Nayeon blew warm air into her bare hands as she hummed a Christmas carol she didn’t remember the name to.

Ever since the kitten had chosen to blatantly ignore her extension of friendship, Nayeon had been ignoring the cat spot on purpose. She would never admit that to her friends or to herself, because really, she wasn’t petty (but she really was), but for a solid week or two, Nayeon was proud to say that she didn’t offer her interest towards the ball of fur at all, only choosing to let out a scoff each time she passed by the cardboard tent.

It began to snow. Specks of ice dotted the tip of her nose, forehead, and cheeks as Nayeon gasped to look up at the sudden onslaught of fat snowflakes cascading down. She collected her fists and blew into them once more as she studied the shower of winter cherry blossoms, a sudden icy wind seeping into her bones at the very sight of the whirling flakes underneath the orange glow of the street lights.

She realized that she had almost forgotten the existence of the cat as she rounded a corner to come face to face with the run down cardboard tent by the same telephone pole and mountains of full garbage bags. Nayeon felt a pang of sympathy and guilt at the sight, as she was more or less warm, with a full belly, and on her way home where she would have access to heat and clean blankets to bury herself under. She hesitantly took a step towards the cat spot, the cardboard already soaked through with the precipitation.

When she crouched down to look inside, the cat was surprisingly sitting near the makeshift entrance of the cardboard tent, shivering. Its short whiskers and nose were frosted with beads of melting snowflakes- it looked as if the cat had just come back under the covers.

“Hey you little ,” Nayeon greeted, the tone of her voice without any malice. She felt herself internally squeal again when the kitten mewled back. “How’re you holdin’ up?” She asked as the shivering kitten lowered itself to roll itself up, as if trying to conserve body heat.

Nayeon narrowed her eyes after a long hard stare at the animal, biting her lower lip as she shifted between ideas inside her head. Sighing, she slapped her knees to stand back up, and headed back towards the direction where she came from. She trotted to the nearest convenience store, only coming back to the cat spot when her bag was full of tuna cans and cat treats. Look, she was an animal lover, and she wasn’t going to abandon a defenseless and hungry cat in the middle of winter- she wasn’t a heartless monster.

“You’re lucky that you’re cute,” Nayeon said while opening the can and pushing it towards the kitten that had its defenses up again, laying low, its hind legs ready to spring into attack. Nayeon let out an unhappy ‘tsk’. “Don’t be a , eat something,” She grumbled, ripping open the pack of treats and laying them out in a small pile next to the tuna can.

The kitten bared its canines and hissed. Nayeon dramatically rolled her eyes and got back up.

“Ugh, fine. Be that way, you ungrateful little e,” She spat, slinging her bag onto her shoulder as she started back towards her apartment again. Let it be known that Nayeon was nothing but an angel to this thankless feline.

The next morning when Nayeon checked with a nonchalant side glare to see if the kitten had eaten her food, she was secretly delighted to see the tuna can empty and the pile of treat long gone. She cleared and pushed down the rising corners of her lips and continued on her way, a renewed pep in her step rushing her forward. She knew it would be a start to a great