“Wait,” Nick speaks up. You are ninety-nine point nine percent confident you are giving him an extremely confused look that could be mistaken for constipation as well. “That did not come out right.” “Okay..” You relax your face. “I thought of the perfect solution to our problems.” “Our problems?” you ask. “Yeah. I guess I did not tell you about my issue. I’m going out of the country for a few days and I need someone to watch Vanilla.” “Who is Vanilla exactly?” you ask. His eyes light up. “Oh she’s my cat.” “I didn’t know you had a cat.” “Yeah,” he says before using his left hand massages his right shoulder. “I picked her up from the vet yesterday. She had to have some minor surgery a couple of days ago.” You recall seeing him carry some kind of cage while you had been making calls the other day. “Oh..” you say out loud. You say it more to yourself than to him.

You both stand silently in front of each other for two minutes before Nick says anything. “Have you had breakfast yet? We can talk then.” Your eyes drifted to the right as you contemplate the offer. You needed to go to the grocery store. You only had fruit yogurt and milk in your refrigerator and a loaf of stale bread. “I’ll pay.” You look up. Nick smiles because the expression on your face definitely gives away your answer to his proposal. “I know a really good place. It is a seven minute walk from here though.” “That’s fine,” you answer nodding eagerly. You were not one to complain about walking. Besides, after eating all of that food last night you knew you could use the exercise. There is another moment of silence. You suddenly realize that you are wearing your pajamas while he is already dressed to go out. “Oh! You meant now.” “Yeah,” he flashed another smile your way. “ Sorry, just give me a few minutes to change.” You turn around and go back into your apartment. You hit yourself on the forehead a few times. You begin to think that you are starting to go crazy. You pull on a nice casual dress, the closest and easiest thing to put on. You run your hand down your leg just to make sure you legs were smooth. You mentally high five yourselves, grab your bag, and walk out the door.

“So is this a coffee shop we are going to?” you ask. The sun is high in the sky and the streets are buzzing. “He tears himself from looking at the sky to meet your eyes. “It is. Their desserts are delicious and the environment is usually good. Not too crowded.” You nod. You both walk out to the sidewalk and wait at the edge. He stops. “I guess we aren’t jaywalking today then?” you ask with a smirk on your face. He smiles and sounds as if he is about to laugh but does not. “I choose to obey the law during the day.” You start to laugh and a hiccup escapes your lips. You put your hand over your mouth quickly but it is too late.  Nick hears you and busts into a fit of laughter. Your face becomes red with embarrassment. Your body jumps from trying to hold in the hiccup. The light signals you both to walk across. “The ligh-” You hiccup again. Nick is still laughing and you have to nudge Nick for him to realize this. You hiccup as you both walk to the restaurant.

You and Nick sat facing each other in what in a coffee shop that you are pretty sure you saw in the one of the dramas you were watching. The corner booth you both were sitting in was extremely comfortable. The warm aroma of coffee and tea permeated the air. Nick was wearing a pair of glasses that had large lenses and a Miami Heat baseball cap. You were both casually dressed. You had finished eating your pastry and he was still drinking a cup of black coffee. The cup was so big you could fit a small puppy inside of it. You were beginning to regret not buying an iced chai when Nick's voice brought you back. "I think it would benefit both of us." Your eyes met Nick's. "Look, I know you aren't a serial killer. You need a place to stay for a few days and I need a sitter." He adjusts his cap. Three girls sitting at one of the tables nearby take a quick look at him and start whispering excitedly.

You did not want to immediately say 'yes.' Children and animals were not too different, yet they are not the same. Plus, you barely know the guy. Yes, he had a great smile and appeared to be the Asian (Thai) Adonis. Studies show that the most dangerous killers are the most attractive. You are very sure that you have not done anything to make Nick want to kill you but... You shake the thought out of your head. “Are you there?” You blink a couple of times and see Nick waving his hand in front of your face. You remind yourself that you should not space out before you answer him. “Yeah, sorry.” “I know this is a weird request and pounding on your door asking you to come stay at my place was not the best way to ask..” He runs his fingers through the back of his hair. “But I think this is a good idea.” You sit still for a few seconds before he, as a last resort, pouts and looks at you with wide eyes. You never thought an Asian could make his or her eyes so closely emulate those of a puppy. “Really?” His faces changes back to the smile you have grown accustomed to. “It was worth a shot,” he said laughing.

You were definitely stuck between a rock and a hard place. It would just be for the weekend. You glance over at your phone and realize that you only have fifteen minutes to get to your first class. You jump up. “Yes!” Nick tilts his head to the side and gives you a perplexing look. “That was a very enthusiastic way of answering my question. “ “Just house-sitting and taking care of Vanilla, right?” you ask. He nods and smiles. “That’s it. It should not be hard. Vanilla’s recovering from a minor surgery so she just needs to be looked after. I’ll make a list for you of all of his dietary needs and anything else you need to know.” “That would be great,” you grab your bag. “I have to go to class so I will see you later,” you say while walking towards the door. The girls who had been whispering before were now caught up in their own conversation. “Okay. I’ll come over later to run over a few things with you.” You hold the door open and before you go out you hear a voice call out to you. “Go learn something!” “I’ll try,” you call back to Nick saluting before you head out the door and run to your bike.

You trudge up the steps. You enjoyed only having to go to class on two days but you hated coming home late at night. You were carrying your own bag along with three plastic bags full of grocery. You could hear Ma Ri getting ready for another night. You head to your door and pull out your key from inside your bag. A door opens and you look to your left, hoping it is Nick. “Unni!” You look to your right and Ma Ri is standing outside of the door. She has her beautiful long brown hair pulled up into a messy ballerina bun and her makeup accentuates her gorgeous double eyelids, round face, and perfectly groomed eyebrows. “Unni, can you help tie this?” She turns around in her clingy red halter dress to reveal a few loose ties. “Sure,” you say exhausted. You walk over and put down your bags before you tie the loose ends. “So where are you going tonight Ma Ri?” “Oh the usual place. I swear Unni, you need to come out with me one night. You only have classes two days a week right?” “Yeah,” you answer. The reason you never went out with Ma Ri is because she was a horrible drunk. You could not have fun and party if you had to watch over her the entire night. There were times when different men would bring her back to her room. All good guys, just not the ideal situation.

“So why don’t you go with me? It will be fun!” “Next time, Ma Ri. I promise. I have a ton of homework that is due tomorrow that I need to work on.” “I thought you were finished with your exams,” Ma Ri replied. “With my midterms. I have to study for a new exam the university has created that determines whether I can continue in the program I am in.” “Oh..” Ma Ri said. It was obvious that her attention had drifted elsewhere. “Well, I’ll hold you to it,” she said. You finished tying the two strings into a double knot and she jumped around. “Thanks Unni!” She said with a smile and dashed back to her apartment. Hopefully you would not regret that promise. You made your way back to your door, picked up your groceries, and held the key up to it until you heard an electronic signal that the door was unlocked. You then pushed the door open and quietly shut the door. Maybe he was out tonight. You could wait. You had a lot of reviewing to do. You sometimes wondered why you never went out at night.

The sun had gone down.  After your fourth and last class for the day you went to the library and studied for a few hours before going grocery shopping. Your stomach had gotten to the point where it gave up growling and you had a horrible headache caused by not eating. You decided it would be best to fix yourself some ramyun before going to sleep. You never ate this late. You searched looked through the bags until your eyes locked on a small container or chicken-flavored, spicy noodles. You took it out of the bag and began heating up some water in your teakettle. When the water was ready, you poured it in a bowl after ramyun noodles had been dumped into it. You added the flavoring and headed over to your living room chair to watch some mindless television. You turned the channels until Star King appeared.

You were almost halfway done when your phone rang. “Hello?” “Da Eun-ah, this is your mother.” “Oh,” you say disheartened, “How are you?” “Fine. I just have some pain in my neck. What is wrong with you?” “Nothing, mom. How is Dad?” “He is alright. He has had some chest pain but that was because he got into an argument with Mr. Choi from the market.” “What?! How did that happen?” “I don’t know Da Eun. Men are a whole different species.” You ended up talking to your mom for close to an hour. She had asked about Nick and you filled her in on his offer; but you were a bit cautious about how you worded it. Her reaction was the complete opposite of what you thought it would be. “That’s wonderful!” she said. “You know that Nichkhun is a nice young man. Not like your last boyfriend.” Your mother fussed at you for the most part. As usual, you told her to eat healthy and help your father. Your mother reminded you to get the sink fixed and to watch out for the damaged flooring. You said you would.

You heard a knock at your door. You jumped up from your seat and put your ramyun down. You walked casually to the door while you tucked your hair behind your ear and pushed your glasses up the bridge of your nose. You opened the door and there stood NIck. “Hey.” “Hey,” you say back. “I apologize for coming over so late. I came by earlier and you didn’t answer.” “I was studying at the library.” “Big test?” “Big is an understatement.” “Well,” he said while forcing his hands into his pocket, “I will be leaving tomorrow night. I’ll come by here. Do you need to move anything over to my place?” “Nope. I think I got it.” “If you want you can meet Vanilla. She just woke up from her nap.” “Sure.” You follow him into his apartment. “I apologize for the mess. I haven’t been able to clean as much as I usually do. I’ve been packing up for the trip and unpacking the last of my things.” “That’s fine,” you reply. The apartment seemed a lot more organized. He walked over to a cage that sat by the television. “This,” he said while lifting up the towel that covered the top of the cage, “is Vanilla.” “Oh..” You walk over to the cage and see a beautiful off-white colored cat. It seemed to be breathing heavily. Probably because of the stress from surgery.

“She’s very friendly.” You walk over and crouch down in front of the cage. “Hi Vanilla,” you say sweetly. “She’s very pretty.” “She sure is. And she knows it. She can be a bit high maintenance.” You leaned in closer and started petting her before you sneezed. “Are you okay?” Nick asks. You nodded vigorously. “Yeah, it’s from the dusty books I had to read this afternoon.” You waved your hand in front of you. “I’m fine. Really.” He gives you a concerned look before moving to the counter. “I wrote down a list of things you will have to do. It isn’t long or hard.” He hands the list over to you and you take it. “Oh and,” he pulls out something from his pocket. “Here is a spare key. Thanks again for doing this.” “It’s f-” a yawn escapes your lips. “Sorry. It’s fine. Thank you for giving me a place to stay while my apartment gets fixed.” There’s a pause. “Well, I probably should get going.” You sneeze again. “Alright. Sleep well. I will see you tomorrow.” “See ya,” you say while walking out. You sneezed again when you got outside of his apartment. ‘I’m not allergic to cats. I’m not allergic to cats,’ you think to yourself. You sneeze again as you go back inside your apartment.

When you got back inside you locked the door and began getting ready for bed. You had placed the notes Nick had given you on the counter. The floor near the sink began to creak. You guessed it was because of water damage. You winced. Hopefully the repairs would only take a day or two and no other damage would be found. You slid into your bed and set your alarm. That night your dream ended up being a flashback from your childhood. When you woke up the next morning you followed the usual routine. While you were pouring milk into your cereal, you recalled the dream/flashback. You were having a sleepover at your friend’s house. You had to leave early because you were sneezing uncontrollably and you did not know why. This led you to thinking about the time when you visited your ex-boyfriend’s mother. You could not stay at her house for long because you were sneezing uncontrollably then as well. “Hmm..” you thought as you scooped up your first spoonful of cereal. A lightning bulb went off in your head. Your friend had just adopted a cat from the adoption center. You also remembered that your ex-boyfriend’s mother had two cats. They weren’t in the room but their hair was everywhere. Your stomach sank as your spoon fell into the bowl.  “I think I’m allergic to cats.”