Minsoo went home with the cat still kempt on his chest. The milk tea he bought is long gone. Well, his home is a bit far from where he pointed when Hyun Hae asked him of the direction where his house is seated. He lied. Actually, he didn’t; he just doesn’t know what to say at that time.

From the milk tea stand, Minsoo have to cross the street again, back to the gift shop, all through that side walk where Hyun Hae sees him giving directions (or what he hopes to do) to a foreigner, then a couple more blocks before you see the only black steel gate with bronze twisted peaks placed on top of it along the rows of well kept gates in their neighborhood. Passed the gate is a little walkway then a garage than can accommodate two cars—one was used by his dad to go to work, and another one that’s big enough to fit a family of five comfortably.

Minsoo is living with his parents and two sisters; both are older than him. He twisted the knob open and saw his sister plopped on the sofa with a book in her hands; she is the second eldest, also the one he is closer with since they only have a year difference. She looked up upon hearing the door open and smiled when she saw her little brother enter carrying a kitten on his chest. They both love cats—another bond them siblings share.

“Where’ve you been? And where did you get this beautiful being?”, she stands to approach her brother and took the kitten from her to cuddle it in her chest.

“I saw it as I am passing by a street, it doesn’t have a collar so I presume nobody owns her yet”, he explained.

“Her? You mean it’s a girl?”, she asked, eyes widened.

“Dae.”

“Did you give it a name already?”

“Hyun Hae”, he answered with a playful smile.

“Hyun Hae? Isn’t that a human’s name? Oh, well, she’s yours now so, you’re in charge with naming her.”

She’s not mine. Well, not yet, he smiled sheepishly at the thought.

“She kinda stinks, bathe her. What are you going to feed her? We don’t have any cat food in the house”, she said then placed the cat back on his arms.

“I’ll go and buy her food after cleaning her”, he said then went to the bathroom to bathe Hyun Hae the cat.

__________

He now lay on his bed, the cat comfortably sleeping by the mat under the lamp stand in his room. He thinks about the things that happened before going home with Hyun Hae the cat. The thought of going home with ‘Hyun Hae’ always brings a smile to his face. Aish, that girl is something.

Okay, the first time he met her was in a book store where they had their crazy little battle of rock paper scissors over the ownership of the book. He took the book from its shelf, piled among the other seven books of The Vampire Chronicles. He now has a complete set, that made him happy; but what makes getting the book The Vampire Lestat extra special is because of Hyun Hae; by then, he doesn’t know her name yet but he never forgot about her since then. At first, he thought that he was just amused by the fact that somebody else has fascination with his favorite books, but when he met her again this afternoon; he knew that something… something is up.

When he saw her pointing her finger at his face, and a look of recognition registers on her feminine face, the corners of his mouth moved into a bright smile without him noticing it. He got to talk to her, and what else? He got to know some little things about her; like, apparently, she’s multi-lingual. She can speak not only two but three languages fluently, well, her being somewhat Filipino didn’t subtract to the amazing fact that she really can speak different languages. And also, her innate heart to help others, that’s another thing.

His thoughts started to wander, she has a sister, and I am glad to see that they have a good relationship with each other. She’s afraid of cats but I made her touch one! I’m so happy now. I watched her face brighten up when she successfully pet Hyun Hae’s head, and I can tell that she enjoyed it, even wanting to touch her again if not her fear of being scratched floated above everything else.

But I was ashamed of myself when I started saying ridiculous things in front of her! He remembered when he started saying how great his body is, even showing off his triceps and biceps to her, how good looking of a guy he is.

He’s been always complimented with his looks, but even as he doesn’t look like it, Minsoo is a very shy boy. Whenever he’s complimented, he’ll just bow his head and smile shyly. But only a few people know about that. Most people think that he’s a player, he’s always seen with different girls. Well, the reason is, they always invite him to go out; not alone, though, always with a group.  Going out is not his thing, he’d rather be home sleeping or reading his books. That’s why his actions this afternoon really puzzled him. It’s so not him!

Saying things like her stalking him, being a jerk and all, it’s so not him! Now he wonders what has gone into his mind to actually do and say those things he did when Hyun Hae is around. What he hasn’t realized yet is that he acted that way to get her attention. He doesn’t want to lose her from his sight again without being able to talk to her. And being the shy and timid guy that he is, he hasn’t talked to a girl he likes before so he has no idea what to tell her. And there it goes, he acted like a jerk. He’s getting angry with his self now.

Hyun Hae the cat then made a little noise. He turned to look at the cat but it is deep in its slumber. He smiled to himself, remembering their little go-on-touch-it-I’ll-make-sure-it’ll-never-hurt-you moment by the street. At least, before they part, he got to show off his real self to her. He just wasn’t sure what stands out to her best, his jerk image, or the Minsoo that’s caring.

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Kanpai!