"Here, kitty, kitty."

Zelo's head snapped up from his kness at the whisper of a fragile voice. Soft and sweet. Her voice traveled through the empty silence of the street, quiet and deserted because of the snow falling down in the night air.

When his eyes landed on her, surprise kept him in place, although he was baffled as to why he was so taken aback.  Everything - the numbness in his fingers and toes from the cold, the uncomfortable way his jeans had absorbed the water from the snow, the rapid beating of his heart from the run, the suffocation of his chest from his parents - was drowned out as he gazed at her.

She was crouching underneath the streetlight across from Zelo. She held a black umbrella over her dark, wavy purple hair to protect herself from the heavy snow; in her other hand was canned cat food, with a small  plastic bag hanging from her forearm. A stray black cat paced back and forth a distance from her, its bright yellow eyes observing her.

"It's okay. Come and eat."

At the sound of her soft voice, the cat slowly approached her, taking careful bites from the can that she held out. She smiled. Her eyes curved into the shape of a crescent, the pink lips against her pale skin widening until she flashed a beautiful gummy smile.

"Good kitty."

Zelo couldn't make out the details of her face too much through the heavy snow, the distance hindering his sight further. But he knew he would remember that smile forever. It was mesmerizing, so much so that Zelo nearly forgot how to breathe.

It was sincere.

How little of that he had in his life...

Zelo grimaced at the thought of his parents, a sharp pain attacking him at his temples. The squeezing of his chest came back, and his trouble breathing this time wasn't because he forgot; he just couldn't.

His face was distorted from the sudden headache when she noticed him. She brought her gaze from the stray cat to Zelo, tilting her head in curiosity. When their eyes made contact, she gave him a small smile, waving her fragile hand slightly. Zelo stared at her with wide eyes before glancing behind him to see if there was anyone there; as he assumed, there was no one. She was waving to him.

When Zelo had turned his attention back to her, she had already made her way in front of him, the two only a few feet apart. Zelo could see her face clearly now. She was pretty.  Blunt bangs hid her eyebrows, resting right above her eyes and meeting with her eyelashes. Dark eyeliner was drawn around her narrow, brown eyes with a slight wing. She had a cute small nose with thin lips. Her skin was as white as the snow falling down.

"Hello," she sang cheerfully. "What's your name?"

Junhong. Zelo answered her, but his lips didn't budge.

She gave him a questioning look as he kept silent.

"How old are you?"

Seventeen.

"Aren't you cold?"

Freezing.

"You should go home, your parents must be worried."

You say that assuming my parents care about me, right?

"You might catch a cold."

She frowned, her brows furrowed. She looked concerned for him. Zelo could do nothing but stare back at her: why did she care? Zelo was a complete stranger to her.

He looked at the stray cat, its head still submerged in his canned food. The cat was a complete stranger too.

"Are... you hungry?" she asked carefully.

Zelo brought his eyes back to her again, seeing a darker shade of red on her cheeks that was already pink from the cold. He looked down at the plastic bag in her hand, wondering what else was it in. He guessed more cat food. Then Zelo came to the stark realization that he hadn't eaten all day, except for a slice of toast in the morning. As if on cue, there was a small burning sensation in his stomach, a sign that it was indeed empty.

He bit his bottom lip and averted his gaze, not knowing what to say. It wasn't as if he could ask her for food like a beggar.

"Pfft," she let out before chuckling. Then she dug into the plastic bag, holding out two triangular seaweed rolls. "You seem hungry. Have them."

Zelo only stared at the rolls in her hand, stunned by her kindness. She didn't even know him. At his silence, she rolled her brown eyes. She tossed the rolls to him as Zelo caught them out of reflex. Then she took her umbrella and reached over to Zelo, resting the metal shaft on his shoulder so that the snow no longer soaked through him. He stared at her with wide eyes.