He decided not to post flyers in the next town because cats are usually territorial and don’t roam too far from home. At least that’s what he thought. The more flyers he put up, the more depressed he got as he realised he didn’t know anything about the little creature and that was what probably pushed him to finally leave.

The trees swayed as the winds got fiercer and threatened to knock him off his feet. Chills ran up his spine and his body was racked with tremors that momentarily made him forget about everything and all he wanted was a steaming cup of coffee from Minjun to warm him up. He made his way to the little coffee shop at the corner of the street from where he worked at and made his presence known from little bell attached to the door. Minjun was instantly behind the counter to great one of his regulars.

“Chansung-ah! Some crazy winds today right?” his Daegu accent managing to seep through whenever his favourite customer comes into his humble little shop. “Let me guess, judging by the cold I’d say a large caramel latte?”

“With extra froth please,” Minjun always managed to make the right beverage for his mood and he could do with something extra sweet. He dragged his feet to his usual armchair near the window and let out a heavy sigh as he plopped down on the seat.

“Why the long face?” Minjun came with his order and a slice of banana bread and sat on the seat opposite from him. Although he owned the shop and had more than enough workers to handle the daily flow of customers, he always liked to familiarise himself with the customers. Coffee tastes better when it’s personal and even better with company. And the man in front of him looked like he could use all the company he could get.

“Remember the cat I once told you about?” he waited until he got a nod in confirmation. “Well he ran away. I mean he’s been with me for almost a year but Friday morning I wake up and he’s not there anymore. You have a dog right? What would you do if she disappeared one day?”

It seemed as if Minjun has never considered that possibility because he had to think about it for a moment until he came up with what he thought as the most rational course of action. “I’d probably tear the whole town apart to find her” his serious face showing that he wasn’t joking.

“Exactly! My neighbour Jinyoung and Jinwoon say that I should move on and find more fishy cats in the ocean or something like that. I’m not quite sure since Jinwoon was talking about something but--”

Minjun laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder to cut him off and waited for the doe-eyed man to look up at him. “Chansung. You were probably one of the first customers I’ve had and I’d like to consider you as a close friend too. So if you are upset because your cat disappeared then I won’t question it. If you feel that strongly about him then I’m sure he felt the same way too. If Audrey were to ever disappear, I can’t even begin to imagine the pain I’d feel and the panic I’d go through. So whatever you need, whether it’s coffee to fuel you or just someone to understand, I’m here for you.” His reassuring smile was not one feigned for a customer but a genuine one for concern of a friend.

Chansung squeezed the hand one his shoulder in gratitude and returned the smile. Minjun had to leave to attend to his other customers but would pop by every now and then to pat Chansung on the shoulder or ask if he needed anything. He was forever grateful for the older man and appreciated being taken seriously and not as just some ‘crazy cat man going through the motions’.

He stayed for almost 2 hours at the café, lost in his thoughts but occasionally would feel a presence near him or eyes watching him every now and then. He blamed the paranoia from the jittery after-effects of the coffee but couldn’t help shake off that feeling that he was being watched. To add to his recently paranoid demeanour, he would occasionally look around the shop trying to spot his pursuer but the only ones present other than himself were a couple, an old man and a young lady sitting at the far end of the shop. At half past 5 he figured he should head home or else he’d really think himself mad.

Usually on a weekend, he would go out with Wooyoung, catch up with his TV dramas or family (sometimes not being to differentiate one from the other) or just read with the Emperor. However this time he just stayed hidden under the covers, only occasionally checking his emails to see if anyone has replied to his flyers or eat something. By Sunday afternoon, he stopped checking his email and didn’t feel hungry so he opted to just lying on the living room carpet, smothered in blankets to keep warm. He was facing the ceiling but every couple of minutes if he wanted a chance of scenery, he’d roll over a couple of times to squeeze himself under his coffee table and stare at the deep mahogany.

A little after one, the door started banging. At first, Chansung thought it was the strong winds but the banging continued which could mean only one thing. “Chansung, get off the floor and open up the door!”

Chansung didn’t budge.

“Don’t make me use the spare key. If I have to shove it in the key hole then I’ll be shoving it up your--”

“Okay okay! What’s got your in a knot…” he grumbled as he opened the door for his best friend then went back into the living room to resume his earlier position under the coffee table.

“So this is where you’ve been the past two days huh?” he took off his jacket and threw it on the nearest couch as he headed for the kitchen. “Don’t worry, I spoke with Minjun on the way here and he told me everything. I’ve been trying to call you for hours and I figured something was wrong when you didn’t upload a picture of you and your cat on Facebook.” He came back into the living room with a tub of mint choc-chip ice-cream and sat on top of the coffee table. “How many times have I told you I like French Vanilla ice-cream? Oh that poor cat had to endure you and your scatter brain…” he realised maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words since Chansung stayed quite under the table. Wooyoung scooped up a large serving and extended his arm under the table as an apology. Seconds later, he felt the spoon getting tugged and brought it back to find the utensil clean and his apology accepted.

“It’s a good thing you got a wooden table this time. Remember the old glass table you used to have and that one night when we decided to challenge Jo Kwon for a game of beer pong?”

Chansung chuckled at the memory and found his mood getting lighter as Wooyoung continued throwing old memories at him in an attempt to cheer him up. Wooyoung might seem like a bitter old man to strangers but he was Chansung’s best friend in middle school and has been ever since. Sure they don’t have ‘deep and meaningful’ sessions and express their emotions properly but they’re always there for the other.

Wooyoung stood up on the coffee table and started to jump up and down. He wasn’t as big as Chansung but he was still pretty heavy which caused the table to creek under the fluctuating pressure. “Yah, yah! What are you doing!?” he struggled to scramble from under the table but only managed to further tangle himself in the blankets. So instead he decided to roll on the floor until his side met the TV unit.

“That got your attention, I thought you died on me” he jumped off the table and helped Chansung untangle himself. “Go get dressed, we’re going for pizza.” The other reason Wooyoung’s managed to stay for so long is because he knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach but Chansung’s heart is his stomach. Feed him and you have a friend for life.

Chansung quickly changed and ran to join Wooyoung waiting for him outside and found him huddled over something in his front yard. “What are you--?”   

“Look at this! Isn’t he cute?”

Chansung approached the crouching man and peeked over his shoulder. Nuzzling into Wooyoung’s hands was a little, snow white rabbit. He was twitching his pink, button nose and would occasionally flick his ears in what was the most endearing sight ever. Chansung gave the little fuzzy creature a scratch behind its ears before it hoped away to Jinyoung’s lawn. The boys got off the ground, brushed themselves off and made their way to Changmin’s Pizza Parlour.

When they made it to the shop, Chansung went to find seats while Wooyoung went to place their order. Chansung was idly looking around when he noticed a figure from one of the tables further away looking in his direction. He couldn’t make out the face but the figure seemed familiar. He stared for a while longer until Wooyoung joined him in his booth and followed Chansung’s line of sight.

“Like what you see?”

“What do you mean?”

“That girl. You’re staring at her. I think it’s good you’re getting interested in the human species again” he playful nudged him and got a not-so-playful nudge in return.

They talked while they waited for their order to arrive and enjoyed the silence as they ate but Chansung’s eyes would constantly flicker back to the figure observing him from the other side of the pizza parlour. Wooyoung left to go to the bathroom which was also at the other end of the shop and left Chansung to his thoughts. He was contemplating whether to approach the girl and say ‘Hi’ when Wooyoung rushed back to their booth looking a little panicked.

“Whatever you’re thinking. Don’t”

“What was I thinking?”

“She’s a he. I passed him as I went to the bathroom and it’s a guy checking you out”

Chansung was dumbstruck. He could’ve sworn the person looks like a female from here but he wasn’t about to question Wooyoung. They paid for the food and walked back to Chansung’s place. Wooyoung stayed for a while longer before he had to head back home. Chansung thanked him for the company and called it an early night.

Since the Emperor’s not here, Chansung was ready for work earlier than usual. He would usually spend 30 minutes feeding the little cat and playing with him for a bit before heading out to work but now he didn’t know what to do with the spare time on his hands. He leisurely peddled his bike to work and decided to stop by at Minjun’s for a small chat before he checked in to the office.

As he approached the café, he saw figure staring at a telephone pole outside the shop. He normally would’ve just minded his own business but this person was staring at one of his flyers. He hit the brakes and slowly walked up to the person that has yet to notice his presence.

“Hey I want to ask, have you seen that…” he trailed off when the person turned around and faced him.

“You!”

That Differential Calculus assignment was harder than it looked TT________TT.

I left it till too late and that's why I had to disappear. I am a bad author for making promises that I can't keep but I end up changing a lot of my first drafts of each chapter because I don't like how they turn out and this chapter was no exception. I hope it's good and it doesn't bore you guys too much! 

Thank you for reading <333