You were seven years old when you rescued that little black kitten, and although the story of how you were able to do that wasn’t exactly the happiest one you could tell, you were always exceptionally happy that you had done so. Your parents told had you they were getting divorced. They sat you down on their bed and rubbed soothing circles into your back as they whispered the news to you; you remembered crying so much that you couldn’t even breathe and you remembered their voices being drowned out by your sobs. They held onto you so tightly, wanting you to feel as safe and secure as you did even before the news surfaced. But all you felt were earthquakes and storms and everything spiraling out of control. You always supposed that you lost your enchantment that day.

“You mustn’t blame yourself, sweetheart,” your father said, tilting your chin up so he could look into your puffy eyes. “It’s not your fault.” When you were seven years old, you nodded quietly and believed him. But later on, when you looked back on that scene, you wish you knew better. “It’s not your fault,” they said, and this was something they repeated to you every single day.

It was an extremely hot summer day. You reached up to the highest shelf in the fridge to reach the pitcher of cold juice and poured yourself a glass. Your babysitter, Ae Rin, was on the phone with her boyfriend again, and while she was distracted, you figured you may as well try to do something about the heat. Slipping on your little shoes and carrying your glass of juice, you went to sit in the coolest part of your house: the porch out front.

Out there, an awning provided you with shade and the light breeze was enough to cool you down. You took tiny sips from the glass, wanting to preserve the coolness so that it would last until your parents came home from their attorneys. That’s when you spotted the Ahn kids across the street, up to no good as usual. The Ahn consisted of a pair of twin boys a year older than you and their evil eleven year old older brother. Straining your eyes against the sunshine, you tried to see what they were doing.

They were always messing around: leaving dog poop on neighbors’ doorsteps, pulling up tulip beds, playing with illegal fireworks, you name it. The three of them were staring up at something that was hanging from the rain pipe on their roof. It was black and fuzzy and at first you thought it was a sock until you saw it a squirm.

A kitten! It was a little black kitten hanging from the rain pipe by some string around its midsection. How cruel! You thought to yourself. You dropped the glass of juice and it spilled on the concrete. Panic and desperation began to set in and it ran up and down your little seven year old body. Something had to be done!

Quickly, you ran back inside your house, tried unsuccessfully to get Ae Rin’s attention, and then dashed to the kitchen. You ransacked the drawers until you finally found a pair of scissors and a little stool. With these in tow, you sped back out the door and ran straight toward where the Ahn kids were tormenting the poor cat. The oldest boy was sniggering as he poked it with a stick and the twins gawked up at him as though he were a Mayan priest about to sacrifice a baby.

Your heart beat was running fast, and although you never had the courage to stand up to those boys ever before, you pushed right past them. You set your stool beneath the cat and prepared to climb up and cut it down. But suddenly, the oldest boy pushed you off the stool and you fell in the bushes nearby.

“Hey!” you yelled. “That was mean!”

“So what?” the older boy yelled at your face. He jumped on you and tried to wrestle the scissors out of your hands. But like an animal, you reached for his arm and bit down hard on it. The oldest Ahn boy let out a scream so loud and bloodcurdling that it scared you. One twin started crying. Then, you spun into action, climbing onto the stool and cutting the string that held the poor kitten. The little black cat fell into your arms, and, without even bothering with the scissors or stool, you sprinted all the way back to your house, slammed the door shut.

Later that night, your parents confronted you. Apparently, you’d bitten the oldest Ahn boy so hard that a bruise that showed up where your teeth had been. You tried to explain yourself, but your limited vocabulary failed you. Your angry parents walked you over to the Ahn’s house to apologize to the boy. But when you saw him and saw his bruise, the oldest boy just started crying hysterically and pointing at you, yelling “Your fault! Your fault!”

When you walked back into your own house after the ordeal, you felt dead inside. You were overwhelmed and exhausted and just felt like crying to the hell of it. Before your mother or father had a chance to say anything else, you ran back inside your room. You supposed that you had it much easier when you were seven; at least then you could climb into your large bed and feel small and safe again. It was harder after you got older. But after you went into your room and sat on your bed, you spied a spot of black in the corner of your eye.

“Oh,” you said, wiping away your tears and putting on a brave face for your new friend. “It’s you!” You climbed to the back board of your bed and helped your new kitten down onto your pillow.

“Sorry I was gone long time,” you said, sniffling. The little kitten lay down on your pillow and mewed. You sighed, happy that your kitten was safe at least. You reached your hand out and pet his fur, and you heard him purring.

“Don’t be scared now,” you said. The poor kitten must have gone through quite an ordeal that day. But now he was safe with you. “Those mean Ahn boys aren’t going to hurt you anymore,” you said. You gathered the kitten into your lap and ran your hands over his back. Strange, you thought, how much better you felt with a kitten on your lap. Even through all the devastation you’d been through, a small cat’s mere touch was as soothing as your mother’s fingers in your hair.

“You can stay here as long as you want,” you whispered. “I’ll be your friend. Friends are good things to have. You won’t have to worry about anyone hurting you anymore. I’m going to be here for you from now on.”

The small cat rubbed its head against your arm and you could feel your little heart swelling.

“What’s your name?” you asked, and the kitten tilted its head. “Ahh, well I guess I have to name you now. What kind of name do you want?”

You looked around the room, took the cat’s appearance into consideration and tried to think of a name. There wasn’t much in your room that could derive names from. Your walls were empty except for a few drawings. Your drawers were stocked with girly accessories, hidden candy, and a few Japanese maps your father had given you from his vacation.

He traveled vastly, your father. Indonesia, the US, China, and various places in Japan. Most recently, he’d visited Kyoto, Nara, Kamakura, and various little towns in the Yamanashi Prefecture. There was a postcard from a city he visited called Kai.

“Kyoto?” you said. The cat stared at you look disinterested. You laughed a little.

“What about Nara?”

The cat meowed harshly.

“Kamakura? That’s a little bit too long. You’re a little cat, so your name should be shorter. Hmm. What about…. Kai?”

As if agreeing with the name, the kitten rubbed its head on your arm again and rolled over on its belly. You smiled and pet him again.

“Okay… Kai.”

You wanted to assure this little cat of your love. You wanted to let him know that you wouldn’t leave him so long as he never left you. You took a small black ribbon with a little jingle bell and tied it around his neck. Shaking his head, the bell chimed, and you smiled.

But you didn’t know, yet, how to convey such complex feelings. You thought about the ways that your parents comforted you. And so you leaned into his little ears and whispered the only comforting words that your father told you:

“It’s not your fault.”

The news of your parents’ divorce reached the school kids, and although divorce was nothing new, it was a foreign concept to the other 1^st graders in your class. They also heard about what you did to the oldest Ahn boy, who something of a legend among the other kids. You weren’t sure how or when the bullying started up, though in retrospect it seemed almost immediate. At first, it was mild. They merely started treating you with a new sort of neglect. You were always left alone during group activities, no one talked to you very much, fewer and fewer kids sat your table during lunch. Then one day, when you were ten, one of the Ahn twins cut you in line for the slide. You tapped his shoulder.

“No cutting!” you said. The Ahn boy grimaced at you.

“Or what?” he said. “Gunna bite me? .” And then he went on down the slide.

You were too young to know what “” meant at that time, but you didn’t need to. Even just the way he said was enough; his voice was so full of poison that you felt as though you were choking just hearing him say it.

When you went home, you must have lost your voice. You didn’t say a single word to your parents or to Ae Rin and you dared not even speak up when you got hungry and wanted dinner. Instead, you marched to your room, and as soon as the lock clicked into place you began sobbing quietly. You slunk into a pile on the floor, brought your legs up to your chest, rested your chin on your knees and just cried.

Kai jumped down from his perch on top of your bookshelf. Landing down on his feet, he slowly approached you. Though unable to see your face, the little cat sensed that something was unbalanced. Slowly, he came to lay down by your feet and mewed lightly. Feeling the weight on your feet and the fur against your leg was strangely comforting. From then on, you knew that no matter what happened, you and Kai would be friends forever.

-

You were twelve years old when you decided to try out for the cheerleading squad. It was your friend, Na Na’s idea. Na Na, unlike you was popular and pretty and actually well-liked by nearly everyone in the school. But to you, she was one of your greatest treasures, one of the very few people that you called your friend. Being on the cheerleading team was one of her dreams, and like with most friends, she wanted you in on it, too.

“Come on,” she pleaded with you one day at lunch. “It’ll be fun! Plus, you’re great at dancing!”

“No, I’m not!” you protested. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, the squad captain is Min Ah, and you know she doesn’t like me.”

“So what?” Na Na said. With some more pestering, she finally got you to relent. The day of the try-outs, she led you over to the gym dressed in sweatpants and a comfortable t-shirt. The returning girls made you run laps and then try as much as you could to keep up with their practice routines. And although you were against it at first, you admitted that being with a team was rather enjoyable. Na Na couldn’t keep up with most of the dances as well as you, but after a few repetitions, you had learned enough to help her get along.

But then came time for the individual auditions. The board consisted of team captain, Min Ah and a few of her friends. Min Ah and the rest of her board were all years older than you and Na Na, and with their experience with cheer and dance, you knew that they would be hard to impress.

A few of the other girl went before you and then it was Na Na’s turn. Your friend gave you a hopeful smile and then went into the gym for her try-out. You sat on the bleachers and tweedled your thumbs. Na Na was right, you thought. This did turn out better than you thought. You were in a good mood, now, after having successfully gone through a day of training with the other cheerleaders. Perhaps you might just have a chance.

Na Na exited and then called you in to face Min Ah and her friends. Taking a deep breath, you confidently strided into the gym and stood in front of the table. You smiled big and happily, but on the other side of the table, Min Ah just pursed her lips in a disinterested fashion.

“The auditions for Peter Pan were last week,” one girl called, and the rest of them began to giggle. Your smile disappeared. Suddenly, all the hope you had came crashing down. The audition proceeded, but all your mirth was gone. The next day at school, Na Na ran to you to tell you that she’d made the team. Your name was nowhere to be found on the list.

When you got home that day, you were alone. Your mom had left for work earlier that afternoon and you were too old for a babysitter now. Ae Rin quit some years ago, anyway. Once inside, you slunk down on the couch thinking about how unfair Min Ah and her friends were. They weren’t really looking for new members at all; they were just looking for more girls to enforce their rules over, more people to put beneath them so they could be a little higher on the ladder.

But at one point, you couldn’t help but feel angry at yourself for allowing yourself to even hope that something could have come from it. This was a bad idea from start, you told yourself. Why, oh why, did you ever give in to it? Stupid, you thought to yourself.

Kai appeared from nowhere again and sat on the couch, near your hands. You weren’t sure why, but seeing him, you started to cry. How pathetic, you thought. You reached over and ran one finger over his back. Kai unfurled for a moment and looked you in the eye.

Wiping away your tears, you reached over and took him into your arms. Then, you stood and walked toward the kitchen, thinking that you ought to fill up his food bowl now. You sat on the floor while Kai ate his cat food, running your hands over his fur and sighing.

“I really ,” you said. Kai stopped eating for a moment and looked at you, the little golden bell around his neck chiming once again. And he just kept looking and didn’t move at all. You’d looked into your cat’s eyes countless times before, but now you started to wonder if you had really seen them at all. Somehow, it seemed like he was seeing you. And not just seeing you in front of him, but rather seeing into you and understanding what you were going through. The way a human might.

You gave another sigh. “I love you, Kai.” And then you stood up and went to your room.

Na Na’s family moved to the US when you were thirteen. You parted way teary-eyed and miserable. You both promised to keep in touch. But Na Na was bound for much better things and there much more interesting people in the US and you knew that like everyone else, she would soon forget you. Who could remember an ordinary, un-special girl like you? Sometimes you wished you could as soon forget yourself.

That night, you cried yourself to sleep while Kai kept vigil at your side. You started high school without your best friend. Once again, you were alone and vulnerable and slightly cynical, as well. After losing your best friend, you didn’t think you could ever meet another person like her again.

It was just like elementary school again; the kids didn’t bother you, but no one bothered with you anymore. And the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about at all. You were once again treated with a same neglectful regard of an unwanted stranger. And sure, you were acquainted with a few people in your classes when the situation was unavoidable, but you still felt alone. And sometimes you admitted to yourself that maybe it was a little bit your fault that you kept people away. And all these musings you voiced to Kai in the dark of the night.

The first time you had a crush was on a boy named Tae Yeol. He was a gorgeous boy, and as though that weren’t enough, he was also one of the smartest. He was the type of boy that a girl could imagine not only dating but also being married to. He’s perfect, you thought. You were fifteen when you decided to tell him how you felt. You practiced in front of a mirror and tried your hardest not to appear too desperate or too headstrong or too much of anything. But one day you approached him as he was at his locker.

Just breathe, you told yourself, and when you finally came to stand in front of him, Tae Yeol waited for you to talk.

“Yes?” he said.

You bit your lip and then tried to smile. “Hi, Tae Yeol,” you said, your voice a little too high pitched.

“Hi,” he said in reply.

Then, you let it go.

You started to tell him about your feelings, about how you only knew him for maybe a year or two, but you felt that you could really get to know him, and then added a few too many things about fate which probably resulted in his reaction. “Long story short,” you said. “Tae Yeol, I really like you.”

You weren’t sure what you expected him to do. If would have been foolish to expect him to cry and then declare that he loved you, too, and then take you into his arms and kiss you like a princess. But then again, you also didn’t expect him to react this way. Tae Yeol stared at you for a good ten seconds as though you were a horse with two heads. Then, he just scoffed and turned and walked away.

“What?” you whispered. “Tae Yeol, wait, what’s going on--?”

“Not interested,” he called over his shoulder.

You held in your tears until you got home that day. You rushed into your room and took out your diary and began tearing out any pages that had Tae Yeol’s name in it. The ink started to smudge as salty tears fell onto the writing. Kai hopped onto your shoulders when you were finally finished destroying every fantasy you ever had about Tae Yeol. Perched on your shoulders and the little golden bell ringing by your ear, he turned his head and looked over the papery mess you made and once again looked at your face.

Facing your face with puffy eyes and swollen sockets, you pulled him from your shoulder and put him on your desk. Then, with a sigh, you lay your head on the desk as well. “I’m so tired,” you mumbled to yourself, feeling Kai tugging at your shirt sleeve with his paw. Clenching your eyes, you pushed yourself upright, and looked at your cat again.

Over the years, after each and every disappointment life threw at you, you always had this cat and his eyes. When your father missed your birthday, when you failed a test, when you sprained your ankle, when the first boyfriend you ever had broke your heart after only five months, when a girl in your class killed herself. Always at the end of everything, Kai and his cat eyes and his fur and the way he just sat by you as though he knew what happened. This was all just speculation of course. He was a cat; how could he know anything?

When you were seventeen, on the night before your school dance, he disappeared.

“Kai?” you said, scurrying around the house in your light blue dress, not even worrying about getting dust or dirt on it. You didn’t have a date to worry over your dress anyway. You ducked down and looked under the furniture and up on every shelf. Kai was nowhere to be found.

Panicking, you rushed outside, barefoot, and checked the fences, the bushes, and yard, anywhere where he could be. You’d never let Kai out of the house before; how could he just suddenly disappear? You rushed back into the house and met your mom who was carrying her camera.

“Oh there you are!” she said. “Oh, don’t you just look beautiful in that dress? Like a princess! Stand by the mantle; I’ll take your picture.”

You didn’t feel like a princess at all. You rolled your eyes. “Mom, have you seen Kai?”

“Who?”

“The cat!” you said, and then checked in the fireplace just to be safe. “He was in my room last night, and he just disappeared. I’ve been looking for him since this morning. I think we’re going to have to call the shelter.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, he’s a cat,” your mom said. “He’s wandering around, doing things that cats do. He’ll be back here sooner than you think.”

“I’ve never let him before, though,” you said, your voice shaking with worry. Away from your care, there no telling what sort of trouble your poor Kai could get into. And to that day, he was the only boy who hadn’t let you down yet. “Urgh!” you said, grabbing the car keys and slipping your sneakers on. “I’m going to the shelter!”

“Now wait a minute, young lady!” you mom said, taking you by the elbow and spinning you to face her again. “It’s the last dance of your high school career, are you really going to let a lost, ugly cat get in the way of that?”

“How dare you!” you said, thoroughly disgusted that your mother had just called your cat ugly and thought that he wasn’t important enough to the family to worry over. “This dance is going to anyway, and at the very least, I would like Kai to be here to comfort me when I get back home. At least I’ll have someone to complain to and will actually listen!”

You argued some more with your mother, but eventually, the group of girls who had agreed to go with showed up in front of your house. Heading for the door, you stopped a moment and looked at the door to your room. Wherever Kai ran away to, you hope he would come back or that he could be happy wherever he went. With a sigh and a heavy heart, you drove on the dance.

Just as you had guessed before, the dance was a boring affair. The only reason you had showed up was because your mother wouldn’t let you miss this last dance of the year, even though school dances really weren’t your cup of tea. After dinner was served, the dancing started. A fast one and then a slow one and then the tempos alternated between songs. Your ex-boyfriend had been a popular boy, but since you broke up with him, many of the friends you had shared had retreated back to his side and away from yours.

You guessed maybe you were to blame, a little bit. You never did make much an effort to have ties with them aside from just being the girlfriend of a boy they were friends with. You watched a girl you rode in the car with in the hands of her own boyfriend. They were looking into each other’s eyes as a slow song started up again. You envied the way he looked at her, like she was made of glass and could break anytime soon, as though only he alone could truly understand her.

Your dad used to look at you like that, you supposed. The last time you ever remembered him looking at you that way was when he broke the news about the divorce. You remembered feeling helpless and broken at that moment when he told you not to blame yourself. Though in truth, how could you not?

You saw their pictures: you saw them as young people, handsome and beautiful, smiling, kissing, hugging, going on adventures together. You saw how much fun they had together, how intimate they were, how beautiful their lives were. How grand their wedding was.

And the only thing that happened between then and now was… you. So of course, you came to the conclusion that, yeah, maybe it was a little bit your fault. Your fault for making mom fat, for making dad think she was ugly, for making them stay up late, for stressing them out, for not letting them go out and have fun anymore. But these weren’t things that a seven year old could not understand. Now that you were ten years older, it was quite plain to you that you were solely responsible for messing up your life.

And now you were at the stupidest dance in your life in a dress that didn’t flatter you and at a table alone with the strawberry cheesecake. And to make matters worse, even your damn cat had run away. Probably got fed up with you, too.

You sighed heavily and rested your arms on the table. The slow songs were still playing and the sickly sweet couples were tangled in each other’s arms. Why couldn’t this night just right now? A sudden prickling sense pulled you to sit upright again. You turned your head and began scanning the ballroom, not quite sure what exactly you were looking for. All you could see around the room were the school-color decorations, girls in flashy dresses and boys with distasteful tuxedo styles. But at the furthest end of the room was a boy you didn’t recognize, which shouldn’t have been a surprise since you didn’t know many boys at your school.

But what caught your interest was the way he scanned the room and then caught your gaze. You froze up at the eye contact and weighed the option of looking away from him. But then he just smiled, wide and happy, and crossed the floor.

Oh no, you thought to yourself. This couldn’t be happening now. He couldn’t possibly be coming your way. Calm down, you told yourself. He might not be headed your after all. Maybe he was going to cross the floor and then turn left or stop behind or in front of you to ask another girl who was sitting alone.

But he didn’t. With just three more strides, the boy suddenly stopped exactly in front of you. You clenched your jaw, worried that it might drop to the floor at sheer surprise.

“Can I help you?” you asked.

The boy just stared at you and then laughed. Unlike the other boys, his tuxedo was neat and suited him well. It was an all-black ensemble: black coat, black shirt, black vest, black tie with a little golden pin on it. His hair was slightly disheveled and his skin was dark. But taking him in, he was an incredibly handsome boy, one who was definitely out of your league.

“You’ve been helping me for a long time,” he said with a smirk, and you narrowed your eyes at him.

“What?” you said, feeling confused. He only laughed again and then held out his hand.

“How about a dance?” he asked. You stared at his for a long time as though it were some foreign alien appendage. But you looked at the boy. He had a wide smile, and his eyes were full of hope and confidence; they were encouraging, in a way.

You sighed, knowing that you might regret this decision later. Still, you put your hand into his; he gave it a light squeeze as he helped you to stand up. He led you to the dance floor, and your heart was beating harder and louder than ever. Finally finding a spot on the floor, he spun you to face him. Hesitantly, you placed your hands on his shoulders, and he positioned his on either side of your waist.

You’d never been this close to another boy. You were sure that you blushing like a mad woman by now, but if you were, the boy didn’t mention it. The song went on, and the music played. You and boy remained in that position, gently swaying back and forth to the melody. He said nothing, and you said nothing in return. And perhaps you were a bit thankful since you wouldn’t even know what to say. But those eyes, you thought. How familiar they looked, as though they were part of something that had belonged in your home. The way he looked at you like you were his own personal Jesus, or like you were his wife or something. It both unsettled and comforted you in a way that was beyond your understanding. It was like he was seeing you, but not just here in front of him and in his arms. It was like he saw you when you were a child and he could see you when you were an old woman and saw the bigger picture of you.

“Who are you?” you asked, genuinely confused. The boy’s smile disappeared momentarily, and he cleared his throat.

“Can I tell you a story?”

“I want your name,” you said.

“In a minute, __,” he said.

“How do you know my name?”

The boy looked solemnly at you. “I’ve known your name for a very long time,” he whispered. “I need to tell you this story first.”

You shrugged. “Okay,” you said. “Well what kind of a story is it? Fiction, non-fiction?”

He smiled. “It’s non-fiction.”

“Well, how does it go, then?”

He bit his lip for a minute and then looked back at you. “There was this little boy once,” he said. “Who was really stupid and stubborn. He was really sure of himself and made sure to let everyone know about that. But then one day he got himself into trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” you asked.

“The big kind,” he answered. “And this evil woman put a spell on him--,”

“I thought you said this was on-fiction?”

“It is,” he said, gently rubbing his thumb against your dress. “You just have to trust me.”

You swallowed, and then he continued. He told the story of a boy who got into trouble, and was turned into something that he didn’t want to be. And even though he was once so sure of himself, he began to forget everything about himself. Until one day, a girl rescued him from what he thought was surely his death. She took him in and took care of him and loved him and reminded him who he really was by placing her trust in him. She was a troubled girl, too, and although he couldn’t do much for her, he tried as best as he could to dry her tears and help her realize how beautiful she was. And now that the spell was over after ten years, he wanted to fulfill that goal.

“This is all starting to sound familiar. Did you get that from a movie?”

The boy laughed, and he pulled you even closer to him so that your noses were almost touching. You could kiss him if you wanted to. His smile disappeared a moment, and he sighed.

“I’m sorry I ran away,” he said. “But I’m back now. And I’m me again, and this time I want to take care of you.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of,” you said.

“That’s what I thought about myself, too, __,” he said. You looked up into his eyes. They were beautiful; cat-like, almost. “Everyone needs to be taken care of,” he continued.

You thought about the way you drove your life to ruins by choosing to be alone all the time, by wallowing in self-pity, by ruining your parents’ marriage. Against your will, a tear began to roll from your eye and you quickly wiped it away. Your parents had promised to take care of you, but you ruined that. Your friends were supposed to take care of you, but you scared all your friends away. Your boyfriend was supposed to take care of you, but you never held onto him tight enough. Your cat had taken care of you, but he ran away.

I’m sorry I ran away, he had said. His words started to ring in your mind. The story of the boy who changed and the girl who saved him. The story of you and a black cat named Kai whom you saved from the Ahn boys.  This is too crazy. You looked up at the boy again, your eyes wider than ever.

You wished he would say something, something else, something that would put your worried thought to rest. The boy smiled comfortingly again, and he spoke the only words that had ever given him comfort:

“It’s not your fault,” he said.

Suddenly, you pushed yourself away and held him out at an arm’s length. Then, you shook your head slowly in sheer disbelief. You looked him up and down, taking in his six feet of height, his dark hair, his beautiful eyes, his black suit… and the little golden bell pinned to his bow tie.

“This can’t be--,” you started saying. You caught his gaze again. You swallowed, choosing your words carefully. Your mind was reeling by now, and you had absolutely no idea what to think at all. But this couldn’t just be a coincidence or a joke. He knew too much about you for this to be a joke.

“You can’t be,” you said. “…Kai?”

The boy laughed lightly. “My name is Jong In, actually,” he said. “But you named me ‘Kai’, so I guess that’s who I am to you.”

You stood completely still for a while, waiting for the moment when you woke up from this strange dream. But here you stood in the middle of the dance floor with this boy, this Jong In, and he was tangible, he was a true reality and you were holding him in your hands. But still, it couldn’t be. Kai, as your little black cat that you saved from abuse ten years ago, who stood by you through every disappointment and every crying session. Could this really be him?

Cat didn’t turn into humans and humans didn’t turn into cats; those were your truths and that was what you believed. But staring into his eyes and remembering that cat, you couldn’t be sure what to believe in anymore. There had to be some reason, something more logical. But there was none.

All you had was Kai and Jong In and the irrefutable truth that they were one. Well, why not? You thought, giving in, finally. It was the last dance of the school year, and magical things were supposed to happen. Why wouldn’t the perfect boy for you be the one who had been by your side for the last ten years, who kept vigil by your side while you wept, who comforted you when the world turned dark, and was your only true friend through everything that happened?

That part seemed more real than anything.

“So,” you whispered. “You were a cat yesterday, and now you’re a boy again. And all this happened because--,”

“Because of you,” he said, completing the sentence, laughing. “Look at that; broke a spell, set a guy free, and got a new boyfriend all in a day’s work. Now that part certainly was your fault.”

You laughed along with him. “But I don’t get it,” you said. “How did I do all that?” a couple bumping into you forced you back into Kai’s arms. He laughed a bit and then righted you again, letting you hold his hands while you waited for an explanation.

“To be honest, I don’t rightly know,” he said, and lifted his eyes to yours with a smirk. “But how do most princes break their spells?”

You stared at him and then laughed as you leaned in to rest your head against his chest. Kai, even as a cat, had always smelled like pine. The feeling of satin against your cheek was the same as soft kitten fur, and his steady breathing had never changed. He was still your Kai, you thought to yourself. Only taller, more human, and more capable of holding your heart and wiping your tears.

“I love you, Jong In,” you said, emphasizing “you”. Jong In smiled and the music played and the two of you continued dancing, slowly. You reached up to his tie and touched the gold bells, listened to it chime once more. The sound soothed you.

“I love you, too,” he said. “And thank you. For everything.”