Chen. That was the name on his tag. Esmae tilts her head to the side when he peeks further from his hiding place, sniffing her hand intently. His back paws shift on the cold snow as it stings them, and the human purses her lips.

"What are you doing out here all alone with a tag like that?" Esmae asks. Chen rubs his cheek into her hand and she smiles from his friendliness, "It's too cold to be on an adventure."

Chen stops his scenting to give her a side glance with his green eyes. Esmae sheepishly nods her head.

"Okay, yes. I guess I'm sort of on an adventure in the cold, but I have my reasons. I suppose that shouldn't mean you don't have your's."

The cat boldly jumps up and her and she flinches, but relaxes when Chen settles on her shoulders and into the fur lining of her jacket, purring from the heat of her hair.

"Well alrighty then. Look at me: Talking to a cat. I'm losing it."

She reaches up a hand to Chen and he flickers his tail in approval as she starts her way back, hoping her parents were done fighting so she could finish her homework in peace.

The house is quiet when she pulls the front door open, so Esmae quietly sneaks up the stairs, slipping into her room and letting Chen down. He jumps on her bed and immediately snuggles down, stretching his limbs in the blankets and enjoying the warmth of the house. Esmae watches him and smiles, depositing her coat on the end of her bed post.

"I guess I should make a poster for your owners, huh? Let's hope my parents don't discover you while I'm out."

It was during this time that Chen discovered how her parents don't have a lot of time for anything when they're always out, even for holiday. It was during this time that he discovered that she was only in China that week because her father convinced her mother to visit his parents for Christmas, but they all spent time out of the house anyway, so it's not like it was meaningful.

Esmae should've had parents who worried about how she was gone in a strange country, but they didn't, and that's why Chen was special. Turns out, he didn't seem to have owners despite his fancy collar. No one tried to take him back after she put up posters, so she kept him, as long as she took care of him.

He also didn't like cat food, Esmae soon figures out. He didn't have a taste for it, but he'd happily eat from her bowl if she prepared a can of soup or leftovers. After a while, it became a normal things for her to offer him her spoon, fork, or even dip her glass down so he could catch a sip - if cats sipped, that is.

His fur was exceptionally curly and he loved to be petted. Esmae kept track of all of these things as she aged slowly - too slowly, she believed - and he was very noisy. He mewed at every given chance, and seemed to sing in a weird, animal way.

He was her best friend, though. He curled onto her lap when she was upset and acted stupid to make her smile. He chased off boys when they tried to date her and hissed at the girls he knew she shouldn't be friends with. He went to college with her when she was finally able to move away from her parents. He sat in the front seat freely like a second passenger.

When her first job called for her to move for a while, he never let go. When she insisted he stay with a friend while, he bit onto her sleeve and hung on, his big green eyes begging until she let him come, but spoke as if she was speaking to a person when she informed him that he'd have to fly in the cargo hold.

He adapted, though. Knowing so many languages as she did, Esmae traveled around the world to be a paid translator in different countries, but Chen always came with.

Chen was always there.

What Esmae didn't understand, however, is that things were going to change very soon, and nothing could prepare her for what was to come.

"How many days left, Chen?" 

Esmae puts her hands on her hips and turns to look at the cat sitting by the door. He was the first thing she unpacked - right in the taxis drive to the hotel. Her employers were kind enough to book it for her as well as their own rooms.

A married couple, this time, having a honeymoon in the city of Seoul, South Korea. Korean was just one of the many languages she spoke. Her ambition to learn so many was the idea that her parents would have o clue what she'd be saying when she made comments, but it turned into an occupation.

Asian countries were the most common. Her father was Chinese, but her mother was half Japanese, half German. Though people preferred to chose someone who lived in the destination, they felt more comfortable with someone they could relate too. Those cultural anthropology courses in college were serving her well.

Korean culture was something she studied on the flight over, and something she learned prior. It didn't hurt to brush up on the facts. She was to meet the couple the next morning and they'd take her with them for their planned out vacation. Esmae was there to speak to guides and necessary people along the way.

Chen meows a couple times and Esmae smiles, walking over to scoop him up and cradle him like a baby. His curly fur flattens under her fingers as she finds the warmth of his belly and it. Chen purrs instantly as Esmae walks them over to the hotel's window. There wasn't much to look at during the night, but the city lights were fabulous.

"Long day tomorrow. You know what that means." She comments and walks over to one of their cases. She sets Chen down and he curls around her knees when she kneels to a bag, pulling out a scratching board and a bag of cat toys and supplies. She s the bag as well and tips the contents out inot the suitcase. Chen jumps inside the empty bag and Esmae zips it p over him, but there was a small space on the side that he peeps his face out of, his ears pulled back.

Esmae tiredly laughs and s it, finding the other suitcase and digging inside until she produces her pajamas.

"Tomorrow they want to visit Gyeongju for the museums. That means I have to read to them as well as translate people." She remarks and Chen jumps out of the bag as she makes her way to the small bathroom in the hotel to change and brush her teeth. She pops open the toilet seat for him and he jumps on top, bending down slightly to allow himself to use the bathroom.

He didn't require training for this. It was a thing that he knew how to do, and Esmae hasn't complained. She's never dealt with litter boxes.

Esmae squeezes toothpaste on her toothbrush and proceeds to brush her teeth while she slides her pants down and kicks them off, tugging her pajama pants on. Chen meows loudly and she looks at him, pulling the brush from .

"ert." She snides playfully and he jumps down from the toilet seat to weave between her legs. She spits and washes the paste from , wiping the water off before changing shirts. Chen follows her out of the bathroom and jumps on the hotel bed, his tail proudly in the air as he watches her move around. Esmae takes a plastic cup they offered with the soaps and shampoos and fills it with water to place on the end table. 

With an alarm on her phone, she tucks herself into the bed and lifts the other side of the covers just enough so Chen can snuggle next to her.

As soon as she's asleep, she doesn't feel the warm arms that hold her from behind.