I changed clothes and opened the door.

 

“Oh Yeah… He’s here.” I said out loud, looking at his still body on the floor.

 

Shrugging, I stepped over him without any remorse. He deserved it and I didn’t hold back. And honestly it was a bit pleasureable to see him in such pain. I made sure to remember this feeling.

 

After a couple of stomps here and there, I decided to cook something for my new “companions”. Today it wouldn’t be enough with just my daily portions. I would have to make something that would satisfy his enormous appetite. I didn’t know why he had come but if it would make him leave faster, I would do anything.

 

Wracking my memory on what he liked to eat, I thought of fried rice. If I was still my younger self I would have only created two servings, but knowing him, he could easily finish 3 burgers.

 

“Ugh what a pain.” I mumbled as I headed towards the kitchen.

 

Opening the fridge, I peered inside to see what I could create using the least amount of ingredients as possible. “Hmm… Eggs. Check. Carrots. Check. Spam. Check.” I continued to mumble the ingredients hoping that he would appreciate the work I was putting into for someone who had just trespassed into my house while I was in the showers.

 

Like everyone else on this big planet, I began to sing as I started cooking. “Like a butterfly ~ Like a butterfly ~” It was the song Butterfly by BTS, my all time favorite. They were the only group that I had come to like, upon arriving in Korea.

 

“Is it true ~ Is it true ~ You! You! Yo-” I was interrupted by a sound. “Purr ~” Iris walked over and purred. I listened to her carefully and saw what she had wanted.

 

“You’re hungry aren’t you?” I questioned her, her head as she continued to purr. She didn’t seem to understand me so I pointed at the fried rice. “Food RIGHT?” It took a while but she finally understood what I was pointing at. She nodded eagerly.

 

Honestly speaking, I really didn’t want to leave the house, but I also didn’t want Iris to starve and make me feel guilty. “Guess I’m gonna have to buy your food then.” I turned off the stove and grabbed my coat to leave when I hear an amused voice from the direction of the kitchen entrance.

 

“Yum fried rice. You still remembered my favorite dish didn’t you?”

 

Feeling my eye twitching, I turned to glare at him. “No,” I said gruffly, slipping my arms into the coat sleeves and zipping it up. “ It’s cause it’s the only dish I know how to make so don’t flatter yourself.”

 

“Oh I see. My favorite dish is your only dish.” He gave me a sly smile that seemed to uncover everything I was hiding.

 

“You’re wrong…” My cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. Looking away from him, I busied myself with fixing the arm cuffs of my jacket. “Why are you here anyways?”

 

We had a bit of a staring contest before he understood my question. “Oh. Well I just moved to Korea remember? I don’t have a place to stay. I’ll pay you or do work but let me stay here. That’s ok right? I mean just think of it as old times.” He jumped on the sofa and grabbed the remote.

 

It took a while to comprehend his words, but I knew that I would definitely not like his next few words.

 

It came soon after exactly as I had planned. “So I’m gonna live here from n-”.

 

I cut him off sharply before he could finish that horrendous sentence. “No. Get out.”

 

“Wait what? He asked, looking at me in confusion.

 

Crossing my arms across my chest. I stood my ground. “I said out.”

 

“Why?”

 

I wanted to pull all his hair from his scalp and burn it in the stove. What was it going to take to get him to understand? “I’m not gonna live with another human.”

 

He walked towards me, thinking I was joking. It wasn’t until he met my eyes that he realized I wasn’t. My decision was finally and he knew it.

 

Despite that he was stubborn and persistent. He questioned me as if it was a challenge.“That’s not a valid reason though.”

 

He opened his eyes wide while giving me that stubborn look.  

 

“I’m sorry but you can’t. You know how to cook right? Finish making the Fried Rice, eat it, and leave. I better not see you in my house when I come back. If you do I’ll never see you again.”

 

In all honesty, I would have given up and just have let him stayed if we were still young. But after looking him over a couple times and remembering the feeling of his muscles when I fell, I knew that he was now a grown man. He was no longer my baby childhood friend from long ago. His manliness over his cuteness had helped me resist.

 

I quickly put on the coat that I had in my hands and rushed out of the house. I needed to cool down and buy Iris Food. He was no longer my cute bunny childhood friend but a muscular man that could be dangerous. There’s no telling what would happen if he lived with me.

 

“You better leave alright?” I screamed as I exited my house.

 

“Bu-”. I was already outside before he could finish his sentence.

 

I arrived at the pet store to buy Iris’s food. I had an awful sense of direction that I even needed to use Google Maps to find the store. It was a devastatingly long walk of 30 min. As soon as I arrived at the store, I immediately headed to the store clerk to ask for directions.

 

“Yes,” He said, pointing over my shoulder. “You go to the right until you find Sign 17 and look on the right column for the cat food. We have a large variety of different types of cat food so feel free to take your pick.”

 

“Thank you!” I follow the clerk’s instructions and headed to the right. Seeing Sign 17, I walked into the column to buy Iris’s food.

 

“Hmm…” I murmured, staring at the vast section of cat food splayed out before me. “Tuna… Salmon… Meat… Ugh I don’t know…”

 

After a careful 15min. in deep contemplation, I came to a conclusion. It was the conclusion that everyone came up with when they had trouble choosing things. “I guess I’ll just buy one of each then.” I started grabbing random cans off the shelf, hoping that I would be able to find one that would suit her taste.

 

“Ok.” I told myself happily.“ Last one I’ll get is salmon.” I reached for the salmon can when a hand reached it first. I turned to my left to see Taehyung standing there, his signature mischievous eyes smiling down at me.

 

“Oh… Hai…” I greet him in surprise. Who knew that Taehyung would also have a pet cat?

 

“Oh. Nice seeing you here!” He greets back with an enthusiastic smile. “You have a pet?”

 

I chuckle. “Yeah that cat I saved. Iris. She is now my cat.”

 

“Oh yeah… Her! I wanna see her again.” He gave me a dazed smile as if in ecstasy.

 

We continued to chat with each other about our interests. We had some things in common and others that completely didn’t match. Overall we were enjoying ourselves and it didn’t feel awkward at all, which was especially rare for an introvert like me. We socialized so well that it even shocked me.

 

“So you have a cat?” I question.

 

He stares at me in confusion. “A cat? I only have one dog.”

 

Confused I stared back at him. “Didn’t you try to buy cat food earlier?”

 

I show him the can. It displayed cat food on the label.

 

“Oh Rip. I thought it said dog food.”

 

I laugh at him. “Ahahahaha. Just imagine feeding your dog cat food.”

 

He laughed back. “Lol. That would be so funny. But I think I still need to buy food for Apollo.”

 

“Apollo?”

 

“My dog”

 

“Oh. Why apollo?”

 

“Cause he’s my light/messenger and when I was younger he had saved me and this girl from danger.”

 

“This girl?”

 

“Yeah. I can’t seem to remember her but she was being tortured and Apollo saved her and me. I owe him my life.”

 

“Sounds like a great dog.”

 

“Yeah…”

 

“It would be terrible if you gave your loyal dog cat food.”

 

“I guess so. I feel it would be pretty funny though.”

 

“Ahaha. I wonder what his reaction will be or if it's even smart enough to differentiate between the two food types.” I smirk at him.

 

“Hey! Apollo’s way smarter than you think!”

 

We both burst into laughter to the point of tears. I never knew it would be so fun to talk to him.

 

*10 mins till closing. 10 mins. Till closing*

 

We talked for so long that we hadn’t even realized the time.

 

“Rip I’m gonna go buy food for Apollo. See you at school White Rose.” He gave me a box smile and rushed to the column on the other side.

 

“Yeah… See ya.” I mumble quietly whilst going to the front to pay for Iris’s food. I had totally forgotten about my school experience just that morning.

 

After paying I stepped outside. It had been raining and it was only pouring harder.

 

“Gahhh… I don’t want to take another shower…” I put my coat on top of my head and ran. It was not the most beautiful sight but it had kept me dry; or so I thought.

 

“Ugh I hope there’s no lightning…” I continued to run back home. The rain didn’t let up and I grew more and more concerned. To make matters worse I felt something heavy on my back and realized that the cans hadn’t been covered. “Ugh… What a day…”

 

Soon I had arrived, completely soaked to the bone. I sighed. “Another shower it is…” I placed the cans on the tabletop and found Iris’s food safe. “Hew.. Good thing.” I walked to the stove to check whether the food was eaten.

 

Indeed half of the fried rice was gone like I had expected.

 

“He must have gone home.” I sighed in relief as I cleaned up the kitchen and got out a medium sized bowl.

 

“Iris ~” She immediately came out of her hiding spot as I filled her bowl.

 

I placed the food down and Iris lurched forward towards her food.

 

I chuckled. “You're super hungry aren’t you?”

 

I watched her for a bit and headed to the bathroom to take another shower. As I opened the bathroom door thunder boomed. “Ugh no lightning please. Please…”

 

As I mumbled those words a sound could be heard on my balcony.

 

Who could it be in such a weather? Fear began to well up inside me and I started panicking. “Wh- Who… Who is it?!”

 

I grabbed my textbook and headed to my balcony. Was it an animal? A thief? A ghost? I was scared out of my mind.

 

“1… 2… 3…!” I opened the door hesitantly.

 

My fears came true that night when I saw the mysterious figure. A tall man in full black clothing loomed over me with his eyes covered. He gave me a creepy smile as my knees buckled in front of him. My mind went blank as I saw the knife in his hand that was covered in blood. I stood there petrified knowing that I was finally gonna die.