Nothing is worse than waking up in a start. Young-sun feels as though someone had been slapped in the face, but she leaves her bad anyway, hearing meows coming from the room next to hers. “What’s going on here?” She asks, looking around as she steps in the living room, discovering her the pot of her cacti – more precisely, what remains of them – scattered on the floor. “I already told you not to…” Another noise catches her attention. Something is yowling. A yowl she has learned to fear since he can belong to only one of her babies. The one she never hears. “MR. STACHE, NO!” But the claws are faster than her and she barely has enough time to see the big cat jump on her small cherry which has entered her room as she was not paying attention.

Cat’s fights are the worse, she thinks, as she separates the animals and puts cherry back to the living room. She notices something wet on her hands, but pays no more attention, knowing the night is meant for sleeping. She can take care of everything before leaving the next morning.

As she wakes up the next morning, all her babies welcome her, Mop jumping on the table to have breakfast with her, King going to the toilet as she leaves it, Light and Shadows playing like kitten, Mr Stache sleeping in the bed, Moody grooming his hair on the sofa, Bubble trying to jump on the furniture. One is missing. Young-sun feels her heart twitch as she stands up and interrupts her breakfast, worried about her little Cherry she has not seen since the eve.

“Cherry?” She calls, looking everywhere in her small flat before noticing a small ball of white fluffy, right behind the television. She reaches for her, but the little cat only moves her head, enough for the accountant to notice the injury on her head. It looks so bad that she feels a shiver running down her spine. “Mr Stache, look what you did!” She says, going back to her room, holding Cherry in front of the eyes of the other cat, telling him off like a child. “I can’t believe you hurt her!”

A few minutes later, as she is getting ready for work, she thinks about Cherry again and decides to call Hyejin. She has a slot free in the evening. Great. She cannot bear the sight of her kitten being that weak. What is more, it is not normal that she is behaving this way after a simple fight.

As she comes home after work, Young-sun puts Cherry in the cat box and heads for Hyejin’s office, happy to see her friend. They embrace out of habit and the cat box soon lands on the table. “So,” the vet says, “what happened?” She examines the cat worriedly, noticing she is less energetic than usually. “She fought with Mr. Stache.” Solar says, arms crossed under her as she looks at her friend’s professional gestures.

She knows things are worse than what she has imagined by looking at Hyejin’s face. Her friend cannot lie. “Is it bad?” She asked nonetheless, her voice ringing with worry. “It is.” She closes her eyes and pinches her lips. “I’ll prescribe her antibiotics. Let’s hope they’ll be enough.”  

At the words, Solar’s heart almost stops beating. Enough? Her eyes try to find an answer in her friend’s eyes, but Hyejin seems as doubtful as she is. She perfectly knows what it means. No way. “Alright.” She murmurs, looking at the small cats who lays quietly on the table, head down, as tough she was sleeping. “I hope they’ll be enough too.” How can Mr. Stache have done this? She closes her eyes and sighs.

She closes her eyes and waits for Hyejin to write the prescription on one of those papers doctors always used, then holds out her hands to seize it, interrupted by her friend who looks at her gravely. “What’s going on?”

“Hm?” Her brows rise and she blinks twice, trying to smile to cover her astonishment.

“You always take care to separate Mr. Stache from the other cats.”

“Ah, it’s nothing, Light broke my cacti pot last night. I suppose I was too busy thinking about it and I forgot to close the door.” She said, embarrassed.

“She says.”

“What are you…?”

“Byul told me you had met her friend? Minseok?” Her friend’s expression changes and Young-sun’s heart twitched weirdly as her colleague’s face crosses her mind.

“How do you know Byul?”

“She’s a friend of mine.” Hyejin says with a smile. “I see you’re avoiding the topic once again.” She adds with a smile, handing her the prescription before smiling again. “Be careful with this one, dear. Not all that glisters is not gold.”

“Stop with your old sayings…You know I’m always careful. ” She says, leaving the place with Cherry, hoping antibiotics would be enough to save her baby’s life. It has to be enough.

If it is the only way Mr. Stache had in store to tell her what to do, he could have avoided.

By the time she is home, she hears screams coming from the appartment next door. Wheein is screaming at someone. Yet, the only thing Young-sun can think about is the well-being of Cherry.

She does not pay enough attention to recognize the other voice coming from her neighbor’s apartment.

Jongdae’s voice.

A/N : thanks for your kind words ♥ I hope you enjoy this chapter as well ! (and sorry for the angst, I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME)