Dara is one of the humans I have been living with for sometime now. Well it has not really been that long but I feel like I have known her forever. There have been a few artists in residence here before but none had taken an interest in me like Dara has. She even does sketches then paints me on canvas. She brings me treats when she gets home from her workshops or doing art en plein air.

I know Dara is a cat person—I often see her pet cat Dadoong on videocalls—but she keeps painting a particular fluffy white dog with someone I suppose is that dog's human. She actually completed a whole series of artworks of the same human-dog pair based on literary works for her exhibit. I don't really know them except my favorite one which is based on Antoine de St. Exupery's Le Petit Prince.

Do you know that part about the fox asking to be tamed? In a way that was what happened between Dara and myself. I am not exactly the friendliest cat, but she has tamed me. I know she is going to leave yet I allowed her to get close, and I know the time is near because her exhibit is closing in a few days. That means her residency is ending. So I try to make the most out of our time left together by staying close to her whenever she is here. I sleep on one of her bags when she is not. Yes, I'm territorial like that.

Dara has just picked up a phone call and based on her facial expressions I know that something big is up. Too bad I could not hear the person on the other line clearly. Dara's questions came one after another:

“What time did he get there?”

“What did he ask?”

“Has he left?”

“Did he mention where he is staying?”

“Lasta! What do I do?!” Dara asked me after she hung up. Then she dialled a number on her phone. A videocall.

“Ya, Lee Chaerin! Did you do something I didn't know about?”

“Dara unnie! Have you guys met?”

Dara gave Chaerin the eye, the one that meant “you are going to pay for this big time.” Chaerin was not backing down.