She knows that the right thing would to be to ignore it, but after the tenth tap on the window, Jungeun can’t help but bite her lip, her drive to ignore the little stray calico kitten lightly tapping its tail against the glass weakening more by the second.

“It’s not going to work,” Jungeun says, mustering up her confidence to try and reason with the small creature. “I’m not going to let you in.”

The response she receives comes in the form of a slight tilt to the kitten’s head, as if it’s confused with her statement— not that it can really understand her in the first place, but the thought is nice.

“I can’t let you in,” Jungeun repeats firmly. She just moved into this homey two-story condominium literally last week, meeting her – frankly – gorgeous roommate who had graciously helped Jungeun bring all her stuff in, and Jungeun’s not about to go adopt a kitten behind Jinsoul’s back, especially after the older girl had been so nice to her.

“Yeah,” Jungeun reaffirms breathlessly. She presses a palm up against the windowpane, the glass under the tips of her fingers cool to the touch, and she peers up at the gray sky that’s getting darker and cloudier by the minute. “Oh no… it looks like it’s going to rain.”

“Mew…”

“.”

Running a hand through her hair, Jungeun heaves a deep breath. She’s never been more conflicted before in her life.

These past few days, during their brief intersections as they’d made way for their business around the condo, Jinsoul had let it slip that school’s been pretty stressful recently, and that she’s working on a major research project that she’s been dedicating all of her time to— Jungeun definitely has no intentions of disrupting her, but there’s no telling what this kitten will do if she lets it into their living space.

Jungeun lets out another conflicted groan and pulls out her phone to check the weather.

Oh wonderful— a thunderstorm is scheduled for tonight. Great. Just great.

Thump.

Jungeun looks up to see the little kitten now pressing a small paw against the glass, eyes wide and glimmering with something that makes Jungeun’s heart twinge just a little.

“I am a cold, heartless machine,” Jungeun pronounces, abruptly standing up from her desk and taking a step away from the window. She spins around on her heel, looking towards the far wall, closing her eyes so that she can’t see the petite feline now pushing insistently on the glass. “I see nothing, feel nothing, hear nothing—”

“Mew.”

“I’m so dead,” Jungeun mutters.

She strides over and opens the window without another thought, letting the kitten leap inside, landing nimbly on her carpeted floor without even a sound.

Jungeun sighs in relief. Jinsoul probably didn’t hear that, right? That means she’s safe for the meantime, at the very least, so long as the older girl doesn’t barge into Jungeun’s room or something. Thankfully, Jinsoul’s never done that before and probably isn’t going to start any time soon, so maybe both Jungeun and the kitten can keep their tails tonight.

Outside, she hears the faint pattering of droplets on concrete, and Jungeun can safely assume that the rain for tonight has started. At least she’d gotten the kitten out of the elements on time, before it had gotten wet, because Jungeun definitely would not have liked the smell of wet cat in the room, and Jinsoul probably wouldn’t have either.

“Okay, listen.” Jungeun picks up the kitten carefully, as though afraid that she’ll accidentally squish it, before placing it on the plush comforter of her bed. “You can only stay in here tonight.” She watches it pad around in circles on her bed, presumably looking for the most comfortable spot to plop down onto. “And only tonight, you hear me? This is a one-time thing! During the next thunderstorm, you’re heading over to our neighbors window and hoping that they’re just as kind as me—”

“Mew!”

”… You’re hungry…?”

“Mew…”

“Oh gosh…” Jungeun shakes her head, pacing back and forth. “I’ve never taken care of a cat before in my life! What on earth do they even drink…? I’ll just… get you some milk or something…” Jungeun awkwardly steps towards the door, only slightly terrified of leaving the kitten alone. “Stay put, please…”

And with that, she dashes off to the kitchen.

--

Jungeun’s pouring milk into a bowl when she hears footsteps from behind her, and she’s not exactly sure what’s worse— that she can already tell that the footsteps she’s hearing aren’t from her newly acquired kitten, or that they are from Jung Jinsoul.

All attempts at playing this off as her simply pouring milk into the bowl before the cereal get flung out the window when Jinsoul pipes up from behind her, laughter laced into her tone.

“Y’know, you shouldn’t really give cats milk to drink,” the older blonde quips helpfully, and Jungeun freezes.

Slowly, she turns around.

“H-how—”

“Mew!”

She’s stunned into a stuttering mess the moment she sees Jinsoul standing directly behind her, only a few paces back, a knowing, effortlessly amused expression twinkling in her eyes. The taller girl is cradling the little kitten in one arm in a much more natural fashion than Jungeun could’ve ever anticipated, looking like she’d been raising kittens her whole life.

And god, holding the feline, Jinsoul looks much cuter than she ever has any right to be.

Perhaps Jungeun’s heart skips a few beats, and maybe she feels go dry with the way Jinsoul’s eyes crinkle up into pairs of perfect crescent moons with the way she smiles. It’s unfair how gorgeous she is, really. Entirely unfair.

“This little lass ran into my bedroom and crashed into my foot when I was trying to rearrange my desk layout. I wasn’t aware we had adopted a pet,” Jinsoul jokes, gently lifting the kitten.

“W-we didn’t!” Jungeun stutters, wisely choosing not to dwell on Jinsoul’s use of the word we. Words come pouring out of in some rushed, hasty attempt to explain their current situation. “There’s a storm tonight, and this kitten was at my window, and it—” She, Jinsoul helpfully supplies, “—she kept hitting the glass with her tail and pawing at my window, and god, Jinsoul, I’ve got such a weak heart, and I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you that I let her in, it’s just that I knew you said that you were working on that big project and that it was eating up all your time, and I didn’t want to disturb you, and I didn’t even know if you liked cats—”

“Whoa, slow down!” Jinsoul laughs, and Jungeun is still frozen, even as Jinsoul easily closes the distance between their bodies, taking four steps towards Jungeun to rest a comforting hand on the shorter blonde’s shoulder.

“No need to worry about me anymore,” Jinsoul says soothingly, and Jungeun lets the older girl’s calming voice rush over her, let her realize how unnecessarily paranoid about this entire thing she’s being. “I absolutely love all animals, Jungeun! They’re a big reason as to why I’m majoring in Biology!”

Jungeun lets out a sigh of relief. “Thank god… and your project?”

“I finished my project around noon today, so I’m free! At least until my professor dumps another one on us, but y’know, we just won’t think about that.” Jinsoul winks.

“That’s great!”

“Mew!”

“Oh, that’s right,” Jungeun says, finally remembering why she’d dashed to the kitchen in the first place. “I was going to get the kitten something to drink, but um,” she motions to the bowl of milk, “As you can see, I’ve never taken care of a kitten in my life.”

“That’s fine,” Jinsoul chuckles. She passes Jungeun the kitten effortlessly, pausing to fix the younger girl’s hold on the small creature, and Jungeun thanks her in a soft voice, blushing when she meets Jinsoul’s gaze. Jungeun will never admit that Jinsoul’s touch lingers on her skin, even after Jinsoul’s pulled away, rinsing the bowl and filling it with fresh water.

A minute later, they’re both sitting at their dining table, watching the little kitten lap eagerly at her bowl of water on their tiled kitchen floor.

“What’s her name?” Jinsoul asks with a small smile, turning her attention from the cat to Jungeun.

“I didn’t come up with one,” Jungeun mumbles, manages to pry her gaze away to attempt to look Jinsoul in the eyes. “I thought that kind of thing makes you too attached or something…?”

Jinsoul hums, bobbing her head from side to side, like she’s listening to her favorite song.

“I suppose so,” Jinsoul muses thoughtfully. Then a wide grin on her face breaks out. “But I mean, who cares? There wasn’t a collar on her, right? The poor baby is underfed… I don’t know, I mean, might as well enjoy the emotions life throws at you, yeah?”

It’s Jungeun’s turn to laugh. “I guess that’s right. What would you name her, Jinsoul?”

“I don’t know,” Jinsoul admits with a light laugh. “Let’s give it a bit?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Jungeun nods. “So… why can’t cats drink milk?”

“Oh!” Jinsoul’s eyes light up like a kid in a pet store being handed their first ever goldfish. “Cats are actually lactose intolerant! They get sick from the lactose in cow’s milk, so you shouldn’t feed them that. You can get a special milk supplement for cats from the pet store, but only as a special treat and whatnot.”

“Whoa…” Jungeun can’t help but marvel. “It’s so cool how you know that!”

“You learn a lot of things when you’re obsessed with animals from a young age,” Jinsoul chuckles, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

“Did you ever have a pet?”

“I had a single blue betta fish because my older sisters were allergic to fur,” Jinsoul explains, reclining into her seat with a satisfied smile. “He was my pride and joy, and I took such great care of him! After he died in high school, I decided that animals and wildlife are pretty cool and that I’d enter biology.”

“You’re pretty cool yourself,” Jungeun says teasingly, and Jinsoul reaches across the table to lightly shove her. “I’m serious! It’s awesome how you know so much about animals and plant life and… and aspects of biology that I’m pretty sure I didn’t cover back in high school!”

Jinsoul throws her head back in a laugh, the sound echoing through their shared condo and bringing a wide smile to Jungeun’s lips. Despite the short amount of time they’d known each other, Jungeun’s pretty sure that she’s just discovered her knew favorite sound.

“Perhaps so,” Jinsoul’s eyes twinkle like she’s uncovered the secret to the universe that’s wandered to her doorstep (or windowsill, in this case) and presented itself with a bright red bow. “Anyway, I was going to go out and restock the fridge before the storm picks up too much anyway, since it looks like it’s going to be raining all of tomorrow and the day after as well. The trains have already been shut down for tomorrow.”

“Ah, is it really that bad?” Jungeun’s brow creases, and as if they’d rehearsed it, Jungeun and their kitten friend turn their heads at the same time to share mirror worried glances. Without even thinking, Jungeun stoops down to pick the kitten up— being careful to hold her like Jinsoul had shown.

“Mew…” The kitten’s head droops, nuzzling itself into Jungeun’s chest.

“So… she needs food, right?” Jungeun prods, a hand absently set on petting the little kitten. “Because she won’t be able to leave any time soon to go look for food on her own… and you said it yourself, she’s really underweight…”

“She can stay as long as she wants,” Jinsoul smiles, scooching her chair closer to the cat’s head as well. “I was going to say that I’d pick up some food for her when I run to the store and to fill our fridge for the next few days. By the way, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with, since I don’t exactly know what your favorite foods are yet.”

“I’d love to come with!” Jungeun nods eagerly, before she pauses. “Wait, what about Miu? Are we just going to leave her here…?”

Jinsoul raises a playful eyebrow. “Miu?”

The younger blonde flushes.

“S-she just kept saying mew and it was cute, okay?”

“Hey, I’m not one to judge,” Jinsoul raises her hands in surrender. “I named my blue betta Swish because he went swish! in the water! Now, as for Miu…”

--

“Isn’t this illegal?!” Jungeun laughs, hiding her snickers behind a hand as they race down a supermarket aisle, having just attempted to look as discreet as possible in front of one of the store employees as they’d entered the building.

They’d look sketchier than they’d ever intended, trying not to look shady with a backpack that occasionally moved on its own, but thankfully, the supermarket had been bustling with people trying to grab last minute supplies before the storm, and the blonde duo had been able to slip in undetected.

“It’s only illegal if we get caught,” Jinsoul grins, shifting her backpack such that it’s in front of her. She quickly s the zipper, and a little furry head pops out of the opening.

“Mew!”

“How’s it going in there?” Jinsoul asks, and Miu opens happily, letting out an adorable squeak that has Jungeun swooning. “Good? Great! Don’t worry, we won’t take too long!”

They all freeze at the sound of voices ringing from a few aisles down.

“Hey, was that a cat?”

“Nah, man, couldn’t be, right?”

“Crap!” Jinsoul winces, apologetically coaxing Miu further back into her backpack, and the cat ducks her head back in to hide beneath Jinsoul’s folded sweater. “Sorry, Miu, we’ll be quick!”

--

“Wow,” Jungeun whistles in appreciation, staring down the aisle of cat food products. “That’s… a hell of a lot of cat food. Which one do we even pick?”

Jinsoul shuffles a few tentative steps down the aisle, hoisting her backpack up further. She tips back her blue snapback, peering up and down the shelves in anticipation, a considerate look crossing over her features as she scrunches her eyebrows together.

“I’m not entirely sure,” the older girl admits after another moment of trying to read the labels and deciding that this is entirely not worth it. “My friend, Hyunjin, had a cat who liked turkey flavored cat food, but then again, I think ‘to each their own’ applies to cats as well.”

“I see…” Jungeun frowns, tipping her head to the side. “Okay, um, Miu?”

She receives a muffled mew! from within Jinsoul’s backpack in response.

“You’re a clever kitty, right? I’m going to uh, read out these flavors, and just make a noise or something when you hear something you like. Okay, ready? So how does turkey-flavored sound?”

No response.

“Alright uh, how about tuna?”

More silence.

Jungeun turns to Jinsoul, desperation in her eyes as she mouths I have literally no idea what I’m doing.

Jinsoul giggles silently, motioning for Jungeun to keep going.

“Chicken?”

Yet another round of silence.

Jungeun’s basically begging for Jinsoul to say anything at this point – she’s actually running out of options – but the older girl shakes her head, waving a hand for Jungeun to say one more option.

“Okay, last one! Would you like salmon-flavored food?”

“Mew!”

“Buy it,” Jungeun demands, plucking a box off the shelf and shoving into their shopping cart. “Now let’s get out of here!”

--

By the time Miu’s happily eating her food from a newly acquired proper cat food bowl, Jungeun and Jinsoul are having dinner together at the dining table as well, the rain outside now pounding away at the windowpane, slapping against the concrete.

“Dang, the streets and sidewalks are going to be flooded tomorrow,” Jungeun observes, staring out at the cityscape outside. She flinches at the thought of having to wade through all the puddles. “Good thing all our classes for the next two days have been canceled already, or else we’d be swimming to the university.”

“Definitely,” Jinsoul agrees, before a thoughtful expression overtakes her face, and she places her index finger on her bottom lip, cocking her head. “Well, I mean, how bad can swimming to school be? I love swimming! I think it’d be fun!”

“You might be a fish, Jinsoul, but I’m surely not,” Jungeun chuckles. She takes another bite of the kimchi fried rice that Jinsoul had prepared, humming to herself, pleased, at the taste. It’s the first time she and Jinsoul have actually had the time to eat together, and somehow, everything feels that much more worth it after all that’s gone on today.

“Many fish in the sea, after all,” Jinsoul comments absentmindedly, and Jungeun chokes on her drink.

“What’s that have to do with anything?!” Jungeun sputters out through coughs, pounding a fist on her chest to attempt to clear , and Miu paws the younger blonde’s leg, mewing in concern.

Meanwhile, Jinsoul bursts out laughing, a bit more than satisfied with Jungeun’s robust reaction.

“Nothing, really,” Jinsoul says, grinning, after she’s calmed down. She crosses her leg, propping her arm up on a knee. “Although I guess I was just curious, Jungeun, of whether or not you have a fish of your own.”

Oh my god,

“I… I don’t,” Jungeun says simply, flopping backwards into her seat. She gazes up at the ceiling, wondering how hard it would be to stare a whole right through to the sky. “I used to, but not anymore. And now I’m curious, Jinsoul.”

“Oh, of what?”

The older girl’s tone is teasing, and Jungeun feels the blood rush to her face.

“Are you one of those many fish in the sea?”

Jinsoul’s look softens.

“And if I am?”

Jungeun shrugs helplessly, trying not to get lost in Jinsoul’s eyes as she stoops down to pick up Miu. She places the kitten on down her lap, her fur in a poor attempt to distract herself from her obviously drop-dead gorgeous roommate. She can feel Jinsoul’s gaze on her, intelligent, understanding, and perhaps everything Jungeun’s never known she’s needed.

“Then I guess that’s something that I should keep in mind,” Jungeun murmurs, hugging Miu close and burying her face in the kitten’s soft fur. From her peripheral vision, she sees a stunning, beaming smile spread across Jinsoul’s face, and Jungeun feels warm all over.

--

They go to watch a movie afterwards, and Jungeun finds that they fall into each other quite nicely— all three of them, really.

She doesn’t know how she ended up in this position, but Jungeun’s not really complaining as she buries her head into the crook of Jinsoul’s neck, torn between whether to cover her own ears, or Miu’s as she tries to get away from the sound of screaming from the movie.

“Remind me again why you wanted to watch this,” Jinsoul jokes during one of the movie’s calmer moments. She grabs the remote, lowering the volume before tightening her grip around Jungeun’s waist, pulling the younger girl closer, and Jungeun, for once, doesn’t refute against the skinship. “If you just wanted a hug you could’ve said so!”

“S-shut up,” Jungeun mutters, cradling Miu tighter and motioning to shift away from Jinsoul. “Sorry about this… I didn’t know the movie would be this uh… full of jumpscares…”

“No, don’t go,” Jinsoul whines, and she pulls Jungeun back towards her insistently, massaging the shorter girl’s arms and resting her chin on Jungeun’s shoulder. “Stay! It’s warmer with you here!”

“We’re blasting the heater and we’re already under your fluffy comforter!” Jungeun protests weakly, but she doesn’t move any further away. Instead, she lets Jinsoul draw her back in, lets Jinsoul’s comforting embrace soothe her soul, take her away from the pounding rain outside. “We’re already so close anyway…”

Miu lets out a soft, tired mew before clambering into the space between the two girls, snuggling into the heat from the two bodies.

Jungeun laughs quietly, Miu’s fur with the tenderest of touches. Although she’s not looking, she can feel Jinsoul’s gaze lingering on her, and Jungeun hears her heart start to pound loud in her ears, the blood rushing to her face.

“What are you looking at?” Jungeun mumbles, not finding it in herself to look Jinsoul in the eyes.

Thankfully, the older girl saves her the trouble, a hand coming up to cup Jungeun’s chin and tilt her head up. It’s then that their gazes meet, and Jungeun’s struck by the sheer affection that lies in Jinsoul’s dark brown orbs, the little smile that hints at the corner of Jinsoul’s lips like she knows something that Jungeun just doesn’t – not yet, at least – but maybe Jungeun’s intrigued, maybe Jungeun wants to know more, know Jinsoul more.

“Just looking at a little family,” Jinsoul smiles tenderly, and Jungeun all but melts into a pile of mush.

Yeah, maybe it would be nice to sink into the floor right about now.

“There’s going to be a lot to do,” Jinsoul continues, musing her thoughts out loud. “We’ll have to get more cat food, for one. We’ve got a food bowl, but we should get a water dispense for her too, y’know? And probably a cat bed, since cats enjoy being solitary sometimes too, and Miu will want her own space—”

“Wait,” Jungeun’s eyes go wide with excitement, but she keeps her eager voice down to a whisper, afraid to wake the little kitten up. “Jinsoul, you don’t mean—”

“I think you know what I mean!” Jinsoul chuckles, reaching out to push back a stray lock of hair that had fallen into Jungeun’s face amidst all the shifting.

“We can keep her?!”

Jinsoul beams.

“Absolutely!”

“Jinsoul, you’re the best!”

And if Jungeun hadn’t already had a sleeping cat on her lap, she would’ve launched forward to lock her arms around Jinsoul’s neck and pull her into a hug— she’s just stunned that she’s been blessed by the best roommate in the world. Unfortunately, there is a kitten asleep, and while they’ve only been a little family for a day, Jungeun’s a bit too infatuated with Miu to dare do anything to rouse her.

So Jungeun just settles for the second-best thing instead:

She plants a quick kiss onto Jinsoul’s cheek, lasting less than a second, and by the time Jungeun’s pulling back, Jinsoul’s staring at Jungeun in utter shock, not quite comprehending what exactly just happened.

But oh, how satisfying it is to see Jinsoul’s face be the incredibly red one for a change.

And Jungeun’s more than positive that there will be many more changes to come in the future, both near and far. She and Jinsoul just adopted a stray kitten on something a lot like a whim— there will be trips to the vets, and more checks around the neighborhood to make sure that Miu doesn’t actually have an owner, and then even more vet trips, but something tells Jungeun that both she and Jinsoul are a bit more than prepared to tackle those.

And, well, while Jungeun’s not one hundred percent sure whether anything will change in her relationship with Jinsoul, Jungeun does know that she’s a tad more than a little bit in love with her older roommate. She hasn’t told Jinsoul that yet, but she gets the feeling that Jinsoul’s pretty aware— and that’s okay, in all honesty.

Because Jinsoul is kind, and understanding, and more intelligent than she lets on. She can read Jungeun like a book, and based on their interactions from today, Jungeun thinks that Jinsoul’s somehow managed to like everything she’s read so far; a little more should be fine.

There’s a lot that’s going to happen, and Jungeun’s sure that her head will spin if she thinks too hard about it, so instead, she closes her eyes and relaxes further into Jinsoul’s hold, listening to Jinsoul’s steady heartbeat as the older girl hums the tune of a song that Jungeun swears she knows but can’t remember, and she falls into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.

End.