It was a little past eleven, three hours too long than the usual time Shon Seungwan arrived back at the apartment. Being someone who had been watching the brunette’s every move since two weeks ago, Joohyun could not help but wonder what took Seungwan so long. Seungwan had never come home this late—or so according to her observation—and now that she did, that meant there was something Joohyun had missed.

Does she have someplace to go? Does she have a routine she always does every night at that time of the month? Is she meeting someone?

Joohyun was running through different possible scenarios when she heard something from her earphones. A door lock clicking open, a grunt, and then something slammed against the door. Joohyun took off her earphones and grabbed her jacket from the chair. Relax, she reminded herself before she could sprint her way out the door like a mad woman. Instead, she took big strides there while putting on her jacket. She was out of her apartment just in time before the door next to hers closed.

Shon Seungwan was home.

With a kitten in one hand.

“Oh, good evening, Irene.” Seungwan, noticing Joohyun's presence, stopped herself from shutting the door close. “You’re going somewhere?”

Joohyun nodded absently, mind too preoccupied with questions regarding the presence of that small creature to answer her neighbor’s question. She raised one finger and pointed it at the kitten. It acknowledged the curiosity by staring back at Joohyun’s questioning eyes. “Why is that thing…?”

“Oh, this baby, I saw it wandering around the building earlier. It was all by itself so—”

Just then the gray kitten wriggled itself free from Seungwan’s hold and jumped to the floor. It made a sound, barely audible, but Joohyun knew it was directed at her. It was hissing alright, and for a fleeting moment, Joohyun wondered if kittens could sense bad intention in people and such.

The next sound came from Seungwan; she was calling out to the tiny creature but then let out a suppressed grunt. That finally brought Joohyun’s attention to the brunette for the first time, and what she saw surprised Joohyun more than the kitten’s presence. Seungwan was leaping from her position behind the door to catch the kitten, but stopped midway, half-standing, half-crouching, one hand gripping her side. The look on her face screamed pain.

Careful not to step on the kitten, she rushed to the brunette and grabbed her by the arm. She steadied the woman against the door frame. “Are you okay?” The question tasted weird on her tongue, but Joohyun figured that was the suitable thing to ask given the circumstance.

Seungwan let out a breath and offered an apologetic smile at Joohyun. “I might’ve been a bit too careless while trying to save this kitten,” admitted her.

“What do you mean?” Joohyun didn’t wait for Seungwan to answer. She quickly scanned Seungwan’s figure from head to toe. No trace of visible wounds or anything, yet she noticed the way Seungwan was holding her left arm close to her body and the stain of dirt on her sleeve.

The kitten was about to cross the street, Seungwan told her, when she saw it. Perhaps its reflex had not been fully developed, but the kitten had attempted to cross anyway despite a speeding motorcycle coming from its right. Seungwan had rushed to it, grabbing it just in time before it could be run over.

Joohyun listened to the story while pushing past Seungwan’s apartment door and leading the woman inside, the kitten in one hand, and told her to sit. “Where’s the first-aid box?” she asked. (She knew where, she had been in Seungwan’s apartment after all, but Seungwan did not know that.) She came back from the bathroom with it, grabbed a pack of ice, th