Yujin wouldn’t necessarily say she ‘hates’ cats, but she hates them. They’re selfish, narrow minded, and they take a dump in a box. They only care about themselves and they claw at everything in sight and they're narcissistic and have those strange, bothering, judgmental eyes, and did she mention they’re selfish?

She can remember very clearly the gashes left on her leg and hand when she left her aunt’s house when she was six. They ran bone deep. Sometimes she still has war flashbacks to that day— her name was Percy. Percy the Persian.

“Yujin.”

Yujin hums, eyes closed, and face placid as she gives the steam from her tea a chance to wash over her lips. She tries to push those memories to some shrouded corner of her subconscious and not dwell over why they suddenly popped up to the forefront of her mind.

“I have my Christmas list of things to get.”

“So?”

“So?!” Wonyoung squeaks indignantly, and Yujin can hear a paper crumpling before the couch is dipping beside her. “So read it!”

Yujin would argue— oh, how she would love to ruffle Wonyoung’s hair— but she slipped on ice earlier and bruised her elbow, plus end of the year exams are coming up, she’s really not in the mood to study nor is she planning to anytime soon, so she just wants to relax and watch tv with her girlfriend. And maybe repay her for the tea she made as soon as she saw Yujin limping in (that was after the “Ahn Yujin, are you cheating on me?!”), after all Wonyoung makes the best tea.

“Let me see it.”

The paper feels too light when Wonyoung pushes it in her hands, her expectant eyes the first thing Yujin sees when she opens them, and her suspicion grows. Something is off about this. “What?” She asks innocently when Yujin eyes her, like she’s making sure Wonyoung isn’t going to pull something dangerous out of her pocket.

Yujin doesn’t reply and decides to just look down at her wish list and— “no, absolutely not.”

“Yujin! Please?”

“No, Wonyoung, we’re not getting a cat. You know I hate them.”

“Please!!!”

“I just said I hate cats Wonyo.”

“But I love them.”

“So?”

“So why are you being a big fat meanie to me?” Wonyoung pulls out the heavy duty: her pout.

Yujin’s ultimate weakness.

“Stop doing that.”

“But I want a furry kitten that can cuddle with me—”

“You mean claw you to death?”

“—when you’re at the university and I’m sitting here so lonely waiting for you to come home. Yujin, I need a mini you. I love you so much that I need you at home 25/8.”

“It’s 24/7.”

“Potato tomato. Smart .” Wonyoung makes a face at her girlfriend, a childish one that causes Yujin to roll her eyes. “I just really need a cat to fill the void of your presence. It's so boring without you, and I know a cat can’t make up for that, but a cute fluff with wide eyes have always been able to soothe my loneliness.”

Yujin sighs at the words and leans back until her neck is resting snugly against the back of her couch, taking her own sweet time crossing her arms and pulling her legs up on the couch, feet warm and cozy in aloe-infused socks. “I just wish…” She starts and stops, letting Wonyoung lean forward to hear her murmur before continuing, “I could warn every single person in your school, in the world rather, not to fall in love with you. It really .”

“Can I take that as a yes, Yujinie?”

It was a yes.

♡

Wonyoung comes home with it the next day, white and grey fur fluffed around its face and body, barely longer than Wonyoung's open hand but much taller. “I thought I was supposed to get you the cat for Christmas,” Yujin says from her spot in the kitchen, frozen to the floor because wow that’s a cute kitten and she’s not supposed to think kittens are cute.

“I figured it would be a bother for you to go down to the shelter and pick one out,” Wonyoung replies without looking up, nails scratching away at the kitten’s head to make it purr and rub up against her fingers.

“Well good, then. You were right.”

“Listen Yuj,” she says almost immediately after, almost like she wasn’t even listening to Yujin in the first place and she narrows her eyes, “I left all his stuff down in t