Fall was in full effect now and Heejin was loving every second. She had climbed out of her window and sat on her rooftop enjoying all of the colors that whipped past her every time the wind would blow. Heejin would try to match the colors with the multiple paint cards she had stolen from the local art store and would take note whenever she’d find a close enough color.

While she was scribbling something down on the thin yellow paper she notices something from the corner of her eye. Lifting her head, the wind blows once again sending an array of leaves through the air and Heejin wasn’t the only one enjoying it. Honey Bun was down on the street jumping around shuffling leaves between their paws. 

Heejin smiles at the site and thinks it would be a nice painting if she could capture the shot. Crawling back through her window she quickly searches for her camera. It was an older one but it always did the trick. Laying down her paper and folder of paint cards she grabs the camera and turns to jump back out the window.   

But she’s surprised when she’s stopped by a fuzzy feline now perched on the window seal. Heejin freezes and takes in the cat’s appearance. It seemed interested in what she was doing with its head tilting to the side in curiosity. Setting her camera down she holds out her arms, sometimes Honey bun liked to be held and other times Heejin would receive a new scratch on her hand. She didn’t mind though, the cat was allowed to have its boundaries. 

Much to her pleasure though the cat crawls into her arm and Heejin carries it back onto the roof with her. She sits down and places Honey Bun in her lap. The cat stares as she begins to talk. Heejin always loved talking to Honey Bun even though the cat never talked back. But somehow she felt as if it listened to every word she said. 

An hour later the sun starts to get a little hot and Heejin has more than enough colors wrote down on her shopping list. Honey Bun is napping in her lap now just soaking in the afternoon rays without a care in the world. The cat looked entirely too peaceful and Heejin didn’t really want to wake it up. But she really needed to get to the store though before Seulgi closed. 

Shaking the feline lightly it rumbles a bit and she feels the vibrations against her hand. Heejin shakes again and the cat wakes up. The girl giggles when the cat stretches out its mouth opening wide to show its sharp teeth. It still looks half asleep and Heejin pets on the small ears. Smiling when Honey Bun meows at her she asks it a question, “you wanna go on an adventure?” She doesn’t get a real response, just a curious stare.

Picking up the cat she carries it inside and flops it on the bed. Heejin is about to undress but stops midway when pulling her shirt off. Turning around she scolds the cat, “Honey bun don’t look!” She was only joking since it was just a cat but it seems to listen to her and leaves the spot on the bed to walk out of the room. Heejin holds onto the hem of her shirt blinking at the action, “hmm weird.”

She finishes changing into a clean outfit and grabs her things. Walking out her room Honey Bun is waiting on her and starts to follow her. Heejin is honestly amazed, “wow you’re one smart cat.” Heejin smiles at the cheery meow she receives. Honey Bun was certainly a unique individual. When she steps out of the house the sun is blearing and it takes a minute for her eyes to adjust back to brightness but as soon as she does she starts her journey.

Heejin has a bit of a skip in her step as Honey Bun stays by her side. It’s a beautiful day with a few people walking around as well. On her way to the art store, she spots a group of stray cats. They’re all lounging in the sun asleep. Her heart becomes warm at the site, especially when Honey Bun goes up to greet them. Getting an idea she looks around the area, thankfully there’s a corner store that Heejin can easily walk to. 

Making her way inside she sighs at the cool air that instantly greets her when she opens the door. She greets the cashier who is actually familiar. It’s Ha Sooyoung who’s flipping through a magazine with her head resting on her hand. The girl just says welcome in a bored tone and Heejin goes about her business. Scanning the small aisles she finally finds what she’s looking for. Cans of tuna. 

Grabbing a few she makes her way to the front and places the items on the counter. Sooyoung sighs and looks up with a raised brow. Heejin is confused when Sooyoung quickly stands up and bows, apologizing for her rudeness. The girl looks a little greasy with her hair pulled into a sloppy bun. She rings the items up quickly and places them into a small bag, “ah I won’t need that.” 

Sooyoung freezes and grabs the bag, telling Heejin the total. The girl pulls out her wallet and hands the cashier the exact change before heading out. With food in her hand, she runs back to the group of cats. They’re all curious of her while Honey Bun comes to rub up against her leg. There’s three of them. There’s a small calico one, it has big eyes and has a scarred ear. Another one is sleek and grey with cute whiskers and a black spot on its left cheek. The biggest one that is fuzzy has blue eyes that seem to sparkle.

Heejin has never seemed to see a group of cats as peculiar as these. Opening the first can of tuna they stampede towards her meowing up a storm until she flops the contents on the ground. She empties out the other three cans as well and squats down to watch the cats gobble the food up. Honey Bun only stands to the side, “Hey Honey B are you not gonna eat?” The cat wiggles one ear as it turns its gaze towards her.

The cat strides over and climbs onto her back. She raising her brows when it comes to peek over her shoulder. Lifting her hand to pet it, she giggles when it starts to purr, smushing its paws into her shoulders. Leaving the cats to feast she picks up the cans and heads back to the corner store after telling Honey Bun she’ll be right back. Walking back in she gets the same monotone greeting. Clearing she asks, “um do you have a place where I can throw this away?”

Sooyoung snaps her gaze back up from the magazine. “Wait…was that your lunch?” The girl mumbles gross under her breath, Heejin catches it but it doesn’t bother her.

Smirking at the weird stare she’s receiving she only shakes her head, “no there were some cats out there.” 

Sooyoung makes an O shape with her lips, “Oh yeah the strays, thanks for feeding them I usually do after I leave.” Heejin nods. She wouldn’t think Sooyoung would be the type to care about something like that. It was weird to see the girl do anything except break girl’s hearts and win ball games. “Was it three or four of them?”

She’s confused by the question, “hmm only three? Why?”

Sooyoung waves her hands as she stands up to lean over the counter, “there’s usually one missing. It’s brownish with little swirls real cute but also skittish unlike the other three.” 

Heejin is familiar with the description and points out the door, “ahh that’s Honey Bun!  Sooyoung smiles at her. It’s a weird smile, not the kind you would see from a girl like her.

The girl leans over the counter and looks outside nodding when she sees it’s the same cat she’s talking about, “I usually call it toast.” 

Laughing at the ridiculous name she asks Sooyoung the other three names. Heejin notices how Sooyoung likes to talk with her hands. They wave about and flip around as the girl speaks. It’s endearing in a way. “The little grey one is Oli, the one with the fuc…bad ear is Choerry and the fuzzy one, I just call it ugly.” 

Heejin gasps, Ugly was a beautiful cat, “that’s so mean…” Sooyoung laughs and waves her off.

“No, you should see it when it’s wet, like a drowned rat.” Laughing with the girl she tells her to be kind to the creatures. Sooyoung nods at her and wishes her a good day when she starts to leave. When she puts a hand on the door Sooyoung calls out to her once more, “oh and by the way, I can tell why Hyunjin likes you so much.” 

Heejin freezes at the words. Suddenly she wants to stay and ask the girl who just winked at her what she means. Hyunjin likes her a lot? Like what kind of like? Heejin wanted to know but is distracted by scratching at the glass door. Honey Bun is outside, screaming a few meows. She’s never seen the cat be this loud so she lets it in and immediately regrets it.

The cat scurries in and hops on the counter hissing at Sooyoung. The girl screams and backs away knocking into the shelf behind her. Heejin grabs the cat who is still growling at Sooyoung and quickly apologizes before leaving. 

Holding the cat in her arms she scolds it as she holds it up, “what has gotten into you?” Honey Bun only gives her a cute meow, it’s eyes fully blown as she talks to it. Shaking her head she puts the feline back down and continues her trip to the art store.

It only takes about ten more minutes until she finally makes it to the store. She tells Honey Bun to wait outside as she walks in. Heejin takes in the atmosphere. It’s quiet, warm, and it smells like old paints. Looking through the place it’s pretty empty until she spots the skinny woman in the back. “Hey, Seulgi!” The woman with bangs turns around where she was lifting up boxes and such and greets the girl with just as much enthusiasm.

Heejin takes the note paper and hands it to the woman. “Going for a season piece huh?” The store owner asks.

“Yeah, just a little something.” Seulgi nods and disappears in the back. Heejin just strolls through the place and when she sees a display full of tiny bells she gets another idea. She seemed to be full of them today. Grabbing her favorite bell she jingles it to see if she likes the sound. It’s perfect so she goes to see the next item.

She finds the leather band she was looking for and waits for Seulgi to return. About five minutes later the woman comes bustling out the back with a brown paper bag. Heejin follows her to the front where she sits it down, “is that all?” Heejin shakes her head and holds up the items she picked up while waiting.

“Can you make this a bracelet or maybe into a collar?” Heejin wasn’t too good at crafts. Her specialty was sketching with painting be a close second. Seulgi raises a brow and Heejin pleads with her eyes.

The woman huffs and pushes her bangs back, “fine give me thirty.” Heejin jumps up and down excited for the gift. Seulgi goes straight to work after putting on some oversized bifocals and turning on a lamp at the counter. Heejin watches impatiently as the woman whips up the little trinket. Seulgi is a fast worker so it doesn’t actually take her too long to fix it up.

Holding up the finished product Seulgi gasps when it’s snatched from her hand. Heejin stares at the leather collar dangling the small bell that was threaded into the middle. Smiling she thanks the woman and grabs the paper bag before running out of the store.

Seulgi stares at the still open door and then at her cash register, that was at least forty dollars’ worth of paint. She flops onto the counter and groans, “kids…” 

Heejin is bouncing around as the cat gives her a menacing stare. She yelps when it bites her ankle for no reason. Honey Bun is whipping their tail back and forth with angry eyes. Heejin puts a hand on her hip, she cannot believe the attitude she is receiving. 

Lowering the bag down she points at the cat with furrowed brows. “Stop biting me…why are you being so mean?” Honey Bun meows cutely, making the anger disappear from Heejin’s veins. Twirling the collar in her fingers she shows the cat the gift. The bell swings between them, chiming every time Heejin moves. Taking it slowly she brings it to the cat’s face and stops. 

She doesn’t want to get bitten again. Honey Bun is still calm so Heejin continues her efforts and manages to squeeze the leather around the cat’s head. At first, the feline doesn’t react, only staring at the new accessory. Then it all happened at one and Heejin has five new scratches and is chasing after a cat that is freaking out.

Heejin swears she’s never seen such abilities, Honey Bun is flipping backward and forwards sideways, north, west, south, every direction imaginable. Heejin finally gets a hold of it and tries to soothe it. Thankfully after a few minutes of ear scratches she has it purring. “There it’s not so bad right?” Sitting the cat down she picks her bag back up.

“Come on let’s go home Honey B.” The cat meows now used to its collar. Heejin smiles and starts her journey back to her humble abode. She knows the collar was a great idea when she hears the jingling as she walks. Looking down at her feet the cat sticks right to her like glue. 

“It’s just me and you huh?” Heejin hums. 

When she’s almost home it’s when she realizes how dark it’s gotten despite it being midday. She freezes as thunder rolls. Heejin needed to hurry home quick or she and Honey Bun were going to get soaked with rain. Picking up her pace she notices something different about her walk. She didn’t hear the bell. Heejin jerks her gaze to the ground, “Honey B?”

The cat isn’t there. Spinning around she looks all over the area but the cat is nowhere to be found. She couldn’t help but be disappointed. Continuing her journey her steps drag a bit, different than the bounce than before. Honey Bun was her best friend but maybe she wasn’t exactly the felines.

“Maybe it’s just me today then.”

The thunder rolls only one more time before it starts to rain.

…

Heejin is finishing her painting when she sees lighting crack outside. It’s not an ideal setting for her to have a relaxing session but it would have to do. The stormy weather provoked another kind of emotion in her. It gave her a more serious tone. It made her lines a lot sharper and the colors were contrasting against each other. 

The girl guesses she can be finished for the day when she accidentally uses the wrong color. Heejin sighs at the mistake and starts to pick up the area. This was her third evening working on this piece and it was probably the hardest she’s ever done. She’s a bit frustrated and tired, ready to just go home. Sitting the palette in the sink she feels a buzz in her back pocket.

Pulling it out she smiles at the caller ID. Hyunjin was different in many ways including her preference of communication. She’s never gotten a text despite sending tons to the other girl. She wonders if Hyunjin doesn’t know how to or just doesn’t like to. Answering the call she sing-songs the girl’s name and only gets a short hum in response.

“What are you doing?” The girl’s voice is a little shaky. Heejin looks at the clock, it was only a little after five so Hyunjin must have just got off of practice.

Heejin tucks the phone between her ear and shoulder and starts washing the paint off the wooden palette, “hmm I’m in the art room finishing up cleaning.” This was the first time Hyunjin has called her this early. It was usually late at night. Hyunjin stays silent on the line so Heejin keeps the conversation going, “how was practice?’

“Didn’t have it.”

Heejin freezes, the water continues to run over the palette, washing out all the color. That’s probably why she got the call so early. Hyunjin must have been bored.  

Laughing she asks her, “What are you doing then silly?” 

“Watching you.” Heejin freezes again but this time it was because she felt a chill down her spine. Turning around slowly the hairs stands on the end of her neck when she sees the shadow in the corner in her eye. “Boo.” Heejin jumps when a scary voice blows in her ear and drops her phone screaming through the whole room.

Her eyes are tight shut, tears are threatening to the spill out of them. “You almost dropped your phone but I caught it.” Opening her eyes her vision is still blurry. Hyunjin is standing in front of with a big smile on her face. The girl steps closer when she starts to cry but Heejin pushes her away.

“You’re such a jerk why would you do that!” Hyunjin laughs and pulls her close to put her phone back into her pocket. The contact much to Heejin’s disappointment doesn’t last too long. Hyunjin apologizes sweetly and backs away. The athlete had a sweet smell as always. 

Wiping the tears from her eyes she frowns at the girl now wandering about the art class, looking at the various projects. Heejin starts to follow her after she turns the water off. She could just clean it tomorrow. Hyunjin lets her fingers glide across the desks as she smirks at Heejin who is still a little upset from the prank scare. 

Hyunjin makes her way to Heejin’s painting and stops right in front of it. Her back is turned so Heejin can’t see the girl’s reaction but the silence is a little frightening. Chuckling nervously she makes her way to the girl and stands beside her. It’s the portrait from the other day. Of Honey Bun playing in the leaves. Heejin hasn’t seen the cat since that day. It had been storming every day so she guesses it doesn’t really like the rain.

Heejin hums as she explains, “it’s just a little moment from a few days ago. I’m trying to paint the scene but it’s not turning out so well.” She scratches at the back of her head when Hyunjin doesn’t even blink. 

Suddenly there’s a tiny noise that Heejin doesn’t notice before as Hyunjin points at the small object in the center, “is that Honey Bun?” 

Heejin smiles, “hey yeah!...wait how did you…” Blinking she tries to recall any time she’s ever told Hyunjin about the cat. She swears she’s never mentioned it, not to anyone. The cat was kinda a secret. So how did Hyunjin know about it? Did Heejin not remember telling her? What confuses her, even more, is the hand pointing at the portrait. On the wrist, there’s a small leather bracelet, with the same bell as…

Honey Bun’s?  

The thunder crackles and both of them jump at the flickering lights. Heejin still heard the bell jingle despite the thunder booming but when she looks down it’s no longer on the girl’s wrist. Is she going crazy? 

“We should go before it gets too bad.” Heejin nods and lets herself be dragged by the taller girl out of the room. Heejin is glad Hyunjin grabbed her backpack and shuts the lights off because she was too dazed to think straight.

The hallways are dark and Hyunjin’s hand is sweaty. It’s tightly gripping her own. Heejin wonders why the girl was acting so weird. Why she seemed so scared. They make it outside and it’s dark, really dark. The wind is blowing like crazy and Heejin can feel the moisture in the air. It was definitely going to start raining soon.

Hyunjin starts walking out into the parking lot, “come on the bus stop is not far from here.” Heejin nods and follows the girl. She’d follow Hyunjin anywhere if she could.  

There were only five minutes into walking and the final crack of thunder brings the rain. It comes hard too, so hard that it hurts. Heejin screams as she starts to run hand in hand with Hyunjin. It may have been cold and dark but Hyunjin’s hand keeps her warm.

By the time they make it to the bus stop, Heejin is giggling and soaked to the bone. Her clothes were heavy on her body and so was her heart. Stepping under the shelter her teeth start to chatter. The sound of rain had a pang to it now do to the metal roof. Heejin turns to Hyunjin and laughs out loud when she senses how pissed the girl is just by her face.

“Come here.” Heejin demands and Hyunjin only glares at her. Taking the angry face in her hand she rubs at the chattering jaws, trying to warm them up. Heejin smiles as she looks the girl in the eyes. The same almond-shaped eyes that she had made contact with all those years ago. The ones that she had fallen for.

Heejin stares into them, the world feels muffled around her at this moment. Much like the night after the ball game. Then the only thing that was in her head was the buzz of the street lamp. Now it was just the sound of pouring rain and how soft Hyunjin’s cheeks were. 

Stepping forward, a little closer she shakes but not from the cold. Hyunjin’s eyes soften and it gives her an idea. Probably the best idea she’s ever had. Pulling the girl closer she lifts on her tippy toes and puckers her lips.

The kiss is right between Hyunjin’s furrowed eyebrows. She didn’t like how they were so crinkled. Hyunjin has her eyes closed, her black hair sticking to her face and a few water droplets running down her skin. Heejin wipes the stray droplets away with her thumbs. Hyunjin groans when Heejin pinches her cheek a little, “that’s it?” 

Heejin knows what she means and calmly stares at the girl who had just fluttered her eyes opened. Internally she was freaking out. Did Hyunjin actually want her to kiss her? Heejin didn’t know if she had the guts to do that. The cheek kiss and this one was already a lot. She’s sure she’d have a heart attack with a real kiss.

Ignoring her body going into mush she focuses on the girl’s eyes again. They’re filled with so much affection Heejin doesn’t know what do to but tell the girl she’s been crushing on for years the truth, “Kim Hyunjin…I like you so much.”

The girl smiles and brings her hands to cover Heejin’s, they’re so much larger than hers covering them all the way up. “I know you do Jeon Heejin.”

Heejin doesn’t say a word and just watches as her hand is pulled from Hyunjin’s face and folded into the large and warm hand. Slowly she’s pulled into a tight embrace. The kind where it was so warm, like freshly clean blankets. She melted into the hug and she had predicted it right when she thought she’d fit perfectly into Hyunjin. They were perfect for each other.

Laying her head against the girl’s chest she listens to the slow heartbeat. The extremely slow heartbeat. She was so tightly wrapped around the girl she didn’t notice how heavy she was getting. Heejin just thought it was the overwhelming feelings of love. She never wanted to stop holding Hyunjin, she’d have to be pried off.

Arms that were wrapped around her shoulders slowly slip down and hang at her sides. The girl gets heavier and heavier and Heejin doesn’t know if she can hold her up any longer. “Hyunjin?” Heejin stumbles as the weight gets unbearable and she slowly drops along with the athlete. Pulling back she gasps when the Hyunjin’s eyes are closed and she’s completely limp.

Had she passed out? Smacking the girl’s face gently she tries to wake her up but it doesn’t work. Heejin starts to panic as she holds the girl against her trying to warm her up. Hyunjin’s body was starting to get cold…too cold for her liking and she could barely hear the heartbeat. Heejin quickly pulls her jacket off, the girl flops over onto the concrete. Throwing the coat over the cold body Heejin starts to rub all over trying to bring the heat back in.

The crack of thunder begins again and Heejin notices the three shadowy figures under the shelter. They tower over her and Hyunjin. Turning her head her eyes widen at the site. 

Three girls, all with black hair just like Hyunjin’s all under an abnormally large umbrella. It was like something straight out of an anime that Heejin liked to binge on the weekends. The one in the middle steps forward. Heejin gasps when she notices the girls…are a bit different.

The one on the left has long white whiskers, her hair is straight and shiny. was in a pout kinda shaped like a triangle. The one on the right had a birthmark on the side of her face with cute pointed ears. They looked entirely too realistic, especially how one of them had a bite mark scar. The one in the middle was beautiful. Her hair was fuzzy and all over the place, but her eyes stood out the most. They were bright blue…with sharp pupils?

They start walking towards them and Heejin scoots away. Afraid of the girls. They get close to the girl who was curled up on the ground passed out from the cold. The middle one bends down and lays the back of her hand against Hyunjin’s cheek. The one holding the umbrella snaps it down and covers them. Heejin panics when it starts spinning rapidly, “hey wait!”

Heejin crawls forward but with the crack of thunder the umbrella is lifted and all four girls are gone. They disappeared in thin air. Heejin quickly stands and starts screaming. What had just happened? What was going to happen to Hyunjin? Who were those girls and why did they take her? Where did they take her? 

Was she going to be okay?

Heejin panics and starts looking around but there’s no sight of them anywhere. Looking towards the sky she watches as dark clouds start to spilt. The sun slowly creeping out and the rain easing up. 

But the stormy cloud in Heejin’s mind was still booming. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little bit of fantasy yeah? This fic is based on Dallae for those who asked and unfortunately, there are only two chapters left. Anyways thank you and enjoy!