The past several weeks have been horrible for Heejin. It was raining none stop. Not the pretty sprinkles or just showers but downpours were the water hurt. Every day she had come to school soaked to the bone and it was starting to get cold so she would freeze until she warmed up in chem class by bringing hand warmers and a fuzzy blanket. It seemed everyone was getting ill from the weather. 

Another thing was someone had been missing since the rain came. Someone important. Heejin has cried every night over Hyunjin, she was so worried about her.

She hasn’t spoken to her any and she hasn’t come to school at all. Heejin wasn’t the only one worried. Sooyoung had come to her and asked where the girl was. Her friends were starting to talk too. What had happened to Kim Hyunjin? It was a mystery and what was even more confusing was no one could find her.

Of course, the teachers started to get suspicious so the police had gone to the address and come to find out the residence Hyunjin had put down was an abandoned orphanage. Heejin started to get scared. What if she never saw Hyunjin again? What if those girls took her away forever? Where was her family? Who exactly was Kim Hyunjin?

Heejin didn’t really know what was going on and many nights she couldn’t sleep. Every day she’d ask the police for an update and they would just shake their heads in disappointment. Heejin hasn’t been able to eat, talk, focus or anything. She couldn’t even bring herself to paint which was usually what she did when she was upset. But all could think about is her friend and where she could have gone. 

Her friends were too occupied with their own lives. Jungeun was with Haseul and they were busy making up for lost time. Jiwoo had suddenly become a cheerleader and was busy with practice and it left Heejin…alone.  

It was the first time she’s been alone in forever. Her two friends had split off and Hyunjin had gone missing. Heejin’s best friend had gone missing also. She thinks she’d be able to handle it all if Honey Bun was here with her but the cat has been gone for weeks too. It was all so upsetting. Heejin had become the loneliest girl in the world once again, but this time it hurt way much more.  

Because last time she started out with no friends, this time she had lost all of them.

But after weeks of sadness, she found a friendship that she would have never expected. Apparently, Sooyoung had taken the disappearance hard as well. The whole basketball team did but especially Sooyoung. At lunch, the girl even started sitting with her instead of the team because she said it wasn’t the same without Hyunjin. Sooyoung had asked Heejin to tell her things about the missing girl because she knew they were close.

Lunch was awkward because Jiwoo clearly had a bit of a crush on Sooyoung. Every time the girl would do something she would giggle, even when it was a gross burp. Jungeun and Haseul, however, didn’t really appreciate the new addition to the table. Sooyoung would talk to them as she and Haseul had never dated. Like normal friends. Haseul would be polite of course and Jungeun would get jealous over everything. 

It was safe to say Heejin wasn’t surprised when Jungeun and Haseul started to sit with the student council. Heejin could also say it hurt her feelings quite a lot when her friend had picked Haseul over her and Jiwoo once again. But Sooyoung was there. And despite the rumors, Sooyoung was really nice when she didn’t want to get in your pants. 

When Heejin would get lonely she’d make her way to the corner store just to talk to Sooyoung who was always flipping through some magazine or fashion catalog. Like today, Heejin had her rain boots and coat on and was making her way to see Sooyoung except today Jiwoo was with her. The girl was talking her head off and Heejin couldn’t believe she could hear her over the downpour.

Walking to the corner store she shakes off the water while Jiwoo is still blabbering. Heejin notices that Sooyoung isn’t behind the counter and she raises a brow when the girl peeks over it and gives her a fearful look. “Hey, Sooyou-umf!” Heejin clamps a hand over the girl’s mouth when Sooyoung starts to freak out.

The older girl reaches out to pull them around the counter and makes them crouch down. Heejin is confused and so is Jiwoo but the girl is a bit louder, “why you got us down here is there robbers?” Jiwoo whispers out and Sooyoung shushes them. The girl is shaking a bit and Heejin can tell she’s afraid, but what of? “There’s a really pretty girl in here.” Heejin scoffs at Sooyoung.

Suddenly there’s a deep voice that calls out to them, “hello? Is anybody there?” Sooyoung grimaces and then hopes up. So does Heejin and Jiwoo. The youngest of the three gasps when she sees it’s the girl that took Hyunjin along with the other two. The girl recognizes her and smirks. Heejin notices that her pupils are still sharp and the color of her eyes are bright blue. When she looks at Sooyoung though her pupils blow up to where her eyes turn black.

The other girls have something covering their weird abnormities. The girl with whiskers had a mask on and the one with ears had a hat covering them. Heejin wonders if they’re actually still under there. The one with the mask puts down at least ten cans of tuna and looks at Sooyoung expectantly. The one with now black eyes pouts at the cashier, “we don’t have any money but we’re really hungry.”

Sooyoung opens and closes like a fish and the one with the hat laughs at her. Jiwoo perks up and pulls out her wallet, “I got it!” The two smile and the one with a mask just glares at the auburn haired girl. Jiwoo gives Sooyoung a ten since the cans were only 75 cents a piece. All of them giggle and take them. Three for each of them and they start to eat them right there.

The cashier is still shaking as the girl’s started to devour the cans. Unfortunately, the one with the mask turned around. After they’re finished they give the cans back to Sooyoung and bow. Heejin was frozen to the spot she wasn’t for sure if she should yell or plead. They had Hyunjin, she knows she isn’t crazy. 

Heejin notices how only one of them spoke, she must be the leader or whatever. As they start to walk out Heejin comes around the counter and once they step outside magically an umbrella appears and covers them all as they start to walk out into the rain. Heejin sprints out after them and forgets to pull her hood back up. The rain already making her head wet. 

“Wait! Please!” The leader stops and looks over her shoulder. Heejin shudders at the smirk she’s given.

The girl turns around quickly and asks, “yes?”

Heejin looks back when the bell to the door rings, Jiwoo is standing there with Sooyoung. “Go back inside I’ll be there in a minute.” At first, they’re skeptical but after Heejin waves her arms to shoo them off they scurry back in.

When Heejin turns back around she jumps out of her skin when the three girls are surrounding her and she’s no longer feeling the sharp tingles of raindrops. Taking a deep breath she looks the leader in the eyes, “where did you take Hyunjin.” 

The girl smirks again, “Hyunnie? She’s fine.”

“But she hasn’t been to school in five weeks!” Heejin snaps back. This girl just screamed evil to her. 

Heejin watches her think for a moment, “would you like to come home with us?” 

She doesn’t get a second to answer because the umbrella is already spinning and all she can see is black.

…

When Heejin wakes up she’s warm and comfortable. Opening her eyes she’s met with another pair. They’re dark and crinkled up in happiness, “Jindori! She’s awake!” Heejin doesn’t recognize the voice but it’s bright and cheery. Heejin huffs when the girl bounces on top of her. “Hey sleepy head wake up I want to play!”

Heejin has a busting headache so the voice is not appreciated, “Yerim you’re bothering her.” Heejin doesn’t recognize that voice either, it’s deep and monotone. It’s the opposite of the other one except for the squeakiness.

The weight is lifted off her as the two start to argue. Heejin raises up to grab at her head groaning out in pain. As soon as the smell of green tea invades her senses. Closing her eyes she sighs out the pain already being lifted but a softer but deeper voice calls out to her, “here this will help.” She looks at the steamy cup in front of her and then up to the owner of the hands holding it.  

Her eyes trail up the arm and she gasps when it the same girl that was just smirking at her however long ago it was. But this time the smile is warm and inviting. “Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you Heejin.” Her eyes widen at her name being said and stares into the girl’s eyes. They’re familiar.

Taking the tea out of her hands Heejin watches as the girl makes her way back into the kitchen. She quickly observes her surroundings. It’s a small apartment with few pieces of furniture but mostly the living room is filled with blankets and pillows. Heejin sees a number of scratching posts but no cats. Scooting around in her seat she blinks at the two girls staring at her.

One of them lurches forward and starts asking her a bunch of questions. What’s high school like? Heejin doesn’t really like it. Are they cute boys? Well not really. Are you allergic to cats? Random but no. It was just off the wall questions and Heejin did her best to not get overwhelmed. Especially with the way the girl’s ears were twitching and no not human ears…the fuzzy ones.  

Heejin can’t help herself but reach out to touch one of them and when she does she screams and drops the tea. It was real. The fuzzy ear was an actual cat ear. Heejin was starting to panic. Crawling up the sofa the girl frowns. Heejin screams again when the girl crawls after her, “w-what are you?” 

The girl stops and her ears twitch. Looking up the other two are staring at her with curiosity. Their heads tilting at her panic. It reminds her of Hyunjin. “We’re only girls.”

Right they were only girl’s after all. Very weird girl’s with crazy pupils, whiskers and functioning cat ears. Just girls. That’s all.

“I guess we should introduce ourselves shouldn’t we?” The girl with blue eyes speaks out and gives Heejin a smile. “I’m Jinsoul.” The gi-…Jinsoul bows and stands back up. Heejin thinks that maybe she’s the prettiest person she’s ever seen. Her hair was in waves and her features were sharp. Her eyes were similar to-

“I’m Yerim nice to meet you!” The one with ears yells out and plops herself beside Heejin snuggling into her side. This girl was extremely friendly and Heejin could tell she could be a great friend.

The last girl who has hardly spoken bends down to pick up the teacup. Think god it was wooden or it would have shattered. “Hyejoo.” That’s all she says as she takes a small rag to soak up the tea she had split. Heejin nods and introduces herself. Heejin isn’t so sure about this one, she’s a bit of a mystery.

Yerim grabs her hand and brings it back to her ears but Jinsoul protests, “Yerim sweetie she might be scared.” Heejin shakes her head and begins to rub on the girl’s soft ears. It seems to surprise Jinsoul and she smiles wildly at her. Heejin notices the canines and how sharp they are. Hyejoo finishes cleaning also and sits beside Heejin. The girl is surprised when the girl asks for head rubs as well. 

Minutes later Heejin has two girls laying their heads on her lap sleeping soundly since her head scratches felt good. She was stuck to the couch and only could watch Jinsoul wash dishes in the kitchen. She was so confused about all of this but for some reason, she didn’t mind it. Maybe she had watched too much anime.

She didn’t care if these girls were cursed, mutant, or even alien. They weren’t bad at all. Hyunjin must be in good hands. Heejin is almost falling asleep too from how comfortable the sofa was. As she’s closing her eyes a deep voice calls out to her, “Heejin may I speak with you for a moment?” Opening her eyes back up she looks at girl in front of her.

Raising up carefully the sleeping girls grumble a bit but go back to snoring, curling up to each other. Jinsoul smiles and takes her hand in her own and leads her to the kitchen. Heejin can smell the cookies and her belly grumbles. Jinsoul laughs a bit and then turns serious all of sudden. She can see the shakiness in the girl’s eye.

Heejin just nods at her to tell her it’s okay. Jinsoul sighs and digs for something out her back pocket. Heejin’s heart starts to beat faster when the girl pulls out the collar she made for Honey Bun. “My sister Hyunjin had this on her, and you was the last person she was with besides us.”

Heejin slowly takes it out of the girl’s hands and inspects it. How on earth did Hyunjin get her hands on this? Unless she was also friends with the cat. Lifting up the bell rings and Jinsoul suddenly grows ears and her eyes dilate to pitch black. Yelping she jumps back and drops the bracelet.  

But when she looks again she guesses the ears were an illusion because they’re not there anymore.

These were Hyunjin’s sisters? Was this her home? Then why did she put her home as an abandoned orphanage? What did Heejin not know about the girl, “where’s Hyunjin?”

Jinsoul stiffens and picks up the bracelet. “I don’t know. I never know where that girl is.” Heejin just stares at the wooden floor. If her sister didn’t know where she was then who would know.

“But I’m afraid Jeon Heejin.” Looking up she notices how the girl’s eyes are glossy with tears. “She doesn’t do well in the rain,” Heejin recalls the day Hyunjin went missing, it seemed as if the girl got sick from the rain. Hyunjin was really missing and she could be anywhere. The fact that it’s been raining this whole time leaves a horrible feeling in her tummy.

Making up her mind she strides toward the living room and starts to put her rain gear back on. Jinsoul quickly patters behind her, “Where are you going?”  

Heejin is slipping on her boot when she answers, “I’m going to find your sister.”

“No, it’s dark and dangerous! You could get hurt!” The commotion wakes the other two up. She wonders if they’re also Hyunjin’s sisters. They all look a bit similar. Heejin chooses to ignore the protests and heads out. 

…

Heejin doesn’t like the rain so much anymore. She’s been walking around town for at least an hour and the rain has not slowed up one bit. She’s been calling out to Hyunjin and her voice is becoming hoarse from the strain. 

Cutting a corner she comes up to the pretty tree she always likes to stop at on the way home. Walking up to it she gasps when she sees a tiny feline underneath it shivering from the cold. It’s Honey Bun and Heejin doesn’t think she’s ever been happier. Running towards the cat she drops to her knees and picks it up to hug it.

Only the cat is limp and cold. Panicking she opens her jacket and sticks the feline inside, “no no no please I can’t lose you too.” Tears start to flow out her eyes mixing with the rain. Standing up she starts to sprint towards her home. She had to get Honey Bun warm as soon as possible. Kicking the gate to her yard open she quickly gets inside and takes off all her gear. Her mother calls out to her but Heejin has no time and makes her way upstairs.

Closing the door to her room she sits the cat down on her bed. The only movement it has is the shivering through its body. First Heejin wraps the cat in a blanket then she grabs a hair dryer and holds it a bit away while she blows warm air on the cat. Half an hour in the cat starts to move again and then eventually it opens its eyes.

Heejin sighs out in relief and drops the hair dryer and picks the cat up in her arms. She starts to cry again when it croaks out a meow. Sniffling she starts to ramble out, “Honey Bun you don’t know how good it is to see you.”

Holding it closer she’s glad it lets her, “I thought I lost you too, you’re my best friend I don’t know what I’d do without you.” The cat meows again and paws at her arm like it were apologizing. Heejin lays down in her bed with the cat in her arms. It starts to purr and snuggles into her chest. She just lays there to think for a while. Her mind is running rapidly at the thoughts of her other missing friend. 

Heejin knows she should be happy that she found her friend and it’s selfish to still be thinking of Hyunjin but she can’t help but plead out, “Honey Bun do you remember the girl I talk about a lot, Hyunjin?”

The cat's eyes dilate, “She’s missing too and I-I c-can’t find her I-.” She chokes out a sob and tries to calm down before continuing, “I’m so scared it’s been five weeks I have to find her.”

Shaking her head she drops the cat to the bed and starts to pace the floor, “I can’t help but feel like it’s my fault.” Suddenly the cat starts to meow like crazy, scratching at her leg. “What if she ran away?” 

Heejin tries to not think of the negatives but all she can see is Hyunjin lost and confused. Her sisters must have taken her back home but why did she not stay? Especially when it was raining like this. She could have even ran away. “I should have waited till the rain stopped or something it’s my fault she’s missing.” Deep down there’s a fear that her confession made Hyunjin run away.  

The cat is pawing at her leg, breathing deeply she speaks out her biggest fear, “what if I never see her again?”

“Heejin no!” Freezing her steps she looks at the hand grasping her wrist. Hyunjin is sat on the floor in all black panting almost with fear in her eyes. Was she hallucinating? Jerking her wrist from the girl’s grasp she starts to realize that Hyunjin is really there.

“Hyunjin?” Her voice is so quiet that she can hardly hear it and she trips on a book and falls to the floor. Hyunjin is starting to panic too and tears start to pour down the girl’s face. “You’re…” The cat was just there but now it’s gone and Hyunjin is in its place.

Then everything clicks, the weird cat-like sisters, Hyunjin having the same eyes as Honey Bun, the girl’s funny antics, Hyunjin knowing odd things about her…the collar. Heejin looks at her wrist with it on. Hyunjin was...Honey bun? But-

“Oh my god…” It’s the second time Heejin sees black that day. 

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One more chapter ;( next chapter will be a little longer because it’s all Hyunjin POV and a little bit of her back story hehe please be patient!