I lead a pretty calm life for the most part. Can't complain about drama because there is none. Absolutely nothing happens in the backwoods suburbs. I've lived in this area for a good portion of my life, and it's home to me. So when Umma Guk wanted to move to be closer to family and I didn't want to go along, he helped me find my own place and continues to pay the rent for it because me and job don't go together for multiple reasons.

The building I reside in used to be one big house, but the landlord decided to split it into four apartments, labeled A through D. I had the pleasure of living in the studio that was apartment C. I've lived in this apartment for a few years now, coming up on three. In that span of time, I've only ever gotten to know one neighbour, the old lady who used to live in apartment A.

She was a heavy smoker with bad arthritis and carpal tunnel in both wrists, but she was incredibly kind. As soon as I'd moved in, she was knocking on my door and introducing herself. Park Minjung, and after then, she was all the time giving me her left over food from some healthcare program she was part of because she was just one person and couldn't eat all this food by herself.

Her words, by the way, and I wasn't going to complain about getting free food.

Unfortunately, she was also allergic to cats. Miss Park always ended up in the worst of sneezing fits around me, mainly when she invited me over to give me bags of premade meals. She attested it to the two cats who also lived with me. While not entirely false, I know it wasn't the full reason.

It's because I'm a cat myself. Partially? I'm not sure of the exact family genetics because I never knew my birth parents and was in an adoption center until the age of ten when Umma Guk adopted me. So many complications with that, but that's a story for another time.

The point is that I exude cat because I am cat, so Miss Park was allergic to me. That's also the main reason I can't get a job. People aren't going to hire a strange cat man when there are able bodied normal humans available.

To this day, I still don't know what happened to Miss Park. I went off to go visit Umma Guk for a month, leaving the care of my ragdoll cats to my best friend Jongup, and when I returned, she was gone. The landlord was in the process of fixing it up for a new tenant, and I never bothered to ask what happened.

It's just going to remain a mystery, but I'm going to hope that she just went to go live with her distant family that she'd occasionally spoke about and not the darker alternative that her poor health caught up to her.

I'd only known someone had moved into apartment A when I heard a car door shut and steps on the shared porch. Curiosity overtook me, and I went full cat to sit in the window. Some man, KFC cradled in the crook of one elbow and fiddling with his keys with his free hand.

From then on, I occasionally observed him from the window, when Feta or Gouda hadn't decided the porch window was the one they wanted to sunbathe in for the afternoon.

And if you're asking why cheese names, then I ask you... why not? Hell, when I went to the vet, Umma Guk had me down as Brie so like... there's that.

The neighbour's around my age, give or take a bit. Brownish red hair that fell over his forehead, but the sides were close shaved. Waved at me whenever he saw me in the window, and I guessed he did the same for Feta and Gouda.

But would I ever go out of my way to introduce myself to this man? Nope! I didn't do it with my other neighbours, so this one won't be any different!

I hadn't met the lady in apartment D until I was checking my mail one day, two years after I'd moved here, and I hadn't interacted with her since! The argumentative couple from apartment B, I never met before they moved. As far as I knew, B was still up for grabs with the landlord working on it.

Most people unsettled me, so I think it far better to just hide away and only come out when I'm dragged away for the sake of getting sun and not going stir crazy. This led to a pretty calm life. Only interacting with my two friends, Jongup and Junhong, and my cats... and my friends' cats... and the stray cats that wandered the area...

So cats flock to me, what can I say?

I used to walk to Jongup's house since it was like, a fifteen minute walk if I stopped to admire the rusty railroad tracks and potholes that littered the roads. Eight minutes if I walked like I had a purpose. But I was apparently some kind of beacon for stray cats because me walking meant I got trailed by the stray cats of the area, all of them begging for attention and rubbing against me like I was their favourite person.

Of course, I wouldn't deny them pets and would always give them scratches because I'm not heartless, which also added to the total amount of time it took to get to Jongup's house. Being surrounded by nothing but affectionate cats wasn't a big problem for me and I was used to it.

It was ideal, actually, but that's not the point here.

The problem lay in the pack of wild dogs that also roamed the area. I'd never climbed trees as a kid, but I guess some sort of dormant cat trait awoke the day I was chased up a tree. Had to call Jongup and ever since, I wasn't allowed to walk to his place.

Today was one of the days where I was being dragged out. Well, I say dragged but what I mean is invited over and I wasn't one to deny because I didn't actually do much with my time. Just doodled in sketchbooks and completed word searches, but I could do that anywhere.

Like at Jongup's house!

So here I was, gathering my things together in my purse to music sounding loudly from my phone. Yes, purse, and if you're judging, then I implore you to try carrying a sketchbook, word search booklet, pencil bag, wallet, and phone without something to tote them in. If you can do that with ease, you're all set to judge.

I hummed along the tune, singing the words I knew and grooving around the apartment. I ticked off the boxes on my mental checklist. Beanie on? Check! Tail tucked into pants? Check! Jacket wrapped around waist to conceal tail movements? Also check! Bag with my things? On my shoulder!

When I got the message from Jongup that he was on the way, I began my usual spiel by the door. “Goodbye my kitties, I love you! I'm going to hang out with Jongup for a few hours, okay? Don't have any wild parties! If you have any wild parties, clean up after yourself, okay?” Feta and Gouda couldn't care less, not even lifting their heads from the couch and chair respectively, but I knew if I didn't, they'd freak the out whenever I returned.

It's been proven, actually. Me not telling them where I'm going leads to them going crazy while I'm gone, knocking things over and causing a ruckus. Accompanied by EXTREME howling upon my return. I'm never making that mistake again!

Music still blaring, I opened up the door while humming, and I froze.

“I've lived here a year and a half, and I still haven't met the neighbour. I've only ever seen the neighbour's cats.” The man from apartment A was walking right in front of my open door and down the steps, his friend tailing right behind him.

Nope.

With no thought given to it other than that, I pressed the door closed quickly. Oh my god, what just happened? I'll count myself incredibly lucky he didn't notice me right then! After all, loud music and humming coming from a wide open door was a clear indication that I was standing right there and able to be spoken with. If I'd hesitated in shutting the door, maybe he would've talked to me...

Oh no, that's not up my alley AT ALL!

When I heard the car doors shut, I peered out from my door right as the neighbour was driving off and right as Jongup was pulling up onto the sidewalk. Hurriedly, I locked the door and scurried down the steps and into Jongup's car, remembering to turn off my music at the last moment. “Dude, you're not gonna believe what just ing happened to me,” I started.

“Did you finally meet your neighbour?” Jongup wondered as we pulled away and began the short drive to his place.

“Um, no. But I came pretty damn close to it!” I exclaimed. “I was just about to head out onto the porch to wait for you, jamming as I do, when he comes walking by with his friend. The words that leave his mouth are that he's never met the neighbour, only ever seen the neighbour's cats.”

“No way.”

“Yes way!”

“So what did you do?”

“I, uh... closed the door.”

“This sounds like the start of some crazy romance story, fam,” Jongup snorted.

I snickered and crossed my arms. “Slow burn, 300K. He better be ready to ing woo me, dude!”

“That'd require you to actually meet him,” Jongup pointed out as we pulled into the driveway at his place.

“Not gonna happen,” I insisted.

“Figured as much.”

I huffed indignantly as I slipped out of the car and followed my best friend into his house. The first thing he did was tell his parents what I'd just relayed to him, and they told me the same thing amongst their laughter. When Junhong came over to hang out for a bit before dinner, he said the same thing!

And when I texted Umma Guk? Same. Damn. Thing.

There's no way I'll ever meet my neighbour, especially if everyone thinks it'd be some kind of romance story! I just want to live a peaceful life of solitude with my cats, is that too much to ask for? Romance isn't my thing, and it never will be!

Besides, it's been a year and a half! He's made no move to introduce himself to me before, so why would he go for it now? It's clearly not that important to him to know his neighbours, or else he would've introduced himself to me long ago!

--

Something weird happened while I was sunbathing in the porch window that weekend.

The neighbour got back from whatever it was that he did, bag hanging over one of his shoulders. Once more with KFC, and I briefly think it can't be healthy or cheap to eat that as often as he does. He spared a glance over at me, then down at the porch. Over to my door, over to his door, then back at me. Back at his chicken.

Before I had time to contemplate what it was he was thinking about, he came over to my window and squatted down face level to me, expression unreadable. “What's your owner like?” he asked from the other side of the window, and I could do nothing but blink at him in response.

Why the was he asking about me? Hell, why was he talking to me like I could actually answer him?

At my stupefied blinking, he continued, “I was talking with Jaebeom about it. He thinks the person in C is some crazy old cat lady, but I don't think so. Old people couldn't take these stairs easily! I think your owner is some young adult, maybe around my age. Probably goes to college and is real busy all the time since the car is never here. That's got to be why we haven't met yet!”

He and his friend were... theorizing about me?

Well, he's wrong about most of those things. Except for maybe the age because I don't actually know how old he is other than maybe looks my age. I don't go to college because it's ing expensive and I have no idea what I want to do with my life, the only time I'm busy is when I'm with Jongup and Junhong, and I don't have a car because those death machines are ing scary and I panic at even the thought of driving...

Wait a , what was he getting at over here?

He heaved himself up to the best of his abilities and smiled at me. “Whoever it is, I'd like to meet them one day. Tell your owner I said hello, okay?” With a tiny little wave of his fingers, he strode over to his side of the porch and fumbled with his keys before slipping into his apartment.

What the hell? He says he wants to meet me, yet hadn't made any move to? What, does he expect me to make the first move? No ing way! I'm not going to start a conversation with the guy, even in knowing that he wants to meet me! Talking with strangers isn't my forte, and if left up to me, strangers we'll remain.

So what do I do with this newfound information? I log it away in the part of my brain that's dead set on keeping to myself! If he wants to meet me so badly, he'll do it his damn self.

I loafed in the window and elected to keep this little interaction to myself. I've already been teased enough about the other day, and there's no way I'm going to give the Moons more fuel to add to that fire!

--

A/N:

So like... that brief interaction with my neighbour where he was walking down the porch with his friend to his car saying that comment is what spurred on this ENTIRE story.

Fun fact for y'all: I think my neighbour is actually trying to move away, as the landlord came by with a couple and their kid to show the apartment to them. No, this won't play a part in this story, but like... there's that.

Another fun fact: The song I was listening to when this occured was B.A.P's Diamond 4 Ya.