“I’m really sorry about your mum.” Mina sighed as she pulled a tabby cat onto her lap. The cat only stayed as long as she was holding it, though, and made a leap for freedom the moment Mina picked up her drink. You shrugged, trying not to move too much so as not to disturb the small black cat on your lap that had fallen asleep there.

“It’s alright. I shouldn’t have expected to be free just because I moved out.” You sighed, flicking a feather around for a nearby tortoise shell cat. It batted angrily at the feather before jumping back and staring expectantly at the feather. Cats. They were so silly, but so cute. Being surrounded by them always made you feel a little better.

“Thanks for bringing me here, by the way.” You’d been a little worried Mina might drag you to the host café again, but she hadn’t. From behind her grapefruit soda, Mina smiled at you.

“Of course! I know you miss Mort.” She put her drink down and sighed, leaning on her hand as she gazed at the guy manning the shop. “Plus, the view isn’t so bad here, either.” She gave you a conspiring wink. You felt your cheeks heat up, but decided not to say anything. While the barista/cat-minder was tall and handsome, he wasn’t talkative or flirty. He gave you the sense that you might comfortable exist in the same space without having to ever interact with him, which was rather relaxing in its own way.

“I do miss Mort.” You decided, glancing down at the black cat again. This one looked quite a lot like Mort, except Mort was already quite old and had a white speck on his chest. Mort was short for Mortimer, a name chosen by your mother, but since cats don’t really listen to names you ended up just calling the little guy Mort. He’d always been there to comfort you, and you missed the way he bawled loudly at you in the middle of the night. Mort was the only one who got away with breaking the rules.

“Are you going to get a cat of your own when you graduate?” Mina asked, turning her attention back to you. There were droplets of water on her drink. It must be quite cold. You shrugged again, and watched the small cat stretch itself out luxuriously. To your relief, it settled back down quickly.

“If I can find an apartment that’ll let me have one. If I even get that far. She talked about my aunt again.” You poked at the straw in your drink listlessly. Mina’s face darkened and she scowled, gripping her drink so tightly the metal of the can bent slightly.

“I get that she’s your mum, but she sounds exhausting. I don’t think you should do the internship. I think you need the time to focus on your courses as well as to continue developing. She’s kept you locked up for as long as she could and now that you’ve escaped she’s just trying to find a bigger cage.” She paused and put her drink down, sighing. “I’m sorry. I know it’s hard for you to say no to her.”

Not just hard. It was impossible. Even though she said she understood, you knew that Mina didn’t really understand. Mina had two older brothers, she was used to the power struggle and it’d prepared her for dealing with her parents. You’d had… A cat. And occasionally there’d be a hired help. Neither of those were much help in standing up to your mother.

“I wish I could. She just worries because…” Your excuses were cut short by the clear ringing of the bell and a man stepping inside. A man both you and Mina recognized. She nearly squealed, and you nearly had a heart attack.

As you were desperately hoping that he wouldn’t see you, and argued to yourself that he wouldn’t recognize you even if he did see you, Mina excitedly waved at the host as soon as he even vaguely looked in her direction. It was fine, you told yourself as the red haired man happily approached. He’d seen you twice, and he’d been working. He probably didn’t even realize what’d been happening between you and Heejun, and even if he did he’d probably think it was just Heejun’s normal behaviour.

“Hey Mina! It’s been so long since I’ve seen your pretty face, did you abandon us for cats?” His tone was playful, but you noticed Mina’s face was flushed as she rushed to defend what must be her honour in this situation.

“No way! I just got busy with uni, classes are a pain. I’m just out here because it cheers up my friend!” She helpfully patted you on the shoulder, as if the man couldn’t guess who she was here with. He fixed his eyes on you, then smirked. You pleaded with him mentally, something he seemed to relish in.

“You should be careful, Mina. Your friend has been charming Heejun quite a bit.” His voice dipped slightly, and you felt threatened.

“What? No, I haven’t!” You replied, a little too quickly. Mina raised an eyebrow at you, then narrowed her eyes. She’d put two and two together.

“The guy you know… Is Heejun?” She asked. You wished you could drop off the planet right then and there. An agonizing silence fell as you tried to string words together in a sentence.

“I told you I didn’t think he liked me. I’m sure he’s just being nice because he thinks it’ll make me become a regular.” You eventually came up with. Mina didn’t seem convinced, but neither did Heejun’s fellow host.

“Inseong, I need a favour.” Mina asked, still looking at you as she addressed him. “Please tell Heejun to leave her alone, for her own sake.” Her eyes were burning into you as she spoke. A part of you wanted to protest, but that part rapidly shrank as Mina continued to stare at you. That’s right, a dim voice said in the back of your head, back to normal. The way it should be. People don’t pay attention to you. It’s unnatural and weird that Heejun did.

Inseong glanced between Mina and you, eventually settling on you. Now there were two people staring at you, one of them mad the other one… You weren’t really sure what Inseong was thinking, but he looked as if he might have realized that he made things awkward.

“I’m sorry, I was only teasing. Heejun…-” He tried, only to be interrupted.

“I’m sure he thinks he’s being very sweet.” Mina sighed and broke eye-contact. When she looked at you again, her expression had softened to a rather sad one. “You’ve been through a lot with Jaehyun. Are you sure you’d want to date someone whose job it is to flirt with other women after…-”

Mina interrupted herself and smacked her thigh, scaring a nearby cat away. Your chest felt strangely cold. She was right. Of course she was. Mina knew so much more about the world than you did. You’d dated exactly one guy, and it ended about as well as a car crash. That woman came to mind again, and you shook your head.

“I told you he’s not really interested.” You said again, almost to defend yourself. You couldn’t be that weak. “And I’m not stupid. I’m not that stupid, anyway.”

“He is really interested in you.” Inseong said, unhelpfully.

“Can I tell him what happened? I think he’ll understand.” Mina asked, reaching over to squeeze your knee. You nodded mutely, despite feeling your stomach trying to turn itself inside out, and heating up. There was nothing to be ashamed about, you told yourself. But it didn’t feel that way. In fact, it felt just like it had when it happened.

“Her boyfriend, who was her first ever boyfriend,” Mina probably said it that way to make a point to Inseong, but it still made you squirm uncomfortably. “Was all sweet and nice, and really the charm to ask her out. And then, after he spent months of winning her heart, he just broke up with her to get back together with his ex, because he wasn’t over her. Do you understand why I don’t think she should date Heejun?”

Her voice was cold. You had the feeling she was a lot more upset with Jaehyun than you’d ever been. Of course it’d been sad, and it’d broken your heart. You’d felt used, especially when he’d gone back to her immediately after breaking up with you. And there was a sense of anger that it didn’t work out, but you couldn’t be mad with him. At least Jaehyun had been honest, and he’d told you the truth.

“I understand why you’re concerned. I’m sorry Mina.” Inseong shifted uncomfortably. “And I’ll tell Heejun. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s playing around.”

“Are you sure that helps? He’s her favourite waiter. Host.” You corrected. It was almost funny. Inseong twitched uncomfortably, but Mina let out a snort. Then broke out in giggles.

“That’s what you were worried about?” She finally managed between giggles, patting her chest and taking a quick sip from her drink to calm herself down. “Here I am, worried about your mental health, and you’re worried you stole my fake boyfriend. He’s a host, I’m well aware he gets paid to flirt. I’m concerned about what a player like that could do to your heart.”

“My heart is not that easy to win.” You protested.

“Please.” Inseong and Mina replied at the same time. Grinning, she turned to him to exchange a high five. You pursed your lips and crossed your arms before immediately uncrossing them when the small black cat opened its eyes. You cooed at it, petting it gently in the hopes that it might lie back down, which it eventually did.

“She’s hopeless. You should see the way she smiles when they’re texting each other.” Mina beamed at Inseong, who seemed excited at the turn the conversation had taken.

“Oh you should have seen her when she was alone with Heejun. I didn’t think people actually blushed that visibly, but she does! She’s absolutely smitten.” Inseong grinned, giving you a wink. You chewed on your tongue, hoping a snarky remark might appear on it.

“But I still think you should give Heejun a chance, because I see what he’s like when he’s texting her. And if he doesn’t treat her right, I’ll personally make his life a living hell.” Inseong placed a hand on his chest, taking on a solemn expression as if he was swearing his soul away. Your face cracked and the smallest smile slipped through.

“Well, it is your choice. Just be careful, alright? And if things don’t go well…” Mina paused, “we’ll always have the cat café.”

At that exact moment, your phone buzzed.