--

Heejin was panicking. Cold sweat was running down her forehead as she frantically ran around the house, her sweat starting to ruin her face makeup as she made sure everything was perfect, incomplete order for both Hyunjin and Yerim. The two said girls both stood by the couch, watching Heejin become a complete loonatic as she ran around the entire house for at least five times now, constantly checking and making sure everything was perfect and safe for Hyunjin, just how it should be. She even called Jiwoo and basically yelled through the phone if she did anything wrong despite Jiwoo's constant reassurance that everything was completely fine, which it was, Heejin was just so cautious. Yerim watched Heejin with a hint of worry, if Heejin didn't stop now, she might just be wasting more time in this than trying to find a job. Yerim sighed and gestured to Hyunjin.

"We should probably do something before she falls and breaks everything or something like that," Yerim stated to Hyunjin who nodded in response.

"Aeong!!!" Hyunjin shouted out to Heejin who finally stopped running upon hearing Hyunjin and finally managed to take a breather. Hyunjin proceeded to crawl towards Heejin and headbutted her leg like before while purring, reassuring Heejin that everything is fine. Heejin sighed deeply before bending down and patting Hyunjin.

"Heejin, everything is going to be fine, I'll be taking care of her, I'm quite good with pets! I even took care of a fruit bat once!" Yerim exclaimed.

"I guess so, I was just so worried about leaving Hyunjin, she gets frequent headaches whenever she does anything remotely human," Heejin explained with a sigh.

"Hmm, I can understand why you're feeling this way, I would be too. Just know that you finding a job and paying your rent for a place for both you and Hyunjin to stay is more important right now, once that is over then put Hyunjin as your top priority," Yerim reached out and patted Heejin's shoulder.

"You have a point, I'm just wasting time, thanks Yerim!" Heejin beamed, finally going off to gather her things and prepared to leave.

"Bye Yerim! Bye Hyunjin, don't forget me," Heejin scratched the back of Hyunjin's ears before finally walking out through the door to begin her search for a job which she should have done so an hour ago. 

Once the door had closed, Hyunjin faced Yerim who was beaming a bright smile, Hyunjin swore she was almost blinded by the brightness.

"Hyunjin! We're gonna have so much fun together!" Yerim exclaimed.

"Aeong!" Hyunjin replied with the same enthusiasm. 

"Aeong? Is that all you can say?" Yerim asked softly, more to herself then Hyunjin. Hyunjin paused, Hyunjin hadn't managed or tried to say anything other than aeong, could she even? How though? 

Hyunjin led out a loud whine at Yerim's words, feeling rather down and weak for not being able to communicate. Yerim heard Hyunjin's whine and started to panic, immediately running and getting down on her knees to comfort Hyunjin.

"Hyunjin? What's wrong kitty?" Yerim asked with concern.

"Aeong!" Hyunjin continued whining. Yerim, unfortunately, has no idea what Hyunjin wants or needs.

"What is it, baby? What do you need? Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Hyunjin shook her head, getting irritated that she couldn't voice out her thoughts, Hyunjin gestured to Yerim and then to herself but Yerim still couldn't understand what she meant. Hyunjin opened and closed , she started to breathing heavily, she was trying to force out words out of in hopes Yerim could understand her, Yerim was starting to get extremely worried, Hyunjin looks like she trying to vomit, trying to force herself to puke and she started panicking if she will actually puke.

"No, no, no! Hyunjin! Don't do that, it's okay! Just don't puke!" Yerim frantically spoke, holding on to Hyunjin's shoulders and reaching out a hand below Hyunjin's chin. Thankfully for Yerim, Hyunjin stopped. Hyunjin was confused, she wasn't trying to puke, she was trying her best to speak, did she looked like she was trying puke? How do you speak?

Questions were running through Hyunjin's mind as she tilted her head and looked at Yerim curiously who was sighing in relief that Hyunjin stopped.

"What was that for Hyunjin?? You almost scared me to death!!" Yerim exclaimed. Hyunjin lowered her head, feeling rather ashamed to have scared such a bright being.

"Oh, no, no, it's okay Hyunjin! I'm fine! Just, Just don't do that again okay?" Yerim assured, Hyunjin nodded in response, Hyunjin decided to just drop on trying to speak, for now, it looked like she was going nowhere with it any time soon, she'll just have to wait until something happens or she manages to discover it herself. Only time will tell.

They spend the rest of the day having just having fun, from messing with Heejin's things but making sure not to break them and put them back properly where they belonged to watching shows and movies or whatever came up on the TV, they even went to where they started teasing Heejin and her anime like room, anime posters and merch were everywhere in her room so they had a lot to tease about, mainly Yerim doing the talking and Hyunjin agreeing and sometimes joining in by actions.

Yerim made sure to teach and tell Hyunjin about the dos and don'ts around the house, like whatever she does, she must never chew on the electricals cords or knock or break anything off any counters and especially teach her to never jump up on the kitchen counter. Hyunjin acted basically like an actual cat but knows how to understand others and is able to watch the TV apparently. Unfortunately, Yerim will probably never get used to Hyunjin, said girl got scared when her tail swung around too much and hit her face by accident by her face movements everywhere, said girl didn't even know that it was her tail in the first place. But she was cute so Yerim led it slide.

Yerim also makes sure to take notes around the house, how it can be improved or arranged to benefit both Heejin and Hyunjin through Hyunjin's behaviour. Hyunjin was a very mysterious and very playful cat, she was completely unpredictable. Once during their time together, Yerim had to go for a quick bathroom break, leaving Hyunjin on the couch. When she came back though, Hyunjin was no longer on the couch but instead on leaning on the closed window sill and playing with the window handle, one wrong move, the window will open and Hyunjin would be off meeting gravity and god. Yerim immediately sprinted over and had to force Hyunjin off the window, said hybrid didn't want to let go of the handle as she was not done playing with it yet. Yerim set a reminder to herself to scold Heejin for not having rinds against her windows.

Yerim could only see Hyunjin as a curious cat, always looking around her surroundings and playing with whatever looks playable and could bring any form of entertainment. And so, Yerim had to force and pry her off many things she wasn't supposed to be on or play with, electrical cords, outlets, the very weird looking anime figure Heejin had displayed on the top shelf(Yerim can forgive Hyunjin for being curious with that as it also confused her.) and almost knocking the whole shelf over and so on.

Many things happened in just one day but nonetheless, there was an improvement in Hyunjin, Yerim only needed to scold her once and Hyunjin would actually obey and never do it again. However she still has her stubbornness, whenever Hyunjin had set to mind on something, whether it be playing with it or whatever, she would never let go, at all. Hyunjin would cling onto whatever and be determined for it to never leave her side. Yerim would either have to bribe her or occupy Hyunjin with other things to distract her and let go.

Although Hyunjin had her attitudes, Yerim still loved her. Of course not in the way Heejin loves her but as in friend basis. Yerim would especially love it when Hyunjin would crawl onto her or snuggle with her, Heejin is really lucky.

Speaking of Heejin, Yerim could only guess Hyunjin's DNA was mixed with a domestic cat's, all the signs were obvious, Hyunjin would do things normal cats do. It broke her heart when she saw Hyunjin crowding around the door and meow loudly from time to time, like a cat calling for its owner, Hyunjin misses Heejin. 

One take back that Yerim has though was that whenever Hyunjin crawls, Yerim couldn't but stare at Hyunjin's as it swayed side to side.

Could you blame her though? Hyunjin has a nice .
(I'm sorry)

-----------
Meanwhile with Heejin
-----------

After walking for quite a while, Heejin finally reached her destination, Haseul's minibar in which she hopes that Haseul is there. Heejin breathed in deeply and exhaled and into the minibar, it was still day so there aren't many people but it was still rather crowded, there were fewer people here than the last time she visited so she couldn't complain, Heejin approached the bar counter in hopes to see Haseul but was met with Vivi instead. Vivi was Haseul's girlfriend for around four years now, their relationship is strong, she hopes one day one of them will propose soon. Heejin met Vivi when she visited the bar a few years ago and they just so happen to work together, during that time they worked at a different bigger and more expensive bar, Heejin and Vivi got to know each other pretty quickly, all thanks to Haseul of course.

Heejin smiled at Vivi when she noticed her presence and smiled too, Heejin sat down while Vivi quickly finishes making a drink for a customer and went towards Heejin.

"Hi, Heejin, what brings you here? If I remember correctly, you didn't like drinking all that much, even if you did, Haseul probably won't allow it either," Vivi greeted nicely, Heejin chuckled at Vivi's words.

"I'm not here to drink, I'm here to see Haseul, I kinda need a job," Heejin replied, laughing awkwardly.

"Did you get fired from your previous job? How?" Vivi asked.

"Well, uh, an old man was being grumpy, stubborn, annoying and a jerk all at the same time, kicked him in his shin though," Heejin replied nonchalantly as if proud she kicked someone. Vivi could only shake her head at her friend, she had known Heejin was a pushover.

"Well, Haseul is out back in her office, she should be there, I haven't seen her as soon as she entered, tell her to stop overworking herself while you're there as well," Vivi gestured to the door at the back of the bar, Heejin thanked Vivi before heading off to the said door, opening it and walked down the hallway, the loud music and sounds coming from the bar fading as she got closer to Haseul's office at the end of the grey hallway. Heejin, being polite, knocked on the door three times and waited for the approval before opening the door and entering inside.

Heejin had never been in Haseul's office before, it was comfy. Haseul had decorated it nicely but a good amount, decorations are around the entire room but not enough for it to look messy or become an eyesore, Haseul's mom-like nature was just like that. There were picture frames hung around the office, pictures of her family or friends, the office was reasonably spaced, enough to move around. Haseul's desk was packed with stacks of papers, said woman had her glasses on staring hard at a piece of paper she had in her hand and twirling a pen in the other hand, seems like the older was too in her work, she was known to be a workaholic. 

"Haseul?" Heejin let out softly, Haseul quickly snapped her focus out of the paper and towards Heejin.

"Ah, Heejin, what are you doing here?"

"Well I uh, came here because Jiwoo said you could help me in finding a job," Heejin chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her neck.

"Mhm, I knew you'd come here just for that, you're lucky I kept in touch with helpful managers, I already asked them if they have a space vacant knowing you wouldn't last long," Haseul replied calmly, taking her glasses off.

"I'm that predictable huh?"

"Yes, very,"

"Ouch,"

"Anyways, I already have one of the newer managers coming in soon, she called me in desperate need of employment and knowing that I have you, she asked if I could talk to her about it. You came on the right day Heejin, she should be here any second now," Haseul spoke, eyeing her watch. Just as she finished talking, like the amazing person Haseul is, the door burst open, revealing a very young woman dressed in a suit, panting as she held onto the door handle.

"Sorry for my tardiness, something came up last minute and I had to deal with it immediately before coming here," The young woman spoke in between pants and bowed.

"There's nothing to be worried about Miss Shin, take a sit, it's time to meet your new employee," Haseul gestured to the two seats in front of her, "You too Heejin," 

Heejin gulped nervously as she proceeded to sit down on her seat, Heejin managed to peek a glance at the young woman, she was pretty, she had nice features and a sharp jawline. The woman saw her looking a gave Heejin a small but charming smile, which made Heejin flustered that she caught her staring.

"It's good to see you, Miss Shin-"

"Drop the formalities please, I'm not that old, I'm younger than you and we are already acquaintances, calling me Ryujin is fine, please," She interrupted Haseul.

"Very well then Ryujin, meet Heejin, she recently lost her job and is in desperate need of a new one, would you be able to help her," Haseul asked, Ryujin looked intensely at Heejin, smiling widely, her stare made Heejin quite uncomfortable, it was then she wanted this to be all over soon so she could go home and throw her arms around her Hyunjin.

"Of course I can help a fine lady like her out, but I would like to get to know her first," Ryujin stated.

"Of course, the two of you can get to know each other outside in the bar, is that okay with you?" Haseul asked the two in front of her.

"Of course it's fine with me,"

"Heejin? What about you?"

"Huh? Oh, yes I'm fine with it,"

"Well then, Ryujin thank you for making this easy for all of us, we are thankful for your kindness," Haseul thanked her sincerely but Ryujin simply waved it off.

"It's no problem at all! I need new employees anyways, it's a win-win situation for all of us, thank you for having me," Ryujin got up from her seat, bowing to Haseul before opening the door for Heejin, "Come on Heejin, I'll have to tell you about your work,"

Heejin quickly got out of her seat, thanking Haseul and Ryujin before walking out the door, the two walked down the hallway in silence, the silence soon disappeared as the noises from the bar at the end of the hallway came to their ears. Heejin knew Haseul didn't really like noise so she probably requested, Heejin had forgotten to tell Haseul to not work so much but she's sure Haseul wouldn't listen to her and only really listen to Vivi about her health, sorry Vivi.

Ryujin opened the door leading to the bar for Heejin again, Heejin quietly thanked Ryujin before stepping through the door and back into the bar, the two went towards the bar counter where Vivi was still working. 

"Can I buy you a drink?" Ryujin asked nicely with a charming smile.

"I-I don't really drink alcohol," Heejin replied nervously.

"Oh, no worries then, I'll buy you a smoothie then, is that okay?" Heejin nodded softly in response as the two sat down at the counter, Ryujin ordered a drink for herself and a smoothie for Heejin, Heejin wanted to thank Ryujin for accepting her so easily, if she didn't she would have to go through a very long and painful process like before just to get a job.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Ryujin, Shin Ryujin, nice to meet you," Ryujin beamed her charming smile and extended out her hand, Heejin hesitantly shook it.

"My name's Heejin, Jeon Heejin, nice to meet you too,"

"I can tell you're nervous, don't be, I won't bite. I may be new to the business industry but I am no cold-hearted manager, I'm still young so I understand most of my workers' feelings," Ryujin explained calmly, "So tell me more about yourself,"

"I-There's nothing much about me," 

"Oh, come on, sure there is, why do you need a job?"

"I live in an apartment by myself and I really need the money to pay rent and other needs," Ryujin hummed in response, taking her drink in hand when Vivi served their drinks.

"Well, you're in luck, I really need more employees. My business used to be small and manageable but it suddenly gained so much popularity and it started getting hectic, my workers started needing more help in managing customers so here I am," 

"What is your business?" Heejin asked awkwardly.

"Oh, it's the Golden Spring Hotel, heard of it?"

"The Golden Spring Hotel?! Isn't that the recent five-star rating Morden hotel? You manage that??" Heejin exclaimed in shock.

"Yep, honestly never thought it would suddenly get so popular,"

"Well, yea! It is said to be one of the best Hotels ever! I've seen the pictures and they are amazing!" 

"I'm guessing you've never been to the Hotel before," Ryujin sipped her drink.

"I mean, I'm a local so, I don't really need to," 

"Well starting from whenever you want, you will have to come in there and work, the pay is high so don't worry about working your off every day," Ryujin winked. Heejin's jaw fell in shock.

"W-Wait, I get the job already? Don't I need an interview first?!"

"Girl, that was the interview,"

"But you didn't ask me if I am suitable for the job!"

"Well, I assume you're good at cleaning hearing that you live alone and now neatly dressed you are right now," Heejin looked down at her outfit, she was sporting a white polo nicely tucked into her jeans with no wrinkles on her polo, every button was buttoned up, her collar was also nicely folded.

"Well, I mean, I guess so-"

"See? Great, you're suitable for the job,"

"But-!"

"Don't worry Heejin! We haven't confirmed what you'll be working as in the Hotel yet, that will have to wait until you actually enter for work, so don't sweat it man!" Ryujin chuckled while nudging Heejin's shoulder softly. After Ryujin stopped laughing, she composed herself and gave Heejin her business card.

"Whenever you feel you're ready for work, inform me first, well I have to go now, I have a meeting in a few, want me to drive you home?" Ryujin offered.

"Ah, thank you but there's no need, I live quite nearby," Heejin declined politely.

"Then do you need me to walk you home?" Ryujin offered again, finishing her drink and getting up, Heejin following suit.

"Again, thank you but there's no need, you have your meeting to attend to and I have to run a few errands before getting home," Heejin declined again.

"Very well then, stay safe!" Ryujin bid Heejin goodbye and was off first, Heejin bid Vivi goodbye as well before proceeding to go home, Heejin thought she should maybe buy a few groceries before heading home, however, on her way there, she saw a piece of paper pinned to a street lamp, normally, this wouldn't catch her interest however Heejin managed to see something off about the paper that was blowing with the soft wind. Heejin stepped closer, wanted to examine the paper, but as she did so, her eyes immediately widen in shock, ditching her idea of grocery shopping, she ripped the paper off its pin and quickly ran home, clutching the paper close to her chest as she sped off towards her home. 
.
.
.
.

It took a while for Heejin to reach home but when she finally did, she grabbed her keys, unlocked the door and burst into her house, both Yerim and Hyunjin were caught off guard seeing Heejin burst through the door panting, Yerim instinctively went towards Heejin, worried about that has gotten into her good friend, Heejin didn't say anything to Yerim when she asked if she was okay, instead, she shoved the paper she found into her face, Yerim was startled but looked at the paper nonetheless and she too, had shock written all over her face when she read it. Yerim's eyes darted between and still panting Heejin and the paper now in her hand, Yerim set the paper down on the dining table and comforted Heejin, bringing her to the couch to rest.

Hyunjin watched the whole ordeal unfold in front of her, she wanted to greet Heejin when she entered the door but it seems as something has happened so Hyunjin stayed quiet, watching Yerim try to calm down Heejin, Hyunjin also saw the paper Heejin was clutching onto and saw how Yerim's expression changed quickly, Hyunjin hadn't managed to see the paper and was very curious on what it said. Was it bad? Was it about Heejin rent? Did something happen? Hyunjin needed to know.

"What am I going to do Yerim? They are out there! They are out there looking as we speak!"

"Calm down Heejin, as long as we don't involve into anything, we will be safe and unnoticed,"

"But whos know what they could do once they succeed Yerim! "

Hyunjin ignored the two who were in deep conversation, her mind was more occupied about the paper than the obvious worry present in the two of them. The paper was set on the dining table which was quite tall for Hyunjin at a ground level, Hyunjin went over the table and lifted herself up, supporting her weight on her knees and legs as she placed her hands on the table, Hyunjin was able to see over the table but she couldn't see the contents of the paper so Hyunjin raised her hand and placed it on the paper and pulled it in towards her. Now Hyunjin can fully see what was the paper about. 

There, on the paper, in big, bold and red font was the word 'MISSING' and below it in a square was a picture of someone, not just anyone but her, it was a picture of Hyunjin, but without her ears and tail. Hyunjin gasped when she saw her image displayed in front of her, her eyes glued to her own features.

Then it all happened all at once.

A powerful sting pain hit her head as hard as a moving truck, making her close her eyes and fall back on the floor, a long ring sounded loudly in her ears, she started to feel numb all over, she started to feel dizzy, her vision was starting to get blurry. She managed to make out to figures looming above her, their lips were moving frantically but no sound was heard, the loud ringing in her ears had completely blocked all the noise, everything was happening slowly for Hyunjin, she could hear her own slow heartbeat beating in her ears and her head. Hyunjin tried to open but nothing was coming out of it.

Then she saw something.

It flashed through her eyes but she knows she saw it. Her mind started to shut down as she saw it again, this time it stayed and played in front of her, it was like watching a movie, the sounds started to echo through her head as she feels the familiarity that was playing in front of her.

Hyunjin saw herself, in her own perspective, she was strapped down on a table, the writs, her ankles and her neck were being forced down by metal and preventing her mobility, she was whining, crying, shouting out for the desperate need of help. It was then a painful slap was landed on her right cheek, successfully shutting her up.

"Be quiet you brat! Don't make this harder than it already is!"

That voice, same as everything else, was familiar, it had happened before, it was all replaying again. A sudden hatred burned throughout her body at the voice of the man in a white suit peering down wickedly at Hyunjin, seeing how helpless she was now in his control. He was wicked. Before Hyunjin knew it, in his hands appeared a syringe, with a yellow liquid in its container and was approaching Hyunjin, Hyunjin saw the syringe and could easily guess her fate, she started to struggle again, but she knew by then it was all hopeless, her attempts were all useless, Hyunjin never had the strength to break free metal, it was impossible.

The man started to laugh hysterically seeing Hyunjin struggle for nothing, he slapped Hyunjin again and grabbed her arm forcefully.

"This is only hurt for a while,"

Without warning, the man harshly plunged the syringe into Hyunjin's arm and pressed the liquid down, Hyunjin started to cry out in pain, tears were streaming down her face as her chest and heart felt heavy, she was having difficulty breathing. When the man finally pulled the syringe out, Hyunjin was already feeling dizzy, everything around her was already blurry.

"What did I ever do to you?!" 

That was her own voice, she used all her energy just to shout at the man, Hyunjin heard her voice again, it was airy yet pleasant in some situations, just not this one. 

The man laughed maniacally again, clutching his stomach due to the intense laugher.

"Absolutely nothing! You were just unlucky, how unfortunate, this is what happens when you never listen!"

Hyunjin suddenly felt a pain rushed to her head, it was powerful, unbearable, it was as if something was inside Hyunjin's head, trying to force its way out, using a sharp weapon to try and pierce through and out of Hyunjin's skull. Another pain shot through her abdomen, Hyunjin desperately wanted to circle her arms around her, unfortunately, she couldn't. Hyunjin could feel everything draining out of her body, her colours, her feelings, her memories, her soul. 

"You're sick!"

Hyunjin shouted for one last time, feeling her energy draining out, she had no choice but to lose, give up on her fight. With one final look at the laughing man, she let the pain take over her entire body, letting her heavy eyelids finally close as she fell unconscious.

--

"Hyunjin!"

Hyunjin was finally snapped out of her trance, Heejin was hugging her tightly with Yerim beside her, Heejin was crying and Yerim was on the brink of tears. Everything started to clear for Hyunjin, the ringing stopped, the pain in her head stopped, her vision got clearer. Hyunjin smiled weakly, her energy was drained. Hyunjin hugged Heejin back, startling Heejin in the process. Hyunjin brought her lips to Heejin's ear mumbling something before she fell unconscious.

"H-Heejin....."

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Author's note:

Sorry for taking so long to update, I kept playing this new game I found called War Dragons and Minecraft that I lost track of time so here's a longer chapter for y'all. I enjoyed writing this one.

Thanks for reading!