Jungae is a reliable, trustworthy employee. She’s only been with the company for a year, but Minseo took notice of her right away. Since their first meeting, Jungae has gone out of her way to claim her boss’s attention.

And Minseo has no idea why. For the longest time, she just accepted that the primping, touching, and compliments were just a cat thing, but there are other cats on the team, and while they’re just as personable, they don’t gravitate to Minseo and find any excuse to invade her workspace—”I thought the room needed fresh flowers, sajang nim.” “There’s nothing worse than dead pens, right, sajang nim? Let me test yours to replace them.” “Sajang nim, would you like some tea? I made a fresh pot.”—or stand at such a proximity that should be uncomfortable but is rather warm and even comforting, sometimes.

It seemed rude to call her out on it, and it’s nothing to report to HR. Minseo got used to the brush of a tail across her leg rather than flinching at its ghostly presence and noticed how cinnamon ears will rotate when she laughs.

Somewhere along the way, it all flowed into routine. Minseo looks forward to going to work and seeing how Jungae’s tail will still and gently rise to an easy curl as she approaches to greet Minseo.