Chaeyoung knows Mina has been stressed this week. Her eyes lose the usual twinkle; she barely talks, and doesn’t show her gummy smile like before. The older now spends a lot of time locking in her own room and doesn’t hang out with Chaeyoung anymore.

The past few weeks have been beyond great. They fall into a routine like before, no, much better than before since Chaeyoung now can talk and cook for Mina. So it safe to say Chaeyoung is very confused by this sudden change of behaviour.

Mina must be stressed, she concluded, as the girl was complaining about her mountain of work and that stupid colleague. Ugh. Chaeyoung hates the guy before even meeting him. That’s why she doesn’t like men, too aggressive and entitled. Anyway, Mina has been like this for almost a week, which saddens her to no end. She should do something for Mina. Today is Friday and they have a full weekend to rest, and she definitely doesn’t want the next two days with Mina locking herself in.

With that thought in mind, Chaeyoung rushes to her room and digs in her bag. There it is. She knows the scented candles will come in handy. Mina always loves those. Ooh, she’ll go find some herbs in the nearby garden too, a nice herbal bath would be relaxing.

Chaeyoung has everything prepared, a nice warm home cook meal: check; a warm soothing herbal bath: check; scented candles arranged nicely in Mina’s room waiting to be lit: check. She might rethink the last option because it’s quite hot outside. But this is the kind of hot before rain and lit candles are perfect in rainy days.

Her smile soon turns into frown as time tickling by and Mina is yet to be home. She knows Mina is still fine, companion instinct, but she can’t help worrying. Maybe too much work and Mina has to stay back to finish? It’s 9 pm when Chaeyoung stops waiting and starts eating dinner. It’s cold. She’ll heat it up when Mina comes home. The bath is cold too. Some other time, maybe.

Chaeyoung just starts to collect the candles in Mina’s room when she hears the front door open. So she puts everything back in and runs to great the girl. She definitely did not expect what comes next.

***

A blaring thunder slashes across the sky, making Mina jolt awake. She groans and turns from the weird sleeping position that makes her left hand numb. Every muscle in her body is sore. She could only manage to get rid of her work clothes before going straight to bed. Now she wishes she took a proper shower beforehand. Her face feels dry and heavy from the unwashed make up. The bedside clock reads 2 am. Great! Going back to sleep after waking up in middle of the night is not an easy task for Mina. At least her mind is clearer now, after taking a long needed nap. Begrudgingly, she pushes herself off the bed to the bathroom, still clad in only underwear.

She just finished washing her face when rain starts pouring down, strong and loud like bullets firing against the glass door. Finally, the air was so humid and heavy earlier. She has been expecting the rain to come soon. But she didn't expect what comes after. A chain of deafening thunder roaring in the air, making Mina jump on the spot. A thunderstorm! Good thing Mina isn't afraid of thunder, unlike... Oh no, Chaengie!

Mina dashes out of the bathroom, wrapping herself in bathrobe. When she runs across the house to Chaeyoung's door, a flash of lightning tears up the sky, illuminates everything in the living room for a brief moment. Then comes a chorus of thunder, blasting like cannon fire. Seems like the higher up is mad at something. Like Chaengie is probably mad at her. Mina stops in front of Chaeyoung's room, debating if she should check on the girl or not.

She knows, after years of living together, Chaengie is terribly afraid of thunderstorm. She can manage a few thunder before the rain, but with strings of thunder blaring like this. It's a disaster. Mina couldn't forget the first thunderstorm after she adopted the cat. At that time, Mina was afraid of thunder too, so she ran to her room, only to find the cat hiding the closet, shaking uncontrollably. Chaengie was literally sobbing, even when being held in Mina's arms. It's common for cats and dogs to be afraid of thunder, due to their heightened hearing. So whenever there's a thunderstorm, which is rare in Japan, Mina made sure to hold the cat in her arms, do her best to calm the shaking creature. Her fear long forgotten. She must be strong to protect her Chaengie.

Mina isn't sure if it'll affect Chaeyoung in human form that much, but there's no harm to check. So she knocks on the door, calling with a soft voice.

"Chaeyoung!"

There's no answer. She knocks again, this time speaks a bit louder.

"Chaeyoung! Are you okay in there?"

Still nothing.

Maybe the girl is asleep, not knowing about the storm outside, and Mina is disturbing her sleep. She has upset the girl enough today. She almost turns on her heels when another loud chain of menacing thunder bursting through the air, an image of a sobbing tabby cat flashes through her mind. She can't leave the cat like this.

"I'm sorry if you're sleeping, I really need to check on you"

Just a few hours ago she reprimanded the girl about privacy and all that "your room my room" bullcrap, Mina doesn't expect it would come back to bite her in the so soon. Whatever. She pushes the door open, thank heaven it's not locked, and steps inside. It's quiet, too quiet. She turns on the light and stops dead in her track facing an empty bed.

Did Chaeyoung run away after their fight? In the middle of the night like this? Did she go back to her world and decide to never come back to Mina? That can't be, right? They're companion! They are bonded for whatever that is. Coming back or not, it's highly dangerous to venture in the wood at this hour. She can't be on the way and gets stuck in this thunderstorm, right? If she left after they fight, she must have reached her world already. From her stories, Mina knows it doesn't take more than one hour to get to Chaeyoung's world. Who's gonna comfort her when the thunder comes? Jihyo? Does Jihyo hold Chaengie in her arms like Mina always does?

Millions of questions running through her mind, Mina can feel her anxiety creeping in. No, she shakes her head, trying to push it away; she doesn't need to panic right now. She must think clearly. She must be strong. Her cat needs her. What would Chaengie do in situation like this?

Hiding

Mina immediately crouches down to look under the bed. It's dark, but she can make out an outline of a small creature curling like a ball, shaking. She lets out a sigh of relief, at least the cat is here, not somewhere outside. But getting the cat out is another problem; the bed frame is too low for a human to crawl in. So Mina tries her best to coax the cat out.

"Chaengie, it's me, Mina. Come here. I'll protect you from the thunder. Don't worry, come out with me and it'll be fine"

It takes a whole ten minutes of persuasion until Chaengie starts to stir and another 5 minutes for the cat to reach Mina, who quickly scoops the trembling furball in her arms.

"It's alright, I'm here. I've got you"

Mina says as she carries the cat to her room and softly put both of them under the cover. She puts a kiss on top of the furry head and its back to calm the cat down. It does; after a few moments, the cat stops shaking.

"If there's anything you want to talk, I'm here to listen"

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