"You are not going out like that." Sowon scolded, pulling an eager Yerin back from the front door.

   Yerin had recovered from her sickness a few days ago and Sowon was not about to let that situation repeat itself again thanks to Yerin not wearing the proper clothes outside. The weather had kicked into fall-winter mode faster than expected, clouds hanging in the sky most of the week. Umji had wanted to go on a walk with Sowon and both Yerin and SinB had wanted to join them. It was mid morning so Sowon had been surprised that either of them had wanted to get up early to go. Yuju and Eunha were still asleep after all. The pair was snuggled up together in bed and Sowon couldn't resist from taking a picture. Her album on her phone was expanding more and more every day, some of the photos even becoming her phone lockscreen. 

"We just picked out a jacket for you too. How did you forget that?" SinB sighed, bringing the mentioned article of clothing over and handing it to Sowon. 

"I wanna go on a walk with Umji." Yerin whined, squirming while Sowon slipped the gray colored jacket on her. 

"I want to go with you too." Umji took Yerin's hand, smiling at her. "But I want you to stay warm. I don't want to see you sick ever again."

   Yerin was weak against Umji's cuteness, the former ginger kitten leaning down and placing kiss after kiss on the younger girl's face. Umji giggled, clearly enjoying the affection. SinB only rolled her eyes, wrapping a scarf around Yerin's neck as best as she could. Yerin turned from Umji and started to try and grab SinB so she could do the same to her. SinB started to protest, keeping her volume low so that they all wouldn't wake up Yuju and Eunha on accident. Yerin didn't care again as usual. SinB had no other option than to just let Yerin get it out of her system, leaning back a bit but letting Yerin kiss her face over and over again.

"Hey! No biting!" SinB hissed as Yerin lightly chomped down on her cheek like a teething kitten, pushing Yerin's face away from her while the brown haired girl only laughed in response.

"Are you both done?" Sowon sighed, holding the door open for the group. "It's going to be afternoon by the time you're finished." 

  "I'm ready!" Yerin exclaimed, bouncing forward to hold Umji's hand. Umji gave Yerin's hand a squeeze before making her way out the door. SinB was behind them, rubbing at the mark on her cheek from Yerin's teeth. Sowon was thankful that she hadn't been love bitten by any of the former kittens yet but it was likely that it wouldn't be long until Yerin decided to do the same to her too. Oh well. She would put up with it when the time came.

  Though cold, the day was beautiful. Sowon took joy in showing the girls the park that she used to walk by when going to school. She had always envied the groups of families that had been there but today, she was one of them. Yerin was the one to run off again, spotting the playground at the corner of the park layout. SinB had followed, wanting to climb on the castle shaped playground structure with a large slide attached to it.

  Sowon had pointed out the swings to Umji and Umji had quickly agreed to try them out. Sowon pushed the former brown striped kitten on the swing and the air was filled with Umji's happy laughter, her legs kicking up and down excitedly as the blonde sent her swinging higher. SinB and Yerin were play fighting, using some sticks that they had found on the ground as swords. 

"You're no match for me!" SinB yelled, grinning as she lightly hit her stick against Yerin's, being careful to not hit her or break their sticks. "Just give up!"

  "You really think you can beat me? Ha! You wish!" Yerin posed, returning the hit and then stepping back a few feet, extending her hand and giving the other girl a 'come and get me' motion. SinB charged forward and Yerin took off running to various different places on the wooden play structure, only stopping every few seconds to return an attack from SinB with her stick.

  "Why can't they just go down the slide like normal children?" Sowon mumbled to herself before chuckling, giving Umji another push on the swing. Sure, Yerin and SinB were being rowdy but it wasn't like there was a lot of people out at the park at this hour since it was a weekday. It was nice to see both of them enjoying the time out. Plus, seeing Umji so happy on the swing was more than enough to convince Sowon to let Yerin and SinB do whatever they wanted.

  "And now the knight makes her escape!" Yerin yelled before sliding down the long metal slide. SinB wasn't about to let her get away with that. The former black kitten ran and jumped into the slide, following Yerin down. Yerin let out a squeal as SinB came barreling down the slide behind her, trying to get up at the end of the slide before SinB did. It was no use. SinB crashed into Yerin, grabbing onto her and toppling down into the dirt. 

   At first, the only sound Yerin made was a grunt as they both hit the ground. SinB held her breath, feeling worried for a split second that she had hurt Yerin somehow. She pushed back to look at Yerin, panicking as she saw that Yerin's eyes were closed, her body limp. SinB let out a gasp, letting go of her stick to cradle Yerin in her arms. Had she knocked her out? Had her fever come back again? SinB was about to yell for Sowon's help but Yerin's eyes opened. The girl let out a playful laugh, winking at SinB.

"Gotcha." 

"Yerin!" SinB let go of the laughing former kitten and punched her in the arm, using her other hand to pinch at Yerin's cheek. "That's not funny!"

"You should have seen your face! It was so cute!" Yerin kept laughing, using her hands to pull at SinB's cheeks too.  And the war began again, Yerin getting up and running for her life, SinB chasing after her. 

"What are you doing?" Umji had finished with the swing and was watching the two girls chase each other around the playground, Sowon sitting on a nearby bench to watch over everyone.

"Umji! Save me!" Yerin called out, running behind Umji and hugging her tightly. "SinB's mad again!"

   "Don't drag Umji into this!" SinB yelled, trying to get Yerin to let go of Umji. Yerin only squealed again, taking Umji's hand and running off with her. Umji still wasn't sure what exactly was going on but she followed, holding tightly to Yerin's hand as she always did. Sowon continued to observe, waiting for the three to tire themselves out so they could finish their calm, well, what was supposed to be calm, walk. The trio played for another hour on the playground before they did end up wearing themselves out.

"Ready to go home?" Sowon asked as the girls joined her on the bench. Only Umji and Yerin had joined her though. SinB no where to be found. Sowon felt dread forming in the pit of her stomach. How could SinB have disappeared so quickly? She had been there only a few seconds ago. 

"SinB?" The blonde called out, leaving Yerin and Umji to take a break on the bench. Yerin was fixing Umji's hair, commenting on how pretty it was. Umji only returned the compliment, letting her hand run through Yerin's light brown tresses gently. 

"SinB!" Sowon called out again. Was she lost? She dug into her pocket for her phone but the sound of SinB's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Sowon! Sowon there's something here!" SinB's voice was urgent and Sowon was fast in locating her. The younger girl was crouched under the stairs leading up to the castle play structure. Sowon followed her gaze, a small animal coming into view. 

It was a cat. A full grown cat. It wasn't hissing but it seemed scared, switching its gaze between both Sowon and SinB.

  "What do we do?" SinB asked, her tone filled with concern. It was understandable. The cat most likely was bringing back memories from when Sowon had found the kittens in the box that stormy night. Sowon placed a hand on SinB's shoulder, pulling her away from the frightened animal so that she could get a closer look. The cat inched forward a few steps, sensing that it could trust the taller.

  "It looks like it might follow us." Sowon whispered, holding out a hand to the cat. The cat curiously sniffed it before rubbing its face gently against her hand. Sowon thought to herself for a few moments, absentmindedly petting the cat. Then an idea came. Pulling out her phone, Sowon typed with her free hand, trying to find directions to a particular place. There. That would work.

"There's a shelter on the outskirts of town. We can take it there." Sowon pulled back her hand, standing up and gesturing for SinB to join her outside the stairs. SinB obeyed and the stray cat followed them out, meowing. It really was following them. That was good. It would make things way easier this way.

"Is that a cat?" Umji stood up from the bench at the sight of Sowon and SinB coming back to join them with the stray cat following behind. Yerin remained seated, eyes fixated on the cat.

"Yeah. SinB found it hiding under the playground." Sowon nodded, noticing how quiet Yerin was. 

"What's wrong with you?" SinB waved a hand in front of Yerin's face, snapping her out of her trance-like state.

"I can hear her." That statement shocked everyone, the stray cat tilting its head before meowing again.

"What do you mean?" SinB swallowed nervously, Umji coming up behind her and holding her hand firmly. "You mean its...."

"Its like how we were." Yerin finished SinB's sentence, anxiousness clear in her tone. 

   "We need to go. Right now." Sowon became protective in an instant, memories of the witch's message at the mall flashing into her head. She needed to get them out of here. If there was another cursed animal, that meant that the witch could possibly be nearby. Keeping her girls safe was a priority. SinB only took Yerin's hand in response, squeezing it. Sowon bent down, picking up the cat and hiding it under her coat. The cat meowed once but kept still. And they were off again, Sowon scanning the area with her eyes just in case something unexpected happened. 

When they arrived home, Yuju and Eunha were waiting. They both seemed happy to have everyone back home but Sowon's serious expression was enough to signal to the two that something was off.

"Sowon? What-"

  "Take care of Umji. And keep the doors locked. Don't open them for anyone. Yerin and I will be back before lunch." Sowon's voice was uncharacteristically stern, still holding the cat under her coat. Eunha looked like she wanted to protest after being interrupted but she could sense that now wasn't the time for that. She took Umji in her arms, speaking loving words to the clearly shaken up Umji. Umji only hugged Eunha, placing a kiss on the short haired girl's cheek. SinB was busy clinging protectively to Yuju, staring at the door fiercely like a guard dog as Yerin and Sowon left. 

Sowon double checked the door lock, making sure it was secure before handing the cat to Yerin and escorting them both to the car. There had been no sign of anyone suspicious in the park but she wasn't about to take any chances. If someone was going to try and take the girls, they would have to get through her first. Even if she was hurt in the process. 

"Sowon." Yerin's voice broke through her thoughts, her hand placed over Sowon's that was gripping the steering wheel of the SUV with enough force that it was turning the blonde's knuckles white.

"It's alright." Yerin's touch was gentle, though shaky. "No one followed us home. I'll text everyone the entire time we're out, okay?"

  "Okay." Sowon exhaled, the stray cat meowing from where it sat in Yerin's lap. Taking a few deep breaths, Sowon started the drive, her GPS locked onto the location of the animal shelter. She wanted to get the cat as far away from the area as possible. Who knows how long it had been out there or how short it had been since it had gotten placed under the curse? A curse that Sowon, and the former kittens, didn't have a full grip on.

As they drove, Yerin's phone vibrated in her jacket pocket, signaling that a text had arrived.

[kitten<3]: i saw something outside

[yerin]: what???

There was several seconds of no response until Yerin's phone vibrated again.

[kitten<3]: nevermind yuju saw it it was a bird

 Yerin almost face palmed, chuckling at how protective SinB was being of everyone. She would be surprised if SinB wasn't standing in front of the door with her fists up when they got back. Another vibration came from the phone, this time, the message belonging to Yuju.

[pup<3]: Is everything okay? Are you both safe?

[yerin]: we're still driving

[yerin]: ill text you when we get there

[pup<3]: Please be careful. I love you both.

[yerin]: we love you too baby<3

  Yerin smiled after sending the text, relieved that everyone seemed to be okay. She pulled up Umji and Eunha's numbers, typing out a message to Umji first. She had a nickname for all of the girls set as their contact names. Every single one with a emoji of a heart next to it. It was her favorite emoji, each one a different color according to which girl she was messaging.

[yerin]: we'll be home soon okay? keep the door locked. love you 

She sent the same message to both girls, sending two different images of a happy cat with hearts around it that she had found while browsing the internet. Eunha was the first to respond.

[bunny<3]: dont take too long pls i love you too 

[bunny<3]: umji says she loves you too shes holding onto me rn

[bunny<3]: sinb wont stop staring out the window

Yerin laughed. She had been right after all. SinB was in f