Yuna’s routine song blared over the speakers. Her limbs flowed in tandem to the beat, an instinct driving them from hours of practising to the same song.

Her skates glided over the ice as she rounded a corner and eased herself into her next jump. It was a key point of her routine, one of the hardest jumps Yuna had ever attempted in her career, but if she could land it perfectly the reward was massive.

She kicked her boot off the ice and spun into motion. Yuna had a split-second of realisation before she hit the ground hard on her back. The sudden throbbing in her hips jerked her from the intense focus on her skating.

The fall was painful from the way she landed, but nothing hurt more than the mistake she made. The same mistake she had been repeating countlessly for the past hour.

‘I rushed again’, Yuna let her head thump against the ice and stared at the lights above, ‘I keep doing that.’

The ice was cold against her sweatpants and she remained glued to it. Years ago, she would have picked herself up immediately and finished the whole routine despite her mistake. Now Yuna barely had the energy to get herself up again.

The music cut to a stop.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Yuna could see Eunha skating towards her. Her lips twitched in amusement when her friend wobbled midway. Even after trying to teach her for years, Eunha could never grasp skating.

“Come on, Yuna,” Eunha reached out to her. “The evening class’s going to start soon. Let’s stop for today, okay?”

Yuna took her hand but pushed herself up with her strength. Their hands were both cold but neither of them let go. “Sorry. You should be at home.”

“I’m here because I want to. I love watching you skate.”

“It’s not really skating when I keep falling.”

Eunha squeezed her hand in a wordless reply. Her short hair bobbed as she almost slipped forward again if it wasn’t for Yuna balancing her. Yuna snickered.

“I’m glad you think my misery is funny,” Eunha huffed when they finally reached the edge of the rink. Her lips curled upwards despite her tone, betraying her true feelings. “You’ll get through this, Yuna. I’ll make sure of it.”

Her words lightened the heaviness in her gut. Yuna didn’t know what she would do without her best friend holding her up.

They fell back into a comfortable silence as they changed their skates back to normal footwear. Now that she was off the ice, her rigorous practise was catching up to her and it was hard to move. She forced herself to anyway, she didn’t want Eunha to know how tired she felt.

Eunha began to ramble about her morning beside her and Yuna was content to just listen to her. As they made their way out of the rink, the evening class filled in at the same time. It was a group of children clad in their bright yellow training uniform with their small skating boots in one hand.

They spotted her instantly. There was a burst of noise and the group soon surrounded her with beaming eyes.

“It’s Choi Yuna!”

“Teacher’s daughter!”

“Auntie Yuna, can you skate for us?”

Her grin slipped easily enough onto her face. Yuna patted one of the children’s poofy hair and smoothed it down. “Another time. You have class soon and you know how strict my mother is. You don’t want to be scolded, right?”

“Aww…”

Yuna spent another few minutes entertaining their questions before Eunha managed to convince the children to let them go. Her shoulders slumped in relief when they were left alone in the hallway.

Children were always the hardest to talk to. They were all smiles and laughter, hope in their eyes and an innocent passion. Yuna was like them when she first started figure skating. When everything was simple and her hobby was just an enjoyable pastime.

A lot of them loved to call her their role model. Yuna couldn’t bear to squash their hopes by telling them never to be like her.

She wouldn’t wish her life on anyone.

~

“Eat this for dinner and go to bed soon. Oh, and here are some treats for Buddy. The animal shelter ordered too much.”

Yuna held the plastic bags Eunha shoved into her hands, nodding absent-mindedly as her friend continued to fret over her. She glanced at the treats in the bag. It was specifically her dog’s favourite treat. She had an inkling it wasn’t from the shelter’s excess order.

“I better not see you online at three in the morning again!” Eunha warned as she backtracked slowly out of Yuna’s house. “You hear me?”
 

“Don’t be awake so late either then,” Yuna said in response. Eunha shook her fist cutely at her until she disappeared out of sight into the streets.

She closed her front gate and it locked automatically with a beep. Her house was lit on the first floor by her lights scheduled to turn on in the evening. Yuna had a few acquaintances tell her it was a waste of electricity, but she didn’t feel comfortable keeping her dog alone in the dark without her around.

Yuna slid her key into her door and kept an ear out for the scampering of paws. When there was none even after she turned the lock, an unsettling worry gripped her. Buddy never failed to greet her at the door.

She pushed her door open and hung her coat. Still nothing. Her rising concern drowned her thoughts till all she could think of was to look around her house for her dog.

Not in the doorway. Or the kitchen. That only left the living room for the first floor and—

Her golden retriever was there. Wagging her tail with her tongue stuck out. Not at her, but a black shape curled on top of her desk.

“Hey,” Yuna called out softly. Buddy swivelled to face her immediately as if she just registered her presence. She let out a greeting bark and bounced towards her.

Yuna crouched and hugged her golden tuft of fur. “You worried me, you know.”

Buddy was a senior dog. At the age of ten, her health was a fragile thing. Yuna was afraid that one day she would come home and find that her dog’s last moments had already passed.

With her dog safely in her arms, Yuna turned her attention to the clump of black on her desk. She squinted her eyes. Then, she blinked and squinted again, not believing what she saw.

It was a black cat. Lounging on her desk with its legs spread out like it always belonged.

“Huh,” Yuna said dumbly. She released Buddy from her hug and sneaked towards the cat. She wasn’t quiet enough and its head snapped towards her in an alert. Forest green eyes glared at her.

“I don’t have a cat,” she mumbled. “Where did you come from?”

Yuna went past her sofa and that was when the cat decided to scurry underneath her television console. Shortly after, a discontented meow sounded from beneath.

She knelt on her carpet and peeked under her console a safe distance away. The cat’s dark fur blended perfectly till she could only see a pair of green eyes staring back at her.

Yuna wasn’t quite sure what to do. Eunha would, but she had troubled her friend enough today even if she knew she would come running to help.

One thing for sure was that she couldn’t let the cat roam around her house. It could have diseases and whatnot. Yuna kept an eye on the cat as she retreated to her storeroom to grab her dog’s carrier.

How hard could it be to get a cat into a carrier, anyway? She could handle this herself.

Or so she thought.

A tedious hour later, after countless pleading at the cat to come out and bringing out some leftover chicken, the cat remained unbudged and unfazed. It even seemed to relax and close its eyes, dismissing her.

While she tried coaxing it to come out, her dog also tried to stick her nose in. Literally, into the space beneath the console. Yuna had to lock Buddy in a room temporarily until she isolated the cat away or she might end up with scratches.

“A laser pointer might get their attention,” Yuna read out the results of the web search she did as she idly nudged the plate of chicken towards the cat. “Or a cat treat. But I don’t have those.”

‘Maybe I should call Eunha,’ the thought flitted into her mind. Yuna shook her head and dismissed it. She shouldn’t depend on her friend for every menial problem she has.

Just as Yuna contemplated whether she should go to a store and buy cat treats, her intercom buzzed. Her brows furrowed at the sound. Who would be visiting her now? Did Eunha forget something with her?

She pushed herself up from the floor and checked the intercom. The screen displayed an antsy woman dressed simply in shorts and a shirt which didn’t suit the cold weather, shuffling her feet in front of her gate. Her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, stray brown strands poking out. In her hands were a pet carrier and her phone. Curious at what the stranger wanted, Yuna spoke.

“Yes?”

The woman was startled but quickly flashed her phone towards the intercom. “Um, have you seen a black cat that looks like this? She ran out two hours ago.” She said in a rush and Yuna could hear the edges of panic in her voice.

In the picture, the current terror of her night gazed back at her with the same green eyes and grumpy frown.

“Oh,” Yuna let out a relieved breath. “She’s in my house.”

The woman perked up and mirrored her re