I am, not one to find myself in a situation where I can’t control my expression, more so my feelings. Proud of having a nickname of Stone-Cold Ryu way back in elementary and middle school, I see myself as one since then and had been holding myself as one until now.

I give no one any reaction, whether it be a positive or negative one. I don’t let any muscle in my face move whenever someone tries to make me laugh, or smile, or be angry. I had engraved in my mind that I won’t make any response.

What’s the catch of this?

Nothing.

I just find enjoyment watching people’s faces turn from excited to awkward when they see that they didn’t get any response from me. Whenever they turn away and leave, that’s the only time I let a smirk display itself on my face, and a chuckle leaves my lips.

And that trait of mine, I intended to keep it that way.

But when Lee Chaeryeong came into my life, that determination to only have a stoic face on, to be a stone, to be unresponsive, disappeared.

Because let’s be real, who wouldn’t want to see the biggest smile on Lee Chaeryeong’s face when we make the reaction she expects us to give?

No one, right? Alright.

It seems like even I want to see it.

Now Chaeryeong and I, we’re opposites. Chaeryeong is shy and bubbly while I’m outspoken and cold. If we were to be measured in a line, the two of us would be standing at both ends of said line.

That’s why I had always wondered how I became close with the brunette whose smiles can go for days and eyes can outshine the sun.

To be honest, the only thing that I can remember was Chaeryeong sitting beside me in Home Economic class, and from there, I just flash through blurs of joined lunchtimes out in the field, watching the poorly selected football team practice for the nearing competition, paired walks under the rain with just one umbrella, one of us as stiff as a rock while the other as soft as a couch cushion, and then it was shared kisses under the night as the sky seemed to shine the brightest as our lips touch, the quietness of the world adding to the effect of perfectness in our bubble.

Lee Chaeryeong managed to make me, Stone-Cold Ryu, laugh one Wednesday afternoon in the field while I was on my way to eat a slice of the homemade kimbap my girlfriend’s mom had made.

If anyone had seen how I threw my head back, my eyes squinted hard as if I’m trying to see far, if anyone had heard how carefree and just…Ryujin my laugh was, they would have celebrated even though it wasn’t them that made me laugh.

But no one was there, just me and Chaeryeong and our favorite tree where we take shelter every time the school bell rings. It was an achievement, even Chaeryeong knew that.

Now we’re out of high school and in college, just two lovers living in an apartment in Seoul, away from our parents, about to tackle steps towards adulthood.

What we didn’t know was that taking those steps required having another four extra pairs to be with us.

One of us seemed ecstatic about it, while the other one wasn’t.

Now Dallie the cat isn’t technically mine, but my mom’s. Chaeri the dog, on the other hand, is Chaeryeong’s.

The pets were not necessarily part of the deal when we had decided to live together, but the moment my mom mentioned to Chaeryeong how Dallie would miss me too much and would start whining, Chaeryeong had proposed the idea. The idea of us bringing our pets with us and taking care of them was the perfect vision in Chaeryeong’s eyes but was something that irked me.

Now, I wasn’t that close with Dallie at first. When my mom got him when I was 16, I spent three weeks trying to avoid that cat at all costs because I didn’t want to do anything with him. He was my mom’s cat, not mine. Turns out that would all change after I had lost myself on a family camping trip at the same age, after mindlessly strolling around a camping site and straying away from the official tracks. I found myself lost, and scared (though every time my mom tries to tell the story to everyone who asks about it, I feign that I wasn’t.) and hungry and was on the verge of crying.

But minutes later, a white cat splattered with bits of gray made himself known as he walked towards me, his owner’s daughter who only acknowledge him when my mom forces me to, and I, just glad to finally see someone that I’m familiar with, hugged the cat and waited for someone to come to find me but I guess Dallie also has my attitude of being impatient so he led me back to site.

I probably was holding back his time of eating that’s why he took it upon himself to find me and get me back.

Ever since then, I liked that cat, though sometimes I do get tired of his stubborn .

He would make sure that I’m aware of his presence when he’s around, at good times he would let me pet him for a good measure of 5 minutes.

On really good days, he would sleep on my lap, and hopefully, I would survive with no scratches on my thighs.

Now you wonder, if you get along with Dallie just fine, why do you hate, well not hate, hate is a strong word, disapprove should be the word.

Why do you disapprove of the pets living with you?

This is the reason.

“Dallie! Dallie, come on it’s time to eat, get down from there!” I watch from the bed as my girlfriend tries to coax my cat to come down from his house situated on a platform connected to his scratch post. Dallie’s house is too high for Chaeryeong to reach, more so for me, because I had thought that Dallie and Chaeri might not get along great, hence the thought of buying Dallie his own house tall enough for no one to grab him or get him.

Cats do tend to want to be alone.

“Ryu, Dallie doesn’t want to come down.” Chaeryeong sighs and turns from her place, showing me her pout. She sighs again, a big one this time, and plops herself on the bed beside me. Me, now throwing my phone on the mattress to appease my grumbling girlfriend, grabs her arm and pulls her gently towards me, Chaeryeong pushing herself up and lying her head on my chest.