http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xBnHWgBg1Y

 

“Tell me things I don’t know!”

You were facing an old fortune teller woman. You were in a summer carnival and it was a rare you found a fortune teller tent. You couldn’t miss this and hurriedly entered the tent. The fortune teller woman was not that friendly. She just stared at you annoyingly and waited your request. She had a crystal ball in front of her.

“Oh, really? You wanna know thing you don’t know?” the fortune teller asked with annoying voice.

You nodded. You didn’t care about her annoying action. “Yes.”

“Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?” the lady asked.

You furrowed eyebrows. “Do things I don’t know make me hurt?”

“Perhaps.” The lady answered. “You will never know until I tell you.”

“Now tell me.” you said.

“Okay.” the lady looked at your face intently with her big black eyes. You pulled away because the lady leaning in. This lady is weird, you thought.

“You’re an adopted child.”

“Pardon?” You widened your eyes in shock. The fortune teller pulled away and leaned on her seat. She seemed didn’t care with your reaction. And she kept talking.

“Your parents really love you even they live far away in Japan now. But not your brother. Oh, what’s his name? Oh right, Sunggyu. He never loves you. Isn’t it obvious? He never treats you well, doesn’t he? He never wants a little sister. He hated it when his parents decided to adopt you. Oh, you have a cousin who hates you, too. Woohyun, isn’t it? Both Woohyun and Sunggyu always get you into trouble, don’t they? They―”

Your eyes got watered. “Stop it!”

“Don’t you want to know all?” the lady asked foolishly. “These all things that you don’t know.” She rolled her eyes.

You couldn’t believe it. You’re an adopted child? How could that be? Why didn’t your parents tell you about this? And the part about your brother Sunggyu, that he didn’t love you, it hurt you so much. Yes, that was right that your brother never treated you well and he often got angry at you. That was right that he always got you into troubles, to make you look stupid and wrong in front of your parents and other people. But all that Sunggyu did to you never made you hate him. You loved him, you always did. He was the only brother you had. Oppa never loves me, you thought sadly. Tears rolled down on your checks.

“I-I don’t believe it.” You told the lady, stuttering, as you wiped away your tears.

“Oh, that’s up to you.” the lady replied simply. “I just tried to tell you the truths. I told you what I saw.”

You blinked. “So, you’re sure what you saw is true?”

The lady just nodded. “I won’t lie to you, young lady.”

“M-my brother never loves me?” you said with teary eyes.

The lady got up and took a bottle of chocolate milk on a small table behind her chair. She pushed it slowly. You didn’t get it why she gave you a bottle of milk.

“You need to be far away, you need to hide, you need to disappear. And then you can see your brother’s love to you.”

“What?”

“You maybe will find it out less than 100 days, but yeah.” She shrugged. You furrowed eyebrows in confusion. “You have 100 days.” She said as if it explained everything.

“Wait. I don’t get it.” You told her. “What 100 days?”

The lady looked not wanted to explain much. “Drink this milk. You will know it pretty soon.”

You were about to exit the tent as the lady said,”When it’s getting dark, follow the first footprint you see. You will be safe. And remember, you only come back at midnight, about thirty minutes. Do anything that’s necessary. Don’t make any troubles to anyone.”

You completely didn’t get what the lady said. But after you exited the tent, you drank the milk. And everything turned dark. Hey, what happened? You got totally confused. You couldn’t see anything. After some minutes, you heard people talking and walking, but you still couldn’t see anything. You saw a flashy light and then you saw a footprint, a big footprint.  It was weird that you found the footprint shining brightly. As the lady has said to you, you followed the footprint. It was the first footprint you saw, anyways.

The footprint left some grains of gold. You saw other footprints in front of you and you kept following them.  And then you saw everything clearly. You walked with many people around you. No, you’re not walking with them. You found some of them almost stepping on you. You got the feeling that you became small. You looked up at the people and saw that your thought was true. You did become small. People looked so big like giants. You shrieked out. What happened to me?  You were still following the gold footprints as you passed a shop with big glass door. And then you could see yourself clearly. No, you didn’t see you, you just saw a grey little cat with green eyes.

You became a cat?

You shook your head in frustration. No, it couldn’t be. No! No! It couldn’t happen! How could you turn to be a cat? That was impossible. You must be dreaming. Yeah, you must be dreaming. You forced yourself to believe that you were in a dreamland. But you weren’t, you were not in a dreamland. Everything looked so real. You got dizzy. Some shoes almost stepped on you. And then you remembered that you had to follow the footprints. You just remembered one thing, if you followed the footprints, you would be safe. You felt not safe, in some minutes you almost died because people almost stepped on you. You still didn’t get it why you must follow them. Would they make me safe? You thought. You, with your legs and your hands, ran and followed the footprints.

Even you tried to lift up your head, you couldn’t see the owner of the golden footprints. All people were so big and tall. All you could do was running and following the footprints. But later you lost the footprints. The owner of the footprints walked very fast and it made the footprints lack of golden grains. With remaining golden grains you saw, you tried to follow them. You even got in an elevator, hiding behind people’s shoes and you jammed into the wall. You almost lost your breath. Nobody saw you. That’s weird. You thought you became a very small cat.

The elevator opened. You came out together with someone with black high heels shoes brought a big trunk. You saw the golden grains on the floor and then you decided to hide behind the trunk. The footprints were ended in front of a big door, but you kept walking following the trunk. The trunk stopped in the corner of the corridor. You kept your eyes on the door which the golden strains were in front of it. The trunk was pulled in the room by the owner, the owner didn’t see you, and you heard the door closed. Almost in the same time, another door opened, the door you looking at, and a tall guy walked out. You could hear what he said clearly.

“I’m leaving, Myungsoo.”

You ran toward the door but the door closed fast. You sighed. You then looked at the tall guy walking toward the elevator. His footprints didn’t have that glowing strains. So they aren’t his? You thought. The owner of the golden footprints must be the one who is inside. You waited the door to open as you heard footsteps come closer. This time you’re sure there was person who saw you, because there was a young boy bent down and looked at you.

“Oh, cute little cat.” He complimented. “Where’s your master? You wanna come inside?” he asked you as he pointed the door in front of you. You wanted to nod but you couldn’t. It would be weird if you did that. You just stared at him. He smiled sincerely. “Wait a minute.” He glanced at the box he handed. He must be kind of a mail boy. “Oh, God. I must be going to one floor above.” He looked down at you. “Don’t worry, you will come inside.” He knocked the door, your fur quickly and then he left to the elevator.

The door was opened seconds later.

“Yah Sungyeol, do you forget some―”

You lifted up your head and you saw a tall guy appeared in the door step. He looked around, seemed that he looked for something. And then he looked down at you. You saw his surprised face. He bent down and your head lovingly. It felt so nice, really.  You closed your eyes.

“How can you come here in front of my door? Where’s your owner?” you heard he asking. You just stared at him. This guy didn’t have many expressions on his face, but he is extremely good-looking.  He then carried you and put you down on the floor. He walked to the kitchen and you followed him. His flat was kind of messy. He himself told you as he saw you looking around his flat. Of course you understood everything he said. He looked amazed by you when you looked at the direction he pointed at.

“You can sleep everywhere you want. Drink your milk, okay?” was the last words he said as he headed to another messy room. You just stared at him. Yeah, he was your savior. He was the owner of the golden footprints.

 

--

 

It was the first night for you being a cat. You couldn’t sleep. It was nearly midnight. And then something weird happened. You were lying on the couch and when the clock at 12, you suddenly got your vision blurry and you also got bad headache. It was only for 10 seconds, and then you found you coming back into a human being. You looked down at your body, your hands in disbelief then you touched your face. You did become a human again!

You didn’t know what you should do. You then remembered what the fortune teller lady said

And remember, you only come back at midnight, about thirty minutes. Do anything that’s necessary

What thing that’s necessary? You really didn’t know what you should do. Then you looked around, seeing your surroundings. There was a thing to do. Cleaning up.

 

--

 

Not much things you could do every day. You did cleaning up at night and at noon you just slept or think about your parents and brother. Does Oppa look for me? You thought. And sometimes you thought about the footprints and the guy, of course. In three days you could know the guy well. His name is Kim Myungsoo by the way. You saw it in some books and papers of his. He always woke up around seven in the morning and he just drank a glass of chocolate milk. He went to his office hurriedly without making up his bed or cleaning up other rooms. You could see he lived alone. He came back at evening or almost midnight and you never saw him having dinner. He never had dinner at home. He looked so busy. He worked on his laptop with serious expression plastered on his face.  After one or two hours, he walked to his room and went to sleep without closing the door. He was careless enough. And he didn’t care too much about his flat.  You bet he didn’t realize that someone always cleaned up his flat every midnight.

He told you to eat cat foods he bought. But you didn’t want to. You are a human being, why should you eat cat food? See, you only drank milk he gave you every morning and evening. And at midnight you ate bread or anything in his fridge. He looked confused to find you avoiding the cat food. He then brought you to a pet doctor. He expected you to have any diseases so he was surprised to see you having no one. He was still confused when he brought you back home. And that was the time you see your brother after 14 days.

Your brother worriedly gave Myungsoo a paper. He told Myungsoo he lost you, his little sister. You saw your brother’s face and you never saw his worried face like that in whole life. It was the first time you saw it. Your brother looked so sad. You didn’t know but you felt that your brother worried about you, he started to love you.

No kidding your brother was freaking worried about you. Now you found what you should do every midnight. Myungsoo always left his laptop turning on and he always left it on the desk near the couch. After you saved his works, you surfed in the net and checked your brother’s blog. Your brother always wrote about you. He told everyone to help him finding you.

All you wanted to do now was running to your home and hugging your brother. But you couldn’t. You had to be here until 100 days. And this was the 21th day. You couldn’t help but wait. One night when Myungsoo has fallen asleep, you took the phone and called your brother. You did miss him, you wanted to hear his voice. It was midnight anyways, but you kept trying to give him a call.

“Hello?”

You heard your brother’s voice. It made you frozen. You couldn’t say a word.

“Hello? This is Kim Sunggyu.”He said. His voice sounded shaky and weak.

“Hello?” you heard your brother talking. “Who is this?” he asked.

You couldn’t help but cried. You missed your brother so much.

“Who is this?” he asked again. “Ah, wait. Do you see the papers I spread? Do you find my little sister?” he sounded enthusiastic. “Do you?”

You tried to hold your tears but more tears rolled down on your checks. You hid your mouth with your palm, tried not to be heard by him, you didn’t want him to know that you were the one who calling him.

“Ahjussi, do you find my little sister? Please answer me!” he became impatient. You then ended the call. You were afraid Myungsoo would hear you and then you came to an empty room far from his room. You couldn’t hold your tears anymore.

 

--

 

Myungsoo was busy asking his neighbors, he kept trying to find your owner. You thought that he was your only owner from beginning. You still didn’t understand why you had to meet Myungsoo, but you then understood that because of him, you could see your brother and knew what your brother was worried about you. One day Myungsoo got home early in the evening and he brought a beautiful silver bracelet with some infinity symbols. You really liked it. He put it around your neck and he was satisfied when he saw the bracelet fit you well. He even gave you a name, which made you thought that he already made you his pet. Kimi, that’s the name he gave you.

He was lying on the couch and he lifted you to his chest. You could see his face clearly. You looked into his beautiful eyes and you didn’t know why you felt butterflies in your stomach. He also looked into your eyes.

“Hey, why do you always stare at me like that?” he asked you.

“I don’t know. Why do you seem like to do staring contest yourself?” You replied, but all you heard was you meowing. Surprisingly the next words he said was

“Do you want to have staring contest with me? I bet you couldn’t win.” He giggled. And you always liked to see him giggling. He was somehow always a busy and serious guy and now he was like a little boy. You didn’t know why but you liked it.  He stared into your eyes, but some seconds later he laughed to himself.  Next thing he did was kissing you. You knew you were a cat now but you’re still a girl. You’re too surprised and finally you gave him a scratch. You jumped off from his chest and landed on the floor. You felt your heart beating faster and faster.

He worked until he slept on the desk. It was almost midnight. Your vision got blurry and you got dizzy. Seconds later you turned back as a human. You always did some cleaning at midnight, of course, and now you saw he forgot to close his balcony door. He was so forgetful, you thought. You slowly closed the door, tried not to wake him up. You glanced at him. He must be freezing. You came in his room, took a blanket and wrapped it around him.

 

--

 

Day by day passed and the 100^th day has come. The 100^th day was today. You slept in an empty room Myungsoo never went in and in the morning you found yourself turning back as human. You were happy you wouldn’t be a cat anymore. You were planning to come back home as you remembered something. You were locked in Myungsoo’s flat. You only could come out if he has come back home. If he saw you, what would he say? How could suddenly there was a girl in his flat while he only kept a cat? It was hard to explain to him. You were with him in these 100 days, would he believe it? Of course not. That sounded so impossible you turning to a cat. It was too complicated.

You then decided to break his door. You opened his balcony door and realized that he living in a high building. You then looked for tools and broke his front door. After two hours, you’ve done it. You hurriedly came out from his flat. You went to your home and found your brother and your cousin busy calling and making some more papers about you. They were surprised to find you home. Your brother ran toward you and hugged you tightly. He said he was sorry for all he had done and he never wanted to lose you anymore. You were happy although you were crying. Finally you could see your brother’s love to you.

 

--

 

You still didn’t understand about golden footprints and Myungsoo but now you lived happily with your brother. You often spent time with him, like today. You two went to a new restaurant that owned by one of your brother’s friends. On the way you went there, you passed the police station and saw two guys were giving papers to everyone who passed the street.

“Seems like they look for a missing person.” Your brother pointed at the guys. “I’ve did the same, you know. I gave papers to all people in Seoul.” He laughed.

You just nodded. “I know, Oppa.” You really knew all your brother did in these past 3 months. But you kept in secret where you went in 100 days.

“Excuse me! Would you help me?” a tall guy stopped your tracks. He gave your brother a paper. “Uh, my friend, he’s over there,” he pointed another tall guy who was giving papers to some Grannies,”he lost his cat. There’s someone who had stolen it from his flat.”

“Oh, really?” your brother looked down at the paper. “The cat looks nice.”

“It really does.” The guy nodded. “Before I met it, it had gone.” he shrugged. “Hope you will help us!” he bowed. He also gave another paper to you.

You glanced at the other guy. Of course you knew who he was. He was Kim Myungsoo. He looked worried even it was not really plastered on his face. He is looking for me, you thought. You saw him looking at you. You remembered 100 days you’ve spent with him. It was nice to remember. You looked down at your wrist and stared at the bracelet he gave you. You were very glad to meet him. You wanted to say thanks. But you ended up staring at him, and then you smiled. You hoped someday you could explain everything to him. Yes, someday.

 

Fin

August 17^th 2012