“Yah! Kyungie, are you all right? You seem lost.”

“Ne, Jinie. Just nervous, I guess.” Kyungsoo answers, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He is indeed nervous.

“Nervous? Wae?” Soojin is left puzzled by Kyungsoo’s reply. She looks very concerned, her eyebrows are all scrunched up.

“Oh. Uhh…nothing.” Kyungsoo quickly replies with a smile. He doesn’t want her to worry. She’s too sensitive. It makes Kyungsoo want to protect her every time.

Just like that day when she found out that her then-boyfriend already had a girlfriend before her.

She cried for days. There were even times when she refused to come out of her room. It took a great deal of Kyungsoo’s bargaining before she finally unlocked the door.

Kyungsoo entered a room filled with piles of used tissue, ripped up love letters and trashed gifts. It was different from Soojin’s room. The complete opposite. She just laid on her bed and feasted on boxes and boxes of tissue to dry her tears.

Kyungsoo hates it when she cries. It makes him weak and helpless because he doesn’t know how to make them stop.

It’s like trying to stop rain from falling in the middle of a raging storm. Quite impossible.

But Kyungsoo knows Soojin too well. He’s the only one who knows how to cheer her up.

He had witnessed it a long time ago when their families had an outing together about nine years ago. They were both nine then. They went to Jeju island and they place they stayed at had cats everywhere! Soojin had instantly fallen in love with the furry felines. They had given her a unique kind of happiness. The kind that muted out all the negative things. The kind that made her feel carefree. And she liked it. So much. She loved those cats.

And when it was time for them to leave, she had the saddest expression on her face. Kyungsoo did not like seeing her so down. And so, he drew a cat on a piece of paper.

“Jinie, don’t be sad. I drew this for you. So that you’ll always remember them. I’m sorry if it’s ugly though.” Kyungsoo said as he handed that piece of paper to her. Her frown turned up-side-down.

“Kyungie, it’s beautiful! Thank you!” Soojin kissed his cheek and hugged him. Then he blushed for a little while. Kyungsoo will always remember that moment. Because it was when it all started, he thinks.

Kyungsoo’s secret crush on his best friend.

“Hey. I have a surprise for you.” Kyungsoo forced a smile, a natural-looking one. It was against his will though. How could anyone smile when the person they love is in pain? Emotional pain to be exact. But he knew that he had to be strong. For her.

She remained unmoved, the boxes of tissues in one hand and the other held on to her blanket tightly. Almost as if she was strangling something. Her knuckles were almost white. Kyungsoo sat on the side of her bed. He took out a piece of paper from his shirt pocket and gave it to Soojin. She unfolded it then she smiled. It had a drawing of a cat. It was a sleeping cat.

No words were said. But Kyungsoo can tell that Soojin was feeling much better judging from the way her lips had curved upward and revealed her pearly whites. She hugged him very tightly. She managed to whisper a very quiet ‘Thank You’. And that sent chills down Kyungsoo’s spine. That way her voice just electrifies each one of Kyungsoo’s cells with the tiny and barely noticeable vibrations from .

Her effect on him is stronger than black coffee. And that is just what Kyungsoo needs. Something to keep him awake in a world built by dreams.