I decided to go with first person P.O.V. for this fic! ^^

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“I’m really close,” I smiled ruefully as I ran my fingers down the smooth wooden porch. I stared up at the petite house and let my smile spread even wider across my face.

This was the house I had grown up in. This was the house that I had lived in with my parents when I was young, all the way until I turned 14. My family hadn’t been incredibly rich, but my parents did have a nice stash of money preserved in the cellar of my home – my mother never believed in banks.

They had passed away a week after my 14th birthday, when a fire had spread through the house, burning my parents within it. I had been at school when it happened, and I would never forget the way my heart dropped when the phone had rung in my classroom with the caller asking for me.

Now all that was left was the burned remains of my childhood - but they were remains I wasn't willing to let go. I had been left with a tiny sum of insurance money, but other than that, there had been nothing. No home, no family, no place to go - so I started from scratch, or nearly scratch.

I had been contacted a couple of months ago to be informed that the bank was going to take over the little burned house I had left, but I immediately denied their suggestion. Apparently my parents had only covered the cost of half of the land, so the little home belonged half to me, and half to the bank.

The bank wanted to demolish the house, and I refused to even contemplate the offer. I had put up quite a fight, so instead they offered to allow me to purchase their half of the land. If I could pay for at least a third of it before a year was up, then they would wait in demolishing the home.

It was pretty dumb of me to keep the house, to be honest. There was really no use of it for me, no purpose, no price, but I couldn’t let that go. I couldn’t let the last fragment of my old life be destroyed like everything else had been.

“I’ll come up with the money soon,” I whispered as I rose from my seat on the front steps of the porch.

I glanced down at my watch and picked my bag up from the ground to toss over my shoulder. I’d be late for work if I didn’t catch the bus back to Seoul right now.

“I’ll see you later, Umma, Appa,” I smiled as I waved the house goodbye. I turned around with a new pump of determination, and jogged to the bus stop down the road to make sure I wouldn’t be late to work.

The bus arrived with seconds to spare, and I spent the next half hour on the bus thinking about what I would do with the house once I completely purchased the land. After climbing off the bus, a glance at my watch told me that I still had 20 minutes to spare before I was required to show up at work. To pass the time, I decided to visit a nearby park that I used to play in whenever I visited Seoul when I was young.

The air was clear and the sun was bright, and the easy atmosphere immediately reflected on my mood. My clear thoughts were interrupted by a low hiss, and my eyes darted down to the bush besides me. I caught sight of a bushy tail brushing against the leaves before tucking back out of sight.

I crouched down to investigate the movement, and spotted a brown cat at its paw that was matted in dry blood.

“You’re hurt,” I grimaced as I bent down to be at level with the injured Maine Coon who was attempting to hide within the greenery. The brown cat simply hissed at me, and cowered deeper into the bushes in an attempt to avoid my helping hand. When I reached forward to reassure the kitten of my good intentions, he attacked my fingers without hesitance.

“You’re a rather rough cat, aren’t you?” I winced as I pulled back my now bleeding hand. I had half a mind to leave the cat in its painful state for being so stubborn, but I knew I would never be able to live with myself if I did.

“I know you don’t trust me, but just try not to injure me that much, okay?” I offered as I reached forward once again. Despite the scratches and bites I earned in return, I managed to successfully pull the thorn out of the cat’s paw. The painful action caused his arm to jerk forward, and his claw caught onto my skin, leaving a rather deep scratch on my chin.

“There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” I smiled as I placed his paw gently back down on the ground. I wiped my chin with the back of my hand, wincing at the stinging pain. I glanced at the cat who was now staring at me with a rather remorseful look in its eye. “Now you feel bad, do you?” I teased as I reached out to pet the cat’s head.

This time, the cat didn’t fight back and simply let out a low purr as I his mane.

“If only you would have been like this in the beginning,” I sighed as I tapped the cat’s nose with the tip of my finger. “I told you I didn’t have any intentions of hurting you.” I glanced down at my watch, and shot upwards once I caught sight of the time. My sudden motion caused the cat to hiss and jump backwards in surprise.

“Sorry,” I apologized quickly. “But I’m going to be late to work! Be careful next time, alright? And next time somebody tries to help you, don’t scratch at them like you did to me!” I instructed as I quickly picked my bag up from the ground to swing over my shoulder.

“Bye kitty!” I called back as I sprinted down the road in an attempt to make it to the cafe on time. The Halmeoni that owned the store would never fire me, but I never liked being even a second late to the appointments I made.

Luckily, I sprinted through the doors, narrowly avoiding a customer, right on time. “Sorry I cut it too close today, Halmeoni!” I exclaimed with a bow.

“Mina, you’re on time every day, there is no reason for you – Oh dear! What happened to you, Mina? You’re all scratched up!” Halmeoni exclaimed as she cupped my injured face into the palms of her hands. “Who did this to you?”

“I pass