"Uh, Hi Ricky! I'm Alice... I'm Niel's friend." I said, embarrassed about what had just happened.
"I'm guessing that he's not here?" He asked.
"Ah no, sorry. He's getting something from the store for his dad. He should be back soon." 
"Okay." he said while staring at me.
I stared at him for a few seconds, wondering why he was just staring at me...
"Oh! Right. Sorry, why don't you come in." I said, getting out of the doorway stupidly.
"Haha thanks."
He came in and sat down on the couch. I looked around, wondering what I should do. Should I get back to work? Should I offer him a drink? It's so quiet, he's not saying anything... Quick! Say something, Alice! Anything!
"NIEL!"
Great, that would be the first word to come to my mind.
"Uhhh.. How do you know him? Niel, that is. How do you two know each other?" I added on, turning my back to him and grabbing a duster, trying to look busy.
"We're actually cousins."
My jaw dropped. I don't know why it did, them being cousins was completely understandable. But I guess I wasn't expecting it? "Oh. I had no idea. Well, it's nice to meet you Ricky, cousin of Niel." I said, looking over my shoulder with a grin.
"What about you? Are you like, Niel's girlfriend?"
I dropped my duster with a bit of a clatter.
"GIRLFRIEND? Hahaha, no! No way. Not at all. HAHA. We're friends. JUST friends! We met at the store a couple weeks ago... and we became...... friends."
I was now dusting furiously, trying to look EXTREMELY busy.
"If you say so..." he said a bit playfully. My face felt hot. 
"Oh!" he exclaimed, making me jump. "Ha, sorry. I just realized what you said. You come to the store?"
I nodded. "Every saturday!"
"Ahhh. That explains it. I work at the store too, but only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I was wondering why I haven't ever seen you."
"Oh~ I see. Well, maybe I'll come on one of those days sometime!" I said, setting the duster down and heading to the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?" I called out.
"No thanks!" he called back.
Oh. I can't just come out of the kitchen empty handed now. He'll think I went in just for him... Which I did.
So, I grabbed myself a glass of water that I had no intention of drinking, and went to sit down in the living room.

"So is there a reason that you came here?" I asked curiously.
"Yup! I came to pick something up! Well actually, someone."
"Hmm?" I asked while forcing myself to take a sip of water.
"My pet, Perry!" he said with a smile.
I started choking on my water.
He looked alarmed. "Are you okay?"
I managed to stop choking and croaked out "I'm fine." in a scratchy voice. 
But I wasn't fine. What in the world is a Perry? And what exactly did I sweep out the door 15 minutes ago? I was hoping he would tell me that he was a parrot. Or an iguana. Or anything that WASN'T a small furry mammal.
"P- Perry?"
"Yeah. Perry. Niel was taking care of him for the past couple of days. He's a ferret. He's so so cute. I love him a lot." 
I froze. I felt like I would cry. Perry the ferret. Perry the cute ferret.
"You know what? I'm just going to go up and get him. I've really missed the little guy." he smiled, then headed up the stairs.
I prayed and hoped that Ricky would find Perry safe and sound upstairs, and that I really did sweep out a deadly rat with rabies. I stood frozen in anticipation, hoping for good news.
"NO!" I heard a yell from upstairs.
Next thing I knew, Ricky came flying down the stairs looking horrified. He was genuinely worried, and his sad face just broke my heart.
"He's gone! He's just gone, he's not in his cage!"
I couldn't speak. I wanted to, but my mouth wouldn't open.
He went around the living room, looking under furniture. "Perry! PERRY, where are you, boy??"
My body started to feel heavy and my hands were all clammy. I had to tell him what I had done.
"Ricky... You won't find him." I said as my knees wobbled.
He turned to me with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"
At this point my knees just gave out, and I fell down to the hardwood floor.
I looked up at him solemnly. "It's all my fault."
He kneeled down with me and grabbed my hand.
"What's your fault? What happened to my Perry??!"
"I- I didn't know! Niel didn't tell me there was a ferret! It was stalking me, and... I thought it was a rat! So... I.. Got rid of it..."
He dropped my hand.
"YOU KILLED HIM?"
"NO! No no no! I didn't kill him. I promise! I was sweeping the hallway, and he scared me! So... I swept him out the back door."
At that moment Ricky's expression turned from sadness to anger. It burned through my soul. He shot up and ran passed me, and out the back door.
His angry gaze lingered in my mind for a while, and all I could do was burst into tears.
You've really messed up this time. Stop being so reckless, Alice!

I was taken aback when the front door opened and Niel came in. I was in a horrible state at the moment, and now was really the worst possible time that he could come home. He dropped a folder that he had been holding and rushed over to me. I looked up at him through my blurry eyes.
"Alice! What happened, are you hurt?" he asked me worriedly.
I shook my head and sniffled.
"I'm so stupid. Why do I have to be such an idiot?" I scolded myself.
He frowned and wiped a tear from my cheek. "You're not stupid... Tell me what happened."
"I made a really big mistake. Ricky's pet is gone forever and it's all my fault." I said, trying to hold back my tears, but breaking into a new round of sobs anyway.
His eyes widened. "Ricky? What.. Is he here right now?"
I nodded. "He's in the back yard looking for Perry."
"Back yard, wha-" he sighed. "I'll go talk to him. Don't cry though, alright? Get yourself some water or something, I'll be right back."
He went outside and was gone for a couple minutes. I got up, feeling pretty light-headed, and took a sip of my water, then went to look for a tissue.
I heard Niel come back inside and Ricky was with him. They were in the hall arguing. I stood around the corner listening. 
"I don't know exactly what happened, but she's the stupidest girl I've ever met! I can't understand what kind of idiot would do that to someone else's pet!" Ricky was yelling. I frowned at his words.
"Hey, watch it! Don't you dare say that! She's not stupid, OR an idiot. She was just a little freaked out, that's all! And if you should blame anyone, blame me! I'm the one who didn't make sure the cage was completely closed." Niel replied.
Daniel Oppa... Thank you.
"You're not the one who shoved him out the door, though! That was her doing. Seriously, she didn't even know that it was a ferret. She thought it was a rat. That is stupidity, right there!"
"I told you to stop SAYING that!"
I had never heard Niel so angry. I was shocked when I heard loud bangs coming from the hall.
"LET GO OF ME." Ricky cried.
I gasped, ran around the corner and saw that Niel was holding on to Ricky's collar, pinning him against the wall.
The familiar sound of stomping came down the stairs, and Mr. Ahn came around the corner as well.
"NIEL, RICKY. STOP THIS RIGHT NOW." He yelled, lunging toward them to try to break them apart.
This whole thing. All of this was my fault. Everyone was yelling. I wanted to run towards them and try to calm them down... but I couldn't move. The room was spinning, and I started to feel really weak. I watched in slow motion as the glass of water fell out of my hands and crashed on the floor. Then the room turned upside down and it was all black...