Ep.02 - The cat next door

안혜진

"I'll go now."

문별이

"You said you weren't going until I told you?"

안혜진

"Then I'll go to sleep."

문별이

"Go quickly."

안혜진

"People said this and that."

문별이

"We have work tomorrow. You go and I need to go to bed early."

Hyejin and Byeol attended middle school, high school, and college together, so after graduating, they opened a café together. Perhaps Byeol and Hyejin were incredibly lucky back then, as the café's customer base gradually grew, and now there's rarely a day without customers.

The cafe grew in size and with the addition of part-time workers, the two of them had to take turns manning the counter twice a week. Since they'd had a drink today, Byeol-i nudged Hye-jin on the back and urged her to hurry.

안혜진

"Oh, I don't want to go to work."

문별이

"You're the boss. Go quickly."

안혜진

"You're a CEO too, sister."

문별이

"Are you just going to do the dishes tomorrow?"

안혜진

"Oh, this really pisses me off."

Hyejin grumbled and left the house, and as soon as she heard the front door close, Byeol-i lay down on the sofa.

문별이

"Ah, I'm sleepy······."

I felt a little tipsy after drinking the alcohol I had just bought with Hyejin, and I quickly fell asleep. When I closed my eyes, I felt like I would fall asleep right away.

Only a few minutes had passed like that.

I do smoke, but I hate the smell of cigarettes lingering in the house, so I leave the windows and veranda doors open almost all the time, letting the cold air in.

Swish- swish-

I can also hear something scratching.

Meow~

I can even hear the cat's meow.

huh?

문별이

"cat······?"

I jumped up and looked out onto the veranda. There was a wide open door and a cat, I think it was Como, sitting in front of it.

문별이

"······You came in again?"

Komo just sat there staring at Byeol-i, who was walking towards him with a slow gait, as if he wasn't scared.

문별이

"You can't keep coming in like this-."

문별이

"What if I report your master?"

As I crouched down in front of Komo, Komo came over and rubbed his head on my arm. "Look at me, what's going on?"

문별이

"Is this person sleeping now?"

문별이

"You, follow me."

As if understanding Byeol-i's words, Komo followed Byeol-i, who was running towards the front door, and smiled inwardly as he opened the front door and headed towards the house next door.

Ding dong-

문별이

"Oh, it's cold."

As I was waiting with my arms crossed and my legs trembling, Komo came over and tapped my leg with his tail.

문별이

"You're cold too. But when are you coming out?"

Ding dong-

Crash!

문별이

"Ugh! Surprise!"

정휘인

"who are you······?"

I almost laughed at the sight of her disheveled hair, sleepy voice, and blue pajamas, wondering if she was really asleep.

문별이

"Oh, this kid keeps invading our house, so I brought him here."

김용선

"Wheein, who are you?"

I was speechless for a moment when a strange woman suddenly appeared, and then Wheein saw Komo next to me and scolded him.

정휘인

"Como, I told you not to ride on the veranda!"

Komo didn't know he was being scolded, so he just rubbed his body against Wheein's leg.

김용선

"Is Komo doing that again?"

정휘인

"Yeah, what should I do······."

김용선

"Oh, thank you."

문별이

"······ Ah, yes."

문별이

"Excuse me, what is your name?"

정휘인

"Me?"

문별이

"yes."

김용선

"Why the name all of a sudden?"

문별이

“We live next door, so I think I should know your name.”

김용선

"Oh, you two haven't announced your names yet?"

Byul-yi's mood became slightly uncomfortable as Yong-seon kept talking and interrupting her. Hwi-in, noticing something odd about Byul-yi frowning at Yong-seon, urgently spoke his name.