Belatedly, Eunseong-ssi made a fuss as usual and gestured for me to come inside. I hesitated a bit before entering.
“Yes, then excuse me…”
“Meow.”
“……!”
That’s when it happened. Suddenly, I heard an animal’s cry, and something like a white cotton ball rolled to my feet.
“Oh… Hey, come here!”
When Eunseong-ssi raised his voice loudly, perhaps startled, it quickly ran and hid behind the sofa.
“Haha, Seungyeon-ssi, were you surprised? That’s the one I mentioned before.”
“Ah… the one you said you’re raising in the office…”
It was a cat. According to Jeonghan, he had picked it up because it was getting soaked in the rain… and he had said it resembled me.
“Please sit on the sofa. I’ll bring you a heater. There’s no heating here…”
“Oh, yes… Thank you.”
I quietly sat on the sofa that Eunseong-ssi offered.
“Anko, it’s cold there. Come this way.”
The cat named Anko seemed to understand Eunseong-ssi’s words and peeked its head out from behind the sofa. With its jewel-like shining blue eyes and fluffy white fur like cotton candy, it looked like a doll.
“It’s really pretty.”
When I said this while looking into Anko’s eyes, which had been making eye contact with me, Eunseong-ssi looked proud.
“Right? But even though it’s so pretty, there are people who don’t cherish it… If I hadn’t seen it then, it probably would have died…”
“……”
Strangely, Eunseong-ssi’s words felt like he was referring to me, not the cat. To be precise, Chae Seungyeon. His life itself. If Baek Woojin hadn’t found me on the bridge… what would have happened? Would it have ended up like the original story after all…
“But it really resembles Seungyeon-ssi, doesn’t it?”
“What?”
“Pretty eyes, white, and even proud. It really doesn’t listen either.”
“……”
It felt like he was directly targeting me.
“The breed is Persian, I think? That’s what they said at the animal hospital. It’s one year old and neutered. Someone probably raised it and then abandoned it. Well, even when I put up flyers, I didn’t get a single call…”
It seemed Eunseong-ssi had tried to find Anko’s owner.
“At first, Anko was very wary. But after a few weeks, it adapted and is doing well. I’ve raised dogs when I was young… but I didn’t know much about cats, so I was worried. But looking at these little rascals, they’re surprisingly charming, you know? Just like someone.”
“……”
Whether he was doing it on purpose or not, Eunseong-ssi kept targeting me. It wasn’t that I felt bad about it. I could tolerate it twice.
“Are you okay with fur allergies? You had a hard time last time.”
“Ah, I’m taking medicine these days. I should have taken it sooner… Not knowing that, I suffered quite a bit with tears and runny nose all this time.”
For a moment, I recalled Eunseong-ssi’s face when I first met him. I really thought he was a strange person then… Of course, that thought hadn’t changed much even now.
“Meow.”
That’s when it happened. Anko, who had been invisible and must have come from somewhere, approached my feet and rubbed its head against me.
“Oh, look at this guy? It hates it when other people even touch it a little…?”
“It’s more affectionate than I thought?”
“No no, that’s not right… That guy is incredibly proud… No, it’s not…”
While Eunseong-ssi was speaking, Anko jumped onto my lap and flopped over, showing its belly. At this obvious gesture asking to be petted, I caressed its warm belly with my palm. Anko made purring sounds as if it felt good.
“Wow… It wouldn’t even let Jeonghan touch its belly… Huh.”
Seeing Anko acting affectionate, Eunseong-ssi made an incredulous expression.
“Really? But it’s amazing… I’ve never seen such a gentle cat before.”
“What? Gentle?”
Eunseong-ssi muttered ‘Acting cute or what, really…’ and turned the electric heater closer to me. My body quickly warmed up from the hot heat.
“Um… but, Seungyeon-ssi.”
Eunseong-ssi, who had been warming his hands by the heater, called me carefully.
“Could I take just one photo…?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Since it was a photo with the cat, it seemed okay.
“Yes yes, look this way… Yes, I took it.”
Eunseong-ssi, who had taken the photo in the blink of an eye with his phone, showed me the picture with sparkling eyes.
“Seungyeon-ssi, could I use this as my SNS profile picture…”
“……”
“I guess not, right?”
At my pointed look, Eunseong-ssi made a very disappointed sound but couldn’t quite give up his attachment.
“Then as my phone wallpaper…”
“……”
“That’s also not okay, right? Right… It could be a violation of portrait rights…”
It was funny that he kept asking even though he knew better as a lawyer, but seeing his dejected expression made my heart soften again.
“Could you lend me your phone for a moment?”
“Uh… yes, here…”
At my request, Eunseong-ssi handed over his phone but seemed strangely restless. Maybe he was worried I would delete the photo he had just taken.
To ease his anxiety, I quickly turned on the camera function and took a photo after setting up the composition.
“Use this as your profile picture.”
“What?”
The photo I took clearly showed Anko’s belly and face as it lay on my lap. It captured Anko’s cute face, the pink bulging belly visible between its white fur, and my hand petting it.
“Really? I can really use this as my profile picture?!”
Eunseong-ssi, who had checked the photo on his phone, exclaimed in an excited voice.
What’s this, I only allowed it because it’s a cat photo…
I was briefly puzzled but decided not to worry about it too much. It was far better than having a photo with my face in it.
    “Yes, that’s fine. Could you send me that photo from earlier? Anko looked really cute in it.”
    “Oh, of course, of course…!”
    Eunseong-ssi, smiling brightly as if pleased, quickly tapped on his phone and sent the photo directly to my phone. His profile picture had been changed to a photo of Anko the cat.
    Bzzzzt.
    Just then, my phone vibrated in my hand.
    [Baek Woojin]
    Suddenly…?
    I excused myself to Eunseong-ssi for a moment and answered the call.
    “Woojin….”
    -Tell him to delete it.
    “Pardon…?”
    -Right now.
    “What…?”
    This made it look like Baek Woojin had contacted me the moment he saw Eunseong-ssi’s profile picture.
    I decided to ask what was going on rather than making such assumptions.
    “Woojin-ssi, suddenly telling me to delete something…. What are you talking about…?”
    -I’m talking about the profile picture uploaded by the man in front of you.
    How did he know…?
    I thought they weren’t on good terms, so I assumed they didn’t even have each other’s phone numbers… Had they exchanged contact information since then?
    -We exchanged contact information out of necessity, of course. Because of Kkotsu, and now I have to take care of Chae Seungyeon-ssi too.
    “Excuse me…?”
    I could understand the part about Kkotsu, but what followed was confusing.
    “What do you mean by ‘take care’…? Did I do something wrong…?”
    -No. However….
    “However…?”
    When Baek Woojin stopped talking after that, I quietly listened for more.
    “What’s wrong, Seungyeon-ssi?”
    Eunseong-ssi must have sensed something was off, as he asked with a concerned expression.
    “Huh? No… Ouch…!”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
