Just then, Anko, who had been sitting quietly on my lap, suddenly stood up and scratched my hand holding the phone. His nails were short so it didn’t hurt, but I was startled enough to let out a yelp.
“Oh! Are you okay? Anko!”
Eunseong-ssi seemed quite surprised too. When he raised his voice and approached me, Anko trembled and leaped behind the sofa to escape.
“Seungyeon-ssi, are you really okay? You’re hurt, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Anko must have been startled. Static electricity, maybe?”
“Wait, I’ll get some ointment!”
“Ah, it’s really fine….”
Eunseong-ssi quickly went to his desk and frantically rummaged through the drawer. Only then did I remember I was still on a call and quickly put the phone back to my ear.
“Woojin-ssi, I’m sorry. Suddenly the cat….”
-……
“Hello? Woojin-ssi?”
When only silence followed, I checked my phone screen. The call had already ended.
“What’s going on…?”
I was considering calling Baek Woojin back.
“Seungyeon-ssi, look at this….”
Eunseong-ssi, who had brought the ointment, whispered softly to me while standing still.
Anko had somehow gone over there and was now rubbing against Eunseong-ssi’s feet. Despite cat hair getting all over his black suit pants, Eunseong-ssi smiled like a proud father.
When he smiles like that, he really seems like a nice person….
“Seungyeon-ssi, sorry, but could you…?”
Eunseong-ssi, unable to move from that spot, held out the ointment to me. Since the scratch wasn’t deep enough to need ointment, I just took it and smiled. The whole situation was funny, and Eunseong-ssi’s unexpected side was amusing.
“Ah, right. Seungyeon-ssi, would you like something to drink? I make really good coffee.”
Eunseong-ssi asked as Anko, quickly losing interest, moved away from his feet.
“Oh, anything is fine with me.”
Since I hadn’t come to the office just to get a free drink, anything really was fine.
“Then would you like a cafe latte like the one Kkotsu’s father made for you last time?”
“Cafe latte…?”
That cafe latte I had the other day was really delicious…. Although Baek Woojin said he just followed a recipe, for some reason I considered it a special cafe latte.
“Actually, I’d like Seungyeon-ssi to taste the cafe latte I make and evaluate it.”
“Evaluate?”
It seemed Eunseong-ssi didn’t just want to make one for me. He wanted me to compare it with the one Baek Woojin made and tell him which was better.
“Yes, please tell me which one tastes better. I checked that day, and we use the same beans and milk.”
“Ah….”
With that reason, I thought it might be better not to drink it at all.
“Ah, Eunseong-ssi… I just….”
Knock, knock, knock!
Just then, someone was roughly knocking on the door.
“What now…?”
Eunseong-ssi got up with a puzzled look. Anko, who had appeared out of nowhere, was licking his fur in front of the heater.
“Who is it? What brings you here?”
When Eunseong-ssi approached the door and asked, there was a brief silence before a deep response came.
“It’s me, Jeonghan’s father.”
Gasp. This voice….
It seemed I wasn’t the only one surprised, as Eunseong-ssi turned to me with a stunned face and whispered.
“Seungyeon-ssi… did you call Kkotsu’s father too?”
“What? No…. He said he would pick me up later, but….”
Baek Woojin had only asked me to call when I was done, not to join me at Eunseong-ssi’s office. Besides, it was the time when he would be busy with work, so his sudden visit caught me off guard too.
‘No. However….’
I had felt something was off during our recent call… Could there be some urgent matter?
Click.
Meanwhile, Eunseong-ssi had opened the door.
“What brings Kkotsu’s father here….”
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
As soon as Eunseong-ssi opened the door, Baek Woojin immediately looked for me. When our eyes met as I sat on the sofa, a flash of relief crossed his eyes.
“Hey, what’s this about suddenly?”
Eunseong-ssi gave Baek Woojin a sharp look for blatantly ignoring him. Only then did Baek Woojin turn to Eunseong-ssi and apologize politely.
“I’m sorry, I heard a strange sound while we were on the phone earlier, and I was concerned.”
“A strange sound?”
What? Was there such a sound during our call…?
While I was puzzling over Baek Woojin’s statement, Anko meowed and swiftly darted between my legs.
Ah, could it be…? Because of the sound when Anko scratched my hand? No way…. Just because of that…?
“I’m glad you’re safe. I’ll wait outside then.”
What, really?
Baek Woojin really seemed about to leave after confirming there was no problem. Before I could jump up to stop him, Eunseong-ssi intervened.
“Come on, Kkotsu’s father, please come in. Although I find this a bit suspicious, I can’t just turn away a visitor who has come all this way.”
As Eunseong-ssi spoke with a sigh, Baek Woojin turned back and came inside.
“…Then, excuse my intrusion.”
“Yes, please come in.”
When Baek Woojin entered and Eunseong-ssi closed the door with a click, Anko hopped up onto the windowsill where sunlight was streaming in, driven away by the cold air from outside. That cat never stayed still for a moment.
“I’ll go make some coffee.”
Meanwhile, Eunseong-ssi went behind a partition in the corner that seemed to serve as a kitchenette.
“Please sit, Woojin-ssi.”
Having quickly adapted, I offered Baek Woojin a seat on the sofa. Sitting beside me, Baek Woojin surveyed the office with eagle eyes before glancing toward the window.
“The cat seems to like Chae Seungyeon-ssi a lot.”
“Huh…? How did you know…?”
Anko wasn’t showing me any particular affection at the moment, so I wondered how he knew. Then Baek Woojin’s quiet gaze fell on my knees. My jeans were covered with Anko’s white fur.
“Ah….”
He must have noticed that already.
“And that cat is only looking at Chae Seungyeon-ssi right now.”
“What?”
I turned to the window where Anko was, startled. Whether by coincidence or not, Anko’s eyes met mine directly. Immediately after, Anko’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyelids blinked very slowly.
What’s that? Is he sleepy…?
“That’s a cat kiss.”
Baek Woojin suddenly said.
“Pardon? A kiss…?”
Wait, why is he talking about kisses here…?
“It’s one of the ways cats express affection. Cat eye greeting, eye kiss. It’s commonly called a cat kiss.”
“Aah… I see.”
I’ve never heard that before. I only ever cared about children, never really had any connection with animals.
“So I just need to do the same… kiss? Eye greeting? Is that right?”
I narrowed my eyes just like Anko did, then slowly blinked. In that moment, Anko opened his mouth wide, yawned deeply, then closed his eyes and assumed a bread-making position. His long tail swished playfully.
“Huh, what’s this…? Anko’s ignoring me now, isn’t he…?”
I asked in bewilderment at the unexpected response, while Baek Woojin just gazed at me steadily.
What’s this, why is he looking at me like that…?
“Cats tend to maintain a certain distance even with those they like. And while pretending not to, they’re actually paying attention.”
“Oh, really? They are different from dogs…”
It was fascinating. They say cat psychology is particularly difficult to understand among animals…
“I think I’m starting to understand Chae Seungyeon-ssi a bit better now.”
“Pardon?”
“Rather than showing with eyes, I need to directly explain how much affection I have… for the other person to understand.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
