Startled by the sudden appearance of a human, the tiny creature froze mid-cry.
“Wow……”
Even the small sound seemed to be too much stimulation. The kitten, with its wide, round eyes, flinched in surprise and tumbled backward. Its four short legs flailed in the air like it was trying to swim.
—Miaaang.
It was so young that it still couldn’t properly control its body. Maybe around two months old?
It was so small it could fit in the palm of a hand. In other words, it was incredibly cute. And with its wispy, dandelion-like light brown fur, it looked just like…
“What are you doing over there?”
“This little thing looks like you.”
Before he knew it, Shin-jae had walked back over from the other side.
“Who does?”
Sa-yoon pointed at the bush, and Shin-jae tilted his head in confusion. His voice was loud, completely unfiltered. Sa-yoon pressed a finger to his lips.
“Shh. There’s a kitten under here.”
—Miwoong.
It must have thought he was talking to it because a tiny response came from below. Sa-yoon turned his head again. The little cheese-colored kitten had flipped itself over and was now staring at him curiously.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem to have had any bad experiences with people. Its face was full of curiosity, and its tail swayed in wavy, looping motions.
“Look, its fur color is kinda like your hair.”
Cats living on campus were usually friendly toward people, probably because students fed them and showered them with attention.
“Seriously, isn’t it adorable— wait, what are you doing?”
He thought Shin-jae was standing beside him watching, but the guy had actually moved a few steps away. He had one hand covering his mouth, his expression looking somewhat uneasy.
“Are you scared of cats?”
“I just don’t like fur flying everywhere.”
Sa-yoon nodded at that. Fair enough. That was a very reasonable explanation.
“Do you also have the ability to find a single pea stuck under thirteen mattresses?”
“What are you even talking about?”
Honestly, he probably could. Sa-yoon muttered to himself and pulled a water bottle out of his messenger bag.
“Why the water?”
“Wild cats usually don’t get to drink water properly.”
As he rummaged through his bag full of all sorts of things and pulled out a paper cup, Shin-jae hesitantly stepped a little closer.
“Do you seriously carry all that around?”
“Because you never know when you might need it?”
A voice behind him muttered something about him being a peddler, but he ignored it.
After filling the paper cup with water and setting it down, Sa-yoon stepped back a little. The kitten, which had been meowing softly, hesitated before cautiously crawling out from under the bush now that he had created some distance. Still, it didn’t come any closer.
“But what’s wrong with its eyes? And around its mouth too.”
“Yeah, I see it.”
It hadn’t been noticeable when it was in the shade of the bushes, but now that it was out in the open, the dirt around its eyes, nose, and mouth stood out.
For a second, he wondered if it had a skin condition, but on closer inspection, it was just dirty. Its front paws were also stained black with dust, like soot covering what should have been white fur.
Maybe it was too young to groom itself properly. Or maybe it hadn’t been getting care from its mother. Maybe both.
As Sa-yoon retreated to stand next to Shin-jae, the kitten finally lowered its nose to the paper cup and began drinking eagerly.
The speed at which it lapped up the water made it clear just how thirsty it was. Now that he was looking at it more closely, he realized that its belly, which should have been round and full, was instead sunken in.
“Why’s it alone? Don’t cats usually have multiple kittens at once?”
“Who knows… Maybe it lost its mother?”
“What? Are you saying its mom abandoned it?”
Both Sa-yoon and the kitten turned wide-eyed at the sudden loud voice.
“When did I say that? I just said it might have gotten separated.”
“That’s the same thing! The mother should’ve been more careful so it wouldn’t get lost. It’s just a baby—it doesn’t know anything.”
Is that really how that works?
While Shin-jae was blaming the unseen mother cat, half the water had already disappeared from the cup.
—Meaang.
Having quenched its thirst, the kitten now let out a tiny whimper, as if it was hungry. Its little mouth opened wide, revealing two tiny fangs that were smaller than a grain of rice before quickly disappearing again.
Sa-yoon poured another cup of water and rummaged through his bag, wanting to give it something to eat, but all he found were snacks meant for humans.
“Nothing I can give you right now.”
In the meantime, the kitten, apparently having warmed up to them, toddled forward with a bright expression, looking as if it was about to rub against their legs. Sa-yoon quickly stepped back. Shin-jae instinctively retreated with him.
Did the campus convenience store sell anything this thing could eat?
“Can’t we take it with us, feed it, and then bring it back here?”
Shin-jae seemed to have had the same thought. But Sa-yoon shook his head firmly.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“If it gets used to human hands, the mother really might not come back for it. She could just be out looking for food, or she might be in the process of moving the kittens one by one.”
“But what if she really did abandon it?”
Even though Shin-jae had been keeping his distance because he didn’t like fur getting everywhere, he couldn’t take his eyes off the tiny creature in front of him.
Sa-yoon also took another good look at the kitten. No matter how he looked at it, its scruffy appearance didn’t resemble that of a baby being cared for by its mother. It was far too young to survive on its own. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.
As he put more distance between them, the kitten hesitated, glancing back as if afraid to leave the safety of the bush, before ultimately giving up on following him.
Instead, as if to prove that it was, in fact, a cat, it neatly tucked its two front paws together, then tried to wrap its short tail around them—only to topple over sideways. The sight was so adorable that Sa-yoon couldn’t help but laugh, but Shin-jae, in contrast, had a serious expression.
“Is it… sick or something?”
The way it struggled to control its limbs and moved awkwardly was simply because it was still very young. Sa-yoon had seen stray cats wandering near his front yard before, but he had never come across one this tiny—practically newborn.
“Let’s keep an eye on it while we finish filming. The mother might come back.”
They couldn’t just scoop it up and take it away without a plan. Clinging to a shred of hope, Sa-yoon suggested waiting, and though Shin-jae didn’t look pleased, he nodded reluctantly.
Filming resumed. Unlike at the library, they had to be content with just scouting out movement paths. Sa-yoon found himself distracted, thinking about what to do if the kitten really had been abandoned. Shin-jae, too, kept glancing toward the bush at regular intervals.
Then, about ten minutes later, a calico cat appeared in the distance.
It had sharp, wary eyes and alternated between glaring at Sa-yoon and Shin-jae. Sa-yoon knew that, due to genetics, most calico cats were female.
That must be the mother.
Relieved that the kitten hadn’t been abandoned after all, Sa-yoon let out a small sigh. Meanwhile, Shin-jae was frowning, confused about how a calico cat could be the mother of a cheese-colored kitten.
“Guess it takes after the father instead. Let’s wrap up here.”
Feeling much lighter, they started to leave—just as raindrops began to fall.
As they stopped by the campus store to buy umbrellas, they naturally found themselves drifting toward the refrigerated section where chicken breast was stocked.
“Wait, what?”
When they returned to the spot, the calico was sitting neatly next to the paper cup, resting in the classic “loaf” position. But the kitten that should have been nearby was nowhere to be seen.
Shouldn’t the baby be clinging to its mother?
—Awoooong.
As Sa-yoon approached, the calico let out a long, defensive growl before suddenly bolting away.
If it had really been taking care of a kitten, it wouldn’t have left so easily.
A sinking feeling settled in his gut.
Sa-yoon quickly stepped over the bushes lining the border between the pavement and the grass. A little ways from the thicket, the kitten was curled up, trembling.
“Hey, little one.”
Sa-yoon crouched down and called to the baby cat.
—Peeong.
As he tore off a small piece of chicken breast and held it out, the kitten lifted its head and meowed, though the sound was so faint it was barely audible over the rain.
Chuchuchu. Sa-yoon gently wiggled his fingers in an attempt to lure it over.
The kitten shakily stood up and took a step forward.
“Huh…?”
Just before the kitten could reach the piece of chicken, it suddenly collapsed onto its side.
“Hey, little one.”
Sa-yoon carefully scooped up the tiny body. It was as light as a tuft of fur, completely limp. The kitten was soaked from the rain, shivering, its eyes barely able to open.
The first priority was warming it up. He moved to take off his top, but unfortunately, he was wearing a half-zip made of polyester. With one hand holding the kitten and the other struggling to pull his shirt off, something was suddenly placed against him.
“Use this.”
Shin-jae had taken off his cardigan and was holding it out.
“It’ll get covered in fur.”
“Is that really the issue right now? And let’s go to a clinic—I’ll drive.”
Sa-yoon nodded, carefully wrapping the kitten in the cardigan. He didn’t dare make a sound, afraid that even the faintest noise might extinguish the fragile breath of life in his hands.
***
The car was hot and dry, the heater blasting, but neither of them complained.
Thanks to the warmth, the kitten slowly blinked its eyes open, regaining some awareness. But even so, it remained weak and motionless.
Was it simply exhausted from hunger, or was it actually sick? There was no way to tell.
I should’ve fed it something earlier. I shouldn’t have assumed that calico was its mother. Regret gnawed at him.
The only sound in the otherwise silent car was the occasional sniffle. Sa-yoon turned his head—Shin-jae, gripping the steering wheel, had red-rimmed eyes.
“Are you crying?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
This was the same guy who had kept his distance earlier because he didn’t like cat fur.
“You like cats, don’t you?”
“I don’t like them. It’s just… sad. How could she abandon her own baby? Just giving birth isn’t enough.”
His voice trembled with emotion, the anger laced with an unmistakable hint of tears. Sa-yoon reached over and patted the back of Shin-jae’s hand, still resting on the gear shift.
“It’s just weak right now. It’ll be okay.”
That moment of reassurance helped steady his own nerves. One of them had to keep it together.
“When we get there.”
“Yeah?”
“What name are we going to use for the registration?”
“Huh?”
“You know, in those videos and stuff—when you check in at the vet, they ask for a name.”
Sa-yoon had never had a cat before, but he had raised a dog. He vaguely remembered the process.
“Uh… Yellow?”
Shin-jae turned to look at him. His rain-dampened eyes flickered with disbelief.
