Dogun’s Perspective
No, even if it’s Yoonseo, why is this sister acting like this?
She was hanging something that looked like cold sweat on the side of her face and I asked with a hint of concern, but I never expected her to just plop down like that.
Did she seriously have a nightmare or something?
It couldn’t be anyone else, but Chae-rim, so I couldn’t help but feel worried. Regardless of the reason, I put down the basin I was holding and reached out my hand.
But before I could finish that process and extend my hand towards her, Chae-rim snapped out of it with a “Ha!” and darted into the bathroom much quicker.
It was almost as fast as the lightning she usually handles.
Thanks to that, my hand, which was just starting to reach out, ended up swatting at the empty air.
“No…”
What is this really?
Why is she acting like that?
I was already confused enough because of Yoonseo. I had just stepped out of the room she was in, and suddenly I found myself in an unexpected situation.
I felt question marks floating around in my head.
Of course, I still had to do what needed to be done, so I picked up the basin I had briefly put down and headed to the first floor bathroom.
Upon arriving and emptying the water from the basin, I thought to myself—
Maybe Chae-rim had some situation she couldn’t talk about.
‘Yeah…’
That must be it.
She wouldn’t just act like that for no reason.
So, I decided to leave it at that and moved on… but the problem came afterward.
Since it was about that time, I had already started preparing dinner so that now that I had come down to the first floor, Senior Baeksulhwa wouldn’t have to wait long for a meal after her tiring day.
In the meantime, I heard a sound from the entrance as the door opened, so I went out to see, and there was Senior standing outside, not coming in, just hesitantly looking around.
Naturally, my first thought was, ‘What’s she doing?’
“…Senior?”
That was why I called her with a puzzled voice.
But upon hearing my call, Senior flinched as if she had done something wrong.
Like she was guilty or something.
And with that flinch came the sound—
—Meow…
It was a cat’s meow.
Only after hearing that did I notice the carrier bag sitting behind Senior.
You know, the kind of thing people use to take dogs or cats out somewhere far away, right?
Well, such a thing was firmly positioned behind her.
I wondered how I hadn’t noticed it until just now; it was pretty big.
That means the cat sound I just heard must’ve come from there.
‘No wonder…’
So that’s why she was hesitating outside the door, because of the cat.
More precisely, she must’ve felt bad about doing this without telling me.
‘Hmm…’
I felt I needed to hear a bit more about this situation.
“Come in for now. It’s cold outside.”
“Uh, okay…”
So I drew in Senior, who was still hesitating outside, and sat her down on the living room sofa.
Then I briefly went to the kitchen to sort out the soup that was boiling and sat opposite her.
“So, what happened?”
Even though she had come in and sat down, she was still fidgety, so I wondered if she was just waiting for me to ask.
She went on to explain how she got involved with the creature inside the carrier.
To summarize her explanation as best as I could… it turned out she first encountered the little one at the last location she worked.
“Fortunately, it was in a place with few people, so casualties weren’t too large, but…”
The aftermath took a while to clean up due to the Another Ones messing things up everywhere.
While cleaning up the site, she found a little kitten who had lost its mother and couldn’t leave the side of its lifeless body due to its heartbreaking cries.
“So, this little one…”
“Yeah… at first, I tried to ignore it, but…”
Seeing the little one crying next to its cold mother was unsettling, and in the end, she brought it home, cautiously watching my reactions.
“Umm… so I wanted to ask if I could stay here for a few days…”
Perhaps she was thinking of asking if she could stay here.
Senior, who was fidgeting, started waving her hands as if to say it wasn’t a big deal.
“If, if it’s burdensome or you don’t want it, you can reject it. I still have my old house…”
Maybe she thought she could stay there if not here.
‘Hmm…’
Seeing her fidgeting again wasn’t typical of Senior Baeksulhwa, and I thought it over internally.
Honestly?
I didn’t mind at all.
I didn’t dislike animals, and I had considered getting a dog or a cat in the past.
So, it didn’t matter to me; the concern was about the opinions of others.
I was the homeowner, but I shouldn’t unilaterally decide on this issue.
Of course, I would have to hear what everyone living here thought.
But before that—
“First of all…”
I needed to reassure Senior, who deserved a compliment after doing such a great deed and was instead anxiously looking at me.
“You did well.”
If she hadn’t saved that little one, it probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
The winter season is too harsh for an unprotected kitten, one that hasn’t even learned how to find food to survive.
So, I could safely conclude that her action saved a life.
But should I let someone who did such a wonderful thing just keep fidgeting without praise?
Thus, before calling everyone over, I made sure to say that. Noticing my words, Senior’s gaze, which had been looking down shyly, widened just a little.
“Still, we have to hear everyone else’s opinions… could you please wait here for a bit? I’ll go get Chae-rim and Bora.”
“…Okay.”
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Baeksulhwa’s Perspective
Is she going to call Bora first?
Watching Dogun slowly leave the living room, I felt my heart racing.
There was no other choice.
There was nothing I could do about it because… there was something I hadn’t told Dogun.
I guess I could say it was because of the shared pain of seeing the helpless little kitten left beside its dead mother that weighed heavily on my heart.
When I saw the orphaned little one, it was as if I was looking at my past self.
Thrown into the world all alone after losing the solid protection of my mom and dad, who had always kept me safe through thick and thin—just a helpless version of myself during that time.
So, I couldn’t just look away, and that’s why I reached out.
But now, having reached out, I suddenly became worried.
My worry was simply, “What if Dogun doesn’t like it?”
Honestly, that part had been the biggest concern…
‘He said I did well…’
It seemed like he didn’t express any reluctance, and instead, he comforted me.
That realization made me oddly happy.
At that moment, an indescribable feeling surged up in my chest.
‘Anyway…’
Now that Dogun, the homeowner, had agreed?
The only thing left was to hear the opinions of the other two.
Since Dogun just went to call them, I still didn’t know what they would say, but…
“I hope we can all live together here.”
—Meow…
I pressed my forehead against the carrier entrance, silently praying for that wish to come true.