UNEXPECTED // P. JIHOON

twenty

"so you really want to do it?", jihoon asks me for the 10th time.

i told him i've been planning on buying a kitten from this one woman that lia knows. she's been a good friend of lias mum ever since they were little and i met her a few months ago at lias cafe.

she told me her cat was pregnant and was about to give birth which means they should be a few months old by now.

i asked her if she was willing to give me one just in case i actually decide on having one and she said yes.

"yes jihoon. i've been thinking about it for years actually but i could never get one because i was living with chris at that time and he didn't want to have one."

he nods understanding, "okay, i'll go with you. but i think we need a lot of things before you can get it. like litter, food and all that stuff."

"i made a list with everything i need", i show him the paper, "that should be it for now. let's go now."

-

after we finished shopping jihoons manager came by.

"junho, can you bring me the litter so i can prepare everything for the cat", i ask him.

i started calling him by his name by now because he told me to. he thought it felt weird being so formal all the time because the three of us actually hang out quite often.

it may sound weird but we work at the same company so i see him every day anyways and he's really close to jihoon. plus he's only 30 so we're not too far apart in age.

"when are you getting the cat?", he asks as he comes back with the cat litter.

i open it up and start filling up the litter box.

"we're leaving in a few minutes to get him", i tell him.

"that's great. by the way, did you get anything for jihoon yet?"

i look around to see if jihoon is listening but he's on the balcony talking to his mum on the phone.

"i did. you?"

"yeah but i'm not sure if he'll like it", he takes out his phone and shows me a picture.

it was a shirt, an expensive one too.

"i think he'll love it. also the colour, light blue. it's perfect for him", i smile reassuring him.

"thanks. i'm not staying long for his birthday party next week though."

i look back at him, "what? why not?"

"i have some stuff to do later that day so i'll stay for about two hours."

i nod and look at the time.

"we have to go", i say and stand up to walk over to jihoon.

"jihoon, we'll be late", i whisper.

he nods and says goodbye to his mother.

i haven't met his mum yet nor talked to her but she obviously knows about us and wants to meet me at his birthday party.

which makes me so nervous just thinking about it. for me, one of the worst things about being in a relationship is the anxiety before meeting each others family.