Jennie
The following day, work is uneventful. I eat lunch at my desk. I receive no calls from Hanbin or Lisa. Then, through some stroke of good luck, I manage to escape a whole ten minutes early.
I'm barely home from work five minutes before there's a pounding on my door. My heart flutters - it obviously thinks it's Lisa - and I walk slowly on my way to answer, not wanting to seem too eager. Then I wonder if I'm being obvious by taking my time.
Oh, for the love of all that is holy.
"Who is it?" I call out loudly.
"It's me, Lisa." The voice is unnaturally high, unnaturally girly, while still obviously a male.
Frowning, I stand on my tiptoes and peer out the peephole, rolling my eyes when I find Hae-in's frighteningly magnified head on the other side.
I wrench the door open. "What do you--" I stop, frozen in horror as I spot Hae-in holding an animal crate big enough for a medium-sized dog. Except there isn't a dog inside. It's a furry, monstrously huge, howling cat.
"Hey, Jen," Hae-in greets. He pushes past me, bringing the obviously distraught beast inside. Its mournful mewls instantly fill my small apartment.
I slam the door closed behind us. "Um, what the fuck is that?" I demand.
"That," Hae-in says, placing the crate on the floor, "has a name. It's Louis. And for the next three days he's going to be your new best friend. And Lisa's new best friend, let's not forget."
I start shaking my head frantically. Back and forth, again and again. "No. No, no, no, no, no. I told you, no cat."
"Come on, Jennie. Louis' a loner."
"Are you shitting me? Are you really doing this?"
"I thought we agreed to this. You know, to fuck with Lisa." He reaches down and unhooks the latch on the door of the cage. I expect the cat to run out, perhaps make a beeline for underneath the bed - or to the wash tub, or wherever the hell she will fit - but even that quick little spurt of motion is too much. Instead, he wobbles through the door, ears held back in caution, his stumpy legs just barely visible beneath his protruding and sashaying belly. As if he isn't huge enough already, his grey coat gives him the appearance of a squat, ornery grey polar bear.
His stomach drags the ground as he inches out the door, where he sits shortly afterwards for a breather. He looks up at both of us, squinty eyes and squashed face regarding us carefully.
"See, Jennie? This is Louis," Hae-in croons. He scoops Louis up and I stare in horror as his torso stretches out before his hind legs are lifted off the ground. He's huge. Hae-in whips Louis into his arms like a giant, hairy baby.
"What the fucking hell, Hae-in? Where did you even get that thing? Is it a science experiment?"
Hae-in shoots me the hairiest eyeball I've ever seen. "Be nice to Louis. Not everyone can have a hot body," he says seriously as he scratches Louis behind his ears. He lies in Hae-in's arms like a tub of lard, all pudgy and no bones. "And a friend of mine is visiting home and needed someone to watch Louis. His mom is allergic to cats."
"And by someone he meant... you, correct?"
"Well, yes. But it all just worked out so perfectly. It's like a blessing straight from God."
"I don't think I can afford to feed that thing," I protest sourly. Louis stares blankly at me from where he's being rocked in Hae-in's arms. It's unnerving.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I have everything out in the car. Here, I'll let you two get acquainted." He sets her back on the floor and slides past me.
