engravings. ▸ chae hyungwon

scaredy cat.

i think i'm scared of all the signs. don't ever leave me alone at night. i think i'm scared, i don't know why. just leave the lights on and close the blinds.

the bell rang as the door opened up, a few 'welcome in!' echoing from throughout the cafe. the sound of cats meowing at the sight of new people walking in. the scent of coffee and sweets hitting you like a ton of bricks. the pair walked inside, greeting the workers before finding a table to sit at. sol walked in front of the male, carefully walking around any cat she saw to make sure she didn't step on them or scared them away.

"oh my goodness, aren't they so precious?" she whispered as she sets her bag down on the floor next to an open table. she bent down and smiled, the cats ran to her with no hesitation. hyungwon sat his things down, watching her sit down to greet the cats with a gentle hello. he wasn't surprise they attracted to her so easily, who wouldn't be.

"welcome in, would you guys want anything to drink?" hyungwon looked away from sol, seeing one of the workers come up to him. he observed them for a moment, they looked around 23-24, short hair. it seemed like a mullet but he couldn't be so sure since they had a hat on. brown eyes, rosy cheeks. "i'll take an iced americano." he answered.

"iced americano, and your girlfriend?" they asked as they wrote down his order then looked back up at him, 'girlfriend?' he thought, eyes widening a bit as he cleared his throat. "uh- sol? is there anything you want?"

while sol ordered for herself, hyungwon's head went somewhere else. 'they thought she was my girlfriend, do we look like a couple? i mean, obviously we do since they thought that. how would sol react if she heard them? would she have denied it?' questions pondered in his head, he didn't realize that sol had already finished ordering and was standing in front of him, holding a cat in her hands.

"are you okay? do you wanna sit?" a gentle smile was sitting on her face before sitting herself down at the table. the male followed, hands becoming clammy and lips turning dry. "right, sure." he finally answered as he sat down, he watched her hands run down the cat's back, it purring at the touch of her. 'lucky ass cat.' he thought.

'only you would be jealous of a cat.'

there wasn't much being said, they stayed quiet. he knew he was coming into this blind but he thought he would have been better prepared by the time lunch came around. his eyes began to wander around the room, there wasn't many people here. music was being played through the speakers, the sound of wind chimes and bells ringing every now and then. it was a nice place, somewhere people could escape.

"i've always been more of a cat person. don't get me wrong, i love dogs but cat's always intrigued me more." her voice stirred him away from his thoughts, he turned and looked at her giving a small nod. "do you remember that stray cat that would follow us on the way home during our first year in middle school?" hyungwon looked at her before backtracking into his memories to remember.

"the one that would always climb on your legs because they were so long-" she laughed, he laughed along with her. he remembers it now, during their middle school year they only were able to hang out during school hours. sol's parents were very strict about her grades and social life. at one point they would find alternate routes to hang out just for a while longer before she would have to return home and start working again.

"i remember that, that cat would dig his nails into my legs." he spoke, sol laughed again as she leaned back against the chair. hyungwon stared at her, hearing her laugh was a relief, something to calm the nerves. "oh my, why didn't you ever say anything? he would do that to you every day!" sol spoke, eyes widening.