The Ninth Life of Min Yoon Gi

3.

The black cat sat up and licked his paw to clean his face. He would need to hunt soon. He was feeling quite hungry and just wanted to fill his tummy before taking a late afternoon nap.

He suddenly shot across the pavement to the shelter of some bushes, his instincts kicking in before he knew what he was doing, as the door of the building opened. He peered out from under the bush and saw a young woman emerge, wearing black pants and a black t-shirt, carrying a bag of food.

She halted just outside the door, looking towards the bush where he crouched low, observing her.

"Goyang-i?" She said softly, squinting her eyes, trying to see into the shadows of the brush.

The black cat crouched lower, forcing himself to narrow his eyes so she wouldn't see their reflection.

"It's ok," she said. "I just came out to eat. You can join me if you like." She lowered herself against the building's wall and took a sandwich out of the bag.

The cat's whiskers twitched as he caught the faint scent of meat, but he remained in his hiding place.

He watched her as she sat quietly, eating her sandwich and watching the clouds drifting across the sky. He was jealous of her food, but he refused to make himself vulnerable by emerging from his shelter.

She was standing to get up when he caught the movement of her tossing something in his direction.

"I hope you like it," she said before she opened the door and went back inside.

He waited, eyeing his surroundings and looking for possible predators. After a few minutes, he took a couple of tentative steps out from the bushes, then a few more, then finally he scurried towards the thing she had thrown.

He sniffed it from a short distance, confirming his suspicions. It was food. He inched closer and sniffed again to make sure he wasn't dreaming, then took the offering in his mouth and ate it hungrily.

Chicken. The word floated across his mind, something familiar but almost forgotten.

He licked his lips, looking around and sniffing for any other morsels that might be left behind. There were none.

Now he was hungry in earnest. He would have to hunt.