The Ninth Life of Min Yoon Gi

11.

Yoon Gi sat himself on a low wall and stared up into the night sky. The dimly lit street was quiet, the hour being very early (or very late, depending on how you look at it). Ji Min leaned next to him, crossing his ankles and also looking at the stars.

After a while, Yoon Gi dropped his gaze to his hands, trying to decide how to voice his thoughts.

"What happens... What happens if I change?"

Ji Min glanced at him. Reaching a hand out to rest comfortingly on Yoon Gi's knee, he said, "You would continue this life."

"Will I still have everything? Will I remember everything?"

"I think so. The spirits would work their magic to make sure you would be able to integrate seamlessly in all aspects."

"And if I fail?" Yoon Gi lowered his gaze to meet Ji Min's.

"You stay a cat. Forever."

"Will I remember you?"

"I honestly don't know. I'm still too much of a novice to know. And technically I'm not supposed to be here. I have to be careful to only guide you on the right path and not get caught. Speaking of that, I need to go check in. Can you get back to the apartment okay on your own?"

Yoon Gi nodded.

"All right, I'll meet you back there."

Ji Min vanished and Yoon Gi felt a warm breeze woosh past him in the direction of the temple.

After a few more minutes of sitting alone, Yoon Gi did the thing he had been dreading for awhile: he looked at his left forearm.

One of the tiny cat paw prints was slightly fuller than it had been the other night. Did that mean he did something right? And if so, what was it? Could he do it again? More? His second day as a human was ending, he had made very little progress, and he was starting to feel tired. How unfair of the spirits to curse him to have to stay awake in order to succeed. How many days could he last?

In the distance he heard a low roll of thunder and took that as his sign to head home before he could get caught in rain.

*

When he returned to his apartment, Ji Min was not there. Yoon Gi noticed his phone, which he left laying on the counter, was lit up. Curiously, he read the notifications on the screen.

Park Jimin:
Did you get home ok?

Park Jimin:
Hello?

Park Jimin:
Yoon Gi?

3 Missed Calls from Park Jimin

"How does this thing work?" Yoon Gi grumbled to himself. He hesitantly touched the screen to see if he could make it work, but instead everything went black.

Frustrated, he tossed it onto the coffee table and then threw himself onto the couch to lay down and wait for Ji Min's return.

It was maybe fifteen minutes later when the spirit appeared through the closed door, heading straight to the kitchen to raid the fridge.

"What took you so long?" Yoon Gi asked as he sat up. "You have to help me with this phone. Jimin wrote to me."

Ji Min finished "eating" an apple before coming over to show Yoon Gi how to reply to the text messages and then watched as Yoon Gi slowly typed out his reply.

Yoon Gi:
Sorry. I stopped to look at the moon. I did not have my phone.

"Then click send... there. That one. Press it with your finger."