The Ninth Life of Min Yoon Gi

21.

Yoon Gi woke from his peaceful slumber feeling warm and content. He uncurled himself and got out of bed, stretching his back as he did so. He went over to the bathroom to wash his face.

It was then that he realized something was wrong. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Staring back at him was a black cat.

"No... no, no, no, no, no!" He said to himself.

How could this be? What happened? He had fallen asleep... He had been so content and at peace that he let his guard down and now he had failed.

His ears twitched, hearing her stirring from the bed. He couldn't let her see him like this. Not when she expected to see a man.

He jumped down from the sink and slunk out of the bedroom and to the front door. He pawed at it in frustration as he realized he couldn't open it. He was trapped.

I've gotta get out of here! He thought.

He stalked around the apartment, looking for a way out. He was examining the high window in the corner behind a very lush aralia when he noticed it hadn't quite shut all the way. He pushed it, gently at first, and then harder as he began to snake his body through the opening.

He balanced himself on the small ledge outside the window, grateful this was only a high window and not two or three floors up. Sure, cats can land on their feet and survive some crazy falls, but he didn't want to risk it when he wasn't used to being a cat. And especially not now. Not now that he had to...

He took a deep breath, drew himself into a spring, and launched himself at the low tree branch that was about four feet away. He grasped the twig-like branches with his claws, but felt the leaves ripping between them. The next thing he knew he was plummeting to the ground with barely enough time to twist his body to land on his paws with a thud.

Immediately he darted down the street, his destination the only thing on his mind.

*

"Ji Min!!! Ji Min-ssi!" Yoon Gi howled as he tore into the temple courtyard. "Ji Min!" He ran up the steps to the altar, expecting to find the spirit of his beloved there.

He skidded to a halt. It wasn't Ji Min who was sitting there. It was a larger, more serious spirit, dressed in all black, with cropped hair and narrow eyes, standing with its arms crossed in front of its chest.

"Who—where's Ji Min?" Yoon Gi asked.

The spirit stared at him, perhaps thinking over what to say.

"It is none of your business."

"It is!" Yoon Gi hissed. "I demand to know."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would you care about some spirit that you met just days ago?

"Because..." Yoon Gi hesitated, his demeanor softening, shifting from paw to paw. "Because he's my... friend."

"Friend?" The spirit blinked at the small black cat.

Yoon Gi sat down and stared up at the translucent figure, trying to will him to answer.

"He had to be punished for interfering. He was given strict instructions that he was not to tell you more than the circumstances and how to acclimate to the present time. Whatever he did to unlock your past was against my explicit directive."

"He didn't do that on purpose. And who the hell are you to make these calls?"

"I am Nam Joon, the long-standing guardian spirit of this region."

"So that gives you the right to punish him for something he couldn't control? Isn't it just as much my fault?"

"I can't have other spirits acting out on their own for the behalf of mortals... or their own interests. It leads to chaos"

"I never thought a spirit could be such a hard ass." Yoon Gi's voice was almost a growl.

"Watch it, Kitty. That kind of attitude is what got you where you are."

"You're wrong."

Nam Joon blinked, taken aback. He was almost bewildered at the concept of arguing with a cat. "I'm never wrong."

"But you are!" Yoon Gi stood up, his tail slowly puffing out and the fur gently rising across his back. "This attitude, as you call it, is the opposite of what put me in this position. I'm here because of how much I care—no, love—Ji Min. Everything I have ever done was for him. I don't think you can care much more for someone than to love them."

"It's not enough to fall in love with someone. That doesn't prove you have changed your ways. If that were true, then why are you still a cat?"

Yoon Gi growled at the spirit, arching his back. It's not fair. I have changed! He took a swipe at the spirit, but it did not connect. His frustration escalated and his growls grew into yowls. Why was he a cat? Yeah, he fell asleep, but he had almost six paws after forgiving Ho Seok. Surely that was close enough? Hell, it could have been completely full before he fell asleep!

"Why am I not human? Did I not prove I can care?" He couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice.

"Apparently not."

"Then if I failed, why can I still talk? Why do I still remember everything?"

"That will all disappear when next you wake. You will forget everything and the spirit world will be closed to you. All will be lost."

Next you wake... Yoon Gi sat down upon hearing those words, his anger abating.

"Does that mean I still have time? Can I—" Yoon Gi was hesitant to ask, hoping against hope that maybe...

The spirit sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger before returning his gaze to the feline. "Apparently..." Nam Joon sounded really annoyed and as though he really didn't want to have to share the information he was about to. "You were so close that you have been given—"

That was all Yoon Gi needed to hear before he bolted down the steps of the temple.

He would not lose Ji Min again!