Curious Cat

Chapter 3: Sunday's Twists

One thing Soojin was grateful for was that her apartment was in a single-story building, sparing her from the need to climb flights of stairs like residents of taller buildings. She rushed inside her apartment and closed the door swiftly, feeling like a fugitive evading the authorities.

Soojin took a moment to catch her breath, her chest heaving from the mad dash she had made. She couldn't quite explain why she had done it. All she knew was that she had seen the stunning woman, the same woman her cat had been visiting every day—or, more accurately, had visited a month ago, as that was the last time, she had watched the footage. What had come over her?

She chided herself for not considering the possibility of encountering the woman, especially since they both lived in the same neighborhood. She tried to calm her racing heart, taking deep breaths as she whispered to herself, It's okay, it's okay. I didn't do anything.

Despite her reassuring words, she couldn't shake the confusion about why she had fled in the first place. She silently prayed that her cat would return soon, confident that Jinson was likely still somewhere in the vicinity.

As Soojin gradually calmed down, the events that had unfolded earlier began to sink in, replaying in her mind like a sequence of snapshots. She retraced each moment, from the very beginning to the final scene she could remember. Yes, she had been out walking Jinson, and then, Jinson had darted off, leading her to that unexpected encounter with the woman.

In hindsight, she realized that her impulsive reaction of fleeing had probably been unnecessary. There had been no apparent reason for her to react so dramatically. She shook her head at her own behavior, questioning why she had chosen to run.

Recalling the image of the woman she had seen a while ago, she couldn't help but marvel at the stranger's fair skin, which resembled porcelain. The woman had radiated a captivating brightness, like a ball of sunshine. However, Soojin's memories of her encounter were limited because she had abruptly turned away and fled. A part of her regretted not taking the opportunity to observe the woman more closely, but her flight response had overridden her curiosity in that moment.

As Soojin mulled over the events and the snippets of conversation she had overheard, it struck her that the woman she had glimpsed hadn't been around for a long time. The absence puzzled her. Had the woman moved away from the neighborhood? For how long had she been gone? These questions swirled in her mind, but she had no answers, as her thoughts about Shuhua had waned after she had stopped using the camera on Jinson's collar.

However, this unexpected encounter had reignited her curiosity about the woman she had seen. She wondered what was holding her back from approaching Shuhua, especially given that they lived in the same area. She couldn't quite pinpoint the reason for her hesitation.

For now, all she could do was wait for Jinson's return, hoping that he would come back before lunch.

Two hours had elapsed since Jinson's unexpected encounter with Shuhua, and he had yet to return. Soojin's work shift at the local library was just an hour away, and she was grateful that the library opened at noon, catering to her non-morning person tendencies. Her decision to take Jinson for a walk earlier in the day seemed ill-fated, and now she had to prepare for work. It was supposed to be her day off, but she decided just to go on duty since she doesn't have really that much to do.

She decided to give it another 30 minutes, hoping that Jinson would make his way back home. However, that half-hour passed without a sign of her feline friend. A sense of anxiety started to creep in, although it wasn't overpowering. She considered the possibility that the woman had taken Jinson to her home, knowing that her cat often visited there, as she had seen in the footage from a month ago.