The Ninth Life of Min Yoon Gi

Alternate Ending: 29.

Yoon Gi was relieved to be so close to his destination. He could feel every scratch on his stomach with each step and the fur on his neck was starting to clump as blood dried there. But he made it. And he had about thirteen minutes before the branch needed to start steeping.

"So it was you?" Jungkook asked, coming up the sidewalk behind him to knock on Jimin's door. "I don't think she's going to be pleased to know you were fighting again."

The door swung open, Yoon Gi darted inside, and Jungkook followed after greeting Jimin.

"Hey! Thanks for bringing dinner," she said.

"I also brought your cat," he gestured to the feline sitting on the kitchen counter as he set the bag of food down.

"Oh?" Jimin followed him and then noticed the state of the black cat. "What happened? Where did your bandage go? Is that a new cut?"

"I found him fighting with a stray on my way here. He wasn't doing too good."

"My poor baby," Jimin tried to pet Yoon Gi's back, but he swatted her hand away. "Okay, okay," she muttered, turning to Jungkook. "I have to make catnip tea to get him to calm down enough to clean his wounds. If I can do that, then I can worry about taking him to the vet in the morning." Jimin explained as she started gathering the necessary items.

"What if I hold him?" Jungkook offered.

Jimin raised a brow, "You're brave."

Shrugging, Jungkook reached for Yoon Gi, but the cat swiped at him, claws fully extended.

"Or not..."

"I'm so sorry. Do you think the food will keep while I take care of him?"

"No need to apologize," Jungkook said. "We have to take care of him first. It'll be fine"

At least she's making tea, Yoon Gi thought. I just need that water to boil in the next ten minutes.

He had tucked the resurrection stem safely on the counter behind him and hoped neither of the humans would notice it. He watched Jimin fill a pot with water to boil and rinse the celadon teapot before she went to pluck a fresh sprig of catnip for the tea. Now he just had to wait for the water to boil. And for Ji Min to appear.

None of this will matter if Ji Min isn't even here to drink it, he thought. He didn't know what Nam Joon had meant by "removing" Ji Min, but he assumed that it couldn't be good and that Ji Min would be risking the rest of his existence to attempt this. And yet Yoon Gi knew Ji Min would try. For him.

And how am I going to keep Jimin from using the catnip instead of the resurrection plant? He could easily drop the stem in, but then how could he keep her from adding catnip, too? He would have to distract her and keep her away from the teapot for the thirteen minutes he needed it to steep.

One thing at a time, he sighed, absentmindedly batting the catnip sprig towards the heated burner.

Neither Jimin nor Jungkook were paying attention to the cat, so when the catnip started to burn from the heat of the burner, they couldn't easily figure out where the smell or wisps of smoke was coming from. Jimin opened a window and went to grab a fan to blow the foul air outside, apologizing to Jungkook all the while. It was only after she poured the water into the celadon teapot that Jimin realized something had burned on the stove.

Frowning, she prodded the charred remains with a chopstick and Yoon Gi took that as his cue to enact whatever genius plan he could quickly come up with to distract her from completing the tea.

I could break something, but what? He hurriedly paced the room, looking for something that would make a big enough impact that it would distract her for long enough for him to get Ji Min.