Crescent // ATEEZ ✔

60 [cat]

Yeosang watches from across the street as Anna stumbles forward on the pavement, almost planting her face on the ground before righting herself up and muttering to herself that she does not need any more cuts for today. He shakes his head as she stumbles again after 10 metres, this time taking the fall more violently as she stops it with her hands, scratching them in the process. She fusses over her bleeding hands, and the people walking only part to avoid from running into her, ignoring her state.

She studies her hand as if taking her time to think about what to do with it. Then - as Yeosang stands at the crosswalk waiting for the light to turn green - she takes out a box of plasters and peel one off, putting it over her left palm. She takes another one, this time for the right. When she's done, she tries to stand up but gets startled when a man towers over her, looking down at her with disapproval etched on his face.

"I told you to stop being clumsy," Yeosang utters as he glances at the opened box of plasters shoved in her unzipped bag. It's the box he had given her, and it looks like a few has been used. "You like to make people worry."

"Baby-" she exclaims, surprised to find Yeosang near her on a Saturday morning, but quickly corrects herself as she frowns. "Yeosang, being clumsy is not something that I can change easily." She stands up, refusing help from him. "You're talking as if I can tell myself 'hey stop being clumsy' and miraculously I stop falling, getting multiple cuts and bruises. Plus I never asked for anyone to worry about me." She says it all in one breath, already picking up her bag and trying to walk the other way, moulding into the crowd around them.

"Anna-" he calls out, faltered by her response. He took it too far when he went to take the dress from her, and that was one week ago. Anna has never been this distant from him, and he realizes how bitter it is to get a taste of his own medicine. Serves you right for treating her that way.

He gives chase, weaving in and out of the crowd as he keeps on the lookout for her, him calling her name proving to be futile - either she cannot hear or she doesn't want to hear. She dives into an alley, making him a tad bit panicked as he can't locate her before finding her crouching beside a dumpster, feeding stray cats with the feed she always brings along. He lets out a low chuckle when she doesn't notice him approaching, too absorbed with the stray cats that have started to crowd around her.

She's talking to the cats, asking them to be patient as she pours more in the container. The cats rub their faces against her legs, meowing until she's laughing and her hands try to give them equal love. She falls down on the wet floor again, pushed by the horde of cats swarming, but she keeps laughing. Only when she sees that Yeosang has found her that she abruptly stops, immediately standing up and slightly scaring the cats.

"Are you stalking me?" Anna scowls before crouching again and pouring all cat food that she has left. She throws away the empty packet, dusts her hands and turns around to leave. "I'm busy, so I'd kindly like it if you stop following me and go away."

"Thank you," he suddenly says, seemingly an attempt to stop her from walking away. The chomp of the cats digging in the food fill in the silence between them, alternating with a gurgling sound as they fight over it. "I didn't have the opportunity to say it to you when you gave us the dress. Han Byul said thank you too."

"You're welcome," then after a thought, she adds, "to Han Byul. Not to you, you never said thank you even once before this. Why are you suddenly doing things that you never do?"

"It looks like I'm about to die," he passes a comment, to which she stops in her tracks and turns around.

She marches towards him, adorning an expression that depicts rage before pummelling her fists on his chest and shouting, "Stop making jokes like this, you always do and you think it's funny! You say that without batting an eye and you think that people aren't worried sick for you!"