Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Hyejoo watched as Googie skipped along the path, still clutching on to her hand. The backpack on his back bouncing up and down just like his hair. His small hands pulling Hyejoo along, complaining on how she was so slow, as she tried to hasten her pace. His skipping came to an abrupt stop, as he turned around with puppy dog eyes, his lips forming into a pout to match his eyes. Before he could start his fake cries, Hyejoo asked what he wanted knowing her son too well. He pointed to a café, a cat café to be precise which was on the other side of the road.
Meowrish was the café's name, at first when she heard it, she cringed at the attempt of a pun. The name however matched the theme and meaning of the restaurant, too good that you want to continue eating, and later that was all you heard when you walked into the town. When the cafe had first opened, Googie had begged Hyejoo to take her but it had always been busy. When the hype seemed to die down, she took him no longer able to say no to him. They ate there occasionally as Hyejoo found it hard to manage money just to give Jungkook a good upbringing.
The cars stopped due to the red traffic light and Hyejoo picked Googie up before looking both sides and crossing the road. The sound of her heels tapping against the rocky ground could barely be heard due to Googies giggles, as he was enjoying himself way too much. She clutched onto him tightly running, his arms around her neck his giggles filled her ears. She smiled. When she got to the other side, she put him down catching her breath only to be pulled by Googie again towards the café in the corner. Hyejoo allowed him to drag her to the wooden café door which matched the sign above them.
The bell rang indicating a new customer, the smell of coffee brewing filled their nose, making Googie hold his nose as he stood by the child gate which was used to stop cats from escaping. She opened the gate, Jungkook bouncing in and running to his favourite table before anyone could steal it from him. Hyejoo on the other hand walked towards the desk placing her orders having a small chat to the waiter who happened to be an accomplice, looking back occasionally, at Googie. He had been far too busy to notice as he was talking to his cat friend which lay in has lap.
Hyejoo made her way to the table their food in a tray which she clutched tightly due to the cats running around. The café was self-serve, a vintage diner style. The aqua walls brightened up the wooden themed furniture, horizontal stripes of yellow, pink and orange creating a sort of border on the walls in line with the wooden booths. Each booth cushioned with a teal soft mattress like fabric to make seating more comfortable. A metal napkin and cutlery holder placed on one side of the table booth to make it look not so bland. Lights, with black lamp shades which had a cat face drew on it hung around the sides of the café on top of each booth, while the centre had a simple tiled light fitted in, not too bright for the cats.
As she made it to the table, her nose began to twitch due to the amount of fur around her. The sound of her heels seemed to scare the kitten in Googie’s lap, and it jumped up and ran away. Googie's smile dropped into a small frown his cheeks puffing up because of that. As Hyejoo put the food down he began smiling again seeing his favourite food, pasta. His eyes looking at the pasta with practical heart eyes making Hyejoo giggle. He showed his tooth grin before clutching the fork with one hand ready to eat. She ruffled his hair as he began to chomp down the food. "Slow down baby-bun." Hyejoo reminded him as she saw him quickly scoff down his food. "I want to play with the kitties." he replied his mouth full of food making him look like a real-life bunny, his lisp more evident as he spoke.
Hyejoo reassuring him she would let him play with them later as she sipped on her coffee which was still far too warm. She hissed as she burnt her tongue capturing Googie's attention who stopped eating looking up at her with a worried expression. He finished chewing only to scowl at Hyejoo for burning herself, his eyebrows creased in worry as he raised his finger in a pointing manner forward and back. Hyejoo trying to stifle her laugh seeing her son scowl him just like a mother, his hip bent to the side, bum poking out. She bit her red lips, her bunny teeth now peeking out. Googie exaggerated a sigh as he saw his mother not take him seriously at all.
Hyejoo waited for her coffee to cool down as Googie had gone to play with the kitties in the play area in the centre of the diner. As Googie pet the kittens throwing around the ball of wool for the kitty, who seemed to enjoy his company Hyejoo watched a smile on her face. It was moments like this which made all efforts feel worth it. Moments like this always clouded her memories removing the ones of her and Googie's father. How did he not want to be part of Googie's life, someone who was full of potential and happiness.
The sound of a bell, notifying Hyejoo she had a message broke her out from her train of thoughts. With a sad smile she looked at her phone only to frown even more. It was a message from her boss, someone who loved to use his power to make people like her suffer. By that it meant it meant people who turned him down. The message stated she had to stay back a few extra hours tomorrow and she would have to work this weekend as well. She sighed dramatically which sounded somewhat like Googie, as she hit her head on the table.
With her head still on the table, she heard Googie call her mumbling about the cat following by the sound of his slowed footsteps. She looked up to see a thick kitten shall we say in front of her face covering Googie's entire body from her view. She moved her head back in shock, her nose twitching due to the fur. She continued to scrunch her nose to avoid sneezing but Googie pushing the fat cat in front of her was not helping. When she couldn't help it no more, she let out a sneeze which was quite faint yet however still managed to startle the cat. The startled cat jumping out of Googie’s clutch and making him stumble back due to the force. She quickly managed to support his back as he fell back slightly.
Googie being tired of the cats running away due to his mother decided it was time to leave. It hadn't even been 10 minutes after they were continuing to walk home again that Googie complained about his legs being tired, as he dragged them no longer able to walk alongside his mother. Hyejoo picked him up as he laid his head between her shoulder and chest his arms around her neck. His backpack now held by Hyejoo just so she could hold him better. Soon after Hyejoo could feel steady breaths against her neck as she heard some light snores. Googie had fallen asleep after waking up extra early as he was overly excited for school. She couldn't help but aww as he snuggled closer to her after stirring a little.
A car which seemed to be driving past stopped a little ahead beeping the horn continuously at the group of boys which were playing on the road. Hyejoo struggled to manage the bag in her hands but still covered Googie's ears. The continuous horning eventually stopped when a slightly short yet build figure came out the car. He pushed back his matt grey hair, slamming the door shut before making his way towards them.
Hyejoo recognised the figure as her childhood friend. She watched as he stopped the ball the boys were messing around with showing them his police badge giving them a warning. The boys scurrying off in fear and he made his way back to his car with a smirk, pulling his jacket tighter towards himself.
He was wearing a semi-formal outfit, which showed off his muscular figure. His smirk replaced to a smile making his eyes look smaller when he saw Hyejoo figure. He called her towards his car offering her a lift home, seeing Googie sleeping in her arms. Hyejoo sat in his new Hyundai car which he had been bragging about for a week, Googie still in her arms who hid further in her neck.
Jimin continued to complain about how stressful this recent case was and how he had not seen them in forever. In reality it had only been two weeks, Hyejoo throwing her head back in laughter at his childish manner which still hadn't changed. Her sweet laughter filled the car and the Googie which slightly awoke fell back asleep to this lullaby.
