Multiverse of MiChaeng (Oneshots)

Stripes & Dimples

Genre: ?

"And here, we have the mighty, vicious, and extraordinary Bengal tiger!" the zookeeper explained to a group of visitors that came to visit the tiger cages at the zoo. The zookeeper herself seemed as if she was the one who geeked out at the animal she was explaining about. As a matter of fact, she did love tigers very much. "This species of tiger is native to the subcontinent of India. They are magnificent hunters, and are amazing swimmers as well." she remarked.

Everyone wowed at the majestic animal in front of them, yet the tiger was busy licking its paw, ignoring the humans and minding its own business instead— great, that's what it should be. It soon let out a long yawn with little growls heard. Some of the visitors took numerous pictures of the tiger as it looked amazingly beautiful in its yawning state.

"As you know, these tigers are currently under protection and conservation, as they are threatened by poaching and habitat loss." she added while looking at the tiger with awe in her eyes. She proceeded to look at the visitors with a bright cheerful grin.

"That tiger, is it a male or a female?" one of the visitors, a man, having a camera hanging by his neck, with a hat on top.of his bald head, asked. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses and both of his arms were holding his waist. They all turned to look at him and looked at the zookeeper, anticipating for her answer as well.

"His name is Boon Soo. And, as a matter of fact, he's the oldest tiger at this zoo. He's eleven years, and he was found wounded in the forest, injured by poacher traps." she answered confidently and they all nodded, continuing to take pictures at the male tiger. "He's a big softie." she mumbled to herself while smiling.

Soon, everyone began scattering around to look at the other animals. Some headed to the zebra paddocks, some to the monkeys, and some others to the lions. The zookeeper was alone standing by the tiger cages, perhaps she was the zookeeper that was only tasked with handling these big cats, hence her wide knowledge about them. She whistled while folding her arms, relaxing herself as she pressed her back against the fence, as if she knew Boon Soo the tiger wouldn't sneak behind her and pounce on her right away. Maybe she had tamed the tiger.

"Boon Soo-yah, aren't you bored as well??" she asked him after turning back to face the animal. It was unclear if he even understood what she asked, but the tiger responded with a not-so-loud whine. The zookeeper took that whine as whatever answer she could imagine in her head. "I don't think you can-"

"Um, excuse me, Miss, who were you talking to?" a young lady, seemingly in her twenties, same as the zookeeper, asked her confusedly. The zookeeper turned to face her and was startled a bit by her question, a bit embarrassed by herself talking to an animal. The girl was a brunette, she was wearing a denim coat and by her neck was a penguin necklace. Her hair was long, and her face was kinda cute, according to her. She gathered up her courage to answer the girl bravely.

"Oh uh well, I was talking to Boon Soo." she ended up answering the girl nervously.

"Who's that?" the brunette asked.

"The tiger over there." she answered with a friendly smile. The brunette nodded unbelievably, and tried to suppress her laughter from the girl's silly yet quite funny answer. The zookeeper smiled, showing her dimple, and the brunette paid attention to it, smiling quietly.

"Oh I see.." she smiled and tucked some strands of her hair behind her ear. "Son Chaeyoung." she read the name tag of the zookeeper subconsciously. Chaeyoung looked at her own name tag and muttered an 'oh'.

"Ah yes, that's my name, hehe. I am Son Chaeyoung, nice to meet you." she smiled and greeted with a respectful bow.

"Myoui Mina, nice to meet you too." the brunette replied calmly. Out of the blue, awkwardness began creeping in between the two ladies as they were just standing here, taking short glances at each other. How unusual, Chaeyoung has never felt this awkward before. In fact, she had never felt awkwardness with the visitors. She had always been confident and energetic, but this...it seemed different that before. Soon, they heard a small whiny roar, and they turned back to see Boon Soo making those noises.

"Oh yes, feeding time~" Chaeyoung chanted and went to the bucket beside her. Mina waited as she watched her put on her gloves. Chaeyoung noticed the brunette paying attention to her attentively, and smiled nervously. "Perhaps..you want to see Boon Soo eat his lunch?" she chuckled. Mina smiled shyly and nodded, both of her hands softly gripping on her purse. "Boon Soo-yah, I have your favorite." she giggled and took something out from the bucket.

The zookeeper took out an averagely large piece of meat, the leg of a buffalo, and Mina looked away instantly when she smelled and saw the bloody limb. Chaeyoung was also covering her nose with her free hand, and with one strong swing, she threw the leg into the cage. In a split second, the tiger immediately sprinted to the meat happily, and began diving in. Boon Soo bit off the flesh while low growls were heard. Mina awed at the sight of the tiger, while Chaeyoung, who had been used to the scenery, only watched casually with a small smile.

"He's so beautiful." Mina wowed as she gazed at the carnivore in front of her, having his lunch. "You seem like a huge cat lover, Son Chaeyoung." she chuckled and continued looking at Boon Soo. Chaeyoung nodded proudly and smiled from her statement.

"I've loved cats since the day I was born." she laughed softly. "I like tigers the most."

"Well, to be honest, you do look like one." Mina chuckled, complimenting her with a happy smile plastered on her face. Chaeyoung blushed from the girl's praise, and smiled as her dimple showed again. The zookeeper looked at her wristwatch. It's already getting quite late.

"The zoo's closing soon in a few more minutes." she informed after covering her arms with her sleeves. Mina muttered an 'oh' and looked at her own phone to see if it's true. Chaeyoung was indeed right. It's already five in the evening. More and more visitors are slowly disappearing, the sounds of the crowds fading into thin air as they began going home one by one.

"Arasseo then, I guess that means I have to leave?" Mina raised her eyebrows, which was soon followed by a light chuckle as she grinned, revealing her gummy smile. To be honest, she felt a little disappointed she had to go home— she's eager to talk more to this certain zookeeper that had caught her attention.

"Well, how would you like if we go for some chit-chat? I dunno, maybe have some dinner at some small resto?" Chaeyoung suggested with a shy smile, a small red tint appearing on her cheeks. When she asked that, another red tint also appeared on Mina's cheeks, and they both grew shyer and shyer.

"We just met today, and you're already asking me out, Son Chaeyoung?" she furrowed her eyebrows and let out a small chuckle of disbelief.

"Well, maybe because I can talk more about the tigers?" she joked, and Mina laughed at her own statement. Suddenly, they heard a low roar coming from Boon Soo, and Chaeyoung smiled at the tiger. "I think Boon Soo agrees on it." she winked.

"Great, now you understand tigers?" Mina shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully. She then smirked slightly and smiled at the zookeeper, already answering her from that expression. "You know what I'll say. I came here by car, you can hop in to it. I'll go start it and....you might wanna change your clothes, stripes." she winked at her and turned to her back, walking to the exit of the zoo, heading to her car.

"Stripes? That's a good nickname to be honest, Miss." she mumbled to herself and smiled cheekily while holding the bucket of meat. She shook her head in disbelief as she repeated that name Mina gave her again. Another smiled creeped again. "She looks like a penguim, to be honest, gotta be honest with that." she stated, and a small groan was heard when Chaeyoung carried the heavy bucket.

The zookeeper was in surprise earning that nickname from the girl she just met. But she's telling you, she had never felt this feeling before.

A feeling of butterflies with a mere visitor.