Passion From The Ones Above

1.1

The session had gone pretty smoothly. It wasn't nearly as awkward as Soyeon had expected to be. It felt as though all of them were destined to meet each other despite having very little in common.

For once, Soyeon felt like she belonged somewhere.

"Well, that's all the time we have for today girls and Hyejin. I have somewhere super important to be, so you all can do whatever you normally do after sessions!" Wheein smiled and waved as she grabbed her jacket.

The others waved Wheein out the door.

"Newbie, do you wanna eat with us?"

Soyeon nodded slowly. "Where at though? I didn't bring that much money with me."

"That's okay! I can show you guys my new apartment!" Hyejin clapped excitedly.

"That's cool, I'll help you cook if you want!" Soyeon gathered her items quickly and stuffed them into her bag quickly.

A short train ride and a five minute walk later and they had reached a neat little apartment complex within the heart of the city. Cars whizzed past them as they stepped into the modest lobby of the building.

"So… what do you do for a living, Soyeon?"

"Ah… well I used to be a music producer, but something happened and I lost my job." Soyeon said, scratching her head as Hyejin fumbled with her keys.

"Hey Miyeon look! You're not alone!" Shuhua said, clapping the thinner girl on her shoulder, causing her to glare at Shuhua.

"Wait what?"

"She'll tell you later."

Hyejin's apartment was cozy. It was much larger than Soyeon's own apartment, but unlike Soyeon's apartment, Hyejin had taken down their altar; or at least had repurposed it such that it didn't look like one.

"Is that your altar?" Soyeon asked, pointing to a small table in the corner of the room that held a bunch of shoes.

"You mean my shoe rack?" Hyejin asked as the rest let out a laugh at Soyeon's confusion.

"You just defile it like that? Wish I had the guts to do that."

Hyejin rolled their eyes and toed off their shoes. "See, watch this." They casually threw both shoes onto the altar. "Nothing bad happened."

Soyeon shuddered and neatly placed her shoes in the corner. "I don't think I could ever do anything like that."

"Eh, they don't do shit about it anyways. My snake leaves his dead skin on mine and nothing's happened yet." Shuhua followed in Hyejin's footsteps and flopped on the couch.

"I guess...anyways, what are we cooking?"

Yongsun shrugged. "We usually order shitty delivery food and gossip after therapy. I guess you can pick since you're new here."

"I mean… I can try making my famous pizza..? If you all don't mind that is." Soyeon said as Shuhua's ears perked up.

"Pizza? That's not delivery? Say no more, I'm interested." She said as Hyejin led the way into the kitchen.

"Flour, yeast and tomato sauce are in the pantry, everything else you might need are in the fridge. Go nuts, Soyeon." They said, patting Soyeon's shoulder before leaving the kitchen.

"Oh boy," Soyeon said, inching towards the pantry and opening it and pulling out the ingredients. "Hope they'll like it."

An hour later, and they were dividing up the pizza, some already devouring their slice with rapid fervour.

"Oh my god. This is exquisite! Please cook for us more often." Shuhua said as Soyeon bowed politely, a smile on her face.

Miyeon patted the space next to her, signalling for Soyeon to sit next to her.

"Amazing skills and food aside, now we indulge in our favorite pastime." Shuhua smirked, earning a groan from the rest of the group. "Bullying each other for being whipped! Hyegi, you first!"

Hyejin huffed out. "Shouldn't have never let you bastards into my home!" She swallowed the last of her pizza and set  up straight. "Okay so, the nice beach lady had some stupid business meeting to go to so our first date was cancelled."

"Wait a damn second," Yongsun dramatically cut off Hyejin. "This woman's restocking your fridge but you haven't even had a real date yet?"

"Well when you put it like that, it sounds irresponsible!"

"Because it is!" The others shouted in unison.

"Whatever!" Hyejin sunk down into her seat. "Yongsun, how's your mystery forest lady thing going?"

Shuhua scrunched up her nose in disgust. "Please tell me you're not hooking up with some rando you met outside."

"No!" Yongsun shouted defensively. "I'm hanging out with some rando I met outside."

"I'm confident that was a lie, but we don't want the details!" A tiny robotic voice said from the far end of the couch.

"Shut up, Miyeon! You're simping for someone who doesn't even have your phone number!"

"Newbie," Shuhua lightly tapped Soyeon's shoulder. "You're quiet again. Tell us something!"

Soyeon's face flushed. "... I'm not talking to anyone right now..just me, myself I right now."

"Awe, you're the group baby!"

"Say that again I will never cook for any of you ever again."

After a long gossip session and more snacking, they all decided to part ways and head home for the day. As she was walking to the bus stop, a small cat walked up to her and began nuzzling her leg.

"Hey little guy…" She said softly as the kitten hissed at her. "Girl?" The kitten then went back to nuzzling her leg, causing Soyeon to chuckle to herself.

"Girl it is then. You're a cutie, aren't you?" She said as the kitten purred while she scratched behind its ears.

At that moment, Soyeon's bus pulled up, making her stand up and wave at the little kitten before boarding the bus.

As she walked further into the bus, she heard a soft mewing behind her, making her turn around to see the little kitten.

"What are you doing here? You're not supposed to be on the bus!" She said in a hushed voice to the kitten, which simply cocked its head, as if confused.

"Hey girl! Move in! You're obstructing the rest of the passengers!" The bus driver called, causing Soyeon to jump.

"I'm sorry sir! There's a cat on the bus and I'm trying to get it off-"

"What are you talking about? There's no cat on the bus!"

"What?" Soyeon murmured to herself as she looked down at the tiny tabby kitten, who simply rolled over onto its back.

Shaking her head, Soyeon simply bowed to the bus driver before picking the kitten up and rushing to sit in a seat at the back.

"Strange kid…"

After a rather uneventful bus ride, save for the kitten meowing at birds through the window, Soyeon had arrived back home with the kitten in tow.

"Welcome to your new home buddy. I know it's not much but it'll have to do for now right?" She asked, lightly scratching the kitten's neck as it purred.

"We'll just have to buy your new stuff in the evening alright?" She asked as her eyes drifted towards the altar sitting in the corner of her living room, so barren and cold.

Maybe she could also afford to do with a little bit of redecorating.