The two men got along surprisingly well, perhaps because they were both mature in their own way.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be staying, but while I’m here, I’ll take care of meals and cleaning.”
“Huh? You really don’t have to, hyung. Just relax.”
“I’ve always done it. I actually enjoy cooking. I’ll just clean the living room.”
One of them couldn’t stand silence, and the other preferred it—but Taeil made a small compromise, and that was that.
Since Siyul had to cook at least one meal a day, Taeil, who usually survived on convenience store meals, finally got to enjoy hot dinners.
One day it was cream stew. Another, salmon salad. Another, tortillas.
Why is it that, for a guy, he only knows how to make all these Western dishes women like?
And strangely, they were all delicious.
A week had passed since the two men and one cat started living together.
Taeil was more than satisfied, and Siyul didn’t seem to mind either. Except for one being (?), who was the only one full of complaints.
“Hey, cat! Today’s chore is cleaning the balcony window frames.”
“Urgh…”
“Make sure to sweep the balcony when you’re done.”
Haein was the only one unhappy with the arrangement. After all, she wasn’t benefiting from it at all.
Siyul had barged into her territory without permission—and then started bossing her around.
Taeil didn’t know, but for the past week, Siyul had made Haein do all the cleaning. Every. Single. Day.
Haein shuddered at the ominous feeling that this would continue as long as Siyul stayed.
He dared to hand a mop and broom to a cat—the very symbol of laziness! Not just for a day or two, but a whole week!
Eventually, Haein couldn’t take it anymore. She threw down the rag.
“What am I, some magical cleaning fairy cat?!”
“…You are a cat.”
“Same thing!”
“Snails are mollusks, cats are mammals…”
“Still being bossed around!”
Haein stomped her feet and protested furiously, but Siyul just looked bored and turned his ears away.
Like a man who knew he had all the power.
“I’m not asking for anything outrageous. You’ve got paws, so earn your keep. And I even paid you.”
Siyul said this casually as he mixed curry powder for dinner.
Haein was fuming. The so-called “wage” he was talking about was the bus fare he’d lent her. And she’d worked an hour a day for a week now—surely she’d paid that back with interest.
“Get it right! That 10,000 won you gave me…”
“It’s gained interest.”
“You never said that back then!”
“That’s what makes loan sharks scary.”
“You—You monster!”
Dressed in the lavender training suit Siyul gave her “for chores,” Haein fumed like a kettle ready to boil.
At first, she thought helping out for a day or two would be enough to repay the debt.
She could’ve refused, but Siyul knew way too many of her secrets.
“And honestly, don’t you feel bad about dumping Taeil’s cat food in the toilet every day? What if you clog the pipes? It’ll be your fault.”
“Ughhhh!”
“You should be grateful. I rescued you from a burning house, remember? I’m your savior.”
Shameless people really were terrifying. Who saved who again?
Haein puffed her cheeks, but it wasn’t the least bit threatening in her human form.
“Before I squish those cheeks of yours, how about you get back to cleaning?”
“Just you wait!”
“Ooh, that sounded like a real villain line.”
She may have tried to rebel, but ended up right back to being teased.
Muttering under her breath, Haein picked up the rag and got back to scrubbing the window frame, imagining it was Siyul’s face.
Scrub, scrub scrub.
Under the warm autumn sunlight, cleaning that dusty window frame… actually felt kind of refreshing. The cleaner it got, the better she felt.
Well… I guess, since I’m freeloading, doing some cleaning isn’t so bad.
Unable to escape her inherently positive nature, Haein soon found herself swept up in a strange sense of satisfaction.
If I’m doing it anyway, might as well treat it like my own job. That’ll make me feel better.
And so, she put even more effort into it.
Though she always resisted whenever Siyul asked her to do something, the truth was—Haein liked cleaning.
“All done…!”
The once grimy window frame now gleamed white. The sound of the rag squeaking only made her more proud.
She rinsed out the dirty rag, wrung it dry, and hung it up in the sunlight.
See? Just because I don’t do it doesn’t mean I can’t.
Stretching with satisfaction, Haein beamed.
“Hey.”
“Hm? What now? I finished cleaning.”
Siyul waved her over, and Haein approached—but stopped a few paces away, keeping her distance.
She’d only walked from the balcony to the kitchen, yet the rich smell of curry had already filled the air.
Spicy enough to dull the nose.
The warm yellow color of the curry glowed in the golden evening light.
It smells delicious…
Her appetite spiked, and she swallowed hard.
“Wanna run an errand since you’re dressed? We’re out of cornstarch. How does this house not have the basics?”
“…No way! What if I run into the owner?”
“Your owner’s coming home late today. Really late.”
“Still don’t wanna.”
Haein instinctively rejected anything that made her uneasy. And Siyul, in truth, didn’t really want anyone else to see Haein in her human form.
That’s why he kept giving her chores—to keep her like this, human, even a little longer.
There was no other excuse to do so.
“Fine, I’ll go.”
Siyul dusted off his hands at the sink and started walking out of the kitchen.
Haein, watching him, didn’t think anything of it—until he handed her the apron.
“Keep stirring the curry so it doesn’t burn.”
“…I’ll have you know, I’m highly skilled labor!”
“Sure, sure. Just 10 minutes, please.”
Haein only got to be in human form one day a month.
Even counting her saved-up time, there wasn’t much left—and she was using it just to stir curry?!
Not that she had any better use for it…
“I told you—being in human form is exhausting!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll bring you chocolate. With strawberries. Happy now?”
Chocolate’s tasty, sure… not that it does anything for me. Still… kind of want it.
Cats weren’t supposed to eat chocolate. But lately, Haein had been totally hooked on sweets.
She could never indulge when it was just Taeil around—but now that Siyul was here, she could sneak a few things.
Rediscovering the joy of eating was addicting.
“…Get the big bar.”
“Of course.”
“You’re not counting it as part of the debt, right?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
When she first became a cat, she refused all food. But these days, she’d nibble on juice or chocolate without protest.
Pretending to sulk, Haein tied the apron around her neck and walked past Siyul into the kitchen.
It was an obvious ploy—but Siyul pretended not to notice.
Push too far, and she’d bolt. That’s just how cats were.
“Be quick!”
He’d already learned his lesson—pretending not to care worked better than pushing.
Cats are tricky creatures.
Siyul smiled faintly as he left the house.
________✧⑅˖♡∘˚˳°↝^._.^_________
“Hmm, hmm~ Ooh~”
Bubble bubble, plop.
Left alone in the kitchen, Haein found herself strangely cheerful.
Stirring a pot full of delicious curry in a sunlit kitchen—that had to count as one of life’s little joys.
The sizzling sounds from the pot sparked a light rhythm in her chest.
Yeah… this really is what people call “simple happiness.”
Haein began humming a tune.
“♪ Curry is~ delicious~ so~ much~ hmm hmm~ ♪”
She kept getting the urge to taste it but resisted. Even just eating a piece of chocolate took serious willpower, after all.
So instead, she stirred and kept humming her silly made-up song.
It was totally improvised, both lyrics and melody. But she was convinced her singing wasn’t bad. Maybe… even perfect?
She was thinking that while merrily stirring the pot when—
Click.
The front door opened.
Haein assumed it was Siyul returning early.
“♪ Pepper in curry~ Pepper’s for cream spaghetti! Spaghetti needs beef~ That’s right! All delicious~ Even kitties love it~ ♪”
So she kept right on goofing off.
Adding a few meows, she shook her head in a little dance and sang on.
Then she sensed someone behind her.
Turning around with the brightest face—ready to ask,
“Did you bring the chocolate?”—Haein froze.
If Siyul had seen that expression, it would’ve been the happiest face he’d ever seen on her.
‘If’ he had.
But it wasn’t Siyul who had come back.
“…Hello.”
Standing there with a soft smile that said, Please don’t be alarmed, was—Taeil.
“H-Hrk?!”
Haein let out an involuntary squeak and stumbled backward in pure panic.
Everything inside her screamed:
CURRY IS TO BLAME.
If not for that overpowering curry smell dulling her nose, she would’ve sensed Taeil’s return earlier and hidden.
She glared at the pot.
I hate curry.
She hated her mouth for singing that ridiculous song. She was mortified.
Why is he standing in front of me?
She wanted to ask someone—anyone. Or better yet, she wanted divine intervention.
Dear God, I’ll believe in You from now on, so please… give me a hole to crawl into.
“…By the way, you are…?”
Plop.
The curry bubbled as if mocking her embarrassment.
She was blushing so hard her face must’ve looked like it was on fire, which only made it worse.
Someone, anyone—save me!
She flailed helplessly, unsure whether to disappear into the sky or melt into the floor.
Taeil tilted his head and asked again, still smiling with innocent curiosity.
“…Ah, are you hyung’s…?”
Of course. That had to be the conclusion Taeil came to.
A stranger, a young woman, calmly cooking curry in the kitchen—at the usual dinner hour, no less.
There was no way a burglar would be that confident. It was only logical.
He must’ve assumed she was Siyul’s girlfriend.
“U-uh… uh…”
Haein opened and closed her mouth like a fish, unable to form any words.
I’m terrible at making excuses!
And just then—as if heaven had finally heard her—
Beep beep.
The digital lock beeped again. The door opened.
This time, it really was Siyul.
Clutching her apron with both hands and biting her lip so hard it hurt, Haein bolted from the kitchen.
She had never been so thrilled to see Siyul in her life.
Who would’ve thought this day would come?
Panicked from running into a human—the very person responsible for this mess—Haein temporarily forgot that it was all Siyul’s fault.
All she could think was:
Please save me,
as she dashed to him like a cat wagging its tail in desperation.
Her entire face screamed:
I’m doomed. Help me.
“I’m back…”
Siyul arrived just one minute after Taeil. Just one minute—and everything would’ve been avoided.
He spotted Taeil’s sneakers at the entrance and immediately realized.
Ah. Crap.
It was one of the few situations even the all-knowing Kang Siyul hadn’t anticipated.
And just as he looked up from the shoes—he saw Haein rushing toward him.
Her face was full of panic, like she didn’t know how to hide what had just happened.
“Ka—Kang!”
Wide eyes. Rose-pink lips that looked as soft as a cat’s paw. Fair skin that clearly hadn’t seen much sun.
Cheeks flushed with just the faintest pink. Eyes that didn’t know where to look in their embarrassment.
She had no idea how breathtaking she looked—how just being like that made it hard to breathe.
She has no idea… that a face like that can freeze someone where they stand.
Siyul could do nothing but stare.
“…I—I don’t care anymore!”
Haein, overwhelmed, almost on the verge of tears, dove behind Siyul and clung to his back.
Her small, warm hands gripped his arm tightly.
The sudden closeness made Siyul stiffen.
Why?
There were plenty of people more attractive than Haein. Plenty of beautiful women.
He liked sexy women—always had.
But somehow, his heart was pounding. So much so, it terrified him.
A heartbeat that betrayed his type—that was the real problem.
Damn this heart…
“You just got back, hyung?”
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Taeil strolled slowly into the hallway, completely unaware that the two people in front of him were going through a complete meltdown.
“Ah, yes…”
Siyul immediately grasped the situation without needing it explained.
Unlucky, huh.
“I was out grabbing ingredients. We ran out.”
“Ka—Kang!”
“I see. And… this person is…?”
It was clear now that Haein needed to be introduced.
Even though it was a total disaster, Siyul kept his cool. Just like Taeil.
He wasn’t the type to lose his composure over things—even when, say, a cat turned into a human.
Siyul turned to Haein, then back to Taeil.
“This is…”
“…?”
“This is my…”
