Chapter 5: Meow, Meow Cafe.
Curse his terrible eyesight, curse his nerves, curse the number of girls with dyed crimson hair at this cursed college. Curse them! He had mistaken the girl for Miyeon, he still remembered that's what the guy at the café had called her, and now he was frozen in place while a third-year flirted with him. The girl twirled one of her red locks on her finger, giggled slightly, and Junseo even thought about asking her if her eyes hurt because of the way she was moving them. Her eyelashes batted so rapidly, Junseo swore he could feel a small breeze. He came out of his shock when an arm covered his shoulders.
"Sorry, ladies, this boy has been taken," Jisoo towered over the smaller girls and gave Junseo a peck on the cheek. The others gasped and stormed off, murmuring things such as 'He's a janitor anyway.' Junseo didn't even flinch at the display of affection, knowing Jisoo had executed Plan 564, which was only used in case of emergencies, and dear God had that been an emergency.
"Thanks," He called out, wiping the red lipstick from his cheek with a handkerchief he kept with him. Jisoo nodded and pointed in the opposite direction the girls had left. There Junseo fixed his eyes on a girl wearing a beige dress, underneath it, a plain white t-shirt. Her feet moved rapidly, as if running away from something. Sure enough, behind her, a short boy with glasses walked slowly towards her, a dark aura surrounding him despite his smile. There was something standing out about the boy, his outfit looked… ruined. The white shirt he was wearing looked stained, with coffee. Junseo analyzed the situation, and when it finally made 'click' he ran after the girl.
"Wait!" He yelled, getting her attention, grabbing her wrist, and turning her around. She gave a small yelp of surprise, and in a swift motion raised her leg to kick him. Junseo reacted faster than he had expected, stopping her leg, but grabbing her thigh and pulling, causing their bodies to collide with each other. Frozen in place, eyes locked on each other, blinking from the shock. A couple of minutes passed and neither of them seemed to know how to let go, not without making the situation escalate even more. Their mouths open and closed, gulping, then slowly, they began to let go of each other. Behind Junseo, Haruki was still smiling, tilting his head to the side, his eyes closed due to his grin becoming bigger by the minute. Behind Miyeon, Jisoo looked at the situation while eating cookie dough that had come out of God-knows-where. Miyeon's eyes trailed back to Junseo, and as she remembered her analysis of him, (which was everything but realistic) She began to back away.
"Wait!" Junseo came out of his shock and decided to throw away his nerves. "Pay what you owe me!" Miyeon froze in place, what SHE owed? Oh, no. This guy wasn't going to try to silence her because of a few rough patches they've had in the past, right? RIGHT!? She began to walk away even faster, Junseo didn't hesitate this time, it was now or never.
"Pay for my ruined shirt, you jackass!" As soon as the words left his mouth, regret-filled him.
"I don't think it is appropriate to call a lady that sort of thing, Mr. Choi, especially a student," A middle-aged man standing beside Junseo grinned at Miyeon, who felt a shiver run down her spine. Haruki, who had not long ago had strong killing intent, had now taken refuge behind Miyeon, dashing past the two older men in order to seek his best friend's protection.
"D-dean!" Jisoo hid her cookie dough and tried to appear as professional as she could. At the word 'Dean' Junseo felt the hairs on his neck spike up. He was screwed, he was so screwed.
"And Ms. Lee, I believe ruining our janitor's shirt on your first day should have been resolved by now," Miyeon trembled a little, Haruki clung to her. The scene resembled little kittens scolded by Papa cat. A loving and compassionate aura surrounded the Dean, but his words made it clear that they were in big trouble for being so disruptive in the early morning.
"Both of you, my office, now. Please?" Miyeon and Junseo bowed rapidly and followed the Dean. Jisoo and Haruki were left behind, silently preparing a funeral for their respective best friend.
"I've heard marigolds are the flowers of the dead, should we go look for some?" Haruki nodded, letting himself get dragged by an equally nervous Jisoo. Haruki dealt with shock by being paralyzed, at least in the outside appearance. And Jisoo dealt with shock by moving around, a perfect combination.
As Miyeon and Junseo arrived at the Dean's office, both shared glances, finding an equally miserable expression on the other's face. For some reason, it appeared that their minds played the same sentence, so natural that they could almost hear it out loud.
Why us?
"Well, you two sure seem to be having incredible energies this morning," The Dean addressed them with a nice smile, although through gritted teeth.
"Sir! I'm sorry!" Their voices came out as a well-organized choir.
"Take a seat, this will take a while" Both young adults sat down. As the door to the Dean's office closed, they could only pray to the heavens to come out of there alive, and with the least amount of trauma as possible.
12:00 at noon.
"The tail spikes up in the presence of an enemy"
"No, it spikes up to show dominance and scare away their enemy"
"You still need the enemy to be present for that to happen, so my point is correct"
"No, their scent can be perceived from miles away, physical or visual presence is not necessary"
"If they were not there then there would be no scent, therefore, their presence is still necessary"
"That's not the point!"
"Accept my theory, yours is hundreds of years away from being true!"
"As if!"
Inside the café, Jisoo and Haruki bickered eagerly about the defense mechanism of the rare specimen felis catus. Or, for my non-scientific friends, these two were basically arguing about cats. In front of them, a young waiter, also one of the two staff members in such a café, or so it seems, held a tray with two hot cocoa drinks. Which had now turned icy cold due to the argument that had begun three hours ago, and was far from ending. After counting to an unknown number, ending with an unbelievable amount of zeros, his patience finally reached its limit.
"CAN YOU TWO SHUT UP, PAY FOR YOUR DRINKS, AND GET OUT!?" As he let his anger out, his hands slammed the tray in the small table in between the other two, bringing an abrupt stop to their conversation. Jisoo and Haruki crossed glances with each other, brought their attention back to the fuming waiter, and spoke almost as if rehearsed.
"As much as we would like to apologize," Jisoo grabbed her cup of hot cocoa, calmly wiping a bit of the spilled liquid.
"We believe the yelling to be unnecessary, and now it seems impossible," Haruki paused for a second, giving a sip to his drink.
"For us to give a sincere apology to the asshole who just yelled at us," Both pairs of eyes lifted and glared at the poor waiter, who felt a menacing aura coming from the peculiar duo.
"I-I…" Suddenly loss of words, the blonde male reacted almost on instinct, he bowed and let his bags cover the small fear pooling in his eyes. Just, what was he thinking? As annoying as they were, he should have just left their drinks there and walked away. He had caused a scene. Oh, where was Jihyo when he needed her?
As if called by telepathy, small hands found their way to Haruki's and Jisoo's shoulders, a small squeeze made them aware of another presence in the room.
"Now, now, I believe this was all a misunderstanding. My brother has clinical anger issues, I'm sure we are all familiar with that term. The way I see it, you guys are best friends with individuals who are impulsive, witted, and in desperate need of anger management treatment. And maybe a hug," She walked around their seats and took place in front of both, now sincerely calm and attentive adults. She grabbed her brother's wrist and guided him to sit beside her.
"Now, can we all act like civilized adults, leave this in the past and enjoy some refreshments?" Without the smile leaving her face, she passed cookies to everyone. While everyone silently chewed on their food, Jihyo cleared her throat to gain attention.
"Also, both of your arguments have a strong flaw in them. Haruki, the tail does not necessarily spike up only in the presence of an enemy, it might as well shoot up in the presence of a friend or possible mate. Jisoo, the presence of another individual is completely necessary for the cat's tail to react, no presence, no reaction." She sipped her own mug of hot cocoa and went back to chewing on her food, under the astonished look of both debaters, whose arguments had been debunked and confirmed at once. Haruki opened his mouth, ready to ask something and maybe even start another debate. Just then, the sound of the small bell in the front door, followed by two pairs of heavy footsteps, interrupted his speech, much to Yeonjun's delight and relief. Their necks craned to take in the view of the new arrivals. Miyeon and Junseo had blank expressions, movements that resemble that of the undead gave away their evident misery. Not a word utter, and in dead silence, the pair made their way to the empty sofa in the small circle where the rest sat. Flopping onto the couch, both let out heavy sighs and dropped their heads, catching and covering their faces in between their hands.
"Well, I take that as the Dean being lenient on y'all, at the very least." Haruki chuckled but stopped as Miyeon looked up and glared at him. Almost in sync, the pair of "troublemakers" sat up a bit straighter and faced their friends.
"To be honest, it wasn't that bad," Said Miyeon.
"Right, because a three-hour lecture on why us Koreans are so polite and the use of honorifics is always a delight," Junseo scoffed at her, clearly annoyed at the situation.
"I'm pretty sure, half of that was towards you. I, for once, have always been respectful and kind," She raised her nose up in the air in a dignified manner, Haruki stared at her with blank eyes.
"Ok. But, aside from that, what did he tell you?" Jihyo asked. Beside her, Yeonjun was curious. When Jisoo and Haruki had arrived, they had briefly told them what had gone down at the other building and how Miyeon and Junseo had ended up in the Dean's office. Of course, the shock had made both of them switch subjects and end up forgetting about their friends and turning their focus to the feline species.
"Nothing much. He let us out with a small warning," Miyeon calmly explained, beside her Junseo nodded in agreement. A collective, "Oh," was received as an answer. Then, Jisoo spoke.
"That's not what happened. Is it?" She asked, crossing both arms and legs and leaning closer to Junseo. He avoided eye contact, but replied nevertheless.
"What are you talking about? What else could he have said?" His voice trailed a little behind, and he gave the room a cursory look, as if looking for somewhere to turn his attention to. Anything but Jisoo's intense gaze.
"Ok. I'll give it a try then." Clasping her hands together, Jisoo stared down at them, Miyeon, who hadn't understood why Junseo had averted his eyes, was now in a desperate attempt of unlocking her eyes from the burning eyes in front of her. Jisoo let out a gasp and smiled.
"You guys not only got a lecture, you got yelled at and exposed due to your anger issues. Not only that, you guys even started arguing in front of the Dean again. And as a final touch, you are now sentenced to community service, both of you, at the same place and same time for "bonding" experience" As her statement finished she directed her attention back to her cold cocoa cup. Junseo stared at her, lips pursed and eyes scanning her. Miyeon, on the other hand, was in complete shock, until…
"What the heck!? We agreed we would keep this a secret, I haven't even betrayed you yet. I hadn't told Haruki behind your back, and yet you already told your girlfriend about this!?" She gripped Junseo's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and face her.
"I didn't tell her anything!" Junseo wanted to clear things up until his mind replayed her previous statement, and he was now aware of her shameless plan.
"Ya! You were planning on telling Haruki!? Where did all the talk of "I don't want them to know" go!? Huh!?"
In the eyes of the rest, the two toddlers in adult bodies went back at it. Jihyo sipped her cup while the corners of her mouth curved upwards, Jisoo and Haruki rolled their eyes and buffed in annoyance. Yeonjun had the most normal reaction, covering himself with pillows like a terrified three-year-old watching his inexperienced first-time parents 'resolve' an issue.
"You know what?" Junseo shot up, dwarfing Miyeon, who in a fight for dominance stood up as well.
"What?" She challenged, locking eyes with him, daring him to do something.
"There are no cameras in this café." Miyeon's eyes went wide open as Junseo launched himself at her, consequently starting a wrestling match on the floor. Everyone else had let go of the tension that had settled itself in the room during that dead silence moment. Now, Jisoo and Haruki looked down in shame at their friends, preparing to get involved before those two killed each other.
"MEOW!"
"Jisoo, Haruki," Jihyo's voice called out to them, both of them didn't even bother turning around to face her, it was clear what just had happened.
"Now, the tails just spiked up because they got scared," Jihyo explained. Yeonjun gulped beside her.
"And now. They're pissed." At his words, Miyeon turned around from under Junseo, who currently had a grip on her hair and pushed her down by the shoulder, meanwhile she pulled on the collar of his shirt and had a handful of his hair as well.
"Oh."
"Oh, no"
Before anyone could come to their rescue, a horde of cats jumped over them, filling them with scratches, bites, and cat hair. Chaos broke out in the café, outsiders could only see part of the commotion because the amount of stuff flying in the air made it impossible to get a clear image.
"GET THEM OFF ME!"
"YOU IDIOT! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT"
Both voices blend in so well, that there was no distinction. One thing was for sure, now, everyone was aware of the main characteristic of "Meow, Meow Café"
Cats. Dozens, and dozens of cats. Angry cats, who had jumped to the defense of one of their comrades, who had the unfortunate experience of almost being crushed under the weight of two grown adults.