Nothing more

Ten minutes after she's gone, Yeon-Sik comes out of his room, yawning. He blinks his eyes when he sees Sin Jeong-Hyuk standing near the door in an awkward posture.

"So what kind of yoga posture is that?" He questions him while taking a picture. "Nevermind! Eun Bi needs to see this."

As if a spell has been broken, Sin Jeong-Hyuk straightens his back and shakes his head. Did he get kissed by that wayward Chicken? He touches his lips. The ghost of that sensation is still lingering there.

"Did you get confessed or kissed?" Yeon-Sik could guess what had happened. "Don't tell me that you like her already?"

"What, no!" Sin Jeong-Hyuk denies straightforwardly, "She's a kid. My goddaughter. There's no feeling like that. It's just that…"

"She kissed you." Yeon-Sik gives him a judgmental look. "You liked it."

"Yeon-Sik!" Sin Jeong-Hyuk points at him. Rest of the words don't come out of his mouth. He walks past him and goes to the Kitchen. After opening the refrigerator, he stares long hard at the ice maker as if he's trying to find out the secret of the universe.

"Before you start something, you should end your previous engagements," Yeon-Sik advises him while making his own coffee. "I heard from Eun Bi that Ji Ye is still waiting for you."

Jeong-Hyuk closes the refrigerator. "I won't break up with her."

"You plan to make her suffer a lot." Yeon-Sik glances at him. "Even if your heart starts wanting someone else?"

"It wants no one." Jeong-Hyuk opens the refrigerator again and takes out the whiskey bottle full of sweetened water. "I was just taken aback. I need to talk to have a proper talk with her. That girl doesn't have feelings for me. She was just curious about what a kiss feels like."

"You sacrificed your lips to appease a girl's curiosity." Yeon-Sik pushes a cup of coffee in his direction on the kitchen top. "How sagely of you!"

"Tch! It was barely a peck." Sin Jeong-Hyuk decides to ignore the tickling feeling that springs from his lips and ends in his chest. "Chang Seol deserves much more than an old bastard like me."

"Probably." Yeon-Sik leans back against the wall. "Your heart is too twisted for her."

"I am not looking for anything more." Jeong Hyuk ignores the coffee and takes a sip of the sweetened water. "I like her for sure. She's a good kid. I care about her, and I want to do more for her… but there can't be anything more. If she doesn't understand this basic thing, I will end our relationship."

"A relationship, okay." Yeon-Sik comments, "For me, she's just a resident of this share-house and a student. Nothing more."

"Yeah." Jeong-Hyuk becomes quiet, thinking of the light peck on his lips. It's turning out to be more annoying than his tolerance limit. Then, she acts crazy sometimes. "For me, she's just a kid. Nothing more."

***

"It's not like I like him or anything…" Sitting on her knees, she says to the proud but bored cat in front of her, "It's just that… I wanted to kiss him. His lips seemed…" felt "nice."

It shouldn't feel nice. When did she like kissing people? Now, her head is full of that kiss. It might have been barely a touch.

"Can I kiss you?" She asks the cat. "Would it feel good?"

The cat turns its head away, seemingly disgusted by the idea.

"Would I like it if I kiss Professor too?"

The regal feline queen has enough of her questions. She gets up and walks away, swaying her hips.

"Darn cat!" Chang Seol stands up. Her back is itchy again. "I can't get along with these cats."

The cat cafeteria owner has only one requirement: she must get the approval of the queen cat.

It feels impossible to get this cat's approval. Chang Seol walks to the cafeteria owner who is petting a small black cat.

"I don't think that she likes me," Chang Seol says to her with a low voice, disappointed by her own inability to befriend a cat.

"She's quite fussy." The cat-cafe owner smiles at her. "But she's a good listener. If you like her, you can come here again."

She would love to come back as an employee instead of a customer. Chang Seol glances at her competitor, a girl in her early twenties, who is stroking a cat's back.

It's so difficult to get a part-time job.

"Thanks a lot." Chang Seol returns the cafe owner's smile. "I enjoyed my time here."

How is she getting rejected by the entire city?

Chang Seol wonders as she walks on the pavement leading to her next destination: a mediocre pub in the B10 District.

Annoyed by the itchy sensation all over her body, Chang Seol stops under a tree and pulls her hair over the right shoulder as she scratches her neck with her left hand.

Dark clouds cover the sky. It seems that it would rain anytime in winter. Chang Seol scowls at the sky and points her middle finger to the sky. "Fuck you!"

A passerby gives her a judgmental look before going on his merry way.

Still scratching herself, hissing when she ends up cutting her skin, she heads toward the subway station in a hurry. Next to the station, there's a public washroom. Maybe she needs to wash her skin and hands. Why is it so bad today? She should have gone to a doctor.

Colour bursts.

Chang Seol halts in her track, blinking her eyes rapidly. All of a sudden, the world seems to be…

"So many colours." Chang Seol cocks her head slightly and blinks her round black eyes. Nothing looks the same.

Little neon drops of ultraviolet appear at some places. As if someone is running several paintbrushes of different colours at the same time from one end of the spectrum to other, different shades of hues whorl around people.

It's too loud.

Her eyes could track all the motions around her. Someone is laughing. Someone is talking about work on the call. Someone is whispering to her friend a secret. And there are too many colours around, dizzying her, overwhelming her mind.

"Mommy, look." A child points in her direction. "A chicken."

Chang Seol looks at the boy -- still pointing in her direction.

"Don't be rude," His mother says to the boy. "It's a mascot."

The boy tongues out as his mother drags him toward the station.

People are entering and leaving the station at their own paces. Some glances at the girl with a black chicken head standing in the middle with her beak wide open.