“Meow, meeeooow.”
Yellian, who had been lazily napping, faintly regained consciousness at the sound of a cat. Since their mind hadn’t fully returned yet to trace the source of the sound, they just blankly listened to the cat’s cries.
– Crash! Thud! Creak!
If not for the disorienting sound effects, they might have stayed like that for a while longer.
Startled by the sound of something collapsing, Yellian abruptly sat up. Looking toward the noise, they saw the bedside table by the window had toppled over.
The culprit… no, the culprit dragon was, of course, Geumdong. After all, the only living beings in this bedroom were Geumdong and them, so it was obvious even without looking.
Anyway, Geumdong, unsatisfied with just knocking over the bedside table, began hopping toward the window. Being just a baby dragon, he couldn’t jump high enough to see outside. It seemed he had tried to climb onto the table to look out the window and ended up toppling it.
“What’s wrong, Geumdong…… What’s out there……. A, a cat?”
On the branch visible outside the window, precariously clinging on, was unmistakably a cat. This room was on the third floor. That meant the cat was perched at the very top of a tree as tall as three stories.
“Meow, meeeooow.”
A pitiful, sorrowful cry was heard. It seemed the cat beyond the window was signaling for help.
Though the leaves obscured the cat’s form, Yellian, now certain it was a cat, grew frantic. The thought that the cat might fall and get seriously hurt crossed their mind.
“Hold on, little one. I’ll save you right away.”
Yellian flung the window wide open. The iron bars prevented them from squeezing through, but they could at least stretch their arm out.
“Ah, I can’t reach!”
“Meeoow!”
If they could lean their upper body out further, rescuing the cat would be much easier. Unfortunately, stretching their arm as far as possible was the best they could do in this situation-all thanks to that bastard Leonard installing these bars to keep them from escaping.
It was truly just a hand’s breadth short. If they could stretch just a bit more, they’d reach the branch where the cat was. Being so close yet unable to save the cat right before their eyes was maddening.
To make matters worse, the cat began meowing loudly, as if begging to be saved quickly, and Geumdong, now curious, started hopping around and screeching too.
[Kyuuung! Kyuuoong!]
“Meeoow! Meeeooow!”
This is driving me insane.
Listening to the duet of a dragon and a cat’s cries, Yellian’s already chaotic mind grew even dizzier.
Yellian gritted their teeth to hold onto their sanity. Get a grip, get a grip. If they didn’t think of a solution fast, the cat could be in danger.
In their agitation, Yellian unknowingly stepped on something while pacing in circles. Upon identifying it, their expression brightened.
“This’ll work!”
It was none other than the leg of the bedside table Geumdong had destroyed. Gripping the broken leg firmly, Yellian stretched their arm through the bars again. Thankfully, this time, the table leg reached the branch.
“Little one, be good, okay? Come here. Little one, I’m not a bad person. I’m trying to help you.”
Yellian called out to the cat in the most harmless tone possible, lest it mistake them for a threat, try to flee, and end up falling from the tree.
Then, as if understanding Yellian’s words, the cat peeked its face out from between the leaves.
“Gamja!”
Yellian rubbed their eyes in disbelief. The cat precariously clinging to the branch was Gamja.
There were countless orange tabby cats in the world, but Gamja was one of a kind. Yellian could recognize Gamja’s appearance perfectly.
Others might think all orange tabbies look the same, but Yellian knew Gamja well.
Gamja’s defining feature was the slightly wider space between its eyes than most cats, giving its face a somewhat dopey look. Most notably, for some reason, Gamja’s left ear was slightly folded. Because of this, when viewed head-on, its left ear appeared smaller than the right.
Beyond these traits, Yellian was confident they could pick Gamja out instantly among dozens-no, hundreds-of orange tabbies.
They had even gotten hit by a car trying to save Gamja. There was no way they wouldn’t recognize Gamja.
“Meeoow, meeeooow!”
“Yeah, Gamja. It’s me, your hyung. Remember me? I gave you chicken breast and stuff, right?”
“Meeow!”
“Right, you remember. Gamja, can you come over here? You can do it, right?”
From Gamja’s loud meows, Yellian took it as a sign that the cat remembered them and gently coaxed it.
Gamja must still be very scared. But if it could trust them just a little, Yellian was sure they wouldn’t let it fall.
Though they hadn’t been able to take Gamja home and raise it, to Yellian, Gamja was no different from a pet. They had given it a name and fed it food and treats every day.
Most of all…… they had given it affection. Enough to reflexively risk their life for it without thinking.
That’s what a pet was. A companion to share life with, as the word implied.
That’s what Gamja was to Yellian. And though perhaps not to the same extent, Yellian believed Gamja felt the same.
“Gamja, trust hyung just this once. I won’t let you fall. I swear.”
“Meow.”
After one last meow, Gamja carefully lifted its paw from the branch and gingerly stepped onto the table leg.
The way its tiny paw moved was nerve-wracking. As Gamja shifted its weight onto the table leg, pain shot through Yellian’s outstretched arm.
But knowing that relaxing their arm even slightly could cause Gamja to fall, Yellian swallowed hard and kept their arm steady.
Gamja, as if knowing exactly where to go, cautiously made its way across the table leg and onto Yellian’s arm. Though it looked as precarious as walking a tightrope, the little thing managed it quite skillfully for a cat.
“Just a little more…… almost…… got it!”
Once Gamja was close enough, Yellian reached their other arm through a gap in the bars and grabbed the cat. Carefully, they pulled Gamja into their embrace.
Only after bringing Gamja safely into the bedroom did Yellian finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Gamja, what happened?!”
“Meow. Meeoow.”
Though Gamja couldn’t speak human language and Yellian couldn’t understand cat speech, they asked frantically, unable to comprehend the situation.
Even their own transmigration into a novel was hard to believe, but they could accept that. However, they couldn’t understand how Gamja had ended up in this world.
“Don’t tell me…… when I hugged you back then…… you came with me?”
“Meeoow.”
“Is that really what happened……”
Yellian recalled the moment of the accident. Seeing a car speeding madly down the alley, they had instinctively grabbed Gamja. Then, when they came to, they found themselves transmigrated into a novel. At the time, Gamja wasn’t beside them, so they never imagined the cat had come along too.
But now that Gamja was right in front of them, they had to admit it. Because of them, Gamja had ended up in this world too.
“……I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”
“Meow.”
“Where have you been all this time? Did you eat well? Were you cold? Or too hot? What did you do when it rained…….”
Seeing Gamja, there was so much they wanted to say. Was this how it felt to find a lost pet?
Yellian was overjoyed to see Gamja again, but just imagining how the cat had survived without them made their heart ache.
They should have looked for it. They hadn’t even considered Gamja might be in this world, nor had they the means to search, but they resented themselves for living so carelessly.
“I’m so glad we met again. I’m sorry. And really…… thank you.”
“Meeoow!”
As if saying it was okay, Gamja stretched its short tail straight out, quivering, and rubbed its face against Yellian’s leg.
Knowing this was something cats did when very happy, a smile naturally formed on Yellian’s lips.
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