Bora and Haru weren’t the only ones moving; even the employees, who had nothing particular to do, were called in, and in no time, a room was transformed into a cozy space for Nabi. Perhaps because it was in downtown Seoul, there were plenty of places selling items for raising cats.
Bora, holding cat shampoo, began preparing to give Nabi a proper bath. Nabi was quite dirty.
“Meooowww!”
As soon as Nabi heard the sound of the shower, she let out a loud cry. Then, she started thrashing around, trying to escape the bathroom. It seemed Nabi, like most cats, disliked water. Bora carefully held Nabi, but she was in full-on battle mode.
“Bora, Nabi is crying, is she okay?”
Just then, Hana appeared in the room. Surprisingly, Nabi calmed down the moment she saw Hana. Bora had a quirky idea and said to Hana,
“Hana, can you stand there?”
“Sure! I was curious about how to bathe Nabi too. Next time, I’ll give Nabi a bath!”
“Alright, alright.”
Bora directed Nabi’s gaze towards Hana and then started spraying the shower on Nabi’s body. She adjusted the temperature to lukewarm, avoiding hot water to protect Nabi’s delicate kitten skin.
“Good girl, good girl!”
Bora was now washing Nabi, who had suddenly turned into a docile cat. She knew Hana had a way with animals, but she didn’t expect it to work on little Nabi too. She squeezed out some cat shampoo and began lathering it onto Nabi’s body. Soon, Nabi was covered in foam but remained still, only occasionally meowing.
It was completely different from her earlier thrashing. Bora managed to bathe Nabi without much trouble. Nabi, now wet, was brought out of the bathroom. For Bora, who was used to raising cats, this was an easy bath. Nabi was much calmer than the cats at her home.
“Alright!”
With the bath done, Bora carried Nabi towards the bed. She took out a hairdryer, set it to the lowest temperature and speed, and directed it towards Nabi.
“Meow…”
Nabi shrank back from the blow dryer’s wind. Hana gently stroked Nabi’s head.
—
“Meow!”
Once Nabi was completely dry, Bora handed her over to me. I carefully took Nabi. Since she was still a kitten, she needed to be handled gently. Judging by her size, she seemed to be over a month old.
“Meowww!”
As I stroked Nabi’s head, she meowed happily. I continued to pet her, enjoying the softness of her fur—it was almost addictive. Meanwhile, Bora was preparing some baby food for Nabi.
Nabi was a bit too old for milk but still too young for regular cat food, so baby food was the best option. Bora poured the baby food into a bowl. I set Nabi down on the floor, but she kept climbing back into my lap.
“Nabi, aren’t you hungry? You need to eat.”
“Meow.”
Despite my words, Nabi refused to leave my side. Bora, watching this, seemed puzzled.
“She should be hungry by now.”
“That’s what I thought… Nabi isn’t eating.”
It had been a while since Nabi last ate. Bora suggested,
“Maybe you should try handing her the food bowl yourself. She might be scared of me.”
The food bowl was next to Bora, who had just prepared the baby food. She subtly moved the bowl towards me. I took it and offered it to Nabi. Finally, Nabi started eating the baby food.
“She’s eating, she’s eating!”
I smiled broadly. Watching her eat so happily made me feel good too. I quietly observed Nabi eating, then suddenly felt the urge to record a video. Cats grow up so fast, so I wanted to capture this tiny moment.
I started filming Nabi eating. Meanwhile, Bora was setting up cat supplies. My room was quickly transforming under Bora’s skilled hands, with a cat tower and a litter box filled with sand.
Nabi finished her meal and crawled back into my lap. Instinctively, I knew what she wanted—it was like our minds were connected.
I vigorously stroked Nabi’s back as she lay on my thigh. Nabi purred, clearly enjoying it. Cats usually purr when they’re quite content.
It’s a sound I don’t make lightly.
As I kept petting Nabi, Bora was watching us with a satisfied smile.
“Looks good!”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
I kept petting Nabi for a while. Nabi had already drifted off to dreamland. I kept staring at Nabi for a long time. It was my first time having a pet. So, I might have been lacking. But Bora, Haru, and Maru filled in those gaps for me. It was like co-parenting.
Of course, Nabi didn’t like anyone else’s arms but mine, but that was natural. We’d only known each other for a few hours, and there aren’t many cats that get friendly that quickly. Unless it’s a super-friendly cat, they usually keep their guard up. Nabi was just a normal cat, after all.
—
“Min-soo, two bulgogi pizzas!”
“Why are there so many orders today?”
“No idea, man! I’ll pay you extra later!”
“Boss, you’re the best!”
Park Min-soo was frantically making pizzas. Today, the orders were pouring in like crazy. The order app was exploding like a bomb.
[Baemin order!]
[Baemin order!]
“Boss, I think we need to cancel the delivery app orders. It’s impossible to handle all of them realistically.”
It was nearly impossible to keep up with the orders coming in almost every minute. It took 15 minutes just to make one pizza. Even though the oven could handle multiple pizzas at once, at most, we could only make 15-20 pizzas an hour. But now, we were getting 60 orders per hour. It was physically impossible.
“Ugh… this is frustrating…”
Unlike Min-soo, who only gets a fixed hourly wage, the boss earns based on how much we sell. So, this situation was heartbreaking. Just thinking about the profit we’re losing with every pizza we can’t make—how much money is flying away today?
But no amount of willpower could overcome the physical limitations. The boss, holding back tears, sent out a generic message on the delivery app: “Out of stock due to high demand…” Then, he posted that we were closing early for the day. Just handling the phone orders was overwhelming enough.
Pizza places usually have a lot of menu items, but the stock for each item varies wildly. The less popular items only have enough stock for 10-15 pizzas a day. Popular ones like bulgogi pizza have more stock, but still.
A small neighborhood pizza shop can’t stockpile a ton of ingredients. We don’t have a big freezer, and if we buy too much and can’t sell it, it’s a huge loss. Plus, the ingredients don’t have a long shelf life. Without a freezer, the expiration dates are tight.
Squeezing out every last bit of energy, the little pizza shop was inevitably sentenced to its doom.
“Boss, we’re out of cheese.”
Without cheese, we can’t make pizza. That’s just common sense.
“What? Already? I bought way more than usual, even though the cheese truck comes every week.”
The boss, having tasted Starlight Cheese, had bought a lot more than usual. The truck comes every week to restock the ingredients needed for the pizzas. The cheese truck was coming tomorrow, but even on the last day, running out of cheese didn’t make sense.
“Min-soo, did you go heavy on the cheese?”
“I might’ve used a bit more than usual. Boss, you always say not to skimp on that stuff. Cheese isn’t that expensive, and if you skimp on it, customers will notice and leave.”
“Well… that’s not wrong…”
The boss, having worked with Min-soo for years, took a humble stance. And Min-soo was right. You can’t skimp on ingredients that don’t cost much.
“Let’s call it a day here. I’ll pay you for a full 8 hours.”
“Of course. We worked really hard today.”
Their hard work paid off. Even though they only worked 6 hours, the sales were three times higher than usual. It was a jackpot.
