After sufficiently kicking the bearcub.
I enjoyed a night’s sleep sweeter than hot chocolate and honey bread.
On that day, I was allowed to lay in bed late.
In the moment of crossing from Saturday to Sunday, and with just a tiny bit of a holiday.
A day in the quiet apartment where even the smartphone’s alarm didn’t sound.
In a room with the lights off, perfectly blocking out light with curtains.
There was not a single factor to disturb my sleep.
Instead of thinking of getting up from bed, I turned over…
Thump thump thump thump.
‘…?’
At the unwelcome noise ringing from the ceiling, my eyelids, which had no thought of opening, lifted.
My half-opened eyes began to close again in the stillness and silence.
Maybe something happened upstairs.
It was time to close my eyes again and drift back to sleep.
This languor was the perfect condition for falling into sleep…
Thump thump thump thump.
“Damn it…”
With the undeniable sound of footsteps from upstairs ringing again, I finally cursed inwardly and raised my upper body.
Sitting down, I hunched my head low, starting to show my displeasure at being disturbed from the sleep I had been enjoying.
Grabbing my smartphone and turning it on, a bright light pierced my eyes.
Squinting one eye and barely opening the other, I checked the time glaringly displayed.
8:49 AM.
Not quite after lunch but almost early morning.
‘What kind of damn bastard is…’
The palm that had pressed against my forehead rubbed across my face and then eventually went to my eyes.
Thump thump thump thump, again came the pounding footsteps from upstairs.
This time, it was definitely audible.
Being on the second floor, which was already close to the ceiling, the sounds from above were clearer than I had expected.
Thinking back, I remembered a moving truck parking at this apartment yesterday.
Surely, was it the place above ours?
“Shit….”
Rubbing my eyes with the palms of my hands, I twisted my whole body and screamed in anguish.
Now I had to worry about upstairs as well as monster alerts?
Don’t lie, really.
With my eyes wide open, time flowed and flowed, and it was now 11 AM.
“Yawn….”
It was time for Shiyeon, who usually couldn’t hear the sounds around her while sleeping, to wake up.
With a greeting announcing the start of a light day, I welcomed Shiyeon.
“…Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah, did you, Mary?”
An obvious return response to my casual greeting.
I couldn’t answer such a formal greeting.
“No.”
“Huh? Why?”
Shiyeon asked back at my unnatural answer.
At that moment, thump thump thump thump. The noise that makes people uneasy rang perfectly timed again.
During the continuation of the noise, I naturally felt the unpleasantness, and my gaze turned upward.
“Because of that.”
Thinking it would serve as an answer to her question, I leaned my chin on the low desk, pointing at the ceiling with my other index finger.
“Oh, someone moved in, right?”
“Ha…”
Shiyeon’s short sigh and understanding.
With no further explanation needed, I let out a short sigh.
The bear doll, noticing my deep sigh, wisely poured me a glass of cold water and chimed in.
“Do they have children or something?”
“Let’s hope so.”
Not feeling like getting angry, my dulled mind gave in to the doll’s words.
At the same time, I voiced the honest thoughts engraved in my sleep-deprived mind.
“If it’s an adult doing that, they should just be killed…”
Running around without care would be a nuisance to the downstairs neighbors.
It’s the obvious fact; if they had any common sense and upbringing, even if they were elementary school students, they wouldn’t think of running around in their homes.
I didn’t want to believe the source of these footsteps was an adult.
No, it cannot be an adult.
“Please hold on….”
The bear doll, reacting to my words of killing, came close to my legs as if to restrain me.
“I’m still holding on.”
“How about not resolving this with words?”
At my words about holding on, Shiyeon’s mascot slowly approached near my head, spinning around and suggesting a solution in its own way.
Perhaps because it was a pure-hearted magical girl’s mascot, its head also seemed pure.
“I wish I could be like that….”
Releasing a long breath, along with unrealistic hopes.
I briefly explained to the mascot the uncomfortable truth about being human.
“If they had that much culture and common sense, they wouldn’t let kids run around like that.”
“…Ah!”
“Ugh.”
The mascot’s eyes widened as if realizing something.
The understandable common sense naturally led to anger, which soon turned into resignation and a sigh.
I should head to Daes to buy some earplugs.
If I can’t avoid it, I’ll just have to adapt using tools.
Using tools is symbolic of being human, isn’t it?
“Alright, I’ll head to Daes.”
Since that was decided, I got up immediately and got dressed.
To get to Daes, I’d have to walk quite a bit with my tiny frame.
Hurrying is the best.
“I’m hungry…”
Shiyeon whined about being hungry.
Having had the entire morning to herself, if I went out to get some tteokbokki or kimbap, it would probably just be lunchtime.
Thinking it was the perfect timing, I asked what she wanted to eat.
“What should I bring?”
“Tteokbokki… and kimbap!”
Seeing her readily respond as if she had been waiting for it, I thought I had been outsmarted.
Takeout does taste better.
“Okay, just wait while I watch some TV.”
I packed my wallet into a small pocket that suited my small body and headed outside.
The protruding pocket caught even my own eye.
I shoved my feet into my sneakers haphazardly and awkwardly positioned the heel.
Tap tap, I hit the toe of my sneakers on the ground as I headed to the market.
The moment I stepped out to the first floor of the apartment.
“Huh?”
A small quadruped animal quickly dashed into the flowerbed of the apartment.
In this urban area, that size can only belong to a cat.
It usually shouldn’t come to the front door, so why was it near here?
As I looked around, there was a food bowl that clearly looked like someone had placed it.
One was for dry food, and one was for water.
“What’s this…?”
At that moment, an ominous premonition overtook me.
With the final touch, my eyes caught a coated paper stuck near the entrance.
[Stray cats are neighbors of the urban ecosystem.]
[1. Stray cats are precious lives.]
Blah blah blah.
[2. Stray cats are pest control agents.]
They catch mice and so on.
[3. Stray cats are residents of our neighborhood.]
So don’t remove the food bowls and blah blah.
“Wow, really, I’m going to lose it.”
Seeing phrases that were simply unimaginable for a human, I could only marvel and shake my head.
Was there someone in this apartment who was a cat mom?
Putting off identifying a person for later, I was about to feel dizzy.
How should I describe this complicated feeling mixed with sighing and lamenting, anger and fury?
“Endure, endure….”
Clenching my fists tightly, I tried to contain my boiling rage.
Even though I wouldn’t face criminal charges as a minor, I should at least try to hold back from killing them.
I wanted to kick that food bowl right away, but let’s try and wait.
“Breathe in, breathe out….”
Two short deep breaths.
Let’s recall the old saying that if you endure three times, you won’t end up killing someone.
If they were not human, would it be okay to just kill them?
No… even if their actions were those of mere brutes, legally they were still a person.
I must endure. I must endure.
For now, let’s just get earplugs.
After walking for a while and passing the market, I went to Daes first.
I bought earplugs that were easy to carry and put them in the opposite pocket of my wallet.
Now, on my way back, a serving of tteokbokki and about three rolls of kimbap should be enough.
In fact, just two rolls would suffice for Shiyeon and me, but I decided to buy one more for the bearcub and Shiyeon’s mascot.
“13,000 won, that’ll be.”
One serving of tteokbokki, 4,000 won.
One roll of kimbap, 3,000 won.
‘Damn, that’s expensive…’
Remembering the days when a cup of tteokbokki was 500 won and a roll of kimbap was 1,000 won, I handed over the money and received two black bags.
Had the Americans finally discovered the taste of kimbap? I wondered just how much the price was going to rise.
In any case, feeling pleasantly satisfied holding the two black bags, when I returned to the apartment, I found three cats near the shared entrance, which I had only seen one when I left.
Feeling bad for no reason, I rushed to chase them away…
But they ran away in a flash, being the wild animals they are, with sharp instincts.
“Hey! You can’t do that!”
Immediately following was a deep and sharp female voice.
“If you run at them like that, they’ll just run away!”
“I just want to pet them, okay?”
Trying hard to smile through my anger, I took a good look at that brazen face.
It seemed apparent that I appeared as a little kid, as she showed no signs of hiding her identity as a cat mom.
Well then, you’re the one, huh.
“Oh, I see, you have to approach cats slowly, right?”
“Oh, I see. This is my first time seeing them; may I ask where you live?”
“Yeah, I just moved in yesterday. Do you see that up there?”
Following the tip of her pointing finger, it led to directly above our home.
“Ahh…?”
I responded with a sigh that carried the meaning of understanding, my expression dull in its gaze.
It turned out that all the bad luck collected in one day was because of this crazy woman.
I had already organized my thoughts in my mind.
A cat mom plus a noise maker from upstairs, this girl was definitely a truly crazy person.
Moreover, judging by her appearance, she looked to be in her thirties, calling me “sister?”
There should be a limit to the lack of conscience.
