Chapter Text
CATNIP CAFE
Chapter 1: Remembrance of Things Past
Deok Im’s friends call her Nabi. Not because she’s beautiful (although she is) but because she doesn’t stay in one place for long. Like a butterfly hovering over a flower just long enough to drink its nectar and then fluttering off to the next sweet spot, Deok Im is always in search of her next destination. She doesn’t travel for leisure, however. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Some say, even life threatening. You see, Deok Im has been a volunteer emergency doctor for an international non-government health organization since she finished her Pediatric Surgery residency in Seoul National University three years prior. It has been a whirlwind ever since— Namibia, Madagascar, Cuba, Chile, Peru… She was supposed to fly to Israel next but she fell and broke her arm while hiking the Andes en route to the a medical mission. She insisted on staying but her boss ordered her to take a six month leave to recuperate at home.
That’s why she’s back in Seoul with a broken arm and bored beyond her wits. She has taken a few shifts at the university clinic but she has been itching to get back in the field. Being in a hospital sanitized to the last inch of its halls is not as appealing as operating on a makeshift bed in a tent in the middle of a Namibian desert storm. Deok Im often wonders that maybe she was a prisoner in her past life for her to yearn this much for freedom in the present.
“I’ll go back as soon as my arm heals.” She tells her friends, Kyung Hee, Young Hee and Bok Yeon, while eating snacks at Bok Yeon’s cat cafe called Catnip, a few blocks from the hospital. They’ve been friends for years. Kyung Hee also works as a peds surgeon at SNU while Young Hee is an OR nurse in their department. Bok Yeon is Deok Im’s childhood friend but has become closer with both Kyung Hee and Young Hee in Deok Im’s absence.
“You sure, Nabi? Just so you know, Peds needs another set of hands. We have sick kids here too, you see,” answers Kyung Hee.
Young Hee adds, “And it would be nice to have you back in the OR! We miss you!”
“I know. But they need more doctors there. Besides, you know that I’m no good at staying still. I’ve been here two weeks and I’m already about to lose my mind. Mom already set me up for a date with her friend’s son.” She grimaces.
Kyung Hee nearly chokes on her coffee. “Does she remember the last time she set you up? You nearly ended up in jail for punching your date.”
“That ass.” Deok Im suddenly remembers that insufferable know-it-all who tried to feel her up. Hong Dong Ro… Hong Duk Ro… whatever his name was. “If I had more time, I would’ve broken all the bones in his hands as well.”
Bok Yeon sniggers. “Well, I hope for this new guy’s sake that he keeps his hands to himself.”
“As he should. He’s a prosecutor, law breaking would be pretty damaging to his profession.”
Young Hee pipes in. “Ohhhh. A prosecutor. Definitely smart, probably headstrong. Might just be the kind of man who makes you stay.”
“I doubt it.” Deok Im says with confidence. After all, in all her thirty years of living, no man has ever come close to making her stay.
Deok Im takes a bite of her macaron. Just then a Bengal cat jumps down from its perch and lands on her lap, surprising her.
“Sunny!” Bok Yeon screams. She takes the cat off Deok Im’s lap. “Are you OK? Your arm…” Bok Yeon asks she she surveys Deok Im’s injured arm which is in a cast. Deok Im is a surgeon. Her hands and her arms are her living.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. I’ve been through worse.”
Bok Yeon turns to the cat. “I told you to stay still. Didn’t I?” The cat purrs in her arms. Deok Im notices that it has a bandaged front paw.
“What happened to it?” She inquires, suddenly feeling a keen affinity with the cat with the injured paw.
“I don’t know. His owner is not really the sharing type.” Bok Yeon shrugs as she lets Sunny go.
At that moment, Kyung Hee and Young Hee’s phones beep. It’s a message from the hospital. “We have to go, emergency transplant. See you tomorrow for dinner?”
“Can’t. Date.” Deok Im sighs. “Mom will bury me alive if I take a raincheck.”
Kyung Hee and Young Hee rush out. “Call us if you end up in jail again! We’ll bail you out!” Kyung Hee hollers as they run away.
“I’ll hold you to that!” Deok Im says with a smile. Bok Yeon eyes her. “Seriously though, maybe you should give this guy a chance. You’ve been single for far too long.”
“Who’d like a girlfriend who’s always thousands of miles away?”
“Who knows? You might want to stay if you find the right guy.”
“I love my independence far too much to give it up for someone.”
Bok Yeon takes a sip of her tea, and then looks up at Deok Im with sage-like eyes. “You always think that falling in love as giving up a part of yourself… why not think of it as sharing that part of yourself with someone who also wants to share a part of himself with you? That way, you turn loss into a gain.”
Deok Im stares at Bok Yeon, not knowing what to say. After all, Bok Yeon is really not the kind of friend who doles out serious advice. She’s more of the girlfriend who screams her lungs out when you tell her you had your first kiss or your first date with the boy you like.
“Are you delirious or something?” Deok Im asks.
“I’m serious! Falling in love isn’t so bad!” Bok Yeon whines loudly that some of the customers turn to look at them.
Deok Im laughs. “OK ma’am! One coffee and one boyfriend to go please.”
“I’m not joking.” Bok Yeon says.
“I am.” Deok Im smiles. “Come on… I’m already getting an earful from mom about this stuff—
“Where’s Sunny?” Bok Yeon suddenly asks.
“What?”
“Sunny! He’s gone!” Bok Yeon turns to the door and sees it ajar. “Oh crap, he’s out!” Bok Yeon screams when she spots Sunny sprinting across the road as if it doesn’t have an injured paw. “Stay here. I’ll get him!”
“No! You stay! You have customers!” Deok Im immediately stands and runs after Sunny.
The gingko trees along the street are shedding its leaves. The autumn air is crisp, causing Deok Im’s skin to crawl. She forgot her coat inside. She wants to go back for it but she doesn’t have the luxury of time. Sunny is running so fast she could barely catch up. “Sunny!” She shouts.
Her heart sinks when she spots Sunny jump over the wall of Changdeokgung. It would be far easier to look for a cat in the vast deserts of Africa than in the palace grounds the size of a small town with multiple buildings, some of which are forbidden from the public.
She immediately runs to the nearby gate and tells the guard that her cat went in. Another guard accompanies her to look for Sunny. It soon becomes apparent to both of them how futile their search is. Sunny could be anywhere at this point and they have no clue where it could be. Not one to give up, Deok Im says they should look for Sunny separately. She’s familiar with the grounds. It’s near SNU and she used to spend time there when she needs a breather from school.
Visiting hours are over so the ground is empty of the usual throng of tourists. Deok Im thinks that it would’ve been perfect to stroll and explore alone if not for the missing cat. She has always found Changdeokgung healing… it’s just so serene… so unchanged by time… She still remembers the day her parents brought her there for the first time when she was six. She felt at home… the palace seemed familiar, like she lived there before…
A call from Bok Yeon puts an end to her reverie. Her friend is already panicking. Sunny’s owner will be back soon to fetch him and she’ll be in so much trouble if Sunny is not found. Deok Im assures her that she won’t stop until she finds the missing feline. She ends the call and quickens her pace, shouting Sunny’s name as she goes.
A few minutes pass and there’s still no sign of Sunny. The sun is going down fast and she could feel her arm throb because of the cold… she’s about to return to the gate to ask for more assistance when she hears a cat’s meow. At first, she thinks it’s just her mind playing a trick on her but a distinct meow soon follows. Deok Im wastes no time. She runs as fast as her feet could carry her. She enters the gate to the Secret Garden and from a distance, she sees a man holding Sunny in his arms.
“Sunny!” She screams.
She runs towards the man, barely registering his face as he looks up at her. She instinctively reaches out to take Sunny with her uninjured arm.
“Thank you for picking him up. I’ll take him.”
But the man doesn’t let go.
“No.” His voice is cold. Deok Im finally looks up. The man, whoever he is, seems aloof, even haughty. What a waste since he’s objectively good-looking with his high nose bridge and cheekbones that could cut through glass. But more than those, it is actually his small eyes that draws her in which is ironic since they seem uninviting… Deok Im can’t explain it at that moment… but it feels like those eyes have looked at her before…
“You can’t take her.” The man adds.
“Why? He’s my cat.” She asserts. A little white lie is needed at this point.
“That’s impossible. Because Sunny is mine.”
“No way. That’s unlikely…” Deok Im says in disbelief. Of all the people in Seoul, Sunny found his way back to his owner? That’s highly improbable to say the least.
Right at that moment, she thinks of a solution to this debacle. She calls Bok Yeon.
“Hey. I found Sunny but a guy is claiming him as his. Do you remember the owner’s name?”
Bok Yeon doesn’t need to look at her records. She remembers the handsome man all too well. “San. Lee San.”
As if hearing Bok Yeon, the man takes out a business card from his wallet and shows it to Deok Im.
“I’m Lee San.”
Deok Im grabs the business card to confirm the name. Crap. He’s telling the truth. She looks up at the man, apologetic. Right at that moment, when his eyes meet hers, San couldn’t explain it… but her contrite gaze… he has seen those before… but for the life of him, he just couldn’t remember when.