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A strange, itchy sensation on her left shoulder blade made Kim Nakyoung slowly wake up. The sunlight streaming directly onto her bed told her she had slept until noon. Luckily, her beautiful face was spared the harsh summer rays, as her head was at the foot of the bed while her legs dangled precariously, as if about to fall.
Her whole body reeked of alcohol, her head pounded like a hammer, and her clothes were disheveled — all consequences of last night’s wild party. Nakyoung and her friends had joined their department's grand welcome party for the new students, which was really just an excuse for her to drink to oblivion. She was already months past her graduation date, held back by a single failed course. Nakyoung knew she’d be stuck in this university for at least another two or three months trying to pass it.
"Ugh, get up, lazy black cat. It’s already noon." Kim Yooyeon grumbled. She had been Nakyoung’s roommate since their freshman year, and now, while Yooyeon was pursuing her master’s degree, Nakyoung was still stuck with an undergraduate course.
"Black cat? Am I still drunk, or did you take the wrong meds this morning?" Nakyoung chuckled, still sprawled on her bed. Yooyeon never called her by that nickname, so it felt oddly out of place.
"It’s because of the sticker on your shoulder. It’s a whole black cat — kinda cute, actually." Yooyeon said, pouring herself some water while staring at Nakyoung's shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" Nakyoung frowned, confused.
It was only then that she realized her shoulder had been persistently itchy and sore. The sensation wasn’t just a hangover — it was something else entirely.
Curious, Nakyoung looked down at her left shoulder.
Her eyes widened when she saw a black cat with a red outline sitting proudly on her smooth, pale skin.
"Huh." Nakyoung touched it, rubbing the area lightly. A sharp sting made her flinch.
"Wait a minute..."
Nakyoung rubbed harder, but the image of the cat didn’t fade. Instead, the itchiness grew worse.
The moment Nakyoung turned her pleading gaze to Yooyeon, she saw her friend’s face shift in realization.
"Oh, crap." Yooyeon placed her glass down and moved closer to inspect Nakyoung’s shoulder.
"This isn’t a sticker..."
"It’s a tattoo..." Yooyeon said seriously, her eyes filled with worry. She always knew Nakyoung was reckless, but she never imagined her friend's drunken antics would lead to something like this.
"What the hell happened last night?" Yooyeon sighed.
"I... don’t remember anything..." Nakyoung’s voice trembled.
"Be honest. Did you do drugs? No one forgets an entire night just from drinking."
"NO! I swear, my mind is completely blank. I don’t even remember how I got home." Nakyoung groaned, still poking at the burning tattoo on her shoulder, struggling to accept reality.
"I don’t know either. I went to bed early, and when I woke up, you were already back." Yooyeon said.
"You always sleep early... Wait, let me try to remember..." Nakyoung sat up, pressing her temples.
"Oh, right! I was with Yoon Seoyeon last night... maybe she knows something."
Without wasting another second, Nakyoung grabbed her phone and called Yoon Seoyeon — her closest junior. She put the call on speaker so Yooyeon could listen, but it took until the last ring for Seoyeon to finally pick up.
"Hello?" Seoyeon’s groggy voice echoed, and Nakyoung didn’t notice Yooyeon blushing beside her.
"Yoon Seoyeon, I need an explanation. Why do I have a black cat tattoo on my shoulder?! I don’t remember a thing about it."
"What? Ma’am, I’m sleeping. I have no idea what you and that girl did last night." Seoyeon yawned.
"What girl?!" Nakyoung nearly shouted.
"Let’s make a deal, Kim Naky. Give me Yooyeon unnie’s number, and I’ll tell you what I know, okay?" Seoyeon giggled.
Nakyoung shot Yooyeon — who was now furiously blushing — a tired, exasperated look. She didn’t even give her friend a chance to respond.
"Fine, deal. Now spill."
"I wasn’t exactly sober either, so I only remember bits and pieces. You were talking to this brown-haired girl with light-colored contacts, and then you both left the party together." Seoyeon recounted.
"She looked kinda new. Maybe a freshman."
Both Nakyoung and Yooyeon held their breath, waiting for Seoyeon to continue. But there was only silence.
"And then?" Nakyoung pressed.
"That’s all I remember. The party was packed, and I was busy chatting with my friends."
"Oh, I think I know who she is." Nakyoung said.
"Really?! Who?!" Seoyeon instantly perked up.
"OF COURSE NOT! YOU THINK THERE’S ONLY ONE BROWN-HAIRED GIRL WITH LIGHT CONTACTS IN THIS ENTIRE UNIVERSITY?!"
"Also, Yooyeon unnie heard everything. Text her already, or she’ll die of excitement." Nakyoung hung up, ignoring Yooyeon’s embarrassed punches on her arm.
Nakyoung spent the rest of the day staring at the inflamed black cat tattoo, promising herself she’d get it removed the moment it healed. A small scar would be better than a weird reminder of a wild night she couldn’t even remember.
Yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about the girl she left with.
Or worse — whether she had done something unforgivable to her.
Though, looking at it closely... the black cat wasn’t that bad.
"Are you sure you two didn’t know each other before?" Kim Chaewon practically shouted, drawing curious glances from people in the dormitory hallway toward her small room. But that curiosity didn’t last long — everyone in the dorm was already used to Kim Chaewon and first-year Jeong Hayeon constantly causing a ruckus.
"I told you, we didn’t know each other!" Jeong Hayeon groaned, covering her face with her hands. The little red hedgehog tattoo on her wrist stood out starkly, and every time she saw it, she felt an overwhelming wave of regret. She couldn’t recall the story behind the tattoo’s existence. Sure, she had considered getting a tattoo, but not during a drunken night with a stranger she didn’t even remember meeting.
"Oh my god... And here I thought you already had a secret lover." Chaewon sighed.
"What made you think that?!" Hayeon whined.
"Well... when she brought you back that night... you two stood kissing outside the dorm for quite a while."
Advanced Mathematics was the bane of Kim Nakyoung’s existence. She had failed the class twice, and now, once again, she had to drag herself to the lecture hall, because if she didn’t pass this time, she’d be stuck at this university forever. Attending class with a bunch of first-years made Nakyoung feel self-conscious, so she chose the furthest seat in the back row, hoping no one would notice her.
The classroom gradually filled up, but the lecturer still hadn’t arrived. Nakyoung, unable to fight her exhaustion from waking up early, rested her head on the desk, trying to sneak in a nap before class began. A few first-year students took the empty seats beside her, but Nakyoung paid no mind — as long as her sleep wasn’t disturbed, she didn’t care.
"You still haven’t found that person?"
"It’s almost impossible. Do you know how many people on this campus have short black hair?"
The conversation nearby seeped into Nakyoung’s half-asleep mind. The unfamiliar yet strangely recognizable voice sparked a distant memory, something important that she couldn’t quite place.
In a dream-like haze, Nakyoung saw herself hand in hand with a brown-haired girl whose name she couldn’t recall. That drunken night, they’d shared fleeting kisses, laughter, and finally decided to immortalize the night with matching tattoos. A physical reminder of their happiness, so even if they forgot each other, the tattoos would always tell the story of their one perfect night.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Excuse me..."
Kim Nakyoung groggily opened her eyes, reluctantly waking up from her dream. She felt annoyed at being disturbed, but the warm, familiar hand gently shaking her shoulder made her want to pretend to sleep longer, just to keep that hand there.
Despite her blurry vision, Nakyoung’s gaze sharpened on one thing — peeking out from under the cuff of the girl’s rolled-up shirt sleeve,
was a tiny hedgehog tattoo.
If the professor hadn’t assigned a group project that day, and if Jeong Hayeon hadn’t woken Kim Nakyoung to ask her to partner up, they might never have found each other. Nakyoung would never have seen the hedgehog tattoo on Hayeon’s wrist, and Hayeon would never have noticed the small cat tattoo on Nakyoung’s shoulder when her shirt slipped down as she slept.
From the next kisses, the next tattoos, Kim Nakyoung was no longer just "the short-haired black-haired girl," and Jeong Hayeon was no longer just "the brown-haired girl with light-colored lenses." When they talked about their first tattoos, they’d smile happily. Nakyoung no longer thought about removing the black cat, and Hayeon stopped resenting the tiny hedgehog on her wrist.
And both of them knew, without a doubt, they’d stay together until the day their tattoos faded away.