Chapter Text
Jaeyi had always thought dorm life would feel like living in one big, chaotic family.
And honestly, it kind of did. Someone was always in the hallway, rushing to class, yelling to a friend, blasting music just a little too loud. People knocked on doors at midnight to borrow shampoo, passed around takeout menus like shared secrets, and treated the common lounge like a second home.
Jaeyi loved it. She loved the noise, the way her days seemed to blur into nights with laughter and chatter and footsteps all around her. She loved how she knew nearly everyone’s name by the end of her first week, how people waved when she walked by, how her friends joked that she could make friends with the vending machine if it talked back.
But not everyone shared her enthusiasm.
Across the hall, behind the door that never seemed to open more than a crack, lived her neighbor .
The girl Jaeyi was pretty sure hated her.
The first time it happened, Jaeyi had just come back from morning classes, juggling an armful of books and a bag of pastries she’d picked up from the cafe. As she balanced everything awkwardly to reach her key, the door across the hall opened. Out stepped a girl with dark hair pulled into a low bun, wearing a plain hoodie and loose sweatpants. Their eyes met for a split second, and Jaeyi smiled automatically.
The girl didn’t smile back. She just… looked. A sharp, steady look that felt like a spotlight trained right on her. Then, without a word, she locked her door and walked away.
The second time, Jaeyi was chatting with two classmates in the hallway, laughter spilling freely between them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed movement, the same neighbor, stepping past on her way to the stairs. Again, their eyes met. Again, the same look. No words. Just that unreadable gaze, almost like a glare.
By the third time, Jaeyi had started avoiding her eyes altogether.
Which wasn’t easy, considering their rooms were directly across from each other in the med dorms. Every morning, Yoo Jaeyi would swing open her door, hair still damp from her shower, bag heavy with textbooks, only to glance up and see the door opposite. Sometimes it was closed and silent, other times she’d hear the faint shuffle of footsteps or the soft click of a lock being turned. Once or twice, the door opened at the exact same time as hers, and she’d find herself face-to-face with the girl she was convinced hated her.
Her name, Jaeyi later learned, was Woo Seulgi.
“She’s in our department, right?” her friend Minjeong asked one afternoon in the cafeteria, poking her straw into her iced coffee. “Med?”
Jaeyi shrugged, stabbing at the sad-looking lettuce on her tray. “Maybe. I’ve never seen her in lecture, though.”
“You’ve definitely seen her. She’s… you know, the one with the scary eyes.”
Jaeyi groaned. “Don’t say that. She probably just… has bad eyesight or something.”
“Bad eyesight that only activates when she looks at you?” Minjeong grinned.
“She doesn’t glare.”
“She does,” added another friend, Yeri, smirking. “She walked past us yesterday and I swear my heart stopped. Like, she radiates scary senior vibes.”
“She just” Jaeyi fumbled, searching for an excuse she didn’t have. “has one of those faces! Resting glare face.”
“Resting glare face aimed exclusively at you,” Minjeong teased.
Jaeyi shoved a grape tomato into her mouth to keep from answering.
One night, Jaeyi lay sprawled on her dorm bed, highlighter stains on her hands, video calling Minjeong instead of studying pharmacology.
“I swear, she looks at me like I’ve killed her plants or something,” Jaeyi said, tugging a pillow over her head.
“Maybe she does hate you,” Minjeong offered, sipping her soda.
Jaeyi groaned. “But why ? I’ve never even spoken to her. I didn’t steal her notes or take her seat or”
“Maybe that’s the problem. You’ve never spoken to her. Maybe she’s offended.”
“Minjeong.”
“Okay, okay.” Her friend laughed. “But seriously, you’re overthinking. Some people just… look intense. I bet she doesn’t even notice you.”
But Jaeyi knew that wasn’t true.
Because every time their eyes met in the hallway, it felt like Seulgi saw everything
A week later, on a chilly Thursday night, Jaeyi found herself trudging back to the dorms after a marathon study session in the library. Her shoulders ached from the weight of her books, her stomach grumbled from skipping dinner, and her brain felt like a fried circuit board.
She almost missed it at first, the faint sound of meowing, thin but insistent, weaving through the night air.
Jaeyi stopped halfway up the dorm steps, frowning. She tilted her head, scanning the shadows. There it was again, closer this time. Curious, she followed the sound around the walkway until she spotted a small orange blur tucked near the bushes.
“Ohhh, hi there,” she whispered.
An orange cat, with fur the color of sunset and a tail that curled like a question mark, blinked up at her. He didn’t bolt when she crouched down. Instead, he stepped forward, sniffing cautiously before brushing his side against her hand. Jaeyi’s heart melted instantly.
“You’re not scared at all, huh?” she said softly, stroking his head. His fur was warm, his purrs immediate and rumbling, like a tiny engine. “Definitely not a stray.”
That’s when she noticed the little collar around his neck. She pushed aside his fur until she saw the small tag glinting under the dim lamp.
Engraved in neat letters was a single word Naru
“Ohhh, so you do have a home.” Jaeyi chuckled, scratching behind his ears. “What are you doing out here at this hour, Naru? You lost?”
Naru meowed again, as if answering.
Jaeyi glanced at the dark windows of the dorms, then back down at him. “It’s too late to figure this out now… and it’s way too cold for you to stay outside.” She bit her lip, weighing her options, but Naru solved it for her by trotting straight toward the dorm entrance, pausing to look back at her expectantly.
She laughed. “Okay, okay, I get it. You’re coming with me tonight.”
By the time she reached her room, Naru was already making himself comfortable in her arms, purring so loudly she swore she could feel the vibration in her bones.
When Jaeyi closed her door behind them, she had no idea that by bringing this orange cat into her room, she was also about to bring his mysterious owner crashing into her life.
Jaeyi set her books on the desk with a heavy sigh, then carefully lowered Naru onto the carpet. The cat landed gracefully, tail swishing as he immediately began sniffing around the room.
“Make yourself at home, I guess,” Jaeyi murmured, tossing her keys on the shelf. She leaned against the wall and watched him explore.
It was strange. most cats she’d met before were cautious, taking their time to adjust. But Naru walked with a quiet confidence, padding across her rug, hopping onto her chair, and finally curling up on the folded blanket at the edge of her bed.
“You… are way too comfortable,” she laughed.
He blinked slowly at her, the kind of look that felt oddly knowing, before tucking his paws under his chest.
Jaeyi’s chest softened. She crouched beside him, running her fingers through his soft fur. “Whoever owns you must spoil you a lot, huh? You don’t act like a stray at all. Probably someone on campus… maybe in the dorms.”
She thought for a moment about asking around tomorrow, but right now, the thought of letting him go back outside felt wrong. He was purring too loudly, too content, and she was too tired to do anything but melt into it.
So she let him stay.
By the time she changed into her pajamas, Naru had claimed her pillow. Jaeyi tried nudging him over, but he only meowed indignantly and sprawled even wider across the bed.
“You’re unbelievable,” she muttered, climbing in beside him. He adjusted, curling against her shoulder like he belonged there.
And that was how Yoo Jaeyi, notorious for befriending every human in her dorm, ended up falling asleep with a stranger’s cat purring in her ear.
The next morning, she woke to find a pair of golden eyes staring at her from inches away.
“Good morning, Naru,” she whispered groggily.
He meowed, then jumped down, stretching luxuriously before pawing at the door. Jaeyi scrambled upright.
“Wait, wait, you can’t just run out… what if your owner’s not even looking for you yet?” she said, scooping him up before he could bolt.
Cradling him against her chest, she hesitated. It was still early, and she had class soon. She couldn’t exactly march around the dorm knocking on doors like Hi, is this your cat? Not when she barely knew half the people on her floor.
And especially not when the first door she’d have to knock on was directly across the hall.
Jaeyi lingered in the hallway the next minute, Naru tucked securely in her arms. The cat was calm. too calm, considering she was seconds away from potential embarrassment.
“Okay, buddy,” she whispered, smoothing down his fur, “we’re going to find your human. Easy. No problem. Totally not terrifying.”
Except it was. Because if fate was as cruel as she suspected, Naru’s owner would be none other than the girl across the hall. The girl whose stare could cut glass.
Seulgi.
Jaeyi swallowed hard and looked away from that closed door.
No. She wasn’t starting there.
Instead, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door next to Seulgi’s. A girl from the nursing department answered, hair messy from sleep.
“Hi! Sorry to bother you,” Jaeyi said quickly, holding Naru out like a peace offering. “Is this, um… your cat?”
The girl blinked, then rubbed her eyes. “Cute…! I wish. But no.”
Strike one.
Jaeyi moved down the hall, knocking door after door. A couple of people laughed, some cooed over Naru, one guy sneezed so violently she apologized three times before leaving. But every answer was the same: not their cat.
By the fifth rejection, her shoulders sagged. Naru meowed in protest, like he was getting bored of her door to door mission.
“Don’t complain,” she muttered. “I’m trying here.”
Finally, there was only one door left.
The one directly across from hers.
Jaeyi froze in front of it, her heart thudding unreasonably fast. Her knuckles hovered, hesitating.
What if it was hers? What if she opened the door and those sharp eyes immediately turned into see, I knew you were trouble ?
But what if it wasn’t? What if she walked away and Naru really did belong here?
Jaeyi bit her lip. Then, with a small, shaky breath, she knocked.
The sound echoed down the hallway. Once. Twice.
Silence.
No footsteps. No lock clicking. No sign of movement from inside.
She waited, almost hoping, almost dreading. But the door stayed closed.
Naru squirmed lightly in her arms, brushing his whiskers against her chin.
Jaeyi exhaled slowly, retreating a step. “Guess no one’s home.”
Her eyes lingered on the door for a moment longer before she turned back toward her own room. Relief and disappointment twisted together in her chest.
“Looks like it’s just you and me again, Naru,” she whispered, carrying him inside.
The door across the hall remained shut.
Jaeyi set Naru down gently on her bed, watching as he immediately circled twice before flopping onto her blanket like he owned the place. His orange fur stood out against the pale sheets, and when he stretched, the little silver tag on his collar glinted under the light.
“Naru,” she murmured, reading it again. The name felt strangely warm on her tongue.
The cat blinked at her, slow and lazy, then yawned so wide she could see every tiny tooth. Jaeyi couldn’t help but laugh quietly. “You’re definitely not a stray. You’ve got too much… dignity.”
Still, she couldn’t shake the thought of that last unopened door.Seulgi’s door.
Her eyes darted toward it, even from inside her room. It was silly, but she could almost feel the weight of it across the hall, like Seulgi’s presence lingered even when she wasn’t there.
What if it really was her cat? What if Seulgi came back, found out Jaeyi had basically kidnapped Naru, and glared her into another dimension?
“Don’t look at me like that,” she whispered when Naru tilted his head at her, tail flicking. “I’ll give you back, I promise. Just… not tonight.”
She set her textbooks aside to make space, then dug out an old towel to fold into a makeshift bed at the corner. Of course, Naru ignored it completely and hopped back up onto her pillow like it was his birthright.
“Wow. Spoiled already,” Jaeyi muttered, even as she reached over to scratch behind his ears. His purr rumbled so deep it vibrated against her hand.
The sound filled the room, soft and steady, chasing away the usual buzz of dorm noise outside her door. For once, she didn’t hear laughter or footsteps or someone yelling down the hall. It was just her, and the cat, and the steady rhythm of a heartbeat wrapped in orange fur.
She glanced toward her desk, at the half finished notes and highlighted pages waiting for her. Med school didn’t slow down just because she found a cat.
But somehow, staring at Naru’s sleeping face, she didn’t feel as guilty about setting her pen aside.
“Just for tonight,” she whispered again, tugging her blanket up over her legs.
Across the hall, Woo Seulgi’s room stayed silent.
Jaeyi didn’t know if she felt more relieved or disappointed about that.
But as Naru purred softly against her side, one thing was certain
this little orange cat had just made her world a lot more complicated.