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skzsauce01 · 5 years

Text

Paw-tner-in-Crime

Description: Tinder girl’s got a cat? Of course Minho’s swiping right on that.

Warning: none

Word Count: 2002

Pairing: fem!reader x Lee Know

“Stop changing the music,” Minho scowled. He would have grabbed his phone back, but his hands were busy ripping open the ramen packet.

“What’s wrong with TWICE?” Felix asked. He danced along to the song and deftly moved out of the way when Minho flicked water at him.

“Nothing. Just pick a song and let it play all the way through.”

“But I want to dance to the chorus!”

“Do you want eggs?” he sighed.

Felix nodded and switched the song once again. Minho glared at him, and Felix flashed him a sweet smile in return.

His phone pinged, and Felix let out a surprised “Oh.”

“What happened?”

“You got a match on Tinder.” He tapped on the screen a few more times and then announced, “Her name is Y/N. And she’s got a cat!”

The eggs were forgotten on the counter, and Minho practically leaped across the countertop to see. Felix finally handed him his phone, and Minho frantically scrolled through your pictures to find your cat.

He cooed when he saw him– a beautiful Russian Blue with one of the most content faces he had ever seen. Over his shoulder, Felix whispered, “Aww.” You had linked your Instagram, and he spotted a few more pictures of the Russian Blue along with some of your face.

“She’s pretty cute,” Felix remarked. “Are you going to message her?”

“She has a cat! Of course.” He opened the text box and paused. “What do I say?”

“‘I like your cat.’”

“No! That’s so lame. I need something witty.”

“‘Meow-y Christmas.’ Hey, are you gonna finish making the ramen anytime soon?”

“That’s still lame. I’ll finish it after we figure this out.”

Felix snorted. “‘We?’ This is a ‘you’ problem.”

Minho’s phone pinged again. “Not anymore,” he said. “She sent me one first.”

“What did she say?”

He grinned. “She sent me a picture of a cat in a Santa costume. ‘Mission: kidnap Santa Claws. Meet at Levanter Cafe at 7 PM for further instructions.’”

“What?”

“My profile says ‘Looking for a ‘paw-tner’-in-crime.’”

“And that’s not lame?”

“She clearly liked it. What do reply back?”

“Go with the whole crime thing. Say ‘affirmative.’”

He quickly typed out the word and sent it. Then he grabbed his keys and headed toward the door.

“Where are you going? The ramen’s almost done!” Felix said. He held up the steaming porcelain bowl as evidence.

“I’ve got a date with a criminal.”

Minho glanced down at his messages and looked at the same one he had been staring at for the past fifteen minutes.

“Levanter Cafe at 7 PM,” it read.

It was 7:10 now, and you still weren’t at the cafe.

The hot cocoas he bought for the two of you were growing colder, and the flaky croissants were becoming staler by the second. He debated whether he should send you a text— something like “Hey, have you even left the house yet?” but he didn’t come off as too snarky on the first date.

To kill time, he scrolled through your Instagram again to see what you looked like.

The most recent picture was of you showing off your new lavender sweater (“Bought this in the summer, and now I can finally wear it!”). On the floor next to you was your adorable cat, and he melted when he realized the cat was playing with its own tail.

“Are you Minho?” asked a sweet voice.

He jerked his head up to see you talking to the guy two tables down from him. The guy shook his head, and you quickly bowed and apologized. You scanned the room, looking for other males sitting alone. Your eyes landed on him, and when he gave a curt nod in return, you approached him with caution.

“Minho?” you tried.

“Hey,” he greeted. He smiled and gestured to for you to sit.

“Sorry, I’m late.” You sat down primly with your hands folded on the table. When you set your jaw and said nothing else, he decided to start the conversation where it left off in your messages.

“So,” he said, leaning forward conspiratorially, “what’s the plan for kidnapping Santa Claws?”

“Actually–” You broke off with a shaky sob. “I, um–” Another sob.

“You all right?” He instinctively reached across to pat your hand in a reassuring manner. He felt you stiffen and jerked his hand back. “Sorry.”

“No, no,” you choked out. “I should be the one saying that.” Your voice was garbled and mixed with abrupt gasps for air. “My cat, he–” At the mention of your cat, the last bit holding back your tears was destroyed, and a flood of tears came pouring down.

Minho didn’t know what to do other than murmur little lies of “it’s okay.” There were a few stares from other customers, and he did his best to ignore them. He nudged the no-longer-hot cocoa towards you, but you refused it.

When you were calmer, he hesitantly asked, “What happened with your cat?”

“He ran outside when I left the house,” you whispered.

His own heart dropped. The thought of losing any of his three cats made him sick, so he couldn’t even imagine how you felt. “I’m so sorry.”

You flashed him a tight but appreciative smile. “I looked for him and then called the animal shelters. They said they would look out for him, but I’m worried. He’s still a baby.”

“Is he chipped?”

“Yes, thank goodness. All I can do is hope someone finds him.”

“Let’s go then.” He got up from his seat and waited for you to do the same. “Let’s find your cat.”

You looked surprised. “You don’t have to! To be honest, I only came to tell you that I wanted to cancel.”

“C'mon. New mission: find your cat.”

You stood up. Though you still looked grim, there was a trace of amusement in your voice when you said, “His name is Oliver, by the way.”

–

With Minho’s phone flashlight on, the two of you trudged through the darkness of the streets in the hope of finding Oliver. You led him back to your neighborhood, and Minho marvelled at how thorough you were in your search.

“I checked all the bushes on this block already and asked everyone to keep an eye out for him. Mrs. Kim’s kids,” you pointed to a gray house, “said they would help look for him in the morning.”

“Oliver!” Minho called out. “Oliver!”

You ducked under bushes, under cars, behind trees, anywhere a little kitten would hide. After a few minutes of shouting and some dirty looks from parents, he suggested moving onto the next street. You reluctantly agreed and started walking down the sidewalk. Minho dutifully followed.

“How long have you had him?” he asked to break the silence.

“Almost two months.” Even in the dim lighting, he could see there was a faint smile playing on your lips. “I wanted a black cat at first, but he just happened to be the first one I saw. It was love at first sight.”

“It was the same with my cats,” he remarked. “One look and I knew.”

“You have three, right?”

He was the one smiling now. “Yeah. Soonie, Doongie, Dori. You know my friends don’t even know how many cats I have?”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve reconsidered our friendships more than once.”

You softly laughed at his statement. Minho felt his heart swell when he realized he was successfully cheering you up.

“Oliver!” you shouted. The sound echoed down the road, but there was no response.

“Oliver!” He joined in as well. He could hear your voice shaking and sounding more and more desperate as your calls were answered with silence.

“Hey, don’t give up,” he gently reminded.

You wiped away your tears with the cuff of your sweater. “I know. But it’s been over an hour since he went missing, and it’s so cold out.”

“He’s probably hiding in a bush and waiting for you to find him. He’ll be alright.”

“I know, I know,” you whispered. You took a deep breath. With a renewed sense of motivation, you straightened up and began checking bushes and rocks again.

“Does he have any favorite hiding spots?” he asked.

“Corners,” you replied. You stuck your head in-between a hole in a fence.“Tight corners that he can wedge himself into.”

“So, he’s going to be difficult to find then.”

“Unfortunately.” You looked back up and at him. The light from his phone blinded you, and he quickly redirected it elsewhere. “I’m really sorry for dragging you into this. You can go if you want. I’m going to head home and see if he came back.”

“I’ll walk you back,” he said. The two of you were shoulder to shoulder, and when yours bumped against his, his heart skipped a beat. After a brief pause, he asked, “Why did you come to the cafe after what happened?”

“I ran out of battery when I was looking for him,” you sheepishly admitted. You looked up at him. “If I still had any left, I would have texted you. I didn’t want to flake on you.”

“I would have understood.”

“I didn’t want to ruin my chance for a second date either,” you whispered. You looked away but not before he saw pink crawling up your cheeks. You sucked in your lower lip. “I’m sorry about all this.”

“I wanted to help you; it’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

You sighed, and that was the end of the conversation. Minho turned off his light, and the two of you continued onwards. When you reached your driveway, you faced him and bid him goodnight.

“Thanks for helping me,” you quietly said.

“Let me know when you find him, okay?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Good night, Y/N.”

He turned back and started his trek back to Felix’s apartment. On his way, he periodically checked his phone to see if you sent him any new messages, but the latest one was still “Meet at Levanter Cafe for further instructions.”

When he arrived home, there was a bowl of cold ramen on the counter, and Felix had papers spread all over the table.

“Hey, how was the date?”

“Her cat ran away when she was leaving the house, so I helped her look for her cat.”

“Really? Talk about unlucky.”

“Yeah.” He picked up the bowl and put it in the microwave. “We didn’t find him.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Yeah. What are you working on?”

Felix groaned. “Chem. Help me.”

The microwave beeped, and Minho took the steaming bowl out. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the drawer and sat down next to his friend. He checked his phone for messages one last time. To his surprise, there several new ones from you. He frantically unlocked his phone to read them.

‘Oliver’s home! My neighbor found him in her backyard, but she couldn’t reach me.’

There was a picture of Oliver bundled up in blankets.

He replied back, “I’m glad he’s safe.”

Felix poked him with the end of his pencil. “Hey, Minho. Help me.”

“Her neighbor found her cat,” he grinned. “Felix, her cat’s been found!”

“That’s good. Chem?”

His requests were ignored as Minho busied himself with his phone.

“Are you still down with our first mission?” he typed out.

No. He deleted it and tried, “Just wanted to let you know that you didn’t ruin your chances for a second date.”

That was even worse. How about, “Is it too soon to ask you out?”

“These aren’t very good,” Felix remarked. His chemistry homework was forgotten.

“What do you suggest then?”

“‘Mission: go on a real date with me. Meet at Levanter cafe tomorrow at 7 PM. Don’t be late.’”

“So, a carbon copy of what she sent me earlier?”

Felix flicked his arm. “Parallelism. She’ll like it.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you were an English major.” Still, he typed out the message and sent it.

The reply was quick. “Affirmative.”

~ ad.gray

#stray kids #skz #lee know #lee minho #20191129

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mnnsooon · 5 years

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책 어땠어. 라고 물으면 항상 말문이 막힌다. (영화도 마찬가지) 좋긴 좋았는데 그걸 잘 설명해내는게 어렵다. 대답을 버벅이면 내 감상이 그만큼이나 빈약했던 것으로 비추어질까 걱정스럽다. (감상이 실제로 빈약했을수도 있다) 갑자기 웬 서평이냐면, 뭐라도 아웃풋을 내고 싶어서다. 나 책 이만큼 읽었어요.로는 무언가 부족함을 느낀다. 어디 교수님 한테 내는것도 아닌데 뭐 어때? 싶어서 써본다. 누가 그러는데 책 읽고 서평 쓰는거 좋다더라. 이 책을 아주 오래전부터 읽고싶어했지만 이제야 다 읽었다. 읽는데 한 달이 조금 넘게 걸렸다. 일을 마치고 퇴근한 날에는 도무지 책이 손에 잡히지 않았기 때문에 더욱 더뎠다. (근데 퇴근하고나면 책 아니더라도 뭐든 손에 안 잡히기는 마찬가지다) 나는 자유라는 말을 좋아할뿐더러(평등이라는 말보다도 더 좋아한다)니체도 좋아한다. 근데 니체를 좋아하는 작가가 자유로운 인간을 주인공으로 소설을 썼다니 읽지 않을 수 없었다.  조르바는 얼핏보면 ‘노빠꾸 상남자'로도 비추어질 수 있는데, 그건 말 그대로 ‘얼핏 보면'인거고… 단순하게 묘사할 수 있는 인물은 분명 아니다. 작중에서 조르바는 여성을 성적이고 미개한 대상으로 묘사하는것은 물론이며 가부장적인 발언과 행동들을 쏟아낸다. 작품이 출간 되었을 때는 어땠을지 몰라도 2019년 한국에 사는 나로서는 이러한 부분들이 먼저 눈에 들어온다. 그러나 이 작품은 젠더 문제에 초점을 맞추어 본다면 감상이 매우 빈약해질 것임에 틀림 없다. 이 점 유의 바람. 나는 조르바처럼 삶을 영위하는 사람이 아니다. 그런 인생을 살고 있는 사람이라면 이 책에 관심이나 가졌을지가 의문이다. (있는지도 몰랐을듯) 나는 소설에서 언급되는 먹물들이나 아고라의 ‘밑바닥 인간'에 더 가까운 사람이다. 흥미로운건 카잔자키스나 니체나 자신들이 그토록 예찬했던 ‘빼어난 인간'과는 동떨어진 삶을 살다 갔다는 사실이다. 이 사람들은 그냥 서술만 했을 뿐이다. 빼어난 인간이 되려면 책을 덮고 펜대부터 부러뜨리는게 순서일까? 나의 편협한 상상력의 한계인지, 빼어난 인간의 삶을 사는 화이트 칼라의 모습은 상상하기 어렵다. 이제 내게는 사회의 통념과 가치를 거부하고 자신만의 가치를 창조해내는 삶을 살아야 한다는 말이 더는 새롭게 다가오지 않는다. 아무런 울림이 없었다는게 아니다. 모르는걸 알게 되었다기 보다는 잊고 지냈던걸 다시 떠올린거다. 잊지 말아야지,하고. 읽다가 좋았던 부분들은 중간중간 종이를 접어놓았다. 다시 정독은 못하더라도 이따금씩 펼쳐서 조르바의 좋은 기운을 나도 좀 받아보려고 한다. 소설 속 인물이지만 내게도 좋은 영적인 스승이 되어줄 수 있을 것 같다. ★★★★☆

#그리스인조르바 #니코스카잔자키스 #서평 #20191129

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