The most handsome, most arrogant, most unadoptable cat in the entire city was currently giving Su Jin a look that could freeze hell over.
Su Jin, crouched in the damp alley behind her apartment building with a half-opened can of economy-grade tuna, sighed. "Look, Your Majesty, I'm trying to help here."
The cat—a stunning creature with a plume of smoky blue-grey fur and eyes the color of a winter sea—did not deign to glance at the offering. Instead, it lifted its chin, a slow, deliberate movement that radiated utter contempt. One of its forelegs was held awkwardly off the ground, a dark matte spot visible on the sleek fur. Hurt, but too proud to show it.
It was a look of such profound, unearned superiority that a shiver of déjà vu crawled down Su Jin's spine. She saw that look every single weekday at 9:00 AM sharp, in the titanium-and-glass elevator of Shengshi Global.
"No," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Impossible. You are sleep-deprived and hallucinating from eating instant noodles for a week straight, Su Jin."
But the resemblance was uncanny. Those ice-chip eyes, that expression of someone perpetually reviewing a disappointing financial report… It was like someone had shrunken the mighty, untouchable Lu Zhicheng, CEO of Shengshi and her boss's boss's boss, into a fluffy, injured package of disdain.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, a jarring intrusion in the standoff. A work email alert. The preview read: From: Office of the CEO. Re: Q3 Marketing Asset Review – URGENT REVISIONS…
Su Jin groaned. That was her project. Her illustrations, deemed "lacking in professional gravitas" by some middle manager, had apparently now reached the pinnacle of corporate scrutiny. The CEO himself was weighing in. At 8:47 PM. On a Friday.
The cat, as if sensing her shift in attention, let out a low, displeased sound. Not a meow. It was a short, guttural mrrt that sounded eerily like a human tch.
"Alright, alright, I'm focusing," she said, turning back. The cat stared at her, then very slowly, with immense dignity, began to lick its injured paw, pretending she didn't exist.
This was how Su Jin spent her Friday night. Not at a bar, not on a date, but negotiating with a feline dictator who shared her CEO's aura. After ten more minutes of silent treatment, she managed to slide the tuna closer. The cat sniffed, decided her peasant offering was barely acceptable, and ate with a delicate precision that still managed to seem condescending.
"You're coming with me," she announced once it finished. "That leg needs a look. Don't worry, I'll release you back to your empire of dumpsters afterwards."
The cat froze, fixing her with a glare that promised retribution. But when she slowly reached out with her jacket, it didn't scratch or hiss. It just watched, those Lu Zhicheng-esque eyes narrowed in calculation, as she bundled it up. It was surprisingly light beneath all that fur, and it held itself stiffly, refusing to relax into her hold.
Up in her cramped, art-supply-cluttered apartment, the cat's disdain for her surroundings was palpable. It sat rigidly on her old couch, surveying the scattered sketches and empty coffee mugs like a king surveying a particularly poorly managed province. She cleaned its wound—a shallow cut, thankfully—and it endured the antiseptic with a silent, stoic suffering that was, again, wildly familiar.
She was just pondering the surrealism of her life when her personal phone, not her work phone, chimed with a tone she'd never heard before. A single, sharp, authoritative ping.
A text message. From an unknown number.
Her blood ran cold as she read it.
< Unknown Sender >: Su Jin.
< Unknown Sender >: Come to my penthouse. Now.
< Unknown Sender >: Unit 5801, Skyview Residences. Use the private elevator. Code 1028.
< Unknown Sender >: Do not speak of this. To anyone. Ever.
The room tilted. Skyview Residences. The most exclusive address in the city. The home of…
Her head swiveled, slowly, towards the cat.
The cat was no longer looking at her with disdain. Its winter-sea eyes were wide, almost… humanly alarmed. It stared at her phone, then back at her face. It opened its mouth and let out a soft, confused mew that held none of its earlier arrogance. Just pure, unadulterated panic.
A panic that mirrored exactly what was currently screaming through Su Jin's veins.
Her phone buzzed again with a final, commanding line.
< Unknown Sender >: And bring the cat.