Hey, Human. Adopt Me.
It was past noon and the code I had been debugging since nine o’clock in the morning was still sitting there exactly as I had left it.
I had been a freelance web developer for four whole years now.
My main work was building small-brand homepages and online shops, but word-of-mouth introductions had kept me so busy lately that my calendar was packed with client meetings.
The lack of set hours was one of the best parts of being self-employed. On the flip side, it also meant I could technically work twenty-four hours straight if I felt like it.
This morning had started so relaxed. Until I suddenly felt the full weight of my “I don’t want to work” disease crashing down on me.
Outwardly I came across as calm and organized, the picture of the reliable freelancer everyone knew. But that was just the mask. Underneath it, I was just a normal young man who wanted nothing more than to loaf around and do nothing.
When the laziness hit, I had my perfect cure.
“Oh my gosh… the baby is so adorable!”
Cat addiction.
I would open the cat community and scroll through videos and photos until the “I don’t want to work” bug disappeared completely.
My finger flew down the screen and I spotted a little video of a cheese-colored cat half-sprawled over a cardboard box, dozing off with the cutest little nods.
My hand froze mid-scroll.
“Kyaa! So cute! Look at those cotton mallets!”
My voice only reached its highest pitch when I saw cats. This was one of those moments.
“Aigoo, the baby must be super tired, right?”
I muttered to myself, but honestly I had never owned a single cat before in my entire life. If someone heard me talking like that they would assume I already had one, and I couldn’t blame them. I just loved them so much it felt impossible to stop.
Of course I wanted one. Who wouldn’t want to raise such a harmless, adorable creature?
When I lived with my family I had always hated animals, so none of us could keep pets. Being a freelancer meant I had plenty of time at home, but when deadlines loomed I would work all night for days. How could I ever fully take responsibility for a tiny living thing in a schedule like that?
The more I thought about it, the less confident I felt. The conclusion always ended up the same.
“Not yet.”
Instead I settled for cat-induced satisfaction.
Cat videos didn’t stop at a few posts. The real start was when I opened YouTube and let the algorithm feed me endless cat content.
Because the algorithm was so kind, it kept serving me similar videos, and I once spent an entire day just watching cats. One after another: a cat dozing inside a box, another staring blankly after taking a few bites of food, then a cat yawning on top of a cat tree with the world’s best satisfied expression.
Every time I would scroll past.
“Wow, look at that!”
“Aigoo, pink jelly pads? They’re too cute!”
I leaned forward, hands clasped together, pouring genuine admiration into every reaction. In some videos I even reached out as if I could touch the screen.
Of course I felt nothing. I knew that, but the desire burned anyway.
I wanted to own a cat so badly.
I watched videos of three kittens tangled together sleeping, a kitten looking completely betrayed inside a carrier, and another punching a strange dog right in the face.
“Aigoo, that baby must have been super scared.”
“Those cotton mallet punches are the cutest!”
All I was trying to do was get the motivation to start working again, but just like always the work window had slid completely behind me.
The cursor had long since stopped blinking.
I didn’t even realize half an hour had passed until my phone alarm went off.
“Insane!”
I still had about an hour until I needed to send the client’s mockup feedback.
It was like the devil was on my back, but I moved faster than ever, fingers flying across the keyboard until the project was almost dangerously close to done.
Phew. I hadn’t been late.
If that was what people meant by finding motivation, then yeah, I could see it.
Every time the deadline pressure hit, I worked quicker and more accurately than anyone.
Before I left, I decided to take one more look.
I opened YouTube again and hit play on another cat video.
This one was different.
It was a long-haired cat vlog. A stray cat in an alley rubbed against the camera operator’s leg when it noticed him filming, and I got sucked straight into the screen.
When I saw the shot of me sitting on my knees, arms wrapped around the cat, something in me let out a full-throated cheer.
“Kyaa! It’s a dog-like cat! A dog-like cat!”
The more I watched, the louder I got.
The cameraman gave it a can of treat, and the cat immediately started its purring song. Just hearing it made my shoulders relax completely.
I had replayed the twenty-minute video twice before I even noticed the phone was on fire.
[Lee Daeun] Hey, Han Yerin. Where are you?
[Lee Daeun] You didn’t forget about the three o’clock café appointment, did you?
[Lee Daeun] Haha, you’re still watching cat videos, huh, you cat-lover.
The moment I realized only five minutes remained until our meeting, I jumped up, threw on whatever I was wearing, grabbed my wallet and phone, and bolted out the door.
I didn’t even have time to wait for the elevator and raced down the stairs two steps at a time.
My lungs felt ready to burst, but I couldn’t stop. Daeun always lectured me for almost half an hour whenever I was even a minute late.
Gasping for air, I crossed the alley when a familiar silhouette caught my eye.
A calico cat was lazily waving its tail on top of the wall, and my feet stopped dead.
I told myself I shouldn’t, but I was already walking closer.
“Nyaaang.”
The calico looked at me and let out a cry like it was greeting a friend, then opened its mouth in a huge yawn.
“Aigoo, are you sleepy? I really want to carry you, baby!”
I squatted down and held out my hand. The cat sniffed my palm curiously, then rubbed its face against the back of my hand.
The tiny, warm touch made me want to squeal, but I forced myself to stay quiet so the cat wouldn’t be scared.
“Uuuuh! You like me that much, huh? If I could, I would take you home right now. This has to be gantaek!”
All thoughts of the café appointment vanished from my head. I was too busy chatting happily with the cat.
“I knew it. Hey, Han Yerin.”
The moment I heard that familiar voice my head snapped up. Daeun was walking toward me with her arms crossed, looking unimpressed.
I stood up awkwardly and forced a smile.
“Daeun, hi.”
“Hi? I knew you’d be like this. How did you even find me here?”
Daeun scanned the alley with an incredulous expression. Honestly, this was one of the most famous spots for stray cats to gather. Even a friend of ten years would know that.
“…Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s head to the café and talk.”
We walked side by side to the neighborhood café. The moment we sat down, Daeun spoke first.
“It’s still weird to me how different you become the second you see a cat.”
“Different? It’s not that extreme.”
“You really love cats, don’t you?”
“Cats are the one animal that can actually save the entire world just by existing.”
“Save… what?”
The second I saw the look of pure confusion on her face, the floodgates opened.
“Look. Just having cats around cuts everyone’s stress way down. Their very existence helps the world. They’re the last stronghold for human mental health.”
“Yeah, yeah. But if you love them so much, why don’t you keep one? Being a freelancer means you’re home all the time.”
The question landed like a quiet stab. My voice softened a little.
“I know. But… the second I think about it I get scared. Taking full responsibility for one life. What to feed it, what to do when it gets sick, can I really care for it properly when I’m up all night? That’s why I keep putting it off.”
“Uh… you really think about it seriously.”
“Of course. You can’t just start raising something you love that much.”
Daeun took a sip of coffee with a half-exhausted, half-impressed face.
“Hey, but I’ve heard people say cat owners are just spoiled brats who ignore their cats and don’t even appreciate what they do.”
My expression turned serious instantly. I leaned forward and spoke in a low, steady voice.
“That’s only because people don’t actually love cats.”
And the dam broke.
“Cats aren’t like that at all. They express love in their own way. They’re not ungrateful; that’s just how they show affection. And yeah, scratching happens, but it’s never random. It’s because someone is poking them when they don’t want to be touched or because they’ve already given the ‘I’m not happy’ signal. Cats are very clear with their feelings. They’re actually honest.”
I had been sitting on so many misunderstandings about cat owners that I accidentally forgot to breathe while I ranted.
Still, I felt a little better after getting it all out.
“Real… even this makes me feel uneasy.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Fine, fine. You’re the ultimate cat mom.”
The conversation kept going long after that. Daeun mostly told me about her day and I chimed in, but every now and then my eyes drifted to the cats walking past the café window or to people carrying cat echo bags. Daeun just gave me a knowing smile and let it slide.
When the meeting finally ended and I got home, the sun was already dipping low. I headed straight for the shower, needing to wash away the day’s fatigue.
Under the warm water I finally felt the day settle.
I hugged myself tight, proud of the fact that I had spent the whole day with cats again.
I was just about to dry my hair with a towel when the doorbell rang through the quiet apartment.
I tilted my head. I hadn’t ordered anything and I hadn’t invited anyone over.
I dried my hair one more time and headed to the door.
Instead of the intercom screen I checked the little lens mounted on the door. All I saw was an unfamiliar silhouette that quickly vanished.
No one would come by at this hour anyway.
I hesitated, then, on a whim, unlocked the door chain and cracked the door open.
“Who is it?”
Through the gap I saw a woman with long, snow-white hair that reached all the way down her back.
She looked much younger than me.
Her skin was doll-like and pure white, and her blue eyes sparkled brightly under the hallway light.
She was wearing only an oversized sweater, but somehow it looked completely natural on her, almost oddly attractive.
I swallowed hard without realizing it.
It was an unrealistically pretty and adorable face.
It didn’t make sense that such a person would be standing here in this hallway at this time.
“Um…”
The words I wanted to say died in my throat.
Two ears poked up from between her white hair.
They weren’t human ears. They were unmistakably cat ears.
My gaze dropped lower. Behind her legs a long, fluffy tail swayed gently.
My mind went completely blank.
Cosplay? Special effects makeup?
A dozen wild thoughts raced through my head, but none of them explained the scene in front of me.
The door chain was still pulled tight, shaking slightly as the door remained half-open.
No one would come by at this hour, in this building, dressed like this.
So what the heck was she doing here?
“Um… those ears and tail… what are they?”
My voice trembled as I finally managed to ask.
The woman tilted her head slightly and looked at me from head to toe.
It was the kind of gaze people use when studying someone.
Then she spoke.
“Hey, human. Adopt me.
