Don't Kiss, You Kissy Ghost!
Ever since I was a kid, I've always had a huge thing for cats, so the only friend I've got is Daeun. And with my job and personality, my daily routine is basically staying locked in the house.
Thanks to that, I have the perfect setup for raising Chuchu.
“Chuchu, where are you?”
I’d bought all kinds of outfits for Chuchu because I figured she’d be more comfortable in them than in just my clothes, but today’s shipment finally arrived. I was about to dress her up, but the little rascal had disappeared somewhere and vanished from sight.
“Chuchu?”
I wandered around the room calling her name, and then I spotted her tail peeking out from under the doorway to the next room.
I was about to call out when I heard a soft, snickering laugh.
She was trying to scare me.
“Where did Chuchu go? Are you sleeping?”
Even though I knew exactly where she was, I kept playing along and walked closer. Her tail started swishing faster and faster.
She was really enjoying messing with me.
I knew it was a bluff, but pretending to be startled was the right thing to do.
“Chuchu…”
“Waaaaah!”
The moment I got close to her tail, she suddenly jumped out and let out a loud yell.
“Gotcha! You got scared, didn’t you, Chuchu!”
“Ehehe! What do you think? Did I scare you?”
“Chuchu, you’re pretty good at this. I didn’t have any idea you were hiding there.”
“Fufu, that’s what it means to be the great cat.”
Even though I’d known the whole time, she proudly started boasting about her impressive scare tactic.
Well, if she was just a little dumb, being cute was fine by me.
I’d been sulking if I hadn’t been surprised.
Maybe that too was kind of cute.
“Ugh. I looked for you a long time.”
“But why were you looking for me, butler?”
“I bought lots of clothes so I could dress you.”
“Clothes? Not this one?”
She fluttered her arms again, flapping like she had long sleeves on.
How long was she planning to torture my heart like this?
Cats really are creatures that attack the heart.
“That’s my clothes. Chuchu needs clothes so Chuchu can be happy.”
“You have a lot of clothes?”
“Yeah, plenty. From now on, try them on.”
“Great!”
I took Chuchu’s hand and led her to the living room, then sat her down on the floor.
I pulled box after box out of the shipping pile and set them on the floor. Suddenly, Chuchu sprang up and moved like lightning.
“Chuchu?”
“Box!”
Somehow she had already slipped inside the box, curled up with her legs tucked in, and her tail was swishing happily.
Her little tail tip was raised high, so she clearly loved the box a lot.
“A cat’s a cat.”
“Butler, I like this box. Don’t throw it away.”
“Chuchu, shouldn’t you be more interested in clothes? I bought all these outfits just for you.”
I ordered a cat tower, but the cat who only cared about the box was staring at the butler’s heart.
I understood that feeling perfectly from just this one situation.
“Yeah, I get it. But the box is too small. I can’t even lie down.”
“That’s because Chuchu is human.”
“Still, it’s cozy. Don’t throw it away, okay?”
“Got it. I won’t throw it away. Come on, let’s look at the clothes.”
I pulled Chuchu out of the box and set the wrapped outfits I’d bought on the floor in front of her.
I’d picked matching sets of outerwear, tops, and pants because I wanted her to look beautiful in them however she chose to wear them.
“Butler, what do I do with my tail?”
“Tail? Ah! You have a tail.”
If I put the clothes on like this, the tail would be completely trapped in the pants. Chuchu would be uncomfortable.
“Just wait a second.”
I’d bought a sewing machine a while back because I wondered if cats would like clothes, and I made and donated cat clothes for two months straight.
Now I pulled the old sewing machine out of the storage room for the first time in ages.
I was going to cut a special hole for Chuchu’s tail in every pair of pants she’d wear.
“What is this?”
“This is a sewing machine. I’m going to make a hole for Chuchu’s tail right now.”
“It looks… wow!”
The moment the sewing machine started whirring, Chuchu jumped in panic and scrambled onto the sofa.
“Haha! Chuchu, it’s not scary!”
“That’s a weird sound…”
“It’s not scary, so come take a look?”
“Humans… use so many strange things.”
I let her be cautious for a while, then watched her from beside me. She was genuinely amazed.
Watching her tail swish with excitement at the strangeness of it all felt like a little sister staring at me, the one who uses the sewing machine, with wonder.
“I wanna try too.”
“You might get hurt. Just watch.”
“I don’t want to get hurt. I’ll just watch.”
“Be good.”
After I finished making the tail holes in all the pants, I started the real Chuchu fashion show.
“Chuchu, try this on.”
The first outfit I picked was a white oversized shirt, a knit vest, and a denim skirt.
Since Chuchu was small, something innocent and cute like this would suit her perfectly.
“How do I wear it?”
“You need to learn how to put clothes on.”
I taught her how to dress one piece at a time, and the transformation was complete. The finished look inevitably made me clutch my chest.
“Ears! So cute!”
“Nyaa…?”
I grabbed the phone from the table and ran over, taking more than ten photos from every angle.
This was a memory I had to keep forever.
When would I ever see a cute cat wearing human clothes again?
“Waaaaah! You’re too cute, Chuchu!”
“Y-yeah…?”
“Chuchu, let’s tie your hair up. It would look great.”
Once her hair was tied, the innocent look became even more perfect, almost swaying with its own elegance.
“Want to smile a little, our Chuchu?”
“Like this?”
The moment that smile appeared, the amount of cuteness in it slammed straight into my heart.
“Kyahhhhh! Too cute!”
“You’re such a weird butler.”
“Chuchu, kiss.”
“Waaaaah! Don’t kiss, you kissy ghost!”
I could only finally calm down after giving her way too many kisses.
“Hoo… you got me all excited.”
“Kisses… I took too many…”
“Chuchu, let’s try on something else now!”
The rest of the outfits went pretty much the same way as the first one, only the style changed.
“Waaaaah! So cute! What kind of cat is this cute?”
“Kyah! What is it! This one looks great too! The pants are perfect!”
“Mommy?! The pajamas are so cute!”
I let every comment pour out as I took nearly a hundred photos of Chuchu, and the fashion show disguised as a fan meeting finally ended.
“Huff… ha…”
“Butler, why are you so tired?”
“Because Chuchu is too cute and I got excited…”
“Are you getting old?”
“Old? I’m not. I’m twenty-eight.”
“You’re old!”
The fun mood had been going so well, and she suddenly attacked?
“Chuchu, you’re two in cat years. In human years that’s twenty-four.”
“You’re four years older than me! You’re old! Old butler!”
Thanks to that, the excitement I’d been feeling finally settled, and my pounding heart calmed down.
“Chuchu, today you get no Churu.”
“Eeeeeeh?!”
“No Churu today. No snacks. Just food.”
“You’re too mean!”
“Who told you to tease me?”
The moment I turned my back firmly, I heard a thud and she came running, grabbing me in a tight hug.
“Butler… mia… mia…”
Her voice sounded limp, but her cute little mouth was smiling and her tail was swishing.
“Churu? Hmm?”
I had to be firm now more than ever.
You can’t tease like this…
“Real mia… I’ll never tease again… uuuung?”
You can’t tease…
“Butler…”
Ah, it’s oppression. Really, you’re just too cute.
“Don’t do that again. Got it?”
In the end, I gave in to the cuteness and took back my earlier words.
My mouth was stretched wide, so I covered it with my hand; otherwise I would have looked ridiculous.
“Yeah!”
After I spoke, she turned around and went straight into the box like she was satisfied.
“The box is comfortable.”
What a mischievous little cat. Where did she even learn that at two years old?
A real cat that wasn’t cute would have gone extinct long ago.
“Butler, if I buy clothes, do we go out?”
“Um, I bought them with that in mind.”
How am I supposed to handle the tail and ears?
The hat would bother Chuchu. The same went for hiding the tail.
Just treating me like an odd girl with cat ears and tail… ah, then I’d become an odd girl too.
“Tail and ears are the problem. Chuchu, do you want to go out?”
“I’m more curious than anything. You’re so much bigger now. There must be a lot to see.”
“Then let’s go.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, if you’re curious, you have to see it for yourself!”
I thought I should go out so people could see how cute my cat is.
Of course, people staring would be unavoidable.
“I’ll get ready. Go eat the Churu first.”
“Got it!”
I put the Churu in the box and then rushed off to the bathroom to wash up.
I learned living with Chuchu that people can eat what cats eat, no problem.
Chuchu just preferred the food she liked to eat.
Showing her all kinds of things and letting her try different foods would be good.
“Chuchu, everything’s ready. Let’s go.”
“Got it, butler!”
From how quickly she jumped out of the box, it seemed she wanted to go out more than she was just curious.
“Hold my hand. Don’t let go. Got it?”
“Yeah! I’ll hold on tight.”
So our first outing began.
As expected, a lot of people stared.
I’d told her not to move her tail as much as possible, but whenever she instinctively swished it, more eyes focused on her.
“Mom, that’s the cat sister!”
“That’s not a cat sister, just a sister. She has cat ears and a tail.”
Kids often called her cat sister when they saw Chuchu, and she’d wave her hand in surprise every time.
“Chuchu, what do you think?”
“It’s amazing! There’s so much I can see! What are those tall things?”
“Those are buildings. They’re places where people live.”
“They’re super high. My neck hurts. What’s that?”
“That’s a car. People ride in them.”
“There’s a red light!”
“That’s a traffic light. When it’s red, you have to stop here, and when it turns green, you can cross the crosswalk in front of you.”
Watching Chuchu look around in wonder was endlessly cute.
It was then that Daeun walked past.
“Hey, Yerin.”
“Ah, Daeun.”
I ran into Daeun on the street.
“What brings you out here?”
“Just taking a walk.”
“But… who is that?”
Of course she noticed Chuchu swishing her tail beside me, and Chuchu looked up at Daeun with a face full of curiosity.
“Ah, she’s my little sister.”
“A little sister? You had a kid like this?”
“Yeah, I did.”
I gave a vague answer, but Daeun, who’d been with me for over ten years since middle school, didn’t buy it.
“Um, she’s cute. What’s your name?”
“Ah, my name is…”
“Chuchu. Nice to meet you!”
“…Why does your speech sound like that?”
“Guh… Chuchu’s my nickname. I like cats, so I’m like this now. So… it’s kind of like that. Think of it as a concept.”
It was a ridiculous excuse, but it was a good enough lie to fool Daeun.
“Ah, I see.”
Daeun was the type who believed weird-but-plausible lies.
“Hi, Chuchu. I’m Lee Daeun. I’m twenty-eight, same as Yerin, and I’ve known her since middle school.”
“Um, a friend who’s been with the butler for a long time! You can give me Churu too since you’re following the butler!”
Daeun stared at Chuchu in confusion and quietly whispered in my ear.
“Is she okay? She seems a little… off.”
It’s surprisingly normal.
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