Chapter 8.2 (1/2)

Candle: For anyone who's wondering why the releases for chapter 8 have been shorter than usual, it's cause chapter 8 itself is short;; We split it in 2 releases instead of the usual 3, but they're still less than the typical release….rip

But my affections were not shared by Yin Li. When I entered the room, he made no attempt to mask his frown. ”Do you now bring any dirty thing you see home?”

”No, this is a kitten. Look at its eyes, aren't they pretty?” As I was saying this, I raised the kitten curled in the crook of my arm up to Yin Li to show him. The kitten also made a few whimpering meows as if currying favor. However, the expression on Yin Li's face grew even more ugly, as if I were holding something worse than trash.

”Throw it out,” he curtly ordered with revulsion.

I didn't expect him to have such a callous response. I hugged the kitten closer to myself and a.s.sumed a defensive stance, ”I'll raise it my room, I'll even clean up after it. I definitely won't let it get your house dirty.”

But Yin Li still didn't relent. He persisted arrogantly and stubbornly: ”I don't want to repeat myself. Throw it out.”

We were in a deadlock. I hugged the kitten and stood in the doorway. The door hadn't been closed yet, and the cold air blew in from outside. Yet my heart was on fire. Yin Li was always like this, as if I were some doll who should obey his every order. His feelings for me were nothing more than his feelings for some appendage.1

1 just to avoid confusion, “appendage” besides meaning “a part of an organism”, also means “(often with negative or pejorative connotations) a thing that is added or attached to something larger or more important” (Google).

I shouted at him: ”No! It's so cold outside, it'll die if it's thrown out!”

Yin Li didn't bicker with me. His face still in that cold expression, he repeated, ”Throw it out!”

As if frightened by our argument, the kitten suddenly yelped. Then leaping out of my arms, it fled outside to hide in the shrubs. I heard a rustling noise, but before I could look for it, its scrawny figure had already vanished into the night.

I turned and glared resentfully at Yin Li. ”Fine, it left on its own. Are you satisfied? If you threw me out too, it'd be even better.” Having finished speaking I immediately turned and left in search for the kitten. Because of Yin Li's att.i.tude, I felt wronged, as if I were that kitten who, instead of being let inside, was driven away by Yin Li.

Under the dim, moonlit night, I pulled up my zipper and wrapped my arms around my chest. As I walked along, I called, mimicking a cat's meow. But even then, I still couldn't find it. In the early hours of the morning, when I finally couldn't bear the cold night air anymore, I headed back. Words festered in my mind as I thought about what I was going to say to Yin Li. If he wouldn't even let me raise a cat, then maybe we weren't suited to live together.

I opened the door, feeling the warm, heated air of the room replace the chilly winds outside. Yet my heart still hadn't warmed up. Defeated, I sluggishly prepared to return to my room when, turning the corner, I heard a meow.

I was elated. Did the kitten find its way back? Then I needed to hide it somewhere before Yin Li discovered it. I followed the sound, but discovered that it was coming from the bathroom next to Yin Li's bedroom.

When I walked over, I was utterly astonished. Unexpectedly, Yin Li was there, wearing a translucent raincoat, was.h.i.+ng the kitten. In the bathtub, a zig-zagging trail of dirt-black, filthy water was left in the wake of the kitten's fur, but Yin Li didn't seem to mind. He hadn't noticed me yet, and was gently was.h.i.+ng the kitten's ears. The kitten had closed its eyes in contentment and affectionately rubbed its head against Yin Li's hand, meowing meekly.