royalcrowJay always had more questions than what people were willing to answer. He’d been curious, wondering, and annoyingly inquisitive for as long as anyone could remember.
There was just one thing, though, that he never dared question. It began during the winter of when Jay was sixteen -- when that wide-eyed, unabashed wonder in his eyes was just barely beginning to fade.
“I’ve finished cleaning Byeol’s kennel, Mr. Lee,” he announced to the sharp-looking young man who was inputting some data at a computer. The aforementioned Mr. Lee gazed up at Jay with a small smile.
“Great. Would you mind holding down the fort at the front desk while I check out the back?”
“Yeah, of course!” Jay settled into one of the swivel desk chairs behind the counter, scrolling through some photos of the shelter’s current animal residents as Mr. Lee shut his laptop and disappeared behind the doors to the kennels.
Jay loved working at the shelter, and he always had. Since the moment his mother brought him in to introduce one of her close friends, he’d fallen in love: with the kind-hearted humans who devoted their time to the organization and with the sweet creatures that peered at him from behind tight metal doors alike.
When the jingle bells on the front door gave a rang, Jay looked up. It wasn’t too often that they had visitors at this hour during the winter -- the evenings were too cold to walk dogs, and the sun had long since faded behind the hills of their little town.
There was a boy blinking at him with eyes swimming in midnight. The charcoal shine stole Jay’s breath, and it was several moments before he even realized the other boy’s mouth was moving.
“Are you still open?” he asked, voice soft and kind like a warm blanket. His eyelashes fell across his cheeks like snow when he blinked.
Sputtering, he answered, “Yeah. Um. Yes. Can I… What can I help you with?”
The shorter boy smiled, and suddenly the twilight didn’t seem so dark. “Is there any way I could meet a kitten?”
Jungwon was his name, Jay quickly learned, as he led him back to the feline room. He was nearly fifteen but wiser than his age. Jungwon lived with his mother and grandmother and was making an attempt at a Christmas gift for them both.
Jay would be lying if he said he didn’t think Jungwon was the most intriguing person he’d ever met. So he led him to the most intriguing cat he’d ever met.