Kim's oddities

You just knew that someone was watching you, your whole body was on high alert with the fine hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Someone was watching you and that scared the shit out of you. 

You hadn’t realised just how long of a drive it was from your new home in the woods to the little town in the valley at the bottom of the mountain. It had taken you over an hour. 

You hoped that once you were used to the locally made rustic roads that cut through the masses of trees and wildlife surrounding your comfy little cabin, that you could cut down travel time massively. 

The sun had still been up, when you climbed into your new -though very secondhand- pick up truck and made your journey down to the town to stock up on all the supplies you knew you required.

Locating the stores you needed was easy enough and the staff were all welcoming and friendly to your new face, helping you find everything on your list- plus a few extra items they suggested may be helpful that far up the mountain away from civilisation.

But of course, the sun soon set and before you knew it, you were walking through an unfamiliar town in the dark, the streets barely lit up and eerily empty. 

You had wanted to visit the local clothing establishments, keen on stocking up on heavy winter boots and a reliable thick coat ahead of time hoping that with the winter having just passed, you could grab a bargain in a sale for winter stock. Yet you quickly realised that once the sun went down, the stores all closed and the townsfolk returned to their homes.

And yet still, someone was watching you. 

You didn’t want to look around for the culprit, worried that if you met their gaze they would be set off and jump you for whatever sinister reason their heart deemed appropriate but you didn’t know the directions to your truck well enough so had no choice but to slow a little in your steps to glance around in every direction for the correct one. That’s when you halted on the path and double-checked your surroundings. 

You were the only person around. There wasn’t even a shadow big enough to conceal another human.

Thoroughly puzzled, you lifted your hands to rub your eyes, figuring you must have been missing something.

That time when you turned in search, you found the culprit but they were not at all what you expected.

“Oh,” The single syllable left your parted lips in a soft breath.

A cat covered in long white hair that looked utterly soft to touch sat upon one of the small circular two-person tables outside of the local coffee shop.

Now, you had never known the copious amount of cat breeds so you couldn’t name this one but you knew it was nothing short of beautiful, ethereal almost.

It stared at you for a moment, almost curiously, before letting out a soft meow. 

When you remained still, it repeated the sound only louder and much firmer. 

“Do you want pets?” You questioned as you cautiously approached the feline not wanting to scare it off. It just watched and when you were close enough, it lowered its head slightly and closed its eyes in wait. Of course, you immediately petted the animal; how could you not when it asked you so politely?

“Huh, you’re even softer than you look, how do you keep that up being an outdoor cat?” You mused. It purred and slowly, you pulled away. 

“I think we both better get home, little one.” It meowed at you and you couldn’t help but laugh at how frustrated the sound came out.

“I’m sure your human must want you back.” It made an odd little sound before gracefully hopping off of the table and started to trot confidently away. Only a few metres away though, it stopped and turned its head to look at you. A loud meow left its little mouth.

“What?” It repeated the sound. “Am I supposed to follow you?” You joked but it emitted an almost pleased purr like sound before turning and continuing on its path.

For some reason you really didn’t know, you followed it. 

A few minutes later, you found yourself standing beside the feline at the closed glass door of an odd store. Literally, it was called “Kim’s Oddities” and you couldn’t even begin to understand how true it was, not at that point in time at least. The understanding comes much later. 

“Now what?” You questioned looking down at the cat. It moved right up to the door and pawed at it gently. 

“Do you live here or something?” A meow and more pawing. “It’s closed, the lights are off, no-one’s in.” The look it gave you made you feel oddly scolded. “What? I can’t magically open the door for you, kitty cat.”

With a sound that suspiciously resembled a huff, it turned and stalked to the alley to your right, directly beside the building. You rushed after the beautiful, mysterious creature curiously.

As you watched intently, it hopped up on top of the car parked there then onto the dumpster behind it before finally managing to be at sufficient height to pounce onto the metal platform for the emergency stairs attached to the side of the building leading up the three floors.

The cat climbed up to the next platform that met the open window of the second floor before jumping inside and disappearing. 

“If you could do that, why even lead me here?” You gawped in disbelief. A furry little head popped up at the window followed by a loud meow. 

“Like hell I’m following you up there. Think again, kit cat. I don’t want to get arrested for breaking and entering...or just entering I suppose considering its already open.” Your words got quieter as you started to mumble to yourself. 

Another call from the fluff ball dragged your attention back to the window. 

“I’m going home now. Goodnight, little one.” Even hearing the relentless meowing from two floors above you, you kept walking away until you eventually found your truck and made the long dark drive back to your cabin.

*

For some reason, all night and morning all you could think of was that damn walking cloud that tried to potentially lure you to your death. Even as you made your way around the clothes store to stock up your winter closet - which yes you did get at reduced prices due to it being spring - and then into the neighbouring stores curiously, your mind kept returning to the cat.

After placing your purchases in your truck and sitting in the driver’s seat having an internal battle, you climbed back out, locked your vehicle and started to walk down the paths.

You had no idea where you were really, it was too dark the night before for anything to look familiar enough to be helpful in the midday sunlight.

As soon as you spotted the coffee shop though, you knew you were headed in the right direction.

It didn’t take long to reach “Kim’s Oddities” after that.

In the daylight, the building was a lot more inviting than the night before, especially with the door propped open allowing the gentle breeze to freshen up the inside air.

Slowly, you entered the little store to find that it wasn’t quite as little as you previously assumed with stacks of shelving units placed seemingly haphazardly within the spaces either side, all full to the brim with various strange looking objects that honestly, you did not want to mess with. Your parents ...You were raised to not mess with anything that claimed a link to the supernatural even if you were also raised to not believe in anything supernatural; a contradiction you still didn’t understand as an adult.

To the left side also stood a few small circular tables each only big enough for two chairs each.

In the centre of the store was a large counter that stretched around into an elongated U shape with both ends connecting to the back wall and a walkway between them into the back room which was hidden by a beaded curtain.

As you approached the desk you could make out what looked to be small cauldrons bubbling away on two hobs, one on either inner side of the U.

“Hello!” You jolted at the sudden friendly greeting, having been too occupied staring into the swirling, glistening blue of the left cauldron to notice as a tall man with deep dimples stepped out from behind the curtain and into the U. You looked up to meet his bright eyes. He was smiling down at you from the cauldron on the right, the one that looked to be boiling tar if the thickness and colour of its contents was anything to go by.

“You must be our new resident! Y/N, right?” You raised your eyebrows, completely taken by surprise that he knew you by name despite the fact you had only moved in 24 hours ago. 

“Small town, news travels very fast around here.” He chuckled. 

“Right, yeah, I’m Y/N.” You confirmed.

“I’m Namjoon, owner of Kim’s Oddities! I have to be honest, I didn’t expect to see you here so soon. I knew that sooner or later your curiosity would get the better of you and you’d be in to check out my stock but not today.” 

“Uh, honestly, I’m here for the cat.” You spoke a little awkwardly. His smile dropped as confusion took over his features.

“The cat?” 

“Yeah, last night a little fluff ball pretty much yelled at me to follow it here and I’m pretty sure it wanted me to let it in the front door but it was dark and closed so it went up the fire escape in the alley.” Still, Namjoon just stared at you as if he was trying to decipher your words. “That was your cat, right? Soft, white, long-haired thing with attitude?” A slow nod moved his head. 

“Is my accent too strong? Can you understand me?” 

“Oh! Yes! Sorry, I can understand you perfectly fine, your accent is barely noticeable on most words. I was just surprised that he approached you, especially let you touch him. He uh...he’s a bit of ****, to put it bluntly. He doesn’t like being touched and even hisses at me when I try half of the time.” Namjoon laughed loudly. “I’m glad he has finally found someone that he likes. I’ll go get him!” Before he could fully turn, you let out a noise that had Namjoon turning back to you with wide eyes, as if you had scolded him.

“Don’t bother. I just wanted to make sure he’s actually yours and that he got home safe.” 

“Yep! He’s sleeping the day away as usual in his room.” 

“His room?” You mumbled but quickly shook your head with a sigh when he opened his mouth to reply. “You know what? You can do what you want with your pet. If you have space, why not give him a whole room? Anyway, I should get going.” 

“Oh, right,” He gave you a soft, almost sad kind of smile. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Y/N. Don’t be a stranger, come along any day, even if it’s just to pet Yoongi.” 

“Uh, yeah, sure,” You gave him the first smile of the encounter that had his dimples proudly on show once again, even if your smile was just a pathetic little thing. 

“Bye.” You waved a little awkwardly and left the building unaware of the extra pair of eyes peering at you from behind the beaded curtain.

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