Kitty Comfort

Chapter 1: "I thought we were getting pets!"

I saw down looked at my cluttered office desk. A sigh escaped me as I looked on my computer to see all of the unanswered e-mails that I would have to go through before I could finally go home for the weekend. I was in the middle of replying to one of the e-mails to an important business partner when there was a knock on my door. I looked up to see my co-worker, Kim Ju-min, walk into my office. Her sleek black heels clicked against the linoleum floor she walked my direction. Her cute attire reminded me of a K-Pop star. She was wearing a cute black skirt and a flowy white blouse that complimented her dark hair and doe-like almond-shaped eyes.

"Hey, (y/n)." she greeted as she plopped herself down in one of the comfy chairs that were in front of my desk.

"What are you doing after work today? Any plans?" she asked with a coy smile. Ju-min wasn't only one of my co-worker, but she was also one of my friends. I pushed myself back from my desk as I leaned back in my office chair.

"Nothing at the moment...why?" I asked slightly wary at her sudden question. I eyed her suspiciously as she grinned.

"Perfect!" she replied as she clapped her hands together happily. "Because we are going to the pet store to get you a companion." I gawked at her in shock.

"We are doing what now?" I choked out.

"We are getting pets! Did you know to hear me the first time?" she replied with a confused look crossing her face. I quickly shook my head.

"No, no I heard you, but why the sudden need? Why do we suddenly need to get pets?" I inquired confused.

"Because I don't want to see you wasting away all by yourself in your house, and since you won't come live with me, and your stupid boyfriend is always away for work, I think that you should have at least some company, so a pet is the next best thing!" she explained her logic. I thought for a moment before letting out a soft sigh knowing that there was really no way for me to change her mind at this point about the matter...and it didn't sound like a horrible idea either so I finally nodded my head.

"Okay, fine," I replied. Ju-min's eyes lit up as a large smile grew across her face causing her eyes to turn into crescents as her cheeks rose up.

"Yay!" she squealed as she hopped up to her feet, only to wobble slightly off balance due to her high heels. She quickly grabbed my desk to stable herself with a nervous giggle. I rolled my eyes in amusement at her actions.

"Hey, if you get a pet to make sure that it isn't something you can easily break. I don't want to hear about you breaking your pet with your clumsiness." I chided, to which she rolled her eyes in return.

"They aren't that easy to break." she scoffed. "And I'm not that clumsy. These heels are just stupid."

"Or maybe it is the person wearing them." I teased to which she pouted at me in reply.

"I'll stop by your house after work to pick you up and we can go to the shelter. They are cheaper there and they have more options than the shop does. They also tend to be a little more eager to be with you then the shop ones." Ju-min said as she got herself together and headed over to the door.

"Oh! And make sure you look friendly, they can be a little wary of new people," she added before walking out of the room leaving me slightly confused. Look friendly? Why would pet care how I looked? I'm going to pick one out that I like and hope for the best. I hope I'll be able to find a nice one that won't be a huge pain in my ass.

Work went by quickly as I kept thinking about what kind of pet I should get when I went out with Ju-min. A dog, a cat?  Maybe even a bunny or something else small.  I had thought about getting one before but I never really followed through with it. There was a lot going on with the hybrid movement that was happening so hybrids as pets were becoming mainstream and I thought it was kind of weird at the thought of owning someone. I had heard about horror stories about hybrids turning on their owners, or owners practically enslaving or abusing their hybrids. Hybrids didn't even exist until the last thirty years when some sort of scientific testing created them on accident, but since it worked out so well they kept making them. They would typically combine animal DNA with human embryos and grow them in a lab. Since hybrids were able to shift from animal to human form it made it hard for people to know what animals were actually animals and which were hybrids.