Chapter 47 - The Owner and his Cat

"How long will it take?" Mirae asked the doctor. It has been a little over two weeks and KJ was still in a coma. 

"We cannot tell," the doctor said, a little worried. "His vitals are fine and even his heart is responsive. But..."

"But what?" she demanded.

"Despite his improving physical condition, we cannot pinpoint what exactly is wrong with him," the doctor admitted. "We will try to change his prescription but even if that doesn't work..."

"Well, then hurry up!" Mirae ordered. "We cannot lose him!"

The situation was getting out of hand. The media and fans were being chaotic. They were demanding for the culprit to be punished and a wilda manhunt has been issued for the unknown assailant. The public support for KJ had increased tremendously. Every move by Abyss and Mystic Entertainment was under public scrutiny. It would be suicidal to act against the Cartel when they were constantly watched by the fans.

Ash was also in a precarious position. EXOTIC's decision to go ahead with the concert met with both praise and criticism. Many fans appreciated the members' choice to honor their friend while others accused them of being fame hungry and money loving for prioritizing the show over their comrade. Ash and the others were in Japan, somehow wading through the hard scrutiny from fans. Despite his hectic schedule, he talked with Mirae everyday. It became a routine between them.

Mirae's phone rang in her pocket. She took it out to see Ash's number.

"Hi," she answered. "What's the situation there?"

"A little overwhelming," he said. "Many fans are sending hate comments but most of them seem to be appreciating our work."

He was currently in his hotel room, readying himself for a few hours of sleep before they hit the stage again. EXOTIC was in Osaka, for their first concert series. After that, they are scheduled to travel to Tokyo, followed by Hokkaido. Jinhyun and Dasom were hesitant to continue the concerts but they finally agreed to do it for KJ.

"We've also been updating them with KJ's condition regularly, so they are somewhat satisfied, I hope," Ash continued. "How's he doing?"

"No improvements," Mirae said wearily. "Even the doctors can't figure it out. His wound is healing and his heart is working fine, but he still isn't waking up. He's not even responding to medicines. So they'll change his medication, but we don't know if that will work either."

"Are you alright?" he asked. He was very concerned about Mirae. It was obvious that she was at the hospital almost 24x7 and is probably neglecting her own health. 

"I'm fine!" she assured him.

"Did you eat?"

"I did," she lied. Truthfully, Mirae only had a piece of apple that day since she had no appetite. Ash saw through her lie.

"Mir, stop lying," he said in a stern tone. "You better eat something. Starving yourself won't help KJ at all."

"Yes," she groaned. "I will. Anyways, there is something I want to tell you..."

Ash leaned forward. She sounded very worried. "What happened?"

"Well..."

Mirae looked at the small bundle on the floor. On it, lay a ginger cat.

"It's just that..." Mirae hesitated.

"What happened?" Ash demanded, his voice alarmed.

"KJ's cat Jade...Jade too fell in a coma!"

"What?" Ash exclaimed. "How did this happen?"

"I don't know," Mirae said worriedly. "After you left the hospital to catch your flight, I came back to KJ's room and found Jade unresponsive. I took him to a vet, who sits in the veterinary section across the hospital. He was very surprised to see a healthy cat suddenly falling into a coma. There is physically nothing wrong with him!"

Ash frowned. As far as he knew, that cat was with KJ for more than a decade. In fact, during their earlier days, the cat lived with them in their dorm. Now that he thought about it, do cats live that long? Was it nearing the end of its life? Or was it, in some inexplicable way, connected to KJ's condition?

Can an owner and pet really have that deep of a connection?

"Where is the cat now?" he asked.

"I bundled him up in a blanket at the corner of KJ's room," Mirae replied. "I've been giving him his medicines and the vet even gave him some injections. No luck."

Ash rubbed his forehead. He had no answer to this strange phenomenon. Was the connection between KJ and Jade so strong that if one falls ill, the other becomes sick too?

"We can't do anything right now," he said helplessly. "Except for pray."

"Will prayers work?" Mirae wondered.

"I don't know," he said. "But what else do we do?"

Suddenly, someone was knocking Ash's suite's door.

"Room service!" a waiter announced.

"You should go and have dinner," Mirae coaxed him. "I'll take care of everything here."

"Okay," Ash nodded. "I'll talk to you later."

He hung up the phone. Mirae was now more stressed than ever. Not only KJ was in a coma but now his cat was also in the same condition. The owner and the cat seem to have a deep bonding. Even though Mirae did not believe in such spiritual connections, she could not help but thinking whether KJ and Jade had some sort of link which goes beyond logic.

Everytime she observed them, she always thought they had a special bond which was incomprehensible to other human beings. When she collected information on KJ, she realized that despite all the people in KJ's life, his cat Jade was his constant companion. He took care of it on his own and even took it to a lot of places with him.

Was this a normal thing between owners and pets? Mirae never had a pet of her own, so she could not tell. Maybe she was thinking too much into this.

"What the heck is going on between you two?" Mirae wondered as she looked from KJ to Jade. Both of them were sleeping peacefully, without a care in the world.