All the pretty kittens

She holds three fingers up to each cheek, creating whiskers. The woman behind the necklace stand knows what we are looking for, points towards a back alley several steps away.

Outside the door is a sketch of two cats on yellow brick. Up two flights of stairs is where the fur begins. Unlace shoes and slip on black slippers, each stitched with the face of a happy cat. Inside we pay eight thousand won, get coffee and access to the cats.

All around us run cats of different breeds. Near the ceiling a white one wags a snowball tail, perched on its scratching post. Across the ground runs a hairless friend, past a fluffy tab at the water hole.

In the back the cats jump up and hide in circle holes for the night. All day long they prance about, petted by the masses. The cameras click and children shriek, a cat flies up the wall towards a string and toy.

We pick our favourites and sip our coffee, watch them run around. Once we get our fill of cuteness we head back down the stairs, cat hair filling up the nose.