I crept out from beneath Shihon's bed, my body taut with tension.
"That was way too close… I almost died back there…"
The room was silent now, save for the faint hum of the heating system. Shihon had left, undoubtedly in search of the "cat" that had supposedly escaped through the window. It was a stroke of desperation that had saved me, but it worked. When I realized she was about to walk in, I'd cracked the window open just enough to make it seem like the cat had made a daring escape. Shihon, being the feline enthusiast she was, had immediately focused on tracking down her "precious pet."
Unluckily for me, Shihon hadn't noticed the open window right away. That delay had forced her to search the room more thoroughly than I'd anticipated. It had been a nerve-wracking experience, but I'd survived by relying on quick thinking and instinct. When she headed to the bathroom to inspect the tub, I'd darted from the closet where I'd first hidden and slid under the bed.
