*For I told you guys that I'll try to update by wednesday, here it is. I was supposed to put three one shots in a row today, but because of updating now from my night duty without sleep that took up most of my energy, laziness got the best of me, and the other two were not finished yet. But I hope this is enough to fill your Myungjong needs for today.

*Let's spread the Myungjong love, alright?

The night was colder than usual, with permafrost clouding over glass windows all over the city. It was hours ago since the snowfall has stopped, and there’s not a single soul walking the white-laden streets, except for a few beggars who has nowhere to go but boxes and plastics formed into miniature houses, simple defenses against the winter breeze.

Only a few shops were left open, since it’s near midnight already. One of these is a coffee shop sandwiched between a manga store and a small apartment complex with all the lights turned off already. Mopping the dirt on the floor brought by late-night customers who had already left, Sungjong felt sleepy already, without someone to chat with being the only worker left for the night shift. While humming a song he had heard earlier from the radio, he kept on pinching his cheeks just to avoid falling asleep.

It was the usual night, being overworked, waiting for the clock to show 12 o’clock so he could already close the shop and call it a day, sleep in a cramped bedroom and wake up the next day looking for another part-time job, or two. Having parents who abandoned and left him to his sickly aunt when he was just 8 years of age, he had learned to cope by studying hard and working harder and grabbing opportunities whenever he can.

Everything was the same, his nightly routine was about to come to its end, until he heard soft tapping on the shop’s front glass door.

At first glance he saw nothing, and decided that it was just some small stones or twigs brought by the wind knocking into the glass, and didn’t mind it at first, but after more taps he got annoyed and decided to approach whoever is trying to play a prank on him.

Except that it wasn’t a person, but a black cat with a silver collar ornament, covered with snow remnants and dirt, looking starved and freezing from the cold.

Sungjong felt his heart being tugged out of pity, and without thinking of his clothes that would get soiled or the floor that he would need to clean again, he carried the cat within his arms, slowly petting its head and cradling it with gentleness and warmth.

--

After reaching home, he immediately wrapped him with clean linen then placed the cat inside a shoe box on top of the kitchen counter. With a bowl filled with milk almost to the brim, he took the cat from its small container and placed it in front of the meal.

“Go on, don’t be shy. That’s for you, serve yourself.”

Seeing his bright smile, the cat approached the bowl and started yapping on it, and while he’s enjoying this, Sungjong looked for a can of tuna from the canned goods he saved for emergency. Opening one and placing it on a smaller bowl together with another bowl filled with tap water, he placed it in front of the cat which now stopped from the milk and went to the new treat.

He was about to go to clean his self when he felt the cat snuggling on his arm, reaching out one of its paws as if asking to be carried again.

“Aaw, you’re really adorable, alright, I’ll clean you as well. Let’s go!”

--

Thanks to the heater and his new-found companion, Sungjong could manage to fight the cold weather and to forget the loneliness of losing his Aunt from leukemia. It has been almost a year since she passed away, and winter seems to give an emphasis on him being all alone.

Crying to himself, he finally fell asleep, from the exhaustion of suriving every single day without someone else to help him and hold him tight.

He suddenly jolt up, now fully awake from his sleep after hearing a crash from the kitchen, and he felt fear. If it was a burglar who took interest with his home, there’ll be nothing left of his savings for sure. Quietly, he took scissors from his bedside drawer and cautiously approached the door. He saw the light coming from the kitchen, and the sound of rummaging made him sure about his hypothesis. But before he could launch an attack to the intruder, he stopped from his track, mouth agape, and blood rushing towards his head because of what he saw.

A tanned guy, with black cat-ears and tail wagging from excitement, eye smile, and wide smile that seems to rip his face.

“Master! I’m really sorry if I woke you up!”

And when he saw the familiar-looking silver collar, his head became heavy with shock and confusion, and before he lost his consciousness and fell flat to the floor, he felt strong arms catch him.

--

The warmth of the sun passing through the clear window woke him up, and he realized he’s not alone on his bed. A pair of strong arms is hugging him tightly, nose sniffing his neck. It was all too close for comfort. Once the memories of last night all surged in, he shouted, making the other man wake up in shock as well.

“Are you alright Master?! Where does it hurt? Did you have a nightmare? I don’t know what that is but I know it’s bad ‘cause I heard these two kids at the playground talking about-”

“Stop, just stop. And remove your hands from my waist please. What the hell happened last night? Was it the tuna, or maybe you’re actually an insane man who actually threw my cat away?!”

“Thank  you for being protective towards me, but believe it or not, it is really me!”

Seeing the teary-eyed cat-boy, Sungjong felt extremely sorry for accusing him and saying bad words towards him. But still, it was too much of a fantasy tale to be real. When the cat-boy saw him in deep thought, he scooted closer and looked straight into his eyes before connecting their noses together for an eskimo kiss.

Sungjong just noticed and he suddenly felt entranced with the other’s eyes. Almost coal black with a hazel rim, like a mystical creature from the books.

“What is the problem? Master, what could I do to help you?”

“Wait, I’ll get you some clothes first.”

When he was fully clothed, with the biggest sweater and pants Sungjong could find on his closet, he pulled him towards the kitchen to have some breakfast. The only problem was, the cat-boy seemed to enjoy skinship too much  that he won’t lose his attachment to Sungjong, and he even kept on smelling the skinny boy.

“Aish, seriously! Can’t you stop that? I can’t cook properly because of you latching on to me like a monkey!”

“But I want to rub off my scent to you, so no other cats would call you as their master. You’ll only have me, right?”

Blushing from the comment, he felt his lips clamped and he was not able to do some counter-attack, thus his cooking  took longer than usual. His sunny side-ups were quite burn, and the rice was quite undercooked, but the cat-boy digged in as if he was eating food served by a five-star hotel chef, splurting goog comments once in a while, making Sungjong blush madly.

“Are there… are there anyone like you out there?”

“Yes, we’re about five here in this town, but I don’t know if they already found their own masters.”

“Hmm, what are you by the way? Where did you come from? And right, what’s your name?”

“We’re cat people, and our kind has always been here centuries ago. Our reason for living is to find those persons who need companion, those who lack in affection. In our community I am called Myungsoo, but I was named L by my past master.”

“Past master? So you mean..”

“Yup, I was owned by three human already. If you’re wondering, I’m just 22 years old. We’re released on our own when we reach the age of 18. I’ve stayed for months only for each master, the longest time I’ve found a home was for 7 months only.”

“Why? Did they not need you so they let you out, or were they abusive of you so you left them?”

“The part about them not needing me anymore was right. See this silver collar here? It only stays in me when my master needs me, but once it falls, that’s my time to leave.”

“So, when would that fall off?”

“There are many reaosns behind. If a master found his human companion, or if he’s not happy with me being around for long, or if he decided that he seriouly wants to be an independent person, or maybe he finds my presence to be a burden.”

“Can’t you just stick it on again, that collar, so you could stay longer?”

“Well, I’ve tried that, but it won’t attach again when that master is around, that means I need to look for a new one.”

“But, you know, why can’t you just go and run away from the responsibility, it’s as if you’re trying to be someone else’s slave. What id I’m actually a bad guy? Or someone who’s mentally disturbed? Or a criminal who’ll only use you for his own good?”

“But you’re not.”

Sungjong felt warmth spreading on his chest. All his life he was the one who took care of others, who listened to others’ stories, who was confided to, and all of a sudden, there’s a cat who’s actually a cat-boy who came into his life and started calling him master.

“Master, stop worrying so much, it’s better when you’re smiling like last night. It fits you well.”

“Sungjong.”

“Hmm?”

The cat-boy’s left ear twitched, his head tilted to the right, and his lips are in a pout, as if saying, what does that mean? And Sungjong, well, he thought he had never seen someone as cute as this cat-boy.

“That’s my name, Sungjong. You can call me that, and stop calling me Master. I’m only 21, that means you’re my hyung and I am you’re dongsaeng. And you don’t need to worry much as well. Let’s take care of each other, okay Myungsoo?”

A bone-crushing hug and another eskimo kiss was given signalling Myungsoo’s yes.

*Ah seriously, these two are just like opposite poles of a magnet, they're compatible no matter what. And that feeling that only few friends of yours could relate to my like of shipping male members of a group to each other. I need someone to fangirl and spazz with me here, it's sad.

#myungjong.is.infinite.love