Yongguk reached his apartment after he finished his work that evening. He didn’t have enough time to go home during the lunch break since there were a lot of stuff he needed to take care of at his workplace. So, he had cooked plenty of food for Daehyun in the morning, more than enough to prevent the boy from starving until he was home.

                He stepped into the house after unlocking the door. “I’m back.”

                “Hyung!!!” Daehyun’s loud voice was heard before the sounds of footsteps rushing towards the door.

                Yongguk toed off his shoes before the step and lifted his head to see Daehyun holding up a paper with a beaming smile.

                “Hyung, look!” Daehyun’s run came to a halt once he stood right in front of the man, showing the paper with his names written repeatedly on it.

                “Wow,” Yongguk took the paper, his lips curving up into an amused smile. “You really did a good job here,” he praised while scanning the white sheet, which had random words scattered all over it.

                He noticed most of them were about food, like chicken, ice cream and cake. It made him chuckle at the cuteness. There were more of Daehyun’s child-like handwriting when he turned the paper over. This time he caught something different like lion, cockroach, butterfly, Keke, daddy and hyung.

                Yongguk’s heart had a tad squeeze at those words. It was not only Daehyun’s handwriting that looked like a child’s, even his personality seemed to be like one. Daehyun was so pure and innocent and every little thing that happened in his life would be treasured with all his heart, and he was more than happy to find himself among those things.

                “Is this the only thing you did while I wasn’t here?” Yongguk returned the paper to Daehyun before making his way to the living room.

                “No, there are many more papers on the table!” Daehyun pointed to the low coffee table as he walked by the man’s side.

                “Good.” Yongguk nodded after spotting a heap of papers that covered the whole table. “But did you make the bed?” He turned to look at the boy and raised his brow.

                “Yes!” Daehyun answered in his usual, but a little too loud voice. Unlike before, Yongguk didn’t even flinch at the deafening sound since he got used to it.

                “Did you wash the dishes?”

                “Yes!!”

                “Did you do the laundry?”

                “Yes!!!”

                “Alright.” Yongguk sank into the couch with a big paper bag next to him. “Because you’re being a good boy, I’ll give something for you.” He patted the spot beside him, telling Daehyun to have a seat there.

                Daehyun grinned, thinking that it was only some snacks or shirts like he used to receive every so often when Yongguk got home from work. So, he just took a seat and watched the man took off his jacket.

                Yongguk then slipped his hand into the bag before taking something out. “I got you books!” Each of his hands held up one to show it to the boy.

                Daehyun’s eyes widened as he let out a loud gasp. He slowly took one of them with both of his hands and stared at it as if it was the rarest thing to find on earth. His rounded eyes were sparkling at the cover of the thin book that had colorful words and drawings.

                “Do you like it?” Yongguk asked.

                Daehyun looked up and nodded eagerly. Yongguk chuckled at how the boy was still unable to close his mouth at the surprise he received.

                “Aren’t you going to take this one?” Yongguk waved the other book in front of Daehyun’s face.

                Daehyun gnawed on his smiling lips as he looked at the one in Yongguk’s hand. The cover was also very pretty. Placing the previous book on his lap, he took the book from the man’s hold, also with both of his hands.

                Yongguk suddenly felt like he was giving a certificate of appreciation to a middle schooler. He just stifled a laugh at his own thought.

                “Actually, there are a lot more in this bag,” he said, taking the bag from the other side and gave it to the boy.

                Daehyun looked inside the bag which was placed on his lap and gasped even louder. “All the books are for Daehyun?!” he asked Yongguk in disbelief with his eyes looking like they were about to pop out from their sockets.

                Yongguk nodded, unable to hold his laughter anymore. “Yeah, all of them.”

                Daehyun looked back at the bunch of books and squealed happily. So happy that his ears and tail suddenly appeared as always. “This is going to be fun!”

                “Everything’s fun to you, isn’t it?” Yongguk smiled while caressing one of the cat ear.

                “Hyung, listen to Daehyun read?” Daehyun turned his head towards Yongguk, bringing his cat ear away from the man’s hold. “Please?”

                Once again, Yongguk was attacked with those twinkling eyes and he wondered how the cuteness from a grown boy could make him so weak.

                “Sure.” Yongguk leaned back and rested his arms on the back of the couch.

                Daehyun quickly put away the big bag and picked the first book he received. Leaning his back against the couch, he made sure to sit closely to Yongguk so that the man could see what he was reading and correct him if he was wrong. He ended up pressing the side of their bodies together with his shoulder blade on Yongguk’s chest.

                “The Hare and the Tor…?” Daehyun struggled to read the last word of the title.

                “Tortoise,” Yongguk gave him a hand.

                “The Hare and the Tortoise?” Daehyun repeated before looking up to the man.

                Yongguk nodded his head. “Go on. I’ll stop you if you’re wrong.”

                Daehyun returned to his storybook and finally opened it. He wowed at the fascinating art first before concentrating on the large printed words. Clearing his throat, he began to read the story at a steady pace.

                “Once upon a time, a speedy hare lived in the woods. He was always bragging to other animals about how fast he could run.”

                Moving on to the second page, Daehyun still took his time to analyze the drawing before reading the words. “One day, a tortoise slowly walked up to him and challenged him to a race.”

                “Ouhhh…” Daehyun made an amazed sound after that, seemingly very interested in the story.

                Yongguk chuckled. “Brave, isn’t he?”

                Daehyun bobbed his head up and down. “Very brave.”

                Turning to the next page, Daehyun continued. He was full of curiosity while reading it, but he also remembered to stop and ask Yongguk about the meaning of some words that he didn’t understand and the many punctuations. Yongguk answered them all and only helped a few times when the boy misread the words or got stuck at the difficult ones.

                A while later, they finally reached the last page. “The tortoise was nearing the finishing line when the hare woke up. He sprinted, trying to catch the tortoise, but the hare was too late. The Tortoise won!” Daehyun exclaimed, super satisfied with how the story ends.

                “Very good,” Yongguk complimented, also really satisfied with Daehyun’s ability. “You barely made any mistake.”

                Feeling overjoyed with the praise he received, Daehyun looked up and sent the widest grin to the man with his cat tail swinging in excitement.

                Yongguk laughed softly at the adorable expression, which was doubled with the cat ears and the lines on Daehyun’s cheek that only appeared when he smiled too hard. As he was silently cooing at the boy, he noticed that his arm had gone lower from the back of the couch onto Daehyun’s shoulder.

                Yongguk blushed. He was currently side-hugging Daehyun and all of a sudden the boy looked so small in his hold. It was triggering the urge to take the boy as a whole into his arms and protect the precious little fluff ball from the world. But thinking back to a few days back, he already did that at the park. He protected Daehyun from the vicious dog. Why would only now that he felt so overwhelmed about it?

                “Hyung?” Daehyun called, pulling Yongguk out of his thoughts. “Should Daehyun read another one?”

                Yongguk cleared his throat, straightening his body and drawing back his arm from wrapping around Daehyun’s shoulders. “I think you can practice on your own. I’ll listen to you again when I have time, okay?”

                Yongguk stood up and Daehyun was already pouting, his cat ears drooping at the same time.

                “I need to make dinner right now. Aren’t you hungry?”

                Daehyun looked down to his tummy and gave it a pat. “Daehyun is hungry,” he admitted.

                “I’ll make dinner for both of us, okay?” Yongguk said as he walked towards the kitchen.

                Daehyun followed Yongguk’s move with his eyes until the man disappeared into the kitchen. He huffed sulkily after finally being left alone. Turning back to look at the bag of books, he decided to bring out all of them. So he got down from the couch, just because he wanted to lay out the books on it, since there wasn’t any space left on the table.

                After the bag was emptied, the couch was totally occupied. Daehyun had a look at the books that were arranged side by side. When he found the one he wanted to read next, he picked it up before running to the kitchen.

                Yongguk was about to prepare the ingredients on the kitchen counter when Daehyun came and sat at the dining table. “Why are you here?” he asked, at the same time noticing that the cat ears and tail were already gone, much to his disappointment.

                “Daehyun has been left alone the whole day. It’s boring,” Daehyun whined with his lower lip protruded in a sulky pout.

                “I see, I see. Hyung is sorry, okay Daehyunnie? I didn’t know you missed me that much,” Yongguk apologized in a joking manner.

                “Yeah, Daehyun missed hyung very very much.” Daehyun bobbed his head up and down with his glistening doe eyes, looking like a sad kitten to Yongguk.

                “Um… okay…” Instead of saying the same thing to the boy, Yongguk had to brush it off since his face was getting ridiculously hot. There was no doubt that it was reddening more and more, so he quickly turned back to the vegetables on the cutting board.

                “Just read your book while I make dinner,” he said calmly despite the crazy thumping of his heart.

                “Yes, hyung.” Daehyun had already opened the book by that time. Unlike before, he read it quietly since he didn’t want to bother Yongguk. But of course, he would find other new words that were so hard for him to pronounce.

                After a while of furrowing his brows at a certain difficult word with his forehead creasing in countless folds, Daehyun decided to ask Yongguk about it. But when he lifted his head from the book, he saw how the man kept massaging his own shoulders and neck while standing by the stove.

                Daehyun knew that it showed how tired Yongguk was. The man had to tolerate his antics right after he returned home from work. He didn’t even change his clothes before going to prepare the meal for both of them since he said that he was hungry. And despite being so exhausted from work, Yongguk still had the time to teach him everything he needed to know and always remembered to buy him something every time he got home like snacks, clothes and for today, storybooks.

                That’s when Daehyun realized Yongguk had done so much to him. The small simple chores he did could never repay everything he got from the man. He was not a full time cat anymore now. He was not Yongguk’s pet that needs to be spoiled and pampered all the time. He managed to shift into a human again, so maybe he should start to act like one.

                After the dinner was ready, Yongguk settled everything on the table and took his usual seat across the boy. Daehyun closed his halfway read book and put it aside. He started to eat, squealing in content at the tasty meal.

                Yongguk chuckled at Daehyun’s common endearing reaction. “Is it good?”

                “It’s delicious!” Daehyun uttered. He noticed the smile on Yongguk’s face and thought that the man seemed more relaxed after they started eating, so he used the chance to voice out his puzzled thought.

                 “Hyung?” Daehyun began and Yongguk raised his brows with a hum as a response. “Hyung go to work to make money, right?”

                “Yeah, you’re right.” Yongguk nodded.

                “How does hyung have a work?”

                “You mean ‘job’, Daehyun, not work,” Yongguk corrected. He put down his chopsticks to drink some water. Setting the glass back on the table, he froze for a moment.

                “How to get a job? Hmm…” Yongguk gazed blankly at the glass as he gave it a thought before looking up straight at the boy. “You have to find it?” He shrugged before adding, “Well, you have to apply for it. Or you can go from a place to place and ask them if they got any job vacancy.”

                Daehyun slowly nodded his head, taking everything in to keep in his mind. “But how does hyung know what work- no, job, that hyung should do?”

                “It’s better if your job is something that you like to do, so you can enjoy your time at your workplace,” Yongguk explained. “Why did you ask?”

                “Daehyun was just wondering.” Daehyun smiled.

                A few days later, Daehyun was turning his body around from one side to another while standing in front of the long mirror. He had picked out a bundle of clothes before the current one but he didn’t think oversized shirts and shorts are suitable for finding a job.

                Half an hour after that, Daehyun chose to wear a plain white shirt with a denim jacket and black pants, which Yongguk had bought without asking for his preference. They should be alright since those were quite similar to Yongguk’s outfits every time he went to his workplace.

                Satisfied with how he looked, Daehyun went to the bed where he had thrown all the rejected clothes and folded them back, just like how Yongguk taught him to do. Then, he placed them back into the wardrobe, which is of course Yongguk’s. The man had split it into two partitions, just like what he did to the bed.

                Since Yongguk isn’t going to come home today, he had prepared the boy’s lunch beforehand. He kept the food in a thermal container, so Daehyun could straightaway eat it from there. He didn’t trust the boy to heat it using the microwave anyway.

                After filling his stomach and tying his shoes for a good five minutes, Daehyun was finally on the streets. He ambled along the sidewalk, just starting to think of a place to go.

                “Hmm…” Daehyun hummed to himself while looking around. “What Daehyun likes to do? Eat? Watch TV? Read? Chicken? Lion? Mouse?”

                The list went on until he finally stopped in front of a shop. He decided to just give anything a try at the moment since he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do.

                Looking up at the shop’s sign board, he read it as ‘Z Optic’. His eyes then averted to the entrance of the shop and after taking in a deep breath to relax, he told himself to just go for it.

                Daehyun opened the door and had a look around the store which displayed various kind of spectacles. One of the workers quickly approached him after that.

                “Welcome, sir. May I help you?” the young man in the store’s uniform suits asked.

                Daehyun turned to him and spontaneously presented an amiable smile. “Can Daehyun work here?”

                The worker raised his brows. “Oh, you’re looking for a job?”

                Daehyun nodded. “Yes.”

                “I’m sorry, but there aren’t any vacancy.” Both his tone and his expression were genuinely apologetic towards the boy.

                Daehyun just blinked his eyes for a second. “So Daehyun can’t work here?”

                “I’m afraid not. Sorry,” the worker smiled regretfully, moreover when Daehyun was having an extremely crestfallen face that almost made him pull the boy into a tight hug.

                “It’s okay. Thank you.” Daehyun still smiled at the man before leaving the store.

                It sure was a letdown, but he wouldn’t give up that easily. With his still burning spirit, Daehyun proceeded to try his luck at other places. No matter how many times he left them with failure, he kept the courage by reminding himself of Yongguk’s tired face.

                After quite a while, he reached another store. He already lost count on how many stores he had gone to and now he didn’t even look at the store’s name before going in. Anyone who went inside would have known that it was a drugstore without looking at the shopfront sign board, except Daehyun. Not that he cared about it anyway. All he wanted was a job.

                “Does this place have any job for Daehyun?” he asked the person in charge at the counter.

                The young woman smiled at him. “Well, what are you interested in?”

                Daehyun’s face started to crease in confusion. “Everything…?” he answered hesitatingly.

                “So it’s okay if you’re given any job here?”

                Daehyun nodded with more confidence. “It’s okay.”

                “Alright. Do you bring your resume? I’ll give it to the manager and see if he wants to interview you.”

                Daehyun was even more confused. “What…?”

                The woman leaned forward to take a look in front of the counter. “I believe you didn’t.” She smiled after seeing the boy’s empty hands. “That’s okay. Why don’t you write down your personal information here first?” She took out a clipboard with several sheets of paper and gave it to the boy along with a pen.

                Daehyun sifted through the few words that had long lines next to them and he got the idea that he needed to fill the information above the lines. He had no problem writing his name, even though he only put ‘Daehyun’ there without any surname. Right after he moved to the next ones, he was completely lost.

                “ID? Address?” he mumbled quietly. Glancing at the woman who was currently doing something else, Daehyun braved himself to ask. “Um… What is phone number?”

                The woman looked up at him with an unbelieving expression. “What? You don’t have a phone?” she asked and Daehyun shook his head.

                “What about your parents? Your family? Your guardians?” she kept throwing questions and Daehyun still shook his head at every one of them.

                “Now that’d be a problem. How should we contact you if we want to offer you a job?”

                “Uh…” Daehyun couldn’t really say anything since he had a hard time understanding what the woman just said to him.

                The woman finally released a sigh with a hum. “I think you should go back and get one. Everybody have one nowadays, right?” She shrugged her shoulders before smiling politely. “You can come again when you have it.”

                Once again, Daehyun returned to the sidewalk in frustration. He just knew that finding a job was not that easy, or maybe the overall situation was too unfamiliar for him. The adult human world was very hard for someone like him who grew up in a few years as a werecat and another few years as a cat entirely.

                After everything he had gone through today, it crossed his mind that he would take some time in getting a job. But he wouldn’t mind, as long as he had the will and put all his effort in it. But for now, his brain kind of not thinking straight because his stomach was making vulgar noises. He patted his tummy, thinking that maybe he should go home and find something to eat in the fridge.

                Daehyun stopped in his track to make a U-turn, but something caught his eyes when he was turning around. It was the tall building across the street, which he immediately recognized it as his hyung’s workplace. No wonder the surroundings were familiar to him. He didn’t expect he would come this far on foot.

                Well, since he was already here, why not go in there and find his hyung? Maybe he could get some food from him and he didn’t have to walk the long way home with a growling stomach.

                It was silent when Daehyun got inside the building. There were some people, but they were all doing their own stuff. Then, he saw a young man sitting behind the counter, who seemed less busy compared to everyone else, so he chose to go there and ask him.

                “Yes, sir? Anything I can help you with?” the man asked after noticing the boy standing before the reception counter.

                “Daehyun is looking for hyung.”

                The man took a moment to process Daehyun’s words since he rarely met someone who addressed themselves with their name. “Hyung? You’re looking for your hyung?”

                Daehyun nodded his head rapidly, grinning in excitement.

                The man smiled looking at Daehyun’s cuteness. “May I know his name?”

                “Hyung,” Daehyun answered.

                The man chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, I know he’s your hyung. But you need to tell me his name so that I can find him and tell him that you’re here to meet him.”

                Daehyun’s brows arched up for a moment before he nodded again. Just nodded.

                “So?” The man’s smile was getting awkward after a few seconds of waiting for the boy to say something. “What’s his name?

                “Hyung…?” Daehyun was also getting confused with the man’s request since he had already told him what he wanted to know.

                The man laughed airily. His fingers were tapping the desk behind the counter in order to control his anger. If it wasn’t because he was working and the boy was somehow too adorable to get mad at, he would have already told him to get the hell out of the building.

                He managed to keep calm and maintain his smile. “Okay, what about your name?”

                “Daehyun.”

                “Surname?”

                Daehyun furrowed his brows, blinking his eyes for a moment before shaking his head.

                Letting out a very long heavy sigh, the man gestured to a sofa behind the boy. “Why don’t you have a seat and wait until your hyung shows up? It won’t be long until he finishes his work.”

                “But Daehyun is hungry,” Daehyun whined with a pout.

                “Oh, there are some snacks and drinks.” The man pointed to the adjacent wall that had a small area for refreshments. “You can have them as much as you want.”

                Daehyun promptly turned around, his mouth watering at the sight of the bowls and jars filled with candies, cookies and chips.

                “Thank you!” he exclaimed to the man with a huge smile before rushing to get there.

                Yongguk was already thinking of what should he cook for dinner when he just walked out of his office. It was no lie that Daehyun always had that cute little happy face every time the food went into his mouth, no matter how many times he had eaten it before. But Yongguk loved to see Daehyun’s extra cuteness when the boy was having something new.

                He was walking straight to the building’s entrance when he saw a familiar figure at the lobby from the corner of his eyes. So, he halted his steps and turned around, thinking that he was just imagining it, probably because that one person kept invading his mind for the whole day. But, sitting on the sofa was a real Daehyun, intently reading a literary magazine while stuffing his cheeks with chocolate chip cookies.

                Yongguk quickly walked over to the boy. “Daehyun?” he called, causing the boy to look up at him.

                “Umph!” Daehyun tried to say ‘hyung’ with a full mouth.

                “What are you doing here?” Yongguk asked, his concern mixing with confusion.

                “Oh, do you know him, Yongguk-ssi?” the same receptionist from before asked.

                Yongguk turned to the man to acknowledge him before turning back to Daehyun, who was tidying up the stuff he had used. “Yeah… He’s… the son of… my mother’s sister-in-law’s cousin…” he replied and just smiled awkwardly at the man after that.

                “Ah… So he’s a distant relative? No wonder he didn’t really know your name. He kept telling me he wanted to see ‘hyung’.”

                Yongguk just laughed it off. “Is that so? He sure can be forgetful sometimes,” he claimed while eyeing the said boy trying to swallow all the food and empty his mouth.

                “How long has he been here?” Yongguk asked the receptionist.

                “About half an hour ago, I think. I told him to wait for you here, but he said that he was hungry. So, I told him have some snacks.”

                “Yeah… I can see that,” Yongguk said, staring at Daehyun who was now stuffing his pockets instead of his mouth with the free candies.

                “That’s enough,” Yongguk grabbed Daehyun’s wrist to pull him up onto his feet. “Let’s go home.”

                 Daehyun got up from the sofa, but the bowl of candies was stuck in his other hand. Yongguk had to forcibly take it away from the boy, and still, Daehyun could snatch a few more from it.

                “Thank you for looking over him.” Yongguk bowed to the receptionist.

                “Ah, no, I didn’t do anything much.” The man humbly bowed back.

                “We’ll take our leave now,” Yongguk said while pulling Daehyun’s hand behind him.

                “Bye bye!” Daehyun waved his hand to the receptionist, earning the same gesture as a return.

                “Next time they ask my name, tell them it’s Bang Yongguk,” Yongguk told Daehyun after they stepped out of the building.

                “Bang- Yong- Guk,” Daehyun repeated, nodding his head at each character.

                Somehow, Yongguk’s heart fluttered the moment his name left Daehyun’s mouth. Maybe because it was just a first. “Yes, Bang Yongguk is my name.”

                “Bang Yongguk is hyung’s name!” Daehyun grinned at the man.

                Yongguk thought that Daehyun had too much sugar, but his heart was definitely pounding right now. His eyes were fixed at the adorable smile before they eventually trailed down to their clasped hands. He immediately broke the hold and cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”

                “Um…” Daehyun thought for a second. Of course he wouldn’t want Yongguk to know that he was trying to find a job. He was not ready to tell him yet. “Taking a walk…?” he said with a sheepish grin.

                Yongguk’s eyes widened at the boy. “You walked here?! You kidding??”

                Daehyun shook his head and answered it seriously. “No.”

                Yongguk could only sigh. “So, why are you looking for me?”

                “Daehyun is hungry.” The boy jutted out his bottom lip.

                “Of course you would after such a long walk.” Yongguk rolled his eyes. “Are you still hungry now? You almost ate all the snacks at the company, you know.”

                “Yes, very hungry!” Daehyun bobbed his head up and down while rubbing his belly.

                Yongguk managed to pull a genuine smile at last. Maybe this was why he couldn’t wait to get home right after he went to work. Daehyun really could make him laugh at the simplest thing he did.

                Stopping by a food truck along their way to the train station, both Yongguk and Daehyun had their dinner there. Even though Yongguk preferred to feed Daehyun with a homemade meal, the sad kitty face Daehyun was making him weak for the umpteenth time. And the way it changed into a bright happy face after Daehyun had a taste of the food caused Yongguk’s heart to swell with happiness too.

                Things took a 180 degree turn when they got home later. Yongguk sure thought that his apartment had been burgled after finding out that the front door was unlocked. He had to be extra careful entering his own house with his phone in his hand, just in case the thief might still be inside and he needed to call the police.

                After while of checking throughout the house, Yongguk was sure that everything was in their places. Plus, there were no traces of someone coming in. Only then, Daehyun, who was stuck behind the man all the time, spoke up nervously.

                “Maybe… it is Daehyun’s fault…”

                And so, the boy was told to sit on the couch while Yongguk paced back and forth in front of him. Daehyun’s back was straight, not even touching the back of the couch. His gaze was casted down as he fiddled with the hem of his sleeves.

                “I can’t believe you didn’t lock the door before you leave!” Yongguk’s loud voice made Daehyun flinch.

                “It wasn’t even closed it properly! What if someone came in and stole something?! You should just twist the button on the door knob! Do I even have to tell you about the simplest thing?!” Yongguk stopped moving and stood right in front of the boy with his hands rested on his hips. “You hear me?!”

                Yongguk’s final yell scared the hell out of Daehyun, his cat ears popping out as a result. He just nodded slowly before braving himself to look up at the man. “Daehyun is sorry…”

                “No, don’t give me that face.” Yongguk shook his head after realizing that he was being attacked by the dropped ears, big teary eyes and sad kitten face.

                “No, I won’t tolerate it this time.” Yongguk waved his finger side to side, but then Daehyun’s lips started trembling.

                “No, seriously, you did something wrong, so you should be punished,” Yongguk stated firmly because his stance almost swerve to a different lane just now.

                He nodded his head to himself. “Yeah, this is a very serious matter. I won’t let you sleep on the bed tonight. You’ll sleep here, so you can reflect your mistake and learn from it.”

                Yongguk went to his bedroom after that, coming out after a minute with a pillow and a blanket before putting them on the couch next to the boy.

                “Punishment is a form of education too.” He shrugged. “Don’t think of sneaking into the bed. I’ll be locking the door before I go to sleep.”

                With the last warning, he finally left the boy there without sparing him one last glance, afraid that he would really change his mind if he did.