The time is initially set immediately after Chapter 29, after Minseok and Chen train a bit and Minseok is asking questions about Chen. At this point, Minseok hasn’t let himself to really love but he’s getting thereeee

After the second solid line, the time is set after the main events of the story!

*Friendly reminder that all biblical references are fictional representations to fit into the storyworld and may not actually reflect real-life depictions

First, Minseok couldn’t understand how Chen could tuck his arms and legs underneath him like a cat would in loaf mode.

“Do your limbs hurt being folded like that?”

“No. I’m a cat.”

“So you can hold really uncomfortable positions forever?”

“This isn’t uncomfortable, but yes, I’m trained to. You will be too, in the future. You make your aura and blood flow through your body where it would be pinched.”

“Oh. Did you find out that you could turn into a hell tiger or a cat first?”

“A hell tiger.”

“Do earth tigers look like hell tigers?”

Chen looked away, and Minseok wondered if he asked something wrong.

“Uhm, you don’t have to answer any of my questions if you don’t want to.”

“No, I might as well. They look similar except hell tigers are tinted a darker orange and can have red and gray. Their fur patterns have more curves to match the foliage of hell. They also tend to be bigger. I look different. My fur is like my cat’s form, full black.”

He turned his head away completely, and Minseok frowned. He preempted his question about what Chen looked like as a hell tiger, but that seemed to be what saddened him. Was it weird to be a different colored tiger? Did hell have phenotypical mutations? If they didn’t, was Chen upset that he didn’t match? The questions went rampant the more he watched the proud demon sink low into the mattress, and Minseok decided to throw his hesitation to the wind. This was their question time, and Minseok wanted to learn everything that he could about him. He poked Chen on the shoulder until the demon reluctantly turned his head back enough to glance at him from the corner of his eye.

“Did you want your form to look like the other hell tigers?”

He sighed through his nose.

“Not exactly. I wanted to match with my family. They’re black, gray, and orange with hints of red. My mother in particular has a beautiful coat. She was, and occasionally still is, sought by suitors.”

“Hmm, and your denmate?”

“He’s super attractive and strong. Whenever we had to go to gatherings, many males were intimidated by him.”

“Hmm, and what about the youngest member of the family?”

“I told you. I’m just pure black.”

“Really? Because I picked up this kitten on the street one day, and I thought he was full black too, since it was dark. But it turns out—he isn’t just a solid color. He has thin golden stripes that shine in his coat and even color his tail tip. He also has these brilliant amber eyes to match.”

Minseok chuckled as Chen finished the turn of his head in a snap. That halo of amber caught his attention again, and he had to clench his hand hard to keep it from reaching out, from giving appreciation through touch. Chen looked to where he wrinkled the blanket, and in that instant, when those irises stopped mesmerizing him, he reminded himself of his original goal, of his original intent to be playful and comforting and nothing more.

“It was like finding a hidden gem in a load of rubble or being as precious as a glimmer of light in the dark. Especially when the sun is setting, you can see that gold and amber. I finally saw it and what it meant to me, and I called him beautiful.”

Chen stared at him, his eyes widening, the amber filling out from their halos to wash over brown. Minseok only allowed himself a moment to see them. Any longer wouldn’t be right. Any longer and he wouldn’t be able to stave his hand. Any longer and he would start to think of something more than just playful comfort. He turned his gaze to the ceiling, but he knew that the smile on his face echoed from the sentiments he couldn’t stop.

“So don’t be upset. I feel like there’s more that makes family than your resemblances to each other, although maybe I don’t have the right to preach anything about family.”

He gave a sad chuckle. For a long while, quiet held the air. Minseok looked at the same spot on his ceiling, trying not to think of anything, tuning into the electric aura beside him as a result. It sparked out a little before buzzing mutedly. Then he felt a warm weight press over his hand through the blanket he clutched, and he automatically went limp out of surprise. His fingers cramped a little, but the warmth slipped between his fingers and twined them gently through the cloth.

“Thank you.”

Minseok bit his lip, blinked rapidly to keep moisture from slipping out of his eyes. Beside him, he felt the mattress shift, and a nose booped into his temple. Minseok didn’t dare look over.

“You can ask me your next question.”

Chen’s voice and breath played with his ear, and he nearly dove off the bed to not be tempted, but the hand in his squeezed warmth through the cloth, alternating pressures. Minseok thought that this was okay, that he didn’t need to run from gratitude. Maybe it was an excuse, but Chen shifted a little closer to the point where warmth teased at the edges of Minseok’s skin.

“I know you’re still curious. And I’m sure that even you don’t want to go back to training that badly. Just ask already since you always have those weird questions nobody else would think about in your head.”

The playful jab pulled Minseok out of the air of what he couldn’t have since… he was honestly not expecting that from Chen. Minseok had to chuckle a little, and he thought that that relaxation and invitation was what gave him the bravery to let go and look over.

“You say something then. Tell me something about you.”

“Like what?”

“Anything.”

Chen raised an eyebrow but gave a small shrug.

“I know over two-hundred languages.”

Minseok choked on his saliva.

“Okay, wow, wasn’t expecting that. That’s a lot.”

“Angelics have better memory, and we live for nearly forever so that’s pretty average.”

“Still. I can’t even name two-hundred languages. Ah, will I have to learn all of those?”

“That’ll be the easy part. Don’t worry about that now.”

Nodding, Minseok looked to him for the next thing. Chen huffed out a small chuckle.

“I’ve dueled with one of the Devil’s Elite Four before and won.”

“Elite four? Is that like in Pokémon?”

Chen narrowed his eyes at him, and Minseok snickered.

“No, it’s not like the final bosses in that video game.”

“Not gonna lie, I’m surprised you know what that is but continue.”

“They’re Lord Satan’s most trusted demons. They’re insanely strong and have almost the same amount of authority as him.”

“Are they commanders? Wait, is that how you got your Liquid Lightning title?”

The demon tucked his chin in, looking like a shy kitten, and Minseok nearly squealed. He managed to contain it in time so that only his chest was squishing in joy.

“They’re not commanders. They’re really strong and high-status demons who act as Lord Satan’s trusted right-hands. I’m… surprised that you remembered that I have a title.”

“Of course, I remember. You were flaunting it when you introduced yourself.” He snickered at Chen’s glare. “And I learned that it was a pretty impressive feat. So how’d you get it?”

“About two centuries ago, there was a fire demon who basically wanted to reenact the divine flood of biblical times but with the lava from the Mid-Gate’s volcano.”

“Wait, I thought that the Mid-Gate was a bunch of clouds and three gates.”

“Part of it is, but there’s also a volcano if you travel a few leagues south. The volcano sits on an island, and it’s supposedly the physical connection between hell and heaven.”

Minseok tried processing that information, picturing hell and heaven being connected by a giant… hole.

“Okay, I don’t think I’ll be able to comprehend that. Just continue.”

Chen smirked before restarting his story. “So that demon was gathering the lava and shifting it towards the mortal gate. The lava is actually earth, but this fire demon knew how to control the heat within the rock. Just from that, you know that they’re strong. The team after the fire demon could barely push them back, and, out of power, they sent out an S.O.S. But that fire demon was smart. They picked a day where everyone had gone out to Earth, like soul crossing day. There were no demons strong enough or of the right element to fight this fire demon. Or so they thought.”

Minseok leaned in as Chen started creating the battle scene with his hands, his aura, and the blankets.

“I was with my commander when he answered the S.O.S, so we ported to the Mid-Gate as soon as we caught the message. He ordered me to take the team to safety while he fended off the demon. Lava splashed in waves all around them, and they couldn’t move because that fire demon had poisoned them with magic on top of manipulating the heat in their bodies. They were only not a heap of ash and light because their water angel managed to create a weak barrier.”

Minseok shuddered.

“Manipulating body heat is possible? And I thought that angelics could withstand extreme temperatures.”

“The demon was skilled—I’ll give them that. They could basically puppeteer the angelics using the heat that their aura and blood produced, and the lava of the Mid-Gate Volcano is part hellfire and part holy fire, so it’s lethal to angelics regardless. But I flew to them, and pulled them out while my commander distracted the target. He doused all the fire and lava that demon threw at him.”

“He must’ve defeated the fire demon easily, right? Suho’s a water demon.”

Chen grimaced.

“He could’ve, but the er faked surrender, was begging forgiveness, then they stabbed my commander with a blade coated in that lava. The only materials able to withstand both hell and heaven’s fire are the Throne of God, the Crown of Satan, and certain gates in Gehenna. The bastard actually hacked off a part of the gate to create that blade. My commander went down. I caught him in the air and barely managed to dodge the next wave of lava. I knew I had to get my commander to safety, so I left him with the team and decided to take the rogue on myself. That er tried to catch me, but I was too fast for their magic poisoning or their control on the lava. But I couldn’t get close, because the moment I did, they would control my body heat too.”

Minseok was clutching at the blanket at this point, half hiding behind it but way too invested to shield his eyes from Chen’s imagery.

“So what did you do?”

The side of Chen’s mouth curved into a sly and evil smirk, and Minseok had to swallow in hopes that his dirty thoughts would flush away too. That was just so y.

“They seemed intent on using my body against me, so the solution was to just not have one.”

“Wait, what?”

“I turned into lightning itself and traveled through the lava. The heat was so intense that even while I was electricity it burned me, but the target couldn’t catch me. Every strike and grab they made into the lava, I just evaded and zipped out of. Then, the moment they started to turn into fire to chase after me, I shot out, morphed back, and summoned all the aura I had to electrocute them.”

 “Oh my g— I mean, damn. That’s amazing!”

“They were thrown into Gehenna, and everyone recovered. Lord Satan himself came to see my commander, and my commander told him how I was the one who neutralized the target and what I did, and the Devil was so impressed that he gave me the title Liquid Lightning.”

Chen lifted his head in pride, and, deciding to indulge the demon while also silently in awe, Minseok applauded.

“That’s super cool. I bet all the other demons were jealous of you.”

“They were. I had a lot of demons coming after me to challenge me. I was also called for a lot of missions, so I was busy those years.”

“Did accept all those challenges?”

“Of course. I do not back down from a fight. I won them all, by the way.”

“Oh, I wasn’t doubting that.”

Chen pulled back, his eyebrows flying upwards. Minseok thought that he was startled, but the demon cat rarely got so. Rolling onto his side to face him, Minseok had a brief thought that their positions resembled when he had pulled Chen onto his day bed, but here, he could see colors that made his skin, his clothes, his eyes. Here, the warmth still in his hand fluttered something within him that he could not escape with sleep. He smiled as Chen tilted his head into the mattress and blinked at him.

“What’re you thinking?”

“Nothing much.”

Chen snorted. “That’s not true. You always think too much.”

“Yeah, we agreed that thinking too much is a human thing.”

To his surprise, Chen leaned a bit closer.

“Yes, so what’re you, a human, thinking too much about?”

Minseok jerked back just because he was so close, but the tug on his hand told him to stay, so he did. His gaze sidled away into the sheets though, even as the truth built his words.

“I pulled you onto my day bed like this too. I was just thinking about that.” He stretched and wiggled a bit into the mattress. “So you said that you had to fight a lot of demons because you got a title. Did that elite four demon challenge you because of it?”

Chen didn’t answer right away, seemed to examine him. In the end, he sighed out of his nose and nestled down.

“No, she challenged me much later and out of a friendly competition. She was also bored.”

“Are all these challenges just fighting?”

“Most of them are because that’s how demons train and know their strength. Her challenge was one of strategy though, because we both knew that I wouldn’t beat her in terms of raw strength. She gave me a labyrinth to solve.”

“What kind of labyrinth?”

“Like the labyrinth that trapped the minotaur.”

Minseok nodded, recalling the maze constructed by Daedalus for King Minos of Crete. Then Minseok had a thought.

“Are all those legends and myths true?”

“The ones in your human stories? In a way. A lot of them are wrong, but it’s not like demons or angels care to correct the humans’ history, even the ones involving themselves.”

“Right. I just remembered that you said that, uhm, Lady Lilith was a real person.”

“She is. She’s one of the original high demons and is the caretaker of hell. She takes care of the beasts that aren’t wild, like Ava, and she’s also the original demonic healer. I’ve never spoken with her, but I’ve seen her from afar.”

“I guess she’s like royalty and hard to catch a chat with?”

“She’s a demonic goddess. Not anyone can just meet her.”

“Is she older than… Mr. Satan?”

Chen looked to a random spot off the bed and hummed.

“She is. I can already see what you’re trying to ask. Adam wasn’t a full human. He was more like a mortal angel made from the one upstairs, and Lady Lilith came from hell as a full demon. They worked together to make Earth more hospitable to neutral creatures and might’ve ed, but he turned out to be an to her, so she cursed him and left.”

Minseok took a moment to process that.

“Wow. Well, it’s good to get out of toxic relationships.”

“I guess. Eve came later, after Adam sulked for a couple hundred years and learned what he did wrong. They fell in love and perfected the Earth, then eventually helped with making humans. I’m sure that they really liked that assignment.”

The demon curled his lip in distaste, so Minseok decided to just not ask about what that assignment could’ve been.

“Also, as one of the original high demons, Lady Lilith knows when someone is talking about her, so you probably just gained some favor with her.”

Minseok froze, then shot up from the bed in a panic.

“What?! I didn’t know that! What if she thinks that I’m a good-for-nothing gossiper?”

Chen sat up on the bed too, and the little pull on Minseok’s hand made him take a quick intermission in his freak-out about an ancient demoness knowing that he was gossiping about her to freak out about how he and Chen were still holding hands.

“Relax. I’m sure that she knows your situation by now, and angelics enjoy gossip, especially the older ones and angels. Besides, you didn’t know that she was listening, and you sided with her.”

“Did… Did you tell me that story just to see what I would say?”

“I kinda had to. She told me to just now.”

Minseok’s jaw dropped just so he could whisper, “What the ?”

Chen perked up and leaned in, like hearing him curse was the most interesting thing to hear.

“The original demons, like Lady Lilith and Lord Satan, can contact all demons because of their strong connections to hell. They usually don’t, but they can. Just now, she told me to see what you thought.”

He looked down and shied away a little, which confused Minseok. He scooted closer and leaned his head down to get into Chen’s vision.

“What’s up?”

“I can’t deny her, and she doesn’t have bad intentions, so… I didn’t… trick you out of malice.”

 Minseok straightened as Chen ducked down, and maybe that was better because scrunching his face and letting out a silent scream could only be hidden if Chen wasn’t looking at him. The demon felt bad or worried? Or maybe just pressured? Minseok didn’t know which to believe, but what his head thought didn’t matter so much to his heart as it squeezed from a cuteness attack. Shifting around, he slipped his other arm around the demon and wriggled some of the affection out of his body, unable to help his laughter.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t think that. I’d just rather make a better first impression to a demonic goddess, but if you’re sure that it’s okay, then I’ll believe you.”

He moved to let go, but Chen pulled him back, leaning his face into Minseok’s shoulder, and Minseok tried to keep the fluster out of his voice.

“Chen?”

“Warm.”

He turned into a statue as the demon started rubbing his face against the back of his shoulder. Limbs wrapped Minseok in a hug, and since Chen basically took the right side of his body hostage, they tipped over into the mattress. He tried wiggling himself free, but Chen’s weight pressed back against him, and the warm reassurance eased him relaxed. He had heard of cats liking warmth, and if demons could feel temperatures just as well despite being unsusceptible to them, then Chen must’ve indulged in curling up against a heater when he was alone.

A faint chuckle bubbled up, but he kept it back to not disturb the demon kitty attached to him. The hand laid over his abdomen broke away and instead snuck up his torso, patting around, to which Minseok raised an eyebrow at the ceiling in amusement. Chen eventually stopped at the crest of his chest and sidled left, splaying a palm across Minseok’s heart. That pattered nervousness straight down in the shape of a demon cat’s handprint and blanked his mind of anything else, and he hoped that Chen wouldn’t think anything of the increased pace of thuds under his hand. He hoped too soon when the demon suddenly hummed.

“You won’t fall asleep like this, which I guess is fine.”

Minseok muttered under his breath, but Chen’s breath huffed at his neck in short puffs, like in a laugh.

“You’re nervous just lying here? Too nervous to ask anything else?”

“N-No.”

There was a beat of silence, or to Minseok, a hundred too many in the close presence of Chen.

“No questions mean you are too nervous, so I was right.”

“N-No, I was thinking.”

“Lie.”

“Shut up. Okay, I have one. Your clothes, how do you change into them so fast?”

“I’m a lightning demon. If I wanted to, I could turn into electricity, go inside, and then turn back with them on my body. I’m just fast though, so I don’t have to do that. I also mostly have clothes that are easy to put on. We wouldn’t need them at all if it weren’t for humans and their prudishness.”

“It’s not just being prudent nowadays. You can be fashionable and look good.”

“I look good even without clothes.”

Minseok coughed and turned his face away when his mind decided to pull up the memory of a Chen into the forefront of his mind. He evidently picked the wrong topic to make a question about.

“Hmm, did you remember a certain very good-looking demon?”

“N-No. Anyways, do you guys not shower or want to wash the grime and stuff off your clothes and yourselves after a mission?”

“That’s what the water bodies in hell are for.”

“Oh, gross.”

“Hey, public bathing was a thing before you humans even thought of using water to clean. I also told you that we don’t have a lot of the fleshy body things that humans do. We don’t sweat, we can keep clean using our aura, and the water bodies in the spheres are different from Earth’s. They can purify, but Angelics have also developed methods of cleaning, so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from to satisfy your obsession.”

“Hey, it’s not an obsession. Hygiene is important!”

“Says the person who has three different brooms. What do you even need them for?”

“One for the inside, one for the driveway, and one for the balcony, duh.”

He mimicked Chen’s indignant chin lift, and Chen just rolled his eyes, but a smile played along his lips.

“I’ve also seen you go around the house aligning things in your cabinets, silverware in your drawers, and the things at the foot of beds. Even if it’s a mess, everything will be set in a straight line, and if some human were to walk into your house, they’d think it’s haunted or something.”

“No way.” Minseok didn’t sound as confident though, and he knew that Chen knew it when his smile pulled a little more on one side into a smirk.

“I bet that you can’t stop yourself from doing all that compulsive alignment.”

“It’s not compulsive. It is rational and totally intentional.”

“Still, I bet you can’t stop yourself from doing it.”

“I-I can too.”

“Is that so? Then try to until your proxy mark is done, though I’m sure that you’ll give in.”

“I won’t. You’ll see. I clean because I’m hygienic, but if it’ll prove you wrong, then just watch. I’m going to beat you at your own game.”

“No, no. I’ll win, and when I do, you must give me a favor.”

“Fine. If I win, you have to… Ooh! You have to be a kitty for a whole twenty-four hours.”

“Fine, I accept.”

“Fine.”

Minseok settled back into the bed, satisfied, until he realized what he just agreed to.

“Wait a minute. Did I just agree to a bet with you?”

“Yes, and no take-backs.”

“Wait, I wasn’t even— I didn’t— But—”

He groaned and facepalmed himself. He had walked straight into Chen’s poorly concealed trap, and when he turned his head, the demon just had a sneaky grin on his face.

“I’m not usually this gullible.”

“Say that to the bet you just made.”

He grumbled a curse but acceded. He would win anyway, and when he did, he was going to rub it into Chen’s smug and really cute face.

Minseok had a hand on the various containers in his bathroom cabinet to organize them when he remembered something.

He threw the container back into the cabinet, shut the door, and skipped out to the living room, where his demon kitty was washing some fruits they saw at the supermarket and he wanted to try. Creeping up on his demon, Minseok crossed his arms and gave himself a special exception to don the smirkiest smirk he could force his facial muscles to make. Chen looked over and raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve never seen you make that face before.”

“That’s because I usually don’t make bets, but this time I did, and I won.”

“Against who?”

“You.”

Chen tilted his head, then froze. Minseok’s smirk widened into a full grin of smirky-smirkness as he turned off the water. The demon took the fruit and started skinning it.

“Your fallible human memory must be acting up. I’ll ask my commander if there’s anything we can do about it.”

“Admit it, Chen! We made a bet that I wouldn’t do any totally-rational-but-you-called-it-compulsive aligning and organizing until the end of my turning, and I haven’t. Now you owe me twenty-four hours as a small kitty.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Did no such thing? Would you like me to reenact the scene?”

Lightly slapping the knife out of the demon’s hand, Minseok swept Chen up bridal style (because he was a gentleman, unlike Chen who carried him like a sack of oranges before) and kicked open the door to his bedroom. He deposited the demon into the mattress before jumping him as he tried escaping. Catching his ankle, Minseok yanked him back onto the bed, bodyslammed the demon into place, and pinned his arm and leg. Chen had grabbed him out of reflex, so Minseok flipped them over so that Chen was on top and knocked down his support, effectively making the demon flop down onto his chest. In full smugness, Minseok trapped him by wrapping all his limbs around the other.

“We were basically in this position when you mildly tricked me into setting the bet with you. I haven’t done any compulsive aligning or organizing since that bet, and my proxy mark is gone, meaning that I won and you have to be in your cat form for me for twenty-four hours. Admit your defeat!”

He let out an evil laugh and snuggled the demon closer. After a moment, he realized that Chen wasn’t moving, wasn’t breathing either. He was just still. Panic prickling his skin, Minseok shook him.

“Chen?”

When he didn’t respond, he bolted up and pulled his demon’s face to his. Chen blinked, startled back, and Minseok groaned out in relief.

“Don’t just go quiet on me like that. I thought something happened. , please don’t do that again.”

He hid his face in his hands, took a few deep breaths as an old memory and the anxiety that always accompanied it whipped across his mind and body. The sudden quiet jolted him back to the last time his brother was safe, when he knocked on his door, when he called so that he could apologize, when he found the window in his brother’s room open.

A warmth wreathed around him, and a nose nudged his cheek.

“Minseok, I’m sorry. You surprised me in the good way, and I got caught up in thinking how attractive and squishy you are. I’m here. Don’t worry.”

The nose was replaced by another cheek, pressing in alternation with the kneading along his waist. The scent of rain and incense surrounded him securely, and when Minseok sought Chen’s hand to squeeze, the demon squeezed back. The last of his panic melted down, and the purr rumbling his chest shuffled the remains of the memory away.

Minseok clung to Chen and his warmth for a little longer. Belated embarrassment crept hot along his neck, but mostly he was just relieved that Chen was here, the hum and buzz of his aura tingling Minseok’s skin alongside the warmth. Feeling better, he rolled his head up to look at his demon. Concern filled his eyes, but they drifted into an ease as Minseok smiled. He remembered something else too—how he hadn’t allowed himself to touch or speak his appreciation before. But now, that no longer applied, and Minseok wanted to take full advantage of that change.

Slipping his hands to those cheeks, Minseok leaned in and captured Chen’s lips with his own. Soft presses and softer touches illuminated his senses, set his blood alight in the heat of affection. He left a mini peck on Chen’s upper lip before lightly on his bottom lip and feeling both smooth and ridged textures of the demon, savoring the taste. He kept their lips and tongues in focus, and Chen matched his slow and appreciative pace, like he understood what Minseok was trying to say through the dance of their tongues.

As Minseok dipped into the soft underside of his mouth, Chen gave a small moan somewhere between gratitude and pleasure, so he left one more kiss before pulling back.

Chen flushed in his cheeks, softly panting. His electricity and scent buzzed the air, a light arousal spicing it around them, and his grip on the back of Minseok’s shirt tightened in a way that kept him from moving forward.

“I’ve never kissed just to… express emotions. I have to calm down first.”

Minseok chuckled and let him do that, instead keeping Chen’s hand close to caress. His breath eventually matched Minseok’s again, and he allowed him to move forward, keeping him close, nuzzling into his temple.

“Is that a human thing? To just kiss your prey but not do anything else?”

“Hey, not every kiss needs to lead to… doing it.”

“Mm, I appreciate you and being able to touch you too, Min.”

He ducked his face into Chen’s shoulder, but he was sure that the demon felt his smile through the cloth. They stayed like that for a little longer until Minseok remembered the original reason he brought his demon to the bed.

“So about my win—”

Chen cursed.

ᓚᘏᗢᓚᘏᗢᓚᘏᗢᓚᘏᗢᓚᘏᗢ

“Wait! Hold that pose!”

“No! I look ridiculous!”

“You only feel ridiculous, and I promise that your grouchy face won’t be seen by anyone else. Now put your paw back.”

Chen rolled his eyes but did as he was told, and Minseok snapped the picture, cooing at the result.

“Okay, you can take a break.”

“Does that mean I can—”

“Nope. You have twenty more hours left. The timer on my phone is not lying.”

Grumbling and complaining, Chen hopped down from the kitchen chair, made sure that Minseok was looking, then lifted his head and tail up in full indignance and strut out to the living room. Chuckling, he decided to give his pissy kitty a bit of special treatment before making him resume his cat modeling.

He pulled out some of the cat-safe sushi he made earlier, set it in the dish bowl he had purchased when he first took Chen in, and made sure that his phone app was on. Chen was curled up on the sofa with his tail and head tucked in, looking exactly like what Minseok imagined a sofa with a mole would look. If he didn’t know that demons could hold their breath for at least an hour, he would’ve been concerned, but right now Chen was just grumpy. Minseok patted the fur ball and heard a muffled hiss.

“Aww, come on, Chen. I made a treat for you.”

He set the dish on the seat, and slowly, the demon kitty shifted to poke his nose out to the air. Minseok held back a squeal as he watched that cute button nose twitch. Oh so cute.

The rest of Chen emerged, and the way his eyes lit up at the sushi didn’t need his changing amber irises to be seen.

“What’s this?”

“It’s cat-safe sushi!”

“There’s no rice.”

“Of course not. Cats don’t need rice in their diet.”

“But I’m a demon. I can have rice.”

“You’re a cat right now, so you will only have cat-safe foods.”

“But I told you before that I mostly only look like a cat when I transform.”

“No buts! Just eat it. I’m sure you’ll like it.”

Minseok pushed the dish closer and knelt until he was eyelevel with the couch seat. Chen narrowed his eyes at him, and Minseok sent back a grin, partly because he was excited, partly to cover his other intention. But maybe Chen could tell anyway because he moved his into Minseok’s face and started eating.

“Hey!”

“Your aura gives away your intentions.”

Cursing, Minseok switched the camera mode and brought his arm around, posing for a selfie before Chen’s paw could stab his eye. It was actually his tail slapping across his face that stopped any further pictures, but Minseok came out victorious! He had a great selfie of a cutely surprised Chen as he ate. If it wasn’t landscape, he would’ve made it his lock screen. Print-out it was.

“Ugh, why’re you so strange?”

“You’ll understand later!”

Minseok dashed back into the kitchen and checked his list of things to do while he still had Cat-Chen. He had one more photoshoot idea aside from sunset time, then he wanted to take Chen to the pet park, a cat café, and a groomer. Checking the time and seeing that he had plenty of it, Minseok laughed evilly just envisioning his plan coming to fruition. He skipped to the living room.

“Okay, Chen. Breaktime’s over!”

On the couch, there was an empty dish but no kitty. Sighing, Minseok closed his eyes and focused on the aura in the house. He learned that angelics’ auras were suppressed in their animal form but still detectable, and he was improving in this skill quite well according to Chen. Quickly locating the strongest buzz, Minseok grinned to himself at the snap of thrill in him as he blended his aura as much as he was able, crouched low, and prowled to the guest room. Chen was under the bed, so Minseok calculated for the angles, set his aura around the doorknob in a string but didn’t manifest it yet. Then he leapt forward and lifted the bed.

Chen shot away, sprinting towards the door. Minseok solidified the aura, and the door slammed closed into Chen’s face. While he was winded, Minseok sprang, grabbing the demon.

“Gotcha! My slippery kit— Ow!”

He dropped Chen as pain sliced down his arm in the shape of four long gashes. Blood welled out quick and fell to the floor in splashes. Minseok cradled his arm, wincing at the sting but… also a bit fascinated. The wounds were longer, deeper, and wider than any regular housecat could’ve inflicted on him from the angle he had Chen in. What’s more—his flesh and skin was clotting, scabbing, and closing faster