Sehun stands with his back to the oven, frozen in place. He hadn't expected things to fall apart this quickly! From the corner of his eye he can see Luhan cowering on his chair, his tail still puffed out but hanging down now. He's scared.

"Sehun what is going on?" Baekhyun shouts, face ashen and eyes wide. He's scared too. So is Taeyeon, standing behind him. He needs to take control of this situation before something awful happens.

"Baekhyun, Taeyeon, go back to the living room, I'll be there in a minute," he commands in a voice that is wavering too much for it to have the authoritative effect he'd intended for it to have. Neither of them move, so jerks his head sharply. They move reluctantly out into the hallway, but he doesn't hear footsteps,

"Living room! I'll be there in a second," he promises. Once he's sure they've gone- and he can't leave them too long or they might start coming to their own wrong conclusions- he kneels down next to Luhan and reassures him that this isn't his fault. 

"If it's anyone's fault, it's mine, I made that damn wish or whatever, it's my fault you're like this," Luhan's face drops, eyebrows coming down into a frown.

"If you're talking about the wish thing, then that's my fault too. I've always wanted to be like this, I always wanted to be like this for you." Sehun blinks at him, trying to process this new revelation on top of everything else that is going on at this moment, and decides that he'll deal witth this later. Whatever 'this' is.

"Ok, we'll discuss who's fault it is later, but right now I need to go and do some damage control in the other room. You think you can keep an eye on the food for me? It just needs to be stirred every now and then, that's all." Luhan glares at him, and Sehun realises he is somehow adept at offending his new housemate.

"Excuse you; first off, you blatantly ignored what I just said, and secondly, I am a fully capable adult, in fact I'm older than you as a human. So go do your 'damage control' and leave the food stirring to me," he spits, saying 'damage control' in a mocking voice. Sehun has his doubts about the fully capable adult part, but lets it slide in favour of not drawing to attention the first part again. He really doesn't want to have to deal with that until he absolutely has to.

"Ok, well. I'll leave you to it then," he stands up, knees straining from crouching like that, and rolls his neck, preparing to placate his hysterical friends in the other room. He sneaks down the corridor and leans his head around the doorframe, looking through the crack between the door and the wall like some kin of spy or ninja, except he wouldn't make a very good one, because Taeyeon notices him immediately.

She seems to have calmed down a fair deal since he last saw her a few minutes ago, but now instead of looking scared she looks somewhere between livid and bewildered. Baekhyun leans more towards livid.

"Sehun, why is there a kid in you kitchen with real cat ears and a real cat tail?!" Sehun notices how his grip on Taeyeon's hand in his lap tightens with every repetition of the word cat, "Is this some kind of a joke? They moved, and they're attached to him! Sehun what-I don't understand," He shakes his head looking at the ground with wide eyes. Sehun had expected them to be surprised, but he wonders if they're taking it a little too far? After all, he'd gotten over the news in a matter of minutes.

But then both of them have always been fairly dramatic, for as long as he's known them. That's another part of the reason they fell together so well; they feed off each other's exaggerated drama. He braces his hands together and prepares for an uphill battle. It always is with Baekhyun. Sometimes Taeyeon is easier to persuade, but only about certain things, and he has a feeling neither of them will believe this. And then when he finally does get them to believe him, he'll then have to make them  promise not to tell anyone about it. Which will be no easy feat for either of them.

"Ok, I'll tell you, but you won't believe me," he states, with a manner of confidence. Baekhyun just looks at him, and Taeyeon, quickly recovering, nods. Sehun takes a deep breath, and speaks with his eyes closed,

"Hannie is Luhan." He screws his eyes up tighter for a moment, then opens them just a sliver. Baekhyun blinks at him slowly, and Taeyeon is looking at him with her head tilted to the side and her eyes narrowed, similarly to Sehun's but more out of concern.

"Sehun, I. I'd ask if you were on some kind of hallucinegen but I saw it too. Wait, was there something in that wine you gave us? Did you drug us?" 

"No!" Sehun is scandalised that they would even think such a thing, but after a moment's consideration, he guesses that's probably easier to believe than a cat turning into a human. "No, he's really Luhan. Luhan, who was my cat, is now the guy in my kitchen. It was just as much of a shock to me too, but the evidence is really irrefutable if you look."

"Bull," Baekhyun says flatly, looking sceptical, and so does Taeyeon, although seemingly more willing to listen,

"So what evidence is there for that, apart from the ears and tail?" She asks. Sehun worries there will be a permanent line between Baekhyun's eyebrows by the end of this ordeal, providing he doesn't just walk out on him altogether.

"Well, think about it. I haven't seen the cat since he turned up in my bed, and his hair slash fur is the exact same shade of pink you dyed my cat that time. He seems to remember everything he did as a cat, I mean, he knew you two at least. If you asked him I'm sure he-"

"Wait, back up. He was in your bed?" Taeyeon interjects, cutting him off. Sehun balks, not having realised how that might've sounded to her. 

"Well, yeah. Luhan normally sleeps in my bed, and he...changed, overnight so of course he would've been in my bed," he replies, not meaning to sound defensive but it happens anyway. They nod in understanding. Sehun is glad, they seem to be starting to accept his explanation, albeit very slowly.

"I still don't get it," Baekhyun confesses, rubbing his eyes aggressively. 

"That's ok, neither do I. Nor does he, I believe. This whole situation is just...messed up. I don't know how he became human, when he's ever going to change back, if at all. He seems insistent that I treat him like a human, but then acts like a cat, it's so weird." He leans back on the sofa, looking up at the ceiling, "I have no idea what to do now," he admits. No one says anything for a few minutes, almost fooling Sehun into believing nothing's wrong, but then a crash and a clatter and a yell resonating from the kitchen has him frowning.

Sehun sprints to the kitchen,

"It's fine! Look, I just dropped the lid it's ok!" Luhan cries, beaming at him from across the table where he's loading up plates with food. Sehun sags with what he realises is a relief. He'd thought Luhan had managed to hurt himself. He nods and stoops to pick the offending peice of kitchenware up, and puts it in the sink. 

"Ok, well. That's good," he says, a loss for words. Baekhyun calls from where he's probably still perched on the couch, asking if everything's ok, and Sehun shouts back a 'yes, don't worry!' 

"Actually you should call them in, since the food's done," Luhan says, dolling out pasta dutifully. For his first time ever cooking, he's not done such a terrible job, unless it turns out to taste awful.

-

All sat around the table, with spare chairs brought from other parts of the house, they start to eat in silence. Baekhyun and Taeyeon are casting looks that Sehun can't read at Luhan every few seconds, giving Sehun the urge to protect him, or at least tell them to leave him alone. Instead, he tries to divert their attention to something else,

"So, um..." great, now he can't think of anything to say and they're staring at him expectantly. He falters, wishing he'd thought of something to say before he'd opened his mouth, "uh, is the food ok?" he finishes pathetically. Luckily they both nod, Baekhyun giving him a thumbs up, chewing happily. He looks at Luhan, who is equally responsable for feeding them today and smiles, agreeing. Luhan can't fight back against the flattery pulling his lips up into a curve, and instead ducks his head to hide it, ears twitching happily.

Under the table, Luhan kicks Sehun's leg. Sehun retalliates, trying to be as subtle as possible, but obviously not subtle enough. Baekhyun's suspicious eyes lock on to them, and Sehun shrinks under his stare,

"I think we'd better lay down some ground rules. One: no inappropriate touching, because that's ," his lip curls, nose wrinkling. Sehun doesn't miss the snort that comes from Taeyeon, although she tries to cover it. Sehun flushes with rage, and Luhan's face darkens, head tilting back threateningly, "two; Luhan has to act like a human, or otherwise he'll be treated like a cat-"

"But that's a self contradiction: if there is to be no 'inappropriate touching' because 'I'm a cat' then surely it doesn't matter whether I behave like a cat or a human?Because why should I bother to behave like a human if I won't receive treatment that reflects that?" Luhan pipes up, smirking at Baekhyun, who gapes at him, clearly not expecting the cat-turned-human to talk back. No one talks back to Baekhyun. Sehun folds his arms smugly, then realises what Luhan's just said.

Luhan pretty much just said he wants to be touched inappropriately. Right? Or is he reading that wrong? Baekhyun seems to have come to the same conclusion, because Sehun can see the gears turning in his head as he takes another mouthful of food. Taeyeon is simply watching them, eyebrows raised sceptically, enjoying the show.

"Still . We don't know when you're going to change back, can you imagine how gross and terrifying it would be if you were having and you suddenly turned into a cat in the middle of it?" Baekhyun's face crinkles in disgust. Sehun is also vividly picturing this, and it's putting him off his dinner,

"Baek, uh, kinda eating here? Can you maybe, not?" 

"I'm not going to change back," Luhan states confidently. 

"What makes you so sure?"

"Well, do you feel like you're going to spontaneously turn into a cat any time soon?" Luhan challenges,

"Luhan, you used to be a cat! You still have cat ears and a tail, so I think out of both of us, you are the one most likely to turn into a cat!"

Taeyeon mediates, before it can evolve into a real fist fight, "Ok, let's just assume Luhan is staying human, alright?" She nudges Baekhyun, who gives her a petulant look but eventually gives in when Taeyeon lifts just one eyebrow. It's a move he's weak to.

Cue another awkward silence. 

Taeyeon asks Luhan about how the difference feels between now and how he was before, which leads to an interesting discussion about height and movement and food and then Luhan mentions his relationship with Sehun, his ears going from being perked up o swooping low over his hair in a hearbeat.

"He used to, you know, pet me and stuff. Like I'd sit in his lap and he'd scratch my head. That feeling is glorious, but he won't do it anymore unless I force him to. And he won't let me sit on him, either," he scowls, bringng laughter to the table.

"Well you can't expect me to just adapt so quickly," Sehun retorts, cleaning away the now empty plates and leaing them in the sink to deal with later.

"I'm different, but not that different. What I mean is, it doesn't feel like that big a change for me. I'm still me, I just look different, make sense? So I guess I just feel rejected. A little," 

"I'm sorry, it's just. I just. It's strange." Sehun can't get a full sentence out, and it frustrates him.

"Sehun hasn't been intimate with anyone in a really long time. Or maybe never, I'm not sure." Taeyeon chuckles, "maybe part of the reason he's so uncomfortable is because he's just not used to human interactions like this. It just means you'll have to give him lots of affection so he gets used to it quicker," she grins, and pats Luhan's shoulder comfortingly,

"I'm never cooking food for you two ever again," Sehun grimaces. After desert of icecream and rasberries, which Luhan had never tasted before, and almost cried in delight over, Baekhyun and Taeyeon take their leave. It's pretty dark outside now, since it's just turned half nine, and the sky is striped with dark blue and purple clouds. After the car has left the driveway, and all their goodbyes have been said, Luhan pushed Sehun down onto the sofa and lies on him the same way they'd been before they were interupted by his friends.

Luhan shifts comfortably on on his lap, sending rushes of heat through him and he curses Taeyeon to the sixth realm of hell, and Baekhyun too. 

"Can I still sleep with you?" Luhan asks, "I don't like sleeping alone," Sehun closes his eyes and wonders why him.

-

IM SORRY i didnt mean to update prematurely i apologise to those of you who have already read part of this chapter OTL

ahh this chapter has caused me aggravation and im still not convinced its very good tbh i may come back and rewrite some of it at some point idk. ill try to make the next chapter better i promise

soo *scratches neck awkwardly* where did all you guys come from? like every time i refresh the page it feels like theres more of you 0_0 

remember to comment -_^