cr Michel Eichelberger

Sehun stumbles into his apartment, kicking the door shut and toeing off his sneakers. He drops his book bag and yawns. “Peaches? Here kitty kitty.”

“Pretty sure I’ve told you I don’t like that.”

He jumps at the unexpected voice and falls halfway to the floor. His knees strike the hardwood with a solid thud that has him wincing and whimpering a little, a sole tear springing up in his eye. He gazes wide-eyed at the young man standing in the doorway to his bedroom.

The stranger walks to the sofa—footsteps so light they make no sound—and leans over his crossed arms. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah!” Sehun scrambles to his feet and dusts off the seat of his pants. Nothing like a heart attack to wake him up. “Yeah, fine. Um, uh—Who are you?”

“Take a wild guess?” He shakes his wrist, which is encircled by a red leather band with shiny rhinestone studs and bright silver charms hanging from a small ring.

“Oh my God. What have you done with my cat?!” Sehun hustles around his apartment, calling repeatedly for his precious pet. He drops to all fours and peers under tables and shelves, going so far to hug the floor completely and shimmy under his bed.

Squeaking bed springs have him scrambling back into the open. His head pops up over the side of the mattress to be greeted with a long-nailed hand gently clenching and pulling at the blankets.

The stranger sprawls with an easy grace that is decidedly feline and has Sehun’s conscious babbling nonsense. “. . . Peaches?” he ventures, voice a strained squeak.

His human-cat blows a kiss and watches with blatant amusement as the human-human passes out.