Chen was bored by the vet’s answers, wondering if there was such a thing as death by curiosity. It was all the same as last time, however when Chen was asked if he had been noticing anything new about his body, he side-eyed Joonmyeon, who was busy staring at his phone, smiling at something. Chen mentally betted that it was Irene, however it could have easily been a funny photo. The gray cat answered no.

           “And your taking your pills on time? Everyday?”

           Thinking that he’s shown his dislike about the pills before, the cat scrunched his nose. “What happens if I don’t?”

           “Have you not been taking them?” the vet raised his brows, looking over at Joonmyeon, who set his phone down and looked at his pet with concern on his face.

           Chen gulped, “No, I have, but I read somewhere that if I take them everyday up to three years, then I don’t have to worry about taking them ever again.”

           Joonmyeon visibly relaxed a bit, however it didn’t stop him from crossing his legs and giving the cat a certain stink eye. The vet, unaware of Chen’s lie, chuckled, “Well if you forgot to take one, then it’s all good as long as you continue your cycle. However, even that one day is like being hit with a truck of hormones. If you choose to not take your pills however, your instincts will hit you pretty badly; causing you to search for the nearest being to let everything out before your able to really control yourself again… Not to mention you’ll be pretty moody, which isn’t pleasant for anyone. However, unless you wanna make the switch permanent…”

           The cat’s eyes widened and shook his head, “No… no…”

           “Just so you know, the brand you are taking does have one new issue,” the vet looked over at Joonmyeon, “Though it is the strongest to keeping cats at bay, the government is regulating an ingredient in the pill so it’s not as strong as it was.”

           “Okay… so how is that going to affect my cat?”

           “Well… it’s hard to say since each cat is different,” the vet continued as he wrote some notes. There was a slight pause before he continued, “For Chen, if he so much as sniffs a cat in heat, he’ll most likely just get a bit moody.”

           Joonmyeon nodded before biting his lip, “How about a dog? I have a female puppy who’s expecting her first heat any day now…”

           The vet nodded before looking through Chen’s file, “Wendy, right? I don’t think that will cause any issues. Female cats’ and female dogs’ hormones smell different, so I believe your cat here won’t try to pin her down.”

           “And how positive are you about that?”

           The vet looked up from his paperwork and eyed the human. He set the folder into the crook of his arm before motioning the human to follow him. Joonmyeon set his things down, giving Chen his phone, as he followed the older man out the ‘employees only’ door.

           Just outside the door, Chen could barely just make out the voices. Quietly attempting to getting off the silver table was a bit of a feat, but he eared the door to hear the conversation, suspicious that maybe Joonmyeon is suspicious about Wendy and his relationship.

           “…. And I can’t help maybe wondering if they’re mating behind my back.”

           “Mr. Kim, a male cat and a female dog can’t mate.”

           “I know that, but I still have my suspicions! Wendy is almost a year old, and I have seen other dogs look at her. However, she’s always hanging around the cat, and the cat is never a step away from her. He even hissed at my girlfriend when she asked, jokingly, if she can keep Wendy.”

           “Joonmyeon…” he heard a sigh, “Do you want my professional or personal opinion?”

           There was a pause, in which Chen imagined his human to seem to be thinking it over. “Both.”

           “Professionally, if the two are mating, then it wouldn’t be possible because of their animal status; they’d have to mate with the same species of animal in order to successfully have an offspring. However,” the vet lingered, “there have been cases where mixed hybrid pet couples have had offspring, but it’s like one in every few million.”

           “Mixed hybrid pets…. Like cat and dog?”

           There was a pause then a gasp. Chen rolled his eyes.

           “Personally, I would let them just do it. As long as neither of them have anything contagious, it’s totally fine. Not encouraged, but it also doesn’t hurt them since they have human organs. Doesn’t hurt to teach the cat how to put on a .”

           “But you just said—”

           “One in three million, Mr. Kim,” the vet said sternly. “Even I wouldn’t chance that.”

           “But why would they mate if they can’t have kids?”

           “Well that as complex as asking why humans would want to have if they don’t want kids.”

           🐱 🐶

           Chen was sitting against the wall on the bed with a magazine he swiped form the vet’s office. The sudden smell of bacon wafted in the air, letting the cat know that Wendy was cooking something. When he heard the door knock, Joonmyeon opened the door and closed it, as if that would keep the conversation in the room.

           Joonmyeon looked around confused, chuckling when he saw a photo of kitten Chen with a fish in his mouth. “I remember this… We went to the lake and you somehow caught a fish without the pole…”

           The grey cat’s ear twitched and his tail thumped on the mattress. He felt nervous, like Joonmyeon was going to ban him from the house or something. Joonmyeon looked around the room, making comments about things before he finally sat on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees, letting out a sigh.

           “This… was going to be the baby’s nursery…” Joonmyeon nodded, biting his lip. “Jieun was talking about painting it green since she didn’t want to find out the until she gave birth. She was going to stick with a… forest theme.”

           Chen blinke