A cute chapter? you ask in disbelief.
Yes, cute chapter, and it’s about time too.

This is pretty much a pointless chapter but I wanted to write it so here it is.

Edit: …It starts cute…

Chapter 17 – A Jealous Cat

Hongbin watches, fascinated, as the puppy bounces around Leo. His tail wags at a million miles a minute, his tongue lolls from his mouth happily, and his giant feet get closer and closer to Leo.

Eventually the cat has had enough. When the puppy jumps forward Leo raises a paw. Instead of attacking like Hongbin and the puppy – who had skidded to an alarmed stop – had thought he would, he places his paw on the puppy’s head.

The puppy sinks down on his stomach, legs splayed in all directions but tail still wagging, somewhat nervously though. He looks up at Leo adoringly and Leo glares back. He does not have the energy for a puppy.

“Oi, Leo,” Hakyeon scolds as he returns with tea for Hongbin. “Let Sanghyukkie go.”

“Sanghyukkie?” Hongbin asks, surprised by the name choice.

The puppy barks and sprints for him. Hongbin picks him up easily and puts him on his lap. Only now does he realise that the giant feet mean the puppy is going to be huge.

This morning he and Ravi had received a message from Hakyeon saying that Hongbin was welcome back now. While he was definitely going to miss being at Ravi’s place all the time, he knew that it was Hakyeon that would be able to teach him spells properly. He knew he’d still see Ravi all the time so their goodbye had been little more than a ‘see you later’ and a lingering stare.

When Hongbin had arrived ‘home’ he absolutely did not expect the greeting he got. He expected to be either ignored entirely by Leo, or greeted with a short, sharp meow; not to be barked at by a puppy while Leo glares from the other side of the room.

“He’s Anyegi,” Hakyeon provides, explaining the name.

Hongbin frowns at the puppy.

No way, he thinks. Leo was so Leo even when he was a cat. This was definitely a normal puppy.

“But there aren’t any Anyegi in this country.”

“Not really, no. But illegal trade does occur around rare ingredients.”

Hongbin really hates that thought, the thought of people being kidnapped and sold into this country to be used in potions. The puppy immediately distracts him from the darker thoughts by tumbling off the couch. He must be pretty young to be this small and clumsy.

“He’s eighteen, you know,” Hakyeon says, as if reading his mind.

Hongbin looks at the puppy. No way.

“Where’d he come from?”

Hakyeon doesn’t answer. He gives Hongbin a smile and then heads for the kitchen with Leo on his heels, meowing at the prospect of being fed.

It doesn’t take Hongbin long to get back into a routine at Hakyeon’s house. A week after getting back he stumbles into the kitchen for breakfast – relieved to have not fallen through the floor – and takes his seat at the counter, giving Leo a pat as he yawns.

Sanghyuk pouts, slouching forward and placing his head on the bench. “Feed me,” he whines.

Leo meows in agreement. It was the first time Hongbin has seen them get along all week but he doesn’t think it will last long. He’s right.

When Hakyeon places a plate of food on the bench Sanghyuk goes for it. Leo hisses, swiping at him earnestly. Sanghyuk makes a surprisingly dog-like whimper when he gets scratched.

“Ow,” he cries as he recoils from the angry cat, tears threatening to fall.

“Oh, Sanghyukkie,” Hakyeon coos, coming to make everything better.

Leo hisses again, fur puffed up. He growls at Sanghyuk, shoots Hakyeon a dirty look and then flees. Hongbin is not one hundred percent sure what had just happened.

“It hurts,” the tears begin to drip.

It’s deep. Deeper than Hongbin would expect it to be from a cat and he wonders if Leo had used magic to make it worse.

“Hongbin, come finish cooking this.”

Hongbin does as he’s asked and cooks the food while he watches as Hakyeon cleans the wound and dresses it, looking annoyed as he does.

“He’s so mean,” Sanghyuk whimpers.

Hongbin doesn’t think so. Leo had been a purring ball of fur when he’d arrived. The youngster must rub him the wrong way. Because they were a cat and a dog? Hongbin considers.

Hakyeon doesn’t comment on Sanghyuk’s statement, instead he returns to the food and Hongbin retakes his seat. He scruffs up Sanghyuk’s hair and bumps his arm.

“I’ll make you a potion so it gets better faster after breakfast, okay?”

“Really?!” Sanghyuk asks excitedly. “Can I watch?”

“Of course,” Hongbin grins, pulling gently on the dog-boy’s ear.

Hongbin finds Leo by accident on his way to the potions lab. The cat is pressed up against a window in the library, curled up and sulking. Hongbin pats him a few times but Leo pretends he isn’t there.

“Must not being able to tell Hakyeon that you’re jealous,” Hongbin notes.

Leo finally looks around then and gives him the most unimpressed look he can muster. Hongbin laughs at him just because it wasn’t an expression he ever expected to see on a cat. Leo goes back to ignoring him.

“Don’t even try denying it. Sanghyuk is pretty much always with Hakyeon.”

And he can transform whenever he wants, Hongbin adds mentally. It seemed insensitive to say it out loud but it had to be something that was bothering the Anyethi.

Leo looks back out the window and Hongbin pats him a few more times, getting thoroughly ignored as he does.

“Did you hurt him with magic earlier?”

He’s ignored.

“It looked really deep.”

Ignored.

“Hakyeon was pissed off.”

Leo huffs and stands up. The moment Hongbin’s fingers are no longer in contact with his silky fur Leo teleports away. Hongbin hopes it’s to go apologise but he doubts it.

He heads off towards the potions lab, hoping he doesn’t get lost on the way as he tries to remember Hakyeon’s directions.

Hakyeon is pretty comfortable. He’s got a book that was interesting but easy to read and a blanket to keep him warm. Sanghyuk is back in his dog form and curled up against his thigh, sleeping off the drama from earlier as he waits for Hongbin to finish his potion.

When Leo teleports onto the back of the couch Hakyeon barely notices him and Sanghyuk sleeps on. It’s only when the cat jumps down onto the seat that Hakyeon looks at him. And then he watches in disbelief as Leo plants both of his paws on Sanghyuk – only now waking the puppy – and literally pushes him off the couch. Sanghyuk yelps as he falls, flailing as he lands on the floor.

Hakyeon doesn’t even get a chance to get angry before the cat teleports away again. He picks up the shocked Sanghyuk and wonders what the hell had gotten into Leo, he’ll have to talk to him later because this can’t go on.

Hakyeon doesn’t see Leo later, however. In fact, Sanghyuk and Hongbin don’t either. Ravi on the other hand is surprised to walk into his workroom after a long day in the shop and find Leo perched on one of the work tables, tail swinging in an angry manner dangerously close to a rather lethal potion.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asks the cat.

Leo unleashes a rather human huff before teleporting away. Ravi finds him upstairs, tail still wagging furiously as he sits on the bookshelf.

“Okay then, be a snob,” Ravi mutters.

He lets Leo sleep on the couch anyway but when he wakes up in the morning the cat is gone.

Hakyeon had felt cold when he was going to sleep, unused to sleeping alone, but he wakes up as warm as he normally did. Leo is curled up closer than usual, trying to touch as much of Hakyeon as possible.

The sorcerer frowns, unsure of how to feel. He feels a little bit sad but he also wants to be angry about Leo’s behaviour and at the same time he wanted to take Leo’s side. Hakyeon runs two fingers down the cat’s back and watches Leo stretch out leisurely.

“What’s gotten into you?” he asks.

Leo opens his eyes and stares up at him.

“Are you jealous?”

Leo instantly withdraws from all contact and Hakyeon’s eyes widen. “Really?”

At first Leo had felt that same surprise upon realising he was jealous. He’d never been jealous before, at least not about Hakyeon spending time with someone else. Not in eight years had he ever been pushed to feel this way and he doesn’t know how to handle it.

“Wow,” Hakyeon mutters to himself.

Before Leo can even think of escaping Hakyeon reaches out and grabs him, forcing the cat to his chest for a hug. Leo doesn’t struggle much but he doesn’t lean into the embrace either, not knowing what it meant.

“Sorry. Have I been ignoring you?” Hakyeon whispers, kissing him between the ears.

Ignoring isn’t the right word but Leo decides it will do. He wants his human form back, he wants to be able to talk back to Hakyeon, to express himself beyond growling. He wants to be able to return Hakyeon’s embraces and kiss him back like he used to.

For now he has to settle with bumping his head against Hakyeon’s chin and purring.

When Hongbin enters the room he does a double take. Sanghyuk is lying on the floor and Leo is sitting next to him, a front leg slung over the dog’s shoulders. At first Hongbin thinks Leo has the pup in some kind of choke hold but then he notices Sanghyuk’s slowly waging tail and looks closer.

“Wow, he’s giving him a bath,” Hongbin says.

Unfortunately this causes Leo to turn around and give Hongbin a dirty look. Hongbin retreats. Quickly.

“Stop following me,” Leo grumbles, pushing puppy-Sanghyuk away with his foot.

Sanghyuk continues to follow him, tail wagging all the same. Leo gives Hakyeon a tortured look and then pushes Sanghyuk away again. This time, the second the puppy isn’t touching him, he teleports away. No doubt to some empty part of the house where he could sit in peace.

Sanghyuk sits down, looking dejected. He turns to give Hakyeon puppy eyes but the sorcerer just shakes his head.

“If you stop annoying him he’ll stop running away,” Hakyeon tells him sternly.

Sanghyuk lets out a whine and then sprints from the room.

“Are they ever going to get along?” Hongbin asks.

He’d gotten his hopes up last week after the bath incident but they’d regressed to this stage.

“Leo just doesn’t know what to do with an Anyegi. He told me the other night that Sanghyuk is ‘alright’ as a human but annoying as a puppy.”

“That’s a little hypocritical,” Hongbin states. “Cat-Leo is an arsehole but human-Leo is super cute.”

Hakyeon narrows his eyes at his apprentice. “Cute?”

“Because he’s shy and he runs away from things.”

“Oh, that kind of cute,” Hakyeon laughs. “That’s true. He’ll get used to Sanghyuk soon enough.”

It had already been a month, ‘soon’ better hurry up.

“I hope so, Sanghyuk was super upset about it the other day.”

“Mmm,” Hakyeon murmurs and then taps the book in Hongbin’s lap. “Concentrate on the spell.”

“Oh, right.”

Hongbin can only concentrate on the spell for a minute before he glances up at Hakyeon.

“Are you ever going to tell me where you got him?”

Hakyeon frowns at his apprentice. “Soon,” he mutters before once again pointing to the book.

Sanghyuk during the Superhero days was such a puppy…

Those last two paragraphs kind of don’t fit well, BUT they were cute and I wanted to use them :P

The time skip has begun, dun dun dun