It was a day off for Yongguk. Normal people would think of going out with friends or going on a date or something. But Yongguk would rather be at home and do whatever unfinished work he had. It’s another perk of being an editor besides having the ability to make those books in a way that he desired them to be; he could actually do his work at home. He only needed a fine laptop and a mug of coffee.

It’s not like he didn’t go out of his apartment at all. He would go drinking with his colleagues once in a while and he actually made a promise to join them sometime this week.

Those were his everyday routines, go to work, go home, or socialize with his fellow workers.  He did have close friends but they were all stuck in his far away hometown. He was the only one that left his village to work at a book publishing company but he didn’t regret it. This was what he wanted to do in his life, he wouldn’t step back after all the efforts he had put to get this far.

Maybe he seemed to be lonely. But it had only been half a year since he moved here after accepting a better job offer. He finally got to work in a nice agency compared to the others previously and this place was better than any other place he had ever stayed.

He didn’t really care about the loneliness before because he was busy settling down with his life. But now that he was very sure he would stay in his current workplace as long as he could, he wished he would have another company in this empty apartment.

He knew with his good look and packed pocket, he could get any woman he wanted. He had been approached a few times before until he realized they were all after those two traits of him. They didn’t give him what he wanted. His heart wasn’t filled with happiness.

So after having a lot of thoughts, he decided to adopt a cat. A cat, not a dog, or a hamster, moreover a fish, because a cat could be pet and it didn’t have to go out for a walk nor did it have a cage or a tank to be cleaned regularly. Coincidentally, he saw a cat adoption poster in the elevator since this apartment allowed pets. He quickly contacted the person in charge and she said she would send the cat today.

Based on the poster he had torn from the elevator wall, the said cat had ginger fur which was slightly long for a typical cat. It was a male cat but he had the average size, not too large, not too small. His eyes were big and round, his ears and nose were cute. Yongguk’s heart softened looking at the picture of the adorable cat and somehow he felt that they were meant to be together.

He placed the poster aside before fixing his glasses and turning back to his laptop, smile never leaving his face. He had always liked animals since he was a kid. In fact, his family had pet dogs at home. This was the first time he was going to adopt a cat and he was thrilled.

The bell rang shortly after that.  Yongguk almost spilled his coffee as he stood up in reflex. Quickly, he put down the mug and took off his glasses before dashing to get the door. There was a girl holding a carrier with a big smile on her face. Yongguk returned her smile before inviting her in.

“I’m so glad there’s someone who’d adopt him. There’s not much time left before I move away from here,” The girl who had introduced herself as Jisoo told Yongguk as they sat in the living room.

“Ah...” Yongguk nodded in acknowledgement. “So you wanted to give your cat to someone else because you’re moving?” He asked while his eyes kept glancing at the carrier on the floor but he didn’t quite see the soon to be his cat.

“Yeah, I got transferred to another branch of my company.”

“Why don’t you bring your pet along, though?”

“Because I’ll be staying at my friend’s and she isn’t very fond of cats,” She sighed in disappointment.

“What a shame.” Yongguk was also frustrated because who in the world wouldn’t like the cutest thing called cats.

Jisoo only shrugged her shoulders. “Would you really be able to take care of him?” she asked full of hope.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I work the usual office hours and weekend is my day offs. I have pet dogs in my hometown so I think I can manage,” Yongguk assured.

“That’d be lovely.” She smiled. “Shall we get you two to meet each other?”

Yongguk nodded almost too eagerly at her question. Jisoo bent down to open the carrier and took the cat out. Yongguk felt like his heart was going to leap out of his chest as he gazed at the cute cat with heart eyes. He couldn’t control his overjoyed expression so he just let his jaw dropped in an extremely broad smile.

“I called him Keke,” Jisoo said as she petted the cat on her lap. Keke on the other hand was looking around the unfamiliar place in awe with his big doe eyes.

“And why is that?”

“No reason. I just thought that it’s cute and suits him. You can change it if you want.” Jisoo shrugged. “So, here you go.” She handed the cat to the man.

Yongguk carefully took him like he was some sort of a fragile glass. He held Keke under the cat’s forelegs to take a closer look on the cute face. It was funny because the cat too was staring at him and Yongguk thought those round eyes were sparkling in admiration.

“You’re very lucky to have him,” Jisoo uttered.

Yongguk lowered the cat down to his lap before caressing his fur. He raised his brows in wonder at the woman.

“Actually, I have owned him for about three years and I found that he never really grew up from the first time I took him in.”

“Seriously...?” Yongguk frowned in disbelief. “How did you end up with him?”

“Just like you. I adopted him from an old woman and so did her and so on and so on. I don’t know how many owners did Keke have before me, I don’t know how old is he either. That’s why I thought Keke as a magical wonder when he doesn’t get old even after a long time has passed.”

Yongguk listened to her with interest while looking down at his new cat. Keke too was having his eyes fixed on him but it didn’t freak him out even a tiny bit. He guessed maybe he was indeed lucky to take this cat into his life.

“And he dislikes fish,” Jisoo randomly added.

Yongguk arched up an eyebrow at her. “How come?”

“Weird, isn’t he?” She voiced out Yongguk’s actual thought while shrugging her shoulders. “He likes chicken the most,” she said it seriously before lifting her pointer finger as if to make the man remember about it. “Fried.”

Shaking his head, Yongguk went back to look at his cat. “He’s not like any other cat, is he?” He chuckled, gently petting Keke’s soft fur. “But he eats cat’s food, doesn’t he?”

“Fortunately, he does.” Jisoo nodded with her eyes closed, showing that Yongguk should be relieved about it just the way she was before when she had adopted the same cat.

Awhile later, Jisoo went home after saying her goodbye to Keke. Yongguk returned to the same couch and lied down with the cat on his chest.

“If I can’t get a lover, a cat would be fine too.” He said, his hand tenderly Keke’s long ginger fur, causing him to purr in content.

“So…Keke, huh?” He asked, thinking that he could just keep using the same name without changing it. And the cat meowed for the first time.

Yongguk gasped. “Wow, you’re cute!” He exclaimed. “Give daddy a kiss!” He pecked the cat’s cute mouth but the cat kept meowing even more. So he ended up kissing the cat all over his face. It looked like he had found another thing he loved as much as he did with his job.

“Keke!! Dinner time!” Yongguk shouted from the kitchen. The last time he saw the cat was in the laundry room, still going on an exploration throughout every part of his new home.

“Keke!” Yongguk called again and this time his feline pet came running towards him. He squatted down to the food bowl with a packet of kibbles in his hand. “I know that you don’t like fish but this tuna flavoured food at least?” He asked while showing the packet to the cat, his face was full of hope.

As a response, Keke just stared at him, from standing on four legs to sitting upright with his long fluffy tail curled around his front foot. Yongguk always knew cats were very expressive and now he was sure he was receiving an ‘Are you serious?’ look from Keke.

“Is that a no?” He asked, feeling amused.

Keke’s lids drooped, as if he was narrowing his eyes at his new owner. Yongguk chuckled. “Alright, no problem. I got another with meaty flavor,” He switched the packet with the one on the kitchen counter. “You’ll eat this, won’t you?”

Keke was fast to stand on all of his paws again. He turned into a cuter version with his large eyes and polite meows. His tail straightened up, swaying from side to side. There was too much cuteness for Yongguk to take. He just had to wish for more.

“You want it?” He cooed, treating Keke like one of the dogs in his hometown. The cat meowed again, his voice tiny and squeaky. Yongguk was even more delighted. “You want it??”

Keke maintained his meowing like he knew how cute it sounded but now he moved to the man’s leg before rubbing his furry body against it. Then when he looked up, he shot the most adorable pleading look a human could ever see coming from a cat.

Yongguk literally had his sunk into the floor after that unexpected attack. “Awhhh…” He pulled Keke for a kiss and the fluffy fur over and over again until the cat shook him off. Only then Keke could finally get his food and he stuffed it down hungrily. Next to him was his owner, gazing fondly at his cat devouring the dinner and totally forgetting to eat his own.

Later that night, Yongguk was getting ready to go to bed. He was washing his face and brushing his teeth in the bathroom. The door was left open as usual since he was the only one in the apartment but tonight, there was Keke, standing by the doorframe while intently watching every single move of his human.

“Do you want to wash your face too?” Yongguk turned to the cat before wiping his face.

“Meow.” Keke was still looking up at the man with round eyes.

Yongguk kept his gaze on the smaller one for a moment. But no matter how long he stared at his pet, he really didn’t know how to interpret the responding meows. “Do you want to brush your teeth?” He purposely asked again.

“Meowww…” Keke sounded more like whining this time.

By now, Yongguk noticed that Keke would respond to him every time he said something. Keke seemed to understand everything he said but he had a hard time doing the other way around.

So Yongguk thought that he should ask his company whether they had a book on how to communicate with a cat. If not, he would search every book stores in town since he was not really friendly with the technology called internet.

“Nah, I don’t think you’ll like it that much.” Yongguk shook it off because the idea of brushing a cat’s teeth in the midnight seemed ridiculous.

Keke’s ears drooped at that. His gaze lowered to the floor. Yongguk swore it was the saddest look he had ever seen on a cat’s face. It made him feel guilty somehow. It must be him and his words. Keke didn’t even give a reply when he said that.

“Maybe we’ll give it a try,” he said and he got to see Keke looking up at him again. “But not tonight,” he clarified.

Keke gave a complying meow in return. Yongguk was very much amused. Maybe he didn’t really need a book. He could be a cat whisperer in no time.

“I’m ready to sleep.” He draped the towel around his neck before making his way out of the bathroom. “Aren’t you?” he asked as he passed by Keke but the puss went into the bathroom instead.

Yongguk followed him with curious eyes. He didn’t say anything when Keke jumped onto the toilet bowl and decided to watch his act. Keke sat at the edge of the bowl to do number one. When he was finished, he pressed the flush valve with his paw.

It amazed Yongguk so much that his jaw was left hanging. Maybe Jisoo forgot to tell him about Keke’s intelligence. It looked like he wouldn’t need the sand box anymore. Keke was indeed something else.

The furball came to him after he was done with his business. Yongguk picked him up to his face. “Now are you ready to sleep?”

Keke mewed a couple of times, causing Yongguk to laugh at him. The man proceeded to carry the cat to the bed and both of them fell asleep together that night.

Proofread by therollingsushi

A/N:

this fic has offcially started! /claps alone/

thank you so much to the pioneer upvoters and subscribers! you the best!

and thank you for being patient till today!

LOVE YOU GUYS!! XOXO