Yongguk groaned when the alarm went off. He patted around the bedside table in search for his buzzing phone, squinting at the sudden brightness once his eyes met the screen. It was only seven o’clock so he put the alarm on snooze. Throwing the device onto the table again, he turned his body around on the bed and was seconds late to realize that he was crushing his pet.

                Yongguk pulled away after registering the squirming thing under his belly was his cat. He forced an eye open and saw Keke stretching his small body after his sleep was disturbed. The cat, then, continued his slumber like nothing happened while his owner kept his blank gaze on him for a while.

                It took Yongguk a couple of seconds but he immediately jerked up once he was fully conscious of his surroundings. His eyes were wide now that he had recalled every weird things that happened last night. He carefully reached out his hand and touched his cat, rubbing and caressing the soft flesh layered with fluffy ginger fur. Keke straightened out his limbs again before rolling his body around, leaning closer to the hand for more soothing pats.

                Yongguk was pretty much convinced that it was really his cat, Keke. So maybe the boy from last night was not real after all. Damn, he must be very drunk to have such a tangible illusion. A voice at the back of his mind, however, kept telling him that it was too vivid to be only a dream.

                Now fully awake without the tiniest bit of sleepiness left, Yongguk decided to leave his bed to go to the bathroom. He was relieved when the hangover was not that bad. It was only a little bit of dizziness that would quickly go away by taking some pills.

                He went to the kitchen after that. He usually didn’t have much for breakfast, only a cup of coffee, or maybe a slice of bread if he felt like it. After taking his time making his hot drink, he still wasn’t in a hurry to finish the whole cup. He took one sip after another, gazing mindlessly at the table he was sitting at.

                He could hear the faint chime of the alarm clock from the kitchen. The sound grew louder though as if it was getting closer and closer to him. He found nothing weird in that, thinking that it could be the alarm setting. So when a figure suddenly appeared at the kitchen entrance, Yongguk choked on his coffee before spurting it out.

                The boy from last night had the same blanket wrapping his body again and with a pout on his face, he held out Yongguk’s chiming mobile. “Daddy’s phone is so noisy!” He whined.

                “What the hell?!” Yongguk hollered, standing up after spilling every drop of his coffee on the table. “Where did you come from again?!”

                Surprised with Yongguk’s yell, the boy jumped in his spot, something unbelievable appearing on top of his head.

                Yongguk dropped his jaw. If his eyes were not lying to him right now, those were actual two triangular ears positioned nicely on top of the boy’s head.

                “How…?” Yongguk narrowed his eyes as he stared at the bizarre thing. “Are those cat ears?”

                The boy patted his own head to make sure of it.  He sighed once he found those cat ears. Yongguk’s phone which had stopped buzzing was placed on the table so that he could pull the blanket up, using it to cover his head.

                “It is a long story,” the boy said. He pulled one of the chairs before sitting across Yongguk at the table.

                Yongguk gave all his attention to the boy. His brows were raised as a prompt for him to go on but the oblivious boy was only grinning at him instead.

                “I thought you’re going to tell me the story,” Yongguk frowned. This boy was weird.

                The boy nodded, causing the blanket to fall off his head. The cat ears were already gone which made Yongguk gawk at him. “Yeah, but Keke is hungr-“

                “This can’t be happening to me,” Yongguk cut the boy off, shaking his head repeatedly. He stared at the blanket-wrapped petite figure for quite a while, thinking whether it was possible for the boy to do some kind of magic only by using a blanket. Maybe he should get rid of the blanket. That boy shouldn’t stay all the time anyway.

                “Follow me,” he said before walking out of the kitchen.

                “But…” Keke wanted to stop the man when he walked past him but Yongguk didn’t spare him a glance. He was really hungry and he wanted to tell his owner that he wanted to eat. Guess that Yongguk had a more important thing to do than feeding him. With a pout on his lips, Keke reluctantly got up and went after the man.

                Both of them were in the bedroom again. The boy was curiously peeking from behind Yongguk as the man rummaged through his wardrobe. When Yongguk finally turned around, he stood back on his heels.

                “These are the smallest ones I’ve got.” Yongguk showed a grey shirt and a blue shorts before holding them out to the boy.

                Keke cluelessly took those clothes with a hand still holding to the blanket. His brows furrowed as he stared at them. Then he looked up quizzically at the taller man. “What should Keke do with these?”

                “Well,” Yongguk heaved a deep breath and clasped his hands together. “You have to wear them.” He smiled before adding. “Put them on your body.”

                The boy was still very confused about the whole concept. But he had no other choice than obliging his master. He took a good look at those pieces, holding each of them in both of his hands and that made him forgot about his blanket which had fallen to the ground.

                Yongguk could only sigh at the recurring situation from last night. He averted his gaze to somewhere else, wondering why the boy was so awkward with everything.

                “This is a shirt,” Keke said to him while showing the clothes in his hands. “And this is a pants.”

                Yongguk nodded. “Yes, they are.”

                “Keke has to wear them?” The boy asked as if he didn’t understand why he should do it.

                “Yup, you have to wear them because you’re a human now and humans don’t go in front of each other,” Yongguk explained before the boy could ask any further.

                Keke was quiet for a moment, probably trying to digest the new information. His lips turned into a pout again after that. His hands dropped to his sides, still clutching to the clothes though. “But… Keke don’t know how to wear them…” He admitted softly.

                Yongguk rolled his eyes, releasing a frustrated sigh for the umpteenth time that day, and it was still early in the morning. “Of course you don’t.”

                He snatched the clothes from the boy and began putting the shirt over the boy’s head, telling him to get his head through the big hole and his hands through the two smaller holes. Then he laid the shorts on the floor with the two holes showing and told Keke to put his feet into them. After that, he ordered the boy to pull it up to his waist.

                “There, all done,” Yongguk blew out a puff of air. He didn’t expect this morning to be so tiring.

                “Wow, this feels weird,” Keke commented, stretching his arms out to his sides while observing his own clothed body.

                Yongguk too did the same thing. Even with his smallest clothes, they still looked huge on the boy. But at least the boy was not anymore and it was more secure compared to a blanket.

                “I have something to tell you,” Yongguk spoke up suddenly, causing the latter to fix his gaze on him. “You need to leave my apartment,” He said frankly.

                “Huh?” Keke was surprised to receive the news.

                “I am asking you to leave my place,” Yongguk clarified while crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t intend to have a stranger live with me.”

                Keke’s face fell once Yongguk’s sharp words caught up to him. He was anxious and scared at the thought of leaving a place he called home. But more than that, he was upset. He didn’t expect it to happen here, not with Yongguk who liked him very much from the moment they first laid their eyes on each other. He didn’t want to leave, not again. “But where should Keke go?”

                “I don’t know.” Yongguk shrugged his shoulders. “You’re big enough to think of that on your own.”

                “Keke can’t stay here?” The boy asked. His brows knitted together, saddened at the fact that his owner really didn’t want to be with him anymore.

                “I adopted a cat. Not some weird creature like you,” Yongguk said bluntly. He noticed how the boy’s gaze on him changed into hurt. The sorrow could clearly be seen on Keke’s face. Yongguk's words had pierced right through his heart.

                The boy didn’t say anything after that. His stare dropped to the ground. Yongguk found him looking vulnerable in those large clothes. A small part of his heart warmed up at the sight and urged him to throw his arms around the smaller boy, give him a warm hug and even take back the hurtful words, but he quickly shook the thought off and remained compose.

                “You’ll leave my place in half an hour. I’m going to work,” He told the boy before getting himself ready.

                Keke looked up at Yongguk but the man had already disappeared from the bedroom. He slowly walked out from there and saw the man at the kitchen, cleaning the mess on the table. Even though he didn’t know how long half an hour is, he still had a chance to change Yongguk’s mind.

                He headed to the kitchen first, little by little until he reached the same table. He stood there, waiting for Yongguk to finish wiping the spilled coffee. The man’s gaze flickered on him once and he looked away in reflex. He didn’t know since when but his owner had become so scary now. Nothing seemed to come out from his mouth when they made eye contact.

                After he finished cleaning the kitchen, Yongguk went to his room again. Keke whimpered inwardly after he was ignored. But he still dragged his feet to follow the man. This time, he wasn’t brave enough to go into the room. So he just stood at the doorframe, watching Yongguk pick out today’s outfit. He tried so hard to gather all his courage to talk to the other but it never sufficed.

                When Yongguk left his room to go into another, Keke kept following him without saying a word. Even if he had enough courage, he couldn’t find the right timing to let out his voice. All he ever did was miserably watching his master while fidgeting in his spot.

                Yongguk thought he could deal with it at first but the boy’s act annoyed him more and more. After he was done preparing his things for work in his home office, he went back to his bedroom. He knew the boy would follow him again and he was right when Keke was really there behind him.

                “Stop following me,” He warned without raising his tone, although he was very irritated right now.

                Keke tried to stay calm. Maybe this was the chance he had been waiting for. “Umm…” He took some time to arrange his words in his mind and avoided Yongguk’s eyes as he voiced it out. “Keke doesn’t want to leave…” He muttered timidly.

                Yongguk’s heavy sigh was the only thing he got as a reply. So Keke looked up, only to see the man glaring at him, sending shivers throughout his body. But he wouldn’t give up. “Unni told daddy to take care of Keke…” He added.

                “That Keke was supposed to be a cat!” Yongguk snapped and Keke flinched. His cat ears appeared again.

                “Now get the hell out of my sight!” Yongguk pointed to the door.

                Keke slowly backed away. His eyes wide as he stared at the man in disbelief. He was facing with another side of Yongguk which he had never known before. Maybe Yongguk didn’t like him that much after all. So without delaying any further, he turned around and walked out the door.

                The apartment turned awfully quiet after that. Yongguk just realized that he was back to living alone. Everything returned to the life he had before he adopted Keke. He felt very empty during those days. Would he feel even emptier after kicking out the boy? Did he make a mistake?

                Yongguk sighed. He shouldn’t be thinking too much about it. The boy had already left. They wouldn’t have anything to do with each other anymore. He would go back to his normal life like nothing had ever happened.

                When he was finally ready for work, he made sure he got everything he needed in his backpack before going to put on his shoes at the door. Then it hit him. He wondered if the boy had any of them. He only gave him clothes to wear but not shoes.

               Yongguk started to get worried. It would be hard for anyone to go anywhere without a pair of shoes. So after he got out of his apartment, he had a look around his floor to see if the boy was still around. The boy was nowhere to be found. He immediately took the elevator to go to the ground floor. He checked if the boy could still be somewhere nearby. But when he still couldn’t find the boy, he decided to just shrug it off.

                “…Yongguk? Yongguk?!”

                Yongguk snapped out of his reverie. He was sitting at his desk in the office. He was supposed to read a chapter from a book and refine it but he ended up lost in his own thoughts. Looking back at his computer, he had not even finished a single paragraph.

                “Hey, Yongguk,” the same voice called again.

                Yongguk turned to his colleague who was occupying the workspace next to him. His brows raised quizzically at the other man. “Yeah?”

                “Are you okay? You seem off,” the man asked in concern.

                “Sure. I’m fine.” He nodded with a smile.

                The man scoffed, not believing Yongguk’s words. “You’ve been staring at the screen for quite a while, you know. Maybe you should take a break or something,” he suggested.

                Yongguk glanced at his computer. He suddenly was uninterested to read the fiction. He couldn’t bring his mind to focus. “Yeah… Maybe I should,” he agreed to the latter.

                He chose the pantry to have a rest. A long heavy sigh was released as he plopped down onto the couch. He never had any worries bugging on his mind before. But today, Keke was everything he could think of.

                Yongguk felt guilty. He felt like he really had done something wrong and he couldn’t keep calm until he could get rid of that feeling. He was already worried that the boy didn’t have any shoes. Then, it crossed his mind that the boy didn’t have any money either. Later, he wondered if the boy had an identity card and he obviously knew that the boy didn’t because what could a man even carry? Nothing.  

                Yongguk groaned while rubbing his face. Looking back to what happened just now, maybe he really shouldn’t have raised his voice at the boy. The boy was right. He was supposed to take care of him, not telling him to leave even if the boy turned out to be some sort of a weird creature. Nonetheless, there’s nothing he could do about it now.

                As Yongguk was walking home after he got off the train, he was still thinking if there was any possibility to fix his mistake. He would have to search for that boy again, or that cat. Whatever it was, he didn’t really care about it right now. But he had no idea how and where to look for Keke.

                The journey to his apartment building was shorter when he was occupied with the thoughts of that boy. He straightaway went to the elevator and pushed the up button. He stood there, waiting for the elevator door to open with a ding and, when a thought crossed his mind. Does Keke know how to use the elevator?

                Yongguk could bet that the boy didn’t know what an elevator actually is. And if the boy wanted to find a place to stay, it would be easier to do it in his cat from. He wouldn’t choose anywhere with the people passing by because not everyone liked cats.

                Yongguk rushed to the staircase, wishing so bad that Keke was still in the building and not out there somewhere in the city. He climbed a flight after another, in a hope that he would find the ginger cat lying on one of the steps. His determination never ceased even when he was reaching the top level of the ten-story apartment.

                His clothes were drenched in sweat and his breathing was ragged. He was sure he saw nothing on the stairs but something in his heart was telling him that there’s still hope. So he took a deep breath and started to descend the staircase in search for Keke again.

                It was the same as before. Nothing was on the steps. Not even dirt or dust. He was panting twice as hard after he went down the last flight. His knees felt like they could dislocate so he mindlessly took a seat on one of the steps.

                Now that he realized that Keke was not anywhere at the staircase, he continued to wonder where the boy could possibly be. If the boy had really went out of the building, the chance for him to find the boy would be very slim.

                Yongguk just sighed at the thought. He took a look around the ground floor while thinking about any other place he could go search for the boy. Then his head made a ninety degree turn to the space underneath the staircase.

                A sudden urge to have a further look made him stood up on his feet. He slowly rounded the first stairway and once his eyes landed on a familiar cat, he had never felt so relieved.

                Keke was sleeping below the stairs on his lent clothes. Yongguk tried to approach him as quiet as he could but the cat’s ears still twitched at every movement he made. Before he could even reached him, Keke already had his eyes open.

                Yongguk’s lips thinned when their gazes fell onto each other. He kneeled in front of the cat who was now fully awake and kept staring at him with round eyes.

                “Can you change into your human form now?” Yongguk asked awkwardly. Of course, the cat didn’t say anything in reply.

                “Please? So that I can talk to you?” Yongguk tried again but Keke still didn’t show any respond. Instead, the cat surprisingly went back to sleep.

                Yongguk huffed. It looked like it wouldn’t be easy to coax this cat. Without thinking twice, he grabbed the cat along with his clothes and held them in his arms as he walked out of the dark space.

                Keke didn’t fight back though. He just stared at the man as he laid in his warm hold. He was brought into the elevator which he never had the guts to ride alone. Shortly after that, he was back to Yongguk’s apartment or more specifically, on Yongguk’s bed.

                Yongguk put the dirtied clothes aside before placing Keke on his bed while he stayed on the ground just because he wanted to talk face to face with the cat. “I’m really really sorry for what I’ve done,” he apologized genuinely. “Can you turn now?”

                Keke was yet to give any respond. He even averted his eyes to somewhere else.

                Yongguk breathed out heavily. “You’re still mad at me?” he asked, not expecting any reply anymore. “Then I’ll give you more time,” he said before getting up on his feet.

                “I’ll go wash myself first.” Yongguk took off his clothes until he was left in his tank top and boxers. He went straight to the bathroom but not before he turned to give Keke another glance. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said sternly.

                It didn’t take long for Yongguk to finish his bath since he was so afraid that Keke would run away. But as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, all of his worries were gone when he saw a bundle of blanket on his bed. Keke had changed back into his human form and Yongguk was so relieved.

                He was facing Keke’s back but the boy didn’t turn to look at him at all. He rushed to his wardrobe to get dressed after drying himself and he didn’t forget to get a pair of clothes for the boy too. Slowly, he rounded his bed and stopped before the boy.

                Keke finally looked up at him, making Yongguk pull an awkward smile. “Let’s put these on you first,” he said and the boy complied.

                After he was done wearing the clothes with the help of the man, Keke continued to be quiet, still sitting on the bed but with his feet down on the floor this time. Yongguk ended up kneeling on the floor again right in front of him.

                “I’m sorry for what I’ve said earlier,” Yongguk began with another apology. “I think I just freaked out.”

                “Daddy did…” Keke nodded, fixing his gaze on his lap.

                Yongguk noticed the way Keke’s lips turned into a pout. He just realized that the boy could be quite adorable. It made him want to coo at him and pat his fluffy hair. “I’m really sorry. I know I should take care of you. Not abandon you,” he admitted.

                Keke decided to lift his head at that. He could see how Yongguk’s face looked as sincere as his words. Because of that, he couldn’t stay angry at the man.

                “Don’t worry,” he smiled in assurance. “Keke had been abandoned for a few times before.”

                Yongguk knew the boy said that to make him feel less guilty but it made him feel sorry for him instead. He wanted to ask what the boy meant by that. However, a growling sound captured more of his attention.

                Keke gasped, clutching to his stomach as if he was going to die. Yongguk’s mouth also hung open. He just remembered that the boy had not eaten anything since morning.

                “Are you hungry?” he asked full of concern and Keke eagerly nodded his head.

                “Come,” Yongguk got up from the floor, telling the boy to follow him.

                Keke quickly jumped off the bed, running after the man. He ended up reaching the kitchen first and already took a seat at the table before Yongguk could even be there.

                When Yongguk entered the kitchen, he only shook his head with a smile while looking at the boy swinging his feet back and forth on the chair. He went to open the fridge, scrutinizing everything he got in there to feed the starving creature. “What do you want to eat?” he turned to the boy.

                Keke was quick to point somewhere on the countertop. Yongguk followed the boy’s direction until his eyes landed on the cat’s food. He frowned, but still went to take the packet. “This?” He showed it to the boy and Keke bobbed his head up and down.

                His frown grew deeper like something didn’t feel right. He took both the bowl and the kibbles before placing them on the table in front of the boy. He was already tilting the packet, about to pour the food into the bowl, when human’s intelligence returned to him.

                Yongguk put down the cat’s food while shaking his head. “No no no. This is inappropriate.”

                Keke was definitely taken aback by that. “It’s a no no?”

                Seeing the very sad and disappointed face the boy was making, Yongguk felt like a school bully. He sighed. “You know what, we can just order fried chicken.”

                Keke’s face immediately lit up, his big eyes sparkling with delight. “Keke and daddy are going to have chicken?!”

                “Yeah,” Yongguk smiled as he pulled out his phone from his pocket and dialed a certain number.

                Keke was overflowing with happiness that he couldn’t stay still anymore. He was bouncing on his heels and the other man just gazed at him while holding his phone to his ear. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, Yongguk thought. Maybe he would let Keke stay with him for the time being. He needed company anyway.

Proofread by therollingsushi

A/N:

don't worry, Keke won't be calling himself as Keke and Yongguk as daddy for long :)

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