10. DH Cats

The sun was still rising, the river was covered in red rays of sunlight and a small city appeared on the horizon. I was awake a little earlier than usually, standing on the board and looking around. I felt cold humid breeze on my face and smelled the unclear water. Small white waves were hitting the front of the steamboat and I bit my lip.

“That´s our stop.”

I was startled by the deep voice behind me. It was Eunhyuk. Dressed in his long leather coat and torn shoes, he leaned against the railing next to me. He wasn´t looking at me but at the city in front of him. His usually feral dark eyes were now the colour of the rising sun, making him seem more human. I thought of him as human all the time of course but I couldn´t defy his animalistic side. Eunhyuk was wild species.

“You will meet another friend of mine,” he told me, staring now into the water, “I don´t see him often myself so it might be a little awkward. Don´t get startled by him, he´s a little extravagant.”

“For a lone wolf you have many good friends,” I chuckled and Eunhyuk cleared his throat.

“I didn´t befriend them,” he sighed, “it began with Yesung forcing himself into my life and then it spread around all his franchises. I used to think it was a pain in the but now I´m grateful.” Eunhyuk then glanced at me but when he noticed I was staring at him, he turned away shyly.

“It feels good,” I remarked, “knowing that when you´re travelling around the world, there are places where you can feel welcome.” Eunhyuk nodded and then the steamboat honked loudly, we were nearing the port.

Eunhyuk had us standing on the platform. Me, Kyuhyun and Zhoumi, who also got off the steamboat as he was joining our small group. For a city that was deep in the central part of the continent, it was pretty crowded. It was some kind of trade centre and an important river port. Merchants were everywhere and I didn´t feel like diving into crowded narrow streets. Even Eunhyuk was apparently nervous.

“Follow me to the guest house and try to not get lost, please,” he announced, "especially you,” he glared at me.

I was about to say something back to him, but at that moment he turned around and put on the heavy backpack. Eunhyuk began walking into the busy street and I rushed to him to perhaps try and give him a comeback for his glare. Instead he wordlessly grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. I felt like a kid but I couldn´t protest much since his worry was sort of justified. I would lie if I said that I have never got lost in a city before. Crowds simply weren´t my forte.

Eunhyuk was as always perfectly orientated, even though I was completely sure that he hasn´t been here more than once or twice in his life. We´ve talked about the journey a lot during the sail and Eunhyuk was eager to discuss the journey with me, since I was the map holder. But back to the topic, I think he was using his superb smell or some other sense that a normal human didn´t possess, or else I don´t know how he would be able to bring us here. To ´Heechul´s Cats´.

“Um, is Heenim at home?” Our guide asked after opening the heavy wooden door carefully.

“You must be Eunhyuk,” a thin female voice said, “he´s already waiting for you.”

“Alright,” Eunhyuk sighed and then stepped inside with more confidence.

My hand was free and I walked inside too. There was a young woman with a bright smile, very beautiful, and Kyuhyun shot her his best smile. The player in him was back in the game. The inside of the shop looked, let´s say, alternative. Bright colours, especially red, flowers and metal objects that were almost dazzling me. Just like other Yesung´s franchises, behind the shop were other, rather personal rooms. Although this time, it looked more like an inn or something. Then somebody began yelling slash cooing.

“Omo! Eunhyukkie!” The loud voice was obviously picking on the morpheles. A very handsome man came running in red satin clothes. His hair was black and long, his eyes cat-like.

“Hello, Heechul,” Eunhyuk bowed but soon was taken into an embrace. How typical of his friends, I was used to that already.

“And you must be the little fox,” the guest house owner then grinned at me. “Pleased to meet you, Donghae.”

“Nice to meet you too,” I said politely, although I didn´t know from where he knew my name. I looked at Eunhyuk, who only rubbed his neck awkwardly. Was he talking about me to his friends or was it just another franchise spread?

“Could you give us two rooms, Heechul? I have some business to talk about too with you,” Eunhyuk said after Heechul greeted Kyuhyun and Zhoumi with affection.

The room looked just like that Heechul guy. Colourful, tasteless, extravagant but strangely comfortable. I was sharing with Eunhyuk again but the latter went to talk with Heechul privately right away. I lay on the big bed and spread my arms and legs. From the room next to me I heard Zhoumi´s laugh. That fellow was really awed by Eunhyuk´s shape-shifting skills, it was intriguing. I think he might have agreed to come with us just because of the morpheles. But he seemed to be a nice guy, right? For some reason, I had mixed feelings about him, though.

I became bored, lying in my room like a lazy cat, and decided to look for Eunhyuk. Even if it meant I would find him in the company of the strange shop owner. Heechul´s laugh was coming from behind a closed door. I stood there quietly, realising that Eunhyuk was actually talking the whole time. I didn´t know what story he was sharing with the man but Heechul was laughing rigorously, it was fascinating, I wanted to be there too. I knocked on the door but opened it right away. Two pairs of wild eyes darted at me, feline and canine. I felt suddenly awkward, or rather like a prey.

“Is something the matter, Donghae?” Eunhyuk straightened himself in his seat. Heechul gave him a grin.

“I was just wondering where you were, I didn´t want to interrupt,” I trailed off.

“Of course not!” It was Heechul who beamed at me. “Sit down, do you want some tea? It´s a good tea.”

“Thank you,” I murmured and sat down next to Eunhyuk on the leather sofa. The whole room looked like a tea room or something. Cushions, carpets and drapes in all possible shapes and colours were making the place look unexpectedly comfortable. There was a small coffee table with cups and snacks, which were somehow on Eunhyuk´s side of the table mostly. I obediently took the cup of tea offered by Heechul.

“Anyway,” Heechul turned back to Eunhyuk with a smile, “Shindong should be more careful around you.”

“I warned him that I would forward the story to you,” the morpheles shrugged, making Heechul laugh again. Ah, so he was talking about Shindong. “Also, I´m a little mad at him, so you can take it as a small revenge.”

“Is that so?” The shop keeper was surprised. Me too, honestly. Eunhyuk didn´t really talk bad about people.

“Some of the stuff I bought from him didn´t withstand during the journey,” the morpheles grumbled, “it caused us some serious troubles.”

“That´s unusual,” Heechul remarked, “for you to complain about troubles.”

“This isn´t a usual adventure either,” Eunhyuk said and then quickly grabbed a sesame biscuit. I was a little confused, just like Heechul. Our eyes met and the latter began laughing all of a sudden.

“Ah, so that´s it!” The shop keeper laughed aloud, the coffee table shook. “Eunhyukkie!” Tears were falling from his eyes and I felt left out. Is this an inside joke I didn´t get? The morpheles only sighed.

Aha! An update. I´m starting to fall behind, really busy nowadays, but I will try to keep updating Monday, Wednesday (GMT+1) for you. I tried to make the story more fluffier since you like it, right? Preparing for a new animal now again, muhehehehe! What will it be... Anyway, thank you for reading and your comments, take care, everyone! - PandaHero