“What?” Jaehwan sat up.

Hakyeon nodded eagerly. “He initiated it.”

“Well is Lee Hongbin all that is on your mind,” Taekwoon scoffed. He stopped chewing abruptly and scowled. The food tasted horrible all of a sudden.

“Go on,” Wonshik prompted. It was surprising that Hakyeon and Hongbin could ever progress to such a stage.

Hakyeon raised his eyebrows knowingly, then pointed subtly to his cat. “I have him to thank.” He motioned to the empty spot on the wall. “And those two poor posters that’ll never see the light of day again.”

Taekwoon wanted to clench his fists, but he didn’t have any. Not in this state. “Well if not for the fact that I’m still in my recharging mode right now, I can transform into your favourite man right away. And when that happens you can forget about seeing Lee Hongbin and getting your posters replaced,” he spat, then narrowed his eyes slightly at an intrusive thought. He didn’t know if he was Hakyeon’s favourite man. It could be Hongbin. Whatever.

“Get to the point.” Jaehwan reached over to Wonshik’s bowl and picked up some chicken with his chopsticks, then shoved them into his own mouth.

“In summary, he saw me emoing in a corner over my ruined posters and missing cat. Then after a long chat he volunteered to give me some of Taekwoon’s posters that he happened to have.”

“What do you mean ‘missing cat’. You. Chased. Me. Out,” Taekwoon repeated bitterly for the nth time.

“Wait he knows that weird idol of yours too?”

“Mind your words.” Hakyeon gave Jaehwan a dark stare. “But yes. Finally someone who has a good taste in music. And that implies that unlike what you think, we do have a lot in common. Just like soulmates.”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes. “I agree with the part about having good taste in music.”

“Maybe he didn’t want those posters anymore," Wonshik scoffed. "Tried to find an excuse to give them away.”

Hakyeon chuckled. “You’re just being bitter. He does have other reasons for meeting me. He wants to tell me about his past with the cat club. Voluntarily,” he replied, putting down his bowl and cutlery briefly to wipe his mouth. A cat head suddenly came near his food and he gently pushed Taekwoon away.

“Well did the sun rise from the west today or something,” Jaehwan shrugged. “Doesn’t sound like something a reclusive man like him would do.”

“Maybe he’s beginning to trust me,” Hakyeon grinned.

“In that case,” Wonshik smirked. “Good for you.”

“Haha. Thanks.” Hakyeon’s smile grew wider, although that required a conscious effort on his part - as though he was only putting up a joyful front. Because no matter how much he tried to convince himself, he didn’t have a good feeling about the meeting.

“So if you’re restocking on the posters,” Wonshik continued, motioning to the cat, “you’ll consider keeping this misbehaved dude here again?”

Taekwoon raised his imaginary eyebrows. “Why does that sound like a good idea.”

Hakyeon shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll let him stay for a few more nights while his wound heals up completely. And beyond that, I guess it’s up to him if he wants to stay. Can’t force him away from his natural environment, you know.”

“That’s just your excuse,” Taekwoon sneered. “You just don’t want your new posters torn up or misplaced to god-knows-where again.”

“Lol why do you sound like your lover died or something,” Jaehwan sniggered. “It’s just a cat. If you wanna keep him just do it.” He lowered his voice. “We’re not gonna expose you.”

Hakyeon shook his head reluctantly and reached out to give Taekwoon a few light on the head. “I’m just doing this for his own good. I’m not just flouting the hostel rules, you know. It’s against the club regulations too. Shinjoon’s probably gonna lecture me about how I’m doing a stray cat more harm than good.” He gestured to Taekwoon’s empty bowl. “For example, letting him consume something it’s not supposed to. And it’s true. I’m going to hell for this.”

“Well Shinjoon’s not gonna stop you. I’m biologically human,” Taekwoon said quietly, then let his gaze fall to his bowl. “And you know what that means? That means I ain’t gonna die from like this, so stop with your ing excuses.”

Hakyeon produced a sad smile, then lifted his finger and tapped his cat lightly on the nose. How he wished he could forget all his reservations and keep the cat here with him for long. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t be so selfish.

He had believed Shadow had come back for reasons beyond just food and shelter, but it didn’t matter anyway. It didn’t matter because a stray cat ultimately didn’t belong in here. And perhaps his friends were right. His cat probably cared much less about him than he thought. And that was why he couldn’t continue to be so selfish.

“Anyway,” he began quietly, looking expectantly at Jaehwan and Wonshik. “It’s still a fact that my cat’s back here today.”

“Yeah we know.”

Hakyeon cocked his head. “And?”

“And we’re happy for you,” Wonshik grinned.

Hakyeon rolled his eyes. “Some people insisted this morning that because cats will never be as loyal as dogs, I’ll never get to see Shadow back here again.” A cold look formed across his eyes, and he stuck out his palm in front of his friends. “My fifty bucks, please.”

***********

“Permanent solution?”

Taekwoon nodded and crept up closer to Shinjoon. “Have you found it.”

Shinjoon shook his head. “Not yet. Sorry.”

“Well you’d better do,” Taekwoon sank back in his seat. “Unless you wanna continue providing for my clothes and expenses as a human. For the rest of your ing life.”

“Aren’t things already much better now?” Shinjoon questioned as a matter-of-fact. “You need to take things a step at a time.”

Taekwoon shook his cat head and pointed a paw at himself. “I hate this stupid cat body of mine. And I want nothing to do with it.”

“Well that’s why I taught you the way to turn human.”

“Just for a few hours at a time? No thanks,” Taekwoon snarled. “I said I want nothing – absolutely nothing – to do with this stupid cat appearance. And that means I’m ing tired of still being some stupid demon and I need you to change that. ASAP.”

Shinjoon shrugged. “I’m trying my best, really.”

“Well you’d better be.” Taekwoon let out a small sigh and looked down at his own cat body, then sulkily lowered his voice. “Previously this stupid fur coat used to be of some use, but now it’s useless as .”

“Use??” Shinjoon chuckled in disbelief. “What kind of use are you even talking about?”

Taekwoon did not reply immediately. He sat up and turned slightly away from Shinjoon. “I mean, if Hakyeon no longer wants me as a pet I don’t see any ing use left for this stupid hairy coating.”

Shinjoon raised his eyebrows knowingly. “He really doesn’t want to keep you?”

“Not in the long term, at least. Not after my injury is fully healed,” Taekwoon mumbled. “If not for this stupid wound on my back I wouldn’t even have woken up back in his bed this morning.”

“But why would a grown man like you want to wake up in someone else’s bed in the first place??”

“Shut up.”

“You-”

“I know what you’re getting at. It’s the bed itself that I’m missing. Don’t start getting wild ideas.”

Shinjoon bit his lips to stifle a silent laughter.

“I just don’t like how he’s leaving the decision to me after that,” Taekwoon shrugged. “He said it was my choice if I wanted to continue staying there.”

“Well I’m pretty sure your decision’s already made,” Shinjoon smiled. “You’re staying.”

Taekwoon scowled. “What makes you think so.”

Shinjoon cocked his head. “If you were really set on leaving for good, there’s literally nothing you’d need to be worrying about.” He pointed a finger right in Taekwoon’s face. “But the troubled look across your eyes tells me the exact opposite.”

Taekwoon bit his lip nervously. What kind of creepy witch was Shinjoon...for him to be able to comprehend the facial expressions of a ing cat?

“You’re just afraid to show that you do want to continue being his pet,” Shinjoon continued, adjusting his glasses. “Because he doesn’t wanna force you anymore. And that’s terrible because there’s no longer a reason to claim that it’s just a one-sided thing, on his part, to keep you by his side.”

Taekwoon remained silent.

“I’ll take that you’re reflecting on your own feelings right now.”

“Well, it’s still a one-sided thing,” Taekwoon began, his voice quiet. “On his part.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s one-sided in that he wants me by his side as a ing cat, not anything else,” Taekwoon muttered. “But I don’t want to be his ing pet for the rest of my life.”

“So what do you want to be?”

Taekwoon eyed Shinjoon nervously. “Back as Jung Taekwoon and go back to living the life that I’d unwillingly abandoned, of course.”

“You forgot to mention being the cool and brilliant man Hakyeon looks up to, as well.”

“Well that’s of little help to the situation if Lee Hongbin is only person he’d ever have eyes for.”

Shinjoon’s eyebrows shot up. “So you finally admitted it.”

“Admit what.”

“You know what I mean, so I’m not gonna say it.” Shinjoon folded his arms and leant back into his chair. “But in this case, it’d be better if you stayed like this. In your intermediate, neither-human-nor-cat state. Because at least you can still return to your beast form and enjoy your last few days of being Hakyeon’s pet.”

“I just said I don’t want to be his pet.”

“So you want to be like someone like Hongbin?”

Taekwoon’s face changed. “W-what’s so great about that man that I’d wanna be like him.”

“Because you want to be someone Hakyeon has the possibility of having romantic desires for.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Taekwoon kept his gaze fixed on anything but Shinjoon’s eyes.

“Well, you want Hakyeon to keep you by his side but you refuse to be his pet. There’s only one possibile explanation in which this warped logic actually makes sense.”

“You’re thinking too much into it.”

“Am I? Or are you thinking too little into it?”

“I’m just feeling indignant. He doesn’t want to bring me home because I tend to destroy his things. And as long as this flaw of mine is there, he’ll never want to accept me back in there again.” Taekwoon pointed to himself. “But he has no idea that the singer he’s been trying to defend all along…It’s just me – the wicked cat responsible for everything. And when he does he’ll have no reason to be mad at this wicked cat anymore.”

Shinjoon cocked his head. “How about approaching him and telling him the truth, then?” He scanned Taekwoon’s feline appearance. “Just turn into human and tell him you’d been his cat all along. And then he’ll understand and forgive you for everything.” He lowered his voice. “And he’d be so elated to meet his idol, he’ll start falling for your charms in no time.”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes. “It’s not gonna ing work. One. He’d freak out. Two. It’s not gonna change the fact that I’m still a monster. If anything, he’d just be even more disappointed that his favourite artist ended up like this.”

Shinjoon’s face was solemn. “Don’t call yourself a monster, please.”

“But that’s what I am. A ing monster,” Taekwoon spat. “And I can forget about being ambitious for anything for as long as I am in this state. And that includes…” He let his voice fall to a whimper. “That includes relationships.”

“…So you finally acknowlege what I’ve been trying to get at all this while.”

Taekwoon scoffed. “Duh. Your hints were ing obvious.”

Shinjoon fell silent momentarily. “You really like him, don’t you?”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes. “I’m not the least bit qualified for a discussion like this. You know that.” He jabbed a paw at his own chest. “Because of what I am.”

Shinjoon bit his lip and eyed the cat apprehensively. Taekwoon’s situation was starting to be too reminiscent of something. And from that, he finally saw the true basis for Taekwoon’s need to return completely to his human state – more importantly, why that need was even so incredibly urgent in the first place.

***********

(A/N: Updates are going to be slow from now on because I'm gonna be busy for a while. Hope you can stay tuned because the story's ending soon, at around the 17th-18th chapter.) 

(Sidenote: did you watch Leo's teaser? A black cat made an appearance :) )