“What are you talking about.” Taekwoon glanced around, then took a few steps toward Shinjoon. “You cannot kid about something like that.”

Shinjoon shook his head. “I wish I wasn’t.” He gingerly turned his head and let his gaze shift to Hongbin. “I think I finally know what had happened.”

Hongbin raised his eyebrows. “W-why are you looking at me like that.”

Shinjoon narrowed his eyes and eyed Hongbin cautiously. “I’d thought you’d left the club because of mere guilt you had for Sanghyuk, but now that I know you loved him, Hongbin, I have every reason to assume my suspicions are right.”

“What suspicions…?” Taekwoon questioned. How was any of this related to him?

“Hongbin.” Shinjoon fell silent momentarily. “Your explanation for feeding the cats on your own accord is only partly accurate, isn’t it?”

Hongbin’s face changed. “W-what are you talking about.”

“What’s going on,” Hakyeon added.

Shinjoon bit his lip. “Hongbin hasn’t given up on Sanghyuk.” He looked expectantly at Hongbin, who shifted his gaze away.

“What’s that supposed to mean,” Taekwoon scowled.

Shinjoon shook his head. “I’d start with the Nine Lives Scripture. Particulary, the sixth method listed in it.”

“Nine Lives what?”

“Nine Lives Scripture. The sacred book that lists eight different methods to resurrect a cat demon from the dead.” Shinjoon kept his eyes fixed on Hongbin, who had an incomprehensible expression across his face. “And these eight separate ways have to be carried out sequentially - that means, you can only proceed to the next method if the previous one fails.”

Taekwoon blinked. “There’s…such a thing?”

Shinjoon nodded. “I wouldn’t have found out about it, actually. But that day when you questioned me if cats really had nine lives, it got me thinking. Real hard.” He peered at Hongbin. “But seems like Hongbin long knew about its existence, right?”

Hongbin bit his lip. “I’d done a lot of research,” he muttered quietly. “And I’d stop at nothing to bring Sanghyuk back.”

“So…” Taekwoon narrowed his eyes. He couldn’t believe Hongbin admitted to it. “What’s this about.”

“The sixth method mentions the use of normal cats as a surrogate,” Shinjoon replied. “If they’re fed with the correct substance, that is. Then there’s a slim chance that the demon would be reborn in a litter of kittens that belonged to the ordinary species. And after a few months of restoration the kitten would regain the memories and powers it had previously as a demon.”

“…What.” Taekwoon narrowed his eyes.

“Wait.” Hakyeon spoke for the first time in a while. “So you mean all this while…Hongbin had been discreetly feeding the cats…something like that…?” He couldn’t believe he just asked such a question. Everything was beginning to get more and more ridiculous.

Shinjoon looked at Hongbin, who nodded subtly in response.

“Okay but what has this got to do with me??” Taekwoon cut in.

“Because the fifth method failed.”

Taekwoon scoffed. “Obviously.”

“But the key lies in what the fifth method exactly is,” Shinjoon continued. “And it’s almost similar to a crazy lab experiment of a mad scientist.” He adjusted his glasses. “Because it requires the building of a soul-reconstruction machine. As absurd as it sounds.”

“What’s that?”

“The machine is something built from a mixture of materials, from scrap metal to wood…and to mirrors. And it uses whatever remnants there are, of the demon’s aura, to reconstruct its spirit and memories.” Shinjoon folded his arms. “If placed in a space where the demon used to live, or an area it used to frequent, the machine would slowly absorb the fragments of its soul and memory – traces of the life it had before death – and bring the demon back to life.”

There was a short silence.

“So…” Taekwoon began. “I’m guessing Lee Hongbin built this and set it in his room…?” He raised an eyebrow.

Hongbin nodded subtly. “It’s still there, actually,” he said quietly, and from his constipated expression Hakyeon finally saw why he’d chosen not to hold the meeting at his place.

“And you don’t get why the method wasn’t successful, do you?” Shinjoon cocked his head.

“Well I- You’re right. I don’t.” Hongbin let out a small sigh. “It was supposed to be the most probable solution out of the many. But I’d waited for months. And it didn’t seem to be working. After Sanghyuk’s spirit was reconstructed he was supposed to spawn right outside my doorstep, but every day I’d come home to nothing.” He bit his lip and shook his head, then balled his fists up. “I don’t know what I didn’t do right.”

Shinjoon lowered his gaze. “That’s because you neglected the warnings in small print.”

“Warnings…?”

“It’s written in a tiny font. In the footnotes.”

Taekwoon narrowed his eyes. “What warning.”

Shinjoon lifted his head gingerly and eyed Hongbin, then shifted his gaze to the posters on the table. “The warning…that there couldn’t be the presence of the images of other people around the given space.”

Hongbin’s eyebrows shot up. He followed Shinjoon’s gaze onto the posters. “W-what are you trying to imply…”

“The mirror part of the machine.” Shinjoon bit his lip. “Its function was to capture an image of the demon’s face. And it aided in the process of soul reconstruction.”

“Wait the machine’s capable of facial recognition…?” Taekwoon frowned.

Shinjoon nodded.

“I knew that,” Hongbin raised his eyebrow. “B-but it was a shame…that I didn’t have a photograph of Sanghyuk to go with.” His heart skipped a beat at a sudden realisation. “B-but then…”

“But then you had these images of Jung Taekwoon hanging around in your room.” Shinjoon finished the sentence for him, affirming his fears. He reached over the table and picked up the roll of posters, then shoved it into Hongbin’s arms. “And perhaps it was a careless mistake on your part to not have realised that the mirrors had the most powerful function amongst all. And that meant they dominated any other roles.”

Taekwoon felt his heart drop. “W-what.”

Hongbin shook his head and took a step back. “N-no. It can’t be-”

“Somehow the machine mistook Taekwoon as the candidate, Hongbin,” Shinjoon continued. “And maybe if you hung around in your room regularly enough, maybe if the machine captured your face instead, Hongbin, the cat demon that would’ve spawned in the hostel grounds could even be you yourself, and not Taekwoon.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Taekwoon felt the blood drain from his face, but as quickly as it did, it was as though the blood from his extremeties was rushing, all at once, to his brain. “I can’t even begin to describe…what ridiculous level of ed-up ery this is.”

“No.” Hongbin shook his head furiously. “The method…it’s meant for soul ­reconstruction. N-not this.” He retreated further.

“Yeah, how…how is this even possible…?” Hakyeon added quietly.

“It’s called the soul-reconstruction method because it’s a part of the Nine Lives Scripture, Hongbin,” Shinjoon shook his head and sighed. “The original Cat Demon Manuscript shares the exact same method. And there, it’s listed…it’s listed as the demon construction method.”

Hongbin gulped. “N-no. It can’t be…” He felt his heart drop.

Shinjoon nodded subtly though his dark expression. “This is the only explanation for how Taekwoon had gone to bed one day but woken up a hundred miles away in some university, Hongbin. How he’d gone to bed as a human but woken up…as a cat. Or cat demon, to be exact.”

Hongbin shook his head in continual denial.

“This method is so powerful, anyone could’ve been turned into a demon out of nowhere,” Shinjoon continued. “Fortunately or unfortunately enough, it wasn’t you-”

“Of course it wasn’t him.”

Hongbin turned to look apprehensively at Taekwoon, who was already glaring at him through a pair of resentful eyes.

“Because of anyone,” Taekwoon snarled, “the unsuspecting victim had to be me.” He clenched his fists, his hands trembling with fury.

Hongbin shook his head helplessly, then loosened his grip, letting the darned posters fall to the floor. How could such harmless things turn out to be exact opposite?

Hakyeon watched on in horror, uttery clueless about what to say. In one afternoon such an absurd story had been forced onto him as the true, cruel reality. He prayed that if he was merely experiencing a horrible dream, he’d at least wake up from it as soon as he could.

“I-” Hongbin began. “I’m s-sorry.” He raised his fingers and pulled at his hair. “I’d never expected that I’d land someone innocent in this state.” He bit down on his teeth, absolutely wrecked. Because to top it all off, the victim of his actions had to be one of his favourite artists, as though his mistakes weren’t already sinful enough.

“Sorry no cure,” Taekwoon spat. “I-”

“Taekwoon,” Shinjoon cut in, silencing Taekwoon briefly.

“What.”

“You need to calm down first. Because if there was a way to turn someone into a demon, there definitely would be one to turn him back.”

“Is there, really?” Taekwoon rolled his eyes, then peered at Shinjoon. “Have you even found it, huh?”

“I-” Shinjoon began. “No.”

“Then don’t-”

“You cannot give up, please.”

“I know you’re just trying to make me feel better. But stop trying to sugarcoat things,” Taekwoon snarled. He pointed an accusatory finger in Hongbin’s face. “Because this stupid mistake of his…It’s ing irreversible. And I know it..!”

Hongbin lowered his gaze, his lips quivering. He opened his mouth but he had nothing to say - nothing other than sorry. There was absolutely nothing he could do that would help the situation right now. And it killed him on the inside. It killed him because it wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.

Taekwoon heaved silently. He wanted to launch forward and land a punch on Hongbin’s face, but he couldn’t explain why he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Perhaps it was because Hongbin, after all, had done it all for the one he loved. Or perhaps it was merely Hongbin’s pained, crippled expression that he empathised with. Or perhaps…

The indignance that clouded his eyes dispersed gradually, and from the corner of his vision he noticed Hakyeon’s trepidatious stare on him.

Perhaps it was just because of Hakyeon himself.

He bit his lip, shifting his attention right onto Hakyeon’s small, shaky frame. He knew very well that if not for Hongbin’s stupid mistake, he wouldn’t even have gotten to know Hakyeon in the first place. He wouldn’t even have discovered that his life was more than just his career and his music, and that his career and his music were capable of connecting with people on levels deeper than he’d ever imagine.

He took a small step towards Hakyeon. A disturbing thought invaded his mind, and he found himself wincing inwardly at how maybe, just maybe, the fortune of meeting Hakyeon overpowered everything else, that maybe what’d happened to him was really…a blessing in disguise.

“Hakyeon.” His voice was crisp.

Hakyeon eyed him cautiously, not knowing what to reply.

“If I’m destined to be a demon for the rest of my life,” Taekwoon voiced his words carefully, slowly approaching Hakyeon with an intent gaze fixed on his eyes. “Will you still treat me like the man of your dreams…?”

Hakyeon gulped, then gingerly backed away. “I-”

“I remember you said that you wouldn’t be surprised if I was a cat demon…But why are you afraid now?”

Hakyeon shook his head. There was no way all of this was happening. Out of nowhere the cat he’d kept turned into Jung Taekwoon himself and this man was suddenly confessing his love for him.

“I’d been by your side all along. As your favourite cat you slept with and as the Jung Taekwoon you kept in your heart.”

Hakyeon bit his lip. It was exactly this. All the times he talked to his cat about Taekwoon rushed back into his head like embarrassing memories, but another more perturbing thought poked relentlessly at his heart – the perturbing thought that the man before him was the same cat he used to bathe with.

It was the disturbing truth he wished he never knew.

“I-” he began, his lips quivering with fear as Taekwoon crept up closer, cornering him. “Don’t come near me, please.”

Taekwoon shook his head. “Hakyeon I-”

“I said, no.” Hakyeon’s eyes widened to their fullest. He felt his heels hit the wall once again, and he knew if Taekwoon didn’t stop right away he’d no longer have any means to escape.

“I’m- I’m sorry.” Those were the last words he managed to utter before he ducked past Taekwoon and bolted for the exit.

“No-” Taekwoon cried, then sprinted after him.

“Hakyeon!!” Hongbin yelled. He decided to give chase as well, but Shinjoon grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“Don’t.” Shinjoon shook his head.

“Don’t you get it??” Hongbin snapped, defeated. “It’s happening. Again. And this time I’m not letting the tragedy repeat-”

“What happened wasn’t your fault.” Shinjoon furrowed his thick brows, then lowered his voice. “Give Hakyeon some time.”

“But what if-”

“Taekwoon’s a pretty tough lad. He won’t do anything stupid.”

***********

Taekwoon did the opposite of stupid.

Or at least, to Taekwoon, whatever he did next was the cleverest way to win Hakyeon’s heart.

Hakyeon pulled the door slightly ajar, only to lock eyes with a grinning man at the other side of the door.

“Go away.”

“No, listen.” Taekwoon planted a strong hand against the door, rendering Hakyeon’s attempt to slam it shut absolutely powerless. “I’ve thought about it. You can’t just adopt a pet then decide you no longer want it.”

“You’re not my pet-”

“Under Section 35 of the Pet Abandonment Act it’s illegal to dump your cat or dog. It’s punishable by jail term.”

“I said-”

“Have you thought about it, Hakyeon?” Taekwoon cocked his head. “Are you going to let your idol sleep in the streets? I’m still fundamentally human and I don’t deserve to be homeless, do I?”

Hakyeon shut his eyes and sighed. “So you mean you want to move in.”

Taekwoon nodded eagerly. “Move back in-”

“Just go and sleep at Shinjoon’s or something.”

Taekwoon shook his head. He pushed the door wider open, then pointed to the wall across the room. “Just let me make up for destroying and misplacing your two much-treasured posters.”

Hakyeon felt his ears burn. “W-who said they were my much-treasured posters.” He lowered his gaze. “You overestimate yourself.”

“Maybe,” Taekwoon shrugged, then returned Hakyeon a cheeky smile. He squeezed himself through the door against Hakyeon’s protests, then inched further into the room. “Ahh. Feels great to be home.”

“Get out, please.”

Taekwoon shook his head. “Section 35 of the Pet Abandonment Act. Remember.”

Hakyeon rolled his eyes. “I’m not agreeing to this.” He slumped himself against the door and folded his arms. He let his gaze fall to Taekwoon’s empty hands. “You aren't even carrying some sort of luggage.”

Taekwoon grinned and flipped his bare palms. He leant towards Hakyeon and lowered his voice. “Did you think I had a choice when I was teleported here,” he whispered. “I didn’t even have my own body with me. Much less anything else.”

Hakyeon let out an exasperated sigh. “S-so who took care of your clothes and necessities.”

Taekwoon shrugged but did not reply. He skipped over to Hakyeon’s closet and pulled open the door, the scrutinised the array of clothing in it.

“It doesn’t matter who it was in the past, Hakyeon.” He turned to face Hakyeon, then pointed to his clothes with a bright smile on his face. “Because from now on it’ll be you.”