It felt so foreign, yet equally familiar, the sensation of fabric wrapped around his skin. It lacked something, but that too was made up for by the scent of nostalgia, the scent of home that he’d never thought would be returned to him. Ever.

The first expression across Taekwoon’s groggy face was a deep scowl. His dark brows furrowed as he gradually tried to make sense of whatever his newly-awakened senses were perceiving: the four walls that surrounded him screaming right back into his head the reality of things, the reality that the lost identity of Jung Taekwoon had finally been returned to him.

He blinked twice, scanning his environment as he slowly sat up from the bed – his bed – his mind a turmoil of emotions. The familiar electric keyboard across the room greeted him as though he’d never once left, the same old scores he’d been working on staring back at him like they were only a matter of yesterday.

A matter of yesterday?

His gaze flew to the digital clock by his bed. 3:23am, 4^th April, it read, its display frozen as though all of time had stopped for him. Taekwoon gingerly shook his head. It wasn’t April. It wasn’t April like he remembered and when he went to bed with Hakyeon the night before it was definitely already January and -

Taekwoon felt his heart drop. Reality and fiction seeped back into his consciousness like an undivided mess tangled in each other, and he found himself utterly unable to discern one from the other. A throbbing pain in his head overwhelmed any form of rational reasoning that’d begun in his mind, and as he clamped his eyes shut momentarily, the image of Hakyeon flashed across his pupils, an image that was as real as it could get.

It’d all been real, right…?

He’d gone to bed the day before with Hakyeon. He was sure of it. And no matter how much it made sense to think otherwise, to understand that perhaps it had all just been a nightmare from when he first turned into a stupid cat, that there was no other ing reason he was now back at home, Taekwoon refused, with every ounce in him, to believe Hakyeon – and everything else – was merely a product of a dream.

And Taekwoon would take every reason to dispel his fears, like how sunlight was pouring through his windows and that meant it couldn’t be 3 ing a.m., at least, not where he lived. And if the clock was wrong, then his hopes could be right, couldn’t they?

It was glaring evidence, enough evidence, to show him that even if he didn’t know what the was going on and why the he was back at home again, at least Hakyeon and Sanghyuk and Hongbin and cat demons and magic could really have been real, after all.

He bolted out of the door to the living room. The familiar setting – his hazel hardwood flooring, the grey kitchen island and marble countertops in the corner, the bookshelves along the corridor – it all welcomed him like extended arms awaiting a return hug, but he decided to ignore them anyway. He had more important things to do, more pressing questions to answer.

He plopped down onto the couch and switched on the television – the only means of communication he had with the outside world because the smartphone by his bed was now dead and unresponsive and not a tad bit useful. He fiddled with the remote, the sensation of a fine layer of dust above the buttons affirming his hopes right before he reached the correct television setting that brought him straight to the calendar.

“17^th January 2018. 8:48 am,” he breathed, his stare fixated on the display, his racing heart gradually slowing to a steady pace as he realised, at last, that by some divine fate something had merely shifted him back home, but fortunately, not back in time.

But why…?

He frowned at his surroundings. Home was a place he’d been dying to return to, but not like this. Not when he wasn’t given a warning and not when he wasn’t given a chance to bid his goodbyes. And especially not when it wasn’t even possible for him to make it back here like that, with his four limbs that were two human arms and two human legs, and not…

He bit his lip. Shinjoon had told him that he couldn’t make it out of the campus without turning back into a cat. And unless he’d somehow bent the rules or he was no longer some stupid demon or Shinjoon was probably a huge liar, there was no reason he was standing back here as Jung Taekwoon and not Shadow.

He closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, attempting genuinely and willingly, for the first time ever, to turn back into his beast form like his life depended on it.

But something was lacking. Changing forms had become such as easy task that he no longer needed to even think about it, but right now even the largest amount of concentration and effort wasn’t turning Taekwoon into a cat. And it was puzzling.

Taekwoon quivered slightly. A hundred different explanations for the odd phenomenon filled his mind at once, but among them something stood out, contrastingly crazier than the rest.

Perhaps he was no longer a demon.

He shuddered at the thought, or perhaps he shuddered at the thought of even having that thought, because he knew deep down that it was merely something he hoped had happened, something that meant the crazy cat demon spell that’d been cast on him had been undone. And unless all of the answers were going to come knocking on his door, he knew, at that moment, that with regard to what was really going on, there was only one way to find out.

***********

“And that’s why you came back??” Hakyeon’s eyebrows shot up.

Taekwoon nodded. “I needed to see you.”

“I- I don’t have the answers you want.”

“I know.” Taekwoon stared back at Hakyeon with an unreadable expression across his eyes. “But how else would I know that I hadn’t just been in a coma for nearly a year, Hakyeon?”

“You-”

“Seeing that this place really exists and that you are real, Hakyeon, it tells me that it’d thankfully not been just a dream.”

“You’re thankful, really?” Hakyeon began. “To have been turned into something like that…?”

“To have met you.”

Hakyeon fell silent for a moment. He bit his lip to hide a smile, then suddenly jabbed a finger in Taekwoon’s side.

“Ow- what the -”

“What took you so ing long to come back.”

“Long??”

“From your city to mine it should only take at most an hour by flight.”

Taekwoon shot him a glare. “Jung Taekwoon the musician disappeared for months, Hakyeon. I had a lot of to settle.” He took out his phone and pushed it in Hakyeon’s face. “Guess how many missed calls and unread messages there were after finally rebooting my phone.”

“Zero-”

“I had tons of emails from the people I was working with. And I had no idea how the I was going to explain to them I was still alive. Or that I’d been spending my life elsewhere as a cat all this while.”

“Well-” Hakyeon began. “Okay.”

“And then there’s the part about bills,” Taekwoon sighed. “Imagine opening the door and seeing the amount of unopened letters that’d been collecting at my doorstep.” He gestured subtly to his luggage. “I did as much packing as I could and booked the earliest flight I could find. It’s a miracle that even after all this I could make it back here within a single day, Hakyeon.”

Hakyeon opened his mouth to argue but he decided against it. He could only be thankful it took Taekwoon a day and not more. Otherwise he really didn’t know how long more he could go on waiting.

“One single day,” he breathed. “It’s enough.”

Taekwoon smirked. “You’re clingier than I’d thought.”

“I was just worried about you.”

“You have abandonment issues.”

“I don’t.”

“Why is it so hard to admit that you like me,” Taekwoon grinned.

“I already did. And I’m only going to do it once.”

“But my memory’s poor-”

“Are you done here because I think you have more important things to do,” Hakyeon smiled. He pointed to his own phone, finally understanding the point of his conversation with Shinjoon earlier in the day. “Let’s go get the answers we need.”

***********

Taekwoon sat up. “You could reverse it??”

Shinjoon nodded. “Apparently, as he found out.” He reached out and offered Taekwoon a handshake. “Congrats on resuming your human identity.”

“No, wait,” Taekwoon frowned. “Hongbin, he…he did that?”

Hakyeon nodded eagerly. “You mean Hongbin-”

“Yes.” Shinjoon adjusted his glasses. “He replaced you.” He stared at Taekwoon, then back at Hakyeon. “Because there was an unwritten rule in the manuscript that the machine can only host the existence of one demon at a time.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean??”

“It means that if another demon was to be constructed from the same method, the pre-existing one will return to where it came from – in most cases, to nothingness – and in your case, to human,” Shinjoon motioned to Taekwoon.

“Hongbin…he…sacrificed himself??” Hakyeon cut in. “To be Taekwoon’s substitute??”

Shinjoon nodded.

“So…that means…he’s now a demon, too?”

“What the .” Taekwoon scowled. “Who in his right mind would wanna willingly turn himself into that.”

Shinjoon shrugged. “He has his reasons.”

“Well I hope that it isn’t out of guilt because all that’s done is shift the guilt all to me,” Taekwoon began. He pulled at his hair. “I…I didn’t need him to do that for me, seriously.”

“Who said he did it for you, Taekwoon,” Shinjoon laughed. He lowered his voice. “He did it…for Sanghyuk.”

“Sanghyuk??”

“Yes,” Shinjoon grinned. “Sanghyuk…he’s returned.”

Taekwoon and Hakyeon jumped, their eyebrows shooting up in unison. “Wh-”

Shinjoon nodded meekly. “The latest method worked.” He eyed Taekwoon and Hakyeon cautiously, then gingerly opened his mouth to continue. “And Hongbin said that this time he wasn’t going to let him slip away again.”

Hakyeon frowned. “B-but he didn’t need to become a demon himself for that!!”

“If Sanghyuk was willing to turn human for him, Hakyeon, he was equally willing to turn into a demon for Sanghyuk.”

“No way,” Taekwoon shook his head. “It’s a whole life he’s choosing to abandon-”

“You said it. It’s his choice,” Shinjoon said quietly. “Besides, you were doing fine being half cat and half human anyway. He shouldn’t be facing too many difficulties, too.” He grinned. “And especially now that Sanghyuk’s back, with his expertise Hongbin wouldn’t have to worry about the five-hour limitation, either. I’m pretty sure they’ll work their way around it. And be cats or humans whenever they want, wherever they want.”

“What the .” Taekwoon narrowed his eyes, then slumped back down in his seat, defeated. “That’s- that’s not fair.”

“You get back your life and Hongbin gets back Sanghyuk. I don’t know what’s not fair about it.”

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Taekwoon sulked. “It’s not fair that Hongbin can now exercise his demon powers to their full potential whereas I couldn’t go beyond a few ing hours in human form. Or beyond a few ing miles from here.”

Hakyeon smirked. “Someone’s having second thoughts about losing his own powers for good.”

“You bet I do.” Taekwoon cocked his head at Hakyeon. “Being a demon and not having to pay taxes like a responsible citizen is actually pretty fun.”

“I thought you hated it.”

“I did but it doesn’t matter now, does it? It didn’t matter the moment you came crying to me and told me you no longer minded what I was.”

“I said that?”

“Yep.”

“But I thought your memory was poor-”

“Some words cannot be taken back, Hakyeon.”

“I-”

“Unless you didn’t mean what you said.”

“It’s not that.” Hakyeon bit his lip. “But-”

Taekwoon cocked his head. “But?”

“But being a full-fledged cat demon still isn’t a good thing.” He shifted his gaze to his feet. “For us.”

“And why is that so?”

Hakyeon shrugged. “If you could be human anywhere you wanted you wouldn’t have a reason to stay here with me, would you?”

Taekwoon opened his mouth to say something, but digesting Hakyeon’s words took him a while and when it finally hit him, all he could manage was a soft grin in return.

“I’m still here, guys.” Shinjoon’s quiet voice interrupted the long silence.

Taekwoon smirked, then glanced back at Hakyeon. “Don’t worry.” He let his voice drop to a whisper. “Cats are territorial creatures. Won’t wander too far off where they belong.”

Hakyeon frowned. “But you belong to Seoul-”

“I belong here.” He reached out and pointed a finger at Hakyeon’s chest. “You know it.”

“You-” Hakyeon began, but gave up and decided to shut up instead. He sensed his cheeks burning, and Taekwoon’s intense gaze on him didn’t help.

“WELL,” Shinjoon cut in abruptly. “It seems like we’re really done here.” He rolled his eyes and motioned to the door. “The exit’s that way.”

Hakyeon snapped out of his trance and shook his head quickly. “But you haven’t told us-”

“Get the hell out of here, please,” Shinjoon repeated. “Both of you.”

“No wait.” Hakyeon grabbed him by his shoulders. “One last question. It’s important.”

“What?”

“So where’s Hongbin and Sanghyuk??”

***********

Jaehwan stared at Wonshik, and Wonshik stared back at Jaehwan. The two made themselves comfortable in Hakyeon’s dining chairs, leaning back as they brought the rims of their cups up their lips.

“So this is what he meant by good news,” Jaehwan muttered, watching silently as Hakyeon played with his two new cats on the bed, absorbed in his own world.

“But you gotta admit that he’s got the flair,” Wonshik shrugged. “Lost one cat and brought back another two. Pretty good cat whisperer, I’d say.”

“I still liked the first one,” Jaehwan replied quietly. “God knows where he went.”

Wonshik smirked and glanced briefly at Jaehwan. “Come on. These two are pretty cute, too.” He motioned to the white kitten leaping out from under Hakyeon’s covers. “Just look at its sapphire eyes. And that snowy coat of his. Beautiful to the core.”

Jaehwan raised an eyebrow. “Black’s beautiful too.”

Wonshik sniggered. “But so is ginger.” He pointed to the other kitten that’d made its way up Hakyeon’s back. “Seems to bring out the gold in the setting sun, if you ask me.”

“What did Hakyeon name him again?”

“Hongbin.”

“What- really.” Jaehwan shuddered. “This guy’s got issues.”

Wonshik shrugged. “Apparently he’d sought permission from Hongbin himself beforehand so I guess it’s not that creepy after all.”

Jaehwan snorted. “Well don’t tell me he named the white one Taekwoon. Like, you know, his two favourite people.”

Wonshik shook his head. “Nope. White one’s Songhyun. Or something.”

Hakyeon’s ears perked up in the distance. “It’s Sanghyuk.” The white kitten seemed to respond to its name, walking up closer and nudging Hakyeon on his foot.

“Whatever,” Wonshik shrugged.

“But is this really your definition of good news, Hakyeon,” Jaehwan repeated. “Because I really need to be at home right now. Dogs are starving.”

Hakyeon raised his eyebrow, then bit his lip. “A while more, please.”

“What exactly are we supposed to be waiting for.”

“My boyfriend.”

“Your what?” Jaehwan and Wonshik sat up together.

“I said it.”

“No way,” Wonshik began.

“Yes way,” Hakyeon nodded meekly. “He’s flown back home to settle some stuff but he promised me he’d be here tonight.”

“You…you have a boyfriend??”

Hakyeon nodded again.

“Wh- When the did this happen??” Jaehwan scowled in disbelief. He exchanged glances with Wonshik as though they had the answers to each other’s questions. But they didn’t and Wonshik’s eyebrows were equally sky-high and Jaehwan wasn’t sure what to expect from Hakyeon next.

Hakyeon shrugged. “Keep that expression for later. Because you’ll be more stunned when you see him in person.”

“Why??”

“You’ll see.”

“So I’m guessing he’s someone we know, then…?” Wonshik cocked his head.

Hakyeon wanted to nod, but he also wanted to shake his head, and while deciding among the two, the sudden sound of the door clicking open meant he no longer needed to provide an answer.

“Hello.” Taekwoon’s voice came out strange. Because it was strange for him to be greeting Jaehwan and Wonshik as though he didn’t already know them inside-out. He gingerly pushed the door wider open and removed his shoes, then stepped into the room.

“H-hi.” Jaehwan’s voice came out even weirder. He spun around and looked helplessly at Hakyeon, begging him for an answer. “This- this isn’t the man we’re expecting, is this…?”

Hakyeon nodded. “He is.”

“No ing way.” Wonshik stared at Taekwoon, then back at the posters on Hakyeon’s wall. “Where’d you get him from. The resemblance is uncanny.”

“Uh, he’s Taekwoon, guys,” Hakyeon grinned. If not for his concentration on his friends’ stupefied expressions, he would have heard the ginger cat snigger in the background, but anyway Hakyeon knew this meeting was bound to happen and there was no escaping it. No matter how surprising it was going to be for Jaehwan and Wonshik.

“And how the are we supposed to believe this …?” Jaehwan frowned.

“You don’t.” Taekwoon spoke for the first time in a while. He flashed Jaehwan a wide smile. “Just take it that we met some time ago.”

“Wh- I mean, who? What? When? Where? Why?” Jaehwan fired back. “And how??”

“Long story,” Hakyeon bit his lip. “Fill you in next time.”

“How about now.”

“I would but aren’t your dogs starving, Jaehwan?”

“I-”

“Wait,” Wonshik cut in. “How could you not have even breathed a single word about this all along.”

“I would but he’s a celebrity and preferred to keep it low-key, so.”

“But we’re your closest friends-”

“That’s why you’re meeting him now,” Hakyeon grinned. He motioned to Taekwoon to take a seat on the bed. “Now introduce yourself.”

Taekwoon nodded and scooted over towards Hakyeon, leaning forward eagerly towards Jaehwan and Wonshik.

“Jung Taekwoon. Nice to meet you,” he smirked, then extended a palm out for a handshake. “Jaehwan and Wonshik, right?”

***********

Taekwoon snuggled up closer to Hakyeon as they both lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. From the sound of their breathing they both knew the other wasn’t yet asleep, but even then, what was keeping them up was nothing less than the acknowledgement of pure bliss.

“Weren’t you too evil to your friends just now?” Taekwoon mumbled. He his side and reached over Hakyeon’s head, playing with the brown locks of his hair.

“Was I?” Hakyeon mumbled back.

“Even till the moment they left I could see their pupils clouded with nothing but question marks.”

“I don’t know where to start explaining,” Hakyeon sighed. “It’s like accounting for your months-long disappearance to the people you know. It’s downright impossible.”

“We’ll work it out.” Taekwoon offered him a wide smile.

“Not everything can be treated as lightly, though.” Hakyeon’s tone had grown serious.

Taekwoon raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“A friendly reminder that you’ve resumed your human identity, Jung Taekwoon,” Hakyeon frowned. “You can’t go on like this.”

“Like what?”

“Shuttling between cities like nobody’s business. You have to work, Taekwoon.”

“You don’t want me here?”

“You had a life before this, do you not remember?”

“Life was all about career before I met you. But it’s different now.”

“Aren’t you worried that you’ll stop making money?”

Taekwoon shrugged. “Even if nobody wanted to buy my works I still have my number one fan – Cha Hakyeon. And he’ll be the main source of my income, so don’t you ever worry.”

“I’m not buying a million copies of your -”

“But why do I think you’ll do exactly that?”

“You-” Hakyeon began, then shut his eyes and pulled the covers up to his neck. He wanted to argue and he wanted to tell Taekwoon to be serious but he knew Taekwoon was really just, well, speaking the truth.

“Hakyeon.” Taekwoon’s tone was solemn for the first time in a while.

“What.”

“I’ll get my life back on track. I promise. But we need to take things a step at a time.”

“Yeah. I know,” Hakyeon sighed. He turned over to face Taekwoon, staring intently at his narrow eyes. “It’s like I don’t want you ruining your future but I don’t want you away from my side, either.”

“I won’t be away from your side.”

“Really…?”

“Cats are territorial creatures. Remember that,” Taekwoon smirked. He lowered his gaze and motioned to Hakyeon’s heart. “And remember where I truly reside.”

“You’re not a cat. Not anymore.”

“Always will be. In spirit.”

Hakyeon rolled his eyes and stifled a small laugh. He stared back at Taekwoon, taking in the details of facial features, acknowledging that even if the man who was staring right back at him now was no longer a divine creature of some sort, he knew that somewhere, somehow, at some point in time, he’d fallen in love with a cat demon.

And he’d not regret it.