Taekwoon found himself a comfortable bed of dried leaves. He sprawled himself across the bedding and closed his eyes, imagining the fine details of his old bedroom. The electric keyboard that stood across the room would be the last thing in his view before he slept, and the first thing that greeted him when he awoke.

He imagined the pale blue curtains that lined his windows and the herringbone pattern that decorated it. The fabric danced softly in the light breeze, lapping lightly against the aluminum window grill. Moonlight that poured through his windows cast a gridded shadow across his hardwood floor, aligning perfectly with the tiling patterns like an engineering masterpiece.

“It’s just a bad dream,” he told himself. “When I wake up tomorrow morning I’ll be back in my apartment. I’ll definitely be back.”

Or so he told himself every night.

Apart from the muted traffic noise in the distance, the night was serene. Taekwoon’s ears twitched ocassionally, but he was otherwise peacefully asleep. The scent of rain – remnants of the late afternoon downpour – hung subtly in the air, no longer stinging his nostrils like it used to. He took in a deep breath, embracing the crispness of the air around him, praying that he would gain from the nightmare nothing more than a pair of purified lungs.

But his nose twitched a little. Something else enticing was beginning to arouse him from his nap.

***********

“I don’t think it’s anything spectacular. You came in second in the singing finals last month. Anyone who’s paid attention knows what Cha Hakyeon’s voice sounds like.”

“But he recognised me from my talking voice.”

“I personally don’t think there is a difference,” Wonshik half-articulated his words while munching on his food. “You have a unique voice. Like me.” He reached out for the next pizza slice after barely stuffing his mouth with the previous piece.

“Can you stop, goddamnit,” Jaehwan slapped his hand away. “Pretty sure this is your fourth piece.”

Wonshik shook his head. “Second, I swear. You confused yourself with me again.”

Jaehwan scanned the remaining pieces on the table. There was a tight furrow in his brows, and Wonshik swore he could almost see numbers and formulae begin to cloud Jaehwan’s brown pupils.

“Wait. . That wasn’t your fourth piece. It was your fifth?!”

Wonshik took a sip of Coke and wriggled his eyebrows. “Took you six seconds.”

“You-”

“Can you guys just listen to me,” Hakyeon cut in. He was on his back against his bed, staring at the ceiling. “Didn’t invite you over for this.”

“Well. Where were we…” Wonshik trailed off.

“Singing finals,” Jaehwan answered. He slapped away Wonshik’s hand for the second time.

“Oh. Yeah right,” Wonshik nodded. “Well it’s okay. Maybe next time if you had chosen a more popular song you could’ve been champion.”

“Yeah. I mean…that song you’d chosen? No one’s ever heard of that,” Jaehwan added. “Much less the questionable status of its artist.” He motioned to the posters by the window. “All his music sound pretty odd.”

Hakyeon jumped up from his bed and snatched the last slice of pizza out of Jaehwan’s hand. “I’m sorry about your lack of music taste, Jaehwan, but on the grounds of compassion…I’ll let you and your disability off.”

He took a sip of Wonshik’s drink, taking a pause to swallow before continuing. “Anyway, the topic was really about how I’m gonna approach Hongbin next.”

***********

Taekwoon crept closer towards Hakyeon’s window. The smell was too overwhelming. The last time he had pizza was when he was still two-legged. And that seemed like ages ago.

He leapt onto the windowsill silently, peering into the room, his eyes landing on the empty pizza boxes that lay atop the table.

“It’s that idiot again,” he hissed softly. “Didn’t leave a ing slice for me.”

“Why did you think he would?”

Taekwoon jumped. Amidst the shadows were two green eyes staring back at him.

He scoffed. He hated it when other cats tried to approach him. He was human and humans don’t make conversations with cats. Cats were beasts and only beasts should talk to beasts.

The cat cocked its head. “You seem pretty set on weird triangle food.”

Taekwoon turned and fixed his eyes back onto the empty boxes. “It’s called pizza.”

“Okay but what made you think would he give you any of it.”

“Pretty sure I told him I wanted some but he got them all for himself and his stupid friends.”

“You told him in English?”

“Of course not,” Taekwoon rolled his eyes.

“Then what were you expecting?” Green Eyes scoffed. “I think you’re the idiot here.”

“As a man of class I don’t get into stupid animal fights so don’t ing push me,” Taekwoon hissed. “My life is miserable enough.”

“Well, it would be less miserable if you kept your distance from these few humans,” the cat cocked his head. “Just a friendly warning.”

Taekwoon did not answer. He was scanning the room for more signs of edible food.

“You see those two men?” Green Eyes continued. It leapt onto the windowsill and edged toward Taekwoon. “The two who don’t live here. They have this horrible scent on their bodies. And it’s the scent of danger.”

“Well I don’t detect any.”

“Then your senses are probably impaired.”

“I said I don’t want to get into fights.” If cats could glare, Taekwoon’s was probably soul-piercing.

“Are you always like this? Acting all stuck-up as though someone forced you into this life,” the cat chuckled.

“What do you know,” Taekwoon muttered under his breath. “I’m not like you.”

“Anyway,” the cat motioned to the people in the room. “I don’t think you know how great of a threat this horrible scent is to felines. These people are like our sworn enemies. So avoid them the best you can.”

***********

“Ah, that’s right. This is about Hongbin. I forgot,” Jaehwan replied. “Sorry. Got too carried away. Not easy dealing with the trauma of secondhand embarrassment.”

“Yeah,” Wonshik chuckled. “Still can’t believe Hakyeon was so much of a genius he got exposed by his crush on the spot.”

“Wait. Hakyeon? Who’s that?” Jaehwan raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know him, Wonshik.” He leant forward, peering at Wonshik curiously. “Your friend?”

Wonshik shuddered. “No association with this guy.”

“Thanks very much guys and I love you too,” Hakyeon smiled and sat back down on his bed. “But I’m sure we were far beyond that. I was asking for suggestions on how I can salvage the situation.”

“Oh.” Wonshik replied quietly. “You wanted to get him to join your crazy cat club right?”

“Ugh,” Hakyeon scowled. “You were obviously not listening.”

“Okay I am now.”

“It’s not gonna work. Shinjoon’s right. The only reason I’d recruit Hongbin into the club is because I’d seen him interacting with cats. But I’d seen him interacting with cats only because I’d been tailing him.”

“So?” Jaehwan frowned. “It’s not something Hongbin isn’t already aware of.” He let his voice drop to a whisper. “You exposed yourself, remember?”

“But it’s like discovering something you shouldn’t have about someone and then confronting him about it,” Hakyeon replied coldly. “It’s being sh-”

“Shameless,” Wonshik cut in curtly. “Congrats. On reaching new levels of self-awareness.”

Jaehwan sniggered, but Hakyeon silenced him with a stern look.

“Well,” Wonshik continued, picking up a pen that had been lying on Hakyeon’s desk. He twirled it around between his fingers, staring with concentration. “Just tell him you’d been assigned by your club to monitor his actions. That you were acting under specific instruction.”

“Yeah, because he was reportedly messing up the cats’ diet and they were beginning to throw up every day or something. Not rocket science,” Jaehwan shrugged.

“But if his actions are antagonistic to our club’s cause, why would I wanna invite him to join the club??” Hakyeon snapped. He launched forward and snatched the pen away from Wonshik. “I need friends with common sense.”

“Nahhh. You’re being inflexible,” Jaehwan shook his head. “If he's so apparently obssessed with cats like you are, then the club’s main objective is to get him to work with them, not against them. Towards a common goal. And as a negotiator you’re here to make it happen.”

Hakyeon wanted to say something but he decided to shut up instead. It did sound like a feasible plan. Although he was sure it wouldn’t work.

But it didn’t have to work. Hongbin could reject the offer, and Hakyeon would still be as baffled, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to give Hongbin a reasonable basis for Hakyeon’s unwarranted stalking activities, and that was all that was needed to clear his name.

It sounded perfect.

Jaehwan and Wonshik were geniuses, but Hakyeon wasn’t going to admit that.

“You need friends like us to make up for the common sense you lack, Hakyeon.” Wonshik had begun clearing the empty pizza boxes. “Our service will continue to be free, though, if you continue to sponsor our dinner like that.”

Jaehwan nodded. “Let’s make this a routine. Good habits need time to form. I suggest we do this again tomorrow.”

But Hakyeon didn’t bother producing a response. He knew that if he was going to admit anything, it was the fact that Jaehwan and Wonshik were also incredibly parasitic.

***********

The fragrance of fresh linen wafted past his nostrils as Hakyeon removed his clothes from the dryer. They light lavender smell was a bonus, and it was enough to lift his mood. He began humming softly to himself as he packed his laundry and prepared to leave the laundry room.

“Nice song.”

He jumped at the sound of someone else’s presence.

“The song you were humming,” Hongbin smiled. “It’s nice.”

It was as though Hakyeon had instantly become a melted mess in the middle of the laundry room. Hongbin’s smile was not resistible. Hakyeon’s cheeks were flushed and his heart was beating wildly.

He was not prepared for this meeting.

“Thanks,” he mumbled. It was rare that anyone apart from him showed appreciation to his favourite song. But he didn’t have time to think further. Hongbin’s sudden appearance had got his heart racing, and he knew there was something at the back of his mind that had begun to tempt him.

It was his chance now.

“Hey, H-Hongbin?”

Hongbin raised his eyebrows, signalling Hakyeon to continue.

“Regarding the question the other day that I didn’t manage to answer…”

“What question?”

Hakyeon gulped. “W-who I am and what I was doing.”

Hongbin half-frowned, but smiled. “Well, I already know the answer to both.”

“Wait, you do?” Hakyeon’s heart dropped. All that discussion with Wonshik and Jaehwan for nothing.

Hongbin’s face stiffened and turned grim. “Well if you were there to educate me about the rules of how your strays-governing club works, be rest assured that I am well aware of them.”

“Rules?”

“The food that I offer the cats isn’t exactly filling. They will still have to stick to their regular mealtimes. I’m not out to alter their diets. Not drastically, at least. The club can continue its feeding operations pretty much unaffected, really.”

Hakyeon’s eyes widened a little. It was as though Hongbin had already guessed the script he had in mind. This man seemed to know how to read minds. But again, if he did, he would’ve known that Hakyeon liked him. Which was truly the cause of everything.

But it seemed like he didn’t know.

“I’m just doing this for fun. It’s nothing alarming. If there was anyone who’s concerned about the safety of these cats, it’s me.”

Hakyeon was puzzled. If Hongbin knew about the existence and operations of the club inside-out, there was no reason he wasn’t part of it. Especially given his proclaimed intentions.

Hongbin had retrieved his clothing and was beginning to leave the room. He gave Hakyeon a last acknowledging smile that made Hakyeon forget all about his burning questions, silencing him briefly.

“I’ll be going first.” His voice was quiet. “The cats are still waiting.” He turned his back to Hakyeon, but glanced back at him briefly as though he had something else to add.

“Also,” he took in a deep breath. “Do remind Shinjoon that the club and I…We no longer owe each other anything.”