Hakyeon yawned again as he bent over the basin to wash his hands. He swore that if not for his belongings that were still in the theatre, he would have headed straight for home once he left the washroom. And Jaehwan or Wonshik weren’t gonna stop him.

He flicked his wrists to dry his hands, looking up simultaneously. From the mirror he noticed that someone else had entered the otherwise empty washroom. He turned for a quick glance, but the quick glance turned instantly into a lasting stare.

And then his heart started racing.

“Hi.” Hongbin needed to stop smiling like that because it was driving Hakyeon to his grave.

“Uhh, hello.” Hakyeon shuffled his feet uneasily. Of all people, why did he have to run into him? He didn’t even know how he was supposed to face Hongbin, much less strike a conversation with him.

But he did it, anyway.

“You’re here for the play…?” he asked as though he didn’t already know.

Hongbin nodded. “You too?”

“Yeah,” Hakyeon bit his lip. “Here with my friends.” He peered cautiously at Hongbin. “You…came here alone?”

“Yes.” There was an incomprehensible expression across Hongbin’s face.

“Ahh, I see. I didn’t know you liked plays.”

Hongbin produced a sad smile. “I don’t.”

“Huh?”

“Just here in remembrance of someone,” he replied quietly. “Someone who used to drag me here all the time.”

“Uhh,” Hakyeon replied, giving it some thought. He lowered his voice. “It-it’s not Shinjoon right.” He didn’t remember Shinjoon having any interest in theatre production.

Hongbin cast him an empty stare. “There you go again.”

“Okay okay. I’ll stop.” Hakyeon formed a sheepish grin. He motioned to the door, remembering that Hongbin had a reason for entering the washroom and it wasn’t to chat. “I guess I’ll make a move first.”

Hongbin nodded. He lifted his arm and subtly waved him goodbye. He thought that perhaps Hakyeon didn’t truly understand the meaning of in remembrance, but it didn’t matter. He watched Hakyeon scurry out of the doors before he let out an audibly melancholic sigh. 

“I miss you so much, Sanghyuk,” he mumbled.

***********

“Well,” Shinjoon rubbed his temples. He slumped himself against the wall that made up the exterior of Hakyeon’s room. “How did this happen.”

“How the would I know?” Taekwoon scoffed. “Just woke up one day like this.”

“It says here that you’re from Seoul?” Shinjoon questioned as he scrolled through Taekwoon’s biography on his phone.

“Yes and I have no ing idea how I ended up a hundred kilometres away in another city.” Taekwoon rolled his eyes. “Would have gone back home if not for the fact that cats weren’t ing allowed on planes.”

Shinjoon bit his lip, his mind elsewhere.

“So the singer Hakyeon talks day and night about,” he continued, holding up the crumpled poster in his hand. “It’s you.”

“Yes. And I know what you’re thinking.”

“What?”

“Don’t.” Taekwoon crept up closer, peering closely into Shinjoon’s eyes. “Don’t tell Hakyeon about this.”

Shinjoon produced a cold laugh. “If even I can’t wrap my head around what I’ve just seen, I don’t think Hakyeon’s gonna believe any of this . He didn’t even believe me when I told him you were a cat demon.”

“Well I should be ing glad he didn’t.”

“But,” Shinjoon straightened his back and turned to face Taekwoon. “Wouldn’t he be glad to know his pet was his idol and his idol was his pet?”

“He wouldn’t. He’d just freak out.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone? Even I’m still freaking out right now.” Shinjoon rubbed his hands excitedly. “Maybe he’ll embrace it and h-”

“We shower together, Shinjoon.”

There was a long silence. Shinjoon’s eyebrows shot up.

“Seriously…?”

“It wasn’t my idea, but that’s not point,” Taekwoon continued. “Just imagine what he’d think. And how he’d feel.”

“O-okay…” Shinjoon slowly nodded as he bit his lip uneasily. He felt like he shouldn’t even have been surprised in the first place. Sanghyuk had used to do the same thing as a cat. And indeed, it was better to help Hakyeon preserve some dignity for himself.

“So anyway,” Taekwoon continued. “Is there a way to help me or not.”

Shinjoon’s face changed. “I…I don’t know.”

“You must know. You deal with stuff like this. You must know some witchcraft. Turn me back. Please.”

“I can’t, wtf.” Shinjoon shot him a glare, then lowered his voice. “I’ve never come across something like this in my entire life.” He bit his lips in deep concentration. “I still need some time to think about it.”

“So you mean I’ve still got to spend another night in this sickening body.”

Shinjoon shrugged. “I guess there is no other alternative.”

***********

“Oh my ing god.”

Taekwoon opened one eye and peeped at his surroundings. From the corner of his vision he saw Hakyeon pull his own hair in frustration as he stared at the empty spot on the wall where his poster was supposed to be.

“What the did you do again.” Hakyeon spun around and glared at the cat.

Taekwoon quickly closed his eyes and dropped his head back down against the bed.

“I don’t know,” he thought to himself silently, keeping his eyes tightly shut. “Perhaps the wind got too strong and it flew out of your window.”

Hakyeon groaned. If there was anything he could do, it was to watch with helplessness as his cat napped on peacefully, oblivious to even the tiniest of disturbances in his surroundings. And then he could only choose to give up and forgive his cat and then go to bed.

At least, that was the arrangement Taekwoon had in mind.

As Taekwoon immersed himself in his sleeping pretence, he thought he might have heard Hakyeon sniffing quietly from across the room. A small tinge of regret poked at his heart. Maybe he shouldn't have been so reckless and misplaced something that didn’t belong to him.

“Whatever,” he shrugged inwardly. “What’s done is done.” Hakyeon would just have to live with it, right?

It turned out that the answer was no.

When Taekwoon woke up the next day it seemed like he had probably underestimated some things. Like how much it bothered Hakyeon that his cat kept destroying his posters.

“Good morning, Shadow.” Hakyeon stared at him intently from across the room, his voice quiet and solemn. “Today it’s time to go.”

Taekwoon let out a huge yawn. “What.”

Hakyeon shrugged and folded his arms. “It’s been two weeks. Your wound’s pretty much healed. I shouldn’t be holding you up further, you know.”

He walked over to the door and held it open for the cat. Taekwoon noticed that there was something cold and distant about his eyes that he’d never seen before, and it sent a chill done his spine.

“You’re chasing me out…?”

Hakyeon forced a smile. “I know you’ve never wanted to be cooped up in such an environment. So I’m letting you go. Although you’re always welcome back to visit.” He sighed and lowered his gaze. “But then again I’m pretty sure once you’re out of this door you’ll probably never drop by again.”

“I don’t get it. So do you want me out or not.”

Hakyeon cocked his head. He’d been holding the door open for almost a minute now, but his cat had surprisingly not made the run for it yet.

“You know I’ve been doing this against the hostel regulations right?” he prompted.

“Okay but if you’d never cared, why are you suddenly being a good boy now.”

Hakyeon bit his lip worriedly. “They’re coming to check. This afternoon. You really need to go. If they see you we’ll both be homeless by tonight.”

“Well, if I walked out of this door now I’d be homeless right away,” Taekwoon shrugged. “Have you ever thought about that? No. Because you only think about yourself.”

But no matter how much he wanted to continue sleeping on Hakyeon’s bed or bathing in Hakyeon’s tub or eating Hakyeon’s food, maybe living life as a human was not something a cat like him was entitled to.

As a stray animal, he truly belonged outdoors.

He looked at Hakyeon. His owner was still staring at him expectantly, as though he had no intention to give his cat another choice.

“Well,” Taekwoon began. “Guess a cat still needs his freedom.” He stood up and took a few strides toward the door. Hakyeon’s ecstatic response gave him and uneasy feeling, but he shrugged it off. “I’m just granting myself the right to liberty. Don’t think that I’m trying to help you or anything.”

He strutted out of the room and left the brick pavement. He quickly regained the nasty feeling of grass under his paws as he heard Hakyeon shout him goodbye.

“Remember to drop by!” Hakyeon called out.

“Well you’d better pray I do.” He kept his gaze fixed on the ground as he sulkily marched towards the bushes. The grass beneath his feet suddenly turned into a darker shade of green, as though he’d walked into a huge shadow.

A pair of leather shoes came into view. He lifted his gaze, taking in the image of the figure that now towered over him.

His eyes widened with excitement. “Shinjoon…?”

***********

“So he didn’t wanna keep you?” Shinjoon bit his lips as though laughter was going to escape from them any moment.

“Shut up, I left myself.”

“Well,” Shinjoon walked over to his desk and pulled open a drawer. “Maybe if I returned him his wrinkled mess of a poster he’d consider taking you back.”

“Who said I wanted to go back.”

Shinjoon sniggered. “Do you think he’s started to believe you’re really a cat demon?” he suggested. “Since the only thing you’ve been doing for him is wreak havoc.”

“Well, I did other things. Like being his listening ear,” Taekwoon scoffed. “First guy I’ve seen who actually thinks it’s normal to converse with his pet.” He slumped himself down on Shinjoon’s chair, then fell silent for a moment.

“And now that I’m homeless,” he continued, “I can already hear the stupid Green Eyes mocking me from ten miles away.”

“Green Eyes?”

Taekwoon coughed. “The cat that brought you to me.”

“Oh.”

“He kept insisting that I shouldn’t be staying in the room.” Taekwoon sat up. “Apparently it’s because this dude named Sanghyuk did the same and died from it.”

Shinjoon’s face drained of colour.

“So who’s Sanghyuk?” Taekwoon questioned. “I think you did mention him too. That I was just like him, different from the rest or something.”

“He was the only cat demon around here.”

“And did Green Eyes know that?”

Shinjoon shook his head. “Typical cats aren’t able to tell demons apart from themselves.” He walked across the room and dragged another chair over, then sat down. “But he was well aware that I was someone Sanghyuk had used to talk to. And that I probably didn’t want another cat ending up like Sanghyuk did. So he took me to you.”

“So what happened to this Sanghyuk?”

“I’d prefer if you asked another question.”

Taekwoon rolled his eyes. “Okay. What about that stupid danger scent he kept trying to warn me about.”

“Danger scent?”

Taekwoon nodded. “He said it was prominent on Wonshik and Jaehwan. And that it meant they wanted me dead.”

Shinjoon fell silent for a moment, then let out a small laugh. “Well don’t tell me that those friends of Hakyeon are avid dog owners.”

Taekwoon blinked. “They are.”

“Then it’s nothing to worry about. Cats can be rather spiteful sometimes.”

“…So it was just the smell of hounds on them that he was repulsed by?”

Shinjoon shrugged. “Most cats don’t like it.”

“Well seems like cats are a stupid bunch, then. So ing tired of being associated with these low-intelligence beasts.” Taekwoon edged closer to Shinjoon. “And that’s why you need to get me back into my human state as soon as possible. Preferably right now.”

“I know.” Shinjoon nodded with a smug smile on his lips.

“What.” Taekwoon frowned impatiently. “So do you have a way to help me or not.”

“Well,” Shinjoon chuckled. “I brought you back here for a reason.”