Who’s the cat, you ask?

Not me, you say. You’re not the one with sleek pointed ears atop his head. No, that’s Hoya. And even then you’ve only seen that once, Hoya in his full werepanther form, all silky black fur, tail sliding across the floor, standing taller than a normal panther would. His gaze had been more knowing than a mere animal’s, intense even, though perhaps predatory is a better word. It’s the same look he’s giving you right now, even if he’s in human form and looks nothing like a cat. (Werepanther, whatever. Semantics.)

So no, you’re not the cat. You’re human.

But were you the one who got curious over those 5 words?

Yes. Yes, you were.
 

*

 

Stay outside. Don’t come in.

Woohyun snorts. 5 words. 5 words and he thinks it’ll stop Woohyun from trying to open his office door. Sunggyu may be centuries-old but sometimes he overestimates his power of suggestion. Woohyun’s not entirely sure why the vampire’s mind tricks don’t work on him nowadays because he sure remembers a time when it used to.

(It used to, before Sunggyu bit him. Woohyun tries not to think about that.)

Woohyun wraps his hand around the metal handle of the door to Sunggyu’s office. He hears noise inside, mostly muffled. He wonders if that’s a sign that he really shouldn’t go in. But what the hell, Sunggyu had been the one who'd asked him to meet in his office at 2am, and Woohyun had come here immediately after a late shift at the station. He’s tired, he hasn’t had much rest with his recent promotion to detective, and he’s not pleased about being asked (more like forced) to stand in the corridor of Sunggyu’s vampire club basement to wait until the vampire deems it time to entertain him. So yeah, maybe it’s a bad choice, but Woohyun’s vaguely curious enough to throw caution to the wind. Or maybe the 48 hour non-stop shift is to blame. Either way, Woohyun’s not heeding Sunggyu’s words. He pushes the door open.

 

*

 

“I thought I told you stay outside?”

You raise a brow, even if it probably doesn’t come off as intimidating as you would like.

“I got curious.”

It’s not Sunggyu who replies this time.

“Curious huh? But you know what they said about curiosity. It killed the cat.”

 

*

But satisfaction brought it back.

 

*

 

There’re 2 people in Sunggyu’s office. Woohyun’s not entirely surprised that the other person is Hoya. He doesn’t have anything against the guy, but he doesn’t like the look Hoya’s giving him. Sunggyu just looks stoic, the way vampires tend to. Woohyun tries to keep a poker face.

 

*

 

“‘Satisfaction brought it back’ is the second part of that saying,” you mumble, but you can tell they both heard you. They have supernatural hearing after all. Perhaps it isn’t wise to upset a vampire and a werepanther when they’re both stronger than you, but… okay, no, there’re no buts. This is a stupid idea through and through. You should have taken a nap. You blame the stupid 48 hour shift, even if that hadn’t been intentional.

Hoya looks at you, gaze still somewhat predatory. You’re not sure what you think about him. Doesn't matter. It’s not like you’ve seen much of him so far and hopefully you won’t be seeing much of him in the future either. You’re not sure why you’re even interacting with vampires and weres. Eventually, Hoya stops staring, saying, “You know, I don’t think telling him this is a good idea.”

“Telling who what?” you ask, though you have a rough idea who he’s referring to. You.

No one speaks for the longest time.

And then, Sunggyu opens his mouth.

“Tell you that I accidentally gave you the first mark.”

You blink a few times before the words register.

“What first mark?”

Hoya doesn’t roll his eyes, but it’s pretty close.

“He bit you, remember?”

You had been almost dying then, so no, you don’t really remember.

“Yeah, what about that?” you ask. Your voice might be a little more agitated than it was earlier. You try to dial it down.

“He bit you to get the poison out from your system. But he must have done something wrong because somehow that became the first mark.” Hoya’s voice is tight, and you notice how his firsts are clenched. His earlier words come back suddenly – “curiosity. It killed the cat”.

(Are you the cat? Is he going to kill you somehow?)

“What the hell is a first mark anyway.” Your voice still doesn’t sound quite right, but it’s stable enough, so that’s something. You are not religious, but you wonder if you should pray that you get out of here alive.

“The first mark is when I share my life-force with a human,” Sunggyu says. It’s an answer, but you don’t get what it means.

“What?”

“It’s the first step of an irreversible bond,” Hoya says.

“What are you talking about?” Your legs feel a little weak now.

“It means we’re half-bonded now, you and I,” Sunggyu replies.

You spend the whole of 2 seconds looking at them, before your hand is on the door handle again.

You shouldn’t have been curious.