'And we're finally at our suite!' a chirpy voice announced from behind the lens as he took a slow scope of the whole room with his video recorder. He inched his way towards the glass doors leading to the balcony and slid them open, approaching the silent figure squatting and staring at the world below.

'Minnie?' he called out softly, resting a hand on the dusty blond head. "Minnie" shuddered at the touch, a pair of cat-ears immediately sticking up. His tail bristled, relaxing only after a few calming to his back. The man behind the lens sat beside "Minnie" and recorded his side profile.

'What are you looking at, Minnie?'
No reply.
'Do you know who I am, Minnie?'
After a few sniffles, the hybrid purred a soft "Dae", barely parting his pink lips. "Dae" chuckled and gently rubbed the other's ear, rewarded with "Minnie" tilting his head back and closing his eyes with a purr.

'Jongdae,' he corrected. 'And who are you?'
Louder purrs as his fingers moved to the base of the hybrid's neck.
'Who are you?' Jongdae repeated, retracting his hand. "Minnie" stopped purring and his eyes shot open. He turned to directly face the camera.


Dusty blond eyebrows arched over a sharp yet inquisitive pair of eyes, a crinkled nose and a small pout on cherry lips greeted the lens.
'Minnie.'
'Who are you?' Jongdae asked once more.
'Minnie.'

Jongdae laughed and rested a hand on the hybrid's jaw, the pad of his fingers rubbing small circles onto the patch of skin where human ears would be. "Minnie" closed his eyes and his lips parted ever so slightly, revealing a hint of pearly white teeth. His tail curled onto Jongdae's wrist as the male tried to pull away once more.

'Tell me who you are, Minnie,' Jongdae tutted.
'Minseok,' came the final reply in a hushed voice.




Jongdae closed the file that was playing and leaned back, massaging the bridge of his nose tiredly. His phone lit up with yet another push message that he deleted without a moment's hesitance. Instead of switching the display off, he stared at the lock screen's wallpaper and smiled to himself.


2603 - that was Kim Minseok's original identity. He was just another cat hybrid with nothing but random digits as an identity.

Hybrids were a rather new concept in the modern world. "Part human, part animal," as they had come to be known as. "They rely more on desires and instincts than humans - they're the degraded, less-evolved version of humans".
Anyone owning a hybrid was considered of a rather higher and classier stature - the ownership was a sign of dominance, a sign of the reigning alpha. Jongdae, being an absolute lover of equality, strongly disagreed.

It was not that he chose to own 2603 - 2603 had carelessly been gifted to him by none other than one of the rising senators who had also hoped to become Jongdae's father-in-law. He wasn't that far off, too. Had his daughter not decided to elope with her boyfriend just before they publicly announced her engagement to Jongdae, Jongdae would have been a new member to one of the most powerful families in South Korea.


Jongdae could remember that certain day as though it had happened just a few hours ago.

'We have a present for you, son,' Lim Taeho smiled tightly, waving his servant in. The male approached with a measly boy in tow.
'S-Sir?' Jongdae stuttered, eyes widening at the dusty-blond tail bristling behind the measly boy.
'2603 - he's the youngest hybrid from the faculty,' the senator proudly rattled. 'He's probably barely a month old.'
He took the leash in his own hands and smiled, holding it out to Jongdae.

'I hope this cements our bonds further,' he added, tugging harshly at the blue leash when the hybrid pulled away. A yowl tumbled from the tiny hybrid's lips and he tried to claw at the senator. Jongdae gripped the hybrid's wrists, pulling the tiny boy close - the top of his head just came up to his chest. He encased the hybrid in his arms, the tail hitting him as the hybrid continued to claw mindlessly and yowl.

The servant who had brought him in immediately yanked at the boy's ear, forcing him into submission as he got on all fours with a sorrowful mewl.

'Has he not been trained?' the senator gruffly barked. 'Well, then. We shall make arrangements for a trainer for this... beast.'

The rest of the senator's words were a mixed garble to Jongdae, whose chest heaved as he stared at the small hybrid crouched before him.


The barista frowned, a surge of anger passing through him as the bitter memory hit.

It was only hours after the incident that they had gotten the rude shock of his fiancée eloping, returning from her "weekend road trip" hanging off her boyfriend's - no, husband's - arm. Jongdae didn't really care, having only followed through because his parents wanted to strengthen political ties.


Shaking his head, the barista switched his screen on and stared at the picture once more: it was of Minseok in his third month with Jongdae, curled up in nothing but black boxers and one of Jongdae's old faded shirts. The small hybrid was hugging one of the barista's plushies - a pink cat - tightly with one of the ears caught in his mouth. A dark stain of drool was visible on the poor ear.

Jongdae smiled fondly, turning back to his laptop and playing the next video.







'I'll be back in a few moments, okay?' Jongdae coaxed, prying Minseok's finger off his arm before setting his video camera on the bedside table. Clad in a fluffy white bathrobe, Minseok lay down with a huff, turning to lie on his chest as he stared into the camera lens. He poked at it with his little finger, his tail swishing around slowly as he rested his chin on his arms and blinked curiously into the camera. He fiddled with it, hissing when the screen turned to reveal what it was recording.

Minseok cautiously resumed his position, poking the screen incessantly.


Jongdae returned with two boxes of pizza, only to find the hybrid hissing every now and then.
'Minnie? What--- oh, I see. Do you not like the other cat?'
Minseok shook his head, startled when Jongdae flipped the screen back and picked the recorder up. Minseok sat on his haunches and followed the movement, batting at the camera every few seconds.

'The other cat's gone, is that okay now?'
Minseok looked around, nodding and staring at his owner thoughtfully.
'What is it, kitten?'
Minseok crawled into Jongdae's lap, straddling him and reaching for the camera. The barista laughed and held it away from the hybrid's reach - an easy feat considering Minseok was still pretty much the same size as when they had first met. Minseok hissed and pawed at Jongdae's arm, balancing himself by gripping onto the male's shoulder with the other hand.

'Look, Minnie! Pizza!'
Minseok sat upright, his ears poker straight before he jumped off the bed and lunged for the pizza boxes. Jongdae laughed, switching the recording off.




 
The two recordings were the first of many, all documenting random moments featuring Minseok. Enamoured by the dusty-blond hybrid, Jongdae decided to take small recordings of various moments of different kinds: of Minseok learning to talk, read and write, of him learning how to cycle, of him learning to play the piano and more.
Jongdae had refused to treat Minseok any less than an individual, well aware that he, too, had rights, likes and dislikes, feelings - that he wasn't just a random assortment of numbers with a collar.
Minseok was much more than that to Jongdae: he was the twinkling stars, the cool spring breeze, the bloom in Jongdae's heart.





 

Minseok loved video cameras - that was no secret. He loved it when Jongdae whipped out his video recorder and let it whir as they went about their daily activities. The idea of being able to virtually go back in time fascinated the hybrid.
In fact, Jongdae had specifically bought a video camera just for Minseok and he used it every week since his birthday a few months ago.
The recordings weren't that special: they were just of Minseok heating instant ramyun and scarfing them down (even though he had initially made them for his lover - the smell was too enticing to resist), or playing with the hula-hoop Jongdae had bought him almost a year ago when he had acquired ownership. Sometimes, the videos would be focused on the television that would be playing a famous pop song. Minseok's purrs and lisps would accompany the choruses without fail, heavily chopped-up mumbo-jumbo strung together. He would always clap for himself at the end of the songs, beaming when he heard the audience on television cheer.


But this time, Minseok wanted to do something special for his owner's birthday that was the next day.




'Kitten?' Jongdae called out, breaking Minseok out of his reverie. Minseok padded into their bedroom, climbing into his lap and nuzzling his nose into his neck.
'You're not that tiny anymore, kitten,' Jongdae groaned, wrapping his arms around the hybrid regardless and tucking the hybrid under his chin.
'Someday, you'll almost be my hei---'
A deep purr cut him off and Minseok hit him lazily with his tail, blinking up at him innocently.
'What were you doing?' Jongdae asked, gently raking his fingers through his kitten's hair and toying with his flickering ears. One of few words, Minseok tugged at Jongdae's earlobe with his canines and let out a soft "nothing".
'What do you want to do?'
Minseok hummed, rolling his head back and sighing happily as he felt Jongdae play with his sleek tail.
'Netflix and chill,' he finally said clearly, grinning proudly.

'Minseok, no,' Jongdae sighed. 'How many times have I told you not to say that?'
'But Lulu says it all the time,' Minseok pouted. 'He said it's good to blow flutes after---'
'Lu Han is a erted man who runs only on coffee and video games,' Jongdae scoffed. 'Remind me to hit him when I go to the café. What do you want to say, kitten?'
'I want to watch movies and cuddle,' Minseok no