Lay knew it had been a stupid idea to go to that party, he should have known as soon as he’d seen the invitation in his locker that it had been a joke. He didn’t even have any friends at school so why did he think someone would actually invite him to a party. As soon as he’d got there he’d realised it wasn’t the type of party he was expecting. The only people there were the group of popular kids that always made fun of him at school. They’d made him drink this vile cocktail and smoke this cigarette they were all sharing. He’d left as soon as they were distracted, hoping he’d feel better from the drink and smoke on the walk home.

“Pssst hey kid” he heard from the bushes. “Yea kid i’m talking to you, come over here” He followed the voice into the bushes expecting to find some dodgy drug dealer or petty criminal, however all he found was a cute little chubby ginger cat. “Huh that’s strange, I’m sure someone just spoke to me” he said out loud to himself. “Yea it was me you moron, now get my collar outta this bush you idiot, i’ve been stuck here for ages.” said the ginger cat suddenly.  Wow, what was in that cigarette they’d made him smoke he thought to himself, why was this cat suddenly talking to him. He reached down and freed the cat from the branch and watched as the cat shook himself free of dried leaves and at his scratched side. “You got any food on you? I feel like I haven’t eaten in a least an hour” said the cat looking up at him with hopeful eyes. “Uhm I have a chocolate bar in my backpack, but cat’s aren’t supposed to eat chocolate I don’t think” he replied “Do I look like I care? Gimme the food or you’ll start to look pretty tasty yourself.” He backed on out of the bushes and reached behind into his bag t find the chocolate bar, the cat deftly snatched the wrapped bar out of his hand, somehow opened the wrapper and wolfed it down.

“Uhm well I guess since you’re free i’ll be going now, it was nice meeting you” Lay said to the talking cat “I think I need to go home and sleep. I can’t believe I’m stood here talking to a cat. What if someone see’s me, they think i’m weird enough already” he mumbled to himself fastening his backpack and walking away “Yea well tough kid, my last owner kicked me out so now i’ve decided i’m living with you. So get walking pal and I’ll follow you home.” He looked behind him to see that yes in fact there was a ginger cat following him, and no it didn’t look like it was leaving anytime soon.

He walked into his house a few minutes later and threw his bag down in the hallway announcing to his Mother he was home. She came out from the kitchen and gave him a quick hug before shrieking in shock. “Oh my god, what is that thing behind you? How did it get in the house” she screamed pointing to the cat. “Uhm I found him on the way home, he followed me here, I don’t think he has anywhere to live. Could I keep him? Please?” Lay politely asked his Mother. “I’ll look after him myself I swear, you won’t have to do anything!” he begged not actually knowing why he was begging his Mother to agree to let this rude talking cat live with them. “Ok I guess so, he is kind of cute now that I look at him. But you have to do everything, especially picking up poop. I refuse to touch any poop” The cat purred and pushed his way past Lay to rub himself against his Mother’s legs. What a sleaze he thought. “Well I guess I’ll go to the pet store after school tomorrow and buy him some things. I’m going upstairs to bed. Thanks Mom” he said giving her another quick hug before walking upstairs to his bedroom.  

The cat followed him upstairs to his room and made himself at home on his bed while he busied himself tidying up some of the mess from the floor. “So do you have a name?” Lay asked “Yep my name is Chen, it says right here on my collar you moron” said the cat sarcastically. “Wow ok, I can see why your last owners kicked you out. Were you always this mean?” said Lay in retaliation. For the first time this evening the cat looked a little hurt, he curled up in a ball and pretended to sleep. Lay felt a little guilty for saying what he did, he’d probably be upset too if he were kicked out of his home. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that. We’ll go to the pet store tomorrow after I get back from school and get whatever you want” he said while changing into his pyjamas. “I know you’re not really asleep, I said I was sorry” He heard Chen let out a satisfied huff as he climbed into bed. Maybe it would be nice to have someone to talk to now, it had just been him and his Mother for the longest time Lay thought to himself. “I don’t mind if you sleep on the end of the bed but do you have to sleep exactly in the middle, I can’t stretch out at all”

He was suddenly woken in the morning by a ginger cat paw in his face “Wake up buddy, it’s breakfast time. Get out of bed and feed me” said a voice from above him. He rolled over in bed flailing his arms out at the cat sat on his chest. “Ok ok ok I’m up, what do you want for breakfast. I don’t have any cat food, I have some tinned tuna though I think.” said Lay groggily getting out of bed. He quickly went to the bathroom and had a wash, deciding he was too tired to even attempt a shower. He threw on his uniform and grabbed his backpack from the floor before heading down to breakfast. Chen was already waiting for him in the kitchen receiving cuddles from his Mother. “Oh your awake, I gave this little guy some breakfast he just looked so cute and hungry. Here’s your lunch for school” his Mother said giving him his lunchbox. He put it away in his bag and wolfed down his breakfast.

As he was leaving the house to go to school he turned to say goodbye to Chen only to see that he was following him out of the house “Well what am I supposed to do? Just wait around all day for you to get home. I’m sure I can find something more interesting to do outside. Get moving kid” said the cat nudging him down the street. “Erm why is there a cat following you to school you freak?” said his neighbour, who unfortunately went to his school also. He was one of the more popular kids at school who did his best to make sure Lay’s school life . It wasn’t that he was bullied at school, but he didn’t exactly have many friends and everyone just thought of him as that weird loner kid. The cat suddenly pounced on the kid from behind as he walked away, hissing as he sunk his claws into his coat and ripped out large shreds of fabric and stuffing. “What the , get off me” his neighbour shouted shaking Chen off him and running away down the street.

Lay chuckled to himself as he watched him run down the street, he knew he’d pay for it when he got to school but it was nice to see him suffer for a while. “Thanks Chen, maybe it will be nice to have you around after all” he said bending down to give him a little pet and continued to walk to school in silence. “Ok well school gets out at 3.30, so I guess I’ll meet you back here then?” said Lay wondering for the millionth why he was talking to a cat, Chen nodded and pranced happily away. It was only once Lay sat in his seat for the first class of the day that he suddenly wondered how exactly Chen would know what time it was, it’s not like the cat had a watch or anything. Oh well, Lay thought to himself, I mean it’s a talking cat after all, he was sure that it could probably find out the time too.

School had been pretty uneventful for once, he didn’t even see his neighbour around. He entered the pet store with Chen stuffed in his backpack, he could hear him complaining about how stuffy it was in there. It was his idea in the first place Lay thought to himself, so why the heck was he whinging about it now. He’d been in this store a few times before but only to look at the animals when he was feeling particularly down. It’s surprising how much looking at fluffy bunnies could cheer you up, also the cute guy that worked here part time afterschool didn’t exactly go unnoticed either. He wandered on through the store looking at the various animals for sale until he ran into the cute guy he was just thinking of. “Wow he’s hot, ask him out” came a voice suddenly from his backpack “Uhm excuse me?” said the pet store guy Lay was currently admiring. “Oh uhm I said wow it’s hot. In here. This store, I mean” Lay quickly said giving his backpack a quick nudge to shut him up, how could the cat even see him stuffed inside his bag he thought to himself. “Ooookay, well what do you need? Are you looking for anything in particular?” the hot guy replied, still looking slightly confused. “Well I just adopted a cat, so I guess I need everything a cat might need. I have no idea, I’ve never looked after a cat before sorry” said Lay looking at his name tag for the first time, his name was Minseok he noted. “Ah ok, well the cat section is over here. It says everything you might need on this leaflet we have over here, but some of these things are extras, you don’t have to buy everything on here” Minseok told him helpfully. Lay nodded taking the leaflet from him and heading over to the aisle that Minseok had pointed too.

He checked if anyone was around before moving his backpack to the front of him, and letting Chen poke his head out of the top. “So go on then, pick whatever you’d like. It says for the basics we need a litter box and cat litter, food bowls and cat food, a bed, a scratching post and some toys.” said Lay “Just get the best of everything, I’m not bothered. Your the one that’s gonna have to pick up my poop and put food in my bowl. I don’t need a bed, i’ve claimed the bottom of yours so get used to it” said Chen making himself comfortable back inside the large backpack again. Lay shrugged his shoulders grabbing whatever he saw off the shelves and shoving it into his basket. Why did he even need most of this stuff, I mean the cat talked for gods sake. Couldn’t he just tell him when he needed the bathroom and go outside?

He took his basket to the checkout and handed the items to Minseok who rang them through and bagged them up for him with a small smile. “Here’s you change, and I put my number on your receipt incase you needed any cat advice, I have a cat too. Or maybe we could go out for coffee sometime?” said Minseok handing him his coins. He nodded in thanks to Minseok and walked home in a daze, with Chen surprisingly quiet for once. He got home without actually remembering the walk home, said hello to his Mother, went to his room and dumped his stuff on the floor. He sat on his bed for a few seconds before remember to let Chen out of his backpack. “Uhm kid, are you alive?” Chen said after a minute “That guy just totally asked you out and you walked out of the store like a zombie. You didn’t even say goodbye” Lay finally snapped out of his daze and looked at Chen “I know, I think I went into shock for a while there. I’ve never been asked out before, I didn’t know what to do” Lay admitted.

After constant nagging from Chen all evening he’d finally promised to ring Minseok as soon as he got home from school the next day just to get some peace. He worked up the courage to dial the number, suprised when Minseok picked up the phone straight away. “Oh uhm hi, this is Lay. You gave me your number at the pet store yesterday.” he blurted out far too fast as Chen sat by and watched. Lay had never seen a cat laugh before, not even thinking it was possible, but the look on the cat’s face right now could only be described as pity laughter. “Hi Lay, I’m glad you called. Is everything ok with the cat?” Minseok asked “Erm yea the cat is fine thanks” Lay replied dumbly “Ah so, do you want to go out for lunch sometime then? Is that why you called? I’m free all day tomorrow if you’d like?” Minseok replied. Lay nodded his head before realising that Minseok couldn’t see him over the phone. “Yea ok, i’m free tomorrow too” replied Lay, trying not to sound like his heart was trying to beat it’s way out of his chest. “Do you know the cafe across from the pet store? Let’s meet there tomorrow at 12 maybe? It’s my treat” replied Minseok enthusiastically. He put the phone down soon after, not actually believing what had just happened. “Well congrats kid, you just got yourself a date. No idea how though, i’ve only known you 3 days and i’ve come to realise you aren’t exactly Mr Sociable.”

“Where do you think your going?” said Lay when he noticed Chen following him out of the house the next morning “You can’t come on this date with me, if this even is a date. What would he say if I turned up to the cafe with a cat. You probably aren’t even allowed inside” said Lay pushing him back into the house. “I’ll tell you all about it when I get home I promise” he shouted to the closed door before walking away down his street. He still couldn’t believe Chen had talked him into ringing Minseok, and that Minseok had actually asked him out for lunch.

He got to the cafe just before 12 to see Minseok already sitting at a table by the window. At least he knew that it wasn’t some elaborate plan to stand him up. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a simple grey sweater and yet still managed to look good Lay thought to himself. He had slightly chubby cheeks with big bright round eyes that Lay loved. His hair was styled back today instead it’s usual place resting on his forehead, it suited him Lay thought. He smiled to himself encouragingly and walked into the cafe to face his fate.

Minseok noticed him as soon as the bell on the door jingled when Lay entered, he quickly got up from his seat and waved him over. He didn’t really know what to say, he’d hardly ever hung out with friends never mind go on an actual date before. Maybe he should just let Minseok do the talking he thought. They said hello and awkwardly sat back down at the table, he took a look round the cafe pretending he was interested in the decor when in fact he was trying to compose himself. “So how is the kitty settling in?” Minseok asked, finally making conversation. “Oh he’s doing good, he’s completely made himself at home. You’d think I was the pet not him” Lay laughed. “Yea, that’s definitely the way cats are. Mine is totally the same. So what do you want to eat?” said Minseok passing Lay a menu. He looked at the menu noting that, happily noticing that it wasn't too expensive He'd brought some money to pay for himself, even though Minseok had said it was his treat he still felt a little awkward. After finally settling on a chicken sandwich he waited for Minseok to decide before going upto the counter to place their order.

"So what school do you go to?" Minseok asked. "I haven't seen you around at my school, and your uniform is different from mine" he added. "Oh I just go to the school near my house, it's only a small school so you probably haven't noticed it before. What about you?" Lay asked. "Erm I go to the private school, my Dad insisted even though we can't really afford it. That's why I have the part time job after school." Minseok admitted shyly. They chatted for a few more minutes before their food arrived, his sandwich looked great. He thought about saving a bit of chicken for Chen to say sorry for shutting him in the house but then decided against it. He didn’t want to look weird in front on Minseok who seemed to actually like him for some reason. The date, if this was even a date, turned out to be really fun. They chatted like friends all through dinner and even went to get dessert afterwards. In the end he’d let Minseok pay for their lunch, but managed to buy the ice cream afterwards “I had a really great time, I’d love to see you again” said Minseok as they were getting ready to leave. “I’d really like that too” he replied giving him an awkward hug goodbye.

Omfg I don't know what this was, some kind of brain fart?

(thanks for the artwork Kris)