Kyungsoo was well aware of the commotion in the house signaling the arrival of the ‘kitten’, which Jongdae had informed him the new cat was to be called, whatever its name. ‘Kitten’ meant giving up another corner of their shared bedroom, of which Kyungsoo didn’t like but he could live with, if mainly because it meant another person to hopefully annoy Jongdae given some time. 

The transition also meant a new change in the house dynamic, and after their latest addition — Kai, one year ago — that was a little worrying. And yet Yixing had visited them all some days before giving them ample notification and promising a cat with a good and friendly disposition, well loved and well spoken for. 

“Then what is he coming here for?” Kai had complained at the time. 

The cat’s master had died, Yixing explained, and Tao’s future had long been included in the man’s will, discussed well in advance of his death with Yixing to ensure Tao would be looked after when he was gone. That made Tao a hundred times more blessed than most cats ever were in all their lives.

The thought brought a prickle of tears to Kyungsoo’s eyes. He never had a master, never had an owner, and he’d never ever seen the outside of the compound he was raised in, or the animal adoption agency he was moved to briefly before its government shut down. Not until he moved to the shelter. Kai said he was lucky, that he never had to experience such horror, of being at the beck and call of human beings. Minseok as well always seemed to revert into a daze when he tried to pry into his past. Neither one ever said why though. Kyungsoo didn’t doubt they’d both had less than pleasant experiences, yet there was a part of him that yearned for something other than the life he had now. Twenty five, free, for all intents and purposes, at least as much as a cat could have the world, which wasn’t much. But he felt like he hadn’t lived. The shelter only denoted a passage of time in his life, he decided: some immediate companionship of like creatures, but he shouldn't think of it as the end all for his life. He still craved something more.

A few clicks of his computer brought up the page he wanted. Kyungsoo paused for a moment, trained his ears for any coming sounds, and once he was certain Jongdae had taken the new cat elsewhere first, he calculated he had a few more minutes at least to check his blog.

No New Notifications

“Damn.”

He’d been so certain that his latest rounds of inquiries would bring in some hits. So many messages sent out, and he’d finally been invited to the join the private message boards. Still no replies.

For fun, or because he had nothing else to do, he stared blandly at his profile description.

Name: Do Kyungsoo

Race: Feline

Gender: Male

Age: 25

Status: Free

Hobbies: Reading, Movies, Cooking, Singing, Sleeping

“I’m so lame,” he muttered to himself. Then, “It’s my age. It’s my goddamn stupid age.”

Luhan’s welcome was short-lived, Tao noted. Halfway through his tour of the kitchen (with Jongdae promising him meal duties once he was settled in) he watched the older cat slinking out of the room, and assumed he was going back to the sleeping Minseok. Jongdae let him go this time without a word of complaint until the door was shut behind him, and even then he sounded more amused than anything.

“Can’t separate those two for long.” He nodded to himself, like it were the most mundane of facts.  

“Have they… been together long?”

“Luhan and Minseok? Comparatively so. Minseok was one of Yixing’s first rescue cats six years ago. Nobody knows his story or where he came from except for Yixing, and probably Luhan. And they don’t tell much. Luhan came second - you can ask him sometime about his story, he’ll probably tell you. All I know is that they basically bonded since that time and now… well, you kind of see how they are now.”

“Is he really old? Minseok?”

“He’s thirty something,” Jongdae answered simply. “Luhan makes him out to be an ancient, but truthfully he’s still got a few years left in him.” 

“I see.” 

He didn’t get much of an opportunity to ask more about his fellow companions. Jongdae ran a tight tutorial on kitchen duties, where specific types of food were kept, where the dishes go when they’re dirty or clean, how the house basically runs in a ‘fend for yourself’ kind of way, but still, courtesy and tidiness should be applied. He explained how cats, and therefore their hybrid counterparts, can live in most any condition, but here they needed to rely on each other more than most. 

Tao was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded; and also, homesick. 

When is nap time? he almost asked. 

Instead, he only yawned, politely covering his mouth like his parents had taught him. Jongdae caught the infection too and yawned even wider, without such delicacy. Tao’s eyes closed and his tail twitched, a hand outstretched flat on the surface of the nearest counter. A few moments went by while they stood there, neither looking at the other in the momentary haze of their own little worlds. Through the window over the sink Tao caught a hint of movement in the backyard, but nothing disturbed the peace and quiet of the room except the buzzing of a fly. Then Jongdae snapped his head up. 

“So where was I again? Oh yes, let’s finish our tour.”

They met Kyungsoo halfway snoozing in the den at a computer desk. Tao decided he was one of the tiniest cats he’d seen yet, with black tufts of hair on his head and tail bushier than most. He trained large oval eyes at the two when they entered, and very quickly his hand clicked away at a window on the screen. The page minimized before they could see, leaving up only a lonely game of solitaire. 

Languidly he unfurled his feet from underneath himself, and without getting up, swiveled around to face them.

“Kitten?” He asked.

“This is Tao,” Jongdae informed him. “So if the kitten you’re referring to is him, then yes.”

Kyungsoo sniggered, his lips scrunching up cutely until his smile bubbled over. “I know, Jongdae, you don’t have to remind me.  Hi Tao, happy to meet you. I would get up but the chair’s too comfy to move. Have a seat though.” He waved to a tattered cushioned love seat with an ample amount of pillows.  

“Pleased to meet you," Tao replied. He gratefully took a seat and immediately laid his head inert on the arm of the couch. 

“My goodness, have you put him through a marathon? Kitten looks exhausted already,”  said Kyungsoo.

“I haven't!”  Jongdae cried.

Tao tried his best to claim otherwise. “Oh, I'm not... that sleepy.” He wasn't sure he was very persuasive though. Marathon or not, it had been a long drive here and a stressful morning trying to adjust. 

Jongdae pat Tao's head, sat down on the other side of it and crossed his arms. He stared curiously at Kyungsoo.

“The chair’s too comfy, or you’re doing something weird on the computer again… Hmm, I wonder which it is?” 

Kyungsoo flushed. “I— I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Yeah, right. So you’re just playing solitaire, huh?”

“Y-yes.” There was a definitive note along that word, that sadly fooled nobody. 

Jongdae scoffed, knowing Kyungsoo better than that. With one foot he nudged at Tao’s nearly sleeping form. 

“Hey, kitten.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t fall asleep on us here. You’re my roommate and I gave you the tour, so back me up here. Didn’t you see him close something down really fast when we got here?”

Tao blinked, then realized Kyungsoo was staring at him too, and gone was the sweet look from before. That’s when he remembered who his other roommate was.

He chuckled softly, and yawned again. Speaking slowly, “Sorry, but didn’t you say Kyungsoo sleeps with us too? No offense but he looks scarier than you do right now…”

Jongdae kicked him this time, harder than before, but Tao rather liked the attention. So, it seemed, did Kyungsoo. The cat laughed and Jongdae pouted, and Tao smiled to himself. 

“I’m going to like this kitten,” he heard Kyungsoo say, and then he nodded off to sleep.

It was a doorbell ringing that finally woke him up, long into the afternoon and early evening. Tao rolled over, nearly falling off the love seat which was honestly a little too short for his long legs. Doorbells had always made him happy though, in his other home. They brought guests and visitors, and generally his master only had nice people over. People who liked cats and fawned over Tao. With a lurch he realized he would probably never see those people ever again. 

Still though, it was a friendly sound. 

He rolled off the couch, stretching his body, and realized that he was alone. Kyungsoo’s computer had long since gone to sleep, and Jongdae wasn’t to be seen. A part of Tao wanted to stay in the den and wait to be found. But this was his home too now. He had every right to wander about as much as he wanted, or so he decided. He followed the sounds of voices down the hall.

Humans. He smelled them first. He saw them second, peaking his head around the door frame that lead into the main living area. Minseok, he saw, was finally awake though he was still slumped into the couch with Luhan attached to his hip. Jongdae had joined them on the ground at their feet, with Minseok lazily scratching his head. The humans sat across from them, one bored while the other talked animatedly with Kyungsoo. 

They stopped when they caught Tao creeping.

“Oh, there he is,” said the older man delightedly. Jongdae swung his head around.

“Kitten! Come on out. You look like you’re about to be punished for spying.”

“Sorry,” Tao muttered, wiping his eyes. “I was… sleeping.” He found a tall stool in the corner close to the doorway and he pulled himself on top of it cross-legged. It was a good enough perch that he could see the whole rest of the room. His favorite kind of place.

“Yes, we know,” said Kyungsoo with a titter. 

The man laughed as well, amiably. “Well I did come to a house full of cats. Honestly, I’m always surprised when I visit and find half of you are still actually awake.”

Kyungsoo scowled. “Cut it out. That’s a stereotype, and we’re not all bums.”

The man waved him affectionately. “Says the cat who lists ‘sleeping’ as one of his hobbies…Yes, yes. I’ll shut up. Anyways, let’s hear from the kitten. What’s your name, huh?”

“Tao, sir.”

Kyungsoo and Jongdae laughed again. “You don’t have to ‘sir’ him. He’s just our neighbor,” said Kyungsoo. 

“Ahh, but our kitten is so timid!” cried Jongdae. 

Tao was beginning to feel like if he didn’t start sticking up for himself, Jongdae would probably walk all over him. Kyungsoo too, if he let him. He didn't trust that little one, though he found him completely adorable. Tao eyed the man warily, but like so many of the visitors he’d met before, he seemed genuinely interested in cats and what they had to say. He estimated he wasn't yet forty in human years, a youngling compared to his late owner, but he had a genial face and something about him asked for respect, even if Kyungsoo didn't seem to give it to him. Nor Jongdae. 

“My apologies. If you tell me your name, then I won’t call you sir, if you don’t call me kitten?” he bargained. Then he smiled in what he knew was a winning smile, pleased when the man reacted in just the way he should: surprise and amusement. Tao practiced that expression in the mirror all the time when he was a younger. Adoration usually followed that reaction, given some time.

The man had a hearty laugh. “Ahh, fine fine! I’m Joonmyun, and yes I'm the neighbor, though I've worked with cats for many, many years. Nice to meet you. It’s your first day here, I’m told. How do you find the others?”

“The others? They’re okay.”

“Just okay?” Jongdae howled.

Still Joonmyun chuckled. “Yes, they’re a fine bunch of cats. I don’t see Kai though. Have you met him?”

“The prickly one,” Kyungsoo supplied.

Tao pretends to think for a second. “Kai? The one who threw a pillow at Jongdae’s head?”

“That’d be the one!” Kyungsoo cried.

“Hey, I hit back with it pretty good!” 

The two cats bickered while Minseok, Luhan, Tao and the humans looked on, most of them amused.

“What a pack of kids…” Said the silent man. Tao had almost not paid him any attention since he came in, and he was just about inquire of the young man when Joonmyun looked around.

“But we’re missing someone, I think. Where’s your romping tomcat this evening?”

Kyungsoo put his fingers in his mouth and promptly whistled. Tao waited expectantly, suddenly remembering that Yixing said six cats lived in the house already, and he had only met five of them. Perhaps he might have been introduced before now if he hadn’t fallen asleep so quickly.

The sounds of a back door opening and slamming shut filled the living the room, and within moments entered a brown haired mess of a cat, dirt and dust coating his body, and an irritable scowl.

He stomped into the room and glared at those assembled, honing in on Kyungsoo in particular.

“Did you just… whistle for me, like I was a dog?”

No insult could have been worse, not that Kyungsoo seemed to mind it. He stood his ground boldly while the cat glared at him, eyes fuming and furious, and it was such a huge contrast to his appearance otherwise, most notably to his tiny stature, the streaks of dirt on his nose, and the handful of weeds still clenched in his hand. 

“I’ll deal with you later,” the cat warned. Then he eased up, greeted the two humans, eyed Tao with some interest, and just when Tao thought he might turn bubbly and introduce himself, he scowled again.

“Birds! I hate them! They’re destroying my garden! I want them all dead!”

“Oh, here we go again,” moaned Kyungsoo. 

Jongdae giggled. “Baekhyun, it’s not birds… It’s most likely a bug problem. I told you to get some bug spray…”

“It’s not bugs. It’s birds! They’re eating my plants. Look! Look at my lemon grass! It’s destroyed!”

He held up the batch of green fronds, and the company in the living room all sighed in various ways. Tao could tell it would take a good bit of persuasive reasoning to make Baekhyun believe that the sickly looking plants weren’t being singled out by birds, but as he hadn’t yet made proper introduction, he kept his mouth shut. 

The cat marched unhappily back outside, dragging Jongdae with him and Kyungsoo followed to give him more torment. Tao remained, unsure if he should follow or not. Minseok made no move to get up of course. If anything he’d sunk further into the cushions and his eyes were closed except for the tiniest slit, signifying he was still awake and amused. It was Luhan this time who was completely passed out. 

Joonmyun also followed the cats out back, chuckling as he went, though he gave Tao a proper welcome to the neighborhood handshake as he passed by, and Tao realized eerily, a little late, that he was basically alone now with the second human who had hardly said a word all evening. 

He didn’t laugh, nor did he motion like he was going to get up. He looked rather like he wanted to go home, or that he wished he wasn’t here at all, and for a human, the strenuous pull of his nose looked very much like a cat disgruntled with its surroundings.

Until he looked at Tao, and squirmed. 

Tao didn’t even realize he was staring until the man caught him looking. First came surprise, and when he realized Tao wasn’t going to look away — Tao was too surprised himself to even think of backing down— the man smirked, and a challenge was born. He inclined his head one tick to the side. Tao copied the angle. He honed his eyes, pupils dilating and growing wider. Tao followed suit. He blinked twice, and Tao blinked three times. 

He’d started to enjoy this game with the unnamed stranger, and they hadn’t yet broken eye contact. They held the stare, five seconds, ten seconds, twenty… In slow motion the stranger parted his lips and stuck out his tongue, sensuously rubbing along the top of his lips, daring Tao to do the same.

He almost did. But something about the action caused Tao to believe the man was making fun of him now. Tao opened his mouth, but shut it almost immediately, frowning. 

The stranger gave up the game. He snorted and rolled his eyes, and Tao knew he’d been correct. It made him a little bit sick to his stomach, and all he desperately wanted right now was to bound away to another spot, preferably where he couldn’t be seen and drown himself in his humiliation in private. 

The stranger pushed himself up off the couch, eyes raking over the embarrassed cat one last time and as he made for the back door, Tao heard distinctly, at a volume most definitely, deliberately made to be overheard, “Cats… I hate cats.”

Tao was miserable. Still rooted to his stool, he pushed back the first wave of tears and wiped the second with the back of his hand. Rude humans he’d met before. People who had no idea how to talk to or deal with cats, he’d met those too. Even some who’d clearly been uncomfortable in the presence of a life sized, human-cat hybrid and seemed prepared to be attacked as if he were some kind of ferocious predator. They made him a little uncomfortable, but nothing beyond what he could handle, what he could be amused at. Never though had Tao been subjected to such mocking, or to as much disdain as the man tonight had given him. It struck his heart in a fierce way, and this, combined with his first day in a new environment set him over the edge.

He pushed back his tears nearly as fast as they’d come, afraid he might come back and mock him some more. Cautiously he looked around, but the others still hadn’t returned, nor did it look like they would any time soon. 

Luhan still snoozed. The other, however, was looking at him. Tao realized Minseok must have seen everything, but before he had a chance to become embarrassed again, the old cat spoke.

“Shush shush. Don’t mind that one.” 

“That one?” Tao whimpered. “Who is he?”

“A dog lover,” joked the cat. His voice was higher pitched than Tao expected, a little gravelly but still melodic, soothing. “No, he just isn’t fond of cats. Any kind of cat. Strange, that Yixing’s son wouldn’t have much in the way of his father. He comes by every now and then on his dad’s errands, but most of us just ignore him. You'll learn to do that too. Sehun. That’s his name.”

3,267 words

Apologies for those of you who were looking forward to Kitty Sehun, but nope! I feel kind of miserable. I always meant for their first meeting to be a little gruff like this, the cat Tao and the not-a-cat-person Sehun, but the 'copy cat' session actually came up spontaneously, and then before I knew what was happening, I had made Tao cry. :'(

I give you all permission to beat me, miserably. Or at least smack something on your desk (lightly - don't break anything!) 

So they're mostly all introduced now, some better than others. I hope this second chapter doesn't disappoint much. Hope you're looking forward to more!

<3 Rosie

P.S. My sister is about to kill me because I made her two biases, Kai and Baekhyun, mangy and weird. Geez, I'm sorry! But they can't be perfect in every au! (*giggles*) I am writing a real [and long!] Kaibaek though where they're not this bizarre. In fact, they're basically perfect and totally awesome, all the time. Well, most of the time. Check it out if you are interested: Between Spotlights