This little bastard... is it really a cat?
Da-woon hoisted the cat up, suspicion clouding his eyes.
At first glance it looked like an ordinary, no, an excessively pretty kitten.
The strange white eyes with their tinge of blue were just as fascinating on a second look. Even the white fur, sticking up every which way the way a kitten's does, had a glossy sheen. Its features were unusually sharp too, which made him think, though he couldn't say for sure, that it was some high-end pedigree breed.
It was too clean to be a stray, neither scrawny nor grimy. The more he looked, the more suspicious it seemed, so he narrowed his eyes and peered at the cat more closely.
“You're a Beastman, aren't you?”
Da-woon gripped the cottony white front paws and asked, grave as an interrogator. He kept a careful watch for any flicker in the cat's eyes as he pressed on.
“Tell me the truth. You're a Beastman, right?”
The cat just stared at Da-woon's lips moving right in front of its nose. Those white eyes, like a sea surface skimmed with thin ice, tracked nothing but Da-woon's slender lips.
“If there's some reason you're hiding it, confess now. I'll help you out...”
Da-woon couldn't finish. The cat, which had been blinking its pretty eyes, suddenly lifted its head and bumped its muzzle against him.
At the kitten's adorable move, mashing its lips against his out of nowhere, the corners of Da-woon's mouth lifted helplessly. When it came to going soft in front of something cute, Da-woon was no different from anyone else.
The cat seemed to take an interest in Da-woon's smooth lips, even sticking out its tongue to give them a quick lick. The rough, sandpapery feel made Da-woon flinch and pull his head back a little.
“Quit being cute and answer me.”
He'd meant to sound stern, but a smile was already on his lips. As the cat kept acting like a perfectly ordinary cat, his suspicion gradually faded.
“Are you really a cat? You sure?”
Instead of answering, the cat thrust its head forward, chasing Da-woon's retreating face. This time it knocked not its muzzle but its cheek against his chin, purring like a car with the engine just turned over.
“Ha, you're a funny one.”
The thing rubbed its face all over him and purred until his guard slowly came down. Even Da-woon, who had no great interest in animals, could melt at how affectionate the cat was.
The tiny body planted its paws on Da-woon's chest and, purring, purring its little song, rubbed its scent into him. Unable to refuse, Da-woon naturally gathered it into his arms and, without realizing it, leaned into the soft fur.
As he held the small cat that tucked so snugly against him, a warmth he hadn't felt in a long time spread through him.
Ah... it's warm.
It was a sensation that brought back the soft, fuzzy heat he'd felt when holding his little sibling.
He wrapped his arms more firmly around the small body clinging to him, its cheek resting against his chest. The rumble of its purring reached past his chest all the way to his heart.
The ticklish feeling made Da-woon snort a laugh, and he closed his eyes for a moment. He felt ridiculous, cradling a cat that had appeared out of nowhere, but he wanted to stay like this just a little longer. The nerves that had been on edge ever since he'd fallen into the novel began to loosen languidly.
The cat seemed every bit as comfortable in his arms as he was, swishing its tail contentedly. Leaning against Da-woon's flat chest and singing its purr-song, it began to nibble, as if mouthing, at a small protruding spot. Da-woon just took it as play and laughed it off.
“This is proper animal therapy.”
Animal therapy, said to help with mental and emotional stability. Da-woon had never actually received it, but he'd heard about it from colleagues in the past.
Firefighting was an accident-prone job, so quite a few of his colleagues suffered from PTSD. They said that abroad, even if it was rare domestically, animal therapy was used actively in treating PTSD.
He'd listened without much interest back then, but now that he was feeling the effect firsthand, he understood why it was famous. After just a few minutes of holding it close, his mind felt steadier and even his fatigue seemed to have lifted.
“Feels like even the muscle aches have eased up...”
He doubted it could really work that fast, but his heavy body did feel like it had grown lighter. The fatigue and muscle pain that hadn't gone away even after downing painkillers and sleeping for ages, gone in an instant.
Da-woon gazed quietly at the cat nestled in his arms.
“You want to live with me?”
Having gotten even a brief but solid taste of animal therapy, he felt greedy. He even reached the point of thinking he wouldn't mind if it really was a Beastman.
“I can't promise to look after you in great detail, but I can keep you from going hungry.”
Da-woon drew his knees up to sit and laid the cat out lengthwise across his thigh. Flopped onto its back with its belly exposed, the cat watched Da-woon, calmly swishing only its tail.
“What's it called. I'll buy you lots of those fishing-rod toys too. And the most expensive food.”
Da-woon talked off the top of his head, mulling over what a cat might like.
The truth was, Da-woon was leaning toward the idea that the cat wasn't a Beastman. The sight of Ryu Tae-ha's ruined jacket settled it.
Could a creature that pissed on a person's clothes possibly be a Beastman? At least Da-woon figured there was no way. Above all, Beastmen weren't common enough to just run into this easily.
“I've never raised an animal before. But I think I could raise you just fine.”
He kept talking to the cat, who couldn't understand a word, and pressed firmly at its plump paw pads.
“I'll give you lots of treats, so live with me. You like those, right? Churu?”
Meow.
The cat pricked up its ears and rubbed its tail against Da-woon's body. The little thing must have known the taste of churu, because it showed a reaction for the first time.
“Well? Tempted yet?”
It must have had plenty of experience getting churu. The cat's already pretty eyes lit up as it put on the charm.
The more he looked, the more those eyes drew his gaze. It was just like looking at the eyes of a sacred dragon from myth. A faint blue light hovered over the clear white eyes, lending it a mysterious air.
Young as it still was, its eyes carried such a strong presence that it gave off a strange aura.
Meow.
Even its honest little cry didn't sound strange the more he heard it. It just felt all the cuter.
“You really are good-looking.”
Da-woon spread the cat's hind legs, confirmed the healthy little peanuts, and corrected his praise.
“No, handsome. With features that sharp, you'll have a lot of lady cats crying.”
Look who's talking.
The cat let out a small puff through its nose and muttered inwardly. Having no way of knowing this, Da-woon, not dreaming of the cat's true form, carefully lifted the small body.
“Let's go buy churu. Food, and... a litter box too.”
Getting to his feet, Da-woon glanced at Ryu Tae-ha's jacket and tacked on the last part. Food was food, but it seemed he'd better get a litter box sorted out first.
Da-woon tossed Ryu Tae-ha's clothes into the bathroom for now, then opened the door to the dressing room. He wanted to hurry and feed the cat something, since it had probably gone without food since yesterday.
“Wow... you little bastard, you...”
Stepping into the dressing room, Da-woon gave a light tap to the rump of the cat lounging carelessly against his shoulder.
The dressing room, which had been spotless just yesterday, was plastered with white fur. So this was where it had gone, hiding here, apparently.
“You've completely turned it into your own playground.”
Every drawer was open, and the clothes he'd hung up neatly on the rack had all tumbled to the floor. It looked like the place had been ransacked.
On top of that, the clothes heaped on the floor were all black, and a heavy sigh fell from Da-woon's mouth.
If you're going to play with them, pick the light-colored ones that match you. The way it had unerringly singled out only the black clothes he often wore and piled them on the floor was absurd.
Did cats have preferences too? Or was there some smell on the clothes he wore?
“Guess I'll have to buy a lint roller too.”
Clicking his tongue lightly, Da-woon set the cat that was clutching tightly at his neck down on the floor for a moment. Still, it wasn't hurt anywhere, which was a relief. Luckily it hadn't been attacked by the crows, it seemed.
“Let me just change and we'll head right out.”
The cat stood on its hind legs alone and stretched its front paws toward Da-woon. At the sight of it whining, as if to say enough, just pick me up already, Da-woon curled his lips into a smile.
“All right. Hold on a sec.”
After lightly stroking its head, he quickly pulled off his top. When he stripped off his underwear and pants in one go, the cat that had been waving its front paws went still, mouth hanging wide open.
Da-woon didn't notice the blatant stare fixed on his rear. In fact, even if he had known, since it was a cat's gaze, he wouldn't have made an issue of it.
The cat, perhaps aware of this, took in the view all the more at ease. Even running its tongue over its lips a little.
“Are you balding? Why is so much fur coming off you?”
Shaking his head, Da-woon pulled out from the drawer a pair of underwear with the least fur on it. As he bent slightly forward to draw the navy drawers up over his ankles, the cat suddenly slipped in between his legs.
Da-woon shrugged his shoulders and laughed at the cat getting in the way of him dressing. Betraying that innocent smile, the cat's persistent gaze stayed locked on Da-woon's lower body.
Mrowww.
The tail, moving in a swaying little dance, tickled the back of Da-woon's knee.
Da-woon, who was very ticklish, bent his knee slightly. Just as he was about to tell it to move aside, the pager that had been quiet all this time suddenly went off in a clamor.
