“Still, you're in better shape than Yoonhoo. That guy...”
Before he could even finish, Yoongeon's forepaw shot up.
Thump.
The big, heavy pad landed squarely over Hyeonoh's mouth.
“Grrrrr.”
It was clearly different from the growling he made when he was with me. This one carried an unmistakable note of warning.
Hyeonoh clamped his mouth shut and narrowed his eyes. A look of exasperation flickered across his furrowed face. Then, oddly, he glanced over at me.
“All right, all right, you jerk. But why does it look like your cat's glaring at me?”
Because I was glaring at him. I held back the urge to snort a puff of air through my nose. Stop getting distracted and look at the wound properly!
“Khuh.”
Just then, a low sound rumbled in the owner's throat. I couldn't tell for sure, but... it was definitely a laugh. What was he laughing about, though? Was there anything funny in what I'd just said?
“Well, anyway, sorry I'm late.”
Hyeonoh swallowed another sigh and went on.
“I've got no choice but to put things on that side first. So hurry up and become chieftain already. The seat's empty, so why won't you do it?”
“Grrk, grrrng.”
“I don't get it... but the longer you drag this out, the more danger you put yourself in. You know that. So this fight, too...”
“Khng.”
“What? You...? Ack!”
The moment Hyeonoh tried to say something more, Yoongeon's tail slapped his arm.
“Come on, what now...”
Then, all of a sudden, Hyeonoh's eyes met mine. I couldn't figure out why he was staring at me so steadily, and I tilted my head.
Yoongeon seemed done listening, because he hunched down and rested that huge face right on top of my head. I meowed at him to get off, he was heavy, but he kept nudging me like he was playing around.
I'm keeping watch on your behalf right now, you know that? So why are you getting in the way?
After putting up with Yoongeon's heavy head resting on me for a while, I finally slipped off the sofa. The treatment seemed just about finished, and there was no reason for me to keep watching over it anymore.
That was when a strange thought struck me.
...Why am I so worried about the owner's wound? No matter how much he got hurt because of me, he was the one who stepped in and got hurt on his own. And besides, I'm someone who's going to leave.
I'd vaguely known it. That just as much as the owner poured affection onto me, my own heart was tilting toward him too. There was a time when I'd promised myself that if someone who truly loved me ever came along, I'd love them back the same way. Maybe that was why this situation felt all the more dangerous.
...Maybe it really is a little dangerous. It's fine for him to give me affection, but I can't do the same. I mustn't grow attached to him, or to this comfortable place where I live with him.
Even though he'd said he loved me, it wasn't as if he really knew me. All he knew was this form, and what he cherished was, in the end, me-as-a-cat. That's why I can't stay here. Telling the cat you've raised that you love it and accepting me as I truly am were completely different matters. If he ever found out who I really was, there was no way he'd keep giving me the kind of affection he did now.
So I too had to keep the same distance from him, and treat him with only that measured amount of feeling.
Right now this is just... anyone would worry if someone they knew got badly hurt. And if it was because of me, of course it'd weigh on me even more. That's all this is.
What snapped me out of the brooding I'd fallen into, standing motionless beneath the sofa, was a long tail brushing over my head. I looked up to find Yoongeon gazing down at me.
“Grrr.”
It hurts.
It was as if that was what he was saying.
Of all things, it called to mind the look I'd seen in his eyes yesterday, and I couldn't tear my gaze away. In the end, without meaning to, I stepped closer to Yoongeon's side. All those countless times I'd steeled my heart felt pointless now. Just like when I'd shared my warmth with him as he groaned to himself yesterday, I pressed my body snugly against him.
As if he'd been waiting for it, Yoongeon lowered his face toward me and rubbed his cheek against my body. He was clearly pleased. He seemed to like lowering himself as much as possible to meet my eyes, and the corners of his eyes curved softly. Even on the face of a fierce beast of prey, that one expression looked strangely gentle.
“Krrk, grrrk.”
Maybe because he couldn't do the kneading thing with his forepaws, he poked at me with his nose instead. When something close to a purring song began mixing into the sounds, my resolve weakened.
They say that when a person is hurt, they need someone to lean on. For the owner, it seemed that someone was me. I didn't really understand why it had to be me, of all things...
So without thinking, I licked the bridge of his nose as if to comfort him, telling him not to hurt. In that instant, his languidly drooping eyes flew wide open.
Huh? Did I mess up?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, Yoongeon pushed his face closer. His mouth opened, and a thick tongue slowly emerged from between his jaws.
And that tongue licked up along my lips.
It was nothing at all like when he'd licked my forehead or my face. The meaning was different, the distance was different. The tongue that swept across my lips once slipped back into his mouth, but Yoongeon must not have seen the stunned look on my face, because he went on to rub his lips against mine too.
That was no light little peck.
Rubbing lips together isn't something animals commonly do. It's usually humans who attach meaning to pressing lips together. Maybe that was why my mouth fell open blankly. And the moment that damp sensation was about to touch my lips again, I startled and leapt away.
“Meowww!!”
The fur on my tail puffed straight up. I scrambled back to the far end of the sofa as if fleeing, gasping for breath.
Ever since he'd been in human form, Yoongeon had showered me with kisses and was forever watching for a chance to kiss me on the lips too. I'd figured it was just because he liked me so much, but I never imagined he'd still be like this now that he was in his true form. He'd even done something worse than a kiss! All I do is lick a nose! Lips, lips-to-lips, that's a whole different thing!
Seeing my reaction, Yoongeon slowly rose to his feet. As his face climbed impossibly high, a giant shadow fell over me. My fur bristled even more.
But rather than threatening me, he flopped over and rolled onto his back.
“Wooong.”
He put on such blatant, coaxing charm, as if begging me not to be angry, that for a moment I was left dumbfounded. But soon the sensation and warmth of that thick tongue grazing my lips flooded my head.
“Hey, hey, keep that up and your wound's gonna split open!”
Hyeonoh shouted from behind him, but Yoongeon looked only at me, as if the words weren't even worth hearing.
That made the feeling even stranger. I couldn't hold out, and I scrambled up the cat tower and burrowed into the hidey-house. Then I frantically scrubbed at my mouth with my forepaws.
But the sensation wouldn't go away. That damp, hot feeling. So vivid a sensation.
I clutched my lips tightly with both forepaws.
My, my first kiss...!
No matter how much I'd fawned over humans to beg for food, not one of them had ever tried to kiss me. I was a stray cat, after all.
It had been the same when I was human. In my circumstances, with nothing to my name, even dating someone wasn't easy. Before romance, I'd never even had an ordinary life, and I didn't have so much as a single one of those common friends everyone else seemed to have.
Still, someday I wanted to build a family. The kind of warm, happy family anyone would envy.
I'd wanted my first kiss to be with a decent, kind, pretty girl I'd pair off with... It wasn't some grand fantasy. I just wanted it to be with someone who'd become the family I'd live my life with. Someone who liked me, who loved me.
And instead I went and did it with a weird tiger.
The weirder part was that I'd frozen up in shock and then just fled. With my temper, the normal thing would've been to shove him and land a punch when I got angry... but all I did was run.
It felt so unfair. And on top of that, my heart was pounding like crazy.
“Meowwng!”
Ugh, this is so infuriating!
I sank my teeth into the plush cushion inside the hidey-house and chewed and chewed it, venting my fury.
A few hours later, the owner returned to the form I knew.
“...Baby, won't you come to me?”
Whip!
Even as Yoongeon called out to me pitifully, I coldly turned my head away.
“Baby...”
I doggedly ignored even that voice, which grew more and more mournful. On top of everything, it was evening now.
Which meant it was the time I ate with Yoongeon. The scent of meat, warm and freshly cooked, wafted over in gentle waves, but I didn't want to eat it with him. Ignoring the meal laid out neatly on the table, I latched onto the leg of Changgyu's trousers.
Bring it over here.
Changgyu stood there with his usual calm expression, but the corners of his eyes were twitching. He glanced once at Yoongeon and let out a deep sigh. It seemed he was going to bring my food bowl over here.
Just then, Yeongho sidled up out of nowhere.
“Ahem. Did the brother's behavior startle you? But surely it's all because he likes you.”
I was so dumbfounded that I glared at Yeongho.
Just because you like someone, does that make it okay to rub lips with them without their consent? Sure, I'm a cat right now... but there's a person inside. It was my first kiss!
And making excuses to a cat was ridiculous too. How would he even know whether that was what had upset me? Even if he did happen to be right...
“Don't tell me it was your first?”
