Chapter Text
"No more snacks for one week!" Sunoo reprimanded. Jungwon meowed in distress, "No! You don't tell me what to do human!" He argued. "I eat my snacks whenever I wish to!"
Sunoo pouted as he watched Jungwon's cat self thrash around his grip in disagreement—it was a punishment called "air jail time" and Jungwon despised it.
"Why did you run away?" Sunoo asked in anger and Jungwon stopped for a moment only to look at him unimpressed. "You won't even understand me, human," he meowed.
"Did… Did I not give you everything a cat could wish for?" His voice cracked and his eyes turned glossy. Jungwon's eyes widened. "Am I a bad owner?" Sunoo whispered trying to get some kind of confirmation.
Jungwon didn't know what to say—not like the human would understand anyway if he did, but he was no expert in handling human emotions.
The demon sighed internally. He knew humans had a complicated way of living but he didn't know they were this bothersome.
"You've fed me and provided me with shelter. That should be proof enough, human," he meowed, fully expecting his words to go over the human's head. "Though, I'd love to be draped in silk and the finest jewelry—but I understand there are… financial limitations," he added, thinking of the cat models wrapped in expensive looking fabric he saw on the TV once. "Why couldn't you be a billionaire?" He complained in a murmur after scoffing in secret.
Sunoo paid no heed to his words. Instead he moved Jungwon in several angles to the left and right as if to inspect something. "You're not hurt, are you?" Sunoo asked in a trembling voice, bringing the cat to his embrace as he couldn't stay mad.
"I come from hell. Your world and its content is no threat," if Solon weren't here, he bitterly admitted inside his head. Sunoo then put the cat down on the floor as he squatted to the cat's eye level. He rubbed on his eyes, removing any trace of tears that threatened to fall.
"I'm sorry Dumpling." Jungwon didn't know what he was apologizing for.
His cat instincts told Jungwon to rub his body against Sunoo's squatting self, though—perhaps as a form of assurance that Sunoo was a good human.
Being given away just because Sunoo didn't believe that he was a competent servant was the last thing he wanted. What if his next servant was a crazy asylum escapee? Or an old woman who knits for a living with hundreds of other cats in her cramped home?—Jungwon saw them once on TV and it looked like nightmare fuel!
"Do not give me away, human," he meowed, rubbing his head onto Sunoo's shin and that seemed to work as Sunoo looked like he'd been swept off his feet.
Sunoo looked at him with hope. "Don't do that ever again, okay?" He asked. "I will do it again," Jungwon deadpanned but the human took it as approval to his question.
Sunoo hummed, scratching the cat's chin who pressed down on the human's palm in response.
"Oh Dumpling, look at you!" Sunoo suddenly exclaimed. "Your fur's all damp…" Jungwon froze. "I think you should have a bat-" Sunoo didn't have time to finish his sentence when the cat sprinted under the couch. An exasperated meow resonated through Sunoo's apartment.
Sunoo followed where the cat had run off to. "Dumpling…" Sunoo called once he lowered his head in an angle that allowed him to see the cat and Jungwon replied with a distressed meow that Sunoo knew all too well. "I know… But you can't sleep with me if you don't get yourself cleaned," Sunoo said sadly.
Jungwon stopped his grumbles at that. Jungwon had too much pride to sleep anywhere other than the bed! "That's unfair! You're the servant here!" He complained.
"It's okay Dumpling, we'll wash up together!" Sunoo exclaimed once he got his hands on the cornered cat. "No!" Jungwon rebelled. "Let me go!" he cried when the human successfully brought him out.
Sunoo wrapped his arms around Jungwon, preventing him from escaping. "Bath time is for filthy creatures!" He sassed "I just need a few licks!"
The human didn't reply, instead he kept on walking to the place Jungwon dreaded the most. That place was worse than hell.
"No!"
"Good night, Dumpling," Sunoo said as he placed a peck on the cat who willingly presented his forehead to him.
This was their night routine—one that Jungwon refused to miss out on because he could feel Sunoo's deep devotion for him. It was flattering to say the least, it'd been so long since Jungwon was treated this way! (He'd never been treated this way but he refused to acknowledge that fact.)
They got into a comfortable position as Sunoo slipped into bed with the cat on his hold. Jungwon shuffled slightly in relaxation, craving the warmth that rendered him into a state of bliss.
'The bath was unnecessary, but I guess this feels good,' he thought.
'It was a… needed sacrifice.' His body shivered slightly as he recalled the horrific event that previously took place. Jungwon truly didn't understand how a bath could be so… Torturous.
Jungwon admitted that it was quite a sight to look at Sunoo delicately washing up in the bathtub after having his turn of torment—still, it didn't help that he felt cold and shameful afterwards.
"Don't leave me, Dumpling," Sunoo mumbled deliriously in his sleep. Jungwon could only stare at the human who had his face pressed against his forehead. Sunoo's service had so far sky-rocketed his ego—he truly felt like a king worshiped by his people. Well—person.
It truly felt good. Fulfilling. Like he was made for this!
Jungwon was really going to miss this once his duty is fulfilled to say the least.
The next day, Sunoo left home with extra precaution. He checked around his house for any possibility of the cat slipping out once. Twice. Then thrice. A little bit over the top if Jungwon could say so himself.
He didn't mind, though—Solon was already aware of where they lived and that meant he only needed to wait for when Solon shows up. What he's specifically worried about, though, was Sunoo.
Jungwon figured Solon's tactic was smart and cliche at the same time. He'd get close to Sunoo as a friend or maybe more—Jungwon let out an ugly grumble at the thought—and once they become close enough, that's when he'll strike. His speculation wasn't foolproof but he was sure it's what Solon had in mind seeing how the traitor exchanged contacts and threw flirty remarks to Sunoo on their first meeting.
It didn't help that Sunoo was as gullible as ever. That human would eventually buy the blatant tricks up Solon's sleeves. After all, this was the same person that believed in wishing on falling stars. And a gullible person with a devil equipped with false charms and endless tricks was truly an egregious pairing.
Jungwon sighed in despair. There's a lot of work he needed to do.
"Sunoo-ya… What's gotten your eyes all red and puffy again? Is it another one of your K-dramas?" A fond chuckle followed. Sunoo pouted in reply, already expecting the teasing remarks from his friends once he showed himself at work.
"Jay hyung," Sunoo started, "You know there's more to what I do than just watching K-dramas, right?" He retaliated with a frown, unconsciously jutting his bottom lip even more. Jay only laughed, but Sunoo could tell that there was no sharp edge to it.
It was a Thursday, and Sunoo had a morning shift in Serenade—a cafe just 15 minutes away from his apartment. It was a routine for his friends that lived a city away to visit and hang around, chatting and teasing one another when Sunoo was in his break like what they were doing now.
"He's right though Sunoo. You've only ever been like this when it's because of a K-drama and its gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, tears-inducing plot-" Jake couldn't even finish his sentence when Sunoo poked his side and stopped him from doing any more embarrassing poses. Jay raised his brow in amusement at Jake's comical screech.
"You're lucky I'm at work, or I could've done more to you by now!" Sunoo said, immediately feeling sorry at the sight of his friend rubbing the place where he'd poked him. "Sorry Jake hyung," he mumbled sincerely.
"Don't apologize Sunoo-ya, if anything, he deserved it for almost ending my life with his shitty driving skills. I can't believe I kept up for 2 whole hours—I shouldn't have given in to your whims." Sunoo laughed at Jay's remark.
Jake refused to back down. "You're being dramatic, we're both literally here, healthy and breathing, you ungrateful dimwit."
"No but, seriously Sunoo, what's gotten you so upset?" Jake shifted his attention to the employee who was currently on his break. Sunoo adjusted his brown apron, his hands searching for anything to fiddle with. "Is it that jackass boss of yours? Did that Kim Woonhak do anything to you? I knew they shouldn't have put a teenager in charge!" Jake folded his arms and eyed the blond haired man working the cashier.
Sunoo blinked at the mention of his boss. "Huh?" He stared at Jake until his eyes trailed to the said blond haired man who was busy wiping off the counter. Woonhak paused almost immediately, as if he knew that someone had his eyes on him. It didn't take long for the blond haired man to find the pair of eyes that was staring at him and when he realized who it was, Woonhak offered a smile and nodded. Sunoo—flabbergasted—mimicked what Woonhak did, except his smile was meek and the nod he did may had been a little off.
Sunoo shifted his eyes back to Jake, the awkward (borderline rigid) smile still lingering his lips. The view that greeted him was almost comical; Jake with his eyebrow lifted in an unnatural way and his eyes squinted, an expression that hinted at suspicion—Sunoo didn't know what he did to incite such a reaction from Jake, though. His smile dropped when he finally came to a realization, "Ah… Woonhak?" He lifted his hand to scratch at his cheek.
"He's been really nice to us all," Sunoo said, pursing his lips. "And what do you mean jackass? I don't think he's done anything worth to be frowned upon…" He continued. This time it was Sunoo who had his eyes squinted and brows furrowed in confusion. Jake huffed, "I don't know, he's sketchy."
"Ow!" Jake yelped as his hand shot up to where his head had been slapped. "Everyone's sketchy to you. And I'm the one who's dramatic?" Jay rolled his eyes while Jake glared at him.
"Kim Sunoo?" A familiar voice called out. Sunoo hummed almost immediately in response, twisting his body to look towards where the voice came from. "Sunghoon hyung?" Sunoo stuttered when he realized who it was. Sunoo could see the way Jake and Jay immediately huddled together, whispering something Sunoo couldn't make out from his peripheral vision.
"You work here? Why haven't I noticed before?" Sunghoon asked, the glint in his eyes mirroring the way his lips stretched and showed his canines. "What are you doing here, Sunghoon hyung?" Sunoo asked back only for his eyes to widen at the implication of his words. "Ah- I mean-"
Sunoo didn't have time to clarify when Sunghoon abruptly laughed, making Sunoo's cheeks warm. Sunoo opened his mouth as another attempt to explain but Sunghoon beat him to it. "Are you being cute on purpose?" He teased. Sunoo stayed silent, unsure of what to say but the blood that rushed to his head was inevitable.
"I come here sometimes when I want to blow off some steam," Sunghoon explained after a second. "If I had known you'd been working here all this time, I would've come here everyday," he continued. "Sunghoon hyung," Sunoo called, trying to signal for Sunghoon to stop with the teasing as he eyed his friends who were very blatantly judging Sunghoon.
Sunghoon paused when he finally noticed the people who were sitting across Sunoo. "Ah, my apologies. It was rude of me to interrupt your conversation." He straightened his back, his expression morphing to one that exuded indifference. "My name is Park Sunghoon," he said with a tight-lipped smile.
Jay and Jake stared at each other boringly for a second before feigning friendliness after Sunoo had chastised them through his eyes. "I'm Jay," Jay started, looking anywhere but at Sunghoon.
"Jake," Jake introduced himself, clearly showing off his disinterest.
Sunoo looked back and forth between them, somewhat uncomfortable from the prickling tension.
As if on cue, Woonhak approached their table and asked for Sunoo, a sign that his break had ended and he needed to get back behind the counter. Sunoo happily complied without a trace of hesitance, finally leaving the three men alone.
There was an awkward silence that hung heavily in the air after Sunoo's departure and Sunghoon was left to deal with the scrutinizing stares that eventually became too unbearable for him. Sunghoon cleared his throat and, without a single word, left Jake and Jay alone as he sat on the other side of the cafe.
Jay's eyes followed Sunghoon meticulously, as if missing any single detail from said person was a sin itself. "Now that's sketchy."
Jake finally took his eyes off the man to look at Jay. "That's what I thought," Jake agreed, his expression sour. Jay's eyebrow twitched when he saw Sunghoon weirdly scroll through his phone with his pointer finger the way an old grandpa would. "Yeah, no. There's no way this Sunghoon guy and Sunoo can happen. Are you seeing this?!" Jay whisper-shouted.
Jake didn't even have the chance to agree when Sunghoon followed up his archaic way of doom-scrolling with pulling out an antique hand mirror from his absurdly-sized hand bag (that was too big for today's convenience-driven life style) to check himself out.
"A narcissist," Jake hissed (so sharply you'd think he'd heard a scandalous rumor worthy of making multiple headlines) and visibly repulsed from the sight—feeling the second hand embarrassment crawling up his skin. He pointed a concerned look at Jay who did the same.
"This is bad Jay," Jake starts with a low voice, "little Sunoo keeps on being swarmed by pests non-stop here." Jay merely hummed—a form of agreement that he didn't really want to voice out in case it fueled Jake's irrational side. It was futile, though. "Don't you think he should just-"
"No, Jake. We've talked about this," Jay rolled his eyes.
Jake scoffed in annoyance. "You didn't even let me finish!"
"Let me guess." Jay hummed, feigning obliviousness. "You were about to say: Sunoo should just move in with us and leave his life here because he clearly needs us. And then I, the genius of us two, will slap you in the face with reality and chuck your nonsensical suggestion—which I wish were what we could actually do by the way—out the window with the fact that little Sunoo here is not as shameless as someone and that he's rejected us multiple times over this offer, saying that-"
"He'd hate to be a bother," Jake wailed in exasperation and groaned as he finished Jay's sassy remark. "We've been friends for 7 years! If anything, you should be the one in his shoes for being such a pain in the ass during your stay at my house!" Jake looked down to his shoes in sadness. "Who'd want to live with you anyway," he mumbled in a pout.
"Fuck you."
"Besides, you already know the real reason why he's not allowed to go anywhere else but here. I don't know why you keep on bringing this stupid conversation up," Jay sighed, chugging his drink until there was no more and looked at his watch. He placed his now empty cup on the table and pursed his lips at Jake, giving him a knowing look. "It's time already?" Jake asked, a question to which Jay replied to with a nod.
Jake groaned "we didn't even get the chance to ask Sunoo the real reason he cried!"
It was past 4 already and Jake and Jay usually stayed until around that time. So without wasting more time, both of them got off the chair and sent their goodbyes to Sunoo with Jake not missing the golden chance to send daggers to Sunghoon through his eyes.
Sunghoon felt a shiver up his spine—a sensation he wasn't familiar with and therefore couldn't name. All he knew was that those two sacks of flesh was going to be another obstacle for him. It's nothing he couldn't do though. Besides, he was a powerful entity capable of more things than what these humans can possess.
No one should stand on his way. Not now.
The Luminous was presented right in front of his eyes, and Sunoo was what candy to a child felt like. It was only a matter of time.
Sunghoon—rather Solon wasn't going to let this once in a lifetime chance off the hook.
"Dumpling is nice," Sunoo said to the phone in a pout. He looked to his feet where the cat had his head rubbing on the material of his pants. "To you, yes. It's a different story for us! He treats us like we're about to cut off his balls!" Jay replied on the other side of the phone.
"Well, cats know the difference between bad people and actual genuine ones, so maybe you're the problem." Jungwon meowed in satisfaction at Sunoo's response. Fueled with the cuteness aggression, Sunoo couldn't help but to squat down and shower the cat with light scratches on his chin.
Sunoo could here the exaggerated gasp that he knew came out of Jake's mouth. "How dare you…" He said dramatically. The black cat visibly scrunched his face in distaste. "Stop it Jake hyung. Even Dumpling is giving you a stink eye!" Sunoo giggled.
Jay groaned, "enough of this bogus conversation on the cat. Can we be more productive here?"
Jungwon let out a low growl of contempt. What's so bogus about an elegant cat? If anything, talking about Jungwon (Dumpling) in praise and worship could heighten one's level of intellect. Only smart people acknowledged his charm! Sunoo's friends had just proven themselves to be of the lower human ranking.
As if Sunoo knew that Jungwon's pride had been poked on, he pecked the cat's forehead.
"You're just jealous Dumpling gets all the attention he deserves!"
"Uhuh, well moving on," Jay said monotonously, clearly not having it. "We need to remember that there's a far more important matter at hand here! Like grandpa Kim's anniversary tomorrow?"
"You're always making a fuss on this. Chill out a little, can't you? We've done this yearly and it's always gone smooth-" Jake's sentence was cut off by a sudden oof that sounded incredibly painful. Sunoo winced at the thought of Jay "nudging" Jake's stomach with his elbow. "Nuh uh, I do not want to hear any of that," Jay admonished, putting more emphasis on the word "not." Sunoo could almost see Jay's pointer finger swinging from left to right.
Sunoo rolled his eyes at his friends' antics, standing up as he started feeling his legs numb from the lack of blood flow. He walked to the kitchen, placing his phone on the isle in order to stretch his limbs.
The cat's eyes unknowingly sparked with a glint at the sight of bare skin that revealed itself as Sunoo's shirt rode up. 'A feast for the eyes,' the cat thought very modestly, licking his paw as if disinterested. Jungwon very rarely got to see the human's bare body—he'd only gotten a glimpse of it when they'd bathe together (which only happened twice).
"Sunoo?" Jay called.
Sunoo hummed, confirming his attention. As he waited for Jay to continue, there were several muffled whispers on the other side of the phone that Sunoo couldn't make out. Somewhere in between their quarrel, Jake finally ended the awkward atmosphere with a fake cough after sending Jay a hiss of fine I'll do it, you coward.
"Jay hyung? Jake hyung? What's wrong?" Sunoo asked, eyebrows scrunching.
"That Sunghoon guy-" Jake started. "What's wrong with him?" Sunoo asked in confusion. "Where did you find him?"
Sunoo blinked. That was a weird way to ask how they met. "Ah… It was the day before I had my shift at Serenade. Remember? When you guys said I looked like I'd bawled my eyes again to a K-drama?" Sunoo paused, biting his lips as he contemplated whether to disclose the real reason behind his puffy eyes then. It was pretty embarrassing, no?
Sunoo hesitated before finally deciding to tell the truth—well most of it anyway. He told them about Dumpling who'd managed to escape his apartment which led him to an episode of panic as he searched for said cat blindly and how his instincts eventually brought him to an unfamiliar part of the city. Sunoo didn't say anything about almost getting crushed by a car though. He knew what to expect from his overprotective friends.
Jake only sighed at the story and Sunoo could already imagine his friend's head shaking from left to right. "I'd say something about the cat right now but we have a far more urgent matter at hand."
"Okay Sunoo," Jake suddenly said seriously—it was almost unbelievable.
"Jay and I have discussed about this," he continued. "And we think he's a freak." Sunoo's skin crawled from the monotonous tone.
"What?"