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Through a lengthy process of trial and error, Mingyu and the rest of Seventeen have mostly figured Minghao out. He refuses to be picked up by anyone other than Junhui. He tolerates being pet for exactly three minutes before he unleashes his claws on the poor unsuspecting member who let his hand linger a second too long. Rubbing his belly—no matter how much he exposes it when he sprawls out on the floor or table or whatever surface he’s claimed for himself for the day—is absolutely not allowed and will be punished with a painful combination of biting, kicking, and scratching.
This might seem like a lot of unnecessary and baffling rules for dealing with a person, but that’s fine, because Minghao’s currently a cat. A very handsome Bengal cat with cute Jaguar-like spots, large brown eyes and a small pink nose, left ear still pierced with his infinity earring intact—an extremely pretty, soft-looking spotted belly that Mingyu desperately wants to touch.
Minghao scowls at him from his perch on their common room couch, curled up with his head tucked into his paws so just his eyes are showing, narrow with slit pupils. He’s balanced delicately on the arm of the other side of the couch, extremely far away because Mingyu had tried to pet his belly. For the fifth time. In the past ten minutes.
“Please,” Mingyu says, knowing he sounds desperate, but Minghao’s belly. It looks so soft, and when Minghao stretches, Mingyu swears he makes sure to expose it as much as possible.
It’s all a giant trap, but Mingyu’s fallen into it willingly, and now he and Minghao are on extremely bad terms because of it. Things didn’t used to be this way, Mingyu and Minghao had been incredibly close before this, had gone through the momentous effort to clear out the storage closet so they could room together. But that had been before Minghao turned into a cat.
Right, Minghao didn’t used to be a cat.
-
It wasn’t a gradual thing—the whole Minghao transforming into a cat. It was really just: one night, they all went to sleep as humans. The next morning, Mingyu woke up to a small curled-up cat in Minghao’s bed instead of the skinny, gangly boy he expected.
The only consolation to the whole situation is that that isn’t the first time this sort of thing had happened to them. And at least Minghao’s a cute cat. Not that Wonwoo hadn’t been cute, he’d been a boring dark brown, white rings around his eyes like glasses that made him look terribly nerdy.
That hadn’t stopped Mingyu from thinking this was some terribly elaborate prank his friends were playing on him up until Seungcheol had freaked the fuck out while Jihoon smacked his face and groaned, “Not again.”
That hadn’t stopped Mingyu from feeling panicked and lost for the first day or so, not even really capable of looking at Minghao-cat without feeling anxious. It wasn’t as bad as some of the other members’ reactions, with memorable crying from Seungkwan and then Seokmin while Minghao placed one delicate paw on top of their heads, a lot of running and chasing Minghao around the room from a whooping Soonyoung until they lost Minghao somewhere in their dorm.
Mingyu eventually found Minghao wedged underneath his bed, curled up into a tiny ball, fur completely on edge. “Hey,” he said, soft and soothing. “You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to, but we just wanted to make sure we didn’t lose you.”
Minghao hadn’t moved any closer, although he seemed to relax a little, ears perking up and teeth no longer bared. “Take your time,” Mingyu said, before accidentally knocking his head against the bedframe as he tried to back out. It hurt more than any other injury he’d ever sustained, but the amused meow from Minghao almost made it worth it.
They’d reported the situation to upper management, and after a lot of calm discussion and grumbling—because while this sort of animal transformation problem is a rare occurrence, it’s not unheard of in the idol industry, with most transformations lasting from a few weeks to a few months—they finally agreed to put out a statement that Minghao was temporarily suspended from physical appearances, supposedly recovering from a back injury.
Mingyu’s going to be the one with a back injury if he has to keep crawling under beds to fish Minghao out from underneath beds. Because Minghao had been okay with his presence at first, one of a spare few people he tolerated cooing over how cute he was, scratching behind his ears and under his chin and around his neck. He’d been okay until Mingyu found himself drawn to Minghao’s belly, and Mingyu learned exactly how sharp Minghao’s teeth and claws were.
-
“Please,” Mingyu says again, definitely begging now. He drapes himself along the couch, slowly crawling along the cushions toward Minghao while Minghao continues to eye him warily, tail flicking twitchily from side to side. He stretches out his syllables, continuing on his slow expedition. “Pleeeaaaase.”
Minghao tenses the closer he gets, tail getting more and more agitated, and this isn’t fair! Mingyu knows for a fact that Minghao’s let Junhui touch his belly already, calmly accepts the way Junhui will lean down and cup Minghao’s chin, kissing all over Minghao’s face while he mumbles endearments. He’s also caught Minghao purring steadily in Hansol’s lap, totally fine when Hansol absently pet him with one hand while he scribbled down lyrics with the other, entranced by his music as always. Minghao had even looked indulgent, rolling around and letting Hansol touch the forbidden belly for a few seconds without punishment before he righted himself onto his feet and padded off.
Mingyu finds himself eye-to-eye with Minghao now, looking into his unblinking eyes, pupils skinny black slivers swallowed by brown irises. There’s only a few inches of space between them, and Minghao’s propped his head onto a paw now, staring back at Mingyu in tense silence.
Minghao sneezes.
It’s a similar to how a human would sneeze, except Minghao’s much smaller and his sneeze seems just as large, rippling through his body like a wave as he jolts with the force. And Mingyu can’t help it—he laughs.
“Oh my god,” he says, letting his head fall against the couch while he wheezes into the fabric. “You just—”
Minghao meows, loud and irritated, and swats at Mingyu’s head. Mingyu can’t stop laughing though, giggles erupting from his stomach like ticklish butterflies, and Minghao must eventually give up, because Mingyu feels pressure on the back of his head, the distinct imprint of paws as Minghao walks along his back and settles himself along the base of his spine.
He lifts his head, propping it on his arms as he smiles to himself. “It was cute, you know,” he says. Minghao steps back up, claws digging through the thin fabric of Mingyu’s shirt, sharp against his skin. “You’re cute.”
Minghao digs his paws in once more before he leaps off Mingyu’s back, landing gracefully on the floor. They make eye contact and Mingyu tries his best to look pitiful, lips forming a pout while his eyebrows draw down. “Please, just once.”
He swears he sees Minghao frown at him before he stalks off, spine stock straight and tail up in the air in affront.
Mingyu sighs. “Well,” he says. “It was worth a try.”
-
Thankfully, they still have toys and other cat necessities (litter boxes, a multitude of soft beds shaped in different items, a laser pointer Wonwoo and now Minghao refuses to chase on principle, a metric ton of catnip because Soonyoung thought a high Wonwoo-cat was the most hilarious thing in the world.) The toys had gone mostly unused with Wonwoo, who spent most of his time either sleeping or finding a new place to sleep undisturbed.
But as it turns out, Minghao’s favorite toy ends up being a cardboard box that originally contained their bulk package of shampoo and conditioner. His second favorite is a caramel wrapper that he’d fished out of a trash can, gnawing and pawing at it until Chan can’t stand the crinkling noises anymore and confiscates it from him. His third favorite is a small squirrel toy with a zip pocket for catnip. Minghao rips the head off within three hours and spends the rest of the day passed out. Jisoo immediately buys five more on the excuse of maintaining peace and productivity, but Mingyu secretly knows he’s just a softie who’d do anything to keep his friends happy. Wonwoo has to stop Soonyoung from trying to ingest catnip.
Minghao especially loves one of the cat beds shaped like a pyramid, where he's currently lying on his side with his eyes closed, lounging with half his body out. Mingyu would almost believe he’s sleeping if he hadn’t been caught out by this trap before, trying to touch Minghao's belly only to be pounced on. He sighs as he kneels down, petting Minghao’s head and making sure to keep his fingers above the chest. “Actually rest up, okay?” he says quietly. “I know you’ve been working yourself too hard. A back injury isn’t that unbelievable an excuse with how much you’ve been pushing yourself.”
Minghao opens one eye and yawns, stretching out snake-like before he rolls over and rubs his face against Mingyu’s hand. He doesn’t say anything—to be fair, he can’t say anything—but Mingyu’s never needed words to understand him.
-
“Meow,” Minghao meows, blaring as loud as a megaphone through the basement floor of their company building. A few seconds pass before he meows again, this time louder and more obnoxious.
“Why,” Jihoon says to his laptop, eyes closing and head falling against his keys. “Someone stop him.”
It’s an order, not a request, and Mingyu doesn’t question him as he scoots himself out of his chair and heads off in search of the source of the noisy string of meows filling the room. He’s been stuck on the fifth line of his rap anyway, mind faltering on the easiest of rhymes and rhythms, and a break is sorely welcomed.
He steps into the practice room and sees Minghao meowing on their coffee counter, one paw on the top of espresso machine while he tilts his head to lap at the tap. His technique doesn’t seem to be working, because he backs off with a growl and another set of extremely loud meows.
“I’m pretty sure you can’t even drink coffee,” Mingyu says dryly, so used to Minghao’s glares that he doesn’t even flinch when Minghao looks back at him, tail swishing dangerously.
“Meow,” Minghao says again, swatting at the knob on the espresso machine with a disgruntled paw. “Meow.”
“Why do you even need caffeine?” he asks, walking over to the sink and turning on the faucet just slightly, enough for a small but steady stream of water to flow out. “It’s not like you can really work right now, just sleep if you’re tired.”
Minghao ignores him, sauntering over to the sink and leaning down to lap at the water, tongue pink and quick as he flicks water everywhere.
“You have a water bowl,” Mingyu says, a little exasperated by the whole situation. He waits until Minghao’s drunk his fill, licking his paw lazily to catch a last few drops before he strolls away.
“Meow,” Minghao says smugly, jumping off the counter to the floor and looking up at Mingyu with large eyes. “Meow,” he says, almost like an afterthought, and then he turns away and walks out the door.
It says something about him, Mingyu thinks, that he can almost understand Minghao’s meows.
A voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Seungkwan says, “Because you’re not just a puppy, you’re a whipped puppy.”
Mingyu really needs to spend less time with his friends.
-
“Really,” Mingyu says, getting a low rumble and yawn from Minghao in reply. “You have a bed literally two feet away—you have cushions, and blankets, and other much softer things!”
Minghao looks up at him and blinks, raising a paw to lick at it delicately. He still doesn’t move from where he’s sitting on Mingyu’s arm.
“I need to write,” Mingyu complains, trying to subtly shift his arm out from under Minghao’s weight, only to get an angry glare and nip to his hand. “Minghao.”
“Just pick him up and set him down on the floor,” Wonwoo says, looking over at Mingyu’s predicament with a raised eyebrow. “He’s not exactly heavy.”
“But he gets so sad and pissed off when I do,” Mingyu says, wondering if this will be the push he needs to learn how to write with his right hand. “And he looks so comfy right now.”
Wonwoo sighs. “As someone who has lived through this situation—it’s really not that bad.” He tilts his head, making eye contact with Minghao. “I know he’s warm and comfy, but we need his raps,” he says plainly. “You can bother him later.”
Minghao meows pitifully, but he hops off Mingyu’s arm down to the floor, looking up at them both with his adorable round eyes. “Meow.”
Even Wonwoo looks torn now, finally conceding, “You can have his lap.”
Minghao quickly scampers up Mingyu’s leg, landing in his lap with a contented chirp. He circles around a few times before he finally settles himself, tucking his paws under him in a perfect loaf. Mingyu rests his right hand on Minghao’s head, gently petting around Minghao’s ears there and is altogether too pleased to hear him purr.
He looks up to see Wonwoo eyeing them curiously. “You guys really get along.”
Mingyu shrugs, trying to ignore the bubbles of affection and warmth rising up in his stomach when he looks down at Minghao, fingers brushing along Minghao’s cheek. “Yeah.”
-
Mingyu always goes to sleep alone now, tucking himself into bed in his now single room. But on some nights, he’ll feel a weight settle against him, warmth bleeding through the blankets. Minghao usually chooses to share time between him and Junhui, a comforting lump taking up more space than Mingyu thought possible for a cat of Minghao’s size.
As the days go on, Mingyu wakes up more and more often to a fifteen-pound weight sitting somewhere on his body—usually his head or chest. He’s definitely suffocated himself awake more than a few times, always when Minghao decides to sit on his face and block off his nose and mouth.
“Your fault for spoiling him with wet food,” Jeonghan says with a yawn, watching Mingyu refill Minghao’s food and water bowls. “And that time you actually cooked a salmon fillet for him.”
“He kept trying to eat mine,” Mingyu explains, like it’ll make a difference in Jeonghan’s opinion of him. He sets both bowls down on the tray they’ve laid out in the corner for Minghao. “I felt bad.”
“You never fed me salmon,” Wonwoo says grumpily into his coffee.
Soonyoung shrugs, saying, “you weren’t as cute,” before running off with a cackle when Wonwoo swipes at him with an arm.
“You’re cute,” Mingyu tells Minghao, stroking from head to tail when Minghao leans down to eat. Minghao purrs softly at that, tail fluttering over to touch Mingyu’s wrist.
-
After a tiring day of back-to-back performances, from a music show straight into another festival appearance, all Mingyu wants to do is drop face-first into bed and sleep his life away. He finds Minghao curled up on his bed instead, rolled up in a perfect circle, a paw covering his eyes.
He’s unbearably cute, and Mingyu makes sure to take another picture to add to their already outrageous number of Minghao-cat photos. He sits down next to Minghao, tickling under Minghao’s chin with a hand. “I miss you,” he says, voice hoarse from singing and weariness. He leans down to kiss Minghao on the cheek, laughing slightly as fur brushes against his nose. “I know you’re here but, it’s not really—I.” He sighs, drags a finger down from Minghao’s chin to his chest, resting just above his delicate white belly. “I miss you.”
Minghao squirms around, until he’s belly-up and paws relaxed at his sides. He meows up at Mingyu, eyes squinty with sleep and ears perked up.
Mingyu smiles, lets his hand drift lower and rest against Minghao’s stomach, palm flat and unmoving. “Really, you'll let me?”
A few seconds of peace pass before Minghao’s tail wags once, twice, three times and his back paws come up to kick at Mingyu’s hand. “Okay, okay,” Mingyu says with a laugh, lifts his hand while Minghao rolls over back onto his feet. “I won’t push it.”
Minghao purrs while he brushes up against Mingyu, rubbing against his sides before he walks onto Mingyu’s lap and settles himself there, curling up and resting his head on his paws.
“Yeah,” Mingyu says quietly, lets a hand stroke down Minghao’s back a few times. “We’re all trying our best.”
-
One night, Mingyu goes to sleep with a cat curled up on his chest. The next morning, he has a tall, lanky boy sprawled out against him, weight not exactly crushing but still heavy against Mingyu.
“Afgh,” Mingyu says coherently, one arm wrapping around Minghao and rolling them over to their sides. “You could’ve warned me at least.”
Minghao slowly blinks his eyes open, yawning widely in a way that’s not nearly as fearsome without a cat’s sharp teeth. “Where’s the fun in that?” Minghao says sleepily, hand squirming down between them until he punches Mingyu softly in the stomach. “Meow.”
Mingyu laughs—can’t help it, giggles crawling up his lungs and leaving him out of breath. “Meow,” he says back, leaning in and kissing Minghao on the mouth. “Missed you.”
Minghao dives forward for another kiss, knocks their heads together and nearly knees Mingyu in the groin. “Shut up,” he says, shifting around until he can get underneath the blankets as well, one hand resting against Mingyu’s chest.
“Yeah,” Mingyu says with a wide smile and another laugh. “I love you, too.”