Chapter Text
“Dongho! Minsoo! Come look at this!”
Dongho starts his day grouchy and confused, wonder whom the fuck thought it was a good idea to wake him up so early.
“Daehyun…” Minsoo yawns, scratching his head as he rises from his bed, “What is it? It’s 6:00…”
“It’s 8, hyung. But anyway, there’s a cat in Wyld’s bed!”
The silver-haired male instantly awakens and whips around to look at Dae as the black-haired male fumbles with his shirt twisted into a knot, as usual.
‘Cat? ’ Dongho wonders sleepily, ‘I like cats...Wait, why is there a cat in Wyld’s bed? '
The two half-awake hyungs trudge towards the bedroom, slightly curious about whether Daehyun was right or not. Maybe it’s just a new stuffed animal, or something. This wouldn’t have been the first time. Daehyun once thought he saw a live rabbit in their kitchen, when in reality it was a gift from one of Dongho’s fans.
To their surprise and delight, there is indeed a real cat on Wyld’s bed. It’s a ragamuffin, one with fluffy black fur. It’s asleep, peacefully stretched out among the sheets on the top bunk.
“How the hell did it even get up there?” Dongho questions, genuinely searching for an answer. There’s nowhere close enough to jump from, and obviously, cats can’t climb ladders, “Did Wyld put him up there?”
“I don’t think so. I haven’t seen Wyld at all this morning. He was here last night….I didn’t hear him leave either. I wonder where he went…”
“Weren’t you asleep?” Minsoo sasses, “You wouldn’t have heard him leave.”
“I’m a light sleeper! But yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe he was being extra quiet…”
The three make their way to the kitchen for breakfast, letting the new feline rest for a bit. It’s quite puzzling to think about how the cat might have gotten in. They live on the 5th floor, so it’s not like it got in through the window. Maybe it belonged to another neighbor, and snuck out through the vents. That would make sense.
“That’s a cute-ass cat.”
“Right? With it’s fluffy fur and ears… It looks so soft too!”
Dongho couldn’t deny it, the cat was indeed very cute. As you might already know, Dongho is quite the feline lover. He had his own cat, Boba, but she was sent back to the USA when he moved into this dorm with MAYHEM.
“Shouldn’t we take him to a shelter?” The oldest suggests, taking a bite of his newly acquired salad.
“No!” Minsoo exclaims, slamming his hands down on the kitchen counter in order to further emphasize his point, “He’s ours right now. We’re not allowed to own pets anyway, so let’s just keep him until we’re forced to give him away!”
Dongho shrugs, “We’re going to have to take him at some point, so enjoy yourself, I guess.” as if he didn’t secretly want the cat to stay as well.
Minsoo cheers, pulling on a hoodie and grabbing his wallet. He takes a hold of the scruff of Dongho’s neck and pulls, attempting to drag him along.
“Let’s go!”
Dongho stands up, raising an eyebrow at the shorter male, “What are you doing?”
Minsoo takes his sleeve now, and tugs at it. “You’re coming with me to buy things for the cat. You’re a cat person, so you know this stuff. Come on!”
“No, I’m eating.”
“Come onnnn!!”
“No.”
“Ugh, fine then! I’ll go by myself!” Minsoo huffs and lets go, marching out the door.
Half an hour later, he returns, carrying a large box with a random array of items balanced on top.
“Hyung?” Daehyun peeks his head out of his room, “What’s all that?”
“It’s all stuff for the cat,” Minsoo huffs, grunting as he dumps the stuff on their coffee table, “A litter box, a collar, and cat food. I had to ask the workers what cats need, because somebody didn’t want to come with me.”
“I was eating, ok?”
“That’s no excuse! You—”
*mrrow*
The three look towards the doorway. There was the cat, glancing around with his piercing golden eyes, flickering his tail and meowing to the three.
“Oh, hey Lutz!”
“Lutz?”
“That’s her name now.”
“Minsoo, it’s a male cat. Didn’t you see?”
He crosses his arms and huffs, “Lutz can be a gender-neutral name! And how was I supposed to know? Anyway, if you’re so smart, you name him.”
“Popcorn. Easily.”
The cat watches them, very confused and overwhelmed. His eyes dart from Dae, to Dongho, to Minsoo.
“Popcorn? What kind of—”
“How about Avery?”
The spotlight moves to Dae, who had begun to unpack the new cat stuff. Fortunately, neither man could say no to him.
“Yeah, that’s good.”
“Sure.”
***
For some reason, Avery wouldn’t eat. Daehyun had opened a can of the food, and placed it in front of him. Still, the cat would sit silently, ears flattened against his head, and eyes wary. It seemed pretty normal in Dongho’s mind, the cat just appeared out of nowhere, probably confused and frightened out of his wits.
When the cat only looked at the can and then continued meowing at them, ears still flat and eyes still wide, Dae moved slowly, dumping the canned foods onto a plate for him.
“Dae, we eat off that, what are you doing?”
“It’s just a plate, hyung! He’s feeling scared, this makes it easier to eat.”
“Dae,” Dongho sighs, leaning over from his place on the couch, “He’s going to feel scared regardless. Just let him alone for a bit, let him explore.”
“You’re a real expert, aren’t you?” Minsoo winks.
“Shut up.”
***
Avery didn’t explore as much as Dongho thought he might. It wasn’t strange, because most cats are like that in new environments, but Avery didn’t seem like he was that type. With the way Avery only sat and waited, you would think that he was expecting something.
Dongho also knows that cats don’t usually appreciate being touched a lot, so he tries to refrain from entering his personal space too much. Minsoo, on the other hand, is now picking up Avery for the fourth time this morning. He drags him to the couch, plopping down and placing the animal in his lap. Dongho watches curiously, wondering why, why doesn't the cat move? Every time he tried to do such a thing to Boba, she’d immediately jump off, flick her tail, and strut away from him.
The silver-haired male picks up a stick with a feather on a string attached, waves it around, and drops the feather in Avery’s face. Avery jumps back, startled by the new item. He seems confused, almost afraid. He doesn’t move much either, he just stays in one spot, anxiously looking around and down at himself.
Over the course of the day, Avery slowly began to seem more comfortable in the apartment. He started moving around more, walking into different rooms and jumping onto short surfaces. There even comes a point where the feline tries to jump on their couch. Suprisingly, his movements are rather clumsy, even a bit wild.
‘What the hell’s wrong with him? ’ Dongho, as you might already know, has been a cat owner for most of his life, but never have any of his pets ever been as awkward as Avery. It was strange, seeing such unnatural behavior coming from the animal. The ragamuffin would throw himself upward, forepaws up in the air, and hind legs stretched in a jump. As soon as he hits the surface of the couch, he scrambles for a grip, trying his hardest to pull himself up. It was almost like watching a toddler, with how ungraceful he was.
***
At some point around noon, Daehyun begins to make instant noodles.
“Hyung! Where’s the pot?”
“Which pot?”
“The good one, the lucky one!”
“It’s in the dish rack!”
“Oh, OK!”
Daehyun takes his pot out, and fills it with water. Then, he sets it on the stove to boil. Like most people, he leaves the pot on its own a while and walks away, because who watches water boil?
Meanwhile, Avery creeps into the kitchen to take a look at Dae’s creation. The water’s come to a rolling boil by then, bubbling as fierce as water possibly can. Avery, or rather, Wyld watches the pot for a moment.
‘It’s going to start evaporating if Dae doesn’t come back...Maybe I should go look for him. No, I’m already up here on the counter, I don’t want to have to struggle to do it again. I’ll just turn it off for him. Maybe that'll help them realize I'm not a cat! I sure hope it does, I don't think I can get out of this situation on my own. ’
‘Avery’ reaches over, stretching his cat arm out as much as he can, and nudges the dial on the stove to it’s ‘Off’ position. He hadn’t realized the three were watching him do it, but that’s just all the better, isn’t it?
“Oh my god that’s so cute!” Dae exclaims, his hands clapping on his cheeks, “He turned off the water for me!”
“Damn, he’s a smart ass cat.”
Dongho gapes at the two, “Do none of you realize what he just did? He has intelligence. What the hell…?”
Despite his concern, no one questions anything about ‘Avery’s’ “cat-ness”. The day continues, simple and lazy, for a change. No plans, no practice, no meetings. Just them and their dorm.
‘Avery', however, finds himself pacing around the living room.
‘Why is this happening to me? Did I do something wrong? Are some of our fans mad at me, and they cast a spell to do this or something? Ah, listen to me, I'm going crazy...'
“Avery?” The blond member calls out to him, a slight hint of concern in his eyes. “What are you doing? You look lonely. Come with me.”
Before ‘Avery’ can do anything to get away from the insistent male, he is lifted up into the air, and snuggled against Dae as the man carries him. 'He has a warm smell,' he notes as Dae carries him, 'Not like anything in particular, but just warm, like a home'
Dae places him down again inside the room, and climbs into his bed with his phone. “I haven’t been able to be lazy like this in forever! It’s nice, but I shouldn’t get used to it. Anyway, enjoy yourself, Avery! Explore the room, this is your temporary home now.”
So ‘Avery’ does as he’s told. He sniffs around, wondering whether a cat’s smell is as acute as a dog’s. He can’t tell, of course, but it does seem a tad stronger than it was before. Then again, his human body’s sense of smell was always terrible.
Upon turning to see a pile of his human clothes, ‘Avery’ gets an idea.
'What if I try to go through my stuff and use it, so they start suspecting something? I’ll try that! ’
He bounds over to the pile of his fallen hoodies and pants, digs through them, and sits in it. He makes eye contact with the blond on the bed.
“Avery..? What are you doing? Aw, you’re so cute. Those are Wyld’s clothes. I don’t know where he is right now, but he’ll probably be back later.”
‘I’m right here!’ ‘Avery’ tries to scream at him, but instead the scream translates as a loud *MEOW*
Dae smiles sweetly at him, but goes back to looking at his phone as ‘Avery’ huffs in disappointment and weary vexation.
Then Minsoo comes in, about to ask Dae where the scissors were. He spots the cat buried in his group member’s clothes, and instantly melts.
“Oh that’s so cute! What’s he doing?”
“I don’t know. He keeps digging in Wyld’s clothes.”
Dongho soon walks by the door, his attention drawn to the scene.
“Who’s doing what?”
“Avery. Look, he’s sitting in Wyld’s clothes.”
A ghost of a smile appears on the black-haired male’s lips. The sight is insanely cute, he admits, but not enough to make him forget where he is. He has a reputation to keep, an image to uphold, of course.
Minsoo and Dongho leave, off to mind their own business. ‘Avery’ sits in deep thought, wondering what to do now.
He decides that, maybe if he walks around a bit, as if he were a human, he’d get their attention and they’d understand. But how to do that…?
Of course, he was sitting right on top of the answer.
***
Dae looks up again a few moments later, wondering why Minsoo just whisper-screamed, “Oh my god!” from the kitchen. He leaves his phone on his bed, and walks out of his room.
In the kitchen, the other two members are standing together to the side, making way for His Royal Highness, dressed in his elegant robes (Wyld’s favorite hoodie). Avery looks back at Dae as soon as he enters the room.
“What is this? Which one of you did this to him?”
“We didn’t do it. He just came out looking like this.” Dongho calmly explains.
Minsoo is crouching, his phone out and pointed at the cat. He snaps a picture of him, and "Aww"'s some more.
“Why do you think he likes Wyld’s clothes so much?” Dae wonders, “He’s not even here right now, they haven’t met.”
Minsoo shrugs, “Who knows. Maybe it’s the scent.”
“That’s not fair! I want him to wear my stuff too!”
“No you don’t,” Dongho pulls the hoodie off the cat and takes it back to their room with Dae in tow, “He’ll get cat hair all over you.”
***
Again, ‘Avery’ tries to mess with his own stuff. They still aren’t even close to realizing that he’s not a cat yet, but he’s willing to keep trying. He’ll do whatever he can to keep himself from losing hope. Hope is all he really ever had, anyway.
He looks up to see his phone that was still on the dresser
‘Perfect,’ He thinks, practically grinning in delight, ‘Now all I gotta do is get Dae’s attention, unlock my phone, and show him that I can do it. He’ll definitely understand that a normal cat wouldn’t know how to use a phone, let alone unlock one that has a passcode!’
So he does as he plans. He pounces on his phone, which bounces to the floor. Dae looks up for a second to see the source of the noise, but then looks back down. ‘Avery’ then sits down in front of the gadget, and meows, loud and clear for his friend to hear him. Daehyun looks up again with a questioning look on his face.
“Avery?”
‘Avery’ now rushes to turn on his phone, while the attention is still on him, but then he realizes. He can’t turn on his phone with these paws.
Dae looks back down again, and doesn’t look back up when ‘Avery’ meows at him. ‘Avery’ sulks, and walks away, wondering what he should do now.
‘That didn’t work...maybe...' Avery sits in contemplation. What kinds of things could he point at that aren't electronic or require the use of thumbs? His gaze travels to their shared shelves.
' Yes! This has to do something, right? They’ve gotta figure out something after I do this...’
***
Daehyun, Minsoo, and Dongho watch in confusion as their new cat brings out an album. It’s their album, Not Found, in LP form. It’s a tradition of theirs, to buy their own albums in LP form, even if they don’t have a record player. Well, Daehyun insists that they get one, but of course they can’t claim it as a company expense, and none of them think it’s of enough use to warrant a purchase out of their own pockets.
‘Avery’ pushes the album off the shelf. This could be seen as a regular kind of cat thing, but the shelf is pretty out of the way, and Not Found isn’t even on the far edge. So obviously, ‘Avery’ did this on purpose, right? Nope! According to the other three, he just was exploring and happened to knock it down.
So ‘Avery’ follows the album, and descends the quick way by just jumping off. He landed quite painfully, but never mind that. With all attention still focused on him, he places his paw on Wyld’s face (the Wyld on the album cover), and then directs the paw at himself.
And of course, all he got were two cooing voices saying, “aww” and another pair of eyes looking at him with interest. That’s all he’s seen, literally all day.
‘ Why don’t you guys get it?! ’
***
At bedtime, ‘Avery’ manages to get Minsoo to understand that he wants to get up on his bed, so Minsoo lifts him up. He snuggles in the blankets, feeling quite frightened, exasperated, but most of all, still shocked.
‘What am I going to do? How would mute people with no arms communicate? Oh, I don’t know... Or maybe I could use morse code! No wait, I don’t think they know morse code. Oh geez....Wait! I’ll just write it! I can find a way to do it. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll do it. ’
And so ‘Avery’ creates his plan as the three others sleep, only being able to rest himself when everything is decided and complete.
***
‘Avery’ gets up bright and early in the morning, around 6 am. The dorm is silent, and nobody is awake except for him. He spends the morning gathering his supplies as quietly and carefully as he can.
Around 8 o’clock, Minsoo walks out of his room, sleepy and bleary eyed. The first thing he sees is their ragamuffin with a sheet of paper in front of him and a bowl of black paint on the side. The cat then proceeds to dip his paw into the paint. He then puts it on the paper, dips his paw in again, puts it on the paper, and repeats until the sheet is filled with cat prints.
The cat sees it as a perfectly laid out message saying, “I’M WYLD”
Minsoo, now along with Daehyun, sees it as a mess of black paw prints all over. They shake their heads at the cat.
“Was he trying to paint?”
“I don’t know, I just came out here and he was dipping his paw in it.”
Dongho appears now, fresh out of the shower and wondering what commotion was going on. His eyes flit from the cat to the other two. He sighs and decides to ignore them, walking pass.
“Have you two seen Wyld at all? Has he texted you?”
“No, not yet. Why are you so worried? He’s an adult, he’ll be fine.”
Dongho continues drying his hair and sniffs, “I’m just asking. If anything happens to him, it’ll be all over the news. We can’t exactly afford to have these many scandals, you know.”
Minsoo sits at the kitchen counter, “He wasn’t like this before we debuted, you know. I guess you could say that people just change like that, but I...I don't know, I just think it sounds too unrealistic to be true.”
Nobody says anything. Nobody notices ‘Avery’ hanging his head, pleading in desperation for whoever’s out there to please, please help him. He’s practically giving up now, thinking, 'Maybe I should just get used to this, living like a cat. I can’t see a way out.’
***
‘Avery seems a lot more relaxed today, although he acted strangely in the morning. ’ Dongho notices, watching the cat nap on Daehyun’s lap. He was quiet and rarely moved before, but compared to his behavior now, nothing seemed right. Now he often settles to watching Minsoo as he games or goes with Dae when he’s sitting alone.
Dongho was definitely curious about this animal. First, because of his behavior, and second because he doesn’t approach Dongho as much as the other two. It was strange, not because it made him upset, but because cats usually don’t like the people that pay too much attention to them as the others did.
‘Well, whatever,' He turns away, 'I’ve got somewhere to be today. ’
***
It’s late night when Dongho comes home. ‘Avery’ is seated on the couch, sleepily trying to stay awake. It's already 2 am, and Dongho's still out. Minsoo and Daehyun had already gone to bed, unconcerned about the whereabouts of either Wyld or Dongho. He knew that they did care, but how could they so peacefully fall asleep knowing Dongho was still out there, at this time of night. He didn’t have Wyld’s reputation, so that’s no excuse, and he wasn’t someone who often stayed up so late outside.
Finally, around 2:30, Dongho comes home. His head is hanging, his feet are dragging, and his long coat falls to the floor in a puddle around his shoes. He looked exhausted and despondent, almost like he wanted to collapse.
Dongho doesn’t notice the black ragamuffin in the dark, watching him with piercing, golden irises. He falls onto the couch, holding his head in his hands. His eyes are weary, filled with tears, just on the brink of spilling. He won’t let them.
For a few minutes, they sit together, ‘Avery’ shocked by the scene playing out in front of him, and Dongho, distressed by something but too afraid to let it out.
The ragamuffin makes a move now, getting up quietly to go sit with the man. Dongho jumps a bit upon contact, but soon relaxes his tense muscles, and reaches to scratch the cat behind his ears.
‘Avery’ moves to sit on his lap, allowing a better angle for him. He wanted to listen to him, to be there for Dongho as well as he could, even in this state he’s in now.
“Hey…” Dongho begins, his voice raspy and tired, “Avery. Didn’t expect to see you here. I hope you don’t mind me telling you stuff… I don’t have Boba with me here anymore. Boba’s my cat. She moved back to the US a little while ago.”
‘Avery’ listens intently. He’s happy, because he’ll get to be the support his friend needs. But there's also a nagging feeling inside him. A nagging feeling filled with anger, irritated by the thought that there could possibly be something that'd cause his hyung to come home in such a way.
“I was visiting my brother today. His name is Junsu, and he works at a coffee shop. He’s my little brother. We grew up together, did most things together as kids. I tried to support him through everything he wanted to do, but….We still don’t have such a good relationship. I...I know it’s my fault, I know that I could’ve fixed things, and that he ran away from home because of me, but...It hurts. It still hurts so goddamn much. “
The cat watches his hyung. He’s known that Dongho hadn’t the best relationship with his family, but he had no idea about his feelings on the subject. It was something that he was too scared to mention, too insecure about his relationship with his group mates to try to pry into their personal business.
He snuggles Dongho, burying his head in his sleeve. Dongho smiles sadly down at the feline, and continues stroking his ear. Dongho whispers to him, “I miss Boba sometimes. She was like my emotional support. I’d tell her things and...somehow I’d feel better afterwards. Like I said, she’s in the USA right now but...You can be her substitute, I guess.”
They spend a few moments in comfortable silence together, not moving or making a sound. ‘Avery’ tries to relax in his lap as much as he can, but he can’t help but want to talk, to tell him that he’s not alone, that he’s there for him, whenever he needs him.
Dongho begins again. “You know that guy you’re obsessed with? His name is Wyld. Well, that’s his stage name, at least. He’s...He’s been gone for two days now. We don’t know where he is, because his phone is still in his room. The others don’t really seem to care much about him being gone and it just...I want to know that he’s safe. I don’t think I could handle something really bad happening to him.”
Dongho pauses for a second. ‘Avery’ is startled at the sudden change in his voice, the concern laced in throughout. When had someone last thought of him like this? It felt so foreign, to be cared about like this when it's someone other than his mom.
“I really hate this...I hate it, because I told myself I wouldn’t do this anymore, that I wouldn’t let myself have feelings for a man but… I just can’t help that when I look at him, when I look at Jaewon...I....I shouldn’t just be venting my feelings to a cat. God, I’m pathetic.”
Dongho stands up to leave. He places ‘Avery’ on the side of the couch, sheds his shoes, and begins leaving the room. Right before he heads into the hall, he turns back to look at the cat. ‘Avery’s’ just sitting there, silent, unmoving. They make eye contact, and upon staring into those powerful golden eyes of his, Dongho swears he feels a tinge of guilt.
“...don’t look at me like that. Fine. I’m sorry, I just… Nevermind. Come with me, Avery.”
Dongho comes back a second to lift the cat into his arms. It’s a lot softer than ‘Avery’ expected. His embrace was welcoming and gentle, and he smelled...natural. It wasn’t a warm scent like Dae’s. It was just the smell of Dongho. Simple and pleasant. And ‘Avery’ loved it.
Dongho places his companion on his bed, and smiles slightly at him as he climbs in. He lays his head on his pillow, closes his eyes, and soon drifts off into sleep.
‘Avery’ watches the other male in his sleep. What did he mean by having feelings for a man?
‘There’s no way…’, the cat thinks, his heart thumping faster and faster with every second he spends looking at his hyung. He hadn’t really ever thought of him in that way, so why now?
And gosh, Dongho looks so ethereal in his sleep. He's peaceful, with his mouth forming a slight smile and his procerus muscle relaxed. ‘Avery’ really is falling hard, isn’t he?
***
In the morning, Dongho wakes up with his arm draped over something, and his nose being tickled by some kind of hair. He opens his eyes slowly, and…
There lying in bed next to him, was a sleeping Wyld, with black cats ears at the top of his head, and a long tail curling around his legs.