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It’s raining cats and dogs, quite literally, when Hansol finds him sitting in front of their building.
Junhui feels happy seeing Hansol. He’s always happy seeing Hansol, hanging out with Hansol, thinking about Hansol, even. Hansol is chill and caring and fun and handsome, so it’s hard to feel sad or any sort of negative emotion when he’s around. But this time in particular, relief wafts over Junhui when he sees Hansol’s wide brown eyes from under his black cap from under his red hoodie from under his purple umbrella, because Hansol will know what to do. Hansol will help him, Hansol will—
“Hey, kitty! What are you doing here, uh?”
Hansol will think he’s a cat.
Right.
He is a cat now, technically. He was Junhui half an hour ago, just plain old Junhui sitting on the floor of the apartment he shares with Minghao, an old incantation book open next to him, trying to summon rain. Minghao was frowning at him from the couch, telling him not to mess with Mother Nature and the elements, but Junhui wasn’t listening to him. He was frustrated, because he needed to make it rain tonight, but no matter how many times he muttered the words written on the book, nothing happened. When he was almost running out of river water touched by the hands of a small child, to be drunk every ten minutes, something finally, finally happened.
Junhui noticed the smell first. Wet earth, strong and fresh on his nose. Then the sound. Raindrops hit their windows, the noise comforting and shooting and— very loud?
“Did a puppy just hit our window?” Minghao had asked, incredulous.
The both of them leaped up from their seats to look outside. And sure, in the midst of the droplets of rain, falling from the sky were also—
Puppies and kittens. Cats and dogs.
A lot of them.
“I told you not to mess with the elements,” Minghao whined. “Now Mother is angry at us!”
“Shut up for a second, let me think—” Junhui the human said.
Then, suddenly, he changed into Junhui the cat. And also suddenly he was sucked up into the sky, Minghao failing to catch him as he was flying up, and being unceremoniously dropped down onto the sidewalk in front of their building.
Which is where Hansol finds him, and picks him up, and holds him delicately against his chest.
“Do you live here?” he asks, tilting his head to indicate the front door of the building. “Do you belong to anyone?”
“No,” Junhui says. “I’m not a cat! I’m Junhui!”
What comes out of his mouth is a distressed little meow.
Hansol ends up taking him home, because of course he does. He’s sweet like that. It’s one of the reasons Junhui likes him so much.
“You’re such a pretty kitty,” Hansol says, a smile on his face and stars in his eyes as he dries Junhui with a soft pink towel. “I’ll take you to the vet tomorrow and we’ll get you home, okay?”
“I live upstairs,” Junhui says. Hansol, of course, doesn’t understand him.
After Hansol gets him some leftover chicken and water, he looks out the window and sighs. “I love rain, but it’s really pouring down tonight,” he frowns. “I think I just saw a beagle fly by. Weird.”
Because Junhui is currently a cat, he doesn’t succeed when he tries to open the door so he can go up to his own apartment. And, just as he’s eyeing the window he knows is broken and leads to the fire escape, Hansol comes out of the bathroom freshly showered, looks him right in the eyes and asks “You wanna cuddle?”
Junhui is a weak man. Cat. Whatever.
He always wants to cuddle Hansol.
So he pads to Hansol’s bedroom and jumps on the bed, making himself comfortable. Hansol chuckles before getting under the covers himself, curling his entire body around Junhui. He yawns, then strokes the fur on Junhui’s back.
“Good night, kitty.”
Junhui closes his eyes, sighing happily.
They’re both asleep within seconds.
*
Hansol takes him to the vet first thing the next morning. It’s very crowded, because apparently Junhui’s incantation got all the cats and dogs in the city falling with the rain, so people were there to make sure their pets were okay. From what he’s gathered so far all the animals are fine, as Mother was kind enough to make their drops slow and close to home, but everyone’s scared or annoyed. Annoyed at him, in particular — there’s a poodle going on and on about the stupid caster who did this, I swear, I had just taken a bath, then I fell into a puddle of disgusting mud, now my fur’s all dirty, my beautiful clean fur, this idiot, this dumb mother—
Junhui can understand animals now. He wishes he didn’t.
After a couple hours of waiting and making small talk around the room, it’s finally their turn. Junhui was hoping maybe this veterinarian would be able to tell he’s not an actual cat, but as soon as Hansol sits him on the table, Junhui knows she’s not. She’s not magical, like Hansol, so she’s probably just going to examine him like she would a normal cat and tell them to go home.
Junhui will have to figure out a way out of this on his own, then.
She scans him for a chip, and when there isn’t one, Junhui can tell Hansol is silently pleased. He’s wanted a cat for ages, Junhui knows. He’s going to be so sad when his new cat turns out to be Junhui.
“And what are you going to name this little guy?” the vet asks, scratching behind Junhui’s ear.
“I was thinking of calling him Moon,” Hansol answers.
Junhui hops on Hansol’s lap, puts his paws on Hansol’s shoulders and licks his nose. Moon is a cute name. He likes Moon.
Hansol laughs, delighted.
They go back to Hansol’s place, where he gives Junhui some more chicken and snaps a few hundred pictures of him.
“Wait until the guys meet you,” he says. “They’re gonna love you. Especially Jun-hyung.”
Hansol leaves to go to his summer internship, and it’s Junhui’s opportunity to finally get into action. He manages to open the broken window — he and Seungkwan have been telling Hansol to fix it for months, the city is dangerous —and fall on the fire escape. It’s still raining, a cold and incessant drizzle that wets Junhui as he climbs the stairs up two floors. He’s shivering and soaked when he reaches his apartment and knocks on the window hard enough for Minghao to hear it over his relaxing forest sounds playlist.
“Junhui!” he says, relief relaxing his face as Junhui jumps inside the living room and shakes his little cat body. “Where have you been?”
“Hansol’s,” he says.
Minghao stares at him blankly. Right.
Junhui spots Minghao’s laptop on the table. It’s a struggle to unlock it with his paws — password is 0218, so predictable —, but he makes it, and types HANSOL’S in the Notes app.
“Hansol’s?” Minghao frowns, looking between Junhui and the screen of his laptop. “Why are you at Hansol’s? He can’t help, he doesn’t know magic.”
“I know!” Junhui says, frustrated. “It doesn’t matter!”
He types HOW DO I CHANGE BAVK HELP MW11!
“I don’t know,” Minghao sighs. “I’m shit at transfiguration incantations, and I’ve never tried a reverse one before.”
Junhui is going to lose his mind.
Just when he’s thinking of, like, calling his mother to ask for help, a phone vibrates on the table and Junhui notices it’s his own phone. He opens it — his password is also 0218, so maybe he shouldn’t be talking about Minghao at all — to find several unread texts. Five from Soonyoung, a couple from his brother, a bunch in the group chat and three from Hansol.
HANSOLLIE
i have a cat now
HANSOLLIE
his name’s moon. he looks like you, hyung
Then there’s a picture. A selfie. Hansol and, well — Junhui. Cat Junhui, who’s got fluffy, light brown, almost caramel fur, with a few dots of black fur on his face, where his human moles are. He’s a very cute cat, and in the picture he and Hansol are staring at each other with hearts in their eyes, Hansol’s grin blinding.
It’s been barely a day, and Hansol’s already in love with his cat. It breaks Junhui’s heart, because Moon is not real.
“Here, I got all the books we have on transfiguration,” Minghao says, dropping five thin, sad books on the table. Junhui is more of a potion master himself, and Minghao is all about using the body to channel Mother’s energy, so of course they have very little knowledge of transfiguration. Junhui sighs. Minghao notices his phone, where a few notifications from the group chat are coming in. “What are we gonna tell the others?”
THEY CANT KNOW1111, Junhui types on Minghao’s laptop, horrified. WILL TINK IM STUPIF
“They wouldn’t,” Minghao shakes his head. Then he stops, considering, and adds, “Well, they would, but they would help after laughing at you. Maybe Mingyu’s mother can—”
“No!” Junhui says, and his meow must be so assertive or desperate Minghao gets what he means.
If they tell the others, they’ll want to know why Junhui was trying to make it rain in the first place. He could lie, but Jihoon would literally smell it on him and force him to talk about it. And if Jihoon knows, Soonyoung knows. And if Soonyoung knows, Junhui might as well just tell the whole country himself.
So Junhui opens the group chat on his phone, ignoring Joshua’s gym pictures and Seokmin and Jeonghan’s invitation to eat at their place, and types a message.
ME
hey guys!!
letting you all knoe i’ll be awau for the summer
going to china countrysidr no connection
sorru for late notive
love u
CHAN
????
WONWOO
suddenly???
SEUNGCHEOL
have a safe trip, come back soon, love you!!!
He ignores the displeased downturn of Minghao’s lips and, on his laptop, types LETS GET TO WOK HELP ME.
They spend all day hunched over their books, and when that doesn’t help, searching online. They do find a few forums on transfiguration and animals, but most of it is beginner’s stuff. Turning yourself into an animal is definitely not beginner’s stuff.
“I think we need the library,” Minghao says, when he clock is nearing six, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
YES, Junhui types on the open search bar. LIBRATY TMRW
*
He goes back to Hansol’s, because he doesn't want Hansol to get all depressed when he comes home from work and doesn’t find his cat. That would break Hansol’s heart, and it’s not time for that yet.
Hansol is back less than a minute after Junhui steps through the broken window, shaking his umbrella outside the door, his arms full of plastic bags.
“Hey, Moonie,” he beams, getting inside and kneeling to pet Junhui’s head. “I brought you some stuff!”
It’s like Hansol raided the pet store or something, because he brought Junhui everything. There are two litter boxes, the litter itself, bags and bags of food and snacks, a tiny hat, and so many toys.
Junhui scoffs a little. He still has his dignity, he would like to think. Just because he turned into a cat it doesn’t mean he’s going to act like one, he’s not—
A bell rings somewhere very close. Junhui looks up and his eyes immediately lock in on the rat toy in Hansol’s hand. It’s like he can’t see anything else, and when Hansol throws the toy to the other side of the room, Junhui runs like his life depends on it.
It’s stronger than him.
A few hours later, when they’re both lying in bed, the soothing sound of rain still coming from outside, Hansol checks his phone and frowns.
“Why did Jun-hyung suddenly go on a trip? He never said anything about it,” he whines. Junhui thinks he looks beautiful even enveloped by the darkness of the room, only the blue light from his phone illuminating the heavy bags under his eyes. “And he’s not even answering my texts. I know he said he’d have no connection, but I miss him already.”
Hansol sighs. Then he tucks his phone under his pillow and scooters closer to Junhui on the bed.
“You’d like Jun-hyung,” he whispers into Junhui’s brown fur, stroking his back. Junhui purrs. “He’s an amazing cook. And he’s kind, too. Pretty. Funny. Sings like an angel.”
“Thanks,” Junhui meows.
Hansol meows back. Then he yawns, his eyes already closed, on the verge of sleep. “Good night, Moonie.”
*
It’s still raining a week later, a constant drizzle that doesn’t get any stronger or weaker as the days go by.
And Junhui is still a cat.
He’s even more of a cat, actually. He takes long naps during the day, plays with Hansol when he gets home until late at night, then wakes up at ass o’clock hungry and upset that there’s no food in his bowl. His new favorite activity is chasing small insects around the apartment, and for some inexplicable reason he just has to eat Hansol’s plants. He delights in sitting on Hansol’s chest when he’s lying on the couch, rubbing his head against Hansol’s hand until he pets him or biting Hansol’s ankle when Hansol doesn’t pay him any attention.
It’s a good life, and Junhui is afraid he’s getting used to it. But he can’t be a cat forever. He misses his potions, the comfort of his own bed, talking to his family, his friends, to Hansol. He misses doing dumb shit just to make Hansol laugh, misses walking around the city with him, misses sharing whatever was on his mind with no fear of judgment whatsoever.
And apparently Hansol misses him too. At least once a day he says stuff like “I wish Jun-hyung was here” or “I hope Jun-hyung is okay” or “The shabu shabu at the restaurant was good, but Jun-hyung’s is better”. It makes Junhui feel all fuzzy inside, to know Hansol thinks about him with such fondness.
So he needs to turn back into his human self, but it’s complicated. He and Minghao have been to the library everyday, reading all the transfiguration books they can find, and they’re still coming up empty. Their friend Yanan has even snuck them into an employees-only-please-request-access section of the library with the more obscure, ancient books, but they have nothing.
After reading the same paragraph about how to turn a duck into a table three times, Junhui decides it’s time to take a nap. He curls into himself on a patch of sunlight coming through the high windows of the library, the table warm and pleasant underneath him. He sighs, closing his eyes.
Then Minghao gasps.
“I think I found something!” he says. Junhui immediately gets up and pads to Minghao’s end of the table, to see him frowning at a huge, thick book. “‘In the case of one turning oneself into an animal by way of misused incantation or accidental potion spill, there is but one cure.’”
Then he pauses, his brows furrowing even further. “True… ve’s… iss.”
“What?” Junhui asks, confused.
“The letters are faded here,” Minghao shakes his head. “I can’t read it.”
He turns the book towards Junhui. The pages are yellow with age, the book held together by old magic and a lot of duct tape, and there, at the bottom of page 610, all that’s readable is true __ve’s _iss.
“True… dove’s… hiss?” Minghao tries. “Should we get a dove to hiss at you? Do doves even hiss?”
Junhui stares at the text on the page. He thinks he knows what it means.
*
That night, as they’re cuddling each other, about to fall asleep, Hansol says, “Goodnight, my Moonie” and kisses him on the forehead.
Then, in a burst of light, suddenly Junhui is human again, naked, in Hansol’s bed.
Hansol gapes at him.
“Jun-hyung? I thought you were in China,” he says, faint. “Also, what the fuck.”
“Surprise!” he says, waving his hands, but the joke doesn’t land. Hansol just stares at him. Right. Junhui clears his throat. “I can explain.”
So he does. Hansol listens quietly to the whole story, from Junhui’s incantation gone wrong to his search in the library to now, and when Junhui is done, Hansol frowns.
“So Moonie was you the entire time,” he says, the corners of his mouth pulled down sadly. “So I don’t have a cat.”
Hansol’s eyes fill with tears, but they don’t spill. Junhui reaches for his hands.
“We can adopt a cat, Hansol-ah,” he says softly, giving Hansol’s hands a squeeze.
Hansol blinks confusedly at him. “We?”
“Yeah. You took such good care of me. Of Moon, I mean. You deserve a real kitty, and I want to help you take care of it. Because when it was raining all those cats and dogs, you picked me. Even if you didn’t know it was me, you still picked me.” Junhui takes a deep breath. It’s time to be brave, for once. “Hansol-ah, do you know what’s the only thing that could reverse this spell?”
Hansol shakes his head no.
“True love’s kiss.”
Hansol blushes bright red, and Junhui can feel his own face getting warmer too. They both laugh awkwardly, looking at each other.
“Yeah, like,” Hansol rubs the back of his neck, shy. “I guess I’ve been stupid in love with you for a while now.”
“What a coincidence,” Junhui giggles. “Me too.”
“You too, hyung? Really?”
Junhui nods, and a grin breaks out across Hansol’s face. He’s so handsome, it’s not fair to Junhui’s heart.
“The whole reason I was trying to make it rain in the first place was because you complained the internship was stressing you out and you couldn’t sleep,” Junhui says. He notices distantly that it’s still raining, so he’ll probably have to do something about it and apologize to Mother too. “And you said you sleep better when it’s raining, so.”
Junhui shrugs. Hansol looks at him like Junhui is the most amazing thing he’s ever seen, which makes Junhui so flustered he hides his face behind his hands.
“Thank you for that, hyung,” Hansol says, as he tugs Junhui’s hands away from his face. “But I think I slept better with Moon. With you.”
“So you wanna cuddle?” Junhui blurts.
He doesn’t have time to feel embarrassed, because Hansol beams at him, then yawns.
“Yes,” he says. “We can talk more tomorrow?”
Junhui nods. He borrows some of Hansol’s clothes, gets under the covers and close to Hansol, who immediately wraps his arms around him. Hansol’s hand comes up to stroke his hair, and Junhui purrs under his palm, happy and warm and content like a cat.