Work Text:
8:00 A.M., Jiwoo's house
**
Through the sliding glass door, rays of sun are shining into the living room of a certain awakened one and his mentor. A tall man, with long black hair and knife-sharp eyes, slowly wakes up only to find the sun is shining right into his eyes.
"Ugh..." he groans, pulling himself up. "It's too bright for this."
And so he gets up and stretches, only to realize... he has arms and legs?
Startled, he looks down. He's in the same button-up shirt and black pants he was wearing when he said "goodbye" to his apprentice, Seo Jiwoo. "Yes, I'm back in human form," the man thinks. "After all, I am the great Kayden Break, just as I told Jiwoo yesterday." Speaking of which, where was Jiwoo?
"Jiwoo," he calls out. No response, so he tries again. "Jiwoo!" Again, no answer.
"Where is he?" he wonders to himself. "SEO JIWOO!" Just as he is about to check upstairs, he's interrupted by the purrs of the cats on the floor, inching closer to snuggle by him. All of the ones Jiwoo keeps in the house, even the one his apprentice picked up from Dr. Delein's experiments, blocked his way.
"Did I wake you all up? Or were you already awake," Kayden scoops the cats into his arms and places them on the couch. "You're all so cute... hm?" He stopped, and mentally recounted all of the cats. "That's strange. Since when were you living here?" Half asleep, the new cat wraps its pale, brown, fluffy tail around him. Kayden pokes the cat's face, and it suddenly opens its eyes wide.
"Mr. Kayden!" Kayden hears his apprentice's voice, but Jiwoo is still nowhere in sight. "Mr. Kayden, why are you holding me?" Kayden glances back at the cat in his arms and gasps. "JIWOO?"
"Mr. Kayden... how did I become a cat? And now you're a person again... it's like we swapped places." Jiwoo jumped down from his mentor's arms and sprawled out onto the floor. "Now I see how you felt when you first became a cat."
"What are you talking about so early for?" Kartein's cat form walks into the living room from who knows where. "Where's Jiwoo?"
**
"Even though you're a cat, you still shouldn't neglect your training." Jiwoo, still in cat form, sat on the floor in the basement, eagerly listening to his teacher's words. "Since you're already a cat, I want to finally teach you the most useful skill for a cat to have-- my Cat Punch."
Jiwoo's cat eyes sparkled with excitement. "You really mean it?"
"Of course. You're my apprentice, after all. Now, start by moving your paw like this," Kayden instructed Cat Jiwoo, gently pulling his front paw forward. "Now, as you do that, channel your energy the way you would when you attack normally."
Jiwoo closed his cat eyes, and bright, blue energy surged through his body. Opening his eyes, he went straight for the punching bag.
Thwack!
Kayden grinned, an expression that could only be described as looking like a cartoon villain. "I knew you would get the hang of it."
**
The next morning
**
Jiwoo yawned, slowly stretching as he lay on the floor. Sitting up, he saw Casein Nitrate lying on the couch again, and his own hands were back from being paws.
"It seems we've switched back again," Jiwoo chuckled.
Hearing this, Kayden opened his eyes to find himself back as a cat.
"Ah... that's too bad. I'm trapped in this animal again..."
