Archive of Our Own

He’s in such a hurry he almost misses it.

“Shit.” Xiao Zhan hisses, screeching to a halt on the sidewalk, bag slung clumsily over his shoulder. His bus always drives by at 7:32 a.m. sharp and he’s going to be late for work if he doesn’t run to the stop two blocks from his house right now.

But he hears it again, louder and angrier than before, like the little devil is personally targeting him. Spinning on the heels of his battered sneakers, Xiao Zhan spots the pointy ears among the ankle-high grass of his front yard—in his defense, he’s been meaning to mow it for two weeks, but—fuck. That’s definitely blood.

After one last glance over his shoulder in the vague direction of the bus he’s absolutely missing, he grits his teeth and darts halfway back the path he just sprinted by, careful not to scare the ball of chocolate brown fur wrapped around itself as he kneels beside it.

“Hey, little guy.” He uses his softest voice, yet the cat jerks its head in his direction like Xiao Zhan offended him. “What happened to you?”

There’s an ugly wound above its left hind leg, not deep enough to jeopardize its life but still nasty enough to get infected if not tended to as soon as possible.

“You stay put, okay? I’ll be back in a sec, don’t move.”

His fellow volunteers back at the animal shelter always mock him for talking to pets like they can understand him, but what else is he supposed to do in this situation?

Xiao Zhan rushes back inside and nearly trips on a confused Jianguo, his baby girl whom he just nearly smothered with kisses a minute ago before running outside.

“Sorry, princess!” He can’t afford to stop and apologize with a proper scratch behind her ear, so he makes a mental note to treat her to Churu for dinner, even though he’s about to grab the last sachet under her unamused gaze. “I promise I’ll bring you some more later, okay? Please don’t be mad, dad’s in a bit of a pickle.”

He grabs a gauze roll from the bathroom cabinet, along with Jianguo’s kennel, and oh, not only is she confused, but also terrified at this point, thinking she’s the one being taken to the vet in that torture box. His heart lurches upon seeing her scurry away, surely to hide under his bed where she knows he has a hard time reaching her. But alas, there’s no time for making amends now, so he sprints out again, sending flying smooches on his way out and hoping she won’t pee on his pillow like last time she got stressed out.

Back outside, the injured cat is still in place, watching him intently from among the tall grass blades. Xiao Zhan sets the kennel behind himself as he crouches, working the Churu sachet open with his teeth as a peace offering first and foremost. 

“Hey, buddy. Told ya I’d be back.” He stretches out his arm and squeezes the sachet so that some of it smears its dark brown nose. It tries to rear its head back in distrust, but as soon as the smell kicks in, its tongue begins lapping away, and Xiao Zhan chuckles in relief.

“There you go. Eat away, cutie.”

His neighbor chooses that moment to walk outside and water the perfect, immaculately trimmed flower bushes at her front yard, blooming blue and yellow and pink in beautiful harmony. Enraptured by the cat’s eager licking at its breakfast, Xiao Zhan barely misses nodding back at her in lieu of a greeting, but is soon distracted from his feline task by her screeching.

“Na-jie?!”

He springs to his feet and runs to her side, head spinning with the second emergency of the day–and it’s not even 8 a.m. on a Tuesday, for crying out loud!

“My gentians!” She shrieks, dropping the watering pot to her feet and covering her mouth with both hands. Having no green thumb whatsoever, Xiao Zhan figures she means the flowers before them, and sure enough, when his gaze lowers to the bush by their feet, only a handful of the blue flowers among the foliage still have their petals intact, if there are still any left at all.

Two plus two quickly turns to four in his mind.

“Na-jie, are you alright?” He purposefully shifts to stand between her and the visible dent on his side of the grass, supporting her with a hand on her elbow.

“My gentians… My babies…” She hiccups rather theatrically, and for a split second Xiao Zhan is sure she’s going to faint.

“Ma?” Thankfully, her son stumbles out through the open house door, still half asleep. “What’s the matter?”

Considering the lady is turning paler by the second, Xiao Zhan answers for her.

“Will you please walk her inside? I don’t think she’s feeling well.”

In a swift motion, she grabs the collar of Xiao Zhan’s shirt and stares deep into his eyes, tears welling up on hers. “My gentians!”

“I’m—I’m sorry, Na-jie,” he mumbles in earnest, even though it’s not his fault.

Good thing he never bothers ironing, he thinks, extricating his now rumpled shirt from her grip and handing her over to her disinterested son, who just nods like this is a daily occurrence and carries her inside as she goes on crying about her ruined flowers.

He waits until their door closes to bounce back to his previous task, and this time he’s the one who nearly screams at what he finds.

Not only has the cat somehow shredded the sachet Xiao Zhan dropped in his hurry, but is also limping to his doorstep, surely making the wound worse with the effort.

“Hey!” He yelps, lunging as fast as he can and picking up the cat as it approaches the first step. “Where do you think you’re going?”

The cat meows back at once, long and strident. The leftover Churu on the tip of its nose mollifies Xiao Zhan’s heart on the spot; he purses his lips to avoid laughing before the feral beast in his grip.

“Okay, sorry for yelling… You scared me a little, okay?” He walks back to where his backpack lies abandoned on the ground and sits beside it, carefully placing the feline on his lap before taking a closer look at his injury. “It doesn’t look that deep… We’ve had way worse back at the shelter and Lulu has saved most of them.”

The cat seems to settle down at that, blinking up at him with its beautiful yellow eyes. Xiao Zhan’s throat constricts to think of the last stray he brought in, an orange tabby who’d been run over near Xiao Zhan’s workplace. He did his best to save the poor baby, but it was rush hour and the animal shelter was on the other side of town; she died in his arms, in the backseat of a cab whose driver seemed displeased with the possibility of getting blood on his upholstery. By the time they reached the shelter, Xiao Zhan still made sure to bite back his tears and tip him—not enough for a car wash, but it was all he could spare, still a week away from getting paid.

As if noticing Xiao Zhan’s mind wandered off, the brown cat meows from his lap, not as pissed as before, but still pleading.

“Yes, yes, sorry.” He sniffles and wipes his nose on the sleeve of his jacket, promptly reaching for the gauze roll. “You’re gonna be okay. I promise.”

At first, the cat tries to scare him away by hissing and scratching the back of his hand, but Xiao Zhan is used to such treatment after his years of volunteering and dresses its injury unbothered. By the time he’s done, the cat has resigned to glaring at him, whiskers trembling with the urge to hiss some more.

“Now that’s better, isn’t it?” Xiao Zhan goes for a head scratch, pushing his luck, but the cat slaps his wrist away and he relents, giggling at how cute it looks despite its best efforts to seem menacing. It soon fades out as he contemplates his surroundings: sitting on his butt outside his house, late for work again and covered in cat fur was not on his bingo card for that day. And yet.

“What a morning,” he sighs, nodding to himself. “At least someone got lucky.”

He wipes the leftover Churu off the cat’s nose and lets the little gremlin lick the pad of his thumb clean before getting up and placing it inside the kennel.

“Look who’s here,” Xiao Zhan hears as soon as he sets foot into the shelter. “Our pussy whisperer.”

“Good morning to you too,” he retorts, rolling his eyes at Zhuocheng, already sitting behind the counter. “And fuck off.”

“Language!” Xuan Lu admonishes, walking out of the vet area, already in her purple scrubs, handing Zhuocheng a cup of coffee. “Good morning, Zhanzhan. Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Yep, but this little guy made me miss my bus.” He places the kennel on the counter and lifts off the lid, where the brown cat has been sulking since Xiao Zhan boarded the cab fifteen minutes prior. “He was lying in my front yard, I couldn’t just leave him there.”

Xiao Zhan had enough time during the car ride to assess the cat is a male, but the fur ball didn’t let him prod any further, dodging his tentative touches every time Xiao Zhan tried to squeeze his fingers through the kennel openings.

“What a handsome fellow!” Lulu grins, reaching for him with a gloved hand and getting severely reprimanded for her audacity in the shape of hisses and scratches. “Quite the feisty one too, I see.”

“Leave it to Zhanzhan to bring us the tough little scoundrels,” Zhuocheng mocks, already typing basic information into the stray cat’s file. Xiao Zhan bares his teeth at him.

“You did the right thing.” Lulu nods, picking up the kennel despite the cat’s continued protests. “Go, we’ll take it from here. See you later.”

“Thanks, Lulu, you’re the best.” He flashes her a candid smile before scowling at Zhuocheng, who scowls back at him.

The day progresses, as busy as it started, leaving Xiao Zhan barely no time to think about the morning events. He only gets a wedge of freedom to check his phone around lunchtime, and finds two notifications from Lulu. The first is a blurry picture of the brown cat hissing on her examination table, its front paw stretched towards the camera, which gets a genuine laugh out of him. The second is an audio message.

>> I managed to clean and bandage his wound, but this guy’s a tough cookie! He only ate and drank water once we left him alone, can you believe it? The nerve on him! He’s fast asleep now, probably because of the painkillers. Hopefully he’ll feel less grumpy when he wakes up and the two of you can get back to being besties.

Xiao Zhan scrunches his nose at her optimism, staring once again at the hilarious picture. Nah, that little one looks like a whole troublemaker, which, admittedly, only makes Xiao Zhan love him more. He always falls for the difficult ones; their behavior is merely a reflection of what they’ve been through. Once they’re loved enough to break out of survival mode, they become the most loyal and obedient babies one could wish for. He knows Lulu said that precisely because of his renowned reputation for making softies out of their most antisocial kitties, helping them find their forever homes.

He’s about to reply with a quick audio message stepping up to the task when a coworker interrupts his lunch break to say his boss is looking for him.

All he manages is an eye roll, shoving the last bites of his food into his mouth and sending a single yellow heart, in honor of the cat’s penetrating eyes.

“Look what the cat dragged in.”

As much as Xiao Zhan has had A Day and is not in the mood for Zhuocheng’s teasing, the animal shelter reception is packed, meaning he has to reel back in the string of curses he wants to throw at his beloved volunteer buddy and school his expression into a forced smile as he walks up to the counter for the second time that day.

“Three surgeries today, two dogs and a ferret. A ferret! I’d never seen one in my life.” Zhuocheng goes on, getting up from his swivel chair and stretching his arms above his head. “Oh, and someone brought in a whole litter. Five puppies!”

He pushes his open palm near Xiao Zhan’s face for emphasis, and Xiao Zhan can’t avoid smirking at his childish enthusiasm. Some of it filters into his bloodstream as he makes his way further inside. Funny how being at his actual workplace drains him of all joy and will to live, whereas merely standing at the shelter reception, even on its busiest days, makes him feel better almost instantly. He can’t thank Lulu enough for talking him into this a few years ago. Of course his childhood friend would know what he needed better than anyone, even himself.

“Hi, Zhanzhan.” She smiles as they meet in the locker room, and he instantly stops on his tracks at the sight of her.

“Wow,” he gasps, stepping back to admire her fully. “Look at you!”

With a bashful grin, she twirls before him, the skirt of her white dress flying around her knees, her back on full display beneath the curtain of black shiny hair, her long puffy sleeves making her look even more like a princess than she usually does. The pastel pink heels and purse are the perfect finishing touch to her outfit, along with the seemingly effortless yet surely crafty makeup adding a lovely glow to her face.

“How do I look?”

Xiao Zhan doesn’t even have to feign catching his breath.

“Like the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life,” he replies without hesitation, and she beams at him, leaning in for a quick hug. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Lulu ducks her head, pretending to fix her bangs over her forehead. When she finally replies, her voice is so airy Xiao Zhan can barely hear her. “Who said anything about a man?”

He gasps even louder than before—probably the loudest he’s gasped since Jianguo first sat on his lap after weeks of getting used to sharing a home with him.

“Excuse me?”

“Talk to you later!” She squeals, taking advantage of his shock to leave a quick peck on his cheek and rush out of the room. Still scraping his jaw off the floor, he peeks through the open door behind him, in time to watch her leave.

“You better! Good luck!”

She lifts an arm and waves him goodbye, without looking back.

Smiling from ear to ear due to his best friend’s potential, newly discovered bisexuality, he makes quick work of changing from his office shirt to the purple T-shirt of the animal shelter volunteers, happily looping the name tag around his neck and nodding at his reflection in the small locker door mirror.

He walks back to the reception and high-fives Zhuocheng, taking his spot at the swivel chair.

“Good luck with your bad boy,” he says, mimicking a hissing animal with sharp claws on his way around the counter. Xiao Zhan rolls his eyes.

“Why did you make it sound like he’s—” He mutters through gritted teeth, but Zhuocheng is already too far away to hear it and he can’t speak as loud as he wants before the waiting crowd, so the last word is a mere murmur to himself. “Human.”

Xiao Zhan rubs his temples, elbows leaning on the desk, and lets out a much needed deep breath. His shoulders relax considerably, his head feels clearer, the buzzing in his ears stops. A few seconds with his eyes closed and some fresh oxygen circling in his brain do wonders for his mood and disposition.

Cracking his knuckles and neck, he sets out to work, printing out test results and prescriptions for the anxious pet owners fidgeting in their seats. He thanks the heavens no pet has crossed the rainbow bridge today; it really takes a toll on him to deliver such heartbreaking news. He grits his teeth and offers comfort to the best of his abilities without shedding a tear, but as soon as he gets home and holds his dear Jianguo close, the dam bursts and he cries himself to sleep with her squished in his arms even though she’s not that big of a cuddleball.

Xiao Zhan loses track of time, immersed in his work. There’s half an hour left before closing time when the shelter is clear, except for one remaining couple still talking to the veterinarian in his office. He finally allows himself to stretch on the chair, finding much needed relief in the cracking of his back. No one else has barged in with a last minute emergency, so he indulges in some phone time, realizing Xuan Lu’s chat has been open since lunch time. The blurry picture of the brown cat comes into view again, bringing Zhuocheng’s tasteless joke in its wake.

Good luck with your bad boy.

It vaguely reminds him of what his mother said when they last talked on the phone. You’d probably marry a cat if you could. Even Lulu had shown some concern about his lack of enthusiasm for romance, always in her gentle, coaxing tone. You know I love helping those pets find their forever homes, but don’t we deserve someone to go back home to every night as well?

Xiao Zhan loves them all, and he knows they mean well and want to see him happy. It’s just… Not that simple. He’s barely standing on his feet as it is, wishing he could quit his job every single day, struggling to pay rent and get by on his own. The only good thing about his life is coming here every evening. To help the poor animals, of course, but also to feel useful in any way, like his existence makes a difference somehow—which is kind of selfish, if he’s being honest.

Should he really drag someone else into his mess, just to have someone to come home to? He’s almost pushing thirty, dating for fun tastes like a hangover, after spending his twenties sleeping around and getting his heart broken over and over.

Besides, meeting The One doesn’t just happen to everyone. Maybe it’s not for him, and he doesn’t mind that. He’ll derive pleasure and happiness from other activities, other experiences in life. He’s not in the mood for treasure hunting anymore; if his soulmate, or whatever the word is, really is out there, he better come knocking on his door, or bump into him in the middle of the street, or something. Xiao Zhan is done looking for him.

The couple walks out of the office and Xiao Zhan nods them goodbye, following them to the shelter entrance and switching the sign from OPEN to CLOSED. A relieved sigh leaves him. For a moment he could swear that day would never end.

He turns everything off and sneaks into the vet area to visit the cuties who’ll be spending the night with the night shift veterinarian.

“Good evening, Haikuan.” He waves at him from the door.

Haikuan looks over his shoulder and invites him in with a head tilt.

“The little ones have just fallen asleep, try not to make too much noise.”

Xiao Zhan nods his agreement, stepping over to where Haikuan is standing to watch the five puppies all tangled up in each other, round bellies full of milk heaving in their slumber. They exchange endeared smiles before Haikuan moves on to the next stall, where one of the dogs who underwent surgery has yet to wake up from the anesthesia. Xiao Zhan leaves him to his work and searches the other stalls with his eyes until he finds the one he’s looking for.

“Hey, buddy!” He cheers, as loud as a hushed whisper can be, crouching by the lower stall where the brown cat is curled up against the further corner. Xiao Zhan chuckles at his Jianguo-like behavior and taps the glass door with his index. His ears flex atop his head, but other than that, the cat doesn’t move. “It’s me! Remember? The one who brought you here.”

The cat perks his head up a bit, enough to fix his gaze on Xiao Zhan’s face. Xiao Zhan takes that as encouragement, grinning wider.

“For a moment I thought you’d forgotten me! You must be a bit groggy from all the meds, right? It’s okay, little guy.” He pokes a finger through one of the circular openings of the door and wiggles it, to no avail. At least his wound is bandaged, there’s no sign of bleeding, he’s wrapped up in a cozy red blanket, and his food and water bowls are full. Xiao Zhan wishes he could pet his new friend one more time, but he also understands a lot has happened in a day for him and his trust needs to be earned.

“It’s alright. Take your time, okay? I can wait. I’ll be back tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, so we can be friends whenever you’re ready.” He watches the cat for a moment longer, his big yellow eyes softening and blinking slowly until he lets out a yawn and curls into himself. Xiao Zhan’s heart hiccups. That’s definitely a good sign. “Good night, little one!”

He gets up with a low grunt and says goodbye to Haikuan as well, feeling his heart a little warmer than before. On his way out, he makes sure to grab a Churu sachet for his princess back home. Xiao Zhan smiles to himself; little does she know she’s in for a very long night of cuddles.

He has the weirdest dream.

The yellow orbs surrounded by brown fur loom behind his eyelids, watchful and sentient, pupils turned to predator slits. Xiao Zhan is crouching by his stall, smiling and taunting him by wiggling his fingers through the glass door holes. The pupils widen when he calls out a name, two syllables that sound strangely familiar, yet he’s sure he’s never uttered them before.

Darkness spreads in two even circles, engulfing the yellow from the inside out until none of it is left. The smile on Xiao Zhan’s face falls; in a heartbeat, the cat is moving in an unnatural way, crouching with the fur on his back standing on end. His legs spread endlessly, paws turn to hands and feet, brown fur gives way to milky skin, cute nose shifts to sit atop plush lips and Xiao Zhan can’t move, equal parts terrified and entranced by the scene unfolding right before his eyes.

A warm hand wraps around his finger from the other side of the glass, and he wakes up panting, covered in sweat and trembling. His alarm is ringing on the bedside table, and for once in his life, he’s glad for it.

He’s sipping on his coffee after a much needed shower, trying to dispel the colossal headache and lingering eeriness sitting heavy on his chest, when his phone dings with a new text.

>> So…

Xiao Zhan gasps so loud Jianguo skips from his lap.

“Sorry, princess,” he murmurs, tapping the notification and flooding Lulu’s chat with curious stickers.

The typing balloon keeps him in suspense for a while, until, finally—

>> Your bad boy is recovering quite well!

“Wha—” Xiao Zhan stops mid word to grunt and scoff, pressing the microphone button on the screen with a vengeance. “I’m going to kill Zhuocheng… Stop calling him that, it’s weird. Besides, you know damn right this is not the update I’m expecting.”

The yellow eyes flash in his mind again and his stomach twists uncomfortably. He pushes his coffee mug aside, no longer interested. Another text pops up.

>> Wow, Zhanzhan… Don’t you care about the little baby you brought in yesterday anymore? So fickle. How can you move on so soon?

A pang of guilt jabs at his ribs. It’s not the poor kitty’s fault his brain turned the events of the day before into this horror movie trailer—one he’d definitely not watch, as much of a horror enthusiast as he is. Cats are off limits.

He’s happy the wounded stray is recovering well, and makes sure to tell Lulu as much before demanding more answers about her date. She dodges his question again, replying with a giggling sticker, and ignores the string of angry ones Xiao Zhan sends.

“Women…” Xiao Zhan clicks his tongue, dragging himself out of the kitchen and meeting Jianguo’s disapproving glare from where she sits on the couch. He clears his throat and smiles sheepishly. “I mean… Human women. Never you, baby girl.”

She goes on licking her front paw, nonplussed. Xiao Zhan still does a ninety-degree bow before excusing himself to finish getting ready for work.

A very exasperated Lulu is waiting for him by the animal shelter door and drags him by the wrist past the crowded reception without even greeting him.

“We’ve tried everything! He won’t let us put our hands inside the stall to change his food and water, or clean his litterbox, and don’t even think about trying to touch him to change his bandages! He gets so stressed out and moves about so much his stitches could tear open! Oh, and his teeth and claws are the sharpest I’ve ever seen. My hands are ruined!”

Xiao Zhan can hardly process her words, much less catch his breath, legs following Lulu until he’s standing before the brown cat’s stall again, backpack strap squeezed in one fist, still in his work clothes.

“Lulu, let me change—”

“Just try to talk some sense into him, please. My shift ends in ten minutes and I haven’t been able to touch him! This is ridiculous! How can a cat be so difficult?” Her cheeks are flushed and there’s a prominent vein on her forehead that only pops up when she’s seething. Xiao Zhan never dares to contradict her in such a state, and he’s not about to start now.

“Okay, okay, I’ll do it. I can’t promise he’ll let me do anything, though. He’s very stubborn with everyone.”

He drops his backpack on the floor and sits cross-legged before the same lower stall as the night before. The brown cat is pressed against the opposite corner now, just as uninviting and wary. Xiao Zhan clears his throat. Here goes nothing.

“Hey, buddy.”

Yellow eyes fly open at the sound of his voice. His stomach drops, and the memory of the name he spoke so naturally in his nightmare, hits him full force. He’s been racking his brain trying to remember it, to no avail.

That is, until his lips move of their own accord.

“Yi—bo?”

The cat perks his head up immediately, staring back at him with sharp interest. Xiao Zhan’s breath hitches; this cannot be happening. He must be hallucinating, seeing too much into meaningless events.

“Yibo?” Lulu repeats, crouching beside him, to which Yi—the cat reacts by pulling back his whiskers. “Is that how you want to call him?”

Try as he might, Xiao Zhan can’t look away from him. Yibo. Where the hell has this name come from?

“Something like that, yeah,” he nods vaguely.

“You’re usually good at picking names for them, but this one is…” Lulu pauses, oblivious to Xiao Zhan’s panic. “It sounds too much like a human name.”

“He’s not—” Xiao Zhan bites his tongue to hold back the whip in his tone, shuddering out a breath. “Human. It’s just a name like any other.”

“You can call him whatever you want as long as you tame him.” She pats his shoulder and he almost jumps out of his skin for some reason. “Good luck. Let me know if there’s any progress, okay?”

He nods gingerly, still transfixed by the yellow eyes peering from the dark corner, and only manages to move again when the door clicks shut and he’s alone in the room. As in, the only human in the room.

The only one. Obviously. Get it together, for fuck’s sake.

Rubbing his nape and chuckling awkwardly, Xiao Zhan slips his cheerful grin back on and leans into the glass again. After some hesitation, he relaxes his other hand, tightly closed into a fist on his lap, and wills it to reach the glass door, wiggling one finger through the hole.

“You like that name? Yibo?” His voice is too high-pitched, so he clears his throat and tries again. “Sounds nice to me. It suits you, don’t you think?”

Slowly, the cat gets on his front paws, sitting up and staring at him with the same enrapturing sentience of Xiao Zhan’s dreams. His throat dries the more he watches, and he’s about to pull his finger back and just get the hell out of there when the cat gets up in full and steps forward, dragging his wounded leg behind himself a little, until his cold, wet nose touches the pad of Xiao Zhan’s finger.

He gasps at the contact, trying his best to stay perfectly still lest he scare the cat away and ruin whatever bonding ritual is going on. The cat sniffs his fingertip for a bit, whiskers tickling Xiao Zhan’s skin, and once he’s satisfied, he licks it—once, so quickly Xiao Zhan almost thinks he’s imagined it.

“Yibo,” he breathes, heart soaring in his chest at the clear approval. “That is your name… Isn’t it?”

He doesn’t know how, and trying to figure that out right now is too overwhelming, but he just knows it. The cat—Yibo—nudges his finger with his nose again before rubbing the underside of his chin against it, and Xiao Zhan can’t hold back anymore, giggles and inches closer, his other palm pressed flat to the glass.

“Thanks for letting me touch you,” he whispers, and to his utmost delight, Yibo rewards him by—“Oh, my God, you’re purring.”

He could cry right here, sitting on his butt on the floor once again for this little pest, overcome by fondness. Still rubbing himself on Xiao Zhan’s finger, he starts pawing at the glass door where his other hand is, and to make himself crystal clear, meows in that feisty way of his, just like when Xiao Zhan found him. So demanding, inpossible to ignore.

“You want me to open it?”

Meow. Yes.

Xiao Zhan hesitates. “Are you going to behave?”

Meow. Promise.

Looking over his shoulder and finding the coast clear, Xiao Zhan relents. “Okay. Please stay still. You need to get your bandages changed, or else you could get really sick. Got it?”

Meow. Got it.

He pulls his finger back and unlocks the stall, careful not to make too much noise. Moving aside not to be in the way of the glass door, Xiao Zhan barely has time to open it enough before Yibo pounces on his lap, standing on his hind legs and clawing at his shirt.

“Yibo!” In his haste, he ends up yelping a little too loud and falling back on the floor, both hands gripping the cat by his flanks. Lulu barges in the next second, wide-eyed, to his complete mortification.

“Zhanzhan! Are you okay?”

He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, then looks up at the little devil coming to stand on his chest. He blinks his yellow eyes in sheer innocence before sniffing his chin and licking it profusely.

“Ugh!” He squirms at the ticklish sensation, tilting his head back to escape it, but Yibo sinks his claws into his pecs and he gasps at the sting, rendered useless on the floor. “Lulu—”

He stares up at her with pleading eyes, but from his upside down view, he notices Zhuocheng has also come to check what the ruckus is all about, and now they’re both laughing at his predicament.

“Hey! Stop laughing at me and do something!” He tries to pull Yibo away from himself but the claws dig deeper and he almost bursts into tears.

“Alright, alright, what a mess!” Lulu exclaims at last, shaking off her giggles and stepping in to help. Yibo lifts his head up immediately and hisses at her. Lulu hesitates, but persists, and as soon as her hands are within range, Yibo springs up from Xiao Zhan’s chest to attack her, scratching and biting at every bit of skin available.

“Fuck!” Zhuocheng screams, rushing to her aid. Xiao Zhan rolls to his side and jumps to his feet as fast as possible, but not fast enough to prevent Zhuocheng from also getting shredded by Yibo’s limitless fury.

“Yibo, calm down! That’s enough!” Xiao Zhan pleads, ripping him from their flailing hands and pulling him close to his own chest. Yibo’s small body is shaking violently, but he finally gives in, sitting still in Xiao Zhan’s cradling arms, one paw resting on his shirt and tearing new claw holes on it.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Zhuocheng snarls, staring at his own scratched hands and then at Lulu’s. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I think so,” she replies, voice trembling, lifting her head to inspect Xiao Zhan. “Zhanzhan, your chest—”

Mind spinning like crazy, Xiao Zhan only realizes what she means a moment later, lowering his gaze to the front of his shirt, where blood has bubbled from the spots Yibo’s claws have sunk into and seeped through his undershirt. Yibo sniffs around the smudge closer to his nose and looks up at him; all the confusion from the past minutes must be clouding Xiao Zhan’s thoughts, because for a second he’s sure he sees guilt flash in those yellow eyes.

“I’m fine.” He gulps, averting his gaze from Yibo, face burning with adrenaline. “You guys go ahead and clean up those scratches, I’ll be there in a second.”

“Be careful.” Zhuocheng nods, heading to the locker room, and Lulu follows suit after Xiao Zhan nods back in reassurance.

A tense sigh leaves him the moment he’s alone again. Yibo is still trembling in his hold, but his head is now lowered, like he’s trying to make himself invisible. Xiao Zhan stares at him for a while, unsure of how to proceed.

“I’m sorry, buddy. It was my fault.” He starts, petting the back of Yibo’s head with an unsteady hand. Yibo squirms, but doesn’t protest. “I should have prepared myself before opening the door. Of course you were going to jump out, weren’t you? You must be so scared.”

Yibo grumbles into his chest, and the cuteness of the sound puts a smile on Xiao Zhan’s face, albeit a meek one.

“I know. I’ll do better, okay?” He pets Yibo a few more times in silence. “Can I clean up your stall? Will you be a good boy and sit still while I do that, hm?”

Yibo doesn’t react, and Xiao Zhan doesn’t expect him to. He doesn’t understand a single word, anyway. His gut, however, tells him he must try; if he doesn’t, no one else will, especially after what just happened.

“Here we go,” he murmurs, crouching by Yibo’s open stall and peeling him off his chest. He tries to cling, but gives in easily when Xiao Zhan unhooks the claws from his shirt with his thumb. “Good boy.”

Yibo levels him with an unreadable look before walking back to his corner and becoming a brown ball of fur once again. Xiao Zhan wants to pet him some more, but figures time is of the essence and does what needs to be done, quickly refilling Yibo’s water and food bowls and digging up the dirt from his litterbox. Yibo doesn’t dare to move the whole time, watching Xiao Zhan work—with what he’s now convinced to be sorry eyes.

“All done now, little one,” Xiao Zhan sighs, crouching one last time to check on him. “You’ll feel better now. We need to clean things up every day while you’re here, alright? No one’s going to hurt you ever again. I promise everybody here means well.”

Yibo blinks at him, attentive. Xiao Zhan’s smile widens and he caves, reaching out to pet him.

“You’re too damn cute for your own good, you know? You gave me all this trouble and yet I can’t get mad at you. Not even a little bit.” He lets out a breathy laugh, then checks himself. “Don’t let my princess know I said that.”

Yibo’s head pops up at that, but Xiao Zhan is already retreating his hand and closing the stall door.

“I gotta go now, okay?” He smiles, waving at him through the glass. “I’ll be back after closing and see if I can help Haikuan take a look at those stitches. Get some rest, buddy.”

Yibo regards him with an impassive stare before turning around and lying down again, facing the wall. Not very promising, but he’s got a few hours to change his mind. Xiao Zhan lets him have his way for now and gets on his feet, feeling his back and chest protest the recent disastrous events.

“Did you lock him up again?” Lulu asks as soon as he walks into the locker room, glancing at him before resuming her work on Zhuocheng’s hands.

“Yes. He calmed down after you left. I cleaned up his stall and he didn’t attack me.”

“Wow,” Zhuocheng huffs, eyebrows flying up. “Good job. I thought that would only be possible by sedating him.”

“I’m glad we waited for you,” Lulu adds, squeezing Zhuocheng’s shoulder after finishing his bandages and turning around to face Xiao Zhan. “I mean, I wish you hadn’t gotten hurt, but…”

“You did the right thing. I’m glad I could help.” He walks over to his locker and checks his ruined shirt in the mirror, sighing dejectedly. He already needed more shirts to go to work and now he’ll have to throw this one away as well. “I’ll just—take care of this. Zhuocheng, can you cover for me a bit longer?”

“Sure.” Zhuocheng leaves right away to take his place behind the counter. Lulu walks up to him without a word and starts unbuttoning his shirt.

“It’s okay, I got this,” he says, but she shushes him and slaps his hands down when he tries to take over.

“I thought you wanted to hear about my date?” She pouts, looking up at him coyly. Xiao Zhan gasps, a broad grin taking shape on his face.

“You know I do.”

Lulu makes quick work of discarding his button-up and undershirt before changing her gloves and soaking a cotton disk with antiseptic. Xiao Zhan barely hisses as she dabs it against the claw marks on his chest, focusing on the words she’s saying. She’d met this girl, Meng Ziyi, at a coffee shop a month ago, and couldn’t bring herself to say no when the girl asked for her number. They’d been chatting nonstop ever since, and decided to hang out the night before.

“Did she know you’d never—”

“Yes. She said we could go out as friends, and we did.”

Xiao Zhan squints at the blush dusting his best friend’s cheeks. “And how did it go?”

“It was amazing. Zhanzhan, I never thought—” She chokes on her own excitement, and they share a giggle before she starts again. “I’ve gone on a lot of dates before, you know that, but I’ve never had this much fun in my life.”

“I’m happy for you,” he grins brightly, meaning every word. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy too, no matter who you’re going out with.”

She places the last Band-Aid over his chest and smiles big at him. “I know. Thank you.”

He puts on his volunteer shirt and leans in for a tight hug. “Let me know if she breaks your heart. We’ll unleash Yibo’s wrath on her and call it an accident.”

They share a hearty laugh before Lulu steps back. Her gaze gets wistful, and Xiao Zhan’s throat clogs with what he knows she’s about to say.

“I hope you find someone who makes you feel like this too.”

His smile falters, but only for a second. “Me too.”

“Good evening, Haikuan.”

“Hello there.”

He steps into the vet area just like the night before, looking at the sleeping puppies and smiling before heading towards the lower stall at the far end of the room.

“Have you managed to change Yi—the new cat’s bandages?”

Haikuan finishes typing something on his laptop before getting up from his desk. “I was strongly advised to wait for you.”

Xiao Zhan sighs, relieved that no one else got hurt, and a little apprehensive at the prospect of changing that. “Can we try now?”

At Haikuan’s nod, he crouches to inspect Yibo’s stall, and is surprised to find him already sitting by the door. As soon as their eyes meet, Yibo lets out an eager meow.

“Hi, buddy!” Xiao Zhan smiles so big his face almost splits in two. “I missed you too.”

Haikuan lets out a low chuckle behind him, and Xiao Zhan gives him a promising thumbs up.

“I’m gonna pick you up now and Haikuan is gonna change your bandages, okay? I promise it’ll be quick, you won’t feel a thing. I’ll be here the whole time, so please be good to him, hm?”

Yibo’s whiskers tremble, but only for a moment.

Meow. Okay.

He opens the stall door, well supported by his knees this time around, and Yibo jumps into his arms again, rubbing his face on Xiao Zhan’s chin and licking happily at his jaw. Haikuan flat out laughs at the scene, and so does Xiao Zhan, holding Yibo close to his chest.

“Aiya, alright, that’s enough,” he declares, covering Yibo’s muzzle with his hand until his frantic energy subsides. “Be a good boy now, will you?”

He gives Haikuan a tense nod before placing Yibo on the vet table, his claws clanking against the cold metal. He hisses the moment Haikuan reaches out with his gloved hands, but Xiao Zhan shushes him and scratches under his chin and Yibo goes soft, eyes fixed on him, allowing Haikuan to cut his old bandages and take a good look at his wound before applying more medication and bandaging him up again.

“Such a well-mannered guy.” Haikuan removes his gloves with a pleased smile. “Didn’t even flinch.”

“Oh, you’re such a good boy, aren’t you?” Xiao Zhan squeals, pouting and using his pathetic childish voice reserved only for cats. Remembering himself after a few more neck scratches, he clears his voice and looks back at Haikuan. “Thank you.”

Haikuan shakes his head, still smiling, and tries to pet Yibo’s exposed belly. Yibo promptly curls in on himself and hisses at him, only calming down when Xiao Zhan picks him up from the table.

“It seems I’m the one who should be thanking you,” Haikuan smirks with an arched brow. “Same time tomorrow?”

Xiao Zhan chuckles bashfully, ducking his head to stare back at Yibo’s big yellow eyes on him, as always.

“Sure.”

“He’s healing so well,” Lulu remarks a week later, changing up Yibo’s bandages. She has the night shift tonight, and Yibo behaves just as well under her ministrations as he does with Haikuan—as long as Xiao Zhan’s hands are holding and petting him all the while, of course. “A few more days and he’ll be as good as new.”

“That’s great,” he replies, smiling at the yellow orbs watching him lazily, enjoying the neck scratching a little too much.

Lulu hums, finishing the job and patting Yibo’s back as thanks. He doesn’t hiss, not anymore, unless Xiao Zhan is not around when he’s touched—but then again, that rarely happens now that he’s proven himself to be docile when paired up with his chosen human.

“I’m worried about him, though.” She frowns a bit, and Xiao Zhan’s heart plummets, eyes doubling in size.

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“He’s perfectly healthy, don’t worry. I’m talking about his chances of being adopted. With a temper like his…” She flashes him a sad gaze. “You know how it is.”

Though some relief floods his chest, Lulu’s concern is valid. Truth be told, Xiao Zhan has thought about it a few times, but the idea of parting with Yibo hurt too much and he blocked out the idea before it could take shape.

“Ah. Right.”

His smile wanes as he looks down at Yibo once again, purring without a care in the world, head leaning against his stomach. Xiao Zhan has grown used to the brown fur on his clothes, the demanding meowing every time he walks in to say hello, the incessant licking of his chin every time he picks Yibo up from his stall, those yellow eyes pouring so much adoration into his heart and asking for nothing more in return…

“You could keep him.” Lulu addresses the elephant in the room at last. Yibo’s pupils choose that moment to dilate, but Xiao Zhan averts his gaze and clicks his tongue.

“You think Jianguo would accept him? You know her. She owns the house, and I wouldn’t put it past her to get aggressive with him.”

Lulu ponders his words for a moment, then nods. “I understand.”

Xiao Zhan nods back, pursing his lips, willing himself not to shiver as ice spreads through his chest at the thought of Yibo being adopted, never to be seen again.

“He’ll be okay.” He scratches Yibo’s neck with more energy, even though he refuses to look down. “He’s a charmer, I’m sure he’ll find the perfect family.”

He collects Yibo in his arms and turns away from the vet table to return him to his stall. Yibo’s eyes are boring holes on his face, but he keeps his jaw locked and crouches to put him down. The collar of his T-shirt gets tugged in the motion and he sighs, a hairbreadth away from a meltdown.

“Yibo, please. Not tonight.”

The claws on his collarbone retract a moment later. For the first time, Yibo jumps out of his hold and walks to the furthest corner of the stall, back turned to Xiao Zhan without sparing him another glance.

“Good night, buddy,” he murmurs anyway, swallowing thickly around the painful knot on his throat and locking up the door.

Lulu is waiting for him by the shelter door when he arrives the next day.

Something in his chest dislodges. The lack of updates on Yibo, which he’s already grown used to for the past week, already left him a bit anxious throughout the day, but he pinned it on the shelter being abnormally busy as it’s bound to every now and then.

Apparently he was wrong.

“Yibo is…” She purses her lips, holding his hand as soon as he walks in. “He’s sick.”

There it is. The rug being pulled from under his feet. “What?”

“We don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s got a high fever, won’t eat or drink, just sits in his corner and didn’t even hiss at anyone when we pricked him for a blood test and an IV drip to keep him hydrated.”

Xiao Zhan walks past the reception, barely acknowledging Zhuocheng greeting him, mind swimming with a million thoughts and completely empty at the same time.

“Hey, buddy.” He tries, forcing himself to smile as he kneels by the stall. Yibo is on the same spot Xiao Zhan left him the night before, except his back is turned to the wall now. He’s been bundled up in his red blanket and one of his front paws is stretched before him, with a needle attached to a shaved patch of skin where his IV is still dripping.

Yibo doesn’t move at the sound of his voice. Xiao Zhan swallows his tears, figures maybe he’s too groggy from the medication and hasn’t heard him.

“Hey. Yibo, It’s me. I’m back.”

Nothing. Xiao Zhan feels himself crumbling, slowly but surely; to avoid Lulu’s heavy gaze, he unlocks the stall door and slides half of his body inside, petting Yibo’s head and nuzzling his ear. He’s so warm all over, and yet he’s shivering; Xiao Zhan’s heart shatters.

“What’s wrong, baby? You were doing so well yesterday… Did we miss something?” He sniffles, frustrated by the sudden wetness on his face. Yibo is fine, he’s going to be okay, there’s no reason to worry. “Are you… Are you in pain? Tell me where it hurts so we can take care of you… Please…”

Yibo’s eyelids flutter, revealing some of the yellow, but it’s not vibrant as usual. The protective membrane is still covering it, rendering it dull. He’s barely conscious of Xiao Zhan’s presence, but still fighting to look at him.

Yibo was looking at him yesterday, when he flat out rejected the idea of keeping him. And Xiao Zhan was too much of a coward to look back at him.

And now he may never be able to look into those eyes again.

“Zhanzhan, breathe,” Lulu pleads, kneeling beside him, and only then does he notice how hard he’s crying, body shaking with sobs. He wipes his nose on the sleeve of his jacket before pressing a kiss to Yibo’s head, hands shaking as Xiao Zhan pets him one more time and adjusts his blanket.

He pulls his upper body out of the stall and Lulu’s arms are open to catch him. Xiao Zhan leans into her small but warm embrace and cries a bit more on her shoulder, until her gentle hand rubbing circles on his back soothe him enough to pull back and face her.

“His test results…” He sniffles, accepting the paper tissues she picks up from her desk. “Has anything come up?”

“All clear. We’ll run more tests in a few hours.” She wipes his tears with her thumbs, a doting smile on her face. “I already talked to Zhuocheng, he’s covering for you tonight. You should stay with Yibo.”

As much as Xiao Zhan wants to decline the offer and apologize for making a scene, he can’t imagine himself sitting at the reception and talking to people without sobbing every five minutes and sneaking back inside to check on Yibo. His eyelids are heavy when he closes them and just nods in gratitude.

“Thank you. I’ll make it up to him later.”

“Don’t worry about that, he owed me one anyway.” Lulu cups his face with both hands and pulls him down to drop a kiss to his forehead. “You’ve been working hard, Zhanzhan. Maybe this is what you both need, some quality time together. I know he’s as good to you as you are to him.”

His bottom lip wobbles and he sucks it into his mouth to cover it up, making Lulu smile and pinch his cheeks.

“I’ll have some food delivered to you. I bet you haven’t eaten yet, have you?” She rambles on, and he ducks his head to avoid answering. “Shame on you, Zhanzhan. You’re skin and bones! Your mother would kill me if she knew.”

She gets back on her feet and ruffles his hair before walking out. The low humming of the air conditioner and the slow beeping of machines are the only sounds in the room; Xiao Zhan’s chest constricts all over again and he sits with his back against the wall adjacent to Yibo’s stall, legs folded and pressed to his chest, bumping his forehead on his knees as another wave of sobs takes him under.

He remembers all the times he’s played with Yibo on this very spot. He’s made Xiao Zhan laugh so many times with his cute antics; how uncoordinated he is whenever he’s allowed some Churu, licking at nothing even when the sachet is right in front of him, desperate for a taste; how he meows along when Xiao Zhan hums to a random song on his wired earphones, to the point it almost sounds like he knows the melodies; how he kneads Xiao Zhan’s thigh while he talks to Lulu or Haikuan, purring so strong and loud he sounds like a miniature tractor.

Maybe he was right yesterday. Maybe there is a perfect family for Yibo out there, waiting for him, ready to fulfill his every wish. But how will Xiao Zhan ever part with him? There’s a hole in his heart shaped like Yibo’s sharp teeth and claws and spiky brown fur and ticklish tongue, and he’ll never forgive himself if he doesn’t at least try to keep him.

He leans forward to sneak a glance at Yibo’s still unmoving little body, and he chokes on a sob before his voice comes out.

“I’m sorry for what I said yesterday… I promise I’ll keep you if you get through this. Please.”

He returns to his former position and tries not to lose hope.

He tilts his head up at the sound of footsteps by the door some time later, clueless as to how long he sat there working himself into a stupor. He must look like shit, because Zhuocheng regards him with genuine sorrow.

“Your food’s here.”

Xiao Zhan’s stomach growls, but he’s too queasy to even think about eating. He just nods, but Zhuocheng doesn’t leave.

“Haikuan said he’s only examining Yibo after you eat.”

He finds it in him to glare at Zhuocheng, who merely shrugs and walks out. Touché.

Fifteen minutes later, Xiao Zhan is back at the vet area, picking Yibo’s limp body from his stall, still wrapped up in his blanket, and placing him before Haikuan on the vet table. He’s no longer shivering, at least, which instantly sparks hope in Xiao Zhan’s chest. He’ll take whatever small wins he can get.

Haikuan collects another blood sample, feels his belly for any lumps, and checks his heartbeat and temperature.

“His fever is decreasing,” he declares after long minutes of silence, and Xiao Zhan lets out a relieved sigh. “Let’s give him a few more hours and check again.”

“Why won’t he wake up?” Xiao Zhan asks, cradling him in his arms again.

“It could be the medication, it could be the fever itself, I’m not sure. Either way, I believe he should wake up in a while.” Haikuan’s brows seem less furrowed than before, which Xiao Zhan interprets as a good sign. “Why don’t you hold him like that for a bit? He’s very fond of you. Maybe keeping him close would help him feel safe.”

Xiao Zhan smiles, overcome with tenderness for the small bundle in his arms. “Sure. Whatever helps him feel better.”

He declines Haikuan’s offer for a spare chair, claiming to feel more comfortable on the floor, and nestles the little ball of fur, alternating between nuzzling and kissing his head, humming some random lullaby under his breath and just keeping him close to his chest, his own head resting back on the wall behind him.

He doesn’t realize he’s dozed off in the quiet room until he hears a faint noise.

Meow.

Xiao Zhan jerks awake, gaze dropping to where Yibo is in his hold. Blinking groggily, the yellow eyes he’s missed more than he knew peep back at him.

“Hey, baby…” Tears blur Xiao Zhan’s vision as he leans in and boops Yibo’s nose with the tip of his own. Yibo lifts one tiny paw to his face, paw pads brushing against his cheek, and Xiao Zhan giggles, so happy he could burst. “Welcome back. You really scared me for a moment there.”

Meow. So weak he barely hears it, but there still. Alive.

“Let’s get Haikuan to take a look at you, shall we?”

Yibo is free to leave a day later, on a fine Saturday morning, once Lulu and Haikuan are sure he’s not relapsing.

Xiao Zhan signs the adoption papers with a loony grin on his face. He doesn’t even need to put Yibo in Jianguo’s kennel again; with the way he’s clinging to his sweatshirt, Xiao Zhan figures he’s safer pressed to his chest than anywhere else.

Lulu drives him home and leaves a stack of cat food and litter bags at his place, as well as a litter box and Yibo’s favorite toys and blanket, promising to help him with his feline expenses now that they’ve doubled.

She also prints out a step by step guide on how to get your old cat acquainted with your new cat. For now, it seems pretty simple: keep them in separate rooms until Yibo is used to the space, then gradually introduce his scent to Jianguo, and hers to Yibo, without physical contact just yet. There are three pages full of instructions, front and back, so Xiao Zhan focuses on the immediate actions needed now and hopes for the best.

He rushes past Jianguo, currently being distracted by Lulu, to his bedroom and shuts the door behind him. She’s not really keen on sleeping with him anyway, so it’s the best place to keep Yibo for the time being.

“Welcome home, baby!” He squeals, placing Yibo on the carpeted floor by his bed. Yibo looks everywhere with piqued interest, eyes glimmering with curiosity, darting everywhere as if he wants to take it all in at once. Xiao Zhan lets him wobble around, still limping a bit due to his leg injury, and watches him with a smile that barely fits his face. It doesn’t take long for him to circle back and leap into Xiao Zhan’s lap, placing both his front paws on his chest for support and licking the hell out of his chin. Xiao Zhan laughs until he cries, rolling on the floor with his new baby until he’s breathless.

“Okay, Yibo, here’s how it’s gonna be.” Remembering Lulu is still outside waiting for him, he sits up again with Yibo on his lap, staring up at him obediently. “As much as I want you to meet your big sis as soon as possible, that can’t happen yet. This was her house before yours, so you’ll have to stay in this room for a while until she gets used to your presence, okay? I’m gonna need you to be a good boy like you’ve been at the shelter and not leave this room, alright?”

Meow. Xiao Zhan scratches his neck as a reward, throwing his head back laughing. It never fails to amuse him how vocal this little one is.

“Good boy. Now you wait here and be a dear while dad gets everything ready, okay? I’ll be back in a second.”

He sneaks into the bathroom with an extra set of clothes and dumps his Yibo-scented ones on the laundry bin before washing his hands and walking out to finally greet his princess, sitting all high and mighty on Lulu’s lap. Jianguo grumbles a little when he picks her up, but by the time he’s brewed Lulu some coffee and they go over the guide to ensure every step is clear, she’s back to her normal self, walking back and forth between their calves and rubbing herself against them every now and then.

“Call me if you need anything,” Lulu repeats when he walks her to the door.

“Don’t worry about us, we’re gonna be fine.” He grabs both her hands and rubs his thumbs over the her knuckles, always covered in paper thin scratches. “Enjoy your date! And tell me all about it later, of course.”

She smiles her lovey-dovey smile and nods, leaning in for a quick hug before hopping into her car and driving off. Xiao Zhan hasn’t felt this happy in a while.

The rest of the day goes by smoothly. Contrary to the expectations of his friends at the shelter, Yibo is the perfect picture of good behavior, giving Xiao Zhan no trouble whatsoever. Jianguo still seems rather clueless as to what’s going on, as intended. Xiao Zhan spreads himself thin between the two of them, but he feels a good kind of tired when he finally lies down in bed at night. He heaves a contented sigh and steals one last glance at Yibo’s crate across the room, where his beloved red blanket is meant to make him feel safe through the night.

No yellow eyes blink back at him. Xiao Zhan frowns.

“Yibo?” He whispers, instantly feeling stupid because why should he lower his voice when he’s the only one in the house? Perhaps being a single parent of two is already taking its toll on hi—“Ugh!”

An unexpected but familiar weight plunges into his stomach, followed by a happy meow and some intense kneading on his chest.

“Holy shit, you almost scared me to death.” Xiao Zhan coughs, pushing Yibo’s body down until he’s lying on his stomach. “Are you gonna be clingy at night too?”

Meow.

“Of course… Why did I expect you to sleep in your crate, huh? Silly me.” He rolls his eyes, laughing to himself while staring at the ceiling first, then back at Yibo’s glimmering eyes in the moonlit room. He’ll definitely get a few jumpscares until he gets used to those egg yolks staring back at him after dark.

Right now, he doesn’t feel scared at all, though. In fact, since Jianguo has never been much of a cuddler, this is the first time Xiao Zhan has actually shared his bed with a pet. He finds he rather welcomes the warmth. It’s cozy and comforting, even more so when Yibo starts purring.

“Okay, little one. I’m probably the worst cat parent ever for spoiling you this early on, but… You win.” He lifts the duvet beside himself and that’s all the encouragement Yibo needs to leap there and snuggle up beside him. They slot into place with ease, and Xiao Zhan hums before dropping a kiss to Yibo’s head. “Good night, baby.”

From then on, it becomes a thing.

Yibo sleeps pressed to his chest every night. He’s the first thing Xiao Zhan sees when he wakes up, and the last thing he thinks about when he drifts off. His sleep has never been deeper and more restorative. Who would have thought all Xiao Zhan needed was a cuddly cat to cure his insomnia?

He’s surprisingly fine with the clinginess. Yibo still doesn’t leave the bedroom, so he can’t follow Xiao Zhan around all that much, but he did sneak into the bathroom one time when Xiao Zhan was showering. His soul almost left his body when he turned around, in his full naked glory, and met those big eyes watching him, perfectly still and unblinking. With a blood-curdling shriek, he wrapped a towel around his hips and stepped out of the shower to push the intruder out and lock the bathroom door, not without some effort. He doesn’t know why that was so mortifying, but it seemed Yibo somehow felt sorry for his breach of privacy, for he grew extra cuddly after that, always rubbing his muzzle against Xiao Zhan’s neck at night and licking his face in the morning. At least he waits for the alarm to ring.

The first week goes by so fast Xiao Zhan can hardly believe it’s been seven full days of having Yibo at his place already. It feels like time is flying, but also like it’s been way longer than just a week. What he does know for sure is that he can’t imagine his life without that little punk, and he hopes with all his might that Jianguo will not crush him with her bare paws the moment they meet.

“Are you excited to smell your big sis tomorrow? I’m bringing in one of her toys for you to play with. And I’m taking one of yours for her to smell too!” He massages Yibo’s paws with his thumbs as he speaks, already in their usual positions in bed, with Yibo lying on his chest. “I’m sure you two will love each other… Or at the very least not kill each other? Please, don’t kill each other.”

Meow. Yibo tilts his head to the side innocently, like he’s never been an incorrigible rascal who hissed and attacked everyone who dared to approach him.

“I know, I know, you’re a good boy now.” Xiao Zhan chuckles, booping his nose. “I’m sure she’ll love you as much as I do.”

They fall asleep as usual, sharing heat under the blanket.

Xiao Zhan wakes up to sunlight on his face, the wall beside his single bed pressed to his back, and sweat soaked pajamas.

He blinks the sleep away from his eyes and tries to sit up, but finds there’s no room for movement. A hot weight lies between the edge of the bed and himself, and his still foggy brain takes a beat too long to process what’s going on.

There’s a person in bed with him. A man. A very naked man.

The scream he screams comes right from the deepest recesses of his soul.

He pushes the creep out of the bed, pulling the covers to himself as a shield. The intruder falls with a thud and grunts, bumbling to his knees first, supporting himself with a hand on the mattress and squinting at him.

“What the—” The man croaks, but Xiao Zhan is faster than him, hitting him full on the head with a pillow.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” He shrieks, grabbing the water bottle on his bedside table and wielding it above his head. “Who are you? Why were you in my bed? Why are you—Where are your clothes?”

The questions leave him in a loud flurry. He’s shaking from head to toe, calculating how to reach his phone charging across the room before the intruder attacks him to call the police. The man jumps to his feet and places both hands in front of himself defensively.

“Oh, my God, you’re—” Xiao Zhan roars, throwing the blanket at him upon getting a glimpse of the man’s naked front.

“Shit—Sorry, Zhan-ge!” The guy gasps, wrapping himself up and tumbling back until he’s reached the wardrobe, whence he pulls out a pair of boxers from the drawer without looking away from Xiao Zhan.

What the fuck?

What the actual fuck????

“How do you know my name? How do you—how do you know where my underwear drawer is?” He lifts the bottle further up in the air, sanity leaving him by the gallons with each further second he spends not knowing what’s happening.

“I’m Yibo!” The man exclaims, still holding both hands up in surrender. “My name is Yibo. Wang Yibo.”

“Yi—? Hah, very funny! Is that really the best you got?” He knows he sounds completely deranged right now, but he thinks he’s pretty damn justified, chancing to step out of bed and inch closer to his phone. “You must think I’m very stupid if that’s what you have to say to me!”

“Zhan-ge—I mean, Xiao Zhan, listen to me, please!” He runs both hands through his hair, and the sunlight bouncing off his brown locks oddly reminds Xiao Zhan of petting Yibo’s fur. His lovely, feline, very much not human Yibo. “I—ugh, fuck, where do I even begin?”

“How about you finish this and get the hell out of my house?” Xiao Zhan shouts, tentatively padding to his phone. The man notices what he’s doing, and what he blurts out stops Xiao Zhan on his tracks.

“1823! Your phone password is 1823!”

Xiao Zhan’s guts turn to ice, his blood freezes in his veins.

“How the fuck…” He opens and closes his mouth several times, but nothing comes out. “Are you a hacker? Have you been spying on me?”

“I’m telling you, I’m Yibo!” The guy insists, hands trembling before himself. “I’ve seen you unlock your phone several times while I was in your lap to memorize it. I’ve read all your chats for the past week. Lulu, Haikuan, Zhuocheng, your parents… I’ve watched all those cat videos with y—”

“How did you hack into my phone?” Xiao Zhan cuts his bullshit short. “What do you want from me?”

The man drops to his knees with an exasperated huff, looking up at him with pleading eyes. He takes a deep, tired breath before speaking again, voice much lower than before.

“You found me… Outside. I was… I had been bleeding all night, but you found me. You put me in that kennel and took me to the shelter. I was so weak and confused, I had no idea what was happening to me. All I knew, somehow, is that I could trust you.”

Xiao Zhan’s eyes widen. At the same time he knows there’s no way that man is telling the truth, there’s just so much earnest in his voice, on his face, and the things he’s saying… How could he possibly know that much?

“Then you were gone, and left me with the others, and I fought them with every bit of strength I had left until you came back.” He chuckles, a sad, heartbreaking thing. “You came back and I couldn’t believe it at first, but you said I was going to be okay, and that you were not leaving, so I… I jumped you, I had to thank you somehow, but I ended up hurting your friends, and then I hurt you by accident too… I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

Xiao Zhan’s grip on the water bottle loosens slightly. Chills run down his spine, every hair on his body is standing on end. No… This cannot be… There’s no way—

“I promised myself I’d never hurt you again, and I did my best to keep my claws to myself from then on. You kept your word, you came back day after day, and the pain faded until there was none of it left… You smiled at me, held me close, even played me songs I liked and sang for me… I couldn’t shift back to my human form no matter how hard I tried—” His gaze darts up to assess Xiao Zhan’s reaction. What he finds must be bad, because he jumps to his feet and steps closer. “Zhan-ge, you’re pale.”

Unable to utter a single word, Xiao Zhan swings the water bottle between them and the man stumbles back again.

“Okay, okay, I won’t come near you. Just—Please, listen to me.”

Xiao Zhan locks his jaw and wills himself to breathe. He wants so much for this to be another nightmare, much more vivid than any other, for sure, but still something he can wake up from. Yet his body betrays him and all he can do is stand ramrod straight and fucking listen.

“At some point I thought I’d fucked up big time and would never turn back again, but I figured everything would be okay as long as I had you. So when you told Lulu you couldn’t keep me, I… I couldn’t stand it.” The guy sniffles, blinking back tears, and there’s so much weight to his voice and words that even Xiao Zhan is tearing up now, against his will. “I didn’t want to be alone, like that. The thought of being adopted by someone else hurt too much. No one else made me feel safe the way you did.”

Xiao Zhan is completely paralyzed, incapable of even wiping the tear tracks on his cheeks. It can’t be real, this can’t be happening, how does this stranger know so much about him, how can he retell his every moment with Yibo, even these special moments only the two of them shared?

“So I shut down. I don’t remember much about what happened after that night… All I knew is that you didn’t want me around anymore, and as much as it pained me, I… I respected your wish. Even if it hurt like hell.” Yi—The man hiccups, wrapping his arms around his own midriff as if to keep himself from falling apart. “Then the next thing I remember is you, crying, apologizing and begging me to come back, promising you’d keep me if I did. So… I did. I came back, and you brought me home, and I’ve never been happier… Until now.”

He returns Xiao Zhan’s gaze again, eyes brimming with honesty and devotion, unlike anything he’s ever seen. It surges through him like an electric shock, makes his heart race for entirely different reasons than fear and survival instinct.

It’s recognition. They’re not yellow anymore, but now that Xiao Zhan allows himself to really look at him…

He’d know those eyes anywhere.

“Yibo…” He murmurs, lips once again moving of their own accord, just like they did the first time he said that name. Yibo lets out a wet, relieved laugh—not a meow, but it surely means the same thing, Xiao Zhan knows it in his heart.

“Yes,” he nods enthusiastically, stepping forward, and Xiao Zhan doesn’t scare him away this time. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wanted to, so bad, I just—I couldn’t.”

As convinced as Xiao Zhan is, there’s still too much he doesn’t know, too much he can’t explain. His brain is overheating and he needs some time to process everything before settling back into any kind of normalcy.

“It’s okay… Of course you couldn’t.” He places the water bottle back on the bedside table and takes a deep breath. “Here’s what we’re going to do. You’re going to borrow some decent clothes, and you’re going to sit on the couch, and I’m making us breakfast while you explain every little thing to me. Okay?”

Yibo promptly nods. “Yes, Zhan-ge. I’ll be a good boy, I promise.”

Fuck. That… Does not sound as innocent as it did when Xiao Zhan said it.

They follow the plan, sitting on Xiao Zhan’s small kitchen, and Yibo devours breakfast, so fast that Xiao Zhan serves him another portion, which gets swallowed just as quickly.

“I missed human food so much,” Yibo sighs, both cheeks round with all the food stuffed in them, and flashes Xiao Zhan a boyish grin. “Thanks for cooking for me.”

“I have some Churu if you like,” he dares to say, and Yibo nearly chokes on his mouthful, laughing so hard tears spring from the corners of his eyes. Eventually, Xiao Zhan falls prey to his own dry sense of humor, chuckling along with him.

They sit on the couch, and Jianguo approaches them with her inquisitive air. Xiao Zhan freezes; he hasn’t had a stranger home in a while. What if she can feel his cat scent and attacks him?

God, that sentence sounds so ridiculous he almost physically facepalms.

“So you’re the princess everybody’s been talking about so much,” Yibo grins, arching a brow at her and patting his lap. She sniffs his ankles a little bit, and Xiao Zhan is ready to pull them apart at the slightest sign of teeth, but what happens next is even more shocking than anything he could ever expect.

She jumps on his lap. Then she sits on his lap. And finally, she fucking starts purring. On. Yibo’s. Lap.

Xiao Zhan can’t believe his eyes. Who knew he had a slut for a pet?

“You really deserve the title, don’t you, pretty princess?” Yibo giggles, scratching behind her ears, and she melts on the spot, wiggling around until she’s lying belly up on his joined thighs.

“Fuck…” Xiao Zhan chokes out, speechless for a moment. “Not gonna lie, this is more mind blowing to me than you being a human trapped in a cat’s body.”

Yibo doesn’t dignify him with a glance, still playing with Jianguo as he speaks.

“Technically, I wasn’t trapped in a cat’s body. I’m a shapeshifter.”

Xiao Zhan blinks a few times like he’s been slapped across the face. “Excuse me?”

“I’m a shapeshifter. So my cat form is just as much my body as this human form.” Anticipating the oncoming questions, Yibo finally regards him with a look too calm for the words coming out of his mouth. “Don’t ask me how or why, I don’t know that much either. It just… Happened to me one day, and I’ve been trying to get a hang of it ever since.”

“It just… Happened to you?” Xiao Zhan parrots, eyebrows trying their hardest to reach his hairline. “Trying to get… A hang of it?”

“Yeah. It’s a skill, apparently. At first I couldn’t control when it happened. Then I started noticing how it felt before it happened. Then at some point, I managed to delay it, at least until I could find a place to hide. Clearly, I haven’t figured out how to come back once it happens yet, nor how to trigger it.”

Xiao Zhan has never been more overwhelmed in his life.

“Oh,” is all he manages. He lowers his gaze to Jianguo, spread on Yibo’s lap, perfectly content with the belly rubs she’s getting, and then he notices something else.

“Ouch!” Yibo flinches when Xiao Zhan touches the scar on his left leg, still tender. “Zhan-ge, that hurt!”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, retrieving the hand he didn’t know he’d reached out. Yibo seems to understand what he’s thinking, and tentatively covers Xiao Zhan’s hand with his own. It’s bigger than his, and warm, like sleeping with his cat form used to be.

“It’s okay. I’m the one who’s sorry. All you wanted was to help a stray cat, and suddenly you got—” He gestures to himself awkwardly. “Well, all of this.”

“I ended up helping a human being,” he says, more to himself than to Yibo. A small sense of relief blooms in his chest. “I’m glad I did.”

“Me too,” Yibo chuckles, and now that all shadow of doubt or dread has vanished, Xiao Zhan realizes just how beautiful he is. Sunlight hits his eyes, adding golden hues to the hazel orbs, and Xiao Zhan’s heart skips a beat.

Oh. He smiles despite himself, and Yibo’s grin widens in return, pink lips spreading and making it impossible for Xiao Zhan to look away, or blink, or move, pulse racing, heat climbing up his neck.

Suddenly his mother’s words don’t seem so crazy anymore. Maybe he would marry a cat, if he could.

If said cat would still have him in a not so distant future.

“I should probably go.”

They talk so much Xiao Zhan loses track of time, only bringing up the matter of where Yibo should stay—since he has a whole house of his own—when the sun begins to set.

“I’ll call you a DiDi,” Xiao Zhan replies, even though his chest feels hollow. It’s the right thing to do. Yibo doesn’t live too far away, and he surely needs to contact his family, even though he said he doesn’t keep in touch with them that often, and he must miss sleeping on his own bed instead of smothered by Xiao Zhan’s arms, and—

“Thanks.” Yibo nods with a small smile. “Can I have your phone number? I mean, if that’s okay with you.”

“Sure.” Xiao Zhan scribbles it down on some piece of paper and hands it over. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Will do.” He bows as he steps outside, and they wait in silence until his ride arrives. “Bye, Zhan-ge! Thanks for everything!”

Xiao Zhan waves him goodbye and closes the door, leaning his back on it and letting out the deepest sigh known to mankind.

His mind is still swirling with everything that happened since he woke up, a dull headache forming behind his eyes. His gaze lands on Jianguo across the room, curled up on the spot where Yibo was sitting, relishing the remains of his warmth. Deep down, where rationality can’t reach, Xiao Zhan wishes he could do the same.

Yibo texts him half an hour later.

>> hey zhan ge it’s me!! yibo 😸

Xiao Zhan smirks at the emoji. The nerve on this boy.

<< Hello, Yibo. I suppose you’ve made it back home with no shapeshifting occurrences?

>> zhan ge is so funny! yes yes i still have my thumbs 😹 how else would i be texting u?? 

<< I’m sure you’d find a way. I’ve witnessed up close how smart the cat version of you is, remember?

The answer takes a tad longer to arrive.

>> how could i ever forget

Xiao Zhan drops his phone on the couch and buries his face in the cushion on his lap. It smells of Yibo. Human Yibo. Not helpful.

He doesn’t check his messages until bedtime, determined to watch a movie and get his mind off of things for a few hours.

Yibo doesn’t text him again.

He’s probably busy catching up with his life, Xiao Zhan figures. That’s okay. In fact, he should be doing the same thing.

The weekend ends, and Xiao Zhan has to explain the lack of news on Yibo’s adaptation stage to Lulu and the rest of the shelter crew. They are devastated to hear he has run away from Xiao Zhan’s house; he simply shrugs it off, barely needing to fake sadness, and thanks them all for their efforts.

The week drags on a little slower than before, endless days that melt into endless nights, with Xiao Zhan rolling in bed, feeling his arms too empty, his chest too cold. His insomnia comes back with a vengeance; he’s lucky to get three hours a night, and of course, it shows on his face.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna talk about it?” Lulu asks on Thursday night, as he sits behind the counter at the shelter. He wills himself to smile as convincingly as possible.

“Yes, I’m sure. Don’t worry about me. You know I have trouble sleeping sometimes, that’s all.”

She’s about to speak again when someone walks through the front door. Xiao Zhan takes a deep breath to recenter before smiling up at the person approaching the counter, and his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets when their eyes meet.

“Good evening,” Yibo smirks, gaze sharp on Xiao Zhan, so unabashedly even Lulu notices something’s up on the spot. She chances a flustered glance at him before excusing herself and leaving.

“What are you doing here?” Xiao Zhan asks through gritted teeth, not at all bothered by how fucking good Yibo looks in a simple black shirt and jeans. “Are you crazy?”

“I’m here for my scheduled rabies shot,” he answers with the straightest face Xiao Zhan has ever seen. For a moment, he considers checking the schedule on his computer, but the small smirk on the corner of Yibo’s lips gets him rolling his eyes.

“Very funny.”

“I was running some errands and thought I’d drop by.” Yibo replies, leaning his elbows on the counter and looking around. “For old times’ sake.”

Old times. Of course. That’s what the shelter is to him now, a fond memory. That includes Xiao Zhan, obviously.

“I can schedule that rabies shot if you miss Haikuan shoving a thermometer up your bu—”

“Aiya, Zhan-ge!” Yibo snorts before he finishes. “Is that how you greet a friend?”

When Xiao Zhan glares up from the screen, Yibo is pouting, blinking back at him with those piercing eyes that have kept Xiao Zhan up for the past week. He rubs his palms over his face and shakes his head, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

“Sorry. It’s been a tough week.”

“Is this a bad time?”

“No!” Xiao Zhan hurries to answer, not above grabbing his wrists to keep him here. He hadn’t realized how much he missed being around Yibo, in any form he chose to take, until he materialized in front of him. “How have you been? Do you need anything?”

Yibo smiles softly before shaking his head. The jest has left his tone when he replies.

“I’m okay. Just… Trying to get used to walking on two legs again.”

Shit. And here Xiao Zhan was, moping about getting ghosted.

“It must be difficult. Is your wound healing well?”

He knows it’s stupid, the stitches had healed while Yibo was still at his place, he’d carefully inspected each one to make sure nothing was amiss. It hits him now how much it pains him, more than he’ll ever admit, that he has all these happy memories, all these surging emotions, and nowhere to place them.

“Would you like to take a look?” He arches a brow and smirks, then huffs out a laugh at Xiao Zhan’s bewildered gasp. “Sorry. My mouth runs a little sometimes. Okay, it runs a lot. You didn’t get a chance to hear any of it yet because, well, all I could say was meow.”

Though his face and neck are surely flushed, Xiao Zhan allows himself to loosen up a bit. Yibo is here, after all, giving him the time of day. The least he can do is play along.

“Good times,” he sighs, feigning sorrow.

Yibo scoffs, but the smile lingers on his face even after the silence grows a bit awkward.

“Would you mind… If I showed up every now and then?”

Xiao Zhan almost deletes a file he’s not supposed to, eyes shooting back up to meet Yibo’s hesitant gaze.

“Show up? Here?”

He blinks in confusion, and Xiao Zhan wants to scratch his chin like he used to. “Yeah… Why? Is it not appropriate?”

“That’s not what I mean. There’s just… Nothing for you to do here.”

Yibo runs a hand through his hair, which falls back in perfect brown locks over his forehead. “I can talk to you while you work… If that’s not a bother.”

“Yibo…” He pauses as an idea blooms in his mind. “You could volunteer, if you want. We might not always share shifts, but it sounds less boring than showing up every now and then just to watch me work.”

Yibo’s bright eyes spark with interest, his whole face lighting up like Christmas. Xiao Zhan loves Christmas.

“Zhan-ge, you’re a genius! How does that work? Will you help me?”

Xiao Zhan smiles back at him, heart soaring. “Of course.”

It’s been a month since Yibo has started volunteering at the animal shelter. He mingles remarkably quickly with everyone, brings in the snacks each one loves without them saying a word, which earns him their good favors from the start. Xiao Zhan narrows his eyes at him from across the locker room, teeth sinking into his pastry under Yibo’s smug stare.

“It’s like I’ve met him before, but I have no idea where or when!” Lulu remarks during a shared night shift. “Which is weird, because I’d definitely remember that handsome face.”

“May I remind you that you’re taken now?” Xiao Zhan snickers, spinning absent-mindedly in his swivel chair. It’s Friday night, his shift ends in five minutes, and he can’t wait to go back home, take a warm shower, and sulk in his bed throughout the following weekend.

Another Valentine’s day by himself. It shouldn’t sting at this point, and he’ll never admit to it, but it does, more and more so with each passing year.

“No need, thank you very much.” Lulu slaps him on the shoulder. “Speaking of which…”

“Hm?” He stops spinning as her tone gets serious to give her his full attention.

“Something tells me I won’t be the only one taken around here very soon.” Her lips curl into a mischievous grin. Before he can ask what she means, she pulls him to his feet and claps her hands. “You can go now, Zhanzhan, no one’s coming anymore.”

“But I still have five more min—”

“So diligent, so hardworking, my best friend is the volunteer of the month!” Lulu cuts him short by pushing him towards the locker room. “Now get your stuff and go. You’ll thank me later!”

Her forehead vein is protruding again. Xiao Zhan merely nods and walks out onto the chilly night air.

There’s someone waiting by the shelter door.

Pacing in circles, until he spots Xiao Zhan and halts, eyes wide and nervous.

“Yibo…” Xiao Zhan can hardly speak, completely taken aback. “What are you doing here? Didn’t your shift end like, four hours ago?”

“Yeah… It did.” He smiles awkwardly, looking down at his feet before clearing his throat and offering a proper reply. “I was waiting for you.”

His brain short circuits. “For me?”

Yibo nods, lifting up the plastic bags he’s carrying in both hands, which Xiao Zhan only notices now, so caught up in his beauty nothing else filters in, so warm all over he considers taking off the jacket he just put on.

“I got your favorite food. At least you ordered it like, three times when I was staying at your place. I’ve been meaning to try it, but…”

He trails off, not meaning to finish that sentence, which is more than fine with Xiao Zhan, who can barely hear him above the frantic beating of his heart.

“That’s so sweet. Thank you.”

He beams, walking up to Yibo, and the two of them wordlessly fall into step, exchanging bashful smiles. The silence doesn’t last, easily filled with mindless banter and animal shelter talk; Xiao Zhan only realizes they never agreed on the destination when they’re standing in front of his house.

“It feels funny to be back here…” Yibo reminisces, staring at the patch of now neatly mowed grass Xiao Zhan found him on. “Where it all started.”

Xiao Zhan purses his lips, stealing glances at his profile. “Good funny or bad funny?”

Yibo doesn’t hesitate. “Always good with Zhan-ge.”

He marches on to the door to conceal his blushing. Yibo laughs in his wake, and all it does is fuel the embers begging to become a wildfire in Xiao Zhan’s chest.

They get a warm welcome from Jianguo, who follows Yibo around like he’s a walking Churu sachet. Xiao Zhan calls her out on her slutty behavior and Yibo smothers her with kisses on purpose, to Xiao Zhan’s chagrin.

“Zhan-ge is jealous of us,” he whispers before trapping one of Jianguo’s ears in his mouth. “Zhan-ge is so greedy! He wants all the cats in the world all to himself.”

“If only I could afford that,” Xiao Zhan chortles, unloading their food from the takeout boxes, and when he turns around to place the bowls on the table, the domesticity of it all is almost too much to bear. He gulps down the feeling and hopes his smile hasn’t faltered perceptibly.

“Is Jianguo clingy?” Yibo asks, coaxing her down from his lap as Xiao Zhan takes his place beside him on the dinner table. His eyes still follow her when Xiao Zhan glances at him, smirking before he even replies.

“You’re clingier.”

Yibo’s head snaps in his direction, not nearly as outraged as Xiao Zhan expected him to be, a funny glint in his eyes instead. Good funny.

He reaches for the base of Xiao Zhan’s chair and grabs two legs, tugging at them once and dragging him into Yibo’s space with a yelp. Their breaths mingle with how close they’re sitting now; Xiao Zhan gulps loud as Yibo tilts his head to the side, gaze almost a touch on his lips, to trace his jaw with the tip of his nose.

“You don’t know the half of it,” he whispers once his lips reach Xiao Zhan’s ears.

Xiao Zhan’s whole body erupts in goosebumps, skin on fire, heart thumping against his ribs. Yibo pulls back the tiniest bit, just to catch Xiao Zhan’s eyes again. Finding nothing but encouragement, he smirks sideways and leans in again, this time to lick at the underside of his chin in a firm and broad swipe of tongue. One of Xiao Zhan’s hands drops to Yibo’s knee, fisting the fabric of his pants as he gasps.

“Yibo…” He doesn’t know what he wants to say, his thoughts have been narrowed down to radio static and he can’t remember a single word to save his life right now except Yibo, Yibo, Yibo.

“How I missed doing that,” Yibo grins, and it’s light years away from innocent and cute. It dawns on Xiao Zhan then, what he’s known for a while now, what he’s been trying to suppress for reasons he can’t remember anymore.

Xiao Zhan wants him. He wants Yibo so bad it burns him from the inside out, and he’s done swallowing the ashes out of fear that Yibo will reject him because he won’t. He’s here again, where it all started, he walked here with his own two feet this time, and from the way he’s staring at Xiao Zhan’s lips, there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

“I missed you too,” he breathes into Yibo’s lips, the sweet lips that he’s dreamed of tasting every single night since he found out he could want Yibo like that, lying in bed, feeling terribly cold and lonely.

“I’m here now. Sorry it took me so long.” There’s genuine vulnerability in his voice, which only makes Xiao Zhan yearn for him more. He’s always so open, so real, it’s blinding to look at him. “I didn’t want to freak you out even more, after how you found out about everything.”

“Such a good boy.” Xiao Zhan rubs the tips of their noses together, eyes trained on Yibo’s lips. “You love being gege’s good boy, don’t you?”

Their food sits on the table for a while, untouched and forgotten. Jianguo takes her spot on the couch, licks at her paws and takes a nap until the bedroom door opens again, only for her dad to step outside in nothing but his underwear to fetch the food bowls. He stops halfway through his walk of shame to scratch behind her ears.

He smells of that other cat, the tall one that hadn’t visited in a while. Jianguo quite likes him. He’s nice and makes her dad happy.

With a contented huff, the princess goes back to her beauty sleep.