Archive of Our Own

Wooyoung likes being a stray cat. He likes the freedom that comes with it, and he also likes all the friends he can make while roaming around the streets. Sure, being a hybrid takes a bit of the stray “cat” out of him, especially when his mind gets tired of walking around as an animal that only makes sounds.

But being a stray also brings him a few challenges, like when the first snow arrives. Every year, he has to throw his charms at some cat lover who might pity him and give him a nice and warm place to live—he prefers doing it instead of trying to find somewhere warm to spend the cold months.

He doesn’t care about his former “owners” getting worried about him and immediately taking him back if they bump into each other in the streets, because at a certain point, he had to reveal himself as a hybrid, and most of his experiences after it weren’t nice.

The snow has come earlier this year, and people are already hiding themselves. Wooyoung is having a hard time finding someone to look after him. The best option is to return to the house he left a few months ago, in the hope of going back if the owners are still the same, since they were nice to him and said they’d take him back if Wooyoung needs shelter again.

He curls himself next to the wall, hiding his eyes with his own tail as the snow falls on him. The voices coming from the house are different from the couple that took him in—it was a man and a woman, now he only listens to masculine voices. He doesn’t walk away because their voices are, somehow, comforting and warm.

He spends the night there, shaking the snow off him as the first morning light gets to his eyes. The door opened not a second after, a tall and pretty man leaving it with trash in his hands. He doesn’t notice Wooyoung at first, so the cat meows and rubs his body on the man’s legs.

“Oh, hello,” the man greets, bending down to caress Wooyoung’s head, taking the remains of snow from his body. “Do you have an owner?”

Wooyoung lets the man search for anything that could hint he has an owner, but nothing shows it. Besides, Wooyoung’s fur is quite oily from his last adventures under cars in parking lots.

“Joongie!” The man calls, still caressing Wooyoung’s head. “Come here!”

A smaller man walks out of the house. He must be around the same height as Wooyoung when he is a human, but maybe Wooyoung’s cat form changes his perspective on height. He looks at the cat and then at the man.

“It’s snowing! We can’t possibly leave him here,” the man pleads. “Just so he can be warm through winter.”

Wooyoung, to not lose his chance, also walks towards the other man to bunt him, making the first one coo at it.

“They like you! We should keep them.”

“I’m a bit allergic to cats, Hwa, you know that,” he answers.

“Please. I’ll take care of you if it gets really bad.”

The smaller man lets out a defeated sigh. “Alright.”

The taller man picks Wooyoung up, hugging him by the chest and supporting his other hand under Wooyoung’s butt, his chest against the cat’s back. Just by the way he holds him, Wooyoung knows that he must really like cats, because some people just hold him under his belly and carry him like that.

“Where are we leaving him?” The smaller man asks.

“Maybe in that armchair we were going to throw out?”

“Okay, that works.”

The taller man leaves Wooyoung on the couch, and Wooyoung hears the sound of something being dragged around the house. Soon enough, the couple places an armchair beside the couch, and the taller man brings a soft blanket to place it comfortably on the armchair.

“Now, you’re kinda gross, so I’ll give you a warm bath, alright?” The taller man says. “Hongjoong, get a towel, please.”

Wooyoung lets himself be picked up again; this time, the man is supporting the cat on his shoulder. The other one, whose name Wooyoung assumes is Hongjoong, enters behind the taller one, a dark blue towel in his hands.

“Don’t panic, alright?” The man asks, turning the water on and making it warmer before putting the cat inside it. “Good?”

Wooyoung lets out a meow, making the man chuckle. The bath is good—anything is better than having oily fur—and he dries Wooyoung well, so he doesn’t get sick or feel cold.

“I think it’s a male,” Hongjoong says. “What should we call him?”

“We can call him Salem, because if it turns out to be a female, it still fits. And it’s a nice name, I think,” the other answers.

Wooyoung knows it’ll be shocking for them to see a grown ass man in their house one day, but he is used to it by now. And Salem is the cutest name he has ever had.

“Right, we don’t have cat food,” the taller man says after leaving Wooyoung in the armchair. “So I’ll give you some chicken and broccoli, because that’s what we have cooked from yesterday’s dinner.”

Wooyoung meows again, making the man hum as if he understands what the cat means. Hongjoong carefully caresses Wooyoung’s head and behind his ears, making Wooyoung let out a little trill, to which Hongjoong answers with a smile.

“Seonghwa,” Hongjoong calls, walking to the kitchen and saying something about fruits that Wooyoung didn’t pay too much attention to.

After a few minutes, Wooyoung is almost falling asleep when the smell of chicken reaches his nose, making him open his eyes to Seonghwa holding a small bite of chicken close to his nose.

“I know you must be tired, but eat a bit before sleeping again,” Seonghwa says, smiling as Wooyoung gets up to eat.

He finishes the food—which can be considered a meal based on the foods he eats in the street—and drinks a bit of water before curling himself again.

Two days after it, Wooyoung is finally alone in the house, so he can turn himself into a human again and walk around to learn everything about the house he’ll be living in for a few months.

He wraps himself in the blanket and starts walking around. The house is good, with three rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. The garage fits two cars. Wooyoung thinks that the biggest room, where the couple sleeps, might have another bathroom, because he remembers seeing a door when he was following Seonghwa around.

When he is in the kitchen, ready to fill his pot with water, he hears some footsteps, making him quickly turn himself into a cat again, dropping the pot in the middle of the process. After a few seconds, Hongjoong appears in the kitchen, looking at the mess on the floor.

“What were you doing?” He asks, picking up the pot and the blanket before finding something to dry the floor. “You wanted water?”

Wooyoung meows, and Hongjoong picks him up, supporting him on his shoulder, one hand holding Wooyoung’s back and the other filling the pot with water. Wooyoung can’t help but think it’s funny how the couple treats him like a baby.

“This will definitely give me allergies,” Hongjoong murmurs, leaving Wooyoung next to the pots with water and food, before picking up the blanket and leaving it on the armchair.

After organizing something to eat, Hongjoong also opens a can of food and puts it for Wooyoung to eat. By the time Wooyoung is done, Hongjoong is sitting on the couch with his laptop as he supports his legs on the coffee table.

“Because I work from home four days out of five, I’ll be in our house. I won’t ask you to go into our office because that’s the only place we keep clean. And also because, if you enter there, my allergies might get worse, and imagine if I’m in an important meeting but I can’t stop sneezing because of my pet…” Hongjoong explains as if a simple cat could understand him.

Wooyoung, obviously, pretends he didn’t understand and starts cleaning himself. Hongjoong only laughs at him, focusing on his laptop again. Wooyoung finds out that Hongjoong is calmer than he thought, but he also has his moments of affection, like when he sat closer to the armchair just to keep caressing Wooyoung’s fur while working.

When Seonghwa arrives from work, he walks towards Wooyoung with some sticker accessories in his hand, saying that Wooyoung will be so pretty with them.

If you ask Cat Wooyoung, he’d say that he likes the stickers, but Human Wooyoung doesn’t really like them, because they stick to his face and hair when he shifts to his human form, and it itches.

“Did you eat today?” Seonghwa asks after he finishes putting stickers all over Wooyoung’s cheeks and nose.

“He tried to get water alone!” Hongjoong comments, like he finally remembers what happened earlier today. “I arrived at the kitchen, and his pot was on the floor with some water spilled around it.”

“So he is a smart cat,” Seonghwa coos as he caresses Wooyoung’s ears. “We have to bring him to a veterinarian, though.”

“Agreed. Just to be sure everything is fine with him.”

Seonghwa hums in agreement before going to their room together with Hongjoong. Wooyoung starts thinking about when he will purposely show himself, just to skip going to a veterinarian. He understands that it is safer for them to check on a stray cat, but Wooyoung is fine; he doesn’t need a check-up!

For a few days, he shifts into a human during the night, but doesn’t walk around the house. He stops after thinking that it’s better to do this during the day, because he knows people would be scared to see a naked man in their living room in the middle of the night.

He knows that Hongjoong is working at home today, so he wakes up and walks around as a cat, shifting when he notices that Hongjoong might leave the office. He goes into the kitchen, making sure not to take the stickers off his face, even if it itches, because Hongjoong will connect the dots faster that way.

It takes a few minutes for him to hear a surprised gasp behind him—rather a strange reaction, because he was expecting a lot of screaming. Hongjoong turns the lights on before taking a better look at Wooyoung.

“You can’t be serious. Am I dreaming?” Hongjoong asks. “You are the cat, right?”

“You didn’t find it strange?”

“No. Not really, I’ve read about hybrids before, kinda crazy that it’s my first time seeing one in my twenty-seven years,” he answers and chuckles.

Wooyoung curls the blanket around his body a little tighter. Hongjoong walks around the kitchen to start organizing breakfast for himself.

“So… You decided to shift to a human because you didn’t want to go to a veterinarian?” Hongjoong asks, Wooyoung notices a tiny smile on his lips.

“Kind of. You’d know that I’m a hybrid sooner or later anyway. It’s just that a veterinarian isn’t something I like. Especially to do check-ups,” Wooyoung confesses.

Hongjoong nods, licking his fingers when some sauce gets on them. “Fair. I also would do something like that to run away from some things in my life. So, what’s your name? You must have a name.”

“Wooyoung.”

“That’s a pretty name. By the way, are you naked under the blanket? Or is it a lie and you shift with clothes?”

Wooyoung feels his ears get hot. “Uhm… It’s true.”

Hongjoong turns to look at him, as if he is processing the answer he received. They hear the sound of a car pulling over and the password getting typed in the door. Wooyoung recognizes the smell as soon as the person steps inside, and he considers shifting to a cat again, but Seonghwa doesn’t look like the type of partner to make a huge deal out of arriving at what can be interpreted as a cheating situation.

“Joongie, I came back earlier because there’s a snow forecast for later, so everyone decided to stay safe and finish their work at home.”

Soon enough, Seonghwa stops at the door, his eyes alternating between Hongjoong and the strange man at his side. He then frowns, not out of anger, but confusion. Wooyoung sees him looking at his ears, before looking at Hongjoong again.

“Who is he?” Seonghwa finally asks.

“You won’t believe that,” Hongjoong starts, “he is the cat.”

Seonghwa seems to have finally understood why Wooyoung have sticker all over his face. And he also doesn’t act scared or like he is hating this situation. Might be the house Wooyoung feels safer in as a hybrid.

“Get him some clothes, what kind of person are you?” Seonghwa says, and Hongjoong finally moves to find some clothes. “What’s your name?”

“Wooyoung.”

“Wooyoung… Nice name.” Seonghwa smiles. “You’re lucky I’m not a crazy, jealous man.”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you guys earlier,” Wooyoung apologizes, lowering his head as he tries to get the blanket impossibly closer to his body. “It’s just that I like staying in the streets, but winter isn’t the best time to be a stray cat.”

“So it was a plan to stay in someone’s house before you leave in the spring?” Seonghwa asks, holding a funny smile on his face.

“Sort of. My cat form is warmer, but there’s only so much of being a cat that a hybrid can handle,” Wooyoung complains, making Seonghwa laugh.

“You can stay through the Winter. I wouldn’t be bad to kick you out, even if my husband takes allergy pills every morning,” Seonghwa jokes, Hongjoong arriving on time to give Wooyoung his clothes and hear what his partner said.

“What’s the topic?” Hongjoong asks.

“He said he likes being a stray cat and always throws his charms towards someone who likes cats to stay warm in Winter,” Seonghwa summarizes, and Wooyoung can’t even tell that he is wrong. “You can change yourself in the bathroom,” he adds, letting Wooyoung leave the kitchen.

The clothes are simple—baggy pants and an oversized white shirt. They fit Wooyoung perfectly, so Hongjoong must’ve taken his own clothes for that, since he is smaller than Seonghwa. When he is back in the kitchen, Hongjoong is finishing his food, and Seonghwa has already changed into comfortable clothes.

“I have a question, though,” Hongjoong starts when he notices Wooyoung. “You don’t like staying in your cat form a lot, so that’s why you find shelter in Winter. What about Summer?”

“I stay human most of the time.”

“And what clothes do you wear?”

“I take the clothes people give to me.”

Hongjoong hums again. “You do have good points, but I think I’d just stay in the house that treated me better.”

“I have bad luck with that,” he murmurs.

“Not even one of them accepted you being a hybrid?” Seonghwa asks, like he is discovering a whole new world. Or at least understanding a bit of it better.

“Some understood why I needed a shelter, but their voices always sounded a bit passive-aggressive. I remember two being really into the fact that I’m a hybrid, in a bad way,” Wooyoung answers.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Seonghwa answers. “You can trust that we’ll treat you better. You don’t have any problems with human food, right?”

“No. I can eat everything,” Wooyoung answers. “I do believe that any allergies related to cats won’t go away while I’m a human.”

Hongjoong pretends to cry, but a smile is on his face. “It’s fine. Also, can I ask another thing?”

“Yes.”

“Do you feel when your ears move?”

“Oh, yes. It’s a muscle, I can always feel when it moves. The same happens with my tail,” Wooyoung explains, turning around to show his tail, but remembering that it’s under the pants. “Well…”

“I can cut a hole for you,” Hongjoong explains. “But I have to work in, like, five minutes. I’ll do it later.”

“I also need to work. You can stay around the house,” Seonghwa adds.

“I can cut a hole if you give me scissors,” Wooyoung says. “I won’t finish it prettily, but I know how to do it.”

Hongjoong nods, washing his dishes and walking to his room before coming back with scissors and a few sewing supplies. Wooyoung goes to the bathroom to do it, taking care not to poke himself with the needle.

It’s Seonghwa who’s sitting on the couch with a laptop on his lap this time. Wooyoung lies on the armchair, with at least half of his legs out of it. Seonghwa turns the TV on, letting Wooyoung watch whatever is going on. He feels like a pet, in a good way.

Over the days, Wooyoung starts noticing the few things both Seonghwa and Hongjoong start including him in. When he transforms into a cat, the two of them set his food next to their table so they can eat breakfast together. And when he is human, they always give him time to take a bath and do other human stuff.

The nights start to be too cold for Wooyoung’s liking, making him transform into a cat every night so he can sleep peacefully with the blanket and also feel warm with all of his fur.

“Hey,” a voice wakes him up in the middle of the night. He’s been in this house for a month, but he just realized he never heard Seonghwa or Hongjoong’s sleepy voice.

He opens his eyes slowly, looking up to Hongjoong holding a phone as a flashlight to his face. He blinks, stretching his paws out and meowing.

“Go sleep in the office. I have warmer covers there. We still need to buy a mattress for you, so go sleep there until we don’t do it.”

Wooyoung meows, hoping Hongjoong notices that he’s hesitating. He remembers Hongjoong saying that he shouldn’t walk in there because of Hongjoong’s allergies.

“Are you sleeping?” Hongjoong asks. “I don’t mind my allergies; you can sleep there.”

Wooyoung meows again, jumping out of the armchair and watching Hongjoong take the clothes next to it before both of them follow to the office.

The couch there is a big one. Hongjoong puts the blanket on it, and Wooyoung jumps to lie down on it, stretching before finding a comfortable position. After a few seconds, Hongjoong brings a soft and warm blanket and puts it over Wooyoung.

“Sleep well,” Hongjoong murmurs, smiling when Wooyoung lets out a trill.

When Wooyoung wakes up again, he’s in his human form. He doesn’t know if he transformed himself because he got too warm or if he got tired of being a cat in the middle of the night. He blinks a few times before finding his clothes on the coffee table.

He is dressing the shirt when the door opens, Seonghwa smiling when Wooyoung looks towards it.

“Good morning,” Seonghwa greets. “Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning,” Wooyoung answers. “Yes, I did.”

“Nice. Joong is actually doing a long-term treatment for his allergies, so he’ll be fine. We can also clean the couch every day, there is no problem,” Seonghwa says, folding the blankets.

“I think it’s too much trouble for someone who’s going to leave in just a few months,” Wooyoung murmurs, a small smile on his lips.

“Still, we want you to feel comfortable,” Seonghwa continues. “And Joong is kind of enjoying the life of having a cat. Or a half cat. That’s why he decided on the long-term treatment.”

“That’s cool. A lot of stray cats need shelter. I can bring one here one day,” Wooyoung suggests.

“We can discuss it in your last weeks here. Come eat breakfast.”

Wooyoung hums, immediately following Seonghwa to the kitchen. Hongjoong is already eating something, but he opens a smile and murmurs a “good morning” to Wooyoung. They’ve been including Wooyoung so well that Wooyoung is starting to feel a bit sad that he’ll leave after spring starts.

“We’ll be out during the morning, because we’ll buy a few things for you,” Seonghwa starts. “Both for you as a cat, and as a human. We discovered a nice hybrid store.”

“That’s… Nice,” Wooyoung answers. “But this will turn out expensive after winter ends.”

“It’s fine. We want you to be comfortable,” Hongjoong adds in a sweet voice.

Wooyoung hums in understanding. He can’t even imagine the trouble they had to go through to find a store that sells clothes to hybrids, because he knows how rare those stores are, even if hybrids are becoming more common around Seoul.

“You have a specific style?” Hongjoong asks.

“Not really, but I like larger clothes because they’re comfortable. And… Uhm… Maybe pajamas? I’ve been sleeping with some clothes that aren’t that comfortable.”

“Yes, of course,” Seonghwa answers. “Sorry, it’s our first time dealing with a hybrid.”

“It’s fine. I don’t blame you two, you were expecting just a simple cat…” Wooyoung answers, feeling his ears dropping down.

Seonghwa caresses his hair before saying, “It’s alright. We’re enjoying it more now that we can actually understand our cat.”

Wooyoung chuckles. Hongjoong and Seonghwa leave after eating breakfast, letting Wooyoung feel comfortable around the house, even saying he can watch something on television if he wants. Everything is nice, really nice.

Wooyoung finds himself like a cat waiting for his owners. He even shifted into one to support himself in the plant stand under the window to watch the street and see if the car was arriving again. He falls asleep a couple of times, curling into himself, but every time a car passes by, he wakes up again in hopes of seeing that Seonghwa and Hongjoong are back.

In the end, he only wakes up again when he feels a hand patting his head. Seonghwa is smiling at him when he opens his eyes, a few shopping bags are on the couch, and Hongjoong is closing the door with a small one in his hands.

“Hello,” Seonghwa greets. “Were you waiting for us?”

Wooyoung meows, rubbing his head on Seonghwa’s hand again. He jumps to the floor, walking between Hongjoong’s legs and then towards the shopping bags.

“We’ll turn around, and you can shift again, if you want. Or we can show you what we bought for your cat-self,” Hongjoong suggests, smiling when Wooyoung meows and looks down, as if he is agreeing with him.

Seonghwa sits on the floor, getting one of the shopping bags. “This one is a few clothes. We got them in case you feel too cold, and also in case you want to play in the snow.”

Wooyoung sits close to him, swishing his tail as he looks at the clothes. One of them is a blue sweater with clouds, which he really likes. The other is a white one, with black stripes on the neck, the opening for his front legs and the hem of it, and three stars close to his left leg. The last one is a simple pink one.

“We also bought this witch hat,” Seonghwa adds, showing a purple witch hat. “Because we think you’ll look cute with it.” He also gets a deep purple collar with two angel wings. “And this is a collar. Because it’s cute.”

Wooyoung walks closer, sniffing the clothes before pawning at the blue sweater.

“Yeah! We also think it’s pretty,” Seonghwa answers. “We also got you two stuffed toys.”

This time, Hongjoong is the one to pick up the gifts. One of the toys is a white bunny, and the other is a penguin. He places it in front of Wooyoung, who turns them around with his paws, jumping over the penguin one when it goes too far from him.

“I think you liked it,” Seonghwa murmurs. “We also bought you a cat tree, because it’s cool and it might serve as a decoration when you’ve shifted into human. Uhm… It’s funny to look at you and remember that you’re a grown man.”

Wooyoung sits close to him again, dropping the penguin on his lap, and then picking up the bunny. Seonghwa smiles, pointing to Hongjoong, who is placing the cat tree next to the plant stand. Wooyoung walks towards it, sniffing it again before sneezing. The smell of new things tickled his nose a bit.

“We also got you a bed, but I think you like this armchair a little more than a bed,” Seonghwa adds. “That’s all for your cat-self.”

Wooyoung meows.

“You don’t have a time limit for how long you need to stay as a cat, right?” Hongjoong asks, as if Wooyoung could answer something. “Maybe you’re just upset we left you here, alone… You even decided to watch the street to see when we’d be back…”

Wooyoung lets his claws out, gripping one of Hongjoong’s legs and biting him there, as if he wanted to show that emotional manipulation won’t work. Hongjoong lets out a little pain scream, together with a laugh, pushing Wooyoung away.

“I guess he didn’t like you reminding him about what happened,” Seonghwa says, getting up and looking at Wooyoung. “Well, dear, make your presence known when you shift to human. We will show you what we got for your human-self.”

Wooyoung meows, picking the stuffed penguin and leaving it on the armchair, doing the same with the bunny. Then, he does a turn around himself and lies down to take another nap. He hears the couple chuckling, but decides to ignore them and just keeps his eyes closed.

He wakes up with the smell of food. Hongjoong is sitting on the couch while scrolling through his phone. Wooyoung lets out a sigh, jumping to the floor before picking up the clothes on the coffee table. Hongjoong lets out a ‘hm-hm’ to get his attention, taking the clothes out of his mouth and walking to the bathroom.

“Call me again if you’ll take a bath,” Hongjoong warns, closing the door.

Wooyoung shifts into human again, shaking all of his body before dressing in his clothes. He brushes his hair and fixes the fur on his tail before going to the living room again, where Hongjoong has shifted from sitting to lying down. He smiles when he notices Wooyoung, tapping on the empty side of the couch so Wooyoung can sit.

“Why do you act more cat when you’re a cat?” Hongjoong asks, making Wooyoung frown.

“I’m still like that when I’m a human. It’s just that I only have paws, so I can’t pick things up. I can bite you either as a human or as a cat,” Wooyoung answers, shrugging. “Did it hurt a lot, by the way? It’s just that I’m not a fan of people teasing me.”

“It didn’t hurt,” Hongjoong assures. “But you have the face of someone who likes to tease others.”

“Because it’s fun.”

“I guess so,” Hongjoong answers.

Wooyoung hears Seonghwa clapping his hands before saying, “Lunch is ready.”

Hongjoong groans while getting up, patting Seonghwa’s head on his way to the kitchen. Wooyoung walks right behind him, winning a soft smile from Seonghwa, who clearly didn’t care about his partner patting him, only caring about Wooyoung.

“Did you sleep well?” Seonghwa asks.

“Yes. Your house is comfortable, I feel like I can trust you here,” Wooyoung adds with a tiny smile.

“I’m glad to hear it. You can come back next winter, we’ll gladly take you in,” Seonghwa confesses, his hand automatically caressing behind Wooyoung’s ears.

Wooyoung turns his head to the side, the tickling sensation making his body shiver—in a good way. Seonghwa chuckles, entering the kitchen before Wooyoung.

It’s easy to notice the shift in both Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s actions. They were always caring, making sure to make everything comfortable for Wooyoung, but now—especially today—they’ve shown how deep their caring side goes. Wooyoung is sure he won’t ever be able to pay for everything they bought for him today.

“There’s a snowstorm warning next week,” Seonghwa comments. “We can go out a bit, if you want.”

Wooyoung turns to Hongjoong, noticing that the offer is for him, because Hongjoong is busy eating his food. He turns to Seonghwa, who is looking at him with soft eyes. Wooyoung is sure he’s seeing it shine brighter than he is used to.

“Uhm…” Wooyoung starts, cleaning his throat. “Yes, it’d be fun. I don’t like snow that much, so just a bit will be fine.”

Seonghwa nods. “Of course, we also won’t be in the snow for too long.”

Wooyoung hums in understanding, now focusing on his food. At the same time, he thinks about how he’ll show that he is thankful for everything, and he also thinks about why the couple decided to be so careful with him. He won’t deny that he’s a little skeptical about it, but he knows he likes it. Being treated with care is something he always dreamt of.

He sits in the living room after finishing his lunch. Seonghwa and Hongjoong join him a few minutes later, with the shopping bags in their hands. They give everything to Wooyoung, who shuffles around the bags to choose the first one he will check.

The first bag he opens has three plain shirts and two oversized ones. They’re black, white, and the last plain shirt is red. The next one has three pairs of pants, two of which are oversized, while the last one is just a simple straight leg jeans. The third one has two black sweatpants and one grey pair. The last bag has two sweaters, one of them is a striped blue and white sweater, and the other is wine red, and a red hoodie.

“Did you like them?” Seonghwa asks, clearly excited about everything they bought.

“Yes, they’re pretty and simple,” Wooyoung answers. “Still, my favorite thing out of everything is the blue cat sweater.”

“Yes, we also think it is the prettiest,” Hongjoong answers.

“And the plushies. They’re soft to hug,” Wooyoung adds, this time in a lower voice.

Seonghwa smiles. “We love to hear that. This house can be a home to you whenever you want.”

Wooyoung nods. His inner cat is pleading for him to start cuddling both of them, to lie on their laps when they’re busy watching television, but his more conscientious self is trying to stay rational and behave as a person who’s staying in a house just to get through the winter.

At night, Wooyoung walks to Hongjoong’s office with his blanket and the plushies. He has changed into his new clothes after his bath—black sweatpants and a white oversized shirt. Seonghwa follows him to the office, organizing the blanket after he lies down so he is properly covered.

“Good night,” Seonghwa says, a tiny smile on his lips.

“Good night.”

Seonghwa gives him two headpats and leaves the office. Wooyoung hugs the plushes close to his chest, closing his eyes slowly before falling into a deep sleep. He feels like his whole body finally rests, as if his mind wasn’t trusting this house completely until all of these caring actions towards him.

He wakes up still tightly hugging the plushies, his tail around one of his legs. He can hear laughs, but the door is still closed. He gets up and shakes his tail, stopping at the bathroom to brush his teeth—the other two finally convinced Wooyoung of using that spare toothbrush instead of trying to brush his teeth with his fingers like a poor abandoned cat—and organize his hair.

He finds Hongjoong and Seonghwa in the kitchen, the smile still on their faces from their laughter.

Hongjoong is the first one to notice him, “Good morning! Hope we didn’t wake you up.”

“Oh, no. I woke up alone,” Wooyoung answers. “Good morning.”

“Did you have a nice sleep?” Seonghwa asks.

“Yes. It was one of my most comfortable nights, to be honest,” Wooyoung answers, chuckling in embarrassment. “I guess I was still waiting for you two to act a bit less caring.”

“We’d never do it,” Hongjoong assures.

Wooyoung answers with a tiny smile, sitting at the table when Seonghwa gives him a bowl of food for his breakfast. Like most times, they eat in silence, but it’s never uncomfortable. It feels like Seonghwa and Hongjoong hug Wooyoung inside their love, and it feels warm in contrast with the cold air outside.

“Do you have a specific moment to shift into a cat?” Hongjoong asks while they leave the kitchen to sit in the living room. “I know I ask too many questions, but I genuinely want to know about you.”

Wooyoung chuckles. “It’s fine. Hybrids barely have a moment to speak about themselves. But I choose to stay a cat when I feel cold, because it’s easier for me to curl into myself, or when I want to be a little quieter, or just because I can lie down on things like a table or under the window.”

“God, I wish I were born a hybrid,” Hongjoong complains. “You were born a human or a cat?”

“Joong,” Seonghwa calls.

“Okay, I will stop,” Hongjoong murmurs.

“It really is fine,” Wooyoung assures. “I was born a cat, and started shifting after my sixth month, I guess.”

“Cool. Interesting,” Hongjoong answers.

Seonghwa points towards the couch, as if asking Wooyoung to sit between them. Wooyoung obliges, even if all this attention is making him feel a little embarrassed, his heart beating faster and his ears getting warmer. He puts his tail on his lap, so it doesn’t bother the other two, and keeps fidgeting with it while they watch whatever is going on on the television.

“You won’t work next week because of the storm?” Wooyoung asks.

“Remotely,” Seonghwa answers. “Why?”

“I got curious. It’s dangerous to work in-person,” he adds.

They go back to silence. As always, the silence makes them feel comfortable, but Wooyoung has to hold himself from squirming because his mind is a mess between staying in his place or cuddling closer to Seonghwa or Hongjoong. He also has to force himself to stay as human, or else he will shift into a cat and lie down on Seonghwa’s lap.

But they both smell so good, and they might be so soft to cuddle…

Wooyoung gets up, scaring both Seonghwa and Hongjoong. He murmurs that he needs to go to the bathroom, practically running to it. He exhales heavily, his ears are flattened, and he feels a bit too anxious. He lets out a loud sigh before opening the door and shifting to a cat.

When he gets back to the living room, Seonghwa opens a smile and taps next to him on the couch. Wooyoung jumps there, feeling the caress on his head, and another hand on his belly. He turns around to lie down on his back, curling his body a bit so he can fit between Seonghwa and Hongjoong.

“I can’t believe the reason you’ve been so tense is that you wanted attention and caresses,” Hongjoong murmurs, his fingers tickling Wooyoung’s chest.

“He’s going to bite you again,” Seonghwa warns.

Hongjoong lets out a groan as if he is denying what Seonghwa just said. Wooyoung is too busy with all the caresses to care about this discussion. He unconsciously starts purring as he starts feeling sleepy, making Seonghwa open another smile. He falls asleep like that, with all the caresses, not minding what’s going on around him.

He wakes up when someone picks him up, causing his body to jolt slightly. He notices he is on Hongjoong’s shoulders, and they’re probably walking to Hongjoong and Seonghwa’s room. Hongjoong leaves him in the bed, but Wooyoung gets up and gets ready to jump from the bed.

“No, no,” Hongjoong starts, stopping in front of Wooyoung so he can’t jump off. “We’re taking a nap together.”

Wooyoung looks at him, and then at the door when Seonghwa walks through it with the plushies in his hands. They open a smile, with Seonghwa tapping the bed after he lies down, giving both of the plushies to Wooyoung, who organizes his spot before hugging them.

“I’m setting the alarm for thirty minutes from now, alright?” Seonghwa asks. Wooyoung doesn’t even open his eyes to know what Hongjoong answers; he just wants to go back to sleep.

When the alarm rings, Wooyoung finds himself pressed against Hongjoong’s chest, with his back against Seonghwa’s chest. After a few seconds, he realizes that the other two might’ve hugged each other out of habit while they were asleep. The plushies are scattered around, also crushed between Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s hug.

Hongjoong groans when Seonghwa shakes his body. “It was so good.”

“I know, but we can’t spend the day sleeping. Unlike someone, we don’t need to sleep for hours per day.”

Wooyoung hisses, even if he is still waking up. Seonghwa chuckles, placing a kiss on Wooyoung’s forehead before getting up. Hongjoong plays with Wooyoung a bit before following Seonghwa. Wooyoung would whine after losing all this attention if he were in his human form, but since he can’t, he only rubs his back on the bed.

“We won’t give you attention for now,” Hongjoong says. Wooyoung gets up and stretches, closing his eyes again from the good feeling from stretching his body after so much time sleeping. Hongjoong watches him and adds, “Biiiiiggg stretch.”

Seonghwa playfully punches his arm. “Fuck off.”

“What? It’s fun,” Hongjoong answers, and then calls Wooyoung with his hand. “Come on, Youngie.”

Wooyoung jumps out of the bed, following Hongjoong around. When the lunch is almost ready, he bumps Hongjoong to pick up his clothes so he can shift into a human again. Hongjoong gladly helps him, smiling after he leaves the bathroom in his human form.

“You could’ve asked for caresses, you know?” Hongjoong says. “We’d cuddle you if you wanted, too.”

“It’s… You two are a couple, so…” Wooyoung murmurs. “I don’t want to interrupt you two with your relationship, you know? You probably want to have some moments alone.”

Seonghwa clicks his tongue, probably because he’s heard the last part. “Don’t mind it, we like to have you here.”

Wooyoung hums. He’s feeling that being together with Hongjoong and Seonghwa gives him a new kind of warmth—it is scarier than trying to cross a busy street while being a cat. Seonghwa and Hongjoong are together, and he can’t be selfish enough to shake their established relationship over his personal feelings.

“Do you feel upset when you’re a cat, and you can’t pick things up?” Seonghwa asks, rolling his eyes when Hongjoong opens a smile.

“I knew you were curious, too,” Hongjoong answers.

Wooyoung chuckles. “It isn’t upsetting. I got used to it, so it’s fine.”

“It’s an interesting thing to be able to shift. It can be conventional when you need,” Seonghwa adds. “Have you gone to college?”

“Oh, no. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I had just arrived in Seoul, so…” Wooyoung explains. “I came here to have some money and live here just to learn more things and have new experiences. I got tired easily, because I used to have a more “free” life. I dropped everything when it started affecting my sleep… I ended up liking the thrilling moments of living in the street and playfully fighting with my friends more than actually talking with people.”

“I mean, it’s definitely more freeing than just throwing everything away and starting a life playing with other people like you,” Hongjoong adds. “But then, about money…”

“I was a stray cat,” Wooyoung answers. “Don’t think that just because I’ve been inside a house for a month that I’m a house cat now.”

“You do look comfortable being a house cat,” Seonghwa says. “You looked comfortable sleeping between us.”

Wooyoung shrugs, pretending that it was nothing for him and that he’ll be able to live his life without being hugged by the other two. He will be fine without smelling Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s scents. And they already said he can come back next winter.

“Do you have special care for your fur?” Hongjoong asks.

“Why do these questions make it feel as if you were trying to know me better?” Wooyoung asks, chuckling.

“Would it bother you if we were?” Seonghwa murmurs, messing with his food while avoiding eye contact with Wooyoung.

Wooyoung freezes. He understands that the couple probably talks to each other before sleeping or when they leave the house, but he wasn’t aware that he was the topic of their conversations. He looks at Seonghwa, who’s still avoiding him, and then at Hongjoong, who shrugs.

He also uses his chopsticks to mess his food, exhaling before answering, “To be fair, no. I would like it.”

The couple stares at each other and then at Wooyoung, like some scene out of a kid’s cartoon. Wooyoung looks back at them before also shrugging.

“I only have one question,” Wooyoung continues. “How did you two discuss it? I’ve been here all day for almost two months.”

“Before sleep,” Hongjoong answers. “We were talking about how pretty and interesting you are. And we kept talking until we realized that we might as well try, we’re both interested in you, so…”

“But were you two always open to meet someone new or… Like, I really don’t want to mess up your nice relationship, nor do I want to be just something you two were curious to try.”

Seonghwa nods. “We never thought about meeting someone new, not as a couple. When we noticed that our interest in you was going quite far from just finding you pretty, we started talking about what it would change in our relationship, but we are sure you won’t be just a curious phase.”

“Okay,” Wooyoung agrees. “We… We can work it out. I’ve never really tried dating, but… Everyone is living their first life, right?”

Seonghwa and Hongjoong nod before chuckling. The rest of their lunch is quiet; the air around them is a bit lighter than before, as if the internal conflict of their feelings was making its way out of their minds and taking a ghostly appearance in the common areas of this house.

They go back to the room, Wooyoung in the middle of them again. He lets out happy squeals, making Seonghwa and Hongjoong chuckle. Seonghwa gives him a forehead kiss before paying attention to the movie Hongjoong chose.

As the days pass, Seonghwa and Hongjoong start getting more caring towards Wooyoung, giving him head pats, caressing behind his ear, giving him forehead kisses, and sometimes belly caresses when he shifts into a cat.

On the morning after the snowstorm, Wooyoung shifts into a cat, and Seonghwa dresses him in the nice blue sweater with clouds, laughing when Wooyoung runs around the house while waiting for Hongjoong.

“We only have a few minutes. I have a meeting at nine,” Seonghwa warns, opening the door.

Wooyoung walks behind him, noticing that the snow reaches Seonghwa’s ankle—he will only have his body out of the snow, while his paws will be completely swallowed. Hongjoong comes right behind him, kicking the snow away to open a better path.

“Are you cold?” Seonghwa asks, looking behind him. Wooyoung lets out a soft meow, shaking his body to push the snow away. “I hope this means that you’re not that cold.”

A few children are playing with snowballs a couple of houses away from them. Wooyoung turns to Hongjoong to understand why he is so quiet, watching him gather some snow in his hand, putting a finger over his mouth to ask Wooyoung to stay quiet.

As if I can say anything, Wooyoung thinks. He watches the snowball hit Seonghwa’s back, who turns to Hongjoong with a teasing smile on his face. When they start a snowball fight, Wooyoung starts jumping around them to distract each other from the upcoming attacks, sometimes even grabbing their legs so they can’t walk.

While they’re playing, Wooyoung thinks about how lucky he is to have two of the nicest people in the world to like him. And not just because they were curious about how things are with a hybrid, they just started naturally liking Wooyoung, how things should be.

He stops jumping around to shake the snow out of his body, hissing when he feels two snowballs hit him. Seonghwa and Hongjoong laugh, trying to jump through the snow to get away from him. Hongjoong is the first victim, once again having his leg bitten when Wooyoung reaches him. Seonghwa keeps trying to run, but Hongjoong holds him so Wooyoung can also bite his leg.

“I’m quite tired now,” Seonghwa says after Wooyoung walks away.

“Yeah…” Hongjoong answers. “For someone who didn’t like snow, you did have some fun.”

Wooyoung meows, walking between Hongjoong’s legs, doing the same with Seonghwa. They walk back inside, Wooyoung shaking himself again before Hongjoong picks him up, holding him so Seonghwa can clean the snow off his paws.

“I’ll leave you in the bathroom to take a warm bath; your clothes are already there,” Hongjoong says, his chest vibrating against Wooyoung’s back when he chuckles after a meow.

After he leaves the bathroom, he notices that both Seonghwa and Hongjoong are working. He chooses to stay in the living room, watching something. By lunch time, he gets up to cook something for them, because both Seonghwa and Hongjoong seem to be busy.

He’s almost finishing everything when someone hugs him from behind, placing a kiss on his ear. He recognizes Seonghwa’s smell, making him chuckle before turning around. Seonghwa smiles at him, checking what he is cooking before humming.

“I didn’t know you knew how to cook,” Seonghwa comments. “Can’t wait to eat it.”

Wooyoung smiles. He would’ve frozen after the kiss if he weren’t doing something else. Seonghwa gives him a head pat and finishes it with a quick peck on Wooyoung’s lips.

“I—I hope you like it,” Wooyoung stammers.

“Are you surprised? I thought after making our feelings known, you’d be fine with any type of kiss, or a more intimate caress,” Seonghwa explains. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, no,” Wooyung says. “I liked it, I just wasn’t expecting it. I’ll stay alert for Hongjoong’s actions now.”

Seonghwa chuckles. “Just don’t bite him. He’s traumatized enough.”

Wooyoung laughs. “He can bite me if he wants, so we can stay even.”

“Good to know,” Hongjoong answers, entering the kitchen.

“Not now,” Wooyoung warns.

Hongjoong holds his arm, and Wooyoung looks at Seonghwa for help, but he just shrugs. Wooyoung closes his eyes and lets out a painful scream when Hongjoong bites his arm, a smile taking his face after it. Hongjoong also holds his face with both hands, giving him a long peck.

“Technically, I need to bite you one more time before we get even,” Hongjoong says. “But you’re cooking lunch for us, so I won’t do it today.”

“Thank you, I guess,” Wooyoung answers.

Wooyoung can’t deny that he’s anxious to receive all the kisses he can have—and also give Hongjoong and Seonghwa all the kisses he can give them. He’s ready to cuddle them all night and to hold them close with his tail.

At night, Wooyoung is ready to sleep in the office when Hongjoong leaves it with his plushies and his pillow, signaling to Wooyoung to follow him to the bedroom. Wooyoung does it, because even if all these new actions are heart racing and make him almost freeze at his place—this is not a dream—he also wants to be in the middle of Hongjoong and Seonghwa while they sleep.

Seonghwa gives him a forehead kiss before murmuring, “Good night, kitty.”

Wooyoung blushes. How could he not?

Hongjoong chuckles at his reaction, placing a kiss on his cheek. “Sleep well, Wooyie.”

Wooyoung believes his cheeks are on fire. He hugs the plushies tightly, feeling both Seonghwa and Hongjoong’s arms hug his waist. He giggles to himself, his tail moving slowly to the sides. He also hears Seonghwa and Hongjoong chuckle, making him give both of them a quick peck before trying to calm his heart down to sleep.