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There is a tiny, sad-looking kitty in front of Yoo Joonghyuk’s expansive apartment complex that he owns. The little creature is so small that it fits in his palm. It looks up at him with twinkling eyes, almost like it’s on the verge of tears, and it seems to be trembling in the freezing outdoor temperature.
…An eyesore.
So of course, the only logical thing to do is bring it inside.
Yoo Joonghyuk, the richest man in South Korea, now has a dirty kitty in the pocket of his expensive, branded coat. If the employee at the front desk notices the odd bump in his coat, they do not show any signs of seeing it. Obediently, the kitty stays quiet as Yoo Joonghyuk walks around. Super inconspicuous.
Upon entering his living space, Yoo Joonghyuk immediately gets to work on cleaning the little animal. He rubs it with his hands first, warming it up even more in case his pocket hadn’t given enough heat. Then he gives it a good thorough wash, and then another for good measure.
By the end, Yoo Joonghyuk is staring it down with sharp eyes as it waddles around on his kitchen island, fur standing on end, now comfortable enough to be curious about its surroundings. It tries knocking a few things down, but it’s too weak to do much. It even trips a few times, slipping due to the counter surface, mewling in surprise.
Yoo Joonghyuk sighs internally, clenching a fist.
The next day, a tower of boxes fill his living room. All full of cat paraphernalia.
The market has been exceptionally stable lately — a steadily rising graph. As a result, there isn’t much for him to do lately, and he’s been bored. It isn’t hard to dive into the process of assembling all the stuff.
Wiping the light drop of sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, Yoo Joonghyuk stands up and gazes at his newly renovated living room.
It looks like a zoo, but if it were for cats. To the side, the kitty is looking down from the kitchen island, eyes sparkling with some anticipation. But it makes no move to go forward and play.
Shy? Yoo Joonghyuk picks it up and sets it down onto the hardwood floor, gesturing it towards the pile of toys nearby. The little bundle of fur still seems hesitant, looking up at Yoo Joonghyuk like he’s asking for permission.
“Go,” is all that Yoo Joonghyuk says, blunt and commanding. But the kitty seems to understand him, finally taking a few unsteady steps forward. It paws at one of the stuffed toys, going slow and then striking all at once, before once more pulling back just as fast, like it’s scared it will jump back. When the object doesn’t do anything, the kitty grows more relaxed, pushing it around and chasing it.
The toy is attached to a string and pole. In the spur of the moment, Yoo Joonghyuk squats down, grabs the pole, and dangles the toy in front of the cat.
Immediately, the kitty scrambles backward, practically tripping over itself in its haste. It doesn’t look back, going as far away as it can and hiding in one of the long tunnels that Yoo Joonghyuk now had lying about.
Yoo Joonghyuk is still in a squatting position, unmoving as he clutches onto the thin pole of the cat toy. He directs a blank stare towards the direction the kitty went in, cursing internally.
He eventually coaxes the kitty back out, who has fortunately grown quite fond of Yoo Joonghyuk. It nuzzles into his palm and meows pathetically, calling for his attention despite already having all of it.
Yoo Joonghyuk’s heart hurts. He chalks it up to heartburn, or something.
He’ll let go of the kitty eventually. He was just indulging in his boredom this time around. Yes, that’s it. The little creature should be gone within the week.
/ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\
A month later, Dokja finds himself hiding in his owner’s closet, caught in a little predicament.
You see, Dokja is a kitty. A very cute kitty. He even captured the attention of such a strong, caring, handsome owner, who feeds Dokja and bathes Dokja and cleans out Dokja’s cat litter every day, and who bought Dokja all his fun cat toys. Dokja couldn’t ask for more. (Although, he’s a little upset that his owner hasn’t given him a nickname. Dokja is called Dokja because he was the only kitty in his mom’s litter, but he wants a nicer name. Other than that though, everything is perfect!)
Except for, well, the fact his owner doesn’t know his little secret. Big secret. Very important secret.
Dokja is a catboy.
And now he reached his quota for days bound to his cat body, and he’s forced to shift back into his human form.
Luckily, it’s on a day when his owner deigns to leave the apartment, so Dokja has time to hide. He’ll be able to switch back in about 24 hours or so, and then he'll pop back out as a kitty like nothing happened! Dokja doesn’t mind the long wait, he’s had longer without food or sustenance.
And besides, it’s very rare for people to go looking for Dokja. At least this time, it will actually work in his favor. His owner can survive without him for a day, right?
Right...
Dokja peeks out from behind his owner’s closet, watching silently as the man silently walks around, obviously looking for something. Dokja observes as his owner walks in and out of the bedroom 3 or 4 times, checking every nook and cranny at least thrice over. The next time he walks in, he’s holding Dokja’s favorite cat toy, which makes a light jingling noise due to the attached bell.
Dokja feels his tail swish around, wanting to pounce out of the closet and grab onto the toy. His eyes track the movement sharply. But— no! He must focus. Because it seems like Dokja’s owner is actually looking for him...?
It’s here when Yoo Joonghyuk realizes that the closet door is now open— when he knows for sure that he had closed it this morning.
Dokja’s eyes flicker away from the toy and up at his owner’s face through the gap. Ah— his owner is looking right at him!
Barreling into a box of clothing storage, Dokja buries himself as deep as he can go and hopes that his owner miraculously doesn’t find him. His heart pounds as he sinks into the bundle of clothes that smell just like his owner. Oh, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to sleep here all of a sudden...
Forgetting for a moment that he’s supposed to be hiding, Dokja doesn’t realize that his tail has started to wiggle outside the box, catching the attention of a certain someone.
A moment later, he feels a sharp tug on his tail. Yelping in panic, Dokja flails about, effectively throwing the clothes off of him and making a mess all over the closet floor. The grip on him successfully loosens completely, but just as Dokja sits up, he realizes that his only exit is blocked.
And it’s being blocked by his one and only owner. Who is staring at him with wide eyes.
Dokja’s ears droop impossibly further, and his entire figure shrinks in on itself like a deflating balloon. He quickly glances away from his owner in shame, heart sinking. Oh no.
“Are you,” his owner starts, clearly in utter disbelief, “...my cat?”
Dokja perks up a little at the question, but his nod is reluctant when he answers.
After a tense moment of awkward silence, his owner begins to shake the toy in his hand — and then Kim Dokja really perks up at that. Dokja’s eyes immediately follow the graceful movements like he’s under a trance, suddenly forgetting all his previous qualms. His tail quickly waves around again.
Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression turns into consideration. Slowly, he backs up, continuing to rattle the toy at the end of the pole. He feels extremely idiotic doing this, but...
Dokja begins to crawl forward, zoning in on the toy in his owner’s hand.
Once his owner is about to go out of sight, he pounces.
Yoo Joonghyuk catches him easily.
Dokja yowls, clawing at his owner in further panic. Being captured is never a good thing!
But then Dokja realizes he’s not in pain, and he distantly hears a voice clumsily trying to soothe him. His nails are still latched onto whatever fabric or skin they’re caught on, but he eventually opens his clenched eyes to a broad chest.
His gaze swipes upward. Dokja’s owner is looking at him... with thin cuts all over his face.
Dokja quickly retracts the claws on his owner’s neck, soon regretting his entire life. Not only did he give his kind, loving owner the worst surprise in the world, but Dokja also hurt him in the process. His eyes fill with tears, not wanting to be thrown away out into the cold again, but knowing that it is inevitable.
“Why are you crying now?” his owner scowls, visibly shocked. It just makes Dokja cry harder, discordant whimpers filling the large bedroom.
His owner quickly deposits Dokja onto the bed; Dokja curls up and shoves his head into a pillow, breathing in the scent of his owner’s shampoo. This will be the last time, after all.
But then he hears a bell tinkling right next to him. His ears twitch, standing to attention. Dokja peeks out, seeing his favorite toy dancing right next to him. It takes a very long time, but the tears eventually stop falling as Dokja’s hands dart out to grab onto the toy. Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t stop him.
Dokja hears the door close, but his attention is divided. Crisis averted.
Soon enough, after an unidentifiable amount of time, Dokja’s ears pick up on the sound of his meal bowl being filled with food.
Alas, while Dokja is not a dog, he is not immune to being Pavlov-ed.
Wiping away the watery residue on his eyes, Dokja tiptoes out of their bedroom and makes his way to the kitchen on eerily silent footsteps. But it’s useless, since his owner seems to be very sensitive to his presence, looking up once Dokja steps out of the hallway.
“You haven’t had lunch yet,” his owner states plainly, as if Dokja did not just transform into a completely different species. “Eat.”
Dokja looks down after processing the command. Usually, Dokja stays on the floor, but it seems that his meal bowl was… actually empty? Then where did the noise come from?
On the kitchen island, there is a plate with freshly cooked fish. Dokja tries not to drool, aware that it must be his owner’s food. But where is Dokja’s?
His owner nudges the plate towards him. Ah… it couldn’t be?
Dokja feels his own lips tremble. His owner is far too kind to him.
First, his owner went searching for Dokja when not even an hour had passed. Second, his owner hadn’t immediately kicked him out after finding out his odd secret. Third, his owner is now feeding him steaming hot delicious food...
It’s no surprise that Dokja accidentally brings out the waterworks again.
His owner becomes flustered once more, grabbing a soft cloth and aggressively wiping Dokja’s face. “Stop crying and eat.”
Dokja does just that, tail latched affectionately around his owner’s wrist the entire time. And he thinks to himself, I really have the best owner ever!