Chapter Text
Chan wasn’t having a good day. Not only had he just been attacked by a house cat who was yelling bloody murder in his ear (all to calm down when the thorn was pulled from his paw) but he had gotten caught in the rain on the way to his car. There was nothing worse to Chan than having to sit in wet clothes for the thirty minutes it would take for him to get from his business to his house. Or so he thought.
Chan was notorious. He was used to weird things happening to him; they had been happening all his life after all. From the moment Chan could speak he quickly realized that everything spoke back to him. Everything. Dogs, cats, fish, even bugs sometimes managed to chirp a few words in if he was close enough. He also quickly learned he would have to keep it a secret. None of his family believed him, and the weird occurrence was shoved down his throat as a simple child phase.
Now he was known in the city as one of the best vet’s in the area. It was basic to him. He just asked the animal what was wrong and then treated them accordingly. Of course, Chan understood that not everyone had this ability. It was hard for some. That’s why he wasn’t surprised when he got a random call in the night's dip from a stranger. What he was surprised about however, was the context.
"Are you Dr. Chan?"
"Who's asking?"
"Um…My friend Minho, he needs help. He was trying to dance, and he hurt himself."
"I only help animals."
"Yeah, I know. He's a cat."
"…He's a what?"
Chan almost dropped his phone. There was only two options that instantly floated in his head. One, this guy had a dancing cat. Or two, this guy was crazy. Or both. Both was also a workable option.
“I know you’re off right now but he’s in a lot of pain. He’s also burning up and I just don’t…He’s not a normal cat. I don’t know what to do. Can you please come check him?” The man’s voice sounded genuinely concerned. He didn’t sound estranged or like he was high on any sort of drug. Maybe that was why Chan gave in so easily with a sigh, staring at his front door from where he was still sitting in his soaked car seat.
“Send the address.”
This had to be the weirdest night of Chan’s life. If the guy was crazy, he was crazy rich. The drive up already should have warned Chan that he was in for a ride. He was surrounded by gated communities, heavily decorated for the spring activities. Chan lived alone, he never really took the time to get festive like that.
Despite it all when he finally arrived he was greeted with the biggest house in the neighborhood at the very end of the road. It had a curved driveway lit up with rounded street lamps. It was at least five times bigger than Chan’s casual two bedroom home, and that was being generous to himself. The entire building seemed to be lit up, glaring at Chan’s puny (in comparison) dark vehicle.
He didn’t dwell on his life choices for long as a very tall ginger rushed out the front door. If his gym shorts and casual white tank top wasn’t enough to go by his flushed cheeks were.
“I’m Mingi, the guy on the phone?” Mingi spoke as he walked down the steps, quickly approaching Chan. Chan cleared his throat, attempting to wipe his shock off his face. “Nice to meet you. Your…friend is injured?” Cat. Friend?
Mingi responded with a nod, Chan’s voice making him calm down a bit. He caught his breath, gesturing Chan forward. “I don’t think I can bring him to an actual vet…or doctor for that matter. He’s very special and…when I looked at your work it seemed you’re very talented. I just…” He abruptly stopped halfway up the steps, causing Chan to also halt. He raised his head slightly, meeting the taller male’s eyes. “Can you promise to not report him?”
“Report…him? Why would I report him?” Chan questioned, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Mingi bit at his bottom lip, glancing hesitantly towards the front door. It was cracked open, another strangely tall boy peeking out. “Honestly, we have never asked a doctor to see him before or we would have made a NDA or something for you. Like I said, Minho isn’t normal. I can’t really do anything except take your word for it.”
Mingi didn’t seem like he would elaborate any further. Well, when Chan considered himself there wasn’t much that could surprise him. If he tried to explain to Mingi he could talk to animals he felt pretty confident he could provide a bigger crazy argument than whatever this household had going on. Still, he couldn’t exactly just say that could he?
“You have my word. Whatever happens here stays here,” Chan even smiled, doing his best to hide his uneasiness for the sake of Mingi’s comfort. It seemed to work, the ginger’s shoulders visibly relaxing almost an inch down. The door opened wider as the two continued, the tall stranger stepping aside to let them in.
Inside the house was decorated like a warm hug. Everything seemed soft. The rugs, the throws and pillows on the couches, even the hard furniture had some sort of fuzzy decoration sitting on top. Jarring enough, there was a shield of men guarding the middle of the room. One…two…three…Chan was getting overwhelmed now.
“Guys give him some room, I talked to him,” Mingi spoke up from behind. Four…five…six? Six?! The men parted with Mingi’s reassurance, the shortest one seemingly the most reluctant. Chan’s eyes drifted down, spotting the small bed of blankets they had created on the ground. Sure enough, there was a brown adult cat laying in the middle of the blankets turned on its side. Its eyes were closed, the sound of its breathing easy to hear now that Chan was looking at him.
Crazy. So they were crazy.
Chan took a small step forward, not outwardly seeing any signs of injury. Just when he was about to reach for him the cat lurched upwards, knocking Chan off balance. In seconds he was pinned to the ground, his head saved by the plush blankets littered on the floor. “Shit!” Someone whispered.
Chan had closed his eyes, apparently. He felt a heavy weight on top of him, hands pinning his wrists to the ground. “You can’t touch me.” A husky voice?
Chan’s eyes flew open, staring back into golden yellow ones. For a moment they were frozen, the long brown locks of the boy tickling his cheeks. Then Chan realized. His entire body tensed, involuntarily attempting and failing to pull his wrists away from the boy above him.
He pulled back slightly, sitting on top of Chan’s waist instead of leaning directly above him. Chan fought really hard to keep his eyes up, looking past the boy’s hair to what appeared to be…cat ears. “W-What-” Chan stuttered, feeling his confusion grow immensely.
“Minho! This is Dr. Chan, the guy we were telling you about. He won’t hurt you.” Mingi spoke up again, the panic from before having returned to his tone. Minho (Minho?) scoffed, releasing his wrists that were turning red. “Doctor? You seriously called one? I told you I don’t need-” Minho’s eyes widened, his face contorting into a twist of pain.
“See!” one boy whined, jumping up and down. Chan snapped out of it, exhaling deeply. Well, he had a naked cat boy on top of him but it was still a patient. He was still an animal? Chan honestly wasn’t super confident how much help he would be in this situation. He sat up abruptly, accidentally shifting Minho down towards his lap in between his legs.
“What’re your symptoms?” He blurted the words out before he could think, before he could grow anymore anxious about whatever the fuck they had going on. Minho eyed him. Not in a harsh way, but it made him feel exposed. Chan wanted to curl in on himself but he resisted.
“What kind of doctor are you?” Minho didn’t answer the question. “A vet.” Chan could at least answer that one confidently. A smirk grew on the boy’s face, twisting at the ends. Suddenly he vanished. Chan blinked, looking down in confusion. The brown cat from before had returned, now sitting properly up. He blinked back, almost in a mocking sense. Chan sighed in relief. He couldn’t help it, he never was a people person after all.
“Well, let’s see if you can figure it out when I’m like this smart guy,” Minho meowed in his direction but to Chan the words couldn’t be clearer. It was funny. Chan only knew animal noises from human imitation. Even the noises on the tv translated to his ears, making it hard to watch anything with too many animals. Chan rolled his eyes, looking back at the stubborn cat. “This smart guy is a vet. Are you going to tell me your symptoms now?”
The cat visibly faltered, his eyes squinting. “You can understand me?”
Chan just nodded. He didn’t feel like explaining. Especially not with eight other people in the room.
Minho’s resolve seemed to quiver, if not drop completely. “I’m not injured. I lied, it was easier than telling Mingi what’s really happening.” Chan didn’t interrupt him. He kept his eyes on him at all times, not risking a glance at the restless men behind him. “I became friends with Wooyoung and started dancing with them sometimes, but they don’t know I’m a stray. I usually time it better but…my heat is early. That’s what wrong.”
Chan thought it over. Minho, a hybrid stray cat became friends with a group of humans who don’t know he is essentially homeless. Minho also doesn’t want them to know he is homeless, otherwise he would have told them already. Chan had little he could do except treat Minho’s fever and symptoms, but if Minho left their home, there was a high chance other cats would be drawn to him in his cat form. So Chan decided for him.
“He has a sprained muscle from exercising too much. It’s giving him a fever and cold-like symptoms, but I don’t have what’s needed to properly treat him here. Are you all comfortable with me taking him back to my shop?” Chan finally pulled his eyes from the cat for the first time that night. The boys were still watching him in confusion, rightfully so. He had decided without even touching Minho, an unbelievable act. “I- uh…. Minho?” Mingi asked, looking past the blonde.
Chan glanced beside him, almost jumping out of his skin when the human version was once again sitting beside him nonchalantly. He would not get used to that soon.
“It’ll be fine. I’ll come visit and dance with you guys again when I’m all better.” Minho was about to stand, but before he could the shortest boy in the group rushed forward, holding basketball shorts out to him. Minho accepted it gratefully, carefully pulling the shorts over his body before fully straightening up. Chan followed him, not saying another word as they filtered back towards the front door.
Chan decided to just get in the car. Minho was talking to the group quietly, and he didn’t want to intrude. It wasn’t his place; he was just the doctor. So instead he waited in the car, tapping his finger against the steering wheel. He was halfway convinced that he would wake up if he tapped hard enough. It wasn’t hard for his head to wrap around that hybrids exist, but it was. He of all people should have known that. How many animals did he talk to that were hybrids and hiding it? Minho couldn’t be the only one.
He was jostled out of his thoughts with the sound of his car door closing. Minho leaned towards him, scanning his face. Chan knew what he probably looked like. Red, flustered, tired. Chan didn’t eat, sleep or drink enough water in his day to day routine. If it wasn’t for his slight skin and makeup routine he did in the mornings he would appear to be a zombie. Chan cleared his throat, focusing his eyes on the road as he drove.
“I haven’t helped a cat in heat before. I know you probably have a fever-”
“So you understood me.” Minho cut him off, the astonishment in his voice not concealed in the slightest. It made Chan sigh again, gripping the top of his steering wheel harder. “I can talk to animals. I rarely tell people that but…you’re kinda an exception obviously.”
He could hear the faintest chuckle as Minho settled in his seat, relaxing. “A vet who can talk to animals. I thought I was the weirdest creature on this planet but I stay corrected.”
Chan really wasn’t good at words. He knew how to diagnose, how to ask questions. Not have to converse. He was always the weird kid, no one talked to him longer than they had to. This situation was almost his worst nightmare. A patient he could care for but with all the human capabilities gave him anxiety.
Minho glanced at him again following his silence. “I should probably apologize.”
Chan frowned, sparing a small look from the road. “Why?”
For a split second their eyes met. Minho quickly looked away, opting to peer out the window instead. “I don’t like most doctors. They rarely know what they’re talking about, give bad advice or don’t care about my comfort. I might have been harsh, but I meant it when I said you can’t touch me. At least right now.”
Chan was in that category technically. Yet he wasn’t offended. He felt that way towards the doctors he went to, he couldn’t imagine how tough it must be to go to a doctor that doesn’t even understand you. “I won’t do anything unless you want me to. I’m just a vet. You can stay with me until your heat is over if you want, it would be safer.”
The car was filled with silence for a few minutes. Both boys sat in their thoughts, rethinking the moments that had just passed them by. Then when they were only a few streets from Chan’s house, Minho spoke up.
“Thank you.”