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Beomgyu’s entire body relaxes the moment he enters his shared apartment. The scent of peony and jasmine permeates the air, courtesy of the scented oils Beomgyu fills their diffuser with each morning. Sunlight cascades through the mesh curtains Kai installed.
When Beomgyu steps further into the apartment to drop his noisy, keychain-filled house keys onto a dish on the kitchen counter, the light reflects off Beomgyu’s glittering wings. Every morning, he adds a sparkle to his wings despite the fact that they’ll be invisible to human eyes. Beomgyu takes his wing upkeep very seriously, thank you very much.
He makes his way over to their living room sofa and collapses onto it with a sigh, the chunky necklaces he paired together today making a pleasing clunking sound. He digs out the sequin throw pillow he landed on from behind his back and chucks it to the side. Daily sofa-rotting immediately after work at the arboretum is an integral part of Beomgyu’s routine. It gives him a moment to process the fact that he’s finally home.
Beomgyu enjoys sticking to his routine. It makes him feel like he’s in control of his life, which feels otherwise overwhelming and confusing.
Kai waltzes out of his room a moment later, the bead curtain hanging in his doorframe jingling noisily. He’s in tattered sweatpants and a shirt with a mysterious, dark stain on the front. He must have been concocting a difficult spell if something managed to splatter on him. Kai is normally pretty composed and tidy while he works.
“Hi, Beomgyu hyung,” Kai chirps. He grabs a spellbook off of their living room bookshelf, narrowly avoiding knocking over some scattered rose quartz pieces, and half-mindedly thumbs through it. “How was work?”
“Fine,” Beomgyu mumbles from his lazing position. “I stole a few shiny coins from the water fountain today, wanna see?”
“Hyung! I told you to stop doing that,” Kai chides him while returning the spellbook in exchange for another. “You can’t just take any shiny thing you see. Humans don’t take well to stealing.”
“If they don’t want me taking it, why is the fountain there?” Beomgyu challenges him. “They’re practically dangling it in my face.”
“It’s an old custom, making wishes or whatever,” Kai explains with a sigh. He’s probably told Beomgyu this before.
Beomgyu has an affinity for things that sparkled, glimmered, or shined. He can’t help his sticky fingers. It’s practically in his nature! The moment he lays eyes on some gleaming trinket, Beomgyu’s hands work faster than his brain.
It is evident just by looking at their bookshelf. On each shelf, there is a wide variety of knicknacks, including rocks, beads, coins, metals, rings, crystals, old keys, collectibles, perfume bottles, jewelry, and even a cute little teacup adorned with some of Beomgyu’s favorite flowers. They were all intricately organized by Beomgyu himself.
“You’re going to accumulate so much bad luck,” Kai tsks at him while grabbing another spellbook after he deems the one in his hands useful. “Don’t come crying to me when a piano falls on your head.”
“A piano wouldn’t fall on my head anyways.” Beomgyu cuddles into his favorite soft pillow on the couch. “I know about the protection charm you put on me while I was sleeping.”
“I’ll get rid of it then,” Kai replies pettily, but they both know he wouldn’t dare. Kai cares about Beomgyu too much for that. He snaps the spellbook shut and shuffles to the kitchen, placing the books onto the kitchen counter.
Unfortunately for Beomgyu, Kai decides today is the day to disrupt his daily after-work sofa-rotting. Beomgyu has no idea just how disrupted his routine is about to get when Kai breaks the news.
“Oh! Beomgyu hyung!” Kai calls out to him from the kitchen as he rummages through the fridge. “I almost forgot, a friend of mine desperately needs a place to stay and can’t live with humans. Would you be okay with us having another roommate?”
That has Beomgyu sitting up straight from his spot on the sofa. This time, his necklaces clunk together to make a sound that no longer sounds pleasing to Beomgyu.
“This is a two-bedroom apartment.”
“I can use my magic to create another room.” Kai is pulling out an assortment of potion ingredients. “But only if you’re comfortable with it. If you aren’t, I can help him look for other magic folk in the area to move in with instead.”
Beomgyu bites his lip, considering for a moment. Kai wouldn’t be asking if the situation wasn’t dire, and, at the end of the day, Kai can take no for an answer.
Beomgyu trusts Kai. Objectively, Beomgyu doesn’t have any real reason to be against Kai’s friend moving in. So despite his initial aversion to the idea, he says, “I’m okay with it.”
“Alright! I’ll probably be up all night crafting spellwork to create the room then. And I’ll let you know when he plans on moving in.” Kai takes his armful of supplies and disappears into his room, the beaded curtains rattling behind him.
Beomgyu lets out a deep breath and pulls himself off the couch, his body protesting every movement. The assortment of plants around the apartment need tending to, and Beomgyu feels a bit tired mentally, so using magic is out of the question at the moment. He fishes out the watering can from under the sink and gets to work.
Kai later informs Beomgyu that his friend will be moving in on a Monday, sometime after Beomgyu arrives home from work.
That Monday morning, Beomgyu dresses himself in his favorite cardigan, a cropped beige piece with flowy sleeves. He wears it often when he’s in need of comfort and stability. Beomgyu loves the way the soft cotton fabric feels on his skin, and it brings out the shimmer in his wings. He adds some of his usual jewelry—a few bracelets, necklaces, and rings—before he deems himself ready.
The new room is stationed next to Kai’s room. Beomgyu had taken a peek inside; it was completely bare, but he was interested in seeing Kai’s handiwork. Kai is a powerful witch to be sure. Out of thin air, he conjured a bedroom the exact same size and layout as the other two. Beomgyu hopes their new roommate would properly appreciate the favor Kai has done for them.
At work, Beomgyu has the privilege of working on the tulip field, now that spring has finally started. Beomgyu planted the bulbs himself last fall, so there isn’t much toil necessary; nearly all the tulips have bloomed, and the pathways are clear for visitors. Beomgyu locates the tulips that haven’t bloomed, a few and far between, and with a wave of his hand each plant wavers for a moment before growing and blooming. The soft, silky petals opening up remind Beomgyu of when baby faeries spread their wings for the first time—the hesitance, the slow fluttering. Beomgyu vaguely recalls the day he first spread his own wings. He stretched his wings open as if it were muscle memory and they gleamed for the first time.
Beomgyu tried to mentally prepare himself for the new arrival, but to no avail. No matter how much Beomgyu attempts to soothe his mind with reassurances that everything will turn out okay—because really, he knows it will—he ruminates on all of the unknown possibilities.
Therefore, it feels rather underwhelming when Beomgyu sits on the soft, furry rug on the living room floor, surrounded by Kai’s calming crystals while he fiddles with one of the smooth ones, only to find that the world isn’t ending when Kai and their new roommate enter the apartment.
“Beomgyu hyung, this is Choi Yeonjun. He’s my friend and our new roommate!”
Beomgyu stares at Yeonjun curiously. This is their new roommate?
“You’re a hybrid?” Beomgyu asks, tilting his head. He isn’t one for greetings, and he’s immediately and immensely intrigued by the translucent black cat ears sitting atop Yeonjun’s head, as well as the equally translucent black tail that flickers behind him.
Yeonjun’s expression turns strange in a way Beomgyu can’t comprehend. His features are scrunched together, and his ears flatten against his dark hair.
“Hyung, that’s offensive!” Kai chastises, but Beomgyu sees that he’s grinning even if Yeonjun isn’t.
“Is he not one?”
“No, I’m a cat sprite,” Yeonjun speaks up. Oh. He has a nice voice. It reminds Beomgyu of wind chimes, a pleasant tinkling sound.
“I’ve never heard of a cat sprite before.” Beomgyu is now very curious, but before he can ask any questions, Kai interjects.
“Well, anyways. Yeonjun, this is our apartment! Do you wanna look around before I show you to your room?” Yeonjun nods, and much like a cat, he walks in a sort of tiptoeing way.
He wanders around the apartment, Kai following him closely to answer any questions, as Beomgyu watches them nosily. Yeonjun’s ears and tail twitch every so often.
“Did you get your apartment at the Pinterest store?” Yeonjun asks lightheartedly, eyeing the shelves lined with their various books, journals, and trinkets, before inspecting the couch’s assortment of mismatched pillows and the throw blanket Beomgyu hand knit himself. He can tell from Yeonjun’s gaze that he’s fascinated by their decor, which Beomgyu appreciates. He put a lot of work into their home.
“Interior design is one of my many passions. Pinterest girls can only aspire to live like this,” Beomgyu replies, squinting at Yeonjun as he assesses him carefully.
Yeonjun was a curious creature. Beomgyu is amazed at the way the sun's rays from the window pass through Yeonjun’s tail, making it almost invisible, yet when his tail flicks away from the sunlight, it almost appears opaque.
Beomgyu has many questions.
“Your place is really nice. Thank you so much for letting me move in with you guys, and on such short notice. I’ll try to be a good roommate to you both.” Yeonjun’s words sound sincere, and he even offers a small smile to Beomgyu.
“No problem, hyung. I charmed your belongings so they should be in your room already if you want to settle in.” Kai is as thoughtful as always.
Yeonjun politely excuses himself and disappears into his new room. Beomgyu watches him leave, eyes trained on those peculiar ears and tail.
“So?” Kai prompts Beomgyu as soon as Yeonjun’s door softly clicks shut behind him, his head tilted in curiosity.
“He seems fine, but what is a cat sprite?”
“I’m asking about you, hyung.”
“Me?” Beomgyu’s eyes fall down to the stone he’s been messing with. He smooths each of his fingers over the cool surface, one at a time. The rock isn’t as cold anymore since it’s been in Beomgyu’s hands for quite some time.
“I know you don’t take well to change,” Kai reminds him gently.
“I’ll be fine,” Beomgyu dismisses him, placing the rock back in the circle of crystals surrounding him to pick up a different one. He chooses a jagged piece of amethyst and runs his fingers over the ridges, one by one. “But I have a lot of questions about his species.”
“Just don’t scare him away. And if anything feels wrong, you can come to me.” Kai has always been like that since he and Beomgyu met. Selfless, helpful, kind. Beogmyu is aware Kai is exceedingly more talented than the average witch, and he suspects that’s why Kai has grown up to be this way. Responsible. Beomgyu is constantly impressed by his strong sense of character.
“Mhm,” Beomgyu hums. “Love you, Kai-yah. You can come to me too, if things are hard.” Kai needs this reminder. Beomgyu doesn’t want the young witch to shoulder all his burdens alone. If he can even return even a fraction of the care and comfort Kai has extended to him all these years, maybe it’ll be enough to remind him that he doesn’t have to carry everything on his own.
As it turns out, Yeonjun is particularly cat-like in that he needs some time to adjust to new settings and new people. He spends his first week at the apartment almost exclusively in his own room, and Beomgyu is only able to catch short glimpses of him. It doesn’t bother Beomgyu at all, since he also needs time to adjust. It’s just that he can’t help but observe Yeonjun every time he leaves his room. He likes seeing just how much the cat sprite resembles, well, an actual cat.
For the first few days, Yeonjun continues to walk in that tiptoeing way, until he finally feels comfortable enough to pad his feet fully against the floor. Only then does Beomgyu notice his ears relax and his tail swish gently from side to side, instead of twitching abruptly in alert.
Beomgyu figures he should find a way to make Yeonjun feel welcome, but fae don’t typically gift material items. While Beomgyu doesn’t confine himself to old and strict traditions, he has no idea what constitutes a good gift versus a bad one. He supposes he could ask Kai, but Beomgyu would like to accomplish this on his own.
That’s how Beomgyu finds himself going through the arboretum’s lost and found box during his lunch break. It takes a lot of digging through useless, dull junk that Beomgyu can’t believe people managed to leave behind before he finally finds something he feels would be of use to Yeonjun.
Beomgyu is quite pleased with himself. It's the perfect welcoming gift for Yeonjun.
That evening he marches up to Yeonjun’s bedroom, gives the door two curt knocks, and waits.
Yeonjun looks like he had been napping when he opens the door. Beomgyu’s suspicion is confirmed when Yeonjun yawns, his ears folding back. He rubs sleep out of his eyes while Beomgyu clears his throat.
“Uh, I have something for you. A welcoming gift,” Beomgyu remarks nervously. He suddenly feels too warm in the chunky, multicolor knit sweater vest he’s wearing. His beaded bracelets stick to his wrists uncomfortably.
Beomgyu thrusts his arms out with the gift. He even adorned it with a ribbon made of long grass blades.
“A… shoe?” Yeonjun blinks at him.
“Mhm, for you.”
Yeonjun gingerly takes the used shoe, carefully inspecting it.
“Where’s the other one?”
“There is no other one. Just this one. I figured you could use it like a cat toy.”
There’s an awkward silence. Beomgyu prepared for this, too.
“Oh, and I got you this, too.” Beomgyu turns to grab a potted flower from the kitchen counter and returns to Yeonjun’s door, handing it to him. Its thin petals are a beautiful shade of burnt orange. Beomgyu prepared this back-up present just in case, and he feels relieved that he did. Yeonjun’s gaze softens when he takes it from him.
“Did you grow this yourself?” Yeonjun asks.
“Of course I did. I’m fae. We work in harmony with plants,” Beomgyu explains matter-of-factly.
“Oh. I don’t know much about fae,” Yeonjun replies, giving Beomgyu a small smile.
“Those are safflowers. If you need help taking care of it or if you need me to bring it back to life, I can help you with that,” Beomgyu continues.
“Okay, thank you, Beomgyu. For the flowers, and for, uh, for the shoe. I’ll take care of them both.”
Beomgyu smiles to himself.
“You’re welcome, Yeonjun… hyung?” Beomgyu tries.
Yeonjun nods encouragingly, his lips curling further upwards.
Beomgyu knew Yeonjun would like the shoe!
When Beomgyu returns home from work the next day, Yeonjun is sitting in the living room. He’s perched on the firm side of the couch, one of Kai’s cheesy witch romance novels in hand.
Beomgyu should feel upset that his routine is being disrupted, but he has so many questions. He lets his keys fall on the kitchen counter with a clank, and moves to join Yeonjun on the couch, sitting as far away as possible.
“Hi, Beomgyu,” Yeonjun greets him with a smile.
“Hi,” Beomgyu returns the greeting before launching into his question. “What is a cat sprite?”
Yeonjun’s ears twitch, but Beomgyu isn’t sure if it’s a sign of interest or irritation. He places a string of yarn into the book to mark his spot and closes it, setting it down on the coffee table next to Kai’s crystal ball.
“Have you heard of sprites in general before?”
“I don’t think so. Are they like nymphs?” Beomgyu racks his brain, but he doesn’t know much about creatures from different realms outside of the one he came from. Beomgyu mostly knows about fae, witches, and humans.
“Sort of. Sprites are like, mythical spirits connected to some form of nature. There are woodland sprites who live in and protect the woods, grassland sprites who live in and protect the grasslands, and so on.”
“So you’re like… a spiritual protector of cats,” Beomgyu guesses.
“Yes,” Yeonjun confirms. “Although habitat-related sprites are more common.”
“Oh, so there aren’t many cat sprites?” Beomgyu asks curiously.
“Not really,” Yeonjun hums.
“What do you eat?”
Yeonjun blinks in confusion. “Huh?”
“What do you eat? Like, human food, cat food, a mixture of both…?” Beomgyu trails off.
“I eat human food.” Yeonjun sounds embarrassed, his cheeks turning pink.
Beomgyu assumes he's embarrassed to share a palette with humans. Beomgyu himself eats human food, but he eats a natural fae diet as well.
“Do you like cat treats?”
“What? No!” Yeonjun sputters, his cheeks turning an even darker shade of pink
“Hyung, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about if you do, y’know.” Beomgyu reassures him.
“Beomgyu, I don’t eat cat food or treats. I mean, just look at me. Do I look like I do? This is like if I started asking if you eat, like, flowers.”
“I do eat flowers,” Beomgyu states. “Roses have some of the sweetest petals.”
Yeonjun purses his lips. “I bet they do.”
“Maybe you’ve never eaten a cat treat because you haven’t been a good kitty,” Beomgyu jokes, grinning when Yeonjun groans.
Beomgyu likes sharing the couch with Yeonjun so far.
Beomgyu’s next opportunity to ask Yeonjun about his cat sprite lifestyle occurs a few days later. He finds Yeonjun in the kitchen, sitting at their dining table which Beomgyu found at an estate sale. It’s wooden with a beautiful turquoise finish. None of the chairs came with it, so they’re all different. Yeonjun is sitting on a black dining chair, sipping tea from Kai’s Snoopy mug.
Beomgyu pads in, his mismatched fluffy socks quieting his steps but Yeonjun, cat-like as ever, notices him immediately. Beomgyu grabs a few sugar cubes and pops them into his mouth, then joins Yeonjun at the dining table, plopping down on an orange barstool.
Beomgyu’s life has changed only a little since Yeonjun has joined their apartment. Regardless, the change keeps Beomgyu slightly on edge. Everything seems to be in order, as Beomgyu likes it to be—his body recognizes that, and yet he’s still waiting for his mind to catch up.
“Yeonjun hyung, I have a question,” Beomgyu starts.
“I might have an answer,” Yeonjun replies wittily.
Yeonjun can be so clever. It only makes Beomgyu even more eager to learn about all the other feline qualities Yeonjun may possess.
“Have you ever used a litter box?”
Yeonjun puts down his mug. “I don’t have an answer to that.”
“You don’t remember?” Beomgyu blinks in surprise. Using a litter box wouldn’t be something Beomgyu would easily forget, personally. Or maybe he feels that way because he’d never use one, unlike Yeonjun.
“No, Beomgyu, I have never used a litter box.”
“Have you ever wanted to try one?”
“No. I don’t want to piss in a box.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.” Beomgyu hasn’t considered what it would really be like to use a litter box. He presumes it wouldn’t feel pleasant at all.
“You seem to think I’m like, a house cat,” Yeonjun observes.
“Are you not?”
Yeonjun laughs. Beomgyu finds the sound satisfying, like bubbles popping or the soft rustle of leaves.
“Beomgyu, I’d like to be friends,” Yeonjun says with sincerity. His eyes crinkle at the sides, and he's smiling gently.
“Oh, really?” Beomgyu asks in surprise.
Beomgyu doesn’t feel opposed to being friends with Yeonjun, don’t get him wrong. He just didn’t expect Yeonjun to be so direct about it. Beomgyu wonders if Kai had anything to do with it.
“Yeah. You’re curious about cat sprites, and I wanna learn more about you, too.” Yeonjun picks up his Snoopy mug, swirling the tea inside with a few gentle shakes of his hand.
Beomgyu suddenly feels the urge to add some glitter to Yeonjun’s tea for him. But he doesn’t know if Yeonjun would like that, so he doesn’t.
“Okay. I’d like to be friends too. We should spend time together, right?”
“Sure,” Yeonjun agrees. “What do you like doing?”
“Hm…” Beomgyu ponders for a moment. He knows the things he enjoys doing, of course, but he has to propose something that he would actually enjoy doing with Yeonjun. “Oh! I know! Watching TV.”
Yeonjun and Beomgyu’s TV-watching get-together is scheduled on a Saturday afternoon. A cozy time, when the TV channels play the best things, in Beomgyu’s humble opinion.
Beomgyu prepares himself in the morning by filling the diffuser with jasmine and peony oils. Then, he dusts off the trinket collection in the living room. Beomgyu even flips all the sequins on the pillow on the couch to one side.
When it’s finally the afternoon, Beomgyu changes into his favorite lounge clothes, a baggy shirt with images of fluffy animals, and a pair of shorts he knitted himself. He slips on a pair of pink bunny slippers, just for good measure. He wouldn’t want Yeonjun to think he wasn’t putting in effort into their friendly hangout.
When Beomgyu exits his room, Yeonjun is already lounging on the couch. He’s pushed all of the throw pillows to the side.
Beomgyu walks over and joins him, sitting right next to Yeonjun, close enough that their legs are touching.
“Hi,” Beomgyu greets him.
“Um, hi.” Yeonjun looks a little flushed. Beomgyu isn’t exactly sure why.
“Can I pick the channel?” Beomgyu asks, staring at Yeonjun with wide, excited eyes.
“Sure,” Yeonjun replies in a weak voice. Seriously, was he feeling okay? Beomgyu thinks he will make him some tea if he keeps acting like that.
“You guys really use channels and not like… Netflix or something?” Yeonjun speaks up again, sounding a bit perplexed.
“Yup! I love the channels, though,” Beomgyu gushes. “There’s so many commercials.”
“You like the commercials?”
“Shh! This is one of the best ones!”
Beomgyu had opened a channel showing a commercial for an online education business. The song is so catchy, Beomgyu loves it.
It dawns on Beomgyu that even though he is enjoying the TV, he isn’t sure if Yeonjun is.
Beomgyu’s head snaps around to look at Yeonjun. He looks a bit awkward and out of place.
“You aren’t having a good time,” he observes.
“Oh.” Yeonjun sits up a bit straighter. “Uh, my position is just bothering me.”
“Ohh,” Beomgyu drags out the sound. “That’s right. You need to lay down on me, like a cat.”
“What, no that’s not—I didn’t mean—” Yeonjun sputters, his cheeks quickly tinting pink.
“You don’t have to fight your natural instincts around me, Yeonjun hyung. C’mon, let’s move.”
Beomgyu shakes Yeonjun to get him to stand up, then lays down on the couch. He then gestures for Yeonjun to lay on top of him.
“Cuddle me like a cat does,” Beomgyu insists.
Yeonjun sputters once more, though no actual words come out. Eventually, he crawls on top of Beomgyu and makes himself comfortable, laying between Beomgyu’s legs with his head on Beomgyu’s chest. Yeonjun’s ears are relaxed, and he lets his tail fall to the couch. The tip of Yeonjun’s tail occasionally lifts, just to fall back on the couch again seconds later.
Beomgyu smiles to himself as he watches the TV. He knew Yeonjun needed to feel like his cat instincts were welcome in their home. With a little bit of Beomgyu’s thoughtfulness and insistence, now Yeonjun was free to be himself and be snug while he curled up against Beomgyu.
Suddenly, something occurs to Beomgyu. Cats who are enjoying the company of others, or who feel secure and happy, typically let out soft, rumbling purring noises. Beomgyu doesn’t hear any purring sounds coming from Yeonjun.
Was he fighting more of his urges? Or was Yeonjun simply too embarrassed to be himself with his new friend? No matter, Beomgyu could address this directly and head on, just like anyone else could.
“Yeonjun, you can purr with me,” Beomgyu informs him.
There’s a beat of silence. Yeonjun doesn’t move (nor does he start purring), but his ears twitch in what Beomgyu assumes is interest.
“Sorry?” he finally asks.
“I said, you can purr with me. You don’t need to worry about holding back.” Beomgyu brings one of his hands to Yeonjun’s hip and pats him gently, as he would a cat.
“I’m not going to purr,” Yeonjun mumbles, but he shifts as if cuddling further into Beomgyu. Beomgyu enjoys the feeling of the vibrations on his chest while Yeonjun speaks.
“Aw, come on, just purr for me,” Beomgyu lightly quips. “Don’t think about it, just let it out.”
Beomgyu has no idea just how red Yeonjun’s face has gotten.
“Beomgyu—”
“Pleaseeee,” Beomgyu begs, a pout forming on his lips. “I want you to feel comfortable and I want to hear it. You can give me a little meow, too, if you want.”
He hears Yeonjun sigh.
“Okay. Just… wait a couple minutes.”
Beomgyu grins to himself like the cat who got the cream, pun intended. The faerie who got the purring? Whatever. He was so excited.
As promised, within a few minutes there is a soft rumbling sound coming from Yeonjun. Beomgyu feels warm and gentle vibrations from where Yeonjun is laying on him.
The feeling is delightful. Satisfying. Positively beautiful. Beomgyu can’t believe he’s been robbed of the experience of having a cat purring on him up until now. All of his life he had been missing out on this type of joy?
They stay cuddled up like that for a while, peacefully watching the TV. Beomgyu secretly observes Yeonjun while he’s focused on the screen. From this angle, Yeonjun’s eyelashes look so long. They’re pretty.
Yeonjun’s ears are relaxed, and Beomgyu wishes he could reach out and touch them. He wonders what they would feel like.
Beomgyu looks at Yeonjun’s nice, sculpted nose and cute, duck-like mouth. How did he never notice how pretty Yeonjun is? Beomgyu internally shakes the thought out of his head. Yeonjun is his new friend .
That’s it.
Beomgyu would like to think his friendship with Yeonjun is blossoming like a cheerful daffodil. Yeonjun smiles at him any time he comes out of his room. When they have meals together in the kitchen, Yeonjun uses the checker-pattern coasters Beomgyu crocheted himself and asks Beomgyu about the fae or his job. Unfortunately, they haven’t watched TV together again just yet. Beomgyu hopes they will do that again soon. He really quite enjoys the feeling of Yeonjun lying on him and purring.
Beomgyu delights when he comes home from the arboretum one evening to find Yeonjun on the couch, grooming himself .
Beomgyu closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, the pleasant scent of incense filling his nose. What a wonderful way to come home.
Beomgyu joins his friend, perching on his favorite side of the couch with the plump cushion and criss-crossing his legs. He fiddles with one of his necklaces, tracing the outline of the star-shaped charm with his fingertip over and over again.
Yeonjun’s tail flicks in interest, and he stops licking at his arm, his gaze suddenly turning meek and embarrassed. “Sorry, I’ll go do this in my room.”
“No!” Beomgyu can’t control his voice and accidentally shouts. Yeonjun flinches in surprise. “You can groom yourself out here,” Beomgyu insists. “This is your apartment too.”
“I guess it is,” Yeonjun smiles at him. Beomgyu is so good at being friends. “It’s nice to finally live with other magical beings. It was becoming really hard to suppress so many of my instincts while living with humans.”
“Is that why you had to move?” Beomgyu asks curiously.
“Yeah,” Yeonjun confirms.
“And you’ve never lived with other magical beings before? Never got to be yourself at home?”
“Nope,” Yeonjun says with a pop on the ‘p’ sound. Beomgyu’s eyes follow the way the shape of his lips change.
Beomgyu feels sadness and empathy well up inside him for Yeonjun. He couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to live with people you couldn’t even be yourself with. Kai has always put up with Beomgyu’s strangest habits. Kai never judges Beomgyu when he comes home to find him surrounded by crystals or flower petals on the floor. One time, Beomgyu mistakenly got some of his wing sparkling dust on the living room carpet and the glitter nearly blinded Kai, but he didn’t seem to mind all that much. He hadn’t even gotten mad at Beomgyu when he tried using his wings indoors and crashed into the ceiling fan, causing Kai to use his magic to fix the damages and mess.
Beomgyu hates the idea of Yeonjun hiding parts of himself.
“Can you groom me too?”
Yeonjun looks at Beomgyu, his ears twitching and swiveling around. Yeonjun’s expression is one of pure shock.
Beomgyu wants Yeonjun to feel like he doesn’t have to hide who he is. He wants to know all there is to know about Yeonjun and cat sprites. He’s ready to welcome Yeonjun’s identity with open arms.
What better way to do that than to have Yeonjun show him how he does his grooming?
“Pardon me?” Yeonjun asks. Beomgyu almost forgot they had been sitting in silence since he popped the question.
“Can you groom me too?” Beomgyu repeats, more confidently. Then, because Yeonjun seems like he would be too selfless to accept, maybe worried about weirding Beomgyu out or something, Beomgyu uses his puppy eyes on Yeonjun and begins to beg. “ Pleaseee ,” he says through his pout. “I want to know what it’s like. I’ve never been groomed by a cat before.”
“That’s because you aren’t one,” Yeonjun says dimly.
Beomgyu sulks. Was Yeonjun really this anxious about showing others his cat sprite habits? Beomgyu’s heart feels heavy.
Yeonjun must have noticed how upset Beomgyu seems, because his expression softens in sympathy, ears tucking back for a moment as he sighs. “Do you really want me to groom you?” Yeonjun asks hesitantly. “You might not like it. My cat tongue has a texture I’m not sure you’ll like.”
“I want to try,” Beomgyu mumbles, fiddling with his necklace again.
“…Okay,” Yeonjun finally agrees.
The effect is instant. Beomgyu immediately brightens, his face full of expectation.
“Really?” he exclaims, dropping his necklace to scoot forward, definitely invading Yeonjun’s personal space but feeling too animated to care.
Yeonjun leans back slightly, a light blush starting to coat his cheeks. “Yes, just… sit back and don’t move, okay?”
Beomgyu nods vigorously and sits back, willing himself to stay as still as possible.
When Yeonjun is leaning over Beomgyu’s lap, his face hovering inches away from Beomgyu’s, Beomgyu is pretty sure he feels his heart fluttering. Or maybe that was just his wings.
Yeonjun exhales, and his breath fans out over Beomgyu’s face. It makes Beomgyu’s own breath hitch.
His mind feels a bit haywire. With Yeonjun so close to him, it’s like every nerve and synapse is firing all at once. Yeonjun is so handsome up close. Beomgyu notices for a split second that his ears look much more opaque too, when he’s close like this.
The first lick is on Beomgyu’s forehead. Yeonjun’s tongue does have an odd texture; scratchy in a way, but fortunately not too scratchy to be uncomfortable, and with just the right amount of surface tension.
Yeonjun gives a few slow, gentle licks to Beomgyu’s forehead before gingerly turning Beomgyu’s head to the side with his hand. Yeonjun holds onto Beomgyu’s face—a fact that has Beomgyu’s wings fluttering again— as he licks at his right cheek next.
Getting groomed by a cat sprite is surprisingly relaxing. Beomgyu’s body begins to feel at ease; his accelerated heart rate starts to slow and a cloudy haze settles over the chaos in his brain.
Beomgyu shuts his eyes and sighs peacefully, succumbing to the tranquil feeling. Yeonjun carefully adjusts the angle of Beomgyu’s face every which way and continues his soothing licks. Cats must really enjoy life .
The cat sprite’s grooming ceases. Beomgyu’s eyes are still closed; he hadn’t even realized Yeonjun stopped until he hears him speak up.
“I think that’s enough,” Yeonjun murmurs.
Beomgyu’s eyes flutter open. Yeonjun removes himself from Beomgyu’s space.
Beomgyu’s fingers look for the edges of his necklace again.
“I saw you doing more than that to yourself,” Beomgyu whines, though his voice is much quieter than before. He’s still recovering from the peaceful lull he was in moments ago.
Yeonjun chuckles at him and brings his hand up, licking at his knuckles. Then, he leans over and grazes it over the side of Beomgyu’s forehead, brushing hair out of his face.
“I actually need it, you don’t,” Yeonjun chides him, but his tone is tender.
Yeonjun resumes the position he was in before Beomgyu arrived and continues his grooming routine.
Beomgyu just sits there, dumbfounded. His brain feels mushy.
One unsuspecting evening, Beomgyu returns home to chaos.
Beomgyu was in high spirits. Kai says Beomgyu can fly home on Friday’s, since less people tend to be out and about, and it was safer. Beomgyu loves flying.
Nothing compares to the feeling of fresh air flowing around him when he flies. His fluttering wings carry him effortlessly. Beomgyu flies like flower petals being pulled through the wind, graceful and leisurely.
Beomgyu had planned to do some knitting when he returned home. Instead, Yeonjun and Kai are shouting when Beomgyu strides in, one of his necklaces caught in his mouth for some comforting stimulation.
“ — seriously. I can fix it!” Kai insists, his voice loud as if he’s trying to convince the entire apartment complex.
“I’m fucking purple, Kai!” Yeonjun shouts back in misery.
Oh. Beomgyu takes the necklace out of his mouth and observes the scene in front of him. His roommates are in the living room. The floor is covered in feathers, glitter, a metallic purple liquid, and a suspicious-looking dark liquid. Kai is frantically flipping through one of his many spellbooks by the shelves while Yeonjun is sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Yeonjun is indeed, purple.
“Hi,” Beomgyu says. He isn’t sure what else he should say, really.
Yeonjun lifts his head slightly to look at him, his face pouty and miserable.
“Yeonjun walked into my room while I was mid-spell,” Kai explains, pausing his flip through the spellbook. “The problem is, I wasn’t finished brewing or casting, so I’m not exactly sure how to reverse it yet.”
“Why did you walk in without knocking?”
Yeonjun’s color shifts from purple to a light shade of pink. Watching the color change is interesting. The glow of the purple dims, and then is replaced by the pink. Beomgyu has never watched someone do that before.
“Oh, pink means–” Kai starts, but he’s interrupted by Yeonjun.
“Please don’t analyze my colors. This is too invasive,” Yeonjun whines petulantly. He curls in on himself on the couch, his tail swishing back and forth in irritation.
“I won’t analyze your colors since that bothers you,” Beomgyu promises empathetically. “But why are you changing colors? This isn’t a cat sprite thing, is it?”
“He changes color based on his emotions.” Kai grabs three different spellbooks and sits on the rug with them.
Yeonjun makes a muffled whining sound.
“Oh, that’s not too bad. Does it bother you that much?” Beomgyu asks in worry.
“Yes,” Yeonjun huffs, his ears swishing from front-facing to the sides. He doesn’t elaborate.
Beomgyu wishes he would; he feels so lost on everything that’s going on. However, he doesn’t want to pry since Yeonjun doesn’t seem comfortable with that.
Beomgyu pushes away his feelings of confusion. He hates feeling that way, like everyone knows something that he doesn’t. He decides to distract himself by helping Kai. Beomgyu knows one thing for sure: he doesn’t like seeing Yeonjun so sulky and upset. If Beomgyu helps Kai figure out how to reverse it sooner, Yeonjun can go back to acting like his inexplicable catlike self.
“Let me help you. Just tell me what to look for.” Beomgyu grabs a few crystals that soothe him and makes himself comfortable on the rug across from Kai. He opens one of the spellbooks.
Kai rattles off a few ingredients and incantations Beomgyu should be looking for. Beomgyu nods and notes them in his mind as he begins searching through the book.
Beomgyu doesn’t see Yeonjun peeking at him from the couch, shimmering a bright shade of fuchsia.
Yeonjun is grooming his tail while Beomgyu knits a hat on the couch. Kai is still searching for a counter-spell, but he’s requested to do the rest of his work alone. As much as Beomgyu wishes he could help the young witch, he understands that sometimes Kai feels like he works best alone.
Beomgyu takes a break from his knitting every five minutes to change the sequins on the sequin pillow to the opposite color. Yeonjun had been reading, but Beomgyu supposes grooming his tail is his version of taking a break.
It’s sunny inside their apartment. Kai had opened their blinds, explaining that he needed more sunlight streaming through the apartment than usual to help him think. Beomgyu has no complaints, the natural brightness reflects beautifully on his wings and reminds him of a pretty, sunny meadow.
Hopefully, he can get a break from work soon to visit his realm.
Beomgyu eyes Yeonjun from the side. They have been spending more and more time together lately, and Beomgyu really enjoys it. Yeonjun is just as content as he is to spend time together doing some type of parallel play. While they do activities together too, Beomgyu enjoys these moments of quality time just by being in his friends' presence.
Beomgyu catches Yeonjun’s tail movements from his peripheral. He’s pretty curious about Yeonjun’s tail. Aside from the ears and tail, Yeonjun’s appearance is pretty human-like at first glance. His cat ears sit right at the top of his head, and he has regular human ears as well. So…where was his tail poking out from?
Beomgyu considers the question. For cats, it was right above their buttholes. But Yeonjun has a human butt. At least, Beomgyu thinks he does. He’s definitely seen a little bit of plumpness on Yeonjun’s backside. Not that he was looking or anything. Really.
Beomgyu decides to quell his curiosity. But first, he’ll open with a joke. That should lighten him up and make it easier to get some information out of Yeonjun.
“Yeonjun hyung?”
“Hmm?” Yeonjun hums in response.
“What’s a cat's favorite day of the week?” Beomgyu grins.
“I dunno,” Yeonjun mutters. “I like Fridays, I guess.”
“It’s Cat-urday!”
Yeonjun gives him a deadpan stare before he resumes licking himself. Unfortunately, Beomgyu misses the curl of Yeonjun’s lip as he forces himself not to laugh.
“Does your tail come out of your butt or is it like, above the crack?”
Yeonjun freezes, and his ears swivel sideways as he begins to glow red.
Beomgyu gasps. He said he wasn’t going to analyze Yeonjun’s colors, but red was a pretty clear giveaway of how Yeonjun felt.
“You’re mad at me!” Beomgyu accuses, pointing one of his ring-covered fingers at Yeonjun. Why was Yeonjun even mad at him? Beomgyu feels sulky on the inside. He hates when his friends are upset with him.
“I—What? No, I’m not mad.” Yeonjun’s ears start revolving wildly. Even as he denies it, Yeonjun is still glowing bright red.
“You are! Because I asked if your tail comes out your butt!” Beomgyu argues back.
“Well, I mean, c’mon, who asks that?” Yeonjun protests. “Of course I won’t feel happy after hearing questions about my tail and my ass.”
“It was a valid question,” Beomgyu replies, but even as he says it he deflates. Yeonjun is right, when he thinks about it. Beomgyu supposes it is strange to ask questions about someone’s tail and ass. He didn’t think about it thoroughly before asking; curiosity getting the best of him.
The red color fades and is replaced with an odd shade of chartreuse as Yeonjun scoots over to Beomgyu, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Beomgyu. Your question just caught me off guard and put me in a fight or flight mode.”
“Have I been rude this whole time?” Beomgyu suddenly asks.
Beomgyu genuinely enjoys getting to know Yeonjun and all his quirks. He’s pretty inquisitive by nature, and Yeonjun is an anomaly. He wants to know all there is to know about Yeonjun. However, Beomgyu knows how to be tactful and considerate, and he realizes he hasn’t been either.
Beomgyu’s shoulders sag, and his heart feels heavy in his chest, as if the heartstrings are straining to hang onto it before it plummets into his stomach. Beomgyu hadn’t meant to be inconsiderate, but he was anyway.
Yeonjun’s chartreuse color fades into a muted indigo. “No!” Yeonjun reassures him, panic coloring (ha) his voice. “No, you haven’t been rude. I don’t mind your questions usually.”
“You minded this one,” Beomgyu points out. He hopes he doesn’t sound as upset as he feels.
“Just this once. That’s not a big deal.” Yeonjun’s frown deepens while observing Beomgyu’s reaction. “Beomgyu, please. You’re my friend. I don’t mind telling you about my species at all. If I was bothered before, I would have honestly told you.”
Beomgyu takes a deep breath. Truthfully, hearing that does ease the weight in his chest. He hates the feeling of being bothersome, but he trusts Yeonjun enough to know he would communicate with him if there had been something wrong.
“Are you sure?” Beomgyu presses.
“Yes,” Yeonjun insists.
Beomgyu must not look convinced enough, because Yeonjun scoots closer to him and knocks his head against his shoulder. Beomgyu blinks in surprise as Yeonjun begins rubbing his head against Beomgyu’s arm.
Beomgyu slowly warms, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Beomgyu read online once that cats rub against people to comfort them. Yeonjun was comforting him.
Beomgyu was the one who caused all this, yet Yeonjun was more concerned about Beomgyu and his emotions.
Beomgyu feels a strange, springy sensation in his stomach.
Kai enters the living room a little bit later to find Beomgyu lying on the couch, wide awake with a sleeping Yeonjun on top of him.
“Kai!” Beomgyu whisper-shouts. “Please come scratch my nose, I can’t move my arm.”
Kai cocks his head in confusion.
“He was comforting me and it turned into cuddling,” Beomgyu explains in a whisper.
“That doesn’t explain why you can’t move your arm.”
“It would wake him up. You should never wake up a cat!”
“First of all, your knowledge on cats is purely things you learned off of Google and TikTok. Secondly, he’s a cat sprite, not a cat,” Kai corrects.
“He’s so peaceful and pretty like this though,” Beomgyu sighs dreamily. “We should have gotten a cat sooner. He’s my best friend.”
Kai looks at him weirdly. Beomgyu frowns. He hates not knowing what Kai is thinking, but as perceptive as Beomgyu can be, he is pretty bad at reading people’s faces sometimes. It’s a lose-lose for him.
“What?”
“Nothing.” Kai shakes his head. “I just realized something. Don’t worry about it.”
Beomgyu doesn’t like the sound of that.
A few days pass, and Kai still hasn’t found a cure for Yeonjun. Beomgyu requires a calming evening to recharge, feeling worn out as of late. He prepares some chamomile tea, adds some scented oil to the diffuser (lily and mint, a soothing combination), and plays with his fidget worm on the couch.
Since he arrived home from work, Beomgyu hasn’t seen Kai nor Yeonjun. It was typical of Kai to hole himself in sometimes, but Yeonjun would usually slink out of his room by now.
It should have been a sign that something wasn’t quite right, but Beomgyu was too tired to worry.
Kai saunters into the living room carrying a purple cat.
“Beomgyu hyung… can you watch him for a little while?”
Beomgyu sits up, a rush of excitement flowing through him at the thought of Yeonjun interacting with a real cat. But then it dawns on Beomgyu that the cat is purple.
“Kai… don’t tell me that’s Yeonjun hyung.”
“Well, then I won’t tell you,” Kai replies petulantly. He’s a bit pouty.
Beomgyu gently takes the cat from Kai and sets him down on the couch. When he sits next to Yeonjun, he meows before bumping his head against Beomgyu. The cat turns fuchsia.
“Should I even ask what happened?”
“Don’t worry about it. I think I can have the cure within like, two days? I just need you to help me watch over him.”
Beomgyu simply nods, too busy petting Yeonjun the cat to listen fully. Yeonjun rubs his head against Beomgyu’s arm and hand. He’s quite the attention-seeking cat; Beomgyu can barely keep up petting him before Yeonjun butts his head against his hand for more.
When you take a good look at the cat, it’s very clearly Yeonjun. The fur pattern and color is identical to that of Yeonjun’s human-like form; however it does feel weird to not see the ears and tail shifting back and forth between translucency and opacity.
Beomgyu hasn’t actually touched Yeonjun’s cat parts before today. He finds him rather cute in his current form.
Beomgyu hears Kai chuckle and shuffle around, gathering some ingredients he needs.
“Do you think Yeonjun hyung is upset?” Beomgyu asks suddenly. Cats don’t exactly have many means to express themselves. Beomgyu bites his lip in worry thinking about how Yeonjun might be feeling.
“I don’t know, but if he’s mad at me, that's fair. I mean, I should have fixed him by now, but he’s still changing colors and now he’s a cat .”
Beomgyu frowns, glancing up at Kai as he continues to pet Yeonjun. “Hey, I don’t like it when you’re too hard on yourself.”
“I’ll go easier on myself,” Kai promises before swiftly disappearing into his room.
Beomgyu sighs and shifts to lay down on the couch, letting Yeonjun crawl on top of him.
“Don’t be too upset with him, okay? He’s trying, and he’s way more panicked about this than he lets on.”
Yeonjun meows in response. Beomgyu smiles. “You’re so cute like this,” Beomgyu coos, gently scratching under Yeonjun’s chin.
They stay like that for a while, basking in silence while Beomgyu continues to stroke Yeonjun’s soft fur, the warm cat pressed against him.
Beomgyu really likes this feeling. It’s warm and gentle. There’s a soft sensation in his chest, like the beautiful spring sun is shining upon his heart.
In a way, it reminds him of the sense of happiness and contentment he experiences in his close friendship with Kai. Yet, it also feels different, as if magnified ten times over. It’s a little confusing to Beomgyu, but he doesn’t pay it any mind.
Beomgyu’s never had a friend who is a cat before. Naturally, there are some things he needs to try.
Even as a cat, Yeonjun slinks off to his room every night to sleep. It gives Beomgyu the perfect opportunity to wake up early the next day to strategically place cucumbers around the apartment, targeting areas he knew Yeonjun would walk around but wouldn’t immediately notice them in.
Beomgyu’s seen several videos of cats being afraid of cucumbers. They make him laugh until his sides hurt, so he simply has to test the theory while he has the chance.
Beomgyu innocently sits on the soft, furry rug with a notebook he scribbles drawings of his favorite plants in from time to time. He hums to himself quietly as he sketches a tiger lily from memory.
Eventually, Yeonjun waltzes out of his room, fluffy tail swishing behind him. He pauses at the living room entrance to stretch, his front paws extended as he pushes his weight onto his back and yawns.
Beomgyu breaks into a grin.
Yeonjun steps over to his makeshift water bowl they put out for him and gives it a couple licks before finally noticing the cucumber next to him.
It’s cinematic the way Yeonjun’s cat eyes widen and he cartoonishly leaps several feet into the air, jumping away from the offending vegetable.
Beomgyu breaks into a cackle, bending over in laughter. The situation turns even more hilarious when Yeonjun, who is now purple, turns to find another cucumber behind him and quite literally does a backflip in an attempt to leap away from it.
Beomgyu collapses onto the floor, his entire body shaking in laughter. He’s practically wheezing, gasping for air from how hard he’s laughing and slapping the floor. Yeonjun hisses at him in what Beomgyu assumes is supposed to be an angry tone, as he’s now turned red.
“I’m sorry,” Beomgyu chortles. “Oh my stars, that was so funny. I’m so sorry.”
Yeonjun hisses at him again, louder this time.
“I can’t believe you’re really that scared of cucumbers,” Beomgyu pants, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he catches his breath. “I should have recorded it.”
Yeonjun’s color fades from red to pink, and he sulks away.
“I’m sorry!” Beomgyu calls out, pushing out his lower lip. “I had to try it just once.”
Yeonjun continues distancing himself from Beomgyu, ears flickering back and forth.
“Let’s watch TV together?” Beomgyu tries, his palms sweaty with anticipation at the possibility of rejection.
Yeonjun twists and walks back to him, bumping his head against Beomgyu’s arm.
Beomgyu’s shoulders sag in relief.
His body completely relaxes against the couch as Yeonjun lies on top of him, like a bee resting on a flower.
A few more days pass. On some of those days, work is tiring. Beomgyu comes home and his bones feel like lead. Any force could topple him over with minimal effort as he drags himself home.
It’s difficult to unwind. Beomgyu isn’t even aware of just how tense he really is until he’s on his yoga mat practicing stretches that a wise, elderly fae taught him before he left the realm.
Beomgyu never particularly wants to do his stretches, yet he somehow always feels less like a tightly coiled rope after completing them.
Once he’s done, Beomgyu can finally focus on doing some knitting. Knitting is good. Beomgyu loves it. He just needed to unravel before he could get himself to dabble in the hobbies he enjoys and turn his day around.
He’s working on a blanket. Yeonjun eventually joins him, lazily lounging on the couch after he spends multiple minutes kneading the cushion.
“Hi,” Beomgyu greets him brightly.
Yeonjun meows in response.
“I think I’m going to make pasta for dinner tonight. I’m out of acorns though.”
Yeonjun just stares at him with his half-lidded cat eyes.
“I like you as a cat, but sometimes I miss your regular form. I want to cuddle with your gangly limbs right now.” Beomgyu pauses knitting to pout at Yeonjun.
Yeonjun sluggishly gets up and settles his paws next to Beomgyu’s leg. He begins kneading the cushion there, and he even kneads Beomgyu a little bit.
“I knew you wanted to cuddle me too! You’re so cute as a cat,” Beomgyu coos and shakes his fists in happiness.
Beomgyu gives him a few gentle pats and resumes knitting while Yeonjun kneads and purrs.
“How has your day been?” Beomgyu asks after a few moments of silence.
Yeonjun meows in response. Then, rather than settling in the spot he’d been kneading, he jumps onto the coffee table and nudges the book he’s reading. Or rather, the book he was reading before he turned into a cat.
Beomgyu gingerly picks it up and Yeonjun resumes his kneading next to him.
“A romance novel, hm? I never realized that was the genre of the books you read.”
Yeonjun meows and turns an orange color. He looks like a tangerine. Beomgyu assumes he’s embarrassed, if the bashful turn of his little kitty head is anything to go by.
“Oh, you haven’t been able to read since you turned into a cat, have you?” Beomgyu frowns.
Beomgyu was able to come home and enjoy his evenings as usual while Yeonjun was still stuck as a cat, unable to resume his regular activities. Beomgyu feels a pang in his chest because he didn’t realize sooner. His heart aches.
“I’m sorry, it must be tough, huh?”
Yeonjun turns blue.
“What if I read to you?” Beomgyu suggests with a spike of ambition. He flips through the book until he finds the fancy bookmark Yeonjun recently acquired, a pretty cardstock and tassel piece with an adorable beige-colored cat holding up a paw that says You paws-ed right here!
Yeonjun meows, then again and again. He steps into Beomgyu’s lap and turns yellow.
“Okay, okay!” Beomgyu giggles. “I’ll read it to you. Sit down so I can actually open the book.”
Yeonjun comfortably presses up against him while Beomgyu clears his throat and starts reading.
Beomgyu reads out loud, page after page. The plot is truly intriguing; Beomgyu’s voice wavers in excitement at some points and he even gasps out loud because of some of the dialogue.
Yeonjun was already halfway through the book, but even with the missing context Beomgyu is just as invested as him.
Yeonjun isn’t vocal while Beomgyu reads to him, but Beomgyu has learned to read his little cat tells. His expressions, ears, and tail give away just how engaged he is in the story.
Some time at the 30-minute mark, Beomgyu’s voice feels somewhat sore and he pauses to down some cool water. He continues reading after that.
They migrate to the floor at some point, with Beomgyu laying on the furry carpet as he holds the book up in the air. Yeonjun is resting on his stomach.
Kai discovers them sleeping that way, the open book resting on Beomgyu’s face after both Beomgyu and Yeonjun have dozed off.
Kai finds and creates an antidote.
Yeonjun has been a cat for a couple weeks now, so it feels like a relief to all three of them.
Beomgyu’s hands shake in anticipation while Kai carefully administers it to Yeonjun. He aches to cuddle and watch TV with human-like Yeonjun again. He tries not to think about how long he’s been stuck in his cat form, for Yeonjun’s sake.
Kai pours the potion into Yeonjun’s waiting mouth. Beomgyu can tell he’s anxious by the way his thick eyebrows are furrowed together.
Yeonjun’s tongue darts out a few times, licking at his lips.
They wait.
Nothing happens.
Kai’s eyebrows remain furrowed and his shoulders droop. Beomgyu’s heart swoops low in his chest. Yeonjun turns blue and promptly jumps down from the table he’d been perched on, darting under the couch.
Kai steps forward, opening his mouth, but Beomgyu interjects.
“I’ll handle it,” he says gently. “It’ll be okay.”
Kai sulks back to his room. Beomgyu would comfort him, too. But first, Yeonjun.
“Hyung, can you come out of there?”
No shuffling noises. No vocal response. Beomgyu deflates a bit.
“I’m sorry the antidote didn’t work.”
Beomgyu sinks down onto the floor, his back against the couch.
“I really like having you here, Yeonjun hyung. I know I can be a bit peculiar, but aren’t we all? I think you have some peculiarities, too. It’s wonderful, in my opinion, seeing how strikingly different everyone can be, but we still find community and comfort in each other. Like how you fit so well with me and Kai,” Beomgyu reflects out loud, hoping Yeonjun is listening.
“I hope you can forgive us for this mess. I really wanted to give you the chance to learn about me and my realm when we changed you back, as a thank you for sharing so much about your species.”
Yeonjun’s cat head pops out from underneath the couch. Beomgyu was so focused on his speech, he hadn’t even heard him move.
“Oh, hi there.”
Yeonjun crawls out and bumps his head against Beomgyu’s arm.
“Can I pick you up?”
Yeonjun shows no sign of resistance, so Beomgyu carefully tucks him into his arms and makes his way to his own bedroom door.
“Close your eyes for a moment.”
Beomgyu opens the door and leads them inside.
He tells Yeonjun to open his eyes.
Beomgyu’s room is, simply put, ethereal.
It’s the mirror image of an outdoor enchanted forest. The entire floor is covered with soft grass and some overgrown weeds. There’s a cluster of poppy flowers growing in one corner, and a beautiful willow tree in another. The sunlight hits the willow tree at a perfect angle, paired with the gentlest breeze, making the cascading and shifting leaves look like dancing fae.
There’s an abundance of flowers and clovers spread all throughout the room, including neatly organized rows of tulips, daffodils, and sunflowers. Dahlias, peonies, tiger lilies, and marigolds are organized into a neat circle with a flat stone sitting in the middle for meditation. Spread around are also different types of shrubs; some ivy and sorbaria of beautiful forest green, strawberry and blueberry bushes lavish with fruit, and rosemary and jasmine skirting around a small running stream of water.
The gentle buzzing of pollinating bees fills the air, like a soothing white noise. The bees travel from flower to flower. Some butterflies fly past Beomgyu and Yeonjun, resembling pretty, colorful kites.
Oversized lilies of the valley, bluebells, and lapageria hang above, but instead of a ceiling, the view is a vibrant, rosy sunset.
Yeonjun is silent for a while, taking it all in.
“My room is sort of like a portal to the fae realm, but it’s closed off so no one can accidentally venture in or anything. It was really hard setting this all up, but it was worth it. I already have a strong spiritual connection to the fae realm, but this gives me a physical one even though I’m not in the place I used to call home.” Beomgyu moseys through a patch of clovers and dandelions around the stream of water before he settles on the floor, gingerly putting Yeonjun down and allowing the cat to move freely. He tiptoes around, not straying too far just yet, sniffing at the plants closest to him.
“My room is, like, my own private space that caters to my needs. It’s all just for me.”
Yeonjun turns back towards him, his eyes wide in alarm.
“I wanted to let you in here,” Beomgyu reassures him. “I was just explaining why it’s so important to me. Trust me, I want to share this part of me with you.”
Yeonjun returns to Beomgyu’s side and bumps his head against him, meowing. Beomgyu chuckles and runs his fingers through Yeonjun’s fur. Yeonjun turns fuchsia.
Beomgyu swore he wouldn’t analyze Yeonjun’s colors, but he has a hopeful inkling about what this one means. His rapidly beating heart hopes that he’s right.
For the rest of the evening, Beomgyu watches as Yeonjun enjoys the serenity of Beomgyu’s room. He alternates between walking among the rows of flowers, relaxing under the willow, and hiding in the jasmine shrub. He even spends a good amount of time chasing a dragonfly that whistles past him. Yeonjun is jumping and running and pouncing, yet still fails to capture the dragonfly in the end. It’s no matter, Beomgyu found the entire ordeal amusing and adorable anyway.
Beomgyu is finishing tending to his wings when Yeonjun approaches him, curiously peering up at the sky. Beomgyu realizes it’s gotten late. The stars are twinkling above them in the clear night sky.
“Do you want to sleep in here with me?”
Yeonjun meows in affirmation, and they slip into Beomgyu’s bed, a person-sized foxglove flower.
The warm rumbling of Yeonjun purring on his chest helps Beomgyu drift off to sleep.
Beomgyu wakes to the sound of soft snoring. When he finally comes to, Yeonjun is lying on top of him.
Human-like Yeonjun, with his tall, lanky body and translucent ears and tail.
“Yeonjun hyung!” Beomgyu gasps, his fists shaking in excitement as he tries to stir Yeonjun awake. “Hyung, wake up!”
In true cat-sprite fashion, Yeonjun wakes up all slow and lazy. He yawns and starts stretching his limbs before realizing he’s confined in Beomgyu’s bed. That’s when his eyes snap open.
“Oh my god, Beomgyu.” Yeonjun’s voice is a bit raspy. Probably from not being used for quite some time.
“You changed back! I was your cure all along.” Beomgyu smiles at him goofily. He’s so glad, he feels the elation tingling in every part of his body.
Yeonjun surges forward and kisses him. Beomgyu gasps, his eyes fluttering shut as he succumbs to the silky texture of Yeonjun’s lips while his heart rate rapidly rises. Yeonjun… was kissing him? Beomgyu’s brain moves as quickly as his heart, thoughts speeding through his mind like race cars on a track. Yeonjun is kissing him. That means he likes Beomgyu. Beomgyu’s chest and hands tingle, like he’s being tickled with a feather.
Beomgyu doesn’t really need to think so hard about whether or not he likes Yeonjun back. He felt clueless about a lot of things sometimes, but not this. The happiness that hits him when he has conversations with Yeonjun, the fondness that courses through him when he looks at him, and the way he always feels so much lighter after spending time with him were clear indicators he likes Yeonjun, too. A lot.
Beomgyu sighs into the kiss, wanting to melt into Yeonjun’s warm touch.
“Beomgyu,” Yeonjun whispers when he pulls away. It’s so pleasing—the way his name rolls off Yeonjun's tongue. Beomgyu loves it.
“I don’t think I was actually your cure, I hope this isn’t a misunderstanding.”
Yeonjun laughs. Beomgyu’s heart swoops in his chest.
“I know. Kai’s potion must have needed some time to kick in. Or maybe…” Yeonjun reaches a finger out to trace the outline of Beomgyu’s lips. “Maybe being in here helped trigger something. I don’t know. But thank you, anyway.”
Beomgyu is too busy staring at Yeonjun’s hand to reply.
“And thank you for sharing your space with me.” Yeonjun removes his hand from Beomgyu’s face and finds his hand instead, intertwining their fingers together. “It means a lot to me.”
“Of course,” Beomgyu replies. “You’re welcome here anytime. You can bring your shoe to play with, too.”
Yeonjun laughs.
“I’m kinda going to miss you as a cat…”
“I actually can transform into one. That was my real cat form, I just couldn’t transform out of it while that curse was on me.”
Beomgyu runs the fingers of his other hand over the bumps of Yeonjun’s and Beomgyu’s intertwined ones. He likes the feeling of their hands joined together like this.
“Will you transform into a cat to cuddle with me when I’m sad then?” Beomgyu asks hopefully.
Yeonjun gazes at him fondly.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Why are you dragging a cat scratching post into the apartment?” Kai asks Beomgyu when he steps into the living room to find Beomgyu doing, well, exactly that.
“Because I am a loving and attentive partner.”
“Right…” Kai raises his eyebrows, unimpressed. “Yeonjun hyung actually said he wants one of those for his room?”
“Well, no. Not exactly,” Beomgyu replies, huffing. “But I know him. Now help me move this thing.”
Kai dutifully listens, and with his help Beomgyu is able to deposit the scratching post in Yeonjun’s room.
In one corner of Yeonjun’s room, Beomgyu and Kai used their joint magic to grow a medium-sized ginkgo tree and create a natural pond. There is a shrine made of stones that Kai doesn’t recall helping with.
“I added those. It’s for his cat-sprite spirituality-ness stuff,” Beomgyu explains. “I finally found information about cat sprites in one of your old, dusty books.”
“What about cat sprites?”
Yeonjun enters the room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He’d been napping in Beomgyu’s room.
“Come see what we’ve done with this place. The Pinterest girls are going to seethe with jealousy,” Beomgyu says as he pulls Yeonjun deeper into the room by the arm.
Yeonjun takes a moment to study his surroundings before he breaks out into a tearful smile, his eyes watering.
“Why are you crying?” Beomgyu asks, horrified he’s done something wrong. Maybe Yeonjun liked oak trees more than ginkgo? Beomgyu should have been more careful in selecting.
“I’m crying because I love it. Thank you both so much.” Yeonjun squeezes Kai in a hug, and then Beomgyu, who slouches into him.
Yeonjun’s hugs always have a way of removing tension from his body he didn’t even know was there.
“Hyung,” Beomgyu mumbles from where he’s pressed against Yeonjun’s chest. “You’re squishing me.”
Yeonjun giggles and pulls back slightly.
“You should either meow or give me a kiss as an apology,” Beomgyu reasons.
Yeonjun does both.