even the unknowns ; chenji

bowtie's blight

jisung

"Dude, slow down."

Chenle is twenty paces behind him — dawdling, taking forever, wasting time. Jisung skids to a stop at the Lims' door, knocks as fast and loud as he can. To get to Bowtie the cat, Jisung will have to lie his way into an elderly couple's home. Doesn't sound great on paper. But it'll be worth it. It has to be.

Bowtie's life — and Jisung's future — depend on it.

"Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up," Jisung mutters. "This is taking too long."

"It's been four seconds," says Chenle. "Chill. Breathe a little."

"Breathing isn't going to help Bo— oh hi Mrs. Lim!"

The door is suddenly open and Mrs. Lim is looking out at them, confused. "Oh. Jisung, Chenle. What's going on?"

"We forgot to return a Tupperware."

He hands it to her. She turns it over and says, "This isn't mine."

"That's okay, you can keep it. Chenle has something to say."

They both look at Chenle. His mouth opens and closes and opens again. "Uh, yeah. I was really sorry to hear about Bowtie. I thought you, me and Mr. Lim could go to the coffee shop for something to eat, drink, whatever. Some fresh air too. My treat."

"Who is it, dear?" Mr. Lim comes up behind her. "Oh, boys, I didn't realize—"

"Chenle was just offering to go with you to the coffee shop, his treat," says Jisung. It's probably a jumble of words but they seem to get the gist.

"That's very kind of you, Chenle," says Mrs. Lim, "but I don't want to leave Bowtie by himself at a time like this. He gets lonely, you see."

"I'll look after him," Jisung says. "Just until you're back. You won't take too long, right?"

Mrs. Lim narrows her eyes at him, like he's a cat killer on the loose. "I don't know."

"It might be a good idea," says Mr. Lim. "A walk, a latte, one of those danishes you like. We'll be right back, and Bowtie won't get too lonely with Jisung here."

Mrs. Lim deliberates. Jisung holds his breath. Finally she says, "Well. Yes, maybe it's a good idea. Jisung, let me give you my number in case of emergency — and please, stay out of the kitchen."

After writing down her number — plus two backups and the cat clinic's — Chenle and the Lims leave the suite. The door clicks shut behind them. Jisung spins around and marches toward the couch, where Bowtie is sprawled, panting with his tongue hanging out. His head jerks up when Jisung kneels in front of the couch.

"Okay, we don't have a lot of time so, hi, I'm Jisung, and I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to realize that I might be the one person around here that could actually help you — but I'm here now! So please, tell me what's going on and I'll tell the Lims exactly how to make sure you get better."

Bowtie just looks at him, blinking heavily.

"Um. Yeah. You don't have to pretend not to understand me. I'm in on the cats' secret."

He still doesn't speak, just looks and blinks and pants.

"I swear. I'm a vampire. I have a guide and everything — she should be here soon, her name is Nibbles, we're kind of fighting right now but she promised she'd be here to tell me more about cat diseases and—"

"We don't have time for prattle." Suddenly Nibbles is jumping down from the windowsill, perching herself on the arm of the couch. She says something in cat language. Jisung recognizes his own name amid the meows and screeching. (He can almost pronounce it himself, but his throat always hurts afterward.)