Cat Boy

28 | rocket

Vernon hadn't bothered to lock the front door before, so when the knock resounds a few hours later, he doesn't even bother to get up.

"It's open!" he yells in response instead—well, as close as his quietened voice can get to yelling. Something feels off in his throat, has been feeling that way for days now, but he doesn't bother to get it checked out. It's probably got something to do with his stupid feelings again.

Joshua had shown up last night with a secretive smile that had brought a frown on Vernon's forehead and a narrowness to his eyes, but he hadn't bothered with asking the pink-haired boy what he was up to. With Joshua Hong, attempts like that were futile. Vernon should know—he had been living with the boy for so long he could tell apart the different smiled the painter donned while dealing with him.

Despite that, he feels restless. The reason behind his uneasiness he can't quite put his finger on, because it's unlike anything he has ever felt before. Vernon would ask Jeonghan what it was, but the bleached blond hasn't been over since yesterday. The thought of calling Jeonghan takes Vernon by surprise, because a few days ago he would never have considered him someone worthy of that kind of trust. But Jeonghan has won it, and a lot can happen in the course of a few days.

The person outside the apartment knocks again, making Vernon flinch, then frown in annoyance. He thought he had made himself absolutely clear from both the tone of his voice and what he had said, but perhaps— "Coming!"

He drags himself up from the chair and heads towards the door, dread pooling in the pit of his stomach. There's no reason to be afraid, but he can't help the feeling, which pervades his entire body by the time he's at the door. Maybe it's instinct, what Jeonghan likes to call a 'gut feeling'. It's not like Vernon hasn't heard of that phrase before, he just doesn't like using it very much. It doesn't sound very accurate.

Pushing the distracting thoughts cluttering his mind and taking a deep breath, he opens the door.

Daehyun's on the other side, looking exactly as she had the last time he had seen her. Vernon feels the same irrational spark in his body, travelling up his nerves and to his brain in a sudden flare before it dies down just as quickly as it had started. Like an overloaded circuit with a now-blown fuse.

It's the euphoria of her presence that he feels at first, revived and brought back with more than the usual force because of her absence. The death of that comes from the rather unpleasant memory that he has attempted to repress, but has not been able to. It's been living in his head for so long now he doesn't even remember what it feels like to not remember it.

For a few seconds, they simply stare at each other. He notices that she looks uncomfortable, sheepish even, but there's a panicked bravery in her eyes that, coupled with the discomfort, makes her eyes look blank. The muscles of his face are slack.

He suddenly wishes Joshua were home.

Then she speaks, abruptly taking a shuffling step as if pushed forward by some invisible hand. "I brought you something," she says solemnly, raising a folded-up velveteen blanket in her hands. No, not blanket, Vernon realizes as he takes a closer look.

A cat.

Not just any cat, too. It's the Korat from the cat shelter, the one with the tawny eyes as haunting and bright as the hunter's moon, its coat of fur a glossy silver-grey. The Korat regards him with the same yellow eyes, looking at him like, well?

Vernon blinks, coming to his senses, and takes a step back, inviting her in with a slight wave of his hand. His brain is still swimming in a pool of confusing thoughts, many of those now connected with the cat. I brought you something, Daehyun had said, but he struggles to understand what she had meant by that. Brought him the cat? As in stolen it from the shelter and made a run for it?