Go Hoon’s eyes flew open without warning. The moment he woke up, a blinding pain cleaved through his skull. Grimacing, he squeezed his eyes shut again and tried to grind his sluggish brain into motion. One by one, he retraced the fragmented shards of memory.
…So, what the hell happened yesterday?
It hadn’t been long since Go Hoon was discharged from the military. Although military service wasn’t mandatory for orphans like him, he’d enlisted in the army of his own volition and had completed his service just a week ago. He still had four months to go before returning to university.
Thanks to that, he had ended up at the factory where he used to work, showing up after a long absence. After finishing work early, he was practically dragged by the scruff of his neck by a bunch of drunk uncles into a drinking party held under the grand pretext of “Our Beloved Go Hoon’s Discharge and Glorious Return to the Factory.”
Naturally, Go Hoon had been completely fed up with it. What kind of grown-ass men called a big guy with a thick mop of hair beloved? It was nauseating.
“Hey, you little punk! We were all wondering when you’d finally go to the army and get out. Look at you now, all grown up. A real man now! Hahaha─!”
The factory manager, more thrilled than the freshly discharged soldier himself, had kept yelling for shots, over and over. Go Hoon had no idea how many glasses of soju he ended up downing. He wasn’t exactly a lightweight, so it was his own damn fault for not dodging harder.
His clear mind slowly turned to mush, pickled in alcohol, until his limbs no longer obeyed him, and eventually his vision went pitch black.
His last memory was of clutching a streetlamp while retching his guts out. Uweeeeegh. With a wet, violent noise, he’d hurled up the expensive beef that had been sitting heavily in his throat. Wrinkling his nose at the acrid stench of stomach acid mixed with alcohol, Go Hoon muttered,
‘…What a waste. Dammit, what a waste.’
Even in his drunken stupor, he was sober enough to mourn the money he’d wasted, repeating what a waste like a broken machine. Then, curled up on the freezing asphalt, he’d fallen asleep as if it were a cozy bed.
Fuck. Seriously. If they were gonna force-feed him that much booze, the least they could’ve done was take care of the cleanup. Those guys knew how to pour drinks down his throat, but not how to look after someone.
They were always whining about how their wives nagged them when they got home—well, no wonder. There was a reason they got scolded every damn day. Not a shred of sense among them.
Though Go Hoon directed his resentment at them, he knew deep down that he had probably waved them off when they’d tried to call him a cab. He probably pretended to be stone sober too.
He was the type who didn’t show he was drunk, even when he was. He powered through on willpower alone. And right when he made it near home, he’d end up collapsing somewhere on the street. The only silver lining was that, somehow, he always made it back—his body had some kind of damn homing instinct.
‘Guess I crawled back again somehow.’ With a blank stare, he rubbed his forehead. The pain was brutal. First things first, he needed painkillers. He had no idea what time it was, but he had to show up at the factory by afternoon.
As soon as he made up his mind, he started to push his heavy body upright—and that’s when he felt something off. Where the hell was he? He squinted and scanned his surroundings. He reached up absently to scratch the back of his head, which was probably a mess—and froze.
…What the hell?
A soft, jelly-like pink paw pad came into view. Dumbfounded, he opened and closed his hand. The fluffy, white-furred paw responded in perfect sync, wriggling cutely.
Oh. That’s… kind of cute.
That dazed thought was quickly followed by utter horror.
“Meooowww?”
The sound that slipped out of his mouth was bizarre. He couldn’t believe it had come from him. No way in hell could such a cutesy, saccharine sound come from the mouth of a 23-year-old grown-ass man. It was enough to make his hair stand on end.
“Meowwwwwww─!”
Panicked, Go Hoon tried to scream. But the same thing happened again. His vocal cords weren’t working properly. The alcohol-induced fog instantly evaporated, and he snapped awake. He jerked his body upright—and found even more disturbing details.
First off, his eye level was absurdly low. At 184 centimeters tall, Go Hoon was a big guy. Normally, most furniture would seem low to him. Same with people. But now, even standing upright, the view didn’t open up at all.
And his vision—it was weird. The flood of visual information rushing in didn’t feel human. The field of view was strange, the world slightly hazy, like he was looking through a lens.
If there was one thing he’d always been confident in, it was his natural strength and eyesight. But now, he couldn’t make sense of anything. His brain was overloaded.
The strangest part? All four of his limbs were stuck to the ground. No matter how hard he tried to stand on two legs, his body wouldn’t listen. What the actual hell was going on? Was he seriously walking on all fours?
When he looked down, he saw tufts of fur. With a horrified twist of his neck, he examined himself. Covered in fur. Everywhere. And when he craned his head further back—there it was. A large, bushy gray tail, puffed up in a wide arc. Was that really his?
Staggered, Go Hoon spun around in circles, trying to get a look.
They say when people get blackout drunk, they turn into animals. Had he literally done that—cast off his human dignity and crawled on all fours until he actually became a damn animal?
Or… was he still drunk?
“Meoooooow.”
Even when he poured every bit of confusion and cursing into his voice, all that came out was a feeble animal cry.
And then it hit him. This wasn’t a dog.
That familiar mewling tone, those dainty little paws, the fluid sway of a tail. All three signs pointed to the same thing.
“MEOWWW!”
A cat.
Still, he couldn’t bring himself to believe it. A normal 20-something man, just barely scraping through life, gets hammered one night and wakes up as a cat? What kind of twisted, utterly ridiculous nonsense was this?
This was the kind of thing you’d only ever see in novels, movies—or maybe some absurd TV drama.
Could he have been subjected to some kind of body modification experiment while unconscious? No. That was ridiculous. How could something so tragic happen in the heart of a capitalist country like South Korea? No matter how desperate he might’ve been for quick cash, Go Hoon swore he had never, not once, signed up for any clinical trial or sketchy part-time experiment.
As if things weren’t already insane, that wasn’t even the worst of it. Where the hell were his phone, wallet, and clothes? Everything was a mystery.
Only then did he become truly aware of his current state—a completely naked, fur-covered body. Humans, as a species, had a natural sense of shame and dignity, which was why they wore clothes. But now, in this perfect state of non-nudity-nudity, he felt incredibly awkward.
And seriously, where was this place?
Go Hoon glanced quickly around. He was standing in the middle of a large bed.
He tried moving his unfamiliar body. His four legs didn’t seem to belong to him, clumsily reacting to his commands. He nearly fell over several times before barely managing to steady himself. As he walked, cautiously, step by shaky step, it felt like he was a baby learning how to take their first steps.
Once he’d gotten the hang of it, he headed toward the edge of the bed. He stopped and craned his head upward to get a better look at the room.
Just as he’d suspected, it looked like someone’s bedroom. The decor was neat and homey, clearly designed with some care. A sleek, expensive-looking laptop sat on top of a white desk.
His eyes swept across the room and locked onto a particular spot. There were two doors—one across from him and another to the right. The right-hand door was slightly ajar. Judging by the position, it probably wasn’t connected to a living room. More likely, it was a bathroom. If nowhere else, there should at least be a mirror in there.
Once he’d mapped the layout, he lowered his gaze. The bed sat a good distance above the floor. Would a fall from here actually kill him? Probably not. Go Hoon gulped, then jumped.
Tap. He landed more softly than expected. His body moved well. He was light—shockingly so. The sensation was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. But there was no time to marvel. He quickly got moving again.
He crept up to the bathroom and peeked his head through the gap in the door. It was dark inside, but somehow he could see it all as clearly as if he were wearing night vision goggles. Still, he’d need light for a better look.
He lifted his gaze, and there—up on the wall—was the light switch. Could he reach that? If he really had turned into a cat, it should be doable.
Go Hoon focused on his target. His butt twitched instinctively. Then, revving up like an engine, he sprang.
Tap! With a crisp sound, the light flicked on. …Not bad at all. Pleased with his agile new body, he snapped back to reality and slipped through the crack in the door.
The bathroom lit up brightly. The chill of the tiled floor registered instantly against his paw pads. Carefully, he stepped up onto the toilet and braced his front paws against the sink.
Time to confirm what he looked like.
He swallowed hard, climbed fully onto the sink, and lifted his body up.
The moment he saw the mirror, he couldn’t help but let out a stunned exclamation.
A fluffy cat with striking sapphire eyes was staring back at him. Even as a human, no one had ever called him ugly, but this—this feline version of himself was, by any standard, downright stunning.
“Meow.”
Fascinated, he pressed his face close to the mirror for a better look. He looked like a plush toy. His nose was the same soft pink as his paw pads. Faint gray fur accented his eyes and forehead, with a harmonious blend of white and gray fur across his back.
Go Hoon turned this way and that, inspecting his reflection.
He remembered hearing somewhere that cats were red-green colorblind. But even in this body, he could still distinguish colors just fine. The visual information processed differently than before, but his ability to see color remained intact. Was it because he used to be human?
But seriously—why the hell did this happen to him?
Still tangled in unanswered questions, groaning with frustration, he suddenly heard a click—the sound of a door opening from beyond the bathroom.
“Where’d it go?”
A human voice.
Go Hoon’s soft ears perked up instinctively. He turned his head toward the direction of the sound. Footsteps followed. Judging by the heavy tread, the person was big.
His ears twitched sharply, finely tuned to every sound. The calm footsteps circled the room and slowly moved closer.
“The light in here is…”
The low voice was right outside the bathroom now.
Tense, Go Hoon jumped down from the sink and darted into a corner. He crouched low, every muscle braced to bolt the moment the door opened.
