He stared silently at the blue-eyed beast, then without warning, grabbed its body and scooped it up.
“So this is how you wanna play it, huh?”
Muttering under his breath, he looked down at Go Hoon with pitch-black eyes. Tension crackled in the air. He wouldn’t actually hurt him just because he turned into a cat… right? After all, wasn’t this guy obsessed with Kkongddeok-i?
Bae Jung-yoon studied him for a while, his expression contemplative, then slowly pulled the corners of his lips into a wide grin.
“Kkongddeok-i, congratulations—you’ve won today’s chika-chika (cute onomatopoeia referring to brushing teeth, often used with children or pets) .”
What? Chika-chika? Where the hell did that come from? He was still human, for god’s sake—he had hands.
“It’s been a while, so I’ll brush your teeth with that chicken-flavored toothpaste you love.”
They hadn’t done that in ages. Why the sudden obsession with chika-chika? After finding out that Go Hoon was actually Kkongddeok-i, Bae Jung-yoon had only brushed his fur and trimmed his claws—never anything more. So why now?
“Ueeeeeeeh─.”
Go Hoon let out a loud protest. But Bae Jung-yoon, as if he understood perfectly well what that cry meant, responded firmly.
“You stink of booze. No choice.”
“Myaaa-ung.”
Still no! I’ll clean myself! Go Hoon shouted internally. But Bae Jung-yoon ignored him and gently kneaded his soft front paw.
“If you don’t like it, you could always turn back into a human right now.”
Go Hoon glared at him with piercing blue eyes. Not that he was eager to do that either.
He knew damn well what this guy would try if he turned back into a man. Swishing his tail sharply to show his displeasure, he tried to protest, but Bae Jung-yoon stood firm.
“Alright then, time to get you cleaned up.”
Cradling him in his arms, he walked off toward the bedroom.
Moments later, the long, whiny cries of a cat echoed from the room. No doubt it was Go Hoon grumbling while getting his teeth brushed against his will on Bae Jung-yoon’s lap.
***
Sitting on Bae Jung-yoon’s desk in the bedroom, Go Hoon mulled things over. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was—Bae Jung-yoon was definitely a psychopath.
“Just so you don’t get the wrong idea, Hoon—I don’t kill people.”
Saying something that chilling in such a breezy, casual tone… how could anyone call that normal?
Go Hoon had been chewing over that one sentence all day. Now he felt the urge to revise it for him. There was clearly one word missing from it. Yet.
“I haven’t killed anyone yet.”
Now that sounded much more like something that would naturally come out of Bae Jung-yoon’s mouth.
His thoughts drifted again—back to when Bae Jung-yoon had cornered him and asked how it felt watching him have sex with Choi Joo-won.
At the time, he’d been too shocked to answer. But now… what had he felt? Shock and disbelief, at first. But in the end, he’d just told himself everyone had different tastes and let it go.
Yeah, that’s how it was. But then why did remembering it now irritate him so much?
Maybe it was because lately, Bae Jung-yoon kept pressing his lower half up against him, constantly creating these charged moments.
Come to think of it, even setting those feelings aside, last night’s sudden skinship hadn’t shocked him as much as expected.
Realizing that, Go Hoon furrowed his brows.
Why? The first time Bae Jung-yoon had made him climax—with his hand, no less—it had left him mentally wrecked for days. But this time, nothing. No discomfort.
If anything… he was just relieved he’d managed to keep his cool.
I mean, the first time was a full-on handjob. Last night was just a little licking and nibbling—nothing that extreme. Way tamer by comparison.
Of course, if he hadn’t been in cat form, who knows—maybe his junk would’ve been manhandled again.
Anyway, after all that, Bae Jung-yoon had meticulously brushed his teeth, then strolled off to shower looking completely refreshed, while Go Hoon drifted off to sleep without much fuss.
It hadn’t been a big deal. …Probably?
No. Rationalizing it like this felt all kinds of wrong. It was like he’d gotten so used to losing the big things that surrendering the small ones didn’t even register anymore.
Go Hoon pressed his thumb to the bridge of his nose.
He couldn’t let himself get used to Bae Jung-yoon’s unpredictable behavior like this.
“Bae Kkongddeok.”
A voice snapped him back to reality. His brows twitched.
How did that guy always find him the moment he started thinking about him? Definitely not a normal human. Clicking his tongue inwardly, Go Hoon turned his head.
Their eyes met. Bae Jung-yoon’s lips were twitching, like he was trying to suppress a laugh. What now? Just as Go Hoon’s suspicion started to build, the other man tossed out a half-hearted apology.
“Ah, sorry. That was a slip.”
A slip? What kind of slip? Before he could ask, Bae Jung-yoon added,
“I meant to say ‘Go Hoon,’ but I’ve been calling you ‘Bae Kkongddeok’ so often it slipped out.”
Go Hoon’s expression darkened.
“You little shit. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
Why the hell do you keep ignoring my real name and calling me Kkongddeok-i? He growled, baring his teeth. But Bae Jung-yoon responded with that same calm, unreadable face.
“Nope. Honest mistake. Lately I’ve been calling you both ‘Kkongddeok-i’ and ‘Hoon’ so often, I get them mixed up sometimes.”
The response sounded perfectly natural, but Go Hoon wasn’t buying it. There was no way Bae Jung-yoon would ever confuse those two names. The man had an impeccable memory. He wasn’t the type to make careless, trivial mistakes.
And there was one more piece of evidence—those black eyes, gleaming with mischief. He wasn’t even trying to hide the glee. His glittering gaze clearly revealed what was going on in that head of his: excitement, anticipation, scheming over the best way to tease him.
“You’re messing with me on purpose, aren’t you, you bastard.”
Yeah. No question about it. Bae Jung-yoon was doing it deliberately. Lately, he kept calling Go Hoon “Bae Kkongddeok,” even when he was in human form. The worst part? Go Hoon had started responding to it automatically.
Habits really were scary. After hearing “Kkongddeok-i” so many times while living with Bae Jung-yoon, his body had just grown used to it. Even when he told himself I’m not going to react, the next thing he knew, he was turning his head the moment that name was called.
“Well, they’re both your names anyway, so what’s the big deal? Right, Kkongddeok?”
He’d lost count of how many times this had happened. He’d silently swallowed his irritation every time. But now, Go Hoon was at his breaking point.
“You little shit…”
He snapped and jumped to his feet. Reaching out to grab Bae Jung-yoon by the collar, he lunged forward—but the man effortlessly dodged.
And he didn’t stop there. Instead, he pulled Go Hoon in and tossed him down onto the bed.
In one swift motion, Bae Jung-yoon climbed over him, straddling his waist. He pinned Go Hoon’s hands down with ease and leaned in, pressing him down with his weight. No matter how much Go Hoon struggled, he couldn’t shake him off. The heavy pressure left him panting through gritted teeth.
He glared up at Bae Jung-yoon, who just looked back with a carefree grin. Then, eventually, Go Hoon’s eyes lost their tension.
“Get off, Bae Jung-yoon.”
Cool-headed once again, Go Hoon spoke sharply. But Bae Jung-yoon didn’t budge. Instead, he lowered his head, bringing his face even closer.
“What, so you can punch me once I move?”
“Oh, and what—now you don’t want to get hit anymore? Weren’t you the one saying ‘hit me if you don’t like it’?”
“Well, if I let you hit me too often, you’ll start getting used to it.”
What the hell was he even talking about? Go Hoon gave him a disbelieving look and twisted his wrists in the man’s grip.
“I’m not gonna hit you.”
He’d already missed the chance to catch him off guard once. A second try wouldn’t go any better. Bae Jung-yoon wasn’t someone you could land a hit on that easily, and Go Hoon knew that better than anyone.
Besides, punches always stung more when they came without warning.
“I said I’m not hitting you. Get off.”
He said it in a drained voice, and only then did Bae Jung-yoon slowly move off him.
Rubbing the faintly yellowing marks on his wrists, Go Hoon sat up.
“Damn… you’re strong as hell, you punk…”
He muttered as Bae Jung-yoon disappeared from the room—only to return a moment later holding something in his hand. Without saying a word, he held it out.
Go Hoon narrowed his eyes, looking up at him suspiciously.
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
…A gift? Just like that?
Go Hoon raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical. He didn’t move to take it.
Bae Jung-yoon gave the small shopping bag a gentle shake.
“It’s your birthday present. Take it.”
Ah. Right. He’d forgotten. The whole birthday thing had kind of fallen off the radar after they got sidetracked talking about blood donations. When nothing else was mentioned, he figured it had just been dropped. But apparently, Bae Jung-yoon had prepared something behind the scenes.
The bouquet he’d gotten on his birthday was still sitting on the dining table. He hadn’t wanted to throw it away, so he took off the wrapping, cut the top off a PET bottle, and stuck the flowers in. The stems had already been trimmed short, so he expected them to wilt quickly—but surprisingly, they’d held on. Now they sat there, stubbornly clinging to life.
Every time he saw them, Go Hoon felt a weird twinge of awkwardness.
“You didn’t have to.”
He furrowed his brows, staring at the shopping bag like it was something suspicious.
“Just take it. I wanted to give it to you, so I did.”
After a moment of hesitation, Go Hoon finally reached out. It felt wrong to refuse something that had already been bought, and he couldn’t very well leave the guy standing there holding it.
Plus… he couldn’t deny he was curious about what was inside.
If it was Bae Jung-yoon, the gift was bound to be high-end. A watch, maybe? That was a pretty standard gift for guys. Or cologne?
Peeking into the bag, he saw a small box inside. Just from the shape and size, it looked like it could be either. Not that he was hoping for anything specific—it just objectively looked like one of the two.
He pulled out the box and gave it a gentle shake. It was lighter than expected.
“Can I open it?”
“That’s what it’s for.”
Bae Jung-yoon nodded with a grin.
Curiosity sparked, Go Hoon untied the ribbon and opened the box. The irritation he’d been feeling just moments ago melted away, replaced by rising anticipation.
But then his hands stopped mid-motion.
He stared down at the contents, expression freezing, then looked up to glare at Bae Jung-yoon.
“…What the hell is this?”
“A gift.”
Don’t play dumb. Of course he knew it was a gift—that wasn’t the point.
“I mean… are you seriously giving something like this to another person as a present?”
“What’s the problem? I thought it’d look good on you, so I had it custom-made.”
Problem?
Of course there’s a goddamn problem, you bastard.
Go Hoon’s face twisted in disbelief and growing annoyance. Bae Jung-yoon’s lips twitched like he was holding back a laugh.
And no wonder.
It was, without a doubt, a collar.
A leather collar, the kind worn by pets—dogs or cats. And now it was sitting in a gift box, offered to him like it was something perfectly normal.
