At the same moment, Hoon’s eyes flew open and he sprang to his feet.
“Oh wow, you’re a male all right. The moment I touch you, you jump up.”
Bae Jung-yoon’s teasing voice followed, and Go Hoon’s mind went completely blank. …What the hell did he just say? Neutering?
A cold chill ran up his spine. Several seconds passed before Hoon suddenly snapped back to his senses like someone shouting “Freeze!” in a game.
No! I absolutely can’t lose my precious balls! In a panic, he turned his head and spotted Bae Jung-yoon calmly lounging on the sofa, eyes fixed on his phone.
That bastard had been quietly getting along until now—why the sudden change of heart? Go Hoon couldn’t grasp Jung-yoon’s shift in mood, and it made him increasingly anxious. Carefully climbing down from the cat tower, he scurried over to the man sitting on the sofa.
“Waowooong. Waaaaaaow.”
‘You’re kidding, right? This is a joke, right? Hurry up and say it is. Just tell me it was a prank!’ He batted Jung-yoon’s arm with a paw, prompting the man to glance down at him.
“You want me to pet you?”
“Nyaaang!”
‘No! That’s not it!’ Hoon was dying inside, the stress gnawing at him, while Bae Jung-yoon remained completely unbothered. Reaching out, Jung-yoon gently scratched under his chin as his gaze stayed glued to the phone screen.
“Today, we’ll be talking about post-neuter care and things to keep in mind after your cat’s surgery!”
A chipper male voice flowed from the phone’s video. It might’ve been useful information to someone else, but to Hoon, it felt like a grotesque torture clip.
He’s serious. Bae Jung-yoon was seriously planning to neuter him. Faced with the horrifying reality, Go Hoon fell into such deep shock that he even lost his appetite. Not that he had a choice—Jung-yoon hadn’t fed him anyway, following the ten-hour pre-op fasting rule.
This is insane. What happened to feline rights? This cruel, human-centric world! As unfair as the system was, ranting about it wouldn’t change anything.
But he couldn’t just sit around doing nothing either. Hoon firmly believed a man’s confidence came from his dick and balls. As something sacred and irreplaceable, there was no way he could let them be taken.
So Go Hoon launched into a desperate effort to communicate with Bae Jung-yoon. His first attempt was writing letters with a pen.
‘I need to let him know I’m human. If I do that, he’ll help fix this whole situation.’ Holding onto this hopeful logic, Hoon hopped onto the desk in the bedroom.
But even opening the pen cap proved a nightmare. After nearly thirty minutes of struggling and gnawing at the cap, he finally managed to get it off, leaving it covered in bite marks.
During this ordeal, Bae Jung-yoon peeked into the room, watching Hoon’s frantic battle with amusement, even pulling out his phone to record it. He often filmed Hoon doing cute things, but today, that behavior felt unbearably smug.
Trying to ignore the boiling rage in his gut, Hoon clamped the pen in his mouth and began scribbling on an A4 sheet.
I… a…m… h…u…m…a…n…
He poured every ounce of effort into the task, but when he finally looked up, despair flooded his face. The scribbles were so twisted and garbled that even he couldn’t tell what they were supposed to say. It wasn’t just bad handwriting—it looked like an alien language.
“Kkongddeok-i, quit fooling around now.”
To make things worse, Bae Jung-yoon dismissed all of his hard work as a joke. As he approached the desk to stop him, Hoon abandoned the idea, realizing this method wouldn’t work.
The second attempt involved using a phone. He figured he could type something into the Notes app or send a message.
Getting hold of the phone was surprisingly easy. Even though phones are practically fused to people in today’s world, Jung-yoon was one of those who didn’t check his all that often. But even after gaining access, Hoon hit a wall—face recognition was enabled, and he couldn’t unlock it.
‘Damn it, I should’ve figured out his password sooner.’ Hoon cursed his oversight. That’s when Jung-yoon, noticing him pawing at the lock screen, spoke up.
“You want me to unlock it?”
“Yaaang!”
Yes! Hoon’s eyes sparkled as he cried out. Jung-yoon unlocked the phone and casually placed it on the table like he was giving permission to play with it.
Hoon hurried over and tapped at the screen. But yet again, a new problem arose—his damn paws. They were too clumsy to hit anything accurately.
He couldn’t press buttons properly, and after a while, Jung-yoon—who had been watching with mild interest—lost attention and went back to reading a book.
By the end of both attempts, Hoon was utterly drained.
“Uwaaaaang!”
Eventually, he snapped and flailed his paws like he was ready to smash the phone to pieces. Of course, the phone’s rightful owner quickly stepped in, suppressing a smirk as he stopped him.
After taking out his frustration on the phone, the day wore on. Defeated and exhausted, Go Hoon slumped onto the sofa. As usual, around 11 p.m., Bae Jung-yoon scooped him up and carried him into the bedroom.
Go Hoon stared wide-eyed at the peacefully sleeping man. This was the guy who had decided to snuff out someone’s perfectly healthy reproductive system and yet could snooze so calmly like nothing had happened. The urge to smack him across the face rose sharply, but Hoon managed to suppress the impulse with some fierce mind control.
With wide, sleepless eyes, Go Hoon endured the long, dragging dawn and prayed. Prayed for the end of the world, for the sun not to rise. But, as always, the day broke without fail—and the day of the neutering surgery had arrived.
From early morning, Hoon paced the living room restlessly. His body couldn’t stay still, twitching with anxious energy. Then, suddenly, he came to a halt in front of the inner door.
It seemed there was only one method left to stop the hospital visit. Running away. No matter what, he had to escape Bae Jung-yoon’s house.
“Kkongddeok-ah, let’s get ready to go to the hospital.”
Right then, Bae Jung-yoon, fully dressed and ready to head out, pulled out the carrier. The wide-open metal door looked like the entrance to an execution chamber.
Usually, Hoon would read the mood and walk into the carrier on his own once the door was opened. But this time, absolutely not. He backed away cautiously, eyes sharp with suspicion.
“Kkongddeok-ah?”
Jung-yoon’s voice carried a note of confusion, as if he’d picked up on something strange.
“Bae Kkongddeok, you need to get in.”
He pointed at the carrier and gave the command again. But Go Hoon did not comply. Seeing his usually obedient cat defying him, Jung-yoon’s brow twitched slightly as he stepped forward.
“Hiss─!”
Go Hoon immediately scrambled back two steps, narrowing his eyes and letting out a threatening growl. It was an instinctive reaction—pure survival mode. Jung-yoon stopped dead in his tracks and stared at him. After a brief silence, a dry chuckle escaped his lips.
“Did you just hiss at me, Kkongddeok-ah?”
His voice was calmer now, but his expression had noticeably darkened. A memory flashed through Hoon’s mind—Jung-yoon’s cold, sharp glare aimed at Choi Joo-won in the past.
“Hiiisssss─!”
Startled, Hoon hissed again, panic gripping his whole body. A sharp tension sliced the air between them.
“You shouldn’t bare your teeth at your owner, Bae Kkongddeok.”
As Jung-yoon stepped in again, Go Hoon sprang into action. He dodged the reaching hand and leapt to the top shelf of the living room bookcase.
Since that incident with the broken liquor bottle, Hoon had never climbed outside of his designated spots. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
He’d learned from experience that hiding under the bed or the couch was a terrible idea. So instead, he climbed to the highest point in the house to face Bae Jung-yoon head-on. It was the only place out of easy reach.
“Kkongddeok-ah, what’s with you all of a sudden? We’re running out of time—the hospital appointment’s soon. Come down.”
Even though he was clearly irritated, Jung-yoon spoke in an unexpectedly calm and coaxing tone. But Go Hoon wasn’t about to be fooled.
The moment he was caught, he’d be on a one-way trip to the scene of the crime—neutering. He quickly dodged away from the approaching hand again.
A sharp jolt ran through his extended hind leg. The sudden pain made him limp slightly without realizing it, and Jung-yoon’s face twisted in concern.
“You can’t jump like that. Your leg’s still hurt.”
Rolling up his sleeves, Jung-yoon made his move. Hoon dove off the shelf, narrowly avoiding him.
Thud, crash! Loud noises echoed one after another. Go Hoon instinctively sensed danger and turned his head. His eyes went wide with shock.
In the middle of his leap, he had accidentally knocked over a decorative metal candleholder. The teetering object lost its balance and plummeted toward the floor—landing squarely on Bae Jung-yoon’s round forehead.
The whole scene unfolded in slow motion.
“Ugh…!”
With a strangled groan, Bae Jung-yoon collapsed backward. He hit the floor limply. The entire event had happened so quickly, Hoon didn’t even have time to react.
Landing neatly on the floor, Go Hoon froze in place.
The heavy candleholder rolled with a loud clatter across the floor. Then, a bone-chilling silence fell over the entire house.
