"Where the hell are you bringing us, Ella?"

The boy wiped the sweat dripping down the side of his forehead, his steps long, trying to catch up without tripping on tree roots of the forest. Three others followed behind him, while a girl with long dark blonde hair lead up front, almost leaping across the forest ground as she avoided roots and mud and ants nests as if she had memorised the floor plan. She only glanced back a bit, pausing for a few seconds to let her friends catch up before starting again. The boy at the end of the line scrunched his eyebrows at the top of his nose in frustration.

"We'll be there soon enough, come on," the girl ahead replied.

"Will, you're not much slower than her," a girl with jet black hair and a nose ring called from behind. "It's really getting on my self esteem."

"Your constant refusal to join me at the gym calls for it," Will replied, smirking while wiping his blond hair back. "Hey Ella, break time," he called at the girl further up. She glanced back, rolled her eyes and stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms.

"I'm not into putting myself through voluntary pain," Lorenza told.

"Can we not talk about working out right now?" the girl just behind Will asked. She was two feet shorter than him with glasses slipping down her nose bridge, and just as much sweat as Will but refused to slow down - she'd rather not be left behind. "Ella, can we please know where you're bringing us? Maybe we'll be a bit more excited about this."

"We would have found out by now if you guys wouldn't be such babies about this," she replied from afar. "Literally, we're a minute away."

"I better not be disappointed," the other boy, standing at about Lorenza's height, said in a low voice as he passed the other three, wanting to get a head start. He had dark skin and curls at the top of his head, his temper holding up only until now.

"Chill out, Chad," Will patted the guy on the back before he followed along.

"Come on, Hedy," Lorenza said as she passed the girl with glasses. Hedy gave a deep sigh. At the back of the line, as expected, she thought to herself.

Not far from where they had stopped, Ella turned to look at the team. She gave a grin, holding her arms out at the clearing. The patch contrasted to the rest of the forest, in which the trees had turned into stumps and roots into bumpy soils, leaves gathered into patches randomly. On top of one of the stumps lay a shovel and gardening gloves. "You will never guess what lies beneath these soils."

"Dead bodies?" Will joked without smiling.

"Actually, you're spot on."

The rest of the group went silent. Lorenza spoke up first.

"Are you... serious?"

"Yes, I am," Ella grinned as she reached for the shovel and started digging at one of the what seemed like random bumps of soil, but now resembles graves to the group, with the patches or leaves cleverly disguised as headstones.

"You're really creeping me out, Ella," Hedy announced as she hugged her own torso in discomfort.

"It's like what we talked about, guys," she told in between breaths. "The world isn't going to make anymore sense if we keep letting idiots lead us. We have to do something about it, and where do we start? Right at home, of course." She stopped digging, wiping at her forehead. She then reached down to dust off some of the soil, then pulled out a detached head by the hair from the ground. Hedy gave a half-screech half-gasp, but stopped herself, closing her mouth with her hands.

"What the fuck?" Chad shouted. "Is that... Principal Gully?"

"Yea that idiot of a principal we have. Shouldn't have suspended me for writing a paper on how the government was spending too much on military. Sucks to be him."

"Ella you not only insulted the president but also the entire office for a class taught by a proud Republican. It was called for," Lorenza tried to reason. It seemed useless now though, since the principal didn't even have a drop of blood in his brain anymore. "Is there... more of these?"

"Well the principal and Ms. Shrewder, that proud Republican is a good start, but next, the president, then, the world, of course."

"Ella you're fucking insane," Chad said in a shaky voice. "We can't go around killing people for the small stupid decisions they make."

"Oh, yea, we're not gonna kill every single idiot out there, well not yet," Ella explained as she waved the head around with pride. "We start at the top then we work our way down. See how easy it is to get to the principal? With a few more practice killings we might as well book for a flight to DC now."

"I'm getting the fuck out of here," Chad announced, pacing towards the way they came from.

"Not so fast," Ella said calmly, pulling a pistol out of her jacket pocket, pointing at Hedy. "You go and this girl dies."

"Bullshit," Chad called. Ella pulled at the trigger, and Hedy screamed as a bullet shot through her thighs. Chad stopped in his tracks, and Lorenza went to catch the girl as she dropped to her knees, both trying to stop the blood from flowing out.

"Anything else you're gonna call out as bullshit?" Ella asked. She tossed the head at Will, letting him see it up close. "As you can see, I'm not about bullshitting."

Will had a good look at the principal's wrinkled face - his thin lips were curved downwards, slightly parted, his eyelids revealed the maggots underneath already starting to feast on his eyeballs. The boy dropped the head at the sight of the maggots, almost bursting into tears out of fear and disgust.

"Ella, it was all talk, okay?" Lorenza said, her voice a mixture of fear and calm. "We didn't really think of killing anyone. We can stop this right now. Killing is wrong, especially when they didn't do anything to deserve to die. We won't be able to get away with it anyway. We're just five high school kids."

"I didn't think of you as the cowardly type, Lorenza," Ella sighed. "I gotta say, I'm disappointed."

"It's not about being brave, it's about doing the right-"

Another bullet went through Lorenza's forehead, in between her eyes. Hedy screamed again as the body next to her turned limp. Tears started to form as she sobbed. The two boys shook in their places as they glared at Ella in fear. The girl looked away, her hands shaking. Despite being the new girl in town, Lorenza had been the one who let Ella into her circle. For once in her five years of switching schools every few months, Ella felt like she belonged somewhere. Why did Lorenza had to defy her like this? Why couldn't she just accept who Ella was for who she is?

"Bitch was the one who said Principal Gully deserved to die."

Labels: death, horror, murder, the unreal, violence

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It was a thirty minute train ride during peak hours. She caught sight of him as she came down the escalator to the underground area. He wore a baseball shirt and a cap over his eyes. Spectacles, a slight goatee growing on the tip of his long face, standing over a foot above her head. She followed behind him as they got on the train and turned her back on him as soon as she found something to hold on to. It was still hard for her to balance on her two inch heels, so as the crowd went in and out of the train, she found herself holding onto the pole he was holding as well. As each station passed, she swore it would be his stop.

"Subang," she thought. "He seems like a Subang kid. No? Okay."

"Batu Tiga. He won't go any further than this." The boy stood in his place. "Well."

"There's no way he's stopping at Shah Alam too," she thought as the train approaches the next station. The sky was getting dark and it seemed unfit that a girl like her was out alone. "Fuck what other people thinks," she thought. "I'm better off alone anyway."

As the door opens, she starts for it, and notices that boy moving beside her. "No way... What a huge coincidence. Does he notice me? That we're stopping at the same place?"

"Does he feel the same way?"

They pass the ticket inspection and she walked towards the taxi waiting area when the boy approached her. "Hey! Hey you, with the purple shirt!"

She turned, surprised.

"You got a ride home?"

He touched her cheek as soon as he locked the apartment door. She breathed quietly as he bent down, sticking his tongue in her mouth before their lips touched. They made out by the door, his hands touching her from her neck to her shoulders to her breasts to her ass, and as one thumb pressed against her crotch, he unzipped his trousers with his other hand.

"Wait wait wait," she stopped him, letting go of his lips' grasp. "I don't do third base."

"What?"

"I'm keeping my virginity."

"What the fuck for?" he smirked, pulling her skirt's hem playfully. "I know you're wet down there already anyway."

"That's not the point," she said, looking away when he tried to get hold of her lips again.

"Oh come on," he whispered. "It won't hurt, I promise..." He pulled down his trousers to his ankles, busy working on both his boxers and her skirt.

She gave a slightly crooked smile as her hand swiftly reached into her handbag for the butterfly knife. He didn't see anything in the dark and foolishly drooled with joy when he manages to get her skirt down to the ground. In a blink of an eye, the girl pushed the blade into his stomach and pulled it back out. His eyes bulged out, looking at her exasperatedly. She then sliced his throat, blood spluttering on her smooth complexion and the purple blouse and the yellow walls. The body fell on the wooden floorboards underneath them as she sighed.

"Shit. Not again."

She pulled her skirt back on and took off her shoes, peeping around for the kitchen. "Tea, tea, tea, tea..."

After washing her blade and hands clean, she boiled some water and looked for any signs of tea in the cupboards. "Score! And it's the good kind too. Man, that was too bad. I didn't even get to talk to him... Seemed like a nice guy."

She sat next to a window, staring out at the moon. The scent of blood seeped through every room of the small apartment, but she kept her nose by the mug of tea. Quietly sipping her worries away, she thought of all the boys that couldn't keep their dicks in their pants, and then the one guy who wouldn't even look at her, and how she would do anything for him to love her the way he loved that other girl, and her tea turned cold and salty from her tears dripping down her cheeks into the mug, and her hands shook on her lap, and the scent of blood was then accompanied by the quiet sobs of a girl who was never loved.

Labels: horror, romance, the unreal, violence

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Labels: death, drabble. ideas, fan-fiction, murder, the unreal, violence

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Kyungsoo watched the cat with awe - each piece of fur a different shade of black, its stomach raising and falling from its breathing. He touched it gently and pushed back its fur. He continuously patted Kkamjong like this, smiling to himself as the cat purred loudly, its eyes closed shut and its mouth a thin line that curved at its cheeks. Kyungsoo enjoyed the silence, but he did wish that he had a human friend instead of a furry one. It gets lonely to live in the city without any close friends to invite you to clubs or parties. Kyungsoo eventually found comfort in taking care of the cat that he had found in an alleyway. It was still a kitten then; black and grey, alone without its mother. Kyungsoo knew that that was the closest he could get to having a best friend.

"Kkamjong!" Kyungsoo called the next day when he got back from work. He had dozed off last night and woke up late for work, so he ignored the fact that the cat was not next to him in his bed anymore. He rushed out of his apartment in his shirt and tie and black slacks, backpack slung over his shoulder, not bothering about the cat's breakfast. His own breakfast had been sacrificed, and as he bit into his Subway sandwich for lunch he remembers the abandoned feline at home and decided that the first thing that he does when he gets home at 5 later was give poor little Kkamjong lots and lots of his favourite canned cat food.

"Kkamjong?" he called again when the cat did not immediately rush to him as usual, brushing back his unruly dark magenta hair. He poked his head into the kitchen door and observed the floor for the black cat, but it was not there. Kyungsoo’s thick eyebrows furrowed as he pinched one end of his lips. He walked to his room and loosened his tie, sitting down on his bed. He looked around and called again, softer this time as if the cat was as close by as he wished it was.

"Kkamjong? Do you want to eat?"

He then looked under his bed, saying loudly "Kkamjong--whoa!"

The boy jumped on his feet at the sight of a thin, long human body with broad shoulders under his bed, strip naked and screamed. "Who the hell are you?!"

The body moved in its place, as if it had just woken up from a deep, long sleep. It then tries to raise its head, a mass of dark hair on the top, but instead gets its hit on the underside of the wooden bed. "Ow!"

Kyungsoo watched as it crawled out, its skin a shade of golden-brown, its nails long and sharp. The head looked up at the early-twenties boy. Its almond shaped eyes were big from confusion, its lips plump and its nose long and slightly crooked at the edge. The black hair fell above its eyes and its eyebrows curved upwards. "S-Soo? What happened?"

"K-Kkamjong?"

The first thing Kyungsoo did was give Kkamjong a pair of old boxers and a T-shirt. He let the boy figure out how to put it over his masculine body itself (it was more fit than Kyungsoo expected, seeing how Kkamjong's daily routine consisted of eating and sleeping) but finally gave in when the boy had his head stuck through the sleeve of the shirt. Kyungsoo thought of Kkamjong’s age; he was almost two years old, and according to the vet he visited once, Kkamjong should be about twenty. Kyungsoo guessed that he looked the age. Kkamjong's stomach started to grumble and Kyungsoo was reminded of how bad an owner he was. His first intention was to give the boy some of its usual cat food, but then wondered if he could still eat that.

Kyungsoo watched Kkamjong from across the circular dining table as he observed the can in his hands (he was still amazed at how much he can move his thumbs) and eventually lowered his head with his tongue stuck out to taste the food. Kyungsoo winced. "Do you like it?"

Kkamjong tongued the food some more to get it out of the can and into his mouth. Kyungsoo laughed at how much effort was put into it. Kkamjong looked up at its owner with annoyance, licking a food stain off the edge of his lips. He was not used to how wet the human mouth is. His tongue had never been so moist. "Is it funny? This human face is too big for me to eat subtly."

"Firstly, you have hands," Kyungsoo started, trying to hold his laughter. "Secondly, humans had created an amazing utensil to help us with these situations."

Kyungsoo stood up and reached for a metal spoon from a drawer. He held it in the air for Kkamjong to see - and he did see, with much curiosity. "This is a spoon. We use it to pick up food without getting our hands dirty. Here, try it."

Kkamjong reached out to take the spoon from Kyungsoo's offering hand. He adjusted his fingers on the cold metal as he had seen Kyungsoo held it, and awkwardly placed it into the can. Kyungsoo watched as he tried to manoeuvre the odd new discovery. How did this happen, exactly? He had just thought of having an actual human friend instead of a cat last night and here he was; strip naked and language-comprehending, as if sent from the heavens.

"Kyungsoo?" Kkamjong called, and then released a burp. He winced, gulping the gassy air. "It's finished."

"Wow, you've got an appetite." Kyungsoo took the can and spoon off Kkamjong's hands and walked towards the sink. He dropped the can into the disposal bin and washed the spoon with a soapy sponge.

"Hey Soo?" Kkamjong called. "How did I turn into a human?"

"I don't know," Kyungsoo said over the running water. He shut it off and turned towards the other. "Maybe it's magic," he joked.

"No, see, thing is, just last night I thought it would be so much better if I was human. At least I could talk to you. You don't talk a lot although I know you want to."

Kyungsoo kept quiet. He was not one to talk about his feelings. Especially when he is not even sure of what is going on. He kept quiet and watched the handsome face talk and look up at him. So what if they had the same thought? Having the same thought again - that things were better when Kkamjong was a cat - would not only be impossible since the other seems to have a ball being human, but it also probably would not even work anyway.

"The issue here is, how do we fix things?"

"Fix things?" Kkamjong repeated. "What is there to fix? I've got all I wanted. Kyungsoo, I can be your friend!"

But you already were, was what first came into Kyungsoo's mind, but he does not say it. "This is just gonna bring trouble. I don't exactly have time to train you to become human, nor can I afford to take care of another person other than myself. It's my life that's on the line here."

The excitement in Kkamjong's eyes died out slowly, and Kyungsoo felt immediate guilt. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have wanted to be human. I didn't think it would be such a burden."

Kyungsoo made his way towards the taller boy and patted his head, the way he would have if Kkamjong was still a cat. Kkamjong raised his nose to sniff the hand, and then let it scratch the side of his head. He shut its eyes with much contentment. He imagined purring, but things felt a lot different in a human's body. He still had the senses of a cat, but it did not suit the mechanics of a human. Kkamjong had the sudden urge to lick his paws, no, hands. He moves away from Kyungsoo's hand, eyes still shut, and starts licking the back side of his hand. Kyungsoo chuckled, thinking how funny it looked when a human does it in contrast to a cat. When the feline does it, he thought it looked ordinary (he would say it looked cute, but when is a cat not cute?) but when Kkamjong does it, it looks as if Kkamjong came from the wild. Kyungsoo could not help but think that the fact that Kkamjong had a really good looking face made things look less uncivilized.

That night, Kyungsoo taught Kkamjong how to cook ramyeon. The week's supply to feed the cat had been finished off, and Kyungsoo did not want Kkamjong to starve himself while he was at work. He told Kkamjong what could be eaten raw and what should be cooked first - Kkamjong settled that the have-to-be-cooked items were the same as the not-to-be-eaten items - and taught him how to pour himself a drink. Kkamjong was a fast learner, but at around 11PM, he was already yawning. Kyungsoo had a feeling he was still going to be as lazy as he had always been. No luck in getting him to do chores, Kyungsoo thought to himself. The best thing you could teach him is how to not make a mess.

The next day, Kyungsoo let the boy sleep in and went off to work silently, a PB&J sandwich in his mouth. He spent his working hours fidgeting every once in awhile; praying Kkamjong had not put the apartment on fire. He bought burgers for dinner and said a silent thank you to God when he saw the apartment building still standing. He walked into his apartment and saw the boy sleeping in the couch in front of the loud TV, traces of food wrappers and empty glasses stacked up on the floor. Kyungsoo did not know what to expect; he really does only eat and sleep all day. He woke Kkamjong gently, but the boy only rolled in the sofa, hiding his face into the cushions. His body curled in, one arm was over his head. Kyungsoo briefly remembers the cat version of this position. He shook the boy harder this time, telling him to wake up.

"I bought burgers for dinner," he offered. The boy's head turned, his eyes half-closed. "You like burgers?"

"What's that?" Kkamjong's breath smelled of preservatives and sauce.

"You smell weird. How much ramyeon did you eat?"

"Ugh I don't know," the boy replied, rubbing his stomach. "Maybe a bit too much. I don't feel so well."

Kyungsoo rushed to the kitchen and checked the drawers. There were two packets left. He dug his hand into the disposal bin, his face scrunched up in disgust. One by one, he pulled out empty ramyeon packets. "You ate seven packets?!"

"Seven? How do you know?" Kkamjong walked into the kitchen, one hand rubbing his eyes, the other still holding onto his hurting stomach.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven," Kyungsoo counted as he lifted the packets one by one at Kkamjong's face. Kkamjong only looked with amusement.

"You need to teach me that."

"Teach you what?"

"One, two, four, seven, five..."

"Counting?"

"Yea, that. It could come in handy."

So Kyungsoo did. That night they ate their burgers and went over numbers from zero to a hundred. Before he slept, Kyungsoo made Kkamjong recite the numbers again and it did so smoothly, yawning in between numbers. Kyungsoo felt proud and patted the cat to sleep, covering his own mouth as he yawned. The next thing he knew, he felt something heavy on his chest.

"Soo!"

Kyungsoo's vivid dream abruptly came to an end - from bright neon colours backed with pitch black scenery, his sight changed to a bright light shining through his eyelids, the cream colour of his bedroom walls behind it. Then, the light was blocked off by Kkamjong’s shadow. He pressed onto Kyungsoo’s chest as he usually did as a cat, only now his palms were too big and hurt Kyungsoo more than needed.

"Soo! How do I take a shit?!"

Kyungsoo felt laughter coming up his throat but instead he got on his feet and opened the toilet door, showing Kkamjong (who's boxers were already halfway down its long legs, his feet jumping from the left to the right, trying to hold the urge in) the toilet seat and how to flush after he is done and reminded him to clean his butthole with water instead of his tongue as he closed the door, leaving the boy to his privacy. He chucked to himself, his shoulders shaking up and down and his smile reaching his ears. He rubbed his eyes and checked the time. Past 5AM. There is still time to take a nap, so he did.

---

Kkamjong was bored one fine day as he flipped through the channels, re-runs of shows that made jokes which made no sense to him (must be a human thing, he thought) so he trashed Kyungsoo's wardrobe for new boxers and a fresh tee. He picked up a pair of Jeans and wondered how those worked. He put his arm into one of the holes, but it was too short to reach the other end. He then remembers Kyungsoo putting one something that looked similar to these, and slid his legs into the holes instead. It hung above Kkamjong's ankles - a bit too short for him - but he looked at his own reflection and felt satisfied. He trashed through Kyungsoo's magazines, not understanding a thing but the pictures of cars (Kkamjong feared these as a kitten, but he rarely goes out to meet these anymore) and the numbers. Every time he saw a number he would say it out loud. "Thirty two!" "Four thousand two hundred!" "Twenty eight thousand!"

"Wow, this number has a lot of zeros. What's after hundred thousand?" Kkamjong often spoke to himself when Kyungsoo was not around. He found the urge to talk although no one is around fascinating, as cats do not usually speak unless humans were around to hear them, or when another cat just crossed territory.

His counting classes had continued since the first class, and Kyungsoo had thought him up to hundred thousand and decimals and how to add and subtract. He anticipated learning fractions, which Kyungsoo said would be the next class. Maths, he learned was the name of this lesson he took, made him feel good - it made him feel smart, as if he was actually using his brain. He also used it as an excuse to never bring up the topic of 'fixing things'. He liked it like this. He liked talking to Kyungsoo. He liked having thumbs, although his sharp nails hurt his exposed skin now. And most of all, he liked making Kyungsoo smile. He looked happier than usual.

Kyungsoo got home late, and by then Kkamjong had already fell asleep in his bedroom, leaving empty soda cans scattered in front of the TV. Kyungsoo switched it off before heading towards the kitchen. When he did not find the boy, the only place left was his room.

"Kkamjong!" Kyungsoo shouted. The tall boy jumped in his placed, blinking as he got up.

"Soo? You're finally home... I'm hungry!"

"Do you know how much that T-shirt cost me? Take it off!" Kyungsoo rushed towards the taller and pulled the shirt off him. Kkamjong did not resist, although he was very much confused.

"How much did it cost?"

"A lot!" Kyungsoo told, his eyebrows scrunching at the top of his nose bridge as he stared with his wide eyes at Kkamjong accusingly, as if a child who just got his candy stolen. He raised the shirt to his nose and sniffed it. "Did you even shower before you wore this?"

"Shower?" Kkamjong asked.

"Take off your boxers and get into the bathroom!" Kyungsoo told with a loud voice, throwing the shirt into the laundry basket. This was the first time Kkamjong heard Kyungsoo raise his voice about anything other than maths. Still, he obeyed, his lips pouting slightly. Kyungsoo took off his tie and pushed the taller under the shower head. He turned it on and Kkamjong shivered. He shook his head, causing droplets to fall on Kyungsoo’s face. He patiently wiped it off and told the boy to clean himself with the soap. He showed which bottle had liquid he should use for his hair.

"Shower with me?" Kkamjong grinned, hoping to make Kyungsoo less angry. Kyungsoo slammed the toilet door behind him.

---

It was a Sunday morning when Kyungsoo was counting the cash in his wallet. Kkamjong was in the living room, flipping through channels again. He did not have more than 20 bucks. Ramyeon for dinner it is, again. He sighed and thought of how much Kkamjong is costing him. He eats more than Kyungsoo does - in fact Kyungsoo used to skip meals whenever he felt too bummed out to eat or when he is not hungry - but now he eats every time Kkamjong eats. He used to spend less than 10 bucks for a week's meal for the cat. Now it is costing him 50 bucks a week.

Kkamjong felt bored of the TV and jumped off the sofa. He walked towards Kyungsoo. "Whatcha doing?"

"Nothing," Kyungsoo mumbled, keeping his wallet in his pocket. He stood up from his seat and moved away from the boy. Kkamjong pouted as the other propped himself on the sofa.

"I feel fat recently," Kkamjong told, standing over Kyungsoo's body, blocking his view of the TV.

"That's because you eat so much but don't do anything."

"Let's go to this 'gym' I've heard about. You lose weight there?"

Kyungsoo cringed at the idea. A gym is not really his scene. He preferred not eating than to exercise to keep a healthy weight. He walks to the commuter station on the way to work daily anyway. He considered that exercise. "How ‘bout not. I'd like to get back a fat cat. They're cuddlier."

"Come on, Soo. I'm bored."

"No. Move. I can't see the TV."

Kkamjong frowned and decided to slip one of his arms under Kyungsoo's, and the other arm under his knees. He lifted the boy up.

"What are you doing?!" Kyungsoo shouted, his fingers clinging onto Kkamjong's shirt, scared he would fall. "Let me go!"

"Remember when you used to carry me like this?" Kkamjong smiled mischievously. He took the boy to an empty space and started doing squats. "If this is the only way I can get some exercise, I'm gonna do it. I don't want to grow fat!"

"Kkamjong!"

"...five, six, seven..."

"Kkamjong please!"

The other continued counting and squatting, ignoring the other’s pleads.

"Okay fine, I'll bring you to the gym!"

A smile curved onto Kkamjong's face and he released his hold on Kyungsoo, letting the boy fall on his back. "I love you, Do Kyungsoo!"

"Yea, whatever. Now go get some pants on."

The city amazed Kkamjong. He had never had the chance to explore the streets without being afraid of being either stepped on or run over but now he is human – he is taller than his own owner, even - and he can definitely push aside bodies that were in his way instead of having to slit through human’s legs all the time. He looked up at the skyscrapers and the light blue sky that backed them, spotted white of clouds. He observed the rush of people on the streets, heading to various places with various speeds. It fascinated him - the mixture of colours seemed naturally scattered. He tried to take in every detail; even the sooty air and the loud noise of honking cars and people chattering away. Kyungsoo had tied a thick string to his wrist, which was attached to his own. Kyungsoo did not want to seem like he was babysitting an adult, but he did not want to risk losing the curious boy in the crowd neither. His eyes glance at his other hand which held a bag of old shirts and toiletries. Kyungsoo felt like a babysitter either way.

A shop with a bright neon sign and glass walls caught Kkamjong's attention, making him stop in his tracks. Inside were shelves of colourful wrappers, pictures of food Kkamjong had never imagined eating plastered over bold words. Kyungsoo almost tripped when one of his hands pulled him back. He walked towards Kkamjong and followed his gaze. He sighed and let the boy watch it for awhile. A sign by the window sill caught his attention.

"Part-timer needed," Kyungsoo read out loud. Kkamjong turned to the boy, snapping out of his drool-filled daydream.

"What?"

Kyungsoo looked up at the taller with wide eyes. "Hmm? Oh nothing, they're just saying they're hiring a part-timer."

"What's a part-timer?"

"People who work in short shifts instead of long hours, to put it simply." Kyungsoo pulled on the string on his wrist. "Come on. We don't have all day."

Kkamjong enjoyed himself at the gym more than Kyungsoo did; lifting weights and running the treadmill. He missed the rush of adrenaline - although it was not the same as jumping on roofs. Kyungsoo spent most of his time playing a video game on his phone in between helping Kkamjong it with the gym equipments. Kkamjong smiled at the giggling girls who pass by, and Kyungsoo only rolled his eyes. Of course my cat would get more girls than me, he thought.

The next day, when Kyungsoo went to work, Kkamjong slipped on a pair of trousers and a collared tee. He smelled himself and decided to put on some Cologne. The strong perfume made him sneeze. He combed his hair with his fingers, noticing his long nails. Should he cut them? Hmm.

He ignored the long nails, worried he would be late (although he could only tell time by day and night; probably he wouldn't want to be too close to night time) and rushed out of the house, making sure everything is locked and that he had a chain of keys for himself. He made his way to the shop he remembered that needed a 'part-timer'. Thanks to his sense of smell, he remembered the way clearly. Soon he was in front of the shop, still trying to hold in his drool at seeing the amount of food inside.

When Kyungsoo got home, Kkamjong was still in the too-short trousers and collared tee, counting some coins and paper money on the floor.

"What are you wearing? And what's that?"

Kkamjong smiled proudly and held all the coins with both hands, raising it above his head. "Money!"

Kyungsoo walked toward the boy curiously, squatting in front of him. "Where did you get it?"

"The part-timer-needed shop!"

"You robbed a convenience store?!"

"No," Kkamjong said slowly. "I worked! Like you!"

"You worked?" Kyungsoo asked, confused.

"Yea, as a part-timer. The old guy said he assumed I knew how to count, and I did, because you taught me, then he showed me the cash register and taught me how to work it and I've worked there for four hours and got seventy-two dollars and ninety five cents!" Kkamjong raised the coins again.

"You went out of the house without telling me!" Kyungsoo frowned.

"Yea, but well, I got home, and with money, and I didn't get lost-"

"You should've said something!" Kyungsoo felt like a stupid parent, holding his forehead with his palms. "God, I shouldn't have let you out of the house. What were you thinking? He didn't ask for identification? For all you know, the guy could've cheated you for slavery!"

"But he didn't-"

"Why do you wanna work anyway? What's so fascinating about all this money, huh?" Kyungsoo slapped the coins off Kkamjong's hands, letting the small pieces of metal clatter on the tiled floor. Kkamjong watched Kyungsoo stand up walk away.

"But I didn't wanna be a burden, so I thought it would help out..."

Kyungsoo turned towards the boy, his face serious, but his voice full of care. "Stop trying to help. You're a burden I decided to take."

Ever since then, Kyungsoo brought the extra chain of keys with him to work, slipping it into his backpack. Kkamjong did not have to look for it - he knew Kyungsoo would have done something to make sure he did not go out again. Kkamjong felt trapped and slept more than he usually does. Kyungsoo would call him for dinner but he would not wake up; not until Kyungsoo pushes him off the sofa after eating alone. Then Kkamjong would shuffle through the fridge and cupboards of the kitchen before leaving for the bedroom to sleep again. Kyungsoo would only sigh. He does not even wanna learn maths again.

"Why do you treat me like a cat even though I'm clearly a human now?" Kkamjong asked one night. He could not sleep and Kyungsoo was about to push him off the bed.

You're more like a kid, honestly, Kyungsoo thought. "Because there's a possibility you're gonna turn into a cat again and I don't want you to act like a human in a cat's body."

"You say it so easily," Kkamjong sighed, turning to his side. Kyungsoo frowned.

"Say what so easily?"

"That I might turn into a cat again. Don't you like it that I'm human now? Don't you want someone to talk to?"

Kyungsoo sighed. He thought it would be nice, but now Kkamjong is being more of the thing he wanted to talk about rather than someone he wanted to talk to. "I'm sorry."

Kkamjong turned to the boy. "Why?"

"Am I sorry? I don't know. Because I hurt your feelings?"

Kkamjong sat up, looking straight into Kyungsoo's eyes. "Tell me. Do I look human?"

"Yes."

"I can count like a human, right?"

"Yea."

"And I have feelings like a human."

"I guess so."

"Then I'm human."

"No, you’re not."

"Why not?"

"Because," Kyungsoo sighed, his legs tired of standing by his own bed. Why can't he just sleep? The bed is right there in front of him, yet he has to deal with this. "Things aren't that simple. I mean, who has a name like Kkamjong?"

"Then give me a human name!" Kkamjong argued, pouting. Kyungsoo pushed him aside and lied on his bed, face buried in his pillow. He was exhausted, and Kkamjong was not helping. He peered up and saw Kkamjong frowning at him. He cannot sleep like this.

"Jongin."

"What?" Kkamjong asked, surprised to hear even a muffle from the other.

"Jongin," Kyungsoo repeated, turning to face the ceiling. "should be your human name."

Kkamjong grinned, then let himself fall next to Kyungsoo. "Jongin," he repeated. "Jongin, Jongin, Jongin."

"Yea, tire yourself out," Kyungsoo mumbled before dozing off.

Kkamjong felt more human than he ever had. He pushed his head into Kyungsoo's mass of hair, smiling widely. He slipped his arms around the other's waist and closed his eyes. "Goodnight, Do Kyungsoo. I love you."

---

The next morning, Kkamjong was already awake and in front of the TV after Kyungsoo got ready to go to work. He peered at the sofa curiously, and the boy looked up at him. He ignored Kkamjong and ate some breakfast, then grabbed his backpack and went to the door. "I'm leaving, Kkamjong."

"Jongin."

"What?"

"My human name's Jongin, remember?" Kkamjong peered over the sofa.

"Right. Jongin. I'm leaving. Don't burn the house down." Kkamjong took it as Kyungsoo saying "take care".

Kkamjong had learned a lot about Kyungsoo, but most of all he had learned that Kyungsoo had a very hard head. If he wanted to do something, he would do it and Kkamjong cannot stop him. Well, he is Kkamjong's owner after all. Kyungsoo occasionally gives in to Kkamjong, like the night he gave him his human name. But he still does not let Kkamjong go to work and he has not spent a single cent of the money Kkamjong had earned. He kept it in a drawer of a table in the living room, and they never caught sight of the money every again. It was not easy, living for two on the minimum wage of one person. Kkamjong felt sorry for Kyungsoo, and he tries to cut down on his meal proportions, but Kyungsoo still brings home dinner five days a week and insists the boy to finish it up. "It’s either you or the rats, and I don't want to end up feeding pests."

Kyungsoo could only lie on his bed when he got home from working overtime to pay the rent. Kkamjong squatted by the bed and watched Kyungsoo with guilt. Kyungsoo looked up and said "If you were still a cat, I'd call you to come on bed to sleep next to me."

"Can't I do that now?" Kkamjong asked, pushing Kyungsoo softly to move aside. Kyungsoo did not budge.

"You're too fat now."

Kkamjong knew Kyungsoo was kidding, but he still puffed up his cheeks with annoyance. He then decided to lie down on the smaller body, his back touching the other’s back. "Am I? Am I fat?"

"Hey!" Kyungsoo laughed. "Get off!"

"Tell me I'm fat one more time!" Kkamjong threatened.

"You're fat as hell!"

"Ahh, this need is so comfy ~" Kkamjong sighed, turning so that his chest faced down, then squeezed Kyungsoo by the neck. Kyungsoo laughed and pushed the other off his back, leaving the boy lying next to him. They both laughed, and Kkamjong let his head fall on the pillow.

"You look better smiling like this," he told. Kyungsoo stifled his laughter. "Even better that I made you laugh. I could never make you laugh as a cat."

"You still made me smile," Kyungsoo defended. "All the time."

"Don't you like me like this though?" Kkamjong briefly remembers Kyungsoo coming home exhausted, glancing at him as he meowed for food, but only getting a sigh and "Later, Kkamjong" or "Not now, Kkamjong". He could not even do anything to make him feel better. He wanted Kyungsoo's attention, but at those times, he could only sleep at the boy's feet for warmth.

"I like you whichever way you were," Kyungsoo told. "You're my Kkamjong after all."

Kkamjong brushed his nose against Kyungsoo's cheeks and Kyungsoo smiled, combing back the boy's hair. Kkamjong closed his eyes in pleasure and rolled on his back.

"Am I supposed to scratch your ear too?"

Kkamjong kept silent. Kyungsoo assumed he would be purring of he was a cat. He watched the face, smiling. He remembered watching the cat in the same position as he scratched his pointed ears. He looked so majestic - and he still does. Kyungsoo went closer to the boy and touched the boy's lips with his own. Kkamjong's eyes flickered open, and they stared into each other's eyes.

"Is it because I'm human?" Kkamjong asked after awhile.

"No," Kyungsoo told, his voice soft. "It's because I love you."

"I love you too, Do Kyungsoo."

---

The next morning, Kyungsoo woke up slowly, his eyelids lazily separating itself. He breathed slowly and remembered last night; the first time he kissed Kkamjong. He touched his lips and thought, is it weird? To kiss a cat? But Kkamjong was, physically, a human last night and he did love him. So it’s okay?

Kyungsoo turned to his side and saw a black tail swishing in the air. His eyes widen. He got up and observed the black cat. It was breathing slowly, its stomach moving up and down. Its eyes were shut close and it purred - really loudly. Kyungsoo touched the cat and its eyes slowly opened. It blinked then closed its eyelids back again.

"Kkamjong!" Kyungsoo whispered to himself. He felt his eyes moisten. Images of human Kkamjong flashed across his mind and he realized that he will never see that Kkamjong ever again. He felt his heart tugging at his chest, but held in the pain. He wiped his tears away with his palm and took the cat with his hands, placing it on his chest. The cat's golden eyes were wide with anger. It meowed at Kyungsoo and patted Kyungsoo's face with its paw. Kyungsoo noticed the blunt nails.

“You cut your nails!” Kyungsoo exclaimed, taking the paw and pressing it, observing the odd nails. "And you gained some weight, huh?"

“Meow,” Kkamjong said loudly. Kyungsoo giggled.

“I love you too, Jongin.”

-END-


a/n: dedicated to my baby girl Comel.

Labels: fan-fiction, fluff, the unreal

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by Heng Yen Fern

Labels: fantasy, inspirations, slice-of-life, the unreal

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