“Then what, a puppy?”
Dawoon chuckled while pointing at the long tail wrapped around his arm. From any angle, this small and precious existence, all white and round, was a cat.
“Why is the cat so small?”
Dawoon, who had been taking out a bowl to put food in, looked at Yeoul as if asking what kind of obvious question that was.
“Why small? Because it’s a kitten, it’s small.”
“Are kittens originally that small? And why is the fur color like that?”
Dawoon’s eyes looking at Yeoul gradually became subtle.
“Hyung, I don’t think that’s a cat. Put it down for now.”
Meow?
Yeoul tried to forcibly detach the cat held in Dawoon’s arms. Dawoon, shocked at the action of suddenly grabbing and pulling not the body but the tail, pushed Yeoul away.
“Hey! Why are you pulling the tail?”
The cat also seemed surprised and stared intently at Yeoul without even crying.
“Are you okay? Did it hurt?”
When he patted above the cat’s tailbone, the cat looked up at Dawoon again and continued its purring song. Yeoul’s brow furrowed at the sight of it wiggling even its rear and sticking even closer to Dawoon.
“Dawoon hyung, I’m telling you that’s not a cat.”
“Then what is it? A puppy?”
“Cats are bright orange. Their bodies are big like this, like small pigs.”
Yeoul spread both hands directly to explain the size of the ‘real’ cat he knew. At first, Dawoon almost let out a hollow laugh thinking Yeoul was joking.
However, Yeoul was sincerely denying it.
“Even if it’s small because it’s a baby, the fur color is different. Don’t hold it carelessly. What if it’s a monster baby?”
“Yeoul, you….”
Dawoon hesitated before broaching the subject. While harboring the thought of whether there could really be such a person.
“Have you never seen a cat?”
“Of course I’ve seen one. That’s why I’m saying this.”
Yeoul said confidently. That he’d seen them a few times in video footage at some point.
A cat had been caught in footage of a gate removal that occurred in the city center. Since it looked different from dogs, he naturally thought it was a monster and asked why they weren’t catching it, and Yeoul’s education supervisor explained it was a cat.
Even in the materials he saw after that, all the cats were orange, and compared to their small faces, their bodies were long and large.
By coincidence, only fat cheese cats were captured in the videos provided to Yeoul.
“You’ve never actually seen a cat in your life? You can easily see them just by going to a park?”
Dawoon asked back with an incredulous face.
How many cats are in the world? Not lions or zebras, but he couldn’t understand not having seen cats, which are as widespread and common on the streets as dogs.
“Because I’ve never been to a park.”
Dawoon’s hand that had been patting the cat stopped. Dawoon only looked at Yeoul for a moment, at a loss for words.
The first to avoid eye contact was Yeoul.
“Cats… come in other colors too?”
His voice asking casually became subtly small. Dawoon immediately nodded, saying that’s right.
“Cats are all different like people. The fur colors are diverse too.”
I shouldn’t have brought up the park. Dawoon regretted his remark while recalling Yeoul’s pitiful childhood.
He had forgotten Yeoul’s growth background, having lived as a test subject in the past.
He had momentarily forgotten because outwardly, Yeoul acted similarly to others and had no heterogeneous aspects. The fact that he had been confined in an illegal ability research lab for more than half his life.
He said he grew up in a facility after being rescued. Since the novel didn’t cover Yeoul’s life after being rescued, he had thought it was a general protective facility.
However, seeing Yeoul unfamiliar with a kitten… it didn’t seem like an ordinary facility after all.
“The orange cat you mentioned is common. But there are also white ones like this, and black cats or cats with stripes.”
What on earth had he been doing with his life to have lived without knowing about cats?
There were almost no animals within the Center grounds. However, it was an environment where espers could also freely go to civilian areas. Whether a regular park or an amusement park, they could go anywhere if they just filed a report.
Dawoon newly ruminated on his lifestyle pattern that he hadn’t been conscious of until now. Yeoul only went outside the Center when support requests came.
That’s why the places he went were mostly danger zones or devastated areas, so there were no people, let alone cats.
He always only went back and forth between gate areas and the dormitory. He also only ate meals at the dormitory, and didn’t go out except when working. He had no interest whatsoever in TV or phones.
“Then are there blue ones too?”
“Huh?”
Dawoon, who missed what Yeoul in front of him said while thinking about Yeoul, asked back.
“I’m asking if there are cats with blue fur.”
“Ah, no. Wait a moment, I’ll show you a picture.”
The cat dangling from Dawoon’s arm as he took out his phone meowed. Only then did Dawoon quickly pour food into the bowl. He didn’t forget to apologize for giving it late.
“Here, eat quickly.”
When he put the cat down in front of the bowl piled high with food, the white cotton ball pounced on it as if it had been waiting.
The cat ate with its face buried completely in the pile of food, crunching away. Just watching that, he could gauge its hunger and his heart ached.
While the cat frantically filled its hunger, Dawoon filled Yeoul with lacking knowledge.
“Look at this. Stray cats look like this.”
“I saw this one. Orange.”
“Right, there are the most of these, and there are also many gray ones.”
I see. Yeoul nodded roughly. Dawoon, watching such Yeoul, tapped his shoulder.
“Let’s go to a park next time.”
Interest momentarily appeared in Yeoul’s eyes, which had been indifferently watching the phone screen.
“Good, let’s go together.”
Along with a gentle smile, a response different from Dawoon’s intention came back.
“Hyung, rest. I’ll catch all the monsters.”
It seemed he had taken the reason for going out as being for a gate removal mission. Dawoon let out a short sigh and stroked his head as if tousling it.
“No, I don’t mean let’s go to work. Let’s go see cats.”
The hand stroking as if rearranging Yeoul’s tousled hair was calm. And also affectionate.
“There are lots of cats at the park. Let’s go before it gets cold.”
“…You’re saying let’s just go out to see cats?”
Dawoon, who nodded, added that while they’re out, they could also eat.
Yeoul just looked at Dawoon while blinking like a rookie who received difficult instructions. Seeing that lukewarm response, Dawoon spoke calmly.
“If you’re not interested, forget it. You don’t have to go.”
“No, I’ll go. Let’s go. I want to go.”
Yeoul, who shook his head vigorously, suddenly changed his attitude.
“It’s the two of us going, right? Just you and me, the two of us?”
He, who emphasized ‘two,’ asked with sparkling eyes. Dawoon, who had no one else to take, nodded.
“When are we going? It’s not cold now.”
“Not today. I’m tired and this one’s here too.”
“Ah, then after hyung rests enough, let’s go together. I’m fine anytime.”
Yeoul suddenly showed interest in the cat. Though Dawoon was puzzled by the kid’s attitude that had turned active, he said okay for now.
Maybe he wanted to go outside. Since he hardly went out except for work, it seemed he’d be sufficiently stifled.
But why… did he specifically emphasize two?
Meow!
The cat, which had been crunching food with its nose stuck in the plate, cried loudly.
Actually, it had been continuously tapping the plate calling Dawoon from a while ago, but he hadn’t noticed because he was talking with Yeoul.
“You ate all that?”
Dawoon’s eyes looking down at the cat widened.
The food he’d poured abundantly feeling sorry for feeding it late had disappeared without a single piece remaining.
He looked around wondering if it had spilled on the floor, but there was no fallen food. Only the cat’s belly had become plump.
Meow~
The cat kept tapping the bowl while smacking its lips. Could it be asking for more?
“No. Stop eating. Your belly will burst.”
Dawoon looked worriedly at the cat’s swollen belly, thinking he had made a mistake.
Do kittens originally eat everything they’re given like this? He had no way of knowing since he’d never raised a cat.
Meow….
The cat, which had been crying in a deflated voice while watching Dawoon organize the food bag, licked the crumbs remaining in the plate.
Dawoon hesitated for a moment at that pitiful sight, but steeled his heart after reading the instructions written on the food bag. He couldn’t bear to give more to the kitten that had already eaten much more than the daily recommended amount.
“Drink water. I’ll give you churu when your belly goes down.”
He handed over the water bowl while gently stroking the plump belly. The cat obediently drank water while patting Dawoon’s hand touching its belly with its tail.
“Dawoon hyung.”
A large hand covered Dawoon’s opposite hand that was gripping the table. Yeoul slowly approached behind him.
When Dawoon reflexively tried to pull his hand away, pressure was added pressing down on the back of his hand. At the same time, Yeoul asked casually.
“Will you receive guiding?”
