Cat Therapy Chapter 0 - Prologue

The stray cat I picked up out of pity was a thief.

Not the kind of cat people commonly call a thief cat, but a literal thief. I had brought him home when he was emaciated and frail, and after feeding and raising him, he repaid my kindness with enmity.

Through the CCTV installed in his house, Seo Yongwoo witnessed a dumbfounding sight. It was a scene of a jet-black cat transforming into a boy, then hastily putting on his own clothes and committing theft. Catching the thief, whose face had even been captured perfectly, was only a matter of time.

However, Seo Yongwoo did not report the audacious thief to the police.

After all, there was the affection he had developed while raising him, however short a time it was, and he wanted to meet this clumsy thief, who couldn’t even steal things properly from a house overflowing with valuables, and have a little talk with him in person.

And so, the thief he confronted a few days later was working in a musty pub storage room, a job unbefitting his delicate features.

“After going so far as to steal, you were working in a place like this?”

“……”

From the moment Seo Yongwoo barged in, the thief had been preemptively scared, standing pressed against a corner of the storage room as if to curl his body into a ball. It seemed he didn’t dare challenge the tall and handsome Seo Yongwoo, who, despite being an actor, had a monopoly on villainous roles like murderers and spies.

Now that he saw his human form, he was a whole head shorter than him, so he could see the entirety of his round, black head. From time to time, black cat ears would twitch on top of it, pressed flat back.

“Just report me, please…. I already spent everything I stole from you, mister.”

His tone was honest, but laced with resignation. Seo Yongwoo let out a hollow laugh. For such a young kid to not apologize or beg to be let off, but to act like someone who had lived through a whole life.

In truth, if he were to report this guy, Seo Yongwoo himself would be in a very difficult position.

“Forget it. For now, you will live at my house for a while.”

“……”

“If you do, I’ll act as if the theft never happened.”

He thought it was an exceptionally generous offer.

So, Seo Yongwoo expected this young thief to at least cry and thank him. He seemed even more likely to, given how frail his terrified appearance looked. It was just like when he would curl up and hide as a cat at home.

However, the famously suspicious cat beastman had a different idea.

“…Are you suggesting a compensated date?”

“……”

“Mister, you’re a really famous actor. Are you allowed to do this…?”

“Ha…”

With a low sigh, Seo Yongwoo gripped the back of his stiff neck.

Beneath his short-sleeved t-shirt, his biceps tensed heavily, and under his baseball cap, the dark circles and weary look in his eyes stood out. It was absurd to be misunderstood like this at the age of thirty-two, but when he considered the eleven-year age gap between himself and this guy, it sounded plausible, leaving him speechless.

Frustrated, Seo Yongwoo lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. After exhaling a long stream of smoke, he calmly tried to persuade the thief again, the cigarette held between his fingers.

“It’s because if you don’t live at my house, this mister here will be in a lot of trouble.”

It was, in fact, half a threat.

Seo Yongwoo spoke slowly, in a voice he was holding back with effort. He prayed that this very wary cat would please understand his desperation.

Whether the guy truly did understand, or was simply frightened, the black cat ears pressed flat back twitched from time to time.

In the meantime, a message arrived on the phone he had tossed carelessly onto a nearby table. It was a new article sent by his manager, and the provocative headline caught his eye instantly.

The headline alone was enough to make Seo Yongwoo’s blood run dry.

[Actor Seo Yongwoo, Cat Abandonment Controversy… Where in the World is Dodongie?]

The cat, Dodongie, was already right in front of his eyes.

Despite having caused so much trouble. Dodongie, terrified and cautiously watching his every move, yet still doing whatever he wanted, was exactly the same as when he was a cat.

“…I’ll do as you say, mister. But I don’t think I can handle living as a cat.”

I’m sorry, he added in a small voice, and Seo Yongwoo felt his insides burn to a crisp.

He had heard that if you raise a cat, you become its butler, but he never imagined he would have a master who also tormented him to this extent. Yet, he sighed at his own situation, where he had to once again serve the thief with utmost care.