Cat Therapy Chapter 1.2

While saying that, Seo Yongwoo stroked Dodong, who was clinging tightly to his side. Normally, he did not cling this much, but the cat would always stick close to Seo Yongwoo whenever a cleaning helper or the manager came to the house.

The manager looked at that sight with what seemed like extreme envy, then timidly extended his hand toward the cat.

“Dodong, do you remember me…?”

“……”

As the manager, whose face looked gentle but whose build was as burly as a gangster, slowly extended his hand, Dodong glared at him sensitively and subtly raised one paw. Then, suddenly, he bared his teeth fiercely and smacked the back of the manager’s hand with his front paw.

Gasp!

“Why, you don’t like the manager?”

“Hey, I even took you to the hospital… And I picked out all kinds of snacks and bought them…”

Regardless of whether the manager felt hurt or not, Seo Yongwoo stroked the cat’s cramped back with his large hand.

“Dodong, come on. Let’s try the necklace.”

Then, Seo Yongwoo put a custom-made gold necklace around the cat’s neck. It was something the manager had personally brought along with various cat toys.

Seeming to dislike the accessory, Dodong squeezed his eyes shut and shrank his neck like a turtle to hide it, but when Seo Yongwoo gently scratched under his chin, his neck came out again. Taking advantage of that moment, he slyly put the necklace on him prettily.

Dodong, as if the accessory was unfamiliar, kept trying to back away and remove it. But since he had ordered several in various designs anyway, Seo Yongwoo leisurely took turns putting them on him. Dodong seemed to look at him with weary eyes because of that. He did not know if it was because there were so many or because they were all pure gold.

Seo Yongwoo simply thought those round eyes were cute and took several photos of him.

Beside him, the manager looked at the affectionate Seo Yongwoo with unfamiliarity, then awkwardly offered advice.

“But hyung. It’s good that you’re raising him… How about posting on SNS a bit more slowly?”

“Why?”

“Well, that nickname you hate is spreading again.”

The manager glanced at him cautiously and handed over the tablet PC. Even after seeing Seo Yongwoo for ten years, he still found it hard to bring up such topics. It was because the sensitive-to-public-opinion man had a nickname he disliked.

It was the nickname “Photo Blind.” Whether because he ignored the direction of light or the focus when taking photos, Seo Yongwoo’s selfies were always a mess.

Thanks to that, photos that failed to capture even half of his usual handsomeness often came out. There were even photos taken in backlighting where his indifferent eye shape and the tiger-like three-white eyes stood out, and those spread as a meme called “Threat Letter.”

A person who took photos that badly, but when he kept snapping pictures of the black cat that absorbed all colors, disastrous results came out as expected. In the end, Seo Yongwoo’s nickname spread once again across web communities along with Dodong’s photos, creating ripples.

[Even if you can’t find it in 10 seconds, it’s just a cute photo]

[Photo Blind updates the legend again;]

[Actually, the black cat is Seo Yongwoo’s true form]

[How is the cat’s leg at 10:20??]

“I guess I need to buy a better camera.”

After seeing some reactions, Seo Yongwoo thought it was no big deal. He felt a bit disappointed that people did not seem to appreciate Dodong’s cuteness, so he bought a professional camera online.

Belatedly, Seo Yongwoo spotted Dodong peeking at the screen from the back of the sofa. Finding it commendable that he had come close, Seo Yongwoo looked at the cat’s reflection on the screen and then soothed him with a surprise kiss.

“Don’t mind it, I’ll take pretty ones again.”

Gasp!

Dodong, who freaked out at the single kiss, smacked Seo Yongwoo’s head with his front paw. Then, he rubbed his kissed face frantically with his own front paw, clumsily doing a cat wash.

Even so, it did not hurt, so Seo Yongwoo, crumpling even his sturdy body, desperately tried to kiss Dodong, who was blocking with his front paw. He could feel the manager staring at him like he was looking at a madman from the side, but he did not care.

“Hyung, didn’t the cat just swear, saying you’re crazy…?”

The hesitant manager asked with eyes wide in shock.

Animals could not speak, so they could not converse with beastmen, but they could understand a few words through body language. Among them, cat body language was simple and full of swears, making it easy to interpret, so even the bear beastman manager knew a few curses.

But just now, the cat had clearly bared his fangs and seemed to swear.

Then, Seo Yongwoo said with a face that had sunk even more seriously.

“Sungbo.”

“Yes?”

“Our Dodong doesn’t know things like swears.”

At the words full of conviction, the manager only broke out in cold sweat from the awkwardness.

He looked more serious than when Seo Yongwoo had been caught up in an absurd power-trip controversy in the past, so there were many things he wanted to say, but seeing Seo Yongwoo’s state, which was better than ever because he had grown attached to the cat, he barely held back.

‘Still, he looks much better than when he was tormented by perfectionism…’

The manager quietly laid out the various cat toys and numerous snacks that Seo Yongwoo had asked for and left.

Dodong seemed uninterested in such things and just sniffed around the packaging boxes before going inside one. Then, around the time he was leaving the house, he suddenly ambushed his ankle like hunting prey and then ran away. The manager was a moon bear beastman, so his body was huge, but no matter if the opponent was a bear beastman or whatever, he seemed to need to assert that he did not like them to feel satisfied.

‘He only likes Yongwoo hyung…’

But the manager could not hate Dodong. It was because he knew how special it was for Seo Yongwoo, who had always seemed detached and felt little excitement outside of acting, and as a tiger beastman at that, to have a being sharing his territory.

No matter how much of a tiger he was, he could not live his whole life alone.

*

…It had been close to a month like that.

Seo Yongwoo and Dodong came to live in the house encountering each other as naturally as family. That was also largely because both were nocturnal. In the early morning, Seo Yongwoo would exercise in the gym room, watch a movie a bit after showering, and only fall asleep when the morning sun rose. Since he had installed cat towers everywhere in the house, the cat would observe the busy tiger curiously as if finding him fascinating.

As per routine, after coming out of the shower, Seo Yongwoo spotted the cat lying flat like a loaf of bread in front of the door.

“Did you guard in front of me while I was washing?”

“……”

Dodong flicked his tail once as usual and ignored him, but still, the fact that he had stayed in front of the bathroom during the shower was important. In the wild originally, one was defenseless when relieving oneself, so it was natural for a trustworthy group member to stand guard, so he seemed to have done that.

“Good boy, for something the size of a melon. Even guarding a tiger.”

Eek!

At the praise, the cat vigorously raised his fluffy tail fur and responded. That was also grateful in a way. Finding him endlessly cute, Seo Yongwoo stroked the cat from head to tail vigorously.

Only after praising the cat for a long time did Seo Yongwoo do his skincare. In the meantime, Dodong suddenly licked his moist leg, startling him a bit, and it was the grooming habit of cats who liked clean water. He also saw cat fur coming out of his mouth suddenly and resigned himself to it.

Then, as it was slowly time for him to sleep, he went to the sofa where Dodong had settled first and lay down.

“You like the sofa today?”

Purr.

When he deliberately lay close to the purring cat, Dodong subtly climbed onto Seo Yongwoo’s chest and sat like a loaf of bread. Seo Yongwoo stroked Dodong thoroughly with a languid face. Touching the soft and warm-furred cat made the tension in his whole body melt away completely.

“Dodong…”

Mew.

The cat, seeming sleepy, closed his eyes faintly and responded very softly.

Was it because there was another being? Even though he had kept the house so cold that the cat deliberately stuck close, Seo Yongwoo felt for the first time that such a house was not lonely or desolate. Rather, this trivial situation felt very satisfying, making the life he had strived for as a perfect actor seem a bit ridiculous.

“Should I just live with you forever, the two of us?”

“……”

“I’ll do work moderately from now on, not find a mate… and live just with you forever.”

Dodong had no answer to the question.

Even the purring sound stopped, making him feel pointlessly a bit hurt. As expected, more time was needed to grow attached.

Instead of going to the bed, Seo Yongwoo closed his eyes and fell asleep on the sofa that Dodong had claimed.

Sleeping together was an important act to confirm the bond. It would take more time to form a deep bond, but he wished that the cat liked him as much as he liked the cat.

*

…And the time when the cat liked to be most active was right then. When the house owner had just fallen asleep.

After learning that fact, Seo Yongwoo would deliberately pretend to sleep with his eyes closed. It was because Dodong seemed to feel comfortable only after he had fallen asleep, and because of that, he would engage in different kinds of skinship than usual. Since there were not many cases where the cat showed interest in him, he did not want to miss it.

As expected, when he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, the cat started moving around comfortably by his side.

Sniff, hum.

Then, he stepped over Seo Yongwoo’s face as he slept on the sofa and passed by. He could not know why on earth a cat would step over a sleeping person’s face, but Seo Yongwoo just thought it was because he was a cat.

Deep down, he also hoped the little one would relax and keep leaning on him while sleeping close. As expected, Dodong circled around his eye area, sniffing to check if he was really asleep.

Seo Yongwoo was glad that Dodong did not leave his side, so even in his half-sleep, his mood improved a bit. The small rustling sounds of the tiny cat were quite to his liking. How long had it been since he heard the presence of another in the house? That felt quite welcoming.

…After sleeping soundly like that.

When he woke up in the early evening, Seo Yongwoo discovered the house in chaos.

“……?”

Seo Yongwoo, who had woken up disheveled, blankly looked around the messy interior of the house. He thought that since it was a house raising a cat, it could be messy like that.

But the places where gold and valuables had been in every corner were particularly messed up.

“Dodong?”

On top of that, the cat was not visible, and it was quiet. His wallet that had fallen on the living room floor was empty inside. Seo Yongwoo felt an ominous premonition, making the back of his neck stiffen.

After searching the entire two-story house for Dodong, he belatedly checked the CCTV installed in the living room.

How long had he watched? The tight muscles on his upper body rippled and then relaxed again. At the absurd situation, a wry smile escaped him.

“Ha…”

Soon, with a dry sigh, Seo Yongwoo slumped onto the sofa and made a call.

“Yeah, hello. Manager… are you sleeping?”

[No, I told you I’m nocturnal. But why, hyung?]

The manager asked in a voice full of anticipation. For ten years, when Seo Yongwoo contacted first, it was usually to say let’s eat expensive food or to pass on something good he did not need.

Seo Yongwoo stated the serious issue right away.

“Sungbo. There was a break-in at my house.”

[What!?]

While the manager was making a fuss asking what had been stolen, Seo Yongwoo calmly replayed the CCTV inside the house. His vertically slitted tiger eyes seriously scanned the screen. His gaze moved quickly, like when he played a murderer in a movie searching for a target.

The answer could be found through the CCTV that captured the hallway and part of the living room.

‘…So he was a male.’

The black cat circled around the sleeping Seo Yongwoo on the sofa for a long time, then gradually changed form from behind the sofa.

Soon, a quite pretty guy with fair skin and sharply upturned eye corners stood up from his spot.

That alone was shocking, but what came after was even more spectacular. As if doing gymnastics, he nimbly prowled through the entire house, rifling through things. As if he had memorized the locations of expensive items in advance, he moved quickly without fumbling much.