Cat Therapy Chapter 2.7

The place they arrived at was a field on a cliff overlooking the sea on one side. Cosmos and autumn flowers bloomed profusely all around, and in the middle of it all, there was a fence enclosing an area the size of a playground. On one side inside the fence, a large zelkova tree stood, making the scene seem even more serene.

Beyond the fence, far away, animals were visible.

‘Horses? There’s even a black horse.’

In the vast plain, horses were grazing sporadically, one by one, and they were all said to be valuable stallions. It was his father’s hobby and first business, horse racing, so he had inherited and owned them, but strangely, Seo Yongwoo did not even glance at the stallions as if ignoring them.

Haedong, tightly gripping Seo Yongwoo’s arm, looked around the open landscape and asked.

“Why are we the only ones here?”

“Because I liked the zelkova tree. I bought up the surrounding land too.”

“······?”

“I bought it to come rest whenever I wanted, but now I’m finally coming.”

As he said, looking at the large tree, it seemed he liked it very much, as a small cabin had even been built on top of the tree. Seeing that one side was entirely glass, it was exactly to Seo Yongwoo’s taste, who liked sunlight.

‘It’s really high···.’

Haedong was surprised not so much by the size of the tree but by the tiger’s claw marks left high up on the tree trunk. It was marking this place as the territory of such a large beast, and for Haedong, it was a height he could barely reach even by jumping with all his might.

In the meantime, Seo Yongwoo conveyed something to the staff and sent them away, leaving just the two of them alone in the vast field.

Throughout that, Haedong, unfamiliar with the surroundings, did not want to leave Seo Yongwoo’s side at all. To reassure such a Haedong, Seo Yongwoo showed a demonstration first.

“Play comfortably. We’re the only ones here anyway.”

“Still···.”

Before Haedong could get more scared, Seo Yongwoo simply took off his outer clothes and returned to his true form.

He transformed into a tiger as big as a mountain of flesh, but now Haedong was no longer surprised. He just kept looking around the surroundings with wary eyes, then quickly transformed into a cat himself and pressed close to Seo Yongwoo. Then, with his round eyes, he looked for a safe and high place first, and eventually climbed onto the tiger’s solidly muscled back and curled his body tightly.

Eh, nyaang.

‘I feel like I’ve come escorting a prince.’

He had expected him to be unfamiliar, but he seemed more scared than thought. Still, he must not be scared of himself in tiger form now. Seo Yongwoo felt the light sensation of someone riding on his body for the first time in his life with utter bewilderment, and he walked slowly and leisurely around to let him get accustomed to the surroundings step by step.

He showed him the sea below the fenced cliff and the black horse beyond the fence. Up close, there was a small and quaint beach below the cliff, and it seemed one could go down via stairs and enjoy swimming in the summer.

Nyaa···!

Once he let him look around the peaceful surroundings, Haedong seemed a bit reassured, and suddenly came down from the tiger’s back. But as if he had discovered something, his gaze was fixed in one place, and his mouth was clattering like castanets.

Clack clack.

“······?”

Wondering what the kid was looking at so intently, suddenly the pitch-black fur ball lowered his body closely to the ground. Then, he started wiggling his small hips vigorously. As the cat cautiously stepped forward with one front paw at a time, the wiggling became more intense.

Tap!

Before long, Haedong dashed out quickly. The target was on top of the cosmos flowers.

Nyaa!

‘I caught the butterfly!’

Proud, the tiger approached leisurely with a thud thud. Up close, Haedong seemed extremely pleased, holding down the small butterfly with one front paw and holding his tail straight up. He had his eyes wide open, shining with anticipation as if showing off his prey to Seo Yongwoo, and that was so cute that it even made the tiger feel happy along with him, causing a slow smile to emerge.

‘Good job, baby.’

Seo Yongwoo praised him first and then made him release the butterfly in case he ate something wrong. The butterfly, unharmed, fluttered its wings erratically a few times and flew far away.

After that, Haedong seemed completely relieved of his wariness.

The cat played by hunting the tiger’s tail as if it were prey while the tiger lay down leisurely, and he even climbed the fence to greet the black horse that was far away. Seo Yongwoo deliberately just watched Haedong from a suitable distance. He wanted the kid to get used to it so he would want to come often.

‘Maybe rest here until the broadcast···.’

As expected, it seemed good that he brought him. Seeing Haedong play well made his mind relax along with it, and sleepiness came over him gradually. Seo Yongwoo closed his eyes in the shade of the tree. As a nocturnal creature originally, it was time for him to sleep anyway.

In the meantime, Haedong approached and rubbed his cheek vigorously against him while purring. Cats have pheromones from their cheeks, so they often rub their cheeks mercilessly against those they like to mark their scent.

Originally, Seo Yongwoo would have shown aggression first if another being woke him from sleep, but if it was his own cat, it was a different story. The tiger just soothed the kid slowly with drowsy, pleasantly half-closed eyes.

‘Sleep sleep, I’m sleepy.’

‘I want to play more···.’

The tiger carefully pressed the cat’s head with his front paw as he looked around the field. Each time, the cat’s body crumpled to the opposite side before the paw even touched. It was exactly like magnets of the same pole repelling each other.

Still, since it was midday, Haedong seemed sleepy too. The yawning cat looked up at the tree while meowing nyaa nyaa.

‘Then let’s sleep in the cabin.’

Haedong said it with body language and then tried to climb up to the cabin on the tree by himself.

The cat focused only on the high target, gave a few rebounds to his dough-like round body, and then jumped with all his might confidently. But it was a bit lacking in height. The cat, who awkwardly dug his claws into the middle of the tree and hung there, opened his eyes wide in panic.

Eh, nyaang.

It meant help me.

The tiger looked at that with utter bewilderment, then stood up on his hind legs and gently bit the scruff of the neck to bring him down. Then, he properly bit the cat’s scruff without hurting it, and with one leap, he jumped up to the cabin. Haedong’s eyes widened round at the tremendous jumping power and strength.

Once he released the neck on top of the cabin, the cat, feeling awkward, looked around the corners and wandered a bit, then belatedly entered inside.

‘Wow···.’

The inside of the cabin was a size good for the two of them to use cozily as a bedroom. The fluffy round bed was full of cushions, and with sunlight coming in just right, it was the perfect place for a nap.

The tiger pressed some button to keep one window open, then lay down on the round bed first. The cat, sleepy too, stepped around the tiger’s body to find a suitable spot, then curled his body round and lay down near Seo Yongwoo’s chest.

However, Haedong showed a strange habit he sometimes did.

• ··Nyaaang.

Even lying down leisurely, Haedong would suddenly jump up and look around the surroundings.

‘Sleep more.’

Each time, Seo Yongwoo groomed him from face to whole body thoroughly to reassure him. Only after soothing with his large tongue did Haedong relax and curl his tail prettily along the outline of his body with his hips attached to the tiger.

“······.”

The cat’s soft and black chest fur swayed gently with the rustling wind. The tiger, resting his head leisurely on his front paw and watching that, asked slyly.

‘What’s wrong?’

Even to the question, the cat looked at the sea beyond the cliff for a long time. A peaceful atmosphere was deeply felt along the horizon, but strangely, Haedong looked somewhat melancholic.

The pitch-black cat, who had been silent for a long while, grumbled and said.

‘···It’s strange.’

‘What is?’

‘Because I’m happy···.’

“······.”

Cats feel comfort only when they get used to things. To that extent, he thought he needed to get used to such rest too, but he did not know that even happiness was unfamiliar to Haedong.

‘…I need to bring him often.’

His own cat being unfamiliar with happiness. Seo Yongwoo’s mouth felt bitter inside, so he deliberately responded playfully. He pulled Haedong into his embrace with his front paw the size of the cat’s body.

Eh, nyaang.

Just by extending his heavy front paw once, the cat’s body was tossed this way and that. Even if Haedong bit it and threw a tantrum, Seo Yongwoo just placed his front paw entirely on Haedong’s belly as if it were affection and closed his eyes. He intended to teach his sensitive cat leisure even if by force.

After enjoying a nap like that for a long while, the two ate dinner and moved to the villa.

Since Haedong said he wanted to eat sushi, they had dinner at a famous place quite a distance away and were on the way back. After traveling peacefully all day, Haedong’s expression looked even more excited.

“Did you like it?”

“Yes. It was good because it was quiet and just us.”

As expected, if there were no people to be wary of and just the two of them, dates seemed fine too. Seo Yongwoo felt proud anew that Haedong seemed to have opened his heart a lot. Clearly a thief, but the more he pampered him, the better he felt. Somehow liking it, Seo Yongwoo felt like it was a day without regrets for once.

In the meantime, Haedong started dozing off with nods in the passenger seat. His unique sharp, upturned eyes clearly showed sleepiness, and as soon as Seo Yongwoo comfortably rested his head on the headrest, he fell asleep right away.

‘He’s an angel when sleeping.’

Finding that extremely cute, Seo Yongwoo covered Haedong’s body with his jacket when the car stopped at a signal for a moment. Could there be a time as good as when his cat was peaceful like this. Seo Yongwoo suddenly thought that happiness was nothing special.

At that time, the phone vibrated.

Bzzz—

Haedong, who had been taking a light nap, flinched in surprise and woke up.

Seo Yongwoo was also surprised and blinked his eyes. He had set all phones to silent to prevent such things.

As the vibration continued repeatedly, Haedong made a face as if something was wrong and rummaged in his pocket, taking out his own phone with a cracked screen. It was the phone he stubbornly carried around, saying it was fine even if Seo Yongwoo bought him a new one.

For the first time in a while, the phone was ringing. Haedong muttered as if something was strange.

“My phone should have been suspended···.”

“······.”

Seo Yongwoo pretended not to know and just drove silently.

While investigating Haedong’s debts at the manager’s request, he had already lifted the suspension on the phone due to a small unpaid bill. So that even if he ran away again, contact could be made.

In addition, he learned about the few billion won in debts left in Haedong’s family. He thought about helping with the compensation for quelling the controversy, but worried the kid would be surprised, he only arranged so that the interest would not increase further. If he helped more privately than that, Haedong would surely feel repulsed.

‘Who is it.’

Seo Yongwoo sneaked a peek at the name on the screen. It was more ordinary than expected.

[Second sibling]

Come to think of it, Haedong had two younger siblings. He did not know the exact ages, but since Haedong was only 21, they were obviously young students.

In the meantime, the phone kept ringing persistently. Haedong stared at the phone intently and moved his lips in distress. It seemed like a personal call, so he was watching Seo Yongwoo’s reaction and not answering.

“Shall I pull over for a moment and switch?”

“···It’s fine.”

Perhaps relieved by the consideration, Haedong let out a long sigh and answered the call.

“Hello?”

[Sob, oppa, where are you···?]

Immediately, a girl’s sobbing voice came from beyond the phone. It seemed more serious than thought, so Seo Yongwoo was flustered too, and Haedong clutched Seo Yongwoo’s coat in his pocket and fidgeted anxiously. Even so, he managed a calmer voice than expected.