Cat Therapy Chapter 3.3

“…Baby.”

“Ye-yes?”

Haedong was excessively startled by the simple call. Perhaps realizing belatedly that he had been grumbling all along, he flinched but still looked at Seo Yongwoo, checking his expression. But he was so surprised that the fur on his tail stood on end, making it look twice as big. He kept it low while twitching the tip, showing a state of alert, and Seo Yongwoo belatedly let out a dumbfounded laugh.

He gets scared just by being called, yet he always acts up. But he thought he knew the reason, so he didn’t even dislike it. Belatedly, Seo Yongwoo spoke with a deflated laugh.

“You might as well just curse at me.”

“How could I curse at you, mister?”

“Weren’t all the things you just said cursing me out for being promiscuous?”

“N-no, I wasn’t.”

Haedong, mindful of the tiger’s mood, moderately lowered his tail. Fortunately, Seo Yongwoo didn’t seem that upset, so he cautiously added one more word.

“It seems like you have a guilty conscience about something.”

“Well, it’s a bit like that, but…”

At that moment, Seo Yongwoo stared intently at his side. The atmosphere seemed to grow heavy on its own due to his distinctively strong-featured, weighty face. Haedong gradually shrank back as if feeling it with his own body, and slowly, a smile spread across Seo Yongwoo’s lips.

“Do Haedong.”

“What is it…”

“Are you jealous right now?”

“…Me?”

At the ridiculous statement, Haedong couldn’t hide his feelings. He openly showed his discomfort and his eyes widened, but Seo Yongwoo didn’t flinch at all. He let out a somewhat wicked-looking smile, as if he was enjoying Haedong’s reaction or perhaps the situation itself.

“I don’t get jealous.”

“Then why do you ask back like you’re so angry?”

“I was just… saying what’s not true is not true…”

“That’s what jealousy is.”

“……”

Haedong gave up on refuting. It was obvious that whatever he said to the dictator tiger, he would just hear it however he pleased.

Still, he couldn’t deny that he felt relieved after saying what he wanted to say, so he just stared blankly at the floor. Even when Seo Yongwoo sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, he pretended not to notice as usual.

Seo Yongwoo, regardless, picked something off Haedong’s hair. He pleasantly touched the soft fuzz at the tip of the slightly cool cat ear, and when Haedong still wouldn’t look at him, he spoke seriously in a rather low voice.

“I’ve dated a moderate amount. I haven’t lived a promiscuous life.”

“Yes… I’m sure you haven’t.”

“Even when I was seeing someone, I never cooked for them and fed them myself, nor did I let them set a single hair in my territory.”

“……”

“And I definitely never did things like grooming.”

Haedong suddenly felt strange. He felt his cheeks getting a bit hot, but he didn’t want to show it, so he stayed still. Knowing what a big deal it was for a feline to be let into one’s territory, he did feel a bit better.

It seemed to be true that he was special to Seo Yongwoo. Just as he thought of him as special.

Seo Yongwoo continued.

“And I never stayed close by, doting on them, worried they might run away again and starve, or get beaten up by someone.”

“I wasn’t getting beaten up…”

Haedong managed to talk back, but his voice was quite different from the edgy tone he had earlier. The somewhat softened atmosphere, and even the gesture of slightly leaning his head on Seo Yongwoo’s forearm.

Haedong didn’t avoid Seo Yongwoo’s stroking hand and flattened his ears back in time with the hand’s movement. However, he absolutely refused to turn his head, thinking that if he looked at Seo Yongwoo, he would have to see his handsome face of all things. His handsomeness was dangerous, sometimes making the age gap feel like nothing at all.

“I’ll do better.”

“……”

“Don’t be too jealous.”

Seo Yongwoo spoke affectionately and gently rubbed his cheek against Haedong’s head. When the tiger spoke while even acting cute, Haedong let out a purring sound without realizing it. Feeling a bit hurt in his pride for feeling better so quickly, he flinched and looked to the side, meeting Seo Yongwoo’s eyes.

Seo Yongwoo didn’t seem to have any intention of teasing him about it. On the contrary, he smiled pleasantly, his coolly stretched eyes crinkling as if he had been waiting.

“Now you really seem like a lover.”

“……?”

Feeling dissatisfied with the ambiguous words, Haedong deliberately turned his back on Seo Yongwoo and sat down. Then, he felt an implicit gaze after being hit by the tail, but he couldn’t turn his head because it felt strange, like something was tickling a part of his heart.

‘So I wasn’t his lover before…?’

Still, it was true that his mood had lifted, unlike before. What was so special about being treated specially? Haedong tried hard to think of it as no big deal, but the purring sound kept escaping from his throat.

After shaking off the clinging tiger, Haedong headed to a place where he could be alone.

There, Haedong first transferred two million won, the daily limit, to his grandmother, and also sent a separate text message.

[Do Haedong: Grandma, I got paid, so I sent you some money. Use that for living expenses for this month for now, and buy yourself something delicious to eat too.]

As if she had seen the text right away, his grandmother called. Haedong tried hard to calm his breathing and talked to his grandmother. As expected, she seemed to have been worried, and his grandmother said all sorts of worried things, so he tried hard to speak brightly.

“Grandma, I told you I came here to earn money. I just sent you some of the payment I got this time.”

[Oh my, you didn’t have to send it. You need to use it…]

“Of course I’m using what I need. Don’t worry, Grandma.”

Haedong, speaking quite maturely, told her to buy some meat for once and ended the call. He felt that if he talked with his grandmother any longer, he would start whining again.

‘I hope he didn’t hear me on the phone…’

Haedong was reluctant to let even Seo Yongwoo see this side of him, so he had made the call secretly in the bathroom. Fortunately, it was time to sleep, so Seo Yongwoo had already washed up and was in the bedroom.

‘I should send my siblings some allowance too.’

Thinking proudly, Haedong took a shower in a good mood for a change.

It was nice to know he had a hidden talent, but he never thought he could earn money with it. If he could earn like this, he could live with his grandmother and siblings without any worries. Haedong checked the remaining money in his bank account several times again.

‘…No. I was just lucky this time.’

However, Haedong did not think very hopefully. Luck would probably be temporary.

Thoughts and anxieties become habits. As a good thing happened to Haedong, he became anxious about what bad thing might happen next. The habit of tenaciously thinking that for every bad thing that happened while working part-time jobs, something good would happen, was now, conversely, making him anxious. Good fortune was something for those who were used to it.

As he was washing his body amidst his anxiety, Haedong came to his senses with the scent of the gentle body wash. Still, the anxiety subsided a bit when he smelled the scent that came from Seo Yongwoo.

‘I should go to mister quickly.’

And I should sleep soundly today. Because it’s a good day. It’s okay to forget about worries. Not wanting to miss this opportunity, Haedong washed himself as if being chased and came out.

Coming out of the shower, Haedong simply wore one of Seo Yongwoo’s t-shirts and a pair of briefs, and naturally headed to Seo Yongwoo’s bedroom. He was leaning moderately against the box-shaped bed, wearing glasses and reading a book.

“You took a long shower.”

“……”

“I’ve laid out new sheets.”

Seo Yongwoo said, still looking at his book, and casually patted the spot next to him. Haedong naturally went there and settled in.

‘It’s warm…’

Coming out of the shower and nestling his body into the moderately warm box-shaped bed felt incredibly refreshing. He automatically started purring, his throat vibrating, and his tail stood up pleasantly. At that, Seo Yongwoo also moderately opened one arm to let him rest his head. Haedong leaned against it naturally, just as he did when he was a cat.

“Mmm…”

“……”

Following his usual habit, Haedong wrapped his arms and even his legs around Seo Yongwoo’s arm and began to rub his forehead and cheeks all over the warm and firm forearm.

‘This feels good.’

His mind was at ease, and on top of that, the warm body heat of Seo Yongwoo touching his forehead sent a wave of satisfaction through his entire body. Haedong wanted to leave his scent here, so he rubbed his cheeks hard, as if by instinct.

As he was rubbing his face so hard that his fluffy cheeks were squished, Seo Yongwoo suddenly extended his finger, and with his eyes closed, Haedong bit down on it and licked it gently as if grooming. It was a behavior, no different from when he was a cat, that only came out when he was comfortable.

As he was licking the finger, he suddenly met Seo Yongwoo’s eyes.

“……?”

As soon as he saw the tiger’s eyes, Haedong, who had been licking the finger, flinched and froze. It wasn’t that he felt any sense of alarm, but rather, Seo Yongwoo’s vertical pupils seemed to be subtly dilated with excitement.

Haedong slyly hid his tongue back in his mouth. Then, Seo Yongwoo spoke in a voice that was somehow even more languidly subdued.

“You smell like me.”

“It’s because I washed with the same body wash.”

“……”

Even at the nonchalant words, Seo Yongwoo had no particular reaction. However, his expression looked more serious than ever, as if he were looking at prey.

“…You really seem like a lover now.”

Those eyes soon moved slowly, scanning Haedong’s body. He looked at the thin waist revealed through the loose t-shirt and the pale, moisture-laden thighs, and then Seo Yongwoo suddenly muttered.

“Walking around half-naked in bed and all.”

“I-I’m wearing clothes…”

And what did it matter, since he always walked around like this? He himself always walked around with his top off. Cat beastmen hated clothes so much that this was natural.

‘Did I make a mistake coming to the bed in human form…?’

Since the sleeping place was the core territory where one showed their most comfortable, true self, he had maintained his cat form in bed. But he thought it wouldn’t matter since it was the same as usual, just in a different form.

“What’s wrong?”

“…It’s just, it’s newly fascinating.”

What on earth was. Out of curiosity and a certain sense of alarm, the black cat ears that had sprouted on top of his head flattened back. Seo Yongwoo slowly stroked them, but his gaze remained fixed on Haedong’s body as he muttered.

“When you were a cat, I could let it slide, but now that I know you’re a man… I’ve been letting you into my bed all this time.”

“…What?”

“Right… you’re my lover, so of course.”

“Mister, are you drunk by any chance…?”

Perhaps because he had been chugging the strong liquor earlier, Seo Yongwoo’s eyes looked dazed, different from usual, which made him even more suspicious.