Chapter Text
It all began on Halloween night.
Sieun should've been paying closer attention.
He can admit that.
Suho is in the middle of running his mouth about the movie he just pulled up on Sieun’s television, this zombie flick he’d been dying to see all week, “Sieun-ah, the trailer was crazy, the guy was hanging off of a plane with one hand, and I heard the actor even does his own stunts—” Then Suho suddenly turns, without realizing Sieun was standing right behind him.
They crash into each other and Sieun gasps as he stumbles back on the carpet, his foot slipping out from underneath him.
"Oh, shit," Suho instinctively reaches out to wrap an arm around Sieun's waist, and the momentum of the fall causes them to go down together.
Sieun's back hits the mattress behind him, then their lips are colliding, Suho's chin smashing into Sieun's.
Suho freezes above him.
Sieun's eyes are scrunched close, his nose wrinkled.
It’s ridiculous.
The odds of something like this happening are slim to none, yet here they are, tangled together, mouth to mouth, on the bed.
Sieun should shove him off—he’s being smothered by the full weight of Suho’s body, but…
His mouth is surprisingly soft.
And his body is firm and muscular, a dizzying contrast that makes Sieun’s head spin. Suho’s chest heaves against Sieun's in quick bursts, his toned stomach is warm through his t-shirt.
A rush of blood pools in Sieun’s groin.
His eyes fly open.
He can feel himself getting hard.
Suho draws back a centimeter, bracing his hands on either side of Sieun’s head. “S-sorry.” He stammers out with wide eyes.
Sieun watches, utterly transfixed as Suho’s tongue darts out to lick his lips. It’s an unconscious movement, one Sieun isn’t even sure Suho knows he’s doing. His erection is pushing against the thin fabric of his pajamas bottoms, his pulse pounding loud in his ears.
“Get off of me,” Panicked, Sieun pushes at Suho’s solid shoulder, angling his hips away from the other boy’s so he doesn't feel it.
“Right,” Suho scrambles to get off of Sieun, his face burning. “Sorry.” He says again.
They both stare at each other— Sieun hunched over on the bed, trying to subtly tug his hoodie down over his hips, while Suho continues to stare at him like a deer caught in headlights.
“Sieun,” Suho says in quiet awe, holding a hand over his own heart. “My heart fluttered just now.”
Sieun blushes. “Shut up.” Forget a fluttering heart, he’s fighting the worst erection of his life right now.
“I’m being serious.” Suho insists.
“If you’re going to keep talking nonsense, you can leave.”
“No, don’t kick me out, I just got here!” Suho cries.
“Then stop messing around and sit.” Sieun turns away, drags himself further up the bed and pulls the blanket around his lap.
So Suho obediently sits next to Sieun on the mattress and pulls half of the covers over his legs, their thighs touching under the blankets. Even the brush of fabric through Sieun’s pajamas makes him bite his lip, his dick throbbing uncontrollably.
Sieun curses his own clumsiness.
After one too many ‘heart fluttering’ incidents, Sieun realized he had a crush on Suho months ago. It’s been a cautious dance of avoiding any interactions that would send him into a tailspin ever since. Suho’s casual touchiness, his habit of inviting himself over at all hours of the day and night— Sieun had started to reject him at every turn.
Suho is his best friend.
He can’t risk losing him over something as fleeting as a crush.
The only reason Sieun agreed to this movie night is because Suho complained they barely see each other now, and it was Halloween—they should spend it together.
Look where that got Sieun.
There's an undeniable tension in the air.
Even as they both settle in and Suho turns the movie on with the remote, Sieun can't stop thinking about the stupid kiss.
It can't even be called that. A kiss is intentional, it’s romantic.
This was the accidental collision of two mouths. In fact, it kind of hurt. Sieun could feel the outline of Suho's teeth through the crush of their lips, and his gums are still aching.
In Sieun’s periphery, he sees Suho glance in his direction once, twice, then on the third time, he looks back. “Why do you keep looking at me?” Sieun asks, his tone combative.
“Hm? Oh, no reason,” Suho’s cheeks are still red. “You like the movie? We can watch something else.”
Sieun sighs. “I like it.” He couldn’t tell you any of the names of the characters or the plot, if he’s being honest.
“Sieun—” Suho starts. “Was that your…”
First kiss.
Sieun can feel his ear tips prickling with heat. He pretends not to understand. “What?”
“Nevermind.” Suho swallows and relaxes into the bed some more, sinking down into the pillows.
As zombies chase the actors across the screen and moonlight shines through his bedroom window, Sieun relaxes too. The clock is approaching midnight and he hasn’t been sleeping well lately thanks to the upcoming midterm exams. His eyelids sag as he slouches into Suho’s side, cheek pillowed against his shoulder—and the last thing he sees is the full moon winking down at him from the night sky.
…
Sieun wakes up the next morning surrounded by warmth. Suho has an arm hooked around his waist, his palm spread wide over Sieun’s belly as he snores, mouth and nose jammed right against his nape.
Sieun’s face is on fire.
This is why he doesn't let Suho sleep over.
He’s a clingy sleeper — no matter what position they go to bed in, Sieun somehow winds up in Suho’s arms. Even worse, there’s a weird tingling sensation at the base of Sieun’s spine, and it feels like there are hot coals burning in his abdomen where Suho’s hand is resting under his shirt.
Breathing deeply through his nose, Sieun inches towards the edge of the mattress, and Suho shifts with him, mumbling unintelligibly. His hand slides down Sieun’s abdomen, his thumb dipping into the sensitive skin of his navel.
Sieun tenses. A noise suddenly erupts from the back of his throat, one he’s never heard before.
It’s a low, rumbling noise, almost like a— like a —
Suho strokes his stomach again, this time, with more purpose, back and forth, and Sieun can tell he’s waking up. “Sieun-ah,” Suho rasps against his neck, patting Sieun’s belly gently. “Are you hungry? I can hear your stomach growling. It’s cute.”
Bizarrely, Sieun makes the sound again; this time longer, and more drawn out, and it's not coming from his stomach at all.
It’s coming from his chest and throat.
He’s… purring?
Still half asleep, Suho makes a soft, amused noise, tries to pull Sieun closer, but Sieun jumps up, dragging half the comforter with him. “I have to pee.” He says frantically.
“Hurry back, I wanna cuddle.” Suho whines.
Sieun darts into the hallway bathroom and closes the door behind him. He flips on the light, panting loudly.
Sieun must be losing his fucking mind. Why on Earth was he making that noise—
He makes eye contact with his reflection in the mirror.
His face is flushed and his hair is sweaty, sticking to his cheeks and forehead in damp waves. But that’s not what catches Sieun’s eye.
It’s the black cat ears sticking out of his head that makes his heart skip a beat.
Sieun blinks.
Suho was probably playing a stupid prank on him. It was Halloween yesterday, after all.
He reaches up and tugs on the left ear to take the headband off, but it doesn’t budge. Instead, there’s a flood of sensation, right there at the ear tip where Sieun’s grasping it. He can feel the soft fur, and a slight pinch as he pulls on it, as if he was touching his own body; his own ear. Confused, Sieun tugs again, this time harder, and a jolt of pain flashes through him in the exact same spot.
Did Suho super glue a pair of ears to his skull while he was sleeping?
He wouldn't go that far, would he?
Frowning, he leans forward, across the sink, parting the hair at the crown of his head. There is no headband.
The ears are attached directly to his scalp—
Sieun yelps, and the triangle shaped ears twitch, pointing backwards, the way it does when a cat is aggravated.
Then he sees it in the mirror reflection.
A long black tail flickering behind him, swishing back and forth. He can feel that too—the muscle at the base of his spine shifting in tune with the cat tail. Because it’s connected to him. Because Sieun has a tail. And ears—
Sieun screams.
The noise must startle Suho because seconds later, Sieun can hear footsteps pounding down the hallway. “What’s wrong?” Suho calls out, rattling the door knob. “Did you fall?”
The door opens, just a crack, and Sieun surges forward to slam it closed, his hand wrapped tight around the knob. “Don’t!” He cries. “Don’t come in.”
“What the— why not?” Suho demands. “You just screamed bloody murder.”
“I… I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Sieun sees the tail in the mirror again, moving in the air like it has a mind of his own. His heart is racing so fast it hurts. This must be a dream. Sieun is dreaming. There’s no other explanation.
Suho’s voice softens with genuine concern. “Are you okay?”
Sieun’s hand spasms around the door knob. “Promise not to laugh.”
“What the hell, Sieun. If you’re hurt, I’m not going to laugh at you.”
“Promise, Suho.” Sieun grits out.
“Fine, fine,” He grouses. “I promise.”
“Then,” Sieun sucks in a deep breath and takes a step back from the door. “Come in.”
Suho pushes open the bathroom door, and steps inside, his brows furrowed, “Do you have a weird rash or…” His eyes focus on the cat ears twitching on top of Sieun’s head. “Something?”
Suho blinks. “Are those cat ears? And a tail?” A grin spreads across his face. “You dressed up after all, huh? I thought you said Halloween was for kids.”
“Hold on, let me explain — “
Sieun backs up a few more steps, cheeks reddening as Suho approaches, crowding him in the corner between the wall and tub. “Wow, they look so real,” Suho reaches up and touches the right cat ear, tracing his fingers down the backside. Sieun whimpers quietly, sparks of pleasure traveling down his neck to his spine. “And they’re so soft,” Suho continues, still stroking. A warm pressure is building inside of Sieun, increasing in intensity as Suho pets his ears. “How did you find a tail that moves like this…”
With his other hand, Suho reaches out and runs a hand up the cat tail, closing his fist around the tip before stroking his thumb across it. He watches the tail slip through his hand with an expression of pure wonder.
Sieun can’t hold it back anymore.
The low, rumbling noise flows past his lips, vibrating his entire body with pleasure. It’s so overwhelming Sieun gasps again and has to clasp a hand over his mouth.
Suho’s grin turns mischievous, almost fox-like. “Did you just purr?”
“D-don’t touch me.” Sieun stammers out. He has no clue what’s going on but Suho touching him makes it ten times worse.
Suho laughs, delighted. “What is this? Roleplay?” He steps closer, bracing a hand over Sieun’s head. “You're the cat and I'm the owner? Is that how this works?”
Sieun’s nostrils flare. He can smell Suho. The natural scent of his skin is somehow amplified by a thousand, the sleep-warm odor of laundry detergent and the faintest whiff of a synthetic woodsy smell; probably the cologne he sprayed yesterday before coming to Sieun’s house. “You— why do you smell so…”
Good.
“My smell?” Suho lifts the collar of his T-shirt, sniffs at it with a wrinkled nose. “I took a shower yesterday. Or is this a SieunCat thing too?”
It makes Sieun's saliva glands tingle, makes him want to shove his face in Suho's armpit and just smell. It's horrifying. “Stay back,” Sieun holds out a trembling hand, as if to ward Suho off. But really, Sieun's afraid of himself. “Or I’ll swear I’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah, hold still. Lemme touch it again,” Suho pins Sieun’s squirming shoulder to the wall with one hand, then touches a cat ear, rolling the triangle tip between his thumb and index finger. Sieun’s eyelids flutter closed, he bites his lip bloodless when the purring starts back up again, the rhythmic sound so loud it seems to be echoing back at him in the tiny bathroom.
Sieun pushes Suho away roughly and he crashes into the sink counter.
“Ouch!” Suho cries out, rubbing his back ruefully. “Damn, Sieun, what the hell!”
“It’s real.” Sieun says, his voice shaking.
Suho narrows his eyes. “What do you mean it’s real?”
“I mean, I woke up with cat ears and a fucking tail.” Sieun blurts out, exasperated.
“I get it,” Suho says, nodding. “You’re mad I stole your first kiss, so now you’re playing a prank on me. I didn’t know you had such a cute sense of humor.”
“This isn’t a joke.” Sieun snaps, frustration twisting in his stomach. He can feel his cat ears flattening, the hair on his tail billowing the more agitated he gets.
Who is he kidding? Sieun can’t even take himself seriously.
Suho stares at him. He looks at the ears. Then the tail. Then back at Sieun.
Annoyingly, a flush of tears has sprung to Sieun’s eyes.
It feels like all of his senses are heightened; he can hear the refrigerator buzzing in the kitchen as if he were standing right next to it, his field of vision has increased by at least double—he can see more out of the corners of his eyes without even having to turn his head; and Suho’s scent is overpowering, he has to take shallow breaths so he won’t get dizzy.
He's confused and overstimulated, and he wishes he'd wake up from this stupid dream already.
Suho must see the real panic in Sieun’s face, because his expression grows serious. “Sieun-ah.” He says. “Let me see.”
Sieun sighs and takes a step closer.
This time, Suho isn’t teasing. He moves the hair back at the crown of Sieun’s head, then inspects both sides of his face. “Your…” He swallows audibly. “Your human ears are uh—gone.”
Sieun’s hands fly up, bumping into Suho’s where his real ears ought to be. But there’s nothing there. Just more hair, and he can feel the bones of his skull under his fingers. “What…”
Suho touches Sieun’s cat ears at the base, pulling gently. “Does that hurt?” He asks.
“N-no.” Sieun stiffens. “It’s… sensitive.”
Suho makes a soft noise, then takes a step back. He’s trying very hard to keep his face neutral, and Sieun can’t tell if he wants to burst out laughing, or run away screaming. “And the tail?”
Suho points to the embarrassingly animated appendage waving back and forth behind him.
“What about it?” Sieun snaps. The tail is more humiliating than the ears, somehow. It’s like Suho’s talking about Sieun’s ass cheeks or something.
Suho raises his eyebrows. “Where does it start?”
“Why does that matter?" Sieun is going to die of pure shame. He’s going to burst into flames and just die.
“I wanna know what we’re working with here,” Suho raises his hands in surrender. “How else am I supposed to help you?”
Sieun exhales loudly through his nose, then turns around. This feels like the world's weirdest doctor’s appointment. He reaches back and pulls up the edge of his shirt with one hand, then pushes down the band of his pajama bottoms with the other until the cool air hits his skin. He never thought he'd be showing Ahn Suho his bare ass but here he is.
The cat tail starts at the base of his spine, right above his crack. Suho touches him there lightly, and Sieun jumps as he palpates the area, warm fingers prodding at the base of his tail.
Sieun almost curls inward, quivering with the effort to keep still.
It’s as if Suho is touching an exposed nerve, raw and tingling with hot pin pricks.
Sieun squeezes his eyes shut, his breath coming in fast bursts.
What. The. Fuck.
“Does that hurt?” Suho asks, worried.
“No,” Sieun can barely get the word out. “It’s just…”
“Sensitive.” Suho clears his throat and drops his hand. Sieun lets his shirt drop and he pulls up his pants as far as they'll go without pinning the tail down.
“We’re going to figure this out.” Suho assures him, and Sieun is shocked by how mature he’s being. Maybe he’s weirded out and doesn’t want to show it, but Suho’s calm demeanor is strangely comforting.
If Suho isn’t panicking, then there must be a solution to this mess.
The other boy reaches for the door knob and Sieun’s hand flies out, wrapping around Suho’s wrist.
“Where are you going?” Sieun asks anxiously.
“I’m gonna see if we can find anything online about…” Suho’s mouth presses into a line. “Magical cat boy transformations.”
Sieun sees it then. His crinkled eyes, the smile that’s trying to break free, the scream-laughter he must be holding back for Sieun’s sake.
“You think this is hilarious, don’t you?” Sieun deadpans.
“Hilarious isn’t the word I would use,” Suho says innocently. “What’s the feeling people get when they win a million dollar lottery? That’s closer to what I’m feeling right now.”
“Suho.” Sieun hisses between clenched teeth.
“Relax, don’t get your tail in a twist,” He says, and Sieun’s tail gets even puffier at that.
“Yah!” If Sieun had claws right now, he’d dig them into Suho’s face.
Suho laughs. “Sorry, I’m just kitten around.”
“Ahn Suho.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.” Suho squeezes Sieun’s shoulder. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.”
…
Suho takes his laptop out of his bag and sits down on Sieun’s bed with his back against the wall. After pulling up his hood, Sieun crawls across the mattress, curling up next to Suho to look at the screen. Suho has a lot of body heat. It’s sort of comforting; like sitting next to a fire.
While the webpage loads — of course the internet is lagging at a time like this, Suho glances at Sieun.
“What? Do you have another cat joke you want to tell?" Sieun is sulking, but who can blame him? How else should a person react after waking up as a cat/human monstrosity?
“You shouldn’t be embarrassed,” Suho says seriously. “I think it’s cute.”
Sieun stares at the cursor spinning round and round. “Quit making fun of me.”
“I’m not. I like it,” Suho says. “I feel like you’re more…” He pauses, searching for the right word. “Honest.”
Sieun narrows his eyes. “Honest?”
“Watch.” Suho slides Sieun’s hood off of his head, revealing his ears.
“Hey, what are you—”
“My cutie kitten Sieun.” Suho pets Sieun's head, pushing back his cat ears with every pass of his hand. Against his will, Sieun starts purring. It’s not as overwhelming this time, since he’s prepared for it, but the sensation is still strange. Sieun can only compare the feeling to sinking into a warm bath after a long, hard day. Or receiving a hug from your favorite person, and Sieun doesn’t even like hugs— at least, he’s pretty sure he doesn’t…
“You like that?” Suho asks, grinning. “What about good boy? Are you my good boy, Sieun-ah?”
“Shut up.” Sieun is still purring aggressively. The praise is making his tail wag, but he can't seem to find the strength to pull away. “I'm going to kill you when I get my human body back.”
Suho snickers and drops his hand when the Google search finally appears on his computer. He scrolls down the list, and none of the links seem very helpful. There all some variation of:
10 Anime Characters Who Can Turn Into Cats
Cat Transformations: Manga and Webtoon
Sieun needs something useful like, spell to turn you back into a human before you die of embarrassment.
Suho clicks on the first link, squinting at the screen. “Seems like most of these characters were born like this,” He mutters. “Or they’re witches with magical powers. Wait, check out this guy— Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket. It says that he had a curse put on his family, and now he turns into a cat whenever a girl hugs him. Poor guy.”
“No one cursed me. I fell asleep and woke up like this,” Sieun leans forward into Suho’s space to get a good look at the list of characters. “And anyway, that’s an anime. Not real life.”
Suho snorts. “You’re the one with cat ears, don’t you think we should set aside reason and logic? Let’s call Youngyi down here and get her to hug you,” He fumbles around the blankets for his cellphone. “Maybe it’s a reverse curse or something. It could turn you back.”
“Absolutely not.” Sieun snatches the phone out of Suho’s hand and flings it across the bed. If Youngyi finds out about this, he’d never hear the end of it.
She'd probably take a million pictures and post them to her Instagram.
“Then what should we do?” Suho asks skeptically, glancing at Sieun’s ears again with a raised eyebrow. “Find a shaman? A monk? A witch?”
Sieun is doubtful. “We’d have to find a real shaman, not a con artist, if they even exist. And the closest temple is an hour away. I can’t take the bus or ride on the back of your motorcycle like this. At least, not until nightfall.” He can cram his ears under a baseball cap, but his tail does what it wants. Sieun tried shoving it under the waistband of his sweatpants, then it popped right back out again.
“Well, we can’t do more research on an empty stomach.” Suho says decidedly, moving his laptop over to Sieun’s lap.
Sieun’s ears flatten. “You’re leaving me here? All by myself?”
Why is food always at the forefront of this guy's mind?
And what if something happens while Suho is gone?
Sieun thinks Suho should stay here, next to him, all day, until they figure this out.
“You don’t have any food in the fridge, I’ll be right back,” Suho promises. He pulls on the red windbreaker that he hung on the bed post, and gives Sieun a perfunctory head pat.
Sieun silently watches him leave, listening to his footsteps in the hallway, the front door opening and closing. Sieun climbs off the bed and goes over to his window to open the blinds.
After a few moments, Suho trots out of the apartment building towards his motorcycle parked across the street. Sieun leans against the window ledge, his black tail flickering behind him.
Suho looks up and waves at him from the street.
Sieun doesn’t wave back; he stares. He should probably do more research. Something productive. But he continues to sit at the window, waiting.
He gets distracted by the birds zipping back and forth in front of the glass. Sieun can hear squirrels chattering outside, and he perks up, watching them scurry up and down the oak tree in front of his apartment building.
He doesn’t know how long he sits there.
It’s like he’s in a trance.
Sieun can see the individual feathers on the bird’s wings, the shining black marbles of the squirrel's eyes, the nuts they’re carrying up the tree trunk.
It’s all so fascinating.
Why hasn’t he done this before?
Sieun is still watching the birds when Suho returns on the motorcycle. He hears the engine first, then the bike comes into view, Suho's red helmet making his heart skip a beat.
Sieun rushes to the front door and waits for the familiar ping of the keypad unlocking.
A few minutes pass (Suho must be in the elevator by now) and Sieun can’t explain why he’s so excited to see Suho when he just left. It feels like he’s been gone a hundred years. No, a million years.
Will Suho pet him again when he comes through the door?
Sieun won't even complain this time.
When he finally enters the apartment, Suho's hands are full of plastic bags, printed with the logo from the fish market near Sieun’s house. “I saw you sitting by the window," Suho says, amused. “What did you do while I was gone?”
“Wait for you to come back.” Sieun's gaze is zeroed in on the bags. He can smell the fish through the plastic. Is it salmon? No, it’s mackerel. He’s sure of it. Sieun licks his lips. “I’m hungry.”
“Sieun-ah,” Suho gapes at him, his mouth open. “Have you looked in a mirror?”
“No,” Sieun says, frowning. “Why?”
Suho points at Sieun’s face. “You have fangs.” He says.
Sieun runs his tongue over his canines, grimacing when he realizes how sharp and pointed they are. “It’s getting worse.” He groans, dropping his head into his hands.
What the hell is he going to do?
Sieun might turn into a full fledged cat at this rate.
“So the longer you stay in this form, the more cat features you get,” Suho says wonderingly. “I wonder if you’ll get paws eventually? Or whiskers? That would be so fucking cu —” The smile melts off of his face when he sees Sieun glaring at him. “Awful,” Suho corrects himself, shaking his head. “And horrible. Just very bad, and not good at all.”