Taehyung went into the bedroom an hour later to wake Hyungwon. He didn't understand; Hyungwon only got one day a month to be human, and he chose to spend it sleeping?

He found Hyungwon curled up in a ball and still wearing Changkyun's shirt.

"Wake up," Taehyung said but got no response. "Hyungwon, please wake up."

One eye opened and blinked at him before shutting.

Taehyung sighed, walking over to the other side of the bed and hesitating. After a moment, he rested a hand on Hyungwon's head and threaded his fingers through Hyungwon's hair. His earlier assumption had been correct; it was soft, as soft as a cat's fur.

Hyungwon reacted after a moment, blinking heavily and slowly uncurling before arching his back. Taehyung was starting to believe that he was more cat than human by this point, and he honestly wasn't sure how to treat the other.

"What is it?" Hyungwon asked, rolling over onto his side to look at Taehyung.

"Well, uh, nothing, but...don't you want to do something? As a human?"

Hyungwon blinked with mild confusion accompanied by vague curiosity. "I already had ice cream. That's really the only thing I can't do as a cat."

"Oh, well..." Taehyung fumbled for something to say. After all, Hyungwon only got to be human once a month. This was likely the first and last time Taehyung would ever see him. "Don't you want to go outside or something?"

Hyungwon frowned at Taehyung, sitting up with his legs drawn in, arms hanging between them. "I'm not allowed outside."

"Why not?" Taehyung asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Because Changkyun said so," Hyungwon replied, curling his toes and fingers inward. "He said it's not safe."

"Because someone could take you?" Taehyung filled in, and Hyungwon nodded. "But I'll be with you this time," Taehyung said. "I'll keep you safe. No one can take you if you're with me." Taehyung paused, biting his lip. He wasn't sure why he wanted to convince Hyungwon to leave so much, but he pressed onward. "When was the last time you got to go outside?"

Hyungwon's frown remained etched on his face as he turned his head toward the wall. "I can't remember." He looked back at Taehyung quickly, defensiveness in his eyes, and if he'd been in cat form, Taehyung was sure his fur would be rising and sticking out to respond to what he viewed as a threat. "I'm happy here," Hyungwon asserted before amending, "I'm safe here."

"I promise to you," Taehyung said, one hand on his heart for emphasis. It just felt right. There was something innately pure about Hyungwon that compelled Taehyung to be absolutely genuine and sincere in his actions. "I'll keep you safe. I'll make sure you come home."

Hyungwon's dark eyes scanned Taehyung's, Taehyung freezing up as he felt his sincerity being assessed, before slouching, his shoulders rising while his head dropped. "But Changkyun said-"

"He won't know if we don't tell him," Taehyung said, a small smile alighting on his face, and Hyungwon looked up quickly, eyes brighter than they'd been all morning.

"I...I want to go outside," Hyungwon admitted after a moment, his face dusted with a light spattering of pink as he quickly looked away.

"Great," Taehyung said, flushing with pride at achieving his goal. "But first..."

"What?" Hyungwon asked, looking over at Taehyung and tilting his head in a purely feline way.

"You need to put some actual clothes on."

***

For the first few minutes, Hyungwon had sank down, sticking close to Taehyung's side and trying to make himself as small as possible as though attempting to hide from the sun. After a while, though, he slowly straightened out his spine, coming out several inches taller than Taehyung himself, although he didn't leave Taehyung's side. He kept one hand on Taehyung's shirt, fingers tightly fisted in the fabric, and he was walking so closely to Taehyung that he'd almost tripped the other several times.

"Relax," Taehyung finally said, ruffling the other's hair. "I'm not going to let you get separated from me."

Hyungwon's lips twitched, but he didn't release his grip on Taehyung, nor did he stop from constantly scanning the crowd, left to right and back again. "There are so many people...When did they all get here?"

Taehyung laughed, sliding his hand from Hyungwon's head to around his far shoulder. "They've been here for a while. The city's grown over the past hundred years or so. A lot has changed and is still changing."

Hyungwon turned his head, resting it on Taehyung's shoulder so his nose brushed against Taehyung's neck. "There's too much going on. It hurts my eyes."

Taehyung moved his hand back to Hyungwon's head, placing it behind Hyungwon's neck as he attempted to comfort the other. "I'll take you someplace quieter. Just hang in there a little longer, okay," Taehyung said, ignoring some of the strange looks he was receiving as he steered Hyungwon over to a side street.

"Okay, we're here," Taehyung announced, and Hyungwon slowly pulled his head out from Taehyung's neck to find himself in a park. There were benches scattered throughout the area, and several couples were walking along the paths, although no one was in the close vicinity. "I thought you'd like it here. It's not as busy as the downtown area, and it's nice and quiet."

"It's pretty," Hyungwon said after a moment, his eyes catching on the flowering trees. "Do you come here a lot, Taehyung?"

"Just when I need to think," Taehyung replied, smiling shyly. The park was his special place, his alone place for when he needed to get away from other people. He cared deeply for his friends, but sometimes they were too much. Too loud. He needed a place like this to balance it all out so he could hear his own thoughts. "Do you like it?"

Hyungwon nodded, his head dipping forward. "I think Changkyun would like it too."

Taehyung scanned Hyungwon's face for any signs of bitterness or hatred. Changkyun had been there when Hyungwon had been cursed, however long ago that had been, and yet Hyungwon was able to talk about him with such a bright look in his eyes. "Changkyun is a good friend to you, isn't he?"

Hyungwon nodded, eyes following a butterfly as it lazily made its way through the air. "He's all I have."

"Hey," Taehyung said, pinching Hyungwon's side lightly and delighting in the slight yelp Hyungwon emitted. "You have me too, you know."

"You're just here because Changkyun is paying you," Hyungwon said, looking away for a moment as his grip on Taehyung's shirt weakened. "Then when he comes home, he'll give you your money, and you'll leave."

"I..." Taehyung hesitated. He couldn't deny that he'd originally granted Changkyun's request because he'd needed some quick cash, but a lot had changed in the past two weeks. "Maybe that's what I thought at first, but I feel like I know you now, Hyungwon."

Hyungwon looked over at Taehyung with desolate eyes. "Just what do you know about me, Taehyung?"

Taehyung found himself caught off guard by the direct question, but he responded a moment later. "Well, you like crime TV and Game Show Network. You've got a crush on Horatio Caine-"

"He pulls off sunglasses okay," Hyungwon muttered, kicking at the ground.

"You like taking naps-"

"Those are all just things Changkyun told you," Hyungwon interrupted.

Taehyung hesitated before setting his hand on top of Hyungwon's head. "I know that you care a lot about your friend, that you worry about him and wait for him to come home because you miss him. I just want you to care about me too, to worry about me and wait for me and miss me. Just a little. Is that okay?"

Hyungwon pouted, his lips sticking out, but his grip on Taehyung's shirt strengthened, his fingers tightening as though the thought of being separated from Taehyung scared him. "I guess so."

"Good boy," Taehyung cheered, tousling his hair. "Now, what does kitty want to do?"

"Take a nap in the sun," Hyungwon immediately replied, and Taehyung laughed before directing Hyungwon over to a patch of grass.

"Go on, lay down. I'll wake you up in a little while."

Hyungwon sat down, pulling Taehyung down with him before he looked over at the other with a question in his eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't leave you," Taehyung added, and Hyungwon nodded before laying down on his side and curling in toward Taehyung.

Taehyung just kept his hand resting in Hyungwon's hair, sifting through it lightly as a gentle breeze swept through the park.