The next morning, Wooyoung was pulled from sleep by a small vibration against his chest.

He opened his eyes slowly and succumbed to the bright smile that tore across his face when he saw the tiny kitten curled up on top of him. Her tail twitched slightly and she was covering her nose with her paw.

As he lay there, he noticed that while most of her body was a pale orange color, all four of her paws were white, as well as the tip of her tail. She also had a white blotch on her forehead.

When she sensed that he was awake, she yawned and stretched on top of him, then rolled over to expose her stomach. Bright yellow-green eyes studied him curiously and she stretched out one paw toward her nose.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Wooyoung asked. He tickled her soft stomach with the tips of his fingers and giggled when she attacked them with her paws.

Then she started to purr again. The kitten rolled over once more and started to rub her head against his hand.

"I'm going to need to think of a name for you. I can't just call you kitty all the time." He said while rolling out of bed and keeping her cradled in his arms.

The pair of them went to his kitchen, where he set her down on the counter and opened up the bag cat food. He scooped some of it into the dish Jongho had provided and watched as she dipped down to start eating the semi-hard food.

Wooyoung watched her for a long moment, fascinated by the tiny creature, before he went back to his room to grab his phone.

It was still early, but he knew Jongho started his days before dawn most of the time so he hoped the younger would answer.

And he did after only a couple of rings. "Hello, this is Jongho."

"Hey, it's me." Wooyoung said, suddenly feeling shy.

"Oh! Hi Woo! I was expecting one of my buyers, sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I know it's the start of your day." Wooyoung smiled at the ground and ran his foot back and forth over the hard floor. "How are you?"

Jongho chuckled. It made Wooyoung picture him leaning against his truck wearing his form fitting jeans, a button-down work shirt, and a dusty cowboy hat. He bit his lip and tried to get the fantasy out of his head. "I'm good, how are you?" The younger answered with a knowing tone to his voice.

"Indebted to you. Jongho, you didn't have to." Wooyoung whispered, glancing at where the kitten was still eating.

"I know. That's what makes it even better. You always make comments of how alone you feel sometimes, so I wanted you to have some company. And don't worry, you didn't ask for this so I can help you with supplies and such. I always have extra."

"Oh, you don't need to do that. I will manage somehow. Just her being here is enough for me. It was just the thing I needed. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Jongho's voice was gentle when he spoke. "What are you up to today?"

Wooyoung sighed and leaned against the counter. "Working both jobs unfortunately. But Marcus offered me a full-time position with him, so I'm putting in my notice at the library today." He did his best to sound calm while speaking.

"Wow! That's great, Woo! I know you were hoping for that."

The older just nodded slowly. There was truth behind that statement, but that was before he learned what Marcus' true intentions were. Now he was having a hard time finding joy in the prospect of working. But still, he forced himself to act like everything was perfectly normal. "Thanks. I'm really excited. Hopefully this means I can start saving up for a car."

"Well you know you can always count on me for a ride."

"Thanks, but I don't want to be a burden." Wooyoung said.

The kitten sat down on the counter and started looking around with wide, curious eyes.

"You could never be a burden. That's why I offer." Jongho said gently. The softness of his voice brought a small smile to Wooyoung's face and he rubbed the back of his neck. "When can I see you again?"

The question was sudden and took Wooyoung off guard. "Oh, um. I'm off day after tomorrow."

"Great. How about I pick you up from work tomorrow night and you can come stay again?"

"What about the kitten?" Wooyoung had to stifle a laugh when she waggled her butt a little when trying to decide if she could jump off the counter or not. He reached over to pick her up and set her gently on the floor. She then proceeded to explore the kitchen, slipping several times on the hard floor.

"We can pick her up on our way back to my place, as well as a bag for you. It would be good for her to see her littermates occasionally, that way she gets socialized and doesn't turn into the cat that hides whenever someone comes over." Jongho said. The sound of his truck roaring to life could be heard in the background.

"Ok. Tomorrow night it is then. I know you're busy, so have a good day and I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, Woo. I'll see you tomorrow." Jongho said before hanging up.

Humming to himself, Wooyoung got ready for the day and made sure the kitten had plenty of food and water within her reach, as well as access to her litter box and toys. Then he gave her several kisses and muttered apologies before leaving for work.

Guilt plague him while he walked to work, but he knew that cats were more independent that dogs, so he had to tell himself that she would be ok.

When he got to the library, he sought out his boss immediately to let him know that he was putting in his notice. While she was sad to hear it, she said that she understood and she was sorry to see him go.

He promised that he would work the full two weeks and train anyone new they hired on if they wanted him to.

The rest of his shift there went by fairly quickly. He spent a lot of time stocking shelves and organizing things. As the staff learned about his notice, they all came up to him one by one to wish him well and express how much they would miss him.

He felt bad, but Wooyoung had to fake a lot of it because he knew he really wouldn't miss working with them. Some of them at least.

It was going to be nice to not have to rely on others and clean up after their mistakes. That was one of the few plusses of working for Marcus. One of the very few.

The bus ride into the city was one of the longest hours of his life.

Everything within him told him to run and never look back, that nothing good was going to come from entering the bustling cement world.

But worse things would happen if he avoided it.

Once again, when he stepped into the office, Marcus was on the phone. However, he did stop and stare at Wooyoung for a long moment. Then he wrote on a piece of paper and held it up for Wooyoung to see. In his messy font, he asked Wooyoung to go pick up a coffee from the café down the street. He handed it, and his card, to the younger without stopping his conversation.

Happy to get out of there, Wooyoung hurried down the street to complete the errand.

The café itself was rather busy, but Wooyoung managed to get to the counter and order fast enough.

While he waited, he noticed that one of the baristas kept glancing in his direction and would smile shyly in his direction.

She was cute, but Wooyoung did his best to avoid her gaze.

Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to be 'normal'. His life would have been so much easier if he had grown to like girls instead of boys. Then maybe he could flirt with the cute barista, or he wouldn't have fallen under Lucas' spell, or his parents would still love him.

So many bad things had come from him being different, and there were many times that made him wonder if it was even worth it.

Giggling drew his attention back to the counter and two of the girls both turned away from him while trying to hide their faces. He just sighed in response and pulled out his phone.

Waiting for him, to his surprise, was a text from San.

Sannie

Friday night, dinner?

Wooyoung

I work the next day, but dinner would be nice.

Sannie

I didn't ask about the next day ;)

Mostly because I do to.

But Friday night you're all mine baby.

I think we need to find a third place for me to ravish you.

Wooyoung's stomach flipped and he knew he had to be blushing right now. He didn't think he'd ever get used to how forward San could be.

And the thought of some new scandalous thing for them to do together had him chewing on his bottom lip which fantasizing of all the different things San could mean.

Wooyoung

Sounds like a challenge.

I accept.

Sannie

I was hoping you'd say that.

I have a surprise for you, but I need you to keep your mind open.

Pick you up after work?

Wooyoung

It's a date.

He slipped his phone back into his pocket right when his name was called. Making extra sure to avoid looking at the barista, Wooyoung hurried out of the café and back to work.

Marcus was off the phone when he arrived. He looked up and let out a long sigh while accepting the coffee. "You're a life saver. Things have been so crazy today. I can't wait for you to be here for more of the day." He paused to take a sip of his drink, then his eyes narrowed while looking at Wooyoung. "Did you put in your notice?"

"Yes." Wooyoung answered quickly. "They accepted with no issues. I'll work the next two weeks there and then be done."

"Good." Marcus glanced at his screen. "There's a list of files I need on the table in the back. Please get them for me."

Wooyoung bowed his head and stepped into the back. He worked quickly to find everything that his boss needed and brought them to his desk.

"Thank you."

"Anything else?"

Marcus pursed his lips. "Sit." He commanded.

Wooyoung let out a quick breath and sat in the chair situated next to Marcus'. Nothing happened other than Marcus reading through the files for several minutes.

Then the older ran a hand over his face and groaned. "This new case is throwing me for a loop. I've managed to track down most of where this man has been over the past month, but there are still a few days that are unaccounted for."

"Wh... Where have you looked?" Wooyoung asked.

Marcus pulled out a map of the city and started pointing to different areas. "I've checked all the bars and strip clubs, same with hotels and restaurants. He has definitely been seen with multiple women, but I can't quite pinpoint his location enough to warred following him, let alone an arrest."

"Can you do that?" He was genuinely curious about whether or not Marcus had the ability to arrest someone of the situation called for it.

"Well, not fully. But I can detain someone without major consequences until the police arrive. That just ends up being so much of a hassle though. There's so much paperwork to fill out and interviews to sit through, so I try to avoid it as much as I can."

The younger nodded and stared down at the floor. "Have you checked with any of the other businesses? Maybe there's a local coffee shop or something he goes to."

"I suppose that will have to be my next step. I'll try to work on that this week." Marcus slide the files back toward Wooyoung. "Thank you for these, I'm done now."

Wooyoung stood and took the files to the back to return to their location.

Be it some miracle, or the fact that Marcus was genuinely stressed about his current case, but that was all he had Wooyoung do for the night. If he thought of something else, he would have Wooyoung retrieve its file so he could review the information he already had.

Because of this, Wooyoung returned home in a much better mood than the night before. And it got even better when he opened his apartment door to see his kitten sitting in front of it waiting for him.

She mewled happily and rose up on her hide legs to greet him.

"Hello kitty! Look at you waiting for me." He cooed, lifting her up and bringing her close to nuzzle his nose into her fur.

The kitten started to purr loudly and crawled onto his shoulder to rub against his neck.

"Yes, I missed you too. Did you have a good day?" Wooyoung giggled and looked around his apartment.

Her toys were in different spots and it looked like she ate some of her food. There was also a small indent in the blanket on the couch to indicate that she had spend a decent about of time sleeping there.

She meowed again and dug her tiny claws into his shoulder to keep herself from slipping off.

Wooyoung grabbed her and held her to his chest. She stayed like that through the rest of the evening, except when he had to cook. Then she explored the kitchen counters and pawed gently at the spoon he left sitting out.

"Silly girl. You're going to get to see your brothers and sisters tomorrow. Would you like that?"

She sat down and tilted her head.

"And your mama. She will be there too."

When he got a small meow in response, Wooyoung knew that this was going to become the best part of his day. Having someone to talk to was going to make everything so much better.

He would have to repay Jongho somehow.

And he had 24 hours to decide.