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Living life as a familiar did have its perks. One, you were able to transform into human. And two, you were able to take part in the human world, away from rules and disappointed stares. Humans thought he was cute too because of his shiny, smooth, black fur. His big, bright starry eyes always captured their hearts, human or cat form. Jeongguk simply loved being a cat demon. The only thing he hated about his job was actually the humans.
You never know who you would work with. Some humans were mean. Some would neglect you. Some were able to be nice. So far, the humans he encountered fit the first two traits. If this ever happened to a familiar, thankfully, they had the right to break the bond and start over again with a new human. Jeongguk only had to do this twice.
Currently, he didn’t experience any issue with his new human. This human was, of course, a skilled witch named Min Yoongi.
His hyung (the human told him to call him) was a smart and gorgeous witch. People all over the world knew his name, visited him for help and used his products. He was famous. He was short, black-haired and pale. His cheeks were littered with freckles like stars and his forehead had a moon symbol imprinted on it and so did his hand.
This made the witch unique and Jeongguk wondered how a human can look like this. Yoongi refused to tell him, treating his secret like a guessing game. This fact didn’t bother Jeongguk at all, since, Jeongguk loved games.
“Are you a fairy, Min Yoongi-hyung?”
“Hmm, no.”
Why does Jeongguk like the witch so much? Well, to put it simply, he’s talented. Jeongguk was a sucker for talented humans who liked the way Yoongi does.
But why does his heart beat so fast whenever Yoongi looked at him?
Jeongguk ignored these thoughts. He knew whatever he felt about Yoongi wouldn’t be affected at all. Yoongi doesn’t know and Jeongguk doesn’t care too much to figure out what these emotions meant. However, he may need to do something about it quick. Because, for some reason, there’s a new cat familiar in Yoongi’s home!
The familiar was in his human form, sitting on the kitchen counter, a blanket covering them and their blondish ears and tail were peeking out, moving on their own will. Yoongi was smiling at the demon, comforting them by talking low and keeping his hands away from the cat. Jeongguk had to walk in on the scene after leaving for a few hours to do some errands (buy video games). He thought his eyes were big enough but this scene for sure made them bigger due to shock.
“H-Hyung, who is this,” Jeongguk asked, dropping the bag of games down on the tiled floor. Yoongi stopped talking, and looked at his familiar, with sad eyes but a nice smile.
Jeongguk gulped.
“Jeongguk, meet Lu. He’ll be staying here for awhile.” Huh?
This ‘Lu’ shyly waved at the familiar, ears pressing flat against his head. “Hi.”
Huh?!
☾
The only reason…Lu was staying here was because he was abandoned by his previous owner Jeongguk learned. Whenever a familiar was left behind, it meant embarrassment. It’s embarrassing that a familiar didn’t live up to a human’s expectations. Although, it was never the familiar’s fault. People just assume that the human was asking for too much from their familiars. Jeongguk sympathized with Lu. He really did but why does he have to work alongside him? He felt left out because Yoongi paid more attention to him, to make sure that Lu was comfortable at his new home.
Jeongguk watched the two mess around with some potions in his cat form, squinting his eyes. ‘Yoongi is so nice,’ the familiar thought as Yoongi pet Lu on the head. ‘Why is he so nice?’
“I need lavender,” Yoongi asked, not getting it himself. Jeongguk grinned inwardly, ready to please his human. Instead, the other familiar was quicker to give Yoongi the material he needed, receiving praise from the witch.
Jeongguk frowned (tried to at least in this form) and curled up in a ball. It’s fine. He’ll help out later.
☾
That later never came. Every time Jeongguk went to help out Yoongi, the other familiar was always there to help out first. At this point, Jeongguk felt left out. Neglected. Yoongi hardly paid any attention to him. Jeongguk couldn’t even be mad at Lu. He’s so nice and doesn’t deserve any petty hate from him. He too wanted Lu to feel at home but he still wanted to do his job. He always believed that Yoongi was a great human, flawed, but great. Now, he doesn’t know what to think.
These thoughts eventually consumed him, making him lose focus on everything around him. One day, after seeing Yoongi mess around with his beautiful magic with Lu, Jeongguk couldn’t take it anymore.
He left, thinking it would stop these thoughts he was getting. He needed to clear his head and believed that a train ride would help. He bought his ticket, boarded the train and instantly fell asleep.
Hours later, Jeongguk woke up. Thankfully, the train was approaching the stop. He didn’t know where he was but he knew he needed to get off the train. The train slowed to a stop and Jeongguk got to his feet, rushing to the exit.
Jeongguk got off the train, his head bowed. He started to walk away, hearing a ‘poof!’ but ignored it. But then suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and stiffened, staring at Yoongi who had an unattractive frown on his face. The appearance of the witch surprised him, causing Jeongguk to transform to cower.
Obviously, that didn’t do anything. Jeongguk stood on his paws still, too nervous to run away. Again.
Yoongi knelt down on his level. “Jeongguk, are you running away?”
He didn’t answer.
“Why,” Yoongi already knew the answer to his own question. Jeongguk made a whining noise and pressed his ears against his head. “Jeonggukie, does it have to do something with Lu?”
He whined again and Yoongi sighed. “Of course, it is. I’m so sorry Jeongguk. After I noticed you left, I too noticed that you weren’t helping me that much. It’s my fault for taking in two familiars when it's clear I'm not ready too.”
Jeongguk shook his head. It’s not your fault. It’s okay. I’m okay. I just want to-
“Help? Be by my side,” Yoongi finished the sentence for him. Jeongguk shook and closed his thoughts from the witch. Too close.
“I’ll make sure it never happens again. I want the both of you to help me out. I care about you so much, Jeongguk. I…need you,” Yoongi blinked his eyes, close to tears. “Just promise to tell me if I ever do anything wrong.”
Jeongguk nodded. I promise.
His response to Yoongi caused a pretty sight. The sight of Yoongi’s flushed cheeks and his smile made Jeongguk feel…warm inside. Embarrassed but also feeling loved (ugh), Jeongguk bumped his pink nose against Yoongi’s to show his affection. He was pleased to see Yoongi flush even darker. The familiar transformed back into his human form and shyly smiled at the older man. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m sorry I neglected you. I’ll make sure that you won’t be left out. I love you way too much to see you leave and feel this way.”
I love you too.
Jeongguk nodded, blushing. “Okay.”
☾
While waiting for the next train to arrive, Yoongi held Jeongguk’s hand, swinging it back and forth. Jeongguk liked it but he paid way more attention to the moon symbol on the witch’s hand. Yoongi took notice and spoke up to break the comfortable silence.
“Let’s end the game here.”
“Huh?”
“The game. Let’s end it,” Yoongi said again.
“What? Why,” Jeongguk whined with a pout. He loved the game.
“Because you deserve to know,” Yoongi chuckled, bringing his other hand up to ruffle the familiar’s hair. He sighed and smiled softly. “This moon on my forehead and hand…”
Jeongguk gasped.
“A potion did that to you?!”
“That’s so lame!”
The End