Chapter Text
High above in the mountains, where tall and thick grass leads into confusing, dense forests, there lies a small shrine to a fittingly small deity. One would assume so anyway, as they are depicted as a sitting black house cat.
It’s hard to tell just how old the bronze statue actually is. The material seems somewhat worn, though, and upon closer look of it, there are signs of some patina right around the cat’s left front paw. But the altar it sits on is clean, with fresh flowers and new candles surrounding it. The smaller tables in front of the altar are also spotless — shiny lacquered wood and all — and in the center is a golden ash-filled burner with intricate designs.
To call it a temple is a stretch, really, when there’s only the altar and one very small building that’s being used for storage. But nevertheless, this… temple of a black cat overlooks a city down below. By some accounts, one can reach it by hiking, taking about one and a half hours, sometimes two, to get there. However, it’s impossible to drive up to as there are no man-made roads going up the mountain, and the overwhelming sense of foreboding discourages many who attempt to build anything near it. The abundance of rocks and steep slopes add to the challenge.
No signs, no headstones, no text is present to provide any insight or information about the black cat or the locale. Hushed rumors of ghost sightings keep the average person away.
In a world that is always about running toward the unknown future and the hustle and bustle, it is a true wonder that such a place can still exist. Not only exist but be carefully tended to.
Only two humans in all the land have repeatedly and consistently made the trek to visit Soleum’s shrine.
And they're the only ones, ever, to be allowed to keep coming back.
A crisp brown leaf gently sways to and fro before a harsh gust of wind makes it sputter right onto the statue of the black cat, directly covering its face.
A scarred hand slowly reaches out, grabbing the leaf by its stem. The human is careful to not accidentally disturb the statue, taking his time moving the leaf away without it scratching the statue.
He stands at full length, leaf pinched between two fingers, and takes two long strides to the entrance of the altar room. Dropping his arm, he lets go of the leaf and nods to himself.
“There we go, hm?” The brown-haired man smiles, watching for a moment as the leaf flutters along the ground away from the altar, before turning again to look at the statue. “Don't want a silly little leaf blocking the best view.”
Silence, but that was expected.
Undeterred, the man plops himself down to sit against the outer wall. He looks out toward the landscape of trees and tall buildings in the far distance. Some clouds in the sky part, revealing a bit more of the sun, making the shadows of the trees shift. Birds chirp, more leaves flutter about.
The man sighs, bringing a hand to the back of his head. The scar on his neck is more prominent now, as he adjusts the collar of his shirt.
“I'll have to ask Jaekwannie to start sweeping the area more.”
After a moment, the man closes his eyes and hums a modern pop song, bopping his head to the catchy beat.
Small bells jingle from the long colorful earring hanging on his right ear.
A pair of cat ears twitch up at the sound, but this human cannot see them. No one can.
Some time passes and the sun is fully shining against the bright blue sky. Clouds are sparse on this hot late summer day. A second human is walking along a surprisingly clear and straightforward dirt path that leads to the temple. Trees line the way, and their shade provides ample cover. The tall man is carrying two plastic bags, hugging one in the cradle of his arms and clasping a second bag down at his side. His gait is steady, with a purpose, and he seems to be deep in thought, head hanging low and brows furrowed.
But when he finally looks up and sees the seated scarred man waving at him, his shoulders relax and his eyes sparkle.
“Sunbae-nim.”
The black-haired and blue-eyed man slightly bows his head in greeting as he takes the final steps to stand under the simple gates of the temple. He bows again once he reaches the scarred man still sitting at the entrance of the altar room.
“Aigoo, Jaekwan-ah. What did I tell you, hm?” The scarred man uses a knee to prop himself back to standing up, squeezing a hand over the other man's shoulder to balance himself as he does so. He leans in close and whispers softly. “Call me Choi hyung.”
He playfully tickles at the younger man’s inner wrist, brushing against the threads of Jaekwan’s five-colored shoelace bracelet until he loosens his grip, and plucks the bag from him.
Jaekwan shakes his head in amusement and nods toward the storage room.
“Let’s get things ready, sunbae.”
He bumps Choi’s shoulder with his own and finally smiles when Choi whines about the disrespect of youngsters not listening to their elders. Small puffs of dirt kick into the air and the dry leaves beneath their feet crunch a little as they quickly make their way over.
Inside the storage room, there are cupboards with bowls and plates, boxes of incense sticks and candles, and plenty of other knickknacks on multiple shelves. Even two camping cots sit in the corner next to some hammocks. On the floor are a few large boxes, each labeled with quick and lazy large scribbles and neat small text beneath.
This eclectic collection has been an accumulation over the past three years, each item carried either by Choi or Jaekwan on their weekly hikes up. All for the purpose of maintaining the buildings and nearby area.
Choi grabs a few plates from the cupboard. He then walks over to the table in the middle of the room and starts spreading them out. Jaekwan sets his bag down, moving to stand next to Choi. Carefully, he rummages through and removes a couple water bottles, snacks, bags of fruit and cans of cat food within.
They both diligently set up their shared offerings and there’s a comfortable silence as they work. It’s clear that this is the norm between the two of them.
Choi finishes with his portion. He turns to look at Jaekwan, who’s holding a couple bunches of grapes, rearranging them into a bowl. Choi smiles at the sight and playfully elbows Jaekwan.
“I know we've been doing this for a while now, but…you do know grapes are dangerous for cats, right?”
“Of course.” Jaekwan nods, absentmindedly lifting a hand to scratch his right cheek. “I…get them for us.”
Choi chuckles, reaching out to ruffle Jaekwan’s hair. “Such a thoughtful hoobae.”
Jaekwan huffs and slightly tucks his chin inward to partially hide his face. The movement reveals the nape of his neck. Choi, in turn, lazily slides his hand down, grazing over the exposed skin with his thumb. His eyes are glued onto the spot.
“I was thinking…” Choi starts, slyly pausing for dramatic effect as a smile forms on his face. Jaekwan glances his eyes up, blinking twice, and frowns, but doesn't make a move to stop Choi from touching him.
“We should get matching earrings.”
Jaekwan’s eyebrows are knitted in confusion. “Neither of my ears are pierced.”
“Well, of course we could get you clip-ons.” Choi’s smirk widens as he leans in. “But y’know, I could always pierce ‘em for you, hm? Make sure it doesn’t hurt. Take real good care of ya.”
Jaekwan simply stands there, but Choi knows he heard him. The younger man’s fingers are working on tearing open the last bag of apples.
And honestly, Choi loves that Jaekwan is un-phased by his antics because he’s one of the few who truly takes everything in stride. Choi sees it as a dare, almost, for himself. Yeah, yeah, don’t poke the bear as people say and all. But…what would it take to see him really let his guard down? What would it take for Jaekwannie to really let loose?
“Offer stands.” Choi exaggeratedly winks, letting out an amused chuckle before walking out with three offering plates in tow.
The tips of Jaekwan’s ears are now a bright red as a bead of sweat trails down his face. He looks to the open door and twists his left wrist in the palm of his right hand.
The small bell tied to his bracelet jingles. The wind shifts and leaves rustle in the distance.
Behind one of the boxes in the corner, a black tail wags to and fro in the air.
Their offerings are splayed out on the tables before the altar. On the bowl with grapes, Choi has scribbled a post-it note with “NOT CAT SAFE” in thick lines. Jaekwan kneels down next to Choi, who’s already taking out a lighter from his pocket and pressing the flame toward an unlit candle. The corner of Choi’s lips curve up when he sees Jaekwan approach. Jaekwan dutifully tips over six incense sticks until the fire catches. He gives three back to Choi before bringing his hands into position. Holding the incense sticks between his pressed palms, Jaekwan lifts his hands up until his thumbs are pressed against his lips and begins internally praying. Choi on the other hand is muttering under his breath. After Jaekwan finishes, he carefully places his sticks in the middle of the central burner bowl. Choi follows shortly after. Thin lines of white smoke rise to the skies above.
Choi and Jaekwan both land on the back of their heels and begin bowing to the cat statue three times, prostrating and kneeling appropriately as they do so.
Their routine to maintaining things around the temple is simple. Broom and mop around the grounds. Light up incense sticks. Pray for safety and good fortunes and longevity and everything else. Present their offerings. Talk about nothing. Talk about everything. With their work schedules as civil servants, the two of them are only able to come up once or twice a week.
The spread of offerings now cover a folding table and Jaekwan and Choi are sitting on a bench.
“What if we try to find the hot springs?” Choi asks as he throws a grape into his mouth and chews with his mouth open.
Jaekwan clenches his jaw as he pauses mid-chew himself. “It's dangerous.”
Even though it’s been years, they still don’t know how to navigate the mountains. After comparing notes, Choi and Jaekwan both came to the same conclusion. There’s no other way to describe it. The two of them are guided here. Every single time.
Both he and Choi have definitely heard running water occasionally on some trips up and down, but that doesn’t mean they should do something so reckless and risky. They don’t even know if there’s actually a hot spring.
“We can just go to a bathhouse near the office.”
Choi sighs. “Yeah, but then I’d have to deal with people staring at the scars.”
He has a point. Jaekwan does it all the time for a completely different reason.
“Not that I mind, but sometimes people make it so obvious when they’re ogling, y’know?” Choi smiles suggestively.
Jaekwan doesn’t reply, continuing to peel the apple with his knife, dropping pieces into the bowl he’s set in his lap.
He’s not surprised. Choi has an attractive figure after all, and that aura of confidence has definitely turned people’s heads in spades over the years.
Suddenly Choi leans in close and Jaekwan freezes mid-cut. He can smell his body wash or deodorant or something. It’s nice, whatever it is.
Those black and blue eyes are twinkling like he knows exactly what he’s doing to him. Choi’s warm shoulder brushes Jaekwan’s arm as he tips his head down toward the bowl in Jaekwan’s lap. Jaekwan’s ears are ringing when Choi slowly wraps his lips around an apple slice.
Jaekwan holds his breath, staying stock still. Then, Choi is sitting upright again, cheeks puffed, and throwing his head back to obnoxiously chew and swallow like he’s role playing a baby bird.
“Careful, you’ll choke.” Jaekwan chastises, exhaling, and Choi snickers.
The charms of the wind chime attached to one of the storage room doors clink together.
A cat’s paw stretches into the air, kneading into nothing. Claws extend once before they retract.
The sky is a soft blue now and the two men finish packing everything up for the week. If they want to make it into town before sunset, they have to go down soon. Jaekwan has evenly split what they brought into two sorted bags, carefully hugging both to his chest as he waits for Choi at the temple gates. While at times they arrive separately, they always hike down together. Jaekwan momentarily thinks about how comforting it is, and wishes that the temple was closer. That way, he could bring fresh slabs of meat as offerings instead of fruit. That way, he can get more time with Choi.
Jaekwan looks up when Choi calls out to him in a sing-song voice, but he immediately drops both bags. Choi tilts his head and twists his torso to see what caused Jaekwan to startle.
Thick black smoke.
They’re both quick to react, running toward the storage room. Choi slams the door open with his shoulder, and they’re both on high alert, ready to tackle the fire.
But when they scan the room, everything’s just as they left it. No fire, no burn marks. Nothing’s out of place. Confused, they rush out of the room and separate to scan the sides and back of the building. Still nothing.
“That was real, right?” Choi asks to double check when they meet up again, catching his breath. Jaekwan nods as he wipes one hand over his mouth and tightening his grip around the extinguisher in his other hand.
All of a sudden, wisps of black smoke start drifting from behind a tree, slowly inching toward them. Choi and Jaekwan both furrow their brows, seemingly stun-locked as the unnatural smoke quickly thickens and continues to make its way toward where they’re standing.
Round and bright red dots shine through for a moment, and then just as quickly disappears.
The jingle of a bell sounds.
Two black paws stretch out from the mass. The smoke starts to recede as the shape of an adult black cat begins to form. A pink nose sniffs into the air, whiskers pushed forward. The rest of its head peeks out from the shadows. Around its neck is a thin red collar with a simple bell.
When the cat presses its paw down onto the ground, the smoke is gone. And now the cat is simply sitting there as it slowly blinks at Jaekwan and Choi, as if assessing them.
Jaekwan's jaw is slacked open, and he’s sure Choi’s is as well.
“Is that…” His eyes dart at the statue at the altar they've been tending to for the past three years and he turns to look at the cat again.
The cat licks its left paw and sidles up close, rubbing its head against Jaekwan’s leg, then Choi’s leg when he steps closer. His tail swooshes against their pants. The cat tilts its head up, blinking at the two humans and meows.
“My god.” Choi says as he runs a hand through his hair as he looks down to the cat, laughing in disbelief.
Their god.