Chapter Text
A blue screen appeared before Dokja. It illuminated up his face in the darkness he laid. The sudden light caused him to wake up. He squinted his eyes as he processed what the screen said.
[You have failed the scenario. You will receive the penalty within the next 5 minutes.]
Questions zoomed through his mind. There was a scenario? I was asleep, though. Did a scenario start when I was asleep? Who even completed this scenario? Right then someone knocked on the door and revealed themselves when Dokja said they could enter. It was Yoo Sangah.
“Dokja? Good, you're awake now!” She walked more into the room as Kim Dokja sat up. “We just completed a scenario without you since you were asleep, and no one wanted to disturb you since we all knew you haven’t slept that well in ages.” She said with a smile.
He just stared at her. Debating on whether to tell her about the screen that woke him up… “Sangah, I just got a screen. It said that I failed the scenario and will receive the penalty soon.” His brows furrowed in the slightest.
“What? The penalty…” Yoo Sangah stood there in thought for a second, then zoomed out of the room to the living room area with Dokja tagging along, but not before putting on his white trench coat. “Sooyoung, was there a penalty in the scenario that we just finished?”
“There wasn’t anything listed on the penalty. Just question marks. We all completed the scenario so why are you asking?” Sooyoung said.
“Dokja didn’t complete the scenario.”
This caused the party members to look over at Sangah and Dokja in shock.
“How did he not complete the scenario? He’s a part of our group, so…” Han Sooyoung grumbled.
“I didn’t take part in the scenario. Even if I’m a part of this group we have, I still need to help complete it in some way.” Kim Dokja said.
“If Dokja didn’t complete the scenario, then he would receive the penalty.” Jung Heewon said, the realisation dawning on her and everyone else's faces.
“What penalty will Hyung get?” Lee Gilyoung asked.
“I guess we’ll see when it happens. How long did it say until you receive the punishment Ahjussi?” Lee Jihye asked.
“Within the next few min—” Before Dokja could finish, he was enveloped with a cloud of smoke and as it dissipated, he heard gasps and giggles from his companions. He wondered what they were reacting to. Han Sooyoung straight up busted into uncontrollable laughter. She held her stomach and pointed at Dokja. He looked over to where Yoo Joonghyuk was. Even he looked surprised. Both Gilyoung and Yoosung stared at him in awe. Mainly eying the top on his head.
“What’s wrong?” He said, a tinge of irritation laced his voice.
“Ah, Dokja…” Lee Hyunsung motioned to his head, leading Dokja to do the same. Something protruded from his head. Something fuzzy.
“What is this?” Kim Dokja asked, slowly.
“Dokja, you have cat ears now.” Sangah said. Her calm voice brought ease to Dokja until he fully processed what she said.
“What…?” He said in disbelief. He ran to the closest mirror, and it was proven to be true. “Don’t tell me…” He felt under his coat just to feel a fluffy tail. “Great.” He sighed. His newly acquired ears and tail wouldn’t necessarily affect his day-to-day life, but the stares he got weren’t that pleasant.
…
Throughout the time his penalty lasted, he noticed many weird things. At times when he would begin speaking, he meowed. This horrifying realisation had him quickly shutting his mouth every time he began, but, unfortunately, some slipped out here and there. He also felt more tired, lazy even. He found himself waking up in the most random places, curled up. The first few times it happened his companions were staring at him as they passed by. It was quite embarrassing, but he got used to it eventually.
The way his companions treated him was different, and the most drastic change was Yoo Joonghyuk. He burned holes into him, which was normal, then went to sit next to him and pet him on the head. When Joonghyuk suddenly set his hand on Kim Dokja’s head, he jumped and tensed at the feeling. He proceeded to pet his ears. It felt weird at first, but he found himself leaning into the touch. His muscles untensed and he began purring. Wait. Purring? His eyes, that he didn’t realise he closed, shot open and he jerked away from the hand on his head. Both he and Joonghyuk stared at each other for probably not the same reason.
“Did I just purr, like a cat?” Dokja said, unsteadily. Joonghyuk just nodded and set his hand back onto Dokja’s head and continued to pet him. He relaxed once more and closed his eyes. He found himself purring and leaning into his touch again. Dokja curled up into a ball and peeked around as he yawned. He saw Yoosung and Gilyoung staring at him and Yoo Mia was a few steps away from them, she was giving Dokja the same glare as her older brother did before he began to pet him. Yoosung and Gilyoung’s eyes went from Yoo Joonghyuk to Kim Dokja, as if requesting permission to pet him as well, which seemed to be turned down as they both looked at Joonghyuk with angry expressions and marched off with Yoo Mia catching up to them after staring at Dokja one last time. He closed his eyes and heard a few giggles, but he didn’t care. The pets on his head felt good and he was tired. He soon fell asleep.
When he woke up feeling cold, he found that there was no Sunfish next to him. A scowl grew on his face as he forced himself to get up.
Next time I see that bastard, I’m going to— He cut off that thought before he thought of something he was sure he’d regret later. He took a deep breath in, then out and looked around. He saw Han Sooyoung. He looked around for anyone else to talk to, but they were all somewhere else.
She looked over at Dokja walking towards her and grinned. “Enjoy your cat nap?”
He just furrowed his eyebrows a bit and ignored her comment. “MEO— Ahem, Sooyoung, where is Yoo Joonghyuk?”
The meow Dokja almost let out had her putting her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh. “Does the kitty need the comfort of his owner?” She couldn’t hold it in anymore and cackled like the witch she was. “Anyway, he’s in the kitchen making dinner. Have fun getting him out of there.”
Kim Dokja couldn’t help but sigh. He left Sooyoung alone in the living room and walked to the kitchen and dining area. He looked over to see the group members setting down plates and silverware on the table, everyone except for himself, Sooyoung, and Joonghyuk. A frown fell upon his face until he looked over to the stove where the man he was looking for stood.
Before Dokja could call out, Sooyoung entered and said, “Yo, crazy man, your kitty cat’s here.” A smug look on her face as she quickly finished her sucker before going to sit down in her seat. What she said caught the attention of everyone and they looked over at her, then at Dokja.
“I am not his kitty cat!” He hollered at her as his face turned red. He looked back at Yoo Joonghyuk whose face was also red, but not as much as his. Joonghyuk’s was more like a light blush, while Dokja looked like a cherry. Stupid protagonist…
He was brought out of his thoughts when Joonghyuk gave him a brief pat on the head and told him to go sit down. He followed the hand until he realised that he wouldn’t get any more pets, he complied to his request and went to his seat, which was unfortunately next to Sooyoung’s seat. After a while all the food was set on the table and everyone dug in.
It then hit Dokja that he’s part cat now because of the penalty. He’s acquired the ears, tail, and other attributes of a cat. What’s to say that he didn’t also acquire their diet? He knows that cats can’t drink milk, thankfully he had water to drink. But what about food? He did not know what cats couldn’t eat. He knew they could eat cat kibble, but what else? Is this where he dies, eating dinner with his companions, really?
He sighed and asked for his own well-being, “Does anyone know what cats can and can’t eat?” And nobody answered. Silence filled the dining room. That was until Yoo Sangah spoke up.
“I’ve never had a cat, but I had a friend who had one. She always fed her cat food and never human food.”
“Is Hyung going to get sick or die?” Gilyoung worried.
“No, I won’t, unless something in this food is something a cat can’t have, but that’s only if I gained the same diet as one.” Dokja said. Should he really gamble his life on some food? Yes. He was hungry and couldn’t give a fuck if he died again. Despite just worrying about the food killing him, he took a bite of it. It tasted wonderful, well, of course it did. Yoo Joonghyuk made it, after all. As he chewed the food and swallowed it, other than the intense stares from his companions, he felt nothing. He gave them a thumbs up and a plethora of sighs escaped from the group members, who supposedly held their breath while watching him, waiting for the results.
Chatter flowed throughout the group as they ate their dinner. Many asked Dokja various questions like if his senses were different or if he could understand cats, which he said he hasn’t tried any of those out due to his increase in laziness.
After they were all finished eating, Yoo Joonghyuk collected all the dirty dishes, despite the protests of wanting to help from the other members, and despite Yoo Sangah’s suggestion for a chore rotation so everyone can take on the responsibility and not have Yoo Joonghyuk do all the work, but he quickly discarded the idea, and no one seemed to argue with him.
While Joonghyuk washed the dishes, Dokja stood by his side, waiting patiently. It was silence that was hardly broken by the scrubs on the plates. Dokja felt that if he left Joonghyuk’s side then he would grow lonely and eventually be abandoned, or worse, replaced. He— Kim Dokja blinked. Was this penalty affecting him more than he thought? Nothing was explicitly said what the punishment was, so he didn’t know what to expect. Kim Dokja peeled himself off of Joonghyuk and walked to his room. He curled up on his bed and closed his eyes, falling asleep.
After a while, he woke up. Cold once again. His mood soured immediately. His source of warmth wasn’t around, so he got up and headed straight to Yoo Joonghyuk’s room. He cracked the door open to see the man who usually looked scary, now looking peaceful. So very peaceful.
Now it’s time to ruin that. Dokja smirked, very aware of what he was about to do. He crawled into Joonghyuk’s bed and curled up right on his chest. His tail curled around his body and up against the man’s peaceful face. Dokja felt the man move a bit from under him, but he didn’t bother to look at what he was doing. As Dokja drifted off, now warm, he felt a hand begin to lightly caress his head and ears. A light purr emerged from him, and the soothing feeling of his hand cradled him to sleep.