A Guide to Adopting Cat Demons

A long work written for practice. It's not very good, so proceed with caution.

There's an old house in the western suburbs with cheap rent. The only problem is that the roommate is a little strange.

Shen Qingyan is a penniless scholar with a clear goal in life: save money, study, and earn an official degree. His new roommate, Lin Mo, has exquisite features and is so beautiful he hardly seems human. He claims to have been recuperating in the mountains and to have just arrived in the city.

But this roommate is lazy and sleepy by day, yet full of energy at night. He frowns at the sight of fish and perks up at the sound of a rooster. Now and then, his eyes gleam with a hint of inhuman purity and wildness...

Shen Qingyan grips his Confucian classics and furrows his brow. “The Master does not speak of spirits and strange phenomena...”

Lin Mo is actually quite pleased.

He's merely a little cat demon with scant magical powers, down from the mountains in search of a place to stay. His scholar roommate seems stern and old-fashioned, yet buys him fragrant roast chicken, helps him straighten his clothes, and, whenever Lin Mo gets into trouble by accident, scolds him while quietly cleaning up the mess.

The warmth of the human world is wonderful, and this scholar named Shen Qingyan is especially to his liking. He wants to get closer, to touch him, to make him his own.

Then one day, demonic energy slips out, and a villain comes knocking. The scholar who always needs Lin Mo's protection steps in front of him for the first time, shielding him completely. His voice trembles, but his words are firm: “How dare you be so rude!”

Lin Mo gazes at that slender back, his amber pupils narrowing slightly. So this was how charming his scholar could be when he bristled to protect someone.

That night, Shen Qingyan says solemnly, “Humans and demons walk different paths...” Before he can finish, the other man presses a fingertip to his lips. The once-innocent beauty's gaze darkens, his presence turns dangerous, and a soft cat's tail has already curled around Shen Qingyan's wrist.

“Qingyan,” the cat demon murmurs in a husky voice, a hint of seduction in his tone. “Different paths... can still lead to the same destination.”