It’s embarrassing to admit, but the most unforgettable relationship of Ji Shi’s life was with a cat.
A long-haired Maine Coon with an incredibly odd personality: it scratched people, wrecked the house, never warmed up to him, and vanished at the drop of a hat.
When things were at their worst, he even considered jumping off a building with it in his arms. Thankfully, they made it through. The cat finally accepted him as its owner, letting him stroke and knead its fur and hold it while they slept. It was as obedient as could be.
But when he woke up the next morning, his arms were empty. The window and door were wide open. The cat had run away again.
So it had all been an act, just to make him let his guard down. Ji Shi laughed in fury, thinking that if he found it this time, he really would take it down with him.
The cat was lucky. He never found it again.
Later, a doctor recommended a psychiatric support dog for him. The golden retriever was lively and affectionate, and just as Ji Shi’s mental state began to improve...
He suddenly blinked and transmigrated to a beastfolk world.
“...?”
Ji Shi stared at his transformed three-and-a-half-year-old, two-hundred-pound dog son, and the dog stared back.
Now an undocumented outsider in another world, Ji Shi could only take under-the-table jobs wherever he could find them, struggling to raise his big boy.
One day, he came home from work and saw a handsome young man in a high-ranking military uniform standing in his house.
His big boy excitedly introduced them. “Daddy, this is my big bro from the streets. He’s so rich, he can take care of us!”
The familiar tortoiseshell pattern on the young man’s beast ears, and every stubborn strand of fur Ji Shi had combed by hand, were unmistakable. Ji Shi would never mistake that awful cat who had abandoned him.
·
Du Yu was the top commander of the legion. Though countless beastfolk threw themselves at him, he chose to endure several rutting seasons alone.
By day, the young man was as cold as ice. Late at night, tears pitifully soaked his entire face. His expression dazed, his cheeks flushed, he murmured in a voice only he could hear, “I have... an owner. I’m not a stray cat nobody wants...”
The cat was lucky. The joy of unexpectedly reuniting with Ji Shi nearly overwhelmed him, but facing the man’s cold expression, the word “Owner” stuck in his throat.
Later, he finally worked up the courage to ask, “Will you still keep a cat?”
The man’s expression was unreadable, his voice low. “I only keep well-behaved cats.”
“Good,” the cat said, his ears bright red. He took the man’s hand and placed it on his own fluffy beast ear. “...I’m very good.”
Theme: Be brave and pursue love
