Being the sort of pampered house cat he couldn't deny he was, Dan Heng had never been too interested in romance. He never cared for the Queens and Mollys who the neighbourhood cats could be heard whistling at. Never bothered asking his owner to get him a pretty mate he could settle down with. After all, he had a bed, food, clothes, and the all the books in the world. What more could he ever need?

Then came you. A scroungy stray who hunted her own meals and picked fights like no tomorrow. It was a quiet first encounter. He'd noticed you in the yard next door, picking a fight with their outdoor cat and consequently losing. Bloodied and clawed but far from distressed. You'd gotten what you'd wanted. The treat bad the neighbors had left on their backyard table.

He watched you scurry away with a proud smile. Blood spilling from your nose and cheek bruised purple, yet that smile didn't fade. The sunset catching your face just right. The prettiest thing he'd ever seen. How could someone who fought to live smile so brightly?

It wasn't... intrigue. It was simply... his good deed for the year. It was sympathy. That was why he'd purposely taken an extra chicken drumstick from lunch and placed it in a bowl on the window sill. You were far too thin. And he was privileged. Surely, it wouldn't hurt to help you just a little.

He hadn't expected that small action to change everything.

"Ah ha! So it's you!" Barely 2 months into his little charity mission, he was caught in the act. There you were, in all your glory, awkwardly clinging to the pipe next to the window, face gently bruised from another fight with his neighbour. Seriously. He'd think Stelle, the neighbour's Russian Grey, would learn her lesson by now, but clearly not.

After 2 months of watching you from afar and avoiding that window so you couldn't catch him. He'd been caught. And Aeon, you looked even prettier up close.