— "fuckass cat, i told you to not get into my potions when i'm not home, jungwon," you muttered, grumping around your brewing room in search of mustard leaves, mugwort, and some of your best catnip. the black cat who was perched on your window sill meowed loudly at you, showing you his disagreement with your attitude. you're sure he would have been rushing to explain himself and beg for your forgiveness.

but, as it was, he had little words at his disposal.

you stirred your cauldron after adding the new ingredients, smiling as the liquid turned a bright purple. a few more incantations and the brew would be complete, and ready for drinking. it was a difficult potion to master, but you had been having to use it often these days. you weren't sure how many more times you would have to tell jungwon to stop getting himself into dangerous situations for him to actually listen.

— "it'll be ready in a few minutes and you'll be back to normal. no more funny business after this, got it?" you scowled in the general direction of the feline, but only got a slight tail wag in response. you sighed. "i need to have a word with that panther... niki was it? he's always dragging you into things, and then i'm left to clean it up."

the cat hissed.

— "that's right, he is an idiot. and immature but he's your friend and you are older. i don't know how you always end up being the one to get stuck in your feline form. last time you were almost taken to the vet by that old man who thought you were a stray," you grinned, remembering the memory fondly. though, at the time, you had been more panicked by the news.

jungwon always managed to give you a fright whenever he wasn't at home. you'd put up more missing cat posters than you could count over the years, and yet the occasions were still frequent. it was hard to explain to people that you weren't actually looking for your pet, but your boyfriend. the looks you got were judgier than usual, and you already had a whole town of people wary at the sight of your usual hat and silver jewelry.

to be fair, you had caused the weather incident from a few years back thanks to a brew going awry in your kitchen, but it had all been completely unintentional, and there were only a few damages from the incident. you liked to forget unsavoury encounters, but the residents of the town never forgot who they owed their two weeks of thunderstorm hell to.

it was rare to meet anyone who wasn't slightly on edge by your very existence. you had a small circle of friends who were freaks just like you in their own way. some were witches, while others were vampires or werecreatures. most of them tried to blend in amongst the townspeople-and most succeeded. you kept to yourself, cooped up in your cozy hut with no company except jungwon. it was how you liked it best. who needed socializing when you had a cinnamon roll of a boyfriend who occasionally liked to give you heart attacks?

as the potion bubbled to its final plum-like colour, you ladled some out into a dish and set it on the windowsill next to the cat. he purred, settling down to lap it up, and you pressed a kiss to his soft forehead. Within minutes of consuming, the transformation took effect. from a small, silky, black cat to your sharp-eyed, dashingly handsome boyfriend.

— "i'm sorry!” were his immediate first words to you, immediately clinging to your waist. you rolled your eyes, yet a smile was still pushing at the sides of your lips.