Chapter 20 Part 2
Perhaps it was the fever, or perhaps the sight of a naked stranger in his bed was too surreal, but Shao Sui didn’t immediately push him away, asking hoarsely, “Are you the thief who keeps sneaking into my apartment? How did you get in?”
“I’m not a thief, you didn’t close the door.”
“Impossible, I definitely locked it.”
Shao Sui was referring to the main door, Mimi to the bedroom door.
“You really didn’t lock it.” Mimi sounded a bit aggrieved. “You carried me into the room yourself today and said I could go anywhere except the wardrobe.”
Shao Sui raised his voice sharply, “You were in my apartment this morning!?”
Mimi was startled.
It was the first time Shao Sui had raised his voice, it was harsh, and Mimi didn’t like it.
It instinctively lowered its voice, saying softly, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t send me away anymore, that I could stay with you…”
Shao Sui was unmoved: “I only said that to my cat.”
“I am your cat.”
Mimi leaned in and kissed Shao Sui on the lips, a loud smack, followed by a kitten-like lick.
Shao Sui: “…”
A familiar feeling.
His heart fluttered.
Perhaps it was because the teenager’s expression was so innocent, but Teacher Shao, despite being straight, didn’t feel disgusted, just strangely uneasy. He tried to push the teenager away, but felt inexplicably weak.
The teenager’s hand was still on his chest… inside his shirt.
It must be a dream.
There was no other explanation.
But even in a dream, he couldn’t be this intimate with another male. Teacher Shao still cared about his reputation: “Take your hand out first.”
Mimi didn’t understand. Shao Sui clearly knew he could turn into a human, why was he reacting like this?
“What if you run away when I take my hand out?”
Shao Sui analyzed rationally: “You said you’re my cat. A cat’s tongue has barbs, do you? A cat is covered in fur, do you have fur?”
“Because I’m human now! Humans don’t have barbs and aren’t covered in fur!” Mimi couldn’t understand why communication was still so difficult even when they were both speaking human language.
Shao Sui asked calmly, “Prove it, turn back into a cat and show me.”
Mimi held its breath for a moment, then gave up: “I can’t transform today, I’m too tired.”
Shao Sui tried to push Mimi away: “Then how can I believe you’re my cat?”
Mimi grabbed Shao Sui’s hand and placed it back on his chest, saying fiercely, “It was raining heavily the first day you met me, and you stepped on my tail. It hurt a lot, so I bit you.”
Shao Sui’s alarm bells rang: “You’ve been watching me since then?”
Mimi was exasperated.
“You took me to the hospital, spent a lot of money, and on the first day, you were too cheap to buy me canned food, making me eat that cheap dry food…”
“Wait a minute.” Teacher Shao interrupted. “How is that dry food cheap? It cost over twenty yuan per jin, pork is only fifteen!”
Mimi didn’t care, saying with a straight face, “It was disgusting.”
Shao Sui took a deep breath: “Continue.”
“The second day you brought me home, you took pictures of my balls, on the fifth day you touched my crotch, and on the seventh day you wanted to sleep with me…”
“What do you mean ‘took pictures’?” Teacher Shao wasn’t happy with the wording. “Didn’t I do it in front of you? And what do you mean ‘touched your crotch,’ where does a kitten have a crotch?”
Mimi grabbed Shao Sui’s hand and placed it lower, about to reenact the scene—
“Stop!” Shao Sui forcefully pulled his hand back, admitting weakly, “I touched it, okay? And sleeping together was also my fault? Wasn’t it because you were afraid of thunder?”
Mimi couldn’t refute this: “But I didn’t ask you to sleep with me, you don’t understand my meows.”
“Who says I don’t understand?”
“You just don’t!” Mimi slapped Shao Sui angrily. “Last night, I was kneading on you, meowing that it was uncomfortable, and you kept saying I was acting cute!”
Teacher Shao turned his head away, silent.
His face stung. It wasn’t a dream.
Shao Sui recalled the mushrooms he ate last night, and combined with his current discomfort, arrived at a very reasonable conclusion—
He was poisoned.
The waiter had said that being poisoned might not only make you see little people, but also hear your dog talk… it should be similar with cats.
Seeing Shao Sui’s silence, Mimi, thinking it had hit him too hard, apologized magnanimously, “I’m sorry, Shao Sui. I forgot I’m human now, I’m much stronger.”
Shao Sui: “…”
Mimi pleaded, “Forgive me.”
Considering this might be his cat, Teacher Shao chose his words carefully: “Hitting people isn’t easily forgiven.”
Mimi’s eyes widened: “But you asked me to hit you before.”
“…”
Shao Sui had never imagined what Mimi would look like as a human. Now he thought about it, it would probably be just like the teenager in front of him. Although they didn’t look alike, their behavior and temper were very similar.
Every word the teenager uttered was soft and sweet, just like a kitten acting cute.
Shao Sui asked, “Are you really my cat?”
Mimi said unhappily, “You already know I can turn into a human, why do you keep asking?”
“When did I…”
“Forget it, since you’re sick, I’ll think of a way.”
The TV said people talk nonsense when they have a fever. The Great Meow King decided to indulge this human.
Shao Sui saw “Mimi” suddenly freeze and hold its breath, relaxing only after a while. He was puzzled as Mimi grabbed his hand and placed it under the covers.
“…!”
Teacher Shao’s hand trembled, his mind clearing slightly.
“Feel it? My tail, it’s furry!” Mimi explained earnestly, “I haven’t been feeling well lately, I can’t transform back and forth, this is the only way I can prove it.”
Shao Sui unconsciously stroked Mimi’s back, his mind drifting: “You really are my cat.”
Mimi, easily appeased, lay down on Shao Sui: “Yes.”
“…”
The sensation of a hand without fur was strange. It felt like stroking a human’s back, thin, not soft like a cat’s.
These mushrooms were potent.
Not only causing hallucinations and auditory distortions, but even his sense of touch was affected.
Shao Sui reached for his phone, dialed 120 despite his blurry vision, his hand trembling as he typed the numbers.
“Hello, I need an ambulance.” Shao Sui said weakly. “The mushrooms I ate last night weren’t cooked properly, I think I’m poisoned. I live at… symptoms?”
It was past midnight, the first day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, and ambulances were in high demand, so the operator needed to assess the caller’s condition carefully.
Shao Sui said, “I’m dizzy, I’m seeing double, I feel weak and itchy all over. And most importantly, my cat has turned into a human and is talking.”
Hearing that last sentence, the ambulance was dispatched immediately.
Mimi didn’t understand the connection between it becoming human and Shao Sui’s illness: “What are you doing?”
Shao Sui hugged the larger-than-life cat: “I’m sick, calling a car to take me to the hospital.”
Mimi replied with an “oh”: “Can I go with you? I’m worried about you.”
Shao Sui: “I don’t think so, cats aren’t allowed in hospitals.”
“Okay.” Mimi lay down, then looked up after a moment. “Then kiss me.”
“…”
Although Shao Sui tried to convince himself this was Mimi, he still couldn’t bring himself to kiss that face.
But there seemed to be anxiety in Mimi’s eyes, as if afraid he would abandon it, its voice unconsciously tinged with sadness: “You always like kissing me. Even when I say no, you still force me.”
How did that sound so much like a crime?
Teacher Shao calmly cupped Mimi’s face and kissed its forehead.
Mimi exclaimed loudly, “Not like that!”
Shao Sui pretended not to understand: “Then how?”
Mimi, anxious, grabbed Shao Sui’s hand and placed it on either side of its head, then, imitating how Shao Sui usually kissed it, nuzzled his nose, then kissed his lips and cheek.
Just as it was about to nibble on his ear, Shao Sui finally couldn’t take it anymore, flipping Mimi onto its back, his vision blurry as he said, “Baby, behave.”
Mimi lay obediently, finally able to ask, “Who’s baby?”
Shao Sui: “You.”
Mimi: “But didn’t you name me Mimi?”
Shao Sui: “…”
So that’s what was on the kitten’s mind?
“Mimi is your name, baby is a nickname, like a pet name.”
“Then, is good boy also a pet name?”
“Yes.” Shao Sui struggled to get up, trying to change into his outside clothes. “I’ve never called anyone else… any other cat that.”
Mimi felt a flicker of happiness. Good that there was no other cat.
It got out of bed, wanting to help the swaying Shao Sui. Shao Sui turned around, then quickly averted his gaze: “Put some clothes on.”
“Why? There’s no one else here.”
“Because humans wear clothes. Don’t I always wear clothes at home?”
“Okay.”
Mimi picked up the school uniform the police officer had found under the bed and awkwardly put it on: “I’m a bit unhappy today.”
Shao Sui sighed internally.
The human form was just a hallucination. The actual cat was still kitten-sized, so how could the uniform move on its own?
Was this also a hallucination?
He should have studied biology and properly researched the structure and toxicity of mushrooms.
Despite the surreal situation, Teacher Shao still responded to every sentence: “Why are you unhappy?”
Mimi accused, “I finally made a nest with your scent, and you let the police take it away.”
Shao Sui realized Mimi was referring to the pile of clothes under the bed: “Because we were catching a thief… why did you make a nest? Don’t I always hold you while we sleep?”
“But we cats need to sleep during the day too.”
“Didn’t I buy you a bed?”
“They don’t have your pheromones.”
“What are pheromones?”
“Hmm…” Mimi racked its brain, unable to explain. “It’s a scent only we animals can smell, everyone’s is different.”
Shao Sui said he understood: “I’ll put it back for you tomorrow.”
Mimi: “Really?”
Shao Sui: “Really.”
“Thank you, Shao Sui! You’re such a good person!”
Mimi leaned in, wanting to kiss Shao Sui’s cheek, but it wasn’t tall enough, so it kissed his chin instead, a slightly prickly experience.
Stubble was a good scratching tool, but not suitable for kissing.
Mimi waited expectantly.
Shao Sui: “…What is it now?”
Mimi said, “You always kiss me back after I kiss you.”
“…”
That was because the cat was too cute.
Who could resist kissing it back?
Shao Sui steeled himself, closing his eyes. This wasn’t a real boy, just a cat. It was all a hallucination, nothing wrong with a kiss.
He lightly kissed Mimi’s nose.
“Ding-dong—”
The doorbell rang.
Relieved, Shao Sui left Mimi to answer the door. The doctor assessed his condition, then said, “It’s a bit serious, we need to take you to the hospital. Just lie still, don’t move.”
Shao Sui closed his eyes with relief: “Okay, be careful of my cat when you close the door, don’t let him…”
The doctor asked, “Is this family member an adult?”
Shao Sui abruptly opened his eyes.
Mimi replied obediently, “Yes.”
The doctor nodded: “Okay, will the family member be coming along?”
Mimi’s eyes lit up: “Can I go to the hospital?”
The doctor chuckled: “Of course.”
Mimi, happy but also slightly annoyed, thought, Shao Sui, you liar!
The liar, lying on the stretcher, asked weakly, “Doctor, did you guys also eat mushrooms at your gathering last night?”
