My Pet Cat Turned Into A Boy!

I was being kidnapped.
What the hell!?
Even though I tried to put up a fight – pathetic as it may have been – I was soon trussed up like a turkey in the back of the van. They put a bag over my head so I had absolutely no idea in which direction we were going.
I knew there were about four guys in the back with me and Jongin, and another two in the front.
We had been driving for about ten minutes when one of the men exclaimed, ‘What the-‘
He never finished his sentence as a brute force hit the van. My body was flung forward, and because my hands were tied behind my back, I went headfirst into the front seats and then I bounced off them and hit the passenger window sideways.
I could hear a lot of shouting around me and then I was being shoved aside as the men jumped out of the van. There was more shouting, and to my horror, the sound of gunshots. I didn’t waste any more time and started to shake my head wildly downwards until I managed to shake the bag from my head.
‘Jongin! Jongin!’ I tried to call for him as loudly as I dared.
I wiggled around on my seat and managed to get on to my knees (which was quite a feat considering my feet were also tied). He was lying on the seats behind the ones I was on – and he was out cold.
‘JONGIN! WAKE UP! COME ON! WAKE UP!’
He didn’t even twitch. I was about to consider throwing myself over the seats so I could try to bodily wake him up when a hand grabbed my shoulder.
I screamed and bit down hard on the hand. My assailant yanked his hand back and swore colourfully.
‘What’s wrong, Chen?’ a very familiar deep voice asked from beside the one that was still swearing.
‘I was trying to help and she bit me!’ said Chen sounding deeply aggrieved.
‘Well, that’s not very – oh, my god! Casey!? Is that you?’
‘Cha-Chanyeol?’
I was stunned as I saw none other than Chanyeol standing in the doorway looking at me wide eyed and…holding a big ass machine gun.
I lost my already precarious balance, and with a very embarrassing squeal, I tumbled over the seats I was leaning over and landed in an awkward heap on the other side. My legs were on top of Jongin and the rest of my body was on the floor of the van.
Chanyeol’s face appeared over me as he leaned over the seats with a stupid grin on his face.
‘Wow, that looks really uncomfy,’ he commented, like it was perfectly normal to find your work colleagues tied up in the back of a dodgy van.
Another head appeared next to his and I was surprised to see Jongdae looking down at me.
‘I should hope so – my hand is bleeding,’ he said accusingly.
‘Whose bleeding, Chen Chen?’ said a new voice entering the van. ‘What are you guys looking – oh, I know you!’
Yixing exclaimed as he joined the others, looking mildly surprised to see me in a heap on the floor.
‘I met you in the printing room, the other day,’ he said cheerfully.
He was holding something round in his hand, and he was throwing it up in the air and catching it playfully.
‘For God sake’s, Yixing, how many times do I have to say – you know what!? Just forget it. I’m officially done,’ said Chen pinching the bridge of his nose while Yixing gave him an innocent look. ‘And if you throw that thing around one more time – I will end you.’
Yixing looked hurt but stopped doing it.
‘Do you guys mind, like, untying me?’ I asked them hopefully.
‘Yeah, of course. Chen!’ said Chanyeol nudging Chen with his elbow.
Chen grinned and pulled out a rather long and wicked looking blade from his belt. My eyes widened and I tried to – unsuccessfully – scamper away.
‘Chen, no need to scare the poor girl to death,’ said Yixing admonishingly as he leaned over to help me up.
He put the object that he had been holding down next to me, so he had both hands free to pull me up to a sitting position. My eyes widened as I realised what the object was. He had his hands under my arms as he dragged me up.
‘What the hell is that!?’ I asked, my voice catching in my throat.
‘Oh, don’t worry! It’s just a hand grenade,’ said Yixing soothingly.
I looked at him like he was crazy and tried to move as far away from it as possible. Because he hadn’t expected me to start squirming in his arms, Yixing lost his balance. He was just about to straighten up when Chen – with a distinctively evil smirk – pushed him from behind. He went over the seats and landed on top of me.
‘Oh, how clumsy of me! I’m sorry, Yixing,’ said Chen sniggering then he added with a smirk, ‘Not sorry!’
‘Casey, are you okay? Chen, that was mean. If anything happens to her, Baek will freaking kill me!’ said Chanyeol worriedly.
‘Baekhyun? He’s here?’ I asked reeling, but deep down I knew my best friend was somehow involved in this from the minute I’d seen Chanyeol standing there.
Yixing was trying to extricate his limbs from mine without hurting me, when more shouting was heard from outside. Suddenly a loud voice I recognised immediately sounded inside the van.
‘What the hell are you guys doing? Where’s Yixing? He was supposed to get you. Another van is arriving. We need to get the hell out of dodge!’
Chanyeol was looking somewhat panic stricken as he looked between me and Baekhyun. Yixing was frozen on top of me as he looked in Baekhyun’s direction guiltily.
‘Hi, Baek!’ I said trying to look casual.
Baekhyun turned to stare at me, and for a second there was no reaction, then, ‘CAS!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? LAY, WHAT THE FUCK?’
Yixing finally managed to sit up, bringing me up with him with a hand around my waist, so I ended up sort of sitting on his lap. I felt myself blush and was just glad my hair had fallen over my face, obscuring my expression.
Baekhyun looked like he was about to reach over and punch him in the face. Chanyeol seemed to be thinking the same thing because he put a restraining hand on Baek’s shoulder and said, ‘Calm down, Baekkie. It was Chen’s fault.’
Baekhyun snapped his head in Chen’s direction but the other only shrugged his shoulders looking supremely unrepentant.
‘Okay, whatever! We can sort all this out later. We need to get out of here – now! Is that the boy?’ asked Baekhyun gesturing to an unconscious Jongin.
‘I’m guessing so,’ said Chanyeol looking relaxed again.
Yixing plucked the blade from Chen’s fingers and sliced the ropes from my hands, and then from my feet quickly. He then turned to Jongin and did the same thing, while I rubbed my sore wrists, trying to get the blood flowing through them again.
A blast of gunshot fire sounded from outside the van and I flinched. Chanyeol grinned from ear to ear as he said, ‘Time to rock and roll, ladies!’ And he disappeared. I heard new gunshot fire that sounded a lot closer.
‘Dammit! That idiot! Who the hell is going to carry the boy? As soon as he hears guns, I swear – that goddamn cowboy!’ muttered Baekhyun angrily as he helped me out of the van.
I saw a sleek back van outside, it seemed to have crashed into the white one I was in and there were a couple of trucks a couple of yards away from us. The men had left the vans and were taking cover in various spots trying to get to us. Chanyeol was crouching behind the front of the white van and shooting a barrage of bullets at the other men with a crazy grin on his face.
There were various bodies lying around – the men who kidnapped me, I presumed.
A boy with round eyes was leaning back against the black van with an impatient look on his face.
A black masked man managed to creep up to the black van and the boy shot him with barely a glance in his direction as he glared at Baekhyun angrily, ‘What the hell is taking so long?’
‘We had an unforeseen complication, Kyungsoo’ explained Baekhyun unfazed.
Chen appeared next to us dragging Jongin by his ankles halfway out of the van, Yixing on the other end was holding him under the arms.
‘CHANYEOL! CHANNIE! CUT IT OUT!’ shouted Chen over the deafening sound of the gunfire.
Chanyeol stopped shooting and looked behind him in surprise.
‘Do you mind carrying this guy before I strain my back?’ asked Chen with a catlike smile on his face as he stretched his arms over his head.
‘Awww, c’mon! It was just starting to get fun. I bet me and Zitao could take the lot of them in less than 5 minutes,’ said Chanyeol excitedly.
‘Chanyeol, just bring him into the car!’ snapped Kyungsoo. ‘You know the President doesn’t want another scene, like last time.’
Chanyeol stomped over to Kai, grumbling the whole time about “how it wasn’t fair” and that everyone was being “boring as shit” and that they were all well on their way to becoming “a bunch of old farts”. Nonetheless he hoisted Jongin over one shoulder and jogged into the back of the black van, a hail of bullets following him. Kyungsoo returned the fire unflinchingly.
‘Hurry up! I’ll cover you,’ said Kyungsoo to us as we crouched down by the white van.
After everyone was inside the black van, Kyungsoo turned to Tao.
‘Step on it!’
A slow smile spread across Tao’s face, as he gripped the steering wheel, his sunglasses glinting as they caught the sunlight.
‘My pleasure!’
I was so glad Baekhyun had strapped me in because the next thing I know I’m being thrown in every which direction, my body straining painfully against the belt. I looked to Jongin to make sure he was okay and saw that he was also strapped in, and that Yixing was holding him so he wasn’t jerked around so roughly. Everyone else seemed pretty much used to this sort of driving, except for Baekhyun who was gripping the seat of his chair tightly.
‘Why is Tao driving, again?’ asked Baekhyun through gritted teeth.
‘Because we’ve got two cars on our tail and he’s the best at losing a tail,’ said Kyungsoo without looking at Baekhyun, he was sitting in the front with Tao.
Tao’s grin only widened and he made an impossible turn running across a red light and almost causing a traffic disaster. I had to hold back a scream as I was flung against Baekhyun, who had paled considerably.
‘If you mean he’s a lunatic who’s going to get us all killed in a car accident then I agree,’ said Baekhyun loudly adding in an irritated tone of voice, ‘He’s the youngest one, for crying out loud!’
The car flew over a curb then turned into a narrow alleyway with a screech – oh, my God we weren’t going to fit!
We did fit but both wing mirrors flew off the car with a snap.
‘Oh, God! I’m going to throw up,’ said Baekhyun closing his eyes. ‘I’ll make sure to aim at you, Tao.’
Tao only smirked and stepped on the pedal harder. I swear I could smell burning rubber.
‘Calm down, Baek. It’ll be fine,’ said Chanyeol looking uneasily at Tao, which did nothing for my nerves, then he stated loudly, ‘Didn’t I say we should have just fought it out.’
‘I’ve got to say that I’m starting to agree with Chanyeol on this one,’ said Baekhyun looking like he was considering the risks of jumping out of a speeding car.
‘Thank you, Baekkie,’ said Chanyeol patting him on the head affectionately.
‘I could always just –‘
Yixing started saying.
‘Don’t even think about it, Yixing! There will be no fighting,’ said Kyungsoo angrily.
‘But, Soo, it’s the third car this week,’ protested Baekhyun weakly.
‘No buts! The mission was simple. Intercept the car and grab the boy. No messy scenes. No scandals. And most definitely no getting mentioned in the papers again,’ said Kyungsoo fiercely.
At that moment the sound of bullets hitting our rear window sounded loudly, as the bulletproof glass started cracking under the barrage.
‘I’m pretty sure a real life re-enactment of Grand Theft Auto is as messy as it gets,’ I muttered as my head bounced off the window for the third time.
Kyungsoo turned around to look at me in surprise, ‘What?’
‘Never mind,’ I said falling against Baekhyun.
‘Sweet Mary and Joseph!’ groaned Baekhyun as Tao took down a couple of dust bins.
Chen snorted, ‘You guys are hilarious! Fearless elite force, my ass!’
Baekhyun glared at him, ‘You’re one to talk! Last time there was a thunderstorm you clung to me so tightly I thought my arm was going to fall off.’
‘Lightning is a genuine fear,’ said Chen casually checking his finger nails.
‘Yeah, that makes perfect sense, because the probability of getting struck by lightning is so much higher than that of dying in a car crash,’ said Baekhyun, his voice dripping with sarcasm as Chen stuck out his tongue at him.
‘Really? Wow! That’s surprising,’ said Chanyeol wonderingly.
I heard Yixing and Chen both laughing hysterically from behind me.
‘I’m going to die next to an idiot,’ stated Baekhyun in a tragic tone of voice.
‘Baekhyun, stop bullying Chanyeol,’ ordered Kyungsoo.
This time Chanyeol stuck his tongue out at Baekhyun while the latter gave Kyungsoo an affronted look.
‘That’s rich coming from you!’
‘Hey, Tao! Turn on the radio,’ said Yixing leaning forward on his seat, and looking for all the world like he was just enjoying a relaxing road trip.
I looked at him in disbelief – these guys were completely insane!
‘Great! Now I can die to the sound of shitty radio music – just perfect! Thank you, Yixing!’ said Baekhyun sarcastically.
‘Don’t worry, gege! I got you covered,’ said Tao excitedly punching a few buttons around the radio. ‘You’re going to love this. It gets me totally pumped!’
Baekhyun groaned and closed his eyes in utter dread. The Prodigy’s Omen blasted through the van’s amazing stereo system.
‘We’re going to die,’ said Baekhyun in a flat tone of voice.
Tao changed gears quickly, his head bouncing to the sound of the beat and the car speeded across an intersection barely missing a Ford Toyota, an Audi and a tree.
‘Good choice!’ said Chen approvingly as he moved to the sound of the music.
Yixing laughed and started matching dance moves with Chen.
‘FUCKING YOLO!’ shouted Chanyeol with a blinding grin, and before anyone could stop him he had thrown the sunroof open, and was shooting back at the cars chasing us.
‘What the –‘ exclaimed Kyungsoo doing a double take as he glanced backwards.
Tao whooped wildly as he cut across a – thankfully - deserted park.
‘GET THEM, CHANNIE!’ shouted Tao.
This time I did scream as we swerved past trees at an impossible speed, taking down a couple of bushes.
Suddenly Chen jumped up and joined Chanyeol with a very loud, ‘YIPPEE KI-YAY, MOTHERFUCKERS!’
Baekhyun just shook his head like he’d known this was going to happen.
‘Unfucking believable!’ breathed Kyungsoo casting a seriously scary look at the pair, and then he snapped angrily, ‘Yixing, if you so much as breathe out that window I will kill you.’
Yixing pouted cutely as he leaned back against his chair, and rolled his window back up.
Suddenly there was an almighty explosion as one of the cars exploded and the other crashed into it.
‘LATER, SUCKERS!’ shouted Chanyeol as him and Chen high fived.
When both of them sat back down, Kyungsoo fixed them with a decidedly evil look in his eyes.
‘We’re in trouble, aren’t we?’ asked Chanyeol slowly.
‘Whatever gave you that idea?’ muttered Baekhyun sarcastically.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
After driving for another twenty minutes we finally arrived at a pair of enormous gates. Tao’s driving hadn’t gotten any safer or slower, the results of which could be seen in the greenish tinge around Baekhyun’s face. I hadn’t fared much better as my stomach roiled anxiously.
We drove up an extremely long driveway and stopped in front of a huge mansion. My jaw dropped as I took in the spectacular grandeur that was spread before my eyes.
‘Where did you say we were going again?’ I asked Baekhyun in awe.
‘The President’s house, of course.’
‘The President?’
‘Yes, President Junmyeon’s place – well, one of his places.’
‘I knew it! I knew he was involved in this,’ I said accusingly and he had the grace to look down guiltily.
‘I can’t believe you’re involved with all these dangerous people. What the hell were you thinking?’ I asked in disbelief.
He didn’t get to answer as a butler – yes, a legit freaking butler! - opened the door and we entered the mansion. It was even more opulent on the inside. I tried not to gape like an idiot. We were lead into a big office by the butler.
‘Thank you, Sanford,’ said Kyungsoo with a warm smile.
‘No problem, sir. I’ll bring some refreshments while you wait for the master,’ said Sanford politely then he left the room.
Baekhyun pulled me to the side and said urgently.
‘Look, I know this looks bad. But I had very good reasons, and you could almost say I didn’t really have a choice.’
‘Did they force you to join? Is that it?’ I asked in a low voice.
‘No, it’s not like that, at all! Junmyeon is a good person, he would never do that. He helped me,’ said Baekhyun earnestly.
‘By letting you join his criminal gang?’ I asked sceptically.
‘They’re not criminals!’ he protested.
I looked askance at Chen who was throwing daggers at a dartboard with chilling accuracy, then at Chanyeol who was polishing his machine gun while making small cooing noises, and finally at Yixing who was throwing random objects at Tao, while the latter sliced them mid-air with an enormous sword.
I lifted an eyebrow and said slowly, ‘I see.’
‘I know they may look like a crazy bunch, er, I mean they are a crazy bunch (he corrected himself quickly as I lifted both eyebrows) but they’ve got their hearts in the right place, and you couldn’t find a better bunch. Believe it or not, we’re the good guys,’ he said earnestly.
‘You swear they won’t hurt Jongin? Or try to imprison him?’ I asked him what I was most scared of.
‘Of course not,’ he said outraged. ‘We’re only trying to help him. And if he decides he wants to leave, of course, we’ll let him go. But Wu Yifan will never stop hunting him. He’s not safe on his own. We know he was adopted by Yifan as a child and that he recently escaped. We were hoping he would share some information with us about Yifan…by the way, how the hell did you get involved in all this?’ asked Baekhyun with a creased brow.
‘Oh, that. Er, Jongin is my roommate,’ I said with a nervous laugh.
I didn’t know if they knew what Jongin could do, and I wasn’t going to be the one to enlighten them. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Baekhyun, I just didn’t trust the others – at least, not yet.
‘Since when!? I never saw him when I was over at yours,’ he said suspiciously.
‘That’s cause he was out,’ I lied quickly.
Baekhyun gave me a long look like he knew I was lying, then his eyes widened as he seemed to realise something. He looked at Jongin lying on the couch then back at me then back at Jongin. He let out a short bark of laughter.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!?’ he said in complete disbelief as he shook his head.
‘What? What is it?’ I asked feeling a rising sense of panic.
‘He’s that bloody cat, isn’t he?’
Because he said it so suddenly I found myself at loss for words, my mind a complete blank and then when I was going to deny it I realised I had lost my chance. Baekhyun would know I was lying, so there was no point denying it.
‘Baekhyun, please don’t tell the others? Please?’ I pleaded desperately.
He stopped laughing and looked at me in confusion, then his eyes cleared.
‘You like him, don’t you?’ he accused me softly.
I thought about denying it but found I couldn’t as tears filled my eyes dammingly. I blinked them away furiously.
‘Please, Baek, don’t let them find out. Don’t let them hurt him,’ I begged him.
‘Cas, why are you crying?’ asked Baekhyun in concern as he brushed my hair back from my face gently, then he added sincerely, ‘No one is going to hurt him. I swear.’
‘I’m scared they’ll experiment on him,’ I said in a whisper, feeling horribly anguished at the mere thought.
Baekhyun tilted his head to the side as he surveyed me. There was the strangest look on his face as he said slowly, ‘Why would we experiment on him?’
‘I know you wouldn’t. But can you honestly say none of the others would feel tempted?’ I asked sceptically.
Baekhyun sighed softly and shook his head sadly.
‘You still haven’t figured it out, have you?’
‘Figured what out?’
‘Everyone in this room, except for you, has the E.X.O gene.’
I stared at him blankly.
‘We’re all like Jongin. We can all turn.’

Notes