Chapter 11 – Turning Human
After Lin Yan got home, he placed Meiqiu on the sofa.
Meiqiu collapsed weakly on the cushions.
At that moment, sunlight streamed in through the window.
The sun shone directly into Meiqiu’s eyes. It felt a little blinding, but he was completely unable to move, so he could only lie there helplessly. His tail flicked weakly — his final struggle.
After all the back and forth that morning, Lu Heng already knew something was wrong with him, but he had no way to tell Lin Yan.
All he could do was follow him to the pet hospital.
That trip had nearly turned into a disaster. Fortunately, Lu Heng reacted quickly and was agile enough to escape from the examination table.
Even now, thinking about it made him feel a little scared.
Next time, he absolutely could not be greedy again. He should have known — anything that smells that good is never harmless.
…
Lin Yan took out the medicine prescribed by the pet hospital, ground it into powder, and mixed it according to the doctor’s instructions. But Meiqiu was so weak that he could hardly move.
So Lin Yan used the syringe he had bought that morning, removed the needle, and carefully fed Meiqiu the medicine.
Lin Yan squatted in front of Meiqiu.
He gently lifted Meiqiu’s face, placed the tip of the syringe into Meiqiu’s mouth, and slowly pushed the liquid inside. Meiqiu stuck out his tongue, licking the drops that were about to spill from the corner of his mouth.
Don’t let it drip onto me…
Meiqiu was a very neat, fastidious little cat.
“Drink slowly, baby. Once you finish this, you’ll feel better, okay?”
Lin Yan’s legs were starting to go numb from squatting. He bent his knees and sat directly on the floor — there were still several syringes left to feed.
The syringe he had bought was only 1 ml. He had grabbed one randomly in the morning because he was in a hurry to get back.
Next time, he would definitely need to buy a bigger one.
Lin Yan withdrew the syringe and stroked Meiqiu’s head.
Meiqiu was still lying there limply.
Lin Yan leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Meiqiu’s fluffy head, rubbing against him firmly.
Meiqiu’s body stiffened. His eyelashes lowered, and his heartbeat suddenly sped up.
Lu Heng froze.
He had never been this close to another person before.
Even though he was now a little cat, inside he was still a human. And humans get shy — so at this moment, he could clearly feel his heart pounding as if it were about to jump out of his chest.
Thump. Thump.
Lu Heng avoided Lin Yan’s gaze, only daring to glance at him from the corner of his eye. From this close distance, he could see Lin Yan’s face even more clearly. Lin Yan wasn’t breathtakingly handsome, but he was definitely good-looking.
More importantly, when Lu Heng looked at him, he felt inexplicably shy.
Lu Heng decided it was just because they were too close.
If his own mom leaned in that close, he would feel embarrassed too.
He accepted that explanation by default.
Then he lifted his head again, quite confidently, and looked straight at Lin Yan.
After a moment, he turned his head away again.
Lin Yan was very close —so close that he could hear Meiqiu’s heartbeat.
That little heart was thump, thump, beating strong and steady, more than enough for Lin Yan to be sure that Meiqiu was fine, still perfectly okay.
Meiqiu pulled his head back slightly and saw Lin Yan.
Lin Yan had his eyes closed, quietly feeling Meiqiu’s heartbeat.
Meiqiu turned his face away.
The next second, Lin Yan opened his eyes.
Meiqiu stared at him in a daze.
Lin Yan smiled softly, then lowered his head and planted a gentle kiss on the top of Meiqiu’s head.
…
“Lin Yan, Meiqiu’s doing much better now, right?” Chen Xin poked Lin Yan with her pen.
After feeding Meiqiu his medicine, Lin Yan had come straight to the office. It was already noon when he arrived, and everyone was napping with their heads on their desks. Afraid of disturbing them, Lin Yan moved lightly and quietly back to his seat.
Chen Xin noticed the sunlight in front of her being blocked by a shadow. She squinted, then saw that Lin Yan had returned.
“We went to the hospital. The doctor said it was gastroenteritis. He’s taken his medicine and is much better now,” Lin Yan leaned over and replied.
“That’s good.”
“Oh, right.” Lin Yan set down his shoulder bag — the same bag that had held Meiqiu that morning, still lined with tiny bits of his fur. “The doctor said that canned food had appetite stimulants in it. It’s better not to feed it to him anymore.”
“Huh? You mean the can you bought yesterday?” Wang Hao leaned over as well, joining the conversation.
“Yeah. Meiqiu started throwing up after eating that can.” Lin Yan turned on his computer.
“That’s strange. My cat’s been eating it for over a month and nothing’s happened.” Wang Hao frowned.
While Wang Hao’s girlfriend was away on a business trip, he had been the one feeding the cat. For convenience, he always used that same brand of canned food, and the cat had been perfectly fine.
“Maybe every cat’s constitution is different,” Lin Yan replied absentmindedly.
In truth, there was another important reason: Meiqiu had never eaten that kind of canned food before, so the sudden change had upset his stomach.
The doctor had also mentioned that Meiqiu had clearly been very well taken care of before — his fur was glossy and smooth.
Yet the cat had only been at Lin Yan’s home for a few days and had already fallen ill.
Lin Yan couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
Had Meiqiu started suffering because he came to live with him?
Ten minutes after Lin Yan left for work, Lu Heng transformed back into his human form. Thankfully, no one else was home.
He sat upright on the sofa, slowly adjusting his breathing. His cheeks felt hot, which he mistakenly thought was just a side effect of the medicine. He was still feeling unwell and didn’t want to go anywhere, so he decided to stay in Lin Yan’s apartment.
Looking around the small space — though it was somewhat messy — he couldn’t help but find it strangely warm and cozy.
Lu Heng stood up and went to the bathroom to take a shower. When he came out, he had a towel wrapped around his waist.
The towel was secured at his hips, and droplets of water slid down his skin in thin streams.
Lu Heng’s skin was fair and clear. He casually pushed his hair back, water flowing from the roots down the bridge of his high nose and then across his lips. He lifted a hand and wiped it away.
He glanced down at his right leg. The skin there was smooth, missing a small patch of leg hair.
Whatever.
Lu Heng knew Lin Yan had only been worried about him — worried that little “Cat Heng” might have gotten hurt.
His broad shoulders shifted slightly. There were no clothes for him here, so he could only stay put. Fortunately, he didn’t dislike the place at all — in fact, he even wanted to remain here.
Since he had been staying here for so many days and Lin Yan had been taking care of him for free,
and since hotel rooms for the past few days would have cost him a fair amount of money,
Lu Heng decided to clean the apartment for Lin Yan as repayment.
Lu Heng had been raised under very strict discipline. His father demanded that his room never have even a speck of dust, and that nothing be placed carelessly.
In other wealthy families, the house would have a butler and maids. But Lu Heng was different — his father even forbade the maids from cleaning his room.
So from a young age, Lu Heng had always cleaned his own room.
Standing in this apartment, however, he found himself unsure where to begin.
He walked to the entryway and saw piles of cat food and cat litter stacked there.
Bags of different sizes were scattered about. He picked them up and neatly arranged them to one side. The cat food was lined up carefully as well.
Looking at the huge bag of cat food, Lu Heng felt absolutely no appetite.
If he had to eat that stuff later, he would probably become picky about food for a long time.
He would have to notify the butler later to prepare boxed meals and bring them to his office instead.
After tidying the cat litter and cat food in the entryway, a narrow path finally appeared.
Lu Heng stared at the path.
How did Lin Yan usually get in? One big step at a time?
“That guy — he looks so proper on the outside. How can his home end up like this?”
Lu Heng’s lips curved upward. He shook his head with a faint, amused smile.