He Juan pulled over at his parking lot and got down from the car only to be greeted by a ball of fluffy feline that came barreling to him. "Meow Meow Meow!"

"Kitty!" He Juan immediately dropped the plastic bag in his hand in lieu of gathering the orange tabby cat into his arms, nuzzling his cheek on the soft and warm body and relishing in the loud purr that echoed from its throat. "Kitty, I missed you! Do you miss me? How many days has it been since I last saw you? Wait, has it really been months?! God, no wonder I think about you everyday..." One cat and one human were engaged in an intimate conversation. With every question He Juan asked, the cat would answer him with a sweet meow, its long tail swishing back and forth.

He Juan raised his head from the heavenly fluff with a gasp. "Look at you!" He held the cat by its armpits and scrutinized it closely, his eyes widening in shock. "You have gotten fat! Wait..." His gaze zeroed in on the cat’s slightly bulging stomach before snapping to the cat’s owlish eyes. "You... You’re pregnant?! How– no, which bastard did this to you?!"

The cat squinted its feline eyes and parted its mouth in a large yawn, showing rows of sharp and pointed teeth.

"Kitty!" He Juan cried out in exasperation.

A soft cough sounded from the side and He Juan was startled, only remembering that he was not alone this time. He could feel warmth crawling up his neck and his whole body was frozen on the spot, mortified. Oh God, how... how could he forget that Mu Yuze was still here?! And now, the boy had caught him, a big and adult Alpha, talking and whining to a stray cat! How embarrassing!

Fortunately, He Juan was nothing but adaptable. He rapidly adjusted his emotions, thickened his face and brought the cat’s round body to his face. He held the cat’s squishy paw and waved it toward Mu Yuze. "Hi, I’m a stray cat. I don’t have an official name, but I am often called Kitty."

"Meow~"

"Kitty," Mu Yuze echoed with a deadpan voice, wholly unimpressed.

He Juan cleared his throat and took the cat properly into his arms this time. Kitty immediately made itself comfortable and snuggled deeper into him, its purr growing louder. "Isn’t it cute?" He asked the boy, not without hope. Kitty was a permanent resident to this apartment building and if Mu Yuze were to stay here in the future, he wished that the boy would get along with it.

It was not like Kitty was particularly beautiful or cute compared to other cats. In fact, it looked no different than any stray cats, but Kitty had one unique characteristic – it did not fear He Juan.

He Juan had no idea whether it was because he was a superior Alpha, or because his scent reeked of blood – as stated by his Alphas subordinates – but small animals like cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamster or ferrets, all of them bared their teeth at him and went on defensive if he were to get close around five meters in radius. And if He Juan decided to try his luck and take one step closer, they would instantly scurry away like their lives depended on it. It made He Juan, this fluff enthusiast, become very depressed and even his Alpha were howling sadly.

But it was not the case with Kitty.

He Juan met the cat a few years ago when he came here for the first time for apartment viewing. At that time, he had come to this city, Shunan, for a business trip and because he predicted that it would take quite a long time, he simply purchased an apartment rather than booking a hotel room for a prolonged period of time.

He remembered that it was raining heavily that day. He was walking toward the apartment entrance when a feeble cry caught his attention.

After searching for a while, he finally found the source of the sound on the bushes near the sewer. Kitty was barely a few weeks old then, its body was only skin and bones, its fur crumpled with soil and dirt, and it had quite a severe infection on its left eye. Under the curtain of heavy rain, it was drenched thoroughly and its breathing was weak and laborious. Yet as soon as it sensed He Juan’s presence, it painstakingly crawled its way forward, step by step, dragging its limp and weak body behind.

He Juan’s heart had gone totally soft and mushy. In the end, he forwent the apartment viewing in lieu of taking Kitty to a pet hospital. After being treated there for a week, Kitty finally showed signs of recovering and started to put on some weight on its body.

At first, He Juan wanted to officially adopt it, but then he recalled that he was the least suitable person when it came to having a pet. He did not have a fixed place to stay, always moving from city to city as long as need arose. He could not possibly take Kitty along on his frequent business trips. As such, he was forced to let Kitty return to the wild, but not without leaving a bowl of cat food outside and also paying the security guard to feed it whenever it dropped by for a visit.

Fast forward, Kitty had grown up from the thin scrawny kitten into a round and fluffy feline. It would also become a mother soon! He Juan did not expect the kitten to remember him, after all the number of times he came to Shunan City could be counted with one hand, but it did. Everytime He Juan came to live here, it always came out to greet him. For him, who had been avoided by all fluffy animals since his manifestation, Kitty’s presence was literally a gift from Heaven.

Come to think of it, Mu Yuze and Kitty were surprisingly similar. He Juan crossed paths with them during their lowest state and ended up taking them under his wings. Not only that, they also did not fear He Juan...

He stared intently as Mu Yuze took a few tentative steps forward, snuck a glance at He Juan before dropping his gaze to the cat that was lounging in He Juan’s arms. Carefully, it stretched out a hand and placed it on Kitty’s back. He Juan could see the twinkles in Mu Yuze’s eyes when he murmured, "It is so soft..."

"I know, right?" He Juan grinned.

Mu Yuze nodded, but soon he took back his hand and placed it behind his back.

He Juan did not think much about it. Surely, some time was needed for bonding, right? He gently placed Kitty down, earning him a dissatisfied meow. After promising that he would return with a can of high-quality cat food tomorrow, He Juan finally waved Kitty goodbye, grabbed the plastic bag and led Mu Yuze to the elevator straight to the sixth floor.

Due to security reasons, He Juan had chosen to buy the apartment on the entire floor, broke down the walls and transformed it into a deluxe presidential suite. Mu Yuze was evidently surprised as soon as they stepped through the door. He swept his gaze over the luxurious living room, his feet rooted on the hallway. "This... is your house?"

"En," He Juan took out a pair of new slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed it in front of Mu Yuze, smiling. "What do you think of it?"

"It’s so..." extravagant? Posh? Fancy? He Juan’s mind came up with a few words in a blink of an eye. But in the end, Mu Yuze managed to surprise him once again when he finished his sentence, "...empty."

He Juan was taken aback. "Empty?"