A/N: as promised , this is the bonus chapter about wooyoung past ! You can skip it as you wish since it's not important to the story, it's only if you want to know his past !
I hope you will enjoy it ❤❤❤
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Yawning loudly while putting his hand in front of his mouth, a young eight years old hybrid cat named Wooyoung was finally ready to go in his bed, completely tired. It has been a long day for him, he was so happy that he played with all of his friends until very late. It was really rare for his parents to let him have fun this long. They would rather give him some duties to do in the house instead, but he didn’t really mind. His parents needed his help to live better.
But when he was about to go sleep on his blanket that was on the ground, he stopped walking. He could smell two distinct smells of hybrids on the porch outside. Curious, the young cat opened the door slightly, and closed it as fast as he could when his eyes met two men in front of his door. Panicking, Wooyoung ran to see his parents' who was talking to each other.
-Eum.. I’m sorry father, mother... B-but two strange people are outside...”
-Open the door, let them in.” His mother said, without even looking at him.
He nodded his head, he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea, but he sure didn’t want to upset his parents. Doing as told, he opened back the door slowly to the strangers. He felt very intimidated and small in front of the men, what did they want? Why they were staring up and down at him like that?
-Our master will be happy, he’s young and beautiful. He’s exactly like he was looking for.”
Even if he was young, Wooyoung quickly understood what they meant by that. He looked back at his mother, his poor face turned almost to red with how much he was angry.
-I... I wasn’t good enough you had to sell me!”
Grinning her teeth, his mother went in front of him and she grabbed a handful of his hair from the back of his head. She stared at him directly in the eyes.
-Nothing comes free in this world, son. Nothing is free.”
-Some things should be." Responded directly the poor boy.
She didn’t let go of her grip in his hair, simply pulled him closer to her.
-Don’t touch me mother!” Wooyoung yelled out of his lungs.
-Then get out.” She responded in a cold tone, letting him go violently almost pushing him on the ground and pointing her finger towards the door.
His father stood further, without moving or even saying anything. Why? Why father... Why mother? Wooyoung thought. Why were they doing that? He knew they weren’t nobles, they couldn’t even eat three meals each day. But for Wooyoung, it wasn’t a reason to sell him.
Knowing the child wouldn’t gently follow them, one of the men simply swung him over his shoulder like he was nothing.
-Let me go! Don’t touch me!” He wouldn’t go without a fight. He started swinging his arms and legs everywhere, hitting the man.
-There, for you.” The other man extended a small bag full of money towards his parents.
His mother didn’t even say anything, and simply took it while her son was taking away forever from her..
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The first year Wooyoung passed in the Kiseang house, was really hard for him. And by being a hybrid cat, his first reflex was to transformed in his cat form and hide inside of his room when he realized he would really become a kiseang. He cried so much all nights, hidden in the back of his room. He just wanted to be a normal boy, he wanted to play with his three friends once more. He wanted to live his childhood like every normal hybrid child in Joseon.
Instead, to protest he started to stop eating completely. He would never obey the older kiseangs responsible of him and tried to run away. Each time, she would tell everything to their Hojang how much he wasn’t listening and wouldn’t even eat and all he was capable of, was to run. To punish him so he could remember it for a long time, his Hojang tied him and beat him. He even ordered everyone to not give him any food or drink for three days. If he wanted to be rebellious and try to run and not eat, then he will not eat for real. And he would stay inside of his room.
He gave an advice to the hybrid cat clearly after his punishment, if he had the intention to do that again... Next time he wouldn’t eat for a whole week, and if he was going to die, then he would find someone else to replace him.
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More the years passed, more Wooyoung became obedient. He realised himself that... He would never leave that place alive no matter what he would try. The loud and smiling boy he was before... was gone. Instead, he listened and didn’t speak much. Just when it was necessary. When the kisaeng and his hojang noticed that he was finally listening, the training started.
The first thing he learned, was write and read.
The Chinese writing wasn’t easy to learn. He would rather learn the Korean writing, but he didn't really have a choice. The kiseang must be smart, this writing was only the base. He didn’t count the nights he didn’t sleep. He was so tired but, he couldn’t do anything about it. His day was full, in the morning he would learn to write and read, after he would learn the good etiquette at the table and how to serve every nobleman right without making any fault. The only break he had, was when he would eat in the middle of the day, before to continue his studies right after.
The afternoon in general, he was learning how to speak correctly to the noble, and how to be seductive at the same time.
To please, to amuse, to understand, and to companion men, mentally and socially, it was the Kiseang chief duty. Their chief occupation and their most earnest study.
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More years passed and Wooyoung had completely accepted his fate. He didn’t have much of a choice, he was used to study all day and sleep less than five hours a day now, if he was lucky, he would sleep maybe a little more. If not... he had no choice than to live with it.
But what he didn’t think he would like, was when he finally learned how to dance. The dance was slow, very slow. But he liked it. A lot. He even learned to play some instruments, how to sing and to read some love story to tell the costumer later, and some ballads. And, he was also selected to learn the basic of medicine. He passed the examen well and he was happy, because if he didn’t, he would be punished and assigned to be a tea brewer.
Which he didn’t want to.
And finally, after all of these years of education, he was now ready to meet the costumers.
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Well, if Wooyoung thought he would be fun to meet new people after all of those years... he was wrong. He was already tired of it, they were only old men hybrids trying their best to forget their problems. How much he saw tigers, lions.. The ones who were in the top of the hierarchy, crying over nothing?
It was always the same thing all day, the host and his guests would make a room for them, and each girl and boy sat themselves near a man they would stay with all night. He poured wine for the men, and comforted them. Even if sometimes he wanted to just say he didn’t give a shit about them and how much he was tired of it, but couldn’t. When he had dinner with them, he couldn’t eat unless the men he was with voluntary feed him. To feed the kiseang is to give them a great mark of favour, and it would be the worst of bad form for them to refuse any morsel that was offered. After the feast, they sang and danced in turns and together.
It even happened Wooyoung had his turn to dance and to sing alone in front of them. He loved that from the bottom of his heart. He really enjoyed the feeling of some bunch of people was looking at him, smiling, and enjoying what he was doing. It’s a feeling he could never forget. It was the true form of happiness for him.
He was sure, he was born to be a great artist.
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And one day, the daily life of Wooyoung changed when he met a young man during a feast full of people. How much was he happy to see someone around the same age as him?
At first, they didn’t really talk to each other, since Wooyoung was always forced to serve other men than him. He only knew a few things about him, he was a royal guard, near to be promoted and the youngest son of the minister of the defense. This is all he knew. He was happy when the boy started to come more often. At first, he was always with someone or his father. And then, some day, he came alone. And Wooyoung finally could stay with him and serve him.
How much they loved the presence of each other? It didn’t take long before the two boys formed a bond together. They enjoyed each minute, each second when they were in the same room. Jongho would go in the Kiseang house often just to see him.
And soon, Jongho couldn’t think about someone else than the Kiseang cat. He had a lot of energy, his smile was beautiful... He even loved that each time he was doing something stupid, Wooyoung laughed to the point he couldn’t breathe. He liked his laugh. And he loved how much the boy started to feel very comfortable with him, to the point he started teasing him. But he didn’t mind.
Wooyoung was turning back to normal, who he really was. Thanks to Jongho.
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Smiling happily, Jongho looked at the small box he had in his hand. It was the first time he would give something to the kiseang cat, he just hoped he would like it. In front of his door, he sighed deeply to gain some courage.
But what he never thought he would ever hear was Wooyoung yelling to stop loudly, inside of the room, towards someone.
It was the first time Jongho broke a door that easily. He would always remember it, the man who tried to assault the poor boy. What on earth could have happened if he wasn’t there at the time? It was also the first time he punched someone in a public place. But he would never regret it, ever. He deserved it. Nobody could touch what was his.
And it was this event, who made the wolf had enough of that. He wanted to make the cat leave that place forever, he knew he had the money and the power to do so. Even more if his father would authorize him to.
“I can make you leave from here, you just have to accept to stay by my side.”
It was the only thing he asked him. Wooyoung didn’t refuse his offer. He gladly accepted, it was probably his only chance in life to get out of there.
This was how his new story began.
He couldn’t change what was already done. He didn’t have a choice before to live like that. But now, he could choose his future, he could turn another page of his life and started a new one. And he wanted it to be by Jongho’ side, even if that meant he should throw away his dreams to be the artist he was meant to be.