Archive of Our Own

Hua Cheng could tell something was off about E-Ming, his bastard cat, but he couldn’t pinpoint the exact issue. Maybe it was a problem with his thyroid gland, because the little shit was eating like a cow without getting fat like one. He'd also gotten obsessed with the kitchen window, had strange lapses of silence between his usual endless meowing, and sudden episodes of insanity during which he just had to rub incessantly against Hua Cheng’s legs, becoming a serious tripping hazard.

The weird behaviour had been going on for about a week, which happened to be finals week for Hua Cheng’s second year of university. Even if he cared deeply about the beast —which he didn’t— there were just not enough hours in the day to address whatever was going on. Between studying, doing his assignments and training with his volleyball team, his hands were full.

Fortunately, he just needed to submit the semester’s main project to be done with finals. He had basically camped at the digital workshop of the university in order to finish it, only leaving once a day to shower, sleep for two or three hours, check on E-Ming and then go back. He felt like dying, but it was almost complete and the effort was paying off. The model he designed, a self-sufficient, mega-efficient greenhouse that could produce tons of food while doubling as a public park and garden, was sure to get him the highest possible mark. The ambitious idea had forced him to study so much about food production that he felt qualified to get a degree in agronomy on top of architecture, and he knew his useless classmates would get decent grades with a fraction of the effort, probably presenting different versions of the same aesthetically passable shopping mall. He didn’t care about them, though. The differences between him and them were too great. Hua Cheng was the only one studying under a full scholarship that allowed him to live in peace off campus for a reason. All the others hated him for it, and they would hate him even more in ten years, when they’d be struggling to find some inconsequential job that matched their insignificant lives while he designed the cities of humanity’s first colony in outer space.

“Stop it,” he grumbled when E-Ming pulled him out of his musings by getting all over his shoelaces. “Why are you so eager to get kicked, you dumbass?”

Normally, E-Ming would offer a reply of colourful meows and swishes of the tail, but instead, he stared at Hua Cheng for about one second and then ducked his head. Thinking that the damn creature wanted to keep rubbing against his ankles and prevent him from leaving the house, Hua Cheng went to push him away with a hand and, to his surprise, got bitten.

“E-MING!” he shouted and the pest had the nerve to hiss back at him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

The cat made a low sound, almost like a growl. Hua Cheng feigned trying to grab him and the coward left running towards his new favourite spot by the kitchen’s window.

“I was considering taking you to the vet, but now I think I’d rather take you back to the dumpster where you came from,” Hua Cheng complained while he went to wash the scratch of E-Ming’s fangs on his fingers. “Trash belongs in the garbage.”

Again, E-Ming offered no answer. Hua Cheng looked at him, sheltered in the corner of the windowsill, and felt a little frustrated. It wasn’t as if he thought himself to be a great cat owner, but he had saved E-Ming from the brink of death and kept him healthy for quite a while now. He surely deserved a better treatment than this, right? After all, he insulted the cat on the daily, like true friends did, because that was exactly what they were. They understood each other, and now that E-Ming was behaving so strangely, Hua Cheng couldn’t help but worry a bit.

“I’m about to be done, so you better be in one piece when I get back,” he grumbled, wiped his fingers and left for the door.

It was a breezy day with clear skies, perfect for everything except getting in front of a screen yet again. Thinking he’d better stretch and move his long limbs to keep them in a somewhat decent condition for his next volleyball practice, Hua Cheng decided to take a detour through a big park some streets to the west.

The overabundance of kids on their way to school let him know that it was around seven in the morning. His sense of time had really gone off the window, although he was still aware of the key information: it was a Friday and the project’s deadline was at three that afternoon. Fighting back a yawn, he saw a kiosk at the end of the street and decided to buy a warm snack and an energising drink to brave the last leg of the finals race.

“Give me some chewing gum too,” he asked while rummaging in his pockets for change. “No bag, thanks.”

“Sure thing, boss! What flavour do you want?”

The candies were displayed around a board where people from the neighbourhood could pin signs for a little price. It normally had sub rent and odd job offers, but this time, when Hua Cheng skimmed through it, he was greeted by a photo of… E-Ming?

Hua Cheng rubbed his eyes. How tired and sleepy could he be to mistake some other person’s cat for his own? However, looking at the picture of that cat sprawled on a big pillow he didn’t recognise, he couldn’t find anything that distinguished it from E-Ming. Was it a prank? But what kind of prank would that be? Who could make it? His classmates didn’t even know he had a cat, and the few people who knew him from other places, like the volleyball team, were not that dumb. The name of the owner, Xie Lian, didn’t ring a bell either.

“What flavour?” the kiosk clerk asked again.

“Uh, wild cherry,” Hua Cheng replied, hoping there was some available because he honestly had stopped looking. “Hey, do you remember who left this sign of the missing cat?”

“Ah, yeah, well, Mr. Xie is a bit of a regular here,” the clerk explained. “He works for the city hall’s office of environmental affairs so he comes every couple weeks to check on the park’s trees. Why?”

“Nothing,” Hua Cheng said, analysing the picture while thinking that someone with that job could surely appreciate his cutting-edge greenhouse design. “I just have the impression I’ve seen this cat before.”

“Well, if you really have, ring Mr. Xie when you can, please. He’s worried sick about that cat, he’s been skipping work to hand the signs around and look for it.”

“That’s a lot for the sake of a cat.”

“Yeah,” the clerk agreed and scratched the back of his head. “Mr. Xie is a very nice man, but there’s something lonely about him. Maybe the cat is the only one keeping him company. Not my business, though. Anything else you’d like to buy?”

Hua Cheng shook his head and paid. Before leaving, he took a picture of the sign so he could play ‘find the differences’ when he got back home. Part of him was tempted to contact the man and show him that their cats were identical. It was really too strange! However, given the fact that the other cat was missing, it would be like rubbing salt on the wound. Hell, that person, Xie Lian, could even think Hua Cheng had stolen his cat and wanted to bully him. Even if Hua Cheng had photos that proved he’d had E-Ming for years, the situation was so surreal that it could look like some insane attempt at gaslighting through the power of photo editing. Never mind, Hua Cheng would rather save himself the trouble. Besides, he had a 3D model of a greenhouse to finish.

By the time he submitted his assignment (just five minutes before the deadline), he was so tired he could not think about anything besides passing out in his bed until Sunday afternoon, when he had volleyball training. He considered taking the bus back, but it was packed and the afternoon sun was blazing hot. As the breeze that was blowing since the morning was still there, walking seemed nicer, and so he retraced his steps through the park.

“Boss! Over here! Boss!”

It took Hua Cheng a while to realise the kiosk clerk was calling him. Irritated, he gestured at the man to indicate he was listening.

“Mr. Xie came about ten minutes ago to ask for news about his cat,” the clerk explained while Hua Cheng approached him. “I told him there had been someone who mentioned having seen it, and also told him you took a picture of the sign.”

“And?”

“Uhm, well,” the clerk hesitated under Hua Cheng’s glare. “Mr. Xie hasn’t left, he’s that man in white on the bench down the street, can you see him? I wondered if you could go and tell him what you know, perhaps that’ll give him some solace. He looks devastated today.”

Hua Cheng squinted at the little white figure at the other side of the park.

“Fine.”

“Thank you, boss! Do you want to take a popsicle, for the trouble? It’s on me.”

Hua Cheng arched one brow and the clerk offered him a coy smile. The day was hot, though, and there was no harm in accepting free food. He picked a cherry flavoured popsicle and lazily strolled towards that guy Xie Lian, trying to figure out what to tell him.

Ruoye the cat had been missing for a week, which was the same time E-Ming had been behaving weirdly. If he, who really didn’t care much about his cat, was worried just because the animal was meowing less than normal, how could this person feel after his beloved pet straight up disappeared?

Ah, it was going to be really awkward. If he wasn’t still in the range of vision of the clerk and hadn’t accepted the popsicle, he’d skip talking to Xie Lian altogether. He had no option now, though. Maybe he should just ask him what the matter was while pretending he knew nothing about the cat situation. Yeah. That sounded safe. Making up his mind, Hua Cheng stopped a few steps away from Xie Lian, looked at him to start talking, and immediately forgot how to speak, think or even breathe.

Spacing out in absolute desolation, with the stick of a popsicle slowly tumbling between his fingers, was the most beautiful man Hua Cheng had ever seen. Every delicate feature on his face, framed by silky locks of dark hair that reached past his collarbones, harmonised so perfectly with each other that he looked unreal. Not even the bags under his eyes, which suggested he’d been crying, could make a dent on his heavenly appearance. If anything, they stirred inside Hua Cheng’s heart the unbearable need to comfort him as soon as possible. Suddenly, nothing mattered besides finding Ruoye the cat. If the damned animal didn’t appear after turning the entire city on its head, then Hua Cheng would give E-Ming to the man to alleviate his loss. Even if he really loved his cat —which he didn’t— it was obvious that Xie Lian cared more and was a better pet owner. Besides, the clerk was right, there was something awfully lonely about this person. Hua Cheng was lonely himself, but between the two, Xie Lian looked more like the one who deserved to have some company.

Luckily, the other man didn’t notice his arrival and the stupid face he was probably making. With enough time to shake the shock off, Hua Cheng took a decision: he was going to mention the cat, look for the cat, find the stupid cat and, with that, get permission to text Xie Lian at the number in the sign. They could hang out and maybe he could ask him what he thought of his greenhouse and… Yeah. That was enough goals for now. Introductions first, results second, then he could dream all he wanted.

“Hello.”

Startled out of his daze, Xie Lian turned to look at him and, at the same time, cracked the popsicle stick in half without meaning to, which startled him even more and made him blush a little. Hua Cheng had to make a painful effort to keep his face schooled.

“H-Hi,” Xie Lian greeted back with a rough voice, then cleared his throat to make it sound better. “Can I help you?”

“The guy at the kiosk told me you’re looking for your cat?”

“That’s correct,” Xie Lian said, fidgeting with the broken stick.

“Right, well, can I sit?” Hua Cheng asked and Xie Lian immediately moved a little to the side, although there was plenty of space for both of them. “Thanks… This is going to be a bit crazy, but please bear with me. I mean no harm.”

“Sure,” Xie Lian said, looking curiously at Hua Cheng while he took his phone out.

“I’m severely sleep deprived, so maybe I’m not seeing clearly,” Hua Cheng said while browsing his gallery, “but when I saw your sign, I thought it was a photo of my cat. Maybe you can see the difference?”

Whatever Xie Lian was about to say died in his mouth when he saw a photo of E-Ming sitting on his back legs while the front held to a ball of volleyball. He blinked a couple times, then softly raised his hand.

“Can I…?”

Hua Cheng gave him the phone without a word. Xie Lian zoomed in and checked the details for a while, growing increasingly baffled.

“I… I can’t…” he finally said and offered the phone back to Hua Cheng, “I’m severely sleep deprived too.”

That made Hua Cheng laugh.

“I’m very sorry to ask this,” Xie Lian continued, biting down a smile himself, “but can I know for how long you have had your cat?”

“Three years and a bit, I’m afraid,” Hua Cheng replied, knowing what Xie Lian wanted to arrive at, “I found him in a dumpster in a different city and brought him along when I started uni.”

“That’s… very peculiar.” Xie Lian let out a deep sigh. “My mother gave me Ruoye shortly before I moved on my own to this neighbourhood four years ago. He was still a small kitten then, I think she got him from a friend of hers.”

“Definitely different cats then, and it doesn’t sound like they can be siblings or something.” Hua Cheng leaned back on the bench, busying himself with opening his popsicle. “What are the odds?”

“No idea. At least now we know and, if I see your cat, I’ll not assume it’s Ruoye.”

Hua Cheng considered telling Xie Lian he could assume E-Ming was Ruoye and keep him if he wanted, but he’d better not come across as someone who didn’t care about his own pet. It would be inconsiderate and, while Hua Cheng was normally an inconsiderate person, he didn’t want Xie Lian to think of him as so.

“I will help you find your Ruoye,” he offered instead. “Owners of identical cats have to stick together, don’t you think?”

Xie Lian laughed and Hua Cheng absorbed every millisecond of it. That was perfect, yes, it was glorious. He’d find that cat, even if he had to overturn the heavens.

“Thank you, ahm… sorry, what’s your name? Mine is Xie Lian, I don’t know if you saw it on the sign.”

“Nice to meet you, Xie Lian.” Hua Cheng bit the popsicle and smirked when he noticed Xie Lian slightly shivering. “Can I call you gege?”

“Okay,” Xie Lian agreed, looking a bit bashful but a little flattered as well. “But what should I call you?”

“How does San Lang sound?”

Xie Lian squinted slightly and his lips moved almost imperceptibly, like trying to decide between forming a smile or a question.

“I don’t like my real name,” Hua Cheng explained. “Will gege indulge me?”

“… Yeah. Sure,” Xie Lian said and he offered Hua Cheng the sweetest smile. “Nice to meet you, San Lang. Thank you in advance for your help.”

While Hua Cheng finished the popsicle, he asked Xie Lian about his life, sneaking an essential question first and receiving the best possible answer: yes, the guy was single. According to him, he had been focused on his studies and somehow missed the stage of life when people supposedly figured out how to flirt and all that jazz.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” Xie Lian joked, a bit self-deprecatingly. “It’s alright, though. I'm busy enough as it is.”

He had recently graduated as a forestry engineer with a specialisation on urban silviculture (he’d definitely love the greenhouse!). He used to have big dreams of total cityscape restructuration, where fresh air and greenery were present in every neighbourhood and animals had safe routes to go across human settlements through the trees, but reality had hit like a hammer as soon as he got his diploma. Bureaucracy was insane, the environment was the last priority of anyone in a position of power, and the best he could do now was to fight every day so the city hall allowed him to keep treating the woods of the central district, which were infected with nasty fungi that looked like tiny human heads. The mayor wanted to chop everything down to replace it with man made urban furniture, and Xie Lian kept losing block after block in a never ending war against indifference. In fact, the last battle he had lost was on his own street, where they had removed all the trees a couple weeks ago.

“That’s awful,” Hua Cheng said with conviction. “I think they should listen to you, your ideas are great,” he added and chomped on the last bit of popsicle, making Xie Lian shiver again. “I’m studying architecture and I plan to specialise in urbanism. In fact, I just completed a design of a greenhouse for urban agriculture that aligns with how you think. When I graduate, we could team up to plan cities that make sense.”

“You’ll have to let me see that greenhouse design, it sounds wonderful,” Xie Lian said sincerely, although his smile was tinged with melancholy, and he offered a tissue to Hua Cheng. “Here. You have a stain of cherry on your chin.”

“Ah, sorry.” Hua Cheng said and took the tissue. “Thanks, I wouldn’t want to walk around looking like a vampire.”

Xie Lian arched his brow and Hua Cheng chuckled. He knew that the way he dressed said the opposite. In his defence, after working in darkness for weeks without proper food or sleep, his complexion was almost green, and if he had to look like a corpse, he preferred to look like a vampire and not a rotting zombie.

“Alright,” he said, standing up and throwing the popsicle stick, package and tissue all together into a nearby bin. “Does Ruoye like the sun, or should we start looking under cars?”

“He likes the sun and high places,” Xie Lian explained while picking up a backpack and a cat carrier he’d been keeping under the bench. “I brought my tree climbing gear, just in case.”

“Ah, I see gege thinks of everything.”

They scoured the entire park with no results. Xie Lian’s street was located towards the south, but as he said the only thing left to do there was to lift the houses from their foundations to look underneath, they decided to go look around Hua Cheng’s street in the east. Fortunately, conversation flowed easily between them and it kept Xie Lian’s mood from getting sombre. He even showed Hua Cheng his impressive climbing skills, easily reaching the roof of a house to check if Ruoye was hiding in the gutters.

“That was so fast” Hua Cheng commented once Xie Lian came back down. “Do you do rock climbing as well?”

“I do,” Xie Lian replied and dusted his hands off. “It’s good for my job and I also find it relaxing.”

“Mmm, yes, the impending risk of falling to your death sounds very relaxing.”

Xie Lian laughed and Hua Cheng added one strike to his mental tally wall of victories.

“Do you practise any sport?” Xie Lian asked once they started walking again. “With how tall you are, I imagine you’d do well in basketball.”

“I play volleyball, actually.”

“Oh, right, your cat had a volleyball ball in the photo. What’s his name, by the way? I don’t think you told me.”

“E-Ming.”

That gave Xie Lian pause. He seemed to be considering something new about Hua Cheng and carefully deciding what to say next. While Hua Cheng would normally feel uncomfortable with someone looking at him like that, the fact that Xie Lian bit his lower lip while thinking thoroughly distracted him.

“Why did you give him that name?” he finally asked.

“It made sense with the state of both of us when I found him,” Hua Cheng explained with a shrug. “It sucked for me to stay at home and he was a furry bag filled with parasites. It’s all in the past, though. Nowadays, we have a good life.”

“You’re impressive, San Lang.”

“You flatter me.”

“I’m serious,” Xie Lian insisted with a frown. “You were quite young still, weren’t you? Not anybody at that age would take the decision to save a cat in grave condition, especially without counting with their family’s support.”

“It’s not a big deal, gege. E-Ming is as resilient as a cockroach. The stinky beast would’ve probably survived without me anyway.”

Only when Xie Lian let out a surprised laugh, Hua Cheng realised what terms he had just used to refer to E-Ming. He’d been making a conscious effort to speak about cats in amicable terms for Xie Lian’s sake, given that the man was as gentle as they come and talked about Ruoye in a way so sweet that Hua Cheng felt legitimately jealous. So much for his attempt at looking like a civil pet owner!

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly.

“Don’t worry at all,” Xie Lian replied, still laughing. “Truth be told, 'stinky and resilient like a cockroach' also describes Ruoye to a tee. Once, I brought home a kilogram of a new brand of fungicide I wanted to try and Ruoye got obsessed with it. I moved it around the house during the day so he could not touch it, but he managed to break into the box inside my closet where I put it for the night and eat half of it before I woke up.”

“Oh, damn.”

“I honestly thought he’d die, he got so ill! But not only did he manage to survive, he also tried to eat more fungicide when he got back from the vet. I had to leave the package in a colleague’s basement and ended up dropping that brand altogether when I found Ruoye licking my uniform.”

It was Hua Cheng’s turn to laugh. The image of a gentler, better behaved version of E-Ming that he had in his mind for Ruoye melted instantly. The two were not only identical physically, but also seemed to share the same single malfunctioning brain cell.

“My apartment is on the building at the end of this street,” he said once he calmed down. “Do you want to stop by and take a little break? I should have something cold to drink.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

While they walked towards the building, Xie Lian kept calling Ruoye and checking in every nook and cranny, just in case.

“What a beautiful maple,” he commented, stopping by the tree in question, planted in the sidewalk in front of Hua Cheng’s building. “I’m happy to say it doesn’t look like it’s infected.”

“Good to know.”

“Yeah, it’s a relief,” Xie Lian said while he walked around the tree, looking for the shadow of his cat among the branches. “Ruoye! Are you here?”

“MEOW!”

Hua Cheng, who was in the process of opening the building’s main door, almost dropped his keys. He turned towards Xie Lian and saw him frozen, with both hands covering his mouth, looking at the kitchen window of Hua Cheng’s apartment.

Fuck, he should’ve thought about that!

“Gege?”

“That’s E… I… I don’t know if I can…” Xie Lian babbled. “That’s your cat, right? It’s not…”

“It’s not Ruoye, gege. I’m sorry.”

“MEOW!”

Fighting the urge to yell at E-Ming to shut up already, Hua Cheng walked towards Xie Lian and cautiously took him by the shoulder to make him turn and look at him.

“If seeing E-Ming makes you feel bad, we don’t have to go inside,” he offered. “I’m sorry I didn’t consider it.”

“No, I… I already knew they looked alike. I just…” Xie Lian stared at the cat in the window helplessly. “I thought that I’d notice their differences when I saw him in the flesh.”

“Uhm, your call, but maybe if you see him up close…?”

Xie Lian looked at Hua Cheng, then at E-Ming in the window, who was growing impatient enough to hit the glass with his paw, then back at Hua Cheng.

“Isn’t it awkward for you?” he asked suddenly, and Hua Cheng couldn’t decide whether he wanted to hug him or shake him. “I mean, I’m acting as if your cat could be my cat and that’s like saying you don’t know your own cat, whi—“

“Calm down, gege,” Hua Cheng asked softly while Xie Lian looked down at the finger he had placed on his lips to make him stop talking. “How could I take offence on anything you do or say? The cats are identical, any other person would’ve assumed that I stole their cat and was messing with them. Let’s go in so you can see him and dispel any doubt you have, alright?”

“I don’t doubt you,” Xie Lian protested, taking Hua Cheng’s hand between his to make him let go of his lips. “I’m sorry, I think I’m just shocked.”

“No need to apologise,” Hua Cheng said, trying to remain casual and not hyperfocus on the touch of Xie Lian’s calloused fingers against his skin. “Come on in?”

Xie Lian took a deep breath and nodded, letting go of his hand. Automatically, Hua Cheng sought to resume physical contact and placed it on the small of Xie Lian’s back without thinking, wishing to push him softly towards the door. To both his bewilderment and delight, Xie Lian didn’t shy away from the touch. On the contrary, he seemed to be thankful for it, maybe because he was still having some trouble processing the uncanny resemblance between their cats.

“Sorry for the mess, I was busy with my finals and didn’t have much time for chores this week,” Hua Cheng said while unlocking his door. “E-Ming likes to explore the hall whenever I open. Don’t worry about him, he gets back in on his own after a minute or two.”

“Ruoye likes to rub against my shoes when I arrive,” Xie Lian commented, crestfallen. “He’s very particular about street smells.”

“MROOW!”

E-Ming squeezed out of the door as soon as the opening was wide enough for him and jumped towards Xie Lian.

“Oh, Heavens,” he managed to say, dropping the carrier aside, and kneeled down to receive the cat with open arms. “Hello, E-Ming. Hello, nice to meet you. How are you not Ruoye? How can there be two perfect cats in the world?”

The cat purred loudly and rubbed against Xie Lian’s hands and legs, going so far as to lay on his back to ask for belly scratches. Hua Cheng couldn’t believe the betrayal. E-Ming knew how to choose them, didn’t he? He’d never greeted Hua Cheng like that.

“There’s very few people that E-Ming likes,” he commented, trying to conceal the bitterness in his voice. “Good to know that he appreciates gege.”

“Really?” Xie Lian asked, his sorrow momentarily forgotten. “Well, I like him too! He’s a cutie, like Ruoye. Did you know that you’re a cutie? You did, right? Look at your handsome face. Aw, big stretch!”

Unable to bear the sight and chug any more of the vile cat’s vinegar, Hua Cheng decided to get into the house first and check what drinks he had on the fridge. He pushed the door completely open to prevent Xie Lian and E-Ming from being left outside, got in, crouched to take his shoes off and raised his head to find… E-Ming again?

Oh, shit.

“San Lang, does E-Ming mind being lifted, or can I carry him?”

Hua Cheng couldn’t even turn to look at him. The two cats were in his apartment. How the fuck had the two damned cats ended in his shit ass apartment?!

“San Lang?”

Xia Lian was the gentlest soul Hua Cheng had met in his life, but not even him would believe in anything he said after noticing the two cats were there. He’d assume Hua Cheng had spent the whole afternoon making fun of him, or that he’d found Ruoye several days ago and decided to keep him to play a prank on his owner.

“Gege, I swear I have nothing to do with this.”

“Eh?”

“It wasn’t intentional, I didn’t know!”

“What are y—RUOYE?!”

“MRAAAW!”

The scream came from the cat in Xie Lian’s hands, who suddenly found himself being half carried half dragged inside the apartment. Hua Cheng, crouching and with one shoe partially on, saw Xie Lian slam the door shut behind him, walk past him with the cat still in his hands, fall on his knees and try to grab the other cat, half crying, half laughing and then yelping when the startled animal swatted his paw and hissed at him.

The first cat jumped away from Xie Lian’s arms and hissed in return. Baffled, Xie Lian sat on the floor and looked at Hua Cheng with absolute perplexity. Wishing nothing more than being struck by lightning right that instant, Hua Cheng decided that, given that he was already partially kneeling in front of Xie Lian, the best he could do was bowing to him.

“Believe me, please,” he pleaded with his forehead firmly pressed against the floorboard. “I had no idea.”

“San Lang?!”

“I really had no idea!” Hua Cheng insisted, “I was working at uni, I only came to shower and check on E-Ming and didn’t spend more than a couple hours at a time here.”

“San Lang, pl—”

“I don’t know when or how Ruoye got inside. I never saw them together so I didn’t realise there were two of them, I knew E-Ming was acting weird but I didn’t think it was a different cat that looked like him, I should’ve realised wh—”

“Get up, please,” Xie Lian asked and Hua Cheng felt strong arms pushing his shoulders to make him straighten. “Up, up. Why are you bowing to me?”

Unable to resist him, Hua Cheng allowed Xie Lian to make him sit up. There, on the floor of his apartment’s hall, they stared at each other for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Hua Cheng croaked.

“For giving shelter, water and food to my cat for maybe an entire week, caring enough to offer me your help, and bringing me to find him at last?” Xie Lian asked with a pained smile. “Come on, San Lang, there’s nothing to apologise for!”

“It wasn’t intentional.”

“If it’d been intentional, then it would’ve been a little mean, don’t you think?” Xie Lian asked with a joking tone, but when he saw that Hua Cheng was still stunned, his face turned worried again. “Listen, San Lang. I believe you, I know you didn’t plan this to happen or anything. Don’t beat yourself up over it, please.”

Hua Cheng was used to people thinking the worst of him, no matter what he did to appear reliable or trustworthy. The fact that Xie Lian, who had actual reasons to mistrust him and judge him, didn’t do it and instead believed in him wholeheartedly and even gave him gentle shoulder rubs to comfort him, was simply beyond comprehension. Never mind finding two identical cats, the true absurdity was to find someone like him.

“I think we could use the cold drinks you mentioned and some time to calm down, right?” Xie Lian said, giving a couple gentle pats to the side of Hua Cheng’s neck and jaw and looking him over with eyes filled with warmth... which suddenly turned into surprise.

“Gege?” Hua Cheng asked, unsure of what to think when Xie Lian cupped his face with both hands and tilted it slightly.

“You have heterochromia?”

The desire to disappear that had left Hua Cheng one second ago returned to his heart. His eyes were indeed of different colours, but it wasn’t an exciting combination like blue and hazel, just black and brown, or something like that. He found it unflattering, feeling that the asymmetry made him look weird. He’d rather have people not notice it or comment on it, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Xie Lian to stop.

“You really do! That’s gorgeous,” Xie Lian said, evidently pleased, angling Hua Cheng’s face in other directions to make his eyes catch the light differently. “You know? Whenever I think of finding another cat so Ruoye has some company, I tell myself that I’d love to find one with heterochromia.”

“I can try to meow.”

After a second or two of processing what he’d just heard, Xie Lian got beet red, let go of Hua Cheng’s face and rushed so abruptly to get out of his personal space that he fell on his butt. Hua Cheng burst laughing and finally moved to stand up.

“Do you want a beer?” he asked while offering Xie Lian support to get on his feet as well. “I should have a couple left.”

“I… ah…” Xie Lian mumbled, accepting his help. “I shouldn’t have done or said that, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Hua Cheng reassured him and gestured towards the kitchen so Xie Lian led the way there. “That’s a better reaction to my eyes than most people have, anyway.”

“Really?” Xie Lian asked, dancing effortlessly around the cats to avoid tripping over them. “I assumed everybody thought heterochromia was amazing.”

Hua Cheng shrugged, offering no comment. His own insecurities aside, he didn’t see the point in telling Xie Lian that most people in the world were assholes. That was something they both already knew.

“So? Beer?” Hua Cheng asked again, reaching for the fridge. “I also have iced tea and cherry lemonade.”

“Lemonade sounds great,” Xie Lian replied, looking around the kitchen and stopping at the traces of a wall that had separated it from the living room.

Hua Cheng had pitched the idea to remove it to the landlord and he had torn the wall down himself as soon as he got permission. The tiny apartment had benefited greatly from the little modification, and now the space almost felt like a loft.

“Do you want ice?”

“Yes, thank you.”

One of the cats jumped to the kitchen window and the other sat on the floor, apparently evaluating the pros and cons of joining him. There was only one chair by the kitchen counter. After a second, Hua Cheng wordlessly gestured at Xie Lian to give him his backpack and he put it on that chair. Then, they leaned shoulder to shoulder against the counter.

“I still can’t believe it,” Xie Lian half commented, half lamented, seeing the cat on the floor tilt his head from side to side, probably making calculations. “They are truly identical.”

“Like clones,” Hua Cheng agreed, taking a sip from his lemonade.

“Is E-Ming microchipped?”

“Nope. And he doesn’t have a collar because he tears them all apart.”

“Same as Ruoye. He can’t stand them.”

“We’re stuck, gege.”

Xie Lian chuckled. The cat on the floor finally made a decision and prepared to jump.

“Which one do you think is Ruoye?” Hua Cheng asked.

“The one in the window. He likes high spots like that, and he also tried to get between my feet while walking just now. That’s a… odd habit of his.”

“I’ll assume then that Ruoye was the one who tried to kill me two days ago by tripping me as soon as I got out of the shower.”

“I’m sorry.” Xie Lian laughed, covering his blushing face with one hand. “I’ve spoiled him, he really thinks everybody knows how to walk with a cat glued to their ankles.”

Before Hua Cheng could reply, the cat in the floor, which apparently was E-Ming, finally jumped to join Ruoye by the window. He miscalculated slightly and barely managed to set foot in the sill. Immediately, Ruoye swatted his paw at him, threatening to make him fall on top of the stove, and E-Ming confirmed his identity to Hua Cheng by screaming at the top of his lungs.

“MRRAAAAAW!”

“Oh, wow,” Xie Lian said.

“That’s E-Ming for you, gege,” Hua Cheng sighed. “He’s the noisiest drama queen.”

“Ruoye, don’t be mean,” Xie Lian told his cat, who was getting bristled. “There’s space for both of you.”

Hua Cheng took another long sip, almost finishing his drink. Thinking about it, it was surprising that the cats hadn’t revealed themselves by getting into a fight the prior days. Neither was used to other cats, and while both were neutered, both were also male. Of course, they could have fought for hours on end while he was out, but neither had any injury that indicated so.

“Aren’t you going to bite your ice cubes?” Xie Lian asked out of the blue.

“Should I?” Hua Cheng asked back, amused.

“I thought you liked to do that, because of the popsicle.”

“Mmm, I just didn’t want half the thing to melt in my hand, but…” Hua Cheng said and then bit one of the ice cubes, making Xie Lian flinch at the cracking sound, “… this is not bad, I guess. It helps with keeping you awake.”

“Oh, right! You haven’t slept!” Xie Lian exclaimed and drank the last of his lemonade in a hurry. “I’m sorry, I don’t know how I forgot about that. How inconsiderate of me, I should let you rest.”

Hua Cheng wanted to protest, but he remembered Xie Lian had said he was sleep deprived as well. At least, knowing that Xie Lian was not mad at him or anything, there was a chance to hang out later… but it still sucked. A little.

“If you insist,” he said sullenly. “Keep an eye on them so we don’t mix them up, I’ll go get your cat carrier. Where did you leave it?”

“Ah…” Xie Lian looked around him and then towards the living room and the entrance. “That’s… a great question. Maybe outside? I probably dropped it.”

Without another word, Hua Cheng went to open the door and found the cat carrier laying upside down right in front of it. It was evident that it was well-worn and appeared fairly comfortable. Looking at it, Hua Cheng reasoned that Xie Lian probably had gotten Ruoye a cat tree, brand cat toys, a sophisticated litter box, a filtered water bowl, some fancy feeder filled with premium food and a catnip plant. He looked like that kind of pet owner, while Hua Cheng was the kind that improvised toys with crumpled receipts and cut holes on a cardboard box to take E-Ming to the vet. It made him feel kind of… complicated. Guilty, maybe? Hopeless? Perhaps it was just the lack of sleep that made him overthink.

“Is it there?” Xie Lian asked from inside. “Don’t tell me someone took it.”

“It’s here.”

Trying to put his drifting thoughts back in order, Hua Cheng took the cat carrier and went back to the kitchen just in time to see Xie Lian stand on his tiptoes to fetch both cats from the windowsill.

“I wanted to take a photo of the two before leaving, but the backlight didn’t let me,” he explained, beaming with one cat in each arm. “Is E-Ming allowed on the sofa? They’ll look cute against the red.”

“Yes, he’s allowed.” Hua Cheng said while taking his phone out. “But first stay there; I've got to register that E-Ming let someone carry him for once.”

“He doesn’t like it?” Xie Lian arched his brows, looking at the cat on his left arm. “I’d never have expected that, he’s being such a good boy!”

“Gege.”

Xie Lian lifted his gaze and, when he saw the lens of Hua Cheng’s phone camera pointing at him, smiled so brightly that Hua Cheng had to take a deep breath to steady himself. The photo was perfect. He didn’t care if it was creepy, he’d set it as wallpaper and keep it like that forever.

“Take a selfie too!” Xie Lian asked, taking a step forward and softly bouncing the cats to distract them. “I think the four of us can fit in the frame.”

“I don’t like photos,” Hua Cheng replied, matter-of-factly, browsing his gallery. “Should I text you the pic at the number of the sign?”

“San Lang.”

“Yes?”

After a beat of silence, Hua Cheng stopped looking at his phone and found Xie Lian and the cats staring at him with the roundest eyes.

“We need a photo of the four of us,” Xie Lian insisted, lifting both cats a bit to boost the persuasion power of their cuteness.

“I…” Hua Cheng stuttered, taking a step back when Xie Lian took another step forward. “Gege, the one of you is fine.”

“Please.”

“I really don’t like photos.”

"Why?"

“Because…” Hua Cheng gestured at himself helplessly.

“What do you mean?”

Hua Cheng looked at the cats, hoping at least one of them got tired of hanging from their armpits and saved him by means of trying to break free. The treacherous beasts, however, seemed to have reached enlightenment and just remained on Xie Lian’s arms like elaborate ragdolls whose only brain cell had transcended beyond the mortal realm. One of them even had the tongue out, looking like the most stupid creature to ever exist.

“What’s the matter?” Xie Lian insisted, looking so sincere that Hua Cheng had to admit defeat.

“I’m ugly.”

“No, you’re not. In fact, I think you’re very handsome,” Xie Lian rebutted confidently, albeit blushing a little, and he nearly made Hua Cheng's soul leave his body. “And even if you weren’t, who says that photos of good moments are a luxury reserved for beautiful people?”

Hua Cheng was speechless. Truth be told, he had no idea how to keep a cool act in front of someone so earnest. In contrast to Xie Lian, he felt bitter, immature, and a bit pitiful. At the same time, he wanted to prove to him that he wasn't any of that.

“… Alright,” he agreed and let himself fall on the sofa.

Satisfied, Xie Lian carefully sat next to him and positioned both cats on his lap. Hua Cheng put one arm on the sofa’s back behind Xie Lian and used the other to hold the phone. As he expected, he looked dead and revolting, but Xie Lian was so radiant that, again, he felt compelled to make an effort. Without really thinking about it, he tilted his head to lean his cheek on top of Xie Lian’s temple and flashed that lopsided smile of his that he didn’t know how to correct. He shot twice and then stuck out his tongue for a third photo, to which Xie Lian did the same, granting a fourth and a fifth.

“Let me see!” Xie Lian asked, letting go of the cats to reach for the phone.

The animals didn’t look remotely inclined to leave his lap, and Hua Cheng gave him the phone without moving either, although he removed his cheek from Xie Lian’s hair in an attempt at decency.

“We all have our tongues out in the last one,” Xie Lian pointed out with a giggle. “That’s adorable.”

Hua Cheng hummed in agreement despite the fact that, with his head now tilted back to lean on the sofa, he couldn’t see the screen. That sofa was actually a pullout bed and his preferred spot to nap, so he had kind of conditioned himself to relax as soon as he sat on it.

“Is it okay if I add myself to your contacts?”

“Yes,” Hua Cheng answered, not bothering to hide his contentment. “Go ahead.”

The feathery touch of a paw hovered around Hua Cheng’s thigh. That had to be Ruoye; E-Ming didn’t like to get on top of him. Slowly, the cat moved from Xie Lian’s body to his. It was a pleasant weight. Without thinking about it, Hua Cheng moved his hand to scratch Ruoye behind the ears, earning a sustained loud purr in return that made him chuckle.

“Ruoye, don’t get too comfy,” Xie Lian asked and then let out a little yawn. “We have to go.”

The little bastard, of course, climbed to hide his snout in the crook of Hua Cheng’s neck and plastered himself against his chest. Xie Lian sighed deeply, sounding amused and exasperated at the same time.

“You can just pick him up,” Hua Cheng suggested without conviction. “It’s not like he can resist you.”

“I don’t have the heart.” Xie Lian sighed and shuffled on the seat to get more comfortable, which ended up making him pillow his head on Hua Cheng’s arm, although he didn’t seem to notice. “I understand why he sneaked into your apartment. It’s cosy and quiet, and it still has trees at the front.”

“You two can come whenever,” Hua Cheng said quietly, enjoying the soft tickle of Ruoye’s whiskers against his neck and how the vibrations of his purring resonated close to his ear.

“Thank you,” Xie Lian said and yawned again. “You can visit us as well… although maybe not until they are done with the remodelling.”

“You didn’t mention you were remodelling.”

“It’s not me, but the two apartments upstairs,” Xie Lian clarified, and Hua Cheng could hear in his voice how he deflated at the prospect of having to deal with that when he returned home. “I think someone bought both and are renovating so they can sell them at a higher price. They have been drilling and hammering Sunday to Sunday for weeks now. I think Ruoye got tired of it and that’s why he escaped.”

“You could file a noise complaint. Those kinds of jobs are not supposed to be done during weekends.”

“I know, but I don’t have it in me to write more reports that no one is going to read.”

Noticing the frustration in his voice, Hua Cheng lifted his head slightly to check on his expression. To his amusement, he found E-Ming lying on his back between Xie Lian’s thighs, so relaxed that he could move his legs at will and even press his paws to make the claws come out. Hua Cheng had seen his cat like that before, but it wasn’t too common. E-Ming had a lot of energy, so they spent most of their time together chasing each other, passing the volleyball ball around and other things like that.

“Is that the reason you said you were sleep deprived?”

“That and the stress of not finding Ruoye, yeah.”

Hua Cheng considered his options. If they were already like this, the idea that came to his mind didn’t sound too preposterous. Worst case scenario, Xie Lian would turn him down, they’d have to endure an awkward moment, and that’d be it.

“If you look on the side of the sofa, you’ll find a lever to make it turn into a bed,” he said, keeping his half-lidded eyes fixed in the conjunction of the wall and the ceiling to avoid distractions. To succeed, he had to sound as casual as possible. “You can stay the night here to have a break from the noise, if you want.”

“Oh, San Lang, I… that’s very kind of you, but are you going to be able to get proper rest with a stranger in your house?”

“You’re no stranger anymore,” Hua Cheng refuted. “And believe me, gege, even if I went to sleep at your place with the drills and hammers hitting me directly in the head, I’d still fall like a rock all the way until Sunday,” he added, earning a chuckle from Xie Lian. “Besides, something tells me E-Ming is going to be devastated if you go. He’s going to keep this entire street up the whole night with the screaming.”

“Ruoye is not going to let go of you easily either,” Xie Lian said and sighed again. “To tell you the truth, he’s not very social. I had never seen him get so comfortable with anyone who was not me.”

As if he wanted to emphasise, Ruoye stretched and rubbed his snout against the underside of Hua Cheng’s jaw. The purring got louder, too.

“So shameless,” Xie Lian said with undeniable fondness and Hua Cheng felt him moving again. "If you say it's alright, then a nap can’t hurt. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“My pleasure.”

Xie Lian pulled the lever and the sofa gradually flattened. Hua Cheng held Ruoye with one hand while he used the other to support himself and shifted to lay on his side. The cat was surprisingly tolerant of the movement. His little body was warm and soft, and his relentless purring was making it very difficult for Hua Cheng to stay awake.

“Dinner is on me, for your kindness.” Xie Lian said.

Inhaling deeply, Hua Cheng made an effort and opened his eyes. Xie Lian, who had made himself comfortable on the sofa bed with E-Ming curled in front of him, looked back at him. Face to face, they smiled at each other.

“Mmkay,” Hua Cheng slurred.

He wanted to keep talking to Xie Lian. Be a good host, offer him to shower, get him blankets. Thank him properly for the promised food and tease him a bit to see him blush, then make him laugh again. He wanted to keep speaking about urban forests and public greenhouses and show Xie Lian his designs. They could figure out together a way to push against the assholes from the city hall and save Xie Lian's precious trees, too. For some reason, Hua Cheng felt that he could do anything for Xie Lian's sake and achieve anything if Xie Lian was by his side.

For that to happen, he needed Xie Lian to be present in his life as much as possible. Perhaps he could use the cats for that, arguing that they had bonded and could not be separated now. Or he could say that they had definitely gotten them mixed up and, because there was no way to tell them apart, they had no choice but to take care of both together.

Yes, that would probably work. Chuckling to himself, Hua Cheng barely registered that Xie Lian had closed his eyes before he himself inadvertently fell asleep.