017: Wants To Have Little Kittens With the Cat
Tang Yu had no idea what was going on in Sang Zhao’s head.
He didn’t know that, in Sang Zhao’s heart, he’d already been promoted to “great human who takes little cats to eat tea breaks.”
But even if he didn’t know that part, he could still read the feeling tucked between all those misspelled characters.
Feelings could cross species as long as they stayed honest and clear. That simple sincerity hit Tang Yu right in the chest.
He held his darkened phone against his sternum, closed his eyes, and let out a slow breath.
Honestly, what was wrong with a boy this cute being a little slow?
That wasn’t stupidity at all. That was rare, genuine kindness.
That was how Tang Yu saw it.
But just because he thought that way didn’t mean everyone else did.
To be fair, if you went by his looks alone, Sang Zhao was tall and broad-shouldered with a face that absolutely looked like he’d be clever. Yet the moment he started typing, every other word was wrong. Pair “barely literate” with that kind of pretty face and it was genuinely hard for people to process.
Because the truth was, he just… really wasn’t that smart.
He couldn’t type pinyin properly, which made people want to guess he might be an overseas Chinese kid who’d grown up abroad. The problem was, he didn’t know English either, so that theory died fast.
Nobody knew what his education was or what he’d done in the past… actually, did he have a degree? Nobody knew.
He could barely handle a computer. He didn’t know how to close an empty Word doc, Excel formulas were a complete mystery, and the only thing he knew how to do in PowerPoint was hit “Play” during a meeting…
If he’d been arrogant with a nasty attitude on top of that, everyone would’ve backed away from him ages ago.
As it was, he was polite and didn’t throw his weight around, so people didn’t freeze him out. But they did talk about him.
And when they talked, they always circled back to how he’d gotten in the door in the first place which was through connections.
Through the big boss’s connections, no less, which was… not something you could just casually discuss.
Everyone here was a seasoned corporate worker. As long as it didn’t affect their own interests, they could pretend not to see a little “special treatment.” It was the boss’s connection and the boss’s money anyway. Honestly, compared to some of the nightmare hires they’d seen before, Sang Zhao was already pretty normal.
At work, managing to run into a normal person was already worth burning incense in thanks.
Anyway, in his first week, people were still plenty curious about him, especially about his relationship with Tang Yu.
Once word got around that Tang Yu had taken him along to an academic collaboration conference, that curiosity only got stronger.
So the next morning, at eight sharp, that gossip-loving, hype-stirring vice president showed up, supposedly to “talk business” with Tang Yu.
When he arrived, Tang Yu was off in the secretarial area, digging through the filing cabinets.
Sang Zhao stood beside him, watching, talking nonstop.
“President Tang, let me look, okay?”
“Just tell me what you’re looking for, once I find it I’ll bring it to you.”
“Have you found it yet, President Tang?”
Tang Yu pulled out two archive boxes, then put them back. “No.”
“You go do your own work. You don’t even know what the contract I want looks like. Even if I ask you to look, you won’t find it. Don’t just stand here. Go work on your own stuff.”
But Sang Zhao didn’t have any stuff right now.
So he just stood there, helping Tang Yu pass archive boxes back and forth.
Tang Yu wrestled with the heavy glass cabinet door and rummaged inside for quite a while. When he still couldn’t find what he needed, he gave up. He’d just ask An Tihu to fish it out later when she came back.
He shoved all the boxes back into the cabinet and turned to leave.
Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the open glass door beside him. When he turned around, he went straight toward it. If Sang Zhao hadn’t reacted fast and yanked him back, he would’ve slammed his head right into it.
Sang Zhao’s hand shot out, grabbing his collar to pull him away.
He was quick and he was strong. Tang Yu was just a regular human, while Sang Zhao was a one-ninety walking block of orange-tabby muscle.
That one tug made Tang Yu feel like something had just smacked into him. He staggered backward.
Sang Zhao grabbed him by the back of the collar and steadied him.
Right at that exact moment, the vice president walked up behind them.
The secretarial area wrapped around the CEO’s office, rows of desks circling Tang Yu’s door. There wasn’t even a door you had to open to walk in.
But there were columns and corners that created visual blind spots.
Which meant that when the VP showed up, he didn’t see the “nearly hit the glass door” part. He just saw the end result: the two of them tangled up in each other.
The vice president folded his arms. “Awwww~”
Tell him this wasn’t special treatment.
He’d already started shipping them in his head.
And it wasn’t enough to just enjoy it privately. That would be a waste. He had to say something.
“Did I catch you in the middle of something? Did I? Huh?” he teased.
When Tang Yu straightened up and glared at him, he put a hand to his chest and sighed dramatically. “How did you not end up kissing? How did even that not turn into something?”
At first it was only Tang Yu glaring at him. But as he kept stirring things up, great, now Sang Zhao was glaring too.
Even when he was angry, Sang Zhao’s brows and eyes slanted upward in that natural cat-like way, looking a little bewitching. With his eyes wide, he somehow looked pure and innocent on top of it. Very pretty, all in all.
In reality, though, he was furious.
Sang Zhao: ???
What kind of person wants Tang Yu to bang his head?
Bang it where? If he cracked his skull open, wouldn’t he end up stupid?
Bad human. Truly a bad human. The worst human he’d met since he started working.
He tried to hold it in. He really did. He still ended up letting out a cold snort.
Tang Yu’s ears had gone a little red from that teasing. The moment he heard that sharp little snort, the warmth evaporated.
He turned to look and saw Sang Zhao staring daggers at the vice president.
“You’re going too far,” Sang Zhao said.
The VP blinked. “…Huh?”
He’d just joked around a bit. That counted as “going too far”?
He thought, Wait, does this kid not only have zero interest in Tang Yu, is he actually homophobic on top of that?
It was possible. He had been the one to start it. Realizing his joke might’ve struck a nerve, the VP scratched his head and apologized.
“Sorry about that. Tang and I were college classmates, we even shared a dorm. We’ve known each other for years, so I run my mouth sometimes… If I bothered you, my bad.”
Sang Zhao frowned and tilted his chin toward Tang Yu. “What’s it got to do with me? You should apologize to him.”
You cursed him to hit his head. How was that his business?
The VP went silent. …What?
So was this guy homophobic or not?
Why was he mad, exactly? Was this some kind of weird role-play he’d barged into?
He didn’t get it, but he still stammered out a “sorry” to Tang Yu. Tang Yu’s expression was… complicated, to say the least.
He didn’t really get Sang Zhao’s logic either.
The VP thought that was the end of it, but cat logic didn’t work like that.
Ostensibly, the VP had come over for work, to watch the show, and to throw out a joke or two.
In Sang Zhao’s mind, however, the only reason he’d dragged himself over here early in the morning was to personally curse Tang Yu into smashing his head open.
What a terrible person. He started sulking.
Tang Yu was the first to notice.
After he finished discussing the project with the VP, he stepped out and automatically glanced at Sang Zhao’s desk. There he was, sulking while pulling staples out of a stack of documents, shaking the pages so hard they rustled and snapped.
Tang Yu strolled over quietly and dropped his voice. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m getting a little fat-angry,” Sang Zhao said honestly.
Tang Yu pressed his lips together, held it in, and still ended up laughing.
“That’s a new one,” he said. “What does that mean?”
When he used to be a cat, any time he wanted eight meals a day and his owner refused him, he’d get mad. His owner always said he was “getting fat-angry.”
What, that wasn’t a saying in human society?
Uh-oh.
He instantly felt guilty, worried Tang Yu would pick up on the slip and start questioning whether he was really human.
Tang Yu, of course, didn’t think about it that way at all. He thought Sang Zhao was just being adorable.
And that was exactly his weak spot.
His tone softened. “Don’t be mad. I don’t even know what you’re mad about.”
“I don’t know what you’re laughing at either,” Sang Zhao grumbled.
“I’m laughing because you said you’re ‘fat-angry.’ I think that’s really cute.”
“And I’m mad because he bullied you. I think he’s awful.”
Tang Yu: “Huh?”
He was still full of question marks when the VP’s delivery arrived.
The VP was in a generous mood. Since he was here, he ordered coffees and milk teas for everyone in the secretarial area.
Everyone went up to grab one. The only one who stayed seated was Sang Zhao.
When Tang Yu asked why he wasn’t getting a drink, Sang Zhao puffed up and said, “I don’t want anything from him. He’s a bully.”
Tang Yu cleared his throat. “Excuse me… what makes you say that?”
“Only bullies pick on you. If he’s not a bully, then what is he?”
“When did he ever pick—” Tang Yu turned his head and crashed right into that bright, fired-up stare on Sang Zhao’s face.
He hesitated, then immediately changed course. “Right. He bullied me.”
“Tell me what he did to you,” Sang Zhao said, outraged on his behalf. “I’ll stand up for you.”
“He… he… used to ask me to buy him… food?” Tang Yu said, his voice fading at the end.
He felt guilty even as he said it.
The truth was, he’d made the VP run food errands for him way more often.
Sang Zhao didn’t know that. He just felt terrible for him. “That’s so awful. Don’t worry. I’ve got my own orange—”
He almost said “orange network,” then yanked himself back at the last second.
“My own or… bureau buddies behind me. I’ll help you get even.”
Tang Yu went quiet for a beat, then lifted a hand and covered his face.
Please no. The VP was a good guy; he didn’t deserve to get beaten up over this.
He took a deep breath and hurried to correct the misunderstanding. “There’s really no need.”
Honestly, just seeing him plant himself so firmly on his side was more than enough. It was ridiculously cute. He felt downright spoiled.
He still didn’t know how to explain any of this. He thought about it, decided not to mess with him anymore, and just laid it out directly. “He didn’t bully me.”
“I won’t let you downplay it,” Sang Zhao said. “He was hoping you’d smack into that thing. If you really hit that glass like that, your brains would’ve been all over the floor.”
He looked genuinely worried for this fragile human.
Sniffling, he said earnestly, “I don’t want you dying, Tang Yu. You’re a really good, really kind person.”
Then he shot a glare at the VP, who was chatting happily at reception while passing out drinks. “Unlike him. He’s the scheming, mean-spirited type.”
For a second there, Tang Yu really did picture his brain splattering everywhere and flinched.
Then he thought about it properly. His skull wasn’t made of tofu and paper; how would it explode like that?
And besides, that “bump into him” was clearly not the kind of bump the VP meant. Was Sang Zhao on 2G or something?
He was touched, though, hand pressed lightly over his heart as he slowly explained, “That’s not the kind of ‘bumping’ he meant. He meant he got hooked on the atmosphere between us. It felt… sweet to him, I guess. That’s all.”
Sang Zhao tried really hard to process that, but his expression still stayed blank.
Tang Yu’s ears and the side of his neck had already flushed red.
“He meant,” he said quietly, “that he thinks there’s something ambiguous between us. He was just making a fuss.”
With shining eyes, Sang Zhao stared at him.
The moment Tang Yu lowered his gaze, dangerously close to losing all composure, Sang Zhao asked, “Ambiguous… does that mean he wants us to have little kittens together? Like, have kids?”
Author’s Note:
No babies, I promise. There won’t be any actual “having kids” plot, it’s all just them messing around and talking nonsense~
They can’t have little kids, and they can’t have little kittens either! (nods)
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