007 ★ my little bubble pop!

It was slow. Comically slow. Like a scene from a bad suspense movie.

Five heads lifted.

Five sets of boba eyes blinked at ( Name ) in perfect unison.

The Saja cats registered the word "bath" as if she'd just suggested that ( Name ) invited Gwi-ma over for tea and gossip like high school teens talking about who cheated on whom.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "You smell like catnip and sweaty, fluffy socks."

Romance gave her an expression that could have been either deep betrayal or mild heartburn ( flashback from ' who can chug the most hot sauce ' challenge )

Abby sneakedly ( but very obviously ) sniffed his fluffy armpits, his eyes widened and nose scrunched as he suddenly found the ceiling interesting, avoiding the knowing look of the ( h/c ) girl.

"I'm serious. Today's the day."

Jinu sat up, tail flicking as he tried to give her a puppy... no wait... kitty eye look, trying to avoid the bath with his all-cuteness ( future note... it didn't work ). 

Abby stood and began to stretch, except halfway through, he froze, clearly calculating an escape route. Baby started inching toward the hallway like ( Name ) wouldn't notice. Mystery didn't even move, classic poker face, but she could see his ears tilt back.

"Oh no," the ( h/c ) girl said, setting her coffee down. "You're not wriggling out of this. Literally."

₍^. .^₎⟆... 

( Name ) thought that chasing five cats around her own house would be easy. She'd be wrong.

The moment she took a step toward them, the room exploded into motion. Abby vaulted off, accidentally bumping into one of the table legs, and disappeared under the couch. Baby sprinted for the kitchen like it was home base.

Jinu dashed toward the small hidey box on the cat tower but made the rookie mistake of slipping on the hardwood.

Romance tried to make it to her bedroom and slam the door, which, okay, ( Name ) knows he can't actually slam, but somehow he managed to shut it halfway. And Mystery...

Mystery didn't move.

He just stared at her from the corner, giving her the silence ( hoping it would intimidate her ), but in a cute, fluffy body... he was the first one to be grabbed as he tried to twist his body out of her hold in protest.

It took twenty minutes, three false captures, and ( Name ) crawling under furniture she hadn't seen the underside of in years, but eventually... she had them all.

Five cats. One human. One bathroom. The door shut with a click of finality.

"Alright, gentlemen," ( Name ) said, rolling up her sleeves. "Let's make this as easy and painless as possible."

The Saja cats gulped in perfect unison. Tails ducked underneath them, shaking.

She turned on the tap, letting the warm water fill the tub. A bottle of cat-friendly bubble solution sat on the shelf, and she poured some in, watching as the surface filled with soft white foam. The scent was light, oatmeal and chamomile, something soothing, nothing harsh.

The boys watched from the safety of the bath mat, ( Name ) turned and watched them, hoping that one of them would take the first step ( so she wouldn't get scratches from getting them in the tub )

Jinu was the first to break. He was contemplating jumping at the door, hoping he would reach the handle, but his hopes dashed when he saw the round, metal ones instead.

Stupid, soft cat paws, if only he had his thumbs back.

With surprising grace that ( Name ) didn't expect from him, he hopped onto the edge of the tub, tested the water with one paw, then lowered himself in. His eyes half-closed immediately, his whole body relaxing in the warmth.

"See?" she said, giving him a scratch under the chin as he melted from her touch in the water, his head the only thing visible from the water and foam. "Not so bad."

Romance, Abby, and Baby exchanged looks, then, one by one, they climbed in too. And then there was Mystery.

( Name ) crouched beside him. "Come on, it's warm. It's nice. The others are in there."

He backed up a step. ( Name ) moved forward, which made the silver-lilac cat move two steps more.

"Don't make me chase you again."

He blinked slowly.

She sighed, scooped him up, and carried him to the tub. The moment his paws got within splashing distance of the water, he went full octopus—legs out, claws finding purchase on the air itself, tail lashing like a whip.

Water splashed everywhere, hisses and somehow barks filled the room. The others sat in the tub, watching like it was the most entertaining thing they'd seen all week. Baby even looked smug, floating on his back.

"Stop wriggling!" she laughed, wrestling him closer. "You're getting in there, mister."

After a short but intense negotiation ( Name promised him to taste test her latest cat-friendly cat cookies she's been making ), she gently but firmly lowered him into the water while he made noises that could curdle milk.

Mystery finally settled—though he kept one paw resting on the tub edge in case a daring escape became necessary.

With everyone finally in, ( Name ) leaned over to grab the shampoo bottle... and realized her t-shirt had gotten damp from the splashing. The thin fabric clung to ( Name ), sticking against her collarbone. She tugged it off without thinking, leaving her white singlet top.

It was then she noticed the sudden shift in atmosphere.

Five pairs of feline eyes were very... distracted.

Romance's ears twitched. Abby made a strange little cough noise. Jinu avoided direct eye contact. Baby suddenly found the bubbles extremely fascinating. Mystery blinked once, then looked away like he was sinning.

( Name ) arched an eyebrow. "What? You've seen me in a tank top before." Her sleeping fit was usually her tank top and fluffy pajama pants that she got from Rumi, both matching with choo-choo trains and bears.

They didn't answer. But the water surface rippled suspiciously as if someone had shifted.

She squeezed a bit of shampoo into her hands and began working it into Jinu's fur, rubbing gently until he purred. The foam built up quickly, and without thinking, ( Name ) shaped it into a ridiculous little crown on his head.

"Your Majesty," she said with mock reverence. Jinu just blinked at the ( h/c ) girl, water droplets decorated his whiskers.

Romance was next—he got bunny ears. Abby got little devil horns. Baby got a ridiculous Santa beard. And Mystery... well, he got a bubble mohawk, because it suited him.

Scrubbing Mystery's fur-hair, she lifted it and looked at his face, surprised. His eyes were heterochromic as one had a beautiful silver colour and the other was a glowing gold.

( Name ) couldn't help but stare at him like there was something human about his gaze

... Nahhhhhhh

The ( h/c ) girl shrugged the thought off and continued scrubbing the shampoo on Mystery's head. He sure did have pretty eyes, as ( Name ) was busy, scrubbing the rest of the cats, she didn't notice Mystery quiet at the corner of the tub.

His paw touched where his head was, brushing down his fur-hair as an embarrassed look began to appear on his face. He usually never let anyone look at his face, but the way ( Name ) looked at him, how her eyes shone, or her lips parted open with awe for that brief moment...

He dunked his head into the bath water, bubbles rising from the surface as he screamed, flustered over the thoughts he had over ( Name ).

( Name ) noticed him and almost head-dived into the bath water. The poor girl thought that Boogy was trying to drown himself.

They tolerated it surprisingly well. Maybe the warmth was lulling them into complacency. Or maybe they secretly liked the spa treatment.

Once everyone was shampooed, ( Name ) used a small jug to rinse them off, careful to keep water out of their ears. Mystery hissed once during the rinse but didn't bolt, which she counted as a personal victory.

₍^. .^₎⟆... 

When the last bubble slid down the drain, ( Name ) lifted each cat out and wrapped them in their towel.

One by one, she blow-dried their fur on the lowest setting, brushing gently as she went.

Jinu fluffed up into something resembling a soot sprite from Spirited Away. Romance looked like an elegant, pink Persian rug.

Abby's fur doubled in volume, making him look slightly rounded and faaa.... fluffy. Definitely fluffy.

Baby resembled a plush toy. And Mystery... well, Mystery looked like a very small, very shy cloud.

( Name ) couldn't help it—she burst out laughing. " You guys are adorable," she said, giving Mystery's cheek a little boop.

He batted at her hand half-heartedly, but she caught the faintest purr beneath the sound of the dryer.

( Name ) looked at Romance, " Bruce, I think you stole my heart by how cute you are," she awed as he reminded her of cotton candy but with legs and a tail, she turned around to clean the bathroom up.

The pink car perked up, proud as he puffed his fluffy chest out ( much to the dismay of the others ), " Ha! She thinks I'm the cutest one of them all. So kiss my fluffy butt," he grinned.

Baby gave him what was the cat's version of a ' fluff you! ' finger.

When it was all over, the boys trotted out of the bathroom smelling faintly of chamomile and looking far too fluffy for their good.

Jinu hopped onto the couch and immediately claimed the best cushion. Baby flopped on the rug, tired from the bath and yesterday's shinagin. Romance stretched luxuriously by the window. Abby leapt onto the armrest beside her. Mystery... hopped up next to ( Name ) as well, curling against her side like he'd forgotten the earlier drama entirely.

The ( h/c ) girl leaned back, feeling the weight of clean, warm cats around her.

"You survived," she told them.

They purred. All at once.

∧,,,∧
( ̳• · • ̳)
                                / づ♡ author secrets...

🐾  when ( name ) was washing each of the cats, for some awkward reason, they wouldn't let her wash the underneath of their tails, unaware of them steaming in embarassment at that moment

🐾 ( name ) cuddled with all of the cats, snuggling in abby's fur since it was so thick and soft. he did not mind it one bit.

🐾 mystery ended up trying the cookies at the end and enjoyed every single bite til he even ate the crumbs as well

🐾 the saja cats are starting to miss their human forms, especially Abby missing his... well.... his abs

🐾 author here, i've posted a k-pop demon hunters x all of us are dead fic and planning to even write a mermaid au of the saja boys living in an aquarium soon.

🐾 plz comment on here for any funny, cute, slice of life ideas or scenarios for the demon kitties in this book.