Three Colored Cat | W. Jh
Genre: Dad Au
Type: Fluff, angst
Word count: 3k
Summary: What is the best thing in the world? The three colored cat!
âBaba, thatâs a cat.â
Anyaâs tiny arms were looped tightly around Junâs neck as he carried her from daycare toward the car. Her finger â small, chubby, and still sticky from afternoon snacks â pointed at a kitten crouched beside the rear tire, its tail flicking lazily under the warm after-school light.
âMm, yes, thatâs a cat,â Jun replied, amusement softening his voice. He slowed his steps so she could get a better look, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple. Anya leaned forward, squinting with the seriousness only four-year-olds could muster.
âUgly color!â she declared with complete confidence.
Jun sniffed back a laugh, his shoulders shaking.
âNooo,â he drawled dramatically, pretending to be offended. âItâs a three-colored cat. Thereâs no such thing as an ugly-color cat.â
Anya tilted her head â her usual thinking pose â lips pursed, eyes narrowed. Then she released a long, exaggerated sigh. âAlright. What color cat?â
âThree-colored cat,â Jun repeated, smiling as he shifted her higher on his hip.
âOh!â Anya perked up instantly, kicking her legs in excitement. âIt has orange! And black! And lots of white! Cute!â
Her joy burst out of her like sunlight â warm, bright, and impossible to contain. She wriggled in his arms as if ready to launch straight toward the kitten, and Jun tightened his hold with a soft grin, laughter slipping out before he could stop it.
âCan we bring it home, please?â she pleaded. âIâll take care of it. Promise.â Her eyes grew round and glossy â the exact weapon she used whenever she wanted something. A tiny pout trembled at the corners of her mouth, just enough to make Junâs heart clench in the helpless way only fathers understood.
âWe need Mamaâs permission for that,â he said gently, brushing a stray curl from her cheek. His tone carried that soft responsibility â the kind meant to cushion disappointment without crushing hope.
Anya froze. Her pout deepened. âBut BabaâŚâ
âThatâs the rule,â he reminded her, tapping the tip of her nose. âBig decisions need Mamaâs yes.â
She slumped against his shoulder with dramatic defeat, letting out a sigh far too heavy for a four-year-old.
âMama always says noâŚâ
Jun smiled â quiet, helpless â because she wasnât entirely wrong. âWell,â he murmured, lowering his head to kiss her hair, âmaybe sheâll say yes this time.â
Anya peeked up, hope flickering back into her eyes like a small spark relighting. âIf I say âpleaseâ?â
âIf you say please,â Jun whispered, âand⌠maybe if the kitty likes you back.â
As if summoned, the tricolor kitten let out a soft meow and turned its head toward them, its eyes curious and unafraid.
Anyaâs mouth fell open in wonder. âBaba,â she whispered urgently, tugging at his shirt, âI think it likes me.â
She hesitated â a tiny, worried crease forming between her brows. âBut what if Mama still says no?â
Jun shifted her closer, lowering his voice to something tender and steady. âIâll find a way, baby,â he promised. âAnything for you.â
*
âNoâŚâ
You stared at the bathroom light switch like it personally betrayed you. One click. Nothing. Another click. Still darkness.
You let out a long, dramatic sigh and facepalmed. Of course. Of course he did. There was only one man in this house capable of creating chaos with the confidence of a movie villain, your husband, Jun.
First, the jar incident. Every lid tightened to the strength level of âOlympic gold medalist.â Youâd nearly dislocated your shoulder trying to open the salt. And of course you had to call him over for help. Which was extra annoying because you two had just argued about the tricolor kitten Anya begged to adopt.
Second, the water spontaneously giving up on life while you were washing dishes. Youâd been mid-scrubbing a plate when the faucet sputtered.
Cue you yelling, âJun, the sink is having a breakdown.â
He âfixedâ it and, very conveniently, took over dish duty with suspicious cheerfulness.
And now? The bathroom light. Sabotaged. You flicked the switch again â aggressively this time â just to make sure he heard.
Right on cue, Jun appeared in the doorway of the master bedroom like heâd been waiting backstage for his entrance.
âWhatâs wrong, babe?â he asked, voice all soft innocence.
You leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, giving him your best âI am onto youâ stare.
âWhy? What happened?â he said, mirroring your posture â leaning back on the wall, arms crossed, smile growing way too fast for someone who was supposedly concerned.
âStop it,â you said flatly. âYou know I donât like cats anymore.â
Jun lifted his eyebrows as if you just accused him of murder.
âWeâre done talking about the cat, babe,â he declared, hand on his chest like a man reciting wedding vows. âYou said it was final. No cats. And I respect that.â
He said it so sweetly you almost believed him. Almost. Except for the tiny smug curl at the corner of his mouth.
You exhaled sharply and ran your fingers through your hair. âThen explain this,â you gestured wildly. âThe jars. The water. And nowââ
You flicked the switch again like you were summoning a ghost. âThe light wonât even turn on.â
Jun walked toward you, humming thoughtfully, inspecting the light with all the seriousness of a man checking a potato.
âIâll fix it, babe,â he said, patting your shoulder. âNo need to get all worked up.â
You narrowed your eyes. âOh, I am worked up. Iâm fully worked. Iâm premium worked.â
Jun bit back a laugh â badly. âWhy would I sabotage the house?â he asked, as if the answer wasnât four years old, chubby-cheeked, and currently plotting with crayons in the living room.
You crossed your arms tighter. âBecause you and your daughter want a cat.â
Jun pressed his lips together. âAllegedly,â he corrected.
You threw your hands up. âOh my God.â
He leaned closer, smiling like you just declared war. âBabe,â he whispered dramatically, âthis is all a coincidence.â You stared at him. Another flick. Dark.
He stared back. ââŚCoincidence?â you repeated.
Jun nodded, eyes sparkling. âA very adorable coincidence.â
Jun tightened the last screw on the light fixture, stepped back with a flourish, and flicked the switch. The bathroom lit up instantly. He turned to you with both hands raised like heâd just completed a magic trick.
âDone. You may do your thing here, your majesty.â
You stared at him. Long. Hard. The kind of stare that usually came right before you chose patience over prison time.
Then you sighed. A deep, soul-drained sigh. âI donât want to act childish,â you said slowly, âbut youâre definitely doing one, Wen Junhui.â
Jun clutched his chest dramatically. âI didnât do anything, babeâŚâ
âYes,â you muttered, brushing past him, âand Iâm the Queen of England.â
You stepped into the shower, letting the water drown out your irritation. But the whole time, you could practically feel Jun smirking from outside â smug, confident, absolutely certain heâd win.
And annoyingly, he would.
By the time you stepped out, skin warm and hair damp, Jun was sprawled on the bed like he owned every inch of it. One arm behind his head, shirt riding up just enough to show the faint lines of his stomach â he always looked like this right after mischief, relaxed and very, very pleased with himself.
You grabbed your towel tighter. âJun,â you called.
He hummed, eyes on you instantly.
You exhaled, defeated but strangely lighter. âBring that cat,â you said. A pause. âTomorrow.â
*
Anya had been talking nonstop since the moment Jun buckled her into her car seat.
The kitten â tiny, fluffy, and extremely confused â sat in the small carrier Jun had oh-so-mysteriously âalready prepared,â right beside her. Every few seconds, a tiny paw poked through the bars, batting at the air.
âMama, it likes fruit names,â Anya declared with the confidence of a CEO presenting a business proposal.
Jun tried â truly tried â to keep his eyes on the road, but his smile kept growing each time Anya babbled another name.
âKiwi,â she repeated, leaning forward to stick her face against the carrier. âDo you like Kiwi? Blink if yes.â
The kitten blinked. Anya gasped dramatically. âBaba! It said yes!â
Jun laughed under his breath, shaking his head. âThatâs not how blinking works, baby.â
âYes it is,â she insisted, crossing her arms with a tiny huff. âCats blink when they like you.â
You turned a little in your seat, raising a brow. âSheâs not wrong,â you muttered, more to yourself than anyone else.
Jun shot you a look â that soft, ridiculously fond look â the one that appeared any time you defended his daughterâs logic.
Anya wasnât done. âOr Banana!â she chirped, tapping the cage lightly. âBanana is yellow. This cat has orange. Orange is ALMOST yellow. So Banana!â
The kitten meowed once, confused but cooperative.
Jun let out another quiet laugh, the kind that rumbled warmly through the car. âSheâs really committed,â he said, glancing at you with a grin. âKiwi or Banana, huh?â
You rolled your eyes, but the corners of your lips betrayed you, curving up despite yourself.
âBut⌠isnât Kiwi Banana gonna be scared to go to the doctor?â
Anyaâs voice was small but grave, the kind of seriousness only a four-year-old could summon over a tiny creature sitting in a pet carrier.
They were on the way to the vet, and the kitten â newly christened Kiwi Banana, thanks to Anyaâs triumphant declaration of âThree colors, two names, one kitten!â â let out a soft mewl from inside the cage.
Jun glanced at her through the rearview mirror. âYou think so, baby?â
âYes,â she said immediately, clutching her stuffed bunny tighter. âDoctor means needles. And needles means⌠ouchie.â
She made a little face, scrunching her nose in sympathy toward the kitten.
You turned slightly in your seat. âAnya, the vet is a nice doctor. They help animals feel better so they can grow strong and healthy.â
Anya didnât look convinced.
âBut Baba, what if Kiwi Banana thinks weâre betraying it? We just met! What if it runs away from home and never forgives us and becomesââ
She paused dramatically.
ââa wild forest cat?â
Junâs laugh slipped out before he could catch it. âA wild forest cat?â he echoed.
âYes!â she said, pointing one finger into the air like she was explaining a legal clause. âBecause if you feel betrayed⌠you go to forest.â
You pressed your lips together, holding back a laugh.
âIs that how it works?â
âYes,â she said again, with absolute finality.
Jun shook his head with a smile. âBaby, Kiwi Banana wonât get scared. You know why?â
Anya leaned forward a little. âWhy?â
âBecause youâre going with it,â Jun said gently. âAnd Kiwi Banana already likes you.â
The kitten meowed right on cue, as if agreeing.
Anya gasped softly, eyes going wide.
âBaba⌠it said yes again.â
Jun shot you a look â proud, soft, slightly smug â and your heart dipped, warm, despite your earlier resistance.
You turned back to Anya. âAnd you can hold its paw while the doctor checks it, okay? Thatâll make it feel safe.â
âMama,â Anya said suddenly, her tone shifting into that quiet, suspicious softness children use right before exposing adult secrets.
âYou seem to know a lot about cats.â
âI thought you donât like cats,â she added, squinting at you like a tiny investigator.
You cleared your throat. âI donât dislike cats,â you said carefully. âI just⌠donât prefer them.â
Anya tilted her head. âBut you said vet is nice doctor. And you held Kiwi Banana like heâs a fragile egg. And you said he needs warm towel and quiet place and also you wiped his eyeââ
âOkay, okay, detective,â you cut in, holding up a hand. âI know basic things.â
Jun turned his head for a second, the movement small, almost hesitantâlike heâd just said something he wasnât sure he was supposed to.
âMama used to have⌠ten cats,â he said quietly.
The words hung there, softer than before, slipping into the air the way old memories tend to resurfaceâuninvited, but gentle.
You didnât respond right away.
Your gaze had drifted somewhere past the kitten, past the parking lot, past the afternoon lightâsomewhere Jun couldnât follow. Not yet.
Anya, oblivious, perked up. âTen? Mama, really?â
But Jun wasnât looking at her anymore. He was looking at you. The way your fingers tightened slightly on the strap of your bag. The way your breath pausedâjust a moment.
The way your eyes stayed distant, even though your face tried to arrange itself into something casual. Heâd heard the story beforeâbriefly, vaguely. Ten cats. A busy little house. You, smiling in every memory.
You finally blinked, shaking yourself back. âThat was⌠a long time ago,â you murmured, giving a small smile that didnât sit the way your real smiles usually do.
Jun watched you for another secondâreally watchedâbefore turning back to Anya.
âYeah,â he said, gentle. âA long time ago.â
The tone settled over the three of you like a soft breezeâwarm, but carrying something else in it. Something unspoken. But for now, he didnât press.
For now, he just understood.
*
âWeâre doing it togetherâŚâ
âDonât leave me!â
âPleaseâŚâ
âDonâtâ!â
You shot up with a broken gasp, air clawing its way into your lungs. Your chest heaved, fingers trembling against the sheets as the last echo of the nightmare clung to you like something alive.
Jun stirred immediately. He blinked awake, already reaching for you before he was fully conscious.
âLove?â His voice was soft, rough from sleep. âWhatâs wrong?â
You couldnât answerâyour breaths came short and sharp, sweat cooling along your temples. He pushed himself upright beside you, worry settling into his features the moment he saw your expression.
âHey⌠hey.â Jun cupped the back of your head gently, guiding your forehead to his shoulder. âItâs okay. Youâre okay. Itâs just a dream.â
Your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, as if needing proof that he was realâthat he was here.
Jun wrapped an arm around you, firm and grounding, the kind of embrace that held you without trapping you.
âIâve got you,â he whispered against your hair. âIâm right here.â
The room was dark and still, the only sound was your uneven breathingâslowly, slowly softening as his thumb traced steady circles on your arm, coaxing you back into the present.
âIs it the fire again?â Jun asked quietly, once your breathing began to steady.
You hesitatedâthen gave a small nod.
Jun didnât press. He simply reached over to the nightstand, fingers closing around the glass of water he always left there for you before bed. Just in case.
âHere,â he murmured.
You took it with slightly trembling hands and brought it to your lips, sipping slowly. The cool water helpedâgrounding you, pulling you away from the lingering heat of the flames in your dream. Jun watched you with gentle eyes, his hand resting lightly against your back, steady and present.
When you lowered the glass, he brushed a strand of hair from your face.
âYouâre safe, love.â
The dream always came the same wayâ a fire swallowing your childhood home, flames crawling up the walls faster than your legs could run. And your catsâ all ten of themâ were trapped inside.
In the dream, you always tried. You always screamed for them. You always reached for the door even when the heat blistered your skin. And just like every time, you always failed.
Only one of them had survived in real life. It had escaped the fire by a miracleâ bolting out through the back window just in time. You found it the next day, shaking so hard its small body rattled against your arms.
Life after losing the house was no kinder. You moved from place to place, your one surviving cat clutched to your chest, its terrified eyes mirroring your own. The only difference was that youâd become good at pretending you werenât scared.
âWeâre doing this together,â you used to whisper to it at night.
But even together wasnât enough. It left you, tooâ not by choice, but by lifeâs cruelty. And the wound it carved into you never really healed.
You remembered crying over the tiny grave, hands shaking as you pressed the soil down. âI shouldâve given you a home.â
That guilt settled in your bones. And from then on, you werenât the same. You distanced yourself from catsâ from the memories, from the attachment, from the possibility of losing something you loved that deeply again. Any cat was too close to the past. Too close to the fire. Too close to the pain you never let yourself revisit.
You ended up on the living room couch that night, legs curled beneath a blanket, the shadows quiet around you. Sleep wouldnât comeânot after the nightmare, not with your heart still unsteady.
Jun was already fast asleep in the bedroom, worn out from the day. And youâ you didnât want to show him this side of you again. Not tonight.
A tiny meow broke the silence.
You blinked, surprised. Kiwi Bananaâsomehowâwas already padding across the floor, wobbling a little as it hurried toward you. You hadnât even noticed Anyaâs door was open a crack.
Before you could react, the kitten hopped onto the couch and plopped onto your lap, immediately purring. Its tiny paws kneaded at the blanket as it made itself comfortable, then finally rested its head on your thigh with a soft sigh.
A small smile tugged at your lips. The ache in your chest loosened. âYouâre just like her,â you whispered. Your old tricolor cat. âSame color⌠same personality.â
Kiwi Banana answered with a muted little meowâ whether in agreement or mild complaint, you couldnât tell. You let out a tiny chuckle anyway. The fear youâd been carryingâof loving a cat again, of rememberingâfaded just a little.
âTell me sheâs okayâŚâ you murmured, hand brushing gently over its tiny back. Kiwi Banana cracked one eye open, stared at you, meowed onceâ and then, in true cat fashion, turned around to present its butt to you before settling down again.
You snorted softly. âRude,â you whispered, still smiling.
You leaned slowly against the couchâs armrest, your hand resting lightly on the kittenâs side. Kiwi Bananaâs breathing grew slow, steadyâwarm against your leg.
And before you realized it, lulled by the soft purring and the quiet comfort, your eyes drifted shut. Sleep came easier this time.
*
You woke to the soft sound of someone whispering nearbyâlight, excited, and terribly close to your ear.
âMama⌠Mamaaa, lookâŚâ
Your eyelids fluttered open, slow and heavy. Morning sunlight was already spilling through the curtains, warm and gold against your skin. The blanket had slipped halfway off, and curled right on top of your stomach was Kiwi Banana, purring like an engine.
Then you saw Anya. She was kneeling beside the couch in her pajama shorts, hair sticking in every direction, eyes wide with pure wonder.
âMama, youâre soooo cuteâŚâ she whispered dramatically, as if sheâd stumbled upon a rare forest creature. âSleeping with Kiwi Banana⌠like best friendsâŚâ
You groaned softly, rubbing your face. Kiwi Banana stretched, tiny paws pressing into your shirt before settling again. âAnya⌠why are you awake this early?â
Though judging from the light, it wasnât that earlyâjust earlier than your usual waking time.
She puffed her cheeks. âI woke up and kitty wasnât in my room! So I followed it. And thenââ she pointed at you with all the intensity of a detective revealing a culpritâ âI found this.â
You glanced down at the kitten sprawled on you like a warm, furry badge.
âMama likes Kiwi Banana now?â Anya asked, hope sparkling in her eyes.
The kitten yawnedâas if answering for you.
You exhaled, resigned. ââŚMaybe a little.â
Anya clapped both hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. It didnât work. âBABA!!â she shrieked towards the hallway, âMAMA LOVES KIWI BANANA!!â
From the bedroom came Junâs sleepy, confused voice, âWhatâalready? Itâs morningâŚâ
You covered your face again. Too late. L The whole house already knew.
Kiwi Banana didnât stay that tiny for long. Months passed, and somehow the kitten who once fit perfectly on your stomach grew into a round, spoiled ball of furâwith a belly that jiggled when it trotted and a face that had perfected the art of guilt-tripping you into extra treats.
Jun swore it wasnât his fault. You swore it wasnât yours. Anya didnât swear anythingâshe openly blamed both of you.
âMama, you love Kiwi Banana too much,â she complained one afternoon as the cat waddled proudly across the living room like a royal parade float.
You scooped the chunky creature into your arms anyway. âAnd whatâs wrong with that?â
Kiwi Banana purred, melting into your embrace with the confidence of a cat who knew it was adored.
The fear you once heldâthe ache of old memories, the guilt, the traumaâhad softened over time, replaced by something gentler. Something healing.
Jun wrapped an arm around your shoulders from behind, resting his chin lightly on your head as he watched the cat kneading your shirt with chubby paws.
âTold you,â he murmured with a smile, âyou were always a cat person.â
You shot him a look. He kissed your cheek anyway. Kiwi Banana flopped dramatically in your arms, exposing its belly in complete trust.
And for the first time in a long, long while, loving a cat didnât hurt. It felt like coming home. The home you built nowâwarm, noisy, messy, full of laughter. Full of Jun, full of Anya.
And full of one very fat, very loved Kiwi Banana.
End.
Footnote:
Grief lingers, but love does, too.
Two years ago, the fire took my home⌠and all the little lives I loved within it. The guilt clung to me like smoke, staining everything I touched. But my tricolor Simi â my brave girl â survived long enough to show me that even in ruin, love doesnât burn out so easily.
Fly high, my baby.
I carry you in every quiet morning, every soft memory, every warm place my heart still knows how to hold.
You are forever remembered.


















