[53] "A familiar face"

[In the night]

In a house, a young man with amber eyes and a kind face was lovingly and happily feeding three cats.

However, he noticed that the cats were not eating and were making gestures pointing to a particular place.

"Meow... Meow," "Meow," the cats meowed as they motioned with their heads for Jiwoo to follow them.

Intrigued and with some hesitation, Jiwoo was following the cats slowly until he came to a small dark alley, where he found a fat orange cat with a white belly lying on the ground bathed in blood.

Worried, Jiwoo quickly took the cat in his arms and thanked the little ones for guiding him to the spot, in a loving voice, he promised him that he would see to it that it recovered properly and could stay in his home.

Back at home, Jiwoo cleaned the cat and put him down to rest.

The other cats, happy for their owner's good deed, scampered around the house with joy.

....

[One hour later]

An orange cat twitches, blinking and looking around in confusion.

"Mmm, did I pass out? How did I get here?" Kayden examines his limbs.

"Paws? Did I turn into a cat?" He remembers staggering down a dark alley, touching a cat and a flash of blue light engulfed him.

"I turned into a cat?"

A boisterous voice interrupts him. "Huh? You're awake now." A friendly voice greets him as a teenage boy approaches with two plates of food and milk in his hands.

Kayden carefully analyzes the appearance of the boy in front of him. 'Where do I know that face from, who does he remind me of?'

"Don't worry, everything is fine," Jiwoo says with a friendly smile as he lifts the cat's body and checks it over.

"I found you covered in blood, is it yours or someone else's? You must eat to recover and get your strength back."

Kayden frowns as he smells the foul odor of the food and Jiwoo's cheerful attitude.

"PUT ME DOWN NOW," Kayden shouts, startling Jiwoo.

"Huh, did I hear a male voice speak?" Jiwoo is confused.

"PUT ME DOWN AT ONCE, ARE YOU DEAF?" Jiwoo looks around, not understanding. "Did I leave the TV on?"

Jiwoo shivered in fear as he watched the cat speak in a distinctly human voice. "How is this happening...cats don't talk," she said with a mixture of terror and confusion.

"Shut up, you talk too much," Kayden replied in an authoritative tone of voice.

Jiwoo was even more startled to hear the cat's voice again. "It's true, the cat spoke," she said, trembling.

Kayden became angry as he heard Jiwoo speak again and a vein in his head began to throb.

"SHUT UP BOY, DO YOU WANT TO DIE BY MY THROATS?" he shouted angrily.

Jiwoo, terrified, thought to keep silent. After a few moments, Kayden calmed down and asked him. "Okay...now that you're quiet, what's your name?"

Jiwoo stammered as he answered. "Jiwoo Seo."

Kayden looked surprised to hear Jiwoo's name. "Jiwoo Seo?...you have a name similar to a person I know," he said curiously.

After the introduction, Kayden asked Jiwoo to bring him a chair, with difficulty, Kayden struggled to lift the chair and as he did so, he saw himself in the mirror.

To his surprise, he was now in the body of a chubby cat. "Am I that fat cat?" Kayden asked, his voice trembling.

"I am the great Kayden!" the cat proclaimed, causing Jiwoo to scream in terror and Kayden to collapse to the ground.

Picking up the unconscious feline, Jiwoo pleaded. "Mr. Cat, are you okay, please don't die!"

Jiwoo shook Kayden violently until he finally stirred.

Relieved, Jiwoo hugged the cat and said joyfully. "You're alive! I was so worried, Mr. Cat."

"It's Kayden, call me Kayden," the cat corrected, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, yes, of course. Mr. Kayden, I have a question," Jiwoo said innocently.

"Go ahead," Kayden replied.

"How can you talk when you're a cat?" asked Ji Woo.

Kayden let out a sigh and explained. "I can talk because I'm also human." corrected the cat, raising an eyebrow.

"You're human too?" asked Jiwoo.

"At the moment, I look like that," replied Kayden.

"Then you're a human who transformed into a cat," Jiwoo deduced.

Nodding, Kayden stared at Jiwoo and commented. "Your face looks familiar."

"Yes, I have an older brother and mother, but they are currently out of the country," Jiwoo said innocently.

Kayden raised an eyebrow. "A brother, huh?" and thinks. 'Now that you mention it, he looks a bit like Ares. And your last name is Seo?'

"Kid, what's your name?" asked Kayden with a serious face.

"My name is Jiwoo Seo, Mr. Kayden," Jiwoo replied.

"Seo?...Your brother is Ares Seo?", Kayden asked with surprise.

"Ohhhh... Mr. Kayden, do you know my older brother?", asked Jiwoo eagerly and showing his harmless personality.

"If he's who I think he is, yes," Kayden replied.

"I have some pictures, wait a minute," said Jiwoo as he got up from the floor and ran off to find a picture.

Kayden thought to himself. 'Is he really Ares' younger brother? His attitude is a bit peculiar...'.

Jiwoo quickly returned with a photo and said a handsome young man with white hair and crystal green eyes.

Kayden immediately recognized Ares.

"Yes, I know him. I'm his master," Kayden said, sighing.

"Master of what?" asked Jiwoo, not understanding Kayden's answer.

"What do you mean, of what? Of course I taught him to improve his strength. We are awakened and we have to improve our skills to survive," Kayden explained, dumbfounded by Jiwoo's ignorance.

Jiwoo frowned, not understanding what Kayden meant. "Awakened? What's that?"

Kayden's expression changed as he realized that Jiwoo knew nothing about it. "Really? Your brother is an awakened? Don't you have special powers?"

Jiwoo's eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, I have superpowers. I can move very fast, but I didn't know I was an awakened. My brother never told me."

"Your brother really didn't tell you anything?" asked Kayden, incredulous.

Jiwoo's eyes filled with tears. "I thought he was a freak. Other than my brother, I've never met anyone else with special powers like mine."

Kayden thought to himself. 'What is Ares doing, why isn't he telling your brother the truth?'

Kayden spoke in a calm, soothing voice, trying to make Jiwoo feel that he was not alone in his awakened condition. "Don't worry, Jiwoo, I'm an awakened one too. You're not rare, there are many people like you in the world," Kayden said.

Jiwoo, relieved by Kayden's response, wiped away tears and talked about his experience with his mother. "When my mom found out about my condition, she was very surprised and asked me to keep it a secret from others. Once when I was little, I used it unintentionally and I will never forget how those people looked at me," Jiwoo said with sadness in his voice.

Kayden nodded sympathetically. "It's normal for it to be hard for people like you who don't know what they are," Kayden said.

"I'm sorry I made you cry. Sometimes realizing that you're not alone in this world can be overwhelming," Jiwoo said with regret in his voice.

"There's nothing to apologize for," Kayden said. "But if you're comfortable, I'd like to teach you more about the awakened and how to control your powers."

"But you're here with me now, and I can teach you everything you need to know to improve your awakened abilities," Kayden continued.

Jiwoo was excited to hear this and asked. "Really, could you help me?"

"People like you, me and your brother, who have superhuman powers, are called awakened. Not much is known about where they come from or when they first appeared, some have physical powers and some have psychic powers." explained Kayden in a calm voice.

"Wow, that's impressive" exclaimed, fascinated Jiwoo at the idea.

"Yes, it is" nodded Kayden with a smile. "For example, your brother has both, he has physical powers like the healing factor and psychic powers like animal communication and light control."

"Really?" asked Jiwoo incredulously.

"Yes, it's true," confirmed Kayden. "There are many awakened ones who have similar abilities to yours, but each has their own unique set of abilities of their own."

"It's amazing what you can do with those powers. how do you learn to control them?" said Jiwoo.

"Didn't your brother teach you anything?" asked Kayden curiously.

"Yes, when I was younger, I was always afraid of others, so I hid and didn't interact with them." replied Jiwoo while scratching his head.

"But once, my brother came back and forced me to learn something strange. He told me that it would help me increase my powers" Jiwoo added with a confused expression.

"Did he teach you force control?" asked Kayden with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't remember much, but he just told me it was a way to better mobilize my energy and improve faster and more efficiently" explained Jiwoo with a shrug.

As he listened to Jiwoo talk about his training, Kayden began to think about his brother Ares' abilities. 'He taught Jiwoo his advanced force control , it's a technique that even some experienced awakened would struggle to learn in a short time'.

"So, your power got stronger, did it?" asked Kayden with a smile.

"Yes, at first I could only hold it for one second and it made me very tired, but now I can hold it for ten seconds" replied Jiwoo proudly.

Kayden was surprised at how little progress Jiwoo had made in his training. 'His strength control was at a very high level, the same level as Ares, and yet Jiwoo could only improve for ten seconds'.

"You lack training... and from the fear you had, it makes sense that you didn't train your skills that much" Kayden observed seriously.

"My brother told me that he trains at home all the time, but..." began Jiwoo before stopping and frowning.

Kayden sighed and said. "Don't worry, it's normal. You were afraid the others would discover your powers."

"Ares has several abilities, don't you have more?" asked Kayden.

Jiwoo thought for a moment and said. "Hmm... Now that you mention it, I think I have healing powers, since I recover from injuries faster than I used to."

"Mmm... We'll have to see. The awakened have faster healing abilities than normal humans, but.... Ares has regenerative powers. Possibly you have his healing factor," Kayden said.

"Healing factor?" Jiwoo repeated his doubts.

"Yes, it's one of your brother's abilities and it's very powerful. I have it too, it helps you heal at an incredible speed," Kayden explained.

"Do you know how to fight?" asked Kayden.

"A little bit. Ares taught me how to fight when he stayed at home for a while, but after he left, he didn't practice anymore," said Jiwoo scratching his head.

"Mmm... you're going to have to train a lot in the future," Kayden said.

Jiwoo looked at the food and said. "Mr. Kayden you have to eat the food, you were unconscious for a long time and you are hurt."

Kayden angrily looked at Jiwoo and said. "I told you I am not a cat."

"But Mr. Kayden is a cat right now and eating food from humans is bad for them," Jiwoo explained.

Kayden raised an eyebrow and thought, "Is it true? They say it's unhealthy for cats to eat food from humans."

Jiwoo got up and left saying. "Eat, please. I'm going to give food to the cats in the yard."

Kayden watched Jiwoo walk away and rested his gaze on the food.

'Mmm...', he thought.

Kayden walked over and tasted the food slowly, worried.

"Uh...," he said.

"This taste?"

Kayden wolfed down all the food and lay on the floor with a full stomach.

'I did it just to recover. It doesn't mean I liked the food,' Kayden justified himself.

....

2001 Words.

Next Chapter "The Cat with Awakened Abilities"