#5 - For Everyone, from your mixup partner!
Title: cat day
For: Everyone!
Pairing/Focus: Baro/Jinyoung
Rating: PG
Word Count: 8k
Summary: The rain brings in something a little more than what Sunwoo is prepared to deal with.
Notes/Warnings: this is my first time writing this pairing so i hope you don't hate it too much? also, there are cameos by dino and heecheon of halo, i hope you don't mind....
"ha..." sunwoo grimaces at the sky, dark with the threat of rain, as he steps out of the music store. he hears a be careful, don't slip and die on the way home! from his boss. yeah, yeah he shouts back, and then takes a deep breath, putting his hood up and hoping he reaches home before it rains. a few streets away from his house and he's pelted with raindrops. he frowns and walks faster.
sunwoo is running by the time he turns down his street, one hand holding the hood of his jacket down and the other hugging his already soaked backpack closer to his chest. he speeds up as he gets nearer, sneakers slapping wetly against the pavement, further soaking his already drenched jeans.of course it would rain the day he forgot to bring an umbrella. of course.
he heaves a big sigh when he reaches his gate, pushing the rickety old thing with a grimace--he'd have to find time to fix it before it comes right off the hinges, but not now. he takes a few moments to fumble around in his backpack for the house key before finally remembering he'd stuffed it in his right pocket for the very purpose of not having to rummage around his bag. sunwoo digs it out with a triumphant ha!, trying to steady his shaking hands, already numb from the cold. he's just about to open the door when he catches something in his peripheral vision.
a brown misshapen lump beneath his bushes, just a little ways to his right. his airy scream tones down to a breathless whistle and he clutches at his chest, eyes frozen on the glowing orbs peering at him from the moldy blanket-wrapped lump.
sunwoo takes a shaky step backwards and the lump moves. the sudden movement causes the top of the blanket to snag on the bushes, revealing the mysterious lurker.sunwoo's brain registers the ears before noticing everything else. they were reddish brown and tapered to a point, half-hidden behind a tangle of pale blond locks. slanted eyes blink at him once, twice.
sunwoo doesn't even try to disguise the thin scream that bubbles out of his mouth.
"what--who are you?"
the catboy stares at him, yellow eyes blinking once, then twice, and sunwoo counts five full heartbeats before the catboy tips forward, landing on to the ground in a dead faint.
"hyung." sunwoo is thisclose to whining to an extremely apathetic dongwoo."hyung, help me. he--it--just. it's holed up under my bed. hissing at me. help."
sunwoo kneels to peek at the creature that had claimed it's place under his bed. he had brought the catboy in out of pure conscience (lie, actually. it was just that it's considerably more bearable than engaging in a conversation with the welfare officers as to why there was a possibly dead catboy lying beneath his duranta)
he had managed to clean most of its face, which had been streaked with grease and grime and other things sunwoo had decided he'd be better off not identifying. but then it woke up, took one look at sunwoo holding aloft a very nonthreatening towel, and started, basically, to go berserk. it leapt up and over the couch, leaving long scratch marks sunwoo wants to cry at.
the kit, maybe three or four months old by sunwoo's reckoning, had dashed for the closed door, jumping up and down in a fairly amusing attempt to reach the doorknob before giving up and turning tail, heading instead for sunwoo's bedroom and hiding under sunwoo's bed, nearly squashing itself against the wall, out of sunwoo's reach. an hour and a half later sunwoo is still alternating between bargaining with the kit (whose main responses consist of yowls and hisses and growls but no actual discernible words) and pleading with dongwoo to come over because he'd rather not lose any of his extremities to a wild and possibly disease-ridden catboy.
"there are no wild kits," dongwoo lectures him over the phone, his voice calm, if a bit static-y. "he probably got lost though, that happens a lot. does he have a tag? a collar?"
"hyung, i can't even see exactly what color his hair is, how do you expect me to check if he has a collar?"
"he'll have to come out from under the bed at some point," dongwoo points out. "at least get him to talk and--" sunwoo hears the sound of a quick exhale and then dongwoo's voice, thick and exasperated. "sunwoo. what are you doing. do not growl back at him, it won't help. also, you sound constipated."
"but hyung!"
"all right. fine.i'm coming over." sunwoo can almost sense the older rolling his eyes at him, and he smiles.
"just. sunwoo. stop hissing."
he frowns.
"you are a catboy whisperer." sunwoo declares the title with awe, watching dongwoo adjust the blanket, which had slipped off, around the shoulders of the peacefully sleeping catboy.
dongwoo had, as promised, turned up half an hour after hanging up on sunwoo, shaking rainwater out of his hair and asking where the catboy was. sunwoo had shown him, and had watched with stupefied amazement as dongwoo lured the catboy out with soft, gentle words. dongwoo had bathed the kit, even cajoled him out of his dirty clothes and into one of sunwoo's old shirts, taming the wild nest that was his hair-- actually pale pink in color, not blond as he'd thought-- then had him settled on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket. sunwoo went to the kitchen, feeling awkward and in the way, trying not to feel resentful of how the kit had practically latched on to dongwoo, wordlessly agreeing to everything dongwoo said and basically boring holes into sunwoo's face with a blank-eyed stare, making him feel weird.
"thanks, hyung." sunwoo hands the older man a cup of coffee, which dongwoo accepts with an appreciative smile.
dongwoo just nods. "he likes you."
"who?"
dongwoo rolls his eyes before answering. "the kit. who else?"
sunwoo makes a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat.
"really? i couldn't tell. i thought he looked more like he wanted to slit me open with his claws."
dongwoo laughs, and for the thousandth time since they met, sunwoo wonders how everything about him could be so gentle and unassuming. "his eyes never left you. that's a sure sign a catboy likes a person."
"huh." sunwoo doesn't say anything more, just glances at the still sleeping kit and sips his coffee.
"i wonder who his owner is," dongwoo muses and sunwoo nods. stray catboys were extremely rare. they were bred with specific traits and appearances based on the customer's preferences, and the process of acquiring one was so rigorous in itself, all those tests and licences to prove that the customer can provide for the catboy, not to mention the price itself, which was no small sum. catboys are an investment, and it was hard to believe someone would throw out a catboy, especially one so young, after shelling out a huge amount of money.
"maybe it got lost, like you said," sunwoo suggests, but even as he says the words he doesn't actually believe a it. it didn't have a collar, like all catboys do. it seemed slightly malnourished, hair gone shaggy and messy, like it had been living out on the streets for weeks.
"well, what are you planning to do with him?"
sunwoo shrugs. "i don't know. i obviously can't keep him, so. put up a few posters, maybe? and get him to talk, maybe he can tell me where he lives."
"what?" he demands when dongwoo doesn't answer.
"i just thought--wouldn't you want to keep him? if it turns out that he was really abandoned, or something."
"no." sunwoo doesn't even need to think before responding. he didn't like catboys. never did, never will. he doesn't judge people who do--sunggyu, one of his sunbaes at work, has a catboy, a black haired kit named myungsoo, whom he can tolerate just fine. myungsoo's cute and smart, like most kits are, and they get along pretty well, but he can't imagine owning a catboy. they just seemed to be on a different level of weird-- human looking faces and bodies, but with the bonus of glowy cat eyes and cat ears and cat tails and ugh.
"why can't you keep him?" dongwoo asks, and even though his lips are hidden behind the coffee cup the smile painted on them is echoed in his eyes.
"because he's a catboy. hyung, you know i don't like catboys."
"you like myungsoo," dongwoo points out, setting his coffee cup down.
"well, he's not mine, so." sunwoo tolerates catboys. but owning one--actually taking care of one--is something he isn't quite sure he's prepared to do.
"can't you take him, hyung? you like catboys."
dongwoo shakes his head. "can't. hayoungie's allergic to cat fur."
sunwoo hums into his coffee. dongwoo has always wanted a pet, but his girlfriend, hayoung, always goes into a full-scale allergy attack if she so much as sniffs pet fur.
"i'd turn him over to the pound, if ever," sunwoo says in answer to dongwoo's original question. "he's goodlooking, i doubt he'd even have to stay there a week."
they talk about trivial things and then dongwoo has to say goodbye. sunwoo walks the older man to his front door, thanking him for his time.
"don't kill him!" dongwoo says cheerfully, waving goodbye, and sunwoo sputters.
"that was one time! they were goldfishes!" he yells back. dongwoo's laughter comes back to him, and he frowns even deeper.
he closes the door and leans against it, eyes going to the still sleeping kit. he'd have to find a new home for it, and soon.
"ugh." sunwoo sits up for the fifth time. he glances at the clock on his bedside table--3:36 am, the neon green numbers inform him-- and groans, dropping his head back on his pillow and mushing his face with it.
he couldn't sleep, and he blames it on the catboy. he's never had anyone else stay the night. his college buddy junghwan comes by every once in a while, but sunwoo always (goodnaturedly) kicks him out before he turns in for the night. it's weird, having someone in the house, aside from himself. moreso because that someone is a stranger. and a catboy.
he flips the comforters off himself, ultimately deciding to fix himself a cup of warm milk in the hopes of it helping to make him feel sleepy. he tiptoes out the door, feeling dumb about having to be careful in his own house. he glances at the living room, then makes way for the kitchen. a few steps later he stops, then turns.
there's nothing weird about wanting to check on a stranger kit staying in his house, he tells himself. for the night, he adds as an afterthought.
he takes small, measured steps, cringing at the minutest creaks his slippers make on the wooden floor. he peeks over the couch--and frowns.
the blankets are bunched on the sofa, but the kit is nowhere to be seen. he opens the lights, searching the bathroom and kitchen as well, but still no sign of the kit. it isn't until he checks the door that he realizes it's slightly ajar.
the kit had left.
sunwoo frowns at his hand, then at the doorknob around which said hand is clasped, and then back at his hand. he should lock it-- of course he should, it's a common safety precaution-- but then he looks up at the sky, cloudy and overcast and carrying the threat of rain, and he hesitates. what if it rained and that dumb kit came back?
he shakes his head furiously. he hadn't wanted a catboy. in fact, he was glad the catboy left on his own, that he didn't have to kick it out.
he turns to leave and is immediately assaulted by a familiar face. the catboy practically jumped on him, and he pushes it away gingerly.
"what, you just change you mind and--ughhff." the catboy seemed frantic, and sunwoo couldn't decide if it was trying to clamber over him or wedge itself into his neck. he gets a bit of fabric in his mouth and he spits it out, sputtering.
"what's wrong with--oh."
"he yours?" two breathless pound officers stand over him, huffing and puffing with apparent exertion. sunwoo mutters a silent curse to the wriggling kit in his arms before smoothing his face into something that he hopes emanates startled innocence.
"is--is there something wrong, sir?"
the officer, a pudgy man whose uniform seemed ready to pop on him, gives a final wheeze before straightening up. "that kit had us chasing all over the neighborhood. got no collar, no tag--is he yours?"
no, he's not, is the response he intends to give, but then the catboy whimpers against his shoulder, digging somewhat sharp nails into his shoulder blades, and he bites out a "yes" instead. cue internal cursing.
the officer frowns at him. "collar him, then, unless you want him sent to the pound. you know the rules." the man squints and sunwoo swallows. "you let him run out all night?"
"well, i--" the man's eyes narrow further into slits and sunwoo coughs. "no. i. no, sir, of course not. it's just--this is the first time this happened?"
the officer grunts, and sunwoo is sure he's about to pull handcuffs out to take sunwoo for questioning, but miraculously, he doesn't. "and it better be the last. i don't have time to be running around strays, naturals or hybrids. if i see him again on the street without a collar or an owner he goes into the pound, you hear? lots of people get irresponsible with pets nowadays." he shakes his head then gestures for his decidedly thinner subordinate to follow him. sunwoo bows repeatedly, thanking them for their time and apologizing for the disturbance. the officer just waves him away, hiking his pants higher before going into the cruiser. sunwoo keeps his head down until they are gone.
"they're gone," he says after a while, biting back a laugh when the kit hesitantly pushes away from him to peek, one hand still fisted in sunwoo's shirt. the kit heaves an audble sigh of relief before slumping back on sunwoo's shoulder. sunwoo barely has the chance to decide to feel awkward when the kit flashes back upright, staring at him like he's only just realized who he latched on to. he's out of sunwoo's arms in two seconds, running straight for the bushes. sunwoo sighs. this is going to be hard. he walks over to the half-dead clump of plants, stopping just a few steps away. he crouches down, barely catching sight of the still trembling kit.
"hey, look. i'm not going to hurt you. i saved you from the pound officers, didn't i?"
a rustle of dry leaves answers him and he rolls his eyes. "look here, kitty. i have to go to work. you have to stay somewhere safe--it might rain again, and i'm sure you wouldn't want another run-in with those officers. so. i'm very graciously offering you the shelter of my house, on the condition that you don't burn it down or something until i get back."
another rustle, and then silence. sunwoo glances at his watch--if he doesn't go now he'd be late for work. he stands up. "you know what? never mind. if you don't want to, them i'm going. i need to work. have fun playing hide and seek with those officers."
he's barely taken two steps when he feels a tug on his pants and he grins down at the kit who has his gaze trained on the ground. one little fist grips his pant leg tightly.
sunwoo beams at the kit.
"well then. let's set some house rules, okay?"
"how's the kit?"
sunwoo's shift at the music store ended half an hour ago (he works as a clerk, not exactly his dream job, but it's okay) and he decided to stop by dongwoo's shop to get a free meal. dongwoo sets a bowl of ramyun in front of him and sunwoo takes it gratefully, practically inhaling the food before deigning a reply.
"s'okay," he says, chewing noisily and choosing to ignore dongwoo's unimpressed gaze. he's pretty sure a lecture on proper table manners is already sitting on the elder's tongue, but whatever. he's hungry. "he sleeps on the sofa and eats three times a day. he's doing a pretty good job at pretending i don't exist. except for mealtimes."
dongwoo sighs, and sunwoo has been desensitized enough to it to not feel sorry. he's been on the receiving end of those sighs lately, since he got the catboy.
"do you even try," dongwoo says,wiping the counter down.
on account of the free meal, sunwoo decides not to feel offended by the assumed lack of effort on his part. "hyung. i gave him a place to stay. i feed him. i'm trying my best to find a good home for him. what else am i supposed to do."
"be nice to him," dongwoo suggests, and sunwoo rolls his eyes.
"i am so nice. he just doesn't like me."
it's true. the kit was tolerant of dongwoo, who had cleaned him up that first night, but after a few more visits it was clear the kit liked the older man. he hadn't ever smiled at sunwoo once, but he practically beams when dongwoo is around. sunwoo tries very hard not to feel bitter. it works. almost.
"he knows you don't like him. catboys are sensitive that way, i told you. if you could just, i don't know, try to talk to him, maybe he won't be that aloof."
sunwoo slurps his noddles. "how about i find him a home soonest, so he'll be out of my hands. i'm sure that'll work better for both of us."
"yeah, and how's that project going? i thought you were going to put up posters and stuff."
"a great big failure is what it is. pound officers have marked him, and they think he's mine, so. i can't go with that plan. so i'm very discreetly asking everyone i know if they'd like a catboy but they all say no." sunwoo turns a hopeful eye on the elder. "has hayoung gotten over her allergy yet?"
to which dongeoo responds with a bop on sunwoo's head. "it's an allergy. it's not something you can just get over with."
"there's always hope," sunwoo answers before turning back to his food. truth be told, he's exerted quite an effort to get along with the kit. sunwoo would be keeping him, for the meantime, and he knows it'd be better for both the kit's health and sunwoo's dignity if they at least reach a level of amiable coexistence. right now they're both skittish around esch other--the kit's eyes follows every movement sunwoo makes like he's afraid sunwoo would suddenly try and hurt him, and sunwoo feels more and more like an intruder in his own house, having to announce his presence by making extra noise so he doesn't scare the kit off. it's all very tiring.
also, he still doesn't know what the kit's name is. he's tried asking, but all he gets is a blank stare that's just a tad too creepy. he stopped trying since. he's jolted out of his thoughts by the sight of dongwoo putting his coat on.
"you're leaving?" he asks, slurping the last of the broth and wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"got to pick hayoungie up from work," dongwoo rushes to the door, but not before sneaking one last look at the mirror to check his hair. "do me a favor and lock up, okay? and wash that bowl, don't just dump it on the sink. turn the lights off before you go."
"yes, mother," he answers wryly. "go."
dongwoo runs out the door, but barely even five seconds later he comes back. "i almost forgot! that bag on the counter is for the kit. i made some dumplings, he might like them. lock up, okay? bye!"
and then he's gone. sunwoo does wash his bowl and utensils, and clicks every light off on his way out. he takes a photo of the shop door, sending it to dongwoo as proof.
thanks for the food, hyung. and i locked up properly, see? u.u
he's halfway home when he gets a response.
good boy. play nice and get along with your kitty
he just snorts in response, pocketing his phone and walking a little more briskly towards home.
the kit does like the dumplings, judging by the way he keeps shoveling them in his mouth like he's been starved for years. which he's not, by the way. just to be clear.
"here," sunwoo says, setting a glass of water in front of the kit, who stops mid-chew and just stares at him. "please don't choke on the dumplings, i promise you can have them all. i already ate."
the kit says nothing, but he does begin eating slowly. sunwoo smiles. it's a start. he edges along the sofa, trying to sit closer to the kit without being too obvious, sighing in relief when the kit doesn't even flinch.
"what's your name?" he tries after a while, when the kit has stopped eating, lying on yhe floor with a content look on his face. the kit turns to him but doesn't say a word.
sunwoo clears his throat. "it's just. you know. you've been here for almost three weeks and i still don't have anything to call you by."
"jinyoung."the kit curls up on his side so he's facing sunwoo."you're sunwoo."
sunwoo nods. "where do you live?"
jinyoung looks away. "your friend makes good food. i like the dumplings."
"i'll tell him that. i'm sure he'd be glad. how did you end up in my backyard?"
the kit stays quiet, and for a moment sunwoo wishes dongwoo was around. dongwoo was nice and gentle and patient and doesn't scare catboys off, the way sunwoo apparently does.
"my family doesn't want me anymore."
"what?"
jinyoung looks at him, his gaze both defiant and sad. "i--i had an owner once, and he was so nice. but he was really weak, and sometimes he got sick, and then his family takes him to the hospital. he kept on sicker and sicker, and one day when they took him to the hospital they never brought him back. his wife didn't like me, and when she moved back to the country she didn't take me with her."
"so you didn't get lost."
jinyoung shakes his head. "i heard her calling the pound to come pick me up. i got scared, so i ran." jinyoung stands up and gives him a stiff bow. "thank you for the meal." he slips into sunwoo's room and comes back with his pillow and blanket bunched under his arms, looking at him expectantly. sunwoo gets the hint and stands, and jinyoung climbs up, covering himself with the blanket. "goodnight, sunwoo."
sunwoo isn't sure if he should say something more--he probably should, but he doesn't know what, so he mumbles back a goodnight and spends the night tossing in an umcomfortable sleep.
"why don't we go out for a walk," is how sunwoo greets the kit when he gets home that afternoon.
jinyoung sits up, ears perking up at the sound of sunwoo's voice. sunwoo had expected him to brighten up--he's been cooped up in the house for far too long with only the tv and the swirling dust motes by the window to entertain him (sunwoo knows the kit would deny it, but he's seen him staring at dust motes for hours, even batting at it and giggling when he thinks sunwoo isn't around. weird kit.)
"you feel guilty, don't you. because of what i told you." the words are said matter-of-factly, without any trace if suspicion or bitterness, but sunwoo is still on the defensive.
"no. i just thought you wanted to get out of here, see what's outside. i think my house is very cool, too, but even i get bored sometimes."
"your house is a mess," jinyoung points out. "only less so, because i clean up sometimes."
"hey, my house has character."
"your house has spiderwebs in the corners."
sunwoo feigns offense at this. "never mind, let's just stay here." but jinyoung has already bounded over to the door, stuffing his feet into the pair of sneakers sunwoo had bought for him.
"outside is good. let's go outside."
sunwoo sighs. "come here first. i borrowed something from sunggyu hyung. you need it to go outside." he holds the collar out. it's a simple black leather collar, one of myungsoo's. sunggyu thought he had bought a catboy, and was more than willing to give him myungsoo's old stuff, things that the adult catboy had grown out off. sunwoo didn't have the chance to correct him, because the guy had pulled a muscle (they were in the back room, rearranging boxes) and has started whining about it.
"i'm not wearing that."
"why not?" sunwoo frowns at the collar. it looked okay. it wasn't old or cracked or anything, because myungsoo is good at taking care of his things.
"i can go without one," jinyoung insists. "you're with me anyway."
he shrugs and tosses the collar on to the sofa. "fine."
as opposed to the somber kit sunwoo has gotten used to, this jinyoung seems to be a polar opposite. the kit runs ahead of him, stopping at every shop window to gape at displays, running back to sunwoo to give reports on what he saw. the kit trips over his own tail at least three times, but it doesn't hamper his excitement. sunwoo catches himself smiling, even laughing at times.
it's late when they make it back home, and jinyoung is carrying several stuffed animals under his arm. sunwoo is still wondering how he'd gotten badgered into buying those.
he goes straight to the spare room while the kit fawns over his new toys. sunwoo had bought some clothes for him too, but he's more interested in the plushies.
sunwoo's house has an extra room, which he rarely used, except to store things he no longer needed. he's pretty sure there's a mattress somewhere. he clears up a small space, pushing most of the boxes back.
"what're you doing?" jinyoung appears at his side, tugging a bear plushie by the arm. he already changed into another of sunwoo's old shirts, the hem just barely skimming the tips of his toes. he has his own clothes by now, even dongwoo had chipped in and bought him jeans and shoes, but he still prefers to wear sunwoo's old stuff.
"i'm making a bed for you," he answers easily."i can't watch tv properly when you're passed out on the couch." hr stands back and surveys his work. it's not that bad. he was able to find a low table jinyoung can use, and he took the lamp from his own room and placed it on the table. "what do you think?"
"i can sleep here?"
"sure. i thought you might like to have your own room.it's just temporary,of course. just until i find an owner for you."
"what if you don't?"
sunwoo turns to look the jinyoung, but the kit has his eyes trained to the floor. "what?"
"w-what if. what if you don't find anyone who would like me? what then?"
"i'm sure that won't happen. you're cute...and stuff. i'm sure someone would want to take you in. until then, you'd have to put up with me." jinyoung mumbles something too low for sunwoo to hear, then just gives him a blank look when he raises his eyebrows inquisitively.
"you don't need to sleep on the sofa anymore, okay? we'll move your other stuff tomorrow, i'm too tired to move."
sunwoo wakes in the middle of the night, feeling thirsty. he stumbles a bit to get to the door,then opens it wide, taking a step only to trip on something. he falls forward, just barely managing to save himself from faceplanting.
"what the fu--what are you doing?"
the kit sits up sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. "m'sleeping."
"i can see that. but why are you sleeping out here? i gave you a room for a reason!"
the kit just yawns, looking sleepy again."but i always--" right then he snaps awake, looking guilty.
sunwoo squints at him. "have you been sleeping at my door ever since?"
jinyoung refuses to look at him. "...maybe."
"why?"
"this place has the perfect temperature for sleeping." jinyoung deadpans, and sunwoo casts him a judging look. jinyoung bristles. "it's true! you wouldn't know it because you're human. i'm so much more sensitive than you are."
"right. whatever. keep your fur on. i'm thirsty." he ruffles the kit's hair, laughing when he frowns at him deeply. so cute, looking all disgruntled like that.
he gets back to his bedroom, someone is already on his bed. jinyoung is curled up under the comforters, looking blissfully contented, already drifting off to sleep.
"you're on my bed."
"your bed has better temperature," jinyoung answers sleepily. "us catboys grow better when we sleep at specific temperatures. it's science."
"you're still on my bed."
the sleepy grin jinyoung gives sunwoo may or may not be doing things to his heart. why does the kit have to be so cute. "i can share."
"i'm a messy sleeper. i may kick you out of bed unintentionally."
jinyoung cracks open an eye. "me, too. i might claw your back open. unintentionally."
sunwoo grumbles, but slips into bed anyway. it's okay, he tells himself. just for tonight.
"good morning!"
sunwoo blinks and then stares at the tiny catboy, no taller than the top of the dinner table, standing proudly beside said table with a huge smile on his face. how he can be so damn cheery this early in the morning, sunwoo has no idea, but he mumbles a good morning back nonetheless, scratching his cheek and letting out a wide yawn.
the kit smiles, moving out of the way as sunwoo settles himself down his chair, wondering if it would require less effort on his part for them to have cold cereal or scrambled eggs for breakfast. he is so not a morning person.
"wake up." a nudge at his side tells him he had fallen asleep on the table (definitely not the first time it happened) and he jerks upright, blinking dumbly at the kit, who lets out a peal of laughter.
"breakfast!" the kit says, and sunwoo attempts to stand. the kit pushes him back down. "where are you going?"
"breakfast," he repeats dumbly. "cereal or eggs? because i don't think--"
another laugh and then the kit is clambering up the chair next to him. "i made breakfast! see?"
"oh." only then does he notice the food that jinyoung prepared. it's nothing special, barely even edible: burned bacon slices, eggs with shells still sticking out in places, soggy cereal and watery oatmeal.
sunwoo eyes the less than appetizing spread, then looks at jinyoung, smiling cheerily at him. he sighs and spears a slice of bacon. he chews and chews, slugging orange juice after he swallows.
"good?" jinyoung asks, and sunwoo stares, almost tempted to say no, but then the kit positively wilts under his gaze and it makes sunwoo feel ten kinds of guilty and he is so not a morning person.
"good," he says, relenting. jinyoung beams and sunwoo shoves a forkful of eggs in his mouth, shells crackling under his teeth as he chews. hmm. maybe mornings aren't all that bad after all.
"i liked that one."
"hush you. i bought you, like, five plushies last week. i am never taking you out again if--" sunwoo's phone rings, and the rest of his threat goes unsaid. it's dino, one of sunwoo's coworkers.
"hey," sunwoo says into the receiver, looking down for a moment to squint at jinyoung who is still pouting for a toy. jinyoung laughs and wraps himself around sunwoo's arm, knowing he'd get what he wants soon enough. dumb crinkly-smiled kit. jinyoung starts rubbing his head against sunwoo's hand, and sunwoo lets him, but not before sneaking a pinch on the kit's cheek. sometimes sunwoo still couldn't believe how fast the kit has grown. he's closer in height and built to a ten-years old now. dongwoo says catboys mature faster, aging in cat years rather than human, although it slows down once they reach adulthood.
"hey yourself," dino says. "i found a new owner for the kit, be proud of me." he'd told dino about wanting help to find an owner for jinyoung. the guy had said he'd keep an eye out and tell him if he finds one. but that had been three months ago.
sunwoo's hand freezes, and jinyoung stops rubbing his head against it, looking up at him with inquisitive eyes. sunwoo tries to give him a reassuring smile, but his lips are frozen too. he clears his throat. "you did? when?"
"just this morning. i think you know him--heecheon? from the coffee shop down the street? skinny guy with seriously pale skin? anyway, i showed him a picture of the kit and he says he'd love to take him off your hands. he'd always wanted a catboy."
"oh. i--"
"heecheon says he can drop by this afternoon to meet the kit. it told him it's cool."
"i--okay." sunwoo suddenly feels cold, like he'd plunged into ice.
"are you okay?" jinyoung looks concerned. "i was just kidding about the toy."
"it's fine. listen. jinyoung..."
heecheon stands, casting an apologetic look at sunwoo. "i guess i'll drop by again tomorrow? i don't want to rush him, i'm a stranger and he's clearly scared."
scared would be an understatement. jinyoung had clung to sunwoo, watching heecheon with suspicious eyes as the guy introduced himself. he'd hissed when sunwoo worked his way out of the kit's grip, having to go back to the store because apparently sunggyu had gotten into some sort of accident. he was gone barely an hour (sunggyu had managed to topple one of the stacked up boxes in the stock room, making a spectacular mess out ov everything) and came back to see jinyoung cowering in a corner, looking scared out of his life.
the kit ran straight for sunwoo the moment sunwoo came in, trembling and near tears. sunwoo had never felt so guilty in his life.
"i'm sorry," he says to heecheon. "he was like this when i first met him, too. i should have realized--i shouldn't have left him."
"jinyoung."
"go 'way."
"jinyoung..."
"go away!" sunwoo hears a sniffle, and he sighs.
"jinyoung. really. you can't lock me out of my own house. let me in. let's talk, okay?"
there's a beat of silence, and then the door creaks open. sunwoo steps in, sighing, apologies sitting awkwardly on his tongue. jinyoung is standing just outside of his reach, and when he tries to come closer the kit just scuttles back.
"look-"
"you don't like me!" jinyoung yells, and sunwoo blinks. "you lied to me!"
"i--what? when?"
jinyoung raises teary eyes to him and he flinches. it's dumb, he knows, but it actually hurts, seeing jinyoung this way. guilt rolls through his stomach in unpleasant waves.
"you said i could live here. you cooked for me and let me sleep in your room and bought me clothes but you don't like me!"
"jinyoung." sunwoo is honestly baffled by the reaction. "i like you. i do. i--"
"then why are you giving me away! if you like me so much why are you giving me to a stranger!" jinyoung is crying by now, fat tears slipping down his eyes ad onto the fur on his cheeks. sunwoo clenched and unclenches his hands, unsure where to put them.
"i'm sorry," he says, sitting crosslegged on the floor. "but i told you before, right? i'd keep you, but only until i can find a more suitable owner. i can't take care of you."
"but you already were!" jinyoung protests.
"i can't take care of you well," sunwoo clarifies. "i've got my job, and frankly, it's been more of you taking care of me instead of the other way around."
"but i like you!"
sunwoo sighs, then holds his arms out. "c'mere."
jinyoung just glares at him, and sunwoo is about to lower his arms when the kit jumps into them, burrowing his face on sunwoo's shoulder.
"i like you too, but i don't think i can keep you. give heecheon a chance, won't you? you might like him."
jinyoung doesn't answer, just presses closer into him. sunwoo suppresses a groan when jinyoung's nails dig into his skin.
"you really want me to stay with him?" jinyoung asks after a while.
sunwoo opens his mouth. and closes it. and opens it again. "it still depends on you," he says after a while. "if you like him, you can stay witn him. if not, we can always find another. someone you'd like." he wants to take the words back as soon as they leave his mouth but he stops himself. he can't keep a catboy, he reminds himself.
jinyoung pushes himself away from him, looking oddly calm and blank. "okay. he said he'll come back tomorrow, right?"
sunwoo suddenly feels--hollow. he looks down at his hands, then glances up when he realizes jinyoung is still there, waiting for an answer. "y-yeah. he'll be back tomorrow."
jinyoung nods. "okay. okay. i'll see if i like him. tomorrow. goodnight, sunwoo." he turns, heading for the spare bedroom.
"you can sleep with me, if you'd like," sunwoo offers, watching him walk away.
"that's okay. i can sleep in my own tonight." jinyoung gives him a small smile before disappearing into the bedroom.
sunwoo has a hard time sleeping that night.
heecheon does come by the next day, and to everyone's surprise, he and jinyoung hit it off well. jinyoung looked happy, poring over the myriad of toys and treats heecheon had brought over.
"tell me you're okay with this." dongwoo appears at his side. sunwoo tears his eyes away from the two, who are now rolling on the carpet, play-wrestling. such kids, honestly.
"what?"
dongwoo hands him a cup of cocoa, then nods at the still roughhousing pair. "him. them. you're okay with it?"
"sure," he mumbles into his cup. of course it's okay--more than okay. he finally found a potential owner for the kit who he thinks he can actually trust. the guy seems okay--jinyoung had all but almost clawed him open yesterday, and he still showed up today, looking all excited and shit. it should all be okay, and sunwoo should be relieved, at the very least, so why does he feel like tearing the kit away from those gangly arms and that pretty face? he takes a giant gulp of cocoa, and promptly burns his tongue off.
"shit--'y 'int 'oo 'ell me i' was 'ot?" he runs to the faucet, running cool water over his tongue.
"you didn't ask," dongwoo answers cheerfully.
sunwoo glares at him before turning back to the sink. he feels someone tuggin his the leg of his pants and he looks down to find jinyoung staring up at him.
"are you okay?"
"'ah." sunwoo grimaces, then tries again. "yeah, yeah. m'fine. go play."
there's that little pout again, and sunwoo's arms kind of itches to reach out and hug the kit. instead he gently pries the kit's hand from his pant leg and gives him a pat on the head, knowing full well that jinyoung hates anyone who messes his hair. it earns him a frown and he smiles.
"i'm okay. aren't you having fun with heecheon?"
"yeah.." jinyoung glances back at heecheon, still lying haphazard on the floor and waving a snake plushie at the kit.
"i'm tired though."
"we can go home," sunwoo says, drying the corner of his mouth with his shirt. "you guys can play again tomorrow."
jinyoung nods and runs off to say goodbye to heecheon, who pouts and does aegyo (so annoying!) for a hug from the kit (who just side-eyes him, ha!) then totters back to sunwoo, begging for a lift, because he's apparently too tired from playing. sunwoo complies, hoisting him up and letting him settle in his arms. he wonders if he's too mean for enjoying that envious look in heecheon's eyes, then decides he doesn't really care.
"so. did you like him?" sunwoo asks as he walks down the street. it's nearly dark out, and it has gotten a little chilly, so he wrapped his jacket around the kit instead. jinyoung snuffles into his neck sleepily, and doesn't answer.
"he's nice," jinyoung says after a while.
"nicer than me?" he means it as a joke, but then something gets stuck in his throat, sending his heart hammering, waiting for the answer. stupid, stupid.
"i don't know," jinyoung whispers honestly. "don't you think he's too pretty?"
sunwoo laughs out loud once. "you don't like him for being too pretty? and what does that say about me?"
"you're not pretty."
"hey--"
"i think you're..." jinyoung pulls back, squinting at him. "cute?"
"cute," sunwoo repeats dumbly. then--"cute? excuse you, but i'd prefer dashing, or handsome, or--"
jinyoung snorts against his neck, and sunwoo laughs because it tickles. and also because it's nice, holding jinyoung like this. a wave of guilt starts to wash over him but he bites it down.
"nope. just cute." there's another lengthy pause, and sunwoo thinks jinyoung had fallen asleep for sure. "but you're handsome, sometimes."
"oh? when?"
"hmmm..." the kit draws the syllable out, erupting into giggles after a while. sunwoo shakes him.
"yah!"
"remember when you saved me from the pound officers? you looked handsome then."
sunwoo remembers stuttering throughout the whole thing and hoping the officers wouldn't see through his lie. how he could have looked nice while having an internal mental breakdown, he has no idea.
"and when you wake up your hair all spiky and messy. you look cool. and when you're sleeping, too. especially on those days when you let me sleep with you..."
sunwoo smiles when jinyoung trails off. he must be a lot more tired than he let on. they finally reach home, and sunwoo is extra careful as he maneuvers his way in, taking care not to jostle the sleeping kit. he heads straight to his bedroom and moves to lower the kit on the bed, but then he stops, because jinyoung's hands are fisting his shirt, and jinyoung is trembling.
"jinyoung--jinyoung, what's wrong? are you hurt?" he tries to get jinyoung to look at him but he won't, stubbornly keeping his head down while tears run down his face, matting his fur.
jinyoung refuses to answer, so sunwoo just holds him, rubbing his back and whispering assurances in his ear. he's scared, to be honest, seeing jinyoung break down like this, but he can wait for explanations. his arms go limp after a while, and still jinyoung wouldn't let go of him, so he lowers the both of them to the bed, letting sleep take over his limbs, the kit still wrapped in his arms.
sunwoo wakes sometime during the night, not even sure why, but then he takes note of the weight on his chest and--oh yeah. jinyoung had fallen asleep on him.
he runs his fingers through the kit's hair, smiling at the way his ears twitch and at the low rumble from the kit's throat. he thinks of the way jinyoung had sobbed earlier, how helpless he looked, crying his eyes out and clinging to sunwoo. for all jinyoung's forced normalcy and outward calm, he was actually scared. sunwoo shut his eyes, forcig out thoughts of how much it seemed like a betrayal, just handing jinyoung off like that, like he was a toy to be tested out before being taken. regardless of what his intentions were--of how nice that heecheon guy was, he was sure jinyoung still felt betrayed.
sunwoo is fifteen kinds of guilty.
he gently shifts to the right, setting jinyoung by his side. he smiles when the kit snuffles, moving closer and squashing himself against sunwoo's chest, seeking warmth. sunwoo leans in, purely on instinct, touching his lips to the kit's forehead and hair. he runs his thumb lightly over jinyoung's cheek, imagining him gone the next week, thinking him in heecheon's arms instead, hugging heecheon close and forgetting about sunwoo. something heavy slams at sunwoo's chest and he clutches the kit tighter. it's ridiculous, this fear that keeps eating away at him.
there's always the off-chance that jinyoung might decide he doesn't like heecheon. then he can stay with sunwoo longer. as long as he wants, even.
but two weeks later jinyoung asks for heecheon.
at first sunwoo isn't sure he heard right. it's his day off, and he had very graciously (as he makes sure to let jinyoung know) offers to spend it with the kit. jinyoung had turned to him with bright eyes, practically jumping at the thought of going out. sunwoo had laughed, listening to the kit list down what he wanted to do for the day: fly kites, visit the park, feed ducks, and roast marshmallows by the fire. they buy ice cream and head for the playground, the kites having been forgotten because slides! swings! and monkey bars!
jinyoung scrambles up a swing chair, and sunwoo pushes him (gently!) from behind. after the ice cream had been licked away, jinyoung tilts his head back, looking at sunwoo upside down, and then asks.
"where's heecheon?"
sunwoo's hand falters but he recovers in time.
"i think he went to visit his grandmother. why, do you miss him?"
to which jinyoung just responds with a one-shouldered shrug, then demands for higher! higher! and sunwoo calms down.
(it doesn't mean anything, not really. jinyoung had just gotten used to seeing the guy, of course he'd ask if he suddenly disappeared one day. it doesn't mean the kit already likes him)
"i like him," jinyoung says after a while, and this time when sunwoo stands stunned, he doesn't recover in time--the seat of jinyoung's swing hits him full on the crotch and he falls back, groaning.
"sunwoo!" jinyoung jumps of the swing, nearly faceplanting into the dirt (stupid, clumsy kit) and sinking to his knees next to sunwoo. "sunwoo, are you okay?"
"yeah," sunwoo gasps, then holds up a hand to indicate he can't really talk. some kids nearby stare at him and laugh, and sunwoo growls at them. jinyoung pats him on the head.
damn kim heecheon.
"hyuuuuuuung~"
"don't whine, god, do you know how annoying you sound."
"well someone's not in a good mood."
"it's two o'clock in the fucking morning sunwoo, what do you want."
sunwoo pouts. he'd called dongwoo up because he couldn't sleep. jinyoung was spending the night over the heecheon's because dino had suggested the two spend time together for optimum bonding. sunwoo had counted on jinyoung to say no, but the kit had taken one look at heecheon's smiley face and agreed (most definitely maybe out of pity) and so sunwoo was left to spend his saturday night alone.
it had started out pretty well. sunwoo had finally gotten around to making an actual, discernible difference on the pile of laundry that was already beginning to take on the looks of a small hill. he also managed to whip up a half-decent lunch that didn't include inedible foodstuff, and the living room looked like an actual living room, for once. come afternoon though, he was bored. he'd thought about swinging by dongwoo's place, but found that he was too tired. he was almost tempted to take his bike and ride around the neighborhood and maybe pass by heecheon's house accidentally on purpose but he thought of how jinyoung had smiled at heecheon when the guy came to pick him up and just resorted to kicking his blanket off the bed. which resulted in him getting cold toes so he had to pick it back up.
by nightfall he was going nuts. junghwan wouldn't answer his phone, sending him a quick ttyl bro i'm having an actual DATE with coffee boy followed by a string of hearts and smiley faces instead, and sunwoo assumes he must be getting lucky with the tall, handsome hoobae he'd been crushing on since said hoobae (accidentally!) poured half his iced coffee on junghwan.
lucky bastard.
so of course, dongwoo is his only choice.
"i'm bored."
"and i should care because?" dongwoo yawns.
"so mean. don't you even feel the slightest urge to relieve me of my burden."
"not really," dongwoo says, sounding sleepy. "look, if you miss jinyoung so much, why don't you just tell heecheon and get him back? technically jinyoung hasn't decided to stay with him. you can just say you changed your mind about not keeping the kit."
"i do not," he says hotly. "for your information i had fun spending time by myself."
"yeah? so why are you calling be at this time?"
"i miss you?" sunwoo tries.
"right. look, i'd love to stay with you as you find yourself and own up to your repressed emotions but i'm too sleepy and i have to open up early tomo--later. so. i'm just gonna give it to you straight, get it through that thick skull of yours. you are jealous of heecheon and the apparent interest jinyoung is developing for him. the kit's crazy for you, but if you keep pushing him away he might just latch on to heecheon. take him back, while you still can."
"but i told you. i don't want a catboy."
"listen to me, you idiot. keep this up and you'll lose him--for real. maybe by next week he'll decide he likes heecheon better. the guy clearly dotes on him anyway, and isn't afraid to show it unlike someone we both know. jinyoung is bound to like him back at one point, and then there's nothing you can do. how do you feel about that?"
like he got hit by a ten-wheeler truck is what it feels like. he thinks of the kit--the way he smiles, how his eyes crinkle around the edges when he smiles, how he feels in sunwoo's arms--he puts heecheon's face in place of him and the realization sits like a coil of snakes in his stomach. "fuck."
dongwoo is annoyingly smug. "i thought so. i'd never thought i'd say this, but. get your shit together, all right? and stop calling me at ungodly hours, or i'm banning you from the shop. forever. g'night."
dongwoo has long since hanged up, but sunwoo keeps the phone pressed to his ear. he thinks he's having this weird drama scenario where the protagonist hears the wise words of an old mentor playing in his head over and over again, while waiting for the wisdom of said words to seep into his brain. it's almost a eureka moment, but not quite.
he hopes it isn't too late.
For: Everyone!
Pairing/Focus: Baro/Jinyoung
Rating: PG
Word Count: 8k
Summary: The rain brings in something a little more than what Sunwoo is prepared to deal with.
Notes/Warnings: this is my first time writing this pairing so i hope you don't hate it too much? also, there are cameos by dino and heecheon of halo, i hope you don't mind....
"ha..." sunwoo grimaces at the sky, dark with the threat of rain, as he steps out of the music store. he hears a be careful, don't slip and die on the way home! from his boss. yeah, yeah he shouts back, and then takes a deep breath, putting his hood up and hoping he reaches home before it rains. a few streets away from his house and he's pelted with raindrops. he frowns and walks faster.
sunwoo is running by the time he turns down his street, one hand holding the hood of his jacket down and the other hugging his already soaked backpack closer to his chest. he speeds up as he gets nearer, sneakers slapping wetly against the pavement, further soaking his already drenched jeans.of course it would rain the day he forgot to bring an umbrella. of course.
he heaves a big sigh when he reaches his gate, pushing the rickety old thing with a grimace--he'd have to find time to fix it before it comes right off the hinges, but not now. he takes a few moments to fumble around in his backpack for the house key before finally remembering he'd stuffed it in his right pocket for the very purpose of not having to rummage around his bag. sunwoo digs it out with a triumphant ha!, trying to steady his shaking hands, already numb from the cold. he's just about to open the door when he catches something in his peripheral vision.
a brown misshapen lump beneath his bushes, just a little ways to his right. his airy scream tones down to a breathless whistle and he clutches at his chest, eyes frozen on the glowing orbs peering at him from the moldy blanket-wrapped lump.
sunwoo takes a shaky step backwards and the lump moves. the sudden movement causes the top of the blanket to snag on the bushes, revealing the mysterious lurker.sunwoo's brain registers the ears before noticing everything else. they were reddish brown and tapered to a point, half-hidden behind a tangle of pale blond locks. slanted eyes blink at him once, twice.
sunwoo doesn't even try to disguise the thin scream that bubbles out of his mouth.
"what--who are you?"
the catboy stares at him, yellow eyes blinking once, then twice, and sunwoo counts five full heartbeats before the catboy tips forward, landing on to the ground in a dead faint.
"hyung." sunwoo is thisclose to whining to an extremely apathetic dongwoo."hyung, help me. he--it--just. it's holed up under my bed. hissing at me. help."
sunwoo kneels to peek at the creature that had claimed it's place under his bed. he had brought the catboy in out of pure conscience (lie, actually. it was just that it's considerably more bearable than engaging in a conversation with the welfare officers as to why there was a possibly dead catboy lying beneath his duranta)
he had managed to clean most of its face, which had been streaked with grease and grime and other things sunwoo had decided he'd be better off not identifying. but then it woke up, took one look at sunwoo holding aloft a very nonthreatening towel, and started, basically, to go berserk. it leapt up and over the couch, leaving long scratch marks sunwoo wants to cry at.
the kit, maybe three or four months old by sunwoo's reckoning, had dashed for the closed door, jumping up and down in a fairly amusing attempt to reach the doorknob before giving up and turning tail, heading instead for sunwoo's bedroom and hiding under sunwoo's bed, nearly squashing itself against the wall, out of sunwoo's reach. an hour and a half later sunwoo is still alternating between bargaining with the kit (whose main responses consist of yowls and hisses and growls but no actual discernible words) and pleading with dongwoo to come over because he'd rather not lose any of his extremities to a wild and possibly disease-ridden catboy.
"there are no wild kits," dongwoo lectures him over the phone, his voice calm, if a bit static-y. "he probably got lost though, that happens a lot. does he have a tag? a collar?"
"hyung, i can't even see exactly what color his hair is, how do you expect me to check if he has a collar?"
"he'll have to come out from under the bed at some point," dongwoo points out. "at least get him to talk and--" sunwoo hears the sound of a quick exhale and then dongwoo's voice, thick and exasperated. "sunwoo. what are you doing. do not growl back at him, it won't help. also, you sound constipated."
"but hyung!"
"all right. fine.i'm coming over." sunwoo can almost sense the older rolling his eyes at him, and he smiles.
"just. sunwoo. stop hissing."
he frowns.
"you are a catboy whisperer." sunwoo declares the title with awe, watching dongwoo adjust the blanket, which had slipped off, around the shoulders of the peacefully sleeping catboy.
dongwoo had, as promised, turned up half an hour after hanging up on sunwoo, shaking rainwater out of his hair and asking where the catboy was. sunwoo had shown him, and had watched with stupefied amazement as dongwoo lured the catboy out with soft, gentle words. dongwoo had bathed the kit, even cajoled him out of his dirty clothes and into one of sunwoo's old shirts, taming the wild nest that was his hair-- actually pale pink in color, not blond as he'd thought-- then had him settled on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket. sunwoo went to the kitchen, feeling awkward and in the way, trying not to feel resentful of how the kit had practically latched on to dongwoo, wordlessly agreeing to everything dongwoo said and basically boring holes into sunwoo's face with a blank-eyed stare, making him feel weird.
"thanks, hyung." sunwoo hands the older man a cup of coffee, which dongwoo accepts with an appreciative smile.
dongwoo just nods. "he likes you."
"who?"
dongwoo rolls his eyes before answering. "the kit. who else?"
sunwoo makes a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat.
"really? i couldn't tell. i thought he looked more like he wanted to slit me open with his claws."
dongwoo laughs, and for the thousandth time since they met, sunwoo wonders how everything about him could be so gentle and unassuming. "his eyes never left you. that's a sure sign a catboy likes a person."
"huh." sunwoo doesn't say anything more, just glances at the still sleeping kit and sips his coffee.
"i wonder who his owner is," dongwoo muses and sunwoo nods. stray catboys were extremely rare. they were bred with specific traits and appearances based on the customer's preferences, and the process of acquiring one was so rigorous in itself, all those tests and licences to prove that the customer can provide for the catboy, not to mention the price itself, which was no small sum. catboys are an investment, and it was hard to believe someone would throw out a catboy, especially one so young, after shelling out a huge amount of money.
"maybe it got lost, like you said," sunwoo suggests, but even as he says the words he doesn't actually believe a it. it didn't have a collar, like all catboys do. it seemed slightly malnourished, hair gone shaggy and messy, like it had been living out on the streets for weeks.
"well, what are you planning to do with him?"
sunwoo shrugs. "i don't know. i obviously can't keep him, so. put up a few posters, maybe? and get him to talk, maybe he can tell me where he lives."
"what?" he demands when dongwoo doesn't answer.
"i just thought--wouldn't you want to keep him? if it turns out that he was really abandoned, or something."
"no." sunwoo doesn't even need to think before responding. he didn't like catboys. never did, never will. he doesn't judge people who do--sunggyu, one of his sunbaes at work, has a catboy, a black haired kit named myungsoo, whom he can tolerate just fine. myungsoo's cute and smart, like most kits are, and they get along pretty well, but he can't imagine owning a catboy. they just seemed to be on a different level of weird-- human looking faces and bodies, but with the bonus of glowy cat eyes and cat ears and cat tails and ugh.
"why can't you keep him?" dongwoo asks, and even though his lips are hidden behind the coffee cup the smile painted on them is echoed in his eyes.
"because he's a catboy. hyung, you know i don't like catboys."
"you like myungsoo," dongwoo points out, setting his coffee cup down.
"well, he's not mine, so." sunwoo tolerates catboys. but owning one--actually taking care of one--is something he isn't quite sure he's prepared to do.
"can't you take him, hyung? you like catboys."
dongwoo shakes his head. "can't. hayoungie's allergic to cat fur."
sunwoo hums into his coffee. dongwoo has always wanted a pet, but his girlfriend, hayoung, always goes into a full-scale allergy attack if she so much as sniffs pet fur.
"i'd turn him over to the pound, if ever," sunwoo says in answer to dongwoo's original question. "he's goodlooking, i doubt he'd even have to stay there a week."
they talk about trivial things and then dongwoo has to say goodbye. sunwoo walks the older man to his front door, thanking him for his time.
"don't kill him!" dongwoo says cheerfully, waving goodbye, and sunwoo sputters.
"that was one time! they were goldfishes!" he yells back. dongwoo's laughter comes back to him, and he frowns even deeper.
he closes the door and leans against it, eyes going to the still sleeping kit. he'd have to find a new home for it, and soon.
"ugh." sunwoo sits up for the fifth time. he glances at the clock on his bedside table--3:36 am, the neon green numbers inform him-- and groans, dropping his head back on his pillow and mushing his face with it.
he couldn't sleep, and he blames it on the catboy. he's never had anyone else stay the night. his college buddy junghwan comes by every once in a while, but sunwoo always (goodnaturedly) kicks him out before he turns in for the night. it's weird, having someone in the house, aside from himself. moreso because that someone is a stranger. and a catboy.
he flips the comforters off himself, ultimately deciding to fix himself a cup of warm milk in the hopes of it helping to make him feel sleepy. he tiptoes out the door, feeling dumb about having to be careful in his own house. he glances at the living room, then makes way for the kitchen. a few steps later he stops, then turns.
there's nothing weird about wanting to check on a stranger kit staying in his house, he tells himself. for the night, he adds as an afterthought.
he takes small, measured steps, cringing at the minutest creaks his slippers make on the wooden floor. he peeks over the couch--and frowns.
the blankets are bunched on the sofa, but the kit is nowhere to be seen. he opens the lights, searching the bathroom and kitchen as well, but still no sign of the kit. it isn't until he checks the door that he realizes it's slightly ajar.
the kit had left.
sunwoo frowns at his hand, then at the doorknob around which said hand is clasped, and then back at his hand. he should lock it-- of course he should, it's a common safety precaution-- but then he looks up at the sky, cloudy and overcast and carrying the threat of rain, and he hesitates. what if it rained and that dumb kit came back?
he shakes his head furiously. he hadn't wanted a catboy. in fact, he was glad the catboy left on his own, that he didn't have to kick it out.
he turns to leave and is immediately assaulted by a familiar face. the catboy practically jumped on him, and he pushes it away gingerly.
"what, you just change you mind and--ughhff." the catboy seemed frantic, and sunwoo couldn't decide if it was trying to clamber over him or wedge itself into his neck. he gets a bit of fabric in his mouth and he spits it out, sputtering.
"what's wrong with--oh."
"he yours?" two breathless pound officers stand over him, huffing and puffing with apparent exertion. sunwoo mutters a silent curse to the wriggling kit in his arms before smoothing his face into something that he hopes emanates startled innocence.
"is--is there something wrong, sir?"
the officer, a pudgy man whose uniform seemed ready to pop on him, gives a final wheeze before straightening up. "that kit had us chasing all over the neighborhood. got no collar, no tag--is he yours?"
no, he's not, is the response he intends to give, but then the catboy whimpers against his shoulder, digging somewhat sharp nails into his shoulder blades, and he bites out a "yes" instead. cue internal cursing.
the officer frowns at him. "collar him, then, unless you want him sent to the pound. you know the rules." the man squints and sunwoo swallows. "you let him run out all night?"
"well, i--" the man's eyes narrow further into slits and sunwoo coughs. "no. i. no, sir, of course not. it's just--this is the first time this happened?"
the officer grunts, and sunwoo is sure he's about to pull handcuffs out to take sunwoo for questioning, but miraculously, he doesn't. "and it better be the last. i don't have time to be running around strays, naturals or hybrids. if i see him again on the street without a collar or an owner he goes into the pound, you hear? lots of people get irresponsible with pets nowadays." he shakes his head then gestures for his decidedly thinner subordinate to follow him. sunwoo bows repeatedly, thanking them for their time and apologizing for the disturbance. the officer just waves him away, hiking his pants higher before going into the cruiser. sunwoo keeps his head down until they are gone.
"they're gone," he says after a while, biting back a laugh when the kit hesitantly pushes away from him to peek, one hand still fisted in sunwoo's shirt. the kit heaves an audble sigh of relief before slumping back on sunwoo's shoulder. sunwoo barely has the chance to decide to feel awkward when the kit flashes back upright, staring at him like he's only just realized who he latched on to. he's out of sunwoo's arms in two seconds, running straight for the bushes. sunwoo sighs. this is going to be hard. he walks over to the half-dead clump of plants, stopping just a few steps away. he crouches down, barely catching sight of the still trembling kit.
"hey, look. i'm not going to hurt you. i saved you from the pound officers, didn't i?"
a rustle of dry leaves answers him and he rolls his eyes. "look here, kitty. i have to go to work. you have to stay somewhere safe--it might rain again, and i'm sure you wouldn't want another run-in with those officers. so. i'm very graciously offering you the shelter of my house, on the condition that you don't burn it down or something until i get back."
another rustle, and then silence. sunwoo glances at his watch--if he doesn't go now he'd be late for work. he stands up. "you know what? never mind. if you don't want to, them i'm going. i need to work. have fun playing hide and seek with those officers."
he's barely taken two steps when he feels a tug on his pants and he grins down at the kit who has his gaze trained on the ground. one little fist grips his pant leg tightly.
sunwoo beams at the kit.
"well then. let's set some house rules, okay?"
"how's the kit?"
sunwoo's shift at the music store ended half an hour ago (he works as a clerk, not exactly his dream job, but it's okay) and he decided to stop by dongwoo's shop to get a free meal. dongwoo sets a bowl of ramyun in front of him and sunwoo takes it gratefully, practically inhaling the food before deigning a reply.
"s'okay," he says, chewing noisily and choosing to ignore dongwoo's unimpressed gaze. he's pretty sure a lecture on proper table manners is already sitting on the elder's tongue, but whatever. he's hungry. "he sleeps on the sofa and eats three times a day. he's doing a pretty good job at pretending i don't exist. except for mealtimes."
dongwoo sighs, and sunwoo has been desensitized enough to it to not feel sorry. he's been on the receiving end of those sighs lately, since he got the catboy.
"do you even try," dongwoo says,wiping the counter down.
on account of the free meal, sunwoo decides not to feel offended by the assumed lack of effort on his part. "hyung. i gave him a place to stay. i feed him. i'm trying my best to find a good home for him. what else am i supposed to do."
"be nice to him," dongwoo suggests, and sunwoo rolls his eyes.
"i am so nice. he just doesn't like me."
it's true. the kit was tolerant of dongwoo, who had cleaned him up that first night, but after a few more visits it was clear the kit liked the older man. he hadn't ever smiled at sunwoo once, but he practically beams when dongwoo is around. sunwoo tries very hard not to feel bitter. it works. almost.
"he knows you don't like him. catboys are sensitive that way, i told you. if you could just, i don't know, try to talk to him, maybe he won't be that aloof."
sunwoo slurps his noddles. "how about i find him a home soonest, so he'll be out of my hands. i'm sure that'll work better for both of us."
"yeah, and how's that project going? i thought you were going to put up posters and stuff."
"a great big failure is what it is. pound officers have marked him, and they think he's mine, so. i can't go with that plan. so i'm very discreetly asking everyone i know if they'd like a catboy but they all say no." sunwoo turns a hopeful eye on the elder. "has hayoung gotten over her allergy yet?"
to which dongeoo responds with a bop on sunwoo's head. "it's an allergy. it's not something you can just get over with."
"there's always hope," sunwoo answers before turning back to his food. truth be told, he's exerted quite an effort to get along with the kit. sunwoo would be keeping him, for the meantime, and he knows it'd be better for both the kit's health and sunwoo's dignity if they at least reach a level of amiable coexistence. right now they're both skittish around esch other--the kit's eyes follows every movement sunwoo makes like he's afraid sunwoo would suddenly try and hurt him, and sunwoo feels more and more like an intruder in his own house, having to announce his presence by making extra noise so he doesn't scare the kit off. it's all very tiring.
also, he still doesn't know what the kit's name is. he's tried asking, but all he gets is a blank stare that's just a tad too creepy. he stopped trying since. he's jolted out of his thoughts by the sight of dongwoo putting his coat on.
"you're leaving?" he asks, slurping the last of the broth and wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
"got to pick hayoungie up from work," dongwoo rushes to the door, but not before sneaking one last look at the mirror to check his hair. "do me a favor and lock up, okay? and wash that bowl, don't just dump it on the sink. turn the lights off before you go."
"yes, mother," he answers wryly. "go."
dongwoo runs out the door, but barely even five seconds later he comes back. "i almost forgot! that bag on the counter is for the kit. i made some dumplings, he might like them. lock up, okay? bye!"
and then he's gone. sunwoo does wash his bowl and utensils, and clicks every light off on his way out. he takes a photo of the shop door, sending it to dongwoo as proof.
thanks for the food, hyung. and i locked up properly, see? u.u
he's halfway home when he gets a response.
good boy. play nice and get along with your kitty
he just snorts in response, pocketing his phone and walking a little more briskly towards home.
the kit does like the dumplings, judging by the way he keeps shoveling them in his mouth like he's been starved for years. which he's not, by the way. just to be clear.
"here," sunwoo says, setting a glass of water in front of the kit, who stops mid-chew and just stares at him. "please don't choke on the dumplings, i promise you can have them all. i already ate."
the kit says nothing, but he does begin eating slowly. sunwoo smiles. it's a start. he edges along the sofa, trying to sit closer to the kit without being too obvious, sighing in relief when the kit doesn't even flinch.
"what's your name?" he tries after a while, when the kit has stopped eating, lying on yhe floor with a content look on his face. the kit turns to him but doesn't say a word.
sunwoo clears his throat. "it's just. you know. you've been here for almost three weeks and i still don't have anything to call you by."
"jinyoung."the kit curls up on his side so he's facing sunwoo."you're sunwoo."
sunwoo nods. "where do you live?"
jinyoung looks away. "your friend makes good food. i like the dumplings."
"i'll tell him that. i'm sure he'd be glad. how did you end up in my backyard?"
the kit stays quiet, and for a moment sunwoo wishes dongwoo was around. dongwoo was nice and gentle and patient and doesn't scare catboys off, the way sunwoo apparently does.
"my family doesn't want me anymore."
"what?"
jinyoung looks at him, his gaze both defiant and sad. "i--i had an owner once, and he was so nice. but he was really weak, and sometimes he got sick, and then his family takes him to the hospital. he kept on sicker and sicker, and one day when they took him to the hospital they never brought him back. his wife didn't like me, and when she moved back to the country she didn't take me with her."
"so you didn't get lost."
jinyoung shakes his head. "i heard her calling the pound to come pick me up. i got scared, so i ran." jinyoung stands up and gives him a stiff bow. "thank you for the meal." he slips into sunwoo's room and comes back with his pillow and blanket bunched under his arms, looking at him expectantly. sunwoo gets the hint and stands, and jinyoung climbs up, covering himself with the blanket. "goodnight, sunwoo."
sunwoo isn't sure if he should say something more--he probably should, but he doesn't know what, so he mumbles back a goodnight and spends the night tossing in an umcomfortable sleep.
"why don't we go out for a walk," is how sunwoo greets the kit when he gets home that afternoon.
jinyoung sits up, ears perking up at the sound of sunwoo's voice. sunwoo had expected him to brighten up--he's been cooped up in the house for far too long with only the tv and the swirling dust motes by the window to entertain him (sunwoo knows the kit would deny it, but he's seen him staring at dust motes for hours, even batting at it and giggling when he thinks sunwoo isn't around. weird kit.)
"you feel guilty, don't you. because of what i told you." the words are said matter-of-factly, without any trace if suspicion or bitterness, but sunwoo is still on the defensive.
"no. i just thought you wanted to get out of here, see what's outside. i think my house is very cool, too, but even i get bored sometimes."
"your house is a mess," jinyoung points out. "only less so, because i clean up sometimes."
"hey, my house has character."
"your house has spiderwebs in the corners."
sunwoo feigns offense at this. "never mind, let's just stay here." but jinyoung has already bounded over to the door, stuffing his feet into the pair of sneakers sunwoo had bought for him.
"outside is good. let's go outside."
sunwoo sighs. "come here first. i borrowed something from sunggyu hyung. you need it to go outside." he holds the collar out. it's a simple black leather collar, one of myungsoo's. sunggyu thought he had bought a catboy, and was more than willing to give him myungsoo's old stuff, things that the adult catboy had grown out off. sunwoo didn't have the chance to correct him, because the guy had pulled a muscle (they were in the back room, rearranging boxes) and has started whining about it.
"i'm not wearing that."
"why not?" sunwoo frowns at the collar. it looked okay. it wasn't old or cracked or anything, because myungsoo is good at taking care of his things.
"i can go without one," jinyoung insists. "you're with me anyway."
he shrugs and tosses the collar on to the sofa. "fine."
as opposed to the somber kit sunwoo has gotten used to, this jinyoung seems to be a polar opposite. the kit runs ahead of him, stopping at every shop window to gape at displays, running back to sunwoo to give reports on what he saw. the kit trips over his own tail at least three times, but it doesn't hamper his excitement. sunwoo catches himself smiling, even laughing at times.
it's late when they make it back home, and jinyoung is carrying several stuffed animals under his arm. sunwoo is still wondering how he'd gotten badgered into buying those.
he goes straight to the spare room while the kit fawns over his new toys. sunwoo had bought some clothes for him too, but he's more interested in the plushies.
sunwoo's house has an extra room, which he rarely used, except to store things he no longer needed. he's pretty sure there's a mattress somewhere. he clears up a small space, pushing most of the boxes back.
"what're you doing?" jinyoung appears at his side, tugging a bear plushie by the arm. he already changed into another of sunwoo's old shirts, the hem just barely skimming the tips of his toes. he has his own clothes by now, even dongwoo had chipped in and bought him jeans and shoes, but he still prefers to wear sunwoo's old stuff.
"i'm making a bed for you," he answers easily."i can't watch tv properly when you're passed out on the couch." hr stands back and surveys his work. it's not that bad. he was able to find a low table jinyoung can use, and he took the lamp from his own room and placed it on the table. "what do you think?"
"i can sleep here?"
"sure. i thought you might like to have your own room.it's just temporary,of course. just until i find an owner for you."
"what if you don't?"
sunwoo turns to look the jinyoung, but the kit has his eyes trained to the floor. "what?"
"w-what if. what if you don't find anyone who would like me? what then?"
"i'm sure that won't happen. you're cute...and stuff. i'm sure someone would want to take you in. until then, you'd have to put up with me." jinyoung mumbles something too low for sunwoo to hear, then just gives him a blank look when he raises his eyebrows inquisitively.
"you don't need to sleep on the sofa anymore, okay? we'll move your other stuff tomorrow, i'm too tired to move."
sunwoo wakes in the middle of the night, feeling thirsty. he stumbles a bit to get to the door,then opens it wide, taking a step only to trip on something. he falls forward, just barely managing to save himself from faceplanting.
"what the fu--what are you doing?"
the kit sits up sleepily, rubbing at his eyes. "m'sleeping."
"i can see that. but why are you sleeping out here? i gave you a room for a reason!"
the kit just yawns, looking sleepy again."but i always--" right then he snaps awake, looking guilty.
sunwoo squints at him. "have you been sleeping at my door ever since?"
jinyoung refuses to look at him. "...maybe."
"why?"
"this place has the perfect temperature for sleeping." jinyoung deadpans, and sunwoo casts him a judging look. jinyoung bristles. "it's true! you wouldn't know it because you're human. i'm so much more sensitive than you are."
"right. whatever. keep your fur on. i'm thirsty." he ruffles the kit's hair, laughing when he frowns at him deeply. so cute, looking all disgruntled like that.
he gets back to his bedroom, someone is already on his bed. jinyoung is curled up under the comforters, looking blissfully contented, already drifting off to sleep.
"you're on my bed."
"your bed has better temperature," jinyoung answers sleepily. "us catboys grow better when we sleep at specific temperatures. it's science."
"you're still on my bed."
the sleepy grin jinyoung gives sunwoo may or may not be doing things to his heart. why does the kit have to be so cute. "i can share."
"i'm a messy sleeper. i may kick you out of bed unintentionally."
jinyoung cracks open an eye. "me, too. i might claw your back open. unintentionally."
sunwoo grumbles, but slips into bed anyway. it's okay, he tells himself. just for tonight.
"good morning!"
sunwoo blinks and then stares at the tiny catboy, no taller than the top of the dinner table, standing proudly beside said table with a huge smile on his face. how he can be so damn cheery this early in the morning, sunwoo has no idea, but he mumbles a good morning back nonetheless, scratching his cheek and letting out a wide yawn.
the kit smiles, moving out of the way as sunwoo settles himself down his chair, wondering if it would require less effort on his part for them to have cold cereal or scrambled eggs for breakfast. he is so not a morning person.
"wake up." a nudge at his side tells him he had fallen asleep on the table (definitely not the first time it happened) and he jerks upright, blinking dumbly at the kit, who lets out a peal of laughter.
"breakfast!" the kit says, and sunwoo attempts to stand. the kit pushes him back down. "where are you going?"
"breakfast," he repeats dumbly. "cereal or eggs? because i don't think--"
another laugh and then the kit is clambering up the chair next to him. "i made breakfast! see?"
"oh." only then does he notice the food that jinyoung prepared. it's nothing special, barely even edible: burned bacon slices, eggs with shells still sticking out in places, soggy cereal and watery oatmeal.
sunwoo eyes the less than appetizing spread, then looks at jinyoung, smiling cheerily at him. he sighs and spears a slice of bacon. he chews and chews, slugging orange juice after he swallows.
"good?" jinyoung asks, and sunwoo stares, almost tempted to say no, but then the kit positively wilts under his gaze and it makes sunwoo feel ten kinds of guilty and he is so not a morning person.
"good," he says, relenting. jinyoung beams and sunwoo shoves a forkful of eggs in his mouth, shells crackling under his teeth as he chews. hmm. maybe mornings aren't all that bad after all.
"i liked that one."
"hush you. i bought you, like, five plushies last week. i am never taking you out again if--" sunwoo's phone rings, and the rest of his threat goes unsaid. it's dino, one of sunwoo's coworkers.
"hey," sunwoo says into the receiver, looking down for a moment to squint at jinyoung who is still pouting for a toy. jinyoung laughs and wraps himself around sunwoo's arm, knowing he'd get what he wants soon enough. dumb crinkly-smiled kit. jinyoung starts rubbing his head against sunwoo's hand, and sunwoo lets him, but not before sneaking a pinch on the kit's cheek. sometimes sunwoo still couldn't believe how fast the kit has grown. he's closer in height and built to a ten-years old now. dongwoo says catboys mature faster, aging in cat years rather than human, although it slows down once they reach adulthood.
"hey yourself," dino says. "i found a new owner for the kit, be proud of me." he'd told dino about wanting help to find an owner for jinyoung. the guy had said he'd keep an eye out and tell him if he finds one. but that had been three months ago.
sunwoo's hand freezes, and jinyoung stops rubbing his head against it, looking up at him with inquisitive eyes. sunwoo tries to give him a reassuring smile, but his lips are frozen too. he clears his throat. "you did? when?"
"just this morning. i think you know him--heecheon? from the coffee shop down the street? skinny guy with seriously pale skin? anyway, i showed him a picture of the kit and he says he'd love to take him off your hands. he'd always wanted a catboy."
"oh. i--"
"heecheon says he can drop by this afternoon to meet the kit. it told him it's cool."
"i--okay." sunwoo suddenly feels cold, like he'd plunged into ice.
"are you okay?" jinyoung looks concerned. "i was just kidding about the toy."
"it's fine. listen. jinyoung..."
heecheon stands, casting an apologetic look at sunwoo. "i guess i'll drop by again tomorrow? i don't want to rush him, i'm a stranger and he's clearly scared."
scared would be an understatement. jinyoung had clung to sunwoo, watching heecheon with suspicious eyes as the guy introduced himself. he'd hissed when sunwoo worked his way out of the kit's grip, having to go back to the store because apparently sunggyu had gotten into some sort of accident. he was gone barely an hour (sunggyu had managed to topple one of the stacked up boxes in the stock room, making a spectacular mess out ov everything) and came back to see jinyoung cowering in a corner, looking scared out of his life.
the kit ran straight for sunwoo the moment sunwoo came in, trembling and near tears. sunwoo had never felt so guilty in his life.
"i'm sorry," he says to heecheon. "he was like this when i first met him, too. i should have realized--i shouldn't have left him."
"jinyoung."
"go 'way."
"jinyoung..."
"go away!" sunwoo hears a sniffle, and he sighs.
"jinyoung. really. you can't lock me out of my own house. let me in. let's talk, okay?"
there's a beat of silence, and then the door creaks open. sunwoo steps in, sighing, apologies sitting awkwardly on his tongue. jinyoung is standing just outside of his reach, and when he tries to come closer the kit just scuttles back.
"look-"
"you don't like me!" jinyoung yells, and sunwoo blinks. "you lied to me!"
"i--what? when?"
jinyoung raises teary eyes to him and he flinches. it's dumb, he knows, but it actually hurts, seeing jinyoung this way. guilt rolls through his stomach in unpleasant waves.
"you said i could live here. you cooked for me and let me sleep in your room and bought me clothes but you don't like me!"
"jinyoung." sunwoo is honestly baffled by the reaction. "i like you. i do. i--"
"then why are you giving me away! if you like me so much why are you giving me to a stranger!" jinyoung is crying by now, fat tears slipping down his eyes ad onto the fur on his cheeks. sunwoo clenched and unclenches his hands, unsure where to put them.
"i'm sorry," he says, sitting crosslegged on the floor. "but i told you before, right? i'd keep you, but only until i can find a more suitable owner. i can't take care of you."
"but you already were!" jinyoung protests.
"i can't take care of you well," sunwoo clarifies. "i've got my job, and frankly, it's been more of you taking care of me instead of the other way around."
"but i like you!"
sunwoo sighs, then holds his arms out. "c'mere."
jinyoung just glares at him, and sunwoo is about to lower his arms when the kit jumps into them, burrowing his face on sunwoo's shoulder.
"i like you too, but i don't think i can keep you. give heecheon a chance, won't you? you might like him."
jinyoung doesn't answer, just presses closer into him. sunwoo suppresses a groan when jinyoung's nails dig into his skin.
"you really want me to stay with him?" jinyoung asks after a while.
sunwoo opens his mouth. and closes it. and opens it again. "it still depends on you," he says after a while. "if you like him, you can stay witn him. if not, we can always find another. someone you'd like." he wants to take the words back as soon as they leave his mouth but he stops himself. he can't keep a catboy, he reminds himself.
jinyoung pushes himself away from him, looking oddly calm and blank. "okay. he said he'll come back tomorrow, right?"
sunwoo suddenly feels--hollow. he looks down at his hands, then glances up when he realizes jinyoung is still there, waiting for an answer. "y-yeah. he'll be back tomorrow."
jinyoung nods. "okay. okay. i'll see if i like him. tomorrow. goodnight, sunwoo." he turns, heading for the spare bedroom.
"you can sleep with me, if you'd like," sunwoo offers, watching him walk away.
"that's okay. i can sleep in my own tonight." jinyoung gives him a small smile before disappearing into the bedroom.
sunwoo has a hard time sleeping that night.
heecheon does come by the next day, and to everyone's surprise, he and jinyoung hit it off well. jinyoung looked happy, poring over the myriad of toys and treats heecheon had brought over.
"tell me you're okay with this." dongwoo appears at his side. sunwoo tears his eyes away from the two, who are now rolling on the carpet, play-wrestling. such kids, honestly.
"what?"
dongwoo hands him a cup of cocoa, then nods at the still roughhousing pair. "him. them. you're okay with it?"
"sure," he mumbles into his cup. of course it's okay--more than okay. he finally found a potential owner for the kit who he thinks he can actually trust. the guy seems okay--jinyoung had all but almost clawed him open yesterday, and he still showed up today, looking all excited and shit. it should all be okay, and sunwoo should be relieved, at the very least, so why does he feel like tearing the kit away from those gangly arms and that pretty face? he takes a giant gulp of cocoa, and promptly burns his tongue off.
"shit--'y 'int 'oo 'ell me i' was 'ot?" he runs to the faucet, running cool water over his tongue.
"you didn't ask," dongwoo answers cheerfully.
sunwoo glares at him before turning back to the sink. he feels someone tuggin his the leg of his pants and he looks down to find jinyoung staring up at him.
"are you okay?"
"'ah." sunwoo grimaces, then tries again. "yeah, yeah. m'fine. go play."
there's that little pout again, and sunwoo's arms kind of itches to reach out and hug the kit. instead he gently pries the kit's hand from his pant leg and gives him a pat on the head, knowing full well that jinyoung hates anyone who messes his hair. it earns him a frown and he smiles.
"i'm okay. aren't you having fun with heecheon?"
"yeah.." jinyoung glances back at heecheon, still lying haphazard on the floor and waving a snake plushie at the kit.
"i'm tired though."
"we can go home," sunwoo says, drying the corner of his mouth with his shirt. "you guys can play again tomorrow."
jinyoung nods and runs off to say goodbye to heecheon, who pouts and does aegyo (so annoying!) for a hug from the kit (who just side-eyes him, ha!) then totters back to sunwoo, begging for a lift, because he's apparently too tired from playing. sunwoo complies, hoisting him up and letting him settle in his arms. he wonders if he's too mean for enjoying that envious look in heecheon's eyes, then decides he doesn't really care.
"so. did you like him?" sunwoo asks as he walks down the street. it's nearly dark out, and it has gotten a little chilly, so he wrapped his jacket around the kit instead. jinyoung snuffles into his neck sleepily, and doesn't answer.
"he's nice," jinyoung says after a while.
"nicer than me?" he means it as a joke, but then something gets stuck in his throat, sending his heart hammering, waiting for the answer. stupid, stupid.
"i don't know," jinyoung whispers honestly. "don't you think he's too pretty?"
sunwoo laughs out loud once. "you don't like him for being too pretty? and what does that say about me?"
"you're not pretty."
"hey--"
"i think you're..." jinyoung pulls back, squinting at him. "cute?"
"cute," sunwoo repeats dumbly. then--"cute? excuse you, but i'd prefer dashing, or handsome, or--"
jinyoung snorts against his neck, and sunwoo laughs because it tickles. and also because it's nice, holding jinyoung like this. a wave of guilt starts to wash over him but he bites it down.
"nope. just cute." there's another lengthy pause, and sunwoo thinks jinyoung had fallen asleep for sure. "but you're handsome, sometimes."
"oh? when?"
"hmmm..." the kit draws the syllable out, erupting into giggles after a while. sunwoo shakes him.
"yah!"
"remember when you saved me from the pound officers? you looked handsome then."
sunwoo remembers stuttering throughout the whole thing and hoping the officers wouldn't see through his lie. how he could have looked nice while having an internal mental breakdown, he has no idea.
"and when you wake up your hair all spiky and messy. you look cool. and when you're sleeping, too. especially on those days when you let me sleep with you..."
sunwoo smiles when jinyoung trails off. he must be a lot more tired than he let on. they finally reach home, and sunwoo is extra careful as he maneuvers his way in, taking care not to jostle the sleeping kit. he heads straight to his bedroom and moves to lower the kit on the bed, but then he stops, because jinyoung's hands are fisting his shirt, and jinyoung is trembling.
"jinyoung--jinyoung, what's wrong? are you hurt?" he tries to get jinyoung to look at him but he won't, stubbornly keeping his head down while tears run down his face, matting his fur.
jinyoung refuses to answer, so sunwoo just holds him, rubbing his back and whispering assurances in his ear. he's scared, to be honest, seeing jinyoung break down like this, but he can wait for explanations. his arms go limp after a while, and still jinyoung wouldn't let go of him, so he lowers the both of them to the bed, letting sleep take over his limbs, the kit still wrapped in his arms.
sunwoo wakes sometime during the night, not even sure why, but then he takes note of the weight on his chest and--oh yeah. jinyoung had fallen asleep on him.
he runs his fingers through the kit's hair, smiling at the way his ears twitch and at the low rumble from the kit's throat. he thinks of the way jinyoung had sobbed earlier, how helpless he looked, crying his eyes out and clinging to sunwoo. for all jinyoung's forced normalcy and outward calm, he was actually scared. sunwoo shut his eyes, forcig out thoughts of how much it seemed like a betrayal, just handing jinyoung off like that, like he was a toy to be tested out before being taken. regardless of what his intentions were--of how nice that heecheon guy was, he was sure jinyoung still felt betrayed.
sunwoo is fifteen kinds of guilty.
he gently shifts to the right, setting jinyoung by his side. he smiles when the kit snuffles, moving closer and squashing himself against sunwoo's chest, seeking warmth. sunwoo leans in, purely on instinct, touching his lips to the kit's forehead and hair. he runs his thumb lightly over jinyoung's cheek, imagining him gone the next week, thinking him in heecheon's arms instead, hugging heecheon close and forgetting about sunwoo. something heavy slams at sunwoo's chest and he clutches the kit tighter. it's ridiculous, this fear that keeps eating away at him.
there's always the off-chance that jinyoung might decide he doesn't like heecheon. then he can stay with sunwoo longer. as long as he wants, even.
but two weeks later jinyoung asks for heecheon.
at first sunwoo isn't sure he heard right. it's his day off, and he had very graciously (as he makes sure to let jinyoung know) offers to spend it with the kit. jinyoung had turned to him with bright eyes, practically jumping at the thought of going out. sunwoo had laughed, listening to the kit list down what he wanted to do for the day: fly kites, visit the park, feed ducks, and roast marshmallows by the fire. they buy ice cream and head for the playground, the kites having been forgotten because slides! swings! and monkey bars!
jinyoung scrambles up a swing chair, and sunwoo pushes him (gently!) from behind. after the ice cream had been licked away, jinyoung tilts his head back, looking at sunwoo upside down, and then asks.
"where's heecheon?"
sunwoo's hand falters but he recovers in time.
"i think he went to visit his grandmother. why, do you miss him?"
to which jinyoung just responds with a one-shouldered shrug, then demands for higher! higher! and sunwoo calms down.
(it doesn't mean anything, not really. jinyoung had just gotten used to seeing the guy, of course he'd ask if he suddenly disappeared one day. it doesn't mean the kit already likes him)
"i like him," jinyoung says after a while, and this time when sunwoo stands stunned, he doesn't recover in time--the seat of jinyoung's swing hits him full on the crotch and he falls back, groaning.
"sunwoo!" jinyoung jumps of the swing, nearly faceplanting into the dirt (stupid, clumsy kit) and sinking to his knees next to sunwoo. "sunwoo, are you okay?"
"yeah," sunwoo gasps, then holds up a hand to indicate he can't really talk. some kids nearby stare at him and laugh, and sunwoo growls at them. jinyoung pats him on the head.
damn kim heecheon.
"hyuuuuuuung~"
"don't whine, god, do you know how annoying you sound."
"well someone's not in a good mood."
"it's two o'clock in the fucking morning sunwoo, what do you want."
sunwoo pouts. he'd called dongwoo up because he couldn't sleep. jinyoung was spending the night over the heecheon's because dino had suggested the two spend time together for optimum bonding. sunwoo had counted on jinyoung to say no, but the kit had taken one look at heecheon's smiley face and agreed (most definitely maybe out of pity) and so sunwoo was left to spend his saturday night alone.
it had started out pretty well. sunwoo had finally gotten around to making an actual, discernible difference on the pile of laundry that was already beginning to take on the looks of a small hill. he also managed to whip up a half-decent lunch that didn't include inedible foodstuff, and the living room looked like an actual living room, for once. come afternoon though, he was bored. he'd thought about swinging by dongwoo's place, but found that he was too tired. he was almost tempted to take his bike and ride around the neighborhood and maybe pass by heecheon's house accidentally on purpose but he thought of how jinyoung had smiled at heecheon when the guy came to pick him up and just resorted to kicking his blanket off the bed. which resulted in him getting cold toes so he had to pick it back up.
by nightfall he was going nuts. junghwan wouldn't answer his phone, sending him a quick ttyl bro i'm having an actual DATE with coffee boy followed by a string of hearts and smiley faces instead, and sunwoo assumes he must be getting lucky with the tall, handsome hoobae he'd been crushing on since said hoobae (accidentally!) poured half his iced coffee on junghwan.
lucky bastard.
so of course, dongwoo is his only choice.
"i'm bored."
"and i should care because?" dongwoo yawns.
"so mean. don't you even feel the slightest urge to relieve me of my burden."
"not really," dongwoo says, sounding sleepy. "look, if you miss jinyoung so much, why don't you just tell heecheon and get him back? technically jinyoung hasn't decided to stay with him. you can just say you changed your mind about not keeping the kit."
"i do not," he says hotly. "for your information i had fun spending time by myself."
"yeah? so why are you calling be at this time?"
"i miss you?" sunwoo tries.
"right. look, i'd love to stay with you as you find yourself and own up to your repressed emotions but i'm too sleepy and i have to open up early tomo--later. so. i'm just gonna give it to you straight, get it through that thick skull of yours. you are jealous of heecheon and the apparent interest jinyoung is developing for him. the kit's crazy for you, but if you keep pushing him away he might just latch on to heecheon. take him back, while you still can."
"but i told you. i don't want a catboy."
"listen to me, you idiot. keep this up and you'll lose him--for real. maybe by next week he'll decide he likes heecheon better. the guy clearly dotes on him anyway, and isn't afraid to show it unlike someone we both know. jinyoung is bound to like him back at one point, and then there's nothing you can do. how do you feel about that?"
like he got hit by a ten-wheeler truck is what it feels like. he thinks of the kit--the way he smiles, how his eyes crinkle around the edges when he smiles, how he feels in sunwoo's arms--he puts heecheon's face in place of him and the realization sits like a coil of snakes in his stomach. "fuck."
dongwoo is annoyingly smug. "i thought so. i'd never thought i'd say this, but. get your shit together, all right? and stop calling me at ungodly hours, or i'm banning you from the shop. forever. g'night."
dongwoo has long since hanged up, but sunwoo keeps the phone pressed to his ear. he thinks he's having this weird drama scenario where the protagonist hears the wise words of an old mentor playing in his head over and over again, while waiting for the wisdom of said words to seep into his brain. it's almost a eureka moment, but not quite.
he hopes it isn't too late.