the world where you exist (part 1/3)
the world where you exist
suho/kai
21586 words; nc-17
warnings: hints of d/s, lots of loopholes, unrealistic uses and developments of science
Life has its own way of throwing things at you when you least expect it, and it depends on how you take them into hand.
Alternatively: Joonmyun adopts Jongin the catboy. Things happen, feather dusters are harmed.
I FINALLY DID THE THING OTL. oh man this is one of the most self indulgent things i have ever written. it started out as just catboy porn, and then all of this evolved. it took months to write and develop.
but anyway, A HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to everyone who pushed me through and cheerleaded me on! many thanks to wonder and scylla to looking this over! and to my catboys crew (yeah, you're the catboys crew, how do you feel): mochi, deedee, konnie, shimi, kitten, lynn! thank you guys for being the best catboys crew ever. you're all awesome. this is for you guys!
and now without further ado, the fic (and an ao3 mirror here):
It’s so fucking hot, is the first thought that runs through Joonmyun’s mind as he walks into the adoption center. The next is, Am I really doing this?
It’s Kyungsoo’s fault he’s here, really. Joonmyun made a small comment about how empty his apartment felt (another reminder not to go out drinking with Kyungsoo), and one thing led to another, and soon enough, Kyungsoo had texted him the address of a hybrid adoption center his friend works at.
The inside of the building is nice and cool - Joonmyun thanks whatever higher deity there is for the existence of air conditioning - and shuffles forward to the front desk. The person standing there has his back to him, and Joonmyun has to cough to get his attention.
“Sorry, hi!” the boy behind the counter says automatically, “how may I help y- oh!” He pauses for a moment before narrowing his eyes, “Kim Joonmyun? Kyungsoo’s friend?”
“Yeah,” Joonmyun mumbles. “You are?”
“Byun Baekhyun, friend from college. He’s told me a bit about you. I didn’t really expect you to show up from what he’s told me, to be honest.”
“What has he told you?” Joonmyun asks curiously.
“Uh,” Baekhyun smiles sheepishly, “Something about being really lame and possibly dying alone if he doesn’t find someone-”
“Oh my god,” Joonmyun groans, hands clawing at his face. “I’m going to kill him.”
“He said you’d say that too,” Baekhyun teases. “Right, so, are you interested in any sort of particular hybrid?
“Um,” Joonmyun mumbles, “not really. I just came on a whim.”
Baekhyun, thankfully, says nothing else embarrassing and comes out from behind the counter. “Yixing!” He calls out, “I’m going to help a customer, so take over for me for a bit, please?”
There’s a sound from the room behind the counter, and Baekhyun takes that as an affirmative to motion for Joonmyun to follow him. “So,” he says, “d’you like birds?”
Joonmyun’s face gives him away before he can actually speak, and Baekhyun grins at him before turning down a hallway. “You don’t like, keep them in cages, do you?” Joonmyun asks, slightly horrified.
Baekhyun looks incredibly offended, if anything. “Who do you think we are?” he asks. “They have a communal room. Not very glamorous, but not, y’know, cages. They can talk to us. We know if they’re having a hard time.”
“Right,” Joonmyun says, “sorry.”
Baekhyun gives him an easy smile and stands in front of a white door. “Okay, this is the main room. There’s a few other people looking around, so they won’t alarmed or anything, but just a heads up.”
Joonmyun doesn’t really know what he’s expecting when the door opens. He thinks it was probably a modification of a cage, or something equally as appalling.
It’s not.
In fact, it looks just like a regular lounge. A very colorful lounge, actually. He wonders if they got to paint the walls themselves, because there’s giant globs of colors everywhere, like no one bothered to match each other and just painted whatever came to mind. There’s a long table near the back wall, and a television perched on the end of it. In front of that is a small sofa, where a few girls and boys are perched on, and if not for the nonhuman appendages, like ears, tails, and jesus - those wings are huge - he wouldn’t have noticed they were hybrids.
There are other small tables and chairs littered across the room, and Joonmyun watches in wonder as a boy with dog ears wrestles a human on the floor near the window.
Baekhyun sighs. “That’s Chanyeol and Jongdae. They’re not fighting, at least, I don’t think so. Chanyeol’s just ansty because his new owner is supposed to pick him up today. He’s extra handsy when he’s excited. Anyway! Let me show you around. That’s Kyungri, by the computer. She’s a cat, Siamese, I think. We said no to the birds, and I’m going to take a general guess from your face and from what Kyungsoo told me and infer that you don’t want something extremely loud or hyper.”
“That would be nice.”
“Oh,” Baekhyun suddenly pipes up, “I know! I know the perfect guy for you. He’s quiet, and kind of cold at first, but he’s a good kid.”
Baekhyun strides over to the opposite end of the room, down to where a few people are playing video games, and Joonmyun thinks he knows who Baekhyun’s talking about before Baekhyun actually points him out.
On the far end of the couch, there’s a boy with black cat ears, tail wrapped around his waist as his face rests on the armchair. He’s sleeping, Joonmyun realizes once they get closer.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Joonmyun asks warily.
“Our Jonginnie can sleep literally anywhere,” one of the girls says. “It’s a talent.”
“Especially since Chanyeol slept next to him,” another boy adds, not bothering to look up from the game he’s playing. It’s an old console, one they’ve stopped selling at least five years ago, but Joonmyun guesses it’s better than not having anything.
“Yah!” Baekhyun snaps, leaning down to poke Jongin harshly in the forehead. “Wake up! It’s like, five in the afternoon.”
Jongin whines low in this throat and blinks his eyes open slowly before stretching and Joonmyun is greeted with the soft expanse of his tummy as his shirt rides up, and he gulps hard. “What do you want, hyung?”
“Jongin is genetically the farthest from a cat out of everyone here,” Baekhyun explains as Jongin rubs the sleep out of his eyes. “Personality wise though, he’s actually just a giant kitty. Rise and shine, sweetie, you have a visitor. His name is Joonmyun.”
“Don’t call me that,” Jongin groans, then turns to peer up to look at Joonmyun. He has soft-looking, plump lips and a straight nose - his face has no sharp lines or edges. He’s also devastatingly handsome, and while Joonmyun knows it’s nothing uncommon for hybrids and humans to have relationships, he does recall Baekhyun calling him a good kid.
“How old are you?” Joonmyun asks, and tries not to roll his eyes when Baekhyun laughs.
“Nineteen,” Jongin replies, and Joonmyun thinks Jongin is almost looking at him with accusing eyes, like he dares Joonmyun to try and say something bad about him.
“That’s older than I thought,” Joonmyun says slowly, then looks at Baekhyun with a face that screams help me, and Baekhyun decides to take pity on him.
“Jongin really likes dancing. Sometimes we’ll push all the furniture out of the way so he can perform for us. There’s not really much room for practice though.”
“That’s cool,” Joonmyun decides on. “I can’t walk in a straight line sometimes, but a few of my friends are very passionate about dance, so I know a few terms. What kind of dance do you like?”
Jongin hesitates for a moment before mumbles, “Hip ho-”
“Lies!” Someone from behind him shouts, and Jongin yelps when another similar looking cat pounces on top of him. “Jonginnie loves ballet!”
“Get off me!” Jongin yelps, and he and the intruder roll off the couch together and start to snap at each other on the ground.
“That’s Taemin,” Baekhyun explains. “He already has an owner, but Jongin is his best friend, so he comes down here all the time.”
Joonmyun nods as Taemin and Jongin jump to their feet, Taemin chanting, “ballet, ballet, Jongin loves ballet!” as loudly as he can, and Jongin tries to cover his mouth with his hand uselessly. Joonmyun laughs. It’s cute.
“My friend is a ballet teacher,” Joonmyun says, and both Taemin and Jongin’s face light up at the same time. “I can take you to her, if you’d like.”
Just like that, the animosity between them disappears and Jongin’s looking at him with wonder in his eyes.
“Wow,” Baekhyun says from next to him, “that was the fastest I’ve ever seen anyone win Jongin’s heart. And by fastest I mean you’re the only one.”
Jongin doesn’t even spare Baekhyun a glance; his eyes are trained on Joonmyun’s face, and Joonmyun doesn’t know whether he should feel flattered or whether he’s being used.
Well, Joonmyun thinks, in all actuality, he might be buying Jongin, and suddenly the thought scares him.
Everyone who owns a hybrid has sung nothing but praises, but Joonmyun is still wary. Hybrids haven't been around for long, just about a century; they're the results of lab experiments that, despite all newspapers and almost every dystopian book you've ever read, turned out successful.
Joonmyun knows that there are still some people who consider them second class people, and even though adoption centers are strictly based on consent between the hybrid and human, it still makes him uncomfortable to just buy a person like they're merchandise. It’s probably why he’s taken so long to get himself down here.
“You look clammy,” Baekhyun says, sounding a bit concerned. “Do you need to sit down? Can I get you water?”
“No,” Joonmyun gasps, “I’m fine. I’m just... new, to all of this.” He fixes Jongin with a scared glance, and he knows the moment they lock eyes that Jongin knows exactly how he’s feeling, because he cowers in on himself slightly, and then Taemin is pressing himself up against Jongin’s side, arm coming around his shoulder defensively.
“Here,” Baekhyun interjects, “let’s go out for some fresh air. You can come back after you’ve cleared your head.” He grabs Joonmyun by the wrist and pulls him out of the room, closing the door behind him as they exit.
Joonmyun wipes his hands on his pants and takes a deep breath before he looks at Baekhyun. He wonders how pathetic he looks right now.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Baekhyun asks. “You know, you don’t have to adopt Jongin, or anyone.”
“I know,” Joonmyun sighs. “I’m just- I’ve never done this before. Never even considered it before.”
Baekhyun gives him a reassuring smile and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You know, Kyungsoo might have called you lame, but he wouldn’t have brought up your name if he didn’t think you were capable.”
Joonmyun smiles at that. “You think so?”
Baekhyun laughs. “I know so. And, between me and you, let me let you in on a secret. Jongin hates people. Most people, at least. There’s a reason he’s been in here for a really long time. You know how adoption works - both people need to consent. Jongin’s never- A lot of people have shown interest in him. It’s always been one sided.”
He fixes Joonmyun with a certain look that has Joonmyun reeling. It reminds him of Spiderman, to be honest, when Peter’s uncle had told him With great strength comes great responsibility.
“Up until now,” Baekhyun continues. “He showed interest today. In you.”
Joonmyun scoffs. “That’s just because I told him I know a dance teacher.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Baekhyun says, slowly, like he’s trying to get Joonmyun to understand some deep, underlying concept. Which he supposes is exactly what he’s doing. “But he said he liked hip hop first. Taemin was the one who brought ballet up. And then you know what really won him over?” He doesn’t wait for Joonmyun to ask what, because he says, “You didn’t laugh at him.”
Oh.
“Do you know how many people have done that? Made him feel bad about liking ballet? I couldn’t count them with both hands if I tried.” He sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair before turning to look back at Joonmyun. “I’m telling you this because Jongin deserves to have someone in his life. That was the first time I’ve seen his eyes light up in a really, really long time. And when you cowered? That wasn’t a look of anger; that was fear. That was Jongin wondering if someone else was going to walk out that door and leave him behind again. I’ve worked here way too long to let him down again.”
“I,” Joonmyun thinks about Jongin’s beautiful eyes and his soft cheeks and his black cat ears and tail, and he stammers, “I really like him, Baekhyun. I like him so much I don’t know what to do.”
Baekhyun grins at him, wide and bright. “Good, because I know exactly what to do.”
Adopting takes up much more time that Joonmyun originally thought.
In retrospect, it was probably silly of Joonmyun to assume that he’d walk in alone and walk out with another person, just like that. They’re not dolls, Joonmyun reminds himself. They’re people with brains and feelings and human value, goddammit.
Despite what Baekhyun’s told him, he’s still surprised when Jongin gives Joonmyun the okay to adopt him, because he still looks at Joonmyun like he doesn’t trust him at all. Baekhyun, obviously pleased, catches Jongin in a headlock and squeals before giving him a noogie, which has Jongin hissing and spitting.
“Despite consent, we’ll still have to check if you can afford to keep Jongin, if you have the capability to raise him, and if you’re not some psychopathic serial killer.” Baekhyun adds a smile for good measure. “It’s all standard protocol.”
“Right,” Joonmyun mutters.
“So, give us your address, a time and date to drop by, and if you pass the check ups, we’ll get you a day to come in and pick Jongin up.”
Joonmyun’s checking his phone for any available days he has during the week when the door opens, and there’s a beaming Chanyeol, followed by a not-so-beaming Yifan.
Joonmyun pauses.
Wait, Yifan?
Yifan has a similar reaction, because he stares at Joonmyun, bewildered, before he laughs. “I would have never thought you’d come here. Was it Kyungsoo?”
“Speak for yourself,” Joonmyun gasps. “You’ve adopted? Chanyeol?”
“Hey,” Chanyeol says, sniffing. Just like that, Joonmyun doubts he’s even noticed, Yifan’s hand comes up to pet Chanyeol.
“I like Chanyeol,” he says simply. “I’m a dog person; we both know that.”
“I didn’t know you could keep up with him,” Joonmyun confesses. “I probably can’t.”
“I’m right here,” Chanyeol snaps.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Joonmyun says softly. “If anything, I was offending him. Trying to, at least. You sure you’re okay with an owner like that, Chanyeol?”
Joonmyun’s tone is teasing, but Yifan looks at Chanyeol with the softest expression Joonmyun’s ever seen him make in his life, and Yifan smiles before saying, “Nah, I think we’ll be good.”
And Joonmyun can’t really argue with that.
“Oh man,” Baekhyun says after Yifan’s left. “You know Yifan? Now that’s surprising. We have a lot of friends in common.”
“I used to work with him before I switched companies,” Joonmyun replies. “We’re good friends, actually.”
“That’s amazing,” Baekhyun breathes, “because I’m his best friend.” Then he turns towards Jongin, who’s been watching the exchange silently. “See, Jongin? I told you you wouldn’t be able to get rid of me even if you tried.”
“Unfortunately,” Jongin says, frowning, and Baekhyun laughs.
Joonmyun has Baekhyun come in on an unpleasantly hot Thursday to inspect his house. "You don't have like, bodies buried under the floorboard, right?"
"Um," Joonmyun gulps, "has that happened before?"
Baekhyun shrugs. "I'd rather not have a first. Do you have any idea where Jongin is going to be sleeping? Pro tip: he's actually a pretty touchy person, but at first he's not going to want to touch you with a ten foot pole."
"That's... reassuring," Joonmyun mumbles. "I have a guest room that I figured I would turn into his room. It doesn't have much in it right now, but I could take Jongin furniture shopping?"
Baekhyun nods approvingly. "That works. Well, I'm mainly done around here. Everything's been checked off. You're financially okay, your medical and criminal history is okay, and you have an acceptable health insurance to cover both you and Jongin. You're almost done, Joonmyun."
"Almost?" Joonmyun croaks. Not that he wants to kick Baekhyun out or anything, he's actually a very pleasant person to talk to. He definitely made the six hours of constant interviewing and record checking much less awful than it should have been. But, really. Six hours. Joonmyun wants to sleep forever. It's Thursday and he has a business conference at nine tomorrow morning. "There are a lot of steps to adopting a hybrid."
"There are," Baekhyun says, and he's not smiling anymore, which freaks Joonmyun out a little, because Baekhyun's been smiling almost exactly six hours. "I'm going to hate to make you uncomfortable, but I really think this next session is going to make you extremely uncomfortable. But it's important, because aside from all the records and finances, it all boils down to: Why do you want Jongin? What can you provide for Jongin that no one else can? What makes you the best adopter for Jongin?"
That does quite make Joonmyun uncomfortable, and he even has to loosen his tie a bit and lean back against the kitchen table. What can he provide for Jongin that no one else can, really?
Jongin has really dark brown eyes, like Joonmyun could be drowning in them, but he remembers, clearly, the apprehension in them. He remembers looking into Jongin's eyes for the very first time and seeing animosity. Joonmyun asked how old Jongin was, and he'd snapped a bitter nineteen at him, like Joonmyun would snap back, no, you're not.
He probably can't provide Jongin with anything more than whoever lives next door to him (his next door neighbor is a very nice girl named Miyoung who has a gorgeous smile and makes really nice cupcakes and wears headbands a lot).
He'll try, though. "I want Jongin because... Because I think I need him as much as I think he needs me. Maybe. He's... a good person, I think, and I want to help him. Take care of him, I mean. Make him family. I don't want him to be lonely."
He doesn't look up for a good five seconds, he counts down in his head, then peers up through his lashes to see Baekhyun giving him a very peculiar look. It's a mix between contemplative and apathetic, before he finally says, "You sound like you've never had an interview before."
Joonmyun laughs. It's a nice break in atmosphere. Truthfully, he feels embarrassed for blurting all that on the spot. "Usually I get a few days notice to prepare myself."
Baekhyun smiles. "I'm actually quite impressed. From what Kyungsoo's told me-"
"Oh, no, please don't," Joonmyun groans. "I don't want to know what Kyungsoo said about me." Then he pauses. "You're impressed?"
Baekhyun shrugs. "That was much better than Yifan, at least. I mean, I wasn't actually there, but from what Lu Han told me, it was pretty bad."
"Yifan is a pretty awful speaker outside of work."
"Yes he is," Baekhyun agrees, "But you're not adopting Yifan, you're adopting Jongin. And well, as far as I'm concerned, you're good to go. But you're not rid of me yet. One more check up and then we'll organize a date for pick up. Are you ready?"
"I'm-" Joonmyun takes a deep breath. "I think so," he says.
Baekhyun gives him another passive stare before he shrugs. "Still better than Yifan."
It takes another two weeks of processing paperwork and getting records checked and double checked and Joonmyun gets to send a few messages to Jongin ('how've you been?', 'have you eaten well?') before Baekhyun stops by, and it's this time where Joonmyun accidentally lets the question slip, a mere five minutes before Baekhyun is about to leave- "Why are you always the one to come?"
Baekhyun looks up from a file and raises an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Sorry," Joonmyun flushes, "it's just that, you've mentioned a few other workers before and whatnot, but you come each and every time. Is that just coincidence?"
"Oh." Baekhyun gently closes the file places it back on the table. Joonmyun hopes this doesn't mean he's going to get another nerve wracking lecture. Something about the look in Baekhyun's eyes tells him that he will. "I work with Jongin, personally," Baekhyun states, "I mean, I'm not his advertiser or something, I work with all the hybrids, but I'm especially connected to this case. Did you know I was the one who pulled Jongin out of the rubble of his old home when he was twelve?"
"Pulled him out of the what?"
"Jongin's very special. He's a direct descendant of the very first feline hybrid from a century back. A century isn't very long ago: Jongin's only two generations down from the original."
"This..." Joonmyun stares blankly at Baekhyun. This was new information. "Jongin is history. You can't possibly just... give him away?"
Baekhyun gives him a look that has Joonmyun's blood run cold. "He's not a thing, Joonmyun."
Joonmyun flushes. "I'm sorry."
He hopes he looks sincere enough, because he definitely feels sincere enough, but Baekhyun only sighs. "Do you remember how a couple of years ago the original lab where hybrids were originally created were burned down? I was in training back then. We were all sent to the scene, and Jongin and a few others of the original hybrids were there. I was the one who found Jongin and pulled him out of that building."
Joonmyun takes a moment to register all of this. Jongin seems so, so important, like just his name is worth more than everything Joonmyun's worked for in his life. But, he thinks back to what Baekhyun said - Jongin is not just a name. He's not just "the direct descent of first cat-human hybrid". Joonmyun wanted him before he knew this, and he still wants him now.
"He's very special to me, is what I'm saying," Baekhyun says. "I put this all in Jongin's report, by the way, which I will give you. I'd suggest at least reading the first two chapters."
"Right," Joonmyun mumbles, feeling much less significant than he did five minutes before. "I'll... do that."
"I'm being really hard on you, I know," Baekhyun says, "I check records I don't have to, I question you every time I come or call, but it's because I really do think Jongin is going to like you. And truthfully, I'm going to miss him too."
Joonmyun gives him a weak smile. "I'm glad Jongin had you." Has, he corrects in his head, because he's not quite sure if Jongin will relent to him as easily.
Baekhyun leaves a few moments later, and Joonmyun looks at the dark green folder lying on his kitchen table titled "KIM JONGIN: [CONFIDENTIAL]" before opening the first page.
Kim Joonmyun is in a rush.
Kim Joonmyun is in a rush because the subway train he was going to take broke down, and on top of that, the gift he'd prepared for Jongin was left at his house, and his cellphone battery is dead, and it's thunder storming (of course Joonmyun's got no umbrella either) and today sucks.
But today is the day he picks up Jongin, and that sort of un-sucks everything he's gone through today.
Today is finally the day he picks up Jongin, after five weeks of pining and phone calls and short messages and records upon records and a huge sum of Joonmyun's money.
Today Joonmyun gets a new addition to his family.
And he's late to picking up his new family member. Because of the stupid subway. And dead cellphone. It's okay, though, or it should be okay, because even though Joonmyun is soaked to the bone and shivering and thunder booms as he finally reaches the door of the adoption center, there's a warmth in his chest. It feels like someone is blowing bubbles inside his ribcage, and they all pop and leave little tingly sensations against the bone.
Joonmyun wonders how awful he looks when Baekhyun's eyes widen at his appearance. "Wow," he says, "stay right there; I'm going to get a towel."
As Baekhyun exits into the backroom, Joonmyun runs a hand through hair, which is dripping water onto his shoulders, and takes a look around. Joonmyun's never actually seen anyone in the lobby before aside from Baekhyun and Yixing, but as he looks around now, there's a small glass window in the far back, next to the hallway Joonmyun knows leads to the lounge.
Jongin's peeking through the window, feline ears perked up, and Joonmyun thinks he can see his tail whipping from side to side in the back. He's not sure if that's a good thing, especially since Jongin looks like he's scrutinizing him now. Maybe he hates him for being so late. Or maybe he's really grossed out by Joonmyun's appearance is. Maybe it's both.
Jongin turns his head to look at something a few meters away from Joonmyun, then ducks down out of sight.
It's Baekhyun, who hands Joonmyun a towel to dry his hair with. "We don't have a change of clothes, but at least your hair will be fine?"
"It's fine," Joonmyun says. "Thanks."
His hair probably looks worse now, sticking up in all different directions, but Baekhyun grins at him, giddy as he says, "Are you ready?"
"I'm never ready," Joonmyun confesses. "I just hope for the best."
"You've definitely got the best," Baekhyun says, and pushes Joonmyun down the hall. "Honestly, we just need both yours and Jongin's signatures and then to get Jongin's stuff out. I've already called a cab, and Jongin doesn't really have much stuff, it's like one bag, so you're really all set."
"That's fast," Joonmyun breathes, and Baekhyun winks.
"Godspeed," he says, and opens the door for Joonmyun.
The window is actually quite high up - Jongin had been standing on his suitcase to get a peek at Joonmyun. He's still standing on it, but instead of looking like he's picking Joonmyun apart with each second ticking by, now he stares at Joonmyun with wide eyes, body completely stiff.
"Are you ready?" Baekhyun asks Jongin, voice teasing, and Jongin stops staring at Joonmyun to give Baekhyun the same lost look. "He's ready," Baekhyun says to Joonmyun, "just really nervous."
"I... understand that," Joonmyun says, and takes a few steps forward. "Are you gonna come down?" he asks with an outstretched hand, and Jongin takes a took between the suitcase he's standing on and Joonmyun's hand before he quietly takes it and steps down in front of him.
Jongin is still taller than Joonmyun, he notes bitterly, but up close, Joonmyun gets to examine his face. His lips are a nude pink, and there's a faint flush across his cheeks. It probably has something to do with their still linked hands, so Joonmyun quickly removes it and gives him a helpful grin.
Jongin doesn't grin back, but he does look a little less scared, so Joonmyun figures that's fair enough.
"I'm... How are you," Jongin asks, voice stuttering, and he glances quick at Baekhyun before saying, "today? I mean. How are you today."
Joonmyun's not sure which part was the question, but he smiles reassuringly and ignores Baekhyun laughing behind them. "I'm fine. Very nervous, but fine."
The idea of Joonmyun being nervous turns a switch on, because Jongin's face lights up with a smile that tugs at Joonmyun's heartstrings.
"Thank god," Baekhyun laughs as he shuffles around a few papers, "I thought you would frown all the way to Gangnam."
"Gangnam?" Jongin asks, perking up. "You live in Gangnam?"
Joonmyun shrugs. "More towards the edge of Gangnam, near Yongsan."
Jongin isn't listening. "Taemin lives in Gangnam," he says, grinning.
"Lord help you," Baekhyun says, reaching over to hand Joonmyun a file. "Jongin's a sweet kid - shut up Jongin - but Taemin is the devil in feline form. His owner, Jonghyun, is nice though. A great friend of mine."
"Is Taemin the one who told me about the ballet thing?" he asks offhandedly. The file is the contract he's supposed to sign. There's two lines at the bottom, one for Joonmyun's signature and one for Jongin's.
"Yeah," Jongin says quietly, and Joonmyun flinches. The ballet thing was probably not the best choice of words. He glances up to Baekhyun, who shrugs and hands him a pen.
"I talked to my friend, actually," Joonmyun says as he signs, "Song Qian. She says I can bring you in whenever you want."
Jongin doesn't say anything as he takes the pen and file from Joonmyun, but he can see Baekhyun grinning out of the corner of his eyes. He raises his eyebrows at Joonmyun, amused, and Joonmyun does his best not to laugh. Jongin is silent as he signs, but he's biting his lip to stop himself from smiling, and that, Joonmyun thinks, is really cute.
"My child," Baekhyun coos later, when they're loading Jongin's suitcase into the cab. "You've finally grown up."
"You're only two years older," Jongin snaps, and ducks to avoid Baekhyun's attempt to hug him.
"Yes, but look how much wiser I am than you," Baekhyun retorts. "Remember to brush your teeth every day, don't talk with your mouth full, don't do drugs, have safe se-"
Joonmyun coughs loudly as he slams the trunk shut, and Jongin blushes. "You're gross," he accuses, and Baekhyun doesn't deny it.
"I didn't say with Joonmyun, god Jongin, stop jumping to conclusions. Why, were you thinking of it? Because-"
"We're all set to go!" Joonmyun half screams, and Baekhyun gives him one look over but drawing him in for a hug.
He's whispering something in Jongin's ears when Joonmyun makes his way over, and gives him a final pat on the back before letting him go. Then, he turns to Joonmyun and says, "Give me your phone."
"What?"
"Phone," Baekhyun repeats. "I'm giving you my number."
"It's dead," Joonmyun replies, a bit sheepishly, and Baekhyun rolls his eyes before digging his own phone out of his pocket and thrusting it into Joonmyun's hand.
"Then put your number in. If Kyungsoo's told me anything at all," Baekhyun says as Joonmyun starts to dial his phone, "it's that you'll probably be extremely incompetent at first."
Joonmyun scoffs. "I think we've learned not to trust Kyungsoo's judgement on my character."
Baekyun takes his phone back with a smile. "Actually, if anything, I've learned these past few visits that I should probably trust exactly what Kyungsoo says."
Joonmyun must have made a face, because Baekhyun laughs. "C'mon, get in the car. Jongin's waiting. I'll talk to the driver."
Joonmyun turns to see Jongin sitting next to the window, and as he slides in to sit next to him, Jongin's ears twitch. He's not sure if that's good or bad.
"So," he says, "it's just you and me now, huh?"
Jongin gives a weak smile. "I guess so."
There isn't much to Jongin's room - there's a bed with white bedsheets and a plain mahogany dresser. "Sorry," Joonmyun says as he pushes Jongin's suitcase into the room and lays it down. He can’t even imagine how nerve wracking it must be for Jongin to finally pick everything up and just move like it’s nothing. Truthfully, he has no idea how to help calm Jongin down, so he tries to take the workload off of him. He refuses to let Jongin carry his suitcase into the apartment, and even offers to help him unpack. It's only after Jongin's ears flatten downwards moodily that Joonmyun realizes he probably wants to be left alone. He puts down the CD he’d been holding and smiles apologetically.
"Alright, well, whenever you're ready, you can come out, and we can get dinner together?"
Jongin nods, and he gives him a small wave before cautiously exiting the room. He wonders what the dietary differences between cat hybrids and pure humans are.
Not much, he finds out later. This probably also has something to do with Jongin being one of the hybrids that are least genetically related to their pure ancestor feline. He does look like he has sharp teeth, though.
He takes Jongin out to a small seafood restaurant in Hongdae, and tries not to stare too much as he watches Jongin mentally decide if he should use chopsticks or his hands.
"Let me do that," he says after a solid minute of watching Jongin stare at his food, then try to eat a piece of shrimp with the shell on.
Jongin's ears flatten again. "Shrimp is expensive," he says. "We don't get to eat it often."
"You can have whatever you want with me," Joonmyun replies as he dumps three pieces of shrimps onto Jongin's plate. He recoils immediately, because wow, that sounded extremely snobbish of him.
Jongin doesn't look like he thinks so, because he laughs and covers his mouth afterward. "You sound worse than Yifan."
Now that's an insult. At least Joonmyun tries to be modest. He figures Yifan deserves it though, since he's basically the poster boy for people who go from rags to riches. Joonmyun's was born into wealth. "Hmm, speaking of, how do you think Chanyeol is?"
"Smitten," Jongin says as he plops a shrimp into his mouth.
"How smitten?" Joonmyun asks as he peels the skin off another piece of shrimp.
Jongin hums a bit, chewing thoughtfully, and Joonmyun tries not to focus on how his ears twitch as he thinks. It's really fucking cute. "Well," he mumbles, "Chanyeol is usually clumsy, but the first day Yifan came in he slammed himself into a wall, and we still don't know if it was to get Yifan's attention or if he just saw nirvana. Either way, it did get Yifan's attention."
Joonmyun laughs so hard Jongin has to take the shrimp away from him and peel it open himself. "I think I've figured it out now," he says, grinning.
"I'm not going to let Yifan live this down," Joonmyun sighs happily. "It'll be great."
The rest of dinner goes by slowly, and silently, for the most part. It doesn't take much to realize that Jongin doesn't like to indulge in small talk, and unfortunately, small talk is all they have to go by at this stage.
"When did you start ballet, anyway?" Joonmyun suddenly asks, remembering their first encounter. "Did you have a teacher?"
Jongin shrugs as he swallows. "I saw it on TV; there was a live broadcast of Coppélia. I tried copying them. Chanyeol laughed. Most people did, actually. But I liked it."
Joonmyun has no idea what Coppélia is, but he nods anyway. "How did you learn?"
"Baekhyun would let me borrow his laptop a lot," Jongin says, smiling. "There was also a computer for everyone to use."
Joonmyun nods. "I have no idea when Song Qian is free, but I'll try to contact her sometime this week. About dance lessons, I mean." He pauses. "You don't mind, right?"
Jongin laughs. "Not really."
That was probably a stupid question, Joonmyun thinks as Jongin smiles down at his plate.
Joonmyun decides the best way to break Jongin in is to tire both Jongin and himself out. That includes meeting almost everyone Joonmyun knows, including Yifan and Chanyeol, who are far more acquainted with each other than they should considering the amount of time they've been together. Maybe Joonmyun's just slow at this getting to know people thing.
He takes Jongin out to his first dance practice two days later, except Song Qian ushers him out of the dance studio so he doesn't get to see Jongin's skills. He comes out about ten times happier than he was walking in though, so that makes Joonmyun smile.
They eat out practically every day, which is not healthy at all (and after a fatal run in that almost involves ushering Jongin to the hospital, he discovers that Jongin doesn't like tuna. Or that he can't digest it. Same thing, right?), but its the best way to talk to people. They even run into Taemin, which makes Jongin ecstatic - Joonmyun doesn't think he's ever seen him so happy. His owner is a funny guy named Jonghyun, who's the same age as Joonmyun. They become friends quickly.
He introduces Kyungsoo to Jongin at a cafe nearby his work building, and Kyungsoo introduces himself by patting Jongin’s head, whose tail curls around the leg of the chair as he purrs. Joonmyun isn't jealous.
"I'm the one who told Joonmyun to get out of his house in the first place," Kyungsoo says, shrugging.
"Why do you only tell Baekhyun bad things about me?" Joonmyun whines, and Jongin raises an eyebrow at that.
Kyungsoo pats him too, except Joonmyun doesn't purr. "I only told him the truth."
"You know that's not true," Joonmyun retorts.
“It’s completely true and you know it,” Kyungsoo says, sliding over a cup of hot chocolate to Jongin. "Because I like you better than him," is his explanation when Joonmyun gawks. "And I'm not giving anyone caffeine at six in the evening, you coffeeholic."
"Chocolate has caffeine," Joonmyun snaps bitterly, and Jongin and Kyungsoo share an amused glance. “And cats aren’t supposed to eat chocolate.”
"This is why you don't get anything."
Jongin laughs. "I like this Joonmyun," he announces, then flushes and looks down. Joonmyun doesn't think he meant to say that aloud, but it makes him smile anyway. Kyungsoo looks mortified.
"It's a perfect match," Kyungsoo says, mainly to himself.
"You're amazing," Joonmyun says, honestly.
Kyungsoo shrugs nonchalantly. "I know." Jongin laughs again.
The first icebreaker happens when Joonmyun accidentally forgets to turn off the TV.
He isn't really fond of cooking, but after eating out for so long, he figures it's finally time to show Jongin the very few culinary skills he has. He has Kyungsoo on speed dial just in case something catches fire.
Jongin's circled the house at least four times already, but he's working on a fifth by the time Joonmyun's got all the ingredients out and is washing the vegetables.
Joonmyun's not really a fan of loud noises, but Jongin seems to like it when there's some type of background noise, so he figures he'll wait a bit before he turns off the TV.
Jongin pads over a few minutes later when Joonmyun's staring at the rice cooker and wondering if it's healthy for Jongin to even eat rice. He's still part human, but after the incident with the tuna, he has no idea how he'll take a liking to rice.
He may as well ask, since Jongin is right there, standing on the other side of the kitchen counter. "Jongin," Joonmyun calls out, and watches as Jongin's ears perk up immediately and he faces Joonmyun with furrowed eyebrows. "Do you li-"
Jongin lets out something between a yowl and a hiss when the TV goes off behind him with the sound of a dog barking angrily, and then he's launching himself over the counter and onto Joonmyun, bringing them both down to the floor.
"What the fuck," Joonmyun groans, but Jongin is gripping his hands in Joonmyun's dress shirt so tight he thinks it might rip.
"Where is it," Jongin hisses quietly, slight tremors wracking through his body, and it's then that Joonmyun finally realizes that Jongin isn't angry, he's scared.
He leans up, Jongin still pressed up against his side, and Joonmyun smiles, bringing his hands up to loosen Jongin’s grip. "It was the TV," he says, "there's no dog."
"Make sure," Jongin whimpers.
"Get up with me," Joonmyun says, and Jongin does, but his hand trails down the length of Joonmyun's torso before Jongin grasps Joonmyun's pinky with his own. He's not even sure if Jongin's realized he's done it, but a smile plays across his lips as he leads Jongin across the room and to the living room, where they stop in front of the TV.
Some drama Joonmyun's never heard of is on - it's a drama about an investigation, and they both watch as the police dogs run after what probably is the culprit. Jongin's still shaking, so Joonmyun reaches down for the remote with his other hand and changes the channel to something else. A cooking show comes on, and this, Joonmyun figures, they both can deal with.
"You okay?"
Jongin nods, but he gulps as he does, so Joonmyun shifts their hands slightly so he's grasping Jongin's palm in his.
"Can I hug you?" Joonmyun asks before his brain can catch it, and he figures Jongin is going to dart away, but instead he nods slowly, and Joonmyun grins before he turns his body and leans forward before enveloping Jongin in a hug.
Jongin is half a head taller than him, which should make the hug awkward, but Jongin seems to be content with resting his head on top of Joonmyun's. His arms come up to wrap around Joonmyun's shoulder, and Joonmyun smiles against his collarbone.
"Better now?" Joonmyun asks, and Jongin lets out a soft hum in response. Then Joonmyun decides to tease. "Isn't Chanyeol your friend? He's a dog."
He can't see Jongin's face, but he can hear the childish grin in his voice. "Chanyeol's meanest barking couldn't even scare birds."
Joonmyun thinks about how they met up with Yifan and Chanyeol yesterday. Chanyeol had a pretty good bark, but Jongin’s right, it probably couldn’t scare anyone. Yifan seemed to like that, though, petting Chaneyol affectionately as he sulked. "They fit each other, surprisingly," he says. "I don't know how, but it works."
"Chanyeol likes the whole being smothered in affection thing," Jongin replies.
"And you?"
He shrugs. "Suffocating," he mumbles, then rectifies himself, "at times."
"You cats like your independence, huh," Joonmyun says, mainly to himself, but Jongin agrees anyway. Then he frowns. "This hug isn't suffocating, right?"
Jongin laughs, a deep, throaty kind of laugh that makes Joonmyun grin, too. "No, but this is kind of a long hug."
"Right," Joonmyun says, then pulls away. "Let's end that, then. I need to finish cooking, and I meant to ask like, ten minutes ago, do you eat rice? Or should I make one serving."
Jongin's face gives away the answer before he can say it, and Joonmyun reaches out to pat Jongin's head. "That's that, then," he quips, then heads back to the kitchen. Jongin follows close behind him and sits cross legged on the counter, watching as Joonmyun works away at the stove. Joonmyun pretends not to see when he steals a piece of chicken.
Things get comfy after that. Joonmyun doesn't feel the need to load their schedule up with unnecessary things like meeting the neighbors upstairs, or accidentally running into someone in the park, or someone he knows from work, or finding movies to watch so they don't have to talk. Jongin gets to go out and walk around whenever he likes, meet people whoever he likes (Joonmyun finds out Taemin and Jongin meet up frequently), and Joonmyun can concentrate on his work in the morning and relax at night.
Jongin goes to his first official dance lesson without him. And his second. And his third. It's Zhou Mi, Joonmyun's coworker, Song Qian's husband, who comes to him one day and talks excitedly about how excited Song Qian is over Jongin.
Song Qian being excited isn't exactly new - it's one of her charms, the small things that add that shine in her eyes that Joonmyun's always admired - but the way Zhou Mi says she fusses over Jongin and practically treats him like her own son is gratifying.
They also get touchy. The first two weeks, Jongin stayed as far away from him as possible and stuck to sneaking around corners and crouching behind chairs. Now, since Jongin has no qualms with resting his head on Joonmyun's shoulder as he works at the kitchen counter, Joonmyun doesn't think twice to drape his arms around Jongin's shoulders when they're watching TV together.
Time passes like that.
NEXT
suho/kai
21586 words; nc-17
warnings: hints of d/s, lots of loopholes, unrealistic uses and developments of science
Life has its own way of throwing things at you when you least expect it, and it depends on how you take them into hand.
Alternatively: Joonmyun adopts Jongin the catboy. Things happen, feather dusters are harmed.
I FINALLY DID THE THING OTL. oh man this is one of the most self indulgent things i have ever written. it started out as just catboy porn, and then all of this evolved. it took months to write and develop.
but anyway, A HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to everyone who pushed me through and cheerleaded me on! many thanks to wonder and scylla to looking this over! and to my catboys crew (yeah, you're the catboys crew, how do you feel): mochi, deedee, konnie, shimi, kitten, lynn! thank you guys for being the best catboys crew ever. you're all awesome. this is for you guys!
and now without further ado, the fic (and an ao3 mirror here):
It’s so fucking hot, is the first thought that runs through Joonmyun’s mind as he walks into the adoption center. The next is, Am I really doing this?
It’s Kyungsoo’s fault he’s here, really. Joonmyun made a small comment about how empty his apartment felt (another reminder not to go out drinking with Kyungsoo), and one thing led to another, and soon enough, Kyungsoo had texted him the address of a hybrid adoption center his friend works at.
The inside of the building is nice and cool - Joonmyun thanks whatever higher deity there is for the existence of air conditioning - and shuffles forward to the front desk. The person standing there has his back to him, and Joonmyun has to cough to get his attention.
“Sorry, hi!” the boy behind the counter says automatically, “how may I help y- oh!” He pauses for a moment before narrowing his eyes, “Kim Joonmyun? Kyungsoo’s friend?”
“Yeah,” Joonmyun mumbles. “You are?”
“Byun Baekhyun, friend from college. He’s told me a bit about you. I didn’t really expect you to show up from what he’s told me, to be honest.”
“What has he told you?” Joonmyun asks curiously.
“Uh,” Baekhyun smiles sheepishly, “Something about being really lame and possibly dying alone if he doesn’t find someone-”
“Oh my god,” Joonmyun groans, hands clawing at his face. “I’m going to kill him.”
“He said you’d say that too,” Baekhyun teases. “Right, so, are you interested in any sort of particular hybrid?
“Um,” Joonmyun mumbles, “not really. I just came on a whim.”
Baekhyun, thankfully, says nothing else embarrassing and comes out from behind the counter. “Yixing!” He calls out, “I’m going to help a customer, so take over for me for a bit, please?”
There’s a sound from the room behind the counter, and Baekhyun takes that as an affirmative to motion for Joonmyun to follow him. “So,” he says, “d’you like birds?”
Joonmyun’s face gives him away before he can actually speak, and Baekhyun grins at him before turning down a hallway. “You don’t like, keep them in cages, do you?” Joonmyun asks, slightly horrified.
Baekhyun looks incredibly offended, if anything. “Who do you think we are?” he asks. “They have a communal room. Not very glamorous, but not, y’know, cages. They can talk to us. We know if they’re having a hard time.”
“Right,” Joonmyun says, “sorry.”
Baekhyun gives him an easy smile and stands in front of a white door. “Okay, this is the main room. There’s a few other people looking around, so they won’t alarmed or anything, but just a heads up.”
Joonmyun doesn’t really know what he’s expecting when the door opens. He thinks it was probably a modification of a cage, or something equally as appalling.
It’s not.
In fact, it looks just like a regular lounge. A very colorful lounge, actually. He wonders if they got to paint the walls themselves, because there’s giant globs of colors everywhere, like no one bothered to match each other and just painted whatever came to mind. There’s a long table near the back wall, and a television perched on the end of it. In front of that is a small sofa, where a few girls and boys are perched on, and if not for the nonhuman appendages, like ears, tails, and jesus - those wings are huge - he wouldn’t have noticed they were hybrids.
There are other small tables and chairs littered across the room, and Joonmyun watches in wonder as a boy with dog ears wrestles a human on the floor near the window.
Baekhyun sighs. “That’s Chanyeol and Jongdae. They’re not fighting, at least, I don’t think so. Chanyeol’s just ansty because his new owner is supposed to pick him up today. He’s extra handsy when he’s excited. Anyway! Let me show you around. That’s Kyungri, by the computer. She’s a cat, Siamese, I think. We said no to the birds, and I’m going to take a general guess from your face and from what Kyungsoo told me and infer that you don’t want something extremely loud or hyper.”
“That would be nice.”
“Oh,” Baekhyun suddenly pipes up, “I know! I know the perfect guy for you. He’s quiet, and kind of cold at first, but he’s a good kid.”
Baekhyun strides over to the opposite end of the room, down to where a few people are playing video games, and Joonmyun thinks he knows who Baekhyun’s talking about before Baekhyun actually points him out.
On the far end of the couch, there’s a boy with black cat ears, tail wrapped around his waist as his face rests on the armchair. He’s sleeping, Joonmyun realizes once they get closer.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Joonmyun asks warily.
“Our Jonginnie can sleep literally anywhere,” one of the girls says. “It’s a talent.”
“Especially since Chanyeol slept next to him,” another boy adds, not bothering to look up from the game he’s playing. It’s an old console, one they’ve stopped selling at least five years ago, but Joonmyun guesses it’s better than not having anything.
“Yah!” Baekhyun snaps, leaning down to poke Jongin harshly in the forehead. “Wake up! It’s like, five in the afternoon.”
Jongin whines low in this throat and blinks his eyes open slowly before stretching and Joonmyun is greeted with the soft expanse of his tummy as his shirt rides up, and he gulps hard. “What do you want, hyung?”
“Jongin is genetically the farthest from a cat out of everyone here,” Baekhyun explains as Jongin rubs the sleep out of his eyes. “Personality wise though, he’s actually just a giant kitty. Rise and shine, sweetie, you have a visitor. His name is Joonmyun.”
“Don’t call me that,” Jongin groans, then turns to peer up to look at Joonmyun. He has soft-looking, plump lips and a straight nose - his face has no sharp lines or edges. He’s also devastatingly handsome, and while Joonmyun knows it’s nothing uncommon for hybrids and humans to have relationships, he does recall Baekhyun calling him a good kid.
“How old are you?” Joonmyun asks, and tries not to roll his eyes when Baekhyun laughs.
“Nineteen,” Jongin replies, and Joonmyun thinks Jongin is almost looking at him with accusing eyes, like he dares Joonmyun to try and say something bad about him.
“That’s older than I thought,” Joonmyun says slowly, then looks at Baekhyun with a face that screams help me, and Baekhyun decides to take pity on him.
“Jongin really likes dancing. Sometimes we’ll push all the furniture out of the way so he can perform for us. There’s not really much room for practice though.”
“That’s cool,” Joonmyun decides on. “I can’t walk in a straight line sometimes, but a few of my friends are very passionate about dance, so I know a few terms. What kind of dance do you like?”
Jongin hesitates for a moment before mumbles, “Hip ho-”
“Lies!” Someone from behind him shouts, and Jongin yelps when another similar looking cat pounces on top of him. “Jonginnie loves ballet!”
“Get off me!” Jongin yelps, and he and the intruder roll off the couch together and start to snap at each other on the ground.
“That’s Taemin,” Baekhyun explains. “He already has an owner, but Jongin is his best friend, so he comes down here all the time.”
Joonmyun nods as Taemin and Jongin jump to their feet, Taemin chanting, “ballet, ballet, Jongin loves ballet!” as loudly as he can, and Jongin tries to cover his mouth with his hand uselessly. Joonmyun laughs. It’s cute.
“My friend is a ballet teacher,” Joonmyun says, and both Taemin and Jongin’s face light up at the same time. “I can take you to her, if you’d like.”
Just like that, the animosity between them disappears and Jongin’s looking at him with wonder in his eyes.
“Wow,” Baekhyun says from next to him, “that was the fastest I’ve ever seen anyone win Jongin’s heart. And by fastest I mean you’re the only one.”
Jongin doesn’t even spare Baekhyun a glance; his eyes are trained on Joonmyun’s face, and Joonmyun doesn’t know whether he should feel flattered or whether he’s being used.
Well, Joonmyun thinks, in all actuality, he might be buying Jongin, and suddenly the thought scares him.
Everyone who owns a hybrid has sung nothing but praises, but Joonmyun is still wary. Hybrids haven't been around for long, just about a century; they're the results of lab experiments that, despite all newspapers and almost every dystopian book you've ever read, turned out successful.
Joonmyun knows that there are still some people who consider them second class people, and even though adoption centers are strictly based on consent between the hybrid and human, it still makes him uncomfortable to just buy a person like they're merchandise. It’s probably why he’s taken so long to get himself down here.
“You look clammy,” Baekhyun says, sounding a bit concerned. “Do you need to sit down? Can I get you water?”
“No,” Joonmyun gasps, “I’m fine. I’m just... new, to all of this.” He fixes Jongin with a scared glance, and he knows the moment they lock eyes that Jongin knows exactly how he’s feeling, because he cowers in on himself slightly, and then Taemin is pressing himself up against Jongin’s side, arm coming around his shoulder defensively.
“Here,” Baekhyun interjects, “let’s go out for some fresh air. You can come back after you’ve cleared your head.” He grabs Joonmyun by the wrist and pulls him out of the room, closing the door behind him as they exit.
Joonmyun wipes his hands on his pants and takes a deep breath before he looks at Baekhyun. He wonders how pathetic he looks right now.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Baekhyun asks. “You know, you don’t have to adopt Jongin, or anyone.”
“I know,” Joonmyun sighs. “I’m just- I’ve never done this before. Never even considered it before.”
Baekhyun gives him a reassuring smile and puts a hand on his shoulder. “You know, Kyungsoo might have called you lame, but he wouldn’t have brought up your name if he didn’t think you were capable.”
Joonmyun smiles at that. “You think so?”
Baekhyun laughs. “I know so. And, between me and you, let me let you in on a secret. Jongin hates people. Most people, at least. There’s a reason he’s been in here for a really long time. You know how adoption works - both people need to consent. Jongin’s never- A lot of people have shown interest in him. It’s always been one sided.”
He fixes Joonmyun with a certain look that has Joonmyun reeling. It reminds him of Spiderman, to be honest, when Peter’s uncle had told him With great strength comes great responsibility.
“Up until now,” Baekhyun continues. “He showed interest today. In you.”
Joonmyun scoffs. “That’s just because I told him I know a dance teacher.”
“That’s what it looks like,” Baekhyun says, slowly, like he’s trying to get Joonmyun to understand some deep, underlying concept. Which he supposes is exactly what he’s doing. “But he said he liked hip hop first. Taemin was the one who brought ballet up. And then you know what really won him over?” He doesn’t wait for Joonmyun to ask what, because he says, “You didn’t laugh at him.”
Oh.
“Do you know how many people have done that? Made him feel bad about liking ballet? I couldn’t count them with both hands if I tried.” He sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair before turning to look back at Joonmyun. “I’m telling you this because Jongin deserves to have someone in his life. That was the first time I’ve seen his eyes light up in a really, really long time. And when you cowered? That wasn’t a look of anger; that was fear. That was Jongin wondering if someone else was going to walk out that door and leave him behind again. I’ve worked here way too long to let him down again.”
“I,” Joonmyun thinks about Jongin’s beautiful eyes and his soft cheeks and his black cat ears and tail, and he stammers, “I really like him, Baekhyun. I like him so much I don’t know what to do.”
Baekhyun grins at him, wide and bright. “Good, because I know exactly what to do.”
Adopting takes up much more time that Joonmyun originally thought.
In retrospect, it was probably silly of Joonmyun to assume that he’d walk in alone and walk out with another person, just like that. They’re not dolls, Joonmyun reminds himself. They’re people with brains and feelings and human value, goddammit.
Despite what Baekhyun’s told him, he’s still surprised when Jongin gives Joonmyun the okay to adopt him, because he still looks at Joonmyun like he doesn’t trust him at all. Baekhyun, obviously pleased, catches Jongin in a headlock and squeals before giving him a noogie, which has Jongin hissing and spitting.
“Despite consent, we’ll still have to check if you can afford to keep Jongin, if you have the capability to raise him, and if you’re not some psychopathic serial killer.” Baekhyun adds a smile for good measure. “It’s all standard protocol.”
“Right,” Joonmyun mutters.
“So, give us your address, a time and date to drop by, and if you pass the check ups, we’ll get you a day to come in and pick Jongin up.”
Joonmyun’s checking his phone for any available days he has during the week when the door opens, and there’s a beaming Chanyeol, followed by a not-so-beaming Yifan.
Joonmyun pauses.
Wait, Yifan?
Yifan has a similar reaction, because he stares at Joonmyun, bewildered, before he laughs. “I would have never thought you’d come here. Was it Kyungsoo?”
“Speak for yourself,” Joonmyun gasps. “You’ve adopted? Chanyeol?”
“Hey,” Chanyeol says, sniffing. Just like that, Joonmyun doubts he’s even noticed, Yifan’s hand comes up to pet Chanyeol.
“I like Chanyeol,” he says simply. “I’m a dog person; we both know that.”
“I didn’t know you could keep up with him,” Joonmyun confesses. “I probably can’t.”
“I’m right here,” Chanyeol snaps.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Joonmyun says softly. “If anything, I was offending him. Trying to, at least. You sure you’re okay with an owner like that, Chanyeol?”
Joonmyun’s tone is teasing, but Yifan looks at Chanyeol with the softest expression Joonmyun’s ever seen him make in his life, and Yifan smiles before saying, “Nah, I think we’ll be good.”
And Joonmyun can’t really argue with that.
“Oh man,” Baekhyun says after Yifan’s left. “You know Yifan? Now that’s surprising. We have a lot of friends in common.”
“I used to work with him before I switched companies,” Joonmyun replies. “We’re good friends, actually.”
“That’s amazing,” Baekhyun breathes, “because I’m his best friend.” Then he turns towards Jongin, who’s been watching the exchange silently. “See, Jongin? I told you you wouldn’t be able to get rid of me even if you tried.”
“Unfortunately,” Jongin says, frowning, and Baekhyun laughs.
Joonmyun has Baekhyun come in on an unpleasantly hot Thursday to inspect his house. "You don't have like, bodies buried under the floorboard, right?"
"Um," Joonmyun gulps, "has that happened before?"
Baekhyun shrugs. "I'd rather not have a first. Do you have any idea where Jongin is going to be sleeping? Pro tip: he's actually a pretty touchy person, but at first he's not going to want to touch you with a ten foot pole."
"That's... reassuring," Joonmyun mumbles. "I have a guest room that I figured I would turn into his room. It doesn't have much in it right now, but I could take Jongin furniture shopping?"
Baekhyun nods approvingly. "That works. Well, I'm mainly done around here. Everything's been checked off. You're financially okay, your medical and criminal history is okay, and you have an acceptable health insurance to cover both you and Jongin. You're almost done, Joonmyun."
"Almost?" Joonmyun croaks. Not that he wants to kick Baekhyun out or anything, he's actually a very pleasant person to talk to. He definitely made the six hours of constant interviewing and record checking much less awful than it should have been. But, really. Six hours. Joonmyun wants to sleep forever. It's Thursday and he has a business conference at nine tomorrow morning. "There are a lot of steps to adopting a hybrid."
"There are," Baekhyun says, and he's not smiling anymore, which freaks Joonmyun out a little, because Baekhyun's been smiling almost exactly six hours. "I'm going to hate to make you uncomfortable, but I really think this next session is going to make you extremely uncomfortable. But it's important, because aside from all the records and finances, it all boils down to: Why do you want Jongin? What can you provide for Jongin that no one else can? What makes you the best adopter for Jongin?"
That does quite make Joonmyun uncomfortable, and he even has to loosen his tie a bit and lean back against the kitchen table. What can he provide for Jongin that no one else can, really?
Jongin has really dark brown eyes, like Joonmyun could be drowning in them, but he remembers, clearly, the apprehension in them. He remembers looking into Jongin's eyes for the very first time and seeing animosity. Joonmyun asked how old Jongin was, and he'd snapped a bitter nineteen at him, like Joonmyun would snap back, no, you're not.
He probably can't provide Jongin with anything more than whoever lives next door to him (his next door neighbor is a very nice girl named Miyoung who has a gorgeous smile and makes really nice cupcakes and wears headbands a lot).
He'll try, though. "I want Jongin because... Because I think I need him as much as I think he needs me. Maybe. He's... a good person, I think, and I want to help him. Take care of him, I mean. Make him family. I don't want him to be lonely."
He doesn't look up for a good five seconds, he counts down in his head, then peers up through his lashes to see Baekhyun giving him a very peculiar look. It's a mix between contemplative and apathetic, before he finally says, "You sound like you've never had an interview before."
Joonmyun laughs. It's a nice break in atmosphere. Truthfully, he feels embarrassed for blurting all that on the spot. "Usually I get a few days notice to prepare myself."
Baekhyun smiles. "I'm actually quite impressed. From what Kyungsoo's told me-"
"Oh, no, please don't," Joonmyun groans. "I don't want to know what Kyungsoo said about me." Then he pauses. "You're impressed?"
Baekhyun shrugs. "That was much better than Yifan, at least. I mean, I wasn't actually there, but from what Lu Han told me, it was pretty bad."
"Yifan is a pretty awful speaker outside of work."
"Yes he is," Baekhyun agrees, "But you're not adopting Yifan, you're adopting Jongin. And well, as far as I'm concerned, you're good to go. But you're not rid of me yet. One more check up and then we'll organize a date for pick up. Are you ready?"
"I'm-" Joonmyun takes a deep breath. "I think so," he says.
Baekhyun gives him another passive stare before he shrugs. "Still better than Yifan."
It takes another two weeks of processing paperwork and getting records checked and double checked and Joonmyun gets to send a few messages to Jongin ('how've you been?', 'have you eaten well?') before Baekhyun stops by, and it's this time where Joonmyun accidentally lets the question slip, a mere five minutes before Baekhyun is about to leave- "Why are you always the one to come?"
Baekhyun looks up from a file and raises an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Sorry," Joonmyun flushes, "it's just that, you've mentioned a few other workers before and whatnot, but you come each and every time. Is that just coincidence?"
"Oh." Baekhyun gently closes the file places it back on the table. Joonmyun hopes this doesn't mean he's going to get another nerve wracking lecture. Something about the look in Baekhyun's eyes tells him that he will. "I work with Jongin, personally," Baekhyun states, "I mean, I'm not his advertiser or something, I work with all the hybrids, but I'm especially connected to this case. Did you know I was the one who pulled Jongin out of the rubble of his old home when he was twelve?"
"Pulled him out of the what?"
"Jongin's very special. He's a direct descendant of the very first feline hybrid from a century back. A century isn't very long ago: Jongin's only two generations down from the original."
"This..." Joonmyun stares blankly at Baekhyun. This was new information. "Jongin is history. You can't possibly just... give him away?"
Baekhyun gives him a look that has Joonmyun's blood run cold. "He's not a thing, Joonmyun."
Joonmyun flushes. "I'm sorry."
He hopes he looks sincere enough, because he definitely feels sincere enough, but Baekhyun only sighs. "Do you remember how a couple of years ago the original lab where hybrids were originally created were burned down? I was in training back then. We were all sent to the scene, and Jongin and a few others of the original hybrids were there. I was the one who found Jongin and pulled him out of that building."
Joonmyun takes a moment to register all of this. Jongin seems so, so important, like just his name is worth more than everything Joonmyun's worked for in his life. But, he thinks back to what Baekhyun said - Jongin is not just a name. He's not just "the direct descent of first cat-human hybrid". Joonmyun wanted him before he knew this, and he still wants him now.
"He's very special to me, is what I'm saying," Baekhyun says. "I put this all in Jongin's report, by the way, which I will give you. I'd suggest at least reading the first two chapters."
"Right," Joonmyun mumbles, feeling much less significant than he did five minutes before. "I'll... do that."
"I'm being really hard on you, I know," Baekhyun says, "I check records I don't have to, I question you every time I come or call, but it's because I really do think Jongin is going to like you. And truthfully, I'm going to miss him too."
Joonmyun gives him a weak smile. "I'm glad Jongin had you." Has, he corrects in his head, because he's not quite sure if Jongin will relent to him as easily.
Baekhyun leaves a few moments later, and Joonmyun looks at the dark green folder lying on his kitchen table titled "KIM JONGIN: [CONFIDENTIAL]" before opening the first page.
Kim Joonmyun is in a rush.
Kim Joonmyun is in a rush because the subway train he was going to take broke down, and on top of that, the gift he'd prepared for Jongin was left at his house, and his cellphone battery is dead, and it's thunder storming (of course Joonmyun's got no umbrella either) and today sucks.
But today is the day he picks up Jongin, and that sort of un-sucks everything he's gone through today.
Today is finally the day he picks up Jongin, after five weeks of pining and phone calls and short messages and records upon records and a huge sum of Joonmyun's money.
Today Joonmyun gets a new addition to his family.
And he's late to picking up his new family member. Because of the stupid subway. And dead cellphone. It's okay, though, or it should be okay, because even though Joonmyun is soaked to the bone and shivering and thunder booms as he finally reaches the door of the adoption center, there's a warmth in his chest. It feels like someone is blowing bubbles inside his ribcage, and they all pop and leave little tingly sensations against the bone.
Joonmyun wonders how awful he looks when Baekhyun's eyes widen at his appearance. "Wow," he says, "stay right there; I'm going to get a towel."
As Baekhyun exits into the backroom, Joonmyun runs a hand through hair, which is dripping water onto his shoulders, and takes a look around. Joonmyun's never actually seen anyone in the lobby before aside from Baekhyun and Yixing, but as he looks around now, there's a small glass window in the far back, next to the hallway Joonmyun knows leads to the lounge.
Jongin's peeking through the window, feline ears perked up, and Joonmyun thinks he can see his tail whipping from side to side in the back. He's not sure if that's a good thing, especially since Jongin looks like he's scrutinizing him now. Maybe he hates him for being so late. Or maybe he's really grossed out by Joonmyun's appearance is. Maybe it's both.
Jongin turns his head to look at something a few meters away from Joonmyun, then ducks down out of sight.
It's Baekhyun, who hands Joonmyun a towel to dry his hair with. "We don't have a change of clothes, but at least your hair will be fine?"
"It's fine," Joonmyun says. "Thanks."
His hair probably looks worse now, sticking up in all different directions, but Baekhyun grins at him, giddy as he says, "Are you ready?"
"I'm never ready," Joonmyun confesses. "I just hope for the best."
"You've definitely got the best," Baekhyun says, and pushes Joonmyun down the hall. "Honestly, we just need both yours and Jongin's signatures and then to get Jongin's stuff out. I've already called a cab, and Jongin doesn't really have much stuff, it's like one bag, so you're really all set."
"That's fast," Joonmyun breathes, and Baekhyun winks.
"Godspeed," he says, and opens the door for Joonmyun.
The window is actually quite high up - Jongin had been standing on his suitcase to get a peek at Joonmyun. He's still standing on it, but instead of looking like he's picking Joonmyun apart with each second ticking by, now he stares at Joonmyun with wide eyes, body completely stiff.
"Are you ready?" Baekhyun asks Jongin, voice teasing, and Jongin stops staring at Joonmyun to give Baekhyun the same lost look. "He's ready," Baekhyun says to Joonmyun, "just really nervous."
"I... understand that," Joonmyun says, and takes a few steps forward. "Are you gonna come down?" he asks with an outstretched hand, and Jongin takes a took between the suitcase he's standing on and Joonmyun's hand before he quietly takes it and steps down in front of him.
Jongin is still taller than Joonmyun, he notes bitterly, but up close, Joonmyun gets to examine his face. His lips are a nude pink, and there's a faint flush across his cheeks. It probably has something to do with their still linked hands, so Joonmyun quickly removes it and gives him a helpful grin.
Jongin doesn't grin back, but he does look a little less scared, so Joonmyun figures that's fair enough.
"I'm... How are you," Jongin asks, voice stuttering, and he glances quick at Baekhyun before saying, "today? I mean. How are you today."
Joonmyun's not sure which part was the question, but he smiles reassuringly and ignores Baekhyun laughing behind them. "I'm fine. Very nervous, but fine."
The idea of Joonmyun being nervous turns a switch on, because Jongin's face lights up with a smile that tugs at Joonmyun's heartstrings.
"Thank god," Baekhyun laughs as he shuffles around a few papers, "I thought you would frown all the way to Gangnam."
"Gangnam?" Jongin asks, perking up. "You live in Gangnam?"
Joonmyun shrugs. "More towards the edge of Gangnam, near Yongsan."
Jongin isn't listening. "Taemin lives in Gangnam," he says, grinning.
"Lord help you," Baekhyun says, reaching over to hand Joonmyun a file. "Jongin's a sweet kid - shut up Jongin - but Taemin is the devil in feline form. His owner, Jonghyun, is nice though. A great friend of mine."
"Is Taemin the one who told me about the ballet thing?" he asks offhandedly. The file is the contract he's supposed to sign. There's two lines at the bottom, one for Joonmyun's signature and one for Jongin's.
"Yeah," Jongin says quietly, and Joonmyun flinches. The ballet thing was probably not the best choice of words. He glances up to Baekhyun, who shrugs and hands him a pen.
"I talked to my friend, actually," Joonmyun says as he signs, "Song Qian. She says I can bring you in whenever you want."
Jongin doesn't say anything as he takes the pen and file from Joonmyun, but he can see Baekhyun grinning out of the corner of his eyes. He raises his eyebrows at Joonmyun, amused, and Joonmyun does his best not to laugh. Jongin is silent as he signs, but he's biting his lip to stop himself from smiling, and that, Joonmyun thinks, is really cute.
"My child," Baekhyun coos later, when they're loading Jongin's suitcase into the cab. "You've finally grown up."
"You're only two years older," Jongin snaps, and ducks to avoid Baekhyun's attempt to hug him.
"Yes, but look how much wiser I am than you," Baekhyun retorts. "Remember to brush your teeth every day, don't talk with your mouth full, don't do drugs, have safe se-"
Joonmyun coughs loudly as he slams the trunk shut, and Jongin blushes. "You're gross," he accuses, and Baekhyun doesn't deny it.
"I didn't say with Joonmyun, god Jongin, stop jumping to conclusions. Why, were you thinking of it? Because-"
"We're all set to go!" Joonmyun half screams, and Baekhyun gives him one look over but drawing him in for a hug.
He's whispering something in Jongin's ears when Joonmyun makes his way over, and gives him a final pat on the back before letting him go. Then, he turns to Joonmyun and says, "Give me your phone."
"What?"
"Phone," Baekhyun repeats. "I'm giving you my number."
"It's dead," Joonmyun replies, a bit sheepishly, and Baekhyun rolls his eyes before digging his own phone out of his pocket and thrusting it into Joonmyun's hand.
"Then put your number in. If Kyungsoo's told me anything at all," Baekhyun says as Joonmyun starts to dial his phone, "it's that you'll probably be extremely incompetent at first."
Joonmyun scoffs. "I think we've learned not to trust Kyungsoo's judgement on my character."
Baekyun takes his phone back with a smile. "Actually, if anything, I've learned these past few visits that I should probably trust exactly what Kyungsoo says."
Joonmyun must have made a face, because Baekhyun laughs. "C'mon, get in the car. Jongin's waiting. I'll talk to the driver."
Joonmyun turns to see Jongin sitting next to the window, and as he slides in to sit next to him, Jongin's ears twitch. He's not sure if that's good or bad.
"So," he says, "it's just you and me now, huh?"
Jongin gives a weak smile. "I guess so."
There isn't much to Jongin's room - there's a bed with white bedsheets and a plain mahogany dresser. "Sorry," Joonmyun says as he pushes Jongin's suitcase into the room and lays it down. He can’t even imagine how nerve wracking it must be for Jongin to finally pick everything up and just move like it’s nothing. Truthfully, he has no idea how to help calm Jongin down, so he tries to take the workload off of him. He refuses to let Jongin carry his suitcase into the apartment, and even offers to help him unpack. It's only after Jongin's ears flatten downwards moodily that Joonmyun realizes he probably wants to be left alone. He puts down the CD he’d been holding and smiles apologetically.
"Alright, well, whenever you're ready, you can come out, and we can get dinner together?"
Jongin nods, and he gives him a small wave before cautiously exiting the room. He wonders what the dietary differences between cat hybrids and pure humans are.
Not much, he finds out later. This probably also has something to do with Jongin being one of the hybrids that are least genetically related to their pure ancestor feline. He does look like he has sharp teeth, though.
He takes Jongin out to a small seafood restaurant in Hongdae, and tries not to stare too much as he watches Jongin mentally decide if he should use chopsticks or his hands.
"Let me do that," he says after a solid minute of watching Jongin stare at his food, then try to eat a piece of shrimp with the shell on.
Jongin's ears flatten again. "Shrimp is expensive," he says. "We don't get to eat it often."
"You can have whatever you want with me," Joonmyun replies as he dumps three pieces of shrimps onto Jongin's plate. He recoils immediately, because wow, that sounded extremely snobbish of him.
Jongin doesn't look like he thinks so, because he laughs and covers his mouth afterward. "You sound worse than Yifan."
Now that's an insult. At least Joonmyun tries to be modest. He figures Yifan deserves it though, since he's basically the poster boy for people who go from rags to riches. Joonmyun's was born into wealth. "Hmm, speaking of, how do you think Chanyeol is?"
"Smitten," Jongin says as he plops a shrimp into his mouth.
"How smitten?" Joonmyun asks as he peels the skin off another piece of shrimp.
Jongin hums a bit, chewing thoughtfully, and Joonmyun tries not to focus on how his ears twitch as he thinks. It's really fucking cute. "Well," he mumbles, "Chanyeol is usually clumsy, but the first day Yifan came in he slammed himself into a wall, and we still don't know if it was to get Yifan's attention or if he just saw nirvana. Either way, it did get Yifan's attention."
Joonmyun laughs so hard Jongin has to take the shrimp away from him and peel it open himself. "I think I've figured it out now," he says, grinning.
"I'm not going to let Yifan live this down," Joonmyun sighs happily. "It'll be great."
The rest of dinner goes by slowly, and silently, for the most part. It doesn't take much to realize that Jongin doesn't like to indulge in small talk, and unfortunately, small talk is all they have to go by at this stage.
"When did you start ballet, anyway?" Joonmyun suddenly asks, remembering their first encounter. "Did you have a teacher?"
Jongin shrugs as he swallows. "I saw it on TV; there was a live broadcast of Coppélia. I tried copying them. Chanyeol laughed. Most people did, actually. But I liked it."
Joonmyun has no idea what Coppélia is, but he nods anyway. "How did you learn?"
"Baekhyun would let me borrow his laptop a lot," Jongin says, smiling. "There was also a computer for everyone to use."
Joonmyun nods. "I have no idea when Song Qian is free, but I'll try to contact her sometime this week. About dance lessons, I mean." He pauses. "You don't mind, right?"
Jongin laughs. "Not really."
That was probably a stupid question, Joonmyun thinks as Jongin smiles down at his plate.
Joonmyun decides the best way to break Jongin in is to tire both Jongin and himself out. That includes meeting almost everyone Joonmyun knows, including Yifan and Chanyeol, who are far more acquainted with each other than they should considering the amount of time they've been together. Maybe Joonmyun's just slow at this getting to know people thing.
He takes Jongin out to his first dance practice two days later, except Song Qian ushers him out of the dance studio so he doesn't get to see Jongin's skills. He comes out about ten times happier than he was walking in though, so that makes Joonmyun smile.
They eat out practically every day, which is not healthy at all (and after a fatal run in that almost involves ushering Jongin to the hospital, he discovers that Jongin doesn't like tuna. Or that he can't digest it. Same thing, right?), but its the best way to talk to people. They even run into Taemin, which makes Jongin ecstatic - Joonmyun doesn't think he's ever seen him so happy. His owner is a funny guy named Jonghyun, who's the same age as Joonmyun. They become friends quickly.
He introduces Kyungsoo to Jongin at a cafe nearby his work building, and Kyungsoo introduces himself by patting Jongin’s head, whose tail curls around the leg of the chair as he purrs. Joonmyun isn't jealous.
"I'm the one who told Joonmyun to get out of his house in the first place," Kyungsoo says, shrugging.
"Why do you only tell Baekhyun bad things about me?" Joonmyun whines, and Jongin raises an eyebrow at that.
Kyungsoo pats him too, except Joonmyun doesn't purr. "I only told him the truth."
"You know that's not true," Joonmyun retorts.
“It’s completely true and you know it,” Kyungsoo says, sliding over a cup of hot chocolate to Jongin. "Because I like you better than him," is his explanation when Joonmyun gawks. "And I'm not giving anyone caffeine at six in the evening, you coffeeholic."
"Chocolate has caffeine," Joonmyun snaps bitterly, and Jongin and Kyungsoo share an amused glance. “And cats aren’t supposed to eat chocolate.”
"This is why you don't get anything."
Jongin laughs. "I like this Joonmyun," he announces, then flushes and looks down. Joonmyun doesn't think he meant to say that aloud, but it makes him smile anyway. Kyungsoo looks mortified.
"It's a perfect match," Kyungsoo says, mainly to himself.
"You're amazing," Joonmyun says, honestly.
Kyungsoo shrugs nonchalantly. "I know." Jongin laughs again.
The first icebreaker happens when Joonmyun accidentally forgets to turn off the TV.
He isn't really fond of cooking, but after eating out for so long, he figures it's finally time to show Jongin the very few culinary skills he has. He has Kyungsoo on speed dial just in case something catches fire.
Jongin's circled the house at least four times already, but he's working on a fifth by the time Joonmyun's got all the ingredients out and is washing the vegetables.
Joonmyun's not really a fan of loud noises, but Jongin seems to like it when there's some type of background noise, so he figures he'll wait a bit before he turns off the TV.
Jongin pads over a few minutes later when Joonmyun's staring at the rice cooker and wondering if it's healthy for Jongin to even eat rice. He's still part human, but after the incident with the tuna, he has no idea how he'll take a liking to rice.
He may as well ask, since Jongin is right there, standing on the other side of the kitchen counter. "Jongin," Joonmyun calls out, and watches as Jongin's ears perk up immediately and he faces Joonmyun with furrowed eyebrows. "Do you li-"
Jongin lets out something between a yowl and a hiss when the TV goes off behind him with the sound of a dog barking angrily, and then he's launching himself over the counter and onto Joonmyun, bringing them both down to the floor.
"What the fuck," Joonmyun groans, but Jongin is gripping his hands in Joonmyun's dress shirt so tight he thinks it might rip.
"Where is it," Jongin hisses quietly, slight tremors wracking through his body, and it's then that Joonmyun finally realizes that Jongin isn't angry, he's scared.
He leans up, Jongin still pressed up against his side, and Joonmyun smiles, bringing his hands up to loosen Jongin’s grip. "It was the TV," he says, "there's no dog."
"Make sure," Jongin whimpers.
"Get up with me," Joonmyun says, and Jongin does, but his hand trails down the length of Joonmyun's torso before Jongin grasps Joonmyun's pinky with his own. He's not even sure if Jongin's realized he's done it, but a smile plays across his lips as he leads Jongin across the room and to the living room, where they stop in front of the TV.
Some drama Joonmyun's never heard of is on - it's a drama about an investigation, and they both watch as the police dogs run after what probably is the culprit. Jongin's still shaking, so Joonmyun reaches down for the remote with his other hand and changes the channel to something else. A cooking show comes on, and this, Joonmyun figures, they both can deal with.
"You okay?"
Jongin nods, but he gulps as he does, so Joonmyun shifts their hands slightly so he's grasping Jongin's palm in his.
"Can I hug you?" Joonmyun asks before his brain can catch it, and he figures Jongin is going to dart away, but instead he nods slowly, and Joonmyun grins before he turns his body and leans forward before enveloping Jongin in a hug.
Jongin is half a head taller than him, which should make the hug awkward, but Jongin seems to be content with resting his head on top of Joonmyun's. His arms come up to wrap around Joonmyun's shoulder, and Joonmyun smiles against his collarbone.
"Better now?" Joonmyun asks, and Jongin lets out a soft hum in response. Then Joonmyun decides to tease. "Isn't Chanyeol your friend? He's a dog."
He can't see Jongin's face, but he can hear the childish grin in his voice. "Chanyeol's meanest barking couldn't even scare birds."
Joonmyun thinks about how they met up with Yifan and Chanyeol yesterday. Chanyeol had a pretty good bark, but Jongin’s right, it probably couldn’t scare anyone. Yifan seemed to like that, though, petting Chaneyol affectionately as he sulked. "They fit each other, surprisingly," he says. "I don't know how, but it works."
"Chanyeol likes the whole being smothered in affection thing," Jongin replies.
"And you?"
He shrugs. "Suffocating," he mumbles, then rectifies himself, "at times."
"You cats like your independence, huh," Joonmyun says, mainly to himself, but Jongin agrees anyway. Then he frowns. "This hug isn't suffocating, right?"
Jongin laughs, a deep, throaty kind of laugh that makes Joonmyun grin, too. "No, but this is kind of a long hug."
"Right," Joonmyun says, then pulls away. "Let's end that, then. I need to finish cooking, and I meant to ask like, ten minutes ago, do you eat rice? Or should I make one serving."
Jongin's face gives away the answer before he can say it, and Joonmyun reaches out to pat Jongin's head. "That's that, then," he quips, then heads back to the kitchen. Jongin follows close behind him and sits cross legged on the counter, watching as Joonmyun works away at the stove. Joonmyun pretends not to see when he steals a piece of chicken.
Things get comfy after that. Joonmyun doesn't feel the need to load their schedule up with unnecessary things like meeting the neighbors upstairs, or accidentally running into someone in the park, or someone he knows from work, or finding movies to watch so they don't have to talk. Jongin gets to go out and walk around whenever he likes, meet people whoever he likes (Joonmyun finds out Taemin and Jongin meet up frequently), and Joonmyun can concentrate on his work in the morning and relax at night.
Jongin goes to his first official dance lesson without him. And his second. And his third. It's Zhou Mi, Joonmyun's coworker, Song Qian's husband, who comes to him one day and talks excitedly about how excited Song Qian is over Jongin.
Song Qian being excited isn't exactly new - it's one of her charms, the small things that add that shine in her eyes that Joonmyun's always admired - but the way Zhou Mi says she fusses over Jongin and practically treats him like her own son is gratifying.
They also get touchy. The first two weeks, Jongin stayed as far away from him as possible and stuck to sneaking around corners and crouching behind chairs. Now, since Jongin has no qualms with resting his head on Joonmyun's shoulder as he works at the kitchen counter, Joonmyun doesn't think twice to drape his arms around Jongin's shoulders when they're watching TV together.
Time passes like that.
NEXT