Chapter Text
Taeyong has always been proud to call himself an animal whisperer.
No matter where he went, animals would be naturally drawn to him, all types of species. Dogs, cats, fishes (he loved going “bloop, bloop” at them)...you name it, he could do it. That is why he was definitely living the life as a petsitter, because word of mouth does wonders, and already his schedule to babysit different pets was already fully booked several months ahead.
He loved his job, he really did. But in life, you don’t always get the best of all worlds.
“Yuyu, come onnnnnnn, I won’t mush my face into your fur anymore, come out please, cutie?” From where it was hiding underneath Taeyong’s soft, a pair of grey eyes stared back at him resolutely in defiance.
Taeyong had babysat many kittens throughout his entire stint as a petsitter, but Yuyu was about the only other pet (Ruby would always be first in his heart) that he entirely adored with his whole heart. The 2-month old munchkin kitten, with impossibly big eyes that looked like it held the whole galaxy and its acts of clumsiness had completely stolen Taeyong’s heart the first time Taeil had introduced Yuyu to him.
To be exact, it wasn’t just Taeyong whose heart had been captured by the kitten the first time Taeil had introduced them his newest “roommate”. There was the triple Js aka Johnny, Jaehyun and Jungwoo, and their pet dogs who completely terrified the kitten the first time the pets met each other.
In summary, there was alot of slobber involved and Taeil had banned the dogs and their owners from his residence indefinitely.
And honestly, being a petsitter was the only reason why Taeil would safely trust Yuyu to Taeyong when he had to run long errands and couldn’t take care of the kitten. The kitten was a hazard to its ownself and Taeil had once gripped to Taeyong how he was close to buying a baby carrier only so he could strap the kitten to his chest because the kitten and the household furniture were mutual enemies.
But naturally, this privilege of being Yuyu’s one and only petsitter meant that Taeyong could shower all the love he could on the kitten on the condition (more like a threat with a dumbbell shoved in his face) that the 3Js were not allowed 1 feet within the kitten and everyone else needed to pass Taeil to be entitled to visitation rights.
Speaking of visitation rights...
“Taeyong-hyung! Yuyu! I’m back!” Taeyong felt his heart shatter as tiny ears perked up and sped out from underneath the sofa into Mark’s waiting arms. The kitten squeaked as it rubbed itself against Mark’s chest as Mark cradled it gently against his chest.
“Aww, aren’t you just the most affectionate thing in the world you lil’ cutie?” Mark cooed at Yuyu as he carried it up so it was eye level with him. “Who’s the cutest lil’ kitty in the world? Yes, its you the cutest kitty in the world.” He was rewarded with a series of squeaks and his heart swelled with so much affection for this kitten he did the most natural thing anyone else would have done.
He buried his face into the kitten’s soft belly and all Taeyong could hear was mumbled sentences of Mark expressing his happiness at his privilege of “Yuyu belly smoosh time”.
Jealously is an ugly feeling, and next thing before Taeyong proceessed his actions, he had proceeded to stomp over to where Mark was still sitting near the entrance and snatched the kitten off Mark hands, who blinked at the sudden loss of warm fur against his face and fingers.
“Oh, Taeyong-hyung.” Taeyong felt his eyebrow twitch. “Sorry, Yuyu’s tummy is really comfortable.”
“You should know that he doesn’t like it, don’t you, Yuyu?” He proceeded to turn the kitten to face him...
Only to be met with the saddest pair of eyes looking back at him, and in those eyes, Taeyong saw his privilege of being Yuyu’s petsitter forever go with the wind and Taeil’s fury with dumbbells in hand.
The kitten was handed back immediately back to Mark without a second word, and Taeyong felt his heart crying inside as Mark gladly received back the kitten and proceeded to rock the kitten in his arms while he got comfortable on the sofa, while Yuyu just looked into Mark’s eyes, quietly listening to Mark’s rambling about it being the cutest thing in the whole world, all the while eyes wide and looking extremely adorable staring up at Mark.
Taeyong held back a sob as he took several photos so that he could send to Taeil to let him know that his precious kitten was well and alive, making a mental note to save the photos to his computer with an entire folder dedicated to Yuyu (and hopefully crop out Mark’s face while at it).
Life is so unfair. Taeyong bemoaned silently to himself as he poked around his phone, clearing photos of certain dogs as he swiped away notifs warning him that it was low on space. They don’t just choose their masters, they choose the love of their lives too.
Well, if all was to be fair in love and war, Taeyong was sure that Mark would do fine looking for roommates if Yuyu was to be staying over in the near future.