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The first cat was kinda, sorta, in a way, if you squint, intentional. As in, Kihyun had seen the cat, seen the way it prowled around outside their apartment building, bones protruding sharply from its patchy grey fur, and felt a sudden, sharp, pang in his heart.
“Do you think that cat has anything to eat?” Kihyun fretted to Minhyuk, hands working quickly as he flipped and stirred the veggies in the pan. “Do you think it’s okay?”
Minhyuk, picking threads apart with thin, long fingers, (he had made Hyunwoo teach him knitting, and although he had unraveled the scarf he was knitting five times already, he insisted on finishing it), looked up, slightly distracted look on his face. “What?”
“The cat. The one outside. The grey one. He meowed at me.” Kihyun stirred the vegetables a little forcefully, flinching back when the oil splattered.
“Careful,” Minhyuk admonished, tsking, laying the mass of knotted wool down in his lap. “I don’t know, Kihyunnie. If you’re worried, you can put out some fish? We have a can of tuna.”
Kihyun reached out to switch off the stove, a tiny line marring the smooth plane of his forehead. “Maybe I will.”
Minhyuk reached out to snatch a piece of carrot from the pan, grinning when Kihyun lightly slapped his hand away. “I thought you didn’t want any pets? I mean, if we’re talking about getting pets you know I want a bunny--”
“We’re not getting any pets,” Kihyun grumbled, splitting up the food between two plates and depositing one in front of Minhyuk. “But I can’t very well let an animal starve when I can help it. I’m pretty sure that borders on animal cruelty.”
“Of course, of course,” Minhyuk said, consolingly, poking at the rice and vegetables in front of him. “Hey, Kihyun, don’t these vegetables seem burned to you?”
Kihyun, mouth stuffed with rice, cheeks puffed up, made an indignant noise, eyes widening. He swallowed, painfully, forcing a bigger amount of food down his throat that should logically go down, and turned tearing eyes on Minhyuk. “Excuse you, how fucking dare you. You can make the food next time, see if I waste my valuable time to make food for your ungrateful ass again I swear--”
Minhyuk giggled, getting up and draping his arms across Kihyun’s shoulders, leaning his chin on Kihyun’s shoulder and nuzzling against Kihyun’s jaw. “Aw, you wouldn’t do that. You know I’d waste my amazing figure eating takeout and ramen, and then who would you show off as your amazingly beautiful boyfriend,” Minhyuk teased, placing a soft kiss on the curve of Kihyun’s jaw.
There was silence for a few seconds as Minhyuk contently nuzzled into Kihyun’s neck while Kihyun gradually relaxed into his hold.
“Minhyuk…” Kihyun’s voice came out hesitant, soft. “You know that, that I don’t just want you for what you look like, right?” Minhyuk paused in his nuzzling, pulling back, frowning at Kihyun. “I mean,” Kihyun rushed, feeling his cheeks heat up, “I mean, you’re fucking gorgeous, and I’m so proud to be walking down the street with you, but you’re also smart and funny and kind and wonderful and--”
Minhyuk grabbed Kihyun’s chin and swung his face towards him, silencing Kihyun with a firm kiss, softening until it was little more than a gentle press until he pulled away, smiling so softly and fondly at him that Kihyun found it hard to breath.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Minhyuk pressed a kiss to Kihyun’s forehead, lingering. “I love you. You love me. It’s okay. I know that. We know that. Okay?”
Kihyun nodded jerkily, that automatic clenching of his heart making him shudder when he considered how much he loved Minhyuk, of how the other boy made him laugh, made him feel all warm and melted inside, how even when they were antagonising each other, it was done with affection. “Okay. Yeah, okay.”
Minhyuk sighed in satisfaction, resting his cheek on Kihyun’s head, hand going to play with the small hairs in his neck.
“You still need to eat the food though.”
“But Kihyun! ”
“Minhyuk, you’ve been living off of fries and ramen noodles for four days you need vegetables.”
Minhyuk grumbled and loosened his arms from around Kihyun’s neck, rolling his eyes as he took his seat and resumed poking at the vegetables. Kihyun sighed and turned back to his plate.
“You know,” Minhyuk drawled, an apologetic little smirk on his face, “they are a little burned though. Just a bit.”
Kihyun flushed, but didn’t deny it. “Okay, yeah, I know. I was thinking about the cat, is all.”
Minhyuk laughed, but shoveled all the vegetables into his mouth with only a small grimace, sticking out his tongue when Kihyun glared at him. Later that night, after the dishes were cleaned and Minhyuk had talked Kihyun into digging out the tub of oreo ice cream, Kihyun emptied a small can of tuna into a bowl and placed it on the balcony.
Even if it didn’t feed that exact cat, it would feed something, right?
---
The next morning when Kihyun opened the balcony door, grimacing when it squeaked and he made a mental note to fix that, again , the dish was empty and there were two cats sitting at staring at him, tails flicking.
One was the grey cat from before, its bones still protruding as it stepped forward to rub itself against Kihyun’s legs, releasing a small, growly meow. The other was big, fat tabby cat, staring balefully at Kihyun as it licked its paws, sniffing delicately.
Kihyun smiled, bending down to scratch the appreciative grey cat behind its ears, raising an eyebrow at the fat cat. “I doubt you need the food, but I’ll let it go, just this once.”
The fat tabby sniffed again, before waddling closer and plopping himself down in front of Kihyun, starting to purr in fitful stops and starts. Laughing, Kihyun stuck out a hand and scratched underneath the tabby’s chin, snickering when the tabby shifted closer to rest on his feet.
Steps sounded behind him and Kihyun turned his head, smile still on his face, to see Minhyuk coming to a stop to lean against the doorway, hands folded around a steaming mug of coffee. “You know,” Minhyuk said, conversationally, “I thought we were only getting one cat--”
“We’re not getting any cats.”
“--and yet here, I see you with two.” Minhyuk stirred his coffee with his pinky finger, hissing when it burned him. “Do you think I should go buy like, actual cat dishes and scratching posts? Oh, and one of those mouse things on a string!”
“These are not our cats. We are not keeping the cats. This one,” Kihyun poked the tabby in the stomach, grinning when it gave a disgruntled yowl, “is clearly being fed regularly.”
Minhyuk raised an eyebrow at Kihyun squatting on the ground, surrounded by two purring, fed cats. “Mmm-hmm. Kay. So, what colour would you like the dishes to be?”
Kihyun rolled his eyes and got to his feet, closing the balcony door behind him, closing the cats outside. Those weren’t his cats, and just because he fed them once didn’t mean he had any sort of responsibility to them. Minhyuk, with his knowing smirk and amused eyes could, like, go read a book. Or something. Whatever. Kihyun didn’t have any cats.
---
Minhyuk pushed the door open with his hip, arms straining with the weight of the bags looped around his wrists. He’d really only meant to look in at the pet store after work, buy a little something to tease Kihyun, see that irritated little tightening of his eyes even as he fought off a small smile when he inevitably came home with a bowl or two. It was his favourite expression, one that made him want to smooch and cuddle the hell out of his cute boyfriend.
But then, of course, there had been so many different bowls and scratching posts and the sales clerk was so convincing and--
And long story short, they might actually have to get a cat now, given that Minhyuk had bought a small playground’s worth of toys for one.
“Honey, I’m home!” Minhyuk called, smiling when he heard an answering hum from the sitting room. He placed the take-out he’d gotten, a bribe so Kihyun wouldn’t be too angry at him for spending a small entertainment systems worth of money on cat accessories, on the kitchen counter and hoisted the bags higher on his arms, ready to face the wrath of his cute, teeny boyfriend.
Except, except, when he stepped into the living room, Kihyun was sitting on the couch, the tabby on his lap, the grey cat at his side, a black and white cat on the armrest of the couch and two white cats cuddled up to each other next to Kihyun. Kihyun looked up with a grimace as Minhyuk entered, holding up the hand not currently buried in the fur of a cat. “I can explain. Kind of.”
Minhyuk laughed and held up the bags dangling from his arms. “Me too.”