Chapter Text
"Whose cat is this?"
Yong Soo glanced up, registering that Alfred was in the room before looking back down at his Switch. "It's Arthur's. Remember? He's studying abroad this semester and this is our month to watch it."
"I- I never agreed to that!" Alfred faltered.
Yong Soo sighed and hit the pause button on the game before looking up again. "I'm trying to finish this level before my Engineering class this afternoon. What's your deal? It's a cat."
"A b-b-b-black cat," Alfred stammered, pointing to the spot on his dresser where the cat had chosen to plant itself, seemingly undisturbed by the outburst.
Yong Soo stared at him, "And?"
"Dude!" Alfred reached out and grabbed Yong Soo by the shoulders, "Black cats are bad luck!"
Yong Soo frowned. "What are you talking about? They're good luck in Korea, and ever since Francis dropped it off I've been absolutely killing it at this." He shoved the Switch in between them and waved it in front of Alfred's face, as if that would somehow snap him out of his fit.
"I'm telling you man!" Alfred said, removing one of his hands to point dramatically at the cat, "This is gonna be our downfall!"
Before Yong Soo could reply, his eyes were drawn away by a flashing notice on the screen of his Switch. "Jen-jang! My battery is about to die, where is my charger?"
He brushed Alfred's other hand away, sitting up straighter and casting his eyes around the room. The dorm they shared wasn't particularly big, but between all their computer and gaming equipment there wasn't a ton of open floor or counter space, and none of it seemed to have the charger he was looking for.
"See!" Alfred said.
"Shut up and help me look!" Yong Soo whined, standing up and digging through his book bag. "This game doesn't autosave and I've been playing for hours!"
"It's the curse of the black cat!"
"No it's not. I don't want to- Da-ze!" He felt his hand curl around the wire, and shot Alfred a self-satisfied smirk, "Found it!"
He pulled it out of the bag, puffing out his chest. His euphoria was short-lived, however, when he realized that the wire of the charger was frayed and, clear upon pulling it out of his backpack, completely severed.
He stared at it, dumbstruck, only to snap out of it when Alfred began making exaggerated ghost noises.
"It's the curse!" He said, wiggling his fingers.
Yong Soo threw the broken charger at him, "Lend me yours' you asshole!"
Yong Soo left his Engineering class in a funk. Not only had he lost at least half of his game progress, but he got called on in class and was so preoccupied he didn't even know what the question was.
"Like, study harder next time," Leon said, nonchalantly trolling along beside him.
Yong Soo shot him an exasperated look. "You didn't know the answer either!"
"Yeah, but I don't care," Leon absentmindedly picked at his ear. "You're always the one going on and on about how you were the top of your class and almost made it into the Overwatch League."
"I still could if I wanted to. I just thought school was more important," Yong Soo muttered. His mood immediately shifted, however, when he smelled a familiar sweet scent waft past.
"Xiao Mei!" He shouted, spinning around with a big, goofy grin plastered on his face, "What can I do for you?"
"How did you know it was me?" She giggled, pulling her hair behind her ear, missing a single strand that stuck out from the top of her head. Yong Soo wasn't sure why she didn't cut it off, but he was glad she didn't. It was just one charm point among her many charm points.
"Your perfume is really strong," Leon explained.
"In a good way. You smell really good!" Yong Soo countered, his face reddening once he realized what he'd said.
"Thanks?" Xiao Mei laughed, otherwise unfazed. "Listen," She said, leaning towards him and lowering her voice, "Leon told me earlier that you and Alfred have a cat in your dorm."
"Yeah, if Alfred hasn't already gotten rid of it," Yong Soo said, his heart skipping a beat when he saw Xiao Mei's face fall. "No, I mean, he forgot that we were supposed to watch it so he wasn't happy this morning. And he thinks its bad luck because it's a black cat."
"A black cat?" Xiao Mei's eyes lit up again, and she clasped her hands in front of him. "Listen, if it isn't too much trouble, can I come over to your dorm and pet it? I love cats! And black cats are good luck as far as I'm concerned."
Yong Soo puffed out his chest, "Of course! You can come over right now if you want!"
"How do you live like this?" Leon commented.
Yong Soo wanted to argue, but in all honesty his dorm usually wasn't much cleaner than it currently was. Only this time instead of electronics and wires strewn everywhere it was scraps of paper littering the floor and clothes spilling out of their drawers.
For his part, Alfred was huddled on his bed hidden behind a pillow, averting their gaze and gesturing to the top of Yong Soo's dresser.
"What a handsome boy!" Xiao Mei crooned, seemingly unconcerned by the mess surrounding her. The cat was perched at the top of the dresser licking it's paw, the bell on its collar letting out a soft ring as it moved.
"My clothes!" Yong Soo groaned, gathering up some of the shirts that had completely fallen onto the ground. "I just ironed these too!"
"It didn't want to go into its cage," Alfred mumbled, still hidden by the pillow. "I'm sorry."
Yong Soo sighed, doing his best to pull himself back together. "It's fine. Stuff like this really messes with my image though."
"Your image?" Alfred asked, peeking out from behind the pillow for the first time.
Yong Soo cocked his head. "You know. Stylish, Photogenic, the Cool Guy."
Leon let out an exaggerated laugh. "No one thinks you're the cool guy dude."
Yong Soo felt his stomach sink, and he stared hollowly at Leon. "But… you said you looked up to me."
"Because you're tall," Leon gasped, his fake laugh beginning to turn into a real one.
Yong Soo glanced around the room, crestfallen. Alfred gave him a sympathetic smile, while Xiao Mei, the cat now off the dresser and in her arms, nodding encouragingly.
"I still think you're pretty cool Yong Soo, even if you are messy."
"Thanks!" Yong Soo beamed, his bad mood vanishing almost instantly. This made Leon laugh harder for some reason.
The cat began to purr, and Xiao Mei began stroking it behind the ear. "Such a good kitty. I hope these boys are doing a good job looking after you."
"It's only been a few hours and our dorm is in ruins," Alfred murmured.
"You do have the litter box set up," Leon nodded toward the gray box in the corner of the room, "So it didn't crap anywhere at least."
"I think it's time to feed him though," Yong Soo said, reaching out himself and scratching the cat behind its ears. "Where's his food?"
He glanced over at Alfred, who had a glazed expression on his face.
"Alfred, where's its food?"
"Don't look at me!" Alfred said. "I wasn't the one who was here when Francis dropped it off! Where did you put it?"
"He- uh," Yong Soo struggled to remember what Francis had said, but could only remember having to concentrate harder on his game. "I'm sure it's around here somewhere. Where was the litter box left?"
"Where it is now," Alfred said, gesturing to the gray box.
"So Francis set it up? That was-" Leon began, bending down to examine it closer, before gasping out a sharp laugh.
Yong Soo stared at him, the sound sending goosebumps up his arms. "What?" He breathed.
"Well," Leon said, standing back up and turning toward Yong Soo, clearly doing his best not to laugh any more. "Francis didn't set up the litter box. And I found the cat's food."
"This is your fault dude," Alfred said an hour later. He pushed the door open with his back as he dragged the bag of kitty litter in behind him, before dropping it unceremoniously on the ground.
"Yeah, well, you could at least pull this all the way in the room," Yong Soo murmured, lazily kicking the bag on the floor, "It's keeping the door from closing."
"I was holding it for you. Being polite." Alfred said, plopping down onto his bed.
Yong Soo simply sighed, walking over to his desk and putting down the bag of dry cat food. Not only had Francis not provided them with any kitty litter, he had left the open bag of food open inside the tray of the litter box. Suffice to say, it hadn't been usable by the time Leon had spotted it.
"Maybe it is bad luck," Yong Soo muttered, looking up at the top of Alfred's dresser where it was currently napping.
"I mean, yeah," Alfred said, waving his hand lazily. "But Xiao Mei seems to like it, so it'll give you an excuse to invite her over if you want. Silver lining."
"I just wanted to look cool in front of her!" Yong Soo cried out in frustration, faceplanting down beside Alfred. "In high school I was really popular and everyone liked me, but I never had a girlfriend because I knew the other girls would bully her. And now that I'm in college and in a position to date, I just keep looking like this big loser who doesn't know what he's doing."
Yong Soo rolled on his side and pouted, but was quickly taken aback by the dumbstruck look on Alfred's face. "What?"
Alfred quietly look his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose, before slumping his shoulders and letting out a laugh. "Nothing. I just… I have mad respect for they way you're putting yourself out there, you know? Meeting new people, trying new things."
Yong Soo frowned, sitting up as the cat jumped down from the dresser onto the bed next to them. "What are you talking about? You put yourself out there too. And besides," He added, scooping up the cat in his arms, "You're putting up with this guy now."
"Like I had a choice," Alfred mumbled.
"Arthur did ask you to take care of him. At the end of the last semester. Remember?" Yong Soo held up the cat in front of him. "You said you'd do anything for your best bros."
"That… sounds like me," Alfred grinned. "I mean, you know."
Yong Soo felt his face redden, and he dropped the cat back onto the bed. "Well, we aren't talking about that right now," He stammered, reaching up and running his fingers through his hair. "I really wish you wouldn't bring it up though, Da-ze."
"What does that word mean? Da-ze?" Alfred laughed, clearly enjoying getting a rise out of him.
"It doesn't mean anything," Yong Soo said, turning down to look at the floor. "It's just something I say when I get excited or stressed out and shit."
"Really," Alfred said, and Yong Soo felt his friend's hand grab his chin and turn his head back towards him. Alfred's more light-hearted grin had turned into a smirk, and a faint blush was starting to form on his cheeks as well. "I must've really excited or stressed you out that whole night then."
Yong Soo opened his mouth, trying to come up with a retort, but it was like his mind was filling with static, and instead he let his body go slack as he returned to the familiar sensation of Alfred's lips pressed against his own.
He wasn't sure how long it lasted, all of his senses completely absorbed in the embrace. Why did he have to be good at this? A brief flare of anger shot through Yong Soo before it was subsided by Alfred parting his lips and-
"You got the supplies- oh!"
Yong Soo's eyes flew open and he pushed Alfred off of him, knocking the other boy onto the bed and into dresser behind it, sending a flurry of books and papers cascading down onto him.
Yong Soo was too fixated on Xiao Mei standing in the doorway to notice.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I should've… knocked?" She asked, her face almost as red as his was. "The door was open, so I didn't… I'll see you guys in class tomorrow!"
Yong Soo stared after her slack-jawed as she left, his face flush and a sense of dread growing in the pit of his stomach. He glanced down at the floor, finally noticing the bag of kitty litter still propping the door open, and the cat sitting on top of it, staring at him.
It was then that he finally regained the ability to form words.
"Bad luck!" He shouted, pointing at the cat, who simply blinked and meowed back at him.
"Yeah," Alfred groaned, now sitting up and rubbing the back of his neck, the resignation in his voice palpable. "Bad luck."