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They'd been watching a video together on the couch yesterday he remembers, standing stock-still with his keys still in hand. Something about how cats will curl up in the warmest places available to them and he'd made a joke then about how if he was a cat he'd curl up inside their heart to rest his tired head. It wasn't really a joke but they'd still laughed, soft and fond, running gentle hands through his hair. She didn't hesitate to say he already had a home there that would always be his, which was so unfair he'd had to take a moment and hide his face in the curve of her neck, desperately flustered. What was he thinking about again? Why had he brought this up?
Saeyoung struggled to focus, until right in front of his eyes, the soft swish of orange peeked out from the front tires again. A fluffy tail, swinging from side to side.
Oh yes, that was it. That's why he was remembering the cat video. Because there was a cat. There was a cat right here, right now on this overly bright winter morning, taking cover from the cold in his car. His car! A cat! Torn in between running back into the house to yell about it and running to the car to get a closer look, he found himself not moving anywhere at all but still vibrating with energy. With hands that trembled, he pulled out his phone to snap a picture that put any of Jumin's to shame. He couldn't really be blamed for not getting the cat in frame because it was still mostly hidden, curled up (on his car!) with only the bright color of its coat to mark its presence. Maybe it was sleeping?
His phone started vibrating as the replies came through but what caught his attention was the sound of the door opening behind him. With the blanket on over their pajamas as cover from the cold, a head peeked out from behind the doors and their eyes met, both bright with excitement. There was a moment of shuffling where they hitched the blanket up higher to keep it from dragging on the snow and a few, slow steps later Saeyoung had her right beside him, looking at the same thing.
The cat (on his car!).
"Wow."
"I know."
"Remember the —,"
"— video yesterday, yeah they —,"
"— like to be warm," they finished.
"What do we do?" he asked as quietly as he could, breathing out white clouds on every exhale.
She tugged on his hand and pulled him forward in increments until they were both crouched down, eye level with the cat (the cat!) whose tail swung around lazily. It turned its head towards them and Saeyoung's breath caught in his throat when it nudged at his outstretched hand, whiskers tickling his palms. It's eyes were the color of lazy sunrises in spring, gold ringed in green. And it liked him! The cat leaned into the hand he put under its chin, purring up a storm as he scratched. Its tail swung softly, curled up the end.
They decided to take it home. The cat let him pick it up and hold it against his chest, trusting his hands. The sound of vibrating notifications from the chat never died down but neither of them paid it any heed until later on in the night with the cat all taken care of, bathed and fed and brushed ever so gently and cooed over until it was finally tucked in for a nap.
It never stopped purring, not once.
Saeyoung's smile in the photo was incandescent.