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“Hyung, are you coming or what?” Jisung peers his head into Minho’s room, raising an eyebrow at Minho’s reluctant nod. It wasn’t like he was busy doing anything else, all he’d done all day was just existing and even that was tiring.
He needed to do something.
It was nearing 7:30 PM and Jisung had asked him to come and help him collect the takeaway they’d ordered as a group. With 8 boys all sharing a house for university, there was bound to be more than one bag of food. Minho had agreed, at least he wouldn’t be sitting and staring at his blank cream walls for another minute.
He shoves his shoes on, jogging after Jisung who had already started walking away, “Shit, it’s cold,” He whines, shoving his hands into his coat’s pockets and pulling out a pair of pink mittens that he’d had in there for a month or so after he’d regressed outside and started crying over the cold.
“Seriously, bright pink?” Jisung says, holding back his laughter at Minho’s glare. He did look rather cute in them, “Don’t worry Hyung, you look adorable,” He teases, almost pinching his cheeks but Jisung chose life.
They continue for a few minutes longer before Jisung enters the store to grab their food, Minho stays outside not wanting to add to the already crowded takeout store. The wind picked up making his hair ruffle up outside of the beanie he’d grabbed before leaving yet the only thing bothering him was how freaking cold his ears were. The tips were stinging as the ice-cold breeze powered through the air yet again. His beanie was pretty useless.
Meow
Minho freezes, eyes searching around for the source of the sound, it couldn’t be that far if he had heard it over the bustling atmosphere inside the store combined with the howling of the wind. He was sure he’d heard a meow somewhere within his vicinity.
Taking a look down the alley couldn’t hurt, right?
It was terribly damp and dark down the alleyway, if murder were about to happen, Minho would place all his bets on this shady pathway to hell. The only source of light was from a flickering lamp post idly standing halfway through. Yep, top ten murder destinations!
It was probably nothing, he thinks as he goes to walk back out of the alley and back to the safety of the well-lit street. He’d seen movies after all.
Meow
One last look couldn’t hurt.
“Where are you little kitty?” He whispers to himself and partly to the sweet kitten that was likely lurking in the darkness. “Oh my goddess,” Minho gasps, dropping to the floor immediately to hold the fur baby in his arms.
The kitten, now in Minho’s arms, was a beautiful black-furred baby. It couldn’t have been too old, perhaps 3 months old, leading him to question just why was such a young baby left alone out in the cold?
“Kitty’s all alone…” Minho pouts, stroking the wet fur back, “So cold,” He whimpers, feeling tears well up in his eyes at the prospect of this adorable kitty being neglected in such ways. Big Minho would’ve been furious but little Minho…Well, he was emotional at the best of times. Tears were his go-to response.
“Hyung? Minho Hyung?” The voice echoing down the alley hadn’t registered in Minho’s ears at all, all his attention was primarily focused on keeping the kitten warm under his pink mittens. The kitten seemed to appreciate the warmth evident by the way it nudged its head against Minho’s palm.
“What on Earth are you doing down here?” Jisung whines, clearly panicked at Minho’s disappearing act just now. It was rather late after all.
Minho raises his head, holding his coat closed, blinking innocently at Jisung who was far more preoccupied with the fact that he was crying rather than the odd behaviour of the little. He’d seen the little screaming at the corner of the ceiling before, it had freaked him the heck out but it goes to show just how unique Minho could be.
Jisung loved him nonetheless.
“What happened baby?” Jisung frowns, squatting down in front of him, “Why are you crying?”
“Kitty’s cold,”
Jisung furrows his eyebrows, taking a moment to wrap his head around what Minho was telling him. “You’re cold?” He hadn’t even heard Minho refer to himself as Kitty before but it was a possibility, a low one but it wasn’t completely impossible.
He huffs, shaking his head, “Min is warming up kitty,” He explains to Jisung, revealing the cat curled up inside his coat where Minho had one pink mitten resting on top of it.
“Where did you find it?” Minho points to the floor, jutting his bottom lip out again, “Poor baby,” Jisung frowns again, flicking through all the options in his head. They couldn’t take it back with them, there was a strict policy against pets in their building but leaving it out here? He couldn’t do that either. Besides, Minho wouldn’t let him.
Though, taking it home for one night wouldn’t hurt. He could just take it to a shelter in the morning and hopefully, by then, Minho would be out of his headspace and wouldn’t cause a fuss. Hopefully.
“Sungie, can we take Kitty home?”
How could he possibly say no?
~
“Do you remember what I told you bub?”
Minho nods, holding the kitten close to his chest under his coat, “Kitty is a secret, can’t tell Channie or Seungminnie,”
Jisung nods, ruffling his hair, “Good boy. Why can’t we tell Channie or Seungminnie?”
“Channie and Seungminnie will make Min get rid of Kitty,” He repeated the words Jisung had told him numerous times on the way back to the house. Blackmailing a little probably wasn’t the most mature thing Jisung could have done but it would mean that Chan wouldn’t find out and have a fit and Seungmin wouldn’t go on a tandem about how unsanitary cats can be.
“That’s right, good boy,” He praises again, ushering Minho through the door, “Take the kitten straight to your room, okay? Sungie will be back in no time!”
As instructed, Minho rushes into the room and places the meowing baby onto his white bedsheets. The jet black fur against his sheets was hiding nothing, not to mention the hairs that were falling onto his bed.
“Welcome home kitty,” Minho whispers, laying down beside the cat, “Min’s new friend,” He smiles, taking off his mittens to properly stroke the shaking animal. Adding to Minho’s adoration towards it, the kitten snuggled up under Minho’s arm where it was warmer.
He beams, not moving an inch, not even when Hyunjin came running into his bedroom. “Hyung! I need your help, I’ve got this problem and I think you- Hello?” Hyunjin waves his hand around in front of his face, clicking his fingers once or twice before realising Minho was purposely ignoring him.
In the little’s head, if Hyunjin found out that he was harbouring a kitten under his arm (hidden by a single pink mitten), it would be taken from him and chucked back outside. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Hyunjin quietens down having noticed Minho’s quivering lip despite the fact he was refusing to make eye contact with Hyunjin.
“G-Go ‘way,” He attempts, meekly pointing at the door which wasn’t doing too much to calm Hyunjin’s caregiver instincts. “Jinnie leave!” Minho shouts, sobbing loudly Hyunjin comes closer rather than heading back out.
“Hey, it’s alright Min,” Hyunjin soothes, brushing the hair out of his eyes, “Can you tell me what's wrong?” He asks rather than telling him off for shouting, Hyunjin had always believed shouting back was never the answer. If Minho was upset, caring for him was his top priority.
He is a caregiver after all.
Minho opens his mouth, promptly shutting it when the kitten crawled out from under his arm and towards the newcomer. “Oh my gosh,” Hyunjin breathes out, “Hello sweetie,” He coos, picking it up while carefully holding the furball.
“Jinnie’s not gon’ make Kitty go?”
“Are you kidding? Baby, it’s adorable,” He reassures the little, listening to what Minho had to say about not telling the others, “I promise not to tell a soul,” He salutes, bringing a smile back to Minho’s face.
This time, when the door opens, Hyunjin quickly hides the kitten before realising it was only Jisung. False alarm. Jisung heads over, raising an eyebrow at Hyunjin who slowly hands the squeaking kitten back to Minho.
“You can’t tell the others,”
“Tell us what?”
The three heads snap to the doorway where Felix is standing there, tilting his head wanting in on the drama. “Is that a kitten?” He gasps, quickly shutting the door and taking a seat beside Minho who was being a little too protective over the cat he’d only just met.
“Shh baby, Lixie won’t tell anyone,” Jisung hushes the boy who had already started hiccuping at the thought of having his pet taken away. God, it’s going to break his heart when he finds out the animal has to go in the morning.
Felix nods, placing a hand on his heart, “I promise,” He shuffles over, pulling Minho into a hug, keeping the kitten’s safety in mind, “Do you have anything to feed it?”
“It’s in the bag,” Jisung points down to a plastic carrier back next to their takeout, cold and forgotten amongst the kitten drama. “So, we agree, this stays between us?”
Everyone agrees straight away, wanting to spend as much time as possible with both little Minho and the black-coated kitten. “Min wan’ name it!” He exclaims, fidgeting in Felix’s arms with the baby settling down beside Jisung’s thigh.
Jisung grimaces, rubbing the back of his neck, “Sweetheart, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Naming it will get you attached to it,” It was at this moment that Jisung realised that he hadn’t told Minho that this was only a one night kind of deal, he almost wishes he could just lie.
“‘Tached?”
“Attached, it means that you’ll…You’ll love it a lot,”
Felix raises an eyebrow at the questionable explanation, shaking his head and moving on, “Bit late for that,” He mutters under his breath before turning to face the little, “Min baby, we want what’s best for your furry friend, don’t we?”
Minho hesitantly nods, not completely sure where Felix was going with this, “Best for kitty?” Felix hums, “Min wan’ that,”
“Good boy,” He praises, repeating the words Jisung had told him so many times tonight, “Then we should probably let the kitten get some sleep, yeah?”
Scurrying off the bed, Minho grabs a shoebox from his closet and places a blanket inside and for extra measures he decides to add one of his smaller plushies. Comfort is a must!
Soon enough, Felix and Hyunjin go to their own room after saying their goodnights to both Minho and the kitten. Jisung stays for the night, Minho hates sleeping alone when little and Jisung? Well, Jisung liked his cuddles.
The kitten slept soundly on the floor right next to the bed, they would’ve kept it up on the bed but something about the helpless kitten waking up and going on a wonder didn’t sit well in Jisung’s head. What if it fell off the bed and hurt itself? Jisung would feel terrible and Minho? Minho would cry the house down.
It was around 3 in the morning when Jisung woke up to the sound of rain hammering down outside, he sighed shuffling around to silence the sound. When nothing seemed to work, he untangled himself from Minho and got out of his bed.
Letting his eyes drift onto Minho’s figure, illuminated by the moonlight, he sleepily smiles seeing how his body had immediately latched onto the pillow in replacement for Jisung’s body. His thumb was resting on the pillow only millimetres away from his mouth. Once upon a time, Chan had suggested buying a pacifier for him but Minho really hadn’t liked the idea, he insisted that he much preferred his thumb. Nobody pushed him.
Walking towards the kitchen at 3 AM always made him feel spooked, it was like something was always lurking in the shadows, watching his every movement without speaking up, stepping towards him until the figure placed a firm hand on his shoulder, rendering him useless.
“What are you doing up this late?”
Jisung yelped, letting out a stuttered breath after realising it wasn’t a demon trying to take his soul but rather Changbin standing in his underwear, tilting his head at him as if he hadn’t just scared the living daylights out of him. God, he was insufferable sometimes.
“What the fuck Changbin?” Jisung loudly sighs for the nth time, running his hands through his bed hair, an attempt to shake off his nerves no doubt, “Why are you standing here in the dark anyway?”
Changbin shrugs as he picks up his glass off the counter, “I was getting a drink and I thought I’d scare you in the process,” He smirks, “By the looks of it, it worked,”
You smug mother- Jisung shakes the thoughts out of his head, replacing them with much happier ones, “Minho’s little,” He tells him, happy to get some payback when Changbin asked why he hadn’t been informed when Minho was at least awake.
“Would it have something to do with that?” Changbin raises an eyebrow, pointing down to the ground. Jisung furrows his eyebrows, looking everywhere but the place where Changbin was staring at. “Jisung, why is there a kitten in our dorm?”
“Shit,”
It turns out harbouring a fugitive is hard but harbouring a kitten is harder. The next thing you know, Jeongin will know and then one by one falling like dominos, the whole dorm will know. At least it wasn’t Seungmin or Chan.
When Minho woke up, he wasn’t sure why Changbin was standing in his room with a bowl filled with water? And God what was that smell? It was disgusting, almost like wet meaty cat food…Actually, exactly like wet meaty cat food.
The kitten!
“Kitty!” Minho cries, drastically throwing his covers all over the place to find the little rascal that was watching him from the floor, now drinking from the bowl Changbin had brought in.
“It’s okay baby, she’s just down there,”
Having a friend who majored in veterinary science was a bonus, perhaps they probably should have let Changbin know about it before anyone else. Then again, they hadn’t intended for anyone to know.
“Kitty ‘kay?”
Changbin nods, running a hand over the black coat. “She’s okay, you did a great job nursing her back to health,”
Minho preens, he’d helped the kitty!
Changbin doesn’t mention how he’d spend a good portion of the morning fixing up the kitten, making sure it would actually last the night. Jisung wasn’t very good at playing vet and Minho with his mittens had only done so much.
“Does she have a name?” Changbin smiles, picking Minho up until he’s happily resting on his hip with his head resting on his shoulder. Perfect.
“Sungie and Lixie said no names,” Minho pouts, huffing while he was at it. Why couldn’t he name it? It was so unfair…
Changbin slowly nods, not completely understanding why. “Why not?” Minho explains to him what they’d said about attachment and whatnot but it seems he had a different outlook of the whole situation, “We could keep it,”
“Really?” Minho gasps, wrapping his arms around Changbin’s neck, “You promise Binnie?”
Making a promise about this probably wasn’t the best idea but who cares? Minho was cute, the kitten was cute and Changbin loved the two of them. “I promise baby, Binnie will take care of Channie and Minnie,”
~
“Innie!” Minho grins, tugging on the younger’s arm, “Min has a new friend!”
Jeongin, in complete confusion, follows Minho into his bedroom where he’s met with the cutest sight. Felix was lying on the bed, fast asleep with the black fur baby tucked under his chin, purring softly.
“You- Min, where did you find it?”
“With Sungie yes’day,”
Well, that explains why their takeout had been cold.
Jeongin steps forwards, letting his fingers brush against the warm fur, “Does it have a name?” He asks, being considerate of the two kittens sleeping and keeping his voice low.
Minho shakes his head, “Not yet,” Ever since Changbin had said he could keep it, his mind had been preoccupied thinking about names but nothing stood out.
“What’s going on in here?” Seungmin laughs, barely paying attention to anything, “Min, what’re you doing?” He groans when he’s abruptly pushed out of the room being left face to face with a glaring little.
“Sungie said Minnie isn’t allowed,”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“Sungie said Minnie will say no,”
Seungmin frustratingly sighs, putting on his best face, “I won’t say no if you show me,”
Another promise was made.
“Han Jisung,” Seungmin glares, pointing at the kitten, “Why did you keep this from me?” He frowns, snatching the cat from Felix and cuddling it all for himself. Nobody could resist the kitten, she just had those feline powers.
Jisung stands there absolutely mortified, “You didn’t let me keep that pet rat!” He cries, stamping his foot on the floor as if he was a child. Even Minho was taking this better than him, then again, he just got what he wanted. Another person is on board.
“That rat wasn’t a pet, it appeared in your room after you left your half-eaten pizza on the floor for over 3 months! It was riddled with bacteria and not to mention it had fleas,”
Jisung didn’t understand.
That rat will always be in his heart forever.
“Please don’t tell me you’re talking about that rat again?”
Everyone blinks, staring at the doorway where a half-asleep Chan was, blinking at the kitten in Seungmin’s arms.
He steps forward, looking everyone in the eye before breaking into a cooing fit…Well…That wasn’t expected.
“Hello baby,” He beams, stroking the kitten, “Please tell me we can keep it?”
Minho was going to murder Jisung.
Maybe not little Minho but big Minho would no doubt.
All this secrecy when the two people who were supposed to be against it seemed to love the kitten more than Jisung did himself.
“Does it have a name Min?” Chan asks, handing the kitten back to the rightful owner who had been whining about its absence for a while.
He nods, proudly telling everyone its name. It hadn’t taken overly long for him to come up with it but it was perfect. Perfect to him anyway.
“Mittens!”