Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Vernon can take it." Mingyu says and Vernon looks up from his phone and stares at the three idiots he's eating lunch with and blinks.

"What?"

"We'll tell you when you stop texting Chan." Seungcheol says and Vernon gives him a look and sighs.

"We were talking about our cat. Her babies are about to be big enough to be given away and I have one more."

"And Wonwoo's not allowed to keep him. Two is enough." Seungcheol says and Vernon laughs a little at his not so excited tone.

"You sound like you didn't get me one of them for my birthday." Wonwoo adds and Seungcheol sighs.

"Well I didn't think she'd be a slut and get pregnant and have so many babies." Seungcheol argues back and Vernon laughs.

"Well I'd love to but Chan's not really that into cats."

"Oh? I didn't think you guys were actually dating." Seungcheol says and Vernon fights the urge to talk back and just smiles.

"We're not. But we are roommates and having a cat at my place means there's a cat in his place because, you know… It's the same place." Vernon adds and Mingyu shrugs.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Yeah. Why don't you ask him first? Or I can ask him." Wonwoo says and Vernon shakes his head.

"No thanks hyung. It's fine." Vernon says because he really can't take care of a cat right no-

"He's a short haired, pure black kitten with a bit of white on his ears." Wonwoo says and Vernon sighs.

Okay. That does sound adorable.

"Hyung."

"Talk to Chan. Maybe he'll be fine with it. Just promise he won't have to do anything to take care of it and make sure to do everything so Chan doesn't have to do anything." Wonwoo says and Vernon really can't see this going well no matter what Wonwoo says.

"He's right, you know? I'm more of a dog person but cats are a lot less work when it comes to taking care of them." Mingyu says and Vernon rolls his eyes.

"You don't get it. Chan's not the type to like dogs more than cats. He's just the type to not be really into pets and the whole concept of taking care of an animal who's completely dependent on you."

"What? Why?" Mingyu asks and Vernon sighs.

"None of you would understand anyways. You have three dogs," Vernon points at Mingyu, "and you two have cats and a dog." Vernon points at Seungcheol and Wonwoo and Seungcheol just shrugs.

"Because it's the closest thing gay people can get to adopting." Seungcheol adds and Vernon throws a balled up napkin on his face and clicks his tongue.

"No. Adopting is the closest thing gay people can do to adopting." Vernon argues and Seungcheol sticks out his tongue at him.

"You know what he means." Mingyu says and Vernon really doesn't.

"The point is we know there are people that don't like animals but Chan may not be one of them. Just ask him and maybe he'll be down for it." Wonwoo adds and Vernon sighs.

The thing about Lee Chan is that he is kind of perfect.

And it's annoying as fuck.

Vernon's never known anyone who would go to college double majoring in Architecture and Modern Dance. He's seen it in a movie, kind of, but even in the movie the main character has trouble balancing his social life and his studies and his passion for dance. Vernon can barely find the time to breathe with his own schedule as an Architecture major so you can imagine how much he struggles with finding the time to study and actually sleep.

But not Chan.

Chan would come to his morning classes in jogger pants, a tank top, and a hoodie. He'd be hunched over in his drafting table with his headphones on, blasting random songs as he finishes his plates, and then he'd run on over to the dance studios for his afternoon classes and he'd lose the hoodie and become a completely different person under those studio lights.

Before you jump to any unnecessary conclusions, no. Vernon's not a creep.

He knows Chan's schedule because he needs to know his schedule because they're roommates and Chan once stayed in the studio up until three in the morning and he comes home to the campus police in their dorm with Vernon frantically telling police officers Chan's physical features and the last clothes he was seen in. Chan swore to update Vernon as much as he can when he has to do another all-nighter but Vernon insists on knowing Chan's schedule so he'll know where to find him and also so he'd know when Chan's supposed to be home or not.

And maybe that's where this all started.

Maybe, in between glancing at Chan through the studio windows and finding him still polishing his routine three hours after they were dismissed and ambushing him after his Architectural Design class to drag him to have lunch with him so he'll eat an actual meal and not just anything he can munch on while he's walking from the campus canteen to his afternoon classes, Vernon starts seeing Chan in a different kind of light. Maybe it's seeing him stretch his legs in their living room while reading his History of Architecture notes or maybe it's both of them staying up all night to do their plates so they'll leave their bedroom doors open so they can yell each other questions and Chan could suggest a song for Vernon to play on his speaker.

Vernon has so many maybes on where exactly it started but he knows the exact moment when he knew he really liked Chan.

After Chan's freshman year, when they were both high from finishing their finals and tired from having a collective eight hours of sleep in the past five days, they both skipped their respective friend groups' invitation of partying out to celebrate surviving finals to just stay in and drink themselves silly on their shared couch. Vernon remembers that day so vividly that he feels a little crazy every time he looks back on it. He can remember tha black hair dye on Chan's hair shining a deep dark blue under the light of their room as he sits on the floor and eats an ungodly amount of tteokbokki along with their beer as a movie plays on Vernon's laptop. Vernon remembers leaning back on the couch as Chan sits on the floor next to his feet and he rests his head on Vernon's knees.

"Can I… I know you kept telling me to do it since like, the first week but are you sure I can just call you hyung?" Chan asks and Vernon laughs.

"You know what? I think I got used to the sunbaenim now. I kind of like it. Makes me feel so much more mature compared to you." Vernon teases and Chan laughs. He throws his head back on the couch and Vernon sits up straight to look down on his gorgeous laugh.

"Thank you, hyung. For everything. I wouldn't have survived this year if I didn't have you here." Chan says and he smiles up at Vernon with his eyes barely open and his cheeks flushed. He dark hair is a mess but it's the same kind of ruin that makes Rome so fucking beautiful.

"You wanna keep rooming together next year?" Chan asks and Vernon stares.

"You sure?"

"We can look for cheaper rooms outside of campus. Somewhere close so the commute won't be shit but still a distance away from campus life, you know?" Chan offers and Vernon hums.

"That'd be awesome."

"Yeah? You don't have to if you don't want to, hyung." Chan says and Vernon finds his hand already moving towards Chan's hair. Chan hums and closes his eyes and Vernon feels like his heart is beating inside his mouth.

"I want to. Really. It'd be fun." Vernon says and Chan lifts his head from the couch and leans on Vernon's knees again, this time with his arms around his leg.

"We can throw parties too and we'll be so fucking cool." Chan says, slurring his words that Vernon had to assume that's what he said. So Vernon slowly leans forward to grab Chan's beer from his hand and away from him. They finish the movie and Chan insists on sleeping on the floor in front of the couch so Vernon figured sleeping on the couch for the night would be fun. He spent a few minutes looking down on Chan's flushed and sleeping face, smiling at him, and fighting the urge to take photos of him on his phone.

And here they are now. Three years later and not a single thing has changed. Just two friends living peacefully together.

"Hyung! Where the fuck is it?" Chan barges into Vernon's room and Vernon pulls up the sheets over his chest as he sits up.

"The fuck?" Vernon says and he blinks his eyes and thinks he sees Chan going through his desk.

"My point two tech-pen is missing from my bag and I know I had it last night." Chan says and Vernon opens his eyes properly and sees Chan actually rummaging through his desk.

"It's by the thing." Vernon says and Chan stops moving and then turns to smile at him.

"Oh? Really? Thanks! That's great! Now I just have to waste my time figuring out what that thing is and-" "The cup thing. The cup I use for like, watercolor and stuff. Where my paint brushes are." Vernon cuts him off and Chan groans for a few more seconds and then lets out a deep breath before turning around and glaring at Vernon.

"Don't take my stuff." Chan says, using the prior mentioned tech pen to point accusingly at Vernon, and Vernon smiles. 

"What happened to what's mine is yours?" Vernon teases and Chan sighs.

"You know, I thought you'd be a lot less stupid given how you're already graduating and all."

"That's a misconception, actually. Trust me. The longer you stay in this course the stupider you get along the years. I tried to warn you."

"Whatever. And I'm taking these." Chan says and Vernon blinks his eyes and tries to focus on what's in Chan's hands and he sees his small bag he uses for his Kure markers in Chan's hands as he walks out of his room.

"Yah! Lee Chan!"

"What's mine is yours, hyung!" Chan yells out and Vernon hears their door close and he can't help but smile.

God. He's so pathetic.

Vernon checks his phone and sees about a hundred messages from Wonwoo and he panics because he had a week to talk to Chan about it but he couldn't find the right time. Also because when they are talking Vernon didn't want to fuck it up and bring it up only for Chan to reject the idea and then ruin their conversation so he just didn't bother at all.

But then he sees a photo of a cute little black kitten in the middle of a pillow, surrounded by a bunch  of cat stuff that Vernon didn't bother getting because he was sure he'd have to turn down Wonwoo anyways, and he breaks a little.

He's all ready for pick up so get your ass here

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.

"Hyung. You're not listening." Vernon says and he gets handed the convertible cage with the kitten inside and he's pushed outside of the door.

"I am. I just really don't care." Seungcheol says and he drags Vernon down to where he parked his car and grabs his keys from his pocket and opens the car.

"Hyung!" Vernon calls out and Seungcheol's too busy mumbling to himself to notice him.

"You'd think that someone as smart as Wonwoo would know what a joint account fucking means. What other meaning could the fucking word possibly have? Joint means joint. Right?" Seungcheol directs the question at him but he doesn't seem like he's actually looking for a response.

Vernon stands frozen where he was as Seungcheol fixes the stuff he has on his trunk and he's honestly too scared to do or say anything else. Mingyu is following right behind them, loading up a litter box and a bag of litter sand and he smiles at Seungcheol before going back to Vernon and taking the cage from him and putting the cage on the back seat and then going back inside their place as Seungcheol fixes the stuff in the trunk.

"Can you two stop? I can't take it! Chan doesn't even know-" "Again. Don't care. If we don't get rid of it today, right now, then Wonwoo will name the fucking thing and he's going to manipulate us into keeping it and I can't deal with any more cats. And hair. And lint rollers! Do you know how much lint rollers cost?" Seungcheol says and he hands Vernon his keys very roughly that Vernon stumbles back a bit and then he goes and stomps his way back inside, still mumbling to himself. Mingyu comes out of the house just then and he smiles at Vernon and hands him a piece of paper and then looks back just in time for Seungcheol to slam their door.

"Sorry about that. He and Wonwoo hyung had a fight about their babies last night and Seungcheol hyung's mad because he's a loser who always does what Wonwoo hyung wants just because he can't stand seeing him frowning."

"Then why is he letting it out on me? You're their other boyfriend." Vernon says and Mingyu shrugs.

"Because if he lets it out on me then Wonwoo hyung will get mad at him again and it's a whole cycle. Plus I take care of Kkuma when he's away for work so, you know… I'm neutral grounds." Mingyu says and he laughs as Vernon paces by his car.

"This is ridiculous!"

"Listen. Wonwoo hyung did want you to have him because he knows your family has cats but he would've given him away to someone else if you had declined."

"I did decline!"

"Well, Seungcheol hyung just wants it gone as soon as possible so I suggest you just try to look for anyone who might want to take him in." Mingyu says and Vernon sighs.

"I have to focus on finishing my thesis and I still have my apprenticeship every other day. I don't have time for this." Vernon complains and Mingyu pats his shoulder.

"Really sorry about this. If you need any help just call Wonwoo hyung. And maybe don’t mention Cheol hyung forcing you to take him?"

"Maybe I should."

"Come on. I feel like I'm watching my parents slowly divorcing each other and it's weird because they're my boyfriends. And they're both older but they're both still stupider than I am, so…"

"Fine. If Chan kicks me out I'm making sure to ruin your relationship to the point where they will ask you to pick just one of them." Vernon says and Mingyu sighs.

"Not funny."

"Because I wasn't joking."

"Go. Call us if you need anything. I'm sure Chan will be cool about it."

"Mingyu! Where did Wonwoo put my duffel bag!"

"That would be him going to the gym to let his frustrations out on a poor gym equipment." Mingyu jokes and Vernon gets in his car.

"Yah! Kim Mingyu!" Seungcheol screams and Mingyu sighs.

"Coming!" Mingyu yells back. Vernon rolls down the window and watches as Mingyu groans at the sidewalk.

"If Chan kicks you out then we can find a place to live together. I cook, you clean. Deal?" Mingyu says and Vernon laughs. He puts his fist out and smiles.

"Deal." Vernon says and Mingyu gives him a fistbump before running back to their place.

Mingyu's right. He can do it. He can find someone else to take care of it. Chan doesn't even have to know. Vernon brings up as much of the cat's stuff as he can and he managed to bring all of it by stacking everything up and carrying it all in one hand while carrying the kitten in the cage with the other. The elevator was a bit of a struggle but he managed to get to their floor without dropping anything. He opens the door and locks it behind him so if Chan ever does come home he can hide everything in his room and-

"The fuck is all of that?" Chan says and Vernon freezes on the spot. He turns and sees Chan halfway into pulling down his shirt and the boxers were enough to tell Vernon that Chan just got home and has no plans to go out any time soon.

"Uh… it's not what you think." Vernon says and he gently sets everything down by the floor. He watches as Chan looks at everything on the floor around Vernon's feet and then he looks up at Vernon with a confused look on his face.

And then they both hear the unmistaken mewling that comes from the cage by Vernon's feet.

"Well. I didn't think we were in that stage of our relationship yet, hyung." Chan teases and Vernon groans.

"It's not like that."

"So you don't have a cat with you? And all this shit that is for cats is just for decoration?"

"Well. The litter sand is scented. Green apple."

"Goes well with our bathroom."

"Chan, listen."

"It's fine, hyung. A little heads up would've been nice, though."

"I know. Stop talking so I can explain myself." Vernon says and Chan starts laughing.

"Explain yourself? Hyung-"

"Listen. Wonwoo hyung told me he'd like it if I took him in because I like cats. We have cats. Back home. And I said no because, like, you're not a big fan of cats. Or dogs. Or any pets, really. Then he said I can't say no so-" "He said you can't say no?"

"Yes. No. Well, technically, he said I have a week. That was last week. And I came there to say no because I keep forgetting to bring it up to you and I didn't want to take it without you knowing because that's rude and insensitive."

"Yeah. Imagine if I had just caught you bringing a cat home without prior knowledge of it. That'd be a fucking nightmare."

"I'm really sorry Channie. I'm only keeping it until I find someone who'll adopt it."

"Hyung-"

"I promise it won't be a bother. A few days. A week at most."

"Hyung. Shut up for five seconds." Chan says and Vernon takes a deep breath and sighs.

"It's fine hyung. Really. Do you want to keep it?" Chan asks and Vernon blinks.

"What?"

"Do you want to keep it? If you were just not sure if I'll be okay with it or not then it's cool. I just… I hope you know you can't expect me to like, help with it or anything."

"What? Oh no. Of course I won't bother you with that."

"Do you really want to keep it?" Chan asks, smiling, and Vernon feels a little light headed because there are still no lights on in their place and Chan's standing in the middle of the living area, with the windows behind him where the afternoon sun floods in. The backlight outlines Chan in a strong yet soft white light and Vernon feels like this is what religion would be like. Seeing a mundane image and thinking they're responsible for making your whole life play on. He looks at Chan and his white shirt and his boxers and his mismatched socks and all he could think about is how badly he wants to keep this image with him for the rest of his pathetic life.

"I do. I want to keep it."

"Then keep it. It'll be cool, I think. I've never had a pet before." Chan says and he smiles wider.

"Can I see it?" Chan asks and Vernon can feel suns exploding in his chest as Chan walks up to him and tugs on his hand to hurry up and show him.

The set up goes like this: The convertible cage gets converted into a bed and Vernon sees the pillow on the photo Wonwoo sent him but the thing wasn't a pillow but a very soft and very thick blanket that serves as the kitten's bed and then the litter box is right next to the bathroom door. Vernon realises that the piece of paper Mingyu gave him was Wonwoo's list of what food to get the kitten up until a certain month, what brand to get, and where to get them. There was a food bowl along inside the empty litter box and Vernon thinks he understands Seungcheol's monologue about joint accounts and getting rid of the cat.

"Wonwoo hyung got you all these?" Chan asks and he holds up the poop scooper and looks at it like it's so weird to him.

"That's for scooping the poop in the litter box and kind of sifting it so the clean litter sand doesn't get thrown out." Vernon explains and Chan puts it back down.

"I'm gonna need to buy some food. There's a couple of packets here but I think I'm gonna buy them now so I won't panic in the morning." Vernon says and Chan hums and sits on the couch, putting the kitten's bed between them and looking down on it.

"Can I come?"

"Yeah. Sure. Uh, are you sure?"

"What do you mean, am I sure, I asked."

"I know but, like, do you have time?"

"I literally got here before you did."

"I know and I figured you had to do something. You're always busy so, you know."

"Do you want me to come or not?" Chan asks and Vernon nods.

"Let's go. Uhm… What about your little friend here?" Chan asks and Vernon picks him up and watches him stare back at him.

"Well. He did just finish eating and pooping so I guess it's safe to leave him in the cage until we get back." Chan looks down on it again and smiles.

"I think it's sleeping."

"Yeah."

"Alright you gotta name it right now because I'm getting tired of calling it as it."

"Uhm… I don't know. Lucy?"

"Isn't that a girl's name?"

"It's short for Lucipher."

"No." Chan says and Vernon smiles as he sees Chan's very serious face.

"It's my cat."

"What happened to what's mine is yours?" Chan asks with a smile and Vernon laughs.

"Well I'm trying to give him a name he can keep."

"And I'm keeping you from giving it a stupid fucking name." Chan adds and Vernon rolls his eyes.

"What about Godzilla? Zilla for short so it can also mean Chiller because he's so chill." Vernon puts the cage back together, locking the roof on and petting him a little before carrying him on the side of his bed as Chan goes into his room and comes back out with sweatpants on and a scowl on his face.

"Can you be normal for one day?" Chan says and he tugs on his shoes and throws Vernon his keys from the couch.

"Oh! What about Your Majesty? So like, whenever we call him it's like-" "I'm regretting this already."

"It's funny!"

"It's stupid." Chan fires back and Vernon huffs.

"You're stupid."

"Takes one to know one." Chan says and he grabs a hoodie and pushes Vernon out of the door.

"What about Appa?"

"Do you mean appa like a father or Appa like that thing from Avatar?"

"What do you think?" Vernon asks and Chan sighs. They make it to the parking lot of their building and Chan pushes Vernon out of the elevator and towards his own car.

"Then no."

"What? Why?"

"Well he doesn't look one bit like the flying thing and I am a hundred percent sure you're going to keep yelling yip yip to try and train it to do tricks." Vernon laughs because he hasn't even thought about that and Chan sighs.

"If I promise that I won't-" "No. Drive." Chan says and Vernon laughs as he drives off.

"Is there even any difference between wet and dry food?" Chan asks over his shoulder and Vernon shrugs.

"I mean, I think the wet food is easier for babies? I don't know if there's a significant difference between the two."

"They look like convenience store food that we used to get but like, twice as expensive." Chan says, picking one up and inspecting it, and then he sighs.

"What?" Vernon asks and Chan puts the food back in the basket

"Your son's eating better than we are." Chan says and Vernon laughs.

"Well, we did agree on saving up on expenses."

"I mean, yeah. I just figured that means we'll be timing our A.C. and maybe unplugging everything when we leave the house. Not eating at all you can eat buffets and grills at ten in the morning so we won't be hungry for the entire day." Chan says and Vernon laughs.

"Well, unless you're actually good at cooking and have only been lying to me for four years now then we can't do anything about that. And convenience store meals are good. And very cheap for their quality." Vernon adds and Chan sighs.

"Well. I think you have enough food to feed it for a month."

"I'm gonna need trash bags"

"For?"

"For the poop."

"Gross. So you're really going to scoop the poop out of the box and like, put it in a bag?"

"Fatherhood is a messy business, Channie. I suggest you focus on your education before becoming one. Don't be like me." Vernon says in a serious voice and Chan laughs.

"You know you're not as funny as you think you are, right?"

"Who says I thought I was funny?" Vernon says and Chan pushes him toward the counter and leaves to look around.

"You two find everything you need?" The cashier asks and she smiles at Vernon as she scans everything and bags them.

"Yeah, thanks."

"I don't think I've seen you two here before."

"Oh yeah. I just got a cat like, an hour ago. We're probably gonna start coming by a lot from now on." Vernon says and she smiles.

"That's good to hear. We got just about everything you'll need." She says and Vernon pulls out his card from his wallet and prays he properly added up everything in his mind because he really needs to budget everything now that he's feeding two with his money. Then Vernon feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Chan dropping two five inch plushies on their basket and smiling at Vernon.

"I'm paying for these."

"Oh so you'll be the favourite because you buy him toys while I buy his necessities? No thanks." Vernon asks and Chan rolls his eyes and sighs.

"Sorry about him. He's usually not this stupid." Chan says and he hands Vernon the money for the toys and thanks the cashier. Vernon pays with his card and smiles at the cashier as she hands them the paper bag.

"Here. On the house. We hope to see you again." She says and she slips one of the toy mice they had by the cash register inside their paper bag. Vernon thanks her and Chan does as well before dragging Vernon outside.

"Really?" Chan says.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?" Chan asks and Vernon stares at him, offended that he feels offended by Chan's tone when he hasn't done anything to deserve this tone of voice."

"You couldn't not flirt with the cashier? I mean I know we're on a budget but we're not that desperate." Chan says and Vernon takes three seconds to take it in and laughs.

"Okay. Wow. I was not flirting."

"Well, she definitely was."

"Chan. I just got a son not even an hour ago. I don't have time for a relationship right now." Vernon says and Chan tries to hide his smile with a huff but he couldn't hide it well enough even as he looks away.

"Whatever. You never have time for a relationship." Chan says and Vernon sighs.

"If you want, I can go back in there and flirt back." Vernon says and Chan grabs the back of Vernon's shirt and keeps him from walking back. Chan pushes him all the way to his car and takes the bag from Vernon before pushing him to walk around the car to the driver's seat.

The one thing Vernon really loves about cats is that they're pretty good at taking care of themselves. Grooming themselves and even knowing how to use a litter box without having to actually train them to. Stuff like that. So when Chan and Vernon were in Vernon's room, playing with Kuro, and he went down Vernon's bed to his litter box outside, Chan was pretty impressed.

Oh and Vernon named him Kuro when Chan went into his room and saw his Japanese dictionary on his desk. Chan laughed at him for being so basic but says it's better than calling him Shiro because then he'd have to make fun of Vernon.

"Do they do that?"

"What? Go to the bathroom?"

"I mean, like, he's been here what? Four hours? I'm sure you didn't teach him that."

"Cats just do that by instinct. When they were predators thousands of years ago they covered their tracks so other big cats and predators wouldn't find them."

"Really?" Chan asks looking back at Vernon with this amused smile on his face and Vernon nods.

"Really."

"That's kinda cool."

"And cats will go to dark corners and small spaces because big cats back then used to look for spots like that in the wild so they're not exposed when they sleep." Vernon adds and Chan watches as Kuro leaves his litter box and walks around the living area.

"Uh, hyung. He's inside the couch." Chan says and Vernon hums. 

"Wait. What?" Vernon jumps off the bed and turns to where Chan is pointing at and he can't see Kuro anywhere.

"He went under the couch."

"What the fuck. I didn't think he'd fit in there."

"Well… Like you said. Dark corners and small spaces." Chan adds so helpfully and Vernon sighs. He lies flat on the floor and looks under the couch to find Kuro already curled up in the middle, quietly staring right back at Vernon.

"Hey buddy. Do you maybe wanna get out of there and sleep in the probably expensive bed Wonwoo hyung got for you that will probably be the cause of their relationship breaking apart?"

"Wonwoo hyung's what?" Chan asks and he sits on the couch. Vernon starts tapping his fingers on the floor to get Kuro's attention but all he  does is watch him.

"Cheol hyung was mad as hell when he was giving me all these. Joint bank accounts and all." Vernon tries putting his hand in to reach Kuro but all he can put in is up to his wrist.

"Why did he even give you all of these?"

"I don't know. When I got there to tell them no, Wonwoo hyung wasn't there and Cheol hyung was about to strangle me."

"And Mingyu hyung?"

"He was there and was probably the only reason why I wasn't strangled." Vernon said and Chan laughed.

"Well, Wonwoo hyung does love his cats." Chan says and Vernon sighs as he tries to call for Kuro and fails to get his attention.

Chan pats his shoulder and smiles down at him as he turns to look at him.

"I'll lift the couch and you get him."

"Yeah, yeah." Vernon says and Chan went next to him, squats down with his hands slipping to grip under the couch, and then easily tilts the couch back. Vernon quickly grabbed Kuro from under the couch as gently as he could and then scoots back to let Chan bring the couch back down.

"Thanks."

"It's cool. I think we should keep him from going to the living room by himself." Chan says and Vernon hums.

"Good thing my bed's on the floor." Vernon says and Chan sighs.

"Please tell me you did not get a cat just to justify being a loser who doesn't have a bedframe." Chan says and Vernon laughs letting Kuro roll around his lap before he starts climbing up his shirt.

Kuro was an easy enough cat to take care of even by other cats' standards. Vernon eventually grew used to leaving him alone in their place while he and Chan are out as long as he double checks the windows and to tell Chan that he is alone in their place because Kuro has a tendency to want to escape their oh so lovely house. One time, Vernon had left the door open while revising some plans and replying to emails after emails from his apprenticeship on his bed when he catches Chan walking back and forth in the living room. Vernon walks out, pulls his headphones away from his ears and leaves them around his neck, and was about to ask Chan what he's doing when he saw him smiling and looking back behind his feet. "What are you doing?" Vernon asks and Chan turns to him, smiling that embarrassed smile he has anytime he feels caught doing something he doesn't want to be seen doing. "He was in front of my door when I got out and he's been following me since I went out." Chan says and Vernon laughs. "He probably just wants food. Hold on." Vernon says. "Wait. Can I do it?" Chan asks and that's day Vernon's phone gets yet another folder in his gallery. The video alone was more than one gigabyte of memory so Vernon didn't bother checking the entire folder.

But a week after that is when things go a little bad.

Vernon knows cats have the tendency to destroy things. He's lived with cats before. He knows this. But since they got Kuro younger than any of Vernon's older cats ever were he kind of forgot this one fact because he's only started shredding things with his claws this very day.

And Vernon wishes Kuro clawed his bed or chewed on his most expensive shoes and headphones. God. It'd be better if Kuro had murdered him in his sleep. Anything is better than this.

"Hey hyung. What's up?" Chan asks and Vernon laughs a little. He closes Chan's door and takes a deep breath. Chan's on his bed, sitting with his legs crossed with his notes on his lap and books all around him.

"You know that shirt you've been looking for?" Vernon starts and Chan looks up at him, pushes his glasses up on his nose, and blinks.

"Which shirt? My lucky shirt?"

"Yeah. The shirt you always wear on the last rehearsal of every showcase you've ever had ever since your freshman year. That shirt."

"What about it? Did you find it? I swear, hyung, if it's in your laundry again-" "I found it. But it wasn't in my laundry this time."

"Oh?"

"But it's… I'm really sorry Channie." Chan blinks at him as Vernon shows him his shirt.

The shirt looks fine considering the little rips and shreds all over it along with the layer of dust that's settled over it.

"I… I found it under the couch next to Kuro earlier. You know how he likes sleeping under there? Yeah. I'm really sorry, Channie. I'll, uh- Can I replace it? Or like, you get a shirt you want and I'll pay for it."

"Hyung."

"I didn't think he'd have it. I swear. I was pretty sure he was just sleeping on the couch most of the time. I should've watched him better, I know that. But-"

"Hyung. Shut up. It's fine."

"What?"

"It's fine. It is. It's just a shirt."

"It's not just a shirt. You almost punched me the first time it got into my laundry."

"That was years ago. Back then I didn’t- Look. It's fine. It's just a shirt hyung."

"Still. I wanna make it up to you. We both do." Vernon says and Chan laughs.

"You both do." Chan says back, teases him with a smile, and Vernon groans.

"Yes. Because if you ask me to give him away I will have to but I really, really don't want to." Vernon says and Chan hums.

"Well, if you really feel sorry about it I think you have one shirt I wanna have." Chan says and Vernon already knows what shirt he means.

"Wait, really? Sure. I mean, are you sure?" Vernon asks because he's really not sure if that's enough to make it up to Chan.

"Are you serious?" Chan asks, as if he's not sure Vernon's willing to give that up for Kuro.

"I mean, yeah. But my name's embroidered on it so I don't know why you still wanna." Chan scoffs and gets up from his bed.

"You're not the only one with that last name, hyung. Get over yourself."

"Are you sure that's enough?"

"I mean, yeah. It's just a shirt hyung. If you feel so bad about it you can buy dinner tonight and like, buy me soy milk or something." Chan says and Vernon nods.

"Sure. Anything else?"

"Hyung, I was joking." Chan says in that tone he does when he thinks Vernon's too serious about something he shouldn't be. Like it's teasing but it's fun, smiley teasing and not his usual dumbass teasing. But this is serious.

"Channie, you're allowed to be upset about this, okay? I know that shirt means a lot to you and I know you're acting like it isn't to make me feel better but I'll feel so much worse if you keep acting like you're okay." Vernon says and Chan walks up to him, takes his shirt from Vernon's hands, and then looks up at him.

"Okay. I'm pretty pissed that my shirt has been murdered, yes. But I swear, hyung. It's just a shirt. I can have your shirt as my new good luck shirt so shut up and just take it, okay?"  Chan says and Vernon blinks and watches as Chan realises what he just said. Chan pushed his glasses up on his nose again and took a deep breath.

"It's fine, okay? So go away. I need to study some more." Chan says and he pushes Vernon towards the door and opens it for him.

"Anything you wanna have for dinner?"

"Anything that will go well with beer."

"Don't you have an exam tomorrow?"

"That's what the beer is for. Now go away. And I'm gonna need that shirt by Sunday, hyung."

"Alright. Are you sure that's all-" "Yes. God. We have a deal already so go away." Chan says and he closes the door on Vernon's face and Vernon can't help but laugh.

"I'll call you when dinner is here." Vernon says against the door and he hears a quiet squeak by his foot and finds Kuro sitting there, looking up at him.

"You're lucky Channie's nice. But I'm still mad at you because that's his favourite shirt. What would you do if I took away your favourite toys, huh?" Kuro just stares blankly at him and Vernon nods.

"Exactly. So you're going to be grounded in my room for a week. No Chan time for you." Vernon picks Kuro up with one hand and they walk back to his room. He throws Chan's shirt in his laundry basket and then drops Kuro off on his bed. He immediately jumps off and jumps on Vernon's chair so he can jump inside the laundry basket. Vernon sighs. He walks up to look into the basket and he finds Kuro already biting the shirt with his legs roughly kicking and scratching the rest of the shirt. And honestly, he can't blame him. Vernon would want to do the same to Chan, too.

Vernon's week goes by pretty much the same. Going to his apprenticeship every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Coming back to their dorm with dinner, sometimes for both him and Chan, sometimes just for himself. He would usually eat dinner on the couch with Kuro running around the living room or sleeping by Chan's bedroom door. He's developed a rather cute pudge over the last few weeks because Vernon has to leave him enough food for the whole day most days and by the time he gets home at around four in the afternoon his food bowl is clean of any signs that there was ever any food there. On the days that he doesn't go to work, he works on his thesis. Sometimes he works on it in the library because the change in environment helps him focus but now he'd much rather stay at their place and have Kuro headbutt his feet and attack his pens from the table and wrestle with them on the floor.

But one Friday afternoon, Vernon got to leave the office earlier because they don't really have anything left for him to do so he figured staying in for the afternoon would be fine and he even got himself some frozen fries on discount to cook at home. He expects Kuro to be sleeping on his bed when he gets home but what welcomes him home is Chan sitting on the couch, sleeping, with Kuro on his lap. He was sat cross legged with sweatpants on and a sleeveless shirt and his head is lolled back on the back rest of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest.

Vernon quietly makes his way to the couch and smiles at the sight when he finds Kuro not even sleeping. He was just rolling around on Chan's lap, playing with the drawstring on Chan's sweats, before he stopped when he saw Vernon come up to them. Vernon stares him down as Kuro keeps chewing on the drawstring of Chan's sweats and Vernon sighs before quietly sitting next to Chan. He was about to take Kuro and wake Chan up to tell him to sleep in his bed when Chan groaned and felt him next to him. His head tilts to the side and Vernon leans towards him and catches his head on his shoulder. Vernon sighs and gets comfortable because now he can't do anything but stay there. He reaches his hand over to Kuro who starts with pulling his fingers in and lightly biting on his skin. Chan hums in his sleep, rubbing his cheek on Vernon's shoulder, and Vernon breaks a little when Chan's hand wraps around his arm.

This feels like cheating.

Vernon feels like he's taking what he can out of the situation and painting them out to be exactly what he wants them to look like. It feels wrong and a little disgusting because he knows Chan probably only ever sees him as a housemate. A very reliable friend, at best. But he probably will never see Vernon the way Vernon hopes he would. And that's why he's taking this moment and keeping it to himself. He leans his head against Chan's, lets Kuro hide his face on his hand as he lies on Chan's lap, and he closes his eyes.

"Hyung?"

Vernon flinches awake and would have fallen off the couch if Chan hadn't held him in his arms. They somehow managed to lie down on the couch, Vernon probably ended up pulling Chan along with him and that’s how Chan ended up trapped between him and the couch. It's already dark out and none of their lights are on yet and everything is slowly catching up on Vernon's head as he groans and closes his eyes again.  

"Fuck. What time is it?" Vernon asks and Chan hums.

"I left my phone in my bag. And you're kind of still holding me down." Chan says and Vernon opens his eyes and looks down and finds Chan's head on his arm while his hand is on his shoulder.

"Fuck, sorry-" "No it's- It's fine hyung. Can we just stay like this for a while?" Chan asks and Vernon looks down at him but he can't see him much in the dark. But he knows Chan smiles up at him before lying down properly again and putting his arm over Vernon's stomach.

"You're that tired, huh?" Vernon jokes because he has to otherwise he'd start freaking out and start acting weird and he really can't give Chan a reason to want to stand up and get away from him right now. Chan hums and he nuzzles his head on Vernon's shoulder now, scooting up, and Vernon is finding it very hard to breathe when Chan's arm moves to his waist and pulls him closer.

"You should really think about finding a better cologne, hyung." Chan says and Vernon lifts his hand and hits Chan's head lightly.

"I'm kidding." Chan says, laughing a little. "Well, half kidding."

"I need it to camouflage myself with the work environment."

"Wow. So all of you smell this bad at work?" Vernon hits him again and Chan laughs against his shoulder.

"No, but, seriously. I don't like it. I like how your clothes usually smell like." Chan says and Vernon hums.

"I'm not doing your laundry Chan." Chan laughs harder at this and that’s when Vernon catches a little blob of shadow running around the couch.

Kuro struggles to claw his way up the couch and Vernon hisses at the sting of his claws digging through his shirt as he climbs his chest, too. Chan starts petting him there, over Vernon's chest, and Kuro's purring sounds a lot like Vernon's singing heart as Chan rests his hand on Vernon's waist again. Kuro had curled up on his chest and immediately had his eyes closed and Vernon feels like this is a little too unreal for him to not be dreaming but the weight of both Chan and Kuro on him are too real for this to just be a dream. He closes his eyes again and the next time he opens them he finds himself face to face with a still sleeping Chan with his arms around Chan's shoulder and Chan's arms around his waist. Vernon closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep until Chan wakes up and instead of the usual awkward way Chan talks to him when they end up too close, like they are now, Chan says good morning with a smile and rolls them over so he can drop Vernon on the couch and laughs as he runs away and hides in his room.

After that, Chan's more… open.

He's more touchy and clingy and so fucking adorable that when Vernon's caught off guard and Chan's walking around shirtless in the living room he gets a heart attack followed by the most confusing boner he's ever gotten so he hides in his room pretending like he's finishing up on his thesis and not just hiding his hard on for Chan's arms.

But over time he gets used to it. Chan dragging him in the living room to watch something while they have dinner or just to watch something on his laptop with Vernon sitting on the couch and him lying on Vernon's lap as he watches while Kuro runs all over them and even goes so far as to climb the couch to bite Vernon's ear. And some Sundays, when they get a window of free time where they both don't have to be doing anything or submitting something, they both end up on the couch, pretending like they're just playing with Kuro, but ultimately ending up taking a nap together. It was easy to pretend that they don't know where it was going by staying upright on the couch and letting themselves end up the way they did the first time but after the second time they've done it, Chan drags Vernon to lie down and they spend half of the afternoon asleep like that. And they stayed like that even after waking up when they're waiting for the dinner they ordered to be delivered.

And sometimes Chan would lie on his bed, playing with Kuro while Vernon finishes up on work or his thesis on his desk. By three in the morning, when he's done, he'd find Chan sleeping on his bed with Kuro curled up next to him. Vernon would slip next to Chan, waking him up to tell him the time, and Chan would just stare at him blankly for a couple of seconds before he's pulling the covers from under him and sleeping again. This time, pulling Vernon down along with him and wrapping his arms around his waist with his chin resting over Vernon's shoulder.

And Vernon takes it.

He takes what he can and paints it the light he wants to see. If he doesn't ask Chan why he keeps touching him, why he keeps holding him, then he can convince himself that he's doing it for the very reason Vernon wants it to be. All of his maybes seem a lot more real when he leaves them as just that. Maybes.

"Maybe he's sick?" Seungcheol says and Vernon sighs.

"Maybe he's leaving? And like, he's torn about telling you so he's just being super nice in the last days he gets with you." Mingyu adds, which does not help at all.

"Seriously?" Vernon asks and they both stare at him and shrug.

"Or maybe Chan just so happens to like you too and you're just too much of a loser to even consider the thought of it.." Wonwoo adds which is less help than Mingyu and Seungcheol combined.

It is a funny thought, though. Vernon can admit that much.

"Wait, I thought Chan was straight?" Seungcheol says and Vernon feels his chest deflate.

"He says he's straight. But that was years ago." Wonwoo says and Mingyu laughs.

"I don't think that's how that works, hyung." Mingyu adds and Wonwoo shrugs and smiles.

"Seungcheol hyung was straight when I met him." Wonwoo says, smiling, and they all turn to Seungcheol who's hiding behind his coffee.

"And you were a top when we met you." Wonwoo points to Mingyu and Seungcheol snorts while Mingyu turns a very bright shade of red.

"This is not at all helping me in any way. It's the opposite of helping me, actually." Vernon interjects and Wonwoo shrugs.

"I'm proving my point."

"What point? That they're whipped for you? That I'm lonely and you have two boyfriends?" Vernon asks and Wonwoo takes a deep breath and it is painfully obvious how he's suppressing a smile.

"My point is, people have their own ways of figuring out who they are and sometimes that changes over time. Sometimes that's what they need. Time. Or sometimes it's something else. Like when they meet people who tell them things about them that they don't even know about themselves." Wonwoo says and Vernon sighs and stares at his coffee.

"All I'm saying is, Chan's pretty new to this stuff. Like, relationships and intimacy. But you know that. And he's smart enough to trust you enough in knowing that, too. That has to mean something, right?"

"I mean, yeah. But I don't know if- I don't think Chan changed at all since I met him. It's kind of one of the reasons why I still like him." Vernon admits and Mingyu was about to pat his head for it so he swats it away with a frown.

"I'm pretty sure he changed, buddy. Maybe just a little, but he did." Seungcheol adds and Vernon sighs.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"He's cool with Kuro, right? Didn't you say he's not a pet loving kind of guy?" Seungcheol asks and Vernon can hear his metaphorical world crashing down all around him.

Does that count? Was that the first sign that Chan changed or was that supposed to be the last and most obvious sign that he did change and Vernon missed it because he was too weak at the sight of Chan playing with Kuro? Why didn't Vernon piece those together months ago, Chan even bought Kuro toys and treats. Is Vernon supposed to read into that or is he reading too much into that because Chan's just nice and supportive of Vernon getting a pet that he wanted to chip in a little? Why can't Chan just be the first one to say something? Anything!

"I think you broke him." Wonwoo says and Vernon clears his throat and gulps down half of his coffee.

"So what? I just- Do I just confront him about it? Ask him if he likes me?"

"Sure." Seungcheol says and both Mingyu and Wonwoo glance at him. He frowns, crosses his arms, and pouts.

"If you don't want to be romantic about it, then sure. Just ambush him and confess. Or do a grand gesture and like, hire a flash mob. Or be practical and just bring him to a flash mob and pretend it's for him. Whatever you do, just make sure you're doing it because you want to do it. Not because you feel like you have to." Mingyu says and Wonwoo nods.

"But I feel like I have to do it because I do want to do it."

"What?" Seungcheol asks and Wonwoo sighs.

"Stop thinking for a second."

"Aren't we here to help because he can't think of-" Seungcheol cuts himself off when Wonwoo turns to look at him. Seungcheol smiles and takes a sip of his coffee.

"You do understand that if you confess and Chan doesn't like you, it will get weird between you two, right? Because you're sharing a place together and all."

"Yeah."

"Yeah?"

"Yes! Okay? God I-" Vernon takes a deep breath.

"For weeks now I can feel us staying in this middle ground. Like, we are way past the line of just being friends but we're nowhere near any kind of label whatsoever. And I hate this. I hate it because I felt like this is my best case scenario, you know? Like, it's not a straight line of being friends and being more. The whole middle ground is a fucked up maze of thousands of moments that tells me we're just friends and thousands more where I feel like he wants us to be more too! But staying in this middle, staying in the maze and blindly navigating that space is good for me, you know? But I'm done settling. I just, I feel like I don't have anything to lose with confessing to Chan, if that makes sense. Does that make sense?" Vernon asks and he stares at the three of them and he finds Seungcheol and Mingyu staring at him with wide eyes and a dumb look on their face while Wonwoo's just smiling at him like a creep. 

"And you're still willing to confess even if it makes things awkward and worst case scenario is you two stop being as close as you are now?" Wonwoo asks and Vernon stops breathing.

"Okay, back up a bit. What? I don't want that."

"I know, but if we're being realistic here, know that that really could happen." Wonwoo says and Vernon sighs.

"I know. Do I just… Hold back until the year ends? So if he hates me he can just move out?" Vernon asks and they all just stare at him with these weird sappy smiles on their faces.

"Oh Vernonnie is all grown up now." Seungcheol says and Vernon sighs. He needs better friends.

"Yeah." Wonwoo adds and Vernon huffs.

"Fuck right off."

“Chan’s mouth is rubbing off of you.” Seungcheol says with a frown and Wonwoo snorts.

“Oh I’m sure Vernon likes Chan’s mouth rubbing off of him.” Wonwoo says and Vernon flips him off.

"But honestly speaking, the fact that you're already thinking about how your confession is going to affect him means you're doing better than most people." Mingyu says with a smile and Seungcheol groans.

"Are we really still not over that? I honestly thought we resolved this years ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was I supposed to get over it just because you apologised for it once?"

"I didn't think it through, okay? I get that. But it all ended up okay, right?"

"I almost failed my exams, hyung. Who in their right mind would ask someone out the night before their exams?"

"Who in the right mind would say yes?" Vernon adds and Seungcheol grins and holds up a hand towards Vernon for a hi-five but seeing how Mingyu's already glaring at Seungcheol, he probably did the right thing by not responding to the hi-five.

"Just do what you think you should. You probably know Chan better than anyone at this point. And that is very difficult for me to admit." Wonwoo says as Mingyu and Seungcheol keep arguing and Vernon wishes he can agree to Wonwoo. He really does.

A week later, when Vernon's brain is fried from talking with a senior architect who cannot admit that he made a mistake in labelling his own plans, he drags his feet through their front door with a plan to sleep through the afternoon until midnight and then picking up on his thesis from then up until he has to go to his thesis advisor Saturday morning. He heads straight to his room and catches a glance of Chan in their little kitchen. Not even the sight of Chan in a domestic situation is enough to break the sour mood Vernon's in but by the time he reaches his bedroom door, he stops and does a double take.

Chan is wearing his usual baggy sweatpants and hoodie but the weird thing is Chan's hoodie is on backwards. With the hood to the front.

"Hey." Chan says and he turns to Vernon and he smiles. And Vernon can't help but smile as Kuro peeks from the hood of Chan's hoodie and meows.

"Oh my God." Vernon says and he drops his bag on the couch and walks up to Chan. He pets Kuro a little before Kuro pushes his hand and tries to punch Vernon's fingers repeatedly.

"I saw it on Jun hyung's instagram and thought I'd try. He didn't even try to go out, he just sat here and watched me cook." Chan says and Vernon can feel his heart overflow with so many things and feelings and words he can't put into actual words and Chan's just smiling up at him, proud of himself for doing something to stupid and so fucking endearing that Vernon wants to stab his chest just to make room for his lungs to be able to breathe again.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just… You're really good with Kuro. I'm just glad."

"I managed to live with you for years, hyung. Kuro is an upgrade in terms of housemates."

"Wow…"

"It's true. I just have to feed him and pet him and he'd love me." Chan says and Vernon almost laughs.

It took a lot less effort from Chan for Vernon to love him, honestly.

"Hey hyung."

"Yeah?"

"I… You know I never really liked cats, right? Or like, any pets at all." Chan says and Vernon nods. He looks down inside Chan's hoodie again and he smiles as Kuro's lying belly up and staring up at Chan as he talks.

"I know."

"But I'm good with Kuro right?"

"Yeah. I'm almost jealous. If Kuro starts sleeping in your room I'm kicking you out." Vernon jokes and Chan huffs out a laugh.

"I'm trying to say something, hyung." Chan grabs his wrists and Vernon freezes.

"Why do you think I'd try to live with a cat after living all my life avoiding pets?" Chan asks and Vernon's forced to look him in the eye and it's unnerving and a little uncomfortable but also everything he's ever asked for.

"Uh, because you're nice and understanding."

"Hyung. We both know I'm not nice to everybody…"

"Yeah but you're nice to your friends."

"No I'm mean to my friends because that's how I show them that they're my friends." Chan says and Vernon does see that when he invites Vernon with them.

"So what, I'm less than a friend because you're not mean to me?" Vernon asks, laughing a little, and Chan groans.

"You're making this a hundred times more difficult, hyung."

"What? You're the one not making sense."

"What I'm saying is I'm treating you as more than just a friend. That I see you as more than just, you know, a friend. I'm saying that I like you, hyung." Chan says and he smiles a little then he takes a deep breath.

Oh…

Wait.

Wait, what?

"Wait, what?" Vernon asks and Chan lets go of his hands and turns away. Vernon chases after him and pulls Chan back to make him look at him.

"Are you- Did you mean what I think you did?" Vernon asks and Chan frowns.

"I don't fucking know. This is stupid. This was stupid I never should've-" "Stop. Okay? So like, you're saying that you like me?" Vernon asks and he gets to see the rare sight of Chan looking flushed and bothered and he turns his head away from Vernon.

"I'm not saying it again."

"Say it again."

"Can we- Let's talk in the morning, hyung." Chan tries to run but Vernon laughs.

"I can't fucking wait 'till the morning! Say it."

"Say it back first."

"Channie."

"Yes. Okay? I've been-" Chan takes a deep breath and glares at Vernon, "I've been trying to hint at it for months! I play along to your stupid jokes when you act like we're married or whatever. I tried really fucking hard to get used to Kuro and I know I love him now but my point still stands. I had to get used to feeding him and taking care of him and the smell! And I even stopped holding back on getting too close to you. I used to keep my distance because I know you don't feel the same things I do when you lean on me when we're on the couch or when we end up sleeping on the couch and I didn't even get mad at you ruining my favourite shirt!"

"You said it was fine!"

"It was! But only because it was you!" Chan yells and a second later his frustrated face breaks into a frown and he starts blushing so bad that Vernon feels incredibly weak in the knees.

"Chan."

"I've been wearing your shirt with your name on it every chance I get and I keep- I pretend like it means something to you. Like it means more than what it is. It feels like I'm in this never ending riddle because you say things that could mean three things and it's frustrating! And I keep waiting for you to get the fucking hint but you're so stupid and slow and I keep waiting for you to kiss me when we wake up from sleeping on the fucking couch but you never-" For once in Vernon's life, he stops thinking of what ifs and maybes and he pulls Chan by his shoulder and kisses him.

It was quick and soft and Chan blushes as he looks at Vernon when they pull apart. Kuro's still on Chan's hood, between them, and Chan laughs as he gets up and tries to reach for Vernon's chin.

"So you…" Chan trails off and Vernon nods.

"Since the end of my second year."

"Oh."

"You?"

"That time you were freaking out because I got home so late. I never- I'm not used to people taking care of me. Even with my family. It's nice."

"So you liked me since then?" Vernon asks and Chan sighs. 

"Why did you think I suggested we move in together every year since?"

"I don't fucking know. Because I'm a fun roommate?"

"You can't cook or clean. You have dozens of shoes that take up so much space but only wear one pair every time we go out. And you always forget to pay for shit." Chan argues and Vernon scoffs.

"Okay. I forgot to pay rent one time, Chan. That was two years ago. That’s why we levelled up and signed a lease instead." Vernon explains. Chan huffs but his hands move to Vernon's waist and he pulls him closer.

"Come on. Say it."

"Say it back." Chan says and Vernon hums.

"I like you too." Vernon says and he wraps his arms around Chan's shoulder just in time for Chan to grab him by his waist and lean in for a kiss. 

"You don't have anything else you have to do, right?"

"No. Why?"

"Figured we could continue kissing. In my bed. Preferably without your shirt on." Chan says and Vernon hums.

"Only if you take yours off first." Vernon says and he points at Kuro still staring up at them.

"Fuck, right."

"What are you cooking anyway?"

"Nothing. Just heating up leftovers. Forget about it. We can order in later." Chan says and he unzips his hoodie from the back and grabs Kuro before taking the hoodie off and dropping it on the couch, setting Kuro on it and letting him hide under. Chan's left with a tank top and his sweatpants and he drags Vernon to his room and pushes him on his bed before taking off his tank top and crawling on top of him.

God bless whoever invented grey sweatpants.

They spent a good half hour making out half naked on Chan's bed that night and Vernon sucks it up and takes one of Chan's shirts to wear for the night while they eat in the living room. Chan's hand was stuck on his waist or his neck or his wrist and he always tugs Vernon in for a kiss at random times that by the end of the night neither of them wanted to sleep in their own beds alone. So they did the smart thing and slept in a couch that barely fits the two of them and uses that as an excuse to sleep together pressed up against each other as much as they possibly can with Kuro sleeping on Chan's hoodie on the floor.

Vernon wakes up with their door bell ringing constantly along with the sound of someone knocking on their door non-stop. He groans and blindly reaches for his phone only to see that it's eight in the morning. And to make it worse, it's eight in the morning of a perfectly good Sunday. A Sunday Vernon could have used to sleep in until one in the afternoon.

"Okay. If I open that door the first thing they're going to hear from me are the specific words you told me never to say ever again." Chan says next to him and Vernon sighs.

He knows Chan is just saying so he doesn't have to get up but Vernon also knows Chan will do it and curse out whoever it is on the other side of the door.

"Were you expecting anyone?" Vernon asks and Chan opens his eyes just to look at Vernon like he just accused him of murder.

"It's Sunday. I told my Sundays are yours, what are you talking about?" Chan says, annoyed, and Vernon's glad Chan closes his eyes and turns to lie face down on his pillow because Vernon can feel himself blushing from something so fucking simple.

"Sorry. Go back to sleep." Vernon says and Chan blindly reaches for his wrist and turns his head towards him without opening his eyes.

"Just yell at them to go away then come back to bed, hyung." Chan says and Vernon takes a deep breath and hums.

"I will." Vernon says and he kisses Chan quickly and then comes out of their bedroom.

The minute he opens their bedroom door, he hears the distinct tingling sound coming from the living room and he watches as Kuro runs up to him and nuzzles around his ankles. He's gotten bigger and bigger and over the years he's ended up getting fat and then slim again and then dangerously thin one time(all because he didn’t like the new cat food brand they tried and would rather starve himself than eat it) and now he's on the middle point of just pudgy and fat.

Chan thinks he doesn't know but Vernon knows Chan likes it when Kuro's got more pudge.

Vernon opens the door and points at their bed and he looks up at him and meows loudly. Chan must've caught on to that and he started patting the bed and calling for Kuro, all while still having his eyes closed, and Kuro jumps on the bed and stares at Chan for a while before lying next to his arm.

Then the buzzing and the knocking starts again.

"Coming!" Vernon yells and he takes a deep breath and grabs one of their coats hanging by the door and puts it on over his shirt and boxers before opening the door.

"Who's-" "Hey. So I know it's early but I was excited so I figured I'd drive him to you and just watch him settle in your place. Nice building by the way. Good parking." Wonwoo says, walking past him and walking inside while carrying what looks like a bigger cage and a bigger litter box.

Wait.

Vernon looks back outside and Mingyu's standing there holding a sack of cat food half his size and Seungcheol drinking coffee and holding up a paper bag in front of him with a logo of the coffee shop Chan told him about.

"What the fuck is happening?"

"Neither of us wanted to be here." Seungcheol says and he walks in and guides Mingyu inside.

Wonwoo has already set up in his living room and had the cage door open in the middle of the carpet as he's kneeling in front of it.

"Hyung. What the fuck are you doing?" Vernon asks and Wonwoo turns to look at him over his shoulder and smiles.

"What? Chan didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what?" Vernon asks and he heard a quiet "Fuck." behind him and he sees Chan, shirtless with just his sweatpants on, staring at Wonwoo.

Then he stares at Vernon.

"I can explain." Chan says and Kuro runs out from between his feet and looks around to see three other men in their house and chose to run up to Wonwoo while Seungcheol and Mignyu sit on their sofa and watch silently as Chan walks up to him with his I-fucked-up smile.

"Okay so Wonwoo hyung may have mentioned a kitten." Chan starts and Vernon crosses his arms.

"Really? When?"

"Like, five days ago?"

"I told him ten days ago, actually."

"Hyung. Kindly shut the fuck up." Chan says, glaring at Wonwoo, and then he turns back to Vernon and smiles again.

"I'm sorry I forgot to mention it. I swear I was going to. I just- I keep forgetting it and I even thought it could be a great surprise to you for your birthday and he could be both of our birthday gifts because like, it technically is Wonwoo's hyung's birthday gift. To us, I mean."

"Chan-" "I swear I didn't mean to like, leave it out until today where you can't say no. You know I wouldn't do that, right?" Chan asks and Vernon sighs. Chan really wouldn't have done that because he knew Vernon would most likely just agree.

"Chan looks cute when he's not glaring. Or scowling." Seugncheol says and Vernon watches as Chan glares at Seungcheol.

"I don't know… I think he looks hot when he's glaring at other people." Vernon says and Chan closes his eyes, sighs, and admits defeat.

"I'll go put on a shirt and come back. Hold on." Chan says and Vernon pushes him towards the door and turns right about the same time the kitten in the cage peeks his head out to watch them.

"He's a little shy and he's not used to people as much. Not like when Kuro was a baby. So you're gonna have to be patient with him." Wonwoo says and he's petting Kuro on his lap while he's urging the kitten to come out.

Chan comes out and they both sit next to Wonwoo, waiting for the kitten to come out, and they start talking about lunch plans and all that, asking if they want to go out and eat, but Chan declines and says they're planning on staying in for the rest of the day anyways. When the kitten was okay enough to start running around the cage, going back in when he's spooked, Wonwoo drags Seungcheol and Mingyu out of their door and says goodbye and thanks Chan for taking care of the kitten for them.

"Wonwoo hyung needs to keep his cats from getting pregnant." Chan says and Vernon laughs. Chan said the only reason he said yes was because Kuro's a boy and they can't have babies and Vernon smiles and kisses him.

"I didn't know you wanted more cats."

"Because I don't. I just think… I don't know. Kuro could use a friend. We have a bigger place now and we're both working so we don't have to worry about if we have money to buy them food or not. I just thought it'd be, you know… fun." Chan says and they sit in front of the cage again and watch as Kuro stands by the door and peeks inside when the kitten peeks out.

Chan named him Yuki at first but got turned down by Vernon and Chan asked him what he thinks he should name him and he can't say Shiro because that's  basic and too cliché.

Tsuki. Chan brightens up when he hears it and Vernon forgot Chan did watch some of the anime Seungkwan told him about so Chan loves it. They spent the rest of the morning lying on their living room floor, letting Kuro watch as Tsuki runs around and explores the house before running back to the living room and jumping over their hands and legs. Vernon gets up to set Tsuki's food bowl along with his water and when he comes back he sees Chan lying on his back, looking up at Tsuki who's standing next to him. The light from their window paints the whole living room with a bright light and Tsuki looks ridiculously white in front of Chan's face and the light that bounces off of his fur falls on Chan's smiling face.

"Hyung. He started licking my fingers and then he bit me and it made me flinch a little and he ran away and then ran back like he's angry." Chan says and Vernon walks up to them and sets the bowls away from the carpet and they watch as Kuro walks up to it and Tsuki follows him. They spend the rest of the day just watching Tsuki get used to their little home and Chan shows him the number of photos he has of Tsuki while Vernon hides the photos he has of Chan taking photos of Tsuki.

Vernon does thank Wonwoo for the kitten as their birthday gift and he just laughs as Chan adds that Wonwoo should watch his cats better or have them plan their kids so he doesn't have to run around and force people to adopt them. Vernon locks his phone and watches the conversation on Chan's phone. He wraps an arm around Chan's shoulder and sets his chin on Chan's shoulder. Chan giggles as Wonwoo starts sending messages that shows how annoyed he is and he sends one final "Thanks for the gift, hyung" followed by an array of emojis before locking his phone and leaning onto Vernon.

"Wonwoo hyung could come back and take Tsuki back, you know?"

"As if. He can get him over my dead body." Chan says and Vernon hums.

"And you said you didn't like cats."

"I mean. I didn't like men before college so, you know… That's all on you." Chan says and Vernon locks his arms around Chan's neck and pulls him down on the couch.