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it was raining when mingi's shift ended. not just raining, no, it was pouring. the rain was hitting the windows of the cafe so hard that it drowned out the k-r&b playlist that their manager blasted 24/7.
he was going to sob, then curl up and die.
mingi didn't hate the rain, per se, but he did have to walk all the way back to his apartment— and these were simply not the ideal circumstances for that! his day truly couldn't get any worse at this point. first, he got yelled at by his manager for being late, probably because he's never been late in his entire life and the guy was counting on him showing up on time. then later a customer was complaining to him that their drink had almond milk in it, when they had asked him specifically for almond milk.
and now, it was raining, right as he was about to leave to walk home.
"are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride back to your apartment?" seonghwa offered, his head peeking out from underneath the counter where he was likely still reorganizing things, "i know it's not far, but—"
"no, no, i'll manage," mingi sighed as he pulled the hood of his coat over his head, "i'll just walk really fast, it'll be fine. thank you, though!"
seonghwa just smiled at him and disappeared under the counter again. "okay, get home safe!"
after that, mingi left the cafe and was immediately drenched in rain. if he were smart, he would have run back inside and told seonghwa 'you know what, i'm going to take you up on that offer'.
unfortunately, mingi was more than moderately stubborn, so he kept walking.
as he continued on his normal route back to his apartment (while continuously attempting to shield his eyes from the rain), he noticed something that caught his attention. it looked like there was an animal curled up underneath a bench, which isn't something that mingi would normally pay any mind, but it was pouring and he felt bad for the thing. his curiosity ended up getting the best of him as he walked over to take a look.
upon closer inspection, it was a cat that was hiding underneath the bench— a black cat who was soaked and shivering. mingi nearly cried, feeling so bad for it. surely this cat was a stray, just judging by the look of it, and probably didn't have anywhere to go.
"i'm sorry, buddy, i hope you find somewhere warm to go," mingi muttered.
as bad as he felt, though, he really did need to get going. regretfully, he started to walk away, and only paused when he felt something brush against his ankle. looking down, mingi gasped softly at the sight of that black cat running in circles around his feet.
"now you're making me feel even worse for you," mingi sighed, as the cat rubbed their head againt his legs. carefully stepping over so he didn't crush them with his feet, he kept walking. "just don't follow me, alright? i can't have animals in my apartment..."
naturally, the cat didn't listen, though mingi wasn't sure why he was expecting it to.
-
"this is my apartment," he said to the feline, suddenly feeling a little bit idiotic for explaining such a thing to a cat, "they really don't allow animals in here, so go find somewhere else warm to take shelter, okay?"
as mingi reached for the door, the cat let out a ear-piercing meow, making him jump a little bit. he scoffed, looking down at it. "wow, you really don't want to be left alone, do you?"
mingi stood there for a minute, weighing his options.
what would be the worst thing that could happen if he took this cat in with him?
"okay, just... don't expect me to keep you. i'm taking you to a shelter first thing in the morning!" he half scolded and half sighed as he took off his coat, wrapping it around the cat, "you'd better not have rabies." he scooped the bundled up cat into his arms, which it surprisingly didn't protest against, and went inside.
-
"mingi, what is that?" hongjoong sighed, slamming his textbook shut as mingi walked through the door, "i know you're holding something that you shouldn't have— what is it?"
what was he, a psychic?
"it's—"
before mingi could even respond to his roommate properly, the cat jumped out of his arms and padded around the kitchen for a bit, before deciding to curl up beside mingi's feet. "it's a cat. look, i'm not planning on keeping him, obviously, but he's a stray and it's raining ! what was i supposed to do?"
hongjoong pursed his lips as he looked down at the black cat, who seemed very happy on the floor. "okay, fine. but he stays in your room and you take him to a shelter—"
"first thing in the morning, yeah," mingi smiled, "i'm gonna get him something to eat first, though. the kitchen belongs to him now. isn't that right, little guy?"
the cat chirped in response. mingi was vaguely proud of himself for finding such an intelligent animal.
"i'll be in my room, then," hongjoong said, standing and picking up his textbook.
"what do you have against this poor cat?"
"he's probably got every disease imaginable!"
"you don't know that for sure," mingi shrugged as his roommate disappeared into his bedroom. that aside, he wasn't sure if they actually had much in their fridge that would be okay to feed to a cat. hongjoong was a disaster in the kitchen and mingi was always too busy to cook, so it was mostly instant ramen and other various microwavable things.
ah, but there was half of a chicken sandwich in the fridge! it was hongjoong's, sure, but mingi was willing to make sacrifices for his new best friend ( i'm sorry yunho, mingi thinks, you've been replaced ).
mingi glanced down at the cat, holding the half-sandwich in his hand. "you don't want the bread on this, do you?"
the cat growled.
"yeah, i didn't think so," he responded and threw it in the trash.
mingi had never taken care of a cat in his life, but he figured he should probably cut the food up into smaller pieces. he only got around to that after searching for a knife for a good three minutes (hongjoong had the most nonsensical way of organizing the kitchen). the cat meowed at him again, probably due to the fact that he was taking so long.
"you're really impatient, aren't you?" mingi sighed, "it's okay because you're cute though— fucking hell!"
mingi held his bleeding finger to his mouth, hissing in pain. just when he was thinking that his day was getting better— he cuts himself with a plastic knife! he stared at it for a minute, trying to determine how deep the cut was, and hardly registered the cat clawing it's way up his leg.
"hey, what are you— stop that!" mingi screamed at the top of his lungs as the feline dug his claws into his sweater and started licking the blood off of him. oh, no, that couldn’t possibly be sanitary. or healthy for that matter! he tried to pull his hand away, but the cat seemed to have moved on quickly, letting go of mingi’s arm and eating the chicken off the plate.
hongjoong's door opened just a second later. "what are you yelling about?"
"i cut my finger and he licked it," mingi mumbled, looking at the cut, "do you think it's infected now?"
"jesus christ— put some rubbing alcohol on it and bandage it, but stop yelling," hongjoong sighed, slamming his bedroom door. "it most definitely is infected, by the way!"
very typical hongjoong, mingi thinks, but doesn't say anything. he turned to his new favorite roommate instead.
"licking my finger was not very nice of you, by the way. it's not sanitary," mingi said with a pout, petting the cat between the ears. it purred at that, nuzzling his face into mingi's hand.
well, he couldn't stay mad at that.
"you're forgiven, but i'm going to go bandage this so don't go anywhere!"
-
the cat naturally followed mingi into the bathroom, and then followed him into his bedroom a minute or so later.
apparently, mingi had found, cats don't do well with instructions. with that in mind he let the cat do whatever they pleased as he sat at his desk to work on some homework (because, contrary to popular belief, mingi did occasionally put effort into his schoolwork).
he stayed there for a while with the cat on his lap, purring contentedly as mingi typed up a paper about animal endangerment.
funny coincidence, isn't it?
"okay, it's time for you to move," mingi sighed, pushing his chair away from his desk and looking down at the cat, "i'm going to bed, buddy, you have to get off my lap."
the cat didn't seem very happy at that, but he jumped off of mingi regardless as he started to change out of the clothes he wore to work— opting eventually for a too-tight naruto shirt and black sweatpants. truly the epitome of twentieth century fashion. the cat wasn't paying any attention to him, busy licking his paws. he chirped when mingi switched off the lights, and sprinted towards the man’s bed.
mingi sighed. he thought the cat was cute, sure, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about them sleeping in his bed. what if he had fleas? mingi hated washing his bedsheets, so that would just be a nuisance… he wasn’t too keen on getting fleas, either.
“you can’t sleep in my bed, sorry!” mingi apologized, picking up the cat with one hand and dropping him on the carpet. the feline meowed, as if questioning his judgement— ‘what do you mean i can’t sleep on the bed? why not?’ .
“you might have fleas, and i don’t want them,” mingi continued, throwing his comforter aside so he could get under it, “the floor is comfortable, isn’t it?”
mingi paused, suddenly self aware that he was having a one-sided conversation with a cat. he huffed, turning over so he was facing the wall. the cat chirped quietly before jumping on top of mingi’s almost-sleeping form. “you’re lucky i find you so cute, or else i would have kicked you out already,” the man mumbled, “good night, buddy.”
-
not sure how long he had been sleeping, mingi blearily opened his eyes. he was in that state of being neither awake or asleep— but a secret, third state that only existed in the dark of his bedroom. rolling over to check the time on his phone, he noticed that the cat wasn’t laying on him anymore, which was both a relief and a disappointment. the light of his phone absolutely fucking blinded him as he looked at the clock. 3:18. ugh.
mingi shifted so that he was laying on his back and staring at the ceiling. there was a piece of tape up there which he had never bothered to remove. truly fascinating.
as he stared at that square of tape, though, something shifted in the corner of his eye. against mingi’s better judgement, he looked over and saw a figure perched at the end of his bed, looking down at him with crimson eyes. mingi completely froze— the only thing going through his mind was ‘oh my god, i’m going to die’. the figure above him seemed to tilt its head, before jumping at mingi.
his heart truly stopped at that moment, and he screamed while squeezing his eyes shut.
the door slammed open, only seconds later. “mingi? what’s wrong?” hongjoong asked, clearly concerned.
opening his eyes slightly and only seeng hongjoong, mingi let out a deep sigh of relief. “i just… i thought i saw something. i must have been dreaming.” next to him, the cat chirped curiously. ah, so he was here after all.
“are you okay, though?” hongjoong asked.
“yeah, yeah, ‘m fine,” mingi mumbled, “you can go back to sleep.”
“bold of you to assume i sleep,” his roommate said as he shut the door.
mingi sighed again, rubbing at his tired eyes with his hands. he wanted to go back to sleep, but after being scared to death, it just didn’t seem possible. maybe he would stare at the ceiling for a while longer and maybe it would bore him so much that he would fall back into sleep.
then a hand wrapped around mingi’s stomach and he could feel himself shiver in fear, completely frozen again. was this sleep paralysis? mingi had never experienced sleep paralysis, oh god, he was going to die .
“i know you said you didn’t want me in your bed, but i got lonely. and i promise i don’t have fleas,” a voice beside him purred, “anyway, why’d you scream at me?”
wait . mingi’s eyes widened in surprise. was that… no, that couldn’t be possible, could it? he slowly turned his head around to look at the figure next to him, as if he wasn’t about to have a heart attack out of fear. the person laying next to him was a young man with yellow eyes (weren’t they red before?). his raven hair fell over his face and he grinned widely at mingi, as if this wasn’t the most terrifying moment of his life.
“please don’t hurt me,” mingi whispered. oh, wow, how pathetic was that?
the man next to him pouted. “why would i hurt you? you saved me.”
“i did?”
“yes, don’t you remember? you found me under that bench and took me here with you!”
mingi’s mouth opened, then closed, then opened again because he simply could not believe this. “are you trying to tell me that you’re the cat i brought home?”
“yep!”
“no way,” mingi scoffed, “ absolutely no way. i need proof.”
the cat-man (?) sighed, like this whole thing was incredibly inconveniencing him. he took a deep breath, blinked a couple times with those big yellow eyes, and then there was a cat in front of mingi. mingi stared at him for a while, trying to process what just happened. he’d actually brought home a cat that was secretly a person. that cat was a grown ass man. just mingi’s luck.
mingi blinked and the cat was gone, replaced with the same young man.
“so… do you have a name?” he asked, scooting away a bit (cat or not, this was just creepy), “i’m mingi.”
cat-man smiled again. “i’m san.”
“i hope this isn’t a rude question, san, but what are you?” mingi asked, immediately cringing at the way the words left his mouth, “sorry, that sounds so mean. what i mean is… are you a shapeshifter or something? how can you turn into a cat?”
san seemed to think on that for a moment, feline-like ears above his head twitching as he thought. mingi hadn’t even noticed the ears— did he have a tail too?
“i don’t really know what i am. but i spend most time as a cat because it’s easier that way. people will do anything for a cat,” his grin upon saying that bordered on sinister, so mingi moved away more, “anyway, if you’re a person, there’s so many rules you have to follow. a cat’s life is more free, i can do whatever i want.”
“that makes sense,” mingi nodded. doesn’t answer any of my questions, but it certainly makes sense.
“so i guess you won’t be staying here for much longer?” he added.
“nope, probably not,” san huffed, his ears turning down, “i haven’t interacted with humans in quite a while. i do really like being alone and all that.”
“so why’d you let me take you home then?”
“oh, i almost forgot!” he exclaimed, sitting up, “the whole reason i was out there in the rain was because i got lost! how did i forget that?”
“that sucks,” mingi replied, “i could help you get back to… wherever you were before. if you want.”
“no thank you, i can do that on my own. though it would be helpful if i could eat something before i leave,” san smiled. mingi wondered if he would ever stop smiling like this.
“sure, we’ve got ramen in the kitchen—”
“what about that guy you live with?”
mingi raised an eyebrow. “hongjoong? i don’t think he’d mind, we can always buy more.”
“no no, i mean can i eat him?”
“what? san, are you insane?” mingi asked, horrified, “of course you can’t!”
mingi was also extremely concerned at the revelation that san eats people, but he was more focused on the fact that san had wanted to eat hongjoong , of all people.
sighing dramatically, san collapsed onto the squeaky mattress. he bounced up and down a couple times, seemingly finding the sound entertaining, until mingi urged him to stop. san didn’t look very happy to do so, but he stopped. “i should probably leave soon, then. i have to eat something—”
“you mean someone?”
“i have to eat someone ,” san corrected himself (mingi wished he didn’t, because the visuals that it brought to mind were rather horrifying), “soon, or else i won’t be able to use my magic! then there’ll be no more human san, just cat san!”
mingi paused. “are you a vampire or something? wait, is that why you were licking the blood off my finger earlier?”
“if it makes you feel any better, i was originally going to eat you,” san shrugged, “then i didn’t cause you were really nice to me.”
“e-excuse me?!”
“i didn’t, though, and that’s what matters!” san said, as if it should be something that mingi was grateful for. in a way, he was, but that wasn’t really the point. “anyway, i think i’ll be going now. if i stay any longer then who knows what’ll happen? maybe i’ll get attached to you~”
“oh… i guess that’s okay,” mingi responded, sad but also a bit relieved (it’d reduce his chances of having his face torn off by a cat, at the very least), “i hope you find your way back home.”
“i don’t really have a home, but thank you,” san said before clambering over mingi in an effort to get off the bed. it was a struggle, but san eventually escaped from the prison of mingi’s bedsheets and headed for the door. he gave mingi a beaming smile before shutting the door. and just like that, san was gone.
mingi, as he made an effort to go back to sleep, wondered if he would ever see san again. probably not, right? from what he had said, it sounded like he moved around a lot, he’d probably never come near campus again.
which was probably for the best… wasn’t it?
-
when hongjoong woke up the next morning and asked mingi where the cat went, he droned on and on about how hongjoong couldn’t ‘handle the truth’. eventually, he caved and admitted that the cat ran away, though he left out many extra details.
“well, cats are like that, aren’t they?” hongjoong muttered, hurriedly shoving his books into his bag, “they don’t like people. anyway, see you later— shit, i’m gonna be late.”
hongjoong ran out of the apartment at 9:15, fearful that he would be late for his 1 o’clock lecture. he was a little silly in that regard, but mingi wouldn’t judge, because he was pretty sure he was losing his mind himself. he was about half sure that everything that happened last night ( this morning, he reminded himself, it was 3am ) was a dream.
a monster cat who eats people could only be a product of his imagination, right?
mingi wasn’t even sure if he wanted it to be a dream, though. san had problems, sure, but he seemed nice enough— and mingi had started to feel bad for him all over again! all that talk about how he wanted to be alone and not get attached to anyone… that was no way to live, mingi thought.
maybe he could fix san. yeah, that was reasonable thinking.
that would only be if they ran into each other again, though, which mingi highly doubted would happen.
-
after three back-to-back classes and very little sleep, all mingi wanted was to go back to his apartment and sleep for a hundred years. unfortunately, he couldn't do that— for multiple reasons, but the most annoying reason being that he had to work.
"how's your day been?" seonghwa asked as mingi put down his backpack and pulled on his apron.
"you really don't want the answer to that question."
"that just makes me more curious. spill."
mingi sighed, tying the strings of his apron as he went to stand behind the cash register. there weren't many people who came in on tuesdays, especially this late in the day, so mingi justified completely zoning out to talk about his day.
"i think i had a really messed up dream about a cat who was actually a dude, and it's been bothering me all day,” mingi said with another drawn out sigh, “i took him home as a cat but then when i woke up in the middle of the night he was just some guy! but he was, like, a monster cat— he was going to eat hongjoong, but i told him not to—”
“ wow ,” his coworker interrupted, “that is a weird dream, i’ll give you that. but don’t think too hard about it, you’ll drive yourself crazy.”
“i’m already driving myself crazy,” mingi mumbled.
“i’m mostly concerned about the fact that hongjoong almost got eaten by a cat in your dream?”
“why— because you two are secretly lovers in the nighttime?”
before seonghwa could save his dignity with an answer, the cafe door opened, the sound of the little bell at the top of the entrance ringing through the building. "good afternoon, what can i get for you?" mingi asked automatically, not looking up from the screen of the ipad in front of him.
"mingi! hi!" the customer said, and though mingi wasn't paying much attention, the voice did seem familiar. looking up at the person who had just walked in, mingi's jaw dropped.
"san?"
"yeah!" san smiled, all cat-like and vaguely sinister, "i hoped that i'd find you here!"
the monster cat (mingi wasn't sure what else to call him at this juncture) wore a big bucket hat, likely to cover up his ears, but it was sort of funny how it just covered his eyes. mingi gave seonghwa a look, which neither of them were sure how to interpret.
"can i talk to you?" san asked then. mingi gave seonghwa another weird look.
"you can step outside if you need to, i'll live," seonghwa sighed, waving dismissively, "just be glad wonjun isn't here, he wouldn't let you."
at the mention of their manager, mingi rolled his eyes. "thank you, hyung. i'll be right back, i promise!"
as they walked outside san sat down at one of the two person tables, so mingi followed. the air still smelled like rain from the weather yesterday, but it was sunny and warm, which was a welcome change from last night's storm. san stretched and yawned while mingi had a mental heart attack. he's not actually sure if that made any sense, but that's what he felt like.
"how did you find me? did you ask hongjoong or something?" he asked eventually.
"oh, no, i just followed your scent," san said proudly.
"shit, really? that's amazing."
"nope, just kidding. i remembered watching you walk out of this shop yesterday, so i wanted to check and see if you'd come back," the feline smiled, "anyway! i'm happy you're here."
"well, i'm glad you could find me, but… i thought you wouldn't be coming back?" mingi asked, a bit confused.
"i wasn't planning on it, but i realized something."
mingi leaned forward, as if to say 'go on'.
"i'm lonely," san said, oddly quiet, "i've never really thought about it much but i'm lonely !"
mingi wanted to say something along the lines of 'yeah that'll happen when you kill people on the regular', but he didn't. instead he mumbled "i'm sorry?" which, honestly, may have been a worse response.
"i never really thought about it much until you brought me home with you yesterday," san continued, "no one's ever been nice to me like that before— and i realized that i liked it. even if it was only for a few hours, i enjoyed being with you."
mingi wasn't sure what to say to that at all. and why did this feel like some sort of confession?
"i liked having you around, too," mingi nodded, "but i still don't get why you're telling me this?"
"isn't it obvious? i want to live with you," san purred, looking up at mingi with a debilitatingly cute expression. mingi was a weak man, even more so when it came to animals (which san sort of was, right?), so he almost agreed immediately.
“as much as i’d like to help you out, i already have a roommate,” he sighed, “and i don’t know if hongjoong would be too happy about me bringing in some random guy to live with us. no offense.”
“well… what about a cat?”
mingi thought about it for approximately 6 seconds. “promise not to eat anyone in the apartment?”