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Minho always knew that one day he would become a cat dad.
Being basically the personification of a standoffish but secretly sweet cat aside, he’s always loved cats. He grew up with several pet cats back in his hometown, and growing up as an only child, he ended up calling his cats his siblings no matter what they looked or acted like. They were all varying in age range from brand new kittens to ancient, scraggly felines, all different colors, sizes, breeds, and personalities. And he loved them all, even that one cat that seemed to specifically have a vendetta against only him and his one pair glasses that he desperately needed to see.
(Hell, he even treats his closest friends like cats; buying them treats, scratching under their chins affectionately, and cooing when they do something particularly cute or sweet.)
Minho’s boyfriend of five years, Chan, knows how much he loves cats, of course. In fact, he’s has been his number one supporter for the Get Minho A Feline Fur Baby agenda. If it weren’t for the fact that for the longest time they shared an apartment with an incredibly strict (and, in Minho’s opinion, Incredibly Homophobic) ‘no pets’ rule, they would have had several cats by now.
However, that was then, and this is now. Now, it’s been a month since they moved into their new apartment with an ‘all pets welcome!’ policy along with a requirement for a very cheap pet deposit. (Decidedly very Homo-friendly, in Minho’s opinion. Chan sighs fondly when he says this.)
Minho ponders how long he should wait to bring up the subject of pet cats, and seeing that Chan’s had an increased workload recently, makes the sad but honorable decision to wait.
When it’s been a month and a day since they moved in, Minho realizes he tried valiantly but he Cannot wait.
As soon as Chan comes home, Minho quietly hands him a smoothie and a fancy pamphlet he’d made – contrary to Chan’s lack of free time, he’s having a relaxing few days off before he starts teaching summer classes – about Why Lee Minho Should Have A Pet Cat To Love.
The pamphlet is very thorough, covering the perks of having a cat (cute, snuggle-able, fluffy), the reasons why Minho should get a cat Now (see aforementioned, and also because He Wants One), his qualifications for owning a cat (honest to goodness bullet point, resume style skills he possesses on the topics of cat ownership and pet responsibility), and of course, even more positives to having a cat (did he mention how cute and fluffy they are yet???)
It has Chan smiling as he settles on the couch to read through the pamphlet, and he sips his smoothie (pineapple and strawberry flavored, because Minho knows him so well) as he goes. He read through every word, even though he already agrees that they should get a cat the moment the paper is pressed into his hand. By the end he grins and looks up to see Minho’s apprehensive smile, which quickly grows wider as all the hesitation evaporates.
“Of course, my love,” Chan says softly, and years of practice has him setting his smoothie down on the coffee table just in time for Minho to lovingly tackle him in a hug.
(Minho can pretend he hates Chan’s physical affection in public all he wants; in the privacy of their own home, Chan knows just how much Minho loves his boyfriend’s clinginess and will even initiate cuddles of his own.)
After a thorough discussion over everything they could possibly think of that they would need to know about having a pet cat, from the way responsibilities will be split to costs and budgets to medical needs and even scouring the internet for anything they missed, they make a plan for Minho to visit the cat shelter tomorrow.
Then tomorrow arrives, a Friday morning, so it shouldn’t be too busy. On top of that, Minho is confident he’ll walk out within the hour with a cat secured in his arms… or in a carrier, whichever his new friend prefers.
He barely lasts fifteen minutes before he leaves, a little overwhelmed and genuinely disheartened that he can’t take every cat in the shelter home with him. There were just… so many kitties in need of a home… And if anything is quick to pull on Minho’s heartstrings, it’s wide-eyed kittens looking at him with equal amounts of sadness and hope.
He needs Chan with him to help him focus and tell him a firm but gentle “No” every time he tries to adopt every cat he sees. He tells him so in those exact words over a rushed phone call where Chan assures him that he’ll be there for him.
So they revise their plan for Saturday, risking the possibility of a busier day at the shelter so they can go together.
It’s still hard for Minho to fight the need to take every kitten home, but with Chan by his side at least it’s easier to focus on finding the ideal cat for both of them.
And find the cat they do: a small little thing named Dori, already three years old but so tiny he still looks like a kitten.
It’s love at first sight for Minho and Dori both – as soon as the shelter worker opens the door to the play area, they seem to lock eyes on each other and are immediately drawn together. They step toward each other, tentative and careful at first, then with more confidence. Minho crouches down, slowly extended his closed fist for the small grey cat to smell. The cat stretches forward and takes a few cautious sniffs, then a few more, then carefully licks Minho’s knuckles.
“Channie…” Minho whispers, more than a little in awe. “This one… they’re the one.”
Chan looks back and forth between his boyfriend and the cat, and even though he can’t tell exactly what it is that’s so different about this cat, he can tell just from Minho’s expression that he finds the cat special.
And honestly? That’s more than enough for Chan.
“Alrighty then,” Chan says softly. “If you’re sure, then I’m in.”
Minho glances up at him, sparing him a huge, happy grin before turning back to the little cat.
“His name is Dori,” the worker, who’d been silently letting Minho interact with the kitten until now, speaks up. “He’s about three years old, and he’s got a calm and playful personality at the same time! A great fit for anyone.”
A great fit for Minho, Chan thinks with a smile.
With the way Minho’s smiling down at Dori, so fond and affectionate before he’s even adopted him, it must be true.
Two days later is the set date for Minho to return to fill out the adoption paperwork for Dori, and to say he’s excited would be an understatement.
He arrives early, and a worker pulls out a laptop to get the paperwork looked over and printed for Minho to sign. While he waits, he gets a look at the nearest playroom where Dori is waiting for him to pick him up.
Minho’s so ready to take home his new baby he could burst.
He walks over to the window to watch, and realizes that Dori isn’t alone. He looks curiously at the two cats surrounding Dori, licking him carefully and, if Minho isn’t seeing things, a little morosely. It’s almost as if they know he’s going to be leaving them. It makes him wonder how long the three cats have known each other.
“Excuse me,” he starts, getting the worker’s attention. He gestures toward Dori and his apparent friends. “Those two cats with Dori, what are their names?”
“Ah, those two orange ones? They’re called Soonie and Doongie,” the worker explains with a fond smile. “Soonie is the one with more white around his nose, Doongie with more orange. They’re not related, but they came to the shelter on the same day and were like magnets, immediately stuck with each other. About a week later Dori comes in and we wonder if they’re going to be territorial or not, and about five minutes in it’s like they’ve officially initiated Dori into a trio.
The worker sighs softly, and the smile turns sad.
“I hate to see them broken apart, but it’s not anyone’s fault. Mostly, I’m just sure they’re going to miss their little friend…”the worker shakes their head, and puts on an air of false cheer. “But it’s okay! They’ll get adopted soon enough! Also, the paperwork should have printed by now, so I’ll go retrieve it and you can get to signing.”
The worker gives Minho one more smile before leaving to get the papers for Dori.
And Minho? He suddenly feels awful.
He can’t imagine splitting up this little family of cats. It would break his heart almost as much as the cats’ hearts would surely break. No matter how perfect Dori is for him and Chan… he can’t do that to this sweet trio. He’ll just have to leave him here and find another baby to adopt.
…
Unless…
An idea forms in Minho’s head, and he know he only has a few minutes, if that, to do some math as quickly as possible.
He pulls out his phone with the cat budget spreadsheet, multiplies all of the expenses by three, and stares at the outcome.
It’s a significantly higher expense… but it’s a manageable one. Worst case scenario, Minho picks up another timeslot for dance classes to get some extra pay, but even without it this seems doable…
The worker comes back just as he pockets his phone and comes to his decision.
“Actually, I’m so sorry to ask this after you’ve just come back all this way…” he starts. “But… would you by any chance be able to make two more copies of the adoption forms?”
For a moment, the worker just stares at him, confused. When it hits, however, they gasp softly before their fact splits into a huge grin.
“Of course! I’d be happy to!” they exclaim, and there’s an extra bounce in their step as they hurry back to their office once more.
Minho smiles, and it only widens when he looks at the three cats rolling around and batting toys at each other.
He grimaces, just slightly, when something comes to mind.
This’ll be a fun one to explain to Chan…
If someone were to tell a young Bang Chan, just starting secondary school, that he would one day be the proud owner of multiple cats, he would have laughed – mostly from how bizarre a concept that would be, and a little bit from nerves. He would then declare, rather awkwardly and with a lot of backtracking so as not to offend anyone, that he doesn’t really like cats all that much, so how does that make sense?
In Chan’s defense, it was less of a ‘don’t like cats’ feeling and more of a ‘subconscious yet powerful fear toward cats, particularly their claws’ kind of feeling. He’d had numerous bad experiences with cat claws, to the point where if a sweet, harmless cat put so much as an innocent paw on his leg to snuggle in his lap, he’d feel a thrill of anxiety run through his body and the spot where the cat had stepped felt strangely tingly.
He finally felt more comfortable around cats in college, shortly after meeting and subsequently going on dates with one Lee Minho, Cat Lover Extraordinaire, who introduced him to his family’s fur babies early on in their romantic life. It was a slow but steady journey until Chan felt enough at ease around Minho’s cats for him to finally be okay with them sitting in his lap.
Today’s the day that Minho went back to the shelter to pick up Dori, and Chan is genuinely excited to meet their new friend. But even with the gentle support Minho has constantly given him, his hard-earned and newfound comfort around cats, and the genuine adoration Chan feels for most cats he meets, he’s still a bit nervous at the mere idea of a cat digging its claws into him. He takes a deep breath, knowing that Dori seemed like a sweet cat who wouldn’t hurt him. He releases it, knowing that even though he’s nervous, it’s just one cat…
So, imagine his surprise when he opens his front door, bracing himself for the presence of a cat… and instead finds his boyfriend lying on the floor, eyes closed and appearing to be in a blissful state as he’s surrounded by not one, not two, but three whole cats.
There’s a moment of quiet in the apartment, the only sound the footsteps and soft mewls of the cats as they acclimate to their surroundings.
Then the front door swings shut, Chan not noticing when it slipped from his grasp, and Minho’s eyes pop open. He sits up, careful not to bump into any of the kittens, and stares up with an expression Chan’s seen more than once in his time with his boyfriend: equal parts guilty, fond, and defiant. Eyes soft in spite of the furrowed brows, and chin jutted out just a bit. It’s the look he always gets when he does something he thinks isn’t allowed, but is going to try to get away with it anyway.
“Hello, Channie,” Minho says slowly. He purses his lips, then just as slowly but confidently explains, “So… I was going to pick up Dori… and they told me that these other two, Soonie and Doongie, are practically his family. They all arrived around the same time. Dori was dropped off because his old family couldn’t care for him, but Soonie and Doongie were brought in earlier on the same day, rescued from people who were mistreating them. They basically adopted Dori when he came in a few days later, And… I couldn’t just separate them, y’know?”
Chan opens his mouth, but realizes he doesn’t know how to respond.
Any protest he had about the number of cats being Far Higher Than Planned evaporated in the middle of Minho’s explanation. Because Chan feels the exact same, how could he bear to separate this sweet little family?
Any worry about costs are settled when he thinks about how rational Minho is. No matter how he felt, he wouldn’t go through with the adoption if he didn’t know they could afford it.
Anything that made him nervous about the situation is immediately assuaged, because he knows Minho, and if Minho believes they can handle it then they can.
He closes his mouth.
Then he smiles.
He trusts his Minho.
“I understand, love.”
And Minho grins.
“Thank you, baby,” he murmurs. “I’m happy to have the chance to raise these sweet babies with you.”
Chan hums, eyes crinkling from how wide his fond smile grows.
And then, because Chan can’t resist the opportunity…
“If we hadn’t already split the responsibilities so that you’re on litter duty, I’d definitely have you do it now,” he jokes.
Minho sighs, rolling his eyes playfully, and managing to snag Dori in his arms as he walks by.
“The jokes on you, it’s an honor to scoop this little prince’s poop,” he declares, gently wiggling Dori in his arms. Dori doesn’t even protest, just seems content to hang out in Minho’s careful embrace.
“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that,” Chan mutters, and a second later he’s yelping then giggling as Minho (after carefully depositing Dori back on the ground) stealthily approaches him to dig his fingers into his side and tickle him mercilessly. All three cats watch, tails flicking with interest as Chan and Minho’s tickle fight ends with them holding each other, laughing in each other’s arms and feeling perfectly content.
It isn’t exactly what they planned, having acquired three times the number of cats as anticipated. But neither Minho nor Chan would change anything, and they’re perfectly happy with their little five member family.
Or so they thought.
It turns out, there is room in their life for one more.
A little over two months have passed since Chan and Minho adopted their sweet babies, Soonie, Doongie and Dori, and they couldn’t be happier with their family.
Never once did either of them think about adding another pet.
Well, actually… That’s not quite true.
Every once in a while, in the privacy of his own head, Chan would wish he could have a dog – small, snuggly, fluffy, and silly, just like the one he had growing up.
He misses the genuine adoration and loyalty dogs shower their owners with, to be returned with adoration and loyalty in equal measure. He misses a pet that responds when he calls, that he can train to sit and stay and lie down, that comes running to the door as soon as the doorknob so much as jiggles. He misses a pet that likes to play and tumble and have fun outside and go on walks.
He’s been missing dogs for years.
There’s nothing wrong with cats, of course! He adores his three babies he shares with Minho. He loves how much personality they have, how goofy they are, how they tend to knead his legs before settling into his lap for a secure nap, how playful they get with each other and how sweet they can be.
It’s just… not the same as having a dog.
But they’ve only had their cats for two months, and Minho has always seemed to hesitate on the idea of owning a dog, so Chan can push his desires down for a few more months until they have a few plans in place for acquiring and acclimatizing a dog into the home of several cats.
At least, that’s what Chan thinks he’s going to do.
His surety in pushing away his personal wants is shattered on a cold, rainy day – far too cold for July.
Chan has no idea where the sudden terrible weather came from, but he’s not very fond of the drop in temperature nor the downpour of rain. Especially since the morning was so nice that he walked to work this morning. He stands by the entrance of his job, sighing as he scrolls through a taxi service app. Everyone seems to have had the same idea as him, however, and every available taxi either has an obscenely long wait time or a very steep price increase.
He sighs again, double checking the time, and yep – it’s one of Minho’s late days at work so he won’t be off for another hour. Which means… it really would be more time effective to brave the terrible weather than wait for any other option.
With a third and definitely not final sigh, he pockets his phone, opens his backpack to zip his laptop into its waterproof pocket, and heads out into the storm.
He’s filled with regret in seconds, the exact time it takes for his shoes to fill with water and his clothes and hair to become completely soaked. He shakes his head, rapidly blinking rainwater out of his eyes, and forges on.
Chan has no idea how much time has passed when he reaches a ramen restaurant he knows is the halfway point between work and home. It could have been five minutes or fifty, he really has no clue. He decides to stand under the restaurant’s front awning to get out of the rain, though it’s almost not worth it with how he can feel the chill of the wind more strongly with the rain no longer pelting him. He waits until his hand is mostly dry before checking his phone, miraculously only a little wet, and finds that it had, in fact, been nearly thirty minutes since he started walking. He credits that to the fact that he’s finally starting to warm up and he doesn’t really want to go back into the rain now that he’s got a taste of life without it…
But, if he wants to get home, he’ll have to go out in the gross rain again. He’s about to sigh once again and get it over with when he hears the tiniest of small, sad sounds.
He’s always had sensitive hearing, and now that he’s caught the noise he hears more of them – whimpers, snuffles, scratches, and rustles. All so quiet that he wonders for a moment if he’s imagining them. When he turns to face the restaurant, toward the source of the sounds if they are real, the sounds become just barely louder.
Real then, and piquing his curiosity.
He approaches the tiny noises, slowly just in case it’s a scared person or animal. He reaches the side of the restaurant, glancing into an alleyway where a couple of cardboard boxes are stacked against the wall. He moves his gaze around until he hears the loudest noise yet – a bump, a rustle, then a tumble and thump of one of the boxes falling on its side. It’s immediately followed by a soft but pitiful yelp, and Chan thinks his heart snaps a little. He recognizes that sound, and he follows it more sure than ever of what he needs to do.
He crouches in front of the box, and now he knows his heart is breaking at the sight of a tiny, wet puppy huddled inside, whimpering and shivering.
“Hey there, little one,” he murmurs, not surprised when the puppy startles. He keeps talking, though, assurances that he won’t hurt the pup, that he just wants to help, to help it get used to the sound of his voice. And soon enough, the puppy is looking up at him, still shivering but no longer whining every few seconds.
Slowly and so, so carefully, he extends his gently closed fist for the puppy to sniff. And sniff it does, and finally, after a long time to decide if it trusts him, starts licking his hand. Chan opens his fist, giggling at the sensation, and the giggling harder when the pup keeps licking his fingers and nuzzling his fingertips.
A large raindrop lands on Chan’s nose, reminding him of the weather problem. Looking down at the puppy in front of him, now out of its box and huddled up against his legs, he takes in its sopping wet fur, its reddish brown and white curls, and its huge, brown eyes, and he makes a decision.
“Come on, little one,” he whispers, reaching out to pet the puppy and feeling relieved when it lets him. Carefully, he eases his hands underneath the pup’s belly until he can safely pick it up. Slowly, he pulls it up and into his arms, and after a moment to shiver and sneeze, the puppy settles into his embrace.
After a moment to adjust the puppy, he leans over himself to shield it from the rain as much as he can before he rushes out into the rain, now eager to get home as quickly as possible.
Minho doesn’t expect Chan to suddenly burst through the front door at all, much less soaked head to toe in rainwater and carrying some oddly shaped bundle in his arms.
He’d gotten home early that day – class was canceled due to the unexpected rain – and was preparing dinner when the doorknob jiggled.
He’d walked over to the front door ready to open it when it violently sprang open to reveal his boyfriend, panting and sopping wet and looking rather worse for wear.
Which leads to now, with Minho frowning down at the lump of… something in Chan’s arms. He has no idea what it could be, and is just about to ask when it sneezes.
“Bless you?” he says to the lump, confused, and Chan giggles, though it’s a little strained.
A moment later every question he had is immediately answered when the lump raises its head and turns to look at him, sniffing curiously.
“You found… a dog?” he asks, even though there’s not much else it could be.
Chan doesn’t say anything for a second, just shifts back and forth between his feet.
Minho is about to suggest that he go change his clothes, is opening his mouth to say it, when everything bursts out of Chan at once.
“It’s just that I heard a noise on my way home from work, right? And I walked to it and I realized it had to be a dog, and I love dogs! So I had to make sure it was okay, and it was so cold and wet and it looked so sad and scared and alone,” Chan stops to take a breath, seemingly not noticing that his eyes are getting glossier by the second. “And I just had to do something, and Minho she doesn’t even have a collar and I just, I know I just found her and we need to make sure she’s healthy first, but I’ve wanted a dog for so long and I was too scared to bring it up ‘cuz I know you’re a cat person, and she just appeared today in need of someone to help her, and it just so happened to be me and it feels like destiny Minho…”
He trails off, panting, and rapidly blinking tears out of his eyes. He sniffles, finally realizing that he’s crying and seeming just as surprised of his tears as Minho is. Then after a moment to breathe, he speaks up again with a wavering voice.
“And if we can’t keep her, I… I’ll completely understand but I’ll need some time to get over it because she’s exactly the kind of puppy I’ve been wanting for years.”
Minho is silent for all of five seconds, absorbing everything Chan’s just said.
He takes a deep breath in, hold, release.
“Oh, Channie…” he murmurs.
In truth, the only reason he hesitates around dogs is because he doesn’t understand them. He never had them growing up so he never got a chance to. But seeing Chan moved to tears over how much he wants to keep this dog is enough to convince him to give it a try. That, and he knows that as much as Chan loves their cat babies, he’ll always be a dog person at heart. He’d been wondering when Chan would bring it up, in fact, unsure when to start preparing himself to get used to a dog in his home.
No time like the present, right?
“Of course, honey,” Minho says gently. “We can try our best to keep her.”
Chan blinks a few more tears away, unconsciously holding the little dog in his arms tighter. Then all the tension leaves his body at once.
”Thank you,” he whispers, and stumbles over to Minho’s open arms.
He smells like rainwater and wet dog and, of course, the ever present scent of Chan that never changes (and that Minho loves so much). The little puppy shivers in between them, sneezes again, then attempts to shake the water off itself, causing Minho and Chan to shriek and separate as they laugh at their new friend.
“Berry,” Chan says a little later with a fond smile. “I think she should be called Berry.”
And even though none of this was planned or thought out in any way at all, it looks like their family of five became six.
And even now, they wouldn’t change it for the world.