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Marble countertops are always cold, no matter how warm the room is, but Taehyun never seems to mind, always happy to settle himself on top of one in the kitchen, unbothered by the chill. Yeonjun himself hates them, preferring the upholstered bar stools at the breakfast counter, so there’s always a strange little seating order to the way they hang out in the kitchen together.
Like today, when Taehyun is perched on the edge of the breakfast counter while Yeonjun sits on the stool closest to him, watching Taehyun watch a plate of sushi like it’s going to dart away for him to chase any second now. The kitten makes for an adorable sight, with his mouth dropped slightly open, pulling in tiny breaths as he keeps still, just the slightest flash of his canines peeking through past his lips, with his eyes blown wide in delight at the smell, bright in their focus, his tail twitching slightly on the counter as he fights to keep still. Yeonjun finds himself equal parts endeared and worried, looking over at the plate himself. The food does look tempting, especially the delicate slices of fish delicately settled on top of the rice, but he knows better. He’s not a kitten anymore, and he can tell the difference between his food and his owner’s food. It’s easy enough to ignore the temptation, when he knows he’ll get fed well later if he’s patient.
Taehyun doesn’t have that kind of experience yet, and it shows in the way he clenches his fists, unable to look away.
“We’re not supposed to eat that, Taehyun.” He keeps his voice strict, in case it works to catch the other cat’s reaction. It fails to do anything but make one of Taehyun’s little gray ears twitch.
“I know,” he says, but his instincts have him keeping his voice low. It’s ridiculous – he’s not going to hunt a plate of dead sliced fish; but he obviously wants to.
“If you wait for dinner time, he’ll—”
“I know,” Taehyun hisses again, disgruntled, his face scrunching up in displeasure. Yeonjun doesn’t find him any less cute that way, but he still huffs in frustration. He watches as Taehyun’s tail starts flicking behind him in agitation, then springs to his feet.
The motion startles the other cat and Yeonjun has to physically stop Taehyun from darting away from him, clinging onto him and pinning him in place. It’s easy, since he’s bigger and full grown, and maybe Taehyun isn’t that eager to get away from him, either. He still fights, squirming in Yeonjun’s hold, twisting his head to sink his teeth into Yeonjun’s arm, not deep enough to hurt but enough to sting, and he swats at the younger cat, who lets him go with a huff.
“I wasn’t going to eat it.”
Yeonjun brings their faces closer together. “Weren’t you?”
Taehyun does his best to look defiant rather than chastised, but he isn’t doing a very good job. “No. I would’ve held out.”
Yeonjun doesn’t respond, and obviously the silence speaks for itself, because Taehyun groans loudly on his own, continuing on.
“It smells so good! Why would he leave it out like this? It’s almost dinner time, and he’s not home.” The younger cat practically vibrates with agitation, and Yeonjun almost feels bad for finding him cute like this. “He knows this is my favorite…”
“He’ll be home any minute now,” Yeonjun soothes, reaching out to rub at Taehyun’s shoulders comfortingly. “And then he’ll give us something delicious for dinner, as he always does. Don’t worry.”
Taehyun’s tail flicks so wildly it keeps swatting Yeonjun’s legs, and his ears and nose twitch, but he breathes out like he’s trying to calm himself down. “I get anxious when he works late.”
“I know. You’ll get used to it,” he says as assuringly as he can, and leans forward to knock their foreheads together, squeezing his eyes shut briefly.
When he starts to move away, Taehyun’s hands hold him in place, keeping him close. It’s not an unfamiliar proximity, and neither is the low rumble that vibrates through his hands where he’s still holding onto Taehyun, resonating through his chest. He’s purring, and pulling at Yeonjun to bring him close, and Yeonjun dips his head for the kiss before Taehyun even starts to lean in for it himself, already wisened up to what Taehyun wanted.
It’s not the first time Taehyun purrs against his lips while kissing him, or the first time Yeonjun feels the sharp edges of his teeth on his lip. Taehyun is a cuddly cat; a social cat – he likes affection, and when their owner is out, Yeonjun is the only one who can provide it. It seems to be doing wonders to calm Taehyun down, too, the anxious flicker of his tail slowing down to an excited swish. Feeling him relax under his own touch warms Yeonjun’s heart, and he reaches up to squish Taehyun’s face between his palms even as he continues returning his kisses.
Taehyun makes a disgruntled, unhappy noise at the back of his throat even as his purring gets louder, and Yeonjun lets out a little chirp in response, pressing even closer, until their bodies meet and their swishing tails keep colliding.Taehyun’s claws come out just a little bit, stinging at Yeonjun’s shoulders, and Yeonjun feels excitement blooming in his own chest in return.
Then Taehyun’s head snaps back, ears standing at attention, the one closer to the door twitching slightly as the kitten listens in for a distant sound. Yeonjun listens in too, and he realizes quickly what Taehyun was hearing. The front door outside, opening before and falling closed now. That means that their owner should be on his way up the stairs and will be home soon, just in time for dinner time.
This time again, he anticipates Taehyun’s next move easily, letting him go before he can fight himself free so he can dart towards the front door. Yeonjun follows him more leisurely, lingering in the doorway instead of standing by the door like Taehyun, and it makes him smile how put-together and nonchalant Taehyun is able to make himself look when the door opens, looking for all intents and purposes like he just happened to be right by the door when their owner walked in, instead of making a mad dash for the door when he heard him outside.
Yeonjun suspects their owner sees right through him anyways, from the fond smile that spreads on his face as soon as he sees Taehyun, that gets even wider as Taehyun starts showering him in his usual welcome-home chatter. He keeps Soobin so busy that he looks almost surprised to see Yeonjun waiting nearby too, still hovering in the doorway.
“Hi. Why the welcome wagon today? Am I late?” He looks over at Taehyun, then back at Yeonjun, wide-eyed. “I thought I made it on time.”
“You did,” Yeonjun assures him, then sends Taehyun a meaningful look that makes Taehyun look away, chastised.
“You left your food on the counter,” Taehyun blurts out accusingly.
Soobin’s mouth falls open. “Oh. I meant to put it away after lunch, but I guess I forgot it since I was in a rush…”
“Taehyun was having a really hard time leaving it alone…”
The small betrayal is worth Taehyun’s indignant gasp and the offended swooshing of his tail – it’s just as cute as everything else about the younger cat.
Soobin blinks at him, then looks over at Taehyun, a little warily. “Did you… eat it?”
“No!” Taehyun snaps back, offended. “I wouldn’t. I know it’s not my food. I waited for dinner time.”
“You left all of it?”
“I didn’t touch it!” Taehyun protests vehemently, his tail flying around in indignance again, his ears flattening.
Yeonjun sees Soobin bite back a laugh and thinks that maybe he’s not the only one guilty of finding Taehyun adorable no matter how he’s feeling.
“Okay. Since you did such a good job and left all of it for me, do you want a piece?”
Taehyun’s mouth drops open, showing off all his sharp teeth. His tail comes to a stop behind him. “What?”
Soobin does laugh this time. “Do you want to share? There’s enough for both of us to have some.”
If a cat could vibrate with excitement, Taehyun would be buzzing. “Yes? Of course! I want it.”
“Let’s go have dinner, then.”
Yeonjun has dignity, but he also loves good food just enough to not be able to resist following along while Taehyun trails behind, right on Soobin’s heels, all the way to the kitchen, where Taehyun hovers over Soobin’s shoulder impatiently as he sets up for dinner. Yeonjun sits on his preferred bar stool, watching them from afar, trying to keep his tail still while he waits for his food. He’s hungry, too; and he’s not thinking about the delicious smell of raw fish coming off the plate of sushi. Definitely not.
“Do you want—”
“Salmon.”
Soobin snickers, but he had to have known. It’s Taehyun’s favorite. Of course he was going to ask for it – maybe he was just asking to see how quickly Taehyun would cut him off.
He picks up the salmon piece for Taehyun to take, and the kitten dives in to take it into his mouth before Soobin can even lift it all the way, skipping away to the corner with his mouthful to make sure nobody tries to steal it from him, chewing happily while his tail swishes around in excitement. Soobin watches him chew with the look of someone who is using all of their focus to stop themselves from laughing, then he looks over at Yeonjun, who perks up involuntarily at the attention.
Soobin gestures at the place with his chopsticks. “Do you want some, too?”
Yeonjun can feel his own ears standing at attention, and he squirms in his seat. “... yes please?”
Obviously biting back another smile, Soobin picks up Yeonjun’s favorite, the tuna, and holds it out for him. Yeonjun’s tail twitches involuntarily, and he hops off the stool, skipping over to lean in and pull the piece between his lips, eyes closing at the taste of the fish hitting his tongue. He can’t help licking his lips, and when he opens his eyes again, Soobin is chewing on his own mouthful while Taehyun, who has wandered back over from his corner, nuzzles his face into the back of Soobin’s shoulder, alternating between rubbing his face into Soobin’s shirt and licking his teeth. Soobin reaches over to pet at his face, and Taehyun leans into the touch, licking at Soobin’s fingers, which makes their owner coo adoringly.
Feeling a bit left out, Yeonjun wanders over too, pressing himself into Soobin’s other shoulder while Taehyun switches to nipping at Soobin’s fingers instead. It’s obvious that Soobin’s not sure what to do with himself for a bit, awkwardly trying to wrap one arm around Yeonjun while Taehyun does his best to eat the hand of the other, before he gives up on it in favor of nudging his face into Soobin’s shoulder again, just into the front of it this time, and Yeonjun joins in, poking his nose into Soobin’s cheek.
“Isn’t it supposed to be dinner time?” Soobin points out, sounding a bit helpless, yelping when Yeonjun sticks his rough tongue out to flick his jawline. “I’m not on the menu today!”
Instead of responding, Taehyun lets out an unhappy mewl and lifts Soobin’s hand to his face so he can sink his teeth into the meat of Soobin’s thumb, purring once he has a mouthful like he’s just caught something he’s proud of, and not just biting his owner.
Yeonjun settles his face in the crook of Soobin’s neck, and lets the rumbling of his own purr resonate through him, mixing with the sound of Taehyun in a messy but sweet cacophony while Soobin rubs his side. “It’s cuddle time,” he corrects.
“You two haven’t even eaten yet? That couldn’t have been enough for you.”
Taehyun switches to licking at the back of Soobin’s hand like he’s cleaning him up, fitting himself along Soobin’s other side comfortably.
“It’s cuddle time when we say it’s cuddle time,” Yeonjun says resolutely, and Soobin just sighs and lifts his hand away from Taehyun’s mouth to pet him between the ears instead, making Taehyun’s eyes slip shut as he enjoys the attention.
“There’s more salmon on the plate, you know,” Soobin points out, and Yeonjun is the one who starts laughing this time as Taehyun’s eyes immediately snap open.
He leans over across Soobin’s chest to kiss the kitten’s cheek, and gives the tiniest flick of a lick to the tip of his nose, which Taehyun immediately rubs at with the back of his hand, his entire face scrunching in displeasure. Soobin uses the distraction to free his arm so he can grab more sushi to feed them, and Taehyun attacks his hand before he can feed him his bite properly again, making happy noises like he’s being a good hunter and not a spoiled little cat.
Yeonjun already knows how the rest of it is going to go – Soobin is going to enjoy feeding them a bit too much, and will give up most of his dinner to them and Taehyun will be too full from the treats to eat his proper dinner, so he’ll just eat a few bites and go hide somewhere so he can take a nap in peace, and Yeonjun will be able to eat all his leftovers without Soobin noticing, because Soobin will be too busy scrounging up a snack in the kitchen to fill up with, and then Yeonjun will ambush him while he’s resting on the couch and drape himself over him so he can nap on something soft and warm, and Soobin won’t be willing to wake him up from his well deserved nap time, so he’ll be trapped on the couch until Taehyun wakes up and jumps on them, because he has no respect for his elders and their naps, and Yeonjun will have to wrestle him if he wants to curl up on the floor with the kitten and get the rest of the sleep he sorely needs. Maybe this time, Soobin will take it upon himself to give Taehyun attention, so he lets Yeonjun sleep in peace. Or he’ll just stand back and film them while Taehyun tries to bite into Yeonjun’s tail again. Yeonjun loves his owner, he really does, but he’s the worst sometimes.
Not when he’s feeding him tuna, though. He’s alright when he’s feeding him tuna.