Chapter Text
“Hey girl!” Jaebum greeted as he spotted his cat curled up on the couch. He had had a tough week filled with tests and assignments, so he had taken the liberty to sleep in once the weekend had finally arrived.
He glanced at the clock, it was already 11 am. There was no point bothering with breakfast he figured. He smiled when Nora jumped off the couch and rubbed her body against his legs. Sometimes, he wished he could be a cat; it seemed like a very peaceful life. But then again, stray cats didn’t exactly have it easy and bolting every time a dog saw you didn’t exactly sound ideal to Jaebum.
Suddenly he noticed that Nora was no longer next to him, she had made her way to the balcony. “Ah come back Nora.” He called out, his voice still sluggish from sleep. “It’s dangerous.” He warned, even though she couldn’t understand what he was saying he hoped his tone was enough to convey the message to the feline.
Almost as if she was taunting Jaebum, Nora jumped up onto the railing of the balcony. Jaebum rolled his eyes, he loved Nora but god, was she frustrating. As he made his way to get her, she leapt to the next balcony and then to the one after that.
Jaebum groaned in frustration, “Nora, come back here.” He cooed, trying to get her to come back, hoping she wouldn’t leap onto the next one. As if she was hell bent on making Jaebum’s life difficult, the lithe cat walked into the apartment (mentally Jaebum wondered what kind of idiot left his balcony door open.)
Jaebum waited for a while hoping that whoever was home would notice the feline intruder and bring her back but nothing of that nature. Jaebum considered just waiting for Nora to come back but then he remembered the way she had mercilessly scratched up his throw pillows Jinyoung had bought him yesterday, and Jaebum didn’t want to explain to his neighbor why is whole home was destroyed.
He looked at the gap separating the two balconies. It wasn’t too far, he could probably jump or at least climb that far, he figured. The only problem was he would have to do it twice. He took a deep breath, the things he did for his cat. Still in a tight white t shirt that clung to him and a pair of faded boxer shorts, he climbed on to the railing. First he clung on to the drainpipe, hoping it could take his weight. He prayed to the heavens as he slowly stretched out his arm to grab the other balcony railing. Hands on the next drainpipe, just one more move. If he died, Nora would have a lot of explaining to do. He momentarily thought about the will he and Jinyoung had prepared once as a joke and wondered if that would be taken seriously if he died. Thankfully, he didn’t have to find out as he safely landed on the other balcony.
Hoping there really was no one inside, he made his way inside. He instantly recognized the place, the black leather couch, the few pieces of art hung here and there, the simple yet elegant decoration. He suddenly realized whose apartment this was, Mark Tuan’s.
He was one of Jinyoung’s boyfriend’s friends (though to be fair Jackson was probably friends with every single human being on this planet.) When they had first met which had been the night of Mark’s housewarming party Jaebum had been instantly enamoured by the older man. He looked absolutely angelic, with a lithe frame and huge eyes that contrasted Jaebum’s own. It wasn’t just his looks, as Jaebum had learned throughout the night Mark was charming, he was quiet without being stand-offish and polite without being overbearing and he was gay. (Jackson had told him this waggling his eyebrows while Jaebum had pretended that he wasn’t blushing.)
There was a really good chance, he and Jaebum would have hit it off, especially considering the fact they were neighbours but of course Jaebum had to go and ruin it for himself.
That night, he had had a rough week, similar to the one he had just had. With Jackson egging him on, Jaebum had gotten (very) drunk and by the end of the night he was making out with Mark.
After that night, Jaebum had been too embarrassed to even look Mark in the eye. Even after 2 months, the most he could was nod at Mark awkwardly when they were in the elevator together.
Jaebum shook his head trying to get rid of the memory. He had a mission, find Nora.
His eyes scanned the living room, he couldn’t see her anywhere. He hoped she hadn’t wandered into Mark’s bedroom. He crouched down on the floor, and started to look under the furniture. Suddenly he heard the door creak open.....