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Jiwoong wakes first, as he always does, blinking his eyes open and peering at the pale outside world. He can feel his clan warm against his chest, silky soft ears twitching as they dream, their cheeks faintly pink from warmth– his own heart warms with the knowledge that they are his to watch over, his to curl close around and groom.
There’s something different about the milky gray sky outside the window today, though, and after a few more slow blinks Jiwoong realizes that it’s snowing!
He watches the delicate flakes drift past their window for a few minutes, temporarily entranced, but then Ricky’s fluffy tail twines around his thigh and he is drawn back into the precious softness of their nest. Dipping his head, Jiwoong nuzzles affectionately against Hanbin and Ricky’s temples, settling them back into dreams of rich cream, stretching his arm over them as he settles down once more.
He tucks the many layers of blankets Ricky prefers securely around his clan of two and begins to purr low and sweet in his chest, the shadows of snow drifting over the walls of their bedroom and lulling him back into a doze even though he doesn’t necessarily need more sleep.
He wakes again a few hours later with the sensation of delicate claws kneading his chest and two clan members who are very much ready to begin their day. He begins to purr before he even opens his eyes and is met with the sweet sound of laughter, a sharp chin butting against his cheek as they try to rouse him faster.
“Hyung, wake up,” Ricky whines, someone’s tail impatiently lashing across his belly again and again. “We’re hungry.”
Jiwoong pretends to be very tired, pushing his face deeper into the pillows and hiding his smile in the crook of his arm. “Hm. No.”
Fingers creep beneath his shirt, Hanbin giggling in his ear, and then two warm bodies are pouncing on him, rolling him over and tickling him until Jiwoong’s gasping and forced to open his eyes. They know all his most sensitive spots and so he rolls onto his knees, hands up in surrender and ears laid back flat, tears forming on his lashes.
“I’m up!” He gasps, snapping playfully at Ricky when the younger cat tries to reach for his belly again, evil impulses dancing in his sharp eyes even though his blonde hair makes him look like an angel. “You win.”
“I want french toast,” Ricky says, settling back down and looking very, very pleased. “With chocolate sauce and whipped cream.”
Hanbin purrs in agreement, looping his arms around Ricky’s shoulders and nuzzling their cheeks together, both of them still adorably rumpled from sleep. “We want caramel sauce, too.”
“My kittens are hungry,” Jiwoong croons, leaning forward to nuzzle them both and lick their cheeks even though they’re too old for it, really, their pretty faces instantly scrunching.
He hooks his fingers into the collars of their sleep shirts and pulls them up with him when he stands, herding his clan towards the kitchen and their breakfast. “Hyung will cook for you. But we’re having fruit, too. Not just sugar.”
Ricky and Hanbin hold hands as they walk just a step ahead of him, tails waving happily, and when they emerge into the kitchen and glimpse the snow still falling through the open windows, they gasp in delight. It’s a very pretty sight and Jiwoong pauses for a moment to admire their happiness as they press their pink noses to the glass and gaze out at Seoul covered in a layer of fluffy white, everything pristine and undisturbed as if everyone’s chosen to shelter inside.
“Hyung,” Ricky calls, palms still raised to the glass, “are we still going to the mall?”
They’d planned a day out to watch the newest animated movie and do some holiday shopping, though of course Jiwoong already has all of his clan’s presents hidden away in his office in boxes labeled ‘taxes’ which they’ll never think to check. The kittens had wanted to find a few small presents for their university classmates and he knows Hanbin has been thinking about repainting his claws cherry red, but Jiwoong makes a little regretful noise low in his throat as he slips on his apron.
“I thought we could stay here inside,” he offers, uncovering the sourdough bread he’d made only yesterday and beginning to thickly slice it. “Have a snow day at home and be cozy. I don’t want any of us catching a cold out in the snow.”
Hanbin takes a seat at the kitchen island, folding his arms atop the marble and watching Jiwoong work with bright eyes. “It’s pretty to look at but I don’t want to touch it.”
Ricky shivers and approaches Jiwoong at the stove, wrapping his arms around his waist and peering over his shoulder at the eggs he’s now whisking together with cream, spices, and a dash of vanilla. “I guess we can go shopping once the snow melts. Right?”
“Right,” Jiwoong agrees, turning to press a kiss to Ricky’s temple, their tails brushing in a sweet moment of affection. He feels the younger cat begin to let go of him and gently bumps their hips together, grinning.
“Baby, will you please make some cocoa for everyone? I bought candy cane straws.”
Ricky microwaves mugs of milk for them and Hanbin helps him measure out a decent amount of sugar and by the time Jiwoong sets their breakfast down on the island, both his kittens are waiting with bright eyes and unsheathed claws, ready to fight over the whipped cream. They eat while Christmas music plays in the background, snow still falling outside the windows and the scent of nutmeg and cinnamon filling their apartment with warmth.
“Let’s watch The Grinch,” Ricky suggests as he neatly lays down his knife and fork, folding his napkin primly in his lap.
Hanbin hums, but shakes his head. “We watched it last week! I want to watch Love Actually.”
“It makes you cry, though, Binnie,” Jiwoong says, pouring more syrup over the last slice of french toast on his plate. “Every time.”
Hanbin crunches on his candy cane straw, pensive, his tail curling around his own wrist for comfort. “Well, only a little! It’s just the ending, really, and the part after the play, and also the siblings…”
“The Grinch never makes anyone cry,” Ricky reminds them both, tugging on the sleeves of his pajama top until his fingertips are covered in fabric. “So we should watch that, and then Home Alone, and then Frozen.”
“Oh,” Jiwoong says, beaming at his kittens as Hanbin pulls a face, “Frozen?”
“It’s a Christmas movie!” Ricky argues, but Hanbin rolls his eyes and tugs very lightly on his tail. Nevertheless, the white cat pretends to be grievously wounded and somehow ends up sitting in Hanbin’s lap receiving scratches behind his fluffy ears and a shoulder massage for the pain he’s endured, though from the pleased little smile on Hanbin’s face it isn’t clear who exactly has won this tiff.
Jiwoong’s clan help him clean up after breakfast, dancing around each other in the kitchen as they load the dishwasher and wipe up sticky pools of syrup and pull the curtains back for a better view of the snowy city outside.
Ricky skitters around the apartment turning on all the Christmas lights and electric candles and the fireplace in the massive living room, humming under his breath, and Hanbin sneaks off only to return dressed in Jiwoong’s favorite red sweater and Jiwoong’s softest black sweatpants.
“Thank you for breakfast, hyung,” Hanbin murmurs against the nape of his neck, pressing up against Jiwoong’s spine and pawing at his hip while he bends over the sink to wash his hands.
Jiwoong hums happily and allows Hanbin to cling to him, a pleasant warmth in his chest at the knowledge that he’s kept his clan well fed and that they’d eaten the whole lot of their meal.
“You’re always welcome, kitten,” he tells Hanbin as he turns around, squishing his pink cheeks between his wet hands and laughing at the way Hanbin’s face instantly scrunches up in discontent. Dropping a kiss on Hanbin’s forehead, he releases the kitten and watches him race away with deep affection.
“Hyung!” Ricky calls from the living room. “Can we buy Frozen? Renting’s not a good deal!”
Jiwoong laughs to himself and then pads down the hallway and into the living room where Ricky’s standing in front of the TV, frowning, and wearing Jiwoong’s clothes too. It appears as if both his kittens have raided his closet but this is such a frequent occurrence whenever either of them are feeling sad, or happy, or cold, or merely want to be a bit closer to him, that he hardly notices anymore.
“How much is it to rent, baby?”
“Five dollars,” Ricky answers, glowering at the TV and pushing buttons on the remote furiously. “But we only have it for twenty four hours. If we buy it, though, we have it forever! So really we’re saving money.”
“Okay,” Jiwoong agrees, pressing a kiss to Ricky’s fluffy head and moving towards the bedroom they’ve turned into a closet for all three of them, resigning himself to hearing the Frozen songs echoing through the apartment until Valentine’s Day. “Buy the second movie too, please!”
Ricky begins to purr happily a moment before Jiwoong shuts himself in the bathroom to change into different sweatpants and a blue hoodie so worn by time that the logo’s disappeared and the cuffs are ragged. It’s soft and comfortable, though, and one of the first gifts his kittens gave to him when they began courting, and so he absolutely treasures it. Jiwoong picks out three pairs of fluffy socks for them and then returns to the living room, where Hanbin is now attempting to build a nest on the massive sectional couch.
“I’ll grab pillows and blankets,” Jiwoong suggests, dropping the socks on the couch and pausing for a moment to warm his hands in front of the flickering blue flames of the fireplace, “and you build.”
He’s never been the best at making nests and even though he’s gotten marginally better since Ricky and Hanbin entered his life, Jiwoong still prefers to leave the nest building to his clan.
They understand the perfect arrangement of pillows and blankets and cushions to create a space that is cozy and safe and incredibly soft, and it makes them so happy to build nests for him, for the three of them, that he always cedes the duty to them.
In their bedroom, Jiwoong carefully takes the less important blankets from their nest and then grabs a few pillows deeply saturated by a blend of their scents, not wanting to do damage to the permanent nest his kittens spent an entire year perfecting after they all moved in together. He drops the supplies off for Hanbin in the living room, where Ricky has once more appeared and is sorting through his collection of sheet masks and skincare, and then raids their nesting closet for more blankets and quilts.
By the time Hanbin has enough supplies both his kittens are walking all over the couch, arranging an outer ring of cushions and pillows and arguing about which blanket should be laid down first.
Jiwoong smiles at them and then returns to the kitchen, opening his (not so) secret snack drawer and deciding to microwave popcorn and open a box of cheese crackers. He melts chocolate while the popcorn is heating up, rummaging through the spices for his jar of crushed peppermint candy and red sprinkles, making the popcorn as festive as possible. He grabs a few juice boxes for good measure and by the time he’s returned to the living room with the snacks, the nest is almost finished.
“So pretty,” Jiwoong decides after inspecting the circle of pillows and blankets large enough to fit the three of them, but small enough that they’ll be forced safely into one another’s laps. He lays the snacks down beside the nest and then dims the lights until only the glow of the many strands of Christmas lights and the crackling fire illuminate the living room, the sky outside the windows already a shade darker.
“Can I come inside, my babies?”
Ricky and Hanbin, already inside the nest, exchange a glance. Their feet are kept warm by the fluffy socks Jiwoong brought and there’s clearly an empty spot beside them in the exact shape of Jiwoong, but sometimes they like to tease him until he’s promising them very silly things in exchange for entrance to the nest.
This exact tactic is how Jiwoong and his clan ended up on a cruise ship in the arctic two years ago, watching penguins slide on their bellies over the ice.
“Yes,” Ricky decides after a minute, cuddling a bit closer to Hanbin but giving Jiwoong the sweetest smile that could melt all the snow in the city in an instant. “As a thank you for breakfast, hyung. I really liked the candy cane straws.”
Jiwoong laughs and crawls into the nest, taking his place on the other side of Ricky so that their youngest cat is safely sandwiched between his body and Hanbin’s. It’s how they like to sleep, how they walk on the sidewalks any time they go out and how they naturally stand in a crowd; Ricky in between them where he’s safe, where no one can touch him or harm even one shiny blond hair.
“Ready,” he murmurs, wrapping his arm around Ricky and Hanbin both, their knees knocking together as Hanbin arranges the fluffiest faux-fur throw blanket they own over their laps. “Which movie’s first?”
“Frozen,” both his kittens answer in unison, Ricky already pressing play, his eyes glued to the TV. Hanbin seems more interested in the festive popcorn and choosing a sheet mask for each of them, as well as a ridiculous headband to hold back their hair, but they smell as sweet as sugar and Jiwoong’s content to see that they don’t mind their cancelled day out.
The sky outside the windows continues to darken as Elsa and Anna and Kristoff move across the screen– they all close their eyes during the scene of the parents’ death– and occasionally cold winter winds gust around their apartment building, but Jiwoong is more than warm enough cuddled up in the nest with his cats. He’s wearing a face mask that smells like waffles and Ricky is holding his hand tightly and Hanbin’s tail keeps brushing their legs beneath the blankets, as if the other boy wants to make sure they’re both right beside him.
When it’s time for Let It Go, they all sing along, even Jiwoong. He’d forgotten how pretty the movie is and he finds himself engrossed through the second half, laughing at all the silly parts and feeding Ricky popcorn and opening the juice boxes for his kittens so they don’t get dehydrated.
By the time the movie finishes both Ricky and Hanbin are yelling rude things at the TV and Hans, their limbs a messy sprawl across Jiwoong and the nest that they’ve gotten all tangled up in.
“Frozen Two next!” Ricky cries as the end credits roll across the TV, crawling on his hands and knees across the nest in search of the remote, uncaring of his sharp joints jabbing Hanbin’s thighs and Jiwoong’s belly. “We have to see Elsa’s glow up!”
“Maybe in the third movie she’ll finally get a girlfriend,” Hanbin complains, sneakily shifting until he’s taken Ricky’s spot and is cuddled firmly up against Jiwoong, one palm pressed to the other boy’s chest and his cheek cushioned on Jiwoong’s shoulder.
The tip of one of his silky ears ever so lightly tickles Jiwoong’s chin. “Or a really good long-term friend.”
His feet almost sticking in their faces, Ricky flops down on his belly and paws around under the couch where the remote has clearly fallen. His tail waves agitatedly in the air and Jiwoong resists the urge to bat at it, remembering the many times Ricky’s complained about his fur being ruffled.
“I think she’ll visit another country in the third movie,” Jiwoong muses, absently carding his fingers through Hanbin’s soft hair and hearing an answering purr almost immediately. “And find her wife there. Then Anna and Kristoff can rule the original country.”
“What!” Ricky’s head pops up, his hair all over the place and his face flushed pink from hanging upside down, but at least he’s clutching the remote. “Kristoff would suck at that! Hyung, that was the whole point of the troll’s song– he needs therapy!”
Hanbin hums, throwing one leg over Jiwoong’s thighs. “I don’t think they meant therapy. Just, he needed someone who liked him for who he was, not what he looked like.”
Ricky opens his mouth to argue but then seems to realize how close Hanbin and Jiwoong are, their tails wrapping together as they curl around one another.
His eyes narrow and his sleek ears angle back flat against his head, a general air of puffed-up displeasure radiating from him despite how pretty and cozy he’d looked only a minute ago.
Lowering his chest to the couch, Ricky’s tail wriggles in the air for only a moment before he pounces on them, not holding back at all so that when he lands on their chests it’s with full force. He’s a blur of white and blonde and then he’s squirming down between them, sprawling himself over Jiwoong and Hanbin like a blanket so that they’re almost completely covered.
“Ricky,” Hanbin complains, poking the younger cat’s belly, but he doesn’t move away and he doesn’t try to move away when Ricky sneezes in his hair. “We’re cuddling!”
“Not without me,” Ricky announces, pressing his head between theirs until they’re all cheek to cheek, one of his legs on Hanbin’s lap and the other on Jiwoong’s, his tail wrapped around Jiwoong’s arm and his hands clutching at Hanbin’s tail.
He grabs for the blankets, drawing them up to his chin and then hauling each of their arms over his waist so that he’s securely held in, finally settling down with a little noise of content. “Ready! You can start the movie now, hyung.”
Jiwoong snorts but does as commanded, cinching his arm a bit more tightly around Ricky’s waist and fumbling around until he finds Hanbin’s hand beneath the blanket, reaching back for him in the exact same way.
Their fingers twine together and the Disney palace appears on the screen and even though the day outside their windows is inky black, all is right and good with the world.
Jiwoong must doze off at some point during the second Frozen movie, lulled into sleep by the low purr emitting from his kittens and the warmth of their bodies cuddled so close together and the knowledge that they are safe and cozy within their home. His eyes slip further and further closed as he watches the hypnotic crackling of the blue flames, and by the time he opens his eyes again Elsa is on a horse and he’s very confused.
It doesn’t much matter, though, because as long as his kittens are happy Jiwoong is content too. He watches the rest of the movie with his cheek tipped against the crown of Ricky’s blonde head, his thumb tracing careful patterns across Hanbin’s knuckles, an answering purr rumbling in his chest because he’s just as happy as his clan.
Hanbin yawns enormously at the end of the movie, rubbing his eyes and finally dislodging the Stitch headband holding back his hair. “Can we have lunch now?”
“More like dinner, I think,” Jiwoong answers, though he really has no idea what time it is. The sun sets so early that his whole understanding of the hours in the day is thrown off, weirdly distorted, but it means he and his clan spend even more time sleeping curled up in the nest so it isn’t all bad. “I have a treat for after, too.”
That gets his kittens up and moving, sleepily climbing from the nest and throwing away their long-dry sheet masks as they follow Jiwoong into the kitchen. He doesn’t much feel like cooking anything complicated and so he begins to dice onions while Ricky chops up broccoli and Hanbin peels carrots, both his kittens working carefully under his supervision. Jiwoong loves cooking with them, loves to feel them warm at his sides as they stand at the counter, loves to stand in this space with his clan and create a meal together.
“Soup,” Ricky says, throwing an entire stick of butter into their largest pot and turning on the heat as Jiwoong adds the onion and garlic, “I love soup. My kingdom for soup!”
“You only like it because it’s full of cheese,” Hanbin replies, laughing, now shredding the carrots into a bowl. Jiwoong carefully nudges Ricky out of the way because making a roux is a delicate process and requests that the younger cat set the table and pull out the many bags of shredded cheddar they’ll need.
“My kingdom for cheese, then,” Ricky replies blithely, tugging on Hanbin’s tail as he squeezes past on his way to the fridge. “Hyungs, can I have one of those cheese bowls for Christmas please?”
The sweet tone and nice manners Ricky uses set them both on edge; Hanbin and Jiwoong exchange a glance and then Hanbin carefully turns to look at their youngest cat, pausing his shredding. “Cheese bowl, baby?”
Ricky hums happily, moving to stand between them again at the counter, balancing on one leg and anchoring himself by holding onto Jiwoong’s shoulder. “Yes! It’s a big round cheese wheel and hyung can make so much pasta for us in it.”
Jiwoong understands instantly and feels a bit like sitting down on the floor; Christmas is five days away and the cheese wheels (which ship from Switzerland) certainly won’t have time to reach them.
“Maybe for Valentine’s Day, angel,” he suggests calmly, stirring the flour into the roux and adding another splash of heavy cream. “Do you really think we could eat all of it?”
“We can,” Hanbin answers, rinsing his orange-stained hands and setting the bowl of shredded carrots beside Hanbin. “Ricky’ll eat half by himself.”
Ricky looks up at Jiwoong with very bright eyes. “I will!”
They finish cooking while chattering about food and new recipes they want to try and their neighbor’s very ugly Christmas decorations, which look a bit like demonic reindeer. Ricky slip-slides around the kitchen on his fuzzy socks and tickles Hanbin’s sides but does help put away the dishes from breakfast, and he sets the table with bowls and napkins folded into roses so Jiwoong presses a kiss to his cheek, forever endeared by their youngest cat’s whimsical sense of design.
Broccoli cheddar soup is the perfect meal for a cold, snowy day, and Jiwoong is so full by the time they’re finished eating that he can barely climb onto the counter to retrieve the gingerbread house kit from the highest shelf.
“It smells so yummy,” Hanbin observes as they carefully unpack the pre-cut cookie pieces, Ricky already heating up water to make the frosting and glue easier to squeeze out. “What if we just ate it? And bought another to decorate?”
“I’ll dye your hair green!” Ricky threatens as Hanbin tries to take a tiny nibble out of a small chimney piece, Jiwoong carefully reading the instructions and realizing this will be much more difficult than he’d expected. “Hanbin, put the cookie down!”
“But it doesn’t need a chimney,” Hanbin protests, widening his eyes and making a very sad face at Ricky. “Lots of houses don’t have fireplaces now.”
“It needs a chimney for Santa,” Ricky says like it’s obvious, rolling his eyes as he returns to the island, and that’s the end of the argument.
“It says we should glue the walls together first,” Jiwoong reads off the instruction sheet, frowning at the very complicated diagrams and arrows and helpful hint boxes included in the set. He doesn't think it’s supposed to be complicated to build a gingerbread house! “And then… the roof? I can’t understand how we’re supposed to attach it but if that’s what they want us to do…”
He looks up to find Ricky and Hanbin frozen in place, white icing slowly dripping off the section of roof they each hold, their eyes wide as teacups. “Uh,” Hanbin says, his voice high, “do we have to do it in that order?”
Laughing loudly, Jiwoong grabs his own tube of frosting and picks up one of the house’s walls. “I think there should be windows, right? And maybe a sign that says Keep Out.”
Ricky beams at him, flashing his gums. “Yeah! Add lots of windows for the gingerbread family, hyung. They need to be able to see the snow! We’ll do the roof and the chimney.”
Jiwoong’s pretty sure Ricky aims a kick at Hanbin beneath the table at the last word, but decides it very much isn’t his problem.
They fall into a haze as they work on decorating the pieces of their gingerbread house, Ricky and Hanbin carefully drawing round tiles on the roof pieces while Jiwoong outlines windows and uses a toothpick to add tiny swirls of frosting around the edges. It’s much, much harder than it looks in movies– the frosting is thick, almost gummy, and has to be constantly warmed up in bowls of hot water, and the decorating tips the set came with are shitty so they really have to be very careful while they work. The frosting also takes forever to dry but once Ricky gets out his tweezers and starts adding sprinkles, and Hanbin sprays edible glitter over the roof tiles, it really comes together.
They hum along to Christmas music playing softly in the background and Hanbin gets up to make them all mugs of peppermint tea while the chimney is drying and Jiwoong cushions his head on his folded arms and watches the snow drift down outside, ghostly against the black sky.
He is warm and full and Ricky’s tail keeps twitching against his knee beneath the table, their socked feet bumping together as steam from his tea rises into the air.
It’s a mess gluing the pieces of their gingerbread house together, all three of them talking over one another and a whole roll of paper towels sacrificed to hold up the cookie walls, but in the end they’re only a little sweaty and they have a gingerbread house that’s actually standing up.
Jiwoong lets out a sigh of relief and wipes his forehead, then starts sorting gumdrops for Ricky and Hanbin as they argue about paving stones and a garden and a fence made of pretzels or licorice.
“Hyung, you choose,” Ricky begs at last, and Jiwoong tells them that he doesn’t think the house needs a fence at all but rather a forest of pine trees. They get dye everywhere changing the color of the frosting to green but once the trees are piped and topped with tiny star-sprinkles, it looks wonderful.
“Come on, angels,” Jiwoong croons softly once the last sprinkle has been placed and their gingerbread house is well and truly finished. He kneads the nape of Hanbin’s neck and nuzzles Ricky’s ear, trying to guide them towards the hallway. “We’ll change and start another movie while it dries, hm?”
As if hypnotized, his kittens follow him, yawning a few times and bumping into him in the darkness of the hall.
Jiwoong helps them pull off their clothes and change into matching pajamas, a surprise he’d been saving for Christmas morning but decides is necessary now, and even coaxes them into brushing their teeth by singing a silly little song about Rudolph the reindeer. Their pajamas are white, and patterned in tiny red hearts and candles and bows, and his cats are so cute as they fall into the living room nest once more and immediately curl around each other that Jiwoong can’t help but purr.
He starts The Grinch, hearing the familiar music but hardly even paying attention to the screen because his clan is right there, sleepy and warm and all his. Jiwoong checks the locks on the front door and all the windows, makes sure the stove is off and that their gingerbread house really is standing, and then finally climbs into the nest with his sleeping kittens. Ricky’s head is tucked beneath Hanbin’s chin, their tails twined together and laying across one another’s hips, knees bunched up and fingers laced and chests rising in sync.
They purr quietly when Jiwoong settles down beside them, when he kisses their heads and tucks another quilt around their shoulders just in case and then, at last, takes his rightful place holding them both against his chest.
It has been a happy, peaceful snow day at home and Jiwoong knows as he blinks at the screen sleepily, his eyes already growing heavy, that even if he wakes again tonight there will be gingerbread to eat and his kittens to love and many, many more hours of Christmas happiness to be enjoyed.