Work Text:
What a crappy day.
Taehyung’s new office job was officially kicking his ass; he returned home every day to his cramped lonely little apartment feeling more physically and emotionally beat-up as the week dragged on. Adulting was hard; his kitchen, which looked like it had just returned from a war, was a testament to just how agonizing the struggle was.
Even unlocking his door was hard.
When he finally did wrestle his key into the lock and opened the door, the sound of him stepping on a crumpled-up piece of paper as he walked into his apartment caught his attention. He recoiled back, bending down to pick up the neatly-folded-but-now-slightly-crushed note. Taehyung dropped his belongings on the kitchen counter and unfurled the note, reading the small typed font like this letter was the most interesting thing that had happened to him all day.
Maybe it was, okay?
Kim Taehyung-ssi,It has come to my attention that your neighbor in Apartment 314 might own a cat. As you should be aware, non-aquatic pets are strictly prohibited. If you have any knowledge regarding whether your neighbor owns a pet, please let me know as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Min Yoongi
Landlord
Taehyung stared at the paper again, processing what his landlord had written. A cat? Next door? He had never seen one before.
But…
Well, the first thing that came to mind was that one time when he came home a few months ago—when Taehyung arrived home to find a gigantic bag of kitty litter blocking his door. If he hadn’t been so tired, he would have been pretty pissed because that gigantic bag weighed a ton. It felt like he dislocated his shoulder trying to push it over to the other side of the hallway where his neighbor’s door was. He didn’t think much of the kitty litter; people use kitty litter for all sorts of other things aside from litterboxes. But did they use 20 kilograms? No, not usually. It was gone from the hallway the next day, though. A box of eight lint rollers appeared the next day but vanished just as quickly.
The second thing he thought of was when he swore he could hear mumbling coming through the wall that he shared with his raven-haired neighbor. Well, mumbling wasn’t quite the right word—he was definitely sure that his neighbor was cooing or fawning over something, having a one-sided conversation in a high-pitched voice. Originally he just assumed that his neighbor was having a phone conversation with a niece or nephew, but then it hit him: his neighbor kept on referring to ‘Pickles’ like they were a sentient object. No one names their kids ‘Pickles’… but a cat?
Wasn’t there a cat from that one phone app named Pickles?
The third damning piece of evidence was when Taehyung was chilling outside the apartment complex waiting for the bus. The raven-haired boy was waiting for the same bus, but he ran inside at one point, probably because he forgot something. When he returned, his black clothing was covered in gray and white short hairs, like he had been attacked by a dog—or a cat.
Yup, this guy owned a cat. A cat named Pickles of all things; he didn’t realize that the tall, handsome guy living next door was such a complete dork.
But now he had an opportunity in front of him. He loved cats, there was a cat next door, and now he had exactly what he needed to make sure he could pet that cat, Pickles, whenever he wanted.
Taehyung marched out of his apartment, still fully dressed in his work clothes, to bang on his neighbor’s door, clutching the crumpled-up note in his free hand.
It took a few moments, but the raven-haired guy answered the door. He was slightly surprised to see Taehyung at first—the two of them didn’t talk much, to be fair—but his mouth morphed into a small, shy smile.
“Hi, Taehyung.”
“Hey Jungkook, so I got this letter from the landlord today,” he replied, shoving the crumpled-up note toward his neighbor. The raven-haired boy grabbed the letter and carefully read it, his eyes growing wider as he got farther and farther through the landlord’s request.
“I-I don’t know why Yoongi-ssi thinks I have a cat, but I can assure you that I don’t, Taehyung,” the boy stammered out, his voice’s pitch raising a bit like he was guilty. He brought his hand to his cheek to scratch an itch that magically appeared mid-sentence.
“Meow.”
Taehyung looked down toward his raven-haired neighbor’s feet, seeing a white-and-gray tabby cat rubbing against its owner’s legs for attention while looking up toward Jungkook’s face. The cat’s owner flushed red with embarrassment and guilt while reaching down to pick up the needy kitten. He cradled the tabby cat in his arms, and it responded by purring, rubbing its head against Jungkook’s hands while the raven-haired boy stood in his doorway.
“Taehyung, you have to understand, you can’t tell Yoongi-ssi, Pickles is a rescue and I don’t think I could live without him—He hasn’t caused any problems, and he’s quiet too. I know I’m not supposed to have him, but I don’t think I could live by myself without him. Please please don’t tell Yoongi about him...” Jungkook rambled, his dark doe eyes pleading with Taehyung for mercy. Taehyung shifted, bringing his hand to his chin as if he was deep in thought.
“Okay, I won’t tell Yoongi—“
His neighbor sighed a breath of relief.
“If you let me pet him,” Taehyung finished, looking Jungkook directly in the eye with mischievous eyes. Something flickered in Jungkook’s eyes, like he was nervous Taehyung was going to say something worse; they lightened up as soon as he realized what Taehyung had actually requested.
“Oh, um, yeah, sure! Come on in, we can go hang out at the couch,” he replied, pulling the door open wider with his body for his neighbor to step in.
The two neighbors walked over toward the younger’s couch, plopping one cushion apart so that Pickles could wander between the two of them. Taehyung sat up, leaning toward the tabby kitten, who immediately walked over to go investigate the new person.
“He doesn’t meet new people very often, but he really likes them,” Jungkook commented while Pickles started purring while Taehyung rubbed behind his ears.
“You really named him Pickles?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook replied, cheeks flushing red.
“It’s a cute name.”
“Um, thanks.”
A small pause broke out between them while Taehyung cooed over the kitten, snuggling his face up close to Pickles’. Jungkook watched as his blonde-haired neighbor seemed to naturally get along with his cat—he was in his element.
“You know, you didn’t have to blackmail me for the chance to pet him,” Jungkook replied.
Taehyung paused for a moment, and Pickles meowed in discontent from the lack of sustained attention. Looking up toward his raven-haired neighbor, a coy smirk formed on his face.
“Yeah, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to see your cute face blush when I did.”