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Seokjin moves in with his boyfriend of five and some years in January.
The weather is chilly and Jimin keeps complaining every time he comes back from the truck with a box of Yoongi’s kitchen tools or some random miscellaneous items. Taehyung follows him soon after with Seokjin’s kitchenware (they should have gone through them and thrown away double sets but oh well, it will be a fun bonding activity for later). Seokjin agrees quietly, his nose is feeling the coldness because their front door is open as the hired movers bring in the bigger furniture and Hoseok, too, slips in and out of the house with smaller objects and boxes. Yoongi is standing in the middle of the living room, instructing everyone where everything is going and once in a while, doing whatever a handyman like him does with a hammer or a screwdriver. He looks very sexy while doing so, Seokjin thinks.
There is also an occasional hiss and a low meow-moan from the carrier sitting on the top of their kitchen counter. Hoseok coos at the cat every time he passes and the cat answers with a pitiful meow. Seokjin watches as Yoongi comes out from the bathroom and sticks his finger in the carrier. The meowing eases and Yoongi smiles, fond.
“You will get out soon baby, don’t worry.”
There is a low, prolonged “mrroooowww” and Yoongi leans even closer, now two fingers stuck through the front frame.
“Soon, my baby, soon.”
Seokjin moves in with his boyfriend of five and some years in January. There is a cat included in the deal.
When Yoongi had brought up the idea of sharing living space with Seokjin at the end of last summer, Seokjin had literally burst into tears. No one can blame him, he had had a rough day at work, Yoongi had given him a glass of wine and told him his lease was up in three months. The cat in Yoongi’s lap had scurried away and Yoongi had laughed, his mouth wide and he had leaned in to kiss the tears away. Seokjin had been happy and the excitement of going and seeing potential apartments had been wonderful and Seokjin had kissed Yoongi right after they had signed the lease. He had not really thought of the cat Yoongi owns.
It’s not like Seokjin hates Tang, no, it’s the opposite. Tang is a sweet little bundle of fur and meows but Seokjin had always been secretly happy when he could leave Yoongi’s apartment to his own, cat-less apartment. No fur everywhere, no meows, no puking or midnight craziness, no scratching on his couch or in the worst cases, on his own leg or hand.
Yoongi has had Tang for ten years or something, Seokjin isn’t so sure of the exact age of her but Yoongi has had her even before they started dating. She is not that young of a cat anymore and Seokjin can’t just ask Yoongi to leave her with his parents or something, he is not that cruel. Really, he doesn’t hate Yoongi’s cat but they are not best friends either. If Tang was a human, Seokjin would describe her as an acquaintance. They can tolerate each other but both of them value their own alone time with Yoongi. Tang was also very wary of him at first and it took her a long time to come around and let Seokjin pet her when Seokjin started to visit Yoongi more often when they started dating and eventually became a couple. She was - is - always wary, it’s always a battle of minds, as if Seokjin didn’t spend every other weekend and more at Yoongi’s apartment. Cats are territorial of their humans, and maybe Seokjin is a little too, but Yoongi just laughed at him when he pouted about it.
“Don’t be stupid, she comes to you the most out of all of my friends, she loves you.”
“But I am not your friend,” Seokjin had sulked and Yoongi had sweet-talked him into a better mood with a blowjob or two.
***
They let Tang out when movers and their friends had left (Taehyung protested fervidly) and they had gotten all the plastic bags out of the way and small screws and such away from the floors. It’s still kind of messy and unpacked boxes are everywhere but Yoongi couldn’t listen to the pathetic meows any longer.
Tang pushes her head against Yoongi’s hand when she is let out of the carrier and Yoongi scratches her behind the ears. They stay like that for a while, Tang pressing her head against Yoongi’s hand and Yoongi coos at her. Seokjin watches as she eventually gets distracted by new smells and starts to sniff the counter. Yoongi moves behind it, to go through one of the boxes nearby. Tang doesn’t seem to be in a hurry so Seokjin moves closer to Yoongi.
“Do you need help?”
“Sure, thank you. We should see what we have and arrange our silverware and appliances,” Yoongi murmurs and Seokjin starts to unpack one of the boxes labeled as his. They sort their silverware and kitchenware into neat piles and Yoongi huffs in annoyance when he realizes that they do have a lot of stuff. Every now and then, when Yoongi isn’t looking, Seokjin turns his head to see what Tang is up to even though Yoongi doesn’t seem to be too worried about her whereabouts. Seokjin is somewhat too aware of her to be relaxed about her movements around the apartment.
Tang is a little snippy, Seokjin can tell. It takes forever for her to sniff the counter even though both of them shoo her away when she comes too close to the silverware, and she comes back almost as soon as she has jumped off of the counter, meowing deeply. Yoongi shooes her away when she tries to locate herself under Yoongi’s hand. She mrooowws again, looking betrayed, and Yoongi coos at her, abandoning the task in and goes to find her treats.
“Should we order chicken or pizza?”
“I think pizza is obligatory moving-in-day food.”
“Can you order?” Yoongi smiles at him when he pulls out her treats and Tang zeroes back at him when Yoongi shakes the bag a little. Seokjin goes to find his phone.
When their food arrives about twenty minutes later, Seokjin eats his pizza alone as Yoongi is still walking around the apartment with Tang, throwing her treats here and there to get her to walk around the rooms. She follows him, and meows and sniffs every furniture that is not old one from Yoongi’s apartment, Seokjin realizes this after he watches Tang sniff his armchair for ages and then she just walks past Yoongi’s little footrest.
“We should have brought him into the empty apartment first,” Yoongi murmurs, like an afterthought as he comes to stand next to Seokjin and leans against him. Seokjin hums, offering him a bite from his pizza slice. Yoongi takes a bite without taking his eyes off of Tang who is now shifting around their bedroom doorway. “To sniff around, this is… must be overwhelming for her. A new place, new smells.”
A new territory, Seokjin thinks. Their old family dog had been sad when they had moved cities when he had been six, animals are territorial. But he just pouts when Tang realises that Yoongi is not in the same room as her or not giving her the treats anymore and comes trotting back to circle around Yoongi’s legs, meowing that pitiful meow that makes Yoongi sigh and lift her up to his arms. They can hear the purr when she settles into Yoongi’s arms.
Ah, there goes Seokjin’s changes for the cuddles for the night.
***
January turns into February and Yoongi has moved the cat tree four times until Tang seemed to deem it to be in the right spot. Tang had also made a ruckus out of the sleeping arrangement when they tried to close the bedroom door from her. Now she has a cat bed on the Yoongi’s side of the bed but most often than not, she is in bed with them.
Seokjin had given up trying to sit on the right side of the couch and that spot is now deemed Tang’s.
They have also put up lots of scratching boards because Tang tried to scratch their bed apart and Yoongi doesn’t want to risk their new couch or Seokjin’s armchair getting destroyed. Yoongi has also gotten into the habit of cutting Tang’s nails a lot more often than he used to do.
“Are you sure that is safe?”
Yoongi gives him a look over Tang’s head. The cat is locked in between Yoongi’s tights, one of his arms holding Tang in his lap and he has weird tiny scissors in his other hand.
Tang’s tail swishes but she seems otherwise happy to be where she is. Seokjin would be happy to be between Yoongi’s thighs too, but this is different, this looks like Tang could in any given moment bite Yoongi, even though she looks relaxed. Seokjin doesn’t trust her.
“I have cut her nails before,” Yoongi deadpans, focusing back on Tang’s left front paw. With a gentle press, the nails are out and with a surprising speed, he cuts them. Tang’s tail swishes a bit faster.
“She doesn’t enjoy it,” Yoongi says conversationally, easily switching to her right hinge paw. Now it’s a bit harder to get the nails out but Yoongi manages. The left hinge paw is the worst.
“Come on girl,” Yoongi coaxes but in the end he has to release his hold and Tang bolts from his lap, his fur puffed up. She looks at Yoongi like he has committed the cruelest crime against her. Yoongi just reaches for a tiny bag on the table and shakes it. Tang’s eyes narrow.
Yoongi opens the bag and drops a couple of tiny cat treats on his palm and reaches his hand out. Tang is still suspicious but another shake of the bag and she is coming closer again.
“Good girl, you did well,” Yoongi coos, letting Tang take the treats and runs his hand from the top of Tang’s head to her tail.
“Would it be easier to take her to the vet?” Seokjin asks when Tang has trotted away. “To get her nails trimmed?”
“Hmm… well, I could do that but you know how much she loves getting into her carrier and she does let me trim them but it’s just a progress,” Yoongi says, moving to stand in front of Seokjin and pulling him into a hug. “It also costs to go to the vet.”
Yoongi had taken Tang to the vet once after they had moved in together and Seokjin had been amazed by the efficiency Yoongi had in getting her into her carrier. It had started by closing a door to their bedroom which had already alerted Tang and she had perched herself on the top of her cat tower. She had been suspicious and hadn’t reacted to Yoongi's coaxes and shakes of the treat bag. It had gotten nasty and Yoongi had had a nasty cut on his hand afterwards but Tang got tartar removed. They don’t usually take Tang to be cat-sitted but the cat sitters (Jimin and Taehyung) come to them when they need to.
Tang meows from the living room.
“Ah, come on, she needs her pets,” Yoongi pulls away, his hand sneaking to take a hold of Seokjin’s wrist and he pulls Seokjin with him into the living room. Tang is already circling her spot on the couch and she looks at them expectantly.
“See, she has already forgiven me,” Yoongi laughs and flops down, pulling Seokjin down with him. Seokjin just shakes his head and lets Yoongi cuddle his side.
If Seokjin is honest, it is a lot to get used to, a cat being behind him when he least expects it and he almost stumbles on her on various occasions. Seokjin almost had a heart attack when Tang had her midnight zoomies and whatever 5 kg of a cat jumped on him. Seokjin keeps stepping on cat toys Yoongi seems to have a radar for because he never seems to step on them and curse under his breath like Seokjin does daily. He learns from the hard way not to leave anything expensive and breakable too close to the table edges (he still mourns over the wine glass) or leave meat unattended, it can easily and fast disappear from the plate or from the top of his sandwich.
He has also fallen for the stomach trap more than once, now he just gives Tang a look whenever she falls on the floor, rolls and reveals her stomach for Seokjin.
“She hates me,” Seokjin whines, slumping on the couch, about a week after the nail cutting incident. Yoongi takes off his glasses and closes the book he has been reading and Seokjin crawls into his space and buries his face on Yoongi’s chest.
“She does not,” Yoongi murmurs and starts to run his hands through Seokjin’s hair. It’s a bit too long, he should trim it a little but it’s nice to have Yoongi run his hand through it. Seokjin hums. Tangs mroows from somewhere. Yoongi laughs quietly and one of his hands leaves Seokjin’s hair. She meows again and Seokjin turns his head to look at her, sitting on the floor by the couch, Yoongi scratching her behind the ears.
“The couch is occupied,” he states and Tang’s tail swishes against the floor. Yoongi snorts, his hand moving to scratch Seokjin behind his ear, like he is a cat too.
“Do you think she will jump?”
“There is no space on the couch.”
Yoongi hums, withdrawing his hand from Tang’s fur and starts to pet Seokjin’s hair again with both of his hands.
“It’s actually really cute when you are jealous of a cat.”
“I am not jealous of a cat!” Seokjin huffs, flabbergasted and Yoongi laughs, his chest rumbling under Seokjin and Seokjin pushes himself up to kiss his boyfriend. Yoongi smiles into the kiss.
“You are a little jealous.”
Seokjin kisses Yoongi again just to shut him up. Tang meows from somewhere behind Seokjin and Seokjin pulls back, only a little, their breaths still mingling.
“Where is she?”
Yoongi’s eyes cast somewhere behind Seokjin and then he looks back at him.
“On the armrest, balancing on it and trying to figure out what is the best way to get to me.”
Seokjin groans, letting his head fall against Yoongi’s shoulder and Tang meows. It is a lost game and Seokjin pushes himself off of Yoongi and as soon as space is left for Tang to jump, she does exactly that and skips to Yoongi’s lap and pushes her head against his jaw.
“Jesus Tang, you were like five minutes without his attention,” Seokjin grumbles and Yoongi coos at her, running his hands along her body.
“Yes, you are such an attention seeker, unlike my boyfriend who never wants my attention.”
“I hate you,” Seokjin deadpans, getting up to his feet. Tang seems a little snippy still and Seokjin intends to let Yoongi deal with her. “I want some hot chocolate, do you want some too?”
“Sure, thank you, babe.”
Seokjin mimics Yoongi’s “babe” as he goes to the kitchen followed by Yoongi’s laugh. He hears Yoongi cooing at Tang as he heats up the milk for their drinks.
When Seokjin comes back with two steaming cups, Yoongi has pulled himself into a sitting position and is sitting in the middle of the couch. Tang is curled against the armrest with some space between the human and the cat, her eyes open and following Seokjin’s movements. Yoongi takes the cup with a quiet thank you and Seokjin takes a seat on the left side of Yoongi. Tang’s eyes close.
“She just wanted to get her favorite spot,” Yoongi murmurs pouty as Seokjin carefully pulls his legs up to the couch and takes a sip of his drink. “She didn’t care about me at all.”
Seokjin sniggers into his drink and pushes his head against Yoongi’s side of face and rubs just to be annoying.
***
“Yoongi!” Seokjin whines, hands on his hips. “There is a cat in the sink!”
Tang barely gives him any attention, she seems only a little bit annoyed about the noise but she just looks at Seokjin and then curls up again, her head tucked between her front paws. She must be tired if she is not meowing at Seokjin because normally when she does this, she gives him an attitude.
Yoongi comes to stand next to him and slides his hands on his waist, squishing gently.
“You know you could always usher her away, right?”
“And get the toothbrush in the toilet bowl fiasco repeated? No thank you.” Seokjin leers, “I still have scars!” The event that he is referring to occurred less than a week ago when Seokjin had been in a hurry and tried to scoop Tang out of the sink, only to get her nails and teeth sunk into his skin. Toothbrush was the unfortunate collateral damage.
Yoongi just snorts and tiptoes to kiss his jaw because Yoongi is a little shit and knows Seokjin is easily distracted by kisses.
“Oh, is that why you keep lowering the seat and not to help her jump easier into the sink?”
“What a ridiculous thing to say!” Seokjin whines, “Whose side are you on? Mine or hers?”
Yoongi hums, his hold on Seokjin tightening a little when he pulls Seokjin closer. “Of course you would never be nice to her.”
Seokjin narrows his eyes at Yoongi. “Wow. What blasphemy.” Yoongi snorts.
“It’s called sarcasm, dear. You know we have two sinks, right?”
Seokjin throws his hands up in a mock-surrender and stomps away from his boyfriend and his stupid cat, who is still unbothered in the sink, her tail whisking against the white bowl.
Yoongi is right, they do have two sinks but not two bathrooms, they are homeowners but they are not that rich. Taehyung already whined about missing the guest room and en suite but they do need an office space for both of them and their occasional remote work days. This is not the first time Tang had occupied their bathroom sink during the morning and won’t be the last time so Seokjin just has to get used to it but because he is a brat, he whines about it every time it happens because Seokjin hates brushing his teeth in the kitchen.
It’s somewhat bearable when there are no dishes and luckily for him, they dealt with their pile of bowls and plates yesterday so the kitchen is spotless, apart from their coffee cups and plates they just used for breakfast. As he starts to brush his teeth, he hears Yoongi coo at Tang and he pictures him petting her in his head. She is probably purring. Seokjin spits into the sink.
He listens to Yoongi clatter around before he joins him in the kitchen, toothbrush already in his mouth. Seokjin tries to give him the cold shoulder but Yoongi is like his cat, clingy and needy in the mornings so he presses himself against Seokjin's side and they brush their teeth in a somewhat calm atmosphere. Seokjin moves to fill his toothbrush cup to rinse his mouth. After he has spit in the sink the last time, he waits for Yoongi to finish before and circles his arms around his tiny body.
“Are you going to stay late tonight?”
“Hm. There weren't any meetings scheduled but open slots in the calendar are always a bit risky. You know how Seoah-noona likes her last minute meet ups.”
“I thought you didn't have any projects with her in this period?”
Yoongi hums, pressing his face now against Seokjin's chest, and from that Seokjin knows work is bothering Yoongi more than he lets on. Seokjin runs his hands up and down Yoongi’s back.
“Come on, tell daddy.”
Yoongi sputters against him and lifts his head. “You are an asshole.”
Seokjin sticks his tongue out. “Admit it, that made you laugh.”
Yoongi shakes his head, swatting Seokjin’s chest gently with his hand. “Please do not call yourself a daddy”, he mutters but Seokjin spots a smile on his face when Yoongi pulls away and moves towards their bedroom to get dressed. Seokjin takes both of their toothbrushes and cups and takes them to the bathroom. Tang is still in the sink but now she is more alert and watches keenly as Seokjin puts the items away and starts his own face care routine. Tang stays in the sink for the whole time, once or twice nudging the bottles on the side of the sink but stops it when Seokjin imitates the way Yoongi uses “ah-ah!” to stop her doing something she shouldn’t. Maybe she listens to him, too, then. When he is done, he bonders over the thought for a moment but then shrugs and reaches out to pet Tang.
Tang chirps, her tail whisking against the sink edge but she lets Seokjin run his hand against her body for three gentle wipes before she moves and Seokjin pulls his hand away. She settles down again, purring.
“Maybe we can get along,” Seokjin muses, leaving her to be. Yoongi is already ready to leave in the lobby and beckons Seokjin closer to kiss him goodbye.
“Didn’t hear you whine at Tang, was she good this time?” Yoongi asks after they pull apart and Seokjin shrugs. “She could have been better if she wasn’t in the sink.”
Yoongi opens his mouth to say something but he is interrupted by a chirpy meow and they both turn to look at Tang who struts her way to them, almost hopping, like she knows Yoongi is leaving. Seokjin huffs.
“And now you are done with laying in the sink? Could have done that fifteen minutes ago. Yoongi, darling, we need to reschedule your mornings, from this day onwards, you need to get up at least half an hour earlier.”
“But I would still leave at the same time? How does waking up earlier help anything?” Yoongi protests as he kneels down to pet Tang who pressed herself against Yoongi’s legs.
“Well, I need to talk about your work schedule with Seoah-noona then,” Seokjin musses, tapping his chin with finger. Yoongi snorts, getting up and groaning as his knees crack.
“You are ridiculous,” he huffs, leaning in for another goodbye kiss before he is out of the door to catch the bus. Seokjin looks at Tang who meows pitifully at the closed door, and then looks up at Seokjin.
“Yeah, yeah, I know you miss him already, you and me both,” Seokjin muses, turning towards the bedroom to get dressed. He has his own bus to catch.
***
Spring brings brightness and warmth into their lives and Seokjin feels his energy levels getting higher by the day. Jimin also wakes up from his winter slumber and wants to meet up more often to bask in the spring sun even if it could mean catching a cold because let’s be real, Han is still covered in ice. Yoongi suffers a spring flu and during it even Tang states away from their bedroom, keeping weirdly close to Seokjin when Yoongi is bedridden.
Spring also means it gets brighter earlier in the mornings which also means that Tang gets more active earlier than in the winter time. They leave a lot of cat toys for her into the living room but sometimes she makes it to their bedroom with one of them and decides it’s good to have a rave with a cat toy spiced up with cat-nip.
“Your turn,” Yoongi murmurs against Seokjin’s neck on one April morning when Tang makes something clatter in their closet, she probably dropped a belt but in a worse case, one of their sex toys. Seokjin groans, pushing himself up to see what she is up to. He hears a thump as she jumps down from wherever she is and then, a needy meow from at the end of the bed. Then she springs to the view as she jumps on the bed, now aware that they are up.
“What do you want? The door is open,” Seokjin whines, freeing his hand from underneath the blankets and waves his hand towards their bedroom door ajar. “It’s not your breakfast time yet.”
Tang meows, strutting over their legs and tries to wiggle her way in between them. Yoongi lifts his head, looking around kind of awkwardly before dropping his head back down. “The curtain. She can’t get to the window.”
Seokjin turns his head to look at their bedroom window. Thick, dark blackout curtains cover them and they usually leave a tiny cap for Tang to push through to the windowsill. There is no cap now and Tang pushes her head against Seokjin’s face. She never does that, she must be desperate.
“Yeah, I am getting up…” he murmurs, throwing the blankets away and as soon as his feet hit the floor, Tang is jumping down and she trots next to him towards the window, her tail up and straight. As soon as Seokjin pulls the curtain to the side, she jumps up the windowsill. She chirps, her tail now swagging against the window, a light thumb could be heard as it hits the window. It’s barely six.
Seokjin watches her watching outside, and whatever she sees, has her full attention now. Seokjin sighs and heads back to bed. Yoongi welcomes him with toes into calves.
“Was there anything interesting?”
“Nothing I could spot.”
Yoongi hums, already falling back asleep but Seokjin feels weirdly alert, probably because of the walk to the window. He tries to get comfortable but all he hears are the little thumps of Tang’s tail as it swings against the wall and window. Then a quiet chirp, she probably spotted something outside. It’s not that loud and eventually Yoongi’s slow and deep breathing starts to lure Seokjin back to sleep too. He is aware of Tang who jumps on the end of the bed and for the last thing Seokjin sees, is Tang curling at the end of the bed, just a touch away from their entwined legs.
***
When they had started dating, their more extravaganza sex-escapades had happened in Seokjin’s apartment but they did have sex in Yoongi’s apartment too but more of than not, teasing and edging and “God, I wanna take my time to break you apart” times were spent elsewhere. Seokjin didn’t really think more of it at that time, but now he kind of gets it.
It has been slow, at the beginning, Yoongi getting bored with the drama they had been rewatching, gentle touches here and there, more firm after the kisses got more heated and it didn’t take long for Seokjin to push Yoongi’s sweatpants down and circle his fingers around Yoongi’s cock. Yoongi’s breath is ragged, and he runs his fingers through Seokjin’s hair as Seokjin peppers his jaw with kisses.
“God, you feel so good,” Seokjin murmurs against Yoongi’s neck as he tightens his hold just right and Yoongi groans, his head tilting back. “And the sounds you make…”
“Less talking, more action,” Yoongi gasps, needy and Seokjin giggles, and then something catches his attention: Tang has jumped on one of the middle levels of her cat tower at the corner of the living room and stares right at them. Seokjin blinks.
Yoongi huffs, trying to lean his back to see what Seokjin is looking at. When he can’t, he gives Seokjin a look.
“What?”
“She is watching.”
Yoongi lets out a laugh, breathlessly. “Yeah, of course, she probably heard us, damn, did I forget to close the door?” The last part he says, like to himself, bondering over it.
Now that Seokjin thinks about it, he didn’t see Tang around the living room when they had started watching their drama. Seokjin huffs, trying to keep rhythm of his hand but now that he knows Tang is there, it is kind of awkward and soon enough Yoongi gives him a look and Seokjin groans, letting his weight slump against Yoongi, hiding his face against Yoongi’s chest as he lets go off Yoongi. Yoongi whines.
“Sorry.”
“Not your fault.”
They lay in a kind of awkward silence for a moment before Yoongi wiggles under him.
“Hmm, you know what she hates?”
“Me?”
Yoongi rolls his eyes. “Water. We could shower together?”
Seokjin lifts his head to look at Yoongi who just shrugs, smiling slyly. “She won’t follow us in the bathroom.”
“Oh, she will. She did stare at me just yesterday as I was–”
“Okay, she might follow but when we turn the shower on, she will scurry away. You know she hates baths.”
Seokjin blinks. “She does?”
Yoongi gives him a flat look. Yeah, okay, Seokjin knows Tang hates baths but he has stayed away when Yoongi had locked them into the bathroom to give her one. The meows and curses had been loud and Seokjin still remembers how a very wet cat had escaped the bathroom somehow.
“Yeah, you are right,” Seokjin agrees, pulling himself up and then helping Yoongi up too. Yoongi kicks his sweatpants off when they make their way to the bathroom and Seokjin almost hits the wall when he pulls his shirt over his head. They hear Tang jump from the cat tower but neither of them turn to look if she is following them or just occupying the space they left on the couch. Yoongi pulls Seokjin closer, pressing himself against the wall by the bathroom and Seokjin kisses him hard. He feels Tang brush past their feet and Yoongi is escaping from his hold, pulling Seokjin towards the bathroom.
“Come on before she makes it in there.”
Seokjin snorts but luckily Tang mistakes their hurry and struts into the bedroom, probably thinking they are going to settle for sleep. Yoongi pulls him into the bathroom and closes the door, locking it.
“Now, where were we,” Yoongi hums, pressing Seokjin against the sink, his hands roaming around Seokjin’s body. Seokjin kisses him, sliding his hands up Yoongi’s shirt and then down and squishing his ass. Tang’s meow sounds faraway from behind the door and as soon as Yoongi pushes Seokjin under the running shower and steps right after, shirt still on, Seokjin can’t really hear anything else than Yoongi’s sweet sounds when Seokjin eventually pulls the first orgasm of the night out of him.
***
And then, at the end of April, comes the time when Yoongi leaves for a business trip for a week.
They have discussed it beforehand, Seoah-noona also making sure Yoongi remembers the trip by making him various different calendar notifications. Yoongi still makes a fuss about it, clearly a bit worried that Seokjin can’t deal with Tang without him, and Seokjin is not sure if he should be insulted or maybe a little touched. In the end he ends up taking it as a challenge. Yoongi’s stress makes him somewhat relaxed about the whole deal.
“I have lived with you for five months now, give or take, and I think I have seen you feed and take care of her enough to know what she might need,” Seokjin assures him when Yoongi stands by the door, suitcase by his feet, ready to leave. “I know her favorite toys and treats, don’t worry.”
“You will call me if anything comes up, right?”
“Yes mommy, it’s only a week. I can manage,” Seokjin huffs, ruffling Yoongi’s hair. “Daddy will take care of your child.”
Yoongi groans and Seokjin giggles when he pulls Yoongi into a kiss. “Don’t worry your little head too much, babe.”
Yoongi kisses him harder and Seokjin entertains the idea of pushing Yoongi against the door and making him miss his ride but then Yoongi’s phone starts to ring. They both groan and Yoongi pulls the phone out to see who is calling.
“Ah, of course, Seoah, she is probably outside… see you in a week, call me!”
“You call me when you land! Bye bye my love!” Seokjin ushers Yoongi out of the door with a wave of a hand. The silence feels kind of pressing and Seokjin turns away from the door. Now that he thinks about it, they haven’t been this long apart in a long time. Tang comes to view from the kitchen. She tilts her head and meows, sounding sad. Seokjin kneels down, to be on the same level with Tang.
She blinks at him and then Seokjin thinks she looks at the door behind him.
“Yeah, he is gone, now it’s just you and me.”
Tang trots away and Seokjin snorts, standing up and his knees crack. The rest of the evening goes past kind of uneventful but when it’s time for Tang to eat, she does not seem convinced of Seokjin’s intentions and him putting food on her bowl is like the most suspicious thing ever even if it is exactly her feeding time.
“Come on buddy, you got to eat. Yoongi is not coming back just yet to feed you, it’s just you and me for a while.”
Tang meows and Seokjin sighs, emptying the rest of the can into her bowl.
“Don’t make him worry, okay?”
Tang’s tail swishes against the floor. Seokjin sighs and leaves her to be. He however hoovers. It takes a little while for her to touch her food but when she eventually does so, Seokjin lets air out of his lungs. He snaps a quick picture of her and sends it to Yoongi to see with a caption “see? I can manage!” He leaves her to be with her food and goes to the living room and puts on the new episode of The Culinary Wars. He is almost half through the episode when he spots Tang sitting almost out of his sight but when he blinks, there she is, in the corner of his eye. Seokjin tilts his head, now looking properly at the cat and Tang’s tail starts to swish against the floor, aggressively.
“Hey, don’t give me the attitude, you started with the staring,” Seokjin says, and he is sure that if cats could, Tang would be rolling her eyes at him. Seokjin automatically checks that yes, the right side of the couch, Tang’s place, is free for her to jump on and he even pulls his legs closer to himself but she doesn’t move. She just sits there and stares. Seokjin huffs and tries to go back into watching his episode but eventually he sighs, pauses it and reaches for some of Tang’s toys.
“Do you want to play?”
He throws a tiny squeaky mouse past Tang but Tang just lazily moves her head as it flies past her. Seokjin throws another one but it gets the same treatment. He tries with the feather toy but Tang just lazily pats at it too. Eventually she just moves away and leaves Seokjin be. That continues through the night, she appears once a while just to stare at Seokjin.
He has just brushed his teeth and is ready to go to bed when Yoongi eventually calls.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Yoongi sounds tired but Seokjin can hear the smile in his voice and Seokjin feels his own cheeks pull up.
“Perfectly. Now, could you please tell me why our cat keeps staring at me like I have committed a crime? She did it through Culinary Wars, I can tell you, it was nervewrecking."
Yoongi giggles on the other side of the line. “Hmm, did you take her toys?
“No? Why would I take her toys? I tried to play with her but it was useless, she just laid down and lazily swatted the fish. Do you think she is depressed that you are gone?” Seokjin goes to the living room but he can’t spot Tang. “She has gone into hiding.”
“I am sure she will come to you when you go to bed.”
“Oh, joys, someone to stare at me when I sleep.”
“Hmm, yes, that is a bit creepy.”
Seokjin snorts. “Hey! Okay, that was one time and you are so cute when you sleep!”
“Are you saying you are not?”
“How is this turning let’s mock poor Seokjin?” Seokjin whines, glancing around the kitchen. No cat in sight.
“Hey, I am going to put you on the speakers, wait a little…” Seokjin walks back into the living room while pressing the right button. “Now talk.”
Yoongi laughs, his voice echoing in the quiet room. “Uh, so, my hotel room has such a big bed, you would have loved it.”
“Oh I bet I would have,” Seokjin says, listening carefully and then, he hears the steps against the floor. Tang can be surprisingly quiet when she wants but there are also times when she makes herself heard. And then she comes from around the corner, ears up and perky.
“Meow?”
“Oh, is that my baby? Is it!?” Yoongi coos and Tang’s ears move, like she is trying to figure out where Yoongi is. Seokjin smiles.
“Yes, I think she recognizes your voice.” Seokjin kneels down and offers the phone towards Tang.
“Of course she recognizes my voice, she has listened to me for almost all of her life,” Yoongi is still cooing, and Tang moves carefully closer, sniffing the phone.
“Meooww!”
“Yes, that is my clever girl, yes!”
Seokjin smiles as Tang pushes her head against the phone and Seokjin’s knuckles. “She is pushing against the phone.”
“Aaw, aren’t you the cutest and smartest cat,” Yoongi coos and Tang chirps at the phone. She still looks suspicious, she keeps sniffing the phone like trying to match the voice to smell or a person that is not there. Seokjin reaches out his other hand and pets her behind her ears.
Yoongi gets his attention when he asks about the photo Seokjin sent and Seokjin latches onto the story about feeding Tang and then their staring contest, all the while keeping Yoongi on the speakers. Tang keeps circling around Seokjin, her ears moving as she listens to them talk. It’s kind of sweet and Seokjin hangs on every word Yoongi says but eventually Yoongi tells him to get to bed.
Seokjin keeps him on the phone as he makes his way through the apartment, checking that all the lights are off, Tang trotting behind him. As he gets to the bed, Yoongi is telling something about his tomorrow’s schedules and Tang jumps on the bed with him. Seokjin blinks at her and she pushes her head against the phone yet again.
“I think she misses you,” Seokjin murmurs after a while, interrupting Yoongi, and Tang seems to get bored of the phone as soon as Yoongi stops talking, and she pushes herself against Seokjin’s bent knee.
“I miss you too, babe, sleep well,” Yoongi echoes quietly and Seokjin needs to blink the weird wetness away from his eyes.
He spots Tang’s eyes in the darkness but she doesn’t join him on the bed when he eventually falls asleep.
Tang wakes him up around four am by meowing pitifully, clearly upset that there was not a familiar chest to curl against. Seokjin murmurs profanities at her but she had just given him an unimpressed look and resumed sniffing Yoongi’s side of the bed for a long time before she had settled on her own bed on the floor. The night had been cold for both of them, Seokjin assumes.
On the second night she hadn’t joined Seokjin in the bedroom and on the third night Seokjin had woken up her meowing somewhere in the apartment. He had gone to see what she had been up to. He had found her by the door and even though she had pushed herself against Seokjin’s legs when he had appeared to the lobby, she hadn’t joined him in the bedroom and curled on the couch. Seokjin had just sighed and left her be. On the third night she curled on Yoongi’s pillow.
On the fourth day of Yoongi’s absence, Tang follows Seokjin around more than she had done previously. Seokjin had heard her meowing through the door when he had returned from work and she had been cranky when she had learned that it was just Seokjin coming back. But she had pushed against Seokjin’s legs so Seokjin counted that as a huge win.
She still kind of keeps her distance but they share a couch when Seokjin curls to watch his drama episode of the day. She also perks up when Yoongi makes his daily call and she clearly can hear Yoongi’s voice through the phone so Seokjin puts Yoongi on speakers again.
“It won't be long anymore baby, three more days, then I will be back,” Yoongi ends the call with and Seokjin’s quite sure who he was trying to reassure, him or Tang. Maybe both. After the call Tang lets Seokjin pet her head. When he heads to bed she stays in the living room.
Seokjin hasn’t been asleep for long but he wakes up slowly, not really knowing what made him conscious. He opens one of his eyes trying to figure out if it was a dream or something else that made him wake up. As soon as he spots Tang walking on the edge of the bed, on his side now, he realizes that he probably felt her jump on the bed. She makes her way up to Seokjin’s head and he assumes she is going to settle on Yoongi’s side of the bed, like she has done previously. However, Tang circles back from the headboard, her tail swatting Seokjin’s face as she passes. She chirps and jumps over Seokjin to go behind him and Seokjin waits, unmoving as he blinks both of his eyes open. He can feel Tang trying to find the best spot and soon he feels a weight settle against the crook of his knees.
There is quietness in the room, the stillness that makes Seokjin hold his breath and then, if Seokjin listens carefully, quiet purring.
***
Tang is not there when Seokjin wakes up but he knows that she shared the bed with him and he goes out of the bedroom to see what she is up to. Tang is perched on the top of the cat tree, staring out of the window. But when she hears Seokjin, she turns her attention to him.
Seokjin narrows his eyes at the cat, crossing his hands over his chest.
“I know what you did last night.”
Tang’s tail sways, left and right, curling on the tip.
If cats could, Seokjin is sure, she would be smiling smugly at him.
***
Yoongi gets home earlier than planned. He is so tired and as much as he loves business trips, he is so happy to be home. The apartment is quiet when he closes the door behind himself and the most surprising part is that Tang is not coming to welcome him. She usually is behind the door even before Yoongi can get his keys in, meowing loudly through the door. But maybe she is not expecting him to come home at this time of the day. He kicks his shoes off and uncurls the scarf as he makes his way to the living room, dropping his bag on the floor on his way.
When he makes his way to the living room, Tang meows from where she is tucked against Seokjin’s waist on the couch.
A smile, albeit a surprised one, blooms into Yoongi’s face, as he fishes out his phone to snap a photo to show Seokjin later. His boyfriend has fallen asleep in the middle of reading something from his phone, the phone loose on his hand against his chest. Tang is curled against the curve of his waist, looking comfortable as she blinks slowly at Yoongi.
Yoongi walks closer, scratches Tang between the ears and leans down to kiss Seokjin on the forehead. “Hey babies.”
Seokjin crunches up his nose but is not really waking up. Yoongi kisses his nose next, then his cheeks and Tang meows. Seokjin opens one of his eyes.
“Yoongi-ah.”
“Hey, I come home a little earlier than planned, don’t get up on my accord” Yoongi murmurs, now kissing Seokjin on the mouth. Seokjin smiles into the kiss, moving slowly and beckoning Yoongi to join them on the couch.
It’s a tight fit, their couch is not that wide but they make it. Tang lays in between them, one of her paws sticking into Yoongi’s jaw. She stretches, nails out but still so soft against Yoongi’s skin. Seokjin lifts his hand, petting Tang’s fur. He blindly reaches to kiss Yoongi and misses by miles, the kiss landing kind of awkwardly on Yoongi’s eye. They giggle and Tang starts to purr.
“Hey, you know that one song about liking having secret little rendezvous in hotel rooms?” Seokjin huffs in between the giggles and Yoongi rolls his eyes, already guessing where this is going.
“Yeah, why?”
Seokjin giggles, his hand scratching Tang between the ears. “You are purrfect.”
Yoongi has lived less than half of a year with his boyfriend of almost six years and their cat. He wouldn’t change a moment.
-the end