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suho really didn't want to bother anyone. really he didn't. it was his own fault really. he just wanted to check on the stray kitten that he'd seen on his way home from a delivery last week. he had no idea he would end up like this. "he's gonna be upset with me.." he mumbled to the kitten more than himself as he uses his last percentage to call sieun. it rings for a couple of seconds before it clicks and he hears sieun's breath.
"suho, what is it? are you okay?" suho feels even worse now. since waking up, sieun's constantly been on edge whenever he gets a call, especially from suho.
"yes, sieun-ah, i'm okay." sieun's breathing slows just a tad at the confirmation. "but uh-" he swallows his pride, "i'm kind of stuck..."
"stuck? what do you mean, stuck?"
"i was just looking for socks and when i found him he was in a ditch and i went to go get him.. and now i'm also in the ditch..." suho doesn't hear a response for an embarrassing amount of time. "sieun-ah...?"
"ahn suho. you-" he puffs out a sigh. "where are you?"
a sheepish smile reaches suho's face. "near the river on the east side of town."
"okay. i'll get there as soon as i can." suho hears shuffling on the other side of the call. "is socks okay?"
the question throws suho off. sieun isn't an animal person, at all. suho looks down at the kitten in his hand. socks was small enough to fit in one of suho's hands (which are huge to be fair), his black and white fur was covered in dirt, fat slowly building up around his body from all the food that suho's been feeding him from the restaurant. he looks a tiny bit like sieun, but suho will never mention that to him. "yeah, he's in my arms, a little shaken up though, poor thing."
"okay. see you soon, suho-yah."
"okay, sieun-ah." and the line disconnects.
an unknown amount of time had passed before he hears shouting. he knew that voice. he could tell apart his breathing alone. sieun was shouting. sieun was shouting /his name/. "sieun-ah! i'm over here!" suho shouts back, waving his free hand as high as he can, hoping and praying sieun could see him.
his prayers are answered as he hears heavy but quick steps coming towards him. "suho-yah." sieun bends forward, his hands resting on his knees as he tries to catch his breath.
"sieun-ah, did-did you run here?" sieun steps closer so suho can fully see him. he looks so... desperate.
"you didn't answer your phone. i thought something happened to you."
"oh. oh sieun-ah, i'm so sorry my phone died i promise i'm okay." suho watches as sieun slowly brings his breathing back down and assesses the situation. suho was, indeed, just stuck in a ditch next to the river.
"why can't you get out yourself?"
a sheepish smile is back on suho's face, turning his head so he's not looking at sieun. "i-uh.. may have sprained my ankle on my way down and i can't get back up..." suho doesn't realise what's happening until sieun appears in front of him, taking socks from his hand and resting him in a small blanket. sieun bought a blanket for socks oh my god sieun bought a blanket for socks. "sieun-ah, what are you doing?"
"helping you out. what does it look like?"
well it looks like you're holding the cat version of yourself in a baby blue blanket and i want to kiss you so bad right now
suho just nods and thanks him. with socks safely wrapped up and placed on the ground at the top of the ditch, sieun begins to support suho up and onto the ground next to socks then calls for a taxi.
silence spreads as suho picks socks back into his hands. such a small, soft, vulnerable creature. "why don't you just take him home? you clearly care for him." sieun asked.
suho didn't realise that sieun was watching him so closely, it warms him a little inside. "halmeoni's allergic to cats.." he admits softly. he really doesn't want to leave socks out here again. he's so defenceless out here on his own. he needs someone to take care of him. someone like- "what if you took him?"
"what?"
"i mean- i'll come over and help of course but i've always thought you were so lonely in your apartment when your parents are away and when i'm at work and i thought that having a pet would help with that. i know you don't like animals all that much but-"
"okay." sieun cuts his rambling off.
"eh?"
"i said okay. i'll take him. you can just come over whenever you want to see him. you know the code to the door, anyway."
"sieun-ah..." suho wants to pull sieun into a hug but he's still on the floor and sieun is standing above him so he settles for leaning into the other's legs.
by the time they got back to sieun's place, they were all exhausted. suho made socks a makeshift bed in the corner of sieun's room and then got him and sieun ready for bed. the second suho wrapped his arms around sieun's torso, wrapped in the bedding that smells like him, his eyes were getting heavy.
the last thing he sees is socks struggling to get onto the bed, he feels sieun pull away from suho for a second. suho practically whines before the warmth returns, and then it dawns on him. sieun had grabbed socks and pulled the feline into his chest. suho could die happy. he reaches forward to pet socks on the head and he feels the bed vibrate from his purring.
whether it comes from socks or sieun, suho will never know.