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whoever decided that a rainy day was considered bad weather was crazy.
was something that jihoon always used to say. as a kid, he would beg his mom if he could go out and play in the rain. with his matching bright yellow raincoat and rainboots, he’d splash in puddles of different shapes and sizes, decorate mud cakes with twigs and leaves for his older sister, and collect snails in a shoebox only for them to escape when morning comes.
jihoon would come back inside the house absolutely drenched, scattering rain droplets all over the living room floor. even with a raincoat on, he’d manage to get his hair wet, resembling a puppy fresh from the bath. at some point, his mom got tired of scolding him. but he also looked impossibly happy whenever he played in the rain, so she’d let him be.
his favorite thing to hear on a saturday morning was the sound of rain against his bedroom window. he’d roll over in his bed and pull the blanket over his head to go back to sleep with a satisfied smile on his face. when he would wake again, the sound of jihoon’s footsteps would fill up their home as he bounded down the stairs, excited for the warm breakfast that awaited him at the kitchen table.
that was back then when he was a kid, when he still lived under the same roof with his family.
but now, he was a junior in college, studying as a dance major. he woke up that day to the sound of rain against the window of his dorm room. not the gentle pitter patter from a mere rain shower, but the loud blows of heavy raindrops brought by the strong winds outside.
jihoon placed his pillow over his head, burying his face into the cold sheets of his bed. he wanted nothing more than to skip practice today and stay in to enjoy the comfort of his dorm room with a warm drink. but he knew he couldn’t, their monthly evaluation was soon approaching, and his team depended on him.
and so he dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a clean looking shirt that he blindly grabbed from his closet. he grabbed the jacket that hung from his desk chair before slipping on the first pair of sneakers he could pick out of the organized chaos that was his shoe rack. he didn’t bother with breakfast, thinking of grabbing something from the vending machine at the cafeteria of the performance arts building.
jihoon found himself at the entrance of his dorm, bracing himself before going out into the rain. he said a small prayer that his umbrella would hold up the entire walk to the studio. with one final breath, he opened his umbrella and stepped into the rain.
practice ran as usual that day. there were some that arrived a bit late, but they were quickly forgiven due to the circumstances. jihoon found himself in the same position as he always did after a rigorous dance practice. he was sprawled on the floor in an awkward position that looked like it would hurt, but it was actually quite comfortable for jihoon.
he saw somebody approach him, squinting his eyes to focus on who it was. it was kyungmin, a sophomore in the same program. despite him being younger, jihoon found himself depending and relying on kyungmin a lot for energy and ideas when coming up with different choreography ideas.
“hyung, we’re all gonna go to the cafeteria,” kyungmin said excitedly, “get up! let’s go,” the younger said as he dragged jihoon by the arm in an attempt to get the older to stand up. jihoon gave in, realizing that he hasn’t eaten anything since he woke up. chatter from the group echoed down the hallways all the way down to the cafeteria, where they all split up to buy their respective snacks. jihoon found himself in front of the drinks vending machine, already munching on the sandwich he bought only a few moments ago. when the can of iced coffee clattered down the machine, jihoon bent down to take it out from the little opening. cracking it open, he took a few slow sips, leaning on the side of the vending machine as his eyes scanned the room.
kyungmin saw this from across the room. he smirked to himself before skipping to jihoon’s direction, clearly ready to cause some mischief. when he arrived, he bumped his shoulder into jihoon’s, “who are you looking for, hyung?”
this shook jihoon out of his thoughts, already blushing at what kyungmin was implying, “n-nobody! i was just spacing out, that’s all,” jihoon stuttered out in reply. but when kyungmin stared at him with one of his eyebrows raised, jihoon sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to escape this one.
fine, jihoon was looking for somebody. the person in question was his crush. he was a senior vocal performance major that also frequented the cafeteria, and so jihoon took every trip as a chance to steal a glance at him. jihoon couldn’t remember the exact moment when he fell for him, but he could recall the moment that dohoon took his breath away.
it was during a showcase that the performing arts department held on campus at the start of every school year. jihoon’s dance group had just finished their last performance, so they were able to finally watch the performances from the audience. excited chatter came from the crowd around him, the next performance was going to be a solo from somebody in the vocal department.
instead of performing a ballad like jihoon was expecting, the student put on an entire vocal performance complete with choreography. his aura had the ability to draw you in, evident in the way that everybody’s attention stayed on him during the entire performance, letting out cheers and screams left and right.
that student was none other than kim dohoon, the treasured ace of the vocal performance department. he had trained in various fields growing up, before finally narrowing it down into his current major. he still frequented the other parts of the performing arts building, jihoon even bumped into him once in a dance studio he thought was empty.
since then, it had been jihoon’s personal mission to see dohoon once a day. jihoon told himself that it was some sort of lucky charm, because it did seem that he always had a better day as long as he saw dohoon, even if it was in passing. that day, however, he was nowhere to be found, even when his best friend youngjae was there with other vocal majors.
accepting failure at his little mission today, jihoon trudged behind the group as they made their way back to the studio to pack up their things before heading home. jihoon was one of the first to leave, eager to be back in the safety and warmth of his dorm room. it didn’t help that it was friday, meaning that he could sleep in as much as he wanted once he got in bed.
it was still raining on his walk home, but jihoon was determined to go home as fast as possible, placing one foot in front of the other without hesitation. he stared down at his shoes, noticing the way his footsteps would cause a small ripple in each puddle he stepped in.
jihoon had been so focused on getting home that he almost missed the small meow that came from below when he passed by a picnic bench. his head whipped in the direction of the noise, bending down to see where it came from.
it took some difficulty, but he saw a black cat curled up under the bench, its emerald green eyes a stark contrast from its fur.
jihoon’s heart immediately crumpled at the sight, “you poor thing. you must be so cold, hm?” jihoon asked the feline as he crouched down to see it better. the cat could only let out a small meow in return. jihoon wondered what it was doing here. their university took good care of any animals that lived on campus, especially cats. they had their own houses and food stations in each of the buildings, so to see one here out in the open was quite odd.
he quickly thought over his options, jihoon’s dorm did allow small pets but he also didn’t have anything in his dorm that he’d need to take good care of a cat. but seeing the cat curl up even further, trying to get as warm as it could, jihoon felt his resolve melt away. he decided he’d at least bring the cat home to dry up and get warm before releasing him once the weather gets better.
“hey, come here,” jihoon said gently, reaching out one of his hands, hoping that the cat wouldn’t see him as a threat. thankfully, the cat seemed to understand him, as it stood up and rubbed its face against jihoon’s outstretched hand. jihoon now held both of his arms out, while still holding his umbrella, signalling the cat to come closer.
the cat easily climbed onto jihoon’s lap, already nuzzling its face into jihoon’s shirt. jihoon immediately felt the cold on his chest as his shirt got wet, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. his heart melted at the sight in front of him.
jihoon gently scooped up the cat in his arms, slightly tucking him inside his jacket as he finished walking the way home. luckily, he was already nearby, so it didn’t take long for them to arrive at jihoon’s place. jihoon carefully placed the cat on the floor, giggling at the way it stretched its slender body immediately before plopping onto the carpet, enjoying its soft texture.
after taking a small towel from his closet, he approached the cat from its position in the middle of the carpet, picking it up and placing it in his lap. jihoon started to softly wipe down the cat, making sure not to miss any spots.
“ah! you’re so adorable,” jihoon said cutely as he petted the cat’s glossy coat, admiring the way the cat would offer him soft purrs and slow blinks in return. jihoon mostly had dogs growing up and they were always a good match for his boundless energy, especially when he was a kid. but now, he couldn’t help but enjoy the calm that seemed to transfer from the cat to jihoon.
and so they spent the rest of the day in each other’s company. jihoon was trying to finish up an assignment he had for another class of his. emphasis on trying, because it seemed to be the black cat’s mission to not let jihoon work. it would lay across the keyboard on jihoon’s laptop and knock over the little things that decorated jihoon’s desk.
jihoon took this as a sign that the cat was either bored or hungry. he quickly went down to a nearby grocery store to grab different kinds of cat food and cat treats, hoping that it was up to the cat’s taste. when jihoon returned, he found the cat curled up on his bed by the pillow. he watched as the cat got up and hopped off of the bed, trotting over to where jihoon stood, stopping at his feet to rub its head on the bottom part of jihoon’s legs. it was as if the cat was greeting him welcome home.
the boy thought that he was going to melt on the spot. jihoon cooed at the animal, how could so much cuteness fit into something so small? the cat stopped to sit at jihoon’s feet, staring up at him with its head tilted in curiosity. the longer that jihoon stared into its eyes, the more he thought that the cat’s expressions were almost human-like. but jihoon knew he was being silly, some animals were really just more expressive than others.
and so he proceeded to feed the cat, placing the food he bought on a disposable plate as its makeshift food bowl. the cat gave satisfied purrs as it gobbled up the food jihoon prepared for him. once it was finished eating, jihoon cleaned up and got ready to take a shower, excited to finally wind down after a long day.
a good few minutes later, jihoon got out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair into a towel. he only had a pair of sweatpants on, forgetting to grab a shirt to change into. he was rummaging through his closet when he felt a pair of eyes on him. he slowly turned around to see the cat sitting behind him. it stared at him, the end of its tail flicking slowly, clearly alert and interested in what it was seeing.
the man let out a giggle, reaching out to scratch the back of the cat’s ears. cats are so funny, jihoon thought.
after putting on a shirt, jihoon climbed into bed, the cat following close behind. as jihoon pulled the blanket over him, the cat immediately snuggled in the crook of jihoon’s neck, nuzzling its face as it got comfortable. jihoon sighed happily at the feeling, he didn’t know he needed to feel the warmth that was radiating off of the cat until now. when his room would get too cold, jihoon would always just try to snuggle into his bed deeper.
serenaded by soft purrs, jihoon quickly fell asleep, a smile still lingering on his lips as he slips into dreamland.
___
jihoon woke up to the gentle pitter patter of the rain as it fell against his dorm window. despite the rain, he felt a warm coziness beside him, reminding him of yesterday’s ordeal of him rescuing a cat from the rain. he reached out his hand, searching to pet the cat. his hand met something soft and silky, petting it as he tried to fall back asleep.
he had expected a rumbling purr or a soft meow. but the sound that came from what jihoon was petting was a groan, a human groan.
jihoon’s eyes shot open, sitting up to rip off the blanket to see what was underneath. he blinked his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. what he saw caused him to fall of the bed with a loud thump.
it was a human. but not just any human. it was dohoon. the kim dohoon.
dohoon’s eyes fluttered open, squinting up at jihoon, clearly annoyed at the rude awakening. he was wearing a black sweater that jihoon recognized was his. jihoon’s head was swimming, trying to wrap his head around how this happened.
“ugh, you’re so loud,” he heard dohoon groan out, “go back to sleep. it’s still so early.” dohoon rubbed at his eyes, curling further into himself, looking too much like the black cat he rescued yesterday.
“w-where’s the cat? he was here with me last night,” jihoon asked. he didn’t know if he asked the question because his mind hadn't caught up to reality yet or he was denying the truth that was presented in front of him.
sensing jihoon’s confusion, dohoon said, “i’ll explain it later, come back to bed please.” dohoon patted the space beside him, his eyes wide and lips jutting out into a pout. when jihoon didn’t move from his position, dohoon sat up to hold jihoon by the arm. “jihoon-ah, i’m cold,” dohoon complained as he slightly tugged the younger back to bed.
“this is a dream, right? it has to be,” jihoon asked, more to himself than to dohoon. he was still as confused as ever, but made no attempts to resist dohoon’s pull, already climbing back into bed.
dohoon smiled at this, “sure, whatever you want it to be.” they were both now back in bed, tucked under a shared blanket. dohoon immediately wrapped his arm against jihoon’s torso and tangled their legs together. jihoon felt the older nuzzle his face into the his neck in the exact same way the cat did the night before.
“sweet dreams, jihoon-ah,” dohoon whispered into jihoon’s ear, a satisfied rumble coming from his chest when he felt jihoon cuddle closer.