Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Oh, there it is. The cardboard box in the alley, a little bit crumpled and torn in a few places, with its tiny resident living inside. Jimin steps closer and leans over the box, clicking his tongue a few times.

As if on cue, the box wobbles and something inside of it moves, something like a black ball of fur. Two tiny black ears peek out of the box, then a pair of eyes, midnight blue and much too soft, stares up at him. The creature meows quietly, carefully emerging from the box with both paws clutching at the edge for balance.

Jimin feels something tugging at his heartstrings. Those eyes- they’re practically begging him to take the tiny creature home. But Jimin knows better than having a pet and taking responsibility for the rest of its life. It’s the saying that scares him - we can have many things in the world, but our pets only have us. The responsibility is really heavy, no joke.

Jimin kneels next to the box to have a closer look at the black cat but doesn’t reach out to touch it. The cat settles back into the box and continues to stare up at him, meowing a little louder than before, as if it’s demanding an answer. Take me home. Yes? No?

Jimin sighs. This little thing had been here for a week now. He sees it every day – well, he works at the restaurant just across the street – but he isn’t sure when the poor little thing was dumped here or who dumped it. He just noticed it one day, since it’s not particularly hard to, considering the fact that it’s placed in the shadow of the alley, but not enough to hide it from passersby. 

Someone did take the cat before, just a day after Jimin saw it there. But when he glanced across the street the next day, it’s back there again, peeking out from the box, waiting for its next owner to pick him up. Then the evening of that very day, someone else took the cat home. The next morning, it’s back there again.

It continued like that, different people stopping by the box, patting and cooing at the black cat, took it home, then abandoned it the very next day. It took a whole week for Jimin to finally cross the street and find out what in the hell is wrong with the cat to be treated like this. Poor thing.

There’s nothing out of ordinary with the cat. It’s cute and fluffy and everything a normal cat should be, unless Jimin had never seen a cat with such deep eyes before. Like they held untold stories. And maybe secrets. But that can’t be the reason why it’s abandoned overnight, by all those people that picked it up before.

Jimin hums in thought as he watches the cat paws at old newspapers lining the bottom of the box.

“Is there something wrong with you?” Jimin asks absentmindedly, laughing a little as the cat turns its attention back to him, eyes seemingly wider than before. It opens its mouth as if to say something, but of course nothing other than a string of ‘meow’s comes out.

Jimin rises to his feet with a grunt. Maybe he’ll come back and check on it after work. He waves a little at the cat and turns to leave.

…

“What’re you looking at?”

Hoseok’s voice cuts through Jimin’s train of thoughts and he quickly turns away from the large windows, hands resuming to wipe at the table with a cloth like he’s supposed to before he’s distracted by something outside the windows.

“Hmm?” Jimin asks back, as Hoseok stacks used plates and cups into a pile at another table. It’s almost closing hours now, only one customer left in the restaurant and he’s walking over to the cashier to pay, where Taehyung is currently on duty.

“What’s so interesting out there? You’ve been staring for some time,” Hoseok notes, glancing out of the windows to take a look himself.

“Nothing. It’s just, you know that stray cat across the street?” Jimin asks nonchalantly, scrubbing at a spot that sticks stubbornly to the surface of the table he’s cleaning.

“That black cat inside the box? What about it?” Hoseok points outside the windows, and Jimin nods in confirmation.

“I don’t know, honestly,” Jimin shrugs, moving on to clean the next table. “It gets adopted and abandoned the very next day, a few times this week already. What’s so wrong about it that no one can keep it for more than one day?”

“Maybe it rips furniture apart and pukes everywhere,” Hoseok suggests. Carefully lifting a pile of dirty plates and cups from the table, he turns and shuffles toward the kitchen.

“Jimin-ah, why don’t you take it home then?” a voice cuts in, much deeper than Jimin’s and Hoseok’s. Jimin lifts his head to see Taehyung speaking.

“You look concerned about that cat,” he says, leaning back on his chair behind the cashier and skillfully counting a bundle of cash between his long fingers.

“Curious,” Jimin corrects, unconsciously glancing toward the windows again. He raises an eyebrow as a woman in her thirties nears the box and smiles fondly at the black cat. She bends down to pat its head, and after some short bonding time, she lifts the cat into her arms and walks away.

Jimin huffs. “There. A new owner again. I hope it’s permanent this time,” he murmurs, but loud enough that Taehyung can hear what he’s saying.

He shakes his head. “If the cat does come back, just take it. I thought you like animals,” Taehyung utters, swiftly tying up bundles of cash and slipping them into the cash register.

“Liking them and taking care of them are two very different things, you know,” Jimin points out.

Taehyung hums in agreement, but he adds, “I’m sure that you’ll take good care of them, though.”

…

Jimin arrives at his workplace early the next day, Namjoon just unlocking the glass door and greeting him.

“Mornin’. Early, aren’t you,” Namjoon grins, pocketing his keys and pushing through the door.

“Yeah,” Jimin responds, his gaze already shifting to the opposite side of the street. The box is still there, but the cat is nowhere to be seen. Well, that’s a good sign. But it’s still early in the morning, so there’s still a chance that the woman from yesterday will drop the cat back to where she found it.

A few minutes before their restaurant is ready to open for business, Jimin spots the woman from yesterday appearing at the opposite side of the street. He squints, and sure enough, the woman is holding the black cat, but with it inside a plastic container of some sort, and she’s holding it away from her body, like she doesn’t want to touch the cat.

Jimin frowns as the woman hastily dumps the container next to the cardboard box and strides away without looking back. The black cat jumps out of the container and sits on the pavement, licking at its paw leisurely, like it’s nothing but a daily routine.

Jimin sighs, perhaps a little too loudly, because Namjoon raises an eyebrow at him.

“What is it?”

“You see that cat over there?” Jimin asks, pointing, and Namjoon swivels his head to the direction he’d pointed. “It keeps getting abandoned, that poor thing,” he continues, his lips slowly falling into a pout.

“And? Have you ever thought of adopting it?” Namjoon questions.

“Yeah, but I’m a little bit worried. It’s kind of a big responsibility,” Jimin finds himself considering this again and again. Is it really okay to just take the cat home? He’s quite sure that he’ll be able to take good care of the cat, but after all, he doesn’t really know what a pet needs because he never had one before.

“You’re gonna be fine. Don’t you dare to abandon it, though,” Namjoon warns, shaking a finger at Jimin.

He laughs. “Okay, okay. I’ll go get it after work, I guess.”

xxx

“Hi,” Jimin greets.

Dark eyes blink up at him slowly, and Jimin thinks that those eyes are much too deep for a cat. He holds his breath as he reaches forward to rest a hand against the top of its head. The cat gently nudges his hand, and he takes it as a permission to pet it so he starts to scratch at the back of its ears. It doesn’t purr, but it leans into Jimin’s touch and he smiles.

“I’m gonna take you home but please don’t tear my house apart, alright?” he asks quietly, and the cat meows as if it understands.

 Jimin moves closer to lift the cat, but he doesn’t really know the right way to do it and he vaguely remembers that cats don’t really like to be lifted. He strokes the cat a few more times to make sure that it’s calm and comfortable with him, before slipping one hand under its body, right behind its front legs and another under its hind legs. Slowly, he lifts the cat from the box and cradles it against his chest. The cat barely struggles in his hold, settling into his arms easily and Jimin holds it closer, heaving a sigh of relief as he starts to walk in the direction of his apartment.

During the entire journey, the cat lies in his arms obediently; a furry ball of warmth against his chest and Jimin’s already starting to like the idea of having this sweet little thing as his companion.

When they reach the door to Jimin’s apartment, it takes him twice the effort and time than usual to fish his keys out and unlock the door because, well, there’s a curious cat sitting in his arms. It scratches at the door and paws at the back of Jimin’s hand and then decides to play tug-of-war with him by hooking its claws on the keys and doesn’t let go for a good ten seconds. Jimin swears that the cat is purposely making his task more difficult but he can only stand there and wait for it to move its claws away because he doesn’t dare to just tug the keys away from it, just in case it gets furious and decides to land its claws on something else. Like Jimin’s face.

He finally unlocks the door and sighs when he steps into his apartment. The cat is gently let down onto the floor and it immediately starts to explore its new home. It leaps onto the table, hops over to the couch, sniffing at Jimin’s coat that he left draping on one of the arms of the couch. Then it lands on the floor again and starts down the hallway that leads to the bathroom and the bedrooms.

Jimin doesn’t follow. He heads to the kitchen, riffling through the shelves until he finds a can of tuna. He opens it, dumps its content on a plate, then sets it on the floor.

When the cat doesn’t come rushing for the food like Jimin thinks it would, he walks down the hallway to look for it. He hears a soft noise coming from his bedroom and sure enough, when Jimin peeks inside, the cat is stretched comfortably on his bed, eyes closed and tail swishing lazily.

“Hey,” Jimin calls softly, laughing when the cat snaps its head towards him with its eyes wide open like it’s been caught in the middle of doing a crime or something.

“Dinner’s in the kitchen. You must be hungry,” says Jimin, stepping aside and holding the bedroom door open. The cat jumps from the bed in one swift movement and pads out of the room. Jimin marvels at how intelligent the feline is, because it seems to understand everything that he says.

While waiting for the cat to finish up its dinner, Jimin takes a shower and changes into comfortable sleepwear. He wants to bathe the cat too, because it doesn’t smell very nice at all but Jimin hasn’t bought any shampoo specialized for cats, so that has to wait.

“Where do you want to sleep?” he asks rather absentmindedly, glancing around his small apartment for a suitable place that a cat can curl up in for the night.

He eventually leads the cat back to his bedroom, because it’s warmer in there and the cat seems to like how comfortable his bed is.

However, “Sorry I can’t let you sleep on my bed,” says Jimin, his smile slightly apologetic. “I might squish you in my sleep, so I hope you don’t mind sleeping on the floor.”

The cat meows, but it doesn’t sound like it’s complaining so Jimin thinks that’s okay. He pulls some extra blankets and pillows from the closet, placing them in a pile on the floor right beside his bed and hopes it’s comfortable enough.

The cat immediately buries itself in them, curling into a ball and closing its paws over its nose and Jimin thinks that it’s the cutest thing he’d ever seen.

 He turns off the lights and waits until the cat stops shifting around before he collapses on his own bed.

“Goodnight.”

xxx

There’s a hiss.

A screech.

And then a scream.

Something huge in the form of razor sharp claws materializes out of thin air and swats right at Jimin’s face.

He stumbles backwards in the fastest speed possible, a scream caught in his throat, and suddenly a sharp pain cracks at the back of his skull.

Jimin hits his head on the headboard.

“Ow,” he yelps, one hand reaching up to rub at the spot that starts to throb. He sits up on his bed clumsily, slowly opening his eyes and waits for the senses in his body to wake up.

Once his eyes adjust to the darkness, the first thing he sees is the door of his bedroom, left ajar. He frowns in confusion, because he never forgets to close his bedroom door before he sleeps.

Jimin swings his legs over the edge of his bed and plants them on the floor, his toes touching something soft and fluffy. He looks down to a mess of blankets and pillows, minus a furry ball that’s supposed to be curled up in between.

Jimin grunts as he stands, shuffling towards the door and switching on the lights along his way.

He squints at the sudden brightness, sweeping his gaze around the room but the cat is nowhere to be seen. He glances at the alarm clock perched on the nightstand. It’s almost 3 in the morning.

Jimin steps into the hallway with a tired yawn, stopping dead when he hears a soft noise coming from the end of the hallway where the bathroom is located.

Jimin unconsciously holds his breath and listens. The noise is muffled, but he’s quite sure that it’s the sound of water hitting onto tiled floor, the sound indicating that someone is freaking taking a shower in his bathroom. 

What kind of madman breaks into someone’s house only to take a shower in their bathrooms? Jimin shivers at the thought of facing a psychopath all by himself and considers calling the cops. He’s just turning around to grab his phone when the noises stop and the bathroom door creaks open.  

The apartment is dark, but Jimin sees with the light spilling from the bathroom – a man, naked with only a towel wrapped around his hips, steps out into the hallway and stares right back at him.

Jimin screams.

The man jolts but doesn’t move from his place, and he doesn’t even look half as surprised as Jimin is. Instead he looks calm as he crosses his arms and scowls, his lips pressed into a thin line.

After a moment he speaks. “I will only explain when you stop screaming.”

Jimin belatedly realizes that he’s still screaming and he clamps his mouth shut, his face flushing and his throat feeling raw.

“You,” Jimin somehow finds himself speaking. “Get out of here before I call the cops. I mean it. Get out.”

The man doesn’t move. He sighs as if he wants to explain something, but he’s tired of explaining. After a few beats of silence, he opens his mouth.

“I’m not a thief, nor am I a crazy person who breaks into your house,” the man pauses, waiting for Jimin’s reaction but he doesn’t give him any. He huffs before continuing. “I’m the cat you brought home just now.”

“Oh my god,” Jimin breathes, his mind reeling as he studies the man in front of him. His hair is black and damp from the shower, bangs covering his forehead and falling into his cat-like eyes. He has a small nose and a delicate mouth, his lips slightly pouted from annoyance and maybe tiredness. He’s somewhat thin and pale, and he couldn’t be more than a few years older than Jimin.

“Yes, freak out all you want. Then throw me back into that shitty box tomorrow morning,” the man grumbles, his eyes narrowing into slits.

Realization dawns on Jimin. “Is that why you keep getting–”

“Yes,” the man snaps. Although it’s quite obvious that he’s now mostly annoyed and frustrated, Jimin sees something else. Helpless. Sad.

“Don’t worry,” Jimin starts. The man’s eyes widen. “I won’t abandon you like everyone else did. I took you home, and it’s my responsibility now.”

They stare at each other in utter silence. Jimin waits for the man to say something but he doesn’t. He looks like he’s lost in his own thoughts and when he jerks himself back into reality, he realizes that Jimin is still staring at him intently.

He cowers from Jimin’s gaze, coughing before he speaks. “Uhm, can you… can you like, lend me, some of your… clothes?”

Jimin suddenly (and very, very belatedly) realizes that the man is still almost naked and he quickly redirects his gaze, unable to control himself from flushing as he hastily turns around to head back to his room, almost smashing his face against the wall in the process. “Gosh, sorry, wait a minute, I’ll go grab some clothes for you.”

xxx

Ten minutes later, the man is dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts that Jimin provides him with, and they’re sitting on the bed in Jimin’s room. Jimin notes that his clothes are too big for him, the collar line just shy of falling off his shoulders and his collarbones are showing. Jimin makes a mental note to bring him to the mall one day and choose some new clothes for him.

“So, uhm, I’m Jimin. I’m 21 this year,” he introduces himself rather awkwardly.

“Yoongi, 23,” the man – Yoongi, replies, in the laziest way possible. Jimin finds his level of laziness amusing, similar to that of a cat.

“Do you mind telling me how – why – do this happen?” Jimin asks carefully, not wanting to sound too nosy or something.

“I’m not too sure myself,” Yoongi answers with a shrug, the collar of his shirt slipping off one of his shoulders. Jimin resists the urge to reach out and tug the fabric back to its place. “All I know is that I spend my day as a cat and turn back into a human at night. It just happens. I don’t even know how to stop this.”

“So there’s no cure to this?” Jimin asks. Yoongi shakes his head in confirmation and Jimin feels bad for him. “How long have this been happening?”

“Since last year. And it’s really tiring. Everyone sees me as a monster or something,” Yoongi mumbles the last sentence gravely, his lips falling into a pout again.

“I don’t see you as a monster. You’re just a normal person like everybody else,” Jimin says in a soft voice, trying his best to reassure him. “Don’t worry, I’ll help you. Do you need anything? I can drop by the mall tomorrow after work and grab what you need.”

Yoongi’s eyes soften and a small smile graces his lips. “No, not really. Thank you, though.”

Jimin shakes his head and yawns into the back of his hand. Yoongi raises an eyebrow.

“I almost forgot you work early. Sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night,” he apologizes, not knowing that it’s actually Jimin’s own dream that wakes him up.

“I woke up myself. Why did you shower in the middle of the night, though?”

“I stink,” Yoongi simply says, scrunching his nose and Jimin lets out a laugh. “I tried to be as quiet as possible.”

Jimin hums, then yawns again. Yoongi stands. “Go to sleep. You have work tomorrow.”

“Wait,” Jimin reaches out, fingers wrapping around Yoongi’s wrist. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll go sleep on the couch, obviously,” Yoongi replies, already taking a step towards the door.

Jimin tugs him back. “It’s cold outside. If you don’t mind, you can share the bed with me,” he suggests, way too casually.

Yoongi gapes at him. “Share the –what?”

Jimin’s eyes widen in horror when he realizes what he just said. He withdraws his hand from Yoongi’s hastily, his mind reeling as he tries to think of something to cover that up, but his brain is working really slow at the moment and it’s definitely not helping.

“I, uhm, or I can –I can sleep on the couch instead,” he stammers, cheeks flushing as Yoongi continues to stare at him. Jimin shuffles around to get up from the bed, only for Yoongi to stop him with a hand on his arm.

“No,” he says in a soft tone. “You said it’s cold outside. Let’s just stop fussing around and get some sleep, okay? You have work tomorrow.”

 And with that, Yoongi crawls onto the bed and nudges Jimin until he lies down. Jimin moves aside to give him more space. Yoongi lies down beside him, then turns away so that his back is facing him.

Jimin catches the faintest murmur of a “goodnight” before his eyelids turn heavy and he drifts off to sleep with Yoongi’s warmth radiating beside him.

xxx

Jimin wakes up to tiny paws tapping lightly at his chest. His groans softly and cracks his eyes open a little to find that he’s laying sideways, and Yoongi the cat is curled up right in front of his face with his paws still on Jimin’s chest.

“Good morning,” he mumbles, eyes falling shut again as he tugs Yoongi closer with a hand on his back and buries his nose into the soft fur right below his neck. He smells sweet and minty, like the shampoo Jimin’s using. Yoongi must’ve used his when he’s showering during midnight earlier.

Yoongi meows in protest, struggling a little under his hold. Jimin hums lazily, almost falling back into sleep again.

Yoongi paws at Jimin’s cheek, meowing louder when he doesn’t receive any response from him. Annoyed, Yoongi nips at the tip of Jimin’s nose.

Jimin yelps as he sits up on his bed. The bite itself is not hard enough to leave marks or draw blood, but it’s enough to completely jerk him awake.

Jimin rubs at his nose and glares down at Yoongi. “What?”

Yoongi swivels his head towards the digital alarm clock placed on the nightstand. Jimin follows his gaze and stares at it for a moment, his mind taking a little longer than usual to read the numbers displayed on it. He’s not late, but he will be if he doesn’t hurry up.

Jimin shoots out of bed, almost tripping over his own feet as he scrambles down the hallway and into the bathroom. He finishes washing up in five minutes, ignoring the voices in his head nagging about hygiene issues.

He scampers back into his room, throwing open the doors of his wardrobe and grabbing the first set of clothes he sees, flinging them onto the bed before slamming his wardrobe shut.

Yoongi makes a noise of complaint as Jimin almost buries him under his clothes. Jimin, on the other hand, is too much in a hurry to care about anything else. He doesn’t even seem to remember that Yoongi is still in the room with him, because the next thing Yoongi knows, Jimin is tugging his shirt over his head in one swift movement and leaning over the bed to grab the clothes he’s chosen from his wardrobe just now.

Yoongi squeaks in surprise, shooting off the bed like a rocket and skittering out of the room as fast as possible, his claws scratching painfully against the wooden floor.

He flees into the living room before jumping onto the couch and dropping his face into his paws with a grunt, trying to block out the image of Jimin’s shirtless body from his mind. However, his stupid mind chooses this moment to remind him that Jimin’s seen him even naked before, and that they’ve only known each other for less than a day and yet they’ve already seen each other’s –

Yoongi hisses and claws at the fabric of the couch, frustrated and embarrassed and flustered at the same time. The fabric rips open easily under his sharp claws, threads falling apart and cotton wool peeking from underneath. Yoongi’s whiskers twitch as he stares at the mess he just made, the first mark that he leaves in this house.

Jimin bursts through the hallway and across the living room, making Yoongi jump in surprise. He slips on his shoes at the door, fumbling around for the keys before plunging the right one into the keyhole.

“I’m going,” he calls back as he pulls open the door. “Thank you for waking me. I’ll see you later!”

Jimin gets a low growl in response as he exits his apartment and turns around to lock the door before bolting for the lift.

xxx

Jimin sprints down the streets and makes a sharp turn to the left, banging his shoulder against the glass door as he shoves himself into the restaurant.

Everyone else in the restaurant turns around and gapes at him.

“Am I late?” Jimin asks, bracing his hands on his knees as he tries to catch his breath.

“Nope,” Taehyung answers, raising an eyebrow at Jimin’s disheveled appearance. Jungkook walks over and tosses him an apron, which he fails to catch and landed on his head instead.

“Ugh,” Jimin grumbles as he pulls the apron off and wraps it around his hips, giving Jungkook a dirty look as he did so.

Seokjin emerges from behind the cashier, scowling at him. “What happened? You’re never late.”

“You have no idea,” Jimin groans, reaching up to fix his hair the best he could.

Namjoon gasps dramatically as he exits from the kitchen. “Don’t tell me it’s the cat.”

Jimin scoffs. Taehyung perks up at this. “The cat?” he exclaims, craning his neck to look out of the windows, no doubt to search for the black cat that already isn’t there. “You took it home?”

“Yes I did,” Jimin confirms, rolling his eyes at Taehyung’s over-enthusiastic reaction. “I took it yesterday.”

“Does it bite or scratch?” Jungkook asks curiously.

“Or it really does rip furniture apart?” Hoseok joins in, chirping from the other end of the restaurant.

“It peed in your bed, doesn’t it?” Namjoon suggests helpfully.

“Oh I know! It must be an evil cat and it stuffed sleeping pills into your mouth when you’re asleep so that you can’t wake up early this morning and almost got you late!” Taehyung chirrups, slamming his palm on a table excitedly, very much satisfied of his own theories.

“No, no, no, and no. What the hell, Taehyung,” Jimin answers each of their questions grumpily, plus slapping Taehyung on the back of his head when he answers his.

“All right, kids, quit fooling around,” Seokjin calls, in a good-natured way rather than a bossy one. “Our first customer should be in any minute now. Get ready.”

Namjoon takes that as a cue to stride towards the glass door where a rectangular sign hangs, flipping it over so that the side that says “We’re open. Welcome!” faces outside.

And soon their usual busy day in the restaurant starts.

xxx

His shift is almost over when Jimin suddenly realizes it. He locked Yoongi in his apartment without providing him breakfast. Or lunch. And it’s almost closing time now so it’s already way past dinner time. Yoongi must be starving. A lot.

Jimin gasps in horror. Does this count as animal abuse? How long can a cat last without food? Will he go home to a cat dying of starvation?

Okay, maybe he’s overreacting, but uneasiness is crawling into his skin and it won’t go away. He needs to go back to Yoongi now.

Someone touches his arm and he turns around, slightly frantic. Seokjin scowls back at him. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look pale.”

“No, I’m fine. My cat – oh my god,” Jimin almost growls, hands coming up to fist into his hair in frustration. “I left him at home without any food. I’m afraid that he’ll die of hunger or something.”

“And here I thought you’ll be a responsible owner,” Namjoon comments as he passes by, sighing and shaking his head in disappointment. Jimin shoots him a sour look.

“That’s not helping at all, Namjoon,” says Seokjin as he elbows him in the ribs. Namjoon smiles, dodging away.

“You can go early today. Go home quickly and feed that poor thing,” Seokjin helpfully offers, and Jimin couldn’t be more thankful. He hastily pulls off his apron before exiting the restaurant, calling out ‘thank you’s to Seokjin all the way.

He successfully took three steps toward the direction of his apartment before he remembers that his home is completely out of food, and he has yet to restock it. The can of tuna Yoongi ate yesterday is probably the last trace of food in his apartment.

Huffing exasperatedly, Jimin turns on his heels and runs down the opposite direction that leads to the mart.

xxx

Upon reaching his apartment, Jimin almost snaps his key into half as he jabs it into the keyhole and twists roughly, then almost breaks the door down as he shoves it open with his shoulder.  

A string of curses greets him as he steps inside, and Jimin jumps in pure shock. Yoongi – human – is sprawled across the couch with an arm draped across his face, covering his eyes. Jimin stares.

Yoongi removes his arm and he’s scowling. “Yah,” he scolds. “How dare you leave me here without anything edible? And your apartment is really something. Not even a tiny pack of biscuit left. You- ”

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I ran all the way back here,” Jimin cuts Yoongi off before he goes into full nagging mode, then places the plastic bags he’s been clutching in his hands on the table, hoping that the sight of food will distract him.

It does. Yoongi doesn’t even bother to get some cutleries from the kitchen first – he’s already digging through one of the plastic bags to discover various late-night snacks that Jimin manages to buy at this hour of the night. So Jimin goes to the kitchen to get them for him, moving as fast as he could so that Yoongi wouldn’t have to starve any longer.

Jimin plops himself down onto the couch next to Yoongi with a sigh and watches as he digs in. Yoongi shoves food down his throat in a frightening speed and Jimin can only hope that he doesn’t choke himself.

“You bought groceries too?” Yoongi asks as he peeks into the remaining plastic bags. Jimin throws him a disgusted look for not swallowing the food in his mouth before speaking.

“Yeah, but not much,” Jimin answers with a nod. “Only enough for tomorrow’s breakfast.”

“What? Are you planning to starve me again?” Yoongi snaps, turning away from his food to glare at Jimin.

“I’ve only got two hands, hyung! I bought as many snacks as I could for you and I thought my arms would fall off because I have to carry all these and run all the way back here!” Jimin complains, gesturing wildly at the heap of plastic bags lying on the table. “I don’t have work tomorrow, alright? I planned to go to the mall and grab whatever you need and also stock up the kitchen, so don’t you worry that you’ll starve ever again.”

“I’ll go with you,” Yoongi says quickly. Jimin asks him why and he coughs a little before explaining. “I have nothing to do here anyway. Don’t lock the door next time, at least I can go out and wander around or something. I’m bored to death and you can’t do much when you’re a cat,” Yoongi grimaces.

“Okay, I’ll bring you along then,” Jimin agrees. “Guess we’ll have to go to those malls where pets are allowed.”

Yoongi nods, humming as he savors another spoonful of food. He’s in the middle of chewing it when he suddenly thinks of something and snaps his head back to Jimin. Jimin winces when he opens his mouth to speak, still having a mouthful of food.

“Wait, then there would be other pets, right?” Yoongi asks, eyes widening. “Dogs?”

“Yeah. Lots of them too,” Jimin replies helpfully.

“Shit,” Yoongi mutters. “I’m not having one of those chasing me again.”

Jimin watches as his face twists into one of distaste. Unpleasant memories, apparently.

“Well, if you still want to go, I can carry you around in my arms,” Jimin offers.

“In your arms?” Yoongi repeats in a tight voice.

“Yeah. We don’t have much of a choice, since I obviously don’t have one of those cat carriers,” says Jimin. He doesn’t know why Yoongi would hesitate to agree with this.

“Okay,” Yoongi huffs, turning away from him. “It’s better than being locked in here alone, anyway.”

He then continues eating, while Jimin spends the rest of the night doing online research on his phone about everything he needs to know to take care of a cat. There’s quite a lot of things to take note of, but he’s pretty sure that he can keep Yoongi healthy and happy.

It’s almost 1’o clock in the morning when the both of them decide that they should go to bed. It took some time for Yoongi to finish all the food Jimin bought him because he really did buy a lot, and Jimin keeps scrolling on his phone until his eyes are threatening to fall shut on their own accord.

Jimin climbs into bed first, spreading his body like a starfish right at the center of the bed and groaning tiredly. With a click of his tongue, Yoongi shoves Jimin away to make room for himself.

When they’re both lying on the bed next to each other comfortably, Jimin curls into himself. “It’s colder than yesterday,” he mutters, squirming deeper into the blanket in seek of warmth. Turning around to face Yoongi, Jimin asks in a soft voice, “Do you need more blankets? It’s cold.”

“I’m fine, let’s just sleep,” Yoongi answers sleepily, yawning and arching his back a little.

Jimin yawns too, but he suddenly remembers that he has something to ask him. “Hyung,” he starts, scooting closer to Yoongi and speaking softly. “Why are you turning back into human so early today? I thought it only happens during midnight.”

“Hmm, I thought so too. It’s the first time something like this happens,” Yoongi mumbles in reply.

“Okay,” Jimin hums and lets his eyes fall shut. He’s shivering a little because of the cold, and he couldn’t help the way he snuggles closer to Yoongi for a little bit more of warmth. He shifts until his nose is almost touching Yoongi’s shoulder, then sighs softly and slowly drifts off to sleep.

Yoongi lets him.

xxx

Yoongi thought he’ll be the one waking Jimin like the morning before, but when he wakes up, the other side of the bed is empty.

He opens his mouth to yawn, only slightly surprised when a long “meow” comes out instead. He stretches himself and rolls around the bed for a few minutes before hopping off and landing on four legs.

He’s padding towards the kitchen before he knows it, the sweet smell of pancakes and coffee lingering in the air and alluring him.

Jimin is standing by the stoves, busy flipping pancakes and he looks down at Yoongi as he lets out a soft meow to catch his attention.

“Morning,” Jimin greets, reaching over to grab a plate. “Just let me finish serving the pancakes and I’ll get you your breakfast.”

Yoongi sits on his paws and watches as Jimin places the pancakes onto the plate, then moves around the kitchen to grab a tube of butter from the fridge and a jar of honey from the cabinet. Yoongi follows him as he moves everything to the dining table.

Hopping onto one of the chairs by the dining table, Yoongi waits for Jimin to get his breakfast while sniffling at the plate of pancakes in front of him. It smells really nice, and he wonders if Jimin is good at cooking.

Yoongi jumps a little when a can of cat food is dropped onto the table in front of him. He lifts his head and stares at Jimin but he’s not looking at him. He’s prying open the lid of the can for Yoongi and once he’s done, Jimin pushes the can of food to him. Yoongi flinches away.

“What? You’re not hungry?” Jimin asks, confused. Yoongi meows, not really expecting Jimin to understand him (of course he doesn’t), and launches himself onto the dining table.

Jimin lets out a squeak of surprise. “This is the dining table, hyung! Get down!”

Yoongi ignores him and goes for the plate of pancakes, stealing a piece from the stack and starts nibbling on it. Jimin, on the other hand, had done enough research last night to know that cats should not eat human food like these. It makes them sick – some even causing death – and Jimin is definitely not letting either of that happening to Yoongi.

“Don’t! You can’t eat human food!” he cries, reaching out to snatch the pancake away but not quite sure that Yoongi wouldn’t hiss and swipe his claws at him. Yoongi simply gives him a look that Jimin somehow interprets as “technically, I’m a human, so shut up and let me eat this pancake in peace, idiot”.

“Fine,” Jimin huffs, moving the plate to the other side of the table, as if doing that will prevent Yoongi from stealing more pancakes. “Don’t blame me when you fall sick later.”

xxx

After breakfast, Jimin walks to the mall with Yoongi at his heels. The black cat refused to be picked up earlier, thrashing and slipping away when Jimin tried to gather him into his arms. So, Jimin assumes that Yoongi will only give in when they arrive at the mall, where there will be dogs and his safety is probably threatened.  

However, they don’t need to be in the mall before owners with various pet dogs who decided to visit the mall as well appear along the streets. Jimin had to bend down and cradle Yoongi into his arms, because the black cat is walking so close next to his legs Jimin almost trips over him a few times.

Yoongi doesn’t resist this time. He settles into the crook of Jimin’s arms easily and buries his head into Jimin’s chest so that he doesn’t have to look at the dogs and gets himself all scared and panicky.

Yoongi is shivering a little in Jimin’s arms, soft paws clutching at his shirt and his tail twitching restlessly. Jimin holds him closer, one hand stroking gently at the fur right below Yoongi’s neck.

“You sure you still wanna go?” Jimin asks him in a soothing voice, and it calms him down a little. “I can take you home and I’ll go myself.”

Yoongi shakes his head lightly and nudges at Jimin’s hand, a silent message telling him to keep walking.

So Jimin complies, and as soon as they arrive at the mall, he makes a mental note to buy everything he needs as quickly as possible and leave, because he can feel Yoongi’s body tensing up the moment they step into the mall.

But since Yoongi is a human at the very core, he can take care of himself and doesn’t really need those equipment normal cats do, and honestly Jimin can think of nothing to buy except food.

So he looks around for the food department, and when he finds it he goes toward the direction in quick strides. Yoongi turns to see where he’s going and when he sees rows upon rows of cat food he hastily stops him by pressing his paws to his chest.

Jimin asks him what’s wrong. Yoongi replies with several ‘meow’s of protest.

“What’s wrong with cat food? You can’t be allergic to them,” Jimin says, sighing a little as Yoongi starts to push at his chest, as if to urge him to walk away from their current spot. And suddenly “able to communicate with grumpy cats” is shooting up Jimin’s wish-list and sitting itself at the top.        

“Then what do you want?” he asks, eyeing the way Yoongi shifts in his arms to look around the mall. He perks up as he finds what he was looking for. Meowing almost excitedly, he points at something behind Jimin and he turns around to see that Yoongi’s pointing at a food market not far away.

They walk toward it, and Yoongi licks his whiskers when he sees the display of meat at the entrance – fish, chicken, beef and more. Jimin finally understands what he wants.

“You’re gonna eat these raw?” he asks, watching with amusement as Yoongi’s little nose twitches greedily with all the delicious scents filling the air. He looks up at him expectantly, and Jimin suddenly regrets asking that question. Because right now Yoongi’s obviously asking him to cook his meal for him.

He doesn’t really have a choice, though. Yoongi’s being extra picky with his diet and he’ll likely starve himself than eat something he dislikes. Jimin just couldn’t let that happen.

So he complies and proceeds to pick some meat with mumbled complaints, Yoongi promptly stretching his paw toward a pile of fish and pretending that he doesn’t hear him.

They also bought some vegetables after that, despite Yoongi’s distaste in them (“You’re an omnivore, hyung! And you’ll get constipation if you don’t eat them”).

They don’t buy a lot of food, though. Because Jimin can only carry everything in one hand since he has to hold Yoongi with another, and he suddenly remembers that he should get some clothes for Yoongi too, so they went to the fashion department and grabbed some simple tees and pants and a few sweaters before paying for everything at the cashier.

They walk back to the apartment after that, Jimin struggling a little to carry the bags with only an arm while Yoongi tries not to feel too guilty about it.

xxx

Yoongi turns back into human early again that day, after they had their dinner but it’s still too early for bedtime. Jimin lazes on the couch with Yoongi curled up next to him, watching some painfully clichéd drama on the television.

Yoongi is staring at the screen with his head resting on his paws, and Jimin resists the urge to reach over and pull him into his lap because he just looks so warm and fluffy curled up next to him.

When a particularly cringe-worthy scene comes up on the screen, Yoongi scrunches his nose cutely, and Jimin finally gives in to the temptation, placing his hand on the top of Yoongi’s head and gently stroking at the soft fur there.

Yoongi ducks his head out of surprise but doesn’t move away, instead looking up at him questioningly and Jimin imagines Yoongi in his human form raising his eyebrows at him.

Jimin doesn’t stop petting him, and Yoongi seems to relax under his touch. Soon his eyes are falling shut, his ears drooping and flattening. Jimin knows it’s a sign that shows a cat liking how it’s being petted, and is asking for more.

He smiles softly as he rubs his knuckles along the back of Yoongi’s ears, before running his hand down the curve of his spine and turning his attention back to the television but doesn’t stop petting him.

Jimin watches the drama for a few minutes, his eyelids going heavy and he’s yawning when suddenly he hears a surprised yelp right next to him. Something is pushing against his hand and Jimin looks down with his eyes widened.

Instead of soft cat fur, his hand is now pressing against bare skin and he immediately withdraws it, backing away as he gapes at Yoongi’s naked human body curled up on the couch.

“Shit,” Yoongi mutters as he fumbles to sit up. Jimin turns his head away from him so quickly he thinks he hears something cracks along his neck. He hears Yoongi shuffling around, probably searching for something to cover himself with.

“Y-your clothes are in my room,” Jimin manages to stutter, his face warmer than usual and he scrunches his eyes shut in an attempt to block out whatever images he had in his mind.

The couch shifts as Yoongi pushes himself up, hurried footsteps echoing down the hallway and Jimin doesn’t open his eyes until he hears the door to his bedroom slam shut.

Turning back to the television again, he lets out a breath he doesn’t know he’s been holding in and sinks back into the couch behind him. He soon finds out that he couldn’t focus on the drama anymore, so he switches it off with a sigh and shuffles toward his room.

Yoongi is already asleep, curled up on one side of the bed with the blanket pulled up right beneath his nose, the lower half of his face hidden.

Jimin slips into bed as quietly as he could, letting Yoongi have the blanket all to himself even though the night isn’t any warmer than usual.

And as tempting as the warm heat radiating off Yoongi’s body is, Jimin doesn’t sleep too close to him that night.

xxx

It’s been a week since they lived together, and as each day passes by Jimin learns a little bit more about Yoongi.

He hates cat food, as irony as it sounds. He says it’s tasteless and disgusting, and Jimin doesn’t really know that he should believe him or not (he’s never tasted cat food before, so yeah).

Since Yoongi wouldn’t touch cat food, Jimin has to cook for him every day. Sometimes before he goes to work, sometimes after work during the night and he will keep the food in the refrigerator and heat it up the next morning before he leaves.

Also, Jimin finds that Yoongi is very much like a cat, human form or not. He sleeps at least 12 hours a day, and when he’s not sleeping, he’s always lazing around, laying on the couch or Jimin’s bed. He’s also grumpy and only give responses when necessary, his expression always flat and rarely changes. He likes being warm and cozy all the time, wrapping himself in a blanket or a duvet, and likes to wear long-sleeved clothes, like sweaters.

Yoongi eats a lot, too. He seems unperturbed by the fact that there are some food he cannot eat as a cat. Jimin couldn’t help but nag at him, reminding him at least once a day that he’ll die if he eats chocolate and scolding him whenever he catches him stealing cookies from the jar with his clumsy paws.

Exasperated, Jimin keeps everything in the refrigerator and the cupboard, which are too heavy for Yoongi to open when he’s a cat, effectively preventing him from stealing snacks when Jimin’s not around to keep an eye on him.

However, despite Jimin’s effort, Yoongi falls sick a few days later. Jimin wakes up with the black cat still asleep in his arms, body warmer than usual. He lets Yoongi sleep and goes to wash up, but by the time he’s done he still hasn’t wake up yet. Jimin gently shakes him awake, suddenly aware of how Yoongi’s body goes limp and he’s almost too weak to move.

Jimin wants to take him to the vet, but soon dismisses the thought when Yoongi protests with every ounce of energy left in his body, struggling and hissing in his hold when Jimin gathers him into his arms. Instead, he tells him that he will go to the doctor when he turns back into human later, and Yoongi seems to agree to that as he quiets down and snuggles deeper into the crook of Jimin’s arms.

Too worried to leave a sick Yoongi at home alone, Jimin phones Seokjin to request a day off from the restaurant. Seokjin, being the kind and understanding hyung he is, immediately says okay to that and will only hang up after reminding Jimin thrice to take his pet cat to the vet.

Jimin puts down his phone and wraps a blanket around Yoongi’s body, knowing that this will keep a cat comfortable and calm, especially when they’re not feeling well.

He then goes to prepare breakfast, pondering over what to cook for Yoongi before deciding against the idea, having a hunch that he probably wouldn’t have the appetite to eat anyway.

Jimin finishes breakfast with some bread and jam, not really in the mood to have anything more than that, and settles onto the couch in the living room, Yoongi somewhat sleeping beside him, his eyes closed and his body curled into a ball under the layer of blanket.

Jimin stares at him for a while before reaching for his phone and starts to scroll through his SNS accounts, not having other things to do as a pastime anyway.

Yoongi suddenly lets out a soft whimper, his body squirming under the blanket, his claws scratching lightly at the fabric of the couch beneath him.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Jimin leans down and asks, his voice laced with concern. Yoongi still has his eyes closed, and he doesn’t seem to hear Jimin’s question.

With very gentle and careful hands, Jimin pulls Yoongi into his lap and starts running his fingers along the black cat’s jaw and neck. Yoongi doesn’t stop trembling, but at least he’s not squirming anymore. They stay like that the for the rest of the morning, Jimin scrolling through his phone using his right hand while continuing to pet Yoongi with his left.

 It’s nearing afternoon when one of these cat-to-human-sudden-transformations happen again. Without warning, Yoongi starts to shift around in his lap, and before Jimin can tear his gaze from his phone to check on him, there’s a sudden weight pressing down onto him and Jimin squeaks in surprise.

Yoongi, with his body naked and (thankfully) wrapped in the blankets, is draped across Jimin’s lap, his ribcage pressing against his thighs. He lets out a frustrated sigh, and Jimin stares at him for a few heartbeats before wrapping his arms around him and helping him into a sitting position. Yoongi’s skin is warmer than usual, a silent reminder to Jimin that he needs to see a doctor as soon as possible.

“I’ll get you your clothes,” Jimin says before bouncing off the couch and rushing into his room. He’s back in a matter of seconds, knit sweater and a pair of jeans clutched in his hands. Jimin helps him to dress up, and if Yoongi’s mind is not in a hazy mess right now, he would’ve melted at the way Jimin slips his shirt on for him so gently and carefully, like he’s taking care of something fragile and precious to him.

Jimin rushes around the apartment after that, looking for his wallet and phone and jacket and Yoongi honestly doesn’t understand why he’s so frantic about taking him to the doctor. It’s just a fever, nothing fatal. It’s not like you’ll die because of it.

Yoongi is about to tell Jimin to calm down a little and stop darting around, but Jimin is already back to his side and hauling him onto his feet, grunting as he drags them both toward the door.

Yoongi’s legs are still a little too weak to walk steadily by themselves, so he leans into Jimin, trusting the younger to hold and support him.

Fortunately, the nearest clinic from Jimin’s apartment is not farther than a few streets away, and Yoongi has to admit that Jimin’s strength is quite impressive, not even huffing a breath as he easily leads him down the road and all the way to the clinic.

Jimin is complaining throughout the journey, though, something along the line of “this is what happens if you don’t listen to me” “I should let you die alone next time. I will” “this is the first and last time I’m doing this” and many more that Yoongi doesn’t quite catch onto, because he knows that Jimin doesn’t mean any of them anyways.

xxx

It turns out that Yoongi’s right. It’s nothing serious (“You’re just lucky, hyung”), merely a fever and Yoongi chooses to sleep his illness away.

 Jimin almost doesn’t see him awake for the next few days. Yoongi never seems to get enough sleep, and even going as far as foregoing meals, only scrambling awake to search for food when the hunger becomes too much for him to ignore.

Jimin considers taking a break off his work to look after him until he heals, but Yoongi is strongly against the idea and insists him to go back to work as usual. (“Please stop treating me like a baby. It’s starting to offend me.”)

And although Jimin clearly does not understand why treating someone nicely is wrong, he obeys anyway, leaving Yoongi at home to look after himself while he resumes his shift at the restaurant.

Jimin doesn’t really have to worry about Yoongi, though. Like what’s been mentioned before, he just sleeps his day away, his sleeping hours long exceeded those of a cat’s.

Jimin still does what he can. He still cook Yoongi’s meals every day, digging up recipes that are suitable for patients, and being extra careful with all the ingredients he uses in his cooking. He checks Yoongi’s body temperature twice a day, making sure that he takes his medicine and drinks enough water and tugs the blanket over him when he comes back home at night and Yoongi is already asleep.

Jimin looks really relieved when Yoongi’s body temperature drops back to normal one day and Yoongi feels a little bit guilty, keeping Jimin worried for the past few days. But most of all, he feels like showering Jimin with endless gratitude, though he doesn’t know how to. He thought of giving him a sincere hug and saying thank you over and over again, but Yoongi is not the type to express everything with his words and body.

So he does it subtly and only when he’s a cat, because he feels a little less embarrassed that way (embarrassed of what, Yoongi himself has no idea). He tries not to ignore Jimin when he speaks to him, and replies with soft little meows or a tilt of his head to show that he’s listening (he’s always listening, it’s just that he’s too lazy to show any kind of response most of the time).

Whenever Jimin is not working, Yoongi will curl up next to him, sometimes even climbing into his lap for more warmth. Yoongi soon finds it quite nice when Jimin pets him, so he’ll nudge at his arm or hand sometimes, a silent request for Jimin to do so, which he always complies with a soft smile.

Jimin can feel Yoongi getting more and more comfortable around him and he doesn’t protest anymore when Jimin hugs him or pulls him into his lap. There’s one time when Jimin is feeding a snack to Yoongi and the black cat is meowing in delight as he licks his whiskers happily. Jimin smiles at how adorable Yoongi is and reaches forward to scratch lightly behind his ears. Yoongi actually purrs, then pushes his head upward so that it bumps gently against Jimin’s hand.

Jimin’s heart leaps gleefully. Yoongi might not know it, but when a cat does that, it practically means “you’re mine” – they’re marking the human as theirs and Jimin doesn’t know what to feel about that.

He wants to ask Yoongi, ask him if it means anything, but doesn’t get a chance to when Yoongi hops off the dining table and paddles toward the living room.

xxx

Yoongi changes back into human even earlier these days, the earliest being approximately a few hours after Jimin left for work.  

Yoongi is quite surprised about this –it never happened before –but he seems happy about it. Jimin doesn’t miss how he smiles more these days, and he certainly doesn’t miss the fact that Yoongi is almost always in a good mood rather than a foul one.

“You change back so early these days. Any idea why?” Jimin asks curiously, after Yoongi tells him that he changes two hours right after Jimin left the apartment that morning.

“Don’t know. But I think it’s a sign that this damned curse will be over soon, so I’m happy with that,” Yoongi shrugs, but he’s smiling widely and Jimin couldn’t help but smile too.

As much as he loves cat Yoongi, Jimin is happy for him that he can finally go back to leading a normal life again.

“I’m happy for you too,” Jimin says, earning a playful pat on his head from Yoongi as he laughs softly.

“Jiminnie,” Yoongi says, his voice gentler than Jimin’s ever heard before. His eyes widen slightly at the sudden show of affection.

“Thank you,” Yoongi says softly, his hand still resting on top of Jimin’s head. Very slowly, he begins to card his fingers through the strands of hair. And when Yoongi tilts his head to the side and smiles so, so gently, Jimin just stops breathing.

Yoongi moves to cradle the back of Jimin’s head, before sliding his hand down and his fingers brush against Jimin’s neck. Jimin clenches his fists to stop himself from shivering, his eyes snapping shut involuntarily and he can feel his heart starting to ache.

A thousand years passed before Yoongi moves again. He pats at the back of Jimin’s neck once, twice, and says, “It’s getting late. Let’s go to sleep, hmm?”

Jimin opens his eyes and Yoongi is already standing up, hauling Jimin up along with him.

A few minutes later, they’re lying on the bed comfortably and Jimin couldn’t help but notice that they sleep really close to each other now, so close that he would bump his nose against Yoongi’s shoulder if he turns to the side.

Yoongi yawns and shifts around to get more comfortable and when he settles down again, he’s had his back facing Jimin.

Jimin stares at his shoulder blades as he pouts in disappointment. It sounds a little creepy, but he thinks that Yoongi looks beautiful when he’s asleep (he’s always beautiful, but it’s only when he’s sleeping that Jimin can admire him properly) and so peaceful that it soothes his heart sometimes.

Yoongi’s shoulders are sharp and broader than his, and Jimin kind of wants to back hug him. He wonders if Yoongi would let him.

His thoughts are interrupted when Yoongi suddenly lets out a loud huff, squirming a little and curling into himself.

“Cold,” Yoongi mutters sleepily, and Jimin takes the chance. He moves slowly, sliding his arms around Yoongi’s small waist and pulling him closer until his back is flush against Jimin’s chest. Yoongi jolts slightly but doesn’t push him away, and Jimin assumes that he’s too tired to do so.

Yoongi hums softly, and Jimin just smiles into his shoulder, the soft material of Yoongi’s woolen sweater tickling his nose.

“Better?” Jimin asks, holding Yoongi a little tighter around the waist. Yoongi’s reply is somewhat muffled, but Jimin catches it anyway.

“Mmm, goodnight.”

xxx

Jimin is not working today, which also means that it’s another day for him to laze around like a bear during hibernation. Naturally, he wakes up later than usual and he won’t get out of his bed until he rolled in it for another half an hour.

Jimin stretches his limbs like a starfish and grunts, one hand sliding along the sheets to search for that familiar ball of warmth. His fingertips brush against something soft and warm, and Jimin hums sleepily before wrapping his hand around Yoongi’s abdomen to pull him closer.

Yoongi lets out a high-pitched meow, no doubt a little annoyed by Jimin being this touchy in the morning, but doesn’t move to escape from his grasp as Jimin cradles him to his chest like a child hugging his favorite soft toy.

Yoongi flicks his tail lazily, tickling Jimin’s arm and eliciting a soft laugh from him as he nudges at the crown of Yoongi’s head with his nose. Yoongi gently places his paws on Jimin’s throat, smiling inwardly at the way his adam’s apple bobs up and down when he speaks.

“Mornin’, kitty,” Jimin says, teasing in a sing-song voice. Yoongi growls, his paws now landing on Jimin’s face as he tries to push him away. Jimin laughs, turning away so that Yoongi’s paws fall from his face. He should be grateful that I’ve yet to unleash my deadly claws. Yoongi thinks bitterly as Jimin reaches out for him again.

After a few more minutes of their cuddling session, Yoongi figures that they’ll never be able to get out of bed if they don’t stop cuddling soon, so he pats Jimin on the nose twice to remind him about that.

Jimin obeys silently and moves to scramble out of bed, but not before dropping a quick kiss on Yoongi’s left paw. The black cat squeaks in surprise, and it’s no doubt that he’ll blush a deep red if he’s in his human form now.

Yoongi’s reaction is adorable. Jimin thinks with a grin on his face as he slips into the bathroom to wash up.

Fifteen minutes later, Jimin is in the kitchen preparing bacons and sausages for breakfast, while Yoongi is busy sniffing at the air, greedily taking in the delicious aroma of food.

“Go easy on the meat. You’ll get fat if you eat like a pig,” Jimin warns him as he places plates of food on the dining table. Yoongi tries his best to roll his eyes at him and pointedly ignores the way Jimin yells in horror when he jumps on top of the table and eats directly from a plate of bacons.

xxx

Right after breakfast, Jimin slumps back into his bedroom, laziness seeping into his bones and he just wants to crawl back into bed, maybe read a book or two as a pastime.

Sorting through his slightly messy bookrack, Jimin picks a novel that he had started to read a while ago but has yet to finish and seats himself on the bed with his back leaning against the headboard comfortably.

He’s halfway through the third page when Yoongi pads into the room, obviously bored and having nothing to do as well.

“Hey,” Jimin greets simply, not turning his attention away from the novel he’s reading. Yoongi meows in response, and Jimin can feel the bed sinks a little as he hops onto it.

Yoongi stares at the novel in Jimin’s hands curiously for a moment, before casually settling himself in between Jimin’s outstretched legs and curling into a ball there. Jimin smiles, reaching over to smooth a hand down Yoongi’s back and earning a purr from the cat.

Half an hour passes in comfortable silence, Jimin wholly focused on the novel whilst Yoongi takes a nap at where he’s settled between Jimin’s knees.

Everything is quiet and peaceful then, until there’s suddenly a low grunt and Jimin’s legs are being pushed further apart as the bed dips with more weight.

Jimin lowers the novel in his hands and there’s Yoongi – now human – shifting around to push himself into a sitting position while groaning, obviously frustrated.

These sudden transformations of him are quite common now, so Jimin is not as surprised as before. He reaches forward to grab a blanket lying next to his calf and drops it on top of Yoongi’s head. Yoongi pulls it off irritatingly before draping it over his lower body to cover himself. 

To Jimin’s surprise, Yoongi remains seated between his legs, his back facing him and he doesn’t look like he’s going to move away. Jimin frowns in confusion.

“Aren’t you going to put some clothes on?” he asks, closing the book in his hands and setting it aside.

“I’m too lazy to move,” Yoongi mumbles, and he actually shifts around to get more comfortable between Jimin’s legs. “Just let me stay here until I have the willpower to get up. Like maybe an hour later.”

Jimin wants to laugh at that, but he holds his breath as Yoongi leans backward so that his head is on Jimin’s chest and his back is pressed against Jimin’s abdomen.

Suddenly he couldn’t breathe. The air is growing thick and Yoongi’s weight on top of him is definitely not helping. He can see Yoongi’s pale chest as he trails his eyes downward, and the sight reminds Jimin that he’s still naked god dammit.

Yoongi must’ve felt the way Jimin’s body tenses underneath him, because he’s craning his neck to look up at him, his soft locks tickling Jimin’s chin as he moves.

“Am I making you uncomfortable?” Yoongi asks, tilting his head to the side to stop his fringe from falling into his eyes. Jimin is distracted by how close they are to each other – Yoongi’s nose is almost touching his jaw, and it would be so easy for him to just lean down and steal a kiss from those lips now.

“Uhm, no, not really,” Jimin answers quietly, clenching and unclenching his fists to calm himself down. He’s telling the truth, though. He doesn’t feel uncomfortable, not at all. If anything, he wishes Yoongi will stay like that a little longer.

“Good,” Yoongi smiles, then picks up the novel Jimin’s reading earlier. “What’re you reading anyway?”

“Well, there’s this little boy…” Jimin starts, taking the book from Yoongi’s hands and flipping it to page one so that they can read it together.

(Yoongi falls asleep after that, and although Jimin’s body is sore from all the weight it’s bearing, he takes the chance to wrap his arms around Yoongi and soon falls asleep to the even rhythm of his breathing.)

xxx

Yoongi is spending less and less time as a cat. Sometimes he even changes before Jimin leaves the apartment for work, which means he can’t be spending more than a few hours a day in his cat form.

Yoongi is thrilled by the fact and he looks so happy these days and when he smiles Jimin couldn’t help but smile like an idiot too.

“Oh my god, did you see that? It’s like 8’o clock in morning!” Yoongi exclaims, dancing around a little as he pulls a shirt over his head. “I think this is going to end really soon.”

Jimin hums, somehow feeling a little sad. He’s been thinking about this for quite some time now, a question that he couldn’t get out of his mind. What will Yoongi do once he returns to his normal life? Will he… leave?

“What’re you going to do after this?” Jimin asks quietly, hoping that the sudden fall of his facial expression isn’t too obvious.

Yoongi doesn’t seem to notice it. He purses his lips in thought before he answers. “Get a job, maybe. It’s boring as hell to stay here and do nothing,” he says.

“Oh,” Jimin responds, not sure of what to say next. Yoongi finally notices the gloomy expression on his face.

“Why? Are you chasing me out of your house?” he jokes, laughing as Jimin’s eyes widen a fraction. “Yeah, I feel kind of guilty t-”

“No! It’s not like that!” Jimin cuts him off hastily, a little louder than necessary. Yoongi stares at him in utter shock and he can feel his face grows hot as he stutters out his next words.

“I mean, uhm, you’re not burdening me. Not at all. You – you can stay here as long as you want. It’s fine. It’s fine, really.”

“Woah, okay. I’m touched,” Yoongi laughs nervously at Jimin’s sudden outburst. “I’m just teasing, calm down.”

“Right. Okay,” Jimin nods, utterly embarrassed of himself. Stupid.

Yoongi smiles at him and walks over to sit next to him on the couch. He sits close enough that their knees touch each others’.

“Seriously, though,” Yoongi starts and Jimin lifts his eyes to hold his gaze. “I’ll move out as soon as I find a place. It’s not right to live off of you like this.”

“Hyung, no,” Jimin argues, placing a hand on Yoongi’s knee and both of them look surprised because it’s been forever since Jimin used honorifics to address Yoongi. Jimin would like to think that it’s because of how close they’ve gotten with each other. “I mean it when I say that you can stay here as long as you want. I really don’t mind and I like your company,” he says, his eyes sparkling genuinely.

Yoongi gives him a look so soft that Jimin’s heart constricts in his chest. His hair is falling into his eyes, and Jimin tries so hard to not reach out and brush it away.

Yoongi’s lips move slowly as they form around each word. “Thank you, Jimin. You’re so sweet."

Jimin thinks his heart is going to explode one day, and the cause will be none other than Min Yoongi.

xxx

It’s Sunday, Jimin’s not working and the sun hasn’t fully rose yet, the sky a mix of grey and dark blue so apparently it’s still way too early in the morning for him to be awake.

However, his mind says otherwise. It’s giving him some sort of a nightmare, one where a black kitten is being snatched away by a pair of large, rough hands, and Jimin is chasing after them like his life depended on it, trying desperately to save the kitten.

The air in his lungs is running thin and his whole body feels like it’s on fire, but the distance between him and the black kitten just grows farther and farther, until everything blends into the dark and disappears.

Jimin jerks awake with a low groan and sweat dripping past his temples. He blinks up at the ceiling a few times, noting that the room is still dark, so it must be quite early in the morning.

Letting out a tired sigh, Jimin closes his eyes and rolls to the side, extending an arm to reach blindly for Yoongi.

Instead of soft and warm fur, his fingers skim over something smooth, oddly similar to human skin. At first, Jimin’s mind couldn’t register it, but after a few seconds, his eyes snap open as he realizes that he’s actually touching human skin.

Jimin shrieks as he pulls himself into a sitting position and scrambles away from that something he just came in contact with skin-to-skin. The room is dim from the lack of light, so it takes him a couple of heartbeats to realize that he’s looking at the back of a man, pale and naked, with the lower half of his body tangled in between the mess of blankets.

The man stirs in his sleep, letting out a low grumble that Jimin has grown so familiar with. He suddenly feels like crying.

“Oh my god, Yoongi!” Jimin yells, lurching forward and grabbing him by the shoulders to shake him awake. “Wake up! This is unbelievable. Yoongi, wake up!”

“What – ” Yoongi mumbles, flipping over to lie on his back as he rubs at his eyes, before cracking them open very slowly. When he realizes that actual words are coming out of his mouth instead of a string of meows, he freezes and his eyes go comically wide.

A full five seconds passed before Yoongi sits up on the bed abruptly and stares down at his own body as if he’s in a trance and he couldn’t process what the hell is going on. He lifts his hands to study them, first at his palms and then the back of his hands, curling and uncurling his fingers in the process. Then he brings his hands to his face and in a painstaking manner, running them over his eyes, his nose, his lips.

When he’s finally done verifying whatever he needs to, he slowly turns to Jimin. “Jimin, I –”

He doesn’t get to finish because the next thing he knows, Jimin is throwing himself at him and the force of it is enough to pin him down onto the mattress. Yoongi lets out a breathless laugh as Jimin wraps his arms around him in a tight embrace.

“Congratulations,” Jimin laughs, letting go of Yoongi and pushing himself up with his arms so that he hovers above him. “I’m so happy for you, really.”

Jimin’s beautifully curved eyes shine in the dark as he smiles. Yoongi looks speechless for a moment, before he slowly lifts his hands to cup Jimin’s face ever so gently.

“Jimin,” he says, his voice still a little rough from sleep and Jimin has the sudden urge to close his eyes. “Thank you so much.”

“I love you,” Jimin breathes, and his mind goes blank. Yoongi smiles up at him, but he doesn’t say anything. Jimin feels dizzy for a moment, his vision going blurry at the edges and his hands feel cold. He blinks slowly as he recollects himself, and when he focuses his gaze on Yoongi again, he’s still smiling up at him.

Jimin feels a pang of cold as he realizes that he didn’t say the words out loud. He did it in his heart, and his mind is playing tricks on him to make him believe that he actually said it aloud. He wants to laugh at himself.

Yoongi’s low voice pulls him back into reality. “Hey,” he utters, patting gently at Jimin’s upper arm. “We need to wash up. Get off.”

“Sorry,” Jimin mumbles, moving away from Yoongi and slipping out of bed. “I’ll use the bathroom first. I won’t be long.”

“Sure.”

xxx

The next day, they stay up for the whole night just to check if Yoongi’s transformation is really coming to an end. They talk and talk and talk, waiting for time to pass and Jimin can tell that Yoongi is just as nervous as he is, the way his fingers worry at the hem of his shirt and his tongue sticking out to wet his lips every now and then.

Jimin is just about to tell Yoongi to stop pulling at the fabric of his shirt when both of them notice the first ray of light filtering into the apartment. Yoongi snaps his head towards the clock hanging on the wall before letting out a whoop of joy, and Jimin doesn’t even have the chance to check the time because Yoongi is taking hold of his shoulders and shaking them, excitement written all over his face.

“It’s finally over. No more disgusting cat food for me!” Yoongi laughs, briefly squishing Jimin’s cheeks between his hands and the contact rids every ounce of exhaustion in Jimin’s body from staying up through the night.

“Let’s go get breakfast!” Yoongi suggests, looking like an excited child and it’s so, so endearing that Jimin’s quite sure he’s smiling back at him like an idiot.

“No,” he argues, sounding a little whiny but he doesn’t really care about that right now. “Let’s sleep first. I’m so damn tired.”

Jimin attempts to pull Yoongi down onto the bed with him, but Yoongi grins cheekily and he wouldn’t budge. Instead, he tugs Jimin towards the opposite direction, out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

“Nope. Food is more important,” Yoongi states, laughing when Jimin pouts at him.

“I’m too tired to cook,” Jimin complains, leaning against the counter heavily.

Yoongi just smiles at him and goes over to the refrigerator to open it.

“I’ll cook for you this time.”

xxx

It turns out that Yoongi knows nothing about cooking. He can’t even clean a fish.

Jimin facepalms and ends up doing everything for him.

“You’ll die of hunger without me.”

“Then teach me how to cook, idiot.”

xxx

Three days passed and Yoongi shows absolutely no signs of turning back into a cat.

Jimin doesn’t understand why a part of him feels uneasy. Unsettled. Like something precious to him is slipping away from his grasp and he could do nothing to stop it.

He convinces himself that he’s just tired. He convinces himself that it has nothing to do with Yoongi.

He tries to convince himself.

xxx

It doesn’t work.

xxx

Yoongi tells him that he wants to get a job or at least something to busy himself with. His reason is simple enough.

“I don’t want to stay here and rot. I’m so, so bored.”

Jimin couldn’t say no, so he agrees.

And regrets it right after.

xxx

Yoongi actually gets a job.

The weight in Jimin’s heart gets heavier.

xxx

It’s one week and countless sleepless nights later that Jimin starts to panic. He’s been trying to not think about it, but he just couldn’t keep it out of his head, the fact that Yoongi’s got a job now and is perfectly capable to live alone and away from him. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he just knows that Yoongi is probably planning to move out one day, not wanting to burden Jimin anymore.

Jimin wants to ask Yoongi about it, ask him if he’s really planning to leave, and stop him before he really does. But every time Yoongi looks at him, his eyes soft and smiling, the words in his throat just die. He couldn’t say it.

It’s pathetic.

He’ll never be able to say it.

xxx

It’s a few days later that Jimin realizes if he doesn’t say it now, he’ll lose Yoongi forever.

He couldn’t avoid it any longer, not when Yoongi is right beside him and he’ll never be able to forgive himself if he loses him just like that.

The thought hits him when he’s working at the restaurant that day. It’s a terrible timing, but he doesn’t really care because he just realized something so important and it took him long enough.

Go. Tell him before you lose him. Jimin’s heart is screaming at him. Go! Do something!

He slams his hands on the counter, startling poor Taehyung who’s deeply engrossed in the webtoon he’s reading on his phone.

“Tae,” Jimin says urgently, already taking off the apron he’s wearing. “Tell Seokjin hyung that I’m going off early today. I have something really important to do.”

Taehyung nods at him, wide eyed and confused, before Jimin mumbles a quick “thanks” to him and he’s darting out of the restaurant at full speed.

He runs down the streets and up the stairs to his apartment, not even stopping to catch his breath as he shoves the door open and crashes inside, almost losing his balance and falling face-first onto the floor.

Yoongi is standing right in front of him, frozen in place with his eyes wide in horror. Jimin doubles over as he pants harshly, wanting to speak but his lungs are demanding air so he has to catch his breath first. But then he catches sight of a black suitcase dragging behind Yoongi and he stops breathing.

He’s too late. Yoongi is leaving.

“You’re leaving,” Jimin wheezes, unable to look Yoongi in the eyes because he’s not sure that he can hold back tears if he does. “I thought you said you wouldn’t.”

Yoongi walks closer to him. The suitcase scratches against the floor, a sound that’s far too loud for the stillness in the air. It sends a pang right into Jimin’s heart. “Jimin, I –”

“Don’t,” Jimin cuts him off, his voice shaking. He places a hand on Yoongi’s chest to stop him from moving, noting that his fingers are trembling too. “Don’t go. I’m sorry, it’s selfish. I-I’m sorry. I can’t –”

Jimin’s voice falters, a lump forming in his throat and he could say nothing more. His chest constricts until his breaths become irregular again, his eyes burning and he just couldn’t stop shaking. Yoongi stares at him, eyes wide and lips slightly parted and Jimin’s never seen him looking so lost before.

“Jimin, listen –”

Jimin tugs him forward by the front of his shirt and their lips crash together. Yoongi’s breath leaves him in a gasp of surprise as Jimin grips him with both hands to bring him closer. Yoongi’s lips are soft but unmoving against his, but he doesn’t pull away or try to stop him. Jimin slips his eyes shut and tilts his face a little, kissing Yoongi deeper because he knows that this is the last and only chance he gets to. The kiss is soft and sweet and bitter at the same time, Jimin wanting to hold Yoongi like this forever but he knows that he’ll eventually have to let go because, he’s a fool for falling in love and hurting himself like this and now he’s being selfish, asking Yoongi to stay just for the sake of his one-sided feelings.

Tears prick at Jimin’s eyes and before he knows it, they’re falling down his cheeks, warm and stinging against his skin. Yoongi finally moves, hands on Jimin’s neck as he makes soft noises under his breath, against his lips. Jimin breaks the kiss, heart clenching painfully as he pulls away, eyes fluttering open but he’s not looking at Yoongi.

Let go. He tells himself. Let go now or you will never be able to.

“Jimin,” Yoongi mutters, soft and gentle, his lips moving slowly as he speaks. Jimin couldn’t stop his tears from flowing. You’re making this harder for me.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, shaking his head lightly. “J-Just forget what happened. I promise I won’t bother you again. I’m so sorry.”

Jimin turns and pulls himself away from Yoongi, his hands slipping from his chest slowly. But then warm hands close over his wrists and hold him in place, and Jimin snaps his head back in astonishment as Yoongi looks straight into his eyes.

“Don’t be,” he says, his voice so soft that Jimin feels a sudden whirl of dizziness. “I’m sorry it took so long.”

“W-what?” Jimin stutters dumbly, not sure of what he’s hearing. Did Yoongi just –

“I’m scared to say it, but I’m even more scared of losing the chance to,” Yoongi confesses, his gaze piercing right through Jimin’s soul and he finds himself unable to look away. Jimin’s heart leaps wildly as he thinks of what Yoongi would say next. It can’t be –

“I really love you. I’m sorry it took so long. But I really do.”

Jimin cries again. Yoongi holds him close, hands cupping his face as he kisses his tears away. Jimin closes his eyes, soft little whimpers spilling past his lips uncontrollably as Yoongi presses warm lips against his forehead to smooth his frown away.

“Stop crying,” he mutters softly, warm breath fluttering across Jimin’s cheeks in a soothing way. Jimin opens his eyes and tilts his head upward, brushing his lips against Yoongi’s jaw as he smiles faintly.

“Love,” Jimin coos, not at all caring that his voice is overflowing with affection and sweetness. Yoongi hums softly at the new nickname, his hands now wrapping around Jimin’s waist as he brings their body closer to each other’s.

Jimin kisses him for the second time that day, nothing more than a quick peck before he’s pulling away to smile at him. Yoongi makes a noise of disapproval under his breath as he chases after Jimin’s lips, kissing him properly on the mouth and eliciting a soft laugh from the younger.

“I love you,” Jimin keeps saying it between kisses, not even caring about how cheesy it sounds because that’s what his feelings are and he’s not going to keep them in anymore.

Hell, he would say that to Yoongi every day if he wants to.

Jimin couldn’t be happier.

xxx

Another quiet morning, and Jimin wakes up slowly, groaning as he stretches like a cat on the bed. He has to blink a few times before he can open his eyes fully, then rolls to the other side of the bed out of habit. His nose collides right into Yoongi’s shoulder, but he doesn’t move away, instead he snuggles closer so that he can wrap his arms around Yoongi’s abdomen and pulls him into a back hug, something he loves to do now that he gets to do it whenever he wants to.

Yoongi stirs in his sleep, making soft sniffling noises and burying his face deeper into his pillow – a sign that he’s slowly waking up. Jimin waits for him to do so, smiling as Yoongi shifts around in his embrace, his mind probably not awake enough to register that someone is hugging him from behind.

But then Yoongi catches him off guard by turning around in his arms, his shoulder almost knocking Jimin right in the nose as he lets out a squeak of surprise. Yoongi’s arms go around Jimin’s shoulder before pulling him in so that his head fits perfectly into the crook of Yoongi’s neck.

“Good morning,” Yoongi mutters, fingers sliding into Jimin’s hair before slowly carding through the strands. Jimin can only stare at his throat as he speaks and groans in response. Yoongi laughs softly as he imagines the younger pouting, which is exactly what Jimin is doing right now.

They spend a few more minutes lying in each other’s arms, Jimin pressing feather-light kisses against Yoongi’s throat and Yoongi brushing Jimin’s hair away from his face with gentle hands.

Eventually, they have to get up from bed and to the bathroom to wash up, and Jimin thinks of what to cook for breakfast as he reaches for his toothbrush.

xxx

“Let’s go out for a walk today.”

Jimin looks up at Yoongi, eyeing him curiously as he shoves the last piece of bacon on his plate into his mouth.

“To where?” he asks, watching as Yoongi finishes his glass of milk.

“Don’t know. Just wanna go out for a bit,” Yoongi replies with a shrug.

Jimin hums thoughtfully. “Let’s go to the restaurant. I want my friends to meet you,” he suggests.

“But I’m planning to spend the whole day with you. And you only,” Yoongi says, and he’s actually pouting. Jimin’s reaction is quite enthusiastic –he gasps at him, before covering his mouth with his hands and laughs, perhaps a little too hardly.

Yoongi puts on his best judgmental face and frowns at Jimin playfully as he waits for him to finish laughing.

When Jimin’s finally done, Yoongi pouts again. “Can we go now?”

Jimin smiles sweetly and leans forward to press a kiss to the corner of Yoongi’s mouth.

“Not until you finish washing the dishes, love.”

Yoongi actually pouts the third time that day.