Taemin really wanted pets although he had never had an experience with one. It sure was part of their future when Minho and he moved into an apartment they would own, unlike the one-bedroom apartment they were renting out for cheap in downtown, saving up for that dream apartment and life they both always talked about on those nights when they were too tired to even sleep.

Little did he know that the day was to come soon and not later.

One evening, Minho turned up from work, holding a cat. Taemin stood and stared for a while, contemplating whether the feline was real or just a plush toy because it surely was too beautiful- it had fluffy white fur and deep blue eyes and it wore a collar the same shade as its eyes. When it shifted in Minho’s arms, Taemin’s daze broke and Minho laughed at the curious awe in his boyfriend’s eyes before entering and letting the cat down.

“The poor thing was abandoned near the bus stop.” Minho explained after kissing Taemin’s cheek in greeting, “Saw him in the morning. No one had taken him in by the evening so I got him cleaned and vaccinated at the vet before bringing him here. The vet asked us to care for him temporarily.”

Taemin crouched and tried to pick the cat up but it escaped his clutches, hissing and hid between Minho’s legs. “Did you name him yet?” Taemin asked, pouting as he tilted his head to get a glimpse of the feline.

“Nope.” Minho answered, “The honor is all yours.”

Taemin smirked.

“Lucifur!” Taemin called but all he got was pin drop silence in return.
 

It had been a couple of days since Minho had brought in Lucifur but the cat avoided Taemin like the plague. He didn’t even eat until Minho was home. He was a scaredy cat, scared of almost anything loud and new…especially strangers. Minho had some scratches on his arm because Lucifur had been hostile to him at first. Minho recounted the whole story- of how Lucifur was hissing at every person who gave him a look, driving them away. But he understood where that hostility was coming from because the poor cat flinched and gathered itself whenever the bus screeched loudly to a halt before them. After a few scratches and couple of failed attempts, Minho had bought him some milk, which Lucifur had “investigated” a good while before drinking. It was only then that Minho could pick him up successfully.

Taemin felt a tad bit jealous and hell lot offended, seeing the cat run to Minho, passing him like he did not exist.

Although Minho enjoyed Taemin’s puffed cheeks and annoyed pout, he took Lucifur and snuggled close to Taemin, trying to get Lucifur accustomed to Taemin as well through their shared space.

It took about a week for Lucifur to realize that Taemin was his caregiver too but he didn’t rush to him like he did to Minho. Instead, he quietly showed up in Taemin’s view when called and snuggled somewhere close by. Somehow, his resting spots were all right below the A/C vents.

He often flinched when Taemin the TV and looked around in bewilderment, getting scared of the sound.

The only time that he turned hostile was when Taemin would get the vacuum out to clean. Taemin at first was like “what the hell” but soon he started to find Lucifur’s hissing amusing. What was far more amusing was Lucifur dashing away quickly when Taemin wouldn’t heed his hissing and turn on the vacuum anyways. Taemin couldn’t help but laugh on sighting him glaring at him from the other room, waiting for him to get rid of the vacuum.

When Taemin left the windows open for a while for the fresh air to come in, the curtains would start swaying and Lucifur would go and sit in front of the swaying curtains, before hesitatingly jumping on the hems. The cat would then eventually end up getting stuck in the swaying curtains while he continued to play with them, meowing whenever they moved away and collided with him again with the wind. Taemin watched him play like that while he made dinner, chuckling to himself.

Lucifur had perhaps previously lived in a pampered household because he was too accustomed to cool air and now knew where every vent in their apartment was…even those which even Taemin didn’t know about. Lucifur would roll around lazily in front of the vents, or sometimes sit snugly as he gazed at the still world around him until he fell asleep. He napped a lot, yawned a lot, yet he was the first to snuggle into their bed at night, overtaking them when they headed to their room to sleep. He would lie down at his spot and even close his eyes halfway, waiting for both his caregivers to settle in as well. But sometimes if he got hot, he would jump around on the bed and then go to the spot below the vent.

One night, Taemin felt those little jumps on their bed, but he didn’t care much as he knew what they were for. He was almost drifting asleep as well so he didn’t notice that the movement was approaching upwards, towards his pillow. But suddenly he felt something soft jump on his forehead and zip by and he woke up, turning in Minho’s arms, noticing even Minho wake up, rubbing his head.

“Did Lucifur just run on our heads?” He asked drowsily and Taemin snickered, raising his head a bit and noticing the cat snuggle below the A/C vent, “Yeah.”

“We just got stepped on by a cat,” Minho softly chuckled, gently rubbing the mildly pink spot on Taemin’s forehead.

“Bet it’s revenge for you stepping on him the other day,” Taemin chuckled as well. The scene flashed in his mind and his chuckle grew into a laugh, “Poor thing, he shrieked and ran away…and then you ran behind him, all worried and saying sorry repeatedly.”

“I was still half asleep, I didn’t know what I was doing…” Minho trailed off, his embarrassment turning into fondness on seeing Taemin laugh so brightly. Taemin calmed on noticing Minho stare at him and grew flustered, “Anything wrong?”

With the arm that was resting on Taemin’s waist, Minho gently grabbed him and pulled him closer, kissing his cheek softly before kissing him on the lips. They parted a few moments later but Minho leaned in again.

“We’ve got work tomorrow,” Taemin said, trying to turn away but Minho tightened the arm around his waist, not letting him, “I know…but can you really go back to sleep now, Taemin?”

Taemin bit his lip, blushing a little, shifting closer, “If you look at me like that…I obviously can’t.”

Minho smirked in victory but Taemin began pushing him off the bed, bringing confusion to his features.

“Lucifur,” Taemin answered and Minho chuckled, “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Minho got off the bed and scooped the cat up, making it yowl, “Sorry, Lucifur,” He said, letting him out of the room and switching on the light of the hallway just in case, “But it’s best for you to keep your innocence.”

Slowly things began to change and instead of being reserved under the cool air and playing with inanimate objects that moved at times, Lucifur began to interact with Taemin. At first, it started with him climbing the coffee table whenever Taemin settled on the couch with cereal after work, too tired and lazy to make himself proper lunch. He would then start meowing continuously as Taemin ate. It was only after Taemin poured him milk as well when he would stop meowing and avidly start drinking his share.

He no longer hissed at Taemin when he got the vacuum out, but he was still scared of it and ran away at the vacuum’s sight.

The turning point was perhaps when Taemin was sorting the cabinet because he couldn’t find their pasta, and was holding a roll of aluminum foil in his hands, using it to shift things here and there so he didn't have to stretch. Lucifur was sitting at his feet and Taemin only realized it when he almost stepped on him. He swiveled away but Lucifur didn’t even flinch, his sparkling blue eyes stuck on the roll of foil in Taemin’s hands.

“Seriously?” Taemin asked him, furrowing his brows and when Lucifur started meowing, Taemin tore out a piece and placed it on the floor before continuing to find their pasta.

When he had finally found their box of pasta, Taemin looked to the cat and found him still playing with the foil, meowing at it and chasing it when it slid and flew away.

“Seriously…” Taemin chuckled, watching his ridiculous game.

Those couple of hours Lucifur spent with Taemin before Minho came back home became more and more eventful. Lucifur now began to follow Taemin discreetly. He was always somewhere around Taemin, napping or just watching TV with him. He was no longer scared of the TV sounds but he would sit up at the sound of the channel changing and zip his head to the side whenever the channel changed with the side-transition. Taemin often changed channels only to watch Lucifur play and react to that sound.

Soon, instead of the coffee table and the armrests, Lucifur was sitting at Taemin’s feet, rubbing against his toes. It took a couple of days for Taemin to realize that Lucifur was asking for a good scratch. He noticed how Lucifur usually sat at Minho’s feet in the night and Minho softly scratched him with his toes, making the feline relax and fall asleep. Taemin started doing the same-scratching him with his toes but then later he picked him up, to which Lucifur surprisingly did not resist. He scratched under his neck and him fondly and soon, the cat fell asleep in his lap.

When Minho got home that day, he found Taemin asleep on the couch with Lucifur curled up on his tummy. He smiled fondly, “Guess I’ll have to tell the vet we’re keeping him for good~”

xxx