“Jesus Christ.” Jongin raises a hand to his chest, an attempt to steady his breathing after getting surprised, yet again, by the scrawny black cat in their neighborhood. The cat hisses at anyone who passes by including him regardless of how often they see each other every single freaking day with Jongin going to and from university.

What’s interesting though, if not freaky, is the fact that the cat gets moody with literally everyone except for his same age neighbor, Do Kyungsoo. The feline follows the smaller boy around like a puppy every chance it gets and if that isn’t goose bumps inducing, then Jongin doesn’t know what is.

He even once thought it was the other male’s pet for he’s caught Kyungsoo far too many times feeding the cat and petting it with a grin on his face. Which is weird because Kyungsoo never smiles. Well, he probably, most likely does but never in front of Jongin. Also, he wears black 99% of the time which makes him think the other’s somehow connected to the underworld. Or whatever. What was Jongin supposed to think, right? But anyways.

He’s in the mood to be playful tonight and decides to entertain the cat. He engages the animal in a heated stare down, waiting—expecting a reaction that he doesn’t get to witness normally. He probably looks like a ing idiot right now, standing along the sidewalk, staring at a cat wordlessly like it’s a ing normal thing to do at 6 in the evening. He’s only snapped out of the staring battle when he hears a cough behind him, turning around to see Kyungsoo looking at him crazily.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Jongin croaks out a hesitant, “Hi?”

He swears he sees the cat smirk as it walks past him, rubbing its cheek against Kyungsoo’s leg like the stare down didn’t happen. Prick. Jongin feels offended.

But then nothing feels even more offensive than seeing Kyungsoo wear the exact same smirk— how it resembles the cat’s, he would never know— as he moves past Jongin, the animal following him around like usual.

“Hey!”

“Do!”

No response.

“It wasn’t like that! I swear the cat was trying to provoke me!”

Kyungsoo looks back only to give him an infuriating judging look.

Jongin sighs.

He can only hope he doesn’t cross paths with his neighbor tomorrow.

-

Jongin’s hopes are crushed when he sees Kyungsoo first thing in the morning, a bowl in hand and a box of milk in the other. Probably about to feed the snobbish cat. He tries to avoid the smaller by pulling the beanie further down his face, swiftly walking past the other when he suddenly feels Kyungsoo lightly bump onto his shoulder.

“Wanna greet your little friend a good morning, Kim?” he whispers.

“No, thank you, Do. I’m running late.” He replies as he composes himself, trying not to look as though the teasing bothered him the tiniest bit. Naturally, he fails.

“I was just kidding.” Kyungsoo chuckles and Jongin hates to admit that it sent tingles down his spine. “Quit being a prude.”

Jongin points at himself incredulously. “Me? Prude?” He mock laughs. “That’s rich coming from you.”

Kyungsoo snorts, “Whatever Jongin.”

-

“I’m honestly really confused.” Sehun muses, popping a chip in his mouth. “There could only be two reasons why you’re acting like this.”

“What—“

“One, you must have been really humiliated. I mean having both Kyungsoo and the cat witness your dumb? Must be tough.”

“What, no of course—“

“Two, the cat gets more action with Kyungsoo than you do.” Sehun snickers, flailing his bony limbs when he sees the incredulous look on Jongin’s face. Too easy.

Jongin immediately straightens up, acting as though the accusation didn’t affect him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sehun raises an eyebrow, “You sure about that?”

Jongin clears his throat, “You know he’s not my type.”

“Right.” Sehun snorts, “Let’s forget about that one time I caught you to a short looking male wiggling his —“

Sehun doesn’t get too far into his teasing when a handful of chips are shoved into his mouth.

Guilty .

-

Only a few days later does Jongin admit to himself that the second reason isn’t entirely wrong. Sehun’s hearing none of it, though.

-

The next time he sees Kyungsoo, the smaller looks frazzled talking to someone on the phone as he paces back and forth in front of their doorstep. Jongin knows he shouldn’t bother but soon after he finds himself standing awkwardly in front of the other male, waiting for him to finish with the call. Only when Kyungsoo hangs up does he acknowledge the presence of the newcomer.

“Is anything wro—“

“Can I stay the night?”

Jongin is stunned.

“What?”

Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, “I was asking if it’d be okay for me to spend the night at your place. I got locked out. No one’s coming home until tomorrow.”

Jongin almost wants to laugh because Kyungsoo didn’t even need to ask. But he doesn’t voice that out because Kyungsoo is staying the night. Holy .

“You’re staying the night? At my place?” Jongin confirms just in case.

“Only to sleep. Don’t even dare think about anything, Kim.” Kyungsoo reiterates. “But yeah, if nobody minds?”

“Well, it must be your lucky day, Do. No one’s home tonight.” Jongin grins.

“Oh my god, stop making it sound like—“ Kyungsoo cuts himself off before pushing Jongin forward towards his house. “Just lead the way.”

Jongin smiles, “Okay.”

-

“Will you be okay with the couch?” Jongin asks hesitantly, mentally hoping Kyungsoo wouldn’t take offense on that. He couldn’t just ask if he wanted to sleep with him on his own bed, right?

“Of course. I wouldn’t mind sharing a bed, though.” Kyungsoo replies nonchalantly. Like it didn’t just make Jongin almost choke on his own spit.

Jesus. This boy is going to be the death of him.

“I was kidding.” Kyungsoo chuckles. “You’re always too easy to tease.”

“And so I’ve been told.” Jongin rolls his eyes, handing Kyungsoo some pillows and blankets that he could use.

“Please tell me you didn’t drool on these.”

“I’m not falling for that one.” Jongin replies smugly. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Will do.” Kyungsoo replies, snuggling further onto the cocoon he’s made for himself. “Good night, Jongin.”

Jongin offers a small smile before heading to his room, “Good night.”

-

To Sehun:
im gonna die

From Sehun:
oh good. is there like a motif to ur funeral or sumthin’

To Sehun:
thats cute, u rly think ur invited
but srsly im dying!!!1!1!! not telling u why tho lol

From Sehun:
lol ok
anyway new phone who dis

To Sehun:
>:( you have just been disowned

-

Jongin is never a morning person. He takes at least half an hour—quarter of an hour if he’s feeling motivated—to fully adjust to his surroundings. So when he sees Kyungsoo over his self-made cocoon in nothing but his shirt and boxers, he almost feels a headache coming on.

It is too early for this. Too early to pop a .

He has half a mind to wake the other up but it would be too rude to not let the other sleep in when Kyungsoo seems to be in a deep slumber. He decides to prepare breakfast instead, heading to the kitchen to make Kyungsoo something that is somehow edible in his books.

Almost an hour later of trying to impress Kyungsoo with his cooking—which Jongin is sure he wouldn’t be able to pull off, he hears a soft padding of footsteps coming his way, craning his neck to see Kyungsoo looking all cute standing there, rubbing the sleepiness off his eyes.

“Good morning?”

“What’s for breakfast?” Kyungsoo groggily asks before seating himself beside the taller male. Jongin can tell the other isn’t a morning person too by the looks of it and he kind of wants to take advantage of that.

“Your favorite cat.” He answers nonchalantly.

The shorter snaps his head up at that, round eyes widening even more making his eyeballs look like they’re about to pop out of their sockets. “What the—“

“Gotcha there.” Jongin guffaws, slapping his knees in the process. The other just fixes his expression into a murderous glare, crossing his arms above his chest.

“Not funny, Kim.”

Jongin shrugs, chuckling before getting up from his seat to get Kyungsoo’s food from the counter. The latter digs in as soon as the plate of bacon and eggs is laid out in front of him, humming in satisfaction as he spoons one mouthful after another. He’s halfway through his meal when Jongin decides to make small talk.

“You know, I was wondering. If you like the cat so much, why don’t you just take him in?”

“Same reason I don’t have a boyfriend.” Kyungsoo nonchalantly replies, gesturing for the ketchup which Jongin instantly makes a grab for.

“And that is?” Jongin questions, waiting for a response while looking at the shorter male pour a generous amount on the side of his plate.

Kyungsoo shrugs, “Not enough time and resources to spend on another living being, I guess.”

“Well, you can always try?” Jongin coughs, eyeing the other knowingly. “If you really like them. I guess. But that’s just my opinion.”

The shorter male raises an eyebrow, grabbing a napkin to wipe his mouth before asking, “Are we still talking about the cat?”

Jongin internally panics, suddenly sweating profusely under his neighbor’s scrutinizing gaze. “Uh, yes? Of course what else—“

“Do you want me to try?”

“Oh, it’s up to you. The cat does seem to like you a lot anyways I’m sure he—it wouldn’t mind being your boy—pet. Yeah. Sorry. I tend to ramble in the mornings.”

Kyungsoo wants to laugh at the absurdity of this all but Jongin is being cute and how dare he resist that?

The shorter stands up from his seat, patting his tummy before giving his neighbor a satisfied grin. “That was a nice meal.”

He then starts walking towards the door, only stopping to look over his shoulder when he reaches for the knob. Jongin is gaping at him wordlessly and he almost wants to coo at how adorable his neighbor is being.

“7pm tonight at my apartment. I’m cooking you dinner.”

Only then does Jongin snap out of his reverie. “You don’t have to—“

“Shush.” Kyungsoo holds up a finger. “I am trying. See you later tonight, yeah?”

Jongin would be a fool to refuse that so the yes slips out of his mouth as soon as the question’s been asked.

The realization of what the night entails and what it means sinks in a minute later and he can only mutter a garbled ‘holy ’ before texting Sehun all about it.

He can’t wait.