Leeteuk was the first one awake the next morning. A familiar furry gray face was nuzzling under his chin and mewling in hunger. “Go bother Heechul,” Leeteuk mumbled in Korean to the cat and pulled the sheets up over his head. But Heebum was relentless when he was hungry in the morning and Leeteuk was the first one out the door during weekdays, so naturally the cat-human ritual continued through the weekend.

Eying the cat with the evilest of glares he could muster, Leeteuk grumbled about never getting to sleep in and pulled himself out of bed. He’d slept in the pair of pajama pants that Heechul had given him as a gag Christmas present, Spongepants or something like that, was the design. Leeteuk didn’t bother with a shirt, stumbling to the door. The damn cat was trying to weave through his legs with every step.

Rather than argue with Heebum about who should go first, Leeteuk picked up the cat and carried him to the kitchen to feed him. He felt hungry himself as he watched the cat eating, but he didn’t want to cook, so he ended up with a bowl of cold cereal and sat at the table.

He thought about Taeyeon as he ate, remembering how poorly she’d acted around Jia. Jia was already mysteriously nervous around everyone and very quiet. Taeyeon had mistaken Jia’s quietness for hiding something and had tried to start a fight with her over whether or not Jia had feelings for him. It was a mess, ending in Jia running to her room and Leeteuk trying to diffuse the situation by taking Taeyeon out of the Sharehouse. Leeteuk didn’t think that Heechul would ever really forgive him for that but his friend hadn’t created much fuss and Leeteuk was happy there hadn’t been any more stress. He really loved living in the Sharehouse, but Taeyeon was starting to insist that he move out and into her place.

Leeteuk sighed at his cereal and played with a spoonful of it. The more he thought about Taeyeon, the less of an appetite he had. Maybe if he waited long enough, Heechul would come take pity on him and make him food?

Heechul wasn’t the next one awake though. Leeteuk was surprised to see Jia come into the kitchen, pet the cat, pour some cereal and go back out the way she’d come, silently.

Leeteuk wondered if anyone could get her to talk and figured it would probably be Heechul that she’d talk to first. Heechul had a way with people, as long as they showed him respect, especially girls. Girls just seemed to like him, even with his harsh-at-times personality and quick-fire moods. Leeteuk guessed that if he wanted to get an apology to Jia for how Taeyeon had treated her, he’d have to go through Heechul.

When Heechul finally appeared in the kitchen, it was still dark out for how early in the morning it was. The younger man was wearing pink pajamas and walking sluggishly, dragging his feet while rubbing his eyes. “Morning,” he mumbled to Leeteuk when he saw him.

Leeteuk nodded his head, watching Heechul come to sit at the table across from him. A wide yawn was covered with a pale, slender hand and Leeteuk smiled. Heebum jumped up on the table and Heechul looked at the cat for a moment. Leaning his head in finally, owner and cat exchanged a head bump and Heechul scratched behind Heebum’s ears.

“Did Teukie feed you?” Heechul asked the cat, though the question was meant for Leeteuk.

“Teukie fed him,” Leeteuk said in Korean with a soft chuckle.

“It’s too early in the morning for Teukie to talk English with me,” Heechul told Heebum, switching to Korean too. “A little too early for a shirt too, looks like.” Heechul smirked and eyed Leeteuk’s chest.

Leeteuk rolled his eyes with a smile and felt his appetite coming back.

“What are you eating?” Heechul asked, leaning up to look in his bowl.

“Cereal, unless someone feels like cooking?” Leeteuk asked pointedly.

“Mm, not really,” Heechul chuckled and reached over for Leeteuk’s spoon, eating a bite of his cereal. He handed the spoon back with a cheeky grin.

Leeteuk made a little face at taking the spoon back, but decided he didn’t care much and just ate another bite with the same spoon. They exchanged bites with their shared spoon this way until the bowl was empty and Leeteuk sighed as he sat back in his chair.

Leeteuk looked at Heechul and noticed he was staring at his upper body. Heechul realized he’d been caught staring and looked at his cat instead. “Thinking about starting a gym routine?” Leeteuk asked.

“Me?” Heechul asked with a scoff. “Nope, I’m fine being lean, I don’t need bulk.” He smirked as he pet his cat.

“Then what are you thinking when you look at me like that?”

Heechul looked to Leeteuk’s eyes, staring at him for a long moment. His lips formed words never spoken until he finally said, “Taeyeon.” Heechul nodded. “I was thinking about what we should do for her and I just happened to be looking in a random direction. You were in the way of my vision was all.” He laughed softly.

Leeteuk chuckled and nodded. “How about we have a backyard barbecue? It would be a nice thing for Victoria too. Maybe we can get Jia out again? I think I need to apologize to her.”

Heechul nodded. “I haven’t seen Jia since that time,” he admitted. “Maybe it would be better to write her a note, or leave a small gift outside her room instead though? I don’t want to subject her to anymore Taeyeon than necessary.” Heechul gave an awkward laugh.

“I’ll do that then,” Leeteuk said, getting up to dump their bowl in the sink. “And we’ll plan on a barbecue later tonight?”

Heechul nodded absently, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Heechul?”

“Hm? Yeah, barbecue tonight,” Heechul said, snapping out of his thoughts with a smile.

“Okay. Thank you,” Leeteuk said, resting his hand on Heechul’s shoulder as he passed him to go back to his room.

“Yeah,” Heechul said, waiting until he heard Leeteuk’s bedroom door close before slumping his upper body on the table by Heebum. “I’m an idiot,” he said to his cat, who just blinked his eyes slowly at him in response, purring.