"But hyung..."

"Nope."

"But... But I need him."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't."

"I do."

"You don't."

"I do, hyung! How am I going to live without him?"

"Try living like a mature, normal grown-up man."

"I am a grown man, hyung! I just need him with me."

"No is a no, Jongin. And that's final." I turn my gaze back to the movie on the TV. From the corner of my eyes, I can see him opening his mouth, so I quickly cut him off. "Goodnight, Jongin."

Lips quivering and shoulders slumped, he slowly gets up from the couch, turns his back on me and drags his feet across the hall to retreat to our shared bedroom. Looking at how sad his backside looks is almost enough to make me jump off the couch and hug the life out of him, but he needs to learn a lesson.

I flip through the channels, trying to distract myself. But man, this is hard to do when all I can see is the dejected look on Jongin's face. I swear I saw a few beads of tears pooling in his eyes, threatening to fall.

Damn.

Deciding that it's best to check on the kid, I turn off the TV and make my way to the bedroom. The door is slightly ajar and it's totally dark, but I can totally hear the faint sniffles and sobs from the center of the room. Letting myself into the room and walking as carefully as I can in the darkness, I land my on the unoccupied side of the bed.

"Jongin..."

No reply.

"Jongin, look at me."

Silence.

"Baby..."

Nope. Nothing.

Knowing how good Jongin is at sulking (although he tries to deny it), I lay myself beside him with my chest touching his back and an arm wrapping around his waist. I scoot closer and I feel his body tenses.

"Baby, I know you're upset about him. But you are a grown man, and you need to learn to stop depending on others." I kiss,his shoulder and he visibly relaxes. "If you don't practice independency now, what would you do if I'm not around? What would you do if I had to leave you alone?"

In the blink of an eye, I find myself lying on my back with an armful of Jongin and a head of Jongin's jet black hair. Startled, I look up to see his tear-stained face.

"You're not going to leave me, right? You're just saying that, right? Don't leave me, hyung. I'll do anything for you. I'll be good. I promise. Just, just don't leave me alone. Please, hyung. Please..."

Sigh.

"I won't leave you, Jongin. And you know that I will never do that to you. But we don't know what the future holds for us, right? I want you to know that I really love you, Jongin, but we have to be prepared because that's how the world works." I cup his face with both my palms and pull him closer till our lips meet. "I love you, Jongin, but I can't promise you eternity when I don't know what will happen to me. One thing I know, as long as I'm here, as long as I'm breathing, I will give you my all." Another kiss. "Do you understand me, Jongin?"

Slowly, he nods his head and gives me another peck on my lips before resting his head on my chest. It's a bit awkward since he's bigger and taller than me, but heck, I don't care as long as Jongin's with me.

We stay in the position, trying to match our breaths and enjoying the serenity of the moment, until... "You know you can just admit that you're jealous of him. I know this has nothing to do with me being a grown-up mature man."

I stop my fingers that have been playing with his hair. He lifts his head and there's a smirk plastered on his face.

.

"I knew it, hyung. I know you don't like him from the moment I brought him back home. Am I right, Xiumin hyung?"

And that, my fellow friends, is how I lost my dignity as a man who gets jealous of his boyfriend's kitty plushie (of which he hugs each and every night, dammit).