[Age: 7]

"Jongin! Jonginnie?" Jongin hears his daddy call him from the living room, a sort of sneaky excitement that he knows Junmyeon-daddy is trying to restrain from his voice. "Can you come here?"

Jongin scrambles from his bedroom where he'd been coloring in his colorbook with wearing crayons, a stinky chemical smell in the air from the hued wax. "Yeah, daddy?" He stumbles his little seven year old self to see Junmyeon-daddy and Yifan-daddy standing side-by-side by the front door, their hands behind their backs. Jongin raises an eyebrow. They're hiding something. He always knows when his daddys are being suspicious. "Where's Daedae and Seokkie?"

Yifan looks a little taken aback. "Dae...dae...and Seokkie..?" He shakes his head, as if snapping out of a daze. "Jonginnie, Junmyeon and I got you a present." He smiles wide and Jongin giggles. Yifan-daddy always looks funny when he smiles real wide.

"A present?" A bubble of excitement rises in him, elevating his little body to full joy. Oh boy! A present! And it's not even his birthday! "What is it?"

Junmyeon and Yifan exchange glances before they shuffle away from each other, revealing a small gap between their legs and--

Jongin gasps.

"Jongin," Junmyeon says, putting a hand on the shoulder of the little boy standing there. The boy's ears -- cat ears -- twitch. "This is Kyungsoo. He's a catboy. A new friend."

Jongin blinks. "Is he my brother?" He asks blankly.

Junmyeon shakes his head. "No! He's... just a friend." He wants to avoid the word "pet" lest Jongin start treating him like an actual animal. "You can play with him and take care of him."

"Take care of him? Why's that, daddy?"

"Well, see, Kyungsoo is a catboy. See his ears--" he pets Kyungsoo's ears and the boy lets out a cute sneeze, "--and his tail?" Junmyeon slides his hand along the sleek, black tail, and Jongin hears a purr.

Junmyeon stops, stands up straight, and waits for Jongin to say something. Both he and Yifan hold in a breath as Jongin stares at Kyungsoo.

They lock gazes before Yifan says, "Why don't we give you two some time to introduce each other?" Then, more quietly, to Junmyeon he says, "Come on, Jun."

Junmyeon follows Yifan as the latter leads him away by the hand. Murmured conversation is heard, but Jongin heeds them no attention.

"Sorry, love, you know I couldn't leave him there." Junmyeon does sound sorry.

"It's okay. I know how you feel. I'm glad we brought him back."

And then Jongin is left alone with Kyungsoo.

He walks up very slowly to the catboy, who looks back at him with big, big eyes.

Jongin puts his arms out... and gives him a bear hug.

Kyungsoo lets out a squeak of surprise.

"You're so cute," Jongin squeals, tightening his embrace and bouncing back and forth. "Oh my gosh, Kyungsoo you're so cute!"

It's a few seconds before Kyungsoo hesitantly puts his arms around Jongin's back too. "Oh, um, thank you. You... You are too."








"And this is my truck, and this is my train set, and these are my blocks, and this is my stuffed giraffe, but don't touch him. He's mine."

Kyungsoo nods along to Jongin's words and pointing, holding back a muffled yawn. He's had a long day.

Yifan's voice reaches Jongin from the kitchen where he and Junmyeon are cooking dinner. "Jongin, can you help Kyungsoo take a bath? You wash up too, alright? You were playing in the dirt earlier today, don't act like I don't know!"

"Okayyyy!" Jongin shouts back, tugging Kyungsoo up by the hand. "Let's go, SooSoo!"

"SooSoo?" Kyungsoo asks groggily, questioning the nickname.

The two take a warm bath, Kyungsoo trying not to fall asleep as Jongin washes his hair from behind him, scrubbing behind Kyungsoo's black cat ears and asking him about himself.

"What it's like being a cat?"

"Very smelly."

"Why? Do you smell bad?"

"No, everyone else does."

"Oh. Where are you from?"

"I don't know."

"...Oh. What's your favorite toy?"

"I don't have one."

"That's okay!" Jongin places his palms on Kyungsoo's cheeks, turning his head so they face each other. He gives the catboy a toothy smile. "You can play with mine!"

And for the first time since Kyungsoo's arrival, he smiles too. "If you say so, J- Jongin."

"Heh. Let's be best friends, Soo."

"O- okay."








[Age: 9]

"Bye Yifan-daddy, bye Junmyeon-daddy, bye Jongdae-hyung, bye Seokkie-hyung." They all give him kisses and hugs, and last of all, he turns to the doe-eyed, dark haired boy smiling at him from behind the crowd of his family.

Jongin grins the brightest for him. "Bye Kyungsoo!"

The catboy's tail flickers behind him happily as Kyungsoo waves back. "Bye Jonginnie. Have a good day at school."

Jongin giggles. "Make me a good dinner when I come home!" He calls out to Kyungsoo as he runs off.

Junmyeon heaves a sigh as he watches his son trip over his loose shoelace, only to pull himself up and keep running until he's only a speck in the distance. "Well," he says, gesturing to Jongdae and Minseok, "you two should get going as well."

The two pad back into the house. Yifan gives Kyungsoo a pat on the back before telling him to hurry inside soon. He knows Kyungsoo has this habit.

Kyungsoo lingers by the door, watching the direction Jongin had disappeared in. He is overcome with a sudden feeling. He swings around and sees Yifan walking down the house's small entrance hallway. He runs up and tugs on the tall man's shirt hem. Yifan turns to him curiously.

"Yes, Soo?" Yifan asks. The nickname had picked up the day after Kyungsoo's arrival, when Jongin had run into the living room with Kyungsoo where everyone was sitting and declared that he was now "his SooSoo".

"My chest hurts," Kyungsoo says. He doesn't call Yifan "daddy" like Jongin does because Junmyeon says he and Yifan aren't Soo's daddys, but he is part of the family. Junmyeon says not to call them "daddy" yet, but apparently one day he will. He doesn't understand, doesn't question it, but he goes with it.

Yifan scrunches his brows, kneeling down to speak on eye level with Kyungsoo. He glances at where Kyungsoo is clutching at his sweater over his heart and asks, "What? What's wrong? Do you feel sick?"

Kyungsoo shakes his head. "It hurts when I look at Jongin leave. Why does it hurt?"

"Oh," Yifan says, looking surprised. "Oh, Soo. Don't... uh. It's nothing wrong. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Kyungsoo nods. Yifan gets to his feet, brushing off his knees. "Uh, Soo? Could you get my briefcase from my room?"

Kyungsoo nods again and runs off.

Yifan finds Junmyeon handing Jongdae and Minseok their lunchboxes. "Go put on your shoes, 'kay?" He pats their backs as they walk off. Junmyeon stretches his arms into the air and sees Yifan walking up. He raises an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be preparing for work?"

Yifan thinks it over before saying anything, deciding to take the let's-make-a-joke-out-of-this way. He throws on a half-hearted smile. "Do you know what Kyungsoo just told me?"

Junmyeon makes an "ng?" noise. "What did he say?"

"He, uh. He said his chest hurts when he watches Jongin leave the house ha ha ha isn't that funny?" Even his laughter sounds ridiculously fake to him.

"Oh," Junmyeon breathes out, his eyes growing wider. "Oh. Oh my god. What do we do?"

Yifan takes Junmyeon in his arms. "Hey, hey, no, don't think like that. He's just a kid. Probably doesn't even know what it means. No, definitely doesn't know what it means. It'll just wear off, you know? No worries." Plus, what's wrong with a little love? Lots of people are that way with cat-people. But he doesn't say that. Junmyeon is freaked out enough as it is.

He feels Junmyeon nod. "Yeah. You're right."

"Let's go send off the twins."

"Yeah."

Yifan releases Junmyeon with a kiss to his forehead. He twines their fingers together and pulls Junmyeon to the door where Jongdae is still struggling to tie his shoelaces. They watch Minseok kneel down to help him and Jongdae thanks him with a big, toothy smile.

"Come on, you two, run along." Junmyeon sends them off with kisses to the cheek. They wave goodbye.

Yifan throws an arm around Junmyeon's shoulders as they watch the twins leave, Jongdae taking Minseok's hand in his.

As soon as they're out of sight, Yifan captures Junmyeon's lips in his. "Well, I gotta get going too." Right on cue, Kyungsoo shows up with Yifan's briefcase, his cheeks pink from the effort of running and looking all over the room for it. Yifan takes it, smiling and ruffling Kyungsoo's hair. He steps out towards his car.

"You two take care!" He calls out the window when he pulls out of the driveway.

Junmyeon takes Kyungsoo under his arm as they send their goodbyes.

"What do you want to do today, Soo?" Junmyeon asks, closing the front door behind them.

"Can you teach me how to make chocolates?" Replies Kyungsoo, crossing off the day's date on their calendar. February 7th.

Junmyeon, overjoyed by the request, picks Kyungsoo up with his hands under the smaller boy's arms, making Kyungsoo yelp as he flies into the air. Junmyeon swings him around once before putting him down, the both of them bursting into giggles.

"Of course I can! Let's go to the store to get some supplies now."

"Okay!"








Jongin rests his elbow on his desk, his cheek on the heel of his palm and his eyelids getting heavier by the minute. It is pure fortune that the bell rings when it does, for any second later and he would have fallen asleep.

Sehun plops down on the empty chair in front of him, his legs around the back of the seat as he pulls out his lunchbox from his knapsack.

Jongin looks on lazily as he takes out his own lunch. Mouth full of Kyungsoo's and Junmyeon's cooking, he asks Sehun, prodding him with the clean end of his chopsticks, "What are you doing on Valentine's Day?"

Sehun gives him a funny look. "Um? What do you mean by that exactly?"

"No, no! Ew. Gross. I just mean, like, uh. Are you giving anyone chocolate?"

Not really the nine year old banter that Sehun is used to, but okay. He shrugs. "Probably just to Tao."

And this time, it's Jongin's turn to give him the odd look. "Who's Tao?"

Sehun smiles. "He's our family catboy! My parents got him for me the other day. He's adorable."

"Oh." Jongin ponders on the thought for a while. "So, you like him?"

"He's cute."

That doesn't particularly answer his question. "Okay," he says anyway.

He barely manages to finish his lunch before the second bell.








Valentine's Day rolls around. Jongin kicks stones on his walk home, feeling a little burdened. Certainly at his age, he shouldn't worry about a day like this. But he can't help but feel a little guilty that he didn't prepare anything. At the very least, he could have made something for Junmyeon-daddy and Yifan-daddy. To give each other or something.

He knocks on the door so Kyungsoo can let him in. To his displeasure, it is not Kyungsoo who opens the door, but Junmyeon. It's a pity. He'd wanted to ask if he could get his help in making a last minute gift.

"Welcome home, Jongin," Junmyeon says gently. He takes Jongin's school bag from him so his son won't throw it on the floor like he usually does. Jongin grunts in reply. Junmyeon stares down at the boy, trying to pinpoint the source of his foul mood. "What's wrong?"

"Where's SooSoo?"

Junmyeon laughs lightly. "He's in the kitchen. He has a surprise for you. Why don't you go see him?" He pats Jongin's shoulder to get him to move along and Jongin sprints off.

"SooSoo?" Jongin calls out when he gets to the kitchen. He spots Kyungsoo sitting on one of the chairs, his legs dangling and swinging over the edge, his ears flat against his hair. His body faces Jongin, and his arms are behind his back. Jongin breaks out in a grin. "Do I get a present?"

Kyungsoo's face turns red. Jongin starts to wonder if maybe Kyungsoo has a fever? "Um, yeah." He jumps down from the chair and trods over to stand in front of Jongin. "Here," he says as he shoves something into Jongin's chest.

Jongin catches it in his hands. It's a little paper bundle. He pets Kyungsoo's head, in between the two perky black ears before unwrapping the bundle.

It's chocolate. Homemade chocolates.

Jongin, eyes sparkling, takes one of the cute little balls in his hand and pops it into his mouth. Kyungsoo watches, biting down on his bottom lip, as Jongin chews slowly, taking his time to savor the flavor. When he finally swallows, Kyungsoo holds in his breath.

Very carefully, Jongin puts the bundle down on the counter. Kyungsoo fidgets with his fingers nervously as he looks on, not sure what Jongin's reaction exactly is.

And then Jongin walks right up until his face is inches away from Kyungsoo's. Kyungsoo feels his tail curl behind him, so tense is he to get a response, anything. Say something, he wants to demand.

Jongin, after another second's hesitation, wraps his arms around Kyungsoo's small body and squeals happily. "They were so good!" Even bigger a shock, he pulls his head back to land a wet kiss on Kyungsoo's cheek. "You're the best, SooSoo! Thank you so, so, so much!"

Kyungsoo lets go of that breath he'd been holding in and hugs Jongin back, laughing at his previous anxiety. "You're welcome, Jonginnie."

Jongin continues hugging him until Kyungsoo swears he's not going to be able to breathe if Jongin doesn't let go. He finally does, still grinning from ear to ear. Jongin reaches up to scratch at one of Kyungsoo's ears and Kyungsoo leans into the touch.

"Yay! You know what that means?"

Kyungsoo looks up at him, and Jongin notices the eye whites under his irises. "What does it mean?"

"You're my Valentine, Soo!"

"W-what?"








[Age: 12]

"Psst. Jongin."

Jongin, bit by bit, inches his way back to hear whatever it is Sehun wants to say from the desk behind his.

"What?" He whispers back harshly.

"I got something to tell you at lunch," came Sehun's reply.

Jongin returns to sitting straight in his desk, his mind now clouded by the curious thought of what does Sehun have to tell me this time? It distracts him for the rest of the period, but once the bell rings, he flips his chair around to face the blond.

Sehun has the absolute dumbest grin Jongin's ever seen on.

"What is it?" Jongin asks. He can tell Sehun is giddy as hell.

"I kissed someone," Sehun declares, crossing his arms behind his head and sitting back in his seat.

Jongin almost flips his table over. "What! With who?"

"Tao."

"You mean... your catboy."

Sehun raises an eyebrow at him. "Uh, yeah?"

Jongin stares at him, wide eyed. "But isn't that weird? Isn't he, like, family?"

Sehun starts out laughing. "Are you stupid? No! Plenty of people buy catboys for lots of different reasons, like... like love and stuff."

Jongin leans forward, his hands on Sehun's desk. "Really?"

"I thought you had more street smarts than this, man," says Sehun, tapping Jongin's forehead with his knuckles.

Jongin touches the spot with an irritated look on his face before reaching over to flick Sehun back. His friend just barely dodges the attack, laughing the entire time.

But the thought stays in his head for the rest of the day. Sehun likes his catboy? Tao? Okay yes, he had heard about it before. People and cat-people. It isn't anything too weird, he supposes. He'd just never expected his best friend to... And certainly the news itself is surprising. Wow. Sehun kissed someone before him. No one could have seen that one coming.

His brain is a scattered mess for the rest of the day. On the way home, he trips twice.








Catboy love? Could he love Kyungsoo?

Wait... Kyungsoo? The boy who cooks dinner for him almost every day. The boy he took baths with till he was ten. The boy who's shared a room with him since their first day together. The boy with the sweet smile, the boy with the scrawny physique, the boy a little shorter than him, the boy who had to look up to talk when they were standing too close, the boy who took care of him when he was home sick and baked him sweets and made him chocolates on Valentine's Days.

The more he ponders on it, the redder his face gets.








"Welcome home, Jonginnie." Kyungsoo's toothy smile is as brilliant as ever. Jongin, who can't bring himself to look into Kyungsoo's eyes, opts to stare at it instead. They're so straight, so white, so perfect. Oh god, he can't even look at his teeth.

"H- hey SooSoo." Jongin scuffles inside the house, eyes trained on the floor, praying to whatever god that Kyungsoo won't see the pink dusting on his cheeks.

He flings his backpack on the sofa and Kyungsoo makes a "tsk tsk" sound. "I'm going to make chicken for dinner today," Kyungsoo casually tells him, seeming to sense his tense atmosphere.

"Really?" Jongin immediately perks up.

"Yep." Kyungsoo's got him now.

Jongin later finds out that Yifan (now dad, not daddy) has overtime at work, Junmyeon is meeting up with some old friends, and Jongdae and Minseok are having a sleepover with Luhan and Yixing. Junmyeon trusts the house with Kyungsoo, since what is there not to trust about him? Plus he keeps Jongin under control and that's more than most babysitters can do. ("Heaven knows," Junmyeon had told him, "that that boy plays more video games than he eats, sleeps, or does any of his homework. So please take care of him."

And Kyungsoo had given him his most stern nod.)

Which of course means dinner alone with Kyungsoo. Just him, his catboy, a bowl of rice, and the plate of chicken between them. Somehow, the food tastes better than it ever has before with the whole family present, and that feels weird to Jongin.

One bite of that meal and Jongin knows he's a goner to Kyungsoo.

He likes his catboy. So... so what? That's not weird, right? Sehun had said it isn't weird.

(But no one trusts Sehun anyway. Not since the Girls'-Generation-is-playing-a-free-concert-in-the-park incident of '04.)








[Age: 13]

Kyungsoo likes to clean in his spare time. It's a very meditative thing to do, really. Something grimy and dusty, and then, one swipe of the rag later, clean and spotless! Like magic.

Also, because Kyungsoo doesn't go outside the house much, he really only ever socializes with the other family members. Yifan and Junmyeon in the mornings, Junmyeon throughout the day for he stays home and Yifan is the family worker (but he earns more than enough to support all six of them), and Yifan likes to call in the afternoons to check up on the both of them. Jongdae and Minseok give him sly pats on the head and winks, the two growing up faster than their parents would like them to. They're graduating high school soon and leaving off for college, but they still treat Kyungsoo like they're all the same age, still bursting with energy and free spirit. Sometimes when they're all together and Kyungsoo reacts to something Jongin says, Jongdae'll give him a nudge with his elbow and wiggle his eyebrows. Kyungsoo doesn't know what he's trying to imply, but he laughs at the silly way his face contorts with his cheesy half-smile.

Best of all, though, Kyungsoo talks to Jongin the most.

When he'd first arrived in the house, Kyungsoo had slept on a flat mattress in Jongin's bedroom. Because they're the same age, said Junmyeon, and they should get along like any normal people. And Jongin had insisted that they stay up and talk all night. ("Because I want to know about you!" Jongin had said. "And also, I can't sleep." Jongin has lots of trouble sleeping, apparently. His head and body are alive with thoughts and the want to roam around.) Ever since then, Jongin has been his best friend, a cheery life that brings spring to his step, a jump in his heart, a shock through his veins.

It's exciting to be around Jongin. He doesn't know why though, but he likes it.

The most amazing feeling in the world, according to Kyungsoo, is the moment he hears a knock on the door at 3:30 PM, pulls it open, and sees Jongin standing there, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.

"Welcome home, Jonginnie." He's always a little breathless here.

"Hey, SooSoo." And Jongin is always fatigued here.

It is no coincidence that on a day like this beautiful Thursday, when Jongin should be here as it is already 3:52, that Kyungsoo walks up to Junmyeon, his head down and his hands playing with his fingers.

When Junmyeon looks up from the paperback novel he'd been reading, he is reminded of the day Kyungsoo had asked to make chocolates. He smiles, putting down the book, and asks, "What's wrong, Soo?"

"Um, uh, what... what does it mean when you miss someone a whole lot and -- and when they're away and you think of them, your... chest hurts a little?" His voice rises an octave near the end of his sentence, and it comes out as more a squeak than anything.

Junmyeon feels his heart stop. His motherly instincts kick in. "Have you... have you been feeling like this, Soo?"

Kyungsoo quickly shakes his hands in the air along with his fervent denial. "No, no! I, um. I saw it in a drama! Jongdae and Minseok were watching it so... I...." It's not like it was a lie. The twins were often watching weird dramas anyway, and Kyungsoo would typically be invited along for the ride.

Junmyeon visibly relaxes. He lets out a sigh. "Oh, I see. Well then, doesn't that mean that character is in love with the person he or she is hurting over?"

Kyungsoo blinks his big eyes. "Oh. I see."

Junmyeon notices that when the catboy walks away, his ears are twitching, his tail is motionless in the air, and his steps are a little robotic. He shrugs.

Maybe he doesn't ship them. He returns to his reading.








[Age: 15]

Sehun wants Jongin to meet Tao. Jongin thinks Sehun is funny like that.

"Because he's important to my life and so are you, therefore two powers must combine to make me the ultra being."

Jongin also thinks Sehun shouldn't have anything sugary and be allowed to text before 9 AM.

He ends up leaving the house sometime around 10 AM with an apology to Kyungsoo because no one should have to leave the house before noon, really, on a weekend.

He taps his foot against the ground idly, his hands in his pockets to protect them from the chilly autumn air. He hears Sehun's voice to his right call out, "Hey Jongin!"

Jongin whips his head around and catches sight of a smiley Sehun waving at him, a skinny figure at his side. He sees a mess of black hair, a puffy red scarf, and long, long, long legs clad in skin-tight jeans. A black tail flicks behind the boy and his black ears stick out from openings in his beanie. When the boy sees Jongin, he quickly flits his eyes back to the ground, his cheeks turning a shiny red. So this is Tao. Rather shy, Jongin thinks, but that's nothing wrong.

Sehun takes a seat next to Jongin and, seeing no room on the rest of the wooden bench, wraps his arms around Tao's waist and tugs him down until the catboy falls onto his lap. Tao's face is absolutely tomato-red when he flails, trying to escape the embarrassing position. Sehun's hold proves stronger than it looks.

"Jongin, this is Tao. I call him Taozi. You may not," Sehun introduces. Jongin notes his...protectiveness? Claim? Yes, that's the word. His claim over Tao. "And Taozi, that's Jongin. He's my best friend."

"Hi Tao," Jongin says, putting out a hand.

"Hey," Tao mumbles under his breath, shaking Jongin's hand with his own, his fingers half covered by his jacket sleeves. "Um, Sehun, I can... um...."

Sehun presses his cheek against Tao's back. "You can what?"

"I... I can stand. Or sit on the ground or something...." 

"No such thing."

Jongin coughs into his fist. "Aren't you two lovey-dovey?"

Tao suddenly makes it his life mission to stare at the ground as hard as he can. To everyone's shock, he is the one to say reply first. "Well, I... I...."

Sehun and Jongin wait for him to finish, Sehun seemingly anticipating it the most. 

"I... IlikeSehunthat'swhy...."

Sehun lets out a long gasp before squeezing the air out of Tao's lungs. He turns to Jongin. "Didn't I tell you? He's adorable." He lands a kiss between Tao's cat ears and Tao lets out this high-pitched whine, like he might die if he's embarrassed any more.

Jongin nods as if this is all Normal Sehun Behavior, which it totally isn't, but he'd be a dead man if he pointed that out.

After some chatter and general casual talk, Sehun suggests ice cream and Tao gives Jongin this pout that he can't ignore, as if to say, please come with us? So, being the weak-willed man he is, Jongin does. He learns about Tao, mostly about him and Sehun as a thing together, and figures he's worthy of the 4D entity that is Sehun. Tao balances him out. The quiet and the crazy. (Jongin nods when he thinks of it that way. His poetic credibility is still as top notch as ever.)

Late in the afternoon, when Sehun claims that he and Tao need to return home, Jongin drapes his arms around Sehun's shoulders and pouts. "You're not gonna start ignoring me to go out with Taozi, are you?"

Sehun's eyes send daggers his way. "I told you not to call him that," he says, shoving Jongin's weight off him. "And no way. I just might bring him along with us though."

"That's alright." And it is.

Some waving and awkward bowing later, Jongin watches as Sehun and Tao make their way back home. When they're finally out of sight, Jongin walks himself home, blowing warm air over his fingers.

"Welcome home, Jonginnie!" 

Jongin smiles at that familiarity.

"Soo?" He asks, his voice curling upwards.

"Yes?" Kyungsoo closes the door behind them.

"Can we have hot chocolate?" Sehun is a madman for suggesting ice cream in this weather. But what can he do? The boy is a sweets fanatic.

Kyungsoo smiles and a warm feeling overcomes him. Maybe he won't need that hot chocolate after all. "Of course. Let's go make some now."

Jongin thinks that it's not right of fate to allow him to see Kyungsoo after witnessing his best friend with his catboy boyfriend. 








Jongin approaches Yifan in his study late that night.

Yifan hears the shuffling footsteps before he sees even Jongin's shadow, and turns on his swivel chair to meet his eyes. He leans his elbows on his knees and looks up at his teenage son, who has an abashed look on his face.

"What's up?" Yifan asks. Jongin opens his mouth to respond, but quickly closes it again. Yifan motions for him to close the door and he obeys, shutting it quietly so as to not wake anyone up. Yifan briefly wonders how he managed to sneak out from his and Kyungsoo's shared bedroom. "Is something the matter?"

"Um. I have a serious question to ask. That is most likely hypothetical, so you shouldn't relate it to me at all."

Which naturally means the exact opposite and Yifan knows that. "Sure. Fire away."

"Who are you allowed to fall...in love with?"

Yifan raises an eyebrow. "Excuse me? 'Allowed'?"

"Yeah. Like. What's good. Or bad."

There's a moment of silence that seems to stretch on forever.

Yifan lets out a laugh and Jongin cringes. Had his question really been that ridiculous? 

He places a hand on his son's arm. "Jongin, there's no one you can or can't love."

"What?"

"Yep. Did you think there were rules or something?"

Jongin rubs the back of his neck. "Um... no?"

"Exactly. You can love whoever you want. Boy. Girl. Human or--" he gives Jongin a wink, "-- maybe not completely."

All the blood in Jongin's body rushes to his cheeks. "O...kay." He looks at the ceiling. "Um, then, thanks. Dad. I'll, uh-- goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jongin."

He watches the boy scuffle out of his study and lets out a sigh. He's internally hoping Jongin gets his slowness and self-oblivion from Junmyeon.








[Age: almost 16]

The family likes to celebrate Kyungsoo's and Jongin's birthdays on the same day since Kyungsoo's is the 12th, and Jongin's is the 14th. Isn't it more convenient to settle for the 13th and throw one, huge party? 

The two don't mind though. It's more fun that way anyhow. 

The birthday cake is hand-crafted by Junmyeon and Kyungsoo (Yifan tries to help, he really does, but becomes a burden much too quickly and is thrown out of the kitchen by the pair, chuckling all the while) and decorations are prepared before Jongin's return from school by the twins, who pull some time out of their studying to have fun with their little brother.

"Surprise!" Is shouted when Jongin knocks on the door. He jumps back from the shock and, not one second later, retaliates with a hearty grin and laughter. His family drags him inside and he's seated at the kitchen table where the others start singing a messy rendition of the birthday song right in his face. But Kyungsoo is not forgotten as well. They push him down onto the chair next to Jongin and start the song all over again, even louder than before. 

The two birthday boys give each other a look before giggling and singing along with them.

Cake is devoured, presents are ripped open, and some five hours later, Jongin and Kyungsoo are left alone in the living room, ribbons all over the floor and around them. There's some frosting on the corner of Jongin's mouth and Kyungsoo has a cone hat tilted over one of his cat ears. Their backs are on the floor and their limbs are spread out in an almost-starfish form, or as stretched out as they can get with two long bodies like theirs nearly tangled on the wooden tiles.

"Soo?"

"Yeah?"

"I had too much cake."

A chuckle. Kyungsoo pats his stomach. He feels bloated. "Me too."

"I think I have too much sugar in my system."

"And on your face, too."

Jongin lifts his head. "Really? Where?"

"Here," says Kyungsoo, lifting his thumb to wipe off the frosting spot. Underneath his touch, Jongin has turned a pretty shade of pink. "Junmyeon told me sixteen is a pretty important age for a human."

Jongin puts his head back down and tries to calm the erratic beating of his heart. "Um, I guess so? I don't know why though."

"How's school?"

"It's alright. Midterms and all. I think I did fairly good."

"That's good to hear."

There's a comfortable pause in which the two simply look at blank spots on the ceiling. 

"Jongin?"

"Yeah."

"Do you like anyone in your class?"

Jongin can hear his heart palpitations like crashing waves against his skull. "N- nope. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing. What about outside your class then?" Kyungsoo is trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Jongin might have spit out the answer. Just maybe. "Yeah."

"Oh," Kyungsoo says, hiding the disappointment from his voice. So what? Jongin is a growing teenage boy. Of course he likes someone. It's only natural. 

Stuck in self-lamenting, he barely hears Jongin say, "And um, it's..."

Kyungsoo turns his head to look at Jongin's profile. His ears are red. "What?"

"I um. I like...." The end of his sentence is muttered in a garble of sounds, incomprehensible to Kyungsoo's ears. 

"Sorry, say that again?"

And this time, Jongin turns his own head to look into Kyungsoo's eyes. The catboy suddenly feels flustered with the scrutinizing gaze but finds himself unable to look away.

"I," Jongin continues, "like. You."

Kyungsoo hears angels singing in the air. He can hardly believe it. "You do?" A white light shines down from the heavens to illuminate Jongin's face and Kyungsoo swears he's hyperventilating. 

Jongin nods, too nervous to say actual words. 

Kyungsoo brings his hands up to block his mouth and cheeks. The blush he sports is shameful. "I like you too," he says through the cracks between his fingers. His tail is swishing rapidly behind him like the traitor it is.

Jongin almost explodes. "Can I... can I kiss you?" Lame. He's so lame, oh god, he's going to slap himself later.

But Kyungsoo's nod makes it okay and he leans forward to press his lips against Kyungsoo's plush ones and then there are rose petals in the air and everything looks a little pink and, dear lord, his life is complete and there are fireworks going off in his chest.

He pulls back after a solid three seconds, tentative to see Kyungsoo's reaction. Kyungsoo blinks up at him blankly, a flush spreading across his face to the tips of his ears and down his neck. Jongin, unable to bear the silence, pulls Kyungsoo into his arms and he feels the catboy bury his face in Jongin's sweater.

"Jongin, you taste like chocolate cake."

Jongin's replying laugh sounds like a strangled cough. "And you taste sweet. Like you."

"Does that mean you're chocolate because you taste like it?"

"Um. No."

"That's too bad."

Sehun's eyes pop when he catches sight of Jongin striding towards him with Kyungsoo under his arm. "You weren't kidding about the double date thing, huh?"

Jongin smirks. "Sehun, Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, Sehun."

"Hey," Sehun says with a smile.

Kyungsoo shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"This is Tao," Sehun says. Tao is staring at Kyungsoo with the most fascinated expression on his face.

"Hi," Tao says, sounding more sociable than he had meeting Jongin. "I don't get to talk to a lot of other catboys."

Kyungsoo's ears twitch. "Me too!"

The two start an animated chat about various topics, and Sehun and Jongin follow them from behind. Sehun seems happy that his boyfriend is happy, but Jongin listens in on their conversation, curious.

"Kyungsoo, do you like living with humans?"

"Yes! Don't you?"

"Oh, yeah! But...."

"But what?"

Tao leans in to whisper to Kyungsoo, but it comes out a little too loudly. "But they smell kind of weird."

And Kyungsoo whispers back, "I think so too."

"Hey! I heard that!"