The next day you awoke to the sight of Xiumin grinning at you like an excited puppy, from the adjacent pillow.  Groaning, you rolled over, and pulled the covers over your head.  “Those bright eyes are too much to wake up to, this early in the morning!”  You felt him climb over you, then the comforter was rudely ripped off of your head.   

“Wake up!  Wake up!  It’s time to eat breakfast!”

“I hate breakfast!”

“You love breakfast!”

“I love breakfast food. I hate having to wake up to eat it.”

Xiumin jumped off of you, pulled the covers away from your body and, taking you firmly by the paws of your Pororo onesie, started pulling you out of bed.  “Come on!”

When you emerged from your room, your eyes widened in surprise.  “You cooked?!”

He dropped your hands, and moved behind you to push you toward the table, instead of pulling.  “Well, no, not really.  I just warmed up some of the banchan that Omonim dropped off last time, along with some rice, and kimchi jjiggae.”

“And you expect me to eat all of this?  Xiuminah, it’s the crack of–” you squinted at your watch “10 in the morning!”

“Yes!  And you have class at 12, so come on, let’s go!”  Plopping you down in the chair, he dragged the one beside you closer, and dropped down on it, watching you expectantly.  

Sighing, you picked up your chopsticks.  “You had better be glad that you’re cute.”

***

The next few months were a blissful whirlwind of sweet kisses, and bone-satisfying hugs.  Xiumin cuddled you constantly, finding any excuse he could to wrap his arms around you, and you certainly weren’t complaining.  You just wished that he could sleep.  

***

“Guess who!” you trilled, coming up behind Xiumin to cover his eyes, with your hands.

He reached back, slowly patting his hand up and down your calf.  “Well, considering the amount of hair on your leg, I’d say…Chanyeol?”

Snatching away your hands, you pushed him forward with a disdainful harrumph, and turned to walk away.  “See if I let you touch these legs ever again.”

Eyes widening, he ran around you, holding out his arms to arrest your progress.  “Wait!  No!  I was kidding!  Your legs are as smooth as newly born baby butts.  I love them!  Don’t take them away from me!”

Kicking aimlessly, you grinned.  “Better be glad that I am a beneficent girlfriend.”  Walking forward, you took his face in your hands, squishing it until his lips popped out in a little pout.  “Besides, how am I supposed to resist this squishy widdle face?”

“Iwon’know,” he responded through squooshed lips.

You let him go, walked to the front door and opened it, then looked over your shoulder, and said, “Aren’t you coming?”

He sauntered toward you.  “Where are we going?”

“The time has come to procure more feline minions!” you said, reaching into the hall closet to grab the cat carrier.

Xiumin’s eyes lit up as his entire face brightened.  “Really?”

“Really.”

“Well, you know what this means.”

“What?”

“We’re about to have truly epic cuddle puddles.”

***

At the shelter, a sweet little six-week kitten who was all-black with a white chest, and star on her forehead, caught Xiumin’s eye.  He reached up, and scratched her behind the ears as she pushed her face against the bars.

“Wow!” said the volunteer who was showing you the cats.  “She’s feeling really affectionate.  She never does that!”

You smiled, and subtly turned to meet Xiumin’s eyes.  He nodded, and you returned your gaze to the volunteer.  “We’ll take that one, and choose one more.”

She laughed.  “We?”

“Oh, well…I’m choosing for my boyfriend, as well.”

“Ahhh,” she said, nodding.  “Well, see anyone else you like?”

A small grey foot pressed against one of the bottom cages caught your eye.  Walking over, and crouching down, you saw a 6 month tabby lying catty-corner in his cage.  His ears twitched back toward you as you drew closer, and he turned, looking at you over his shoulder.  Then, turning back around, with a small mew, he rested his head on his paws.  

“Awww!” you crooned.  “He’s so sad!”

“Oh, that one doesn’t interact much.  He has been here since he was born.  Since he isn’t as playful as the others, he doesn’t really catch anyone’s eye.”

You looked up at Xiumin, your eyes pleading.  

He nodded down at you, blinking slowly, and cutely scrunching his nose in agreement.  

Turning back to the volunteer, you said, “We want him.”

***

When you released the new kittens into your apartment, the baby went wild, tearing all over everything in a desperate attempt to sniff every single surface simultaneously.  The boy followed at a more leisurely pace, sniffing at the occasional corner, and solemnly rubbing his cheek on it.  Bubba emerged from the bedroom to watch the commotion, looking down in consternation when the younger kitten rushed up to her, only to sniff her chest, and then rub her tiny face all over every body part of Bubba’s that she could reach.  Bubba looked up at you with an expression that seemed to say, “Really?”

Xiumin laughed, crouching down to observe the cat’s antics from a closer level.  The male cat sauntered over to him, and casually climbed into his lap, relaxing his body so that it spilled from both sides of Xiumin’s legs, as the cat threw back his head in total relaxation.  “Well,” Xiumin said, “I guess he likes me.”

You sat cross-legged on the floor, hands out to play with the kitten who came tripping over to try to climb up the front of your shirt to sniff your face.  “What do you want to name them?”

“Me?”

“Well, I got to name Bubba, so now it’s your turn.”

He thought for a moment, then looked down at the lazy boy in his lap, and said, “Mun.”  

“Okay.  And this one?” you asked, gesturing toward the girl who was busy climbing up your shoulders to try to make her way to the top of your head.

Xiumin tilted his head in consideration.  After several moments, he asked, “Somteul?”

“Oh, I like it!” you agreed.  

Picking up Mun from his lap, Xiumin put him in the crook of his arm, and then moved closer to you, and sat. Leaning over, he gave you a lingering peck, smiling as he moved back, his eyes twinkling as he watched the blush creep up your cheeks.  “This is nice,” he said.  

Peeling Somteul off of the top of your head, and putting her in your lap, you leaned toward Xiumin, lifting up slightly to return the kiss.  Bubba walked over to begin sniffing Mun and, when she was satisfied, put a paw on Xiumin’s shin, so that she could lean close enough to start grooming Mun’s cheek, which he allowed with aristocratic graciousness.   

When you broke the kiss, Xiumin was looking down at you, his eyes shining.  Slowly, he shook his head.  “No.  This is perfect.”

Reaching up, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders to pull him closer, as you smiled into another kiss.

***

Your knees pulsed and burned as you punched in the code to your door.  Entering the apartment, you limped toward your couch, grateful to finally be able to take your weight off of your legs.

Before the door closed, Xiumin walked through it, as he coincidentally arrived home just seconds after you.  Spotting you limping, he rushed over to help you onto the couch, crouching in front of you, once you were settled.  “What happened?” he asked, looking up at you, before his eyes were drawn to your bloody, swollen knees, the tights around them ripped, and laddered.

“I was walking across the campus parking lot, and I guess that there was a hole under the snow, because when I stepped down, there was no ground where ground should be, and my leg went in up to my knee.  Unfortunately, my other leg kept going forward, and I tripped, fell, and hurt myself.”

He pouted as he looked over the fronts of your knees.  Gripping your already ruined tights in his hands, he ripped, creating larger holes, so that he could examine your wounds with no impediments.  

Though your knees were throbbing, your heart secretly fluttered at the manly gesture.  

Looking back up at you, he asked, “Do they hurt a lot?”

You shook your head.  “It’s not too bad.  I was more embarrassed, than anything else.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He returned in a matter of moments with a first aid kit, a bottle of water, and some hand soap.  He pulled out some gauze, and held it under each wound, as he used the water to irrigate your scrapes, ensuring that there was no debris left behind to hurt you further, before soaping your knees, and rinsing them again.  Taking a betadine q-tip, he dabbed at the scrapes, wincing when you hissed, and fidgeted.  “It hurts, right?  I’m sorry.  I’ll try to be as gentle as possible.”  

As he worked, he shook his head.  “You need to be more careful.  When you get hurt like this, you hurt your shin!”

“My shin?”

“No, gwishin!”  He stopped and grinned.  

You groaned.  “Why me?!”

After covering every cut with betadine, Xiumin blew on your knees, to take away the sting.  You didn’t have the heart to tell him that you couldn’t feel his breath.  

“Better?” he asked, looking up at you, his eyes worried.  

You reached out to his hair.  “Better.”

Smiling, he looked back down, applying gauze to your knees, and then adhering it to your skin with surgical tape.  Once the gauze was in place, he bent down, and placed a gentle kiss on each knee.  “The scrapes were pretty superficial.  I don’t think that they’ll scar. If they do, though, I’ll kiss them every day.”

Giggling, you ruffled his hair.  “You’re such a softie.”

Leaning forward, he rested his chin on the tops of your knees, wrapping his arms around your calves, and resting his chest on your shins, as he looked up at you.  “Only for you.”

You came closer, and kissed him on the forehead.  “Marshmallow.”

***

One night