A/N When asked which animals Infinite members resembled, Myungsoo described Sungjong as cat. I agree wholeheartedly. (He also called Gyu a sloth and Yeollie a giraffe. Gotta love that guy :D)

Sorry if this is a bit disorganized, I wrote it in tiny little parts.

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How To Pet a Wild Cat

From the time Myungsoo first talked to Sungjong, he had thought of a kitten. He had been lovable, all squishy and easy to glomp randomly. But at some point after their debut Sungjong had suddenly matured. He had become the “hot maknae”. Suddenly he made everyone very aware of his personal space, and somewhere along the lines even his smile started to hide behind that cool exterior, peeking out only momentarily. Now he reminded L more of an expensive pedigree cat.

It wouldn’t have bothered him, but lately he had found himself more and more drawn to the boy. It was only physical attraction, Myungsoo told himself. Why else would he find himself simply wanting to touch Sungjong? Wherever, whenever, it always made him feel like he’d accomplished something. Not to mention the feeling of Sungjong returning the touch, or, in most cases, simply not backing away. It made him go to extreme lengths to even get to hug him.

The most dangerous times were the evenings. It seemed like all of Myungsoo’s common sense abandoned him then, and he couldn’t think of any reasons why he shouldn’t get close to Sungjong. If they were watching a movie, Myungsoo would somehow find a way to slip next to him. If he didn’t, he would keep thinking about it for the rest of the movie, unhealthily jealous of whoever was seated next to the boy.

Maybe the worst part was that Myungsoo was actually progressing with time. Now Sungjong would let him leisurely brush his hair when they were sprawled next to each other on the floor after a day’s work. Well, when he felt like it. Myungsoo was starting to be a master of reading the little signals Sungjong gave of. They told him to leave the boy alone when he wasn’t in the mood, or grasp the opportunity if he was.

But Myungsoo didn’t think about it too much; he did it because it felt nice, that’s all there was to it. It’s not like he was seriously planning on taking this further. Well, okay, of course the thought of like, kissing, had crossed his mind (more and more frequently), but there was no way he would ever actually, you know, kiss Sungjong. Though, as he had started to admit himself, he was pretty sure it would feel quite amazing.

With the “kind hyung”-act Myungsoo had managed to finally get Sungjong to acknowledge his existence, even like him. When the boy suddenly displayed his affection, a simple hand on his shoulder, Myungsoo was careful not to overreact; in fact he’d usually freeze still and act all nonchalant in order to not scare Sungjong away. It was like how one would treat a wild cat. When Sungjong hugged him he tried not to glomp the boy with all his power and smell his hair or something, but hugged back lightly. Just like a friend should.

Wouldn’t it have been much easier if he had fallen for someone like Dongwoo, who loved everyone back? Sungjong, however, was quite picky about the people he loved, or even wanted near him.

Or maybe someone like Sungyeol, whose actions spoke louder than words. Sungjong was a book sealed shut; almost impossible to read at times. It was pretty easy to see his discontent, though. He rarely made serious attempt to hide it.

Or even someone like Woohyun, who wasn’t afraid to blatantly express his caring no matter who saw. If Myungsoo tried so much as hold Sungjong’s hand, he’d shy away immediately if someone other than the band members saw, even if Myungsoo described it as fanservice. So in these cases, when he was unable to get closer, Myungsoo’s strange addiction had started to take some baffling ways to release; fixing Sungjong’s hair was an innocent enough excuse to touch him on stage, wasn’t it?

So, feeling rather foolish and even more desperate, Myungsoo took a small piece of lined paper and made a list. After staring at it for a while he scribbled a headline on top; “How to pet a wild cat”. That night Myungsoo crawled into his bed with a whole new determination.

Step one; in order to appear less intimidating, get on the same eye level.

And that is how Myungsoo started to actually do stuff with Sungjong. Not just the part where he acted like a human-leech, but things that Sungjong wanted to do. More often than not that meant something Myungsoo didn’t necessarily enjoy doing. Stuff like helping him with his girl-group dances, for instance. Or watching horror-flicks that made Myungsoo want to hide under a pillow (which he was too much of a guy to do, of course). For all intents and purposes, Myungsoo tried his hardest in the middle of their busy schedules to be there for Sungjong. To qualify as a candidate for the best hyung award that Hoya was constantly hoarding.

Step two; approach VERY slowly. Circle if must.

Going through all that had naturally caused him to spend even more time with the maknae. Myungsoo was suddenly in a bull of a situation. Physical attraction? Scratch that, things were getting way more serious. When he had his first dream (the kind of dream that you don’t mention on a breakfast table) about Sungjong, Myungsoo decided to take some time off. Figuratively speaking of course, since their schedules were even harsher now with the promotions for Chaser coming up.

Half of his brain was saying yes, you are acting like a grown up, as Myungsoo suddenly stopped calling Sungjong out to drink cocoa or shop for clothes, and instead started paying closer attention to his other band-mates. The other half was going between; “You can’t suppress your emotions forever” and “Yeah, this way he’ll get jealous, right, right?” Myungsoo ended up spending his days pretending that the second half didn’t exist. And that he only imagined the little sting of disappointment in Sungjong’s eyes every time he called out Sungyeol or Woohyun instead of the maknae.

It seemed that the separation only made things worse, however; the dreams became more and more frequent, and weren’t always restricted to the night-time. Feeling horribly horrible about his thoughts, Myungsoo couldn’t even find it in himself to look Sungjong in the eye.

Step three; avoid prolonged eye contact.

That was when Sungjong finally snapped. When Myungsoo barely glanced at him as he stepped into the kitchen, Sungjong stomped next to him. Myungsoo kept his eyes on the paper, even if the article he’d been reading could have as easily been about top-models as it was about squids with the amount of attention he was actually paying it. He could hear Sungjong exhaling at his side.

“What on earth has been up with you lately? First you act all buddy buddy, practically drooling all over me, then you’re suddenly best friends with Nam bloody Woohyun, and now you won’t even look me in the eye.” Sungjong rambled. The swear-word alone was almost enough to make Myungsoo lift his eyes. “Seriously, I’m going to flip out right this instant if you don’t look me in the eye! Like, right now” Sungjong yanked the paper from under Myungsoo’s nose. Flip out? Does he mean to say that he’s not already doing that? Just stick to the plan Myungsoo old pal, stick to the plan.

, what had the plan given him so far? Other than horrid nightmares and frustration that was even worse than before.

Screw the plan, Myungsoo thought and decided to just go for it. When he lifted his gaze, he saw that Sungjong was already tearing up. Myungsoo was up in a flash, wrapping his arm around Sungjong’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it” Myungsoo whispered softly and pulled back a little to take a proper look at Sungjong. The boy’s brows were furrowed in confusion. Drawing in a quick breath, Myungsoo leaned closer again. Close enough for their noses to brush.

Step four; allow him to make the final approach once you are close.

He stopped there, staring straight into Sungjong’s eyes. His heart had the time to skip two beats before Sungjong covered the last inches, planting a very soft pair of lips on his. Tired of lists and rules and all that damned waiting, Myungsoo returned the kiss almost ferociously. He had been right; it did feel pretty amazing. More so, it felt right. Their lips seemed to fit together seamlessly, as if someone had sculpted them of the same piece of marble.

Both of them were a little breathless when they pulled back. Myungsoo wiped the tearstains away from Sungjong’s cheeks gently, earning a small smile in return. “You are so stupid” Sungjong said faintly and hit Myungsoo’s chest lightly. Despite just being offended, the biggest of grins adorned Myungsoo’s face when he leaned in to kiss the maknae once more.

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Sungjong was lying next to Myungsoo on the floor of the living room, their fingers entwined between them. Myungsoo chuckled suddenly, making Sungjong turn to his side to take a proper look at him. “What is it?” he asked, obviously curious. Myungsoo smiled mysteriously; “Nothing… It’s just… now I know what it feels like to catch a wild cat”. Sungjong rolled his eyes; “I swear you’re so weird sometimes. I have no idea what’s going on inside that thick skull of yours”. Myungsoo just smiled even wider and squeezed Sungjong tightly against his chest, muffling all protests on his shirt.