pairing: sudo, kaisoo, sukai, taohun, taosoo, sesoo, sutao, seho, sekaitao.
word count: 3300.
rating: g.
genre: fluff. it's so fluffy I'm gonna die. :c
summary: joonmyun brings home two new kittens.

In Joonmyun's opinion, nothing can ever quite compare to the burst of warmth he feels in his chest when he comes home to his lover and their pet after a long, tiring day at work. As he stands in the doorway that leads to their bedroom and watches the two of them cuddled up in bed together, Joonmyun can't help the affectionate smile that slides onto his face.

Kyungsoo sleeps with his plush lips parted to breathe quiet puffs of air. His small frame is almost entirely enveloped by Jongin's larger one as Jongin presses his face into the shirt Kyungsoo is wearing, which, upon closer inspection, turns out to be one of Joonmyun's button-downs. Jongin is clad in nothing but jeans, his soft ears are twitching on top of his head, and he has his tail curled around Kyungsoo's bare thigh. Whether it's protectively or possessively, Joonmyun can't quite determine. Maybe a bit of both.

Joonmyun smiles to himself. He's not all that much bigger than Kyungsoo is, but somehow Kyungsoo always manages to look exceptionally tiny next to Jongin. It probably has something to do with the way Jongin tends to drape his body over Kyungsoo's and cling to him as if he's some kind of koala hybrid rather than a kitten.

Seeing them like this, Joonmyun finds himself falling in love with both of them all over again. By now it has been more than seven years since he and Kyungsoo met each other, started dating and eventually became a couple, and even though Jongin has only been in their lives for a little less than two of those years, adopted from a local pet pound, Kyungsoo and Joonmyun both love him all the same.

The mattress dips slightly under Joonmyun's weight as he kneels on the edge of the bed. Gently he begins to run his fingers through Kyungsoo's burgundy hair until Kyungsoo's face scrunches up. He lets out a small noise of dissent, burrowing his nose into the top of Jongin's head. When Joonmyun continues to his hair, however, Kyungsoo turns and opens his eyes. A slow smile spreads on his face when he sees Joonmyun sitting on the bed. “You're home,” he mumbles, voice hoarse with sleep.

Joonmyun can't help himself from leaning down to steal a kiss from Kyungsoo's lips. They look too inviting. He keeps it short and sweet, though, pulling away after just a few seconds of contact. “I'm sorry I woke you up,” he whispers. He presses a kiss to Kyungsoo's cheek as well.

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “No, it's fine.” He runs the back of his hand over his tired eyes, blinking repeatedly to get rid of the blur of drowsiness, and now that he's more awake he seems to notice Joonmyun's state of undress. All Joonmyun is wearing is a T-shirt and a pair of boxers, having shed his clothes prior to entering the room. Kyungsoo furrows his brow. “You're soaked,” he says, referring to Joonmyun's hair, and at the same moment Joonmyun can feel a drop of moisture trickling along his neck. He shudders as it slides down the back of his shirt.

“It's raining,” Joonmyun explains. “Don't worry, I hung my clothes up to dry in the bathroom.” The last time he had left his wet clothes lying around the apartment Kyungsoo had reprimanded him so thoroughly that Joonmyun never even as much as considered doing that again. Right now there's another matter that's more pressing, however. Joonmyun his lips. Suddenly he feels a little nervous. “There's... there's something else, though.” Kyungsoo's face lights up with curiosity, but Joonmyun shakes his head and gets off the bed. “I think it's better if I show you.”

Miraculously, Kyungsoo manages to escape from Jongin's embrace without waking him up. Jongin does growl in disapproval at the loss of his cuddle buddy. He quickly curls himself around one of their pillows instead and goes right back to sleep, though. Kyungsoo pulls on a pair of sweatpants, takes Joonmyun's hand that is outstretched in invitation and follows him.

Since Joonmyun isn't actually looking at Kyungsoo, he feels his surprise rather than sees it. The moment they step into the living room Kyungsoo comes to an abrupt halt and Joonmyun, who's still holding on to Kyungsoo's hand, is forced to stop as well. He takes a deep breath to steel himself. Then he turns to face Kyungsoo's shocked expression. He's opening and closing his mouth as if he's having a hard time finding his words. “Joonmyun,” he manages eventually. His voice is somewhat shaky. “What's... what is this?”

On their couch are two kittens. One has hair that is a pinkish shade of white with white ears and a white tail to match and skin as light as Joonmyun's own. The other has hair and ears and tail as dark as night and skin like smooth caramel. In terms of appearance they're almost exact opposites, but at the moment they share a similar expression: a terrified one with wide eyes and down-turned lips, their ears flat against their heads. The fair one looks more defensive than anything, though, like he's prepared for a fight if it should become necessary.

“I found them in the park,” Joonmyun explains, giving Kyungsoo's hand a squeeze to make sure he's paying attention to him. “You know, the one down the street. And I... God, I couldn't just leave them there, Soo. Not when... when the weather is...” He trails off. The kittens are curled up together just like they were when Joonmyun had found them hiding under a cluster of upended boxes. It was a promise of food and warmth and somewhere dry to spend the night that had convinced them to come home with him.

Kyungsoo lets go of Joonmyun. Moving slowly as to not startle the kittens he begins making his way towards the couch while Joonmyun stays a few feet behind. The closer Kyungsoo gets, the more the dark kitten cowers in fear, but Kyungsoo doesn't stop until he's standing right in front of them. Without saying anything, he reaches out his hand. The white kitten growls low in his throat, tail puffed up and swishing back and forth behind him to show how displeased he is. Kyungsoo makes no move to touch either of them, though, he just keeps his hand out in invitation. And like this, he waits.

It's the dark kitten who gives in first. Only a couple of minutes pass before he begins to shift. His eyes keep flickering up to look at Kyungsoo's face as he leans towards the extended hand until he's close enough to actually sniff it, as if he would be able to smell potential bad intentions on Kyungsoo's skin. Everything is quiet except for the kitten's snuffling and the drops of water that pound harshly on the window panes. The rain seems to have picked up now.

Joonmyun is holding his breath as he watches the exchange. It can go either way, honestly. The kittens don't seem hostile, mostly just jittery and frightened and exhausted, but Joonmyun is still ready to jump in if things suddenly turn sour. He exhales in relief when the kitten rubs his head against Kyungsoo's hand and smiles when Kyungsoo starts petting the kitten's damp hair. That's definitely a step in the right direction.

The other kitten seems intrigued as well now, staring intently at Kyungsoo's fingers that are running through black strands. He flinches when Kyungsoo reaches his free hand towards him, and he looks skeptical. But then the dark kitten starts to purr, a pleased rumble in his chest, and the white kitten leans closer. He allows Kyungsoo to place a hand on top of his head and when Kyungsoo starts rubbing at his scalp, gently scratching behind his cat ears, Joonmyun can see him practically melt under the touches. Joonmyun dares move a little closer now that they seem less tense.

“What are your names?” Kyungsoo asks quietly.

“Sehun,” the light one answers.

“Zitao.” Both of their voices are so soft and reveal just how young they actually are. It's hard to tell with the grime and fatigue covering their faces.

“You're awfully wet,” Kyungsoo says. “Would you like for me to get you some towels?” When he receives a few apprehensive nods in response, he leaves the room with a last pat to each of their heads and goes to the bedroom where they keep their extra towels.

Joonmyun takes Kyungsoo's place instead. With the same patient approach as his lover had used, Joonmyun is eventually allowed to touch them as well. They're quicker to warm up to him, maybe because they're now convinced he's not going to hurt them. Carefully he tips their heads back so he can study their faces. “You're so pretty,” he says with a tone of admiration. Kittens as beautiful as these two would undoubtedly be with a bit of cleaning up are very desired and worth a lot of money. It's weird that they seem to have no owner. “What are you doing all by yourself?”

“We ran away,” Sehun says almost defiantly. “Our old owner couldn't take care of us anymore so he gave us back to the pound. They wanted to split us up.” Joonmyun watches as a white tail twines with a black one. Zitao presses closer to Sehun's side with a low mewl. “We didn't like that.”

“So you're kind of like a package deal, huh?” Zitao purrs in content when Joonmyun scratches under his chin and Joonmyun smiles. Adorable.

At the sound of footsteps approaching Sehun's ears pick up. Joonmyun turns around in time to see Kyungsoo entering the living room again. Only this time he's not alone. Jongin is right behind him with a hand clutching the back of Kyungsoo's shirt, and though Jongin looks like he's still half asleep, Joonmyun feels worry well up within him right away. Jongin is usually possessive and territorial and Joonmyun doesn't know how he's going to react to two unfamiliar kittens suddenly being in his space.

Joonmyun pulls away from Sehun and Zitao, glancing warily at Kyungsoo, and he can see his own worry mirrored on Kyungsoo's face. “He could smell them on me,” Kyungsoo explains. He sounds almost apologetic.

Joonmyun nods in understanding, and he glances up at their pet, but Jongin's expression is closed off, and he isn't looking at either of them. Instead his golden eyes are fastened at a point behind Joonmyun. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he's staring at. “Jongin-ah,” Joonmyun says quietly. He's relieved to see Jongin leaning into his touch when he places a hand on his cheek. “Hey.” He manages to make Jongin avert his attention momentarily when he presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth because Jongin isn't satisfied with just that, and he tears his eyes away in order to kiss Joonmyun properly right on the lips before looking back at the kittens sitting on the couch again.

“Who are they?” he asks. His ears are twitching.

“Strays,” Joonmyun explains. He takes the towels out of Kyungsoo's arms and walks towards the couch. “I met them in the park on my way home.” He hands Sehun and Zitao a towel each and they accept them tentatively, but they don't seem all that interested in drying off anymore. They're both staring right at Jongin, alert and wary, and Zitao is cowering slightly again. Joonmyun can understand why. Even when Jongin is sleepy, his presence can be quite overwhelming. “You can come say hello if you'd like.”

Jongin looks at Kyungsoo, who nods with a strained smile. “It's okay, baby,” he assures Jongin, giving him a gentle nudge forward.

Without averting his eyes at all, Jongin begins to cross the floor. He stops every two steps and hesitates for a moment before continuing, and it goes on like this until he's by the couch. He stays standing, looking down at the two new kittens, eyes flickering back and forth. “I'm Jongin,” he mutters after regarding them for a couple of seconds. His posture is still stiff, but his tail is sticking upwards, curved at the end. He's interested. It hadn't taken long for Joonmyun to learn how to decipher Jongin's body language after they found out how difficult it was for him to express himself with words. Being able to read him like that still comes in handy.

The other two kittens introduce themselves one by one like they had done earlier and that's that. There's no hostility, no violence, none of the things Joonmyun had feared would happen in the back of his mind. It's a relief that none of them seem to be taking this badly. Jongin most of all looks curious, while Zitao looks like he wants to nuzzle against Jongin but he's not sure if it would be okay for him to touch. Things are quiet.

Until a loud sneeze suddenly breaks the silence. The sound startles Jongin and makes him flinch, and he stares at Sehun with wide eyes as a frowning Sehun rubs at his runny nose with the back of his hand. Kyungsoo clicks his tongue in disapproval. “You poor kids, you're going to get sick like this,” he says. He directs a stern glance at Joonmyun, eyebrows furrowed. “Why didn't you give them something dry to wear when you brought them home?”

“I did offer,” Joonmyun defends himself sheepishly. When he took off his own wet clothes he had suggested that the kittens stripped out of theirs as well. Both of them had outright refused, maybe not verbally, but Joonmyun watched the way their tails bristled between their legs and he decided that it would probably be better not to press the matter further. They were scared and trapped in an unfamiliar place with a stranger telling them to take their clothes off. Joonmyun understands why they would be opposed to that.

Kyungsoo looks Sehun and Zitao over, mouth twisted into a dissatisfied grimace. “I don't know if we have anything for you wear. I'm pretty sure my clothes won't fit you.” He gestures at his own body. It's not exactly a secret that he's quite a bit smaller than both of them, and Joonmyun clearly remembers how his own nose had just barely been level with the kittens' shoulders when they walked back home, so his clothes won't do either.

“They can just borrow some of mine.” Joonmyun looks at Jongin with surprise. The thought had crossed his mind earlier, to have them wear some of Jongin's clothes. Jongin rarely ever likes to share any of the things he feels belongs to him, though, so Joonmyun wasn't sure it would be a good idea. But now Jongin is actually offering. All on his own. “We're about the same size, don't you think?” Jongin adds as he pulls Zitao to his feet. Sehun stands up as well.

Jongin is toned from the dance classes they signed him up for, Zitao seems to be a little wider in the chest and shoulder area, while his waist is narrow, and Sehun is definitely more wispy than both of them, arms and legs long and skinny. Other than that, they're similar in build. All three of them are tall and lean. And breathtakingly beautiful, Joonmyun's mind supplies, and his mouth goes dry at the sight of them standing next to each other like that. He gulps. They're gorgeous.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo says. His voice sounds a little shaky. He seems to be in the same predicament as Joonmyun. He clears his throat. “Will you help them out, then?” Giving nothing but a nod in reply Jongin takes both Sehun and Zitao by the hand and he practically drags them out of the room so they're left with no choice other than to follow him. They don't seem too reluctant to do so, anyway. They already trust him.

“That went better than expected,” Joonmyun mutters once they're gone. “I was afraid Jongin would rip their heads off. Or maybe even my head. But he seemed to take it pretty well.”

Kyungsoo sits down on the couch and rubs the side of his face tiredly. “What are we going to do with them?” he asks, flat out ignoring Joonmyun's comment. Joonmyun shrugs. He knows what he wants to do, but he doesn't know if Kyungsoo would agree to that. Kyungsoo lets out a sigh. “We should take them to a pound.”

The thought is enough to make Joonmyun's heart sink in his chest. He sits next to Kyungsoo. “They're going to be split up. You know that. You've seen them. There are not a lot of people who would be able to adopt both of them with how much they're worth.” Joonmyun thinks about the look on Sehun's face when he talked about them being separated and his heart sinks even further.

“I'd feel bad about just sending them back out on the street to fend for themselves, though.”

“We don't have to.” Joonmyun takes Kyungsoo's hand and holds it between both of his own, his thumb over the back of Kyungsoo's knuckles. He weighs his words carefully before suggesting: “We could, you know... keep them.” Kyungsoo looks at him as if he has lost his mind and Joonmyun shrugs again. “What? You know we've been thinking about getting another pet. Someone for Jongin to play with.”

“But two?”

“I don't see why not. Money isn't an issue and we have plenty of space, too. And they said they've already had an owner before, they know how this goes. They won't need pet training.” Kyungsoo is still frowning so Joonmyun reaches one hand up to smooth out the creases of his brow with a gentle touch, pressing his lips to his forehead while he's at it. He flashes a smile, hoping to get one in return. Kyungsoo just looks exhausted. Joonmyun's smile fades and he nudges Kyungsoo with his shoulder. “Hey, we don't have to keep them if you don't want to. It was just a suggestion.”

“No, I...” Kyungsoo leaves the sentence unfinished as if he's not sure how to finish it.

Joonmyun sighs. He tips Kyungsoo's chin up so he can kiss him on the mouth too. “We'll think about it,” he says. “We'll figure it out.”

With their fingers intertwined they go to check up on the kittens, who have been gone for a while. The door to the bedroom is closed, and even though it's their room, Joonmyun still decides to knock just to be safe. He doesn't want to startle them and get on their bad side by walking in on them half- or fully .

What they walk in to see is nothing like that, not even close. Instead they find three kittens fast asleep. They're a pile of tangled limbs in the middle of the bed and it's hard to see where one ends and another begins. The sound of Kyungsoo and Joonmyun entering the room is enough to rouse Jongin, who lifts his head and opens one eye to peer at them for just a second before dropping his head back down to its spot on Sehun's thigh, right above the point where Jongin's own tail curls around Sehun's leg.

Joonmyun looks at Kyungsoo, who's staring pointedly at the wet clothes scattered all over the floor, jaw clenched. He squeezes Kyungsoo's hand to get his attention. When Kyungsoo looks at him, Joonmyun smiles. Kyungsoo sighs in defeat. “We're going to need a bigger bed,” he mumbles, and he motions to start collecting the clothes to hang them up to dry. Joonmyun doesn't let him go before he has been allowed to pull him in for another kiss, though.

~*~

A/N: I didn't want to write this story. I really didn't want to write it. the idea came to me forever ago and I liked it a lot and I knew exactly how the entire story would happen from start to finish, but I had a lot of other stories I needed to work on so I really didn't want to write it. but the idea refused to go away and it tormented me for a long time. and then this happened and this happened and this happened and also this. so I did it. I did the thing. and now it's here.

the title is from this song by the cure, which is awesome and I love it and it seemed fitting. oh, and also, this is kind of supposed to be kaisoo's birthday story even though it doesn't... really... have... all that much kaisoo.......... but welp. happy birthday, kids. ♥ (yeah, I'm old enough to refer to them as 'kids', isn't that wonderful???)

anddd, last but not least, thanks to
909396 - eskulapka - hansoomin - kpopgeisha - shannand410 - ominous - devilfromheaven - mysecondhaven - eeeemou - loveisinfinite - raven_lin - ohship - kpopboyzareluv - koreanlover9 - taesteful - blueness - chuliefei - vedamalady - aninea - torieee - alexiz119 - bloodyindigo - hugs_and_kisses - xanthiaoliphant - hanabira12 - bloodicing - koneko
for upvoting ^^v