“So, I made you a list.”

 

    

Jaebum took a sip of his coffee, watching warily as his best friend of forever slapped a folded piece of paper on top of the counter. Jinyoung cleared his throat, hand resting on top of his raven haired, pouty lipped cat named Youngjae.   

 

    

“He’s a really deep sleeper and he gets clingy in the mornings after he wakes up.”

 

    

Jaebum took another sip and Youngjae fiddled with the scarf that was wrapped all the way up to his chin. 

 

    

“He hates cucumbers, I mean really hates— but he does like sweets and I’ve brought you some things for him so you don’t have to worry about it.” Jinyoung slung his backpack from his shoulder and started rummaging through it. Something crinkled and Youngjae’s ears perked up. 

 

    

Jinyoung dropped a huge paper bag onto the counter and Jaebum appraised it with a slow sweep of his eyes, “How long are you going to be gone again?”

 

    

“Like a week— don’t worry, you won’t even know he’s here. He’s super quiet.” Jinyoung reached up and scratched behind Youngjae’s ear affectionately and the cat leaned into it, purring softly as his owner cooed at him.  

 

    

Jaebum pursed his lips, raising his coffee mug and already regretting everything. 

 

    

 

 

    

A week or so later, Jaebum walked into his kitchen and stopped to blink away the brightness that threatened to blind him.

 

    

“Hey, so… do you mind watching him for a few more days? Something came up and they want me to stay a little bit longer. I’m so sorry— I’ll do anything you want when I come back.”

 

    

Jaebeom seriously doubted that. Little .  

 

    

Youngjae had somehow managed to eat all of the copious amounts of pastries, muffins and chocolate Jinyoung had left for him— as well as most of Jaebum’s food and he stared bleakly into his refrigerator for something to make for breakfast.

 

    

He had bread and he had honey. So he popped two slices into the toaster before trudging back to his bedroom, mug in one hand and the taste of bitter coffee tingling on his tongue. He yawned and opened the door, still deciding whether or not it was a good idea to wake Youngjae up before the caffeine kicked in.

 

    

Youngjae was still very much asleep in the middle of his mattress— even though Jaebum had made him a very comfortable mess of blankets on his couch to sleep on, he still found extra warmth in his bed every morning— and the man peered down at him for a moment before tapping him lightly on the forehead with a finger.

 

    

Youngjae was curled around one of his pillows, wearing the ridiculously short shorts that Jinyoung had packed for him and Jaebum was finding the creamy skin of his bare legs just a little distracting. 

 

    

Even though he would never admit it to anyone but himself.

 

    

“Youngjae.” He said, knowing it would take more than that to wake him up— he had found that waking Youngjae was like trying to wake the dead.  

 

    

Jaebum prodded him once more, taking a sip of his coffee and the cat stretched on the mattress, back arching and arms flung over his head. The oversized t-shirt he had on slid off one shoulder and Jaebum coughed, his coffee going down the wrong way. 

 

    

It figured that Jinyoung would have adopted such a pretty— pretty ual in Jaebum’s opinion— creature into his life. Unlike Jaebum— who was a writer and spent most of his days in bed with endless cups of coffee and his laptop— Jinyoung worked for a famous fashion magazine and always had to have the prettiest and most stylish things. 

 

    

And this particularly pretty thing was the reason why Jaebum had gotten little sleep over the past week, most nights involving him staring up into the dark ceiling and really wishing the cat wasn’t wrapped around his body. What was he, a sloth or a cat?

 

    

He just might move to the couch.    

 

    

Youngjae rolled over and started snoring again, one leg flung over another pillow and hair like a black halo around his head. 

 

    

“I have food.”

 

    

An ear twitched and one eye opened, blearily locking onto Jaebum’s face and sliding shut again. The man sighed and exited from the bedroom, figuring that if the cat was hungry he would make an appearance eventually. 

 

    

Ten minutes later Jaebum was sitting cross legged on the couch, laptop balanced in his lap and coffee mug in one hand. He heard Youngjae’s light footsteps and didn’t look up as the cat entered the kitchen. The toast was already lathered with honey and on the counter waiting for him. 

 

    

“Do you have any more?”

 

    

Youngjae’s head appeared around the corner and his tongue was flicking out to swipe the crumbs at the corner of his mouth, Jaebum glanced up at him and away, trying his best to appear like he was incredibly busy.  

 

    

“Check the pantry.”

 

    

Youngjae grinned at him and Jaebum’s heart sped up painfully. 

 

    

 

    

    

Jaebum’s eyes followed the slow, meandering trail of golden stickiness where it had dripped onto the plush flesh of Youngjae’s exposed thigh. The cat was oblivious to his blatant stare, so focused on the honey from his fingers and smacking his lips to notice. He was sprawled out on the couch next to Jaebum, tail occasionally flicking out and wrapping around his socked foot.  

 

    

Jaebum was finding it very hard to breathe. 

 

    

Youngjae’s pale fingers rose to fiddle with the silver buckle of his collar, running a forefinger absently along the strip of snow white leather wound about his neck as he stretched his legs out. The tantalizing display of pale, rosy skin was making Jaebum dizzy and he swallowed the lump in his throat, eyes flicking back to his laptop as he tried to focus on the partially written email he had composed maybe twenty minutes prior. 

 

    

It was short lived. 

 

    

Youngjae’s hoodie was riding up and his soft snoring filled the silence of the room. Jaebum tried not to look as the cat moved, legs parting as he turned to his other side, exposing even more of his abdomen and Jaebum felt his control slowly slipping from his grasp. 

 

    

Stupid Jinyoung and his stupid pouting and his stupid persuasive powers. 

 

    

Jaebum took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly before reaching over and firmly yanking down the hem of Youngjae’s hoodie. The cat murmured softly in his sleep, tail winding around his ankle and right ear twitching just slightly.

 

    

Jaebum’s hand was still hovering and his laptop began slipping off his thighs. There was honey still stuck on Youngjae’s skin and his gaze lingered on it, torn between getting up and walking all the way into the kitchen for a wet paper towel— or using his tongue.

 

    

The sudden, explosive knocking on his apartment door had Jaebum jerking upwards, fumbling with his laptop as it lurched dangerously to the edge of his knees. Once everything was stable, he got to his feet, cursing under his breath and raking a hand through his hair.  

 

    

“Well don’t you look flustered.” Jackson grinned at him, ears perking and tail swishing. Jaebum glared. Damn cats ruining his life. 

 

    

“What do you want?” He practically growled and Jackson’s grin widened. 

 

    

“Sugar. We’re making cookies, but, we don’t have sugar. So I was sent over here, do you have sugar?” He peered over Jaebum’s shoulder and the man moved to block his vision. 

 

    

“Yes. Hang on, let me go—” 

 

    

“I know where it is.” Jackson brushed past him and Jaebum was flattened against the open door, realizing just a little too late that Jackson had been headed towards the living room and —

 

    

“YOU HAVE A CAT?!”

 

    

Jaebum slid into the living room in his slippers, logical excuse bursting at the tip of his tongue, only to boil down to a choked off, “No I don’t!”

 

    

“Then what is he, a dog?” Jackson scoffed from his perch on Youngjae’s chest, his palms squishing the smaller cat’s smooth cheeks. Youngjae was staring up at him with wide eyes, ears flattened back against his soft dark hair and tail a little poofy with surprise. “He’s so cute!”

 

    

Not two minutes later, Jaebum shoved the sugar container into Jackson’s hands and slammed the door in his smirking face. 

 

    

Youngjae was sitting upright on the couch now, legs drawn in as he peered around Jaebum, as if Jackson was going to pop out from somewhere and jump on him again. 

 

    

“It’s okay, he’s gone.” Jaebum sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Youngjae visibly relaxed, a slow smile spreading across his face and Jaebum felt his stomach do that weird flipping thing it had been doing the past few days. 

 

    

“Is he a friend?” Youngjae asked, eyes big and wide with curiosity. 

 

    

“Um, I guess you could say that. He lives with his owner down the hall.” Jaebum shrugged, walking back over to the couch and plopping down on the cushion farthest from where Youngjae was sitting. 

 

    

“Was he here for something?” 

 

    

Jaebum turned and almost gave himself whiplash, Youngjae had scooted across the couch and was inches away from Jaebum’s face, fingers pressing into the cushion and ears twitching. He could smell his shampoo in Youngjae’s hair and for some reason it was completely intoxicating. 

 

    

“Um…”

 

    

Youngjae smiled, eyes sparkling, “I thought I heard something about cookies.”

 

    

This was the first and last time Jaebum was ever cat-sitting for Jinyoung. 

 

    

Ever.

 

    

 

 

    

Jaebum didn’t know why he was standing outside of his neighbor’s apartment door, waiting after three polite knocks for him to open it. Youngjae was rocking back and forth on his heels beside him and he thought that more sugar would really just probably be the worst idea in the world. 

 

    

And he still had that damn honey on his leg. 

 

    

“Oh, I was just about to call you.” Mark had flour all over his face and if his voice wasn’t so serious Jaebum might have thought it was a joke. “Jackson wanted me to invite you over.” The man’s eyes slid from Jaebum to Youngjae and he stared for a moment.

 

    

“This is Youngjae.” Jaebum introduced and Mark just nodded, still staring while Youngjae beamed at him. 

 

  

 Jackson met them in the little foyer and he practically pounced on Youngjae, tugging him into the kitchen while Mark waited for Jaebum to take off his shoes. 

 

  

 “So…”

 

    

“My friend left him with me for a week.”

 

    

“Ah, and here I was thinking you’d finally gotten yourself a companion. I was shocked because he really suits you.”

 

    

Jaebum made a small scoffing sound in the back of his throat and didn’t answer. 

 

    

He followed Mark into the kitchen and was met with the sight of Youngjae perched on the edge of the counter, flour already marking his cheeks and dusting his hair. Jackson shook the sifter violently and was muttering darkly to himself until Mark walked over and took it from him, tugging lightly on his tail. 

 

    

Even though Jaebum lived alone he was and making anything except toast so he assigned himself the task of balling dough for the tray. Youngjae was helping him and occasionally he would lean over his shoulder to see if the sizes of their portions matched each other. 

 

    

“This is fun.” He giggled and his voice was so close that Jaebum almost dropped the dough in his hands.

 

    

“Y-yeah.” 

 

    

Youngjae giggled some more and starting humming, not even noticing that Jaebum was sweating like he had just run a marathon. 

 

    

After the dough was in the oven Jackson pulled Youngjae away and Mark started the coffee machine— which Jaebum was glad for, he had never finished his second cup at home. 

 

    

“Do you guys usually bake things so early in the morning?” Jaebum was leaning over the counter, watching Youngjae and Jackson laugh over old pictures of Mark and as the pretty cat smiled with pleasure when Jackson scratched behind his ear.

 

    

“It depends.” Mark was peering in the oven.

 

    

Jaebum turned to look at him, “Depends?”

 

    

“Jackson craves chocolate when he goes in heat.” 

 

    

Oh. So that’s why there had been so much dough. Jaebum had been thinking Mark was baking cookies for a preschool or something— because it was the sort of thing Mark Tuan would do on his days off from work.

 

    

“It’s an easy distraction to tempt him with so I can take a break from…” Mark trailed off, his gaze traveling across the room to land on his pet. “… other things. He can be tiring sometimes.”

 

    

“Tiring…” Jaebum bit the inside of his mouth. A familiar giggle made Jaebum turn and he eyed Jackson warily as he started tickling Youngjae, reaching up under the hem of his hoodie and—

 

    

“Youngjae, we have to go!”

 

    

 

 

    

“Yeah, I’ll drop a plate over for you guys later this afternoon— goddammit Jackson, I’m on the phone— thanks for helping out, he’s starting earlier than I thought and I might not have gotten all of it done— dammit Jackson, stop— so, anyways, thanks again. I’ll talk to you later.”

 

    

Mark hung up first and Jaebum seriously doubted he would be seeing him at all for the rest of the day.

 

    

 

 

    

Later that evening Jaebum was in the kitchen, standing in front of the stove and staring at the frying pan as it spit bacon juice all over the place. He was trying to ignore the splashing coming from the bathroom and more importantly, the melodious tones of Youngjae singing at the top of his lungs. 

 

    

He slid the bacon onto a plate and grabbed the toast as it popped up from the toaster. 

 

    

Jaebum thought himself something of a breakfast connoisseur at this point.

 

    

There was a very loud splash and Jaebum arched his neck to peer down the hall towards the bathroom. Youngjae refused to shut the door all the way when he took baths and it stressed the man out to no end because it would be as simple as just walking through that door and—

 

    

There was a crash, a muffled yell and Jaebum was running down the hall, spatula still clutched in one hand. 

 

    

He kicked the door open and was too shocked to cover his eyes. The cat was sprawled out on the tile, dripping water and rubbing his side. When he saw Jaebum, his eyes widened with horror and it wasn’t until he flushed pinker than a grapefruit did Jaebum’s hand come up to block his vision. 

 

    

“Are you okay?” He asked, a little breathlessly, ignoring the obnoxious ringtone he had set for Jinyoung’s number as it blasted in the following silence. 

 

    

Youngjae didn’t answer and Jaebum slowly peeked between his fingers, making sure his gaze stayed fixed on his face and didn’t wander. It was more difficult than he thought. The cat’s ears, instead of being flattened like Jaebum thought they would be, were perked towards him, the right ear trembling slightly when the man exhaled. 

 

    

Youngjae’s eyes were as wide as saucers, dark as the night sky and Jaebum felt like writing poetry about them. He looked skittish and what the man should have done was turn around, apologize and close the door firmly behind him. 

 

    

Jaebum never was the most logical thinker.

 

    

He didn’t care if water was soaking the knees of his worn down jeans, seeping into the denim and chafing against his skin. Youngjae’s face was between his hands, fingers pressing against damp skin and tugging him even further towards himself. The cat whimpered, lips parting as Jaebum into his mouth. 

    

    

They were a scramble of limbs as Jaebum pulled Youngjae upwards, stumbling a little as he broke away to breathe and as Youngjae pressed his swollen lips against his again. Fingers found Jaebum’s belt loops and gripped hard, making the man hiss because of the searing friction it created. Youngjae’s skin felt like velvet, still dripping water but molding under Jaebum’s touch and he shivered when clammy fingers reached under his thin t-shirt. 

 

    

There it was again, the feeling of his stomach turning upside down and Jaebum’s hand went to wrap around the back of Youngjae’s neck, tilting his head up so he could still his nerves with another press of his lips. His other hand lowered to rest against the small of Youngjae’s back and the cat leaned into him, a slow purr rumbling from the back of his throat. 

 

    

At the same moment, Jaebum moved forward to close what little distance there was between them and Youngjae took a step back. Their lips broke apart as they tripped over eachother’s feet and Jaebum stared as Youngjae gaped at him with surprise.

 

    

The floor might have been flooded— Jaebum couldn’t look to see because his arms were full of a floundering, yowling cat in a bathtub made for one. 

 

    

 

 

    

Ten minutes later Youngjae was chomping happily on burnt bacon and Jaebum was staring gloomily at his drenched phone. The screen flickered and out again. Jaebum shook it over the sink and lamented his life choices. His eyes flicked to the cat— once again wearing those sinfully short shorts— as he kicked his legs back and forth under the table, grease off his fingers.

 

    

Maybe not all his life choices. 

 

    

The sound of the door opening and closing made him turn his head and Jinyoung appeared a moment later, laden down with shopping bags as he beamed at the two occupants in the kitchen. 

 

    

“You weren’t answering your phone so I decided to just let myself in.”

 

    

Jaebum cringed when he remembered who he’d given the spare key to his apartment to. Youngjae exclaimed, leaping from his chair to jump into his owner’s arms and Jaebum pursed his lips. So that’s how it was going to be. 

 

    

“How did everything go?” Jinyoung pulled Youngjae to arms length and smiled dotingly, “You didn’t cause trouble right?”

 

    

“He was fine.” Jaebum said, maybe a little sharper than he intended and he ran a hand through his still partially damp hair. It went unnoticed as Youngjae enthusiastically launched into a report of all that Jinyoung had missed out on. 

    

    

“Jaebum’s really good at making toast.” Youngjae grinned and Jinyoung laughed, looking around the cat’s head to wink at his friend.

    

    

“Nothing’s changed I see.”

 

    

Jaebum made a face at him.

 

    

“So,” Jinyoung sent Youngjae to get his things, dropping the bags in his hands on Jaebum’s table, “I bought you a whole new wardrobe, you don’t have to thank me.” 

 

    

Jaebum made another face. 

 

    

“Next month I have to go to Paris for three weeks and I was hoping you might watch Youngjae again— because he seems to really like you and I feel comfortable leaving him here.” He clasped Jaebum’s hands in his own, doing the pouting thing that he knew weakened the other man’s resolve.   

 

    

Jaebum didn’t really have to think it over. Youngjae had returned with his scarf wrapped around his neck, in a proper pair of pants and long-sleeved sweater. They locked eyes and the smile that spread across Youngjae’s face made Jaebum’s breath catch. 

 

    

“Yeah, I can do that.”

 

    

“Oh good! I was hoping you’d say yes.” Jinyoung pulled him into a tight hug and Jaebum wheezed because of his sudden lack of oxygen. He was seriously thinking about kicking Jinyoung in the shin but Youngjae was giggling and he thought that maybe he could do without breathing.

 

    

Or at least until Youngjae came back to stay with him again.