Yugyeom took sure steps toward the red painted door and like the last thirteen times just before his hand touched the doorknob he his heel and took a few steps back. The tall boy had been doing that for half an hour and still couldn’t make up his mind. Yugyeom loved cats, he adored them like nothing else, but his parents wouldn’t allow him to have one.

One day when he walked past a cat shelter he decided to go there the next day and just look at the cats. He really just wanted to look at their cute pointy ears and fluffy paws; he didn’t want to touch them. Yugyeom his heel again and walked toward the cat shelter. This time his hand reached the doorknob but he didn’t push it. If he looked at the cats he knew that he would want to pet them and when he pets them he wouldn’t be able to let go of them again.

Yugyeom sighed and let go of the doorknob. In that moment the door opened and a shorter boy with vibrant red hair stood in front of him.

            “Are you ok?” He asked with a slight accent and questioning eyes. “You’ve been pulling faces at the door for some time now.” Yugyeom blushed and looked at his shoes.

An uncomfortable silence settled around them and Yugyeom still didn’t dare to look up but the other boy also didn’t move away.

            “Do you want to come in and look at the cats?” The red haired boy asked in a soft voice. Yugyeom glanced up and saw the other look just as awkward and out of place as him. He nodded with a small smile and stepped into the cat shelter.

--

Yugyeom swore to never come again after he embarrassed himself the first time he went to the cat shelter. As soon as he entered Mark left him alone to look around while the red haired boy had disappeared somewhere. Yugyeom had tried to relax but he felt uncomfortable standing in the cat shelter alone, surrounded by dozens of cute cats that were meowing at him to take them home. One cat especially, a ink black one, caught his eye and Yugyeom had to hold himself back from walking over to the cage and taking the cat out and just running away with it.

After nervously shifting from one foot to the other he briskly left the shelter.

It took him three days before he had mustered up the courage to go there again. This time he opened the door to the shelter himself, and it only took him five tries. He peeked inside and saw the red haired boy from last time sitting on the carpeted floor with the cute black cat in his lap. The boy must have noticed the breeze coming from outside and looked up. He flinched when he saw Yugyeom standing there and quickly stood up, the ink black kitty still in his arms.

            “You’re the boy from a few days ago!” Yugyeom only nodded but remained standing in the doorway. “When I came back from the storage room you were suddenly gone.” The taller boy grimaced and apologized. “It’s fine. You can come in by the way.” Yugyeom nodded and took a few tentative steps inside.

Both stood there just looking at each other with stiff smiles.

            “I’m Yugyeom and I’m quite tall, but I’m still in high school.” Yugyeom immediately regretted opening his mouth. The other boy looked surprised and showed him a slight smile.

            “I’m Mark and I’m shorter then you and I’m in my last year of university.” Thankfully he didn’t seem to mind the taller boy’s weird behaviour.

            “Nice to meet you.” Yugyeom whispered, happy to be able to put a name to the face. Mark took a few steps toward the taller boy and handed him the black cat. Its fur was incredibly soft and when it looked at Yugyeom he could swear he fell in love.

            “Her name is Princess Fluffypaws.” Mark was smiling and Yugyeom suppressed a grimace.

            “She’s really cute.”

Yugyeom stayed about ten minutes this time. He was standing in the middle of the shelter petting the cat while Mark was looking at him and shifting around awkwardly.

--

The third time Yugyeom walked in like he owned the cat shelter. As soon as he entered he could see Mark laying on the floor and playing with three different cats with a huge smile on his face. Yugyeom chose to ignore how pretty the other’s lips looked stretched over those sharp looking teeth and turned around to leave again.

            “Yugyeom! You’re back again.” The taller boy cursed inwardly and turned around slowly. As soon as he was facing Mark the older boy put the little black cat into his arms. “Princess Fluffypaws adores you, you should play with her some more.” Yugyeom’s eye twitched at the terrible name but he took the kitten gladly and settled down on the floor beside the cat toys. Immediately the other cats curiously inched closer to him.

Mark immediately picked up another one and settled on the floor close to Yugyeom. Neither of them was talking for a few minutes until Yugyeom decided to break the awkward silence.

             “I like cats.” Looking back on it that might not have been the smoothest thing to say, but at that time it was the only thing Yugyeom could think of. He gave Mark a shy smile and the other smiled back.

            “Me too.” Another silence settles around them, but this time Yugyeom found it much more comfortable.

--

From that day on Yugyeom would start dropping by every day after school and each day he would stay longer. Him and Mark would share a few sentences and then play with the cats. Yugyeom still felt slightly awkward with the other but it had gotten much better. The bad thing is since he started feeling more comfortable with Mark he started looking at him more and often he would catch himself staring at the other’s lips for too long.

Some days he would really feel like hugging Mark and some days he would try to stay as far away from him as possible. Mark reminded him of a little kitten at times and while Yugyeom loves hugging and petting little kittens he’s always scared of hurting them since they’re so tiny and fragile. That’s how he felt about Mark as well.

--

It has been a few months since Yugyeom first came to the cat shelter and the weather had gotten considerably colder since then. Yugyeom had also gotten considerably less awkward and admitted to his not-so-small crush on Mark.

In the beginning it was all about the cats, but at this point the reason why he couldn’t stop visiting the cat shelter was Mark.

On one cool October day Yugyeom walked into the cat shelter with his mind set on confessing to the older boy. As soon as he entered the shelter the scene in front of him made him freeze. Another boy was standing there, his arms securely around the red head that was smiling brightly.

Yugyeom cleared his throat and the two finally noticed him and pulled away. Mark looked sheepish while the other boy looked smug.

            “Hey Yugyeom! Come in!” Yugyeom nodded and stepped closer, eyes daring between Mark and the black haired boy. “This is Jackson, he’s a friend of mine I haven’t seen in months.” Relief washed over the tall boy at those words and he managed a smile and bowed.

            “Nice to meet you.” Jackson’s smirk grew and he directed it toward Mark.

            “So that’s Yugyeom?” The black haired boy asked while wiggling his eyebrows. Mark blushed and whacked him over the head.

            “Shut up Jackson.” Jackson pretended to seal his lips and Mark rolled his eyes at him before turning to Yugyeom.

            “It’s a pity you couldn’t come yesterday I miss-“ The red head stopped talking and his ears turned red. He cleared his throat and forced a smile. “Princess Flufflypaws missed you.” Yugyeom shyly smiled back. It almost sounded as if Mark was about to say he missed him.

--

Because Jackson wouldn’t leave Yugyeom couldn’t confess the next day. Or the day afterwards. In fact Jackson stuck around the next week and while it was obvious that him and Mark were only friends Yugyeom was slowly loosing faith. He finally wanted to talk to Mark alone and ask the older boy out on a date, but he couldn’t do that while Jackson was around.

After a week and a half, when Yugyeom decided to drop by the shelter again Mark was, to his delight, alone.

Yugyeom stepped into the shelter with a huge smile on his face. The other boy immediately looked up and smiled back, his whole face lit up as if someone had a light bulb in his head.

            “Sorry that I stopped coming for a few days Mark-hyung.” Yugyeom really did feel guilty for not dropping by, but he couldn’t help it. Seeing the older boy made him want to kiss those pink lips, with or without Jackson watching.

            “It’s ok, I figured you were busy with school.” Mark’s smile changed into a knowing smirk. “Or maybe Jackson scared you off.” Yugyeom bit his lip and looked down. Mark let out a soft laugh. “Yeah I thought as much.”

The older boy took a few steps closer to him and handed him the black cat Yugyeom came to love most. Before he could pull his hands away the taller boy grabbed one of his wrists, making him halt his movements.

            “Mark-hyung I have something important to say to you.” Yugyeom’s voice was serious, but soft. The only sound that he could hear beside his wildly beating heart was the purring coming from the cat in his arms. He swallowed and repeated the words he wanted to say inside his head. “I like you so please go out with me.”

“You’re the only person I want to adopt a cat with.” Mark frowned and Yugyeom grimaced. That came out wrong. A look of realisation appeared on the red head’s face and his lips stretched over sharp canine teeth again.

“I’m glad you feel that way.” Mark said and pulled his wrist out of Yugyeom’s grip so he could link their fingers together. “You’re also the only person I want to adopt a cat with.” They looked at each other with shy glances.

“So you’ll go out with me?” Yugyeom asked again just to make sure. Instead of answering Mark leaned forward on his tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on the taller boy’s lips. 

Yugyeom was sure; walking into the cat shelter was the best decision he has made so far.