***Hyunseong and Jeongmin are in high school***

    The crunch of leaves underneath their feet echoed through the street as the two students made their way home. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining brightly, and the fresh smell of a neighborhood bakery filled the air. Everything seemed perfect, until…

    “Kuro! How did you even get up there?!” The cry of a little girl pierced the peaceful air. Jeongmin and Hyunseong immediately turned towards the commotion, curious as to what had gone wrong.

    “Pretty little girl, what’s wrong?” Jeongmin asked, squatting beside the girl so that he was her height, though considering how abnormally short he was the action wasn’t all too necessary.

    “My cat..” the girl responded in a croaky voice, pointing towards the crown of a nearby tree. Sure enough, there was a small black cat stuck on a branch high up in the tree.

    “Can I ask for your name?” Hyunseong asked, kneeling beside the girl and smiling warmly.

    “Illayda.”

    “Illayda, everything will be ok, don’t worry,” Hyunseong said reassuringly. “We’ll just call the fire department so they can—LEE JEONGMIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

    “Hyung, help me up, would you?” Jeongmin asked. He had gone over to the tree in attempt to climb up and save the cat.

    “No Jeongmin, it’s dangerous! What if you fell?”

    “I won’t fall! I’m like a squirrel!” Jeongmin exclaimed, holding up his hands as if they were squirrel paws.

    “No.”

    “Awww, but hyuuuung. Look how sad little Illayda is. Don’t you want to cheer her up?” Jeongmin asked with overflowing aegyo. Hyunseong looked at the girl, who stared back at him with pleading eyes.

    “Fine,” Hyunseong sighed as he stood straight and headed over to the tree. He curled into a ball at the foot of the tree to allow Jeongmin to step on his back, but it wasn’t enough to increase his height.

    “Hyung, stand up a little.” Heeding to his request, Hyunseong allowed the younger to stand on his shoulders as he slowly and carefully stood up. Jeongmin hefted himself into the tree, and the weight on Hyunseong’s shoulders went away.

    Jeongmin climbed higher, heading towards the yowling cat. With every snap of a twig Hyunseong grew more and more anxious, unable to stand still.

    “Careful, careful!” he called, but the younger was too far up to hear him. Not paying enough attention, Jeongmin scratched his arm against a sharp branch as he was reaching up. There was only a short pain before Jeongmin decided to shrug it off and keep going. Hyunseong nearly fainted from worry.

    As Jeongmin neared the cat, it began to come down towards him, curious about her guest. “Kuro! Come here!” Jeongmin called in a high-pitched voice. The friendly cat obliged, making her way towards Jeongmin with a sweet purr. The young male laughed in delight, highly entertained by how cute the cat was.

    “Hey Kuro! What a nice purr you have! Let’s go down, shall we?” Jeongmin asked the cat, knowing he must look stupid. The cat merely stared back with wide orange eyes, nudging his arm with her head.

    “Come on, let’s go,” he said, scooping the cat up in one arm and earning a surprised squeak in return. He used his free arm to steady himself as he lowered Kuro down to the branch he was standing on, then watched her as she went down a ways before she stopped and hesitantly peered at the next branch. Jeongmin climbed down to where she was and helped her down again.

    Meanwhile, Hyunseong was a nervous wreck. He appreciated the younger wanting to help out, but seeing him maneuvering through those high branches released his inner motherly tendencies.

    Kuro finally reached the ground, with Jeongmin not far behind her. The teen skillfully dropped down to the ground, a victorious grin on his face.

    “Kuro!” the girl gleefully exclaimed, enveloping the cat in a deep embrace. Jeongmin chuckled, but Hyunseong gave him a stern look.

    “Jeongmin! How could you be so careless?!” Hyunseong inquired. “Let me see your arm.”
    Hyunseong pulled his arm towards himself in order to get a closer look. It wasn’t that big of a scratch; there was blood, but it’s not like it was gushing out or anything like that. Nonetheless, Hyunseong was still upset.

    “I told you to be careful! Come on, pabo. Let’s get you cleaned up.” The two gave their salutations to Illayda before returning home.

    “Hyunseong, since when did you become such a mother?”

    “Since I met you, pabo,” he replied without a second of hesitation.

    Jeongmin smiled to himself, satisfied. “Then let’s go home, omma-nim.”

    “Okay, son.”

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Have a nice week!! ^^