Title: Kitty Love
Pairing: Chen/Suho
Rating: G
Work Count: 1518
Summary: Joonmyun never expected to adopt a cat, but it was affection at first sight. Featuring catboy!Jongdae.
Author's Note: Part of my catboy AU, as an earlier story to New Home.

Growing up Joonmyun never had a pet, not that it had ever bothered him. As an only child, he liked being the center of his parents' attention, not having to share it with either a pet or a sibling. So when he graduated from college and moved out of his parents house, the thought of owning a pet never crossed his mind.

It isn't until one day, when he is spending time with Minseok, a colleague of his, that the possibility occurrs to him. Minseok owns a cat named Luhan, who has silvery colored hair, and also works at the local pet store. Joonmyun's colleague was always talking fondly about Luhan, particularly the mischief that the silver haired cat got into, and often recommends that Joonmyun get a pet himself.

It isn't like Joonmyun is hurting financially, his job earns him enough to live in a nice apartment by himself and still have enough money to support a pet. Not that it would be too hard, as most animal-human hybrids work part time to both pass time as owners work and to help pay for expenses. Pet hybrids who are still living in shelters work to help keep establishments running, as they are expensive buisnesses to maintain.

This particular day, Minseok is dragging him to the pet store that Luhan workes at, as he wants to introduce him to Joonmyun. Apparently Minseok thinks the best time to do this is when Luhan is working, which Joonmyun thinks is silly. But he is very curious about the mysterious cat, so bites his lip and doesn't say anything.

The pet store is small, and has a homey feeling to it. There are isles of food, toys, and other basic necessities designed for pure animal pets. Speakers on the ceiling are playing quiet music, and bright lights help illuminate the place. There don't seem to be any customers at the moment, and Minseok heads straight for the registers where a dark-haired someone with cat ears has their back to the store entrance.

“Luhan-ah!” Minseok calls.

From behind the counter, the cat hybrid turns around as another bounds out to fling himself at Minseok. Joonmyun thinks he might have heard a cry of “Minseok-ge!”, but is distracted by a piercing brown gaze eying him up and down.

Still standing behind the counter, Joonmyun is dismayed to notice that the cat is taller than him, black hair just long enough to hide where his ears would be if he were human. His actual ears are a matching black, sitting atop his head and twitching occasionally to catch the conversation between Minseok and Luhan. Despite appearing to be focused on what the other two are discussing, his brown eyes never leave Joonmyun.

Then the corners of his mouth lift up in a kittenish grin, and his eyelids drop minutely.

“Hey.”

It takes Joonmyun a moment to realize he is the one being addressed. “Hello.”

“Can I help you find anything?” The cat's voice is a smooth tenor, and sends a shiver up Joonmyun's spine.

“Uh, no thanks. I'm here with a friend,” he nods to where Minseok and Luhan are watching them curiously.

“You're friends with Minseok-hyung?”

Joonmyun nods.

“That's cool. Then you must have a pet too, right?” the black haired cat's eyes slide over to Luhan. “I bet you spoil him as much as Minseok does for Luhan.”

“Brat,” Luhan grumbles, frowing at the cat. “I'm not spoiled, you're just jealous because you haven't been adopted yet.”

Minseok makes a shocked sound. “You're still living at the shelter, Jongdae? I'd have thought someone would have snatched you up by now.”

Jongdae, the black haired cat, shrugs in forced nonchalance. It does little to hide how sullen he suddenly becomes at the reminder of his living situation, ears drooping dejectedly. “Everyone who comes in the shelter is more interested in the younger or newer cats. Or the dogs.”

The conversation is dropped, no one wanting to remind Jongdae of him being essentially homeless. Instead Luhan grabs Joonmyun's attention with dozens of questions, proving that hybrid cats are just as curious as pure ones are. It takes Minseok dragging Joonmyun out of the store to get Luhan back to work, along with promises of bringing Joonmyun around the house sometime.

Later that night, as Joonmyun is trying to fall asleep, he is unable to stop thinking about Jongdae and his forced indifference about not being adopted yet. And each time he thinks about it, the more his heart ached, mind flashing images of Jongdae all alone.

~*~

Following the directions given to him by Minseok, Joonmyun quickly finds himself standing in front of a brick building. The red exterior has small windows that don't look like they provide much of a view. It's in a run down neighborhood, which has Joonmyun shocked that a shelter for human-animal hybrids would be located here. But this is the address Minseok gave him, so Joonmyun will have to trust that his colleague isn't playing a prank on him.

He enters through the only door and is immediately met with silence. Slightly intimated by the lack of noise, Joonmyun stops just inside the door to look around. There is a harried woman standing behind a desk, head ducked as she sorts through a large stack of papers. Behind her, on the wall, are a bunch of informative posters about upcoming events related to hybrid pets. Against another wall was a plastic contraption filled with stacks upon stacks of pamphlets from “How to Care for Your Pet” to “Watch for these Signs of ___”.

“Oh!” comes a startled sound from the front desk, as the woman finally looks up from her paperwork. “I didn't see you there, I hope you haven't been waiting long.”

“Not at all, I just got here actually.”

“That's good. How can I help you?” the woman asks, not bothering to hide how tired she looks and sounds.

“I'm hoping to adopt one of your hybrids today,” Joonmyun says, feeling out of place.

“Well, we have plenty who are looking for a good home. But we only have cat and dog hybrids, so I hope you're okay with either one.” The woman pulls out a giant three ring binder from beneath the desk, perhaps a catalog of all the hybrids they have up for adoption at the moment.

“Actually, I have someone specific in mind." Joonmyun scratches the back of his neck nervously. "You have a cat hybrid named Jongdae?”

“You're interested in Jongdae?” The woman's face lights up. “That means you've met him before?”

Joonmyun nods, “At the pet store he works at.”

The woman hums, “Most of the hybrids here are adopted within a month or two, but Jongdae has been here for over a year. He doesn't say it, but I think he took up the job at the pet store in the hopes of catching someone's eye.” Her eyes sparkle a bit, “Looks like it worked!”

“Come on,” she says, standing up from her seat. “I'll take you out back to his room, he might be sleeping though.”

They step through the only other door in the room, other than the front entrance, and walk through a hallway littered with doors. Joonmyun guesses them to be the rooms that the hybrids live in while here.

They turn a corner and walk all the way to the end, the still unnamed woman knocking on a wooden door identical to all the other doors.

There is a sound of quiet shuffling, then the door opens, revealing a sleepy looking Jongdae who's rubbing at his eyes.

“Jinri?” he asks, squinting at the woman. He doesn't even notice Joonmyun.

“Hi Jongdae, I have a surprise for you!” Jinri says, smiling brightly at the cat.

It's then that Jongdae's gaze turns towards him, momentarily freezing before his lips curl up in a familiar kittenish grin.

“Hello there. Joonmyun, right?”

Nodding, Joonmyun can't help but smile, cheeks flushing.

“Joonmyun here is considering adopting you, isn't that exciting!” Jinri claps.

“Wha-” Jongdae stares unblinkingly at Joonmyun with widened eyes, all traces of sleep gone. “Really?”

Smiling, the shorter male responds, “Yes. That is, if you don't mind? After we met at the pet store, I asked Minseok and Luhan more about you. I have to admit that I hadn't thought about adopting a pet before, but Minseok has been talking about it a lot to me, so I thought why not? I'd really like to give it a try. If you're okay with that?”

Jongdae's eyes become suspiciously wet during Joonmyun's ramble, his grin softening into a genuine smile, a shy one. He suddenly launches himself forward, wrapping thin arms around Joonmyun's chest and ducking his head to rub it along the shorter man's jaw.

“Okay, I'd like that a lot.”

Joonmyun's smile feels like it's threatening to break his face in half, his chest fluttering madly now that the taller cat is nestled up against him. With Jongdae's enthusiastic response, Joonmyun knows he made the right decision, and he can't wait to get the dark haired cat home.