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Minho had always had trouble focusing while trying to cram for exams. The dead silence of his dorm mixed with occasional snores from his roommate, Changbin, and the repetitive whirring of the broken air conditioner was enough to drive him into madness. He downed his last coffee drop as he vigorously scribbled down borderline indecipherable notes. He took a glance at the clock, not like it would convince him to go to sleep. 12:06 AM.
He sighed quietly and walked over to his and Changbin’s shared coffee maker. He picked up one of the coffee capsules, not even bothering to look at which one, and placed it in the machine. It whirred briefly, made a strange gargling sound, and went silent.
Huh.
Minho opened and closed it a few times, even unplugging and plugging it back in—nothing. Great.
“Are you kidding me…?” He whispered and rolled his eyes. He wanted to throw the damn thing out of the window, but that would surely wake Changbin up. He knew that he wouldn’t get anything done without caffeine. It was his second all-nighter in a row, and he felt like he was on the brink of death. All Minho needed to do was finish his exams, and then he could sleep for however long he desired. He would have a lot of catching up to do.
He weighed his options. He could either find an overpriced coffee shop that was, for some reason, open at midnight or go to sleep. Sleep is for the weak.
Minho quietly slipped out of the dorm room, careful not to wake his sleeping beast of a roommate. He was always cranky when woken up. Minho had learned the hard way. While on the elevator, Minho looked up nearby coffee shops that were still open. All those on campus had already been closed for hours, so Minho knew that he’d have to go somewhat far.
The closest one was “Paws and Pours,” which Minho had never heard of. After a bit of research, he concluded that it was a cat cafe that had opened a few weeks prior. How he didn’t already know about it was his question.
It was a walkable distance away and the weather was pretty decent, so he didn’t mind stopping by. Just one visit wouldn’t hurt, even if it was probably way overpriced mediocre coffee. The cats were the novelty.
Surprisingly, a few people, mostly college-aged, were still roaming around the little town. They were probably looking for something else to do to procrastinate on studying while still trying to seem productive.
After walking for around ten minutes and following the GPS, Minho found the cafe. It was a cute little place, decked out with cat-themed furniture and decor. As he walked in, a little bell jingled and he was greeted by a little orange cat at his feet. He already knew that he would like this place, overpriced or not.
“Welcome to Paws and Pours!” Minho looked up from where he was looking at the cat below him and saw a man close to his age at the counter. He looked a little disheveled and he seemed to have some kind of textbook behind the counter.
“Hi, I’ve never been here before. Do you have any recommendations?” Minho’s eyes glazed over trying to look at all of the drinks on the vast menu on the screen behind the counter. He didn’t even know what he was looking for.
“Yeah, what kind of stuff do you like? Coffee or tea? Sweet or bitter? How much caffeine?” The man behind the counter asked. Minho thought about the questions for a moment before answering.
“Just something with a lot of caffeine. I’ve been studying for exams and my coffee machine broke, so I need something to keep me awake. I’ll drink anything, just surprise me.” Minho said.
“I heard that. I’ve been studying during my night shifts. I’ve been here every night this week since nobody else can come in and someone has to make sure the cats are alright. I feel like I’m losing my mind.” The barista replied, sighing. Anyone could tell that he clearly hadn’t gotten enough sleep. He had dark circles under his eyes and his dark brown hair was sticking every which way from under his hat.
“Oh, that sounds brutal. Why don’t they make someone else do it? Don’t they know that it’s exam week?” Minho didn’t really know why he was asking questions, the worker was clearly just trying to study and get his paycheck.
“It’s kind of a long story. Basically, there are these guys that come in every night, I don’t know if they go to WFU too, or not. They’re kind of creepy though, and all of my other coworkers are female, so they felt uncomfortable working nights. I don’t blame them, but I wish that there was at least someone else here too. It gets so boring around this time since nobody is looking for coffee at midnight other than people like you with broken coffee machines or something.” The barista, Jisung, by the looks of his nametag, didn’t seem to mind the questions. If anything, he seemed happy to talk to someone.
“Wow, I’m sorry. Have the guys who come in done anything? Maybe you can call the police and prevent them from coming.” Minho felt bad for the man, he was obviously overworked.
“Only some odd comments here and there. It was mostly to my coworkers, though. They’re usually asking why the others aren’t working anymore. I don’t know how they don’t know that it’s because of them, everyone was clearly uncomfortable every time they came. They don’t say much to me though, I guess because I’m a guy.” The barista continued to talk while making whatever drink he was making.
“Really? That’s good. Well, it’d be better if they didn’t come at all, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Did they come in tonight?” Minho found it pretty easy to talk to the man making his coffee. He didn’t know why, but everything about the little cafe made him feel comfortable.
“No, not yet. They usually come in a bit later. They’ve been coming at around one every night this week. They haven’t missed a day yet. Honestly, I don’t feel great around them either. I’d just rather it be me here than my coworkers.” Jisung rolled his eyes while pouring his concoction into a plastic cup.
“Seriously? I was thinking of staying for a while and playing with the cats, would that make you feel safer?” Minho offered. He was really going to head out after getting his drink, but he didn’t want to leave the man at the counter alone. He knew that he could handle himself, but Minho wanted to make him feel better.
“You really don’t have to do that. You should keep studying. I’ll be fine.” Jisung looked at him guiltily as he popped the lid onto the plastic cup.
“It’s fine, I needed a little break anyway. My harder exams are in a few days, so I can cram later.” Minho shrugged.
“If you insist. Most of the cats are asleep, so you’ll only really be able to hang out with little Soonie over there. He seems to really like you. Oh, also, here’s your drink. You can have it free of charge for keeping me company.” Jisung handed Minho the drink. The cup had a little drawing of a cat with a book with the words “Good Luck!” written on it.
“I can’t just take this for free. Let me at least give you a tip.” Minho insisted. Jisung just shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m feeling nice today. You’ll just have to come again.” The barista said with a little smile. He was actually pretty cute, Minho thought. He had fluffy brown hair, big eyes, cute cheeks, and a little mole on his cheek. Minho wouldn’t mind coming back.
“I guess I will. I’m Minho, by the way.”
“Jisung. Uh, you could probably tell by the name tag. But yeah. Nice to meet you, Minho!” Jisung extended his hand across the counter, and Minho shook it with the hand that wasn’t holding the coffee. After the handshake, Minho took a swig of his coffee and was delighted by the taste.
“Holy crap, this is good. What is it?” Minho took another sip of the drink. It was sweet, but not overbearing. There was also a twinge of cinnamon that blended well with the rest of the ingredients, creating a wonderful taste.
“It’s a cinnamon chai latte. It’s not something that’s normally on the menu, I’ve just been experimenting with what I can make with what I have.” Jisung smiled.
“It’s fantastic, that’s what it is. You should consider putting this on the menu.” Minho was already halfway done with the drink, craving both the caffeine and the incredible flavor.
“Well, what if I made it special just for you?”
Minho paused. Was he flirting with him? Interesting.
“I’d be flattered. Maybe I’ll just have to keep it all to myself.” Minho responded, making Jisung laugh. A nice sound, it was.
“You better! 0h, don’t look behind you, but they’re here.” Jisung’s eyes shifted to the door and quickly back to Minho as he lowered his voice to a whisper. It took everything in Minho not to turn around and look at whoever walked in and shifted his attention to the cat who was still at his feet.
“Guess who’s back! Oh, it’s you again.” Three guys came in, and their faces visibly fell when they saw Jisung. It took Minho a second to realize who they were, but he quickly recognized them from his Humanities class. They had done a group project together a few months prior, and Minho had been the one to do all of the work. Their names were the only thing they put on that presentation, and Minho couldn’t even remember what they were.
“Yeah, sorry to let you down.” Jisung was obviously sick of them and wasn’t even trying to hide it anymore. The guys were pretty unphased by Jisung’s lack of enthusiasm, most likely because they were clearly drunk.
“Why don’t Ryujin and Yeji work anymore? They were so cute!” One of the guys sobbed as he continued to walk closer to the counter.
“They don’t do nights. They have other things to do.” Jisung grimaced as the man at the counter pouted, trying to be cute but miserably failing.
“It’s not fair! They were so nice and treated us so well. You’re too mean. If you were as nice as they were, maybe you could be kinda cute. You’ve got sort of a pretty face for a guy, you know? You should smile more.”
Minho could tell by the look on Jisung’s face that this was not what usually happened. Jisung was silent for a minute before clearing his throat.
“Uh, okay. Are you going to get anything to drink?” He asked, changing the subject.
“I’m not really thirsty…Actually, could I just get a cup of water?” The guy asked, slurring his words a bit.
“Yeah, sure. We don’t charge for water, so you can just take it.” Jisung filled up a little cup with some ice water and quickly handed it to the man. They usually charged fifty cents just for the cost of the cup, but Jisung didn’t want to deal with this guy for longer than he had to.
The man looked at the cup of water and sighed.
“Man, no number or anything? You’re no fun at all.” While Minho was focused on the man at the counter, he failed to notice that the other two men with them had noticed him.
“No way, Minho? I can’t believe it! You? At a place like this? Seems kind of out of character. You were so quiet last year.” One of the men said as Minho stood up from where he was petting the cat.
“It’s my first time.” Minho wanted to talk to these people just as little as Jisung did, so he kept it short so they would leave sooner.
“Really? You should come during the day. Stormcloud over here hasn’t treated us very nicely when we come, so he’ll probably be rude to you too.” The man with the water said, gesturing to Jisung who shrugged and gave Minho an awkward smile. It seemed like they had no idea why they were a customer service worker’s worst nightmare.
“Yep, I’ll be careful around him. He looks like he’s up to no good.” Minho said with a straight face. Jisung turned away, pretending to look busy as he tried to hide the smile on his face.
“That’s good, dude. Just looking out for you, y’know? You totally saved our asses during the presentation. None of us had time to read the book, so you helped a ton.” One of the guys said. Minho would say something to argue, but he didn’t have the time or energy to argue with three guys at one in the morning in the middle of a cat cafe.
“Yep, got it.”
“Maybe we could do another project together! We have economics together, right? It could be fun!” Just when Minho thought that they were done talking to him, one of the men began speaking again.
“Yeah. Sure.” Minho wasn’t very worried about sounding rude, given that he was basically talking to three brick walls. His voice and face would’ve given away that the answer was a Hell no in any other circumstance, but the three took his response as a win and high-fived.
“Yes! You’re the best, Jinho! Bye, cashier guy.” Minho didn’t waver at being called the wrong name, since it wasn’t new for this particular group. They finally left the building and Jisung let out a loud sigh from across the counter.
“Finally, I thought they were never going to stop talking. You’re not friends with them, are you?” Jisung asked as he took a sip of his own drink that he had been working on behind the counter. Minho rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“Absolutely not. We were forced to do a project together last year and now they think we’re best friends.” Minho said, grimacing at the idea.
“Sorry to hear that. I couldn’t imagine trying to do anything productive with those guys. They don’t look like the academically inclined type.” Jisung left his spot behind the counter to go to a little spot in the corner of the cafe with some food bowls. Minho continued to speak as Jisung used a little scooper to fill the bowls up with cat kibble.
“Yeah, you’d be right. I did everything. Also, I thought you said that they didn’t say anything weird to you. That guy at the counter seemed a little strange.” Minho knew that it wasn’t really his business, but he also wanted to give Jisung someone to talk to. Long nights with the only people coming in being weirdos sounded like the worst job ever.
“Oh, uh, yeah. They don’t usually do that. It kind of caught me off guard. As I said, they usually only talk about Ryujin and Yeji, my coworkers. It was probably just a one-time thing, they were drunk.” Jisung shrugged it off. The little orange cat came running to him once he heard the sound of the food hitting the bowl and quickly began eating. A little brown tabby cat arose from sleep and hopped off of a nearby cat tree, joining the orange cat at the bowls.
“This is Soonie and this is Dori. We got them both from a nearby animal shelter that we’re partnering with. We also got Doongie from the same shelter, but he’s still asleep over there.” Jisung pointed in the direction of another orange cat, this one with a cute little orange nose, sleeping comfortably in a bed.
“They’re adorable. Is Doongie friendly?”
And like that, Minho spent a large portion of his night talking with the barista and petting the cats. For some reason, he had acquired a strange attachment to all of them. When Jisung’s shift ended at three, Minho decided to leave as well. He didn’t want to pester whoever would come in after Jisung so early in the morning. He knew he’d be back anyway.
☕
The next day, Minho’s coffee machine was unfortunately not miraculously fixed, so he had an excuse to go to Paws and Pours again. He didn’t have to sneak away quietly this time since Changbin was at his boyfriend, Hyunjin’s house, so he was able to get out of the dorm pretty quickly. He was excited to see the cats again and hoped that Doongie would be awake this time.
As he walked into the cafe, the pleasant aroma of the coffee wafted through his nostrils. Jisung was once again at the counter with his textbook, looking just as burnt out as the night before. When he raised his head his eyes immediately lit up and a smile appeared on his face.
“Minho, you’re back! Look, you have to see this!” The barista left his spot behind the counter and beckoned for Minho to follow him. Jisung stopped in front of the cat bed by the wall, kneeled in front of it, and looked up at Minho, an excited smile on his face. In the bed, Soonie, Doongie, and Dori were all squeezed together in the bed, snuggled up and quietly purring. Minho felt like his heart was going to explode.
“They’re adorable…” Minho whispered, fighting the urge to scratch their little heads. He didn’t want to wake them, so he opted to test his self-control and just watch them sleep peacefully.
“Right? They’ve been like this for about an hour and haven’t even let out a peep.” They spent a few moments appreciating the cats until the little bell on the door rang and an old lady walked in.
“Oh yeah, I have to do my job,” Jisung mumbled as he walked over to the counter, leaving Minho with the cats. As Jisung helped the woman, one of the cats, Dori, began to stir. He stretched for a moment and let out a big yawn before untangling himself from the other cats and jumping out of bed. He went over to Minho and bunted his head on his hand. Minho could’ve died. He began scratching behind the cat’s ears, causing it to lean into his hand. He lost track of time and his surroundings until he heard a voice behind him.
“Wow, Dori’s really warmed up to you! He usually doesn’t come up to people he’s unfamiliar with like that. He must like you a lot.” Jisung knelt next to Minho and gave Dori a couple of pets on the back.
“Yeah, I’m pretty good with cats. I used to have a couple when I was a kid, but we had to give them away. I begged and begged to keep them, but my parents didn’t want to listen. Ever since then, I’ve wanted to get another cat, I just haven’t gotten the opportunity.” Jisung’s face fell as Minho told his story.
“That’s terrible, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’d do if someone took away these three out of nowhere. Obviously, I want them to get adopted into loving homes, but I know that I’ll miss them so much.” Jisung gave the two cats in the bed little pats on the head before standing back up.
“Oh, are they up for adoption?” Minho asked. He was really in no place to adopt a cat, but if they were somehow miraculously there in a couple of years then he would definitely consider it.
“Yeah, we’re partnering with a local shelter to get more adoptions for them. These three have been with us the longest. We try to kind of push adoptions sometimes because the shelter helps a lot with our expenses and the more adoptions we get, the more money they give us. It’s been a little sparse lately, though. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Do you want a drink?” Jisung walked back over to the counter and Minho followed, picking up Dori in the process.
“Sure, surprise me again. I’ll have anything.” Minho said and Jisung gave him a quick nod as he began working on the drink. Minho watched as the man scurried around behind the counter, pouring, shaking, and blending many different things. After everything was sufficiently mixed together, Jisung poured some tapioca pearls into a cup, then poured the drink, and used a machine to seal the cup with a tight lid. He drew something on the cup with a black marker before handing the cup and a thick straw to Minho.
“You’re actually a pretty good artist. Do you do graphic design?” Minho looked at the cup which had a little bunny drinking out of a giant cup of boba with a “You can do it!” message under it. Jisung laughed and shook his head.
“No, drawing is just a hobby I do for fun. It’s kind of a bad habit. I doodle on a lot of my work, but I swear it helps me pay attention. I do music production with some of my friends, though.” He said as he wiped off the counter.
“Oh, really? My roommate does music production too. He’s in a group with my other friend and someone else. Their names are Changbin and Chan. Are they in your class?” Minho watched as Jisung’s eyes lit up in recognition. He slammed his hands on the counter and beamed at the other, slightly startling him.
“Are you serious? Yeah, I’m the guy they produce with! I’ve been friends with them both forever, it’s crazy that you know them too. How’s Changbin as a roommate?”
“You don’t even want to know.”
🧋
Minho had been going to the cafe for about a week now and had been enjoying it so much more than he thought he would. Jisung was there every night, as well as the cats, making the cafe an ample place to wind down. Unfortunately, since he’d been spending so much time at the cafe talking, he wasn’t getting much studying done. Finals were getting closer and closer and Minho was criminally unprepared. It was a Saturday and there weren’t any classes, so he decided that today would be a day strictly for studying. He couldn’t stay in his dorm since Hyunjin was coming over for Changbin and he didn’t want to end up third wheeling. It seemed like the library was the best option.
And with that, Minho headed off to the campus library. He didn’t go often since he usually had the dorm to himself to study, but he went often enough to know where it was. When he walked in, he looked around for a place to put his belongings. The library was pretty crowded with other students, so he had to wander for a little while. As he walked up the stairs to continue searching for a seat he spotted a familiar head of brown hair buried into piles of textbooks, tapping away at his laptop.
Jisung looked like he hadn’t slept well in days. He had visible dark circles under his eyes, and the crunched-up energy drink next to him was a dead giveaway that he was barely functioning. Sure, he had seemed tired at the cafe, but Minho had just assumed that it was because of the time. He didn’t even notice Minho standing there and he just continued to furiously scribble down probably nonsensical sentences into his notebook.
Minho honestly felt bad for the guy. He was clearly overworked and he looked like he was about to cry, aggressively scribbling over something that he had written a few seconds earlier. He didn’t want to interrupt him, but Jisung seemed like he wasn’t getting anything productive done anyway. Minho didn’t let himself give it another thought before he began walking away from him and instead went to find the coffee shop that was connected to the library.
The coffee was from a chain company and probably nowhere near the quality of Paws and Pours, but it would suffice for one day. He quickly ordered an overpriced iced americano and a strawberry cheesecake before going to find Jisung again. He remembered Jisung saying that those were his two favorite cafe items, so he was glad that they were both on the menu.
Minho was a little worried that Jisung was going to leave, but thankfully he was still in the same place, still looking on the verge of death. Minho didn’t want to scare him, but whispering his name didn’t work out too well due to the headphones adorned on Jisung’s head. Minho mentally prepared himself and gave him a light poke on the shoulder. Jisung reacted immediately, jolting up and spinning his neck around at light speed. He looked annoyed for a split-second, but suddenly his eyes flashed with recognition and his face lit up.
“Oh, hey, Minho! You kind of scared me, sorry. What are you doing here?” Jisung spoke in a quiet voice, lowering his headphones so they would rest around his neck.
“Don’t worry about it. I was just here to study and noticed that you were here too,” Minho took the cheesecake out of the bag and put it on the desk next to Jisung’s laptop, as well as the coffee.
“You looked like you needed something to keep you alive. Take this as a thank you for all of the free coffee you’ve given me this week.” Jisung blinked at him for a second in a mixture of shock and confusion before Minho was hit with that beaming smile.
“Are you serious? You really didn’t have to get me anything. These are my favorites too! Thank you so much, you’re a lifesaver. I’ll owe you forever. Stats has been kicking my ass all semester.” Jisung motioned to the piles of papers with scribbles all over them and Minho grimaced. He had taken the class the year before and hated it as well, but he grasped the concept.
“Oh, I took stats last year. I could help you study if you want,” Minho was speaking before he even thought about the words coming out of his mouth. He knew that he was trapped as soon as Jisung looked at him with those big pleading eyes.
“Would you really? I mean, I don’t want to take up your study time. If you have something else to do, then you should do that instead. Didn’t you say you were here to study?” Jisung asked.
“It’s fine, I don’t have much to do. My classes this semester are pretty easy. It’s really not a problem,” Now Minho was just lying. None of the classes he was taking would be classified as pretty easy. But Jisung didn’t have to know that.
“Really? I actually can’t thank you enough. Here, let me get you an extra chair.” Before Minho could say anything, Jisung was already running off to an unoccupied desk to grab a chair. Minho took the time to have a closer look at the notes to see what he had just signed up for. Thankfully, it was all material that he remembered doing to some extent. Some of Jisung’s scribbled handwriting was a little hard to understand, but he was able to decipher most of the words and numbers that he had written.
“I’m back, sorry! Is this the same stuff that you did last year?” Jisung squeezed the second chair in the space under the table, but there wasn’t much room to get around. Minho would rather sit in a cramped spot than stand though. He pulled out the chair and shifted in, trying not to get too much into Jisung’s space.
“Yeah, I remember most of it. What do you need help with?”
Minho was at the library much longer than he expected to be. It didn’t feel like they were there for that long since they were having a strangely good time doing statistics of all things. Jisung just had a certain vibe to him that made anything seem like it was fun. Eventually, the library intercom sounded and announced that the library would be closing soon. It was already eleven o’clock, so it made sense. However, Jisung still had more questions.
“Oh, I guess we should get going. I still have more to ask about, but I can probably just ask my professor. Thank you for everything, Minho. I mean it.” Jisung began to stuff all of his belongings into his bag.
“Yeah, it’s seriously no problem. I mean, if you want, you could come to my dorm and we could keep studying,” Minho blurted out. What was he saying?! He still had to study for his own exams, he was in no position to lose sleep over some guy he met a week ago. He half expected Jisung to be freaked out by the offer, but that wasn’t the case.
“Actually? I’d really appreciate it if it’s not too much to ask. I’m scared that I’ll forget my questions if I sleep on them. Will Changbin be there?” Jisung asked, looking grateful. Minho knew that he probably shouldn’t have said anything, but he couldn’t back out now. Not when Jisung had that relieved smile on his face.
“I don’t think so. I think he’s going somewhere with his boyfriend tonight. You know Hyunjin, right?” Changbin never shut up about his boyfriend, so Minho assumed that Jisung had to know him, or at least know of him.
“Oh, do I know Hyunjin? I know all about him. Changbin invites him to our recording sessions all of the time. He was also in my music theory class last year, but he didn’t really like me back then. It didn’t really bother me though, since I didn’t like him either. It wasn’t until after he and Changbin had started dating that we became good friends. We actually have a lot more in common than we thought.” Jisung explained. The idea that someone could just not like the man in front of him was perplexing to Minho.
As they walked to Minho’s dorm, they spent their time talking about Changbin and Hyunjin and their way of making everybody in the room feel like a third wheel. The air was light and easy, and Minho appreciated how fun Jisung was to talk to. He was funny and easy to joke with, and overall such a genuine person. He had already known that they got along well during their nights at the cafe, but talking outside of Jisung’s job felt different. Like they were real friends.
When they arrived at the building, Minho used his passkey to get into the Residence Hall and they both headed toward the elevator.
“You live on the whole other side of campus than I do. I live in the East Wing. I don’t think I’ve ever been to Changbin’s dorm, Chan’s has always been the closest,” Jisung said as Minho pressed the third-floor button of the elevator. Minho suddenly felt bad for making him go so far.
“Oh, sorry. I hope I didn’t pressure you into coming, I wasn’t really thinking about it.” Minho apologized, but Jisung quickly shook his head.
“No- It’s fine! I really do appreciate your help. I’m used to walking home at night anyway, so it’s completely okay. I thought I was pressuring you into helping me,” Jisung was rushing out his words as they walked into Minho’s dorm.
“So we were both wrong and everything is fine. Good. Do you want to study at the desk or on the bed? The desk may be too small for two people, but if you’re fine with squeezing in, then we could steal Changbin’s chair.” Minho motioned to the rickety wooden desk that came with the room that was currently covered with papers and textbooks. He saw how Jisung looked at the messy desk and immediately changed his mind.
“Yeah, never mind. The desk is a little messy. Is the bed fine? Just take your shoes off.” Minho wasn’t someone who was super overprotective of his bed, and he knew that Jisung wasn’t unhygienic, so he didn’t mind sharing it.
“Yeah, that’s fine. Again, thank you for all of this. Nobody has been able to explain stats to me as well as you do. I finally feel like I kind of get it, and that hasn’t ever happened. I’m not usually bad at math either, which is why it’s so frustrating.” Jisung took his backpack off and put it at the foot of his bed. He took his shoes off, put them in front of the door, and waited for Minho to do the same.
Minho found some of his notes from the year before buried in one of his folders and brought them into the bed with him. Jisung crawled in next to him, sitting cross-legged in front of the spread-out notes.
“So, where were we? You were stuck on this problem, right?”
🍓
It wasn’t until Jisung let out a long, drawn-out yawn that Minho realized how late it had gotten. They had gotten so caught up in their work that it had gotten to be two in the morning and neither of them had noticed.
“Hey, Jisung, should we call it a night? It’s already two.” Jisung was working out a few practice problems by himself for Minho to check and his head shot up at the time.
“Are you serious? Time flies when you’re…doing statistics, I guess. But yeah, I should probably get going. Sorry for keeping you up so long.” Jisung began to gather all of his notes and stuff them into a folder.
“Don’t apologize, I’m the one who invited you. Are you gonna be okay getting back to your dorm? Didn’t you say you lived across campus?” Minho asked, remembering Jisung’s comment from earlier.
“Oh, yeah. I walk home every night from work though, so I’ll be fine. Nothing’s ever happened.” Jisung said as he hopped off of the bed and reached for his bag. Minho knew that Jisung would probably be okay, but there was still that little part of him telling him that something could go wrong.
“Just because nothing’s happened yet doesn’t mean that it can’t. I couldn’t just invite you to my dorm, keep you here until two in the morning, and make you walk for twenty minutes to get back to your place. Do you want to stay? If not, I can walk you back.”
Minho really wasn’t thinking before he was speaking today.
Did he seriously just invite some guy he met a whopping week ago to sleep over at his dorm?
Maybe.
He was already regretting it until Jisung gave his reply.
“Sure! It could be fun. I was actually kind of dreading going back to my dorm so late. Felix is probably still worrying. Oh God, I forgot to text Felix!” Jisung quickly opened his phone and began vigorously typing something.
“Felix? Like, dance major Felix?” Jisung nodded at Minho’s question, looking up from his phone.
“Yeah, do you know him?”
“Yeah, we’re both dance majors. We have similar classes. Is he your roommate?”
Jisung nodded again.
“Mhm, he’s my best friend. This is our second year of rooming together. Do you know him well?” Jisung put his phone back in his pocket and put his bag back down at the foot of Minho’s bed.
“Not really, but he’s nice. I think I’ve heard him talking about you a few times.” Minho said. He wasn’t sure, since Felix never used Jisung’s actual name, only cutesy nicknames, but he could put two and two together.
“Of course you have. Not anything bad, I hope?” Jisung rolled his eyes, but there was no real malice in his expression.
“Nah, it’s mostly just about how much he misses you. He says you’re always busy and never have time to hang out with him anymore. Do you need clothes?” Minho remembered that Jisung was wearing baggy jeans and a sweater and figured that those were not the most comfortable clothes for sleeping.
“Yeah, probably. Thanks.” Minho gave him a nod in response and began looking through his drawers to find clothes that would fit the younger man. They weren’t too different in height, only a few inches, but Jisung was a lot leaner than Minho. The smallest sweatpants we could find were medium, so they would have to do. He also found a t-shirt that looked like it could fit, so he pulled them both out and handed them to Jisung.
“These are the best I could find. Sorry if they’re too big.” Jisung just smiled and thanked him before going to the bathroom to change and leaving Minho alone. He decided that he should probably change as well, so he quickly threw on a different pair of sweatpants and a plain white shirt. A few moments after he pulled the shirt over his head, Jisung came out of the bathroom.
Now, Minho could appreciate a man’s beauty without making it weird.
However.
Seeing a cute guy his age in his oversized clothes made him feel things. He could see that his sweatpants were rolled up under his shirt and his hair was sticking every which way, but he somehow still looked amazing.
Minho was definitely making it weird.
His train of thought was cut short when Jisung began talking.
“So, how is this gonna work? Am I sleeping on Changbin’s bed?” Jisung was barely able to mask his grimace when he looked over at Changbin’s side of the room, clothes strewn about and papers everywhere.
“Huh, I didn’t think about that. We could just share mine if you’re okay with that. I think we could both fit. If not, then I’ll take Changbin’s.” Minho looked over to his bed, calculating how close they’d have to be if they slept in it. Since he was considered an “upperclassman” since it was his third year, his dorm was bigger than the others, and so were the beds. They’d have to be fairly close, but not anything too crazy.
“I’m okay with sharing. I move around some and I’m a super heavy sleeper, so be warned. If I’m moving too much, feel free to wake me up.” Jisung said with a sheepish smile, playing with a strand of his hair.
“That’s fine, I’m a heavy sleeper too. You could fall off of the bed and I wouldn’t even notice.”
If Minho had a nickel for every time he said something stupid that he probably shouldn’t have said, he would have three nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened three times.
“Oh, really? That’s perfect then!” Jisung’s smile made up for Minho’s guilt and regret for blatantly lying about his sleeping habits. Jisung didn’t have to know that he was the lightest sleeper in the world. Minho just nodded and hopped back into the bed, Jisung following. They faced opposite sides, Minho staring at the wall and Jisung facing Changbin’s bed.
“Good night, Minho. Again, thanks for all of this, I seriously owe you.” Jisung said, reaching for the little table lamp still illuminating the room.
“No problem, I’ll always be happy to help. Good night, Jisung.”
Jisung yanked the little pull switch of the lamp and the lights were out, leaving the room pitch black.
When Minho woke up, the first thing that registered in his mind was that there was a weight on his chest that was definitely not there before. His mind was still foggy from sleep and his eyelids still felt heavy as he slowly blinked his eyes open.
Oh.
When his eyes focused after a moment, adjusting to the light seeping in through the window, he looked down to see a head of brown fluffy hair tucked into his chest. Jisung was breathing slowly and quietly, and his hands were softly gripping Minho’s shirt.
Well, he couldn’t just wake him up, could he?
Jisung looked so peaceful, and it wasn’t like Minho was against his current situation. He just hoped that Jisung didn’t subconsciously hear how his heartbeat quickened. When the sleeping man shifted a little bit closer and let out a content hum, Minho admitted defeat.
Sure, he had only known Jisung for about a week, but a little crush never hurt anyone. It would probably go away as quickly as it came. Before he could think about it anymore, his arm began to ache. It was put in some unnatural position under Jisung’s stomach, so he carefully slid it out and instead used it to pull the man closer into his chest.
Just to get comfortable, of course.
Jisung didn’t seem to mind, as he all but melted into the touch. Minho found it to be easier to fall asleep with the extra weight on him too, so he decided not to think much of it and just embrace it while he could.
🍰
Jisung seriously wasn’t lying when he said that he was a heavy sleeper. No matter how hard he shook him around, Minho could not get the younger man up. Unfortunately, that meant Minho was pretty much incapacitated due to Jisung’s arms tightening around his shoulders every time he tried to move him. What a terrible shame.
“Jisung, we should get up. It’s already nine,” Minho didn’t know if Jisung was even awake to hear what he was saying, but he thought he’d give it a shot. Unsurprisingly, he only stirred a bit, not anything new. Maybe a different approach was needed.
Minho moved his hands from where they were idly resting on the other and firmly planted them on Jisung’s waist. Jisung’s frame was a lot smaller than his own and Minho had started going to the gym more frequently, so it was fairly easy to flip the younger over from his side to his back. The change in position seemed to catch Jisung’s attention. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Minho and blinked a few times.
“Minho? What are you doing?” Minho took note that Jisung’s voice got a lot deeper in the morning. What he would do with that information, he didn’t know. He suddenly realized how it probably looked to Jisung and let him go. He was surprisingly calm about it, it’s not every day that you wake up to a guy you just met hovering over you and holding you down.
“Uh, sorry. I was just trying to get you up. Nothing else was working. How’d you sleep?” What a stupid question, Minho thought. He knew that Jisung slept like a baby the whole night. He also decided that he should probably let go of the guy, so he removed his hands and climbed off of the bed, starting to get ready.
“Oh, my bad. I slept super well. I don’t think I woke up even once. Did you sleep okay? I hope I didn’t move around too much.” Jisung said, looking a little shy. Cute.
“About the same. And you were fine, if you did move then it didn’t bother me.” Minho technically wasn’t lying, it really didn’t bother him at all. What Jisung didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Jisung seemed to accept this answer and sat up, stretched, and climbed off of the bed as well. Minho acted like he didn’t see the little sliver of his waist Jisung’s shirt rode up from stretching. Just for his own sanity.
The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful, but not in a bad way. Minho lent Jisung a hoodie to wear since he didn’t want him to have to wear his clothes from yesterday, and it was too cold out for just a plain t-shirt. Not because he looked good in Minho’s already oversized clothes. Not at all.
After changing and getting ready, Jisung had suggested getting coffee, since it was on the way from Minho’s dorm to his.
“If we go, then you can meet my coworkers. During the daytime two of us work at a time, so it’ll probably be Yeji and Ryujin.” Jisung said. Minho had heard a lot about them over the past week, and he was honestly looking forward to meeting them. Jisung had described them like they were his sisters.
When Minho agreed, Jisung packed all of his things back into his bag, and they headed out towards the cafe. Even though it was late spring, it was early enough for it to still be a little bit chilly. Minho noticed Jisung trying to warm up his hands by putting them in his pockets, but he was still slightly shivering. Without another thought, Minho casually threw an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer, slightly startling Jisung. He recovered quickly, however, smiling at Minho and leaning into him.
They walked like that for a while in comfortable silence, and Jisung had stopped shivering. It luckily wasn’t too busy when they arrived at the cafe, Ryujin was taking an order and Yeji was restocking the cookies in the front. They noticed Jisung immediately, and their eyes flicked to Minho. Jisung saw the amusement in their eyes and suddenly regretted suggesting coming to the cafe.
“Jisung! We haven’t seen you in, like, a week! Where have you been? And when did you get a boyfriend?” Ryujin wiggled her eyebrows and pointed at Minho, who quickly removed his arm from Jisung’s shoulder.
“First of all, he’s not my boyfriend. This is Minho, he’s been coming to the cafe during my night shifts. And I haven’t seen you because I’ve only been doing night shifts. I do miss you guys a lot, though.” Jisung’s voice went from defensive to genuine within seconds, and Minho could tell that these girls really meant a lot to him.
“I know! Why do you take so many night shifts anyway? We know that you don’t like them. If you ever need someone to pick up a shift, don’t be afraid to say something.” Yeji chimed in, closing the little glass sliding door to the cookie compartment.
“Nobody likes them, but I think I hate them the least. It’s not that bad, barely anyone comes in. And when they do it’s mostly just college students pulling all-nighters or drunk people.” Jisung shrugged.
“Is that weird guy still coming in? What was his name….Siwoo? When we would work nights he would always come in and cause a scene. So annoying.” Ryujin said, rolling her eyes. Minho thought he recognized that name from somewhere, and then it hit him. That was the guy that was being so weird the other night. He vaguely remembered seeing the dude’s name on their “shared” presentation.
“Yeah, he’s come in a couple of times. It’s not every night like it used to be, thank God. I don’t think I would survive seeing that asshole daily. He usually doesn’t say much to me though, other than how much he misses you two. What a creep. Last time he said some odd shit, though. But that was about a week ago and he hasn’t come back.” The way that Jisung said it so casually made Minho upset. The other two also seemed unphased.
“Really? What did he say?” Yeji asked, leaving behind her spot at the counter to pick up Dori.
“I don’t know, he said I was pretty. He’s never said anything like that before, so it just kind of threw me off. He was drunk and with his friends though, so it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like he has to tell me, anyway.” Jisung smirked. Minho agreed in his mind.
“Exactly! He’s totally ugly too. Inside and out.” Ryujin said, rolling her eyes.
“He’s not smart either. Minho did a group project with him and his friends.” Minho, who hadn’t said a word this whole time, nodded in agreement. Yeji and Ryujin both looked at him and grinned.
“Are you serious? Please spill. I want every speck of dirt that you’ve got on that guy.” Yeji’s devilish smirk and Ryujin’s vigorous nodding let Minho know that there was no getting out of this one.
What had he gotten himself into?
⚡
The next time Minho came into Paws and Pours, it was more for safety than anything. While he was out studying in the library, he got a warning of a severe storm coming their way and it started earlier than expected. While he was walking to his dorm, the rain started and the cafe was closer than his building, so finding refuge there was the best option. The rain picked up quickly and by the time Minho pushed the door open he was drenched.
“Oh my God, Minho? What are you doing here? Wait, let me get you a towel.” Jisung ran off before Minho could even get a word out, and he was left standing on the little cat-shaped rug in front of the door.
Jisung was back as quickly as he left, but now he had a big, fluffy, paw-printed towel in his hands. With no hesitation, Jisung placed the towel on Minho’s head and began to dry his hair. If it was anybody else, he probably would have insisted on doing it himself and swatted their hands away, but this was Jisung. He was different. He could allow himself to indulge in being doted on just this once.
Once Jisung sufficiently dried him off, he went to put the towel back. As he was walking off, a bright strike of lightning lit up the road, followed by a loud boom of thunder. The cats were hiding under tables and chairs, tails bushed up and backs arched. Just as Minho began to leave his spot on the wet rug to pet Dori, both his and Jisung’s phones began to sound the severe weather alarm.
“Shit, we need to go to the closet. Being around all of these windows isn’t safe. Could you grab one of the cats?” Jisung’s voice wavered as he picked up Soonie and Doongie. Minho nodded and coaxed Dori out from under the table before scooping him up in his arms. Jisung led him to a storage closet near the back of the cafe, which was only lit by a small lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. Minho went in first, and Jisung followed before closing the door. They both set the cats down and looked at each other for a moment and then there was a boom.
There goes the power.
Jisung reached for the little pull switch that hung down from the light and pulled it a couple of times.
Nothing.
“Um, Minho? Do you have your phone on you?” Jisung asked quietly. Minho dug around in his pockets but to no avail.
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s still in my bag. Do you not have yours?”
“No, we have to keep them in the back so we don’t get distracted. That’s why-” Before Jisung could get another word out, a clap of thunder sounded throughout the cafe. Jisung instinctively moved closer, holding onto Minho’s shoulders. Minho could feel him slightly shaking and put a hand on his back. After a few seconds of silence, Minho decided to speak.
“Are you okay?” His voice was hushed, as he didn’t want to startle the man any further.
“Yeah, it’s just…I’ve never been great with storms. Ever since I was a kid they’ve freaked me out. I grew up in a place where tornadoes were common, so our area would constantly get threats and warnings. I would always see the damage from them nearby and think about if it was my house instead of theirs. I never got used to it. When I saw the forecast today, I kind of freaked out. I don’t like being alone during these things, it makes me worry even more. I’m just glad you’re here too.” Jisung kind of mumbled out the last part and his fingers dug further into the fabric of Minho’s still-damp hoodie. Minho was glad that the lights were off because if not, the blush on his face would be obvious.
“I’m sorry to hear that. I promise you that the cats, the cafe, and we are safe. The storm can’t go on much longer, anyway. We’ll be fine.” Minho traced circles on Jisung’s back with one hand, the other hand softly running through Jisung’s hair. He leaned into the touch, almost like one of the cats would do, and buried his face into the crook of Minho’s neck.
“Thank you. Sorry that I’m kind of overreacting.” Jisung mumbled, voice muffled by the hoodie. Minho’s brows furrowed and he shook his head, pulling the man even closer with the hand on his back.
“Hey, don’t apologize. I get it. I’m just glad you’re not here alone.” Minho meant what he said. Even though he wouldn’t have known how shaken up Jisung would’ve gotten if he hadn’t come, he was glad that he could be there for him.
They stood in comfortable silence for a while, not including the loud rumbles of thunder and a few quiet meows from the cats. Jisung took a deep breath in and pulled away, and Minho removed his hands.
“Thanks for that. The power is still out, but I think I know the cafe well enough to find my phone in the dark so we can have a flashlight. Would you be okay with staying in here with the cats? I’ll only be gone for a couple minutes.” Jisung said. Minho could hear him kneeling down and scratching one of the cat’s heads. The storm had piped down quite a bit, so Jisung’s voice had lost the quiver it previously had.
“Yeah, I can do that. Are you sure you’ll be able to get around?” Minho was still a little worried about him going alone. What if the storm got bad again? He knew that the brunt of it had passed, but it never hurt to take other possibilities into account.
“I should be fine, but thanks. It’ll only take a second.” Minho heard the door creak open, Jisung shuffling out, and then closing again. Now he was left with the cats. He could feel one of them circling his legs, so he dropped down to pet its head. As he scratched behind the cat’s ears, his head shot up as he heard a loud crash come from outside the room. He hoped that something was just knocked off of a table, but it sounded pretty heavy. Minho wanted to go check and see what it was, but he wasn’t about to leave the cats alone, so he stayed put.
A couple of minutes passed by, and Jisung finally returned to the little closet, phone in hand. The flashlight was on and as Jisung shut the door back, he accidentally shone it right into Minho’s face.
“Shit, sorry! Let me turn the brightness down.” Jisung fumbled with his phone before the light dimmed to a more manageable brightness. He propped it on a shelf so they could see around the room.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Did something fall while you were out? I heard a crash.” As Minho asked, Jisung’s face went from casual to embarrassed in a second. Even in the dim light, he could tell that the man was faintly blushing,
“Oh, you heard that? Yeah, I tripped over a wire and fell straight on my ass. I guess I forgot how much stuff there was on the ground. It’s fine, though. Probably just a little bruise.” Jisung shrugged and picked up Soonie, scratching his chin.
“Maybe I should’ve gone with you. I would’ve caught you before you could have touched the ground.” Minho teased, crossing his arms. Jisung just scoffed and rolled his eyes, but the smile creeping up on his face betrayed him.
“You liar, I bet you would’ve run into more than I did! You’ve never even been in the back, you would have no idea where you were going. You’d be on the floor in seconds.” Jisung shot back, challenge in his eyes. Minho couldn’t argue with that, so he put his hands up in surrender.
“Yeah, sure. If that were the case, then we would both end up lying on the floor like idiots. How about that?” Minho said, making Jisung laugh.
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Jisung said. He was quiet for a moment, staring at Minho with an unreadable look, before opening his mouth. Just as he was about to say something, the lights flickered back on.
“Oh, the power’s back!” Jisung put Soonie down and opened the closet door and the cats quickly bolted out. Jisung grabbed his phone from the shelf and left the closet as well, Minho following him. They surveyed the cafe for anything that might’ve broken, but Minho was still hung up on what Jisung was going to say.
“Hey, Jisung, what were you saying before the power came back on?” Minho asked casually. Jisung hesitated before shaking his head, a weary expression on his face.
“It was nothing, don’t worry about it. Do you want something to drink? It’s on me since you helped me out with the cats and everything tonight. It’s the least I could do.” He said, retreating back to his spot behind the counter where he always was.
“Sure, I’ll take anything. Surprise me.” Minho enjoyed getting to try the “secret menu” as they called it. Weirdly enough, it filled him with a sense of pride like it made him special.
“You always ask for surprises. One day, I’m gonna make something totally shitty and watch you pretend to like it.” Jisung laughed, pouring some kind of cream into a cup.
“I’m sure that I’d like anything that you made. Just because you made it.” Minho didn’t realize how sappy that sounded until it came out of his mouth. Jisung was really doing a number on him. Jisung didn’t seem to take it a weird way though, unphased, as he continued to prepare the drink.
“Well, I hope you enjoy the cafe’s next new item, Cat Piss In a Cup.” Minho shook his head in disapproval as Jisung laughed to himself, taking the drink out of the blender. He was silent as he topped it off with some whipped cream and some kind of dust before handing it to Minho, along with a straw.
“I’ve actually been thinking of asking my manager to add this one to the menu. It’s a Churro Frappuccino. It’s just normal Vanilla Bean, except there’s some cinnamon and caramel mixed in. Tell me how you like it.” Jisung watched Minho expectantly as he opened the straw and took a sip. Minho paused for a moment and nodded, quickly going for another sip.
“This is incredible. You should definitely try to get it added to the menu.” Jisung’s face lit up at Minho’s praise.
“You really think so? That means a lot, I made the recipe myself, and there was so much trial and error trying to get it to taste right. Do you think other people would like it? Is it too sweet? Not sweet enough? Be honest.” Jisung’s words were going a mile a minute, but Minho couldn’t think of anything wrong with it. Sure, he wasn’t a drink connoisseur or anything, but it was a solid drink.
“Jisung, it’s perfect. I would tell you if something was wrong with it.” Minho told him, taking another sip. The beaming smile on Jisung’s face made him never want to stop telling him nice things.
“Thank you so much, Minho. Seriously. Oh, it seems like the rain let up.” Jisung averted his eyes from Minho to the window, and Minho did the same. Surely enough, the rain had stopped.
“Oh, good. I should probably get going. It’s already twelve and I have a test in the morning. I’ll see you later, Jisung.” Minho began walking toward the door but was suddenly stopped by Jisung’s voice.
“Wait!”
Before Minho could move another inch, he was engulfed in a hug from behind. Minho froze and looked at Jisung, who looked up from his shoulder to smile at him.
“I just wanted to thank you again for everything. Not everybody would’ve been as nice about this whole situation as you were. I know that it was probably a lot, but I seriously appreciate your help more than I could even say.” Jisung was speaking quietly, but it was all genuine. Minho didn’t even process what was happening before Jisung planted a quick kiss on his cheek and then ran off to the back.
“Bye, Minho! Good luck on your test!” He shouted before disappearing. Minho stood on the rug for a second before yelling goodbye back, maybe a little too enthusiastically, and walking out of the cafe. When he was sure that he was out of the cafe’s view, he placed a hand on the cheek that Jisung had just kissed and a smile broke out on his face.
The thought of the possibility that Jisung may like him back made his face heat up. Was it only for good luck? Was there more to it? Is this just an elaborate dream that Minho is about to wake up from? The yawn he let out was enough to prove the last option wrong.
As he walked back to his dorm, the smile never left his face. He was glad that Changbin was still in deep sleep, or else he’d be asking all kinds of questions as to why Minho came in looking like a cat who got the cream. He flopped down on his bed, set his alarm, and dozed off with a newfound hope inside of him.
🎙️
The next time Minho saw Jisung wasn’t at the cafe, but rather in the producing studio. Chan had texted him and asked him for coffee, he said no, but then Chan said that Jisung also wanted coffee. How could he argue with that? So, Minho went to Paws and Pours, got Chan his Americano, Changbin a strawberry bubble tea, and Jisung his Churro Frappuccino. Yeji looked at him a bit suspiciously when he made all of the additions to the Vanilla Bean Frappuccino base.
“Isn’t this the drink that Jisungie’s been making? It’s really good. Did he tell you to order it, or has he already made one?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow. Minho knew that he had been figured out, so he came clean.
“He made one for me the other night. This one is for him, I’m bringing him and our friends' drinks.” Minho explained and Yeji smiled.
“Oh, really? I’ll make you one too then, don’t even worry about paying. You’re Jisungie’s friend, so you can have it for free. Don’t tell him that, though. He’ll get embarrassed. He talks about you a lot. I mean, I don’t want to spill all of his business or anything, but it seems like he likes you a lot. And if I’m reading things right, then you like him a lot too. I don’t want to pry, but I would say to go for it. He’s a really great guy.” Minho had no idea how the conversation escalated so quickly, but he knew that Yeji had good intentions.
“Yeah, you’re right. I just don’t want to rush things. Don’t tell him that, though.” Minho blushed as he realized what he was confessing. He really needed to get a grip. If he kept on saying things without thinking, he could end up in deep shit.
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. Tell Jisungie I say hi!” Yeji said, returning his card to him and leaving to make the drinks. As he waited, he visited with the cats. Soonie was playing with a little girl and Dori was being doted on by an old couple, so he walked over to Doongie and gave him a few pats.
The cafe was a lot more lively during the day than at night. He had gotten so used to the only sounds being Jisung’s voice, the humming of the coffee machines, and the quiet music. Now, there was a lot more chatter, doors constantly opening and closing, and the sounds of the machines pouring, mixing, and blending the drinks. As much as he liked the positivity radiating from all of the people, he couldn’t help but enjoy the cafe at night more.
He was torn away from his thoughts when his name was called and on the counter, there was a drink holder with everything he ordered, plus the extra drink. He took the drinks and headed out to the studio, slightly shivering from the cold of the early spring. He was very familiar with the location of the class since he had somehow become the unofficial delivery boy for Chan and Changbin over the past year.
Minho walked down the long hallway on the music production floor of the music building, looking for the room that Chan had always used. When he spotted it, Room 19, he gave a couple of quick knocks with the hand that wasn’t holding the drinks. He knew that they always kept the door locked so nobody could interrupt their work time, so he didn’t even bother trying to twist the handle.
He was quickly greeted by Chan, who swung the door open with a smile. Minho also spotted Changbin fiddling around with some knobs and Jisung lying down on the couch that was in the room.
“You guys sure look busy,” Minho said, looking at Jisung who looked half asleep.
“That was my mistake. I told them that you were coming with drinks and they got excited and didn’t want to do anything productive anymore. Thanks, by the way.” Chan sighed, taking his Americano from the drink holder.
“No problem. I’d be excited if you told me I was coming too. Changbin, Chan didn’t tell me what you wanted, so you get strawberry boba. You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.” Minho handed the drink to Changbin, who took it and started opening the straw immediately.
“Thanks, Minho! You’re the best.” Changbin made a kissy face at him before sticking the straw in and taking a long sip. Minho then went over to Jisung, who sat up and looked at Minho expectantly.
“I didn’t give Chan any specifics either. Now I guess it’s your turn to surprise me.” Jisung said with a cheeky grin. Minho was still hung up on what happened the last time they saw each other, but he tried not to make it obvious.
“Here, I’ll let you guess what it is.” Minho handed him one of the frappes in the holder and a straw, and Jisung looked at it for a second before his eyes widened comically.
“Wait, is this my drink? Did you seriously remember everything that was in it? You’re insane!” Jisung stuck his straw in and took a sip, nodding in satisfaction at the taste.
“Yeah, how could I forget? I told you that it was good. Also, Yeji said to tell you that she says hi.” Minho told him, opening his own straw and taking a sip of the drink. Good, but a little bit different than Jisung’s.
“Oh, did she make this? I could see that. She’s really precise with her measurements and I kind of just follow my gut to tell me what will taste best. I think she may have added one teaspoon of sugar while I added two, and it also seems like she used caramel in the middle when I only put it on the top. It’s still great, though!” Jisung explained. Minho had no idea how Jisung could tell how many specific teaspoons of sugar were added to a drink, but he figured that somebody who works with drinks so often would be able to get good at differentiating their drinks from others.
“I don’t know what she did, but I know that I liked yours more. Hers is good, but yours was perfect.” Minho took another sip and nodded, taking a seat on the couch next to Jisung.
“Wow, thanks! You’re too nice to me, Minho. How do I know that you’re not just lying to me to make me feel good?” Jisung said, resting his head on Minho’s shoulder.
“I already told you, if it was bad then I would tell you. I’m not going to set you up for failure, Jisung.” Minho replied. Jisung simply let out a sound of agreement and linked their arms together, intertwining their fingers as well. They stayed like that for a while until Chan and Changbin turned around from where they were working on something on Chan’s computer.
“Ew, PDA in the studio. Get a room. Anyways, I have a question for you two,” Chan made a grossed-out face, making Changbin snicker.
“You’re just mad because Felix isn’t here. We all know that you’re exponentially worse when you’re around him. What do you want?” Jisung rolled his eyes at Chan and leaned further into Minho.
“That’s completely unrelated! I was going to ask if you two wanted to come to a party at my place tomorrow night. My parents are gone for the weekend, so why not? It’s not gonna be anything too crazy, just a few friends and maybe some drinks. It’ll be fun.” Chan explained. He lived off-campus in a nice house with his parents, but he was only around ten minutes away. His house had become the designated party place.
“Sorry, you know I’m not really a party person. Plus, I’ll probably be working.” Jisung explained. Minho wasn’t a party person either, he’d rather just invite one or two people to his dorm and watch a movie.
“Oh, come on! You work nonstop, you can take a break for one night. You’ll know the people there, too. Felix and Hyunjin are both coming. So is Changbin.” Chan said.
“Oh, Felix is going? He’ll throw a fit if I don't go. Did you already tell him that I was invited?” Jisung groaned. Felix and Jisung were always together at parties. Minho had never thought about it in depth before, but every time he was dragged along to a party by Chan or Changbin, Felix and Jisung were always dancing or sitting together. That was before Minho even knew Jisung’s name, so he hadn’t thought much of it.
“I might’ve already told him that you were coming. I’m sorry! I just knew that he would agree to come if he knew that you would show up too! Please come, I’ll love you forever!” Chan begged. If looks could kill, Chan would be a dead man.
“Fine, but you owe me. Minho, please come with me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to watch those two sucking on each other’s faces all night. I need an emotional support partygoer. Sadly, Felix has been demoted.” Minho wasn’t planning on going, but the way Jisung looked up at him with those big eyes left him with no choice but to agree.
“Yeah, I’ll go. I’m not a party person either, so I guess we can just sit in the corner together.” Minho tightened the grip on his hand and Jisung sighed in relief.
“You two are such downers. At least try to have fun. Anyway, we should probably get back to work. That means we’ll have to kick you out, Minho.” Chan said. Minho understood this was for a class, after all. Just as he was about to get up, Jisung softly tugged his arm back.
“Does he have to go? You forced him to bring us drinks, I think you should let him stay. Unless he wants to leave.” Jisung pulled his arm closer and squished his cheek into his shoulder. It's not like Minho could argue with that. Chan sighed and shook his head.
“Why would he want to stay in here? He probably has better things to do in his free time than sit around in a studio.” Chan had a point, Minho could be doing a thousand other things. He could be studying, or sleeping, or…..that was about it. Staying in the studio with his favorite barista wrapped around his arm seemed more fun than either of those options.
“I’ll stay if Jisungie wants me to stay. I really don’t have anything else to do. I won’t be distracting, I promise.” Minho interlocked his and Jisung’s fingers again and Jisung smiled.
“Yeah, okay, whatever. If you get bored, feel free to go. Don’t feel obligated to stay just because Jisung wants you to. He’s been complaining about being bored for thirty minutes because he finished all of his parts earlier.” Jisung stuck his tongue out at Chan, who stuck his out right back at him.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing! I just had a lot of free time and wanted to keep working before I lost all of my ideas. You of all people should understand, Channie.” Jisung fired back.
“Whatever you say, Jisungie. Just don’t be too loud.” Chan sat down in his chair and put his headphones on, leaving the only sounds in the room to be the taps of their keyboards. Minho used the arm that Jisung wasn’t currently clutching to look at his phone and check his socials. He occupied himself by scrolling for a while, not really knowing what else to do, before looking beside him.
Jisung had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
Minho didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed before, but now he was very aware. Their arms were still linked and their hands were still intertwined. He could feel Jisung’s soft breath on his neck. Jisung looked so peaceful like this was exactly where he was meant to be.
Admittedly, Minho’s “little” crush had gotten a bit out of hand. He thought that it would go away, but ever since the night of the storm, it had only gotten worse. Minho had found himself thinking about the man nonstop, and he had grown to accept that the feeling wasn’t going to disappear as he initially thought.
He rested his head on the other’s and held his hand a little bit tighter, accepting defeat.
🍾
“Changbin, what are you wearing? Is there a dress code?” Minho was rifling through his clothes, looking for something suitable for Chan’s party. He didn’t want to look like he was trying too hard, but he didn’t want to look like he just rolled out of bed either. Unfortunately, most of the clothes he had were just hoodies and sweaters. Not anything eye-catching.
“You know the outfit with a black jacket with the red tank top I wore a while ago when we went to Hyunjin’s? I’m looking for that. There isn’t really a strict dress code, just wear whatever looks cool. I’m sure you won’t have a problem with that.” As Changbin pulled things out of his own clothing bins, he finally found what he was looking for and shoved the rest back in.
Minho continued to scour through every article of clothing he owned until he curated the perfect outfit. A black and white graphic tee, black cargo pants, and a gray denim jacket with a pair of black combat boots. He completely forgot that he had the outfit since he hadn’t been to an actual party in months, but it would do.
He couldn’t help but wonder what Jisung would be wearing. He said he wasn’t a party person either, so would it be something simple? Minho had only seen him in his work uniform and hoodies, so he wasn’t sure what to expect. He figured that Jisung would end up looking good in anything, though.
Minho threw his clothes on, fixed up his hair, and headed out. Hyunjin had already picked up Changbin, so Minho had to go alone. During his short drive there, Minho started to get a bit nervous. Sure, he was close with a few people who were going, but what if they were hanging out with their close friends? He didn’t want to sit and loom in the corner all night.
He shook the nerves off when he arrived and knocked on Chan’s front door. He could hear the music blasting through the walls as he waited. He stood there for a few moments before the door was opened by Hyunjin.
“Oh, hey! I didn’t know you were coming! Come in!” Hyunjin grabbed his arm and yanked him inside, the music now blasting in Minho’s ears. He swiveled his head to try and find someone else that he knew, but it was no use. Minho should’ve known that Chan’s perception of “just a few friends” wasn’t five or six but around thirty. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t in a house that had absolutely no room for thirty people.
Minho shuffled around some guests, clearly drunk, and made his way to the kitchen. He thought about drinking, but he didn’t want to end up with a hangover on a school day. He poured himself some Coke in a plastic cup and went back over to the living room. Chan had taken all of the furniture out of the previously comfy and homey room, turning it into a makeshift dance floor. Everybody was pushed against each other, and the whole room reeked of sweat and alcohol. Gross.
As he examined the room further, he caught a glimpse of what looked like Jisung. As soon as he saw him he was gone, engulfed by the crowd once again. As much as Minho hated the idea of going into a sea of drunk smelly people, he wanted to see Jisung more. He really only came to the party for him, so it would be a waste not to try and talk to him. Minho pushed his way through the crowd until he spotted who he was looking for.
Dancing with someone else?
Upon further inspection, Minho was able to distinguish who exactly Jisung was with.
Siwoo.
And upon further further inspection, Minho could tell that Jisung was not happy about it. He looked a bit frazzled and was shaking his head at whatever Siwoo was saying to him. The way that Siwoo’s hands were gripping Jisung’s waist rubbed Minho the wrong way. Jisung looked like he was trying to break away from the grip but to no avail. Minho had to do something.
He made a beeline towards the two, not caring who he pushed or shoved in the process. Minho’s eyes locked with Jisung’s and Minho could see the relief in his face. Unfortunately, that meant that Siwoo had noticed him as well. Apparently, the guy still thought that they were friends.
“Minho, what’s up! I didn’t know you came to parties! You good?” Siwoo was clearly hammered, stumbling over his words and swaying around. He seemed to notice that Minho didn’t look happy with him and his smile faltered.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Jisung over here promised to dance with me, right?” Minho turned to Jisung, who quickly caught on to what he was trying to do.
“Yeah, sorry. A promise is a promise,” Jisung pulled away from Siwoo and darted over to Minho, gripping his arm. Minho put his hand on the other’s waist, surprised when he felt bare skin. It was only then that Minho realized that Jisung was wearing a gray long-sleeved crop top with a prominent cut-out in the chest.
He looked unbelievably hot.
Siwoo retreated, muttering something under his breath, and Minho was finally able to speak with Jisung one-on-one.
“Are you okay? Did he do or say anything?” Minho used the hand that wasn’t resting on Jisung’s waist to cup his cheek. Jisung melted into it and gently shook his head, giving Minho a little smile.
“Not anything I haven’t heard before. I don’t even think he was invited. Thanks for stepping in, by the way. You really didn’t have to, but I’m glad you were here. It seems like you’re always showing up at the right place at the right time, you know?” Jisung was staring at him with those big round eyes again, and Minho felt like he was malfunctioning.
“Who else is going to protect you? Do you want to go?” Minho was asking both questions genuinely, but Jisung seemed a little tipsy himself, so he didn’t notice the sincerity in his eyes.
“Hmmm, I don’t know. I guess you’ll just have to be my knight in shining armor now. And you just got here right? It would be a shame to leave so early just because of some stupid guy. Let’s dance for a while. I promised, right?” Jisung put his hands on Minho’s shoulders, and the previous innocent expression had been replaced with something more devious.
Minho couldn’t let him win. A voice inside of him was screaming at him to put Jisung in his place. He removed the hand that was on Jisung’s cheek, firmly placed it on the other side of his waist, and pulled him closer. Jisung gasped and his grip tightened around Minho’s jacket.
“You sure did.”
They both moved to the rhythm of whatever song was blasting over the speakers. Minho didn’t care what they were listening to, who was watching, or what they looked like. All that mattered was that Jisung was with him, in his arms, only looking at him. Minho wasn’t usually a possessive person, but Jisung made him feel different. Hell, everything about him was different. Minho had never felt so connected to someone so quickly before, and he knew that there was no going back.
They danced until the party was over, surprising them both. Neither of them thought that they were going to stay for that long, but they were so lost in each other’s company that they didn’t realize how late it had gotten. Chan began clearing everybody out of the house and was met with groans and complaints.
Minho and Jisung both made their way to the door, where Chan was saying goodbye to everyone.
“Hey, you two! I haven’t seen you all night! Thanks for coming by the way, did you have fun?” He had a big dopey grin, and his face was slightly flushed from drinking.
“Yeah, it was fun. By the way, don’t invite Siwoo again.” Minho warned, his hand still resting on Jisung’s back. Chan’s face warped into one of confusion.
“Siwoo? Who’s that?” So Jisung was right. Minho figured that someone like Chan wouldn’t be friends with someone like Siwoo, but Chan was also able to make friends with literally anybody, so he wouldn’t put it past him.
“Not important, don’t worry about it. Thanks for the party!” Jisung waved at Chan and walked out the door, Minho following closely behind. The cold air of the night hit their faces like a freight train, and Jisung latched onto Minho’s arm.
“Do you wanna come to mine and stay over? We both know that Felix is probably going to stay at Chan’s. I just don’t like being alone after drinking. I get anxious.” Jisung was looking forward, his cheeks tinted pink from both the alcohol and the cool air. The cropped shirt probably wasn’t helping either.
“Yeah, I’ll stay.”
When they made it into the dorm, Jisung immediately flopped onto his bed and let out a loud groan. Minho hadn’t noticed before, but his ass looked great in those pants.
Nope, uncharted territory.
He quickly averted his eyes, opting to look around the room. Jisung’s side was covered with vinyl and band posters, complete with a couple of guitars on the wall. Felix’s side was quite different, with purple lights hovering over his bed and a large gaming monitor on his desk. Jisung sprung out of the bed, scuttling over to the clothing bins under his bed.
“You probably want to change, right? Here are some sweatpants. And you can have your sweatshirt back, I forgot that I had it on after you let me wear it. I washed it, don’t worry.” Jisung offered him the clothes, looking up at him with those big dark eyes again.
“Oh, thanks. I honestly forgot that it was gone. I’ll go change.” Minho went to the bathroom and was greeted with all kinds of skincare products. He remembered Jisung telling him all about Felix’s extensive skincare routine, so that checked out. When he threw on the hoodie, he couldn’t help but notice that it smelled like Jisung’s detergent.
Obviously, Minho wasn’t going around sniffing people, that would be weird. He and Jisung had just gotten so close, and he could probably recognize his honey-lavender scent anywhere. Minho didn’t know if it was just a good smell, or because it was Jisung’s, but he couldn’t help but take a whiff of the hoodie before leaving the bathroom.
Jisung was sprawled out on the bed, now in a plain white tee and black and red pajama pants. He was sitting on his phone playing some game, and he didn’t even seem to realize that Minho had come back.
Minho took this as the perfect opportunity to sneak up behind him and grab his middle.
“Minho? What are you-” Jisung was cut off when Minho began to tickle him, and he let out a yelp.
“Oh my God, stop! H-Hold on!” As Jisung wriggled around in his grasp, Minho didn’t let up. If anything, he went even harder on him, successfully trapping him between the bed and his own body. Jisung’s laughing became breathless and his body went slack, giving up on trying to escape.
“Is that all you’ve got? You’re gonna need to learn to-” As Minho slightly let up on his tickling, he was suddenly flipped over onto his back. Before he knew it, Jisung was on top of him. Sweaty, flushed, out of breath, and directly on his crotch.
“You didn’t think it was gonna be that easy, did you?” Jisung said, wiggling around a little bit. Tipsy Jisung was going to be the end of Minho. His hands were clutching onto Minho’s shoulders and his ass was very much on his dick. Minho was still firmly gripping his waist and he had a crazy idea.
Just as Jisung thought he had the upper hand, he was thrown back down on his back. Minho pinned his hands above his head and trapped him once again. Jisung’s face turned beet red as he tried to break free from Minho’s hold. Once he realized that he couldn’t get out, Jisung looked up at Minho with those glassy eyes that he couldn’t resist. Minho wanted to wreck him.
“Even easier than I thought.” Minho released his wrists and lay on the bed, facing the ceiling. Jisung sat up from where he was pinned down and stared at him, shocked.
“That’s not fair! You can’t just give up! You know that I would’ve gotten you somehow.” Jisung pouted, crawling on top of him so his face was resting on Minho’s chest. Minho rolled his eyes and slung a hand over Jisung’s waist, softly caressing the fabric of the tee. His other hand went up to ruffle his hair, which Jisung leaned into. Minho wanted to touch his hair forever if that meant he would always look so content.
“Yeah, whatever you say. Let’s go to sleep so you don’t feel like total shit in the morning.” Minho pulled the switch on the lamp and the room was suddenly dark, only illuminated by the soft purple lights on Felix’s side.
“Ok, good night. Thanks for staying.” Jisung snuggled further into the crook of Minho’s neck, and Minho felt like his heart was going to burst. He couldn’t resist the urge to leave a little peck atop Jisung’s hair before carding through it once again.
“Of course. Good night, Jisung.”
🫗
The next several days were going just swimmingly, in Minho’s opinion. He visited the cafe every night, usually staying for the entirety of Jisung’s shift. His situation had only gotten worse, and now what he would have described as a “little crush” a few weeks prior, would have turned into complete and utter infatuation.
No matter how hard he tried to focus, he just couldn’t get Jisung out of his head. Everything reminded him of the man, and it was driving him up the wall.
Cheesecake for sale at the grocery store?
Jisung likes cheesecake.
A squirrel climbing up a tree?
It looks like Jisung.
Overhearing a conversation about getting coffee?
Jisung makes coffee.
Minho was hopeless. He had just accepted it, because why else would he be up at one in the morning walking to a coffee shop? He was almost sure that Changbin had caught on to his not-so-very-well-disguised secret. He had started jokingly referring to Jisung as Minho’s boyfriend, and Minho had given up on correcting him.
When he opened the door to the cafe, something about the air felt off. The usual soft music wasn’t playing and Jisung was not at his usual spot behind the counter. All of the cats were sleeping in various spots in the building, causing a strange silence to fill the cafe.
“Jisung? Are you here?” Minho called out to the man, hoping that he would come out from wherever he was. He usually ran out right when he heard the bell ring, but it had been a good minute and he was still nowhere to be seen. Before Minho could dwell on it any longer, he heard the bathroom door creak open and Jisung slipped out, walking over to his station behind the counter.
“Hey, Minho. The usual?” The usual enthusiasm in Jisung’s voice was gone, and Minho couldn’t ignore it. His eyes also looked a bit puffy, and maybe even a little bit glossy.
“Sure. Are you okay?” Minho asked, and Jisung simply nodded in response, beginning to work on a drink. He looked way more exhausted than usual while preparing the coffee, hands shaking and feet stumbling over each other. He looked frustrated. When he handed Minho the drink, he didn’t even bother to draw any cute pictures or write any messages on it.
“Here, it’s a Chai Cream Frappuccino. I was hoping to put this one on the menu, too.” Jisung’s voice trailed off at the end and he was staring down at the ground. Minho took it out of his hands and stuck his straw in, taking a sip. It was just as good as everything else Jisung made.
“This is great! I’m sure you can get this one put on the menu like the other one. Did your manager ever get back to you about that?” Minho asked, causing Jisung to shrink in on himself. He suddenly regretted bringing it up.
“Um, yeah. He said that he would like to, but we can’t.” Jisung’s voice began to wobble. Minho didn’t understand why they would have declined the offer, there was nothing wrong with the drink.
“Are you serious? Why not?”
“Paws and Pours is going out of business.”
Minho’s mouth snapped shut. The cafe went silent. Jisung finally looked Minho in the eyes, tears welling up. Minho had to take a second to register what Jisung had said, but when it finally set in, he darted behind the counter and enveloped him in a hug.
“Jisung, I’m so sorry. Why? Is there anything I can do?” Minho’s heart broke for the man, he could feel him begin to cry, sharp breaths escaping from his mouth as he shook his head.
“N-No. I don’t think so. The shelter that we’ve been partnering with for support gave us the cats to put up for adoption. They depend on the adoptions to stay afloat, but since Soonie, Doongie, and Dori aren’t kittens, they haven’t been adopted. Sadly, not many people are interested in buying older cats. Since the shelter is breaking us off, we won’t have any financial aid and we won’t be able to stay in business.” The more Jisung explained, the more angry Minho felt. It seemed like an incredibly shady move by the shelter.
“That’s awful. I can’t believe nobody has adopted them yet, they’re the sweetest cats I’ve ever met. People can be so cruel.” Minho rubbed circles on Jisung’s back, trying to calm him down.
“I know, that’s why I’m so upset about it. There’s absolutely nothing I can do. I’ve asked everybody if they’re interested, but nobody has gotten back to me. I don’t know what might happen to the cats once the cafe shuts down. I don’t want them to go back to that shelter. They don’t treat them well. I just want to keep them safe, Minho. I’ve tried so hard. It’s pointless.” Jisung’s breath began to pick up and he started to tremble. He clenched Minho’s hoodie like a lifeline and Minho realized what was going on.
Jisung was having a panic attack.
Minho himself had never struggled with serious anxiety, but he knew others who did. Luckily, he knew how to handle them.
“Jisung, can you feel me breathing? Take deep breaths with me, okay? I promise you’re going to be okay.” Minho took long deep breaths, holding Jisung close so he could feel the pattern. Jisung’s breathing gradually slowed, and he was now breathing in tandem with Minho.
“You’re doing so good, Jisungie. Just keep breathing. Can you talk?” Jisung had seemed to calm down quite a bit, but he was still not completely back to normal.
“Y-Yeah.” His voice was still thin and his hands were still gripping the fabric of Minho’s shirt.
“Great. Now, can you name three things you can see?” Minho had learned a couple of techniques to stop panic attacks during his high school years, and he was suddenly grateful for the seemingly useless mental health assemblies he was forced to sit through.
“Um, yeah. I see you, the cash register, and Soonie sleeping on the cat tree.”
“Good, now what about three things you can hear?” Jisung was silent for a moment, trying to listen to whatever was around him.
“I can hear you, the cars outside, and the coffee machine.” His voice had become a lot calmer, and even though he was still slightly trembling, he had stopped crying. Minho was thankful that what he did worked, because if Jisung had cried any longer, then he would’ve probably started crying himself.
“Are you feeling better?” Minho looked at Jisung in the eyes and Jisung nodded, a small smile growing on his lips.
“Yeah, thank you so much. You’re seriously the best. I’m sorry for getting like that, I’ve had too much caffeine and not enough sleep lately. I really can’t thank you enough, though. You’re way too nice.” The way Jisung was looking at him made Minho feel like he was going to fold.
“It’s the bare minimum, Jisungie. You don’t deserve to be treated with any less respect. Everything is going to be okay. The cafe isn’t going anywhere. I’ll make sure of it.”
Minho was serious.
The cafe was staying, no matter what the shelter had to say about it.
When Jisung’s shift ended, Minho walked him to his dorm and rushed to his own. He needed to find a solution immediately.
“Changbin, how would you feel about getting three cats?” Changbin jolted up from his bed, clearly not expecting Minho to burst through the door.
“Uh, you know I’m allergic, right? Why?” Minho had completely forgotten about Changbin’s allergy if he was being honest.
“Yeah. How bad is it? Jisungie, the cats, and the cafe depend on this. Did he tell you what was going on?” He didn’t know if he was supposed to be sharing what was going on, but it might be the only way to convince Changbin and save the cafe.
“No, what’s happening? Is he okay?”
Minho explained the situation, and Changbin understood his urgency. He had been friends with Jisung when he got the job, and he had seen how much he loved it and how attached he had gotten to the cats and his coworkers.
“I have allergy medicine that I could take. Or, I could stay in Hyunjinnie’s apartment. Bring the cats over. Are you sure they’re allowed in the dorms?” Changbin asked. Minho hadn’t thought about that. He could just say they were for emotional support. It wasn’t much of a lie, if he didn’t have the cats then Jisung would be out of a job, the cats would be stuck at a shady shelter, and Minho would dwell on it for the rest of his life. That seemed like reasonable enough emotional damage to keep three cats in a small college dorm.
“It’ll be fine, I’ll figure it out. Thank you so much for agreeing, Jisung has done so much for me and I couldn’t see him lose everything. He doesn’t deserve that.” Minho said. Changbin nodded at him and smirked.
“Yeah, I’m doing this for him, not for you, you freak.” Changbin gave him a punch on the arm. “You really like him, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.”
🐈
The next night, Minho could barely contain his excitement to visit the cafe. Jisung was standing at the counter, looking a little better than the night before, but still not completely okay.
“Hey, Minho. The usual? Another surprise?” There was a sadness in his voice, even though he looked pretty okay. Looks can be deceiving.
“No, I’m here for something different tonight.” Jisung’s face went from neutral, to confused, to amused in a couple of seconds.
“Oh, really? What might that be?”
“Three cats, please.” Jisung paused for a moment.
“Ha-ha, very funny.”
“I’m serious.” Minho took out his card and held it out. Jisung blinked at him.
“No, you’re not.”
“I swear I am. Changbin and I talked about it last night and he agreed. I’m adopting the cats.” Jisung’s eyes were wide like he still didn’t believe what Jisung was telling him. He slowly reached out for the card, almost expecting Minho to take it back as if it were some sick prank. Minho let go of the card and Jisung gaped at him even further.
“Minho, if you’re messing with me I’m going to be really mad, you know?” Jisung looked at him, still skeptical, before swiping the card. The transaction went through. Jisung turned the screen around so Minho could read and sign the adoption papers digitally. Minho skimmed it all and put in the necessary information before looking back at Jisung, who looked like he was going to scream.
“Is that it?” Minho turned the screen back to Jisung and Jisung nodded.
“Minho, I hope you know that I could literally kiss you right now,” Jisung whispered, his eyes twinkling.
“Go ahead.”
“Are you serious?”
“Surprise me.”
Before Minho could even register it, Jisung’s lips were on his. Jisung had to lean over the counter to reach, and his hands were on Minho’s shoulders for support.
“Hold on,” Jisung practically flew around the counter to make it back to Minho and give him the biggest hug he’d ever seen. Minho placed his hands on his waist and pulled him impossibly closer.
“You’re insane, Minho.”
“Just for you. Can I kiss you again?” Jisung blushed and nodded.
“Please.”
Their mouths connected again, and Minho’s grip on Jisung’s waist tightened. Jisung let out a surprised yelp before melting back into the kiss. Once they finally pulled away, they were both breathless.
“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you to be mine, Jisungie,” Minho confessed. “I’ve wanted you for so long. I couldn’t stand seeing other people looking at you the same way. Wanted you all to myself.” Minho said before diving in for another kiss. Jisung pulled away and cupped the sides of his face.
“God, I’m so glad. I want you, too. So bad. Every night you would come in, I would feel so relieved. I was terrified that if the cafe shut down, I wouldn’t get to see you anymore. I was so worried, Minho.” Jisung’s eyes started to water and Minho tucked him into the crook of his neck.
“I wouldn’t let you go that easily, Jisungie. I don’t think I could.” Minho ran his fingers through Jisung’s hair. They stood like that for a while, before the cats started meowing at them.
“Oh, they must be hungry. Let me show you what food they like. I’ll also give you some of their favorite toys. I’m gonna miss having them around,” Jisung bent down to pet Soonie, who quietly trilled in response.
“Trust me, you’re not going to see them any less. If you’re not at my dorm at least twice a week, there’s going to be a problem.” Minho said, ruffling Jisung’s hair. “Do you want to stay at mine tonight?”
“When would I not? We also have to talk to the shelter and get a few things from them before you can take the cats home, so you’ll probably have them by tomorrow. My shift ends in around thirty minutes, so we’ll have to be normal until then.”
“Yeah, I can do that.”
Minho severely overestimated how normal he could be for thirty minutes.
The second the door to Minho’s dorm was shut, Jisung was pinned up against it. Minho had never been happier that Changbin was gone.
“Damn, you really couldn’t wait, could you?” Jisung looked at him with wide eyes, his face beet red.
“Nope. Now that I have you all to myself, I’m not letting you go.” Minho crashed their lips together, still holding Jisung’s hands above his head. When he slipped his tongue in, Jisung let out a little moan, driving Minho crazy. When they pulled away, Jisung looked dazed, out of breath, and eyes half-lidded.
“God, you have no idea what you do to me, do you?” Minho panted, and Jisung shook his head.
“What if I said no? Would you show me?” Minho didn’t even say anything before grabbing Jisung by the middle and throwing him onto the bed as if he weighed nothing.
“Holy shi-” Jisung couldn’t finish his sentence before Minho was on him again, caging him in with his arms.
“Yeah, I’ll show you. How do you want me?” Minho’s eyes were dark with pure want, and Jisung looked both terrified and insanely turned on.
“Um, inside. Please.” Jisung gulped. Minho quickly pulled down Jisung’s pants and all but ripped his shirt off, leaving him in only his boxers. All of the confidence that Jisung had earlier was gone.
“You’re so beautiful, Jisungie. All mine, too.” Minho sucked a mark on his collarbone, making him let out a strangled moan. Jisung covered his mouth, but Minho removed it.
“I want to hear your pretty little noises, okay? Don’t try to hide them. Do you want a condom or no condom? I’m clean, by the way.” Minho removed his belt and tossed it on the ground, taking off his pants and hoodie next.
“No condom, please. Want to feel you.” Jisung turned his face away, blushing more than ever.
“So polite. Can I take these off?” Minho traced the edge of Jisung’s boxers and he nodded. “I need words, Jisungie,”
“Yes, please.” Minho slowly peeled off the clothing and Jisung looked away, embarrassed as his dick sprung out. Minho took his own off, and Jisung’s eyes went as wide as saucers.
“Minho, you didn’t tell me that you were fucking huge!”
“Do you not want it anymore?”
“I never said that…” Jisung muttered.
“Do you want me to prep you?”
“Yes, please,” Jisung whispered as he spread his legs. Minho reached down to circle a finger around his rim, before slowly pushing it in. Jisung let out a choked moan as he pushed in and out at a steady pace.
“Y-You can add another one,” Jisung whimpered, still averting eye contact with Minho. Minho pushed a second finger in and Jisung squirmed. He prodded around until Jisung let out a loud, unrestrained moan. Minho must’ve found his sweet spot. He added a third finger and continued to brush the spot, causing Jisung to short-circuit.
“Minho, please! I’m ready, I need you so bad,” Jisung begged through his breathy moans and whimpers. How could Minho argue?
“Since you asked so nicely,” Minho pulled his fingers out, causing Jisung to whine at the emptiness. He lined himself up and slowly pushed in, making them both groan. Minho continued pushing until he bottomed out, and he looked at Jisung. He already looked wrecked and they had barely even started.
“P-Please move,” Jisung breathed hoarsely, looking at Minho with those irresistible glassy eyes. Minho started out with a slow pace, not wanting to overwhelm the man below him too much. It was hard to hold back watching Jisung writhing under him, totally lost in pleasure. Minho began to pick up speed, and Jisung squeezed his eyes shut.
“Ah, Minho, please! Right there!” Jisung screamed, overpowering the slick sounds made by every thrust. Minho continued to hit that same spot over and over again, and Jisung didn’t shut his mouth for a second.
“God, Jisungie, you’re so perfect for me. It’s like you were made for me,” Broken moans and whimpers continued to tumble out of Jisung’s mouth, only coaxing Minho to quicken his pace. His grip on Jisung’s waist tightened and he bit down into another spot on his collarbone, and Jisung let out a guttural sound.
“P-Please keep going! I’m about to cum- Please don’t stop!” Jisung babbled, completely out of it. Minho could feel that he was about to come too, so he hastened the pace of his thrusts. A few seconds later, Jisung let out a strangled cry as he came. Minho kept up his pace until he came as well, filling Jisung up. They both stared at each other, their breathing ragged and sporadic. Minho slowly pulled out, grimacing at the feeling of the sticky substance.
“Shit, Minho. You’re way too good at this. I don’t think I can stand,” Jisung mumbled, still out of breath.
“Was I too much? I’m so sorry, I got carried away. I didn’t mean to go that hard,” Minho apologized, suddenly feeling guilty for his aggression.
“What? Don’t apologize, it was hot as fuck. I do think I need a shower though,” Jisung looked down at the state of his ass, seeing the cum slowly dripping out.
“Here, let’s take a bath and we can go to sleep, okay? I’ll carry you, don’t even think about trying to walk on your own.” Minho stood up and walked to the bathroom, starting a bath. For a college dorm, the bathrooms were pretty nice, each one having its own full bathtub and shower. He waited until the water was warm and full enough to stop the faucet and retrieve his boyfriend, who was still patiently waiting on his bed, half asleep.
They took a nice, long, warm bath together, and Minho had to stop Jisung from dozing off multiple times. Once they were sufficiently clean, they dried off and got dressed. Jisung borrowed Minho’s clothes once again since he was coming straight from work, which neither of them minded. Minho climbed into the bed and Jisung hopped in right behind him, immediately latching onto him.
“Good night, Minho. Thanks for everything,” Jisung mumbled, nestling further into Minho’s chest.
“What are you thanking me for? I didn’t do anything,”
“Just being perfect.”
🐱
“That should be all you need. Thank you, Mr. Lee.” Minho retrieved the copies of the adoption papers from the shelter clerk and turned to Jisung, who was beaming. Jisung was sitting with all three cats in their carriers, and he looked like he was about to jump out of his shoes.
“Minho, you have no idea how excited I am to bring the cats back home! They’re gonna love it, I know they will,” Jisung exclaimed as Minho picked up Soonie’s carrier. Minho didn’t want to think about the way his heart fluttered when he called his dingy little dorm “home.” Too domestic.
“Yeah, they’re going to love their new beds. I just hope they don’t destroy Changbin’s things.”
“Whatever, he can deal with it. He’s barely gonna be around anyway, right?” Jisung asked, picking up the other two carriers. Minho held the door open and they both made their way to his car.
“Yeah, he’s been at Hyunjin’s for a while. I might’ve told him to stay away so we could have more alone time though,” Minho muttered, slightly embarrassed. Jisung gasped and batted his eyelashes and Minho suddenly regretted telling him anything.
“Look at you being all romantic,” Jisung wiggled his eyebrows and Minho rolled his eyes.
“Hush. Just put the cats in the car. I want them to see their new home.” Minho unlocked his car, opened the backseat door, and set down Soonie. Jisung opened the door on the other side and squeezed the other two carriers in, stretching the seatbelts to fasten around them. He hopped into the passenger seat and Minho started up the car. The shelter wasn’t too far from his dorm, so the cats luckily didn’t have to sit in their carriers for too long.
They very inconspicuously smuggled the cats in, since the large carriers definitely wouldn’t give them away. If anyone asked, they could just say they were hamsters. Very overgrown, mutated, cat-like hamsters. When they got to the room they set down the cats and took a long, deep breath. They unlatched the locks on the carriers and the cats began to roam around the room. They immediately went over to Changbin’s side, of course.
“I see you’ve taught them well,” Minho commented as Soonie jumped up on Changbin’s clean sheets.
“You know it.” Jisung picked up Dori and scratched his chin. Minho sat down on his bed and Jisung followed but stopped himself before sitting.
“Are you fine with the cats on your bed?”
“Who do you think I am?” Minho patted the spot next to him, and Jisung set Dori down on the bed before taking off his shoes and jumping in himself. Soonie and Doongie quickly jumped in after him, snuggling up around them. Minho wrapped an arm around Jisung and brought out his laptop, and Jisung snuggled in closer.
“Do you want to watch something? I have everything on here,” Minho opened up Hulu and scrolled through the options before Jisung perked up.
“Howl’s Moving Castle?”
“Of course you would choose that.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Minho took one look at Jisung’s pout and knew that he was done for.
“Nothing, you’re just cute,” He said, placing a quick kiss on his lips. Jisung just blushed and said nothing, his grip tightening around Minho’s arm. Minho started the movie and draped a blanket around them both. He used the arm that wasn’t around Jisung to idly stroke Doongie, who was loafed up next to him, now purring. The other two cats were fast asleep, Soonie lying at their feet and Dori lying next to Jisung’s face. Jisung looked at him and smiled, a big genuine smile, and planted a peck on his cheek before lying back down on Minho’s shoulder. Minho rested his head on Jisung’s and pulled him closer.
Minho couldn’t think of another place he would rather be.