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Six loud voices bounced against the walls of the restaurant, laughter echoing in the night air. A spread of pizza, beer, fried chicken, and tteokbokki covered the table of the late-night restaurant. Six young men gathered around the table, eating and joking after a few stressful days.
“That economics final killed me. I’ll be surprised if I get above a C.” Jungkook groaned while popping a piece of fallen pepperoni into his mouth.
“Me too. Looks like our study group didn’t help much.” Taehyung added while taking a gulp of beer.
“Hey, I’m sure we all did fine. And if not, at least we met each other!” Hoseok raised his glass to the others, who all met him with a ‘cheers’ before everyone downed their drinks.
Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung, three college juniors, had decided to join what was supposed to be an easy economics course to fill an elective slot during the Spring semester. When the class turned out to be much harder than expected, they joined the study group set up by three seniors, Hoseok, Namjoon, and Seokjin. The six had gotten close over the course of the semester due to their study sessions often turning into hangout sessions.
The group had met that night in the restaurant to celebrate the end of finals week. After all that stress, Jungkook had insisted they deserved to get drunk and gorge themselves on fried foods. The others didn’t protest.
“How’s Yoongi, hyung?” Namjoon asked with his mouth full of chicken. He looked over to Seokjin, who smiled at the mention of the name while stirring up the tteokbokki.
The three youngest immediately looked at each other with knowing eyes.
Yoongi, or more commonly “Yoonie”, was a point of contention at the study group. Well… it was more that the three youngest couldn’t tell if Yoongi was Seokjin’s pet cat or his human boyfriend, and it was definitely many months too late to ask.
Conversations like these really didn’t help them figure it out.
“Sleepy. He’s very tired nowadays, always lounging around.” Seokjin smiled fondly while talking about his Yoongi, whose species remained a mystery.
“Does he like the new outfit I got for him?” Hoseok asked next. “I haven’t been able to see him since I started studying for finals.”
“I think he likes it. He doesn’t throw it off himself if that’s what you’re asking.”
The three older boys laughed, but the younger three were just as puzzled about Yoongi’s biology as they had been before.
Jungkook was the first to break, unable to keep his curiosity at bay:
“Hey hyung, what does Yoongi do these days?” He asked without trying to be too obvious. This one would definitely get the answer to whether or not Yoongi was human.
“Well, he’s really into trying a bunch of different foods right now. I bring home stuff from the store for him to try.” Seokjin responded, not realizing the intention behind the question. Jungkook wanted to facepalm at the answer.
“What’s Yoongi like when he wakes up?” Jimin tried next, hoping to one up Jungkook and get the response they all wanted.
“I mean he’s grumpy as hell, I’ll tell you that. Whenever he wakes up he’s always pushing me away because apparently I annoy him with my presence.” Seokjin rolled his eyes. Namjoon and Hoseok laughed out loud, apparently having witnessed this exact occurrence.
Jimin deflated.
Taehyung decided to try now. “What’s your favorite thing to do with Yoongi?”
“Nap together. Yoonie loves to sleep on the couch on sunny days. I think he likes the warmth-” Seokjin narrowed his eyes suddenly. “Why are you three so interested in Yoonie?..” he asked in suspicion. He pointed his chopsticks at them in a lighthearted accusation.
Taehyung quickly pursed his lips and looked away, feigning innocence. Jungkook and Jimin just sipped on their beers quietly.
They were caught.
“Wait, they haven’t met him yet! We talk about him so much and they still haven’t met him. No wonder they’re curious.” Namjoon laughed, clapping Seokjin on the back.
The eldest chuckled too when he realized. “You’re right! Why don’t you all come to my place tomorrow night for dinner and games? Yoonie will be there like always so you three can meet him.”
Faces lighting up, Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung agreed enthusiastically.
After the food was finished and everyone said their goodbyes, the three youngest spoke in rushed whispers as they walked back to the dormitory building where they lived together. Taehyung kept looking over his shoulder to check if any of the others were within earshot.
“We finally get to see if he’s a cat or a boyfriend.” Jimin giggled quietly.
Jungkook laughed along. “I think he’s a cat. There’s no way he’s not a cat. Like really, napping in the sun?”
“But no one talks about their cat that way. He’s gotta be hyung’s boyfriend. I mean, come on, ‘I love Yoonie so much, he’s so cute, mehmehmehmeh~’ like really?” Taehyung mimicked the way Seokjin spoke about Yoongi, making the other two laugh out loud.
“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow!” Jimin cheered.
-
Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung were gathered outside Seokjin’s apartment door, all buzzing nervously but excitedly. Jungkook could barely keep a grip on the sixpack he was holding, and Taehyung was wringing his hands over the two soju bottles in his grip.
Jimin complained as he was pushed forward, something about him being the oldest so he had to be the one to knock, but just swallowed deeply before adjusting the bag of chips in his arms and knocking on the door.
A few seconds passed before the door opened to a smiling Seokjin.
“Hey guys! Come on in! Thanks for bringing stuff, you can leave it in the kitchen on your left.” Seokjin ushered them inside before shutting the door. “Hoseok and Namjoon are already here. Just come to the living room when you’re done.”
The eldest showed them the kitchen before heading off to rejoin the others.
Jimin, Jungkook, and Jimin took refuge in the kitchen. As they laid out their alcohol and snacks, they whispered hurriedly to each other.
“No litter box.”
“It could be in the bathroom.”
“No cat tree.”
“Could be in the bedroom.”
“There's tons of fish in the fridge.”
“Humans eat fish too.”
The three bickered to themselves for a minute before deciding it was suspicious how long they were staying in the kitchen.
They all took deep breaths, preparing themselves to finally receive the answer they had been sleuthing secretly for all semester, and walked down the hall to the living room.
When entering the living room, the first thing all three of them did was count heads.
1, 2, 3… Namjoon, Hoseok, Seokjin…
The three youngest boys turned to look at each other with quick knowing glances before responding to warm welcomes by their friends.
Three heads. Only three human heads. So the mysterious Yoonie was a cat after all-
4…
4!
Three souls nearly left their bodies when a puff of soft black hair popped up from behind the couch.
Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin had to keep their mouths from falling open in pure shock.
Standing before them, clutching blankets in pale arms, was a human. But, this human had willowy limbs, thin and delicately bent like a cat’s. His skin was pale against his all black outfit of mid-thigh shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Around his neck was a silver necklace with a thick chain and a pendant resting between his collarbones: “Yoonie” it said in flourished lettering, like a collar would be engraved. His face was feline in nature: slender eyes, soft cheeks, pouty pink lips, and an inquisitive look on his face half hidden by black bangs.
Yoongi quirked his head sideways at the new guests.
The mannerism was cat-like enough that Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung had to stop themselves from laughing out loud.
Sure, maybe Yoongi was technically human after all, but he was the most cat-like a human could be.
“Guys, this is Yoongi, my boyfriend.” Seokjin reached out to Yoongi and rubbed his arm softly. “Thanks for the blankets, Yoonie.”
Yoongi dropped the blankets onto the couch and did a quick bow to the newcomers. The three youngest regained themselves and bowed back to Yoongi.
“Nice to finally meet you!” Jungkook was the first to talk, jumping in the proverbial deep end.
“Yeah, Seokjinie-hyung talks about you all the time!” Taehyung added.
Yoongi walks around the couch from where he had been retrieving blankets, smiling at the revelation. “Can’t shut up about me, hyung?” He sank into his spot next to Seokjin, throwing his legs over the eldest without asking.
Seokjin groaned. “Did you really have to tell him that? I’ll never hear the end of it.” He sighed heavily and put his hands on Yoongi’s thighs. The cat-human beamed, showing off pink gums in a glowing, cheeky smile. The three youngest almost melted on the spot.
Hoseok and Namjoon, still unaware of the secret detective work of the younger boys, made room for them to sit down.
A drama had been put on the TV as background noise for chatter and getting to know each other. It came out that Yoongi, despite being younger than Seokjin, had already graduated from the music composition program at their university. Seokjin was two years behind because he had gone to the military almost as soon as leaving highschool, only going to college when he finished his service. Yoongi was so elusive because he spent a lot of time in the apartment he shared with Seokjin. He wrote his songs from home, only going into the office of the company he worked at for meetings and production.
Over the course of the episode, it became apparent that Yoongi was indeed feline in nature, no matter how human he was. When sitting, he curled in on himself like he wanted to be alone. But, he inched closer and closer to Seokjin over time because he truly wanted to cuddle, never mentioning it outloud. Seokjin eventually noticed and slung his arm around Yoongi with a fond smile. Yoongi nuzzled up against his cheek affectionately.
Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook all glanced at each other with knowing looks.
After one episode, Seokjin announced that the food would be there soon so they could start drinking and eating the snacks.
-
Two hours and lots of alcohol later, the seven friends sat gathered around the coffee table, a board game set out between them. They laughed drunkenly and told stories, with the youngest three and Yoongi getting to know each other more and more.
A slip of the tongue from Taehyung led to the inevitable confrontation.
“Yoongi really is so much like a cat now that you mention his sleeping habits!” Everyone laughed in response, but Yoongi caught on.
“Wait wait, you think I’m like a cat?” He took another shot of soju after asking, slamming the glass down on the table and shaking his head at the unpleasant taste.
“Hell, we thought you were a cat before meeting you!” Jungkook revealed after a gulp of beer.
“Ya! Don’t tell him that!” Jimin complained, but was drowned out by a collective “what?!” from the four older boys.
“You thought Yoongi-hyung was a cat?!” Namjoon was tearing up from laughing so hard, Hoseok grabbing onto him and going red with hollered laughs.
“The way hyung talks about him makes it hard to tell!” Jimin insisted. “He never directly said if this ‘Yoonie’ character was his boyfriend or not, and the way he talks about napping and all that stuff-”
“Now you shut up!” Taehyung covered Jimin’s mouth with his hand to stop the drunken ramble.
Yoongi blushed bright pink from a mix of alcohol and embarrassment. “Jinnie-hyung! You talk about me like I’m a pet?!” He hit Seokjin’s shoulder with a pout.
Seokjin flinched and defended himself desperately. “Ya! I just think you’re cute, I never told them you were a cat! And to be fair you do act like-”
“Don’t even finish that sentence. It’s for your own good.” Yoongi placed a finger to Seokjin’s lips before he could incriminate himself further.
“Hyung’s sleeping on the couch tonight!” Hoseok pointed and snorted out a laugh. Everyone else laughed in agreement: it looked like Seokjin was in the dog (or cat) house now.
Seokjin just pulled Yoongi’s finger away and kissed his hand gently with a grin, to which Yoongi simply rolled his eyes and pressed himself close to his boyfriend’s side with a deep pout.
Drinking, eating, and laughing commenced again. Maybe the board game became a bit too complicated as the alcohol took over, but that didn’t stop the group from having a great time together.
So with the mystery solved, Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung could rest easy knowing their hyung had a boyfriend named Yoonie. Maybe not a cat in the literal sense, but this cute boyfriend was close enough to a feline that calling him one was definitely fitting.