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He had been so good, just like Jisung told him to be.
~
Minho hadn’t expected to wake up and almost immediately slip deep in his kittenspace, but since they had a few days off, it wasn’t so much of an issue. They had the whole weekend off, so Minho could stretch his paws, lay in the warm sunshine, and possibly even convince Jisung to bring out his favorite toys and play with him. They had agreed the older man more than deserved some time to relax—and Jisung himself had expressed great excitement of getting some time in with his favorite kitty.
The first hiccup came with the shrill sound of a ringtone blaring through their quiet apartment.
Minho had slinked his way into Jisung’s bedroom, where his boyfriend had fallen asleep after a late night of lyric writing, crawling his way into the bed. Jisung had huffed a bit loudly when he felt a sudden weight on his chest, but had softened the moment he opened his eyes to find two wide, sparkling ones staring shyly at him. Jisung smiled fondly as he freed an arm from his covers.
“Oh, look at this,” he cooed in a raspy voice, reaching out to take the soft collar presented to him, “what a pretty kitten I’ve woken up to. Let me get your collar on, baby, and then you can relax as much as you want to, okay?”
The moment the buckle clipped at the back of Minho’s neck, a shiver rolled through him and he exhaled a contented sigh. His body shook as the man beneath him chuckled sleepily as Minho curled happily against his chest, purring softly.
But the peace only lasted a moment. The shrill ring startled the cat so much that Jisung had to firmly get an arm around his waist to keep Minho from jolting backwards off of the bed and hurting himself.
“Ssshh, it’s okay, kitten. I got you, baby,” Jisung murmured as he petted soothingly through Minho’s hair to calm him. “Hello? Oh… Uh-huh. A-are you sure it has to be today?”
Minho bristled at Jisung’s tone. His mind was a bit fuzzy, but he was coherent enough to know something was off—that something was about to mess with his perfect day.
Jisung sighed heavily, his head falling back against his pillow in defeat after a bit of arguing with whoever was on the other line. Unable to help himself, Minho mewled sadly, pawing at the man’s chest for attention. Jisung quickly blurted something about how it was just the TV as his hand came to scratch behind Minho’s ears, giving the cat a nearly silent coo.
“Okay, hyung. I’ll be there soon.”
Minho may not have been in the right headspace to catch everything Jisung had been saying, but this Minho understood—Jisung was leaving.
With a pitiful, upset growl, Minho shuffled roughly out of Jisung’s arms and off the bed, tumbling backwards. He vaguely made out Jisung’s voice calling him as he scrambled out of the room.
It would be another few minutes before Jisung would find him in his hiding spot—in his kittenspace, Minho often lounged around the house in the sun or on their warm blankets, but when he was sulking, like most cats, he sought out somewhere dark to hide. He heard a heavy sigh and the sound of soft footfalls as Jisung entered the bathroom.
“Oh kitten,” the man sighed again as he crouched down. Carefully, Jisung reached out and lifted up the heavy towels Minho had buried himself in. “Baby, I’m sorry. I won’t be gone long, I promise.” Jisung sighed again when Minho merely hissed and swatted at him, though without an intent to actually scratch him. “Kitten,” he groaned as he settled onto the cold bathroom tiles, “come here.” He opened his arms and patted gently at his chest as he clicked his tongue to entice the kitty into his lap.
As upset as Minho was, he couldn’t long resist being in his favorite human’s lap for long. Soon he was happily nuzzling his cheek against Jisung’s, pawing needily at the man’s chest.
“Hi,” Jisung laughed as he wrapped his arms around Minho, placing sweet kisses along the cat’s hair and cheek. “Okay, okay, my big baby, can you settle for me? Good boy, good kitten.” He smiled fondly again when Minho whimpered at the praise, looking up at him with large, round eyes as he curled up into his lap on his back. A pang of stress went through Jisung at seeing his boyfriend so pretty and soft and clearly in his headspace and knowing he had little choice to leave him alone for a bit.
It wasn’t that Minho wasn’t allowed to be alone while in his kittenspace, as he very shyly called it. Much like real cats, Minho often was quite fine to be alone for at least a little bit during such times. Much like real cats, though, Minho was also often prone to getting into mischief, partially because curiosity would get the best of him, like any cat, but especially if he started being upset over being alone for too long. The issue this morning was, though, that there had been a promise made the night before, a plan, one that had been set in place with the locking of his collar. An unexpected hitch in their plans would be fine enough for Minho normally—things happen, especially as idols; kitten-Minho however couldn’t understand why his owner, who promised to spend the day playing with him, had to leave him behind.
“I’m sorry, Min,” Jisung whispered as he pet soothingly along the cat’s tummy, slipping his hand under Minho’s oversized shirt to massage at the soft skin of his belly. “I know I promised to do nothing but cuddle and play all day, but I’ve got to take care of this errand, okay?”
Minho growled—or he tried to; what came out was more like a pitiful mewl.
“I know, love.” Jisung bent down to press a kiss to Minho’s forehead. “But I’ll be really quick about it, okay? And,” he said a bit louder, his fingers coming to press against the cat’s mouth before he could argue, “if you behave for me while I’m gone, I’ll bring you back a treat.” Jisung laughed as the kitty in his lap perked up at that, meowing softly as he licked at Jisung’s fingers. “That’s right. You can have a sweet treat if you’re really good for me. No scratching anything but your posts. No breaking anything—again. And stay out of the plants,” he emphasized with a tickle to the cat’s belly which pulled a huffing laugh from Minho. (He really didn’t want to have to deal with the endearing, but still shame-filled episode Minho went through a few months ago after he found out he had chewed on his own plants and coughed it all back out onto their new rug.)
Minho knew Jisung had to go, he had enough awareness for that. He knew this wasn’t a punishment, or that his owner didn’t want to spend the day with him—Jisung worked very hard to reassure him plenty of times as he got ready to go to the company, Minho following him around as he dashed around their apartment. It helped that as Jisung got himself ready, he also helped Minho get ready, helping the cat into his items which would allow him to feel safe to sit deeper into his headspace. Minho purred happily as his ears were slipped on, his tail was connected to his underwear; he even blushed a bit when Jisung put on the socks with the paw pads that they saved for special occasions.
He didn’t mean to guilt the man; despite understanding the nature of their jobs and lives, he still couldn’t help his instincts as he laid down amongst their pile of shoes at the front door, crying out loud meows.
“Minho,” Jisung tsked as he threw on his coat, “baby. I have to go. The sooner I go, silly kitty,” he teased as he booped the kitten on his nose, laughing when Minho blinked in surprise, “the sooner I can come home.”
Petulantly, Minho allowed the man to roll him off of the shoes he’d tried to hide under his body with a huff. He knew what the man said was true, and he also knew that today was a day he desperately wanted to be good—because he chose to be, of course.
“Good boy,” Jisung whispered as he crouched down to give Minho a few more scratches under his chin, smiling as Minho dopily purred, making little biscuits in the air as he leaned into the touches, a bit of drool on his lower lip from the pleasure. It hurt to leave, but he looked forward to being back. Jisung left a few tender kisses before pulling a toy mouse from his pocket. He gasped playfully as Minho’s eyes dilated and his body language changed—his eyes following the mouse wherever it moved as his hips wiggled. “You’re gonna be good for me, right, baby? Play with your toys, soak up some sun? Minho?”
With the call of his name, Minho snapped his eyes back to his owner. He gave the man a sweet smile and nodded his head. “Nyaaa,” he meowed softly. With that, he was rewarded with a chase, dashing away on all fours as his mouse went flying.
“Be back soon, kitten,” he heard just before the door clicked shut as he wrestled on the ground with his prized stuffed mouse.
This was what Minho needed. Life was stressful, especially the invasive life of an idol in an unforgiving industry where very few things were allowed to be just his. After a very hard year during their first world tour since the start of the pandemic, Minho sat with himself and his need for something to ease away the stress of life, the stress of being a pro idol, of being a dance leader, of being a responsible hyung, of being a friend sitting with hardships he was too tired to handle. His boyfriend was supportive, and after a few test-runs, Jisung expressed that being Minho’s owner, as Minho called it, helped him feel relaxed in the opposite way. Minho needed to relinquish control and let go of his thoughts and worries for a time, and Jisung needed to feel some sense of control during the times he felt like he otherwise had none in his life. What better way than taking care of such a precious, only sometimes bratty, kitten? Sometimes it was sexual, but often they forgot about that part and just eased into the routine of kitten and owner.
It had been harder before living together, and after having accidentally been caught lulling into his kittenspace by Felix one night in their dorm, Minho had shyly shared with the others his and Jisung’s way to relax. He hadn’t expected so much enthusiastic support, nor had he expected…visitation requests, as Jeongin jokingly called it. So by now, Minho had safely slipped around everyone at least once. Each of the boys had their own way they liked taking care of their pretty kitty.
Thus, the loud sounds of Hyunjin’s voice at the door with Jisung some time later didn’t cause the cat any second thoughts. In fact, the only thought it brought to mind was, oh, double treats.
Minho stretched with a happy trill from his bed in the corner of the living room, placed where it can receive the most sun during the day. He smiled to himself as the two men walked into the apartment talking loudly. By now, Minho had had time to settle fully into his headspace, so it was a bit too much at the moment to make out any distinctive conversational topic, but it made him happy to hear his friend and his owner sound so happy.
He stretched again, big and pretty, and flopped over in the middle of the living room as the two men passed by carrying several heavy bags. Minho blinked a few times, his lips jutting into a pout when he was ignored.
Excuse me? Hello? There’s an adorable little kitten lying so prettily and good and ready to be rewarded for behaving!
Minho huffed when he was ignored as the men continued to talk and unpack their bags. He mewled softly as he trotted towards the kitchen on all fours, but it seemed to be drowned out by the loud—too loud, in his opinion—clattering. His head perked up, though, when his fuzzy mind made out the word, dessert.
Treat? Treat for kitten?
Minho smiled excitedly, his tail shaking in anticipation. He opened his mouth to try to announce his presence again as he came to sit directly behind Hyunjin, looking up at the man with a dopey little grin, but suddenly Hyunjin moved.
A loud yowl echoed through the apartment followed by a louder yelp.
“What the–?! Oh! Oh no, Minho, shit, I’m so sorry, kitty, I didn’t see you there,” Hyunjin cried with a hand on his chest.
“Oh, baby,” Jisung cooed, “let me see your paw.”
Minho held it up pitifully as he sniffled to hold back the tears in his eyes.
“Are you okay, baby?”
He nodded. It was fine. Only a minor setback to his goal.
“Okay, good. Well, how about you go back to the couch, kitten, while Hyunjin and I finish putting groceries away, okay? That way we don’t have to worry about stepping on your poor little paws again.”
Minho frowned and shook his head.
Jisung sighed as he went back to unpacking his groceries. “Baby, I promise I’ll be right with you, okay? I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Minho huffed and pawed at Jisung’s leg. He was promised a treat once Jisung was back if he had been good. His owner was back and he had been good, therefore, he should have a treat.
“Min,” Hyunjin said softly as he brushed Minho’s bangs back, “I’m sorry I stepped on you. We’re almost done, and then I’ll let you get back to your day, I promise.”
Promises, promises. He’d already had one promise and it seemed everyone was going to ignore it. Without really thinking about it, Minho swatted at Hyunjin, a growl leaving his lips.
“Minho–”
“No, it’s fine. Sorry, kitty.”
The two men went back to talking, to ignoring him. Minho huffed again, pawing more urgently at Jisung’s leg this time with a whiny meow. He didn’t understand why his owner was going back on his promise, why he wasn’t paying attention to his kitty—like he also promised.
“Baby, I promise, I’ll be right there, just go back to the living room for a bit, please.” In Minho’s mind, the tone was stern, as serious as the look Jisung gave him as he pulled something out of another bag. In Minho’s mind, these were the looks and tones used for when he had misbehaved—like the time he knocked Jisung’s phone into the toilet or scratched his guitar.
If Minho’s ears could have folded back against his head, they would have. With a quick turn, he dashed out of the kitchen and back towards his bedroom.
This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. He’d been promised time to play with his owner, time to relax—time Minho so desperately needed; a desperation that was warring with his headspace. Things had been so hectic—busy comebacks, busy schedules, busy concerts, and even an illness. He was tired, so so tired, and he just wanted to cuddle with his owner, have his belly kissed and rubbed, and to have a little treat.
He had been so good, just like Jisung told him to be.
But…maybe he hadn’t been?
Minho huffed a quiet little sob as he curled up in the pile of laundry in the back of their large shared closet. He licked roughly at his paw, bringing it to swipe even more roughly at his face, over and over again. Maybe he was a bad kitten. If he was good, then his owner wouldn’t have left him alone instead of spending the day together like they planned. If he was good, they would have pet him when they came home and he had laid out so nicely. If he was good, he would have gotten his promised treat. Maybe he wasn’t good enough…
The weight of life suddenly sat down very heavily on the shoulders of just a very small little cat, and Minho felt the first of the tears drip down his nose.
Back in the kitchen, Jisung was thanking Hyunjin for helping get the groceries he’d needed for a nice dinner he wanted to make for him and Minho. His boyfriend had been having a tough few weeks, and all he wanted was to let him relax for once. He’d already set it up so that everyone knew he and Minho would be unreachable for the rest of the day and tomorrow, that way he could get as much time with his pretty kitty as he could.
“Don’t worry about it, Ji. I needed to grab a few things before heading home anyways. Please tell Minho again that I’m sorry for stepping on his paw.”
“I will—and don’t worry, it happens.” Jisung felt guilty for pushing the cat out of the kitchen, but truly the number of injuries they’d all experienced because living with a cat is a bit chaotic was more than enough. He didn’t want anything more to get in the way of Minho relaxing.
“Maybe we should have stopped and given him some pets, though. He seemed so insistent.”
“Yeah… It was rough leaving today—I wouldn’t have normally after having collared him, but the call came just moments after. I’d had to bribe him with–” Jisung’s eyes went wide. “Ooooh nooo.” His hands dragged down his cheeks as he stared in panic at Hyunjin.
“What? You bribed him with what?”
“I fucked up,” Jisung whispered.
“How..?”
“I promised him a treat if he was good while I was gone. Hyunjin. I have no treats.”
“Oh shit.”
“He was asking for his promised treat and I pushed him out of the kitchen.”
“Oh shit.”
If Minho were standing there at the door frame watching the way his boyfriend and friend were reacting as if the world was ending instead of crying in the closet, he would have laughed loudly at the dramatics.
“Okay, I’ll go to the shop at the corner for a treat. You find Minho,” Hyunjin called frantically as he shoved his shoes back on.
Jisung jogged lightly around the apartment, seeking out his kitty in his usual places, clicking tongue as he called for him. “Psps, Minho?” He frowned. Minho wasn’t in any of his cat beds, nor on the couch or their beds, nor was he in the laundry in the bathroom. It wasn’t until he heard the soft snuffling coming from their closet that he found him. Jisung’s heart was breaking as he made his way over.
Typically, such a minor and silly misunderstanding between them wouldn’t really mean much of anything. In fact, it wouldn’t be a misunderstanding, because Jisung would have forgotten something and Minho would have reminded him. But kitten-Minho is a creature of a different sort. Everything is a bit more simplified for Minho during these moments, less nuanced, and it was made all the harder because unless they were in a sexual scene, Minho was fairly non-verbal in his kittenspace. Things had also been hard lately, and so Jisung knew that it was far more likely for kitten-Minho to take something that happened during his playtime and meld it with his real world struggles.
Jisung sighed softly as he knocked on the closet door to avoid startling the cat. “Minho?” He clicked his tongue again in a way he knows Minho likes. “Min–oh, baby kitten,” he exhaled sadly, “come here.”
Minho looked up with a start at the knock at the door and watched as his owner hesitantly walked into the closet where he was curled up on a pile of clothes. With a sniffle, he mewled softly at the call of his name. His joints were sure to be upset with him tomorrow, but Minho ignored that to unspool himself and slink his way down towards his owner.
“Hi, baby kitten,” Jisung cooed as Minho crawled into his lap. He placed a kiss on Minho’s forehead as he wiped away the tears. “I’m sorry. I forgot, didn’t I?”
Minho ducked his head and simply shrugged. Jisung frowned when he shook his head.
“I promised you a treat when I got home if you were good,” he tried again, “and when you asked so sweetly for one, I forgot and shooed you. I’m sorry.” He was a bit baffled when the cat shook his head again as his eyes watered. “Baby kitty, why are you crying? You’re not in trouble.” With a simple, unsure look from Minho, things clicked into place. “Aahh, Min, baby, you did so good for me. You behaved so well,” he said as he jostled the cat in his arms, wrapping them tightly around Minho and pressing a few more kisses along his cheeks. “I didn’t see anything knocked over. No mystery puddles. No scratched furniture. You were so good for me, weren’t you, kitten?”
Minho shrugged hesitantly and nodded with a shy, “Nyaa?”
Jisung smiled brightly as he received a text reading, pudding is in the fridge. “You sure were. How about we get that treat now?” He laughed loudly at the happy trill that left Minho’s mouth; gone were his sad eyes, now only that adorable, expectant smile. He could practically hear the way Minho says, treat for kitten?
Maybe cleaning sticky pudding off of someone wasn’t what others might deem a restful weekend, but for Jisung, watching Minho shiver with happiness as he lapped up the last bits of his sweet treat as his owner wiped his paws clean was about as peaceful as life got. For Minho, he wasn’t sure much made him feel more loved than being so gently cared for in his most vulnerable of times.
“Does my kitten feel better after his treat?,” Jisung whispered fondly as he watched Minho blink slowly up at him with a satisfied smile, his paws kneading against Jisung happily. “Good.” Truly, this was what life was for, he thought as he pulled Minho tightly into his arms, his hands petting along the cat’s full belly as Minho let out quiet purrs into the peaceful space of their apartment.