Proprietorial love

7

If Jay Hong smiles brighter than star glitter, Eli Jang won't mind going blind.

It all started when Jay Hong was 14 years old, he saw a cat that was on a tree, and since it was a pity to watch, he tried to climb.

Jay carefully places his bag at the base of the tree, along with his jacket, and climbs up towards the calico cat perched on the top branch fearfully. Its golden eyes are wide, watching him step up onto the tree from the back of a car parked on the side. He waves at it and goes slowly, hoping the cat won't read him as a danger, and try to run off and fall.

The cat doesn't, and he climbs up easily to it. It stares at Jay, and he doesn't move until the cat turns away, determining him harmless. It's relief cooling his arms from the exertion, relief that the cat didn't consider him more dangerous than the fall down.

Jay starts whistling. The cat looks at him, then turns around and watches the birds in the sky flying around. He grips the tree trunk harder with his left hand and snaps his right-hand fingers at the orange and white cat, but all it does is adjust its feet. It's a well-groomed cat, and he can spot a white collar around its neck, with a phone number written.

He distantly hears a car rumbling underneath but continues urging the cat over. It continues to ignore him, focusing on the sparrows chirping above. Its big ears are tuned to them, and Jay has a sudden fear it's going to try to catch one, then fall to the ground. He moves up onto the branch, testing it out to make sure it can hold his weight.

It does and he carefully scrambles up next to the cat. It looks at him and he gently pets the top of its head, ready to pull back at the sight of teeth or claws. It closes its eyes under Jay's hand and gets up to sit on its haunches.

It watches him for a minute extra as Jay attempts to pick the cat up. Instead of settling into his arm, the cat races down the branch, then down the tree trunk. Once down, it looks up at Jay, and he can almost hear the cat telling him good luck. Then, the cat scurries through the alleys and off into the residential area.

Jay sighs at himself and starts the climb down. He reaches the lower branches and quickly pulls his feet back up when realizing there's none left. The height is enough for a good bruising, maybe even a broken bone, so he stays up there, perched on the branch.

A couple of hours go by and Jay is still above the tree. It's in a fairly suburban part of the area, where not many live. It's a shortcut to his own home in the city and there haven't been many people who passed by. None who looked up into the tree, anyways.

He's not worried. He climbs up higher into the tree and watches the land before him, how people go about their day, and the sky changes from bright blue into shimmering shades of red, orange, and purple. It's different, more peaceful up in the tree.

He stays that way until the red and orange sky gives way to purple and indigo, white stars dotting the velvet until the children in the park are called inside by their mothers until it's late, late enough that he considers sliding down the tree trunk and ending up with ripped pants until he hears an incredulous, "Hey."

He looks down. A guy with a mullet stands at the base of the tree, staring up at him. He can see a smile twitching on his lips, even from here. He drops down to the lowest branch, and through the drop he sees the light shimmer in the male's eyes.

"What are you doing up there?" he says, voice lilting.

Jay looks around, gesturing at the cat marks in the tree. The male only understands how Jay gestures at the cat marks.

"Why don't you come down? It's cold up there, isn't it?" The male points at his jacket laying on his bag, and it's then that he notices the goosebumps all over his arms. Jay wonders if he saw them, even from this distance, and he wonders what else the fellow has noticed.

The fellow sees the parking meter and the height and understands. "Well. I guess there's nothing else to it." He puts his bag next to Jay's and spreads his arms. "Come on, I'll get you."

Jay stares at him, mouth dropped. He stares at the space he'd land in, arms encased in the clothes he gave him, and doesn't move a muscle. The fellow sees the hesitation and frowns, but doesn't move his arms away.

He rocks back, then catapults forward, air rushing into his face, pushing his hair back, until he's flush against the fellow's chest, but the movement doesn't stop. They careen back and hit the ground. The male groans under him and he rushes up, hands roaming and making sure he didn't hurt him in any way.

The male smiles at him and his hair are pushed back by the fall.

"You're welcome. You didn't hurt me, I'm fine, but...can you get off of me? I'm still winded." The male whispers as Jay's hand run through his hair, down the side of his face.

Jay realizes he's straddling him, in public, and pushes off. He turns around to pull his jacket on and control the blush violently spreading across his cheeks. He hears the male laugh lightly behind him.

He turns to face him and is hit with a soft smile, softer than the edges of dusky clouds, the same ones he watched above in the tree. 

"I'm Eli, Eli Jang," the male spoke. This led to Jay in hesitation. How will he say his name to... Eli? So, he pulled out a pen and piece of paper and wrote something down. 

Eli made a confused look. Jay turned the paper around, and it says: "My name is Jay Hong." 

Eli smiled, and spoke so softly, "Well, hello there, Jay."

That was how they met.