Purrfect Pair

Into the Night

Geonhak can't sleep. It's not that he's uncomfortable sleeping with Dongju and Dongmyeong, in fact he's enjoying how warm it is. Guess he should apologize to Hwanwoong about always complaining when he tries to cuddle with him. No, he's too worried about Dongju. He's been whimpering in his sleep.

"He must be in pain..."

"N-No! Don't hurt Dongmyeong!"

"What? Is he having a nightmare?"

"Please don't! No!" A tear trickles down Dongju's eye as he cries out. It's not loud enough to wake Dongmyeong, but Geonhak can hear it clearly since he's between the two.

"Hey, Dongju-ah, are you ok?" Geonhak gently caresses Dongju's arm in hopes of comforting him.

"N-No!" Dongju shoots up awake in a cold sweat. His nails dig into Geonhak's wrist painfully as the shock from his nightmare still lingers.

Geonhak winces but keeps a calm voice, "Dongju, it's ok, it's just me."

Dongju's vision starts to focus through the tears, "H-Hyung?" He realizes his grip on Geonhak's wrist and releases it, "Oh my gosh! I'm sorry..."

Geonhak takes Dongju's hand, "It's alright, you were having a nightmare." He starts to rub circles onto the back of Dongju's hand.

"So soft...What am I thinking! Now's not the time." Geonhak pushes the thought from his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Geonhak asks.

"Not right now...can I have a glass of milk?"

"Of course." Geonhak gets up and leaves Dongju some space to cope. He pours some milk into a mug-ironically cat themed, definitely Youngjo's-and pops it into the microwave for a few seconds. Just long enough to heat it to a lukewarm. He brings the mug back to Dongju who's now sitting on the edge of the bed. "Here, I heated it up a bit, I hope you don't mind."

Dongju takes the mug from Geonhak, sweater paw brushing against his skin, and takes a sip, "Thanks."

Geonhak takes a seat next to Dongju. He stays in silence, unsure of what to say. Instead, he busies himself studying Dongmyeong. He's spread out comfortably across the mattress. Despite the position, he still doesn't take up a lot of room, as he's petite by default.

"My owner, well our owner," Geonhak snaps his head up to face Dongju when he begins to speak. He stares into his mug as he speaks, "She was a very kind woman. She fed us and played with us, even knitted us sweaters. But she died recently of old age. She couldn't leave us anything in her will since we're technically just pets, so everything went to her granddaughter who lived with her. Her granddaughter wanted nothing to do with us. She called us monsters and vowed to make our lives miserable. She stopped feeding us and left us out in the rain. Eventually, she said we were too much to deal with and threatened to kill us. She tried to stab us, but we managed to escape her unscathed. Well, almost...Anyway, we shifted and decided that staying in our cat forms would get us around better. No one wants to help some freaks with cat ears and tails, but stray kittens are ok. That's when Dongmyeong saw you go into the bookstore. He was looking for someone to help treat me. You looked nice enough, so Dongmyeong went to try and get your attention when you left the store. Then he led you to me." Dongju's eyes meet Geonhak's, "Thank you for helping me."

Geonhak stares at Dongju in silence. He's stunned, partly from his story, and partly because of how pretty he looks. Dongju's ears are folded flat against his head shyly and his tail brushes Geonhak's leg once in a while. His black hair shines a dull blue in the moonlight. His lips are shiny, coated lightly in the milk he's drinking. Geonhak can't bring himself to say a word, but he can't bring himself to look away either. "He really is pretty..."

Geonhak finds himself leaning in closer. His eyes shift down to Dongju's lips then back up to meet his gaze. Dongju holds his gaze with an equally intense stare. His eyelids start to flutter closed. Up this close, Geonhak can count each beautiful eyelash and the shadow it casts on Dongju's delicate cheeks. Dongju's eyes finally shut and he leans in ever so closer. His lips are so close to Geonhak's. He could just lean in ever so slightly and they'd be connected.

"Fuck, I can't." Geonhak wants to kiss Dongju, he really does, but it doesn't feel right to him. "I barely just met him and he's hurt; I can't take advantage of him."

Geonhak places his hand on Dongju's chest to stop him from moving any closer, "I think we should get some sleep, it's pretty late."

Dongju pulls away with a hurt look in his eyes that pains Geonhak, "O-Ok..." He gets up and places the mug on the bedside table. "Goodnight." He slips in next to Dongmyeong and turns away from Geonhak.

Geonhak slides in next to him and pulls the covers up, "Night, Dongju-ah."