My Neighbor's Cats | minsung

9. Closer

On Sunday morning Jisung was all over the place, just like his wardrobe. He had woken up with a paralyzing feeling of panic twisting his insides at a sudden realization that he was really going with the handsome neighbour to an amusement park.

The blond boy let himself be drowned by the ocean of thoughts as he froze with a few clothing pieces in his arms, Changbin's words lurking somewhere in the corner of his consciousness.

Just like Changbin hyung said, isn't it too weird? We've just met two days ago in a not so pleasant situation and now we're going to Lotte World like a lovey-dovey couple. he involuntarily put down the clothes on his bed mentally punching himself for thinking of their meeting as a date.

At first, Minho had come across as haughty but when Jisung witnessed his caring side the boy's feelings towards the older took a 180-degree turn. Somehow his interest was piqued.

Jisung would lie if he said that the next-door owner of three cats was unattractive. In fact, he was very much the blond's type, if he could even say that he had a type he preferred. The boy hadn't been in many relationships in the 20 years of his life.

Music occupied most of his free time, and besides that Jisung had always cherished his small circle of friends more than flings. He had never had the need to meet new people partially due to his introverted nature what left him with little to no chance of meeting a potential lover who would stay with him for more than his body.

The blond boy managed to break the surface of his thoughts and went back to examining the clothes on his bedsheets. Normally he wouldn't think too hard of what to wear but that day Jisung wanted to put a little more effort in his attire, making himself believe that it would at least help him feel a bit more confident.

He glanced at his phone to check the time and realized he had less than fifteen minutes left so he decided to choose something casual.

We are not going on a date. A Plain T-shirt with ripped jeans and a bomber jacket in case the Sun decides to say yeet will do.

~

Minho smiled lovingly at his cats before stepping outside his flat, glancing over the closed windows one last time. The spring morning wasn't particularly hot even though the sun was shining brightly so he didn't have to worry about leaving the cats with no ventilation.

As he was about to knock on the blond boy's door it swung open and in the blink of an eye a body pressed against him almost keeling him over.

The chocolate-haired boy thanked silently his quick reflex when he saw a pair of arms cling to him as if the owner's life depended on it. Well, basically it did, at least his bones.

Despite Jisung's incoherent mutter, Minho was more than sure that the boy cursed under his breath which made him chuckle at his silliness.

"You okay?" he questioned the petite boy, who started to regain his balance, visibly amused.

Jisung's embarrassment crept up his neck to his chubby cheeks tinting them scarlet. Oh my God, that's so embarrassing. Clumsy legs, of course...

Minho took a step back to give the boy space and crossed his arms on his chest waiting for his response.

Jisung finally lifted his eyes from his shoes and met the older's questioning gaze.

"Yea- yeah," he took a deep breath to sound collected. "I'm sorry. My legs do this parkour thing sometimes. " he smiled at the boy sheepishly.

Cute - Minho thought but didn't let it slip his lips and instead focused on the squirrel-like boy's wording. Jisung was a very entertaining person.

"That's okay. Shall we go?"

~

The boys had arrived at their destination only to be met with a long queue that would take at least half an hour. Lotte World was indeed a famous place to enjoy free time with friends, family, or your significant one.

Jisung shifted from leg to leg feeling the anxiety arise in the pit of his stomach. He tried his best not to think about the close proximity of other people and the amount of them but it was hard as he was already triggered by the fact that he was standing so close to Minho that he could swear he smelled the older's perfumes.

The older boy noticed the blond's odd behaviour and broke the silence.

"Is something bothering you?" he leaned closer to face the boy, gentleness resonating in his voice.

Startled by the sudden gesture, Jisung twitched coming back to reality.

"Uh?"

"I asked if everything's alright, " he repeated his question feeling more concerned about the younger with every passing second.

"Yeah, I'm just a little bit nervous about crowds." and attractive next-door owners of 3 lovely cats. the boy confessed leaving the second part to himself.

"Oh." the chocolate-haired boy gasped processing the information. He didn't know what to say to the other since he always had problems with expressing his emotions but he felt a genuine need to help the boy who had just shown him his vulnerable side.

"If you are not feeling well we can call it a day or go somewhere less crowded." he offered in hopes to ease the boy's anxiety.

Jisung gave him a small smile trying his best to not give in to his fear. "It's fine. We're almost in. I'll be okay."

Minho nodded tentatively. Is he really going to be okay?

He could clearly see that Jisung was fighting whatever overwhelming sensation he was experiencing at the moment so he had to believe in him.

Instead of using words to calm the boy down he took his petite hand into his own even smaller one and started to draw circles with his thumb on his delicate skin hoping it would soothe his nerves.

________________________________________

Hello everyone! 🌼

As always, thank you for reading my book. Those 454 reads feel like a dream to me. It's truly heart-warming to know that someone actually reads this. 💗

Please, feel free to comment, vote, and correct me if you see any errors. 🥰

I'm sorry for making the storyline proceed painfully slow but I'm trying my best. Despite its shortness, this chapter took me about 3 days to complete since I felt uncertain about my language skills. You know, the feeling when you read something beautifully written and then you look at your work and can't help but wonder why people even bother to read it.

Anyways, this chapter's title was inspired by Oh My Girl's Closer. ❤️

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Have a nice day/night. 💞