Lonely Kitten

9

When the teether arrived a few days later, as well as a pet carrier Jisung had bought to make it easier to take Minho along, he settled on the living room floor and called for Minho. To his surprise, the hybrid instantly limped towards him and curiously sat by Jisung's side, while the rapper opened the box. "Look Min, I got this, so I can take you along wherever I need to go", Jisung smiled, examining the pet carrier. The box was mostly empty now that the carrier was out and following his cat instincts, Minho hopped inside and peaked at his new means of transportation. Looking up, to find his pet inside the box, the rapper giggled: "You like that box?" *meow* "Alright, I got you something else though too. Move over a bit!", Jisung chuckled and only now did Minho realize that he sat on top of another small box, "Here, I got you a teether, because you often seem to get the bities but I'm rather fond of my fingers and would like to keep them, so I got you something else you can chew on." At that, Minho turned sad. He hadn't realized how much he was bothering his human by gnawing at his fingers and had never wanted to hurt him.

The hybrid's mood soon rose again when he looked at the teether, Jisung had gotten him. It was shaped like a cat head and looked really cute. So cute in fact, that Minho couldn't help but slip into his headspace again, gladly accepting the teether and biting it. It felt nice and sturdy while he didn't have to hold back and could bite it as hard as he wanted to. The teether also became an addition to the bag of cat items, the rapper took along to the studio every day, including Minho's blanket that he needed at home and at the studio, cat food, the bottle he needed to feed the hybrid his milk and some cat milk.

When he worked, Jisung would either settle Minho in his box with his blanket or teether or keep the hybrid in his lap, holding the teether for him to chew on. Sometimes the rapper joked about having a puppy instead of a cat, seeing how much Minho loved to chew on things. He also loved to take his blanket along wherever he went, so if Jisung didn't take it along, Minho would grab it with his teeth and drag it along, even though he still struggled to walk. The first time the rapper prepared a bottle of cat milk for his hybrid and sat down on the bed with him, Minho took his baby blanket that laid next to the pillow and dragged it over to Jisung, who couldn't hold his smile back and quickly bundled the cat up in his blanket ready to drown him with love.

Swaddled warmly in his blanket, Minho was quick to slip into his headspace, eagerly latching onto the bottle in the rapper's hand. He ended up falling asleep wrapped in his blanket before even finishing all of his milk, warming Jisung's heart. The younger placed the bottle onto the nightstand and softly kissed Minho's head before going to sleep himself.

It had become a routine for Jisung to bring Minho along to the studio as well as lunch for himself and cat food for Minho. Chan and Changbin were surprised by the healthy changes their dongsaeng had made to his lifestyle, monitoring his own meals more closely and preparing meals ahead instead of getting take out. The main reason was that he had to monitor his cat's food intake and ensure he'd eat enough, which was easier if he synchronized his own eating pattern with Minho's.

Another thing Jisung did almost every night after their vet visit, whether he spent it at the studio or not, was to feed the hybrid a bottle of cat milk, as he was still barely eating any of his food. It was their nightly routine and did a good job at making Minho sleepy for the night. He loved it when the rapper's entire attention would be on him while he slipped into his headspace and drank his milk. Jisung too benefitted greatly from this nightly ritual as it helped him take a break from his stress for a few minutes and just baby his new friend for a while. He managed to forget everything around him, when he snuggled Minho in his arms and listened to him hungrily suckling on the bottle. It rarely failed to ease his nerves and the first time his hyungs watched him bottle feed the cat at the studio after they decided to stay the night, Chan decided the younger should always take his pet with him.

They had been busy all day and working late into the evening, the trio decided there was no use in going home. They'd rather pull an all-nighter again despite already being more than productive all day and Jisung had been on edge most of the evening already. When the group decided to take a short break, the youngest 3racha member busied himself with preparing a bottle for Minho. The hybrid felt guilty for not forcing himself to eat more that day because now Jisung had to feed him a bottle while already drowning in work. He could tell that the younger was stressed, so he dragged his blanket towards him and messily covered the rapper's lap with it. It always helped him calm down, so maybe it would help his new friend too.

Jisung gave him a tired but fond smile and started to feed him his bottle, while Minho made sure to purr extra loudly to show how much he appreciated it. The soft vibrations helped Jisung calm down, which Chan and Changbin noticed too, so they let their dongsaeng take as long as he needed and secretly took a few pictures. "You know, Sungie, you've really gone soft after finding Minho", Changbin commented, watching how the younger bundled Minho in his blanket after he finished his milk and scratched his ears. Booping the hybrid's nose, Jisung hummed: "That's because Min is my baby and my little prince. He deserves all the love in the world." Minho's heart fluttered hearing this and he sleepily nuzzled his head into the rapper's hand before drifting off in his lap.

He really managed to sleep through most of the night, while 3racha worked, and only woke up in the early morning hours. 'Well, I guess if any of us are nocturnal, it's them not me', he thought, yawning and stretching. After rubbing his head into Jisung's chest, Minho hopped off his lap and went over to his box. He could almost walk normally again, although his paw was still pretty sore, but as long as he avoided jumping, he'd be fine. Climbing into his box, he retrieved his teether and occupied himself with chewing the toy. Jisung was exhausted and still busy, so he didn't want to force him to give him attention, as he was worried he'd stress the boy out more.

Another few hours later, Chan told their youngest to take a nap on the couch, while Changbin went to get them coffee and breakfast. The rapper didn't have to be told twice and tiredly collapsed onto the couch, closing his eyes. Minho took that as his chance to return the favor of Jisung caring for him and dragged his blanket over with his teeth, pulling it over the younger, though it was barely big enough to cover his chest and shoulders. Yawning, the rapper blinked at him and gently scratched his ears as a quiet thanks before drifting off, with Minho snuggling against his side.