Lonely Kitten

19

For the next week, Minho and Jisung followed through with their plan to keep appearances up in front of their friends. The hybrid not yet feeling ready to show himself to Jisung's hyungs or his former classmates. He'd have breakfast with Jisung in the morning before shifting and allowing the rapper to take him to the studio. For lunch, the younger had completely given up on making Minho eat cat food and instead made sure his own meal would include either meat or fish that he could share with the hybrid before fixing him a bottle of cat milk. Sure, Minho could've also eaten the rice but that would have earned Jisung some looks from Chan and Changbin as to why he wasn't feeding his pet appropriately. Jisung had also made sure they wouldn't pull anymore all-nighters, so he could take Minho home, where the hybrid could shift into his human form for them to have dinner together.

It had gone well so far but Minho still envied Hyunjin and Felix, especially as he hadn't gotten to listen to the song the two dancers were tasked with making a choreography for. One evening, he couldn't handle it anymore and sitting next to Jisung on the couch, watching a drama, the older poked his friend's arm. Jisung shot him a questioning look, so the hybrid took a deep breath, asking: "You know, I really love to dance. Can I dance to your music too? I mean, the song that you showed Hyunjin and Felix." - "Sure, you can", the rapper beamed, "You like that one?" With his ears instantly perking up, Minho gave a shy nod and looked at the younger with hopeful eyes. Signaling him to wait, Jisung got off the couch and went to his bedroom to retrieve his airpods before connecting them to his phone. Minho watched curiously as the rapper shut off the TV, requesting him to get up from the couch. Together, they moved the couch all the way to the wall before carrying the coffee table to the other side of the room. Now Minho would have enough space.

"Here, we can't have anyone hear that song yet", Jisung smiled, handing the older one of the airpods and putting the other one in his own ear. Starting the music, he let Minho adjust the volume and got comfortable on the couch. The hybrid's eyes were sparkling as he walked to the center of the room, already lightly bouncing on his feet from excitement. Watching his friend move to the music, made Jisung's heart beat faster. Mesmerized by the performance, the rapper was feeling all kinds of things and was more than certain, Hyunjin and Felix had been right. There was no way Minho wouldn't have been top of his class. He was just that good. That reminded Jisung, the older had given up on dancing after the incident at his school. It broke his heart because he could see the passion as Minho started the song over and over again, not taking a break despite being drenched in sweat, panting. Since there was no sign of the dancer taking a break anytime soon, Jisung left him alone for a moment to get him a glass of water.

Almost an hour later, Minho collapsed on the couch next to Jisung, breathing heavily. "Well, Hyunjin and Felix said you were good but I surely didn't expect this", Jisung admitted, blushing hard. A tired smile spread on Minho's lips as he accepted the water and took a sip before stating: "They were certainly right that that song was right up my alley. I love it!" There was no way the rapper would stop blushing anytime soon, as he wondered how the hybrid could still look this good after dancing for that long. When Minho had caught his breath, he gulped down the rest of his drink and headed to the bathroom to take a shower, leaving Jisung alone with his thoughts.

The rapper knew he had been fond of the older for a long time, accepting him being close in his most vulnerable moments. Often wondering, why he was so attached to Minho, he couldn't make any sense of his feelings. It was only now that it clicked as he noticed how easily he blushed in the hybrid's presence, how his heart fluttered, seeing the older completely spent after his dance session. He had been more than protective of him before but Jisung had thought that was just because the other was a little and therefore needed to be protected. Now he knew that wasn't it. It was way more than that. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he was whipped. Figuring Minho would take some time in the shower, Jisung decided to do some research.

Earlier attempts had proven that there wasn't much information available on hybrids but he tried to find out if the internet had anything to say about relationships between humans and hybrids. Whether it was coincidence of fate that he ended up on a page detailing the concept of mates, Jisung didn't know but he liked the idea of hybrids having a predestined mate. He was even a bit jealous that he wasn't a hybrid as he would've loved to have a mate, so he could comfort himself with the knowledge that there was someone out there waiting to meet him and spend the rest of his life with him. It also sparked fear in Jisung. What if Minho would find his mate and got together with that hybrid, leaving the rapper behind, their friendship fizzling out too because as that article said, hybrids can't think about anything or anyone else other than their mate.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Minho returned to the living room, his hair still damp, as it fell into his face, framing it perfectly. Jisung quickly put his phone down and looked at the older expectantly. "Do you want to shower now too, so we can go to bed?", Minho asked, taking a seat next to him. The rapper nodded, hurriedly escaping to the bathroom as he felt weird around the other with his new-found knowledge. Confused as to why Jisung was acting off all of a sudden, the hybrid wanted to escape his worry by playing games on the other's phone. Jisung had told him his password, so Minho could get into his phone whenever he needed to. Making his way to the bedroom and laying down on his tummy, he opened Jisung's phone, ears twitching curiously when the article popped up. Why was the rapper researching mates? Was that why he suddenly started to act weird?

Not wanting to think about it because he might get his hopes up that the younger could return his feelings, Minho closed the article and opened a game instead. He was so deeply in thought that he didn't notice Jisung joining him and startled when the bed dipped next to him. Getting comfortable, the rapper hummed: "Are you ready to sleep now?" Minho nodded and plugged the phone in to charge before crawling under the blanket next to the younger. They were cuddling every night, so it surprised him when Jisung tensed as soon as the hybrid cuddled up to him. "No cuddles tonight?", Minho whispered worriedly, scooting away as he feared making the boy uncomfortable. Opening his arms as an invitation, the younger disagreed: "Cuddles every night." Smiling happily, Minho laid his head on Jisung's chest and listened to his heartbeat. It sounded a bit fast to him but he was no doctor, so what did he know? Jisung on the other hand, felt his heart break. He couldn't imagine having to sleep without the other's cuddles when Minho found his mate and left.

"You know, I had an idea while I was showering", Jisung breathed. Lifting his head to look at the younger, Minho joked: "Shower thoughts are always weird." - "I mean, yeah, maybe it is", Jisung agreed with a quiet laugh, "It's just, when I saw you dance earlier, I couldn't believe you really stopped dancing." Turning sad, the older remained quiet. "I just thought, why don't we include you in the dance cover Hyunjin and Felix are working on? We can make up some kind of lie that I found you on social media and reached out to you, so no need to tell them why you disappeared", Jisung explained. Avoiding the rapper's eyes, Minho sighed: "They'll ask though, Sungie." Yeah, they probably would. "I-I kinda want to see them again", the hybrid admitted, "They said so many nice things and I just, I- well, if I had something that got remotely close to what you would call a friend, it would have been them." - "Then what are we waiting for? I can take you to the studio in your human form, the next time they'll be there", Jisung smiled excitedly. Shrugging, Minho bit his lip as he worried about all the ways that plan could go wrong. Was he supposed to show them he was a hybrid too? Or just show up there without any real explanation? Jisung's hand soothingly scratching his scalp pulled him from his thoughts when the rapper noticed how long he had stayed quiet. "We don't have to decide that tonight, okay?", Jisung whispered, "Just think about it. No matter how you decide, I'll support your decision. For now, let's just go to sleep."