Lonely Kitten

54

As the couple got back to their daily lives, Jisung had to deal with a technical defect in the building their studio was in. First, there had been difficulties with the wi-fi but after that, the power had cut out and 3racha was forced to move their workplace somewhere else. Chan had quickly volunteered his apartment, mainly because he could continue working till late into the night and have his bed right there. Jisung would've offered his too but he knew the walls were pretty thin, like the previous storms had proven, and he also wanted Minho to have a retreat, should he need one. The hybrid was more than grateful for that when he ended up having a rather stressful shift at the café. Usually, he was great at getting orders ready in very little time but today was still tough and when one of the customers had to be rude, his patience was put to the test.

Minho preferred sassing people who treated him with disrespect but he knew he couldn't talk that way to a customer, so he pulled himself together, sounding overly friendly. Jeongin had witnessed the interaction in horror, flinching when the customer snapped and demanded to talk to the manager, claiming Minho had made a mistake with her order and was over all really rude when talking to her. Their manager came and handled the upset customer but had to pull Minho aside afterwards to give him a talk. Jeongin was there in an instant, insisting that the older had been friendly throughout and hadn't even made a mistake in the first place. While Minho remained silent, the younger was able to convince their manager to talk to a few of the other customers, present at the same time, and they all agreed that Minho wasn't at fault but while it got the hybrid out of a scolding from the café manager, it still took a toll on his mood.

Having woken up already feeling on the verge of slipping, Minho struggled all day to remain big. He developed a headache and the busy shift he was trying to keep up with certainly didn't help, so when he suddenly got yelled at by a stranger for something that wasn't even his fault, it was kind of the last straw. Jeongin tried to make him laugh afterwards, with rather disrespectful comments about said customer after she had left but to no avail. Minho remained stoic throughout the remainder of his shift, he had switched to auto-pilot, preparing drinks like he had memorized them and could recall without thinking. He already knew he'd have to slip as soon as his shift was over but till then, it was business as usual, smiling politely at the customers, not getting annoyed when somebody couldn't decide what to ordered and ended up changing their mind frequently and not making any sarcastic remarks no matter how badly they wanted to escape his lips.

Jeongin could tell, Minho wasn't really showing what was on his mind and the other's mechanical perfectionism creeped him out but no matter how scary the older looked right now, Jeongin tried to talk to him when they went into the back of the café at the end of their shift. While the younger still tried to earn a laugh from him, Minho insisted that he was fine but admitted to being annoyed. As they parted, Jeongin shot him one last worried smile before heading towards the university campus to meet up with Seungmin, who wanted to help him study for his exams. On the way there, Jeongin ran into Jisung, smiling: "Oh, hyung, you're doing better." The rapper was confused, so Jeongin explained: "Minho left in a rush a few days ago, saying you were really sick." - "Oh, right. Yeah, I had a migraine. Is he okay though? It felt like something was wrong, so I came over to check. Is he still there?", Jisung worried, glancing in the direction of the café.

When Jisung learned that Minho was already on his way home, he was quick to say his goodbye to Jeongin, who called after him that the older had indeed not had a good day. This only worried Jisung further but it would at least explain the anxious knot in his stomach. Minho had rushed straight home, slipping almost immediately after shutting the door behind him. Grumpily shuffling into the bedroom, he put on one of Jisung's fluffiest hoodies and let his ears pop out. At least the headache was better now. Still upset, Minho felt the need to bite something and almost started to gnaw on his fingers before remembering that Jisung had told him not to do that, so he went to search for his teether. With a whine he plopped down on the bed and dug his teeth into the teether not holding back as he bit it as hard as he had wanted to bite that bitchy customer.

Minho's ears twitched as he heard the front door click and he listened more intently, trying to figure out if it was his Sungie or an intruder. He heard Jisung worriedly calling out for him, so he scrambled off the bed and shyly waddled out to the living room, teether in hand. "Dada?", Minho pouted, playing with the teether in his hand. The rapper worriedly rushed over, when he heard the little's soft voice, cooing: "Oh, kitten. There you are. I ran into Jeongin, who said you weren't having a good day." Minho gave a sad sniffle and nodded. "Do you want to tell Daddy about it?", Jisung asked hesitantly, guiding the hybrid over to the couch. The little shrugged, admitting: "Was jus' busy an' dat woman was a meanie." - "Do I need to go find her and put her in time-out?", Jisung asked only half joking. It earned him a small giggle from Minho, who shook his head but insisted: "Chu need cuddwe Minnie."

Jisung did as demanded and also fixed his mate a bottle but he knew he'd have to get back to his hyungs soon. That was when he had an idea. "Minnie, I need to go back to work soon", the rapper explained with a hint of worry, "I know you don't want to stay back alone but they don't know that you're little. If you manage to shift, I could take you to Chan-hyung's apartment in your cat-form, so you could stay in my lap while I work." - "Wan' go with dada", Minho insisted with a determined nod, pressing himself against Jisung. "Alright, why don't you shift while I collect your blanket and I can also pack your teether, so you'll be comfy", the rapper smiled. Minho nodded, handing Jisung the teether before getting up and waddling to the bedroom. Jisung quickly shot his hyungs a text, explaining that he had been right and that Minho wasn't well, so he'd bring the hybrid over but he would stay in his cat-form, so he could get cuddles without disrupting their work.

While the rapper quickly stuffed Minho's baby blanket into a bag and placed the teether on top of it, his mate left his clothes on their bed and shifted into his cat-form, padding back out into the living room. "There's my little prince", Jisung beamed, picking the hybrid up, "Are you all good to go?" Minho gave a soft *meow* but dug his claws into the rapper's sweater, rubbing his face into it. Jisung was getting increasingly good at reading his mate's behavior and held the cat to his chest with one arm, slipping the other into his coat. With some struggle, he put the coat on and zipped it up, wrapping one arm around his own middle to support the cat snuggled up in his warmth. With his free hand, Jisung swung his bag over his shoulder and locked the apartment on his way out.

At first, Chan was confused when he opened the door for his dongsaeng but then, he heard a sleepy *meow* from inside the other's coat and laughed. Taking the bag from Jisung, the Aussie brought it to the living room, where they had set up to work. Jisung had to place Minho down to take off his coat and to his surprise, the hybrid followed Chan instead of waiting for him. Usually, Minho was clingy, especially in his headspace but when Jisung followed them, he understood. As soon as Chan had placed the bag down next to the couch, Minho pushed it over and pulled his blanket out with his teeth. Chuckling, Jisung picked the blanket up and also retrieved the teether before sitting down in the spot he had been in all morning. He draped the baby blanket over his lap, patting it for Minho to lay down. Changbin cooed when the hybrid curled up in the other's lap, imagining Felix acting like that. Was that even standard cat behavior? Noting that he really needed to do some research on cats, Changbin turned his focus back to the laptop in front of him. For the first thirty minutes, Minho gnawed on the teether, Jisung held for him as his mate ran his fingers through his fur but the soothing motion made him drowsy, so he eventually abandoned the teether and latched onto the other's sweater instead. Suckling on Jisung's sweater, Minho dozed off and was finally able to take a much-needed nap.