Breathe Me In || Minbin ✔️

11

"Hey, wake up," a hushed voice creeps into my head. I heave a sigh, licking my dry lips and opening my eyes.

Changbin is standing before me, smiling down. My body is coddled into a pillow and a thick blanket. It wasn't as warm as when I had fallen asleep. I think my body temperature fell a bit.

"Your food is here, and I don't want you sleeping until you eat. You're supposed to have food when you take that medicine."

I blink, trying to shake the sleep off. Sitting up, I roll my shoulders back, finally noticing the scent filling the room. In a bowl, the soup he ordered was laying flat with a cup of water next to it.

"Oh, thank you."

He nods before making a strange expression. Before I can ask, he sneezes into his elbow.

"Oh, no. Are you sick now? I'm sorry. I didn't think it could spread that fast. You should go so I don't make it worse-"

"Minho, you have cats."

A blush creeps up my neck. "Right. I forgot. I have allergy medicine in my bathroom. You should take that."

"Are you assuming I'm staying here for that long?"

Fuck. I bite my lip, embarrassed for the second time in not even a minute. "Sorry, I thought-"

"I'll go take some. Thanks," he smiles, winking at me before leaving the room.

Damn this asshole. How does he fluster me so easily? I'm never like this. I fluster people, not the other way around. What the hell is this?

I grab the food and set it in my lap, grumbling to myself about how much of a prick he is. As soon as the warmth touches my throat, I sigh. It feels nice already, warming me up.

"What movie do you want to watch?" He questions, coming back into the room. He gets onto the bed, careful not to bump me.

"I don't care. The remote is on the table. It's whatever you want."

-

"By 'whatever you want', I meant something good," I glare at the tv, watching as this guy snatches a collar and leash away from his coworker.

"Hey! This is good, I promise. It's really funny. You'll love it once you actually watch it instead of moping around."

"I don't even understand the plot. It has made no sense so far. Not a good movie pick, Bin."

He snickers, shaking his head. "So this guy is into BDSM or pet play. His coworker doesn't know what that is, but basically, they end up going through it together. She likes being dominant and he gives her that chance."

"What the fuck are you making me watch? Is this some weird porn? Are you into that?" I look at him in horror. I wouldn't be surprised if he was, but damn. While he's in bed with me?

"I'm not sure. I've never tried it."

I laugh, setting my empty bowl on my nightstand. "Unbelievable. Whatever, we can continue watching this. If they end up fucking on screen, I'm kicking you out or letting my cats loose on you."

"Speaking of cats," he gestures to the door that was opening, completely ignoring my threat. "How many did you say you had?"

"Three," I smile, patting the bed so Soonie would jump up and join us. "This is Soonie. The more white cat is Doongi. The black one is Dori. All rescues and all the loves of my life."

"That's adorable. Have you always been a cat person? Do you even like dogs?"

I gasp, offended. "Of course I like dogs. Just not as much as cats. I've always been a cat person, yeah. They're just so... intriguing."

"You're just like them."

I frown in confusion. "What?"

He giggles, scratching under Soonie's chin. "You're like a cat, but human, obviously. You're chill like them. You don't beg for attention. You make people work for it, actually. I assume that if you don't like someone, you'll just walk away."

"And why would you assume that?"

"Because you have better things to do than waste your time on someone you don't like. They're not worth the effort."

"You make me sound like I'm a complete asshole. Am I? I don't mean to be. I know I come off that way sometimes."

"God, no. You're not. You're a sweetheart. But you come off cold and I feel like you have that mindset. Am I right or wrong?"

I lean back against the headboard. "You're right. You're really good at reading people. Maybe using context clues along the way, too."

"Thanks. Working with people all the time helps with that. You can tell a lot by how they react to the needle, too. If they cry, flinch, laugh, or do nothing. I've had someone moan."

I stifle a laugh with my hand. "Are you serious? Someone moaned while getting a tattoo?"

"Yep. It's not that bad and I was kind of like, okay. They got super embarrassed. It was very... masochistic. Funny, though."

"Huh," I nod, looking back toward the movie. "Your job sounds really interesting."

"It is, sometimes. What do you do? I don't think I ever asked that."

"You haven't. Seungmin had to tell me about yours. I'm a dance instructor."

"Dance? Like what? Ballet?"

"Eh, not really. Mostly hip hop and freestyle. Sometimes it's just like a fun session. I work with kids sometimes, so it can't be hard choreo, but then you get to college students and high schoolers. They want to be idols and such, so when learning to dance, they have a lot of motivation."

"That's insane! I'd love to see that. Do you do performances or anything? I really want to see you sometime. That would be so cool."

My ears burn with embarrassment. "Gosh, no. We don't do performances unless we're specifically asked to, but that's usually when it's a kids recital or something. I don't even dance with them."

"Well still, I'd love to see you. Could you do a private session?"

I swallow thickly. "Y-yeah, I mean, you could. All you have to do is call and ask for me as your instructor. But you seriously don't have to. I mean, I-I've never performed seriously in front of someone."

That's a lie. I've performed many, many times. I just didn't want to do it in front of him. Watch him watch me. What if I mess up? What if I look stupid?

"Really? No one? How did you become an instructor then?"