Lonely Kitten

83

"I'm not sure there's much to talk about", Chan hummed, a little flustered that his cousin brought up the topic so casually, "Hyunjin and I went on a couple of dates but we actually haven't seen each other in quite a while because we were both busy." – "So like, are you a couple?", Felix pressed and Changbin rested his hand on the younger's thigh, a warning not to get too nosy. Were they a couple? Chan shrugged, openly admitting: "I'm not sure what we are exactly. We haven't really talked about that. For us non-hybrids, it's not as easy. Our human relationships aren't as inevitable as it is with mates, so I don't know where this is going to go." – "Well, how do you feel about Hyunjin?", Changbin asked softly. The older raised an eyebrow at him before sighing: "You know me. I don't date for fun, so if I didn't have a feeling that this might lead somewhere serious, I wouldn't have asked him for a second date... or a third and fourth. I like him, I really do but we're also still quite fond of our independence, so...."

They had thought Minho was asleep, so when the hybrid gave a hoarse 'meow' and clumsily stood up they were all surprised. Jisung watched curiously as Minho padded to the edge of the couch but backed away after glancing down. The little had heard the tightness in Chan's voice, a well-hidden indicator that the topic did affect him more than he wanted to let on. Looking up at Jisung, Minho gave another croaky 'meow' and waited for the rapper to place him onto the carpet. He tiredly padded over to Chan and laid down next to the Aussie's thigh, purring softly as he rested his head on his paws. When Chan reached out to pet him, Jisung too noticed how his hyung's hand trembled. Gently running his fingertips down Minho's back, Chan felt his heartrate slow and took a deep breath to calm himself. "Actually, I am thinking of texting him to see when his exam period is over and if he wants to go out again then but I don't want to be overbearing and pressure him while he's already busy with his studies", he mumbled, his phone feeling heavy in his pocket.

To be completely honest, Chan had thought about reaching out to Hyunjin a lot but always found reasons against it. He was too busy. Hyunjin was too busy. It was already too late at night to text him. Hyunjin was probably in class and shouldn't be disturbed. In reality, all these reasons Chan always came up with were a front when he was really just nervous whether the dancer would want to hear from him. He didn't know much of the younger's past dating life as the boy was still hesitant to open up to him. Chan was the first men Hyunjin had ever gotten close to in a romantic way and also the first person he ever felt this serious about, so the dancer was afraid to scare him away. At the same time, the Aussie had heard some comments about one or two girls, who had gotten too obsessed with Hyunjin to the point some of their actions could've been considered stalking and he didn't want to stress the younger out and force himself on him. They were really just trying to figure out how much space each other needed.

"Hm, I know for a fact that Hyunjin is free today or well, rather tonight considering what time it is", Felix spoke up, "Why don't you text him? I bet he'd be happy to see that you haven't forgotten about him." – "Are you sure?", Chan asked worriedly. Furrowing his brows, the younger questioned: "Am I sure, he's free or am I sure he'd be happy if you texted him? Either way, yeah, I think so." Nudging Chan's leg with his nose, Minho looked at him expectantly. The little's eyes still shone with fever but he fiercely held Chan's gaze till the older relented and pulled out his phone.

It hadn't even taken Hyunjin a full minute to reply to Chan's text. He had been waiting for a message from the older for almost two weeks. It didn't seem like Chan had taken track of time but Hyunjin surely did and with how long they had gone without talking, he already feared the Aussie didn't want anything to do with him anymore, which made him really anxious. He had struggled to sleep for the past week and had a hard time focusing on his studies because his mind kept going back to Chan and what he might have done to make the older distance himself. To him, the most probable explanation was that Chan was annoyed by his strong display of emotions. Hyunjin had often been told that he was too dramatic, so it wouldn't be surprising if Chan felt the same, right? Maybe it had something to do with his gender. The dancer had never been in a relation ship with another man, so he had still been questioning his sexuality. What if Chan was the same and their dates had only been an experiment whether he liked men or preferred women? Hyunjin didn't even want to thin about that, so when Chan asked how he was doing and if he was busy, he was subconsciously bracing himself.

"He's free tonight", Chan mumbled as he stared at the screen, not noticing the smile that spread on Felix' lips till the younger encouraged: "You should go and spend time with him. If I had gone that long without spending time with Binnie, I'd probably have gone crazy a long time ago. Yeah, I know mates are different but a healthy relationship includes spending time together." – "We're not in a relationship", the older muttered absentmindedly as he texted Hyunjin back. Jisung looked at Felix and rolled his eyes, making the other giggle. Both of them were rather certain that the pair would be in a relationship by the end of the night. Some time apart had most likely been what they had needed to realize how much they actually craved each other's company, so their friends were quite insistent that Chan should get going right away despite the older hesitating whether he could leave his sick friends alone. "Hyung, really, I'm already staring to feel better from the medicine and Changbin and Felix are here. We're going to be fine but you should go be with him", Jisung sighed when Chan couldn't seem to make up his mind. In the end, it was Changbin who more or less dragged the older to the front door, ready to physically kick him out but it didn't come to that.

"They're so going to be an item", Felix laughed when his mate returned. Mirroring the Aussie's smile, Changbin muttered: "How can one be so stubborn? I mean, I've known Chan for a while and with how outgoing he is, I have never seen him this shy." Jisung had picked Minho back up and pecked the little's head. Snuggling into his mate's embrace, Minho yawned before looking up at the rapper. He wanted to shift back into his human-form to be able to get more kissies from his caregiver but he didn't want to be nude out here. Realizing that Jisung couldn't read his mind and was most likely not going to carry him to the bedroom, Minho demanded to be helped off the couch again and scampered off down the hallway. Confused and concerned, Jisung got up to follow him and realized where the hybrid wanted to go, so he picked him up and carried him to the bedroom, where he gently placed him on the bed.

Minho hadn't expected the shift to zap so much of his energy and was left panting while Jisung spread a blanket over him. "You okay, kitten?", the rapper frowned as Minho struggled to catch his breath. Nodding weakly, Minho propped himself up and muffled a painful cough before looking up at his caregiver with tears in his eyes. Jisung cupped his mate's cheeks and breathed: "What do you need, Min?" Puckering his lips, the little waited and smiled when Jisung's lips met his. The rapper lovingly ran his fingers along the base of Minho's ears, making him purr. "Thank you for shifting back, kitten", Jisung smiled, pressing more kisses to the other's cheeks and nose. When he himself had run out of breath due to his stuffy nose, the rapper grabbed some comfy clothes from the closet and helped the little get dressed. Though he was sleepy, Minho waddled back to the living room, holding onto Jisung's hand. Situating the hybrid on the couch next to Felix, Jisung made his way to the kitchen to heat up some soup. He didn't think a bottle of almond milk would give Minho's body the energy to fight off the infection, so he wanted him to have a proper meal, besides, he should have another dose of medicine before bed.