"HYUNG SAID that he'll be here," Jungkook says, flashing you the screen of your phone with their conversation. You nodded, a bit of reluctancy swimming across your mind.
You wanted to go check on Jimin, but you were afraid of what he might do given his current situation. Plus, Jungkook had reminded you that Jimin needed a distraction, and you were especially off the list for it.
"Jimin had better not done something stupid outside," You muttered, eyebrows creased whilst peering at your door. The other side has been silent for the past few minutes, and you were already beginning to overthink.
"Probably not. He's more gentle in his tabby cat form," Jungkook replied and you shot him a glance. "Gentle in what way, exactly?"
He looks at you as if you had just asked something way out of your league that creased your brows more. "Uhm.. how should I say this? I guess.. gentle in a submissive way," He shrugged.
Your mouth formed an 'o' shape in understanding. Well.. he was right. When you first saw Jimin in that alleyway, part of you was expecting him to use his defense and claw you mercilessly with his tiny paws, but instead, did the exact contrary.
"Oh, Jin hyung is here!" Jungkook exclaimed in relief before placing your phone on the nightstand. "Let's go, noona!"
"Huh? Where are you going?"
"Wrong. It's we," He emphasized. "And we're sneaking out of here. We can't just let hyung rot outside your door, can we?"
"Huh? But what if Jimin sees us?"
"He won't, trust me. It's highly likely that he transformed back into his cat form which gives us the full advantage," He reasoned and you sighed, deciding to just give into his plan.
"I'm trusting you on this one."
•┈┈••✦♥✦••┈┈•
"Jimin, stay still!"
"NO!" The orange-haired hybrid grunted condescendingly, shooting peering daggers towards the man who had yet to lose his meager patience.
"You're acting like a 5 year old," Taehyung chided as he rolled his eyes, making Jimin shift his patronizing stare to his seemingly unbothered friend.
Jin then sighed, switching his gaze towards Jungkook who appeared hassled as he continued to nibble on his bottom lip. It was one of his uncontrollable habits especially when he felt apprehensive.
"Can we just go?" Taehyung whined. Jin glowered over his direction before gently smacking the back of his head with his palm.
"No, we still have to get Jimin out of here," He commented, then averting his attention to Jimin who had his arms folded across his chest. "Jimin, please?"
"No," He quickly replied. "I want to stay here."
"Okay, bye!" Taehyung was about to stride away until a hand grips his shirt, forcing him back as he lets out a ruffled grunt.
Jin once again gently gave Taehyung a smack on the back of his head as the latter folded his arms across his chest, muttering incoherent words under his breath.
"Hey, uh, guys?"
"Y/N?" Jimin's head immediately perks up at the sound of your voice as you stand outside the door, completely unaware.
"Alright, I'm pulling the last card on this." Jin heaved a deep breath before his hand slipped on his pocket, pulling out a cat snack. Jimin's ears perk as the smell infiltrates his nose.
Within a matter of seconds, the feline hybrid transforms back into his cat form as he jumps on Jin, the latter's reflexes kicking in and quickly catching Jimin safely in his arms.
The orange-furred cat meows as he tries to reach up for the cat snack enclosed in Jin's closed fist. He unrolled his hand and the feline immediately caught the snack in his mouth.
He smirked in triumph. "Gotcha."
As if on cue, the door swiftly swung open and you emerged from the doorway, your gaze landing on Jin who held the feline hybrid securely in his arms. You sighed in relief and he smiled at you, motioning to Jimin.
"Noona!" Jungkook exclaims in delight when he sees you. He then inches closer to you and clinges his body to your side, resting his head on your shoulder. You gently pat his head, feeling his soft bunny ears as you play with them.
"Oh, Y/N, right?" Jin asks and you nodded, flashing him a friendly smile as you intertwined your fingers on Jungkook's and rubbed his hand with your thumb. "Yup."
His eyes lingered on your face for a moment as if he was trying to remember something. His brows knitted. "Wait, have we met each other?"
"Uhm, not that I remember.." You replied, a small crease appearing on your brows. He releases a small sigh and nods, caressing the feline's fur. "Really? I could've sworn I might have saw you before."
"Hi, Y/N! I'm Taehyung, by the way.." The other black-haired guy interrupted, whom you assume was the other guy on the call last time, as he reaches out a hand to you with a wide grin plastered on his lips. You stifled a laugh at the energy he radiated and held his hand.
"Hi Taehyung. You must be Jungkook's friend?"
"Well yeah, I guess." He shrugged, scrunching his nose. You retracted your hand away when Jungkook gently kicked Taehyung on his leg.
Jin stood by your side as the two of you silently watched Taehyung and Jungkook exchange quiet banters, careful not to distract the feline who's still chewing on cat snacks. "I'll have to take Jimin back from our house. He might have to stay there for 3 days or a week before he can fully return to his normal state."
"Oh, I see.. That's okay. As long as he returns back to normal soon." You replied, glancing to his way. He gave you a small smile before looking down at the feline in his arms. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you find this little guy?"
"Oh, I.. saw him in an alley the other day. He was all alone so I assumed he didn't have an owner." You explain, reminiscing about the night. "I couldn't leave him alone especially when I saw the injury on his body, so I took him home and treated him."
"And..?" Jin trailed off, expecting more for you to say. You laughed, fixing the hem of your shirt. "Well, I found out he wasn't.. how do I put this? Normal. It kinda took me a while to swallow the idea of him being a cat and a human at the same time."
"Ah, that's okay. I felt that way too when I first met him." He chuckled, the feline eliciting a purr when Jin caressed it's chin.
A question suddenly crossed your mind. You glanced at Jin who kept his attention at the orange-haired feline, the words almost at the tip of your tongue.
"Are you.." Jin looks up at you when you speak, noticing the reluctancy dripping in your tone. "Jimin's original owner?"
He stopped caressing the feline's fur. He stares at you for a while and you mentally curse at yourself for even asking that kind of question, but you just couldn't help it.
He looked away. A small smile tugged from his lips as if he remembered a memory.
"No. He hasn't told you yet, huh?"
"Told me what?" You acted incognizant, staring at him. He might have been referring to the time when Jimin said something about his erstwhile owner. Something along the line of.. used to love.
He looks at you for a moment before shaking his head. "It's better if he tells you instead."
You smiled and nodded, looking down at the orange-haired feline in Jin's arms.
•┈┈••✦♥✦••┈┈•
"Bye, Y/N! It was nice meeting you!"
You smiled, waving a hand at Taehyung who peeked his head out of the window of the car as it drove away.
After finally getting Jimin out of your apartment, Jin and Taehyung brought the orange-furred kitten back with them, everything going smoothly as planned.
Although you hated to admit it, you already missed Jimin despite knowing that he'll only be gone for a few days.. or weeks.
Jungkook suddenly clings his arm onto yours, making you laugh at his energetic demeanor and he flashes you a wide grin before tugging on your shirt. "Do you have work today?"
"No, I'm taking the day off." You shake your head, almost wanting to slap yourself in the face after forgetting that you had work today. You were glad that you were on good terms with your manager. You hoped that he would let it pass for the meantime.
"Oh, then can we buy food later, please?"
"I would say yes but I still remember the time you ate all the food in the kitchen, you sneaky bunny." You peered at him with narrowed eyes and his smile drops, guilt almost evident in his eyes as he jutted his bottom lip out.
You stifle a sly chuckle before pinching his cheek and he lets out a small groan, swatting your hand away as a small crease forms on his eyebrows. You rolled your eyes and soon found yourself giving in to his request. Well.. who could even resist him?
You sighed. "Fine, whatever."
"Really?" He almost jumped out of joy as the rapture in his eyes recurred, his bunny ears suddenly popping up on his head out of nowhere. Your eyes widened and you immediately looked around to see if anyone noticed. You quickly dragged Jungkook back into your apartment before locking the door behind you.
"Don't do that!" You whisper-yelled at Jungkook who was looking at you with unconcerned eyes as if someone was ear-dropping.
He frowned. "Do what?"
"That- That thing!" You motioned a finger to his bunny ears and his mouth forms an 'o' shape, hand reaching up to touch it. "Oh, this? Sorry. It happens when my optimistic emotions eventuate." He shrugs before his bunny ears disappear yet again and you blink, not exactly catching the way it vanished.
"I thought you guys could control it or whatever?" You asked, remembering Jimin's words.
"For me? Not really," He grins, his pearly-white teeth protruding. "I can hide it but I can't control the way it pops out. I don't know about Jimin hyung, tho."
"What do you mean?" Another question slips from your tongue before you could stop it. His bottom lip jutted as he tilted his head. "He wasn't really.. I guess the type to show his emotions back then. He usually kept a straight face, but I was always the one who tried to keep him smiling as much as I could to.. distract him." He explained with a smile not enough to reach his eyes.
Silence. You were about to speak when Jungkook cut you off with a small cough. "I'm hungry, can we buy some food now?" He smiled. Instead of smiling back, you stared at him. He might not feel comfortable enough to share but you completely understood him.
You gave him a small nod. "Yeah sure.. Let's go." he beams, his eyes producing a crescent shape before grasping your arm and dragging you outside of your apartment.