Under the sign of the cat, II.

[kocch]

( part I here)
ii.to tame (the beast inside) your cat

Kang Seungyoon was a fool in love.
The streets he had dreaded until few days ago, full of constant reminders of Taehyun’s existence, were now his personal heaven in earth, the flowers in full bloom all around were the way the world expressed Seungyoon’s surge of happiness, and spring was indeed the season of love. Seungyoon had always thought this was one of the banalities people say when they can’t bear the silence, but now he found himself rather happy to be the living proof for such a triviality.
Being in love (and requited, reciprocated, mutual love) was definitely one of those things that made people act strangely and Seungyoon wasn’t an exception. He could feel his whole body beaming in excitement as he headed to Taehyun’s place, that morning, and he just couldn’t help it. He wouldn’t for anything in the world.
There was something - called common sense - right in the back of his mind, telling him to behave just a bit, but he couldn’t restrain his feelings any longer, not after all those months of misunderstandings and Seungyoon-ish chivalry. His body moved along with his emotions, his arms wiggling and his lips whistling an upbeat tune as he turned left and crossed the street. He paused for few seconds when he spotted an empty bowl on the sidewalk and giggled at that sight, an idea forming and settling down deeply in his mind.
Ah, he thought as he rang the bell, he needed a moment or two to wash away all the greasiness he had in his body. He inhaled deeply, trying to recollect himself, but then Taehyun’s voice squeaked through the intercom and Seungyoon just knew he had no chance of redemption.

“I know exactly what to do for our first date”, Seungyoon grinned widely, watching Taehyun fuzzing around, checking his photography equipment and picking up one lens then another, unsure of what he needed today. He glanced at Seungyoon and furrowed his brow in suspicion. Seungyoon smiled even more, tilting his head to one side.
“You know that a date is something you do... outside. Like. Out. Get up from my bed”, Taehyun quickly gave him his back and set aside his lens, finally choosing the right one, one not too cumbersome to carry around. He packed everything in a small bag.
Seungyoon naturally blushed at the bold assumption, a rush of warmth right on his face and low stomach, and got up to reach Taehyun. He placed his head on his shoulder, making Taehyun gasp for the sudden contact. “Actually I was thinking about something way more innocent like going to feed all your children with milk and tuna cans and a lot of love”.
Taehyun slightly turned his face to look into his eyes. “Oh my-”
“Because that’s how we first saw each other. Kind of”.
“You king of holy cheesiness”. Taehyun tried to keep a straight face but ended up giggling in elation, for Seungyoon was too much. “I never expected you to be- no wait, I know you, this isn’t a surprise, but please chill down”.
“Nah, you like it”, Seungyoon seized his waist with his arm, closing their almost non-existent distance. Taehyun gulped, his breath uneven as Seungyoon’s embrace tightened around him.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a very long time”, Seungyoon whispered on his shoulder, snuggling his face in the crook of Taehyun’s neck and breathing him in.
“Me too”.
Seungyoon could infer from his shaking, tiny voice that Taehyun was sincere. There was so much just in those two words, more than a simple mindless reply - his same emotion living inside Taehyun, mirroring Seungyoon’s, the depth of his feeling reflecting in him and vice versa. And as Seungyoon kissed his neck and hugged him, trying to be together in an intimacy they weren’t still used to share, Taehyun wound his hand on Seungyoon’s arm around his waist, keeping him there steadily, closer to him - with him.

“You should be careful”, Taehyun alerted Seungyoon as they left the market, both carrying a plastic bag filled to the brim. They had bought enough cans and milk to feed a hundred-and-one cats, according to Seungyoon’s estimations, and sufficient food to satiate their growling bellies. Taehyun didn’t wait anymore to get his banana milk from his plastic bag, fishing around for few seconds before he found it and merrily started to drink.
Seungyoon realized he was staring at him the whole time just when Taehyun turned to look at him, a satisfied grin on his face. “I mean it. You should be careful, the cats are used to have me around but not you. They follow me everywhere, actually, there is probably one tagging along even now, but that’s just their instinct. I’ve already told you how we’re linked”.
Seungyoon nodded, listening to him as he tried to find a way to walk with him, displeased by how distant they were at the moment. Like they always used to be before, in fact, yet now it was somehow totally different. Probably this was one of the reasons why there was no turning back, once you had a relationship with someone: the past and small details started to mean worlds and the things you did before, even together, were new experiences lived as a couple. It was a one-way road.
He shifted his bag on the other side and reached for Taehyun’s hand, squeezing it and interlocking their fingers. Taehyun looked at him, frowning. “Don’t do this, you never know what might happen”.
“It won’t”, Seungyoon smiled encouragingly, enjoying Taehyun’s hand in his, the soft texture of his skin and the heart-warming reassurance he felt by simply touching him.
Taehyun looked unpleased, though. “You”, he struggled to get untangled, “you have no idea of-“
“My effect on you?”, Seungyoon grinned widely as he kept his hold on Taehyun’s hand. Oh, that was the most rewarding thing of the whole story, to be very honest. How everything gravitated around him - how that had hurt him until few days before and, now that he knew the truth, it just made him madly happy. “Breathe deeply, inhale, exhale, get used to the sensat- ouch”, he let Taehyun go as the pain for Taehyun’s bite spread through his hand. “You just didn’t!”
“I apparently did”, licking his lips, Taehyun smiled mischievously and hurried up. “Let’s go, Seungyoon”.
Seungyoon followed him, cursing between his teeth as he shook his hand to shoo the pain away. “You... you wild cat”, he told him and bumped on his shoulder to make him look at him. Taehyun chuckled and ran his fingers on Seungyoon’s arm swiftly, a waft of hot air and tingles on his skin that made Seungyoon long for his hand once again and brought him to hiss his discontent. Not that he was truly sulky, though, as he understood where Taehyun was coming from, hence he just ended up smiling, their hands brushing occasionally as they walked side by side.
They stopped in a dim alley squeezed between two red-bricked townhouses. Taehyun just sat down on his heels and started opening some cans; Seungyoon followed his example in silence. “They’ll come soon. This is one of those places with a lot of stray kittens living all around, they find shelter behind these houses, in the back gardens or some cosy, fitting corner we can’t even think of. They’re like a small pack”.
Not so small, Seungyoon thought as a multitude of cats gathered there soon enough. A few of them went to rub their fur against Taehyun’s thighs, meowing their welcomes; Seungyoon watched the scene like he had done many months before, hypnotized by how Taehyun smiled tenderly and fully enjoyed that moment of closeness. Seungyoon jolted in surprise when he felt something brushing against the back of his hand and looked down to see a small kitten staring at him fixedly. He chuckled and ran his fingers on his head tentatively, drawing slow circles behind his ears.
“Hey, Taehyun, look! He’s friendly”, Seungyoon boasted loudly, making Taehyun turn to witness the scene. “There is no need to worry, animals can feel I’m a pure soul”.
“You think so?”
“Ye-ah”, he leaped back when the kitten scratched his finger and hissed at him. “What, why?!”
“They can feel my scent on your skin… and yours on mine. Cats are jealous. It’s their nature, don’t you know?” Taehyun snickered, making Seungyoon wonder if he was talking about those cats around them or himself. Sighing and pouting, he checked the long and raw cut on his index finger: it was swollen and twitching for the sudden pain. He knew it most likely could get infected and, as he hadn’t any med with him (his professor would say that he was too careless to be a future doctor, but he liked to be light-packed and a medical kit wasn’t exactly light), he just stared at the scratch quite pitifully.
“Come here”, Taehyun whispered, way closer than he was before, and took his hand in his, checking his injured finger. “I’m an expert with these, you know”, Taehyun said as he blew on the scratch, making Seungyoon wince. Seungyoon nodded in response, wondering if this was ok at all, after all the fuss of just few minutes before. “You’re holding my hand”, stating the obvious, Kang Seungyoon, well done.
“It’s ok, I’m in my cool nurse mode at the moment. And the best solution to this is…”, he tilted his head and licked Seungyoon’s finger swiftly; then he pressed his warm lips on his skin and sucked it for few seconds. Each Seungyoon’s sensory neuron of the zone under Taehyun’s mouth burst with electricity, the heat rushing from that very point to the rest of his body, crushing everything inside him and messing him all up. Seungyoon could already feel the first symptoms of a heart attack, dizziness and chest-clutching and disorientation all at once to seize him in a state of shock. “You- you’re such a tease, Nam Taehyun”.
“Hey, this is the best way to treat it without any disinfectant. You should know, there is something like some prote- prote-something in your saliva that-“
“Protein. And it’s an enzyme, to be more specific. And it’s our way to eliminate part of the microbes we ingest every day. So it makes sense, it’s very logic and it’s one of those stuff that I like very much”, Seungyoon rushed his words, feeling as he could get through it if he crammed everything he knew in the span of one breath, that cold reassuring knowledge being his way to resist his sly cat-boyfriend and his own urges to pin him down on this very spot, among hungry kittens and half-emptied cans.
Taehyun chuckled at his reply, extremely satisfied by Seungyoon’s reaction. “I can see you’re holding back with all your might. Thank you”, he smiled sincerely, but Seungyoon could still read the undeniable pleasure he felt by teasing him. That was something new for Seungyoon, a side that Taehyun had probably hidden the whole time, while they were still just friends and he was the one restraining - they both were - for the sake of their relationship. This was such a lovely change, though.
“There is probably no one sad as me to admit that we’re still in the daylight and right in the middle of the city, and not at your flat or in any possible place where I can just show you the effect you have on me. So, as we’re still here and this is still our first date, shall we continue with our - very safe and innocent, may I add - tour?”
Taehyun just laughed, the blush on his cheeks and the happiness tinkling in his voice making Seungyoon’s heart melt a tad more. “Sure, I want to go to the park”.

After they had fed every cat in their quite big neighbour (and not-so-subtly attempted to get them all pampered up and obese, judging by the quantity of food they’ve placed here and there), they finally stopped by the park and found a nice spot where to sit, near a flower bed blossoming in pink and red and white, and right under the warm sunlight of mid-spring.
They ate what was still left in their plastic bags, a tuna sandwich for Taehyun and pasta salad for Seungyoon. This was nice - no, way nicer than before. It was as many moments shared together at the campus, with the two of them admiring the beauty of the nature around, eating, sitting together without the need of anything else, any word or act; but now that they were a couple, a sort of satiating yet voracious happiness laid between them, in balance between the contentment of that instant and the need to have something more, resting inside them.
And there was another distinct change they both couldn’t ignore: Seungyoon could look at Taehyun as long as he wanted and Taehyun could do just the same, without any more pretending. Actually, it was pretty funny when they stopped eating for a while, their gazes locked just for chance, none of them wanting to break the contact first, both lost in each other’s eyes, those seconds stretched out long enough to seem an eternity. Just the two of them, in there.
Then Taehyun chuckled and reached for Seungyoon’s fork, stealing some of his pasta with a smug smile on his face, eating it as Seungyoon kept looking at him. “You... bratty thief”, Seungyoon giggled, but that was the only thing he managed to say, already sure this was the first of many times he would just go easy on Taehyun - not that he cared this much about his food, when Taehyun munched it so enthusiastically right under his eyes, but he just knew this was how it’ll be, Seungyoon being someone who loved to give every little piece of himself to the person he cherished the most; he just knew he would let him have all he could give him, from his smile to his love to his everything, as long as Taehyun loved him back.
“You’re too good to complain, aren’t you?” Taehyun took another big portion of pasta with the fork and raised it to his mouth, still smiling. Then he changed trajectory, putting the fork right in front of Seungyoon. “Eat”, tenderness under the surface of tease and laughter.
And Taehyun, he was the one who had always given him back so much of himself, from the very start. Seungyoon had lost the count of all the times Taehyun had trusted him enough and opened up to him, slowly but steadily. Like he had never done with anyone else before.
“You know I was going to nag you a lot, don’t you? This was a narrow escape”, Seungyoon ate it, his eyes fixed on Taehyun’s. “I take care of my belongings very well”.
“Yes, sure”, Taehyun giggled, patting him on his shoulder. He took another spoon of pasta, unsure of what to do. Seungyoon opened his mouth, asking for more like small birds do to their mother, and Taehyun gave in quite easily, feeding him once again. “You know you have hands to feed yourself, right?”
“You’re the one with the fork, now”, Seungyoon pointed out, grinning.
“Right”, he handed him his meal and fork and went back to his sandwich, still staring at Seungyoon from behind the bread like a cat would do, trying to be furtive but resulting quite obvious.
“So, what do you want to ask?” Taehyun raised his head and looked at him for a while, in silence. Seungyoon could easily see every doubt reflected on his face, as Taehyun chewed his bottom lip and ruffled his hair without any apparent reason, his brow furrowing more and more while he mulled over his question. “Come on, try me”.
“It’s probably something so silly - something everyone in the world has already asked you a million times - and I don’t want to be boring, but I can’t help it, I’m curious”, he got closer to him and sat beside Seungyoon, slowly shifting so that theirs shoulders touched. “Why did you decide to be a doctor? I mean, I’ve already told you why I like photography and showed you my world, so I thought-“, Taehyun paused, he scratched his head as he mustered the courage to say that, “I thought you could show me yours”.
Seungyoon just smiled, the need to hug him so powerful inside him, coursing from his chest to his limbs in a desperate wave, that he hugged himself instead. His voice sounded like a sigh as he spoke: “Well, it’s true that I’ve already answered this question many times and I usually reply with the short version of the story - which is: I’ve always liked science and I’m a caring person, enough to be a good doctor - but I think you deserve the whole story”.
“Is this gonna be drama-like, all tragedy and sorrow?” Taehyun joked, covering up his evident happiness with tease.
“Quite a bit, but not good enough to move you to tears”, Taehyun touched his arm, his nails digging in his skin as he inquired with his eyes if he was ok to talk about it. Seungyoon nodded and smiled softly. “As any drama, it’s quite a cliché. My mother got breast cancer when I was in middle school - I still remember how I couldn’t believe it when I first heard about it. She told me to come home soon and not fool around in the billiard room, I remember she said she had something important to tell me and I casted it away as a small nuisance, so she had to wait for me until very late at night and I remember - I remember she was in the living room in the dark and I was a bit surprised by it, because she’s not the type, you know, not the type to stay put and... then she told me everything and I wouldn’t believe it and I remember I screamed a lot and - I was such a bad child to my mother at that time, I guess I was - I ran away and I just couldn’t believe she... she was sick”.
Taehyun’s hand gripped on his arm a bit more, his fingers hurting him, but Seungyoon didn’t mind.
“So I went to sleep to the billiard room, the owner knew me and let me stay there... I still remember the clock right above my head, counting minutes, ticking and ticking as I couldn’t stop thinking, each word my mother said echoing in my mind, changed and distorted by my emotions - at one point I was sure it was a dream, then it was reality, and I swung like this till dawn. I couldn’t even think how my mother felt at that moment, I was just stuck on my own problems, I was - how I’m gonna do this, how I’m gonna overcome this, how I feel, how I am now, I am scared, I am weak, I’m not ready, I’m dreaming, I’m safe if this is just a stupid nightmare - I”.
The last word rasped his throat, hurting.
Seungyoon set his hand on Taehyun’s, trying to soothe his pain and stop his shaking. Really, he wasn’t doing this for his pity and he knew Taehyun was fully aware of that, yet it was human for Taehyun to feel like that, to be empathetic toward Seungyoon.
“This isn’t the right topic for a first date”, Seungyoon chuckled and Taehyun glared at him, ready to scold him for his attempt make fun of that situation. “But then, I guess it’s ok. It’s not like we’re two complete strangers trying to make a good impression to the other one and to get a call or a text the day after”, Seungyoon paused to get back to the momentarily lost mood, “So, well, I still don’t know how it happened but it was dawn and the sun was rising - the billiard room was on the fourth floor of an old building, and I felt like it wasn’t high enough, I knew I had to go to the roof and I ran as quickly as I could, to see the sky burning in red and orange and pink. It was very fascinating - you probably would have taken a photo of that moment to treasure its importance, but I was just a frightened kid with too much anger in my body and I just decided it was good to scream, to break that unnerving silence, to fight that beauty. And as I did so and my lungs burnt I realized that all that time I just felt the useless, most pathetic, lowest shit on earth. And I was one. I couldn’t help her and my mother was everything I had. She was...”
Taehyun’s hand fisted against his shirt, his droopy eyebrows so high that Seungyoon just broke the tension with his laugh. Then he continued: “So I decided, like every good hero, that I had to save her. That I was wasting my time, fooling around every day like a lost kid, and that I needed to study and become a very good doctor and save her. I was a fool and I thought she could wait all that time, but cancer is way faster than a silly boy and his silly resolutions. But - come on, smile for me, I already told you it’s not good enough to make you tear up - she was lucky, she just removed her breast and she fought to be alive, bright and strong as usual. A hero in her own way. She is fine”, he whispered in his ear, leaning towards Taehyun and patting his head gently, “so there is no need for pity and sorrow”. Pulling away from their closeness, Seungyoon smiled widely and Taehyun pinched his cheek quite hardly.
“You made me think that she... however, I can’t be anything but happy to hear this”, he sighed in relief, finally looking into Seungyoon’s eyes, since for the past few minutes Seungyoon had looked afar, ahead, and Taehyun had clung on him with all his might, his eyes boring the ground and fear and pain running in his body. “She must be very proud of you”.
“Of course she is. I’m a splendid son, now”, Seungyoon grinned confidently, masking all the self-loath he had gone through in the past and that he had learnt to fight back very well a long time ago, anyway, when he had reconciled with his mother and stood by her side during the scariest time of her life. Seungyoon had grown up very fast.
Somehow, he felt like he didn’t need to say all of that, Taehyun could understand it without any word, just by looking in to his eyes as he did now. “I really want to kiss you, you know”, Seungyoon whispered.
“That would be inappropriate”, Taehyun’s smile faded. He had something else to say, Seungyoon could read it on his face, his teeth once again biting his lower lip. “Anyway, I just thought that it must be nice… and comforting to know you have someone who cherishes you like that. I’m sure she never felt alone by having you by her side. She knew she could count on you before and now that you’re pursuing this career, I’m sure she feels relieved”. Taehyun looked away, he dipped his head and breathed deeply, “Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever feel the same way. If I could fix this condition of mine, I…”
“Yours is not exactly a disease, though. There is no doctor for such a thing”, Seungyoon joked, expecting Taehyun to laugh with him. Yet Taehyun shrugged his shoulders, a bit of uneasiness in the way he tensed up at his words, making Seungyoon wonder if there was something more than met the eye. But he set aside that idea when Taehyun relaxed his posture, leaning his head on his shoulder, and tenderly told him that he just had five minutes of rest before he started taking photos - “because this is a moment to remember”.

“I can’t believe this lucky bastard got exactly what he wanted. Kang Seungyoon! The mysterious chicken, you never fail to surprise me. I’ve almost finished the details for my videogame based on your misfortune in love and now I have to set it away, months of work wasted because you finally decided to talk to Taehyun. I must admit I’ll part from my project quite gladly”, these were the exact words Mino told Seungyoon - followed by some friendly “hey man”, strong pats on his back and bear hugs Seungyoon couldn’t really escape, incapable to stop Mino’s genuine happiness for him and Taehyun and enjoying it to the bits.
Seunghoon was his usual self, quite cryptic to express his true intentions, teasing as much as he could - asking for every small detail about how they got together and how things had changed between them (“do you already know by heart the shape of his d-“; Seungyoon had a talent to abruptly shut him up with his hand) - but Seungyoon could see that he was happy for him. Or maybe the older was just content that their tradition had come to an end. Seungyoon’s drunken habit of pleading for help and understanding was fine one, two times, but two months in a row had worn Seunghoon out.
After those two dorks the only one left was his flatmate and Seungyoon had already predicted what he would do. Once again, reality wasn’t that far from his expectations: Jinwoo gave him his approval and blessing as the hyung of this group, then hugged him tightly, sneakily putting a pack of condoms in his pocket as a sign of not-so-subtle encouragement, and at last he sassily asked him if Taehyun was aware of the nightmare he was heading in or he had been fooled by his nice face. “Hyung, I’m fine as hell”. “Sure, I’ll call the poor maknae and make him rethink about this choice”, Jinwoo teased him, pinching his cheeks with all his might - damn that hurt - and then patting Seungyoon’s butt one last time.
His friends’ reaction was just the icing on the cake for a happiness he had never experienced in the twenty-and-one years of his life, not even with his first love. (Which was one of the many typical stories you always find in those manga for romantic naïve teenagers: they had met at school and confessed to each other one afternoon in an empty classroom, and everything had followed the classic path of that hackneyed plot, from the first kiss to the first fight to the last day together, regret and bitterness replacing the initial love they had felt).
This one was like a constant energy waving inside him - sometimes a hazy quaver in the background, still there but easily shaded by other stronger emotions, other times an earthquake that shook him from head to toe, its intensity so high that he found hard to breathe, to think about anything but Taehyun and his smile and his lips on his.
His happiness grew while spring turned into summer, their love rooting deeply and blossoming every day a little more in ways Seungyoon couldn’t predict at all, being subject of a force he couldn’t classify or measure scientifically. He just knew that the more they knew each other and their respective habits, the more that love became part of him, eating and burning and shaping him from inside out.
Seungyoon learnt that Taehyun had a very good fashion sense - he had slightly noticed, but never focused on that - and he liked to express his emotions through a proper outfit, chosen day-to-day to satisfy his artsy feels. It was funny how Seungyoon could detect a doubtful look on Taehyun’s face when he was wearing something too odd or simply too much for his taste. Seungyoon always excused himself by being a medicine student. “I mean, is it more important whether I can combine yellow with black” “It’s gold” “Or I can recognize a spleen from a kidney? Please enlighten me”.
Seungyoon noticed that Taehyun enjoyed to fix the neck of his shirt and to level all the creases of his top, but nothing was better for him than picking Seungyoon’s outfit so that they both could look good together (and be coordinated like only a couple could be, but this was something Taehyun didn’t say and Seungyoon hadn’t the courage to point out).
Seungyoon already knew that Taehyun loved to read books, piles and piles all around his made-in-heaven bed as an obvious reminder, yet they found out together that it was even better if he could intertwine one of his arm around Seungyoon’s, their skin brushing as he read and Seungyoon studied for one of his many exams.
And, more than anything else, Seungyoon found his place between Taehyun’s arms, the one where he wanted to be, the spot that could fit the whole world and its chaotic, raw, frightening life in few spans - Taehyun’s arms.
There were many things they did together for the first time and it was natural to adjust and discover each other, in a drunken and blind excitement that kept bringing them together like two magnets, twisting and twirling each day closer to the other one. They found themselves hungry for the other one, eager and demanding in a game for two. Seungyoon learnt how well their bodies matched and how rewarding was to turn his flirtatious words into reality, but especially how nicely it felt when Taehyun purred in his ears and marked his skin as he would do with his territory, scratching and biting and playing with him like a cat.
Finally, Seungyoon realized that there was no way (and he had no intention) to resist that love and all he could do was follow its flow and enjoy it. Seungyoon just knew - from one of the too many documentaries he had watched during his childhood - that once fire had flared up and had spread out too much, the wind blowing swiftly, making the flames grow and burn everything down, there was nothing to do but try to contain the inevitable damage. And Seungyoon, and Taehyun, they both were the spark to start that fire, combusting and consuming the whole oxygen nearby by their simple gazes and touches.
And if it was like this for the two of them - well, it was fine.

Summer had come at last.
The warm haze lasted for many days and Seungyoon kept his last thread of sanity by lying on the cold floor of his room. He had been submerged by all the things he had to study but had always put aside for a hypothetical tomorrow and he had struggled for a week of strict hermitage, staying alive thanks to strawberry ice-creams and icy tea, longing for Taehyun and his intoxicating scent of milk and spicy cinnamon of his skin.
They had planned an outing tonight - cinema! And he had had even convinced Taehyun to watch one of his superhero blockbusters instead of the way-too-serious-for-summer movie Taehyun had proposed - so he dragged himself to the closet and picked the nicest outfit he could think of at the moment. White suited him so a plain shirt could be fine and the skinny grey jeans Taehyun liked so much; then his favourite black earrings and the bracelet Taehyun had slipped on his wrist while he was sleeping, some weeks ago.
Seungyoon chuckled under the freezing shower, remembering the first time he had met Taehyun in a coffee shop, and all the preposterous statistics he had drafted to get a hold to his feelings. It had been a year already since he had followed him outside the market and he had strolled around the whole neighbour looking for his signs.
That night Seungyoon smiled so widely that Taehyun asked him if there was something wrong, but everything was perfectly fine and he just shrugged his shoulders and patted Taehyun’s head absently. They bought a big box of caramel popcorn for two and soda and they sat right in the centre of the room, enjoying the air conditioning maybe even more than the movie itself.
The first half was cliché after cliché, from the hero losing his parents when he was just a child to the typical, dazzling meeting with the love of his life, and of course Seungyoon was involved as fuck and had already decided he would give a piece of his heart to this movie. He couldn’t help it, he was a smart-ass as much as he could but he never failed to fall for these stories. “He’s gonna fight for his love and bring justice to the world even against all those adversities”, raptured, he whispered to Taehyun’s ear after a very emotional scene (the hero was ready to get a hold on his life and reconnect with his inner self and his superpowers), but Taehyun hissed at him and pushed him softly on his sit, to keep a safety distance between them. He drew a line of no trespassing with his hands and Seungyoon just sighed, his eyes still on the screen as he fished around to find the popcorn box and feed himself.
That was when he met Taehyun’s hand instead of the popcorns. Their skin brushed and his eyes instinctively darted to the point of contact. It was a matter of a second, for the next one Taehyun jolted in his sit and pulled away, nonetheless they both were aware even of the slightest touch. Like every time they were together, it was helpless.
Taehyun stirred, leaning on the farthest corner of his armchair, and Seungyoon munched a fistful of popcorns, trying to get back to the movie but suddenly seeing how stupid and unnecessary it was to him, unlike Taehyun on his right.
Seungyoon grinned, unable to resist the sizzling urge to place his hand on Taehyun’s knee and trail his fingers on his sturdy thigh. Taehyun pushed his hand on his to stop him and snapped toward him, snarling in Seungyoon’s ear: “I thought you were into the movie”, bite and sarcasm in his voice, Seungyoon could see that he was upset but he wasn’t sure for what, “so why don’t you get back to it, there is still so much going on”. Maybe for the movie, maybe for something else.
Playing along and following his instinct, Seungyoon pressed his lips on his earlobe, enjoying Taehyun’s shivers under his touch. “I’m more into you”.
“I thought you were dying to know what happened next”, this time his voice was a tad sweeter; Seungyoon could feel his breath warming his skin, curling and tangling in the small space between their faces. “What, don’t you care about our hero saving some scared kitten for a hysterical granny?”
“Mh”, Seungyoon hummed, lazily sliding his hand on Taehyun’s thigh once again, “Well, isn’t it obvious he’ll save the world and be happy ever after? I can skip that part, I have my own kitty to take care of”.
He could hear Taehyun suppressing a chuckle. Seungyoon hovered over his inner thigh smoothly, just a gentle caress that surely sent tickles and quivers to Taehyun’s body, not more than a maddening tease for him. Taehyun brushed his nose on his cheek, leaving a quick kiss close to his ear, and laughed silently, his body shaking against Seungyoon’s. “Don’t you know this movie?”, he shifted, his hand finding Seungyoon’s and pressing it on his crotch in a quick move; Seungyoon felt his body arching under his touch - damn, Nam Taehyun and his boldness. “This is the scene when the two protagonists decides they can forego everything they’re doing at the moment and make out it the nearest place they can find”, Seungyoon clearly heard the pop he was now accustomed to, despite the totally forgotten hero was still talking in the background about his grand plans (not as grand as Taehyun’s, in his opinion), and he looked up to check Taehyun’s face. Luckily, it was dark enough to hide his cat ears.
He could feel a warm blush creeping on his skin and he was glad it was too dark even for that too, because he knew Taehyun would tease him about that. Without any more thinking, he palmed his boner frantically, Taehyun still pushing him with his hand, eager and needy as he mumbled something quite nonsensical in his ear. Seungyoon licked his jaw in a mechanic response, following the green-coloured features he could guess with the light coming from the screen.
Ah - it wasn’t nonsense, he realized as his brain registered what he had just caught few seconds ago. It was just one, specific word: bathroom.

They sneaked out of the room hand in hand, bending down to not get in the way of some unaware viewer and holding back a liberating laugh they just released as soon as they reached the hallway - breathless giggles and flushed cheeks and burning needs, they rushed to the bathroom and found an empty cabinet to get in.
Taehyun closed the door behind him, the metallic sound of the lock ringing in Seungyoon’s ears like a promise, and then faced him. This was one of those moments when they just stared at each other, studying the other one like they were opponents and not lovers, none of them ready to start, the need aching more than anything in his body in a pleasurable way. Not a noise, a word to break that perfect moment of tension.
Then Taehyun - he was always the hasty and impatient one, between them - clashed on Seungyoon, sending his back on the wall and nibbling his lips with voracity, his hands running on Seungyoon’s sides to grip his hips and hold him in place. Seungyoon opened his mouth to welcome him and cupped his face to bring him even closer, the pleasure he felt by his tongue lapping on his lips and slipping inside him sending a rush of electricity through his whole body. Gasping for more air, he pulled Taehyun’s hair to break the kiss and panted on his face, nuzzling in the crook of his neck as he ran a hand on his head, reaching for the back of his cat ears and gently stroking them, making Taehyun curl up on him and purring in reflex.
This was one of the lovely sides of having a catboy as boyfriend, Seungyoon reasoned in a momentary lucidity. That satisfied sound vibrated through their hug, Seungyoon’s heart beating at the same rhythm of Taehyun’s continuous purr. Moving away his hands and putting aside any glimpse of rationality, Seungyoon kissed him hardly, shifting their positions so that Taehyun was the one pinned on the wall. He chuckled when Taehyun spread his legs a little, to make room for him between them, and he pressed his body on his, his lips still eating his in sweet, sloppy kisses. He gasped when he felt Taehyun’s tail coiling right around his thigh, slightly brushing his hard-on and pulling him on the edge on self-control. Jeez, that was something he couldn’t get used to; that and Taehyun’s effect on him. Nice thing it was mutual and it was Seungyoon who drove him crazy just the same.
He rubbed his boner on Taehyun’s, their too-tight jeans adding friction to the movement, and Taehyun gasped in sudden need of air. “Seungyoon”, his hands were on his back, pulling out the shirt from his trousers and sliding under the fabric to touch his warm skin, his nails digging and scratching without sweetness in a need to feel him closer. Taehyun kissed him on his lips once more and then ghosted down till he reached his neck, his rough tongue tracing the carotid pulsing crazily under his touch. He meowed his name, this time: “Seungyoon”, and bit his skin, sucking and lapping, making Seungyoon dizzy with the simple pleasure of his mouth on his neck - and his hands, and his erection clearly rubbing against his - dear, he’ll never get used to Nam Taehyun, Seungyoon was sure of that.
He groaned, pulling him in another kiss, hungrier than the others. That was their way and game - a passionate hunger they couldn’t help and kept growing, burning with intensity, alongside their love - a game they just had to play, unable to resist the other one, their bodies learning the shape of the other one day by day.
Taehyun nibbled his skin, marking his neck again and again, his nails doing the same to his back, and Seungyoon moaned as he slipped a hand between them, unzipping Taehyun’s pants as he tried to fulfil his need to feel him in his hand. Taehyun jolted and gasped when Seungyoon’s hand wound around his shaft, his thumb tracing its length very slowly, teasing its tip and then going down once again, up and down until Taehyun left alone his neck and whimpered in need for something more - anything was better than this slow pace that was driving him crazy.
He shifted his tail, tightening his hold on Seungyoon’s thigh and pressing it to his boner, making him snicker tensely. “It’s your turn, now”, but Taehyun shook his head, gripping his neck with his left hand and pushing him until his lips were on his once again, then he talked: “Together, Seungyoon”, and his other hand was on his zipper, then in his briefs and on his erection. He curled his fingers on his shaft, twisting and turning until Seungyoon was the breathless one.
Taehyun kissed him, sharing his air with him for few seconds, and then joined their erections with his hand, rubbing them together sloppily, the heat and pleasure making him lose his hold and his fingers shake. Seungyoon added his hand to help him, a trembling and incontrollable emotion coursing inside his body as he felt the passion erasing his last sane thought and his love nesting in a forgotten side of his heart, replaced by lust. The pressure of their hands and cocks altogether was unbearable and he just hunched and dug his lips on Taehyun’s shoulder, biting and gnarling without even realizing, the orgasm building up in his body and washing away any other sensation but the burning need of release and the quivering of his muscles, tensed up to reach the climax. Taehyun hissed his pleasure, cursing on his cheek, his lips flying and nibbling his skin here and there; he pumped them a bit faster, his hand sliding erratically, and cried out when they finally came.
Their breath uneven, their bodies messily hot and sweaty, they just stood still for few seconds, Taehyun leaning back on the wall for support and Seungyoon trapping him between his arms.
“You’re a naughty cat”, Seungyoon managed to say after a while, when they had already cleaned themselves up but they weren’t fine enough to leave that cabinet. Taehyun observed him, chuckling, but then his eyes locked on all the red marks he had left on his neck and he winced. He stroked the bruised skin with his fingers attentively, as he tried to wipe away that evidence. “I am - you’ll have to go around with those, there is no way to cover them up. I’m sorry”, he sighed.
Seungyoon laughed at his concern. “Oh... well, it could be embarrassing, it actually is, and I’ll have to bear all those nasty looks by fake prudes…”, he nagged but then stopped when he realized that Taehyun’s apologize was real and he found regret and worry on his face. His beautiful eyes were still fixed on those hickeys, his lips pursued in discontentment.
This wasn’t the first time and Seungyoon wondered whether there was really something that was bothering Taehyun but he didn’t want to admit at loud, something that always made him apologize for any of his too bold behaviours, like he was guilty for who knows what kind of crime. This time his theory was correct with a 50% of confidence and he needed to further investigate to understand if there was something behind Taehyun’s act, but for now he just caressed his head and his cat ears, smiling reassuringly. “It’s your love marks, though. I could actually show off, you know. This is Nam Taehyun’s, I’m his”, he got closer to him, hugging him lazily and resting his cheek on his. “And I’m proud of every sign he left on me”.
“Ew, cheesy. And gross! Double combo, what did I do wrong to pick you”, Seungyoon could hear relief in his affectedly disgusted voice.
“You picked me”, Seungyoon grumbled in his ear, raspy in amusement.
“Stop. Stop it with your sexy voice or I’ll never get back to my human form and we’ll be stuck in here forever”.
“If it’s with you... I don’t really mind”.
“Cheesy - and - gross”, he spelled, a smile tugging the corner of his mouth.
Without losing his grin, Seungyoon gave in and slowly withdrew from their hug to give Taehyun a bit of space, well aware of the conversation they had the day of their first kiss and the time of recovery Taehyun needed to morph to human once again.

*

( it was too freaking long for LJ - keep reading part II here)