Milk & Honey | liskook short stories

7: Leo

AU: Jeon Jungkook finds a cat and locates his owner — who Jungkook believes he knows but can only recognize her smile.

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Twenty-eight year old, Jeon Jungkook, hates his job. He went to University to major in business against his own wishes just to make his parents happy. Eventually, like it was destined for him, he worked within his father's business, Jeon Corporation, and is chief of staff; right below his father's status of Presidency. Mothers and fathers work hard to give their children a better life than their own. Becoming a successful person is what matters most in society. So, for Jungkook, he did not want to disappoint his family.

Truth be told, being an artist was what he truly wanted to be. Every time he picked up a paint brush; he felt the brush moving along with his fingertips, counting the strokes until his mind wanders to create something unimaginable. Jungkook dreamed of being a painter since childhood; however, now he is trapped in a world where he has no freedom to do what he wants.

Working overtime made him feel exhausted so when he heard an animal cry he honestly thought he was going mad. He ignored the noise, believing it was all in his head, and just as he was about to continue his walk to his home, he heard the noise again, except it was louder and more desperate.

The noise was coming from a dark, alleyway. He is no scaredy cat, but this area looked sketchy as hell. To avoid seeming like a wuss, Jungkook turned on the flashlight on his phone, deciding to trust his intuition and scoped out the area. Earlier in the day, it was raining. So, the remaining water was dripping from the top of the building onto the cold cement. Jungkook could hear the water falling onto the ground, drip, drop. (cue: taemin - drip drop)

Everything immediately felt creepy. He enjoys his fair share of horror movies, but he was walking into a dark alleyway and following a noise he could not recognize — so if he was in a scary movie he would definitely die as a character. The sound of his footsteps echoed and when he arrived at the end of the pathway, he came across a garbage bin.

"Hello?" Jungkook whispered, but nothing answered back. Chills ran down his arms as the cool wind harshly blew, but the eerie mood was definitely not helping.

Rustling in the garbage bin made him jump backwards, almost dropping his phone, but he assumed this was where the noise was coming from. Jungkook breathed in and out slowly to calm his nerves. Nothing wrong was going to happen, he told himself. The anticipation was killing him, he could see the light on his phone slightly shaking because of his own anxiousness. There he opened the bin to see not a gory monster, but a small, fragile-looking cat.

Currently, the gray cat and Jungkook were having a staring contest. He has never been this close to one before and last time he tried to be friendly to a cat it hissed at him. Personally, he did not like cats that much because they were not as active as dogs and kind of scary, especially with their piercing eyes. If he had to compare himself to an animal, it would definitely be a dog.

Around the cat's neck was a collar and he could see a shiny, star tag on it. Jungkook figured if he could get the kitten out then he could find out if there was an address on it. Somehow he had to get the cat out without scaring not only himself but the cat as well. He kissed his lips together, making small noises to lure the cat towards him, and moved his hand forward to allow the cat to smell him. Jungkook anticipated the cat's reaction, sweating a lot because it could be disheveled from being stuck in a garbage bin for God knows how long.

Please do not scratch me.

Slowly, but surely, the kitten smelt his index finger and purred, brushing its body on his whole hand — all of Jungkook's nerves went down the drain and his sweat subsided.