overpopulated ▪︎ minsung

chapter 7; koda the cat

Jisung threw his book bag on the couch, his body following, and sighed dramatically. One week ago, he became engaged to his lovely and soon-to-be-dead boyfriend, and he was already craving another adrenaline rush. When Minho arrived back at their lonely apartment, he decided they would do something fun again.

True to what Minho assumed the week prior, the teenagers at school were astounded by the ring and the vague details they received about the proposal. Jisung felt an overwhelming amount of pride when a classmate mentioned the expensive diamond and how lucky he was. The lock on the door clicked, and Jisung dove from the couch, sliding on the sleek flooring in his haste to welcome Minho.

"Well, hello," Minho greeted. His playful yet confused smile made Jisung laugh softly. The duffle bag he previously held fell to the ground when he reached out to give Jisung a soft kiss.

"Minho," Jisung whined, swinging their interlocked hands between their bodies.

"Jisung," Minho repeated. The mockery earned him an ungracious slap to the chest, but it was worth it.

"Can we do something fun today?"

Minho disconnected their hands and kicked his bag further into the house, finally shutting the front door.

"Fun or crazy?" Minho questioned with a devilish grin.

Jisung hummed and jumped up on the countertop. Minho bustled about the kitchen, occasionally reaching over Jisung's head to carefully open the cabinets.

"I was thinking more like, spontaneous?" Jisung swung his legs childishly. The sound of his feet banging against the cabinets drowned out by Minho's annoying blender as he prepared himself a protein shake.  "Listen to me," Jisung groaned, kicking Minho in the back gently.

"Spontaneous how?" Minho asked after he deemed his shake creamy enough for consumption. Jisung bit his lip as he thought, chewing the skin until it was raw and tasted like iron.

"Oh! You're always talking about how you miss your cats." Minho raised an intrigued eyebrow, and Jisung knew he captured his attention. "Let's adopt a cat."

Minho sipped his shake and nodded. "Now that, mi amor, is an offer I cannot refuse."

The car ride flew by effortlessly, between Minho's varying music tastes and Jisung's obnoxiously loud singing, and the bleak shelter building soon came into view. Jisung hated shelters more than school, more than plain hospitals and lonely houses. The walls were always stained and dirty, the cages looked like small jail cells, and the atmosphere was that of carelessness. The couple approached the reception desk to inquire about the location of the cats, and the lady looked up idly from her phone.

"Can I help you?" She asked with barely enough energy to classify her as cordial. Minho did not like her attitude, and Jisung knew full well his boyfriend would throw a hissy fit, so he quickly interjected.

"Cats, please?" Jisung smiled, and the lady diverted her bored expression to him. She pointed lazily to the hallway adjacent to her, and Jisung noticed her red dot, sympathizing with her immediately. Minho didn't appear to share in his empathy, and Jisung hastily dragged him away to avoid confrontation. Minho's annoyed scowl softened at the sight of the purring, sleeping, or staring cats.

"Aw, they're so cute," Minho cooed, rushing over to poke his nimble fingers through the bars of the cage. The kitten ignored Minho, resuming her elegant grooming and making Minho whine. Jisung's opinion would become invalid to Minho, he knew, despite him being the one to suggest they adopt a new feline friend. Jisung followed behind his hyper boyfriend, who had made it his mission to softly boop every cat they passed.

Minho found all of the sweet babies adorable, and it pained him to only be able to view them through metal bars. The process continued for approximately seven more cages, coo, boop, continue, until Minho found a beautiful Russian blue. The dainty cat met his resolute eyes with interest, and Minho recoiled.

"This one," he demanded. "I want him." Minho sounded no different from a spoiled child, but Jisung couldn't ignore Minho's cute determined frown long enough to be annoyed.

"Alright," Jisung agreed, holding his hands up in surrender. He waved over one of the employees scattered in between the rows of cages, and they rushed over. "Can we please hold this cat before my boyfriend throws a hissy fit?" Jisung threw a teasing grin in Minho's direction as he spoke. The employee nodded and unlocked the cage, collecting the bundle of black fur in his arms. He led them to a secluded room and beckoned them inside. Handing over the cat to a very eager Minho, he closed the door behind them.

"Hi, baby." Minho pat the cat's head gently, being rewarded with a rough lick. "Would you like to come home with me and this dumbass?" The cat sat back on its haunches and stared into Minho's deep eyes; a silent cat yes, if Jisung had ever seen one.

"I want him, he's mine now." Minho scooped the cat into his tanned arms. The feline omitted a contented purr and snuggled further into Minho's embrace.

After briefly conversing with the employee about how to properly care for a cat, the two exited the shelter with one destination in mind: PetSmart. Living off of minimum wage while being in school didn't leave them with a hefty amount of splurging money, but Minho dismissed his empty bank account in favor of color-coded bowls and cute collars.

"What should we name him?" Jisung asked as he drove. One hand gripped the steering wheel tightly while the other played with the kittens soft tail. Minho halted Jisung's actions by intertwining their fingers and kissing his cheek.

"Can we name him Koda?" Minho requested, looking to Jisung to gauge his reaction.

"What does it mean?" Jisung flicked the blinker and turned into their apartment complex.

"I'm gonna sound like such a loser," Minho chuckled, shaking his head. "You know how I used to play the cello?"

Jisung nodded and put the car in park.

"Well, there was this thing called the coda. It was like a semicolon almost; the music could have ended, but it's not over yet."

Jisung laughed softly as he fetched the bags from the back seat.

"That's cute. Now, what's the real reason?"

"That is the real reason!" Minho argued mindlessly. Jisung hummed his disbelief and Minho relented. "Fine, it was somebody's name on TikTok and I thought it was cool." He huffed.

Jisung laughed, loud and joyfully.

"Koda the cat it is."

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