Stay ||| Wooyoung/Jongho/San (Ateez)

18

The next morning, Wooyoung was pulled from sleep by a small vibration against his chest.

He opened his eyes slowly and succumbed to the bright smile that tore across his face when he saw the tiny kitten curled up on top of him. Her tail twitched slightly and she was covering her nose with her paw.

As he lay there, he noticed that while most of her body was a pale orange color, all four of her paws were white, as well as the tip of her tail. She also had a white blotch on her forehead.

When she sensed that he was awake, she yawned and stretched on top of him, then rolled over to expose her stomach. Bright yellow-green eyes studied him curiously and she stretched out one paw toward her nose.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Wooyoung asked. He tickled her soft stomach with the tips of his fingers and giggled when she attacked them with her paws.

Then she started to purr again. The kitten rolled over once more and started to rub her head against his hand.

"I'm going to need to think of a name for you. I can't just call you kitty all the time." He said while rolling out of bed and keeping her cradled in his arms.

The pair of them went to his kitchen, where he set her down on the counter and opened up the bag cat food. He scooped some of it into the dish Jongho had provided and watched as she dipped down to start eating the semi-hard food.

Wooyoung watched her for a long moment, fascinated by the tiny creature, before he went back to his room to grab his phone.

It was still early, but he knew Jongho started his days before dawn most of the time so he hoped the younger would answer.

And he did after only a couple of rings. "Hello, this is Jongho."

"Hey, it's me." Wooyoung said, suddenly feeling shy.

"Oh! Hi Woo! I was expecting one of my buyers, sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I know it's the start of your day." Wooyoung smiled at the ground and ran his foot back and forth over the hard floor. "How are you?"

Jongho chuckled. It made Wooyoung picture him leaning against his truck wearing his form fitting jeans, a button-down work shirt, and a dusty cowboy hat. He bit his lip and tried to get the fantasy out of his head. "I'm good, how are you?" The younger answered with a knowing tone to his voice.

"Indebted to you. Jongho, you didn't have to." Wooyoung whispered, glancing at where the kitten was still eating.

"I know. That's what makes it even better. You always make comments of how alone you feel sometimes, so I wanted you to have some company. And don't worry, you didn't ask for this so I can help you with supplies and such. I always have extra."

"Oh, you don't need to do that. I will manage somehow. Just her being here is enough for me. It was just the thing I needed. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome." Jongho's voice was gentle when he spoke. "What are you up to today?"

Wooyoung sighed and leaned against the counter. "Working both jobs unfortunately. But Marcus offered me a full-time position with him, so I'm putting in my notice at the library today." He did his best to sound calm while speaking.

"Wow! That's great, Woo! I know you were hoping for that."

The older just nodded slowly. There was truth behind that statement, but that was before he learned what Marcus' true intentions were. Now he was having a hard time finding joy in the prospect of working. But still, he forced himself to act like everything was perfectly normal. "Thanks. I'm really excited. Hopefully this means I can start saving up for a car."