Elevator ♥ Choi Jongho

04.

Sannie lived with you for the second half of the week, and Jongho the first half. At night, the kitten would snuggle under the blankets with you, or curl up on the pillow beside your head, his purrs soothing you to sleep. Jongho said that Sannie loved to sleep on his chest, but also loved to scream in his face to wake him up.

And if Sannie ever got restless and craved the other person, you would text Jongho the little cat emoji and crack open your front door so Sannie could slip out. The sound of Jongho's locks turning would echo through the quiet hallway as his door opened briefly, allowing the kitten to wander in, before closing.

You had to admit, you had missed Jongho. You talked to him more since the both of you adopted this animal, and you liked it. You liked seeing him more often, and you liked falling back into your old ways of understanding each other.

For the next week, the both of you hung up fliers around the apartment complex. In the elevator, on every floor, in everyone's mailbox, but no one answered.

You did this until your landlord texted the both of you, in all caps, to take down the fliers. Your landlord told you to just keep the cat.

So, the both of you did.

♥

You stopped seeing him in December when exam season rolled around and you hardly left your apartment, favoring to study at home. You knew Jongho was doing to same, too, and so there was an unspoken agreement to text each other a little bit less just so you could focus. Otherwise, the both of you would never get any work done.

You were perched at your dining table that overlooked the city. Your eyes blurred as you watched cars travel past and birds swoop in and out of the frame. Your shoulders ached and so you rolled them.

Just then, your phone pinged with an incoming text message.

🏠JongHoHoHo🎅 🦍 12:10pm

😽

Your chair scraped back as you stood up and raised your arms above your head to stretch. You padded across to your front door and opened it. As expected, Sannie, who was steadily growing bigger, was sitting outside patiently. He spared you no glance as he darted in and went straight for your bed. You scoffed, and was just about to close the door when something else caught your eye.

Just outside your door was a fresh cup of coffee, the steam still puffing off the top.

You carefully picked up the cup, cautious of the heat, and took a sip. You hadn't actually needed to check because you already recognized the cup. Nonetheless, it tasted like Jongho's brewing. Only he could make something so delicious. Only he knew the perfect amount of sugar and milk that you liked.

You let your front door click shut behind you as you brought the cup in and to your table where your textbooks were spread out, one in particular with pages crinkled from being destroyed by the rain.

Eventually, Sannie slinked out of your room once noticing that you weren't joining him, having no interest in napping alone. Instead, he leapt onto your lap and took perch there, his paws kneading into the hoodie you wore. You slunk down into the chair and buried your face in the hoodie.

The one that smelled like oranges and Magnolia and vanilla.

Sannie's eyes rose to meet yours and they were round and pleading. You huffed.

"You're so manipulative," you talked to your cat as you snatched up your phone, typing in a message and hitting send.

You

🍞+🍓?

You didn't have to wait long for a reply.

🏠JongHoHoHo🎅 🦍

yes please

wait is sannie delivering it??

You

yes

im going to strap it to his back. keep the rope

no!

why dont u come and get it?

🏠JongHoHoHo🎅 🦍

let me put on a shirt

You

?? its about to snow in 2 seconds

🏠JongHoHoHo🎅 🦍

my roommate treats the apartment like a sauna

its not that cold

and we are not a sauna

open the door

You

im coming!!

🏠JongHoHoHo🎅 🦍

jesus i can hear sannie yelling from outside

he really is an effective alarm clock

He had brought his own cup of coffee.

His eyes dropped down to his hoodie that cuddled your body.

He swallowed thickly and stepped inside.