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🐾🐾🐾

Kim Minseok loves cats.  Big ones, little ones, stripey ones, solid ones, sweet ones and even mean ones (though he loves those from farther away).

He loves cat hybrids, too, but in a much more tamped-down, slightly-guilty sort of way because he knows they're not really cats.  They're people with personal rights and their own agency and they fought for decades to make the government legally see them this way.  Cat hybrids aren't around just to look pretty for Minseok and he knows it. But that doesn't stop him from sneaking subtle peeks at the interesting patterns in a hybrid's hair below their pointed feline ears or admiring the way said ears swivel to catch every sound.

Minseok's own hair is usually just plain old black unless the excitable kangaroo hybrid that has decided he's Minseok's best friend has convinced him to dye it recently.  And his ears, though nice enough, merely sit passively on either side of his head.

At least Minseok's eyes are kind of cat-like.  Their shape and angle have drawn such comparisons all his life, to the point that he's secretly tempted to get contact lenses that mimic the appearance of vertical feline pupils.  He'd never actually do it, of course. He'd look strange without the accompanying ears and tail and attempting to wear such accessories would be even worse hybrid-attribute-appropriation than the contacts themselves.

So plain, boring, respectful Minseok is always internally delighted to meet a cat hybrid, especially one he'll be working with on a six-month-long work project.  And especially especially one that not only has big ears and a long, thick tail ringed in a beautiful blue-gray and black but who also has fluffy hair striped to match said tail and rather feline facial features, with high cheekbones and a mouth with a kittenish curl at the ends of thin lips.  

Kim Jongdae is the handsomest silver tabby Minseok has ever seen in his entire life.  It doesn’t help that he’s dressed sharply in a pinstriped navy suit that’s cut to emphasize sturdy shoulders and slim waist.  Nor that he has a tasteful silver hoop at the base of each pivoting ear to match the rings on his fingers. While the mere human wears his most professional smile and delivers a firm-but-not crushing handshake when they're introduced, internally he's fanboying in the key of screech.

The screech almost becomes external when the gorgeous cat looks directly into Minseok's eyes and sneezes.  Or maybe coughs. Or clears his throat. Whatever the breathy sound is, it only happens the once and it's followed immediately by a smile that unfurls across Kim Jongdae's face until it lodges just under those stunning cheekbones.

"Pleasure to meet you, Consultant Kim.  I'm sure we'll be able to work well together," Minseok says politely, deciding to ignore whatever the momentary respiratory crisis was.

"Oh, a pleasure indeed, Manager Kim," the new consultant practically purrs.  “I know it’s incredibly rude of me to intrude on your personal space at first meeting, but would you mind terribly if we exchange scents since we’ll be working so closely together?”

Minseok’s heart skips.  This more personal greeting favored by “high content” cat hybrids feels much more intimate to someone from a culture used to bowing, but it really isn’t any more invasive than the European air-kiss.  Still, the fact that a cat hybrid wants to rub his cheek on Minseok—to treat him like another cat—is enough to set a fanfare of joy playing in his head.  

“I don’t mind at all.  Please, go ahead.”

The smile Consultant Kim gives him is beautifully toothy, displaying the hybrid’s longer, sharper canines to full advantage.  He steps close, body not quite touching Minseok’s own as he leans in to drag an elegant cheekbone from Minseok’s temple to his chin, then repeats the process on the other side.  

The hybrid takes what seems to be a deep, centering breath through his nose, exhaling it with another one of those rolling, throaty snorts that tickles against Minseok’s cheek.  When he steps back to a more polite distance, he’s wearing a strange expression, nose wrinkled and mouth wide, tongue pushed forward between those intimidating teeth.  

“Are you ill?” Minseok asks, concern coloring his voice.

Consultant Kim’s angled eyes widen as he shakes his head.  This close, Minseok can see that his silver-blue irises actually have round pupils rather than the usual vertical shape.  The tips of his magnificent ears are rather rounded for a feline, too, and the thick black tabby stripes on the back of them part around matching white smudges.  

Minseok can’t help but wonder what the tabby is mixed with though he absolutely knows better than to ask.  A hybrid’s background, like anyone else’s, is entirely their own business and not up for discussion unless brought up by the given individual themself.

“I’m perfectly fine.  Thank you for indulging me.  Shall we adjourn to your office?”

Minseok has no idea why he’s fighting not to blush.  “It’s really not a problem. My office is just down this corridor—third door on the left.”

The handsome hybrid follows, idly trailing his fingers down the wall as they get closer to Minseok’s office.  He must be really distracted pulling up the project information on his phone because his claws leave marks wrapping around the doorframe as he enters.

“Please be comfortable, Consultant Kim.”  Minseok gestures to the cushy chairs near his desk.

“Thank you, Manager Kim,” the consultant responds, choosing the chair nearest the desk and wrapping his thick furry tail around to rest, occasionally twitching, in his lap.  He chuckles, a low, throaty sound. "Perhaps given our shared surname we can skip right to a given-name basis? It's so odd to feel as though I'm addressing myself."

"Of course, Consultant—er, Jongdae."  The name feels warm and comfortable in his mouth and he's grateful for the opportunity to say it out loud in public respectfully first rather than just moan it shamefully alone in bed late at night.

"So, Minseok," Jongdae smiles, drawing the initial consonant of the name out just a little, just enough to roll the M slightly in the way a sleeping cat may do when woken unexpectedly.  "It seems we're both eager to get started, so we should combine our calendars and see where our work schedules overlap."

“Yes, of course,” Minseok agrees.

He presses his thumbprint against the scanner on Jongdae’s mobile to authorize his professional schedule to be overlaid on the consultant’s own calendar.  Jongdae mirrors the gesture with Minseok’s mobile, splaying his palm on the desk as he leans over it. When he sits back in his chair, there are faint palm and fingerprints on the polished wood.  

Minseok’s clean-freak instincts twitch to wipe it away but doing so in front of Jongdae would be incredibly rude.  Instead, he pulls up the spreadsheet with the timeline for the project, turning his widescreen monitor so the consultant can easily see.

“I cleared my desk so I can give this project my full attention,” Minseok says, not looking at his desk and ignoring the way the flat of Jongdae’s hand is now pressed against the side of his bookcase.

“I’m very grateful for your full attention, Minseok.”  

Jongdae’s voice is a low rumble that Minseok would be able to appreciate much better outside of a professional work environment.  As it is, he forces himself to focus, scheduling meetings and visits to the other facilities they’d need to conduct to perform a full audit of the company’s functionality and efficiency.

“Accounting has really been on our case about expenditures lately,” Minseok says, giving Jongdae an apologetic look.  “We usually have to double up in hotel rooms when we travel out of district, but since you’re a consultant I’m sure they’d allow you to have your own room as a sign of our respect for your time and effort—”

“A single room will be just fine,” Jongdae assures him.  “I’m here to help, after all—how would it look if I contributed to inefficiency while I’m at it?”

“Er, that’s very committed of you,” Minseok says, entering the travel information into the shared calendar.

“I am a very committed man,” Jongdae says, toothy smile back in evidence.  “In work, in hobbies, relationships, everything.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize you were in a relationship,” Minseok says, attempting to smile in a congratulatory way and ignore the fantasies popping like balloons in the dark recesses of his mind.  

“I’m not, at the moment,” Jongdae says, watching Minseok intently with those silver-blue eyes.  “But I do hope to be. Very soon.”

“Ah,” Minseok says, trying not to squeak like a mouse before this predator’s scrutiny.  “Well. I’m sure she—or he—will be very lucky to have you.”

“Oh, he is about to be a very lucky man, indeed,” Jongdae rumbles.  “Even if he doesn’t know it yet.”

Minseok’s smile feels more like a grimace, so he turns the topic back to business.

🐾🐾🐾

There’s a lot of business to keep Minseok distracted.  This is good indeed, because Minseok really needs the help not making a fool of himself in front of his project partner.  It’s just as well he hadn’t met Jongdae in a club or at the gym because he’d have had no professionalism to hide his shameful thoughts behind.  Then they’d have come out of his mouth and then that mouth would have been slapped if he were lucky and clawed if he weren’t. It’s much better that Jongdae is off limits, and he frequently reminds himself of this fact during their time together.

Minseok insists on driving when they make the rounds to the other nearby branches “because he knows the way” but really it’s so he can’t stare at Jongdae the entire trip.  His ears are so expressive and it’s almost flirtatious the way the white spots on the back flash in and out of view. And it’s rude to look below someone’s waist in an office environment, anyway, so Minseok can mostly ignore Jongdae’s plush-looking tail unless the pewter-gray appendage lifts in excitement to wave over Jongdae’s head.  Then Minseok has to study his phone or tablet or computer screen or the wall in order to not stare at the triple threat of Jongdae’s handsome face, expressive ears, and flagging tail all at once.

Conversely, Jongdae seems to stare at Minseok a lot.   It’s rare indeed that Minseok lifts his gaze to the consultant he’s working with and doesn’t see those silver-blue eyes fixed on his face (or, once or twice, his ass).  It was unnerving at first, but just like the palm prints Jongdae seems to leave behind on everything of Minseok’s he touches, Minseok eventually gets used to it. It’s part of working with Jongdae, and even aside from his shameful impulse to bury his hands in pewter fur and/or kiss the smirk off those sinful lips, Minseok will be very sorry to see their six-month project come to a close.

“Why does your office reek of he-cat on the prowl?” Baekhyun asks one day, nose wrinkling and long ears flipping in disgust.  He’s pulling kimbap and cans of cola out of his messenger bag, setting them out on Minseok’s desk in a clear hint that Minseok should stop playing with spreadsheet formulas and eat some lunch.

Minseok reflexively sniffs the air but of course his human nose is nowhere near as sensitive.  “Smells fine to me. But Jongdae—er, Consultant Kim is in my office a lot. He’s the only male cat hybrid that I’m working with right now.”

“Well, he definitely has the hots for you—he’s basically claimed your entire office as his territory.”

“He does not,” Minseok dismisses, squishing the rush of interest in his gut.  “If he’s scent-marked a few things, that’s just instinct. I’m not going to judge him for urges he can’t control.”

Baekhyun levels a narrow-eyed gaze at him.  “Minseok. You know we’re not animals. We can control ourselves—he’s absolutely choosing not to.  Probably because you’re too polite to stop him rubbing his face on all your stuff and you can’t smell the thick layer of back-off-he’s-mine that he’s smeared everywhere.”

“He doesn’t rub his face on my stuff,” Minseok protests.  “The only thing he’s ever rubbed his face on is, well, um.  Me. When we met. But I rubbed my face on him, too! We traded scents.”

“Oh my god, you let him trade scents?  When you’d just met?” Baekhyun looks dramatically scandalized.

“It’s polite,” Minseok defends.

Baekhyun laughs so hard that it’s only his thick, muscular tail that keeps his kicking feet from tipping his chair over backward.  “Min! You’re so afraid to offend. I bet if I told you it was important kangaroo culture for me to piss in your potted plant at least once a week to demonstrate our friendship, you’d let me do it even though you’re obsessed with hygiene.”

Minseok wrinkles his nose and curls a lip.  “I would absolutely not,” he states flatly, but honestly he probably would and Baek knows it.  "Anyway, Consultant Kim would never be so classless. He's very well-mannered."

"Maybe by human standards.  By hybrid standards, he's being gross and possessive, especially since he's not even courting you.  You're just coworkers, but he's marked you out like you're his mate." Baekhyun’s eyes go wide. “Kim Minseok, you did not mate someone without telling me, did you?”

"No!  Of course not.  We're just work partners for this auditing project—I'm sure that's all it is.  And what do I care if he's telling the other hybrids in our office to stay away from me?  We're all just colleagues—this isn't some dating pool or anything."  

If it were, Minseok would certainly have attempted to snog the pretty kitty in the nearest supply closet—and probably gotten hissed at for his trouble—so it’s really for the best that it’s not.  Work is work—it would be incredibly unprofessional to fraternize with the consultant, even if he were actually interested.  And of course he isn’t—he said he was hoping to court someone already, probably someone with ears that swivel and a tail that twitches appealingly.

"Keep telling yourself that, Min."  Baekhyun’s ears prick straight up and his dark eyes glow with mischief.  "He's coming by later?"

"He's dropping off some reports at three."  

Minseok declines to mention that Jongdae could easily send them via file-sharing but insists on bringing a USB stick by in person, because the kangaroo will surely see the meticulous act as flirtatious instead.  Minseok has to talk his own starry-eyed-schoolboy tendencies out of seeing it that way so he’s not entirely sure he’d be effective at dismissing his best friend’s hyperactive imaginings.

"Perfect," Baek says, ears waggling with delight.  "Now eat up—some of us have actual work to do instead of mooning over our gross partners all day."

"I do not moon over—"

"Min.  When will you learn not to lie to a hybrid who knows you well?  We went through puberty together—I know exactly what your suppressed-crush pheromones smell like."

Whatever chemical signal accompanies Minseok's scowl makes the kangaroo laugh hard enough to tear up.

🐾🐾🐾

When Jongdae rounds the door frame into Minseok's office that afternoon—dragging his claws through the existing grooves like always, much to Minseok's continuing dismay—his usual bright smile crinkles into an open-mouthed grimace, tongue thrust against his bottom teeth.

"You have a boyfriend?" Jongdae all but snarls.

Minseok blinks.  "Uh, no?"

"Why does it stink of horny herbivore in here?  Is someone bothering you?"

"No?  My best friend came by for lunch.  He works in IT, maybe you've met him?  Byun Baekhyun?"

Jongdae just tilts his head, eyes narrowed, sharp teeth still slightly exposed.

"About our height, blond hair this week, soft brown eyes, boxy smile?"

Jongdae rolls his eyes.  "What hybrid is he?"

"Kangaroo."

"Ah, yes.  Next time, start with that."

Minseok flushes.  "I'm not one of those humans that just sees a hybrid for their animal attributes—Baek's like a brother to me, we grew up together—"

"If he were Western, would you have started with that?"

"...Probably."

"Because you're racist?"

"No!  Because that's the most easily distinguishing feature in a Korean company—Oh."  Minseok's cheeks might actually be on fire.

But Jongdae's easy smile is back.  "Treating us exactly like humans is almost as bad as treating us like animals, Minseok.  We're both, and generally very proud of it."

"I know, I would never…" Minseok trails off with a shameful sigh.  "I'm truly sorry for my rudeness. Please forgive me—I will be more respectful in the future."

Jongdae laughs.  "Oh, please don't do that!  If you were any more respectful you'd be bent ninety degrees all the time and I really like looking at your face."

Minseok has to close his eyes for a moment and breathe deeply to try to restore his face to a more normal temperature.  Jongdae isn’t flirting, he’s trying to set Minseok back at ease by making cheesy comments. Being flustered on top of being ashamed really can’t be good for him—Minseok really needs to chill.  

"I sincerely apologize,” he says, willing himself back into Professional Work Mode.

When he opens his eyes, Jongdae is seated across from him, feline grin on full display.  "It's really fine." He holds out the USB drive. "These are the last of the local reports.  Are you looking forward to our visits to the outlying branches?"

Minseok reaches to take the drive.  As always, Jongdae closes his hand around Minseok's fingers briefly before relinquishing the reports.  Minseok smiles wryly as he plugs the drive into his computer.

"I'm afraid they'll be much like our previous visits, just capped off by a stay in a second-rate hotel."

"I'm still looking forward to them, myself, even if you snore."

Minseok smiles at his screen.  It's really nice to have such an enthusiastic partner.  Hopefully Jongdae's enthusiasm lasts the duration of their months of travel together.  And hopefully he doesn’t sleep nude.

"Baek's never complained.  And he would—he’s a bit of a prince about noise when he’s trying to sleep."

"You've slept with him?"  

Minseok looks up at the almost-angry question, brow furrowed.  "Sure. I mean, we had sleepovers and stuff all the time as kids, and we were roommates at uni."

"So you've only slept next to him."

"Oh!"  Minseok's brows shoot up.  "Yeah. We've never dated, if that's what you're asking.  Like I said, he's basically my brother, plus he’s straight, so."  He shrugs, suddenly wondering why Jongdae's so interested.  

"And what about you?"

Ah, now Minseok gets it.  "Uh, I'm bi, actually. But I'll be sure not to make you uncomfortable when we share a room.  I mean, we'll just take turns changing in the bathroom. And we'll have separate beds."

Jongdae does three of those weird cough-sneezes in a row.  "I'm not at all worried that the most polite man I've ever met will do anything at all to make me uncomfortable."  He favors Minseok with a blinding smile, ears swiveling. "I bet you'll even insist I hold the remote."

"Of course," Minseok agrees.  "You’re our guest, after all. I may not be able to show you the most luxurious time, but I'll do all I can to make our trips as pleasant as possible for you."

Jongdae coughs again.  "Oh, I'm absolutely sure they'll be very pleasant indeed."

🐾🐾🐾

The visits are indeed pleasant for the most part.  Jongdae turns every hotel stay into a slumber party, becoming very kittenish indeed when his business suit is replaced by cuddly sweats.  Minseok has to recite the entire roster of the LG Twins in his head the first time Jongdae wanders out of the ensuite, drowsy and soft, hair and fur still damp, rubbing an eye with a hand curled into a paw.

“Let’s watch The Life of Pi,” Jongdae suggests.

How is Minseok going to say no to anything the sleepy kitten wants?  He isn’t. He’s just going to smile and nod and tuck himself firmly into his own bed and die quietly of cuteness-induced heart failure when Jongdae yawns wide, face scrunched, raspy feline tongue curling out from between sharp teeth.

He almost dies of a startle-induced heart attack in the morning when he wakes to find silver-blue eyes staring at him from twenty centimeters away.

“Come on,” Jongdae says, rolling off of Minseok’s bed.  “The good donuts will be gone if we don’t claim them right away ourselves.”

“You go ahead,” Minseok squeaks.  “I’ll just wash up and be right behind you.”

He does more than wash up, his morning arousal evidently thriving on the very idea of Jongdae in his bed, ridiculously persistent until he shamefully takes care of it, seeing furry ears and silvery eyes on the backs of his eyelids as he does so.

It’s just as well he succumbed, because when he gets to the lobby Jongdae has claimed them each a chocolate-iced, custard-filled donut and is devouring his with gusto.  Which would be fine, except that Jongdae looks up as Minseok sits across from him, slowly licking stray custard from his open lips. Then he inhales, nostrils flaring, blinks slowly at Minseok, and smiles languidly.

“Enjoy your washing up?” he rumbles.

Damn hybrids and their sensitive noses.

“Er, sorry.  I didn’t want to keep you waiting.  Thank you for getting me a donut.”

“You’re very welcome, Minseok,” Jongdae says, dragging out the M in that very feline way.

Then he proceeds to watch Minseok eat with what can only be called a smirk on his face.  Minseok soon discovers there really is no dignified or professional way to eat a filled donut, but it’s entirely possible to blush for seven minutes straight as he doggedly attempts to do so.

“You have a little custard—”

Minseok stands up abruptly when Jongdae licks his thumb and leans in.  “Thanks, I’ll just go wash my face.”

The hybrid’s laughter chases him to the men’s room. 

🐾🐾🐾

Despite the combination of tempting and unavailable, Minseok is still a little sad when their project draws to a close, both anticipating and dreading their last overnight trip.  They arrive on site too early to check in to their room and end up staying at the branch office late, concluding the report and submitting it along with their final analysis before heading to the hotel they’d booked.

Jongdae is bouncing at the service desk, thrumming with the satisfaction of being officially done with the project.  Minseok is more subdued, trying to enjoy his partner’s enjoyment and ignore the melancholy that comes of knowing they won’t be sharing a room again.  In fact, they probably won’t see each other again at all after this.

“I’m so sorry, sirs,” the desk clerk says after pulling up their reservation information.  “You have a guaranteed booking, of course, but at this late hour, the only available rooms with two double beds are smoking rooms.  We do have plenty of non-smoking rooms with one queen bed, if you’d prefer.”

Jongdae curls a lip.  “My sensitive nose can’t stand the smell of smoke in a concentrated area like that.”

“No, of course we want a non-smoking room,” Minseok agrees.  “One bed will be fine. Perhaps may I get an extra comforter?”  He doesn’t mind sleeping on the floor for one night.

“That won’t be necessary,” Jongdae dismisses.  “We’re close enough at this point to share, aren’t we, Minseok?”

There’s a strange gleam in those silver-blue eyes.  It hypnotizes him like prey before a predator and Minseok finds himself nodding as if he agrees to share a bed with a way-too-attractive hybrid all the time.  No big deal. Piece of cake.

Minseok might throw up.

He manages not to upchuck by mentally reciting the code of conduct for anyone working with outside consultants.  There’s no way Minseok is going to make his company look bad by doing anything unprofessional, and Jongdae has someone in mind already.  There’s no chance for shenanigans so there’s no need to freak out.

“You know,” Jongdae says as the elevator stops at their floor.  “We’re not technically coworkers anymore. We can hang out tonight as friends.  Celebrate a job well done. I’ll spring for some room service on my personal account—you’ve been a wonderful host and we’ve worked hard.  I think some champagne is in order, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes.  Thank you. You’re too kind,” Minseok’s mouth says on Polite Response Autopilot.  His feet move down the hallway after Jongdae on autopilot, too, but his brain is running in circles and screeching inside his head.

He still has someone already, the remaining bit of his sanity reminds him.  And you are a pro.  You can totally handle this like a respectable gentleman.

Except that when they get to the room and Minseok drops exhausted onto one side of the bed, Jongdae doesn’t take his overnight bag into the bathroom to change.  He stands there beside the bed, casual as you please, stepping out of his shoes, shedding his jacket, loosening his tie.

Minseok averts his eyes.  Except that it’s dark outside, so the oversized windows on the opposite wall are basically mirrors, reflecting the nonchalant stripshow that Minseok’s trying not to look at.  Damn Jongdae for having an ass made to fill out suit pants sinfully and a thick-furred tail that reaches almost to the floor when it’s not lifted high in triumph as it is now.  Damn Minseok for his fascination with the way Jongdae’s hair is also streaked with pewter beneath those black ears, currently flared wide, white spots on full display as if Jongdae is watching Minseok watch him change.  

The only solution is to close his eyes entirely.

“Minseok,” Jongdae rumbles, and the bed dips, making Minseok’s eyes fly open.  The hot-eyed hybrid is crawling up the bed towards him. “Min, I know what you want.”  His ears are swiveling and his tail is arcing up over his singlet-clad torso, the temptation trifecta, taunting Minseok with what he can’t have and is incredibly disrespectful for even thinking about.  

Guiltily, Minseok traps both lips briefly between his teeth.  “Sorry,” he tries to get out without squeaking. “I would never—not without your permission and I know it’s really rude to even ask so I won’t—”

Jongdae pauses, head tilting, glorious tail swishing overhead.  “What do you think I’m accusing you of?”

Minseok swallows hard, trying to keep his eyes on Jongdae’s face—not his ears, and certainly not that tempting tail.

“Sorry,” he says again.  “They just look so soft, but I know petting a hybrid is demeaning and I don’t think of you as inferior or anything—“

Jongdae bursts out laughing, following the amused human sound with that strange sneezing huff.  “My dear little human, always so polite and respectful, even when I’m trying to seduce you.”

“S-seduce me?” Minseok squeaks.  “But you said you had someone already?”  Suddenly their position—Minseok half-reclined, Jongdae crouching over his body—seems an entirely different kind of dangerous.  Had things changed? Is Minseok part of the celebration—a rebound? Does he care if he is if it means he gets to put his hands on Jongdae’s body, even if it’s just a one night stand? 

Jongdae laughs again.  The sound is strident but the sight is beautiful, that wide feline smile, the way the prominence of his throat bobs in synch with the sound.  “You are too delightful. I said I had someone in mind when we met, and working with you these last months has only deepened my desire for that handsome, well-mannered human.  I’ve wanted you since that first day, Minseok, and this whole time I’d thought you wanted me, too. You watch me when I’m not looking, but I don’t need to look—your scent changes to one of suppressed desire.”

He grins down at Minseok, blushing hot between his arms.  “But evidently it’s not because you want to seduce or be seduced.  No—it’s because you want to pet me.”

“I’m sorry,” Minseok says again, curling his fingers into fists well away from any feline fur.  “I-I mean, it’s not that I only want to pet you—you’re not just an animal to me, you’re very attractive, all of you, but it’s disrespectful for me to objectify you in any way and I—” 

“Minseok,” Jongdae interrupts his babble with a laugh.  “Do you know what my animal species is?”

Oh dear—what a tricky question.  Many hybrids are sensitive about this topic and Jongdae’s never brought it up before.  At least Jongdae doesn’t seem upset. He just keeps shaking his head and smiling down at him.

“You—you’re a… feline?” Minseok tries, wincing a little.

“Wrong,” Jongdae rumbles, sounding entirely unoffended.  

Minseok frowns.  “Baekhyun said you smelled like a he-cat on the prowl.”  Then he flushes, because he’d denied the ‘on the prowl’ part and that’s evidently the only part that was true.

“Your bouncy friend is correct,” Jongdae says, increasing Minseok’s confusion.

“You’re a cat, but not a feline?”

“More specifically, not a Felidae.   I’m a proud member of Panthera.”

“You’re a p-panther?”

Jongdae rolls his silvery eyes.  “Do I look like a panther?”

“You look like a tab—oh!”  Minseok blinks through his surprise.  Only one kind of big cat has stripes— “But you’re silver?”

“Maltese.”

“...Isn’t that a little fluffy dog?”

Jongdae rolls his eyes again.  “Yes, but it’s also a color. Some would call it ‘blue.’  And that’s what I am—a blue— Maltese —tiger.”

Minseok’s mind is racing but he can’t stand to be rude even if Jongdae is taking his ignorance well so far.  “Well. I am honored that you chose to share that with me.”

“How many humans do you think have ever pet a Maltese tiger?”

Minseok winces, squeezing one eye shut and peeking up at Jongdae beneath one fluttering lid.  “None that still have all their fingers?”

Jongdae laughs again.  “It’s definitely a small number, but no one in my family has actually removed fingers.  My uncle has broken a few, though.”

“I’m sorry,” Minseok says again, burying his own fingers into the comforter beneath him as if that would shield them from the tiger’s wrath.

“You don’t need to be sorry for wanting to,” Jongdae chuckles.  “Nor would I be offended by anyone who asked.  I know I look super soft—it’s because I am super soft.”

“Ah,” Minseok says, trying to relax a little at Jongdae’s easy attitude.

For a moment, they just sort of stare at each other, Jongdae’s (super soft!) tail flicking lazily through the air above them.

“Well?” Jongdae prods.

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you going to ask?”

“Ask what?”

“To pet me, you adorable man.”

“Um.  W… Would you want me to pet you?  Not just let me, but actually enjoy it?”

Jongdae rolls his eyes and shakes his head, lips pulled back in a smile.  “Always so polite. But yes—it feels amazing to be petted. Especially to be scratched at the base of the ears.  I can do it myself, sure, but just like touching other body parts, it’s nice enough to do alone but much more fun to share with someone else.”

Face so hot it must be absolutely crimson at the thought of touching Jongdae anywhere not currently visible, Minseok cautiously lifts a trembling hand, hovering it near the side of Jongdae’s face.  

“May I?”

“Please.”

The fur at the base of Jongdae’s ears is so soft it’s barely a whisper against his fingertips.  The skin beneath it, though, is warm and firm. Minseok rubs at it gently at first, increasing the pressure when Jongdae makes one of those whiffling sounds and tilts his head, leaning into the touch.

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That noise.”

“Chuffing?  Tigers do it when they’re happy.  We’re way too big—don’t say it—to purr.”

“Oh.”  Minseok smiles, lifting his other hand to rub Jongdae’s other ear, grinning when the sound is repeated and Jongdae’s head tilts in the other direction.  “I’m glad it’s a nice noise. You do it a lot.”

“Mostly when I’m around you,” Jongdae says with a smile, eyes curved into happy crescents above him.

The blood finds its way to Minseok’s face again.  “B-because you want to seduce me?”

“Not just that, Minseok.  You smell amazing, and you’re so kind and respectful but also fun and charming.  Now that we can dispense with the formality of a working relationship, I want to court you, Minseok.  Convince you to be my mate.”

The heat from Minseok’s cheeks races down his spine to his gut.  Never in any of his fantasies had he imagined anything more serious than a quick fuck in a supply closet—he’d never dared to hope for something more.  Something serious. 

“Your mate?” he echoes.  “F-for a season?” it must be that—cats don’t have any qualms about changing partners frequently, measuring relationships in quarter-years, content for a partner to stick around for a heat or a rut in spring or fall, someone to be available only to them to cuddle through a winter, someone to flirt and frolic through a summer. 

“For at least a season,” Jongdae clarifies, making Minseok’s heart kick.  “I don’t see getting tired of you any time soon. Do you think you’ll get tired of me?”

“Never,” Minseok says immediately.  Who would get bored of a freaking blue tiger?

“So you’ll let me court you?  Mate you?”

Minseok smiles at the way all of this serious talk is delivered between chuffs, eyes still closed in contentment as Minseok continues to rub the loveliest ears ever to exist.

“Your mate would probably get to pet you a lot.”

“He absolutely would,” Jongdae agrees.  “I might even insist, if he pets just like this.”

“Then I’d be delighted to be that he.”

So much chuffing follows that it sounds like Jongdae is having an unusual sneezing fit.  When he manages to stop long enough to do so, the tiger lowers himself against Minseok until he’s flat on his back, Jongdae suspended over him on his elbows, face hovering centimeters away.

“May I?” he asks, hot breath puffing across Minseok’s lips.

“Please,” Minseok smiles, and then Jongdae’s lips are covering his.

🐾🐾🐾

Is it possible for someone to taste smug?  If anyone does, it’s Jongdae and Minseok rather likes it.  Humming lustily, Minseok curves his fingers through Jongdae’s hair, holding him close, adjusting his head to a better angle.  Jongdae cooperates with a throaty rumble, taking advantage of the new position and licking into Minseok’s mouth with a raspy tongue.

“Six months,” Jongdae growls, mouthing along Minseok’s neck.  “Six whole months I’ve had to wait for this.”

“And to think I was mourning the end of this project,” Minseok laughs.

“It’s not the end,” Jongdae promises, pulling away enough to eye him seriously.  “This is the beginning.”

“Is it really?” Minseok challenges.  “Baekhyun said my office smelled like we were dating already.”

Jongdae lifts his chin as if in challenge.  “Of course it did. I wasn’t letting anyone else sniff around my future mate.”

“I might have started dating a human,” Minseok points out.

But Jongdae’s shaking his head even before Minseok finishes his sentence.  “You would not. You haven’t stopped staring at my ears since we met. My eyes are down here, Minseok.”

Minseok feels himself blush.  “I’ve dated humans before,” he protests.  “I’m not one of those weirdos who—”

“Oh, I’m sure you’re very proper,” Jongdae laughs.  “But you won’t be anymore. I fully intend to ruin you for anyone that’s not a Maltese tiger.  For anyone who isn’t me.   Your human-dating days are over, Minseokkie.”

As Jongdae leans in to claim his mouth again, Minseok can’t really find it in himself to mind.  He happily parts his lips for the tiger’s tongue, happily wraps his arms around that slim waist and pulls their hips together.  Now it’s Jongdae moaning into the kiss except it’s more like a growl and Minseok moans, too, at the way it rumbles from Jongdae’s chest into his.

“My Seokkie,” Jongdae murmurs, voice low and possessive.  “All mine. No one else gets to kiss you or mark you up—can I mark you up?”  His lips hover over the sensitive skin just under Minseok’s jaw, hot breath tickling.

“Yes,” Minseok breathes.  “If I can do the same to you.”

Jongdae pulls away enough to look down at him, eyes wide.  “You’d do that?”

“Of course I would,” Minseok huffs, chin lifted.  “I’m not letting anyone else sniff around my gorgeous mate.”

The tiger’s toothy smile is blinding.  “Fierce little human. You would defend me?”

Minseok snorts.  “I’d sure try. Except I won’t need to—my tiger waited six months for me, he’s not going to be lured away and he’d defend himself if anyone tried.”

“That’s right,” Jongdae rumbles, burying his face against Minseok’s neck and chuffing against his skin when he rubs again at the tiger’s ears.  

It tickles and Minseok squirms, which of course makes Jongdae pin him down and chuff at his neck until he’s writhing and wheezing with laughter.  The motion causes their hips to rub together and Minseok has waited more than long enough.

“Quit toying with your prey and take me already,” he laughs, abs heaving.

“Mmm, yes,” Jongdae moans, rutting against him.  “Get these clothes off before I shred them.”

Minseok doesn’t have to be told twice and the two of them rapidly shed all remaining barriers between their skin.  He feels like a feast and a half, laid out before his tiger on the bed, Jongdae’s pupils blown so wide his silvery irises are just pale rims encircling eternity.

“Oh, Minseok.  Sweet Seokkie,” Jongdae breathes, tail a quivering question mark behind him.  “This is what was hiding beneath those prim button-downs and pressed slacks all this time?  This?”   He runs reverent fingers down Minseok’s pecs to trail over the ripples of his abs.

“All for you,” Minseok smirks.  “And look what I get in return!”  

Jongdae is built wiry where Minseok is sturdy but there’s still plenty of toned muscle beneath smooth skin.  Faintly striped skin, diluted ink stroked over ribs and shoulders.

“You’re right,” Minseok sighs, tracing one stripe down a deltoid with his thumb.  “I’m ruined for anyone else.”

“We haven’t even started yet,” Jongdae scoffs.  “But good—there is no way anyone else is getting this.”   

With a growl that sounds an awful lot like mine Jongdae pounces, setting firm lips, that raspy tongue, and even a hint of teeth to work against Minseok’s skin.  Minseok hisses and arches up into it, running his palms over the warm planes of Jongdae’s back. When the backs of his hands are brushed repeatedly with plush softness, Minseok tracks down enough words to ensure he’s not about to irk his fearsome beast.

“Your tail,” he gasps.  “Can I touch it?”

Jongdae chuckles against his skin.  “Yeah—I’m all yours, Seokkie. You don’t have to ask.” 

So the next time that teasing tail sweeps past, Minseok catches it, using both hands in succession to stroke along its length.  It’s thicker than he’d imagined at the base, hair lengthening as the tail tapers so that the black tip appears to be slightly bulbous until the (super soft!) fur is compressed against the skin.

“Ah, Seokkie!” Jongdae shudders.  “Do it again.”

So Minseok does, running that tail through his hands over and over as Jongdae works diligently at painting his entire throat purple.  He tugs once, accidentally, when the tiger gets a little too rough with his teeth. But Jongdae moans and thrusts against him at the pull, so Minseok does it again, wrapping his hand around the base and applying steady traction as Jongdae groans against his shoulder and rolls his hips languidly against Minseok’s.

“Fuck,” Jongdae pants when Minseok relaxes his grip.

“We could do that, too,” Minseok chuckles.

Jongdae lifts his head from where he’s sucked yet another patch of purple into Minseok’s chest.  “I want you. How can I have you?”

Minseok shrugs.  “I’m happy either way,” he says.  

The tiger grins, sharp teeth glinting.  “Really? We can switch?”

“Why not?” Minseok furrows his brow.  “It’s all fun, isn’t it?”

“Oh, Seokkie,” Jongdae growls low.  “I am going to make sure you have so. Much.  Fun.”

The roll of his hips emphasizes the sincerity of his words and Minseok moans, tipping his head back and immediately receiving Jongdae’s lips beneath his jaw.  He tugs on Jongdae’s tail again, squirming when the resultant throaty growl tickles against his throat.

“Fuck, if you did that while I was in you,” Jongdae pants, pressing his forehead to Minseok’s collarbone.  

Smirking, it’s all too easy for Minseok to turn his head and take one of Jongdae’s silver hoop earrings between his teeth, giving that a gentle tug that makes the furry black ear flutter above the tiger’s lusty yelp.

“Seok!” Jongdae huffs when Minseok releases his prize.  He turns to gape down at him, eyebrows kipped up. “Do you know how many humans have bitten a Maltese tiger’s ear?”

“Hopefully only one?” Minseok smirks, trying to lunge upward for the now-flattened appendage.

“Yes, only one!  Who else would even try?”

“You said you’re all mine,” Minseok reminds him.  “And you’re practically devouring me. I just want a little nibble—those ears have been flirting with me for half a year.”

“Caught,” Jongdae confesses through a laugh.  

Then he peels himself away from Minseok’s body, which makes Minseok pout.  But at least he gets to watch Jongdae stroll across the room to his overnight bag and bend over to rummage in it, tail dragging up his own leg before lifting entirely to give Minseok quite the show.

He groans when Jongdae stands up again, triggering quite a bit of chuffing between lewd snickers.

“You can have that next time,” he promises.  “This time, I’m having you.”

“Great,” Minseok says, making room between his legs for his optimistic tiger to sit and make use of the lube he’d apparently thought to pack.  “I am going to pull your tail the whole time.”

Jongdae slumps, ears drooping.  “Seokkie,” he whines. “I’d like this to last a little longer than two minutes.”

“Alright.  I won’t start pulling your tail until two minutes have gone by.”

The tiger’s growl only makes Minseok laugh harder, but Jongdae takes revenge by probing between Minseok’s legs with chilly, slick fingers.  The resulting indignant yelp only garners a toothy smile. And then Minseok can’t see it anymore, only hear a satisfied chuff as he closes his eyes above a gasp, feeling the cool slide of a finger inside him.

“Having fun yet, Seokkie-babe?”

“Tons,” Minseok moans through a smile.  

It keeps being fun.  Jongdae works him open slowly, thoroughly, sucking blooms of magenta over his abs, Minseok’s fingers tangled in his hair and tugging at the rings in his ears.  Jongdae playfully flattens the victimized ear, only for Minseok to start playing with the other one.

Then Jongdae rises up over him to claim his mouth some more, sucking Minseok’s lower lip, then laving the upper with that almost-rough tongue as if he’s trying to scrub away the freckle from his cupid’s bow.  He can feel Jongdae’s arousal dragging over his own and he flexes his abs, trying to angle himself to get what he wants where he wants it.

“Impatient,” Jongdae chides.

“Tease,” Minseok counters.  “Hasn’t six months of waiting been long enough?”

“Excellent point,” Jongdae says, and seconds later he’s sheathed in latex and pressing inside.

Their moans harmonize delightfully until Jongdae’s hips are pressed up against the back of Minseok’s thighs.  They trade smiles and kisses for a few moments until Minseok lifts his hips, chasing sensation.

“Eager, are we?”

“Would you want it otherwise?”

“Another excellent point.”

Jongdae tries to push himself up on his forearms but Minseok wraps an arm around his back to pull him close, tilt his head for the best ear-nibbling angle.  His chuffs quickly give way to moans as Minseok closes his dull human teeth over sensitive skin and velvety fur.

“Fuck, Seokkie.”

“Please, Dae.”

Obligingly, Jongdae rolls his hips, slowly at first, then faster, harder, until Minseok is afraid to keep his mouth on Jongdae’s ears for fear of hurting him.  Instead he uses both hands to tug on them, rubbing the base, alternating nails, fingertips, carding through Jongdae’s hair, sweeping thumbs over eyebrows and cheekbones and loving how the tiger’s face contorts.

“Seok!”

“Dae.”

“You’re really gonna pet me while we fuck?”  

Minseok suspects Jongdae is trying to sound judgmental but given the way his voice breaks and his body quivers beneath Minseok’s hands, Minseok is entirely unconvinced.  So he only grins up at the scrunch-faced tiger.

“Yeah.  Feels good, you said.”

“Fuck, it feels amazing,” Jongdae admits.  “But I wanna—ah—pet you, too.”

“Okay,” Minseok agrees, cooperating to stay connected when Jongdae flops down and rolls onto his back.

Settling himself frog-legged over Jongdae’s hips, Minseok chuckles happily as grabby tiger hands come up to cup his face and rub behind his ears.

“Is it nice?”

“I dunno,” Minseok laughs.  “No one’s ever—oh, ah!”  

Jongdae’s triumphant chuff is wicked and he runs his nails along Minseok’s scalp again.  And before Minseok can get used to the tingles over his head Jongdae starts thrusting up into him, flooding his body with sensation from both ends.  And then—because tigers are evil, especially blue ones—the fluffy tip of Jongdae’s tail starts flicking over Minseok’s erection.

“Dae!”

The only answer is more chuffing.

Determined to give as good as he’s getting, Minseok sits back, saving his scalp.  It’s just as well, because this angle provides him with more intense internal stimulation, especially when he rolls his body in time with Jongdae’s thrusting.

“Look at you,” Jongdae praises, slowly blinking up at Minseok undulating on top of him.  “So hot. And covered in my marks. All mine.”

Minseok smiles down at himself.  Jongdae may have stripes, but Minseok is covered in spots, purpling punctuation of Jongdae’s claim.  And then he frowns down at the tiger’s unblemished body.

“You’re mine, too,” he declares, then folds forward to stake his claim on a collarbone.

This elicits more chuffing, and when Minseok twines his fingers back through pewter-streaked hair and thumbs at the silver rings along the edges of those fuzzy black ears, the chuffing runs together so much it might as well be a purr.  Thrilled by the vocalizations and the fingers digging into his hips, Minseok clenches tight around Jongdae and bites down a little harder, delighted with the roar that results.

“Seok!  Fuck, let me touch you—”  Any more human words are cut off by more rumbles and chuffs.

Feeling like the most powerful man in the world for being able to turn a tiger into an absolute mess, Minseok bows his stomach up enough for Jongdae to get a hand between their bodies.  Jongdae’s other hand coaxes Minseok’s face to lift up for a kiss, proud smile meeting possessive smirk.

“Mine,” Jongdae mutters against Minseok’s lips.  “My gorgeous mate. Gonna make you melt.”

And he does, with a snap of his hips and a flick of his wrist.

“Dae!” Minseok shouts into Jongdae’s laugh as pleasure rips through his body to pour out into Jongdae’s fist.  Jongdae’s hand and hips don’t stop moving until overstimulation makes Minseok writhe and squeeze. Then Jongdae stiffens, roars loud enough to make the generic art rattle against the wallpaper, and goes completely limp.

“I think I’m dead now,” Jongdae mumbles.  “Am I dead? If I am, that was still worth it.”

Minseok hums into the crook of Jongdae’s neck.  “If you are, I am, too.”

“Huh.  Good thing we turned that final analysis in earlier, then.”

“Yes.  We wouldn’t want to be reverse-haunted by the department.”

They snicker together for a while, adrenaline making them giddy.  But it never takes long for the sweat and other fluids to become uncomfortable on Minseok’s skin and oh, Jongdae’s tail was still between their bodies when the tiger had pulled Minseok over the edge into ecstasy.  

“We need to shower before your fur ends up glued to my belly.”

Jongdae’s tail quivers as if it hadn’t realized it was pinned.  “Ew. It’s bad enough when I accidentally glue it to my own belly.”

“Do that a lot, do you?”  Minseok sits up, snorting when Jongdae’s tail indeed lifts with him.

“Uh, yes?  I had to wait six fucking months , Minseok.”  He yanks his tail free of Minseok’s abs.  “At least I was never late to breakfast.”

Minseok rolls his eyes and dismounts.  “Whatever—if I’d have known what kind of show waited for me at breakfast I could have saved some trouble and just let that sinful tongue take care of the problem.”  This last is called over his shoulder as he heads to the en suite.

Jongdae’s laughter chases him and so does the tiger himself.  “I will be happy to take care of future problems that may arise,” he smirks, following Minseok into the shower.  

“I guess I could tolerate that,” Minseok huffs, adjusting the water to a nice temperature and then turning around to return Jongdae’s embrace.

“Because we’re mates?” Jongdae asks, eyebrow cocky.

“Yeah, Dae,” Minseok says, pressing his lips to the tiger’s smile.  “We’re mates.”

🐾🐾🐾

“I can’t believe,” Baekhyun almost sings at lunchtime the next day.  “That you would let a tiger maul you!  You have concealer from your jawline all the way down to who knows where, probably your kneecaps.”

“You can tell?”  Minseok winces, resisting the urge to touch his neck.

“Only because I can smell it—you did a good job blending it but it doesn’t smell like your skin.”

“Oh.  Good.”  Minseok resumes munching on the tuna rice ball Baek’s messenger bag had contained today.  “I um. Have something to tell you, I guess.”

“You’re not pregnant, Minseok, despite the shape of your eyes—”

“Not that, you dork,” Minseok snorts.  “We didn’t just maul each other. We decided, um.  To be mates.”

Baekhyun stares at him so long without blinking that Minseok becomes concerned.  Just as he’s about to flick the kangaroo hybrid in the nose or something, Baekhyun shakes himself out of his stupor.

“Kim Minseok.  You are mated.”

Minseok nods.

“To a tiger.”

Minseok nods again, unable to stop the grin that makes it hard for him to chew his food politely.

“Yixing is going to be so smug.”

Minseok blinks.

“He said you’d hookup on the last hotel stay.  I thought you’d keep it professional, Kim Minseok!  I counted on your impeccable manners and you let me down.”

“Sorry,” Minseok says, though he’s not sorry at all.

“Liar,” Baekhyun says. but he’s smiling too.  “When are you going to learn not to lie to a hybrid that knows you well?  If you think I don’t know what your lies smell like by now…”

Minseok endures the rant, attempting to look contrite except that he keeps smiling whenever he thinks about Jongdae.  His very own blue tiger, nevermind that Baek insists “that’s not even a thing, he just made that up to impress you.”  

Minseok doesn’t care one way or another.  He loves Jongdae’s feline ears and kitten lips, his impressive tail and expressive eyebrows.  And Jongdae seems to like what he sees when he looks at Minseok, too, not to mention what he smells, touches, and tastes.

Their relationship isn’t all physical.  Jongdae seems to take his courtship declaration seriously, proudly escorting Minseok to art museums and wine bars.  But Minseok wants to woo his mate, too, and Jongdae proudly lets Minseok escort him to concerts and coffee shops. The first time they’d gone to one of Minseok’s favorites, Cafe Universe, Jongdae had looked at the extensive menu with a skeptical brow.

“Isn’t it all the same, tho, Seokkie?  I mean, people just drink it to wake up in the morning, not because it’s actually good.”

Then Jongdae had laughed for a solid ten minutes at whatever expression(s) Minseok had made in response to his ignorance.

And he’d left the coffee shop an hour later full of apologies and opinions, having decided that Americano was his favorite.  Not, sadly, because he’d been converted to a connoisseur, but, endearingly, “because it tastes like your kisses when we meet in the mornings.” 

They do all the cheesy dates, too, because Jongdae declares his intensive study of human dramas has led him to believe this is How One Courts A Human.  Minseok always humors him, grinning fondly through visits to parks and aquariums, skating rinks and ice cream parlors. It’s all very enjoyable, but the best part is watching Jongdae watch him with burning blue eyes and a bright toothy smile.

Kim Minseok still likes cats.  But these days he has much stronger feelings about tigers.  Especially blue tigers. And especially especially the handsome Maltese tiger that, every season, keeps insisting on being his mate.

🐾🐾🐾