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Wonwoo paused in his tracks. He had definitely heard a mewl coming from somewhere in his apartment. It wasn’t that he hated cats or anything, in fact he absolutely adored them but he was worried for it. His apartment was on the sixth floor so how on earth did a kitten or cat get all the way into his house? He stayed still, listening on to hear if there would be another mewl.
Junhui was panicking. Like seriously, ‘I’m gonna piss my pants’ panicked. The stray kitten he had picked up three weeks ago had vanished. It’s not like he wasn’t allowed to own a kitten but he didn’t recall any rules stating that he was forbidden from owning a pet or at least, a house pet. It was the fact that the kitten was barely even five months old and Junhui had made it his main priority in his life, rushing back home from work to feed and take care of it. And now, it’s gone. Not a single trace of it could be found. “No, no, no this cannot he happening right now, where did he go?” he muttered, flipping over the cushions on his couch.
“Maybe he went out for a walk, I’ll ask my neighbour.”
There was definitely a kitten in his damn house, that’s what Wonwoo thought when he heard a mewl, slightly louder than the first one he had heard and he made it his mission to uncover where the kitten hid somewhere in his own house. He walked towards where he assumed the sound to be coming from, the kitchen. He obviously wasn’t surprised by that. Wonwoo looked in the fridge, under the sink and even above the fridge but to no avail, there was no kitten in the kitchen. Frustrated and also worried that he was going insane, Wonwoo headed back into his living room, flopping down on to the couch.
“Meow!” Wonwoo could’ve sworn he almost shat himself that night. Scrambling off the couch, he looked back to see an adorable black kitten with gorgeous orange eyes, that stared at him. Honestly the kitten looked pissed at him, probably because Wonwoo literally threw himself on to it. “Hey there little guy, where did you come from?” He timidly asked the small animal, afraid it would scratch his hand. To his utmost surprise, the kitten didn’t scratch or even attempt to be hostile with him, it instead smelled his knuckles and nuzzled up to his warm palm. “Huh, this is the most trusting kitten I’ve ever met.”
While Wonwoo was busy with his new found friend, Junhui knocked on all the doors on his level, frantically asking those who opened their doors if they had come across a kitten of any sorts but to no avail. Thankfully Junhui didn’t give up and took a leap of faith by heading upstairs to the sixth floor to try his luck. He decided to give up after knocking on the last door of this level, it was already nearing midnight anyways and he was exhausted.
“Aren’t you the cutest little thing ever?” Wonwoo cooed as he watched the kitten drink water from a metal dish he had laid out on the floor, next to the couch. A knock on the door scared him, causing him to nearly smack the poor creature enjoying its water in front of him. “Who on earth would be knocking on my door? It’s midnight for god’s sake.” He wondered as he headed to his front door. Opening it, there stood a tall man. Like not that much taller than Wonwoo but it was pretty obvious to him at least. The man stood there, looking exhausted.
“Have you encountered any stray kittens today?” Junhui tiredly asked, not expecting much. He was shocked to find an attractive man standing there when the door opened though but he’d rather die than to expose himself. “A stray kitten? Like that one?” Wonwoo replied, opening his door fully to show that the kitten has disappeared. Again. “Oh my god it disappeared again what the hell, anyways it was black with orange eyes, is that the one you’re looking for?” He asked the stranger, looking around his apartment to find the kitten that seemingly loved to play hide and seek. “Yes! Oh my god that’s my baby please where is he?” Junhui yelled, unintentionally and quickly covered his mouth when he realised he might’ve just woken up the cute guy’s neighbours.
“So what’s your name?” Wonwoo asked as he let the [ attractive ] man in who started calling out to the kitten with “小猫!” but it wasn’t like Wonwoo knew what it meant , he just shrugged it off, it sounded like mandarin to him. “Oh, I’m Junhui! I stay a level below you, unit 5F. What’s your name?” Junhui answered, heading into the kitchen where he found the extremely inquisitive kitten sniffing at the cabinet doors. “I’m Wonwoo and is that your kitten?” Wonwoo curiously asked as he watched Junhui cradle the black fur ball as if it was his own child. “Also, doesn’t he have a name?”
“Oh my god I didn’t even name him! I just said hey cat or hey 猫! I’m so sorry kitty.” Junhui pleaded to the poor kitten who Junhui just realised he never named even though he’s kept it for three weeks already. “Thank you Wonwoo, for keeping him safe.” He smiled, holding up the kitten to see that it was perfectly fine. “Oh, actually it just decided to climb into my house, I don’t even know how.” Wonwoo confessed, still wondering how it even got into his apartment. “Huh, that’s weird. He’s never done that, what’s gotten into you, you naughty kitty?” Junhui chided the poor kitten.
“Well we’ll be going now, sorry for disturbing your night and thank you once again!”
Turns out it wasn’t even a week later, three days in fact, for Junhui to come knocking at Wonwoo’s door again. “Damn kitten likes to wander off I swear to god if-“ Junhui was mumbling to himself until Wonwoo opened his front door. It was barely even 7am and the knocking had woken the poor man up. “Oh uh I’m so sorry to have woken you but I’m pretty sure the kitten is in your house, again.” Junhui apologised, looking at how disheveled Wonwoo was with his hair sticking up in all directions. He still looked cute, to Junhui at least. “He’s in my apartment, again?” Wonwoo said in disbelief, “it’s only 6:55am!”
After letting Junhui in his house to search for his kitten, it took them almost 15 mins to find the small cat, in the tiny apartment. “There you are, you brat!” Junhui yells, finally realising that the kitten had somehow found a way to laze on top of Wonwoo’s closet. Which was actually pretty impressive seeing that the kitten was like 1/50 the size of the thing. “How the fuck did he even get up there?” Wonwoo wondered out loud, “how do we even get him to come down?” “Alright you brat, come back down and I’ll give you a can of tuna!” Junhui yelled , motioning for the kitten to come back with his fingers. And he did. Like he understood what Junhui meant. “Well that is definitely something you don’t see everyday,” Wonwoo gazed in amazement as the kitten jumped down from the top of the closet, “that’s amazing, are you some sort of cat whisperer?” “Nah, I just trained him to react to the word ‘tuna’, it’s actually pretty simple.” Junhui flaunted as he picked up his mischievous kitten. Damn, Wonwoo thought, his neighbour was a cat whisperer.
“Haven’t you named him? Also how did you know he’d be in my apartment again?” Wonwoo asked, seeing Junhui to the front door. “Firstly, nope I still haven’t decided on a name for this brat and secondly, call it a gut feeling and I think he likes you and your apartment.” Junhui shrugged, petting the kitten in his arms. “Well actually I think I have a name that’s perfect for him to be honest but I didn’t know if you’d let a complete stranger name your kitten,” Wonwoo bashfully smiled. That was the first time Junhui saw him genuinely smile, with his pearly whites showing and god damn he was star struck by how gorgeous a smile looked on Wonwoo. “Junhui? Are you okay?” Said man asked, waving his hand in front of a dazed Junhui. “Oh uh I’m fine, what’s the name you’ve thought of?”
“Don’t laugh at me but I think the name Cerberus would fit this little guy,” Wonwoo gently smiled at the kitten, who looked back at him with big round eyes. “Cerberus is the name for the guard dog of Hell actually and this little guy’s colouring fits the name and description perfectly, well in my head at least.” Wonwoo petted the kitten as looked up at Junhui, who had this really dumb, adoring smile on his face, “Earth to Junhui? Is it too geeky for you? Sorry I just really like Greek mythology.”
‘He’s such a fucking geek but oh my god that makes him even more adorable I’m going to die, Jesus take the wheel.’
“No! Absolutely not! I love that name, it’s way better than Riceball honestly.” Junhui quickly snapped out of his [embarrassing] thoughts and shook his head at Wonwoo. “Wait you’re actually letting me name? Your kitten?” He asked in disbelief, eyes wide as he stared at the chinese man. “Uh yeah duh, besides I think Cerby likes you more than me, which is a lot, you should be honoured!” Junhui huffed, pouting as the kitten crawled out from his arms and on to Wonwoo’s, where he seemed contented enough to snuggle. “C-Cerby? That’s an adorable nickname, I’m gonna cry.” Wonwoo stuttered as he heard the nickname, he didn’t know why he was so emotional but he felt like a new parent who heard his child’s first nickname or something. “Oh my god it’s just a shortened version of Cerberus, Wonwoo you’re acting like a mum!” Junhui giggled at his reaction to the nickname.
“Speaking of which, don’t you think we’re sort of like his parents?” That has caused Wonwoo to choke on his own saliva, “P-Parents?” He stuttered out, coughing due to the saliva that got stuck in his throat. “Yeah like, we basically are raising him as our own now. He even has a nickname, for God’s sake! Wonwoo you’re the mum, I’m calling dibs on the dad role,” Junhui giggled, sticking his tongue out to tease his obviously flustered neighbour. “You know, for new parents we’ve only met twice and today was the second. We should really have a chat,” Wonwoo sniggered as he reached out to pet Cerberus, quickly recovering from his previous state.
The two decided unanimously that it made sense to talk in Wonwoo’s apartment since the three of them were already technically in it for about the past twenty minutes or so, Wonwoo led the two to his black leather couch, Cerberus in Junhui’s arms. As they sipped on earl grey tea that Wonwoo made, they shared more about themselves and came to realisation that in some aspects, they were complete opposites. Junhui loved to explore the city while Wonwoo preferred to stay in, tucked in his blankets while reading his book. Junhui knew how to cook while Wonwoo didn’t. Junhui preferred sweet stuff while Wonwoo favoured sour stuff. However, there was definitely one thing in common that they liked. Cerberus. Junhui explained that he had heard a mewl while taking a shortcut home that sounded so tired and helpless, like it was pleading to be rescued from the dumpster located behind the apartment block. He endured the horrible stench of rotting food and trash to find the source of the mewl, it took him fifteen minutes to barely see the small, frightened figure huddled behind a damp carton box, behind the dumpster. He had felt his heart physically break when he shone his phone’s flashlight in the direction of the kitten, only to see one that had barely any fats on it, all skin and bones. It was obvious that it had no mother to support it so he used all his strength to push the garbage container away, covering himself in sweat and grime as he reached in to gently pick up the kitten. It felt like it was all bones, he was afraid that if he held it too hard, it’d break in his palms. That was a month ago and now Cerberus had grown in both width and length, he had put on weight which made Junhui so relieved and he was now the size of two palms, instead of one when he was first found. Junhui has only bought the best cat food he could find, sacrificing his own allowance for the kitten.
When Wonwoo heard the story behind Cerberus, he had to hold in the tears. There no way he was going to cry in front of his neighbour over a kitten, absolutely not. Sniffling, he replied, “It’s okay, he has us now. We’ll be the best cat parents ever, Cerby will live a good life now.” Hearing that, Junhui smiled the most genuine he had in the past few months, “Thank you, Wonwoo. I appreciate it, and I’m sure Cerby appreciates it too.”
Over the next few months, it was obvious to them that they had feelings for each other. Junhui had been visiting Wonwoo’s apartment almost everyday of the month, bringing Cerberus along with him each time. Wonwoo had went the purchase the finest and most expensive items he could afford for the cat, spoiling it with his love and money. Junhui has saved up to get the most gorgeous collar he could find in the store, a [ fake ] diamond encrusted collar in the colour of warm yellow, his own personal favourite colour. It looked simply majestic on Cerberus’ midnight black fur, his orange eyes popping out with it. They would spend hours together in Wonwoo’s apartment until it was nearing midnight each time, where Junhui has no choice but to bid farewell, bringing out an exhausted cat each time from all the playing they had.
Junhui soon came to understand why Cerberus loved to be with Wonwoo, the man was calm and would give you a feeling of relaxation whenever they chilled on the couch. Wonwoo was also a cat person by heart, he knew how to pamper Cerberus in the right ways and he also had the kindest soul he had ever met. Wonwoo was simply Junhui’s weakness, he wouldn’t hesitate to take a shot for his neighbour if he had to, he was whipped. It took Wonwoo only four months to steal Junhui’s heart unknowingly, but the latter didn’t mind.
With Wonwoo around, taking care of Cerberus was now a breeze as the cat would always find a way to sneak up to the apartment on the sixth floor, laying in Wonwoo’s soft bed as if it were it’s own. Since the man was a freelance writer, he spent most of his time cooped up in his apartment, writing whatever he felt like usually with the black cat on his lap, sound asleep as he typed away on his laptop. Junhui had gotten a new job as an apprentice chef in a nearby restaurant three months ago so he was able to sneak in some leftovers from the kitchen back to his apartment where he’d let Cerberus have some, before digging into it himself. The Chinese man didn’t have to ask to know that their cat was in Wonwoo’s apartment each and every day, he got the note a week into their joint parenting when he would return home to an empty house, leading him to knocking on Wonwoo’s door every night. Whenever his front door would open, Junhui’s heart would skip a beat like a seventeen year old girl seeing her crush do some hot stuff in front of him. “Thank you for bringing us together, even if it’s not the way I wanted it to be,” Junhui muttered as he walked back downstairs to his apartment, black cat purring in his arms.
Little did Junhui know, his neighbour had fallen equally in love with him. It was no shocker for Wonwoo to be infatuated at first, Junhui was indeed a gorgeous man. Unfortunately, as time flew by, he found himself in adoration of the Chinese man’s habits and his heart would flip whenever he heard a knock on his door, praying it would be him. A smile would form, unconsciously, whenever he though about Junhui. It wasn’t until a particular incident that had happened, that caused Wonwoo to finally realise that it was more than infatuation, he was in love with Junhui.
It wasn’t a particularly cold Saturday night but Junhui still came up knocking at Wonwoo’s door wearing a thick sweater. Opening his door, he was faced by a very panicked Junhui, “Is Cerberus in your apartment? I can’t seem to find him anywhere!” Junhui yelled, hands resting on Wonwoo’s shoulders. “No, he’s not here, did he run away?” He replied, mind slowly going in a panic as well. “He was still with me half an hour ago until I came out of the shower, he couldn’t have gone that far, I’m going down to find him,” he had announced, not even waiting for a reply and rushing downstairs in his slippers. Wonwoo trailed behind him, slipping on his shoes and grabbed a coat in case the wind got a little chilly that night.
They searched each and every floor of their seven story apartment block but came back with nothing. Junhui dashed out of the building, running into the nearest alley way yelling out for his kitty. “Cerberus please! Where are you?” Junhui had never felt so desperate before, not even when he was receiving his grades for his final exams. Wonwoo caught up to him a few seconds later, panting. The cold wasn’t doing them any good either.
Suddenly a very soft but familiar mewl emitted from the trash bags piled up ahead. With no hesitation, the both of them ran to where the sound was heard and started to dig through them. “My baby! Oh my god,” Junhui cried out, gently picking up the black ball of fur that was shivering due to the weather. Tears unknowingly streamed down his cheeks as he cradled his kitten in his arms with the biggest smile on his face. As Wonwoo approached them to envelop them in a warm hug, it dawned on he that he would do anything to keep that smile on Junhui’s face. He was in love.
After this incident, things went back to their daily routine with a little bit of change. The way Junhui was more clingy and how he’d brush Wonwoo’s unruly hair. The way Wonwoo would just let him play with his hair and be absolutely enticed by it. However they were both scared, afraid that their feelings were one sided and so they didn’t dare to cross the line.
Fortunately it seemed like Cerberus himself had enough of their push and pull relationship. His routine to sneak into Wonwoo’s apartment became more of a every day thing meaning that the pair had to see each other every day. Junhui would always find himself in Wonwoo’s apartment without fail every night after his shift at the restaurant. They’d sit at the dining table and have the leftovers for supper while chatting about their day and their cat. Like how a married couple would talk about their child.
It took him literally a month to crack. Junhui had had enough too and decided to man up and confess. And what’s a better way to confess than by using your cat?
Before heading to shower, Junhui attached his confession note to Cerby’s collar and gave him a pet on his head. “You know what to do, right?”
Wonwoo wasn’t even surprised when he heard bells jingling along with the soft patter of paws on his wooden flooring. They’d bought him a new collar that was equally as majestic as the previous one except that it now had a bell on it. It was actually Wonwoo’s idea since Cerby would always visit him unannounced. Junhui however, adamantly refused to let Wonwoo fork out the entire bill for the collar and so they settled for a split.
“Oh? Come here baby, what’s that on your collar?” Wonwoo tilted his head in confusion as he patted his lap, asking his cat to jump up. He plucked the note from the collar and unfolded it, grinning as he read what it said.
“I really really like you, I think I love you even because you’re just so purfect. Do you love me too? -Junhui”
Sighing in adoration, Wonwoo whispered loud enough only for Cerby to hear, “If only you knew just how much I love you.”
As Wonwoo sat on his couch playing with Cerby, he was undoubtedly still in disbelief until he heard a knock on his front door. Opening it to reveal a bashful looking Junhui, Wonwoo tugged him into his arms, hugging him tight.
“I love you too, idiot.”
Months passed and the pair were still enamoured of each other. The only thing that changed was Cerberus’ length and weight. But nowadays, they have their own special thing now, it goes something along the lines of,
“Three words, say it and I’m yours!”
“I brought Cerberus?”
“No, you idiot! The other three.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, I’m all yours.”