Chapter Text
San woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. A thunderstorm was raging outside, but it was not what made him jump up in his bed.
There was a scratching sound coming from the direction of his window. There were no trees growing anywhere near and his apartment was on the third floor. So yeah. What the hell was that?
He turned on his bedside table lamp and crouched down beside his bed in a true dramatic fashion. He took one little step towards the window. The scratching returned. His hands started sweating all of a sudden.
Maybe San was quite tall. And maybe he was a rather big guy in terms of physique. But he was a scaredy cat at heart.
“What the hell am I even doing?” he mumbled to himself and stood up. Still terrified.
“It's probably a bird. Yeah. It's gotta be a bird. What else could possibly be assaulting my window at 2 am on a saturday?”
His monologue was cut short. The thing made a sound. A very distinct sound. It meowed.
It was a cat. It was just a cat and San freaked out like there was some creature sitting on his windowsill waiting to attack.
Embarrassing.
He hurried to the window and there it was. A small black kitty that probably climbed all the way up using the fire escape on the other wall.
San opened the window.
“Come on. come inside. quickly.” He motioned his hand in a welcoming way and the cat jumped into his bedroom immediately.
San ran to the bathroom to get a towel for the soaked kitten now sitting on his floor. When he returned, it was still sitting in the same place.
So polite.
He placed the towel next to the cat, not to scare it. It looked at him curiously for a second and then started nuzzling into the warm material.
Adorable. ADORABLE.
That was when two thoughts came crashing down on him.
First. There was a strict no-pet policy in the building and to make things worse, his landlord was coming over in the morning to check on the apartment.
Second. The kitty had a collar. Black with red stitching and a little gold bell attached to it. Which meant that the owners were probably freaking out at that moment, because their cat was gone.
San sighed and sat on the floor letting his hands fall to his lap. It was too late for him to think straight. He would just have to set his alarm an hour early, so that he would have time to figure out what to do with the cat before the landlord comes over. Yeah. Great idea.
“Will you be okay with sleeping here? On the towel?”
No answer.
San was well aware that animals could NOT speak. However, the cat was definitely not happy with San’s suggestion. He could feel it. Based on the vibes.
“You can sleep on the bed, okay? I don't move around that much during the night. Just find a corner and I'll stay out of your way, okay?”
The cat jumped on the bed.
Okay. Maybe it couldn’t speak. But it definitely understood. Right?
San got up from the floor and got on the bed. He pulled the covers up to his neck and stared at the adorable creature lying near his left leg before turning off the light.
“Goodnight” he whispered and rolled over.
Meow.
Well. Now the cat definitely answered him. That was weird. But san was very sleep deprived at that point so he didn’t think much of it. Cats don’t understand people. Duh.
He fell asleep.
-
As soon as he woke up, before even opening his eyes, San smiled to himself. How nice it was waking up not all by himself, huh? He reached out his hand and patted the covers but felt nothing.
He finally opened his eyes.
There was no cat.
He was pretty sure that the events of last night were real. But there was no cat on his bed and his room for that matter.
He got out of bed. The door to his room was closed.
He looked around the room in search of the feline but found nothing. Even the towel which he was pretty sure he left on the floor was gone. Was this all a dream?
He spiraled for a bit but finally left his room in search of the little creature.
Nothing.
“Am I going crazy?” San whispered looking at himself in the bathroom mirror.
There was a sudden knock on the front door. Right. The landlord. At least now he had nothing to worry about. Still, the weird wave of sadness creeped onto him.
-
As soon as he was left alone, San called Seonghwa. This whole situation was getting ridiculous, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about last night.
“Yeah, Sannie?”
“Okay, so… Have you ever had a dream that seemed super real and then you weren’t sure if it was actually a dream?”
“Uh…I suppose it might’ve happened? Why? You had a nightmare or something?”
“Sannie, do you need us to come over and comfort you?” came another voice. Hongjoong. Clearly making fun of San’s state.
“Hyung. This is a serious matter.” Hongjoong giggled at that. “I’m sure I saved a cat from a thunderstorm last night. Even let it sleep in my bed. But then I wake up and what? It’s gone. I’m kinda freaking out.”
“Sannie, listen. Maybe you’ve just had a really realistic dream? You’ve told us about wanting to adopt a pet, maybe that’s why you keep overthinking it, hm?”
That actually seemed reasonable. Seonghwa had a thing for making things sound reasonable even when they weren’t. Thankfully.
“You know…maybe you’re right. I think I should finally move apartments and actually get a pet. I’ve always wanted one.”
“Yeah, think about it. Listen, we gotta go, okay? I’ll see you in class on Monday. Take care San-ah, we love you. Hongjoong too.”
“I know. Love you guys too.” he hung up.
It was time to stop thinking about whatever fantasy his brain made up in his sleep. Why was it bothering him so much anyway?