Chapter Text
God, does Yangyang still thinks he can keep secrets from his brother?
It is Wednesday, which means: movie night. So here they are, both sitting on the couch, Ten with his legs close to his chest, holding them to keep himself warm, eyes on the screen in front of him; Yangyang has his legs the same way as Ten, but his eyes stare another screen.
"What is the name of this movie again?" Ten asks, side-eyeing Yangyang, who's smiling at his phone.
"Hmmm," the younger one ponders and finally looks at the TV, giving enough time for Ten to snatch the phone from his hands, "Hey! Give it back to me!"
Ten gets up fast and glances at the small screen on his hands, finding a tweet with a picture of a boy holding a cat.
"Oh, who's this pretty thing?"
"Just..." Yangyang looks at Ten defeated, knowing that if he doesn't say anything, his brother won't give his phone back just for the sake of testing Yangyang's patience, "That's Renjun. I'm following him because he tweets a lot about cats."
Ten laughs, "Actually, the pretty thing I mentioned was the cat," he gives the phone back to Yangyang and heads to the kitchen to prepare another cup of tea, "But since you want to talk about this Renjun, then go on, I guess."
"Fuck.." Yangyang mutters, regretting saying anything, then he goes after Ten in the kitchen after pausing the movie, "I don't want to talk about him, like, at all!" Ten shows a bag of tea to his brother as a way to ask if he wants some, and the other shakes his head before continuing, "You know Hendery, right?" Ten nods, "Renjun is his cousin, and now they share the apartment with Dejun. You know him too, right?" Ten hums in response, "One of these days I went to play with them, and Renjun got home like super happy, saying a cat from the shelter he works at got adopted, so I thought that maybe it would be nice to see more cats getting adopted too, you know?"
"Oh my God, Yangyang!" Ten grins and pushes his brother for a hug, "You want to kiss this boy, don't you? I feel like a proud parent right now."
"Ew! You're disgusting. I'm doing this for the cats." It's all Yangyang replies before releasing himself from Ten's arms and going back to the couch.
Yangyang has changed, Ten noticed.
He goes out more. Okay, it's always to Hendery's apartment, but still, that's something new! He now sends cat-related things to Ten on TikTok and Twitter. Oh, and he showers more too! Honestly, who could've seen it coming?
Ten decides to stalk Renjun's Twitter account a little to see if his brother is in good hands but ends up finding that Renjun's tweets are not as revealing as he would like them to be, most of it being cat's stuff, motivational quotes, and scenery pics. Does Ten tells too much about his life on his Twitter account, or does Renjun reveal too little? Maybe, if he talked more about his life, Ten wouldn't have to go to the animal shelter out of curiosity to know more regards the boy.
Of course, Ten liked cats too. He was envious of Renjun for being paid to be next to cats, so Ten was really going for the cats. Renjun just happened to work there.
The shelter was 10 minutes away from Ten's apartment, next to one of the busiest streets in the city. In contrast to the modern city and its earthy colors, the place had bright orange colors on the walls. After the front door, there were two more on each side and a little gate where it was possible to see an open area with some pet tunnels. Ten enters the door on his right, greeted by a 'meow' that startles him, it being way too loud.
"Sorry, the owner thought it would be fun to have a bell like this to announce people entering," A boy comes from behind one of the shelves full of pets treats, duster on his hand. "Hi, I'm Sungchan. How can I help you?"
Ten gives a little laugh, "Hm..., I was thinking about adopting a pet
"Oh, great! Have you made up your mind whether it will be a cat or dog?"
"Cats are better."
Sungchan giggles at Ten, "You have the vibes of a cat person," He leaves the duster by the desk and goes to the corridor that separates the shop from the rooms where the animals are. "Please, follow me. I'll take you to Renjun."
Finally, the one Ten came to see.
You know what? Fuck Renjun.
Not because he is an asshole, which he doesn't seem to be, but because Ten can barely pay attention to the boy when there are so many cats claiming for his attention. Ten could spend hours here, just patting every single cat, and he would never get tired.
"I think they like you more than they like me, and I feed them every day," Renjun says, petting a cat that was on his lap. His voice is so soothing and smooth that Ten fights the urge to ask if he can record Renjun's voice so he can play it at home before going to bed.
A Siamese cat sits by the windowsill, staring at Ten ever since he got there. Ten doesn't know if the cat hates him or is just curious, but he decides to stare right back. There is no way the cat will assert dominance first.
"That's Louis, rescued two months ago," Renjun continues making Ten feel like the music is back to his ears, "He is kinda fearful, the only person he doesn't run from is Kun, but he's a good cat nonetheless."
"Oh, and Kun is...?"
"He's the veterinarian and owner of this place. The animals like him a lot." Renjun answers, watching Ten get up and calmingly going to Louis.
The cat motions to escape, but Ten is faster and offers his hand first for the cat to smell. Louis takes a few seconds sniffing, and when he finishes it, he meows and bumps his head at Ten's hand. Ten and Renjun look at each other, both of them with their mouths open in disbelief as Louis keeps rubbing his head on Ten.
"Please, I need to take this one with me." Ten says, and Louis starts pouring.
"Since Kun isn't here today, you will have to come back tomorrow," Sungchan hands a paper to Ten, "These are the documents requested. Bring those, then Kun will interview you. If he likes you and presumes you can be good for Louis, the cat is all yours!"
A 'meow' comes from the bell. Wearing an orange apron, just like Renjun's, a boy enters the space holding a small white dog, "Hey! You're the one who wants Louis? Renjun just told me," He comes closer to Ten and offers the dog's paw for Ten to shake, "This is Daegal, I'm Daegal's dad."
"This is Chenle. He takes care of the dogs," Sungchan interrupts, shooting daggers at the other. "Which reminds me that he should be working! Please, go back." A whine comes out from the last sentence.
"I'm going! I just wanted to meet the one who wants to fight Kun for the custody of his favorite cat." Chenle stares at Ten from head to toes, "Well, good luck tomorrow! You will need it."
The fuck? Ten has plenty of luck already, and he will not need any of it tomorrow. Whoever Kun is, he's the one who needs 'good luck' because Ten never failed one single interview. Ever. Tomorrow won't be any different. Ten will leave this shelter with a cat in his arms and a bag full of cat toys and treats.
Ten is definitely not leaving this place with Louis.
Yesterday, when he got home, Ten was so excited he decided to share the news with Yangyang.
"Okay, I have two things to tell you." Ten said, sitting on the sofa next to Yangyang, "One will make you hate me, and the other will make you love me. Which one do you want to hear first?" He asked, only receiving furrowed brows stern glare as an answer. "I went to the animal shelter Renjun works at."
"Oh my God, why would you..."
"But!" Ten interrupted before his brother started getting really angry, "We will have a cat named Louis! You've said before you wanted a cat, and now we will have one, surprise!" He ushers and passes his phone to Yangyang, a video of Louis licking Ten's hand on display, making the younger smile immediately, "Isn't he cute? I'll get him tomorrow after my interview with Kun."
"Kun? He interviewed Xiaojun too because of Bella." Yangyang replied, and Ten swiped right on the screen by his brother's hand, showing one more video of Louis, "Xiaojun said he couldn't pay attention to anything because he was too busy staring at Kun's face or something like that. He must be intimidating."
So now, as Ten is sitting by Renjun's side, with Louis on his lap, he understands what Xiaojun went through. Actually, Ten thinks Xiaojun is a fucking warrior, and so is everyone who tried adopting an animal here before.
"You must be Ten," Kun says, entering the cats' room with a few papers on his hand, probably Ten's documents, wearing a white lab coat with paws drawn all over its length, "I'm Kun, nice to meet you."
Ten is pretty sure he should answer something, but he is so busy staring at Kun, who is so breathtakingly beautiful, with such a euphonious and honeyed voice, that he feels his brain slowly melting. It doesn't help that Kun is currently going down on one knee to pet Louis, and Ten still can't stop looking at the other.
"I couldn't believe when Renjun told me that Louis liked you." Kun raises his head to look directly at Ten's eyes and smiles. "It must be a good sign."
Fuck fuck fuck. How can Ten be interviewed if he feels like the cat just got his tongue? Better saying, Kun got his tongue in a completely non-sexual way. Fuck. Ten should've accepted Chenle's 'good luck' yesterday.