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Just a few weeks after the final debut group was finalized, they experienced a big problem.
One of their members went missing.
It was, in fact, one of the biggest problems Sung Hanbin would ever experience personally. The member in question had disappeared overnight and Hanbin’s anxiety shot through the roof when he didn’t receive his usual goodnight message the night before.
Matthew never fails to send him a good night message despite being one of the earliest sleepers. That alone should scare anyone.
However, it seemed like he was the only one truly worried about everything. Sure, everyone was also worried about their sunshine disappearing but they also know he’s a grown man who can take care of himself.
Hanbin knows that too but that didn’t change the fact it was abnormal for Matthew to not respond to anyone’s texts or greet them in the morning for breakfast. He always woke up before 10AM to greet them. It was 11AM now and Hanbin could feel his feet tapping the ground, frustrated.
“I’m sure Matthew went out and decided to get some fresh air.” Yujin spoke up, fiddling with his hands. Bless his soul honestly. He was trying to help but Hanbin couldn't help the worries flooding his mind. He just nodded and gave a small smile.
“Yeah Matthew probably went on a morning walk.” Jiwoong said, flipping an omelet. Yujin let out a small ‘woah’ at the trick and Hanbin could see the eldest smiled a little at that.
Their argument can very much be true but there’s still a little bug inside of his chest that tells him it isn’t. He knows Matthew well enough to know that routine is something quite important to him. If he falls out of it, he gets just a bit frustrated and cranky for a good amount of time.
“I’ll go check his room, maybe he left something.” He patted the youngest’s shoulder on the way, who gave him a worried look in return. He misses Jiwoong shaking his head with a small chuckle and a ‘idiots in love’ comment under his breath.
Hanbin’s body was on autopilot when he traveled across the dorm, all the way to the Snorez room. He went inside, thankful that the room was assigned to the neat freaks amongst the members so there was little to no clutter anywhere in the room.
He made a beeline to Matthew’s bunk bed, which was disheveled and had clothes over it. He sighed and took the garments off and folded them to put away. Matthew usually cleans up his bed too before leaving, it was strange.
After putting away a shirt, he walked over and sat down on the bed. He was to lay himself down when a sudden growl nearly sent him back to the Boys Planet filming area. He was now out of the bed and staring at the disheveled blanket that somehow made a weird sound.
Then there was a low rumbling sound. Or at least, he thinks it was. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound nice.
Before he had time to contemplate, the blankets were shifting around and Hanbin only now noticed there was a lump under the blanket, moving. He immediately shuffled backwards, his back hitting the wall.
Was it a rat? He didn’t do well with those things. He liked animals but oh god if it ran at him he didn’t know what he’d do.
Before he could grab something to defend himself, a fluffy tail popped out. And then it’s furry body, it’s rounded triangle ears, and then it’s beady eyes, which looked at him with possibly the cutest expression. He sighed, thankful it wasn’t some weird monster.
There was a fluffy, brown cat in their dorms. Laying on Matthew’s bed.
“Meow?” It spoke, like it was also confused as to why it was here. It then lifted a paw to its mouth in shock.
Hanbin looked at the cat in confusion at how animated it seemed. He didn’t let it stop him from approaching carefully though. He’s had enough experience with animals. “Hi kitty?” He gently asked, lowering himself and raising his hand out for the cat to smell.
The cat seemed to look confused by his action and started meowing crazily at him. Hanbin retracted his hand and sighed. “Where did you come from and where is Matthew?”
At the mention of the Canadian boy’s name, the cat meowed harder. It raised a paw and patted its head. Hanbin chuckled in amusement.
“Do you have something to do with Matthew?”
The cat nodded.
Hanbin froze in place. The cat seemed unusually responsive, like it knew what he was actually saying. “Matthew must’ve snuck you in somehow.” He reached over and gently petted the cat’s head, which made it mew with a huff. “I don’t remember him ever owning a cat though.” He frowned, feeling a little disappointed his best friend wouldn’t tell him something like this.
Some shuffling was heard from the hallway along with a few mutters. “Hyung, have you seen Gyu— IS THAT A FUCKING CAT?!” Gunwook nearly screams.
The cat’s ears lowered, turning into airplanes.
Hanbin shushes the youngest. “Cats are sensitive to sound, don’t yell.” He says gently. Gunwook looks at him apprehensively.
“My fault. Where did the cat come from?” He says more gently but still a little shocked.
Hanbin shrugs. “I’m not sure either, I was looking for Matthew and then I found this guy on his bed.” At the mention of the name the cat meows loudly. “Oh yeah— he also responds to Matthew’s name too. I think it might be his cat?” Hanbin ponders.
Gunwook looks at the cat and at the bed, seeing the discarded clothes he knows Matthew wouldn’t take off and leave on bed even if he’s going to sleep— and puts one crazy thought together.
“Hyung.” Gunwook starts.
Hanbin hums in response, now being allowed to pet the cat’s head. He takes full advantage of it. The cat purrs and rubs his head against his hand before looking at him in shock and smacking his hand away. Almost like he didn’t realize what he was doing either.
“What if, Matthew’s the cat.”
The room is silent for a moment, before the cat starts meowing and nodding its head.
The two people in the room share a look and start screaming.
—
Zhang Hao rubs his temple, closing his eyes. “So you’re saying, Matthew’s a cat.”
Matthew, as they (Hanbin and Gunwook) suspect, meows at that.
Zhang Hao’s eyes widen for a bit and then they narrow. He walks up to the cat, which was in Hanbin’s arms and looks down at it.
“I think he just responds to the name Matthew, there’s no way our Matthew turned into … well.” He gestures to the feline.
The kitty makes an offended meow and lifts a paw, patting itself. As if to say it really was him. Hanbin chuckles at that. “He really does act like Seokmae though. Look, he can’t even walk as a cat.”
He puts the feline on the floor, who’s legs shake for a bit before becoming stiff. Matthew tries to take a few steps but he fails and ends up looking like a baby crawling. And to be fair, converting from human to cat was a very weird switch up that was extremely disorientating— so he couldn’t exactly walk unless he had a horse girl phase.
He lets out a huff after falling for the nth time and Hanbin scoops him right back up, cooing at him. Zhang Hao doesn’t look too convinced.
Gunwook fiddles with his fingers. “I think it’s really Matthew-hyung— I mean I saw his clothes on his bed and he never leaves them there.”
The center hums. “Maybe he was in a rush?”
“Matthew is usually pretty tidy even when we’re in a hurry.” Hanbin defends. The cat responds positively to that, snuggling into his chest. Hanbin coos at that.
“Still— that’s a very… interesting conclusion you guys have made. Matthew’s probably just out somewhere. Maybe he got stressed.” Zhang Hao tries to reason.
Again, that argument is fully acceptable and can be backed. There’s a lot on their plates right now with packed schedules and tons of other stuff that they needed to keep up with even before they debut.
Hanbin knows that, but he still clenches his jaw. “Matthew likes routine. He wouldn’t go out without saying something at least. You know he greets us every morning, at least through text if he didn’t want to wake us up.” He felt himself get a bit heated and Zhang Hao raised his hands to calm him like you would to a growling puppy.
“Okay, I hear you,” Hao nods, eyebrows furrowed. He doesn’t tell him to calm down but his expression and gestures says everything. Hanbin bites his lip in embarrassment, realizing how defensive he got. He lets out a little ‘sorry hyung’ and Hao shakes his head with a smile.
Hao knows Matthew is one of the only people he becomes more intense with. Both Matthew and himself. But he’s a whole other issue that wasn’t present in this current era. He needed the besties to solve their shit first before he could even think about being involved.
“So if he really is the cat—“ Zhang Hao takes a breath before sighing. No job pays enough to deal with things like this. “How does that even happen?”
Hanbin chews on his lip. He has a guilty look on his face which the other two notice quickly. He starts sweating. He honestly didn’t want to say it because of how ridiculous it sounds. “I may have…” he pauses, unconsciously gripping a little harder on Matthew, who mewls in response. He apologizes with his eyes and breathes out. “I may have manifested that last night?”
“You manifested what?” A new and exhausted voice is heard and everyone turns to see that it’s Gyuvin, who’s hair was practically a bird’s nest.
“Hanbin-hyung manifested Matthew-hyung to turn into a cat in his dreams. Say hi.” Gunwook says simply and gestured to the cat snuggled in Hanbin’s arms. The tired boy just yawns, rubbing his eyes to get a better look at the cat.
Matthew meows and waves his paw.
Gyuvin freezes on the spot and then shivers, now wide awake. “What the fuck?”
Everyone gasps at the vulgar language. Zhang Hao pressed his fingers to his temple. “I know we are all confused and shocked but we need to know something.” He gives a pointed look to the culprit, who backs away like a kicked puppy. “What exactly did you do Hanbin-ah? And how are we going to turn him back?”
The room goes silent and Matthew also crosses his arms after seeing everyone contemplate (or at least tries to, it’s kind of hard to navigate a feline body).
“I don’t—“ he pauses, trying to recall last night’s events. Then it hit him like a kdrama truck. He breathes in. “I did see this one video on YouTube that was some sort of manifesting thing talking about your wishes coming true or something.”
Everyone, including Matthew, looked at him incredulously.
Hanbin was blushing furiously in embarrassment at the attention. There’s so many conclusions they can draw with what he said, but there’s a common theme amongst them.
He was thinking about Matthew. At night, before he went to sleep. Who else does that unless you have a crush on someone or want to kill them? They can conclude which of those two was the answer.
“I didn’t mean to manifest Catthew! I thought it was just a silly little video you find before sleeping!” Hanbin immediately rambles after an awkward silence, which was mostly true. He didn’t believe most of the nonsense the internet liked to put out, especially manifesting videos. It was like the equivalent of parents seeing every sarcastic post on Facebook and actually believing it.
“Hyung’s right, those are completely fake. I tried and they would never work.” Gyuvin nods and crosses his arms.
Gunwook holds back a ‘of course you would try. “Your wishes were probably dumb that’s why.” He says instead and the other makes an offended gasp.
“Not true! I literally wished for free food for life and it didn’t happen! That’s a pretty good wish for me!” Gyuvin protests.
“That’s because you do get free food, everyone pays for your meals. Except for Yujin– even I pay for them! You need to wish for something realistic.” Gunwook grumbles.
“Realistic as in one of our members turning into a cat?!” Gyuvin argues, limbs flailing. This whole situation was ridiculous.
“I don’t know! Why don’t you wish to become smarter!” The younger one spits back and Gyuvin gasps.
“No you!” He points and the two start arguing like little kids.
Zhang Hao has his head down in disappointment, a headache forming inside. Team bonding they said. It’ll be fun, they said.
“Gyuvin go eat breakfast and it better be something that Jiwoong-hyung made, you can’t only eat sugary cereal for the morning.” He lectures and the mentioned boy just pouts like a kicked puppy. He turns over to the much more built member, pointing at him. “Gunwook… just be nice to Gyu.” Gyuvin lets out a little ‘hey!’ at that and Gunwook snickers. The center just rolls his eyes at them. “Even Yujin is more mature than you two.” He huffs.
Gyuvin huffs at that, and walks away shaking his head muttering something along the lines of bothering Yujin.
Hanbin watched Zhang Hao the entire time with hearts in his eyes. Gunwook grimaced once he noticed and fake gagged, whispering to himself about the complicated love shape they had going on.
“Do you have the video you watched, Hanbin-ah?” Zhang Hao asks after Gyuvin was out of sight. He shuffles closer to him, reaching out to pet Matthew, who happily lets him by rubbing against his hand.
“I should.” He coughs, his mind replaying how attractive Hao looked earlier and reducing his functioning skills. He pulls out his phone and scrolls through his watch history, trying to find the thumbnail of a tuxedo cat with two tails. It was a strange combination but he didn’t think much of it until now. His history then reached the ‘two days ago’ area and he felt his heart drop. It was almost hilarious, as if the universe wanted to make him look like a fool. The video was definitely gone. “Well…”
“Don’t tell me it's not not there.” Gunwook says, and Hanbin’s mouth presses into a line.
“It seems like it.” Hao sighs, scratching Matthew’s chin. He coos at him before looking at Hanbin with an unreadable expression. “You fix this. It’s your problem.”
He exits the dorm quickly after getting a text from Ricky, asking to pick him up from the cat cafe he woke up early in the morning for.
Oh if he saw Matthew now… Hanbin could only imagine how much he’d fawn over him.
He shakes his head. He’ll just snap a few pics for the younger Chinese member. He’ll fix this issue. Also, he may be left alone, but at least he’s with Gunwook who could help him—
“Ah hyung, I forgot I was supposed to meet my label mates today!” Gunwook was already at the front door, kicking and stomping on his shoes. “See ya!” He waves and the older is finally left alone.
With Matthew. Who meows at him disapprovingly.
“It’s just you plus me.” He sighs, but still smiles fondly at the feline. He boops Matthew’s little pink nose and he hisses in sensitivity.
—
Taking care of kitty Matthew was a lot harder than Hanbin expected.
First off, it seemed like Matthew had become much more sassy and provoking in his cat form.
Hanbin couldn’t do anything without Matthew being there to cause some type of trouble or bring annoyance. It was so unlike human Matthew, whom he knew to be gentle, kind and a bit playful but in a lighthearted and cute way. Cat Matthew? An absolute menace. He wanted to cause problems on purpose and looked satisfied when he saw Hanbin’s usually composed expression crumble.
This was not what his thoughts had expected at all. His manifestations seemed to have kicked him in the ass as punishment for even thinking about it. Or rather, Matthew seemed to be acting this way on purpose because he turned him into a cat.
Hanbin couldn’t exactly blame him for that. He’d hate turning into an animal overnight just because one of your coworkers thought it would be cute.
He sighed, cleaning up a spill that Matthew had caused by intentionally pushing a mug with unfinished coffee off the counter. He looked so happy doing it too once he saw Hanbin groan for the nth time that day.
There was another instance where Matthew decided that the best place to stretch was on top of Hanbin’s laptop, while he was typing his essay.
“Matthew please— this essay is due tonight! I have only four hours before the deadline!” Hanbin pleads as Matthew sits in a loaf position on the keyboard. He’s purring as well, soaking in the heat from the electronic device.
Hanbin groans in frustration, before scooping up Matthew into his arms quickly and placing him on his bed. “Stay there.” He points, voice firm. Matthew sits up and just tilts his head. He was pretending to be confused and Hanbin groaned. He didn’t know if his friend’s goal was to test how far his patience could go or if this was just simply him letting out all of the bottled up frustration their little sunshine has gathered from the past weeks.
“I can’t fail this essay.” He whispers now, pressing onto the feline’s little pink nose gently. At that, Matthew stays surprisingly quiet and just grimaces at the touch before laying down properly. The older gratefully sighed for the temporary peace and immediately returned to finish up his assignment.
In the middle of that silence, Matthew had made his way into his lap, curled up and dozing. Hanbin was too focused on getting stuff done, but would force himself to sit still and not disturb his friend’s rest. Occasionally, he’d see his ears flick and Hanbin couldn’t help but scrunch his soft little head. Sometimes Matthew’s tail would whack him if he petted too long.
After a few hours of peaceful silence, he submitted his essay that probably needed a bit more reviewing before turning in. It was fine though, better than nothing.
He looked at the feline laying on his lap peacefully, eyes closed and somehow in perfect loaf position. He internally cooed at the sight and took a picture for himself.
He wouldn’t dare interrupt the younger’s beauty sleep so he simply stared at him fondly, gently caressin his head and spine. He felt himself dozing off and checked to see the time, it was fifteen minutes past 11pm. Not bad, but he needed to sleep. A chair wasn’t ideal but what could he do if there’s a cat sleeping on top of you?
He yawned and as soon as his eyes started closing, his foot swung a bit too hard on his desk. He sobered up quickly and let out a small hiss. Matthew’s ears twitched at the sound and immediately he woke up, meowing at the older. He jumped off of his lap and made his way on top of the bed, patting it.
Hanbin laughs at the sight, his heart fluttering. This really reminded him of the Matthew he knew so much. He walked over to sit on his bed, eyebrows raising. “What, are you asking me to cuddle? Even as a cat?” He jokes.
Matthew nods, his beady eyes glimmering at him. Hanbin would never say no to them. Even as a cat, Matthew only became much more endearing than before. He just nods, carefully laying himself on his own bed. Matthew shifts and waits patiently before nestling into Hanbin’s chest. A content purr is let out from the feline and there’s only so much cuteness that Hanbin could handle before he explodes.
He reaches over to turn off the lights by the nightstand and looks at Matthew one last time before he smiles fondly. “Goodnight Seokmae.”
Matthew purrs louder at that and rubs his head against Hanbin’s check and neck.
Somehow, Hanbin feels like the time where it was just him and Matthew. Back at Cube, staying in the same dorms together and cuddling after a hard day of practice.
He missed those times so much, just being able to fall into Matthew’s arms and let his sore limbs regenerate from the younger’s presence. The younger one would giggle and nuzzle his head into his like a cat and Hanbin would (weakly) do it right back.
Some nights they shared many concerns and thoughts, especially Matthew.
Matthew had always missed being home. Hanbin could tell even if the younger one didn't mention it very often. Rather, he rarely would. He always kept it under his tongue and just gazed longingly at his phone after a call from his sister or mother.
Hanbin would never say anything, and Matthew wouldn’t either. Sometimes though, he’d remember Hanbin’s presence and wordlessly walk over and collapse into the older, head slumped over his shoulder. Hanbin wouldn’t say a thing, and just rub Matthew’s back in circles, holding him close..
And then it hit him.
The anxiety of being apart from your best friend, being caught up with other things and thinking it’ll serve a good distraction but in reality it just builds up the distance and space between them. They’ve never had time to properly talk or do the things they used to anymore, and especially not during Boys Planet when everyone was on edge and filled with constant anxiety.
Sure, there were the night talks and the occasional moments of being comforted with a hug or a massage (thanks Zhang Hao), but none of them were with Matthew.
In fact, the one thing he hates to remember is the time he had a disagreement with Matthew during Say My Name. It was blown out of proportion both by him and Matthew. Hanbin blamed himself the most though, he never thought it was Matthew’s fault in the end.
Despite eventually being able to talk it out after the performance that night, the argument had shifted their relationship in a way Hanbin wished it hadn’t. Especially not after he saw how the entire episode aired. It was way more dramatic than it really was but the effect it held on Matthew was extreme.
Matthew was no longer the clingy little puppy he was back at Cube. He was more mellowed out and quiet now when he spoke with him. Sure, he’s still bright and happy to see him— but Hanbin knew Matthew long enough to be able to see that he wasn’t as cheerful to see him anymore. In fact, he was like that to a certain other member in his group— Jiwoong-hyung.
He didn’t blame Jiwoong at all. He understood that the guy had taken over his spot when the Love Killa team was formed. In fact, he appreciated the older man a lot for being there for Matthew. He listened to his worries and made him laugh when Hanbin couldn’t.
It didn’t ease the ugly feeling in his chest though whenever he saw the older man get awfully close to his best friend. He wanted nothing more than to just pull Matthew aside and make him just look at him for the moment. Only him.
Of course, Matthew wasn’t the only one who found solace and comfort in someone else. He had Zhang Hao, his Hao hyung. The inseparable duo of Boys Planet. The soulmates. He’s heard it all. He saw how social media views them. He’s seen how the other trainees and members saw it too.
Based on what they see, he couldn’t blame them. He just wished they’d know that he has always seen Hao as someone reliable he can lean on. Zhang Hao was someone who thought and believed in the same things as him so it was naturally easy to get along with him. It was like he was talking to a mirror more often than not.
It’s also why he’s seen more on broadcast with Hao, there were just more opportunities to see each other and talk about things he couldn’t with Matthew.
Like his confused feelings. He wasn’t too sure what they were before Boys Planet, but Hanbin knew for sure he saw Matthew as a really close friend. Someone he could feel comfortable with in a way where nothing was a secret between them.
That is, until they left Cube and could only occasionally keep in touch. Joining the same show was honestly a very big coincidence and he appreciated however the stars decided to align to also have them debut together. He wouldn’t dare to imagine what it would be like if his best friend wasn’t there.
Before the broadcast had started, they got matching rings together. It was Matthew’s idea to do so and Hanbin happily agreed because the idea was cute. He knew how much Matthew liked to wear accessories and jewelry. They even got to customize them and decided to draw each other as what animal best represented each other. He was a hamster to Matthew and he thought Matthew was a little fox. It was perfect. When the rings were on their pinky fingers, the shop owner congratulated them on their relationship and Hanbin had to quickly explain that they were just close friends. The owner didn’t seem so convinced by that.
And if he was being honest, even he couldn’t convince himself about their closeness. He brushed it off though. Too much to think about.
That’s why he went to his soulmate to ramble about his thoughts. Hao has honestly heard him talk too much about their sunshine member, trying his best to listen and give advice. Most of his advice was to simply talk to Matthew about everything and Hanbin always pushed it aside saying he does talk to him.
He had enough of his advice being brushed off and suggested a different thing to get his mind elsewhere. (It was making out.) At that time, he honestly didn’t understand the need for that when he didn’t like Matthew in that way, he was just confused. (He did enjoy their make out sessions but he’d never bring that up.)
It’s only when spoiler alert: the whole thing completely backfires and Matthew catches them during one of their sessions. Afterwards, he kept an even bigger distance from Hanbin and that was the moment he realized he may have a little crush on the sunshine.
However, It was only after the final TOP9 announcement with the cameras shutting off after everyone was announced that Hanbin felt the true weight of everything. He couldn’t help himself from smiling so hard at seeing Matthew standing next to him, equally as excited to debut together. He was bouncing up and down in excitement, like a really happy puppy. His heart fluttered at the sight, and his mind recorded the moment for safekeeping.
They hugged three, maybe four times before finally sitting down. He remembers the hugs being warm, so warm as if his heart was near an oven. And how Matthew’s eyes sparkled when looking at him before one last hug— he nearly collapsed at the sight. He imagined himself just taking the time out of his day to look at his best friend, see just how his smile would brighten his day and how his laughs restored peace to his mind.
He felt like throwing up thinking about all of it. He was in deep. And he knew couldn’t help his feelings. It’s the reason why he tiptoes around the younger one in a discreet way where it’s not blatantly obvious but it seems like it was noticeable enough to the point where even Matthew got affected by it and stops talking to him as much.
Worst (best) decision he’s ever made because look where it’s gotten him. He holds the feline closer, imagining it to be human Matthew.
Matthew purrs louder, rubbing his head against his neck. It tickles. It reminds him too much of a time when he cuddled a drunk Matthew and his hair did the same thing.
He wants to cry.
He missed Matthew. So much.
He realized what he really wished for wasn’t Matthew turning into a cat because of his weird fantasies, it was because he missed them. He missed this.
It almost makes him laugh at how ridiculous he was. If only he just took time to sort what’s going on in his mind he could’ve easily approached the younger instead of doing all of this.
His mind finally felt a little more clear at the realization and he can’t help the fond smile on his face. It feels good to be aware of his feelings.
He gives Matthew another look, rubbing the cat’s head before gently squeezing him.
With a poof of air and magic dust, Matthew transforms back into his human state, just with a sprout of cat ears and a tail.
“Oh god I’m still a furry.” Matthew grumbles, his claws lightly scratching at Hanbin’s chest. The older lets out a soft chuckle, the sound rumbling against Matthew’s hands.
“I personally think you look really cute.” Hanbin reaches over to gently stroke Matthew’s cat ears and hears the younger shiver and whimper at the touch. His mind immediately stores the sound into his personal Matthew files.
“Of course you think so, weirdo.” Matthew whispers, looking at Hanbin’s chest instead of his eyes. There’s a small blush on his face and god Hanbin was fighting the urge to just squish his face and kiss him all over.
“But I’m your weirdo.” He lamely says and Matthew cringes at that, punching his chest. He goes breathless at that and holds back a few tears. Hanbin won’t mention how much stronger the Canadian was right now because goodness gracious that was going to leave a bruise.
“Why were you so mean today anyways?” Hanbin asks, trying to hide the grimace forming on his face.
Matthew starts blushing harder at that and buries his face into Hanbin’s chest. “I don’t know.” He simply says.
“You don’t know?” Hanbin asks back softly, gently caressing his hair. He knows Matthew wears his heart on his sleeve majority of the time but there are a few moments where he can’t express himself properly and resorts to being downcasted and negative until the feelings go away.
Matthew lets out a small hiss and Hanbin just keeps his gaze fond, he knows his best friend doesn’t mean it. “I might need an explanation for the terror you caused me today.”
“No!” Matthew’s voice was muffled against his chest and he wriggled his body, frustrated.
Hanbin waits for the rest of his response patiently and the Canadian pulls away, eyes still down at his chest. “I didn’t get to send my goodnight message and my sleep schedule got fucked up.”
Hanbin just hums and nods. He suspected that.
“Don’t you think it’s weird? Or annoying? I shouldn’t be so cranky over dumb stuff like that.” He’s fiddling with the hem of Hanbin’s shirt, mouth pressed into a pout.
“Well, being weird isn’t a bad thing.” Hanbin starts, tracing Matthew’s jawline with his finger. He tilts Matthew’s head to make direct eye contact. “Besides, I never think you’re annoying.” He says seriously and the Canadian member stills before taking a deep breath and turning away, screaming.
Hanbin just laughs at him.
Matthew turns back, cat ears lowered down. “You’re not allowed to say things like that! It makes me think you actually pay a lot of attention to me and that you just might be in love with me! I’m a little delusional, you know?” He hisses.
Hanbin’s heart starts racing at that, his stomach flipping. He gulps. It’s now or never he supposes. He puts on his best smirk and nods. “I guess I’m allowed to say things like that then.”
At that, the catboy starts sputtering nonsense before grabbing onto him with a strong grip, as if he was going to run away. “Hyung. Stop feeding my delusions. Do not joke with me.” His voice is teetering into a whine and Hanbin’s thoughts wander into hell.
“Why would I joke about being in love with you?” He nearly whispers, resting his hand on top of Matthew’s arms, which he noticed was now shaking a little. He looked at Matthew’s eyes, they were watery.
“But don’t you like Hao-hyung?”
He does. But not in the same way as he likes his best friend. “Of course I do. But not in the same way I like you.”
Matthew's arms lay flat on the bed. He has a look in his eyes that tells Hanbin he still feels a little unsure. He reaches and grabs his hands, rubbing circles with his thumb.
“I think I loved you actually, for a while. I just didn’t know until recently.” He confesses, and he could see the other biting his lip a little.
“I definitely knew for a while but I shoved it away after I saw you and Hao-hyung…” he trails off, and Hanbin lets out a sigh. Misunderstandings suck.
“We’re just friends who made out because of… stress.” He begins to question the entire thing and realizes that he can’t really blame Matthew at all for thinking they were together. “But I only did so because I was jealous.”
Matthew makes a confused sound. “Of who?”
“You and Jiwoong. He kept flirting with you endlessly. It was frustrating.”
“But he just teases me like that– oh. I see.” Matthew puts it together and just sighs. “I hung out with Jiwoong a lot more because–” his voice gets a lot quieter. “I just felt like I disappointed you and also I felt like I couldn’t hide my feelings.”
“You never could actually disappoint me. I feel guilty about the way I treated you all the time. I didn’t mean the things I said. I’m really sorry.”
Matthew just shakes his head, giving him a small smile. He didn’t need to say anything to say he forgave him.
“This is definitely not how I expected us to be confessing to each other.” The Canadian jokes, and Hanbin chuckles.
“I think everyone was getting tired of it actually.”
“And you didn’t do anything about it?”
“It’s not like you were doing anything either!”
“My god. We’re just both idiots.”
They’re in a small moment of silence before Matthew takes a nervous gulp next to him. “You know I think this may be the time where you ask to be my boyfriend.”
Hanbin feels his mind blank before he computes what his best friend said. “Shit– you’re right.” He pauses, taking in a deep breath. “Seokmae, will you be my boyfriend?”
Matthew lets a little smile at that, and Hanbin can see he grew fangs. His thoughts run wild. “Thought you’d never ask.”
He sucks in a breath, eyes darting to his lips and then back to his eyes. “Am I allowed to kiss you?”
“Please,” Matthew basically pleads and Hanbin wastes no time to close the distance immediately, snaking a hand around the younger’s waist. Their teeth clashed at first, eliciting a groan from the older and a tiny little hiss from the other. Matthew’s hand had reached the back of his head, somehow pushing them closer.
All Hanbin could think about was just how they fit each other so perfectly, like they were just meant to be. How Matthew was meant for him. A second after that thought, the younger nips at his lips with his fangs piercing through just enough to draw a little blood. Hanbin whines at that and Matthew immediately licks it up and pushes his tongue through, leaving him completely breathless.
They soon pull away just enough to catch their breath and Hanbin reaches to swab his lips with his wrist to see the damage done. There was just a very faint brush of red and he looked up to see a satisfied smirk from the other at the sight.
He’s screenshotting and saving the sight to his secret files of his brain.
He then sees Matthew suddenly furrow his brows and tilts his head. “Is that—“ he shifts in place, then gasps. “You might– need to take care of that.” The catboy whispers with a growing blush, moving his body away just a bit and Hanbin looks at him worriedly, before Matthew’s eyes dart down and Hanbin follows his trail of vision only to realize the tent in his pants.
He also blushes in embarrassment, and turns away with his back facing Matthew and internally screams. He crosses his legs, trying to will down his sudden boner. Great job Hanbin! You couldn’t keep your horny thoughts down at all!
“Fuck— I’m so sorry, this wasn’t— I didn’t mean to—“
“Hyung.” Matthew cuts him off with a little laugh, “look at me.”
Hanbin shakes his head. He’s afraid he’s already fucked up and it hadn’t even been 10 minutes.
Matthew sighs, reaching over and sneaking a hand under his shirt, sending shivers down his spine. He pulls himself closer and raises his head, breath brushing his ear. “Let me help you, please.” He nearly whines.
The action sends Hanbin straight to hell. Of course Matthew would want to help him. He was just like that. So kind and so eager to please. His pulse quickens and he can feel the warmth spreading downwards. He hisses, trying to hold back a whine himself. Suddenly, he feels extremely thankful that they’re alone.
Matthew shifted in his place, moving his arms to Hanbin’s shoulders and pushing him down. He hops over, knees placed on his sides so he could be hovering over him. There’s a dark gaze in his eyes that has Hanbin fighting back demons.
Oh, he’s done for.
—
“Dude… this would get at least two million likes if we posted this.” Gyuvin whispers, looking at the photo he’s just taken of the two besties.
Matthew was no longer a cat now, but rather himself and was practically engulfed by Hanbin’s arms and legs. They were snoozing off, with Matthew’s snores reaching volumes that whales would be baffled by. It’s a surprise on how Hanbin could handle all of that up to his ear.
“You’re so right… send it to me.” Taerae pulls out his phone, and briefly records a snippet of Matthew snoring loudly in Hanbin’s ears, giggling to himself.
“This is so mean, guys.” Yujin interrupts them, scaring the living shit out of the three who nearly scream at the top of their lungs.
They all reprimand him to not sneak up on them like that but the maknae shrugs, glancing over at two sleepy men and sighing. “Hao hyung told me to make sure you guys weren’t doing anything weird.”
“We’ll send you the video if you don’t tell him.” Gunwook immediately brings up and Yujin doesn’t look convinced until he adds on, “And Gyuvin will stop bothering you with kisses specifically for a week.”
“Deal!” The maknae agrees and Gyuvin stands there like a Mii character, completely dumbfounded by everything.