C-19
Minho groans under me. "Stop fidgeting, will you?"
"I'm sorry," I whisper back.
The car suddenly speeds up and I almost get thrown out of the seat. Why is Changbin driving so fast?!
"Ah-- Shit... Stop moving!" Minho's arms around my waist tighten.
My face is so hot and my heartbeat is so loud. I've never been so close to anyone before and it makes me so nervous!
"Am I heavy?" I ask him.
"No."
"Then why do you keep complaining?" I try to face him but his arms are really firm.
"Yeah! Why is little Minho so sensitive?" Chan asks.
"Just stop moving and don't ask." Minho breathes deeply as his thighs seem to get tenser.
"You should've just let me sit on Chan's lap." I purse my lips.
"No fvcking way."
I hear snickers coming from the front and I see Chan and Changbin looking at us amusedly through the rearview mirror.
"Y/n straddling me... Wouldn't you like to see that?" Chan smirks.
"W-What?"
Minho looks at Chan with a glare so cold. "Say that again and I swear to every saint that I'll be the one straddling you with a knife on your throat."
Chan immediately stops giggling like a kid. "Sorry, Y/n..."
"Serves you right." Changbin snickers.
I shake my head and smile at them through the rearview mirror. It's not their fault that the equipment must be really important.
"We're here!" Chan says as the car stops at the place I told them about.
When the car is finally parked, Minho immediately unbuckles the seatbelt and nearly throws me out. Isn't he the one who made me sit on his lap? I really don't get him sometimes but it's fine, he's Minho.
Chan rolls down the window. "This is where we part ways."
"You're not coming with us?"
"As much as we wanted to, something suddenly came up," Chan says and nudges the driver.
"Bye, Y/n. I really wanted to help though." Changbin gives me a sincere smile.
"We'll go now. Good luck with the project and Minho!"
They wave at me and the car departs soon after. When I turn to Minho, he looks stressed.
"Are you mad?"
He sighs. "Letting them meet you is a bad idea."
"I would've taken the bus if I knew that I'd be riding you instead."
"You... You what?" His eyes widen a little, and then his lips curl up into a smirk.
"You could've told me if I was too heavy!"
"I won't mind being the bottom sometimes." He shrugs.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, let's go."
Minho's smirk didn't last because his jaw fell when he saw what's in front of us.
"What's wrong?"
"Do we really have to go here?" he asks uneasily.
"Why? Do you want to go elsewhere? I spent hours coming up with an idea for today's shoot though."
"I just think it's too fluffy here. Not my style." He averts his gaze.
"Oh..." I can't help but pout.
He clears his throat. "On second thought, this setting does suit you. Too clichéd and mushy."
"Hey! Jisung's the one who suggested this place!"
We enter the cafe and go straight to the cashier. A tall boy with a mole under his left eye greets us. He stares at my face for quite a while, lips parting a bit before smiling widely. I don't know why I suddenly feel awkward.
"Welcome to Mochi Cafe where you can enjoy the fluffiest snacks with the fluffiest friends!"
Minho tells him our order of iced americano, iced chocolate milk, and strawberry shortcakes.
"You can go inside now, I'll just bring your drinks."
"Thank you," I reply without looking at him.
Minho frowns when I hurriedly go inside the other room where the fluffy creatures are waiting for us. He takes my hand and stops me in my tracks.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, I just feel hungry." I try to laugh it off, pointing to the whole room. "Look! Aren't they the cutest?"
Upon entering, we can see different breeds of cats walking around and interacting with some of the customers. There aren't many people inside since it's still early.
I look at Minho to see his reaction but he still has his eyes on me.
"Really, huh?" he says sarcastically.
"But I really am hungry..." I pout at my failed diversion.
"Tsk."
When we take our seats, a cat jumps onto his lap and rubs its face on his tummy. He seems to freeze, his hands even ball up.
"Don't you like them?"
"You think?" he deadpans.
I look down sadly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought you here."
"No, sorry. I didn't mean that."
My head snaps to his direction in disbelief.
"What?" He frowns.
"Did you just... apologise?"
"Yeah, I did. What about it?"
I can't help but smile because that's an improvement. Back then, he used to say that nothing was ever his fault but look at him now!
"I guess you did."
He scoffs, but a smile slowly appears on his face. Another look of disbelief crosses my face as I look at him wide-eyed. He used to only smirk at me teasingly but now he's showing me a genuine expression!
He rolls his eyes but he's still smiling. "You're so slow, aren't you? Be thankful that we're surrounded by cats or else I'll leave you."
"I thought you're cat-intolerant?"
"I always lie."
I cross my arms and frown at him. "You should stop lying, I don't like it when people do that."
"This is why I didn't want to be friends with you. I have a reputation and now I'm about to destroy it on your watch."
"Smiling doesn't make you less cool! I think you look better when you smile than when you keep your bad boy image..." I feel my cheeks heat up at my own words.
Minho smiles and flicks my forehead. "Listen here. I'm about to tell you my secret so you better keep your mouth shut... unless you want me to shut it for you?" He moves his face closer to mine.
I do a zipping motion on my lips, hoping that he doesn't notice the blush that I'm sure is on my whole face. He chuckles and moves back to his place, closing his eyes momentarily as if to prepare for a big revelation.
"I like-- no, I love cats."
"YOU LOVE CATS?"
"Shh!" He immediately covers my lips and glares. I giggle against his hand whilst he shakes his head.
"Why does it have to be a secret? I think it's cute!" I shake his arm and he just rolls his eyes.
"You're calling me cute when I just threatened to silence you seconds ago? I mean it, by the way."
"What bad would that bring? Not all people are blackmailers, you know? I won't use that against you." I grin. "I'm just glad you opened up to me."
I can see him forming a little smile but he's suppressing it.
"Knowing me is bad enough so stop now before you get in too deep." Minho pokes my cheek.
"You can't stop me." I stick out my tongue playfully. "Do you own a cat?"
"You're really persistent, aren't you?" He sighs. "I have two."
"I'm jealous! I've never had a pet because my mum won't allow it."
"You should've tried sneaking one in, she won't be able to do anything once it's there."
"I'm an obedient child, alright? I'm too scared to do anything even just mildly risky. What if my family disowns me?"
He laughs. "Good is boring, live your life a bit."
"I'll just have fun through you. Tell me more about your cats!"
"Their names are Soonie and Doongie. I've had Soonie for years now, whilst Doongie is from an acquaintance's cat that gave birth. I'm an only child so they're like my siblings."
Minho is smiling the whole time he's talking about his cats. I really hope that he'll smile more from now on.
"How did you come up with those names?"
He looks away. "I just did."
"What about their genders?"
He scratches his head. "Cats?"
"Don't tell me you don't know?" I laugh at him.
"That's fair enough since I forget that you're a girl sometimes."
"What? But I'm not a cat!"
Minho smirks. "You're like a little kitten who always follows where her master goes."
He turns his attention to the tiny cat on his lap. It's a kitten with streaks of black and grey fur. He chuckles when the cat jumps on my lap and lays on me.
"He's so cute!" I coo when he rubs his face on my hand. I hand my phone to Minho and blink hard to prevent the happy tears caused by the kitty. "Can you take a picture of us, please?"
He rolls his eyes but does it anyway. "I want to keep him," he says after.
"Let's ask if we can adopt him."
"My parents won't allow it, I already have two." He sighs. "But just look at him..."
Our moment is paused when the drinks finally arrive. I start to feel the same awkwardness from earlier as I avoid the boy from the cashier as much as possible. Minho moves to sit closer to me.
"What's wrong," he demands but I refuse to look at him. Minho lifts my chin up with his forefinger so I'm directly facing him. He's frowning, looking really worried. "Y/n?"
"That boy... He's been staring since we arrived. I don't know why but it makes me feel really uncomfortable. I'm not sure if I saw a flash, or maybe it's just the lights? I'm just being paranoid, don't mind me..."
He pats my head reassuringly. "Stay behind me."
I nod and hold onto his arm as the boy comes back with our snacks. He almost knocks over the plate when Minho watches his every move with his poker face.
"Uh, that's all y-you've ordered. Tell me if y-you want anything else..." the boy stutters, looking really nervous.
"You," Minho says.
"Huh?!" The boy points to himself. "Me?!"
"What's your problem?" He glares.
"What a-are y-you talking about?" The boy trembles.
Minho scoffs. "Use your eyes correctly unless you want them gone."
The boy raises his hands in surrender and shakes his head defensively. "I'm sorry, okay! I didn't mean to stare! Jisung told me to spy-- I mean watch over you two in case you need anything! Yeah, that's the word!"
"Jisung?" I peek from Minho's back to look at the boy's face. My eyes widen in recognition. "Wait... Are you Hyunjin?"
"Geez, yes! I'm Hwang Hyunjin!"
Minho raises an eyebrow. "Do you know this creep?"
"Hey, I'm not a creep! I'm Jisung's most loyal friend. Hmp!" he says dramatically with his hands on his hips.
The awkwardness and uncomfortableness I've been feeling dissipate. I suddenly remember that Jisung has three friends where I've only met two because the other one studies at a different school. He told me that his other friend works part-time at a cafe but I'm not sure where and I'm only realising it now.
"Then why are you staring at us like a weirdo?"
"I was just curious who Y/n is. It's my first time seeing her, you know? I only know her from Felix and Seungmin," he explains and turns to me. "I'm sorry that I freaked you out."
"It's fine, it was just a misunderstanding after all."
He smiles, his eyes turning into crescent moons. "I wish we could've had a better first impression though but yeah... Hello, I'm Hwang Hyunjin!"
I wave at him shyly. "I'm Moon Y/n."
"I've heard so much about you and they're all true, you're really cute. Nice to meet you!" He offers his hand.
I'm about to shake it but Minho takes my hand instead. He looks at Hyunjin from head to toe and scoffs.
"Your sorry doesn't cut it. You can't just scare her and shake her hand."
The tall boy scratches his head. "Right, I forgot. I'll pay for your order to make us even then."
Minho rolls his eyes and sits back down to play with the cats. I shake my head as I watch him, but then an idea pops in my mind. I turn to Hyunjin who's just about to take his wallet out.
"Wait!" They both look at me.
"Do you want to order more?" the tall boy asks. "It's fine. It's just money which I don't have much to begin with, but go on."
"Can we adopt this little kitten right here instead?"
"Um... Adoption's not really part of our business."
"Oh..." I purse my lips in disappointment.
Hyunjin looks at me for a moment before slowly smiling. "Well, I think once is okay."
"Really? Can I bring him home now?" I ask and he nods. "Thank you, Hyunjin!"
He giggles. "No problem, but just this once, okay? Don't tell others or they might swarm in for adoptions instead of snacks."
"Okay!"
Hyunjin went to get the cat box where I could put my new pet. I look at Minho and see him shaking his head at my rash decision.
"You said you're afraid to take risks."
"I can just sneak him in, they won't be able to do anything once he's there," I repeat his words from earlier with a smile.
"Copycat." He scoffs but a smile is present on his face.
"Here's the cat box!"
Hyunjin came back and helped me set up the cat box so my pet will be comfortable. I cradle my first ever baby who I vow to take care of to the best of my ability.
"What was his name? I forgot to ask."
"He's actually new here so we haven't decided on one yet." Hyunjin shows his smiling eyes. "Now, it's your turn to think of one."
I look at Minho who just shakes his head with an amused smile. "Do the honour."
I smile brightly as I look at the black-grey kitten in my arms. "Your name is Dori."