Work Text:
Wik! You're going to be late!"
"Just a second!" Kim answers, never looking away from the shape he noticed in the corner of the corridor. He walks slowly and crouches down. "What are you doing here? It's no place for a kitten."
The cat curls on itself even more, trying to disappear in the shadows. Someone calls his name once again. He really is going to be late to his own concert if he keeps going like this.
Tankhun would ask him later why he decided to grab the cat. He would be unable to explain it. He expects the cat to attack - or at least show some displeasure but it doesn't. It just lets out a pitiful meow before curling in his arms. It is the sweetest cat he has ever found. He is just going to make sure he is safe, finish his concert and try to find his owner after he got some sleep.
It's been three days since he found the small white cat. Three days of telling himself he has to find where the cat came from. He should have been unable to make it backstage like this. Has someone brought him and lost him? Kim can't imagine someone abandoning such a beautiful creature. He is taken out of his thoughts by a loud meow and a paw on his hand.
"Are you hungry, Angel?" the name slips easily.
No one asked about the cat so, what if he keeps it? He can't help but notice how quickly he got along with the others and it doesn't feel right to take him away now. Not when he sees how Ruby, the shy calico, is purring every time she sees Angel.
There's another meow and the slightest hint of claws on his hand as he doesn't react fast enough. He catches the paw before he gets a scratch. "No scratch, I have a shoot later today."
One week.
He asked around a little about the cat but no one knew anything about him. It would be a lie to say he isn't relieved about it. It's been a week of waking up with the white cat sleeping against him. It's been a week of loud meows when he gets caught up in work and forgets to eat. He still doesn't have a good eating schedule but the days he works at home are better than they used to be. He is always rewarded with purrs and cuddles..
Two weeks and he has stopped looking around for the cat owner. If he ever had one they clearly don't care enough about him.
Two weeks and it's when Kim makes a "mistake". He has been feeling exhausted all day but can't cancel his live promoting an upcoming concert so he decided to set it up at home. As he starts the live he sees fans commenting on how pale he looks. He is quick to reassure them and tell them to take care as the flu season has started. He is answering questions about the upcoming concert when he hears the door of the studio open. The sound of little paws on the hard floor quickly followed by a pitiful meow are enough for him to understand what is happening.
For a moment he forgets he is live and stands up to collect the cat. "What are you doing here, Angel? I'm working." He walks back to the chair and sits, the cat curling on his lap. The comment section of the live has turned into chaos. He lets out a small WIK laugh and apologizes for abandoning them.
Right after the live ends he can see the posts about "WIK's new kitten" spread like wildfire. People asks for how long the cat has been around; how no one noticed him before. Some other tag cat brands asking about endorsement. Kim chuckles at this last one. He had just finished a promotional shooting the previous week after months of his manager pestering him.
Kim turns off his phone when Tankhun tries to call him for the third time. He will apologize later and send him samples of this new designer's work he keeps talking about. Right now he can feel how his throat itches and he only wants to crawl in bed and cuddle with his cats.
Three months later and Kim is packing a bag for a concert abroad. Angel anxiously walks around him. He has already removed him from the bag three times and just stopped him before he went in once more.
"I can't take you with me this time, Angel. It's just for a few days."
A loud meow answers him. He is interrupted by his phone. He doesn't have time to say hi before his manager's voice asks where he is.
"I'll be down in a minute."
"Okay and make sure you don't bring your menace."
The menace is sitting in front of him, staring dagger at his phone as if he could understand the words. He nods before hanging up.
"Come here Angel." The cat stands up and jumps on him. "They won't let you in the plane so you have to stay and take care of the others."
The cat huffs but allows him to finish packing. Such a strange cat.
As soon as he is back to Bangkok after his few days away, Kim can only think of getting home. He takes the time to greet fans and take some pictures with them but he can only think of Angel waiting at home. He is sure the cat is going to sulk and try to ignore him. It ever lasts long though. Just a few well chosen treats and the promise of cuddles are enough most of the time to have the cat forgiving him.
Kim tense as soon as he steps into his apartment building. Something doesn't feel right. The old man at the reception is nowhere to be seen. The uneasy feeling increases when he reaches his floor and realizes his door is unlocked. He reaches for his gun before he remembers he doesn't have it. He curses himself before reaching for the knife in his right boot. If anyone had hurt his cats he would burn down the city and deal with the consequences after.
He slowly pushes the door open and walks in. There is someone in the middle of his living room. He tightens his grip on his knife, trying to decide his next move. Black and White running in the living room crushes down any hope of staying stealthy. The cats rush to his side with loud meows, happy to see him.
"P'Kim!" what appears to be a young boy squeaks as he looks up to where the cats ran to. Before he can make sense of why there is a stranger in his apartment the boy disappears. He is replaced by a familiar white shape that runs under the couch.
What exactly happened here?
After making sure they are alone, it takes half of the night to coax the cat – boy? – out of his hiding spot and even more to have him shift back. Kim doesn't think too much about how it is possible.
"Are you hungry," Kim hears himself ask instead of whatever he intended to say. The boy looks surprised but shyly nods and follows him to the kitchen.
They don't talk as Kim tries to find something to eat. He settles on toasts.
''I wanted to go, after the first night here," Angel starts to explain. Kim can only notice how soft his voice is, a little unsure too. "The other cats convinced me to stay. They told me how nice you were with them and something about -" the boy’s voice falters and he blushes.
"Something about?" Kim repeats, curious about the reaction.
"Nothing! Those cats know nothing."
"It feels like they do know something, Angel." It is so easy to talk with the boy. Kim feels like he already knows him and, in a sense, he does. They have been living together for months and the boy doesn't feel like a threat.
"Chay. My name is Chay."
Another blush follows the words. Kim would like to see more of it but there are more urgent matters. He is almost sure the boy is not the one that unlocked his door.
"Why did you decide to show yourself now?" and not before, is implied but Kim doesn't say it.
"There was a man here!" Chay exclaims as if he only remembers it now, "he was snooping around and tried to bug your room. I made him run away when I realized he was not one of your strange friends in suits."
There are too many things at once for Kim to take in. He should focus on the "stranger in his apartment" instead of the satisfied smile on the boy's face. Now he wonders how exactly a small kitten like him made the man go. It is a question for another time.
"Did they see you?"
"I scratched his face so, yes?" It is clear the boy has not understood his question.
"I meant you," he says, making a vague move toward the other. It looks like it is enough for Angel – Chay, Kim corrects himself – to understand and quickly shakes his head no.
They finish eating in silence. Kim is ignoring the time it is and how he is supposed to be at the studio at 10 in the morning. All his focus is on the other slowly finishing his plate. Maybe it would be easier to not sleep at all and try to find who dared to intrude in his home.
"P'Kim?" Chay asks suddenly, "Is it weird if I still want to sleep in your bed?"
Kim doesn't know what to say. He is having a hard time wrapping his mind around the fact that his sweet white kitten is also this boy with the biggest doe eye he has ever seen.
"I won't take too much space, I swear!" Chay is quick to add, as if it was the main issue here.
It makes him laugh. Angel... No, Chay, always ends up taking over all of the bed. Kim realizes he doesn't care about the idea of having a human version of his kitten doing it.
"I just don't want to be alone. These three days felt like forever."
It is when Kim realizes he is unable to say no to him, either be it the cat or the human. He just nods and is rewarded with the brightest smile ever.