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It takes being entangled in multicoloured led lights and the unimpressed stare from his boyfriend for Jaeyun to lose his cool.
It’s Christmas Eve, he really shouldn’t–but Jongseong is truly testing his patience.
“Are you really just going to sit there and watch?!” Jaeyun asks with the perfect doses of incredulity, offense and lack of patience mixing in the very same hue. All smudged and colouring the tone of his voice.
The only thing that Jaeyun can detect is that as much as he likes Jongseong–tonight, he kind of just wants to strangle him.
Just a tiny bit .
He may look after Jongseong on the daily, he may also annoy him on the clock–but come on, he can’t just leave him sitting by the tree, unable to make head or tails of the led lights. Trapped by them. The cords wrapped around his legs, the unending set of lights clinging to his sneakers too. Jaeyun doesn’t really know how he actually ended up in this predicament.
“You really are just going to watch?”
This one time, Jongseong doesn’t really respond with any jab–just with a stare that is both ominous and infuriating at the same time.
“Transforming into your cat self today out of all days ain’t cool man–you promised to help.”
Here’s the thing–Jongseong did promise to help with the decorations, Jongseong would love to decorate, but alas, the bad weather did a number on him.
Park Jongseong just had to shapeshift into his cat form today due to a drop in the temperature–leaving Jaeyun alone on this express Christmas decoration night. Jaeyun can’t help but wonder if he does it on purpose. With the way that Jongseong sits on top of the sofa, his stare too nonchalant, unbothered, black fur being illuminated by the led lights on the window–Jaeyun really wonders if he is enjoying the cat life today.
Jaeyun glares at Jongseong–the cat, “Transform back!”
The exasperation courses through him quite rapidly, but he knows that it’s not as easy as simply telling him to transform into his human self and there, easy, done. There are conditions that make Jongseong come back when the weather is the problem that makes his human body go poof and replaces it with his black cat form–Jaeyun hasn’t yet cracked the code. It has always happened when he’s been too sleepy to make sense of what makes Jongseong come back to his regular self.
But he can’t deny that his black cat self looks majestic while on the sofa, while glaring at him.
Jaeyun can imagine his boyfriend’s challenging stare, that ‘come at me’ behaviour that riles them up and that he loves to defy–he tries not to entertain it too much.
It’s not like he can give this guy any advantage–he’s already looking like a mess with all the lights wrapped around his limbs. He can’t give him the satisfaction of seeing through him. Who even asked him to buy such a lengthy set of lights? Ah, right, it was Jongseong who thought their tree would need the largest set of led lights.
Jongseong’s tail sways in the air, far too entertained by the mess.
“Having fun, aren’t you?”
No response.
“If you don’t transform back, we are not even going to be able to have a proper dinner–and I don’t have cat food today.”
He swears Jongseong frowns. But it takes that for him to jump off of the top of the sofa down to the cushion and then the carpet. The movements are almost silent. Jongseong walks carefully, trying not to step on any of the light bulbs, and Jaeyun can’t help his mouth, “Oh wow, you decided to do something.”
Jongseong puts his paw on top of Jaeyun’s knee, patting the green cord in a futile attempt to take it off Jaeyun maybe by force.
“You’ll break it, careful.”
Jongseong stops trying once he hears the words, jumping away from Jaeyun and on the sofa’s arm rest in a second.
“Do not.”
Bam. One of the decorations plummets and collapses against the carpet, from the corner of his eye, Jaeyun can see it was from the set that he chose. Something sparkly and wintery. Oh so his cat –wait, his boyfriend is being petty right now.
“That was my favourite.”
Jongseong looks around, towards something behind Jaeyun, the boots that they had put on the furniture that supports their TV, “Don’t dare.”
But Jongseong gives him that blank stare, then that look that warns him that he is going to drop something on his head if he doesn’t shut up. Jaeyun notices that Jongseong is taking advantage of his current form–because after all, it’s not like Jaeyun’s heart doesn’t do the thing when faced with a cute pet.
And Jongseong looks like an elegant and cute pet right now. Though still bothersome. He’s just making use of this opportunity, because Jaeyun can’t handle him around just like that while in this form. And he definitely can’t do things to pester Jongseong until he is the one whose mind collapses.
“Okay, please just change, we are running late–I am not going to spend Christmas like this, and if I stand up like this I will fall.”
Jongseong just jumps from the sofa straight into Jaeyun’s lap and settles there, miraculously, in a spot where the lights aren’t too many. Screw this super big led light package, though.
Jaeyun sighs, because Jongseong starts purring as he rubs his head against his abdomen in a silent request to be caressed.
He’s done for. He won’t pass the chance at stroking a pet.
“Change back before midnight…”
Jongseong’s purrs get louder, he relaxes against Jaeyun’s touch and Jaeyun tries to somehow get himself in a more comfortable position, so he slightly moves until he has settled himself. Back against the sofa, mind trying not to melt.
He closes his eyes, the colourful strings taking a bit to fade and making shapes sway behind his eyelids.
The almost automatic rhythm his palm takes as he caresses Jongseong’s back calms him down. Being like this, his exasperation subdues somewhat.
He isn’t sure how long it passes, when his movements become robotic, or when he is pushed away from the moment by the sound of Jongseong’s purrs against him. He isn’t sure when the light vibration does its thing and ends up disarming him.
But it does–time dissolves itself. There’s no more colour, no more festivities. It’s just his hand on Jongseong’s fur.
His hand on his fur, hand on fur, petting cat, cat, cat…
The thoughts he could have had leave him soon enough, replaced by a pleasant emptiness that makes him forget his current problems. That makes him forget that he is tied by the holiday spirit–not even metaphorically. But for real.
And Jongseong won’t do anything, and he doesn’t really have the patience to start unentangling himself.
The sound of the Christmas songs from the set of lights at the window sounds faint. Like a faint lullaby that his ears can’t even catch. He gets cold momentarily, the lack of movement getting to him, he can’t even reach the controller to do something about the temperature in the room.
So he drifts off.
What a Christmas Eve, a scattered thought is highlighted, what a Christmas Eve .
He is sitting on the floor, with zero patience to fix his situation and his boyfriend is a cat tonight– his boyfriend is a cat.
Cat? Cat.
But there’s no purring anymore, the warmth against his abdomen and his lap is all gone.
“Jongseong-ah?”
He asks, his eyes still closed, his palms searching all over his thighs, the space surrounding him.
“You are moving too much.”
Jaeyun’s eyes snap open when he hears the voice. There he is, Jongseong, his boyfriend. In the flesh. In human form. This time, his fingers are slowly trying to free him from the hold of the led lights.
“Relax or I won’t be able to do this.”
“You changed.”
Jongseong just nods, brow furrowed, sight on the puzzle in his hands, “I still don’t get how you got yourself into this situation.”
“If you hadn’t turned into a cat, I wouldn’t have.”
“Not my fault.”
“If you hadn’t asked for such a big set of lights, I wouldn’t have.”
“Do you want me to make a proper tree out of you?” Jongseong threatens. holding the cord with both hands, “I can tie you up right now if you don’t shut up.”
“That’s a holiday type of kinky but no.”
Jongseong groans, “Lord, help me.”
Jaeyun laughs under his breath, finally able to bother Jongseong properly, it makes him feel giddy and alive. And even like this, he feels so cared for. It must be retribution for all the things he’s done for Jongseong all year. Or maybe Jongseong’s got just some extra ounces of patience that he doesn’t have.
But it’s good to have him back.
Jongseong frees one of his arms, and then starts with the other, slowly keeping the rest of the lights on his grasp so that they don’t end up all spreaded out and cause more problems. And ah , feeling Jongseong handling him makes the room feel a little warmer.
The temperature rising a tiny bit without him needing to use the controller.
It makes Jaeyun wonder, how is Jongseong around again if the cold had made him shift into his cat mode, “Hey,” he asks, when Jongseong is leaning forward slightly, too into his sphere that Jaeyun can’t help but make use of this chance, “What made you come back?”
Jongseong evades his eyes, “Not telling.”
“Come on, you never tell me what it is that you need so you return to your regular self–I kind of need to know.”
The answer isn’t granted, instead, he hears Jongseong praise himself for managing to free Jaeyun’s other arm, “Now onto your legs, else you are going to trip.”
“Hey.”
“And you are going to fuck up these lights because you may step on a bulb and then we won’t have a colourful tree.”
“Tell me.”
Jaeyun doesn’t miss the way that Jongseong’s eyes dart around the place quickly before going back to the chore at hand, “Do I need an incantation or something?”
“No.”
“Then?”
It may be the lights from the window that reflect on Jongseong’s skin, but Jaeyun thinks the red ones may be showing off just now. Because there’s the faintest reflection of them on Jongseong’s cheeks, before he’s shaking his head.
“You’ll pester me if I tell you.”
“Why? Not like you need a kiss in order to transform, you are a cat–not a frog.”
Jongseong chokes on air at the mention. And it makes Jaeyun curious, because so far as he knows, it’s not like he has kissed the top of Jongseong’s head when in his cat form. The only thing he’s done is stroke his fur, feel his purrs–
No way , the realization hits.
“Do you have to snuggle against me to turn back?”
“We are not having this conversation.”
“Do you need me to caress you for that?”
“...”
“Oh my god, you need to be clingy and warm to be back to your normal self? Park Jongseong–isn’t that an excuse so that you get me to caress you then?”
Jongseong grabs the green cord with both of his hands, the look in his eyes murderous, “Say that again and I’ll wrap you but with these.”
“Better finish with this then.”
Jongseong glares at Jaeyun, but his glare soon is replaced with his pupils widening. Because Jaeyun dares speak again.
“Since you want me to snuggle with you so bad.”
“Tell me, why are we together again?”
Jaeyun shrugs, the less lights around him, the more that he feels he has the upper hand again. So he grins, aiming to provoke.
“Beats me–maybe because you like it when I take care of you.”
“Hey–”
“Or when I caress you.”
“I’ll really tie you up.”
“That’s not what we were going to do on Christmas night.”
“Please,” Jongseong groans, and Jaeyun forces himself to stop, for his boyfriend’s sake, for his own, and because if they don’t make haste, the tree will still lack light, “Just shut up.”
“I will.”
“Thank you.”
“Just one question.”
Jongseong mutters a countdown. Jaeyun still attacks.
“If I hug you once you are done, will you turn into a cat?”
Jongseong’s grip on the lights tightens, “Guess you’ll be our Christmas tree tonight.”