"We should get a cat."

That's how it started out. A random thought Yeonjun had blurted out one day while watching a movie on tv. Soobin had laughed it off, thinking it was just one of those random thoughts you get but never really ever follow through with. He had said a small, "sure" while chuckling before forgetting about the matter entirely and going back to making dinner for the two of them – thinking Yeonjun would forget about the matter as well. Boy, had he been wrong.

The very next day when Soobin had come home, from his shift at the coffee shop he worked at, he was welcomed home by a cute Russian blue cat padding its way across the floor over to him. It approached him and rubbed up against him, tail up and snaking around his leg. Soobin almost cooed over the way its paws sounded on the hardwood floors of the apartment before remembering that he was usually greeted by his boyfriend and not a cat. Taking care, Soobin scooped the cat up in his hand and he would be lying if he didn't inwardly swoon at how the cat fits right into his arms.

"Yeonjun?" Soobin called out, throwing down his bag while cradling the cat close to his chest, the cat meowed and dug its face in the crook of his arm hiding its face.

"Yeah?" Soobin heard a muffled voice coming from their bathroom. As he got closer to the door, he could hear the shower running.

"Can I come in?" Soobin asked after knocking on the door. He heard a laugh before he heard Yeonjun say, "sure". When Soobin entered the bathroom the glass of the shower was fogged up and the whole bathroom was humid – it was like walking into a sauna room. Soobin flipped the lid of the toilet down (Yeonjun had a bad habit of leaving it up) and sat down on the toilet, setting the cat down on his lap. At the sound of the toilet lid going down, Yeonjun opened the glass door slightly and poked his head out.

"Why are you asking if you can come in, you never- oh I see you discovered Mr. Whiskers," Yeonjun beamed at him or rather at the cat sitting on his lap. His hair was wet and dripping onto the floor, creating a small puddle.

"Stick your head back in the shower - you're creating a puddle," Soobin resisted pushing Yeonjun's head back in himself as he looked at the puddle he was creating on the floor. Yeonjun stuck his tongue out and didn't move his head.

"I have to introduce Mr. Whiskers to you first. Soobin meet Mr. Whiskers – Whiskers for short," Yeonjun reached out a hand to stroke Mr. Whiskers – Whiskers for short – but the cat shied away from the wet hand, jumping down from Soobin's lap and disappearing out the door. Yeonjun pouted.

"So, that's a thing now?" Soobin asked, looking at Yeonjun expectantly while grabbing a spare towel to wipe up the puddle that Yeonjun was only making bigger.

"Yeah, I mean, I know we've never talked about you wanting kids..." Yeonjun spoke, suddenly being mock serious before laughing and ducking his head behind the glass door of the shower again to avoid the towel being thrown at his head.

"Yah, we've never even talked about marriage before you idiot! That cat is not our child!" Soobin screeched out but the screech was muffled by the sound of Yeonjun's laughter.

**

Mr. Whiskers – whiskers for short – became an integral part of their lives very quickly. Whisker was very much like their child, even though Soobin wouldn't admit it, and the two wouldn't have it any other way.

"Did you feed Whiskers?" Soobin shouted, one foot already out the door but he couldn't properly leave without knowing Yeonjun had fed his baby.

"Yes, this is the fourth time you've asked, and you literally also watched me put his food in his bowl and you literally watched Whiskers start to eat his food." Yeonjun playfully rolled his eyes through a mouthful of toast. Soobin narrowed his eyes at him.

"Are you telling me I'm worrying for no reason over the well fair of our child?"

"Our child?" Yeonjun gasped and almost dropped his coffee cup as he jumped up. "You've never called Whiskers OUR child before!" Soobin immediately pretended he hadn't said anything and looked at the non-existent watch on his wrist.

"Oh, would you look at the time? I'm late for uhm coffee making." Soobin started walking down the hallway towards the elevator.

"I heard you say it! No take backs!" Yeonjun shouted at Soobin from the doorway, probably waking up all of their neighbours. "Oh, also don't forget I won't be home when you get home. I've got to teach a dance class so Taehyun will be here to babysit OUR CHILD."

"SHUT UP!"

Yeonjun chuckled and Whiskers meowed at his feet.

**

There were moments where they both just loathed having a cat in their apartment. Whiskers was far from angelic but they both just let it slide most of the time.

One of those moments was when Whiskers decided to claim their bed and not sleep on his own bed. Yeonjun only wanted to cuddle with his boyfriend but when he turned over in bed to move closer to Soobin he was blocked by a big fur ball. But Yeonjun couldn't bear to disturb Whiskers when he stared down at cat curled up and snuggled against Soobin's chest.

Some days when Yeonjun just wanted to sleep comfortably, Whiskers would settle onto his chest and fall asleep. It was uncomfortable for Yeonjun in every single way but the soft vibrations of the purrs and warm feeling on his chest made him feel special and even though he meant to, he never chased the cat away.

However, one thing both Soobin and Yeonjun hated was when Whiskers would wake them up earlier than their alarms. This would have been fine if both Soobin and Yeonjun didn't value their sleep as much as they did – Soobin especially needed his sleep, if he didn't have at least 8 hours of sleep he'd be grumpy.

On the days where Whiskers hadn't managed to worm his way into their bed, he took to padding into their room and meowing until one of them or both of them woke up and paid attention to him. On the good days, they would wake up and play with him. On the bad days, they would groan.

"It's your turn to wake up and play with him," Soobin mumbled as he moved his head from Yeonjun's chest and covered his head with a pillow. Yeonjun whined and rolled over to trap Soobin in his arms.

"It's your turn," his whispered in Soobin's ear but didn't release his grip on him.

"It is not," Soobin groaned, contemplating throwing a pillow at Mr. Whiskers, but he just didn't have the energy for it. "Could you please just do it for me this one time? You can have my butter bread," Soobin muttered before just falling back off to sleep.

Yeonjun, who was also ready to just go back to sleep, couldn't when Whiskers started prodding at him to get up. He released Soobin, rolled over and picked Mr. Whiskers up, holding him as he got up and walked to the kitchen. He yawned and rubbed his face against the cat's fur mumbling, "Look what you're doing to me Whiskers. Do you even care that you disturb your two dads sleep?" He held the cat up, like Rafiki from Lion King, glaring at the cat. Innocent, yellow eyes stared down at him and Yeonjun sighed, giving in to the cuteness.

"I can't stay mad at you." He held the cat close to his chest again. "Now, let's go make breakfast for Soobinnie. It looks like butter bread is on the menu."

**

Yeonjun doesn't specifically know when he'd realised he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Soobin.

If you asked him, he'd say that he'd known all along. But he knew the moment he'd decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Soobin.

It was a day off for both of them. The first day off for the two of them in a long time. Soobin had been busy taking extra shifts at the café and Yeonjun had been teaching more and more dance classes. They hadn't spent much time with each other besides rushed breakfasts and quiet goodnights but more importantly, they both hadn't spent much time with Mr. Whiskers. Taehyun, Beomgyu and Huening Kai had been cat sitting for them whenever they could and Soobin and Yeonjun had been missing Whiskers.

Yeonjun had been walking around the apartment, Whiskers trailing after him meowing at him to be picked up until Yeonjun finally decided to pick him up. Yeonjun had him resting on his shoulder like a baby, rocking him back and forth. He had missed the soft feeling of the fur against his cheek and the calming vibrations of his purrs.

Yeonjun heard the snap of a camera followed by the cooing sounds of his boyfriend. He turned to see Soobin with a camera in his hands and a huge smile on his face, looking at the scene with happiness painted over his face.

"What's got you so happy?" Yeonjun asked, walking towards Soobin while still rocking Whiskers in his arms. Soobin stroked Whisker's head and scratched behind his ear before answering.

"Nothing really. Just that this is what I always wanted." Soobin swooned and looked at Whiskers with heart eyes when he meowed.

"What do you mean?"

"This is what I've always wanted with you. A family." Soobin sighed, content. Yeonjun almost melted at the answer and he wanted to kiss his boyfriend right then and there. And he would have, leaning forward using one arm to pull Soobin closer by his waist, if Soobin hadn't put a hand on his forehead and pushed him away.

"Not in front of the child, dummy." Soobin giggled, taking Whiskers from him, escaping from his arm and walking towards the bedroom.

"You do know he's a cat and not an actual human child, right?" Yeonjun asked, chasing after him wanting that kiss.

**

Yeonjun had been over the plan with Taehyun, Beomgyu and Huening Kai more than once. In fact, he'd been over the plan almost a hundred times. Or at least that's what Huening Kai claimed.

"Hyung, we know the plan. You don't have to keep telling us the plan and checking that we know," Huening Kai complained, jumping onto the bed while Yeonjun worriedly paced the room.

"Okay but let's go over it one more time just so we're all sure it'll be perfect." Yeonjun stopped pacing and looked towards his friends, expectantly. Huening Kai groaned but Taehyun hit his leg, earning him a glare in return but he shut up and allowed Taehyun to go over the plan one last time.

"We will wait quietly in the bedroom with this cake," Beomgyu held up the cake, showing off the beautifully piped flowers and the large 'congratulations!' iced on. "while you go and ask Soobin to marry you. We come out when he's answered, and I'll keep Huening Kai from digging through your draws while we wait. Now stop pacing and worrying." Taehyun stood in front of Yeonjun to stop him from pacing but he was just as fidgety standing still as he was pacing.

"Hyung, don't worry. The proposal will be perfect. Did you put the collar on Whiskers already?" Beomgyu patted Yeonjun on the back, trying to stop Yeonjun from being so fidgety.

"I put the collar on him this morning right after Soobin left for work. Oh god, this is actually happening. I'm actually going to propose. What if he says no?" it suddenly dawned on Yeonjun that after weeks of planning, he was finally going to do it. Everything was so planned out but it all still felt nerve-wracking because Soobin's answer was unknown.

"There's no way Soobin hyung will say no. He looks at you like you're his entire world," Huening Kai reassured Yeonjun. Yeonjun sat down next to him on the bed, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"You're sure he'll say yes?" Yeonjun asked again, his worries refusing to leave him.

"You guys have been together for years now and I'll be more shocked if he says no than when he says yes. And yes, when because he's going to say yes. We all know it. So, stop worrying and just like breathe in and out please because you're making me nervous and all I'm doing is holding a cake." Beomgyu flicked his forehead and Yeonjun looked up at him offended.

"I'm older than you, you know," Yeonjun reached out to playfully hit him but Beomgyu jumped out of the way and just stuck his tongue out at him. He was about to get up and chase Beomgyu around the room when he heard the sound of the door being opened. There was a muffled, "Yeonjun?" followed by the sounds of Soobin greeting Whiskers.

He looked to his friends; eyes wide. They all gave him a thumbs up and huge smiles as they pushed him towards the door. Taehyun mouthed "good luck" before opening the door and pushing Yeonjun through it.

**

Soobin sighed in relief as he walked into the apartment. He had had a long day at work, filled with difficult customers and he just wanted to come home and cuddle with his boyfriend and cat. However, when Soobin set his bag down on the island in the kitchen his boyfriend was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeonjun?" he called out, hoping he'd hear his boyfriends voice – he needed it after the day he had. At the sound of his voice, Whiskers came padding towards him to rub his head against Soobin's leg – his usual greeting. Soobin scooped Whiskers up into his arms, hugging him close.

"Hi, Whiskers. Did you miss me today? I bet you missed me," Soobin always spoke to Whiskers like he was speaking to a baby. He scratched Whiskers underneath his chin, pausing when he discovered a new collar around Whiskers neck. It was different to the one he usually had – it was thin and pink with what, at first glance, seemed like a really big bell but upon closer look, it was actually a plastic ball with something inside.

"How did you end up with a new collar huh?" Soobin asked, more to himself than the cat as he gently took the plastic ball off the collar and examined it. It could only have been Yeonjun who put Whiskers in a new collar. Soobin opened up the little plastic ball, curious when he pulled out a folded-up piece of paper. He looked at Whiskers. "Are you a carrier cat now? Delivering messages for Yeonjun?" Soobin chuckled at the thought while he unfolded the paper. From the corner of his eye, he could see Yeonjun approaching him and he was about to look up and greet him when he paused.

He'd finally unfolded the paper and looked at the words written there. They were written in Yeonjun's familiar scrawly handwriting that always took Soobin a second to decipher. He slowly mouthed the words to himself word by word, "Will...you...marry...me?"

It took Soobin a second before he fully comprehended the words written on the paper. He'd talked about marriage with Yeonjun just a week ago when Yeonjun had brought it up while they were laying in bed. It was always a topic they had both never really thought of or wanted to bring up but that night they'd talked about it for hours. Soobin knew what his answer would be, he had known for the longest time but Yeonjun had never ever asked the question.

Soobin looked to Yeonjun, mouth slightly open in shock. Yeonjun was in front of his, on one knee, holding out a ring and Soobin couldn't believe his eyes. He almost didn't hear Yeonjun start talking.

"...for years now and I love you more than words can ever convey. You're the only face I want to see when I wake up and the last face I want to see at the end of the day. I want to make you the happiest person in the entire world and I definitely want to adopt another cat with you. So, will you marry me?"

Yeonjun poured his heart out as best he could. He had never been the best at words, but he felt like he'd said everything he wanted to. He looked at Soobin, waiting for an answer. Soobin was silent for what felt like a minute and Yeonjun worried for a split second that he would say no but then Soobin broke out into a wide smile.

"Yes! Ohmygod yes!"

Yeonjun immediately jumped up and engulfed him into a huge hug before pressing quick kisses to Soobin's lips. Yeonjun could hear Beomgyu, Taehyun and Huening Kai running out of the bedroom cheering and felt Soobin jump a little. He laughed into one last kiss before turning to celebrate with his friends.

"I told you he'd say yes!" Beomgyu shouted before smearing icing on Yeonjun's face. Soobin laughed, taking some of the icing off of Yeonjun's face with his finger and licking it.

"You thought I wasn't going to say yes?" he asked.

"I was nervous, you could always have said no," Yeonjun picked Whiskers up and hid behind him. #

"Yeonjun we've been together for years; we're basically already married," Soobin laughed and admired the ring on his finger. Soobin smiled a sparkle in his eye and leaned in close to Yeonjun's ear.

"Just to be clear I'd say yes a thousand times over."

**

It was a small wedding – just family and friends. Yeonjun had brought up the idea of eloping at one time, earning him a glare. Soobin wanted a special day and that's exactly what he got. He'd never been happier than he had been that day.

They had both agreed on not going on a honeymoon but rather just spending a whole week to themselves in their apartment. It was comfortable and intimate. But, Soobin had promised that they'd get a proper honeymoon one day when they both had more money.

Married life was somehow different even though nothing had really changed. They both did the exact same things they did before they got married after they got married. Yeonjun made breakfast for Soobin after being woken up by Whiskers. Soobin continued to reprimand Yeonjun about leaving the toilet seat up. And they both still continued to raise Whiskers like their child. But there were small things that made it different. Yeonjun's favourite difference was introducing Soobin as his husband. He loved it so much he even introduced Soobin as his husband to people who already knew Soobin.

("This is Soobin, my husband." Yeonjun said, smugly.

"I know hyung! I was at your wedding! I've known you for years!" Taehyun rolled his eyes.)

They had adopted another cat not long after the wedding – Yeonjun had been eager for Whiskers to have a sibling. Floofy was a snowshoe cat and at first, it had been difficult getting Whiskers and Floofy to be good siblings. They fought over attention even though there was enough to go around and there had been a huge ordeal about food bowls but eventually Soobin and Yeonjun had managed to get them to get along (after a lot of hard work and a lot of arguing about which method was better).

Yeonjun enjoyed his life the most on the lazy days. Days when it was just the two of them, Whiskers and Floofy sleeping on their laps, some random tv show on tv and Yeonjun's head resting upon Soobin's shoulder. Yeonjun sighed a happy sigh.

"What are you sighing for?" Soobin asked, hand intertwining with Yeonjun's.

"'M just happy," Yeonjun said and Soobin hummed in agreement. They were silent for a minute again before Soobin spoke.

"We should get another cat."

"That would be purr-fect!" Yeonjun looked up at his husband and giggled, knowing he wouldn't like the silly pun. Soobin immediately let go on Yeonjun's hand, unamused and would have moved away from him, had it not been for the cat sleeping on his lap.

"Why did I marry you?"

"Because you love me, even with all the puns," Yeonjun leaned over and kissed Soobin on the cheek. Soobin sighed.

"Yeah, I love you – puns and all."