got7-vibes

“Hey, JB,” one of the older farmworkers called to him one day. “You like cats, right?”

JB thought about his social media, which was filled with posts about his four cats. The most popular posts always involved Jackson and BamBam’s antics, although Mark was a solid favourite (a beauty, his followers raved, look at that model). Jinyoung was popular too, always regal with his nose in the air. Someone called him the Prince of cats; the title stuck.

“Yeah, kinda,” JB admitted, offhand. The farmworker nodded.

“My aunt has like fifteen cats,” she said and JB felt his eyebrows lift. “Yeah. But…she’s not able to take care of herself now, much less the cats. We’ve taken her to a hospice, and we’ve been rehoming her cats. But she has two really young ones that no one wants and I was wondering–”

“I’ll take them,” JB blurted and then blinked at himself. She looked so relieved though, but when she returned early the next day with a large cardboard box, her expression was so dismayed.

“I didn’t know they were so bad,” she said, placing the box on the floor of his large patio. “She really forgot about them. I think the older cats would eat their food.”

The two kittens in the box looked about the same age as BamBam, but they were so scrawny. They huddled in a corner of the box, staring up at him with big, frightened eyes. JB felt his whole heart melt.

“It’s okay,” he told her, trying to smile. “They’ll be fine.”

“That one is Youngjae,” she said, pointing to the smaller of the two, the one with the adorable round face. “And that’s Yugyeom. I guess you can change their names if you want.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” JB said, a little tickled at the fact that all of his cats had very unpetlike names. He took them in and gently cleaned them up. They were very weak, and he sequestered them in the other room, much to Jinyoung’s annoyance (Jinyoung believed that all spaces were his and no doors should ever be shut to him) and to everyone else’s intense curiosity. Youngjae did not eat unless he was hand-fed, which JB thought was so cute, and Yugyeom refused to come out from underneath the bed for a few days. He kept them in there for two whole weeks, until they seemed confident that the food he gave them was rightfully theirs, before he let them out to meet the other cats.

Youngjae, as soon as the other cats spotted him, transformed from a spoiled little cutie to an even More Spoiled Little Cutie. In a moment, he became everyone’s darling, and he seemed to take a perverse pleasure in startling Jackson at every opportunity; it was hilarious to watch him wait behind a curtain and then jump out at Jackson, who would leap four feet in the air.

Yugyeom was received with a little more reserve, although Jinyoung took a deep interest in him. Jinyoung would stare at him for so long until poor Yugyeom just had to move away. Mark obviously liked him, but Mark tended to like anything and Yugyeom could sit and watch Jackson for hours, which was just fine by Jackson’s standards. JB hadn’t realised that in the two weeks, Yugyeom had grown so much. He hadn’t been that small when he’d first arrived, but now he towered over everyone else, even though JB was reasonably sure that Yugyeom was the youngest. He drew a lot of attention, because he liked to trail behind JB around the farm as much as BamBam, and people were always caught up on how big he was.

Unfortunately, BamBam hated him and Yugyeom hated BamBam.

“Guys,” JB cried in desperation after about a month as yet another fight burst out between them. BamBam was often the instigator, stealing Yugyeom’s food, a habit that he never had before. Yugyeom retaliated with great fury, because he still had a thing about food, even though there were other bowls he could eat from. The other cats were becoming quite stressed, and this particular brawl was getting out of hand. Youngjae and Jinyoung had taken refuge underneath the couch and Jackson was on top of a kitchen cupboard, howling in hapless distress. JB could feel his blood pressure rising. He was in the middle of sadly contemplating who amongst his friends and neighbours could take Yugyeom in when Mark stalked over to the fighting cats and swatted at them, growling loudly and then hissing.

Everyone froze. Mark, who allowed Youngjae to nibble on his ear; who endured Jackson’s endless cuddles; who rarely mewed and barely chirped unless he was trying to get JB’s or Jinyoung’s attention; who only showed a fit of temper when he had been annoyed by BamBam for too long. Mark, a cat so chill that sometimes JB had to check if he was still alive because he slept so much, was now fluffed up and ready to rumble. JB held his breath. The two younger cats separated slowly, backing away from Mark and gazing at him with terrified eyes. Mark hissed again and they scampered off, BamBam to JB’s room and Yugyeom to the other.

“Wow,” JB said on a slow exhale. “Mark, you’re scary!”

Mark licked at his paw and then went to crawl underneath the couch, presumably to try coax Jinyoung and Youngjae out. Jackson leaped unto JB’s shoulder, and yelled in his ear.

“Yeah,” JB agreed. “That was insane.”

When JB set out their evening snack, BamBam and Yugyeom placed the furthest apart as usual, there were no fights. JB watched in trepidation as BamBam finished and then slinked over to where Yugyeom still ate; instead of sticking his paw into Yugyeom’s bowl and dragging it over to himself, he sat and waited until Yugyeom was finished. When Yugyeom finished and turned around, he froze. BamBam approached him slowly, and then rubbed along the other cat, a feline apology.

JB had never seen a cat melt before. It was absolutely adorable. “I think we’re going to be okay,” he proclaimed to no one in particular. In a moment, BamBam and Yugyeom were playing, but their play was so sweet and gentle with each other. “Good job, Mark,” JB said, and Mark’s response was sleepy silence from his cushion near the couch.

They were okay, except that instead of fighting each other, BamBam and Yugyeom were now dedicated to their mission of Constant Annoying. Armed with BamBam’s support, Yugyeom stopped shying away when Jinyoung stared at him. Now, he stared back, using his height to loom over the older cat. Jinyoung was disgusted, although when he thought JB wasn’t looking, he would capture Yugyeom and give him a thorough bath.

“Do you want anymore cats?” His mother asked one day and JB thought about it.

“Maybe,” was his answer but for now? These six were his entire heart.

JB moved back to his parents' farm for a number of reasons: his last relationship had frittered because his girlfriend had despised the cats and the feeling was mutual; his job wasn't paying much; and he was getting sick of the city.

Most of all, he wanted a bigger space for the cats.

His dad had expanded quite a bit, buying some property beside his own. He asked JB to return to assist, and sweetened the deal by offering the use of a small cottage on the newly acquired land. The cottage had been unused for quite some time and was a bit broken down but it had two large rooms and was surrounded by a tall hedging. JB spent a whole two weeks with his dad doing some pretty extensive repairs before moving in, and the first thing BamBam did as soon as he got inside was to climb a curtain.

"I'm not going to take you down," JB told him as he tried to unpack boxes. BamBam yowled from where he was stuck. Mark sat on the neatly swept timber floor, gazing up at BamBam with interested swishes of his tail. "Mark, why didn't you stop him?"

Mark blinked up at JB's accusatory tone. He was such a gorgeous cat, and JB actually considered putting him in some sort of cat commercial. It would work too, because he was also the most chill being that JB had ever encountered. Mark had no problems in life at all, unless BamBam was being a brat and needed some heavy-pawed correction; he also got weird if he couldn't find Jinyoung for an extended period, but that was it. Anyone who visited would be compelled to pick him up and sit with his calm aura; even JB's ex had admitted to that he was the least horrible of the three.

BamBam, on the other hand, was an unholy terror. He was annoying and was also very good at catching rodents and insects; because he was at heart a very kind kitty, he wanted to share everything with JB.

JB learned how to stop screaming when he found the mangled remains of something under his shoes.

Now, BamBam's yelling got louder and more desperate; with a huff of annoyance, JB stomped over and lifted BamBam down; the black cat, now grown from a tiny fluff that could barely fit in the middle of JB's palm to a long, lean shape, sniffed at his ankles and then hurried over to bat at Mark.

"You are so annoying," JB reminded BamBam as he hassled poor Mark. "Come on, leave him alone."

Jinyoung sauntered out from where he had been napping in JB's room and immediately, Mark wriggled out from where BamBam had had him pinned, trotting over to Jinyoung with happy chirps. JB thought it was cute that Mark didn't really mew; he was super quiet and only got loud if Jinyoung ignored him.

Now, Mark was obviously delighted as Jinyoung returned his affection, and the two collapsed into a furry heap of purring.

"Ew, romance," JB called to them as he went back to his task. BamBam thought it was gross too, and shadowed him all over the place. He even followed JB when he went out to  meet with his dad and start some of the heavier tasks on the farm.

"BamBam is so weird," JB's dad observed as BamBam chased off a flock of birds and growled at one of the farmworkers that he didn't like. "So weird."

"I know," JB sighed, and had to let BamBam into the small tractor as he went about his day. If he didn't, the black cat would sulk for days. At lunchtime, they headed back to the small cottage.

"Hey, Jinyoungie, Mark," JB greeted and then stopped. The two cats sat in the middle of the living room, gazing up at him. Jinyoung seemed annoyed, Mark seemed unusually perky, and there was another cat: an orange one, lying right in front of them on its back: eyes closed, paws in the air. "Oh my god, did you kill this cat?!"

BamBam ran over to investigate and the orange cat suddenly came to life, rolling over with such a loud yowl that BamBam skidded to a halt, ears laid back. Mark's tail swished very slowly, while Jinyoung's jerked back and forth. The loud orange cat reached out to BamBam lazily, boxing the smaller cat with rough friendliness. BamBam pounced on it without a second thought, and the two started battling with high-pitched screaming...but even JB could tell that there was nothing at all behind it, just noise and fun.

"Hey, cat," JB called out. "Yo. Orange. You can't stay here. You gotta leave, son."

The orange cat went away in the evening after playing with BamBam, chowing down some food, seducing Mark and trying its best to leap at Jinyoung at every opportunity. Jinyoung was Slightly Amused and JB had to admit that Orange Cat had played with BamBam so much that the black cat was exhausted at bedtime. BamBam actually slept right through the night instead of trying to claw his way through JB's door at three a.m. JB was a little disappointed when he woke up early and didn't see Orange, but when he went out into the fields with BamBam, he heard music and laughter from where the workers were gathered and waiting.

They were blasting Thriller by Michael Jackson from a phone, and Orange was right in the middle of the crowd, yowling in that big, raspy voice.

"Where did you get this one?" The workers asked as Orange marched over to him, rubbing up against JB's rubber boots before greeting BamBam with a companionable tackle. "He's so crazy! What's his name?"

"I dunno." JB reached down and rubbed Orange's head. This was a really friendly cat; he probably belonged to someone else in the area. For the next week, JB checked the community website, asking if someone was missing their obnoxious pet.

"Why would you want to give away our Jackson?" JB's mom asked as she sat came to breakfast at his cottage one morning. Orange, now apparently Jackson due to his consistently outrageous reaction to any music by the pop star, sat in her lap, pleased with the attention of her scritching fingers. Jackson had taken to now spending most nights inside JB's cottage, distracting everyone with just overall hyperactive loudness.

"Our Jackson?" JB was mildly outraged. He would loudly opine to the other cats that Jackson was too friendly to everyone, and therefore not to be trusted. Nevertheless, Mark adored the orange feline, and so did Jinyoung and BamBam. JB would never admit, unless under pain of death, that he really liked it when he was trying to nap and Jackson tried to nap with him too, but on his face.

"Our Jackson," he murmured later when he lay on the couch, exhausted from a long day. Mark and BamBam were tucked into his side, Jinyoung reigned supreme from the highest point on the couch whilst still being as close as he could be to JB, and Jackson's whole body was draped across JB's neck. "Our Jackson," he repeated softly and rubbed between the sleeping cat's ears.

"Please behave yourself," JB told Jinyoung as he left his place for the neat little grocery store a few blocks away. It was a joke of course, because Jinyoung was really well behaved, and a little too clever for his own good. Jinyoung did not appreciate the joke, and simply ignored him.

The forecasted rain had finally come; heavy, brooding clouds split open as JB finished his shopping and headed home, clutching his shopping bag close and struggling to keep the umbrella over his head. He heard the faint, piteous mew as he stumbled past an alley that served the backs of two grimy buildings and paused, listening as cold raindrops trickled down the back of his neck.

The mew came again, a little louder.

"Hey," he called back as he ventured in without thinking, as if the sound was his name. "Hey, where are you?" He pushed over a half-crumpled carton box with one foot, and the smallest black kitten peered out, gazing up at him with huge eyes. "Hey, It's okay. Come on...come out of the rain. I'll take you home." Tucking the handle of the umbrella in the crook of his neck, and adjusting his grip on his shopping bag, he reached down to take up the tiny cat.

Something blurred out from farther underneath the box: a larger cat, probably the kitten's mom, and it swiped at JB's hand, actually growling as it scratched him. JB, who had never heard a cat growl, flinched back with a yell. The cat placed itself in front of its kitten, ears set back as it trembled from either cold, fright, anger or all at once.

"Mama, come on," JB said half-scoldingly after he got over the surprise. The scratches weren't that deep, he'd gotten worse from Jinyoung, but he'd definitely disinfect it as soon as he got home. "I'm not gonna hurt your baby."

Mama Cat did not move, but the little black kitten darted around her and approached JB, mewing more than ever. It was very loud, and when JB carefully picked it up and cradled it close, it snuggled against his chest. Mama Cat did not like that at all. She followed JB in the rain, cursing at him even as he opened the his front door and they all trooped inside.

As soon as she saw Jinyoung perched on JB's desk, Mama Cat froze. Jinyoung glared at JB as if he'd brought in contraband and, began to fluff up threateningly. "Wait, wait," JB called, trying to balance everything or at least set down the bag and the kitten before Jinyoung went nuclear, but Mama Cat released sweet chirps, approaching Jinyoung with gentle, respectful body language. Confused but still suspicious, Jinyoung calmed down, but refused to allow her up on the desk with him. JB managed to clean up himself and feed everybody with minor altercations, and he also wiped the layers of dirt off the new cats; they were so filthy. The baby hated it of course, complaining at top volume, but Mama Cat had no issue. As long as she had Jinyoung and the kitten in her line of sight, she lay almost bonelessly in JB's arms.

"I think we're gonna keep them," JB told Jinyoung, who sulked the whole evening in one corner and hissed if any of them came close.

A few days later, when he got a break from work, he took the two new cats to the state-run vet service, since he couldn't afford any private veterinarian. They were were both old enough to get neutered, although other clients asked him why he would do that to Mama Cat.

"She's so pretty! Look at her!" They exclaimed as they peered at her through the bars of the pet carrier he'd borrowed from a neighbor. "She would have such pretty kittens!"

JB was too annoyed to tell them that she wasn't a pretty kitten factory, and he really believed it was just safer for them that way, but he simply shrugged. He left them for the procedure, and they both apparently thought he was abandoning them, because they called at him in alarm.

"It's okay," he said as he rubbed their foreheads with one finger poked through the mesh. "I'll be back, don't worry."

"That little black one is so strong for his size, he's ridiculous," one of the vet's assistant told him when he returned the following day. "You know that cartoon with the...it's like a prehistoric thing and there's a little boy that's really strong?"

"Oh, BamBam," JB said, grinning back at her.

"Yeah! He's like that. And your Mama Cat is a boy, by the way."

That one floored JB. Mama Cat was actually a boy? Was he even related to the kitten? He hadn't even thought to check, even when wiping down the animal. "A..a boy?"

"Mmm-hmmm. We wrote down Mark instead of Mama Cat, you know? Doesn't he look like he would have an English name too?"

JB left feeling as dazed as the two still woozy cats. The kitten (BamBam now), tried to walk around, wobbling on determined but shaky legs all over the place. Mama--Mark did not move for so long that JB got worried, actually crouching down and feeling for a pulse. Even Jinyoung seemed very concerned, creeping close and sniffing at the prone cat. Mark was still breathing, and didn't seem distressed in any way, so JB held off on rushing back to the vet for awhile.

When JB came out of the shower, he found Jinyoung cuddled up with Mark, licking him with officious concern, while Mark purred with eyes half-open in content. BamBam gnawed on the laces of JB's sneakers, still a little drugged but ready to roll. He gazed at JB's bare foot, wriggled his little butt in preparation for launch. He aimed, fired...and missed completely.

"Wow," JB noted, grinning down at him. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

JB didn't really consider himself a dog person, or a cat person...or even really a person person. He'd been through a lot and he figured he didn't have enough space in his soul to love anything more than his mom. Then his stepdad got into the picture and he found that maybe he had a bit more space than he thought..

One day, while JB was pretending to do homework, his stepdad said, "The neighbour has a cat for you," and JB said, "I don't want a cat," but that super weird dude from next door popped into the living room and pulled a small bundle of messy fur out of his coat.

"Mr. Park," JB started, and then sighed before trying again. "Mr. Park, why do you have a cat in your coat?"

Mr Park blinked. "It was cold outside," and really, JB shouldn't have expected logic. The cat seemed pretty pissed about the whole thing, and when Mr. Park plopped the animal in JB's lap, it jumped off and scrambled underneath the sofa.

"His name is Jinyoung! Like me!" Mr. Park said and JB just sighed again. His dad wouldn't hear of him giving a gift back, or giving the cat away when Mr. Park departed. He spent hours trying to coax the little idiot out, and had some success with some paper tied to a string, and a little bowl of tuna.

"I don't need this right now," JB told Jinyoung, and the cat gave him a sideways stare before batting at his bare foot with one questioning paw and then giving himself a very thorough bath.

"I really don't need this," JB said as he cleaned out the litter box.

"I just...I don't need this, not right now," JB said as he bought collars and toys and when Jinyoung insisted on cuddling up to him at night. Once he heard his mom exclaiming over a 'handsome boy" and when he preened, she said, "I was talking to Jinyoung."

"He looks like a baby alien," JB grumbled, his usual refrain, because as a baby, Jinyoung had been all ears and eyes and scrawny legs, prone to tumbling off edges and complaining when JB didn't allow him to sit in his lap. Now, he was a plush, haughty thing, with thick coat that shed all over JB's clothing, a wide face and green eyes. He was super handsome, JB had to admit, but he would never tell Jinyoung to his face because the cat was already quite vain and everyone always exclaimed over him anyway.

When JB moved out to his own place, he lasted three days by himself before he went back for Jinyoung at his parents'. To his gratification, Jinyoung ran right to him when he opened the door, yowling angrily.

"Did you miss me?" he asked, giving scritches. Jinyoung batted at his hand, obviously annoyed; however, there was no complaint when JB bundled him away to his small apartment.

JB's place was not bad, really. It actually had a tiny yard, and JB's bedroom window faced the road. Jinyoung liked to sit on the windowsill and judge passing schoolchildren.

"You're going to give those kids a complex," JB told him. He picked up the cat, trying to bestow quick kisses, but Jinyoung squirmed out of his hold and sauntered into the kitchenette. "Oh, no. The love is gone," JB groaned dramatically and slumped to lie face-down on the floor. A few seconds ticked by, and JB smiled as Jinyoung snuffled loudly in his ear.

"Hey," JB said. "I don't have time for this," but he didn't move when Jinyoung sat on his back and purred.