Chapter 26: Stay here

"What? For real?? That cat is a god?!" Yujin shockingly asked, with his hands flailing in his sides.

"Are you stupid?" Lee Hyun muttered, looking away from him. Yujin was somehow taken aback by the way the vice president answered.

But instead of getting annoyed, a grin appeared on his face. Yujin folded his arms on his chest and looked up while asking, "Why are you like this, then? Can't get the cat to eat your offerings?"

Lee Hyun nodded.

Yujin took the can in his hands without permission and sat on the grassy ground. He then pulled Lee Hyun down, letting himself be pulled by Yujin. His eyes lingered on the hand that touched him, his eyes shook as something like a scene in a film rolled in his head, yet he didn't dare to ask or wonder what they were.

He simply sat still beside Yujin, waiting for those weird unfamiliar events to appear in his head. Even though he realized that the more Song Yujin touched him willingly, the more those strange memories appeared, he never tried to get closer to the guy.

Yet there they were, sitting next to each other.

Yujin set the can a foot away from them, then he looked up and called the cat, meowing unembarrassedly. In his peripheral vision, he saw Lee Hyun turn to him, so he grinned and preached, "You have to call the cat if you want them to come to you. Simply standing there like a petrified maiden offering harvest to the gods won't do it."

Lee Hyun didn't answer. He just looked away with an obvious frown. The cat lounging on the branch of the tree moved, yawning then stretching its chubby body. It then turned to look at them. Then its yellowish eyes widened when it saw Song Yujin.

 The fat orange cat quickly jumped and landed on the ground safely, but instead of going to the opened can of cat food, it lunged on Song Yujin's lap.

"Woah!" Yujin was surprised. He gathered the cat in his arm and caressed its orange and white fur, then he turned to Lee Hyun. "It seems friendly, so why did it ignore you."

Lee Hyun, displaying a hint of envy in his eyes, answered, "I don't know."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"...since the lunch break starts."

What? The lunch break is almost finished. Oh, right. I haven't eaten a meal yet since morning. I only ate a hot bun before practice, Yujin thought. He took the canned food and held it on the orange cat.

"Geez, if the cat doesn't like you, then you should have left the food on the ground and moved away. Maybe it doesn't like someone feeding it," Yujin said. Lee Hyun gave him a look that said 'Why does it let you feed it?'

Yujin laughed. He let go of the little creature who was now busy licking his food. He then stretched his hands up before he set them on his back, supporting his upper body as he looked up at the blue sky.

"Right, does it have a name?" Yujin asked afterward.

Lee Hyun watched the cat eat. "…I don't know."

"I thought it was your friend?" Yujin teased. Lee Hyun ignored him, but the tip of his eyebrows noticeably twitched. Yujin grinned and continued, "I think your friend doesn't like you. Or maybe you two fought? What, did you like, bring him a chicken instead of fish?"

Lee Hyun was silent for a while. He shifted on his seat before he replied, "…cats don't like me…"

"…that's sad. But you like them?"

"…yes."

Yujin faced Lee Hyun and smiled kindly. "Cats like me. They come to me even if I don't call for them. So, why not spend time with me? Maybe if the cats saw you are my friend, they would be friendly with you too."

Lee Hyun paused. His eyes shook ever slightly from the sincerity and fondness he saw in Yujin's eyes. He looked down and composed himself, answering like he wasn't affected by the warmth Yujin exuded, "That's an absurd notion."

"But it works! Hajun is hated by felines too…" Yujin's voice trailed off after he remembered their fight again. They weren't talking in class, not even looking at each other. And as soon as lunch break started, he left.

Lee Hyun was about to inquire about his situation when Yujin's stomach grumbled loudly, enough to earn the attention of the orange cat.

"You…haven't eaten lunch yet?" Lee Hyun asked cautiously.

Yujin scratched his head and replied, "Yup. I fought with Hajun last night, so I didn't eat breakfast because I didn't want to see our parents…oh…"

His voice stopped, realizing that he just blurted out his family situation to the vice president. He looked away and fixed his gaze on the cat, but he still could feel Lee Hyun's gaze on him. Rubbing his nape, he sighed.

Then, as the cool breeze of the spring season passed between them, ruffling the leaves of the trees and grasses, Song Yujin felt like opening up. "Well…me and Hajun are actually siblings, not blood-related though. I'm just an adopted son of his parents. When my parents died, no one wanted to keep a child without any penny left on him, so everyone bolted out, leaving me alone. My foster father was an old friend of my parents, and kindly took me in, legally adopted me, and raised me."

Lee Hyun listened attentively. The cold and inscrutable expression he always had changed to a melancholic one. He sat there silently, in hopes of sending comfort to the new guy.

Yujin continued, "I asked them to let me retain my name, so in my previous school, no one knows that Hajun and I are brothers. It's not like I'm keeping it a secret or anything, but I also never corrected them…maybe because deep inside, I was afraid that something like this would happen. Honestly, even I think that I'm burdening his parents…so, I was motivated to join the track and field club."

The fat orange cat finished its food already, but instead of going back to its usual spot, it stayed on the ground, resting its round belly on Song Yujin's lap while rubbing its head on his stomach. It was as if the cat sensed his hidden loneliness and comforted him.

Yujin stopped talking after that. He simply caressed the cat's fur and ignored his grumbling stomach. He noticed Lee Hyun standing, so he looked up and asked, "Oh, are you going back to class now?"

He briefly glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Oh, ten minutes before class starts. I should—

"Stay here," Lee Hyun strictly commanded, before walking away.

Yujin, stunned at the fact that the vice president unintentionally told him to skip the first period in afternoon classes, watched Lee Hyun's retreating figure without complaint.