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momobani · 1 year

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ABOUT TIME

If Your Winter Is Hard - Chapter 8 - 9.6k

medium!minghao x exorcist!reader

SERIES MASTERLIST

Warnings: exorcism(duh!); discussion of ghosts + death, reference to death of family members, light violence/ fighting, mention of guns, discussion of grief, A N G S T, depiction of murder!! [not very explicit], mention of illness

Sum: it’s true when they say that if you love someone, you should let them go.

Song rec: Letting Go - Vancouver Sleep Clinic

TAGLIST: @sleeplessdawn @aceofvernons @lilactangerine @kyeomsworld

A/N: Guess who’s crying in the club again? You and me, babey! Sorry for the long wait again, I had a lot on with uni, but for the moment I have a little time here and there for now. We’re back to YN’s point of view after the last chapter, so yeah, enjoy <333 Happy holidays y’all!!!

“Hao, do you know where I left the incense?” You call over your shoulder as you grapple with preparing your exorcism bag.

“Well, I don’t think it sprouted legs and ran away from where you left it five minutes ago.” He replies sarcastically, walking past the desk in your office, plucking up the item, and holding it out to you. You purse your lips at how silly you seemed; it was two feet away from you the whole time.

“Thanks.” You say sheepishly and pack the box into your bag. It was half past two in the afternoon and you were running a little late since you’d had lunch with Jeonghan after he begged you to try this restaurant that almost closed a few years ago. You told him you were busy and so was he, but eventually you caved not long after because truthfully, you wanted to try it too.

It had been worth the drive across town and back, seeing how happy Jeonghan was picking out and grilling the meat, even though it put you a few minutes behind schedule for your next exorcism.

“You know, I don’t know why you couldn’t just pass this case on to someone else, maybe even Seungkwan and Vernon, it’s not like we have time for it.” Minghao grumbles as he puts on his long coat and wraps his thick scarf around his neck.

“Will you stop complaining? We had this case on backlog for ages, we need to get it done anyway.” You reply, shoving the salt dispenser into the front pocket harder than you meant to.

You were getting really annoyed for some reason, getting lip service and from Minghao of all people. You weren’t used to it. He’d been grouchy all morning too, clearly something was bothering him but he wouldn’t tell you.

This was possibly the first real disagreement or conflict the two of you had had, the acknowledgement of that fact taking you by surprise. Usually you just focused on the task at hand and got it done quickly and smoothly. Well, relatively of course; there was the time you bonked heads at the museum, the time you almost got caught at the apartment block and oh, how could you forget that time you almost died on the train tracks.

Fine, you got things done more quickly than smoothly but whatever. The point was that you and Minghao worked in harmony.

“I wasn’t complaining, YN, I’m just saying, there was probably an alternative here, so we could focus on the paperwork for the cemetery spirits. That basement ghost can wait.” He continues. You zip the bag and drop your hands on top of it with a thud. You turn your head and zero in on Minghao, who notices the change in air.

“Do you just not want to do the exorcism or something?” You demand, trying not to raise your voice. “Are you overworked or too tired, because if you are, then just say so. That’s fine, I can finish it without you.” You say heatedly. You hadn’t used that tone with him before but it came spilling out from you before you could stop it. Minghao looks back at you just as intensely and you see the hardness in his eyes.

Just as he’s about to say something, Hoshi walks in with a pile of folders, clearly making a trip from the conference room to the storage area in your office. He, Jeonghan, and Seokmin were taking the first shift of the day on analysing the files and trying to narrow down the search for identifying the spirits.

“Hey, gu-”

“See! I can just take Hoshi instead.” You don’t let him finish. Hoshi shudders, eyes wide and startled by the exclamation. Minghao frowns but doesn’t say anything. “Do you want to come do the exorcism, Hosh? It’s been a while.”

For a moment, Hoshi is stuck looking between the two of you, feeling out the tension and trying to gauge what it’s about, a little like kid looking at its parents arguing.

“Um…” He hesitates. “Sure.” He perks up, deciding it would be more dangerous if he refuses.

“Great! Any objections, Hao?” You raise your eyebrows at him, daring him to protest. You think it’s best that you split up for a while before you say anything you don’t mean and later regret.

“None, you guys have fun in that old lady’s basement.” Minghao doesn’t even grace you with another look before unwrapping the scarf and leaving for the conference room.

“Hosh, get your coat, we’re leaving.” You say as you stare at Minghao’s back as he walks away. Was that your first fight? You knew it was normal for friends to fight but could you even call it a fight? For the most part, you felt that you needed to cool down because your frustration was mounting; he didn’t have to take out his grouchiness on you but he’d been annoying all morning, giving you sarcastic reply after sarcastic reply. Most of all you were frustrated that he wouldn’t tell you what was bothering him.

You decided to put your situation with Minghao on the back burner and focus on what you were doing. You’re exiting the office and Hoshi runs ahead of you.

“I call shotgun!” He shouted as he zoomed towards the passenger side of your car. You got in the car, your eyebrows knitted in dubiety.

“Hoshi, there’s no one else in the car.” You pointed out the obvious. He nodded dismissively as he slung on his seatbelt.

“Yeah, but you’ve only been letting Minghao ride shotgun lately so I wanted to stake my claim. I used to ride up front all the time before.” He explains and you almost miss the tiny pout that appears on his lips. “Like I get it if you like him, it’s just that I like sitting in the front too.”

You almost reverse into your trash cans at Hoshi’s words.

“What the hell are you talking about? Don’t be ridiculous, I don’t like Minghao like that, he’s just a friend and co-worker.” You rattle off, unamused by the mere suggestion that you would be unprofessional and spend your time crushing on a colleague than do your job. Hoshi smiles in the periphery of your vision as you drive out on to the main road.

“Hm, alright.” He chimes. You feel the lighthearted teasing in his tone but you clench your jaw; if you get emotional, you lose.

You don’t bother trying to prove your point and drive in silence. You needed to think about what you were going to do for the exorcism since this was one highly likely to be a difficult ghost; you were dealing with a murder victim that hadn’t left the house in at least fifty years. A young woman, who had been the previous tenant in the house before the old lady and her family moved in all those years ago, had been killed by a boyfriend and hidden in the basement. The body hadn’t been discovered for weeks since her housemates were away.

You’d dealt with several murder cases in the past, as well as studied them when your sister was working, but it had been a while since you’d done one. The closest you came to it was the vengeful spirit at the train station and you knew what a disaster that had almost become. To say the least, you felt a little nervous.

The scenery around you changed to the suburbs in no time and you found yourselves just outside of town, barely even on the outskirts of the metropolitan area. It wasn’t a long drive to your client’s house as the afternoon sky started to darken.

The old lady’s house was situated in the middle of a hill, the rising mass of houses looming ahead as you left the car at the bottom of the street and started to hike up the footpath. There was no road leading to it from either side since the residential area was built on a slope over a hundred years ago when parking space wasn’t a concern.

Initially the climb up the hill isn’t so bad, however an unexpected gust of wind sends you reeling backwards, its sheer force knocking you off kilter. You practically have to start running to resist the wind, exerting more energy than you wished to admit so that you don’t get swept away.

When you finally make it to the house’s outside gate, it’s a relief to enter and be sheltered from the wind by the giant oak tree growing in the garden, its browning leaves still intact and rustling above you. You knock on the door and your client, a sweet, demure elderly lady, ushers you in.

“Do you kids want some tea?” She asks immediately, fussing over how cold you and Hoshi both look. “It’s quite horrible outside, we should warm you up.”

“That would be great, thank you.” You tell her, not because you actually feel the need to defrost yourselves, but because she looks like she won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Besides, during the exorcism, your body temperature especially will, as usual, drop significantly.

You sit on the fluffy carpet around the coffee table, a low wooden square that exhibited the tribulations of time - scratches, discolouring, and chips evident when you looked closer. The rest of the living room reminded you of your own house, the ancient furniture resembling your living room as per your grandparents’ vision when they first bought the house almost sixty years ago. You felt right at home.

Hoshi drinks his tea in two gulps, licking his lips with a satisfying smack and grinning widely. Your client smiles back in delight, clearly enamoured by Hoshi’s cuteness and you have a feeling that she’s adopt him as her grandson in a few minutes if you didn’t get moving on the exorcism.

You thank the lady and excuse yourselves to get to work, yanking Hoshi up subtly by the collar, telling her it might be best to go to her neighbour’s house while you worked for her own safety. You had briefly mentioned it to her before but you suspected she might have forgotten about it. She surprises you by telling you that she’d specifically made plans to watch tonight’s drama episode there just to give you guys space.

You smile gratefully and send Hoshi to walk her down the hill while you set up downstairs.

It’s hard to tell whether it’s because you’re alone, but as soon as you open the door to the basement, your skin erupts in goosebumps and a chill runs through your body, pitting conclusively deep in your belly. The cold hits you immediately, whether it’s the lack of insulation on the single window or just how the cold seeps into the room from the outside.

You snap on the light switch to your left and a single tiny bulb in the middle of the staircase turns on, but barely. It’s enough for now, you decide. You descend the wooden steps carefully, watching your feet and keeping an eye out at the shadows cast across the room. The creak of the steps underfoot makes a sound that fills the basement obnoxiously loudly and you scurry down the last few stairs.

In the basement there is a film of dust covering everything; even in the relative darkness you can see the grey covering over each surface as your eyes adjust. There’s a wooden table, the type that’s a slab hanging off the wall with chains, lined with a few abandoned items; a pair of gardening gloves, some plant cutting shears, a wrench or two, which you discern must have come from the toolbox that lays just underneath the table next to a thick pile of old newspapers.

There are a few more tools but hanging up on some hooks stuck to the wall above the table. As far as anything else goes, there’s hardly anything else in the basement except for a small ladder, folded up neatly and laying on its side out of the way. You could imagine that most of these items had been lying there for a long time because the woman living here didn’t seem like the type to do much gardening.

You try not to breathe too much because of the dust, and get to work.

From your backpack, you take out the salt dispenser, the incense pot and strap your gun to one leg and your exorcist blade to the other. Next, you start to draw the salt cage. You were going to keep it as wide as possible and try to seal the whole basement if possible, just so that the spirit would be contained.

You hear the wind howling outside, whistling at you as the last shred of sun dissipates from the sky, the darkness flooding the basement through the window and casting more eerie shadows. You hear a creak of the steps and put an instinctive hand on your gun as you snap towards the noise. Of course, you know it’s Hoshi making his way down the stairs.

“Took you long enough.” You mutter in his general direction. You were almost finished with the salt cage.

“Sorry, Boss. That hill is gnarly.” He explains and shrugs. You nod dismissively from your position hunching over the salt dispenser as the thick streak of powder spills out from the opening.

“We should get started with the incense. Set it up, will you.” You instruct as you seal off the cage, the both of you standing within its parameters.

“Yessir.” Hoshi says with a salute and walks jauntily over to where you’d left the pot. You can’t hold the scoff at ridiculousness that bubbles up in your throat. Hoshi’s inescapable charm was energising whatever he was doing and whoever he was with, and you realised that you’d definitely missed having his silly butt along on exorcisms. Maybe now that he’d recovered, you could really give Minghao some time off and balance the work between your two mediums.

You felt yourself frown at the thought of Minghao. You were still a little mad at how snippy he’d been, yet you were already starting to cool off and question what even that whole thing was about. Had you done something wrong? Sure you’d been snippy back to him before you left, but that was the only thing, right?

You shook your head, trying not to get bogged down in distractions because you were about to get to the really delicate part of today’s job.

Hoshi lit the incense then handed your lighter back as the frail wisp of smoke started to rise from the pot. Almost immediately did you feel the sudden drop in temperature, the small exhale leaving your mouth, frosting in front of your face. Your skin started to prickle at the deep sensation of dread that spread through your core, its grip unbearably strong from the get go.

This felt like a vengeful spirit.

And yet, you looked around for any other tell-tale signs of a vengeful spirit but you spotted none - there was no fog signalling the presence of a ghost, only an increased tension in the air, its energy diffusing throughout the space of the basement.

You grabbed your gun, shooting two consecutive shots to seal off the door and far wall around the staircase. Then you waited because you couldn’t actually see the ghost yet. This was pretty rare. If the spirit was this elusive from the start then you might be in trouble.

An invisible enemy is considerably harder to defeat.

“Should I take my talisman off?” Hoshi whispers from a few feet away.

“Not yet,” You whisper back to him. “I have a bad feeling-” You barely finish your sentence when you hear the rattle of a chain echo across the room. Your eyes land on the slab of wood against the wall and you see the chains in question had moved gently. It must be the work of the spirit.

You watch carefully, not only the table but scanning the room for any other signs of movement, the silence stifling. You see the chain move before you hear it clink again, this time followed by the shake of the tools hanging above the table. You zero in on the movement, straining your eyes in the semi-darkness, trying to spot if the ghost is anywhere nearby.

Instead what you notice is how the tools start to vibrate and you think you’re going crazy until a wrench snaps off and flies off in your direction. You have a split second to react and you do-

“Duck!” You yell and dive toward Hoshi in an attempt to do just that in case his reflexes are slow. He does hear you but it’s a good thing you manage to affectively bring him down with you; down to the dusty and dirt littered floor. Your fall makes a loud thump and causes a tornado of dust to fly up and swirl around you, falling back down like snow.

The wrench had flown across the room and smacked heavily against the nearest wall, sailing through the air at probably several miles an hour. Or at least enough that if it had hit you, you’d have been injured. The two of you inevitable start coughing up a lung as several more instrumentals fly off and follow the first.

“Shit, what was that?” Hoshi splutters, the fear in his voice evident.

“A vengeful spirit.” You reply, sure now that the powerful energies of your current target were within the spectrum of vengeful ghosts; souls of those wronged lingering with exceptionally strong presence. You knew that not all vengeful spirits were accompanied by things like the thick grey fog - there was too much variation in the sorts of signs that counted as evidence of that type of ghost.

“Oh man, I shouldn’t have come with.” Hoshi whines. You’re already up on your feet and you offer him a hand and pull him up off the ground.

“Too late for regret, tiger.” You say. You take a good look around and spot a shadow in one corner of the room, its figure just out of the path of light coming from the window and away from the lightbulb. There’s your ghost.

You were going to have to do this the quickest way possible.

“Take it off, now.” You say, reaching for your blade. You were calculating the possible time it might take for the ghost to possess Hoshi, mind running a million miles per hour, but just as you blinked the shadow disappeared.

Shit.

Unfortunately Hoshi had already processed what you’d asked and his fingers were pulling on the bracelet, tugging it down his wrist and onto the ground. In a moment, you whipped around, looking for the ghost, but it was too late-

You didn’t see it, but you felt the wave of polar energy zip through your body and you gasped out loud at the sensation, your breath coming out like smoke; it was like being thrown into Antarctic waters, the ice flowing into your bloodstream suddenly. The ghost passed through you and slammed into Hoshi’s body, knocking him back down to the ground. You dropped to your knees, the breath literally knocked out of you too.

White noise filled your head, vision blurring for a split second. You felt like you might seize up.

Your brain was still functioning however, even if your body was struggling to move. You knew you had to stab the blade down before the ghost started to move. The time it took to possess a medium was usually around two seconds, so in those two seconds, you willed yourself to move forward, your body falling heavily on the ground next to Hoshi. You threw a leg over him with all your might, your body shivering with stinging cold and looked at his eyes, looking for the silver light that indicated the spiritual presence.

It appeared, its glow unmistakeable in the dark and you dragged the hand holding the blade to Hoshi’s chest and barely stabbed down, your body slack.

“Go peacefully.” You mumbled, voice frail and cracking. Your eyes were too heavy but you fought to keep them at least half-opened as you watched the blade start to incinerate itself. The world was fading away from you fast, but even so, the ghost’s memory ran into you, its force numbing you as you half-rolled, half-fell on your back on the musty floor of the basement.

You were hyperaware of your own body suddenly, aware of how you lay on your back, rigid, but in your mind’s eye, you weren’t in the cold, dark basement, you were upstairs, the smooth wooden floor under you, in the exact same position. There was a warm glow of light above you, its source hidden by the figure that sat on your chest, immobilising you. You knew it wasn’t you, of course not, it was the spirit’s memory you were living through, yet it felt paralysingly real. Every fibre of your body was on high alert but you couldn’t move. The person on top of you moved into your line of sight and you saw his face, a stranger whose hand moved to curl around your neck and hold in place while the glint of a knife shone in his other.

You hear a distant blood curdling screech, its piercing decibels probably coming from your own mouth in the basement but in the vision, it sounded so far away.

You blacked out before you saw what happened next, but you knew deep down what had transpired. You were catapulted back into reality and found yourself still in the basement, frost permeating every part of your being, your throat feelings particularly raw.

Hoshi was coming to, his movements sluggish. He saw you in an instant.

“YN! What happened? Are you okay?” He squeaked in panic. You didn’t have the energy to say anything but you attempted to move your lips.

“Cold…” you mumbled, but your mouth was almost sealed shut so it just sounded like ‘co…’.

And then your eye lids became too heavy to keep open and the world disappeared.

Your consciousness breaks through your sleep and you feel yourself start to wake up.

The first thing you feel is that you’re smothered by something; a warm weight on top of you and you sense there are about ten blankets that are cocooning you into your bed, wound so tightly around you that you feel yourself unable to move.

With all the little energy remaining in your limbs, you struggle to wriggle around and make some room for yourself inside your fluffy prison. There’s a dead weight to every part of your body and you feel like you’ve been hit by a bus or something. You open your eyes and find yourself in semi-darkness in your own room at home. Your head starts to pound immediately in response.

How did you get there?

The shuffling seems to alert of your stirring awake and you see a dark mess of hair bob to your left.

Minghao startles and whips around, searching for movement. From what you saw, he’d been sitting on the floor beside your bed and leaning back on the frame with a book that clutters to the floor.

“YN?” He rasps, his eyes wide, weary, and worried. He appears to be a little wild to you, like he hasn’t slept for a long time and you wonder how long you must have been out.

“I’m okay.” You manage, your voice raw. It feels like the sound get stuck in your throat, where there’s an unexplained ache. Your words seem to reassure Minghao at least a bit and he nods before getting up.

“I’ll get Jeonghan.” He says quietly and strides across the room. You wriggle some more and manage to break one arm out of your cocoon but instead of feeling like a beautiful butterfly, you feel more like a fluffy moth. It takes a lot of effort but you finally get into a semi sitting position and notice the army of heaters that is assembled around your bed like a moat, the only empty spot where Minghao was leaning against the side.

You were lucky you were in this condition. You knew that.

It was kind of rare for ghosts to pass through exorcists but when it happened, it was pretty severe for them. The only time you’d ever seen it happen was to your aunt years ago when you were a kid. You barely remembered the ordeal, having been far too young, but you knew that she’d been quite sick.

“Occupational hazard, huh.” You sigh to yourself. “Could be worse.”

You hear footsteps approaching your room and then Jeonghan marches through the door, Minghao trailing on his tail. Jeonghan practically runs to you, speed walking and dropping down on the outer side of the bed to fuss over you.

“Yah, are you okay? How do you feel?” He asks, his hands smooshing your cheeks as he inspects your face for any signs of illness. You want to reply but it’s kind of difficult with the death grip he has on you.

“Jeonghan?” You quack, the shape of your lips caricatured by his hands. He hums in response. “Need to breath, please.” You finish, words coming out a little strangled. He lets you go immediately with a quiet ‘sorry’. You take a deep, appreciative breath. “I think I’m okay. How long was I unconscious?” You ask tentatively.

Jeonghan thinks for a minute, tilting his head. “Two days?” He says.

“What?” You croak, body bouncing up and down with the exclamation. “No way! Just from the ghost passing through me?” You say.

“You remember that?” Minghao asks. He’d been standing inconspicuously behind Jeonghan, observing the two of you with careful eyes.

“Obviously.” You shrug. It’d be very hard to forget. “It’s the last thing that I do remember though. Fill me in on what’s going with the group exorcism.”

“Oh my god.” Minghao swivels away. He seems ready to pace around, looking up and around the room in disbelief. “You’re really something, YN.” He mutters to himself.

“What was that?” You call over, addressing him. You think he might ignore you and pretend you didn’t ask. Instead, he turns back to you and you find the exasperation on his face.

“You just wake up from a two day coma and two seconds later you’re asking about work?” His eyebrows are raised as close to his hairline as physically possible and you’d find it funny if he wasn’t almost raising his voice at you.

“Yes, Hao. Because that’s my job!” You declare. “In case you forgot.” You add, starting to remember that the two of you had had a bit of a squabble before you and Hoshi had gone to the site of the exorcism.

“Um, I’m going to get you some tea and meds, kiddo. Wait here.” Jeonghan’s eyes travel from you to Minghao and back. You forget that Jeonghan doesn’t like to be in the midst of chaos, unless of course he’s the one who created it.

“Not like I’m going anywhere.” You mutter with a nod to the blanket prison you sit in. Jeonghan weasels out of the room noiselessly, leaving you with a stroppy Minghao. “So it’s been two days; are you ready to tell me who spat in your cereal?” You inquire.

“No one.” He huffs but it’s obvious that the answer should have been a clear and resounding ‘you’.

“Y’know, whatever it is, if you don’t tell me, we can’t resolve it.” You counter immediately. You hated confrontations like this, especially with someone that you always managed to get along with. You supposed there was a silver lining to this because you felt your blood pressure raise and body get heated, which was good if you were going to combat the remaining frost in your system, so there’s that.

“Do you think I haven’t thought about resolving it?” Minghao asks. You’re surprised by the response, suddenly more alert than before. It’s your turn to look at him inquisitively.

“What’s that supposed to mean? If you have a problem with me, just say it.” You challenge. You feel all clammy inside and you’re not sure it’s just the blanket sweat finally getting to you.

“I don’t have a problem with you.” Minghao says. You sigh, frustrated with his stubbornness.

“Then what do you have a problem with?” You snap. Minghao pauses to look at you, assessing just how far you want to take this.

“What do I have a problem with?” He echos. “You’re working so fucking much that you collapsed into a coma! Is that not a problem?” He blurts out. You scoff at the ridiculousness of the statement. Did you hear him correctly? What was he talking about?

“That happened because of a ghost, you drama queen!” You retort.

“Oh, did it?” He quips back sarcastically. He doesn’t let you reply. “Jeonghan said that when that happens, you’ll get a cold or hypothermia worst case scenario. But you were so weak from overworking that you almost died!”

You’re struck silent, processing the sound waves that travelled through the air and to your ears. But he’s not done yet.

“We literally had to keep you on an IV drip for two days. We had to call Jihoon and ask for a doctor to check you up and he even estimated your chances of survival.” He lists desperately. And this time you see just how shaken Minghao really is; there are dark circles under his eyes, he’s extremely pale and his mouth looks too dry.

You feel a wave of guilt breaking over you. Clearly, he’d been incredibly stressed and tired over the last couple of days and you wake up and start berating him. You shrink back a little, recognising how serious the situation must have been. You don’t say anything for a moment.

Minghao sighs and his shoulders slump visibly. He takes a few cautious steps and perches on the edge of the bed, looking down at the wall of heaters around you. Most of them were actually turned off at the moment, you notice.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get so grouchy with you.” He says, softening his voice. “It’s just- ugh - did you never hear me when I say take a break? Or leave it to someone else because you haven’t slept?” He asks.

And the thing is that you know what he’s talking about.

You’d become immune to comments like that over the past few weeks, knowing that you had a burning project to get done and no time to waste. You’d been getting a little control freaky about working on your case but against your better judgment, you’d ignored the way you were treating yourself, like those crazy workaholics that you thought only existed on TV.

“Does that just go in one ear and out the other?” He pauses to search your face. You don’t know what the look on your face must be, but it must be telling. “It seems it does. It’s just so frustrating to see you work yourself like a dog.”

“Do you know how much more frustrating it is to feel like you’re arguing with someone when you’re trying to do that work?” You finally reply.

“We’re not arguing.” He says firmly. As if he believed that.

“You’re right, we’re bickering like children.” You point out.

“I won’t bicker if you just agree to take breaks.”

“Hao, you know how difficult this is.” You meet his eyes and hold them.

“Then ask for help, YN.” He pleads gently. “You have so many people around you, you don’t have to do every single thing. Just promise me you’ll give yourself time to rest.” You don’t know if what he’s saying is taking effect or if it’s just the way he’s looking at you right now, but you don’t even think about fighting back this time. He disarms you completely with the look in his eyes and it strikes you somewhere deep inside. Suddenly you hate yourself for making him worry like that.

“Okay, fine.” You promise. “I’ll be careful, stop nagging, jeez.” You add playfully, the corners of your mouth turning up. It’s contagious and Minghao does the same, succumbing to your tone.

“Alright, but I better see you doing it.” Minghao says, matching your sentiment.

“Pfft, who made you the boss? As far as I know, I’m in charge.” You’d cross your arms, but you were still cocooned in the blanket for the most part.

“Never said you weren’t.” He shrugs.

“Hmm, good. Now get this off me, I gotta go to the bathroom.” You start to struggle against the fluffy fabric of the blankets again and Minghao hurries to help you out.

When you see yourself in the mirror, you almost jump back in horror. You didn’t realise that if you spent so much time with ghosts, you’d start looking like one too. You were so disheveled and your mouth felt awfully stale and your hair was a rat’s nest. (You didn’t know rats could have nests, but if they did, it would definitely be the state of your hair specifically).

Speaking of your hair, the more you tried to brush it out and give it some kind of order, you noticed something strange. There was a number of strands of grey hair that shone in the light of your bathroom. You fought the urge to scream. Those most certainly hadn’t been there before. It wasn’t an alarming amount since you could probably count them on your hands, but it was still startling. It was possible it was your condition after the ghost pass through that had caused it. You just hoped that you wouldn’t get any more of whatever this was.

Maybe Minghao was right; you needed to take it easier and redistribute your work load. You absolutely did not want to see another grey hair, not for at least another ten years.

You have to fight yourself a little bit the next few days because you want to do work but you feel like you need to take several naps a day to feel human. All you end up doing is trying to sneak into the office and Minghao creeps up behind you with a timer and tells you that that’s all you’re allowed to do for now, urging you to take the documents and read them in bed.

The guys make plenty of progress in the mean time, somehow managing to narrow down the number of records significantly and matching five out of the thirteen ghosts to their identities. To the outsider, it might seem like a massive game of Cluedo or something, but the reality was that exorcists very often had to do some detective work in order to be able to do their actual job, which was tending to the dead.

By the end of the next week, after 3 all nighters (though you were forced into a Minghao-mandated 8 hours of sleep unlike everyone else), 20 take-outs, and 50 cups of coffee, you have ten out of thirteen ghosts and over a week until the winter solstice. So you tell everyone to go and take a couple days off. You lose track of time for the most part but you can’t escape the date today.

It’s the third anniversary of your sister’s death.

You wake up and lie in your bed, staring at the ceiling. How did three years go by so quickly and yet it felt like a whole life time ago? You had no idea.

You take your time getting ready today, moving slowly and sluggishly, getting breakfast (more like lunch at this time) and then putting on your coat. You weren’t leaving yet but you still felt waves of cold every once in a while and if you put on your fluffy bathrobe, then you’d never feel like leaving the house. You didn’t have a bathrobe before, but one had mysteriously appeared in your bedroom after you gained consciousness last week and you didn’t have to be a genius to be able to work out that Minghao had got it for you.

You dig out your grandmother’s hairpin and add it to your hair. You wear your earrings and your sister’s ring, and the set would be completed by your aunt’s necklace. Like the rest of your protective talismans, it has a carnelian crystal as the main part of the piece, as all the women in your family wore carnelian and the men wore onyx, which is why your grandfather’s ring was made of that. Minghao wore it now and it occurred to you that you never ended up getting him another talisman. Maybe you should get him something obsidian like Jeonghan wore.

You pack a few things to take with you and call out to see if Minghao is ready. Yesterday you’d told him where you were going to go and he’d insisted he’d come with you so wouldn’t have to worry about driving. You knew he was just saying that and the real reason was so that you wouldn’t be alone. You and Jeonghan had agreed to go separately, mostly because you weren’t sure you could handle being there together, although you suspected he just didn’t want you to see him like that.

Like what? Like you? Distraught and crazy, crying and shaking? Perhaps.

Even though the two of you had made up now and were bonding a little here and there, you still felt like you weren’t back to how you were years ago - that would take time. And grief was an extremely personal thing, and you knew that Jeonghan needed his own time so you didn’t press the matter at all.

Minghao comes out of his room, matching your all black attire, a turtle neck peaking out of his long coat. He walks up to you and pulls a scarf around you wordlessly, adjusting it around your own turtle neck. You hadn’t seen he was carrying one so it surprises you for a split second. You look at him up close, your eyes wandering over his face. You can smell the freshness of his aftershave vaguely, but he steps away just as quickly as he stepped closely.

“Thanks.” You say. He’s not listening though, already walking toward the front door of the basement. You follow him to the car and he’s already in the driver’s seat. For a few weeks now, you’d started keeping the car keys in the living room since you weren’t the only one using it any more. It was too cold for Minghao to ride his motorcycle these days and dangerous with all the frost on the roads.

“Do you know the way?” You ask, after pulling on your seatbelt and clicking it into place.

“Yes.” He says curtly.

“Okay.” You purse your lips, eyes travelling over to the mirrors to watch as Minghao turns your car around, looking carefully behind. He manoeuvres the vehicle smoothly, one hand on the back of your seat’s headrest and the other draped over the wheel. Your eyes land on the black band over his middle finger, its surface smooth despite the years of use.

It fit perfectly against his skin and you’d feel it a shame if you got him a talisman that wasn’t comfortable or as suitable for him as that one. It was then that you officially decided to let Minghao keep it; it was something you’d already thought about doing before but hadn’t voiced to yourself, so now it was settled in your mind.

The car ride was silent and somber and you realised that maybe it was out of politeness that Minghao wasn’t saying anything and giving you space to think to yourself. You appreciated it even though your brain was relatively empty for the moment. Empty may not be the right word; numb might be a better way to describe it.

You arrive at the cemetery after a long drive out of the city and to the outskirts of town. It had stopped raining for now but the sky didn’t look too promising and according to the forecast from yesterday, it’ll probably start up again so you better hurry.

Minghao parks in the lot near the entrance and where there were a few tiny flower shops. You open the glove box in front of you in search of something and Minghao notices.

“We used it up.” He says.

“Huh?” You’re not sure what he’s talking about. You were in search of a tiny flask containing some alcohol (not a safe item to have in your car) however it was an essential in an exorcist’s inventory because it could serve as a heater if what happened to you happens- “Oh, right.”

“Jeonghan told Hoshi what to do over the phone and he knew you had that in your car.” He explains.

“Right, remind me to refill it just in case. Let’s go.” You say. You hop out of the car and shiver from the cold air that hits you right in the face, your cheeks starting to rosey up immediately. “I’ll buy some flowers.” You tell Minghao and he nods.

“Okay, I’ll wait for you over there.” He says. You’d pointed out the path you had to take to your family’s grave as you’d come in, driving past the row, so you knew he’d find it.

Inside the shop it’s warm and lovely and you almost start sweating as you pay for a modest bunch of white chrysanthemums. The lady of the shop smiles softly at you and you return it as you thank her before leaving.

You trudge up the gentle slope leading towards the million rows of graves, all different shapes and sizes. And you spot Minghao from a long distance away. But he’s not at your sister’s grave, he’s further away. You stop. The image somehow burns itself into your eyelids.

You wonder who it is that he’s visiting. He didn’t tell you anything so you guessed he didn’t want to. Maybe he’d thought you’d take longer picking out flowers, which in his defence you had taken like a minute to buy them. You find yourself wanting to wait just a few more moments. Minghao doesn’t seem to see you since he’s so far away but after a minute he turns and walks toward where you’d told him he’d find the grave. You follow suit.

“You got them?” He asks when he hears you approaching, your footsteps moderately quiet.

“Yeah, did you find it easily?” You reply. “The grave I mean. I was pretty vague.”

“Yes, no problem at all.” He says. You watch him, almost wanting him to elaborate and tell you what he’d seen but you feel that he won’t. Minghao was a pretty private person and you don’t want to pry, but it occurs to you that Minghao never mentioned any relatives to you before or anything about his family. You decide not to push it today; he’ll tell you when he’s ready if there’s anything to tell.

You place the flowers on top of the grey marble where a bunch of white lilies lay and you figure that Jeonghan must have stopped by already. You pull a key out of your pocket. The family grave is something like shelves with a closed door and a plaque on top with the names of all the people buried there. You unlock the cabinet and inside there are several white urns, each of them with neat black writing, carrying the ashes of those gone.

You’d packed a few candles and you pull them out of your bag, setting them next to the flowers. You light them and leave the lighter lying beside them. You just wanted to light them as a sign of mourning and respect because you had no intention of attempting to exorcise your sister’s spirit anymore; you’d given up after everything.

The blade with her name on it was inside the cabinet, placed beside her urn and you decided to just keep it there for now. Who knew what her ghost would do today? She probably wouldn’t even show up-

“Um, YN?” You hear Minghao say as you’re busy untying the string around the bunch of flowers.

“Yeah?” You reply, not taking your eyes off the task in your hands.

“Over there.” He nods his head to the right. It’s a minuscule gesture in your periphery but you look up. Your eyes widen at the sight.

She did come.

“That was quick.” You mumble. Minghao clears his throat, pausing.

“YN.” He gets your attention. You turn to face him, thinking he’s about to say something. “Maybe we should try to set her free.” You see he’s trying to be gentle but he’s still very serious.

“There’s no point, Hao. She won��t go.” You shrug, going back to what you were doing. “She’s never possessed anyone.”

Minghao’s hands come to rest on your shoulders before you can turn and he holds you in place. “Let me do this for you.” He pleads. “It won’t hurt to try one more time.”

Deep down, you know he’s right. But you’d been trying for years, since the first time you’d found her as a ghost. You thought you had to let her move on as quickly as possible but she never made the same attempt as you. The seasons changed and you lost hope that she would ever leave and all you could do was wonder why.

You sigh, knowing that if you didn’t try now, you’d regret it. “Fine, let’s do that.”

“Okay.” Minghao takes a good look around but there’s no one within eyesight, just masses of graves. You worry that there might be a stray ghost that would attempt to possess Minghao, which would lead to a disaster but you know that you had your gun in the bottom of your bag; you’d be able to scare it off with salt. You were too cautious to go to a cemetery without any protection.

Your sister’s spirit still hovers a few feet away, just watching you.

Minghao carefully takes the ring off and sets it down next to the candles. You’re holding your breath but for a moment nothing happens. You’re ready to be disappointed again however you see the slow movement of her ghost inching forward and toward Minghao.

You stare in awe, unsure what would happen, the blade in your hand.

The spirit gradually fades, becoming more transparent the closer she got. You can’t see her very well any more and you just have to wait a few seconds. Minghao gasps suddenly, sucking in a great big breath. You turn your head with lightning speed, completely incredulous, as you search for the sign of possession.

Right on cue, his eyes start to shine with the silver light and you take an involuntary step back, hitting the cabinet door.

“Hi.” Minghao says quietly, but his voice doesn’t sound like him. That’s not how he talks.

No way. No freaking way.

Not only had she voluntarily possessed Minghao but somehow mustered enough energy to speak through him.

“Oh my god.” You have no words suddenly, your eyes filling with tears.

Minghao, well, your sister through him, stretches for a second, tilting her head side to side, flexing Minghao’s long neck.

“Gah, why is he so stiff?” She complains. That was definitely the sort of thing your sister would do, you think immediately. She sighs and looks around, eyes landing on the grave. “These are nice, kiddo.” She comments, lifting one hand and undoing the rest of the string holding the stalks together. Before she pulls her hand away she seems to notice the lighter and picks it up. “Give this back to Hannie. It’s his.”

“Huh?” You feel like you’re floating, not really understanding what you’re looking at. You snap back to reality. And in reality your sister was possessing Minghao and talking to you so you’d better pay attention. You were trying to but you were just in too much shock.

“Right, yeah.” You say. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you’re sure Jeonghan had asked you about the lighter but you couldn’t find the memory. You find the words, finally. “How are you doing this?”

Minghao gives you a half smile. “Hannie came earlier. I thought I was losing energy but I ended up gaining some because of it. But it won’t be for long.”

And it hits you; this is the last time you’ll ever see her and talk to her. Actually the last. For three years you lived with no closure, mourning her in whatever way you could, but saying goodbye had never been an option.

Your throat closes up and you know you’re about to burst into tears.

“I have to go, my dear.” Minghao says sadly, his own eyes welling up. “I wanted to say goodbye if I could.”

You sniffle as a single tear escapes your eye, rolling down your cold cheek. “I know.” You close your eyes, willing yourself to stop crying. You didn’t want that to be the last image your sister saw.

“I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. I really am. I wasn’t careful enough and now you have to struggle because of what I did.” You feel a warm thumb on your cheek, Minghao’s hand cradling your face and wiping it away.

Your own hands tighten into fists, words bubbling up in your throat. The words you’d carried inside for three years but couldn’t say.

“Why did you do this?” You ask, opening your eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”

Minghao’s hand drops from your cheek to your shoulder. “I thought I was protecting you if you didn’t get involved with demons the way that Jeonghan and I were. I didn’t want you to be in danger because you wanted to help out.” She explains.

“I wish you hadn’t done that.” You whisper. “I wish I’d known, that way I wouldn’t have blamed Jeonghan so much.” You say, breathing out shakily.

“I realised it too late. It’s why I didn’t want to leave - I wanted you to know the truth and for you and Jeonghan to be friends again.”

“So that’s why you didn’t leave?” It suddenly makes sense. You’d thought maybe you were holding on to her too much, holding on to the loss of her and trapping her spirit here, but it turns out it was her will keeping her here.

“Yes, but now I can be free. I know you’ll be okay. I need you to know that too. Alright, kiddo?” She asks pointedly. “You will be okay and Jeonghan too. I feel free knowing that. You can let me go too now.”

Your vision is blurring through the tears. “But I can’t let you go. I miss you too much.” You let out a quiet sob, giving into the way your body needs to release the tension in your throat.

“I know, honey, me too. But you have to go on. I told Hannie too, you have to go live and carry on like you’ve been doing.” Minghao’s other hand swipes away another tear and then tucks a loose piece of hair behind your ear. Despite the winter cold, his hand is warm. “Promise me you’ll try.”

“I-I promise.” You manage, struggling to keep it together. You knew you didn’t have a lot of time anyway. “I love you.”

Your sister smiled through Minghao. “I love you too, kiddo.” She paused. “I have to go now, I have no energy left to be in this body. One last thing: go visit Mom and Dad, okay? Take Jeonghan and Minghao too, they’ll like him for sure.” You nod, unblinking. “Goodbye, my dear.”

Minghao takes your hand, the one clutching the blade and helps you stab down to his chest. You feel a soft kiss placed on your forehead.

“Go peacefully.” You whisper, then you let the floodgates open. You were the type of person who would cry a lot if at all, which is why you tried not to but you couldn’t stop it.

The blade started to burn up in your hand, Minghao’s on top of yours but going slack until you were just holding it to his chest. You waited for a memory to light up in your mind but found yourself waiting in vain as it never came. You didn’t think about it too much while you cried.

You felt like you lost her all over again for the first time, every fibre of your being shaking with the grief that you thought you buried those years ago, yet it all comes spilling out, like fresh blood erupting from a raw wound. The world around you fades until it’s just the lack of air in your lungs, the hot salty tears running over your cool skin, the wind blowing loudly in your ears as you shook like a leaf, shivering with renewed loss.

Minghao eventually comes back to himself and tucks your head into the crook of his neck, trying his best to keep you steady and warm as you cried your lungs out. There’s a lot of tears streaming down your face but you start to feel drops on top of your head too and you step back and look up.

You expect to see rain, but instead you’re met with snow.

It’s the first snow of this winter.

Precious, tiny snowflakes fall gently from the sky and you hold you hand facing up, trying to catch some. You didn’t know it would snow today, but as it does, you take comfort in the way the each piece of fluff cascades down to the ground. You look at Minghao, a series of snowflakes caught in his hair already, melting slowly.

“Let’s go home.” You say, eyes softening.

You lie on the couch under a blanket, no particular thoughts in your head. It’s getting late but you’re not sure you can sleep what with everything that happened today. Minghao is tinkering away in the kitchen to make you some tea, the possibly tenth cup since you came back from the cemetery. He maintains that you have to keep warm, especially since you were out in the cold for a while today.

You let him convince you to bundle up in warm clothes, big, cozy jumpers and fluffy socks and the blanket on top. Your heating is turned up on high and you were actually warming up for the first time in a couple of weeks.

“Here we go.” Minghao says as he places two cups of tea on the coffee table. You raise your head slightly, enough so that he can slot himself onto the couch too, so you rest your head on his lap and his hand naturally rests on your head, stroking your hair softly. You were grateful that you had Minghao around. He was being a good friend, just staying by your side quietly and patiently as you processed everything. You felt as if you were swaying like a willow in the wind and aimlessly floating down a river.

“Thanks.” You mumble, not reaching for it. You were too comfortable to shift. There’s a sudden thought in your head. “Do we have any ice cream?” You ask without hesitation. Minghao’s fingers pause in your hair.

“Ice cream?” He repeats. “Why?”

“I haven’t had any in a long time.” You sigh. “I haven’t had any since that summer. It was one of me and my sister’s favourites and I didn’t feel like eating any without her.” You explain. You liked it more in all honesty but she ate it with you for your sake and gradually liked it too.

“Ah, I see.” He says. “We don’t have any, but I’ll buy you some tomorrow. Okay?” He pats your head gently and you nod. The gesture is small but it’s kind and it moves you for some reason and you feel tears prickling in your eyes again. You close them, thinking you don’t want to shed any more tears for today but it’s worse when you close your eyes.

Minghao notices your scrunched up face and seems to worry. “Yah, what is it?” He asks quietly. “Does something hurt?”

You sniffle, then exhale. You pause. The image behind your eyes is too vivid. “I see her face when I close my eyes sometimes, Hao.” You sigh; admitting it out loud took some weight off your chest. “I thought I could do this, y’know?” You say. “But I’m not so sure.” Your throat is closing up again.

“Hey, you can do this, okay? I know you can. The pain will lessen with time.” Minghao says, thumb stroking your arm. “You can’t forget her and you won’t, but you’ll learn to live with the memory of her. That’s all you can do. You’re only human after all. Be kind to yourself because it will take time.”

He spoke as if he knew what he was talking about, but it never occurred to you in that moment to wonder or to ask. “Until then, lean on me. Don’t keep that pain to yourself.” He said gently. You felt yourself relax a little under his warm touch, a wave of fatigue washing over you suddenly.

“Okay…” You mumbled as you felt yourself drift off, finally warm enough.

A/N: thanks for reading!! feedback is always appreciated <3 I’m kind of excited to be in the really last home stretch of the fic, it’s been a long time since i started it, i’m just happy with how far it’s come. stay tuned for the last 3 chapters. there’s a chapter 8a that won’t be relevant to the plot but the 9 and 10 will wrap everything up yayyy!! see you later <3

#seventeen #xu minghao #the8 #minghao #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines #seventeen x reader #minghao x reader #the8 x reader #the8 imagines #the8 scenarios #seventeen fics #momobani.writes

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luvnami · 3 years

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𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬!

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞 - aa my first time writing for kny!! i hope you like it~ the title is a play on the word ‘pillars’ lol hopefully that makes sense... enjoy!! likes, comments and reblogs really help me a lot <3

𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 - @/amjustagirl (muacks)

𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 - mention of food

𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 - what if the pillars were... cats?

𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐣𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐠𝐲𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐢

- the CHONKIEST fella you’ve ever seen in your entire life

- seriously, this cat feels like a brick when you try to pick him up

- yes, his fur is dense. no, he does not get any skinnier when he’s matted down with water

- a lovely, calm cat abandoned by his previous owners because they were moving out of the country

- he loves lazing in the sun and his brown fur turns golden in it!!!

- is a lap cat but doesn’t understand that your legs turn numb way too fast when he’s purring away like a little truck motor

- (his purrs are so deep……. put him on an asmr youtube channel already!!!!)

- once, you had a dream that you were drowning. you found him sleeping on your chest when you woke up gasping for air

- broke a flimsy cat tree once and is now terrified of heights

- a big baby :( kind of needy, always welcomes you at the door when you come home with chirps and gets frisky when you don’t return till late

𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐢

- …

- the quiet cat that seems like it might murder you in your sleep

- you adopted him together with kanroji because he simply wouldn’t leave her side and wouldn’t leave your side so… yeah

- this cat HATED you at first

- like… he even refused to eat the food that you tried to give him :/// you had to lure him out with some churu

- you once woke up in the middle of the night because you were thirsty and found two glowy things at your bedroom door

- yeah, he was staring at you while you slept

- you didn’t dare to get a glass of water and just went back to sleep

- dark gray short fur with heterochromia! you think that he might be kanroji’s sibling but the centre said that they came in at different times

- he goes crazy for catnip oh my goodness

- he rolls himself in it and purrs so LOUD……….. ok iguro……..

𝐤𝐚𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐢 𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐢

- so! affectionate!

- you adopted her from a local centre… seriously, who abandoned this pretty baby!!!!!!!

- (iguro insisted on being adopted as well. they come in a pair, do not separate.)

- is a white short fur with heterochromia <333 she looks so magical omg

- when you visited the adoption centre, she wouldn’t stop meowing and curling herself around your legs

- how could you not take her home!!!!!

- she tries to steal all kinds of food (even yours). please don’t own any plants, she will try to chomp them as well

- one time you came back home and heard some loud rustling from the door. you were terrified that it was a thief but when you switched on the lights, the cat had somehow managed to raid your pantry :/

- loves loves loves cuddles!! will even let you touch her soft tummy and play with her toe beans (only for a while though!)

- you wish she’d stop jumping around and getting into the hardest to reach spots…….

- loves trying out new collars, toys and even outfits!

- grooms iguro a lot and loves playing with him <3

𝐤𝐨𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐮

- y’all know the cats that play nice when you’re petting them and then bite your hand immediately after… yeah

- the childhood cat that gives you trauma after it scratched you one too many times

- but very lovable and social!! loves meeting new people and then giving you a smug look as she crawls into their lap

- is not tempted by treats… she will do a trick when she wants to

- siamese, brown to white with a tail that flicks too much when she’s irritated

- this cat pushes your glass of water off of the table while looking you in the eye

- will lay herself over your keyboard when you’re trying to work

- has and will chew up your socks again

- scratches your furniture even after you sprayed it with that ‘no-scratch’ spray

- HOWEVER she will occasionally let you scritch her chin when she feels amiable…….

- tries to groom you sometimes

- jumps around too much for her (and your) own good. has caused the shattering of many things and now you cannot place fragile objects on shelves

𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐨𝐤𝐮 𝐤𝐲𝐨𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐨

- the most!! active and happy tabby cat you’ve ever seen!!!!!

- meow! meow meow meow!

- man i have no idea what you’re saying rengoku but you look happy and adorable so have a treat

- probably a family cat that your dad brought back home (much to mom’s dismay) but he’s part of the family now

- VERY vocal at night no matter how much you try to tire him out in the day… rip

- will wake you up because! human! it is night time and my water bowl is an inch out of place!

- has the most gorgeous coat ever… really. it’s an envy for many cat owners

- he struts around with his head in the air and demands many pets from you while yowling and pawing your leg

- loves outdoor walks, actually. will attack a dog on sight if given the chance so please keep him on a leash

- give him little booties to keep his paws clean!!!!!!!! he fell over the first time you put them on but now he’s used to it and he looks so cute omg

- very nurturing!! takes to other cats very easily and is a joy to have around if you’re fostering other animals (besides dogs)

𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐠𝐚𝐰𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢

- this bastard cat

- hisses if you pat him for too long

- hisses if you don’t give him attention

- hisses while you’re pouring out his food and will NOT hesitate to bite you

- if you touch his paw pads, you can goodbye to your fingers

- i’m thinking……. gray shorthair with green eyes!

- probably a stray cat that you took in (which came with a lot of coaxing, snacks and wrangling) who got into one too many fights

- he took a while to get used to staying indoors, often hiding in obscure places and was oddly possessive of your sofa

- no, he did not let you sit on it for a whole month

- he’s very protective and territorial! when he’s feeling like it, he’ll rub against you and get into your closet to curl up and scent your clothes (getting fur all over them)

- once, when you had some friends over, you had to lock him in your bedroom because he wouldn’t stop snarling at them

- no one dares to come over to your place after that

- (he’s secretly addicted to butt pats)

𝐭𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨

- black shorthair that literally appeared in your house one day

- you have no idea where he came from but you let him stay for a few days and he’s never left since then

- sometimes, he wanders outside (while chasing a butterfly or something...) but always comes back in time for dinner

- has the clearest emerald eyes!!

- he’s so quiet oh my goodness. you swear you’ve never heard him meow or chirp or purr once………. you think he might be a ghost cat sometimes

- moves around silently too. has scared you on more than one occasion when you turned around and found him staring at you, or felt something furry brush against your leg while you weren’t expecting it

- doesn’t initiate affection much but will let you pet and smother him with love!! he kinda just… chills lol

- loves snuggling in the warmest places! sometimes you’ll come home and find a suspicious bump under your covers… lift it and you might find a friend within <3

- hates hate hates collars

- will literally bat at you if you ever try to put one on him

𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐤𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐲𝐮

- loves water so much its crazy

- you have to lock your bathroom door because he’s somehow managed to figure out how to open the doors in your house

- like, he’ll actually jump into the shower with you

- you brought him home one day when you found him as a kitten in the rain outside :c (ur the hot anime character now)

- he’s really quiet! rarely meows and prefers to headbutt you (which can be slightly inconvenient, like that one time you were pouring coffee and nearly scalded the both of you)

- his fur is always messy. sticks up everywhere no matter how much you try to brush it

- black fur of medium length and thickness!!! puffs up SO MUCH when winter comes though

- it’s insane, he looks like a ball of soot

- exceptionally fast. when you try to play fetch with him, all you’ll see is a black blur darting back and forth

- easily scared

- you have to be careful when rounding corners or petting him because if he doesn’t expect it he’ll jump like five feet in the air

𝐮𝐳𝐮𝐢 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐧

- if you do not change his collars or outfits at least once a week or brush him daily he will start yowling

- you decided to adopt him after your neighbour moved to an apartment that didn’t allow cats

- unfortunately, your neighbour was also the most outrageously extravagant person you’ve ever met and spoiled uzui too much

- a good chunk of your monthly spending goes to the cat

- will not eat cheap cat food (how can he tell the difference…?)

- occasionally buries himself in the back of your closet because it’s dark and smells like you but please help me i’m entangled in a scarf and can’t get out!

- loves posing for photographs and being cooed over!! if you run an instagram account for him you’ll be sure to get popular really quickly

- he just… knows the camera is there lol

- hates having his nails clipped omg

- he will run around the house just to escape you and will only be bribed by a fancy new outfit or a churu

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