Chapter LXXXII – Kyu

With the power back on, the lights revealed Arthur holding a fuzzy black kitten with white fur covering its mouth, chest, paws, and even the end of its tail. Before he knew it the girls swarmed him, not allowing him to let go of the cutie. It looked to be a few months old, already nimble on its feet.

“It’s so adorable,” Sophie said with a higher-pitched voice.

The kitten allowed Arthur to hold it without moving around too much which was surprising by how frightened it was prior to being picked up. Max and Tjay kept their distance as the girls apart from Iseul left no room for them to approach.

“How did it even get in?” Irene gently scratched it behind the ear with two fingers while looking around for any open doors or windows.

“Poor baby is probably hungry. We should feed it,” Sophie said.

“There’s some milk in the fridge. Should we give it that?” Ari asked.

“Don’t give it milk,” Iseul sighed, slowly approaching from Arthur’s side. “Most cats are lactose intolerant so they shouldn’t drink cow’s milk.”

“Didn’t we buy dried meat?” Irene asked, walking over to the fridge.

“Can I hold it?” Sophie asked with a winsome smile on her face, staring into Arthur’s eyes.

“Please do,” Arthur handed the cat, eager to escape the swarm.

Sophie carefully took it from his grasp and allowed the kitten to rest on her shoulder. It didn’t take one to be an expert to figure out just how ecstatic she was. Shirtless and wet, Arthur took a step back letting the girls take care of it. Letting out a sigh, he noticed Irene walking past him giving him a sniff.

“You smell like a wet cat,” she chuckled.

“I’ll take a shower. Don’t worry. . .”

“Should we bathe the cat as well?” Irene asked, slowly approaching with some ham torn to tiny pieces on a small plate.

Irene placed the plate on the kitchen counter, inviting Sophie to let it down so they could easily watch it eat. Before letting go, Sophie took a sniff and noticed that even though it was slightly wet, it didn’t smell bad.

“I think we’re fine just using a towel,” she said, lowering the cat. “Here you go. . .”

It took seconds for the cat to approach the plate and start munching on the ham. Max and Tjay joined in on the fun by surrounding the kitchen counter with the rest. Arthur meanwhile leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

“Can we let it stay for tonight?” Sophie looked to Irene.

“You didn’t think I’d kick it out in the rain, did you?” She raised an eyebrow letting out a chuckle.

“Thanks,” Sophie whispered genuinely thankful before leaning down on the counter with her elbows while cupping her face.

“You guys have fun, I’m gonna take a shower and head to bed,” Arthur said, pushing away from the wall.

“I’ll join you soon,” Irene said, turning around.

Arthur chuckled as he leaned closer to her ear.

“In the shower or the bed?” he whispered, making Irene turn red. She was shocked but thankful that nobody heard him. Truthfully, Arthur had been looking for an opportunity to get back at her for all the teasing and simply couldn’t resist. Before she said anything, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “See you upstairs.”

Irene slapped herself gently while staring at Arthur’s back as he made his way up the stairs.

“Fuck. . .” she mumbled flustered, turning to the rest.

Reentering the bedroom after taking a shower, Arthur saw Irene waiting for him in bed with her shirt off. He couldn’t resist smirking from afar as his gaze scanned her from head to toe while having a towel resting over his shoulder. It was definitely not the first time he looked at her that way, but being able to do so as a privilege of being her boyfriend required some time getting used to.

“I’ve missed you,” Irene said, biting her lower lip. “It’s been so long that even the rain stopped.”

Her exaggeration made him chuckle as he sat down next to her, grabbing her hand. Arthur couldn’t help but admire how even her hands were feminine and soft.

“You’ve changed colors,” he said, noticing the black polished nails. “They used to be red.”

Even though she didn’t say it, Irene was glad to find her man attentive to even the smallest details.

“Do you like it?”

“I do.” He lifted her hand, pulling it closer to his lips. “Though I don’t think there’s much you could do that I wouldn’t find attractive,” he said, giving her a gentle kiss.

“That’s good to know.” She smiled pulling her hand away to grab the blanket. Throwing it over them, she let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad to know everything’s okay.”

“Were you spooked?” he asked, lowering himself onto the pillow.

“Not really, but still. . . Imagine if it was actually a rat.”

“Then I would’ve taken care of it,” he turned to face her, tucking one hand under the pillow.

Irene slid down next to him, inching closer so he could wrap his hand around her.

“Hopefully you won’t have to. . .” she closed her eyes taking a deep breath.

Just as she snuggled back into him, Arthur received a text message. Letting out a sigh, he turned his back to Irene to check out his phone. It was Sophie.

Oppa... I know I have a tendency to ask for things as of late and you keep spoiling me by doing everything I ask but... Can we please take Kyu with us? Pretty please

“Who is it?” Irene asked, caressing his back. Letting out a sigh, he handed her the phone over his shoulder while laying back down, still facing away from her. She continued to scratch his back while reading the message which just made her giggle. “She already named him as well. It’s pretty Kyute.”

“Ask her if she got permission from grandpa,” he closed his eyes, listening to the speedy typing.

“She said no. But. . . She also said that she’ll convince him if you’re fine with it first,” Irene read the reply that came within seconds. “Oh, and she said please.”

Irene’s giggling made it apparent that she didn’t mind having Kyu staying with them.

“You think Amelia would mind?”

“You kidding? She’s totally a cat person,” Irene chuckled. “She would’ve probably tried adopting it herself if we were back home.”

“What about you, are you a cat person?”

“More of a dog type of gal, but I love them both. So. . . Should I tell her yes?” Irene looked over his shoulder.

“As long as she takes care of it, it’s fine by me. . .” He sighed, slowly allowing himself to drift to sleep.

After sending the message Irene placed the phone down and wanted to spoon him from behind, but the sudden knock on the door got her to laugh as she expected it.

“Who is it?” she asked while on a lookout for her shirt in case it wasn’t who she expected.

“Kyu. . .” Sophie responded with a lowered voice.

Arthur turned on his back and forced himself up.

“Come in,” Irene said.

Slowly opening the door, Sophie entered the room while holding Kyu in her arms. Arthur never saw a brighter smile on her face than at that moment, making him certain that it was the right choice. Kyu kept looking around, absorbed by his surroundings. Sophie approached the bed and looked where to place him down but Irene cut her off by extending her hands out and asking to hold him. Now that Kyu was in Irene’s arms dry and taken care of, Sophie could finally give Arthur a warm and ecstatic hug.

“Thank you. . .” she whispered, not wishing to wake the whole house up.

“You should thank her for allowing Kyu to stay,” Arthur referred to Irene, hugging her back. “Just make sure to take care of it, alright?”

“Thanks, Unnie,” Sophie smiled, looking at Irene who kept playing with Kyu.

“Don’t be silly. . .” Irene whispered. “The moment our little furry friend entered the house, I knew he wasn’t leaving. How’d you find out it was male? I heard it’s hard to say when they’re just kittens.”

“Iseul Unnie told us,” Sophie explained.

“She really is a know-it-all,” Irene chuckled.

“Alright, let’s have this conversation tomorrow. I wanna get a little bit of sleep,” Arthur yawned.

“Oh, yeah. . . Sorry about barging in like this.”

“Nonsense, I wanted to see Kyu as well,” Irene said, touching noses with Kyu before handing him back to Sophie. “Have a good night.”

“You too,” Sophie said, turning to Arthur and kissing his cheek.

With a wide smile on her face, Sophie left the room leaving the two to themselves.

“They’re so adorable together,” Irene commented, laying back down.

“They are,” Arthur smiled laying down next to her. “Turn around.”

“Huh?” she looked confused but listened.

Arthur wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer.

“Goodnight,” he whispered sweetly to her.

“Sweet dreams,” she whispered back with a placid smile.

One of Arthur’s favorite things in the world ever since meeting Irene was him waking up to someone beautiful every morning which is why he was taken by surprise when he opened his eyes to see Irene gone while having Kyu snuggling next to him on the bed. It was the next morning and sunlight peered through the window.

Rubbing his eyes he looked at the yawning kitten that simply turned on its back with his tail twitching. Without a second thought, Arthur smiled and started rubbing Kyu’s belly which made the kitten purr. He couldn’t help but think how soothing it felt feeling the vibrations.

“So you’re family now?” he whispered, watching Kyu yawn and stretch out his paws. “I wonder when they snuck you in here. You truly are a cat of many mysteries, huh?”

Arthur wanted to get up but Kyu decided to snuggle closer which made him sigh in response as he thought to himself that now he had one more reason to stay in bed longer. It took him a few minutes after that to finally get out of bed with the small guy following him from behind.

When they entered the living room Arthur noticed that he was walking around without a shirt yet which he was slowly getting used to. Before he could even say hi to his girlfriend and their sisters that sat on the couch chatting around while everyone had seemingly already gone swimming, Sophie whistled to Kyu which got him jumping around on all fours. He seemed overjoyed that she was inviting him over to play.

“Good morning,” Irene said, eyeing her man. “Sleep well?”

“Was a bit surprised not seeing you in bed and with a surprise no less,” Arthur chuckled before glancing at Amelia who was all over Kyu along with Sophie. “It seems you’ve already met our new friend. I take it you don’t mind?”

“Definitely was surprised to find him walking around the house early in the morning, but Iseul explained it to me over coffee. He’s such a cutie,” she smiled, rubbing under Kyu’s neck.

Arthur glanced to the deck, noticing that the door was open.

“You sure you want to keep it open in here,” Arthur asked. “What if he escapes?”

“It’s fine,” Sophie said. “He already went on the deck and came back. I don’t think he likes being outside that much. Besides, I don’t want to worry about him not knowing how to leave and come back if it comes to it.”

“I hope you’ll still go outside now that we have a cat,” Arthur commented.

“I will.” She smiled innocently, letting Amelia play with him for a bit. “You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“Fine, fine.” Arthur brushed it off but it got the girls giggling knowing he was just being protective. “What about food?”

“We already went to town and got him some cat food,” Amelia explained. “There’s more than enough for the summer.”

Arthur’s attention was diverted to Nabi and Hyun coming down the stairs. He expected them to be at the beach by now considering everybody else was there already.

“There he is,” Nabi said, walking past Arthur and crouching down next to Kyu. “They took you away before I got the chance to see you. You’re so adorable,” she smiled, looking close but not actually petting Kyu.

It appeared that Kyu was going to be the main topic of the house for quite a while.

“What’s up?” Hyun asked, surprising Arthur.

“Just woke up with a cat next to me,” he chuckled. “Can’t complain I guess.”

“Heard you keeping him.”

“Yup, can’t win against Sophie,” he teased himself. “You a fan of cats?”

“Not really. . . ” He looked to the kitten unamused. “Besides, I’m allergic.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Yeah, as long as it stays a kitten while we’re here.”

“That’s good to hear. Guess we didn’t consider allergies. However, if you do end up reacting, I know Max has a lot of meds for them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Looking at Nabi and Hyun, it was safe to say that they were ready to head out to the beach.

“Going for a swim?” Arthur tried prolonging the conversation.

“Yeah,” Hyun sighed. “Plan to swim a bit before it gets too hot.”

“You don’t sound awfully happy about it. Bored?”

“Nah, just expected things to be a bit different.”

“Like what?”

Hyun looked to Nabi before glancing back to Arthur.

“It’s really not important. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you need to talk, I’ll listen,” Arthur said but doubted he’d take him up on his offer.

“Thanks. . .” he sighed again. “Babe, wanna get going?”

“Ah, right!” Nabi got up, rushing over to Hyun. “You guys joining us?”

“A bit later,” Amelia commented.

“I just need to take care of a few things and I’ll be right there,” Sophie mentioned, picking Kyu back up and playing with his paws.

“I understand,” Nabi chuckled before looking to Irene and Arthur. “What about you guys?”

“I think I’ll have breakfast first and laze around for a bit,” Arthur said.

“Same. . .”

“Don’t make us wait too long,” she chuckled and left with Hyun.

Arthur walked over to Irene and dropped to the couch.

“Did you hear that? Babe. . .” Irene coyly smiled. “I wouldn’t mind being called something like that.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Arthur chuckled.

“Good,” Irene whispered, leaning closer to his ear. “Darling.”

Every time she said darling, she made sure to do so in English, making it strangely alluring with her accent.

Kyu leaped from Sophie’s grasp and walked over to Arthur before letting out a low meow. He was being irresistibly cute as Arthur picked him up and placed him in his lap.

“Great,” Arthur’s voice trailed off into a tone of disbelief. “Now there’s three of you.”

“I’ll have you know, Kyu is well-behaved already,” Sophie praised him. “He didn’t ruin anything overnight.”

“And I’ll be happy if it stays that way. We understand each other little guy?” Irene leaned in closer and kissed Kyu behind the ear before looking around again. “Though I still don’t quite understand how you snuck in.”

“He seems to love cuddling,” Arthur commented as Kyu snuggled against him, endlessly purring.

“Seems you have that in common,” Irene pointed out while starting to play with Arthur’s hair.

Instinctively, Arthur tilted his head closer to her which made the girls giggle.

Looking down at him, Arthur tenderly smiled. “Well, Kyu. . . Welcome to the family.”

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.