Paw-tner-in-Crime
Description: Tinder girl’s got a cat? Of course Minho’s swiping right on that.
Warning: none
Word Count: 2002
Pairing: fem!reader x Lee Know
“Stop changing the music,” Minho scowled. He would have grabbed his phone back, but his hands were busy ripping open the ramen packet.
“What’s wrong with TWICE?” Felix asked. He danced along to the song and deftly moved out of the way when Minho flicked water at him.
“Nothing. Just pick a song and let it play all the way through.”
“But I want to dance to the chorus!”
“Do you want eggs?” he sighed.
Felix nodded and switched the song once again. Minho glared at him, and Felix flashed him a sweet smile in return.
His phone pinged, and Felix let out a surprised “Oh.”
“What happened?”
“You got a match on Tinder.” He tapped on the screen a few more times and then announced, “Her name is Y/N. And she’s got a cat!”
The eggs were forgotten on the counter, and Minho practically leaped across the countertop to see. Felix finally handed him his phone, and Minho frantically scrolled through your pictures to find your cat.
He cooed when he saw him– a beautiful Russian Blue with one of the most content faces he had ever seen. Over his shoulder, Felix whispered, “Aww.” You had linked your Instagram, and he spotted a few more pictures of the Russian Blue along with some of your face.
“She’s pretty cute,” Felix remarked. “Are you going to message her?”
“She has a cat! Of course.” He opened the text box and paused. “What do I say?”
“‘I like your cat.’”
“No! That’s so lame. I need something witty.”
“‘Meow-y Christmas.’ Hey, are you gonna finish making the ramen anytime soon?”
“That’s still lame. I’ll finish it after we figure this out.”
Felix snorted. “‘We?’ This is a ‘you’ problem.”
Minho’s phone pinged again. “Not anymore,” he said. “She sent me one first.”
“What did she say?”
He grinned. “She sent me a picture of a cat in a Santa costume. ‘Mission: kidnap Santa Claws. Meet at Levanter Cafe at 7 PM for further instructions.’”
“What?”
“My profile says ‘Looking for a ‘paw-tner’-in-crime.’”
“And that’s not lame?”
“She clearly liked it. What do reply back?”
“Go with the whole crime thing. Say ‘affirmative.’”
He quickly typed out the word and sent it. Then he grabbed his keys and headed toward the door.
“Where are you going? The ramen’s almost done!” Felix said. He held up the steaming porcelain bowl as evidence.
“I’ve got a date with a criminal.”
Minho glanced down at his messages and looked at the same one he had been staring at for the past fifteen minutes.
“Levanter Cafe at 7 PM,” it read.
It was 7:10 now, and you still weren’t at the cafe.
The hot cocoas he bought for the two of you were growing colder, and the flaky croissants were becoming staler by the second. He debated whether he should send you a text— something like “Hey, have you even left the house yet?” but he didn’t come off as too snarky on the first date.
To kill time, he scrolled through your Instagram again to see what you looked like.
The most recent picture was of you showing off your new lavender sweater (“Bought this in the summer, and now I can finally wear it!”). On the floor next to you was your adorable cat, and he melted when he realized the cat was playing with its own tail.
“Are you Minho?” asked a sweet voice.
He jerked his head up to see you talking to the guy two tables down from him. The guy shook his head, and you quickly bowed and apologized. You scanned the room, looking for other males sitting alone. Your eyes landed on him, and when he gave a curt nod in return, you approached him with caution.
“Minho?” you tried.
“Hey,” he greeted. He smiled and gestured to for you to sit.
“Sorry, I’m late.” You sat down primly with your hands folded on the table. When you set your jaw and said nothing else, he decided to start the conversation where it left off in your messages.
“So,” he said, leaning forward conspiratorially, “what’s the plan for kidnapping Santa Claws?”
“Actually–” You broke off with a shaky sob. “I, um–” Another sob.
“You all right?” He instinctively reached across to pat your hand in a reassuring manner. He felt you stiffen and jerked his hand back. “Sorry.”
“No, no,” you choked out. “I should be the one saying that.” Your voice was garbled and mixed with abrupt gasps for air. “My cat, he–” At the mention of your cat, the last bit holding back your tears was destroyed, and a flood of tears came pouring down.
Minho didn’t know what to do other than murmur little lies of “it’s okay.” There were a few stares from other customers, and he did his best to ignore them. He nudged the no-longer-hot cocoa towards you, but you refused it.
When you were calmer, he hesitantly asked, “What happened with your cat?”
“He ran outside when I left the house,” you whispered.
His own heart dropped. The thought of losing any of his three cats made him sick, so he couldn’t even imagine how you felt. “I’m so sorry.”
You flashed him a tight but appreciative smile. “I looked for him and then called the animal shelters. They said they would look out for him, but I’m worried. He’s still a baby.”
“Is he chipped?”
“Yes, thank goodness. All I can do is hope someone finds him.”
“Let’s go then.” He got up from his seat and waited for you to do the same. “Let’s find your cat.”
You looked surprised. “You don’t have to! To be honest, I only came to tell you that I wanted to cancel.”
“C'mon. New mission: find your cat.”
You stood up. Though you still looked grim, there was a trace of amusement in your voice when you said, “His name is Oliver, by the way.”
–
With Minho’s phone flashlight on, the two of you trudged through the darkness of the streets in the hope of finding Oliver. You led him back to your neighborhood, and Minho marvelled at how thorough you were in your search.
“I checked all the bushes on this block already and asked everyone to keep an eye out for him. Mrs. Kim’s kids,” you pointed to a gray house, “said they would help look for him in the morning.”
“Oliver!” Minho called out. “Oliver!”
You ducked under bushes, under cars, behind trees, anywhere a little kitten would hide. After a few minutes of shouting and some dirty looks from parents, he suggested moving onto the next street. You reluctantly agreed and started walking down the sidewalk. Minho dutifully followed.
“How long have you had him?” he asked to break the silence.
“Almost two months.” Even in the dim lighting, he could see there was a faint smile playing on your lips. “I wanted a black cat at first, but he just happened to be the first one I saw. It was love at first sight.”
“It was the same with my cats,” he remarked. “One look and I knew.”
“You have three, right?”
He was the one smiling now. “Yeah. Soonie, Doongie, Dori. You know my friends don’t even know how many cats I have?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ve reconsidered our friendships more than once.”
You softly laughed at his statement. Minho felt his heart swell when he realized he was successfully cheering you up.
“Oliver!” you shouted. The sound echoed down the road, but there was no response.
“Oliver!” He joined in as well. He could hear your voice shaking and sounding more and more desperate as your calls were answered with silence.
“Hey, don’t give up,” he gently reminded.
You wiped away your tears with the cuff of your sweater. “I know. But it’s been over an hour since he went missing, and it’s so cold out.”
“He’s probably hiding in a bush and waiting for you to find him. He’ll be alright.”
“I know, I know,” you whispered. You took a deep breath. With a renewed sense of motivation, you straightened up and began checking bushes and rocks again.
“Does he have any favorite hiding spots?” he asked.
“Corners,” you replied. You stuck your head in-between a hole in a fence.“Tight corners that he can wedge himself into.”
“So, he’s going to be difficult to find then.”
“Unfortunately.” You looked back up and at him. The light from his phone blinded you, and he quickly redirected it elsewhere. “I’m really sorry for dragging you into this. You can go if you want. I’m going to head home and see if he came back.”
“I’ll walk you back,” he said. The two of you were shoulder to shoulder, and when yours bumped against his, his heart skipped a beat. After a brief pause, he asked, “Why did you come to the cafe after what happened?”
“I ran out of battery when I was looking for him,” you sheepishly admitted. You looked up at him. “If I still had any left, I would have texted you. I didn’t want to flake on you.”
“I would have understood.”
“I didn’t want to ruin my chance for a second date either,” you whispered. You looked away but not before he saw pink crawling up your cheeks. You sucked in your lower lip. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“I wanted to help you; it’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”
You sighed, and that was the end of the conversation. Minho turned off his light, and the two of you continued onwards. When you reached your driveway, you faced him and bid him goodnight.
“Thanks for helping me,” you quietly said.
“Let me know when you find him, okay?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Good night, Y/N.”
He turned back and started his trek back to Felix’s apartment. On his way, he periodically checked his phone to see if you sent him any new messages, but the latest one was still “Meet at Levanter Cafe for further instructions.”
When he arrived home, there was a bowl of cold ramen on the counter, and Felix had papers spread all over the table.
“Hey, how was the date?”
“Her cat ran away when she was leaving the house, so I helped her look for her cat.”
“Really? Talk about unlucky.”
“Yeah.” He picked up the bowl and put it in the microwave. “We didn’t find him.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Yeah. What are you working on?”
Felix groaned. “Chem. Help me.”
The microwave beeped, and Minho took the steaming bowl out. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the drawer and sat down next to his friend. He checked his phone for messages one last time. To his surprise, there several new ones from you. He frantically unlocked his phone to read them.
‘Oliver’s home! My neighbor found him in her backyard, but she couldn’t reach me.’
There was a picture of Oliver bundled up in blankets.
He replied back, “I’m glad he’s safe.”
Felix poked him with the end of his pencil. “Hey, Minho. Help me.”
“Her neighbor found her cat,” he grinned. “Felix, her cat’s been found!”
“That’s good. Chem?”
His requests were ignored as Minho busied himself with his phone.
“Are you still down with our first mission?” he typed out.
No. He deleted it and tried, “Just wanted to let you know that you didn’t ruin your chances for a second date.”
That was even worse. How about, “Is it too soon to ask you out?”
“These aren’t very good,” Felix remarked. His chemistry homework was forgotten.
“What do you suggest then?”
“‘Mission: go on a real date with me. Meet at Levanter cafe tomorrow at 7 PM. Don’t be late.’”
“So, a carbon copy of what she sent me earlier?”
Felix flicked his arm. “Parallelism. She’ll like it.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you were an English major.” Still, he typed out the message and sent it.
The reply was quick. “Affirmative.”
~ ad.gray
