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mystictober day 5: jumin’s birthday / cat

jumin’s birthday + cat

words: 2917

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! the main idea for this piece was given to me by my very epic friend, @galaxytastes! there is an amazing jumin birthday fic my friend also wrote so please check it out ♡

Jumin had been making weird faces at you all morning.

It’s taken almost everything in you to suppress the urge to laugh.

Admittedly, your fiancé was right- you had been acting suspicious. But hey, who could blame you for being excited?

Jumin knew it was his birthday today. That was for sure. If the chatroom flooded with edits of him and Elizabeth along with greetings from the rest of the RFA weren’t enough to remind him, the tender kisses you had woken him up with did the trick. Ever since he had mentioned in passing that he had forgotten his birthday twice, you’ve silently made it your mission to prevent it from ever happening again.

Starting with today.

To be fair, it wasn’t Jumin’s fault that he was always so busy. Busy is good, he remembers his father telling him. What else is a business, if not busy?

Flash forward to several years later, where the CEO-in-line who had been hiding sleep deprivation and fatigue under the guise of good grooming was ambushed by the entire C&R conglomerate standing in his office. The moment he walked in, his body had flinched against his will in response to the chorused greeting of Happy Birthday, Director Han!

Needless to say, Jaehee Kang was promptly given an explicit order never to let anyone in his office, unless it was his father or V.

Today, he stands in the kitchen, watching you make breakfast. The fact that he’s here past 8 in the morning on a Tuesday is a gift in itself- literally. Once you had told Jaehee about your plan, she took it upon herself to clear his schedule for you.

“Think of it as a gift,” she smiles shyly, shrugging a little. “I’ve never known what to give him, nor have I actually wanted to. Not until now.”

That’s what you had told Jumin as he was waking up- that Jaehee had cleared the day for him. Your routine pleas for him to stay were met with indulgence this morning, the two of you wrapped up in each other’s arms for as long as you wanted. The rest of Seoul could go on without you.

“Jumin, dear, is there something wrong with the food?” You ask from across the breakfast table, tilting your head a little to sell the act.

“The food is… perfect,” he says slowly, cautiously, as if it were a prelude to something he wasn’t sure of how to say.

“But what do you have in mind for the rest of the day… ?” Jumin asks, neatly setting his utensils down. You smile at him and reach over, offering your hand which he gently takes in his.

“Have you planned anything? I’ve never had much days off, I’m not exactly sure what one should do…” he admits, staring at your joined hands. It’s not just him wanting to know if you had something up your sleeve, no- he didn’t actually know what it is that he wanted to do today. Jumin had planned on going to work today as usual, but all of a sudden he was freed from that obligation. Touched by his small act of vulnerability, your thumb brushes against his knuckles in reassurance.

“You’re lucky you have me then, right?” The corner of your mouth lifts fondly. To that, a little smile of his comes through- the one you’ve fallen in love with. He finally meets your eyes.

“I’ve always been lucky with you, my love,” he says with a little squeeze of your hand. You feel the squeeze in your heart, too.

His knuckles meet your lips one by one as you lean over to kiss his hand. He always took you by surprise, this beautiful man of yours. You never knew how to react to it.

You put the dishes away and return to sit in his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck.

“So what’s gonna happen now is, you and I will get ready, because Driver Kim will be taking us somewhere in an hour.” You explain, absentmindedly fiddling with the hairs on the back of his neck.

He kisses your cheek and sighs. He hated surprises, and he made sure you were well aware of this. Your behavior almost perfectly lined up with the nature of the texts in the chatroom from everyone today.

“Darling, you wouldn’t happen to be taking me to some big party, would you?”

You only giggle and shake your head, hopping out of his lap and making your way towards the bathroom.

“You’ve gotta trust me on this one, okay?” You call out over your shoulder, hand leaning against the doorframe.

“Now, are you going to shower with me or not?”

After the events of the shower, you now find yourself dressed in comfy clothing, Jumin in the same. It was always unusual to see him in anything but a suit, but never unwelcome. Clad in a dark blue sweater and khaki slacks, the sight of him so cozy brings a warmth to your heart. You can’t help it when you lean up and kiss his cheek before holding out his white tennis shoes.

“Sneakers?” he asks, accepting them and sitting on the edge of the bed to put them on.

“I’m sure you can give up your Oxfords for one day, Jumin,” you chuckle, pulling on your own shoes. They looked exactly like his.

With laced fingers, the two of you walk towards the elevator. As you make it inside, your phone pings with a text from Driver Kim, signalling that he was waiting out front.

“Happy Birthday, Mr. Han,” the driver says in greeting, reaching out with both hands to shake Jumin’s. This makes the celebrant laugh softly, his hand happily being squeezed by Driver Kim, his very favorite employee.

“Thank you, Driver Kim,” he says sincerely at the man, who now holds the car door open. Jumin nods once more before climbing into the vehicle after you, a very thoughtful smile on his face. If there was one thing he always appreciated, it was authenticity.

As Driver Kim starts the car and leads you into the city, Jumin speaks to him.

“Where are we headed?” he tries to ask as nonchalantly as he could, disliking the fact that he was clueless at the moment. But all Driver Kim does is shrug helplessly and flash an apologetic smile at his boss through the rearview mirror.

“I’m sorry, sir, I’m afraid your fianceé has given me instructions not to reveal our destination.“

He sighs at this, and you only giggle, squeezing his hand.

“Don’t worry, love. We’re almost there,” you offer him a reassuring smile. Before he can make another face, you lean up to kiss his jaw. So Jumin resigns, and instead, settles on combing his fingers through your hair. You secretly wonder if this was a habit he had carried over from showing affection to his cat, but you weren’t complaining. Not at all.

And true enough to your words, within a few minutes, the car slows to a stop somewhere in the Yongsan district. Jumin is visibly confused, unable to guess where exactly you’ve taken him.

“We’ve arrived,” Driver Kim nods curtly at both of you. He goes to escort you out of the vehicle, but you stop him- and you stop Jumin, too, letting yourself out. You smile through the opened door and make a gesture with your hand, giggling.

Jumin feels his eyes grow fond as he looks at you, climbing out of the car. You were so happy. Perhaps… perhaps this was going to be a good surprise.

He doesn’t want to risk ruining your mood by asking if you were at the right place, so he doesn’t. Taking your hand, he chooses to stay silent and follow your lead instead. The exterior of the building didn’t give him any clues as to what was inside, but he spots a few furry felines in one of the windows above, and his suspicion is confirmed the moment you both walk through the doors of the establishment.

Nabiya Cat Shelter, the sign inside reads. He turns to you with a puzzled expression on his face.

“I don’t understand…” he says with furrowed brows. “We already have a cat?”

You only shake your head and approach the employee on duty.

“Hi! Mr. and Mrs. Han, we’re here to view the…” You trail off, not wanting to ruin the surprise but hoping that they understood what you meant. Earlier, you were able to sneak a phone call while Jumin was fixing his hair, so everything should have been in order.

“Ah, yes! Right this way,” they say, leading you and Jumin through the corridors. You smile at him and squeeze his hand in encouragement, gently tugging him along as you walk. Mentally, the man was still stuck replaying the words you said.

“Mr. and Mrs. Han?” his voice is hushed, just for you to hear. You haven’t reached the room yet, but he was already fighting a smile.

“It was easier to explain to them,” you smile sheepishly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear before you confess. “I like saying it, too.”

His thumb gently brushes against the back of your hand. He couldn’t wait to make you his.

“Here we are!” the employee chirps, bursting the little bubble you were in. “Everything we discussed has been put in place. We hope you find it satisfactory. On behalf of Nabiya, thank you, again.” They say, heartfelt. You smile and shake the employee’s hand, before Jumin does the same- albeit a little unsurely. It isn’t felt in his handshake, no, but you can see it in his face.

When the employee leaves, you turn with your back against the door, obscuring the label from Jumin.

“Okay, so I was figuring out what to give you for your birthday. But then came the question, what do you give a man who can buy anything?” you laugh, and he interrupts your little speech.

“I told you, you didn’t-”

“Ah ah ah!” you tut, holding your palm up in a motion that tells him to stop. “I already did this. I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to,” you say softly, lovestruck eyes gazing into his.

This is the moment you move away from the door, revealing a sign that says ELIZABETH on it in fancy cursive lettering, a little paw print beside it. To anyone else, it might have looked like any regular paw, but this was Jumin Han- and Jumin Han knew his cat better than anyone else did.

“For your birthday, I made a little donation to this cat shelter in your name…” you begin to explain. The donation was not little by any means, not to this shelter, but you knew that if Jumin himself had made it, he would’ve given way more.

“…and they used the money to build this room and fix it. As you can see, they’ve named the room after our dear Elizabeth the Third,” you gesture to the writing before blindly opening the door behind you, stepping backwards and letting you two inside.

Immediately, Jumin is met with an abundance of cats; a few of them lounging on a cat tree, some sleeping on cat beds in the corner. One lifts its paw and begins to lick it, grooming itself, as if knowing that it should be presentable to the people who just walked into the room.

His previously scrunched brows are now raised in surprised and delight, and now, the smile he’d been fighting had finally made it to his face. The grin only grew wider as he took in his surroundings.

“These are all rescue cats, and here, they get cared for until someone fosters or adopts them!” You say excitedly, closely observing your fiancé’s face.

One of the cats that had been on top of the cat tree jumped down, grabbing your attention. In true catlike fashion, it sauntered over to Jumin curiously, surveying the man with its glowing green eyes. It turns up its nose and blinks at him, as if waiting expectantly. Ever the master of cat language, Jumin crouches down and offers his closed fist, which the black kitten sniffs and rubs its nose against, before proceeding to lick at his knuckles.

“… I think this one likes you,” you sigh happily, bending down with your hands on your knees. He’s still silent, but you don’t mind. This place probably seemed like heaven to him, after all.

Which it was- but not just for the reasons you assumed. To see all these cats in a safe place, knowing it was your doing, your gift, your tribute not only to him but to Elizabeth as well-

He feels like he’s about to burst of love.

Jumin turns to you with a look in his eyes, and with his free hand, he cups your face and carefully pulls you in for a kiss.

“This is absolutely wonderful,” he whispers against your lips before kissing them again. “My love… thank you.”

With his forehead against yours, you take a deep breath, eyes closed as you take it all in.

“Wasn’t just me, you know?” you say knowingly.

“And… Miss Kang?”

“Not just Jaehee either.”

“Tell me,” Jumin sits down and you follow suit, watching him as he lets the cat jump into his lap, his hand now making the same motions that it had been doing to your hair earlier in the car. You chuckle.

“Saeyoung suggested the whole cat thing… but Yoosung helped me find this place, he told me that his friend volunteered here during the weekends. Zen took me here to check up on the progress every now and then while you were out with Driver Kim,” you bite your lip, knowing how he wasn’t partial to the idea of you riding on a motorcycle, but you carry on. “And Jaehee made sure you wouldn’t find out, plus, she’s the reason you’re actually here today.”

There is a strange feeling in Jumin’s chest, one that doesn’t appear very often, but he was familiar enough with it to identify its source. He leans against the wall and looks at you.

“How about… V?”

This is when you reach for his hand, interlocking your fingers with his.

“He helped me with the donation. We split it in two,” you explain before remembering to pull up your phone and look for your conversation with the mint-haired man. Standing up, you follow the instructions in his text message, approaching a curtain and wrapping your hands around the neck of an expensive bottle which you hand to Jumin.

Pour this one out with me tonight?

It reads on the note attached above the label, signed by V himself. Jumin feels warm without having consumed the wine yet, but the message on the bottle makes him look to you for a little help.

You scratch the back of your neck.

“Do you want to come over to V’s house later tonight? Everyone will be there… Only if you want to go though! But I probably should have asked you earlier because Saeran and Vanderwood were already getting all the stuff…” you ramble on worriedly, a little disappointed in yourself that you ended up asking later in fear of ruining the surprise.

He didn’t actually think you’d pay this much attention to how he wanted to spend his birthday. He was aware that you knew he would be content, alone with you, but here you were- giving him the most thoughtful gift he’s ever received, going through all the trouble of organizing him a party, but still giving him the choice whether or not he would attend. The donation alone was special enough, but the fact that you had somehow roped everyone into playing a part…

Jumin’s hand on your thigh cuts you out of your spiraling.

“We can go,” he smiles softly, leaning in yet again to kiss you. The cat in his lap purrs, now asleep. It seems to have grown attached to him already.

And so, later tonight,the bottle of wine that Jumin received from V will be emptied to its very last drop, and everyone will get to see how much of a lightweight Yoosung really is. But right now, he’s surrounded by cats in a room that was built in his honor, sitting right next to the person he loves the most- you.

He’s frozen in his place, watching as you beckon the other cats closer to scratch their chins one by one. When you laugh, he almost swears he sees the light glow around you. Like the brightest, rarest white aura was radiating from you.

“I love you,” he breathes, soft and sure and true. Like it’s the one thing in the world that made sense no matter what.

You grin from ear to ear, blushing.

“I love you too, my Jumin. Happy Birthday,” you say solemnly, content as you lay your head on his shoulder.

“Huh, a happy birthday…” he muses, mumbling into your hair as he presses a tender kiss to the top of your head. He wraps an arm around you and holds you tight, realizing that he was actually happy this year- and there was no doubt about it.

The sound of your giggle makes his stomach erupt with butterflies all over again. You nod against him.

“Mhm. A happy, happy birthday to you, my one and only love.”

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NOTE: Nabiya Cat Shelter is an actual shelter in Seoul, you can find their Linktree for PayPal donations and adoptions/applications here, and their Instagram is here. If any of you are feeling the Jumin Han spirit and have a few change to spare, consider donating to them!!