Taehyung decided, against his better judgement, that it was time to try Jungkook's advice.

(It's important for us to note that taking Jungkook's advice has never gone well for Taehyung in the past, nor is there reason for us to expect it to work in the present situation, but Taehyung is desperate, and desperate men take the advice of Jeon Jungkook.)

For the past few days, Taehyung had been doing everything per the letter - closing the cat in his bedroom at night, letting him out in the morning, setting out food in the morning and in the evening, cleaning the litter box. Even turning the TV on to the cat's favorite shows. (He'd tried to turn on the Hallmark channel once to watch the new Lifetime movie that had come out, but the cat had protested loudly.)

He was doing everything he was supposed to.

So why did the cat still hate him?

Just, I don't know, be nice to him. Pet him or something.

Jungkook's words came into his head on the morning of his fourth day.

Had Taehyung actually tried petting the cat? Hell no, not after it had sunk its teeth into his ankle. (Had that incident been indirectly Taehyung's fault for forgetting to let the cat out in the morning? Perhaps.) But maybe it was time to try again. After all, if he could just get this stupid cat to like him, the job would be a lot easier.

Taehyung reached into the food cupboard and got out a bag of fancy cat treats. (He swore, the cat ate better than he did.) Just as he opened the bag, the cat padded into the kitchen, stopping when it saw what Taehyung was holding and watching the treat with hungry eyes.

Taehyung kept the treat in his hand as he slowly slid the bag back into the cupboard. Then, he bent down, crouching with his knees bench, and held the treat out in his open palm. "Here, kitty kitty," he tried, copying what little he knew of cats from TV.

The cat gave him a look before inching closer. Soon, he was sniffing at Taehyung's palm. Taehyung, meanwhile, held his breath, knowing that if his allergies chose this moment to act up, he'd scare (and more likely, piss of) the cat for good.

After a moment of cautious sniffing, a pink tongue darted out of the cat's mouth as he licked at the treat before delicately picking it up with his tiny triangular teeth. Taehyung exhaled slowly, watching as the cat crunched away, before bringing his hand down inch by inch until it met the top of the cat's head.

The cat immediately flinched, pausing his eating momentarily, and Taehyung set his hand down slowly, careful not to surprise the cat this time. The cat let him rest his hand on his head, and after Taehyung was confident that he would not be immediately bitten, he copied the motions he'd seen Changkyun do and rubbed the soft patch of fur between the cat's ears.

The cat twitched as though startled before something strange happened. There was a low noise, sort of like the grumbling of a well-oiled engine, and Taehyung felt faint vibrations ripple through the cat.

Was he...purring?

Taehyung, scared to screw it up, moved slowly, bringing his other hand to join the first as he pet the cat, smoothing over his ears and scratching under his chin when he raised his head. The fur was velvety and soft underneath his fingertips, and when he came across a small knot in the fur, he picked at it carefully, untangling as he went. Taehyung was even starting to enjoy the activity when he felt a small twitch in his nose and-

"Achoo!"

Taehyung's eyes shut with his sneeze, and when he opened his eyes, the cat was gone.

He wondered if the cat hated him now, and he was surprised when he found himself hoping otherwise. He'd never had a cat before and, like Jungkook, had always thought of himself more as a dog person, but...

There was something about Changkyun's cat that he was starting to like. Despite its passive aggressive personality, the cat was curious and seemed almost human at times. When interacting with Changkyun, the cat had been overly needy, demanding physical contact and affection.

Taehyung wondered if the cat would warm up to him as well?