One hour and several Tylenol later, Jin-kyu was sat in an armchair staring at Sammy. Who was still playing with the cats, whispering and laughing to them as if they were best friends who shared secrets and braided each other's hair.
"I did this," Jin-kyu muttered, fingering the glass of Coke in his hand and wishing to god he had something stronger, because he could really do with a shot of whiskey right now.
Sammy perked his head up, "Jin-kyu! You're awake again!"
Jin-kyu frowned, "I was never asleep?"
"But you weren't talking," Sammy pointed out, looking confused, "when I wasn't talking it was because I was asleep, but now I woke up, because of the star!"
"The star..." Jin-kyu repeated, his nostrils flaring. "Patricia!" he shouted suddenly.
Both Galatea and Coppélia sprang off the couch and scattered in different directions. Sammy frowned as he watched them go before folding his arms across his chest and looking put out at Jin-kyu.
"She must have had something to do with it." Jin-kyu insisted loudly, although he was pretty sure Sammy didn't understand what he was even talking about.
"Right, I'm going to go over there right now and figure this mess out," Jin-kyu stood up and went to fetch his coat, turning round again he narrowed his eyes at Sammy who had also jumped up from the couch with an expectant look, the overalls still pooled over him like a circus tent.
"You should probably stay here for now," Jin-kyu nodded. It had been hard enough to get Sammy home in the first place - he kept wanting to stop and look at everything and worst of all - talk to everyone. It was like Jin-kyu's worst nightmare.
"There are hot pockets in the cupboard, or some instant noodles - you can just boil the kettle..." Jin-kyu trailed off at the blank look on Sammy's face.
"Perhaps I shouldn't leave you alone..." he murmured, reaching for his phone again and wondering who the hell he could call? Eventually, out of his six contacts he settled on Camille. Jin-kyu figured he could just pass Sammy off as a distant cousin or something.
"Jin-kyu you've butt-dialled me," Camille's voice rang sharply over the line as Jin-kyu went to flick the kettle on. He might as well make Sammy some food before he went.
"What?" he replied.
"Oh my god!" Camille squealed, "it's actually you! You mean to say that Jin-kyu Kim called me first on purpose?"
"Very funny," Jin-kyu grouched as he rooted around the cupboard and settled on a packet of the least spicy noodles he could find.
"Look, I need to ask you a favour," Jin-kyu began.
"Acid," Camille replied promptly.
"What?"
"That's how you dispose of a body - just fill up a vat and dump it in. Use your studio - there'll be traces of bleach there anyway, cops won't suspect a thing."
Jin-kyu huffed a laugh and shook his head, "Good to know you've got my back on that one, but actually it's more of a babysitting job."
"Did a pregnant hooker turn up at your door?"
"No..wait what?"
Camille made a chirping noise over the phone, "I don't know! I've always figured you for a dark horse Kim - you've gotta get your kicks from somewhere."
"No. No bodies and no hookers, geez what the hell do you think I do with my weekends?" Jin-kyu grimaced.
"I don't know," Camille replied with a sigh, "you never tell me anything! That's why I'm left to come up with things on my own."
"I need you to look after my cousin. He's staying with me for a while and he's a bit...special." Jin-kyu looked over to where Sammy was currently playing with the taps, jumping back every time the water sprayed out.
"You don't have a cousin," Camille said, her voice curling up suspiciously at the end, "if you had a cousin visiting, Sun-hee would have told me."
"Oh for fucks' sakes," Jin-kyu snapped, "just how much exactly do you talk to Sun-hee?"
"Enough to know you don't have a cousin," Camille sing songed.
"Okay, so he's not my cousin, he's a friend," Jin-kyu sighed, bracing himself.
"Well you could have just said that in the first place," Camille responded brightly, "I'm guessing he's someone you want to keep hidden from Sun-hee for a while?"
"Something like that," Jin-kyu muttered as Sammy jumped back again, giggling as water splashed up his face and created a mess of puddles on the hardwood floor.
"And why does he need babysitting?" Camille asked inquisitively.
"He's new to New York," Jin-kyu replied, "he's from a small town...a really small town and he only just arrived and I have to go out and I don't want to leave him on his own."
"Mm hmm," Camille made an infuriatingly knowing noise.
"Look Camille, I'm serious I just need this one favou...SAMMY NO!"
Jin-kyu sprung forwards and grabbed Sammy's wrist before the younger man could push it down the drain of the sink. Sammy flinched violently, his eyes widening up at Jin-kyu.
"Don't do that okay?" Jin-kyu fixed Sammy with a warning look, "you'll get your hand eaten by the garbage disposal."
Sammy stared down at the drain in wonder, "It has teeth?"
"Yeah," Jin-kyu sighed, feeling his heart rate going somewhat back to normal, "big ones, just stay away for now okay?"
"If it's hungry - perhaps you should feed it?" Sammy asked, lifting himself up onto the counter and peering down the dark chute, "like the poster said?"
"...Poster?" Jin-kyu asked distractedly as he chucked a cloth down at the sopping wet floor.
"ARE YOU A RESPONSIBLE PET OWNER?" Sammy started to recite in a booming voice.
"Ah no - no the drain isn't my pet Sammy," Jin-kyu shook his head and wondered if it was time for another Tylenol yet.
"Darain..." Sammy murmured, suddenly jumping down from the counter and grabbing Jin-kyu's biceps, "Can Darain be my pet?"
"W-what?" Jin-kyu frowned in bewilderment at Sammy's beseeching look.
"Please?" Sammy shouted, "I'll be a responsible pet owner I promise!"
"You...you want to adopt the garbage disposal unit?" Jin-kyu stammered.
Sammy nodded vociferously, "I'll give him food, time, exercise and love I promise!"
Jin-kyu stared blankly at Sammy's expectant face.
"Er...Jin-kyu?" A tinny voice emanated from somewhere to Jin-kyu's left.
Fantastic, as if one hallucination wasn't enough.
"You still there?"
"Shit! Camille!" Jin-kyu exclaimed as he realised he had left her hanging on the phone. He grabbed his cell from the counter and pressed it to his ear, "Hello? Camille? Yes, sorry there...there was an incident."
"With your 'small-town' friend?" Camille chuckled, "Look, sure, I'll do it okay, when do you want me there?"
"Thank you Camille," Jin-kyu breathed out a sigh of relief, "could you...could you possibly come now? It's just I have to go somewhere really urgently."
"Okay, I'll be there in around thirty minutes, just gotta cancel the hot date I had."
"Fuck Camille, I'm sorry," Jin-kyu groaned as she laughed.
"It's okay big guy, It was just some guy that my roommate set me up with - he sounded a bit of a bore to be honest, he was a kindergarten teacher."
"What's wrong with that?" Jin-kyu asked, confused.
"I hate kids Jin-kyu. Seriously, it's like you don't even know me."
"I...don't?" Jin-kyu replied, glancing up to see that Sammy was now talking enthusiastically to the sink.
Camille hung up a moment later saying she just needed to make a couple of calls and lock up her apartment.
"You can eat these noodles okay Sammy?" Jin-kyu said as he placed the steaming bowl in front of the younger man and, thinking better of the chopsticks, reached for the largest fork he could find. "I'm going to get you some more practical clothes."
Jin-kyu disappeared into his bedroom and headed for the closet, ignoring the sounds of slurping now coming from the kitchen area. He felt slightly creepy as he realised he knew Sammy's exact body dimensions, well...he did sculpt him after all.
Jin-kyu knew that Sammy was just a fraction off of Jin-kyu's height but his frame was much narrower, especially the lower half. Jin-kyu stopped himself with a quick shake of his head and reached for some of his old college sports wear.
Jin-kyu fished out his hockey team hoodie, the red was faded to a rusty colour and it had, as with most of his clothes, paint up the sleeve from working in the studio.
He also managed to find some jeans that he had owned before he bulked out and that hopefully, with a tight belt, might stay up on Sammy. He grabbed some socks and a pair of sneakers last minute, because Sammy really shouldn't be walking around everywhere barefoot.
"Okay you can try these on...what the hell are you doing?" Jin-kyu exclaimed as he walked back into the living area and caught sight of Sammy dropping great forkfuls of noodles into the sink, the automatic garbage disposal firing up every time and making a harsh grating sound.
"Feeding Darain," Sammy announced proudly.
"Feeding..." Jin-kyu trailed off, "look Sammy if you don't like the noodles that's okay, I just don't have much stuff in right now, maybe you can ask Camille to make you something?"
"I like the noodles," Sammy replied with a confused look, "but I want to be a responsible pet owner."
"Jesus Christ..." Jin-kyu murmured, but before he could say anything else, Sammy jumped up excitedly,
"Are those for me?" Sammy asked, pointing to the clothes.
"Yeah, you can go into the bedroom to try them on," Jin-kyu said, pushing the bundle of clothes into Sammy's arms and jerking his head up as the doorbell rang. Jin-kyu went to let Camille in as Sammy disappeared behind him.
"You owe me," was the first thing Camille said as she stalked into the apartment wearing leopard print heels and a turquoise corset.
"Jeez, you really weren't kidding about having a date tonight were you?" Jin-kyu commented.
Camille laughed in response and looked around the living room with predatory, narrowed eyes, "Where are you hiding him then? Seriously, you also owe me double if I'm not meant to tell Sun-hee about this - we do coffee on Thursdays."
"Since when?" Jin-kyu moaned as he went to put Sammy's now empty bowl in the sink, directly on top of the drain, before thinking better of it and shifting it slightly.
Fuck, now he was acting crazy too.
"It fits!" Sammy exclaimed happily as he came trotting back into the room, freezing as he spotted Camille. A frown crossed his face, "Jin-kyu who's this?"
"This is Camille, Sammy. I told you she was coming but I think you were too busy feeding Darain."
"Don't ask," Jin-kyu muttered to Camille before she could say anything.
Sammy sniffed suspiciously as he crossed the room. The hoodie seemed to fit him okay and the jeans weren't falling down so that was a plus. He even had Jin-kyu's old sneakers on, the laces tied in double bows.
"She's a friend," Jin-kyu explained, wondering why Sammy was currently glaring daggers at Camille.
"Oh that's alright then!" Sammy said brightly, the frown slipping off his face as quickly as it had come, only to be replaced by a wide grin. "I'm Sammy!"
Camille's expression looked positively triumphant as she glanced up and down Sammy's form. On the one hand Jin-kyu was happy that finally one of his sculptures was eliciting such an emotional reaction from her, on the other hand he couldn't exactly tell her that Sammy was one of his sculptures.
“Oh wow,” Camille smiled, “your eyes are beautiful!”
"So I have to go out quickly..." Jin-kyu began but was silenced by a dismissive wave of Camille's hand,
"Go, go!" she said, shooing him out of the door, "Sammy and I will be just fine."
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