Mascot (A Not So Secret)

KAISOO AND KRISOO

This chapter may be a little cracky.

Each and every one of us has secrets.  That little kid in the next table eating with his mother never told anyone that he was the one who broke their expensive vase because he's afraid of the consequences, so he blamed it to their dog. That girl attending the counter never told a soul that he likes girls the way that she should like boys, still stuck in the closet that society built. Some secrets are too dark that we’d rather eat the most disgusting delicacy for the rest of our lives than revealing it while some are just embarrassing things we chose to keep to ourselves.

Yifan too has a secret.

Unfortunately, he is particularly bad at keeping them.

It’s no secret that Yifan is not that skilled when it comes to basketball, and when I say ‘not that skilled’, I mean he totally at the game. He had failed several try-outs for his school’s basketball team when he was still younger and to think that his nerdy short friend got in instead of him. (“One point for the short guys, zero for the tall ones” His friend smirks, adding insult to injury.) He is not good in shooting a ball to a hoop. He would either be too strong or barely there but not quite. His footwork is not refined to boot, consisting of two left feet made up of intertwining Jell-O and cement.

Yifan—like everyone—could still keep some secrets hidden though. It is still a secret that the person who was underneath their school’s wolf mascot was (he shoots, he scores) him.  It’s not his fault that their school’s mascot was unfortunately made for exceptionally tall people and he fitted that criterion well. Those times were nightmares for him but those times were also the closest that he could ever get to the court during a match. Boohoo to him for his courtside life. He heard though that their mascot was remade and now even short people could also fit in it. Tough luck Yifan, tough luck.

One of Yifan's greatest fears is someone knowing that he was underneath the wolf costume. He doesn’t want to relieve those memories of being breathless inside a mascot, but here comes Jinri yet again with her butterfly eyelashes asking him to be inside another one, a pink bunny mascot at that. There’s no way in hell that Yifan would go inside such a horrendous thing.

They are on Jinri’s restaurant right now in the mall and there are only few people there considering that it’s early and the mall just opened. Besides the girl watching the counter and the kid eating with his mom, it’s just the two of them.

“Oh please, Yifan. You owe me for introducing you to your brother and your first love.” Yifan now regrets on why he chose a sly girl like Jinri as his go-to person to tell things on, but then again, he couldn’t find a better replacement even if he wanted to since Jinri is his only friend that could listen well and could give proper advice.

“Tao is not my full brother and K-Kyungsoo is not my first love.” Yifan vehemently denies albeit the small stutter.  Eyebrows creasing to prove his point or more like to be unnecessarily defensive. There’s nothing that Jinri could say that would change his mind.

“Fine, I introduced you to your half-brother and your present love.” Jinri rolls her eyes. “Come on, Yifan. It’s just for a birthday party.”

That’s another reason why Yifan won’t comply, the birthday party is surely going to be full of kids and it’s no secret that he doesn’t like kids. “Find someone else.”

Jinri sighs, but she is a cunning girl and Yifan is an easy prey for her. She still hasn’t used all the tricks in her inventory. She has another idea. “You are now a teacher, right?” Jinri asks, eyelashes fluttering. Yifan nods, face blank. “Then how about you coerce one of your students to be a mascot as some sort of detention? Surely some of them are giving you a hard time.”

Jinri raises an eyebrow, hoping for the teacher to accept. Yifan’s face lit up and Jinri grins at that.

“That actually sounds like a good idea.”

---

It is no secret that most of Yifan’s students don’t like him. Four persons in particular are especially giving him a hard time: Yixing, Baekhyun, Sehun, and Jongin.  He once heard Yixing whisper cradle-robber under his breath when they were both talking about his low exam scores, he might’ve thought he did not heard it since it was only a small whisper but he did. He is most definitely not a cradle-robber, it’s not his fault he’s falling for someone much younger than him. Emotions couldn’t be easily tamed. Baekhyun, on the other hand, cornered him once trying to threaten him. “I don’t know if you know this but the principal is my mother, Sir Wu. If you lay your lips again on Kyungsoo then you’ll know what happen.” Baekhyun warned, giving him a poisoned honey smile plastering faux kindness. Then there’s Sehun who is always sending him never-ending glares during his lessons and it’s highly uncomfortable at that. Yifan is sure that Sehun is killing him over and over again on his mind using different types of torture methods before his final demise.

They are all being rude to him, but Yifan doesn’t blame them because he knows that they are just being jealous since he got Kyungsoo’s first kiss, he would also be jealous if it’s not him. Those were only one time things and they did not do it again because that fact would remains unchanging no matter what they do. There's no need to be bitter.

Jongin—as opposed to the other three—did not threaten him, glare at him, or call him names. On the contrary, he listens to class and follows his every command. Maybe, he is being too nice to him. In addition, Jongin is also doing some things that Yifan doesn’t like. He started to become clingier to Kyungsoo. That’s saying something because even before the kiss, he was already a clingy person as is. It’s as if he's a jackal protecting his property from intruders. Yifan would also catch him once in a while looking at Kyungsoo, and unlike the other’s gazes, Jongin’s is different. It’s smoldering. Yifan  briefly wonders why Kyungsoo still haven’t melted from his friend’s constant fiery gaze.

All seriousness aside, Jongin has this naughty habit of not being able to keep his hands off Kyungsoo. It’s not really naughty as it’s just some few fond pats, but Yifan’s mind is clouded and couldn’t see that. Yifan could have sworn that he caught Jongin patting Kyungsoo’s more than several times already. Despite them being in an all-boys school, showing public display of affection is still a part of their rulebook and Jongin is breaching it already more than what Yifan would want. That’s why Yifan called Jongin to his office.

However, once he told Jongin about seeing him touch Kyungsoo inappropriately, denial is all that he is giving him.

“No, Sir Wu. I haven’t done such things. Sure, I might’ve patted it once or twice but it’s just for teasing purposes, Kyungsoo knows that. I don’t have any other second agendas. My thoughts are mostly clean when it comes to Kyungsoo.”  Jongin defends himself from his teacher’s accusation.

“What do you mean mostly?” Yifan scrutinizes. No matter how much Jongin defends himself, Yifan has already this predetermined belief on who he is and what his motifs are. It would be hard task to break those notions especially since Yifan is cornering him by nitpicking words that could further incriminate him instead of seeing the bigger picture. Yifan is focusing too much on the tiny dirt instead of the masterpiece being presented.

“Well, you know. I’m a teenage boy and sometimes I couldn’t keep my mind off from thinking those things.” Jongin answers unsurely.

“What do you mean those things?”

“Ummm… you know what I mean.”  Heck, Jongin would talk about his fantasies to his teacher. It’s a private matter and he doesn’t want to talk about this things. Even Sehun and he don’t share thoughts about this. He is in a compromising position, and he doesn't want to be pegged as someone of Yixing's kind.

“I don’t know what you mean, please enlighten me.”

It was at that moment that Jongin knows that protecting his image is already futile, and to think that he was trying so hard to be nice to his teacher unlike his other classmates. Jongin runs his hand through his face. Yifan is being hard on him and there’s no escape but to admit things that he doesn’t want to. 

“Fine, I did a bad thing on touching Kyungsoo. I’ll go reflect on my wrongdoings in detention if that’s what you want.”  Jongin admits, tone hard because of his brewing anger.

Yifan smirks.

“Well instead of being in detention, you’ll be inside a pink rabbit.”

---

Jongin usually spends his Saturdays on his room all day long being the lazy bum that he is. (Sometimes, Sehun and he decide to crash to Kyungsoo’s house even if they annoy Joonmyun-hyung in the process.) He does mostly nothing in his room but watch movies, eat junk foods, daydream about Kyungsoo, and text with Sehun. He also wants to have text conversations with Kyungsoo if he could, but that boy only replies to a text once in a blue moon and his text are very short at that. Jongin once sent him a long birthday message filled with lots of cheesy and sentimental stuffs since he wants Kyungsoo to feel how much he is important to him through words, and all that he got as a reply is a wee “K. :)”. Could you believe that? Jongin could not believe that. That was one of the few times that Kyungsoo and he got into a fight. Jongin did not talk to him for days and it actually feels nice at that time because Kyungsoo is the one putting effort to their friendship. It’s a nice change of pace that Kyungsoo is the one trying to hug him and saying his apologies about being insensitive instead of him. It’s a breath of fresh air that Kyungsoo became the clingy one instead of him. It’s good to know that Kyungsoo cares. It's really good to know that Kyungsoo cares. At the end, Kyungsoo sent him a lengthy handwritten apology letter and what else can Jongin do but to accept it.

This Saturday, however, is different from the usual. He’ll be a mascot for a children’s party.

This is not his ideal way of spending his weekend, but then again, he finds it better than doing almost zero things in his room. Kids started to surround him left and right. After all, a cute mascot is like an A-list celebrity for them. Soon, Jongin is humoring the kids and it’s actually fun. Their laughter reminds him of someone else’s laugh. It’s good and soothing to the ear. (Maybe in the future, he and Kyungsoo should adopt lots of kids. Ok, stop it with your fantasies Kim Jongin, as if that would ever happen.)

Jongin feels that what he is doing is not a punishment at all and it’s great since he doesn’t acknowledge that he did something bad in the first place. Needless to say, he is enjoying what he’s doing. Kids are kind of cute.

While Jongin is taking a selca with a five year old girl, there’s a moment when he thought that he saw Kyungsoo entering the restaurant. He did a double look but he was no longer there. He then deems that the screen in his mascot’s eye is hindering his eyesight enough to make him see things. He returns his attention to the kids after scanning one last time. Not long after, he sees Kyungsoo again, and this time he’s sure of it. Kyungsoo is with two kids: a girl and a boy. His punishment is now turning into a reward.  He should thank Yifan later instead of placing a grudge on him.

“Kyungsoo!” Jongin shouts, smiling even if it’s concealed.

---

It’s no secret that Kyungsoo is fearless of almost anything. Spiders, heights, enclosed spaces, and thunder has zero effect on him. The dark? He's fearless. Ghosts? He's fearless.  Despite his best friends being oh so protective of him, Kyungsoo is quite sure that if they would be in a horror movie, he would be the one protecting those chickens instead.

“Kyungsoo!”

He thought that he heard someone calling him but he pays no mind thinking that he just misheard it. Soohyun and Chanhyuk are both dragging him into the restaurant and it somehow reminds him of when he was younger and he’s the one who’s dragging his Yifan-hyung.

The one who took his first kiss.

Visual images of his teacher kissing him then run through his mind. He blush all to himself then tries to erase those vivid thoughts as soon as it formed on his mind. His still couldn’t comprehend that he already got his first kiss, and to his Yifan-hyung at that. It's surreal and almost unbelievable. He could still remember the feel of his hyung's lips, so vivid.

“Kyungsoo!”

He heard someone calling his name again and somehow it made him nervous. There’s an eerie sensation that is bringing him the chill. Soohyun and Chanhyuk already let go of his hand and are now mingling with their friends leaving him all alone. Kyungsoo scans the surrounding to know who is calling him until it lands on someone—something—approaching him.

He takes a step back.

His eyes enlarge.

His heartbeat escalates.

This is it; his worst nightmare is turning into a reality. A giant walking rabbit is off to kill him.  It’s in his pink overall glory, a color that means death for Kyungsoo. He wants to scream bloody murder but he’s throat went dry.  Nothing but a small whimper would come out of him. He looks at Chanhyuk and Soohyun and they are having fun with their other kids. Kyungsoo thinks that it’s fine for him to live them there. After all, they are surrounded by their friends and relatives. With that in mind, Kyungsoo takes another horrified gaze at the rabbit then ran for dear life out of the restaurant. Obligations as a babysitter be damned, he needs to save his life from a fluffy death.

It’s no secret that Kyungsoo is afraid of rabbits, but then again, he doesn’t go over town saying to everyone what’s he’s afraid of it. For all he knows, they could use that information against him. If his memory serves right, the only people who know about his phobia are his family and Sehun.

Kyungsoo looks back, and to his horror, the bipedal rabbit is still following his trails. The perpetual smile on its face is unceasing even while it's shouting his name. How did the rabbit know his name? Kyungsoo have no idea. His life is at risk and there are still many things that he wants to do in his life that he still haven't done. He wants to be able to know how it feels to be in a relationship. To love. To be loved. To marry. He still wants to graduate. He wants to have a great job where he could earn tons of cash. He wants to visit other parts of the world. He wants to know how to swim. There are lots of thing that he wants, but one thing is for sure, he doesn't want to die just yet.

For a passerby, seeing a teenage boy running away from a person in a rabbit costume may look weird. Kyungsoo knows that, but he just couldn't bring himself to care because a rabbit is in his presence. He tried running to the other floors. He tried running left and right to every shops and stalls. To his disappoint, the rabbit would still be behind him every damn time.

“Kyungsoo, would you please stop?” The rabbit calls but he pays no mind. He's in a good distance. There's an elevator near him. He looks back at the rabbit then gives it the tongue. He won; his life is safe again for the time being. He instantly pushes the button for the farthest floor from where he is currently at once he got inside the lift. The closing of its doors is music to his ears. For a second, Kyungsoo thought that the rabbit looks dejected and disappointed despite the eternal smile. When the rabbit is finally out of view, Kyungsoo sighs in relief then wipe some sweat tracking down his forehead.

His calmness only lasts for a short while.

He looks at the only other person in the elevator.

He stiffens.

It's Yifan.

----

Yifan never would have thought that he would get to see Kyungsoo on a Saturday morning of all times. After the kiss that they shared, the both of them still haven’t been together just the two of them. Yifan won’t let go of this chance that luck has given to him on a silver platter. That’s why when the elevator door opens, Yifan grabbed the opportunity in the form of Kyungsoo’s hand. He pulls his student until they are both on a restaurant.

“S-sir Wu, what are we doing here?” Kyungsoo asks his teacher while giving him a meek peek. He then looks down to twiddle his fingers because he’s not able to look at Yifan for more than a few seconds. Yifan could tell that Kyungsoo feels awkward around him and he’s determined to end that.

“Why, to eat of course.” Yifan smiles gently. He then hands his student the menu which Kyungsoo seized with uncertainty, his gaze trailing it. “Pick any food you like, it’s on me.”

“Ummm… is this like a date or something?” Kyungsoo blushes, biting his lower lip. He doesn’t know what to do and he mentally slaps himself because why did he ask such a stupid question? He never had a date before. He did went already on several ‘dates’ with Jongin or Sehun, but he’s not sure if those are considered as date dates, probably not.

“It’s whatever you would like it to be.” Yifan says. Just by then, the waiter arrived asking them their order. Yifan ordered what he usually buys while Kyungsoo, to Yifan’s surprise since he thought that Kyungsoo would be all too shy to buy anything expensive or too much, orders quite a lot of foods. There goes his paycheck. Well, at least it was well spent lavishing it on who he considers is his real treasure.

Kyungsoo is his treasure, and that thought is a resonant on his mind.

Silence falls again, but Kyungsoo was able to fill the void unknowingly:

“Yifan-hyung, Do you think that walking r-r-rab. That walking r-rab—” Kyungsoo inhales deeply and musters enough will to say what he has to say. “Do you think that walking rabbits exist?”

“No,” Yifan directly answers, “Why are you asking that question?”

“I-. Well, I think that those creatures are evil.” Kyungsoo’s walls are starting to break down and Yifan is determined to pulverize all of it down to the very last crumb. He wants Kyungsoo to have no inhibitions when he’s with him.

“Evil, how so?” Yifan grins, amused at the randomness of their conversation.

“For one, a rabbit was chasing me earlier trying to kill me. He even knows my name.” Kyungsoo nods while recounting the story, as if that would validate its authenticity. He does not notice it, but he could now look directly at his teacher without blushing or remembering flashbacks of his kiss.

“A rabbit was chasing you? It’s actually kind of cute.”

Kyungsoo’s face knits, somehow a little offended at his teacher’s nonchalance and lack of empathy.

“It’s not cute. It’s scary!” Kyungsoo enunciates, eyes enlarging. “Can you imagine a rabbit in pursuit of you? That’s how I feel.”

Yifan couldn’t help but to laugh making Kyungsoo angry because he is being serious. “I’m sorry Kyungsoo. Your story is just quite amusing.” Kyungsoo lets out a sheesh, but he couldn’t stay angry at his teacher for long. After quite some time, the waiter arrives with their order. Kyungsoo face brightens up and after a “Thanks, Yifan-hyung”; he gobbles up his food as if he’s not on a diet. He will probably scold himself in the future, but that doesn’t matter for now because the crème brûlée tastes like heaven and the pasta is to die for.

His gourmet paradise did not last long as he could suddenly feel a prickly sensation. It’s as if someone is looking at him and watching his every move (aside from Yifan, of course).He scans his environment and his heart stops at seeing a pink rabbit walk his way.  The next thing he knows, the rabbit already seized his hand grabbing him away from Yifan.

Yifan was given no warning upon seeing the rabbit stole Kyungsoo. Everything goes fast, and before he knows it, Kyungsoo was already gone with Jongin.  Is that really Jongin? Of course it is. Who else would be inside the rabbit costume but him? Jongin is now slowly creeping to the top of his ‘most annoying student’ list, and he may soon dethrone both Baekhyun and Yixing. Yifan sighs at another wasted opportunity; he should probably give Jongin another detention.

---

It’s no secret that Jongin, despite the manly image that he tries to foster in front of Kyungsoo, is afraid of several things.  One fear though that stood out among the rest is his fear of change. Jongin is the kind of person who likes to keep things well organized. He’s the kind of guy who’s contented with things as they are. No uncertainties to fret about. No ripples in the calm water.

There’s his parents who loves him unconditionally, they might not be the most perfect, but they’re the most right. There are his two older sisters who sometimes treat him like he’s the third one, Jongin doesn’t want to recount that there’s a good part of his childhood made up of being in a skirt and his mother’s make-up courtesy of his evil noonas. There’s Sehun who has been his best friend since they were one, both of them are from well off family and their meeting is inevitable as their parents are not only business associates, but also best friends. Then there’s Kyungsoo, no further words needs to describe him. It’s Kyungsoo.

Jongin has his fair amount of worries and trouble, but Jongin is contented with his life. It’s average. It’s normal. He could do better. He could spice it up. Jongin though is not greedy. He’s not a risk taker. He’s always fine with way things are.

Change, however, is unavoidable.

Change is constant.

Lately, change is all that is happening.

Lately, Kyungsoo is drifting away from him and Sehun.

Lately, Kyungsoo is getting close with other guys.

Gone are the days where it’s just Kyungsoo, Sehun, and him. Gone are the days when they are the only boys that Kyungsoo cares about.  Who are they to prevent Kyungsoo from gaining new friend? After all, they are still labeled as best while the others are just old and new. No one could ever compete with best; Jongin should feel confident and not wary. He shouldn’t feel insecure and jealous upon seeing Kyungsoo eating out with Yifan, the jerk who took the kiss he dreamt of taking. He shouldn’t have pulled Kyungsoo and be the rude bad boy who only cares about what he wants. Maybe Kyungsoo wants to stay with Yifan, but Jongin doesn’t want that.

Kyungsoo is now in his hold where he should be, where he should stay. His eyes are close and he keeps on mumbling don’t kill me please, don’t kill me please, don’t kill me please like a broken cassette tape.

“Kyungsoo,” he starts, his voice is almost broken. Jongin clear his throat.

“Kyungsoo,” he repeats, looking at the boy who is now looking at him. Kyungsoo looks afraid.  Jongin takes a hold of the rabbit head that is concealing his identity then removes it swiftly. He looks at Kyungsoo again.

Kyungsoo is still looking at him. He blinks once then twice. Kyungsoo could not believe it.

“J-Jongin?” Kyungsoo whispers. It was Jongin all along and why have he not notice his voice, some friend he is. He then groans upon the realization of what he looked like all morning. Sometimes, Kyungsoo wants to strangle himself because of his embarrassing tendencies. “I should have known it was you. Now, I look like a fool all this time.”

Jongin smiles, his eyes still blank.

Jongin’s afraid of change but he figures that he’ll have to just live with it. He just needs to find a constant that would remind him that even if things are constantly changing, there are things that don’t. He needs a constant that would make him believe that an echo could last a lifetime. He needs a constant and he needs it to be Kyungsoo.

“Kyungsoo?”

“What?”

“Would you be my constant?” Jongin asks.

“What are you talking about?”

“Would you be my constant? Jongin reiterates.

“What’s that?”

“Would you be my constant?” There’s conviction in his voice.

Whatever Jongin is asking, Kyungsoo knows that he needs an affirmative. Sometimes, Jongin could be a little melodramatic, but Kyungsoo secretly likes that about him. He knows Jongin well, he is his best friend. He might not know everything there is to his best friend, but he could tell if Jongin is in a mood that needs cheering up. Today is one of those days.

 “Yes, Jongin. I’ll be your constant,” Kyungsoo answers, wondering what made Jongin act this way. He pats his friend’s shoulder because he knows he needs it.

“Good, then don’t leave me.”  Jongin pouts, looking at his hand. Kyungsoo almost wants to laugh at how his friend is being such a kid in need of attention, and to borrow Yifan’s words: it’s actually kind of cute. Kyungsoo shakes his head, he’s already used to Jongin’s antics and two could play at this game:

“I won’t if you won’t.”

---

The rest of the day went well. When the birthday party ended, Jongin accompanied Kyungsoo to deliver Soohyun and Chanhyuk back to their house. After that, they stayed at Kyungsoo’s house. Junmyeon wasn’t there so Jongin could cuddle with Kyungsoo as much as he wants. Sehun would most probably be furious if he knows that he spent the whole day with Kyungsoo without him, but Jongin knows that Sehun is sometimes cheating with their deal too. They ordered take-out pizza and eat it while watching some movies. Lights are out, and the cold is creeping from the outside.

“Jongin?” Kyungsoo asks, looking at the younger.

“What?”

“Don’t you know that I hate r-rabbits?” Kyungsoo stutters.

“I don’t.” Jongin shakes his head while taking another bite of pizza, too absorbed at the television.

“Well, since you wore a bunny costume, I demand you to take a bath with me.” Kyungsoo is still looking at him. Jongin freezes then looks at Kyungsoo as well, eyes meet. Did Kyungsoo just said what he just said? Oh, heck no, he must be dreaming.

“Wait, what did you just said?” He asks to make sure.

“Take a bath with me. I mean, if it’s okay with you.” Kyungsoo now looks unsure, but Jongin wouldn’t waste this opportunity even if it’s too cold to take a bath so he answers:

“Heck yeah, it is okay.” He then realized how excited he sounds so he clears his throat then quickly follows it with:

“Uh I mean, sure, it’s fine. I guess.”

I love you all guys. (: (: (:

boredpanda98