Chapter 12: Whatever.

#06

“This is a zoo for children” Junhong said once he entered to the zoo that ended up being a petting zoo.

    The animals ran freely through the grass under the sunshine as a group of kids chased them to hug and feed them.

    “Well, Himchan's five years old” Yongguk said “And I think this place is startling” Yongguk looked the pile of trees that brought a feeling of calm and quiet.

    Yongguk hyung is always troubled, I guess this place is perfect for him, Junhong thought.

    “Welcome to the biggest Tokyo petting zoo!” a woman said cheerfully through a loudspeaker “We have a wide variety of animals, mostly they're domestic, but there’s few wildlife too”

    “Can I play with them?” a little boy pointed at a sheep grazing next to a dozen cows.

    “Of course! You can brush their hair and feed them too. There are stands where you can get combs and food”

    “That sounds fun” Junhong said excitedly.

    “I want to go to the nursery to see the baby animals” a girl said eagerly.

    “I want to see baby animals too” Junhong said to Yongguk.

    The guide woman showed them the way to the nursery, it was a big building with cribs made for the little animals.

    “Oh my, hyung, hyung” Junhong shook Yongguk’s arm “Look, this is a baby monkey!!!

    Yongguk loved Junhong's ability to be surprised by everything.

    “Then they must be their parents” Yongguk pointed to the monkeys sitting beside the crib.

    The female monkey jumped into Yongguk's arms and squeezed him friendly.

    “Man, you're so popular even the female monkeys want you” Junhong said.

    The monkey let Yongguk go and went to Junhong and lic(ked) his cheek with the tongue.

    “I think she likes you more”

    “My cheek is all sticky” Junhong pouted.

    Yongguk smiled and rubbed Junhong’s face with a sleeve, his fingers touched Junhong's lower lip by accident and all of a sudden he wondered about kissing him.  

    What’s wrong with me? I'm spending too much time with Junhong, Yongguk thought shaking his head.

    “Are you ok, hyung?”

    “Yeah” Yongguk smiled tensely.

    “Oh, there are baby pigs too!” Junhong said excitedly.

    He could change the subject effortlessly; Yongguk was the one who couldn’t stop thinking about Junhong’s lips. When he was younger he thought about that, then he stopped and now they were going out together a lot, so he started thinking over and over again.

    “Hyung, kiss me, kiss me”

    “What?!!!” Yongguk exclaimed in shock.

    Junhong was holding a baby pig to his face.

    “Kiss me, kiss me” Junhong said “Aigo, hyung, this little guy wants you to kiss him”

    “Ah, this piggy” Yongguk blushed savagely as he thought Junhong wanted him to kiss him (Junhong)

    “Who were you thinking?” Junhong asked innocently from the elder's thoughts.

    “Nobody...” Yongguk kissed the pig’s forehead.

    “You’re a lucky guy, Yongguk hyung is the most wanted man on planet earth” Junhong said pressing his nose against the pig's.

    “I’m not the most wanted man on the planet earth” Yongguk said, embarrassed.

    “Sorry, I mean, the most wanted man on the universe”

 

   

 

Himchan planned to go to all the places on the list with Jongup, but since Jongup hurt his leg, he decided to stay and keep him company. That wasn't how he thought he'd spend the last day at Tokyo, it was better though, just sitting on the couch, watching TV and having Jongup's head rested on his lap was relaxing and nice, so relaxing and nice he fell asleep.

    Jongup fell asleep too; the only sound derived from the TV that ran The Grudge. All the B.A.P’s members watched the horror movie years ago, they agreed the thing that scared most was that boy meowing everywhere.

    Someone came into the room and walked noiselessly towards the couch, the stranger stopped behind Himchan and patted his nape with cold fingers and whispered to Himchan's ear: meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meeeeoooow…

    Himchan opened wide his eyes and screamed like a girl in a horror movie while Daehyun burst in laughs. Himchan thought there was a ghost hunting him. He jumped out of couch forgetting Jongup was resting on his legs. Jongup fell against the floor as Himchan ran towards the TV to find one scene which a ghostly and scary woman reached out her hand from the stairs; that freaked him out, still sleepy, Himchan felt like the girl was reaching her hand to him.

    Daehyun held his stomach and laughed deafeningly.

    “What's going on?” Jongup got on his feet with difficulty because of his bandaged leg.

    “We're all going to die!!!” Himchan cried out.

    “It's just a movie” Jongup took the remote and turned off the TV.

    “But... I... I felt cold fingers on my neck… and the meowing”

    “You're such a baby!!! You get scared by anything!!!” Daehyun said.

    “You’re the ghost?!” Himchan said with his fists in the air.

    “Himchan!!! Calm down!!! Ghosts don't exist” Jongup said.

    “It will when I’ll make a ghost out of Daehyun!”

    “We should drop Himchan in a haunted house for Halloween” Daehyun said.

    “No if I drop you in...” Himchan didn’t know what to say.

    “Toilet” Jongup said unexpectedly.

    “Oh yea, no if I drop you in the toilet first” Himchan said.

    “No!!! I mean, I need to go... Whatever... Try not killing each other” Jongup headed to the bathroom.

    “Oh, wait, I came here to talk to you” Daehyun followed Jongup.

    “Moon Jongup!!! You can't go by yourself!!! I'm here to help you!!! Himchan shouted out strongly.

    Jongup got goosebumps, Himchan's help was his horror movie, last time he helped him to go to the bathroom, he threw Jongup's phone into the toilet. Jongup hurried his steps and locked himself in the bathroom, but not before Daehyun entered to the bathroom as well.

    “Open the door!” Himchan said finding the door locked “I'm here to help you!”

    “No need, I mean, Daehyun's with me, he can help me”

    “What? Daehyun?” Himchan grabbed the doorknob with both hands and fought it unsuccessfully “Why you two are locked in the bathroom?!!!”

    “We're making out!!!” Daehyun said mischievously.

    “Ha, ha, not funny”

    “We're kissing and touching” Daehyun said.

    “I know you're joking, it's not funny, get out!”

    “Not joking, I and Jongup-ah are more tangled than Rapunzel’s hair”

    “How? What? That makes no sense!!!” Himchan said as Daehyun laughed at the top of his lung,

 

 

“Yongguk hyung, give me five bucks to buy sunflower seeds” Junhong said.

    “Now you want to eat seeds?”

    “It's for those ducks” Junhong pointed to the fountain.

    “They're storks”

    “Next to the storks”

    “Oh, they are ducks” Yongguk realized that different species of birds were sharing the fountain and the food that visitors offered to them.

    “Give me ten bucks”

    “Didn't you say five?”

    “I want to feed the storks too”

    “Ok, but I can't believe you don't have any money with you! What if you get lost? You'd need money to return to the hotel”

    “I can call you, you're my hyung, you're responsible of me”

    “ThatsoundedlikeI'myourboyfriend”

    “What did you say?”

    “Nothing, here” Yongguk gave him the money and Junhong went to get the sunflower seeds.

 

The fount was enormous; its water was crystal clear. There was a waterfall in the middle where a couple of albatrosses made their nests. The woman with the loudspeaker led a group of kids and their parents to the fount.

    “Hey, I watched storks and ducks fighting on internet” a boy said in confusion as the ducks and storks before him were friends.

    “It's fact some animals don't go along with different species, but most of them get along very well” the woman explained.

    “So humans should learn from them” a girl said.

    “You're so smart” her mother said proudly.

    “Hey, lady, are those swans?” another boy asked.

    “Yes, they're black swans and now they're building a nest for their eggs”

    “Are they a couple?” a girl asked.

    “Are you stupid? They’re both boys” the boy replied.

    “Well, actually, they're a couple” the guide lady said nervously.

    “But they're boy and boy” the boy said.

    “There are animals that match with their same genre, like these swans”

    “Ew” the boy made a face of disgust.

    “Don't worry, they’re animals, people are better than that” his father calmed him down.

    Not so far, Junhong listened to that conversation and got annoyed by that father’s remark.

    “Did you hear that, hyung?” Junhong asked, looking for support from the elder.

    “What?” Yongguk was focused on tossing sunflower seeds to the group of ducks.

    “He said animals can be gay, but persons can't” Junhong said.

    “I'm sure he didn't say that”

    “Not with the same words” Junhong said, irritated, he had gay friends and he, himself, dated one or two guys before. So he was sensitive when he met people who denigrated others easily. Even if he didn’t have gay friends or whatever, he thought people shouldn’t say ignorant things, mainly to kids that were easily molded.

    “We should make a song about that” Junhong said zealously.

    “I don’t think so” Yongguk said, thinking about the producers and the agency.

    “We always sing about discrimination and stuff like that, there's nothing more unfair than judging people for being different and loving different”

    “I know, but...”

    “Forget it” Junhong waved his hand and Yongguk saw disappointment on the his face.

    Truth to be told, he knew about Junhong dating girls and boys, he even knew about Youngjae and Daehyun, Jongup and Himchan, but they never talked that subject explicitly. There was an unspoken policy a la Don’t ask, don’t tell on military. However, so far Yongguk didn’t know how much Junhong cared about that and wished to go back time and say something different to make him feel better instead of making him mad and disappointed. That hurt look on Junhong’s face killed him.

   

 

“Open the door, open the damn door!!!” Himchan were still yelling at the door and Daehyun was still laughing hard.

    “Fine, I don't care, I'm leaving” Himchan shut up and waited for Daehyun to open the door.

    But nothing.

    “Aaaaaaah, I'll kill you Jung Daehyun, open the door!!!!” Himchan said “I'll tell Youngjae!!!”

    “Yeah? Tell him whatever you want, he isn't my owner, I can do whatever I want with Jongup-ah!!!”

    This time Himchan left for real, he was going to find Youngjae.

    “I think finally he's left” Daehyun got out of the bathroom.

    “Did you have to be so mean to him?” Jongup said.

    “It's not my fault he's crazy jealous”

    “Well, thanks, anyway. Perhaps now I can get some sleep, it's hard to do so with Himchan's help. Everytime he tries to make good, he just makes it worst” Jongup reached the bed and dropped on it “Don't misunderstand me, I'm glad he worries about me, but thank God he wasn't born to be nurse or doctor, poor patients”

    “Is he really so bad?” Daehyun asked, curious.

    “Yes, it’s sweet and clumsily cute though”

    Jongup waited for Daehyun to leave, he wanted to be alone and sleep, but the singer sat down beside him and started talking:

    “Don't you wonder why I came here?”

    “To drive Himchan crazy?” Jongup smiled.

    “Besides that” Daehyun smiled before becoming upset.

    “What's wrong, hyung?”

    “I had a fight with Youngjae”

    “How's that?”

    “How's that? Well, it's going to be our anniversary in one month. You know, we’re dating since last year and I'd like to do something meaningful and great for lasting so many months together. You know, it's my first long relationship”

    “Youngjae isn't very romantic, me either, but being together for so long is a big deal, shouldn't we celebrate it with fireworks and balloons and...”

    “Fireworks are for New Year and balloons are for birthdays” Jongup said.

    “I told you we aren't very romantic. In fact, I always broke up with my girlfriends two or three months after starting to go out. Once I dated a boy, but we didn’t last either… So this is important to me, but Youngjae seems not to care. He takes me for granted... At first there were romantic moments, then just moments, now… he behaves like whatever”

    “It's good, right? It means he’s comfortable just being with you?”

    “No, it's not. I read a magazine about boyfriends and girlfriends taking each other for granted. They became bored by always doing ordinary and repetitive things like movies and dinners. It’s so boring and dull they ended up breaking up and I don't want to break up with Youngjae”

    “So you want to make something romantic and out of ordinary because a magazine freaked you out?”

    “That magazine sounded very scientific. Besides, I wasn’t very romantic in my past relationships, so…”

    “Ok” Jongup sighed “If Youngjae isn’t romantic as you say and you aren’t either, one of you has to take the first step”

    “You're right!!! I'll do romantic things so he'll have to do me romantic things!!!”

   

Yongguk and Junhong went into the woods where there were squirrels collecting nuts and cherries. Junhong bent over and picked up a nut and offered it to a squirrel.

    Yongguk wanted to comment about how cute that was, but Junhong was silent and cold. Even though Junhong wasn’t disappointed anymore, he was just mad; at least, Yongguk felt that.

    “Hey!!!” Junhong cried out loudly.

    “Are you ok?!” Yongguk asked in worry.

    “Remember those friendship bracelets we made at the store?” Junhong said.

    “Yes”

    “That little chipmunk took it!”

    The squirrel held the bracelet with his teeth and went up the tree quickly.

    “And?”

    “And I want it back” Junhong said.

    “It’s just a bracelet”

    You made it for me, Junhong thought and ran towards the tree ready to climb, but Yongguk grabbed him by the waist to stop him.

   “Don't be so thoughtless, it's dangerous”

    The tree was so high that seemed endlessly.

    “But I want that bracelet back”

    “You can have mine” Yongguk took off the bracelet Junhong made for him.

    “I want mine”

    “Ok” Yongguk pushed Junhong back “I’ll go”

    Yongguk didn’t remember the last time he climbed a tree, he just hoped not to fall. The squirrel that took Junhong's bracelet was on the top. Junhong followed the rapper with his eyes, then Yongguk disappeared among the dense leaves.

    One minute, two minute, three minute… It started feeling like forever and Yongguk didn’t come back. Junhong started to worry and his heart stopped as he heard Yongguk crying out and then a smacking sound against the ground.

    Junhong gasped in fear and approached to the tree looking for Yongguk desperately. He found him lying on the grass, eyes closed and still.

    “Yongguk hyung!!! Are you ok?!!!” Junhong went on his knees and shook Yongguk by the shoulder.

    “Oh God, hyung, hyung” Junhong put his hands on Yongguk’s chest and shook him “Wake up, hyung, Yongguk hyung!!!”

    Junhong opened wide the mouth to yell for help, but the tears took over him and the only thing he could do was to cry.

   “Yongguk..., don't leave..., don't leave me...”

    “I'll never leave you” a husky voice said.

    Junhong moved his head to Yongguk who was sitting alongside him, holding the friendship bracelet to him.

    “Are you still mad at me?” Yongguk asked as Junhong didn't say anything.

    “I'm not mad at you” Junhong replied as he dried his tears “Are you ok? Do you want me to call an ambulance?”

    “No, I'm fine”

    “But you fell from...” Junhong looked up; the tree was so tall that could reach the sky.

    “I didn't fall for real; I just came down and pretended to fall”

    “What the hell?” Junhong mumbled in shock “Why would you do something so stupid?”

    “I tried to put a joke out” Yongguk laughed.

    “NOW I AM MAD AT YOU” Junhong yelled, furious, and turned away.

    Yongguk got on his feet quickly and grabbed Junhong’s wrist to stop him. Their faces met, very close, Junhong's eyes were red for crying and his cheeks were red by being angry.

    “You better let me go or I'll punch you! And it is not a joke”

    “I deserve it” Yongguk said and placed the bracelet around his wrist.

    “I thought...” Junhong raised his fists and Yongguk waited for the promised punch, but Junhong lowered his fists and remained in silence for a while.

    Yongguk opened his mouth to say something, but Junhong interrupted him with a hug. The younger’s hands rested on Yongguk’s shoulders and shortened the distance between them until their bodies met, then Junhong embraced Yongguk’s neck and held him tightly.

    “If something bad has happened to you, I'd killed you” Junhong said as he started crying again, even if his tears and booger dirtied his hyung’s clothes he didn’t care, he wasn’t letting go. That was the punishment for Yongguk’s stupid joke. He will never, never leave him either.