Kyungsoo hummed as he walked through the mall, a skip in his step. He had taken his mom's car out while she was sleeping to secretly buy her holiday gift. This year was the first time in three years that she didn't have a shift during the holidays, and Kyungsoo was determined to not let his mom work at all. She had a whole week at home, and to ensure that she actually rested on her rest days, Kyungsoo would do all the grocery buying and cooking. For as long as she let him. He had no defences against her if she decided to help him cook. She was the original chef of the house.

He drove to Maimai Mall to find her a gift. He didn't get allowance so he couldn't buy anything fancy, but a month's worth of leftover grocery money gave him enough to buy a set of pastel stationary and a box of easy-make ginseng tea. A gift for home and gift for when she was at work. Kyungsoo was one satisfied holiday shopper.

He checked his phone for the time and walked a little faster. He still had to get to two or three supermarkets to get the right ingredients for their holiday dinner. Nearing the entrance he had used, he slowed down when he saw the sign for Haoro's Restaurant. Seulgi had mentioned the particular store in Maimai Mall as the one Jongin worked at, and the fact had stuck itself into Kyungsoo's brain a bit too well. Out of curiosity, he peeked into the restaurant. 

The inside was dark, lit by bell lamps that hung over each individual table. The cashier's was further in and so were the kitchen doors. A rectangular window cut out part of the door, and Kyungsoo leaned up and down and sideways trying to see if he could peek the dishwashing station from outside the restaurant.

"Hello! Table for one?"

A waitress reached for a menu, and Kyungsoo waved his hand.

"Oh, no. I was just looking." He paused and remembered that he was in a restaurant and not a merchandise store. "For someone," he added.

"I can check if they've already been seated."

"No, that's okay. I think they just texted me the wrong directions. Thank you though."

"Ah, alright. Have a good evening."

Giving a polite bow and scurrying away as nonchalantly as possible, Kyungsoo covered his face as he passed the rest of the food court and headed towards the parking lot. 

He decided to not dwell on his failed attempt at spying, found his car, and started driving. He hit his usual three markets and hurried back home, heaving the bags of groceries into the house. The house was still dark, so he only the kitchen light to let his mom sleep a little longer. Stacking the gifts in the living room, Kyungsoo made sure they looked neat and prim before moving to the kitchen. Washing his hands, pulling out the shrimp from the bags and the seasonings from the cabinet, he had everything until he peered further in and couldn't find any more salt. Had he used the last of it already? 

The convenience store was nearby, a short five-minute jog, so he decided to just buy it and then start. He pulled out the vegetables he would need and left them soaking in the sink before grabbing his wallet and a flashlight and leaving for the store.

As Kyungsoo walked back home, the carton of salt swinging in a bag and bumping against his leg, the last of evening had fallen into the horizon. He flicked on the flashlight and shone it on the sidewalk, seeing his shoe laces had come untied too. He hobbled to a streetlamp, bent down to retie them, and heard a scuff against the cement behind him. He froze. No one had taken the same road as him from the convenience store. He hadn't seen anyone since he entered his neighborhood. Unless someone didn't want Kyungsoo to see them.

Tightening his laces, he hoisted the salt into his arm to keep the plastic bag from crinkling and started walking again. He turned the corner and heard it clearly this time—steps a little faster than before, the scuffing a little harsher. Someone was following him.

Head Janitor Wu had said he saw someone suspicious the day he whisked them to Min hyung's office, and Jongdae had told him Min hyung's reminder to be careful walking home. And just his luck, the day before a holiday with his mom, the stalker made their move. Did they have nothing better to do? He cursed under his breath and made a turn for the neighborhood park. The steps behind him quickened again, and in the haste, scraped the sidewalk louder. Kyungsoo broke into a sprint.

He knew these streets well, but if this person had been stalking around his neighborhood for half the semester, he wouldn't be able to shake them off just by running down the usual roads. As he drew closer to the park, Kyungsoo slipped his hand out of the flashlight's wriststrap, made the last turn, skid his flashlight across the cement space, and ducked through the wall of brush at the edge of the park. 

Dropping his salt carton into the grass, Kyungsoo stilled and watched from a hole in the branches. Someone ran out into the park, their hood and the combination of streetlight and shadow obscuring enough of their face so that Kyungsoo couldn't see anything defining. They stopped at the flashlight, looking around, before squatting to pick it up. They didn't move from their squat.

Kyungsoo knew that the smart thing to do would be to call the police and run away. But this wasn't the first time he was followed home. Once, another student had followed him home and chased him when Kyungsoo realized it. They only relented when they grew bored, but before they left, they shouted to him, saying that prey that knew they were prey were the greatest fun to chase and expecting another round later. The second round had carved the scars over his collarbone. The person had moved away shortly after, but the experience left Kyungsoo with chills every time he thought about it. That had been one of the only times that he had been physically hurt.

But that memory that normally made him shudder now fueled a fire in Kyungsoo. It was goddamn Christmas Eve, his mom was finally home for the holidays, and he could finally spend it with her. In that moment, he didn't give two coordinates about what could happen at school. He just needed to imprint the fact that no one could ruin his holiday fun with his mom.

Crouching low through the brush, he stayed in line with the person's back, in their blind spot, before running forward and diving at them. Kyungsoo locked his arms around their neck and yanked them up from their squat. Their neck sat at an even more uncomfortable angle since they were taller. Kyungsoo made sure to only use a controlled amount of strength, enough to only moderately choke them, but their hands had flown to his arms in instinct, yanking on Kyungsoo's arms. He tightened his hold to keep the person in place and leaned towards their ear.

"Don't follow me again. I'm not a mouse for you to play chase with."

Kyungsoo shoved them forward, scooping up his flashlight. He wanted to know who followed him on Christmas Eve, so he watched the person pitch to their hands and knees and cough. Their hood had fallen down, and they turned around to sit on the cement, rubbing at their neck. They looked up at him, coughing and gasping, and Kyungsoo dropped his flashlight when he saw their face.

"Jongin-shi?"

Jongin nodded. Kyungsoo moved to kneel in front of him but stopped as he realized what he just did. He just put his tutee into a headlock and basically threatened him.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I thought that—"

Jongin was still coughing, but he leaned forward and took Kyungsoo's hand. His grip hardly wrapped around the back of Kyungsoo's hand, a warm and light touch. He waited, half out of curiosity, half out of apology, for Jongin to regain his breath.

"It's my fault. I should have said something earlier. Sorry."

Jongin let go then, panting. He crossed his legs and hung his head in his hands. Kyungsoo stood there, not knowing what to do. Through the breaths, Kyungsoo could hear how Jongin's voice tapered down from guilt. Was he supposed to console him? Sure, Kyungsoo didn't mean to choke Jongin, but he didn't like being followed either. But he also didn't like hearing him sound so down. Seeing that they both had misunderstandings to clarify, Kyungsoo sighed and sat in front of him.

"Why were you following me?"

Jongin rubbed a hand through his hair.

"I was walking home from work, and I happened to see you at the convenience store. ...I wanted to know what you were doing for the holidays."

"You could have just texted me."

He paused, covered his face, and leaned down all the way into his lap.

"."

From that reaction, Kyungsoo guessed that the idea of texting truly had not passed through Jongin's mind at all. Maybe Yuwon had been right in that they both had a forget-to-text problem.

"It's fine. I forget to text people sometimes too."

"But I could've said something earlier."

When he didn't lift his head, Kyungsoo scooted a little closer and tapped his shoulder.

"I was on edge because Head Janitor Wu and Min hyung had told us that someone fishy was lingering around here. Remember the morning we were chucked into the government van and Jongdae got chewed out by his cousin?"

Kyungsoo chuckled a little at how big of a scolding Jongdae had to have gotten. Jongin raised his head a little but didn't look at Kyungsoo.

"I was just wary of that. I know that I probably should've called the police, but I didn't think that they would be able to do much without evidence. I guess it's good that I didn't call them since it turned out to be you."

Kyungsoo laughed to ease the tension and at how ridiculously lucky his reckless choice turned out to be. He definitely wouldn't have known what to do if he had called the cops on Jongin or if the person had been dangerous.

"Would you have really confronted someone who was following you like that?" Jongin asked.

"Uh... no. But I was thinking about a different kind of stalker."

"What do you mean?"

"Like... someone from school. Another student." He chewed his lip to keep his words in, but they spilled out anyway. "This wasn't the first time I was followed home."

Kyungsoo reached a hand to his shoulder to massage it, heating his collarbone with his palm. He shouldn't have said anything. He had explained himself already, and Jongin probably didn't want to know anyway. 

"Did you put them in a headlock too?"

The question caught Kyungsoo off-guard. He didn't think that Jongin would ask, and he also didn't think that he would be able to laugh at how seriously Jongin had looked while asking.

"Sadly, no. I just ran."

"I think you could have scared them off though. You're really strong."

Jongin tapped at his neck, and Kyungsoo felt a heat flush through him. Guilt tugged him down, but he also knew that pride swelled up in him. In a fluster was the best description for the two feelings together, and he covered his face with a hand in hopes that Jongin wouldn't see.

"Sorry for putting you in a chokehold. I'm usually not violent, I swear."

Jongin leaned back on his hands, looking up in thought.

"Jongdae was telling me a story that you put him in a headlock once because he had gotten you two lost on a field trip."

"W-When did he tell you that?"

"At the party."

Kyungsoo shook his head at the memory of his best friend's antics.

"If you had spent the day wandering around in a zoo safari instead of on the tour car, you would have put Jongdae in a headlock too."

Jongin covered his mouth with the back of his hand, but Kyungsoo could hear how he chuckled, softly and quietly, almost to himself, like a secret. His eyes also darted to the ground, but Kyungsoo could see them as orange slices again, and he couldn't help but smile. As the air settled between them again, Kyungsoo thought of what else to ask Jongin.

"So do you usually walk to and from work? That's kinda far."

"I take the bullet train for most of the way. It , but I would never get to work on time if I didn't." He tapped on the back of his hand before pulling out a seasoning bottle from his pocket, looking up at Kyungsoo. "I was getting pepper at the convenience store. What were you buying?"

"Salt. I got home and saw that we'd had run out."

Jongin leaned to the left, looking behind Kyungsoo, around the cement, then back at him.

"Oh, it's in the bushes over there. I put it there to... you know."

Jongin nodded like Kyungsoo telling bushes to hold his salt so that he could put people into headlocks was an entirely commonplace phenomenon, and Kyungsoo just wanted to kneel on the ground and scream at it. He he