Kiseop sniffed the warm July air, enjoying the scent of the pink flowers blooming from a vine not too far away. Had he been standing next to an animal enclosure, his experience might have been different, but for now, all he could smell was summer.

He was wearing his sunglasses now, partly to conceal his identity and partly because he had been squinting due to the sun’s brightness earlier that afternoon. He had been temporarily blinded, causing him to walk straight into Kevin. No more accidents, Kiseop told himself. Today was meant to be a fun, relaxing day at the zoo, not an opportunity for mayhem.

Immersed in his thoughts, Kiseop nearly bumped into Kevin again.

“Ah!” Kevin exclaimed, and smiled at Kiseop, trying to hold back his annoyance.

“Sorry!”

Kiseop looked up to see the others approaching him and Kevin from the opposite direction. Originally, the six of them had stuck together, but when they passed the gift shop, Kevin and Kiseop were the only ones who wanted to go inside. They had made their purchases while the other four walked ahead.

“Kiseop! Kevin!”

Kiseop was nearly bowled over by Hoon in a deadly hug/pat-on-the-back combination. He awkwardly patted the bunny on the back, laughing at his obvious excitement.

“You guys really missed out,” AJ said.

“What do you mean?” Kevin asked, curious.

“The peacocks! Wow,” Soohyun made a wild gesture to communicate his amazement, “they were incredible. I think they’re my new favorite animal.”

Hoon’s head snapped up, and he suddenly let go of Kiseop. “I thought you said you liked ostriches.” He pouted.

“That was you, Hoonie,” Soohyun said gently.

“So...the peacocks?” Kevin prompted.

“Oh, yeah,” Eli interjected, “they were surprisingly cool. And the girl peacocks are so enthusiastic when the males walk by. Man...to be a peacock...” He concluded rather wistfully, probably thinking of their lives as idols and the various strains it put on dating opportunities.

Kiseop said nothing. Instead, he stood there, soaking all of the information in and becoming more thrilled by the second. He distinctly recalled AJ calling him a peacock during an interview. It had been in English, so he had forced Kevin to translate for him. Kevin had been busy when he had asked, so the translation was a little rough, but Kiseop knew that it had something to do with Kiseop resembling a peacock with his flawless and noble appearance. Kiseop’s heart soared at the mention of the peacocks. He longed to see them for himself, to find out whether he truly did resemble one. As an added bonus, he could take a selca next to the exhibit, hopefully with one or two peacocks in the background. The KissMes would love it.

“So, where to next?” Soohyun asked.

AJ wanted to see the lions, so it was decided that they would proceed to the cat exhibit. Everyone was ready to go, but Kiseop hesitated.

“Seoppie, are you coming?”

“There’s something I want to see really quick,” Kiseop said. “I’ll catch up with you guys, okay?”

Before his words could register, Kiseop had taken off running. He soon disappeared from sight.

Eli craned his neck, looking for Kiseop, but saw no sign of him. He shrugged.

“Let’s go, then.”

 

It took Kiseop a moment to realize that he didn’t know where the peacocks were. But he reasoned that as long as he was running in the direction from which the others had come, he would find them eventually. He must have looked like a madman, dashing around strollers and children and parents on his quest to find his new selca partners. This bothered him slightly, but he brushed it aside. The current most important thing on his agenda was to find the peacock exhibit and get back to the others as soon as possible.

Kiseop heard them before he saw them. He had never heard a peacock’s cry before, but when it reached his ears, he felt deep inside that he had nearly reached his destination. His pace slowed to a walk, his heart beating in his ears. There they were.

Kiseop saw the peacocks. And they were magnificent.

“Hi,” he greeted them as he approached the enclosure. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kiseop. You must be the peacocks.”

The birds were just as the others had described. Each had an attractive, haughty look in his eye, and occasionally, when a pea-hen waddled by, one of the peacocks would spread his plumage for all to see and admire. The pea-hens and visitors alike stared in awe.

Kiseop nodded with approval. “If I had to be an animal,” he said.

A peacock wandered over to the fence near where Kiseop stood and made a noise.

“Hello there,” Kiseop greeted him. “Want to take a selca?”

Kiseop whipped out his phone and crouched down by the bird. “Say ‘kimchi’!” He directed, and snapped the photo.

Satisfied with his selca, Kiseop bid the peacocks goodbye and set off to find the other members. There was just one problem-- Kiseop was lost. Very lost.

The ulzzang’s eyes widened when he realized the predicament he had gotten himself into. No matter where he turned, he could not remember which way he had come from. He had been so caught up in his haste to see the peacocks that he hadn’t noticed which side of the path the enclosure was on. And the others were still expecting him to join them in a few minutes.

Kiseop sighed. The fact of the matter was, he had been in similar situations before. During the group’s previous trip to Japan, he had gotten lost in a street market. Although his Japanese had really been coming along, he had panicked in the face of uncertainty and mixed up most of his words. Eventually, an elderly woman selling street food had figured out what was going on, ushered him over to her cart, and fawned over him until Soohyun found him.

But this was different, Kiseop thought. This was the wilderness. He was lost in the zoo. And the group planned to stay there for a few more hours, so Kiseop couldn’t ask just anyone for help. He had to keep a low profile and fend for himself. This was more than just an unfortunate change of events. This was a test, an opportunity to prove himself as a man.

Kiseop decided to start with the most obvious approach and ask for directions. However, he knew he had to be careful not to give away his identity as an idol to anyone who would care or make a fuss. After a few more minutes next to the peacock enclosure and a few more selcas with his new peacock friend, Kiseop saw the perfect opportunity in the form of an unattended stroller.

Looking both ways, Kiseop hurried over to the stroller and peeked inside. A small girl, no more than three years old, stared back at him.

“Hello,” Kiseop said. “Little girl. Do you know the way to the cats?”

The girl continued to stare at him in silence before finally reaching out to grab Kiseop’s nose in her hand.

“Nose!” She proclaimed with a smile, and tightened her hold.

“Ah!” Kiseop cried. “Yah. Yah, yah, yah! Let go, please.”

She slowly released his nose, pouting. Kiseop put on the most serious face he could muster.

“That wasn’t yours to play with. We can’t take others’ noses whenever we feel like it, alright?”

There came no answer, only a frown.

“So, um...do you know the way to the cats or not?”

Kiseop was interrupted by the yell of a young woman, and he realized that he was crouched a little too close to someone else’s child. He didn’t look like a scary person, but that wouldn’t help his cause much, and aside from that, he was supposed to be inconspicuous.

“I have to go,” he whispered, watching the woman approach with wide eyes. “Thanks anyway. And go easy on the noses in the future, okay?”

With that, Kiseop began to sprint away from the angry mother and confused bystanders. He still didn’t know where he was going. The upside was that he might have chosen the right direction by chance. He nearly flew past the penguin house, ice cream stands, and other vendors. When he came panting to a stop, he had absolutely no idea where he was.

“I guess I ran the wrong way,” he whispered to himself.

Kiseop was now a fugitive, a wanted man to more dangerous individuals than the fans. His worries took shape quickly and settled in. He could see the articles now. Kiseop of U-KISS Arrested in Connection to Child Harrassment Case. Lee Kiseop Bothers Innocent Child at Public Zoo. U-KISS’s Kiseop Causes Zoo Trouble and Runs.

He shook his head. He had to find his way back to the other members before his day at the zoo and his career both took an unfortunate turn.

Kiseop sank down onto a nearby bench and watched the people passing by. He was determined to successfully find his way back, but he didn’t know how he would accomplish that now. He was completely and utterly lost, and nothing he did seemed to help. He might as well accept his fate and wait for the angry mother of the toddler to catch up to him and have him imprisoned by the zoo security for bothering her child.

Kiseop sighed.

“Wait, isn’t that-”

“Kiseop-ah!”

Kiseop’s head snapped up to see Soohyun walking toward him, followed by the others.

“Kiseop!”

“Oof!” For the second time that day, Kiseop was nearly crushed by Hoon’s friendliness. “Hoonie...” Kiseop leaned away, struggling to break free.

“Where were you?” Eli asked.

“Yeah,” AJ nodded, “We waited for you, but you never showed up. Where’d you go?”

“I-I looked for you everywhere!” Kiseop protested. “I got lost. I’m sorry, guys. How did you find me?”

“Kevin wanted to see the pandas, so we went this way.” Eli gestured to the nearby panda enclosure.

“Oh.” Kiseop relaxed somewhat, feeling safe in the presence of his bandmates. He relaxed even more when Hoon was off his lap and he was free to move.

“Hold on a second,” Hoon said, squinting at Kiseop. “Kiseoppie, why didn’t you just call us?”

Kiseop gulped, staring down at his precious phone, which rested in his pocket.

“I, uh...I didn’t think of that.” He reddened. “I was taking pictures earlier, so I wasn’t thinking about its calling function too much.”

“You weren’t thinking too much?” Soohyun asked, then laughed to show he was just joking. “It’s okay, Seoppie. I’m just glad we found you.”

Kiseop smiled in relief. “Me too.”

“Okay, let’s go!” Hoon called. He extended an arm. “To the rhinos!”

“Actually...” Kevin bit his lip.

“What is it?”

“There’s just one thing I want to see. I’ll catch up to you guys, okay?”

“No!” Kiseop cried. “We’re coming with you. We’ll wait.”