"Damn it, Changshik! You're taking up all the space!"

"I can't help it! Wonshik's is taking up all of my space!"

"Will you three just shut up and keep quiet?"

"Shut up, Minah. I'm trying to get some sleep."

"Oh my gosh! You dropped a bunch of chips on my leg!"

"S-Sorry! L-Let me clean it up!"

Jiyong heaved a loud sigh as a tight smile remained on his face. Everyone on the bus was looking back at them, wondering what was going on with the small group of teenagers. Jiyong only got up and apologized to the other riders with a small bow, then sat back down at his seat to hear more chattering.

It had been days since Minah was left with no choice but to join Jieun's group of friends. She didn't like it, and most of the time, she spent her days with Jiyong instead. The closer she got to Jiyong, the more envious the group became. It was becoming a big problem, especially when they clashed every time they saw each other. Customers were coming in less frequently, wanting to avoid the childish yells that constantly rang throughout the store. The manager had no problem kicking them, but he was having trouble banning them since most of them just wanted to be next to Jiyong.

"Here, take these tickets to the zoo and get them out of here," the manager had told him during the weekday. "It's vacation for them, so they shouldn't complain. I'm sorry that you have to do this on your day off, but I can't stand those devils lurking around my shop anymore. Bring them back when they're tamed."

So on Jiyong's beloved Sunday, instead of resting and drinking, he was taking the six kids to the zoo. He had mixed feelings about this, especially since he would be responsible for looking out for them. He wondered if things would go smoothly like he had hoped earlier before they got onto the bus. He was hoping that if he had let the six sit on the back of the bus in a single row, they would stop fighting.

Instead, they had gotton worse and it was becoming to the point where the other passengers purposely left the bus to take the taxi cab. Jiyong sighed and rubbed his face, glancing out the window with a solemn look until he saw a sign that directed the bus to the zoo. With a smile, he pointed out the window, garnering attention from the younger students who stared at the zoo gates in awe.

Once they left the bus and got into the zoo, the first thing Minah did was head over to the souvenir's shop. The rest followed, but quickly separated and scattered throughout the store.

"Hey, hey! Jiyong, do you think cat ears match with me or bear ears?" she asked. She raised a black cat-eared headband and a caramel-brown bear-eared headband. She kept making cute faces, trying to see which head wear fit her the best.

"Both look nice," Jiyong said, not having a particular favor for either accessory. He looked at the map, wondering where the group should head over first. Minah pouted and turned to Jieun, who quickly flinched.

"Which one? Cat or bear?" Minah asked, putting the headbands over her head.

"U-U-Um—"

"Cat," Jiho said. He smirked. "You look narcissistic."

Minah's face grew read. "S-Shut up! I don't look like that!" Her voice quickly softened. "I look cute…"

"I bet you don't even know what 'narcissistic' means," he retorted. Minah only gaped at him, unable to argue. He chuckled and walked away while he listened to her ranting about how he had to repeat a year and so on.

Jiyong finally looked up from the map and glanced over to Jieun, who was staring at a mouse-eared headband. He watched her look at it a little bit more, then tapped on her shoulders. She gasped and whirled around, then blushed when she realized that it was Jiyong.

"If you want it, buy it," Jiyong told her.

"I can't," she replied. "Chanyeol doesn't even know that I'm here. I was only able to come here because he's going to a party with his friends and wouldn't be here all day. If he found these, then he would probably go crazy."

"Leave it at my house, or at Minah's house. You're staying over at Minah's house, right?" Jiyong asked.

Once Minah had joined their group, she had invited Jieun to sleep over at her house after hearing her situations. Minah's parents were perfectly fine with it, especially since they usually left their only daughter alone. They liked how she would be accompanied by her friend. It meant that the parents would be able to be more busier and leave their daughter to be more independent.

"Yeah, I am. It's a bit awkward, though. She's…different from me. She's more open to telling me things," Jieun said.

"Maybe she's not being as open as you think she is. People like that have more secrets than they could imagine,' Jiyong told her. "Anyway, buy it. You don't have anything left to do with Chanyeol, do you?"

Jieun made a shaky smile. "Y-Yeah. I guess…"

"But you guys never broke up," Changshik said from behind. Jiyong raised his eyebrow while Kyungsoo and Wonshik approached them. "Chanyeol says that you two have an 'on and off' relationship."

"Wait, I thought he was dating a third year right now?" Wonshik asked. "Does this mean he's cheating?"

"No way. I saw him with a first year yesterday going on a movie date. It's clear that he isn't over Jieun," Kyungsoo added.

"Did you guys officially break up?" Jiyong asked, ignoring the trio.

Jieun bit her bottom lip. "We… I tried, but he just wouldn't listen."

"He's in denial and someone needs to punch him to wake up," Jiho muttered coldly. 

"He's asking me to give him another chance," Jieun explained. "He said that he knows he's been wrong and wants me to do date him again."

"You can't go back! Are you really telling me that you're going back to the days where he hit you?" Jiyong cried out. "That's absurd!"

"Once a fool, always a fool," Minah mumbled, looking at a few t-shirts.

Jiho looked up and glared at her. "Once a loner, always a loner."

Minah shot her head straight up in the air and narrowed her eyes. "Once a failure, always a failure!"

"Once a—"

"Stop," Jiyong said. He glowered at Jiho. "Jiho, be a bit more mature. You are older than Minah." He turned to Minah. "Minah, stop acting like a kid. There's no reason for you talk bad behind someone's back when you have your bad traits as well."

The two scowled, unable to say anything else. Jiyong heaved a sigh, then reminded himself the reason why he came here. He shoved the back into his pockets and forced a smile.

"If we're done shopping, let's go out and look at the animals. I saw that we can actually feed birds and have them fly on you," Jiyong said. "If we take the tour bus, then we can also feed the giaraffes in person."

"Alright! We'll be outside, King Kwon!" Kyungsoo exclaimed, dragging the two other friends along.

Jieun looked down at the bunny headband, then quickly swiped it. "I-I'm going to pay for this! I'll be right back!"

Jiyong nodded his head and went outside. Jiho was just about to leave until he saw Minah carefully take the cat-eared headband and attempt to walk towards the cashier.

"I thought you didn't want those after you lectured me about my life," Jiho pointed out.

Minah gasped and turned beet red. "I-It's my money! Like I said, I think I look c-cute with it!"

Jiho blinked his eyes. "No need to get so defensive. I'm just saying that you were the one who didn't want those anymore."

"Shut up and wait outside! I'm going to buy this. It's not because of you, but because I want it!" Minah said quickly. She dashed to the register, purchasing her item after Jieun was done buying hers. 

Jiho waited for a bit, staring at the two girls. He slightly tilted his head, confused, but then shook his head and walked away, waiting with the rest of the boys under the summer heat.

* * *

Throughout the day, Jiyong had to constantly remind himself the entire purpose he was at the zoo. He wasn't there because his manager wanted to give him a day off. From the situation he kept getting himself in, that was absolutely not the reason he was here. Rather, it was because he was supposed to "tame" the kids and make sure that they were well-behaved when they came back.

However, it turned out that it would be a much more difficult task. Wherever they went and did—watching animals, eating lunch, wandering around—there would be nonstop arguing all around. People stared, and he only hid his head behind the cotton candy he had bought. Every time he did try to break up the fight, the group would start getting into another argument the minute everything seemed too peaceful.

"If I knew that you guys were going to offend each other with rodents, I wouldn't have brought you over there to pet them," Jiyong said, letting out a sigh.

"Well, it was Changshik's fault that he didn't want to compared to the rat, Mr. Kwon," Wonshik said.

"I blame Kyungsoo 'cause he told me that the mean bunny acted like me," Changshik said, glaring at Kyungsoo. He quickly turned to King Kwon with a smile. "Which I am not, King Kwon. I assure you that I am the most passive person in the world."

"It did, though. Plus, that rat seemed to be more like Minah. She's sneaky like a rat," Kyungsoo retorted.

Minah scowled at him. "A rat? If I'm a rat, then that rabbit who didn't like anyone was Jiho."

Jiho widened his eyes. "Excuse me? I am someone who can like someone!" He blushed a bit when he looked at Jieun. "You believe me, right, Jieun?"

Jieun smiled. "I thought that bunny was cute." She glanced at Jiyong. "I thought it was cute how you were holding that one mouse. Didn't it scare you?"

"Um, no. Not really. The workers said that these animals were good with people so I didn't think it'd jump or bite me," Jiyong confessed. He looked at the group, who were all looking at him with admiration or glaring at him with pure hatred. Did I do something wrong again?

"Hey look! Birds!" Kyungsoo cried out. The group began running in his direction, following the anxious boy who looked at the birds with awe.

While the rest began to examine the birds, Jiyong couldn't help but pity them. Some of them were clawing at the cage, trying to poke its beak to take a desperate peck of food from the visitors. Others were constantly squawking at the other birds or at the little kids, cornering itself into its small habitat. Hardly any of them flew around, and if they did, Jiyong found out that they were birds who were recently put into the exhibit. The older ones had already given up, gliding only to get from one spot to another rather than trying to escape like their newer friends.

"Look, look! King Kwon, look at this eagle!" Wonshik exclaimed.

"You idiot! That's a hawk," Changshik corrected.

Jiyong walked over to the wired cage, watching a hawk gaze at the strangers with deep yellow eyes. He felt a wave of familiarity when he saw the hawk, who rocked back and forth on the branch it was standing. Later, it flew down, lowering itself to another branch and staring into Jiho's eyes.

The two stared at each other for quite some time, hypnotized at each other's fixed looks. To others, it looked like the hawk was examining the bird, but Jiyong saw it as Jiho communicating with the flying creature. His thoughts were interrupted when the hawk let out a loud screech and flew back at the higher branch, coldly studying him as it twitched its head a bit.

"It hates you," Minah said, smirking.

"What? You don't know that," Jiho argued, narrowing his eyes once again. 

"It screeched at you. That's all I need to know," she told him. She laughed and patted his shoulder. "It's okay to be hated. You're used to that, aren't you?"

Jiho took this moment to get on her nerves. "I'm sure you're not used to it, am I right?"

Minah was just about to say something until Jiyong quickly pulled her to the side. He gave her a stern look, asking for her not to fight back for whatever reason she had. She was just about to protest until Jieun came over to point at a large building.

"Jiyong! I found out that if we go in there, we can hold onto some parakeets," Jieun informed him. "Can we go in there?"

"Ugh. I don't want bird poop on me," Minah muttered. "Can we not? I mean, I saw a parrot a little further down. Can't we just look at that instead of going in there—"

"I like that idea. Let's go inside," Jiho interrupted, stepping in for Jieun. He looked at Jiyong. "Is that okay with you?"

Jiyong shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not. I don't see the arm."

There's probably going to be some kind of harm if I go in there, Jiyong thought, but if it'll keep them quiet a bit, I think it'll be okay.

The seven went into the building, entering an caged dome. Simple plants like trees and bushes decorated the area, along with a few patches of flower to fill up the empty grass. White drops dotted the ground, grossing Minah out. As the entered, a friendly employee walked over to them, asking them if they wanted to try to feed the birds.

As the teenagers greedily accepted the generous gift, they dispersed in the room, trying to have more than one bird land on their hand. Jiyong glanced around, trying to find Jieun, who was near a tree, handing the parakeets one-by-one their treat. He walked over to her, watching her feed the birds with a delighted expression.

"Having fun?" Jiyong asked.

Jieun blushed a bit and nodded. "Oh, yes, I am. Thank you for inviting us. I'm sorry we're causing so much trouble, though."

"It's fine. You guys are still kids. You guys needed this more than I needed it, anyway," Jiyong said. He looked at Minah, who was tagging behind Jiho, opening and arguing with her while he ignored her and tried to bring the birds to him. "How is it with you and Minah?"

"It's, um, okay. We don't really speak a lot," Jieun said softly. "She's very nice, though. At home, she lets me eat with her and drags me around to shop with her. She lives close to Jiho, so sometimes I spend my days at his house."

"She's not slapping you or hurting you or anything?" Jiyong asked.

"No. I think she stopped once Chanyeol told her to stop. I heard that she was out of his group, and I'm temporarily banned from hanging out with him." Jieun's smile softened. "It's kind of weird for her to hang around with me. I'm not used to it. I'm used to being scared of her."

"Well, she is pretty scary." He chuckled when he remembered the first time he met Minah. "She's not very good at keeping her promises or doing what she has to do. I'm not surprised that she stopped being mean to you once she was thrown away."

"But I think that's part of her changing," Jieun said. "Once, when the two of us were eating dinner, she told me that she was glad that she wasn't being used anymore. She told me that she wanted to be friends with me, but there was one thing I did to her that she could not forgive. I'm trying to figure out what I did to her. If I know what I did wrong, I'd like to apologize to her."

Jiyong gave her a proud smile. He laughed softly to himself, then reached over to pat her head.

Jieun stiffened and shyly glanced at him, feeling her heart skip a beat when she saw his smile. A warm feeling crawled up to her chest as she quickly looked away, trying to distract herself with the birds. Her head was spinning and she was only getting hotter by the minute.

"Woops," Jiyong said after he accidentally knocked the headband to the side. "Hold up, let me fix this for you."

He adjusted the band so that it wasn't crooked anymore. He looked down at her to tell her that she was good to go until he realized that she was blushing; she was blushing real hard. She was biting down on her bottom lip, nervously sweating while her face grew into a deep shade of red.

Cute, Jiyong thought, slightly amused. He quickly stopped his thoughts and shook his head. No! Bad Jiyong, bad!

"Jiyong! Catch!" Jiho shouted. He threw something across the room, hoping that Jiyong would catch it. He saw Jieun blushing whenever Jiyong looked at her, and he especially didn't like it when she was blushing even more. Hopefully the birds will interrupt the mood.

Jiyong swiftly caught whatever Jiho had thrown to him. He looked down, noticing that it was a stick with some kind of food for the parakeets. Thinking that Jiho just wanted the older one to try feeding the birds, Jiyong looked around and waved the stick near his hands, trying to entice the birds to eating the snack.

Like magic, the flock of birds turned their heads and flew over to Jiyong's side, landing on his hands to nibble on the food. They rested on his arms, while some decided to snuggle next to his neck when on his shoulders. Other parakeets flew over to his hat, resting while finishing off other snacks they had brought. The green birds colored Jiyong, making him look like a beautiful rare attraction.

In an instant, Changshik, Kyungsoo, Wonshik, and Jieun all pulled out their phones, snapping pictures at the miracle sight. Jiho growled while Minah managed a giggle.

"You're trying way to hard," Minah whispered to Jiho.

Jiho turned red. "S-Shut up!"

"Aw, getting shy now, are we?" she teased.

Jiho shook his head and stormed over to Jiyong. "Jiyong! I want to go home!"

"What?" Jiyong asked, blinking his eyes. "But there's a few more hours until the zoo closes—"

"Who cares? I want to go home. Let's just end the day with movies or something," Jiho mumbled. He began walking out of the building, and Jieun nervously followed behind him. Minah exited the building, making sure nothing big happened between the two.

Jiyong heaved a sigh once the birds finished their meals and flew over to their next victim. He glanced around at the rest of the group, who were hoping that Jiyong wouldn't end the day.

"Let's leave now and try to convince Jiho to stay a bit longer," Jiyong said. "I'll meet you guys outside when you're done."

"Yes sir, King Kwon!" the remaining three cried out. They began to immerse themselves with the birds until Jiyong left the building. Once he was gone, they pulled out their phones again, showing off the pictures they had taken of Jiyong.

* * *

"Assistant Cho, didn't that group say Jiyong earlier?" a tall man asked, glancing over at the three delinquents.

"Hey, I thought we came here to relax. Are you still going crazy about Jiyong again?" the assistant with messy hair asked, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Kyuhyun. I am sure that they called that one guy Jiyong. I couldn't take a look at his face because all the birds were crowding around him," the first man said. He slowly rubbed his chin. "If that's really him, then this could be big news."

Kyuhyun groaned. "So we're not going to relax?"

"Was coming to a zoo an ideal place to relax? I would've preferred the spa."

"Shim Changmin, give it up. Kwon Jiyong was reported missing years ago. He left a note saying that he was going to return when he wanted to. You spent thousands of money trying to find him and trying to find a way to blackmail him. The wisest thing you did was letting go and letting the professionals do the job."

"Oh, come on, Kyuhyun! Admit it. This would be great if this was really the Jiyong we wanted to see," Changmin pointed out. "We could finally corner him and find his secret. We can discover the reason why he ran away. After all, he had so many things going for him, anyone would question why he ran away from home."

"Ugh. I give up. You know what, I'm going over there to get—"

"As my assistant, I want you to go over there and figure out if they have a picture of Jiyong," Changmin ordered.

The assistant let out another groan. "My gosh, Changmin. You make me do everything, even when it's not for work."

Regardless of his complaints, Kyuhyun walked over to the trio. Changmin watched carefully, noticing that the boys were pretty hostile towards Kyuhyun, who nervously tried to approach them. Soon, Changmin began smiling whenever Kyuhyun seemed to be getting closer with the three boys. Eventually, Kyuhyun pulled out his phone and began to exchange something with the three. For a moment, Kyuhyun's smile disappeared and was replaced with a horrified expression. Changmin frowned, wondering what was going on.

A minute later, Kyuhyun nervously smiled back and chatting with the three a bit more. When the trio left, Kyuhyun walked over to Changmin with a displeased look.

"What happened?" Changmin asked curiously.

"I'm hoping you're wrong, but here," Kyuhyun said. He showed him the picture he had gotten from the trio. "I told them that I thought the guy with the birds around him was really cool and they decided to give me this picture." He sighed. "After that, they started to talk about him nonstop. Apparently the guy in the photo is called 'King Kwon,' whatever that means."

Changmin smirked. "This definitely looks like Jiyong."

"I couldn't get his name, though. I asked for his name, but they said that his name was 'sacred' and that he was to be addressed as 'King Kwon'."

"So he's building himself an army?" Changmin let out a hysteric laugh, chasing the birds away. "Brilliant! Starting from tomorrow, figure out what you can find about 'King Kwon' or Jiyong." He slyly his lips. "I can't wait to finally use him. Just you wait, Kwon Jiyong! You won't be making a fool out of me this time…this time…"