Seventeen, and the Festival (3)
Dragged out of the classroom, I stood there in a total daze right in front of the entrance. The moment I stepped into the hallway, all eyes locked onto me—it was insanely embarrassing and mortifying.
“Uh… w-welcome… to Class 1-3’s cafe…” I forced out the line, but I couldn’t shake the burning heat flushing my face. And sure enough, starting with those words, people began approaching me one by one, their faces lit up with curiosity.
“The bunny’s over there!”
“Whoa, so cute!”
Passersby rushed up to me, eyes sparkling. One girl even whipped out her phone and shoved the lens in my face.
“Can I take a picture?”
Stunned by the sudden question, I nodded awkwardly and raised my hand. At the sight, the two girls shrieked in unison.
“Kyaa! So soft and fluffy!”
“But isn’t this kid in elementary school? Is it really okay to make a child do this?”
“I’m a student in this class…”
“What?”
They alternated between staring at my face and the costume head before bursting into laughter. No matter how they looked at it, they clearly didn’t believe me. If I’d been in my uniform, they never would’ve said that—but in this getup? Yeah, probably.
Normally, I’d whip out my student ID to prove it, but right now, I didn’t have the energy. All my stuff was back in the classroom anyway.
“So cute, seriously~”
“Picture turned out great—thanks, little one~ Cafe, right? I’ll swing by~”
The girls wiggled their phones, glanced at our classroom door, and headed inside. Moments later, two little kids clutching their mom’s hand came sprinting toward me.
“Bunny!”
“Hi, bunny!”
The kids waved both hands frantically and stood on their tiptoes, so I reluctantly bobbed my head in bunny fashion. Their tiptoes brought their eyes almost level with mine…
“Hi…”
The mom smiled at the sight. “Mr. Bunny, mind if we take one picture?”
“Uh, sure…”
Not sure how to pose, I awkwardly clasped my hands together and stood there.
“Wanna do a V with the bunny?”
At her words, the kids pressed right up against my side. I bent down to their height, threw up a V-sign with my fingers, and the shutter clicked several times in a row.
“Wow, thank you. They love it.”
The mom even bowed with a grin, which only made my face burn hotter for no good reason.
A little later, two boys slunk up and started circling me like sharks.
“This quality is insane.”
“Hey, can I grab the ears?”
They snickered as one reached for the bunny ears, but I twisted away just in time.
Should I just deck them…
A real urge to swing welled up inside me.
“Touch it, and there’s a usage fee.”
Out of nowhere, Kim Yuha’s voice rang from behind me. I whipped around in surprise, and the boys exploded into laughter.
“Whoa, she knows business!”
The three of them cracked up uproariously before naturally filing into our class cafe.
Once the boys were gone, I could finally catch my breath.
“No trouble?”
Kim Yuha sidled up beside me.
“Uh… just some pics, almost got my ears yanked… that sorta thing?”
I rattled off everything from the minor stuff to the weirder bits, and he snickered.
“Glad it wasn’t worse.”
That’s ‘not worse’ to you, you moron…
I nearly snapped at him but swallowed it down.
Then Kim Yuha just stood there, staring blankly down at me. Like my face peeking out from under the bunny head was the most fascinating thing ever.
“…What’re you staring at?”
I shot him a glare, and he finally blinked like he’d snapped out of it.
“N-nothing. Just…”
He jerked his gaze away. Always such a weirdo.
He clamped his mouth shut for a moment, then cleared his throat like nothing happened.
“Anyway…”
I scowled harder, bracing for whatever nonsense was coming, but he grinned slyly and continued.
“The others said we should promote together a bit longer.”
“Promote?”
A bad feeling hit me, and I narrowed my eyes. He waved it off.
“Just one lap around. Things are picking up, so let’s reel in more customers.”
Honestly, it sounded exhausting. The bunny head was bad enough—now promoting too? Sure, the weather was milder, but I’d melt in this thing!
“…Do I have to?”
I asked flatly, and he looked down at me like I was an idiot.
“Who’s the most perfect for this job?”
“Ugh, seriously.”
I scowled even deeper, but he ignored me, grabbed a placard from somewhere, and shoved it into my hands. White poster board with thick marker scrawl:
Class 1-3 Cafe Open
Nothing fancy. Someone had even doodled a sloppy bunny head next to it.
“Here, hold this and walk around.”
“What, treating me like a human billboard…”
I grumbled, but he calmly pressed it into my grip and strode ahead. Watching him, my gut boiled. Felt like he was low-key ignoring me—or teasing, as usual.
But standing around in front of the classroom was boring too.
…Screw it.
I figured I’d just people-watch more and followed along, placard in hand.
Once I got moving for real, the bunny head felt even more awkward. It was already getting stuffy inside after just a few steps.
Wearing this all day would straight-up murder someone.
Waddling along like that, Kim Yuha suddenly halted up ahead. I nearly slammed into his back, my temper flaring again.
“What gives?”
I dragged my bunny feet over and tilted my head. Then he turned like he’d remembered something and stepped right up to me. Without a word, he casually reached out—like he was about to grab my hand.
“…The hell?”
A chill shot through me, and I smacked his hand away on reflex. I didn’t even glance his way, just gripped the placard tighter and stomped ahead.
“Ah…”
I caught some idiot’s disappointed sigh. But soon it was just footsteps—no more words.
I decided not to care. The real issue wasn’t him; it was every single person in the hall gawking at me just from walking.
Should’ve stayed by the classroom door…
Honestly regretting it now. I hadn’t expected this much attention. More people than before were hooked, most boldly coming right up to chat.
“Bunny! One pic!”
“Class 1-3? Where’s that?”
Every time, I forced a wave, lifted the placard a bit to answer.
Already wiped out after a few steps, and inside the head? Turning into a full-on sauna.
“Class 1-3 Cafe open~ Swing by while you’re passing through!”
Kim Yuha stuck close, promoting like his life depended on it. Whenever our eyes met, he’d flash a grin and thumbs-up.
“Nice, nice. Super effective.”
Can’t even smack him…
I grumbled inwardly nonstop, but eventually even that energy drained away. No way I could ditch the bunny head now or just bail…
At least everyone asking about our class meant the promo was working.
Didn’t make me feel great, though. Felt like I was the only one suffering.
We were wandering the halls, fielding people like that, when a gray-haired old man in thin gold-rimmed glasses came shuffling slowly our way. At first I figured some parent sightseeing, but as he got closer, his expression turned serious.
“You there—what grade, what class?”
He planted himself in front of Kim Yuha and barked.
“What’s the point of making kids do this?!”
My heart plummeted.
Kim Yuha, right beside me, looked even more tense. Up close, his face rang a vague bell… Vice principal…?
“Uh, that’s…”
Kim Yuha stammered, barely getting words out.
“Who’s the homeroom teacher?!”
The vice principal’s voice turned downright ferocious. Even listening from the side, chills ran down my spine.
“Uh… that’s… um… Class 1-3…”
Kim Yuha mumbled at the floor, unable to meet his eyes. The vice principal’s face hardened further.
The vibe grew more oppressive by the second, and bystanders started whispering as they watched.
If we let this drag on, it’d only get worse.
…Scary as hell, but we had to clear up the misunderstanding.
I edged carefully between them, taking one step forward.
“Um… excuse me…”
“Hm? What is it, little one?”
The vice principal turned to me. He’d been mid-chewing-out Kim Yuha, so his tone softened a tad toward me—but his voice and eyes were still terrifying.
My shoulders flinched in fear, but I gritted my teeth and tried standing on tiptoe with these ridiculous bunny feet. No matter how scared, I had to meet his eyes properly for it to work.
“I… I’m a student here… Class 1-3…”
It was a struggle to get the words out, but no reply came for a long while. The vice principal just gawked at me, utterly dumbfounded.
At this point, I wished he’d just believe me—but his face said that wasn’t happening.
In the end, Kim Yuha and I had no choice but to head back to the Class 1-3 room to explain ourselves. With the vice principal in tow.