Caring for a Star

Chapter 5 - Cat almost out of the box

“Good morning sweetheart” Kim said as he did every morning since the day Copter gave him his consent. Hearing his baby’s voice first thing in the morning woke him up like nothing ever before. His mom might even be suspicious about the change in him. “Are you awake? Or did I wake you up?” Kim asked as he pictured Copter in bed, face flushed with sleep and hair messed up by the pillow. Well that was one of the most frequent day dreams of Kimmon. He would think of Copter in bed in several scenarios all of them leading to the same common ending where the two of them tangled beneath the sheets doing the dirty. He was brought back to reality by the sound of Copter waking up and the sheets rustling which made Kim groan in frustration.

“Good morning P'” Copter’s voice was warm and sleepy. It was too early for him to wake up. For anyone else waking him up this early, he would give an earful of his mind. But this was his P' waking him up so he was thrilled. 'This is the key to a happy life’s Copter said to himself.

“Are you not coming to see me play Copgi?” Kim asked pouting even though Copter couldn’t see him. “I need you there cheering for me.” He said.

“Oh god, it completely slipped my mind. Of course I will be there. I have to protect you from all the needy girls right?” Copter teased him right back.

“Who’s going to take care of you my sweet Copgi?” Kim asked and chuckled thinking of Copter’s tiny structure which would not intimidated even the tiniest of girls.

“Oh you don’t know how fierce I can be when I need to be. I am like a rabid Chihuahua” Copter said and laughed at his own joke. He could hear P' Kim laughing at the other end and the sound just filled his heart with happiness.

“Ok then my ferocious Chihuahua, see you at the BB court at 8” Kimmon said with a smile in his voice. “remember baby, I love you. Only you” he said and heard Copter’s breath hitch over the phone and didn’t wait for the boy to reply before he disconnected the line. Kim knew it was hard for the younger boy to say those same word out loud because of his shyness and innocence. However his actions spoke volumes of how he felt so Kim didn’t need him to say anything.

Copter was wide awake as his heart beat so fast and his body tingling all over as he heard P' Kim said he loved him. Copter was still struggling to say those same words to his P' but every time he tries to say them he is seized with shyness and fear of Mammoth proportions which shuts down his brain instantaneously. Anyways he knew P' Kim is aware of how he felt about him and he will wait till Copter is ready to utter the word of his own free volition.

Copter was running late. At the rate he was rushing he would be about 5 minutes later than the time P' said. He was praying to all things divine for the game to be delayed by at least a few minutes so he can meet P' Kim before he goes in to the courts. He was blaming his ignorance as he ran towards the main gate of the engineering faculty where the match was being held. 'Had to call Mom right at this moment, you idiot' he was scolding himself. His mom had asked to run an errand for her. 'so typical, you never learn' he was checking his time as he ran. 'oh these short legs of mine, I wish I was taller' he thought for the millionth time but he remembered something suddenly that changed his chain of negative thoughts. P' Kim had ruffled his hair one day and said “ I love that you are so tiny”. To this date it makes Copter blush with happiness and he thought 'then again maybe not so tall'.

As Copter entered the faculty premises the bleachers we’re empty and even the players weren’t even there. He stopped abruptly and looked around breathing hard after all the running he was doing. He was just about to call P' Kim to ask if they had changed the venue when he heard a voice from behind making him turn around so fast it made him dizzy.

“There you are. I was worried that you would not show up” Kimmon was sitting at one of the bleachers closest to the gate and as Copter swung around he jumped off of his place and came to the other boy. Kim was glad that he came because Copter lost his footing as he swung towards him. He caught the small boy before he fell and held him close to his body. “I wonder if that was truly an accident or did you do it on purpose?” Kim asked the blushing boy in his arms and Copter slapped him playfully and pushed away.

“Where is everyone? Did they change the schedule?” he asked motioning to the empty bleachers and the court.
Kim laughed and put his arm around Copter’s shoulder and said “Well the match will start later but I wanted to see you. I am glad you came”. He kissed Cop on the cheek making the younger boy blush even further.

Copter was so happy that P' Kim wanted to meet him. “Ok so now that I am here what are we going to do?” he asked.

Kimmon held Copter’s hand and walked him towards the bleachers and sat on it. There was a million of things he had to tell the younger boy but he was not sure where he had to start or what he should tell without scaring the boy. “N’ Cop, what do you think about idol contests?” he asked. Kim watched as the younger boy's face darken and his smile instantly vanished. Kim was a bit worried seeing his Nong's reaction to seemingly random question.

Copter felt his whole self drench in cold sweat as he heard the question. He had been following stories about idol contestants and how hard they found to live their lives. The stories of famous people suffering from depression and so many other pressures and how some of them loose their battle with these and unfortunately bid good bye to their precious lives, scare the living daylight out of him. “I don’t like them. I fear the fate of all these nice people who found themselves in the cutthroat life of fame” he was thinking of the celebrities who have gone through rehab and taken medication for a long time for depression and other problems. And what he found was mostly the root cause for these problems was the pressure from the continuous work and absence of privacy. Copter was wondering why his P' was asking this kind of a question all of the sudden. No matter how much he tried to think it was just a random question there was a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach about it.

“Sorry sorry babe.. it was random thought nothing to worry about right now. So what shall we do after school today?” Kim knew it was a tricky situation and he knew Copter was not as naive as he looks and he is suspicious about the question. He wanted to divert his line of thought away from this direction as soon as possible.

Copter shrugged his shoulders and force a smile. He was sure it looked more like a grimace rather than a smile. But he couldn’t help it. A seed of fear had been planted and he couldn’t get rid of the feeling of impending doom. Copter tried his best to suppress this crippling feeling and put out a brave face for P' Kim. “I have to go to the library after school but after that I’m free. What do you think about a movie P'?” Copter asked and watched his P's face light up and it made him happy dispute the dark cloud hanging over his head.

“That is the best idea ever Copgi. Let’s do it” Kimmon was glad and hugged the younger boy making him blush beautifully. 'thank God for small favors' he thought as he watched the smiling boy and thinking how much his smile means to him. “I will call you sweetheart. I love you” he said and kissed Copter’s temple softly and he saw his teammates enter the court in his peripheral vision and sighed in disappointment. “They are here already. I have to go babe, be by the court side ok love” he got up and ran towards the court. He turned around half way down his sprint and blew Copter a kiss and watched the boy smile shyly and looked about himself to see if anyone had noticed. ‘He is too cute' Kim thought.