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Being an Easter Bunny is hard.
It’s like being Santa Claus except you’re handing out eggs, not gifts and no cookies and milk are given out as compensation for your hard work.
Thankfully, each Bunny only has to hide eggs around the ten or so neighbourhoods they’re designated to, not the entire world overnight. Despite the significantly smaller area of land they have to cover, it’s still a hefty amount of exhausting hard work. Though, being an Easter Bunny does mean that you get to grow bunny ears and a tail that can pop up on demand and it makes children happy… so maybe it’s worth it?
Is it though? Is it worth the hassle? Do I even like kids? Whatever it is, Junmyeon doesn’t have the time to figure it out because there’s only three hours until 6:00 AM on Easter Sunday, there are still three entire neighbourhoods that he needs to hide Easter eggs in.
Junmyeon’s left bunny ear twitches in irritation.
It’s not his fault he is dangerously behind schedule. Some teenagers were having a party at the park and Junmyeon had to very stealthily sneak around them to avoid being spotted while hiding eggs around the houses by the park.
Why was he hiding? Well.
There are quite a few rules to being an Easter Bunny. Junmyeon and his fellow Easter Bunnies got them basically drilled into their heads during the four month-long Easter Bunny training period. There were some odd rules like don’t wear flip-flops on Christmas or the only candy you can eat on Easter are peppermints. Those weren't taken too seriously by the students or the instructors.
There was, however, two rules that they were never to break.
- You must hide all your eggs between 22:00PM Saturday before Easter Sunday and 6:00AM on Easter Sunday.
- You must not talk to, be spotted, or be identified by any human at any cost.
The repercussions for breaking the two rules, especially the second, were quite severe compared to breaking the other rules. Nayeon, a fellow Easter Bunny, had once accidentally broken Rule 8, a rule against wearing orange ribbons during work hours, and was sentenced to 7 weeks of volunteering at a rabbit shelter with cute baby bunnies which, was more of a reward than punishment if you asked Junmyeon. Nayeon had bonded with a litter of newborn bunnies and came back with 8 bunnies trailing behind her like imprinted ducklings. She had even named the bunnies but Junmyeon couldn’t remember all the names for the life of him. Momo was the cream one? Maybe Dahyun was the cream one and Momo the tan one? Or was Dahyun the nut brown one and it was actually Mina that was the cream one?
Junmyeon shakes his head to clear his thoughts and carries on with the egg hiding. He can’t afford to be distracted, not when he’s so close to the deadline. There had not been a single Easter Bunny in his cohort that had broken rules one or two and Junmyeon was not about to be the first one to suffer the wrath of their mentors.
Junmyeon takes a deep breath. He had thirty minutes and 8 more housing units to go. He could totally make it on time if he tries hard enough.
After a quick stretch, Junmyeon dashes off with his eggs with a determined look set on his face.
There was no time to waste.
-
Yifan grumbled the whole way from his house to the family daycare owned by his parents. It was seriously ass o’clock, the sun had barely risen in the sky, and it was bloody freezing outside.
Yifan cursed under his breath as he clumsily fumbled with the keys to the daycare. He had woken up early that morning to play video games, a plan foiled by his mother who suggested he go make preparations for the Easter event held at their daycare, since Yifan was already up and all. Yifan wanted to complain, but held back. His father had recently twisted his ankle from trying to hang up a baby mobile from the roof and he knew his mother had stayed up late the previous night planning and preparing for the Easter event on the following day. With a sigh, he had picked up the boxes with the Decor and what not and clumsily stumbled out of the door.
After a couple more seconds of fumbling, Yifan finally managed to open the doors to the daycare and not break anything. Sighing, he began lugging the various boxes of Easter paraphernalia through the doorway, which took a surprising amount of effort. By the time Yifan managed to get all the boxes into the daycare and neatly stacked, ready to be unpacked, he was already dizzy and sweating buckets, which is probably why he didn’t really think anything was wrong when a strange man skipped merrily into the hall before stopping dead in his tracks, gaping at Yifan with wide eyes.
“Oh, hey” Yifan greeted, rubbing his eyes. The guy was absolutely adorable, though he was probably one of the people his parents hired to entertain the kids. Maybe the guy was just dumb and got the time wrong which would explain why he was in the daycare at 6am.
“Are you the …” Yifan racked his brain trying to think of the people his parents hired for the Easter event. The man had bunny ears and a tail so maybe he was the “...Easter bunny?” Yifan blurted out loud.
Instead of reacting like a sane person and giving Yifan a yes or no answer, the man shrieked and fell to his knees crying. It finally dawned on Yifan how absurd the situation was. The door to the daycare was locked when he got there, so unless the man had been stuck in the daycare from the day before, he had no way of getting into the daycare. Yifan would’ve believed that the man was locked in overnight because the man in front of him was almost completely hysterical, except he’d never seen the man in his life and he was the one who locked up the night before. He would’ve definitely known if some man was stuck in the daycare.
Yifan stared at the man in front of him, not sure what to make of the situation. The man had begun blubbering and sniffling into his sleeve, eyes glistening and nose red from crying. Yifan thought that the man was honestly really pretty, especially with the cute cheeks and bunny ears that twitched every time the man’s breath hitched.
Wait. . .
Twitching bunny ears?
On closer examination, the bunny ears on the man’s head seemed to be growing from the man’s head.
Yifan rubbed his eyes. He had to be dreaming, but no matter how he rubbed his eyes or shook his head, the bunny eared man was still there. Maybe the best idea was to get the man to calm down so he could get some answers out of him.
“Uh, hey, are you okay?” Yifan tried asking as softly as he could, lest he startle the man.
The man peered up at Yifan, lips parted with tear-rimmed eyes. Yifan felt his heart skip a beat.
“You ruined my life!” The man blurted before bursting into tears again. Yifan gaped at him in shock.
“What? But how? I don’t know you?” Yifan tried to think hard on how he could’ve possibly ruined the man’s life. He apparently ‘ruined his life’? Yifan mentally scoffed, did he accidentally knock the poor guy up or what?
“Yeah but you ruined my life just now! You’re not supposed to see me! You’re not supposed to know that I’m an Easter Bunny! And now that you do, I’ll be neck deep in trouble! I’ll get kicked out! I’ll be punished! They’ll probably clip my ears off!”
“Woah, woah, what? You’re a what? An Easter Bunny? And what do you mean you’ll be punished? I won’t call the cops on you if that’s what you’re worried about.” Yifan reached out a hand to the bunny-eared man. “Let’s find somewhere better to sit. The floor is nasty, the kids trek in all sorts of gunk into the hall.”
“It’s not the cops I’m worried about!” The man glared at Yifan, but took his hand anyway. “The Council of Elders will have my ears and tail chopped for breaking their most sacred rules and I’ll be kicked out!” The man stared straight into Yifan’s eyes. “And you know what that means? It means I’ll have no job, no money, no family, nothing!”
“Oh, uh” Yifan awkwardly gestured for the man to sit down on the sofa. “I’m sorry? I’m really not sure what to say here.”
The man plopped down on the sofa looking very small and defeated. “No, it’s fine, it’s my fault to begin with though I might’ve dragged you into this mess. I have no idea what the council’s going to do, but they’re not going to let you off the hook if you know”
“Know what?” Yifan questioned, plopping down on the sofa beside the man.
“If you know I’m an Easter Bunny.”
“You’re an actual Easter Bunny?!” Yifan looked at the man incredulously, mouth agape. “You’re kidding!?”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “You’re literally the one that said ‘are you an Easter Bunny’ and now you’re telling me you didn’t know?”
“My parents run this daycare, I assumed you were hired to dress as a bunny to entertain kids for the Easter event they’re holding today.”
“And you didn’t question how I got in when the door was locked and why I had bunny ears and a tail that moved or why I was alone in the dark at 6am?”
Yifan smiled sheepishly. “I was tired okay?”
“I could’ve been a murderer!”
“You can’t be a murderer! You’re way too cute to be a murderer!” Yifan blurted out. The bunny man blushed bright red.
“Here’s a lesson for you, murderers come in all different shapes and sizes and even cute people can be homicidal maniacs.”
“But you’re not a murderer.”
The man shook his head with a wry smile. “You’re right I’m not. I’m an Easter Bunny. My name’s Junmyeon.”
“I’m Yifan, but I’m also confused. What do you mean you’re a bunny?”
Junmyeon sighed. “You’re supposed to know I’m an Easter Bunny, let alone all the details to being an Easter Bunny, but considering the cat’s already out the bag and I’m getting punished for it regardless, I’ll explain.”
Yifan nodded, urging Junmyeon to continue.
“Easter Bunnies are a group of people born with the ability to shape-shift into a bunny, both fully and partially.” Junmyeon tilted his head to give Yifan a good look at his ears. “I’m currently partially shifted. I can make them disappear but I have to have my ears out while I’m on shift.”
Yifan nodded, staring at the ears in intrigue. “Can I touch them?”
“Huh, yeah.” Junmyeon shuffled right up to Yifan’s side and cocked his head towards him. “Careful though, they’re sensitive.”
Yifan nodded, and as gently as he could, softly stroked one of Junmyeon’s ears between his thumb and forefinger. Junmyeon flushed, letting out a sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a moan.
“They’re really soft.” Yifan murmured, now petting Junmyeon’s ears with both hands, not noticing how Junmyeon’s breath hitched with every stroke. “So how do you even know you’re a bunny? Do you just suddenly turn into a bunny one day and go ‘oh no, time to call the Easter Bunny Hotline?”
Junmyeon laughed. “No, not that. We get an invitation of sorts from the Easter Bunny council when we’re 12, and basically the letter tells us that we’re meant to be Easter Bunnies and it’s our responsibility to send out eggs on Easter. Then we go to this super secret train station that sends us to the Easter Bunny Academy. We go there for a couple of summers to get trained to be Easter Bunnies.”
“Like Hogwarts?” Yifan asked.
Junmyeon nodded. “Kind of, but far less cool because there’s no magic other than this bag we get that’s filled with eggs.” Junmyeon hands Yifan a small red velvet pouch. “Put your hand in it.”
Yifan slid his hand in the pouch. The pouch looked like it could barely fit his hands from the outside, but the inside of the pouch felt incredibly spacious.
“Oh wow, that’s so cool”
“Yeah, you can’t feel anything because you’re not a bunny, but if I reach in, I can grab the eggs I need to place around neighborhoods as part of my job as an Easter Bunny.” Junmyeon reached into the bag and procured a shiny blue egg with a white paisley pattern on it, handing it to Yifan. “The bag is really lightweight so we can carry it in bunny form whilst sneaking into buildings. Normally we leave eggs outside, but schools, daycares, community centers, and orphanages are exceptions.”
“So you guys hand out all the eggs for Easter? In all of Korea?”
“Mmhmm, well, each bunny has a select area they have to cover within a set amount of time. Different countries have their own Group that manages their bunnies and maintains their own set of rules. Here in Korea we’re supposed to be done placing the eggs at 6am, but I was distracted earlier and ran behind schedule. Then you found me and identified me, so basically I broke the two most important rules to being an Easter Bunny.” Junmyeon sniffled a bit, shivering. “I’m the first person from the last five graduated classes to break the rules. The last person who broke the rules was like, 65 years ago. I have no idea what they’ll do to me. Or you.”
“Don’t worry, we’re in this together.” Yifan smiled at Junmyeon, giving the shivering bunny a hug. Junmyeon tensed, making Yifan jump back as if he was burned. Yifan scooted away from Junmyeon and coughed. “So, what do we do now?”
Junmyeon tugged at his sweater sleeves and shuffled closer to Yifan’s warmth. “I’m not sure. Normally after my shift I report back to the Council, and then I go home for a week long rest. Because I’m an active Easter Bunny, I have to go back to the academy to train and better myself but also mentor the younger Easter Bunnies. Then in August we get to do whatever until March where we have to assemble to prepare for Easter again.”
“You should stay here with me.”
“Huh?”
“Since the council is after us both or something, you should stay with me.”
“You’re okay with that?”
“Of course it’s okay with me.”
Junmyeon sprung up. “I’ll be helpful, I swear. I love children. We get lessons on how to interact with children too, I’m an expert at this.”
“You don’t have to. . .”
“No, I insist. I dragged you into this mess and you’re probably going to be stuck with me for a long time. Now, where are the decorations? I love decorating.” Junmyeon sprang up from the couch and skipped to the front doors where the boxes of decoration were laid out. “Come on Yifan it’ll be fun! Also, can you turn up the heat? I’m freezing!”
Yifan was absolutely smitten.
-
Junmyeon was having the time of his life at the daycare. He decorated and decorated until the doors of the daycare officially opened and kids started trickling in, eyes filled with childlike wonder. Junmyeon sang and danced with the kids, told them stories, and even gave them extra eggs from his egg pouch. Giving kids extra eggs wasn’t allowed by the council, but Junmyeon already broke two of the most important rules. One more wouldn’t hurt.
The hairs at the back of Junmyeon’s neck stood up and Junmyeon whipped around in worry, fearing that the members of the council were here to whisk him away. Instead, he found Yifan leaning on a wall, small infant in hand, staring and Junmyeon fondly.
Junmyeon blushed all the way to the tips of his ears. He couldn’t believe he let the human touch his ears earlier. He could still feel Yifan’s hands stroking his ears and his breath fanning out over his head. Junmyeon turned even redder. His ears twitched. Yifan was still watching him.
“Mister, can I touch your ears?”
Junmyeon looked down at the child tugging at his sweater and crouched down to her level with a smile. “I’m so sorry sweetie but I don’t like it when people touch my ears.” Junmyeon shook his head and hid his ears away.
The girl pouted. “But I want bunny ears like you!”
Junmyeon smiled. “Why don’t we make some bunny ears for you. I think I saw some paper lying around…”
The girl followed Junmyeon, squealing with glee. As Junmyeon walked around looking for craft supplies, he couldn’t help but notice Yifan staring at him with a smile. Honestly it was quite flattering, plus Junmyeon had a soft spot for guys way taller than him with strong facial features and hands that look like they could span the entirety of his waist. . . his neck as well-
“Mister! Are you okay? You’re all red like you have a fever!”
“I’m okay!! Don’t worry, I’m just getting warm from the sweater I’m wearing!”
Safe for work thoughts, Junmyeon reminded himself, busying himself with cutting out bunny ear shapes to distract himself.
“Oh! Who’s this? A volunteer? Thank you for your help, dear. What’s your name?”
Junmyeon turned. A middle aged woman with her hair neatly in a bun smiled at Junmyeon warmly. Her eyes were a perfect copy of Yifan’s. Probably Yifan’s mom then.
“I’m Junmyeon, I’m just here to help out with the event. I’m one of Yifan’s friends. Sorry for not telling you beforehand. I hope I’m not causing any trouble.”
“Trouble? No, darling, you’re a natural with children! I can tell that the kids love you! They’ve warmed up to you immediately. I can’t believe Yifan has such sweet friends and he never introduces his poor mother to them.” Yifan’s mother sighed dramatically. “I guess he thinks I’m not ‘poggers’ or whatever the cool kids say these days. He always thinks he’s so cool but he still leaves his dirty underwear all over his room and his poor mother has to clean it up”
“Mooom” Yifan whined. “Stop being embarrassing! I’ve also never said poggers in my life!”
“Yeah, yeah, and you’re adopted.” Yifan’s mother rolled her eyes. She then turned to Junmyeon. “You should stay for dinner with us, if your family doesn’t mind. Think of it as a thank you for the hard work.”
Junmyeon bowed. “Thank you! I’d love to!”
“Such a polite kid. You’re good for Yifan.” She winked.
Junmyeon stood there gaping, trying to figure out what the wink meant.
“It means she likes you,” Yifan whispered.
Well that was always a good sign.
-
The rest of the day went well, too well. Yifan and the man who was hired to be the easter bunny ushered the kids outside on an egg hunt while Junmyeon helped Yifan’s mother prepare lunch and snacks for the kids, listening to her coo about how cute Junmyeon was (with occasional hints that she wanted a son in law just like Junmyeon, and how perfect Junmyeon was, which Junmyeon would smile stiffly while trying to hide the blush on his cheeks), helped clean up, and get the kids ready for their afternoon activities. He almost completely forgot about why he was in the daycare in the first place until after the kids had all gone and he was alone with Yifan and Yifan’s mom, cleaning the daycare center when poof! Six members of the Council of Elders popped out in front of him.
Yifan and his mother gaped at the six.
“Kim Junmyeon.” The long bearded rabbit bellowed. “You have broken the most important rules to being an Easter Bunny.”
“You failed to complete your task on time” The rabbit with the long white hair continued.
“And you allowed a human to identify you” said the rabbit with the long grey moustache.
“You also gave out extra easter eggs to children” continued another rabbit with her hair tied in a bun.
“And for those reasons you must be punished.” Said the rabbit with the beard and the moustache. He pointed to Yifan. “You, human, must bear the consequences as well. You must swear you will never ever mention anything you know about Easter Bunnies to anyone other than your husband”
“My husband??” Yifan stared and the Bunny incredulously.
“And the same goes for you ma’am. You may not mention this to anyone other than Junmyeon and the Easter Bunnies.”
“I don’t even know what is happening.” Yifan’s mother said. The six bunnies ignored her.
“You, Kim Junmyeon, have to marry the human who knows our secret. That or, we cut your ears off and erase your memories. You choose.”
“I-” Junmyeon glanced at Yifan helplessly. “I-”
“Yes we’ll get married and I swear I will never, ever, tell anyone other than an Easter Bunny about Easter Bunnies and I promise my mother will keep the secret as well and we will not cause you extra trouble I swear” Yifan blurted.
The elders all nodded. “Then it’s resolved” The white haired Bunny nodded at Yifan.
“Send in a copy of your marriage registration by next Tuesday.” The mustached bunny added.
“We’ll be sending in people to check, so don’t you dare lie to us” The bunny with the bun added.
“You’re dismissed.” The bearded bunny gestured at Junmyeon. “And relieved from your duties as an active Easter Bunny. You are no longer expected to help out at the academy either but you must send your annual reports to the council.”
The six bunnies turned to leave.
“Is that all?” Junmyeon asked, not fully believing that he got off the hook so easily. Marrying Yifan was barely a punishment.
“Yes, that’s it. We have other urgent matters to attend to. Jungkook from your cohort has also broken rules one and two and now we must give the same speech to him and the Jimin human. We don’t have time to dawdle” The bunny with the perm said. With that the six were gone.
“Two rulebreakers in one year huh, I guess my cohort was really pants. Well I guess that was expected. Only Doyoung followed the rules properly during class.”
Yifan blinked. Yifan’s mom blinked.
“Don’t worry, I can explain” Junmyeon chuckled nervously, bunny ears accidentally popping out.
“So you’re a what?” Yifan’s mom tilted her head.
“A bunny hybrid basically, since I just got ‘fired’ from my job as an Easter Bunny.” Junmyeon bowed his head. “I’m sorry you guys are stuck with someone like me.”
“No no no, Junmyeon, don’t say that. It is very sudden but I can assure you, I don’t care if you’re a bunny or a tiger so long as you are kind-hearted and hardworking. Plus, I can tell Yifan is already head over heels for you.”
“Moooomm”
“I’m not lying.”
Junmyeon smiled shyly. “So you’ll accept me? Even though I dragged you into this mess?”
“Of course. We don’t have another choice now do we. Plus, I already told you, we’re in this together. I like you Junmyeon, even though we only met today and I don’t mind marrying you even if it’s sudden. Even if we aren’t compatible, which I’d argue that we are, we at least get tax benefits, so there’s that.”
Yifan’s mother teared up. “My son is growing up so fast. I can’t believe you’re getting married already.”
Junmyeon teared up as well. “Thank you, Yifan, I like you a lot too. I’m glad it's you I have to marry.”
Yifan reached out to cup Junmyeon's face in his hands. “This is the least romantic proposal and I don’t even have a ring or flowers or whatever, but Junmyeon, will you marry me?”
Junmyeon pulled Yifan closer into a kiss.
“Of course.”
-
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Extra
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Junmyeon bounced over to Yifan who was on the couch.
"Yifan pet my ears."
"Hmm?" Yifan looked up his husband who had seated himself comfortably in his lap.
"Pet my ears."
"I thought you said you don't like people touching your ears?"
"Yes, because they're sensitive and it hurts when people aren't careful. It feels good when you do it. Makes me feel better." Junmyeon pouted. "Now pet my ears."
"Alright alright. Come here angel" Yifan pulled Junmyeon closer and ran his fingers through Junmyeon's hair, carefully stroking the soft bunny ears, watching as Junmyeon snuggled happily into Yifan's chest.
It was that day that Yifan learnt that bunnies could indeed purr.
.
.
"Yifan! You two are soooo cute!! My son is growing up so fast!! I feel like it was only yesterday when you were wetting your pants and blaming it on our non-existant pet dog!" Yifan's mother pulled out her phone to snap pictures of the couple, while sniffling back her tears.
"Maaaa please stop embarassing me!"
Junmyeon only laughed, snuggling even closer into Yifan's comforting scent and warmth.
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