The Cat hides its Claws

Myohan didn’t hesitate to walk away. He didn’t have to hear more of what Sajun was saying, nor did he have any reason to listen. He regretted coming and wasting his time. He turned to go home, but then the wind carried Sajun’s voice to his ears.

“I heard you’re looking for the twelve zodiac animals?”

That made Myohan’s feet stop immediately. How did he know about it? Had he heard him and the others talking at the library? Or by the taps? He could make more than one or two guesses.

Sajun smiled like a serpent and took a step towards him. He said soothingly, “Let me help you.”

“No.”

The reply came without any hesitation. Myohan retrieved his bag without even looking at Sajun.

“Is that all? I’m going, then.”

“But then people will find out you’re a cat.”

Sajun could hear the sound of a breeze. It all happened in the blink of an eye. Myohan came to him and grabbed him by his collar.

Sajun had no choice but to bend his back, surprised by the unexpected, but then Myohan looked into his eyes. His lips curled up.

“Hey.”

Sajun couldn’t avoid his gaze. Myohan’s light-colored eyes glared fiercely. His growling voice gave him chills.

Sajun had looked at Myohan as a predator, but now, for the first time, he could feel the fear of a prey. Myohan grabbed his collar even tighter. He calmly said, “You might actually get killed, you know.”

He was getting really angry. He could move on after one or two insults, but this was too much. No one liked to be ignored.

He had decided to listen to Sajun because he felt somewhat guilty for kicking his balls, but the damn snake kept talking shit to the very end. There was a river right under them, so he was going to throw him down and go home.

His anger completely froze Sajun. It felt just like what he had felt when the man threatened to make snake wine with him earlier. He was losing breath because of Myohan’s hand holding his collar. But then,

“Meow.”

They could hear pitiful cry of a cat. It close enough,as they both could hear it. They looked down to the river at the same time.

“That’s…!”

Myohan let go of Sajun immediately. And at the same time, Sajun’s eyes widened.

“O Myohan!”

It all happened so quickly. They saw a little kitten in the river, Myohan let go of Sajun, threw his bag away, and didn’t hesitate to jump down.

Splash!

Sajun urgently reached down, but then Myohan came up again, breathing hard.

Water came up almost to his chin. Myohan waded through water to the kitten and grabbed it.

It clung to his hand desperately.

“Hey, snake!”

Myohan came out of the river and shouted to Sajun. He was coughing because water had gotten into his mouth and nose right after he dived in.

He raised the kitten high and pulled his wet hair back, making drops of water run down his tender cheek.

“What are you doing? Take it.”

Sajun stretched a hand down, nearly dazed. He succeeded in taking the cat and held it awkwardly.

It must have just been born, as it was only the size of a palm. Myohan checked the cat was safe, and then he stretched his neck, coughing.

As he could jump down from the sixth floor, jumping down a little more than two meters was a piece of cake. He bent down to measure the height, and then he lightly jumped.

“I don’t have time to play your game.”

He was as soaked as the kitten. Water fell from his soft hair to his face, which irritated him. he pulled his hair back, making water leave marks on the bridge floor.

“If you want to say that I’m a cat, do it. I can just transfer to another school.”

He rummaged through his bag, found a hoodie, and took the kitten from Sajun. He carefully held it. The kitten had been shuddering after falling into cold water, so it soon cuddled into his arms.

“And as for the twelve zodiac animals, I will find them on my own.”

Sajun said nothing. Myohan took his bag and held the hoodie with the kitten in it with one hand. Then he looked straight at Sajun. His wet, fluttering eyelashes were so charming that Sajun wanted to devour them in one gulp.

“So take care of your lustful yourself.”

Myohan’s eyes didn’t tremble. He wasn’t angry anymore, nor did he feel good about saving the cat. He was just calm.

“Bye.”

After that, Myohan left, this time for real. Sajun felt like laughing. Myohan hated water so much that even he could see it, but he had jumped without hesitation just to save a cat.

Brave but reckless, kind to the weak. It was what he felt when he first saw Myohan jump over a wall behind the school.

Sajun crouched down and covered his face with a hand. He had meant to play with him a little, get some fun, and stop there. He just wanted to find out what he was feeling: hunger or sexual desire.

This is unfair. He muttered. His face was now red.

“Aww.”

When Myohan thought he was far enough from Sajun, he fell to his feet. The kitten in his arms moved and stuck its head out the hoodie. Its eyes were a little blue, so it was probably really young.

Its little ears moved so cutely and Myohan sighed. His ankle throbbed.

“I got hurt while saving you, you know that?”

“I knew it.”

He was just talking, but then he heard an unexpected answer. His eyes widened. Did this cat just speak?

“Cats can’t speak, you know.”

The voice said with a sigh, reading his mind. Myohan looked up with doubt, but then a huge cloth fell on his head. His body was lifted.

“You always have to pretend to be tough.”

It was O Shin who had headed home with Jagyeom. And the cloth was his shirt. He looked down coldly at Myohan, wearing only a thin t-shirt now.

Myohan put the shirt away from his face and asked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”

But the man said nothing and just looked at him. He was wet and water was still dripping from his hair. His school uniform was a mess as well. He was shuddering lightly in cold wind, but he had his hoodie wrapped up around a furry kitten. Water ran down from Myohan to his arm.

“Pathetic.”

He concluded Myohan’s condition in one word.

“Cats.”

He looked angry. Myohan looked at his mad eyes and blinked.

“Think they will be attacked if they are weak. That’s why they don’t show it when they are ill.”

He looked at Myohan’s right ankle. It was slightly swollen. It must have been sprained.

“That is why you should pay attention to how your cat walks.”

When he heard Myohan had left something at school, he doubted his ears. Myohan would never go back to school again normally, even if he had homework to submit the next day. As O Shin knew how lazy he was, he was sure he was up to something.

“How could you think to jump up that high when you’re injured?”

O Shin had seen everything. Myohan jumped down crudely without the right balance, so he thought it would cost him at least one ankle.

And he was right. When Myohan came out of the river, he was limping, although very slightly.

Myohan rested his head on the man’s chest and closed his eyes, refusing further scolding. He knew it looked quite funny for him to be carried like that, but he also knew demanding to be put down would only make him look funnier. He could feel pain growing in his right ankle. He pulled the shirt up. Man, it’s freezing.

“I was right. You’re a stalker.”

“I’m not in the mood for joking.”

Myohan opened his eyes just a bit to look at the man. He could see his long nose and tightly closed lips. He looked really hurt, so Myohan asked, “Why are you mad?”

“Anyone would get mad if one’s pet cat is hurt.”

“I’m not your pet cat!”

But O Shin said nothing more. Myohan added sheepishly to see him still angry, “I usually can fall from that height without getting hurt.”

He could jump down from the sixth floor without a scratch, so of course jumping down from a bridge that was only two meters high was nothing to him.

It’s just that water was beneath the bridge, so that made it harder to measure the distance and his body tensed instinctively, leading to a mistake. Also, he shouldn’t have jumped in without checking the water’s depth.

The man kept his mouth shut. He just focused on carrying Myohan. Myohan gave up trying to lighten the mood and patted the sleeping cat.

When he was about to throw up because of the awkwardness, he tried again.

“Hey, I don’t think we’ll be able to catch the snake.”

But the man said nothing again. Myohan frowned hard and closed his eyes, his head on the man’s chest.

O Shin wasn’t going to talk, so he could just get some sleep. That wasn’t a bad conclusion. Plus, the man’s arms were extremely comfortable to sleep in. They swayed in rhythm, just like a cradle. After he fell asleep, O Shin sighed.

“Stupid cat.”

He looked so sad, but Myohan couldn’t see it as he was sleeping.