The Cat hides its Claws

Myohan frowned, his hand still pointing at where Myo Cheong had just been. Round eyes, shocked face, nose trembling in fear. Myohan asked, a little bewildered, “….He is the rabbit, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Jagyeom nodded, although he too looked a little confused. O Shin smiled as he liked the situation. Sajun muttered to himself with his arms crossed.

“Another prey, then.”

***

Myo Cheong of class 6. He was the Myo Cheong Jagyeom had meant when he said, ‘There’s a Myo Cheong in this school as well.’ Now they knew his name, his homeroom, and his face. Now that they had found the rabbit, everything was fine. Thinking so was their mistake.

“Hey, you.”

Myo Cheong was fast, even with a sprained ankle. Each time Myohan went looking for him, he was out of sight in less than a second.

Myohan didn’t know what to think of when he lost the rabbit yet another time. O Shin leisurely gave him a piece of advice.

“I told you, rabbits get afraid really easily.”

Myohan didn’t have that many opportunities to find Myo Cheong. He had to practice for the play at lunchtime and after classes, so he had very little free time.

So he had been going during breaks, but the rabbit wasn’t being cooperative.

“Myo Cheong.”

Whoosh-

“Hey, Myo…”

Whoosh-

“Let me just…”

Whoosh-

“You damn rabbit!”

Myohan angrily kicked a wall. The group was having ice cream by the taps to discuss the matter. Jagyeom flinched with ice cream in his mouth. O Shin put a hand on Myohan’s shoulder to calm him down.

“Calm down, prince.”

No, he was doing the very opposite of calming him down.

Myohan couldn’t help sighing. Myo Cheong had been running away from him for three days now. He wondered if he was supposed to go borrow a book on how to befriend a rabbit. He threw his ice cream stick, but it just bounced off the trashcan and he had to pick it up again. Damn, now even the ice cream stick was determined to go against his will.

“Why on earth is he running?”

Actually, he could have chased him. Even it was a long chase, he could have soon caught him if he wanted to. However, Myohan didn’t feel like catching him forcefully. He wasn’t cold enough to do that to a rabbit shuddering in fear. Sajun put his ice cream stick into the trash can for him and casually hugged his shoulder.

“Maybe I can give it a try…”

“The best thing you can do is nothing.”

But Myohan just swatted his hand off. The rabbit was afraid of even him, and he didn’t want to imagine what would happen if Sajun visited him. He wished he at least knew why Myo Cheong was running away. It wasn’t like Myohan looked dangerous.

“That’s called the instincts of an animal.”

Myohan ruffled his hair to hear O Shin say that. Then, it had to be someone who looked less scary than himself, someone who looked like he would never be able to hurt Myo Cheong. Yes, there was just the right person for that…

“Hey, Squeaker.”

Jagyeom looked up. Myohan put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a serious gaze. Sajun seemed envious of Jagyeom for getting Myohan’s whole attention like that, but Myohan just ignored him. He looked at Jagyeom as he blinked in fear.

Similar looks, similar size. Similar name, and they were both herbivores.

“Most rats are omnivores, although a few bigger species are herbivores.”

O Shin informed them of that, probably knowing what Myohan was thinking. Myohan cleared his throat, thinking O Shin had to be reading his mind. Jagyeom was still glancing at them, but then he frowned. Myohan’s hand suddenly clutched his shoulder.

“It hurts!”

But Myohan didn’t reply to that. His glistening eyes were full of ominous energy. The moment Jagyeom gulped hard in fear, Myohan nodded.

“Still, you’re our only option.”

“….For what?”

The afraid eyes blinked. Myohan pretended not to notice the rat’s fear and said firmly, “Do whatever it takes to bring the rabbit here.”

“But he runs away the second he sees you. What would be different if it were me?”

“You can do it.”

“But…”

Myohan narrowed his eyes. His sharp pupils threateningly glared at Jagyeom, giving him the chills. He swallowed what he had meant to say and looked away.

“….I’ll try.”

And they each went back to their homerooms after agreeing to meet again at lunchtime. Myohan was really excited to get the rabbit at last. He was looking forward to it so much that he didn’t sleep and sat upright during the whole class. The teacher was so glad to see it and gave one passionate lecture, but sadly, Myohan didn’t even catch a word.

“As for Plato, he concluded this action to be…”

The moment the bell sounded for lunchtime, Myohan ran down to the taps, resisting the urge to jump right to the ground. Yuja tried to stop him, saying they had to practice again, but Myohan just ignored him, although he knew that when he got back to the classroom, he would be scolded a lot by the class president.

“For your information…”

Myohan was pushing clingy Sajun yet again when he saw Jagyeom come. He looked really excited, and the man smiled to see it.

“In history, Lee Jagyeom the politician’s revolt failed.”

“What happened?”

Jagyeom sheepishly shook his head. Myohan sighed and crouched down, totally disappointed. Jagyeom said apologetically, “He’s not in his homeroom.”

“…Well, at least you tried.”

The rabbit was really clever. Now Myohan really wanted to know why Myo Cheong was avoiding him so much. He wondered if he should send Sajun, but then, Jagyeom carefully spoke.

“His classmate Choi Jino told me that..”

A small flame came to life in Myohan’s eyes. Jagyeom took a breath and sighed sadly.

“Myo Cheong is being bullied by some bad kids.”

Myohan immediately jumped to his feet and ran somewhere. O Shin smiled to see his back as he went away. The cat’s filled with responsibilities. He had to swallow what he couldn’t dare to speak.

Where Myohan was running to, panting, was the vegetable garden behind the new building. Although it was called a vegetable garden, it was managed by no one and was practically an empty field. They had taken turns to manage it till last year, but it seemed like this year’s freshmen weren’t interested in it.

But the problem was that the garden without a single plant had become a gathering place for bad students. That was where they did all their bad things, like smoking and taking money from other students.

The teachers knew about it, of course. A number of solutions had been proposed, like putting security cameras and assigning a guard there, but none of them had been carried out.

“Wow, he’s not talking again.”

Myohan stopped near the garden, put his hands on his knees, and caught his breath. He had been running around so much ever since he met the man.

“Hey, can’t you speak or something?”

Myohan hid behind a wall to take a peek. Four buff guys were surrounding one guy. Myohan couldn’t see his face from where he was hiding, but he knew it had to be Myo Cheong. One of his legs was in a cast.

“I told you to bring money.”

‘This isn’t good.’

There was no way Myohan could defeat four men of that size. He wondered but to do, but then he saw one of them grab Myo Cheong’s collar.

“I asked you a question, didn’t I?”

Oh, bother, bother. Myohan usually stuck to minding his business only. He always said that although connivance was a sin, meddlesomeness was another kind of sin. Everything changed after he met the man. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to Sajun’s summon.

“Hey.”

And he wouldn’t have been picking a fight with four guys much bigger than him.

“I need to have a word with him. Give us a minute.”

Whatever. He didn’t have much of a plan. Cats were reckless by nature. That was what O Shin would have said.

“Who are you?”

Myo Cheong looked at Myohan with his wide eyes. The boy who was still holding his collar let go of it.

Myohan muttered in a small voice, “What?”

One of them took a step toward him. If Myo Cheong was indeed the rabbit, he must have heard. Rabbits had keen ears. Myohan looked right at him. He hadn’t seen his face since they saw each other in the sickbay. Myohan whispered again.

“When I count to three.”