The Cat hides its Claws

When Myo Cheong was finally finished, he breathed hard. Myohan grinned.

“Hey, rabbit.”

Myo Cheong’s nose trembled slightly. Yes, that. That instinctive expression of feelings was what had been confusing Myohan.

“And why do you keep calling me rabbit? I…”

“You’re a really good actor.”

Myo Cheong flinched and shut his mouth. His eyes were shaking hard, but he was trying to look bold. Still smiling, Myohan imitated O Shin.

“You know, rabbits have keen ears.”

He recalled how afraid Myo Cheong had looked at the sickbay. He had been full of fear since the moment he opened the door. That was why Myohan hadn’t noticed till now. The fear Myo Cheong had shown hadn’t been false at all.

“You must have heard outside the door why we were looking for you.”

With his rabbit hearing, he must have heard their talking through the door. As he was afraid before he even saw who was inside, of course he was lying when he said he thought they were trying to take his money. The truth was, he felt a deep fear about his true identity being revealed.

“You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

But then there came anther question. Why had he bothered to open the door to show his face to them?

“So that I would find you.”

Myo Cheong didn’t know why Myohan was looking for him. That was why he decided to show that he was being bullied and make Myohan think he wanted nothing to do with him. He did all that to make Myohan give up.

“That’s why you asked your schoolmate to tell me about you.”

With each word Myohan said, Myo Cheong’s face turned even whiter. To think about it, there had been a number of strange things. His schoolmate revealing his private life to a complete stranger, and him being bullied at the garden at the right time.

“However, you didn’t know that I’d help you.”

Yes, Myo Cheong had looked like he felt like crying, but not because he was sorry. It was just despair for his ruined plan, and guilt from his last bit of conscience.

“You’re fine with being bullied, but you’re afraid of being busted, rabbit?”

Myo Cheong hadn’t hesitated to kick the guy’s thigh. He perfectly kicked where it would hurt the most. In conclusion, he there was only one reason for bringing Myohan out and telling his story.

“I’m sorry.”

He wanted to be pitied. He was guessing a nice student who couldn’t help but aid a bullied student wouldn’t be able to press on such a hurt victim. But he was wrong. Myohan grinned again, this time for real.

“But Myo Cheong the monk’s revolt failed as well.”

Trust your guts. O Shin’s voice rung in his head. Myo Cheong smirked to see him smiling brightly. And then he muttered, “Shit, all screwed.”

Because of the ten-minute timeout Yuja had given him, Myohan had no choice but to leave Myo Cheong and go back to his homeroom. Yet he didn’t forget to tell the stomping rabbit, ‘If you run away again, I’ll throw you to a snake.’

“Please marry me, my prince.”

“Sorry, but I can’t do that.”

“The moment your lips touched mine, I…”

Well, he had gotten him. He had caught and put a shackle on the rabbit.

“Are you really content with it, my prince?” O Shin took Myohan’s wrist and asked. It was one of his lines, but his black eyes said differently. He was really asking. Are you really content with it?

“….No.”

No. Of course not. He couldn’t. He still didn’t know what turned Myo Cheong into a rabbit.

“O Myohan, you just made a mistake.”

Yuja rolled up his script and tapped on Myohan’s arm. He didn’t protest and nodded. As he quickly admitted his mistake, Yuja didn’t say anything more and gestured for them to resume. O Shin smiled faintly. Myohan blinked.

Experience the moment the soul leaves the body. That was what he had said. The moment the soul leaves the body. Well, that was when people died. So Myo Cheong transformed when he died?

“You already know the answer, my prince.”

O Shin slowly offered his hand. Myohan took it and looked back at him. O Shin was enjoying watching himself reflected in the clear eyes.

“Really? What do you think, then?”

Myohan took a step closer. Yuja nodded with satisfaction, happy to see Myohan serious for once. O Shin put a hand on Myohan’s chest and whispered to his ear.

“I believe you.”

“…Great!”

Applause. Yuja smiled and patted Myohan’s back. He had never smiled so broadly before.

“You nailed it! Now let’s go home!”

Now the festival was only a few days away. They were almost done practicing. Actually, as the play was only about 10 minutes long, they didn’t have to practice so much.

They all had learned their lines, and a short practice wasn’t going to turn them into actors. It just that Yuja had insisted on practicing because of Myohan’s uncooperative attitude. But now he was satisfied, so they didn’t need more practicing.

“What’s the problem, then?” Sajun said as he clung onto Myohan who easily dodged and put a foot between Sajun’s legs, making him stick to a wall. He turned pale, recalling the pain.

“Can’t you put your foot down?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do all snakes like to be kicked?”

Jagyeom shook his head. Myohan gave Sajun a fierce gaze.

“He wants us to show him proof that he turns into a rabbit.”

Myohan had gone to find Myo Cheong many times after that day. At first, the rabbit shuddered in fear, but then he realized Myohan would do nothing to him and started to regain his confidence. And then, a few days ago—

‘You don’t know, do you?’

He said that boldly with a confident smile.

‘Shit, I was afraid for nothing. You don’t know what makes me turn into a rabbit, do you?’

Well, he had a point. Myohan had managed to keep his face straight, but actually, he had panicked a lot. Myo Cheong added, ‘No, even if you knew, you wouldn’t be able to do anything.’

Really, what had he meant by that? Did he really turn into a rabbit when he died? No, if it was the case, he wouldn’t have even known he was a rabbit.

“The moment the soul leaves the body…”

What O Shin had said and what Myo Cheong had said kept swirling inside Myohan’s head. He narrowed his eyes to think, but then Sajun offered him a hand.

“It’s time to go, prince.”

At the same time, O Shin covered Myohan’s eyes and pulled him toward himself. Myohan, who had been standing on one leg to threaten Sajun, was easily dragged to him. He could see Sajun click his tongue.

O Shin’s cold eyes turned to the snake, his eyes full of hatred and anger that surprised Jagyeom. But Myohan couldn’t see it as O Shin’s hand was covering his eyes. He pushed the hand away angrily.

“Get rid of that prince thing, will you?”

“But Yuja said if we go late, he’d kill us.”

Myohan was really sick of it all, but he could remember Yuja telling them to come back soon as they had to measure their sizes for their costumes.

Myohan patted Jagyeom’s head, said bye, and started to walk away. O Shin followed him. When the other two boys were left alone, they awkwardly exchanged glances. Jagyeom sighed to see how disappointed Sajun was.

“You really should stop with your pranks. You might actually be killed.”

“No way. A snake cannot be killed by a cat.”

“Cat?”

Sajun laughed. He doesn’t know. He realized it immediately and shrugged with a smirk.

“Well, O Myohan does resemble a cat.”

“But I wasn’t talking about him…”

O Shin’s eyes looked like he would devour Sajun at any moment. Jagyeom shuddered.

He had become quite close to Myohan and even to Sajun, but he hadn’t had much of a conversation with O Shin. And he was nowhere to be seen when Myohan wasn’t there.

“I just wanted to let him know.”

Let him know what? Jagyeom asked with his eyes. Sajun crouched down next to him, looked into his eyes, and grinned.

“You know, that.”

His long fingers pointed at his lips. Jagyeom realized what he meant by that and made a gagging sound. He could recall what he had learned during a class a while ago.

“That’s what Plato said.”

Sajun sighed and smacked. You enjoy pain. Jagyeom gulped down what he couldn’t dare to speak out loud. If O Shin hadn’t pulled Myohan away from him, either Myohan or O Shin would have killed him.