The Cat hides its Claws

“What am I supposed to do?”

“About what?”

Sinsul had asked without thinking. He had asked when no one else was around out of courtesy, and he hadn’t known it would make O Shin angry. He asked because he really smelled something that was unlike anytghing he had smelled before, and it wasn’t a human smell. What should I do? What am I supposed to do? He must have forgotten all about O Shin almost breaking his shoulder. He wailed again.

“I think I made him mad….”

Myohan blinked, and then he said unconcernedly, “Well, you make Yuja mad all the time, so it’s not a big deal.”

“I’m not like that!”

Sinsul yelled and jumped to his feet. He screamed, ‘You know nothing!’ But his classmates only sighed and said he was at it again. He ran to the back door.

However, he couldn’t run out like a girl in tragic love, as Yuja, who happened to be coming in, grabbed him angrily.

“Lunchtime’s over, where do you think you’re going?”

Well, Sinsul had much to say, but Yuja cut him short before he could begin.

“Sit down, now.”

Myohan snorted.

“See? You made him angry yet again.”

Sinsul thought it was unfair, but he had no way to express his feelings. He let out a sigh and fell on his desk, wailing. No one would understand what he was going through.

As soon as lunchtime ended, it started to rain. O Shin didn’t return until the day’s classes were all over. Sinsul became more and more worried in time, and eventually, he grabbed Myohan’s sleeve and clung onto him.

“Hey, dog, let go of me while I ask nicely.”

“But you are not asking nicely!”

After much hassling, Sinsul was told to clean the hallway by the teacher. Yuja waved a hand at Myohan to tell him to go quickly. He must have pitied Myohan for being held by that dog-boy.

The weather forecast had said nothing about rain. Of course, Myohan didn’t have an umbrella. He stood at the building’s gate and wondered if he should go through the rain or wait for it to stop. In the end, he just crouched down and looked up the sky to wait.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, you know what I’m doing.”

The kind question came from Sajun. They hadn’t seen each other for some time. He smiled and offered Myohan a hand, but he just slapped it away and got up on his own.

“You don’t have an umbrella either?”

Jagyeom was also there, right behind Sajun. He was holding an umbrella and wearing a raincoat. He was quite small, so he looked like a little boy in his raincoat. Myohan made fun of him with a smile.

“You are one thorough rodent.”

“The rainy season is about to start! I just like to be prepared!”

You know I can’t get wet. Instead of making fun of him again, Myohan nodded. Jagyeom looked at him, and at Sajun, and then he frowned.

“Kim Sajun doesn’t have an umbrella, so I’ve offered him to use mine together.”

Three boys, one umbrella. Jagyeom was wearing a raincoat, but of course there was no way some plastic could fully protect him from such heavy rain. Sajun shrugged and put his bag in front.

“You two use it. I’ll just go.”

“No.”

Myohan put out his intact hand. The raindrops were weaker and smaller than before.

“It must be a shower.”

It was about to stop in an hour or so. It wasn’t like Myohan had any urgent business, and he could just walk in the rain. He was about to crouch down again, but Sajun put a hand around his shoulder and smiled slyly.

“Then maybe I should wait with you.”

“You, just go.”

Of course, Myohan turned down his offer. He slapped his hand once more and told him to go.

I can’t go without you! Just go! After that quarrel went on for some time, Jagyeom spoke with a hard frown.

“You two idiots use this.”

He offered them his umbrella. Myohan stared at him.

“But what if you…”

“….My raincoat would be enough.”

He said it grumpily and complained about how Myohan worried too much. Myohan couldn’t take his umbrella, so Jagyeom handed it to Sajun and went out first. However, he was afraid of the falling rain and turned pale. Myohan wanted to say something, but he had to shut up as Sajun wrapped an arm around him and whispered to his ear.

“Come on, we shouldn’t turn down the rat’s kindness.”

In the end, they all headed to Myohan’s home since it was the closest. On their way there, Sajun kept an arm around Myohan’s shoulder, saying the umbrella was too small.

“If I turn into a rat…”

The rain didn’t get stronger nor weaker. Jagyeom, who was walking in front with his head down, spoke.

“You two will carry me.”

Sajun laughed and said he could count on him, and Myohan said he was the least trustworthy one out of the three them. Jagyeom also agreed with him by saying nothing.

Thankfully, Jagyeom didn’t turn into his rat form before they arrived. The bottom of his pants were a little soaked, but it wasn’t enough to transform him. When they entered the building, he let out a sigh of relief, and Sajun patted him on the back. Myohan saw his shoulder wasn’t wet at all and looked at Sajun with narrowed eyes. His right shoulder was completely wet.

“Why are you giving me such a hot gaze?”

He smiled slyly and winked. Myohan had no choice but to invite him in.

“Come in.”

O Shin had disappeared once more, but he wasn’t concerned at all. He had this feeling that when he opened the door and went inside, he would be waiting for him there.

“Hey.”

“Meow.”

And he was right. O Shin was at Myohan’s home. The cat followed him out, but it soon went in again with a yawn. Sajun waved his hand at it.

“Hey, kitty.”

“You know it has a different name, right?”

“Every cat is a kitty.”

“Excuse me.”

Jagyeom took off his raincoat and came inside. Then he blinked to see O Shin there.

“You two live together.”

“No.”

They didn’t live together. It was just that he was always there.

“Just dry yourselves and go.”

Jagyeom and Sajun took the liberty of sitting down the sofa. Myohan reclined on the sofa too, and O Shin came to him. He sat down near Myohan’s head and started to stroke it. He smiled, liking the soft hair.

“Oh, right. I have something for you.”

Sajun suddenly started taking out things. Candies, jellies, hand cream, and a huge beer cup. His school bag didn’t have a single book in it. It was just full of what he had brought from his trip to Germany. Jagyeom lifted the cup to take a look, and then his eyes widened to see a box of chocolate Sajun took out last.

“How did you buy it?”

“I have my own ways.”

Myohan wasn’t interested. It was quite amazing so many things could come out of that small bag, but the things themselves didn’t interest him.

“Just as I thought.”

But O Shin took it differently. He smiled with content, and then he whispered to Myohan’s ear, his eyes shining.

“Luck, is always with cats.”

Sajun picked a few things and gave them to Jagyeom. They were mostly ornaments. Then he said everything else was for Myohan. Myohan opened his mouth to say he didn’t want them, but O Shin spoke first.

“We should save the chocolates and eat them after finals.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

O Shin sorted the things, and then he stood up, his arms full of jellies, cookies, and chocolates. Then he said,

“Because dogs like treats.”

***

“Here are the keys, and you all should submit your wrong answer notes by next week.”

Everyone oohed at Yuja’s somewhat bored instruction. Yuja hit the table, told them he had no choice, and put the keys on the board. Myohan finished marking his test papers, put them in, and stared at Sinsul’s back.

He probably thought O Shin was mad at him, and he couldn’t even dare to speak to him or Myohan. He did glance at them, but he couldn’t find courage to say something to them. Myohan sighed.

“Sinsul.”

Sinsul was looking somewhat sad as he tried to gather some boys with his soccer ball in his hand. Then, O Shin called him.

“Huh?”

Sinsul startled and looked back. O Shin got his bag and headed to the back door with Myohan.

“We’re all going to hang out at Myohan’s place.”

Sinsul’s eyes widened. Myohan frowned and looked back at him. With his eyes, he asked, ‘When did we make that decision?’ But O Shin didn’t care. He just looked at Sinsul.

“Sinsul.”

Sinsul jumped to his feet, his eyes shining. Myohan silently laughed. Now, all O Shin had to do was say a word, and the dog-boy would jump out. O Shin smiled. Myohan went out first, thinking, ‘I knew it’.

“Let’s go.”

Sinsul came running. They could hear Yuja sighing. The boy was really simple.