The Cat hides its Claws

“When Lee Jagyeom gets wet, he turns into a rat.”

Myohan looked up, still crouching. The cat climbed onto his shoulder. It had gotten quite big, so he had to crouch even more under its weight.

“But…”

O Shin’s eyes sparkled the same way they did whenever he gave hints to Myohan.

Myohan jumped to his feet to hear his next words. Amused, O Shin said, “How does he take a shower?”

Myohan hadn’t wondered about that before. Jagyeom transformed into his rat form when wet, but he had to get wet to take a shower. He was so afraid of the rain that he used both his raincoat and his umbrella, so would he be able to take the risk of transforming just to take a shower?

No, of course not. One mistake and he would become a rat and drown. O Shin smiled.

“I’ve already given you the answer.”

***

On the last day of school before summer vacation, Myohan went to school earlier than before. It was unimaginable for him as he usually failed to get to school in time because of his great love for morning slumber. He fell on his desk and tried to sort his thoughts, letting O Shin stroke his hair. His hand moved slowly to his back.

“Oh, hi.”

The door was opened and Chookjae came in. He was a hard-working student and the class vice president. He came to school quite early.

“You, come here.”

Chookjae blinked in confusion after he heard Myohan suddenly say that. O Shin took his hand off him and looked away, clearly uninterested. Chookjae put down his school bag, came closer, and waited for Myohan to speak. Why Jino hadn’t turned into a horse and how Jagyeom could take shower both deserved Myohan’s attention, but right now, there was something even more important.

“Do you like beef?”

“….What?” Chookjae asked back, not seeing what was going on. No, no, this wasn’t right. Myohan let out a sigh and then examined the boy’s face. Did he resemble a cow? He didn’t know. What were the characteristics of a cow? He didn’t know that, either. Then, did he smell like a cow?

“Why?”

Chookjae was really confused when Myohan suddenly started to sniff him. He almost never talked to him, but now he was asking about his taste and sniffing him. He raised an arm and sniffed to see if he smelled funny. Myohan moaned quietly. Now he wished he had been a dog. Why cats didn’t have a good sense of smell like dogs?

“It’s nothing.”

Chookjae hesitated for a moment, but he soon returned to his seat without saying anything. He sat down, took out a book, and started to study. Myohan thought he was way too into studying.

“Myohan! Why are you already here?”

To his surprise, the third boy to enter the classroom was Sinsul. He was wearing his gym suit and was happy to see Myohan.

“How about morning soccer?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Sinsul was sad to hear that, but he didn’t stop there. He tried to ask O Shin as well, but then he saw he wasn’t even looking at him. He huffed and went on and on about how he hated them all.

“Then… Chookjae! Let’s play soccer!”

Apparently, Sinsul couldn’t see him studying hard. He patted on his broad back and then dragged his arm. Chookjae was dragged out, without even thinking of resisting, and Myohan shook his head after seeing that. But then, Sinsul abruptly stopped on his way to his locker.

“Oh, right. About what you asked yesterday.”

Myohan narrowed his eyes. About what he had asked yesterday?

“You asked if I could smell anything on Chookjae.”

“Hey, Sinsul.”

Myohan doubted anyone, even Sinsul, would be stupid enough to bring that out right in front of Chookjae, but the dog-boy was just too innocent. He just smiled at Myohan’s frown and then he said,

“He smells like cow! Cow! Chookjae’s a cow!”

Then, silence.

“….What?”

Myohan frowned as if he couldn’t believe it. Chookjae was still calm. Sinsul looked a bit confused.

“Isn’t that what you were asking?”

“It is, it is, but…”

“Yeah, he’s the cow. He smells of cow.”

Sinsul sniffed Chookjae, just like Myohan had done only a few minutes ago, and then he nodded with confidence. Myohan looked at the two boys, trying to find out what was going on, and then he asked, “And you’re saying that right in front of him?”

So far, no one had announced his secret animal identity first. Sajun did show it willingly, but only for a reason. Myohan caught Jagyeom by coincidence, he caught Myo Cheong after various tries, and he caught Jino after winning the bet. Even Sinsul hadn’t joined the group willingly. But what on earth was going on now?

“I can’t do that?” Sinsul asked innocently. He still didn’t have a single thought. Myohan put a hand on his forehead to see Chookjae blinking in shock. So he smelled like cow. Sinsul exchanged looks with Chookjae and asked away.

“Why?”

“….No, it’s nothing.”

Myohan had been too impatient that he couldn’t even think of talking to Chookjae about it. He just watched him from the back, thinking of getting proof and blackmailing him with it. But now…. He just sighed, suddenly feeling really tired. O Shin muttered, “Piece of cake.”

Myohan shook his head and looked at Sinsul. If he had recognized the cow smell on Chookjae, then he had transformed quite recently.

“What makes you become a cow?”

Sinsul scratched his head, of course not knowing the answer. Chookjae finally opened his mouth only then. He looked down and said, “I don’t know.”

Sinsul smiled awkwardly. Well, he doesn’t know! But at the same time, Myohan frowned even harder.

“You don’t know?”

“Yeah.”

He stood up and went to Chookjae. He flinched and looked back at him. Myohan stared into his eyes from a close distance, and then he frowned again. It wasn’t like he could read minds or something, but Chookjae didn’t seem to be lying. He really didn’t know what made him become a cow. He added, “I’ve never seen myself become a cow.”

“….Hey, do you know how old that smell is?”

Sinsul sniffed Chookjae again. Chookjae stepped back a little, not liking it.

“It’s about… a couple of hours old.”

O Shin grabbed Myohan’s arm and pulled him in. Myohan had to sit down on his desk. Chookjae just nodded.

“What the?”

He thought he had the cow, but it turned out he didn’t. There were just too many paradoxes. Chookjae didn’t know what made him transform, and yet Sinsul could smell cow on him.

“So you turn into a cow without knowing it?”

Myohan asked to check. Sinsul quickly nodded instead of Chookjae. Myohan sighed and said, “Then you probably think Sinsul is talking bullshit.”

“…I can ruminate.”

This time, it was Myohan’s turn to be surprised. Chookjae put a hand on his neck and repeated it.

“I can ruminate.”

“Ha!”

O Shin hid behind Myohan and laughed. He was sneering, but Chookjae didn’t care. He said he thought everyone did it and looked away. He looked somewhat embarrassed. Myohan told O Shin to stop laughing and looked at Chookjae with narrowed eyes.

“Even with that, how can you believe a human can turn into an animal?”

“Oh, um…”

Sinsul just scratched his cheek, looking troubled. He was wondering if he should talk or not. But Myohan gave him a deadly gaze that said, ‘Start talking unless you want to die.’ Chookjae nodded, so he had to speak.

“Chookjae and I drank booze together!”

“What?”

Someone exclaimed with shock and anger, but it wasn’t Myohan.

“You two drank what?”

Both Sinsul and Chookjae looked back at the voice. Yuja was standing there.

“What did you say, Byeon Sinsul? Say that again.”

They could almost see the dark aura coming out of him. Myohan quickly looked away to show he had nothing to do with it. O Shin was also looking out the window. Yuja approached them and he grabbed Sinsul’s collar in a flash. Then he glared at Myohan.

“Myohan.”

“I’m innocent.”

He raised his both hands to assert his innocence. Yuja turned to Chookjae and flicked a finger at him.

“Both of you are going to have a little talk with me.”

Just like that, the two were dragged out. It would have been better to be caught by the teacher, but since it was Yuja, they were not coming back any time soon. After the storm, Myohan just sat there blankly, and then he tilted his head backwards. O Shin got up a little to kiss his cheek.

“With such boys as your classmates, you’ll never be bored.”

“I wish I could be bored.”