The Cat hides its Claws

When Myohan woke up to a snoring sound, it was completely dark. He blinked and he slowly started to see his surroundings. What woke him up had to be Sinsul’s snoring. He narrowed his eyes and looked around. There was one ray of light coming out beneath the bathroom window. He looked out at the long arm on him.

“Yuja’s in there.”

Someone whispered to him. It was O Shin. Myohan shuddered at his low voice. It was just too…hot.

“Stay still.”

His other arm crept under Myohan’s head. He hugged him and caressed his cheek, leaning in close. Sinsul was snoring hard. Their lips met before Myohan could resist him. No, he didn’t want to resist him. O Shin held him even tighter, putting in his tongue. His heart started to beat fast.

He couldn’t help noticing Sinsul’s snoring and the light from the bathroom.

But O Shin didn’t. He stroked down Myohan’s back and pulled him closer.

The longer their kiss lasted, the less he got to think. Their breathing and the kiss paralyzed him. O Shin took him eagerly, and Myohan let him. They were into each other, as if they had been all alone in the dark room.

***

Myohan had a dream. Himself in cat form, ill and in O Shin’s arms, and someone else grabbing O Shin. What he saw first was a pair of black eyes. They felt familiar. It was O Shin. Another man tried to take Myohan away, but O Shin wouldn’t let him. Under heavy clouds rolling over, he saw other shadows.

‘He was mine from the beginning!’

The man yelled, and instead of pushing O Shin away, he wrapped Myohan in his robe. Myohan, who had been shuddering, became still, and the man looked angry about it. O Shin slowly let him go. Drops of rain started to fall.

‘You all failed to protect the cat, and…’

The rain became heavier in no time. The world looked fuzzy to Myohan, but he managed to count the men kneeling down on the ground. There were eleven of them, and they were all trembling. Not because of the cold rain, but the man’s anger.

The rain was loud and Myohan couldn’t hear him. The man said the name ‘O Shin’, and he held Myohan tighter. The angrier he got, the heavier the rain got. And at last, the moment he declared, light flashed in the sky.

‘You will never become a human.’

He was furious. Then came the thunder. There was the cold rain, and the man’s enraged face, and then another thunder.

‘I swear I will…’

“Both of you, wake up!”

His eyes snapped open. He frowned. It was too bright now.

“Stop sleeping, we should get going.”

“I woke up minutes ago.”

“You should have woken him up, then!”

Myohan blinked slowly. He started to see what was around him. He blinked again, and he saw two warm, black eyes.

“You’re awake.”

“If you’re awake, start folding your blankets and duvets.”

O Shin whispered sweetly, which made Yuja’s comment that immediately after, rather unrealistic. Myohan looked down because his hand hurt. He realized he had been clutching O Shin’s shirt and let it go. Yuja snorted.

“Are you a baby or something?”

“…Oh.”

His voice was hoarse; he couldn’t speak properly. He just moaned. He must have clung onto O Shin all night, begging him not to leave, and O Shin must have stayed with him.

“Stop cuddling and get up!”

It took another yell from Yuja to clear Myohan’s eyes. He got up and O Shin followed him, stretching his back. Yuja left the room, saying their cuddling had been disgusting. Myohan yawned.

“Hello.”

O Shin rubbed his eyes to wipe the tears and gave him a peck. It was something only lovers would do to each other, but Myohan just accepted it.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know I had sleeping habits.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

He was almost a grown-up now, so he should have found sleeping in someone else’s arms embarrassing, but he didn’t care about it at all. He was more embarrassed about what O Shin did to him. Well, he was used to that already, so…

O Shin stroked his hair, making him wish he could go back to sleep. He wrapped himself in a blanket and looked around with another yawn. He could hear someone taking a shower in the bathroom — it had to be Sinsul.

“See…”

Myohan rubbed his face. O Shin nodded, inviting him to speak. He rubbed his eyes, yawned once more, and shook his head, all to wake up properly.

“I had a dream…”

“About me?”

“Yes.”

O Shin’s playful smile faded. Myohan could see his own reflection in his black eyes. He even frowned slightly.

“You called someone else O Shin.”

“And?”

“And that O Shin took…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence. O Shin’s eyes flashed dangerously for a split second. But when Myohan blinked and looked at him again, he looked normal. He narrowed his eyes. Was he hallucinating now?

“He took me away.”

“Really?”

O Shin stroked the back of his head, tidying his hair that was now a bird’s nest. He playfully bumped foreheads with Myohan. Myohan blinked and asked the question he’d been wondering for some time.

“Who’s O Shin?”

“O Shin? That’s his name!”

The bathroom door was opened so suddenly. Sinsul came out with a heated fog behind him. He had a towel on his head. He smiled and plopped down in the middle of the room. Myohan looked at him.

“What kind of question is that? It’s like me asking you who O Myohan is!”

Myohan scowled and O Shin laughed. Sinsul looked confused and asked if he was wrong. Damn Sinsul, you always disturb us at a critical moment. Myohan thought so, let out a sigh, and got up. He knew O Shin wouldn’t answer his question, so he was going to take a shower instead of wasting time.

“Let me tell you.”

But O Shin surprised him. He grabbed Myohan and pulled him down. He whispered, “First, O Shin isn’t a human.”

“…What?”

“And he’s really close.”

Then he went into the bathroom before Myohan could stop him. Myohan frowned and sat down, not happy about losing his chance to shower.

“Wow, you really shouldn’t whisper amongst yourselves when I’m right here.”

Sinsul complained as he dried his hair, but it really didn’t reach Myohan. What O Shin said and what the man in his dream said buzzed around in his head. You will never be a human. O Shin’s not a human. He wished he could call it a stupid dream and move on, but it had been so real and he couldn’t. And what did those memories he sometimes got have to do with O Shin? How did he know about Myohan and his memories? He couldn’t help wondering.

***

Their itinerary was so obvious. They visited some famous tourist spots on Jeju Island, had lunch, and then got to ride horses. The boys started saying that an athlete tried to talk to a horse and ended up getting beaten by his friend. Myohan didn’t have to ask to know who it was, so he just decided not to care about it.

“Yuja, are you sick or something?”

And Yuja still didn’t look good. Now he had black eye bags under his eyes, which made him look even gloomier. Myohan remembered him being in the bathroom last night and grabbed him with a frown.

“Do you have a stomachache?”

“…Yeah.”

Yuja nodded awkwardly instead of saying no. It looked suspicious, but Myohan couldn’t keep his doubts when he admitted that he was sick. But thinking about it, Yuja had stayed in the bathroom for a long time until Myohan fell asleep again.

“Tell me if it hurts a lot.”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

This time, Myohan was really worried. They were on a trip, and getting sick on a trip was not good. Yuja could see it, so he just patted Myohan’s shoulder. It meant he was fine.

Myohan could hear him mutter, ‘It’s been done already…’ But he didn’t care much as the host for the evening’s event grabbed his mic.

“Well, let us get started!”

With thunderous roar, the boys started to show their talents. Some of them got into groups for a K-pop dance, and a few tried telling corny jokes. Myohan just looked at them without any thought, but he couldn’t help bursting into laughter when someone with a long wig came up the stage.

It was Sin Seonhan, class president of Class 2. He turned to show his luxurious blond hair and blew them a kiss. Then he held hands with his classmate Sadeol and started to do a sexy dance. O Shin laughed and muttered, “What an interesting combo.”

“That’s crazy.”

Myohan was right. They were crazy and what they were doing was definitely crazy. Everyone laughed hard their seductive moves. Of course they won the talent show.