The Cat hides its Claws

O Shin’s hand stroked Myohan’s hair. He combed up the soft hair and then leaned forward to kiss his forehead. The kiss was as light as a feather. Myohan slowly blinked.

“The cat is loved by everyone for many reasons.”

O Shin kissed lightly again and again, as if he wanted to leave a mark on him. His lips went away only when they heard noises from the hallway. At the same time, the door was burst open.

“I brought them all!”

Just as Myohan had expected, Sinsul brought all the five. They were each carrying a snack and a soda.

They piled up the duvets in a corner for more space. Now Sinsul was finally getting the second school trip night of his dreams. Even Yuja joined them. Jino proposed playing the Truth Game, but that suggestion was vetoed immediately. Sinsul’s suggestion of playing cards also vanished in the air.

“When the host asked for handsome ones earlier, you went up just because you wanted to, didn’t you?”

“Oh, Shit. See, Jino? Jagyeom’s saying the same thing I said.”

“But Cheong, it is impolite to say such a thing out loud.”

“….You all are being impolite now.”

“Actually, I thought Miho wouldn’t go up!”

“I didn’t want to, but…”

“Our princess beat you all, anyway!”

They poured out soda and drank, even having toasts as if it had been booze. Myohan sighed and shook his head. For Sinsul to stay as a boy, what they were drinking had no alcohol, but for some reason, they were all so excited.

“Hey, I heard them say there would be no inspection today.”

“Oh shit, that pervert’s looking at Myohan again as he speaks.”

“But I heard that too.”

“If Miho heard it, why didn’t I?”

“Cheong, we heard it earlier from our classmates.”

“Yuja, is it real?”

“Probably.”

Myohan had moved away from the crowd and was now lying on the floor again. O Shin asked if he was sleepy and put a duvet on him.

“This is our last school trip, so they’re planning to let us loose a little.”

“Wow, great! Then we can all sleep here together!”

“…Can we?”

“Hey, there are nine of us. We can’t sleep together in this small room.”

“I’m fine with it, as long as I get to sleep next to Myohan…”

“Cheong! You can’t kill!”

“Shit, don’t stop me! I’m going to put an end to that once and for all!”

The noises and excited cries went far away. They became buzzing sounds, and they disappeared when O Shin covered Myohan’s eyes with his huge hands, more so as those voices were now so familiar to him.

They ate and drank and chatted for a long time even after Myohan went to sleep. Sajun almost got killed by Myo Cheong, and Jagyeom almost went back to his room, sick of all that. Miho saw Myohan was sleeping and tried to make them be quiet, but he ended up being held by Sinsul and had to play a game of cards with him. O Shin stayed at Myohan’s side through all of that, and they eventually fell asleep in that room.

***

“…So please come up!”

Bang, bang. Myohan could hear the repeated sound. He was tossing and turning while sleeping as he had trouble breathing, and then he realized his body was being held captive by someone and opened his eyes.

“Yuja, please. It’s really urgent,” someone whispered. The banging was Sinsul knocking on the bathroom door. Myohan, who was now stuck between a wall and O Shin, frowned and got up. He could see the boys sleeping behind O Shin.

“They’re all sleeping. Yuja-”

Sinsul was now almost crying. So they all ended up sleeping together. Myohan frowned to find that out. He got up slowly and went to the bathroom door.

“Hey.”

“Aagh!”

Sinsul sank to the floor, surprised to see him in darkness. He complained, but Myohan just ignored him. He pointed at the door and asked.

“Isn’t Yuja in there?”

“Huh? Oh, um…”

Myohan had heard him call Yuja, but he looked away instead of saying yes. He looked suspicious, so Myohan knocked on the bathroom door!

“Yuja, Sinsul has to pee, now.”

“No!”

At the same time, Sinsul quickly stood between him and the door. Myohan looked at him, silently asking what he was doing. Sinsul avoided his gaze, bit his lips, and shook his head.

“Yuja’s not in there.”

“What are you talking about? Who’s in there, then?”

“No one! There’s no one in there!”

“Then why aren’t you going in?”

Myohan frowned and turned the knob. It was knocked, but then he heard fluttering sounds from the inside.

“….Yuja?”

Sinsul now looked very sad. Myohan put an ear on the door to hear better, and then he turned the knob again.

Another fluttering sound. He tried again, but this time, no sound came. However, it only made Myohan sure of it. He looked at Sinsul, who was now on the floor, and then back at the locked door. He narrowed his eyes.

“Yuja’s in there.”

Yuja’s worry he had been looking for all this time was right behind that door. What was he supposed to do? Wait for him to open the door and come out? Or should he open it himself and go in? As for the former, he didn’t know how long it would take for Yuja to come out, and as for the latter, it was going to require some force and taking care of the aftermath.

“…Oh, what should I do?”

Sinsul buried his face in his hands. To think about it, Sinsul had been knocking on the door way before Myohan got up. He knocked on the door again.

“Yuja, no matter what you look like now, I’ll forget it, so please open the door for Sinsul.”

“He’s about to go in his pants.” Myohan added that as a joke, but it wasn’t a joke to Sinsul. He couldn’t deny it and hugged his legs, making him look pitiful enough. But no sound came from the bathroom.

Now Myohan was impressed by Yuja’s stubbornness. He had to have realized Myohan knew what he was by now, but he was still insisting.

“Do you think he’s not opening the door on purpose?”

Myohan wondered if Yuja was really that selfish, but then he heard a voice behind him. Both Sinsul and him jumped up in surprise.

“He’s not that cold-blooded.”

It was O Shin, who had been sleeping only a minute ago. Myohan put a hand on his heart to make it calm down, and O Shin seemed to think it was cute. Sinsul muttered he had almost gone in his pants. Myohan frowned and whispered, “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“You don’t deserve to say that!”

He tried to speak quietly, but Sinsul wasn’t exactly helping him. He quickly put a hand on his face and told him to be quiet lest the other boys would wake up, but then they heard another voice.

“What are you doing there?”

Well, there we go. Damn it. Miho looked around and rubbed his eyes, not sure of what was going on. Then he stood up and came to them, but the problem was it was too dark and the boys were sleeping scattered on the floor.

“Ouch!”

Sajun suffered first. Miho stepped on his foot. Miho quickly removed it, but Sajun grabbed the foot and moaned in pain.

“What, what?”

“Oh, shit… Who’s talking?”

After that, it was so simple. The scream surprised Jagyeom and he got up. Even Myo Cheong got up too. He muttered all kinds of curses, still drunk with sleep, and then he looked at the mess around him and scowled.

“What the hell is this?”

It all happened in less than half a minute.

“Shit.”

What had happened couldn’t be undone. Myohan sighed at the series of events that happened so quickly. He could have opened the bathroom door in silence, let Sinsul use the toilet, and have a genuine conversation with Yuja. He hadn’t wanted to wake everyone up, and he most certainly hadn’t wanted Myo Cheong, who was still half asleep, come and get ready in front of the door.

“If you can’t open the door, you can break it.”

He raised a leg and hit the locked door before anyone could stop him. The bang! sound even woke up Jino, which Myohan hadn’t wanted at all.