The Cat hides its Claws

“Oh…”

After the lock was broken, there came a long silence. Myo Cheong sank to the floor, frowning in pain. Jino, who had just woken up, was trying to figure out what was going on. Sinsul was still nervously shifting his feet, and he ran into the bathroom the moment Myohan gestured for him to.

While he relieved himself, Myohan had to hold the door so that it wouldn’t open. After that, Jino was the first to say something. He rubbed his eyes, yawned widely, and then he lay down again.

“…I must be still dreaming.”

They heard the sound of Sinsul flushing the toilet and the fluttering of wings. And then Sinsul screamed. When the door was finally opened, they saw Sinsul wearing an awkward smile and a bird that was a half-chick and half-rooster.

It had to be molting as only half of its feathers were white. Sinsul smiled awkwardly and tried to close the door. They could see the bird drop its head.

“I’m asking, knowing I can’t be sane now….”

Sajun, who was still grabbing his foot, asked. He was looking at clothes on the bathroom floor and a pair of familiar glasses.

“Um, is your class president…”

He didn’t have to finish his question. The rooster looked at his phone and looked down. At the same time, he transformed back into a boy. Sajun stopped, blinked, and then smiled.

“…Oh, I see.”

“Sinsul, I am going to kill you one day.”

Yuja’s threat sounded deadly, even though he was naked. He looked at the boys watching him and picked up his clothes.

“Close the door, now.”

Myohan did as he said without saying anything. He held it again so that it wouldn’t open. He looked at Sinsul who now seemed to be feeling guilty.

“Sinsul.”

“…Yes?”

The broken door, Yuja’s deadly look, and the boys who were sleepy and in shock at the same time. Myohan looked at Myo Cheong’s ankle, which was now swollen again, and then he smiled brightly.

“Let’s have a little chat, shall we?”

It was five in the morning, and it all happened just because Sinsul drank too much soda before he went to sleep.

***

“So you’re a rat, you’re a snake, you’re a rabbit, you’re a horse, and you’re a sheep?”

Everyone nodded to Yuja’s question. He scowled and let out a sigh.

“Is this a school or a zoo?”

He said he became a rooster every day at 4 in the morning. He found that out coincidentally, and he thought it would be okay if he hid in the bathroom for an hour or so. He had been sure as he had Myohan and dumb Sinsul as his roommates, but… He gazed at Sinsul.

“Yuja, I…”

“Shut up, dog.”

Sinsul drooped and looked at a wall. He whimpered, but no one cared.

I tried to keep your secret! I was worried about you! Why don’t you see that? He kept whining until Myohan said something that stopped it immediately.

“And he got busted because of you.”

They could almost see his puppy ears and tail which weren’t even there. Miho pitied the sad dog-boy and said it was his fault of stepping on Sajun’s foot and waking everyone up.

“I couldn’t open the door as a chicken. If you really knew it, you should have gone out and used the bathroom in another room or something.”

Sinsul tried to regain his brightness, but Yuja scolded him again and it made him sad.

“But I was in too much of a hurry.”

After Yuja came out wearing his clothes again, he calmly explained what had happened, and he could fully believe what Myohan said.

Of course, he had his doubts at first, and there was a little event to convince him (Myohan got to his feet and grabbed Myo Cheong) but it went well.

“Cheong, is your ankle okay?”

“Shit, you’re asking because you don’t know?”

“You have to be fine. Your ankle can heal itself, but that door can’t.”

The problem was the door’s lock. Jagyeom was right. It wasn’t going to fix itself. Jino had treated Myo Cheong’s ankle with Yuja’s first aid kit, but of course none of them had a tool kit.

They sat around, not even daring to turn on the light. They looked at each other.

What should we do? I don’t know. What do we do? I said I don’t know. You broke it, you should take responsibility. Shut up before I break you.

“First, those who don’t belong in this room, go back.”

Yuja let out a heavy sigh and stood up. All the other boys stared at him, confused.

“We can’t tell the teachers someone who doesn’t belong in this room broke it.”

“But…”

“I’m the class president. I don’t want to get scolded for not keeping you in line, so go, now.”

Even after that, no one got up. He had no choice but to sigh and put the knob back in its hole.

“We can say it was a bit broken and came out when we tried to open it early in the morning.”

“Yuja, you are so smart!”

“But I’m going to say you did it.”

“Why me?”

“Because among the four of us, you are the only one who would do such a thing.”

Jagyeom stood up slowly. Yuja was right. The others glanced at each other, and then they stood up when Myohan told them to go. Before they left, Miho whispered to Jagyeom that Yuja was really different from their class president.

“So quiet.”

After they all went out, the room suddenly felt so spacious. It almost felt like a dream that they had stayed there together all night.

Yuja said they had to get at least an hour of sleep and turned off the bathroom light. Sinsul, who was responsible for all this, was already snoring in a corner. But then Yuja sat down near Myohan’s head.

“You see, I think you would never bother to do something that requires so much time and energy.”

O Shin, who was lying next to Myohan, glanced at him. Yuja asked, “Is it for the princess?”

Myohan narrowed his eyes and looked up. Yuja shrugged.

“There’s no way you would think of doing something that requires that much work like finding the twelve zodiac animals, so I think he’s the leader and you’re his accomplice.”

He was surprisingly right. No one had pointed out that before. Yuja took the silence as acknowledgement and went under a duvet, taking off his glasses. O Shin took Myohan’s hand.

“So even O Myohan gets into a relationship.”

Myohan didn’t get surprised easily, but that was enough to make him flinch. He opened his mouth to deny it, but then he shut it again to feel the warmth on his hand.

“Really, he must be something.”

O Shin held his hand even tighter. It made Myohan feel ticklish.

‘A relationship?’

Now, if he thought about it, that was true. O Shin kissed him, and he showed his affection as well.

“…Yeah.”

They were in a relationship — it was just that he hadn’t realized it till now.

“He is something,” Myohan whispered. O Shin took his hand and kissed it. Myohan felt it and closed his eyes. Now he knew he’d been tamed. He had thought it was only a spray, but now he was wet with that rain. He went to sleep, holding O Shin’s hand.

Well, what else he could do? The trip had come to its end, and the love that had bloomed wasn’t going to wither. The sun was coming up.

A cold breeze blew in through the open window. Myohan, who was working on his workbook while fiddling with a pen, rubbed his cold nose. Now the heat had vanquished. The sky was clear and high, and it didn’t have a single cloud. The breeze now smelled of autumn. The leaves were soon going to change color. Myohan marked down his answer and closed the window.

If the cherry blossoms came with midterm exams, autumn leaves also fell with midterm exams.

They felt like they had done a test only a few days ago, but the summer vacation was long gone, and the school trip had ended a week ago.

Now, what was waiting for them was the exams that were only a few weeks away.

“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt your break time, but may I get your attention?”

The moment the bell rang, Yuja went to the front. Chookjae shook the sleeping Sinsul to wake him up. He must have thrown away his obligations as a student a long time ago, as he had been sleeping soundly.