The Cat hides its Claws

Sadeol went right up to Myohan and gave him a pitiful gaze.

“I heard you’re going to the meat buffet. It must be hard not to have any…. Think of me when it gets too hard…. The craving gets worse when you’re hungry you know… Oh, I should have had meat at 3 last night!”

He kept talking and O Shin smiled with amusement. In the end, Myohan let out a sigh and spoke.

“Sadeol.”

Sadeol blinked and let him whisper into his ear. “I’ll tell you a secret… I’m not a tiger.”

“Huh?”

Sadeol’s eyes widened. He blinked. Before he could gape stupidly, Myohan smiled brightly.

“Bye, I have to go to eat meat.”

Sadeol didn’t have the time to stop him. Myohan gave him a pat and went to his classmates. But Sadeol stood there until he couldn’t see him anymore.

Then, what Myohan had said before went through his mind.

‘Yes, we’re alike.’

‘I’m sorry, but I can eat meat.’

Myohan never admitted that he was a tiger. He just never said no to what Sadeol said. He gaped at the shock. He had trusted him wholly, but he wasn’t a tiger?

“Sadeol! Since when have you gotten so close to Myohan!”

He shuddered at the betrayal, but then he thought again. Myohan may not be a tiger, but he had found him a way to eat meat.

‘Yes, I must think about it again.’

“Sadeol?”

Seonhan said something, but he wasn’t listening. Sadeol nodded. Light-colored eyes like his and nimble moves, then maybe…

“….He’s a panther.”

As Myohan ate meat at the meat buffet, he couldn’t know Sadeol was making another wrong guess and would continue to call him a friend. November was coming.

The classroom was almost empty again at lunchtime. Only O Shin, Myohan, and Sinsul who was having a stomach ache were still there. Sinsul must have eaten something wrong as he kept going to the restroom and was now sleeping. He wasn’t even playing soccer, so it was probably very serious.

Myohan had found nine of the twelve zodiac animals, with the tiger as the last one. He only had three more to go: dragon, monkey, and pig. Their letters were Jin, Shin, and Hae. He scribbled them down, gave it some thought, and drew an X on the word Jin. O Shin asked.

“What about the dragon?”

“He’ll be the last.”

Myohan turned to look into his eyes. His eyes were full of sleep. He went back to the note and explained, “He won’t be able to transform in my apartment.”

O Shin mimicked Myohan and put his head on a hand. Myohan thought again, but then he put down his pen and stretched his back. He opened a window to let fresh air in, but then the cold winter breeze blew in. He quickly changed his mind and shut it again. It was the perfect weather for getting a cold.

Only three. It was less than one-third of what he had already found. He felt like he really would be able to find all of them before winter vacation started, except for the dragon.

“What does the dragon look like?”

All the other animals were real, but the dragon wasn’t. It was a mythical animal that only appeared in legends. He couldn’t even guess what it looked like.

“Didn’t you just say it would be the last?”

“I’m just curious.”

O shin seemed to think he was cute again. He smiled and stroked his hair. Myohan’s soft hair went through his fingers. Myohan looked away, thinking he wasn’t about to get an answer, but then he looked up again as he started to talk.

“Camel’s head, deer’s antler.”

He sounded like he was reciting a poem. He was still smiling.

“Cow’s ears.”

‘Rabbit’s eyes, pig’s nose.’

Myohan suddenly heard a voice in his head, but it wasn’t O Shin’s. He then said exactly that.

“Snake’s neck, fish’s scale.”

“….Falcon’s claw, tiger’s hand?”

O Shin’s hand stroked his hair again, almost as a compliment. His dark eyes were saying that it was the answer. But once the memories started to come out, they didn’t stop. He recalled the dragon having long fur near its mouth and frowned. The voice in his head said, ‘He’s my old friend.’

An image went through his mind: O Shin stroking his hair with a smile and a dragon coiling on the ground. It opened its eyes to look at Myohan with its dark eyes. His fingers got the tingles. He could almost touch it.

“Is that enough for an answer?”

Myohan looked into his eyes and shut his mouth. The voice died out the moment he asked. He could hear nothing more. O Shin grinned, satisfied with his own answer.

“…A valid answer, it’s not like him.”

But Myohan didn’t admit it. He just put a hand on O Shin’s face. He rubbed the soft cheek once and snorted. O Shin winked and put his lips on the tip of his finger. Then he kissed it.

He was about to playfully bite it, but then Sinsul, who had been sleeping, jumped to his feet with a huge sound, making them both look. Myohan asked with irritation, “Why are you suddenly throwing a tantrum? Just go back to sleep.”

“No, I can’t stand this anymore!”

Sinsul yelled, rummaged through his bag to take out something, and then marched to Myohan. Myohan blinked and looked up to him. He looked at O Shin, then Myohan, and he pointed to the back door. He looked grave and determined.

“Let’s go to the school store.”

The school store was full of people. Of course, lunch wasn’t enough for those teenage boys. They were all growing and hungry, and the store was way too small for all of them.

“But what about your stomach ache?”

“Forget it, I’m so hungry that I can’t even sleep.”

“You can’t sleep because you’ve been sleeping since the first class.”

After saying he hadn’t eaten a thing since he woke up, Sinsul took them to the school store. He looked like he would die in the morning, but he must have been feeling better as he was holding some money. No, maybe his hunger was even stronger than the stomach ache. Myohan had been a little tense to see his grave look, so he frowned and scolded the dog-boy.

“What if you get sick again?”

“I’ll be fine!”

Sinsul chose some snacks for him. There was no way he could eat all of them, but he kept choosing. Myohan told him to put down some of them, but he wouldn’t listen. With an armful of snacks, he smiled.

“See? He’s buying even more than I am!”

When Myohan turned to where he was pointing at, there was a boy buying a lot of snacks. He wasn’t taller or bigger than Myohan, but he had quite chubby cheeks. He must have heard Sinsul, as he was flinching and hurrying to pay. Myohan scowled at Sinsul and moved to the door. He regretted not waiting outside.

“Hey! Get your change!”

Myohan looked back, although he knew the lady wasn’t talking to him. The boy fell back in surprise, dropping all the snacks.

“Get your change!”

“Oh….”

He hesitated and looked at the snacks and the shop lady. Myohan could see his chubby cheeks. He felt a little bad for him, so he crouched down to take and offer him one of the snacks.

“Are you okay?”

“You-you can have it!”

Myohan tried to ask if he was okay, but he jumped to his feet, gathered up the rest of his snacks, and ran out. Myohan didn’t know what to think of it.

“Myohan! Are you okay?”

Sinsul paid for his own snacks and helped him get up. He asked what snack he was holding up, but then Myohan spotted something shiny.

It was a nametag. It probably belonged to the student with chubby cheeks. It was shining because it had a clothespin on it. He picked it up and frowned. It was white, like his own nametag, which meant they were in the same grade.

“Oh, I think I’m about to drop all these!”

“No, you’re holding them fine.”

Myohan went to the counter with the nametag. He could hear Sinsul complaining, but he just ignored him. Sinsul soon went out as kind of revenge. He was showing that he too could abandon Myohan and go.

Of course, Myohan didn’t care about that at all.