The Cat hides its Claws

“What are you…”

“You shouldn’t be outside in such weather, you’ll catch cold.”

O Shin ignored Myohan’s question. He grabbed his arm and pulled him close. Then he placed Myohan’s coat around his shoulders. His eyes dangerously wavered as he looked at Chandeul.

The rain became heavy in no time. They couldn’t stay there. Myohan wanted to say they should go in, but O Shin took off his jacket and to cover his head. Then he hugged him, so that the rain wouldn’t get to him.

“You’re right, I don’t smell like a human.”

Myohan tried to get out of his embrace, but he couldn’t. That was why he couldn’t see O Shin looking at Chandeul with cold eyes, making him freeze right on the spot.

“I should gather all of you and become a human.”

The rain didn’t stop. Chandeul just stood in the rain, his gaze fixed on O Shin’s face. Then he apologized.

“…I’m sorry.”

He still looked terrified, but he didn’t try to look away. He took a deep breath and talked.

“I’m sorry that I talked without knowing anything about you. It was wrong of me.”

He sounded like he meant it. Myohan sighed in O Shin’s arms. O Shin said nothing, but his gaze became less fierce. The rain started to get weaker.

Myohan could hear his heart beating. He could feel his anger fading. He sighed again and got out of his arms. It had been less than a minute, but both O Shin and Chandeul were completely wet at the moment. Myohan pulled O Shin’s arm after he checked the rain had turned into a spray.

“We should go in now.”

He gave him back the wet jacket, but he didn’t put it on as it was of no use to him anyway. For a short second, Myohan was worried more about him than his own coldness. Of course, O Shin looked completely fine. Only Chandeul looked deadly pale as he sneezed.

“I can’t go back to my classroom like this…”

He looked troubled as they went back into the building. O Shin couldn’t go back either, as they were both completely wet. Only Myohan looked fine. O Shin moved a bit away and shook the water off his hair with one hand.

“Go in now and bring my gym suit to the toilets during breaktime.”

“Should I go in now? In the middle of class?”

Those black eyes looked at Myohan. They were clearly saying, ‘Well, you’re the only one who can.’

Myohan had no choice but to sigh and wave a hand to Chandeul.

“…You go to the toilet too, I’ll bring your gym suit from Class 8.”

Funnily, he could think of a number of excuses for being late. He could say he had a stomachache, or that he had to take O Shin to the sickbay since he was ill.

The two were left alone. Chandeul, glanced at O Shin and scratched his cheek. He didn’t know how much he had heard, but he really thought he had made a huge mistake. He had talked behind his back, after all. He worried O Shin might still be feeling offended, but to his surprise, he looked just fine.

“Um…”

Any emotion that had been on O Shin’s face disappeared the moment Myohan left. There was no trace of his anger. Chandeul was secretly relieved to see that.

“What you just said, is it true?”

He didn’t have to exactly say what he was asking about. O Shin understood it, and he knew why Chandeul was asking. He snorted and pulled back his hair, making drops of water fall from it.

“You don’t need to know.”

That was all. He started to walk away slowly, with the wet jacket in one hand. Chandeul stared at his back, but then he saw something fall from the jacket and took a step forward.

It was a nametag. He picked it up, wondering why nametags were all suddenly trying to escape, and he saw the name O Shin. He couldn’t take his eyes off it for a long time. And, what he muttered after that was enough to make O Shin stop right on the spot.

“This isn’t your name.”

***

Everyone looked at Chandeul. He found all that attention a little too much, so he smiled sheepishly. His eyes usually looked like smiling, but they were even more curved than usual at the moment. With eyes full of curiosity, Sinsul went close to him and sniffed. Then he tilted his head.

“You don’t smell like a pig.”

“…He’s too thin, he can’t be the pig.”

“Cheong, I told you it’s your prejudice.”

Chandeul was still smiling awkwardly. Jagyeom approached Myohan and whispered.

“How did you lure him in?”

“You lured the pig in? For what, for pork barbecue?”

Sajun overheard them and joked. Of course, even Miho gave him a scolding gaze. Myohan scowled at Sajun, since even Miho was thinking he was way too crazy.

‘Maybe he does know more than we thought.’

That was what O Shin said on that day, after he changed into his gym suit. Myohan couldn’t know what kind of conversation they had had while he was in class. In just a few days, Chandeul went to see Myohan and offered to show how he transformed into a pig. But O Shin wouldn’t let him.

‘Later.’

He kept saying later and dragged Myohan away from him. Myohan asked why, but he wouldn’t say.

He just kept his mouth shut, with that mysterious smile on his face. He called Chandeul only when it was halfway through December. That was why they were all once again in Myohan’s living room.

“What makes you become a pig?”

Yuja, who had been quietly reading a book, put it down. At the same time, they all looked at Chandeul.

“Oh, you see…”

“When he starves.”

Myohan, who was lying on the sofa, spoke. The cat was on his chest and it opened its eyes.

“When you’re hungry, or starving, you change when you eat nothing for more than a certain time.”

“Wow, really? Is he right?”

Sinsul looked at Chandeul with excitement. He looked surprised for a moment, but then he nodded. Myohan just turned to one side, as if he had known it all along.

“He’s a really scary bastard.”

Myo Cheong muttered to himself, shuddering.

“How did you know that?”

“I just did.”

“So clever, that’s charming.”

“Oh, shit.”

“Cheong, please don’t.”

“He likes being hated, doesn’t he?”

“Huh, now even Miho thinks so.”

There hadn’t been a specific event that made Myohan realize. He simply realized it the moment the pig had food cravings. He bought snacks the second he was out of the cafeteria and was constantly eating something, but he didn’t answer a thing when asked if he liked snacks. And he should have gained some weight after eating so much, but his weight was only average.

“More accurately, I change when I’m hungry. That’s why I always eat something so that I don’t feel hungry, but I haven’t had anything after lunch today.”

That let Myohan know that he was eating as little as he could, just enough not to feel hunger.

The cat, which had been licking itself under the sofa, looked at Chandeul with its yellow eyes. He looked back at it, but then he flinched and looked away. It gave him the creeps, although just for a second. Myohan spotted it and narrowed his eyes. Then he called Chandeul.

“Hey, piggy.”

But Jagyeom replied to him instead.

“First chatterer, and now piggy?”

“Piggy’s somewhat cute.”

“Stop it, Jino.”

“Then call me puppy!”

“Sinsul, sit.”

The boys got noisy in a second, but Myohan simply ignored them and went down from the sofa. O Shin tidied his tangled back hair.

“Talk to me about that Grandmother Samsin thing.”

“Oh, about that… You’re sure you want to know?”

“It’s fine, go on.”

Myohan had decided not to care about it, but he couldn’t help it. Chandeul had said he shouldn’t have lived more than 11 years, and it kept bothering him.

“Grandmother Samsin?”

Jino’s eyes widened. Yuja, who finally closed his book and took off his glasses, explained as he massaged his eyes,

“You know, parents offer her some tteok made of red bean and sorghum, wishing for their little children’s health.”

“Yeah, my mom made tteok for me!”

“My family did that, too. My mom commissioned it to a company that specializes in it.”

“…Crazy bourgeois.”

“There’s a company for that?”

Myohan saw Miho’s face darken at the word ‘mom’, and he hit the table hard.

“There was a mosquito.”

Of course, they were all confused; how could there be a mosquito in December? O Shin looked doubtful too, but he just ignored their gazes.