The Cat hides its Claws

“…Good, you’ve done well.”

“I know! I’ve never gotten such great grades before!”

“Oh, I was afraid you might not like them.”

Yuja’s lips curled up in contentment only after some time. He was complimenting, but for some reason, Chookjae, who was watching the test papers over his shoulder, shut his mouth and went away quietly.

“But…”

Yuja was still smiling. Myohan got to his back and took a glance at the test papers. He sighed. What Yuja was looking at was question No.1, which was always the easiest question, but Sinsul had failed to get it right.

“Why is there an X here?”

“Oh, I made a mistake…”

“A mistake?”

Chookjae pulled Myohan’s arm. It clearly meant he’d better back off before he was caught in the rage, so he didn’t resist. O Shin grinned while on the sofa.

“Making a mistake is even worse than not knowing, you idiot!”

“Jagyeom, look, I also got better grades than last time.”

“Really? Let me see. Oh, yes, you’ve done great.”

“Yuja, Yuja, forgive me!”

“Hey, hey, shit, stop!”

“Cheong, please don’t hide behind me.”

“How about you, pig friend? How are your grades?”

“…You know what they say, kids born in the pig year will always manage to make a living no matter what.”

Myohan sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and rested his head on O Shin’s shoulder. Chookjae was sitting on the floor and leaning against the sofa, watching the chaos unfold. He knew trying to stop them wouldn’t work, the best thing he could do was to wait for Yuja’s rage to fade.

Yuja kept scolding Sinsul and Myo Cheong. He said they couldn’t make such mistakes at the University Entrance Exam and getting one question wrong could make a huge difference. The two didn’t dare to argue with him and just cowered in fear. Myohan shook his head to see them turn pale and grey. He thought Yuja would feel quite thirsty after yelling like that. Chookjae must have thought the same thing, as he got up to bring some water. Myohan advised him,

“There’s a huge water jug in the cupboard.”

Yuja was going to need at least a bucket of water.

He tilted his head, his legs still crossed. He had been having dreams every night, probably because his weak fever had been going on for a few days. His dreams were mostly similar to one another. He saw that man, talked to that man, or heard that man’s voice.

“You seem to be having a lot of thoughts.”

A gentle hand caressed his cheek. The large hand went to his forehead to check if he had a fever. Myohan frowned and nodded. The cat freed itself from Jino and quickly found its way to his lap.

“Do you really think I would be able to find them all?”

When he glanced at Myo Cheong, he was still busy being scolded by Yuja. He didn’t seem to hear their conversation as all he could hear was Yuja’s nagging. O Shin looked at the cat, and then at Myohan, and he smiled.

“I don’t know.”

The cat glared at him as it rubbed its face on Myohan’s belly. Myohan picked it up and looked into its eyes. Its yellow eyes blinked slowly.

“The moon and the sun…”

He muttered what he had heard in his dream. O Shin’s smile faded.

“Let me tell you something.”

The cat’s long tail moved gently in the air. Myohan tickled its chin, making it purr softly. O Shin was still serious.

“Time isn’t the only thing god presented.”

“Meow—.”

“In that perspective, the cat got lucky.”

The cat’s eyes flashed fiercely for a second. Myohan stroked its back to soothe it. It calmed down in no time and yawned lazily in his arms. Myohan laughed and kissed its head. Then he replied to O Shin.

“You’re pretending to be unconcerned…”

He asked if he thought he would be able to find them all, but he received a different answer in return. No doubt it had to be helpful, but that couldn’t be O Shin’s real answer. Myohan narrowed his eyes and smiled. O Shin couldn’t say yes to his question, and it meant he was nervous, too.

That was why he asked again, his eyes on the cat and his question to O Shin.

“We’ll be able to get the monkey, right?”

“Of course.”

The cat’s tail stood up angrily, but it didn’t try to free itself from Myohan’s hands. It seemed to like the gentle stroking. From head to neck, to its back, and then to its tail. It purred each time his thin fingers touched it. After stroking it for a long time, Yuja finally raised his glasses and said.

“…Never make such stupid mistake again, okay?”

Myohan put down the cat and stretched his back.

“You’re done nagging at them?”

“Shit, I got to think I will never make a mistake again.”

“I got to think Yuja would never give up on me.”

“Just drink some water.”

“Just drink water.”

You fools. He wanted to add that, but he didn’t.

“Did Chookjae go to a well to get water or something?”

“No, I’m here.”

Chookjae came with two jugs full of water. Myohan looked back, at the same time.

“Yay! I want water too!”

Sinsul jumped to his feet and took a huge step forward, and O Shin stretched out a leg, his face still expressionless.

“Ugh!”

Sinsul stumbled upon his leg and swayed. Myohan quickly turned, but it only led to even worse consequences. Sinsul fell on Chookjae, then the water jugs left his hands and fell to the floor. The problem was that their lids weren’t completely sealed, and Jagyeom was sitting where the water was spilled.

“Oh, sorry.”

O Shin apologized. He had clearly done it on purpose, but he didn’t seem to feel bad about it at all. Jagyeom was of course soaked, so Myohan frowned and put a hand on his forehead.

He immediately thought of the worst scenario. Water splashing on Jagyeom, him turning into a rat, and everything he had hidden from Chookjae about the twelve zodiac animals being revealed. He had seen Sinsul become a dog, but that was different. Jagyeom was about to show Chookjae his rat form against his will, and that was not good.

“Shit.”

Myo Cheong cursed. Jagyeom must have transformed.

“…I’m sorry.”

Myohan had no choice but to speak after Chookjae apologized with confusion in his voice. He turned to take care of Jagyeom.

“Chookjae, I can explain…”

But he couldn’t finish the sentence, as what he saw was a wet ‘person’. His hair was dirty brown, just like rat fur, but it wasn’t rat fur. His eyes were wide with shock, but they weren’t rat eyes. The water jugs on the floor and the water still spreading on the floor, they were all real, but so was Jagyeom looking at his fingers.

“…Huh?”

Sajun made a dumb sound. He smiled awkwardly. He looked at the clock, and then at Myohan. Jagyeom was also too shocked to say anything. He blinked as water got into his eyes. Then he jumped to his feet.

“Shit.”

He cursed, which he almost never did. Chookjae flinched and looked down sadly.

“I’m sorry…”

“No, no. That’s not it.”

He was soaking wet, but he hadn’t transformed. Still, they couldn’t say that to Chookjae. He knew nothing. Sinsul, who had caused all that, gaped and pointed at Jagyeom.

“But you become a rat when you…”

Thwack! Yuja threw one of the plastic jugs at him. It hit him right on his head and he whimpered, unable to say more. Yuja looked around and concluded the situation.

“First, clean up this mess.”

They took care of it right away. Sinsul’s order of fried chicken arrived, and they rapidly cleaned up the mess like a group of trained rangers. Myohan only had to give some fresh clothes and a towel to a wet Jagyeom.

“What happened?”

The living room was quiet after they all went back. It felt so vacant after the twelve of them became the two of them.

“You tripped him on purpose, didn’t you?”

“No, I just have long legs.”

O Shin shrugged to show his innocence, but Myohan had seen him stretch out a leg the moment Sinsul got up. Maybe he was taking it a bit too far, but he was sure he had even foreseen Myohan would twist, making Jagyeom get the water instead. Myohan watched in silence as his cat waved its tail. But then he abruptly jumped to his feet.

‘Even if I give you both the moon and the sun?’

He heard that voice again.