The Cat hides its Claws

Chapter 81: Chapter 81

‘Stupid cat.’

Shihuang knew where Myohan was. He must have gone to find Sa, listening to O’s lies, not knowing he was with the other subjects.

He was right. He found Myohan in the woods. He was lying on a rock with his eyes closed, not even thinking of getting out of the misty rain. He looked so fragile, as if he were about to disappear at any moment.

Shihuang went to him. He didn’t make a sound, but Myohan asked him, “Didn’t you say you would be gone for a while?”

Seeing those delicate eyes open was always marvelous. His eyes were even more beautiful than the lake Shihuang had spent years working to make. They looked at him. Realizing he had almost chosen not to see those eyes ever again, Shihuang confessed.

“I missed you.”

He couldn’t protect Myohan. He couldn’t do what the god could do. But then, he thought all those worries were useless. Why did he have to be so agitated when that precious life was in front of him?

“…So?”

Myohan looked a little sulky. He blinked. Shihuang held him in his arms, forgetting he had come to warn him. He stroked him and rubbed his face in his hair. The rain stopped immediately.

“The subjects.”

He had to tell him what he heard. He knew Myohan wouldn’t care, but at least it would be better than not being warned in advance.

However, he couldn’t say more. As he opened his mouth, his hands started to ache and tingle. He had made the effort to walk all the way, and his two hours were about to end.

“What?”

Myohan turned when he heard nothing more for some time, but Shihuang wasn’t there anymore.

***

“Shit.”

Shihuang quickly returned to his lake and cursed. He looked down at his falcon claws. Then the dragon coiled up and lay down. Again, he had to wait for his time to come.

Time went so slowly. It became dark and the bright moon came up. He watched all of it. Anxiety made him impatient.

“What were you thinking!”

When he went to Myohan as soon as his time started, he heard the god’s angry voice. He saw a group of people gathered together.

“What…”

Shihuang frowned and went to see them. The eleven subjects were kneeling and cowering, and a cat was in the god’s arms. His heart started to beat fast.

“What were you thinking, doing such a thing?”

Myohan had turned into a cat many times before, but the god had never been so enraged about it. Fear started to rise up in Shihuang’s heart.

“I said you would regret it.”

The god wasn’t looking at him, but his words were directed at him. His yellow eyes turned to him with great anger.

“I told you to protect him.”

It came with no warning. His most precious thing had been taken from him at the most unexpected moment. The god stared at Shihuang as he approached. He placed his free hand on his forehead.

“I was generous to you,” O lying, Myohan wandering in the forest because of it, In and Sul drinking and eating together, Hae getting all of Myohan’s food. “For the last time.”

Yu turning a blind eye to the rising sun, Chook leisurely snoring next to him. Lastly, Myohan standing at the edge of a cliff and looking down, and Shin tripping him.

“You…”

Rage rose. In his mind, he could see Myohan falling into a river. Ja and Sa were watching it with agony a little away.

“I told you I would take him away if you failed to protect him.”

‘This time, I’ll cut him down to size.’

Shihuang tumbled. He had not listened to the rest of their plot, thinking it was unimportant.

How dare you? With that foolish jealousy? How could you?

The subjects started to tremble. Dark clouds rolled in. The god spoke with rage.

“You don’t deserve to be mad.”

“I–”

“No!”

His hands shook. His mind turned white. He wanted to kill the subjects. It was the only thing he could think of, but the god’s firm voice came again.

“I’ve given you enough chances.”

He couldn’t breathe. The god had told him to protect him. He had endured everything. He had given Shihuang his world and a last chance to become a human. He had gotten to be the closest to Myohan and to hold him. It was Shihuang himself who had kicked it all away.

“So I will take him back.”

His heart sank. If he hadn’t ignored the subjects’ talking. No, if he hadn’t returned to his lake after he turned back into his dragon form. If only he hadn’t been so afraid and run away before that. His depression blinded him. He failed to realize what mattered the most. So he failed in everything.

“I…”

He held the god’s arm. He really meant it when he said he would take the boy back.

He had to say something to stop him, but no words came out of his mouth. Myohan pretending to be a fool and letting them trick him, and himself who failed to protect him: both were so stupid and pathetic.

“He was mine in the first place!”

O Shin endured everything. He gave everything, but what he got in return was horrible. He yelled, but he didn’t push Shihuang’s arm away. Shihuang let him go because he wrapped Myohan in the lower part of his robe. He looked so comfortable in that white cloth, beyond comparison with his own weak and pathetic self. The sky wept for him.

“As you all failed to protect my cat….”

He forgot how to breathe. He couldn’t grab the god nor take Myohan away from him. Would it have been different if he had been a god? No, would it have been different if he were a human? Would it have been different if he had realized both his weakness and actions were foolish?

“You will become half animals.”

Myo shuddered, fearing what he had often said was at the moment coming out of the god’s mouth.

“It will be a brand that will never be removed.”

The god spoke, without any mercy.

“You won’t be able to use that evil tongue for love.”

“And how dare you weep in front of me?”

His angry eyes turned to Mi.

“You will never be able to cry again.”

With that as the start, he started to glare at his subjects one by one.

“You weren’t grateful after being saved from the water, so you will fear water forever.”

“O Shin–”

“Do not call me by that name.” He wouldn’t even look at Shihuang. Myohan slowly turned in his arms. “As you left my cat in the snow, you don’t deserve to enjoy snow. And as you were too weak to overcome your laziness, you don’t deserve to sleep in comfort.”

The rain became heavy and fell down as if it wanted to impale them. The god’s cold voice kept hitting the dragon’s heart.

“As you couldn’t even announce the time, you will never be able to forget time.”

The god spoke slowly, but even he couldn’t control his emotions then. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes to suppress his anger, but he couldn’t.

“And you two who indulged in drink and meat beyond reason!” He eventually yelled, enraged at everyone who had messed with his precious cat. “You who always lie, and you who made my cat starve!”

They should have stopped when they had a chance, when the god was turning a blind eye because of his love for them, when Myohan was enduring it alone instead of telling him.

“And as for you, who committed the greatest sin,” the foolish always ended up trapping themselves. They couldn’t know how much they should be grateful for what had been given to them, and they ended up making the worst choice. Shin felt the god’s gaze turn to him and trembled in fear. The burden of the greatest sin pressed him mercilessly, “As punishment, you will not die even if you fall, you will have to feel all of it.”

The god spoke between gritted teeth. It was more fearsome than yelling.

“And you,” The god turned to Shihuang.

‘It’s all over.’

The sky thundered. The sorrow in his heart came flowing out. He cried. The god spoke firmly to his weeping friend.

“Will never be able to become a human.”

The sky kept weeping. Every time it thundered, Myohan shuddered in the god’s arms. For the first time, he thought raindrops hurt. The rain broke his every bone and muscle, he couldn’t even raise a finger.

“You will never be able to meet him again.”