The Cat hides its Claws

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Jino kept running. He ran and ran until he was out of his breath and was forced to stop. His legs were stiff, but his body was used to running and kept on moving. He wasn’t ignorant of the fact that overdoing it like this could lead to severe injuries, but he just couldn’t help it.

He ran on the racing tracks at school, and he kept exercising at home after classes. He worked out until his body was beaded with sweat. But then, he looked at the stuffed rabbit on his bed.

“….Cheong.”

The white stuffed rabbit resembled Myo Cheong, with its round face and cute paws. But there was something far more important that had led him to think of it as Cheong, but he just couldn’t remember.

He held the fluffy doll in his arms and tilted his head.

“…But how is this in my room?”

He liked cute stuff. He liked stuffed animals, but he wasn’t bold enough to buy such a cute stuffed rabbit himself. He tried to remember if he had gotten it as a gift, but of course no one would present such a cute doll to a healthy and sturdy teenaged boy like him.

He really couldn’t know, so he raised the rabbit to his eyes’ level and asked grimly, “Cheong, how did I meet you?”

But of course, the fluffy rabbit said nothing.

This year, Jino and Myo Cheong weren’t in the same homeroom. Jino didn’t recognize any of his new classmates. The new class president talked to him.

“I was just told you won’t be able to run in the relay race of this year’s sports competition.”

To think about it, the sports competition was coming around. Although everyone was busy with applying for universities and couldn’t afford to care about it much, it did arouse their competitive spirit. But Jino wasn’t really interested about winning the event.

“Oh, okay.”

“It’s a shame, we would totally win the race with you.”

“No, I came in third last year.”

“That doesn’t count. That was because you fell in the middle.”

The class president said it like it was nothing. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with what he was saying, so Jino nodded, but then he frowned. He was a pro runner. He would never stumble and fall in a high school relay race. Still, last year, he had fallen hard in front of everyone. He felt like he had had a reason for it, but he couldn’t know what it had been.

“Hey, let’s go home.”

Before he could think harder about it, Cheong came to him. He got his bag and stood up. Finding a reason for what had happened in the past was meaningless.

“You know, Cheong, that stuffed rabbit I have…”

While they were crossing the school yard to go home, Jino recalled his stuffed rabbit and started to talk about it. He couldn’t remember since when and how it had ended up in his room. The white rabbit was very realistic.

“What? Shit, rabbit?”

Myo Cheong was startled to hear the word rabbit.

Jino asked seriously, which wasn’t like him, “Who gave it to me?”

“…How would I know that?” Cheong said after a short silence. He spoke awkwardly, but Jino was innocent enough to buy it and nodded.

“Oh.”

But then, Cheong suddenly exclaimed and stopped. Jino bumped into him from behind as he failed to stop in time. He whimpered and frowned. He was much taller and bigger, but Cheong was invincible, at least in some ways.

Where Cheong was looking at was Myohan, whom Jino thought was really adorable. He was probably waiting for someone. He stood in front of the school gate and looked up at the sky. Jino looked at him with wide eyes. He always resembled a cat.

“Cheong, I want to be friends with him.”

It was what he was always saying these days. Myohan looked like a cat and moved like a cat. As cats were the thing Jino liked the most among all cute things, he was just perfect for him.

“He looks like…”

“Hey, Myohan.”

Before Jino could say he liked him because he was like a cat and cute, but Myo Cheong stopped and called him. Jino tried to stop him, but it was too late. Myohan turned to look at them.

“Cheong, we don’t know him. You can’t just call him like that–”

“He wants to get to know you.”

Their eyes met. Myohan’s light-colored eyes wavered. Jino couldn’t hide his embarrassment and looked away. Yes, he did want to be close to him, but this was just too sudden and awkward. But Cheong just snorted and crossed his arms.

“Oh, shit. I’ve told him so many times that it would be no good, but he just won’t listen to me.”

Myohan just eyed Jino. He felt thrilled the moment their eyes met again. Myohan tilted his head and grinned, his rosy lips forming a beautiful curve.

“Why?” All of a sudden, he felt déjà vu. He had had that kind of conversation before. “Why do you want to get to know me?”

Myohan sounded amused. He narrowed his eyes and looked down at Myo Cheong. He looked relaxed like a lion with a full belly. Jino widened his eyes.

‘You’re really good at running.’

That stuffed rabbit. It crossed his mind. But it wasn’t on his bed. It was in the middle of the school yard, in front of everyone’s eyes.

“Jino likes cute things.”

His head ached. He grabbed it and looked away, but then he spotted a cat with yellow eyes. It was standing next to the school gate. It looked straight at him. It was the cat that had startled Myo Cheong the other day.

“Cat…”

Looking at it, he started to talk. He missed Myo Cheong smirking.

“See? I told you.”

Jino took his eyes off the cat and turned to Myohan.

‘Here, I’ll give you this, as a peace offering.’

The cat with yellow eyes was gone now. The voice he was hearing in his head was clearly Myohan’s. His head ached even more.

“Jino,” Myohan called him by his name.

‘Have I told him my name?’

Jino wondered, but Myohan just went on.

“Trust me, getting close to me will do you no good.”

‘Let’s just say you won.’

Then Jino looked up. That was the last. He heard nothing more. The cat was nowhere to be seen. He looked at Myo Cheong, and then Myohan. He took a step forward.

“….We lost.”

Myohan sighed and smiled. He pretended not to, but he couldn’t help feeling good about it. With twinkling eyes, Jino asked what he should have asked a long time ago.

“So, why do they use blinkers on racing horses?”

The soccer ball spun in Sinsul’s hands. He had used it for so long that now it looked more like a rag. He let out a huge sigh, making Myohan glance at him.

“Myohan, there’s this thing troubling me.”

“No, I won’t play soccer with you.”

“It’s not about that!”

Sinsul huffed and puffed, but he didn’t give up. He turned to Myohan. Myohan was clearly not so enthusiastic about helping him, but he never was, so it didn’t hurt Sinsul at all.

“I can’t smell these days.”

Shihuang, who was looking out the window, turned and looked at them. He had become friends with Myohan really fast right after he arrived. Sinsul also felt quite close to him, although they had never had a real conversation.

“No, you sniffed and guessed today’s lunch menu just a few hours ago.”

“But everyone can do that!”

They had gotten roasted fish for lunch. Delicious smell had traveled far from the cafeteria. Sinsul kept grumbling as he fell on his desk.

“My sense of smell isn’t as good as it used to be.”

At some point, he got to thinking there was something wrong with his sense of smell. He couldn’t explain it well, but it felt like he could detect less smells than before.

“Well, it’s not a big deal.”

Sinsul was very serious, but Myohan wasn’t. Sinsul got up and raised a finger.

“Listen,” Myohan didn’t listen, of course. “Let’s say you had really, really great sight, but then one day, your sight got so bad that you had to wear glasses. Wouldn’t that bother you?”

“Was your sense of smell that great in the first place?”

“Of course…?” Sinsul was about to nod, but then he stopped. He wanted to say yes, but there are parts he couldn’t really explain.