Chapter 7

“At first I wasn’t thinking of following you around, but then I kept seeing you cleaning the hallway and throwing that mop out the window.”

Sajun had doubted his eyes. When Myohan stood up the windowsill, he feared he might be committing suicide. Before Sajun could stop him, Myohan jumped, and when Sajun looked down from the window, Myohan was standing on the ground, perfectly fine.

“I was half-joking when I called you a cat. I didn’t know you would admit it so easily.”

Soft hair, tender cheeks, curled up red lips, they all made Sajun crave him. He smiled. Myohan gave him a disgusting gaze, but it only made him smack his lips. Really, he looked delicious.

“So,”

Huge snakes could devour a small cat in a single bite. Myohan was easy prey.

“Can I have you?”

Sajun didn’t seem to be joking. He looked serious, and he wasn’t acting when he smacked. He really thought Myohan would be delicious.

“You’re really good at talking shit.”

Myohan’s lips twitched. Have? That was just crazy. A human being, having another human being? He didn’t want to think about it.

“That’s a crime in this country, you maniac.”

“What makes you think so?”

“What?”

Sajun took a step closer. Myohan wanted to take a step back, but he couldn’t. There was no space for it, and his pride didn’t permit him.

“The verb ‘have’ has a number of different meanings.”

Myohan frowned, unable to comprehend. Sajun opened a palm and continued slowly.

“You know, to have something, to have someone do something…”

His serpent-like lips opened. He pulled Myohan by his arm, and then he licked his cheek with his red tongue.

“And to eat…O Myohan.”

He felt hungry. The tender cheek felt so good when licked. He hadn’t had such an appetite for a long time. He wanted to rip apart Myohan’s clothes right now. Was this hunger he felt as a predator while looking at a prey, or was it intense sexual desire? He had to know. Myohan’s opinion didn’t matter much.

Myohan was really startled, which almost never happened to him. He thought Sajun was messing with him when he kissed him, but now he could see this wasn’t a prank or a joke. He stood still for a moment, and then he raised his captured arm and smiled, making Sajun widen his eyes.

“Your smile makes you even more…”

“Shit.”

Myohan smiled a bright smile that didn’t match his voice at all.

Then, whack!

“….!”

The smile was still bright. Sajun’s hand fell off Myohan’s arm when he raised it.

“Fuck you.”

The moment Myohan raised a middle finger, Sajun fell to the floor with a huge thud.

The sound resonated through the hallway, but the fall wasn’t what was painful.

Sajun couldn’t even breathe. Myohan had just kicked his weakest spot he had as a man, as hard as he could. He had to be experiencing indescribable pain.

Sajun curled on the floor. He couldn’t even moan. Myohan snorted as he looked down on him. You deserved it, you bastard.

“Uuugh….”

It had to be really painful. Maybe the organ had been really damaged. Still, Myohan didn’t care. He thought it was only because Sajun had messed with him. As a cat, he was neither patient nor merciful. He didn’t let anyone touch him. He lightly touched Sajun’s back with a foot and smiled, this time really out of joy.

“I guess you can’t have me now.”

Yes, it was a complete loss for Sajun.

***

“So…?”

Jagyeom swallowed hard, his round eyes glancing at Myohan with fear. But Myohan just flipped a page of the book he was reading and said unconcernedly, “Well, I don’t think I burst any of his two eggs.”

“You, you merciless brat!”

If he had been in his rat form, Jagyeom would have been chittering loudly. He kept blaming Myohan, calling him a ruthless man with no compassion, so Myohan took his eyes off the book and looked at him. His narrow pupils had a dangerous glitter in them. Jagyeom flinched and added in a tiny voice.

“Well, he was first to wrong…”

He still didn’t know Myohan was a cat, but he had instinctive fears. A cat was a predator to a rat, and that was nature’s law that couldn’t be changed.

“He had it coming.”

Well, actually, Jagyeom well knew Sajun deserved it. It just that he couldn’t imagine the manly pain he must have felt.

“You did the right thing.”

O Shin, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth for the first time. He was lying on the sofa as if it had been his home. He took Myohan’s book to look at his cover. Myohan sighed.

“But what are you two doing here?”

“Emergency conference.”

O Shin’s simple reply wasn’t enough to make Myohan’s frown disappear. He looked at the cover’s cat, and then at Myohan. Then he stood up.

“We must capture the snake.”

After finding out the owner of the gaze that had been bothering him for days, Myohan gladly took care of the snake in his own away.

Then he welcomed the weekend, but O Shin, who was practically living with Myohan now, came with the rat. Although to be accurate, Jagyeom came because O Shin gave him no choice.

“We’ve found him. That bastard is the snake.”

“I know, so it’s time to ‘capture’ it.”

“But you said all we have to do is to find the animals!”

Myohan had told O Shin he had found the snake, and that was the problem. He should have talked after the weekend passed. He had said that only to stop O Shin bothering him so that he could enjoy the weekend, but now he was bothering him even more, saying they had to capture the snake.

“But how did you know he is the snake?”

Myohan had told Jagyeom everything, except that Sajun knew he was a cat. He explained in detail to O Shin last night when they were alone.

“I told you, he looks like a snake.”

However, Myohan laughed after saying that. He hated to be presumed a cat just because he looked like a cat, but now he was doing the same thing. Jagyeom frowned to hear that Sajun looked like a snake and that was all, but then Myohan added, “If you ever run into him, kick him just like I did.”

“Hey, I can’t do that.”

“Then he’ll eat you. It will be quite easy since you’re a rat. You know, in a single bite!”

“Don’t!”

Jagyeom got chills and yelled at Myohan to stop. He was really scared.

“Scared, huh?”

Jagyeom was really angry, but he could do nothing to Myohan. Plus, he couldn’t deny the fact that the thought of being eaten by a snake scared him. He was a rat, after all.

“And what makes him turn into a snake?”

“I don’t know. How am I supposed to know that?”

“It won’t do,” O Shin interrupted. Myohan didn’t try to hide that he didn’t like it, but he didn’t care.

“We must see him turn into a snake.”

“Why do you keep adding conditions?”

“I told you in the first place.”

“Told me what?”

“We must find the twelve by finding out what makes them transform.”

Myohan could vaguely recall hearing something similar to it when he did that four-hour-long chasing game with O Shin. Something about a certain phenomena that revealed the twelve’s animal forms.

“As we did with the rat, we must see the snake become a snake. That’s when we find him. Finding a boy who looks like a snake isn’t enough.”

“You’re not telling me to see all the twelve animals, are you?”

“Of course I am.”

Now Myohan was getting a bad feeling. He thought it would be simple by just finding them, but it seemed like that wasn’t all. He got ready to counter and tell the man not to be absurd, but then O Shin added, “To be exact, eleven animals, minus the rat.”

O Shin didn’t seem to be joking. You fraud. Myohan really wanted to say so. How was he supposed to see Sajun turn into a snake? He didn’t even want to see that sly boy again. He decided to tell O Shin to do it on his own, but then he pointed at the cat painted on the book’s cover.

“Cats are whimsical.”

“Cats?”

Jagyeom was confused to hear that. Myohan, who had stood up to leave the meeting, flinched and looked at the man.

“I can control the rat with his secret, but I have nothing to control you with…”

Stop lying, you crazy bastard. Myohan really wanted to say so. O Shin seemed to enjoy his reaction.

“I believe you promised to help me as best as you can, although you may not believe me.”

“….”

“Well, I guess my only choice is to throw that squeaking rat as bait and capture the snake.”

“What?”

Of course, Jagyeom was shocked to suddenly hear that, but O Shin didn’t care about him at all.

“It may as well be my fault. I failed to gain your trust.”

“Okay, okay.”

Now he was guilt-tripping Myohan. Myohan had already promised to help, and he had blackmailed Jagyeom with the man. He knew O Shin might actually be capable of using Jagyeom as bait to capture the snake.

Myohan sighed, sat down again, and opened the book again. He couldn’t focus on it at all, but he was hoping it would help him calm down.