Chapter 23

“Good.”

As soon as Myohan happily said so, Myo Cheong sighed. Myohan was making an offer that wasn’t really an offer to Jino with him on his back as bait.

“Do you want to come along?”

“I…”

Jino hesitated, unsure of what to say. He was worried about his friend, of course, but he was too afraid to tag along. Myohan just started to walk.

“He’s done this much for you, so don’t you think we should have a ‘real’ conversation?”

In the end, Jino had no choice but to follow Myohan to the sickbay. On their way, he offered to carry Myo Cheong, but Myohan refused. As the rabbit was small and light, even he could carry him without any problem.

The sickbay was empty. Its door had a sign that read ‘at lunch’. But the door was unlocked, so they went inside and put Myo Cheong on a bed. Jino started to rummage through cabinets. He clearly had done it before, and he knew where things were. He examined Myo Cheong’s ankle and treated it. He knew what he was doing since he was a pro athlete.

“First. I was joking when I talked about stamina.”

“Shit, there are things you shouldn’t joke about…”

“But what turns you into a horse?” he asked. He sounded calm and even bored, but his gaze was sharp. Myo Cheong let out a sigh and ruffled his hair.

“Just get to the point. Aren’t you going to accuse me of lying?”

“Why would I?”

Myohan shrugged. Myo Cheong looked up at him, confused.

“It would have been even stranger of you to help sinceI threatened you to find the twelve animals. I knew from the beginning that you weren’t so enthusiastic about it.”

Myohan wasn’t angry. He didn’t blame the rabbit, either. Jagyeom and Sajun had been quite unusual about it, and it was Myo Cheong who was showed the standard reaction. How many would easily agree when a complete stranger came along, blackmailed about one’s secret, and demanded cooperation?

Any sane person wouldn’t, unless one was too scared to refuse like Jagyeom, or had a different reason to help like Sajun (getting Myohan). And Myohan had just followed his guts without any reason.

“It’s all the better for me now that I know he’s the horse. I’m a total stranger, and he’s your friend, even if you’ve known him only for three months. So of course he was more important to you.”

Myo Cheong seemed to be guilty. He was the one who had tried to betray, but he felt somewhat hurt to hear Myohan speak of him as a ‘stranger’. He recalled how Myohan had lunged in to save him when he was surrounded by the bullies.

“….We’ve known each other since middle school.”

Myo Cheong started to talk, giving in. Jino didn’t try to stop him.

“I had a girlfriend, and…. Shit, I didn’t know that I was a rabbit then. We got swept in the mood, and I kissed her, but the next second, I was a rabbit. She was screaming, I didn’t know what to do. I was about to lose my mind, but then Jino helped me.”

Everything had been so confused, and it was Jino who saved him then. He hid the rabbit, made the girl calm down and go home, and comforted Myo Cheong by telling him he also turned into an animal.

“Yes, he’s the horse, but I don’t know what transforms him. I’ve never seen him change. But it can’t be sex. Shit, he’s not that old!”

“…He’s right!”

Jino, who had said nothing till now, spoke. He turned to Myohan.

“Sex does not make me transform.”

“See? Choi Jino doesn’t lie.”

As Myohan had already said, he had been joking when he talked about stamina. It had been a joke to surprise the rabbit who was watching them while hiding.

Myohan moaned and sighed. He couldn’t be sure. What if Jino changed, like, when he touched snow like Sajun did? Then watching him for months would be useless. What would O Shin have said?

He narrowed his eyes and muttered, “Little lying rabbit.”

That made Myo Cheong almost jump out of his bed. Myohan nodded with satisfaction.

“Then how about this?”

After watching them for some time, he knew forcing them would only make them run away. Both Jino and Myo Cheong didn’t trust him, and it would become even more complicated if they decided to run away. Then, it would be better to make them believe they could run away.

“Show me how you transform if my class wins the relay race.”

Myo Cheong frowned hard at this.

“Hey, I just told you, he’s the horse. Isn’t that enough? Why are you…”

“But if we lose, I’ll never bother you ever again, both of you.”

Jino glanced at Myohan. He raised hands to show he wasn’t up to anything and continued, “No one else knows about your secret. You just have to make sure I keep it to myself.”

But the odds were against Myohan. All the other boys were more or less equally good at racing, and Choi Jino was a pro runner. His class, Class 6, was going to win the relay race. Myohan wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, but he knew it would make O Shin’s eyes twinkle with interest.

“You lose nothing by refusing, you lose nothing by accepting. I’m good at running, but there’s no way I’m faster than you, horse.”

“Hey, what are you…”

“I’m asking you, Jino.”

Myo Cheong tried to ask, but Myohan cut him short. The pair of light-colored eyes were looking directly at Jino. The horse’s eyes flickered with unknown thoughts. It was the last thing Myohan could try. When refused, he would have to think about what to do next. But his guts were urging him on.

“…Okay.”

He knew that Choi Jino would accept the bet.

“If my class loses, I’ll show you how I turn into a horse.”

The bell chimed to announce that lunchtime was over. Less than two weeks remained before the sports competitions.

***

Myohan lay down on his sofa and closed his eyes. The kitten came and climbed onto his belly. It purred and rubbed its body on him. He stroked it with affection and asked, “Did he come while I was gone?”

“Meow.”

“I guess that’s a no.”

The clever kitten replied, although it couldn’t even understand the question. Myohan laughed, thinking that meow had a negative meaning. Now he was communicating with an animal that couldn’t speak human language. It licked itself, and then it meowed again.

O Shin was nowhere to be seen, but Myohan had gone through all that fuss to capture the horse. Since when had he been so passionate about it? He had meant to just let it go on its course, but now he even thought he was finding the twelve zodiac animals for himself. He didn’t care about ceasing to turn into a cat. It didn’t bother him, anyway. He just cared about…

“Something precious…”

About what O Shin had said, that he had something precious to retrieve. Myohan could almost see him saying that again. Who was supposed to give it back to him? And what was that thing? Something with great value, maybe? Or maybe it was someone?

“Do you know?”

But no answer came this time. The kitten looked at him, rubbed its tail on his face, and climbed down. Then it went to a different room, waving his tail. Myohan closed his eyes again.

He hadn’t meant to sleep, but he fell asleep without realizing it. He hadn’t got enough sleep since he went looking for Jino during lunchtime.

As soon as he was asleep, he saw a familiar scene. O Shin was looking at him with sad eyes, and he was in O Shin’s arms in form of a sick cat. O Shin was yelling something with rage, and another shadow was grabbing him. It started to rain. Drops of water fell on his face.

Was it a dream? No, it was real.

“….You.”

When he opened his eyes, he saw a familiar face. Thick eyebrows, clear eyes, and masculine chin. It was the man who had been gone for days, the man who had been in Myohan’s mind during those days. He must have taken a shower as water was dripping from his dark hair.

“I woke you up.”

Myohan was glad to see him. He was supposed to feel so, but O Shin’s presence now meant a lot to him, and he had longed for him. He wiped the water off Myohan’s cheek. Before Myohan could ask where he had been, he whispered what he had said before once.

“I was sick.”

Myohan could say nothing for a long time. What he had wanted to ask kept spinning around in his head. Why were you gone? Where were you? Why were you sick? Why did you come only now?

None of those questions was right for what was between them. It was a feeling unfamiliar to him. Thinking of O Shin when doing anything, blaming him for going away and then showing up without a word like that, longing for him without noticing him. Since when had he started looking for him and feeling nervous when he was gone? And he felt a sense of relief to have him back. He put out a hand, and O Shin let him take his arm.

“You see, contrary to what most people think…”

O Shin let Myohan drag him closer. He moved as Myohan wanted and smiled softly.

“Cats get lonely.”

They kissed, quite naturally. O Shin carefully stroked Myohan’s cheek, and Myohan pleadingly clung to him. They could hear heartbeats from their chests pressed together. Neither of them cared about the repeating sound. A huge hand patted Myohan’s hair.

As they did so, Myohan thought that he was still half asleep. That was why he was being so obedient. He hadn’t let himself fall for the man. No, certainly not.