Chapter 5 (1/2)

Although they found the rat much easier than Myohan had thought, they didn’t make any progress after that for a month. Jagyeom kept chittering and protesting about their lack of progress, and Myohan wondered if he should pour a bucket of water on him. In the meantime, time went by quickly, and Myohan got a strange worry.

“Myohan! Let’s go to play soccer!”

That stupid sport. Sinsul ran out to the schoolyard to play soccer whenever he had time to, which made Myohan wonder if he was possessed by a ghost who died before he could play enough soccer. As usual, he was trying to bring Myohan into his team again.

As a cat, Myohan had great reflexes, so he was really great at soccer. When he got the ball, no one could take it away from him, and when he didn’t have the ball, he took it from the other team in no time. He was that good even when he played reluctantly, so imagine how good he could have been if he played with a bit of enthusiasm. Sinsul’s final goal was to make Myohan play soccer at the big sports festival in June.

“I have to go to clean the library.”

Of course, Myohan had no time for balls. On the day he rescued the wet rat and took him to his home, he forgot two things. One, the mop he left by the taps. Two, his distinctively bright hair color.

“Are you going to play soccer after that?”

“No, I’m going home.”

It wasn’t meant to be a water fight, but it ended as one, and Myohan ended up taking all the credit for it. His teacher was really mad and sentenced him to cleaning the library, and although Myohan thought it wasn’t fair, he had to clean the library every day after classes.

“Why are you always so eager to go home? Come on, let’s play soccer!”

So was Myohan worrying about Sinsul and his passion or soccer or his library cleaning duty? No. He let out a deep sigh and then abruptly looked back.

“What is it?” Sinsul asked with wide eyes. The hallway looked just as usual. Myohan studied every part of it, but then he narrowed his eyes and shook his head.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“Do you feel like playing soccer now?”

“No, not at all.”

“But why? Please, let’s go!”

But Myohan just smacked Sinsul’s head and ran down the stairs while he was in pain. Sinsul didn’t follow him, so he must have given up for today. When Myohan looked up, he could see him telling a joke to a student who had been passing by. Myohan ran down the stairs and looked up at the windows again when he was outside. No one was there, but he couldn’t help feeling troubled.

The library was in the new building for freshmen instead of the old building for juniors. Its name was the Space for Dreaming, and Myohan thought the real dreaming he needed was the one he did while sleeping as he organized the returned books.

“….”

Then again, he felt someone staring at him.

He put down the book with a thud and slowly walked around the library. He was the only one there. Students borrowed books mostly during lunchtime, and they tended to go to other places, such as home, after classes. He had to be alone in there, and it was creepy that he could feel a gaze.

He checked no one was there and picked up a book again, but then someone put a hand on his shoulder.

“What the, why are you trying to hit me?”

“….Oh.”

The yelling was Jagyeom’s. Myohan let out a sigh to see him raise his hands in defense. Then he put down the book he’d been holding. He had raised it instinctively.

“Why did you surprise me?”

“I just put a hand on your shoulder. It was wrong of you to be so surprised by it!”

Chitter, chitter. He was talking in human language, but somehow it sounded like a rat’s chitter. Myohan lightly hit his head to make him shut up, only to get a fierce gaze in return.

“Since when have you been here?”

“I was here before you came in!”

“Oh…”

Then I must have missed you because you are so small. But Myohan didn’t say that thought out loud. Jagyeom was a lot smaller than him, and he was extremely sensitive about it. Myohan had once called him small, and he got to learn he, a cat, could actually be threatened by a rat.

“Was anyone else here?”

“Huh? No, who would come to the library after classes?”

“Well, only a bookrat like you would.”

“Don’t call me a rat! What if someone hears us?”

Then he would think ‘rat’ was Jagyeom’s nickname, but Myohan just nodded. It seemed like Jagyeom hadn’t been the one who alerted him. Jagyeom had been looking at Myohan for about twenty minutes at most, but Myohan had felt that gaze at least twice before. There was a maniac stalking him, but it soon disappeared like always, so Myohan decided he didn’t have to care about it much.

“Let’s go home, rat.”

“Don’t call me that!”

Thinking about it, it had started about a month ago. He could feel a gaze, but when he looked to its direction, there was no one there. He wondered if it was that man who wanted him to find the twelve animals, but that gaze was slightly different from his. And most of all—

“Oh, hey.”