Chapter 23 (1/2)

“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…”