Chapter 29 (2/2)

Sinsul clapped loudly at the right answer. It made Myohan wonder if it was really something to be glad about, but he didn’t ask out loud.

“And I’ve never been to a zoo. I didn’t want to be tortured by all those smells.”

That wasn’t good. It meant he couldn’t recognize any animal that was seen easily in their city. Jino asked, a little confused, “Then how do you know a horse’s smell?”

“We did horseback riding during that field trip last year. Myohan, you weren’t there because you were sick.”

Myohan thought about it and then nodded. They had gone on a field trip last year. Sinsul must have learned horse smell while he did horseback riding. Then, Jagyeom asked, “Then what about the snake smell?”

“Oh, snakes sometimes show up at my grandmother’s house in the countryside!”

He smiled so innocently that it drained the energy out of Myohan. It was a lot harder and more complicated than he had expected.

He thought he would be able to find the remaining seven in no time if Sinsul helped, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. If Sinsul was saying the truth, he could only find animals who had transformed recently and he had to have experienced that smell before. For example, it would be just impossible for him to find the dragon. Myohan wondered if he should take him to the zoo or something.

“Then at least show me your dog form.”

“Oh, about that… I don’t want to.”

“….What?”

Sinsul pouted. Myohan frowned at the immediate refusal. Sinsul kept insisting, saying no, no, no. Then he jumped to his feet.

“If you want something from me, you must give something in return!”

“What do you want?”

Myohan didn’t like where this was going. He could recognize the sparkles in Sinsul’s eyes. He angrily closed his book as he could guess what he was about to hear. Sinsul grabbed his wrist and looked at him with shining eyes.

“Play soccer with me at lunch time, every day.”

O Shin looked at Myohan. He seemed to be wondering what his answer would be.

On the other hand, Jino tried imagining ‘Myohan playing soccer’ and excitedly smiled, for a very different reason. Myo Cheong scolded him a lot of ‘shit’, of course. Myohan slapped the hand away, organized the books, and then gave Sinsul his schoolbag.

“Byeon Sinsul, listen carefully.”

Sinsul nodded. He looked very excited about getting to play soccer every day, starting tomorrow. But what Myohan said next immediately made him frown sadly.

“Forget what happened here today.”

“….Why?”

Sinsul wailed in despair, but Myohan just ignored him. He looked at O Shin, who was trying really hard not to laugh, and then there was the confused Jagyeom who couldn’t understand what he was going. Then he turned his back on Sinsul.

“Well, let the emergency meeting begin.”

O Shin’s effort failed and he burst into laughter. Myohan could kiss a boy to capture the rabbit, but he couldn’t play soccer every day.

After Sinsul left whining a lot about soccer, Jagyeom, Myo Cheong, and Jino left as well. Sinsul tried to threaten them by saying if they made him leave now, he wouldn’t say a word to them until Myohan played soccer with him, but of course, no one cared.

After the four left, the large living room felt so empty. Myohan forced himself to take a shower, and then he lay down on the sofa and covered his eyes with one arm. O Shin came to him.

“Are you going to be alright?”

He sat down on the floor and looked at Myohan. He could see the sharp nose and red lips, but not the eyes. Myohan moaned faintly. That meant yes.

“Actually, I don’t have much thoughts.”

Really, he wasn’t getting any thoughts. He could make no guesses, and he had no will either. He even wondered if he was supposed to go after other animals first. The anxiety he felt earlier was now gone.

“Well, sometimes…”

Myohan thought O Shin would scold him for ‘not doing his best to help’, but he just stroked Myohan’s cheek. His warm hand made him feel much better.

“It is good to be without any thoughts.”

The hand went down to the lips. He traced his fingers on them, and then he kissed them. Instead of resisting, Myohan lowered his arms to look at him. He blinked.

“Cat is, the gift from God, after all.”

“Meow.”

The kitten was now on Myohan’s foot. It wrapped its tail around his ankle and glared at O Shin, but that didn’t stop him from kissing Myohan’s forehead. He frowned and looked at his lips. The red lips curved gently.

“Maybe we should let ‘Deus ex machina’ handle it.”

Myohan narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know what O Shin was talking about. His lips curled up and he muttered, “The snake’s in Germany, isn’t he?”

And, to Myohan’s knowledge, it had nothing to do with what they were currently discussing.