Chapter 38 (1/2)

According to what Sinsul had said, he and Chookjae drank booze together, and Chookjae got to see him turn into a dog.

“Another dead end…”

Now Myohan was sure that Chookjae was the cow, but that didn’t change anything. He had to find out what made him transform, and even Chookjae himself didn’t know what it was.

Myohan was supposed to be getting a severe headache, but for some reason, he didn’t. Well, he had his guess. It was just that he couldn’t be sure of it. That was always the problem.

“What was Chookjae doing two hours ago?”

O Shin spoke to help Myohan be sure. He stretched out a hand and turned Myohan’s face to make him look at him. He blinked as he answered the question.

“Really, it’s a piece of cake.”

His face was so close. Their lips could meet at any moment. O Shin smiled, gave him a peck, and went away. Myohan looked at the clock and went down from the desk. O Shin made him sit down on his lap, wrapped his arms around his wrist, and rubbed his face on his neck.

“Well, then, we have ten minutes to ourselves. What should we do?”

The other boys were not going to come soon. As it was the last day of the semester, there was no morning independent study. No one was going to come in for ten minutes at least. Myohan could see what he meant by the question. He narrowed his eyes and stroked the back of his head, making his soft hair slip through his fingers.

“What an easy question.”

Their lips met. With regards to what made Chookjae transform, how Jino had managed to stay human after lying, and how Jagyeom managed to take shower, Myohan had many things to figure out. But he decided not to care about any of it, at least for now. First, I must cancel my application for extra summer classes. That was what he thought of first.

***

“So…”

Myohan’s neat eyebrows went up. Only Sinsul was smiling and nodding to him. He crossed his arms, reclined on his sofa, and sneered.

“What is this?”

“Summer vacation homework camp!”

Sinsul sounded even more innocent than usual. The other boys had been sitting around the table, having a meaningless conversation. (“Oh, Jino, stop it!” “But Cheong, the cat is…” “Will both of you just shut up?” “Just leave them alone.”) They all glanced at Myohan. He looked at O Shin to ask for his opinion, but instead of saying anything, he just put his head on Myohan’s shoulder.

“….And why does it have to take place here at my home?”

A few hours ago, after the school ended, Sinsul came to Myohan and asked the same question as usual.

“Do you want to play soccer?”

Myohan got that offer three times a day. Of course, he pretended not to hear it and packed his things, and Sinsul left with sad eyes. But then he soon came back and asked a different question. And this time, Chookjae was with him.

“Would you do summer vacation homework with us then?’

Myohan looked at him, and then at Chookjae, and he didn’t refuse. He just nodded and left the classroom.

But now, he felt like throwing rocks at himself that time. Of course there wasn’t a place in school to do homework during summer vacation. He should have asked where they were headed. After that, Sinsul followed Myohan and started to ask everyone they met on their way (first Jagyeom, and then Sajun) to join them. And in the end, he came to Myohan and smiled.

“Let’s go to your home now!”

He clearly meant, “We are about to do vacation homework at your place. Would you like to join us?”

“Did you just say ‘camp?'”

“Yeah! It’s summer vacation!”

Myohan wanted to ask what on earth he was talking about, but before he could, Chookjae spoke first.

“Yes, it’s vacation time.”

That was a thing that was supposedto come from Sinsul’s mouth, not Chookjae’s. He was a hard-working student. He wasn’t supposed to be so excited about homework camp/hangout night. Myohan gave him a questioning gaze, and he explained, “I’ve never been on a school trip, and I’ve never spent a night at a friend’s place.”