Chapter 64 (1/2)

Sadeol went right up to Myohan and gave him a pitiful gaze.

“I heard you’re going to the meat buffet. It must be hard not to have any…. Think of me when it gets too hard…. The craving gets worse when you’re hungry you know… Oh, I should have had meat at 3 last night!”

He kept talking and O Shin smiled with amusement. In the end, Myohan let out a sigh and spoke.

“Sadeol.”

Sadeol blinked and let him whisper into his ear. “I’ll tell you a secret… I’m not a tiger.”

“Huh?”

Sadeol’s eyes widened. He blinked. Before he could gape stupidly, Myohan smiled brightly.

“Bye, I have to go to eat meat.”

Sadeol didn’t have the time to stop him. Myohan gave him a pat and went to his classmates. But Sadeol stood there until he couldn’t see him anymore.

Then, what Myohan had said before went through his mind.

‘Yes, we’re alike.’

‘I’m sorry, but I can eat meat.’

Myohan never admitted that he was a tiger. He just never said no to what Sadeol said. He gaped at the shock. He had trusted him wholly, but he wasn’t a tiger?

“Sadeol! Since when have you gotten so close to Myohan!”

He shuddered at the betrayal, but then he thought again. Myohan may not be a tiger, but he had found him a way to eat meat.

‘Yes, I must think about it again.’

“Sadeol?”

Seonhan said something, but he wasn’t listening. Sadeol nodded. Light-colored eyes like his and nimble moves, then maybe…

“….He’s a panther.”

As Myohan ate meat at the meat buffet, he couldn’t know Sadeol was making another wrong guess and would continue to call him a friend. November was coming.

The classroom was almost empty again at lunchtime. Only O Shin, Myohan, and Sinsul who was having a stomach ache were still there. Sinsul must have eaten something wrong as he kept going to the restroom and was now sleeping. He wasn’t even playing soccer, so it was probably very serious.

Myohan had found nine of the twelve zodiac animals, with the tiger as the last one. He only had three more to go: dragon, monkey, and pig. Their letters were Jin, Shin, and Hae. He scribbled them down, gave it some thought, and drew an X on the word Jin. O Shin asked.

“What about the dragon?”

“He’ll be the last.”

Myohan turned to look into his eyes. His eyes were full of sleep. He went back to the note and explained, “He won’t be able to transform in my apartment.”

O Shin mimicked Myohan and put his head on a hand. Myohan thought again, but then he put down his pen and stretched his back. He opened a window to let fresh air in, but then the cold winter breeze blew in. He quickly changed his mind and shut it again. It was the perfect weather for getting a cold.

Only three. It was less than one-third of what he had already found. He felt like he really would be able to find all of them before winter vacation started, except for the dragon.

“What does the dragon look like?”

All the other animals were real, but the dragon wasn’t. It was a mythical animal that only appeared in legends. He couldn’t even guess what it looked like.

“Didn’t you just say it would be the last?”

“I’m just curious.”

O shin seemed to think he was cute again. He smiled and stroked his hair. Myohan’s soft hair went through his fingers. Myohan looked away, thinking he wasn’t about to get an answer, but then he looked up again as he started to talk.

“Camel’s head, deer’s antler.”

He sounded like he was reciting a poem. He was still smiling.

“Cow’s ears.”

‘Rabbit’s eyes, pig’s nose.’

Myohan suddenly heard a voice in his head, but it wasn’t O Shin’s. He then said exactly that.