Chapter 72 (1/2)

“What are you doing?”

Myohan went through the calendar in a frenzy. December, November, October, September. And then to March. He laughed.

“The day Chandeul became a pig.”

His finger pointed at a smaller number written right next to Dec. 16th; Nov. 3rd.

“The day Jino transformed.”

Apr. 31st written next to Jun. 22nd.

“When we were on the school trip.”

September 16th to the 18th. And on the next square, what was written next to Sep. 19th was Aug. 1st.

‘This is the last day of July, something unexpected might happen.’

Myohan had dismissed it as nonsense as it had been October, but just then… He asked to be sure.

“What month is this?”

December. That was what most people would answer when asked that question. But O Shin didn’t. He grinned, glanced at the cat, and said,

“It’s November.”

All the pieces fell into place. What O Shin had said about him being the lucky cat, and about time wasn’t the only thing the god had given out as a gift. Time wasn’t the only thing the twelve zodiac animals had. The sun and the moon. It must have been what Jagyeom tried to say when they were talking about Ja Time. And right then, it was the 11th month of the Lunar Calendar year.

“…The Month of the Rat.”

It was the Ja Month, in which Jagyeom didn’t become a rat.

“Ha…”

It all had been a coincidence. It wasn’t the 5th month when he caught Jino, and he had been able to catch Yuja only a day before the Month of the Rooster started.

And the Month of the Snake had been so near when he got Sajun. He fell on the sofa. O Shin went to him.

“You look like you’ve realized something, so let me make you a proposal.”

“What?”

He caressed Myohan’s cheek, his hand so careful as if it were touching something delicate. It went up to his neck, and then to his ear.

“I’ll tell you who the monkey is.”

Myohan’s eyes widened. The cat rubbed on its face with a paw. O Shin continued with a faint smile.

“So find me the dragon while I’m gone.”

***

The snow wouldn’t stop, even after it filled the entire school yard. Sajun was absent due to sickness, but his friends all knew he wasn’t sick at all.

“Let’s go to Sajun’s today!”

“Sinsul, have you finished making your wrong answer notes?”

“Hey, we don’t know what Myohan will have to suffer if we take him to that pervert’s place.”

“We should be worrying about Sajun being killed by Myohan after he does his thing.”

“I’m with Jagyeom on that.”

“But Cheong, isn’t he sick?”

“…You really bought that?”

Myohan was again wearing layers of clothes. He pulled his scarf to right under his eyes. He placed a hand on his forehead, but his glove was too thick and he couldn’t feel his temperature. He looked down at his hands and feet, and then he told his friends.

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Why?”

Sinsul asked with a sad face. Myohan frowned and pointed at two boys far away.

“I have something to do.”

O Shin was gone when he woke up in the morning. He didn’t show up while he got ready and went to school, and he wasn’t at school either. He was nowhere to be seen after school was over. The wind was too cold and Myohan crouched down as he walked. The snow on the ground was going to freeze and turn slippery in a few days, which he didn’t like as he hated falling.

The two boys he had pointed at were Sadeol and Seonhan. They were having a snowball fight, and they were both happy to see Myohan.

“Hi, Myohan!”

“What’s up?!”

They probably couldn’t feel the cold as their hands were bare and red. As Myohan was extremely weak to cold, he couldn’t even imagine doing that.

“We should have a talk.”

“Of course, I’m always willing to have a talk with my friends!”

“No.”