Chapter 88 (1/2)

Chapter 88: Chapter 88

Jino kept running. He ran and ran until he was out of his breath and was forced to stop. His legs were stiff, but his body was used to running and kept on moving. He wasn’t ignorant of the fact that overdoing it like this could lead to severe injuries, but he just couldn’t help it.

He ran on the racing tracks at school, and he kept exercising at home after classes. He worked out until his body was beaded with sweat. But then, he looked at the stuffed rabbit on his bed.

“….Cheong.”

The white stuffed rabbit resembled Myo Cheong, with its round face and cute paws. But there was something far more important that had led him to think of it as Cheong, but he just couldn’t remember.

He held the fluffy doll in his arms and tilted his head.

“…But how is this in my room?”

He liked cute stuff. He liked stuffed animals, but he wasn’t bold enough to buy such a cute stuffed rabbit himself. He tried to remember if he had gotten it as a gift, but of course no one would present such a cute doll to a healthy and sturdy teenaged boy like him.

He really couldn’t know, so he raised the rabbit to his eyes’ level and asked grimly, “Cheong, how did I meet you?”

But of course, the fluffy rabbit said nothing.

This year, Jino and Myo Cheong weren’t in the same homeroom. Jino didn’t recognize any of his new classmates. The new class president talked to him.

“I was just told you won’t be able to run in the relay race of this year’s sports competition.”

To think about it, the sports competition was coming around. Although everyone was busy with applying for universities and couldn’t afford to care about it much, it did arouse their competitive spirit. But Jino wasn’t really interested about winning the event.

“Oh, okay.”

“It’s a shame, we would totally win the race with you.”

“No, I came in third last year.”

“That doesn’t count. That was because you fell in the middle.”

The class president said it like it was nothing. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with what he was saying, so Jino nodded, but then he frowned. He was a pro runner. He would never stumble and fall in a high school relay race. Still, last year, he had fallen hard in front of everyone. He felt like he had had a reason for it, but he couldn’t know what it had been.

“Hey, let’s go home.”

Before he could think harder about it, Cheong came to him. He got his bag and stood up. Finding a reason for what had happened in the past was meaningless.

“You know, Cheong, that stuffed rabbit I have…”

While they were crossing the school yard to go home, Jino recalled his stuffed rabbit and started to talk about it. He couldn’t remember since when and how it had ended up in his room. The white rabbit was very realistic.

“What? Shit, rabbit?”

Myo Cheong was startled to hear the word rabbit.

Jino asked seriously, which wasn’t like him, “Who gave it to me?”

“…How would I know that?” Cheong said after a short silence. He spoke awkwardly, but Jino was innocent enough to buy it and nodded.

“Oh.”

But then, Cheong suddenly exclaimed and stopped. Jino bumped into him from behind as he failed to stop in time. He whimpered and frowned. He was much taller and bigger, but Cheong was invincible, at least in some ways.

Where Cheong was looking at was Myohan, whom Jino thought was really adorable. He was probably waiting for someone. He stood in front of the school gate and looked up at the sky. Jino looked at him with wide eyes. He always resembled a cat.

“Cheong, I want to be friends with him.”

It was what he was always saying these days. Myohan looked like a cat and moved like a cat. As cats were the thing Jino liked the most among all cute things, he was just perfect for him.

“He looks like…”

“Hey, Myohan.”

Before Jino could say he liked him because he was like a cat and cute, but Myo Cheong stopped and called him. Jino tried to stop him, but it was too late. Myohan turned to look at them.

“Cheong, we don’t know him. You can’t just call him like that–”

“He wants to get to know you.”

Their eyes met. Myohan’s light-colored eyes wavered. Jino couldn’t hide his embarrassment and looked away. Yes, he did want to be close to him, but this was just too sudden and awkward. But Cheong just snorted and crossed his arms.

“Oh, shit. I’ve told him so many times that it would be no good, but he just won’t listen to me.”

Myohan just eyed Jino. He felt thrilled the moment their eyes met again. Myohan tilted his head and grinned, his rosy lips forming a beautiful curve.