The Cat Hides Its Claws - Chapter 26

“Class 1! Class 1!”

“Class 2, go!”

“You’re a pro runner! Show them what you can do!”

Myohan was extremely fast, but he was no match for Jino. He was now about to fall to second, but then he smiled to hear boys murmur among themselves.

“Hey, what is that?”

“What, what?”

Students, who had been cheering each for his class, started to stir. Jino, who had been running without a problem, suddenly fell.

“….Isn’t that a rabbit?”

Moans came from Class 6. A rabbit? What? Did you say a rabbit? Jino, who had fallen in the middle of his track, got up in surprise. He was looking at the rabbit in the middle of the yard.

“What’s a rabbit doing there?”

There was a fluffy rabbit, standing right there. Its white fur was more than enough to capture everyone’s attention. Jino was supposed to run, but he couldn’t. He just muttered in surprise.

“….Cheong.”

Jino quickly looked at the bleachers. Class 1, Class 2, Class 3…. Class 6. Class 6 was missing a person. The little boy who was supposed to be cheering for him nervously was nowhere to be seen. He recalled Myohan’s confident face. He had wondered what made him so confident, since he had to be better at racing.

‘Do you know why they put blinkers on racing horses?’

He put his shaking hands on his knees. This is what he meant? He almost laughed. Now it was too late. Even if he started running again, he couldn’t win. No, now the race didn’t matter to him. What mattered was the rabbit that everyone was looking at. He got up to see the teachers approaching the rabbit.

“Myo Cheong!”

“Hey, Choi Jino! You idiot!”

Jino was about to leave the tracks when a familiar voice yelled to him. He turned, half in a daze.

“Stop staring and start running, you fool!”

“Hey, just calm down, calm down.”

It was Myo Cheong. He was in the bleachers, and he was yelling at the top of his voice. Behind him was Jagyeom, grabbing his both arms in a desperate attempt to stop him. Myo Cheong stomped a foot, frowned hard, and then screamed.

“Run!”

Jino’s legs didn’t wait for his brain’s command. They started to run. He ran without even breathing, looking at other runners much further away from him. Horses had wide eyesight. As they could see almost 360 degrees, they tended to veer off course, scared by the horses chasing them from behind. Blinkers were for protecting those huge but easily frightened animals.

The referee blew his whistle again. A boy happily jumped and cheered to pass the finish line first. Even louder cheers came from his classmates.

Myohan, who came in just a step behind him, laughed hollowly. Someone came to stamp a stamp on his hand that read ‘second place’. He muttered as he tried to catch his breath. Well, I failed it.

“Yes, In Sadol! Way to go!”

Neither Myohan nor Jino came in first. Class 2 came running to the winner. Jino came in as third, panting.

“Not everything goes as you planned, and cheating will never work in a race.”

Myohan angrily ruffled his hair after hearing that comment. He thought that he would easily win the race if he distracted Jino. He was fast and had been sure he would never lose to any ordinary student. He hadn’t known the fierce dodgeball thrower was also good at running. He looked down at the ‘second place’ stamp on his hand. He had beat Jino, but hadn’t won the race. He regretted making the bet about winning the race.

“Why is there a stuffed animal here?”

They could see one of the teachers bringing the rabbit. It wasn’t real rabbit but a stuffed animal, although it looked alive. Jino blinked.

“Stuffed rabbit?”

“It looks really real, doesn’t it?”

Myohan lightly bumped his shoulder, but he kept looking at the fake rabbit as if he couldn’t believe it. They could hear Myo Cheong still yelling angriliy from far away. He kept using a lot of curse words on Jino’s stupidity, and Jagyeom was trying his best to calm him down.

Jino gave Myohan a serious look. He smiled sheepishly and shrugged. He had asked Jagyeom to make Myo Cheong leave the bleachers once the race started. O Shin, who was one of the third runners, would hide the stuffed rabbit in his gym jacket and put it in the middle of the school yard for students to notice. And while Jino hesitated, distracted by it, Myohan would win the race. The plan had been perfect, although it wasn’t quite fair.

“You really are good at running.”

Jino had spent some time after falling down, but he managed to cross the finishing line right after Myohan. Myohan decided he had been wrong to think O Shin would have outran him. He asked, looking up at Jino, “Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

He answered immediately. Jino plopped down on the ground, letting out a sigh of relief. His hands were still trembling and Myohan felt somewhat sorry. Of course, he did know he had done something really bad and awful, but he hadn’t known he would be that worried.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Myohan apologized, but Jino wouldn’t even look at him. Myohan scratched his head, thinking Jino was angry. At least he wasn’t mean enough to turn the actual Myo Cheong into a rabbit and throw him in front of the whole school. O Shin took the stuffed rabbit from the teacher and stood next to Myohan. Myohan offered it to Jino.

“Here, it’s a peace offering.”

Jino took it, although he looked a bit surprised. Myo Cheong finally managed to throw Jagyeom away and ran up to kick Jino’s back.

“What kind of a pro runner falls while running? I hope you do that again when you’re in an actual race!”

“Cheong…”

“And why on earth did you call my name after… O Shit! What is that rabbit? Is that a stuffed animal?”

Jagyeom waved a hand from far away. He seemed to be feeling bad about failing, but he hadn’t failed at all. It was just that In Sadol was way too good at running.

“Congratulations, bunny.”

Myo Cheong turned to Myohan and glared at him, but even that fierce gaze wasn’t enough to scare him. He just showed him the stamp on his hand.

“I lost.”

It said second place, not first. Now he couldn’t demand Jino to show him his horse form, and he had to keep his promise of not bothering them anymore. How was he supposed to catch the horse now?

But, deciding to think of that later, he grinned, said bye, and walked away with O Shin. Myo Cheong just stared at him.

“….But, my class lost.”

Jino was the one to stop them. He stood up, the stuffed rabbit still in his arms, and showed them his hand.

“My class lost.”

“Hey, what on earth are you…”

“I promised to show you how I transform if my class loses.”

“I’ll show you.”

He didn’t seem to be lying. Myohan was a bit confused at this unexpected offer, but Jino seemed serious.

***

As the animals they had found so far were all small, they hadn’t thought aabout the fact that they needed a place for Jino. He couldn’t transform at school; he would easily be noticed. They had no choice but to head to Myohan’s home after the sports competition. Jagyeom and Sajun were with them.

“I should have been in the race, too.”

Myohan hadn’t seen Sajun for some time, but he clung on the second they met. He said he hadn’t been in the race because he found it too bothersome, and of course Myohan gave him a sneer. O Shin twisted and pushed away his hand on Myohan’s shoulder and then glared at him. But Sajun only snorted.

“You should be looking at him, not me.”

“What?”

“Choi Jino. He seems to be really into the cat.”

O Shin narrowed his eyes, and Myohan kicked Sajun to punish him for the nonsense.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you, but do you live alone?”

Myohan nodded to Jagyeom’s question. Then he opened the door and let the others in. His home was quite spacious, and as the living room was large and didn’t have much of furniture, having a horse there wasn’t going to be a problem. The kitten came out meowing, but then it paused and went back after seeing so many visitors. Sajun said, ‘It’s the kitten from the other day!’ just to show that he and Myohan shared an important event.