The Cat Hides Its Claws - Chapter 52

“Let’s play, let’s play, let’s play!”

“Let me go unless you have a death wish.”

“How can you sleep so early when we’re on a trip?”

“…How can you be so noisy even when we’re on a trip?”

That was Yuja. He took a shower last and frowned with a towel around his neck. He said he could hear nothing but Sinsul’s voice as he took shower, sat down, and then started to dry his hair with the towel. He took out a can from his bag and threw it to Sinsul.

“Stop bothering him and drink that.”

Sinsul snatched the can cleanly in the air. He complained that it almost hit him, but Yuja paid him no attention. Myohan opened his eyes and saw ‘Yuja (citron) Ade’ written on the can. Yuja had given him the same thing when he was cleaning the school hallways as his punishment.

“You really live up to his name.”

“Just go back to sleep.”

Myohan smiled. He had meant to sleep, but now he thought he couldn’t miss such a good opportunity. He got up, thinking of pretending to hang out with Sinsul and hear Yuja out, but then Sinsul jumped to his feet with the can in his hand.

“It’s too wrong!”

“You finally realized there’s something seriously wrong with you?”

“Yuja, why are you always so cold to me?”

“What?”

“….Fine! I’ll go and bring friends who will play with me.”

With that, he left the room without closing the door behind him. Myohan frowned, half-sitting and half-lying.

Yuja said coldly, “He can just go there and play. Why is he bringing them here?”

“Tell me about it.”

Now that Myohan’s chance was gone, he lay down again. He didn’t forget to retrieve his duvet. Yuja just took out a book and started to read it in silence. And as for O Shin, he stroked Myohan’s hair as usual. It was so quiet that a teacher who was on patrol duty came in, looked around, and left in disappointment.

Sinsul came back many minutes later. Myohan thought he could hear noises coming closer in the hallway, and he wasn’t wrong. O Shin muttered, “They’re here.” At the same time, the door was opened and Sinsul came in running. But he wasn’t alone.

“Well, let’s play now!”

What they saw first was Jayeom with a frown. Miho stood behind him and seemed very uncomfortable. Sajun gladly said hi after seeing Myohan. And then there was Myo Cheong, who seemed to find everything irritating, and Jino with his eyes still sparkling as usual.

“…What the.”

Yuja’s remark made Myohan think, ‘Oh, déjà vu.’ He had been in this situation before, more than once.

“This is our class’s president!”

Sinsul happily pointed at Yuja. He put down his book with an awkward smile. He wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Myohan and all the boys behind Sinsul felt the same thing. Jagyeom was the first to point out Sinsul’s flaw. He glanced at Myohan, looked around the room, and said as if he couldn’t believe it, “They haven’t agreed to this, have they?”

“…Well, let’s play!”

Sinsul pretended not to hear the question and sat down. The room was small and only meant for four people, so now it was really crowded with nine people in it. It made them realize just how spacious Myohan’s living room was.

Myohan had no choice but to get up with a hard frown. He had meant to get along with Sinsul, but he hadn’t thought it would get this serious.

Yuja was also having trouble assessing what was happening. Sinsul had brought a bunch of boys he had never seen before saying they should all play together, so of course he didn’t know how to react to it. He did see a few familiar faces, but he had talked to none of them. Yuja only knew two of them. Jino, who was a famous athlete, and Miho, who had a lot of bad rumors about him.

“I’m so sad we aren’t using the same room.”

“Shit, that pervert is at it again.”

“Just leave him alone. I don’t want to even think about it.”

“What should we do? Let’s play cards!”

“Cheong, please get rid of your frown.”

“…Hi.”

Myohan kicked Sajun away and made Miho sit next to him. O shin was now sitting at his other side. He looked at Yuja who still didn’t know what to do, and Myo Cheong and Jino were having another quarrel. He let out a sigh. Oh, whatever.

“Who are your roommates?” Myohan asked with a frown and Miho seemed like he wasn’t sure if he was asking him.

“Jagyeom and a few other boys.”

“What about those bullies?”

“Their leader is not on the trip, and as for others, they’re not in my room.”

“Good.”

Myohan lay down again, using O Shin’s leg as his pillow. Miho butted away a little so that he could get more space. For some reason, O Shin was smiling contentedly.

“Come on, a game of cards!”

“We can’t do that. There are too many of us.”

“What about the Truth Game, then?”

“Shit, you want to play Truth Game where every word you say is true?”

“You know, my thigh is an excellent pillow too…”

“Shut up if you want to keep your thigh.”

Yuja frowned harder and harder with each comment. It was like having a bunch of Sinsuls. But the most ridiculous thing was Myohan accepting the situation without a problem. He just ignored it all as if he was used to it. Yuja sighed and raised his glasses.

“Excuse me…”

As soon as he said that, all the boys immediately shut up. They had been caring about the new face. Myohan smiled, liking the silence.

“But what kind of group is this?”

“Group for enjoying the first night of this trip!”

Sinsul raised a hand and answered the question. It made O Shin laugh. He recalled what he had said once to Sinsul’s question. Yuja rubbed on his forehead and snorted.

“Whatever.”

Then Sajun said with a grin, “We’re O Myohan and The Kids.”

“You, shut up.”

Myohan warned him coldly. Jagyeom who was the most ordinary-like of them all, explained with a sigh, “It’s a group that has gotten close by coincidence. Well, you don’t really have to have something in common to be friends.”

“But we do have something in common…”

“Oh, just shut up, you idiot.”

A small hand covered Jino’s mouth. He kept making muffled noises, but Myo Cheong’s hand was strong. Jino wriggled in agony and Sajun got up to stop Myo Cheong. Sinsul jumped up and down, yelling, ‘You can’t fight! You can’t fight!’

Yuja still couldn’t understand the situation. He backed off and Myohan sighed after seeing that. He couldn’t understand the situation, and furthermore, he thought they were strange. Myohan reluctantly spoke up for them.

“…They’re all nice.”

“I’ve never seen anyone so much like Sinsul.”

Like Sinsul. Myohan understood every meaning in that short expression and nodded. He turned and looked at O Shin’s belly. It would be better to just ignore them. O Shin saw what he was thinking and covered Myohan’s ears with his huge hands. It couldn’t cut off the sound completely, but it was way better than nothing.

“Oh, there are nine of us, so we can play soccer.”

“But we don’t have a ball.”

“Shit, I think he brought it.”

“I think so too, Cheong.”

“Hey, have you really brought your ball?”

“…Doesn’t soccer require 11 players?”

Yuja was now watching them with interest. He had never seen such a mess and it was quite amusing. Myohan held O Shin’s shirt and closed his eyes. He had had a good chance to sound out Yuja, but now it was completely gone. He tried to go to sleep, thinking he would send Sinsul out of the room tomorrow night.

“Pillow fight!”

“Ugh! Shit!”

“Cheong, it wasn’t me!”

With that, the air was filled with flying pillows, but none of them came toward Myohan’s direction. Either they feared O Shin’s fierce gaze or valued their lives. Or maybe both.

“Yuja, join us!”

“No!”

After a long period of noises, it got quiet, and Myohan fell asleep. However he felt someone lifting him up to move him, putting a duvet on him, and stroking his hair for a long time.