The Cat hides its Claws - Chapter 79
Chapter 79: Chapter 79
However, it didn’t go as Shihuang wanted. He had pretended to be O Shin’s subject and a human out of impulsive interest, and that was the problem. He wished he had never gotten to know Myohan then the boy had given him a name. Myohan didn’t even know he was the dragon but used the character ‘Jin’ in his name, which impressed him as well.
He should have ignored the boy. He should have left him alone back when he was feeling guilty about wanting what belonged to his old friend, the god, and causing heavy snow to fall due to his gloom.
He took him up and brought him to the god as he had no way to take care of him. Still, he secretly started to want to become a real man.
“Do you know the whole world is within a cat’s eyes?” Shihuang had never heard that before, but he believed it. The whole world was really in those light-colored eyes. “I have the whole world now.”
The god lost his relaxed smile. He sounded a bit sad. Shihuang looked up at the cloudy sky. It was as gloomy as how he was feeling.
“Surely you wouldn’t take it away from me.”
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He had complicated feelings. Of course, his head understood it, but his mind kept saying otherwise. He felt guilty about taking what was the god’s, but at the same time, he wanted to tell himself that the god had eleven other subjects and would be fine.
He only became greedier and greedier. The god was constantly busy, and Shihuang got to spend more and more time with Myohan.
The god knew his subjects were tormenting Myohan, but he never helped unless Myohan asked for it. It was Shihuang who helped him on the day he went into the water to save Ja, and it was he who scared the subjects after Myohan almost died in the snow.
“It’s so bothersome.”
“If it’s so bothersome, you can quit.”
“Easier said than done.”
Myohan opened up to Shihuang in time. He complained about his job in front of him, although he never did it in front of the god, and even showed his true feelings sometimes. They didn’t talk much, but Shihuang could fully understand that Myohan started to look at him differently.
“Myohan.”
“Yes?”
It didn’t take long for their feelings for each other to grow. One night, under the starry sky, Myohan didn’t push him away as he leaned in for a kiss. The kiss was warm, and Myohan’s eyes were full of love as they looked at him.
That was why he went to the god and said a little boldly, “I’ve come to understand humans.”
Despite his hatred for human greed and selfishness, Shihuang was doing something even worse. He knew how O Shin had saved and raised Myohan. He knew how much he cared about him, but still, he wanted him. He hated that ugly aspect of humans the most, but he ended up taking it.
“So, my old friend…”
He thought the god would be angry. He was generous, but surely even he would get angry. He thought he would cancel his promise to make him a man.
“You’ve finally learned to love a human.” However, the god wasn’t mad. He just smiled and looked away, his face hidden by a veil. His sad voice made even Shihuang feel a little bad. Still looking away, the god warned, “If you fail to protect him, I will take him away from you.”
Shihuang had known him for so many years. He could tell O Shin wasn’t mad. He had foreseen the coming of this day and braced himself for it. He must have known, even when he warned Shihuang.
“So, protect him.”
His faint voice disappeared with the wind. He was being generous to his old friend. When he wasn’t feeling good, the sky became cloudy. When dark clouds gathered in his heart and he was feeling depressed, the sky cried instead of him.
But Shihuang didn’t like causing rain. Getting rain alone in that lonely forest made him feel like he was all alone in the world.
“Stupid cat.”
But then, he had someone precious, someone he had to protect. He felt like he had the whole world. Even if that world belonged to his old friend, since he had gotten his permission, nothing could stop him.
He felt joy as he looked at Myohan’s face. He felt thrilled when he held him in his arms. His heart swelled with love and affection as he looked into those pretty eyes.
“You know they’re lying, why are you letting them get their way?”
He was happy, but at the same time, he felt uneasy. As much as he was delighted to own that smile, that face, and those eyes, he feared the fact that he might lose them at any moment.
“It would be better to let them trick me. They’ll be quiet for a while after that.”
Myohan had changed into a cat the day before. In said he wanted to eat meat, so he went into the forest knowing there were no boars there. He ended up falling in a pit that Shin had dug there and was left alone in it all night. When Shihuang went to find him, he had already turned into a cat and was casually rubbing a paw on his face.
“They’re like children, you know.”
He had to wait for a long time for Myohan to turn back. Waiting gave birth to nervousness, and it, in turn, gave birth to anxiety. What if he never changed back? What if he stayed sick?
“You know what?”
A human lifeline was much different from his, and Myohan’s life was even shorter. He was still alive thanks to O Shin, but he could disappear the moment the god took his eyes off him. On the contrary, Shihuang couldn’t die even if he wanted, not before his promised deadline.
“The cat is loved by everyone.”
He felt like the world was crumbling under his feet the moment he saw Myohan as a cat. Just like he had on the day he found him in the snow; the only thing he could do was to take him to the god.
“I keep telling you,”
Myohan looked down, enjoying the hand patting his head. He looked like he would purr at any moment.
“I’m not a cat.”
‘But you look like a cat.’
Shihuang didn’t say that out loud. He just kissed Myohan’s head. Did he resemble a cat because he had been a cat? Or had the god made him a cat because he resembled a cat? Either way, Myohan was a cat, especially when he stretched his back and yawned with sleep in his eyes.
“And I’m not loved by everyone.”
He didn’t seem to know how loved he was. He had even said, ‘You hate me,’ when Sa asked if he knew what he thought of him. Myohan thought the subjects were jealous of him as he was their god’s favorite.
“Well…”
It might have been like that at first. The subjects had been serving O Shin for many years. On the other hand, Myohan had just shown up one day. Of course, they would hate that a newcomer became their boss.
The subjects did torment him and excluded him. Myohan knew it as well.
“Stupid cat.”
However, that didn’t last very long. Anyone who knew him and had talked to him couldn’t hate him. The subjects had all looked impressed when he dived in and saved Ja without hesitation. They wanted to talk to him, but they suppressed the urge as they were embarrassed because of what they had done to him. Shihuang was sure they all liked him.
That was why he hated them even more. Their foolishness when trying to express their affection for Myohan in such a crude way angered him, and he found it ugly that they were trying so hard to get Myohan’s attention.
Each of them harassed him just because the others harassed him. They all knew it was wrong, but none of them dared to speak up and say it was wrong. They were all fools. That was how Shihuang defined them.
“You’re going back?”
After enjoying Shihuang’s hand for a long time, Myohan got up. Shihuang sighed, unhappy about the hair leaving his hand. Myohan nodded and grinned, muttering that he had rested too much.
He had always allowed the subjects to get their way. He didn’t argue even when he knew O was lying and didn’t respond even when Myo called him a half-animal. When Hae tried to take Myohan’s fair portion of food by force, he just smiled and let him take it. Shihuang tried to put a stop to it, but it didn’t matter.
