But then one day, Ja fell into a river while trying to stop Sul and Shin from fighting. The river wasn’t that deep, but Ja was the smallest of them. It was deep enough to kill him.

“Oh, what should I do?” Mi cried, but none of them went to save him.

The weather was extremely cold, and watching Ja struggling in the water frightened them. The river wasn’t deep, but they couldn’t go in, even though they knew it was likely that Ja would die.

“…Hey, hey! Stop!”

The moment Ja went underwater, Myohan threw himself into the water. Yu, who was standing on the riverbank, was shocked to see that. The man was also surprised as he watched from a tree.

Myohan’s face came up from the icy water. He swam to Ja, grabbed him, and took him to the riverbank. In, who was the strongest, stretched out a hand. Myohan got out only after he saw In grab Ja.

“Cough, cough—”

Ja kept panting after he was saved. While Sin and Sul apologized to him, Myohan wiped the water off his face and moved toward the forest. He was the one who had saved the day, but no one tried to stop him.

He sat down only when he was far enough not to hear them. He frowned as he tried to dry his hair. His clothes were all wet and the wind was too cold.

“Oh, too cold.”

Achoo! He sneezed. He started to shudder. He thought he might get a cold. What should I say if the god asks why I’m ill? He wondered so, but then, someone placed a coat on him.

“Is the cat…”Myohan thought it was the god. He was the only one who would come after him and put a coat around him. But then, the man with black eyes crouched in front of him. “A selfless animal?”

He blinked. The man used his sleeve to wipe the water off Myohan’s face, but his hand wasn’t that kind. He was just curious. Myohan frowned.

“First of all, I’m not a cat.”

He turned into a cat when he got sick, but that didn’t make him a cat. He didn’t want to be thought of as an animal. He was a human being with a soul and reason.

“And I’m not that selfless.”

But the man didn’t seem to believe that. Myohan was saying he wasn’t selfless, but he had just thrown himself into icy water to save a man who didn’t like him. He narrowed his eyes, and Myohan sighed and shook his head. It made drops of water splatter on the man, but he didn’t care.

“Other humans have greed,” He said. Myohan wasn’t interested at all as he looked at him. “They have jealousy and selfishness. But, you don’t seem to be like that.”

“You sound as if you weren’t a human.” The man shut his mouth. Myohan said, matter-of-factly, “The god has given me the power to control his subjects.”

“And you weren’t happy about it.”

“It’s kind of a promise.”

A pair of wet, sparkling eyes looked up at the man. His curiosity morphed into something a little different.

“You must have underestimated me too much, but,” It was interest. The moment his curiosity became interest for Myohan, he grinned and said, “I keep my promises.”

He hadn’t been able to say no to his god. He had been given no time to consider it then he had the duty to keep the twelve in line, which meant it was his duty to make sure nothing bad happened to them. He hadn’t wanted it, but it didn’t matter.

“Funny.” The man said the same thing he had said a while ago. Myohan turned, but then the man added one more thing. “So, you’re a kind cat.”

After that day, the man remained close to Myohan for some reason. When he was in trouble because Chook wouldn’t wake up, he woke him up in his stead. When Sul bothered him while drunk, he helped him out. When Yu made an announcement at four in the morning, he went to wake up Myohan, and when he ran into the god, he said he had found himself an interesting thing and smiled.

“Nothing has happened?”

They were alone for the first time in many days. The man was nowhere to be seen. The god stroked Myohan’s hair kindly. He removed his veil and revealed his face. He kissed Myohan’s face. Myohan blinked and nodded.

“Aren’t the subjects being bad to you?”

His gaze was kind, but somehow his yellow eyes were full of rage. Myohan rubbed his eyes, not sure if he was seeing right, but it didn’t change.

He said, “No, they’re helping me well.”

He wasn’t lying, although only one of them was helping him.

“I see.”

He smiled beautifully and pulled Myohan close to rub his cheek on his soft hair.

Good, he believes me, Myohan thought, but then the god said, “If you say so…”

Myohan instinctively knew the god had just given him a chance to rely on him. He had refused his offer, and O Shin was hurt by his refusal. He could see that.

“Do you remember my friend, the one I showed you once before?”

However, he pretended to be ignorant. As he had told the man, he wasn’t going to tell on the subjects to the god.

“Today, I will show him to you.”

As they walked, the god explained about his friend. He didn’t let go of Myohan’s hair and stroked it.

“He has a camel’s head, a deer’s antlers,” His voice sounded pleasant in the wind. He spoke kindly and softly, which soothed Myohan’s heart that had been hurt by the subjects. He was explaining about the fierce-looking beast he had shown Myohan when they first met, but Myohan wanted to hear more. “Cow’s ears, rabbit’s eyes, pig’s nose…”

They walked for a long time. The god could have taken them there in an instant, but he seemed to enjoy walking with Myohan. Myohan liked it too, so he smiled.

“Snake’s neck, fish’s scale…”

They soon saw a familiar place. It was the lake where Myohan had met the god; the lake that reflected the clear sky and was full of shimmering beauty.

“Falcon’s claws, tiger’s paws…”

There was a huge beast in front of the lake. It was enormous.

It was coiled up and had its eyes closed, but as it sensed their presence, it started to get up. The moment its black eyes looked at Myohan, he froze.

“And wonderful long hair around his mouth.”

O Shin smiled as he put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. He seemed to think his surprised expression was cute. The mighty power in those black eyes made a thrill run up from his feet.

“He’s an old friend of mine.”

His soft hand stroked Myohan’s head. The enormous beast was still looking at Myohan with its black eyes. The god pointed at it and smiled confidently. He seemed to be genuinely proud of his friend.

Then he asked Myohan, “Isn’t he grand?”

He had asked that, once before. At the time, Myohan hadn’t been able to say anything, but at the time, looking into the beast’s scaly body and bored eyes, he slowly nodded.

“…Yes.”

He would never be able to forget that thrill. The scene of the beast moving slowly as it looked at Myohan with familiar eyes. He couldn’t even hear the god’s proud voice.

That was the first time Myohan saw the dragon with his two eyes.

The sensation lingered longer than he had expected. Myohan even got lost in daydreams as he took care of the subjects’ mischief. After a few days, he asked the god to see him again, but he just kissed him and said, “Well, I don’t know if he would approve.”

Then one day, it snowed. It snowed a lot, but Myohan was wandering in the forest, fooled by O once again. The man told him O was lying, but he knew that already. He was just pretending to be ignorant, as he knew that being fooled would be better.

“You’ve come to nag me again?”

O had said that Sa would be in the northeast part of the forest, but Myohan found him in the east part of the forest. Well, he hadn’t been lying completely.

“The god would be mad if you neglected your duties.”

“It’s none of your business.”

Sa sneered and shrugged. He hated the cold, so what was he doing outside in the snow? Myohan went to him and he got up, shaking the snow off his head. Myohan tried once again.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay here.”