* * *
Jeongseo carefully picked up one of the whiskers from the wooden case.
Examining it closely, he quickly realized they were real animal whiskers.
It wasn’t hard to recognize—he had whiskers himself, after all.
For a moment, he blinked rapidly, trying to process the unexpected gift.
Then, a memory from the past resurfaced.
❝ Are cat whiskers lucky charms? ❞
❝ I don’t know, but people say having them brings good luck. ❞
❝ Whoa…! ❞
A conversation he had with Hyun Junhyun at the end of their second year.
About how cat whiskers were supposed to be lucky charms.
Jeongseo’s lips parted slightly, his brown eyes shifting back to Yoontae.
“… Are these your whiskers?”
Without a word, Yoontae simply nodded.
“You’re giving me a lucky charm for the exam?”
He nodded again.
Jeongseo glanced between the three whiskers in his hand and Yoontae, his expression growing serious.
“… Did you pluck them out for me?”
That must’ve hurt a lot…
Feeling guilty, Jeongseo looked up at him, but Yoontae quickly waved his hands in denial.
“No, I didn’t pluck them. I just collected the ones that fell out naturally.”
“Oh!”
Letting out a relieved sound, Jeongseo’s face brightened—before he suddenly burst into laughter.
Since Yoontae mostly stayed in his human form, for his whiskers to fall out, he must’ve either been in his original form or walking around with just his whiskers out.
The mental image of Yoontae doing that didn’t suit him at all, yet it was strangely adorable.
When Jeongseo kept laughing without saying anything, Yoontae, slightly flustered, held out his hand with a sulky look.
“If you don’t want them, give them back.”
“No way! I love them! Thank you so much, Yoontae!”
Shaking his head furiously, Jeongseo clutched the whiskers tightly, as if unwilling to part with them.
Seeing that, Yoontae’s grumpy expression eased.
With a silly grin, Jeongseo carefully placed the three whiskers back into the case.
Seeing how genuinely happy he was, Yoontae’s worry about whether he had gone overboard completely disappeared.
As they started walking again, Jeongseo suddenly asked,
“Is there a reason you gave me three whiskers?”
Not just one, but an ambiguous number—three. Did he just happen to gather exactly three?
By the time he reached the front of the classroom, Pyo Yoontae came to a stop.
“Jeongseo, you have to do well in Korean, Math, and English. One lucky charm for each subject.”
As he listed each subject, Pyo Yoontae folded a finger one by one.
One charm per subject?
Jeongseo had never expected such an adorable reason, and he couldn’t help but chuckle.
There was an unexpectedly pure side to Pyo Yoontae.
“I feel like I’m going to ace the test!”
The small wooden box in his hand suddenly felt immensely reassuring.
With a smile, Pyo Yoontae stepped into the classroom, and Jeongseo wished him good luck as well.
Time passed, and students arrived one by one.
Some wore tense expressions, while others were simply excited, declaring that they were only here to “lay the groundwork for future test-takers.”
Then, at exactly 8:20 AM, the proctor entered the room.
The most important exam of their high school years had begun.
It felt like a good omen. Or maybe he was just trembling from nerves?
9:30 PM, the night after the CSAT.
Jeongseo paced anxiously around his room.
He had heard that 10 PM was when the most accurate grade cut-off predictions were released, so he deliberately avoided looking at anything before then.
No, to be honest, he was too scared to check his answers.
He had even refused Pyo Yoontae’s suggestion to grade them together and had gone straight home.
He figured it would be better to check the predicted cut-offs first.
During the actual test, he had felt great—his condition was good, and for some reason, the words flowed more smoothly than usual.
Most of all, he was amazed at how well he understood the English listening section.
By the time the exam ended, chatting with Pyo Yoontae and Hayan on the way to the bus stop, he had felt nothing but relief and excitement.
But the longer time passed, the more his anxiety grew.
His ears and tail had already emerged long ago.
His whiskers had sprouted, his teeth had sharpened.
He was trembling so much that he couldn’t maintain either his true form or his human appearance.
Just as he was about to fully transform, the phone rang.
[Pyo Yoontae]
Jeongseo hesitated before finally swiping the answer button.
“…Hello?”
— Jeongseo, what are you doing?
“I… I’m just… waiting for 10 PM…!”
— It’s already 10.
Jeongseo froze.
Checking his phone, he realized it was already 10:01.
When had the time slipped by so quickly?
He was about to open XBS to check the predicted cut-offs, but then he hesitated.
Maybe it was better to grade his answers first.
As he stood there frozen, phone in hand, Pyo Yoontae spoke softly.
— Grade them first, Jeongseo.
Did Pyo Yoontae have some kind of psychic ability?
Jeongseo flinched but quickly hung up, saying he’d call back after grading.
Then, moving swiftly, he retrieved his exam slip from where he had carefully placed it on his desk.
And once he finished grading and checked the predicted cut-offs—
He was speechless.
Staring at the numbers on his small phone screen, comparing his scores to the cut-off predictions over and over, his hands started trembling.
The phone slipped from his grasp.
At the same time, he couldn’t hold back anymore—
He turned into a small weasel.
A tiny weasel wiggled out from under a pile of clothes, frantically tapping at his phone with his little paws.
His claws clicked against the screen, making a sound like pebbles colliding.
— Hey, Jeongseo. Did you finish—
“Kyuuu! Kyuukyuuk!”
Excited, the weasel squeaked and chirped loudly.
Pyo Yoontae had to check his caller ID again just to make sure he hadn’t misdialed.
It really was Jeongseo.
Only then did he realize the noises were weasel cries.
He couldn’t understand a word, but Jeongseo’s excitement was more than clear.
Did he not even realize he had transformed? Pyo Yoontae chuckled.
— I haven’t learned weasel language yet, but I guess I should start now.
“…?”
Confused, the weasel tilted its round head.
Then, at last, Jeongseo spotted his own tiny paws.
The shock was so great that he hadn’t even noticed his transformation.
Panicked, he quickly shifted back into human form and shouted,
“I—I got a Level 2 in Korean, a Level 3 in Math, and a Level 1 in English!”
Pyo Yoontae squinted at the sudden loud voice, but as soon as he registered that last score, his mind went blank.
Jeongseo had absolutely nailed the CSAT.
Fortunately, his official CSAT score report had no surprises.
With these grades, he had more than enough to get into Jeongan University’s Sports Science department through the regular admission process.
Lately, he had been focusing on preparing for his practical exam.
However, maybe because he had poured everything into English, his Chemistry score ended up at Level 3, Physics at Level 5, and Korean History at Level 4. His overall average wasn’t that high.
It seemed like he had gambled everything on those three subjects.
Lost in thought, Jeongseo stepped out of the shower and sent a message to the group chat with Pyo Yoontae and Hayan, saying he’d be heading to the classroom soon.
A gust of December wind brushed against the back of his neck, sending a shiver down his spine.
He quickly zipped his padded jacket all the way up, his white-dyed hair fluttering in the wind.
Since the PE teacher was away on a business trip today, they were told to take a break.
Instead of heading to the gym, Jeongseo walked toward the school.
With about 30 minutes left until lunch, he figured he’d chat with his friends before heading to the cafeteria.
The classroom was buzzing with activity—some students were watching movies on their laptops, others were crowded together playing games.
Some hadn’t even bothered coming to school.
This was what a high school senior classroom looked like after the CSAT.
Pyo Yoontae, who had been on his phone, suddenly stood up as soon as he spotted Jeongseo.
Jeongseo gestured for him to sit down, wondering why he was even getting up when they were headed to the same place anyway.
But instead of sitting, Pyo Yoontae strode over and grabbed Jeongseo’s hand.
“Y-Yoontae?”
Before Jeongseo could fully process it, Pyo Yoontae was already leading him out into the hallway.
“Where are we going?”
“Let’s go out for lunch today.”
“Out? Now? I didn’t get a permission slip!”
“Neither did I. We’ll just jump the wall. If we go now, we can leave before the student council patrols start.”
Jump the wall?!
That was something Jeongseo had only ever imagined doing.
In his mind, it was one of the worst things a student could do at school.
He suddenly felt nervous.
“What about getting back in?”
“We’ll just walk through the front gate. What else can they do?”
They were high school seniors who had already finished the CSAT.
As they reached the first floor, Pyo Yoontae grinned mischievously.
Jeongseo knew it was a bad idea, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse.
And so, the two of them arrived at the back wall of the school.
Sizing up the height, Pyo Yoontae bent his knees slightly, then leaped—effortlessly landing on top of the 2.5-meter wall.
He started to extend a hand to help Jeongseo up, then hesitated.
His golden eyes gleamed playfully.
“Jeongseo, you can climb this easily, right?”
Jeongseo, standing at just 167 cm, would need to jump at least a meter to even grab onto the ledge.
A weasel might be quick, but height was another matter.
Pyo Yoontae smirked, waiting to see him struggle.
But instead, Jeongseo grinned brightly.
“Of course!”
He took a few steps back, sprinted forward, and sprang up—landing effortlessly on the wall.
“Whoa! I’ve always wanted to do this!”
Pyo Yoontae stared at him in stunned silence.
…He had completely underestimated the physical abilities of a weasel who grew up running around in the mountains.
“Wow, I’ve always wanted to climb over a wall!”
Pyo Yoontae stared blankly at Jeongseo.
What he had overlooked was that Jeongseo was more of a weasel that had spent its life running around in the mountains rather than enjoying the comforts of civilization.
Naturally, his physical abilities were exceptional.
Feeling oddly defeated, Pyo Yoontae motioned for him to come down, but Jeongseo suddenly lifted his head.
“Oh, what about Hayan?”
* * *
