Wheein was sketching on the living room sofa, every now and then glancing back at the tablet on the coffee table for the reference image she was supposed to be copying. It was an altogether quiet day, until all of a sudden, their living room shook and a glowing red pentagram began drawing itself on the white tiles of their floors.

Normally, she would just call out for their demon roommate and have her deal with it. Unfortunately for Wheein, Byul was out on a job so her next best option was--

“Unnie! Something from hell is trying to take over our living room!”

The resounding slam of a door followed by the whirlwind of wing feathers that was Kim Yongsun, angel of heaven, would have been hilarious if not for the overwhelming stench of sulfur that had begun to permeate the entire apartment.

“What is going on?” Yong asked, staring with growing alarm as the pentagram on their floor glowed a brighter, angrier shade of red. Wheein shrugged, phone already pressed to her ear, “Byulie-unnie isn’t picking up. I think she’s still working.”

“Well this takes pre--”

In her flurry to walk over to Wheein, Yong accidentally stepped on the pentagram, effectively opening a portal to hell. The stench of sulfur was overwhelming now, and to Wheein’s more sensitive wolf nose, it was enough to suffocate. 

When she tried to peer over their coffee table, she caught a glimpse at what was below. Not the flaming inferno that children’s cartoons imagined, but what looked to be an average suburb, with the exception that there were demons everywhere. Before she could get a closer look, however, a flash of something large and hairy burst through the portal, shocking Wheein off the sofa.

Yongsun was yelping in fear, having backed herself into the kitchen wall, her wings coming up to her front out of a defensive instinct. As quickly as it had happened though, the portal was gone, all traces of the pentagram gone from their floor, the only proof it had even existed was the lingering stench of sulfur, and the ominous scurrying in the kitchen from whatever had crossed over from hell into their apartment.

“When Byul comes home I’m going to kill her!” Yong swore, still trembling in fear, but walking over to help Wheein up off the floor.

“Did you manage to see what came through?” Wheein asked, staring hesitantly at the kitchen, where the creature was still causing a ruckus. Yongsun shook her head. 

“No, but it looked huge, and I could have sworn it had fangs.” Yong said, already on the verge of tears. 

Whatever was in their kitchen had stopped making noise, but Yongsun and Wheein were still rooted to the spot. Clutching at each other.

“Okay Wheein, on the count of three, just run over and see what it is.” Yong said. She already had a vice-like grip on Wheein’s arm, not so subtly pushing her toward the kitchen.

“Me?” Wheein stood her ground, trying to wrench away from Yong’s grip, “You’re the angel! If anyone should be facing creatures from hell it’s you!”

“I’m already dating one, besides, if it does have fangs, you’re probably more equipped than me to handle that sort of thing!”

“I’m not some guard dog, Unnie!”

“Why is everyone so noisy?” 

Yongsun and Wheein paused their scuffle at the sound of Hyejin descending the stairs. Her voice still raspy with sleep, clothes and hair equally rumpled looking. “Hyejin!” They called at once, grabbing the vampire and pushing her toward the kitchen.

“Go see what’s in the kitchen!”

“You got this, Hyegi! We’re right behind you!”

Both Yongsun and Wheein took shelter behind the bookshelf as Hyejin stumbled into the kitchen, still blinking the sleep away from eyes when she saw whatever it was that had come out of the portal. Her eyes went wide in shock, then her head tilted in confusion. Finally, and most confusing of all, she let out a sneeze. The vampire looked back at Yongsun and Wheein, clearly annoyed, “Very funny, pick on the roommate with allergies.”

“What do you mean ‘allergies’?” Yongsun called out, finally stepping away from the bookshelf, “what’s over there?”

Hyejin stared at whatever it was some more, finger coming up to scratch at her nose. Both her shoulders lifted in a tired shrug, “Some kind of dog, maybe? I can’t really tell, it’s eating its way through our cleaning supplies.”

That was the final straw for Yongsun, who quickly walked over. Still making sure to situate herself behind Hyejin. It was then that Wheein finally noticed a singed piece of paper on their living room floor where the pentagram had been. She reached over to pick it up, noticing a hastily written message on it.

Unnie, 

They’ve been missing you, please watch them for the day. We’ll open the portal again tonight so they can come home.

When she looked up from the note, the thing in their kitchen began scuffling around again. Yongsun already looking more than a little harried at the mess it was causing in their kitchen. 

“I’m not cleaning this mess up,” Hyejin declared, already turning around and making her way back to her room, letting out another sneeze as she ascended the stairs. 

Curiosity overtaking whatever was left of her fear, Wheein finally walked over to where Yongsun was, coming face to face with the disastrous mess that was now their kitchen. The cabinets below the sink were all open, the cleaning supplies they kept there scattered all over the kitchen floor, some even sporting curious bite marks. 

In the midst of all the mess was a three-headed welsh corgi and what looked to be a fluffy white dog with demon red eyes. “Oh,” Wheein said, taking a few steps closer and reaching an arm out, “It’s a cerberus and a hell hound.”

Before she could control it, Wheein felt her own wolf nature take over, the presence of other supernatural canines calling out to the werewolf in her. She felt her tail emerge through the slit in her jumper, and her wolf ears pop out from past her hair. She sniffed at the corgi cerberus first, waiting until it approached her before carefully reaching out a hand and scratching it under its middle head.

It was at that moment that their front door opened, a panting Byul pausing to catch her breath at the hyeon gwan. “Unnie, I just got a call from my sister, they’re sending something over, I need to be here when they--”

The last of Byul’s words died in when she finally saw the wreck in their kitchen along with the murderous glare Yongsun was giving her. 

“They’re already here are they?” The demon asked, sheepishly, finally stepping foot into the apartment. As if sensing her presence, the hell hound came running over, barking happily and pawing at Byul’s knees. The cerberus followed suit, the right head pausing just long enough to give Wheein’s palm a respectful before joining it’s comrade and barking up at their owner, tail wagging happily. 

Wheein felt her own tail wag in response, her inner wolf responding to the joyous energy in the air.

“Oh my gosh look at all of you!” Byul cooed, dropping to her knees to hug her dogs. “You’ve all gotten so big!”

“Byul-ah! Your dogs ruined our kitchen!” Yong yelled out, glaring at the demon as she made her way through the carnage, picking up scattered bottles of bleach and dishwashing liquid as she went along. “And one of the cerberus heads ate a whole sponge! You need to train them better than this!”

“I’m sorry,” Byul laughed, gently pushing away the left cerberus head as it starting poking its snout along her neck, “They’re usually better trained than this. My father keeps them in line. They’re just a bit excited cause it’s a new space.”

“Oh, there’s a note from your sisters in the living room!” Wheein said, crawling over to pet the hell hound this time, letting him get acquainted with her scent, “They said they would be opening the portal again later tonight for the dogs.”

“Ah,” Byul nodded, snapping once so that both the cerberus and the hell hound now had matching harnesses and leashes. “That means we just need to keep them busy until my sisters let them come home. I can--”

“ You will be cleaning up this mess your dogs caused!” Yong said, still irritated, grabbing the leashes from Byul’s hand and nudging at the demon’s behind with her foot, “the dogs can stay on the balcony until you’re done!”

It was Byul’s turn to pout now, “No way Unnie! I haven’t seen my dogs in ages. Besides, if I walk them, you can use your halo,the cleanup will get done faster, and when we return they’ll be too tired to cause more damage.”

The two glared at each other, neither one willing to back down. As if sensing the tension, the hell hound whined softly, butting a fluffy head against Wheein’s arm. She felt her own tail wag in sympathy.

It was Yong who broke first, rolling her eyes and ripping the halo off the top of her head with a frustrated grunt. “Fine! Go already, but you owe me Moon Byulyi!”

“Don’t I always?” Byul asked, standing up to give the angel a teasing peck on the cheek, which only earned her a harsh looking shove. She was halfway out the door when Byul turned around to look at Wheein, head tilting all four of her dogs’s heads mirroring the gesture.

“Are you coming, Wheein-ah?”

“Oh!” Wheein looked at Byul, then at Yong, who already had her halo poised over the mess in the kitchen, “Yeah, gimme a sec, I’ll grab my hat.”

Once outside, in the sunshine, both the cerberus and the hell hound seemed much happier, sniffing at plants and cracks in the street as they passed.

“What are their names?” Wheein asked, watching the middle cerberus head playfully nip at the left one. 

“The hell hound is Janggu,” Byul said, pausing to snap a water bottle and pet bowl into existence for her dogs. She bent down and began pouring, letting Janggu take the first sip. “And this!” Byul declared, tone growing playful as she reached for the cerberus and began rubbing at its belly, “This is my BakWoonGang!”

“BakWoonGang?” Wheein stared at the cerberus corgi, who was clearly enjoying all the attention.

“The right head is Daebak, this middle one is Haengwoon, and the left one is Kongang,” Byul explained, pushing the pet bowl over to the cerberus this time and letting them take individual turns while drinking.

“Yongsun-unnie’s never met them?”

“She knows about them,” Byul said, standing up again once all four dogs had taken their fill, “but they mostly stay in hell, and it’s me who goes down there every now and then for a visit. This is their first time on this plain, I think.”

Janggu walked over to Wheein, pawing at her knees as he barked happily at her. Byul laughed, “I guess he likes you!”

Wheein grinned, her own tail wagging again. “I like you too, Janggu!” She said, voice turning playful again, “Can I try walking them?”

Byul hesitated, staring at Wheein and then at her dogs. Wheein backtracked, “I mean, you don’t have to! I’ll understand if you want to spend the extra time with them since--”

“It’s not that!” Byul said, sheepish now, bending down to adjust the fit of BakWoonGang’s harness. “I’m just wondering if you can handle it.”

Wheein scoffed, rolling her eyes as she grabbed both leashes from Byul’s hand, “Werewolves have supernatural strength too, you know,” she said, “besides there’s technically only two of--”

The rest of the sentence died in as both hell hound and cerberus made a break for it, catching sight of a bird at the end of the street that they seemed intent on chasing. Wheein found herself helpless to do anything but let herself get dragged behind, she called out for Byul but she had the sneaking suspicion that the demon was laughing behind her. 

Still, as she tried in vain to dig her heels into the street to gain control of the situation, she found that she was having fun anyway.

Later that evening, when they were all back in the apartment, Wheein found herself sandwiched between both dogs as they napped on the floor. In the sofa above them, Byul and Yong were arguing over which movie to watch that evening. 

Janggu’s paws were twitching against the tiles, soft barks rocking his tiny body. Wheein wondered if hell hounds dreamt of chasing hell cats. She didn’t even know if the latter was a thing, she had to ask Byul about that one. She was just about to do the very thing when the same red pentagram from that morning began forming on their floor once again. 

“Aw, it’s that time already!” Byul walked over to where Wheein was, dropping individual kisses on each of her dogs’s heads before reaching out to tap the portal open. The stench of sulfur in the air gave Wheein a strong sense of déjà vu.

This time however, Byul poked her head into the portal first, “Next time you send them over, make sure I’m home at least, they almost destroyed our whole kitchen!”

“Oops!” A voice from below said, one of Byul’s sisters probably, “Sorry about that! We’ll call ahead earlier next time!”

With that, Byul scooped up Janggu first, cradling his sleeping body close before passing him into the portal. When it was Daebak, Haengwoon, and Kongang’s turn, Byul grunted with the effort, the muscles in her arms straining at the weight until the cerberus too had safely passed back into hell.

When the portal closed, they were all silent for a moment, Byul staring fondly at the spot where the portal had just been. “How troublesome, I miss them already.” The demon complained, walking back to the sofa and cuddling closer into Yong’s side. The angel rubbed her arm comfortingly.

Wheein looked at the spot where Janggu’s little head had been resting on her lap. “Maybe we should get a house pet then.” She said, half teasing even though a part of her glowed at the idea of it.

“Hyejin’s allergic to pet fur,” Yongsun reminded them, although there was a wistful tone to her voice too. 

“I guess we’ll have to stock up on antihistamines then,” Byul said. The three of them chuckled at the thought. When Yong finally pressed play on the movie, Wheein was still rubbing at the warmth the hell hound had left behind.

Maybe one day , she thought to herself before finally focusing on the movie.