When Byul woke up, it felt like just another Tuesday. Yong’s side of the bed was already made, which was no big surprise. Her angel had a weird quirk of sleeping late but waking up with the sun. 

Exiting their bedroom was an uneventful affair too. The apartment was quiet, which meant that Hyejin was still asleep, Yong was out getting groceries, probably, and Wheein was most likely meeting up with that artist collective of hers. Which was why Byul thought nothing about filling up a bowl of cereal and heading to the sofa to watch some TV. As she sat down though, tufts of fur flew up into the air and into her bowl of cereal. “.” Byul grumbled.

She turned to look at the calendar they all kept near the kitchen and confirmed her suspicions when she saw that the day’s date was highlighted up until the next day. “,” she said, even louder. 

Setting her bowl of cereal aside carefully, she stood up and began walking around the apartment eyes darting every which way.

“Wheein-ah,” she called out slowly, making her voice low and comforting. A quick walk around the dining and kitchen area came up empty, Byul even checked under their table to be sure. 

“Wheein-ah, it’s just me.” Byul called out again, walking back towards the sofa and crouching down on all fours to check under the sofa. Sure enough a wide pair of brown eyes stared back at her followed by what was undoubtedly a canine-sounding whine.

“There you are!” Byul couldn’t help the way she smiled. Even though her roommate hated being teased for it, Wheein really was the cutest werewolf Byul had ever seen in all her millennia on Earth. “Come on,” Byul said, voice lilting just a bit as she reached under the sofa and grabbed Wheein by her paws, “you can come out, I promise, no funny costumes this time!”

Wheein huffed and rolled her wolf eyes, which only made Byul laugh. 

“If you come out,” Byul said, “we can watch that new drama you’ve been wanting to start.” The offer was followed by a few seconds of silence, followed by the awkward shuffle of fur, claws, and paws against tiles as Wheein slowly crawled back out from under the sofa.

“There she is!” Byul began scratching at Wheein’s head and under her chin, “Good girl!”

Wheein growled once, baring her fangs before daintily hopping atop the sofa and staring at Byul expectantly.

“Right, right.” Byul laughed, holding both hands up, palms facing outward, “No baby talk and no costumes. Promise!” She stared at her ruined bowl of cereal and sighed, “just let me fix my breakfast and then we’ll watch okay?”

Wheein gave out a bark and what was unmistakably a smile. Byul smiled back before heading back into the kitchen.

Four episodes into the drama, Byul felt Wheein’s head grow into a heavy weight on her lap. She paused the TV to confirm that she now had a lapful of sleeping werewolf and chuckled. So much for trying to do the dishes before Yong came home.

As if on cue, she heard the sound of their door unlocking and the rustle of feathers and supermarket plastic. “I’m home,” Yongsun called out. If Byul craned her neck enough, she could just barely make out the angel struggling to remove her shoes while still juggling three grocery bags.

“Why are you just sitting there?” Yongsun said, annoyed, “help me put these away!”

“I can’t.” Byul said, looking down at Wheein who had burrowed deeper into her lap. Not for the first time did she wonder if Wheein dreamt in color or in black and white. 

“What do you mean you--” there was a pause, Byul looked up just in time to catch Yong’s head whip over to their calendar and then peer over to the sleeping werewolf on the sofa. “Oh,” Yong said softly.

“Sorry!” Byul called out, reaching over to smooth out Wheein’s fur while Yong put away groceries in the background.

“She probably turned sometime during the night, huh?” Yong said from the kitchen. 

“That’s what I’m thinking too. Although the full moon wasn’t until today, maybe early morning?” There was a distracted hum from the kitchen. Byul felt her left leg start to slowly fall asleep. “Did you buy any more of that chocolate drink?” She called out, trying to stretch out the limb without disturbing Wheein.

“Yeahp,” Yong said, “oh, and I passed by the liquor store to buy champagne, so I thought--”

Three things happened in succession then: in her excitement to show Byul the champagne bottle, Yong accidentally pulled the bottle out by the wire, causing it to pop and splatter all over their groceries and kitchen. The loud noise made Yong scream, which made Byul scream. The sound and chaos awoke Wheein who, in a panic, began yelping and running around the apartment, upsetting the shelves and slipping over the spilled champagne.

“Wheein-ah, dont!”

“Calm down!”

A few minutes of wrangling and chasing later, Byul and Yong were seated side by side on the floor of the apartment kitchen, spilled champagne seeping through their clothes. Wheein was held in suspended animation in a pentagram that Byul had hastily drawn with a crayon she found on their bookshelf.

“For the record,” Byul said, gently butting her head against Yong’s in a way that made her horns poke against the angel’s cheek, “that was your fault.”

Yong’s responding glare and shove was more perfunctory than anything else. From the corner of Byul’s eye, she could already see Yong reaching for the halo on top of her head. Without warning, Byul reached out and grabbed Yong’s wrist.

“Byul-ah, what--”

“Last time Unnie did that while I was in the room, I ended up trapped inside that stupid halo for hours.” Byul stood up, pulling the angel along with her until they were eye to eye.

“Right,” Yong said, having the decency to look sorry about the incident. “So how do you propose we clean up?”

Byul looked around surveying the damage. To Yong’s credit, most of the groceries had been put away before the champagne incident. The worst of the carnage was caused by the pack of toilet rolls that Wheein had accidentally ripped open with her claws as she darted past, creating a mushy, champagne-scented mess that had splattered all over their kitchen. The idea of cleaning everything the mortal way made Byul frown.

“Why don’t I go out to buy new toilet rolls while you halo-clean?” Byul said instead.

Yong looked around and nodded. “Okay. Take Wheein with you.” Byul stared guiltily at their friend, still hovering a few feet above the floor before looking back at Yong.

“She hates the leash,” Byul grumbled, snapping her fingers and changing from her champagne-stained sleepwear to a shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. Beside her, Yongsun laughed.

“Only because you make her do dumb, pet stuff.” Yongsun pulled the halo off her head, stretching it wide until it was about the size of a hula hoop and then stepped in feet first, passing it over her body. When it was atop her head again it had shrunk back to its original size, and Yong had gone from wearing a champagne soaked dress and cardigan to a pair of blue and white striped pajamas. 

“Besides,” Yongsun said, in the tone of the tone of someone who had already made up her mind, “Wheein might get trapped in the halo too if I clean with her in the same room.”

Byul waved her hand dismissively, already reaching for the leash they keep on the top of the bookshelf. She approached Wheein carefully, leash held tight in her left hand before she extended a foot and began erasing the pentagram lines on the floor.

Wheein plopped down in a furry heap, looking around a few times before glaring balefully up at Byul. The demon winced, “Sorry, but you were making a mess! I panicked!” Wheein growled once leaning forward to bite Byul’s wrist, placing more force behind it than she normally would have.

“Aish,” Byul wrenched her hand away, rubbing at the reddened skin. “I’ll have you know, you ruined all the toilet paper Yongsun-unnie bought, so you have to come with me to buy new ones.”

Only then did Wheein seem to realize the mess she’d caused. Her wolf eyes widened, staring past Byul to where Yong was still standing in the middle of the mess in the kitchen. The angel shrugged once. “She’s right.”

Wheein let out a low whine, padding over to Yong and butting her head against the angel’s thigh. Yong reached out to scratch at Wheein’s ears, kneeling down and smiling. “It’s okay Wheein-ah. It was my fault too for mishandling the champagne. I’m going to use my halo to clean up though, so you have to go with Byul-ah.”

Wheein looked over her shoulder, eyes zeroing in on the leash in Byul’s hand, She let out another whine. “I made her promise not to do anything humiliating.” Yong said.

Wheein huffed once, in what could only be resignation before walking back over to Byul and sitting up straight.

“It’s just to the store and back,” Byul said, carefully slipping the collar around Wheein’s neck before fastening the leash. “Besides,” Byul added, smirking now, “we still have a drama to finish, right?”

Wheein barked once, happily, before trotting out the door, tugging Byul behind her. 

-

South Korean summers were, in a word, unbearable. This was the thought in Byul’s head as she walked the two blocks it took to get from their apartment building to the nearest grocery. Beside her, Wheein was already steadily panting. 

The moment they had stepped out of the air conditioned lobby of their building into the blaring heat of the street outside, Byul had snapped her fingers to conjure a cap, pressing it down against her head until her horns poked through, and sunglasses. After a moment's thought, she snapped her fingers again so that a red bandana appeared around Wheein’s neck, over the collar. Wheein looked up at her. Byul shrugged, “Makes you look less, wolf-y.”

Aside from the heat, the walk to the supermarket had been unremarkable, up until they reached the entrance, where a newly plastered sign had Byul and Wheein standing dumbfounded outside.

NO PETS INSIDE.

“Huh,” Byul said, looking down at Wheein who was already staring up at her. “That wasn’t there last week. Must be under new management.”

Wheein barked once before walking around in circles, eyes turning big and pleading. Byul pulled out her phone and searched for pet-friendly supermarkets in the area.  The nearest one was three kilometers away. She knelt down until she and Wheein were eye to eye. “I’ll be really fast, I promise.”

Wheein howled reproachfully. Someone exited the grocery behind them and the brief flash of air conditioning that wafted along Byul’s back was divine. She looked once more at Wheein’s sad eyes, sighed, and stood up, “Okay, let’s go to the other one.” 

The walk to the second grocery took a little more than half an hour, halfway through, Byul had to stop to conjure a bowl of water for Wheein that earned a few coos from children and teenagers passing by.

“Aren’t you the popular one?” Byul said, smirking down as Wheein walked beside her. The werewolf gave her a bark that was fully smug. Byul laughed before snapping a photo and sending it to Yong.

When they finally reached the grocery, Byul almost wept in relief. The airconditioning cooled the sweat that had been building up on her forehead and the back of her neck. After they had gotten the toilet rolls, she let Wheein pull her into the ice cream section.

“You want ice cream?” Byul laughed. Wheein barked once, tail wagging incessantly. “Okay, okay. Pick out a flavor.” She unstrapped the leash and watched as Wheein hopped atop the cooler and nudge her nose against the glass. Byul snapped another photo. 

Across the aisle a few elderly grocery patrons began glaring in their direction. Byul chuckled, ushering Wheein off the cooler before bowing slightly. When her head lifted back up, she let her eyes flash to a demonic black, and winked. Beside her, Wheein nudged her head against her thigh.

“Oh come on,” Byul said, opening the freezer and pulling out a tub of blueberry yogurt ice cream, “Let me have my fun. They act like they’ve never seen a demon before.”

They took their time walking back to the apartment, this time Wheein gamely allowing Byul to take her picture along the way. After they had passed the grocery store from earlier, Byul stopped at a smaller store nearby and tied Wheein’s leash to a bike rack. “You gotta trust me, okay? I’ll only be a few minutes.” She took Wheein’s responding bark as a happy one and quickly walked in.

It didn’t take more than a minute to find what she needed and buy it. Still when she exited it was to the sight of a few teenagers kneeling in front of Wheein, snapping photos of her and cooing. When they saw Byul they immediately withdrew their hands, bowing in embarrassment before shuffling away, their giggles piercing through the hot summer afternoon.

Byul shared a look with Wheein before the werewolf’s eyes drifted to the bag in Byul’s hand. When their eyes met again, Wheein’s expression was nothing short of teasing. Byul rolled her eyes. “Shut up. Come on.”

When they finally made it back to the apartment, Hyejin was sitting by herself in the dining area, nursing a steaming bowl of instant noodles and a glass of blood. She lifted her head in acknowledgement as they shuffled inside. “You’re up early.” Byul said as she toed her shoes off.

“Need to practice songs for tonight. What took you guys so long?” Hyejin said around a mouthful of noodles. Byul finally shed her cap and ran her fingers through the hair around her horns. Beside her, Wheein had bounded over happily to sit next to Hyejin, stretching her neck so that the vampire could take off the leash and collar. 

“The grocery near our place stopped allowing pets, we had to walk a little farther.” Byul said with a sigh, putting away the toilet paper in the cupboards and the ice cream in the freezer before placing the final package by the sink. “Where’s Yongsun-unnie?” she asked. 

“Laundry.” Came the reply, followed by the sound of slurped noodles.

Byul sank back into the sofa with a tired sigh, propping her feet up on the coffee table before setting the TV up to play the drama she and Wheein had been watching. “Come on Wheein-ah.” She felt the sofa cushions give way underneath her as Wheein took up the rest of the sofa space, head resting just a few inches away from Byul’s knee.

She pressed play.

---

When Yong came back to the apartment, laundry basket and freshly dried clothes and towels in tow, she was struck with a sense of déjà vu. The TV was on, playing the drama Byul and Wheein had been watching when she’d gotten home earlier that day. When she peered around the bookshelf however, it was to the sight of an awake Wheein, intently watching the TV while Byul napped lightly beside her. 

She caught Wheein’s eye and waved. The werewolf wagged her tail happily in response. 

Hyejin emerged from the upstairs bathroom, toothbrush in and a towel wrapped around her head, when she saw Yong she pointed toward the sink where a white plastic bag was waiting. “Byulie-unnie bought that for you.”

“Oh?” Yong approached the package and laughed when she realized what it was. She pulled out the new bottle of champagne. She looked over her shoulder to where Wheein was staring at her expectantly.

“I hope Byul-ah didn’t give you a hard time today” Yong said, opening the refrigerator and placing the champagne bottle inside. Wheein barked once.

Yong laughed, fishing her phone out of her pocket and snapping a picture while Byul was still asleep. “Good.”