Yongsun and Byulyi

The first time Wheein had seen the Unnies fight, she worried that they would break up right after. Of course, back then it had only been a month since she moved in. Still, nothing could have prepared her for the sight of an angel and a demon wrestling around their kitchen. Screaming and throwing punches and kicking and pulling at each other’s hair. 

A lone cereal box eventually became a poor casualty of the fight, bits of cardboard and cereal scattered all over the kitchen floor. Wheein had to pull them apart. It was only later that she found out they had fought because Byul had apparently forgotten to take out the trash again and Yong had gotten fed up. 

The apartment had been deathly quiet that day. When she had gone to the studio, Wheein had been worried that she would come home to find out that one of the Unnies had left. Instead, the next morning, Byul was back to teasing Yong and the angel was laughing like nothing had happened.

That was when Wheein learned that both Unnies had tempers that ran hot but fizzled out just as easily too. She tried asking Byul about it once. The demon just shrugged.

“We’ve known each other too long to hold grudges,” She says as if it’s the most matter of fact thing. 

Eventually, Wheein got used to the occasional spats. Sometimes Yong wouldn’t be in the mood for some of Byul’s more cheeky comments and she would snap a retort that was a little harsher than normal. There were days when the two would argue over the littlest thing and Byul would end up ignoring Yong for a few hours before eventually cuddling up with her on the sofa like it was the most natural thing to do. 

“It’s nice isn’t it?” Wheein said offhandedly to Hyejin after the vampire had witnessed her first Unnie Fight. Yong had hit Byul earlier in the afternoon for spraying water in her face while they both had been doing dishes. That had devolved into a mini fight that almost ended in a few dishes breaking if not for Byul’s fast reflexes. 

Now the two were watching a horror movie together and Yong had Byul’s hand in a death grip while the demon laughed as a woman was being murdered on the screen. 

“Sounds exhausting if you ask me,” Hyejin muttered, but she was smiling regardless. 

“You can’t expect them to be lovey dovey all the time,” Wheein countered, “It’s kind of comforting to know that even if they disagree a lot, they still choose to be with each other.”

Hyejin hummed beside her. It had taken Wheein a good long while to get used to it, but now that she was, seeing the Unnies go through their ebbs and flows was comforting. It was good to have constants in life. The sun rose, rain was wet, blood was warm, and the Unnies would be together no matter what.

Yongsun and Hyejin

It’s probably an oldest and a youngest thing, Byul thought to herself as she watched Yong and Hyejin argue over the vampire’s hair clogging up the shower drain again. It wasn’t even one of those fights where someone was in the wrong. Just standard roommate spats. Still, the demon had to admit, sometimes Yong was a bit harsher with the vampire than she was with the rest.

“All I’m saying is, why can’t you remember something this simple?” Yongsun said, her voice taking on that borderline condescending tone that meant her patience was running thin. “We don’t even have this problem with Wheein, and she sheds during the summer!”

“I’m sorry, okay!” Meanwhile, Hyejin had that petulant tone to her voice, the one she got whenever she felt her freedom was being oppressed. “It’s not that I mean to forget. Sometimes when I get home, I have to rush my bath and get to my room before the sun rises! The last thing I’m thinking of is the shower drain.”

“All I’m asking for is a bit of presence of mind Hyejin-ah. You’re not the only one living here and using this bathroom!”

“Unnie, do you hate me?” The vampire asked suddenly, and that had both Byul and Yong’s eyes going wide. 

Byul watched Yong’s mouth move wordlessly for a few beats. By that time, Hyejin had already pushed past her to clear out the clogged hair in the shower drain with a tissue and thrown it in the bin. The vampire glared but there was a sad frown to her lips, she turned to leave and Byul had the distinct pleasure of watching Yong’s expression shift from annoyed to tired to guilty all in the span of a few seconds.

“I don’t hate her!” Yong said to Byul, desperately. The demon just nodded. “But I’m not everyone’s personal maid, and I have a job that I go to everyday now too. Is it too much to ask that my roommates be better at picking up after themselves while I'm out?”

“Not at all,” Byul agreed, and Yong did have a point, but she followed it up with “Hyegi’s the youngest, and before she lived with us she lived in a coven. You know how luxe those older vampire clans can be. she probably had someone taking care of her all the time. You need to give her some time to get used to living away from all that.” 

Yong sighed, nodding. “You’re right.”

Later that night, before Hyejin left for her job, Yong had grilled gopchang waiting at the dining table. Byul watched silently from behind the bookshelf as Hyejin contemplated the spread before sitting down quietly and helping herself. Yong sat down opposite her and began digging in too. They were both smiling after the meal and before Hyejin left the apartment she waved to Yongsun brightly.

Byul watched the whole exchange and grinned to herself.

Byulyi and Wheein

Hyejin had never seen Wheein and Byul fight before, and she was of the mind that it would never happen. After all, who could possibly stand up to Wheein’s puppy eyes and fight her? It felt like an impossibility. It wasn’t until much later that Yongsun pointed out that Byul and Wheein actually did have fights. Their fights were silent and went under the radar.

Because while Byul ran hot, Wheein’s temper was freezing cold, and when she was really angry, the werewolf could pretend that you didn’t exist for days at a time. Which was what was happening that very moment.

Hyejin wasn’t quite sure when it started or who had been at fault, she only realized she was in the thick of it when Wheein had pointedly asked Yongsun to pass the bean sprouts at dinner even though the side dish was directly in front of Byul’s plate. Yongsun sighed but did so anyway. Meanwhile, Byul looked like a kicked puppy. 

Dinner had been exceedingly awkward after that, and when Yong began clearing away the plates, Hyejin immediately jumped at the opportunity to help out. 

“What happened?” She mouthed. Even though Wheein was very clearly watching TV, Hyejin knew her werewolf ears would still be able to hear a pin drop in the upstairs bathroom.

Yong the faucet in the kitchen sink and began washing up as noisily as she could. “Byulie made a pretty thoughtless comment about one of Wheein’s paintings. Wheenie didn’t take it so well. That was three days ago now.” 

“Well did Byulie-unnie apologize?” Hyejin asked. Yong sighed again, “Yes but Wheein’s still a little hurt. Best to let her cool off for now. Byul will apologize again before the week is up.”

A few nights later, Hyejin came out of her room just in time to see Byul and Wheein talking by the sofa. The werewolf was staring at her hands which were pressed into fists on her lap. Byul was leaning forward but every line of her body was tense.

“It was a thoughtless comment” Hyejin could hear the demon say, “I wasn’t thinking at all. I know I can’t take back what I said, but I’m really, really sorry about it Wheein-ah.”

Things were silent for a bit, but eventually, Wheein sighed and nodded. “I understand, Unnie. I forgive you.”

Byul practically sagged forward with how much she sighed in relief. “Can I hug you?”

This time, it was Wheein’s turn to sigh, but already Hyejin could tell that it’s done jokingly. As if hugging Byul would be such a hardship. “If you must,” the werewolf teased.

Byul laughed but immediately sat beside Wheein and wrapped her in a tight, one armed hug, pressing a quick kiss to the side of her head. From her vantage point above, Hyejin chuckled once before making for the bathroom to get ready for work.  

Wheein and Hyejin

Ever since Hyejin moved in, Yongsun watched her friendship with Wheein blossom into something precious and beautiful. So it hurt her twice as much whenever she watched them fight. It never happened often, but when it did, Yong always tried to give them the courtesy of privacy.

Today though that just wasn’t an option. Try it All Tours was closed today because of the storm which meant that all four of them were effectively stuck at home together until further notice. Which probably wasn’t the best time for Hyejin to confront Wheein about not showing up at the Blue Cosmos after the werewolf had promised to be there the night before.

“You promised, so where were you?”

“Aish, why are you making this such a big deal?”

“Because I saved a table for you and everything and you didn’t even text me to say you couldn’t make it. You just ghosted me!”

Wheein had her arms crossed in front of her, and she was glaring a hole into their coffee table. Hyejin was standing on the other side of the table, arms also crossed but with her hands clenched into fists at the sides of her sweater. Yongsun glanced at Byul, the demon was staring resolutely at her phone, scrolling rapidly through photo after photo on instagram. Yong knew better though, Byul was listening in just as keenly as she was.

“I didn’t mean to!” Wheein’s was going quiet which was a bad sign because that usually meant the werewolf was fighting back tears. “I was finishing something.”

“So you ditched me for work?” Hyejin was starting to sound hurt now too. Beside Yong, Byul’s thumb had stopped scrolling through Instagram entirely. “Did you or did you not promise me that you would show up?”

“I did!” Wheein said. “I’m sorry Hyegi, don’t be mad!”

“I want an explanation first!”

Wheein sighed before digging under the sofa for one of her larger sketch pads. She opened it to reveal a fully drawn picture of Hyejin singing. She must have used charcoal and pastels because all the color and shadows seemed to meld so seamlessly into each other. Yong stared at it in amazement. Byul had already given up the charade of looking at her phone.

“I was working on this. I was supposed to give it to you when I got to the club, but I lost track of time, and when I realized it, It was probably too late and I felt weird about going. I’m sorry.” When Wheein looked up from the drawing, the full strength of her puppy dog eyes were focused on Hyejin and Yong already knew the vampire wouldn’t be able to resist. But then--

“Come on, forgive me please!” Wheein added, in a baby voice. It was so sudden that it shocked everyone into laughter. Especially Hyejin.

“Augh, fine. I can’t stay mad at you Wheeinie!” 

Wheein jumped up from the couch to wrap the vampire in a hug, jumping up and down while she cheered. Yong and Byul just laughed at the whole exchange, the tension in the living room finally dissipating. 

“Well, I think after that, everyone deserves hot chocolate.” Yong announced to the room at large, which was met with cheers all around. 

“Put some peppermint candy in mine, Unnie!” Wheein pleaded, already plopping back down on the sofa and digging around the cushions for the remote.

“Mint chocolate? Gross,” Byul said. 

“Can I skip and have hot blood instead?”, Hyejin.

Yongsun laughed and made her way to the kitchen. While it was dark and depressing outside, she was glad that inside it was warm and she was surrounded by the bright glow of her roommates. Not a bad way to spend a rainy afternoon.