Wheein

It wasn’t weird, per se, running into other werewolves in Seoul. At least, this was Wheein’s general consensus in the years since she’s left her pack. What made it weird, however, was when other werewolves stared at her, almost as if sensing the fact that she was without a pack. Never mind that it was true. The feeling of it still left her a little off-center. Which was why Wheein usually avoided the more wolf-targeted clothing outlets.

Still there were some things that were unavoidable. Like needing new jeans and knowing that the only brand that could pull-off comfortable jeans for werewolf tails was wolf-owned and run. 

Wheein took a deep breath right outside one of Full Moon Walk’s more larger outlets. In all other aspects it looked just like any other clothing outlet. But already, her inner wolf was keening to be let in, everything about the store was designed to be appealing to werewolves. To her. And Wheein was nothing if not a simple pup. So as much as it made her uncomfortable, there was just no way around it. She just had to get in, get some jeans, and leave.

Inside, the store smelled woodsy and earthy. Without helping it, Wheein could feel her tail burst through the seam in her cargo pants, already wagging furiously. There were also other wolves around, some of them chitchatting, others just casually browsing. Based on their scents, all of them were part of packs all over Seoul and it made Wheein feel very self conscious.

She was so focused on getting to the section in the back where the jeans were that she accidentally collided full on with another werewolf.

“Oh my god,” Wheein jumped almost an entire meter backwards, bowing low and face flushed in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going and--”

“Please, it’s not a problem.” A male voice said.

She looked up to see five male werewolves staring curiously at her, the one she must have bumped into was holding a few sweatshirts and jackets in his arms. 

Wheein bowed again, still more than a little shamefaced, “Please excuse me,” she said, already sidestepping the group and trying to get to where the jeans were. This was just not her day.

“Uhm, Miss?”

She turned behind to see one of them holding up her wallet. She must have dropped it during the collision. Wheein couldn’t keep back her own groan of frustration. “I’m really sorry,” she said, accepting her wallet and stuffing it back into the pocket of her hoodie. 

“It’s no trouble,” one of the werewolves said, with an easy smile, “if Dongmyeong wasn’t blocking the way it probably wouldn’t have happened anyway.”

The werewolf Wheein bumped into--Dongmyeong, apparently-- rolled his eyes good naturedly, and shoved at the taller one. “Please ignore Yonghoon-hyung. He thinks he’s funny.”

Another of the wolves laughed and the one called Yonghoon clutched at his chest in mock pain, “You don’t think I’m funny, Hyungu?”

“Actually,” Dongmyeong said, already ushering Wheein away from the rest of his pack, “Please excuse all my friends. Have a good day!”

Wheein smiled, already headed off towards the jeans section. It was only while she was mulling over two options that she realized none of the wolf boys had looked at her or treated her differently. The interaction stayed with her for the rest of her stay in the store.

Outside, newly purchased pair of jeans with the perfect seam for her tail in hand, Wheein had barely turned the corner when she caught sight of the same group of werewolves, this time exiting the convenience store. The one called Yonghoon took one look at her and grinned.

“Oh, Noona!” The rest of them were already smiling too, as if they were all old friends. “Did you get something you liked?”

She nodded, holding up the bag, “Every wolf worth their fur knows that the Full Moon Walk has the best jeans.”

The boys nodded in agreement, “As long as we can also agree that only Pack Pride makes the best bucket hats with ear seams.” Dongmyeong added, his smile bright and friendly and aimed at Wheein and her own Pack Pride bucket hat that she had been wearing that day.

The words came out before she could stop them. “Why are you boys so nice to me?”

They paused, all five of them tilting their heads in the same direction and at the same angle. One of Hyungu’s wolf ears flopped adorably to the side as well. For the third time that day, Wheein felt herself flush with embarrassment. Way to stick your foot in your mouth, she thought. 

“Why wouldn’t we be nice?” Dongmyeong asked, a little slowly, his smile dimmed just a bit. 

Wheein kept her gaze firmly on her shoes, where there was a spot of paint on her sneakers but she couldn’t quite remember when it had gotten there. She replied, “Because. I don’t have a pack? I’m sure you could smell it on me, just like how I know that all of you are in the same one.”

There was silence. Wheein kept waiting for hurried goodbyes or odd exclamations of awkwardness that never came. When she finally looked up she could see the wolf boys still smiling, but kinder this time. 

“Uh you know,” Dongmyeong said, a little embarrassed himself, “Yonghoon-hyung was part of a different pack before he left too. He was alone for a long time before he met us.”

Yonghoon chuckled, “He’s right.”

“We were friends with him a long time before he decided, on his own, to join our pack.” Dongmyeong continued.

“And we haven’t been able to get rid of him since,” Hyungu added with a laugh.

“Aw Pingu,” Yonghoon added, reaching over to pinch Hyungu’s cheeks, “I knew you cared.”

They were all laughing now, and Wheein with them. She couldn’t remember the last time she really interacted with a large group of werewolves outside of her old pack members. The feeling was nice. 

“It’s cool that you’re living on your own, Noona,” one of them said, a darker haired wolf whose name Wheein hadn’t heard yet. 

She grinned. “You boys are pretty cool too.” She said, before dipping her head in a bow. “I guess I never got to introduce myself. I’m Jung Wheein.”

Dongmyeong’s smile grew wide and friendly again. “I guess you must have picked up some of our names by now but uh. I’m Son Dongmyeong and that’s--”

“Kang Hyungu,”

“Lee Gi Wook”

“Jin Yonghoon”

“Ju Harin”

Wheein smiled at all of them and they all smiled back. No trace of disgust or sympathy or any of those awkward things she would get from other wolves that realized she was packless. That probably explained what she did next.

“You guys wanna get into the coolest nightclub in town?”

---

Hyejin

Hyejin checked her phone again, just to make sure she was reading the text from Wheein correctly. 

Bringing some friends with me tonight! Break a leg, Hyegi!

She hummed to herself. It wasn’t that Wheein never brought friends to The Blue Cosmos before. One night Hyejin even performed in front of Wheein’s entire art collective. But that was the thing. Wheein usually texted which group of friends she was bringing over whenever she came to watch. It was always ‘ I brought the Unnies along,’ or ‘My collective is watching tonight’ or ‘Don’t embarrass me in front of my old packmates’. Hyejin can’t quite remember any of Wheein’s texts being this cryptic before.

She tried to rack her brain if her roommate had mentioned any other friends that Hyejin hasn’t met before. She was still thinking about it when the club manager gently tapped her on the shoulder. Behind him was another gentleman standing a respectable distance away.

“Hyejin-ah,” he began, “you remember that Byungwoo-ssi retired last month, correct?”

Hyejin nodded. The Blue Cosmos’ pianist was already well into his seventies when Hyejin became the regular night singer, but he was still sharp as a whip and could play any song at the drop of the hat. On nights when customers were few, Hyejin would delight in commiserating with him about the good old days. So when he announced last month that he’d be retiring to become a piano teacher, all the club staff had pooled together to throw him a retirement party. 

“We finally have a replacement,” the club manager continued. “This is Park Jae-Wook, he’s--”

“Happy to meet you.” The other gentlemen bowed respectfully, before coming forward to shake Hyejin’s hand, when he smiled Hyejin could see his fangs in full view.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” She bowed in return, making sure to show off her own set.

“Call me Woogie,” The other vampire said, “It’s my stage name. I look forward to performing with you.”

“Likewise,” Hyejin said. She lasted about two seconds before the chuckle bubbled out from her lips. “You really have a stage name?”  

Woogie ducked his head, but he was laughing anyway. “Yeah uh, it’s easier recall since my career tends to last longer than your average pianist. There have been a lot of Park Jae-Wooks over the decades, you know.”

That made sense. “I never thought of it like that.” There was still an hour before the night customers arrived. Hyejin gestured to the raised platform. “Soundcheck?”

Woogie nodded, gamely taking a seat at the upright to the left of the stage and trilling a few simple chords just to see if it was in tune. 

The soundcheck went smoothly. While the bar slowly filled up with customers Hyejin walked over to the piano.

“Will your coven be supporting you during your first day on the job?”

Woogie smiled then shook his head. “Nope,”

“Oh, well--”

“Don’t have a coven.” He said with a shrug. Oh. 

Hyejin took a step back, embarrassed. “I’m sorry.” she said, suddenly finding a stain on the piano’s woodgrain very interesting. She had never met another vampire in Seoul without a coven. She knew there were others around the country but aside from Soo-jung she didn’t have many other vampire friends. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Woogie waved a hand, still smiling. “Haven’t been part of one in over a century now. It doesn’t even bother me.”

“I don’t have one either,” Hyejin said. There were a dozen things she wanted to ask. She just didn’t know where to start. Woogie’s smile turned understanding.

“For how long?”

“About two years now.”

He nodded, and something in his eyes turned a little sad. Hyejin could see the age in them, the wisdom Woogie earned from years of living without a coven. And despite being over a hundred years old, she suddenly felt very young.

“It’s probably hard now,” He said, none too kindly, “But it’ll get easier, and if it makes you feel any better, I never regretted leaving my Coven to pursue my own thing.” He patted her on the shoulder, “And from the looks of you, Hyejin-ah, I don’t think you will either.”

She smiled, suddenly very grateful. “Thanks Oppa. I appreciate that.” 

They were cut off by the manager waving at them from the side, signalling to start the show. 

“Show time?” Woogie asked. Hyejin gave him a thumbs up and walked back to the mic stand. 

It was surprisingly easy, performing with Woogie at the keys. Although Hyejin could probably attribute that to his centuries perfecting the piano. Still they were a well matched duo, any adlibs she made he was ready to support. Any song he started with, she knew to sing.

Sometime in the night she caught sight of Wheein at one of the center tables, she was with a group of werewolf boys and they all seemed to be having a good time. Now that was a story she needed to hear once they got back home. She threw a wink their way and smiled at Wheein’s responding laughter. 

At the end of the set Hyejin caught Wheein’s wave that signaled her roommate would wait for her outside. She nodded and turned back to Woogie, who was packing up his own bag.

“Great set, Oppa,” She called out, “Glad to have you on the team.” Woogie waved back with an easy grin. 

“Thanks for taking care of me,” He replied, “See you tomorrow night?”

Hyejin nodded. “See you!”

Outside, she just caught the tail-end of Wheein waving goodbye to the group of werewolves she was with.

“Not ditching me for a pack are you?” Hyejin teased, looping their arms together as they made the slow trek home. Wheein just laughed.

“No, but it’s nice to meet new friends every now and then.”

“I totally agree.”