wheein

When Wheein entered the studio, she wasted no time slipping on her paint splattered converse and overalls and heading over to her area in the studio, surprised to find that there were already paint cans waiting for her there.

Her art collective’s next gallery show was in just a week and she was way behind on her pieces for it. She stared at her open cans of paint for a few moments, grabbing a brush and doing a few test swatches on a scrap piece of paper by her table. She was still thinking about other color combinations in her head when she heard another person enter.

“Good Morning Wheein-ah!”

She looked over her shoulder to smile at the owner of the studio as he entered, dropping his own bags haphazardly by the door before picking up where he left off yesterday with his sculpture. “Good Morning Oh Min!” she called out, turning back to her paint swatches, wondering if she should hunt for some pink in their stocks.

“Did you see the paint I left out for you yesterday?” He asked. Wheein could tell he was smiling even though he was still wearing a face mask. “I thought they would go with the vibe you were describing.”

Wheein nodded, grabbing an empty bucket and mixing some red and orange together before adding half a can of white. “Oh Min-nim always knows what I’m trying to do before I know it myself.”

“Happy to help” Oh Min said, already half to himself as he focused more on bending wire for his sculpture.

They worked in silence like that for the rest of the morning, Eventually more members of their collective arrived, each one disappearing to their own corner of the studio to finish a piece or start a new one. 

Wheein was in the middle of letting some watered down white paint drip down her now peach spattered canvas when she heard footsteps crunch under the plastic covering of her floor.

“It’s coming along nicely!”

“Thank you, Unnie!” Wheein trilled, setting the paintbrush down before reaching out to pull Heyne into a side hug. The other painter giggled, trying to avoid crashing into the open cans of paint that were strewn about Wheein’s space. 

“Every time you hug me,” The older girl said, her tone already teasing, “Youngsoo thinks I’ve betrayed him for a different dog, he growls every time I come home.”

“Cute!” Wheein laughs, picking up a paintbrush to return to her painting, “Youngsoo should know that I’m the only puppy in your life.”

“Does that mean you’ll let me walk you during the next full moon?” Heyne teased.

“Shut up.”

“I’m ordering for pizza lunch, is there anything you want?”

Before she could control it, Wheein felt her tail burst out through the loose trousers of her overalls, past the hidden seam she had created in all her clothes. The traitorous thing wagged happily behind her at the prospect of food. In front of her, Heyne laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Pepperoni pizza please. You’re the best Unnie!”

When the pizza arrived, Wheein was painting pink and orange and yellow streaks across her canvas, three different flat brushes held in the spaces between fingers of her left hand while she alternated using them with her right. 

“Come and get it Wheein-ah!”

She placed a final streak of pink along one corner before leaving all her paint brushes on her table and wiping her paint streaked fingers against her overalls before joining her friends by the shared table that everyone just naturally designated as the “food table”. She had just reached the shared table when another one of the other artists approached from behind, trying to reach around Wheein for the stack of tissues. Losing his footing, he accidentally stumbled into the shelf nearest her, sending some of the items on the highest rack toppling down.

The chaos had everyone screaming and moving out of the way. Once the dust had settled, Heyne came crashing into Wheein, checking at her head where a toolbox had just narrowly missed hitting her. "Are you okay?"

Wheein nodded, fully aware that her tail had migrated to between her legs. Giving her true feelings away. The artist that had knocked into the shelf was apologizing profusely while Oh Min had set about putting everything away. "Good thing that toolbox didn't hit Wheein," Oh Min said, returning to his seat earlier and opening up the pizza boxes, "we would have lost our best artist."

That sent the group at ease, starting up a good natured round of teasing.

“You think you’ll finish it today?” Oh Min asked, around a slice of cheese and potato pizza. There was an unopened bottle of Coke by him that Wheein eyed as she reached for her own slice of pepperoni. She turned to look back at her painting before shrugging. “I think so. Maybe I’m more inspired today than I thought.”

“It’s definitely your style,” Baekhyun, a mixed media artist, said from his spot on the floor. All of her friends were staring at the painting now, taking it in. Wheein tried not to feel too self conscious.

“Are you going to give it a title?” Heyne asked, sneakily grabbing Oh Min’s bottle of Coke and passing it to Wheein. 

“Maybe not. I think I want the audience to look at it and get a feel for what it’s about instead of me having to tell them.”

“So what’s it about?”

Wheein looked around at her friends, normal mortals who had accepted her into their lives so openly and smiled. “Love. Different kinds of love.”

Her answer was met with laughter and a lot of good natured teasing. Wheein just laughed along with them.

byul

Usually, when Byul took a job, she tried to avoid projects that involved working under the afternoon sun during summer. She left Hell to avoid the heat, not subject herself to more of it. However, this was a special case, so as much as she hated the stinging dry heat that prickled at her skin, when she got the email for this job, she accepted without a second thought.

It was just after lunch when she arrived at the shoot, the familiar sight of the crew setting up lights and set pieces already making her feel at ease. “Hello everyone,” she bowed as she arrived, met with bows and polite smiles in return. Immediately she was approached by a younger woman, hair tied away from her face in a low ponytail and a metal clipboard tucked under her arm.

“Moon Byulyi-nim?” The woman asked. Byul nodded, taking off her sunglasses and tucking them into her bag.

“I’m Kim Yu Bin, the coordinator for the shoot today. The brand’s marketing director won't be here until later but he sends his regards.”

Byul nodded, opening to ask a different question when a sudden yelp distracted her. Yu Bin smiled. “Our talent is ready, so once you’re set up, we can begin.”

After thanking her and asking where she could set down her other bags, Byul grabbed her camera for portraits and approached the cordoned off area. Instantly, she was greeted by a cacophony of barks and the soft pattering of paws against cement as six or seven beagles came running over to her. 

Byul laughed, trying to crouch down and scratch behind seven ears at once without accidentally stepping on a paw or sitting on a tail. 

“Sorry!” A man jogged over, wearing a vest that had the logo of a local breeder on the chest. “They’re usually well behaved. You don’t live with a dog of your own, do you?” He stared at her with wide eyes.

Byul smirked, “Something like that.” She had to hold her camera above her head, to prevent a darker beagle from at the lens. One of the dogs had its two front paws on her thigh, at her neck and sniffing at her clothes. Byul gently pulled away.

The breeder struggled to wrangle all the beagles. Byul gamely pulled out her phone, snapping a few photos to send to Yong. “You’re all so cute!” She cooed, taking a few videos too. 

“You’re very at ease,” the breeder said, finally getting a hold of all his dogs. “You’ve photographed animals before?” Byul shrugged in response, dusting herself off before fiddling with the settings of her camera.

“I mostly do editorials for fashion magazines. Sometimes I do gallery exhibits too. This is a special occasion, I just really love dogs.” The breeder nodded, mostly to himself before scurrying away, dogs in tow. Byul chuckled after him, mortals were a curious race. 

“Everyone,” Yu Bin called out, “We can begin in a few minutes.”

Byul began taking a few test shots, fiddling with the lighting settings and coordinating with the different crew when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. It was a text from Yong.

I wasn’t aware that we were fighting. Hehe.

Byul chuckled, sending a differently angled shot of the beagles. We aren’t. But I made you smile right?

You’re gross, was Yong’s immediate reply . Byul had to pocket her phone then, to begin the shoot. As she crouched and contorted herself across the hot concrete, getting shot after shot of happy beagles playing with pet toys and wearing pet clothes for a new lifestyle brand, she could see the breeder by nearby, fists clenched at his sides as he watched her interact with his dogs. She shrugged it off.

By the time the shoot finished, the sun was already setting and the brand’s marketing director was thanking her profusely, happy with the photos she’d taken. Byul was packing up when she heard a whine by her knees, looking down to see one of the beagles smiling up at her. The same one that had been her neck earlier. “Hello, you,” Byul greeted, crouching and scratching its chin. “Why aren’t you with your siblings?”

Before she could reach down to pet the beagle on the head, it ran off again, this time toward the direction of the street. Byul didn't hesitate giving chase. She was still a few paces away when she realized that the beagle was about to run into uncoming traffic. Without hesitating, Byul ran over, quickly scooping the dog into her arms pivoting back unto the sidewalk just as a car sped past. The force and movement of it sending her flat on her . On her lap, the beagle was happily oblivious, up at her neck again. "You're not trying to send me back to Hell are you?" She mumbled mostly to the dog, trying to catch her breath.

She heard the breeder come running over again. “Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Is she okay?”

Byul bumped her nose with the dog’s pinching at the softness of its ears before handing the dog back. “She's fine, it was a close call though.” When the breeder had the beagle secured in his arms, she saw that same apprehensive look cross his face. She smirked. “You might as well ask.”

He looked embarrassed to be caught staring, bowing low before her. “Forgive me for being rude. I didn't think that--”

"A demon would save a dog?" Byul finished for him, nonplussed as she brushed herself off.

The breeder nodded, looking away from her, still embarrassed. Byul smiled and began walking back to the tents where she left her camera bags. “You’d be surprised how well animals can judge a being’s character.”

“Yes. Uhm. I think I just learned that today.” When she looked at him, the breeder was smiling back at her hesitantly. Byul bowed once, a quick dip of her head and her shoulders, then turned to go, adjusting her bucket hat around her horns as she checked her phone. There was a message from Yong sent while she was doing the shoot. 

Please buy yogurt. See you at home. 

hyejin

Hyejin was on a break between sets, halfheartedly nursing her full glass of beer when she heard a sudden sob behind her. Out of curiosity, she turned to find a woman sitting alone at one of the club’s sofas, an untouched bottle of soju beside her and her whole face covered in a handkerchief while she cried.

Hyejin turned to the bartender. “Uhm, is she alright?” She whispered, trying not to act too conspicuous. 

Her coworker shrugged in reply, mostly focused on pouring out whiskey into a tray of empty glasses. “She took a call sometime during your last song. I tried to give her some privacy, and she started crying after the call.”

Hyejin turned back to her glass, biting at her lip. She glanced back behind her to the woman, who wasn’t crying as much now but still sniffling into a ruined handkerchief. In front of her, the bartender smirked, “I wouldn’t Hyejin-ssi.”

She hummed. “I suppose if you’ve lived as long as me, you stop caring about things like shyness.” Hyejin said, taking a huge gulp of her beer before standing up.

“5,000 Won says it’s a failed job opportunity,” the bartender said, smirking. Hyejin raised a single eyebrow at him before reaching across the bar to shake his hand “Deal, but if I win, you serve that poor woman another bottle of soju on the house.”

The bartender laughed, shaking her hand before giving her the thumbs up. “You’re on.” Hyejin slinked away, beer glass in hand as she walked over to where the woman was still crying. 

“Excuse me?”

The woman started, staring at her with wide eyes before hastily turning away wiping furiously at her face with her sleeves. “I’m sorry. Please don’t mind me.” Hyejin smiled, moving her beer from one hand to another before motioning toward the empty chair near the woman. “Would it be alright if I sat down?”

The woman still wasn’t looking at her, unmoving although Hyejin could hear her continued sniffling. “You don’t have to worry ma’am, I haven’t harmed another human in over ninety years.”

That seemed to get a reaction out of the woman, turning to Hyejin with even wider eyes. With a simple shrug, Hyejin flashed a quick smile, putting her fangs in full display. “You’re the jazz singer,” the woman said. Hyejin nodded, taking another sip of her beer. 

The woman made another attempt at wiping her face before motioning with her hand, “Please, sit.”

They sat in an awkward silence for a while, Hyejin content to just sipping at her beer and keeping the woman company. It didn’t miss her notice how the woman eyed the glass of beer in her hands every few seconds. Finally, Hyejin chuckled, setting her glass down. “Would you like to ask me?”

The woman gaped at her for a few moments, blushing in embarrassment before finally asking. “I thought vampires only drink blood?”

Hyejin nodded, fingers tracing at the lip of her glass. “We do, but that doesn’t mean we cant enjoy normal food too. Blood is for sustenance, this” she picked up her beer glass, toasting the woman before taking a sip, “is for fun.”

The woman nodded, still quietly staring at her hands before finally nodding and leaning forward, burying her face in her palms. “My boyfriend broke up with me. Over the phone.”

Hyejin nodded, not saying anything. The woman looked up at her and continued, “Tonight is--was our anniversary.” Hyejin winced at that, “I’m sorry.”

The woman scoffed once, finally reaching for her soju bottle and taking a few deep gulps. “I should have known. The signs were there but I just kept clinging on. I smothered him.” She stared at Hyejin, embarrassed again. “I’m sorry, this must seem all very juvenile to you.”

“Not at all,” Hyejin said, “What you’re experiencing now is just as valid as what other women have experienced decades before you.”

The woman took another sip of her soju. “Have you ever--?” She trailed off, but the rest of her question was still plain. Hyejin downed the last of her beer, chuckling and nodding. “Yes, many times.”

“Oh my,” the woman mumbled, mostly to herself. They were silent again for a few minutes. On the other side of the club, Hyejin caught sight of the club manager, waving at her before tapping at the watch on his wrist. Hyejin nodded at him before standing up and smiling at the woman. “I have to perform again, but thank you for letting me sit with you.”

As she turned to go, she heard the woman call out, “I know it gets better, but  how do you get to that point?”

Hyejin turned  back, smiling, “One day at a time, I suppose. I think you have to let yourself feel the sadness, so that when you experience love again, it feels brighter and richer.”

The woman smiled at her, nodding and mumbling a soft thanks. Before Hyejin went back on stage, she passed by the bar. “I believe you owe that woman a bottle of soju,” she said. The bartender laughed, already pulling one out from the refrigerator. 

“Nothing gets past you, Hyejin-ssi.”

Much later, when Hyejin was already bundled up and ready to leave, she heard a distinctly feminine throat clear behind her. She turned to find the woman from earlier, giving her a watery smile. "Thank you," the woman said, "Your words really helped me tonight."

Hyejin smiled in return, bowing once before reaching out to shake the woman's hand. "It was nothing, I'm glad I could help."

The woman looked like she was about to say something else when her eyes widened and she immediately pulled at Hyejin's hand, wrenching her out of the way from a busboy halfway through tripping over his shoelaces, a tray of empty glasses shattering at the spot where Hyejin had been standing just moments earlier. They stared at each other in shock before Hyejin managed a breathy chuckle, carefully sidestepping the broken shards of glass. "I think we're even now." She told the woman, who looked back at her and smiled even wider. 

yongsun

Yongsun woke up to the sound of Hyejin coming home from work, the TV was still playing the horror movie marathon she had been watching. Beside her on the sofa, Byul was fast asleep.

“Why are you still awake, Unnie?” Hyejin asked as she hung up her coat. Yongsun paused the TV stretching out her arms and her wings, their living room momentarily glowing bright. 

“Byul and I were watching a horror marathon. We must have fallen asleep halfway through the second one though.”

As if hearing her name, the demon on the sofa groaned softly, turning on her side so one of her arms hung limply off the sofa, still asleep. Yongsun and Hyejin laughed under their breaths. 

“How was work?” Yong asked, walking past the vampire and into the kitchen to pull out the bottle of yogurt Byul had brought home, pouring herself a glass and taking a sip. After a moment’s thought, Yong set down her yogurt and began hunting through the cupboards for the pack of chips she knew Byul hid from her. 

“Unnie, what do you do everyday?”

The question took Yongsun by surprise as she searched for the snack. When she poked her head out from the cupboard, she saw that Hyejin was sitting at their dining table, wiping at her face with a makeup wipe. Yongsun smiled, turning back to searching for the bag of chips.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I have the jazz club. Wheeinie sells and exhibits with her art collective, Byulyi-unnie does her freelance work. What do you do everyday while the rest of us are out?”

Yongsun finally locates the chips, swiping them from the very back before returning with both the snack and the yogurt drink to continue her movie. “Well, someone has to take care of you three,” the angel said, teasingly, starting up her movie again. 

Hyejin laughed softly, shaking her head before making her own way upstairs and to her bedroom. “Good morning Unnie."

“Good morning Hyejin-ah.” Yong called out, eating her snack and finishing her movie alone. When she was done, the angel walked turned off the TV. She hesitated for a moment before turning back to the sofa and kneeling in front of Byul.

“Byul-ah.” She said softly, shaking the demon by the shoulder until Byul groaned again. Eyes squeezing shut tightly before blearily opening to blink up at her. “Come on,” Yong said, pulling at Byul’s arm, “let’s go to bed.”

“How did the movie end?” Byul mumbled, sitting up before letting herself be dragged up the stairs and into their shared bedroom.

“We can watch it again tomorrow,” Yong whispered, steering her demon to the bed before going through the motions of tucking Byul in. She looked down at Byul, making sure she was fast asleep again before sneaking back out of their bedroom. 

In the gray light of early morning, Yongsun walked to the nearest window in their apartment, the one just beside their sofa, waving a hand before the glass to reveal several angelic symbols hovering in the air. She studied them briefly, seeing that a few of were misaligned or warped. She wiped them away and redrew them again, new and correct this time before moving on to the other windows and their front door, fixing and straightening symbols as she went along. 

Once the entire first floor was secured, she moved on to the rooms upstairs, first adjusting the symbols on the bathroom window, before sneaking into Wheein’s room, then Hyejin’s, trying not to wake her roommates.

When she was satisfied, she tiptoed back into her and Byul’s room, fixing the symbols on their window before heaving a sigh of relief and finally letting herself crawl back into bed.

Instinctively, Byul shifted to make space for her, a warm hand automatically coming up to rest on her waist. “Are we safe?” Byul mumbled, the words muffled by her pillow.

“There’s nothing to be worried about.” Yong muttered, finally letting herself drift off to sleep.

When she woke up again, it was to the bright sunshine already filtering in through their window. Byul’s side of the bed was empty, and she could smell breakfast sausages frying from downstairs. She combed at the ruffled feathers of her wings before plucking off her halo, widening it and stepping through, changing from her pajamas to a cotton dress. The clock on their bedside table reading a little past noon.

Once she made it downstairs, she saw the rest of her roommates laughing over brunch. Yongsun smiled, “I guess we all slept in huh?” She said, grabbing her own plate and joining them. 

“Speak for yourself, Unnie.” Hyejin grumbled. Wheein and Byul laughed. “I actually had the weirdest dream,” Hyejin continued, her voice still hoarse from sleep. “I dreamt Yongsun-unnie came into my room and tried to purify my soul.”

Wheein burst out laughing, Byul shared a knowing look with Yong but said nothing. The demon was the only one who knew Yong would meticulously fix the angelic barrier around the apartment whenever she could. Effectively protecting her roommates from harm everyday.

In the here and now, Yong smiled at the other girls around the table, comforted by their smiles and laughter.