a/n: the dialogue with italics is the creature's inner thoughts and way of conversation.

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Minjoo paced up and down her room, dragging a hand through her hair. “I’ve looked everywhere,” she said furiously into her phone, “and I swear, it is not here.”

“Did you wash it?”

“I didn’t! No! It should be,” Minjoo stomped over to her closet again and yanked the door open, “it should be right here, but it’s not! It’s not here!”

“Okay, calm down.”

“Yuri, this is not something to be calm about!”

A sigh. “Where did you last see it?”

“Right here, in my closet. I distinctly remember hanging it up.”

“Well, look, if you don’t wear it this month, nothing really terrible will happen, right? It’ll just be—”

“Really itchy! Headaches! All my bones will hurt!”

“Just pretend you’re sick.”

“I can’t! Yujin will get suspicious! She lives here now, remember?”

“Why don’t you just tell her? I mean, it’s been a month since you’ve moved in together. Isn’t this something she should know?”

Minjoo laughed. “Really? Just straight up say, oh, by the way, I’m a werewolf and I get kinda itchy and growly every full moon unless I wear this magical fur coat that will help me turn into a wolf?”

“That works.”

“She’ll flip out!”

“You don’t know that, Minjoo. Give her a little more credit.”

She groaned. “Please help me find it?”

“How? I’m not standing in your house. Can’t you just sniff it out?”

“I’ve tried. I’ve seriously tried.” Minjoo closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then another. “No, I can’t smell it. Everything is mixed up with her scent, it’s everywhere and I can’t tell where the stupid coat is!”

“Have you looked under the bed?”

“I did, it’s not—” Minjoo paused. Her ear twitched and she whispered hurriedly into her phone. “She’s coming. I’ll call you back later.”

“No, don’t call me, just find it.”

“But—”

“Minmin?”

Minjoo swiftly ended the call and sat down on the bed, pretending to scroll through her phone. “Hmm?”

“Who were you talking to?”

“Oh, just Yuri,” said Minjoo. As she sensed Yujin walking into the room, something at the bottom of Minjoo’s spine began to itch. She stifled a growl of frustration — before they’d moved in together, she thought she could deal with the hormones, but god, she did not appreciate how they always acted up whenever Yujin was close by. Especially during the full moon. Ignoring the uncomfortable sensation, Minjoo looked up at her girlfriend.

“What do you want for dinn—Oh, my god.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t move!”

Yujin froze, eyes wide. Her fingers stilled on the zipper of the fuzzy brown jacket that she was wearing. “O-Okay? What is it? Is it a bug? Where?”

“Where did you…” Minjoo stood slowly. “Where did you find that?”

“Find what?”

“The jacket.”

Yujin looked down. “Oh, this? It was in your closet and it looked warm so I borrowed it. Is-is something wrong?”

“Um, well—don’t zip it!”

“Why?”

“Just don’t zip it. Please?” Minjoo held up a hand. “Please give it to me?”

“What’s wrong with this jacket?”

Minjoo opened , then closed it. The itch had now spread up her back, into her shoulders, and it was really bothering her. “It’s, it’s, uh,” she squirmed as a spot on her waist zinged, “it’s mine, please—”

“Minjoo-ah, are you okay?”

“Absolutely fine,” said Minjoo in a strained voice, smiling as best as she could as her arms also began to burn. Her eyes were fixed on the way Yujin’s nervous fingers were still playing at the zipper. “Can I ha-have it back?”

Yujin stepped foward in concern. “Are you sur—”

“Please don’t come any closer!”

Shocked, Yujin stood uncertainly in the doorway. Her face fell. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“No!” Minjoo shook her head fervently. “No, you’re not! I just, uh—DON’T ZIP THE JACKET!”

But it was too late. In horror, Minjoo watched as the zipper closed itself magically — and yes, magically, because she knew the fur coat had some attitude imbued into it, the little bastard — and zipped all the way up to Yujin’s chin.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Yujin, her face a mask of confusion, looked as though she was about to speak when a ripple went through her body. “Min—?”

“No, no, no, no,” mumbled Minjoo frantically, lurching forward towards Yujin. “ her! Goddammit, she’s not a werewolf! Stop!” But the coat didn’t listen; instead, Minjoo found herself grabbing at increasingly realistic fur, until finally, a wolf stared up at her with frightened eyes.

A wolf. A wolf cub.

It whimpered, then jumped as it startled itself, and in its uncoordinated bewilderment, the cub tripped over its paws and fell over into Minjoo’s lap.

 

“Thank you so much for coming over, I’ve been goi—no, stop moving, Yujin! Stop!” Minjoo yelled.

Yuri caught the little wolf pup just as she squirmed out of Minjoo’s arms. Shutting the door behind her with her foot, she lifted Yujin up and stared into the big brown eyes. “I have one question,” said Yuri after a long moment, not breaking eye-contact.

“Just one?”

“Well, the first of many questions. Why is she a puppy?”

Minjoo threw up her hands. “I have no idea. Is it because she’s not a werewolf?”

“Hmm. Possible. The coat’s probably a little confused. Can Yujin understand us?”

The pup yipped.

“Not at first,” said Minjoo, scratching absentmindedly at her arm, “but I think she’s getting the hang of it now. Right, Yujin?”

The pup nodded, then whined.

“Can you understand her?”

“Kind off? She has a really bad accent so I really can’t tell what she’s saying.”

Yuri sighed. “Here, hold her,” she said, ing the surprised pup at Minjoo. “I’m going to transform, since we’re deep enough into this as it is.”

As Yuri pulled out a ratty army-green cap out of her bag, Minjoo moved towards the couch and sat down. “It’s okay,” she said to Yujin softly, the baby fur on her head. “Yuri will help.”

“I don’t think I can do much, but, well…” Yuri shrugged. Smoothing out the cap, she put it on.

Almost immediately, there was a shower of dancing sparks. Minjoo held on tight to Yujin, who had started to scrabble madly at her shirt in terror. “Hey! Hey, it’s just Yuri! Calm down!” The pup whimpered and buried her head into Minjoo’s stomach.

When the sparks settled, there was a beautiful fox sitting neatly in their living room. "Hello?"

“I can hear you.” Minjoo nodded as Yuri’s voice echoed in her head.

"Can she?"

Minjoo looked down at the cowering bundle of fur. “Um, yeah, I think so.”

"Okay, Yujin, look at me."

The pup refused to budge.

"Minjoo, drop her on the ground."

“What? That’ll hurt her!”

The fox gave Minjoo an exasperated look. "She’s a wolf now. She can deal with it."

“Yujin, I don’t want to drop you. I’ll put you on the floor and you’ll listen to Yuri, okay?”

The wolf pup looked up at Minjoo with huge, sad eyes.

“She won’t hurt yo—”

"Jesus, you two are just wet tissues, really." Without warning, Yuri jumped up onto the couch, bit down on the scruff of Yujin’s neck, and carried the puppy into the kitchen before Minjoo could even react.

“Wa— hey! Be careful with her!”

"Don’t be a mother hen. Give me ten minutes with her and don’t hover, okay? Go read a book or something."

Eight minutes and forty seven seconds later, Minjoo tore her eyes away from the clock (and threw down the novel she had not been reading) as Yuri trotted in. Behind her, Yujin followed along with her tail between her legs.

"Okay, good news or bad news first?" Yuri said in her mind.

Which Yujin immediately retorted with, "There’s no good news!"

Minjoo gasped as she heard Yujin finally talked. “You learned to talk!”

"She bit me!"

“Yuri!”

The fox flicked her tail dismissively. "Please, it was hardly a bite at all. Anyway, that’s the good news. She can talk now."

“Okay, and the bad news?”

The wolf pup hung her head as Yuri said, "Bad news is that I can’t get her to change back."

“What! But you’re like, super magical! Surely you can do fox magic or something to fix her?”

"Well, I can’t find the stupid zipper on your jacket. How did your parents deal with you as a cub?"

Minjoo frowned. “I think they just…kind of let me roll around as a wolf until the full moon set. And then it just kinda…worked out. I turned back.”

"That’s probably what’s going to happen. You just have to wait a few days."

"But I don’t wanna be a wolf!" Yujin held up a paw. "This is squishy!"

"Y-You don’t like wolves?"

Yujin’s ears, too big for her tiny body, pricked up. "No! I just— this is a lot to process and it’s not helping that I’m very, very close to the ground. I’m not used to it"

"Minjoo, can I ask another question?"  Yuri asked.

“O-Okay.”

"How were you planning on breaking this to her?" Yuri turned to Yujin and carefully sniffed at the pup. "I mean, you would’ve had to change into wolf-form if she hadn’t put the coat on, right? How were you going to explain that?"

As two pairs of expectant eyes swung towards her, Minjoo swallowed. “Um, so, I, uh…” She bit her lip. “To be very honest, I didn’t think that far.”

"So you were just gonna suddenly become a wolf and not tell her?!"

“I was gonna hide!”

"Where?! You live together!"

Minjoo groaned. “I don’t know, I don’t know what I was thinking!”

"Why didn’t you tell me earlier?" Yujin hopped up and tried to get onto the couch, only to slip and hit the ground with a thump. "Ow!"

Minjoo picked the puppy up gently. “I guess I didn’t…I didn’t know how you would react and I was scared you’d walk out on me.”

"Why would I do that?!"

“Okay, well,” they looked up to see Yuri back in human form, opening the front door, “I’ll leave you two to sort that out. Let me know if anything else goes wrong — and Yujin, remember what I told you, do not try to eat chocolate.”

“Thanks, Yuri.”

The fox girl threw a casual thumbs-up at them before closing the door.

In the sudden silence, Minjoo looked down into Yujin’s fuzzy face and said, “How about we talk this out over dinner?”

Yujin took the explanation surprisingly well. It was very likely that her current state had a lot to do with how calmly she nodded through Minjoo’s attempt to get all the necessary information across, but Minjoo wasn’t going to be nit-picky. If Yujin was okay with her being a werewolf, then, well, good.

At dinner, they had struggled for a bit. Yujin couldn’t eat any human food with her baby teeth, no matter how hard she tried to work at a piece of leftover pizza, so Minjoo had ended up cooking a bit of chicken and cutting it up really small for her. Minjoo had to say — it was really adorable to watch; she spent most of her meal watching Yujin chew awkwardly while getting bits of chicken stuck up her nose.

But as night fell and the full moon came out in all its evil glory, it stopped being fun. Minjoo had taken a really, really long shower to get the itch and the pain to go away, but the moment she had stepped out of the hot water, the dull ache had set in all over body again. She forced herself to at least dry her hair before falling onto the bed.

"Minjoo-ah? I know you’re really tired, but, um, can you help me up?"

Minjoo opened her eyes in shock. “Oh, god, sorry,” she said, reaching down by the bedside to pick the puppy up. She set Yujin onto the bed carefully and her head with one trembling hand. “Wake me if you need anything, okay?”

"You should sleep."

“I will try,” said Minjoo wryly.

The wolf pup tilted her head, her giant ears flopping over comically. "Is it hard to sleep?"

“Everything hurts but the moon makes me want to run, so, yeah. It’s going to be a long night.”

"Sorry," said Yujin, creeping slowly to lie down in the hollow formed by Minjoo’s body. "The coat helps, right?"

“Well, it changes me into a wolf, so this stuff would be natural.”

"Sorry."

Minjoo pulled the pup close. “Don’t be,” she said softly into the fur. “I’m just glad you don’t mind this.”

"Is this why you tell me you’re sick every month? I always thought it was period pains."

“They’re kinda similar, so I figured you might understand that explanation easier.”

"Fair enough." The pup wriggled until she found a comfortable position, tucked snugly in Minjoo’s arms. "Does it hurt or something?"

“It itches everywhere, because my body feels like there should be fur instead of just skin. And my bones hurt because they’re trying to expand but it’s not happening. And everything is too bright and too loud, to be honest,” Minjoo sighed, “so I’m actually glad you’re thinking at me, instead of talking.”

"Is there any way I can help?"

“You’re warm like this. It helps take off a bit of the pain. Plus, I think you being in wolf form actually decreases the effect you have on me in your human form, thank god.”

The puppy sat up and Minjoo opened her eyes blearily. Somehow, Yujin managed to look horrified with a furry face. "What do you mean? Do I hurt you?" Her tail drooped. "Is it because I’m not a werewolf?!"

“No! No,” Minjoo scratched Yujin’s ears reassuringly, “No, it’s not because you’re a werewolf.”

"So I do hurt you?!" The puppy’s ears drooped dramatically.

“No, you don’t. Okay? Don’t think that.”

"But you said…the effect…or something."

Minjoo pulled the blankets up to cover them. “Well,” she said gently, “in your human form, you— you know what pheromones are?”

"Like…hormones that sync up people’s periods or something?"

“Yeah, like that. So when it’s almost full moon and I’m still in human form, your pheromones — please don’t take this the wrong way — your pheromones amplify the effects.”

"Of your itching and pain?"

“Yeah.”

The puppy whimpered, rolling frantically out of Minjoo’s hold. Yujin stood on the bed with her tail between her legs. "So I do hurt you!"

“No!”

"Yes! You just said it! Is this why you always tell me not to come over when you disappear every month?!"

Minjoo tried to reach for Yujin, but the puppy backed away. “Yujin, why are you so far away?”

"Because I’m making it worse for you!"

“But you’re in wolf form, so it’s okay.”

"But in human form…wait, then everyone does that to you too? Is that why you have to stay in?"

“I mean, I’m also a full-blown wolf, so that’s really the major reason I stay in.” Minjoo tugged on a soft baby paw. “But no, not everyone. Let me finish! Not everyone, just you, because you’re my person.”

The puppy stared with huge guilt-filled eyes. "What do you mean?"

“Like, um,” Minjoo scratched at her neck, “because you’re, you know, wolves stay with one, uh, one other wolf for a long time, and, um, like that.”

"So I’m your…mate, or something?"

Minjoo groaned. “It’s so weird to use that word.”

"Did you imprint on me?"

“Not exactly. We don’t really imprint — that’s a misconception. We just get really attuned to one person over time, that’s all. It’s not that mystical.”

"So you’re really attuned to me? Because I’m your person?"

Minjoo looked up to see the little cub sitting with its tail high and chest puffed out. “Look who’s all cocky now,” she said teasingly, patting the space beside her. “Come back, I need my personal heater.”

"You mean your special person."

“Okay, okay, my special person.” Minjoo rolled her eyes. “You’re never going to let that go now, are you?”

"Never."

Minjoo breathed out contentedly as Yujin curled back up against her chest. “Good pup,” she said absentmindedly, about to doze off.

"Minjoo?"

“Hmm?”

"Does this mean we’ll definitely get married?"

Minjoo’s eyes flew open. “What?!”

"Well, you said," Yujin’s ears twitched uncertainly, "You said wolves have one mate—"

“Please don’t use that word.”

"Partner?"

“Partner works.”

"You said wolves have one partner for a long time, right?"

Minjoo ran her fingers through Yujin’s fur. “Right.”

"And you asked me to move in with you."

“Mhmm.”

"So," the puppy edged in closer, touching her nose to Minjoo’s nose, "You picked me to be your special person, right?"

Minjoo swallowed. “I-If it makes you uncomfortable…I mean, we’ve only been living together for a month, I know it’s really fast and all—”

"I like it."

“Hmm?”

The puppy the tip of Minjoo’s nose affectionately. "I like that you picked me and that you’re syncing up with me and that I’m your special person forever and ever and ever."

Minjoo stared. “It doesn’t…scare you?”

"It makes me very happy."

“Oh,” said Minjoo.

"I love you," said Yujin, her tail wagging.

“I love you too, silly,” said Minjoo, dearly.

The next morning, they were having breakfast when Yujin walked across the table and sat down in front of Minjoo.

"Can I ask a question?"

Minjoo looked up from her cereal.

"If we have babies, will they be werewolves too?"

Minjoo spit out her cereal. “What the heck?!”

"Oops!"

“What…” Minjoo wiped with a tissue, “what are you talking about?”

Yujin twitched her ears. she said earnestly, "If we have babies, will they be werewolves too? Since I’m not a werewolf."

Minjoo stared at Yujin. Then looked at her cereal. Then looked back at Yujin. “I can’t—” she said finally, “I can’t have this conversation with you right now. Oh my god. This is so weird.”

"Why? I’m just thinking ahead."

“Yujin, you’re literally a baby right now.” Minjoo shuddered and picked up her bowl as she stood up. “That’s just…so weird. So weird.”

"But I’m an adult in my brain!"

Minjoo emptied the milk down the drain. “Yes, but you’re physically a baby right now so we are not having this conversation.”

"What about your parents? Are they both werewolves?"

“My mom is a werewolf. My dad isn’t.”

"Whoa. She doesn’t look like one."

Minjoo turned and gave Yujin a flat stare. “So I look like one?”

"Not really, no."

“We don’t have to be hairy, Yujin.” She went back to her seat and sat down. As Yujin scampered over, Minjoo scratched her under the chin. “We just look like normal people.”

"What about your mom’s parents?"

“They were both werewolves. But my uncle is full human.”

"Oh, so it’s random?"

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Yujin tilted her head up to allow Minjoo to scratch her neck. "So if we have babies, they could be human or werewolf?"

“Oh my god,” Minjoo flinched away, “No! No, no, no, no, no!”

"Why not? You don’t like babies?"

“Okay, honestly, I don’t understand how you’re so cool with this. You just found out last night that I’m a werewolf now you’re asking about babies?!”

Yujin blinked slowly, her tail moving hesitantly. "Too fast?"

“Isn’t this too fast for you?”

"No?"

Minjoo met Yujin’s steady eyes and sighed. “Okay, well, first of all, we’re both female.”

"Oh. It’s not magical?"

“…No!”

"That ."

“What were you expecting?!”

The pup somehow managed to shrug. "I thought it would be magical."

“It isn’t!”

"So I guess your pa—"

“Yujin, I am not discussing my own conception with you ever, and most definitely not when you’re a pup!”

"Ah, so I should’ve said pup instead of baby."

Minjoo got up and stomped away from the table, her entire face bright red. “I’m going back to bed,” she muttered.

"Wait, Minjoo, I can’t get down from the table! Help! Minjoo!"

Two minutes later, Minjoo nearly screamed as something landed heavily onto her stomach. “What the fu—” She sat up on the bed to find Yujin panting happily at her. “How did you get off the table?”

"I jumped!"

“From the table?” Minjoo picked Yujin up anxiously. “Did you hurt yourself? It’s a really long way to drop!”

"I did it! I learned how to jump! And I jumped onto the bed!"

Minjoo rolled her eyes fondly. “Yes, you did.” She cuddled Yujin close and kissed the top of her furry head. “You’re getting the hang of this now, aren’t you?”

"Teach me more!"

“More what?”

"More wolf things!"

Minjoo laughed. “Is it just me or is being a puppy making you revert back into childhood?”

"Teach me how to howl!"

“That’s really complicated, though.”

The puppy wagged her tail furiously. "Teach me!"

“Yujin, it’s like a whole language. There’s grammar and intonation and vocab and—”

"Teach me!"

“I can’t, I don’t even howl that well.”

"I don’t believe you."

“It’s true! Plus, it’s not something I can just teach. You kind of just…learn as you go.”

"So, like this?" The pup threw back her head and made a high-pitched keening sound. "Awuuuu!"

“No! Shh! Yujin, people will hear you!”

"Don’t care! Awuuu!"

“Stop it!”

"Am I doing it right?"

Minjoo squeezed her eyes shut. “Please,” she said tightly, “It’s really loud and you’re hurting my ears.”

"Oh." The noise died immediately. "Sorry, I forgot."

“It’s okay.”

The pup whined softly, her tail limp as she squirmed closer to Minjoo. "Sorry. Is it still painful?"

“It’s better in the daytime, but my hearing’s still more sensitive than usual.”

"Sorry."

“It’s okay,” said Minjoo with a smile. “I’m fine.”

"Did I do it right, though?"

“Uh…”

"No? What did I say?"

“I didn’t understand most of it, but I think you definitely mentioned something about ‘cheesesticks’ and then later on ’tax returns’ or something.”

Yujin blinked. "Tax returns?"

“Yeah.”

"So I wasn’t doing it right."

“What were you trying to say?”

"I was trying to see if howling about pups would make you reconsider."

“Yujin, no!”

As evening drew near, the itching started up again. Minjoo moved restlessly through the house: she sat down for a bit on the couch, then stood up and walked around the kitchen before throwing herself on the bed and screaming into the pillows.

"Minjoo-ah?"

Minjoo lifted her head as she heard the uncertain voice. “Yes?”

"Are you okay?"

“Yeah, just antsy,” she said, sitting up. As Yujin jumped gracefully onto the bed, Minjoo grabbed the pup and flopped back onto the mattress. “Yujin, Yujin, Yujin,” she mumbled, running her hands through Yujin’s fluffy fur over and over again. “I love you. So much.”

"Me too!"

“But this is really weird!” Minjoo let out a frustrated groan and turned away from Yujin. “Why are you a puppy?!”

"I don’t know."

“Argh!”

"I thought that if I was in wolf form, I wouldn’t affect you as much…?"

Minjoo covered her face with her hands. “It’s the full moon tonight.”

"Eh? What about yesterday?"

“It’s the fullest today. A moon looks full for about three days, but on the second day it’s the fullest and therefore the most powerful.”

"Oh."

“Sorry, I—” Minjoo took a deep breath. “I’ll try to keep it together.”

"Is there anything that will help?"

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I just, I need to be moving. Running.”

"Okay, so let’s go run!"

Minjoo turned around again to see Yujin doing her puppy head-tilt again. “But that means going outside.”

"Do you usually run inside when it’s the full moon?"

“Well, no, but I also usually drive out to the countryside and camp there for a few days anyway.”

"Oh! Let’s do that!"

“Right now?”

"Yeah! Camping! I want to go outside too!"

“But…”

"It’s Sunday tomorrow! Weekend! Let’s do it!"

Minjoo considered it for a moment. Then, abruptly, she stood up. “Okay, let’s do it."

Ten minutes later, Minjoo had all their stuff in the trunk of the car; she then proceeded to buckle Yujin in very securely in the shotgun seat.

"I don’t like the seatbelt," said Yujin petulantly. "It smells weird."

“Okay, well, that’s your own human smell so you have to deal with it, okay?”

"What! No way! That’s not me!"

“Yes, it is. Now stop moving.”

"Ew, why do I smell like…"

“Apples?”

"Yeah! Apples!"

Minjoo shrugged, wedging two pillows firmly around Yujin. “Sometimes you also smell like smoked ham.”

"Eww! Why?"

“I don’t know. Now, don’t move, okay?”

Minjoo closed the passenger door and hurried around to the driver’s seat. As she shut the door and got settled in, she glanced over to see Yujin staring at her.

“What?”

"I really think you’d make a great mom."

“Yujin, please can we not talk about that right now?”

"Right, sorry."

“Thank you.”

"You smell…different, by the way"

“Yes. I know.”

"Why? Is it because we’re in the car?"

“No.”

"Then—Oh."

“Yes. So can we please drop the baby talk?”

"Roger that."

Minjoo took a deep breath of the night air. Almost instantly, the uncomfortable buzzing in her head faded to a barely-present hum, and the itch along her spine also settled. “Thank god,” she whispered to herself.

"Um, hello, please let me out of the car?"

She turned to see Yujin looking at her sadly through the windows. Hurrying to open the door, Minjoo stuck her tongue out apologetically. “Sorry,” she said to Yujin as she unbuckled the small pup. “Can you get down by yourself?”

Her answer came in the form of Yujin taking a massive leap — and then promptly hitting the ground, head first. "Ow!"

“Oh god, are you okay?”

"Wow! Grass feels so squishy!"

Minjoo watched, grinning, as Yujin bounced around the car happily.

“Useful, isn’t it?”

The puppy ran up to Minjoo, her tail wagging furiously.

“I’m glad you think so,” laughed Minjoo. “Come on, let’s get the tent set up.”

They got it done in less than twenty minutes; even with Yujin’s interruptions here and there, Minjoo fixed everything up with the ease that comes with doing something over and over again. In the little clearing just inside the woods, they sat outside the tent and shared a jar of peanut butter.

Yujin at a smidgeon of peanut butter that was stuck on her nose.

Minjoo took out a tissue and wiped Yujin’s nose. “I always have a jar with me whenever I come out here.”

“I’m usually a lot bigger in wolf form. At least five times your size right now.”

The pup sat down and tried to look at herself. "Wow, that’s pretty big, right?"

“Average werewolf size, but slightly bigger than normal wolves.”

"Cool!" Yujin said, flopping down onto the grass. Her tail thumped happily against Minjoo’s foot.

“Wanna go run?”

"Yes!"

The crunching of leaves under her feet, the quiet susurration of the trees above, the breeze that tickled through her hair as she ran through the woods — this was really what Minjoo had needed for the past two days. Even out of wolf form, she could still feel her heart beating wildly, the way it should be. Like this, the unearthly call of the moon finally morphed into the energizing light that Minjoo loved so much.

"Min— hold on— please— stubby legs—"

Minjoo pulled gracefully to a stop and turned around to see Yujin quite a ways behind her, struggling to get over a large branch. “Oh, sorry!” She hurried back and helped Yujin back onto her paws. “I didn’t realize how fast I was going. Are you okay?”

Yujin’s tongue was hanging out of .

“Poor baby,” said Minjoo, crouching down and patting the pup gently. “I’ll go slower.”

"No, go as fast as you want! I’ll catch up eventually."

“That’s dangerous. What if you get lost?”

"It’s okay!"

“Are you sure?”

The wolf cub put her slightly muddy front paws onto Minjoo’s knees.

 “You know the way back, right?”

"Yup!"

Minjoo hesitated for a moment. Then, she picked Yujin up and hugged her tightly. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”

In the end, Minjoo was back in twenty-seven minutes. She felt guilty leaving Yujin all by herself, so she ran extra fast and got back to the campsite early. In the clearing, everything was quiet; for a moment Minjoo felt a sudden surge of terror. “Yujin? Yujin? Are you there?”

There was no answer.

“.” Minjoo looked around for any sign of danger, and when she was certain there was nothing around, she just above dove into the tent.

"AHHHHH!"

“Oh my god, I thought you got kidnapped!” Minjoo caught her breath, staring at the pup who was cowering at the other end of the tent. “I’m so sorry, did I scare you?”

Yujin glanced up then nodded. "A little"

“You didn’t hear me call you?”

"No, I didn’t"

“Sorry, sorry,” said Minjoo. She moved further into the tent and patted the pup soothingly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. Go back to sleep.”

"It’s okay. You’re going to sleep now too?"

“Uh huh.”

"Are you feeling okay now?"

Minjoo nodded, ping her sleeping bag. “Much better now,” she said as she crawled into it. “Plus, being outside definitely helps.”

"I’m glad," said Yujin. She padded over and draped herself over Minjoo’s stomach.

“Are you warm enough?”

"It’s a bit cold"

“Here.” Minjoo opened the sleeping bag slightly. “If you don’t mind that I’m a bit sweaty, it’s a lot warmer inside.”

Minjoo giggled as Yujin wriggled into the sleeping bag. “That tickles. Do you have enough space?”

"Yep!" Yujin snuggled into Minjoo’s tummy.

“Can you breathe down there?”

"Yep!"

“Do you need to pee before we sleep?”

”Nope! Don’t want to move anymore.”

Minjoo patted the little lump under the sleeping bag. “Alright then. Good night, Yujin.” She added. “Cute.”

”I’m a wolf!”

“A wolf cub.”

”Still! I have fangs!”

“Shh. Sleep.”

They got back home late next morning. Minjoo went straight for the bathroom, and once she had finished showering, she came back out to the living room where Yujin was rolling around on the carpet.

“What are you doing, silly?”

”Thinking.”

Minjoo laughed. “Does rolling around help you think?”

”Will I turn back into a human soon?”

Minjoo sat down on the couch. “Within the next few days, yes.”

”By tomorrow?”

“Maybe. Probably, though I can’t be sure.”

”What about work?”

“Oh, you’re right.” Minjoo bit her lip. “I guess I’ll have to call in sick for you.”

”What do you usually do if the full moon falls on a workday?”

“Well, Yuri’s the supervisor’s assistant, right? She just tells him I’m sick.”

”And that works?”

“Foxes are, like,” Minjoo shrugged, “really powerful magicians.”

”Wow. I’m going to ask Yuri about it next time she shows up. Also, darn it.”

“What’s wrong?”

”Yuri said she was going to bring donuts in on Monday.”

“You might be able to make it to work. If the coat decides it’s had enough.”

”I won’t be stuck like this forever, right?”

“Probably not. I’m pretty sure you’ll switch back soon, so don’t worry about it.”

”Pretty sure?”

“Do you want me to call my mom and ask her?” Minjoo picked up her phone. “She would probably know best.”

”Will she mind?”

“Probably not. Here, I’ll just call.”

They waited, listening to the dialling tone. After a long moment a male voice said, “Hello?”

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Oh, hello, sweetie. What’s up?”

Minjoo looked at the wolf pup. “Is mom home?”

“Yes, but it’s the full moon right now, so…” He paused. “Hang on, why aren’t you in wolf form?”

“Ah, that’s a, ah, a long story. Can you put me on speaker? I need to talk to mom.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, dad. Everything is under control.”

“…That sounds bad, so I will get your mother on the line as soon as possible. Honey! Minjoo wants to talk to you!”

Minjoo set the phone on speaker before getting up and going to the kitchen. By the time she had poured herself a cup of water and returned to the living room, she heard her dad again.

“Minjoo? Your mom’s here now.”

“Hi, mom. Dad, you’re on speaker right now.”

“Oh.” His tone changed slightly. “Is Yujin there?”

“Yep.”

“Hi, Yujin!”

Yujin looked beseechingly at Minjoo, who sighed and said, “Actually, she’s kind of a wolf right now so she can’t talk.”

There was a long silence, and then, “She’s what?!”

“She found my jacket, accidentally put it on, and now she’s a wolf.”

“She’s a wolf?!”

“Yes, but she’s a wolf pup. Not a full grown wolf.” Minjoo picked Yujin up and set her on her own lap. “Which is why I need to talk to Mom. Mom?”

There was a clear bark from the other end of the line and Yujin’s ears pricked up immediately. ”She woofed!” Minjoo nodded and Yujin’s fur as her dad relayed the message

“Minjoo, your mom is asking how long it’s been since Yujin changed into wolf form.”

“Um, she changed around Friday evening, so it’s been…almost three days now?”

“She also wants to know if anything else off has happened? Can Yujin think like a human?”

“Yes, she can. She’s listening right now.”

“So she’s like a normal werewolf?”

“Yes, except that she’s a wolf pup. She doesn’t know how to take the jacket off, so I was thinking it would come off like it did for me, when I was a pup.”

A longer pause, and then her dad said, “Well, your mom thinks it’ll go back to normal pretty quickly. It seems like Yujin’s had a fairly standard transformation, so you’re right, she’ll probably change back in the next few days.”

Minjoo let out a sigh of relief that was echoed by the cub on her lap. “Thank god. Thank you so much.”

“Of course, dear,” said her dad kindly. “I have a question of my own. A few.”

“Mhmm?”

“Yujin is okay with you being a werewolf?”

”Of course!” Yujin answered.

“She says she is.”

“Oh, that’s really a relief,” said her dad. “We were really hoping she’d react well. Your mother and I are very happy.”

Minjoo giggled as Yujin’s tail started to wag unconsciously. “T-Thanks, dad.”

“And a second question: can you send us pictures?”

“Eh?”

“Of Yujin? Please? I mean, we have some of you, but you were running around so much they’re all blurry. Can you take a few of Yujin for us?” Her dad sighed happily. “You were so cute. I miss those days.”

“Uh,” Minjoo looked to Yujin, who nodded. “Okay. I’ll try, I guess.”

“Thank you, sweetie. Oh, one last thing. Is Yujin hearing this?”

“Yes, she is.”

Her dad cleared his throat. “Well, Yujin, I’d like to invite you for a meal sometime. Just me and you. We can talk about living with werewolves, alright? I know you probably have a gazillion questions.”

Yujin stood up and nodded. ”That would be great!”

“She said that would be great.”

“Wonderful. I can’t wait. Ah, my very own daughter-in-law.”

“Da—”

Yujin’s bark of excitement cut through Minjoo’s sentence. ”Yay! Father-in-law!”

“Oh, your bark is so cute! Now, remember, Minjoo, send us the pictures. Oh, and your mom says to remember to wash the coat.”

“I will. Thanks, dad!”

“Bye, sweetie! Bye, Yujin!”

As Minjoo hung up, Yujin flopped across Minjoo’s lap in contentment ”I like your dad a lot,” she said, tail wagging furiously.

“Yeah?”

”Yeah! Let’s take pictures! Am I cute? Am I?”

“Hold on, I have to call in sick for you first.”

”Aww, okay.” Yujin hopped off the couch. ”I’m going to eat the rest of that peanut butter.”

That night, as they snuggled together in the bed, Minjoo said, “You know, the bed feels so much bigger.”

”Because I’m tiny now?”

“Yeah.” Minjoo rubbed her cheek against Yujin’s ears. “I hope you turn back soon. There’s not enough of you to hug right now.”

”But I’m cuter like this, right?”

“Hmm, that’s debatable, to be honest. I mean, this is cute, but human Yujin is also adorable.”

”Is that why you like me?”

Minjoo pulled back. “Eh? I mean, that’s not all of it, but sure. I like that you’re cute.” She paused and then said, “Why are you so much more straightforward than usual?”

”I don’t know. There doesn’t seem to be much of a filter when I’m like this.”

“I kinda like it.”

”Like what?”

“You, being uninhibitedly honest. I like hearing how weird your thoughts are.”

The wolf cub whuffled into Minjoo’s neck. ”I’ll try to do this more when I’m back in human form.”

“Good.”

”You know what else is good?”

“What, peanut butter?”

”No. I mean, yes, peanut butter is also good, but most of all,” Yujin put a small paw on Minjoo’s face, ”I am glad that now I know a whole new side of you that I never could’ve imagined.”

Minjoo the soft fur on Yujin’s paw. “I’m still amazed that you’re so calm about me being a werewolf. I thought you might’ve run screaming by now.”

”Of course not. I love you. Why would I run away from you?”

“Well,” Minjoo frowned, “because I’m not fully human.”

”If I was the werewolf, would you run away from me?”

“No, obviously, but that’s because I already know what werewolves are. You didn’t know, and yet you stayed.”

”I couldn’t really have run away like this, right?” said Yujin, flicking her tail.

“Oh. Um. D-Do you want to? Not be with me? Anymore?” Minjoo swallowed, her hold on Yujin loosening. “If, I mean…”

”Minjoo, there is no other place I want to be but here. With you. Forever and ever and ever.”

“Honest?”

Yujin fixed Minjoo in her steady gaze. ”Absolutely. And it’s not just because I’m now a wolf and I know all your magical wolfy secrets. I’ve been 100% sure of you for a long time. I was waiting for you to be 100% sure, too, but after this, I realize how much thought you’ve put into us — and I’m really, really happy. I want to be with you for a long time.”

“You thought I didn’t love you?!”

”No! I knew you did. I just thought I should wait for you to commit entirely.” Yujin touched Minjoo’s nose with her own. ”But now I know how much you’ve already committed by picking me to be your person.”

“I’m sorry.”

”Wait, why?”

“You thought I didn’t love you enough.”

”But you do! I know now!”

Minjoo shook her head. “But if you hadn’t put the jacket on, you wouldn’t have known. And that’s my fault.”

”Naw, I think I would’ve known anyway. Maybe a little later, but I would’ve.”

Minjoo pulled the wolf pup closer, and for a long moment she buried her face into the warm fur and breathed in deep. Finally, she said, “I promise, I won’t hide anything from you again. I promise.”

”And I’ll try to be more open. Because you’re my person, too.”

“I love you. So much.”

”I love you too.” Yujin sighed in contentment. ”I’m glad this all happened. Plus, no work tomorrow!”

Minjoo yawned. “I told Yuri I’ll stay home too.”

”Can we go buy more peanut butter?”

“I can’t take you into the supermarket.”

”Please?”

“We’ll see.”

Next morning, Minjoo woke up when something heavy leaned on her. “Yujinie, please,” she mumbled, “It’s the middle of the night. You can go to the bathroom by yourself now, right?”

“I have good news and bad news.”

“Can they both wait until morning?”

“Bad news is that I’m no longer cute and fluffy, so we can’t send anymore pictures to your dad.”

“Mhmm.”

“Good news is that I’m no longer cute and fluffy! I’m back!”

“Mhmm.”

“Minjoo, are you listening to me?”

“Go back to sleep.”

Minjoo rolled over and was about to slip back into her dream when warm fingers crept up her shirt; her eyes snapped open to see Yujin grinning mischievously down at her.

“You’re human!”

“Yes, I just told you that!”

“What!”

“You told me to go back to sleep,” said Yujin, sitting back onto Minjoo’s stomach. “You weren’t the slightest bit interested.”

“I was sleeping, Yujin.”

“But you’re awake now, right?”

“Where’s the jacket?”

Yujin waved her arms. “I’m still wearing it.”

“Oh god, please take it off. I don’t want even the slightest possibility of you become a puppy again.”

“Okay, well, good news or bad news?”

Minjoo huffed. “Either. But first, you’re squishing me and I can’t breathe.”

“Bad news is, I seem to have lost the clothes I was wearing before I turned into a wolf.”

“Oh, no!”

“Good news is, I’m now human,” Yujin leaned down, close to Minjoo’s face, “So we can actually have that conversation about babies that you were so reluctant to continue.”

“Yujin, it’s the middle of the night. I know we don’t have work tomorrow, but let’s talk in the morning, okay?”

“But—”

“And please take the coat off?”

“Minjoo,” said Yujin, drawing the name out slowly.

“Yes?”

“I don’t know how to make it any clearer, but I’m literally not wearing anything under this jacket.”

Minjoo stared up at Yujin for a long, silent moment. “Oh,” she managed, finally.

“Ah, you’re finally awake. Can we continue?”

 

THE END