SinB felt something small and wet hit her cheek. It was enough to rustle her out from her slumber, but not enough to force her eyes to open. Bringing a drowsy hand to brush the moisture away, SinB nestled her head deeper into the crook of her arm as she continued to sleep.

The same sensation, though, landed on her nose. Then, her eyelid. Once more on her cheek. And, another one plopping directly into her ear.

Jostled by the bothersome stimuli, SinB quickly sat up to shake the liquid out of her ear canal.

Once her hearing went back to normal, SinB realized that the school sprinklers were already operating, misting the grass and plants around the field. She looked up at the hazy sky. Out peeked the sun rising amongst the morning clouds.

Yawning, SinB sensed something sticky coating her lips. She touched the corner of and saw what she figured was blood on her fingertips. Heart racing, she looked around at the ground and spotted the carcass of a squirrel next to her feet. SinB gasped, bringing her legs to her chest.

With no recollection of the night before other than coming across another werewolf, the frightened girl surmised that she had -out at some point. Hunting and killing a squirrel may not be the worst thing she has done during her wolf-state, but it certainly was one of the most disgusting outcomes. She could still taste the repulsive blood in the back of .

Trying to resist the urge to vomit, SinB stood up and scampered to where her clothes laid. Briskly, she began to redress herself, wiping with the sleeve of her black jacket along the way. Taking out her phone from her jeans, she checked the time: 5:06 am.

Classes began at 8:00 am. Staff and students tended to arrive an hour or two early in preparation of the school day. Using her heightened hearing, SinB tried to detect if anyone was already on campus. An eerie silence was all she could discern. Regardless, time was of the essence and she had to get moving.

Luckily, SinB told her parents that she was sleeping over Yerin’s house before she left yesterday afternoon. It would be a bit unusual if she were to suddenly show up in the morning. But, she already had a couple of excuses prepared if they do get skeptical.

After tightening the knot of her sneakers, SinB nimbly climbed the school’s fence and proceeded to run back home as quickly and unsuspiciously as she could.

“Dammit,” SinB cursed under her breath. “Where are my earphones?”

Bulldozing through the crowded hallway, SinB was much too occupied with digging through her backpack to care about the multiple shoulders she bumped into.

Returning home that morning proved to be less of a struggle than how she initially thought. With delicate footsteps, she tiptoed past the living room where her dad was still asleep on the couch and climbed up the stairs to her room. From there, she carried on with her usual school preparation rituals, but made sure to put in extra care of ridding the dirt and blood from the cravesses of her body and mouth. So much grime went down the drain of the bathtub and sink. She hoped her very meticulous mom wouldn’t notice during her routine afternoon cleaning spree.

Although she was expecting it, her parents didn’t question their daughter’s sudden appearance. In fact, it seemed as if they didn’t recognize her absence at all. Whatever reason it may be, SinB was just glad she dodged an interrogation.

She left her house earlier than usual, hoping to catch a particular neighbor who seemed to know much more than she led on. During the two times they walked home together, SinB was able to place a distinct scent for Umji: daisies. It was fragrant, but not too overpowering. Unfortunately, she did not pick up the scent anywhere near her neighbor’s house. And, so, she proceeded to walk to school alone.

As she arrived at the entrance of Navillera High, SinB thought it was best to get her earphones ready for another grueling day filled with boring lectures and the skinship between Yerin and Yuju which never failed to make her heart break.

She checked the pockets of her uniform and the pockets of the extra jacket she brought along. But, her white earphones were nowhere to be found. And, even as she continued to scour through her backpack, moving her assortment of pens and pencils, folders and notebooks, her gateway to a temporary nirvana remained missing.

Begrudgingly, she zipped her backpack and slung it over her shoulder as she continued to make a beeline to her locker.

Amongst the congested corridor leading to the locker, though, SinB instantly recognized the scent of her best friend. Eyes alert, she strained her neck, looking over the tops of students’ heads to see that Yerin was standing in front of her locker, perhaps waiting for her.

It wasn’t long before the older girl’s charming orbs locked in with SinB’s. A pleasant eye smile beamed on her face, causing SinB’s heart to palpitate.

“SinB-ah! Hey!” Yerin greeted and waved cheerfully, stepping to the side so SinB could access her locker.

“Annyeong, Yerin-ah,” SinB spoke in a laid-back manner, as she turned the wheel of the padlock to her corresponding locker combination.

From her peripheral, SinB could see Yerin’s smile faltering slightly from the apathetic acknowledgement. But, the older girl quickly bounced back, putting on even a brighter smile.

“So, about yesterday...,” Yerin shyly brought up.

SinB’s shoulders tensed, unsure which direction her best friend was going with the conversation. The first thought that came to her mind was the compromising position they found themselves in as SinB tried to retrieve back her phone. It was quick and sudden. But, SinB could still feel the euphoric sensation of her body pressing against Yerin’s. How they fit together so seamlessly. Shaking her head to get rid of the inappropriate image, SinB quickly grabbed a textbook before closing the locker. She looked at Yerin who still stared at her with a warm smile.

“Mianhae...,” Yerin confessed, guilt bringing down her happy features. “...for being too persistent in trying to send that text message, even though you kept telling me ‘no.’ I shouldn’t have made that assumption, and I should have respected your wishes. If I upsetted you in any way that caused you to leave so suddenly...I’m sorry, SinB-ah.” Head down, Yerin cautiously glanced up to see the younger girl’s reaction.

SinB breathed a sigh of relief. An affectionate smile lifted her demeanor as she lightly tapped the older girl’s upper arm. “I appreciate the apology, Yerin-ah, and I accept it. But, I really did have to leave, yesterday. The things going on with my parents’ divorce has been especially rough on my Umma. I wanted to be there for her.”

SinB wasn’t proud of using her parents’ rocky marriage as an excuse. But, with the increase of pill bottles in her mom’s medicine cabinet, there was some truth in her lie. As depressing as it may be.

“Oh.” Yerin frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that, SinB-ah. It’s just...with the way you stormed out like you wanted to leave as soon as possible. I thought you were mad at me. I couldn’t go to sleep last night because all kept thinking about was whether I screwed up our friendship.”

“Yerin-ah, I can never be mad at you. Sure, you may annoy me to no end, at times.” SinB paused as she and Yerin lightly laughed in agreement. “But, ‘mad’ is not in my vocabulary when it comes to you.”

Yerin’s lips quirked from SinB’s sweet words. “Is there anything I can do to make up for my behavior?”

“Lend me your earphones for the day and we’ll call it even.”

Briskly, Yerin brought out her phone hidden in her jacket and disentangled the chord of pink earphones wrapped around it. With her signature eye smile, she promptly placed them into the younger girl’s hand.

Looking into her best friend’s eyes, SinB could sense that Yerin was feeling much more calm, now that their misunderstanding was cleared up. Yerin looked back into her eyes, and SinB wished she could freeze time. Because never before have they stared at each other in such a way that was overfilled with emotion. Any passerby would probably mistake them for a couple.

“SURPRISE HUG!”

Too lost in her best friend’s eyes, SinB did not foresee Yuju jogging from the other end of the hallway to give Yerin a back hug. The moment was ruined.

“Good morning, babe!” Yuju excitedly greeted her girlfriend, placing a chaste kiss on Yerin’s cheek before snuggling even closer to her.

“Morning, Yuju-ya,” Yerin returned the pleasantry with less enthusiasm. Still, she indistinctively laid her hands over Yuju’s hands that were locked around her, playing with the tips of her girlfriend’s fingers.

SinB felt uncomfortable. Seeing Yuju holding Yerin like that was the equivalent of rubbing salt in her proverbial wound. It stung so badly that words couldn’t form out of .

“Good morning, SinB-ssi,” Yuju politely relayed her salutation as she rested her chin on Yerin’s shoulder.

“Morning,” SinB replied vacantly, trying hard not to sneer.

“So, I was walking by the track field and I saw Coach Kwon and several other students surrounding the bushes. Guess what they found?” Yuju paused for dramatic effect before answering her own question. “A dead squirrel.”

“Aww, poor squirrel,” Yerin said, disheartened.

Hoping to not look suspicious, SinB cleared to comment. “Must be from natural causes.”

“I don’t know, SinB-ssi,” Yuju responded in disagreement. “From what I saw, the poor creature’s death was anything but natural. It was chewed up and mangled with barely any meat on its bones. Splotches of blood covered the ground. A pretty gruesome sight, if you ask me.”

“Yuck. Can we please drop the subject before I get sick,” Yerin pleaded.

RIIIINNNNGGG

“Saved by the bell,” Yuju quipped, loosening her grasp on Yerin’s waist. “Mianhae, babe, for the gory details. I’ll walk you to class?” She offered with a swoon-worthy smile before sticking out her arm for Yerin to hook onto.

Yerin looked at SinB and gave her friend a small smile. “We’ll see you at lunch, SinB-ah.”

SinB smiled half-heartedly as she watched her best friend walk away with her worst enemy. Their arms unlatched from each other only for their hands to reach down and entwine together.

Heart beating wildly, SinB could feel her eyes seething with jealousy which meant it was only a matter of time until she shifted. Pacing to the nearest restroom, SinB didn’t care if she was going to be marked tardy or absent for class. Taming the werewolf within was much more important than missing out on the oh-so-exciting world of calculus.

Upon opening the door, SinB was immensely relieved to see there were no other students. Entering the cleanest-looking stall, she placed the toilet cover down before sitting. Once situated, SinB grabbed her phone, plugged in Yerin’s earphones, and zenned out to one of her favorite rock songs.

Well, here we go again/ You’ve found yourself a friend that knows you well

But no matter what you do/ You’ll always feel as though you tripped and fell.

She replayed the song two more times until her heart rate returned to normal. As she did, SinB tried to maintain a mental picture of Yerin. The combination of the two proved to be no match for her wolf counterpart. She could feel herself relaxing with every guitar and memory of Yerin when it was just the both of them. No Yuju. No envy. No lust.

Checking the time, SinB realized that she had only missed twelve minutes of class. She figured it was better to show up late than not show up at all. Sharply exhaling to calm herself once more, SinB wound up the earphones around her phone, unlocked the stall, and traipsed to the row of sinks.

As she washed her hands, SinB heard the click and turn of the restroom door handle. In strolled Sowon who wore a precocious, borderline smug smile on her face.

She walked towards SinB, standing next to the shorter girl as her eyes focused on her own reflection in the mirror.

“Annyeong, SinB-ssi,” Sowon spoke coolly, taking out a small comb to fix her hair. “Long time no see.”

For some strange reason, SinB suddenly felt nervous around the girl who used to be known as timid and quiet. Used to be. “Annyeong, Soj-Sowon-ssi.” She fumbled with the taller girl’s new name.

Sowon giggled. “Glad to hear you got the memo. How was your time in the States? Dreadful, I imagine, if you decided to return to this wasteland of a school.”

“Actually, it wasn’t too bad,” SinB began to shyly conversate. “I joined the track team there. Won a couple races. Made a few friends.” Turning off the water, she awkwardly side-stepped to the paper towel dispenser to dry her hands.

“Should’ve known that you would be the type to easily make friends anywhere you went,” Sowon replied, line of vision still glued to her reflection. “You were always kind to me. You and that friend of yours. Jung Yerin-ssi. How do you feel about Yerin being in a relationship with Yuju?” Placing the comb back into her pocket, Sowon finally turned to face SinB who seemed to cower in the corner.

Clenching her jaw, SinB wadded up the paper towel before tossing it in the trashcan. “As long as she’s happy, I’m fine with their relationship.”

Sowon nodded her head, conveying that she understood, but didn’t necessarily find SinB’s response to be truthful. “Well, I gotta jet. I promised Principal Kahi that I wouldn’t be late to class for the entirety of the semester.” She checked the time on her watch, letting out a low whistle. “Some promises are impossible to keep, though.” Grinning, she looked at the mirror, making sure that every strand of hair was free of flaws. “It was nice catching up with you, SinB-ssi.”

As Sowon turned to walk out, SinB slowly exhaled the breath she held during the length of the taller girl’s unanticipated appearance. It was odd to think how this socially-inept girl in the past was now exuding so much charisma that SinB couldn’t help but shrink in her presence.

“Oh, almost forgot.” Sowon stopped mid-step before pivoting her direction and striding towards the anxious girl.

Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, Sowon took her hand out and held it in a fist. She extended her closed hand to SinB; the younger girl quizzically laid her hand palm up. Sowon opened her hand and out dropped SinB’s white earphones she believed to have lost. Her eyes grew wide as questions ran amok in her head.

“Be careful, SinB-ssi. You wouldn’t want to leave a trail.”

Sowon winked, leaving SinB dumbstruck.

During the whole school day, SinB couldn’t concentrate. There was too much confusion in her brain.

Who was that werewolf from the night before? Was it Sowon? Was it Umji? Sowon seemed like the most plausible candidate due to her cunning aura that matched the blue-eyed, dark haired wolf she came across with. But, why did Umji warn her about the full moon? And, did that seemingly innocent girl really follow SinB around town just so she could introduce herself?

SinB was tired of the ambiguity. She needed answers, and she needed them, now.

Once classes were done for the day, SinB decided to track Umji. She sniffed for Umji’s scent, hoping to see if they could walk home together, again. Going down the staircase to the Sophomore level of the school, SinB soon spotted the younger girl taking out the red notebook with the wolf drawing on it from her locker. Just as she closed its metal door, a group of five girls surrounded the meek individual. One of the girls, perhaps the leader of the group, smacked the notebook out of Umji’s hands.

“See you around, freak,” the girl taunted, snickering as she and her collective cohorts sauntered away.

Umji quickly bent down to retrieve her notebook, dusting it off and holding it tightly against her chest.

Feeling sorry for the pitiful schoolgirl, SinB walked away from her hiding spot and towards Umji.

“Hey, Umji-ssi,” SinB greeted in her most friendly tone. “How are you doing?”

“I'm fine, SinB-unnie,” Umji replied as they both slowly began to walk.

“Were those girls bothering you?” It was plain to see that Umji was a victim of bullying, but SinB wanted to hear the girl admit her troubles out loud.

“Oh, so you saw it,” Umji stated solemnly. “You don't have to worry about me, Unnie. I can handle them.”

There was something in Umji’s behavior which signaled that she rather not talk about it. Dropping the subject, the two continued to dawdle in moderately comfortable silence until they reached outside.

It was a cold afternoon. But, the sun provided just enough warmth to make the trek back home manageable.

SinB glanced at Umji who kept her head down and her arms wrapped around the abused notebook. She wondered if it was the best time to cross-examine the younger girl and see if she could get more information out of her. It didn't seem like a conventional topic to bring up. But, SinB had to ask before it drove her insane.

“Umji-ssi, do you remember what you said to me the first day we met before you left to go to your house?” SinB eased in the question.

“It was about the full moon, right, Unnie?” Umji answered without any hesitation.

“Right. I just want to know why you told me that piece of information.” From the corner of her eye, SinB saw Umji’s posture shrink a bit, probably too nervous. “It’s okay, Umji-ssi,” she encouraged. “Just tell it to me directly.”

“That’s kind of you, SinB-unnie. But, I’ll appreciate it more if you told me your justification of why I told you about the full moon,” Umji spoke with such a quickness that it took SinB a moment to process it. The shorter girl looked at her with wide, non-threatening eyes. “Take your time, Unnie. Whenever you’re comfortable, just say it to me. I won’t judge.”

SinB stared at Umji, mouth agaped. The younger girl seemed so calm and collected that SinB wasn’t sure if they were both on the same page. Was Umji referring to SinB being a werewolf or was she referring to the older girl’s uality? Either way, SinB was clearly frustrated.

As they approached the same alleyway where they first met, SinB ushered Umji in, checking her surroundings to make sure that no one else was around.

“Listen, Umji-ssi, I don’t have time to play games, right now,” SinB said frivolously. “Please, just tell me...what you think I am.”

“Like I said, Unnie. It’s much better if you were the one tell me. I don't want to force you if you're not ready.”

SinB bit the inside of her cheek. Whether or not they were really talking about the same thing didn’t really matter at that point. Umji seemed like an accepting person, either way. Huffing out a breath, SinB gave herself a internal pep talk before stepping closer to the shorter girl. her dry lips, SinB darted her eyes to the ground before staring at Umji’s attentive orbs. “I’m...a werewolf,” she revealed quietly and lowly.

Umji’s solemn demeanor slowly lifted up as a wide smile brightened her features. “I knew it.”

Taking a step back, SinB half-expected the girl’s response, yet she was still left in disbelief. “How did you know?”

“I’m kind of like you, SinB-unnie,” Umji responded in an unperturbed manner.

SinB’s eyes narrowed in on the younger girl. “Are you a werewolf, too?”

“Oh, gosh, no,” Umji answered hastily, clearing up SinB’s confusion. “I’m more of an aficionado for the weird and unexplainable. Monsters. Mythology. Those sorts of things. You see, I use this guide my Oppa and I created to assess my surroundings and try to identify a member of the supernatural from the ordinary crowd.” She held out her beloved notebook for SinB to look at but not touch. “I tried it out on the librarian at my old school who I suspected was an actual vampire. Turns out she’s just naturally pale and has a garlic allergy.” A sheepish smile formed on her lips. “But, you, SinB-unnie. You’re the first person whose assessment turned out to be true.”

A wondrous smile appeared on Umji’s face, softening SinB’s perception of her next door neighbor. Relaxing her shoulders, SinB conjured up an idea that could put the younger girl’s knowledge to good use.

“How much do you know about werewolves, Umji-ssi?”

“Not as much as vampires and zombies. But, I know the general basics about the average werewolf.”

SinB placed a friendly arm around Umji’s shoulders as they walked out of the bleak alleyway and into the sunny streets.

“Do you think you can help me figure out my abilities better?”

An enthusiastic smile gleamed from Umji. “It will be an honor, Unnie.”

Song lyrics used: “Steady, As She Goes” by The Raconteurs