The shrill, insistent ringing of the telephone dragged Su Ji out of bed, her eyes puffy and sandy – oh god, she knew she looked horrible. She didn't dwell on this, though, because it might be Grandma calling with news!

Quickly opening her bedroom door, she nearly tripped over something huge and furry. The wolf's tail twitched and he made a weird noise that was a half whine, half growl.

She stepped over him and ran to the telephone in the hall. “Hello?”
“Su Ji,” said Grandmother. “The surgery is finished!”
“That's great!” said Su Ji, relieved.

“Honey, wait,” said her grandmother gently. “There were… complications. He needs to be under observation for a while.”
“Is he awake? Did he ask for me?”
“He's still asleep, I'll call you when he wakes up. But tell me, how are things going on over there? All good?”
“Yeah, everything's the same,” said Su Ji, glancing at the wolf yawning and stretching in the middle of the hall.

“Call me if there's an emergency, ok? I have to go now, honey.”
“Bye Grandma!” said Su Ji, hanging up.

Complications. That was never a good thing for a surgery, right? Su Ji bit her lip and started picking her nails, but then the wolf came and brushed against her leg.

“I thought I told you to stay in the living room,” said Su Ji. “What on earth were you doing in front of my bedroom?”
He didn't reply; instead, he jerked his head towards the bathroom and she could hear his voice say, Come on, get ready!

Su Ji rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
She took a shower quickly, and found that breakfast was already on the table – all right, just corn flakes and milk, but still. Yoongi was sitting down, in human form. He glanced up at her. “Is it ok if I stay in hu-”
“Yeah,” she cut in, sitting down and pouring milk in her bowl. “It's ok.”
The corners of Yoongi's mouth went up in a tiny smile, and they ate the meal in silence, almost shyly. Su Ji was painfully aware that he had seen her cry, and he had seen how hideous she looked this morning – how embarrassing!

She glanced at the clock. Almost time for school. But she didn't want to go – she didn’t think there would be a point in going, and after all, she should stay home to answer the phone in case Grandma called – right?

“I won't be going to school today,” said Yoongi, looking into his empty bowl.

“Oh.”
He glanced at her though the corners of his eyes. “Are you? I mean… I get the feeling that you don't want to go.”

“I don't,” she said. “But would that be ok?”
Yoongi shrugged. “Yeah, why not? I mean… your father just had an operation too, so…” His voice trailed off.

Su Ji sighed, her mind made up. “I think I won't go.”
Yoongi smiled again, thinking that maybe they could go for a walk and play like the other day – that had been so fun!

“Do you want to go for a little walk?” she asked, hesitantly.

Yoongi blinked – man, he had to start getting used to this mate thing, he kept forgetting that she could also sense his thoughts.

He nodded, trying to contain his excitement, and phased to his wolf form. Now he didn't need to control himself; he wagged his tail, and jumped around, telling her to hurry up.

Su Ji actually laughed a bit, and they headed out the door.

“Hold on,” said Su Ji, hearing the familiar sound of Namjoon's Volvo approaching.

Namjoon opened the window of the car. “Why aren't you in your uniform yet?” he demanded. “Don't make us late!”

“I'm not going today,” she announced.

“Why not? You sick?”
“No… my father just had surgery and...”
Namjoon's face showed a bit of sympathy, but it was still mostly cold. “And? Not an excuse to get lazy.”
She shot him a pleading look. “No, I need to stay here, what if my grandmother calls?”
He snorted. “Yeah right – you're going to go play in the woods with your giant puppy!”
Yoongi let out a tiny growl, and Su Ji placed a hand over his head. “Namjoon, I am not going and that's final!”
“Fine, fine,” he grumbled, giving in. “The dog is having a bad influence on you, should've seen that coming to be honest.”

Su Ji made a face at him as he closed the window, and the Volvo drove away.

The wolf wagged it's tail again and nudged her forward, urging her to go. Su Ji made sure her cellphone was in her pocket before she ran after Yoongi into the woods, playing chase just like the previous day, completely forgetting that Mrs Choi was supposed to come over. If she had looked behind her, she would have seen the old woman staring at them, with a kind of bewildered horror.

It was weird… she never imagined that she would be able to play if anything had ever happened to her father, but Yoongi… he made her feel calm, that everything was going to be ok.

****

Hoseok couldn't stop smiling, waiting at his desk with his books in a neat pile in front of him. It was another tutoring day, and he couldn't wait for Aanchal to arrive! It would be their first meeting after they had kissed…. Had it really been only yesterday? It felt like longer to him… He wondered whether she would want to kiss him again today