It was a sight, really, the cold-hearted, level-headed vampiress igloo-ed in a pile of ‘How-To’ guides: hybrid edition.
 

Having Seungwan arrive in such a whirlwind of spontaneity, Joohyun found herself drowning in the copious amounts of research she’d done over the past couple weeks. Any and every book on the planet pertaining to hybrids and how to raise one not-so-magically found its way dog-eared and scattered all over her once pristine living room floor. The minimalistic mansion had always been her pride and joy, her baby, even. But now, Joohyun couldn’t have cared less. She had new baby, far more comforting and heart-warming than some fleeting, pointless concept. Plus, she’d knowingly taken on this responsibility so she intended to fulfill her duties to the best of her ability.
 

She had pretty much isolated herself from the outside world, her weekly supermarket ventures to ensure her enormous fridge was well stocked with nothing short of highest quality food for Seungwan. She barely remembered when she had or hadn’t eaten, her own mealtimes becoming a blur of caffeine and prepacked blood bags at this point.
 

But she didn’t care.
 

Nothing less for her precious little Wannie.
 

Her precious little Wannie whose fluffy tail was now dully thwacking the vampiress in the arm as they sat back to back, brown eyes glued to the classic cartoons Joohyun had to keep the little monster distracted while she studied.
 

Joohyun smiled as she moved her hand to gently hold the tail down, still feeling it swish contentedly under the light restriction of her palm. She craned her neck to check on the little puppy but did a double take, immediately shifting from her seated position on the floor so she was facing Seungwan’s back.
 

“Wannie-ah,” she huffed, hooking her palms under the girl’s armpits to scoot her inches backwards, “not so close to the TV, we need your eyes to be healthy, okay?”
 

Seungwan wriggled a bit at the fingers under her arms but never took her eyes off the small brown mouse who seemed to constantly outsmart the poor blue cat.
 

After plopping her down at a satisfying distance, Joohyun repositioned her glasses atop her nose and resumed reading. She briefly skimmed across suggestions on how to properly pet your hybrid when they were relaxed or stressed, gracefully unaware of how her slender fingers trivially mimicked the illustrations and instructions she read on the printed pages. 
 

Gosh, it was surprising, really, the things you can learn in two weeks.
 

Seungwan was taken to the vet as soon as they’d give her an appointment, just to check everything was in working order. Which, thankfully it was. Joohyun inwardly crumbled when she felt a face buried as far as it would go into her chest and broken cries filling the examination room as she held her puppy’s arm out steady so the vet could take a blood sample. It felt like such a betrayal when the girl had put her entire life in her hands, that hearing those fearful little whimpers made her feel like she was shattering her trust right before Seungwan’s red, tear-stained eyes. It was over in a moment, though, and Joohyun gently guided her Wannie’s snivelling face off her damp cashmere jumper to run her thumbs over her pink cheeks. Seungwan, all tuckered out from the terrifying ordeal of her first vet check-up, was curled up in the vampiress’ lap as they waited in reception for the green light and test results. 
 

Joohyun glanced down at the velvet ear twitching between her fingers as she gingerly rubbed comforting circles over the soft fur. She watched the puppy’s erratic breathing eventually even and her stiffened tail dangle limply against the chair, knowing she had slipped into a well-earned slumber.
 

Seungwan passed with flying colours, all her bloodwork coming back with positive signs, she was a rambunctious, healthy little pup. And she was still on the young side, quite a way off puberty, something which Joohyun was very much not looking forward to. Still, they’d cross that dreadfully hormonal bridge when they got to it.
 

Joohyun walked out the clinic, Seungwan snoring blissfully in her arms.
 

The days following was a crash course of intense learning for both parties; mostly concerning things or actions the other did or didn’t like. For example, there was now a steady stock of butter in the fridge; not just because Seungwan loved butter, but more because she hated taking her vitamins. After being advised that it was okay for her to have small amounts of butter, the pesky daily vitamin was carefully wrapped in the treat and Seungwan wouldn’t think twice about gulping it down, leaving Joohyun beyond relieved and smirking at how easy it was to outsmart her little puppy.
 

But just as much as there was give, there was also take. And on more than one occasion, Joohyun had returned from her supermarket run to be greeted by what appeared to be world war three having taken place in the short span of her absence. The already messy living room flipped further upside down, pillows strewn across the vast expanse, broken vases, various items completely out of place…
 

And not a shameful puppy in sight.
 

Aigo, you clingy little troublemaker, you.
 

She’d put the groceries away with an exaggerated sigh, letting her half-hearted disappointment reverberate around the house, knowing full well those sensitive, guilty, floppy ears would perk up instantly at the sound. More often than not, she’d turn around to the wrenching sight of Seungwan, tail between her legs, gazing up with her with big, watery eyes. The very definition of remorse. The puppy was innocence personified, which made keeping that stern front intact all the more difficult to do. It would only usually last a few minutes, before Joohyun broke and rushed to embrace her sorry little pup, whispering words of reassurance into her hair as she watched the tail slowly unfold and sway lazily as she smoothed sad, deflated ears back to life.
 

And it wouldn’t stop there.
 

Joohyun wouldn’t let up until she was certain the girl was fully relaxed, often finding herself holding the puppy on the kitchen floor as she massaged that sweet spot at the base of Seungwan’s ears she’d accidentally discovered one lazy afternoon on the sofa. The vampiress adored it when that happened, feeling like she had magical powers beyond this earth, as she was able to reduce her boisterous ball of energy into a docile, quivering puddle with just her skillful finger dexterity.
 

Okay, mummy doesn’t like when I make the house pretty, Seungwan made the same mental note she seemed to forget time and time again.
 

The ear trick worked like a charm every time, it was almost scary. It was Seungwan’s ultimate weakness and she couldn’t shy away from it no matter how much she wanted to. And you can bet your biggest buck that as soon as Joohyun discovered its plethora of uses, she abused it to the maximum. Restlessness, naughtiness, stress or when Seungwan’s puppy liveliness got just a little too much to handle; all far too easily dealt with.
 

And they both knew it too.
 

Seungwan had learnt the infamous ‘ear-trick’ look in no time. She usually loved it, willingly laying her head down in Joohyun’s lap when she was preoccupied with something to remind her that she still existed, even begging for it on the rare occasion Joohyun didn’t pick up on what she wanted. But sometimes she just wanted to play a little bit more before bedtime. It was hard having all this energy and not spending it wrecking the house, didn’t Joohyun know that? So when she heard the dreaded ‘bedtime’ and the footsteps padding in her direction, she knew what was coming. She had to act fast, dashing up for the toy room in the hopes of locking herself in there before the vampiress caught on.
 

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to her, when you play the exact same trick several hundred times in a row, it isn’t that hard to catch on.
 

She barely had a grasp on the door handle before a strong arm s its way round her waist and gently pulled her backwards into inescapable arms.
 

“Ah, ah, ah,” she tutted, “Oh no you don’t.”
 

I’m much faster than you, don’t you know that, silly puppy.
 

Seungwan wriggled and writhed all the way to the bedroom where she was now cradled in Joohyun’s arms, the latter of which exasperatedly trying to get the unwilling girl ready for bed.
 

“Wannie-ah, behave,” she instructed, readjusting her grip on her after getting her changed. One slip and Seungwan would be out that door and back into the play room faster than you could say ‘biscuits’.
 

“Time for bed, it’s already 10 o’clock.”
 

But Seungwan wasn’t listening. She wasn’t tired! Just a while more, come on! Her wriggles got more and more insistent, and Joohyun sure as hell wasn’t about to tighten her grip any more than she had already.
 

Don’t make me do it, puppy.
 

“Mumm! Wannie wanna play just five more minutes!” she whined in between struggles.
 

Too bad, this matter was not up for negotiation. Big brown eyes widened when she felt the fingers at the base of her furiously flicking ears, trying unsuccessfully to escape the overwhelming sensation.
 

I warned you, Wannie.
 

Seungwan opened to protest, but it was too late, Joohyun’s fingers had already begun working their magic and her struggles weakened. By the end of it, her neck was slumped back, head heavy against Joohyun’s collarbone as she looked up with glazed eyes at the smiling woman who had unfairly drained her of all her energy.
 

“Good girl,” Joohyun cooed, picking her up like a ragdoll and setting her down on the bed. She tucked her in, her head as she drifted off in no time.
 

Rolling her eyes and chuckling, Joohyun straightened up to clean up downstairs so she could curl up with her pet as soon as possible.
 

…
 

Seungwan’s mattress remained untouched to this day when Joohyun kicked it aside after realising Wannie had silently suffered through her first night sleeping alone. Bowl of roasted chicken and mushy peas in hand, she crooned for her pup, all but dropping the bowl as soon as she opened the door to the guest room when she’d left her to sleep. Rushing over to cup the girl’s face in her palms, she kicked herself when she noticed the dampness soaking through the pillow and mattress.
 

“No don’t cry Wannie-ah,” she consoled the sobbing girl, “Poor thing, you sleep with me now, okay?”
 

Droopy ears pricked up at the words and she vigorously nodded, earning her a soft coo and getting her picked up and placed in Joohyun’s lap as the vampiress held the spoon to her lips, signalling it was time for breakfast. Chicken and peas, Wannie’s favourite. Joohyun doted at the sight of her messy eater, more food on her face than in , ears flicking in delight as she chewed.
 

Joohyun revelled in everything she learnt about Seungwan, but her favourite by far were the times she could just unwind after a long hard day, curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine, engrossed in a laughable movie series which horribly depicted vampires and werewolves with Seungwan right there beside her, either snacking or snoring away. Joohyun could be doing anything, holding a glass of wine, eating ramyun, or even simply reading a book; one hand would always be on her precious little Wannie. Be that carding her fingers through the girls locks of golden-brown, absentmindedly fiddling with the fluffy tail, a little to Seungwan’s annoyance, or scratching lazy circles underneath her fleecy jumper as she was now.
 

She turned her attention from the screen to the dreaming puppy sprawled out next to her, chuckling softly at the way the little leg twitched when she hit a particularly sensitive spot on her tummy.
 

As the night and the movie drew to a close, Joohyun yawned widely, carefully placing the glass down on the coffee table so as to not to disrupt the steady breathing. Switching off the TV, she bent down to scoop Seungwan up in the swiftest of motions, already used to having to carry her to the bedroom the countless times she’d fallen asleep during movie nights.
 

“Come on puppy,” she whispered, gently kissing her on the forehead, “Time for bed.”
 

She got Seungwan changed into her comfy pyjamas before washing up for the night.
 

Bedtime was also one of her favourites. It meant she got to spoon her, feeling the warm little body pressed into hers was the closest thing to owning a sentient, beating heart as the vampiress could ever hope for.
 

Hell, it was even better.
 

This is what love is, she thought fondly.
 

Knowing the girl was in far too deep a sleep to be roused by anything other than a nuclear bomb going off in their lawn, Joohyun couldn’t help lightly blowing on the back of her head. She grinned as soft, coffee-coloured ears flicked in response in spite of their oblivious owner, the twitching of her fluffy tail now slightly tickling the vampiress’ legs under the thick duvet.
 

It was almost insane how fast she’d fallen for this tiny ball of excitement and adoration, but she was elated to have finally found a companion unmatched. Domesticity had walked in on Joohyun, unprepared, but she had welcomed it with open arms. She’d never admit it, but she enjoyed unravelling; letting her icy façade melt away every once in a while, and what better time to do that than in the company of her newfound best friend and soul mate?
 

“G’night Wannie-ah,” Joohyun murmured into the puppy’s shoulder, feeling the weight of sleep overtaking her too.
 

Heavy eyes cracked open as she felt a shift in her arms.
 

“…nngh… nightmummy…”

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i might continue this, because it's kinda fun.