“I want to dig a hole and crawl inside it and die.”

Nako’s ears perk up at the mutter coming from her bestfriend, shortly after the said bestfriend rests her against the seat she’s saved. She takes off her glasses, her eyes quickly finding the slumped figure of one Honda Hitomi sitting right beside her.

“Then dig and die.”

Hitomi sniffs. “And you call yourself my friend.”

“Friend is for a lifetime,” Nako remarks, one corner of her lips twitching up to form a crooked smile. She places her book down as carefully as possible, then regards Hitomi with eyes full of mockery. “And I’ve been thinking about scoring another friend aside from you.”

The orange-haired girl rolls her eyes. “You’re annoying.”

“At least Wonyoung is attracted to me?”

Hitomi’s disapproving gaze only persists. It even grows even more severe. “You know it’s not a compliment, right? We all know Wonyoung got a weird taste,” she says through gritted teeth and barely moving lips. “What did she call you again? Pup? Yeah—she’s bad news.”

“It’s only a nickname.” It’s Nako’s turn to frown this time. “And plus, what’s wrong with it? I’m a werewolf—you are too! What do you expect her to call me? Do you want her to call me a mutt? Mongrel?”

“Okay, that does sound insulting,” Hitomi concedes, throwing her hands up. The look in her eyes has yet to disappear, though. “But it’s still weird. You’re far from being a pup. You’re more of a bi—“

Nako lifts her book. “I dare you to finish that word and let’s see if you can dodge this book with this proximity.” Oh that worked wonders in shutting Hitomi up. Why didn’t she think of it earlier? “Anyway, Minjoo calls you honey-hair. That’s weirder.”

“At least a part of me is sweet!”

“And we know that’s a lie.” Nako scoffs, her eyes looking straight at Hitomi’s bright orange locks. “I think—You’re more of a chili. Small. Red, orange. Incredibly—“

“Hot.” Hitomi chimes in, chuckling and sounding completely smug after seeing how quickly colors drain