i introduce to you, joohyun's gift and seungwan's 'litter-mate'. lol shout out to nct's jungwoo. and henry from suju, i think?

...

Home-schooling came and went like the breeze on an autumn evening. It was bittersweet; Joohyun would definitely miss teaching her pup how to count her dino biscuits before she ate them (although to varying degrees of success), what they called the colours of the sun and the moon, and that it was pronounced ‘blu’, not ‘blu-ie’, regardless of the ‘e’ at the end (a particularly difficult concept for Seungwan to grasp). But Seungwan was now at an age where hybrid school was the next logical step, and Joohyun, ever the diligent vampire mum, had signed her up almost immediately.
 

As much as she wanted Seungwan all to herself, she knew it was in the girl’s best interests to have her socialise with children and hybrids of her own age. Simply to ensure she had a well-rounded development.
 

Poor Seungwan, on the other hand, had no idea why her mummy would want to essentially abandon her for five hours every weekday. She’d rather have brussel sprouts as her choice of vegetable for the rest of her life if it meant not having to deal with being huddled in a room with an ingratitude of intolerable little hybrids and a teacher that wasn’t Joohyun.
 

Hybrid school was awful, Seungwan had made up her mind.
 

So that entire morning was a silent, weepy protest between Seungwan not wanting to budge an inch out of bed, and a flustered Joohyun juggling getting her lunch packed and sorting out everything else. She stopped when she saw the mopey girl, moments from turning the bedroom floor into a wading pool.
 

Joohyun sighed, knowing where this was going. If she couldn’t be there to comfort her then someone was going to have to. She gave her tongue a knowing click when she settled on the perfect solution.
 

She knelt down at the edge of the bed, placing her hands on Seungwan’s trembling thighs, soothing her nerves.
 

Delicately brushing a thumb over pinkish, cotton-ball cheeks, Joohyun gently shushed her sobbing pup. Seungwan eventually cracked a peek down into her lap where Joohyun was holding a very familiar friend.
 

“Does Wannie need Pip to go with?”
 

Without the slightest hesitation, Seungwan gave a tearful nod against her own chest, unable to lift her head.
 

Pippin; a cream-coloured stuffed mouse, about as big as a handful of beans. He was a tad smudged, a little thread-bare on the right ear and missing a button eye, but that was all testament to how well loved he was.
 

Joohyun hadn’t really thought too much about gifting Seungwan the handmade cuddly. She only vaguely remembered cutting the textile and sewing it up, sealing it with her scent. It was an instant hit, though, Seungwan's favourite little stuffie, accompanying her through indescribably testing times, like when she was left in the living room and Joohyun was miles away cooking in the kitchen. He was Seungwan's de-stresser, comforter and stand-in Joohyun all at once.
 

… …
 

Joohyun stood right behind the fence, holding her thick scarf over her face so Seungwan wouldn’t see how her lip trembled. The first day of school hadn’t even begun and already Joohyun was a