To be completely honest, Sowon had no idea why she had remained blonde for so long.

It wasn't her natural hair color. Sure, it suited her but the reason she had changed her hair color all those years ago was to match her father, to get him to acknowledge her more. It hadn't really worked so why had she kept it? It seemed like getting it retouched had been just another habit in her life when she had been alone, another familiar task that kept her comfortable in her repetitive days. But she wasn't in that situation anymore. She was free. She had her girls and a job that she was actually excited about. So that meant that she was finally able to change it. It was time. 

She had scheduled the hair appointment for the weekend, almost forgetting about it when the time had arrived on Friday. She had rushed out the door, telling Yerin to watch over everyone while she was gone for the morning. She hadn't been able to explain what she was doing in time before leaving, which was reason for some concern. In the past, it had been made clear that most of the former kittens didn't deal well with change. Especially SinB. 

When Sowon caught a look at her newly dyed hair in the mirror, she couldn't help but smile. She had kept her hair long, only t up the ends, but her previously blonde locks had been dyed a dark brown hue, the color almost identical to Eunha's own hair. The change was refreshing, the color making her look more youthful than before. Sowon was more than excited to get home to show her girls, curious on what the reaction would be. She still had a bit of fear in the back of her head about how SinB would react but her eagerness shut that thought out. 

"I'm home!" Sowon called out once she had unlocked the front door, a large grin on her face. Umji was the first to reach her, noticing the change almost instantly.

"Sowon! Your hair!" Umji jumped up and down, smiling widely. "You match us now!"

"That's right. It's a bit lighter than yours though." Sowon laughed, kissing Umji's cheek happily. Umji giggled loudly, giving Sowon several kisses on the cheek in response. 

"I don't care." Umji's eyes were shining, happiness glittering in brown hues. "We all match! We all match!"

Sowon let out another laugh, unable to correct her again. If Umji said they were all matching now then that meant they were all matching, nothing able to sway the younger girl's mind. Even though the color of Umji, Yuju and SinB's hair was black instead of brown, Eunha and Yerin the only ones with brown hair until now. 

"Sowon!" Eunha was the next former kitten to reach her, the former white kitten practically jumping into Sowon's waiting arms. Umji moved back to allow Eunha to get her turn with the taller, still bouncing excitedly on her heels. 

"How's my precious kitten doing?" Sowon cooed, kissing Eunha's forehead. Eunha only giggled cutely in response, tugging at Sowon's new hair with her free hand while letting out a happy squeal. Sowon continued to grin, picking Eunha up and swinging her around in her arms once before placing her back on the ground. Yuju had finally made her way to the group at the door, smiling just as widely as everyone else. It was clear that the girls that had appeared were happy about the change, noticing the intentions behind it. 

Though, the atmosphere quickly changed once Sowon noticed how SinB and Yerin were behaving once she looked away from Yuju's smiling face.

"Who are you?" SinB's rough voice growled, Yerin clinging to her from behind. 

Sowon blinked in surprise.

"Are you joking?" Eunha tilted her head, curiously staring at the duo standing next to the stairway that led upstairs. "It's Sowon, SinB. Can't you tell?"

"You're not Sowon." SinB hissed, Yerin growling from behind her. "Sowon has blonde hair. You aren't Sowon! What did you do to her?!"

"SinB." Sowon sighed, completely baffled by how SinB and Yerin were reacting. She definitely hadn't been expecting this. "It's me. I just dyed my hair." 

"Liar!" SinB growled loudly as she completely slipped into kitten mode along with Yerin, the former black kitten hiding the former ginger kitten behind her protectively. 

"Hey...." Sowon moved away from Eunha's arms, moving forward and reaching a hand out towards the former black kitten to try and sooth down the agitated SinB. The former black kitten hissed aggressively as Sowon got closer, pulling the shaking and confused Yerin away from Sowon before darting outside with the former ginger kitten in tow. Sowon watched them leave, raising an eyebrow at the sight of SinB and Yerin crawling up into the tree house themed playground in the backyard to hide. 

"They can't be serious." Yuju ran a hand through her own hair, unable to stop herself from laughing slightly at the situation. 

"Didn't SinB react this way when Eunha's bangs grew out that one time?" Umji asked, attaching herself to Sowon's side while Sowon wrapped an arm around her shoulders lovingly.

"That's right." Yuju nodded, Eunha taking the chance to cling to the former gray kitten's waist. "She kept hissing at Eunha until Sowon trimmed them back to normal again."

"I forgot about that." Sowon chuckled. "SinB really has the most kitten like behavior out of all of you."

"That's probably because she spent the most time as one." Yuju mused, rubbing Eunha's back absentmindedly. "I think Yerin almost spent the same amount of time as her as a kitten. We don't know that for sure but when I met them, I could tell that they had been out there longer than any of us."

"I wish we knew for sure." Eunha sighed, nuzzling against Yuju. 

Sowon bit her lip, her mind drifting back to the former kittens pasts that the witch had shown her through visions at the animal shelter two years ago. She wanted to say something but Umji's voice broke through the brief silence before she could.

"It doesn't matter." Umji huffed, her grip on Sowon tightening. "All that matters to me is being here with Sowon and everyone."

"I feel the same way." Yuju agreed, smiling as Eunha nodded her head in agreement, the former white kitten's bobbed hair bouncing cutely with the motion.

"Have I ever told you all how much I love you?" Sowon smiled softly before kissing Umji's cheek again. 

"A million times." Umji responded, giggling. "But I don't mind hearing it a million times more."

"Me either!" Eunha chimed in, running to Sowon's side and joining the younger girl in hugging Sowon close. Yuju joined soon after, Sowon taking the time to kiss each girl's cheek over and over again. Another longer moment of silence fell over the four, Sowon taking in the warm and comforting sensation of the former kittens hugging her lovingly. 

"So...." Eunha spoke up again, pulling back a bit to glance up at Sowon. "....what are we going to do about SinB and Yerin?"

"Let's give them some time." Sowon sighed, ruffling Eunha's hair gently. "It is a big change, after all. Let's let them adjust first before trying to get them back inside."

"Good idea." Yuju agreed. "She isn't a kitten anymore but SinB's bites still kinda hurt."

"Yerin doesn't bite as much as SinB but she does cry when she's upset." Umji said, a small frown slipping onto her features. "I don't like seeing her cry."

"Me either. Which is why we should give them some space." Sowon replied, allowing the girls to finally let go of her. "We'll make lunch later on and bring it out to them. If they don't come in after that, we can try to bring them back inside."

"Sounds like a plan." Yuju nodded, Sowon patting her shoulder encouragingly. 

"Did you bring home hamburgers?" Eunha asked, changing the subject. 

"Not this time." Sowon sighed. "You know, you can't just eat hamburgers for all your meals every single day, Eunha."

"Why not?" Eunha pouted, crossing her arms. 

"Because its not healthy." Sowon tried to explain. "You need other foods in your body to stay healthy."

"Whatever." Eunha grumbled, her pout refusing to leave. 

"We can order burgers in a few days if you promise to eat all your vegetables today, okay?" Sowon gently pinched Eunha's cheek, earning a quiet giggle from the former white kitten. 

"Promise?" Eunha asked, trying to swat Sowon's hand away from her face playfully.

"I promise." Sowon chuckled, poking Eunha's nose gently. Eunha let out a small squeak before running out of Sowon's grip, baiting the older girl into chasing her around the living room. Sowon was more than willing to do so, keeping her pace slow so that Eunha would have more fun running from her. Umji and Yuju watched for a few moments before Yuju poked Umji in the side, tickling her. Umji let out a similar squeak to Eunha's before chasing after Yuju, the pair running upstairs and only stopping once Umji had tackled Yuju down onto her bed, both girls laughing the entire time. 

"I'm gonna get you!" Sowon yelled out teasingly, steadily persuing the energetic Eunha. 

"N-No! Get away!" Eunha yelled in between giggles, jumping onto the couch while trying to grab a pillow to defend herself. She wasn't quick enough, Sowon had caught up and swooped the shorter girl onto her lap, kissing Eunha's forehead. 

"Got you." Sowon grinned, laughing as Eunha leaned up to bite at her shoulder, the former white kitten still happily giggling the entire time. 

"Get away from Eunha!" 

SinB's voice broke through the air, the former black kitten back in the doorway of the sliding glass door that led outside, drawn back inside by the sound of Eunha's voice while the two had been playing. Yerin was behind her, peeking her head out from behind SinB's back. The former ginger kitten, thankfully, wasn't growling anymore, only examining Sowon's face and new hair with curious wide eyes. SinB wasn't allowing her to leave her side, however, her kitten mode making her extra protective of Yerin. 

"SinB." Sowon exhaled, letting her grip on Eunha loosen. "I told you, its me. I'm Sowon." 

Yerin seemed to finally understand and recognize the older girl, softly whining from behind SinB's back. SinB refused to let Yerin move past her, another growl forming in . Yerin continued to whimper, desperate eyes staring at Sowon. 

"Yerin?" Sowon focused her gaze on the former ginger kitten, her eyes gentle. "Are you okay? Do you want to be held?"

Yerin whined again, this time louder.

"Stop talking to her!" SinB yelled, pushing Yerin back. Yerin was the one to growl this time, biting SinB's shoulder. The former black kitten ignored it, still keeping Yerin behind her. 

"SinB, its okay" Eunha said, nuzzling her head into Sowon's shoulder, earning another protective growl from SinB. "Look, its Sowon. See?"  

SinB only growled yet again, wide, almost feral brown eyes full of anger. It was obvious that SinB was deep into kitten mode now, unable to think clearly enough to see that Sowon was right in front of her. Sowon's new look was confusing the riled up former kitten completely, SinB's gaze shifting from Eunha face and back to the 'stranger' keeping her on her lap. Before SinB could do anything, Yuju and Umji had returned from upstairs, hearing SinB's loud voice clearly from Umji's room. 

"SinB." Yuju kept her voice gentle, taking cautious steps towards the former black kitten. "Hey....SinB. It's okay."

SinB seemed confused on how to react, her eyes focusing on Yuju's face for a few moments before she directed her glare back at Sowon. 

"SinB." Yuju continued, finally reaching the younger girl's side. Placing her hand on SinB's cheek and letting it slide down to the girl's chin, Yuju directed the former black kitten's gaze up at her by tilting her head up. SinB let out an irritated grumble, trying to keep Yerin behind her. But Yerin was only growing more frantic, a few tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Let her go to Sowon, SinB." Yuju whispered calmly, moving her hand back up the younger girl's face before rubbing her thumb soothingly against SinB's cheek. 

"That's not Sowon." SinB repeated with a growl. Yuju could only sigh, still attempting to bring SinB back to reality with her touch and comforting words.

"Was she always this protective?" Sowon asked Umji as the younger girl sat down next to them on the couch, Eunha contently resting her head against her shoulder. 

"Yeah." Umji managed to laugh, glancing at the scene playing out in front of them with a concerned expression. "She was worse back then, actually."

"You didn't see her when I met her and Yerin for the first time." Eunha said, smiling softly as Sowon kissed the top of her head. 

"You're right, I didn't." Umji said, opening to ask Eunha to continue before the sight of someone moving towards the couch interrupted her. 

It was Yerin, the former ginger kitten finally breaking free out of SinB's grip thanks to Yuju. Eunha moved out of Sowon's lap onto Umji's, watching as Yerin sat in front of Sowon cautiously. 

"Yerin?" Sowon reached out, running a hand through Yerin's soft hair. "It's me, Yerin. It's Sowon. I didn't leave you. It's still me, my hair is just different now, okay?"

Yerin's eyes quickly filled with tears, the former ginger kitten whimpering before crawling onto Sowon's lap desperately. Yerin sniffed at Sowon's clothes, the familiar scent of the older girl's clothing erasing her confusion completely. And within m