Warmth
By My SideYewon was never a morning person but for today, she was going to have to be.
It was a good idea, having her friends come over while Yuju was sleeping, but it was a bit nerve wracking at the same time. Sure, Yuju had said she would try her best to behave but the half puppy's dog-like urges were hard for the mentioned girl to push down. This was still a much better plan to this reintroduction then having the doorbell ringing multiple times over and over again. This time, it would be a calm, less rowdy entrance. Hopefully that would help keep Yuju from barking.
Yewon yawned quietly before petting Yuju's dog ears, luring the girl into a deeper sleep. Yuju's arms were loosely wrapped around her torso and Yewon was dreading having to move away. It was a cold morning and Yuju's warm body snuggled into her own was comforting. There was even talk online of a storm rolling in but thankfully no rain was predicted for today. Not that it mattered much anyway. It's not like they had any plans of going out. Yuju clearly would not be able to handle something like that anytime soon. Yewon continued to browse through her phone's internet app until a message from the group chat popped up on the screen.
[eunbi]: hey! we're here!
Yewon smiled, running her hand through Yuju's clean hair one last time before untangling herself from the half puppy's grip. Yuju was in too deep of a sleep to care at the moment. The puppy hybrid didn't even stir when the bed moved as Yewon got up out of it to quickly change before letting her friends in, the tired half puppy letting out a small sigh in her sleep. Yewon already felt better about this situation. Today was going to go well. She was sure of it.
Yewon held her breath as she opened the front door, trying her best to make sure the door hinges didn't squeak loudly while she closed the door once everyone was inside.
"Is she still asleep?" Yerin asked softly, glancing towards Yewon's bedroom.
"Yeah she's completely out." Yewon replied with a small laugh. "She didn't even wake up when I got up to change earlier."
"She really must have been tired after Friday." SinB mused. Yewon nodded before noticing the large bags in both SinB and Sojung's hands. Yerin had a small bag in one of her hands as well while Eunbi was firmly gripping onto a pizza box, making sure the contents wouldn't move around or fall out of the container.
"Is this all for her?" Yewon asked, amazed that her friends had actually gone out and bought things for today.
"Yep. It's all for Yuju." Yerin grinned.
"You didn't have to do that." Yewon whispered. "You could have just sent links of what to get her in the group chat and I could have bought it myself."
"Nope. Not this time." SinB said as she placed the bag on the apartment's kitchen table, Eunbi wasting no time in joining her to place the large pizza next to it.
"We told you, Yewon. We wanted to do this for her and for you." Sojung spoke up, patting Yewon's back reassuringly. "So don't worry about it. It wasn't a problem."
"I got Yuju a chocolate cake." SinB interrupted while she took the cake box out of the plastic shopping bag. "I think she'll like it better than the vanilla one."
"Should we wake Yuju up now?" Yerin asked. "Or should we wait another hour?"
"I think waking her up now would be fine." Yewon nodded. "She's been sleeping for a while anyways."
"I'll go with you." Sojung said, surprising everyone.
"Are you sure?" Yerin asked. "Maybe I should go instead. She let me feed her last time, after all."
"I want to try this time." Sojung replied, lifting up the seemingly heavy and large bag with her hands. "I got her something helpful and I want to give it to her right away."
"It's fine with me." Yewon smiled, clearly touched by the older girl's gesture.
"No fair." Eunbi pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and sulking slightly. "I wanted to wake up Yuju."
"She'd probably bite you if you tried." SinB quipped. Eunbi immediately reacted, attempting to punch SinB in the shoulder. SinB was quick to doge the blow, grinning teasingly at the shorter girl. Yerin couldn't help but laugh, keeping her volume low as the situation played out in front of her. Yewon chuckled before leaving to enter her bedroom with Sojung close behind. SinB was always teasing Eunbi and it looked like that wasn't going to stop any time soon.
Yuju was still snoozing away when Sojung and Yewon got to her side, unaware that the other girls had even entered the house or the bedroom again. Even though Yuju was sleeping soundly, she still looked a bit tense without Yewon to hold onto while she slept. Yewon sat next to the half puppy's sleeping form on the bed and gently shook the girl's shoulder. Sojung was busy getting her present out of the large bag, placing what looked like a simple, large blanket in plastic packaging on the floor to be brought over. Yuju was starting to wake up, soft brown eyes focusing on Yewon's face first, the tired girl not noticing that Sojung was even there.
"Good morning, Yuju." Yewon smiled before placing a kiss against Yuju's forehead. The shape of Yuju's dog tail could be seen wiggling under the blankets, the puppy hybrid smiling sleepily up at Yewon.
"Everyone's here to see you." Yewon said, making sure that her tone was slow and calming when she brought up her friends. Yewon gestured for Sojung to come closer to the bed, feeling a slight bit of anxiety at the sight of Yuju turning her head to stare at the approaching girl with widening eyes. But this time, Yuju didn't bark or growl, the half puppy simply attempting to bury her head under the blankets to hide.
"Hey, Yuju." Sojung smiled as comfortingly as she possibly could, placing the package containing the large blanket next to the bed. "I brought you something."
"Isn't that nice of her? Say thank you, okay?" Yewon kissed Yuju's forehead again, allowing Yuju to try and hide in her arms and lap instead of under the bedsheets and blankets. But once Sojung brought the gift into view and on the bed next to her, Yuju's expression changed from scared to curious, her fingers reaching out to cautiously touch the soft blanket once it was out of the package.
"What is it, Sojung?" Yewon was curious too. It looked like a simple blanket but it obviously was much more than that.
"It's a weighted blanket." Sojung explained. "I did a lot of research online and the main thing the sites suggested was this. It should help her sleep better too."
"Does...." Yuju finally spoke, still poking at the blanket curiously. "...Does it hurt?"
"Not at all." Sojung chuckled. "It's supposed to feel like a hug almost. Do you want to try it out before we go out to join everyone in the living room?"
Yuju looked unsure but she nodded even so. Both Yewon and Sojung helped push aside the other blankets to the edge of the bed to replace them with the new weighted blanket, Sojung placing the blanket over Yuju's body as slowly as she could to keep Yuju calm. Once the blanket was on, Yuju seemed to relax, the pressure of the weighted blanket soothing her even with Sojung directly next to her.
"Does it feel okay?" Sojung was the one to ask first, smoothing down the blanket a bit. Yuju nodded again, sleep threatening to take her over thanks to the comforting light pressure of the weighted blanket on top of her body. Sojung took a risk and placed her hand on top of Yuju's head. Yewon held her breath, fully prepared to hear barking at any moment. But there was none. Yuju was still, yawning as Sojung took it a step further and ruffled both the half puppy's dog ears and hair affectionately. Yewon could barely believe it.
"I figured this would also help her when you have to leave her at home when we have school." Sojung said, still running her fingers against soft dog ears and pretty black hair.
"I think it will help." Yewon couldn't stop smiling, feeling her chest lighten as she watched Yuju almost lean into Sojung's touch. "Thank you so much, Sojung."
"You're welcome, Yewon." Sojung smiled back, finally lifting her hand away from Yuju's head so she could help the puppy hybrid out of bed with Yewon.
"Go on. Say thank you." Yewon instructed, rubbing Yuju's back once she was onto her feet.
"T....Thank you." Yuju said, avoiding eye contact while her tail slowly wagged, exposing how she was truly feeling.
"Of course, Yuju. I'm glad you like it." Sojung chuckled, patting Yuju's head again as she moved away from the pair to open the door. Yuju seemed to get nervous again, hearing the sound of Eunbi, SinB and Yerin all having a conversation together on Yewon's couch. But instead of darting away to hide under her new blanket, Yuju firmly gripped Yewon's hand, shifting on her feet anxiously. Yewon immediately gripped back, rubbing her thumb against Yuju's hand in a repetitive motion.
"Are you ready?" Yewon asked. "We can stand here for a few more minutes if you want?"
Yuju nodded, shuffling in closer to Yewon as she did so.
"I'll help Eunbi get the pizza ready for her to eat." Sojung said, smiling again as she noticed Yuju seem to perk up at the sound of the word 'pizza'. "Take your time. We aren't going anywhere anytime soon."
"We'll be out in a little bit." Yewon said, letting go of Yuju's hand to wrap her arms around her. Yuju was quick to do the same back, nuzzling her head against Yewon's as Sojung left the room to join the others in the living room and kitchen. The two stayed like that for several long minutes, Yewon allowing Yuju to get comfortable with the idea of interacting with the rest of the girls again before attempting to bring her into the living room. Yuju's movement was slow but she didn't try to run, hiding behind Yewon slightly as the pair finally entered the living room together.
"Yuju!" Eunbi's eyes lit up, smiling brightly while she held up a plate with two fresh slices of pizza occupying it. "Good morning Yuju! We brought you pizza! Do you want it now?"
Yuju stared nervously at the excited and energetic short haired girl but Yerin was quick to jump into action. A soft hand was on top of Yuju's head within moments, the half puppy twitching out of nervousness until she realized just who exactly was her hair and ears.
"Hey, cutie. Remember me?" Yerin was smiling just as warmly as she had the first time she had visited. Yuju didn't reply but the slow returning wag of her tail behind her signaled that she recognized the pink haired girl. Yewon felt her nervousness vanishing almost instantly at the sight. At least she seemed to be somewhat comfortable around Yerin. It was a start.
"Lets get some food in you." Sojung said, taking the plate from Eunbi and handing it to Yewon to give to Yuju. Yuju was still cautious but she managed to let Yewon lead her to the kitchen table to start eating. Eunbi and Yerin clearly wanted to sit down with her but they kept their distance, not wanting to make the puppy hybrid uncomfortable in any way. The half puppy was finally grasping how to eat correctly, taking small bites of her food and chewing carefully.
"She really is adorable." Eunbi whispered, unable to take her eyes off of Yuju yet again.
"I can't wait for her to try on the clothes that SinB and I picked out for her." Yerin grinned, turning her head to glance over at SinB, the younger girl sorting through the clothes in the bag that she had brought over. There was a lot of options being laid out, most of the outfits consisting of soft sweaters and t-shirts with cute designs on them.
"Maybe she'll even let SinB pet her this time." Eunbi nodded, SinB's head lifting up in response to her name being spoken.
"I don't care much about that, you know? Besides, I got to touch her ears when she wa
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