Being your average college student, there were many times during her college career when Sooyoung wished she got in a very unfortunate accident to avoid deadlines, get out of classes, or just due to the general stress of being in university. But she was expecting it to be more along the lines of getting hit by a school bus (to get the free tuition, of course) or breaking a few bones falling down the stairs. Not being viciously mauled by a wild animal while walking down the block during a late night convenience store snack run.

 

At first, she hadn’t noticed the animal when she stumbled into the Kwik-Mart, blowing harshly on her freezing hands and rushing towards the hot dog stand. But the moment she stepped outside, toasty snack in hand, she sensed its deadly presence (and a pair of glowing eyes) somewhere to her right in an unlit corner of the small parking lot. She would say she’s frozen like a deer in the headlights, but she’s literally a prey animal about to meet her untimely demise and any kind of deer reference would just be too real. The predator in question shifts in place, its heavy breathing misting in the cold winter air, and Sooyoung can instinctively tell, despite not being able to see the rest of its figure, that it’s incredibly large. And dangerous. And (most likely) hungry for human flesh. She starts to tremble in her coat, practically weeping in fear.

 

The pair of eyes slowly lowers towards her and time slows as Sooyoung’s mind races, trying to anticipate what kind of beast she’s gonna become dinner for. Her eyes slam shut as the animal gets closer to the light, her entire body tensing in preparation for a world of hurt. For what seems like a solid hour, Sooyoung feels the animal’s hot breath ghost her hands, which are squeezing the life out of the hot dog she just bought. If I survive, I’m never going out at night without bear mace, she thinks out of desperation. 

 

It’s not until she feels her clammy hands being gently nudged by something wet that she reopens her eyes. And finds herself staring at something completely indescribable. Kind of. She’s seen enough dumb werewolf movies to know on an abstract, intellectual level what it is (hypothetically… she’s not sure if it can even turn into a human), but the living, breathing mishmash of human and canine features is so jarring that Sooyoung’s brain can’t accept that the thing before her is a real, living, breathing animal and not some hyperrealistic set piece. 

 

The creature looks like it can easily tower over her (not that it takes that much… she’s only 5’4”) and looking hungrily at the hot dog, which at this point has had the ketchup and relish squeezed out of it. It moves closer, its hands and feet (paws?) scrabbling awkwardly against the asphalt, hairy (furry??) body stretching out towards the dance major. It’s only then that Sooyoung notices that it’s wearing a faded pink shirt, decorated with a cute cartoon penguin. She’d laugh if she wasn’t a hot second away from fainting.

 

A large, slobbering tongue lolls out of the werewolf’s mouth and its entire face seems to shift into an expression of dumb joy as it continues to look hungrily at the ruined hot dog. It kind of looks like a large, friendly dog. Until its mouth drops further and Sooyoung catches a glimpse of its terrible maw. It looks like it once had a nice set of pointed fangs, but more teeth kept growing in and it couldn’t afford werewolf braces. The thing could easily take her arm off with a gentle nibble. Instead, it gently nudges her hands again with its wet nose, giving her a pleading stare.

 

“H-huh?!” She flinches out of her stupor. The terrifying animal continues to nudge her hand, whining softly. The dissonance between its appearance and actions takes the edge off Sooyoung’s fear. 

 

“Uhhh… sorry, I’m not sure if dogs are allowed to eat hot dogs?” 

 

 Almost as if it understood Sooyoung’s apologetic tone, the werewolf flattens its ears, dipping its head and giving the girl puppy dog eyes, whining harder. 

 

“And I’m pretty sure feeding wild anim--”

 

The werewolf suddenly lunges, mouth open, at Sooyoung and she lets out a very unflattering screech. However, instead of being mauled into bloody shreds, she feels the hot dog being tugged out of her hands. When she regains her bearings, there’s no evidence of her strange encounter with the animal except for a few splotches of relish and ketchup leading down the darkened streets.

 

--

 

“I swear to god, Sol, I’m not ing lying.”

 

“Sooyoung, if they ran out of hot dogs at the store, you could’ve just told me. Or told me a more believable lie.” Sooyoung’s roommate, Jinsol, casts a disappointed (and ever so slightly judgemental) stare at the other girl as they both head towards campus. “I’m actually kinda hurt that you think I’d dumb enough to believe that. We’ve both been at BBC long enough to know we aren’t even close to a forest!”

 

“Jinsol, you know that I know that you’re a ing genius. And I’m offended that you think I’d tell you such a bull lie. Which means I’m not lying! ‘Cause it’s so unreal that I wouldn’t even lie about it.”

 

“Are you high right now?!” Jinsol exclaims so loudly that it catches the attention of students around them in the hallway.

 

“No!!” Sooyoung shouts loudly. Hopefully that would clear her name to the bystanders.

 

Her friend gives her a questioning look and a concerned “I think college is literally driving you crazy” before they head off to their respective classes. Maybe she’s right. Maybe college is literally driving Sooyoung crazy and she needs a break from school. Permanently. At least it’s not exactly the first time this semester she’s questioning her life choices. Though (possibly hallucinating) a werewolf encounter might actually make her drop out.

 

--

 

There are a lot of new faces in Sooyoung’s dance class today. They seem just as confused as she is, their eyes wondering curiously around the room.

 

“Hey, what’s going on?” She whispers to Heejin as they warm up together. “You know why we have a bunch of new people today?” The other girl shrugs.

 

“You know how usually we’re supposed to present a choreography for the final showcase?” Sooyoung nods. “I heard Professor Kang’s adding something extra to it this semester. I guess the new kids are related to that?”

 

“Huh…”

 

Before they can gossip more, the professor in question claps her hands to get the class’s attention. She makes her way to the front and stands next to a shorter woman.

 

“Alright class, we’ve only got a few weeks left, so I’m giving you the rest of the semester to work on your choreo for the final showcase. But, before that, let me introduce Professor Son, who’s teaching Advanced Music Composition...” A small woman bows after giving a brief introduction.

 

“As you’ve heard, I’m adding a new element to your final showcase this semester. In the professional field, you’ll be working with many people of various backgrounds. Soft skills like communication and negotiation will be just as important as your creativity and technical skills. I want you to get a taste of what that feels like by working in pairs with students from Advanced Comp to create a unique and interesting solo choreography that fits their final composition project...”

 

Sooyoung listens attentively as Professor Kang lists a few other guidelines for their final project, taking notes on her laptop. 

 

“...and finally, remember that clear communication is key. I’ll be grading your final showcase based on how well the choreo fits with the music, not just its style or complexity.”

 

Professor Son steps forward holding a sheet of paper, “Both Professor Kang and I have assigned you partners for this project. Please step forward when you hear your name being called.”

 

Sooyoung’s mind drifts as Professor Son reads off the list. She’s still a little shaken from the (almost) werewolf attack (and slightly bitter that the hot dog she painstakingly paid for with her own hard earned money got stolen), so hopefully getting to work on her own choreo will help her relax. The possibility of getting to showcase her own dance is pretty exciting and she’s been sitting on a lot of neat ideas and concepts for so long.

 

“Kim Jiwoo and Ha Sooyoung.”

 

Sooyoung perks up at the sound of her own name and walks quickly to the two professors, excited to size up her partner. However, seeing that she’s the only one standing up front, it seems that Kim Jiwoo’s chosen a bad day to miss class.

 

“Kim Jiwoo? Last call.”

 

Sooyoung fidgets uncomfortably as a few seconds of awkward silence follow.

 

“Hmm… It looks like Jiwoo’s absent today. We’re planning to spend the rest of class time working on the showcase, so you’re free to leave after this.”

 

Professor Kang hands her the showcase guidelines and what Sooyoung assumes to be Jiwoo’s school email. She lets out a heavy sigh as soon as she reaches her place next to Heejin. The younger girl gives her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she starts packing up her bag.

 

“Hey, at least you get to skip the rest of class.”

 

“Ugh, and I was actually looking forward to working on the project.” Sooyoung grimaces. “At least I got her email, though. Totally gonna call her out for missing class.”

 

--

 

To: [email protected]

 

Hey, I’m Sooyoung, your partner for the final project! We didn’t get to meet in person during class, so I just wanted to reach out and give you a heads up. I also dropped my phone number at the bottom, since email can get pretty tedious.

 

I look forward to working with you!

 

Best,

Ha Sooyoung

 

--

 

The upside of Kim Jiwoo being absent is that Sooyoung gets the rest of the day off with no work. Which means more free time to brood over her near-death werewolf incident. And by “brood”, she means obsessively researching werewolf mythology… kind of. She initially wanted to find meaningful, intellectual articles on werewolf encounters, but all she got were TV show and video game characters. Which led to “what if fiction reflects reality and I can just learn about werewolves by watching werewolf shows”. She’s now the third season of Teen Wolf and slowly realizing that maybe her assumption wasn’t quite correct.

 

“Oh god, please tell me your ‘werewolf encounter’ isn’t gonna spark some sort of goth werewolf phase.” Jinsol says right next to her ear, “You’re way too old for a goth werewolf phase.”

 

Sooyoung flails wildly, knocking her laptop to the ground. “Holy , Jinsol! At least knock before you enter!”

 

“Dude, you’re literally in the living room. Am I supposed to knock before I enter my own apartment now?” Her roommate flings her hands up in surrender. “Anyways, why are you home so early? I thought your dance classes ended later.”

 

“They do, but my project partner didn’t show up, so I got to leave early.”

 

“And you’re spending that free time watching American werewolf shows?”

 

Sooyoung rolls her eyes. “I’m just waiting for my partner to respond to my email.”

 

Jinsol raises a skeptical eyebrow, which is completely unjustified because Sooyoung’s seen the girl blow over $100 on Legos then stay up until 6 AM (on a weekday, mind you) building said Lego set. If Jinsol can have her quirky nerd obsessions, then Sooyoung can have her strictly academic werewolf research. 

 

--

 

From: Unknown Number

hey sorry for missing out on class today :( i wasn’t feeling well :((

if ur free wanna meet up outside of class sometime so we can talk abt the project?

 

this is jiwoo btw :)

 

--

 

It’s been a few days since the Werewolf Incident and Sooyoung checks her messages for the third time. She’s at Mix&Match Cafe and it’s nearing twenty minutes past five, meaning Kim Jiwoo is ing late with her last text being OMW!! :D. The baristas are starting to cast pitying looks at her, which makes Sooyoung feel ever so slightly miffed. She’s being stood up by a classmate, not a date. Though she’s not sure if that’s much better. 

 

The time is nearing half past five when the cafe door opens noisily. A girl wearing the puffiest pink winter jacket rushes past Sooyoung’s table near the windows looking like she’s hiked through a forest and wrestled a bear on the way here. The many keychains on her backpack jangle as she suddenly stops and looks around, her eyebrows practically disappearing into her bangs. She looks like she came straight out of a cartoon, Sooyoung thinks as she tries to hide her amused grin by taking another sip from her now-cold latte. Said animated girl is now pouting at her phone, her brows scrunched cutely in concentration.

 

From: Kim Jiwoo (from dance)

hey im here now! where are u sitting?

 

To: Kim Jiwoo (from dance)

I’m at the front near the door. I’m wearing a white sweater.

 

As Sooyoung puts down her phone, she spots the cute girl heading her way. More like heading straight to her table. Oh. Her heart soars a little at the thought of being able to work (e.g. flirt) with a pretty girl while working on a project she’s practically destined to enjoy. Maybe this is the universe’s way of making up for the emotional trauma from the Incident. 

 

“Hey, I’m so sorry I’m late!!” God, even Jiwoo’s voice is ing cute. “My friend set the kitchen on fire so I got a little held up extinguishing it and repainting the walls to hide the damage.”

 

“O-oh…”

 

Jiwoo smiles brightly as she settles down in the seat across from Sooyoung. “Thankfully we disabled all the smoke alarms in our apartment so we didn’t have to worry about dealing with the fire department this time.”

 

 

 

---

 

AN: Let me know your thoughts! This is my first fic so feedback is very helpful :)