One

Chaerin swore outright as she quickly moved out of the way before they roughly barged into her, her eyes widened in fear as her gaze flickered between the two heavily panting dogs—male—whatever the they were—and the rest of the pack, who were slowly morphing into their human forms.

The only object she could potentially use as a weapon was her overnight back and that was hardly going to protect her against these monsters. She had lost count of the rapid stream of thoughts that ran through her mind. From questioning whether these were the real dogs who belonged to Minzy or if they were pretending to be and the girl’s actual pets were somewhere else, to how she was going to protect herself swarm around in circles.

Within a matter of seconds, far too many bodies than Chaerin felt comfortable with filled the main entrance hallway. Leaving her totally surrounded and nowhere to run for sanctuary.

I never imagined I would die by a mutant dog attack. Was the only thought that graced her mind at this stage, it was a scene that she associated with a horror film. The idiotic girl meets her untimely end to twelve hungry dogs.

From the peripheral of her eye, she could just about gauge their jittery movements, as if they were impatiently waiting for jump her when she least expected it and probably tear her apart limb from limb without mercy.

If I scream for help, there wouldn’t be anyone out for miles who would be able to hear me. I’m all alone here to fend for myself.

This farmhouse was the only building for miles and miles on end, she briefly recalled admiring the open countryside without the disruption of city modelled buildings. As Chaerin found herself gulping slowly, it wasn’t such a refreshing thought now.

She briefly entertained the thought her chances of running out that door and into her car. But that was discarded as quickly as it appeared in her mind. No, they would probably catch me before I get outside.

Perhaps she was just being a pessimist, but at least she was being realistic about her chances of survival.

Wait a minute. Chaerin’s eyes narrowed slightly. If these mutants really belong to Minzy, then they should listen to her right? She slowly reached into the back pocket of her jeans, seeing their heads tilt to the side as she brought out her phone. However, not even a single second escaped their mouths, not even vicious growls or snarls as she unlocked it and pressed the speed dial button that directed her to Minzy.

She deliberated her actions at a snail’s pace, her breath caught in as to not provoke any attacks towards her. Please, oh please for the love of God pick up your phone and don’t miss my call, Minzy. The scarlet haired woman was known for missing her calls, especially during critical times and most importantly like right now. All that could been heard in the deadly silent room was the dial tone, she was more than certain that they could easily pick up her racing heartbeat.

The dial tone was on its last ring before she was put through to voicemail, leaving her with the last shred of hope quickly burning away.

“—Chaerin-ah? Is something the matter?” Until at the last minute, Minzy answered with confusion colouring her tone.

The blonde woman tried to not let the relief she felt show externally as she tried to maintain composure. A flurry of emotions flew across each of their faces, though the mutual feeling of contentment from their smiles as they stared at her phone was nearly sufficient in convincing her that they were the so-called ‘dogs’ she was meant to look after.

“…No, there’s nothing wrong.” She managed to croak out, making sure to keep her gaze above their faces, suddenly aware of their current state of dress. “I just thought I’d give you a call…so you could talk with your dogs, they’re already missing you so much.”

There was rustling in the background before laughter could be heard. “Is that so? I miss you guys so much already,” She cooed out with an affectionate voice akin to a mother speaking to her children, before her tone became clipped. “Remember the talk we had before I left though, you guys better behave yourselves for Chaerin unnie. You all should know the drill by now, that means no destroying the furniture Chanyeol-ah or jumping all over visitors Sehun-ah—or in this case, Chaerin unnie—though I’ll sure she will keep tabs on you all and will tell me if any of you misbehave. If you do, no more midnight walks for a month and I’ll put a ban on treats.” The same toothy and contented grins faltered from their faces, the blonde woman could almost imagine if dog ears were firmly attached to their heads, they were most likely be flattened at the chiding from their owner as the younger ones let out whimpers, some even going as far nodding their heads in acknowledgement as if Minzy could see them.

“I’m sure you can handle it, Chaerin unnie. They’re all harmless once you get to know them.” The older woman could only hum absentmindedly, somewhat more reassured than when she first stepped into the house. As the pair exchanged parting greetings, the moment that Chaerin was dreading had come, as the call came to an end and all was left was an apprehensive silence that neither party seemed to break. Chaerin felt as if she was rooted to the spot she was standing for what it seemed like an eternity before she chided herself for wasting time.

She had to bet on the fact that they wouldn’t go against their word, especially when it came with Minzy. But by the looks of things, they seemed to be relatively calmer than before. Or maybe they were just well trained enough to recompose themselves in a matter of moments.

Either way, Chaerin didn’t have time to dwell on such matters.  Two days, a possible three days. She could do this. With that final resolved thought, she cleared , trying to suppress the shiver that threatened to run down her spine at the predator glint in their eyes.

“So, I’m sure that Minzy-ah has gone over the house rules with you. But I’ve got my own conditions, if you break them, don’t think I won’t walk out that door and never come back.” From the looks of things, that slight bluff alone seemed to sober them up.

She held up one finger. “Number one, do not approach me without a valid reason and that includes no touching and following me around, there must be at least a five step gap between myself and any of you at any given time.” It would have been an understatement to say that they were turning increasingly annoyed at her compulsory requests, especially from their heated stares and frowns.

But she didn’t allow that to stop her digressing as she lifted up two fingers. “Number two, do not bother me.” She paused for a split second. “Unless it is urgent or extremely important, otherwise if you bother me over unnecessary things, I won’t answer no matter how much you call.”

That should suffice for the meantime. She inwardly nodded to herself as she tried to look behind the towering males to see the stairs which would lead her to the guestroom she would ultimately be in during her stay. It was then she realised that they had created a half circle around her, it didn’t help either about their current state of being underdressed.

“That’s it for now, so if you could let me pass through.” Reluctantly a gap slowly formed in the middle, which separated the males into two groups. She held her breath as she walked past them far too absorbed in hoping that none would utter a sound that she missed the sharp intakes of breath. To her own relief, that’s exactly how it went as she reached the stairs. The blonde woman’s gaze travelled to the kitchen, where they was no doubt a hefty coffee stash was stored somewhere in the cupboards. That’s going to be the only thing keeping me going with sticking to this deadline.

“—Excuse me.” She was distracted by a soft voice ringing out behind her so she turned her head around.

“How would you like us to refer to you as?” It was a simple question, though not something of importance. After all, she had assumed that when she was handed the post of being the ‘dog sitter’ for Minzy, the blonde woman did not think that these so-called dogs would have such novel worthy—or even film worthy for that matter—abilities to be able to morph from a canine into a human, thus there was initially no need for any contact between herself and the dogs unless absolutely necessary.

Chaerin blinked as she gave the question some thought. She was more than certain that they were more than aware of her name, perhaps they were just playing dumb in order to talk to her?

“Just call me CL.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly before turning on her heel to walk upstairs. Unbeknownst to the woman, the twelve males wanted nothing more than to bring her back. They knew they couldn’t disobey Minzy’s orders but as their gaze rose towards the guestroom, they could not fight the burning sensation within their stomachs. They exchanged silent looks as they all shared the same thought. Be patient, subtle and if that doesn’t work out…Minzy will not believe her over us.

Chaerin remained in the comfort of the guest room, not budging an inch from her seated position on the bed with her aging laptop placed in front of her as she mindlessly typed away. No matter how much she tried, she could not push away the lingering fact that there were twelve dog hybrids literally a floor away from where she was. She wasn’t naïve to assume that they would listen to Minzy’s words like obedient pets, she had a sneaky suspicion that they would have no trouble in finding a loophole somewhere. Once she finished the paragraph she was writing, she stretched her arms over her head as she relished in the moment before her tired eyes found its way back to where she left off.  

She bit her lip, her gaze travelled to the time on the bottom hand corner of her laptop screen. A few seconds later, her stomach gave out a long drawn out groan—practically crying out to be fed. Chaerin did not even realise she had lost track of the time, only just coming out of her absorbed phase whenever she was concentrating on doing her work that she temporary shuts out the outside world until she snaps herself out of it. The last time she had food was breakfast earlier on in the day, a few hours before she left to find the farmhouse.

The blonde woman glanced towards her closed door. Surely going to get some food wouldn’t hurt right?  Chaerin knew she couldn’t to ignore her hunger pangs, it was kind of like warning signals in her head before a headache would sneak in and settle in her head for goodness knows how long. She detested headaches.

Deciding that it would be unwise to adhere the warning, she slowly slipped off the bed and went to depart from the room. There’s no need to be nervous, Chaerin. If they’re smart, they wouldn’t do anything.

So with that mind-set in place, the woman in question walked towards the stairs, around the same time the bathroom door which was opposite the stars opened leaving the steam from within to trickle out. Soon after, a half- body appeared, with one half lightly holding onto the towel wrapped around his waist. Chaerin quickly drew up her gaze, to find a tanned male staring back at her in stunned silence. However, he seemed to snap out of it easily as a sly smile erupted onto his face.

“After you, CL.” She didn’t know what it was exactly, but the way he said her name it was enough to strike a chord within her. She stiffly nodded her head as she descended to the ground floor, she could smell a pleasant aroma drifting from the kitchen. You just need some coffee and a cereal bar, don’t stay and socialise. It was a dangerous game, a game she was not intending on participating in.

No more than ten minutes later, she was not in the guestroom like she was supposed to be. Instead, she found herself in an unwanted predicament.

This so-called predicament meant that Chaerin found herself in started as she changed her plan to cut some apple slices, from the other side of the kitchen she could practically feel each and every stare digging into her body. Though, she didn’t let that phase her as she carefully cut the fruit into chucks, but then the single image of the half- hybrid distracted her for a split second.

And that split second was enough for her to mistake cutting the fruit to her pricking her finger.

“—Oh ,” She let out the curse as she felt the knife cut into her finger, hissing in pain as she could feel the blood pulsating out of the vein. Though, the pain slowly subsided as the seconds passed by, leaving her with a minor cut wound.

Before she knew it, she could feel herself surrounded on all sides. She never felt more grateful that they were now fully clothed.

“I’m okay, just a little cut that’s all.” She spoke louder before scowling at them, feeling her personal space being invaded on a number of levels before she hissed out in annoyance. “Remember, five step distance at all times.” Slower than she would have liked, but they eventually moved away from her as they walked around the island table to watch on sceptically as if they didn’t trust her with sharp objects. One brown haired male even went as far as grabbing the chopping board and knife before he went along to the other side of the kitchen whilst the blonde woman looked for the first aid kit in the cupboards.

She composed herself relatively well, aside from the minor blunder, after taking care of the mishap she turned her attention back to her task at hand. Until she realised that the fruit and utensils that were previously in front of her had now seemingly disappeared into thin air.

“Are you trying to play a joke? What have you done with my—“ She whirled around, her eyes narrowed until she saw that the apples were already cut up into a neat and organised pile on the chopping board. And there standing innocently with his eyes widened to the extent that Chaerin nearly felt guilty for getting angry before he bowed his head, expecting to hear a scolding.

Just grab the apple slices and get out of here before you get into this black hole which you will be unlikely to ever leave again. That’s what her gut was telling her anyway, and rarely she did not listen to these feelings and cooperate. Silently, she grabbed a bowl and slipped the fruit bites into it before making an immediate beeline for the stairs. She was a few steps away from the stairs when could practically feel the intense collected weight of their stares, it wasn’t until it was too late that she realised they were following her.

“Stay downstairs, CL.” One rumbled out, his authoritative tone leaving no room for arguments. The woman in question did not bother to hide the scowl already forming on her face.

“Just because I’m here doesn’t mean I’m on vacation, I have work to do and don’t have the time to put everything on hold to look after you guys.” She replied, not halting once in her stride. I came here under the impression I would be looking after dogs, not fully grown humans. They’re more than capable of looking after themselves without me.

However, the next sight she came across next was sufficient in making her stop walking. It was the tanned one who she had crossed earlier as he was leaving the bathroom, but the simple sight of him wasn’t the reason why she stopped. It was what he was holding. Literally the object was practically dangling from his fingers, she was mildly surprised that from such a light grip, it didn’t fall.

It didn’t take long for her to realise what they were going to do with the situation.

She didn’t even want to think about what would happen if he were to let go of her laptop, as ancient as it was, all of her work was stored onto it. And there was no back-up if they were to be destroyed.

“If you stay downstairs and don’t ignore us, Jongin-ah won’t drop your laptop.”

Maybe I could catch it if it falls? Instantly, she tried to think of another alterative option. But then she easily dismissed the idea, her laptop was far too valuable and this idea was far too risky. She didn’t want to take any chances.

“So, do we have ourselves a deal, CL?” The blonde woman didn’t even have to turn her head away from Jongin’s to know that smug looks were marred over all their stupid and annoying faces.

These sly conniving sons of es. Was the only thought to fly through her mind.