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Chapter Text

When Jihyo was twelve, the world seemed to be an enormous and scary place. Moon Grove appeared to be the biggest city in the whole world, and the forest around her house seemed to be creepier than ever. Even if all the adults she met on her way kept telling her that they hadn't seen a wolf nearby for at least ten years, that there were only bears and some smaller animals, but they rarely came down from the mountains to the town, Jihyo had trouble trusting them. She could see the shadows that were moving between the trees at night, while she was busy reading a book in her favorite spot by the window. She wasn’t going to let herself be convinced that they were only her imagination. She had eyes.

Yet, at least as she thought, the wolves and bears weren’t the reason for her instinctual avoidance of the woods. Jihyo wasn’t particularly afraid of any wild animals. She knew they rarely came close to people, she had read about it in many books, and on the Internet, and she had heard about it from her science teacher. Whether it was wolves, or lynxes, or foxes - all of them attacked people only when provoked. Maybe the case wasn’t the same for bears, especially if they had cubs, but Jihyo didn’t think it was really that easy to meet a bear so close to the town. 

The darkness wasn’t responsible for her apprehension as well. She quite liked it, actually. It brought calmness and peace, and it allowed her to finally get cozy under a blanket, with an interesting book, without her mom asking her to do one more boring chore in the house.

In conclusion, Jihyo’s fear of the wood was a little irrational. 

And the forest remained a fairly unconquered place for her for years, since she was a small kid. She was totally fine with playing in the garden, near her house, where her father could always come to rescue her from any danger. What kind of danger could that be? She wasn’t sure. 

However, all of those fears didn’t mean that Jihyo never ventured into the forest. She did, constantly, accompanied by either one of her grandparents, or her father. She always made sure to stay on the paths though, knowing that in case of any emergency, or when she wasn’t feeling like being there anymore, they would surely lead her back to her house, to her safe bubble. Even when her grandma spotted a beautiful butterfly somewhere on the leaves and wanted to show it to curious Jihyo, or when her dad picked up some berries, the girl didn’t follow them into the wilderness. She wasn’t an outdoor type of kid, sue her. 

But as with all things in the universe, even Jihyo's fears had to come to an end someday. Nothing indicated that day being the one, and when Jihyo was preparing for a short afternoon walk in the forest with her grandfather, she could have never guessed how differently it would go compared to usual.  

“Wear a thicker jacket, honey.” Her mom called out from the kitchen, busy preparing something for dinner the next day. “I’ve heard the temperatures are about to drop tonight, and I bet grandpa’s about to make you walk until you both can’t even see anything under your feet anymore.”

The older man frowned, waiting patiently beside Jihyo and looking at his granddaughter tying the laces. 

“I feel like I’m being falsely accused here.” He shouted back. “All these years I’m giving all my love to this family, and here’s what I got in response.” He sighed tiredly, simultaneously winking at Jihyo and showing her thumbs up. 

Jihyo only rolled her eyes. 

She didn’t support her grandpa’s methods, but it didn’t mean they weren’t effective. 

Before anyone could blink, Jihyo’s mom was already in the hall, pouting. 

“Oh, dad, you know I’m kidding.” She said, trying to reach for her father and make him hug her. The older man pretended to avoid her touch for a few more seconds, faking a disappointed smile, but then finally pulled her closer and gave her a quick squeeze.

“It’s fine. I won’t be mad anymore…,” He said. “... if you give us a few of those cookies you’ve baked. You know, for the road. You can’t let us lose our strength on the way, while we’re in the middle of the wild forest.” 

Jihyo swallowed the giggle that was about to escape her throat. When it came to sweets, nothing could stop her grandfather from trying to scrounge some, even if he knew his doctor didn’t approve of him eating so much sugar. 

Jihyo’s mom rolled her eyes hearing the obvious exaggeration.

“Just one. And I’m calling mom to let her know that you’ve already gotten your dessert.” She threatened, leaving for the kitchen to grab the cookies for both her father and her daughter. 

Jihyo and her grandfather did a quick high-five, before she could come back and see them celebrating. Then they were back to their serious, pained expressions.

Jihyo really loved her grandfather for how warm and loving he was. Since she was born, he made it his personal mission to make her the most spoiled and pampered child in the whole world, and he never stopped treating her like his little princess. They were partners in crime for years now, playing soccer together in the garden, going on long walks into the woods during which the man showed Jihyo all he knew about the nature of Moon Grove, and chatting about all the books they had read and enjoyed. It was her granddad who taught Jihyo how to ride a bike and ski, it was him who showed her how to fix her bike in case the chain fell off, and it was him who smiled the widest when Jihyo stopped by her grandparents’ house on her way back from school. 

That’s why she wasn’t all that scared, when he took her on those walks into the wilderness. She trusted him completely. 

(...)

Today, just as Jihyo’s mom said, the air was way cooler than before. It was the middle of October already, and the girl knew the snow was soon about to arrive at Moon Grove, but she still felt like she wasn’t ready for the cold days yet. The colorful leaves on the trees were obviously wonderful, and she could never enjoy them enough during the short period of the autumn season in their little town. The snow was awesome too, because it allowed her to have so much fun while skiing, snowboarding and building snowmans. But in the end, Jihyo loved summer the most out of all seasons. It was such a shame in Moon Grove it was never really as hot and sunny as she would want it to be. 

The leaves crunched under their feet as they walked through the garden, waving on their way to Jihyo’s dad, who was busy fixing something in the car. The forest welcomed them with its usual silence and stillness, the lack of wind giving Jihyo a sense of comfort under her two hoodies, jacket and a hat. As always, they held back from talking while crossing the various paths of the woods, focusing instead on listening to what nature had to offer for them that day. 

Only when they reached a small clearing, where the sun was able to reach during the time of the day when it was the highest in the sky, warming up the ground and melting the morning frost, Jihyo’s grandfather broke the silence for the first time.

“Here, look.” He pointed out something on the ground. “This beetle. Its shell is so colorful. Do you know that they can carry something that is even thousand times heavier than them?”

Jihyo gasped with curiosity, but then quickly averted her eyes. She wasn’t the biggest fan of the insects. Out of everything she could meet in this forest, they would be probably her last choice. 

The older man burst with heavy laughter, noticing her disgusted expression. His hand traveled instinctively to tousle her hair, and only the hat saved Jihyo’s ponytail from being completely ruined. 

They ate the cookies there, chatting about the beetles. Despite her initial reluctance, Jihyo accepted with curiosity all the facts her grandfather offered, observing the small creature strolling by their feet. Then they set off for the further walk. 

They were nearly halfway to the spot that they planned to reach, when suddenly, there was a weird sound coming from somewhere between the trees. Jihyo heard it first, being younger, but her grandfather’s attuned ears weren’t much worse. 

“Shhh…” The man grabbed her hand to stop her from walking and making any noise. Then he whispered:

“Have you heard that?”

Jihyo only nodded, her wary eyes scanning the whole forest. It didn’t sound dangerous, but one could never be sure. 

Whatever made this sound, didn’t let them wait for long. The quiet wailing repeated, and now Jihyo was almost sure that it was coming from her right side. There was a road not far in that direction, maybe one or two kilometers away. That didn’t sound like a human's voice though, nor like a car.

Jihyo wordlessly pointed the place to her grandfather. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to go and check it, because what if it was indeed something dangerous… But she knew the man would do it anyway. 

“Stay here, kiddo.” He only patted her back. 

Jihyo sighed. As if she ever had the guts to do anything else. She waited impatiently, observing as he disappeared in the bushes. Two minutes went, then three. Suddenly–

“Jihyo, come here quickly.” His voice reached her ears, and Jihyo froze. 

How– How was she supposed to go there? It was scary there. Dark. Wild.

“Come on, it’s nothing scary. I promise.” Still, there was urgency in his words. 

Jihyo closed her eyes, using all swear words known to her inside her mind, cursing her own cowardness. Then, opening only one of her eyes, and biting her lip really hard, she stepped out of the path. 

It felt interesting for sure. Electrifying. But she was never going to do that again. Never.

“Hey, relax.” Her grandfather’s voice was calming as he led her there. “See, there’s nothing scary here. Just you, me and… This little one.”

Jihyo’s eyes immediately traveled to the ground. The layer of leaves wasn’t as thick there, as in the other parts of the forest, with the trees being mostly coniferous, but it still hid the land from their eyes. There was a trunk nearby, looking like it belonged to a tree that was once fallen by some particularly strong storm. There was some moss too, contrasting heavily with the browns and greens of the leaves. 

There, on that moss, lay a black puppy. It was small, barely bigger than Jihyo’s foot, and terribly thin. Its fur was shiny under the layer of dirt though, and its paws were quite bulky, indicating that it could come from a rather big kind. 

Jihyo’s grandfather kept stroking its fur delicately, making the animal lift its tiny head. There was little to no life in the dog’s brown eyes, Jihyo could see it even from afar. At that moment, nothing, even the scary wild woods, could stop the girl from coming closer to the puppy.

“Oh no!” She gasped, deeply moved. “What happened to you, little baby?” 

Jihyo could already feel what her grandfather was about to say now. She was grown up enough to know why animals like this dog ended up in the forest. 

“He was probably thrown out from the car passing by.” The man sighed tiredly. “Those bastards! How could you hurt such a small creature?” He cooed to the dog, which barely reacted. With how dirty its black fur was, and how his little body was trembling, it wasn’t hard to guess that it spent too much time alone in the forest, without any food or water, and was on the verge of passing out.  

Jihyo felt tears gathering in her eyes. 

“We have to help it. It’s going to die here.” She said with terror. The dog looked terrible. It had to be in so much pain… Jihyo didn’t even want to imagine how lonely and scared it had to be. Her heart scrunched with compassion for the little fluffy creature. 

“Yeah, it doesn’t look good.” Her grandfather agreed with worry in his voice. Their eyes connected over the puppy’s frozen form for a long ten seconds. Then the old man sighed once again, this time resigned to his fate. 

“Your mother’s gonna kill us both. And the dog.”

Jihyo only nodded. So what? 

Thus, that day was the first on Jihyo’s long way of dealing with her fear of the forest. She couldn’t know at that moment what was about to come her way as she was taking the dog to her house. 

Even the Moon, shining nearly full over the horizon and guiding them as they walked back home with the puppy sleeping soundly on the old man’s hands, kept the secret safely locked from their eyes. After all, It couldn’t betray one of Its precious children. 

(...)

“No! Absolutely not.” 

“But dad…”

“No, I know how that will end. You’re gonna get bored, and I’ll have to take care of it. A dog is not a toy, it needs care, it needs food, attention. Who’s gonna take care of it while we’re at work, and you’re at school?”

Jihyo’s father already made up his mind. Surprisingly, it was him that was against Jihyo adopting the dog, not Jihyo’s mom. The woman was already halfway in love with the puppy, holding it on her lap and trying to warm up the sleeping animal with a blanket. If it was only her opinion that counted, the dog would already be Jihyo’s. It wasn’t though, and that was the problem. 

But Jihyo had a few aces up her sleeve too.

“Granny can. Grandpa already called and asked her about it. And when the dog gets bigger, it can just stay in the garden. And I’m not a kid anymore, I can take care of feeding a dog. Besides, are you going to kick a puppy outside, when it’s this cold? It’s going to die out there.”

The girl’s eyes were now round and big, pleading and relentless. She could see that her father was breaking. He just needed a little bit more convincing…

“No. I’m not kicking the dog out. If grandpa found it, he can take it.” Jihyo’s dad glanced at his father-in-law with a frown. The old man only shook his head.

“It’s Jihyo’s dog. I can’t take it away from her. Sorry.” He stepped away from the whole commotion, as if showing that they shouldn’t include him in the family drama. “And after all, wouldn’t it be good if Jihyo learnt responsibility while taking care of a living animal? Every child needs that while growing up, right?”

The sigh that followed wasn't loud enough to divert the older man’s attention from Jihyo’s grateful and loving glance. He winked at her, showing her a thumbs up. It was going to be good, her dad wasn’t going to say ‘no’ to his little princess. Truly, the man was visibly fighting with himself to still be adamant. Jihyo saw an opportunity and skipped closer to him, hanging on his neck and hugging him like a koala.

“Please, daddy…” She pleaded. “I love you, please, let me keep it.”

“Eh… Damn . Fine.” He grabbed her waist, preventing her weight from hurting his neck. “But I wouldn’t want to be you, if I saw that you’re not interested in this dog anymore.”

“Obviously, obviously.” Jihyo dismissed his concern. As she mentioned, she wasn’t a kid anymore. She didn’t need to be reminded twice. 

She immediately jumped off her father’s arms and ran to pet the dog one more time. Luckily, before her dad could come back home and notice anything, they had already managed to give the puppy some water, and clean its fur a bit with a wet towel. Despite the fact that the animal was clearly hungry, it didn’t want to take any food from them, but Jihyo’s grandfather said that it was probably simply scared and nervous. So they decided to let it warm up first, and get used to their presence, before starting to seriously worry about the dog’s well-being. 

“We’re gonna have to take it to the wet.” Jihyo pointed out, after delicately stroking the puppy’s head. “To get it vaccinated and checked…”

“Yeah, you probably should.” Her grandfather nodded, praising her observance. “But let it become a little bit accustomed to you first. When she trusts you, it’s gonna be less stressful for her.”
“Oh, it’s a ‘she’?” Jihyo’s mom made a surprised face, looking first at Jihyo, then at her father. “Weird, I’d totally say that it would be a male puppy, with how big and grown it is.”

“Probably some kind of mix with a big breed.” The older man shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know honestly, it shocked me too, but I’m not the biggest specialist when it comes to dogs. You know we’ve always only raised cats. Maybe the vet will tell you something more.”

“I’m gonna love it anyway.” Jihyo just said, gently kissing the sleeping dog’s fur. “My little puppy.”

(...)

The next few hours of Jihyo’s day looked just like that - she sat with the dog by the fireplace, petting it and trying to calm it down. The animal was mostly sleeping, probably really exhausted after the few days it surely spent alone in the forest, scared and hopeless. 

First Jihyo’s mom, then her grandpa, both asked her if she had already come up with a name for her new pet, but the girl wasn’t convinced. Somehow, nothing she could think of suited the black puppy, and in the end, she decided to leave the decision for another day. 

The night came quickly, and with it Jihyo’s dad telling her to go to sleep.

“Tomorrow’s a day like any other one. You’ll have plenty of time to play with the dog–” He started it with a typical parent’s tone, quickly frowning in the middle of the sentence. “ –After school. Now I want to see you in your bed, preparing to sleep.”

Jihyo knew there was no discussion with her father, when it came to school-business. As loving and tender as he was towards her, he was deadly serious about his daughter’s education. Being excited about the new pet wasn’t a good enough excuse to not rest well before a new day. 

So with a sigh, Jihyo left one more kiss on the puppy’s head, ready to leave it by the fireplace for the night, where it would be warm and have access to water and food in the bowls nearby. She really, really wanted to take the dog to the bed with her, cuddle it and make it feel loved and secure, but even without her father’s opinion, she knew it wasn’t the best idea. The puppy was in a new place, knocked out for most of the afternoon, and it could be really spooked in case it woke up in the middle of the night, squished under one of Jihyo’s arms or legs. 

Yup, that’s not what Jihyo wanted for her new friend. 

Besides, she wasn’t sure whether the dog was potty trained, or wouldn’t behave aggressively. It surely looked like the nicest dog on the planet, but who knew… Better be safe, than sorry. 

However, as Jihyo was soon about to find out, it wasn’t going to be her that was scared between the pair. She didn’t really need to do anything in particular, she just tried to stand up from the floor, and walk away, but apparently the movement was enough to stir the poor creature out of its sleep. The dog’s eyes opened abruptly and went wide right away. Seconds later, the animal sprang up onto its paws, not without fatigue, gluing its belly to the floor and hiding its tail between the legs. The ears were laying flat on the puppy’s head, as it didn’t let its eyes leave Jihyo’s form. 

“Oh, no…” Jihyo gasped lightly, not wanting to frighten the dog any more. “Don’t be scared, little one. I don’t want to hurt you. You’re safe here.”

The puppy didn’t seem to believe her words. Still intently following her every move, it started backing out in the direction of the fireplace. Red alarms went off in Jihyo’s head. 

“No, baby. Don’t go there. You’re gonna burn yourself.” She called out, then threw herself to grab the indocile animal. That turned out to be a mistake.

The dog whimpered with fear and scurried away under the table, hiding just out of Jihyo’s reach. The girl had a great urge to chase it and try to grab it once again, even if it took her to move every piece of furniture in the room, but something was telling her that it would only worsen the case. So she let it go, albeit not without pouting, leaving the puppy where it wanted to be, making sure it had a supply of water and some food in case it felt safe enough to come out of its hideout at night. 

Jihyo went to sleep really boomed and disappointed that evening, but the bad first impression the dog might have had of her didn’t let her think of giving up. She knew that building every friendship was a process, and it needed time and effort. She couldn’t gain the dog’s trust right away. And she was completely sure that she was as patient as her new buddy needed her to be. 

(...)

The situation hadn’t changed for the next few days. The dog stayed hidden somewhere every time any of the members of their household was around, only coming out from under the table where it needed to drink some water. The canned dog food Jihyo had chosen so carefully in the pet store stayed untouched though, and the whole family kept growing more and more worried with every day the animal refused to eat anything. Even Jihyo’s father, not fond of the dog’s presence at the beginning, gradually started to warm up to their new friend, and spent evenings researching the ways to convince the dog to eat something.

What was also concerning those days in their house, was that some of the food they kept in the fridge seemed to mysteriously disappear each night, with no one really admitting to eating it. It was always small portions, one fruit, or just a little bit of the cake, nothing really noticeable. It could be that Jihyo’s mom didn’t remember cutting the cake and giving it to her mother, it could also be that Jihyo mindlessly grabbed the apple to take it to school. No one had any proof that the food was really getting stolen. Still, something seemed to always be missing.

But after all, the dog couldn’t open the door, right? So in the end, Jihyo’s father was (maybe wrongly) accused of midnight snacking, and Jihyo’s mom said it was the final verdict of the jury. The investigation was closed. Her husband couldn’t even defend himself in any way, so he helplessly accepted his fate. 

Then, purely by accident, one afternoon during dinner, some of Jihyo’s food landed on the floor. And to everyone’s utmost surprise, the puppy didn’t even hesitate to run up and swallow the piece of chicken laying on the tiles. It looked embarrassed and regretful just after, as if it did something wrong, but Jihyo thought she was going to burst with joy at that moment. Finally, at least one of the problems was solved.  

A few moments later, she was so incredibly happy observing how her new friend devoured her whole portion of rice with chicken, that it didn’t even hurt that much when the animal chose to hide from her once again after eating the meal. It was as if tons of weight were taken off her chest, and she felt like a proud mother whose child made its first steps. Her puppy wasn’t sick after all, the world was beautiful again. 

Later that night, while Jihyo was laying in her bed in the darkness, thinking about the math test she was supposed to take the next day, she suddenly heard a sound of the door to her bedroom opening slowly, as if pushed by a light blow of wind. It instantly made her freeze, her heart beating faster than it should, and her first thought was obviously: Ghosts! There had to be ghosts in her house, and they came to haunt her for not studying enough for that damn test. Tears nearly came out to her ears, and she opened her mouth to scream for her father’s help.

And then the sound of paws could be heard on the wooden floor.

Jihyo sighed with relief. Oh damn, thank God she didn’t call her father. She was twelve years old, not five! It would be so embarrassing…

The movement by her bed quickly brought her back to reality, because… Her puppy came to her room? How cute and sweet was it?! She was gonna melt. She was gonna cry, and burst with happiness, and…

The small dog’s eyes shined in the darkness as it sat by Jihyo’s bed, looking at her. This silent, wordless conversation between them lasted for nearly two minutes, during which Jihyo asked so many questions inside her head. 

Are you not scared anymore? What would you like me to call you? How did you end up in that forest completely alone? Are you happy staying with me? 

The puppy obviously didn’t answer any of them. It simply yawned, then blinked a few times, and then lay next to Jihyo’s bed, looking like it was ready to guard her from any ghosts at night. Jihyo couldn’t believe her luck. 

She fell asleep with a big smile that night. The smile stayed on her face for the whole next day, while she aced that math test and hurried up to come back home to her new friend. 

(...)

They progressed really slowly from then on. First the dog allowed itself to sleep next to Jihyo’s bed regularly, then, finally, for the first time while being awake, it allowed the girl to touch its body. Jihyo wanted to instantly grab it into her arms and squeeze, cuddle, kiss–

But she was a person of great patience, so she sat peacefully on the ground, all fidgety inside, but with a poker face outside, and petted the dog’s black fur. It shocked her at first, how different its structure was compared to what she usually knew dog’s hair felt like, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t nice. 

Since the trust between the two of them was barely gained, Jihyo pushed off the visit to the veterinarian a bit, knowing it wasn’t the time yet to take the puppy out of the house, especially in the car, the sounds produced by which seemed to especially disturb the animal. 

And there was still the case with the missing name bothering the whole family, making the hair on Jihyo’s twelve-year-old head grow white. Generally though, the girl was really glad with how the puppy started to trust her more and more. 

One night, she was already prepared to sleep, laying in her bed and finishing just one last chapter of the newest fantasy book her grandma gave her for getting an A in a test, when suddenly, with a dull sound, something landed on the mattress just next to her hand. A bit annoyed, Jihyo averted her eyes from the text, just to see a small ball laying on the blanket, (a little bit wet in saliva), waiting for her to pick it up. 

The puppy was sitting nearby, on the floor. Its head was tilted, its eyes… amused? Jihyo wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if the dog was challenging her. ‘So, what are you going to do now?’ said its expression. 

“Seriously?” Jihyo eyed the dirty ball, then raised her eyebrows. “That’s a bit gross, don’t you think?”

The puppy only snorted with its nose, as if it totally understood what Jihyo said. It didn’t move from its spot, waiting patiently for Jihyo’s move, so the girl reluctantly grabbed the ball between her two fingers, and then threw it into the air. With a surprising grace and strength, the puppy jumped up and caught the flying object, then landed on its four paws, dropping the ball to the floor and showing Jihyo its teeth in a smile. 

Jihyo had to admit, it was adorable. Still, she wasn’t the biggest fan of the wet ball touching her blankets.

The puppy seemed to immediately read her expression, because its head hung low and its eyes got sad. If Jihyo had never seen a classical case of ‘puppy eyes’ before, now was the best time to observe and do notes, because this , in front of her… Phew…

“Oh, come on, buddy.” The girl groaned. “How about we play tomorrow in the garden, huh?” She offered.

She really meant that. Although since coming to their house, the dog had yet to go back outside, Jihyo was really willing to allow it to go there. But only if she could watch over the puppy and make sure it would come back to the house safely… 

The dog was reluctant. Its eyes traveled between Jihyo and the ball a few times, as if it considered its options. Jihyo knew she was risking a lot, after all it was the first time her friend showed any signs of playfulness in her presence, but she really, really wanted to go to sleep soon. Besides, the blankets… No, there had to be some rules in this house. 

Sneaking out, when her parents told her to stay in her room, was fine. Snacking before dinner was fairly fine. Watching movies that weren’t suitable for her age, when her parents couldn’t see it, was also fine. Dog saliva on her blanket was where Jihyo drew the line.  

But then the puppy looked at her with so much sadness…

“No, baby.” Jihyo said, feeling like everything in her body was fighting against those words. She had to be strong, she had to be strong…

The dog whimpered.

“Okay, fine.” She groaned. “No need to be so dramatic.” 

She grabbed the ball and threw it into the air, hoping that the noise wouldn't alarm her parents. 

Luckily, her room was on the other side of the house, and the puppy’s stubby paws were pretty fluffy as for a dog. 

In the end, the girl spent a whole hour just playing with the puppy, before the little animal turned out to be tired enough to finally fall asleep. Soon the excited gaze turned into a sleepy one, and the puppy kept yawning time by time, sometimes licking its nose after a particularly wide yawn. Jihyo couldn’t handle that amount of cuteness anymore. 

“We’re going to sleep.” She pointed a finger at the animal, trying to act like a responsible adult that she wasn’t, but aspired to be one day. “Me, and you too.”

The dog yawned one more time in response. Jihyo fell back to her pillow with a sigh, then turned around, as to not see the pleading eyes thrown at her. It seemed to work, and a few minutes went on without any sound in the room. Jihyo’s eyes were already dropping, but then…

The mattress behind her back shook a little, and then a wet nose touched Jihyo’s uncovered arm. 

The girl’s heart stopped for a moment, when she turned around just to meet a pair of brown eyes observing her with interest. What the heck? Did the puppy just willingly jump onto her bed? What kind of lucid dream was this? Was she hallucinating?

“What?” She asked gently, not wanting to spook the puppy. “Wanna sleep with me?” 

The puppy didn’t answer, because it obviously couldn’t. But from the way it started to go in circles, preparing the spot for itself, Jihyo deduced that the answer for her question was ‘yes’. She grinned, and turned to observe as the dog made itself cozy and comfy by her side. 

Wasn’t it the cutest puppy alive?

(...)

As day went by, Jihyo’s puppy seemed to only grow in the will to play. Obviously, it also grew in size, but the changes weren’t drastic, at least not enough to notice it at first sight. 

One could say that the puppy was even too active, with how often it wanted to run around and discover everything that surrounded it in the house. It also seemed to be constantly glued to Jihyo, when the girl was home, following her around and sleeping with her each night (sometimes even cuddled to her side, but that happened on really rare days). The girl was obviously flattered, especially when the still small puppy acted like her protector. 

As she could then think, this was the biggest change she could notice in the animal’s behavior. While at the beginning, it was constantly frightened, hiding behind Jihyo’s legs when it heard a louder noise, with time it seemed to get more and more confident, up to the point when it tried to protect Jihyo from its biggest enemy - the car. 

Jihyo was yet to discover the reason behind her puppy’s aversion to cars, but she still counted it as an act of great courage, loving the creature more and more with every time it showed her one of its cute sides. 

The winter soon started in the town together with the first snow covering the whole forest. There was still a lot of time until Christmas, but Jihyo couldn’t help but already got excited for the holidays, expecting to get tons of gifts and celebrate this time with her family. Also, despite her deep adoration for summer, playing in the snow wasn’t half that bad in Jihyo’s opinion, especially when later she could come back to the warm inside of her house, sit by the fireplace and listen to the logs slowly burning, while her puppy slept by her side. 

She obviously loved skiing, snowboarding and skating on the frozen lakes, but this winter, it seemed like she wasn’t going to be able to indulge in any of those activities. The puppy was simply taking all of her free time, preventing her even from going on her usual walks with her grandfather. The man understood Jihyo’s reasoning, giving her time to enjoy her new friendship to the fullest, until she got used to it and finally allowed anyone else into her little circle of happiness. 

(...)

That one Saturday started exactly like that - Jihyo was woken up by her mom, and right after opening her eyes, she realized that her hand was buried in something fluffy. The puppy was still asleep, its body serving as a heater for the girl, not caring an ounce that it was already late, and the sun was high in the sky. 

What a lazy puppy it was…

Jihyo made sure to pet the dog thoroughly, and kiss its little head a few times, before crawling out of her bed for breakfast. The morning passed with Jihyo helping her dad cook dinner, while her mom tried to work in the room next to the kitchen, scolding them both every two minutes for making too much noise and laughing too hard. The puppy didn’t grace them with its presence, remaining asleep until early afternoon, when it demanded to be let outside.

“I’ll go and play with her.” Jihyo said to her dad, putting the winter jacket on. “We’ll be in the garden, in case you need me.”

“Have fun, honey.” Her dad shouted back from the living room. “Don’t stay there for too long, or else you’ll get sick.”

Jihyo dismissed his concern, already halfway out of the house. The weather outside was truly wonderful, with the sun shining bright in the sky and frost making the snow dry and fluffy. The girl bursted with laughter when the dog dived into a snow drift, hiding completely from her view. It appeared back only a few seconds later, with its whole nose white, huffing and puffing to get rid of the powder. 

Unfortunately, with this kind of snow, Jihyo couldn’t make a snowman, or even throw snowballs for the puppy to chase, but it didn’t stop them from running around all the garden, hiding from each other and then diving into the deep snow. 

The fun seemed to be totally harmless and safe, and nothing could prepare Jihyo for what was about to unfold soon. She didn’t even notice it while passing by, that the small gate in the back of the garden, where their property connected with the forest, cracked open, maybe because of a strong blow of wind, and maybe because of her own inattentiveness. 

The puppy was the first one to realize it, its ears perked up and the tail suddenly straightened. And then, without any single warning, the animal was running with all its might, out of the garden and into the wilderness. 

At first, Jihyo was too stunned to do anything. Her puppy had never before shown any signs that it wanted to escape their house. During many times they played in the garden, it always behaved well, mostly staying by her side and never even getting close to the fence surrounding their property. Obviously, all the gates were closed, but not out of the need to force the dog to stay inside, it was just as it always was. 

Now reality crashed onto Jihyo’s shoulders, and she gasped loudly, calling after the dog.

“Puppy!” She screamed, mentally cursing herself for not coming up with any name that the dog would react to. “Come back!”

She was out of the garden, running into the woods in seconds, not even caring about the promise she made to her dad about staying close to the house. She tried to keep her eyes on the dog, but the deep snow forced her to slow down quite quickly. Her legs got stuck in every snow drift on the way, making her more and more annoyed and scared. If she lost the puppy from her eyes, how could she ever be able to catch up to it? 

“Puppy!” Her voice was now desperate; her breathing ragged, bringing more of freezing cold air straight into her lungs. Tears started to appear in her eyes, yet she refused to cry. 

She was a big girl now, she had to deal with her problems. 

Slipping and almost falling, Jihyo ran through the forest, sometimes seeing the black fur between the trees far in front of her, and sometimes losing even the traces of paws on the path. The dark wilderness on both sides of the route frightened her, bringing scary visions to the front of her mind, of what could happen to her, if she dared to put her foot there. The dry leaves that somehow managed to survive on the naked branches rustled ominously, breaking the dead silence that engulfed the deep woods. Night was starting to fall all around her, with the promise of the moon rising above her head really soon. 

Helplessness filled Jihyo’s heart when she risked looking anywhere but under her feet. She was lost, she was lost, she was lo–

There! She knew that tree. It was weirdly-shaped, deformed by the wind and the time. She remembered that tree. Weren’t they here with her grandfather, when they found the puppy? Or was she already losing her mind? 

Somewhere, in the distance, she heard a car driving on the road. Oh no… It wasn’t good news. What if the puppy, focused on running, didn’t notice the car? What if it got hit?

A few tears of powerlessness escaped her eyes, and Jihyo wiped them off her skin immediately. She had to go there. No matter how scary the forest was, she had to go there and search for the puppy. And if she didn’t find it herself, she was going to call for her grandpa. The man was strong and he knew the forest like his own pocket. He would for sure find Jihyo’s friend. 

“P- Puppy?” 

The bushes on her left moved, and for a second, Jihyo felt hope. But then a big bird got out of it, jumping into the flight, startled by her voice. The girl sighed with disappointment, mentally encouraging herself to go there and check. Just check…

Her heart kept beating fast, and while stepping out of the path, for a moment Jihyo could hear only the blood rushing in her ears. She was alone. Alone. There was no one there beside her. An almost deafening ringing inside her ears was accompanied by her vision darkening significantly, making her slow down and support herself with a hand on a tree’s trunk. 

Then… Howling.

Wild-sounding one, not exactly what a dog would do, but Jihyo wasn’t in her right mind at that moment to dwell on that. She rushed through the bushes, not caring about her fear anymore. Something hit her face, almost cutting her skin. She stumbled on something, almost falling down and managing to maintain her balance only at the last second possible. She seemed to run through the whole forest, it was taking forever…

And suddenly here it was. Sitting by the side of the road, almost on the asphalt, its eyes glued somewhere in the distance. There were no cars, no passersby. Just a lonely black dog waiting. For something. 

“Puppy, I’ve been… looking for you.” Jihyo panted out, relief washing off her whole body. “Why would you run away from me like that, huh?” 

She reached the dog, which didn’t even make any move hearing her approaching. The look in its eyes was resigned and done. 

The road stayed empty.

Chapter Text

School was a tricky subject for Jihyo to talk about. On one hand, she genuinely loved the institution that allowed her to gain knowledge every single day, completely free of charge (well, minus the cost of all the handbooks), because - let’s admit it - she was a total nerd. She absolutely basked in studying, no matter the subject, spending long nights reading and learning new interesting things about the world. Although math and science classes were a tiny bit harder for her than the rest, it didn’t mean she gave up on them so easily. No, instead she made sure to give them even more attention and cherish them equally, so as to not stay behind in any part of her academic life. 

On the other hand though, school was tightly linked with having friends and spending time with them during lunch time and after classes. And Jihyo had so much trouble with that, it was even embarrassing to admit.

Not that people from her class were mean to her, or hated her. Not at all. They were even quite friendly, usually, but only school-friendly. They didn’t have a problem talking to her while doing a group project, or asking for something she knew but they didn’t during class. Only that after those classes ended, they usually tended to keep to themselves and their already established groups of friends, and Jihyo was usually left behind - simply because she hadn’t ever been persistent enough to force herself into any of those groups. She lacked the confidence, this outgoing energy to come up to them and just simply start talking about anything not school-related. And - let’s also admit it - sometimes she simply didn’t care. 

In Jihyo’s eyes, most of her classmates (not everyone, she didn’t like to generalize) were simply boring. They didn’t have any interesting hobbies, or anything about themselves to offer. Maybe it was self-centered of her, but usually Jihyo thought she was better without them. She didn’t really want to have friends. 

That’s why, in the beginning of the new year, while everyone was still high on Christmas energy, and their literature teacher asked them to write an essay about friendship, Jihyo had really only one choice of who she could make that work about. Maybe it sounded really lonely, and really depressing, but Jihyo’s friendship with her puppy was hers and only hers, and all those people could honestly screw thems– Nevermind.

Lately, Jihyo’s friendship with her puppy was a tricky subject to talk about as well. Maybe Jihyo couldn’t exactly say that the trust between the two of them had been broken, but something there still wasn’t right. After the dog had run away to the forest, the girl had trouble bringing it back to her house. The puppy insisted on staying there, by the empty road, and waiting. For what? Jihyo wasn’t sure, but she could only imagine. 

And what she imagined wasn’t nice at all.

Even when they finally came back home that day, the puppy remained sad and broken. It never attempted to escape the garden after that one time, even when the gate to the forest was wide open. Instead, it was constantly dejected, making Jihyo work overtime to bring it back to playing like they used to before. After a week or two since the puppy’s escape, around the time Christmas came and brought Jihyo’s whole large family to their house, the dog got better. Yet, when they played outside, in the snow, the puppy still used to glance longingly in the direction of that road. 

Jihyo kept doing her best to cheer her friend up. And she thought she was doing fairly good. 

That’s why the essay had to be about her puppy. Jihyo feared her teacher could take the whole thing as only a child’s imagination, especially that she still called the puppy ‘The puppy’, with the lack of any suitable name, but she had to take that risk. And she genuinely thought that what she had written deserved an easy A.

So why was everyone looking at her, as if she had grown a second head right now? She was the only one that volunteered to read her essay, saving those who forgot to do the task from being randomly chosen, so couldn’t they at least mind their own business? She would expect those gross boys that sat in front of Chan and Sana to make fun of her, but Mina? That girl looked like she needed a huge pep talk to open her mouth every time the teacher asked about something, she didn’t need to make Jihyo feel bad about being brave like this.

The silence in the classroom was being prolonged too much.

“That was good enough, Jihyo.” The teacher finally broke it, making sure to look Jihyo straight into the eyes. “I’ll grade your work later, but could you please stay to talk to me after the class?”

“Sure, Miss Lee.” Jihyo hung her head, sighing. 

So after all, the teacher indeed thought Jihyo had non-existing, imaginary friends who she considered real… Great. 

The lesson moved on, with Miss Lee asking other students to read their essays, and then starting to introduce the next subject they were going to work on. Jihyo had a bittersweet feeling about the day. She honestly thought she was going to get at least some praise for all the effort she put into writing, but she could guess it was what it was in the end… At least after school, she was going to finally come back home, and cuddle her puppy. 

A touch on her arm brought Jihyo out of her thoughts back to reality. She raised her eyes, just to connect them with big, dark ones, scanning her with curiosity. 

“Huh?” It was her first impulse to open her mouth in surprise. It was literally the first ever time that Mina, her terribly shy deskmate, was the first one to initiate any kind of contact between the two of them. Like… For the first few months after meeting the girl for the first time, Jihyo honestly thought that Mina was mute. 

Now the girl had her pen delicately patting Jihyo’s arm, in order to get her attention. 

“Did you make that up? Your story?” She whispered, clearly regretting speaking up at the moment her mouth opened. Now Jihyo’s attention was really only on her. 

“No.” Jihyo frowned. She was a bit annoyed that no one believed her. “Why would I? Is it that rare to find an abandoned dog in a forest?”

“I don’t know.” Mina shrugged her shoulders, her cheeks tinted with rose. “Never found one.”

The girl quickly averted her eyes back to the teacher, as if their interaction never happened, but Jihyo for some reason, couldn’t stop thinking about the look in Mina’s eyes. There was something there, something she couldn’t yet understand. 

The class came to an end quicker than she expected, and then all was left for Jihyo was to battle with the teacher about whether she had troubles with her mental health or not. She just hoped that the battle wouldn’t have to include her parents.

(...)

“And then, imagine that, she made me show her all of your photos, because she thought you were made by my imagination.” Jihyo sighed tiredly, glancing at the puppy. 

The dog kept looking at her peacefully, as if nothing she could say was able to surprise the small animal. Its steady presence made Jihyo calmer. She sighed once again, this time groaning and wiping vigorously her face.

“Why couldn’t you just answer me for once, huh? At least I’ll be sure that it’s not one-sided. This thing we have between us. We’re buddies, right?” She waved with her finger between herself and the dog, as if pointing at the invisible connection. The dog only tilted its head. 

“Yup, as always.” Jihyo deflated. “Let me at least read this stupid essay to you, how about that? You won’t judge me, right?”

Great, now she was talking to herself. Obviously, the dog wouldn’t mind. It couldn’t mind, because the door to the hallway was closed - it couldn’t escape Jihyo’s room. Its fate was set in stone - it had to listen to Jihyo’s friendship confession. 

The girl almost cringed at herself while starting, but she pushed through and read the whole thing out loud. Now that she thought about it, maybe it indeed sounded pretty crazy. But people were friends with dogs, right? It didn’t mean that she was a complete loser.

“... and that’s why I think the friendship between us will last forever.” She finished the last sentence of the conclusion, put the paper back on her desk and threw a quick glance at the dog. 

As surprising as it might be, the dog didn’t say anything once again. 

Jihyo groaned, hit the desk with her forehead a few times, then stood up and went to her bed, where she landed face first on the pillow. Why did she have to be such a weird person and have troubles with making friends? Why couldn’t she be born as someone popular, who came into the room and was instantly surrounded by tons of people who wanted to be friends with her? 

Would she like it, if she was that kind of person though? Wouldn’t she be tired by the constant attention, the pressure to be with people? Wouldn’t she miss the peacefulness of coming back after school, opening some fantasy book and diving into a world that was far more interesting and colorful than her own life could ever be?

On the other hand, if she had one, or two friends, it wouldn't be so tiresome, and she would still have someone to hang out with. They could be similar to Jihyo, also like books and–

A sudden sound of a throat being cleared interrupted Jihyo’s overthinking. She froze. Did her mom came without her notici–

“Did you really mean it?” 

A voice. Shy, child-like, one that Jihyo was one hundred percent sure she had never heard before. 

“Did you really mean it, that we’ll be friends forever?”

.

.

.

Did Jihyo have hallucinations? Did she inhale something by accident while coming back from school? Did someone from the older classes smoke something while she was passing by? At this age, Jihyo was aware that drugs existed, she just wasn’t sure how they worked. Could someone get high just by being near someone smoking weed?

Her head turned as if in slow-motion, her forehead scrunched in a frown. She wasn’t sure what she expected to see there, but it for sure wasn’t a naked girl sitting in the middle of her room, on the floor. 

“What the fuck!?” Jihyo gasped, then quickly covered her mouth, ashamed that such a word slipped out of it. She was well-behaved. She didn’t use slurs. “Wh- Who are you?”

Was her mom right, when she told Jihyo to stop reading those weird books, because she was finally going to start imagining things in real life? Because what the heck was a naked girl doing in the middle of her room?!

And where the heck was her puppy?!

She was crazy… She was indeed crazy. Just as Miss Lee thought. Oh damn, the kids in school were going to laugh so much, when Jihyo would be closed in some mental health hospital… Oh God, she couldn’t tell anyone. She had to act like nothing happened, like she was normal. She had to find real friends and go outside, touch some grass–

“I’m Tzuyu. Your friend. Or… At least you said so. Were you serious?” The girl - she looked around Jihyo’s age, or maybe a bit younger - asked with the most hopeful expression one could ever have. 

She was sitting cross-legged, her long black hair reaching almost her waist and (luckily) covering most of her body. Her face looked like it was going to get really pretty in the future, but now it was still quite child-like, with puffy cheeks and innocent expressions. 

Jihyo looked around the room, blinking a few times to check whether her eyes were working properly. Then she put fingers in her ears, checking if they were cleaned recently, as to exclude the option of hearing something that wasn’t really there. Then, finally, she lightly pinched her arm a few times, just to be sure that she wasn’t dreaming. 

No, the girl was still there. Waiting for Jihyo’s answer patiently. 

“Ummm…” Jihyo hesitated. “Yeah, I guess?” She answered finally. What was the question in the first place? “W- Where is my dog?” She asked then, growing more and more suspicious with every second. Should she call the police? Did this mad girl break into her house and hide under the bed while Jihyo was in school, just to steal her precious puppy?

“I’m your dog– I mean, I’m not a dog.” The girl corrected herself. “I’m a wolf. Or… At least I think so. I don’t really know.”

Okay, now Jihyo was already sure that she was going crazy. Nothing could stop this madness anymore. She was going to pack up to go to a mental asylum right away. 

“Wait… Let’s– Let’s think about it slowly.” She tried to slow down this downward spiral of thoughts in order to - maybe, somehow - make some sense out of them. “You’re telling me that you’re my dog. And… You… What? How–”

Okay, she didn’t even know what to ask about. 

“I’m not a dog!” The girl made the point clearly, her voice getting slightly annoyed. “I’m a wolf. It’s different.” 

“Okay, okay, okay…” Jihyo assured her. “A wolf. Got it. No need to get worked up.”

The girl seemed to be mad for a few more seconds, but then her face cleared from any emotions once again. She glanced at Jihyo. 

“So we’re friends, right?” She insisted on knowing. It was weird how important it was for her, but Jihyo didn’t have time at that moment to dwell on this.

“Well, I’m friends with my puppy, yeah. I’m not sure how I feel about… You being my puppy?” She wasn’t sure how to address that issue. In her books, the characters who suddenly landed in a world that was totally different from their own, seemed to be totally okay with that right away. Maybe she should act like that too. “But sure, we can be friends.”

See? She had a real friend now. A human one on top of that. 

To think about it now, maybe she could want more things, if her wishes were granted so easily that day? How about… that awesome library she saw on the Internet yesterday? Could it be in her house possibly?

“Okay.” The girl - what was her name? - said. “Great.”

Silence fell in the room. The girl had her eyes glued to the floor. Jihyo didn’t know what to do. Was there somewhere a guide about such a situation? Was she supposed to go back to her usual routine and not mind the girl, since technically, she would do just that if it was just her and her puppy…? But this girl was her puppy…? 

Oh man… What a freaking mess! 

Suddenly Miss Lee and her opinion about Jihyo’s craziness wasn’t the biggest problem of the day anymore. 

“Ummm… What was your name once again?” She finally decided to ask. “I- I didn’t give my dog, well… You. I didn’t give you any name. I guess nothing was suitable for a reason.”

“I’m Tzuyu. Chou Tzuyu. I’m ten years old and it seems that I’m a wolf.” 

Well, this name for sure suited the person. Jihyo muttered it under her nose a few times to learn the pronunciation. The girl had to take her lack of response as doubting her words, because she stood up suddenly.

“Don’t you believe me? Then look. I can do this anytime, apparently, but it’s the first time that I really tried. I wasn’t sure if I could trust you earlier.”

And just like that, where she stood in the middle of the room, the girl’s body started to change. It grew a lot of hair at first, black and thick, then it started to shrink, and after no more than ten seconds, a puppy was in front of Jihyo once again. Its tail was waving. 

Jihyo’s jaw dropped. 

Damn, there was really something seriously wrong with her mind. She was seeing things.

“So… Are you a werewolf?” 

Another ten seconds, and the girl was back, her naked body making Jihyo avert her eyes. 

“I don’t think so. I’m just a wolf and a girl.” 

“Hmmm… Makes sense.” Another question was already at the back of her mind. She didn’t stop herself from opening her mouth. “Why were you in the forest though?” 

Tzuyu’s expression suddenly fell. The prolonged silence on the girl’s side, following the question, told Jihyo that she should probably stop herself from opening her mouth. She felt weird now. How was she supposed to act? The girl was still her puppy, her friend and companion, but… She also wasn’t. 

“I think I don’t want to talk about it.” Tzuyu suddenly said. “Can we cuddle?”

Hmm, that was unexpected. Jihyo glanced at Tzuyu’s face. Then lower. Should she perhaps give the girl some clothes?

Tzuyu’s eyes rolled, and then she sighed. For a moment, she looked way older and more mature than she actually was. Jihyo felt small under her gaze. 

“Please, don’t treat me differently than before, okay? I’m still your puppy.” Tzuyu said, although saying the world puppy made her cringe a little. “I’ll turn back if you feel more comfortable like that though.”

Jihyo didn’t react right away, because she wasn’t sure what to do, as if to not offend the dog– wolf girl in any way. Tzuyu nodded, but before she started this weird process of turning into a wolf puppy, her eyes found Jihyo’s one more time.

“And Jihyo… I think we’re buddies too.”  

It was weird to hear her name out of Tzuyu’s lips. Jihyo had never once introduced herself to the girl. And she wasn’t even sure which one of them needed those words of affirmation more. She accepted them though, for the time being, and observed as the little wolf jumped on her bed and glued to her side. She put her hand on Tzuyu’s head, as always petting the wolf gently. 

Tzuyu fell asleep in no time, apparently not really worried about Jihyo now knowing her secret. Jihyo had much more trouble with relaxing. Her head mulled over all the things she saw and heard a few minutes earlier, trying to make it all fall into place inside her mind. 

It seemed like an impossible job to do though, there were still a lot of things she didn’t know, and there were tons of things she found hard to believe in. It all happened so fast that even now she found it hard to accept that she didn’t just dream about it while taking a nap on her bed. 

Jihyo tried to let go of all the thoughts that were preventing her from falling asleep. She could always ask more questions next time the girl decided to turn and face her, right?

She just hoped Tzuyu would want to answer them at all. 

(...)

The next few days, Jihyo still had trouble accepting the situation between her and Tzuyu. On the surface, it looked exactly the same as before, minus playing in the snow. However, deep in her heart, Jihyo knew that something wasn’t right. Now she had to always have in the back of her mind, that whatever she said to her puppy, wasn’t thrown to the wind. Tzuyu could understand her words, and have her own opinions about them. Meaning she could also judge Jihyo. Not that she would, but who knew…

Every day after waking up, Jihyo’s first thought was that it was all a dream. She kept eyeing Tzuyu then, searching for any sign that the dog– That the wolf was only a wolf. Tzuyu didn’t show in any way that the hot and cold treatment from Jihyo bothered her. She simply stayed by Jihyo’s side, acting like the most normal dog in the history of normal dogs. Jihyo didn’t ask her to turn back into a human. Tzuyu didn’t do it out of her own invention. They just maintained this awkward (for Jihyo) state of things without addressing its awkwardness.  

However, Jihyo kind of liked this situation, because it allowed her to not overthink anything. She didn’t have to dwell on things, she didn’t have to wonder ‘what if’. 

On the other hand, though, she had it in the back of her mind that Tzuyu could possibly not want to turn back into a human ever again. And there was one thing in this whole mess that Jihyo was sure about - she wanted to get to know her ‘new-old’ friend. She was curious about who Tzuyu was as a person, where she lived before, how she ended up in that forest. She also wanted to just hang out with her, share her hobbies and interests, gossip about whatever happened at school.

She simply wanted to have a friend. 

That’s why her conflicted mind couldn’t really rest over those few days. Then, Jihyo had enough.

“Tzuyu!” She called one afternoon, while they were alone in the house, sitting by the fireplace. “Could- Could you turn now? To a human?”

It sounded pretty ridiculous, and she had a hard time saying it, but the situation forced her to overcome her barriers. 

The wolf’s head lifted, its ears perking up. Tzuyu glanced at Jihyo curiously. She stayed in this position for a moment, and when Jihyo was already sure that her wish wouldn’t be granted, the wolf’s body started to morph and change until there was a ten-year-old girl sitting on the couch in its place. 

Jihyo wordlessly passed her a blanket to cover herself. Tzuyu glanced at it doubtingly, but then had to understand the older girl’s intention, because she put it over her shoulders. She did all of that without saying a single word, and by then, Jihyo started to seriously wonder whether Tzuyu was just generally quiet, or maybe she was pulling a silent treatment on her.

“Soo…” Jihyo nervously wiped her palms on her pants. “It’s nice to see you here, again. I- I mean, not that I haven’t seen you, you know what I mean. I still have trouble processing the fact that you’re both an animal, and a human.”

“It’s nice to see you too.” Tzuyu smiled warmly, ignoring Jihyo’s awkwardness.

Damn, just from that, Jihyo could tell how nice the girl was. She let past her ears so many of Jihyo’s slip-ups and mistakes, that Jihyo probably owed her… What? A dog treat?

“Ummm… Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?” Jihyo giggled, trying to cover with laughter how unsure her voice was at that moment. 

“Shoot.” Tzuyu didn’t move an inch, just waiting patiently for whatever was about to happen. She didn’t seem to be nervous at all, quite the opposite. Jihyo thought that it was reassuring that at least one of them stayed calm and collected.

“First of all… Umm… How– How does it work that you’re a wolf? It is like biologically programmed? Do you have some genes that allow you to turn? Or maybe it’s some kind of mutation? Sorry, if I’m being offensive, I just… I really want to know how it works.” She giggled once again. 

Get a grip Jihyo! She’s just your friend. The only one you have. Don’t screw that up…

“I don’t know.” Tzuyu didn’t mind. Once again. “For all the questions. It was…” She seemed to hesitate. 

It was the first time Jihyo could notice on her face some kind of emotions different than her usual neutral expression. Was it sadness? Fear? Tzuyu continued with that mysterious emotion still present on her pretty face.

“It was the first time it happened to me. I was just in my room at home, then… Then I was in the forest, suddenly seeing the world from a different perspective. I realized that something was not right, but only later I slowly found out how to navigate being a wolf.”

“And you didn't know earlier that something like that could happen to you?” Jihyo’s mouth was open wide, she listened with her whole body attuned to Tzuyu’s words.

“No. I wasn’t aware people… like me existed. I’m still not sure if I’m the only case, or maybe there are others. And… I don’t know, maybe it’s curable.” Tzuyu shrugged. 

Jihyo wasn’t able to read her yet.

“Would you want it to be curable?”

“I– Ummm… I’m not sure.” The wolf girl didn’t look her into the eyes. Although Jihyo couldn’t really see her hands, hidden under the blanket, she could see that they were shaking a little. 

Okay, okay. Change of subject. Jihyo had to save the situation. Quickly! Anything else…

“Sooo, you’re eating only human food, right?”

A nod from Tzuyu. She still had her eyes glued to the fireplace in front of them. 

“Is dog food not tasty?”

A nod once again. But then a soft whisper:

“It’s bland. It smells like paper.”

Jihyo nodded too and then hummed. That was some kind of important info. 

“Umm… But you like playing with a ball. And running around in the snow. Right?”

Barely a hint of a smile appeared on Tzuyu’s lips. It was a progress though. They were heading in the right direction.

“Yeah, it’s fun.” The girl admitted. And that was it. Nothing else. No more reaction. 

Jihyo hummed again.

They sat for a while in comfortable silence. Tzuyu was playing with her fingers, Jihyo kept glancing at her, trying to not get caught. She didn’t know how to approach the next question. 

“Tzuyu, I–”   “Do you–”

They both spoke at the same time. A series of giggles followed, and the awkward tension was finally broken. Jihyo relaxed a bit, and when Tzuyu showed her to say whatever she wanted first, she started:

“Tzuyu, don’t get me wrong. I want you to stay with us here in this house permanently, live with us and all, but… Shouldn’t you go to some school, or something?” 

Education was important for Jihyo. And (in her opinion) it should be for everyone.

Tzuyu’s posture suddenly straightened. She glanced briefly at the door, and Jihyo could almost see the wolf puppy in the place of the girl, its eyes perking up. There was something wild and untamed in Tzuyu’s behavior. Despite the lack of emotions, and the way she remained almost completely still during the whole conversation, Jihyo had a feeling that the girl was ready to flee the room any moment possible.

For some reason, it didn’t sit right with her. She didn’t own Tzuyu, so she couldn’t tell her to stay. But if she could, she probably would.

“I don’t know yet.” Tzuyu said eventually. “Honestly, I didn’t think I would reveal myself like that so soon, so I didn’t plan either staying, or leaving. I’ll think about it.”

Jihyo’s mouth was already opening to insist, to push her own plans and expectations onto the girl, but she wasn’t given the chance to speak. The door to the house opened quietly, and before any of them could react, Jihyo’s parents were already coming into the living room. Her mom’s voice echoed loud and clear right behind the girl’s back. 

“Hey, Hyo. We’re back. Who are you talking to–? Oh, hello?”

“Hi, Miss Park. I’m Tzuyu.” Tzuyu seemed to be already accustomed to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to escape the unnecessary attention. The look in her eyes was a bit resigned, but mostly calm.

Jihyo kept looking between the girl, and her parents with worry rising in her stomach. 

The blanket fell off Tzuyu’s arm. Jihyo’s mother scanned the whole room, as if looking for a hidden camera.

“Honey… Why does your friend have no clothes?”

The panic in Jihyo’s eyes deeply resonated with the stoic calmness inside Tzuyu’s. Excuses and explanations crowded inside Jihyo’s mind, gathering into a big mess of stuttering and fastened breathing. 

And then, when the temperature of Jihyo’s blood reached boiling point, Tzuyu just sighed and turned into a wolf. 

(...)

Surprisingly, Jihyo’s parents didn’t freak out so much. 

Only a little. 

Okay, maybe they were bound to have a little trauma in the future, and they spent the next two hours sitting on the couch, staring into space and just generally looking like they were struck by lightning. But all in all, they didn’t freak out much. 

Jihyo didn’t know what to do at first. Tzuyu, probably done with the day, scared and tired, scurried upstairs and hid under Jihyo’s bed, leaving the poor girl with damage control. There was no way to do the damage control though, when her parents couldn’t even hear her words. 

Then, nearly three hours after the incident, Jihyo decided to leave them where they were, and went upstairs too. She came back later to check on them, and found them in the kitchen, preparing food and chatting as if nothing happened. 

She wasn’t sure whether it was better to ask, or to leave the matter alone and hope they won’t do anything that would hurt Jihyo or Tzuyu. In the end, her mom made the decision for her.

“Dinner’s almost ready. Could you ask… Tzuyu, was it? Could you ask her whether she wants to eat it upstairs, or would she rather join us at the table?” 

There was no single slip up in the woman’s voice, her face was cold as stone, so Jihyo just nodded and hurried to her room. 

“Tzuyu!” She whisper-shouted, kneeling by the bed and trying to look underneath. “Come out, please. I think they aren’t mad, or anything. They want you to eat dinner with us.”

Some rustling could be heard from the darkness, then a wolf’s eyes peeked at Jihyo from the floor. Tzuyu looked unsure. Her doggy ears were glued to her body, and her tail didn’t even flinch. Jihyo sighed.

“Can I pet you?” She let the wolf ponder for a moment, then followed with the action, coming to the conclusion that Tzuyu had enough time to hide once again, in case she didn’t want any affection. 

“My parents are really nice people. I can’t promise you that they will understand, but now they know anyway. We have to face reality. And I’ll protect you in case something goes wrong. I’ll fight with my life for you, because we’re friends, right? Best friends.”

But how could she even try to convince Tzuyu that it was going to be okay, when she too wasn’t sure about it. Never once in her life had she experienced her parents getting really, really angry about anything. They were usually pretty chill about everything, and even if Jihyo managed to screw up something, they never shouted, just calmly tried to explain to her daughter what she did wrong. It obviously helped that Jihyo usually wanted to be a good girl, and never had any desire to go against them, but generally, her parents were awesome too. 

Tzuyu had to sense it somehow from Jihyo’s calm movements, because she decided to turn back into a human after all. 

Now Jihyo just had to search for some clothes fitting the younger girl. Which turned out to be harder said than done. Despite being two years older than Tzuyu, Jihyo was almost the same height as her. Almost, because she still needed to grow nearly two centimeters in order to match Tzuyu’s height. Jihyo feared that she wasn’t going to do it. As long as her mother liked to spark hope in her, that maybe her body still had some growing phase in store for her, her father was merciless. He preferred to say instead that when everyone stood in the queue for height, Jihyo waited to be given intelligence. And she was granted it generously. 

Searching for clothes for Tzuyu ended with the wolf girl wearing Jihyo’s oversized T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that were a tad bit too short for her. She rocked the outfit anyway. 

“Tzuyu, come, come. Sit with us.” Jihyo’s mother smiled really widely seeing the both of them walking downstairs, to the kitchen. “Do you like spinach? I made pasta with it today. You two need to eat a lot in order to grow healthy and strong.”

(...)

There was a chair being pulled closer to Jihyo’s desk. 

“Hi, Jihyo!” A chirpy voice interrupted her thoughts. Being in the middle of solving a complicated equation, Jihyo gritted her teeth with irritation. 

What now?

The cute, smiling eyes that showed up in her view when she lifted her head, suddenly made all of her irritation disappear. Nervousness and shyness showed up in its place instead.

“Hi, Sana…” Jihyo half-whispered. “Ummm… What do you need?”

The question was valid. As Jihyo mentioned before, she wasn’t close to any of her classmates. Sana was probably on the top of the list of people Jihyo couldn’t be close to, because she was too bubbly, too extroverted, too pretty, and if all of that wasn’t enough, also one year older than the rest of them, which made her appear as someone too unapproachable for Jihyo. And she was friends with Chan and Mina, the three of them always staying in such a close circle, that no one else could even try to fit into that group.

And now this bubbly, pretty and older Sana was for some reason sitting in front of Jihyo, with her back to the front of the class, leaning on Jihyo’s desk and smiling widely. Mina hadn’t returned to her seat after the break yet, so Sana had no reason to be here. Jihyo had all the rights to ask what the heck Sana needed from her.

“Oh, I just wanted to say ‘hi’.” The girl grinned, her teeth showing. “I don’t think I’ve said it in the morning.”

Even clouded with nerves, Jihyo’s brain still had enough computing power to realize that something wasn’t right. The girl’s eyebrows raised with suspicion. 

“Hi, then?” Jihyo said, waving her hand slowly to indicate more, that she was indeed greeting Sana. The older girl waved back, but… She still didn’t leave. Why wasn’t she leaving?

“Is there… something else you need from me?” Jihyo asked. 

Sana seemed to snap back to reality. Her nose scrunched funnily, as if she was sniffing the air around Jihyo. 

“I wanted to ask about the puppy you mentioned in your last essay. I really like dogs and if you wanted to, I could help you with raising it. You know, since you found it in the forest, it has to be pretty scared, and all.” Sana explained, looking way too expectant. 

All kinds of red alarms were ringing inside Jihyo’s brain. No, no, no. She didn’t need help.

“Oh, you know… Thank you, that’s really kind of you, but we’re doing fine.” She stuttered a little. Sana’s nose scrunched once again. It looked cute.

Mina chose that moment to come back to her seat. She threw a questioning glance at Sana first, then at Jihyo. Jihyo expected her to ask what was going on, but apparently she underestimated Mina’s shyness. The girl stayed silent.

Sana’s eyes quickly traveled back to Jihyo, as if her personal mission today was to bother people as much as possible.

“So, how is the puppy now? Still so shy?” She asked noisily. 

Jihyo really wanted to roll her eyes, but she knew it would appear rude. Couldn’t Sana find some other victim, and let Jihyo do math in peace already?

“No, Tzuyu’s better now.” 

It seriously slipped out of her mouth accidentally. She didn’t want to say that. Damn Sana and her stupid cute eyes!

“Oh, so the puppy’s name is Tzuyu?” Sana perked up in the chair, visibly glad about the new information she received. “Strange name for a dog…”

Jihyo wasn’t sure whether to be offended, or worried that Sana questioned such a thing.

“Y- Yeah. Ummm…”

“Who came up with that name?” 

“Oh, you know. It- It just... happened. She just looked like 'Tzuyu’.” Jihyo giggled nervously. Being grilled like that didn’t sit right with her. She had to absolutely get rid of Sana immediately.

“So it’s a female puppy?” Sana’s eyes were communicating silently with Mina’s eyes, Jihyo could see it. What were they communicating about? 

The bell ringing almost got Jihyo to jump up in her chair, with how tense she was. Phew… Saved by the bell, literally. The class was beginning and Sana had to go back to her own desk if she didn’t want to be punished by the teacher. The man just entered the class, and Sana looked conflicted. 

Jihyo felt that the girl wanted to continue the discussion. Thank God that she couldn’t. 

With a dejected glare, Sana stood up and shuffled back to her desk, flopping on the chair by Chan’s side and immediately saying something to the boy. Jihyo sighed with relief. 

The equation that seemed so complicated to her previously, now looked like the easiest math problem ever.

(...)

The situation at home was weird. They weren’t awkward, at least not her parents and Tzuyu (if there was someone awkward, then it was Jihyo), they also weren’t angry, or hostile. It was exactly the opposite - Jihyo’s parents were super nice. Like… Extra nice. And Tzuyu was nice too, but Jihyo could see that she was still scared and unsure. However, her parents were working overtime to gain her trust and welcome her to the family as soon as possible.

In Jihyo’s opinion, it was all extremely suspicious. Because why would they accept the situation easily like that? They didn’t even flinch, they didn’t question anything, they didn’t say a single word. Heck! They didn’t even act like something was different than before. Jihyo’s mom and dad simply behaved, as if they had always had two daughters, and one of them could randomly turn into a wild animal. 

See? Suspicious.

So Jihyo was waiting. For what? She didn’t know. Maybe for the other shoe to drop, and her parents say that they had to get rid of Tzuyu, because they didn’t need another kid running around the house. Maybe for Tzuyu to say that she didn’t want to live with her parents, because she wasn’t able to trust them. Maybe for her friends from school to want to hang out and see her puppy. 

And all that waiting made Jihyo extremely nervous. Up to the point, when she wasn’t able to fall asleep at night, even when Tzuyu’s wolf body acted like a heater to her and her calming breath tried to lull her into a dreamland. The nerves were piling up, and as it tends to be with huge emotions, exploded one afternoon.

It started with a completely innocent comment thrown there by her dad on accident. Jihyo was sure she wasn’t supposed to hear it, and her parents probably didn’t even realize that she was in the room next to theirs while they had this conversation.

“... honestly, I think they should just come and take her with them…” 

Here. Just a few words, but Jihyo already knew that something wasn’t right. Who should take who with them, and where? Did they mean Tzuyu? Were they about to send Tzuyu off to some… Exactly, where? To an orphanage? But maybe Tzuyu had parents somewhere there? 

Jihyo wanted to panic. She couldn’t lose Tzuyu. Not only because the younger girl was currently her one and only friend, but also because she had already managed to totally fall in love with the cute puppy wolf. Tzuyu was already like a sister to Jihyo; she couldn’t even remember the time when she was an only child. Sending Tzuyu off would be like abandoning a family member. Absolutely out of the question. 

Jihyo had to act. She wasn’t sure yet, what she could do, and whether she was able to still convince her parents to let Tzuyu stay. Oh God, oh God… A sudden wave of panic made her body nearly froze.

No, she couldn’t panic. She couldn’t panic. She couldn’t–

Jihyo ran to her room, where Tzuyu was currently busy with watching a movie on Jihyo’s laptop. It was some documentary about animals, and a huge roaring lion filled the whole screen when Jihyo barged through the door. Tzuyu jumped on the bed, surprised with the sudden noise, ready to fight whoever tried to attack her. 

“Turn this off. We’re going on a walk.” Jihyo commanded, not even leaving Tzuyu any chance to oppose. 

“Now?” Tzuyu glanced around the place, weirded out by the unusual rush. 

“Yes. Hurry up.” 

It all made sense now. Jihyo’s parents being so nice to Tzuyu to make them put their guards down… Tzuyu still living in Jihyo’s room, even though they pretended that they welcomed her to the family… Tzuyu not being enrolled in school yet… It all made sense now. Her stay here was only temporary. 

As quickly as possible, Jihyo got dressed in warm clothes, grabbed Tzuyu’s hand, and without even saying anything to her parents, left the house. The sun was still high in the sky, so she didn’t worry all that much when they entered the forest. Her mind was busy with something else, she didn’t have time to be scared. 

Tzuyu followed her wordlessly, not questioning anything further and visibly enjoying the walk despite the general fast pace of it. She kept looking around, observing everything intently and absorbing the sounds and smells of the woods with her whole body. The silence didn’t bother her at all - so far Jihyo managed to find out that Tzuyu could go hours without saying a single word. Was it a result of months spent only in her wolf form, or was it some kind of trauma? Maybe the girl had always been the kind of person who didn’t need to talk in order to communicate? 

They walked for nearly two hours, when the younger girl finally decided to break the tense silence.

“I’m hungry. Can we go home already?” 

Jihyo gripped tighter Tzuyu’s hand which she was holding the whole time. 

“No… No, we can’t.” She said firmly. She didn’t come up with any solution yet, so she had to keep Tzuyu away from the house. 

Realistically, she knew that she had to go home finally. Her parents would be worried, and if she didn’t come back for the night, they would go and search for her. And a huge scolding would await her, when they would already find her. Obviously, the forest was enormous, and she could try to hide there, but it wasn’t a permanent solution. 

“Why though?” Tzuyu asked. “We’ve been walking for hours. I can see that you’re tired already, and it’s getting dark. Your parents will start to worry.” 

There was definitely something in her voice. It sounded way too much like apprehension, and Jihyo could only ask herself whether Tzuyu knew something she didn’t. 

“We just can’t.” She cut the subject, suddenly stopping and turning to face Tzuyu. “Tzu, I’ve heard something today. I think they want to send you off. We have to come up with some way to convince them to let you stay. Like… You’re gonna stay as a wolf until I grow up and move out, or something…”

Her thoughts were rushing inside her mind, showing her all kinds of scenarios that could happen in the future. Tzuyu had to know, she was going to find out one way or another. The girl didn’t seem worried though.

“What? What did you hear?” 

“I- I don’t know, something about ‘them coming and taking her with them’, or something. It doesn’t matter know, we have to–”

“Jihyo.” Tzuyu’s voice was surprisingly firm when she grabbed Jihyo’s arms in order to keep her friend from throwing them around. There was some surprising - for a ten-year-old - strength in Tzuyu’s grip, and Jihyo had to admit she had never seen the girl looking as mature and adult as she did then. “Relax. It’s not what you think it is.”

Her eyes rolled, when she glanced at Jihyo from above, towering those two centimeters over her. Jihyo felt like Tzuyu knew something she didn’t. 

“Talk. Now.” She commanded.

“I can’t.” Tzuyu shook her head. Jihyo made the best puppy eyes she could, considering that between the two of them, she wasn’t the specialist in that matter. It did seem to work at first, but then Tzuyu firmly refused once again.

“Please, Tzu…” Jihyo whined, jumping on the spot like a little bouncing ball and pouting aggressively. Why didn’t it seem to work? Tzuyu’s face was still so unbothered.

Finally, the girl rolled her eyes one more time, this time done with the situation for good. 

“Fine. They were planning your birthday. Your grandparents are supposed to come and take you to the amusement park. But it was supposed to be a surprise, and now you know it, so you have to promise me that you’re gonna act shocked when they come to pick you up. Or else they’ll know it was me who told you. ”

Oh…

“Oh… ” Jihyo sighed and deflated, when the whole tension suddenly left her body. 

Oh damn, she was so stupid. Obviously, her birthday was just around the corner. She just failed to remember that, too busy with questioning the behavior of everyone around her in search of possible insincerity. 

“Yeah, so… Can we go home now? I’m hungry.” Indeed, there was a sound coming from Tzuyu’s stomach, indicating clearly that her body was still growing and needed a lot of additional calories. 

Jihyo wanted to facepalm herself. How embarrassing was that? Maybe she should just dig a huge hole somewhere there, and bury herself in the ground? 

Well, she could obviously do that, but Tzuyu was hungry. Tzuyu’s well-being was Jihyo’s priority. That’s why, deciding to act as if nothing happened, Jihyo pulled Tzuyu back on the path, and then in the direction of the house. Or… At least where she thought the house was.  

“Yeah. We’re going home now.” She said, not even looking at her friend, trying to hide her burning cheeks behind her hair. 

But, in her defense, she had valid reasons to worry, right? 

Luckily, Tzuyu didn’t notice anything, happy that they were finally on the way to find food. Jihyo suddenly realized something. 

“Wait, but… Are they going to take only me? What about you?” She gasped. Tzuyu shrugged.

“Well, officially I’m just your puppy, right?” She didn’t seem to be disappointed. The acceptance on her face made Jihyo feel bad. But once again, she couldn’t do anything, if she wasn’t even supposed to know about the whole surprise in the first place. 

“Don’t worry.” Tzuyu grinned suddenly. “It’s gonna be fine.” 

And it was. As it turned out, the amusement park was only the first point in the whole plan of making Jihyo’s thirteenth birthday the best one in her life.

Her parents, together with Tzuyu, still managed to surprise her with a party at the house, when she came back from the celebration with her grandparents. Jihyo had never felt so happy before, when she sat at the table with her family, eating cake, playing board games and watching Disney movies. If that was how her life was about to look from then on… She wasn’t ever going to complain again. 

(...)

Days went by, and the snow slowly melted from the hills. The peaks of the mountains, and the valleys where the sun couldn’t reach yet, stayed white and cold, but in the town spring was barging in through windows and doors. 

The spring was making itself comfortable also in Jihyo’s heart. The girl couldn’t help but feel the happiness spreading all around her body, when her life was so nice lately. She was getting straight As from all the tests at school, her grandparents promised to get her the new books from her favorite series that were coming out next week, and on top of that, her friendship with Tzuyu was blooming. 

These days, the duo’s favorite activity was going on short walks in the forest. As Jihyo was slowly finding out, it wasn’t as scary there as she previously thought, she just needed someone like Tzuyu to lead her through all the bushes. Tzuyu’s wolf nose could sense anyone approaching, it could also lead them back home from any place possible, so they didn’t have to worry about any dangers. Jihyo stayed careful, but guided by Tzuyu’s hand, she could slowly venture on the new territories.

Like today. They decided to check out a path they had never walked before, and it turned out to be darker than Jihyo thought, yet Tzuyu was making each step with the same confidence and curiosity as anywhere else.

“Just so you know, I still don’t believe that you’re not cold at all.” Jihyo kept eyeing the younger girl’s T-shirt and jeans. Her own jacket was still a winter one, and she wasn’t too hot in it at all. 

“I’m not.” Tzuyu shrugged. That was it, Jihyo was not going to get anything else, when there wasn’t any way to explore the topic. She was slowly getting used to Tzuyu’s laconic way of speaking. The way Tzuyu was firmly holding her hand and walking a half step before her, in order to always check the way for safety, had to be enough for her. 

To Jihyo’s surprise, this time turned out to be different.

“Why do I feel disappointment from you?” Tzuyu turned her face to Jihyo, slowing down her steps a bit. 

“What?” Jihyo frowned. She wasn’t disapp– Or was she? Hmmm… “H- How would you know that?”

“I can feel it. You smell like that.” Tzuyu also frowned, as if Jihyo being surprised was unreasonable. As if smelling people’s emotions was the most obvious thing on the Earth. 

Jihyo hummed. 

“Is it recent? Or were you able to do that before?” 

“Recent, I think…” Tzuyu’s face showed an advanced thinking process. “Yeah, I think I haven’t been able to do that earlier.”

“So, you’re able to tell any single one of my emotions?” Jihyo perked up, suddenly curious and interested. “What do I feel now?”

Tzuyu’s nose scrunched in a manner Jihyo could bet she had seen before. She didn’t have time to search up her mind for the exact memory of someone who did that, because Tzuyu was suddenly getting really close to her face. Just when the blood in Jihyo’s veins started flowing faster, Tzuyu’s nose landed on her neck. Then the girl pulled back and sneezed loudly. 

Jihyo giggled. 

“I think I have to smell like something that you’re allergic to.”

“No, that’s not that.” Tzuyu shook her head, quickly reassuring her and looking like she was seriously worried about offending her friend. “I just felt the smell stronger when I got closer to you. I was able to feel the disappointment from a distance, but only when I got closer, I could smell… curiosity? And some nervousness as well. Why are you nervous?”

Jihyo wanted to curse mentally. ‘Because you’re so pretty.’ Her brain filled the missing answer. 

“I’m not nervous.” She cut the topic. “Apparently, some emotions are easier for you to feel, and some not.” 

“I think those you feel stronger are easier to pick up from all the different smells around us.” Tzuyu was already deep inside her head, searching for possible explanations. Jihyo was just grateful they let go of the nervousness thing. 

Was Tzuyu going to be able to always do that from now on? Because if so, Jihyo was going to be nervous really often. She wasn’t sure whether she liked this new development, or not.

“So, would you tell me finally?” Tzuyu suddenly asked. 

“About?” Jihyo wasn’t following. Despite the slow pace of their walk, everything was still happening a little bit too fast for her liking.

“Why do you feel disappointed? Is it because I don’t have to wear a winter jacket? Because I swear it wasn’t my choice.” The girl had an honest and worried gaze focused on Jihyo’s face. Their connected hands felt suddenly as if they were cuddling without a centimeter of space between their bodies. 

How could Jihyo explain to her that it wasn’t really anything she wanted Tzuyu to change? Her expectations of how their friendship could work were just that - her expectations. Maybe she felt a little bit disappointed that Tzuyu didn’t seem interested in reading the same books Jihyo loved, and then discussing them later. Maybe she was a bit disappointed that Tzuyu wasn’t as outspoken as some of Jihyo’s classmates, that she was quiet and sometimes tended to not say a word for hours. But Jihyo still loved and accepted Tzuyu’s character. Those small feelings she sometimes wasn’t able to stop herself from feeling didn’t mean anything. 

“Umm… I–” She started. 

And wasn’t able to finish. Tzuyu’s whole body was suddenly turning in the opposite direction, her attention somewhere between the trees, the grip on Jihyo’s hand getting stronger.

“What’s wrong, Tzu?” Jihyo’s heart picked up its pace. Was there something in the forest that could be dangerous for them?

“I- I don’t know yet. Someone’s there.” The hair on the back of Tzuyu’s neck was standing. Her body was one hundred percent attuned to their surroundings. 

Something moved between the trees, and Jihyo was really ready to bail and run back home as fast as possible. Why did she even allow Tzuyu to bring her so deep into the woods?

Before she could realize it, the hand she had previously in her own grip was letting go. Tzuyu was suddenly throwing away all the clothes from her body, as black hair kept growing all over it. The wolf puppy stood firmly in front of Jihyo in a matter of seconds, its hair bristling. Growling could be heard from Tzuyu’s throat, and despite that she was only a child, Jihyo felt like stepping back just hearing the sound. What angered Tzuyu so much?

Jihyo quickly found the answer for her question, when five big wolves appeared in front of them, ready to attack and kill. 

Chapter Text

The forest was silent. There was no wind playing with the trees. Even the birds stopped singing. Only droplets of water falling from the branches were ringing loudly in their ears. The tension around the area was thick, when six wolves observed each other intently, just waiting for the other party to make a move. They looked focused, determined.

Jihyo was honestly just panicking. 

Tzuyu standing in front of her and trying to protect her from the predators was very noble. But the puppy was just one, and on top of that, tiny, looking almost comically small against the five incomers. Jihyo didn’t see their chances high. Not that she didn’t believe in her friend, but… Well, she really preferred Tzuyu not risking her safety over proving to someone who didn’t even matter that she could win in a battle with bigger and stronger opponents. This fight would be unfair anyway. 

“Tzuyu, we–” Her words were cut short, and her hand trembled, as Tzuyu once again growled angrily at the incoming wolves. 

Great, apparently there was no chance of convincing the girl to let go and run away. Tzuyu hadn’t shown signs of being particularly ambitious before, but maybe it was different when it came to the animal part of her life. Maybe it was some battle about territory, or something else…

Jihyo kept breathing deeply, trying to control her fear. Since Tzuyu didn’t want to leave, and Jihyo couldn’t let her stay here alone, she had to at least try and not disturb her friend. She glued her eyes to the ground, her nails coming deep into the flesh of her palm, the pain grounding her to reality. She had to distract her senses, force her brain to reload and work properly again. 

Inhale. 

Exhale.

Inhale.

The trees were brown. The grass was now greener than before, but still not as green as it would be later, in the summer. The birds could never be heard at this hour. Everything was normal, as it always used to be. 

Exhale. 

Inhale.

The ringing in her ears was slowly going away. The black dots she could see for a moment in front of her eyes were disappearing too. Now that Jihyo regained control over her breathing, she could notice that the wolves were all puppies too, barely bigger than Tzuyu herself. And their mouths definitely weren’t open to bare the teeth, but rather simply to cool off their bodies after a run. They were not here to attack anyone. 

Tzuyu had to feel it too, because all at once she visibly relaxed. Her ears were slowly moving, and the girl was clearly observing the newcomers.

Were they communicating now? Could they do that inverbally? Could Tzuyu talk to wolves that weren’t like her - half-human? Or maybe they were exactly like Tzuyu?!

Why did the wolves come here at all? Were they just passing by, or maybe their visit was intentional?

All of Jihyo’s questions were about to be answered, because one of the wolves was just changing into a… a boy? 

“Ch- Chan?” Jihyo’s mouth opened wide. 

“Hi, Jihyo!” Chan waved his hand, standing tall between the four of his wolf companions. The movement inevitably lured Jihyo’s eyes to that part of his body which was at the same height as…

“Aaaargh!” Jihyo theatrically covered her eyes, acting as if she was permanently blinded by the sight. Which… Well, wasn't far from the truth. Seeing her classmate naked definitely wasn’t in Jihyo’s bingo for this year. And she definitely didn’t want to prolong this awkward suffering, so she glued her hand to her face, leaving herself only a small gap between her fingers to observe the situation. “Why do you guys have to parade naked all the time?”

In the meantime, the rest of the wolves, including Tzuyu, turned too. Jihyo’s best friend was at least decent enough to grab her clothes and cover herself. Jihyo deeply appreciated that, but it didn’t change the fact that she still had to look at five naked kids. Wait, were they…? Oh my God…

“Well, that’s how we were created, right? Is a naked body making you embarrassed, Jihyo?” Sana, smiling widely as if she had just met a long lost friend, asked bluntly. “It’s natural for us.”

Indeed, all the wolves, or should Jihyo rather say all the kids, looked as if they totally didn’t mind standing in front of strangers while wearing completely nothing. Jihyo was pretty sure she could endure this meeting with her eyes closed.

Only now it was slowly reaching her brain, that damn - Tzuyu wasn’t the only one of her kind in this forest. Chan, Sana, and then… Mina?! And two other girls Jihyo could recall from school. They were definitely older, but what were their names…? 

What the heck was happening here? Were there always such people in their town? What else was Moon Grove hiding from her? Was she the only one oblivious? The list of questions was only growing, and no one was yet willing to answer any of them.

She had known her classmates for at least a few years each, maybe except Sana who arrived in their town only recently, and she didn’t have a single clue that they were freaking wolves! What the heck!?

By her side, Tzuyu kept eyeing the other kids with apprehension. Jihyo knew they were pretty nice people, but Tzuyu probably wasn’t aware of the fact. Maybe it was the best to introduce them before–

“Hi, there! You’re Tzuyu, right?” Sana interrupted her thoughts with her cheerful greeting. “Are you new in the town? We didn’t know there was another wolf in Moon Grove.”

“Well…” Tzuyu could barely mutter, before Sana was speaking again.

“But it’s sooo awesome. Chan’s gathering a new pack. Our own pack. You can join us, if you want.”

The boy nodded his head, smiling gently at Sana’s blabbering.

“Yes, we would be thrilled. The more, the merrier. Our pack is already getting stronger, and you probably won’t find any other in the area.”

Busy with observing the exchange, Jihyo didn’t even notice that she stopped covering her eyes. She judged the alleged ‘pack’ with scrutinizing eyes. Well, if that was a pack then Jihyo was a Santa Claus. There were only five wolves and they were all skinny kids, barely taller than Jihyo herself. Which was already an achievement, because Jihyo was tiny. 

Yeah, when they first emerged from the forest, they looked scary. But on the second glance, they weren’t anything more than a bunch of puppies.

Jihyo felt like she needed to speak on behalf of Tzuyu, despite not being a wolf herself.

“And why would she need to find any ‘pack’ at all?” She showed the quotes with her fingers, her face full of irony. She didn’t have a reason to be rude to them, but something was telling her that they were trying to take Tzuyu away from her. And she couldn’t allow for that.

“She doesn’t have to.” Chan shrugged. “But it’ll be a lot easier for her to live in a pack. Wolves are herd animals, we need family to survive.”

Jihyo didn’t know how to react to that. Tzuyu was only a kid, and she was Jihyo’s friend. She lived in Jihyo’s house, and it was Jihyo’s family who found her and gave her home. Tzuyu already had a family. 

On the other hand, they didn’t own the girl. Tzuyu could do whatever she wanted. She could leave whenever she wanted. 

Curiously, Jihyo glanced at Tzuyu. The girl didn’t say anything since the moment they had met the pack of wolves. Now her face was just as inscrutable as earlier, but a frown appeared on it. 

“Tzu?” Jihyo searched for her hand and squeezed it. “What do you think?”

Her words were quiet, unsure. She didn’t want Tzuyu to go away, but she also didn’t want to stop her, in case a decision about joining this pack could somehow make her life better. 

However, when Tzuyu opened her mouth, the question that left it surprised not only Jihyo, but the wolves as well.

“How did you know my name?”

Oops… That was probably Jihyo’s fault. The girl wanted to shrink into herself out of embarrassment. If only she didn’t let Tzuyu’s name slip out of her lips like that. If only she didn’t write that damn essay about her dog. Sana had to take all that information and connect all the dots. Since the girl was a wolf herself, it probably looked way too obvious in her eyes, contrary to what Jihyo could notice or find out about Tzuyu. 

“Oh, you know…” Sana hummed, as if she had to search really deep in her memory. Jihyo gulped. Was she going to be exposed?

“We heard your name while you two were talking.” Mina completed the sentence for Sana, her quiet and soft voice still barely audible despite the overall silence of the woods. “We heard Jihyo’s essay at school, and we guessed that you’re just like us. We wanted to confirm it, so we followed you around for a while.”

Jihyo glanced at her classmate with a grateful expression for portraying the situation so accurately, yet without accusing anyone of anything. Tzuyu’s frown didn’t leave her face. 

“Why wasn’t I able to feel your smell?” She asked. The wolves shrugged one by one. 

“You probably weren't familiar with it?” Chan said, but from the look in his eyes, Jihyo could guess that he had no more idea than anyone else. Well, they were kids too. They were probably also only in the process of figuring everything out. 

They for sure tried to appear way more experienced than they really were. 

“So, what do you think?” Sana jumped excitedly. “Would you join us? We can have fun together, play in the forest. We’ll show you everything.”

Jihyo could notice the conflict in Tzuyu’s posture. There was clearly curiosity in her eyes, the desire to belong somewhere, to understand what was going on. But there was also the worry of leaving the safe space of her current home. For Jihyo, it was an easy decision. If she could make it, she would never let Tzuyu go. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her choice to make. 

The only thing she knew was that Chan, Sana and Mina were good people. If she could trust anyone in their class, it would be them. They were reliable, fairly mature for their age, and didn’t bully anyone at school. The criteria wasn’t high, but it was a start, right?

“I- I don’t know.” Tzuyu stuttered. “Maybe…”

“It’d be so amazing… We would…” Sana was blabbering again. Jihyo drowned her voice, focusing on Tzuyu. Jihyo was losing the battle, she could notice it. 

“O- Okay.” Tzuyu finally said when Sana finished her monologue, and Jihyo’s heart stopped. “I’d like to try.”

She slowly dropped Jihyo’s hand out of her grip, then stepped forward, towards the wolves. One step, then another one. Finally, she was too far away for Jihyo to reach for her hand once again.

“Welcome to the family.” Chan smiled widely. “Come with us.” 

Sana shrieked with joy, Mina was smiling too. The two older girls whose names Jihyo couldn’t recall put reassuring hands on Tzuyu’s shoulders when the girl was close enough. Everyone was clearly celebrating. Even Tzuyu was gaining confidence with each step taken towards them. 

Then, one by one, as if on some kind of unspoken command, the wolves turned back to their animal form. The older duo grew into dark red fur, and Sana did too. Chan and Mina’s fur was gray, and Tzuyu’s own black stood out a lot from the rest of them.  

Jihyo felt the bitter taste of betrayal filling her mouth. She didn’t even want to look at how the older wolves circled Tzuyu and rubbed themselves all over her sides. She felt excluded, obviously. But it wasn’t even that. The worst part was how easily it came for Tzuyu to forget her, when someone else, more suitable for her, turned up. It was actually quite funny how replaceable she was. 

Tzuyu didn’t even look at her now, visibly enjoying the attention of her new pack. When all of them turned around to leave the place and disappear into the woods, Jihyo didn’t want to wait anymore. She could see that Tzuyu was already in a new world, separated from Jihyo with an imaginary glass wall. She didn’t even turn her head back to say goodbye. 

Jihyo didn’t want to feel that sudden loneliness, which now felt even greater than before she met Tzuyu. Back then, she didn’t know yet how wonderful it was to have a friend. To be sure that there was always someone by her side, ready to support her, listen to her thoughts, share all the good and bad moments. Now she knew, and it was excruciating to lose all of it. 

Tears started to gather in her eyes, as she turned around, and ran. The direction didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. 

(...)

Jihyo wandered around the forest for hours that afternoon, not wanting to come back to her house yet. Obviously, she would find her parents there, and they would lend her a supporting shoulder to cry on, but first she would have to explain to them the reason for her sadness. And she seriously didn’t want to recall that moment for the hundredth time. She really hoped not to meet anyone in the wild too, because that would mean talking to people, and Jihyo knew that if she tried to speak, she would for sure burst into tears. 

Unfortunately, even with the days getting longer thanks to the incoming spring, the night had to eventually fall anyway. Jihyo didn’t want to be alone in the darkness, especially while hurt and vulnerable, so she slowly headed back home. 

Her mom didn’t need much to recognize Jihyo’s poor condition. Just one look, and she was already taking her daughter into her arms, and asking what was going on. Jihyo broke like a porcelain cup, spilling the whole story immediately. Her mom’s face stayed neutral the whole time, but when Jihyo finished, expressing how disappointed and hurt she was, the woman gently stroked her head.

“I’m sorry, honey. I get what you feel, and I understand why you might want her to still live with us. She’s always gonna be welcomed here, and if she ever chooses to live with us, we’ll treat her like a part of our family. But if she chooses to live with her new… pack, you can’t be mad at her for this. They are her family too now, since she chose them to be. They can help her if she needs something, they’ll understand her well.”

“But…” Jihyo still found it hard to accept. “She didn’t need to immediately forget about me like that. She could at least say goodbye, or something… It was as if I was totally not important to her.”

It sounded a bit self-centered, obviously. But Jihyo was just a disoriented thirteen-year-old. She was yet to learn how to look at certain situations from other people’s perspective and take their emotions into account. 

“Oh, honey. That’s not true. You are important to Tzuyu, you two are best friends. I know this situation in the forest might have looked like she abandoned you, but I’m sure she didn’t mean it. She’s just still a bit awkward around people, you know that. I bet she feels bad about it now. And I’m sure she’s gonna come back to you soon. She’s not gone forever.” Jihyo’s mother spoke with a firm and sure voice of someone who had lived for a long time and seen a lot. “Maybe her new friends are exciting for her now, and she needs to get to know them, but I bet in a few days, or even sooner, she'll come here, because she’s gonna miss you.”

Jihyo was finding it hard to believe. The wolves' company was truly where Tzuyu belonged. She was probably going to feel way better there, where she wouldn’t have to explain to anyone why she could feel certain things, or why some things worked the way they did. Jihyo was never going to be able to gain this level of understanding about Tzuyu’s life. 

“Please, honey. Don’t cry.” Jihyo’s mom wiped the tears from her face delicately, leaving a gentle kiss on Jihyo’s forehead. “We all love you very much, okay?”

“Okay.” Jihyo shrugged. She felt a tiny bit better hearing this, but not really much. “I’ll just go to sleep.”

The older woman looked at her with worry, but didn’t oppose. She left one more kiss, this time on the top of her kid’s head, and then allowed Jihyo to leave her embrace. 

The evening wasn’t much more generous to Jihyo, and she wasn’t even able to focus on reading any book. The mixed feelings were occupying the front of her mind too much to let her do anything else, even when she tried to force herself to study, or watch a movie. 

Exhausted out of her mind, at nearly ten p.m., Jihyo decided to give up and just go to sleep. It was brave of her to think that she could though. She kept tossing and turning on her bed for over half an hour, when she finally gave up and sighed with tiredness.
Then, suddenly, a weird noise caught her attention. It was as if something was hitting the glass of her window… But her room was on the second floor. A bird? The wind, playing with dry leaves from last year’s autumn?

Jihyo’s heart almost stopped working, when she sat up and saw a face just behind the glass. It took her a good ten seconds to recognize the owner. 

“Tzu?!” She gasped. “How- How did you climb up here?”

Before Tzuyu could actually answer, Jihyo opened the window, pulling her friend inside. Tzuyu’s clothes were cold, but her body emanated with such a hot temperature, that Jihyo’s first thought was that the girl had a fever. 

“Tzu… How… What…?” She stuttered. 

What did it mean that Tzuyu came back home? Did the wolves hurt her? Were they mean to her?

“I couldn’t fall asleep without you.” Tzuyu just stated. “Can I sleep with you one more night?”

The half-tired and frustrated, half-longing look on her face told Jihyo so much more. But she was still oblivious. Could Tzuyu really need her for falling asleep? Obviously, for the past months, there wasn’t a single night when the wolf girl wasn’t present by Jihyo’s side, but…

“Please…” Tzuyu hung her head. And who was Jihyo to deny her this simple thing?

Without any more talking, she headed back to bed, and patted the space beside her. 

“Come on.” She rushed her friend. 

Tzuyu snapped out of her thoughts, and scooted over to the bed. She waited for Jihyo to settle under the covers, then sat on the edge. There was uncertainty in her gaze, and Jihyo didn’t insist. After a moment of hesitation, Tzuyu slipped under the comforter, clinging to the older girl’s side. 

That… was definitely new. For the past months, Tzuyu had always slept in Jihyo’s bed in her wolf form. What could this change mean?

Not even a few minutes later, Tzuyu’s breath was already even, her grip on Jihyo’s body loosening as the girl fell into unconsciousness. Jihyo found it hard to not close her eyelids too, despite the shock of what had just happened. They were slowly falling down for longer and longer, and her mind kept drifting away. 

They could always talk and solve everything between them the next day. Since Tzuyu was there, in her arms, Jihyo didn’t plan on letting go of her anytime soon. Finally, her brain seemed to slow down the stream of thoughts, when she found what she missed previously to calm down. The tiredness of the whole day, and all the stress was slowly catching up to her now that it was suddenly over. It was warm, and her position seemed like the most comfortable in the world. All the sounds coming from around her kept getting further, and further away. 

Then Jihyo was in the world of dreams. 

(...)

“Come on, why wouldn’t you go there with me?” Tzuyu’s whine echoed in the whole house. 

It was surprisingly loud for the usually quiet girl, and Jihyo was proud of her friend’s character development. Once unable to express any kind of feelings, nowadays Tzuyu was learning really quickly how to share her thoughts and emotions with Jihyo and her parents. 

They weren’t yet nowhere near perfect communication, but at least they were communicating. It was a huge progress, if Jihyo was about to compare it to the times right after meeting Tzuyu, when she could go days without getting to know any details of her friend’s inner life. 

Still, whining wasn’t exactly Tzuyu’s style… It totally didn’t suit her usual elegant and stoic vibes.

“I told you already, I’ll go… Someday.” Jihyo dismissed the request, trying to distract Tzuyu with something else. A documentary about the fauna of national parks all around the world should be fine, right?

“But I would like you to meet them now.” Tzuyu whined once again, not so easily fooled this time. She was sitting really close to Jihyo now, and she honestly looked more like a cat asking for pets, than a dangerous and wild wolf. There was still some wildness in her posture and movements, that call to run away, that didn’t change during the time they had known each other. But the wolf side of her was now way more approachable, as Jihyo learned more facts about it. 

Like recently, when she found out that while Tzuyu’s body was adapting to its resistance to cold temperatures, the girl was in a permanent state of fever. Apparently, according to Chan, it was perfectly normal, and was going to pass soon. For now though, Jihyo was stuck with a human heater, which, with the days getting warmer, turned out to be really uncomfortable sometimes. Especially when Tzuyu requested cuddles, and Jihyo was already sweating after running all around the forest for hours with her. 

“I know them. I’m classmates with Sana, Mina and Chan.” Jihyo wasn’t buying Tzuyu’s cute puppy eyes. She still didn’t fully trust the wolves. “That’s enough for me.”

“But you don’t know them outside of school. They are so nice and funny, especially Momo and Jeongyeon. You said that you don’t know them, so I’d like you guys to meet finally. It’s really important for me that all my friends are friends with each other too.”

“Tzu, I don’t really think they want me there…” Jihyo really tried to wriggle herself out of this discussion. Why couldn’t Tzuyu understand that somehow? She didn’t have any friends before meeting her for a reason. She was simply a boring person. 

“But I want you there. I live there too now, right? So I have a say in who comes over to meet me.” The younger girl pointed out. Okay, valid observation.

But that was only partially true. In fact, Tzuyu was living in both Jihyo’s house, and in the wolves’ place, which wasn’t even yet a proper building, as far as Jihyo was aware. The youngest wolf tended to spend a lot of time with her wolf family during the days, enjoying the time she still had free before enrolling to school the next year, but she always came back to Jihyo’s house at night. It was their unwritten rule now, that they slept together, usually cuddled. 

Which was about to change soon, if Tzuyu didn’t stop emitting so much body heat. But that was irrelevant for this subject. What was relevant, was that Jihyo still didn’t want to force the wolves to be friends with her just because Tzuyu wanted them to. Also, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be friends with them.

“You do, I guess…” Jihyo rolled her eyes. “I don’t know… Maybe I’ll go there someday, okay? Just… give me some more time to adjust, okay?” 

She sighed tiredly. Would Tzuyu be able to understand her point of view? She had to try, if she wanted to stay honest with her friend, right?

“The truth is…” She started fidgeting with her fingers, suddenly nervous. It was hard to admit such a thing out loud. “I’m still jealous of you, okay? You’re my only friend, and I don’t really want to share you.”

Jealousy definitely wasn’t something she could be proud of. Especially, that the other kids indeed tried to befriend her and get closer to her outside the school.

Tzuyu’s head was tilted to the left, making it nearly visible how hard she was thinking. 

“Oh, so that’s this smell…?” She finally said absentmindedly, totally missing the whole point. “I was wondering why you smelled differently lately. I’ll try to remember it.”

Her nose got closer to Jihyo’s face, sniffing. Jihyo playfully slapped her shoulder, pushing the girl away and whining loudly. A few seconds of giggling followed, and then Tzuyu smiled warmly.

“But they really don’t try to take me away from you. At all. They really like you, because you saved me. And they say you’re really smart at school.” She announced, the smile turning into a grin, just because she was telling Jihyo something that could potentially make her feel good.

That was just how Tzuyu was - way too good for this world. She loved bringing happiness to people’s lives. And, especially in what she showed to the world, the girl experienced her emotions in quite an easy way. It wasn’t so complicated for her - if the other kids liked Jihyo, Jihyo should like them too. This equation had only one result.

In Jihyo’s world, it had a few more variables, and wasn’t so easy to solve at all.

“Enough of that today.” Jihyo cut the topic, blushing after the compliment. “We were supposed to watch the movie. Are you choosing, or should I do that?”

Tzuyu shrugged, a bit disappointed, but still accepting Jihyo’s opinion. They were going to get back to this discussion anyway. No need to rush things. 

“You can choose tonight.” She sneaked closer, already preparing to take a strategic position by Jihyo’s side, cuddled under her chin. “I think I’ll fall asleep soon.” She yawned, tightening her grip on her friend’s T-shirt.

“Hey, let’s go to bed then. It’s not gonna be comfortable here.” Jihyo tried to stand up and pull Tzuyu together with her, but the younger girl wasn’t so small anymore. She failed, mostly because Tzuyu pushed her back onto the couch.

“No, I’m fine here. You can watch the movie, or read.” The wolf girl said, settling comfortably and sighing contently. Jihyo put a hand on her head and gently stroked Tzuyu’s hair.

“Okay, little baby.” She teased. “Don’t get too comfy though, because eventually we have to go to bed.”

Tzuyu only hummed, probably already halfway asleep. Jihyo shook her head with a fond smile. What an awesome feeling it was to have a best friend like Tzuyu… 

As days went by, their friendship only tightened. And Jihyo really hoped it could last forever.

(...)

When Jihyo was sixteen years old, the forest didn’t seem like such a scary place anymore. Especially when she had a friendly wolf by her side, always ready to protect her from any danger. Despite still not being completely comfortable with the wildness of the woods, Jihyo couldn’t really be frightened anymore, when she spent countless hours exploring the forest, playing with Tzuyu and having little picnics in multiple places all around Moon Grove. 

And while Jihyo still wasn’t really close to the rest of Tzuyu’s wolf family, she couldn’t also avoid meeting them during her time in the woods. So they naturally became part of her life, up to the point when she thought she could consider them friends. With school getting more and more busy each year, they all had to spend more time there and Jihyo really appreciated their presence. Tzuyu was always going to be her best friend, but she had her own school life too, and she couldn’t always find time to sit with Jihyo during lunch breaks or free periods in the library. 

The younger girl was all the more busy, simply because after being turned into a wolf, she had missed over half of her school year. Catching up to her peers wasn’t easy, even if Jihyo worked overtime to explain to Tzuyu as much as she could. Tzuyu simply had to spend her fair share of time studying on her own, which led Jihyo to discover all the pros of bonding with Sana, Mina and Chan. They were mostly focusing only on doing homework together, but it was already a start. 

Things were good. But the universe doesn’t like stangnancy. 

The full moon was shining bright above their heads that warm June evening of Tzuyu’s fourteenth birthday, making the path under their feet light and clear while they walked it slowly. They had no set destination, just an endless night of birds singing over their heads, leaves and pine needles rustling under their steps, and wind cooling down their faces. It was starting to get really hot, even for a place set high in the mountains, like Moon Grove was. 

“How was the math test yesterday?” Jihyo asked right when they set off from the garden. She felt excited, energized and ready to burn off some of the calories she consumed earlier at Tzuyu's small birthday party. “Did you get the grade already?”

“Not yet. But I think it went well. I should pass the year.” Tzuyu said hopefully, walking calmly by her slower friend’s side. She was still growing, but her legs already allowed her to tower over Jihyo and not use as much strength to match Jihyo’s pace. Her hands were tucked into her pockets, and from the outside, she might have looked relaxed. But Jihyo knew that Tzuyu was terribly stressed over that test. If she didn’t pass it, she was going to be left in the same class for one more year. Anyone would guess that the girl didn’t want that to happen. 

“Who would think…” Jihyo sighed dreamily. “That I’m already going to high school next year. You’re gonna stay alone out there…”

Tzuyu didn’t seem phased. In fact, in their little town, high school and middle school were located just a few steps from each other. Considering the fact that even now, they didn’t have much time to spend together between classes, nothing was probably going to change. 

“I’m not gonna be alone. I’m bonding with my classmates.” The younger girl whined instead, trying to cover up her lack of social skills. “Yesterday, I even lent Yuqi my notes.”

“And…?” Jihyo urged, foolishly hoping to hear an amazing story about Tzuyu gaining a new friend just like that, during the lunch break. 

Obviously, somewhere inside her there was this selfish and greedy desire to keep her best friend only to herself. But realistically, Jihyo knew that Tzuyu needed at least one person with whom she could be close enough to hang out at school. Otherwise, she was going to get even more closed off and shy than she was now. 

“And… Now I don’t have my notes, because I’m too scared to ask her to give them back.”

Jihyo’s palm landed on her forehead. She knew, obviously. Why did she even expect anything else? It wasn’t the first time and it wasn’t going to be the last. Jihyo swallowed the urge to groan though, because she knew that Tzuyu was a bit worried about her difficulties with talking to people too. There was no need to make it even worse for her. She was going to get there someday. And for now she was lucky to have both Jihyo, and her pack, who accepted her unconditionally no matter who she was.  

“And what about that girl you mentioned before? Chaeyoung? You were supposed to sit next to her, right?” Jihyo asked instead. As far as she could remember, Chaeyoung was a quiet kid too, so maybe they could find something to bond over with Tzuyu?

“Yeah… She’s even more scary. She carries spray cans to school and she was already suspended two times this year.” Tzuyu waved off the issue, hanging her head low with disappointment. Jihyo felt a wave of sympathy filling her heart, and she squeezed tightly her best friend’s hand. 

“Don’t worry. No matter what, I’m always by your side, okay? And you have your pack too.”

It was nice to see the usual warmth blossom in Tzuyu’s eyes when her friends were mentioned. That was why Jihyo was letting the wolves take so much of Tzuyu’s time. And that was also why it was so hard to control her own jealousy. 

But after all, they never stopped taking good care of her, so Jihyo worked hard to overcome her own prejudices too. 

“By the way… What are they up to tonight?” 

“Oh, I’m not sure.” Tzuyu hummed. “They said something about taking care of some important business. And they told me to stay away from the forest, but they didn’t say why.”

Jihyo frowned.

“Then… Why are we going on a walk TO THE FOREST ?” She raised her eyebrows, shocked at Tzuyu’s disobedience of her friends’ request. It didn’t seem like a big deal, but since they asked her specifically not to do it, maybe it was reasonable to respect their will…

“I don’t know.” Tzuyu admitted truthfully. “I just really felt like it.”

Indeed, the look in her eyes was kind of hazed now, as if it wasn’t her that made this decision. Something uncomfortable stirred inside Jihyo’s stomach. 

“Tzu?” She called out, trying to get Tzuyu’s attention. No such luck, Tzuyu’s eyes were already focused somewhere in the distance. On the sky? “Tzuyu!? What’s wrong?”

There was no response. Instead, Tzuyu pulled her hand out of Jihyo’s grip abruptly, stepping back. There was already black hair growing on her skin and Jihyo knew what that meant. Why would Tzuyu turn now, though? They were in the middle of a talk–

A deep growl broke out of Tzuyu’s throat, and she stumbled back a few more steps. It looked as if she was drunk with the way her legs couldn’t hold her upright. Jihyo was sure though, that Tzuyu didn’t drink anything. 

The girl’s face was really pale.

“Run away.” It was not a kind request. It was a command made with a tone Jihyo had never heard from Tzuyu before - definitely not a nice one. 

“But… Tzu, what’s going on–” 

“Run away!” Tzuyu half-shouted, half-growled, her eyes filled with darkness that made her almost unrecognizable. “I can’t control it!”

She was already halfway turned into her wolf form, but contrary to how she usually behaved, this time Jihyo could see some kind of strain in her movements. Then, out of the blue, Tzuyu jumped in her direction, the growl not so quiet anymore, her teeth bared in the direction of Jihyo’s throat. Jihyo screamed and fell back on her butt, barely supporting herself on her hands before her head hit the ground. She tried to crawl back, but the shock and fear were paralyzing her. 

“Get the heck away from here!” Tzuyu shouted angrily in the last attempt of using her human voice, before she was completely overtaken by her animal side. 

And Jihyo ran. 

She didn’t know how, but somehow she stood up and ran blindly. Maybe it was her stupid luck, or maybe she knew the forest enough by now, but the path turned out to be the right one, leading her back home. The whole way there, she could hear the heavy breath of an animal right behind her shoulder, rushing her to run faster and try harder. 

She barely made it to the garden, shutting the gate behind herself, when the tears broke out of her eyes. What the heck was going on? Why was Tzuyu suddenly attacking her? Because that was what she saw there, right? It was an attack, and if Tzuyu didn’t shout at her so loudly, Jihyo could probably never have woken up from her haze in time to save her life. Would her best friend kill her right there? It all happened so fast, that Jihyo wasn’t even now sure what exactly she saw there.

Wolves had their instincts, they were animals after all. But those wolves weren’t normal wolves. They were part-humans, and even while turned, they were still themselves. They didn’t lose their humanity, it was still present in their demeanor. Jihyo could never notice anything different about Tzuyu’s behavior as the wolf and as a human. She had her own traits and small habits that showed up no matter the form. 

And above all, the wolves had never shown any signs of not controlling their instinct. So what the heck was that ? 

Tzuyu was alone there right now. Was she trying to kill someone? Was she thirsty for human blood? But wolves didn’t kill people, unless they were really, really hungry. 

It all just didn’t make any sense!

Jihyo’s first sober thought was obviously to call Sana. The phone almost slipped out of her sweaty hand, but she managed to find and dial the number faster than ever. Only that the girl didn’t pick up. Not the first time Jihyo tried to reach her, and not the fifth time. Actually, no one of the wolves were reachable. 

It was such a mess. What could Jihyo do more? She felt so useless. 

Going back to the forest wasn’t probably a good idea now, at least not until she was sure that Tzuyu was back to being herself. Jihyo didn’t really care about her own well-being at that moment. She was worried that if Tzuyu did something hurtful to anyone, she would never forgive herself for that. The girl was innocent to the bone, she wasn’t supposed to be some kind of deadly predator. 

The full moon shone high on the sky by the time Jihyo left her spot by the huge living room windows that overlooked the forest, still thinking about everything that happened and trying to find some sense in it. She stumbled upstairs, to her room, almost like a zombie, feeling hopeless. Just one look at her bed, empty and cold, made her one more time think about the void, dark look in Tzuyu’s eyes. 

What more could she do now? She couldn’t just sit and cry. That wasn’t going to help anyone.

Jihyo sat in the empty room for two more hours, almost ripping her hair off her head with desperation, before she finally came to the conclusion that the night wasn’t the best time to act for her. Unlike the wolves, she didn’t have amazing senses that allowed her to feel, smell and hear everything better. It hurt her so much to leave Tzuyu alone there, helpless and scared, but it wasn’t going to help anyone if Jihyo went outside knowing that she could die out there.

So she had to go to the wolves’s place first thing in the morning. Now it was too dark, and too dangerous, but when the first rays of sunshine were going to brighten up the world, she was going to be way more capable of achieving anything. She was going to take a bus, or ask her mom to drive her there. And then she would search the whole world for Tzuyu. Even if it took her days to dig through the whole forest. 

Yup, that was the plan. Jihyo lay down in her bed, her eyes wide open and frightened. She wasn’t going to sleep anyway, not in this state of her mind, but here she was at least a bit comforted by the smell of Tzuyu’s shampoo present on the sheets. The rush of thoughts inside her mind slowed down enough to allow her to get a little grip on the mess her brain was currently in. 

The only thing that allowed her to lay still the whole night was the thought that, after all, Tzuyu was a wolf. A wolf wouldn’t be hurt easily in the woods, right?

(...)

Jihyo almost got lost twice on the way to the old house that the wolves owned in the middle of the woods. She had been there a few times, mostly right after Chan bought the property for next to nothing from his parents, and decided to renovate it enough, so that they could live there together as a pack. Back then, the house was in a poor condition, so the wolves didn’t really invite her over often, and later, when they made it livable, Jihyo was too busy with school and exams to have time for afternoon coffees with the friendly neighborhood carnivores.  

And now, when she needed it so much, she couldn’t find the damn house in that damn forest. Screw the wolves and their need to hide everything in such a wilderness…

Finally arriving in front of the house, Jihyo didn’t spare any minute before knocking on the door. Despite the early hour, she did it quite loudly, and maybe somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt bad for waking up the residents of this house so abruptly, but after all, she had good reason. 

No one answered her though, and Jihyo had to knock once again, this time even harder. Finally, after five more minutes of waiting, the door cracked open, and a sleepy Chan appeared in front of Jihyo’s eyes. 

“Hey, Jihyo!” He waved his hand, using the other one to scratch his bare stomach, right over the most worn off pair of shorts Jihyo had ever seen. “Did something happen? It’s not even five in the morning.”

“Yup.” Jihyo invited herself inside, pushing the boy out of her way. “Is Tzuyu here?” She looked around the whole living room, noticing immediately that it was still in the middle of renovation. 

Cans of paint stood there, between ladders and some other equipment Jihyo couldn’t recognize. There was also no place to sit in the whole space, maybe except an old wooden chair, which even if present there, was definitely unoccupied. If Tzuyu was in the wolves’ house, she surely couldn’t hide here. 

“She’s not with us.” Chan answered from behind her, closing the door and probably failing yet to notice Jihyo’s alarmed state. “Why? Isn’t she with you?”

“She’s not.” Jihyo turned to him, desperation visible in her eyes. If Tzuyu wasn’t here, and wasn’t at home… “We went on a walk yesterday, and then she suddenly turned, and she started growling at me, and–”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… Hold on. Why did you go on a walk yesterday? We told Tzu to stay away from the woods, and to keep you at home too. It was dangerous…” Chan looked alarmed now too. 

The stairs behind Jihyo creaked and when she turned around, two wolves were just going down to join them. Jihyo recognized one of them as Sana, but the other one… It had dark gray fur she hadn’t seen before. Maybe it was Minho? Jihyo knew the guy only in his human form, and as far as she could remember, no one else joined the pack after him.

Did the wolves get bigger lately? She remembered them as puppies, but now that Jihyo was observing the pair, they definitely looked almost adult. When did they grow so much? Was Tzuyu as big as them too, and Jihyo failed to notice it before? For Jihyo, the girl was still so little and adorable, despite Tzuyu’s already impressive height. 

“I- I don’t know.” She answered, turning back to Chan and leaving the size problem for later. “Tzuyu didn’t say anything at first. But then, when she admitted in the forest that we shouldn’t be there, she suddenly started turning, and she said something about not being able to control it. Then she attacked me.”

“First full moon?” Sana’s voice came from behind, startling Jihyo a little. The girl was now in her human form, wearing a long shirt that almost covered her thighs.

“She’s already the right age, so it seems like it..” Chan nodded, humming. “But she didn’t join us. Shouldn’t she, if her instincts took control over her?”

Jihyo wanted to huff, irritated by the fact that: 1. Tzuyu attacked her, 2. Tzuyu was still missing. How could they be so calm, when she was almost losing her shit right beside them. 

“Yup, she should. Weird…” Sana also hummed. “Could you feel her smell in the forest? Because I couldn’t.”

“Hey, hey! Guys!” Jihyo interrupted the exchange. “What the heck are you talking about? What does it mean?”

Sana was kind enough to smile at Jihyo and pat her shoulder.

“Let me explain it to you, honey. Tzuyu’s going through a wolf’s puberty. When she was a puppy, the moon didn’t affect her. Now she’s an adult, so on full moons she loses control over herself, just like the rest of us. It’s nothing unusual, but can be pretty scary when it happens for the first time. She’s gonna get the hang of it pretty quickly, Tzuyu’s a smart girl, but it’s still dangerous for a human to be around her.”

“That’s why you have to stay away from us, and from her on full moons.” Chan added. “I know it might sound shocking, but it’s the truth. She probably didn’t want to attack you, and the fact that you’re here safe and sound means that she did a good job. You also did a good job leaving her there alone. You can relax, it's a perfectly normal thing. We’re all still learning how to adjust to that change too.”

“Soo…” Jihyo tried to follow, but her mind was a little bit slow thanks to the sleepless night. She was a bit calmer now that they explained to her what had happened, but her heart still refused to let go of the nerves. “Where is she now?”

Chan and Sana exchanged confused glances. Despite that they tried to be discreet, Jihyo caught them anyway, and she couldn’t help but let the worry overcome her thoughts.

“Let’s not panic yet. After the long night, she’s probably tired, so she’s gonna come back after resting a bit. Do you want to wait here with us?” Sana put a reassuring hand on Jihyo’s back.

“N- No. You’re tired too, after the whole night, right? I won’t bother you.” She decided. “Let’s just hope she’ll be back soon.”

“Don’t worry, she will.”

Chapter Text

It was silent there. The droplets gathered from morning humidity clung to the leafless branches, adorning the old birches like jewelry, shining in the rare rays of sunlight that managed to break through the thick umbrella of tree crowns. A nightingale sat on the ground, shaking its small head when droplets decided to leave its safe shelter and dive down, right onto its delicate feathers. 

Tzuyu’s eyes had a hard time focusing on the bird. The tiredness was overwhelming, calling her to rest her head on the green moss and sleep just a few more minutes. Just a few more…

A memory! Sudden, coming from the back of her mind. A scary one - of fear, and loneliness… Was it hers, or was it someone else that did this? Tzuyu groaned, hiding her throbbing head in her hands. 

Why was she laying here, in the forest, naked and in pain? Where was Jihyo? They were going on a walk at night, after her birthday party, and then…

Oh my…!

Despite the tiredness, she suddenly didn’t have a problem with focusing anymore. Now all the memories were flooding her head, not just that one. Memories of running through the wilderness, called by the moonlight. Memories of all the smells, and all the sounds, and the feelings… And of this horrible, frightening desire to kill. 

Not just anyone. Not another animal. A human being. Her best friend, the most wonderful person in the whole world, the smartest girl in the whole school. Jihyo.

The girl who offered Tzuyu home, her own place, support and love. 

Tzuyu felt a wave of nausea, and she rolled on her side, throwing up all the contents of her stomach. This was absolutely horrifying. She was trying to kill Jihyo. She almost killed Jihyo! Who did this turn her into? What did this turn her into?

A monster, nothing else. 

A branch creaked nearby, causing her to lift her head. Someone was coming. Tzuyu lay still, hiding behind a huge bush, trying to appear invisible. One breath, two, three… There they were! It was a girl actually. No way, was it…?

Jihyo’s steps were unsure, guarded. Her eyes were scanning her surroundings, as if she was looking for something. Tzuyu knew what Jihyo was looking for. She could recognize the smell of fear even from a few meters away. Jihyo was afraid that Tzuyu was going to attack her one more time. That she was going to jump from between the trees and kill her mercilessly at any moment. 

A monster. Nothing else.

Should she reveal herself? Tell Jihyo, that she didn’t feel that desire to kill anymore? That now Jihyo’s smell wasn’t so luring anymore, that now her blood didn’t scream at Tzuyu to attack, to hunt, to kill.

A monster. Nothing else.

A sudden urge to hide, to run away, overcame Tzuyu’s body. No, she couldn’t talk to Jihyo now. Actually, she couldn’t talk to Jihyo at all. How would she even look her best friend in the eye, after she did something so terrible? The mortifying embarrassment threatened to freeze her movements and force her to cry. Tzuyu didn’t let it. Instead, she hid even deeper under the leaves, becoming one with nature. After all, she was part of it. That’s where she belonged. Not in some fancy houses, between people that were ready to offer her home.

And then she ran. 

A monster. Nothing else. 

(...)

By the time Tzuyu stopped running away from the monsters living inside her head, it was already too late to turn back. Besides, how could she? After all, she was a monster. Jihyo wouldn’t want to have such a monster as her best friend. 

Obviously, Tzuyu took into consideration that Jihyo could feel lonely without any friend by her side. But in the end, she was a sweet person. Sooner or later, she was going to find someone to fill Tzuyu’s shoes. And if she wasn’t, there were always Sana, Chan and Mina that Jihyo had a fairly good, friendly relationship with.

The big city was like a breath of fresh air for Tzuyu after all the months spent in the middle of nowhere. She was raised between the high buildings and busy streets, and despite being so connected to the Moon Grove’s forests now, she missed the hustle and bustle of her previous home. The only thing that didn’t allow her to fully enjoy the nostalgic journey was the nagging instinct to reconnect with her pack. 

It felt like an annoying ick just under her skin, that couldn’t be silenced by scratching. And it reminded her about itself constantly, without any single break. At first, after Tzuyu arrived in the city, she almost got a panic attack because of it, and she spent the whole week stumbling from one dark alley to another, trying to learn how to handle it. It was hard to focus on literally anything with this pain present all the time. 

Yet she tried. She did her best to focus and find some meaning in her new situation. 

The images of Jihyo’s frightened face kept waking her up every night, right as she managed to barely fall asleep, after hours and hours of tossing and turning in search of a position comfortable enough to soothe the longing of her pack. Luckily, thanks to her wolf skin, she couldn’t get cold or sick while sleeping on the hard ground, but that was practically the only advantage of the animal side of her body. 

Everything else was such a mess. Unnecessary mess, in Tzuyu’s opinion. 

After a week, or two, she finally learned how to deal with her instincts enough to think about rejoining the society. As a fourteen-year-old kid, she wasn’t able to do much alone. And for some reason, her exhausted brain dared her to do something she knew right away she was going to regret. 

And now here she was, standing on the other side of the street, looking at the windows of her parents’ apartment. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to achieve here. Maybe nothing, and maybe at least get some information. After four years of not seeing them, she could now be sure that they weren’t coming back for her, and that it wasn’t an accident. She was kicked out of the house and left in the Moon Grove’s forest fully on purpose. Why, though?

Did they realize what kind of person she was, before even Tzuyu herself discovered her second nature? 

A monster. Nothing else.

Inhaling, and then exhaling the dirty city air, Tzuyu bravely put her feet onto the asphalt to cross the street. She had to do it. Even to have a closing, a clear information that they indeed didn’t want their daughter in their life. 

Could they recognize her after those four years? She was taller now, more mature. Despite her young age, she could suppose that she looked way older, which allowed her to survive on the streets without anyone noticing a stray hiding behind a trash can or running away from drunkards trying to mug her for money, or… Never mind. 

There was just one problem… The security officer by the door for sure wasn’t going to recognize a kid that used to live in the building many years ago. Which meant that Tzuyu had to be smart to get inside. Thank God that at least the entrance to the parking lot under the apartment complex wasn’t completely closed off. Tzuyu quickly hid behind some car, making sure that no one else could notice her, and then took off the worn off T-shirt and jeans she managed to find in some trash. Then she turned into the wolf, and grabbed the clothes into her mouth. 

Getting under the gate was an easy task. Avoiding all the cameras, and sneaking under cars in order to not get anyone’s attention was a harder one. A wild dog, which she surely looked like, wasn’t a common occurrence in this part of the city. She could imagine a wild wolf could gather even more interest. Luckily for her, the security wasn’t as attuned to watching the cameras this afternoon, as they were when she still used to live there, and she got to the elevators without any further trouble. A few seconds to turn back and get her clothes on, and she was already on her way to the tenth floor. 

Then the nerves really hit her. 

What the heck was she doing here? They were going to kick her out right away, or worse, call the security. If they would even recognize their kid in this dirty, barefoot girl, they wouldn’t want to come within ten meters of her, considering how she had to smell after weeks without a shower. She was absolutely going to get herself right into a huge heartbreak. 

The sound of the elevator door opening sent a pang of anxiety down her throat. Her chest tightened and Tzuyu felt her blood rushing down, away from her head. Was it so little air here, or was she imagining this?

Then it was too late again. A woman, with a boy holding her hand, stood in the hallway, ready to enter the elevator. The air was completely taken out of Tzuyu’s lungs. She gasped.

“Hi, mom…”

(...)

The atmosphere in the room was tense. Tzuyu’s mother, a woman in her early forties, looked as if it was the most ordinary afternoon for her, walking all around the room and juggling her attention between preparing the table for a meal and stirring something in the pot on the stove. She hadn’t changed much during those four years. Apparently parting ways with her first-born child didn’t really bother her at all. But Tzuyu could feel her nervousness. She reeked of anxiety, and it wasn’t the one like when someone is waiting for something impatiently. 

Tzuyu’s father had more trouble with hiding his real emotions. He was sitting on the couch, staring at the carpet under his feet, and trying to be invisible. His face was more aged, there were a few new wrinkles on his forehead, and the frown he sported looked pretty permanent. Just turning his way, Tzuyu could smell the odor of regret, embarrassment and also longing. 

And then there was the boy. Seemingly around three-years-old, with chubby cheeks, and huge eyes that Tzuyu thought she could recognize pretty well. She could see them anytime she even glanced in the mirror.  

From the moment Tzuyu entered the apartment, feeling like she traveled back in time, the boy sat silently, not uttering even a word. Tzuyu didn’t know a lot about children, but this… This didn’t look like normal child behavior. His eyes connected with hers a few times, filled with interest, but that was it. He was just playing with his Nintendo, moving his fingers way too fast for his age. 

Tzuyu didn’t have a problem with drawing any conclusions. 

She sat silently too, not knowing what to say. She still wasn’t sure why she came back to meet them. What she was sure about was that they invited her only because while they stood in the hallway, one of the neighbors passed by, and they didn’t want to be spotted by him while talking to some dirty, bad-smelling stray. And God forbid someone would start to ask questions about her and find some resemblance in her face and theirs. Appearance was the most important thing to them. That hadn’t changed at all.

Tzuyu suddenly felt that she didn’t want to be here for even one more minute. It was a mistake. She had to quickly put an end to this suffering. 

“Mom…” She started mindlessly, before remembering that this woman had actually given up this title a long time ago. She didn’t know how to call her though. Mrs. Chou sounded way too snobbish coming out of her mouth. She decided to skip that part. “I didn’t come here to ask you to take me back. You don’t have to worry about it. The truth is I don’t know why I came here. So I should probably be going.”

She stood up from the chair they put for her on the other side of the room, far away from their new kid. 

Her mother had the guts to look relieved. The boy didn’t even pay her any mind, focusing on the screen of this console. At least her father seemed like he wanted to object.

“Before though…” She suddenly got reminded about something. “Would you tell me honestly - did you know, or was leaving me for death in some random place far away from home your plan all along?”

Her father’s face scrunched in pain, when he tried to stand up too and stop her on her way. 

“Tzuyu, we–”

Her mother’s hand on his shoulder put him back into his place.

“You didn’t fit into this family.”

Yup, that was reasonable thinking. Tzuyu’s deviation didn’t fit into their ideal image of a family with perfect, beautiful kids. There wasn’t time for taking care of any troubles between the tennis classes, piano lessons, charity auctions and Sunday dinners with other rich people. Tzuyu guessed it earlier, but now she had a confirmation. And after all, she asked for honesty, right?

Was it worth it at all to risk asking them, whether they knew why she was like that? Maybe… She couldn’t lose anything more than her pride, and this… Well, during those two weeks on the streets, the term stretched a lot to accommodate the reality. 

“Do you know the reason why I’m like this?” She asked then. 

This time, before her mother could follow with some dismissing comment, her father was quick enough to open his mouth.

“We don’t know either, honey. It was a shock to us too…”

“Okay, thank you.” Tzuyu nodded her head obediently, forgetting that she wasn’t required to follow their rules, or even respect them anymore. “I’ll be going then…” The way he called her ‘honey’ didn’t sit right in these circumstances. 

No one walked her to the door, and while she thought she was already out of this cold and loveless place, waiting patiently for the elevator to come, suddenly a sound of footsteps broke the peace of her mind. 

“Tzuyu, wait!” 

The elevator made a ‘ding’ sound, and the door opened. She had a choice. She could run away, or stay. But Tzuyu knew there wasn’t really any choice. A child would never stop craving their parent's love and attention. Even if they were proven that those parents don’t share the same sentiment.

“Wait, Tzuyu.” Her dad was behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

Tzuyu shivered, despite not being able to feel the cold. She quickly turned around, facing him. She couldn’t hide the shock, seeing the huge envelope in his hand.

“Please, take it.” He said. “I know it’s not a lot, and it’s not gonna make it up to you, but…” 

The hesitation in his voice was clearly showing that he wanted to say something more. But just like Tzuyu herself, he was never great in explaining his feelings. Besides, it didn’t matter now. Whatever happened, couldn’t be undone. There was no way back to them having a great child-parent relationship. 

Tzuyu just nodded. Her pride was telling her to refuse the money, to turn her back to him and enter the elevator, saying goodbye forever. But she was really, really hungry lately. Her growing body couldn’t be satiated with anything she found on the streets. And stealing… Well, let’s say she hoped she wouldn’t ever be there. 

So, wordlessly, she accepted the envelope. What followed though, shocked her completely - her father reached, and took her into his arms. The hug was really short, just milliseconds, and then she was free again, lonelier than ever. Yet it happened. Tzuyu thought she imagined this.

“Take care, Tzuyu.” The man said, still standing there, refusing to be the first one to walk away this time. “And… Please, let me know from time to time that you’re still alive, okay?”

Tzuyu was barely fighting the tears from escaping her eyes. She craved so much to feel the warmth of his arms once again. To have her smaller hand in his bigger one, just like when he walked her to kindergarten as a child. To be told that she was worthy of love. And that she was loved by someone. 

“I’ll see… What I can do.” She stuttered, choking on the tears. Then she stepped inside the elevator, letting the door close behind her. 

It felt like a definite end. She was seeing him for the last time in her life. And she was sure that she wasn’t fine with it. 

Why would he make it so hard in the end? She was fine with walking away, knowing that they both stood on the same ground. That both her parents didn’t love her enough to keep her around. But since he said what he said… He had to love her at least a bit, right? So why wasn’t she enough?!

WHY?! 

Was it because she was a freaking monster? Did he see it before anyone else? 

Earlier, she wasn’t sure why she came here. Now she knew - it was to find the pain and the punishment. She deserved it for how she treated Jihyo, the only person who showed her real love. She was a freaking monster!

The tears flooded her face as soon as she stepped outside the building, not even caring about the security anymore, and just straight up running through all the doors, escaping far away just to hide from the world, from the judging eyes of those perfect, nice people, who never hurt anyone who was worth of love, who weren’t a freaking monster!

Her breathing was fast, despite that she wasn’t actually tired from the running. Something was wrong, something was really bad… Tzuyu tried to control it, but the way the tears were streaming down from her eyes wasn’t helping her calm down. And her breath was only getting faster and faster.

Why the heck did she have to be cursed with her awful life? Why couldn’t she just be normal, like every other kid? Why couldn’t she be loved? Wouldn’t it be just easier if she wasn’t who she was? 

Her lungs suddenly couldn’t get enough air. Her chest was tightening, her throat preventing her from inhaling. The panic overwhelmed her mind. If she couldn’t breathe, wasn’t she going to die?

But… Wouldn’t it be easier like that? Wouldn’t that solve all her problems?

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t–

A sudden sound of a car's horn echoed in the whole neighborhood, not even a few meters from Tzuyu, and the girl jumped on the spot. The world immediately went back to life, after being frozen in time. People were walking on the streets, businessmen were talking loudly about some unfinished cases, teenagers were laughing loudly while coming back from school. 

That horrible longing under Tzuyu’s skin, nagging her to go back to her pack immediately, evolved into a pain. Her hands were still shaking, but she didn’t know whether it was an effect of the panic attack, or maybe rather one more symptom of her separation from the wolves. She noticed that she was getting visibly weaker in the last two weeks, but this seemed like a bit too much. 

Or maybe not? Maybe she deserved this punishment for her actions too? 

Terrified out of her mind, Tzuyu raised her head, noticing the narrow shape of the moon peeking at her from between the buildings. It was less bright than in the forests near Moon Grove, and it wasn’t affecting her as much. Yet, it was a constant presence in her life. 

Tzuyu could almost tell that she heard a sound of wolves howling somewhere far away. But maybe it was just her wishful thinking. 

She wanted to scream at the Moon, to ask why the heck was it so cruel to her. But what was the point? The Moon wouldn’t answer anyway. 

There hadn’t been times when she felt more alone in this city.

(...)

The alcohol came out of nowhere, but was a pretty rational way out of her troubles that evening. At least according to Tzuyu’s tired, hurting body. 

She got the first bottle of beer from a bald, tall guy nearby a dingy club five blocks away. It was probably meant to get her drunk and an easy target, but even weaker, her body still handled the alcohol pretty well. Tzuyu eyed the bottle suspiciously at first, knowing well that it could bring her a lot of bad consequences, but… Well, at that moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care. Actually, she liked the idea of making herself even more miserable. 

All in all, she didn’t end up in the trunk of the guy’s car, but the whole thing allowed her to actually discover that while tipsy, she didn’t feel as much of this horrible pain inside her heart and body. The numbness was welcomed, and Tzuyu didn’t have a problem with getting one more bottle. With the money from her father secured in her pocket, she could pay every drunkard in the area to go and buy her more of the stuff, without anyone even checking her age.

Easy to say that this night was the first one in a long time, when Tzuyu could sleep like a baby, hidden under some bushes on the side of the river. Although she woke up with a huge headache the next day, it wasn’t anything she couldn’t dull with another can of beer. Life was bearable again. 

Day by day, she roamed through the streets of her city, sometimes hiding from the police behind a trash can, or using her athleticism to escape from particularly dangerous looking people. The time went on quickly when she wasn’t feeling that pain anymore, being constantly on the verge of drunkenness and enjoying all the upsides and downsides of her hometown. Getting something to put into her stomach was a task hard enough to occupy her for the most of time.

Before Tzuyu could notice, she wasn’t able to go a day without at least one can of beer. It quickly turned into two, and then three, when she noticed that the initial dose wasn’t working anymore. 

Jihyo’s face was still haunting her when she only tried to close her eyes, and she couldn’t help but cry every night out of misery of not seeing her packmates, but all of this was somewhere in the background. She had to survive day by day, and busy with this, she didn’t have time for some useless feeling anymore. 

The beer turned into stronger beverages quite quickly. It was harder to get them, even the drunkards sometimes asked what such a young girl needed such a thing for, but Tzuyu was smart. Using her brain while drunk was trickier than normally, but she always managed to come up with some believable excuse anyway. And if not, well… There was nothing a little of cash couldn’t get her.

The money obviously wasn’t limitless. And Tzuyu learned it the hard way, when one evening, she pulled the once-white, now dirty and crumpled envelope, opened it and saw only the inside of the paper. There was nothing there! Nothing!

A low growl escaped her throat instinctively, and she didn’t even care that there were some people nearby, who could hear it and start to wonder, why she behaved like someone out of her mind. The pain was growing with each second, and she needed to provide the next dose of the alcohol quite soon. A loud sound of grumbling escaped her stomach too, but she ignored it in favor of looking around. It had been quite some time since she last ate something, after all her last available money went to more urgent needs, but she couldn’t exactly think about it now, right? It was hard to focus…

The swans floating on the surface of the river gathered around a kid standing on the shore, and there was some ruckuss there, when they fought over the food… The sound was overbearing. 

Would she be able to find some leftovers of alcohol behind a supermarket? Those kinds of stores usually threw out the stuff that went over the expiry date, right? Did vodka have an expiry date? Probably not.

The sun, setting over the river, blinded her sensitive eyes, causing her to groan with anger. Why couldn’t it just set forever, and leave Tzuyu alone?

Clubs were a good option, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to sell herself for a bottle of alcohol. She knew she looked good, even straight from the street, but that probably wasn’t enough to find someone willing to do business with a fourteen-year-old. Or maybe it was?

A shiver ran down her spine. No… She- She wasn’t there yet. During the last weeks, she lost a lot of her pride, unable to find any place where could stay for even a few days, but what came to her mind right now… That was too much.

The silver plate of the Moon could be now visible over the horizon. Her hands were shaking. Was it already a full moon once again? No, it couldn’t be… She hadn’t been staying in the city for a month yet. Right? Because if it was a full moon once again…

Tzuyu immediately stood up from the bench she was occupying for the past few hours. She couldn’t be there, if that was supposed to happen once again. She couldn’t become even a worse kind of monster, if she accidentally killed someone. She couldn’t, she couldn’t, she couldn’t!

A familiar now kind of instinct told her to run away. Tzuyu’s head was spinning though, the lack of food she had to deal with lately taking a toll on her body now. Her stomach suddenly protested, and she bent in half, throwing up with nothing.  

Shit . It was worse than she thought. The self-destruction that she considered such a good plan those weeks ago now suddenly seemed stupider than ever, when she could actually experience its consequences. Oh, damn… Her head…

Only that now wasn’t the right time to think about it. She had to escape the city. Or at least find some secluded area, where there wouldn’t be any people nearby that she could involuntarily hurt. Wasn’t there some place in the industrial part of the town, where people were really rare to spot? She could recall that she was always advised to avoid that area, because it was dangerous for young girls to venture there at night. She didn’t think it was a problem in her situation right now. 

Yeah, she should probably go there. If only she was able to stand straight with how much her stomach was hurting... 

(...)

The second full moon in her life wasn’t any less of a terrifying experience. It wasn’t nice to lose control completely, to let herself be guided only by her instincts. Especially when aforementioned instincts were telling her to go back to her pack immediately. 

She survived the night. Barely. 

Fighting with her own mind and body in an abandoned industrial building, where no one could find her even if she died there because of her fury and amuck. 

The next morning, she had an even bigger hangover than ever, and turning back to her human body turned out to be too much for her. She stayed put in her hideout, sleeping mostly, until the early afternoon, when the call to go and find a beer or two forced her to finally get over her laziness. Only then had she realized that this problem didn’t disappear - she still had no idea where to go in order to organize herself some drinks. 

Tzuyu huffed in irritation, realizing that once again - under the heavy influence of her instincts - she forgot to take her clothes with her, while turning the previous night. Great. Searching for something fitting in the trash was going to be such a hassle… Especially in the mostly deserted area she currently found herself in. 

The time until the night dragged mercilessly. Tzuyu’s body was even weaker than usual and the doubled amount of pain didn’t allow her to focus on absolutely anything. She stumbled into that particular dark alley quite accidentally, close to midnight. The people there didn’t even notice her arrival, gathering around various sources of warmth. The fire, set in old metal trash cans, looked nice, but Tzuyu didn’t want to get too close to anyone. She was so lucky that she couldn’t really get cold. 

“Hey, there… kid!” A low voice from her right snapped her out of her thoughts. She stood too long in one place, probably looking a bit lost. That always caught their attention. 

She tried to walk away, but the owner of the voice was persistent. The grip on the sleeve of her newly-found hoodie was too strong to fight off. 

“Hey, hey, whoa… Where do you think you’re going? I asked you a question.”

The man was in the middle of his thirties. He smelled of nicotine, cold air and frustration. No ill intentions, but one could never be sure. 

“I got lost, sorry.” Tzuyu answered calmingly. “I’m out of here.” She stepped back, taking her hands out of the pockets to show that she didn’t mean any harm. The man was unconvinced. His comrade, standing nearby, had a suspicious grin on his face. Yeah, that one definitely smelled like trouble. 

“I don’t think so, little lady.” He shook his head. “You came here, so you’re one of us now, right?” 

The smile turned a bit diabolic. Tzuyu’s head was already producing images of all the things that were about to unfold, if she stayed. And those weren’t nice pictures. Would she be able to run away though? She was fast enough, that was sure, but only when she was healthy and well-fed. Now… 

“Don’t be scared, kid.” The other guy, the one that smelled of nicotine, put a hand on her shoulder. It was heavy. He had to see the look in her eyes, because his face turned a bit compassionate. “He’s kidding. You can go away, obviously. We don’t do children. But… If you stayed… Let me tell you, the fun that we have here is out of this world. You seem to be distressed, so maybe you should chill out with us a bit?” 

He winked. But not in the sexual kind of way she could see sometimes from guys in the clubs. It was more like a father-like kind of wink. He reminded her a bit of Jihyo’s father with the way his posture was a bit hunched, as if just as Jihyo’s fad, he spent days bent over some important documents on his desk.

Tzuyu wasn’t sure what to do. The ‘fun’ he mentioned didn’t sound like it was anything legal, but there were people in this place. And Tzuyu felt particularly lonely that night. Sighing, she put her hands back into the pockets.

“What kind of fun do you mean?” She asked apprehensively. It couldn’t be anything that bad, right? She would smell it from him if he wanted to hurt her…

Right?

(...)

Her legs were soooo heavy… SO HEAVY…

Woooo!

Was the elephant standing under the bridge really pink, or was she having some trouble with her eyes? 

She could guess it was really pink. 

Did it matter though? 

Did anything matter?

It was so good right now, so it probably didn’t. She was finally feeling so good.

…

Oh, did she fall asleep? Maybe just for a moment, her eyelids were so heavy…

…

Hahahaha, that guy’s face was so funny that Tzuyu wanted to go there and squish his cheeks so hard. She probably could. 

But her body was so heavy…

…

Oh, the world was losing its colors… Why was it suddenly so dark?

Damn, her head…

(...) 

Her body was trembling so hard when she woke up the next time. Her vision was still blurred, but the world wasn’t so colorful anymore. And she was so, so scared!

Bang!

Tzuyu jumped when something fell to the ground loudly just next to her. Her head turned abruptly, and the first thing she saw was blood. A lot of blood. Shit…

She was on the street, or maybe rather on the pavement. And someone next to her was just hit by a car. Great.

Then her eyes registered the face of that pedestrian. A face she knew. 

And Tzuyu screamed so hard that tears filled her eyes. She abruptly pulled away, on her fours, trying to get far away from… From… 

She couldn’t back away. Something was preventing her from backing away! She couldn’t back away!

“Hey!” A voice, loud and clear. “Hey, look at me! Look at me! Whatever you’re seeing, it’s not real!” 

Someone was shouting at her. But it wasn’t an angry shout, just… Concerned? What was going on?

A cold hand was gently put on her cheek, sobering her up a bit. The body laying previously on the pavement, and all the blood too, suddenly disappeared. A girl sat there instead, watching Tzuyu closely. 

“Shhh… Calm down, honey…” She was now stroking Tzuyu’s cheek, her touch still as gentle as a feather. “It’s alright. You’re here with me. Whatever you saw is not real.”

It wasn’t real. The dead body wasn’t real. It wasn’t real. 

“Are you here with me? Are you able to talk?” 

“Y- Yeah.” Tzuyu’s voice sounded harsh. Her throat was parched as hell. She desperately needed a drink. A can of beer would be enough–

“Great.” The girl flashed her a full grin, as if they were best friends meeting after a long time, not a pair of strangers sitting on the dirty concrete of some busy street in the middle of the city. “What’s your name, honey?” 

It was logical to fake it, right?

“Sally.” Tzuyu answered shyly after a brief moment of wondering. The girl smiled again. She didn’t reveal her own name and it sparked something uncomfortable in Tzuyu’s stomach. 

The girl smelled wonderfully, though. Like snow, fresh wind and freedom. She smelled like home. 

“Okay, Sally. Nice to meet you. You shouldn’t sit here, on this cold ground. How about coming with me somewhere?” 

Tzuyu shrugged her shoulders. At this point, what could she lose?

(...)

“Are you feeling better now?” 

“Mmmm… No? Not at all.” 

“Wow, what did you take? It had to be some bunch of really strong stuff, right?”

Tzuyu shrugged her shoulders. She couldn’t remember now. It was some kind of white powder? Or… Or maybe not? 

She didn’t even want to remember now. She finally stopped throwing up and hallucinating, but her body was still trembling like heck. If she started thinking about it again, she was probably going to vomit all over the place once again. The acidy taste in her mouth made her feel a bit sick just at the prospect. 

“Did someone force you to take those drugs?” The girl kept pushing, as if Tzuyu’s disinterested face wasn’t enough to scare her off. Damn, if she wasn’t a persistent one…

“I told you already. I don’t remember!” Tzuyu snapped, annoyed at the questions. 

She just needed one beer, maybe then she could finally calm down a bit.

“Easy, easy.” The girl put her hands in the air. “I’m not here to hurt you, okay? I just want to help. Wouldn’t you like to take a shower? I’m not sure I have clothes that could fit your tall body, but I’ll search for something. And I made some spaghetti last night, we can heat it up for you.”

She kept rambling. With how the girl was yapping the whole way, Tzuyu could guess that's just how she was. The talking wasn’t going to end. 

“Why are you even trying to help me?” Tzuyu muttered, frowning.

It was a bit suspicious. By now, she already knew that nothing was free out there. If somebody did something for her, they were surely going to want some payment. That girl didn’t look much older than Tzuyu, though. She probably wasn’t even an adult yet. And she didn’t seem like she could be fond of kids…

Food sounded good though…

“I don’t know, you just looked like you needed my help.” The girl shrugged too, happily walking by Tzuyu’s side towards… Okay, Tzuyu didn’t know where they were going. Neither did she care. And if she was going to be killed by this stranger, at least she was going to die finally, and she would be spared the pain. 

“Was it the first time?” The girl asked again, as if already forgetting that Tzuyu was irritated by her questions. “That you took whatever you took. You don’t really look like an addict.”

Wow, she was pretty bold too. 

“Yeah.” 

The next two minutes were finally filled with silence. Tzuyu was thankful, because she really had a hard time talking, while her intestines were screaming at her, and the world in front of her eyes was getting slightly black. 

And then the girl once again opened her mouth to deafen Tzuyu with her loud voice:

“Oh, here we are. It’s not much, but I manage to go day by day.” She pointed to a small, wooden door. 

The whole building in front of which they stood didn’t look impressive. In fact, it looked as if it was about to collapse just at any moment. Yet, the girl enthusiastically and bravely put the key to the lock and opened the place. The sight that presented to their eyes was filled with darkness and a barely visible set of stone stairs leading down. Were they heading to the basement? 

“Come inside.” The girl encouraged Tzuyu, taking confident steps inside herself. “I know the place looks shady, but that’s all I can afford now. I swear it’s clean enough though, and it’s not hot here in the summer. You don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to, but if you want… I can offer you a place on the couch. It’s old, but it’s probably better than sleeping on the ground, right? Or on the bench in the park. You must be wondering why I know those things, huh? Well, honestly, there was a time in my life where I used to live on the street too, so I can recognize one of my kind. So if I’m able to help, why not, right? You don’t smell like you can cause much trouble, so…”

Tzuyu filtered the girl’s noisy voice out of her mind, looking around the place that opened for them when they went downstairs. It was a small studio apartment (if it could even be called that), with a tiny kitchen, the promised couch standing right by the door, and a narrow double bed covered with flowery-patterned blankets. The girl was right, it was mostly clean, and quite cozy, despite the fact that there was only a small window under the ceiling providing the natural light. 

Without any additional questions, Tzuyu dropped her body down on the couch. Oh damn, she was so exhausted. Screw everything else. 

Five seconds later, she was sleeping with her mouth open wide, snoring like an old man.

If someone said that she had no survival instincts, she would deny everything.

(...)  

When Tzuyu woke up hours later, it was already dark outside. She was completely disoriented at first, and her instincts told her to immediately run away. However, her malnourished body protested at the first move, so she stayed put. There was no way she could fight for her life at that moment. She seemed to not be dead, or injured though, so maybe it was safe in this place after all?

Tzuyu groaned, feeling like her hands were shaking. Who did she turn into? How pathetic did she look?

The apartment was definitely empty, not a single sound coming from anywhere. There was just a single lamp above the kitchen stove bringing some light, and Tzuyu was thankful for it, because after those weird hallucinations she saw in the morning, she really preferred to not be left in complete darkness. 

Where was her savior? There was no sign of her anywhere. 

A stack of clothes lay on the coffee table in front of the couch, with a piece of paper on it. The note said: ‘Feel free to take a shower and use the spare toothbrush’. Tzuyu put it away, in favor of standing up and slowly stumbling towards the fridge. Her hands grabbed its door desperately, before she could sway and fall on the floor. The fridge opened, blinding Tzuyu with its light. It took her a good fifteen seconds to regain her senses.

Some meat, instant ramen, fruit, snacks… No beverages. Damn!

Where did people usually store alcohol? Could it be in one of the cupboards? Maybe somewhere near the TV, where the host could drink it while watching a drama. Tzuyu sometimes observed Jihyo’s parents drinking wine while they were watching something on TV.

But no, there wasn’t anything there! Did that weird girl not have any beer? Since she lived alone, she had to be an adult. So why didn’t she have a beer???

“Looking for something?”

Tzuyu jumped a few centimeters into the air, forgetting about her lack of strength completely, when the voice sounded from behind her, and her heart almost stopped working. She immediately closed the cupboard she was currently searching through.

“N- No?” She risked saying. It was clear she was looking for something, but maybe the girl–

“There isn’t any. I don’t drink alcohol.” The girl said.

Tzuyu observed as she circled the room, putting a huge bag on the bed, and then taking off her hoodie. Under it, she had a T-shirt in that specific shade of green Tzuyu could bet she somewhere before. Was it some kind of convenience store? There was a logo on one side of the T-shirt, but Tzuyu’s eyes couldn’t really focus right now. 

The girl sighed tiredly, plopping on the bed, not even caring that she was still in what Tzuyu could suppose were her work clothes. 

“Sally, if that’s even your real name… I’ll be honest with you. I was watching you for a few days… I know, I know, it sounds like stalking a lot, but believe me - it’s not. I was just curious, when I was passing you by in the park on my way from school. I know you’re addicted to alcohol. But I believe it’s not too late to stop it.”

Tzuyu stood frozen in her spot. Her hands were still trembling, but they were hidden in her hoodie’s pockets, so no one could see that. Honestly, what the girl was saying now was… shocking, at least. 

“Please, let me help you fix it.” The girl’s pleading eyes were huge and dark. 

Why did she care? What kind of savior syndrome was it? Tzuyu felt anger filling her veins.

“I don’t need anyone to fix me.” She gritted through her clenched teeth. “I’m not a broken toy.”

“Obviously, obviously. I expressed it badly.” The girl’s hands were gesturing calmingly, but Tzuyu didn’t feel any calming effect. “I just want to help you get rid of the addiction. You’re young. There’s still time.”

“I’m. Not. Addicted.” Tzuyu was fuming. Why was it making her so furious? Why was this girl irking her so much? “I’m not! I’m just a fucking monster! No one can help me!”  

The screams were leaving her mouth involuntarily. The girl didn’t do anything wrong, obviously, but Tzuyu didn’t see it like that at that moment. The girl was her enemy, someone trying to take the only joy and relief in Tzuyu’s life away from her.

“I don’t need your damn help!” Tzuyu’s teeth bared, and she almost growled, backing away when the girl stepped closer. She didn’t want to use physical force, but if didn’t have a choice…

“You’re not a monster…” 

“I am!” She cried out, her hands shaking uncontrollably. Or maybe it was her whole body that was shaking. 

Damn, she really needed a drink. A drink would calm her down. A drink would help. 

And that stupid ick under her skin! Why couldn’t it finally stop?! Why was it so stubborn to make Tzuyu’s life a living hell? It was only growing, never stopping, and making her weak. 

Just one drink would help…

God. Did she really have a problem? 

“Sally… Please, sit. You’re going to fall down, if you don’t sit right now.” The girl still spoke with a calm voice, although it was trembling a bit. “Come on, here…”

She helped Tzuyu slowly lower herself on the floor. Tears were now streaming down Tzuyu’s face in full force, sending shivers down her whole body. She hadn’t had any alcohol in her mouth for almost two days now. It was starting to get unbearable.

“Shhhh, relax.” There were arms circling her trembling frame, strong and muscular. One hand landed on Tzuyu’s back, stroking it in a regular manner. “Shhh, don’t cry. I know it’s hard.”

“I’m… not… addicted. I’m not. I’m not.” Tzuyu wailed in the girl’s tight hug, clutching to her as if her life depended on it. 

And it probably did. If someone didn’t intervene in her life on time, what would be left of her? Where would she end? 

What would Jihyo think about Tzuyu being who she was now? Would the wolves even want to look at someone like Tzuyu? She was disgusting, she was a monster.

A freaking monster!

“Shhh… It’s gonna be alright. I’m here for you.” 

Tzuyu couldn’t take it anymore. Her heart was beating so fast, she was on the verge of passing out.  

“Please, help me. I’m so lonely.” 

(...)

The plan Bunny (as the girl asked to be called) came up with was harsh for Tzuyu. Especially at the beginning. 

Not to exaggerate, the first days were like hell on earth. Tzuyu sweated a lot, craving just a sip of something that would help soothe that agonizing pain. She had trouble sleeping, and despite being literally locked inside Bunny’s apartment, she tried to escape through both the door and the window many times. Unsuccessfully, fortunately.

She was too weak to get up and do anything, but lying down brought her even more suffering. Sometimes up to the point that she maundered like in a fever, only hours later thanking God that she didn’t reveal any names at those weakest times. She still didn’t fully trust Bunny, even after the girl offered Tzuyu literally everything she had.

Then, after a week, or two, it finally got better. Tzuyu could eat normally, and started to gain some healthy weight. Only then could she notice how horribly she had looked before. But it was all heading towards good. 

Bunny was an annoying, but nice companion during the long days that Tzuyu stayed in her apartment. Since she had vacation from school, she only had the work to take care of, and the rest of her time was free to get into Tzuyu’s business. But they were really bonding. If Tzuyu could call anyone, besides Jihyo and the wolves, a real friend, it would be Bunny. No one could take it from the girl - she was charming, funny, energetic, and always had some good words to say in order to encourage Tzuyu to try harder. 

Obviously, it wasn’t only great between the two of them. They fought a lot, they screamed at each other like a pair of mad dogs, and one time, they even raised their hands at each other. Tzuyu wasn’t proud of that moment, but luckily, she was still too weak to hurt Bunny in any way. 

After that night, Bunny called Tzuyu her little sis. And Tzuyu cried over it a lot. However, those were good tears, so she didn’t mind. Crying was like a catharsis. 

Generally, Tzuyu’s life was starting to get on the right track again, and even though she couldn’t consider going back to Moon Grove yet, not until she learned how to control her urges during the full moon, she was growing more and more hopeful. Maybe, maybe someday.    

It was Jihyo’s face turning up in her sleep that was helping her stay strong in her withdrawal from alcohol. It was the older girl's eyes full of love that were helping Tzuyu get by day by day. 

But then the crisis came. It was inevitable. It happened to everyone who was trying to achieve something. There were ups and downs on every path. Only that it just so happened, that right that night, it was supposed to be a full moon. Tzuyu was by then fully allowed to leave the apartment, and roam around the city. She was mostly free of any alcohol in her system at that moment, and she didn’t even feel the need to drink that much anymore. 

She was also supposed to be alone that night, because Bunny said that she had to take care of something important, and she wasn’t going to be back until morning. Tzuyu wasn’t very happy with that outcome, especially when she started feeling the first signs of the incoming sunset. Her instincts were screaming at her to find her pack, and experience that one special night of the month with them. If Bunny was there, she could at least lock Tzuyu inside, and prevent her from hurting anyone. But she wasn’t. 

Tzuyu decided to stay inside anyway. Locked the door, shut the window and hid the key in a place she was sure she wouldn’t be able to reach in her wolf form. Then it was all supposed to be fate’s doing. 

Luckily for her, the door to Bunny’s apartment was made of good materials that weren’t easy to destroy. She could scratch it as much as she wanted, howling and wailing to be let outside, to the wilderness, where her place was as a wolf, and the hardwood protecting the outside world from her didn’t move even an inch from the hinges. 

Which… couldn’t mean anything good for Tzuyu’s skin. By midnight, the bottoms of her paws were completely rubbed off, and blood started flowing from the wounds. Luckily, by that time Tzuyu was already able to control herself enough to try to lay still on the floor. The rest of the night was even a worse kind of hell, with different kinds of pain fighting inside her to take over her actions. 

The next morning, she was in a horrible state of mind. When Bunny came home, all cheery and smiley, Tzuyu sat by the coffee table, staring at the opened bottle of vodka, her mind clouded with different kinds of desires.

“Sally?” Bunny asked with hesitation. “D- Did you drink it?”

Tzuyu was silent for a few more seconds, before her eyes finally traveled from the vodka’s etiquette to Bunny’s face. The look in them was empty, as if she wasn’t seeing the person in front of her, but rather seeing through her. 

“Only one sip.” She muttered, lifting her hand to play with the bottle. 

Bunny had to see the blood on the floor, and the traces on the door. There was nowhere to hide anymore. Tzuyu couldn’t stay here. 

Once again, her own body betrayed her. Once again, the monster inside her was destroying her life. How could she even dream about going back to Moon Grove and staying near her loved ones, when she wasn’t even able to stop being this stupid monster?!

Before she could do anything else, Bunny moved forward and grabbed the bottle from Tzuyu’s hands. Then she went up to the sink, and poured all the contents inside the drain. Tzuyu observed the action, not registering it yet. Then the anger hit her in full force. 

She wasn’t angry at Bunny though. Nor at the bottle of alcohol she wasn’t able to stay away from. She was angry at herself. It was her that was supposed to be punished. 

And Tzuyu was finally going to do it. 

(...)

“Sally! Sally, stop!” The voice was coming from far away. Tzuyu wasn’t hearing it anymore. She was focused on the movement of cars down below, right under the bridge.

A truck, then a sedan, an SUV. Then the next truck, this one bigger. 

The truck would be the best. It would be fast, clean. There wouldn’t be a way to save her anymore. 

Involuntarily, a tear escaped her eye. Was Jihyo going to miss her? Was she going to be hurt by the news that Tzuyu was gone? 

‘Don’t be stupid. She won’t even know. She probably already forgot.’

Tzuyu shook her head to clear it from any thoughts. Then she let go of the grip she had on the railing. 

.

.

.

“Gotcha! Fuck!” Bunny gasped out right next to Tzuyu’s ear, holding tightly both her hand, and the back of her T-shirt. “Come on, get back here! Right now!” Anger flooded from her mouth. Tzuyu could understand, she was angry too. 

Bunny pulled her limp body towards herself, almost forcing her to go over the railing. Then, when Tzuyu finally stood next to Bunny, her feet firmly on the asphalt, the older girl threw herself on Tzuyu’s neck, clutching to her firmly. 

“Why would you do that, dummy!?” A sob broke out of her throat, muffled by Tzuyu’s shirt. “Why would you do that to me, huh?” 

She was crying. Bunny was crying. Wailing even. Why?

Tzuyu didn’t deserve her tears. She screwed up, she drank the alcohol once again. And she failed to control herself during the full moon. How could she deserve Bunny’s tears after all of this?

“Sally, what’s going on?” Bunny was now looking at her with so much worry in her eyes. “It was good, we were doing good. What happened?” There was urgency in her voice, her eyes almost desperate despite the way she tried to appear calmer than it was possible.

Tzuyu tried to brush her arms off her body. Unsuccessfully. Bunny wasn’t going to let her go now, especially since they were still standing on the bridge, so close to its edge. Only that Tzuyu didn’t feel like she could allow herself to have that physical contact. It was nice - the touch of someone hugging her reminded her of Jihyo, and their long cuddling sessions at night. 

Oh, how nice it would be to have it back. 

But Tzuyu was still someone who didn’t deserve cuddling. Not from Jihyo, and not from Bunny, who was so patient with her, and who dealt with her for so much time without a single break. Yet, she had it. Why? 

She stared at the horizon, visible from the high place they were on. She didn’t know the answer to Bunny’s question, so she didn’t say anything. 

“Sally, please. Talk to me. I’m worried about you, okay? Whatever happened in the morning… It doesn’t matter now. You’re going to try once again, and this time it’ll be easier. You stayed sober for so long, and I admire you for that. That was a really good job. And about… Whatever happened last night… Sally, I understand it too. It’s not your fault. That’s just who we are.”

Wait… We? Now Bunny had Tzuyu’s attention. 

“We?” The word broke out of her mouth without her consent. Bunny only waited for any reaction. 

“Yes. We. I- I’m someone similar to you. That’s why I left last night. Because I have to deal with such a problem too. It’s completely normal. I’m not mad because of the blood on the floor, or because of the scratched door… I’m just surprised you stayed home.”

“It’s not normal. I want to kill people. I’m a monster.” Tzuyu mumbled with desperation. 

The way Bunny’s head immediately shook was almost theatrical. 

“No! No. You’re not a monster, do you hear me? You’re my sister. I love you, Sally.” 

“Tzuyu. My real name is Tzuyu.” Tzuyu said. She was done with this whole hiding and stuff. 

Bunny smiled widely, showing her two front teeth, and reminding Tzuyu once again why the girl asked to be called like this. 

“Good. It suits you more. So I love you, Tzuyu .” The older girl said, grabbing Tzuyu’s arms and shaking her violently, as if trying to scare off any bad ideas from her head. “Do you hear me?”

Tzuyu had a hard time believing her. Who would love someone like her? 

Well, except Bunny said she was just like her…

“If you’re just like me, why didn’t you stay with me last night? Why didn’t you say anything from the beginning?” 

“Well, for the second one… I don’t have any excuse.” The older girl’s face scrunched with guilt. “I guess I was just curious how you would behave. Besides, we were kind of busy with other stuff. And for the first one - I couldn’t stay. I’m not part of your pack. Our instincts would tell us to fight each other. I didn’t want to hurt you accidentally, since you’re weaker now. And younger a lot.”

That made sense. Tzuyu had never met a wolf from another pack before, but she could guess that if she had, it would be a competition between them. Like between real predators. Which totally didn’t suit Bunny’s whole demeanor. The girl was sweet, soft and loving. Not a killing monster, like Tzuyu. It was even hard to imagine her changing into a wolf, and losing control. 

“H- How did you know?” The questions were now flowing out of Tzuyu’s mouth smoothly, once she let herself relax a bit in Bunny’s arms. “I had no idea.”

“I felt it. Your smell told me everything.” Bunny’s nose got closer to Tzuyu’s neck. “Even the fact that you already have a pack. I can’t adopt you into mine.” She finished with clear sadness.

Wow. That was all… really overwhelming. Tzuyu had no idea that Bunny was a wolf too, despite having her own wolf nose sensitive to smells. Honestly, it didn’t even cross her mind that someday, she could meet on her way another one of her kind. How could she not recognize Bunny’s smell though? Was it because her senses were weaker, or dulled with alcohol?

“Sal– Tzuyu, please, don’t harm yourself.” Bunny pleaded, holding Tzuyu’s hand and pulling her far away from the bridge. They reached the other side of it, and then sat on one of the benches standing on the small broadwalk on the riverside. The view was amazing there, but the sun warmed up their cheeks a bit too much. Tzuyu preferred the cold, foggy climate of Moon Grove to this annoying city heat. 

“Could you tell me, why– Why did you want to hurt yourself?” Bunny tried once again. Their hands were still attached, and Tzuyu felt like the grip got a bit tighter when the word ‘hurt’ left Bunny’s lips. The girl’s scent stinked with worry. Tzuyu thought it was quite fitting how terribly bad emotions smelled. 

“I’m not sure.” Tzuyu admitted. “I just felt like I had enough. I don’t fit into this world. It would be better, if I wasn’t here.”

“What kind of bullshit is it?” Bunny scoffed. “You fit into my world. I told you, if you didn’t already have a pack, I would take you into mine. You’re as worthy of love as anyone else.”

Tzuyu’s head was hanging low. She had a hard time believing it, but if Bunny insisted so much… Maybe she could try changing her thinking. 

“Okay, I guess.” She shrugged. Whatever.

Bunny had to be at least content with this answer, because she leaned back on the bench, pulling Tzuyu back too. Then she put her head on Tzuyu’s shoulder. 

“Tell me now… How is it to be so far away from your pack?” She asked, her voice a bit timid, and definitely not as loud as always. “Is it hard?”

Tzuyu snorted. Hard was a huge understatement. 

“Terribly. It hurts all day and all night. It never stops nagging me to go back.” 

“Why don’t you then?” It sounded so simple in Bunny’s lips. ‘Just go there and be with them.’   Easy to say, harder to do. 

“I can’t. I did something terrible to a friend.” Tzuyu felt relieved finally saying this story out loud to someone. It was as if she was washing it off her body, or writing it down on a piece of paper just to set it on fire later. “To someone who offered me home when my parents kicked me out. She wasn’t– She isn’t part of the pack. She’s just a human, but she knows about us.”

“Did you hurt her?” Bunny’s eyes were now focused on her, Tzuyu could feel it despite looking the other way. 

“I scared her a lot. It was during my first full moon, I didn’t know what was about to happen yet. And only because she ran away, I didn’t kill her. I…” Tzuyu stopped suddenly, not knowing how to say what she wanted to express. It was always hard for her to talk about her inner feelings. And those here were her deepest thoughts, straight out of her heart. “You can’t even imagine how horribly it felt after. I couldn’t stay there and see her scared face. I couldn’t risk doing it again. So I left.”

“How long ago was it?”

“It’s been two months now.” Tzuyu didn’t have to count. Yesterday was the second half moon she had to go through since leaving home.

Bunny was silent for a while. Then she sighed.

“Tzuyu… What you’re going through… It’s normal. Every single one of us has to deal with it. It gets a lot easier with time, as we grow up and gain experience, but we never stop to lose control during full moons. That’s why most of us leave our homes that one night, and spend it only with our pack. And we tell the people we love to stay inside, where we can’t hurt them. I know it’s a hardship, but it’s not something that should completely prevent you from living your life to its fullest. Your friend already knows about your true nature, so she probably understands it. I really think that if you tried and went to see her, she would forgive you.”

“No. No, I can’t” Tzuyu shook her head. Bunny didn’t let her say anything more, her voice getting louder and more passionate with every next word.

“Tzuyu, I can tell that you miss her so much. That you’re hurt when you’re away from your pack. But your pain… It's useless. Your sacrifice is useless too, because it would be so easy to fix everything. I promise. Just try. Why would you make yourself suffer so much? It’s stupid.”

“It’s not.” Tzuyu said just for the sake of stucking to her opinion. It wasn’t stupid. She was protecting Jihyo from danger.

Bunny seemed to read her mind.

“If you say that you’re protecting her from herself, remember that your pack still lives there. Right? There’s been two full moons since that time, and she was there, and they were there too. Do you still think it’s reasonable?”

Tzuyu only grumbled something under her breath, not wanting to admit that Bunny was right. The part with Sana, Chan, Mina, Momo, Jeongyeon and Minho still being in Moon Grove, while Tzuyu was away, not able to protect Jihyo if the girl decided to leave her house during an unfortunate time… Well, that stirred an uncomfortable feeling inside Tzuyu’s stomach. 

Bunny understood that for sure, because she patted Tzuyu’s arm reassuringly.

“Don’t worry too much, I’m sure she’s alright. But you should really consider going back. It’s not that I want to get rid of you, quite the opposite. You’re free to stay as long as you want, I’ll be honored. And if you decide to go back to your pack, feel free to visit anytime. Just… Don’t punish yourself for things that are not your fault. You’re not a monster that you paint yourself as.” 

The smell coming from Bunny - one filled with love and affection - told Tzuyu exactly how much the girl meant those words. It made her feel stronger suddenly. Braver. 

Yeah, she could go back and face her demons. She could do that. 

“Okay.” She sighed. “But first… Let me fully recover from… everything. I don’t want her to see me like that.”

“Sure. I’ll help you as much as I can. I promise.”

They both understood the weight of those words. That promise meant a lot, because Bunny was definitely going to keep it. 

Things weren’t good yet, and the older girl was probably going to observe Tzuyu intently from then on, in search of any potential signs of destructive behavior. But what was important was that the good will to change was there. Tzuyu needed time and patience, and a lot of work on her way of thinking. But she was going to try. With Bunny’s help, there was a huge chance she could get better. 

They went home together, side by side, enjoying the calm moment in the middle of the hustle and bustle of everyday life. When they finally arrived at their apartment and Bunny dropped tiredly on the couch, reaching for the controller to turn on the TV and watch some drama, Tzuyu suddenly got reminded about something. 

“What’s your real name?” She fired out without thinking, the thought too nagging to ignore it. Then she quickly added, remembering that she was supposed to be more tactful and considerate of other people’s privacy: “If you want to reveal it, obviously. If not, I’ll understand. But I told you mine, so…”

Logically, Bunny was not the girl’s real name. What was it then?

Bunny seemed to be a bit surprised with the question, and at first, she glanced at Tzuyu, as if she was caught red-handed on something illegal. Her gaze was a bit apprehensive and even… scared? But then she sighed, and patted the space beside herself on the couch.

“Sit down, Tzuyu. I’m gonna tell you a story…” 

(...)

Tzuyu lived with Bunny for almost a year after the day when she decided to go back to Moon Grove. She couldn’t lie, she kept delaying the moment of leaving the safe space she created in the tiny basement apartment with her older friend. It was mostly because of her own fears and insecurities, but also because she simply didn’t want to leave Bunny alone. Now knowing her story, Tzuyu wanted to stay and keep Bunny company all the more. 

She also stuck to calling the girl this funny nickname. Since Bunny said that she liked the way it sounded in Tzuyu’s mouth, who was Tzuyu to deny her anything. After all, Bunny quite literally saved her life. Tzuyu was never going to pay off that debt.

With time, she allowed herself to go outside, and meet people more and more often. Bunny even got her (quite illegally, since Tzuyu was still a minor) a part-time job in the convenience store, which played a crucial role in growing back Tzuyu’s self-confidence and independence. Soon the girl was back to her old, cheerful self.

Well, cheerful in Tzuyu’s standards, obviously. 

At one point, near her fifteenth birthday, Tzuyu felt almost too comfortable in the city. That’s when she knew that it was time to leave. If she didn’t at that moment, she could have stayed forever. Still, it was so hard to part ways with Bunny. The older girl was like a sister to her, she was someone that taught Tzuyu how to love - other people, but mostly herself. She showed her that even in the most negative aspects of her life, she could see some light, that if she wasn’t who she was, she wouldn’t be able to meet all the amazing people she grew so fond of. 

They said goodbye to each other on one of June’s hot nights shortly after the full moon, standing under the starry sky on the riverside. And Bunny promised Tzuyu one more thing - it wasn’t a goodbye forever. They were going to meet again. 

Chapter Text

When Jihyo was eighteen years old, the world wasn't so big anymore. She'd been to bigger and busier cities than Moon Grove, and the forest... Well, let's say she had walked through it in all the possible directions so many times that she didn't need to worry about getting lost anymore. Especially that the local wolf pack was actually her friends, ready to guard her or lead her back home if necessary.

The path she knew the best was the one that could take her from her own house to an old, wooden villa standing in the middle of the forest, hidden from the eyes of not experienced travelers. She walked that path every day after school, still in her uniform, carrying her heavy backpack, and armed with a single ray of hope deep in her heart that this particular day would be different from the hundreds of previous ones. 

That this particular day, while opening the door to the aforementioned old house, she would see the beautiful face of her best friend.   

So far, she was only left with that hope. But who knew… Jihyo was not going to lose it. She was not going to give up. Not that day, not the next one, not in a week. Never.

The old villa in the forest, owned by the local pack of wolves, had seen a lot of sadness and tears in the past two years. So even if Jihyo didn’t feel particularly good on some days, she liked to pretend that everything was alright. For the sake of her friends, and herself too. 

Today was one of those days.

“Hi, there! Anybody home?” She called out cheerfully right after opening the door, not bothering with knocking. She was almost like another member of the family at this point, there was no need to do any kind of big event out of her visit. 

One of the advantages of the wolves’ house was that there was always someone there to greet her from the living room. Today… Today for some reason, everyone was there. Jihyo’s eyes quickly scanned the room, counting the people and wolves gathered in the common space. Seven, eight, nine, ten… Yeah, they were all there. 

And they were all now looking at her. 

A nervous giggle broke out of Jihyo’s throat, and she waved her hand shyly. Sana was the first to break the awkward silence, moving a bit on the couch and patting the space she just made for Jihyo.
“Hi, JiJi! Come on, sit with us.” She invited her friend. 

Jihyo wanted to frown at the nickname, but now apparently everyone was waiting for her to sit next to Sana, so she decided to tend to this issue first. The expectations could be felt in the air, so she quickly tiptoed to the couch, probably looking like someone who was walking through a part of the floor that had just been washed by their mom. She flopped down on the seat and immediately felt a pair of long arms circling her waist. Sana nosed at her neck, then sneezed loudly.

“Bad day?” The wolf girl asked. “You smell like a lot of stress.” 

“Nevermind. I’ll tell you later.” Jihyo waved her off, feeling the eyes of all the other wolves on herself. She raised her voice so that everyone would hear her. “Don’t bother yourself with me.”

Chan, standing on the other side of the room, immediately straightened his posture. 

“Right… Where was I…? Oh, yeah. So, I think considering the costs of all the things we have to buy for school the next year for everyone, and…”

Jihyo drowned his words, feeling that the comfort of Sana’s arms were slowly taking the nerves out of her body. It was honestly so funny how close they were now. Once someone who Jihyo couldn’t trust even if she tried, someone who she was simply nervous to be around, Sana quickly fought her way to the position of Jihyo’s best friend, when a common case connected them two years ago. 

“What are they talking about?” Jihyo whispered right into Sana’s ear, not wanting to disrupt Chan’s monologue. Sana quickly leaned into Jihyo’s ear to answer. All the hair on Jihyo’s neck stood up when the hot air hit the sensitive skin on her neck.

“We’re considering installing a central heating in the house. We’re finally financially stable enough to try to do it.” The look in Sana’s eyes was partially worried, partially relieved. 

Jihyo knew that the wolves didn’t really do well when it came to money. Having a lot of kids, without stable incomes, under one roof could mean only trouble. They were barely able to afford food with what some of their parents were giving them as pocket money. And renovating the house swallowed a big part of what Chan had saved before. 

“But… You guys don’t need that, right? You’re fine as it is.” Jihyo noticed. Sana shrugged. 

“Chan thinks it would be good to have it anyway. You know, he likes to act as our dear father…” She giggled, mocking her friend.  

As if sensing what Sana said, the boy spoke loudly to Minho, who apparently was against the whole idea.

“But what if you bring here someone who’s not immune to cold? Like Jihyo.” He pointed at the girl, and once again, all the eyes traveled to her. “Tell them Jihyo. It was hard to sit here last winter, right?” 

Jihyo felt the blood from her whole body rushing to her face. 

“I– I don’t know. I guess…”

She didn’t want to take any side. It was better when the wolves didn’t fight between each other. And of course, it was hard to stay in the cold house, but there was always a fireplace, which not only gave her warmth, but also looked great and created a cozy atmosphere. 

From the way Sana’s nose scrunched, Jihyo could tell that the girl tried to smell the emotions of her friends and then bring in some help. She wasn’t fast enough. Momo was already on her way to mock her best friend as per usual, and also put her - probably unwanted - input. 

“I think I know a different way to keep Jihyo warm on long winter nights…” She sent a suggestive wink at the younger girl, then slowly lifted her shirt, making a step towards the couch. Jihyo’s heart with terror. 

“No, your idea is terrible!” Sana tried to protest, but it was too late. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as Jihyo imagined (not that she imagined anything explicit, just… nevermind). Momo didn’t plan a striptiz in front of her whole family. She just changed into a wolf, jumped onto the couch and glued herself to Jihyo’s side. 

Sana tried to fight her friend off, but she was still a bit weaker than Momo, whose hobby included sport and sport only. A small commotion arose on the couch, with Jihyo seriously considering to bail both the girls and run away from the house completely.

“Both of you, stop!” Chan’s voice put everyone into an alert mode. Momo and Sana instantly froze, then deflated. Jihyo could see that there was triumph in Momo’s eyes when she once again leaned on her, cozying herself to Jihyo’s side, but no one could comment on that anymore. The discussion between the wolves moved on to different aspects, and only Sana’s quiet growl signaled that she wasn’t about to forget this insult.

Jihyo felt a bit suffocated under both the red wolf, and the girl by her side, but she couldn’t complain. It was indeed warm, and in Moon Grove, where it didn’t get really hot even in the summer, one could never say they were too warm. Sighing, she relaxed her body, reaching with her hand to scratch between the red wolf’s ears. Momo instantly put her head lower to make it more comfortable for both of them. 

The weight of the wolf, and the way its fur was covering her body reminded Jihyo of a huge, alive blanket, and she felt like she could fall asleep right here, with all of the voices of her friends bringing her peace. The worries were still there, in the back of her mind, but in this place, they were somehow more manageable. 

When did it happen that the wolves grew so much that while sitting on the couch, Momo was now bigger than Jihyo? She could still remember them being small puppies, looking like any average dog out there. And now… Now they looked like a real pack. And Chan definitely looked like an alpha who could lead a family. With the way the man discussed everything with the rest of them, the way he took care of the four younger wolves that joined their pack recently, despite that they still had their own families. 

Honestly, Jihyo was proud to be their friend now.

Soon, the wolves decided to end the conversation with the voting. Jihyo didn’t feel like she could put her input too, but then Chan glanced at her questioningly. 

“Jihyo?” He asked. “What’s your final decision?”

The girl felt a bit overwhelmed. Did it mean that they considered her a family too?

“I– I think it’s not necessary, if you guys don’t need it. There are more urgent things to buy, like books for school.”

“Why did I even hope that you would prioritize anything other than school for once, nerd? Nevermind.” The man rolled his eyes. “It seems that we won’t do it then. Thank you for your time and participation, everyone.”

The wolves started to disperse all around the house, and Jihyo felt immediately that Sana’s foot was already traveling towards Momo’s side, using the opportunity when Chan couldn’t see it.

“Get off, loser!” The girl whisper-shouted. “Find your own cuddle buddy. You should’ve taken on my offer, but you didn’t want to, so now go to your Jeongie.” 

Jihyo's ears seemed to open wider. Did she smell some kind of gossip? As far as she could remember, she often noticed Momo and Jeongyeon together in the forest, while Sana usually preferred Mina’s company. The teams seemed to create quite naturally a while ago. Was there something behind it?  

“Take her if you want to. I don’t.” Jeongyeon grumbled to Sana from the kitchen, where she was currently preparing dinner. 

“Well, Mina and I don’t need anyone else.” Sana crossed her arms. “Right, Minari?” 

Everyone interested turned to the girl now, but Mina didn’t react. Jihyo noticed it earlier already, that the girl seemed to be too deep in her thoughts that day, even in her own standards. Could the reason for this be similar to Jihyo’s?

Seeing that Mina wasn’t exactly into their banter, the girls quickly gave up and moved onto the next topic. Jihyo didn’t pay them any mind anymore. In the corner of her eye, she could see that Chan was giving her some kind of signals, pointing at his phone, so she quickly dived under Momo’s body to fish her own device from her pocket. 

It was a bit ridiculous that the boy texted her while being in the same room as her, but Jihyo could understand why he didn’t want to get close to Sana, Jeongyeon and Momo. While they were too invested into their fights, they were scary even for a fellow wolf. 

Channie : Could you please help the kids with math today?

Channie : They all brought straight Fs from the last test

4.31pm 

Jihyo only smiled and showed him a thumbs up. Everything for her favorite little puppies. The boy smiled and mouthed a silent ‘thank you’, then he left them alone in the living room.

Sana and Momo finally seemed to chill down a bit, and the room suddenly got quiet. Jihyo sighed tiredly. Now that nothing else was averting her attention, all the worries were suddenly getting back to her. 

Sana gently stroked her cheek.

“What happened, baby? You were supposed to tell me later. I believe now is later.”

The girl’s face was closer to Jihyo than before and despite the seriousness of the situation, and despite everything occupying her mind, the girl couldn’t help but be reminded of a certain situation that happened in the past. Her mind involuntarily traveled down that memory lane. 

The light of the moon was too weak that night to see the path clearly. Jihyo didn’t need to though. She knew this one by heart. She had ventured here with Tzuyu thousands of times. 

It was quiet in the whole forest. Even cicadas, usually singing on this particular clearing in the summer, decided to go on vacation that night. It was such a shame. Jihyo wanted to listen to their voices, immerse herself better in the good memories. 

A lonely wolf sat there. For a second, Jihyo’s heart picked up her pace. Was it her? Did she come back? 

But then the light from the moon lit up the wolf’s fur from a different angle, and Jihyo deflated. Dark red. The fur was dark red, not black. It was Sana who sat there, staring at the sky. 

Jihyo made sure to walk louder, so as to not surprise the wolf. Sana had better ears than any human being, and could have probably felt Jihyo’s smell from far away, but from the posture of the wolf, Jihyo could deduce that Sana was deep into her thoughts. 

Indeed, the wolf’s head turned to Jihyo only when the girl was almost by Sana’s side.

“Hey, there, buddy!” Jihyo greeted, plopping down on a huge flat rock lying close to Sana. “Whatcha up to alone here?”

The wolf huffed with its nose. Apparently, Jihyo butted into some serious kind of meditation. Then it seemed to roll its eyes, and before Jihyo could look away, a very naked Sana was sitting by her side.

Jihyo rolled her eyes too. Why did it still make her cheeks so red?

Now that Sana was back to her human form, Jihyo expected her to say anything. Yet, Sana was silent, and Jihyo mistook it for calmness. She couldn’t be more wrong. When Sana’s face turned to her next time, the girl’s eyes were fuming with anger. And also with something else.

The tension was now suddenly too high to take. Jihyo’s breath was shallow while she looked back straight into Sana’s eyes. The blood was rushing in her veins. The air around them seemed to be like a tar, not allowing even for a slight move.

Then, all at once, Sana leaned closer. Their lips were now only millimeters apart. Sana’s breath was already on Jihyo’s mouth and it was closer, and closer, and…

“Sana, no! Stop!” Jihyo used her full force to push the girl away. 

She- She didn’t want it. Right, she definitely didn’t. For a moment, there was something there, like a lust, but… Then it all went away. Jihyo felt like the cold air sobered her up suddenly, and she wasn’t in that hot bubble anymore. 

She came here to grieve Tzuyu’s absence, not kiss with her friend, for fuck’s sake! Get a grip on yourself, Jihyo!

She didn’t even like Sana this way. It never even crossed her mind to look at the girl differently than like a friend. Besides… Why did it feel as if she was betraying Tzuyu? Pure dread filled Jihyo’s heart just at the thought that so little separated her from losing her mind and actually leaning into the kiss.

Sana seemed to suddenly realize what had almost happened too, because her eyes were almost manically wide. 

“I’m- I’m sorry, Jihyo. I don’t know what came on me.” She was holding her cheeks, the redness visible even despite the darkness. “I’m so sorry.”

She backed away a few steps, the horror on her face making Jihyo feel bad suddenly. 

“It’s okay, it’s alright.” She tried to calm the poor girl down. “It was just a mistake, but I can understand that you read the situation wrong–”

“No, Jihyo, you don’t understand.” Sana’s voice was filled with dread too. “I felt so much anger at her that… That I wanted to do it out of spite. To hurt her. To take you from her as a revenge for leaving us like that.”

Jihyo indeed didn’t understand. Take her away from who?

“What– What do you mean?”

Sana was on the verge of tears. She didn’t listen anymore. 

“I’m so sorry, Jihyo. So sorry. You don’t deserve it.”

And that was all of Sana that Jihyo saw that night. The wolf girl left her on the clearing just like that, with her head full of thoughts and troubles. 

And the cicadas still didn’t sing anything for her.

Now that Jihyo was recalling that night, the memory wasn’t filled with so much pain anymore. It was a part of their way, nothing more. It took them a few weeks to go back on the right path of their friendship, but they came out stronger from this one. 

And fortunately, they didn’t try anything more. Even when Jihyo sometimes saw in Sana’s eyes, that if she wanted to, there could be some spark of emotions between them, she was always on time to clearly state her boundaries. Luckily, that thing passed quickly. And they were good again. 

Jihyo was sooo glad, because there was no other friend like Sana out there. The girl was absolutely awesome when it came to giving people affection and support, listening to their problems and, most importantly, protecting her loved ones from anyone that could want to hurt them. 

Like now. Sana was still waiting patiently for Jihyo to answer her question. Jihyo felt her head falling onto the back of the couch.

“You know what date is today?” She asked, responding with a question on Sana’s question. The girl’s brows frowned and all the tribes in her head were working overtime to figure it out. Then something lit up in her eyes.

“June 14th… Tzuyu’s birthday.” She said gloomy, looking down. All the wolves that were left in the room seemed to suddenly deflate too. “Jihyo, I- I’m sorry.”

“For what? It’s not your fault.” Jihyo waved her off. “Actually, we should probably be happy. Our baby Tzu is turning sixteen today, right?”

There was a sound of woe escaping Momo’s throat and the wolf put her head on Jihyo’s lap, making puppy eyes. Even Sana quit fighting with her for a moment and ran her hand between her best friend’s ears. 

Mina suddenly stood from her seat and walked up to the couch too, silently requesting Sana to scoot over and make some space for her. Sana moved her free hand to bring the girl closer to her side. Seemed like Jihyo was right after all - they were both thinking about the same exact thing. 

“I’m sure she’s gonna come back finally.” Sana was the only one between them to try and cheer everyone up. “The first moon is a hard time for us, she needs time to learn how to deal with it.”

“It’s been two years…” Jihyo grumbled. As she mentioned, she didn’t lose that one ray of hope inside her heart that Tzuyu would finally come home. But on some occasions, it was harder than ever to stay positive. 

It was good that they at least had Sana by their side. 

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to celebrate today.” The girl suddenly pushed everyone off her, stood up and walked to the kitchen. Not more than a few seconds later she was back with a bottle of cheap whiskey in her hand. “Screw sadness, we’re drinking to Tzuyu's health tonight.”

Jihyo sighed, already sensing the incoming headache the next day. She had an English test to take, and she was pretty sure Tzuyu wouldn’t appreciate them getting dead drunk in her name.

But maybe she was wrong? Maybe Tzuyu didn’t care about them anymore…

(...)

That one warm and short night, barely a month later, Jihyo was sitting on her favorite clearing in the forest, listening to the sound of cicadas singing in the grass and reading the last novel she needed to catch up with for the upcoming school year, when a strangely familiar sound of howling reached her ears. 

The wolves sleeping on the grass by her side immediately jumped on their feet, alarmed and ready to protect her from any danger. Both Sana’s and Mina’s ears were perked up, their fur standing on their backs. Instinctively, Jihyo switched off the flashlight she was using to see the pages of the book, knowing well that in the forest, it was better to not attract anyone’s attention. 

Her heart picked up its pace as she observed her surroundings, trying to feel where the sound could be coming from, and what could she expect next. Her two fluffy friends apparently waited for something too, but they didn’t seem to experience the forest in the same way as Jihyo did, because suddenly, without any reason, they both ran away towards the north. A shiver immediately ran down Jihyo’s spine, when she realized that she was now pretty much alone and vulnerable, because Sana and Mina left her for death. Awsome…

What should she do? Were they going to come back for her? Were they just checking what happened, or were they rather gone for good?

Jihyo tried to stay calm, she really tried. Only that being alone in the wilderness was never her favorite activity to do in her free time. With the wolves, it was fine. Without them… Not so much.

“Sana…?” Jihyo risked calling out to her friend. Not too loud, mostly because her throat was now really parched from all the tension. Even the cicadas stopped singing suddenly, allowing her to hear her voice echo all around the place. “M- Mina?”

Nothing. They were gone for good. 

Jihyo really needed to go back home. Right now. Thank God home was exactly in the opposite direction to where the wolves disappeared. 

(...)

Luckily, Jihyo managed to get back to her house safely. Easy to say though, that her night wasn’t really the calmest possible. She barely managed to close her eyes, worried sick about Sana and Mina. She knew the wolves were basically the owners of wilderness, the ultimate predators who knew every branch and every rock in the area. 

Yet, the lack of contact with anyone, including Chan, Jeongyeon, or Momo, was really suspicious. 

In the morning, right after the first rays of sun knocked on the glass of her window, it turned out Jihyo wasn’t worried for nothing. A text was already waiting for her, and Jihyo scolded herself mentally for sleeping through the sound of the incoming message.

Sana : get here asap!!!! 

3.41am

Sana : ASAP!!! *emoji of sweating face* 

4.10 am

Damn, it was already almost quarter to five. Jihyo’s heart almost jumped out of her chest, and she jumped out of her bed just as fast. Something really bad had to happen, if Sana texted her at this hour, using capital letters. Sana never had time to turn on the capital letters.

With her heart beating like crazy, and with her hair sticking in all the possible directions, Jihyo ran through the forest at the ridiculous hour of five am, in her socks mismatched, with a huge stain on her sweatpants, and with her knitted argyle sweater totally not fitting the whole scheme. She reached the wolves’ house with sweat flooding her eyes, losing her lungs on the way and barely being able to stand straight on her legs. She opened the door abruptly, without knocking, because it was obviously some kind of emergency. Then she stumbled inside.

“What happened? Who is hurt–”

And then she was at a loss of words.  

The ground was taken from under her feet. She flew a few meters up into the air, and she was pretty sure that just at this moment, some angel choirs started singing ‘My heart will go on’ Celine Dion. 

Obviously, no one was hurt. What was even better - they were all here, gathered around a stunningly beautiful girl sitting on the couch, serving her face for everyone to admire. Sana, Mina and Jeongyeon were all around her, with Momo not falling far behind. The kids stood nearly as stunned as Jihyo, looking as if they saw a living legend who suddenly came out of the pages of a history book to personally tell them the story of her life. Chan and Minho were no better, sitting on the chairs and facing the girl, looking like they were ready to be her faithful knights and serve her forever. 

But the girl… The girl just sat there, looking so, so good, that Jihyo didn’t even want to think about her own mismatched and dirty clothes, and the sweat drying off her skin. She was obviously younger than Jihyo, but the way she was carrying herself could suggest that she was way more mature and experienced for her age than anyone else in the room. Her black hair was flawless, dark and shiny. Her clothes were perfectly fitting her muscular body, even though the styling suggested that she was coming rather from an adventure trip than a model runway. 

But what stood out the most about her were the eyes. Perfectly dark, hiding so many secrets, and… And…

Suddenly all the blood flooded away from Jihyo’s face and brain, leaving her dizzy. No. No, it couldn’t be. 

No.

The room got silent. All eyes rested on Jihyo. The door behind her shut with a loud bang. 

“Jihyo?” Tzuyu’s whole face lit up, and a huge, ear-to-ear smile appeared on it. She was grinning, and it looked so angelic.

Jihyo couldn’t move, even when Tzuyu untangled herself from under all the girls on the couch, and stood up, rising to her impressive one hundred and seventy three centimeters of height (or something, not that Jihyo had a measure in her eyes, she wasn’t that kind of nerd). Somehow, when she stood, her body seemed even more well-sculpted, and her clothes fitting her form even better. There was some kind of confident glow in her posture that Jihyo was sure she had never seen in her before. Her face lost all the childness, and her features got sharper. Those years earlier, Jihyo could at least look Tzuyu into the eyes without raising her head. Now it was impossible, and it intimidated her even more.

All of the above made her think only one thing - it wasn’t her Tzuyu anymore. It was some stranger that looked a bit like Tzuyu, but not exactly. It was someone more mature, sexier–

Damn, Jihyo shouldn’t think like that. Tzuyu was still a minor… And what’s more - her best friend!

And now her best friend Tzuyu, looking like a supermodel, was rushing to hug her. Jihyo froze. In a split second, her mind stopped time and did a general analysis of the situation: she had stained pants… she was all sweaty… she was way smaller now… she suddenly felt attracted to Tzuyu! What were her options? 

1. She could run away. She would have time to change her clothes and princess herself up for a specially scheduled meeting with Tzuyu later (What? Princess herself up? Why would she do that? It was only Tzuyu. Tzuyu had seen her throwing up when she was sick one time after the New Year’s Eve party. Tzuyu slept with her in one bed for a few years. Tzuyu was literally her little baby…) But then Tzuyu would definitely notice that something was wrong, and she would ask questions. Questions that Jihyo might have found hard to find answers for. 
2. She could fake fainting. It would be efficient, because she would avoid physical contact with supermodel Tzuyu, but on the other hand, everyone’s attention, including Tzuyu’s, would be one hundred percent on her. Also, she would worry her friends. They wouldn’t take it well, especially Sana and Tzuyu. 
3. She could pretend that an asteroid hit the Earth and they should definitely go outside and see it. That would be hard to implement, but if it succeeded, she would be free to act like they were going to die. But… Wouldn’t it mean that Tzuyu was going to hug her all the more? 
4. She could just accept the hug. 

Tzuyu had to notice her hesitation, because she suddenly stopped, just a few steps from Jihyo. There was something similar to doubt in her eyes too, but only for a short moment. Then she moved once again, this time reaching to engulf Jihyo in the biggest, warmest, most comfortable hug possible. One of her hands embraced Jihyo’s waist, bringing her closer to herself, and the other was placed on Jihyo’s head, in order to pull it into the crook of Tzuyu’s neck. The smell of forest, fire and some oriental spice reached Jihyo’s nose. It was different than those years earlier, but also still the same. 

Jihyo was probably going to faint anyway. 

Mission failed. Man down! I repeat. Man down!

The way Tzuyu’s hand was placed on her back was doing something to Jihyo. The blood was boiling in her veins, and if someone tried to look at her face right now, they would probably see a tomato there. She was on fire.

Unfortunately, the hug didn’t last as long as Jihyo wanted it to last, and she couldn’t even fully enjoy the fluffy feeling that started growing inside her heart while she was safely hidden inside Tzuyu’s arms, and the girl was already pulling away, glancing curiously at her face. 

Jihyo felt Tzuyu’s eyes scanning it. It caused a tingling feeling under her skin, and she shivered.

“Stop it.” She whined, playfully slapping Tzuyu’s arm. The younger girl only giggled.

“I just wanted to see you. Hi! It’s- It’s soo good to finally look at you, instead of just imagining your face..”

Jihyo felt herself melting on the spot, reaching for just one more, quick hug, which Tzuyu gladly provided (thankfully, because if Jihyo didn’t hold herself on something or someone, she would probably just fall on the floor). A grin finally appeared on Jihyo’s face, and she suddenly realized that just in a few minutes, her face probably showed more emotions and colors than ever before.

Something was seriously wrong with her. She felt attracted to her best friend. Why did it feel like she caught a crush on her best friend? That wasn’t right. Not now, and not ever.

“Okay, guys.” Chan clapped his hands, gaining everyone’s attention. “I think we’re all pretty exhausted after the intense morning we had. How about some breakfast?” 

“Wise words… Wise words…” Momo jumped on her feet to go to the kitchen. The wolves followed her and soon Tzuyu and Jihyo were left alone near the door. 

Tzuyu glanced questioningly at Jihyo. 

“Are you staying? Or do you still–?”

“No, I’m friends with them now.” Jihyo scratched her head awkwardly. So much changed during Tzuyu’s absence, that she didn’t even know where to start now. 

Tzuyu didn’t seem to have the same problem. She looked as if she never stopped living in this house. Now too, she put her hand on Jihyo’s lower back, guiding her to the kitchen, acting like a professional host.

Jihyo’s heart fluttered, seeing the intimate gesture. She feared she was unfortunately right earlier - she might’ve caught a bit of a crush. In a record time of five minutes and twenty - three seconds. Wow… That had to be some kind of achievement, right?

The breakfast went on pretty similarly. The wolves were chatting, asking questions to Tzuyu and laughing between themselves, while Jihyo was too busy being inside her head to pay attention to the conversation. She only had enough willpower to avoid staring at Tzuyu directly the whole time. However, she couldn’t stop herself from stealing glances when no one else could notice it, still failing to believe that it was really her Tzuyu sitting by her side. It was so surreal that she honestly thought she was dreaming. 

Halfway through the meal, Jihyo was so overwhelmed that she felt herself getting a bit dizzy. It didn’t help that she wasn’t able to swallow even a bite of any food, and had to sit there with her stomach completely empty. She seriously considered getting help from her usual emotional support buddy, sending some kind of S.O.S signal to her, only that Sana was too focused on hanging on every word that came out of Tzuyu’s lips to pay attention to anyone else.

Maybe Jihyo could at least go to the bathroo–

“Look, it’s cute how you’re looking at her, but could you tone it down a bit? The whole room stinks with your attraction. You’re lucky we’re distracting her with conversation and she’s too busy to notice.” Momo’s whisper suddenly broke into her head, the girl clutching to Jihyo’s right side in order to pull her closer to herself - and further away from Tzuyu. There was a bit of chocolate on Momo’s cheek from her cookie, and Jihyo felt the urge to wipe it off immediately.

Oh damn. Was is that obvious? Was she so transparent? Now she was panicking. What could she do with that? It wasn’t like she had any control over it.

“What can I do?” She whispered back with terror painted on her face. It was so embarrassing. Obviously, the wolves could see right through her. Maybe Tzuyu noticed it too already and she was going to feel totally weirded out.

Momo’s eyes got a bit more gentle.

“Try changing those feelings into happiness, huh? It’s still our Tzu. She’s back after two years, just as we’ve been dreaming about this whole time. We can touch her now, hug her. You guys are still the same kind of friends. Now, breathe with me…” She advised Jihyo, setting a rhythm for her to breathe in and out. As strange as it was in this situation, it helped a bit.  

Okay, now that Momo was putting it like that, maybe it made sense. They were fine. Jihyo could treat Tzuyu like her best friend, hug her, cuddle with her to slee– Okay, not that far. 

But seriously, Jihyo should listen to Momo’s words. For once, they seemed to be wise.

Jihyo missed Tzuyu so hard during those two years. She cried many nights, wishing that her best friend was alright, that she would come back and explain what had happened to make her disappear like that. But now Tzuyu was here . By Jihyo’s side. Safe and happy. It was a great opportunity to be thankful and happy too. 

Jihyo felt that she was slowly calming down. She was going to need a lot of time to process it all, but for now, she had to act collected. Slowly, a bit shyly, she reached under the table and found Tzuyu’s hand there. It was warm and soft. Tzuyu squeezed back. 

Now Jihyo felt like eating a bit of Momo’s sushi after all.

(...)

After being friends with Sana for two years, Jihyo was sure of one thing - that one particular smile, a bit devilish, meant trouble. She didn’t have to wait long to find out that she was quite indeed right. 

“Tzuyu, maybe you should take Jihyo for a walk around the forest. You two should definitely catch up on a lot of things.” The smirk was there, mocking Jihyo, showing her that Sana knew what was going on. Everything was probably already sorting out in her head, all the facts getting to their respective places, and the puzzle getting solved. Jihyo was going to be teased sooo much for the next few weeks. 

She didn’t even doubt that Sana was going to spill everything to all the wolves immediately when Jihyo and Tzuyu left the house. The girl couldn’t keep her mouth shut even if she was forced to.

“Oh, great idea.” Tzuyu perked up, oblivious to what was going on. “I already talked to you guys, so I guess Jihyo deserves an explanation too.”

“Awsome!” Sana jumped with excitement, almost pushing Jihyo out of the house. “Don’t come back until you explain everything to each other. Everything .”

Jihyo sighed. Yeah, it was going to be a tough few weeks. The kissy face Momo made behind Tzuyu’s back only confirmed it. 

Once they were outside, silence suddenly fell between them, and Jihyo felt like it was so unlike them. Oh, well… So unlike her. Tzuyu was never one to talk a lot. Jihyo on the other hand…

“I’m glad you finally trusted them.” Tzuyu spoke shyly when they set off. Unconsciously, Jihyo was leading them to her favorite clearing. “You guys are friends now.” There was pride in the younger girl’s voice.

Jihyo didn’t want to spoil the good mood, but it slipped out anyway:

“Yeah, you know… We had to support each other during hard times. It brings people together.”

The wince on Tzuyu’s face spoke more than a thousand words.

“Yeah… Sorry for that. Like… I’m really sorry. I know I hurt a lot of you with my actions, and I told them that already. But… Also, I think I needed to learn that lesson.”

“Tzu, where the heck were you?” Jihyo didn’t even notice that she used the old nickname, already starting to get too emotional. “I was so damn scared. I thought something happened to you that night, that you were hurt, or worse…”

“I’m sorry…” Tzuyu’s head was hanging low. “I know I violated your trust and it won’t be easy to gain back, but please, let me try…”

The look of a kicked puppy was too much for Jihyo to stay mad for long. Tzuyu’s next words made her melt into a puddle even more. The girl stopped, turned to face Jihyo and grabbed her hands, as if she was doing some kind of confession.

“You can’t even imagine how much I missed cuddling with you to sleep. It was so alone out there, without my best friend by my side. I know I brought it on myself, it was my decision and I have nothing on my defense, but… Okay, let me tell you what happened first, okay? Then you can decide whether you want to forgive me or not.”

Jihyo felt a bit suffocated under Tzuyu’s intense gaze. They stood eye-to-eye, a bit too close to each other, and Tzuyu was towering over her a lot. 

“I- Okay.” She agreed, because what else could she do, when Tzuyu was so convincing?

Clearly, reading from her expression and the way she was looking at Jihyo, Tzuyu had no trouble treating her exactly the same as she had when they parted ways two years earlier. Phew… Jihyo could definitely do the same. 

Just moments later, Jihyo learnt that she definitely wasn’t ready to hear the story Tzuyu was about to tell her. Hearing about her little baby being homeless or unloved didn’t sit right with Jihyo. She wanted to immediately interject, assure Tzuyu that here, in Moon Grove, she was loved by everyone. That she had tons of friends. But the girl was so engrossed in the story, that interrupting her just didn’t feel right. So Jihyo listened patiently, learning to understand what the girl came through with each of Tzuyu’s next words. 

In the end, she couldn’t really be mad. Yet, it was hard to process everything she just heard. “When– Did you know from the beginning that your parents kicked you out?” This thing was nagging at her. It sounded so cruel and so devastating. If she could, she would hide Tzuyu from all that pain in her pocket, and protect the soft girl from the whole world. 

On the other hand, it was such a weird feeling now to realize how much pain Tzuyu had to endure after coming to Moon Grove, and that she never showed how hurtful those years were for her. Jihyo could sometimes pick up on some of Tzuyu’s minor mood swings, but never anything that would even hint at… all of this . 

“Well, I suspected. That’s why your parents accepted me so easily. They offered to look for my family, but I told your mom that it wouldn’t change anything. And somehow they believed me, and let me live with you guys, which I’ll always be grateful for. Later, I just visited my parents to confirm everything.”

“Oh, Tzu…” Jihyo felt the whole sadness radiating from Tzuyu’s body. She couldn’t stop herself from pulling the girl into her arms. This time, the hug was just warm and so, soo comforting. They didn’t pull away; Jihyo stayed with her head on Tzuyu’s shoulder when she asked the next question.

“What did you do later, after leaving your parents house? You told me that you did it right away, but you were missing for over two years.” She frowned. 

For a moment, it seemed like Tzuyu wasn’t going to answer. She even stopped stroking Jihyo’s back with her hand, resuming the movement only after a few seconds.

“I stayed with a friend, I worked a bit to earn some money, then I traveled a lot here and there around Europe. I couldn’t leave too far away, because legally, I don’t even have my passport, and… you know… It was really hard the further away I was from the pack. But it was a great experience anyway. And, what’s most important - I learned how to deal with full moons. Well, mostly. I still don’t like losing control like that, but… It’s fine now. At least here, inside my head.”

Jihyo liked what she heard. The story at least ended on a good note after all.

“Where have you been to?” She asked, showing Tzuyu that they should both sit on the ground.

They were already on her favorite clearing. The sun was shining between the crowns of the trees, warming up her face. She could get herself comfortable in Tzuyu’s embrace and listen to all the stories, even if it took them a whole day to go through all of them. 

After all, they didn’t have to rush anywhere. Tzuyu was back, it was summer. Jihyo felt a complete calmness filling her whole body, as the shock of seeing her long lost friend was slowly starting to wear off.

A few hours later, as they still sat there, chatting and catching up, it slowly hit her - Tzuyu was back. Tzuyu was really back! 

She still needed time to fully realize that she didn’t need to be scared or worried anymore. That her nights weren’t going to be filled with crying. But Tzuyu promised her patience, so Jihyo had to be patient with herself too. 

Tzuyu wasn’t going anywhere - that’s what was the most important. 

(...)

The next few days were filled with constant conversations, meeting old friends and catching up with everyone. Tzuyu barely had time to sleep, because not only Jihyo, but also all of the wolves, and Jihyo’s parents, they all wanted to have a bit of her time, hang out with her and simply enjoy her presence.

It started to finally cool down a bit after a week. It was almost half of July by that time, so naturally, another full moon was incoming. Jihyo was a bit scared about it, unable to calm down until she truly saw that Tzuyu wasn’t going to panic and run away anymore. 

Fortunately, all her worries were for nothing. Tzuyu really stayed. What’s more, she texted Jihyo that they should hang out later, in the morning after. They didn’t have much time just for the two of them, so when the other wolves were about to be tired after the whole night of running around and being wild (or whatever they did out there), Tzuyu could cuddle with Jihyo instead.

Those were her exact words. Jihyo didn’t make that one up.

The offer was obviously unrejectable. Not that Jihyo could skip such an opportunity. She was definitely going to enjoy that time to the fullest. Cuddling with Tzuyu was always their favorite activity, better even than the walks in the forest. Jihyo missed it so much during Tzuyu’s absence - Sana was a good cuddle buddy too, but they never shared this kind of connection like Jihyo had with Tzuyu. 

Besides, Jihyo thought that Tzuyu’s promise was made partly to reassure her that the wolf wasn’t going to disappear after the full moon, like the last time. And she was grateful, knowing well how tiresome it was for all the wolves to be up all night.

As it was previously established, Jihyo came to the forest around eight in the morning. Tzuyu was supposed to wait for her there, and the girl didn’t disappoint. Only that instead of a tall teenager, a black wolf sat there, its head low. Jihyo’s jaw dropped a lot. The last time she saw Tzuyu as a wolf, she was small, barely a puppy. Now in front of Jihyo’s eyes sat a huge animal, reaching almost half of her height. Wow… 

Tzuyu immediately noticed Jihyo, probably sensing her smell way earlier than the girl even managed to come close, but she didn’t turn back into a human. Instead she glanced at Jihyo, sitting there like a lost dog, her head tilted. She scanned Jihyo’s whole body for a few seconds, and then stood up, turning away, as if showing the girl to follow. Jihyo didn’t question it. Slowly, they reached Jihyo’s clearing.

Wordlessly, Tzuyu sat there, apparently waiting for Jihyo to join her. Okay, so they were going to cuddle this way. It was fine. Probably a bit hot, because the temperature was already high enough, but Jihyo wasn’t going to complain…

Oh, it was actually nice. Not hot at all, just that Tzuyu’s fur now had a bit different structure than when she was younger, But still, it was fluffy and comfy. Tzuyu quickly fell asleep, not able to stay awake much longer after the long night. Jihyo stayed guarding her for a bit, just stroking her fur delicately, but quickly realized she was sleepy too, so she let herself close her eyes just for a few seconds…

…

“Jihyo…?” Someone was shaking her arm delicately. “Time to wake up. You’re not gonna sleep at night if you rest too much now.”

Jihyo whined, slowly stretching her body, choosing not to open her eyes yet. It was warm, but the source of the heat was… different than earlier? Oh, Tzuyu wasn’t hugging her anymore. It was the sun that was warming her up. 

“Tzu?” She finally opened her eyes, blinking a few times in order to make the image in front of her eyes clear. Where were her glasses?
“Here, you dropped it. You’re lucky it didn’t break.” Tzuyu’s gentle hands put the glasses on her nose. The view suddenly got sharp and Jihyo was blinded by the beauty of the face in front of her. 

“Argh…” She groaned faintly, not prepared for this kind of attack right after waking up.
“Tzu? What time is it?”

“Nearly one in the afternoon. You should probably head home for lunch, right? How about I walk you there?”

Jihyo nodded, letting Tzuyu pick up her hand and pull her upwards. She was a bit dizzy after the long nap, so the help was really appreciated. She realized that something wasn’t right only when she already stood on her legs, and glanced at her best friend by her side. 

Tzuyu didn’t have clothes on. What the…?

It made sense, Tzuyu probably barely turned from her wolf form and didn’t have any clothes hidden nearby to put on herself, but… Jihyo wasn’t sure her eyes could take it. Immediately, she was covered in a pink blush, and panic arose in her heart. 

What the heck was going on? She had seen Tzuyu like that thousands of times before. Why was it suddenly different now? 

Oh, she knew why. They were both almost adults now. Jihyo grew up, but Tzuyu did too. Her body was now taller, well-built, and… hot. 

Jihyo was hot too, but not like that. She was literally sweating right now. She had to escape this ridiculous situation and re-group. And she had to stop staring at Tzuyu’s long legs… And toned abs… 

“Damn, Tzu! I totally forgot! I- I have to go. I promised my mom to do something… I’ll be back… Soon. Yeah, I’ll be back soon, as soon as I deal with it. Really soon. I promise.” She was stuttering. In all the rush, she probably forgot to mention that she was going to be back soon , but it wasn’t all that important after all. “You go back to your house, don’t worry ‘bout me. I’ll be fine he he .”

Tzuyu’s face expressed only confusion. Her mouth was almost open to say something, but Jihyo didn’t wait anymore, sparing herself the further embarrassment. She ran through the forest faster than ever. Faster even than when Tzuyu was chasing her during her first full moon. She reached her room in no time, shutting the door and jumping on her bed, building a fort out of her pillows, as if someone was at least trying to attack her. Her phone was out of her pocket already, the first number on the speed dialing chosen and the button ‘call’ pushed. 

The sleepy voice saying: “Hello?” coming from the speaker did nothing to calm her down. 

“Sana, we have a problem. I think I might have a crush on Tzuyu.” Jihyo whisper-shouted, totally forgetting the fact that she was alone at home. She could even scream, it wouldn’t change anything.

The giggle on the other side of the call sounded pretty cruel.

“No, you’re wrong, Ji. You have a problem. I’m having so much fun right now, you can’t even imagine.” 

Chapter Text

“No, you’re wrong, Ji. You have a problem. I’m having so much fun right now, you can’t even imagine.” 

Jihyo whined, hearing Sana’s giggling in the speakers of her phone. 

“You’re not helping, Sana. Please, I’m panicking here. What should I do? She’s my best friend. You’re not falling for your best friends, that ruins friendship.” 

What if she destroyed her friendship with Tzuyu just after she finally got the girl back. That would be terrible. She didn’t like to be away from Tzuyu. She didn’t like not having Tzuyu around. Tzuyu was like an air for her, without air she wasn’t able to live. 

“Relax, relax.” Sana’s voice still carried some kind of amusement, and did nothing to help Jihyo relax, but at least she wasn’t making fun of Jihyo anymore. “Why would it mean ruining your friendship? Maybe Tzuyu could catch feelings for you too.”

Jihyo only groaned. 

“What? It’s possible.” Sana was surely shrugging her shoulders on the other side of the call. “You’re cute, you’re smart. Who wouldn’t want you?”

Jihyo’s memory involuntarily flashed her the image of the want in Sana’s eyes that she used to see a while ago, but she quickly waved it off.

“I’m a nerd, babe.” She reminded Sana. “I dress like a grandma, I spend the majority of my time studying, and I have no muscles at all. Why would Tzuyu find me attractive at all?”

“You’re too dramatic.” Sana sounded dismissive now. “But if you say that there’s no chance Tzuyu likes you back, then you have no other option but to learn to deal with this crush. I don’t know, imagine she’s smelling bad, or something, and it’s gonna pass finally. Orrr… You could just be patient, wait for how the situation evolves, and maybe the solution will come to you on its own.”

(...)

Jihyo was patient. She gritted her teeth to stay still every time Tzuyu hugged her, ignoring how her heart suddenly started beating faster in such situations. When Tzuyu was turning back from her wolf form, Jihyo kept repeating the factorial of all numbers up to fifteen inside her head, until Tzuyu was back into her clothes. And every time the luring smell of forest and oriental species reached her nose, Jihyo tried to recall the capitals of each country with names starting on a particular letter. She started with A and planned to go alphabetically. 

That day, she was just going through the letter E, and tried to recall what the heck was the capital of Eritrea, when a weird sounding question reached her ears, throwing her off completely.

“... So how about we do a sleepover, huh? Sana said you guys sometimes did it when I was away.”

And then, all at once, Jihyo’s heart reached an impressive one hundred and fifty beats per minute. Sleepover? With Tzuyu? Obviously . What more? Should she probably write a poem in which she would praise Tzuyu’s beauty and pin it to a board in school? Or maybe update her status on X (formerly Twitter), writing something like: ‘Totally whipped for my best friend, feel free to laugh at me’.

Yeah, she didn’t think so. Sleepover was a bad idea. 

“Please, Jihyo.” Tzuyu’s eyes were huge, puppy-like. Her head was tilted to the side. The slight smile lured Jihyo to come closer, just try…

“Ugh… Fine. But we’re doing it in my house. I don’t want any Sana or Momo there.” 

‘ To tease me about blushing non stop. ’ She finished inside her head. Yeah, her own house was the safest option. Her parents would be there, so Jihyo would need to behave. And if she was too overwhelmed, she could always grab a book to read in order to calm down, or anything. 

“Sure, no problem.” Tzuyu chirped, happy like a little child. “I’ll be there in the evening then.”

Jihyo could only nod glumly, hoping that Tzuyu wasn’t able to feel how lately her smell mostly consisted of panic, and panic only. Either the girl was that kind of oblivious, or simply decided to not touch the issue, not requitting Jihyo’s attraction and trying to be helpful for Jihyo in getting over her little crush. Knowing Tzuyu, it was most probably the former. But one could never be sure. Maybe the girl grew up during her absence and was now a skilled playgirl.

Why did the thought itself make a sour kind of feeling grow inside Jihyo’s chest?

(...) 

“Ready?”

“Not yet, just one more thing.” Jihyo called out from the bathroom, grabbing one cosmetic product after the other from the shelf. Skincare was absolutely necessary, she couldn’t miss one step, because it would ruin everything that came after. 

A tired huff came from her room, where Tzuyu was already sitting on the bed, in her pajamas (fortunately, it wasn’t just a T-shirt. Jihyo wouldn’t survive just a T-shirt), waiting for Jihyo to join her. The prolonged skincare routine was partly Jihyo stalling and putting off joining the girl, she couldn’t hide it. For some reason, she hoped that if she got just a few more seconds, she would gain more courage to go there and face her crus– her best friend. 

Sighing, Jihyo glanced at herself in the mirror. She had it in herself - she could be that strong. Tzuyu was probably getting impatient, and no one could judge her for it - Jihyo had been staying in the bathroom for a half an hour already. The movie was chosen and ready to play on the laptop for twice that long.

“Okay. Phew… ” Jihyo patted her cheeks, trying to somehow make them paler than the angry pink they were sporting. “I’m going.” 

Tzuyu perked up, when Jihyo entered the room, scooting on the bed and patting the space beside herself. She looked pretty comfy there, not at all as if something wasn’t right. Probably because from her perspective - it wasn’t. They had had such sleepovers millions of times when the younger girl still lived with the Parks. For Tzuyu it was a normal Tuesday. 

Jihyo promised herself that it would be like that for her too. Without any further dwelling, she hopped onto the bed and sat beside her best friend, reaching to press play on the laptop. Then she relaxed against the bed head. 

It didn’t even take a few seconds, and Tzuyu was already asking:

“Is something wrong? Are you angry?” 

Jihyo frowned her best frown of confusion, one that would probably get her an immediate pass into an acting school wherever in the world she chose.

“No? Why?”

“You just smell different.” Tzuyu shrugged. “And you’re sitting on the exact opposite side of the bed. A few centimeters to the right, and you’re gonna fall on the floor.”

“Wonder when you got so smart…” Jihyo muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes, making sure that Tzuyu couldn’t hear her. Then she scooted over a bit, knowing well that the closer she would be to her friend, the easier it would be for Tzuyu to smell her and probably recognize the emotions in her scent. Nevermind. She had no other choice right now than to put on a brave face. 

Tzuyu only judged her position with her eyes and raised her brows. ‘Seriously?’ her face seemed to speak. Jihyo rolled her eyes again, and scooted a bit closer once again. Tzuyu didn’t change her expectant gaze, and Jihyo searched mentally for what could still be wrong. Then the realization fell onto her like lightning and she blushed a bit. 

“Is that it?” She opened her arms, making space between them for her friend. “You want to cuddle?”

Now it was time for Tzuyu to roll her eyes. “I thought it was obvious? We always cuddle when we watch a movie.” 

Yup, it was. They indeed used to do it all the time. Only that then, they were children and sleeping in one bed meant literally nothing. Now, Jihyo’s imagination was working overtime. 

Tzuyu dived into her arms with a happy hum, settling half on top of Jihyo, putting her head comfortably into the space under Jihyo’s chin and acting like a delighted cat instead of the wild and dangerous wolf she should be. Jihyo felt a bit crushed under her. It wasn’t Tzuyu’s weight that was causing that though…

How Tzuyu managed to fail to pick up on Jihyo’s fast heartbeat during the whole duration of the movie was out of Jihyo’s mind. Then the girl simply fell asleep, her mouth half open, snoring quietly. Her fist was tightened on Jihyo’s T-shirt, as if she was scared of letting go. 

Jihyo failed to join her in the dreamland for long hours that night. She knew, she just knew that the sleepover was a mistake. She was doing literally the opposite of what she was supposed to be doing in order to get over her crush. 

The long sleepless hours allowed her to do a lot of thinking though, during which she realized that all along, she was focusing on the wrong aspect of having Tzuyu back in Moon Grove. Instead of enjoying the girl’s presence, she was looking at Tzuyu like at someone who didn’t have feelings, like an object of attraction. And for the few weeks since the girl’s arrival, she failed to reassure Tzuyu that she indeed already forgave her for disappearing. Maybe that’s why Tzuyu was acting so unsure sometimes, failing to ask openly for something like cuddling while watching the movie. 

The thought that she could be making Tzuyu insecure about their bond was so nagging, that Jihyo made a ridiculous decision that she needed to say sorry to Tzuyu immediately, or else she could forget about it in the morning. Yeah, it was a pretty bad plan, but during long sleepless hours at night, Jihyo tended to have bad ideas. 

“Tzu?” She delicately patted Tzuyu’s arm. “Tzuyu?”

Nothing. The girl was asleep. Maybe Jihyo should just let her be and respect Tzuyu’s sleep schedule? But then she could forget… Ugh…

“Tzuyu?” Jihyo pinched Tzuyu’s cheek delicately, making sure to not make it actually hurt. “Wake up, baby.”

Tzuyu’s eyes fluttered open instantly. There was a mist of confusion in them for just a split second, then the girl’s gaze suddenly got clear. Only that instead of the usual warm, lazy smile, there was a sheer fear in it. Tzuyu jumped away, almost pushing Jihyo off the bed in the process, realizing who she was with only when she was tucked into the furthest side of the bed, her breath fastened and her body prepared to fight. 

Jihyo almost yelled, not prepared for this reaction. She quickly put a hand over her mouth though, and then her widened eyes connected with Tzuyu’s. She gulped, guilt and fear filling her immediately. Shit. What the heck did she do? She had to screw up so much this time, judging from the way Tzuyu’s hands were shaking a bit when the girl was brushing off the hair from her face.

Damn, how could she be only making bad decisions all the time since Tzuyu put her foot in Moon Grove again? It was her stupid feelings acting, obviously! 

“Sorry.” Tzuyu breathed out after a minute or two of silence. “I thought someone was attacking me.”

“No, no. I’m sorry.” Jihyo said remorsefully. “I don’t know what came upon me… I- Nevermind, it was stupid of me.”

“No, relax.” Tzuyu sighed, making sure to do a few breathing exercises. “I- There’s something I didn’t tell you about.”

Jihyo was all ears, waiting patiently and not moving even a bit, worried to scare Tzuyu again. The girl took a big breath, then released it.

“I had… some trouble after visiting my parents’ house. I was homeless for a while, and sleeping outside, even when you’re technically able to protect yourself, is still… terrible. The friend I mentioned before helped me a lot later, but I’m still dealing with those… thoughts sometimes. It- It needs time, so I have to be patient. I’m telling you this, because it can happen sometimes while we’re hanging out.”

“Okay.” Jihyo just said. She moved a bit closer. “Can I touch you?”

Tzuyu hummed and Jihyo slowly put her hand on the younger girl’s head, stroking her hair calmingly. 

“Have you seen any specialist? A psychologist perhaps.” 

“No.” Tzuyu shook her head. “I was scared they would inform some social services about my situation. I’m still a minor. My friend– She’s in medical school, so she tried to help me as far as she could with what they’re teaching them there, but it wasn’t much. I know it’s not good, but I didn’t really have a choice. Besides, it’s better now.”

Jihyo tried to nip in the bud the growing jealousy when Tzuyu mentioned her friend. Now wasn’t the right time for that. It wasn’t about her. 

“Promise me that you will see someone if it doesn’t get better.” She pleaded. It was crushing her heart when she thought about the amount of pain Tzuyu had to go through. “My parents can find someone trustworthy.”

Tzuyu hummed thoughtfully, but she didn’t agree or disagree. Instead she turned on her side, visibly calmer already. 

“Why did you wake me up?” Her eyes shined with curiosity. Maybe it was a way for her to avert her attention to something else, or maybe she really wanted to know. Jihyo was sure she was going to sound pathetic anyway. All this drama just for this to be so meaningless. 

“Ugh, now that I think about it, it wasn’t worth it. I’m sorry.” She admitted, hiding her face behind her hand. She was sure Tzuyu could see the blush of embarrassment on her cheeks despite the darkness. “I just wanted to say that I’m no longer mad at you, or anything. Because you seem to be so reluctant to ask for anything from me all the time. As if you were walking on eggshells, so as not to turn out too needy. That’s not necessary. We’re back to as it was before, okay? We’re good.”

Tzuyu turned onto her back, humming once again that night. In her usual Tzuyu-like manner, she was taking her time to form an answer, only that this time, Jihyo needed it immediately. For some reason, it was really making her impatient to already hear what was going on under the bush of black hair growing on her friend’s head.

“You’re not right, it’s not ‘not worth it’. I appreciate that you said it...” Tzuyu started slowly, ending the last sentence with that kind of tone that suggested that there was a ‘but’ there. Jihyo had an urge to put her hands on Tzuyu’s arms and shake the words out of the girl. She didn’t do it only because of the trauma that her friend mentioned before. It might not have been the best idea to treat Tzuyu aggressively, even if in a friendly manner, right after the girl barely dealt with the shock of being awoken so suddenly. 

“Buuut…?” She filled in for Tzuyu instead, making the girl giggle. 

“But it’s not the reason why I’m so reluctant to ask for anything. I noticed something recently.” She admitted, sounding as if she was talking to her doctor about symptoms of a flu. “I feel weird when I’m with you. Ummm… I’m getting nervous, for totally no reason. My heart beats faster, and I’m sweating too much. Jihyo, I shouldn’t be sweating like that. I think it might be a sign that I’m going to get a heart attack. I’m too young to get a heart attack.” 

…

Right. Jihyo blinked a few times to make sure she was actually awake and it wasn’t some lucid dream. Right . Ummm… Okay.

But then… Tzuyu - it was sooo like her. That adorable loser could straight up talk about the feelings she felt, not understanding them at all. Which actually explained a lot about why she didn’t pick up on the changes in Jihyo’s smell lately. Oh, how clueless could the girl be sometimes in one matter, while still being one of the smartest and most mature people for her age when it came to anything else. 

Jihyo closed her eyes, fighting to not burst out laughing at the absurdity of the situation. She swallowed hard, and gritted her teeth, and even pierced the skin of her palms with her nails, and yet a single tear escaped her eyes. Tzuyu got worried.

“Jihyo?” She sat up. “Do you think it might be serious? Do I need to go to the doctor? A human doctor, or to a vet?” She sounded one hundred percent serious. 

“N- No.” Jihyo managed to get out, breathing slowly to calm down her hopeful heart. “No, I don’t think it’s a heart attack. But we should observe it closely for a few days, okay? Check whether those… symptoms only get worse when I’m around.”

Tzuyu nodded fervently.

“I’m pretty sure, I was testing it already. But yeah, I can check one more time.” She agreed. “If you’re saying I shouldn’t worry, then I trust you.”

“Yeah, I think you’re great.” Jihyo mumbled. “Now, let’s go back to sleep, huh? I took too much of your good night’s sleep already.” She turned her back to Tzuyu, motioning for the girl to spoon her from behind. 

Tzuyu didn’t question the rush with which Jihyo cut the topic. Instead she reluctantly got closer to Jihyo and, after a few seconds of hesitation, put an arm over her waist. Jihyo grinned, hiding her face in the pillow just to be sure that Tzuyu wouldn’t see her face. Her heart was now beating even faster than before. 

But it didn’t matter. Now she wasn’t going to sleep anyway.

(...) 

The sessions of the parliament that was supposed to decide what to do started the next afternoon, right after Mina generously offered to take Tzuyu for a walk in the forest, sacrificing her own desire to satiate her curiosity. The place of the meeting of the parliament was prepared carefully, so that every member would be able to hear everything well. The discussion began shortly after Sana got an ice pack for the growing bruise on her head.

“I was just trying to be helpful.” The girl whined, glancing with pretense at Jihyo, who was responsible for her injury. “No need to be aggressive right away.”

“I already said that I’m sorry.” Jihyo rolled her eyes. “But if you didn’t mock me like that, that fist wouldn’t accidentally land too close to your body.”

Sana only pouted. It was surprisingly Momo who put an end to this ridiculous banter.

“Both of you should calm down.” The older girl said, putting a hand on Jihyo’s shoulder before the girl could stand up and do anything else to Sana. “Sana, stop teasing Jihyo. God knows you’re not better when it comes to your crushes. Jihyo, you shouldn’t be mad at Sana, since you choose yourself to come to us with your problem. Now, let’s hear all the pros and cons, before the judge–” She pointed at herself. “ – will issue a verdict.”

The hand tightened a bit its grip on Jihyo’s shoulder, showing her that any resistance was pointless. She had to stay there, until she had spilled every single detail.

“Okay.” Jihyo sighed loudly. “But treat it seriously, please. I don’t want to ruin my friendship with Tzuyu just because of something I think is there, but maybe it’s not.”

Jeongyeon, who was sitting by her side, put a reassuring hand on her knee. 

“Sure thing. Now, spill.”

And Jihyo did. Saying the whole thing out loud helped a bit to put everything in the right order, especially that Sana insisted to note it down on a blackboard, so that everyone could see it and take all the facts into consideration later. Still, even while collected and sorted, in Jihyo’s opinion the case was too complicated to say for sure that she could act or not act on her feelings. 

First of all, she wasn’t sure those feelings weren’t just physical attraction. Since they were friends with Tzuyu for so many years, and didn’t spare each other any affection during that time, it wasn’t hard to mix some emotions and take them for something else instead. Jihyo could guess it happened quite often between close friends or coworkers that spent much time with each other. They got into a relationship, and it was probably amazing at first, but when the initial spark went out, they didn’t love each other enough to stay together. That’s not what Jihyo wanted to happen to her friendship with Tzuyu.  

Secondly, and even more importantly, even if her feelings were real, Jihyo didn’t want to force anything on Tzuyu. The girl clearly didn’t understand her own emotions well yet, so it was easy to tell her that it was love, and Tzuyu would probably believe Jihyo one hundred percent. But that was not how Jihyo wanted their dynamics to work. If she was really about to allow herself for any kind of romantic (wow, it sounded weirdly when she said it like that) relationship with Tzuyu, it had to be a conscious decision for both of them. Both Jihyo and Tzuyu had to know what they were doing, and both of them had to want it. 

Obviously, considering that Tzuyu’s weird symptoms were really somehow connected to Jihyo’s presence at all. In fact, there was a huge possibility that Tzuyu was indeed having some medical condition. Or she was simply excited to see Jihyo, but without any hidden meaning. Jihyo didn’t like that thought, but they couldn’t completely reject it yet. 

In the end, even if they did both had feelings for each other, starting a relationship didn’t mean they were going to be happy in it. And then, there wouldn’t be a way back. They were going to be tangled into some awkwardness forever. 

There was so much to risk, that Jihyo couldn’t even embrace it all with her mind.  

“But there is also so much you can gain.” Sana’s eyes were dreamy, as she mindlessly drew a huge heart around Jihyo and Tzuyu’s names on the blackboard. “You look so cute together.”

Everyone ignored the hopeless romantic in favor of giving Jihyo some actual advice.

“In my opinion, you should really wait and observe some more.” Jeongyeon said, scratching her chin in deep consideration. “Every step should be done with carefulness. Just give yourself time, it’s not like someone is going to take her away from you.” 

The sudden silence that fell over the room made her realize what she said. 

“What?” She frowned. “I thought we were already over it. Tzuyu said she’s not going to leave us like that anymore. I believe her.”

“I do too.” Jihyo sighed. “Just… I don’t know. I guess you’re right.”

Since no one had any better idea, the session of the parliament ended at that moment, simply because Momo was too hungry to stay in place for much longer. Both she and Jeongyeon got back from work barely an hour earlier, so Jihyo didn’t want to stop them anymore. They were probably tired and had their own troubles to take care of. The girls obviously told her that she was stupid for thinking like that, and that they were always there for her, but Jihyo felt bad anyway. Even the kisses they left on her head when walking away didn’t help to lift up her mood. 

“Don’t worry, JiJi.” Sana plopped down on the couch beside her when they were alone in the living room. “I’m gonna scare off any suitors to your princess’s hand.” She flexed her almost non-visible muscles. 

Jihyo giggled involuntarily, putting a hand over her mouth immediately so as to not offend her friend. She knew Sana was stronger than an average girl, as all the wolves were, but those muscles still didn’t look impressive. Probably even Jihyo’s nerdy body looked scarier than Sana’s cute puppy eyes and baby face. There was no fooling anyone, Sana could barely scare a mouse. 

“Thanks, bro.” Jihyo said anyway, playfully nudging Sana’s arm. “You’re a good friend. I’m sorry for hitting you earlier.”

“No offense taken, it was fully deserved.” Sana sighed.

“No, it wasn’t.” Jihyo shook her head, not glad that Sana wasn’t standing up for herself. “You had good intentions, just… poor execution. Still, I shouldn’t have hit you. Sorry.”

“Thanks.” Sana cozied herself up to Jihyo’s side, embracing her friend’s waist and looking at her from below. Her eyes were really reminding Jihyo of a puppy, when she did this expression. 

“Stop it.” Jihyo cringed. “I already said that I’m sorry. What else do you want?”

Sana only kept looking at her, and Jihyo finally sighed.

“Okay. Here you are. Straight out of my soul.” She put her hand on Sana’s head to pat it gently. “I can see that you care a lot about me, Tzuyu, and everyone else from your family. It’s amazing. And I can also see that you’d want to have someone special just for you. It’s gonna happen finally, just give it time, okay?”

The pout on Sana’s face was so adorable that it probably had the power to melt down a bar of chocolate in the supermarket in the neighboring town. Jihyo smiled widely, knowing that she read her friend well.

“And you know what, Sana? I love you. You know… In a friendly way.” She winked. 

At first, a look of pure delight filled Sana’s eyes hearing those words, but only for a few seconds. Then the girl blinked and frowned.

“Did Momo tell you something?” There was worry in her voice when she asked. Jihyo was a bit surprised with the sudden change of atmosphere.

“No? Why? She just said that you like to hear it, even from your friends.” She shrugged. Sana hummed, then shook her head, as if to get rid of an intrusive thought.

“No reason. I- Thank you for telling me, Jihyo. I love you too, as a friend.”

“No problem.” Jihyo patted her head, then kissed it just like Jeongyeon and Momo kissed her minutes earlier. “Go and eat your dinner, puppy. Mina and Tzuyu are probably about to be back soon, and they’re going to want you to join them for your usual forest stuff, which I’m not sure I want to know about. You have to have tons of energy to build those impressive muscles while running. You know, to scare off my opponents.”

Sana whined, hearing that obvious teasing, but the way her stomach growled just at that moment didn’t leave her any choice. She couldn’t let Jihyo win though, and did one more show off of her muscles while walking away.

Jihyo just shook her head with a fond smile. What would she do without those adorable dummies?

(...)

Usually pretty impatient, just this once Jihyo didn’t have any problem with giving herself time. However, it happened for a completely different reason than she could previously expect.

“Jihyo, a letter to you.” Jihyo’s mom called her right after entering the house. 

It was a rather gloomy day in the first week of August, with heavy rains visiting the town one after another, and the possibility of a storm hanging low over their heads. Jihyo’s mood was just as stormy, and she didn’t take the news well.

Well, not the actual news that came with the letter. But the letter’s arrival itself. 

Honestly, before it came, Jihyo hoped that it wouldn’t get sent at all. Or that it would get stuck somewhere on the way, that the mailman would mix up the addresses and deliver it to any other house. But no, the letter came, and with it the decision. 

“Jihyo, I know it’s hard now. But you have to look at the whole thing from a perspective.” Her dad tried to calm down his conflicted daughter. “You proposed it first, and you came to us with it. It was your choice, we could only agree or not. You shouldn’t throw away such a chance, just because now the circumstances have changed and you’re in a different mood.”

“You’re father’s right.” Her mom was a bit less convinced that Jihyo should follow the initial plan, but she stayed on her husband’s side anyway. “You shouldn’t make life-changing decisions under the influence of teenage love. It’s your future there, waiting for you…”

Jihyo had totally no idea what her mother was talking about, and she wasn’t shy to mention it to her. 

And if something in her life had to be well thought out, there was only one person that could accompany her in this process. That’s why barely a few hours later, Jihyo was already on her favorite clearing in the forest, sitting in the small tent she managed to set up in order to protect herself from the rain, looking at Tzuyu who was wandering around in search of dry wood to set up a fire. 

The way the girl’s hair was soaked with water was both making Jihyo eager to take care of her, and kiss the water away from her face. She couldn’t decide which one was more urgent.

“I have to tell you something, Tzu.” She started instead. There wasn’t going to be a better moment. It was now, or never. 

The words seemed to work on her friend, and Tzuyu stopped mid-movement, her hands full of branches. Understanding that it was the kind of talk to which she needed to put attention to, the girl walked over to the tent, and started to arrange the woods in a way that would allow them to set it up on fire. The way her nose scrunched a few times told Jihyo that she tried to read the room and maybe get some kind of hint on her friend’s mood. 

“Is there something wrong? You seem to be worried.” She said, when Jihyo remained silent for a few more minutes.

“I’m not worried, I’m… having a hard time regarding a decision.” Jihyo leaned back on her chair. She wanted to get up and help her friend, but she knew she would probably do more bad than good right now. The way her mind couldn’t find one solid thought to focus on, instead jumping from one chaotic scrap of idea to the other didn’t allow for much multitasking. “You know, when you were away, I kind of made a decision… No, no, please. Don’t say sorry again. I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad, it’s just… You know how with my grandfather being a Sheriff, and both of my parents being lawyers, I always observed their work. And I kind of got interested with the law itself, with how it works and… you know.”

Oh, damn. For someone that was trying to say that they wanted to be a lawyer, she was honestly bombing this conversation. Tzuyu didn’t seem to mind though, listening patiently as always, waiting for Jihyo to express herself the way she wanted to.

“So I decided to study law too, in the future. And my parents thought it would be a good idea if I graduated from high school somewhere abroad, to learn a new language and gain some experience. I didn’t exactly have anything that could keep me in Moon Grove… Don’t take me wrong, our friends are amazing, but I can’t always stay here for them, so… So I decided to apply to schools in different countries for an exchange program. And today I received a letter that I got accepted.” 

She sighed, trying to somehow get a grip on the mess inside her head. Did she express what she wanted to say to Tzuyu? Did her friend understand her well? Did Tzuyu catch onto the silent question that was hanging in the air, following Jihyo’s unfinished thoughts?

Tzuyu’s face was unreadable. Her eyebrows weren’t frowned though, nor was she smiling, and Jihyo really, really wished she had the girl’s ability to smell people’s emotions just like that. It would help her a lot now. 

“Where are you going then?” The girl simply asked, once again leaving her voice free of any emotions. Jihyo had chills on her back. Was Tzuyu not bothered at all? Did she not care? Wasn’t she going to object?

“Ummm… Spain?” She scratched her head. She wasn’t sure that this would be the only university to give her a positive answer, but she was probably going to choose this one anyway. If she made the decision to leave, obviously.

The sun, the culture, and the people there were what made her intrigued the most. 

Tzuyu hummed thoughtfully, now patiently watching the small fire that she was able to start. The smoke slowly reached her nostrils and the girl huffed adorably, trying to shoo it away from her face. Then she glanced back at Jihyo.

“Do you want to go there, or do your parents want that?”

“Ummm… I do, I guess?” Jihyo took a while to consider it. “Yeah. Well, at least I wanted before. Now, I’m not sure. Why?”

“You said it was your parents' idea, so I just wanted to be sure I understood it well.” Tzuyu shrugged. “If it’s your dream, then it’s fine. I’m happy that you’re able to go there.” She smiled slightly. 

Jihyo huffed with annoyance. 

“What do you mean you’re happy?” She got a bit impatient. “Don’t you have anything else to say?”

“What do you want me to tell you? It’s an amazing opportunity, I guess. You know I can’t leave too far away from Moon Grove, so I’m not in the position to tell you whether it would be easy or not. But it’s obvious that the experience would be good for you to have in the future.”

Jihyo didn’t know how to react to that. She- She wanted Tzuyu to tell her something else. Like… Ugh…

“But I'll probably be gone for the whole year. Maybe I’ll be able to come back for Christmas, but flying back more often would probably be expensive, and it would take time…” She listed all the disadvantages one by one, hoping that Tzuyu would figure it out herself, without Jihyo’s help.

“Well, I’m gonna miss you. Cuddling with you, our walks in the forest. That’s what you mean?” Tzuyu clearly already picked up on Jihyo’s growing anger and tried to find the right answer. “But we can call each other, and text all the time. It’s not the other end of the world, it’s just Spain. People go there on vacation all the time.”

Jihyo huffed once again, standing up and walking out of the tent. She hoped the rain on her face would bring her some comfort. No such luck. The troubles were still there. Tzuyu followed her with her eyes.

“Do you want me to ask you to stay?”

“Yeah!” Jihyo turned to her abruptly, throwing her hands into the air, as if Tzuyu really took ages to find out something totally obvious, known as a fact for years. “Don’t you care at all that I’m gonna be away for a year? And then maybe, who knows, for longer? Didn’t you tell me just a few days ago that you felt something for me?”

“What?!” Now it was Tzuyu’s turn to stand up. The girl was slowly losing her patience too, not used to such weird mood changes from her friend. “I- I-” 

“Nevermind.” Jihyo crossed her arms. Tzuyu rolled her eyes.

“I’m not gonna tell you to stay, if that’s what you want. It’s an amazing chance, you should go. Unless you don’t want to go, then don’t. There’s no use in forcing yourself to do something against your will.”

Jihyo felt words on her tongue that were trying to escape her mouth, but she bit her lip before it could happen. She wasn’t going to start a fight. She wasn’t going to hurt her friend over something she clearly said she wasn’t mad about. There was no use in opening that wound, when Tzuyu was clearly still feeling guilty about her two-year absence.

She sighed, allowing the fresh air to cool her down. 

“What if I don’t want to, huh?” She asked, this time with a much calmer voice. It sounded more like pleading, as if she was begging Tzuyu to save her from the need to go. 

“Don’t you?” Tzuyu raised her brows. “Because I feel like you’re trying to make me stop you, so you can have an excuse for not going. Or worse… That you’re trying to paint me as the one who doesn’t care and won’t stop you, so that when you leave, it’s not your fault that we won’t be able to see each other. Which one of those?”

Okay, now Jihyo felt personally attacked. How the heck could Tzuyu read her so well, while still being so oblivious to other matters? She closed her eyes, furiously wiping her face from the dampness that managed to gather there from the falling rain. Why was it all so hard?
“I- I don’t know. I want both. I want to go there and not miss the opportunity, but I also want to stay here.” She admitted truthfully. It sounded ridiculous, but that’s what she felt.

Tzuyu finally let go of that neutral expression, and her face softened a bit. Her arms opened instantly and Jihyo didn’t waste any moment before walking right into them. The hug helped a lot. It brought her peace and some order to her noisy thoughts. Although Tzuyu’s T-shirt was a bit wet from all that walking around in the rain, her skin emitted warmth as always and managed to transfer some of it to Jihyo too. The older girl put her head comfortably on Tzuyu’s shoulder. 

“Go.” Tzuyu said. “Me, and our friends, and Moon Grove - we’ll wait for you here. You know we can’t live without you. And after that year, you’ll be able to make the decision to either come back without feeling guilty that you didn’t try, or stay there for longer. Either way, we’ll be in contact all the time, okay?”

Jihyo hummed, feeling that those words sounded right after all. As much as she wanted to think otherwise, she felt the most at peace with herself hearing them. 

“Fine.” She sighed. “But you’ll be answering all my texts immediately.”

“As soon as I'm able to.”

“And we’ll call each other every evening.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then I’ll go. But if I come back and you won’t be here, waiting for me, then I’d really rather not be your sorry ass.”

Tzuyu giggled, then tightened her embrace around Jihyo, inhaling the sweet smell of her affection. 

“Come on, señorita. We’ll roast some marshmallows on this bonfire, since the fire’s finally big enough. And you’ll warm up a bit, so you won’t catch a cold.”

Jihyo’s heart fluttered. How was she going to survive without Tzuyu for so long, when there would be no one around to take care of her just as her younger friend did?

(...)

Something shifted in their friendship from the moment Jihyo decided that she was going to leave for the exchange program in Spain. It got tighter, as if they were closing themselves in a bubble available just for the two of them, to use the remaining time they still had together the best way they could. There was still a bit less than a month until Jihyo was supposed to board a plane and part ways with Tzuyu for so long, but it felt like it wasn’t enough to talk about everything, to go on all the walks, to watch all the movies and cuddle enough to ingrain the feeling of each other’s embrace for all those months they weren’t going to be able to see each other.

The preparations for the trip were really tiresome. There were so many things Jihyo had to do beforehand, so many documents she had to deliver to her new school, that she didn’t really have much time to think about her crush during that time. Even while she was hanging out with Tzuyu, there were so many other things to talk about that she pushed that case to the back of her mind. And it turned out that free of those intrusive thoughts, she–

Okay, she wasn’t free of those intrusive thoughts. They were still there, despite how busy she was, and how much she wanted to literally stop thinking about Tzuyu all the time. She was almost sure by that time that her crush wasn’t just a physical attraction. Almost. Because all the feelings were still pretty much mixing in her heart, allowing her to think that she was only interested in Tzuyu out of pure friendly care one day, and then suddenly throwing her way dreams in which she was trying to kiss the younger girl the other day. Jihyo blamed it all on her teenage buzzing hormones.

They met frequently with their friends as well, and Jihyo knew that she was going to miss them too, but… Well, at some point Sana and Momo’s teasing started to get annoying. They eyed Jihyo and Tzuyu all the time, giggling like school kids when they even only touched their hands. And when sometimes, while sitting on the couch, Jihyo let her guard down and mindlessly leaned back on Tzuyu for comfort, she thought they were never going to let her live it down. 

“Tzuyu, are you alright?” They asked a few times, barely stopping themselves from laughing, when Tzuyu kept repeating that she was completely fine. A fight between the wolves nearly broke out because of that, and Mina had to step in and prevent Tzuyu from throwing hands on Momo. 

“I don’t know what they wanted from me today.” Tzuyu complained to Jihyo later, while they were preparing for another sleepover, this time in the wolves’ house. “They’ve been weird lately.”

“Must be the stress from the fact that they won’t see me for a year. It’s messing with their heads.” Jihyo shrugged. Then made sure to raise her voice, as to be heard in the room on the opposite side of the corridor. “And their heads had never been completely fine.”

She put her tongue out and made a mocking expression when whines sounded from that direction. When Sana started to yell something similarly offensive, Tzuyu just stood up from the bed and went over to shut the door. Jihyo giggled.

“Come here and don’t mind them. They are just jealous.” She said, It was immediately followed by Tzuyu’s thoughtful frown. 

“Jealous about what?” 

Jihyo shrugged, hoping that her face didn’t reveal any of her feelings. Since she was at least accustomed to them now, it wasn’t making her as nervous anymore, and her smell probably stayed neutral. If she would be able to keep that mindset for one more month, maybe Tzuyu wouldn’t notice anything. And then Jihyo would go to Spain for a year, giving herself time to get over it. Then the problem would be solved on its own, because Jihyo wouldn’t have to do anything about her crush anymore.

That kind of hope had stuck with her for the last few days. Soon, Tzuyu was about to prove to her that most great ideas are great only in one’s imagination. It actually happened just the next day, and they were back to Jihyo’s house by then. The younger girl was just walking over back to the bed after showering, her focus momentarily on her phone, as she kept writing something. And, just to be clear, Tzuyu usually had good coordination - the side effect of a really sportish body. Only that this time, the aforementioned coordination was disrupted by the device in her hands and some really important issue on the screen that was occupying her mind.

Jihyo didn’t even manage to blink, and then there was Tzuyu, tripping over a box standing on the floor. The girl made a strange sound of surprise and pain, but didn’t have enough time to react and stop the fall from happening. So with her eyes wide out of shock, Tzuyu flew over the floor, catching the west wind blowing inside through the open window, and then gracefully landed on the bed. 

Or more like on top of Jihyo.
And maybe not so gracefully. 

The whole air got taken out of Jihyo’s lungs, when her friend’s body appeared out of nowhere right in front of her, the forces of gravity pulling it down on Jihyo’s own body. All at once Jihyo was pushed into the bed and then trapped into the sweetest prison in the world - between Tzuyu’s arms. Suddenly, their legs were tangled and their whole bodies were stuck together from head to toe. And, what’s most important in that situation, their faces were just a breath away.

It took Jihyo a good ten seconds to realize what was going on, but when it happened, it hit her full force. Her cheeks got covered in a deep shade of red. Her heart started beating like crazy, almost jumping out of her chest. She got chills on her skin, and her brain displayed a Blue Screen of Death, informing her that rebooting would be available as soon as Tzuyu got off her. 

“Oops, I’m so sorry.” The younger girl mumbled, completely unaware of Jihyo’s malfunctioning. “I tripped over a box.”

“Y- Yeah. I… Ummm… I noticed.” Jihyo let out a shallow, nervous giggle. 

Tzuyu’s face was just in front of hers. It was right there. It would be such a shame, if someone just leaned a bit forward and connect their–

No! No, she couldn’t do it. Or, maybe she could? What exactly would happen if she did it? Totally nothing. Okay, her world would probably be blown out. And she would forever cross that one border from behind which there was no way back. But besides that, totally nothing would happen. The world wouldn’t disappear, the sun wouldn’t stop shining. So, what’s the damage, right?

But… She promised herself and the girls to not do anything drastic and act with carefulness. What she was tempted to do didn’t count into the ‘not-drastic’ category. 

On the other hand, who cared if she screwed all the rules? Yeah, why not be a bit crazy and adventurous? She deserved it after being a good girl for so much time, right? She could take something out of life for herself. Jihyo suddenly felt bold and energized.

“Ummm… Tzu?” She asked, using the opportunity that Tzuyu apparently wasn’t going anywhere and didn’t plan on moving somewhere off her body yet. “Do you maybe still feel these weird kinds of symptoms right now?”

The question sounded innocent, and was completely referencing Tzuyu’s earlier complaints about her health. Still, with the way the wolf girl’s eyebrows scrunched, Jihyo conducted that she touched a sensitive subject.

“Really, what’s up with all those questions lately? Momo and Sana won’t let me live five minutes without asking it.” Tzuyu was getting a bit frustrated. “Yes! I feel it. So wha–”

Okay, that was just what Jihyo needed. Since Tzuyu still felt it, there was a huge probability the reason was similar to Jihyo's. The older girl took it as a kind of green light, and instantly moved forward a bit, connecting their lips. 

They touched briefly just for a split second. It happened faster than a blink. Yet, it managed to move mountains in Jihyo’s world. It was her (and she hoped that Tzuyu’s too) first kiss, and she had absolutely no idea whether it was bad or good in the opinion of the general public, but she knew one thing: she wanted more. 

What stopped her from taking it was the sudden flow of worry that Tzuyu didn't share her sentiment. Jihyo was a bit scared of raising her eyes to look into the younger girl’s ones. 

“Ummm… And how about now?” She asked, after clearing her throat. Her voice was surprisingly hoarse, as if she didn’t use it for ages. 

Tzuyu blinked furiously. Then she tilted her head like a lost dog. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words left it. 

Jihyo gulped. 

Oh boy… She probably made such a huge mistake. And there was no way back. Just like she thought. 

“Did you just do what I think you did?” Tzuyu finally found whatever words she was looking for. There was some kind of disbelief in her voice, but also… curiousness? “Do- Ummm… Okay?”

She scratched her head, transferring her whole weight on one arm for a moment. Jihyo felt the change when the blood finally came back to her legs. Weird, she didn’t even notice they fell asleep a long time ago. She also didn’t know if Tzuyu needed an answer for her question. Was it even a question, or more like stating a fact?

“I guess I did?” She risked saying. “Did you… like it?” 

She needed to know. Now! For once, she wanted Tzuyu to give a certain answer right now. For once, she had no patience for her friend. And Tzuyu, obviously, in her Tzuyu-like manner, took her sweet time to think it through. Her whole forehead was so frowned that Jihyo could almost see the gears turning inside Tzuyu’s head. 

“Well… It felt nice, I guess. Too short to say for sure, though?” The girl finally deadpanned, and Jihyo… Jihyo had totally no idea what she should think about it? 

Was Tzuyu interested in her like that? Was she not? Did she think Jihyo just ruined their friendship? Did she not? Answers! Jihyo needed answers! And some guidance. Yes, exactly! She needed someone to tell her what to do in this situation, preferably organized in a numbered list. 

“So, what do we do now?” No harm in asking Tzuyu though. Maybe the girl would have some ideas. 

Tzuyu cleared her throat and in the loud, awkward silence of the room it sounded like a gunshot. Then she once again changed her position, finally leaving the space over Jihyo and sitting up cross-legged next to her. Jihyo followed, because she suddenly felt like a talk was incoming - one that required a vertical position. Oh damn, it was so awkward. 

“I’m not sure.” Tzuyu started playing with her fingers. Then she sighed loudly, and what followed was probably the longest monologue Jihyo was about to ever hear from her. “But, if you did it first, then I guess you wanted it, right? Or was it just curiosity? Because, you know, I’ve been thinking lately, a lot actually. About our friendship, and other things. How we’re going to do it with your trip, and how I screwed up when I ran away. And, also… That we both grew up so much during those two years, and how beautiful you are now. Not that you weren’t earlier! But you know… Ugh… It’s hard to express it, but since you started the- the k-kiss, then you probably feel a bit of the same thing? That kind of pull to… Umm…”

“Yes.” Jihyo said, putting an end to Tzuyu’s stuttering, her eyes closing when she sighed with relief. She hoped she would express herself better, and she just decided to say it all directly. It was just Tzuyu, right? No need to be stressed. “I feel kind of the same thing, probably. I’m not sure what it is yet though. It actually started right when I saw you at your house, after you came back. I… Ummm… I really liked your clothes, and your hair, and everything. It scared me though, because we’re friends, and I didn’t want to ruin it between us. So I stayed silent. But then you told me about those weird symptoms …” She giggled. Tzuyu did too. “... and I got a bit too hopeful. I’m still not sure whether what I’m feeling is really attraction, or- or– I don’t know.” 

Okay, fairly well said. Maybe not perfectly, but she at least conveyed the general idea. And Tzuyu was smiling now, albeit shyly, so she probably made something right. 

“We can try, you know?” She muttered, and before Jihyo’s soul could leave her body, she completed: “The kiss. One more time. Maybe it’ll help.”

“Y- Yeah. Good idea.” Jihyo just nodded. Okay, so she was doing this ‘soul leaving the body’ thing after all. 

This time it was Tzuyu who leaned closer first. She stopped, just a breath away though, and then froze in that position. The mix of emotions visible in her look when their eyes connected mirrored what was just happening in Jihyo’s stomach. Then the girl glanced briefly at Jihyo’s mouth, biting her own lower lip and causing a wave of something similar to a feeling of hot iron to burn the inside of Jihyo’s body. 

“Damn, just do it.” The older girl rolled her eyes, the anticipation making her shiver. The tension was too much for her. She hated waiting.

Tzuyu giggled, before finally connecting their lips. She stayed like that for a good ten beats of Jihyo’s heart, and then slowly moved to catch one of Jihyo’s lips between her own. It was totally a new feeling for Jihyo at first, something her brain wasn’t accustomed to yet. Tzuyu’s lips were soft, a bit wet and definitely warm. Instinctively, she lifted her hand to put it on her friend’s neck, probably trying to make her stay and prolong the touch. Not thinking much, she mirrored Tzuyu’s action, slowly moving their lips against each other. Something hot settled inside her chest, when Tzuyu slightly opened her mouth and deepened their connection. 

Yeah, that was it. Jihyo definitely liked it. She almost wanted to groan with protest, when Tzuyu slowly leaned back, a mischievous smirk adoring her face. 

“So?” The younger girl breathed out, her voice low. “Do you know something more, or…?”

Damn. Jihyo just knew that she was such a mess. The way the shades of the light standing next to her bed danced on Tzuyu’s face didn’t help her focus.

“I- I think this one was good. More than good actually.” Now she was the one getting shy. Her cheeks were already on fire for a good twenty minutes, so there wasn’t much left to change on her face, but damn, then she also started sweating like hell. Suddenly all the negative thoughts were coming right back to her. Shaking a bit, she reached to grab Tzuyu’s hand. “Tzu… Are we going to be fine? Please, tell me this won’t change anything.”

“It won’t.” Just as suddenly, there was certainty in Tzuyu’s eyes. “At least I won’t feel any different. You’re always gonna be my friend, I promise.”

“Good. I promise too.” Jihyo squeezed Tzuyu’s hand to give both herself and the other girl some courage. 

She had enough of the emotional roller coasters that evening. She suddenly felt like watching a movie. Wordlessly, she reached for the laptop and opened the first streaming service she had bookmarked in her browser. It didn’t matter what they were going to watch. She just needed to get her daily dose of Tzuyu cuddles. 

Tzuyu didn’t need any additional encouragement, not at all weirded out by the way their conversation got cut so suddenly. She sat comfortably, leaning on the bed head right away, and opened her arms for Jihyo to get between them. Jihyo complied happily, exhausted out of her mind by the whole mess of emotions and experiences. She didn’t last until the end of the opening scene of the movie. Her eyes closed slowly, and then she was soon asleep, dreaming about Tzuyu’s soft lips.

Chapter Text

The morning after brought them scorching weather and the dark sky already teasing the incoming storm. The air was a bit tense too, and Jihyo woke up a bit sweaty, despite the really thin cover she used during summer time. 

Then she discovered the reason why she was suddenly so hot. A stunningly beautiful reason actually, spooning her from behind and embracing her with a hand on her waist. A smile instantly blossomed on Jihyo’s face, and she sighed with content, making herself more comfortable in Tzuyu’s arms. Her eyes closed just for a few more seconds–

And then it all came back to her suddenly. Oh, damn.  

Jihyo’s eyes snapped back open, wide and shocked. Did it all really happen? Was the kiss real, or did she just imagine it? A blush was already starting to come up on her face just because of the memory from the previous night. 

If the kiss was real… Did Tzuyu enjoy it just as Jihyo did? Yeah, she obviously initiated it the second time they tried, and then she said it wasn’t going to change anything between them later, but she could have changed her mind over the night, right? She could have thought it all over and decided that she didn’t want to risk anything more than friendship after all. Because in the end, there was no chance that totally nothing was going to change. Something would surely do. Even just the way Jihyo was looking at Tzuyu now, with the urge to caress her face and leave at least a quick peck on her lips. 

“Why does the whole room smell like stress?” A mumble sounded just behind Jihyo’s ear, making her heart pick up its pace. Okay, so Tzuyu wasn’t sleeping anymore. Time to find out whether Jihyo was going to survive that morning in one piece, or not.

“I don’t know?” She risked irony. “I have totally no idea who might be stressed here right now. Not me for sure.”

The deep sigh that escaped Tzuyu’s mouth sounded pretty scary, but when the girl’s eyes snapped open, there was a hint of smile in there.

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning to pretend that I hit my head and I don’t remember anything. We kissed. No big deal.” She shrugged. Jihyo huffed with impatience.

“Maybe for you, Casanova. I’m scared over here that we’re gonna get ourselves in some kind of fight and then our whole friendship would be gone. I don’t want that. I need you in my life to survive.” She whined.

“Relax. We don’t have to say any big words yet, okay? Let’s just see where it gets us. No declarations, no pressure.” Tzuyu was weirdly calm about the whole thing. 

Okay, maybe not weirdly. Tzuyu rarely panicked or overreacted about anything. But this… This was huge. The way the girl acted like it was just Tuesday for her was a bit unhinged. 

“Oh, yeah. No pressure and no big words, so you could go and kiss other girls.” Jihyo rolled her eyes, but it was only partially a joke. Tzuyu picked up on it.

“Me?” She raised her eyebrows. “It’s you who’s going to another country for a year to ‘gain experience’.” She made quotes in the air with her fingers. 

Jihyo immediately slapped her hands down.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She rolled her eyes again. “You have your damn nose, you can probably smell from a kilometer away that I’m interested only in you. I don’t need any Spanish girls.” 

“I don’t need any other girls too. For the whole time I was away from Moon Grove, I couldn’t get you out of my mind, so I don’t think it’ll happen now that we’re talking all the time.” Tzuyu winked, probably knowing well how her flirting worked on Jihyo. The older girl fought with the fluttering of her heart, and with the blush too. Both won with her anyway, and she quickly turned her head away, facing the room and hiding from her own imagination. 

“Soo… Do you want to put a name on it?” Tzuyu nudged her, seeing that Jihyo was too busy being inside her own dreams to pay attention to reality. “What kind? G…” She sighed. “Girlfriend?”

Jihyo hummed, still refusing to turn her head around and look Tzuyu in the eyes. 

“Yeah, why not? Maybe it’s not smart to do it so fast, but who said we should be smart?” 

“Right.” Tzuyu finally gave up trying to turn Jihyo back to herself, and relaxed into the embrace she still had on the older girl. “No problem.”

“Just… If something is wrong, we’ll be back to being best friends, right?” Jihyo still couldn’t get rid of her worries. This whole situation was both making her the happiest in the world, and the most anxious. 

“I don’t know about you, but I haven’t ever stopped being your best friend.” Tzuyu simply answered, making Jihyo almost choke from the sudden wave of emotions. How could it be that the younger girl could suddenly pull such words out of nowhere in those moments, when it was the most needed? 

“Please, stop being anxious already. It smells bad.”

Aaaand… The mood was spoiled. Jihyo burst with laughter, finally turning around to face her new… Her new girlfriend. Wow. It still sounded pretty out of her mind.

“It's a full moon tonight, right?” She asked, seeing that the look in Tzuyu’s eyes was already similar to that one she got near those special days in the month. It was a bit wild and impatient, and it made her so scared the last time she saw it, because back then she wasn’t sure yet that Tzuyu was going to stay. Now it only made her amazed how beautiful Tzuyu’s irises could get when they changed like that. “Do you have to leave soon to meet with them?”

“No, not yet.” Tzuyu forcefully shut her eyes and buried herself deeper under the covers. “Let’s sleep for a bit more. It’s still early.” 

“You’re such a lazy baby.” Jihyo giggled, slowly stroking the messed up hair on the side of Tzuyu’s head. She didn’t oppose it, though. The world had to wait, she wanted to get her morning portion of cuddles first.

(...)

Days flew fast, and soon the incoming September started to knock on Jihyo’s door. She tried to use her time the best way possible, spending it with her parents and grandparents, hanging out with the wolves, and obviously being with Tzuyu. 

She felt a bit anxious, as if someone stood behind her back all the time, reminding her that in just a few days, in just a bit, she was going to leave those people and set off to a trip of her life, but she still did her best to not think about it constantly and not treat people as if she wasn’t ever going to see them again. She wasn’t saying goodbye, so there was no reason to make a big deal out of her departure. 

Surprisingly, just like Tzuyu tried to tell her, not much changed between the two of them. Maybe because they used to be so close even before, cuddling and holding hands all the time, or maybe because the younger girl did her best to appear as normal as possible. Either way, Jihyo was happy with the outcome. She got to kiss Tzuyu sometimes (okay, a lot more often than she wanted to admit), she didn’t have to hide when she wanted to simply observe the girl and her beauty, and she didn’t have to feel bad about her crush anymore. The only downside of them being together was obviously their friends’ teasing, but Jihyo was sure it was going to pass soon. They were most probably happy too, and just didn’t know how to properly use that additional excitement. 

On the day before the last day of August, exactly one day before Jihyo was supposed to go to the airport, the pack of wolves organized a mini party in the backyard of their house to, as Chan said it, send Jihyo off with good memories. The girl told them repeatedly that they didn’t need to do it, but all the wolves insisted, and she finally agreed, secretly happy and all warm inside. The party turned out to be way bigger than they planned though, with tons of food, a firecamp and way too much alcohol. Jihyo knew she was going to regret it the next day, but she still drank with everyone as if there was no tomorrow. She knew she could allow herself, because Tzuyu was there, keeping an eye on her, ready to step in, in case something was wrong. 

Near midnight, when everyone was already more than a little tipsy, and when their voices were already hoarse from singing, all the people started to disperse into smaller groups. Minho disappeared somewhere with Jisung, Momo and Jeongyeon were nowhere to be seen for at least an hour, and Mina had to be escorted back to bed when her body didn’t handle the alcohol well. 

Jihyo was still nursing her last bottle of beer for the night, waiting for Tzuyu to come back from the bathroom, and staring at the beauty of the fires dancing in front of her. 

“Oh, to be young and beautiful forever.” Sana sighed deeply on her left, swaying a bit on the small log she was occupying. Her own bottle was already almost empty, indicating that she drank at least one more than Jihyo. “And to feel that deep and untamed kind of love one could feel only while young…”

“You’re gonna find your love, Sana.” Jihyo mumbled, the words having a bit of difficulty leaving her mouth. “Soon. Just be patient.”

“But I want it now, though.” The older girl pouted, putting her chin on her hands like a dog would do. It was clear that she had trouble controlling all her moves too, when the bottle left her lap completely on its own, falling on the ground, and Sana didn’t even notice it. “Do you want to love me, Jihyo?”

“I love you, Sana.” Jihyo put a hand over her heart to emphasize how hard it was beating just for Sana. “And I re- respect you a lot. As a friend.”

The last obviously made Sana pout again, but Jihyo didn’t finish yet. Her next words made tears appear in Sana’s eyes.

“If I… If I didn’t have such an amazing girlfriend, I would try with you thhhhough.” She nodded a few times, reassuring herself and Sana that she was speaking the language of facts. “You’re smart and wonderful, but… But my girlfriend Tzuyu is more wonderful.” 

“Truth.” Sana nodded too. “I love you too, Jihyo. By- By the way, have you seen your amazing girlfriend Tzuyu? I love her too.”

The girl giggled and swayed a bit more, this time supporting herself on Jihyo’s right side. Jihyo lifted her arm to allow her friend to lean on her more comfortably, helping both of them to maintain some balance. She giggled too, hearing Sana’s words and thinking how great it was that they were all so loving towards themselves. Honestly, the whole world seemed to love everyone that night. It was so amazing! Sana had to share this opinion, because she turned in Jihyo’s arms, her head suddenly appearing way too close to Jihyo’s cheek, her lips ready to seal this pact of love with a wet kiss.

Suddenly a pair of arms appeared from behind Jihyo’s head, engulfing her shoulders in a possessive hug and separating Sana’s body from Jihyo’s.

“Did someone here say something about loving someone else?” Tzuyu’s voice sounded a bit strained. “Sana, I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be tucked in bed a long time ago.”

“Booo, you’re no fun. Mood wrecker.” Sana whined, completely forgetting how she called Tzuyu amazing just a seconds earlier. “You should be ashamed, Tzuyu, because you forbid people from love.”

“I’m not forbidding anyone.” The younger girl frowned, still holding Jihyo in the cage made out of her arms (Jihyo pretended to not like it, but deep inside, she was all giddy and excited). “I’m simply trying to stop you from kissing my girlfriend.”

Out of nowhere, Sana’s eyes got all watery, and the girl sniffed.

“No one loves me here.” She muttered suddenly, sitting with her knees up her chin and hugging them tightly. Her voice was filled with such a deep sadness that even Jihyo, temporarily focused completely on the warmth of Tzuyu’s body behind her back, got brought back to the present, utterly surprised. 

“No, that’s not true.” Tzuyu was probably already regretting her outburst of jealousy, because her voice got way more gentle, and one of her hands immediately reached to stroke the hair on Sana’s head. “We love you all. I’m sorry.”

It was too late though. Sana’s face was being flooded with tears. Tzuyu sighed with remorse.

“Please, don’t cry.” She let go of Jihyo, walking over to Sana to crouch in front of her. Gently, she lifted Sana’s chin up and glanced at the girl’s face. “We love you, okay? But you’re really tired right now, and the alcohol isn’t helping. Let’s get you to bed, and I swear tomorrow you’re gonna feel our love twice as much.”

Sana nodded pathetically, her big and glossy eyes looking at Tzuyu as if she was an angel. 

“Okay. But I don’t want to sleep alone.” She pouted. 

“Fine. I’m sure Mina will love your company.”

Luckily, Sana was pretty easy to transport inside and upstairs, so Tzuyu didn’t need much of Jihyo’s help. Luckily, because Jihyo was pretty drunk herself, and Sana’s breakdown caused her to shed a few tears too. She glued herself to Tzuyu as soon as the girl tucked Sana under the covers, preventing Tzuyu from going anywhere. The younger girl took her face into her hands.

“Wait in my room, okay? I’m going to go and put down the fire, so it won’t spread to the trees while we’re asleep. Then I’ll be back.” She asked, looking Jihyo straight into the eyes to get the confirmation that she was heard and understood. Jihyo shook her head, signaling that no, she wasn’t going to be easy to handle. She didn’t want to leave Tzuyu even for one more second that night. It was their last moments together before she had to leave for a long few months, and she didn’t plan on wasting any. She didn’t care that she appeared needy. Tzuyu should be used to this by then. 

Tzuyu sighed, gently putting a stray strand of Jihyo’s hair behind her ear, causing Jihyo’s heart to make a strange kind of jump inside her chest. 

“Okay, come with me then. Maybe cold air will make you feel better after all of that alcohol.” 

The last remnants of responsibility in Jihyo told her that Tzuyu was probably right. Going to sleep while she was still so wasted wasn’t a good idea, if she didn’t want to end up in the bathroom soon. So together, hand in hand, they ventured back outside, and Jihyo observed first, how Tzuyu skillfully took care of the campfire, securing the remnants of it. Then they started cleaning up a bit after the party, collecting the trash so it wouldn’t be stolen by animals, and gathering the food so it wouldn’t get spoiled. It didn’t take them long, but soon Jihyo felt that her vision was getting fairly clear and she didn’t have trouble with maintaining her balance anymore. It helped a lot that Tzuyu kept pushing glass after glass of water into her.

It was getting close to two in the morning when they reached Tzuyu’s room again, and collapsed on the bed. They both were too tired to wash up, and decided that they would do it in the morning, so there was nothing else left at that moment that could separate Jihyo from gluing herself to Tzuyu’s side and resting there. 

“Mmm, you’re so comfy.” She nearly purred, content with her current position. “I could stay here forever.”

The words were obviously innocent in any other situation and they would probably not cause much reaction out of everyone… Only that this situation wasn’t normal for Jihyo. At that moment she was just realizing the brutal reality that she was really leaving the next day. She couldn’t stay cuddled to Tzuyu’s side forever, because in twenty-four hours, she was going to sit on a plane, on her way to Malaga. And Tzuyu was going to stay here, available for Jihyo only in the form of a bunch of pixels on the screen of her phone. Just that thought alone made Jihyo’s eyes water a lot.  

Tzuyu obviously picked up on the change in the mood right away, always sensitive to the smells around her. It wasn’t in her style to say anything though, not that it would help in this case. Jihyo didn’t need to hear whatever had been said already several times. She welcomed the touch though, finding a lot of reassurance in it. The way she was safely tucked in Tzuyu’s arms, the way the younger girl’s chest was steadily rising and falling down at a steady pace, the way Tzuyu was stroking the skin of Jihyo’s cheek - all of that actually helped a lot. Jihyo didn’t fall asleep that night, not wanting to lose even a second of her precious moments with Tzuyu, but she finally stopped crying, convinced that she should be happy instead that she had Tzuyu in her life at all. Not many could say that. 

Not many words were exchanged between them that night, but when the dawn started to bring the world back to life, Tzuyu slowly turned on her side to face Jihyo, and then cleared her throat. 

“If you want to, I can try and visit you there, in Spain. I’m not sure I would be able to stay for long, but it would still be something, right?” She caressed Jihyo’s face delicately, her dark eyes getting so deep that Jihyo nearly got lost in them. 

She couldn’t agree to this though, no matter how cute and loving Tzuyu looked right then.

“No, Tzu.” She shook her head. “I know it would cost you a lot to get far away from the pack. I don’t want you to be in so much pain just so we can meet for a day or two. I should be the one to find time and come here, okay?”

“But–”

“No, no buts.” She cut the topic. “I’ll find time. And ‘till then, you can find time for a long call with me everyday.”

She didn’t want Tzuyu to sacrifice her own health and sanity just like that. She didn’t want to be selfish. Tzuyu’s offer was noble, but in Jihyo’s world, love didn’t mean making those kinds of sacrifices just because of her own selfishness. Besides, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy their time together in Spain, knowing that Tzuyu was in pain the whole time. She preferred much more if Tzuyu stayed happy in Moon Grove.

“You know you don’t even have to ask for that.” Tzuyu smiled. “Call me anytime and for how long you want to. And remember that I’m always by your side here.” She put her finger over Jihyo’s heart, drawing shapes there. The butterflies in Jihyo’s chest had a field day at that moment, trying to make her combust. 

“You’re such a charmer.” She whined bashfully, hiding her face in Tzuyu’s neck. The younger girl giggled.

“That’s true, though…” Tzuyu said, clearly proud of her own flirting. “You know I’ve always loved you, one way or another.” 

No. Jihyo wasn’t going to survive it. She was going to be set up on fire, and burn down like the wood logs on the campfire they had the previous day. Her heart wasn’t strong enough to work under such extreme conditions. 

Still, Jihyo had a tendency to take unnecessary risks, so she had to ask:

“And which way is it now?”

She closed her eyes immediately after, still hiding from Tzuyu’s gaze. Somehow, the younger girl was weirdly comfortable in those kinds of conversations lately, and Jihyo wasn’t sure she wanted to experience more of it. Confident Tzuyu was sexy, but she made Jihyo feel like a little kid lost in a fog of emotions. It felt like losing in some kind of contest, and Jihyo hated losing. 

“Right now…” Tzuyu hummed. “Right now it’s this way that makes me keep you close, and feel safe by your side, and feel fulfilled, and… and k- kiss you too, sometimes. Obviously.” 

There, a shade of rose painted Tzuyu’s cheeks too. Jihyo grinned, happy with the answer. It was actually a pretty good one. Tzuyu wasn’t making any promises, or professing her undying romantic love which obviously couldn’t yet develop between them after only a few days of their relationship. She also wasn’t pretending that they were still only friends. The answer was actually perfectly embracing what Jihyo could also say about her own state of feelings. It was a lot, and still not everything they could achieve. It was a process made of many small gestures of affection.

“Mmm. I think I got where you’re coming from.” Jihyo sighed with content, relaxing a bit after the rollercoaster Tzuyu provided her moments earlier. 

Surprisingly, she was finally at peace. So without any further hesitation, she lifted herself to be at the level of Tzuyu’s face, and brought their lips together in the softest of kisses. It was just a peck, a faint touch, but it was enough for them now to express everything. Tzuyu’s eyes shined in response, and she tightened her embrace on Jihyo’s body. 

A soft knocking on the door brought them back to reality. Jihyo smiled with bitterness. 

It was time to leave for the big world. 

(...)

Obviously, the wolves couldn’t be themselves, if they didn’t make Jihyo go through emotional breakdown once again that morning, just like they did everyday for the last two years. Firstly, Sana couldn’t help herself, and barged into Tzuyu’s room, crying a literal river of tears on Jihyo’s T-shirt, and clinging to her friend as if her life was about to end without Jihyo in it. Then, Momo joined, making sure to loudly announce that she was coming into the room first, as if she at least expected Jihyo and Tzuyu to shoot an adult movie there. Mina came silently as always, and right behind her were Jeongyeon and Yeji. The boys arrived too, even though they weren’t as close to Jihyo as the rest. Chan was the last to step into the picture, taking Jihyo into a big hug and squeezing tightly. 

“Come back to us safely.” He made Jihyo promise, before patting her back. “Because I believe we’re not so easy to forget, so you won’t just abandon us completely, right?” 

Jihyo couldn’t help but agree. Especially when she was getting into the car a few hours later and a sound of wolves howling echoed around the whole forest. Tzuyu cringed visibly, while hearing the choir of voices.

“Forgive them. They’re a special case.” She winked, obviously joking. 

“It’s cute actually.” Jihyo giggled. “Can you do that too?” 

The way Tzuyu rolled her eyes while mumbling a quiet “Yeah…” told Jihyo that she was going to have so much fun teasing the girl about various things connected to this part of her. It actually amazed her a lot, how much she still had to discover about Tzuyu, even after knowing her for so many years. Including Tzuyu’s constant aversion to cars - Jihyo could only guess that it was connected to the memory of Tzuyu’s parents and the last time the girl saw them before she was abandoned in the forest. Tzuyu never confirmed it though, and it was still visibly hard for her to even get near a moving vehicle. The fact that the girl decided to go with Jihyo and her parents to the airport that day meant for Jihyo more than a thousand love confessions. 

She actually enjoyed the ride a lot, leaning her head on Tzuyu’s shoulder and holding her hand the whole time. Seeing Tzuyu’s nervousness was obviously stressful for her too, but taking care of the younger girl allowed Jihyo to get her head away from her worries, and before she could realize, they were already arriving in the city and searching for the fastest way to get to the airport. The weather wasn’t helpful - it was pouring rain, as if the clouds were devastated about Jihyo’s departure too, and the traffic was terrible. It seemed like they could be stuck there for hours, and the time of Jihyo’s flight was incoming in big steps. 

“How are you holding on, Tzu?” Jihyo asked, trying to make herself think about something else than her stress. “Do you need something? Water?”

Tzuyu’s hands were shaking so much that it could be noticeable, but she wasn’t sure whether it was the struggle of being away from the other wolves, or the fact that Tzuyu was coming back to her hometown - a place where bad and good memories were meshing together like ingredients in a huge pot.

“I’m fine.” Tzuyu mumbled, but the grip she had on Jihyo’s hand visibly tightened. “I’ll manage.”

Jihyo hummed. She needed a different topic. 

“Look…” She started. “I’m sorry I didn’t even have time to take you on a real date. We had so little time, and I have to admit it didn’t even come to my mind, because I was so busy with all the preparations. But that’s what couples do, right?”

“I think so…” Tzuyu seemed to dwell on the matter, and luckily, her hand wasn’t shaking so much anymore. “We can go when you’re back though. Or we can organize an online version of a date. You can go to some beautiful place in Malaga, and show me around through the phone.”

“Okay.” Jihyo smiled, seeing the dreamy look in Tzuyu’s eyes. It was such a shame Tzuyu couldn’t go there herself, but in this case, Jihyo was going to do her best to make it up to her girlfriend. “I promise to show you everything I can. I’ll still take you on a real date when I’m back though.”

“I can’t wait.” Tzuyu smiled too, and it was clear from the look in her eyes that she wanted to lean and peck Jihyo’s lips. If only Jihyo’s parents weren’t in the car with them… 

“Don’t get too comfy there, girls. We’re almost in the airport.” Jihyo’s dad’ voice came to them right then, as if on cue. “Do you have everything ready, honey?”

“Yup.” Jihyo sighed, glancing at Tzuyu longingly the last time. She was ready. The question was more if the world was ready for her. 

(...)

The last goodbyes in the airport were obviously painful, but from the moment she boarded the plane, Jihyo decided to have a positive look on her situation and use this chance to its fullest. And she did. 

She didn’t have any trouble at all making a place for herself in Spain. Learning the language was a bit challenging at first, as she suddenly found herself surrounded by Spanish and nothing but Spanish, but her new classmates were nice and accepted her quickly into their circle, helping her a lot and being patient when she made all the mistakes. 

Just like Tzuyu said many times, Jihyo didn’t have to worry about many cultural changes. After all, they were still in Europe, and as far as there were many small differences here and there, she could get accustomed to them pretty quickly.

The biggest change was obviously the weather. While in Moon Grove almost the whole year except summer was filled with chilly and cold days, in Malaga it was obviously way hotter. Jihyo loved the sun though, so she enjoyed these conditions too, spending long days outside, sightseeing in her free time, or studying in the park near her host’s apartment. 

Obviously, at first she called Tzuyu everyday, and their conversations lasted for long minutes up to hours. With time though, busy with studying, exploring and hanging out with people, Jihyo found herself in the situation when she was sometimes too tired to stay awake long enough to make a phone call. She put her head on the pillow, took her phone into her hand… And then woke up the next day, when the first rays of sun hit her face, full of bad feelings and remorses. 

Tzuyu was forgiving and understanding, but Jihyo wasn’t. Especially to herself. 

When November slowly turned into December, as days got shorter and the weather got a bit less hot too, Jihyo found herself scared of going back home. Last week, she managed to call Tzuyu only one time, and the last text from her girlfriend now sat in her notifications unopened, because Jihyo didn’t know how to apologize one another time, since she already used up all the excuses. 

She couldn’t lie, she was afraid a lot. As far as Sana kept repeating to her that Tzuyu didn’t even look at anyone else while Jihyo was away, still awaiting her comeback with a deep longing, the news of some new girl arriving to the town didn’t sound positive enough to her. If Sana was deeply captivated by the newcomer, that meant that Tzuyu could be too. Which left Jihyo in an impasse - she desperately wanted to be sure that nothing was happening back home, she needed to be there right now, but she also wasn’t brave enough to finally answer Tzuyu’s messages. Not that she doubted Tzuyu’s faithfulness, and not that she didn’t trust her girlfriend, just… Ugh… She just wanted to be sure, that’s all! 

When she landed back in the country, and her parents picked her up from the airport, a whole twenty-four hours before Tzuyu expected her to be there, Jihyo’s feelings were mixed. She was happy, naturally, because she was going to see everyone. But she was even more stressed about this. More than when she was leaving, actually. Which already told her something about how much she screwed up. 

The sight of the city covered in a thick layer of snow caused her heart to constrict with melancholy. The time had flown, people had changed. Nature was asleep, waiting for a better, warmer time, but the residents of Moon Grove were all busy with preparations for Christmas. Jihyo could notice many of her neighbors rushing around with groceries and bags containing what she could only suppose were gifts. The town was surrounded with a wonderful atmosphere of celebration, and despite the obvious cold weather, only seeing the colorful decorations and lights made her feel warmed up. Even the radio in her dad’s car decided to play her a Christmas song, teasing her about wanting only one thing for Christmas. 

Jihyo knew well what, or maybe rather who, she needed. Surprisingly, she didn’t need to be reminded about that.

“Dad?” She perked up on her seat when they were just parking the car on the driveway to their house. “Can I skip dinner tonight? I- I would like to go somewhere first.” 

It was her mother who answered, turning to her with a scolding expression. 

“Only if you’re back home for the night. And I expect you to visit your grandparents first thing in the morning tomorrow.” She pretended to be strict. Jihyo saw right through her mother’s facade.

“Sure thing. Thank you.” She leaned forward to leave a quick kiss on her mom’s cheek, then quickly jumped out of the car, not caring about her luggage still being in the trunk. She didn’t need many things to take care of this case. Perhaps only herself. Which was already a lot, and she was growing more nervous with each step she took towards the old house in the woods. When she set off from her house, her legs were carrying her quickly and with a lot of energy. Then she gradually slowed down, nearly dragging her foot when she reached her destination. 

Jihyo was nearly shaking out of joy, nerves and anticipation, when her fist hit the wooden door. It took them nearly a minute, but finally someone appeared in the doorframe.

“Ji- Jihyo?” Mina’s jaw dropped. “But… What are you doing here? You were supposed–”

“To arrive tomorrow. Yeah, I know.” Jihyo smiled slightly. “I wanted to surprise you guys.” 

“Well, it’s… It’s a wonderful surprise.” Mina scratched her head, looking disoriented for a moment. The hesitation cost her being pushed out of the way, when Jeongyeon’s body collided suddenly with Jihyo’s, pulling her inside. 

“Jihyo, you old fool.” Jeongyeon squeezed her inside her arms like a stuffed toy. “We missed you here so much. Why aren’t you coming right away? You never bothered knocking on those doors.”

“Oh, you know… Didn’t want to impose–”

“Nonsense.” Momo appeared out of the kitchen, sending Jihyo a huge smile and opening her arms to join the hug Jeongyeon initiated. The toast with jam she was holding in her hand suddenly got dangerously close to Jihyo’s knitted Christmas sweater, and Jihyo made a move to escape the grip. Unluckily for her, Mina chose that moment to shake off her astonishment and join the group hug, trapping Jihyo inside the circle. 

It was an awesome way to greet her, but… Someone was missing. Jihyo’s eyes scanned the room, and…

“What’s up with that one?” She asked, frowning and immediately making the other girls to free her. Everyone turned to where Jihyo was looking, focusing their attention on a girl laying on the couch with her eyes glued to the ceiling and a dumb, dreamy smile. The girl didn’t move at all since the moment Jihyo entered the house, which looked pretty suspicious.

“Sana’s not here with us anymore.” Momo provided helpfully, as always ready to tease her best friend. “She took the first train to the paradise of passion, got hit by the Cupid’s arrow and never came back.”

“She’s in love.” Jeongyeon translated with a roll of her eyes, seeing Jihyo’s confused expression. “She had a date today with the new girl that we told you about, and they almost kissed. Well, to be fair, no one is sure the new girl was even aware that it was a date. But Sana decided to be foolish and pretend that Dahyun knew. In conclusion, we’re one man down to prepare for Christmas this year. She’s been laying here for hours.” 

“Not that Sana usually helps with anything.” Momo pointed out, probably pretty accurately. “But it’s still annoying as heck.”

“Hey!” The object of their discussion objected aggressively, suddenly snapping out of her stupor when the insults finally reached her love-hazed brain. “I'm very helpful! Who would keep the spirits up, if I didn’t live in this house, huh?”

Only now Sana seemed to notice who stood in front of her, and she shrieked suddenly, throwing herself on Jihyo’s neck with obvious happiness, almost knocking the poor newcomer down on the floor. 

“Jihyo! I missed you so much!” She started attacking the younger girl’s cheeks with multiple kisses. “You don’t even know how boring and sad it was here without you.”

“Liar.” Jeongyeon muttered behind Jihyo’s back. “Not once could you see Sana bored since Dahyun showed up.”

“Right, unfortunately.” Mina joined the rant, singing tiredly. “And you didn’t even have to observe their interactions in the forest. Believe me when I’m saying it’s been a lot.” 

“It was not! I was only–”

“Guys, guys! Stop, please!” Jihyo raised her voice, immediately putting everyone into their places. She didn’t need to hear this now. She needed… “Where is Tzuyu?”

Yup, that was the question she was dying to ask since entering this house. All the banter between the girls could wait.

The four wolves connected their eyes with smirks growing on their faces, and Jihyo knew that the object of teasing just changed to her humble self. There was no way to un-ask the question already though, so she only rolled her eyes, waving her hand dramatically to make her friends hurry up and tell her what she needed to know. 

“Don’t worry, lovebird. Your princess’s upstairs, napping.” Momo singsonged. 

Everyone burst with laughter, when Jihyo instantly turned on her heel to run up the stairs. There were various voices calling behind her some nonsense like ‘don’t be too loud’ or ‘use protection’, but she tuned them out. The door to Tzuyu’s room was closed, but this time Jihyo decided to let herself in without additional announcement. She simply cracked them open and peaked inside. It was indeed dark there, and Tzuyu’s sleeping form could be seen on the bed. 

Jihyo’s heart made a leap inside her chest, and sudden joy filled it just when the smell of Tzuyu’s laundry detergent reached the girl’s nose. It felt like home finally. 

Damn, she was finally back here. Was Tzuyu going to take her in though, or was she going to be disappointed in Jihyo? Was she going to be happy, or mad? There was no other way to find out than to just wake Tzuyu up. Jihyo gulped, then made one step inside, and the other. Soon, she stood right by Tzuyu’s bed, her tightened fists sweating out of nerves. All it was left was to reach with her hand, and touch. Damn, why was it so hard suddenly?

Jihyo mentally cursed her fearful ass, and then gently put her hand on Tzuyu’s arm, stroking the soft skin there. The touch sent a wave of chills down her body, and she felt a sudden shot of endorphins, causing her to grin widely.

“Tzuyu…” She whispered right next to her girlfriend's ear, not taking her hand away from the girl’s body, and focusing on her cheek this time, drawing delicate shapes of heart there. “Tzu, wake up.”

The only response on Tzuyu’s side was a deep sigh. Jihyo felt a wave of tenderness seeing it.  

“Tzuyu, honey. Time to get up.” She tried once again. 

This time, a low grumble could be heard coming from Tzuyu’s lips.

“Leave me alone, Momo.” The girl said, causing Jihyo to giggle silently. She didn’t plan on leaving Tzuyu alone, and continued her shenanigans, causing only more frustration to come from Tzuyu. 

“I swear, if you don’t leave me alone, it’ll end badly for you.” The threat was said with a low voice, and Jihyo felt that it was real. It made her seriously wonder what exactly Momo did to Tzuyu in the past to cause such a weird reaction now. She probably annoyed her really bad, because as far as Jihyo knew Tzuyu, it was really hard to cause the girl to lose her shit. 

Jihyo decided to take a bit more risk, hoping to let go of her nerves through laughing. However, what seemed funny to her, didn’t have to be funny for Tzuyu, because the girl suddenly moved in an almost inhuman speed, grabbing Jihyo’s hand and pulling the girl abruptly on the bed. Jihyo had only enough luck to land on her back, before she was trapped under Tzuyu’s body, her both hands squeezed tightly to her torso, and her chest pushed down. 

Wow… Just… Wow…

“Ji- Jihyo?” Tzuyu’s eyes shined suddenly in the darkness, when the girl took a second to look down and finally recognized that the reason for her annoyance wasn’t Momo at all. Her orbits widened comically, and she quickly took her hand away from Jihyo’s chest, allowing her to breathe properly. “Jihyo? Is that really you, or am I still dreaming?”

“Do you dream about me often?” Jihyo had enough guts to flirt in this situation. She couldn’t lie that she wasn’t impressed by this show of strength and agility. If Tzuyu could move like that… Well, easy to say that she wanted to see it more often. 

“How could I not?” Tzuyu’s face was suddenly softening, and the grip she had on Jihyo’s body was being taken away. Instead, Jihyo was easily lifted from the bed, right into Tzuyu’s arms. They sat up on the bed, and Jihyo couldn’t help but relax into the embrace, feeling safe and happy despite all of the manhandling. Tzuyu nosed at her neck tenderly, before she could realize what she was doing, and blush from embarrassment. Jihyo wasn’t sure why the girl was embarrassed - she did it millions of times before. 

“Why are you nervous again?” The words that followed from Tzuyu’s mouth made her quickly come back to reality. Her stomach scrunched with worry. She had to be honest, Tzuyu would find out if she was lying anyway. 

“I’m nervous that you’re mad at me.” She said right away, unable to keep it inside anymore. They didn’t even manage to say hello to each other properly yet, and here she was already spoiling the mood.

“Why would I be?” Tzuyu’s eyebrows were raised. “Did you do anything wrong?”

“No? Just… I was so distant lately, and I didn’t have time to call you, and I didn’t respond to your texts, because I was scared that you–”

Tzuyu had to really get better at reading her emotions, because she didn’t seem worried at all. Her smile was soft, when she leaned closer and interrupted Jihyo’s blabbering with a kiss. 

“Let’s start once again.” She said when they parted, both blushing. “Hi, Jihyo. It’s so nice to meet you, I missed you very much. Did you plan to come earlier to surprise us all?” 

“H- Hi. Yeah, I did…” Jihyo couldn’t avert her eyes from Tzuyu’s soft gaze. She was lost in those eyes, so lost…

Why was she worried at all? It was her Tzuyu, her cute and adorable giant baby.

“I’m glad. I really wanted to see you finally.” Tzuyu caressed her skin. When Jihyo’s face was still carrying that worried expression, she sighed. “Jihyo, I understand that you were busy there. I was ready for that at the moment you said that you were leaving. Obviously, it would be nice if we could talk face-to-face every single day, but I’m really not mad that sometimes we couldn’t. Just tell me that you enjoyed your time there.”

“I did. I took tons of photos to show you, and I even brought you many gifts.” Jihyo pouted. “But…”

“No buts.” Tzuyu shook her head, putting her finger on Jihyo’s lips. Then she grinned, and in a rare manifestation of her pure amazement, she pulled Jihyo into a tight hug, almost shaking with happiness. Jihyo could nearly imagine that if she was in her wolf form, her tail would move as if she was an excited dog. 

Tzuyu’s happiness was slowly spreading to her body too. The faint laughter coming from downstairs reached her ears, and she suddenly felt like in a bubble of absolute contentment. Tzuyu caused her to feel safe and loved, and the darkness of the room made it seem like they were the only people in the whole world. 

“You were sleeping when I came. Do you want to get back to your nap?” She asked Tzuyu, suddenly feeling sleepy herself. “My parents wanted to have me back for the night, so that I can tell them everything too, but now I have a few hours only for you.”

“If you want, we can sleep. But I would gladly hear everything about your trip too.” Tzuyu said. She seemed genuinely interested, so Jihyo didn’t even wonder before taking her phone out of her pocket and opening the photo gallery. 

“So, let’s start from here. That’s the park near the place where I stay…”

(...)

Christmas that year meant double happiness for Jihyo. She had to split the celebration between her grandparents' house, where her whole family gathered, and the wolves’ house, where the festivities were a bit different, and definitely more chaotic than anywhere else (but that didn’t worry her at all, especially that Tzuyu could accompany her in both places). 

Soon, the New Year’s Eve came, and with it a party - one in its kind, organized in Miyeon’s house and gathering almost the whole town. Jihyo knew the host briefly, because they shared a few classes back when she used to still attend the high school in Moon Grove, but Sana was friends with the girl, which meant that she was making the whole thing huge. And her family couldn’t help but be involved too. 

Preparations lasted for a few days, with everyone having their own tasks to do. Jihyo, being basically Miyeon’s neighbor, was responsible for assisting in making decorations, which didn’t sit right with her, but she managed. The reason why she was unhappy with the task though wasn’t obviously her lack of artistic skills (well, that too), but rather the fact that trapped inside Miyeon’s mansion, she could rarely meet with Tzuyu, who was assigned to buying snacks with Sana and Momo. They passed each other only briefly during the two days before the party, meeting only late in the evening for some essential cuddling. 

And just for the case, Jihyo wasn’t the only one who was pissed. Because… like… Who thought that sending Sana, Momo and Tzuyu for shopping could be a smart decision?

Luckily, everything turned out to be fairly good and on the morning of New Year’s Eve they were mostly ready for the arrival of the guests. Mostly, because the one who wasn’t ready was obviously Sana. 

“I don’t know what to wear. What if I chose a too revealing dress and Dahyun thinks that I have a bad taste?” The girl whined the whole morning, making everyone’s lives miserable. 

Momo wasn’t helping at all, throwing here and there comments like: “She does seem to dress more conservatively indeed.” and “Didn’t someone say that her type were introverts?” or “I would tone down on the physical affection if I were you.”. All in all, the tension in the house could be cut with a knife. As far as Jihyo wanted to just shut the door to Tzuyu’s room and log herself out from all the trouble, she couldn’t leave her friend in her misery. She was working overtime then, to choose something from Sana’s wardrobe that would sweep Dahyun off her feet.

Both her, and Tzuyu too, tried to give the poor girl some dating advice, but in the end of the day, their experience was still pretty non-existent, so Sana was sent off to the wild with a simple task: ‘Be yourself’. Jihyo had mixed feelings about the actual outcome, because what if Momo was right and Dahyun didn’t like so much PDA? Tzuyu was quick to calm her down though, saying that every sane person out there could guess from Dahyun’s smell that the girl was head over heels for Sana. The question about why Sana herself didn’t know that remained unanswered. 

Because the wolves planned to go to the party by foot, in order to be able to drink alcohol, Jihyo decided to change into her dress at her own house, and then go to Miyeon’s place from there, as to not get cold. Tzuyu wanted to pick her up, obviously, but after a bit of thinking, Jihyo politely refused. 

She needed to see Tzuyu’s face when she made that big entrance at the party, all dressed-up in that outfit that her friends from Spain helped her to pick, ready to make all the jaws drop. 

And she wasn’t disappointed. Tzuyu was waiting for her patiently there, and her face when Jihyo came into the room was priceless. And if Jihyo could previously doubt whether Tzuyu really had any romantic feelings for her before, now she was pretty sure that the girl wasn’t lying. If looks could kill, all the other people beside the two of them in the house would be already dead, because Tzuyu’s eyes spoke loudly that if someone touched Jihyo, they were going to pay the price.

Jihyo smirked, walking over to her girl. 

“Hey, there.” She greeted Tzuyu, putting one hand on her neck and the other on her waist. “My eyes are over here, soldier.” She pointed to her face, making Tzuyu’s own eyes snap up suddenly. The younger girl sported a nice blush under her make-up.

Which… Well, that definitely deserved attention too. Tzuyu’s outfit looked even too good on the girl, making Jihyo both disappointed that she wasn’t the only one seeing it, and glad that all those people in this room could see it and know that Tzuyu was hers. Jihyo swallowed the urge to press her lips firmly against Tzuyu’s and show everyone why they should stay away. She focused instead on appreciating how Tzuyu’s dress complimented her tall figure and how the lack of sleeves allowed her to touch the bare skin of Tzuyu’s shoulders–

“You- You look really good.” Tzuyu stuttered to Jihyo’s ear, her soft voice barely audible over the loud music. “I really like this dress.”

“Well, thank you.” Jihyo smirked once again, making sure that the short, red piece of cloth covered all the necessary parts of her body. She didn’t know what gave her the confidence to wear such an outfit, but she was glad anyway. “Wanna dance with me?” 

Tzuyu only nodded, basically left speechless, and allowed herself to be pulled on the dancefloor, where a few pairs were already showing off their various kinds of dancing skills. In the opposite corner of the room, Momo was busy making Jeongyeon flustered with her bold moves, and on their left Sana stood with Miyeon, chatting and sipping some kind of colorful drinks. Judging from the frown on the girl’s face, Jihyo came to the conclusion that Dahyun was yet to arrive at the party. 

Glad that her friends were good for now, Jihyo relaxed in Tzuyu’s arms, and put her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder, using the opportunity that the song just changed to a slower one. Soft rhythm of the ballad was lulling them into a dreamy haze, their movements delicate while they swayed together. Jihyo smiled with delight. She was yet to fully experience the fun of this party, but she already knew that this was the highlight of it. Nothing could compare to being in Tzuyu’s arms.

The next song turned out to be a faster one and Jihyo decided that this was the right time to put her skills into work and try to seduce Tzuyu. Getting any kind of result wasn’t her intention, she fully understood that Tzuyu probably needed more time before they were about to make the next step in their relationship, so it really surprised her, when half into the song, flustered and bothered Tzuyu grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the dancefloor, towards the bathrooms. 

Okay, but what really surprised her though, was when she was suddenly put against a wall and locked there between Tzuyu’s arms.

“Wow…” She gasped, not even trying to hide her impressed reaction for how fast it all happened. “That was not what I was trying to achieve, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.” 

Tzuyu was only breathing hard, looking Jihyo straight into the eyes. 

“Remember when I told you about the alarming symptoms I was getting while around you? Well, I’m feeling it now.”

“But… That’s good, right?” Jihyo’s smile was smug, but she couldn’t hide the genuine happiness from her expression. As far as she was trying to be all sexy and mysterious, it wasn’t really working around Tzuyu, who tended to trigger cuteness aggression in people. 

“Baby…” Tzuyu sighed tiredly, closing her eyes, and Jihyo was just about to add something more to her suffering, when suddenly another voice sounded from her left.

“Oh, she called you ‘baby’. I want that too…” Sana whined, making cute puppy eyes at Tzuyu. Her arms embraced Tzuyu’s waist, as the girl inserted herself between the two girlfriends. 

Apparently Tzuyu wasn’t as surprised with the action as Jihyo was, because she quickly fulfilled the request.

“Sure, honey.” She chirped to Sana, who giggled excitedly, happy with the outcome. Only Jihyo’s eyebrows traveled up. 

“What are you doing here, Sana?” She asked, not really pleased with the interruption. It was her moment with Tzuyu, and it was her Tzuyu. No one else should dare–

“Well, well, Jihyo…” The older woman only measured her with her eyes. “That dress really looks good on you.”

“Is Dahyun not here yet?” Jihyo frowned.

“Nope. Not yet.” Sana answered absentmindedly, not stopping with the staring. “So I’m killing time somehow. Would any of you want to dance with me?” 

Her voice was way too flirtatious for Jihyo’s liking. Sana definitely wasn’t dancing with Tzuyu, no matter how sister-like their relationship was. Sana only giggled once again, seeing Jihyo’s deep dissatisfaction. 

“Oh, Jihyo. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to do anything bad here. My intentions are pure, I just want to dance and have fun. I’m faithful to my future wife. You on the other hand… Well, I can’t lie - I fully expected Tzuyu to be jealous and territorial. You throwing daggers at everyone who got closer than two meters to your princess wasn’t in any of my dreams, but I’m fully enjoying the view. It suits you, this look of a bad bitch.”

“Sana!” Jihyo hissed, rolling her eyes at the swear word. “I’m not being jealous, or… or… or anything. I’m just mad that you’re interrupting my peace of mind.”

“Dance with me one time, and then I’m off your head.” Sana offered, her face losing the devious look for a moment. She looked a bit worried, and Jihyo’s heart softened. The girl was just trying to avert her attention from her nervousness. So with another roll of her eyes, Jihyo vaguely nodded.

“Fine. But just one dance. Then I’m back to Tzuyu.”

“Fine.” Sana nodded too, the smirk coming back on her face. 

Easy to say, it didn’t end with only one dance. They danced to a few songs, then drank something, in the meantime chatting a bit with Mina, who tried to bribe them to leave the party earlier. Tzuyu switched with Jihyo for a few dances, so that her girlfriend could catch a breath while they were still keeping Sana occupied and out of trouble, but generally, Jihyo had to step up and fulfill her responsibility. 

They were almost nearing the midnight - the big countdown to the New Year - and Jihyo was already almost sure that Dahyun stood Sana up, when suddenly Mina turned up to them, announcing that she met the younger girl a few minutes earlier, and that Dahyun was actively looking for Sana. It wasn’t hard to predict that Sana’s immediate reaction was running away in the direction pointed by Mina, leaving Jihyo alone on the dancefloor in the middle of song. As far as Jihyo was a bit boomed about the way she was abandoned, she couldn’t lie that ending up in Tzuyu’s arms out of nowhere was a welcomed result. Firstly, she was relieved that Sana wasn’t actually going to get her heart broken. Secondly, now she could stare into Tzuyu’s deep dark eyes while Bruno Mars kept singing something about being amazing just the way you are in the background. 

“Whoa, whoa… Easy.” Tzuyu’s strong arms caught her halfway into a swing and grounded before she could lose her balance and slip. Okay, she probably should stop with the drinking already. Otherwise she was going to finish the party before she could get a midnight kiss from her girl.

“Your eyes…” She instead muttered, putting her hand on Tzuyu’s cheek. “They are sooo dark.”

“Yes, they are.” Tzuyu smiled. “And you’re tipsy. Let’s go outside and cool down a bit, okay?”

Before Jihyo could notice, her coat was already draped over her shoulders, and she was dragged outside, on the small terrace overlooking the garden. The cold winter air hit her overheated skin pretty badly, but before she could notice it, Tzuyu’s body was glued to her back, and the wolf girl was sharing her heat with Jihyo.

“Better?” Tzuyu asked. Jihyo smiled dumbly and nodded her head, a bit too fervently. 

“Yes. It’s always good when I’m with you. I’m not sure about the cooling down part though, because you’re sooo too hot that I’m always burning while near you.” She slurred the words out with what she thought was a flirty gaze, but turned out to look a bit pathetic. Tzuyu giggled. 

“Okay, then breathe with me, please. In, and out. In… and out…”

Jihyo did as asked, and soon a bit of clarity was slowly coming back to her brain. She sighed, letting the fresh mountain air reach every part of her inside. 

“Thanks for always taking care of me.” She mumbled to Tzuyu, leaning back on the younger girl’s body. 

“No problem. I’m always here for you, so you can have fun safely.” Tzuyu pecked her cheek, and Jihyo briefly wondered why she never saw Tzuyu drinking even a bit of beer, despite the girl being nearly seventeen, but the issue quickly left her head when she got reminded about something else. 

“You know what, baby? Remember when I told you that I recently made new friends in Spain? They didn’t even have to drag me out of the house. I wanted to hang out with them by myself.” She beamed, bragging about her latest achievements. “I actually think it’s thanks to you. Both you, and the rest of the wolves. You guys made me into this kind of extrovert.”

“Are you thanking me, or complaining?” Tzuyu burst with laughter. “Because it really sounds as if you were mad at me for making you leave your precious books at home.”

“Come on!” Jihyo slapped her with annoyance, trying to hide that she was laughing too. “I’m not that nerdy.”

“Mhm… You’re the perfect kind of nerdy. I really like nerds.” Tzuyu nosed at her neck and tightened her grip on Jihyo, when the older girl shivered a bit from the cold.

“Nerds? Plural?” Jihyo teased. Tzuyu giggled.

“Nope. Just this one.”

Jihyo hummed, feeling nice in her girlfriend’s arms. Tzuyu was holding her close, making her feel all warm and comfortable. The silence of the garden brought her this kind of peace that she could feel only here, in Moon Grove, under the countless stars in the sky and between the wild forests and wonderful nature. A wide smile blossomed on her face right away, and she sighed with content, looking around the snowy landscape. The terrace where they stood was lit up only with small lamps, which on top of that were covered with a thick layer of snow, but the white fluff laying on the ground made the whole picture a lot brighter. Christmas decorations illuminated the paths joyfully, and the Moon surely kept smiling at them from above, somewhere behind the clouds. 

“You know… I’m happy my parents chose Moon Grove to kick me out of the car.” Tzuyu said suddenly. “I know it sounds weird, but I’m actually glad, because thanks to them, I got to meet you, and my new family. I’m happy now.”

Jihyo felt tears gathering in her eyes, and she squeezed the hand with which Tzuyu was holding her. 

“Me too.” She whispered to the sky, sighing deeply to stop the wetness from flowing down her face. As far as those were tears of joy, she didn’t need them now. “I… I don’t want to leave anymore. But I also want to go there again, and finish my semester. But I also want to stay here, with you.”

“Hmmm, I got it. I totally understand.” Tzuyu nodded. “But you don’t need to worry about us not waiting here for you. We love you, so we’ll always wait for you here. And I know that probably in the future you’re gonna want to live in the city, study and work there. And I’m fine with that too. I’m okay with anything that makes you happy.”

“Oh, Tzu…” Here went her best effort to stop the tears. Jihyo sniffed loudly. “You’re such a sweetheart. But your opinion matters too, baby. If we’re about to be together, we should both be happy about where we live, what we do.”

“But I’m happy with it.” Tzuyu insisted. “And I knew with whom I was starting a relationship. I’m aware that you want to progress with your studies and career. I was aware of that way before. That’s why I’m really not mad if you don’t pick up your phone when you’re tired, or if you want to go somewhere else to live for a while.”

Jihyo sniffed once again.
“What did I do to get such a wonderful person as my girlfriend?”

“Oh, I think you were just as wonderful yourself.” Tzuyu leaned and kissed Jihyo’s nose. Before she could move down, to Jihyo’s lips, there was some kind of noise in the garden that interrupted them. Both their heads snapped in that direction, just to notice Sana standing in front of some other girl, looking very much angry and agitated. Another girl sat on the bench beside them, observing the whole thing. 

“What’s going on there? Should we go and help her?” Jihyo’s voice got strained, the urge to protect her friend fueling her to act. Only the firm presence of Tzuyu’s hands on her waist stopped her from running there first thing. Tzuyu seemed to be observing intently too, her nose scrunched in the search of smells that could tell her what was going on. Before they both could do anything though, the girl with whom Sana seemed to be arguing turned around abruptly and walked away. 

“Nah, she’s fine.” Tzuyu said, but also visibly exhaled with relief. “Looks like she’s found Dahyun finally, so let’s not interrupt them.”

Jihyo couldn’t let go for a few more seconds, straining her eyes to catch what Sana and the other girl - apparently the famous Dahyun - were doing out there. She was still worried, because it didn’t seem as if they were being particularly affectionate with each other. 

“Is she going to be good for Sana? That Dahyun.” She couldn’t help but ask Tzuyu, who had met the girl before a few times. 

“Yeah. She’s going to be a good challenge for our hopeless romantic puppy.” Tzuyu giggled. Jihyo’s first reflex was obviously to ask:

“Why?”

“Oh, because she doesn’t know anything yet, about us.” Tzuyu seemed to be almost amused. “I’m looking forward to seeing how Sana will handle all of that.”

Jihyo turned back to face the garden, noticing that now Sana and Dahyun were sitting on the bench and chatting. Suddenly, completely out of nowhere, Sana grabbed the smaller girl into an aggressive hug, and then quickly stood up from the bench. 

“Well, in my honest opinion, she isn’t handling this particularly well for now.” Jihyo frowned. 

Sana was back on the bench barely seconds later, and Jihyo’s eyes really weren’t good enough to follow everything in the darkness. Especially when the next thing she could hear was a loud yell coming from the inside of the house. 

“ Ten… Nine… Eight… ” People were scanding. 

Tzuyu gently took her hands away from Jihyo’s waist, just to turn her around. She didn’t say anything out loud, but her eyes were speaking tons of words - how much she enjoyed holding Jihyo in her arms, how much she was looking forward to the new year in her life, how much she was happy that out of every place in the world, she was thrown to Moon Grove. Jihyo knew that her eyes were responding with similar things, when she focused on studying the beauty of Tzuyu’s face and how it was glowing in the darkness of the night. 

“I love you.” It slipped out of her mouth without her consent, but it quite fitted the moment, so she let it be, not especially stressed that Tzuyu was going to take it badly. If anything, the younger girl probably wanted to be the first one to say it, but in this case, Tzuyu had to somehow swallow it up that Jihyo was first. Jihyo was always fir–

“ Three… Two… One… ” 

Tzuyu just grinned widely, and when the crowd in the house shouted a loud “Happy New Year!”, she leaned down and caught Jihyo’s lips into a kiss. When they parted a while later, colorful sparks lit up Tzuyu’s gaze.

“I love you too. Happy New Year, baby.” She muttered, suddenly turning a bit shy, then bursting with happy laughter. Jihyo laughed too, not able to contain her happiness inside.

She wasn’t scared anymore. They were going to be fine. 

She was actually looking forward to the future, to what was about to come for her in her life. She didn’t need to rush anything, or worry about not meeting anyone’s expectations, because she knew that they would always be there for her, no matter where in the world she was and how far apart they were.