(i changed her name to 'naeun')
"You're more than welcome." Naeun wheezed, her breath knocked out of her as soon as Namjoon hugged her. "I'm going to go shower too and then we can..."
"Uhm," Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck. "Can I possibly have some food? I'm really, really hungry."
"Of course of course." Naeun nodded several times, realizing she's completely forgotten to eat today.
"And then, we can talk more about your day?" Namjoon suggested, dancing around the topic. "You,, smell really, really upset and tired. It would help to talk about it, right? That's what you've told me."
"Doctors are the worst patients." Naeun sighed with a smile. "You're right Namjoon. I'll see you in a little while." Naeun shut the door to the bedroom behind her, walking to her room, cursing under her breath, not wanting to talk about her day at all.
Namjoon smiled slightly at his friend's behavior, but his smile dimmed as his memory and nose suddenly had a disagreement.
"Why is Mari's scent so faint?"
—
Naeun slowly stirred the ramen in the boiling water, staring with a blank expression on her face as she did so. She was doing her best to zone out enough so the dog pills in her peripheral vision disappeared.
But as much as she tried, she couldn't block them out.
Naeun gasped excitedly, putting her hands on her hips as she looked down at Mari with bright eyes and a brighter smile. "What time is it?"
Mari's entire body wiggled along with her tail wagging, excited pants leaving her mouth as she followed her mom to the kitchen.
"Is it treat time?" Naeun asked with a singsong tone, uncapping the container of Mari's treat-shaped pills. "Yes it is! Yes it is!" Naeun held her hand out and Mari sat down, her tail slapping against the ground as it continued to wag. "Good girl!" Naeun praised, letting Mari eat the treats from her hand.
Naeun slid the container back on the island, by the stove before kneeling down in front of her dog. "Such a good girl! Good girl Mari!"
Naeun dropped the wooden spoon she used to stir the pot and grabbed the container of pills, storming to her kitchen trash can, holding it over the top of the trash can. But she stared at the container, her lip trembling, remembering their routine so fondly.
The routine she didn't get to do today.
Naeun turned away from the trash can and hugged the container to her chest, praying quiet apologies to whoever was watching her from the skies. She made her way back to the stove, putting the pills in their place, adjusting it ever so slightly, making it perfect.
Making it how it was supposed to be.
"Uhm, Naeun?"
Naeun quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face the lion hybrid. "N-Namjoon! Sorry, I didn't hear you come down."
Namjoon, who held his tail in his hands, slowly walked into the kitchen. "Naeun, is Mari... dead?" Namjoon swallowed nervously, watching Naeun physically flinch. "I can't smell her as strongly as I used to."
Naeun nodded, her lip trembling even worse than before. "Y-Yeah. The other night, she... she had..." Naeun covered her eyes with a hand, crying softly, unable to finish the sentence.
Namjoon took long strides to her, pulling her into a hug, being cautious of his hybrid-related strength as he hugged her. "I'm so sorry Naeun. I know you two went through so much together."
