As the months melted away, Yuri got more and more used to her monsters. It seemed that they got used to her too, Jun being less chaotic, Wonwoo, Seokmin, Vernon, and Joshua who had enrolled in online classes, becoming virtually unrecognizable from humans.
After she had passed her finals with flying colors, she was more excited then ever. With the school year over and her birthday coming up, Yuri was ready to go visit her family.
Moving out of the college dorms was a choice she and Afia had already made, and this time they decided to rent an apartment near the campus, it was easier than lugging everything to and from their houses when the year ended.
Of course, this also include Yuri dragging Jun and Minghao out to both the dorms and the new apartment in order to take down and reinstate their spells, without Afia's knowledge. It was surprisingly easy, since Afia had helped move all their stuff before hopping on a plane to the states so she could visit some of her own family.
This left Yuri free to do whatever she wanted. She had several plans, much of which included visiting her younger brother. In fact, she was prepared to order train tickets to Busan when she got the call from her parents, saying that she was forbidden from visiting.
Yuri didn't know what to think. Her brother was the only part of her family who actually cared about her. He was her constant companion, and she just wanted to talk with him again. But she couldn't. It just wasn't allowed.
So she just hung up the phone, shut her computer off and put it away. She was about to turn the TV on and watch Netflix in a depressive state while eating ice cream, when the doorbell rang.
Yuri sighed and trudged towards the door to open it. When she did, she got tackled by a very enthusiastic Chan. She laughed, wrapping her arms around the boy.
"Hi Chan, how are you?" She pulled back from the hug and closed the door.
He frowned. "You smell like sadness."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "That's not nice."
"But you do!"
She shook her head. "Whatever you say. What's up?"
"Oh!" Chan grinned. "I took a job at a coffee shop, today's my first day!"
Yuri smiled. "Really? That's great! Are the others sure that you're ready?"
He nodded. "Minghao is a little unsure still, but he's letting me do it, and Seungcheol thinks it the best thing for me to do if I want to get better at blending in."
"So, what does that have to do with me?" Yuri flopped down on the couch and raised an eyebrow at Chan.
He looked down. "I kinda, maybe need you to drive me?" He glanced back up at her curiously.
Yuri jumped to her feet. "Of course, why didn't you just start with that?" She grabbed her keys off the counter. "Come on."
Chan chattered the entire way there, explaining the research he had done on coffee, and humans, what to do and what not to do. He could smile, shake their hands, ask them how their day was. He was not allowes to sniff them, or howl while working, extend his claws or growl.
Yuri sighed. She was nervous about leaving him by himself, despite the fact that he had a phone and could text her if he got in trouble, and he had access to the internet. Still, she walked him in, and texted Jun to meet her.
While Chan was introducing himself to the manager, a small mousey girl by the name of Ivy, Yuri tucked herself into the back corner. To her surprise, Jun ran in about two minutes later and slid into the seat next to her.
"How did you get here so fast?"
"Portal. Helps that Seungkwan was chasing me, I may have stolen some of his food."
Yuri rolled her eyes. "Yeah you probably shouldn't have done that. Anyways, Chan asked me to come drive him to his new job and I wanted to make sure he was doing ok."
Behind her, the manager started yelling. "Damn it, this isn't that hard! Why can't you just put the ingredients in the right blender, you're doing everything wrong!"
Yuri narrowed her eyes. "See?"
She watched as Chan visibly flinched and started shaking. Jun placed a hand over hers.
"Wait, you can't just barge in there. Calm down."
Yuri hesitated, then nodded. She was going to sit still and just let him do it by himself. That was the plan. But plans don't always work out well. The girl continued to yell at Chan for messing up and Yuri got steadily uneasier.
"She holds a surprisingly large amount of anger for such a small girl," Jun commented.
"I just hope Chan doesn't accidentally claw her, he's scared, look at him."
Finally, Ivy threw a roll of paper towels on the counter and stormed into the back room and Yuri practically ran up to the counter.
Chan looked at her, relieved. "I don't think she likes me."
Yuri frowned. "I'm sorry Chanie. Don't worry, you'll get it." She reached up and scratched him on the head. "Jun and I are waiting in the corner, when you get off your shift, let's go get ice cream, ok?"
Chan's eyes brightened and he smiled, nodding vigorously. Yuri returned to her seat.
Jun raised an eyebrow at her. "What'd you say."
"That we're gonna get ice cream. Also, if she keeps this up, she may just get a stern talking to from me."
"Chan's not your child, he can handle himself, don't worry."
Yuri sighed. "I know. I just want to be able to protect him."
After his shift ended, Yuri made good on her word, and the three of them ended up on the pier, eating and watching the sunset. Chan leaned his head on her shoulder and nuzzled closer to her.
"Thanks for being there Yuri. You're the best."
Yuri smiled. "Of course. Thank Jun too. Surprisingly, he's very calm in these kind of situations."
"Actually, I was thinking of different courses, but also, maybe she was having a bad day. You never know."
Chan laughed. "So I did good?"
"Yes you did good, you did the best."
Jun nodded. "Yeah, you did great, Seungcheol will be proud." He glanced over at Yuri. "Can we get more ice cream?"
Yuri giggled. "I think you need to get a job too with all the money you're making me spend."
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