Chapter Text
The high of winning and reuniting with her fellow hunters lasts for a while. The crowd cheers at their performance, unknowing of the full extent of their win and the amount of danger they were really in. Rumi’s smile, albeit a little tired, is not faked. With Zoey on one side and Mira on the other, each holding onto one of her hands, the world seems to slow down for just a moment and allow her to breathe.
So she breathes, patterns dancing on her skin in plain sight but not an ounce of shame because of them. Zoey and Mira know now. She should’ve told them earlier but it worked out. They’ll talk about it later. Right now, they still love her and that’s enough.
The power she received from their fans in the heat of the moment slowly bleeds out of her, sapping her energy as adrenaline fades. Little by little, Rumi is returned to her usual level of power and shivers a little at the lack of warmth it once provided. Zoey and Mira automatically press a little closer to compensate. They understand better than anyone what it feels like coming down from that high and are probably going through something very similar.
Rumi rests her head against Mira’s, fighting off the sleepiness. It’s going to be a long night but with the two of them, she can handle it. She can handle anything.
Bobby helps too. Broken out of the Saja Boy’s trance, he leaps into action as he’s always done to deal with the press. Cameras are flashing, people are asking questions and fawning over them all over again, and Rumi easily falls into the rhythm she knows as well as she knows how to fight. The new Honmoon has been formed and secured so there’s little else to do but return to being a Huntrix.
Their fans are confused, unsure of what happened to the Saja Boys or what exactly happened at the stadium in the first place, but with Bobby’s help, they weave a story. All of it was a planned ‘Storyline’ to give them the performance of a lifetime. They planned to work together with the Saja Boys for the show. Said boys are now enjoying a very long vacation. Eventually people will ask where they’ve gone when they don’t come back but that’s a future problem, and may not fully become their problem at all.
They’ll handle it in stride as they’ve always done.
Grief hits Rumi gradually. Once they’re out of the spotlight, the weight of her loss begins to press down on her. She thinks of Jinu’s face being consumed by Gwi-Ma’s flames, his soul circling her and giving her the first boost of power she needed to finish the battle. She remembers his words— “You gave me my soul back. And now, I give it to you.”— moments before he was gone.
She remembers how she was angry with him for betraying her, then how she painfully understood him in believing they were something rotten like she was taught to believe all were, then the regret after watching him disappear that she didn’t get to kiss him and tell him what he meant to her. That he was gone forever and she wouldn’t get to deal with any of those feelings properly.
The moment Rumi slips into her dressing room to get a little time alone to process, she all but collapses on the first chair she can reach. Her head falls into her hands as tears escape her. Because they have won and created a Honmoon to truly be proud of, but the cost was great. She had wanted him to enjoy their victory too— had wanted Jinu to be here— but he’s not. And he’s gone.
And she doesn’t think he’s coming back this time.
No matter how much she wipes her tears, more seem to take their place. She breathes shakily, a slight tremble in her shoulders, but the sudden and unexpected warmth that touches her shoulder makes her jolt up. Rumi looks, half expecting Mira or Zoey to have entered her dressing room without her realizing but instead she’s greeted by a small, blue soul.
Rumi almost immediately stops crying but more so out of confusion than anything else. Because this soul shouldn’t be here. When the crowd lent her the strength she needed, the rest of their power should’ve returned to them in the aftermath. She knows the rest of it did, she felt it. The relationship between demon hunters and those they protect is symbiotic. Hunters like her protect them and in return, those they protect give them the power to stand up to even the fiercest demons.
All power not used always returns to its owner. So why is this soul still—
Rumi’s thoughts come to a screeching halt, mouth parting in shock.
All power returns to its owner. Unless there isn’t anything to return to. Unless said owner doesn’t have a body to inhibit the soul anymore, such as if it gets burned in an inferno while trying to protect her.
Hesitantly, Rumi reaches out, cupping the soul in her hands. It’s smaller than before, weaker from the fight, but still shining. It warms the palms of her hands, flashing a brighter shade of blue for just a moment. Rumi studies it closely, trying to determine if her suspicions are correct. In the end, she takes a leap of faith, even if it’ll hurt if she’s wrong about this.
“Jinu..?”
Immediately, the soul flashes a brighter shade of blue again. Her breath catches in her throat before she leans closer, trying again. “Jinu? Is— is that you? Flash three times in a row if that’s you.”
The soul dutifully flashes three times in a row. Rumi feels like crying again— scratch that, she is crying again. But this time her mouth is curved into a shaky smile and the soul seems to press against her hands, as if trying to comfort her. She briefly shifts to hold him in one hand so she can wipe her face, a little laugh leaving her.
“You— you—” she struggles to find the words after such a long day of trying to find all the right ones. Maybe she’s projecting considering the little soul doesn’t have any facial expressions but she swears he seems apologetic. Rumi bows her head, taking in deep breaths. The soul softly brushes against her forehead. If she closes her eyes, she can pretend the tickle of warmth she feels from it is from his lips.
“You jerk…” She sniffs, rubbing her eyes again. “Why’d you have to burn yourself up like that? Why couldn’t… Fuck. How dare you? You’re making me cry. Again.”
The soul flickers in a way that distinctly feels like laughter. He’s laughing at her. Probably because he wants to say something cheesy like, “Rumi, I didn’t know you cared so much!” or something. Just thinking about it makes her laugh again.
She really misses his voice right now.
“I, um.” She clears her throat before admitting, “I don’t know what to do here. But— stay with me, okay? I don’t know how to fix this but I can at least try to make sure you don’t get any worse.”
The soul glows brightly again. She can imagine him smiling and saying something like, “Stay with you? Well, if you insist.”
She really misses his dumb voice and dumb jokes and dumb, big, dark eyes that can never quite mask a layer of sadness.
She really misses him. All of him. But if all that remains of him is his soul right now then she’ll make sure it lasts for as long as she can make it last.
It takes a few minutes for Rumi to find the strength to stand again. She sets the soul down on her chair and points firmly. “I need to change real quick. I expect full 1900s gentlemanly behavior from you so close your… Soul eyes? Your whatever. Just give me a little privacy, okay?”
The soul flashes once and stays in place. Rumi quickly gets dressed into her usual civilian wear, including her favorite hoodie. Once finished, she returns to scoop him up and put him in the hoodie pocket. She pulls back the fabric of the pocket a little to peek at him inside to ask, “This okay? Mira and Zoey can see you later but I don’t want to broadcast you to everyone.”
Another flash. He’s content enough so Rumi lets him settle in and branches off to find the other girls.
Mira and Zoey are both in their own civilian clothes, looking more than a little exhausted. Both of them smile upon seeing her, Zoey clapping her hands excitedly. “Ohhh, Rumi, your new patterns look so cute on you!”
Rumi pulls up one of her sleeves since she can’t see the ones lingering on her neck and face. They’re subtler but still there. They’ve just… Changed. No longer a shameful shade of purple or an angry shade of magenta, but iridescent. Something to get used to for certain but… She likes them. She can’t remember ever liking them before.
“Thank you, Zoey.” Rumi smiles softly. She’s then met with uncertainty. What should she say to them? Where does she even begin with how to explain herself and apologize?
Mira catches the shift in her mood and rises from her seat. “Let’s go home.” She says, not leaving room for an argument. Her eyes carefully meet Rumi’s, a little cautious but still a solid foundation she would crumble without. “We need to talk and I’d really like it if we could do it from the comforts of our couch.”
“Couch!” Zoey shoots up at the word. “Please, I need to sit down and rot for a week.”
“Couch.” Rumi agrees with a smile. “Sounds good to me.”
Mira nods, though not as confident as she usually does. There’s a small crack in the tough exterior she displays but Rumi knows they’ll handle it tonight. They’ll air it all out and heal any rift between them and they’ll be the Huntrix again, as they’ve always been.
It takes around twenty minutes to get out of the building and into their limousine. Bobby calls over to them that they should take it easy and let him handle the press. They thank him and tell him to take some time off soon. His eyes sparkle as he nods back.
There’s a divider between them and the driver. Rumi knows from experience that it gives them privacy to talk about their hunter things. If they’ve ever been overheard, their driver hasn’t said a word to anyone.
“Hey uh…” Rumi chews on her lip. Zoey immediately looks up, paying attention. Mira frowns, arms crossed but not interrupting. They let her find her words. “I know we’re gonna talk once we’re on the couch but— I should probably tell you guys about this as soon as possible.”
“Tell us about what?” Zoey nods encouragingly. It gives her the strength to pull the soul out of her hoodie pocket, cupping it in her hands again. Both Zoey and Mira lock on to it, shocked.
“Rumi. Where did you get that?” Mira asks, voice hard. For a moment, Rumi tenses, but then Mira sees and sighs, shoulders slumping. “I didn’t— I wasn’t trying to accuse you of anything. I just don’t understand. All the power we borrowed left us. Why hasn’t that soul gone back to its owner?”
“Because he has nothing to go back to.” Rumi has to take in a breath before she reveals, “It’s Jinu’s.”
In the blink of an eye, Zoey has her blades out. Rumi jolts, immediately bringing the soul closer to her chest protectively. Mira barks out a sharp, “Zoey!” that has her turning pink and the blades disappearing.
“Sorry!” She squeaks. “Force of habit! We just fought the Saja Boys, I’m a little on edge!”
Rumi relaxes a little. “It’s okay.” She tells her, forcing herself not to hide the soul away again. “I get it. I don’t blame you, they were our enemies but… Jinu saved me. His sacrifice was the reason we won.”
There’s a pause in the conversation. The sounds of the city are distant but the gentle noise of tires on the road fills the room. Both Zoey and Mira have contemplative looks in their eyes. Mira is the first to look up and break the silence.
“I have a lot of questions about that. But I’m going to hold off until we get there.” Her eyes flicker down at the soul cupped in her hands. “You’re sure it’s his?”
Rumi nods. Mira nods back and the rest of the trip is silent.
They all but stumble into their living room, exhaustion starting to take its toll. Mira points to the couch and tells Rumi to take a seat while her and Zoey split off. It’s weird not to do anything but Rumi should probably be listening to them right now so she does. She watches from the couch as Zoey begins to raid their kitchen, nabbing a variety of snacks and a few drinks before bringing them all over to dump on the coffee table. Not long after, Mira returns with her arms full of pillows and blankets. All of them take what they need.
Soon enough, Rumi has a blanket around her shoulders and pulled close to her. Zoey is laying on her stomach, having grabbed a plethora of pillows to make herself comfortable, and Mira has a blanket hanging off her head and a pillow in her lap. They’ve all chosen a few snacks, the sound of crunching filling the room. The soul sticks close to her, currently hovering around her shoulder.
They settle in and eat in silence for a little while, an unspoken agreement that they all need this. They’ve had the longest day of their lives and god knows what will come tomorrow. Refuel and rest are their top priorities.
The words come to Rumi slowly, trickling in like the dam inside of her is going to break unless she relieves some of the pressure. It still feels taboo to speak about it at all after a lifetime of lying but… It feels good once she starts talking.
“My father was a demon.” Are the first words out of her mouth. It feels like a good place to start. The beginning always helps put things into perspective.
Mira puts down her drink to look at Rumi, examining her expressions. Zoey doesn’t stop eating, though she’s making a conscious effort to be quieter and has slowed down in pacing.
“I honestly don’t know anything else about him.” Rumi rubs circles into the fuzzy blanket. Suddenly it’s hard to look her fellow hunters in the eye and spill all her secrets at the same time. “That’s all Celine told me. She knew all along but always told me to hide my patterns. She told me I could get rid of them if we could make the Honmoon gold and banish all the demons. And for so long, I wanted that. I wanted nothing more than to get rid of these patterns forever.”
She has to pause when it feels like her throat is closing up on her. The warmth from the soul pressing closer to her cheek has her fighting a smile. Her nerves ease a little. Rumi reminds herself to keep breathing.
“She told me to never tell you two. That it was for the best that I cover my patterns forever until I could get rid of them. And I believed her. I— I wanted to tell you two some days and dreaded the idea completely on others. And I’m so sorry I didn’t sooner, I should’ve known if I had been honest—”
Rumi stops immediately when she hears a sob. Her head snaps up to see tears streaming down Zoey’s face, lip trembling. She waves her off hastily, shaking her head.
“Ig— ignore me! Just keep g-going!”
“Did I upset you?” Rumi asks, alarmed. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—!”
Zoey sobs again, desperately trying to wipe her tears away. Mira growls under her breath, slapping her hands on her knees. “Zoey, just tell her whatever made you upset already! Staying silent makes it worse.”
“I just—!” She sniffs, breathing shakily. “I feel like we validated your fears! We— we drew our weapons on you! We didn’t trust you at first! And— and you were so afraid of that exact reaction for years and— I’m sorry! I should be the one apologizing! I— I wasn’t listening after we saw your patterns and I— I—!”
Rumi gapes slightly, not expecting her response. She doesn’t get to reply before Mira is suddenly adding, “I’m sorry too. We should’ve given you a chance to explain yourself properly, even if it did look bad. You’re important to us. You…” She looks away, fingers curling around the fabric of her pants. “You two are my family, you know?”
Rumi’s heart swells. She rubs her cheek when a few tears escape her but leans forward and takes one of Mira’s hands. She looks up, eyes full of hope and vulnerability. Rumi smiles and squeezes her hand, then offers the other to Zoey. Zoey sits up so she can complete the circle.
“You’re my family too. Both of you.” Rumi murmurs, just loud enough for all of them to hear. “I’m not mad about what happened. If the roles were reversed, I probably would’ve questioned everything too. I didn’t explain anything right anyways.”
“I don’t blame you.” Zoey smiles back shakily. “I don’t know what I would’ve said in your place either. I’m just… I’m really glad we’re all okay. And I’m glad we know now.” She then hesitates before leaning over to bump her shoulder with Rumi’s, a playful look in her eyes. “And I’m really glad you kept your patterns. I always knew there were good demons out there.”
Rumi chuckles to herself, not letting go of Zoey or Mira’s hands as she wipes her face on her sleeve. Since it’s as good of a place as any, she says, “Speaking of demons that aren’t evil…”
Mira narrows her eyes. “Jinu. Explain. You said something about… Tricking him onto your side?”
“I think we tricked each other.” Rumi admits. “And then tricked ourselves too. I uh… He saw my patterns. At the bathhouse. And he saved me from accidentally revealing it to you two and wanted to talk to me about it later. I ended up meeting up with him because I wanted the chance to get one over on him but,” she glances over at the soul on her shoulder, chuckling at the memory in hindsight, “He expected that. He’s a pretty hard guy to kill, believe it or not.”
“I believe it.” Mira replies instantly. “If you couldn’t kill him, I believe it. You’re a good huntress.”
“Thank you.” Once again, her heart is warmed. The more she talks, the easier it is to keep talking. Mira and Zoey make everything so much easier. “But uh, since I couldn’t kill him, he was able to talk to me. At first asking about me being part demon but then he told me about himself.” At this, she shoots a pointed look at the soul on her shoulder, wondering if she’s imagining that he seems a bit sheepish now. “Granted, he lied about some of it and only came clean later but… I could tell he lived with great regret and shame. So I kept thinking about him. And we met up alone a few more times.”
“How many?” Mira prods.
“Three I think. Unless I’m forgetting one. And I know how it sounds but… I saw good in him. And I thought maybe if I could prove one demon could be good, then I could be good too. I know,” she says when Mira and Zoey both look at her with sympathy, “I wasn’t in a great headspace. And I know he betrayed me but I feel like something happened because he was so… Hopeful when I last saw him. I thought I could help him.” When the soul begins to circle her, catching her attention again, she adds, “He said I did. Right before Gwi-Ma burned him away, he told me I saved his soul, so he was giving it to me.”
The soul settles on her shoulder again, flashing once. Rumi once again finds herself missing his dumb, gorgeous face. She can only imagine the kind of look he would have, resting his chin on her shoulder as she talks about how they met. Interjecting with his own points, like wanting to specify the pajamas she was wearing or… Telling her what he was thinking when they met up. What was going on in his head. What happened between promising to make the Saja Boys lose and betraying her and nearly dooming the world to Gwi-Ma’s flames.
Answers she may now never get.
“Did you kiss him?” Mira squints at her. Rumi is ripped out of her thoughts, mouth gaping.
“What?”
She squints harder. “That’s a no. But you wanted to, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t— how did you—!”
“Wait…” Zoey lets go of their hands to cross her arms, glaring at Rumi now. “So while you were shaming me and Mira for finding some of the Saja Boys hot, you were having secret dates with their lead singer?”
“They weren’t dates!” Rumi finds herself shouting, flustered. “Not— not officially. We were just talking. It’s like Mira said, I never even kissed him.”
“But you wanted to.”
Rumi flounders for an answer. It might be true but she doesn’t want to admit it right now— especially not with the now brightly glowing soul on her shoulder, no doubt delighted with this information.
“He— he’s four-hundred years old!”
“Vampire rules, doesn’t count.” Zoey cuts in. “Besides, you’re twenty-six, not freshly eighteen. No one says you have to date him but like, you can if you want. No judgment. Especially since he’s not with Gwi-Ma anymore.” She pauses, glancing at the soul on her shoulder. “Though maybe on second thought, you might wanna date someone more… Corporeal.”
The soul flashes a duller shade of blue, just for a moment. Rumi tells Zoey, “I think he took offense to that.”
“Sorry, Soul-Jinu!” Zoey smiles apologetically. “I just want what’s best for my girl!”
The soul flashes again, lighter this time. Rumi smiles. “I think he wants the same.”
“How are you translating any of this?” Mira raises an eyebrow. Rumi struggles to think of an answer.
“It just… Feels like the right answer. Plus I think he’d be getting my attention if I was wrong.”
“Mm.” Mira doesn’t look very convinced but drops it. “So you fell in love with him and he betrayed you but then he sacrificed himself for you and now he’s just a soul. Did I get all of that right?”
“…More or less.” Rumi quietly answers. “I’m pretty sure he fell in love with me too.” The soul shines brightly. “That’s a yes!”
“I can’t read souls.” Mira complains, shoulders slumping. “He could be lying and we wouldn’t even know. And how come you didn’t tell us about him sooner?”
“I’d have to explain why he wanted to meet me specifically so bad. Which would mean talking about my patterns.” She gestures to them again. “I did plan on explaining things once we banished all the bad demons and he was free to live on this side of the Honmoon but… Things went a bit differently than expected. So now we’re here.”
“Now we’re here.” Mira repeats. She rolls her shoulders before saying, “If we’re airing everything out, I just wanna say a few things. I hate that you kept secrets from us, even if I get why. I hate that I drew my weapon on you first. I hate that I let Gwi-Ma get into my head when both of you needed me.” She meets their eyes individually. “I’m sorry to both of you for that. I’m also sorry I said a bunch of shit about demons when I didn’t know you were one. Obviously all of that was wrong because clearly not all demons are bad if you’re one. Also I forgive you. For all of it. None of us are perfect so no use pretending to be.”
All of her anxieties seem to drain out of her, if only for a little while. “Exactly.” Rumi agrees. “We shouldn’t have to hide all the things that hurt.”
“I’m also sorry I drew my weapon on you! And I’m sorry if I ever got to be too much.” Zoey tugs on her hair as she speaks. “I’m just really passionate about the things I love and that includes you two. You’re both so so important to me.”
Rumi once again feels like her heart is going to burst. The amount of emotions she’s felt today just might kill her. But it hasn’t yet so she pulls Mira and Zoey in for a group hug so she can tell them both, “You’re not too much and I love you both so much. Nothing makes me happier than getting to be honest with you two.”
Having her two best friends at her side and the soul of the demon who changed her life hovering nearby has her relaxing in their arms. Then Rumi realizes she’s relaxing a little bit too much because suddenly she’s boneless and Mira and Zoey are shouting in surprise. Rumi quickly reorients herself as she pulls back, suddenly feeling like she's crashing.
“Whoa— sorry, didn’t realize I was that out of it.” No matter how much she tries to shake it off, this time it’s sticking.
Mira and Zoey share a look before Mira says, “We’ve all had a long day but you have had a long day. Let’s get you to bed, no arguments.”
Rumi does try to argue but between Mira steering her forward and Zoey running up ahead to open up the door and ushering them through, she doesn’t get a chance. In the blink of an eye, she’s tucked into bed, already feeling the pull of sleep trying to take her under, and grumbling.
“We weren’t done talking though…” She protests weakly.
“Then whatever else needs to be said can wait until you’ve gotten some proper sleep.” Mira informs her. “The sooner you sleep, the sooner we can resume. But we did pretty good today. We’ll book a time to go to the bathhouse and finally go as a group to celebrate.”
“Goodnight, Rumi! We love you and your patterns! Goodnight, Soul-Jinu! I don’t actually know if you sleep but watch over her, ‘kay?”
The door shuts at last. Blinking sleepily, Rumi rolls on her side to gaze at the soul now resting on her nightstand. She has a million things she wants to say to him but the idea of having a one-sided conversation right now makes her heart hurt.
“Goodnight, Jinu.” She manages to whisper, getting a gentle flash back. Her eyelids weigh down on her until they finally shut and Rumi doesn’t last another minute.
Notes:
These girls needed to talk so badly so a large portion of this chapter ended up being that! They love each other so much though so they'll be okay <3
Soul-Jinu might have a limited range of ways to express himself but by god is he trying his best. It does help that Rumi knows him decently well though!
That's it for this chapter but as I said, I have more ideas for future ones so we'll get there in time! I hope y'all enjoyed!! Comments and Kudos are much appreciated and if you wanna find me elsewhere, I also have a Tumblr! Thanks for reading!!
Chapter 2: Morning Surprises
Summary:
Rumi sleeps like the dead. Mira and Zoey wake up to intruders, though not the kind they’re used to.
Notes:
The amount of love and support I've gotten from this fic in just a few days is CRAZY, thank you to everyone who commented, left a kudos, subscribed, and/or just generally enjoyed the fic!
Great news for anyone who wanted the tiger and bird! Originally I was gonna have them just be There Already when the girls returned back to their place but they had a lot to deal with as is so I ended up pushing it into this chapter. Also take some different POVs!!
Hope y'all enjoy and thank you all once again!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mira is not a morning person, no matter how much her parents tried to force her into the habit. If she ever has a choice in sleeping in until ten or eleven, she’ll gladly wrap herself in the comforts of her blankets and do it. Outside of any hunter or Huntrix morning plans, there are very few things that can drag her out of bed if she doesn’t want to get up.
Hearing Zoey’s alarmed scream is one of them.
Years of demon hunting training and experience has Mira moving on pure muscle memory. Before her thoughts catch up to her, she’s yanking her door open with one hand and summoning her polearm in the other. She bolts towards the living room, where she thinks the scream came from, and immediately falls in at Zoey’s side.
“Zoey, talk to me, what’s going on?” Mira’s eyes glance over her but Zoey doesn’t have any new injuries. Her blades are drawn and she has taken a fighting stance, eyes trained onto something. Mira follows her gaze, then stops dead when she sees it too.
It’s some sort of blue tiger demon. Big yellow eyes stare at them and it has teeth protruding out of its mouth. There’s a demonic black bird with a hat sitting on top of the tiger’s head, all three eyes narrowed. The tiger is resting along the back of the couch, gazing at them intensely. Mira points her polearm at them as a warning.
“What the hell?” Mira doesn’t care if she’s being loud, she did not want to be dealing with more demons already after last night. “Since when were there tiger demons?”
“I don’t know!” Zoey’s eyes dart around. “I don’t even know how they got in! They were just— here when I got up!”
“Then let's drive them out.” Mira adjusts her polearm and gets ready to charge. Zoey mimics her, backing her up.
Neither get to before a frantic blue light starts flying right in front of their faces, causing both to reel back. Mira bumps her elbow on the wall behind her, hissing in pain and immediately glaring at the light. It comes to a stop, revealing what she already suspected.
“Seriously, demon boy? What’s your problem?”
“Soul-Jinu? What…” Zoey glances between the soul and the pair of demonic looking animals before she gasps. “Wait! Are they your friends? Quick, blink once for yes and twice for no!”
The soul flashes once. Zoey’s blades vanish almost instantly as her face lights up. “Aweee! Rumi didn’t say you had pets! Or— just animal friends? Are they friendly? Can I pet the tiger?”
He flashes once again. Mira tries to stop her just in case he’s lying but Zoey is too quick, zipping over to rub the tiger’s head. Its eyes close as it blissfully tilts its head towards her, having her cooing over it in no time. The bird has switched to sitting on the tiger’s back instead, still eyeing the two of them.
Mira groans softly and lets her polearm disappear. She can’t prove that the soul is smug in any capacity but her eye still twitches imagining it when she looks at him again. “Give us a heads up before letting your pets into the place. Any other surprise visitors we should know about?”
The soul flashes twice. Mira skeptically hums back. She knows Rumi trusts him but she can’t get over how he broke her heart. She doesn’t know his deal. Rumi said he lived with regret over something but didn’t specify what. Something tells Mira she won’t get answers out of her and unfortunately, interrogating a soul isn’t something she’s even remotely familiar with.
Mira has always had good intuition. With how often her parents put on fake smiling faces and spewed pure bullshit just for the sake of moving up in the world, she got good at reading people. She knew Rumi wasn’t being honest about something. She knew something was up with her suddenly not liking the lyrics to Takedown.
She doesn’t like the uncertainty with Jinu’s soul. She doesn’t like that she can’t get a read on him or tell if he’s actually changed or if he’s going to hurt them again the second he’s able. She doesn’t like the idea of her team, her family, getting hurt like that again.
Mira glances over to make sure Zoey is preoccupied with scrubbing the tiger’s chin before she makes an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture at the soul. Then tries not to feel too embarrassed about how weird it is to be giving a warning to a soul of all things.
She moves past him, pulling open the fridge instead. “I’m gonna cut up some fruit, you want some?”
“Yes please!” Zoey calls over. She’s now very carefully scratching the bird’s neck. It seems to be working because all of the bird’s eyes are closed, no longer wary of them. “Do we have cantaloupe?”
“Yep.” Mira brings out the remaining half of the fruit in question before grabbing a sharp enough knife for the job. Unlike Rumi and Zoey have in the past, she’s never cut her food with her weapon, mostly due to its length. Nonetheless, a demon hunter is trained in a variety of weapons and cutting the rind off the melon is easy work.
She glances up once she’s finished, finding that the soul has wandered over to the tiger and bird. Both are now staring intently, the tiger blinking slowly at him. The soul floats a little closer. The tiger raises a paw and bats at him, which the soul quickly dodges, now flashing duller shades of blue. The tiger pays no mind, continually but lazily swiping its paw at him. Zoey starts giggling and Mira can only imagine the reprimands Jinu is trying to make but cannot in his current form.
She finds herself laughing too, returning to chopping up the cantaloupe into bite-sized chunks.
Once it’s finished and slid into a bowl, she rounds the couch to take a seat where Zoey has, offering some to her. She happily pops some in her mouth. The soul has moved near the bird, shining with that annoyed, dull shade of blue but the tiger has finally left him alone. The bird just seems to be staring him down, almost judgmentally.
Mira wonders how having two and a half non-Huntrix demons hanging around in their place became her life. Assuming the two demonic looking animals are demons, she’s actually not quite sure. She’s seen a lot of demons before but none like them.
“Sorry I woke you up.” Zoey tells her sheepishly, stuffing her face with melon. “I panicked.”
Mira shakes her head. “‘s fine. I would’ve probably woken you up on purpose if I was in your shoes. You sleep alright?”
“Mostly! I’m still kiiinda tired but I don’t think I can go back to sleep anytime soon, y’know? I’m too awake now.”
“Mmm, I get it.” Mira pops another piece into her mouth. It’s juicy and sweet— Bobby picked a good one. He’s got a lot of talents that make their life easier like that. She hopes he enjoys his vacation, and actually gets one this time.
With the two of them picking away at the melon pieces, it’s gone in no time. Mira wipes her fingers off on a paper towel and offers the other to Zoey, who is licking her fingers clean. They’re always hungry after a show or an eventful hunt and considering yesterday was both, she’s not surprised their appetite is still pretty big.
Mira settles against the couch cushions, eyes flickering around the room. Zoey is scrolling on her phone to see what people are posting about last night. The soul and bird are still on the tiger’s back, who seems to either be asleep or resting its eyes. Her thoughts begin to drift. Back to last night.
Back to what they talked about.
Her eyebrows furrow and she frowns to herself. Zoey catches it out of the corner of her eye and asks, “What’s up?”
“Nothing.” Is the automatic response. Mira catches herself with a slight wince and turns towards Zoey. “Not nothing. It’s Celine. How she didn’t tell us about Rumi’s patterns or heritage either.”
Zoey’s face morphs into something more solemn. “Oh. Yeah. I kept thinking about that when I was trying to go to sleep last night. I know it was like, a big secret and everything, but I thought she trusted us more than that.”
Mira hums lowly. Celine was always a strict teacher, even with Rumi, who always did everything she could to meet her expectations. Mira figured she had secrets and things she wasn’t talking about— she always got weird whenever the topic of Rumi’s mom came up— but she didn’t think it was a secret like this. Something that could jeopardize their harmony as a group and as a result, threaten the Honmoon. If there was anything Celine cared about, it was the safety of the Honmoon. Her efforts to preserve it by teaching them everything they needed to know were downright obsessive sometimes.
Well. Clearly she didn’t tell them everything they needed to know.
“Rumi said Celine told her not to tell.” Mira says slowly. “And I know our reactions weren’t the best at first but— we could’ve handled it. None of this might’ve happened like it did if we knew better. We should've known sooner. I don’t blame Rumi, I would’ve been just as hesitant in her place, but Celine could’ve said something. She could’ve at least done more than just— telling her to cover them up and get rid of them!”
Mira doesn’t realize her voice raised to a shout until Zoey puts a hand on her shoulder. Then she feels the slight ache in her throat and groans, running her hands down her face. “I’m just… Frustrated. Because obviously we’re fine now but this could’ve been so much different if we knew!”
“Then we wouldn’t have hurt each other.” Zoey adds softly. Mira can’t do more than nod. “Well… Do you want to tell her all of that?”
Mira wants to say yes but even if she’s smothered all parts of her that fear authority, directly confronting Celine makes her stomach churn, remembering her last conversation with her parents before she was disowned. She thinks she wants to but not now. Not when she’s still exhausted and feeling too many emotions at once.
“Later.” Is what she tells Zoey.
Zoey nods firmly back. “I can be there when you do. I’m frustrated about it too.”
Mira finds it easy to smile at the thought. With Zoey by her side, the thought feels a little less dire. “Thanks.” She says simply, bumping her shoulder. Zoey eagerly returns the gesture. “You’re always backing me up. I appreciate that, I hope you know.”
“I do.” Zoey tells her. She then mischievously grabs her arm to tell her, “And I hope you continue to appreciate it because we’re in too deep and you’re never gonna get rid of me now!”
A snort leaves her. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” Mira replies honestly, and doesn’t miss the way Zoey’s eyes sparkle.
—
It’s around ten in the morning when Mira excuses herself to go shower, leaving Zoey to her own devices. She scrolls for a little while longer before she starts wondering if Rumi is awake yet and tiptoes down the hall.
Rumi’s door is still closed, not a peep from the other side. Zoey opens it just a crack to confirm that Rumi is in fact still sleeping, which is a bit odd. Usually she’s up by now and even if she was really tired from yesterday, ten in the morning is late for her. She’s too much of a workaholic to be wasting daylight.
Zoey frowns and pushes the door open wider so she can poke her head in. “Rumi?” She whispers. Typically she’s a pretty light sleeper. All of them are— a good hunter is always alert of danger. However Rumi doesn’t so much as twitch.
Now Zoey can’t help but be concerned. She pushes the door wide open with the intent of shaking Rumi awake to make sure she’s really okay but a sudden blue light flying in front of her face stops her. She blinks, a little crosseyed as she locks onto the soul.
“Soul-Jinu? Do you know what’s up with Rumi?” One flash, a yes. “She’s not in any danger, right?” Two flashes, a no. “Oh whew! She’s not hurt then?”
The soul pauses for long enough for Zoey to get anxious again. He flashes three times. Her eyebrows furrow. “Uh… Does three mean… Sorta?” He flashes once in confirmation. “Does she need a doctor?” Two flashes, a no. “Medicine?” Two flashes again. “Does she… Need to keep sleeping?” At last she gets a yes. Her shoulders slump in relief and she gestures for the soul to follow her as she steps out of the doorway and softly shuts the door behind them.
“How come you know what’s up with her?” Zoey asks, then frowns to herself. “Wait, that’s not a yes or no question… Ooo— I have an idea! C’mon!”
Try as the soul might to keep up, Zoey’s faster. She’s always been the fastest in the group. From fighting to reflexes to rapping, Zoey is quick to move from one thing to the next. She only slows down to account for other people but sometimes she misses not having to hold back. It’s a reason why she enjoyed skateboarding in her youth. There’s nothing quite like being unrestrained and feeling the wind on your face.
She hasn’t had the time to do it as much lately, aside from for Golden’s music video, but maybe she can find the time soon. Their new Honmoon might not be golden but it’s at its peak strength from their performance the other night. It’ll be a while before more demons slip through the cracks. They can focus on all the things they wanna do instead.
Zoey has to dig through a few cabinets but eventually finds her whiteboard and markers. She hastily writes down the alphabet with the top half and presents it to the soul curiously hovering nearby. “Okay! Just spell out what you want to say! Please tell me what’s wrong with Rumi, I want to understand!”
Dutifully, the soul begins to shift, letting her write down the characters before moving into the next one. Zoey slowly sounds out the letters until she realizes what he’s spelling, “Demon— demon powers? Did Gwi-Ma actually affect her? Two flashes, a no. “Is it because of the demon doubles she was on stage with? Or… You?” Another two flashes. Zoey has to think for longer before she realizes, “Wait, do you mean her own?”
The soul flashes yes. Zoey’s eyes go wide. “I didn’t even know she had demon powers other than the voice thing… You’re sure she used some?” A yes. “How?”
He begins to spell again, one word this time. “Soul? Her soul? You can just tell from that? I’m guessing that’s a demon thing?” She gets all yeses from her line of questioning. “Do you know what she did?” This time it’s a no. Zoey chews on her lip. “It’s not gonna be like this every time she uses her demon powers, right?”
She gets a no before he starts spelling something out. She catches on quick. “First— oh, because this is her first time doing it? So she’s not used to it and she’s just tired?” A yes. Zoey smiles. “Okay. Okay! It’ll be like working out, she just needs to build that muscle! I mean, not that she has to use them but it’s pretty cool so if there’s no reason not to…”
“…What are you two doing?” Mira asks flatly. Zoey spins around, spotting her in fresh clothes, freshly dried hair, and her glasses on rather than her contacts. She steps to the side to reveal the board. Mira squints at it. “You… Made him a Ouija Board?”
“Yeah! I had some questions that would take forever to answer with just yes or no questions so I thought this could help! You wanna try?”
Mira doesn’t answer immediately, eyeing the soul and the board before she says, “No. I don’t have anything to say to him right now.”
She walks past, heading for the fridge to peruse drinks. Zoey shrugs at the soul and tries to think if she has any other questions.
—
Rumi wakes up sore, not for the first time but with a deeper ache than the ones she’s had in a long while. She rolls her shoulders, one hand trying to massage the shoulder blade with a little success. She groans softly to herself, stretching her arms out.
Her patterns catch her eye. She saw them last night but it’s still strange seeing them at all. Not just iridescent and weirdly beautiful but stretching across her body, no longer hidden by her long sleeves and tall collars. One finger traces the patterns in slight awe. There’s a reflexive urge inside of her to hide them but she thinks of Zoey’s praise from the other night and fights it.
The patterns are hers. She shouldn’t have to cover them up anymore if she doesn’t want to. They’re a part of her.
She repeats that mentally a few times. It gets a little easier with each one.
Her eyes roam her bedroom, first taking notice of the fact that her clock says it’s now noon, which is weird because she never sleeps until noon, but then it hits her what’s not there. Panic comes with it. Rumi throws her covers off hastily.
“Jinu? Jinu?” She calls, doing a quick search of the whole room. There’s not a speck of blue light anywhere. Her heart pounds, memories returning— flames eating away at his body, his acceptance that he was dying, the weak soul she could hold in just one hand— he can’t be gone. He couldn’t have just— disappeared overnight, could he?
How do you know? You know nothing about souls in his state. About how long they can last and stick around. Maybe he disappeared because you weren’t doing anything to help. Maybe you really lost him this time.
The sounds of Mira and Zoey’s voices in the main room has her leaping into action. She yanks her bedroom door open, skidding to a halt once she’s reached the end of the hall to yell, “Mira! Zoey! Have either of you seen Jinu? He—!”
Both girls whip around, startled, and Rumi spots a blue light rise from the table. Her shoulders slump, panting as she attempts to quell her fast-beating heart, rubbing her eyes when her head throbs. “Oh… Oh, good, okay…”
“Rumi, are you okay?” Mira sounds genuinely concerned. Rumi waves her off, her movements a bit halfhearted.
“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it.” When she lifts her head, the soul is hovering right in front of her. She can practically feel his worry from here. “Really, I’m okay. I just woke up and I thought you might’ve disappeared for a second. It was stupid of me— I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
“I wouldn’t call that stupid.” Zoey calls over, then gestures for her to come closer. “C’mere, petting a cat is scientifically proven to improve your mood! I can definitely feel it improving my mood.”
“Cat?” Rumi blinks. She angles herself to look over the couch, unable to keep herself from smiling upon seeing familiar blue fur. She races over and drops to the ground to wrap her arms around the tiger. He growl-purrs happily, nuzzling into her face. She laughs, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “Hey. I’m glad you’re still here.”
An indignant tweet has her looking up and assuring the bird, “You too, of course.” The bird seems satisfied by that, nodding once.
The softness of the tiger’s fur is soothing. She holds on for a little longer, letting her previous panic drain away. The soul is hovering nearby, just within her sight. She’s pretty sure that’s on purpose.
“So you have met these two.” Mira notes, sipping her Mira-Flavored Promotional Huntrix Soda. She’s pretty sure hers is ‘Pomegranate Punch’ flavored, featuring both pomegranate and cinnamon. “I guess they can stick around then. How the hell are we gonna hide the tiger from Bobby whenever he comes around though?”
“Oh, the tiger can do this thing where he sinks into the ground and teleports somewhere else.” Rumi explains. As if on command, the tiger does just that, the ground turning blue from under him. He pops up just a few feet away, blinking owlishly. Rumi smiles. “Like that.”
“Huh. Alright, that’ll work. You hungry? Zoey and I were just about to order in.”
“Starving.” Rumi groans, joining them on the couch. The soul gravitates closer so she holds her palms open and he sinks into it, warmth spreading across her hands. She thinks he’s trying to apologize for making her worry like that. She smiles and murmurs privately that it’s okay, she’s fine.
She doesn’t move to stop holding onto his soul however. He doesn’t move away either.
After placing their orders, Zoey turns fully towards her, crisscrossing her legs on the couch. “Do you feel better? Soul-Jinu said he could tell you used your demon powers for the first time and you needed a little time to recover!”
“I did..?” Rumi frowns slightly, then remembers. It was a bit of a haze, she wasn’t really thinking about it, but she teleported last night. She thinks she may have teleported more than once to make sure she got to the stadium in time. No wonder she felt so sore this morning. “That… Explains so much.”
Zoey nods along enthusiastically. “And hey, maybe if you practice with them a little, you’ll have more control and you could do more stuff! That’d be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?”
Rumi doesn’t know how to reply. She’s always known she was part demon but other than her patterns and the way her voice could change, she never really thought about powers. Some part of her churns at the thought, at being more demon-like than she’s used to, but the rest of her is… Curious. She doesn’t know what she can and can’t do and surely it would be better to learn purposefully than to find out accidentally, wouldn’t it?
Rumi has spent her whole life hating demons and the patterns on her skin. Now she’s pretty sure she’s in love with one and the patterns are out in the open for her fellow hunters to see.
So much has changed in such a short time. Some part of her is still reeling.
“…Maybe a little practice might be good.” She says slowly, as if testing the words out. Both Zoey and the soul light up, literally in the latter’s case. Zoey squeals in delight and pulls her in for a hug. Rumi returns it, peeking over her shoulder to meet Mira’s gaze. Her eyes are soft and she’s smiling a little at them, raising a playful eyebrow when their eyes meet. Rumi stifles a laugh before she pulls back.
As they wait for their food to arrive, Rumi talks about her interactions with the tiger and bird while Zoey tells her about their own eventful morning. She’s sincerely glad they didn’t actually fight the pair of demonic looking animals and considers if she has anything to ask Jinu using their new ‘Soul Communication Board’ as Zoey is calling it.
Everything she wants to ask feels too big for it though so she opts for asking him if his current form is stable and if there’s anything they should be doing. He confirms he’s stable but doesn’t seem to know exactly how to fix his condition. He tells them it might just take some time.
Rumi thinks she’s okay with waiting if it means the possibility of getting him back. She has a lot she wants to say.
—
They have a slow day for once, scheduling their first bathhouse outing later in the week. It’s a little hard for Rumi to switch gears and just relax for once without thinking about what comes next but she tries. And considering she’s only partly thinking about what they’re gonna do once they come off of hiatus, she thinks she’s pretty successful.
She tells herself not to be nervous when stuffing her face with the soul of the guy she probably loves nearby but he doesn’t seem to be judging judging at least. She thinks the tiger and bird are pretty happy to see him okay, even if the tiger is so enthralled by the light that he keeps swiping at him. She’s reminded of cats and laser points, a fact that makes her snicker.
The soul sticks closest to her. Rumi can’t say she doesn’t like it. Sometimes it’s easy to imagine he’s still physically there, hanging around her as the Huntrix enjoy a rest day. She wants to imagine him leaning up against her, resting there, casual yet a level of intimacy they never quite got to achieve. But then she’s reminded of what she can’t yet have and her blissful mood flips.
“Is it too early to say I kinda miss you?” Rumi asks when she retreats into her room later, followed by the soul. “I mean, I know you’re here but I think I miss your voice. And your smile. And getting to hold your hand.” She pauses and glares over her shoulder. “Don’t get a big head about that. And don’t think you’re completely off the hook later because I have questions about why you betrayed me. I just can’t really ask them right now. I mean I could but… It feels a bit too serious for the communication board.”
She sits on the side of her bed, rubbing her face with a groan. She can tell the soul is nearby but he’s giving her a bit more space than usual. She can’t tell if she’s glad for it or if she wants him closer.
“It kinda feels like I can’t really talk to you like I want to or… Feel everything I wanna feel when you’re still recovering. Not just because of your form but… What if I get mad and say something out of frustration and then you just vanish and that was the last thing I ever got to say to you? I don’t— I don’t want to fuck this up!”
A gentle glow moving in front of her has her blinking and looking up. Rumi looks into Jinu’s soul and feels something in her ease. She thinks he’s trying to tell her it’s okay. That he understands. That it’ll be okay.
She really wants to believe it.
She’s not crying but her eyes sting like she’s going to. She shakes herself and asks, “Hey, this might sound a bit weird so stop me if you’re uncomfortable with it but… Can I hold you close to my chest for a little while?”
The soul pauses. It feels like an eternity but then he floats closer and allows her to cup him in her hands. Rumi lays down, curling around the small but ever-shining soul in her hands. The warmth may only stay in her hands but she doesn’t care, it’s proof that he’s still here and she’ll take what she can get.
“Sorry.” She laughs, a little shakily. “I’m sure cuddling with a girl like this is probably scandalous in your time but I kinda need it right now.” The soul flickers like he’s laughing. Rumi stifles a laugh of her own. “Ugh, it’s been a weird few days. Few weeks actually. You and the Saja Boys made sure of that.”
It’s so brief that she almost misses it. The soul flickers with a pale shade of blue, one she hasn’t seen on him before, but then it’s gone. Rumi almost asks but then it feels too personal, especially since they have limited ways of fully communicating. She resolves to ask whenever he gets his body back, then hopes that he will eventually get his body back. She’s still not confident about that and she doesn’t think Jinu is either.
Things fall quiet, nothing but the slight hum of the air conditioning filling the room. She holds onto his soul for longer than strictly necessary and only lets go when the tiger and bird slip into her room, causing her to grin and reach forward to pet them.
She ends up settling down with the tiger pressed against her side and the bird somewhere by her head. The soul lingers nearby, almost unsure of where to go, but she coaxes him closer and has him resting against her shoulder.
Rumi doesn’t dream of bright flames like she fears she might that night. Instead, she dreams of flying, hand in hand with a familiar face. When she looks over, she finds purple skin and yellow eyes, and yet, he has never looked so human and he has never looked more content.
Notes:
Disclaimer, I don't speak/read Korean so if the communication board scene doesn't translate as well due to differing sentence structures or something of the like, that is absolutely why and my apologies. If it does work then hell YEAH, that's a win for everybody!
I'm assuming Jinu gave the names the tiger and bird have but none of the girls have realized to ask him if he has them in the first place so currently they're still referring to them as the tiger and bird! Also I don't thiiiink they're demons, likely more spirits, but I'm not sure any of them fully know that and thus refer to them as demonic-looking. Also I don't actually remember if either have like. Genders? But their association with Jinu has me using both neutral and masculine terms. Correct me if I'm wrong about that though.
Celine's relationship to Mira and Zoey is interesting to me because like... She was their mentor and got them where they are now but they didn't want to tell her about Rumi's voice issues before and now they've learned she was lying to them and definitely made some parenting choices that fucked Rumi up? That's absolutely gonna affect how you see someone.
I was gonna have this chapter be longer and cover a couple days rather than just one but I liked where it ended and wanted to cover a 'The day after everything' anyways so I'm just shuffling everything I didn't get to into the next chapter! The girls deserve a (mostly) chill day anyways.
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! I was gonna have it out yesterday before I got a little busy but we're back in business! Comments and Kudos are cherished forever and thank you very much for reading! Until next time!!
Chapter 3: The Bathhouse
Summary:
Everyone adjusts to all the new changes. Mira and Zoey finally take Rumi to the bathhouse.
Notes:
I'm BACK!! Took me a hot minute to decide how to do the first half of this fic but it came to me eventually! I hope y'all like it!!
There is a tiny amount of canon dialogue when we get to the bathhouse but it diverges pretty quickly.
Content warning for Rumi's canonical suicidal behavior when she confronted Celine. I didn't go into too heavy detail but a general warning feels necessary.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rumi wakes up bright and early the next morning, carefully extracting herself from the Tiger snuggling into her side. The Bird wakes up and glares at her but quickly gets comfortable again and falls back asleep in no time. Rumi can’t help but find the pair of them cuddling adorable.
When she looks up, the soul is there. She swears he’s judging her.
“I like waking up early.” She informs him, heading over to her closet to find her workout clothes. She’s still aching so she’ll have to take it easy. “It’s not a bad thing. Plus I slept a lot yesterday so I’m fine. I don't feel half as sore as I did yesterday.” She makes a shooing motion, pointing to the door. “I need to change, give me a minute.”
The soul slips under the door. Rumi changes and fixes her appearance before stepping out. He follows her down to the personal gym in their tower. She finds herself glancing over her shoulder to ask, “You don’t really sleep in this form, do you?”
He flashes twice. She thinks Zoey said that meant no while one meant yes. “Do demons need to sleep in general?”
He pauses, then flashes three times. “Uh. Is that a kinda?” One flash, yes. “Interesting… Is it the same with food?” Another yes. “Like actual food and not souls?” Yet another yes. Rumi can’t help but grin. “You’re teaching me things that twenty-six years of hunter training haven’t been able to.”
He flicker-laughs at that but she really can’t get that out of her head once she says it. All her life she’s been taught demons were nothing but monsters she needed to stop. They didn’t care about anyone, even each other, and only wanted to steal souls to benefit themselves and their king. How they lived, what the demon realm was like— none of that was ever covered. Probably because they never knew either.
Rumi is almost positive there are other good demons out there, or at least ones with the capacity to change for the better. It’s almost funny that she finds herself relieved that the Honmoon isn’t golden and those demons aren’t doomed to an eternity of misery. Sure, they’ve all probably made some bad life choices but should all of them really be damned to suffer forever? Shouldn’t they be given a chance to change for the better if they're willing to put the work in?
Jinu made a terrible choice and he suffered four hundred years of hell for it. Rumi can’t help but find that excessive and she doesn’t think that’s the bias talking. Not to mention he wanted to get better. Nobody could make him. He didn’t make perfect choices but he got there in the end.
She was taught demons were incapable of getting better. Now she’s seen proof that that’s wrong.
As much as Rumi is glad they were able to win the fight because Jinu chose to help her, she wishes it wasn’t at this cost.
Rumi shakes herself as she enters their private gym, grabbing one of the water bottles already prepped and cooled in the mini fridge and a towel from the rack. Her phone is connected to the speakers to blast some music before she starts stretching.
“Is it boring when we’re all asleep?” Rumi asks. She gets a yes that makes her chuckle. “I guess it would be since you have pretty limited things you can do, huh? Maybe we should leave the TV on for you. Streaming sites have auto play and you have so many shows you need to watch.”
He flickers like he’s laughing again. She grins back. “I have good taste, don’t worry. I’ll pick something good.”
Once Rumi is finished with her stretches, she hesitates. She has options for what to start with and usually leaves her hunter training for last but the night of the idol awards weighs on her mind. With one hand outstretched, she summons her sword. The one that appears is the same sword from that night.
Wider, slightly curved, a bit spiked at the end— still fundamentally a sword that she can wield either in one hand or two, but it’s changed. Her weapon has fundamentally changed.
Her eyes flicker over to where the soul is, swearing he’s admiring it too. “Was this your doing or mine?” She asks. He flickers three times. She thinks that means, it was probably a bit of both.
Rumi tests it, swinging it with one hand, then two to feel the weight. It’s not too bad, only slightly heavier than her original sword but it feels like it has a bit more power behind it. She certainly felt like it did when she struck at Gwi-Ma.
“Did we… Kill him?” She asks hesitantly. She’s almost afraid of the answer and that fear rises when the soul doesn’t move an inch.
When he does answer, it’s with two blinks. A resounding, no, I don’t think we did.
“Can Gwi-Ma even be killed?”
She gets three blinks for that. She can imagine his answer pretty easily. I don’t know but I wish I did. She remembers what he told her at the joint signing all too well. The honesty and hardness in his voice when he admitted he wanted Gwi-Ma dead just as badly as she did. Maybe even more— he does have four hundred years of hating him.
“Now that I think about it… All the demons we killed, are they gone for good?” Two blinks, a no. “So then… Are the other Saja Boys—!”
She knows she doesn’t mistake it this time. A pale shade of blue overtakes his soul so violently that she freezes. She didn’t mean to ask, it slipped out without her really thinking, but now it seems to have consumed him. It only stops when she blurts out, “Sorry, I didn’t— I wasn’t trying to be insensitive. You don’t have to answer that.”
His colors flicker between the pale blue and his usual bright blue before it settles into the latter. Her heart squeezes. Another apology slips out of her. “I’m sorry. It must be hard thinking about them.” She holds back another question that almost leaves her lips. She doesn’t want to upset him further.
His glow softens. She can imagine him gently telling her, it’s fine, I’m fine, even if he really isn’t. She’d know for sure if she could look him in the eye— his eyes always betrayed him. Always gave away what his words claimed he was feeling.
She clears her throat, trying to think of a better question. “Were… Were all demons once human?” She gets a no for that, nodding to herself. “I thought so. We were taught as much but clearly not everything I learned about demons was right so I thought I’d ask… You said demons feel shame and misery all the time. Does that include the natural born demons?”
This time she gets a yes. She wonders how they feel about Gwi-Ma. If they can change too despite the demon realm being the only thing they’ve ever known. Then considers the fact that maybe they deserve a chance to escape Gwi-Ma’s constant manipulations and guilt if that’s what they’ve been stuck with all their lives.
Rumi doesn’t know how to bring about that type of change or if it would even work out. But she thinks their new Honmoon and perspective on demons might be a good place to start.
She tells the soul as much. He glows brightly for it. It makes her smile.
“I’m gonna be practicing my swings with my new sword so you might want to back up.” She warns him. The soul quickly does, getting well out of the way. Rumi takes a deep breath and begins with practice swings, getting used to the feel of it. A hum rises to her throat— they’ve all been trained to incorporate their voices into their fighting. It’s second nature for her to sing so Rumi does.
Her voice fills the room, not as strong on its own but powerful nonetheless. She falls into it, working until the new sword feels even more natural in her hands than the last and learning to use its new weight to her advantage for more powerful strikes. She wonders if she’ll be able to pull off a few new tricks with it.
Her training session isn’t as long as it usually is, cut short when she feels her soreness catch up to her again, but it feels good nonetheless. A little progress, a step in the right direction.
When she looks over at the soul again, gulping down her water, she swears he’s just a little bigger and just a little brighter, but it might just be a trick of the light.
—
Mira has handled everything life has thrown at her thus far. Her family issues, learning demons were real, the trials of becoming a hunter and forming Huntrix, all the problems that come with being a popular idol, having her world view shifted because one of the people closest to her is half of one of the things she swore to destroy, everything that happened at the idol awards, and everything that followed after.
At this point, Mira thinks she can handle anything life wants to throw at her, so long as Zoey and Rumi are there too. So it’s not a big deal that the weird, maybe-demon Bird is now choosing to follow her around. It’s not doing anything wrong really.
It doesn’t mean Mira isn’t questioning why.
“Aren’t you Jinu’s pet?” She squints at the Bird who has been tailing her all morning. It was there when she left her room, then she found it waiting when she left the bathroom, it watched her reheat some tteokbokki, and is now sitting on the back of the couch next to her as she eats.
It doesn’t really respond, just blinking all six of its half-lidded eyes at her. Mira stuffs another forkful of her food in her mouth as she narrows her eyes back. “I just don’t get why you’re bothering me all of a sudden. I’m not Jinu. I’m not even Rumi. You met me yesterday and I would’ve tried to attack you if Jinu didn’t stop us. I don’t even like Jinu much— you realize that, right?”
The Bird continues not to react. Mira isn’t exactly expecting it to suddenly start talking but she’s pretty sure the pair of demonic looking animals are at least decently intelligent. True, the Tiger knocked over the trash by accident yesterday and tried and failed several times to pick it back up but both of the strange animals show signs of understanding them perfectly fine. She thinks despite the Tiger’s attempt to bat at Jinu’s soul, it still recognizes him as Jinu.
“I’m not Zoey.” She tells the Bird. “I’m not giving out head scratches when all you’re doing is giving me judging looks.”
As expected, the Bird says and does nothing in response. Mira gives up on trying to talk to it and just tries to enjoy her meal. It’s a little hard when she’s being stared down with six eyes.
—
“How did we live without this fluffball in our lives before?” Zoey groans, sprawled out on top of the Tiger’s back. It’s not bothered in the slightest— she’s actually impressed by how much weight it can carry. It makes her wonder if multiple people can ride it.
Mira snorts somewhere behind her. Zoey glances over her shoulder to see her browsing their movie options and stifles a laugh. The Bird has decided to sit on top of her head. Mira is trying to ignore it but Zoey fumbles for her phone to try to snap a picture.
“Does this mean you’ll finally stop asking if we can get a pet?” Mira asks.
Zoey sneakily snaps a picture before pointing out, “What if the Tiger wants a friend?”
“The Tiger already has a friend.” She gestures at the stubborn Bird in her hair. Zoey wonders how persistent this Bird had to be allowed to stay there.
“What if he wants a feline friend?” Zoey counters. Mira rolls her eyes.
“For the last time, we travel too much to have a regular cat or dog. These magical ones are the best we’re gonna get.”
“So…” Zoey smiles mischievously. “If I found another magical animal we could bring in…”
“Good luck with that.” Mira shakes her head, still smiling. “Just be happy with what we’ve got, Zo.”
Zoey hums, leaning down to whisper to the Tiger. “If you want another magical animal friend, just say the word. I’ll work my magic.”
The Tiger blinks slowly at her. Zoey nods back, satisfied.
—
“Soul-Jinu, did you actually write those two songs you and the other Saja Boys performed?” Zoey asks one night, halfway through her third energy drink. She’s pretty sure Rumi and Mira are asleep but souls don’t sleep so he’s free consolation.
He flashes yes. She grins, grabbing her most recent notebook. “So if I read you some lyrics I’ve got, you could tell me if they’re good and maaaybe give some advice?”
He shifts over to the Spirit Communication Board and Zoey excitedly follows him, though becomes a little less excited once she realizes what he’s spelling out.
“I do not need to sleep! I slept plenty! Besides, if I go to sleep now then I might lose my inspiration! Do you know how fleeting inspiration can be? It’s a mind-killer I tell you!” Zoey argues, narrowing her eyes at the soul. He starts spelling something again.
“Avoiding— I’m not avoiding anything!” She scoffs, arms crossing. “You’re an awfully judgy soul sometimes, you know? I just want to work on some potential song lyrics, is that really so bad? I mean, three months sounds like a long time to have a break now but it goes by in a flash! We’ll need to create some new songs sooner or later.”
The soul floats there like he’s not convinced. Zoey looks away first, glaring at the ground instead. She wants to tell him how wrong he is but the infuriating part is that he isn’t actually wrong at all.
Zoey had a nightmare last night. One filled with magenta flames consuming Rumi, then Mira, then the whole crowd. The world burned around her and Zoey could do nothing but listen to the voice that taunted her in her head. The one that said she should’ve been stronger. That she was the weak link that brought about their downfall. That maybe if she backed Rumi up instead of Mira, things might’ve gone differently.
She knows it wasn’t the real Gwi-Ma in her nightmare. When that particular voice had spoken to her, everything else was drowned out and left her cold, like he took all the heat with him. In the dream, she was burning and all too aware of everything else going on around her. Horrific, but not the same. Just a regular nightmare.
Zoey swallows thickly, looking up at the soul again. “All demons have Gwi-Ma’s voice in their heads?” One flash, a yes. “How… Do you deal with that?”
The soul starts to move on the Spirit Communication Board again. We don’t, he replies.
Zoey’s lips press into a thin line. All her life, she’s been told demons could never be good and felt nothing, but she’s always had her doubts. They didn’t act like perfect killing machines— or at least, most of them didn’t. They were always their enemies, yes, but not mindless ones.
Zoey’s been called naive and idealistic and too sympathetic for her own good but for once, she was right. And it feels weird to be right about something like this because the reality of it isn’t any easier. The knowledge that demons can be good and change isn’t a perfect fix-it. But it’s… Something to keep in mind, she thinks.
Zoey gazes over her notebooks with half written lyrics and potential song titles, gently pushing herself back from it. Her chair rolls away and she groans, rubbing her eyes.
“I don’t know if I can sleep anytime soon.” She admits. “But… You wanna watch some TV with me until I can?”
He flashes yes. She smiles, jumping to her feet and stopping when she’s dizzy for a split second due to sitting down for so long. “C’mon then, Soul-Jinu.” She waves him on as she heads for the door, grabbing the Spirit Communication Board as she does. “Maybe you can help me pick something in under half an hour.”
Zoey has always wondered if demons could be good. Rumi is clear proof that being half-demon shouldn’t condemn you. She may not know Jinu as well but she’s willing to give him a chance too.
She hums under her breath, quiet as she pads down the hall. The soul glows just a bit brighter when she does.
—
Mira can handle the Bird. At least the Bird mostly just stares her down and occasionally nests in her hair. That’s whatever. Fine.
But the soul keeps flying in front of her face every time he needs her attention for something. Mira thinks she’s shown him a lot of patience considering everything but she’s quickly running out. And when he does it again in a way that makes her drop her boba tea, spilling some of it, she’s had just about enough.
“Jinu.” She glares at him when she stands back up after cleaning up the mess he caused. “I see you slip under the cracks of the door sometimes but you can’t pass through solid objects fully, can you?”
The soul, despite having no facial or body expressions, still manages to seem faintly nervous. He confirms what she already suspects.
Mira hums, eyes scanning the kitchen. “Hm. That’s good to know.”
—
Rumi glances through rooms as she goes, frown deepening as anxiety swirls in her gut. She tells herself not to panic too quickly like last time. She hasn’t even checked the living room yet.
Rumi pokes her head in the closet even if she doubts it’ll be fruitful, proving herself right in the process. She can hear movement in the kitchen and calls out, “Hey, Mira?”
“Yeah?” Mira calls back, sounding preoccupied.
“Have you seen Jinu’s soul around?”
“Uh, yeah, he’s around her somewhere.” She tells her.
“Do you know where specifically? I’m kinda worried.” Rumi huffs softly to herself when she admits it out loud. “I know I shouldn’t be, his soul is looking healthier than ever and I think it’s gotten a bit bigger and brighter, but I just want to be sure, you know?”
“He’s fine, Rumi, he can take care of himself.” Mira replies, distracted. That makes Rumi’s eyebrows furrow, skipping the next two doors to head into the kitchen. She hears even more movement before she turns the corner.
Mira is leaning on what looks like one of their big Tupperware containers with a towel covering it. Her pose suggests casual but her eyes tell a different story.
Rumi stares at her. “Uh. What are you doing?”
“Thinking about what to make for dinner.” Mira replies. Rumi is about to voice her doubt when the Tupperware Mira’s elbow is leaning on shifts ever so slightly on its own. Rumi locks onto it, realization hitting slowly.
“Mira…”
“I slipped.” Mira claims. Once again, the Tupperware shifts just enough to disprove that, causing her to groan.
Rumi’s eyes narrow. “Mira. Did you trap Jinu’s soul in a Tupperware container?”
“He made me spill some of my boba.”
“Mira!”
“I told him not to fly right in front of my face at least twice!” Mira argues back. “But did he listen? No! So he’s getting put in time out until he learns to be a better roommate.”
“He’s already been reduced to a soul, don’t humiliate him!” Rumi pushes forward, stealing the container before Mira can stop her. She doesn’t try however, taking a step back and letting the towel drop.
Within the container, the soul buzzes around wildly, like a giant, trapped firefly. Rumi pops the lid open to set him loose again and he immediately hides behind her.
Mira crosses her arms, standing her ground. Rumi stares her down for a long minute, then looks over her shoulder at the soul.
“Jinu, I assume I don’t have to tell you not to do that to Mira again?” He flashes yes. Rumi’s gaze returns to Mira. She huffs and beats her to it.
“I won’t do it again unless he does it again, alright?”
Rumi nods, accepting that. An awkward tension lingers in the air and Rumi finds herself clearing her throat. “I know this is all… Weird and different. And I’ve kinda changed our whole lives in a way that I don’t think we can go back from. But considering this is the only time you snapped, you and Zoey have been dealing with it really well.”
Mira’s mouth parts, stunned. “I… Thanks, Rumi. It’s really not that big of a deal. You are a huge part of our lives and we’ve been hunters for so long that all this new stuff is just… Another part of the job, you know?” She shrugs. “No biggie. We’ll handle it.”
“Still, I’m grateful for you both.”
“I think you’ve already said that before.”
“I could stand to say it more.” Rumi says with some humor, earning a chuckle out of Mira.
“I didn’t think you were gonna get all mushy on me right now. I thought for sure you’d be a little pissed.”
“Maybe a little.” She narrows her eyes, still smiling. “But… I don’t know. I’m kinda responsible for all of this and neither of you asked for that.”
“There are worse things to happen than sharing space with the soul of a guy who you have complicated and unnamed feelings for.” Mira shrugs and Rumi tries not to let her slight embarrassment show. “I’m just glad you’re feeling safer around us now.”
She nods at her bare arms. Rumi glances down at them with a slight smile.
“I’m glad you like them.” She admits, quieter than she means for it to be. Mira gets a soft look on her face and all previous tension fizzles away.
—
He’s in her dreams again. Jinu— demon Jinu, not soul Jinu or human Jinu.
Rumi stands in the front of the Huntrix building, blinking and unsure how she got there. The haziness around her tells her it’s a dream— it’s like she’s underwater but still able to breathe. Her movements are just sluggish and uncoordinated and the gravity of the world around her feels all wrong.
And he’s there. On his knees in the streets, bent forward and pressing his hands against the asphalt. Or— no, not the asphalt, it’s the Honmoon. It ripples just under them, somewhere between blue and iridescent, and Jinu is pressing his hands against it.
Rumi blinks slowly and shifts forward. Her limbs are heavy but she can still move. One step in front of the other, she approaches.
“Jinu?” She calls to him, her voice warped and almost demonic. It causes him to look up at last.
There are tears in his eyes and worse, it looks like he’s been crying for a while. His yellow eyes have reddened a bit and his face is flushed. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out. Both of them are surprised by it.
His gaze turns downward again. A tear falls against the Honmoon as his hands tighten into fists.
“Jinu.” Rumi says again, concern stirring within her. “Jinu, what’s wrong?”
His mouth opens again, then closes when he can’t seem to make a sound. His face twists with frustration. He reels an arm back and punches down.
The Honmoon very briefly ripples magenta, then it’s gone. Jinu’s shoulders slump and he seems to crumble inwards.
Rumi’s frown deepens. She reaches down to lay a hand on his shoulder but before she can make contact, she wakes up.
It’s still dark out. Rumi sits up, finding the Tiger is still snuggled into her side, and looks around. She spots that familiar blue light on her balcony, hovering over the railing like he’s either looking down or looking out. He's glowing that same shade of pale blue that concerns her, but otherwise seems fine.
Slowly, Rumi lays back down, staring at her ceiling. She knows for a fact it was a dream but she’s suddenly questioning whether or not it was real in a different sense.
—
They don’t always sing for practice. Sometimes Zoey will find herself singing under her breath in the kitchen, whether it’ll be an old song, one that isn’t theirs, or an entirely new one, and someone will join in. Mira will harmonize, or Rumi will add new parts, and something will just click inside of them
They’ve always been stronger together. Three are needed to strengthen the Honmoon and if they’re not doing it in harmony, it won’t work. They need to be connected, in sync, understanding of one another. And they need to be able to connect to their fans in the process.
Zoey sees it as one big loop. She gives strength to both Mira and Rumi and they give strength to her. Then when they sing for their fans, their souls give even more strength to them so they can give power to the Honmoon and fight more powerful demons and so on. And the fans, without realizing it, give power to each other when they build a loving community that lifts each other up.
(Zoey knows it’s not always a perfect, loving community but they try to encourage as much positivity as they can so she’ll give them credit where it’s due.)
It’s always felt right to sing with Rumi and Mira, no matter where they are or the reason. And she knows it’s literally because her soul is stronger when it’s with them.
Their harmonizing voices are flowing through their living room. All around them, the Honmoon ripples pleasantly and Zoey’s soul feels lighter in her chest. Rumi is passionately getting into the impromptu performance of Golden and Mira is grinning like she’s having fun and all their problems feel a million miles away.
Zoey is giggling when they finally finish the song. It’s late and she finds herself stretching out and laying her head on Rumi’s lap. Rumi doesn’t mind, eyes sliding shut with a blissful look on her face. Mira is doing the same but is leaning further into the couch like she might fall asleep there.
They all might. Zoey doesn’t think she wants to move and she doubts either of them do either.
It wouldn’t be the first time, it’s a pretty comfy couch, but it feels like it’s been ages since they’ve done this. With the tour and their break before the Idol Awards cut short, they haven’t gotten to rest and relax properly for… A while.
Zoey missed it. She missed seeing complete relaxation on Rumi and Mira’s faces. Her eyes crack open so she can look at them again and remind herself that they’re all okay but she blinks a few times when she realizes there’s another slightly stronger light than before.
The soul is brighter than it’s ever been right now. She dares to say it looks decently healthy.
Zoey thinks about the loops. Strengthening one another through song, love, and community.
And she wonders.
It’s easy to prompt the girls into more songs over the next few days. It comes as easy as breathing and it feels good— feels natural. Like their home should be full of music.
Zoey always does it when the soul is nearby. She doesn’t know if she’s right or not but she swears he’s getting brighter. And seeing as there’s no harm in it, she keeps going.
If nothing else, it’s definitely worth a try.
—
They end up going to the bathhouse at the end of the week. Zoey is all but buzzing about it the whole time and Rumi has to push down all the parts of her that feel the need to cover up and hide, even now. It’s stupid when they’ve seen her with her patterns all week but years of being ashamed about them have left her jittery and nervous.
It all seems to bleed away when she actually gets into the water, towel wrapped around her head and stress evaporating from the heat. She groans in relief, sinking into it deeper and shutting her eyes. Both Mira and Zoey laugh a little at her reaction.
“Wow… This feels amazing.”
“We’ve been saying that for years.” Mira reminds her. “Ugh. I’m glad you’re here. It has always kinda felt incomplete without you.”
“Sorry.” She apologizes on reflex. Mira shakes her head.
“I told you, I get it. I seriously don’t know what I would’ve done in your place.” She seems to contemplate this before mumbling, “Cry maybe.”
“I’ve done a lot of crying.” Rumi confirms, then realizes how bad that sounds. Both Zoey and Mira are staring at her now. “That’s not— I’m fine now.”
“Good.” Mira tells her. “Still. I’m… Sorry you couldn’t tell us sooner. Keeping this secret for as long as you have was probably pretty hard.”
“It was.” The words spill out of her mouth before she can stop them. “I wanted to tell you hundreds of times. I— I thought you might understand but I kept second guessing myself. Insecurities kept getting in the way.”
“And Celine didn’t want you to.” Mira says slowly. Rumi hesitates but nods. Her tone of voice is different now. A little harder. “She knew the whole time? And never wanted to tell us either?”
“She thought turning the Honmoon golden would get rid of my patterns.” Rumi reminds her. Mira shakes her head, sitting up a little straighter.
“It sounds like she didn’t want to deal with it.” Rumi opens her mouth, unsure of what she’s going to say, but Mira beats her there. “Has there ever been another half demon-half hunter before? Or a half demon-half human in general? How did she know it would get rid of your patterns? How did she know it wouldn’t—!”
Mira has to stop to take a deep breath, looking away. Rumi can’t help but find herself stunned. Mira has gotten plenty mad before but this stems from something deeper than just a short fuse. Her words are laced with a bitter taste rather than a hotter one. Her eyes hold hurt in them, not just fury.
“How did she know,” Mira begins again, slower than before, “That turning the Honmoon golden wouldn’t have dragged you down to the demon realm like every other demon out there? Did she have any guarantee that you would be safe or was she just— guessing? Hoping? Trying to get rid of what she saw as a problem?”
Rumi doesn’t know what to say. The memory of her confrontation with Celine suddenly becomes stronger. She refused to kill her, told her she loved her, but she couldn’t seem to understand anything Rumi was saying. Not truly. She had wanted her to cover up again. To lie to Zoey and Mira again. For Rumi to give up her patterns instead of ever accepting their existence.
Celine could barely touch her. Could barely look at her patterns.
Had she really looked so shameful to her? She had done everything she ever asked of her, why did it feel like she could never quite be who Celine wanted her to be?
“I think…” Rumi murmurs quietly, but in the empty bathhouse for just the three of them, her voice carries over. “She’s always seen my mother in me. The last living piece of her. And I think maybe she’s always seen my patterns as something preventing me from fully being my mother’s daughter. And turning the Honmoon golden was the only way she could think of to fix it without having to come around to the idea that maybe all demons aren’t the soulless monsters we’ve been taught to see them as.”
Her words hang in the air for a while as Rumi replays all the memories she has of Celine in her head. All the good moments, all the bad, and all the ones she doesn’t know how to characterize. The moments where she spoke of her mother, laced with grief and something else.
In rare moments, she mentioned the third Sunlight Sister. Rumi isn’t sure what happened to her, other than she isn’t dead but her and Celine don’t… Talk. Not anymore.
“She was wrong.” Mira’s voice is the steady force bringing her out of her thoughts and looking into her steely eyes. “It wasn’t a problem. It was never a problem. Your patterns are yours and don’t mean anything else other than who you were born as. You get to decide everything else.”
A tear slips down her face. Rumi lets out a wet laugh and tells her. “Thank you. I really should’ve told you both years ago, you’re making me feel so much better about it now.”
Mira’s whole face softens. A sniff coming from their other side makes them both turn their heads. Zoey’s eyes are teary and her expression gives away that she’s trying very hard not to cry.
“Rumi… I’m— I’m so happy you didn’t like. Die.”
“Wow, Zoey.” Mira raises an eyebrow at her. “Way to be super literal.”
“I just…” She hastily wipes her face, taking a few breaths so she can talk properly again. “I’ve been thinking about it all week, you know? She could’ve died. If— if Jinu hadn’t stepped in, Gwi-Ma might’ve gotten to her! And— and I don’t want to give that stupid fire any credit but I was really worried for a second there that we might actually lose you. And I really don’t want to live in a world without you in it.”
Rumi can’t help that she starts tearing up too, something dislodging in her chest that she didn’t know was there. And once she realizes Mira is getting misty-eyed too, she’s a goner. They all burst out into incomprehensible wails and blabber but despite their tears, it feels good to cry. As a group, as people who love each other.
“I love you both so much!” Rumi finds herself saying, hoping her nose isn’t running so she doesn’t ruin their water. “I always have! I— all I could think of for years is how you two might react and when you found out what I am and when I thought you didn’t want me around anymore, I—”
She stops herself a little too late, realizing just how bad it’s going to sound. Mira and Zoey are both look at her again, frozen in place despite the steam surrounding them on all sides.
“Rumi..?” Zoey prompts, soft but uncertain. She’s searching her face like she has an idea of what she’s going to say but needs confirmation. “What happened? Between our confrontation after the botched show and us meeting up again at the Saja Boy’s concert?”
Rumi swallows thickly. She’s spent so long lying that even if she’s scared of voicing it, she doesn’t want to hide anymore. Doesn’t want to keep things to herself when it feels so good to have things out in the open.
“I went to see Celine.” She admits to them, watching various emotions flicker on their faces. “I… I wanted to confront her about a few things but…” Her hands curl tightly around themselves. “You have to understand, I wasn’t thinking straight. It’s not your fault— it’s not anyone’s fault, I just wasn’t— I wouldn’t normally—!”
“Rumi.” Mira says, steady and reassuring.
“I asked her to kill me.” Rumi blurts out, unable to keep the words locked inside of her anymore. Horror morphs on Mira and Zoey’s faces. “She didn’t, obviously.” Rumi finishes lamely, because it looks like they need the reminder. “I don’t feel that way anymore. It was just a one-off thing.”
“Rumi…” Zoey sounds pained. Rumi doesn’t know why they can’t seem to say anything but her name.
Once she gets going, she can’t stop. “I just thought I ruined everything. Destroyed the Honmoon, betrayed your trust, whatever was going on with Jinu— I just wanted to stop hurting. So I tried to give her my sword. She refused and she tried to talk me into covering up and lying to you both again so we could fix the Honmoon we broke but I told her no. Because I didn’t want to lie to either of you like I did ever again. And…” She swallows, suddenly feeling like her throat is tighter. “I sort of… ‘Demoned out’ around her and told her I’m glad the Honmoon was destroyed and then teleported away so I’m kinda afraid of ever seeing and/or talking to her again?”
Zoey is openly gaping at her. She doesn’t think Mira has blinked once.
“I’m sorry, that was a lot.” Rumi shrinks, which finally snaps them out of it because both of their voices raise to a shout.
“Don’t apologize for talking about your feelings! You clearly needed that!” Zoey scoots closer, gaze intense.
“We want you to be able to talk to us about the hard shit, don’t apologize for that.” Mira firmly tells her. “Besides, do you know the amount of times I’ve cried about my family to you? It’s embarrassing, I owe you like, fifty times over.” Her eyes are teary again, she wipes them stubbornly.
“We’re a team.” Zoey goes on, continuing to scoot closer. “We’re meant to lean on each other so our burdens don’t get too heavy. And you’ve been holding yours on your own for a long time. And yeah, it hurts to hear all that,” Zoey has finally closed the distance, taking her hands into her own to look her in the eye, “But it only hurts because I don’t want you to hurt. I want you to feel good. I want you to be safe and happy all the time.”
She smiles, squeezing her hands as she does. “And that means hearing the hard stuff too, even if it hurts.”
“The hard shit.” Mira corrects. “Because it sucks but we gotta talk about it anyway.”
Zoey giggles. It’s infectious enough for Rumi to join in. “The hard shit.” Zoey amends. She breathes in deeply and lets it all out. “And with all of that being said… Are you sure it was a one time thing? How you were feeling that day?”
“I…” Rumi frowns. “I haven’t felt it since.”
“That’s good! But uh…” Zoey’s lips press together like she’s trying to think of how to say it. “A lot of the lyrics to Takedown feel a bit… Different now that we know you’re half demon. Especially since that song was literally used against you at the Idol Awards.”
Rumi winces. “I didn’t really realize how much of the lyrics hurt until I was talking with Jinu about demons more. How they… Feel. The shame and misery. How Gwi-Ma uses that against them and how that was connected to my patterns. And once I did, I couldn’t ignore it but was stuck without a reason to say why.”
Mira slides up to her other side, resting shoulder to shoulder. “Sorry if we got pushy about that.” She murmurs to her. “It kinda got to me that I didn’t know what was really going on with you. That shouldn’t have been your problem.”
“You didn’t have all the pieces.” Rumi reminds her. “I already forgave you both for it. And pretty much everything else.”
“We’ll still do everything to make it up to you.” Zoey smiles at her. “But… I know we’ve done little sessions in the past but if you wanna book that one therapist we used to use again, don’t be afraid to text Bobby about it? You know he’ll handle it all in a heartbeat, no questions asked.”
“I know. I’ll… Think about it.” She tells her. Rumi isn’t sure what she could and couldn’t tell a regular therapist. Are there therapists out there who know about demon stuff? One she wouldn’t have to cut corners around? And if there are, how would Rumi even find one?
Zoey and Mira accept her answer. They lean into her, not trapping her but making her feel surrounded by love. Rumi sinks into it, eyelids fluttering.
“We love you.” Mira reminds her once again. “No matter what happens, we’re gonna have each other’s backs. We’re gonna figure this all out together. Sound good?”
“Sounds good.” Both Rumi and Zoey echo. Now that the air is clear between them, the steam and hot water is really helping relieve any remaining tension in her.
“…Wait.” Rumi’s eyes open again, realization hitting her. “Did you two plan to talk about all of this with me here on purpose?”
“Mmmmaybe.” Zoey admits, hiding a smile. “Mira and I used to talk here. Not anything big that you would need to be there for, just… I don’t know, about life? It’s nice though. It refreshes you after. And we thought it’d be good to do with you this time, since we had a few more things to say.”
“Huh…” Rumi trails off, staring at the water. “That’s… Kinda genius.”
“We know.” Mira snorts. “We don’t have big talks here all the time though so don’t worry. Next time might just be pure relaxation.”
Next time… Rumi thinks, her heart doing funny things in her chest. She likes the idea of it.
—
They end up stopping to say hi to some fans on the street, which spirals a bit into an impromptu meet and greet with others, but they keep it light. They talk and sign a few things and take photos until they’re about ready to go home and wave everyone off. They’re sad to see them go but thankfully respectful.
“I like that we can do that now.” Zoey tells them as they take the elevator up to their living room. While Mira and Rumi are a bit tired, she seems only further invigorated. “It’s fun to just be casual and not worry about being perfect all the time!”
Mira hums in agreement. Rumi nods along. “Our flaws are a part of us, for better or for worse. Our fans should know we’re human, not perfect or superior beings.”
“Hear, hear.” Mira grins at her. “I like this new chapter for us. Even if all the new demon stuff is taking some getting used to.”
“We can handle it.” Rumi loops her arms around both of them to bring them into a half hug. “It's like we said. All the new stuff, we’ll face it together.”
They all hold tight to one another until the elevator dings. Rumi lets go but they stay pretty close, following her as she heads into the living room. The TV is playing softly, running a new episode of the show she left on for Jinu while they were away. She didn’t want him to get too bored.
The Bird is perched on the couch, staring down at something on the floor. She can’t see the Tiger from where she is but he’s growl-purring very loudly. One thing is absent however.
“Jinu? We’re back!” She calls out, searching for the familiar blue light.
“Hey.”
All three of them stop dead at the muffled reply. Rumi almost thinks she’s imagined it until she sees Mira and Zoey’s faces, just as shocked as she is. The voice— it sounded just like—
She dashes towards where she heard it, heart pounding. Her breath catches in her throat when she lays eyes on the situation.
The Tiger is on top of familiar body laying on the ground, nuzzling his face and growl-purring up a storm. Said body is dressed in all black, hat discarded on the floor nearby, with purple skin; yellow, slitted eyes; and… Patterns. Slightly different than how they used to look, now faded in color, but still present and unlike her own.
His hair is a mess. He blinks a little tiredly but aware nonetheless. His skin is a bit ashen and sickly but it’s undeniable who he is, especially if the Tiger is reacting this way.
Jinu, real and physical and alive, smiles weakly at her, but it’s no less genuine.
“Hey.” He croaks again, voice rough. “Surprise?”
Notes:
Listen... I could've extended Jinu's soul-form a bit more but A: I miss him, B: I was worried about it dragging on for too long, C: I have scenes with him that require more of a physical form to work and I wanna start doing them and D: Jinu himself was getting impatient and I gotta listen to these characters when they wanna do shit sometimes. More on his condition/how he came back/reactions/etc in the next chapter!
I love the bathhouse scene in the movie and wanted a version of it for this fic and it honestly just felt like a great time for The Girls Talk Part 2 so there we go! Rumi is going allll in on honesty. She likes the way it feels to let everything out so Zoey and Mira are getting even more than they probably thought they would.
I hope y'all liked this chapter!! I keep getting more and more ideas for this fic and I'm kinda excited to put them all together. Comments and Kudos are a DELIGHT as always and thank you for reading <3
Chapter 4: Back In Black
Summary:
Jinu has his body back. Now he has to answer a lot of questions.
Notes:
Didn't want to leave y'all hanging for TOO long after ending the last chapter like that so here we are! Plus y'know, I was pretty excited to actually write some of these conversations I wanted to happen with JInu and the girls so once I got started, I just kept going.
Some worldbuilding snuck in here and knowing me, there's probably gonna be more than that so it's going in the tags. I hope y'all like your Hurt/Comfort Post-Canon Healing Fic with Lore and Plot.
Enjoy!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rumi doesn’t think she breathes once as she carefully kneels down to Jinu’s level. She has several signs pointing towards this being real and not a hallucination, or dream, or shapeshifting demon in disguise trying to fuck with her head, but she still needs that extra confirmation. That undeniable proof.
Her hands carefully reach for Jinu’s face. The angle is all wrong with the Tiger on top of him, leaving him looking at her upside down, but she just needs to know. When Rumi finally makes contact and feels the warmth in his cheeks, the solid contact that tells her this is real, she sucks in a sharp breath.
The whole room seems to go quiet, as if the whole world is now waiting in anticipation for her to do something. Several emotions hit Rumi like a tidal wave but one rises to the surface.
Her face scrunches up as she grips Jinu’s face harder than she should, making him wince, and shouts, “'Surprise'? Really? I watched you burn up in front of me, was worried your soul might disappear on me any day now, and the first time we can actually see each other face to face again, you greet me with 'Surprise'?”
“I wasn’t—” Jinu struggles to speak a little when she’s squeezing him like she is so Rumi takes a deep breath and lets up. He winces again, blinking wearily. “I wasn’t sure if it would even work. I didn’t exactly have time to think about what to say.”
“If what would work?” She presses. More and more questions seem to come to her by the second. “How long have you been back exactly? In your body, I mean? Did you wait for us to leave on purpose?”
“Uh, ten minutes or so now? And yes but I had a good reason.” Jinu’s voice is more strained than she’s ever heard it. He glances at the Tiger before asking, “Can— can you get him off of me? I haven’t been able to move since he pounced on me and my body hurts so much right now.”
Now it’s Rumi’s turn to wince. She can’t deny he looks pretty bad right now, not exactly in the tip-top condition she was used to seeing him in before. She takes mercy on him, gently trying to shoo the Tiger off of him. It takes some work— he’s extra stubborn right now and actually growls a bit at her, taking her off guard— but she tells him it’s just so Jinu can sit on the couch and he finally gets the message. The Tiger gets up, sitting down not far from them, and never takes his eyes off of Jinu.
Jinu groans, arms wobbling as he pushes himself into sitting up. “Thanks.” He tells her, then seems to realize they have an audience. On top of the Bird, Mira and Zoey are both examining the situation with varying levels of interest. Jinu puts on an anxious smile for them. “Uh, hey. I’m not about to get reduced back into a soul, am I?”
“Nope!” Zoey replies. “We’re good!”
“For now.” Mira adds, a clear warning in his voice. Jinu laughs, half nervous and half genuine.
“I can work with that.” His eyes fall to the couch, then back to her. “I think I can make it but a little help getting up would be nice.” He tells her. She nods and rises to her feet, offering a hand.
Jinu hisses through his teeth when he gets up. Concern flashes through her but he hastily waves her off, closing the last of the distance so he can collapse on the cushions. Another groan leaves him but this one is more relieved. He hisses out a quiet, “Fuck, I should’ve waited…” mostly to himself.
Rumi seats herself next to him, waiting patiently. Zoey climbs over the side of the couch and crisscrosses her legs with a bit more energy than usual. Mira hops it easily, eyes never fully leaving Jinu. The Tiger curls at Jinu’s feet.
The Bird takes one look at Jinu’s relaxing face, hops down, and pecks him. He yelps, swatting blindly but the Bird easily dodges, like he anticipated that.
“Eugh, can’t you be nice about that? For once?” He complains, rubbing a hand down his face. Eventually, he looks up and meets Rumi’s gaze. “Hey. Again. Uh, where should I start?”
“How about you start with getting your body back?” She suggests. It feels like the easiest thing to stomach right now. He nods and sits up a little straighter to talk, suppressing a grimace when his body seems to protest the movement.
“I mentioned this to you before but demons usually come back when they’re killed.” Jinu begins, gaining even further interest from Mira and Zoey, who previously did not know such a thing. “It tends to take a while and how we die usually impacts this. If it’s by a hunter’s weapon,” he gestures to the three of them, “It’ll take much longer than by anyone else’s hands. And accidental, non-homicidal deaths take the shortest amount of time. All of this is because in order to come back in the first place, you need enough energy to reshape your body. If you use up a lot of energy in a fight before you die, or if it gets burned up by a hunter’s weapon, then it’ll take longer for you to come back.”
“Wait.” Mira interjects, eyebrows knitted together. “You mean all of those demons we killed over the years will come back? And maybe already have?”
“Will come back? Most likely. Already have? Depends when and how you killed them.” Jinu answers, not blinking twice at the idea of them killing demons. Rumi supposes he’s probably used to that. “Recreating a body takes a lot of energy and a soul tends to take a while to generate that energy on their own. If no other outside circumstances aid in the process, a demon killed by a hunter could take years to come back. I think the bare minimum is one but that’s pretty rare.”
“So there’s no way to kill a demon permanently?” Mira’s face twists in displeasure.
“What counts as outside circumstances?” Zoey pipes up, a spark in her eye.
“Wait, you came back after a week, is that normal?” Rumi can’t help but blurt out.
Jinu gives them all a weary look. “Is it too much to ask for you all to talk one at a time?”
“You telling me you can’t multitask, demon boy?” Mira raises a challenging eyebrow. Jinu rubs his eyes, muttering something in a language that Rumi doesn’t know. Her best guess is it’s either a curse or a prayer.
“Yes, demons can die permanently. The only reason we can come back is because of our soul— or whatever remains of it.” He taps his chest. It glows with a weak but familiar blue light. “Our souls carry the blueprints of our bodies, along with our memories and general sense of self. So long as it survives, it can recreate everything else. Eventually. But if you— hypothetically, please don’t actually do this— destroyed the soul, we couldn’t come back.”
Mira’s frown deepens as she takes that in. “I find it hard to believe we’re the first hunters to learn this.”
“You’re not.” Jinu shrugs. “Most of the older hunters knew this. They just didn’t like the idea of destroying a soul, no matter who it belonged to, so they settled for sending us back a few years instead. Losing years of your life to regenerating is a pretty good motivator actually; most demons wouldn’t ever try it again if it wasn’t for Gwi-Ma.” The name alone makes Jinu grimace. “Which is why this war still exists at all. Hunters don’t promise permanent death, just painful setbacks. But Gwi-Ma does."
Rumi remembers the moments before Gwi-Ma targeted her at the Saja Boy’s concert. How all the pale, faceless demons were disintegrated, their bodies flowing right back to Gwi-Ma. The way he got brighter. The power behind his blow.
“Oh fuck.” Rumi murmurs, just loud enough to make everyone look at her. “If Gwi-Ma doesn’t get human souls, he starts eating demon ones. And you guys don’t come back from that.”
“Right on the money.” Jinu huffs, now massaging the back of his neck. “Gwi-Ma’s flames usually devour any demon soul they get their hands on. The only reason I’m alive right now is because he never actually took my soul. You did.” He pauses, then admits. “That’s why I was unsure if and when I’d be able to come back at all— one of the reasons anyway. Gwi-Ma consumed my body, something that usually permanently kills just about any other demon. I wasn’t sure if I could remake my body. No one else had ever lived to tell the tale before me. Plus I’ve never been conscious as a soul before. I’ve died before but usually I black out and wake up a couple months later with my body back. Being a soul was… New.”
“Couple months?” Rumi stares at him, the reason for the state of his appearance suddenly becoming clearer by the minute. He winces a little. “Jinu.”
“I’m— I’m getting there.” He shifts a little in place. “Zoey asked about outside circumstances that would speed up the process.”
“I did!” Zoey smiles. “Elaborate on that? Did the singing actually help?”
“Singing?” Both Rumi and Mira echo. Jinu shoots her a small smile back.
“More than you know. Thanks for that; I thought it was on purpose but I wasn’t sure until now.”
Zoey pumps her first in victory. Rumi and Mira are left to exchange clueless glances. Jinu clears his throat.
“Outside circumstances would be anything that gives or boosts the power in a soul that could potentially lead to a faster recovery.” Jinu explains. “One example would be what all three of you are capable of when you sing, both together and alone. Another would be… Gwi-Ma.” Once again that grimace is back, as if he can still feel what the flames were like on his skin. “But Gwi-Ma doesn’t usually speed up a demon’s regeneration process unless he wants you to do something for him or unless he wants to punish you, so it’s not usually a good thing if he does.”
There’s a few moments of silence when Jinu finishes, all three of them soaking that in. Eventually Mira speaks up. “Did I read that wrong or did you put us on a similar level to Gwi-Ma?”
“You did manage to banish him back to the demon realm.” Jinu points out. “Obviously none of you are as old as humanity itself but… I’ve never seen anyone be able to stand up to Gwi-Ma like that and I’ve seen several generations of hunters pass by. Hunters are already powerful but when you stand together— and are empowered by your fans no less… Let’s just say there’s a good reason the other Saja Boys took you on in groups of two. And even then…”
They still didn’t win, hangs in the air like Jinu can’t bring himself to really think about it. Rumi abruptly feels awkward for it, even if she wasn’t the one to raise her weapon against any of them. Mira’s face doesn’t change but Zoey shoots a sympathetic look Jinu’s way.
“Sorry about killing them but they kinda tried to kill me first.”
Jinu shakes his head. “I know that, I’m not mad. It’s survival. If there’s anything demons understand best, it’s that.” He clears his throat awkwardly. “My point is… I don’t think any of you realize how powerful you really are. You’re more than just the ones protecting humanity and strengthening the Honmoon, you’re all… Strong.”
His eyes flicker to Rumi specifically. She remembers cornering him in the bathhouse, the look in his eye when he told her the exact same thing. Almost surprise but not quite. Like he knew she was strong but experiencing it was something else.
She could’ve sworn he seemed exhilarated by it.
“Your voices, together and separately, did aid a bit in bringing me back.” Jinu tells them at last. “You’ve already got some strengthening powers as is— I assume you’ve already noticed how all of you heal from injuries way quicker than any regular human?— so… Same idea, just applied to me.” He then pauses and looks a little sheepish. “That being said… I really should’ve waited.”
Rumi hears that and latches on. “You said months before. Months to come back.”
“I also just stated I had other forces helping me.” Jinu tries to defend himself but is still pulling a face. “Though if I’m being honest I… Definitely should’ve waited another week. Or three.” He pauses again and whispers, “I was not kidding before, my body hurts so bad.”
“Zoey!” Rumi calls over without skipping a beat. Zoey hops to her feet, already on it. Jinu watches her move with bemusement but Rumi and Mira don’t blink twice at the whirlwind of energy. Jinu ducks with a yelp when a blanket is thrown his way, then squints as Zoey starts typing a time in the microwave.
“Why… Is she putting a pillow in there? I thought it was for food and drinks only.”
“That’s a heating pad.” Rumi tells him. “They’re good for aches, trust me. And a microwave can be used for a lot of things.”
“Huh.” Jinu blinks. “I’ve only ever seen humans use it for cooking.”
“…Right, you’re old.” Mira mumbles. Jinu immediately sputters.
“I’m not that— don’t be rude!”
“Yeah, Mira.” Rumi grins. “It’s rude to ask a lady her age.”
“My mistake.” Mira smirks back. Jinu looks sufficiently pained.
“You’re all mocking me. Right after I regenerated too!” He shakes his head. “You’re all lucky I experience more physical side effects than mental ones or this would be a different story.”
“Side effects?” Rumi can’t help but ask. Zoey returns with the heating pad, telling them she’s also heating up some water for tea. Jinu takes it with a mumbled ‘Thanks’ and presses the heating pad against his chest. He melts immediately.
“Yeah…” He sighs, sinking into the couch. “Even if I hadn’t regenerated as early as I did, I’d be experiencing side effects either way.”
“Like?”
“Some level of aches and pains are common. It’s worse for some people than others, me being one of them.” Jinu shifts the heating pad to his shoulders and upper back, trying to distribute the heat. “I don’t experience them very often but mental drawbacks happen too. We call it Regen Imbalance. Your head and emotions can get a little mixed up when you first come back and might take a bit to right itself. Not everyone can afford it but usually regardless of your drawbacks, it’s good to have another demon watching out for you when you first come back. Demons are pretty vulnerable then. If you’re not careful, another demon might kill you again and you’ll be set back months.”
“Do demons really kill each other just because?” Zoey asks, frowning.
“It’s not as big of a deal when we come back anyways.” Jinu explains. “It still sucks and people hold grudges against that kind of thing but… Morals are a little different down there. And most demons have some sort of reason, even if that reason is just ‘Fun’ or to help their reputation. Things are complicated down there.”
“Clearly.” Mira says flatly.
“I’m still hearing that you made yourself come back way earlier than you should’ve.” Rumi cuts in, arms crossed.
“You… Wouldn’t be wrong.” Jinu smiles weakly. “Usually demons don’t really get a choice about when they come back but… I was conscious as a soul and it felt like I could maybe force it. And since the whole process of regenerating is kinda weird and took a lot of focus, I didn’t want any of you around to see it so… It felt like a good idea to try while you were all away. Like I said, I didn’t even know it would work.” He looks down at the Tiger. “But it did and I got ambushed near immediately.”
Rumi reaches down to pet the Tiger at Jinu’s feet, voice softening. “He missed you.”
“He crushed me. He’s lucky I don’t have to breathe all that much.” Jinu grumbles, though doesn’t sound particularly mad.
Rumi is still scratching the Tiger’s chin when she asks, “Why did you push coming back so soon?”
Jinu is quiet before carefully answering, “Isn’t it obvious..?”
Rumi looks up. Jinu meets her gaze steadily. She seldom sees him with his demonic yellow eyes, used to the soft brown ones being there instead, even in the few times he looked more demon than human. It’s a bit strange to get used to but it still undeniably looks like him. His eyes, no matter the color, are always indescribably soft and sad, the weight of four hundred years of guilt behind them, no matter how much he tries to hide it.
“It was… Hard. Not being able to talk to you. Or anyone for that matter.” Jinu’s words are slow and careful. “And you kept worrying about me even though I tried to tell you I’d be fine so… I wanted to be able to tell you myself. Not to mention, I felt kinda useless as just a soul.”
Rumi remembers a dream where Jinu, as demonic as he is now, kept trying to talk to her but couldn’t say a word. It takes her a few seconds to blink the memory away. It takes even longer for her to remind herself it was a dream, no matter how visceral.
“I have a question.” Zoey says out loud, then gestures to Jinu’s clothes and his hat on the ground. “Do you come back wearing that?”
“Oh.” He looks down at himself and nods. “Yeah. ‘Default’ clothes are pretty normal for demons but it varies depending on demon type.” He snorts. “Thank god I’m not one of the big guys who gets stuck with a loincloth.”
Zoey snickers. “Maybe you could still pull it off. It can’t be that bad.”
“It’s pretty bad.”
Rumi really doesn’t want to have the image of Jinu wearing nothing but a loincloth right now because she can’t decide if that’s a bad look or not and that’s not what she needs right now. She clears her throat, half to pull attention away from the conversation and half because it feels necessary.
“There’s some things I want to talk to you about in private,” she stresses the word and thankfully, Jinu immediately seems to know what she’s referring to, “But I think all of us want to know… Why did you throw yourself in front of me like that? When it could’ve killed you permanently?”
Jinu shifts in place again, somewhat uncomfortable but like he expected the question. Mira zeroes in on him, her stare intense and not letting up. Even if Jinu isn’t looking at her, Rumi has the feeling he can still feel it.
“Because I did what I planned to in the beginning, finally went through with everything I had spent months on, and I still wasn’t happy.” Jinu admits slowly, as if any wrong word might just damn him to be on the other end of a blade. “Gwi-Ma told me I couldn’t change. I believed him. But we were so close to victory and I still wasn’t happy with anything I’d ever done, and it finally hit me. Gwi-Ma always feasted on misery. So long as I listened to the voices in my head, I’d always be miserable. It didn’t matter what he promised me, he’d make sure of that.”
He looks up then, glancing between all of them like he needs them all to know he means it. “So I turned against him for once. And,” his gaze settles on her again as he says, “I couldn’t let him kill you. It honestly didn’t even feel like an option. So I acted.”
Rumi’s heart twists into knots remembering that night yet again. She could see the regret in Jinu’s eyes when he apologized to her and it broke something in her. Because she wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Because she wanted to be able to talk to him again, whether it be angry yelling or a tearful reunion or something in between, and she thought she was never going to get that.
“How do we know,” Mira asks slowly, “That you’ve really changed?”
Jinu meets her piercing gaze head on. “I’ll do what I can to prove it to you all. Any way I can. I understand if you don’t trust me right now.”
“Good. I don’t.” Mira tells him flatly. To his credit, Jinu doesn’t flinch.
“That’s fine.” Jinu says. “To be honest, I can’t say I blame you.”
Neither move an inch. Zoey glances between them, then shoots a look Rumi’s way. Rumi has no idea how to respond— she doesn’t want to take sides! She cares about them both!— and when she flounders to answer, Zoey makes a face like she’s internally groaning before clapping her hands together to catch everyone’s attention.
“So! Jinu! Do demons eat or sleep at all?”
“Sort of.” He tells her. “It’s not required to live but it can help replenish and keep our power level at an acceptable level.” He pauses, looking awkward before he says, “While we can eat souls, we mostly get human food. Gwi-Ma takes about 95% of all souls for himself. Actually probably more— we haven’t exactly had a plentiful amount to go around.”
Then, because Jinu seems to become increasingly aware that he’s surrounded by three hunters he called extraordinarily powerful not fifteen minutes prior, he also adds, “I’ve actually never eaten a soul before. Everything the Saja Boys collected went straight to Gwi-Ma.”
“Right.” Mira replies flatly. “And how many people got taken because of you and your Saja Boys?”
Mira hasn’t summoned her weapon but Jinu still looks at her like she’s pointing it at him. “Whatever it takes to make up for that,” he tells them, “I’ll do it. Not because I have to but because I want to. I want to make things right. To get better.”
“Hm.” Is all Mira replies with.
“…You said food helps get your energy back?” Zoey jumps back in again. If she’s uncomfortable about the tension, she’s doing a good job of hiding it. Jinu nods back. “Sounds like that would probably be helpful right now!”
“It would. Should I..?”
“Stay there! Making a new body sounds hard, I’ll handle the cooking.” Zoey insists, heading straight for the kitchen before anyone can stop her.
Jinu smiles softly and tells her thanks. The Bird flutters from the back of the couch to Jinu’s shoulder. He gives the Bird a look. The Bird gives an equally unimpressed look back.
“You could’ve stopped him from batting me around before I had a body, you know.” He tells the Bird. The Bird smirks in return and Jinu groans. “I can’t even tell if you like me sometimes.”
“Not even your pets respect you?” Mira snorts to herself. Jinu just rolls his eyes.
“‘Pets’ is a strong word.” He informs them. “Sussie and Derpy just kinda— showed up one day. No one else had ever seen them around before and I’ve never seen anything else like them after.” Jinu trails off when he seems to realize everyone is staring at him. “What?”
“They have names?” Rumi all but shrieks, loud enough to startle Jinu. “And you just let me keep calling them Tiger and Bird?”
“I— you never asked!” Jinu protests.
“You never used them!”
“Well, sometimes people judge me for their names!” Jinu gestures vaguely. “And it’s hard to explain that I’m not even sure I really named them?”
“What does that mean?”
“It— it means,” Jinu fumbles, “I don’t know a lot about them! They showed up randomly, they travel easily between the two worlds and bring me gifts back sometimes, they… Like me for some reason? And when I was trying to think of what to call them, the names just kinda popped up in my head! And I know it sounds crazy but I swear they placed the idea there?”
Jinu’s face is sufficiently flushed with embarrassment. He’s right, it does sound crazy, but he seems to believe it.
Rumi glances at the Bird. The Bird stares back, unblinkingly.
“…Which one is which?” She asks at last.
“Guess. I guarantee you’ll get it right.”
Rumi looks down at the Tiger, who is still refusing to part from Jinu’s side. She thinks Derpy and it feels weirdly… Right. Like she’s meant to call him that. Or like he wants her to call him that.
“Oh my god…” She mutters, half to herself. “Maybe you’re not crazy.”
Jinu tips his head back, arms stretching out directly above him as he shouts, “THANK YOU! It’s not weird! All the other Saja Boys kept judging me for it.”
“…Huh.” Mira squints at the Bird— Sussie, Rumi’s mind supplies, which only makes Jinu sound more weirdly reasonable by the second. “Anything else we should know about your weird… Not-quite-pets?”
“Derpy tries to pick up anything that falls over.” Jinu points to the Tiger, then moves over to the Bird. “And Sussie has weirdly good intuition. If he ever starts acting hostile and puffing up his feathers around someone, it’s a guarantee that something’s up with them.”
Mira shoots him a questioning glance. “You trust the Bird that much?”
Jinu shrugs. “Known him for around four hundred years and he’s never steered me wrong so… Yeah, I do.”
Sussie looks pleased by the statement. Rumi determines that as weird as it sounds, she’s probably seen stranger things still.
Mira glances over at Zoey, who is still squinting at the containments of the fridge, and groans. “She’s being indecisive, hold on.”
Rumi waits for Mira to leave before she scoots a little closer to Jinu. He notices, looking over, and Rumi carefully pulls him into a hug that she hopes doesn’t aggravate any of his soreness.
“Hey. Don’t make fun of me but I missed you.” She mumbles, holding him close. He chuckles but leans into her touch, arms loosely wrapping around her.
“Only if you promise to do the same when I say I missed you too.” He mumbles back. “I know I was here but… It didn’t always feel like it, you know? It was weird. I really missed having a body.”
“I don’t blame you. I felt bad, you couldn’t really do a whole lot without help.”
Jinu shrugs a little. “Consequences of sacrificing myself I guess.”
Rumi reflexively squeezes him tighter. He hisses in pain so she remembers to let up again but not without telling him, “Never do that again. Okay? Promise me.”
“I’m hearing you loud and clear.” He promises. “No more self sacrificing.”
“Or dying in general.”
Jinu snorts. “I’ll try my best.”
Rumi pulls back to give him a displeased look. “I said promise.”
“I promise to try my best.” He replies, a little teasingly.
“You’re impossible.” Rumi tells him, but it comes out more fond than she means it to.
—
They have a lot of rooms in their tower but only one is set up as an actual guest room with a bed. Under normal circumstances, it would go to Jinu, but the fact that the only person who uses the guest room is Celine and it still has some of her stuff in it makes Rumi feels weird about it. Really weird about it. Especially because some part of her is convinced Celine will somehow know if they let a demon use her unofficial room.
Thankfully all Jinu needs to hear is ‘Celine, a former hunter and our mentor growing up, usually uses that room’ for him to back out without question. Apparently he’s suspicious it has anti-demon wards in it— something about how older hunters love to use those— and he’s not taking any chances. Rumi can’t help but be relieved for it.
He opts for sleeping on the couch that night and they’ll just set up a proper room for him later. It’s a pretty comfy couch so Rumi’s not worried. Rumi is pretty sure Zoey is buying a bunch of furniture online and has no idea how they’re gonna get it in and set it up while also hiding Jinu. Apparently he’s stuck in his demon form while he recovers. Maybe they can just stick a blanket over him..?
The Tiger— Derpy, she reminds herself, because apparently they have names and she never actually considered that before— flat out refuses to leave Jinu’s side. Jinu insists he’s fine but that fact paired with how he ate a huge portion of the feast Zoey made earlier but still looks sickly leaves Rumi unconvinced that he actually is fine and isn’t just pretending.
“Stop looking at me like that.” Jinu mumbles, curled into the pile of blankets they provided him. “It’s really not as bad as it looks.”
“You said you couldn’t use any of your powers anytime soon. That’s worrying.” Rumi counters.
“It’s normal for someone who just regenerated.” Jinu waves her off. “And technically I could try to use one of my powers right now, I just would probably regret it. There’s a difference.”
Rumi is the furthest thing from reassured by that. But Jinu is being stubborn so she drops that topic in favor for another.
“Can we… Talk?” Rumi asks tentatively. She doesn’t want to push it if he’s actually not feeling good but Jinu hears her tone of voice and immediately pushes himself up to a sitting position. He maneuvers his pillow over to his lap.
“Oh.” He says. “Yeah. If you want to right now, we can.”
Both of them lapse into silence, something awkward and fragile between them. Elsewhere, Mira is in Zoey’s room, commenting on something she’s doing. Rumi can hear them— Zoey likes when people keep her company while she’s doing other things so the two of them tag team to do just that. Sometimes they all hang out together while she works. Since the tour and the idol awards, they haven’t quite done it in a while. Just… Chilled.
Rumi lets out a long sigh. “I left that night thinking we were on the same page. And then you betrayed me and started acting like none of it mattered. And I know you were lying to push me away but it still hurt.”
“Yeah.” Jinu lets out a breath of his own, fingers curling into the pillow in his lap. “I’m sorry about that. And for… Lying. About you know what.”
I left them, Jinu had said, magenta patterns glowing like an open wound. I left my sister and my mother alone while I slept on silk sheets in the palace with my belly full every night. I left them. I left them…
He kept repeating that feverishly, like he was picking at said open wound, infecting it.
“Why did you lie?” Rumi asks quietly. Jinu laughs but it’s a hollow sound.
“What, you’re telling me you wouldn’t have seen me as any less of an irredeemable monster if I told you the truth that first night? You would’ve never wanted to see me again. Admit it.” He smiles like he knows he’s right but his knuckles are white against the pillow. Like he’s waiting for a blow.
Rumi swallows. “You’re more than the mistakes you’ve made.”
“It was a pretty big mistake to make.”
“You’ve been paying for it for four hundred years. That’s… Excessive, you know that?”
“Some would say I deserve an eternity. Some would say there are some things that can’t be forgiven.” Jinu replies, but it doesn’t quite sound like him. It sounds like he’s parroting words he’s heard one too many times.
Her resolve hardens. “Gwi-Ma, you mean. You’re doing his job for him.”
His jaw tightens. “You know what they say about broken clocks.”
“Enough.” She tells him, sharp enough to cut. “Regardless of what you think, you can get better. And I hope you do, even if I’m still mad about you lying. And betraying me.”
Jinu’s face shifts to something more pained and full of regret. “I’m sorry for that, Rumi. I don’t know how to make it up to you.”
“Try.” She tells him. He nods, a little unsteady. “What happened exactly? Between making our agreement and you betraying me at the idol awards?”
“Gwi-Ma saw.” He flexes his fingers like they’re starting to cramp from gripping too hard. She thinks his claws might’ve left holes in the pillow. “And he reminded me of my shame. Said it would get worse— that he could make it worse. And that I could never really change or escape it. I know I should’ve trusted you but…” He huffs. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had any genuine hope for anything. I didn’t think I could trust it. I’m sorry for making that your problem.”
He isn’t looking her in the eye anymore. Now he’s fixated on his hands— on his claws and the faded patterns stretching across them. She still wonders why his patterns are different from hers. Why they haven’t changed in the same way.
“I want to believe I can continue to get better— and I promise I’ll try— I’m just… Worried. That my chance to ran out a long time ago and you’re wasting your time.” He admits quietly. “I’m not the same person I used to be. Four hundred years is a long time— I’ve changed a lot and I don’t think it was for the better. I keep hurting the people I care about.”
“…I can’t guarantee it’ll be easy,” Rumi tells him, “But if you want to get better, you can. Just… Don’t stop trying, alright?”
“Alright. I can do that.” He nods. “I’m… Still sorry. About the idol awards especially but trying to end the world isn’t exactly something that I’m proud of doing either.”
“At least you stopped that.” She points out. He huffs a laugh. “You can’t fix all the mistakes you’ve made but… You can fix some of them. So we’ll start there.”
“Sounds good to me. I really don’t deserve you.”
“Hey.” She barks sharply. He shakes his head insistently.
“You’ve done more for me than I deserve and I’ll spend the rest of my life in your debt.”
“Stoppp.” Rumi groans. “That’s not what this is about. I’m still mad, you know. Just… Let me be mad and decide how I feel about everything now that you’re back, alright?”
“Alright. Sounds fair.” Jinu gives her a little smile. “You can be as mad as you want.”
“It’s a little hard when you’re looking at me like that.”
“This is just my face.”
“Exactly.” Rumi grabs a pillow and smushes his face against it so she can’t see it anymore. She grins and tells him, “Much better.”
“Should I keep this here then?” He jokes. “It can be part of my penance.”
“Stop talking about penance.” She lets it drop so she can look at him again. “You need to hear it again so I’m saying it again: you might’ve done a terrible thing but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer forever for it. That’s not how it should work.”
“Sure.” Jinu says, not sounding particularly convinced. Rumi decides to smack him with the pillow. “Ow.”
“I didn’t hit you that hard, don’t ‘ow’ me. Repeat what I said.”
“My body is sore, you don’t know what does and doesn’t hurt.” He counters, then sighs before parroting, “I might’ve done a terrible thing but that doesn’t mean I should suffer forever for it. Happy?”
“Keep repeating that to yourself whenever you need to.” Rumi points at him sternly. “As many times as needed.”
“That feels excessive.”
“Whatever gets it into your head.”
Jinu doesn’t argue, even if it looks like he doesn’t really believe in what she’s telling him. Baby steps, she reminds herself. You gotta start somewhere.
“I don’t think you’re an irredeemable monster, fyi.” She informs him. She can’t get a read the look in Jinu’s eye when he hears that so she honestly can’t tell if he believes her or not. “I don’t know how I would’ve reacted if you told me that when we first met and I can’t say it would’ve been good but… I don’t think that now. And I wish you could’ve been honest with me under better circumstances.”
Jinu swallows thickly. “I wish I hadn’t yelled it at you.”
Rumi silently holds out her hands. Jinu hesitates but takes them, squeezing back when she does. She traces the jagged patterns on his hands with her thumb in slight fascination.
“Is it weird?” She asks. “To be in this form with me?”
“A little. Being like this around hunters in general kinda sets off a lot of internal alarms.” He admits. “I’m trying really hard not to open my mouth too wide so you don’t realize how bad my teeth are.”
Her head snaps up. He cringes. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Show me.” She urges. When he hesitates, she tells him, “You don’t have to but… I won’t judge. I promise.”
After a few beats, he finally opens his mouth wide. Rumi’s seen his perfect teeth in his human form and has seen the noticeable fangs in little slip ups before but this is different. Jinu’s teeth are sharp sharp, completely inhuman and dangerous. Her hunter instincts tell her they’re made for tearing into flesh. Made to hurt.
Despite it, she finds herself fascinated. She almost wants to reach out and confirm they’re real but she doubts he wants her touching his teeth like that.
“You didn’t have to hide those!” Rumi grins at him. “They’re cute!”
Jinu closes his mouth, raising an eyebrow. “Cute?”
“Or cool or whatever you guys say.” She rolls her eyes. “You didn’t have to worry about that.”
“It’s just that I’ve never been…” He trails off awkwardly. She supplies the rest— he’s never spent much time in his demon form around her. It must feel weird, especially since she’s a hunter, half-demon or not.
“I get it.” She tells him. “But for the record? It’s a pretty good look. All of it.” She gestures to him, then huffs a laugh. “The clothes are a bit outdated though.”
That earns a smile out of him. “Once again, default outfit. And until I get actual clothes, I don’t have the energy to change it.”
“We’ll work on it then. Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.” He nods back. “Going to bed?” She hums in confirmation, it’s getting dark out. “Goodnight, Rumi. And… Thanks. For everything.”
Rumi stands, smiling softly at him. “Of course.”
The hallway is quiet when she heads back to her room— Mira must’ve gone to bed already. Rumi immediately curls up in her bed the second she can, letting the day’s events crash over her. Between the bathhouse and Jinu returning, she feels like she’s spent a lot of time talking about her feelings. Too much, one would argue.
But… It was good. Necessary. She’s glad it all happened.
Still, Rumi passes out pretty quickly. She’s a bit thankful she doesn’t have any weird dreams this time around, she’s got enough on her mind as is.
Notes:
*Points at Jinu* It's hard to fully commit to being mad at a guy who hates himself more than you ever could.
I've seen a few different interpretations for Derpy and Sussie's origins but I just LOVE the idea of two spiritual creatures with unknown powers and origins seeing this one (1) demon guy tortured with regret and crying himself to sleep and being like "mmm. that one. yeah. we like him :). we're gonna change his life for the better and he's not even gonna know it." Their presence deeply confuses just about every demon they run into. Gwi-Ma would banish them if he could but he can't even touch them. Also please imagine Derpy licking Jinu's hair whenever he thinks he needs to be cleaned up and Sussie preening him later.
I think I mentioned this already when I first made this fic but just to be clear, I do wanna bring the other Saja Boys in, just... A bit later. We got a few things to cover before we get there, both for the sake of pacing and general storytelling, and the character's themselves. You'll see what I mean later.
RIP that flight attendant demon at the beginning of the movie who Gwi-Ma kills though. Sorry, girl, the lore I'm using means you're perma-dead.
I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, it was a fun write for me! Comments and Kudos are always fantastic and THANK YOU very much for reading and all the kind support you've given so far!! Until next time <3
Chapter 5: Four Is A Party
Summary:
Letting go of a bad dream is easier said than done. Jinu finds his footing.
Notes:
This chapter FOUGHT me a bit BUT. I think its okay now. Could it be better?? Maybe. But if I keep asking myself that I'll never be satisfied so we're DONE with it already.
I did not realize that putting Zoey and Jinu alone in the same room together would lead to yapping. Their section was gonna be like half as long but they kept talking and I was like Y'know... This Is Fine. If they wanna do this now they can do this now. So that's like, The Part that made this chapter longer than I thought it would be.
ANYWAYS. Enjoy <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Zoey wakes up tense. She recovers quickly, shaking out her limbs, stretching her jaw, and letting the dull images of her dream fade into background noise until the room is quiet. A bit painfully so, but quiet nonetheless.
Her eyes close and she sees Rumi and Mira, standing against Gwi-Ma, giving it their all but ultimately incomplete. They need Zoey. They’re a trio of hunters and they need to put their voices together to drive him back. Two isn’t enough. They need her and she’s trying so hard but—
But the distance between them stretches like a yawning chasm. Two Saja Boys are occupying her, stronger than they’ve ever been, and Zoey is holding her own but she just can’t win. She strikes at Mystery but then Baby is there, pulling her back. She tries to kick Baby away but Mystery has recovered and is back on the offense. She’s not weak enough to lose but she’s not strong enough to win either.
“Zoey!” Rumi calls over as she attempts to push back against the flames trying to eat her alive. “Zoey, where are you?”
“We need you! Now!” Mira grunts, straining against the power of the demon king. “What are you waiting for?”
Zoey tries to say she’s coming. She tries to tell them it’s fine, she’s on her way, but she’s pulled back. Again and again. Unable to break free and join her team.
Too much. And yet, still not enough. A voice croons mockingly.
Zoey opens her eyes again. She’s back in her bed, knuckles clenched so hard they’re white. She shakes them out again and rubs her eyes, reminding herself that Mira and Rumi aren’t far. They’re sleeping peacefully in their rooms. Because she was enough, she did beat the Saja Boys and help recreate the Honmoon, and everything Gwi-Ma whispered in her ear that night doesn’t matter.
She’s not as convincing as she’d like to be. Zoey rolls to one side, eyeing the time on the digital clock. 4:31AM is decidedly too early but she doesn’t think she’s going to be sleeping again anytime soon.
Zoey reaches for her phone instead. It blinds her at first but she’s no stranger to that, quickly fixing the brightness so she can actually see her notifications. While there’s plenty on her socials that she’s been neglecting, Zoey’s attention immediately latches onto a text sent early this morning from Bobby.
Bobby: Hey Zoey! Sorry to bother you on your break, hope you’re enjoying it! I did notice a lot of furniture purchases on your card last night and wanted to make sure that it is you who made them and you didn’t get it stolen?
Zoey: no worries Bobby!! and yes that was me so don’t cancel anything pls
Zoey isn’t surprised that Bobby texts back in under a minute. He usually does— he’s diligent in everything he does. There’s a good reason all three of them adore him.
Bobby: Great! It’s on its way then. Did you need me to have some people help assemble anything or do you and the girls want to handle it?
Zoey: we can probably handle it!!
Bobby: You got it!
Bobby: While I’ve got you here, do you mind if I ask a few questions? I’ve been handling any and all damage control so don’t you worry about that. I just need to make sure we have our stories straight.
Zoey: hit me with it!
Bobby: Okay! So, Rumi’s markings. Are we keeping those in the image from now on? The press keeps asking me.
Zoey: yep, here to stay!
Bobby: Perfect! Are they natural or tattoos or makeup or..?
Zoey: uhhhh I’d ask Rumi about them for more details but I think she’s had them all her life and has just been covering them up?
Bobby: I can work with that! I’ll talk to her about maybe leaning into body positivity? We’ll see where she wants to go. We don’t have to acknowledge them at all! It’s not the public’s business!
Bobby: Okay next thing on the agenda: the Saja Boys. I was hoping to talk to their manager so we could release a story about our two groups collaborating but I can’t seem to get a hold of them anywhere. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find their manager, would you?
Zoey grimaces. Was… Jinu their manager? Or was Gwi-Ma? Hell, what is she thinking, it’s not gonna work either way. They only have one Saja Boy here to talk about what happened and not only is he being really weird anytime they mention the others but he currently looks, well, demonic.
Zoey: I think they’re all off the grid rn and unavailable for comment
Bobby: Damn, I was worried you’d say that… Well, whenever they come back, we can do it then. I’ll just tell the press they’re still on break and don’t want to be bothered.
Bobby: Last thing for now, those songs at the idol awards and at the Saja Boy’s concert! Are we going to release them after the hiatus? Fans are pretty hyped about them and all videos taken of them are in pretty bad quality so they really want a version of better quality to listen to!
Bobby: They also really want that new Saja song but that’s not our jurisdiction so we’re ignoring those questions. I don’t know why they keep asking me.
New songs, Zoey thinks to herself. As in… Takedown and the one they sang when they reunited.
Zoey… Honestly doesn’t know how to answer. Takedown feels weird now knowing the context behind it and Rumi’s heritage but she can see why fans might’ve liked it. And she really liked the one they did before while recreating the Honmoon but recreating the song itself will be a little hard. The way the crowd sounded before— maybe they can see about getting a choir for those parts to replicate the idea? It might not be the same but the song will hit so much harder if that feeling of togetherness is still there.
Zoey: I’ll have to get back to you on that but we’ll at least try to recreate and record the one at the concert!
Bobby: No pressure! Don’t worry about it too much right now, you’re on vacation! You girls all deserve it!
Zoey: aren’t you supposed to be on vacation too?
Bobby: I am! This is just some work on the side!
Zoey: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Bobby: I’ll have you know that I have a massage planned for later today! I am relaxing! I’m having a great vacation so far!
Zoey: well GOOD!!! you should be!
Bobby: Thank you!
Bobby: Got to say, I was slightly worried that I hadn’t really heard from you girls in a while. Usually Rumi is already texting me and planning for the next releases and concerts by now. I hope she’s finally getting some rest in!
Zoey: she is! don’t worry, Mira and I got her
Bobby: She’s in capable hands then!
Bobby: Also I don’t think I got to say before but all your special effects in the last concert went above and beyond what I ever expected! I still have no idea how you did it!
Zoey: trade secret ;)
Zoey: not that we don’t trust you ofc! its just a sunlight sister secret thing
Bobby: I remember, don’t worry!
Bobby: I wonder if the Saja Boys’ special effects are also a trade secret? I’d love to know how they handled those pyrotechnics.
Zoey: it definitely is
Zoey: pyrotechnics are tacky anyways
Bobby: Good point! We have our own aesthetic down anyway.
Bobby: I’ll leave you to whatever you’re doing then! I’m a little surprised you’re up right now, it’s pretty early.
Zoey: ……..hold on why are YOU up
Zoey: aren’t you supposed to be relaxing???
Bobby: I am! Can’t a guy get up early sometimes?
Bobby: Don’t you worry about me, Zoey! I can handle myself just fine. Enjoy the rest of your break!
Zoey: I will. enjoy yours too, Bobby!!
Zoey: you’re the best manager EVER and we love you very much <3!!!!!!
Bobby: You’re too good to me!
Zoey smiles to herself, satisfied with the conversation, but finds she’s definitely not going to bed now. Muffling a grunt, she pushes herself off the bed and shuffles down the hall into the kitchen and living room.
It’s instinct that takes her there. On sleepless nights, Zoey likes to watch TV until her brain goes numb. It helps, no matter what the countless articles about screentime Rumi sends her say. It’s just so… Agonizing to try to sleep when her mind is too loud. If anything, not doing anything usually has the opposite effect, keeping her up. Having some sort of distraction helps.
Plus sometimes she likes to drink warm milk in the middle of the night. It’s an old habit from back when she used to live in Burbank. She likes it and she doesn’t care if Rumi and Mira don’t get it.
While she silences her movements while passing through the hall, Zoey gets a little less strict about making noise once she’s out of earshot of Rumi and Mira’s bedrooms. She hums quietly to herself when she opens the fridge and damn near drops the milk when a figure shoots up on the couch.
Pure instinct has her summoning her blades in her free hand. Then she blinks at the figure on the couch, processing the scene before her, and finally remembers.
“Oh, shit, sorry!” She whispers apologetically, letting her blades disappear again. “I completely forgot you were sleeping there.”
The figure— who she now recognizes to be the slightly frazzled form of Jinu— groans a little, one hand rubbing his face while the other waves her off. “‘s fine.” He tells her, voice groggy. “I’m a light sleeper when I don’t dream. Demon thing.”
Zoey nods understandingly. Even if he’s already awake, she returns to moving quietly, slipping out a mug— aqua with a little owl face on the front— and fills it up with milk. She can’t quiet the hum of the microwave when she puts it in but if Jinu minds, he doesn’t show it. He just seems to stare straight ahead of him, lost in thought.
Truthfully, Zoey is still making up her mind on Jinu. She trusts Rumi and therefore by proxy, trusts Jinu on some level, but she also doesn’t know him as well as she would like. He definitely seems very apologetic about working for Gwi-Ma and is technically the reason they’re not all dead but Zoey doesn’t actually know much about him.
She likes the idea of second chances and redemption though. She definitely doesn’t like the thought of eternal suffering for past sins you regret. So she really is hoping things continue to go well with Jinu.
Still, she’d like to know him. Especially given he’ll probably be staying with them for the foreseeable future. Between his recovery, Rumi wanting him to be around, and Mira wanting to keep an eye on him, that part has kinda solidified itself. Zoey doesn’t know how long but it’ll be long enough that they’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other.
And maybe she’s just a little protective over Rumi after everything that happened and wants to vet this guy if they become a thing.
Zoey’s a good multitasker. She can have a lot of reasons for doing things. And seeing as how Jinu isn’t making any move to lay back down, now might be a good time to start. She clears her throat to catch his attention.
“Do you want anything to drink? I’m making warm milk if you want any, unless you’re lactose intolerant.” Then she pauses to ask, “Can demons be lactose intolerant?”
It’s pretty dark aside from the few small lights in the kitchen so she can only kind of see his face from where she is. All Jinu does for a long moment is stare. Zoey almost thinks he didn’t hear her until his mouth finally opens.
“I… Don’t know what that means. The ‘Lactose’ part anyways.”
Oh right, Zoey thinks, a little amused now. Four-hundred year old demon.
“It basically means dairy products, like milk.”
This only seems to further confuse Jinu, face scrunching up. “You’re asking… If I’m against milk?”
That makes her giggle. “More like allergic but without the dying part?”
“Oh. Uh, I don’t think demons are allergic to much so… Yes, I'd like some?”
Zoey plucks a white mug shaped like a cat’s face from the shelf, fills it, and places it in the microwave once hers is done. “Are demons allergic to anything?” She asks out of curiosity. He huffs a laugh.
“I’m sure if you have any records from the old hunters, they could tell you. There’s probably a few things in the human realm that are bad for demons but not a whole lot in the demon realm.” He then considers something and asks, “Unless you count a few different kinds of venom as something to be allergic to?”
“I think venom is a whole different category.” Zoey calls back, fingers drumming on the counter as she waits for her milk to cool a bit. “It’s some of the snakey demons that have that, right? Brightly colored? We’ve fought a few once or twice I think. I didn’t realize they were toxic to demons too.”
“I think the only demons immune to it are others of their kind. Even then I heard passing rumors about some who had such potent venom that they were able to make even their own kind sick.”
The microwave beeps. Zoey takes both mugs and heads over to the couch. Jinu accepts his with a thank you and a small head dip. She warns him that it’s hot. He nods back and rests it in his lap.
The Tiger, Derpy, is stretched along the side of the couch. Zoey doesn’t think he’s left Jinu’s side once since he got his body back.
“Are there a lot of types of demons?” She finds herself asking. He shrugs and nods. “Do you know how many?”
“There’s a lot of fights about the technicalities of it— what demons do and don’t fall under the same category— so, no, not exactly.”
“Do all demons who used to be human look kinda like you?”
Jinu makes a ‘So-so’ gesture with his hand. “More or less. There are some exceptions depending on the deal you made with Gwi-Ma or sometimes if you died a certain way before he pulls you down. There are some water demons who used to be human because they drowned.”
“All other demons are natural-born then?”
“Yes. But the uh…” Jinu shifts, getting noticeably uncomfortable. “The faceless demons can be either. They’re not exactly naturally born, more… Made.” He shudders. “One of Gwi-Ma’s punishments, if torturing you isn’t appealing to him and you’re not useful enough to him. They don’t know who they are anymore. They lose all sense of identity. They’re still alive and sentient but they suffer knowing they’ve lost everything without knowing exactly what…”
Jinu breaks off, taking a long sip from his mug, no longer looking anywhere near her. Zoey can’t blame him— she’s enjoyed a lot of horror movies in her lifetime but it’s not as fun when it’s real life.
“I… Didn’t think Gwi-Ma could get much worse.” She replies quietly.
“Believe me, there’s no end to his depravity. Calling him a sadist isn’t enough— he feeds off of it. Not in the same way he does with souls but… For entertainment. To be honest, I don’t think he sees us as much more than dolls or ants.” His face twists with disgust.
“What exactly do you do in the demon realm all the time?” Zoey asks, trying to keep her tone light. “I can’t say I’ve ever been.”
Her joke lands enough to make Jinu chuckle. “I wouldn’t recommend it. Four-hundred years spent there and I couldn’t get out fast enough. But… There’s fighting and gambling tournaments sometimes? A market with human stuff you can buy and trade for?” Jinu gestures weakly. “We made do.”
“What do you like to do?” She presses because his answers are still too generalized.
“Oh uh, I have my old bipa somewhere. I play. And sing. And uh… I get as close to the surface as I can to try to see what’s changed in the human realm? I try to make sense of it on my own but there’s only so much I can do sometimes.” He shrugs. “Sometimes I just go along with what one of the others are doing. There’s too much time to kill.”
“Others being the other Saja Boys?” She guesses. He nods once. “So they were your friends before?”
“Yeah.” His voice is quieter now. “I’ve known some of them longer than others but yeah. When things got tough, at least I wasn’t totally alone. At least we were all miserable.”
He sounds wistful. Distant. Zoey was pretty certain before but it’s only helped solidify the fact that she thinks he misses them. A lot. Maybe more than he’s trying to let on.
“I don’t think I ever got to thank you before.” Zoey says. Jinu blinks like he’s being pulled away from his thoughts and is sufficiently distracted.
“Thanked me?”
“For saving Rumi. When you thought it might kill you for good.” Zoey clarifies, though he still looks pretty stunned even once she does. “I was worried we were going to lose her. And technically we won because of you so, thank you.”
“You… You don’t have to thank me for that.” Jinu seems to swallow. “I caused it in the first place, you know. It wouldn’t have happened like it did if it weren’t for me.”
“Probably.” Zoey agrees. “But then you helped fix it. A lot of people run away from the things they break but you didn’t. So, thank you for that. For what it’s worth,” she smiles, “I’m glad it didn’t cost you your life. Then I’d never get to know half of this stuff about demons.”
Jinu stifles a laugh. “I’m sure your mentor has this information somewhere. The hunters of the past always struck me as record keepers.”
“Probably.” Zoey says again. But that would mean facing Celine when she still has no idea what to say to her. She hardly even knows what she feels sometimes. “I’m just a little curious. Rumi told us a bit about you two but I’m interested in what it was like from your side of it.”
“You mean aside from hoping she wouldn’t actually get the drop on me and kill me?” He cocks an amused eyebrow.
“Yes!” Zoey presses on. “It was an act to start, right?” He’s noticeably caught off guard and hesitates like he’s nervous to say but nods anyway. “Was the plan always to cause discord between us?”
“It was… Half of the plan.” Jinu answers slowly. “I figured either I’d find a way to do enough damage that the Honmoon could be shredded apart or… I’d learn how Rumi could have the patterns but be free of Gwi-Ma’s influence and escape that way.”
“Have you always been against Gwi-Ma?”
“Pretty much. Many demons hate him but are often too afraid to do anything about it. He does have those who fear him enough to worship him and some who are so blindly loyal that they consider Gwi-Ma’s influence a sign that they’re not doing enough to please him.” He makes a face at that. “Some of them will try to kill you if you speak ill of him. Not a fun group.”
“Doesn’t sound like it.” Zoey leans against the couch, propping her head up on her hand. “When did it change though? Between you and Rumi?”
Jinu’s face softens enough that Zoey sees it even in the darkness. “I think it happened in little ways before but the first time I noticed was… Right before we met up at the idol awards. I can’t deny I liked her more than I should’ve before, a fact I think most if not all the other Saja Boys picked up on, but it never seemed like a genuine possibility for anything considering…” He gestures to himself. “Our respective situations. I admired her strength and determination but when we met that night… There was a moment where I felt free with her. I couldn’t hear Gwi-Ma anymore. Just my own thoughts. And even if it was only for a moment, it changed everything for me.”
His face shifts then, like an invisible weight has tied itself around his soul again. “It didn’t last as long as I would’ve liked. And Gwi-Ma didn’t waste any time reminding me I wasn’t as human as I would’ve liked. And now,” he gestures around them, “We’re here. You know what happened after.”
Zoey searches his eyes. They glow a little in the darkness. “You really care about her?”
He meets her steadily. “I do.”
Either Jinu is a concerningly good liar or he really means that. It eases her chest just a bit. It’s no guarantee for one thing or another but it’s a tip in the right direction. It doesn’t seem like he would want to hurt Rumi again.
Mira would probably know for sure. Maybe Zoey should’ve waited to have her here but Zoey also knows she’s a little better at getting people to relax around her. Mira is better at being confrontational— trying to get to the root of the problem without beating around the bush too much. Zoey likes to take the scenic route to get there. It gets people talking. Lets her see their true colors a little more.
Jinu seems… Complicated. But definitely not all bad. And if Rumi wants them to give him a chance then Zoey can do that.
She smiles at him earnestly, swearing his shoulders relax a fraction when he sees it. “Me too.” She tells him.
“I figured that much. I’m uh,” he looks nervous again, the same time he does anytime he thinks he’s going to say something that might get him in trouble with the rest of them, “I’m glad you took Rumi’s heritage well. Don’t blame yourself for not doing it the first time, that was on me.”
Zoey narrows her eyes. Looking at the idol awards through a new lense, she tells him, “Exposing her like that was fucked up.”
He winces. “I— I know.”
“You knew she was insecure about it. You specifically designed a nightmare scenario for her.”
“I know.” He bows his head. “I’m truly and deeply sorry to all of you.”
Leaning forward, Zoey jabs her finger into his chest. “Look at me.” She tells him. He does. “If you ever hurt her like that again, I’ll make you regret it.”
“I don’t doubt that.” He tells her. “Honestly you might not have to do much more than kill me. I’ll probably be sent down to the demon realm next time I die and god knows what Gwi-Ma would do if he got his hands on me so… Problem solved. You would barely have to get your hands dirty.”
He’s not lying. Zoey can tell.
She leans back, her sudden bout protectiveness replaced with discomfort. “You’re offering that bit of information up a lot more willingly than anyone should.”
Jinu shrugs. “It’s useful for you to know.”
“It’s kinda disturbing actually.” Zoey tells him blatantly. “I don’t really condone torture done to anyone, even if I’m mad at them, you know?”
The look on Jinu’s face says he genuinely didn’t expect that kind of reaction. Zoey squints at him. “Do you?”
“What? No— I just—” He fumbles a little with his words before telling her, “I’m a demon. And you’re a hunter. Usually that doesn’t matter.”
Zoey can’t really fault him for that one. The plan was to create the Golden Honmoon and banish all demons to rot in the demon realm forever. That only really changed recently when they realized demons weren’t just loyal servants of Gwi-Ma. Not to mention whenever someone said something about demons suffering for eternity in the demon realm, it was hypothetical. She figured they’d just be moping about being beaten and not getting to eat souls. She never really thought about how very real that suffering might be, or if they were more than just soul-eating monsters.
“It does now.” She tells him. Doubt shines in his eyes. “Just don’t hurt her— or anyone else for that matter— and we won’t have that problem.”
“I don’t intend to ever again.”
“Good.” Zoey trails off a little. She downs the remainder of her milk, trying not to think about how it kinda sounds like Jinu thinks he deserves to be tortured. It’s too early for that. Zoey is only now getting to really know him.
She searches her thoughts for a new topic, one sticking out to her. “You’re not super picky about furniture, are you? I probably should’ve asked before.”
Jinu blinks at her like she started speaking another language.
“I ordered a bunch of furniture online last night.” She explains. “So we could make another guest bedroom for you. And I sorta did it on a whim but hopefully you like it.”
“I… This conversation is taking a lot of twists and turns and I’m not sure I’m entirely awake to deal with them.” He tells her evenly. She laughs.
“Yeah, sorry, my head’s a little faster than everyone else around me sometimes. I can be hard to keep up with.” She shrugs. “I’ll just show you what I’ve got when it comes. Worst comes to worst, we have the money to swap it out. Also did you want to shop online for new clothes? I’m guessing you don’t want to be dressed like that all the time.”
Jinu looks down at himself. “…Probably a good idea, yes. I’m still stuck on you threatening me and then telling me you bought stuff for my future room immediately after.”
“It’s less of a threat and more of a promise. And since we just finished that conversation, I thought I’d be a good time to bring up the stuff I got you! Plus,” she shrugs her shoulders, “You were starting to look all doom and gloom. That’s not why I started this conversation.”
“Why did you then?” He asks, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
“To get to know you, why else?” Zoey smiles and holds up her phone. “Are you tired yet or do you want help with shopping now?”
“I’m tired but I don’t think I can sleep yet.” Jinu glances over her phone with a slightly apprehensive look. “My uh. My technology knowledge is limited to making social media posts to promote the Saja Boys, and even then I had help.”
Zoey snickers. “It’s okay, I’ve helped old people with technology before.”
His jaw visibly drops. “I’m not— don’t call me old.”
“You’re three-hundred and seventy-five years older than me, that’s pretty old!”
“I’m…” Jinu trails off, shaking himself. “Never mind, that’s worse, I’m not saying that.”
“Saying what?” She arches an eyebrow. He firmly and defiantly keeps his mouth shut. She sighs in defeat. “Fine, fine, let's just shop for something more modern. Maybe you can pick a few things to impress Rumi.” She wiggles her eyebrows.
She’s rewarded by the heavy blush that overtakes Jinu’s face and stammering that they’re not dating. Zoey smirks but doesn’t push it.
She gives it a month. Max.
If it’ll make Rumi happy, she’s all for it.
—
He knows he’s dreaming because this already happened and even in the dream he knows it already happened. It doesn’t make it feel any better though.
There are flames at his back, eating away at him. Every ounce of his power goes into keeping his body from being destroyed too quickly. He needs a moment— just a moment— so Rumi knows he’s sorry and none of this is her fault. It doesn’t make it any less agonizing.
His body is alight with flames. It hurts more than he can voice. It’s a miracle that he can talk with a steady voice but he has to because he needs her to know before he goes and he needs to make this right somehow— the only way he can— but it hurts enough that he finds himself unable to resist closing his eyes for a moment…
A hand grabs onto his arm. Jinu chokes on his panic— he’s on fire, it’ll only spread to her— “Letgoletgoletgo— you have to let me—!”
“Let go..?” A new voice speaks up, who is decidedly not Rumi. It’s soft and familiar and not clueless exactly but not understanding him all the same. “Why would I let go, Jinu?”
His eyes fly open. Rumi isn’t there. It’s Mystery holding onto his arm, letting the fire spread from Jinu’s body to his. He’s got a small frown on his lips, not acknowledging the panic in Jinu’s eyes.
“Let— let go!” His voice raises to a shout, trying to sound as urgent as he can. Panic is overtaking him so much that he can’t think. He can’t move— the fire will just consume them both faster— but Mystery isn’t releasing his grip and the fire is spreading fast. It’s overtaking his arm— if he doesn’t let go now—
“Why would I let go?” Mystery asks again, head tilting like he genuinely doesn’t understand. Like he doesn’t notice the fire is consuming him or— worse, like he doesn’t care if it is. “I agreed to this, didn’t I? I said I’d follow your lead. Why is this so different?”
“It’ll kill you!” Jinu’s voice cracks with desperation. Mystery’s mouth twists with a wry smile.
“Kill me?” He echoes. “How do you know it hasn’t already?”
Jinu wakes up clutching his chest. Every muscle is locked up, breaths coming out in shudders.
It’s bright out now. Or at least brighter than it was before when he was talking with Zoey in the middle of the night. He doesn’t see anyone else around. He doesn’t know how early or late it is— how long he slept in for once Zoey eventually left to try again.
He jolts when something presses against his side but relaxes when he sees Derpy headbutting him. It’s a secondary reflex to reach out and sink his fingers into his fur. He’s feeling just bad enough to turn and bury his head in it too.
The steady rumble from Derpy’s growl-purring keeps him grounded. He blinks tears out of his eyes, mumbling little apologies to him for getting his fur wet. Derpy never minds much though. He always stays regardless.
“I don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve you.” He mumbles to the tiger. The noise he gets in response is decidedly angrier than usual. It makes him let out a wet laugh. “Everyone gets mad when I say that, even if it’s true. I know I’m trying to be honest but maybe I should just keep it to myself, huh?”
Derpy narrows his eyes at him, which is a pretty rare occurrence. Jinu sighs, scratching the place under his chin that he knows he likes. “Still mad at me for almost dying?”
Derpy makes an unhappy noise. Jinu nods understandingly. “I’m sorry. But I’m okay now. Mostly.”
Derpy nuzzles his cheek into him. Jinu chuckles softly. His eyes slide shut on their own, already exhausted even though he just got up. His body still aches like it’s screaming at him. He thinks it wants him to get more sleep to recharge all the energy he used regenerating but he’s not particularly looking forward to trying again.
In the demon realm, all dreams you have while you sleep are guaranteed to be nightmares. The human realm promises no such things but Jinu still dreads what he might see if he does.
How do you know it hasn’t already?
Jinu forces his eyes back open. He can get more sleep later. Right now, he’d do just about anything to escape his thoughts.
—
Their tower has five bathrooms. Two of which are on the same floor as their bedrooms and three of them have showers. Mira prefers the one closest to her room and thus, most of her products are kept there, plus her contacts. Everything she needs to get ready in the morning is in there.
Someone is using said bathroom to shower. It wouldn’t be a problem if they hadn’t been in said shower for well over an hour.
It takes her too long to figure out who. She should’ve known— Rumi never takes a shower over twenty minutes if she can help it and Zoey only does when she’s brainstorming and getting lost in the lyrics. She would be hearing Zoey sing if that was the case, but it’s dead quiet. Not to mention that Rumi is in their gym right now and Zoey is stuffing shrimp chips in her face and in some sort of writing frenzy in the living room.
Which leaves the only person who doesn’t know not to take hour-long showers without giving anyone a heads up.
Mira pounds on the door loudly, hearing him yelp in surprise. She doesn’t bother hiding her irritation when she shouts, “Wrap it up in five minutes or I’m breaking the door down!”
The water shuts off immediately. Mira leans on the wall opposite to the door, rubbing her eyes.
Rumi wants them to be civil to Jinu. Mira thinks she’s been pretty damn civil. She hasn’t drawn her weapon on him once. She hasn’t cornered him for an interrogation yet to see if he’s putting on an act or if he means it when he says he wants to get better. She hasn’t even raised her voice at him— outside of right now. But he might not have heard her otherwise so she’s counting it as an exception.
It’s not that he’s a demon. She thinks. Mira can’t say that with one-hundred percent certainty because about two weeks ago, she would’ve told you that all demons suffering for eternity was the whole point. She was taught that demons were soulless, soul-sucking, monstrous beings who were a parasite on humanity and a danger to the natural order of their world. She was taught there was no such thing as a good demon— hell, not even such a thing as a morally gray demon. They were just bad guys. Like the minions of a dark overlord in a video game you were meant to kill to get to the big boss and never feel guilty about.
But Rumi is half demon so obviously that’s wrong. And if Jinu’s information can be trusted, even full demons are a little more complicated than that. And Mira has been readjusting her world view ever since with… Okay results, she thinks.
She hasn’t given into the urge to draw her weapon on Jinu once so. That’s probably a good sign.
She’s pretty sure her apprehension has nothing to do with him being a demon. It just the… Everything else about him.
He led the Saja Boys. He helped destroy the original Honmoon. He betrayed Rumi and exposed her. He was going to hypnotize all those people, including herself and Zoey, into walking into Gwi-Ma’s flames. There are dozens upon dozens of missing persons reports out there that all have the Saja Boys to blame.
She’s killed for less. If it weren’t for him willingly sacrificing his body for Rumi to give them a better fighting chance, it might’ve been a different story.
It’s not lost on her either that even if Jinu didn’t actually die, he thought he would. And he still did it.
Which makes things fucking complicated. And it’s not that Mira can’t do complicated but by god is she exhausted. It feels like she’s been talking herself in circles trying to figure it all out.
The door to the bathroom opens. Mira looks up, meeting the slightly wary gaze of Jinu. He smiles like a man who is intimately aware that he would lose a fight right now. Badly.
“Sorry.” He coughs. He’s still wearing his black hanbok, now with an added towel covering his shoulders to catch any water dripping from his hair. “I got a little carried away.”
“I sense that.” Mira tells him. She strides forward and he quickly gets out of the way. Even as she grabs everything needed for her morning routine, he lingers in the doorway.
“I just— easily accessible warm water is a miracle of the modern time, you know that? Usually you’d have to warm it up manually, via fire. It’s really nice to just turn a knob and let it work its magic itself.”
“I get it, you’re old.”
Jinu makes a deflating noise. Mira glances at him, making up her mind before turning towards him fully.
“I don’t think I have to make myself clear on what will happen if you hurt either of them, do I?” She arches an eyebrow. He immediately shakes his head.
“No. You’ve been very clear about that.”
“Good. Rumi and Zoey are the best things in my life right now. I don’t want anything threatening that.”
“I don’t intend to do anything of that sort.” Jinu says but it only makes her eyes narrow further.
“Why are you saying it like that? You don’t ‘intend’ to do it.”
“Because I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”
Mira reads in between the lines and slowly adds, “But you still think you might.”
Jinu doesn’t respond. Doesn’t confirm or deny it. He just stands there as Mira stares him down.
“…Hm.” She steps forward but only to grab the door. “Go. I need to wash my face and put in my contacts.”
Jinu’s eyes trail over to her collection of skin care products. “…And you need all of that to do it?”
Mira shuts the door on him, rolling her eyes. She can’t tell if his response comes from him being a demon, four-hundred or so years old, or just a guy. Possibly multiple.
She wants Rumi to be happy. Rumi wants things to work out with Jinu. For her sake, Mira hopes they do.
As far as she can tell, Jinu isn’t lying when he says he regrets what happened and how he wants to get better. It gives him some points, not nearly enough for her to trust him, but some. However those points have become outnumbered by the look in his eye sometimes.
Why does Jinu look so damn guilty all the time?
It makes her think about something she overheard last night while leaving Zoey’s room. Mira wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, she just wanted to make sure Rumi was alright. But then she heard her say something, repeated by Jinu after. Something along the lines of you did a terrible thing but you shouldn’t suffer forever for it.
They could’ve been talking about him betraying Rumi. It would fit. It would make sense. It’s the easy answer.
But Jinu is a demon. One who used to be human. He had to have made a deal with Gwi-Ma. She doesn’t know what for. She doesn’t know what he’s done in the four-hundred something years he’s been alive. And Rumi did say something before about Jinu living with regret and shame.
Mira doesn’t know a lot about Jinu. She’s not particularly fond of not knowing when he’s already proved to be a threat in the past.
It’s complicated. Everything is so damn complicated now.
Mira shakes herself and goes through her morning routine. When she’s leaving the bathroom after, Sussie is there, watching her through squinted eyes. Mira glares right back and heads for her room. Sussie follows.
She still doesn’t understand the bird either.
—
Zoey tells all of them that unpacking and assembling Jinu’s room together would be a pretty great bonding activity. Rumi agrees to it, Jinu tells them he can only do so much right now but will attend, and Mira takes a little convincing but Zoey is nothing if not convincing. Rumi finds it kinda impressive how quickly she can make Mira fold.
Fighting demons all the time means they all have a decent amount of muscle. Even with Jinu still weak, the three of them can handle moving a bunch of furniture parts to the newly cleared out room. That’s the easy part.
Assembling them is… Not as easy. But Rumi knows they can handle that much.
She’s a little distracted however. Because Jinu is struggling to put a single table together while Zoey and Mira plow through the bed frame. He’s constantly reading the instructions and muttering to himself and somehow putting the legs on backwards and Rumi is trying really, really hard not to laugh because he’s really trying but oh my god—
“Rumi.” Jinu is giving her a pained look now, cheeks flushed. “Please stop laughing at me when I can’t teleport to the nearest body of water and throw myself into it.”
“I’m sorry.” She says, trying to sound sorry but missing the mark. Her shoulders are shaking. She has to cover her mouth to hide her smile. “It’s not funny, you’re trying very hard and that’s admirable.”
“It’s a little funny…” Mira smirks, easily multitasking and experiencing no trouble on her end.
“It’s—” Rumi shouldn’t be giggling this much but she is and she can’t stop. It’s so stupid. The fact that he’s stuck in his demon form and his hanbok while he’s struggling with such a mundane task just makes it worse. “It’s just that you look so…”
He cringes. “Please don’t say old. Everyone needs to stop calling me old— I know it sounds like a lot for a human but it’s not that much for a demon!”
“Four-hundred years isn’t a lot for a demon?” Zoey looks up.
“No! There are demons that have been around long before the Honmoon was even formed! I’m far from the oldest demon— I’m not even the oldest Saja Boy!”
“Who’s the real old man of the group then?” Mira asks without looking up.
Jinu pauses slightly just before he says, “Baby.”
All of them stop to look up at him. “…Baby.” Mira repeats. “The guy named Baby is the oldest.”
“Demons don’t age in the same way humans do.” Jinu informs them. “And humans who become demons are physically stuck looking whatever age they became a demon at. And apparently since he got stuck with an eternal baby-face when he became a demon… They gave him a nickname to reflect that.”
“He’s over four-hundred years old and he’s stuck with the nickname Baby?”
“More or less.”
“Wait,” Zoey pipes up, “Who’s the actual maknae then?”
“Abby.” Jinu replies. All of them gape at him. “He’s only been there for a century!”
“A century is young for you?” Rumi can’t help but gawk. Jinu shrugs a little helplessly.
“I’m four times his age so… Yes?”
“I need to know this age order immediately.” Zoey says.
“From oldest to youngest it’s Baby, then me, then Romance, then Mystery, and finally Abby.” He recites. “Baby’s five-hundred something, Abby’s only one-hundred, everyone else falls somewhere in between.”
Another beat of silence. Then Mira says, “So you’re all old.”
Jinu lets his head thunk against the wood of the table. Rumi can’t stop herself from laughing so hard that she struggles to breathe.
“I really miss the ability to teleport without physical consequences.” Jinu groans.
—
She’s dreaming again. It’s a really weird dream this time.
It’s dark. There are whispers everywhere. She feels sluggish and weird and most of the whispers pass right over her like oil and water. Rumi isn’t really thinking about any of it though. She’s not sure she’s thinking about anything at all.
That is, until something catches her attention. “Saja… Disbanded…”
Curiosity is the thing that drives her, even if her movements are jerky and uncoordinated. Rumi just keeps stumbling towards the voice she heard— towards the faint light it’s leading her towards. The voice gets clearer and clearer as she goes until—
Rumi opens her eyes. The sky— if it can be called that— is dark aside from the familiar shimmer of the Honmoon. The ground is dry, dark, and cracked. Any and all trees are dead and sparse.
Her head turns towards the voice she heard— they’re talking to someone. They’re a demon no less— one is small and green and the other a water demon with a scar across their cheek.
Their voices are clearer than any dream has ever been before.
“—are saying there’s no point anymore. I mean, if they couldn’t pull it off, what hope do the rest of us have?” The water demon asks the other, shoulders slumped.
“They got close.” The green demon argues back, the owner of the voice she heard. Their back is turned to her. “And this new Honmoon is weird and different. Maybe we can find new loopholes! It’s not golden!”
“Maybe it’s worse.” The water demon presses. “Maybe it’s stronger.”
The green demon scoffs at them. “So what, you’re content to rot down here forever? The Saja Boys proved a Honmoon can be destroyed once. It just needs… I don’t know, but I don’t wanna die down here! Not permanently.”
“The Saja Boys still failed.” The water demon stresses. “Look, I’m not any happier down here than you are! But we all know what happens when you disappoint Gwi-Ma like that. I’m not risking it. Whatever crazy plan you want to come up with, you’re on your own.”
The green demon groans. Rumi blinks as things get a little fuzzy at the edges. She feels like she’s drifting. Like she’s being pulled away. Like she’s—
Rumi opens her eyes. Soft fur tickles her foot, making her sit up. Derpy stops headbutting her in order to stare at her. Rumi’s shoulders slump but she scoots forward to scratch his chin.
“Hey.” She whispers. “You okay? Is Jinu okay?”
He makes a noise that she can’t decipher. It doesn’t sound bad though so Rumi just nods. A sigh escapes her as she rubs her eyes. She’s not particularly surprised that she’s having weird dreams again but this was definitely the most confusing one yet. Is she dreaming of… Demons she’s killed in the past or something? Why were they talking about the Saja Boys anyways? Nothing makes sense to her.
She glances over her shoulder at the clock to check the time, then frowns.
If it’s 3AM then why isn’t it… Darker?
A quick glance around her room confirms to her that even if it’s still a bit dark out, it’s definitely not as dark as 3AM should be. Especially since none of her lights are on. She feels like she can make out everything in her room, aside from color. Like she can read some of the things on her walls.
Rumi sits there in complete bewilderment. Then gets up and heads down the hall, Derpy following her. She hesitates in front of the door but ends up carefully swinging the door open and poking her head out.
“Jinu?” She whispers, just in case he’s in a deep sleep. She does not expect the way he jolts awake like she shouted however, head swiveling.
“Wha… Huh?” He blinks at her sluggishly. The clothes he and Zoey ordered arrived before dinner so he’s wearing proper pajamas. Namely a shirt with a little stylized cat on the front.
His hair is a mess. It’s a good look on him though. A little too good— Rumi shakes herself to focus.
“Hi, sorry.” She waves at him, a little sheepish. Jinu blinks a few times and eventually waves back. “I… I wanted to ask you something and wasn’t sure if you were awake. I didn’t realize I’d wake you.”
“Light sleeper.” He mumbles, waving her off. “Come in, I’m up now.”
She still feels apologetic but Derpy nudges her forward from behind so she finally commits. The door is shut softly once her and Derpy are inside and she sits at the foot of his bed. He adjusts his pillows so he can lean back on them while still sitting up.
“What did you need..?” He asks. “Or— wait, hold on, I can turn on my lamp if you want—”
“It’s fine.” Rumi cuts him off. “It’s… Actually not that dark in here. But it should be. And I wanted to ask you if that’s a demon thing?”
Jinu takes a few moments to process that. Then his eyes get wide. “Oh. Oh! Yes, night vision is a thing. The demon realm doesn’t really have a sun, just a more dark vs less dark day cycle. So pretty much all of us have some level of night vision to account for that.” He pauses, squinting at her. “Your eyes… Are glowing a little bit now that I think about it. That’s usually a sign of it.”
Rumi groans and lets herself tip to the side so she can bury her face in the mattress. “Great.” She groans.
“What?” She can hear the frown in his voice. “It’s a good thing. Be proud of your demon heritage!”
“It’s not that I hate it, it’s just— new.” She shifts her head to face him but remains pressed to the cushion. “I’m learning all this new stuff about myself at twenty-six. It’s like I’m going through demon puberty.”
Jinu stifles a laugh. “Well I had to learn all this at twenty-four so, I get it. Believe it or not, when you’re transformed into a demon, it doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Either you learn it yourself or someone teaches you.”
Rumi makes a noise somewhere between a hum and a groan. “Is it safe to say everything weird going on with me is a demon thing?”
Jinu shrugs. “Could be.”
“I think my nails are growing faster?”
“Definitely.”
“Sometimes my teeth look sharp and sometimes they’re normal?”
“Probably.”
“I… Keep having weird dreams?”
Jinu blinks at that one. “Dreams? Like nightmares?”
“I don’t… Think so?” Her eyebrows furrow. “I mean the first one was pretty normal. The second one was… Less so. And this one was weird. But I don’t think any of them were quite nightmare material so…” She shrugs the best she can lying down. Jinu hums.
“Well… You’ve had a busy month. I think some weird dreams are warranted. That’s not any demon thing I’ve ever heard of— demons only have nightmares, courtesy of Gwi-Ma.” Jinu tells her. “So it’s probably just your head making sense of everything that’s happened?”
Rumi guesses that makes sense. Doesn’t make what she saw and heard any less weird though.
“But… If you want, I could teach you when I’m feeling a little better.” Jinu offers. Rumi lifts her head.
“Teach me?”
Jinu smiles at her, warm and simple. “Your powers. The new demon ones. You interested?”
Notes:
I did not realize I'd be putting so much dream stuff and symbolism in this fic when I created it but that is one of the first things I became obsessed with when I first started writing as a kid so like. I can't say I'm THAT surprised? Don't worry Rumi, I'm sure that dream meant nothing! I mean, dreams can only recreate images and places and people you already know, right? So you had to have seen those things before, right? Riiiiight?
Yeah okay I'm pushing my 'Baby Is The Oldest Saja Boy' propaganda again. It's MY fic and nobody can stop me.
The girls can bully Jinu a little. as a treat. I probably won't make too many more old jokes, I just wanted Jinu to have A Day.
The bit of lore about the faceless demons comes from I thiiink something one of the creators mentioned about the first draft of Jinu's introduction song being about how terrible it is to be a demon with that being one of the reasons why? And I went "Oh that's horrifying. Canon to me now" so here we are.
I do HC Rumi and Mira as 26 and Zoey as 25 if you're curious!
Anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!! Y'all have been so supportive and it's absolutely incredible, thank you!! Comments and Kudos are cherished forever and ever and thank you so much for reading! Until next time!!
Chapter 6: Attempted Training Montage (Part One)
Summary:
Someone’s gotta teach Rumi more about her demon half so that might as well be Jinu, right?
Notes:
So. As you can see from the chapter title, this chapter... Might've gotten away from me. This was not SUPPOSED to be a two parter but I didn't anticipate the extra word count the beginning few scenes would add on and I'm a fantasy author at heart so the second I was like "Hmmmm what if I explained some of the power system..." I should've known it was gonna be like this.
ALAS, we are here now and after I passed 7k I was like "Okay fuck it, we're splitting this up." This chapter is probably gonna be a lot longer than the second part but the place where I ended it just felt the most natural place to so that's how we're doing things.
Slight content warning for Body Dysmorphia due to some lingering issues from Rumi and mentions of past issues on Jinu's side. Didn't go into tooo heavy detail but it's definitely there
Otherwise, ENJOY
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mira walks into the kitchen to find Jinu stuffing his face with kimbap. He freezes when she does. She’s not sure why she’s even surprised anymore.
Judging by the collection of trash he’s pushed into one heap for presumedly easy disposal nearby, he’s been eating a lot. Enough where if he was human, Mira would think he probably had a stomach ache. She halfheartedly wonders if he still does.
“Do I want to know what you’re doing?” She asks with a cocked eyebrow. Jinu slowly chews and swallows in order to speak up.
“I’m going to teach Rumi how to use her demon powers.” He explains. “I’m trying to replenish my energy so I can last the entire training session without putting my body through too much strain. And one way to do that,” he gestures to the wrappers of chips, ramyeon, and various other snacks. He has noticeably only eaten Rumi’s ‘Superstar Flavor’ ramyeon. “Is food.”
“Uh-huh.” Mira drawls. “And you’re using my snacks to do it?”
The speed at which the blood drains out of Jinu’s face is impressively satisfying. “Your— these are your snacks..?” He all but wheezes, looking like a man having Tupperware-related flashbacks.
Mira grins like a shark. “No.” She tells him, and Jinu slumps like a puppet with its strings cut. “But it was funny when you thought they were.”
Jinu clutches his chest. “You’re gonna kill me without ever raising your weapon.” He accuses, though weakly. Mira can’t help but laugh.
“If you can’t handle that,” she tells him, “You won’t survive until the end of the month.”
He moves out of the way when she heads for the fridge, mulling over her options. “Rumi asked you to teach her?” She asks. He nods back. “Alright. I want to be there.”
Jinu blinks. “While we train? Uh, sure. If Rumi’s okay with it, I don’t see why not.”
“Zoey will probably want to join us too. Rumi might need the support, and besides,” she levels him with a look, “It’ll be… Interesting. To learn how demon powers work from a demon’s perspective.”
Jinu nods. He doesn’t seem threatened by the idea. Doesn’t seem to mind sharing any secrets demons previously kept close to the chest.
Mira files that away before she asks, “You think there’s anything Rumi can do that you can’t?”
“I don’t think.” Jinu replies evenly. “I know. I’ve already seen it. And I’m willing to bet there’s more.”
—
Zoey all but leaps on her bed, grinning brightly and eyes shining as she joins Rumi in her bedroom. Her smile is contagious enough that Rumi can’t resist grinning back as Zoey worms her way over and lays her head on Rumi’s stomach.
“Heyyy.” Zoey sings. “Mira said that Jinu was gonna teach you how to use your demon powers finally. Can we come to watch and cheer you on?”
Rumi doesn’t know why she feels a bit flustered at the request. “You— you want to?” She asks, stammering a bit more than necessary. Zoey nods as enthusiastically as she can when her head is still laid there. Rumi doesn’t mean to hesitate but she does enough that Zoey beats her to it.
“We don’t have to be there if you don’t want.” Zoey tells her, completely earnest. “If you’re worried about us being distracting, we get it! But we’ve always been there for big team milestones before so… It felt right to offer for this one!”
Her insides turn to goo. Rumi blinks back a sudden onslaught of happy tears that she quickly wipes away. “No, no— I… I think it would be really nice to have your support. I have no idea what I’m doing.” She laughs a little shakily. “I’m just kinda… Nervous? Like it just hit me that I’m actually gonna do… Demon stuff.” She gestures vaguely. “Am I making any sense?”
“Kinda! What are you worried about exactly?” Zoey shifts, opting to sit up so she can properly curl by her side and look over at her encouragingly. It does admittedly help.
“It’s just that I’ve… I was avoiding calling myself half demon for so long and it’s great that it’s out in the open but…” She glances down at her patterns— the iridescent stripes so different from the purple ones she grew up with. Sometimes they don’t even feel like demon patterns. “Actually doing the same stuff that demons do will be a little different? And I want to learn how to control it but I’m…”
“Kinda freaked out?” Zoey finishes. Rumi nods, meeker than she intends to. Zoey nudges her with a smile. “Guess what?” She stage whispers. “That’s totally okay. Nobody is gonna make you feel bad for being nervous about the new stuff.”
“You don’t think it’s weird? The demon stuff, I mean.” Rumi can’t look away from her. Zoey smiles at her again, gentler this time.
“No weirder than anything else we’ve ever dealt with. And definitely not bad weird. I know we’re hunters and meant to be the opposite of Gwi-Ma and all that but that’s more of a morality thing than a physical thing, you know? You having demon powers and using them to help us is a good thing!”
“You are who you choose to be.” A new voice pipes up, causing both of them to look up. Mira crosses the room to join them on the bed, sitting by their sides. “Nothing has to be anything other than just you if you don’t want it to be.”
“Exactly!” Zoey beams. Mira gives her a look, though amusement dances in her eyes.
“I thought we were gonna ask her together.”
“Iiiii got a little ahead of myself.” Zoey replies sheepishly. Mira shakes her head but her smile never wavers.
“You're cool with us being your cheerleaders?” Rumi nods. Mira’s gaze gets a bit softer. “We’ll be there then. You nervous?”
Rumi nods again. “You… You don’t think me using my demon powers will make me vulnerable to Gwi-Ma, do you?”
“You used them before, didn’t you? Even if it was by accident?” Zoey points out. Rumi nods slightly. “He couldn’t control you then. Maybe he just can’t.”
“I think we proved we’re too powerful for Gwi-Ma anyway.” Mira adds. “You’re not just any old demon either. You’re half hunter too. Maybe that’s always protected you, or maybe he can’t touch half demons in the first place. Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure you’re safe in that regard.”
Rumi lets out a breath, nodding back. They’re probably right but with how long she was suppressing that side of her, being open with it has been both wonderful and a whole different ballpark to navigate. Old habits die hard, she guesses. Her chest still flutters nervously but Mira and Zoey are both smiling at her, easing it.
“Okay. If I get a little more… Demony than I do now,” Rumi gestures at herself, “Don’t panic?”
“We know who you are underneath, no matter what you look like.” Mira tells her easily. “I made that mistake once and I don’t ever want to do it again. We just want to be there for you. And also so if you do anything later on, we'll know it’s normal.”
“I don’t know if anything about me is normal.” Rumi points out.
“And that’s fine.” Mira shrugs. “We’re idols by day, hunters by night. Our new normal is constantly changing. Don’t hold back on our account.”
Rumi blinks a few times fast, abruptly overwhelmed. “I’m gonna cry.”
“Good!” Zoey’s voice raises. “Get your feelings out! Cry! Cry! Cry! Cry!”
Mira grins and joins in. “Cry! Cry! Cry! Cry!”
Rumi blubbers incoherently and pulls them both in for a back-breaking hug. Neither seem to mind— they’re holding on just as tightly. Her chest is so full that it’s going to burst.
“…Did I hear you all wrong or were you just chanting ‘Cry’?”
Jinu stands utterly bewildered in the open doorway. Rumi takes one look at him and breaks out into a fit of giggles.
“It’s a group cry, demon boy.” Mira wipes her own misty eyes before glancing back at him with a challenging eyebrow. “Have you never had one of those before?”
Jinu glances between all of them like he’s waiting for one of them to crack and say, just kidding! When they don’t, he says, “No..?”
“Wowwww.” Mira drawls. “That explains so much about you.”
“Wha— no it doesn’t?”
“It kinda does.” Zoey jumps in. “You should try it sometime! It’s very healing for the soul!”
“I’ll… Think about it.” Jinu says slowly and entirely unconvincingly. “Is it safe to say we’re on for tomorrow?” All of them nod. “Great. I’m gonna go recharge some more then.”
Rumi watches him go, leaning her head against Mira’s shoulder. It’s kinda nice to see him in a domestic scene. To not worry about Gwi-Ma or the idol awards or anything other than filling the time. She knows their world won’t remain quiet forever and even if she can’t help but miss the work and action, she does like this. Seeing him be able to slow down and process it all.
It’s also just a little funny to her that he’s still stuck in his demonic form while wearing t-shirts and jeans. He also looks infuriatingly good in just about everything he wears.
…She wants him in a Huntrix hoodie immediately.
Rumi redirects her attention to Zoey and Mira, one hand on each of their shoulders. Both are looking at her openly. Neither care that she might be leaning more into her demonic side tomorrow.
“I’m warning you both right now,” she begins slowly, “I might be really bad at this.”
Mira snorts. “We don’t care.”
“You didn’t judge us when we were first struggling to figure out our hunter powers!” Zoey points out. “You were very patient and kept giving us pointers!”
“A few too many pointers…” Mira rolls her eyes fondly. “But you meant well, even if I didn’t realize it at the time. And we never would’ve gotten there without you. So for this, we’re here to cheer you on, even if you suck at it at first.”
Rumi grimaces at the idea. “I don’t want to suck.”
“It’s completely normal!” Zoey points out. “Good for you even! Everyone starts somewhere.”
“And we got your back for this.” Mira finishes. “So, whenever you want to do this, we’ll be there.”
Rumi feels something shudder and settle in her chest, allowing her to breathe easier. “Thank you.” She tells them, shutting her eyes for a moment.
Then it hits her and they fling back open. “I. Should probably mention I roped Jinu into agreeing to train me around six-ish?”
Both Zoey and Mira stare at her. “Six..?” Zoey repeats hesitantly.
“In the morning.” She confirms.
Both of them immediately groan. “Why?” Mira grabs her by the shoulders to shake her. “Why why why why?”
“I like to train bright and early!” Rumi protests. “You know this!”
“We’re on our break!” Mira shoots back. “You could pick any other time and you pick the earliest time possible?”
“I tried to make it sunrise…” Rumi mumbles. “But he vetoed that. The earliest I could get him to agree to was six.”
“He agreed to six?” Mira gawks. “Ughhh, he’s so whipped…”
“You say that like we aren’t also going to get up at six for her.” Zoey points out. Mira buries her face in her hands.
“I knowwww but at least I never chose the time...”
“You don’t have to get up at six with me.” Rumi points out. “I’ll probably be training for a while, you can come down later.”
“No, fuck you, I’m coming.” Mira drags her hands down her face. “I might just look like death warmed over.”
Rumi grins back. “Just like old times?”
Mira snorts and shoves her. Zoey pulls them into another hug as she giggles in delight.
“Since we’re all gonna be getting up early…” Zoey glances between the two of them energetically, “We might as well have a sleepover later tonight, right?”
Mira smirks. “Sounds practical.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Rumi agrees.
Zoey shoots up her arms in victory.
—
Jinu doesn’t remember if he was ever scared of the dark as a kid. He can’t remember if he ever refused to sleep on his own or stayed up for hours jumping at every little shadow that flickered. He doesn’t remember his childhood much, if at all. Everything aside from being twenty-four and making the choice that will haunt him for the rest of his life tends to fade into background noise.
He’s been a demon longer than he’s been human. He’s a light sleeper now, every little noise making his heart lurch to alert him of potential danger. It wouldn’t be this bad if he weren’t sleeping alone but Derpy likes sleeping with the girls too and Sussie likes to take long, night flights whenever he’s in the human realm and… He doesn’t have anyone else around to watch over him while he sleeps.
He could ask. It might solve a few problems. But Jinu has been having rough nights and from the sounds of it, Rumi hasn’t been much better, so he’s not about to ruin it for both of them. It’s not as if he hasn’t slept alone ever since becoming a demon. It’s just… Been a while.
Now he’s alone. The room is dark and quiet. He has an actual door with a lock on it, though the window makes him more uneasy than he should be. It’s a perfectly comfortable room, but his mind keeps drifting back to the cavern in the ground, carved out by hand and occasionally growing to account for the five of them.
It’s probably cold now. Untouched. The idea of any demon stumbling across it and taking up residence in it makes him simultaneously feel queasy and possessive, claws flexing.
It’s late at night. He needs the sleep. He plans on training Rumi tomorrow. The more recovered he is, the better. Eating can only do so much, sleeping will help more.
He feels like a child, being afraid of falling asleep. He can’t remember if he was ever like that before but the shame burns in his chest all the same. Jinu reminds himself once again that even if he dreams, there’s no guarantee it’ll be a nightmare. He may not dream at all. He may just pass out and wake up when it’s bright again and Rumi wants to start training at an absurd time.
Jinu sucks in a breath and lets it out slowly. He shuts his eyes, one hand under his pillow as he lays on his side, and tells himself to not think about it. Thinking about it will make it worse. He hasn’t heard Gwi-Ma once since the new Honmoon was created— not thinking about it should be easy in comparison.
He counts down, having once heard that technique for falling asleep before. He breathes in, breathes out, breathes in, breathes out…
The silence stretches on for an eternity, and as a guy who has lived for over four- hundred years, he knows eternity well. It drives him a bit crazy. It makes him twitch and curl and clench his jaw.
“Are you seriously having trouble sleeping? In a bed like this?” A new voice drawls, tongue clicking. “Typical Jinu. In the lap of luxury but never able to let yourself enjoy it.”
Jinu squeezes his eyes shut so tightly that it aches. “Fuck…” He breathes. “You’re not real. I’m dreaming. Again.”
He gets a rumble of a laugh at that. “Really? What gave it away?” He feels him brush against the side of his leg, seating himself on the side of the bed facing the window. He makes a noise somewhere between a hum and a sigh. “Come on, aren’t you gonna look at me?”
Jinu’s throat bobs. “I don’t wanna know what I’m going to see.” He admits shamefully. He gets a sigh this time, like that was expected.
“Don’t you owe me this much? You looked them in the eye when you left. You can at least do the same for me.”
Jinu clenches his jaw but pries his eyes open. His room is surprisingly… Normal. Romance doesn’t even look out of place. He’s in his human disguise— wearing the heart outfit they had at the variety show. He doesn’t look mad or injured or anything other than.. Faintly pleased.
“There you are. Ignoring it isn’t gonna make it go away, you know.” He rolls his eyes but it’s strangely playful rather than annoyed or spiteful.
Jinu’s heart is pounding so loudly that he can hear it in his ears. It’s making his ribcage hurt, like it’s slamming against the bars of its enclosure. He swallows and asks, “You mean make you go away?”
“Sure.” Romance says, like he’s missing the point. His head turns as he gazes out the window wistfully, out into the night sky and city lights. “The grass sure is greener on the other side, isn’t it, Jinu?”
His throat tightens. “Romance—”
“You really should enjoy yourself more. I mean, if you don’t, then what was the point of it all? I’d be a little insulted.” He pauses deliberately. “Should I be using past tense? What do you think, Jinu?”
“Stop.” He croaks, a little desperate. Romance just sighs again, deeper.
“You know it doesn’t work like that. Don’t hold it against me though. You know how it is.” His head turns, revealing ghastly blank eyes and a smile that is a little too sharp for the form he’s in. “We’ve got unfinished business after all.”
Jinu jolts awake, gasping into the open air. He immediately covers his mouth, eyes wide as he breathes unevenly. The phantom touch against his leg lingers, even if he knows it was never really there.
Even once he can breathe properly again, guilt sits heavily in his chest. It tastes like bile in his throat, sour and bitter. His body is so incredibly exhausted and aching but his eyes stubbornly remain open. He doesn’t want to risk it again. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to not throw up everything he has in him if he dreams like that again.
Jinu presses his palms into his eyes until he sees stars. He lays there until the sun comes up, watching as the night sky shifts in color gradually. He forgot how beautiful it was. He forgot the night sky here is so different from the one down there. It was an easy thing to overlook before.
Pinks and yellows break through the blues when the sun starts peeking up. Jinu doesn’t take his eyes off of it for a second until he hears a gentle knock on his door.
“Come in.” He calls softly. Rumi pokes her head in, fully dressed and determined. Despite it, he still asks, “Ready?”
“Yes.” Rumi tells him. “Mira and Zoey are a bit slower right now but they’ll be ready soon too.”
Jinu pushes himself up. “Alright. I’ll get dressed then, give me a minute.”
Rumi lingers, squinting. “Did you sleep at all?”
“Some.” He shrugs. It’s not a lie. Even if he should’ve done more and he’s not in the best of shape right now, he’s managed worse. It’s just training. He can handle that.
Rumi’s mouth presses into a thin line but she leaves to give him privacy. He slips into a simple t-shirt he doesn’t mind possibly getting sweaty in and some pants he can move in. He doesn’t know how Rumi learns best but he’s prepared for anything right now.
She deserves a good teacher.
—
Zoey and Mira don’t need to do stretches with her but they do and Rumi can’t help but be grateful for it. It almost makes her feel normal, like this is just another thing they’re training for. Like Celine is gonna walk through that door any minute and—
Okay, bad train of thought right now. Don’t think about your legal guardian who raised and trained you to be a hunter but never wanted you to get into demon stuff walking in while you’re explicitly learning from a demon you’ve thought about kissing multiple times teaching you to do demon stuff. Especially don’t think about how she last saw you at your worst and you haven’t heard a word from her since. These are all terrible things to think about when you’re trying to focus and do something you’ve never done on purpose before.
Rumi shakes herself, taking deep breaths in hopes of clearing her mind. Zoey is sending her encouraging looks. Mira is mouthing “You okay?” to which Rumi smiles and mouths back “I will be.” which seems to satisfy her.
Jinu is eyeing their workout equipment with the same cautious curiosity as one would with medieval torture devices. He zeroes back in immediately once Rumi is finished warming up.
“I have a bit of a personal question to ask.” He tells her, catching her slightly off guard. “Relevant, don’t worry. Do you know anything about your demon father? Particularly if he was a human turned demon like me or some other kind?”
“I… Don’t.” Rumi admits. She never really thought about it before now. She did wonder what made her mother fall for him— because from what little she knew about their relationship from Celine’s stories, it did seem like she did have feelings for him in some way— but now… Well, she’s in no place to throw stones about that. But his name, what he looked like, and anything else about him is still unknown to her. Just about the only thing she does know is he ran after her mother died.
Jinu nods back. “Well, my best guess is he was a demon like me due to the fact that you don’t seem to have inherited any traits that suggest otherwise. Fair warning, I could be entirely off base, but I’m working with what I’ve got. Regardless, there are a few powers that are pretty universal to most demons that you probably inherited, or that I’ve physically seen you exhibit.”
“Like?” Rumi asks, trying to think back to that night at the idol awards, then grimacing to herself. Thankfully Jinu fills in before she has to dive any deeper than she wants to.
“Night vision isn’t something you can really teach, it just sorta happens, so you’ve got that covered. Same goes for enhanced strength and speed.” He tells her. “Bringing out your claws is less instinctual— for most anyways— so there’s that. There’s also glamours and disguises, and of course teleporting. All of those are basic demon powers that I’m pretty sure you have or can have.”
“Are there ones you think I don’t have?” Rumi asks.
“Well,” he glances between the three of them, “I don’t think you’re interested in learning how to suck souls out of people’s bodies but if I’m wrong—”
“No.” All three of them say in unison. Jinu’s mouth curves upwards.
“I had a feeling. Though if I’m being honest, I’m… Not sure you can?”
“Because I’m half human?” She guesses.
“Because you’re half hunter.” He corrects. “That’s another thing actually. I’ve heard passing rumors of other half human-half demons before but a half hunter is unprecedented. You don’t just have demon powers, you have hunter ones too.”
“Didn’t we already know that?” Zoey points out.
“We did.” Jinu agrees. “But I’ve seen Rumi do things that no demon or hunter has ever done. The ripple effect in the Honmoon for one. Not to mention I’m pretty sure the reason my soul didn’t get dragged down with Gwi-Ma and how I was able to be conscious in that form was because of you somehow.” He shrugs. “It makes the most sense anyway.”
Rumi blinks, suddenly remembering the rush of power that had come over her at the Saja Boys’ concert after Jinu gave her his soul. How tightly she held onto it, even when it felt like she might lose it. Lose what was left of him.
Did she cause that somehow? Did Gwi-Ma try to pull him away from her but she held on just tight enough to keep him around? Or are they just assuming that was her when it could’ve been any number of things? There was a lot going on…
“So I might have some powers that are a mix of my demon and hunter side.” She summarizes. “Completely new to what anyone else has been able to do in the past.”
Jinu nods. “Exactly right.”
“Which means… There might be things I can do that none of us know about right now?”
“More or less, yes. So if you discover anything new, we’ll have to figure out how to train with that too.” Something must show on her face because Jinu quickly follows it up with, “No, it’s not— that's not a bad thing. I told you before, Rumi, you’re strong. Think of it like this if it helps: you can protect the human realm in ways that no other hunter has been able to before.”
“Nothing wrong with being a powerhouse.” Mira nudges her playfully.
“I’m honestly a little jealous.” Zoey whispers back. “I’d be unstoppable if I could teleport.”
Rumi huffs a laugh, tension in her chest easing. She swallows and recenters herself, giving a determined nod back at Jinu.
“Okay, how do I do this?”
“Do you remember what it felt like to use your powers?” Jinu asks.
Rumi grimaces. She only did it on purpose that one night and back then it had been a blur. She wasn’t thinking about it, she just did it. “Not even a little.”
“That’s fine. Luckily for you, it’s probably not too different from channeling strength from the Honmoon or your fans, just from a different source.”
“I’m not channeling from Gwi-Ma, am I?” Rumi asks, half joking. When Jinu takes too long to answer, her stomach drops. “Am I?”
“It’s— it’s complicated.” Jinu answers at last. “The answer is no but it might… Feel like it?”
“Feel like it?” Rumi repeats, voice straining.
“It’s not— it feels hot.” Jinu gestures towards the center of his chest. “Like there are burning coals in your chest but not necessarily in a bad way…”
“In what world does burning coals in your chest not feel like a bad thing?”
Jinu groans. “I’m not explaining it right, can I just… Show you?”
He steps forward, one hand outstretched to her. It takes Rumi a moment to realize he’s asking to take her hand but she meets him halfway and takes it. He gives her a nod before closing his eyes. Rumi spares a quick glance back at Zoey and Mira, both giving her encouraging nods of varying energy, before she begins to feel it.
Jinu’s patterns shimmer with a reddish hue and right where their hands meet, she feels her own respond. They take on a similar hue, though a tad softer, and travel up her arm. Rumi suppresses a shiver as the new feeling overtakes her.
Jinu wasn’t lying, it is hot, but it’s not… Burning her. It’s like she’s sitting in the middle of a fireplace without being in pain. It’s the kind of heat that reminds her of being lovingly smothered by Zoey and Mira’s hugs when they’re worried about her— like it’s a lot but she wants more. She wants it to consume her from the inside out. She wants to keep that warmth forever.
Jinu’s eyes open again, gold eyes shining with orange irises and flecks of red. When he speaks up again, his voice is lower and the place where their hands meet is white-hot. “See what I mean?”
Rumi nods, a little dazed. When Jinu releases her hand, the warmth fades slowly, almost agonizingly. He takes a step back and Rumi plants her feet into the ground so she doesn’t chase it. She might be quick to recover after years of her hunter training but she doesn’t stop thinking about it.
“It’ll feel something like that.” Jinu continues on like he didn’t just ignite something in her. “But less intense and more fleeting, depending on what you do. It’ll only feel like that if you’re just channeling it without using any power, like I was.” He pauses. “Am I making any sense? This isn’t my first time training someone but it’s been a while.”
“I think I get it.” Rumi assures him. It helps that she had to learn how to channel power with the Honmoon too. It is like he said, she’s just reaching for another source. “What should we start with?”
“You managed to have claws before but glamours are usually easier.” Jinu informs her. “So, where do you want to start?”
“If glamours makes more sense, we can start there. That’s like disguising, right?”
“It’s the less complicated version of disguising.” He nods back. “Changing your form in little ways rather than becoming a completely new person.”
Jinu takes a few more steps back and gestures to himself. “Picture how you want to look in your mind— you really want to think about the specific changes you want to make or it might not come out right— then channel the energy you need and…”
Jinu snaps his fingers, a small puff of red smoke erupting off of him, and is transformed in the blink of an eye. Rumi’s mouth parts in surprise. She shouldn’t be— of course that’s how Jinu would choose to demonstrate it— but it still shocks her a bit nonetheless.
She hasn’t seen him in his human form in… A while now. Probably not long enough to warrant her current reaction but she’s giving herself a pass on the account that he almost died less than two weeks ago.
He’s glamoured away his patterns and purple skin. His eyes are soft and brown again. When he smiles, his teeth are blunt and when he gestures, it’s with hands, not claws.
Rumi had thought she preferred his human form before— it was the one she always saw. The face she imagined when she thought of Jinu. But now she’s not so sure. As soft and gentle as this face is, she knows it can look equally as soft on his demon one too. And both are undeniably Jinu.
“See? Easy.” Jinu says, breaking her out of her thoughts. Why is Rumi so distracted today? Should she have slept in? “Barely took any energy at all. The less you need to change, the better.”
“Okay.” Rumi replies, steadier than she feels. “Easy. Of course. Just start simple.”
—
This isn’t Jinu’s first time training someone to use their demon powers. Between doing most of the work training Romance, helping out with Mystery and Abby, and being trained by Baby, none of this is new territory. Yet anyways, they’ll handle Rumi’s unusual demon-hunter abilities when it comes.
Having the patience to work Rumi through it isn’t an issue for him. It was much harder to get Romance to even channel his power, much less use it. That isn’t the issue here.
Rumi’s impatience might be.
It’s clear to him that she wants it to work and she should have the power for it. They’ve stopped a few times now to let Rumi reset and channel her demon side. That part comes to her easily, her patterns always glowing softly whenever she does. Jinu can feel that she has that power in her and yet, not once has she been able to produce a successful glamour. A flicker here and there, yes, but nothing sticks for longer than a second, if it even lasts that long.
Her most recent attempt is no different. Rumi tries to turn her hair a different color and Jinu can see hints of blue as her power sparks but doesn’t hold. Tension lines in her shoulders— they’ve been at this for almost an hour now. Jinu doesn’t have to read minds to know she’s frustrated with the lack of progress. He tries to smile and dissolve the tension.
“I definitely saw something there. You’re doing good.”
“Yeah!” Zoey cheers somewhere behind her. Her smile is a little strained but the effort is there. “It was supposed to be blue, right? We saw!”
Rumi’s eye twitches. “I was going for green.” She replies. Jinu only just suppresses a wince.
“A reaction is a reaction.” Jinu reassures her. “It can be hard to get it to do exactly what you want sometimes.”
“I thought this was supposed to be easy.”
“Easier in comparison.” Jinu corrects. Her eye twitches again. “Don’t worry too much— you’re doing better than some of the other people I’ve helped train before.”
“I can’t tell if you’re lying to make me feel better or not.” Rumi tells him flatly. Mira groans and marches forward to catch Rumi’s shoulder.
“I’m calling a mandatory break. Come on, we’re getting hydrated.” She leaves no room for argument, corralling Rumi towards the— fuck, Jinu knows this word. Not icebox, he’s pretty sure that’s different. Cooler? No, that’s also something different… Towards the something that holds bottles of cold water. Rumi’s protests fall on deaf ears.
Jinu huffs, letting his glamour drop again. It might not cost much to keep up but he’s not risking running out today. Not when Rumi needs this.
It’s the least he can do. Besides, she’s a decent student, impatience to get it right aside.
Zoey slides up next to him, voice dropping to a low murmur. “I think maybe we should change it up.”
“The teaching style or the power we’re focusing on?” He asks.
“Both.” She pauses. “Do you mean it? When you say she’s doing better than most?”
“She’s doing better than I was.” Jinu can’t help but huff a laugh. “Again, her hunter training is giving her an advantage here. It took me ages to consistently do anything. It’s not really an instinctual thing when you’re born human— or half-human. Nobody gets it right their first time. Well, except maybe for Baby, but he’s kinda a special case.”
Zoey nods along. When Mira chucks two water bottles her way, she catches them with ease, like she’s done it a thousand times before. Jinu doesn’t think they notice how in sync the three of them can be sometimes. It seems effortless— it took him months to get the other Saja Boys to dance the way they do now, and even then they only had to do it for two songs.
Rumi has undeniably the most potential to be the strongest hunter or demon he’s ever met, but he’s seen the other two in battle. They’re nothing to dismiss either.
“Rumi likes to work out and spar to get her mind off of things.” Zoey keeps her eyes on where Rumi and Mira are talking as they sip on water. Mira is grabbing something else from the— thing. Some kind of snack. “Is there any way she can do some more hands on training? Something more physical?”
Jinu grimaces a little, reminded of his own training. While he never earned more than a few bruises or scrapes, Baby’s methods were… Rough to say the least.
Necessary, he always insisted when Jinu complained. And yeah, sure, they worked, but he sure as hell wasn’t happy about it.
“Maybe…” Jinu glances around their gym. He still has no idea what half their equipment does but he recognizes some training weapons in the corner. Sturdy-looking staffs and wooden versions of all their usual weapons. Some mats too— Jinu is kinda jealous about that actually. He wishes he had mats to break his fall whenever Baby tripped him up.
A plan starts to form in his mind. He angles his head towards Zoey. “Do you have anything… Protective you can wear? Against demon claws?”
“Do we have anything we can wear to protect ourselves against the beings we fight on a weekly basis?” Zoey raises a playful eyebrow. Jinu huffs a laugh.
“Right, stupid question. If you put it on, would you be willing to spar with Rumi?”
“Sure!”
“Hey!” Rumi calls over, looking significantly less tense than before. “Did either of you two want any snacks from the fridge?”
“Fridge!” Jinu blurts out. That’s what it’s called. He knew that. How did he forget?
All three hunters are giving him looks. He rubs his face with one hand and waves them off with the other. “No, no, I’m fine. But if someone could help me move some of these training mats, that’d be great.”
—
“We’re gonna take a break from glamours.” Jinu announces, as if that isn’t obvious enough from the mats and how Zoey is now wearing protective leather. She’s giving Rumi a wide grin that is not actually helping Rumi feel terribly confident in whatever’s about to go down.
“I was close!” Rumi tries to argue. “I can get it, just give me more time!”
“I know you will.” Jinu replies, with more confidence than she expects or has in herself at the moment. “But you’re gonna burn yourself out at this rate and I think we’re due for a change of pace. That’s why we’ll be switching to,” Jinu holds up his hand and flicks it. The claws on his hands seem to get both longer and sharper. “Getting your claws out.”
Rumi vaguely remembers one of her hands becoming sharper and taking on purplish hues before. She doesn’t remember consciously doing it though.
“It’s easy.” Jinu says, which only makes Rumi internally groan because he said that about the last thing too. “You just need to focus your energy in your hands and it’ll do the rest. Imagine the way a cat’s paw works if it helps. They have retractable claws and in a way, you do too.”
Rumi has, fortunately, spent a good amount of time playing with Derpy’s paws. If there’s anything that truly bothers him when it comes to touch, she hasn’t found it. She could press on the pads of his paws and watch the claws flicker out all day.
Rumi looks down at her own hands, trying to imagine it. Her mind seems to twist into knots doing so— she remembers looking down at her claw that night but it hadn’t really felt like her hand then. Her patterns had never felt like hers before either.
She shakes herself and takes a deep breath. Rather than reaching for the cool ripple of the Honmoon’s power, she reaches for the fire at the core of her being. She starts flexing her hands, concentrating on them. Claws, she thinks. Like Derpy’s. Like… Like Jinu’s.
Heat ripples to her arms and for a brief moment, the skin around it shifts purple. Her fingers get sharper, her nails get longer, and Rumi isn’t quite looking at her hands anymore. They’re something else entirely.
Her heart leaps to her throat and as quickly as it came, it’s gone. Her hands return to her usual skin tone, blunt and human-looking.
“Hey! Not bad.” Jinu is grinning at her. Zoey claps enthusiastically while Mira steps forward to brush against her shoulder.
Rumi sucks in a deep breath and lets it out. Everyone is happy with her. No one blinks twice or looks mad or disgusted by her.
She shouldn’t be worried. They’ve all made it pretty clear how much they love her, no matter if she’s human, demon, or something in between. But her heart is still coming down from a brief spike in activity and she has to shrug off her shakiness.
Mira leans in close, concern shining in her eyes. “You alright? Is this too much?”
“I’m—” fine, she stops herself before she gets there. That won’t help, Mira will know. “I’ll be okay, I want to do this.” She says instead. Her eyes flicker to Mira’s hands and before she can stop herself, she asks, “Can I borrow your hands for a second?”
“My— uh, sure?” Mira offers them up with slight bewilderment but complete trust. Rumi takes them into her own, feeling the smoothness of Mira's skin against hers. There are some rougher spots from where she grips her polearm.
“Hold onto me?” Rumi tries not to feel too embarrassed to ask. But Mira doesn’t ask questions, she just shifts her hands and curls them around her wrists, steady and grounding.
Rumi breathes in deeply again. She lets demonic power run through to her hands again, skin once again shifting purple and becoming rougher and clawed. It holds a little longer now. Mira’s hands remain around her wrists, never once showing signs of pulling away.
“…They’re pretty cool, you know.” Mira tells her after a beat. When Rumi looks up, Mira is smiling at her. “Zoey was onto something, I’m a little jealous too.”
“That’s what I’m saying!” Zoey shouts and Rumi’s concentration slips, claws going with it. Zoey’s face immediately falls. “Wait, no! I’m sorry! Am I too distracting for this? I can go!”
“Actually this is good practice for Rumi.” Jinu tells Zoey before she can bolt. “Especially if she’s ever going to use her claws in battle. It can be weird at first but once you know how to hold them, you won’t have to think about it much.”
The words connect in Rumi’s head. She looks down at the training mats, then to her hands, then to Zoey who changed into protective leather despite it being early in the morning still, then finally to Jinu.
“Oh.” Rumi’s mouth hangs open. “Oh. That’s— we’re going to spar?”
“Sorta.” Jinu gestures to Zoey. “You’ll be trying to land a hit on her with your claws. It’s good practice for getting used to them.”
“What if I hurt her?” Rumi protests. She doesn’t expect Zoey to giggle.
“Rumi,” she playfully chides, “You’ll have to actually catch me first!”
—
They give Rumi a little more time to practice summoning and holding her clawed form before they actually put her up against Zoey. Apparently it’s not too different from summoning her sword, just if her sword was attached to her.
Jinu can tell there’s a little discomfort but Mira seems to be easing it. Jinu doesn’t blame Rumi, he hadn’t really been comfortable with his body when he first became a demon either. It took time and practice to get anything right. Rumi is lucky to have good friends on her side, though he supposes you get to keep good friends as long as you’re good to them back.
Which is why you’re alone, a voice whispers to him. Not Gwi-Ma’s thankfully but Jinu doesn’t like it all the same. He pushes the thought back and focuses on Rumi.
Zoey seemed like the perfect choice to spar against Rumi due to her speed. She presents a different challenge than Mira in which Rumi has to keep up with her and think on her feet rather than trying to just power through it. Rumi has to pause their training multiple times just to refocus and bring her claws back again but she’s getting faster at it. It’s staying for longer and longer each time. Not to mention, Rumi isn’t thinking about it too hard now. The more it becomes second nature, the better.
Still, Jinu feels a little bad anytime Zoey gives her a little jab to motivate her. He did tell her to do that but with how much Rumi is struggling to land even just one hit on her with her claws, it’s definitely a one sided fight. Zoey can get close enough to tag Rumi but not the other way around. She trips her up and runs circles around her, causing Rumi to lose focus again and again. But the mistakes are necessary because Rumi keeps improving.
Jinu will take it to his grave but Baby’s methods are actually working. He’d be so smug about it if he knew.
Should I be using past tense? What do you think, Jinu?
Jinu tastes bile in his throat but swallows it back down. Not now.
“Ugh, pause, pause…” Rumi holds up her now-human hands, exasperated. “They’re gone again.”
“You’re holding them for longer though.” Mira points out, tossing Rumi her water. “Chin up, you’re doing great. Literally making history.”
Rumi groans and starts downing her water. Zoey is using the time to catch her breath. Jinu beckons her closer so Zoey slides up next to him.
“I hate to ask but… Do you think you can rile her up a little? Sometimes getting frustrated can take you out of your head and speed the process along.” Jinu murmurs to her. Zoey smirks upon hearing it.
“Easily. Watch me.” Zoey cracks her knuckles. When Rumi is ready to start again, Zoey dials the battle up to eleven.
Jinu thought she was fast before but clearly she had been holding back. Her tagging gets far more frequent too. Zoey exploits just about every weak point in Rumi’s defenses, having her yelping and protesting that Zoey isn’t playing fair. Zoey just laughs and tells her she should do something about it if she wants it to stop. And Jinu sees the moment Rumi takes that as a challenge.
Her movements smooth out. She becomes a little more agile and quicker to respond to Zoey’s tags. Even when Rumi lunges forward and catches nothing but Zoey’s dust, she’s only briefly discouraged. Her focus rarely wavers as she tries again and again.
Jinu’s heart skips a beat watching it. This is the Rumi who attacked him in the bathhouse. Who caught him off guard and pinned him down. Who was much stronger than he gave her credit for, a mistake he never made again.
Her eyes hold nothing but complete focus and determination. The eyes of someone who has been struggling her whole life but kept fighting in spite of it all. Someone truly strong in every sense of the word. Enough to leave him breathless and wonder what the hell someone like that sees in him.
His breath catches in his throat when Rumi’s claws finally rip a hole in Zoey’s sleeve. Everyone stops dead, processing the success, before Zoey squeals in joy and lunges forward to wrap Rumi in a hug. Mira breaks out into a grin and joins them. Both of them start congratulating her and hyping her up, Rumi breaking out into a happy laugh alongside them.
Jinu smiles softly. He takes a few steps forward but carefully stays just out of their circle. When they finally let go, he’s there with a congratulation of his own.
“Knew you could do it.” He says, meaning every word. “Does it feel a little more natural now? Don’t worry if it doesn’t, a little practice will make it perfect.”
“It feels… Better.” Rumi tells him. Her hand has shifted back, probably by accident, but it’s a pretty big milestone either way. She meets his gaze when she tells him, "Thank you.”
Jinu shrugs it off. “Least I can do. You’ve been working pretty hard, we should break for now. We can come back to it in an hour or so.”
“Yes please! I’m getting tired.” Zoey’s shoulders slump. Rumi only hesitates for a second before she agrees. Zoey hooks her arm around one of Rumi’s while Mira takes the other and all three of them lead the way back up to the kitchen and living room.
Jinu trails behind them.
Notes:
Rumi needs her emotional support fellow hunters and demon not-(yet)-boyfriend <3. I did not plan the surprising amount of Rujinu yearning that entered this chapter, they're just like that.
Since Rumi DOES have experience using hunter powers, I figured I could get away with her demon training not taking as long as it might others. By no means is she an expert but she's learned how to summon her claws on her own and can do so without Jinu needing to be there so she can now practice at any time!
Part Two will probably be coming in, *checks watch* two to three business days. Hopefully. Maybe four depending on how long the ending scenes take.
ANYWAYS more on all that later! I hope y'all enjoyed! This fic just reached 1k kudos which is CRAZY hooooly shit, thank you all very much!! You've all been very supportive in the comments and I've been writing like a maniac because of it so thank you for reading and I'll see y'all next time <3
Chapter 7: Attempted Training Montage (Part Two)
Summary:
Rumi’s training continues as she learns more about teleporting, possible speculated abilities, and continues to struggle with glamours.
Notes:
I'M ON TIME!! I was pretty sure this chapter was gonna be a lottt shorter than the other one but sometimes I have no idea how long a chapter is gonna be until I start writing it.
Anyways here's PART TWO of this segment that got away from me!
Enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rumi returns from their meal break pumped and ready to try again. They circle back around trying to create a glamour as per her request. With an understanding of how to summon her claws, she figures the glamour thing will be smooth sailing.
It isn’t.
She gets shimmers of something and produces small amounts of red smoke in her attempts but nothing sticks for long enough to matter. It never comes out right either, no matter what she tries to change. It doesn’t matter how she tries to tackle it, the glamours just won’t work.
“You’re doing fine.” Jinu keeps saying. It was nice at first but now Rumi just wants to bite him. “You managed one thing already, that’s already great progress. If you wanted to stop for the day—!”
“I don’t.” Rumi tells him flatly. She tells herself it’s not out of pride but she might be lying. “I’m not done. You said this was easy!”
“It’s… Everyone’s different.” Jinu tells her, sickeningly placating. “It’s easy for some demons but not all. Abby struggled just as much— he didn’t get it for months!”
“This could take months?” Rumi stares at him with wide eyes. Jinu visibly fumbles for his words.
“You’re really twisting my words here.” He accuses half-heartedly.
“Maybe we should switch again?” Zoey suggests. “Teleporting sounds way more useful than glamours!”
“It’s also a lot harder to learn.” Jinu frowns a little.
“Are you saying I can’t handle it?” Rumi narrows her eyes on him. Jinu sputters again.
“You have to be doing it on purpose— that is not what I said!”
“Well now I want to learn teleporting so,” she crosses her arms firmly, “Start explaining.”
Mira whistles somewhere behind her. “You heard the woman.”
Jinu tries to hold his ground for all of two seconds. Then he deflates and holds his hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine. No harm in trying. I did say I’d follow your lead on this.”
Jinu seems to internally prepare himself. Rumi is reminded of the many times he mentioned wanting to teleport but not having the energy, now making her question if he does now or not. Before she can though, Jinu starts talking and she has to listen or risk not knowing what she’s doing.
“Teleporting is one of the harder demon powers to get right. In a way, technically you’re briefly turning into smoke and air, then traveling from one place to another, and reassembling yourself. It’s kinda hard to wrap your head around at first but the idea is that you want to feel like smoke. Weightless, malleable—”
Rumi can’t help but suggest, “Free?” In a way that has both of them grinning.
“Free.” He agrees. “It’ll take more power than everything else so be prepared for that. Try to stick with shorter distances for now. Be sure to imagine where you want to go as clearly as possible. Trying to teleport without a clear destination in mind either leads to no teleportation at all, or a dice roll on where you end up.”
“Okay…” Rumi breathes out slowly. “Any tips on how to feel weightless and malleable?”
“Honestly?” Jinu shrugs. “Ignoring how grounded you feel in your body usually helps me. You’ve all floated before so kinda like that, just even more weightless.”
Rumi nods, though wishes she were more confident about it. Maybe she should’ve stuck with glamours but it’s too late to back out now. Teleporting does sound more useful. She did it before so… Theoretically she could do it again?
She doesn’t want to think about that night in too much detail but… She does remember feeling at her lowest. Feeling like nothing. That’s probably what did it.
She really hopes she doesn’t have to feel that way again to achieve this.
—
Jinu is starting to realize calling glamours easy was the issue, because Rumi has been trying to get her teleporting right for over an hour now and is taking it in stride. She still gets a little frustrated when she produces wisps of red smoke with no actual results but all things considered, she’s recovering from it quickly. Ever determined to get it right.
They’ve tried a few different things, ranging from Jinu demonstrating, meditation, singing, and various stretches to help her body feel loose and limber. They’ve all had some level of success but nothing solid enough to count as teleportation.
Zoey suggests a break. Rumi stubbornly tells her she’s almost got it, just give her twenty more minutes. Jinu doesn’t point out that it might take way longer than that, seeing as it’ll probably have the opposite effect. Better to let Rumi work it out.
Her patterns glow beautifully. Jinu doesn’t know if it’s because of her only being half demon or something else but he’s never seen anything like them. They still hold the sharp edges but none of the shame. Like— like shattered glass, she had said before. He watched them transform. He wishes he could’ve appreciated them more then.
They remind him of the new Honmoon. Is that why they changed? Or is he on the wrong track?
One moment, Jinu is not-so-subtly admiring the patterns. The next, they’re gone, as is the rest of Rumi.
Jinu blinks, once, twice, then looks around. Rumi has in fact disappeared but… He can’t actually see her anywhere.
“Oh! She did it!” Zoey smiles, but it slowly falls when she has the same realization. “Uh… Where did she go..?”
“Rumi?” Mira’s voice raises. She’s shooting wide-eyed looks at him. Jinu honestly has no idea what to say, starting to sweat now. If anything happened to her…
They all breathe a collective sigh in relief as Rumi reappears in a puff of red smoke, looking bewildered. Her shoulders slump and she lets out a, “Oh thank god…” under her breath once she sees she’s returned.
“Welcome back.” Jinu grins proudly. “Where’d you end up?”
“My room.” Rumi admits. “I was thinking about laying down and poof, I’m falling onto my bed. I guess I was feeling weightless enough for it?”
Jinu laughs. “That would do it. For a split second I was afraid you ended up somewhere midair so I’m glad I’m wrong about that.”
“Wait— that was a possibility?”
“I didn’t want to say anything or the odds of it happening would increase due to you thinking about it.” Jinu holds up his hands defensively before anyone starts pointing fingers— or weapons. “Seen it happen before. Wouldn’t recommend it. But hey, that’s another victory for you! Who needs glamours when you can teleport?”
That was the wrong thing to say. Rumi once again sours at the fact that she hasn’t succeeded on that front. Jinu kicks himself. In his defense, aside from Abby, he’s never seen a demon struggle with glamours more than teleporting. It’s usually the easiest thing to get right— it’s just so… Appealing. The idea of being able to pretend you’re human again, even for just a moment.
Maybe that’s why Rumi hasn’t gotten it yet? But she’s been trying pretty hard, it’s not like she doesn’t have the motivation. And if she can get teleporting right, it’s not a skill matter either.
One thing at a time, Jinu tells himself. They can always come back to it. “Let’s try some shorter distances for now? Places you can see so you can get a feel for it. It’s less tiring that way too.”
“I wasn’t trying to teleport to my room.” Rumi points out. “It just happened.”
“The less you accidentally teleport, the better. Believe me.”
Rumi manages three short-distance jumps before they call for another break. Her progress really has been amazing, as has her stamina. He’s not sure if it’s the demonic stamina or hunter stamina at work here, though it’s possibly both.
“Hold on,” Rumi asks as she tears through a protein bar, “Didn’t I sleep for like, ages last time I did this?”
Jinu snorts, only just stopping himself from spilling any water in the process. “You’re gonna sleep like a rock tonight.” He confirms, earning a groan out of her. “You’ll stop experiencing exhaustion once you get a little more used to it. There are worse fates than sleeping in, you know.”
Rumi grumbles incoherently into her bar. He thinks there’s an insult in there but he’s not sure what.
“Are we gonna train Rumi on any of her demon-hunter powers today?” Mira asks from where she’s sitting, legs sprawled out. “You mentioned you noticed one.”
“Oh, you mean the voice thing?”
Rumi looks up in recognition. “I don’t know about that one. It caused a ripple in the Honmoon before.”
“It might’ve been the situation.” Jinu muses. “You were in distress. If you tried it while you have your emotions under control, maybe it won’t affect the Honmoon. Though even with that in mind, I can’t say I’m the most eager to try it.” He tilts his head up to look at the overhead lights. “It was powerful enough to affect the lights and technology at the idol awards. I’m sure it can be useful, I’d just rather not experiment with it quite yet when there’s a lot to break here.”
Rumi grimaces and nods in agreement. “Maybe we can come back to it. Or skip it entirely.”
“Now wait just a minute!” Zoey shifts towards Rumi, something akin to steel in her eyes. “I know it’s freaky but didn’t we agree it’s better to get these powers under control so you don’t accidentally use them when you don’t want to? You don’t have to do it now but… Ignoring a problem doesn’t really make it go away, does it?”
Ignoring it isn’t gonna make it go away, you know.
Shut up, Jinu tells his own head.
Something in Rumi’s face shifts. “Maybe… Later.” She admits quietly. The smile that forms on her face is small but sincere. “I’ve got my hands full with these other powers. Literally sometimes.” She mimes her claws.
Zoey giggles, then something seems to occur to her and she shifts towards Jinu this time. “Do you think it’s possible to theorize what kind of powers Rumi could get from being a demon and a hunter?”
Jinu blinks. “I… Don’t see why not? Why, do you have something in mind?”
“Not yet! But maybe if we try to anticipate something, we can catch it ahead of time?” Her eyes suddenly brighten. “Like— souls! Hunters and demons both interact with souls, right? Just in different ways.”
“That’s… True.” Jinu considers. He highly doubts Rumi could take and consume souls like demons do, even if she wanted to. But hunters do utilize the same sort of soul power that demons do, just without burning it up. “She might’ve done something to my soul to give me consciousness before. Maybe Rumi can interact with demon souls as well as human ones.”
“You think?” Rumi frowns like she’s trying to determine if she has that in her. Jinu shrugs back in response.
“It’s all speculation but it’s possible. I’m not sure you can use demon souls to power the Honmoon or anything but… Maybe there’s something else you can do.” After a pause, he admits, “I have no idea how we would even begin to test that theory. As much as I trust you with my life, I don’t know if we should go experimenting on my soul to see what you can do with it.”
“Seconded.” Rumi immediately agrees. “I was already worried about messing with your soul when it was all you were before, I don’t want to push my luck.”
Jinu is reminded that Rumi has, quite literally, held his soul in her hands. He’s lucky that the hunters can’t see the heat that rises to his cheeks very well in his demon form or he’d have to explain the sudden rush he feels.
Jinu had felt vulnerable as a soul. The blueprints of who he was, every memory he’s ever gotten across the four-hundred plus years he’s been alive, the embodiment of who he is was all packed into a small ball of light that could barely do anything but float and glow. If anything happened to him while he was in that form, he wouldn’t have been able to come back. He doesn’t know what kind of afterlife or fate befalls demons who die permanently but he’s not all that interested in finding out.
But Rumi had been gentle. She worried about him and didn’t mind if all he could do was follow her or one of the others around all week. She cupped the entirety of his being into her hands and kept him safe and Jinu is… Doing a good job acting completely casual about that fact, all things considered.
Rumi is taking her time processing it all. She’s probably still mad about what happened. He can’t just dump all of that on her before she’s ready, especially if she decides she doesn’t want him like that. That would be fine, he’s grateful to still be around her at all.
But he remembers the way it felt. To be so vulnerable and yet, so safe in another’s hands. He can’t help the way his heart yearns for more.
Focus, he reminds himself.
“Your voice thing,” Jinu pieces together slowly, “Could be a result of mixing the power a hunter’s voice has and the destructive potential demons have.”
“Maybe…” Rumi narrows her eyes in displeasure. “How is it that I can give myself claws, teleport, use my voice to destroy, and possibly interact with demon souls in a way that most hunters and demons can’t but I can’t get one glamour right?”
“You’re still stuck on that, huh?” Jinu raises an eyebrow.
“All of that seems objectively harder!” Rumi protests. “Excuse me if it doesn’t make sense to me!”
“Maybe it’s not about how hard it is.” Mira’s eyebrows begin to knit together. “Maybe it’s something else.”
“Like?”
Mira’s gaze slowly shifts to Jinu. “You called it easy before. Why do you think it’s easy? Is it just a power thing?”
“That’s part of it. It also just tends to be easier for demons who used to be human because they want the illusion of their body back.” Jinu replies. “I would call it a motivation issue, except Rumi is motivated.”
“I’m very motivated.” Rumi adds, like she needs to prove it.
“I don’t think it’s a motivation issue.” Mira waves them off. “You said one of the Saja Boys also struggled with it before.”
“Abby.” Jinu confirms. “Took him months whereas it only took a week or so for me and Mystery and a few days for Romance. Romance was the best at that sort of thing, it was the only power he could use for a while there.” He leaves out the why of it; Romance wouldn’t appreciate him spilling that sort of personal information about him. “But even he struggled trying to get Abby to get it. It was the last power Abby figured out. We didn’t realize until later that Abby struggled to change his appearance so much because—”
Jinu stops dead, eyes going wide. “Oh.” He utters quietly. Despite not finishing his sentence, Mira nods like he just confirmed something she had been expecting.
“Because he… Didn’t want to change.” Jinu finishes slowly, so that Zoey and Rumi will pick up on it too. “Abby finally had a body to be proud of so even if he tried really hard, he didn’t actually want to change that. Not deep down.”
Zoey gasps in realization. Rumi glances at everyone else, perplexed.
“What?” She asks. “Why do you all look like that?”
“Rumi,” Mira refocuses on her again, “Maybe you don’t want to change deep down either.”
“What? I thought we ruled out motivation earlier, I definitely want to figure this out!”
“That’s not what we’re saying.” Zoey shakes her head.
“We’re saying,” Jinu cuts in this time, keeping his voice gentle, “That you’re finally living freely as yourself. That you’re happy to finally not have a reason to hide anymore or be ashamed of how you look. And as fun as glamours are, demons often use them as a way to either lie and deceive, or as a way to hide. And you’re done with both.”
Rumi’s mouth hangs open slightly, at a loss for words. “So… I change for the better but lose the ability to use one of my powers too?”
Jinu stifles a laugh. “Maybe we just need to think about it in a different way. But for now, I think that mental block is gonna be tough to get past.”
“Two out of three is pretty good.” Mira adds. “Especially for only a day’s work.”
“Yeah! You’re gonna sleep good tonight!” Zoey grins.
Rumi presses her mouth into a thin line but after a long moment, sighs and seems to give in. “Two out of three…” She mumbles. “I guess that’s better than nothing. But you— you owe me another training day later! I’m not giving up!”
“Never doubted that for a second.” A bit of fondness slips into his voice. He clears his throat before anyone can comment on it. “Are we breaking for good today or did you want to practice teleportation a little more?”
“Practice teleportation a little more.” Rumi answers immediately. Jinu doesn’t know why he asked.
“Short distances only for now.” He reminds her. “When you’re ready to practice longer distances, we can do a chase on another day.”
“A chase? I know Zoey’s fast but teleportation feels like it’s cheating.”
“I didn’t say Zoey.” Jinu smirks. “And it’s not cheating if I can also teleport.”
Rumi seems to take interest in that, a grin spreading across her face. “Oh you’re on.”
“Later.” He reminds her. Clearly Rumi can handle a lot but he doesn’t want her overworking herself. That would be counterproductive. “If you want a challenge now, we can throw things in a few different directions and you’ll have to teleport to catch them all.”
Rumi is already on her feet before he can finish. Jinu chuckles to himself and pushes himself up alongside her, as well as the other two hunters.
“Let’s do this.” Rumi puts her hands on her hips with a determined grin.
If this is the kind of power Rumi is capable of on her own, Jinu thinks to himself, Gwi-Ma has some serious threats to his rein with all three of them.
Notes:
So the combined total of those two chapters was 10k. And I can do 10k chapters but this was NOT supposed to be one of them so uh. Whoopsie. I love training scenes apparently
Sorry Rumi, you're healing and sliiightly overcorrecting but in a good way and now you don't get cool disguises. Arguably you get cooler stuff in exchange but the fact that you can't do the 'Easy' power is gonna bother you for a bit.
Speculating what Rumi could potentially do was veryyy fun for me. I think one of the creators called Rumi an anomaly and even they had no idea what she could do so I really took that and RAN with it.
Anyways, that's it for this chapter, hope y'all enjoyed!! Comments and Kudos are a delight as always and thank you very much for reading! Until next time <3
Chapter 8: Close Encounters With Demon-Kind
Summary:
Three separate people have three separate encounters with three separate demons.
Not that one of them realizes it.
Notes:
Now this is one chapter I DID know would get kinda long. Could I have split it up? Probably. But it just fits so WELL together so we're keeping it all together
I did add some new tags that are either relevant here or will be relevant later. It's mostly just some action finally being added into the mix but! Fear Not! Nobody named is gonna like, die. Permanently anyways. This is an Angst With A Happy Ending Healing and Dealing With The Fallout Of The Movie fic. People are gonna end up happy
ANYWAYS hope y'all enjoy!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Typically Mira checks the news either during her morning or afternoon routine, though lately she’s been slacking. She’s willing to give herself some leeway but even if Huntrix is on a break, they’re always meant to be on guard as hunters.
And some of the current events remind her why.
Checking the local news serves its purposes for both her job as a member of Huntrix and as a hunter. Granted, if anything that important happened in Huntrix matters, she would have several texts from Bobby about it, and maybe have Rumi and/or Zoey marching into her room to talk. Lo and behold, all stories regarding Huntrix have been taken care of by Bobby. They’ve all given him all the answers he needs, and everything they can tell him without dragging him into their mess, and he’s using all of it to keep the media satisfied.
Mira truly doesn’t know how he has the patience and tact for it. She thinks she’d collapse from exhaustion on day one if their roles were reversed. She mentally reminds herself to send him some sort of gift basket and a thank-you card. Technically they already sent one during the first week post-idol awards but a second one won’t hurt.
There are questions floating around the Huntrix name— wanting to know more about the ‘Show’ they put on with the Saja Boys and wanting the full versions of their new songs— but it’s being handled. Fans are buzzing, most still supportive with some questioning the events that went down, but they’re overall happy. They should probably do something to boost morale— make a few social media posts about relaxing on hiatus to show all is well— but that’s a problem for Future Mira.
Present Mira has confirmed everything is stable on the Huntrix front. Now, she moves onto the hunter one.
It had been difficult to watch the missing persons reports rack up when the Saja Boys rose in popularity. Even if they did everything they could to cut down the number, there were only three of them and the Honmoon was in bad shape. They couldn’t be everywhere at once. And watching the number triple over time didn’t make her feel any less furious and helpless at the same time.
The new Honmoon means things have calmed down. Those missing reports have stayed missing but the numbers are no longer staggering.
However, they haven’t stopped completely.
Mira always has to account for the possibility of regular human crime of course but even then, three disappearances in three days, all in a row? Her gut says it’s demon activity, and yet, she can feel the pulse of the Honmoon all around her. It’s as strong as ever. It doesn’t feel like it’s sustained damage at all.
Mira purses her lips, deep in thought. She doesn’t want to ignore her gut— if she thinks it’s demon activity, it probably is. Problem is that aside from Rumi, Jinu, and maybe the pair of weird animals that follow all of them around, Mira doesn’t know of any demons on this side of the barrier. If the Honmoon is still strong, it should’ve pushed them back down and kept them that way, so why—
Mira stops. Her eyes flicker to the Honmoon again— the way it shimmers, not quite blue or gold or any one color. Much like Rumi’s marks, it’s fundamentally new and different.
All of Mira’s previous knowledge of the Honmoon is strictly based on what she was taught before. How to summon weapons, how to draw power from it, how to strengthen it in return— everything they would need to know as hunters. But that Honmoon was blue and this one isn’t quite the same. So even if it feels the same summoning her weapon or drawing on its power, the rules could very well be different.
Which means… While she’s fairly sure no demons have crossed over from the other side, Mira doesn’t know if any demons who were still on this side when they created the new Honmoon actually did get banished or not. And seeing as how three people are missing, that poses a problem.
Mira narrows her eyes and rises to her feet. As she strides through the hall, checking doors as they go, she notes Rumi is still sleeping soundly despite the time. And seeing as how Jinu is nowhere to be seen in the living room, he might be doing the same.
Zoey is there however. She’s got her phone out and is munching on some chips while she scrolls through her long list of notifications. Mira heads over to hand Zoey her phone, which she takes and studies the reports on the screen.
“I think there still might be some demons on this side of the Honmoon.” Mira tells her. “And maybe not all demons are bad but if they’re taking souls, we need to take them out. Not even the demon boy can argue about that.”
Zoey nods absently as she reads. By the time she’s handing the phone over, she’s got a spark in her eye that tells Mira she’s on her side.
“Eat breakfast first.” She tells her, climbing over the couch. “I’m gonna go get ready while you do!”
Mira can’t argue with that. She might need the energy if she’s right about this.
—
Mira adjusts her glasses and pulls down her hat a little more as her and Zoey move through the city. Seeing as how it’s almost noon, it’s busy with activity, giving them the cover to go unnoticed but making their jobs a little harder.
Nonetheless, Mira watches any civilians for patterns or lack of knowledge about human matters. Her gaze lingers on a few people who are a little stranger than the rest but none of them feel off in the same way it does for a demon.
Two of the people who went missing were last seen in very public areas. The last went missing after they ended their evening shift, their manager claiming they were taking out the trash while closing up and never came back, not even for their things. It could be coincidence but Mira swears it’s connected. She can feel it.
Zoey bumps her, knocking her right out of her thoughts. When she sends a questioning look her way, Zoey taps her jaw. “You’re clenching it.” She tells her. “And you look like you’re about to start grinding your teeth.”
She probably was. Mira stretches her jaw and murmurs a thanks to her. It’s a bad habit she’s mostly shaken but still creeps up on her sometimes. Zoey and Rumi now try to catch her every time she does it to help out.
She does another scan of the people they pass by, coming up on the street where one of the disappearances supposedly happened. Nothing sticks out to her. “We should split up. I can check this area and you can scout out the next one. The demon— or demons— who did this might still be lurking around.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Zoey tells her, but lingers anyway. When Mira glances over, her eyes are big, worried, and searching.
“I’m fine.” Mira tells her automatically. Not even she believes herself so she amends it. “You know I can handle myself.”
“I do. That’s not what I’m worried about.” Zoey tells her. She tugs her bucket hat down a little more when they pass by some people wearing Huntrix merch. “You’re not like, beating yourself up for this, right? Because technically this is as much all of our fault as it is yours.”
“I— I know.” Mira lets out a soundless sigh. “Obviously we’re not responsible for everything a rogue demon does behind our backs. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck that we didn’t catch it beforehand though.”
Zoey nods back. “Yeah… This was pretty small scale though, so it might only be one or two. And without any signals from the Honmoon, it’s not easy to tell what’s demon activity and what’s not. Just be glad we’re catching it now, okay?”
Mira hums back. Zoey takes that as good of an answer she’s going to get and pulls her in for a side hug. “Okay! I’ll check out one of the other areas and text you if anything comes up?”
“Anything at all.” Mira emphasizes. “Even if it might be a false alarm. Because if I lose contact with you and you go missing, I will burn this city down.”
Zoey giggles, both of them knowing she’s completely serious. “Okay but if I spam you with pictures of any dogs I see on the way, just know you asked for it!”
Mira huffs fondly and watches her effortlessly weave her way through the crowd until she disappears. Once she does, Mira collects herself and gets back to work.
She scours the streets once again, careful to keep her head down. It’s not the easiest thing to do when her hair is dyed pink but thankfully, Mira’s choice of hair color has inspired many others to do the same, allowing her to fly under the radar as just another Huntrix fan. Although it’s not lost on her that there are a few people with colorful hair that are obviously inspired by the Saja Boys. Just in case, Mira checks them but none of them show any hint of being the aforementioned demons in disguise.
Jinu says demons killed by a hunter’s weapon take longer to come back, unless they have some kind of outside source to speed up the process. And Mira knows for certain she cut down two of the four herself. Even so, she wants to be certain. With the new Honmoon and the rules they were taught slowly changing, she doesn’t want to be caught off guard. Not to mention, he did list one of the ‘Outside sources’ to be Gwi-Ma.
If they did come back sooner, Mira isn’t sure what would go down. Jinu talks of them fondly but also with a certain wistfulness that makes her think he’s afraid of never seeing them again. Or maybe seeing them under terrible circumstances. She can’t imagine they’d be the happiest with them considering they killed them but they’re also demons. Non-permanent death seems to be less of a big deal for them, although still unpleasant.
Her train of thought is interrupted by a shadow overhead. Mira’s eyes snap up but all tension drains away in an instant.
It’s just the damn Bird.
Sussie lands on one of the window ledges on a surrounding building, all of his eyes on her. Mira squints back but initially dismisses it. Sussie follows her around all the time for seemingly no reason, why should this be any different?
But as Mira weaves through the crowds, watching the behavior around her, Sussie abruptly flies right past her face, causing her to whip around to where he went. She sends a glare his way but he’s undeterred— he just chirps and starts flying up ahead, only stopping just before he’s out of sight. He perches on a storefront sign, looking at her expectantly.
It doesn’t take Mira long to figure out that he wants her to follow him. She doesn’t get why but as Mira looks around once more, she can’t deny she’s a little curious. It’s the first time the Bird has ever wanted anything from her, except maybe head scratches.
With a small groan, she types in a message for Zoey.
Mira: bird wants to show me something. following him
Zoey: oooo maybe he can help!! they’re pretty smart animals!
Zoey: im talking with the restaurant owner rn. they’re really bummed about their employee disappearing :(
Mira: lets avenge them then
Zoey: >:3
With her phone slipped back into her pocket, Mira starts following Sussie. She swears he’s pleased that she is, now leading the way.
About three or four blocks away, Sussie finally stops on the roof of a convenience store. He starts pecking it and Mira gets the message. He wants her here for some reason. She doesn’t understand it but she heads inside.
It’s… Quiet. Clean and a nice looking store but nothing out of the ordinary. Mira scans the other customers but everyone seems to be perfectly human as far as she can tell. It makes her frown slightly.
…That Bird better not have led her here because he wants snacks.
Mira groans to herself but grabs some chips and a drink just so she doesn’t look too suspicious. Nobody else is checking out so she gets to just walk up and put it all down on the counter.
“Are you having a nice day?” The cashier asks politely, though a little nervous. Mira shrugs back, nails tapping against the counter. She checks the other customers again but she’s certain of it, all of them are completely human.
Jinu said the Bird was intuitive. Clearly it’s also an animal who really wants food and knows how to trick you into getting it.
“How about you?” Mira asks when she turns back. The cashier startles a little at the question. They tug at their long, black hair with one hand while they ring her up with the other. Their name tag simply reads ‘Jelly’, making her wonder if that’s a nickname.
“O-oh, uh, good?” They smile awkwardly— weirdly toothy. That alone might not mean anything but they’re fumbling with the buttons on the cash register, barely taking their eyes off of her, and for a split second, she swears their eyes look yellow. “Let me just— just get you your snacks so you can be on your way!”
Mira narrows her eyes. ‘Jelly’ only seems to grow more nervous by it, eyes darting around. The other customers aren’t watching, caught up in their own little world in the back of the store.
“…Say, are you new here?” Mira asks, low and calculating.
“W-what? No! I’ve lived here my entire life! Where else would I be from?” They stammer back.
“I meant,” Mira drops her voice even lower, “Have you worked here long? Or did you only join within the past few weeks?”
Jelly stands there, utterly petrified for a moment. Then they bolt, heading straight for the side exit.
Mira hops the counter, both with ease and soundlessly, and gives chase.
They only just make it to the alleyway between the two buildings before Mira catches up. She puts just enough power into her kick to dispel the glamour and send the demon into the wall. Without the glamour, it’s obvious they’re a water demon. Mira summons her polearm and points it at them, causing them to yelp and put their hands up.
“Wait— wait!” Jelly, assuming that is their name at all, looks at her with teary eyes. “I’m not— I didn’t do anything! I swear!”
“So those missing persons reports, you didn’t steal their souls?” Mira narrows her eyes. Jelly frantically shakes their head.
“I didn’t know that was happening! I— I’m not with Gwi-Ma! I haven’t heard his voice in weeks and if—” tears start to fall from their eyes, fat and globby, “If you kill me then I’ll be stuck with him again and I really don’t know if I can handle going back after being free for so long…”
Jelly starts sniffling and crying, making pitful noises in the process. Mira would call it a way of disarming her but… It really does look like they’re distressed and sobbing.
Slowly, Mira pulls her polearm back and rests it at her side. Jelly seems marginally less upset now but they’re still sniffling and shaking like a tiny dog on a particularly windy day.
“Talk.” She tells them. “What happened? How long have you been here?”
Jelly rubs their eyes. “I— I just wanted to see the concert. With the Saja Boys. But— but then they died and Jinu was eaten by Gwi-Ma and,” they sniff again, “Your Honmoon… It was remade. And I don’t know why I’m still on this side but I couldn’t hear him anymore… And I realized I could do anything I wanted.”
“And you chose to work at a convenience store?” She raises an eyebrow.
They smile weakly. “I didn’t have human money and you don’t do much trade here. But the humans who own this store… They have been kind to me. They took me in when I was cold and frightened and asked me if I was okay. I don’t know what I did to earn this job but— I'm trying really hard to earn it. And I really don’t want to give it up…”
Mira stares into the water demon’s eyes, searching for deceit. She’s not finding any. They’ve seemingly been entirely truthful with her. Their nervousness isn’t guilt, it’s fear of losing everything they have. Everything they’ve managed to build here.
“You haven’t been eating souls?” She asks after a moment. Jelly shakes their head vigorously.
“No need to with Gwi-Ma cut off! I promise, I’m not a threat to your world! I just… I want to live.”
Emotion slips into their voice, eyes big and pleading. Their hands clasp together in front of them, looking up at her. Mira searches for any sign that they’re lying but she can’t pick up on anything. Which can only mean they’re a very good liar or they’re not lying at all.
“The water is clean here.” Jelly presses. “It’s brighter and the skies are blue. I’ve been stuck in the demon realm for my entire existence— I didn’t know what I was missing out on before! But now I do and I don’t want to give it up. I promise I won’t hurt anybody! I don’t want to do anything other than live without his voice in my head!”
Mira’s mind is twisting itself into knots. The hunter she was raised to be says this is all a trick and a ruse. And even if it isn’t, that a demon will eventually be unable to resist the allure of taking souls. That it would be better to end it now to potentially save others.
The hunter she is now says that everybody has the capacity to be dangerous, human or demon. That stealing souls is no different from regular murder and arguably, Mira could be just as dangerous with her powers as any demon. The difference only lies in someone’s morality and desire. And if someone doesn’t want to hurt others like this, they won’t. Not on their own accord.
The hunter she is now says they’re not lying. That this demon really does just want a chance to live as many humans do.
Overhead, she sees a flash of black and white feathers. Sussie perches on the ledge above them, staring down at the pair. His eyes shift from Jelly, then to her, calm and expectant. Waiting for something. For her.
Mira makes up her mind. Her polearm vanishes and Jelly’s eyes widen so much that they look like they’re going to pop out of their head.
“I believe you.” She admits slowly. The words taste strangely in her mouth, but not as bad as she thought they might. “Do you know of any other demons who got stuck on this side?”
“O-oh! Yes!” Jelly looks like they can hardly believe what’s happening but their eyes shine with a tearful sort of joy. “Only a few but— all good people! If someone out there is taking souls, it’s not one of them!”
“Do you have any means to contact them? Ask around, see if anyone knows anything?”
“S-sorta?” Jelly rubs the back of their neck sheepishly. “I don’t have any sort of phone other than the store one so… I’d have to go talk to them physically. But— but if it’ll help prove our innocence, I can do it!” They pause. “After work. I still have a few hours left.”
“That’s fine.” Mira waves them off. “I can swing by tomorrow to see if you found anything. If not, it was worth a try.” She glances towards the door and back. “I should probably let you get back to your job.”
Jelly nods and with a shimmer, is back to their human glamour. Their face and general body type is about the same, the only thing really changed are all the parts that make them look more demon-y. As they straighten out their clothes and pass by, Mira finds herself coughing awkwardly to catch their attention. They turn around, one hand on the door knob and a questioning look on their face.
“Sorry. About this.” She feels tense and awkward but considering they did just seem to be working and minding their business before, it feels warranted.
Jelly stares at her, mouth hanging open, then bursts into tears. Mira’s shoulders only hike up further.
“Oh god— I did not mean to make you cry again—”
“No, it’s— it’s okay!” They blubber, a shaky but sincere smile forming. “I just— I wasn’t— you believed me! You’re a hunter and you’re being so much nicer than I thought you would be and— and it just feels so good.”
They hastily wipe their face, standing up tall. Even then, they’re still shorter than her, but it does make them look more confident. “I’ll ask around. I… I won’t lie and say I’ve never hurt anybody under Gwi-Ma’s orders but if I can help out now to make up for it, I want to! I want to earn my stay here. However I can. So I’ll… See you tomorrow?”
They wave and finally enter their building again. Mira watches them go, mind racing. She only breaks out of her thoughts when Sussie lands on her shoulder, causing her to look over. He’s… Smiling. It’s kinda smug— like an I told you so smile without Mira knowing she was told one thing or the other before.
It makes her roll her eyes. “You wanted that? Whatever that was?”
Sussie chirps in response. Mira huffs.
“I guess you were a little useful… Even if I got no warning for that.”
After a moment of deliberation, she reaches up and gives Sussie a little scratch on his head. All of his eyes close as he leans into it, causing her to snort.
“Don’t get too used to it.” Mira lies, because his feathers are way softer than she thought and she definitely wants to do this again, but the Bird is smug enough as is that she’s not saying that out loud. “But if you continue helping me out here, there’s more where that came from.”
Sussie chirps again but remains perched on her shoulder. Mira allows it, taking out her phone.
Mira: found a demon. not the culprit. weirdly nice. will help out later. keep looking
Zoey: :O????
Zoey: gimmie the details later!! I wanna know EVERYTHING
—
When it comes to demons, Jinu would be considered very human-realm savvy.
He’s far from the only demon who likes to watch the human realm from below but between him having used to be human and the sheer amount of time he spent watching it, he picks up on things other demons don’t. And anytime Gwi-Ma tried to send him topside, Jinu found himself more interested in how things changed rather than actually doing anything he was meant to be doing.
He could spend days watching the human realm before. Weeks, months if nobody was around to stop him. Usually someone was, dragging him away before he grew lost with longing and envy, and Jinu would have to promise to stay away for a while so he could put his head back on straight.
He just found it all so fascinating. What changed, what stayed the same. And it came in handy when the idea of a way to break through the Honmoon came around.
Jinu is better than most at acting human and keeping up with the times. Even so, he’s a little embarrassed whenever he slips up. Forgets what something is or misunderstands what it’s used for or so on. So now that he has the chance, he’s been trying to familiarize himself with all the new technology of the modern world.
Right now that means kitchen appliances, because there are a lot more than he originally anticipated.
Fridge, he’s not forgetting that one again. Freezer, does exactly what it says. Attachment to fridge that gives water and ice. Oven, heats things up. Microwave, also heats things up, but faster and… Weaker maybe. Blender, mixes things together with tiny, spinning blades. Washing machine, washes dishes. Most of these things have on and off buttons but some have extra buttons for other options. The microwave in particular has one that just reads popcorn, which is… Weird to him.
Jinu has no idea what one of the appliances is. It’s gray and black and he’s pretty sure it’s for food because it almost reminds him of the microwave, just… Different. The buttons are digital. It asks for a temperature like the oven does. Probably for cooking. He doesn’t know what makes it different from the microwave or oven.
Is it embarrassing if he asks? He’s probably never going to use it but if it ever comes up later, it’s going to bother him.
Distantly, he hears the elevator ding. Seeing as Rumi is still sound asleep, he figures it’s probably one of the other hunters and opens his mouth to greet them.
Before he can, someone else speaks up. Someone who is decidedly not one of the hunters.
“Hey girls! Sorry to drop by unannounced on your vacation but I promise I’ll try and make this quick!”
Jinu’s heart leaps into his throat. He scrambles to hide behind the counter just before they round the corner.
Oh fuck. Jinu thinks hysterically, then looks down at his purple skin and washed-out looking patterns. As quickly as he can, he glamours his appearance back into his human one, watching claws shift into blunt fingers and feeling his teeth change in his mouth.
“Uh, girls..?” The voice says again, steps becoming a little more hesitant. “I thought I heard…”
A pair of legs in gray slacks shift forward, coming to the other side of the counter where Jinu is hiding, then stops. Jinu looks up. He meets a pair of bewildered brown eyes belonging to Huntrix’s manager. He looked up his name before… Bobby?
Probably-Bobby is rendered slightly speechless looking at him. Jinu double checks that he’s still glamoured— he is. Awkwardly, he smiles, hoping he looks less crazy than he feels.
“Hey. Bobby, right?”
That seems to snap him out of his shock, enough to exclaim, “Jinu? From the Saja Boys?”
Suddenly his reaction to seeing him here, in Huntrix’s tower, makes a lot more sense. For a moment, Jinu forgot he was from a very successful idol group that dropped off the face of the Earth weeks ago. One that previously had a complicated relationship with Huntrix, more than the general public knows.
He’s pretty sure their manager doesn’t know about the demon stuff. Otherwise his reaction might be a bit different.
“That’s me.” Jinu replies lamely. He rises to his feet so he feels less awkward. It doesn’t help all that much— now he’s towering over their manager, who still looks incredibly befuddled by his presence. Nonetheless, he seems to recover quickly enough, bowing in greeting.
“It’s great to see you! And yes, I am Bobby! I’m flattered you know my name!” Bobby smiles, half genuine but still half confused. “What are you doing here? Are you visiting the girls too?”
“Uh, yeah.” He should probably not disclose that technically he’s living here at the moment. Then he’ll have to explain why. “They’re all either out taking care of something right now or sleeping so I’m kinda the only one available right now, sorry.”
“No, no— this is great!” Bobby rushes to assure him. “I’m glad you and the girls are getting along! You and your group are all very talented and seem like nice people! Honestly the amount of success you and the other Saja Boys have managed to achieve in such a short amount of time is astounding. I hope you’re all proud of how far you’ve come! It must be pretty overwhelming though so I’m glad you’re all getting a break!”
Jinu nods along haltingly, unsure of what to say. He defaults to what he taught all the other Saja Boys— smile and nod.
“Enough of me rambling, I can get out of your hair, but if I could, do you have the number of your manager? I’d like to discuss a few things with them.” Bobby asks. It gives Jinu pause.
Is he the manager? He took care of a lot of the technical aspects, albeit with help. But if he means who was really in charge, that would mean… Gwi-Ma.
“We… Are in the process of getting a new manager.” Jinu replies carefully. He does not anticipate the way it ignites something in Bobby’s eyes.
His voice drops to something severe. “Were they a bad fit, lazy, or abusive?” Bobby searches his face for answers. When Jinu hesitates, he barrels on. “Tell me a name and I can make sure they never work in this industry again. Idol abuse is no joke. A manager is meant to make things easier on you, not leech off your success.”
Jinu abruptly has the vivid image of this short, very human man sternly talking to a forty-meter or so tall pit of magenta flames and embodiment of hunger and sadism.
“It’s— we’re handling it.” Jinu fumbles. Bobby nods slightly.
“Good. But if need be, I can help. I have lots of connections and I only like to surround myself with those who know their clients are still people.” Bobby takes a breath, as if to cool himself off. “Did you need help finding a new manager? I know a few people— good people— who would probably love the chance. I’d offer my own services but Huntrix needs my attention the most.”
Jinu has to take a moment to absorb everything he’s telling him. He’s so… Caring. Even though this is the first time they’ve actually spoken to one another. Being an idol is the last thing on his mind right now but he has a part to play here. Pretending to be human, not a demon, who is on a break from his very successful career.
“I think… We’re taking the process slow right now.” Jinu replies in the end. It sounds reasonable enough, they don’t need a new manager if they’re on ‘break’. “But I’ll think about it and contact you if need be.”
Bobby smiles at him again. It’s so painfully genuine that Jinu’s chest clenches. “Sounds good to me. You take it easy!” He looks around again. “Is it just you here right now? How are the other Saja Boys doing?”
“Just me.” The words make him taste bile again. Bitter and sour, burning the back of his throat. He has nothing in him he can throw up— he burns through food like fuel in a fire— but he still feels sick sometimes. Like there’s something in the pit of his stomach that needs to get out so desperately or he’s going to feel this way forever.
Bobby’s eyebrows crease with concern. “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”
Jinu masks his face quickly. “I’m fine.” He lies.
“Is… Something going on behind the scenes?” Bobby guesses. Jinu’s face must betray him because he immediately softens sympathetically. “Hey, you wanna sit down for a minute? I won’t judge, whatever it is. Consider me an unbiased third party.”
“It’s really nothing.” Jinu tries but Bobby is already ushering him towards the couch. He follows his lead, sitting down and realizing maybe he really did need to sit down because he does feel a little better. “We’re just…”
He can’t say fine. He already feels as though there’s something in his stomach making him feel terrible, saying that will only amplify this fact. Fine is a lie, though Jinu doesn’t know how much of one it is. He doesn’t know how bad it is, what’s going on down there, anything. He knows the worst case scenarios. He knows how likely they are.
He knows the likelihood of ever seeing them again anywhere other than his haunting dreams. He didn’t dream at all today— it was blissfully quiet but at the same time, he fears it being the last time. He fears being the last one standing.
He doesn’t know how the aftermath went or is going. He’s on the wrong side to know. The new Honmoon is strong and keeps Gwi-Ma’s voice out of his head but he resents it too. Because he knows who’s on the other side, out of reach. If there’s anything left to reach in the first place.
Jinu wrangles all his thoughts and reminds himself who he’s meant to be right now. Jinu, lead singer of the Saja Boys, perfectly human and on a hiatus, probably a permanent one.
Jinu projects a perfectly professional voice when he tells him, “We’re experiencing some interpersonal issues.”
Bobby nods as if he completely understands. Even then, it still surprises him when he tells him, “I’ve been there, it’s not fun. I know it can really take a toll on you when your friends aren’t there for you to lean on because you’re fighting.”
“It’s my fault.” He doesn’t mean to say it but it slips out anyways. Jinu can’t look at him, his whole body tensing up like he’s waiting for a blow, verbal or physical.
Instead Bobby says, “I’ve been there too.”
Jinu shoots him an incredulous look. Bobby smiles ruefully. “I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger. Sometimes I look back and feel like a completely different person but— I know I am who I am because of those mistakes, not in spite of.” He shrugs a little. “Do I regret them still? Of course. But things get better, you know? If you feel bad and you want to fix things, you should try.”
“What if I can’t?” The words come out a little hoarser than he means them to.
“Sometimes we just have to live with our mistakes. But,” Bobby angles his head towards him, “If you can fix anything, you should give it a shot. Trust me, even if it doesn’t go well, you’ll feel a lot better afterwards knowing you tried.”
Jinu, as a four-hundred plus year old demon, should not be feeling understood by a… Thirty-something year old human with presumedly no concept of what he’s done in his lifetime or what he is.
And yet.
“Thanks.” Jinu murmurs. Embarrassment flashes through him, hot and tight. “Uh, sorry. I don’t know where that came from.”
Bobby waves him off, shaking his head while he does. “Oh no, I offered! Besides, I’ve been in the industry a while! I’ve had a lot of heart-to-hearts with other idols! My girls included.” He smiles at him again. “It can be easy to feel isolated in this line of work, which makes things worse when it comes to stress. Take it from me, my stress got so bad a few weeks ago that I hallucinated.”
Something about the way he says it and the detail of when it happened makes Jinu go still. “Hallucinated.” He repeats. Bobby nods along.
“Literally heard a voice in my head telling me I wasn’t good enough. Then I blacked out and forgot most of what happened. Ended up at your last concert actually— great work by the way! The demon stuff was amazing.”
Jinu feels his throat tighten with guilt again. You almost killed him too. He was among the people that was going to walk right into Gwi-Ma’s flames.
You don’t deserve his kindness.
“My point is that it can be dangerous!” Bobby continues as if nothing has changed. “It’s important to have others by your side that you can talk to. If you keep bottling it up, it’s just gonna explode at the wrong time. And nobody wants that.”
“Right.” Jinu says, a bit hollow. He clears his throat to hide it. “You’re right.”
“It’ll take some time but with the right people, life goes on. And it gets better. This is just one phase of your life, you’ll go through a lot of them.” Bobby gives him a little pat on the shoulder. “Just think on that.”
Jinu nods numbly. Thankfully Bobby’s attention doesn’t linger on him for too long when both of them hear footsteps coming down the hall.
—
Rumi shuffles through the hall, body aching but not unbearably so. She rolls her shoulders, following the sound of voices, intending to complain about how long she slept in this time.
Jinu is an expected presence. Bobby is less expected.
“Rumi!” Bobby immediately shoots up upon seeing her, a big smile on his face. “I didn’t realize you were here! How are you?”
His enthusiasm is infectious. She smiles back easily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “Hey, Bobby. I’m good, just got up.”
“You— what?” Bobby looks at her in slight horror. “Rumi, it’s past noon. Long past noon. Are you feeling alright? Should I get a doctor? Did the Idol Awards take that much out of you?”
Rumi is quick to reassure him, “I worked out really hard yesterday and this is just my body’s means for revenge, don’t worry.”
Bobby relaxes at that. Her eyes drift over to Jinu, mouth turning downwards at the far away look in his eye. She manages to catch his attention and sends him a, you okay? look.
Jinu huffs a bit fondly and sends back a, don’t worry about me look in return.
Rumi projects the best she can a I’m always going to worry about you look.
She thinks Jinu’s reply is somewhere along the lines of I’m four-hundred years old, I can take care of myself.
Bobby coughs. Both of their heads snap over, suddenly remembering they’re not alone. Bobby glances between them and carefully asks, “Should I… Prepare for any potential dating scandals or..?”
She doesn’t need a mirror to know her face goes beet-red. “We’re not actually— we were just—!”
Jinu blurts out, “I’m not even her type!”
Rumi’s attention swivels back to him, nonplussed. “Do you only have one response to that question?”
“You didn’t like the other version!”
“Both versions are bad!”
“Oh boy…” Bobby mutters to himself, then louder, “I can come back later?”
“No! You— you’re here for a reason.” Rumi puts her hands on her hips, trying to regain some sense of control over the situation. “What did you want?”
Mercifully, Bobby moves on from the previous topic, full attention turning towards her. “Honestly it’s pretty minor stuff, just a few questions for you that I thought would be better to do in person. Plus…” He trails off a little. “Aside from responding to messages, you’ve all been pretty… Radio silent. Which is in your right! You’re on break! I just wanted to check up and ensure you were all doing okay.”
“You were worried?” Warmth and sympathy seep into Rumi’s voice. That’s what she always liked so much about Bobby— he cares so much. He’s passionate about this line of work. From what Rumi knows, he doesn’t want anyone to have a horrible, career-ending experience like he did. It’s what got him into being a manager in the first place.
Bobby nods, letting out a breath. “You know I’m always supportive of your creative endeavors.” He begins. “And all of you are so incredibly talented on top of it all, so you can really pull anything off! I learn new things about all of you all the time, including that you’re all fantastic actors. And with that said,” Bobby presses his hands together and points them towards Rumi, “Your performance at the Idol Awards was very convincing. Enough that even I thought you were breaking up on stage. So uh, if you’re going to do that again, a little heads up would be nice. I understand if it’s a legacy secret thing! I don’t need details! Just a little warning so I can be mentally prepared for what's going to happen!”
“Oh.” Rumi can’t help but feel guilty, even if their ‘Breakup’ wasn’t as planned as they’re trying to claim publicly. “I’m— I’m so sorry, Bobby. We got really caught up in the production that it didn’t even hit us how bad it might look from the outside.”
Bobby hastily waves her off. “You pulled it off and I’m glad how good it turned out! I just don’t want to make that mistake again!”
“We’re definitely not going to be doing anything like that again.” Rumi tells him. Not if we can help it. Then, putting a hand on his shoulder, she tells him, “We’re sorry we didn’t keep you in the loop. We’ll try not to make a habit of it.” Not any more than we already have anyway.
Bobby’s face softens. “You really didn’t need to apologize. I’m just glad everything is really alright between you girls.”
“Better than ever.” Rumi tells him, meaning every word. “So, what did you want to ask me about?”
Bobby launches into his series of questions, mostly about what she wants to tell about her patterns and anything specific she might want to do now that they’re out in the open. They spend a while talking about them, running over options and what she’s most comfortable with.
Just as they’re wrapping up a while later, the elevator dings. Mira and Zoey return, both greeting Bobby warmly with Zoey bounding over to give him a hug. Mira on the other hand, makes a beeline straight for where Jinu is on the couch. She grabs onto his arm, yanking him to his feet and barely giving him time to recover before she starts marching away.
“Rumi, I’m stealing your de— your boytoy for a minute.” She announces, and Rumi sees the way Jinu’s current human face flushes cherry-red as he sputters.
Rumi doesn’t fare much better, gaping at her as Mira pulls Jinu into her room. When she turns back, Bobby is giving her A Look.
“…You sure I don’t have to worry about dating scandals?” He asks.
“It’s… Complicated.” Rumi answers at last.
“…Maybe we should talk about this while I’m here. Just in case.” Bobby suggests.
Rumi wants to melt into the floor. It’s for this reason she catches herself just before she accidentally teleports, then is despairing for a completely different reason.
—
“Boytoy?” Is the first word out of Jinu’s mouth when she lets go to shut her door. “There’s no way that’s not demeaning in some way. I'm not a toy."
Mira shrugs back. “I couldn’t say ‘Demon situationship’ so I improvised.”
“I don’t know what that is either.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised. That’s not why I dragged you in here though.” She turns around, arms crossed. Jinu’s eyes are noticeably wandering, slightly bewildered by her collection of plushies. Mira narrows her eyes. “You got a problem with them?”
“I don’t make it a habit to judge people who can kick my ass.” Jinu replies unflinchingly. “Baby has a century on me and if you let him, he’ll consume more hard candy than a child let loose in a store.”
Despite herself, Mira snorts. “‘If you let him’?”
“I don’t know what effect that amount of sugar has on demon teeth,” Jinu explains, “And I’m not gonna find out.” He pauses. “Why did you drag me in here?”
“Bobby doesn’t know about demon stuff.” Mira says, which she suspects Jinu already knows because he’s in his human glamour, even now.
Jinu nods back, confirming this fact. “What demon stuff do you want to know?”
“You’re not the only demon who ended up on this side.” She tells him. “The Honmoon didn’t seem to banish anyone who was still alive when it formed. Your Bird led me to one today. If I told you their name, do you think you could tell me who they were back in the demon realm?”
Jinu narrows his eyes at that, indignant. “Just because we’re both demons doesn’t mean we know each other.”
“Their name was Jelly.”
Jinu visibly pauses. “…Okay fine, I might know that one. Water demon, right? They’re harmless enough— as much as any demon can be. Big fan of the Saja Boys actually.” Something seems to occur to him and an unreadable look passes over his face. “Are they dead now?”
“No.” She replies. Mira is almost certain she doesn’t mistake the surprise in his eyes before he masks it. “You’re right, they were harmless, so I left them alone. But there have been three missing people in three days and I think at least one of the demons on this side of the Honmoon is causing it.”
“What are you asking me here?”
“Can you spot another demon if you saw them?”
He considers it, then makes a so-so gesture. “Depends on the demon. Your average one? Yes, I probably could. They’re not as good at masking their presence; it sticks out if you know what you’re looking for. But some demons are much better at glamours and disguises. Even better than me.” He shrugs. “They only get caught if they want to get caught, or if they do something drastic enough.”
“Great.” Mira levels him with a look. “Tomorrow I’m going out again and hunting down the demon who did this. You’re coming with.”
Jinu blinks. “Because you think I can spot them?”
“I’m using everything I’ve got at my disposal. You say you want to make up for all the souls you helped steal? Help me prevent more from being taken. Prove you mean it.”
A few things flicker across Jinu’s face, too quick to decipher, but a more determined look is what settles there. He nods once. “Alright. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.”
Mira searches his face for deceit. She’s not finding any.
—
Someone is singing.
It’s dark again, aside from thousands of tiny lights all around her. Rumi blinks sluggishly, trying to shake off the exhaustion that follows her even here. It works a little, though her body is still too strange. Too light this time, like she’s weightless. The way she’s meant to feel when teleporting, just suspended.
It’s these weird dreams again, Rumi groans internally. She squints— some of the lights are closer than others, including one right next to her. Whispers are coming from all the lights, washing right over her, but the singing… That catches her attention.
Does she know that voice? She thinks she might. It's a bit further away so she starts moving towards it, trying to hear it better. Trying to catch the lyrics.
“—im now? Dying king with the crumbling crown…”
Rumi walks right into the light it's coming from and everything shifts. Purple stone surrounds her on nearly all sides. She finds herself in a small cave with two torches lit with vibrant red flames on either side of her. At the cave entrance lies a door made of iron bars. At the back of the cave and on the ground is… A demon. The one who’s singing.
“Will he let the fire—” The song halts abruptly as their shoulders suddenly tense. Something in their form flickers and Rumi blinks, knowing something’s changed but not knowing what. Whatever it was was slight enough that she can’t remember what was different before.
The demon was hunched in on themselves at first, bone-weary and sweating, but now they’re suddenly straightening up and raising their head. Recognition hits Rumi hard and fast when she sees their face— pink hair sticks to his skin unflatteringly and golden slitted eyes bear nothing but hostility. Then, briefly, confusion.
Romance’s demon outfit has seen better days. The hanbok has been abandoned, leaving only the pants and undershirt. Even then, long sleeves have been rolled up on both and his gat is nowhere to be seen. None of it is in good condition either, sporting tears, claw marks, and blood stains.
He looks like he’s been sweating a lot. There’s a glowing shackle and chain connecting one of his wrists to the wall, short enough that she doubts he can even stand up properly.
It takes Rumi entirely too long to realize that Romance is looking right at her. She doesn’t fully process it until he speaks up.
“Really?” Despite how tired he looks, he still has the energy, or maybe just enough spite, to raise an eyebrow at her. “You’ve decided to disguise yourself as a hunter?”
Rumi blinks back. “Excuse me?”
“Out of everyone I know,” Romance continues on, not really caring what she’s said. “You not only chose to come in here as a hunter but you chose that hunter? It hasn’t even been a month yet, don’t tell me you’re running out of material.”
Rumi’s mind spins, uncomprehending, as if he’s decided to speak another language entirely. It’s probably not the thing to focus on but she ends up blurting out, “What do you mean ‘That hunter’?”
Romance rolls his eyes, head resting on the cave wall behind him. “You could’ve at least picked the one that I liked. This is kinda insulting.”
“‘The one that you liked’?” She echoes.
“It’s a fifty-fifty chance, figure it out.” Romance huffs. “And on top of it all, what kind of outfit is that?"
Rumi squawks, looking down at herself. She’s in her pajamas, the ones she put on earlier. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It doesn’t exactly scream hunter. Plus,” he gestures vaguely at her pants, “What are those? Blue cats and yellow stars on an orange background? Kinda ridiculous.”
Her face heats up. “What is it with demons and insulting my pajamas? They’re fine! They’re meant to be comfy, why does it matter what they look like?”
“It’s not very intimidating.” Romance mumbles, eyes half lidded. “Are you gonna do something or not? I’d like to get this over with sooner rather than later.”
“Do— what am I meant to be doing?” Rumi glances all around her again. Small, isolated, iron door, chain and shackle… “Are you in prison or something?”
Romance blinks slowly at her. “I’m… Not dignifying that with a response.”
Rumi squints harder at him. She never really talked with Romance before, why is she dreaming about him? Why does this all feel so… Weird. Realistic. Like she’s actually…
She takes a few steps closer to him, causing his eyes to narrow and his body to tense. When she reaches down, he shifts away slightly but doesn’t really have anywhere to go. Just as her hand tries to touch his shoulder, her fingers phase right through, disappearing into his shoulder.
Both of them gawk at it. Rumi hastily pulls back, thankfully regaining sight of her fingers in the process. Romance looks up at her before letting out a long groan and wiping half of his face with one hand.
“Oh great.” He mumbles, mostly to himself. “I’m hallucinating. I didn’t think the heat was bad enough to cause that yet.”
“I’m— I’m not a hallucination!” Rumi protests.
“That’s exactly what a hallucination would say.”
“I’m not!” She takes a few steps back, gesturing to herself. “I’m the real one! You’re just a part of my dream!”
“A gaslighting hallucination.” He rubs his brow. “I’m sure Gwi-Ma is having a field day with this.”
“You—!” Rumi stops herself. She’s been so flustered and perplexed by everything going on that she hasn’t had time to think. She looks around again, trying to put her head on straight. Calm. Collected. In control. She breathes in and out deeply.
Dark stone. Iron bars. Probably a prison cell. Romance of all people is here. Why is she dreaming about this? Is she secretly afraid this is what’s happening to the people Jinu cares about or something? That makes the most sense to her but— it’s still so weird.
She turns back to Romance. Despite his attitude, he really does look exhausted. Worse for wear. She can’t see any injuries on him but everything else about him suggests he had numerous and has just healed from them.
Most of his hostility has dropped but there’s still something in his eyes when he’s looking at her. She doesn’t know what to make of it.
Rumi thinks back to everything she's experienced and observed so far. Then finds herself saying, “I liked your song before. I only heard part of it but it was good.”
“It’s not mine.” He says after a beat. “It’s a tribute. In memoriam.”
“Oh.” Her voice softens. “Who did you lose?”
Romance huffs a laugh. “That’s a very ironic question coming out of your mouth.” He shakes his head. “You’re a weird hallucination.”
“You’re a weird dream.” She counters.
“I’m not the one phasing through other people’s shoulders.” Romance stares just over her shoulder. “I don’t know why I’m bothering to talk to a hallucination at all. Have I really sunk that low?”
“I’m really not—” Rumi starts but feels a tug on her chest. The feeling of weightlessness increases tenfold. Her breath stutters.
The last thing she sees is the faint confusion in Romance’s eyes just before something seems to get hazy and grainy, like an old film that’s dissolving into spots, and then she’s—
Then Rumi sits up in her bed, one hand clutching her chest. The nudging against her shoulder stops and when Rumi looks over, Derpy’s big, yellow-orange eyes are gazing at her through slits. He blinks slowly.
Rumi’s shoulders sag and she flops back down gracelessly. Both hands cover her face as she breathes in deeply.
“I think,” she tells the Tiger, voice muffled by her hands, “There’s something wrong with me. Either physically or psychologically.”
Derpy leans forward and licks her neck with his weirdly pleasant sandpaper tongue. She snorts and uses one hand to— gently— shove him away.
“Your support and understanding is appreciated as always.” She tells him. He slow blinks at her again.
Notes:
Yeah, I DID fall for Bobby Was A Former Idol propaganda. Its just so good. Bobby in general is so good, he's just a genuinely caring dude. I wasn't sure what age to make him so I think like. Mid-thirties is hopefully reasonable? He strikes me as 'Guy who has done and grown a lot in his life but still has a lot left to go' so like, yeah, mid-thirties.
For the record, Jinu's bit was meant to be more comforting. The fact that it got sad again is because he got plagued with guilt again. I did not mean for that to happen, he did that.
(Also the appliance Jinu didn't recognize was an air fryer, if you're curious)
I really wanted to do a 'It's not that all demons are good but that they're all on the same level as people so if you give them the freedom to do whatever they want, some make good choices and some make really bad ones' mini arc and Mira is like. Perfect for doing it. Look at her go, reforming opinions she's had ingrained in her for years! That's character growth baby, knew she had it in her.
Rumi's 'dream' with Romance at the end there was interesting to write because like. Neither of them really know what's going on and neither of them think its real so their interactions turned out Like That.
Y'all are finally out of the Schrödinger's Saja Boys phase! The same cannot be said for everyone else yet but hey, we're pretty close to it!
Also this feels necessary to say just so I'm clear where I'm going with this fic but the only romantic relationship I'm doing here is Rujinu! All other relationships will be platonic, which is what I've tagged it as anyways but y'know, Romance is Romance so I gotta make that clear. Characters being aesthetically attracted to another might be brought up due to it being like, canonical to the movie, but I wanna stick with just Rujinu here because A: Exploring platonic dynamics is both fun and interesting to me and B: Adding even just like, one other romantic relationship is A Lot Of Work for a fic that's already gotten way bigger than I thought it would be starting out. Make sense? I hope so!
The next few chapters are gonna be Fun. They were all fun (except when they fought me, that was rude) but these are gonna be Extra Fun.
Woof, long author's note, my bad, but in my defense, a lot happened. I hope y'all liked it! Comments and Kudos are alwayssss a delight to see and thank you for reading! Until next time!
Chapter 9: The Demon You Know
Summary:
Mira teams up with Jinu to investigate the other demons who ended up on this side of the Honmoon. She learns a thing or two about him along the way.
Notes:
Yet another chapter that FOUGHT me. Very rude of it. It's driving me crazy and I can't tell if this chapter is bad or not so I'm just editing, hitting post, and hoping its good-
If my chapters could stop getting longer and longer, that would be great. It takes so long to editttt
Warnings for this chapter: Some violence, some blood and injury, implied/mentions of a demon eating another demon's soul, and very brief mentions of choking.
Enjoy!!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinu stands in the middle of the main room of the cavern, unsteady on his feet and feeling out of place despite it being the closest thing he called home for centuries of his life. Once again, it’s easy for him to tell it’s a dream because he shouldn’t be here. Because it’s all so wrong.
He can see the makeshift couch, the lanterns, the coffee table, the mirror hung up on the wall, notebooks strung about, the worn deck of cards, the dirtied mahjong tiles, all the little trinkets and marks they’ve left on the place throughout the years— almost everything is how it should be. But it’s quiet. Lifeless. So very wrong.
It shouldn’t be empty. It shouldn’t be gathering dust or letting the air go stale. He shouldn’t be here but they should be— they should be here—
A thick arm slings around his shoulder. Jinu immediately breaks away and pushes against them as he stumbles back. His breath comes in short and quick but all he meets are a pair of confused, dark eyes.
Then the newcomer cracks a smile, low and easy.
“You’re so jumpy, man.” Abby— in his floral print, teal button up and yellow beanie— holds his hands up in surrender. He’s in his human glamour. He’s alive and perfectly intact and Jinu knows for sure that it’s a dream because of that. “Am I really gonna be like that in three hundred years?”
“You— you’re not—” Jinu raises a hand to his throat as he chokes on his words. Abby’s eyebrow raises slightly.
“Not what? Real?” He shrugs. “I mean, duh, but that’s kinda rude to point out. I’ll let it slide though.” His smile returns, a lot more teasing now. “Did you miss me at least?”
Jinu swallows thickly. His throat throbs. “You know the answer to that.”
Abby hums, looking around instead of replying. After a beat he asks, “Damn. Do you think he’d be mad?”
Jinu doesn’t want to ask, but he does. “Who?”
“Baby.”
Jinu chokes again. Abby glances back over. “About the cavern gathering dust I mean. It’s his, isn’t it?”
“It— yeah.” Jinu shakes himself, trying to reorient. “Of course. The cavern. We were just talking about the…” He trails off.
Abby’s eyes bore into him. He doesn’t look mad. He doesn’t look bothered or distressed or even saddened. Just… Curious.
“Hey, Jinu?” He asks. “Can I pick your brain about something?”
“I’d rather you leave my brain alone.” Is his automatic reply. A familiar reply.
Abby grins, sharper, and continues. “I just wanted to know which you think it is. Out of the two most likely outcomes, which do you think has happened?”
Despite how badly he wants to be anywhere else, Jinu’s feet remain rooted to the ground. He can’t move, can’t teleport. He can only meet those curious eyes and drown in the possibilities he can never fully get his mind off of.
“I could be wrong.” He croaks out. “Anything could’ve happened. How would I know? I’m on the wrong side to know.”
Abby huffs a laugh, like he expected that response. “C’mon, you’re thinking about it anyway. Can’t you indulge me a little? Which is it?” He cocks his head, still teasing, still lighthearted despite his words. “How mad do you think Gwi-Ma was?”
Jinu takes a single step back, the only movement he can seem to manage. The world swims around him. The only thing in clear focus is Abby, patiently waiting for his reply.
“It should’ve been me.” Jinu can’t help but say, like it matters anymore. Like it’s not over and down with.
Abby lets out a long suffering sigh. “That’s not what I asked. Come on, man. It’s like you’re not even trying.”
“I didn't want this.” His voice raises without him meaning to. Abby looks away, back at the room again.
The room is starting to distort, looking bigger than it should be. The air grows darker, thicker, and colder. The space between him and Abby stretches and yet, he never loses sight of him. He can’t look away. It won’t let him. He doesn’t know if he would if he could.
“Yeah, well,” something shimmers beneath Abby’s feet, twisting up his legs and constricting around his body like it means to crush him. Abby doesn’t move, doesn’t panic in the slightest. He lets it. “I didn’t want this either. But not everyone gets a choice.”
Whatever force holding him in place lets up at last, but Jinu doesn’t run away. He lunges towards Abby, arm outstretched, but he’s not fast enough. The shimmering strands of light yank Abby down beneath the earth and Jinu catches nothing but dust. He falls to his knees, ragged breaths leaving him.
Under him, the Honmoon ripples, but doesn’t claim him too. It seems to firmly believe which side he should be on, and which side the others belong on.
His claws sink into the ground. It doesn’t cause so much of a dent in the ethereal shield.
Jinu wakes up with his claws in his mattress and a brief, sharp pain in his shoulder. He’s breathing all wrong. He can’t move a muscle for a long while. He almost doesn’t process the small but soft pressure brushing against the back of his neck. Too light to be Derpy.
Slowly, Jinu extracts his claws without doing any more damage than he already has. He angles his head to look back, six eyes greeting him.
A shaky breath leaves him. “Must’ve been pretty bad if you woke me up.” Jinu croaks. Sussie makes a low cooing sound— soothing. Gentle. He can count the number of times he’s heard it before. He doesn’t know why he laughs, if it can be called a laugh at all. It’s just weirdly hysterical to him, how openly nice Sussie is being.
Sussie moves so he can roll onto his back, then walks over and seats himself on his chest. Jinu reaches up and gently scratches the side of his head. For once, he leans into it without any fuss.
Sussie's body rises and falls with the rhythm of his chest. Jinu breathes and breathes and breathes until his mind is blank and the sun starts to peek over the horizon.
He stays in bed until there’s a sharp knock at his door. He blinks. The sun has moved much higher in the sky. His limbs are stiff and Sussie hasn’t moved once despite it having been hours.
“Jinu.” Mira calls from the other side. “I’m not waiting all day. We have an investigation to handle. You agreed.”
With some effort, he gets up and shakes off his stiffness. He tells Mira he’ll be out in a second and throws on the first thing he can get his hands on. It won’t matter if it’s wrinkled or grubby if he’s just going to disguise himself anyways.
Sussie phases through the walls. He finds him perched on Mira’s hat when he steps out. Mira gives him a skeptical once over.
“That’s what you’re wearing out?”
In a puff of red smoke, Jinu is disguised. Same height but with dyed blue hair that goes down to his shoulders and dark eyes. A simple button up and jeans complete the outfit. Mira’s eyebrows climb higher.
“Seriously?”
“Nobody’s gonna look at me and think Jinu.” He counters.
Mira doesn’t reply to that. She huffs and heads for the elevator, leaving Jinu to follow after her.
—
Mira keeps glancing over at Jinu as they head for the convenience store from before. She can’t help it— it’s one thing to know about demons and their disguises but it’s another thing entirely to watch someone turn into a completely different person at the drop of a hat. Then walk around with said person in disguise.
Her, Zoey, and Rumi put on regular human disguises all the time but it’s not like they change their facial features. Jinu is right about one thing, nobody’s gonna recognize him. She keeps seeing him out of the corner of her eye and thinking stranger.
Jinu does seem to be taking this seriously if nothing else. He keeps an eye on their surroundings, seeking out faces in the crowd and giving them a once over. If he’s spotted any possible demons, he hasn’t said anything. Mira has to trust that he would if he did. It’s a weird position to be in and she kinda hates it but she’s rolling with it.
This was her idea after all.
They finally arrive at the store from before. Jinu looks it up and down and comments, “Not really a place you’d expect to find a demon.”
“Tell me about it.” Mira yanks open the door and strolls inside. It’s mostly empty aside from someone browsing drinks. Jelly is at the counter again and sheepishly waves when they see them.
“Hi again, Hunter!” They’re still a bit nervous but not afraid-nervous or guilty-nervous. Their eyes, brownish green in this form, flicker over to Jinu’s disguised form as he follows her over. “Oh um, friend of yours..?”
Jinu says, “Acquaintance,” at the same time Mira says, “Business partner.” Both of them give the other a pointed look.
Jelly glances between them awkwardly. “…Okay! Are you a, uh… Hunter helper or?”
“I’m like you.” Jinu says. Jelly’s eyes visibly brighten.
“Oh! You must be the first one she trusted! The one that made her trust me!”
“Uh.” Jinu’s glance at her is so brief that she almost misses it. “I don’t know about all that. I’m just a consultant.”
Nonetheless, Jelly seems ecstatic about not being the only demon in the room and dips their head as they say, “I’m Jelly, nice to meet you!”
Jinu nods back. “Songbird.” He tells them, then seems to wince slightly to himself. Mira only just stops herself from raising an eyebrow.
“Were you able to get in contact with anyone yesterday?” She cuts straight to the point. Jelly’s full attention turns back to her.
“I was! I… Still have no idea who’s been taking souls.” They admit apologetically. “But I do know one thing.” They glance around as if nervous about someone overhearing in a mostly-empty store, then leans over the counter to whisper, “Three people went missing, right?” Both of them nod. “One of them was a demon.”
Jinu seems equally as surprised as her. “You’re certain?”
Jelly nods vigorously. “I wouldn’t lie about this! I didn’t know them personally but one of my friends on this side did. They said they haven’t heard from him for over two days and if his human boss doesn’t know where he is either, then something must’ve happened!”
Jinu’s nails drum against the counter, a pinched look on his face. Mira spares him a glance but can’t get a read on what he’s thinking. Her attention turns back to Jelly. “Anything else to report or just that?”
Jelly shakes their head, smiling weakly. “Not much else. I don’t know how many demons got stuck on this side but… If I had to guess, it’s probably a few dozen? More? Most of Gwi-Ma’s forces were waiting for his summoning to join the fight so it’s not going to be as much as it could’ve been.”
“That’s useful to know regardless, thank you.” Mira replies. Jelly’s eyes get misty again. She can’t suppress her grimace. “Don’t cry.”
“I’m trying very hard.” Jelly says, with the shaky tone of someone who is going to cry as soon as her back is turned.
Mira prods a bit more but that really does seem to be all Jelly knows. She’s told that most demons are either probably trying to blend in or taking up refuge somewhere abandoned, which is about what she expected. Jinu stays silent for most of it, deep in thought. Eventually, Mira figures they’ve gotten as far as they can and they make their goodbyes.
Jelly waves them off enthusiastically. “Bye, hunter! Bye, Songbird!”
As soon as the door closes behind them with a little jingle, Mira gives him a look, “‘Songbird?’”
Jinu jolts out of his daze. “I’m disguised.” He defends. “Plus there’s a good chance people either think I’m dead or in the demon realm and I’m not about to correct them.”
“Got enemies you don’t want knowing?” She guesses dryly. Jinu shrugs weakly.
“I’ve fucked over some demons before. Some of them got consumed by Gwi-Ma and others lived to carry a grudge.”
“I’m guessing you don’t want Gwi-Ma to know you’re still alive either?”
Jinu laughs, a little hollow. “Oh, I have no doubt he knows I am. He’d know if he consumed my soul or not. I think his only question would be if Rumi used it all up or not, but something tells me he knows I’m not dead-dead. But,” he shrugs again, “For the sake of his pride, he’s probably telling everyone that I am. And if I ever pop up again, he’ll either kill me himself or,” Jinu gestures vaguely. Mira gets the idea.
“Alright. Why ‘Songbird’?”
“Demons like word names. Natural-born demons usually choose or are given one and when you become a demon, the same process usually happens. Hence,” Jinu gestures at the store this time, “Jelly. Same goes for the other Saja Boys.”
“So, ‘Jinu’. You chose a human name instead.”
“I didn’t choose a new one.” Jinu tells her. “I kept mine. It’s not very common. Humans turned demons like me usually give up our human names because it’s easier. I just chose not to.”
“Hm.” Mira has a feeling that means something more to demons but doesn’t know enough to decipher what. Her mind keeps circling back to one thing, one micro-reaction she noted before. “You never actually elaborated on why.”
“Hm?” Jinu says but there’s a flicker in his eyes. He knows damn well what she’s talking about.
“Songbird.” She presses and notes that his fingers twitch. “You didn’t hesitate.” You seemed to regret it, she doesn’t say because she doesn’t want him clamming up. “You either had it on hand or thought of it quickly.”
“It just… Suits me.” Jinu says carefully. “You’re reading into it too much. We have a lot of ground to cover, we should get going if we want to track anyone else down for information.”
Jinu is good at deflecting, she’ll give him that. But he’s a liar. A decent one but he isn’t looking her in the eye anymore.
“Fine.” Mira replies, taking the lead. Jinu falls in, just a step behind her. Her frustration boils but she knows she has to focus. “What about the stuff about a demon going missing? From a demon’s perspective, what do you make of it?”
There’s no hesitation in his voice this time. “One of two things happened.” He says, then pauses. “Okay, one of three things happened. But if you’re certain it’s related to the other two disappearances then the possibility of him getting killed by a regular human is unlikely.”
“And those are?”
“One, the demon that went missing was killed by another demon for whatever reason. His soul is now back down in the demon realm and that’s why no one can get ahold of him.” Jinu holds up one finger, then puts up another, “Two, the more… Unpleasant option. Again, the demon that went missing was killed by another demon but… The other demon ate his soul instead of letting it go back to the demon realm to regenerate.”
Mira almost stops in her tracks. “Demons can eat other demon souls?” She hisses.
“Theoretically.” Jinu mumbles, eyes on the crowd around them as they move. “Gwi-Ma doesn’t allow it. He says it’s a waste given it kills the demon for good— only he gets to do that. But if Gwi-Ma isn’t up here to stop it then it can happen.”
“Great.” Mira slips a few fingers under her glasses to rub one of her eyes, then readjusts them. “So this demon is probably crazy even by demon standards. Just what we need.” Then, shooting him a look, “I thought you said demons don’t need to eat souls.”
“We don’t. It’s not a need.” Jinu meets her gaze again firmly. He’s not lying about that. “But it’s still appealing to some.”
“What is it about eating souls that’s appealing?” Her voice drips with skepticism. Jinu huffs back.
“It powers you up. It’s supposed to feel good. Gwi-Ma has gouged himself on millions over the years. Some assume that’s why he’s as powerful as he is, but that’s,” he swats the idea away, “Complicated. Nobody’s certain about his origins. But most demons have never tasted a soul before since Gwi-Ma takes all of them now. Some are curious. Others are hungry for it.”
“You’ve never tasted a soul.” She remembers him saying. Jinu keeps nodding. It doesn’t seem like he’s lying about that either.
“Any demon born or created after the Honmoon was formed has never tasted a soul. We just deliver them. Like carrier pigeons or messenger falcons.” He then pauses at his own analogy. “If… Either of them killed and brought back the remains to their master.”
“You’ve delivered souls personally then.” Her voice drops an octave lower. Jinu squirms.
“You’re not going to find a demon that hasn’t.” He mumbles. “Gwi-Ma eats anyone who refuses or underperforms. He makes a point of it so the rest of us fall in line.”
Mira can’t exactly treat it as new information. She already knew the Saja Boys were used to weaken the Honmoon and allow others to take souls back to Gwi-Ma. Some part of her wants to ask how many he's delivered to his king. Another part of her is pretty sure Jinu doesn’t know. Four-hundred years is a long time.
It’s survival, Jinu said before, back when he said he didn’t blame them for fighting back and killing the other Saja Boys. If there’s anything demons understand best, it’s that.
It’s justification, one part of her says. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t have stood for it, no matter the cost.
But that’s easy to say, another part of her points out. You don’t have to be in their position so you can say whatever you want and never be proven wrong or right for it. You’re judging them by human standards. They’re not human— not anymore. Gwi-Ma owns them, body and soul. It’s not the exactly same as any human situation.
Any demon on this side of the Honmoon doesn’t have to make those choices anymore, a third part of her chimes in. I can’t say I understand what it was like to live under Gwi-Ma’s thumb but if he’s not influencing them up here then their choices are their own. Judge them based on those.
“The souls taken recently are the priority.” Mira speaks up at last. Jinu looks over, the same faint surprise in his eyes as before when she told him she spared Jelly. “If they’ve taken three, including one of their own kind, we have to assume they’re dangerous.”
“Good assumption. If they ate two human souls and one demon one, they’re going to be.” Jinu grimaces. “Don’t assume they’ll be easy to kill, even if they’re working alone.”
“I take every battle seriously, even the easy ones.” Mira replies flatly. Jinu seems to take her word for it.
—
They find a pair of demons enthusiastically trying street food. Neither have particularly good glamours because Mira took one look at them and knew before Jinu could say anything but to the general public, they’re just weirdly sharp-looking people.
One of the demons screeches and throws half of a corn dog stick at her when they see her. Mira dodges easily. Jinu quickly slips into negotiation mode and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Mira that he knows both of them by name. She gets to interrogate the pair of small demons thoroughly once the threat of throwing food and potential for getting clawed up is gone, though Mira doubts she would struggle against either of them in a fight.
They’re both defensive and wary of her but as far as she can tell, neither seem to know anything. She’s fairly certain they stole some of the money they have on them but after some graphic threats, they both hastily agree to earning the rest of their won honestly. Or at least semi-honestly— she’s not convinced they won’t scam people but that’s a human crime. They don’t seem to be murderers.
Jinu agrees. “They’re too weak to have just eaten souls. I’d probably be able to sense it on them.”
Mira hums. “You know them?”
Jinu makes a so-so gesture. “They’re never far apart from one another. Joint at the hip. I think a good amount of demons have heard of them.”
She hums back and they continue on. As they near some of the shops near the river, Jinu becomes more alert. Mira feels as though she’s employed a bloodhound and almost barks a laugh when Jinu tells her, “Someone’s used demonic power around here recently.”
“What, you can smell it?” She jokes but Jinu doesn’t correct her. “…Seriously?”
“Not just smell but— feel. They did something big enough to make it obvious.” Jinu claims, like that makes it less ridiculous. They both scan the area but he grimaces. “They might have a glamour on that neither of us can see through. If they did something big, they’d have enough power for it.”
Mira grits her teeth. “So we won’t be able to find them at all?”
“Not necessarily…” Jinu muses. He scans the area with interest and nods at the crowd. “I can start singing. All you need to do is watch for anyone who doesn’t take any interest.”
Mira squints at him. "You have way too much confidence in your singing abilities. Not everyone who doesn’t take interest is going to be a demon. People have lives, you know.”
“If I were anyone else, I’d agree with you.” Jinu glances over. “But my voice is a bit different from others. I sold my soul for it. It’s a Gift from Gwi-Ma. I’m not saying it’s good because I’m a good singer; I’m saying it’s good because it’s supernaturally alluring.”
Mira stares at him. “…So ‘Soda Pop’ is literally a siren’s song.”
“I have no idea if my abilities work with technology so our success wasn’t entirely demonic charm.” Jinu admits. “But in person, yes. Hunters and other demons are more resistant to it.” He grins a little then before adding, “But clearly not immune. Unless you and Rumi really did find it too catchy to resist?”
Mira elbows him hard enough to make him wheeze. “Back on topic. Gwi-Ma gave you a voice that can lure people in?”
Jinu has to clear his throat, idly rubbing where she elbowed him. “That’s the gist of it, yeah. To make people into demons, he needs to give something back so they’ll give him their soul. Plus,” Jinu shrugs, “They generally keep it when he makes them into demons so those abilities become useful to him again because he can make the user do whatever he wants with them. It’s like investing I guess.”
He gestures at the crowd again. “If I start singing, people will slowly be drawn in. If there is a demon around here, they’ll be the only one other than you who isn’t affected. Watch their faces, it’ll make it obvious.”
Mira considers this. “And if there is a demon here but they take interest in your singing regardless?”
“Then I’ll find them.” Jinu replies simply. “Trust that I can do this.”
Mira doesn’t reply to that. But she doesn’t stop him either when Jinu parts from her side and opens his mouth to start singing.
It’s not a song she recognizes. Something tells her it’s old— centuries old. Pleasant however, the type of song you might hear a performer play for a crowd. And all around her, Mira watches as the crowd shifts. All eyes slowly move towards the voice, as if they can’t help themselves. Many physically move closer but some just stand and stare off in the distance, as if lost in thought, or as if they find it hypnotic.
Begrudgingly, Mira admits that Jinu wasn’t exaggerating. So she scans the crowd for anyone who doesn’t take any interest. There are some that only seem to be listening idly but they still seem to be listening, whether they realize it or not. As the crowd begins to all shuffle one way however, it becomes easier for her to pick out the stragglers.
There’s a booth full of various trinkets, antiques, jewelry, and similar goods on one side of the street. The woman at the counter, taller than even Mira, raises an eyebrow at the growing crowd but seems unaffected.
Mira narrows her eyes and strides forward. The moment the woman looks at her, there’s recognition, then something both defensive and hostile. She pulls away from her booth and slips into the alleyway. Mira follows.
The moment the shadows cover them, Mira summons her polearm to her hand. The woman, a few strides ahead, rolls her neck and lets the glamour drop. Purple skin and faded patterns now cover her form. A gat and hanbok, not unlike Jinu and the other Saja Boys’, now replace her previous leather jacket and ripped jeans.
“Hunter.” The demon spits, eyes flashing gold. The air seems to change and grow heavier— literally, Mira realizes. The demon’s presence is making her feel uneasy. She fights the unusual urge to run and points her polearm at her. The demon’s lip curls up. “Fucking fantastic. Can my day get any worse?”
“Cooperate and I won’t make it any worse. Eaten any souls recently?” She doesn’t beat around the bush. The demon’s eye twitches.
“In what world would anyone say yes to that?”
The sound of someone warping in behind her has Mira jerking the butt of her polearm in that direction. She misses and gets a, “Whoa! Watch it!” That tells her it’s Jinu, not this demon's reinforcements.
“How about everyone calms down for a second?” Jinu steps into her view, hands up and mostly eyeing the demon in front of them. His smile is easy yet careful. “Mira here isn’t looking for a fight, just information.” Then, looking to her this time, “Pressure isn’t sadistic, just a merchant. A pretty cutthroat merchant but she’s not our culprit.”
Mira’s body screams to attack, her fight-or-flight going haywire. Everything in the other demon’s stance screams hostile and unwilling to back down. Threat, she thinks. Danger to civilians. To the fans.
Except. She hasn’t actually attacked Mira yet. She’s ready to if Mira does, but no action has been taken.
Can you really call someone a threat just because of their looks and attitude? Didn’t people used to say that about you? Problem child, black sheep— just because you were blunt and not immediately friendly to everyone you met. They judged you before you did anything. It never helped you then. Your anger issues got worse.
All it took was a few people who believed in you for you to soften up. To start believing in the good in people again.
Mira pulls her polearm back to her side. A means to defend herself if need be but no longer an outright threat. The other demon— Pressure, Jinu called her— narrows her eyes but the heaviness in the air dissipates. The urge to run drops, confirming to her it was Pressure’s doing. Jinu’s shoulders slump as well, telling her she wasn’t the only one affected.
“Thank you.” Jinu nods his head at both of them. “We just want to talk.” He says to Pressure. “We’re collecting information.”
Pressure eyes the pair of them skeptically. “Who are you? I know the hunter but you…”
“Songbird.” Jinu claims again. Her eyes narrow further.
“Bullshit. I don’t know a 'Songbird'. You called me by name— who are you?”
“You’re a very successful merchant in the demon realm, everyone knows you.”
“You’re powerful enough to have a decent disguise on, aren’t using honorifics for me, and you’re not half as afraid of me as any regular demon would be. You’re not some common demon.” Pressure insists. Mira sees Jinu suppress a wince as if realizing his mistake.
“That’s not important.” He says but not even Mira is convinced by it. “Look, we just want to know if you know about any demons stealing souls up here.”
“And then what? You’ll kill me once you know what you need to know?” She scoffs, cutting both of them off when they attempt to dispute. “One of you won’t do me the decency of telling me your actual name and the other is a trigger-happy hunter, well known for taking her anger out on demons.”
“Fuck you.” Mira glares. “All those demons deserved it. Don’t fuck with people’s souls and I can be perfectly civil.”
Pressure holds her gaze for a long moment. Mira doesn’t budge, actively pushing down her frustrations so she doesn’t drive off someone who might actually know something.
“Ask any demon who has come into contact with her recently, they can back it up.” Jinu adds. Pressure’s gaze swivels to him.
“I’m not trusting a guy wearing a glamour in front of his own kind. Either take it off and talk to me face to face or stop wasting my time.”
Jinu grimaces, casting a look to Mira out of the corner of his eye. She offers no protests nor direction, wanting to see what he does. After some hesitation, Jinu finally drops it. His black hair and wrinkled, gray sweatshirt return. Pressure’s gaze sharpens immediately.
“Oh, I see. Songbird.” She rolls her eyes. “I should’ve known.”
“I’d rather you keep this between us.” Jinu tells her. “The less people that know I’m still alive, the better.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Your little plan, gone down in flames— I’m sure Gwi-Ma is furious.” Her gaze flips back over to Mira, golden eyes gleaming in the sunlight. “I’m surprised you trust him of all people. He’s kind of known for only looking out for himself, with the exception of his little posse. Though judging from the lack of their presence, not even they were immune, hm?”
Jinu’s whole face darkens. “Enough.” He snarls, voice rippling with demonic power. He takes another step forward, more menacing than the last. Pressure’s defenses rise but her face remains impassive. “Not one word about them or—”
“Jinu.” Mira finally cuts in sharply. Jinu stills like he completely forgot she was there. He doesn’t move a muscle so she continues. “Search elsewhere. I’m handling this one.”
A few seconds of silence fill the alleyway thickly, tension rising. Then Jinu wordlessly disappears in a poof of red smoke. Mira lets out a huff and turns back to Pressure. The demon hums at her, more curious than tense.
“The hell did you do to get him on a leash like that? I thought only his boys could do that.”
“We’re not talking about him.” Mira tells her firmly. “Get back on topic or I’ll show you what kind of anger issues I have. Have you heard about a demon taking souls since the new Honmoon was formed or not?”
Pressure gives her a once over. “Hm. Anyone ever tell you you’d make a good demon?”
“Yes. I proved them wrong. You’re trying to distract me.” Mira accuses.
An impressed look flickers on Pressure’s face. She finally gives in. “I only trade information with those I respect. Anyone who cracks too easily is undeserving. That’s why Jinu isn’t the one they send when they want information out of me.”
“You play mind games with everyone you come across?” Mira wrinkles her nose. Pressure shrugs.
“A demon’s gotta get some entertainment somehow, otherwise we’d all go mad. But fine, if you’re not actually out for blood, yes, I’ve heard about soul stealing from other demons. As far as I know, this is the first demon who’s actually gone through with it.”
Mira can’t help but be surprised by that. “You’re certain no one else has.”
“Certain? No. But we’re careful beings, built on survival.” Pressure replies smoothly. “Some are disoriented by the lack of Gwi-Ma’s voice in their head. Some are overjoyed without the constant reminder of their shame. Some are furious to be cut off from their king. Many have a healthy dose of fear— one part for how Gwi-Ma might react if and/or when he gets inside their heads again,” she nods at Mira, “And one part for what you hunters might do if we try anything.”
Mira narrows her eyes. “Fear of us keeps them from stealing souls? Good.”
Pressure huffs a laugh. “I don’t know the name of the demon you’re after, but I know they have a powerful disguise and they’re tall. The only reason they left me alone was because I made it clear I wouldn’t be an easy target.”
“They were here?” Mira glances around. Pressure nods.
“Half an hour ago, maybe less. They were wearing a disguise so I don’t know what they actually look like.” She jabs her thumb at the alleyway behind her. “If they didn’t teleport further away, they still might be lurking.”
Mira nods. She moves to leave but turns back to check, “I trust I don’t have to make it clear what happens if you get a taste for souls too.”
Pressure rolls her eyes. With a flash of red smoke, she’s back to looking human, tanned skin and dark eyes replacing her demon features. “As curious as I am, that’s bad for business. So no, you won’t see me getting a taste now that the king’s out of my head.”
Pressure walks back to her booth. Mira lets her, unhappy with the uncertainty of her answer but telling herself to roll with it. She can’t expect every demon to give her a perfect answer, even if the protective urge in her wants one.
Mira herself was hardly a perfect hunter at the start. Her flaws made her feel volatile, more like someone who would hurt than help. But she wanted to get better. And Zoey and Rumi— and Celine, some twisted up part of her reminds her— had given her the support she needed to get there.
It’s not exactly the same situation. Mira never killed anyone who couldn’t come back from it. But everything about demons is different. And Mira is learning to handle it.
Maybe it’s so Rumi never feels like all demons, and by proxy, her, are monsters again. Maybe Mira is doing this for herself too. So she never looks at a friend and feels her world snap in half simply because she was born differently.
Mira strides further into the alleyways, polearm disappearing only because she wants to look less conspicuous. The sound of teleportation nearly has her throwing a punch until she sees who it is. Then Mira considers doing it anyway just because he’s being annoying about it.
“If you could stop activating my fight-or-fight and stop randomly teleporting around a hunter trained to kill teleporting demons, that would be great.” She grits out. Jinu’s mouth opens, then closes.
“Don’t you mean fight-or-flight?”
“No.” Mira crosses her arms. “Apparently the demon stealing souls was around here around half an hour ago. We should split up and search.”
Jinu nods, a little absently. He’s not looking at her. Embarrassed for earlier maybe but definitely guilty too. He always looks so guilty. It never helps when Mira is trying to see whatever good Rumi sees in him.
Above them, Sussie’s shadow circles. Mira takes one look and says, “If you find them, send the Bird.” And leaves to give herself room to think.
—
Zoey’s shorter stature zips in and out of her vision, making Rumi’s head spin. She lashes out again and again, face pinched in concentration. She strains between keeping her claws out, attacking, and listening to Zoey’s chatter fill up the room.
“—‘m just kinda curious, you know? I mean, centuries of generations of hunters have come before us and they all did different things, right? Music styles, fighting styles— and the Honmoon can do stuff that we haven’t figured out because we can only summon our current weapons while older hunters like Celine can make them take any form they want so— are there other things we can do that we haven't yet? Did the other hunters write it down anywhere? I know we studied the Honmoon and the history of hunters and stuff when we became one ourselves but surely there’s more than that, right?”
“Holy shit,” Rumi breathes out, only a little out of breath, “How are you talking so effortlessly when you do this? I— fuck, pause, my claws…”
Zoey stops and rocks on her heels as Rumi sends demonic power back to her hands. She’s getting quicker at it every time, though she wishes it would stay like it’s supposed to when she's not devoting all her attention on it. The frustration is familiar at least, she had similar struggles with her sword once too.
“It comes with being a rapper.” Zoey smiles cheekily. “You know full well I can talk a lot faster than this. I’m slowing down for your sake.”
“You can take it up a notch when I can concentrate better.” Rumi wipes her forehead with the back of her hand and falls back into her stance. Zoey does the same and once Rumi moves, Zoey leaps into action and they start again. Zoey, ever quick on her feet, grinning as Rumi takes swipes at her.
It almost feels like they’re trainee hunters again, sparring and learning how to fight as one. If Rumi finds herself humming, Zoey harmonizes on instinct. Not quite the same without a third, harmonizing voice but energizing nonetheless.
“You really think there’s more hunter stuff we can do?” Rumi asks as she twists and turns to keep up. Zoey nods viciously between dodges.
“Why should you get all the cool power-ups?” She grins from ear to ear, wild and wonderful. “Besides, hunters have been protecting the world for centuries! Surely they’ve got a few tricks up their sleeves they can pass down to previous generations!”
“Maybe.” Rumi agrees. She swipes, once, twice— ha! At last, her claws catch on Zoey’s protective leather outfit and both of their arms shoot up in victory. Zoey tackles her with a hug that actually sends both of them sprawling onto the ground. Then, because it’s as good of a time as ever, they decide to break for water.
Rumi motions for Zoey to stay put and teleports over to the fridge, taking out the bottles, and teleporting back. Zoey whoops and takes it gleefully. “You’re getting better at that!”
“Thanks.” Rumi falls on her butt with an oof, shaking off the weird weightless feeling that persists sometimes when she teleports. She wonders if all demons feel that way, or if her being half-human means she feels it more. “It’s kinda nice to practice sometimes. It’s something I can control, you know?”
Zoey hums around her water bottle. She asks a question while still drinking water, making it come out as nothing but incoherent noises. Rumi raises an eyebrow at her. Zoey sheepishly pulls it away and tries again, “Is there something that’s bothering you that you can’t control or something?”
Rumi shrugs in response. “Weird dreams again.”
Zoey scoots forward, eyes wide with interest. Rumi stifles a laugh. “Oh yeah, you keep a dream journal, don’t you?”
“I’ve been slacking.” Zoey admits. “But some of my weirdest ones are still in there! So, what kind of weird dreams are you having?”
Rumi shrugs her shoulders. “Demon dreams mostly. As in dreams about demons.” She pauses to think before letting out a little laugh. “Actually I can't remember if I’ve had a non-demon related dream since the new Honmoon formed.”
Zoey’s eyebrows climb higher. “Oh? Go on?”
“It’s like…” Rumi trails off a little. “It was just Jinu first. I had a good dream about him, and then kinda a sadder dream about him, and then… Then I started dreaming about other demons. Like, there were these two down in the demon realm talking about the Honmoon and the Saja Boys? And then I had a dream about Romance of all people. He was in a cell for some reason. And he thought I was a hallucination because I couldn’t touch him without phasing through him.” She shrugs again, more helpless than the last. “Like I said. Weird.”
Zoey stares blankly at her for a while. Then she asks, “How sure are you that those were dreams?”
“I was sleeping and I always woke up at the end.” Rumi points out. “I mean yeah, they’re weirder than any other dream I’ve had before and I talked to Romance despite us never talking before but— again, I woke up after. I don’t think they could’ve been anything else.”
“I feel like we’ve seen weirder stuff than dreams that might not actually be dreams.” Zoey takes another sip of her water. “I dunno! Maybe you’re right. We’ve done a lot to warrant weird dreams. It’s just kinda weird that you’ve pretty much only been dreaming of demons.”
“I guess so.” Rumi looks down at her hands, then her eyes widen and she holds them up with a big grin. “They stayed! My claws!”
Zoey’s eyes light up and she immediately launches herself closer to join their hands together. Rumi’s demon claws make Zoey’s human hands look even smaller than usual. Zoey giggles at this, squeezing her.
“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I’m really glad you kept all your demon stuff like your patterns and new powers. They suit you! In a good way, of course.”
Rumi squeezes Zoey’s hand back, letting out a breath. “Thanks. I’m kinda glad I kept them too.” She admits. She really does mean that. She’s gotten used to seeing the iridescent stripes in the mirror. The claws less so but she can still bear to look at them.
She hops to her feet, hands on her hips. “Let’s take advantage of them staying while we still can! C’mon!”
Zoey groans but Rumi thinks she’s playing it up. Both of them make sure their water bottles are screwed on right before tossing them aside. Then once Rumi moves, Zoey is right there with her, putting up a fight.
The energy that flows through her is hot like a raging inferno, but she finds she likes it. And if the Honmoon minds that she walks between two worlds now, it doesn’t show it.
—
Years of hunter training tells Mira to follow the sounds of combat. Where there is danger, there very well could be demons. And worst comes to worst, Mira is extremely capable of handling a fight between a couple regular humans.
The fight she stumbles across is definitively not.
One much larger demon with horns and thick hands has managed to grab another in a gat and hanbok by the throat, hoisting them up in the air. They kick and claw but the larger demon isn’t letting up, snarling at them furiously.
Mira acts, taking a running jump and kicking the larger demon into the nearest wall. Their grip slips and while both take a tumble, the larger is obviously much worse off for it. As they attempt to sit up, groaning as they rub the side of their head, Mira summons her polearm and points it at them as a warning. She uses her weapon’s length to her advantage, keeping herself just out of their range should they choose to attack her.
“Stay down.” She warns. The demon she attacked is dizzier than she thought they’d be, slumping down obediently. How hard did she hit them exactly?
“Oh— oh, thank you!” The other demon previously being choked rushes to thank her, smiling sweetly in the corner of her eye. “That— that brute came out of nowhere! Didn’t even give me time to defend myself!”
“It’s nothing.” Mira spares him a glance. His hair is long and straightened. His patterns are especially heavy around his neck. “Did they try to take your soul?”
The demon gasps, one hand laying over his heart. “Oh dear, is that what you think was going to happen? It’s— it’s practically unheard of but… With Gwi-Ma not around, everyone has been positively wild as of late. No master to serve, no leash— I could see it. Oh, there are some demons that would be tempted, aren’t there?”
Mira’s head swims— god, she’s had a long day. She really doesn’t want to take a break if this isn’t the demon they’re looking for but she might need it. She shakes herself, focusing on the demon on the ground. They’re still a bit dizzy but they’re glaring at her now, jaw tight, but not saying a word.
“You.” She addresses the larger demon. “Don’t lie to me or you’ll regret it. Are you—!”
“You really shouldn’t trust random demons you meet on the street!” The other demon pipes up, interrupting her. “Especially asking them not to lie to a hunter. Who wouldn’t, to make themselves look good? Everyone wants to look good. Everyone wants to only show the best parts of themselves because the ugly ones make them disgusted with even themselves.”
Mira huffs, frustration boiling once again. This guy’s voice is only making her oncoming headache worse. “Listen, I’m trying to host an interrogation here—!”
“If it’s information you want, I’m your guy.” He smiles. “I’m good at slipping through the cracks, hearing just about everything there is to hear. Half-hunter demons? The rumored death of one of our king’s favorite pets? A demon disappearing off the streets? I’ve heard it all. The latter is quite a fascinating case, isn’t it? Such a tame demon too. Practically domesticated in under a week. A natural-born no less— straight from the Golden Age! Back when Gwi-Ma actually let his favorite soldiers partake in souls! Oh, that was a far cry from my time, but I can’t help but wonder what that must’ve been like.
“I thought surely he’d understand. The lure of a soul. What it must feel like when it’s deep in your bones— the power.” The demon sighs heavily, theatrically. Mira’s head is screaming at her— everything is wrong wrong wrong wrong— but she can’t seem to move. She’s just— stuck. Staring straight ahead. Only able to view him from her peripherals.
“He didn’t. No, he was enjoying his human job. Once a great soldier, now some mortal’s lapdog.” He sneers. “Killing him was a mercy. His soul wasn’t very tasty but yours— I think a hunter’s will be quite the treat.”
Mira realizes too late exactly why the larger demon had their hand around the other’s throat. She feels the ghost of a touch on her shoulder, sees his jaws unhinge like a snake’s—
Then the shadow of a bird flying up ahead passes over them just moments before someone collides with him and both go flying. Like a spell broken, Mira jerks back, experiencing sudden vertigo as she gulps in a few breaths. Her polearm is gripped with enough intensity that her knuckles ache. It’s by the strength of the Honmoon and pure experience that she stays upright and recovers so quickly at all.
Jinu is kicked away by the demon he tackled, causing him to hastily back up until he’s at her side. His claws are out and his teeth look sharper but otherwise, he’s in his human glamour. His proper one, not the fake he had on earlier. His eyes remain fixated on the other demon, recognition flashing in his eyes before he bears his teeth.
“I could’ve gone my whole life without seeing you again.” Jinu scowls, disdain written all over his face, plain as day.
The other demon laughs as he recovers, gat abandoned on the ground as he flashes a wild grin at them both. “So you’re not dead! Just hiding away— I should’ve known!”
Mira readies her polearm. She hates how unsteady she feels— no longer like an impenetrable wall but rather, like a dam with a crack in it, slowly breaking apart. “Who the fuck is this guy?” She grits out.
“Coil. Gwi-Ma gifted him the power to get inside of people’s heads and fuck with them so try not to either let him talk for too long or let him get to you if you can help it.” Jinu replies, wrinkling his nose. “I should’ve known it was you. Two humans and a demon? You’ve never seen a line you wouldn’t cross.”
“Gwi-Ma isn’t around to stop me.” Coil laughs. “Why shouldn’t I get a taste of what I’ve been missing? Why are you in a human glamour? Afraid your hunter friend won’t know which demon she wants dead if you’re not?”
“He’s fast but not very strong. If you can get ahold of him, he’s good as dead, three souls or not.” Jinu murmurs to her, ignoring Coil. Mira nods back and when Jinu teleports to flank him, Mira charges forward.
Jinu wasn’t kidding, he is fast. Mira has been training with Zoey for years so luckily she knows how to defend herself from an opponent who’s faster than her but three souls is making him a hell of a lot harder than any demon like him she’s fought before. Even with Jinu’s help, teleporting in short blips to try to keep Coil in one area can only do so much when Coil can also teleport.
“Got to say, I almost didn’t recognize you!” Coil leers at Jinu, mouth full of sharp teeth. They’re both lucky enough that his own attempts to swipe at them have been blocked, leaving them in a stalemate. “I’m not used to seeing you without your little bodyguard around! Or should I say babysitter?”
Jinu’s face flickers for a second but smoothes out quickly. “Last I checked,” he smirks back, “You were avoiding me because you knew you’d get your ass kicked again if you showed your face again.”
“Last I checked,” Coil shoots back, “You weren’t the one who killed me. But look at you, a whole new bodyguard, a whole new you.” That smug look returns, glancing from him to Mira as he works to dodge their attempts to land a hit. “What’s wrong, got tired of the old one?”
Mira sees the way Jinu curls his lip and calls over. “Focus, Jinu. He’s toying with you.”
“Jinu!” Coil laughs and nearly gets stabbed for it. Mira curses that she didn’t manage to actually skewer him. “You still haven’t changed your name? All these centuries and you still kept it?”
“It’s mine.” Jinu hisses out.
“Stop responding to him!” Mira barks. “You’re letting him get to you!”
“All that agony, yet you continue to endure, and for what? Is it truly nostalgia and sentimentality or is it just self-hatred?” Coil clicks his tongue. “And to think, you had the perfect alternative too. Your little bodyguard— what did he always call you again?” His eyes flash, lips curled back to show his sharpened teeth, like a snake about to strike. “‘Songbird?’” He croons mockingly.
Mira grits her teeth but the damage is already done.
Jinu’s eyes immediately burn gold. “Shut UP!” His voice crackles with demonic power, abandoning all strategy as he lunges right for him.
Coil dodges with ease, expecting the attack, and rakes his claws across the side of Jinu’s neck. Jinu lets out a pained cry and crumbles, pressing a hand heavily to the wound as blood begins to pour out, a bit darker than blood should be. He hisses through his teeth, shoulders hunched, but still breathing.
Mira pushes forward aggressively, putting Coil on the defense so he’ll focus solely on her and won’t kick Jinu while he’s down. Coil won’t stop fucking smiling, gleeful that he landed a hit like he did. Smiling like he thinks he’s already won.
“I hear you’re the one with anger issues!” He jabs at her, unbothered by her attempts to stick her polearm through his chest. “Ever think all of it is gonna catch up to you? Maybe hurt the wrong person?”
Rumi flashes in her mind. Mira pushes the thought away, narrowing her eyes. “I made my mistakes and I’m getting better. What’s your excuse?”
Disappointment flickers on Coil’s face. “Can you really get better? If you hurt them once, who’s to say you won’t do it again?”
“Then I’ll pull myself together and make it up to them again. You’re not pulling this shit with me— Gwi-Ma might’ve once but you’re much worse at it than him.”
Coil's eyes flash in anger. He’s backing up, up, up with every slash Mira makes at him but then—
Red mist. Jinu still crouches on the ground but he’s in the perfect position to trip Coil, one arm snaking out to wrap around his legs. Coil’s whole body jerks for a moment but as small curls of red smoke rise off his skin from a failed teleport, his eyes go wide. His mouth parts in shock, or maybe a desperate attempt to get one more word in.
Mira plunges her polearm into his chest, causing him to explode into pieces of red light. Both of them slump the second they’re out of danger, Jinu still pressing a hand to his neck while Mira’s headache fades into a dull thrum. Jinu’s hand is coated in blood but his movements are steady enough that she’s pretty sure he’s not dying.
Even so, she double checks. Just so Rumi won’t freak out later. “Demons can survive losing that amount of blood, right? This is my first time actually keeping one alive.”
“‘m fine.” Jinu pants, waving her off with his other hand. “Handled worse. Wrap it and give it a day and I’ll be as good as new. Probably.”
He’s not looking at her again. Mira can’t help but feel off balance. She doesn’t know what to say. She barely knows why he reacted the way he did. She doesn’t know how she feels about any of it.
“Thanks.” She ends up coughing out. Jinu blinks, finally glancing over with confusion clouding his eyes. “You helped me out in a pinch. That was. Nice of you.”
“Oh. I wasn’t really thinking about it.” Jinu says, like that’s meant to diminish it.
Mira decides that’s the end of that trainwreck of a conversation and looks around. The larger demon from before is long gone. She lets out a breath, rubbing her eyes from under her glasses. She didn’t exactly leave the best impression but. Whatever. Mira leaves bad impressions on people all the time, what’s one more?
“Let’s go get that wrapped up before Rumi yells at us both.” Mira tells him. Jinu doesn’t offer any protest and silently follows her back home. Somewhere up above, Sussie’s shadow follows them.
It’s a quiet trip. That’s fine by her. She has enough on her mind as it is.
All that agony, yet you continue to endure, and for what?
He’s kind of known for only looking out for himself, with the exception of his little posse. Though judging from the lack of their presence, not even they were immune, hm?
Your little bodyguard— what did he always call you again? ‘Songbird?’
You’re not going to find a demon that hasn’t.
I don’t know about all that. I’m just a consultant.
I wasn’t really thinking about it.
Mira chews on her inner cheek with narrowed eyes. Start making sense, demon boy, so I can make up my mind already.
—
“What the hell.” Rumi’s jaw drops at the sight of the wrappings around Jinu’s neck and Mira’s visible exhaustion. “I thought you said it was something you could handle with just the two of you!”
“It was. We’re alive, aren’t we?” Mira shifts, a bit uncomfortable. “There was a slip up. We handled it. One less power-hungry demon is off the streets.”
Jinu nods along absently but he’s out of it. Rumi squints at him, then at Mira. Mira says nothing but she does purposefully glance Jinu’s way and back. Rumi gets the message, heading over and intertwining her fingers with Jinu’s. His head immediately shoots up in surprise. She motions with her head to follow her.
She drags him into her bedroom, seating both of them on the mattress. Even when there’s no need to, she keeps her hand interlocked with his. It’s warm and she’s convinced they fit perfectly. Like their hands were made to hold each other.
Rumi clears her throat. “Did something happen?”
She feels him stiffen slightly. “Did Mira say something?”
“She didn’t have to, Jinu. You look terrible.”
“It’s really not as bad as it looks.” Jinu’s free hand ghosts the bandages. “My demon regeneration alone means it’ll probably be fine by tomorrow. Your hunter powers might be able to make it sooner than that.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Rumi squeezes his hand. “You look emotionally terrible. Like you’re shutting down.”
“I’m… Processing.” Jinu says carefully.
“Does ‘Processing’ mean ‘Agonizing over it’ or ‘Refusing to think about it at all’?” She challenges. Jinu’s grimace says enough.
“You’ve known me for under two months,” Jinu grumbles, “How do you know me this well already?”
“You showed a lot of your most vulnerable parts of you, whether you realized it or not.” Rumi shrugs. Her thumb rubs the back of his hand idly. “I might not know what your favorite color is but I know a lot of the deepest parts of you.”
Jinu pauses. “It’s blue.”
Rumi cracks a smile. “Like your tiger?”
“Like the sky.” Jinu smiles back softly. “But yes, him too. That’s just a funny coincidence.”
“I’ve always liked purple and gold. For reasons I feel are obvious.” Rumi maneuvers her braid to her shoulder for emphasis. It’s the one ‘Demonic’ trait she always kinda found herself liking. “You know you can talk to me if you need to?”
“I know.” He tells her.
“And if you need me not to judge because you want to get something off your chest, I can do that too.”
He swallows thickly. “Rumi, I really don’t want to fuck this up. Any of this. I’ve been more at peace than I have been in centuries and— the idea of losing that…” He squeezes her hand like he thinks she’s going to let go.
Instead, Rumi takes his other hand in hers too. “I thought the same thing before Mira and Zoey knew I had patterns. I wish I told them sooner. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk right now, but we probably should eventually.”
Jinu gives a tiny nod back, face still twisted into something uncertain. He’s still in his human glamour, letting her look into soft brown eyes again. She really can’t decide if she likes the brown or the gold better. It really is unfair that Jinu makes everything look good.
“Do you want to sleep here tonight?” She blurts out before she can stop herself. Jinu’s eyes go wide.
“Here?” He repeats, a little dumbly. “In your bed? With you?”
It’s probably the least eloquent he’s ever sounded but Rumi is just as bad so she really can’t judge. “Next to each other. Just. Sleeping. Nothing else.” Her face is on fire— she’s blaming his big, dumb eyes for this. “I just— it sounded nice. It’s fine, you don’t have to—!”
“No, I—” Jinu says quickly before Rumi backtracks. “I haven’t been sleeping the best anyways. Not really used to sleeping alone.”
“I get it.” Rumi nods. “And— I’ve been having weird dreams so I’m kinda hoping you’ll cancel them out.”
“Mutually beneficial.” Jinu says, face tinted pink. “Everybody wins.”
“Mmhm!” Rumi hums, way too high pitched to be casual. She hastily clears her throat in an attempt to be serious again. “I just want you to feel safe here, you know? I know the sign on the front says 'Huntrix' but… You’ve got your own room. Zoey already likes you. Mira’s getting there.” She squeezes his hands again. “I’m not going anywhere. I want you here with the rest of us. You’re important to me.”
“You’re important to me too.” Jinu returns. It makes her want to melt inside because she knows exactly how much he means it. It’s kinda hard to forget when a guy throws himself in front of a raging inferno because he can’t bear the thought of you dying.
It’s not quite time for bed so both end up emerging from Rumi’s room eventually. Zoey is fussing over Mira in the kitchen, who is looking less tired and more fond by the minute. Mira glances over the pair and nods, then her eyes drop and an eyebrow raises.
Rumi is still holding onto one of Jinu’s hands. She doesn’t think she wants to stop so despite the heat that flushes to her cheeks, she stubbornly doesn’t let go.
Jinu doesn’t seem to mind in the slightest. Though when Zoey spots it, she doesn’t stop smugly grinning for an hour.
Notes:
Jinu, last chapter: I don't know the name of every demon, that would be insane.
Jinu, this chapter: *Knows the name of every demon they come across*
It IS a coincidence. But Jinu's had a lot of time to get to know the demon realm and may or may not be kinda infamous. So even if he doesn't know every demon, most demons know who HE is.Jinu definitely thinks that day went a lot worse than it did. But we'll deal with that in the next chapter.
While I have seen people use 'Songbird' as a nickname for Jinu from Gwi-Ma specifically, we're giving it sweeter (bittersweet here) origins. You can probably guess which Saja Boy started using it first from context but if not, next chapter will make it very obvious.
We got a SPECTRUM of demons here babyyyy! Ranging from Absolutely Harmless (Jelly) to Mischievous But Not A Danger (The 'Twins') to Morally Gray But Not Actually A Threat (Pressure) to ACTIVE THREAT TO EVERYONE KILL NOW (Coil). Jinu is hard to place because he kinda ranges between the twins and Pressure but he's also in the process of turning over a new leaf that puts him closer to Jelly. Mira, like before, is Dealing With New World Views and how to handle them, and is probably the creator of this spectrum.
In case you're curious, all human-turned-demons have individual, usually unique gifts based on the deal they made with Gwi-Ma, including all the other Saja Boys and some of the demons shown here. This helps them have more use to Gwi-Ma since his natural-born demons don't need to learn how to use their powers or deal with body dysmorphia like his created ones do (with a few exceptions).
I don't know how many of you play D&D but Jinu's abilities are kinda like a Glamour Bard's Enthralling Performance while Coil's are much closer to a Whisper Bard's Words of Terror. Not an exact 1-1 for either but I did think about both when developing them. They ARE meant to parallel each other. Coil is kinda like if Jinu didn't have any friends and just kept getting Worse instead of better.
Anyways, that's enough of me rambling, I hope y'all enjoyed! Next Chapter will be... A Time. In an interesting way I hope! Comments and Kudos are alwaysss treasured and held gently. Thank you for reading and until next time!!
Chapter 10: Judge
Summary:
Jinu and Rumi’s night goes horribly wrong when a nightmare encounter takes a turn for the worst. Zoey and Mira deal with the aftermath.
Notes:
I have been waiting to write this chapter for AGES... Technically this chapter and the next one were going to be combined but for my sanity, I split it into two. It also works pretty decently split into two so extra bonus.
BIG warning for Panic Attacks in this chapter as one of them takes place from the character HAVING the panic attack. If this is something you'd like to skip then once full lines of italics AND bold text show up, skip to the next section. Other warnings include veryyy minor injuries and a lot of self-loathing talk from Jinu, plus a little from Rumi.
Okay now you can enjoy <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rumi’s bed is large enough that they could lay comfortably and never brush shoulders, never touching. However they’re not doing that. They’re not quite brushing shoulder to shoulder either but Jinu is lying flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling, and is completely aware of the way the back of Rumi’s hand is against his own.
Extremely aware, one might say. But Jinu is not being weird about it. He refuses to make this weird because then she might pull away and no matter how slight the touch is, it’s really, really nice.
He’s in Rumi’s bed, in her room, with the lights off. Jinu refuses to be any of the ‘Old man stereotypes’ the hunters seem to believe he is but not even he can deny its making him a little flustered. But maybe that’s because it’s Rumi. The girl who sees the good in him, who kept his soul safe, who just wants him to get a chance to be happy.
Jinu is handling a lot of emotions right now. Considering he has had zero breakdowns and hasn’t said or done anything stupid in the past couple hours or so, he’d say he’s handling them well.
“Hey.” Rumi’s voice makes him turn his head. Her cheek is squished up against her pillow. “Is this making things better or worse? I honestly can’t tell.”
“Better. I’m okay.” Jinu flashes a quick smile. He’s not lying about that at least. Zoey might be borrowing Derpy tonight but Sussie’s sharp, golden eyes are watching from one of Rumi’s shelves. And with Rumi by his side, his mind feels a little less loud.
But not as quiet as he would like.
I didn’t want this either. But not everyone gets a choice.
Jinu shoves it all to the back of his mind.
“Are you afraid of going to sleep?”
Jinu stiffens at the question. “I didn’t say that.”
“I know.” Rumi’s eyes have a slight glow in them, indicating her night vision is at work. They’re still brown however, still endlessly understanding in a way he doesn’t know how to handle sometimes and able to see right through him other times. “But it kinda feels like you’re tense?” She pauses. “Unless this is like a 1900s manners thing. Is sleeping in a bed with a lady you’re not married to too much for you?” She switches to teasing him. Jinu rolls his eyes.
“I hate to correct you on this but you realize I’m much older than the 1900s, right?”
“I know. But it’s funny to say.” Rumi’s eyes crinkle with amusement. “If it’s any consolation, I’m a little nervous to sleep too.”
Jinu blinks slowly. “Seriously?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know why. It’s stupid. I’ve just been feeling weird lately.”
“Dreams?” He guesses. “You wanna talk about them at all?”
“Maybe when I’m not trying to sleep.” Her eyes flutter shut but she keeps talking. “I don’t wanna keep either of us up with them.”
“I don’t mind.” Jinu shifts on his side to face her a little more. That just makes Rumi creak her eyes open to squint.
“Now it sounds like you’re avoiding sleep.”
“I’m not.” Jinu denies. Rumi hums like she doubts that. “I’m not! I’ll probably fall asleep before you do!”
“Prove it.” Rumi shifts one hand to jab him in the chest. Jinu stubbornly rolls on his opposite side and closes his eyes.
Then after a few moments, rolls back to see Rumi’s smug face.
“You almost got me.” He accuses.
“I did get you.” She angles her head upwards proudly while still keeping her head on the pillow. “Just admit defeat and close your eyes.”
“Maybe I’ll stay up all night just to spite you.”
Rumi bats her eyes, faux-pleading. He knows damn well she’s trying to get him to fold and he’s more mad about the fact that it’s working.
The breath he lets out sounds far too much like a surrender. “I’m not promising that I’ll stay asleep the whole time.”
“I can’t judge there.” She shrugs back. “My sleep has been all over the place. Just give it a try.”
Jinu hums. He lets his eyes drift shut, trying to clear his mind. If he doesn’t think about anything, maybe he won’t dream about anything. Maybe he can just stay asleep for once and have his mind not spiral into a self-destructive mess.
Do you think he’d be mad?
Then again, when was the last time Jinu’s mind was truly on his side?
He huffs internally but slowly lets his body go lax, able to do nothing but hope that this night can stay peaceful, even if that feels like too tall of an order.
—
The paved path up to the palace is pristine and freshly swept. Jinu feels as though he is dirtying it just by following the guards. His body aches and his fingers are numb and Jinu has done all of this before. Every little detail of this moment is branded into his brain by magenta flames and a mocking voice. He could close his eyes and recall all of it in detail. He thinks Gwi-Ma made him once.
He knows this dream. It never fails to be agonizing but it’s a familiar pain. He knows the way it hurts. How it will crawl under his skin, searing him from the inside out. Jinu can bear it, because he must. Because he has had to.
A hand is clutched around his. Jinu’s throat becomes thick but he can’t look back. Not yet. He didn’t look back then, too busy gazing at the palace all around him, in awe that he was really getting everything he could’ve wanted. Unknowing to the price that came with the deal.
He follows the guards. The palace doors open for him, a sight that once left him in awe but now leaves him with pure dread. Jinu swallows around nothing. He knows where this nightmare goes. Like an actor in a play, his part is decided for him. The actions written out centuries ago by his own hand. He can only repeat them.
Jinu walks through the threshold. Blades are drawn behind him and the hand clutched onto his tugs him back. This is all expected.
Who he sees when he looks back is not.
“You’re really doing this, songbird?” Golden eyes with rounded pupils bore into him. Jinu’s throat closes up on him— he’s not supposed to be here. Jinu has had this same dream thousands of times and it’s never changed. It’s the same every time, the same wound reopened again and again.
That dream Jinu can handle. He’ll still wake up hating himself and possibly crying but he knows how it goes. How it feels. To press down on the wound again and again, causing old pains to flare up.
Baby shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t. He can’t.
Jinu can survive the other nightmare but he doesn’t know if he can survive this one.
Jinu doesn’t move a muscle. Baby scoffs and looks away, bitterness overtaking his features. “Four-hundreds years you’ve been a demon and I’ve known you for— what, ninety-five percent of it? Longer? But all of that goes out the window the moment something else serves you better? Why am I even surprised…”
“It’s not— it’s not like that.” Jinu protests. Baby’s look is decidedly unimpressed.
“Isn’t this what you do?” He counters. “Let's see… A guy trapped in an unfortunate situation, brought down to some of the lowest moments of his life, learns of a deal he can make to escape to a new life. A better one, with all the comforts he’s been denied. All he has to do is leave the people he loved previously behind to rot. Where have I heard that one before?”
“I didn’t— you were supposed to come with! All of you! If she was right and we were on this side when it turned golden—”
“So you weren’t just fucking Rumi over when you betrayed her.” Baby hums, interrupting. He should be angrier but he just looks— tired. Like he knew this would happen. Like it was inevitable. “You doomed us all, songbird. Solidified our place as enemies, then redeemed yourself at the last second.”
“I didn’t know I’d be doing that.” His voice wavers. Baby’s face darkens.
“Yeah? But who paid for it?”
Jinu tries to step forward and close the distance but someone is grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back. Jinu’s face twists into a snarl, ready to bite back, but it falls in an instant. Because Rumi is there, in the outfit she wore when showing up to face off with Gwi-Ma, and her face is nothing but kind.
“Jinu?” She smiles but there’s confusion in her eyes. “Where are you going? C’mon, we should head home.”
Jinu opens his mouth but has no idea what to say. Rumi tugs him the other way, towards the palace, and Jinu feels claws dig into his hand and wrist in protest.
He turns back. Baby’s clawed hand is trying to hold on but he can’t go much further. The guards from before— the ones Jinu has always dreamed of— are gone. Now they’ve been replaced by Mira and Zoey, weapons out and firmly keeping Baby from crossing over with him.
“You’re doing this to them?” Baby hisses out, accusatory. “To me? Despite everything you know? You’re making me go through this again?”
“No, no, you know I would never—” Jinu tries, but Rumi is tugging him away again.
“Just let go, Jinu. You’re a good person, you don’t deserve to have the past weigh you down like this.”
The past and present blend together horrifically. The guards and servants leading up to the palace are replaced by backstage staff members. The claws trying to keep a desperate grip on his hand hurt just as badly as his sister’s nails— maybe worse. Because Jinu should know better this time— he should've known—
“You all were supposed to be here too.” He chokes out, throat burning. He needs him to know— even if it doesn’t matter, it’s not him, he might be— he could be— “I swear, I swear—!”
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve already made that choice.” Baby cuts him off. Jinu is paralyzed, drowning under the weight of it all. He knows what’s going to happen before it happens because he’s not allowed to keep this— keep them— while also getting to escape from the hell he’s come to know. He knows, he knows, he knows— “It’s done. History repeats itself. You can’t turn back now even if you wanted to.”
Zoey steps forward. The way her blade cuts cleanly across Baby’s neck is almost merciful. A shout rips out of his throat but it goes unheard as Baby’s eyes shut and he dissolves into red energy, fizzling away. Jinu feels the warmth of Baby’s hand fade in his grip, leaving him with nothing but deep gashes where claws once were and a cold weight of what was once there.
Distantly, Jinu hears shouting. He’s too numb to process it. Everything hurts in a way it never has before.
“See? It’s over now. It doesn’t matter.” Rumi murmurs in his ear, a vice grip on his shoulder. “You don’t need them.”
“I…” His world tips on its side, leaving him unbalanced while everyone else acts as though nothing unusual has happened. He wants to close his eyes and try to forget it all but the sickness in his stomach only spreads. As if he is rotting from the inside. As if he’s going to shatter and leave splinters in everyone else around him.
It happens gradually. The pressure in his mind, the flames licking his skin from the inside, but then— the voice. The voice who knows the inside of his head better than he knows his own.
“Again, Jinu?” The voice rumbles a laugh. Nausea and terror hit Jinu so hard that his entire body goes rigid. “Oh, you are ruthless when you need to be. Perhaps you did listen to my teachings after all.”
“No…” Jinu clutches his ears, breathing picking up. No no no no he can’t do this he’s safe he’s not here he’s not actually here he’s not—
“Jinu!” A distant voice calls, just loud enough to break through the oncoming storm in his head but not enough to drown the rest out.
“You left them behind too. At my mercy no less. Not the cold, unforgiving winter like you left your family to shrivel up and die in, no, but my flames. My torment. For as long as I wish, unable to die unless I will it.”
“Stop it— you’re gone, you can’t be here…” But why can’t he? Who’s to say he won’t be back the second the new Honmoon weakens? Who’s to say this isn’t really him— it sounds like him. It was only a matter of time. Jinu can’t escape; he knows what he is, what he’s done—
“You failed them. Again. You can’t blame me this time. Not when you should’ve learned your lesson the first time.”
“Jinu!” That distant voice is closer now but Jinu’s head spins with too much information, too much burning inside of him, too much—
“You can’t be here!” His own claws scrape against the sides of his head, panic rising. He was supposed to be safe, untouchable, he can’t— he can’t go back he can’t face him after all this time he can’t do it again please he’ll do anything—
“Jinu, look at me!” Suddenly there’s a voice right in front of him. His eyes fly open and Jinu staggers back. Rumi is there again but— different. She’s wearing pajamas, her hair is undone, and the concern in her eyes is so real this time—
“Jinu, we should get going.” Rumi says from behind him, tugging again. Jinu’s mind twists into knots, looking back. A second Rumi looks at him blankly. Her grip remains firm. She’s still wearing her outfit from the confrontation.
There’s— why is there two of them— that doesn’t— he’s not—
“No one will ever trust you for what you’ve done.” Gwi-Ma mocks him, his hooks in deep. “And if they do, you’ll just throw them away the moment you can move onto bigger and better things. You will never deserve their kindness. You’re cursed, Jinu. Broken. Always have been. Always will be.”
“Jinu, don’t listen to—!”
Something finally gives and Jinu feels his throat shred under the weight of the scream he lets out. Everything gets darker in an instant. His back hits the ground hard, body half twisted up in soft fabric that feels more like chains in the moment. He scrambles to back up and twist out of it, back hitting a wall hard enough to make a sound.
He can’t breathe— he can’t— everything is wrongbadhorrible and he needs to— to— he can’t breathe and everything hurts and he’s here he’s back nononono he can’t go back not now not after everything he can’t—
“JINU!” Hands grip his own and Jinu jolts back so hard that the back of his head hits the wall. They immediately withdraw and through the haze of his own panic and tear-filled eyes, he sees Rumi. Same pajamas she was wearing earlier, hair down, worried about him, why does this feel so—
“Jinu, it’s— it’s going to be okay. I got you! I’m— I’m here and I’m not going anywhere and—” Rumi is rambling, desperately trying to help and Jinu immediately knows she’s real and here and he’s not dreaming anymore.
He rushes forward to grab onto her hands again, barely able to think about if he’s gripping them too hard because he— he’s—
“He’s here!” Jinu wheezes out, barely able to recognize the sound of his own voice. “He’s back, I can’t— don’t let him take me back, I’ll do anything, I can’t go back, not now, not when I was finally supposed to be—!”
“It was a dream!” Rumi rushes to reassure him but Jinu shakes his head frantically. She doesn’t understand— he heard him— it was too real, it couldn’t have been anything else and if he can get inside his head again—
“It was him— I know it was! He’s gotten inside my head— my dreams! I— I keep having nightmares and it’s him, it’s always been him— you can’t let him take me back, Rumi, please, I—!”
“No, Jinu, it was just— look!” Rumi thrusts one of his hands in front of his face. “Look! Your patterns, Jinu! They’re the same as they’ve always been since you regenerated! They’re not glowing! They’re still faded! Gwi-Ma isn’t here!”
Jinu’s words get stuck in his throat. He wants to argue— he heard him, it sounded just like him, it made so much sense, that had to be why he kept having bad dreams— but his patterns aren’t glowing. They should be that angry shade of magenta. They should be deep purple at the very least, a reminder of the shame Gwi-Ma never lets him forget. They should be back to how it was. But they’re not.
They’re not, which can only mean… He isn’t… He wasn’t…
Jinu lets out a shuddering breath, releasing Rumi’s hands and going boneless against the wall. Fuck. Fuck. He’s not— but why did it feel so real? He’s still shaking. It was so vivid and intense. It felt like him. But if it really was Gwi-Ma, he should still be able to hear him. He doesn’t. He’s not getting pulled down to the demon realm or having the voices crescendo in his head.
He wasn’t here. He was never here. Jinu just— what, imitated him? Has all his torment really only been in his head all that time? He knew he was his own worst enemy but this really takes it up a notch.
What is wrong with him?
Jinu covers his face. He can’t stop shaking. He’s trying to breathe but it’s breathy and wrong and he’s just so breakable. He hates it. He wants to just be fine for once.
He feels Derpy headbutt him. He doesn’t know when he showed up. He doesn’t move to pet him like he usually would.
“Nothing he said was true, Jinu.” Rumi murmurs softly to him, close by but careful not to touch him. He doesn’t know if he wants her to or not. He keeps thinking about the claws scraping his wrist. “You’re not broken and a few mistakes don’t define everything you are.”
“It’s— it’s not that…” Jinu trails off as cold, biting horror spreads through his body at an alarming rate. He pries his hands off his face to look at Rumi. His heart has completely stopped. “You… How did you know all of that? How did you know he said that?”
Rumi freezes, as if she’s been caught. “I… I really didn’t mean to intrude— I don’t know how I intruded in the first place but I… I saw. Not all of it, I don’t think but… A lot of it?”
“You—” Images flash in Jinu’s mind. All the things that were said— things she wasn’t supposed to know but might’ve heard— all the parts that he’s been trying to keep down so he doesn’t lose this. He already fucked up with her, he betrayed her and almost ruined everything and somehow he’s gotten a second chance but he’s going to ruin it again because he always ruins it, he always fucks it up and—
“Jinu, breathe!”
He can’t— he can’t— if he couldn’t keep himself from fucking over a friendship he had for nearly four-hundred years then what hope does he have for this— any of this— sheknowssheknowssheknows—
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean— I don’t know how— Jinu, I’m so—!”
There is no hiding his broken pieces, no trying to put himself together so he can be someone worthy of all this, there is no use in pretending he’s anything other than— than hopeless and broken and—
Jinu feels as though he’s been hollowed out. Like he’s weightless.
And then, abruptly, he is somewhere else entirely, laying on cold, hard concrete with nothing but his own ragged gasps filling the air and an endless night sky above him.
—
The scream is the thing to jolt Mira out of her slumber. It’s loud. Visceral. It has her on her feet and yanking open her door before she knows what was happening. Her polearm is gripped in one hand and her mind spins with the worst case scenarios.
It isn’t until she sees Zoey also in the hall and hears muffled voices of varying degrees of panic coming from Rumi’s room that Mira even realizes who the scream came from. Not Rumi, no, and clearly not Zoey. Which really only leaves one option.
The sight of Derpy bounding out of Zoey’s room and phasing through Rumi’s door only solidifies it. Her polearm vanishes from her grip and Mira rubs her face, blinking wearily. Zoey is eyeing Rumi’s door like she wants to go in but is uncertain if she should. She glances at Mira. Mira shakes her head.
“I doubt he wants us intruding on a vulnerable moment. Rumi can handle it.”
Zoey chews on her lip like she wants to disagree. Eventually she deflates and she turns back around to leave. Mira does the same— this isn’t their business.
It becomes their business when Rumi’s voice becomes more and more frantic however.
For a single moment, both of them are frozen. Then Rumi cries out and both are spurred into action, abandoning all previous apprehensions. Zoey reaches the door first, bursting through it, and Mira isn’t far behind.
Rumi is on the ground, dissolving into a panic attack. Jinu is nowhere to be found. Derpy lets out a mournful cry, leaping through the balcony door and starts running through the air. Sussie isn’t much further behind, phasing out and taking off into the night sky.
Mira zeroes in on Rumi. Her first priority is calming her down. Her and Zoey move wordlessly in sync, taking either side of her. Rumi’s hands fumble before grabbing onto them, chest heaving.
“I didn’t mean— it was an accident, I— I don’t know how— I’m so sorry!”
“Breathe.” Mira tells her as firmly as she can. It breaks through some of the haze and Rumi sucks in clumsy breaths. Zoey scoots closer to pull her in and ground her. Rumi leans in without protest. “Don’t talk until you know you can. Just breathe for a minute.”
Rumi makes a small noise like she wants to argue but knows she has no room to right now. Her eyes squeeze shut and she buries herself into Zoey’s shoulder. Zoey takes long, exaggerated deep breaths to remind Rumi to do the same.
It takes a few minutes for her trembling to die down. Rumi takes what Mira said too seriously because the second she can speak, she’s rambling like she needs to in order to breathe.
“Jinu— I freaked him out— god, I totally invaded his privacy but I didn’t— I didn’t mean to! I didn’t know I could do that but— how long have I been doing that—!”
“Slow down.” Mira tells her. Zoey squeezes Rumi in a side hug, eyes filled with worry. “We don’t know what happened so we don’t know what you’re talking about. We heard Jinu scream earlier but that’s it.”
“He—” Rumi swallows thickly. “He had a nightmare. A really bad one. And— and I saw into his dreams somehow and when I told him it made him panic really hard and— and he just teleported away! I don’t know where— I don’t know if he meant to— but I’m— god, I’m horrible—!”
“Don’t say that!” Zoey cuts in. “Why would you think that? You said it yourself, it was an accident!”
“Because he wasn’t ready to talk about it! I didn’t want to intrude but I— I can’t just forget it now! And now he’s gone and I don’t know when he’ll come back— if he’ll even want to come back…” Fresh tears are starting to spill from her eyes. Mira’s heart twists hard enough to hurt watching it.
“He’ll come back.” She tells her.
“You don’t know that.” Rumi mumbles weakly. “It was really bad…”
“He’ll come back.” Mira narrows her eyes, repeating the words firmly. “If I have to drag him back, I will.” Then, after really considering her words, Mira says fuck it and stands up. “I’ll go get him right now if you don’t believe me.”
Rumi’s mouth presses into a thin line. “I don’t want to make him come back…”
“But would it make you feel better if you could apologize?” Zoey asks. Rumi doesn’t verbally respond but her face says yes. “You said it yourself that the teleporting looked accidental. Maybe he needs to talk to you too. Or talk in general. Plus if he’s panicking out there too and he’s alone, then he really should have someone go get him.”
Rumi finally wavers. She doesn’t quite give the go ahead but Zoey meets Mira’s eyes and nods. Mira nods back, leaving the room to fetch her glasses.
She’s still in her pajamas when she leaves the building, sweater dress and shorts on. The air is a bit cold seeing as the sun hasn’t come up but Mira hardly notices it. She’s mostly focused on trying to figure out whatever the hell she’s doing. Zoey should probably be doing this; she has had actual positive interactions with the guy. Mira’s pretty sure Jinu still thinks she’s about two wrong moves from sending him back to the demon realm.
Mira doesn’t even know where she’s at with him. He still got people killed. He still betrayed Rumi even if he backtracked on that. Mira hasn’t forgotten that.
She also knows he’s been helping a lot with getting Rumi comfortable with her demon side. He doesn’t get anything out of that other than seeing Rumi relax. He answers all their demon-related questions and all of it seems to be good information. He helped out yesterday just because she asked. Technically helping her track down and kill Coil meant he stopped more lives from getting taken.
How much does that mean in the long run? How much does that make up for? How much can Mira trust him?
Jinu said it himself that he’s done bad things, likely things she doesn’t even know about. At least two of the demons they met yesterday implied the same.
Mira kicks a pebble on one of the rooftops she lands on, watching it skid to the other side. She really should’ve swapped places with Zoey. She’s faster, she’s better with people, she’s probably made up her mind on how to feel about the demon boy living with them. Why didn’t anyone stop her? Why is she doing this?
Does she feel bad? Hell if she knows. All Mira knows for sure is somehow, she landed herself here. Scouting out from above, trying to figure out where a panicking demon might teleport. If it’ll even be possible to find him.
A flash of feathers has her turning her head. Sussie settles on the rooftop entrance of the building she’s on, squinting at her. Mira shifts towards him and asks, “You found him?”
Sussie says nothing. Mira lets out a long sigh and says, “I’m not going to kill him if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m just here to drag him back. Because Rumi’s freaking out about it.”
Sussie does nothing for one long moment. Then chirps and takes off. Mira takes that as good of a sign as anything and swiftly follows.
Sussie leads her about a quarter of the way through the city before she finally spots him. Derpy gives him away— Jinu is burying his face in bright, blue fur, half of his body draped across him. Mira can hear the rumbling purr even before she joins them on the rooftop.
His face is a wreck when he looks up, eyes red, face blotchy, and hair sticking up in weird places. He’s in his human form. He blinks at her presence, as if he isn’t sure she’s really there at first. Despite all of that, he’s the one who speaks up first.
“‘s Rumi okay?” His voice is scratchy and rough, a far cry from his normally smooth talking voice and admittedly melodic singing. It takes Mira off guard enough that she doesn’t respond immediately.
“She’ll be fine, Zoey has her. She’s freaking out over you.”
Jinu’s fingers sink deeper into the Tiger’s fur. “You can tell her I’m fine.”
That actually makes Mira scoff. “I didn’t come all this way to be a messenger. I’m dragging your ass back, come on. Tell her yourself.”
His eyes shut, breathing in deeply. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.”
Mira feels a flash of irritation shoot through her. “Look, whatever you think she’s thinking, she’s not. For better or for worse, she adores you.”
“Maybe that’s the problem.” Jinu mumbles into Derpy’s torso, just loud enough that she hears. “Maybe she’s too invested. Feels like she owes me something even if she doesn’t.”
That pisses Mira off. Her arms cross as she glares at him. “Rumi is perfectly capable of deciding how she feels about people. You’re making her sound naive.”
“That’s— that isn’t what I meant.” Jinu backtracks. “I’ve hurt her accidentally. Again. Maybe it’s not a coincidence, maybe it’s a pattern.”
Mira huffs. “Look, whatever shady shit you did in the demon realm—!”
“I’m not,” his voice raises, fists tightening, “Talking about the demon realm.”
“Then what?” Mira blurts out, gesturing at him. “Why do you look guilty, Jinu? What great sin can you not get over? Why can’t you just talk about it to Rumi and let her decide how she feels about it?”
“I—” Jinu hesitates like he thinks he’s going to say the wrong thing. Mira gestures for him to get on with it until he spits it out. “I worry she’s… Biased. When it comes to me.”
Mira gives him a long look. “…And that’s a bad thing? Being close to someone who can accept your faults is a bad thing?”
He makes a frustrated noise. “It’s more complicated than that. What— what Pressure said about me yesterday isn’t exactly untrue. I’ve fucked people over because it suited me. And I never wanted the people I cared about to get caught in that crossfire but— they do. Because I’m selfish. And maybe I can’t get better.”
“I don’t know if I trust you on that.” Mira drawls. Jinu looks completely dumbfounded by it; it almost makes her laugh. She shrugs instead. “Kinda sounds like you’re biased too, just in the opposite direction.”
“So Rumi is too biased in my favor,” Jinu repeats slowly, “But I’m too biased against it.”
“By your logic, yes.” Mira replies. Jinu slumps further into Derpy’s torso.
“So what the hell am I meant to do with that?”
Mira groans softly. They’re not getting anywhere and Jinu doesn’t look interested in moving anytime soon. “Whatever you’re doing now isn’t working. Do you want to run away from everything and everyone and never let yourself be happy?”
Jinu huffs and shakes his head.
“Then suck it up and talk to Rumi. Let her decide how she feels about it.”
Jinu still looks unsure about that. Mira is running out of patience. “It doesn’t matter if she’s biased or whatever, unless you want to tell Zoey and I whatever the hell you did so we can ‘judge’ you, your options are limited.”
Jinu blinks, then breathes out, “Alright.”
“Alright you’ll talk to Rumi?” She raises a half-skeptical eyebrow.
“Not just Rumi.” Jinu carefully pushes himself to his feet. He meets her gaze steadily. “All of you.”
Mira’s not proud to say she short circuits but in her defense, she had mostly said that just to get him to shut up and admit he should talk to Rumi. She didn’t think he’d ever agree with her but he looks completely serious about it.
“…You want to share your deep dark secrets with three hunters who all have tried to kill you at different points in time?” Mira repeats slowly. Jinu shrugs as Derpy rises with him, headbutting his hand. Jinu obliges and pets him. He’s oddly subdued.
“It’s nothing half the people I know don’t know about me already. I told all the Saja Boys at one point or another. Any demon who witnessed Gwi-Ma torment me knows some of the details. Rumi knows the general idea of it. And if I’m asking you all to trust me and give me a chance, you probably deserve to know the whole story.”
If Mira were a better person, she might’ve said something like, you don’t owe us anything, or something to that effect. But she wants to know. She wants to know exactly who she’s dealing with and know the guy Rumi has grown to trust despite the many, many obstacles being thrown in their way to suggest otherwise.
Rumi isn’t naive. She doesn’t trust blindly and she sure as hell wouldn’t trust a demon so easily. So Jinu did or said something to warrant that. Enough that she met up with him willingly and didn’t kill him. And apparently he told her something that should warrant distrust but Rumi still believes in him.
And if Mira can find out what that is, she can make up her mind. Figure out whatever the hell is going on with him.
“Then we should probably be getting back.” Mira says. She half thinks Jinu is gonna back out but he doesn’t. Like before, he follows her lead, silently with his eyes looking anywhere but directly at her.
She’s certain neither Rumi nor Zoey are prepared for whatever energy she’s bringing home with her.
Notes:
Listen, LISTEN... I put Jinu through the wringer for his own good. Does he owe Zoey and Mira his backstory? No. But it not only is the perfect vehicle for like, everything I need to happen with him but I also just kinda wanna write them learning about it, and what is writing if not being indulgent?
Okay I know I ruined the Rujinu sleepover but I promise it won't be the ONLY one and the next one will be a LOT better! Also some of you guessed this would happen and I'm very proud of y'all for seeing straight into my devious mind <3
If you spot any similarities between Jinu handling his secrets and guilt/shame in this fic and how Rumi handled things in the movie then know they are veryyy intentional. Unfortunately the 'Come clean about your secrets when you have a safe time to do so or they'll come out in the worst ways' curse is real.
Strangely enough, I kept hearing songs on my playlist and going, "This reminds me of Jinu being haunted by the Saja Boys..." so if you want songs to listen to while thinking about that and/or reading those parts, the ones that work best are: Mama's Gun By Glass Animals, Good For You By Dear Evan Hansen, Christmas Kids By Roar, and Your Idol but imagining the other Saja Boys singing it TO him.
Hopefully this chapter was good! I keep second guessing myself on pacing and I probably could've slowed it down a little but it should still work the way it is. Comments and Kudos are the fuel for the writing fire and are veryyyy much appreciated! Thank you so much for reading and until next time!
Chapter 11: Jury
Summary:
Jinu comes clean. Fully and completely. To all of them.
Notes:
Another chapter that fought me but THEN the second I finish it, my laptop decided it wanted to stop being able to charge. So this update is being brought to you by my dad's laptop. AO3 Author Curse real is all I'm saying.
Warnings for this chapter: Jinu's self-loathing turned up to eleven and briefly mentioned torture.
I hope y'all enjoy!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Mira is gone for a little while so Zoey holds down the fort. Seeing as how she’ll probably return with Jinu in tow, also recovering from a panic attack, Zoey drags Rumi to the kitchen, has her sit down nearby, and raids the kitchen.
“You like to drink tea when you’re upset sometimes, right?” Zoey asks. She grabs Rumi’s favorite brand when she nods.
“Celine used to give me some whenever I was having a rough day.” Rumi rubs her eyes, gaze planted on the table below her. “I never really shook the habit.”
Zoey’s mouth flaps open and closed. Celine is still a sore subject— she’s not really sure how Rumi is feeling right now. Zoey gets it, it’s complicated all around. You get mentored by a woman who says she believes you’ll be the generation to save the world forever and then learn she lied to you about something that nearly tore your group apart. And she’s not even Zoey’s legal guardian so she really has no idea how Rumi is handling it.
She decides to carefully steer away from that conversation all together. Rumi is dealing with enough right now. She fills up the electric kettle and turns it on to boil before taking the seat next to Rumi’s. Her hand shifts close enough to touch pinkies with Rumi, getting her to look up. Zoey smiles.
“So. Dream walking, huh?”
“…Something like that.” Rumi says. “I think it might’ve happened when Jinu was a soul too but I’ll have to confirm it with him. Which is confusing because souls… Don’t dream? I don’t think anyways.”
“Maybe it’s not just dream walking then.” Zoey gives her a nudge. “Don’t tear yourself up about it, how were you supposed to know?”
“There were signs.” Rumi’s throat bobs. “I should’ve been more careful. And now I have another power I don’t know how to control.”
“You’re acting like you’re a ticking time bomb— you’re not!” Zoey tells her firmly. She scoots her hand closer and lays it on top of hers. “Yeah, it sucks when we cause things out of our control but as far as I can tell, your powers can be used for good too!”
“It doesn’t feel like it right now.” Rumi admits softly. Zoey bumps her shoulder.
“We can work on that. You just need a little change in perspective!”
Rumi isn’t feeling as talkative but that’s okay, Zoey can easily take over. She starts talking to fill the air with sound, watching as Rumi’s shoulders gradually relax. Once the water is boiled, Zoey puts the tea bag in and hands it over to Rumi, then makes three more cups.
The tea is just about finished seeping when Sussie flies through the floor, settling nearby Rumi. Rumi’s breath hitches and she immediately scrambles to get up and head for the elevator. Zoey follows. They both wait for the doors to open, revealing Mira, Jinu, and Derpy all together.
Mira shoots Zoey a look she’s seen a few times before. It’s her I don’t know what the hell I did but I did something look. Zoey’s eyes dart back and forth between her and Jinu, trying to figure out what. Jinu has a hand on his Tiger’s head but he raises his gaze to meet Rumi’s, slightly apprehensive. He looks more frazzled than usual but his breathing is controlled at least.
Jinu and Rumi stare at each other like a pair of equally frightened cats, both about to bolt the second something goes wrong. Rumi breaks out of it first, sucking in a quick breath before she blurts out, “Are you okay?”
Jinu blinks like he wasn’t expecting that question. He doesn’t get a chance to answer before Rumi starts scrambling to correct herself, “No, that was stupid, of course you’re not okay, I— I’m so sorry, Jinu, really!”
Hearing her apologize has Jinu tensing. He finally breaks out of his daze, striding forward and not quite reaching out to her but getting close. “Why are you apologizing? If anyone should say they’re sorry, it’s me.”
“I invaded your privacy!” Rumi says.
“Neither of us knew you could do that in the first place! I should be apologizing for dragging you into my mess— or better yet, not saying anything about it sooner. This is just like before—!” Jinu counters but his latter statement has Rumi’s eyes blazing.
“This is not like before! You not telling me something because it’s painful to talk about is completely different than lying to gain my trust!”
“I haven’t been completely honest with you!”
“That’s— that’s fine! I don’t need to know everything about your past to trust you!”
“It’s not just—” Jinu makes a sound somewhere between frustration and helplessness.
Zoey shoots a bewildered, are you seeing this? look to Mira.
Mira sends one back that says, can I stop them yet?
Zoey considers this and nods. Mira steps in, arms crossing. “Alright, both of you slow down. We’re taking this to the couch. The demon boy,” Mira nods at him, “Says he wants to be honest with us.”
Rumi’s eyes widen a fraction. “‘Us?’” She echoes faintly.
Jinu nods back. “All of you.”
“Are you… Sure?” Rumi searches his eyes. The nod he gives back must be somewhat convincing because Rumi backs down and says, “Okay. If you think it’ll help.”
They all converge on the couch. Zoey collects all the mugs and divvies them out dutifully, sugar and cream offered. Derpy insists on getting up on the couch so he can lay his head on Jinu’s lap. Sussie lurks nearby, picking at Jinu’s slightly messy hair like it bothers him that it’s not combed and styled like usual. Jinu keeps one hand on the mug and one hand in Derpy’s fur.
He takes a sip, then makes a surprised noise. “Oh, this is really good.”
“Better than warm milk?” Zoey asks. He nods and takes a longer sip.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mira makes a face. “I still can’t believe you sometimes willingly choose to drink warm milk out of all things. A whole kitchen full of beverages and that’s the one you choose.”
“I’m well aware I’m a godless heathen.” Zoey shoots back. “I embrace it.”
Rumi snickers under her breath. Zoey counts it as a win, seeing her relax a little more.
For a couple minutes or so, it’s pretty silent. Everyone is either drinking their tea or deep in thought. It’s still dark out— Zoey doesn’t remember what time the kitchen clock said but she’s not sure she wants to know. It’ll just make her feel tired and they haven’t even started talking.
Jinu said he wanted to be honest. Zoey has no idea what that entails but the last time he was honest with her— on this very couch no less— he more or less told her he wouldn’t blame her if she wanted to send him back to Gwi-Ma to be tormented for probably eternity. So Zoey is a little apprehensive of where this might go but with all three of them, she thinks they can give adequate support.
Zoey’s pretty sure they’re friends now, though she’s never been all that great at telling who was and wasn’t her friend in the past. However she likes to think if Jinu occasionally confides in her in Rumi-matters then that makes them friends. Friends-in-laws at the very least? She’s pretty sure he’s a lot better of a person than he seems to think he is, or at least is on his way of becoming one. And if even Mira is starting to come around to him then Zoey must be right.
Zoey has finished all of her sugar and cream filled tea by the time Jinu clears his throat awkwardly. “It’s… Been a while since I’ve done this properly.” He says slowly. “Like, seventy years? Maybe longer? I forget when I told Abby.”
“You told me.” Rumi points out.
“I didn’t do it right either time.” Jinu shakes his head, face tightening.
Seeing as how he clearly needs a little push, Zoey tries, “Well how did you tell the other Saja Boys? Or— you could start from the beginning? Usually that’s a pretty good place to start!” Though Zoey knows there’s value in starting in the middle too— she used to read a lot as a kid. She knows her storytelling techniques.
Jinu nods faintly at that. He takes in a silent but deep breath as if bracing himself. “Back before Gwi-Ma spoke to me, my family was extremely poor. I never really knew it any other way.”
There’s brief hesitation when he stops but Derpy shifts his head up into Jinu’s hand, getting him to resume petting and continue talking. This time, the words are steadier, flowing out of him carefully but nonstop, not unlike a stream.
“My father had left for good sometime after my sister was born but even before then, he was never really around.” There’s bitterness in his voice, like a grudge he never fully got over. “He barely kept our family afloat even when he was around but things got worse when he left. My mother had another mouth to feed and had to tend to my sister when she was little. I had taken on a job at the time but I lost it later. We ended up on the streets after losing our home to a wildfire— things kept getting worse. I tried to get us money by busking the streets but whatever I made wasn’t enough, too little and too infrequent. We were starving. And… That’s when I heard him for the first time.
“Gwi-Ma always comes to you when you’re at your lowest. He taunts you before offering you everything you could want. Even if you know deep down that you’re making a deal with a terrible force…” His jaw tightens, eyes darkening like he’s somewhere far away from here. “Some part of you doesn’t care. Because you think you have nothing left to lose so how could it possibly get worse?”
His gaze turns downwards where Derpy is blinking up at him, more somber than Zoey usually sees him. She can hear the steady, deep purr coming from him. She once read somewhere that cats sometimes purr as a soothing method, both for themselves and for others. She heard it was healing. She likes to think it was right.
“Gwi-Ma said he could give me a voice that people would actually listen to. Get recognition and fame because of it— finally get the money I needed to get off the streets. I took him up on it and it worked. People were suddenly paying attention. I wasn’t just another prop on the streets; they admired my voice and paid me to hear me sing. For once, I had plenty of money to buy food and bring home to my mother and sister.”
For such a happy sounding event, Jinu looks haunted. Zoey chews on her lip but keeps listening.
“Sometime next morning, a pair of guards found where we were sleeping. They told me the king heard of my talents and wanted to hear my voice for himself. I accepted. I was excited. I thought I had finally done something for our family for once. But.” His hand tightens into a fist. Derpy shows no signs of pain, only sympathetic sorrow. “When we got to the gates, they refused to let my mother and sister in. They said the king only asked for me. No one uninvited was allowed in. And I…”
He chokes like his heart has leaped to his throat and lodged itself there. Zoey spots the glistening of tears in his eyes, her attention darting to the other two. Rumi’s face is filled with pain. She has heard this part before then. She seems to have expected this reaction from him, Zoey thinks. Her gaze shifts to Mira, whose expression is almost unreadable, except for a look in her eye that tells Zoey she has a suspicion of where the story is going.
“I left them.” Jinu spits out at last. “At the gates. My sister didn’t understand what was going on— she kept— and I— I just left them there. I pulled away. I went to sing for the king instead. And that was— it was the last time I ever saw them.”
Oh, Zoey thinks, something sharp shooting straight through her chest. A flurry of emotions pass through her. She doesn’t know where to begin with them. How to decipher how she’s feeling.
But Mira speaks up first, “You brought them to the gates.” She says slowly. Jinu nods, putting his mug down to wipe his eyes. “You didn’t realize the invitation was just for you.”
“No.” Jinu whispers. “But after— after I sang for the king, he gave me a place in his court. He said it was only for me— that my mother and sister couldn’t come. He told me either I stayed and served alone or I went back to the streets with them.” His shoulders hunch in on themselves as he confesses, “I stayed. I abandoned them for greener pastures, just as my father had.”
Oh, Zoey thinks again. Demon deals. Genies and their wishes. Monkey paws. You got what you wanted but lost what you had. Tropes she always heard about but never once thought about actually existing. She might’ve learned about humans who became demons but the details of it were always hazy. The how and why of it wasn’t meant to matter before, back when they were simply The Enemy.
Except now one of them is sitting before her, shaking as he recounts his biggest mistake, and Zoey is reminded of what came next. One way or another, he ended up in the demon realm, and everything that came after.
“The patterns started showing up after that.” Jinu’s voice betrays shakiness but he keeps talking despite it all. “I gorged myself on food and drinks, slept on silk sheets and in clean clothes until they consumed me whole. Gwi-Ma waited until I couldn’t hide them anymore. Until the whole palace saw the monster I was on the outside as much as I was on the inside, then he finally dragged me down. Greeted me, welcoming me to my new life under his thumb. I was fully turned then, not an ounce of humanity left in me.”
Rumi, who Zoey is pretty sure has been actively holding back from saying anything this entire time, finally cuts in. “That’s not true. You have humanity, Jinu! I wouldn’t have been able to reach you if you didn’t!”
Jinu’s teeth grit. “I left them alone. To die.”
“You said you never saw them again, you don’t know what happened.”
“It was going to be winter.” His eyes burn gold. One hand reaches up to grab a fistful of his hair. “And without me, they could’ve… They were going to…”
Die, Zoey mentally supplies. They were going to die. Either by the cold or starvation or something else caused by either.
“That doesn’t define you.” Rumi argues back. “I told you before, you’re not just your mistakes!”
“And if I keep making it?” Jinu snaps back, head finally lifting. His eyes can’t seem to stick to being either brown or gold, flickering ever so often like a bad projection or a flame in the wind. “I know you saw— I did it again. I keep— I leave the people I love behind over and over again or hurt them and I never learn. I shouldn’t even—!”
“Can we back up a moment? Please?” Zoey interrupts at last. She feels bad doing so but if Jinu keeps talking like that, she’s pretty sure he’s going to keep spiraling. Luckily his mouth does snap shut and all eyes shift to her. She smiles, a tad sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m still catching up here. Tell me if I got this right: you were starving enough to make a deal with Gwi-Ma, it wasn’t quite what you expected, you ended up going into your new life alone, and eventually got turned into a demon because of it?”
Jinu nods, one hand rubbing his eye. Zoey runs all the events in her mind over again. “And you’ve been a demon for four-hundred years.” Another nod. “And isn’t there a thing with demons where they hear Gwi-Ma’s voice in their head, shaming them all the time?”
“Not just him.” Jinu corrects. “I saw them. My mother and my sister— the memory of me leaving them at the gates. Over and over again.”
Zoey continues to stare, painting the picture in her head in clearer and clearer detail. It’s not a pretty picture. “For four-hundred years. And Gwi-Ma is doing this because he knows the memory haunts you?”
“Sometimes he’d get more hands on.” Jinu admits. “I… I was one of his favorites for a while. It’s not as nice as it sounds.”
Suddenly Zoey feels as though she has a very clear idea of why Jinu thinks he deserves to be tortured for all eternity like he suggested that first night they talked. She inhales sharply through her nose and rises. Jinu is slightly wary by this but doesn’t stop her as she crosses over and takes the spot next to him.
“I have two questions, answer me honestly.” Zoey puts one of her hands on both of his shoulders. Jinu is still wary but even more bewildered so he nods. She’s pretty sure she knows the answer to the first one but she wants there to be no doubt so she asks, “Do you regret it?”
“Every day.” Jinu’s voice bears four-hundred years of baggage. Zoey nods back. Her second question catches him off guard.
“Can I hug you?”
His mouth parts uncertainly. “Uh.” He utters, then his eyes dart elsewhere. To Rumi, to Mira, like he needs a translator.
Rumi has unmistakable relief on her face. Mira arches an eyebrow. “Don’t look at us, just answer her already.”
His eyes dart back. Zoey gives him her best smile to show that she’s serious. And at last, he says, “If you want?”
Zoey is moving forward as soon as she has permission, squeezing tightly but trying not to squeeze the air out of his lungs. He startles at the intensity, whole body stiff but doesn’t ask her to stop or pull away. He just sits there like he’s never been hugged before— or maybe just because he didn’t think he’d be getting one now.
“I don’t… Understand.” He says slowly.
“It’s called a hug.” Mira tells him dryly from where she sits. She’s leaning back, apparently a little amused by his reaction. Jinu huffs at that.
“I know what a hug is, thank you. I don’t understand why. What I did—”
“Yeah, kinda shitty.” Mira stops him before he can even get started. “Your situation was kinda shitty too though. Starving on the streets then becoming a demon against your will to serve the worst guy in history for the next four-hundred years?”
Jinu’s face twists but he doesn’t get a word in. Mira sees right through him before he can. “It’s not an excuse. I’m not sure any of us can fully excuse you— we weren’t there. But everyone who was is dead now, or is a demon king who wants you to be miserable so he can control you and really shouldn’t be trusted. The whole situation sounds shitty.” Mira takes a sip from her tea. “Sounds like you were desperate.”
“Why does that matter?” Jinu counters. He's somewhere between frustrated and confused. “Why do the details matter if you know the end result?”
“Puts things into perspective.” Mira replies smoothly. “Humanizes. Makes you see the person, not just the mistake.” She gestures to Rumi. “She had a point. People are more than their mistakes.”
“Four-hundred years is a really long time.” Zoey hasn’t let go. She’s not planning to anytime soon unless Jinu wants her to. It’s different hugging a demon— he runs a little hotter and his heart, or whatever the demon equivalent of it, doesn’t beat in the same way. She doesn’t mind though. She thinks he kinda needs this right now, even if he doesn’t realize it.
“Most people don’t live up to a hundred.” Zoey continues. “So four-hundred is a lot. And all of that while Gwi-Ma is making you relive something you still regret even now? I think you already paid for whatever you’ve done in the past.”
“I…” Jinu’s breath stutters, she can quite literally feel it. “I helped him take souls.”
“So has every demon I let go free these past two days.” Mira points out. There’s a calm, level tone in her voice. Like she’s got him figured out.
“Mine was pretty recent.” He says, almost frustrated. “You should know, it was my idea. The Saja Boys and destroying the Honmoon by taking your fans was all my idea.”
“We know.”
“No, you don’t.” The tension in his body returns, eyes flaring. “Because I recruited and trained all the other Saja Boys for it. They all put their trust in me, knowing we’d face consequences if we failed. And when I chose to save Rumi, I betrayed Gwi-Ma. I made us fail. And I might’ve been lucky enough to escape his wrath but… They weren’t. Because if they’re not here, they’re with him. And if Gwi-Ma can’t take his wrath out on me…”
Zoey’s heart sinks. She squeezes him tighter. His arms hang limply at his sides but he’s not stopping her yet. She feels like he’s just going to crumble to pieces if she lets go now so she doesn’t.
“Oh.” Zoey whispers, just loud enough for all of them to hear. “You’re really worried about them.”
Jinu takes in a shuddering breath. “I can’t stop thinking about what the odds are for what happened. I want to believe they’re okay but I know they’re not. Gwi-Ma might’ve eaten their souls and killed them for good. Or he might’ve brought them back early just to make them pay for my mistake. Endlessly. Until he gets bored, and Gwi-Ma takes a while to get bored. And I hate that one of my best case scenarios is that only one or two of them is taking the brunt for it while the others go free because thinking about any of them being in that position when it should be me—”
“Jinu.” Rumi cuts in with a glare. “We’re not going to think like that.”
“How else am I meant to think?” He shoots back, his mouth full of sharp teeth. “They’re suffering because of me! I— I was supposed to have them here, on this side of the Honmoon when it formed, like you said, but instead I betrayed you, put them on the wrong side of history, and now I can’t even make amends for my mistake because I get this— this perfect, cushy life while they get to slowly die for who knows how long!”
Zoey pulls back but only so she can really look him in the eye again. One hand is kept on his shoulder, able to feel the unmistakable way it trembles. The look in his eye, wild and unsteady.
“It’s even worse than before.” He croaks out after a beat. “Because I don’t even have the option to go back for them. Not in a way that can stop their suffering, assuming they’re still alive at all. And all I’ve done is make the same mistake all over again.”
“It’s not the same.” Zoey argues back. “You never agreed to those terms. And maybe… Maybe we can fix it somehow.”
Jinu lets out a weary breath, eyes sliding shut. “As much as I want to believe you, I know better. We don’t have a way into the demon realm that doesn’t include temporarily dying and they might not even be still alive.”
“If we did have a way into the demon realm, would you want to try?” Zoey prods. Jinu hesitates briefly but indulges her with a nod. “Maybe there is. I mean, this Honmoon is different than the last and we’ve seen stranger things recently, right? What with Rumi’s whole—”
Realization hits her hard and fast. Her conversation with Rumi when they were practicing her claws again— her head snaps around, eyes shining. “Rumi! The dream! One of the ones you told me about!”
At first Rumi looks as though she has no idea what Zoey is talking about, but it dawns on her in time. “Oh— oh! Jinu, I—I don’t know about the others but I think at least Romance is alive?”
Jinu’s eyes bore into her. “How do you…” Then he has the same realization, breath hitching. “Are— are you sure it was him? That it was real?”
Rumi chews on her lip. “He thought I was a hallucination and he seemed pretty convinced he was real and not a part of my dream so… Yes?” That doesn’t seem to comfort Jinu much so Rumi adds, “He was singing when I uh, stumbled across him?”
“Singing? One of the Saja Boys’ songs?”
Rumi shakes her head. “It wasn’t one I heard. It uh…” Her eyebrows furrow in concentration. “One of the lyrics was something along the lines of… ‘Dying king with the crumbling crown’?”
Jinu’s jaw hangs open, back straightening. “That’s my song. I wrote that. I’ve never sung it to you before— you could only know it if… If it really was him…” He trails off, looking a little faint.
Rumi’s eyes light up, then dim again as she has another realization. “Oh. Ohhh god, now some of the things he said makes sense… He said— he said it was in memoriam?”
Jinu’s eyes go blank. They watch in real time as the words come to him. “They think I’m dead. Gwi-Ma told them—” he cuts himself off, hissing through his teeth, “Of course he told them that. Of course. Why wouldn’t he? They all saw my body get consumed, he’d only want to keep them hopeless.”
“They’re probably still alive then.” Mira speaks up.
“Being under Gwi-Ma’s control is hardly any way of living.” Jinu glares at the ground.
“You want them back.” It’s not a question, just a way of prodding. It’s just enough to get him to spill.
“Of course I want them back— they’re the only people I let myself get close to for all of my life as a demon. They were always my top priorities, the people I swore I'd never betray. I keep— I keep dreaming about them. Over and over again. And it hurts because I know deep down that it’s not really them— and I know it’s not really them— but I miss them all the same.” He sigh escapes him, eyes shutting. "You don't want to know the things I'd be willing to do to have them back."
Mira’s eyes shift to her and Rumi. She raises an eyebrow with a look that roughly says, you make the call, I’ll follow your lead. Zoey looks to Rumi, giving her a determined nod so she knows which side she stands on.
Rumi nods back and holds her head up high. “Let’s go get them then.”
Once again, Jinu seems to be completely stunned for a moment. His head snaps over. “What?” He breathes out, completely bewildered.
“You miss them, you want to do right by them, and they’re suffering even though you made a good choice.” Rumi says. “It’s not right. I can’t say I know them well but clearly they mean a lot to you so we should get them out of there. Stage some sort of rescue.”
Jinu stares as if all of them have collectively decided to start speaking different languages. “Did you miss the part where I said we have no way into the demon realm without temporarily dying, which would immediately alert Gwi-Ma to my presence?”
“It’s like Zoey said,” Rumi shoots her a smile, “Maybe there is and we’ve just need to look for it. Plus we have a new Honmoon so maybe that plays a part in it.”
Jinu sucks in a breath. “Even if we could… It would be incredibly dangerous. There’s a chance we could all die or get seriously hurt.”
“Are you saying you don’t want to?” Rumi asks, no judgment in her voice.
“No.” His reply is quick, immediate. “I would try it in a heartbeat. But it sounds like you wouldn’t let me try it alone.”
“We wouldn’t.” Zoey confirms.
“Safety in numbers.” Rumi points out.
“I thought you suggested we were on a similar level to Gwi-Ma.” Mira challenges.
“Fighting him on his home turf is different.” Jinu counters. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin with this idea.”
“But if we did come up with a plan,” Rumi continues, “And made it as safe as we could… Would you want to try it? To get your boys back?”
His throat bobs. Jinu clears his throat to speak. “I’m still stuck on the idea that you’d want to. They’re my friends, not yours.”
Mira lets out a long-suffering sigh, head hitting the back of the couch. “Look, all this?” She gestures to everything around them. “It’s been going well. Things have gotten… Better. And at least some of that credit goes to you, even if you messed some of it up in the first place.”
“…Thank you?” Jinu squints.
“And as much as I don’t regret defending myself, it does kinda suck to hear about people being tortured because I sent at least two of them down to the demon realm. And maybe we can’t save everyone but we’re not really hunters if we don’t give it our best shot. And…” Mira’s mouth tightens. “I don’t know— I get wanting to look out for your team and feeling terrible if you can’t, or if you hurt them and it’s your fault. If Rumi or Zoey were trapped down there, I’d want help to go after them. Anything to ensure I succeeded. So, fuck it, Rumi made the call and we’re a team so we’re all in.”
Zoey nods enthusiastically alongside her. “Exactly. Plus you’re kinda becoming one of us! If you’ve been having a hard time, we wanna help out. In regular ways too, not just highly dangerous rescue missions. If you’ve been having nightmares, you can talk about it, if you want?”
His face twists. “It’s just— about them. And my guilt. I can’t remember if I’ve had a normal dream since I’ve been up here and it’s making it hard to want to go to sleep. It's like I’m still in the demon realm; I’m either getting nightmares or getting no dreams at all. Gwi-Ma made sure of that before but he’s not even here now and it’s still happening.”
Zoey frowns, considering that. “I mean, if all you’ve been having are nightmares for the past four-hundred years, it might take your head a little while to go back to normal. And who knows what kind of effect literal mind manipulating powers have on someone who’s been under it for centuries?”
A wrecked laugh escapes Jinu. “So I’m probably irreparably damaged because of him?”
“No.” Zoey corrects firmly. “Just that it might take longer than a few weeks to shake. So maybeee… Be a little kinder to yourself?”
“…Kind.” He repeats flatly. “After all that, you still think I should be kinder to myself.”
“I don’t think you’re doing anything but hurting yourself for something that happened a really long time ago at this point.” Zoey tells him. “And I don’t think you’re the same person you were all those centuries ago. I don’t think you’re even the same person you were when we all first met! You’ve gotten better. I don’t think you can continue unless you let yourself accept what’s done is done and heal.” She smiles up at him. “Y’know?”
Jinu blinks, first slowly, then more rapidly to try and stop the sudden influx of tears. Zoey opens her arms to mime another hug. He manages to croak, “I’m going to cry on you if you do.”
Zoey laughs. “Oh, I don’t care about that! You kinda look like you need to cry anyways so— let it out!”
His face wavers and breaks. This time when she hugs him, she feels him return it, just as tightly as she did before. She pats his back as his whole body shudders, tears dripping onto her shoulder. Somewhere close by, Rumi shuffles closer, softly asking if she can give him a hug too. Jinu nods without looking up. Derpy moves so Rumi can slot herself in on his other side.
“I don’t think I’m at the hugging stage with you,” Mira speaks up, still leaning back in her spot on the couch. “But for the record, I don’t think you’re the worst person in the world and I do agree with Zoey’s statement. Especially the part where you cry more because this world does not need more emotional constipation.”
Jinu stifles a laugh, head lifting off of Zoey’s shoulder while one arm slips free so he can tug Rumi close. “I make no promises.” Jinu murmurs loud enough for all of them to hear. “But I’ll work on it.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Rumi nudges him. “Have you been doing what I told you to? Repeating affirmations that you don’t deserve to suffer forever for your actions?”
There’s a pause. Jinu’s eyes crack open. “…You were serious about that?”
Rumi sighs but doesn’t sound all that surprised. “I didn’t want to nag you before but maybe I should’ve.”
“I just don’t get it. What does repeating all of that to myself do? Is this a modern thing?”
“Affirmations can help change the way you think!” Zoey chimes in. “They do work, you might just have to find the right one.”
“…Huh.” Is all Jinu can seem to say. Zoey’s not sure if he believes it but he doesn’t not believe it either.
They all give Jinu some time to work through his feelings quietly. Zoey offers him his tea to drink the rest of, then Rumi tries offering him more of hers. He declines the offer. Mira scoots a little closer to join Rumi’s side since they’re all clustered together. Derpy has decided to stretch out by their feet while Sussie occasionally picks at and fixes Jinu’s hair before hopping away along the back of the couch.
Jinu scrubs his face with a small groan after he seems to have cried himself dry. “I don’t get how all of you do this all the time. I’m exhausted.”
“It’s a good exhaustion though, isn’t it?” Zoey asks. He doesn’t disagree. “That’s why. Gets it off your chest! Good for the soul!”
Rumi clears her throat a bit awkwardly. “Speaking of souls… If you don’t mind?”
Jinu blinks but inclines his head. She sucks in a breath. “You remember when you were a soul, right?” Another nod. “But you were never dreaming as a soul, were you?”
“I don’t think I was capable of sleep.” Jinu confirms. Rumi chews on her lip. “Why?”
“I had a couple dreams about you? Before this one? We were flying in one and you seemed pretty happy but in the other you were down on the street by our building. And you seemed really upset and you had your hands against the Honmoon—”
Jinu’s eyes get wider and wider as she speaks. “That was actually you?” He ends up blurting out at last, back going ramrod straight in order to stare at Rumi. She gives him a meek nod back. “Oh. That’s— it really wasn’t the first time it happened then.”
“I don’t know how it happened at all.” Rumi tugs at her hair, currently unbraided and cascading down her shoulders. “Entering your dreams was one thing but how did I see inside your head when you were a soul? And— Romance and the other demon I saw... It didn’t seem like they were in a dream? It felt like they were just… Minding their own business?”
Mira hums from where she’s settled on Rumi’s other side. “Maybe it’s got less to do with whether or not they’re asleep and more something that happens when you are.”
“But what’s happening in the first place?” Rumi asks, a little desperate.
Zoey runs all the data over in her mind, then turns to Jinu. “What was it like for you?” She asks. “When you saw her in your head, what were you thinking?”
“I… I thought she was just a part of my thoughts?” Jinu frowns. “She showed up unexpectedly but me thinking about Rumi didn’t feel out of the ordinary. I… Souls contain everything a demon is, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually— blueprints for everything. And being aware of that was weird. Sometimes I’d get lost in my head when I had nothing else to do. And one night I was frustrated about me being here while the other Saja Boys were down in the demon realm and how I had no idea what was going on. And I wanted to take my anger out on the Honmoon— not that I would now.” He clarifies hastily. “I was having a rough night. But then Rumi was there. And she tried to talk to me but I couldn’t talk back and it just made me feel even more helpless and…”
He trails off, gesturing weakly as if to say, you get the point. A quick glance at Rumi tells her everything he said was accurate to what she saw.
The gears turn in Zoey’s head, starting to pick up speed. “Hey, Rumi?” She asks. “You said you were having a bunch of demon-related dreams, right? No human ones?”
“No human ones.” Rumi confirms.
“And remember back when we were theorizing about what a half demon-half hunter could do? And I said maybe you could connect with demon souls somehow?” Zoey says slowly.
All three of them are stunned into silence by the very idea of it. Zoey sees that as of good of a chance as any to keep talking about her theory until it makes more sense so she does.
“Hunters are already supposed to be able to connect to human souls, which you can already do.” Zoey says. “But demon souls are a bit different, aren’t they? They have different capabilities, they regenerate, they’re usually stuck with Gwi-Ma in their heads because he usually owns their souls? But hunters— we’re not like that. We don’t own the souls of our fans, we just connect with them. So…” Zoey gestures towards Rumi. “Maybe that’s what you’re doing. Reaching out and connecting with demon souls. Seeing what they’re seeing as if you’re really there with them, but not necessarily knowing what they’re thinking. Unless you can read minds?”
“No.” Rumi says quickly, then drops her head into her hands. “Is that really what I’ve been doing? Just— completely unintentionally? How can I even reach demons who aren’t in the human realm?”
“New Honmoon? Maybe it’s not as much of a wall as the last.” Jinu guesses.
“New you, embracing your powers.” Mira points out.
“Probably a mix of both.” Zoey chimes in. “But it’s not a bad thing!”
“I don’t know how to control it— how to make it stop or when it’ll happen.” Rumi counters weakly.
“We can learn! Plus,” Zoey angles her head to one side, “You already used it to prove Romance is alive. Maaaaybe we can use it to check up on all the others?”
Jinu’s breath hitches at the idea. Rumi looks up at him. Jinu meets her gaze steadily.
“I won’t be mad or disappointed in you if you can’t.” He says slowly, like he's trying not to get too attached to the idea too quickly. “It’s new, not even I understand how it works. But—”
“I’ll try.” Rumi promises. Jinu’s shoulder relax at the very idea. “I don’t know how it happens or how to make it happen but… If I did it once, I can probably do it again.”
“Thank you.” Jinu tells her sincerely, then his eyes shift to the rest of them. “All of you. For… All of this. I uh,” he scrubs his face again, face flushed, “I feel… Good? Better about a lot of things than I have in a while. Hopeful. That’s— that’s a pretty big thing for a demon to feel, I hope you know.”
“If you ever need to talk again,” Rumi finds his hand and intertwines their fingers, “I’m always open.”
“Same here!” Zoey adds.
Jinu nods back, leaning back and letting his head tip up to stare at the ceiling. “I wasn’t sure how this would go.” He confesses. “But it went a lot better than expected. To the point where I’m half convinced I made it all up in my head but even that feels too far fetched.”
“You’re not that creative.” Mira smirks.
“Hey, I wrote at least half of both of the songs the Saja Boys produced.” He protests. “Give me some credit, I have some creativity.”
“Maybe when we get them back, you can show off and write some more songs.” Zoey suggests. His mouth twitches upwards.
“Isn’t it a bit early to say ‘When’? We don’t have any sort of actual plan.”
“We banished Gwi-Ma and created a brand new Honmoon.” Mira replies. “If anyone can figure out a way into the demon realm and snatch a few of them out from under Gwi-Ma’s nose, it’s probably us.”
“I think I’ve given you all too much of a confidence boost.” Jinu snorts.
“Or maybe we’ve given you just the right amount of hope.” Rumi has never looked happier. Maybe it’s because all her favorite people are getting along? Zoey’s heart flutters at the idea.
Maybe that’s what Jinu really wants too. All his favorite people in one place.
Things wind down. When all of them grow tired but the idea of getting up becomes unappealing, they decide to put something on the TV. Something lighthearted that they don’t have to pay attention to.
One by one, the others fall asleep. Rumi slumps against Jinu’s shoulder. Jinu rests his head on Rumi’s and closes his eyes. Mira lays her head in Rumi’s lap, facing the TV to watch until her eyes eventually slide shut.
Zoey looks over all of them with a soft smile, beginning to grow sleepier and sleepier herself until she’s using Jinu’s other shoulder as a pillow. She likes this— everyone safe and within reach. She’s only had a handful of nightmares about the Idol Awards but none of them were fun. This though? This helps, just a little.
It feels like things will get better, even if it gets hard sometimes. It feels easier to get better when you have people to lean on who believe the same thing. Like a loop. Healing and being healed and healing in return— like how hunters work. Everyone helping one another to create bigger and brighter things.
She has the sudden urge to write down some lyrics but she’s too sleepy to get up and grab a pen or her phone. Zoey just has to trust she’ll remember that feeling in the morning again.
Notes:
Weirdly enough, one of the HARDEST parts about writing this chapter was choosing a POV. I could've swapped between a few but I really wanted to just stick with one and it ended up being Zoey for a few reasons! A big one just being because I love and missed writing her POV.
I considered a lot of ways to tell Jinu's story but I think I like this one the best because I like the idea of even if someone HAS made a big mistake, sticking them in a literal hell where they're tormented with a mistake they already regret... Does not fix things. Like even a little. He already regrets it, now you're just making him think he can't get better. Now taking them OUT of that place and giving them room to heal and make mistakes without being punished harshly like they were before? That does fix things.
Listen... Did I need to add the detail in Jinu's backstory that gives him daddy issues? No. But the parallels between his dad ditching them and Jinu later leaving were too good not to torment him a little with.
Some of you did catch onto my plan for the Saja Boys Return and I'm very proud of y'all for that! And for those of you who didn't now you know. That's right, Jailbreak/Saja Heist coming >:)
Me: Damn, all of these characters are exhausted but at least a lot of the big emotions are now out of the way and they're not in trouble for the time being, right?
Chapter 12:
Me: Right? We're cool? No more big emotions? Or moments of mortal peril?
Chapter 12:
Me: ...Hey what did I title you again?ANYWAYS. I hope this chapter came out alright!! Not gonna lie, I was a liiiittle anxious posting but I gave myself a rest day and tackled it in time so here we are now! Comments and Kudos are always a delight to see and thank you so much for reading!! Until next time <3
Chapter 12: Executioner
Summary:
Huntrix Tower gets a visitor.
Notes:
Okay okay everybody CALM DOWN. Nobody is dying in this chapter. Don't worry about the title (you can worry a little bit but everything is fiiiiine. Kinda. Somewhat.) A few extra scenes wormed their way into this chapter, hence why it took a hot minute to make, plus I was nervous about a certain part BUT! We are here!
Also! I felt like the summary of the whole fic was due for a change so I gave it what I hope is an upgrade to properly describe the fic!
Warnings for this chapter!
Brief Near-Death Experiences, brief injury/blood, and talk of Rumi's canonical suicidal thoughts in the movie.
Just learned a new trick! Click on the arrow thing above to view the warnings for this chapter! I do recommend it for this chapter just to be sure because there is one thing mentioned in there that feels important BUT I can't make you do anything either.
Anyways. Hope y'all enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
There’s only so many bodies of water in the demon realm. A few lakes and ponds, all of which are crowded by very territorial water demons, but only one river. One, seemingly endless, dark river with no discernible depth. He’s always wondered how far down it goes. If it really does stretch all the way around their realm like they say.
Jinu lets out one, long, deflating breath. He’s getting really tired of these dreams.
There’s no sign of any water demons in the river before him— no signs of any life as far as he can see. Jinu is seated by the river, staring into the ripples, and can’t get it out of his head that somewhere in the depths of the river—
“They’re all down there.” A soft voice murmurs on his left. Jinu wishes he could say he was surprised.
“Hey, Myst.” Jinu whispers back, unable to help himself. He gets a hum back in acknowledgment.
He can’t see his eyes but he has a distinct feeling they’re trained on the water. Mystery sits on his left side, in his hanbok but missing the gat, and doesn’t look away from it for a second. “Are you sure you want to take that plunge, Jinu? You’re not a very good swimmer. You could drown too. It’s safer on land.”
Jinu sighs through his nose. “I know.” His throat bobs. “You know I miss you, right?”
Mystery doesn’t reply to that. Jinu’s fingers twitch— he wants to reach out but he doesn’t know what would be more painful: being unable to touch him, even here, or waking up from it after.
Jinu’s ears prickle when he hears the sound of feet against hard, cracked dirt. He angles his head back and blinks at the figure there, long hair trailing behind her.
Rumi, in the same pajamas as earlier, smiles weakly. “Hey. I’m so sorry, I really didn’t mean to end up here again.”
Jinu’s breath stutters but he breathes out slowly. “It’s okay.” He says, and finds he means that this time. He gestures her over. “Might as well sit with me while you’re here.”
Rumi joins him by his side, crouching down by the river. Instinctly, Jinu wants to warn her to not get too close before he remembers the lack of water demons. The quietness of the world around him. His mouth shuts, words fizzling out.
Rumi reaches out and dips the tips of her fingers into the water. “Is it really like this?” Her eyes fixate on the river’s strange nature, the way it always seems to be flowing somewhere but where, he doesn’t know.
Jinu nods. “I don’t know what makes it black. Only the water demons can see much when they swim in it, not that anyone but them does much swimming in the demon realm.”
“No beach days?” Rumi jokes, though her eyes are a little sad.
“Not yet.” Jinu replies. He doesn’t know why he says it. He doesn’t know how hopeful he even is about this plan. But… In theory, it’d be nice. He’s not sure how many of them even remember how to swim but it would be kinda fun to try it again.
He tenses when a head lays on his shoulder. Jinu’s eyes dart over. Through his curtain of hair, Jinu can very faintly see one of Mystery’s slitted pupils looking up at him.
“You have a lot to lose now.” He murmurs. “Is this really worth it?”
Jinu exhales sharply. “Yes. I’m not changing my mind.”
Mystery hums again. Jinu can’t tell what he’s thinking but that’s pretty typical, even of the real Mystery.
When he looks up again, Rumi looks even more pained. “Sorry.” She whispers again. “If I knew how to leave, I would.”
Jinu shakes his head, exhaling. “Rumi, it’s really fine. It’s actually not too bad this time around because of you.” He shrugs. “A little easier not to get too lost in my own head.”
She still groans a little. “It’s just frustrating. Is this going to happen every time I fall asleep next to you? Because your soul is close or something? Or because it’s— you?”
“Me?” Jinu cracks a teasing grin. He doesn’t have to fake it. “Because I’m your favorite demon?”
“Shutup.” Rumi fights a smile. “I don’t even know many other demons so it’s hardly a contest.” Her eyes shift slightly, to the head leaning on his shoulder. “Maybe that’ll change.”
Jinu can’t find the words to tell her how much he wants that. How much he wants to introduce Rumi to all of the other people he cares about. So he just nods, hoping she’ll understand. She usually does.
He startles slightly when her whole form flickers. Rumi recoils, seeming to have noticed it too. “Uh oh.”
“What?” A little panic creeps up on him. “What’s going on? Is that bad?”
“No, no,” Rumi is quick to reassure him. “It’s… I’m waking up? Or something is waking me up?” She groans a little. “The last few times have been Derpy so maybe it’s him again.”
Jinu blinks but doesn’t get to question much further. Instead Rumi asks, “Are you gonna be okay without me?”
“Oh. Yeah. Don’t worry about me.” Her face says she’s going to anyways so Jinu tells her, “Let me rest. I probably need to.”
Rumi chews on her lip but nods back. In the blink of an eye, she’s gone and Jinu is alone again. Semi-alone at least. He looks to Mystery, then to the water below. Dark, uncertain, endless.
“I’m not running away this time.” He says, to Mystery, to himself. “I’m tired of running. I want to fight to make things better.”
“You could die.” Mystery says. “Or worse. And it would all be for nothing.”
“That’s what I said last time.” Jinu’s eyes shut. “I knew the deal I made was bad after I ended up at the palace alone but I told myself turning back now would only make it all pointless in the first place. That it was better to just keep going. And look where that landed me.”
Mystery is quiet for a long time. He remains on Jinu’s shoulder, a constant pressure there, but Jinu feels something shift about him. He glances over, noting the elongated claws on his hands and the jutted tusks that curl over his lips. The dark patterns that flare slightly up his neck when Jinu looks at him, not for the first time.
“You better learn to swim first, Jinu.” Mystery tells him. “Or we’re all going to drown.”
—
His heart aches when Jinu wakes up on the couch some time later, devoid of others surrounding him but a blanket draped over him, almost like an apology. He breathes through it, feeling a warm presence headbutt him insistently. He automatically pets it, getting a rumbling purr in response.
Two voices are talking quietly somewhere behind him. Jinu twists his body around to see, head propping up on the cushion behind him. Mira and Zoey are in the kitchen— Zoey seems to be in the middle of cooking and talking animatedly while Mira lurks nearby, glasses perched on her nose as she smiles and nods along, occasionally adding something.
Mira’s eyes flicker over when she notes movement, one eyebrow raising when she meets his gaze. “You’re finally up.” She calls over, alerting Zoey at the same time, which he suspects was the point. Zoey temporarily forgets what she was doing and spins around, raising a hand holding some sort of cooking utensil in greeting.
“Hey! Good morning! Do you like pancakes? I really hope so because I made way too much batter to switch now.”
Jinu clears the sleepiness from his throat before admitting, “I can’t say I’ve ever tried them.”
Zoey makes a face like he’s committed a cardinal sin. “We’re going to make a list of every food you’ve missed out on in the last four-hundred years. Humanity has come a long way since the— what, 1600s?”
For once, one of them has gotten it right so Jinu can’t help but smile a little, nodding as he does. “I have no doubt about that. The spices alone have been something to get used to.”
A smirk finds its way to Mira’s face as she leans back against the cabinets. “You were the first one out in that spice challenge, I remember. Too old for that sort of thing, hm?”
Jinu ignores the blatant jab at his age to point out, “You forget, the guy who actually won has a century on me. Age has nothing to do with it.”
“So you’re just weak then.” Is her quick reply. Jinu might’ve walked into that one.
Zoey takes something off the pan and puts it on a plate, then pours something liquid-y back into the pan, making it simmer. There’s definitely a smell of something in the air. Almost reminds him of bread but… Sweeter?
Jinu does a quick once over of the room. Rumi and Sussie are nowhere to be found. He’s not surprised by the latter. “Where’s Rumi?”
“Either still working out or showering off from it.” Mira replies. Jinu nods slightly, eyes darting between the pair of them.
He has to ask, even if he’s pretty sure what the answer is now. Jinu doesn’t want there to be room for doubt— historically, Jinu deals with doubt poorly. Abby keeps calling him and Baby paranoid in their old age. “So. You’re all still going with it. With me.”
Mira sighs like she’s already exasperated with him. “You’re terrible at wording this in a way that doesn’t come across as insulting, you know that?”
Jinu immediately sputters— he barely said anything, how did he fuck it up that quickly? “I wasn't trying to—!”
“We’re not ‘Going with it’ just because of Rumi.” Mira continues before he can finish, unblinking. “We can think for ourselves. We may work as a unit but we’re still our own people.”
Jinu opens and closes his mouth. He switches gears seeing as how they seem very firm about that aspect. It’s still weird to him, the thought of not just any non-demon accepting him after knowing what he’s done but hunters no less, but he’s… Rolling with it. It’s surprisingly not the worst thing in the world, them knowing everything they do. It’s weirdly freeing actually. Like Jinu doesn’t have to hold back as much as before.
“And you still want to go through with the highly dangerous plan to break into the demon realm and steal a few demons under Gwi-Ma’s nose.” He says instead.
“Yep!” Zoey calls over, flipping something on the pan. “I’ve actually been thinking of some ideas! Like— we’ll probably need to blend in a bit? Look like demons? So we should probably invest in some demon-y outfits! And if staying out of Gwi-Ma’s sight is an issue, we just need to keep his eyes elsewhere!”
Jinu blinks, grappling with all the new information as fast as he can when he’s only been awake for a few minutes. “Cause a distraction?” He translates. Zoey nods enthusiastically. “That’s… A pretty good idea actually.”
“I got it from Lord Of The Rings! Sauron’s eye is always watching over Mordor so they gave him something to keep his eye on while Frodo and Sam destroyed the ring!”
That part makes… Less sense to Jinu. “I don’t know what any of that means.”
“It’s only one of the best pieces of cinema ever!” Zoey points at him firmly with the cooking utensil. “Put it on the list! This isn’t just about food anymore, it’s about culture. Experiences!”
Jinu can’t tell if he’s meant to be making an actual physical list, much less putting together a mental one in his head. Maybe he’ll start writing stuff down, just in case she’s serious. Not to mention, maybe it would be nice to have a checklist for if this crazy plan is actually somehow pulled off. Then he wouldn’t have to experience all the new stuff alone.
It’s weird how comfortable he feels right now. Not because of the couch, though that helps, but because everyone here knows him. And he’s still on relatively good terms with them. And for once, the comfort isn’t short lived or a reprieve from all the bad or going to be ripped away at any moment, it’s just… Constant.
All of it paired with the lack of voices in his head is giving him a state of peace he hasn’t had in… Four-hundred years. Since he made his deal with Gwi-Ma.
Four-hundred years in a long time, Zoey had said. He knows that. The passage of time haunted him as it did to most. But it was strange to hear about in this context. Like four-hundred years was too long to keep suffering.
“Jinu.” Mira says, somewhat annoyed like it’s not the first time she’s tried to catch his attention. He hums in acknowledgment. “You’ve seen a lot of what other demons can do in your time, haven’t you?”
“I made it my business to know.” The demon realm is a dangerous place. Jinu wanted to know what he was up against and how to plan for it.
“And what Rumi’s doing,” Mira continues a little more carefully, “Have you ever seen anything like it?”
Jinu’s automatic response is no, never, but then a stray thought snags in his head before he can. It makes him hesitate, because suddenly that’s not totally true. He still wants to say no but it’s too late now, Mira saw him react. Her eyes narrow slightly. Jinu’s eyes dart towards the hallway to make sure they’re really alone.
Then he says, “You probably shouldn’t repeat what I’m going to say to Rumi.”
Mira and Zoey both give him looks, alarmed, bewildered, and clearly wanting to protest his request. But Jinu knows they’ll agree when he actually says it so he beats them to it, “There’s just one I can think of. Interacting with demon souls like that— being able to see out of their eyes and into their dreams… If I heard all of that out of context, I’d assume you were talking about Gwi-Ma.”
Both Mira and Zoey stop dead at the realization. Both look slightly paler than before, jaws slack. At the very least, they’re definitely agreeing with him now.
“…You don’t think..?” Zoey looks at him with wide-wide eyes. “That Rumi could be… You know?”
It takes Jinu a minute to catch up. He hastily starts making ‘No’ motions with his arms the second he can. “No, no, absolutely not.” The thought makes him cringe. “I don’t think Gwi-Ma can uh… Reproduce like that.”
“Gross.” Mira makes a face.
“Believe me, I fully agree with you.” Jinu shudders, shaking his head. “No, Rumi’s powers don’t feel anything like his. They’re not… Destructive in the same way. Not that particular power anyways. I know what it’s like to have him in your head. Rumi isn’t like that. It didn’t feel bad actually. The only reason I reacted before was what she saw, not the feeling of what it was like with her in my head.”
They relax a little at that, clearly having one less worry in their heads. “So we don’t have to worry about any mini Gwi-Ma’s running around then?” Zoey clarifies. Jinu nods, mouth twitching upwards.
“Thankfully not. That would require a lot of things Gwi-Ma isn’t capable of, and at the very top of it all is sharing his power with anyone.” Jinu doesn’t know which story about Gwi-Ma’s potential origins are true, if any of them even get close, but he knows Gwi-Ma well enough. Gwi-Ma doesn’t share power, he takes it. “I don’t know how Gwi-Ma does it exactly other than he has a deep rooted connection to the demon realm that no one else does. When he creates demons, he recreates a similar connection to the demon realm with them, giving them power, but never enough to be anywhere near the same level as him.”
Jinu pauses, gears turning in his head. “But Rumi is part demon and not his creation. He has no control over her— he couldn’t limit her power when she was born. It’s possible that’s part of the reason she’s able to do all these things.”
And if Jinu has figured it out then Gwi-Ma definitely has. Maybe he knew before— back when he gave Jinu the permission to find her shame and continued to let him meet up with her. Maybe Gwi-Ma was playing his own game, finding out exactly what Rumi was capable of. How much of a threat she was to him.
Jinu doesn’t know if Gwi-Ma can feel fear like everyone else. He hopes he can however. He hopes Gwi-Ma is very, very afraid of his throne being toppled by a demon-hunter hybrid who is mixing both powers into something new and entirely unknown.
His eyes flicker back to Mira and Zoey, both being deep in thought. “Your connection to her probably has benefits for all of you.” Jinu speaks up.
“How do you mean?” Mira asks, looking over.
“Your connection as hunters makes you stronger not just because of your fans but because of each other, right? So you can strengthen her, and she can strengthen you.”
“Loops.” Zoey murmurs, almost too quiet for him to hear. She startles suddenly. “The pancake!”
Zoey hastily slides the aforementioned pancake off the pan, frowning deeply at whatever the result is. Mira glances over before saying, “It’s fine, I like mine a little burnt anyways.”
“It’s my mistake, I can eat it.” Zoey says in a defeated tone.
“Don’t be stupid.” Mira’s scolding is a bit playful. “You’ll just drown it in syrup. I’ll actually enjoy it for what it is.”
Zoey gives in after a little more back and forth. As she prepares to cook another pancake, she asks, “You really don’t think we should tell Rumi?”
“We should. Just maybe not right now.” Jinu replies. “She already fears what she’s capable of, it’ll do more harm than good at the moment.”
“We can find a way to phrase it gently later.” Mira agrees, albeit somewhat reluctantly. “The last thing we need or want is for Rumi to feel like a monster again.”
Jinu nods, exhaling slowly. He already made her feel like one once. He never wants to repeat that again.
—
Rumi joins them again just when they’re settling on the couch to eat, grabbing a plate of her own and deliberately sitting close enough to him that their shoulders brush. Jinu feels the tips of his ears flush but remains acting completely normal about it.
“You were okay when I left, right?” Rumi asks, quiet enough for only him to hear. Jinu glances over at her.
“I know I had a rough night but I’m fine now, seriously. Maybe my methods of dealing with my issues aren’t always the best but I lasted this long, haven’t I?”
“You have.” Rumi relents, cutting up one of the pancakes with the side of her fork. That’s a good idea actually, he can’t believe he didn’t think of that. “I just don’t want you to feel alone in this.”
“I don’t.” He tells her. “Not anymore. You’ve all made that painstakingly clear.”
Rumi cracks a smile and bumps their shoulders. “You’re kinda stuck with us now, you know. I already wasn’t gonna let you go but you haven’t seen devotion until you gain Zoey and Mira’s favor.”
“I have their favor now, do I?” Jinu can’t help but laugh. It makes them sound like loyal guards. Maybe not entirely inaccurate either.
“‘fraid so!” Zoey calls over from where she sits, closer than he remembers her being. Jinu startles a little— you’re so jumpy, man, he hears Abby’s voice distantly say— and ignores Rumi’s snicker. He probably should’ve lowered his voice if he wanted to keep things private so that’s his own fault.
“Yep.” Mira drawls, amused. “Too late to back out now. Shouldn’t have told us your tragic backstory if you didn’t want to be assimilated into the group.”
Jinu finds himself relaxing again. They’re a very strange group, no doubt about that, but Jinu can hardly judge here without being a total hypocrite. He has a strange group of his own.
He cuts up a piece of the pancake like Rumi did and stuffs it in his mouth. He has to agree with Zoey about one thing, he definitely missed out on all the new food. But he has time to catch up.
—
They don’t need to go out to pick up food, having plenty of money and resources to have it delivered, but sometimes it’s good to get some fresh air and sunlight. So Rumi doesn’t really blink twice when Mira asks her specifically to join her in carrying their dinner home despite knowing full well Mira could handle it if she really wanted to.
“Zoey’s not joining us?” She notes as they walk down the street, her hoodie pulled tight to cover her signature purple hair. While Mira can get away with it, Rumi’s is too long to be anything but noticeable. Only one person in Seoul has a purple braid that long and once they notice, her face gives it away that she’s the real deal, not a fan with a wig.
“She’s been working on a song all afternoon.” Mira replies, weaving through the crowd with ease. “I don’t think she was paying attention when I came in but I’m pretty sure she heard me when I said we were going out.”
“Only pretty sure?” Rumi smirks knowingly. Mira rolls her eyes with no real irritation.
“When she’s that in the zone, it’s never certain. But she can multitask.” Mira pauses before adding, “Sometimes anyway.”
Rumi quietly laughs in response.
Apparently there’s a lot of street food Jinu has never tried so they’re off to pick up a variety of it. Some of the places allowed them to call ahead of time but one or two requires them to wait in line. They head to those first as to cut down on the possibility of anything being cold when they get back.
“So.” Mira says as they wait behind a couple taking a while to order in front of them. Thankfully this line has been short. “How’s the demon situationship going?”
Rumi groans slightly. “Do you have to call it that?”
Mira grins mercilessly. “Yes. Answer the question already.”
“I— I don’t know. I’ve barely kissed anybody and I’ve never actually dated. I don’t even know where to begin with Jinu.”
“But you like him.” Mira says, not a question. Rumi nods anyway. “And he’s definitely in love with you. So just talk to him about it already.”
“What do I even say?” Rumi looks over at Mira, feeling a little helpless. “‘Hey, Jinu! I know it got kinda complicated for a while there and you betrayed me but then almost died for me and I cradled your soul in my hands but you have a body now and I’ve kinda wanted to kiss you since we sang a duet together—’”
“You sang a duet together?” Mira raises an eyebrow.
Rumi’s face burns but she continues with her rant, “‘And now that you’re feeling better and I’m feeling better, maybe we can figure out what we both want and I can like, kiss you stupid.’” Rumi pauses before adding in a mumble, “I sound insane.”
“You are insane.” Mira snorts. “But so is he. So it cancels out. Or maybe gets worse— it’s not my business.”
Rumi huffs but can’t really dispute it. “And you’re… Okay with it, right? Me and him?”
Mira blinks then, as if she’s been totally blindsided. “Did that… Matter to you that much?”
“I’m well aware that I’m a grown woman who can make my own choices. But…” Rumi shrugs weakly. “Yours and Zoey’s opinions still matter to me. And it kinda affects you? Who I choose to date?”
Mira is silent for a long moment. Then she tells Rumi, “The first thing he asked me earlier when I tracked him down after he teleported halfway across the city was if you were okay. So I think as far as dating demons with complicated pasts go, you chose a pretty good one.”
Rumi’s heart bursts with warmth for two different reasons. She pulls Mira in for a side hug, unable to articulate what she wants to say in words. Mira leans into it and hugs back, looking at her like she knows what Rumi is trying to say.
They’re finally able to step up to the cart a few moments later, ready to order. Rumi is halfway between mentioning what they want when she notices the cashier isn’t typing it into the register. And how Mira is narrowing her eyes at them. And how they look petrified despite being a pretty big person.
The cashier seems to shake themselves and smiles nervously. “Sorry— could you repeat that one more time?”
“You’re a demon.” Mira says flatly. It all clicks in Rumi’s head and a flash of faded patterns flickers up their neck. The cashier laughs, not-so-subtly flailing to grab something underneath the table.
“What? No! Demon? Why would you— I’m very human, ask anyone.” Their flailing to grab what’s probably their weapon, or best weapon equivalent, gets more frantic with no visible success.
Mira rolls her eyes, leaning over on the window intently. “Look,” she drops her voice a bit lower, but more to keep it between them than to be threatening, “If you can swear not to attack people for anything other than self defense and not eat souls, you’re free to live. So as long as you stick to those rules, we won’t have a problem.”
The cashier noticeably pauses, visibly caught off guard. Mira doesn’t waver for a second— Rumi is actually pretty impressed. The cashier glances down, then back up again.
“Uh.” They say. “What about fighting rings? I’m not gonna get in trouble for entering those, right?”
Mira raises an eyebrow. “Isn’t that cheating?”
“Not if my opponent is also a demon? The humans might have no idea but they really get a kick out of it.” They pause. “Not that I know anything about it. Just… Rumors.”
Mira huffs but relaxes. “Sure. Try not to kill each other, we don’t know if you’ll go back to the demon realm or not if you do.”
“Believe me, I’m in no rush to find out.” Their shoulders sag, still looking pretty bewildered by the turn of events. Then they clear their throat to ask, “So uh… What was your order again?”
Rumi doesn’t realize she’s staring at Mira until they’re waiting for their food and Mira finally looks over, eyebrow raised. She finds her voice pretty quickly. “You— you handled that really well. I know you mentioned you were doing that but you defused that quickly.”
“I had some practice.” Mira shrugs, hands in her jean pocket. “I’m trying to give them a chance, if they really do want to have an actual life outside of Gwi-Ma and soul stealing.” She hesitates slightly before adding quietly, “I don’t want to turn my weapon against someone who might not actually deserve it ever again.”
The statement makes Rumi’s heart swoop. “Mira… You know I forgave you for that pretty much immediately, right?”
“I know.” Mira lets out a breath. “I needed to do some things to fully forgive myself for it though. So,” she gestures weakly at the demon cashier now taking another person’s order, occasionally glancing over at them, “New outlook on demons. Not actually emotionless minions of Gwi-Ma. Trying to be fair. Compassionate.” Mira shrugs again. “I don’t want you to feel like I don’t love your demon side. Because I do. It’s a part of you, how could I not?”
Rumi blinks sudden misty tears out of her eyes and pulls Mira in for a full hug. Mira wordlessly hugs back.
“I love you guys a lot.” Rumi sniffs but refuses to cry on the street with a bunch of people around who could recognize her at any point.
“We know.” Mira pats her back. “We love you too.”
—
Sussie flies into the living room where Jinu is brainstorming potential ways to distract Gwi-Ma if they can actually get into the demon realm in the first place. He drops a note into Jinu’s lap. Mira’s handwriting is obvious— sharp and bold but surprisingly clean.
‘Be back in ten with the food. Get used to technology already so we can all text like normal people. If Zoey isn’t out of her room in five, go get her.
-Mira’
Jinu huffs a laugh and puts the note and his notebook of ideas on the coffee table in order to stretch. Sussie is giving him a flat look when he opens his eyes.
“Delivering one note won’t kill you.” Jinu teases. Sussie makes an annoyed chirp.
Jinu gets up and circles around to the kitchen, figuring he should probably put out plates and bowls. A couple minutes later, he hears the elevator ding and figures they just got back a little earlier than expected. He puts down the bowls and rounds the corner to greet them.
Jinu stops dead in his tracks at the single figure walking past the doors. She stops too when she sees him and Jinu hears every single alarm he has go off in his head.
Despite never meeting in person, Jinu knows exactly who this is. He prepared for many contingency plans should anything go wrong with his ‘Demon boy band’ plan before and this one, while unlikely, was on the list. One of the worst possible outcomes for the Saja Boys to potentially deal with. Because while the current trio of hunters were dangerous enough as is, even a single former hunter was just as bad. She may not have been able to do much for the Honmoon anymore but an experienced hunter can still kill demons like no others.
Celine of the Sunlight Sisters and as far as he knows, Rumi’s legal guardian, has locked onto him. Jinu’s mind goes haywire trying to figure out his safest course of action, if he can get away with pretending to be human since he is wearing a glamour right now, but all hope of that is dashed when her eyes narrow.
The Honmoon ripples under her feet, still responding to an old bond. Jinu immediately attempts a teleport but he feels the way the Honmoon constricts in a way that keeps him completely physical. Little tuffs of red smoke rises from his skin in a failed teleport and further damns his failed act to be human.
In a last ditch effort to stop exactly what he fears is about to happen, Jinu raises his hands in surrender. “I know how this looks but I promise, I mean no—!”
A hum fills the air as dual swords form within Celine’s grasp, one in each hand. Jinu thanks whatever luck is on his side that his best aspect in a fight has always been dodging as he instinctively ducks out of the way from a sword that would’ve cleaved his head from his shoulders.
With her remaining sword in hand, Celine lunges forward. Jinu scrambles out of the way as it plunges down where he was just a moment before.
Oh shit, Jinu thinks, heart pounding in his chest. Oh shit.
Celine recovers quickly— too quickly for Jinu’s comfort. He’s forced onto the defensive as she strikes hard and fast again and again, dodging every which way as he stumbles back. Her sword continues to just barely miss him by mere centimeters, too close for comfort, and Jinu’s hair stands on its end as he fumbles to use the last weapon in his arsenal for ending this peacefully: his words.
“Wait— hold on—!” Jinu yelps as she throws her sword again and while he dodges that hit, he takes a direct kick to his stomach, sending him right into the back of the couch. He hears a dangerous hum and lurches left just before the sword returns to Celine’s hand and cuts right through him in the process. He fails to recover fast enough to get up but as Celine attempts to bring her sword down on him, Jinu’s claws extend and he catches it.
His arms shake with effort as Celine pins him there, eyes cold and furious. Jinu speaks through his rising panic at just how close the sword is getting to his neck. “Wait— I’m not with Gwi-Ma— I’m not your enemy!”
“You are a threat to this world no matter whose leash you’re on.” Is Celine’s low reply. One hand extends out and Jinu hears the hum in the air as the other sword is being called back to her hand. The dawning realization of him losing the fight, and what that means for him, is heavy and dread inducing.
Right as her second dual sword returns but before she can bring it down on him, something else shoots out and grazes her hand. Celine startles just enough to drop it. Below him, the Honmoon ripples and responds to someone else, and Jinu feels its constricting presence loosen.
He teleports the second he is able, first across the room, then behind his savior when he spots her. He only feels slightly ridiculous hiding behind someone a lot shorter than him when she looks as furious as she does.
“Stop!” Zoey shouts, a blade in each hand and trembling slightly, but with what, Jinu has no idea. Her eyes are fixated on Celine. “What— what are you doing?”
Celine rises, the back of one hand bleeding slightly but a sword still in the other. Her face wavers now— genuine shock and confusion while looking at Zoey but burning hatred when her eyes flicker to where he is behind her. Zoey has her headset around her neck like she took it off in a hurry and is wearing some of her comfy clothes, though the rigid line in her shoulders is anything but relaxed.
“Stand down.” Celine says like it’s a command. “He’s a demon.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Zoey looks offended by the idea.
Celine’s eyes flicker. “I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. Why are you protecting him?”
“Why are you here?” Zoey counters, a white-knuckled grip on her blades. “What gives you the right to just— barge in here after all this time? And the first thing you do is try to kill Jinu?”
More confusion mixes with the hard lines in Celine’s face. “He’s a demon in your safe haven.”
“He was invited!” Zoey sucks in a deep breath like she’s trying to keep herself from screaming, then looks over her shoulder at him. “Go.” She tells him. “I don’t trust her around you right now.”
Jinu hesitates. He should go— he does not want to be around a senior hunter who clearly wants him dead right now— but he can’t help but ask, “You sure you want to be alone with her right now?”
“I can take care of myself.” Zoey replies firmly. And right now? Jinu has never believed her more. “Go. We’ll find you when it’s safe.”
Jinu doesn’t try to argue further. He thinks of a rooftop a safe distance away from here and in a puff of smoke, he’s there, finally able to catch his breath.
—
Zoey knows she’s shaking. She doesn’t know what exactly is making her shake but she knows it’s happening.
Too many emotions are trapped in her chest, buzzing there like a hive of angry bees. One part of her sees the small cut her disarming attack made and screams in distress that she attacked her mentor but another part of her is too angry. Too overwhelmed by everything else about the situation. She’s certain Celine was about to kill Jinu if she hadn’t stepped in, she shouldn’t be regretting it in any capacity.
Zoey doesn’t particularly like being angry at people she cares about. Something in her always wants to cower, to scream that she’s going to drive them away. Sometimes however, she finds herself too upset to care in the moment. So even if she remembers the good moments— the way she once looked up to Celine and melted every time her work was complimented— right now, those thoughts are a million miles away.
Right now, Zoey is angry and frustrated and confused and hurt and what feels like thousands of other things, causing every memory to cease to matter. The blades disappear in her hands, no longer needed to potentially defend Jinu, but her tongue feels just as sharp.
“A demon, Zoey?” Celine looks at her like she cannot fathom the idea. “Have all of you forgotten everything I taught you?”
Zoey’s nails dig into the palm of her hand. She knows she’ll have crescent-shaped marks later but she doesn’t care at the moment. “I haven’t forgotten.” Her voice comes out steadier than she feels. “You were just wrong.”
Celine’s eyebrows furrow, mouth pressing into a thin line. Her swords both disappear, dissolving back into the Honmoon. It looks as though she means to say something but Zoey beats her to it.
“Why are you here?”
The question takes Celine off guard. “Am I no longer welcome? A demon is allowed here but I’m not?”
“I didn’t say that.” Zoey’s insides boil. “Do you realize how long it’s been? Almost a month since the Idol Awards. Almost a month since we saved the world and created a new Honmoon and everything changed— but you… We haven’t heard from you. At all. Not a single call or text or— anything. And now you just show up without any warning?”
“I needed time.” Celine says at last, finally starting to approach, albeit slowly. She’s always been taller than Zoey but right now, Zoey doesn’t feel it. “I needed to process what had happened— needed to search for any information on what this new Honmoon could be.”
“One text.” Zoey’s throat bobs. “Just one. It would’ve made all the difference. Even just calling ahead of time so we could be prepared—!”
“So I wouldn’t see you spending time around a demon?” Celine narrows her eyes slightly.
The remainder of Zoey’s careful tone and attitude go out the window as something inside of her explodes. “We’ve been spending time around a demon! This entire time! And it was fine but we didn’t know because you didn’t trust us!”
“Rumi is not—!”
“And you know how we finally found out?” Zoey can’t lower her voice; she doesn’t think she’s capable. Everything her mother tried to teach her about respecting her elders when she was younger goes out the window. “In the worst way possible! Demons exposed her! Live, on stage! And Mira and I— we didn’t know what to think! What was real and what wasn’t— if what Rumi said was true or not at the time— and it nearly killed us!”
“It was an accident, you shouldn’t have found—!” Celine tries to say but Zoey can’t stop. It’s pouring out of her and everything else just seems to be drowned out in comparison.
“I’m not being dramatic about that either! I’m being literal! It almost killed us because we broke apart! Because we weren’t a team anymore! Gwi-Ma got into our heads! And even when we got back together— even when Rumi came back and broke us out of his trance— she still almost died!” The latter part comes out as more of a shriek. Zoey can feel the tears in her eyes begin to fall.
Celine looks at her, stricken. Zoey still can’t stop for longer than a few moments to breathe.
“We almost lost. And we almost watched her die, right in front of us. And it feels like the only reason why we didn’t is because of that demon you almost killed! Because if he hadn’t stepped in, she would’ve been…” Zoey’s breath hitches; she doesn’t finish the thought. “And because we didn’t know, we broke apart. Do you get that? Rumi could’ve died. She could’ve died and I wouldn’t have been strong enough to save her!”
Her words ring through the room, deafening. Zoey’s mouth feels dry, a direct contrast to how wet her face has become. Celine is motionless in front of her. Nothing about any of it feels good.
The sound of something dropping behind her makes her turn around. Rumi and Mira stand in front of the elevator, Mira still holding onto her bags while Rumi has dropped hers. Both are in different states of shock. Zoey doesn’t know how long they’ve been standing there. How much they heard.
She blinks tears out of her eyes and swallows thickly. Mira’s eyes search her, then flicker over to Celine.
“What’s going on?” There’s a hard edge in her voice but Zoey knows it’s not for her.
“I came to talk.” Celine speaks up at last. Her whole body is tense and her eyes shift like she doesn’t know where to look. “It’s long overdue.”
“Yeah, no shit. Why you thought showing up out of the blue was the best way to get back into contact is beyond me.” Mira strides forward to stand by Zoey’s side. Rumi hasn’t moved an inch, like she’s afraid moving will bring attention to herself.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve surprised you all with a visit.” Celine argues, which is true.
“This isn’t like every other time.” Mira argues back, eyes narrowing. “You lied to us. For years. And it’s been weeks since anyone heard from you.”
“I was trying to protect you! All of you! It was easier for everyone if we just—!”
“Easier?” Zoey cuts in before she can think twice about it. “Easier for who? Because it didn’t make finding out any easier on Mira and I, and it definitely didn’t make anything easier on Rumi.”
At the mention of her name, Celine’s gaze flickers away and locks onto where Rumi still stands frozen. There’s hesitation but Celine still says, “Rumi, I— we should talk.”
Rumi’s whole body goes rigid. “I… I don’t know.” Her eyes are wild and unsure. “I didn’t know I would be doing this today.”
Celine takes a step forward but Mira immediately shifts to block her path, and her direct line of sight to Rumi. “Give her some space.” Mira says, like she’s not giving Celine the option to do otherwise.
Celine’s face twists with frustration. “I came to talk to Rumi.”
“Tough luck, we’re talking now.” Mira doesn’t budge. “I’m not done. Do you realize what you’ve done? Lying to us all that time?”
“Of course I realize what happened because of it— the Honmoon broke apart and the world—!”
“I’m not talking about the world!” Mira argues back, voice raising. “If it hadn’t destroyed the original Honmoon, would you have even cared?”
Celine’s face twists, finally tearing her eyes away from trying to get a good look at Rumi to meet Mira’s, frustration evident. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I never said those things.”
“Why does it feel like it then?” Mira’s hackles rise and this time, Zoey doesn’t try to calm her down. She’s right there with her, feeling that fire igniting inside, feelings that we’re never put to rest coming back in full force. “Why does it feel like the only reason you regret lying is because you got caught?”
“That’s enough.” Celine snaps at last, with the tone she would take during training sometimes, sharp and commanding. The voice of a mentor, though right now, not nearly as effective as it used to be. “You’re right about one thing, I waited too long. I’m here to talk to Rumi, not either of you or that demon.”
That’s the final nail for Rumi to snap out of it, blood draining out of her face. “Where’s Jinu?”
“He’s fine.” Zoey says quickly. “Celine attacked him but I got him out of here before anything happened.”
“You— you attacked him?” Rumi’s shoulders hike up, breath hitching. “Just because he’s a demon?”
For a split second, Celine looks at Rumi as if she is seeing someone else. Then she carefully says, “A demon shouldn’t be in a safe haven of hunters.”
Hurt flashes in Rumi’s eyes. “I shouldn’t be here either then?”
“What? No,” Celine’s eyebrows furrow, “Rumi, I’ve always told you, you’re not—!”
“I can’t do this.” Rumi blurts out, interrupting her. She’s backing up, hands coming up to her shoulders, like she’s trying to hide. Hide her patterns, Zoey realizes as her heart squeezes. “I— I can’t do this right now—”
“Then don’t.” Mira levels her gaze. “Go, Rumi. You don’t have to do this right now if you don’t want to.”
“Rumi, wait—!” Celine tries, but Rumi has been given all the permission she needs. She’s gone in a puff of smoke. Celine’s shoulders sag, mouth parted in shock. It almost looks like she thinks Rumi is gone-gone and never coming back.
“Why did she— how did she—!” Celine stares at the place Rumi stood not a few minutes prior until Mira steps to block her view again, arms crossed.
“You can talk to Rumi later. The three of us are talking now.”
Zoey steps over to stand by Mira’s side, head held high. A united front, an impenetrable wall. And Celine finally looks at them with the realization that she’s not going to be able to talk to Rumi if she doesn’t talk with them first. That they won’t let her.
—
It takes Rumi a few minutes to realize she’s ended up in an alleyway about two streets away from her favorite boba place. If she didn’t feel so sick, she might be tempted by it.
The sounds of the city are strangely calming, as loud as it is. Cars, people, distant music and advertisements— Seoul has been her home for years now. Sometimes it’s nice to try to breathe in and feel as though she’s in sync with it. It certainly helps now, giving her time to calm down and put her head on straight.
Rumi didn’t know she’d react to seeing Celine like that. She didn’t know she’d freeze up and start questioning every look she got, every word out of her mouth— is that new? Rumi doesn’t remember. She’s just— overwhelmed. Here she is, trying to not feel out of control with all her new powers, and now she’s thinking about how Celine would react. If she’d only see a demon or tell her to never use them or—
Rumi covers her face with her hands. She misses when it wasn’t so complicated. When she was little and maybe she couldn’t ask about her dad or being half demon but Celine spoke of her mother fondly and braided her hair and— and cut little designs into her apple slices. It was good at some point, wasn’t it? Why did it change? Why does she look back now on comforting memories and it all just hurts?
“What is wrong with me?” She whispers.
She’s there for a while, unsure how long. Long enough for a familiar blue tiger to suddenly walk over and brush against her crouched form, and long enough to hear a voice from above say, “Hey. You alright?”
Rumi lifts her head just as Jinu jumps down from the ledge, landing smoothly. He joins her side as she rubs one of her eyes, though it’s only a little misty. Looking at him though, he seems largely the same.
“Been worse.” Rumi manages to say at last. Not a lie. “Are you..?”
Jinu stares blankly for a minute as he sits down before he catches on. “Oh! Yeah, of course. Don’t get me wrong, definitely feared for my life for a moment there but,” Jinu shrugs, “I’ve been in a lot of near-death situations. You learn to recover from them quickly after like, the fiftieth.”
Rumi lets out a breath. One less thing to worry about then. Jinu slowly angles his head at her, eyes flickering up and down. “She didn’t try to attack you too, did she?”
“No.” Rumi huffs a laugh. “I never have to worry about that, thankfully. It’s just… Hard. Hearing her talk like she always has. About demons. I know she doesn’t see me as one but that kinda… Hurts worse?” Rumi hunches her shoulders. “You, Zoey, and Mira have all been so great about the demon stuff that I almost forgot how it feels to be around that kind of talk again. It’s like my skin is too tight. Like my body is wrong and I need to change it so she never talks about me like that. And it’s worse now because I don’t want to change to be someone else anymore.”
Carefully, Jinu leans into her shoulder, nodding along. Rumi blinks tears out of her eyes— wow, contact feels good right now. She finds herself leaning into him more, enough to lay her head on his shoulder. Jinu doesn’t look uncomfortable by it for a second.
“It’s worse because the last time I saw her was right after the Idol Awards. When I was all— demon-y. I told her she should kill me and even though she refused, she was having a hard time looking at me or touching me and just wanted to cover it all up again. And then I told her I was glad the Honmoon was being destroyed and— and teleported for the first time. In front of her. Demon smoke and all. So,” Rumi sniffs, “I don’t know if I can face her knowing all that.”
It’s a little easier to breathe after getting all that off her chest, though her insides still ache. Jinu is silent for a long moment before asking in a quiet voice, “You asked her to kill you..? After the Idol Awards?”
Rumi abruptly remembers that she only told Mira and Zoey that because Jinu didn’t accompany them to the bathhouse. She swallows thickly. “It was just the one time. I promise I don’t feel like that all the time.”
“You said you felt like a mistake once.” Jinu says slowly. “Since the day you were born.”
“That— that’s different.” Rumi argues.
Jinu pauses for another long moment. “Did you ask her because…” A silent question lingers. It sinks into her skin like a cold chill.
“…It was for a lot of reasons.” Rumi murmurs at last. “I had a bad night.”
“Because of me.” Jinu groans into his hands. “Fuck! Rumi, I am so sorry. I don’t even know how to begin to apologize for that— fuck.”
“Oh, no.” Rumi sits up, grabs onto his wrists, and yanks on them so he’ll look her in the eye. His eyes are pained but Rumi did this today. “Everyone needs to stop feeling guilty because of something that happened to me! Mira, Zoey, you— I don’t want you all to feel guilty! What happened happened. And you said it yourself that first night we could actually talk, you betrayed me because of Gwi-Ma. If we’re blaming anyone right now, it’s Gwi-Ma for getting inside of everyone’s heads. Okay?”
Jinu looks slightly bewildered but he lets out a breath and says. “Okay... I guess it’s kinda up to you.”
“Yes, it is.” Rumi tells him firmly. Derpy headbutts her shoulder affectionately. Her mouth curves upwards. “See? He agrees with me.”
Jinu huffs a laugh. As she reaches over to pet Derpy, releasing one of his hands, he tells her, “Just in case you need to hear it, you should know you’ve never been a mistake. Not now, not ever.”
“I…” Rumi begins but stops. Does she know that? Did it ever really go away? She has no idea. She still has no idea. “Thank you.” She says instead, because regardless it is good to hear that. She clears her throat. “You know, for a guy who sometimes thinks he’s incapable of being a good person, you’re… Pretty kind to me. Even if it doesn’t directly benefit you.”
Now it’s Jinu’s turn to temporarily be rendered speechless. “Well, there are some people who bring out the best in me, what can I say?” His lips twitch up.
Derpy decides it’s a good time to flop on the ground and roll on his back, opening up his belly for rubs. Both of them oblige.
“What’s the plan?” Jinu asks. “How long is your… Hunter mentor sticking around?”
“I don’t know.” Rumi admits. “She might want to stay the night, she lives pretty far away and doesn’t like hotels. Which probably means we’ll have to stay in a hotel instead…”
She trails off, straightening as an idea comes to mind. Rumi reaches for her phone, unlocking it and pulling up her messages. Jinu hums an inquiry as he continues to scrub Derpy’s belly.
“We have another option.” Rumi tells him, typing out a text. “And honestly, I kinda need some positivity in my life right now.”
—
Less than twenty minutes later, Rumi strolls up to the penthouse suite she’s only physically been to a couple times— due to the owner always being out and about— and knocks on the door. Jinu keeps glancing over at her— she didn’t tell him where they were going. She’s a little surprised he hasn’t guessed yet.
Nonetheless, he’ll find out in just a moment as rapid footsteps jog over to the door and pull it open. A warm, smiling face greets her, wearing casual pants for once but still rocking Huntrix merch on top. Something tells Rumi he wears that all the time.
Jinu blinks, clearly not expecting him, but thankfully doesn’t look opposed.
“Rumi! Jinu! It’s great to see you two!”
“Hi, Bobby.” Rumi smiles back.
Notes:
Last Chapter: Man, everyone is bonding and getting along and healing and having a decently okay time-
This Chapter: AND HERE COMES CELINE WITH A STEEL CHAIR!!!!!Writing Celine for this chapter was a little hard because while I do think she's complex and not a terrible person, nor trying to be, I also think she's flawed, fucked up deeply without meaning to, and the girls have every right to be mad about it? And when you're writing from the perspective of the people who are pissed about it, it's harder to balance those things. She's very much the flawed mentor archtype to me so that's what I'm trying to write!
That being said, we got PARALLELS BABY!!! Mira and Zoey being Judge and Jury respectively, those who listen and potentially damn you but can ultimately show mercy, two people who have seen the way they view demons and set out to change it. Celine however is the Executioner. She doesn't ask questions and she doesn't show mercy. She has only viewed demons as The Enemy for so long that when she sees one, she does not hesitate. She doesn't care if they don't fight back. Demons are a threat and she eliminates threats.
This chapter wasn't allowed to happen at any point in the story before now OR after the Saja Boys return because A: All of the girls needed to be attached to Jinu enough so Celine attacking a demon out of the blue is a bigger deal to them now and B: If the Saja Boys WERE here, Celine would've been able to take at least one of them out. Also I couldn't guarantee her safety if she succeeded in that scenario and didn't want to deal with a Celine Vs A Very Pissed Off Baby scenario so this was really the best for everyone.
Tried to make it pretty clear but to reiterate, Rumi's dad is NOT Gwi-Ma. But speaking of him, I was on the fence before but came up with an admittedly devious idea about him a few days ago that would work for the fic decently well so he might be making his impact at some point or another. BUT that won't be for like. A While. So don't expect to know his deal anytime soon.
Next chapter is a very interesting mix of Bobby & Rumi & Jinu Vs Celine & Mira & Zoey. How long that one takes me is anyone's guess, hopefully not toooo long.
Whoops, long author's note but I hope y'all enjoyed!! As always, Comments and Kudos are my lifeblood so consider leaving those! Thank you for reading and until next time <3
Chapter 13: Dichotomy
Summary:
Rumi and Jinu spend the night at Bobby’s. Mira and Zoey have a much needed talk with Celine.
Notes:
Ohhh boy this was a monster of a chapter to write BUT. We are here. AND my laptop is repaired :)
Warnings for this chapter (Semi-recommend checking them!)
A couple mentions of Mira's terrible family situation and a past instance of a parent slapping their child, Brief misunderstanding a situation and thinking something is about biphobia when it's not, Very briefly implied past eating disorder, and generally just a lot of arguing/yelling that might be unpleasant.
ANYWAYS. uhhhh enjoy <3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Jinu’s eyes wander the moment he steps through the threshold, taking in the place with interest. Despite its size, Jinu can’t help but call it cozy— it’s not quite messy but it’s well lived in and filled with various pieces of furniture and decoration.
His eyes trail over various Huntrix posters and photographs clearly going back several years. Jinu thinks he remembers from his research about them that they’ve been in the game for around six years now and it looks like Bobby has been their manager for at least five of those years. The pictures begin somewhat professional but the most recent one is casual and joyful— all posing and standing much closer together than they were in the first.
Bobby is talking animatedly in the background. Jinu listens as he takes in more, glancing over what looks like a family photo— youngest of four? Jinu wouldn’t have guessed— and a few pictures with what he assumes are Huntrix’s stage crew, other managers, and friends he’s made over the years.
“Sorry, it’s a bit of a mess— I should really hire some cleaners for more than just my bathrooms but there’s a method to my madness! I know where everything is.” Bobby gestures around as he walks back to the kitchen, taking a pot off the stove. Rumi is following him closely but seems just as curious about the place, eyes wandering. “I feel like it would be a waste anyways. I’m always out of the house! And unless I have guests, I’m the only one seeing it so it’s not a very pressing matter, you know?”
Rumi hums in acknowledgment. Jinu sees her tilt her head at some paperwork on the kitchen table, then glances back up at Bobby with a raised eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”
“Huh?” Bobby, arms full of bowls and spoons he’s grabbing from the cabinets and drawers respectively, looks over. He tries to waver her off with full arms once he sees what she’s looking at however. “That’s light work, just something I’ve been taking care of so I don’t have a pile of things to do whenever we’re off hiatus.”
Rumi gives him a harder look. Bobby puts down everything he’s carrying on the kitchen table before he starts gathering the papers to make more room. He waves Rumi off again when she tries to help. “Believe it or not, knowing I won’t have a long list of things to do when I’m off vacation is helping me relax. Besides, I’ve only been doing it between my spa days so if anything ends up stressing me out, I have a masseuse to work the tension out of my shoulders within the next day.”
“Alright.” Rumi relents, hands on her hips. “But I’ll sick the girls on you if I think you’re overdoing it, so watch yourself.”
“Believe me, the last thing I want is to give you girls another thing to worry about.” Once finished setting up the table, he turns back to finish adding something to the pot. Whatever it is smells good. Jinu may not be able to feel hunger in the same way he used to when he was human— something he will never miss— but he finds himself anticipating trying whatever he’s cooked.
Jinu looks back over the pictures again, curiously perusing them. Two catch his eye, placed close together like they’re meant to be viewed as one. The first is of six young men with stylish good looks and in outfits of what he assumes was probably fashionable at the time. They’re all smiling but it doesn’t quite reach their eyes. In the one below it are six older men, Bobby among them, all in a less professional setting and attire. They’ve got their arms slung around each other, smiling like they’re trying not to laugh with one of them visibly failing, and look undeniably happier.
Jinu glances back up at the first picture again. One by one, he can connect who is who in the second picture, though the way they’ve all changed makes them look like completely different people— no longer babyfaced without an ounce of facial hair but older, bigger, more confident. And via process of elimination, Jinu discovers which one must’ve been Bobby. Though looking at him, Jinu isn’t sure he would’ve guessed.
His eyes are devoid of any spark and his smile is too fake. His posture is too stiff, he’s too thin to the point of looking unhealthy, and there’s not an ounce of confidence.
“Weird, huh?”
Jinu glances over, Bobby now beside him and smiling at the pair of photos fondly. He nods at them and says, “I like to compare the then and now sometimes. It’s a good reminder of how even if the big changes can be daunting, they’re pretty important too!”
Jinu nods back, unsure of what to say. Bobby ushers him to the table where he’s got everything set up. A bowl of what he’s pretty sure is mandu-guk and some steamed rice is already waiting for him next to Rumi. He takes the seat and dips his head as he murmurs a thanks to Bobby.
“It’s no big deal, I was already planning on cooking for myself tonight. Making a bigger portion was a cinch!” Bobby tells him. They all finally dig in. The warm broth feels good in his stomach.
“It’s good.” Jinu doesn’t have to fake politeness, it really is. Simple but pleasant. “Do you cook often?”
“Not as often as I used to but I try to make an effort.” Bobby takes a bite of his rice before directing his next question towards Rumi. “You didn’t fully explain why you wanted to stay over before. Did something happen?”
Jinu glances over at Rumi. He knows the hunters trust this man implicitly but he doesn’t actually know the extent of it. He doesn’t seem to know the demon stuff so Jinu doesn’t know what Rumi is going to tell him, if anything.
Rumi swirls her spoon in the broth, poking at the dumpling as she seems to work herself up to it. “Celine visited pretty unexpectedly.” She says at last. Bobby nods along.
“My parents used to do that all the time. Not even a warning text to see if I was busy!” He huffs but seems to brush the memory off easily. “Are you and her..?”
“It’s… Complicated.” Rumi’s mouth tightens. “I know I need to talk to her eventually but I thought I’d be prepared for it. And seeing her today just… I don’t know. I felt unsteady all of a sudden. Not me.”
Bobby nods along slowly. Jinu wants to reach out and take Rumi’s hand but he’s not sure if Rumi would want to do that in front of her manager. He settles for bumping her foot lightly under the table— just a steady reminder that he’s here. Her mouth twitches and she bumps him back.
“It’s hard to explain but… There was a part of me that always felt wrong. I was taught it was wrong, even when I was a kid. Celine knew about it and wanted to keep it covered up. And I did because I believed it had to be too. But recently… Things are changing. I don’t want to hide anymore. I’m— I’m ready to be who I am and be more open about it, but Celine… She loves me but it’s always felt like it’s in spite of this part of me. Like she still views it as this bad thing that I’m the exception of. And that… Hurts? It hurts more than if she just hated all of me?” Her face twists into a frown. “Am I making sense?”
Bobby nods quickly. “No, no, absolutely. It’s not easy living your truth and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.” That earns a chuckle out of Rumi. Bobby smiles back. “I’m glad you’re letting yourself be yourself. You’re an amazing person, Rumi! Talented and gorgeous and one of the best people I know!”
“‘One of’?” Rumi raises a teasing eyebrow.
“It’s a three-way tie.” Bobby informs her. He spares a glance at Jinu. “No offense. You seem lovely but my girls are always my number ones.”
“None taken.” Jinu holds his hands up.
“But— I do get it. Maybe more than you know. It took my folks a while to fully come around to it too. But if they love you, they will, because you should be more important than an old prejudice.” Jinu glances over at Rumi but notes she looks just as slightly confused as he does. Bobby, oblivious to this, continues, “Although I gotta say, I wasn’t expecting biphobia from Celine. Maybe all those tabloids speculating about her being queer just got to my head.”
“What?” Rumi blurts out, mouth hanging open. Bobby blinks in surprise.
“You never saw those? Maybe they’ve died down but I swear I always saw at least one circulating around about—!”
“No, I—” Rumi sucks in a breath and slowly asks, “Why do you think Celine is biphobic?”
“Is that not..?” Bobby frowns a little. “Oh. That’s my bad, I thought that’s what you were trying to allude to.”
“No! No, she—” Rumi pauses and seems to correct herself, “I’m pretty sure she knows about that. And it’s fine. She’s, uh,” Rumi gestures in the air before running a hand down her face, “God, it really did sound like that’s what I was talking about…”
Jinu glances between the pair, deciding if now is a good time to ask but ultimately decides it can probably wait until later. He really should learn how to look things up on a phone, it would save him a lot of the trouble of having to ask.
“If not that… Do you mind if I ask what?” Bobby asks just before eating another spoonful of the broth. Rumi hesitates on what to say.
“It’s my… Patterns. It’s complicated.” She replies at last. His eyebrows furrow.
“She has an issue with your patterns? Didn’t you say you’ve had them ever since you were a kid?”
“I did.” Rumi confirms. “I know it sounds weird. It’s just really hard to explain and I’d rather not go heavy into the details?” Bobby nods understandingly. Rumi lets out a breath. “It’s more than just the patterns though. That’s just a part of it.”
“Okay.” Bobby says slowly. “And you’re afraid she’s never going to accept this part of you?”
“Yeah.” Rumi’s voice gets a little weaker, a little quieter. “I just don’t want to feel like I have to hide from the people I love again. It feels worse going back to covering up than it ever did before.”
“Well that’s normal.” Bobby says. “After being free from any sort of metaphorical cage, no one wants to go back. It always feels worse than if you never got to learn what it felt like to be free in the first place.”
Jinu tries very hard not to think about his own panic at the idea of going back under Gwi-Ma’s control he experienced… Less than a day ago? They’ve had a very eventful twenty-four hours to say the least. Jinu is hoping all the surprises stop here.
“The good news is that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Bobby goes on. “Perks of being an adult! The bad news is that every choice has consequences, good and bad, and that includes the choice to do nothing or to avoid something.” He looks slightly apologetic about that, even if it’s not his fault. “So if you really don’t want to talk to her, now or ever, you have the means to avoid her. But if you do want to talk to her, that comes with its own ups and downs.” He pauses before he adds, “Sorry, you probably know this already.”
Rumi shakes her head. “It’s nice to hear it out loud sometimes.” One hand rubs the side of her head wearily. “I don’t want to leave things poorly, I’m just afraid talking will make it worse.”
“I can’t say for certain if it’ll turn out one way or another, as much as I would love to reassure you. But,” Bobby reaches across the table, laying a hand out like an offering. Rumi takes it, getting a smile and a light squeeze in the process. “Whatever happens, for better or for worse, do not feel like you have to handle it alone. You got your girls! And me! And clearly Jinu here!”
Bobby flashes a warm smile his way. Jinu can’t help but smile back and lightly nudge Rumi in response. She huffs a laugh, offering her other hand for Jinu to take. He does without question.
“At the end of the day, it’s your life and you get to decide what to do with it. So, how are you feeling right now?” He nods at her encouragingly.
Rumi makes a slightly strangled unsure noise in response. “Um. I don’t know. I don’t want to lose anyone over this and Celine is kinda the closest thing I got to any sort of parental figure. Though by definition, I’m kinda an orphan already so it’s not like that’s changing anytime soon.”
She laughs, a little hollow. Bobby’s mouth twists like he’s trying really hard to be supportive but has no idea how to respond to that. Rumi continues before any of them can say anything in response though.
“I’m really overwhelmed about it either way, talking or not talking.”
“Nothing wrong with that!” Bobby tells her.
“It feels like it is though. When did it become so hard to talk to a woman I’ve known my entire life?” A frown tugs at Rumi’s lips.
Jinu finds himself beating Bobby to the punch this time. “That’s probably why you’re nervous about it. You’ve known her your entire life and now you don’t know where you stand. Who wouldn’t be nervous?”
Rumi sighs like she can’t help but agree. She pulls her hands back just so she can rub her face. She’s not crying but she does look exhausted, something Jinu thinks is warranted considering how today has gone.
“Ugh, I feel gross. Bobby, do you mind if I use your bathroom to wash my face?”
“Of course not! Down the hall, first door on the left.” He directs. Rumi nods and rises from her seat. Jinu watches her go but finds when he turns back, Bobby is looking at him now. His face remains pretty soft and sympathetic however.
“Any luck with you and your boys?” He asks lightly, gauging his reaction. Jinu finds he has to pause to think about that.
“Uh, maybe.” He says. It feels like the safest answer. “We… Might be seeing each other again in the near future? Which is better than the alternative.”
Hope is a dangerous thing but Jinu feels as though he wants something so achingly that it doesn’t matter if it’s dangerous. He’s willing to take that risk. Just this once, he wants to fantasize about the best possible outcome and not have it be a pipe dream but rather, something real. Attainable even.
He’s still holding his breath. Still waiting for something to happen to yank it all away and punish him for ever hoping in the first place, but it hasn’t happened yet. So Jinu hasn’t stopped wanting it.
“That’s good!” Bobby brightens. “Just talk to them honestly about whatever happened. And don’t forget to actually apologize. Sometimes people get so caught up in explaining or defending their actions that they don’t actually say they’re sorry. Kinda makes it seem like they’re not, even if they might actually be sorry.”
Jinu huffs a laugh. “Yeah, I can do that. I have a lot to make up to them.”
“No time to start like the present! You’re looking better though. Less weight off your shoulders?” He guesses.
“You could say that.” Jinu admits. He clears his throat. “Uh, you been doing alright?”
“Oh yeah! Vacation has been pretty great. Though I can’t deny I do miss the work a little. But,” Bobby gestures towards where he shuffled his papers off too earlier, “I handle it. It’s important to maintain a balance, you know? Take on too much and you’re just gonna collapse.”
Jinu lets out a long breath. “Boy do I know it…”
Rumi returns looking slightly less stressed than before and slipping her phone back into her pocket. “Mira and Zoey say ‘Hi’ and thank you for letting me stay over tonight by the way.” She says. “And I’m tired of talking right now so… Let’s eat?”
“Let’s eat!” Bobby gestures encouragingly. They all dig in.
Bobby keeps encouraging them to eat as much as they want. Rumi ends up taking another bowl while Jinu just sticks to what he’s got. Considering he couldn’t actually teleport much earlier, he’s actually at full capacity right now, or near enough to it. The gash Coil left on him is long gone and he wonders if he even needs to sleep tonight. Been a while since he felt like he had the option.
Then again, it’s pretty boring at night when everyone else around you needs to sleep. And it’s not like conserving energy is a bad thing here.
“So, I only have one guest room,” Bobby tells them, “And it does have a queen sized bed but my couch is also really comfy. And I’m fine if one of you wants to take my room and the other takes the guest room— I can sleep on the couch for one night!”
“That won’t be necessary.” Jinu says before he can think about it. “If it’s a queen sized bed then Rumi and I can just—!”
Rumi kicks him underneath the table, thankfully nowhere near as hard as she did at the fansign, and gives him a look. It takes seeing the look on Bobby’s face to realize why.
“Oh, uh— the couch sounds great?” Jinu puts on his best and most innocent smile. Bobby doesn’t even look a little convinced.
He finishes eating his dumpling before slowly saying, “Look, you’re both adults and there’s no paparazzi here. If you want to sleep in the same bed, that’s fine. Good for you two!” He smiles warmly, then claps his hands together. “I do however need you both to get way better at acting if you want to avoid dating scandals. And believe me, we all want to avoid those.”
“I can do that.” Jinu nods. He’s had to get good at acting in the demon realm, especially around Gwi-Ma. This should be no different. And… Worst comes to worst, he has disguises and teleporting. Those go a long way.
“Good. Less stress for everyone.” Bobby nods back. “Though if you do want to go public about it, I’ll handle everything. You shouldn’t let social media and idol culture dictate how you live!”
Rumi’s smile softens. “Thanks, Bobby.”
“Anytime! I’m only in this position because of you girls so anything you need, I’ll do my very best to get it done, done, done!” He cracks a smile at his own joke. “And… Rumi?”
Rumi looks up, spoon still in her mouth from her last bite.
“Maybe I don’t know the full context but for the record?” He nods at the patterns visible on her face and neck. “I think it’s a pretty good look. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”
Rumi blinks rapidly. Jinu stifles a laugh. “Oh no, you’re gonna make her cry.”
“I am?” Bobby rapidly becomes alarmed. “Oh no, Rumi, I am so—!”
“It’s okay!” Rumi all but shouts, sniffing. “I’m fine. I’m not going to cry. You— you’re just really great, you know that?”
“Only because you’re really great! You’ve pretty much made my whole career possible!”
“You were great before us! You’ve always been a good manager!”
“But the position I’m in is the best I could ever ask for and it’s all because all of you took a chance on me when there were probably hundreds of options!”
“Of course we chose you, pretty much everyone who ever worked with you loved you and now we love you—!”
Jinu quietly sips on his broth, slowly realizing this might go in for a little while. He doesn’t mind however. It’s nice to see Rumi so happy that she’s shouting.
—
Mira keeps Zoey close as she moves their conversation over to their dining table. It’s as much for Zoey’s sake as it is for Mira’s— Zoey’s face still looks raw from crying and Mira doesn’t like how she feels right now. She’s somewhere between white-hot fury and sick with nerves.
Mira tells herself getting disowned was for the best, now no longer needing to put up with her parents’ bullshit. She still remembers their last fight however— the screaming, the way Mira couldn’t decide if she wanted to burn something down or curl up and die somewhere quiet, the sting on her cheek when her mother raised her hand to her but then had the audacity to look like she was the one who got slapped.
This isn’t the same. Celine is a mentor at best, not her mother. She’s not sure Celine is anyone’s mother— Rumi has never referred to her as such. Mira could never find the courage to ask about it. It felt too personal. If Rumi wanted to bring it up on her own, she could, but she never did, so it was left unspoken. Still, ‘Legal guardian’ means she holds weight in Rumi’s life. It doesn’t matter what title Celine holds, she raised Rumi either way.
And Mira is taking issue with some of her choices she made while doing it.
Their bags of street food are all tucked away in the fridge. As hungry as Mira is and as much as it would be better to eat while fresh, she doesn’t think she has it in her to eat right now. It can wait.
Celine sits stiffly on one side of the table, eyes still flickering over to the exit like she wants to go after Rumi. She knows better than to try it however and remains where she is. Zoey on the other hand, sits close enough to brush shoulders with Mira. A small point of contact but a needed one. Who needs it more right now is anyone’s guess.
Celine folds her hands on the table, looking over at the pair of them at last. “I understand learning of Rumi’s heritage was a bit of a shock.”
Mira inhales deeply. This conversation is already doing nothing but pissing her off further. “Do you understand?”
“I can explain everything.” Celine says, painfully placating. Mira hates when people take that tone with her but grounds herself.
“Please do.” She replies dryly. Zoey nods exactly once in agreement.
“Rumi has never been like any demon you’ve ever met, or will meet.” Celine begins with. “She’s never wanted to steal souls, never showed signs of having any connection to Gwi-Ma— the only thing that makes her a demon are her patterns. Otherwise she’s just like everyone else.”
Mira is already taking issue with her statement but holds her tongue. Better to get it all out of the way before she starts poking holes in it.
“I never wanted any of you to hesitate.” She continues. “Rumi is an exception to the rule of demons— I tried to make that clear to her growing up. She is not like them— she’s a hunter. She is a protector of this world, not a danger to it. Demons are destructive and cunning. They’ll trick you into feeling sympathy and strike when you hesitate.”
The latter parts are all things Mira has heard before. Things she was taught during training. Except looking at the demons she’s met and have been keeping an eye on, it’s not quite true anymore with Gwi-Ma out of their heads. Demons like Coil still fit the bill but others like Jelly are harder to imagine as such.
“Keeping it from you wasn’t personal, only practical. You’re all very capable hunters but doubting your judgement would do nothing but hurt you in the long run. When I said I wanted it to be easier on everyone, that’s what I meant.” Celine nods at the pair of them. “I know Rumi wanted to be honest with you both but I never wanted you to doubt yourselves or her. And once the Golden Honmoon was formed, it wouldn’t be an issue anymore. Her patterns would be gone and she could live freely.”
Mira’s fists clench under the table. Zoey’s mouth thins.
“I should have thought about Rumi’s patterns being used against her.” Celine admits with a sigh. “Clothes can only do so much and the makeup I used when she was younger was really more of a bandaid for the issue. I should’ve invested more time in better ways to keep Gwi-Ma from learning of them.”
“That’s your take away?” Mira snaps at last, her patience having run out. “You should’ve hid them better?”
Celine frowns at her. “You said her patterns were revealed forcefully. Obviously Gwi-Ma learned of them and used it to create a rift between you three. If we had been more careful about keeping them hidden, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“It wouldn’t have happened,” Mira grits out, “If we knew about it beforehand.”
“As I said, I never wanted any of you to hesitate against a demon.” Celine says again. “No matter how they look or act, they’re dangerous.”
“Anyone can be dangerous.” Mira argues.
“Is it really that bad to think about your enemy as anything less than monsters?” The frown hasn’t left Zoey’s face since Celine started giving her explanation.
Celine doesn’t blink twice. “Historically, yes. It’s what my mentor taught us and our history books have only further proven this. Hunters are at their most effective if they remember what demons are. Blights upon this world. Minions of Gwi-Ma. Those who sympathized risked both their own safety and the safety of others.”
“You’d rather us be efficient than show our humanity?” Zoey bites the inside of her cheek.
“Sometimes,” Celine says carefully, “We must consider the world more than we must consider our own wants and ideals. Even if we are undeniably human, we must strive to be more than that. Our faults and fears must never be seen.”
Mira has heard that phrase enough that she doesn’t think she could ever forget it. Maybe it was true before— that her hesitation could get people killed— but this Honmoon is different. They’ve shown plenty of faults and fears over the past three weeks but it’s remained as strong as ever. Not once has it faltered or shown signs of weakness.
Mira finds herself pressing a hand to it just to confirm what she knows. The Honmoon ripples under her hand, covering every surface of the room in an instant. It’s still bright and unwavering, and she suspects it’ll stay that way for a while. It doesn’t escape her notice however that Celine looks at it with slight trepidation.
It doesn’t seem to escape Zoey’s notice either. She inhales quietly before threading her fingers together and asking, “You mentioned researching the new Honmoon before. Did you find anything on iridescent or rainbow Honmoons?”
Celine’s mouth tightens, signifying her defeat before she voices it. “Very little. It was one of the many theories around the time when they discovered the possibility of the Golden Honmoon. Nothing conclusive was ever decided, only… Potential ideas for it. It could mean anything.”
“I can tell you one thing.” Mira crosses her arms. “The demons on this side of the Honmoon don’t hear Gwi-Ma anymore.”
Celine sits up straighter, shock flickering across her face. “Are you certain? They could be lying.”
“We’re certain.” Zoey says but doesn’t elaborate. Thankfully Celine doesn’t push on the matter.
“Is that why you’re keeping him around? That demon from before. Are you testing the limits of this? If Gwi-Ma’s presence will return to his head whenever the Honmoon weakens?”
“No.” Mira looks her in the eye and refuses to back down as she informs her, “We’re keeping him around because we like him.”
Immediately Celine’s face shifts into something utterly mystified. “I hate to repeat the obvious but he’s a demon.”
“We’re aware.” Mira doesn’t bat an eye.
“So is Rumi.” Zoey points out. That only makes Celine’s face twist further.
“Rumi is a hunter.”
“Yeah. And a demon.” Mira presses back. “You can’t just erase that part of her because you don’t like it. She’s half demon, that’s a pretty big part of her.”
“Rumi isn’t like—!”
“You know she has powers, right?” Mira cuts in before she has to hear the same damn things thrown at her again. “Demon powers. I know it’s recent but they had to have at least been lying dormant for some time.” Celine’s face flickers. Mira zeroes in on it. “Unless she’s done something before?”
Celine looks as though she might say nothing. When Mira refuses to back down, she sighs. “A few times, when Rumi was younger,” Celine begins slowly, “She’d become… Upset with something. And the Honmoon would ripple with a reddish shade of magenta.”
The memory of the Idol Awards rises to the surface. Mira swallows thickly, remembering her breaking point. Rumi had screamed and the Honmoon seemed to be damaged by it— Mira couldn’t tell for sure. It just hadn’t looked good. That color had never been associated with anything good in all her time as a hunter.
“I taught her to suppress it.” Celine continues and Mira’s chest twists. “I never wanted her to use any demonic power left inside of her from her father. The possibility of it being the tipping point and leaving her under Gwi-Ma’s control was too great.” She hesitates now but something solidifies in her eyes just before she asks, “Rumi’s… Disappearance earlier. How often does that happen?”
“How..?” Zoey begins but realizes what she’s hinting at quickly. “Rumi did that on purpose. She’s been working on getting her powers under control.”
“…With the demon you’ve been keeping around.” Celine guesses, an edge to her voice.
Mira is used to people judging her. It doesn’t mean she has the patience for it— especially if it means Zoey and Rumi are getting judged too. “It was Rumi’s choice to. She wants to get her powers under control rather than suppress them. She wants to use them to help people. And out of all of us, Rumi is the only one who has never had Gwi-Ma in her head. So whatever you’re worried about is unfounded. We’re not reckless, we know what we’re doing.”
She can’t tell if anything she says is of reassurance to Celine but she doesn’t immediately dismiss it if nothing else. Mira takes that as enough reason to continue while she’s on the topic. “Whether you like it or not, Rumi is half demon. You’re not doing anyone any favors by denying it.”
She can see the protest coming before Celine opens her mouth. “I didn’t want Rumi comparing herself to demons growing up. I never wanted her to feel as though she was as monstrous as they are. Our line of work requires us to be ruthless to them and I wanted Rumi to never feel as though she was one of them.”
“Did you ever talk to Rumi about it?” Zoey’s eyebrows furrow. “Her being half demon.”
“I told her she wasn’t one of them.” Celine says. “I helped her cover up her patterns so she wouldn’t have to look at them. So she could focus on simply being Rumi.”
“You covered up the problem so you wouldn’t have to deal with it.” Mira scoffs. “Your whole plan with the Golden Honmoon— are you even sure if it would’ve worked?”
“It should’ve.” Celine insists.
“And if Rumi got pulled down with all the other demons?”
“She wouldn’t have.” Celine’s jaw visibly clenches, the first real sign of her losing her composure since she barked a command at them earlier. “She’s too human for that. She’s—!”
“Did you know for sure?” Mira presses because it’s been bothering her since Rumi mentioned it. It all sounds purely like guess work. A hopeful wish at best. One that could’ve been hell for Rumi if it were wrong. “There’s never been anyone like Rumi, has there? So how could you have possibly known?”
“I made an educated guess.” She replies through gritted teeth.
“And if you were wrong?”
“At worst, her patterns wouldn’t have disappeared, but Rumi wouldn’t have been pulled down.”
“But how do you know that?”
“Because the Honmoon is not that cruel!” Celine finally snarls, fist slamming on the table hard enough to ring out. Zoey jumps. Mira can’t blame her, having been shocked into silence herself. “The Honmoon has been our protector for centuries. It is the one thing keeping our world from total chaos and it is the one thing that has been helping us fight demons for just as long. It chooses its hunters. It chooses who will protect the world. And it chose Rumi. I cannot believe it would choose someone to work tirelessly to protect it if they would be banished from this world and left to die should they succeed.”
Silence settles over them like a heavy weight. Celine’s shoulders sag, looking away as if suddenly ashamed and horrified at her own outburst. Mira’s mind has gone blank, or maybe it’s whirling too fast for her to process at the moment.
Zoey is the first to find her words. “It wasn’t easier on Rumi. Covering up the issue and never really talking about it only made her internalize it. Rumi is a hunter but she’s half demon too. Trying to separate these two things only tore her in half. It only made her hate a pretty significant part of herself.”
“…That was never my intention.” Celine keeps her gaze on the table, mouth twisted. “None of this was supposed to happen.”
“But it did.” Mira finds herself saying at last. “No matter how things were in the past or during your time as a hunter, things are changing. Which means we need to change with it. This new Honmoon means demons don’t need to collect souls. Those who choose not to can live freely.”
“They’re still dangerous.” Celine narrows her eyes at the idea. Mira anticipated that.
“Anyone can be dangerous. I can be dangerous.”
“You have never worked for Gwi-Ma in collecting souls. I have no doubt every single demon out there has taken at least one life, if not more.”
“Gwi-Ma owned them.” Zoey pipes up. “They’ve never had a choice in being anything different. And some of them used to be human. Aren’t we supposed to protect humanity? Isn’t this one way we can do that?”
“Some of them used to be human.” She counters. “But they made their deals and sealed their fates a long time ago. They lost their humanity when they did.”
“And how many of them actually knew where the deal would land them?” Mira argues back. “Are we supposed to just ignore that all of them are living and sentient?”
“For the sake of the world—!”
“Just because something is easier,” Mira raises her voice, “Doesn’t make it right. Maybe you were right back when they had no choice but they do now. And we’re not here to ask permission— we’re not even trying to ask for advice. We’re telling you how we are running things. Because you’re not this generation’s hunters. We are.” Mira tilts her head up, ignoring the way the nerves in her body are igniting in order to remain completely in control. “And so long as we are protecting the world, you have to respect that.”
“That means trusting us to judge anyone who actually threatens civilians.” Zoey adds. “And leaving the demons who aren’t hurting anyone alone, like Jinu.”
Celine’s eyes narrow further. “Jinu. He was the leader of them, wasn’t he? One of those Saja Boys who threatened the Honmoon.”
“He’s making up for it.” Zoey tells her. “He almost died to ensure our victory. To save Rumi.”
Celine doesn’t say anything to that. Mira can’t tell if it’s for a good reason or not.
“Celine.” Mira says to turn her attention to her. “The truth is we don’t need you to approve of what we’re doing or how we’re handling things. We just need you to accept that it’s out of your hands and back off. You retired and left the world in our hands years ago. So long as the Honmoon is safe, it’s not your problem.”
“You three potentially getting yourselves killed is my problem.” Celine stubbornly tells them.
“We could’ve died at any point.” Zoey points out. “Long before any of this, at any point in our careers. This might all be new but we can still handle ourselves as we always have. And with Rumi’s new powers, we’re more capable than ever.”
Celine’s mouth tightens at the mention of Rumi’s new powers. Mira refuses to let it go. “You’re going to have to accept that she’s half demon sometime.”
“I—” Celine stutters, a rare occurrence, “I’m only worried for her. These new powers— who knows what kind of effect they could have on her?”
“I don’t think bottling them up will make them any worse for her than learning to safely control when and where they happen. No matter how you raised her, Rumi is an adult now. If she wants to explore this part of her, you have to accept that. The last thing she needs is to feel ashamed of herself again."
For a long while, Celine says nothing. She doesn’t look at any of them, staring off as she falls deep into thought.
Something curls around Mira’s throat, hot and ruthless. The words leave her before she can stop them but even once they have, Mira finds it difficult to regret them.
“If you keep going like this, you’re going to lose her.”
The look Celine gives her makes it seem like Mira has outright struck her. Mira is reminded of her mother and it does nothing to soften the rest of it. “Maybe it won’t be today or tomorrow, maybe not even weeks or months from now, but if you keep going like this? Doing things that inadvertently make her doubt herself and start to dread so much as talking to you in case you say something that makes her feel shitty afterwards? You’ll lose her. In little ways, then eventually all at once. It won’t matter if she’ll still politely answer the phone whenever you call, because it won’t be her on the other end. It’ll be something carefully crafted to survive a conversation with you. Because that’s what it’ll feel like to her— surviving in your presence, then relaxing the moment she’s out of your sight.”
Mira knows from the look on both Celine and Zoey’s face that she all but verbally sucker punched her but she’s finding it hard to care at the moment. She doesn’t know if she feels good about what she said either, just that it’s finally off her chest. That it needed to be said, everything else be damned.
Zoey doesn’t look like she disagrees however, and Celine is rendered speechless.
It takes a moment for things to set in. Mira decides she’s said enough for now and pushes herself to her feet. She needs a breather or she’s going to do something stupid, she can just feel it.
“I need to eat.” She announces, half to give her a reason to leave without saying the real one and half because she’s exhausted already and all of their street food is sounding really good right now. She’ll set some aside for Rumi and Jinu but the rest is free game.
If Mira holds the fridge open for longer than usual just because her mind is too crowded to decide what it wants, then that’s her business.
—
Things are quiet for a long while after Mira leaves. Zoey thinks she’s done a pretty good job of summing their thoughts up, even as harsh as it was.
Zoey hears Mira reheating some of their food and leaving for one of their rooms. Distantly, she wonders where Sussie has gone. If Rumi is okay. If she and Jinu are going to spend the night elsewhere seeing as Celine will probably want to use her spare room here.
One of Celine’s hands still lying on the table curls into a fist. The Honmoon briefly responds. Zoey remembers what happened with Jinu earlier and asks, “How did you do that?”
Celine blinks as if she had completely forgotten she was not alone. “What?”
“What you did with the Honmoon, making it so a demon like Jinu couldn’t just teleport away to avoid you. How did you do it?”
“Oh.” Celine doesn’t quite relax at the question but she doesn’t seem to mind the slight change in topic. “As you grow used to being a hunter and connecting with the Honmoon’s power, you gain more control in how you direct it. It’s not something I could’ve taught you in your earlier years but you could very well be strong enough now. Experience is key.”
“Do any of our history books and journals from past hunters cover it?” Celine nods. Zoey sits up tall. “I want them. All of them— especially anything we know about the Honmoon and demon realm.”
Celine falters this time. “I… I never wanted this for any of you. You should know that.”
Her eyebrows crease in confusion. “Wanted what for us?”
“For you to be hunters this long. You were meant to seal the Honmoon and live normal lives. Now you’re all talking about judging demons to live on this side, having to be constantly on guard for anyone crossing the lines you’ve placed, having to continuously get stronger to keep up with Gwi-Ma’s threats to this world— aren’t you tired?” Celine meets her gaze carefully. She looks tired. It only makes Zoey frown further.
“Celine… I like being a hunter.” Zoey tells her slowly. “It’s dangerous and all but… It’s how I met Rumi and Mira. It’s how I got to where I am now— a highly famous idol with wonderful fans— why would I want to give that up?”
“Because one day, you could lose them. Both of them. In one way or another.” Celine replies softly. “And it will break you.”
Zoey is reminded of a gravestone she has paid her respects to many times, near the place where she trained to be a hunter alongside the others. She’s reminded of the haunting names Celine rarely spoke of, if at all. A third Sunlight Sister who reportedly kept the Honmoon safe while they were still in training but never spoke to Celine. Of the one-sided wall of texts Celine would send, bearing no answer in return.
“I could lose them anytime.” Zoey finds herself saying. “From non-demon related things too. They could get hit by a car or get really sick or— something. And that terrifies me! The demon stuff only ups that chance of one of us dying but if I’m by their side, I can at least try to help. I… I can’t guarantee I can save them but that doesn’t mean I won’t try. I don’t want to live my whole life in fear.
“Being a hunter gave me somewhere to belong. And maybe things are changing now but— isn’t this world worth fighting for? Isn’t a future where we don’t have to stop everything to fight every demon we come across better?”
“…You believe that future can be possible?” Celine asks quietly, looking as though she can’t quite believe it herself.
“I want to believe it can be if I fight for it.” Zoey shrugs a little. “Don’t say I’m naive for it because as far as I can tell, it is possible. Mira’s been putting the work in and I want to help however I can. So, every book we have from the past generations of hunters— I want them. Any of it could be significant.”
“You don’t need all of them for training.”
“It’s not just for training.” Zoey tells her, but doesn’t elaborate on why. Now doesn’t feel like a good time to mention the whole ‘Saja Boys Rescue Operation’ considering she’s not actually sure if Celine won’t attack Jinu if and when she ever lays eyes on him again.
Celine only hesitates for a moment. Then she tells Zoey, “They’re yours. I can grab them at some point.”
“Actually I was thinking I could grab them.”
She blinks at that. “…I wasn’t aware you had your license.”
“I still don’t.” Zoey did have a permit but it expired a year and a half ago and she hasn’t been pressed to get a new one. Kinda hard to be when you have a personal driver for the usual stuff and also Mira if they ever need her for whatever reason. “But I have my ways.”
“I don’t like random civilians to know where I live.” Celine frowns.
“No random civilians will know.” Zoey replies and finally rises to her feet. “Are you staying here tonight?”
“I was… Planning on it before.” Celine replies carefully. “But… Is Rumi..?”
Zoey takes her phone out of her pocket and checks it. Rumi has indeed texted the group chat some time ago, saying her and Jinu are gonna spend the night at Bobby’s. Mira has sent back a short message that she’s glad she’s okay and to stay safe, then an additional message of, ‘Guess you and demon boy will have to behave yourselves if Bobby is around’, to which Rumi replied with several uppercased ‘MIRA’s and angry emojis. Zoey’s mouth twitches. She sends back a flurry of laughing emojis, then some hearts for Rumi.
“She’s staying elsewhere.” Zoey says at last, hitting the power button and slipping it back into her pocket. “So if Mira isn’t going to stop you, I won’t either. There’s food in the fridge but don’t eat anything in a cardboard or styrofoam box.”
“Zoey…” Celine suddenly looks uncertain. “It was never personal. Not telling you about Rumi. I do trust all of your capabilities as hunters.”
It should feel good to hear but it doesn’t quite have the same punch as it used to. Zoey lets out a small sigh and tells her, “It doesn’t feel like it. I don’t know if I trust you right now. So please, don’t give me any more reason not to.”
She leaves at last, skipping the kitchen and heading down the hall. Zoey’s shoulders sag slightly but she stops when she notices her door is open just a crack. She pushes it as she steps in, noticing Mira sprawled on her bed with two big plates of varying kinds of street food. Mira looks up as she does. Zoey gives her a little smile.
“Hey, mind if I join you?”
“…This is your room.” Mira points out. “If anything, I should be asking you if it’s okay if I’m in here.”
“You should know by now you’re always welcome here!” Zoey closes the door behind her and joins her on the bed. Mira gestures to the plates of food, clearly inviting her to share. Zoey gladly picks up a stick of pork galbi.
“…Sorry if I got heated out there.” Zoey stops midchew at Mira’s admission.
“You’re sorry you said it?”
“No.” Mira clarifies. “I just know I’m a lot when I’m angry. Probably wasn’t the greatest thing to witness.”
Zoey gives her a look and bumps her lightly. “I’m not scared of you, Mira.” She tells her. “I haven’t been since I first saw you with bedhead.” She snickers at the memory while Mira rolls her eyes. “You— you had your glasses on and these cute pajamas and you were barely awake but still shuffling through the kitchen—!”
“Okay, I get it.” Mira half snorts. “My reputation is completely ruined with you.”
“It’s better that way.” Zoey hums. “I like you better this way.”
Mira’s whole face softens. “Hey.” She says to get her to look over. “What was all that stuff you said about not being able to save Rumi?”
“Oh.” Zoey feels a wave of heat in embarrassment at the memory. “It’s stupid…”
“It’s not stupid. What is stupid is the fact that you think it’s stupid.”
Zoey quickly realizes she’s not getting out of this and just shrugs weakly. “I just had a few nightmares that kept bothering me. About the Idol Awards and our fight with Gwi-Ma.”
“And you didn’t want to say anything?” Mira’s eyebrows furrow. Zoey shakes her head. “Why?”
“Because we won. And it felt silly to fear what would’ve happened if we lost when that never actually happened.”
“We had a pretty stressful day back then.” Mira pulls off the last morsel of food with her teeth and points a now-empty skewer at Zoey for emphasis. “I think it’d be unreasonable to assume you wouldn’t come out with a few stress dreams about them.”
“Have you?” Zoey glances over. Mira makes a so-so gesture as she chews.
“A few vague dreams about you two leaving and losing everything. But when I woke up you were all still here. So they were wrong.” Her gaze returns to Zoey’s. “We did save Rumi. Jinu might’ve given her the power up but we all banished Gwi-Ma. None of us could’ve done that on our own.”
“…I know. Deep down anyways. But it’s nice to hear.” Zoey leans into Mira and Mira is perfectly content to let her.
They get through about half the food before Mira says, “She’s staying over, isn’t she?”
“Pretty sure.” Zoey confirms. “I don’t think she’ll try leaving to go after Rumi or any demons or anything. But if she does then Sussie will probably let us know?”
“Oh yeah.” Mira huffs a laugh. “I saw him circling the tower before you came in. I think he’s kinda pissed that Celine tried to kill Jinu. Like he’s usually pretty disgruntled but if looks could kill, Celine would probably be dead three times over.”
“Feels kinda weird to trust a weird, maybe spirit bird thing over our mentor.” Zoey admits.
“Yeah, well,” Mira’s mood sours a little, “At least the Bird has never lied to us about something that big.”
—
Since they don’t have extra clothes with them and neither are keen on teleporting back home just to grab them, Bobby offers them some spare clothes to sleep in. But said spare clothes happen to be extra Huntrix merch he has on hand.
Hence Rumi’s current predicament: she was right about Jinu looking good in a Huntrix hoodie. She doesn’t know if it’s the purple, the plush material making him look comfy, or the fact that it’s Huntrix merch. Her merch.
It makes something purr just looking at him. Hers, it says, and Rumi has never pushed away a thought so quickly. Her whole face flushes bright red.
Jinu notices, blinking as he settles under the covers with her. There’s about a foot in between them at the moment but it feels like they’re much closer. “You… Alright? I can sleep on the couch if you want.”
“No.” Rumi tells him, too quickly. It doesn’t help her feel any less embarrassed. “No, you’re okay. Uh.” She swallows. “Sorry in advance if I dreamwalk. I really gotta figure out a way to leave dreams other than just waking up.”
“I told you, it’s okay.” Jinu really doesn’t look like he’s just saying that either. Softly, he adds, “It’s not so bad when you’re there. Though I can’t say it would be fun if I ever have a really bad dream again.”
Rumi can’t blame him. She really wishes she didn’t see half the things she did. Even if it was a dream, some of the things Dream Baby said sounded personal. Things she’s trying really hard to forget about from the breach of privacy alone.
Rumi clears her throat and shifts her whole body to look at him. Jinu almost immediately does the same, raising a curious eyebrow.
“Hey uh… You remember when I said I was mad at you but I still cared about you? Back when you first got your body back?”
“Yeah.” Jinu says. “I haven’t forgotten. Did I do something to bring this on?”
“Not really, I’ve just been thinking and… I thought it was obvious but I think you’re kinda bad at picking up on it so I’ll just say it outright: I’m not anymore. Mad at you, I mean.”
Jinu blinks almost owlishly. “Oh.” He pauses. “When did that happen?”
“I don’t know.” Rumi admits. “At some point. I didn’t even realize until earlier when we were talking in that alleyway. And I didn’t want to leave any room for doubt so I thought I should probably tell you. I’m not mad at you. I know Gwi-Ma put you under a lot of pressure and it still hurt at the time but… I forgive you. For everything.”
“…Oh.” Jinu says again, voice small. “That’s uh, that’s great, Rumi. Thank you.” He breathes in deeply but it sounds a little shaky. He laughs when he hears it. “I’m convinced you three did something to me. Never in my four-hundred years of life have I ever been this emotional.”
Rumi can’t help but giggle alongside him. “We opened up a water gate. I’m sorry to say that going from emotionally repressed to letting it all out includes a lot of crying that you won’t be used to, take it from me.”
“Put it back.” Jinu says while grinning and rubbing his eyes. “I’ll take emotional repression, thank you very much.”
“Too late now.” Rumi teases him. “Can’t go back. Not now, not ever.”
He sighs, loud and dramatic. “I guess there are some perks to it all.”
“Like?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
Rumi doesn’t know which thing he’s referring to. Here in the human realm, away from Gwi-Ma? Here as in alive and able to move on? Here as in… With her? All of the above?
She swallows before agreeing. “Yeah. That’s a pretty good perk.”
Jinu looks into her eyes again. It’s some mix of how good he looks in casual clothes, how relaxed and safe and warm he looks right now, and those stupidly soft looking eyes she can’t look away from that makes her brain go wild.
“You should wear Huntrix merch more often.” Rumi blurts out, then immediately covers her mouth.
Jinu looks at her like she just told him she loved him. Shocked and impossibly soft and not helping with all the weird feelings in her chest that she doesn’t know how to deal with. And Jinu doesn’t make it any better when he croaks out an, “Okay.”
Rumi’s arm flails out to turn off the lamp as she quickly tells him, “Okay, goodnight.” The moment the lights are out however, Rumi is rudely reminded that her tactic to escape having to look into Jinu’s eyes is thwarted by her night vision she completely forgot about.
Jinu’s mouth twists into a smile he’s fighting when he has the exact same realization. Rumi stubbornly turns on her other side and shuts her eyes. When she hears Jinu’s half stifled snicker, she blindly kicks out but misses, making him laugh harder.
She’s too tired to try again. It’s definitely not because after the day they've all had, it’s nice to listen to him laugh.
Notes:
Yes, Rumi and Jinu at Bobby's place being sandwiched in between Mira and Zoey's confrontations with Celine IS an attempt to not make this chapter complete angst. Hopefully it did its job somewhat.
Mira having family issues and Zoey being a child of divorce IS very integral to how their confrontation with Celine goes, Mira's being a little more obvious than Zoey's. While Mira IS harsh here, Celine has also been in a particular mindset for a long time and kinda needs to hear it or she might not realize it on her own.
There are three bisexuals having dinner in Bobby's penthouse but only two of them know they're bisexual. I don't think Jinu is in denial, I just think he has never heard of the label before/doesn't know the meaning of it. It's just important to me that you know I write Rujinu as bi4bi.
*Points at Zoey's section* Saja Heist has not been delayed. It's actually weirdly more on track than before. Celine's house is basically a library for hunters and EVERY good plan needs a library/some kind of research aspect.
Anyways anyways, I hope y'all enjoyed this! You can probably guess some of the things to happen in the next chapter! Comments and Kudos are everything to be and thank you very much to everyone loving and being so supportive of this fic, it really is amazing and motivating! Thanks for reading and I'll see y'all next time <3
Chapter 14: Apples And Their Trees
Summary:
Rumi has two different conversations. She doesn’t quite get the results she wants out of either of them.
Notes:
I say this a lot but I really mean it this time when I say this chapter FOUGHT me. It's not even as long as it could've been but oh boy did it give me trouble. I wrote and rewrote the middle section of this fic until it felt somewhat presentable so. This is the best I can do right now. Hopefully its good.
ALSO. THIS FIC HAS 2K KUDOS NOW. THAT'S CRAZY!!! THANKS Y'ALL I WOULDN'T BE HERE WITHOUT YOU!!! I SINCERELY HOPE YOU ENJOY THE REST OF THE FIC THAT'S COMING!!!
Warnings for this chapter (Semi-Recommended)
Implied/Referenced Torture, A couple references to Rumi's suicidal thoughts during her last meeting with Celine, References to parental death, and generally a good amount of discomfort that comes with tough conversations.
Also I know I haven't replied to comments from the last chapter yet, sorry, but I will tomorrow! I just had a long-ish day today but still really wanted to put this chapter out since it's done and finished and ready to be published so here we are.
Anyways, enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Rumi blinks slowly in the vast darkness surrounding her, laying there for one moment, then two.
Then immediately bolts upright. The weight of her body is wrong again but it’s not quite as jarring as the other times— it’s too light right now but not so much that it feels like she’s floating. Her head swivels all around her, taking in all of the tiny lights in the vast space.
No, not lights. Souls. Demon souls. Some are brighter than others, noticeably all the ones closer to her. One in particular lies right next to her, so close that she’s almost touching, but not quite. When Rumi looks down at that soul, something familiar sparks in her mind. A memory of warmth— she knows this soul.
It’s Jinu’s.
Almost instinctively, Rumi reaches out but stops herself just before she can touch it. If she’s doing that thing again— dream walking or soul connecting or soul… traveling somehow— then she has a sneaking suspicion what trying to interact with Jinu’s soul will do. And if she can help it, she’d rather not get stuck in his dreams again. Assuming he is dreaming— Rumi doesn’t actually know what would happen if he’s not. Maybe that’s why she didn’t immediately get pulled into it again.
Rumi can’t help but feel unsteady on her feet as she rises. She attempts to shake some of the feeling off but it only works to an extent. Carefully, she begins to venture out, side stepping souls so she doesn’t get sucked into any of them. She tries to think back to all the other times she did this— she had never really been thinking about it much. She just… Heard something and latched onto it. Let it guide her.
Most, if not all, of the souls seem to be whispering. If Rumi tries to listen to one voice or another, it almost seems to become louder to her. It’s a bit overwhelming but considering how often Rumi performs for roaring crowds or spends hours at fan events, this is undeniably something she can handle.
The number of souls seems to stretch out for miles but as Rumi maneuvers past them, she feels like she has no problem moving even faster than usual here. She’s lighter, more agile, not quite attached to her body but also not completely weightless either. Somewhere in between.
There’s a certain point where the souls get a bit dimmer. Rumi stops to stare at those, remembering how weak Jinu’s was after they banished Gwi-Ma. It’s not quite to that point but they’re not as vibrant as the ones she already passed either.
Rumi blinks and just for a moment, she swears she sees something connected to all the dimmer souls— wrapped around them and leading elsewhere. Strings?
She blinks again and they’re gone. A frown tugs on her lips but it only spurs her on to move faster. Into the sea of dimmer souls, past the various clusters those are all packed in, until—
Rumi squints at one soul in particular. She could be wrong but… It feels familiar to her. Vaguely, not nearly on the same level as Jinu’s, but enough for her to be willing to take that risk, reaching down to touch it.
In an instant, Rumi is transported. An underground prison cell she’s seen once before surrounds her, almost exactly how she remembers it. And when she looks over, she finds who she’s looking for, still with a glowing shackle around his wrist and worse for wear, but not as bad as last time.
Her presence is immediately noted as Romance startles the second she appears. This time she’s almost certain that something shimmers and changes about him as he looks up but doesn’t know what. Upon getting a good look at her, Romance’s whole body sags again, shooting her an exasperated look.
“Great. Another hallucination. As if I don’t have enough to deal with.”
“I’m not a hallucination. I’m real.” Rumi tells him, trying to project as much seriousness into her voice as she can.
“Right, right,” Romance waves her off, “I’m a part of your dream, I forgot. You have really terrible dreams, you know that? There must be something wrong with you.”
“That’s—!” Rumi pushes any offense away, taking a few steps forward so she can crouch in front of him. Romance props his head up with one hand, raising an eyebrow. “I was wrong before. You’re not a dream. We’re both real.”
“Really.” His tone drips with skepticism. “Okay. Sure. A ghostly hunter is somehow breaking into my cell to talk to me. That’s a reasonable turn of events.”
“I’m— I’m not a ghost!” Rumi protests, then pauses. “I… Don’t know what I am right now. A soul maybe?”
“Ghost, soul, it’s all schematics.” Romance huffs, giving her a once over. “In this scenario, are you dead? Because I’d be pissed if that were true.”
“I’m not dead.” Rumi gives him a weird look. “Why would that piss you off if I was?”
“Because then that idiot would’ve died for nothing.” The last bit comes out a hiss, the slightest hint of something deeper and more demonic in his voice.
Rumi’s breath catches in her throat. “Jinu, you mean.” She says. Romance doesn’t reply but doesn’t deny it either. “He didn’t die. Jinu’s still alive.”
Romance tears his eyes away with a scoff. “You’re that kind of hallucination then. No, he couldn’t have survived that, nobody could’ve. No, he couldn’t have somehow switched himself out with some kind of double, he was burning up and no illusion would’ve held up against that. No, Gwi-Ma can do many things but implant fake memories in your head is not one of them. He’s gone, there’s no reasoning with that.”
“His soul.” Rumi prods. “He gave it to me. Gwi-Ma wasn’t able to get to it.”
“Wishful thinking.” Romance narrows his eyes, still not looking at her. “The hunter was half demon anyhow, it probably got all used up by her, even if he was able to escape being killed by the flames.”
“I’m a hunter, I don’t use souls like that. I connect to them, like I’m connecting to yours now.”
“Hunters connect to human souls.” At last, Romance looks at her, but only to give her a flat stare. “I haven’t been human in over three-hundred years. Stop doing this.”
“Doing what? Trying to give you something to hope for?” Rumi pushes back. Romance barks out a laugh.
“Yes! Fucking yes! Do you realize how cruel you’re being right now?” His teeth are bared, his smile is sharp and crooked and all wrong. There’s nothing happy about it in the slightest. “What good is hope here? What good is it to try to convince myself I was wrong about a death I watched happen with my own two eyes? Where does that get me, even if one of my crackshot theories is right and he somehow survived all that? I’m still here! And I’m—…”
Romance breaks off, whole body drooping to the point of his face plopping right into his hands. He groans into them, muffled and weak. Rumi feels terrible just looking at him, some of the fight dying out on her tongue.
There are things she wants to say but none of it seems right at the moment. Rumi chews on her lip trying to think. Romance remains with his face in his hands, unmoving.
“If I’m a hallucination,” Rumi says slowly, “Why do you keep talking to me?”
“Because you’re the best conversationalist I have at the moment.” Romance answers, not lifting his head. “Between all the demons in disguises trying to fuck with me and Gwi-Ma, it’s been pretty dull. They never talk about how dull captivity is— I have nothing to do but wait around and try not to drive myself mad.”
Rumi takes that in slowly. Demons in disguises— is that what he thought she was when she first did this by accident?
“You don’t see the other Saja Boys at all?” She ends up asking.
“Not since I ended up here.” Romance gestures vaguely around the cell with the hand not attached to a chain. “Last I saw them was the trial— if it can be called that.” He rolls his eyes, then goes silent for a while. “…There’s a possibility they’re all dead and I’m the last Saja Boy alive. But it’s not a high possibility, especially considering how Gwi-Ma hasn’t summoned me at all in a few days.”
“And that’s a… Bad thing?” His tone suggests it is but Rumi isn’t following the why of it.
“It’s a double edged sword. If he’s not tormenting me, he’s tormenting one of the others. And as much as I would love to be left alone,” Romance grimaces to himself, “It comes at a price. Because of course it does.”
Her heart squeezes, thinking about what it would be like if she had to think that way about Mira or Zoey or Jinu. “It’ll get better.” She promises. Romance scoffs.
“Sure. Maybe sometime in the next decade, Gwi-Ma will get bored and either eat my soul or turn me into a faceless husk of who I once was. Either way I’ll be out of here, right?”
“Romance,” Rumi narrows her eyes, keeping her voice firm, “It will get better.”
The look he gives her is less than impressed. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Yes, Rumi thinks, not budging, you will. She doubts voicing it will make him change his mind however.
Seeing as how she’s not waking up yet, Rumi fully sits down and crisscrosses her legs. Romance watches her passively, eyeing her over before asking, “Isn’t it a bit egotistical to wear your own merch?”
Rumi squawks. “I distinctly remember seeing you model your own merch on your website!”
“Modeling is different.” Romance insists. “Besides, other than Jinu I’m the only one who could model.” He holds up one hand and starts listing off, “Abby kept ripping the shirts and sweatshirts, Mystery doesn’t handle being under spotlight for long periods of time very well, and Baby isn’t really a people person. He does professional stuff well enough but he has his limits.”
“Huh.” Rumi pauses. “That explains why it was mostly you and Jinu then, other than the group pic on the home page.” She squints at him, “Who even designed your website? Jinu is hopeless with technology.”
“Some of the newer demons. Ones who haven’t even been around for a decade.” He lets out a huff of a laugh. “Baby used to say you could roughly tell how long a demon has been around for just by watching how they act for a few seconds. I used to tell him that sounded like bullshit but… I’ve started to see what he means. I could tell those demons were newer, even if one of them looked physically older than me. They just act like it.”
“Like what?” She raises an eyebrow.
Romance huffs. “It’s not easy to explain if you haven’t been here as long as I have. The best I’ve got is that they’re not… Hardened like everyone else. Not as on guard. Hopeful, sometimes. Abby is still like that. Mystery… He’s still got his soft edges.”
“And you don’t?” Rumi translates.
“Not like them. I’m not quite like Baby or—” he bites his tongue and corrects himself, “I’m not like Baby. But I’m not so different from him either. I thought for sure one of these days I’d end up as paranoid as he is but I guess at least I never have to see that happen.”
Rumi opens her mouth but her whole body flickers. Romance clicks his tongue. “Guess that’s all the conversation I’m getting this week.”
“I’ll be back.” Rumi promises, feeling the tug that’s pulling her back. While she’s still got the time, she blurts out, “Do you seriously think I’m a hallucination?”
Something flickers in Romance’s eyes. “It’s easier if you are.”
“And if I’m not?”
He doesn’t answer that, even though he has plenty of time before Rumi is shooting upright in her bed.
Or— not her bed. Bobby’s spare bed. She doesn't like it as much as her own but still pretty comfortable— the sheets are soft and blue. Rumi stares at the wall and slowly collects herself.
This was progress. Rumi still has no idea how to control which nights she uses her power and which nights she doesn’t though. Can she activate it purposefully? Can she find a way to stay longer if she tries hard enough and resist the urge to wake up? Can she make herself wake up or— or go back to whatever void or in between place she finds herself in to escape someone’s dreams or stop seeing out of their eyes? How does she tell who’s who? Can she find the other Saja Boys somehow to confirm to Jinu that—
Jinu.
Rumi scrambles over to him, one leg swinging over to his other side as she grabs onto his shoulders as she shakes him awake. Jinu immediately flails and thankfully Rumi sees the claws come out just before he blindly swipes.
“Hey!” Rumi yells as she reels back. Jinu blinks owlishly at her presence, eyes briefly golden before they swap back to brown. She can see him visibly wake up and process the situation.
“Shit, my bad…” Jinu breathes out. “Maybe next time don’t shake me awake like that, it freaked me out.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Rumi relaxes. She can’t say she’s never taken a swing when startled before. “I saw him again. Romance.”
Jinu blinks again, breath catching in his throat. “He’s still alive then?” She nods vigorously. He tips his head back, groaning in pure relief. “Thank fuck.”
“I tried to tell him I was real and you were alive but he didn’t really believe me.”
Jinu looks like he isn’t surprised by that. A few different emotions flicker through his eyes but a frown seems to tug at his lips. “Romance… Did he look different at all?” Jinu asks slowly.
“Uh.” Rumi winces. “He wasn’t exactly in the best state, no…”
Jinu shakes his head quickly. “I meant… Physical looks. Still look pretty Romance-y? Like— you saw his demon form briefly at our concert, right? About the same or..?”
The question is obviously angling for something but Rumi isn’t quite sure what. “Uh… Yeah, I think so? Just… Pink hair, patterns on his face, that sort of thing?”
Whatever answer that gives him makes Jinu’s face tighten. She raises an eyebrow in a silent question but Jinu huffs and shakes his head. “It’s a long story, he’s just… He’s not making the smartest choices and the worst part is that I know he knows that.”
“Okay…” Rumi’s head whirls with possibilities but has a feeling Jinu isn’t going to confirm any of them. “We’ll just have to save him and the others so he can stop having to make those choices?”
“Yeah.” Jinu agrees, voice soft. His eyes are too— and the hoodie really isn’t making things any better and—
“Are you two up? I heard—” Bobby opens up the door but stops dead, a squeak interrupting his sentence.
Rumi rapidly realizes that she’s, technically, straddling Jinu right now. With her arms on his shoulders, looking down on him from above. And from Bobby’s perspective…
“I am… So sorry.” Bobby fumbles for the door knob blindly. “It didn’t sound like you two were getting romantic or—!”
“We weren’t doing anything!” Rumi quickly tells him, rolling right off of Jinu. “I just— I was telling him about something—!”
“Regardless, I probably should’ve knocked, that’s my bad.” Bobby holds his hands up apologetically. His eyes are still darting between them. When she looks, Rumi noted that Jinu’s face is flushed and slightly dazed. “Uh… I was gonna order some hotteok but I wanted to make sure that was something Jinu could eat?”
“Oh, yeah.” Jinu lets out a breath like he forgot how to breathe for a minute there. “That’s something I’ve actually tried before.”
Rumi gives him a look. “You’ve tried hotteok before but not dakgangjeong? Or any kind of galbi? Or half the snacks in our kitchen until a few weeks ago?”
“Baby did all the grocery shopping and tracking down new things to eat in his free time. We just ate whatever he brought back.” Jinu defends weakly. “Take it up with him.”
“I’ll order some for all of us!” Bobby smiles but he’s slowly inching away. “I’ll— I’ll text you when it’s here!”
He shuts the door behind him. Rumi drops her face into her hands.
It’s quiet for a while as Rumi stews in her own mortification. Then Jinu coughs and says, “Uh, thanks. For checking up on Romance. It’s good to hear he’s alive.”
Rumi lets out a long breath. “I’ll try to find the others. Make sure they’re all alive too.”
“If he is, I have a feeling they all are.” Jinu says. She can’t quite discern the tone but he looks deep in thought. Silence falls over them but it’s not as heavy as she would expect.
Rumi flops back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She has a few things to consider herself.
—
Huntrix Don’t Miss Groupchat
Mira: hey rumi. still doing alright?
Rumi: Yeah. Bobby has been pretty great! Not surprised he’s as good of a host as he is as managing.
Rumi: How did it go with Celine..?
Mira: hell if i know
Zoey: she stayed the night but she hasn’t really done anything but stare out the window pensively and drink tea all morning?
Zoey: both Sussie and Derpy keep glaring at her. i haven’t seen Derpy this upset since Jinu came back!!
Rumi: Oh wow, okay. I guess they know she attacked Jinu.
Rumi: So… If I came back to talk to her today, do you think that’s a good idea?
Mira: you want to?
Rumi: I really wanna rip the bandaid off. It’s killing me to leave everything unspoken.
Rumi: I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, so… Now or never, right?
Mira: you can do whatever you wanna do rumi. i just don’t want you to do anything you’re gonna regret later
Rumi: I think even if it goes badly, I’d rather have gotten it over with than having waited ages to do it.
Rumi: So… Give me the room to talk to her? Maybe give her a heads up so she can think about what to say too?
Mira: if that’s what you want
Zoey: do u need backup??
Rumi: I think I’d rather have this conversation alone. But if either of you would feel better being a room over or something, I wouldn’t mind that.
Rumi: I have no idea where Jinu should go. Is it safe back home? Or should I ask Bobby if he can hang around here?
Zoey: i can borrow him!!
Zoey: i’ll take him on my field trip :)
Rumi: Field trip?
Zoey: i’m gonna go take a bunch of hunter books and stuff from Celine’s library!! an extra pair of hands would help carry it all!!
Mira: wait how are you even getting there
Mira: are you taking our driver?
Zoey: nope!
Zoey: i have my ways ;)
Zoey: tell Jinu to meet me on the rooftop!!
Rumi: Rooftop????
Mira: oh my fucking god
Rumi: What??
Mira: she’s herding Derpy into the elevator with her
Rumi: WHAT???
Zoey: rooftop! tell Jinu!
Zoey: also it’s probably obvious by now but i’m stealing Derpy for the time being so Sussie will be your emotional support bird for the next couple hours!!
Mira: i didn’t know he could BE emotionally supportive
Rumi: Jinu says Sussie can provide emotional support on occasion.
Mira: is he reading over your shoulder
Mira: jinu get a fucking phone already
Rumi: Jinu says technology doesn’t agree with him.
Mira: im about to fucking disagree with him if he doesn’t figure it out soon
Mira: texting is NOT that hard
Mira: tell him every day he delays working on his technology issues is another day that cements him as an old man in a deceptively youthful body
Rumi: He grumbled something under his breath but I have no idea what he said.
Rumi: Andddd there he goes. Off with Zoey probably. Have fun you two!
Mira: so if you’re gonna talk with celine alone-ish and zoey is taking jinu on her field trip
Mira: am i just. sidelined
Rumi: You want company?
Mira: i mean ill be fine. just bored
Rumi: That’s Mira-talk for ‘I don’t want to be totally alone for the next few hours’.
Rumi: Don’t worry, I got something in mind.
—
There are gaps in Rumi’s memory from the day of the Idol Awards. Both between her confrontation with Jinu and meeting up with Celine, as well as leaving her meeting with Celine in order to head to the Saja Boys’ concert. During both of these, Rumi is pretty sure she teleported for the first time, completely unintentionally. Her memory of it all is a blur.
It’s not particularly a memory she wants to remember.
Right now she’s experiencing the exact opposite however. Whereas her journey to and from Celine happened in the blink of an eye before, Rumi finds herself painfully aware of every second she nears closer to home now. In the car, in the elevator, in the hall as she trades a nervous smile with Mira and directs her to where Bobby is waving at her in the elevator, then finally all the way to where their dining table is.
Where Celine is already waiting, a fresh cup of tea set out in anticipation. Her eyes lock onto her. Rumi’s throat bobs as she pushes herself to walk over and take a seat. The steam coming off the tea fills her senses. Celine hasn’t looked away from her once, a look in her eye Rumi hasn’t seen since that night.
Already she’s overwhelmed. She keeps herself firmly anchored so as to not suddenly teleport off again. She already did twice. She really doesn’t want to make it three times.
Both of them startle as the tense silence is broken by a flap of feathers and blur of movement. Sussie perches himself on Rumi’s shoulder, settling down like he intends to stay. Rumi has very rarely seen him display any positive emotion outside of any time Zoey gives him head scritches and the few times he looks smug rather than annoyed but right now, he looks like he’s in an even worse mood than usual. He’s glaring at Celine but his soft feathers are pressing up against Rumi’s neck and cheek.
Rumi feels like she should be honored he’s being… Protective and/or comforting to her right now? But she’s mostly just thrown off by the sudden shift in behavior.
Celine is no better, eyeing Sussie like she truly doesn’t know how to react. “…Your magpie spirit doesn’t like me much.”
“He’s Jinu’s.” Rumi automatically corrects.
“Ah.” Celine grimaces ever so slightly. “That would explain it.”
They both fall silent again. Sussie’s feathers tickle her neck. Rumi can’t tell if it’s intentional but it does strangely help her get out of her head and find the words she wants to say.
“Why…” She begins, a thousand questions on her tongue but ends up on, “Why did you wait so long to contact us again?”
Celine’s mouth opens like there’s something she was going to say, then noticeably hesitates. “I… Told myself I needed time to process what happened. I saw the new Honmoon— I saw you all on TV, your victory and new patterns— and I wanted to see if I could do any research to discover anything about them. To have something to give you all when I saw you all again. But I have nothing and all I did was wait too long.”
Her eyes flicker over to the patterns on Rumi’s face. “They’re… Nice. Like the new Honmoon.” She offers.
It should feel good to have her looking at her again. Rumi just feels sick. “I wish you liked them before they changed.” She admits before she can take it back. She immediately wants to but it’s no less true. I wish you loved this part of me before it became more palatable.
“Rumi…” Celine trails off. “I never meant to make you feel unloved or uncertain about your identity. I thought if we focused on the hunter aspect, we could ignore the demonic one. That you could be from this world and not theirs but… You’re unlike any hunter before you. I should have taken that into account.”
“And… Now?” Rumi prompts, feeling smaller than she wants to be.
“Now… It’s up to you.” Celine says slowly. “Out of my hands. Whatever you will be, I’m sure you can keep the world just as safe as every hunter before you.”
“And you’re…” Rumi has to clear her throat as her shakiness catches up to her. “You’re okay with it? Me being half demon and embracing that part of myself?”
Celine doesn’t immediately answer, something pained flashing on her face. Rumi’s hands ball up. “Celine…”
“I’m trying to wrap my head around all of this, Rumi, I really am.” Celine says slowly. “It's new and goes against everything I’ve been taught. I don’t completely understand it all—”
“You don’t need to understand it, I just want you to accept me.” Rumi chokes out. Her chest hurts already. Some part of her hates voicing any of this at all but she knows she has to. What good has covering it all up ever done? All the conversations she and Celine should’ve had over the years— she has to have them now.
It’s either she has them now or they stay locked up forever, and Rumi needs this weight out of her chest or else she’ll one day die with it.
“I— I do. Or I’m trying to.”
“I’ve been alive for twenty-six years— I’ve been this way this whole time!” Rumi feels the tremble in her shoulders start up. Sussie lets out a quiet, low rumble as he presses closer to her cheek. “I… I just don’t understand. All this time, I tried to be good and do everything that was asked of me.”
“And you did— you’ve always been a good kid.” Celine is quick to tell her.
“So why is this part of me so hard to love?”
“It’s not that. I do love you.” Celine takes a deep breath. “I… I admit, I was shaky in the beginning. I didn’t know how to handle your demonic side so I thought if I could just focus on you being Miyeong’s daughter and not his, it would be alright.”
Something snags on her heart strings. Before the topic of her father was more than taboo but Rumi has already said so many things she never thought she’d say. She might as well go all the way. “Do you even know what his name was?”
Celine once again hesitates. “I… I only met him the day your mother was killed. I never saw him again after he ran but… Do-hee,” Rumi is temporarily shocked by the name— Celine hardly ever brings up the third Sunlight Sister, “She brought him up in our fight. Called him ‘Memento’. Apparently she met him a week prior to me.”
For a moment, Rumi can say nothing. Long has she wondered about her father but never has she had a name, nor a face to match with it. Having one now, twenty-six years later, she can hardly believe it. “And… My mother…”
“Knew he was a demon.” Celine says slowly. “But loved him enough to have a child regardless. I never learned how or why. Even now, I don’t understand it.”
Rumi has heard the story of how her mother died only a handful of times. Rumi had only been three weeks old. Celine and her father had been present when her mother was killed by a monster. Celine never elaborated further on the event. She said the monster was no longer a threat. She said her father ran and was never seen again. She said the event tore the Sunlight Sisters apart and that Do-hee refuses to speak to her even now, blaming her for what happened. That her mother’s dying wish was for Celine to raise Rumi and protect her. That Celine took that oath very seriously.
“You know nothing else about him..?” Rumi murmurs.
“He was one of the human-looking demons. I assumed he once was before making a deal.” Celine tells her. “Had black hair, though many of them do. Other than that, no, I can’t say much.”
It’s not enough to fill the small void in her chest. The part of her that always wondered what kind of demon could’ve made her mother ignore what she had been taught and have a child with him. A mistake, she always thought before. Her mother would still be alive if she had never had her. She was probably targeted because of Rumi— but was she? Rumi never asked. She assumed. Based on all the clues she had, it was the best assumption she could make.
“And you couldn’t have told me this before?” Rumi tries not to sound bitter. By the look on Celine’s face, she doesn’t think she succeeds.
“I didn’t want you to feel divided.” Celine says. “It’s always been us vs them— I didn’t want you to feel like we were against you too.”
“You never said that.” Her chest is fracturing again, heart gushing out of the cracks. “You just said to cover up, just insisted I was a hunter and not like them, but the patterns were supposed to be a sign of a demon’s corruption and mine just kept growing, so that meant— that I was—!”
“That wasn’t my—!”
“You hurt me!” The words burst out of her, tears springing to her eyes. “I know you didn’t mean it, I know you loved me in your own way but— you hurt me. Do you get that?”
“Of— of course I do.” Celine’s voice takes a hoarse edge, more uncertain than before. “After you asked— that of me, I knew I clearly went wrong somewhere if you thought I would ever—… I— I don’t know how it got this bad, Rumi. I don’t know how I let it get that bad!”
Was it always bad? Rumi wonders. Was this always lurking under the surface, waiting to come out the second something broke? Did she just never notice it before because it was always like this so how was she supposed to know any differently? Or did it change at some point? Did the love she grew up with slowly become more like pressure keeping her down, making her feel as though she was suffocating in an effort to conform to what was expected of her?
Rumi knows she’s changed now. She’s still herself but she’s changed. She just doesn’t know if Celine has at all. If she will. If…
She swallows thickly. “If you’re sorry then… Why can’t you say it?”
Celine says nothing for a very long time. Then quietly asks, “Is that not what I’m doing?”
“You’ve said a lot of things.” Rumi points out quietly. “But you’ve never actually said sorry.”
“Well… I am. I am sorry, Rumi. For whatever I might’ve done to make you think I could ever raise a weapon to you. For whatever I did to contribute to the state I saw you in that night.”
Rumi breathes out slowly. “Okay.” She says, because she has no idea what else to say. “Okay.”
She hasn’t touched the tea left out for her once. Rumi reaches out and sips it to soothe how raw her throat feels. Between that and the steady pressure of Sussie on her shoulder, she is somehow still anchored to this moment.
“Rumi.” Celine says. Rumi manages to meet her gaze again. “I don’t want to lose you but I don’t know how to make this up to you.”
“I…” Rumi wipes one of her eyes, searching her thoughts for answers. “I don’t know. This is a lot. Being here with you is a lot. Just— don’t attack any demons that don’t attack you? We sort of have a good thing going on here and…”
“And you don’t want me to ruin it.” Celine finishes quietly. Rumi winces but can’t dispute it, no matter how much some part of her wants to. It feels wrong to talk to Celine like this but this is the furthest she’s ever gotten with her. It’s never worked any other way.
“That demon— Zoey called him Jinu. She said he saved your life.”
“He did.” Rumi confirms. “So I saved his.”
Celine studies her face. “I… See. And you two are..?”
“We’re figuring it out.” Rumi abruptly feels— protective? It’s hard to name the feeling. Zoey said Celine tried to kill him. The thought made her panic before but right now… She doesn’t know. She just knows she doesn’t want to hear any sort of disapproval out of her right now. “He’s here to stay. I don’t need you to understand it. I just need you to accept it.”
Celine huffs an almost-laugh. “Mira said something very similar to me the other day. The three of you… You’ve grown so much more than I realized. It feels like just yesterday you were all debuting for the first time and now… It’s as if you’ve somehow surpassed me when I wasn’t looking.”
Celine looks her over once again, eyes briefly lingering on where Sussie remains with at least two of his ever-watchful eyes on her. Then she asks, “Do you want me to leave?”
“I…” The question feels loaded. Rumi answers it carefully. “We have a lot going on right now and I’m a little overwhelmed by all this. I don’t want you to disappear but— please just text or call next time?”
“Okay.” Celine says quietly. Rumi doesn’t know why she’s bothered by it. Why none of this feels right. She’s agreeing with her, shouldn’t that feel good? Shouldn’t this all be the best case scenario? She’s not going to interfere with their work or try to forbid her from Jinu or— anything. She’s just… Giving in.
It should feel like a victory. Progress. So why does Rumi feel like both of them have lost?
—
Rumi steps out of the elevator alone. Celine left without much of a fuss and Sussie seemed insistent on watching her leave. Rumi barely managed to say goodbye, a pit still in her chest.
The sound of familiar music fills this floor of their tower, drawing her out of her thoughts. Rumi frowns and follows the sound of it coming from their personal gym. She pushes the doors open softly, the wave of sound hitting her the second she does, along with the additional sound of shoes squeaking.
“Give it just a little more— there you go, now you’re owning it.” There’s a grin in Mira’s voice, she can hear it.
“I’m done hiding, now I’m shining,” Bobby is singing along to the music.
“Like I’m born to be!” Both of them harmonize together, Bobby’s voice being a little rusty but undeniably passionate.
Rumi steps inside quietly, not wanting to disturb the scene. She folds her arms and leans against the wall behind her, taking it all in.
On top of Golden blasting over the speakers, Mira and Bobby seem to be going through its choreography. Rumi has seen Bobby mirror some of their routines alongside them before but she’s never fully grasped that he’s actually kinda good at it. Then again, anyone who sees them practice it dozens of times over probably would be.
Both of them are grinning and clearly have gotten pretty into it seeing as how neither have noticed her presence. Despite the choreography being meant for three people, they’re still doing pretty well for the two of them. Bobby seems to know most of the dance but occasionally glances at Mira for guidance to make sure he gets it right. Mira leads confidently and Bobby is doing a pretty decent job of matching that confidence.
Rumi’s pretty sure it’s more about having fun than it is about getting it right anyhow.
At last, they strike their poses at the end, the music slowly fading out. Bobby is panting just a bit but his grin stretches from ear to ear. Mira holds her hand out for a high five. Bobby enthusiastically hits it.
“That’s the one.” Mira tells him, a bit of pride in her voice. “Good work. We could probably make a video of you dancing with all three of us and post it on our socials. It would probably get a lot of attention— people love that kind of thing.”
“You think?” Bobby huffs a laugh. “I don’t know; they’re there for you guys, not me.”
“You’re a part of Huntrix too.” Mira insists. “As much as any of us.”
“See?” Rumi calls over, catching both of their attention. “It’s not just me, Bobby. All three of us love you to death.”
“Rumi…” Mira doesn’t waste any time jogging over, Bobby not far behind her. “Where’s Celine? How did it go?”
“It was… Fine.” Rumi strains a smile. It’s not a lie. It was fine. She didn’t cry as much as she thought she would. She didn’t leave feeling like she lost the person who raised her. It was just… Fine.
Neither Mira nor Bobby look very reassured by her answer. They glance at each other and back. Rumi clears her throat. “But uh, to answer your question, Celine is heading home. She’ll stay in touch and… Let us do our thing.”
Mira furrows her brow. “You’re… Disappointed.”
“I don’t know what I feel.” Rumi admits. “I liked watching you guys though. I’m really glad I have you all.”
Mira’s gaze softens. “Need a distraction?” Rumi nods, she’s too drained to relay everything she and Celine talked about. She’d rather do that when Zoey and Jinu get back anyway. “Wanna join us? We’re going through some of our best routines.”
“Even though I said they were all good.” Bobby pipes up.
“Some of my work is better than others.” The corner of Mira’s mouth tips upwards.
“I’m not really feeling up to it. But I’d love to watch and be your cheerleader.” Rumi gives them a small smile. Mira nods and firmly points at the refrigerator. Rumi gets the message— she needs to hydrate and eat something to feel better. She’s probably right.
Rumi trails over to pick something out as Mira and Bobby debate the next routine to do. The cold water bottle she takes out of the fridge helps her not feel so numb and the warmth from Mira and Bobby’s smiles and laughter reaches somewhere in her chest that her conversation with Celine couldn’t quite touch before.
Notes:
I know the last like, THREE chapters have been pretty heavy BUT. I am happy to announce the next chapter is a really good one!! Trust me. It's a reward for both y'all AND me. Consider it my payment for any therapy bills I've given you all over the past fourteen chapters.
Writing Celine has been so hard because she's. Really Bad at communicating and doesn't realize it. She thinks she's saying what she's trying to say but unfortunately she is Not and it's not helping her relationships with any of the girls. Everyone in this fic needs therapy and the only person who has gotten it is Bobby. That's why he's well adjusted. (The girls have probably also seen therapists over the years, or at the VERY least Mira has, but they could all use some more).
Third Sunlight Sister AND Rumi's dad name drop in the same chapter babyyyyyy! Reminder that all demon names usually have a reason behind them... But it'll be a little while before we learn more about him so uh. You'll have to chew on that for a WHILE, sorry!
Celine's use of the word 'Monster' over 'Demon' is... Very deliberate here. A very particular piece of the concept art may apply to this fic. That's all I'm gonna say for now.
Romance 🤝Early Movie Jinu
Ragebaiting Rumi
In Romance's defense, he's been having a rough month. He can have a little ragebaiting. As a treat, to amuse himself.Every chapter we get closer to Saja Heist and I'm excited for both that AND getting to write all these guys together. We got healing. Shenanigans. Angst. Bonding. It'll be a good time I think :)
Also a decent number of you thought Zoey was gonna use Rumi's teleportation to get the books from Celine's place BUT. Zoey has been wanting an excuse to ride on Derpy for WEEKS. She's taking that flying spirit tiger straight to the skies.
ANYWAYS. I hope this chapter was enjoyable! Comments and Kudos are everythinggg and thank you y'all for giving them, as well as reading this far!! Until next time <3
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