Chapter Text
Mira paced back and forth over the sterile office carpet, her arms crossed. Finally she stopped and stared at Celine. “Rumi has patterns,” she said, flatly. Without giving her a chance to respond, she added, “Real ones. Demon patterns.”
Celine tried to meet Mira’s gaze, but couldn’t force herself to. She instead averted her eyes, staring at the floor. She could feel the hunter’s stare boring right through her soul.
“Yes,” she finally whispered. “Rumi has patterns. But she is not a demon.”
“Then you’re going to explain everything, right now, or I walk. And when I tell Zoey, she will too. You know she will.”
Celine let the silence hang for just a moment before solemnly nodding in agreement. “If we’re going to have this conversation now, I’m going to need a drink first. And Zoey should be here,” she said, standing from her desk and crossing the room to the small liquor cabinet against the wall.
Mira nodded, already pulling her phone out to call her, watching Celine. Thoughts spiraling, all the thoughts that had been spiraling through her head for hours now, had brought her here.
The day had started like any other day. Combat training with the girls, meetings with Bobby and other people whose names were hard to keep track of. Jae-something in charge of stage effects. Yun-whoever, who wanted to verify Mira’s part of their rider. Lunch with Zoey. Normal.
Then came choreo practice. It wasn’t even something that ambitious, just a side step and turn for her and Rumi, and Zoey would jump between them and slide. It should’ve been easy.
But Zoey tripped, and crashed into Rumi. It was fine, accidents happen. That’s why they practiced so much. But this time, Rumi’s shirt caught on one of the monitors as she moved to stand up, and pulled it away just enough for Mira to see something peeking out from her collarbone.
Something purple and sinister. Just iridescent enough to make sure you could tell it wasn’t a tattoo. The same thing the girls had seen on countless demons. Patterns.
It was over in an instant. Zoey hadn’t seen anything, and Rumi had fixed her shirt reflexively. Mira had quickly turned away, trying to avoid eye contact. She was certain Rumi hadn’t noticed, and she forced herself to remain silent.
As the other girls reset for another take, Mira felt her ears tingle, a heavy ringing growing in them as she felt her chest tighten and her pulse quicken. Bile rising in her throat that she forced herself to swallow.
“I gotta go!” She shouted, running out of the studio. Darting into the restroom, she locked the door and forced herself toward the sink, splashing water onto her face before looking in the mirror.
Mira didn’t like who she saw. The girl in the mirror was confused, scared, and pale as a ghost. Rumi, her Rumi, was a demon? Or…part demon? Mira struggled to reconcile what she’d seen just a few moments before with what she’d seen the past few years since Huntr/x was formed.
Rumi was a capable hunter. She never hesitated to slay a demon, and she never showed any signs of resentment or ruthlessness. Rumi was…perfect. The best of them, though Mira hated to admit it.
Mira felt an ache in her chest as if she’d been stabbed. She had a dozen questions, and only one person had any answers. Well, two people, but she couldn’t face Rumi right now. One person had been with Rumi from the very beginning, raising her as if she were her own child. If there was an answer to be had, Celine would have it.
In a daze, Mira managed to pull out her phone to summon a car. She felt sluggish, almost drunk as she slumped her way into the back seat, helping herself to a bottle of water as the driver pulled away in silence. It did little to put out the inferno that was racing through her soul.
Zoey arrived shortly, still in her sweats from dance practice. Celine was still nursing her drink, and the girls sat across from her, waiting for the silence to break.
“When Mi-yeong got pregnant, it was…a problem,” Celine finally spoke. “For one, it was the early 2000s, you have to understand. Being an idol then was…we had more expectations of purity. The fact that we had any sort of real life was supposed to be kept under wraps.”
“That was our whole brand. Sexy but innocent. Flirty but chaste. But behind the scenes…” Celine’s voice trailed off, and she stared into space for some time. Mira and Zoey sat there, patiently.
“...You know how it is. You sing a song about how happy you are, you go on TV and act like a middle schooler, then you go stab a dozen demons to death. Our lives were already contradictions, why not…explore?”
Celine forced her eyes shut, as if something was gnawing at her. Zoey, who was still unsure why Mira had called her for this emergency meeting, squeezed Mira’s hand gently. Mira’s face was locked in an uncomfortable scowl, one Zoey had only seen once before. Her eyes kept darting between the two women, whose gazes were unable to meet.
“Alright, let’s back up a bit,” she finally said as the silence dragged uncomfortably. “What the heck is going on here?”
“Our faults and fears must never be seen. That is how I was taught, that is how I’ve been teaching you. That is the only way to protect the Honmoon. Your fans must see you as paragons of virtue. That is how it has been for centuries.”
“Mi-yeong was a flawed woman. We all were. But we were something special when we were together, just like the three of you are. The three of us…”
Celine opened her eyes, finally meeting Mira’s gaze. The glassy, tear-stung eyes softened Mira’s scowl into something that Zoey still couldn’t put a name to, but she would take it over the anger.
“I loved Mi-yeong. And she loved me. And Hana, she…it wasn’t the same kind of love, but it was there nonetheless. We figured as long as we had one secret to hide from the world, why not more?”
“Wait,” Mira murmured, the first sound she’d made since Zoey had arrived, “are you saying..?”
Celine nodded. “We were in love, Mi-yeong and I, and Hana was with us too,” she whispered, her voice breaking. She nodded at Mira and Zoey’s hand, whose fingers had interlaced on their own. “I think it happens to every trio of hunters. The magic that brings us together doesn’t stop once we meet. Of course, our mentors never told us anything of the sort, but seeing you two together, I feel like my theory carries some weight.”
“That’s why it hurt so much when she got pregnant. It wasn’t just the world who was judging her, it wasn’t just the fans, it was us. We’d never felt so betrayed, so conflicted, so…”
“Gwi-ma is tricky. He uses our shame and self-loathing to corrupt us, and nobody is immune. Not even hunters,” Celine added, straining at the end.
“We found out later that Mi-yeong had been pressured into it. Someone at the record company. But the damage was done. Even though we eventually made up, Mi-yeong’s shame had given Gwi-ma an in.”
“So Rumi’s mom was–” Zoey blurted out without thinking. “Wait, did she? Hold up, is Rumi??”
Mira nodded. “Rumi has demon patterns. I noticed during practice earlier, that’s why I bolted.”
Zoey felt the color draining from her face, as the conversation finally clicked into place. “So wait, does that mean we have to..?”
“No!” Celine and Mira both shouted simultaneously. “We aren’t going to hurt Rumi. God, I would never,” Mira added.
“Whoa…that’s just…wow. Maybe I need a drink now,” Zoey said, reaching for the bottle on Celine’s desk. Mira shot a glare at her, and she pulled her hand back. Celine silently pulled two more glasses from her desk, filling them before continuing.
“I noticed Mi-yeong’s patterns starting to form after the idol awards that year, when we lost to that boy band from Busan. The Honmoon was still strong, but…there were ripples to it. Having to slow down from demon hunting due to the pregnancy was the final straw for her.”
“We did what we could, Hana and I. We kept the demons at bay while Mi-yeong was focused on her baby. We would all help raise the child, so she could return to hunting. That was the plan, anyway,” Celine croaked out, taking a sip from her glass.
“It was too much for her. She was changing, almost every day there was another streak of purple on her skin. She was hurting, too. I think she was hearing voices, near the end at least. But, if there was one thing Mi-yeong was excellent at, it was writing. She wrote journals, documenting the entire process. We learned more about the demon corruption process in those nine months than any hunters had learned in centuries. Some small consolation for what came next.”
“What do you mean?” Mira and Zoey both asked, their glasses emptied.
“The pain of labor, when she gave birth…that’s when Mi-yeong finally changed. That’s when we lost her. I saw her eyes change first, then the claws. Hana and I were holding her down, trying to force the Honmoon to purify her, but it didn’t work. We managed to keep the midwife from seeing anything, but as soon as Rumi was out, we–” Celine’s voice caught in her throat, but she forced herself to swallow and continued. “As soon as Rumi was born, we could tell that Mi-Yeong was gone. The love of my life had been replaced with a snarling, angry demon. I…I had no choice,” she said, trailing off as the tears that had been welling in her eyes finally broke free, spilling down her face.
Zoey was the first to stand, followed quickly by Mira. The two girls crossed the table, Zoey wrapping her arms around the older woman while Mira knelt by her side, clasping her hand between her own. “You don’t have to explain. We get it,” Zoey murmured. Mira slowly nodded in agreement, and the silence in the room dragged out for what seemed like an eternity.
Celine shook her head, giving Mira’s hands a squeeze and patting Zoey on the cheek. “Thank you girls, but no. I need to say this. You’re the only ones I can tell.” Zoey only hugged Celine tighter.
“I killed the demon. I had to do it. She wasn’t her anymore, and she never could be. And I’ve never forgiven myself for it,” she sobbed, tears flowing freely. Zoey felt her own eyes starting to swell in sympathy and understanding, and Mira’s soon followed. The three of them stayed like that for a short while,
Mira stood, sliding her arm across Zoey’s back. The girls returned to their seats, as Celine wiped the tears from her eyes. “I made a promise to Mi-yeong early on, that if something happened to her, I would do everything in my power to protect her child and that Hana and I would raise her together. Unfortunately, Hana couldn’t keep that promise,” Celine added, her face shifting into one of disdain.
The girls knew this part, at least. It was part of the Sunlight Sisters’ legacy. After Mi-yeong’s death, Hana had left the Sunlight Sisters and moved to Japan, leaving music behind entirely. She’d found some success as an actress, but was now mostly doing commercials and anime voices.
“Rumi was a beautiful baby. Healthy. 48 centimeters, 2.9 kilos. But…well, you know now. The midwife said it was a birthmark. A single line of purple between her shoulder blades. For a while, I wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe that Rumi was pure. That she had only inherited the best of who her mother had been, and not what she had become. And for the first couple of years, that’s all there was, that one streak.”
“But when she got a bit older, and learned that I was not her mother…God, that wrecked me. Going from ‘Umma’ to ‘Aunt Celine’ was almost worse than losing Mi-yeong. I think on some level she realized, even as young as she was, that she’d hurt me with that. That’s when I saw the first new line, on her arm. That’s when I knew.”
“Mi-yeong poured everything that was left of her humanity into Rumi, but…it wasn’t enough. Some of the demon came through as well.”
Mira and Zoey remained silent, but Mira’s knee wouldn’t stop bobbing up and down. She was conflicted. As much as she wanted to hear more, she wanted to go hug Rumi. Rumi, who had always been there for both of them, but always keeping them at arm’s length. Rumi, who had encouraged her and Zoey to get together when they had been worried about things getting weird. Rumi, who always looked a little sad when the two of them were snuggled on the couch.
Mira cut Celine off before she could continue. “How much does Rumi know?” she asked, embers of fire in her voice. Zoey turned to face her girlfriend as Celine’s jaw went slack.
“Rumi…she doesn’t know any of this. Once she was old enough to learn about what being a hunter was, what demons were, what her patterns meant…how do you tell a child that you’re the reason her mother is dead? Yes, I lied to her. Or rather, I let her draw her own conclusions, and refused to correct them. She thinks her father was a demon. He may not be a servant of Gwi-ma, but that man was as evil as any demon I’ve slain. So yes, I let her believe her lie. I carry my own shame from that as well.”
“You carry shame? What do you think she’s carrying? If you had just told her, if you had just told
us
, maybe we could’ve…”
“I was doing what I was taught, Mira! Our faults and fears must never be seen! We cannot let the honmoon falter due to our own shortcomings!”
“That doesn’t excuse lying to a child! That doesn’t excuse forcing Rumi into isolation and pain! God, what the
fuck
are we protecting if that’s the cost?” Mira’s voice was dripping with rage, and Zoey could feel the honmoon responding to it. If Mira flexed her fingers, her Gok-Do would materialize, and Mira would…
“Mira, calm down!” Zoey cried. “We’re going to talk to Rumi after this, right? She should be the one angry at Celine, right?” She reached out and grasped Mira’s hand.
Mira looked over at Zoey, took a deep breath, and nodded. “You’re right, Zo. I just…you know how I am.”
Celine sank into her chair. “I…I never meant for Rumi to suffer. I know her patterns have spread. But when the three of you turn the honmoon gold, it should all go away. All the demons. All the corruption. All the patterns. Rumi will finally be able to be herself, without shame.”
Mira forced herself to bite her tongue. The taste of blood in her mouth did little to calm her anger, but she remained silent.
“That’s why she’s been so gung-ho about this world tour, isn’t it?” Zoey asked, breaking the silence. “It’s why she wanted us to finish Golden now, before the tour. Because it’s close.”
Celine nodded. “The honmoon has never been stronger. You can feel it. The three of you are topping charts worldwide. Gwi-ma is so close to burning out, for good. And when that happens, Rumi’s patterns will fade as well. I’m sure of it.”
“You’re assuming,” Mira retorted. “You could be wrong. She could still have them after. You don’t know .”
Celine pursed her lips, contemplating for a moment before responding, “You’re right, Mira. I don’t know for sure. But I have faith. In her, in the two of you, in the honmoon. And for now, that’s enough.”
Mira stood, having heard all she cared to from Celine. “Yeah well, it’s not enough for me. I’m going to see Rumi. We’re going to fix all the damage you’ve done.”
Zoey stood as well, glancing at Celine as she turned to join Mira. There was anger in Zoey’s eyes as well, but tinged with sorrow.
Celine slumped back in her chair, closing her eyes. “Mi-yeong…I’m so sorry. I hope our girls do the right thing.”