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The second Rumi had seen her girls backstage, she felt relieved. The girls on stage weren’t the girls she loved. She took a step forward but paused when they stepped back. That was when she noticed it. The patterns spread on her hands and legs, her right hand more like a claw than a hand. Her breath quickened as she wrapped her arms around herself, muttering a string of no’s as her knees almost buckled from under her.
“How do you have patterns?” She heard her maknae ask.
Her ears were ringing and her chest was tight. She was panicking. She knew she was. “These are supposed to be gone, you were never supposed to see-“ she heard herself stumbling out the words.
“You were hiding this from us?” Mira’s words were sharp and cut deeper than any knife she’s ever felt.
“No! No, I had a plan, Jinu was supposed to-“ she was cut off quicker this time.
“Jinu? You’re working with him?” Zoey accused.
“No! I was using him. To fix the honmoon, to fix me!” She was begging, watching as they stepped away from her even more. “So we do our duty, so we can be together! You have to believe me!”
“How can we be together when we can’t tell your truths from your lies, Rumi!” The words don’t fit with Zoey’s personality. She wants to believe her but given the circumstances she’s finding it hard to do so.
“I knew it.” Mira's voice shook as she took another step back. “I knew it was too good to be true.” Zoey risked a glance to the woman next to her but neither fully took their eyes off the half demons.
“No! Don’t you see! See the gold! We’re so close.” She risked another step forward only for them to take another step back. “No, don’t leave!” Another step forward, another step back. “Don’t leave!” Her voice was rising now and she felt a familiar tingling sensation crawl through her vocal cords. “I can still FIX IT!” A pulse was sent through the honmoon.
The exclamation had both women taking multiple steps back, gawking at the pulse. Rumi’s body was trembling, she nearly fell as she took a step back. The half demon's eyes darted around in a panic.
When she finally looked back down to meet their gaze once more, she stilled at their expressions. Terror just slightly overshadowed by betrayal on their eyes, their bodies flushing at eye contact, feet turned in a way that, should they have to, they could quickly turn and bolt out of there…away from the half demon. Despite that, they still hadn’t summoned their weapons. That nagged at the back of Rumi’s head. ‘They were trained to call their weapons at the sight of a demon….why haven’t they done it yet?’ She chose not to dwell on the thought. Their expressions hurt too much for her to dwell on it.
Her eyes darted to the side, to the hallway just barely lit before looking at them again. Mira caught the look and took a hesitant step forward. “Rumi, don’t.” She had her hands out as if approaching a wild animal.
Rumi just took a step away, shaking her head as tears glided down her cheeks. “I’m sorry.” Before either girl could stop her, the half demon bolted down the hallway.
Leaving behind a worried Mira and Zoey, who had both moved to follow but hesitated while watching her form disappear. Mira was the first to speak up. “This whole time?” Her voice was quiet, fists clenched. “We’ve been fighting with a demon this whole time?”
Zoey just shrugged. “It would explain why she never went to the bathhouse with us.” She mumbled.
“Seriously?” Mira’s head snapped to Zoey. “That’s what you’re thinking about?” The maknae only shrugged again. Then silence for a moment. “Do you think she made a deal with Gwi-Ma?” Mira asked, anxious to know what the answer is.
The lyricist shook her head. “No, our Rumi would never.” She started. “There’s gotta be more to this than what we’ve been taught.”
The choreographer turned to the lyricist with a quirked brow. “You’re oddly calm for what we just discovered.”
Zoey met Mira’s gaze at that. “Don’t misinterpret anything, I’m upset she hid this from us,” her eyes softened before she continued. “But I’m more concerned about how terrified she was of herself.” She turned back towards the hallway as she thought of something. “Why didn’t we follow her? She could get hurt or worse, hurt herself!”
Mira’s eyes widened, head snapping to the hallway as she cursed under her breath. “Where would she have gone?”
They locked eyes once more. “Celine!” Mira grabbed Zoey’s hand as they took off to the exit.
They sprinted like their lives depended on it. It took longer than they would’ve liked to arrive at the Dangsan tree. They took a step forward but paused as Rumi’s voice echoed through the area. “I thought I could fix it….fix me…” she told her mentor. “They know. They saw it.” Her mentor remained silent. “I can’t fix it anymore.” They could hear the staggering breaths the half demon took. “You knew I was a mistake since the day I was born.” There was a soft thud as her knees buckled under her, head to the ground, Zoey and Mira’s bodies stiffened as they noticed her bend forward and holding up her sain-geom to her mentor.
“Do what you should’ve done years ago, before I destroy everything I swore to protect.” Celine stood her ground, her fist clenched at her side. “DO IT!” A pulse whooshed through the crumbling honmoon once more.
The maknae and duljjae watched with bated breath. Hoping above hope that Celine won’t do it.
The mentor sighed, stepping closer to the kneeling woman. “Well, that’s a shame. You were so close too.” Her tone was ice cold as she grabbed the sain-geom from the woman’s hands, weighing it in both hands before looking at her student. “You did your best, Rumi. It just wasn’t enough.”
Rumi looked up at the woman, eyes bloodshot and puffy from tears. “I’m sorry.”
Celine shook her head, now holding the sword by the hilt in one hand. “That makes two of us.” Her arm raised, ready to swing down onto the crying girl.
Zoey reacted when she saw the motion, summoning her shin-kal and throwing them without thinking. One whizzing past the mentor's cheek, another ripping the sleeve of her sweater and the final one lodging into the woman’s shoulder forcing her to stagger away from the half demon, her grip faltering causing the sword to fall to the ground. Rumi’s eyes widened, staring at the shin-kal impaling her mentor in disbelief. Celine grabbed her arm and glared at the new arrivals but wasn’t given much time to give anything as Mira rushed forward to shove her away from the half demon and summoning her gok-do, standing protectively in front of Rumi.
Zoey had slid in front of the half short after the choreographer, looking over the half demon for injuries. Upon finding none, her concerned expression shifted to one of relief, tears falling from her eyes, before shifting again to anger. Rumi opened her mouth to speak but wasn’t given much cut off as Zoey banged their heads together. “You idiot!” She grunted. “Why would you do that?” She was sobbing at this point.
Rumi just gave a dazed look, still reeling as a red mark formed on her forehead. “I don’t- what are- why would you…” she kept trying to form a sentence but was failing.
Mira huffed at that last one. “We’re mad you didn’t tell us and we want an explanation, but from what we can tell, you’re still our Rumi.” She stated.
“You. Are. Hunters.” Celine intervened through gritted teeth. “You’re supposed to kill things like her.”
Rumi’s eyes focused on the ground at that. Mira glanced back at her. “Did you make a deal with Gwi-Ma?” She asked.
Rumi looked up confused but shook her head. “No, my dad was a demon.” She stared. “I was born like this.”
Zoey tilted her head. “So half demon?” Rumi nodded. “Then you had no control over that.” Zoey addressed. “Other demons chose to sell their souls. You didn’t get the choice to be born like this. And it certainly doesn’t make you any less human or any less you.” She said with a smile.
Rumi couldn’t meet her eyes still. “Doesn’t make me any less of a demon either.”
“No it doesn’t.” Mira said. “But don’t think that makes you a mistake either.” She turned her gaze back to her mentor. “I’d suggest you get out of here before I use this.” She took a step forward, jabbing her gok-do at the woman.
Celine staggered back for a second, weighing her options. She sulked back, sending one last glance before sauntering away. Once she was out of sight, Mira allowed herself to dispel her weapon, turning and crouching down to her girls. “You guys ok?” She asked softly.
Zoey nodded at the question and both turned to Rumi waiting for her answer. Rumi’s eyes just bounced between them. “Why did you follow me?” She spoke so quietly it almost went unheard.
The maknae puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. “Because we were worried and we care about you, Unnie.”
Rumi locked eyes with the girl, confusion in her eyes. “I keep pushing you guys away when you wanted me to open up more, running away from any activity might’ve shown my patterns and you both still care? How?”
Mira’s eye twitched for a second. “Jeez, you cannot be this beautiful and dense at the same time.” The half demon flushed at the compliment but was still confused.
The lyricist giggled at her expression. “We love you, Rumi.” She confessed.
The confession seemed to go right over Rumi’s head; however, her expression softened a little. “I love you girls too. You’re my best friends.” She said as she has many times before.
Mira face palmed and groaned. “You cannot be serious right now.” She firmly grabbed Rumi by the shoulders. “We’re in love with you.”
Rumi’s eyes widened at the exclamation. Her eyes darted between the two rapidly. “I thought you two were dating?”
Mira just sighed but Zoey spoke up for both of them. “We are.” She confirmed. “But we always felt like there was another piece missing in the equation and after talking about it we realized it’s because we loved you just as much as we love each other.”
Fresh tears began to flow from the half demon’s eyes. “ I thought you two were scared of me…” she whispered.
The choreographer sighed, using the back of her hand to wipe away the tears on her right cheek. “We weren’t scared of you. We could never be scared of you.” she affirmed.
The maknae raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her right cheek and lightly flicked her nose. “We were scared for you, silly. You just looked so terrified of yourself that we were scared of what could be going through that beautiful head of yours.”
Rumi gawked at the girl for a moment before looking at Mira, who still had her hands on her shoulders, glancing at her lips before quickly looking her in the eyes pleadingly. The duljjae rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips as she grabbed her unnie’s collar and pulled her forward, crashing their lips together. The half demon let out a soft gasp as their lips collided but quickly melted into it, pressing herself against the dancer more and feeling every muscle in her body finally start to relax. Both women felt a tug on their sleeves from their maknae, making them pull apart. The unnie only got a single breath in before her lips were captured again, the maknae’s hand on the back of her neck and pulling her closer. Once they pulled away Mira pulled them in for a group hug, giving Zoey a peck on the head before she nestled her head under the taller woman’s chin, and Rumi’s head resting on her shoulder. They stay like that for what felt like hours, finding comfort in each other’s warmth. “So now that we know about your patterns,” zoey started with a playful smile, “once this is all over, we can all go to the bathhouse together right?” Mira shook her head with a smile while Rumi just giggled and nodded. The conformation causes the makenae to pump her fist in the air. “We get to go to the bathhouse with rumi!” she exclaimed and paused remembering the last time she had said that. “For real this time, in the women's bathhouse.” She said with a goofy smile on her face before snuggling back into the cuddle pile they made on the cold dirt.
But alas, all good things must come to an end, something that was made painfully aware to them as they felt the wear and tear of the honmoon. They broke apart, eyes wide. “The Saja Boys!” They all remembered the threat at hand.
It was at that moment that Zoey’s phone released an unusual static noise. Reaching into her jacket to pull out her phone, seeing it already spring to life, without them having to power it on, with a video starting to play. “Hey everybody.” Jinu’s voice rang through the tiny speakers, voice slightly destroyed, the image blurring in and out, and static flashing every once in a while. The three hunters stood up and crowded around the small screen, Rumi glaring at the Saja Boys leader as he spoke with faux sympathy. “You all must be so sad about the Huntr/x break up. We are too.” His sympathy only lasted a second longer as he continued to speak. “So to cheer everyone up, we’re going to a special live performance tonight. Midnight. Namsan tower. Don’t miss it for the world.” The video showed all the Saja Boys standing in front of a pink back drop, looking at the camera with smirks across their lips, patterns flashing slightly before changing to flashing their lion logo, and then just like that, the maknae’s phone screen flickered back to her Lock Screen, a picture of the three of them huddled together, Rumi holding a trophy in the middle, Mira's eyes closed as she cheered, her left arm wrapped around their leaders shoulders, and Zoey being captured as she reached around Rumi to try and embrace all of them, cheek squished against her shoulder, all of them were smiling wide. A picture Bobby had taken of them after winning their first idol awards show. With the video having fizzled out, it was then that the trio took notice of the time being shown on the lock screen.
11:30 PM
A half an hour until the Saja Boys’ “special live performance” would start, in a tower that was hours away from the dangsan tree.
“Midnight? We only have 30 minutes!” Zoey began to start running to the street once more, Rumi and Mira following close behind.
“Namsan tower is in the center of Seoul! We’re never gonna get there in time!” Mira panted out. “Better yet, how do we stop them! The honmoon is broken beyond repair and Gwi-Ma is free!”
“Then we build a new honmoon!” Rumi speed up with no effort. “A stronger one, one built on trust and love, not lies and isolation!” The half demon wasn’t even struggling to keep pace and speak at the same time.
“How are we gonna do that?!” Zoey was wheezing but she practically belted it out.
“The same we always do.” Rumi turned to them, smiling. “With a song.” She slowed down a bit as they reached the middle of the empty street before stopping.
Mira and Zoey slowed to a stop as well, the maknae holding her hands above her head as she caught her breath. “Ok but which one?” Mira asked.
“A new one.” That made the maknae and duljjae give the unnie an incredulous look. “We trust our instincts, working on it as we go. We trust each other.” Her smile faltered for a second. “Do you trust me? Even after everything?”
Their response was quick and unanimous. “Of course we do!”
Rumi’s smile widened even more at that as she extended her hands out to her girls. “Then trust me when I say that this will work.”
Without hesitation Zoey took her hand and extended the other to Mira. The choreographer smiled, taking both of their hands before deadpanning. “That solves how we stop them but how are we going to get there in time.” That seemed to stump the half demon.
“Oh I have an idea!” Zoey exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. The choreographer smirked, giving her an amused look. “Seriously, it's just one!” The taller girl chuckled at the lyricist’s insistence. “So demons can teleport, right?” Mira quirked a brow while Rumi just nodded. “Well, Rumi is half demon so maybe, she can do it too!”
The choreographer hummed at the idea. “That would work.” She mumbled.
The singer shrugged. “I mean yeah but I wouldn’t even know where to start on that.”
Zoey gave an encouraging smile. “Maybe it’s as simple as picturing where you want to be and, poof, you’re there!”
Mira gave her hand a light squeeze. “Just trust your instincts.”
Rumi took a deep breath in, held it for a moment, before letting it out, closing her eyes. She pictured the multiple double door entrances of the building, the actual tower, the trees surrounding the hilly area. Mira and Zoey could only watch as she concentrated.
They left nothing but a trace of pink smoke and empty streets in an instant. Next thing any of them knew, they were in front of the Namsan tower, loud music being heard and pinkish purple flames towering over the building. They left nothing but a trace of pink smoke and an empty street. They all faced the entrance, bracing for the grueling fight ahead of them. Rumi was the first to stride forward, Mira and Zoey close behind, ready to face what was to come their way, because, no matter the outcome, they would do it together.