Chapter Text
Zoey first felt it when she was 18 years old.
It happened after an intense session of demon hunting. They still had a little less than a month before their debut date.
They were in the kitchen, huddled around the island, with their ramen cups. Steam rose from it, freshly made, and they were all sitting quietly with tiny cuts and bruises littered across their skin.
It was a tough hunt with more than a few close calls.
Close calls that could’ve resulted in a trip to the hospital.
Close calls that would’ve disappointed Celine.
Zoey had a frown on her face, eyebrows furrowed, while she glared at her uneaten ramen cup. Her face softened; however, when she looked up and saw Rumi gnawing at her bottom lip.
As their leader, it made sense for Rumi to carry more weight on her shoulders.
Sometimes though, Zoey wished she could do something to take at least some of that burden off, to let her realize that she didn’t have to carry the world on her shoulders alone. To show her that no matter what happened, her and Mira would be there to carry it with her.
Zoey’s lips twisted into a soft smile as she leaned forward and placed her fingers on top of Rumi’s wrist. The touch was gentle, a silent ask for permission to linger.
Rumi looked up slowly, as if unsure, and she held Zoey’s gaze once she met it. Her forehead was creased slightly, a show of the whirlwind of thoughts going on inside her mind. Zoey wanted nothing more than to trace along those lines to soften it.
Then, as if sensing Zoey’s own worry, Rumi smiled. She smiled and turned her hand over gently, intertwining her fingers with Zoey’s.
And, suddenly Zoey’s heart stuttered in her own chest, suddenly her hand feels warmer, suddenly Rumi’s gaze made her feel right, like she’s—
“I swear to god if Celine says something about this hunt I’m going to dye her entire scalp neon green,” Mira clicked her tongue. She then huffed, “No offense Rumi.”
She didn’t sound like she regretted it at all.
Both girls looked at Mira.
Zoey blinked.
Rumi looked startled and confused at the same time.
“What? She looks like she wouldn’t like green.” Mira added.
There was a breath.
Zoey reacted first with an undignified snort, “What—“ She doubled over the table, hands on her stomach as she cackled.
Rumi let out a yelp at the same time before letting out a laugh that was a mix between disbelief and surprise, “Wh— I— No offense taken?” Then her laughter got louder, tears gathering at the corner of her eyes, “Mira where did you—“
Mira said something about having that idea stored in her head for a long time and Rumi responded with comical interest while laughing. Rumi laughed so damn hard that she was red in the face and Mira smirked like she had just won Artist of the Year for making the girls laugh.
Zoey watched the two girls in front of her with a fond smile, chuckling alongside the two, because what Mira said was so out of pocket but so Mira.
Because Mira was exactly that. She was the sun and moon in one — Mira was rough but soft at the same time, she was fierce and brash but only because she yearned to protect, she was impatient because she loved so patiently.
Zoey always thought herself lucky to be part of Mira’s life.
Then, Zoey had thought of another quip to add, had thought of another little jab at Celine, so she parted her lips to say it. Excitement filled her chest as she leaned forward to say—
The words died in her throat before she could say it.
There was a pulse in her chest as she saw Mira and Rumi laugh.
There was a subtle ache in her ribs as she saw the way Mira smiled at Rumi.
It was softer.
Softer than Mira portrayed herself as.
Then there were the giggles that escaped Rumi at whatever Mira had said.
It was raw, Rumi’s smile was raw.
Unbound by the tight chains of perfection.
But Zoey merely smiled, too afraid to acknowledge the weight on her chest.
So she did what she always did.
She pushed it away.
She pushed it away for 5 years.
—
“LET’S GO!!!” Zoey cheered as she climbed on top of their couch, pumping her fists in the air. Her back ached slightly but she really couldn’t care — not when the screen in front of her flashed with #1 Victory Royale!
“Finally,” Mira chuckled, walking into the living room with a steaming mug in her hand. “Took you like, what, 5 matches?” She sat down beside Zoey, leg crossing over the other.
Zoey huffed, plopping down beside Mira hard enough to jostle the taller girl, “You’re just jealous that you’re not in the big leagues like I am.”
Mira nodded, eyebrows furrowed into mock acknowledgement. “Oh yeah, I’m so jealous of you,” she said, “And your victory against children, for sure.”
Zoey gasped, “Excuse you! Fortnite is not just for children you know—“ As if on cue, Rumi walked out of her room with their big blue tiger in tow. Quickly, Zoey pointed to their leader, “—Rumi plays Fortnite, right Ru!”
Rumi raised an eyebrow, an amused expression on her face, “Yeah, sure, maybe not as much as you—“
“Not a good argument when a three year old could play better than her.”
Stunned silence followed as soon as Mira said it and usually Zoey would be quick to defend Rumi. She was always ready to stand up for her Rumi, but even she was absolutely gobsmacked by that.
Mira’s jab was swift and deadly, like she just swung her Gok-do.
Zoey sucked in a breath, eyes squeezing shut.
“You little— I’d like to see you play!” Rumi sputtered, forgoing whatever she had planned and practically charging towards where the taller girl sat. “And seriously?! You’re acting like you can play better than me when you haven’t even tried it!”
Mira just finished taking a sip from her mug when she smirked up at Rumi and in that infuriatingly smug smile said, “Oh yeah?”
Zoey’s eyes squinted, the next defense dying on her lips. She merely shifted on the couch, away from Mira, and gently put the controller down.
Rumi’s eye twitched and, just as Zoey predicted, she practically vaulted over the couch and landed right beside Mira. She swiped the controller from the glass table and clutched it in her hand like a lifeline.
With a huff, Rumi narrowed her eyes at Mira, “Zoey.”
“On it!” Zoey leapt off the couch and grabbed the other controller from under their large tv, snickering to herself.
Rumi pointed to the tv as she glared at Mira, though it looked more adorable than it did intimidating, “Play.”
Mira snorted, “I don’t think it’s fair when I haven’t practiced—“
Rumi smirked, “So you’re saying you can’t beat someone you said was worse than a three year old?” She leaned forward, as if challenging the taller girl, “You saying you’re scared, Mira?”
See, out of the three of them Mira was usually the best at rage-baiting them. Somehow she mastered the art of it and used it whenever she possibly could. So one would think that someone who was practically an expert at that would be able to resist when her tactics are used on her but nope. Nope, not at all.
While Mira mastered the art of annoying Rumi, Rumi practically perfected the art of pushing Mira’s competitive buttons.
It probably helped that Rumi was just as competitive.
Mira held Rumi’s gaze, jaw ticking slightly when their leader’s smirk seemed to grow.
Without any fuss, Mira put her mug aside and stretched her hand out to Zoey’s direction, “You’re on.”
Zoey bit her lip, trying to hold back a smile, as she passed the controller to Mira. The latter caught it without even looking and turned her body to face the tv — Rumi following suit.
Both girls looked at her, nodding, and said at the same time, “We’re ready.”
Zoey swallowed a smile at the silly expressions on their face, at the cute determination wrinkling their foreheads, and nodded with the same conviction the other two had. She pressed a few buttons on Rumi’s controller, tweaking it slightly.
“Split screen might not work the best here,” Zoey said, to which the other two girls furrowed their eyebrows at so she quickly followed up with, “But! We can do whoever survives the longest wins? Rumi first?”
As much as Zoey loved her girls, she had a feeling that neither of them would get victory royale.
(If one of them somehow did, she’d be proud and probably lose her mind.)
“When I win, you’ll wash the dishes for an entire month.” Rumi huffed, smirking at the taller girl.
Mira raised an eyebrow, “Okay princess, what makes you think you’ll win?”
“Princ— I thought we were over that?!” Rumi growled, though it was clearly playful and held no weight. “And of course, I’ll win — I had a good teacher, right Zo?” She smiled up at Zoey, all loud and proud, and then she winked.
Rumi winked.
Zoey barked out a laugh, hands on her hips, pointedly ignoring the flutter in her chest, “Eeexactly! As long as you remember what I taught you then you’ll definitely win.”
To Zoey’s surprise, Mira huffed softly at that, “Good point.”
Good point? Good point?! That means she thinks I’m good at the game right? Right? Like—
Zoey chuckled, “Okay, okay! I’m gonna get some popcorn and be right back—“ Rumi looked about ready to combust at that, as if another second meant more chances of her losing
Despite thinking otherwise, Rumi was always so cute even when she didn’t try.
“C’mon! This is too good,” Zoey shrugged, laughing, “It needs popcorn.”
Mira rolled her eyes playfully before waving her off, grumbling that she should make her trip quick.
Zoey chuckled softly, keeping the image of Mira’s fond smile tucked away in her mind.
The two girls both called after her as soon as Zoey jumped over the couch and sprinted for their pantry, saying something along the lines of being careful and not wanting to deal with a broken nose tonight (or any night, really).
Zoey practically scrambled after herself, almost tearing their cupboards open to find the half-eaten bag of popcorn tucked away in the back. Microwaving popcorn would have been better but her patience was waning.
More so when Rumi called out to her, “Zo, you think I’ll win right!”
In theory, Rumi should win considering she had the most experience but Mira had this freakish ability of adapting wherever she went. It was cool but also annoyingly impressive when she could understand something within minutes and win.
It was like beginner’s luck but to an unfair amount.
Zoey merely laughed, to which she heard Mira make a remark about, as she poured the entire bag of popcorn in a bowl.
It’s like she had springs on her feet with how bouncy she felt, how light her chest felt.
Zoey knew she was probably vibrating with excitement, with this feeling of contentment, but for once in her life she didn’t feel the need to tamper it. She didn’t feel the need to stuff it into a box and keep quiet.
Zoey pretty much threw the popcorn bag aside, knowing that Mira would probably scold her about it later, and ran over.
“Listen Rumi,” Zoey clutched the bowl of popcorn in her hands, “I totally believe in you but Mira also has this crazy ability to like to adapt to everyt…”
She stopped at the sight before her.
Mira and Rumi were giggling to each other — the latter more so, with Mira just smiling fondly at Rumi.
They were still playfully bickering, the banter bright and alive, but something in it was gentler. Softer.
There was something different. Something new— no.
No, this wasn’t new. It had always been there. It’s just never been acknowledged by the two girls.
Not in the way Zoey had.
And suddenly, achingly, she was forced back to 5 years before their debut.
It was familiar, the ache.
But it was somehow heavier.
And for a moment, Zoey thought the Honmoon pulsed within her but then Rumi caught sight of her and beamed.
Rumi called to her, her patterns bright and free.
And Zoey smiled, running to the two girls she called home, and slotted herself in between them.
So she did it again.
She pushed away that same, aching feeling.
She pushed it away for 4 months.
—
Zoey felt it’s force during a clean-up.
Demons were still a thing even with Gwi-ma gone.
Their numbers were dwindling, sure, and large ripples were few and very far in between, so it really wasn’t that bad.
Still, after the creation of the new Honmoon, of their Honmoon, and Gwi-ma’s death, they figured that things couldn’t end seamlessly like they thought.
Though, their perspectives had long since changed.
Rather than lunging at demons with their weapons in tow, slashing at them with little regard — they learned to be a little gentler.
Mira no longer wore a scowl as she swiped at the demons and she no longer punted them in the face multiple times before killing them. Instead, she would merely cut them down cleanly, with a singular strike to their neck.
Rumi would mutter a soft apology as soon as they disintegrated. She’d close her eyes, smile softly though sadly, and under her breath would bid them a sincere goodbye.
Zoey made sure not to chuck her knives at their limbs anymore and aimed for their heads. A little morbid on paper but she tried her best to give them an easy and swift death. It’s the least she could do.
The demons, after all, were once souls taken away from their homes against their will.
Regardless, it wasn’t a surprise when the Honmoon would suddenly tremble with alarm — the girls would simply drop whatever they were doing and rush to the direction of the demons, eradicate them and then go back home.
However, even when the larger ripples were rare they also weren’t exactly impossible.
Maybe they had gotten a little too complacent with themselves, thinking that the decrease in demons meant less struggle but oh, how they were horribly humbled.
There had to be at least 30 demons scattered around when they arrived, at least from when Zoey took a quick survey, and they were hungry.
And angry.
Usually, that would be no issue. Was it a pain? Yes. Was it kinda annoying? Also yes. But was it a huge problem? No.
They’ve been fighting demons since they were teens, this many demons were nothing compared to when Gwi-ma was still alive and kicking.
So yeah, everything was fine.
Supposedly.
“Okay, is it just me,” Zoey panted out, finding her position to Rumi’s right, “Or are they, like, angrier?”
Rumi wiped sweat from her brow, “This is ridiculous. I mean even before the idol— that, it wasn’t like this.”
“Whatever it is, something feels different.” Mira had jumped to Rumi’s left, Gok-do held tightly in her palms. Her eyes frantically scanned their surroundings, “Does the Honmoon feel off to you guys?”
Rumi was quick to answer, “No, why? Do you think it’s getting weaker?” Panic began to simmer beneath her voice, “Do you think it’s because of—“
“Nope!” Zoey threw a shin-kal at one of the demons, “Don’t even finish that sentence, Rumi!”
Mira grunted as she swung her weapon upwards, slicing a demon into two, “Zoey’s right—“ She clicked her tongue, swiftly dodging another demon’s uppercut before ramming the tip of her Gok-do into its forehead, “I was just asking— ugh, get off! I was just asking, just in case!”
Before Rumi could respond; however, another crowd of demons scrambled towards them. Snarls filled their ears and all three girls let out a collective groan at the sight of the herd.
Rumi let out an impatient growl as she pushed off one of the demons chomping at her sword, her stamina slowly depleting just like Mira and Zoey’s.
“Dammit,” Rumi swallowed, her breaths running short. They had to have been fighting for more than 45 minutes now, maybe even more than an hour, and it’s like the barrage of demons had no stopping point. “Zoey, can you get to a higher vantage point and see if there are any more demons?!”
Zoey dashed within seconds, finding higher ground in an instant. Zoey jumped up the buildings, using rusted pipes as a boost (which she definitely shouldn’t have), and with a high enough leap she landed on top of one of the rooftops.
Rumi and Mira were fighting on top of the building just to the left of Zoey, countering demons with ease but it’s obvious the exhaustion of their prolonged fight was starting to get to them.
Zoey squinted, quickly surveying their surroundings, and instantly she saw two demons scrambling towards them from the east and two from west. “We have four more demons—“ She shook her head as she saw another two following, “Scratch that, we have six demons coming towards us!”
The sound of metal screeched to a halt, with Mira looking up, “Wait, what?!”
Zoey huffed — and she said she’s not deaf — and a little louder, said “I said there’s fou—” Zoey gasped, screaming in horror, “Mira, behind you!”
It’s almost as if it had happened in slow-mo.
There was a demon hiding beneath the edge of the building, waiting for an opening, and it got it when Mira was distracted, when she was looking up at Zoey.
Its claws, sharp and pointed, lunged towards Mira, the tips closing in on Mira’s neck—
Zoey felt her stomach twist.
Then, suddenly a loud growl echoed through the silence.
The Honmoon trembled.
And a demonic squeal followed.
Zoey stood frozen as she watched Rumi’s sword impale the demon right in between its eyes, the sharp weapon lodged into its skull. A second passed, then another, before the demon’s figure disintegrated into the night air.
Rumi’s sword then clattered onto the ground.
Silence.
A breath.
Then, Mira fell to her knees. “Mira–!” Zoey’s foot twitched forward but Rumi was already running, sprinting.
Zoey’s voice caught in her throat, anxiously waiting.
She watched as Rumi practically fell to her knees beside the taller girl, her hands finding Mira’s shoulders. Her patterns, normally pulsing a dull white, was now bright with purple.
Zoey gritted her teeth, her jaw aching, as she waited for something, anything.
Was Mira okay? Did it get her? Was she bleeding? Was she injured?
They were talking— Rumi was saying something but she was covering Mira so Zoey couldn’t tell if Mira was responding and her brain was just about to explode from impatience, from the beating in her chest, when finally Rumi turned around.
Mira, she— she was okay.
She just looked shaken up, breathed a little heavier, but she had that stupidly smug smirk plastered across her face.
Rumi laughed, though anyone could see the concern, the panic, still in her eyebrows. She still had her palms on Mira’s shoulders, her grip tight with the way her knuckles were pale white, but she was smiling. “Mira’s fine, Zo!” Rumi’s lips were lopsided, relief evident in it, “Just being a drama queen, like always!”
Zoey would’ve collapsed from sheer relief alone but she definitely wanted teasing rights over Mira falling onto her knees first. Zoey stuck her tongue out at Mira, grinning, “Looks like somebody’s stamina’s lacking!” She called out, smirking.
“Don’t get too cocky, eyebrows!”
“What the— Oh c’mon, I was ten years old! And I shaved it by accident!”
Mira opened her mouth to retort at that but before she could, Rumi had slapped a hand over it, “Don’t listen to her, I think they were great, Zo!”
Zoey loved Rumi, truly, but sometimes she thinks she’s a little too sweet for her own good, “Thanks Rumi, but that’s really not—” Before Zoey could defend herself, and huff at Mira for cackling at Rumi’s sweet attempt at helping her, a cacophony of wet snarls sliced through the light atmosphere.
And there was one that was particularly close to Zoey.
Mira grunted as she stood up, dusting away at her pants, “Okay, okay, defend your case later—” She re-summoned her Gok-do, twisting slightly to stretch out her body. “Let’s get these guys and go home, I need a week-long nap.”
Zoey nodded at that, her fingers humming to life as she re-summoned her knives. She faced the demon across from her, its face was twisted into a nasty grin.
“Zo, be careful!”
“I will, Ru, promise—” Zoey turned to look over her shoulder, and blinked.
Rumi was a step closer to Mira, her hand resting gently on the taller girl’s neck. She was chewing her bottom lip, her eyebrows scrunched up, as she worriedly looked at Mira’s skin.
Zoey’s chest started to ache.
Then suddenly Mira’s eyes softened — again, it’s that look again.
Zoey gulped.
Mira leaned closer slightly, her fingers finding the gentle touch on her neck. She held Rumi’s hand in her own, then said something. Then slowly, Mira leaned into Rumi’s touch, her cheek pressed against patterned palms.
The moment was quiet. Sweet. Private.
Intimate.
And Zoey felt like she was intruding.
Zoey gasped as she heard footsteps running towards her – fast and quick. She whipped around and saw the demon jump towards her, claws extended.
Finding her ground again, Zoey dodged the swipe at the very last moment, distancing herself in the process. The demon snarled and tried again, jaw snapping with frustration.
Zoey clenched her jaw, swung her arm, and she let the Honmoon vibrate beneath her fingers and into her knives—
You’re a liar.
—A sharp pain plagued her chest.
It’s like a match had been lit over her flesh.
Caught off guard, Zoey let go of her knives causing it to slice the demon’s ankle instead.
The movement, her mistake, must’ve been loud enough to catch the other girls’ attention because Rumi then called out, “Zoey?!”
“I’m fi—”
Liar.
Flames enraptured her chest, burning and searing into her very skin.
Something sharp and all-consuming squeezed her lungs.
Zoey bit back a sob from the sheer pain before throwing another knife, this time with a lot more control. The knife cruelly impaled the demon’s eye, making him squeal in pain before fading into black dust.
She fell to her knees, the pain coming in waves.
But as soon as she let her shin-kals disappear, the pain dissipated.
The violet ache in her chest was no longer there. As if I had never been there in the first place.
Zoey let out a loud gasp, finally feeling like she could breathe.
What the fuck?