Chapter Text
Chapter 1
“We want you guys to stay.”
Abby blinks. He turns to the rest of the Saja Boys. They’re equally stunned and speechless.
They’re on the infamous couch that the hunters have practically considered as sacred ground. Each of them is battered and bruised from what occurred tonight.
Baby stops applying the ointment that Zoey has given them for Abby’s stomach wound. His hand smells of the cool hunter’s remedy, a concoction of pine trees, methanol, and mint. Romance, finishing up wrapping Mystery’s shoulder wound, has the bandage stuck on his hands.
Jinu almost crumbles the map of Seoul marked with Honmoon rift points, considering the best way to navigate back to their dingy apartment. The color of his face seemed to be returning after he came back, having gotten some fresh air. Whatever happened between him and Mira back in the balcony, it seemed to have… settled him.
Abby had no doubt whatsoever.
(He was very worried).
Jinu is the first to respond to a request they’ve never considered possible. “What?”
Abby closely watches the way they exchange the truth more than what words could ever reveal.
Jinu looks at her hesitantly, still in disbelief, like her presence is still a whirlwind of confusion.
Rumi looks at him, prepared, steel-gazed, as though she were entering into combat.
Jinu continues to peel back what she had just said. “Like… here? In the tower?”
Rumi nods. “We talked about it, and” she says patiently, with eyes that Abby is unable to decipher, “and we think it would be in the best interest for everyone if you guys stayed here in the tower.”
Abby waits for the joke where Zoey pulls out her phone and says she’s been recording the whole thing. But as everyone is silent in the room, he realizes:
Oh. They’re serious.
And somehow, that makes it funnier.
Abby is the first to laugh. Mira frowns, a little insulted. “What’s so funny about it?” she demands.
He chokes back, feeling the strain of his laughter against his stomach. It’s a conflicting mixture of the cooling ointment and the flaming wound and scars stretched apart. “We can’t afford this!”
Mira has her arms crossed and raises her eyebrows. “There’s nothing to afford.”
Abby snorts. “Yeah, right. With our job, just give us a year to save some money, and then maybe we can afford to stay over the weekend.”
“We’re serious, Abby,” Zoey says. Her voice is gentle. “You guys should stay in this tower. And we can make it happen.”
Jinu looks like he’s malfunctioning, unable to process the request. Things weren’t adding up. “But… why?”
“Because we want you guys too,” Zoey says simply.
“But… why?”
“As much as we would love to stay in a luxury apartment tower like this,” Abby interjects, wanting to point out the obvious and crossing his arms to mimic Mira’s movement, “we just can’t afford it. Not even if you guys refer us to the landlord or give a good word. Not even if we get like a ninety percent discount.”
Mira snorts. “We own the building, you idiot.”
He’s taken aback by the news. But should he be surprised? He throws his hands in the air in frustration. “What do you not own?”
She smirks, cocking her head back.
Rumi takes a more persuasive route. “The floor beneath us, it’s all yours. It’s like this, without the penthouse view… but still good! A gym. Bedrooms for each of you guys, a recording booth, a private dance studio—”
“A sauna room?” Romance says as a dry joke, rolling his eyes.
She nods seriously. “Give me a phone call and four hours to make it happen.”
Romance blinks. “I was joking… wait, really? How is that possible?”
“Won’t someone like Bobby complain about this?” Jinu frowns.
“Nah, it’ll be fine!” Zoey says with a wave of her hands. “Let me just let him know really quick,” and taps her phone. A text message is sent. And immediately, a text replies.
“See?” She shows the phone to reveal her text:
Going to have new downstairs neighbors!
He replies:
OMG!! That’s awesome!!! I’m so excited!!
“Any other complaints?” Zoey asks, smug.
Abby is flabbergasted, stunned completely by how the hunters are sweeping everything along to their whim. It’s like the whole world listens and revolves around their words and actions.
“What about… the lease of our old apartment?” Mystery timidly asks.
“You want it terminated?” Mira asks with raised eyebrows.
“That sounds like a legal nightmare,” Mystery says, shuddering at the thought. “It’s a two-year, non-terminable contract.”
Mira frowns. “Why on earth would you sign that?”
“It was affordable.” Mystery looks down, almost whining like a stray dog. “And… the only one who was willing to take us in.”
She sighs. “The more I hear about your lives,” Mira mutters, “the worse it gets.”
“Excuse us for trying to make it in this world,” Baby says, rolling his eyes.
Abby looks down, not really able to meet Mira in the eyes. He feels self-conscious, desperately trying to think through any joke to ease the way she’s looking at him.
“Do you like the place you’re living?” Mira asks, almost gently, a hint of warmth that’s steeled shut by her tone and eyes.
Abby stops, pondering the question. The apartment that they found when they first were reborn through the Honmoon wasn’t ideal. It smelled. It had mold on the walls. There was a certain quality to the air that made Abby have a constant headache. He lived with four others, squished together without any space.
But it was theirs. It was a place they rested, planned, and spent time together as brothers.
It's the first space that welcomed them, no matter the quality, after they escaped hell.
“I think so,” he admits. “But only because it was a place that had the others.” She softens at that, momentarily glancing at the other two hunters, before sighing-maybe she does understand. He continues, “It’s just… it’s a legally binding contract,” he admits. And he’s embarrassed because it was like all other deals they’ve made with Gwi-Ma.
Contracts are binding. And to escape means to face the consequences.
It seems they have not learned when it comes to making deals with the devil.
Mira leans forward, her eyes unwavering, unflinching. "Then maybe it's time to make a new home that doesn't feel like bondage."
She can't stare at him like this. She shouldn't.
Her sharp eyes make Abby's skin light on fire. Is this fear?
Abby feels a lump in his throat. “I... We don’t even know how we’re going to get out of that lease—”
“Don’t think about the how right now,” Mira says. Her voice is firm, confident. It’s the voice that makes the impossible just mildly inconvenient. “Think about the what. Is that place really where you want to call your home?”
None of the Saja Boys answered. At least, no one says out loud, and perhaps that’s enough of an answer to the hunters.
“It’s not realistic,” Jinu says with a weary sigh.
“But what do you want?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jinu says, a little more frustrated, unable to just be honest about what they want. “And trust us, we know a thing or two about contracts—”
Mira taps her phone.
“And… done.”
Jinu frowns. “What do you mean?”
“Our lawyers are working through the new contract right now, and you guys will be our downstairs residents officially once you sign the new lease agreement. You guys have email, right?”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Abby is glad he’s sitting down because he feels dizzy. “All of our stuff… we need to move everything out…”
“Is there everything you really need back at your place?”
“No,” he grumbles. “But... but we just fixed the bathroom sink!”
“And as a reward,” Mira says calmly, too calmly, “you guys can have new ones with hot tubs. Each in your own room.”
“Our clothes…” Jinu sputters.
“We can go shopping!” Zoey suddenly gasps, jumping up and down. She clings to Abby’s and Jinu’s arms and tugs at them. “Oh, that sounds so fun!”
“Wait—”
“We can even go tomorrow after our interview!”
“Please, slow down—”
“There’s the mall complex right by, and the food there is incredible! There are so many new outfits you guys need to try on. We’ll have to be in our disguises though…”
Abby tries to sneak a glance back at Mira. She reveals nothing on her face. A stone wall cast over her features, and Abby can’t tell what she’s thinking.
What’s her goal here?
She protected him tonight. But why?
He still remembers her scream. It was a ripping cry of agony and shame, guilt and longing. What has he done to her? He still remembers the way she clutched his collar, her hands shaking, stained with his blood that she spilled, crying out:
Tell me that you know this was real. Everything-EVERYTHING! —WAS REAL. TELL ME THAT YOU KNOW THIS WAS REAL!
But what about it was real to her?
The fact that he’s a demon and she’s the hunter? The fact that he lied to her, again and again?
He owes her his life.
(And your scars.)
He loves her.
(You fear her.)
Does he still hate her?
All the emotions collide into him, overwhelming, suffocating. Inside his own heart, it’s a churning mixture of fear and longing. Admiration and resentment. He doesn’t know if he wants to reach out to her or attempt to fight her.
How can all of these emotions be?
(What else are you supposed to feel?)
“What’s the catch?” He blurts out.
Mira frowns. “Catch?”
Romance bites his lips. He stands over the others, a little close, almost in the way of the hunters from the rest of the boys. “There’s a catch to all deals.”
“But what if I told you there are none!” Zoey says with a grin. “You can have it all here!”
“Food?” Baby asks, raising his eyebrows.
“Same day delivery—charge it on us,” Rumi says with a wave of a hand.
“Demons and spirits hunting us?” Romance asks, pointing to Mystery and Abby’s wounds.
“We can tweak the wards so that those with specific ki energy, like a personal ID badge.”
“Do you know how to do that?" Romance presses, his eyes raised in skepticism. "Zoey here just now realized your tower has wards to protect it from demons.”
“In my defense,” Zoey says, raising her hands, “no one told me.”
“Celine literally taught us the moment we moved in here,” Rumi says, frowning. “Don’t you remember? She pointed to the norigae hanging in our rooms and said to make sure each of them stays in the tower. Wait, you kept yours... right?”
“I thought that was for good luck! You know, a welcome present.”
“She said it would, ‘protect you from demons.’ What did you think she meant?”
“Uhh, symbolism? I thought she was just being vague about it. She is with most things.”
Rumi sighs, and Abby detects it to be out of fondness. She turns her attention back to the Saja Boys. “Point is, we’ll figure it out. Besides, who better to go for demon problems?”
We were the demon problems not so long ago, Abby thinks.
Jinu opens his mouth, but Romance raises his hands. “That sounds too good to be true," Romance says.
“Because it is,” Baby says dryly.
Rumi almost flinches back. “Everything you need,” she says, her voice a little more insistent, “we can help you out with it. No costs. No catch. Not with us.” Her voice drops a little, a shed of hurt revealed. “You should know that by now.”
She continues to look only at Jinu, and only at him. Jinu looks away, and Abby can almost feel a storm of turmoil brewing inside his brother. Abby coils his lips, tapping his fingers.
Is it wise to have them so close so soon?
“Rumi’s right,” Zoey says. “We’re here to help. We’re not here to help, expecting something in return.”
“Besides being monitored?” Baby asked, crossing his arms, standing next to Romance, equally skeptical.
“Sorry, Zoey,” Abby says with a sheepish shrug, wanting to mediate but unable to hide his own doubts. “But every deal has a catch. That’s the nature of how they work.”
“Not ours!”
"Yes, even yours." Romance refuses that as an answer. “Every. Single. One. Of. Them. We get a new place to stay that’s way out of our pay grade… so what’s the deal, hunters? Or more precisely, what’s the cost?”
Zoey flinches at the intensity of his words. She looks around, only faltering at the interest in all of them.
They are demons.
They are Jeoseung Sajas, grim reapers that understand the balance of life and death as that of laws and order.
They lost their humanity because of deals.
They are creatures of contracts.
That is, after all, how they got into this mess to begin with.
Rumi assesses their skepticism. She gives them a look of… pity? Compassion? Kindness? Fondness? Abby can’t tell.
Those are emotions rarely offered to the likes of him.
“Ground rules and payments,” Mira says, suddenly. “That’s what you’re asking for, right?”
Jinu nods. “Right.”
She sighs. “I always wondered what dealing with the devil would be like.”
And there she goes, glancing at him once again. Abby still feels a rush of heat swelling from his stomach and the conflicting sense of chills down his spine.
She has that effect on her. Part of him will always wonder:
What does she really want with him?
Kiss him or kill him?
This is a hunter who dances between that thin line, and he frankly doesn’t know what to do with it.
“We’ll think about it,” she says. “And then give you guys the terms and deals. In the meantime, stay downstairs. It’s just a waste of space, so put it to good use.”
What?
“That sounds promising,” Baby says, rolling his eyes. “So we’re here as your prisoners?”
“As our guests,” Zoey quickly corrects him. She looks around the Saja Boys, earnest eyes that make Abby want to look away. “Food. Water. Shelter. Just basic hospitality, right?”
Mystery scratches the back of his head. He’s about to protest when the words falter as she quickly turns to him. Her eyes are wide, almost pleading. “Besides, you and Abby are still recovering. And we need to make sure it’s not infected. So that also makes you our patients!”
Mystery opens his mouth and closes it back. Abby knows Mystery could never really know what to say to her. Mystery is silent, looking away with a blush. Zoey takes it as her win and grins, feeling proud of herself for bypassing their insistence on contracts and deals, like she found a loophole to their logic.
Until a contract is formed, they would be the Huntrix’s guests.
Simple.
To be fair, Abby surmises, the hunters themselves are loopholes to all the premises of how the Saja Boy’s worlds work.
These hunters are always the exception.
Rumi gives them a more sympathetic look. “Look, after everything that happened… we just would feel better with you guys close to us.”
“Yeah,” Baby says, “to watch us.”
“To protect you guys,” she corrects. “The whole world is out to get you, and you’re still trying to get a solid footing. We’re here, okay? We got your back.”
And as Abby has always thought, that’s dangerous.
After all, those who watched your back were often the ones who stabbed it.
Some of the boys laugh darkly at her words. Rumi frowns, turning to Jinu. He has one arm, hugs the other, mindlessly rubbing his arm as though to console himself.
Or maybe because he feels the scars and patterns lighting up once again.
“The last time we all made deals that were too good to be true,” Abby says, “we ended up paying for it with our souls.” He fails to fight back laughter, watching the faces of the hunters drop. “I guess we never learn, do we?”
Jinu laughs along with Abby, softly, sadly. “No,” Jinu whispers, “we never do.”
The voices in the twilight sky hush and quiet down. It's the stars eagerly watching the way the moon weaves this story unfolding. Because this story is older than time itself.
Redemption. Love. Grief.
Yes. This is a story about humans and demons.
(So we should know how that ends.)
All love eventually turns into grief. And this story… This story should be one of love and loss.
The stars have long watched this dance between demons and hunters. A push and pull. Twist and twirl. Give and take.
So what now, when they finally come together? Will this dance end the way it has for all of history? Blood and heartache?
Is what’s waiting for the demons the ever-encompassing darkness and abyss?
(So we should know how this ends.)
The stars watch.
The stars watch five boys, hearts burned in the heart of hell, now given the chance to be free, to be better, to love.
They will suffer the journey of redemption.
The stars watch the three girls, hearts resolved by the moon, to defend, to protect, to hunt.
They will grieve the journey of love.
This kind of story has existed since the beginning of eternity. This kind of story has been told again and again.
But a strange thing about stories—
Though the stars already know how this ends, though they see through the end of the strings woven through the universe, one that we call fate… The story is still alive, still unfolding, refusing to follow expectations, living by truth instead of lies, and each act is a revelation and surprise.
This is the beginning, and the end, of the dance between the hunters and demons.
The stars watch because now—
Huntri/x is here.
Rumi. Mira. Zoey. Three stars themselves. The fabric of fate weaves and binds around them.
The stars watch the three stars below on Earth. The three, the fulcrum of the universe, both heaven and hell, the temporal, the earthly and the spiritual.
Where the boys are fated to condemnation and hell—
Huntri/x is here.
The three do not follow the story. They write their own.
And they fully intend to defy the story fate should have sealed.