Chapter Text
Rumi’s eyes strained a little as she tried to open them, it almost felt like someone had glued them together while she slept. She begrudgingly lifted her hand up to rub her eyes. Both to get the crusty gunk out of her eyes and to stop feeling so groggy. Though the latter had failed miserably. She would always wake up extra tired if Mira and Zoey weren’t there.
“Mira? Zoey?” Rumi croaked out as she finally registered that she was alone in her bed. She pulled the sheets tighter in an attempt to emulate the warmth missing from them. But it didn’t really work. She still missed them. She took a deep breath in from her nose, trying to get at least a hint of her girlfriends, but all she got in return was the smell of freshly washed sheets. She closed her eyes tight and let out a noise that was half groan half whimper.
Rumi opened her eyes once again to her empty bedroom, her mind slowly realizing where she was, “Wait didn’t I fall asleep on the couch last night? And why does my mouth feel so dry?” The questions lingered heavily in the silent room as Rumi tried to figure out exactly how she got here.
BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ
Rumi’s head exploded.
Or at least it felt like that. She quickly scrambled over to her nightstand to shut up her alarm, who in her mind was being a bit too rude this morning.
“How much did I drink last night?” Rumi whispered to herself. The room was spinning thanks to her sudden movement. She rubbed hard circles into her temples in an attempt to ease her newly found headache.
After a couple of minutes of sitting there waiting for the world to stop spinning, Rumi finally forced herself out of bed. A chill ran over her body as the warmth from her sheets left her.
“Man, I must have been really drunk if I didn’t even bother to put on my pajamas last night.”
She walked slowly over to her closet and picked out an oversized hoodie and a simple pair of shorts. The hoodie felt comforting against her bare skin, though not as comforting as Mira’s soft polar bear sweater. Rumi wiggled her feet into the fuzzy turtle slides Zoey got her for Christmas last year and waddled out to the kitchen.
Rumi winced at the sound that roared out of her freshly flipped pancakes. The noise still made her head hurt but at least the spinning was gone, probably thanks to the gallon of coffee she chugged as soon as she got to the kitchen. Other than the sound of her cooking, the penthouse was quiet. It usually was this early in the morning. Mira and Zoey loved to sleep in, though Mira would never admit that. With how busy idol life was, let alone being a hunter, Rumi had learned to really appreciate the small moments of peace and quiet.
That peace was suddenly interrupted by a hellish stomach gurgle. The smell of American breakfast, that now filled their penthouse, was starting to get to her.
Rumi narrowed her eyes at the undercooked pancakes, the same way she would to a demon during an ambush. “You look done enough to me.” She whispered to her floury victims with a small smile.
“Who looks done enough?”
Rumi’s eyes dilated as she jumped backwards from the stove. Standing a few feet away from her was her girlfriend, Mira. She was wearing her signature oversized polar bear sweater. Her glasses were hanging around her neck, and her vibrant pink hair was put up in a messy bun. Her face was neutral, but she was obviously fighting against the sleepiness from being awake this early in the morning.
“Who looks done enough?” Mira repeated with a slight tilt of her head.
“Oh um… the pancakes” Rumi sheepishly answered, gesturing to the pan that she just jumped away from. “Do you want me to make you some?”
“No.” Mira replied in a flat nearly rude tone.
Rumi’s face twisted with confusion, that was not the answer she was expecting. Even though Mira’s cooking was leagues better than Rumi’s or Zoey’s, she would still eat and appreciate anything they made, especially pancakes.
“Did my little kkul-gom wake up on the wrong side of the bed again?” Rumi teased as she pulled her girlfriend into a hug. Her headache slowly faded away as she let the warmth flow over her.
Unexpectedly for Rumi though, Mira froze at the sudden contact. She looked genuinely confused as she looked down at Rumi. After a few seconds of just staring at Rumi’s soft smile, Mira’s brain finally caught up to what was happening, and she pushed herself free from the hug.
“I’m still mad at you.” Mira stated with an angry huff. Her arms were now crossed, and she had a disgusted look on her face.
Rumi could feel the guilt climb up through the patterns on her arms and neck as she twiddled her thumbs together, “Did I do something wrong last night?... I’m sorry if I did. I can’t really remember anything.”
Mira’s face flashed from anger to confusion then back to anger. Whatever Rumi did was clearly really bad as she saw Mira curl her hands into tight fists.
“What do you mean you don—”
“Do I smell pancakes?!?!” Zoey’s question erupted from down the hall. Her footsteps transformed from a delicate pitter patter into a roaring stampede within an instant. Rumi and Mira barely had enough time to turn around to see Zoey slide across the floor, Risky Business style, in her turtle pajamas.
“Oh my gosh! Rumi you made pan—” Zoey paused, her brain finally processing the distress on Mira’s and Rumi’s faces. “Did I interrupt something?”
A tense silence fell across the kitchen, Rumi and Mira turned to look at each other. Still confused about why Mira was upset, Rumi offered up an apologetic smile as she shrugged her shoulders. Mira rolled her eyes, still clearly annoyed by something but letting it go for Zoey’s sake.
Rumi shuffled back over to the stove. “I was just making pancakes. Do you want me to make you some?” She lifted the now slightly overcooked pancakes onto her plate.
“I would love that Ru! Oh! Oh! Oh! Can I have chocolate chips in my pancakes?!” Zoey practically begged as she bounced on the balls of her feet.
“Of course, jagiya” Rumi replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Rumi was too busy getting the chocolate chips out of the cabinets to notice Mira and Zoey shoot each other the most confused look of their lives. As she turned back Mira and Zoey both had a nervous smile plastered on their face.
Rumi tilted her head and raised one eyebrow, “Are you two ok?”
“Yeah… totally fine. Mira and I… just… have to talk about something on the couch.” Zoey stuttered. She quickly wrapped her arm around Mira and pulled her towards the couch.
“Ok?” Rumi was still confused by her girlfriend’s nervous answer, “I’ll let you know when the pancakes are ready.”
“What was that?!” Zoey scream whispered. She looked over the couch to see Rumi silently making pancakes. “Since when did she call me jagiya? And why is her hair down?!”
“I have no idea.” Mira also turned to watch Rumi “She’s been acting weird all morning. She gave me an unprompted hug and called me ‘her little kkul-gom’”.
Zoey turned to Mira and gently placed a hand on her cheek, “Ok to be fair little kkul-gom is an adorable nickname for you. It really embodies the whole ‘big softie in a hard shell’ vibe you got going on.”
“Zoey! Not in front of Rumi. Focus!” Mira gritted through her teeth as she batted Zoey’s hand off her face. “I think that demon hit her over the head harder than we thought. She said she couldn’t remember last night.”
“That’s so not fair. We’ve been flirting with her for months and a demon smacking her on the head is what gets her to fall in love with us!” Zoey shook her head as she deflated into the couch.
“No Zo… I think she just has a concussion.” Mira half whined, pinching the bridge of her nose.
Zoey propped herself back up on her elbows, “Oh. Does that mean we aren’t going to perform at the Idol Awards?”
A wave of anger and guilt washed over Mira as yesterday's train fight flashed into her mind. “I don’t know Zoey. Maybe she’s doing this so we don’t have to sing Takedown.”
Zoey scooched over to Mira’s side and gave her hand a light squeeze, “I don’t think she would do that. Even if she is hiding something from us… She wouldn’t fake a concussion just to get out of performing.”
“I’ve just been getting this feeling… that something is off with her.” Mira admitted. She let the words hang in the air, like someone had just pulled the pin on a grenade but didn’t let the lever pop.
Rumi’s voice cut through the stiff silence, rolling over them like the warm steam of the bathhouse fight from a few weeks ago. “Mira! Zoey! Pancakes are ready!”
“I’m sure everything will work out. Let’s just talk to her about it, ok?” Zoey said as they both got up from the couch. “Besides I don’t think even Rumi could run away from fresh pancakes” Zoey giggled still softly holding Mira’s hand as they walked back to the kitchen.
Mira let a heavy sigh escape from her mouth. ‘Maybe everything will be ok.’
“I know you said you didn’t want pancakes Mir, but I made you some just in case. You should like them they’re strawberry banana.” Rumi said as she slid their plates across the counter to them.
Clearly not prepared for Rumi’s kindness, Mira meekly replied, “Oh. Uhh… thanks.” She put on her glasses as she looked down to see three perfectly cooked strawberry banana pancakes stacked on her plate. They smelled divine and instantly took her back to those lazy mornings before their debut.
“Wow these are delicious Rumi!” Zoey exclaimed with her mouth still full of chocolatey pancakes.
“I’m glad you like them. But maybe wait to swallow your food before you talk Zo.” Rumi teased as she sat down with her own stack of pancakes.
Zoey hummed out a “sorry” before she swallowed her mouthful of pancakes. “Why were you making pancakes anyways?” Zoey asked before shoveling another mountain of pancakes into her mouth.
“Well, I woke up with this awful hangover, and I was really hungry. But the hangover is pretty much gone now” Rumi shrugged as she cut her pancakes into much more manageable pieces than Zoey.
Mira snapped out of her pancake nostalgia and turned to Rumi, “Wait you drank last night? But you never drink!”
“I mean… I don’t exactly remember drinking anything. All I remember is falling asleep, cuddling on the couch with you two and then I woke up in my room with a massive headache and a dry mouth. I must have had a lot because I didn’t even have my pajamas on when I woke up.” Rumi admitted. She used her fork to push her pancakes back and forth instead of eating them.
“We didn’t cuddle on the couch yesterday” Mira muttered under her breath.
“Wow that demon must have hit you pretty hard on the head yesterday if you think that’s what happened” Zoey grabbed Rumi’s head and pulled it in close, looking for a bump that wasn’t there.
“Zoey let go of my head! A demon didn’t hit me yesterday!” Rumi protested as she shook her head free from Zoey’s grasp. “What is up with you two! You’ve been acting weird all morning!”
“We’re acting weird!?!? You’re the one who’s acting weird Rumi!” Mira snapped back.
“How is making pancakes for the bes—”
“Rumi, what’s that on your neck?” Zoey interrupted, her voice was shaking with fear.
Rumi slightly pulled the collar of her hoodie down and wiped a napkin across her skin, “Did I get pancake batter on it or something?”
Silence.
Awful, familiar silence.
Rumi looked back up to see Mira and Zoey were frozen in their seats. They stared straight at her. Their eyes wide open but their pupils were squeezed by fear. Their skin was as white as ghosts and Mira’s hand was already poised to pull her gok-do from the honmoon.
“How… do you have patterns?”
“I knew it… I knew it was too good to be true.”