Chapter Text
"...no, if you... maybe"
"...that's not— I'm telling you—"
"—you're gonna— no, listen—"
"...Mira seriously, just—"
"—you fall— on your ass."
Rumi turned onto her side, pulling the blanket closer to her chin. The words slid past her, too broken to make sense of.
Mira's voice answered, its shape reaching her but not the meaning.
"NO, BUT— if you just—"
Zoey's voice again, louder this time.
Rumi tossed beneath the covers, caught in a foggy place between sleeping and waking where everything felt both distant and irritatingly close. She couldn't make out the conversation.
Rushing footsteps cut through the haze. The sound pulled her closer to the surface of waking. The steps passed her door and hurried down the hall. A door opened. Something scraped across the floor. A drawer slammed. Her mind hovered on the edge. The footsteps came back almost bouncing and that was what finally dragged her out of the fog, though she kept her eyes shut, clinging to the last thin thread of sleep.
Zoey's voice followed the movement, still talking. "—seriously, if I bring it, I can show you—"
More voices.
Rumi lay there, awake now, staring behind her eyelids and she remained there for a few seconds until she realized the light in the room felt... off.
Her eyes opened. The ceiling above her was not the dark, familiar blur of early morning. The room was washed in a pale light. Not bright, but the kind of winter light that slipped through clouds without any real strength
Too much light.
A sudden rush of adrenaline tore through her as she lurched upright beneath the blankets with the instinctive panic of someone who had overslept—which she never did—crashing into her before any real thought could form. She searched blindly for her phone with her hands fumbling across everywhere on the bed.
She found it and dragged it close, the screen flaring to life in her face. 10:08.a.m
The numbers didn't make sense at first. Then they did all at once.
She stared at the time with the sense of being late and of having missed something important creeping up on her before she even remembered what day it was supposed to be.
"...so you do– and then this–"
A sharp scrape echoed from the living room, the unmistakable sound of a skateboard being dragged across the floor, and for some reason it made sense to her that it was Zoey's.
It took a few more seconds for the panic to loosen its grip. Her mind caught up to the time and the day. There was nothing scheduled for the morning. No early practice, or an important meeting. No reason she had to be awake before noon.
She let herself sink back against the pillows, phone still in her hands as she swiped through the screen. A line of alarms stared back at her — 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30 — all silenced and ignored. She cancelled the next one at 10:30 before it could go off.
Something clinked in the living room.
Rumi scrolled. A missed call from Mira. Time-stamped from last night that fit the hour Rumi just got home. She also remembered choosing not to move to answer it. The memory of it settled somewhere in her chest. As she shifted, the fabric of her training clothes clung to her skin, and she wrinkled her nose slightly. She had fallen asleep like this. Sweaty and unshowered... Gross.
Another notification waited beneath the call.
Zoey: We got you kimbap!!! its in the fridge. eat when you wake upp 💚🐢
Rumi stared at it longer than necessary. Her thoughts felt slow like they were wading through water. The adrenaline had drained away, leaving only the heavy yet somewhat pleasant disorientation of waking from deep sleep.
She needed to fix her sleep schedule. Like really fix it. Not tomorrow, but soon.
Rumi considered staying where she was. Just sinking back into the blankets, letting the warmth and heaviness pull her under again. Greed for sleep paired with sore muscles. It was almost tempting enough to ignore the world entirely. However, the unpleasant taste of her dry mouth reminded her otherwise. She reached for a water bottle on the nightstand only to realize that she had left it at Celine's last night, abandoned after the session that had wrung her out completely. And then her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten since... well, since yesterday after she had missed dinner. Her body was starting to protest.
A sudden scrape of wheels across the floor was followed by a muffled thud and Mira's quiet laugh. And so she decided to listen to her body (for once) and the sounds coming from the other room to swing her legs over the side of the bed
The cold of her room was biting at her skin as the warmth of the blankets slipped away, but also because she was not so used to sleeping... patterns-free. She pulled on a clean hoodie, hoping she'd get a chance to shower later. Strands of hair had escaped her braid, and for a moment she wondered if she should just let it all down, letting her long hair fall freely. Her eyes landed on the lamp still glowing softly from last night, and she was reminded once more that she had truly fallen asleep without any control.
Rumi made her way into the living room, moving stiffly through the haze of sleep and soreness. She walked in on Zoey who was on her skateboard, crouched low, and Mira assisting beside her. It all explained the noise now.
"Good morning." Rumi mumbled, heading straight for the fridge as her eyes scanned for water.
Zoey's head snapped up. "Ah! Rumi, we didn't know you were still asleep. Sorry if we woke you!"
Mira followed quickly. "Yeah, were we making too much noise?"
Rumi barely looked at them, grabbing a bottle and chugging half of it in a few desperate gulps, finally letting herself feel a little more present in the world.
"No, it's alright. I needed to wake up anyway... I slept in, sorry."
Mira gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay? Our schedule's free until the training at three, remember? It's good you got some extra sleep."
Zoey nodded along as she stepped off her board. "And it's not even that late. I just personally couldn't fall back asleep, that's why Im awake now. You're fine."
Rumi waved off the concern. "What were you two even doing, anyway? I heard lots of noises."
Mira snorted before anyone could answer, and Zoey looked personally offended.
"Zoey decided today was the perfect morning to break her ass."
"Okay, don't even start. This is your fault!"
Mira's smile widened. "Just make sure you ice it later, yeah?"
"Stop, you're making it sound like I'm a complete poser! You challenged me." Zoey protested, turning to Rumi. "She challenged me!"
"How exactly did I challenge you?"
Zoey ignored her. "Okay, so what happened was: Mira and I were having our usual hangout-slash-TikTok-scrolling moment, right?"
Rumi gave a small nod, signaling she was listening.
"And I saw this really cute video of a turtle on a skateboard, which is basically two of my favorite things in the world." Zoey paused. "Well— okay, not really, because you two are my favorite things in the world."
Mira snorted. "Nice save. Don't flatter us."
"Anyway, the turtle wasn't hurt at all. It wasn't even really a stunt, it was mostly editing. You know, it's scary how animal neglect can go unnoticed online, but the account owner is actually super careful. I checked, and I didn't see any signs of the turtle being harmed, which was a huge relief—"
"Of course the world's biggest turtle expert noticed." Mira cut in.
"—so I showed the video to Mira. You still with me, Rumi?"
Rumi nodded again, a little dazed by the flood of information, but used to this by now.
"Okay, so then Mira said the video reminded her of me, which was really sweet at first, and then she immediately insulted me and told me I'd never be able to pull off a stunt like that. Like—can you believe that, Rumi? So obviously she kept pushing me until I brought the board out to prove her wrong—"
"And you proved my point."
"Because you kept messing me up!" Zoey protested. "Seriously, it would've worked better outside, but it's all rain-swept and the damp paving would've damaged my bearings."
As much as Rumi loved the season itself, she hated this version of winter without snow, where everything looked tired and soaked and gray and the ground was just mud and puddles and the world felt quietly miserable.
"I'm glad you didnt manage to hurt yourself too bad, but you're supposed to be careful." Rumi said, looking at Zoey, then at the board. "One bad fall and it messes with choreography or demon fighting. And we can't really afford that."
The words came out a little too serious, but she didn't take them back. In her mind, everything always folded back to the same thing: the stage, the performances, the fighting and the fans. The way their energy fed into the Honmoon, how every show and every connection made it stronger. How one day, maybe, it could finally turn golden.
They had to stay in perfect shape for that. They had to.
Then the hunger she had been trying to ignore finally won. Rumi turned toward the fridge, scanning its shelves until she spotted the neatly wrapped kimbap waiting for her. Relief flickered across her face before she could stop it.
Zoey noticed. "See? I told you she'd eat it in the morning."
Rumi hesitated and then glanced back at them. "I'm... sorry I didn't answer last night. I should've texted."
Mira shook her head lightly. "It wasn't anything urgent. Really."
"We were gonna ask if you'd like anything from that restaurant, but we figured we'd get you something anyway." Zoey added.
Rumi nodded, but the realization landed harshly. What if it had been urgent? What if something serious had happened, and she had just... ignored and slept through it? She scolded herself silently with the familiar weight of responsibility settling in her mind. She couldn't afford that kind of carelessness with everything depending on them.
She pushed the thought away for now and focused on unwrapping the kimbap.
Mira moved toward the counter and started gathering a few snacks for herself, while Zoey rummaged through one of the cabinets, pulling out something sweet and salty in quick succession.
"...Did you two wait for me to wake up to eat?" Rumi asked
Mira was the first to answer, trying for casual and missing it slightly. "Yeah. I mean. We thought we'd eat together."
Zoey gave a small nod in agreement. "I like when we spend time together. Just... eating and talking."
Rumi frowned slightly. "Talking about what?"
Zoey's eyes flicked away a little too fast. "Uh. Nothing. I mean— unless you had something you wanted to tell us?"
"...No?"
Mira's smile didn't quite fade. "Okay then."
They sat down to eat, but the quiet wasn't comfortable. Zoey kept glancing at Rumi like she was waiting for something else, and Mira stayed unusually attentive, as if giving her time to change her answer. When nothing came, the silence only grew heavier, and only the both of them felt it.
"Actually," Rumi said at last, "I wanted to tell you—"
Both Zoey and Mira looked up immediately.
"—that we have to film some scenes for our new music video tomorrow. Bobby texted me yesterday to remind us about the plans. I hope you haven't forgotten."
Zoey's shoulders dropped just a little. "Oh. Right. That."
Mira nodded. "Yeah. Of course."
It wasn't the answer they'd been waiting for.
"How was your night?" Mira turned to Rumi
"It was pretty quiet aside from the training. What about you two? I'm... sorry I couldn't join in."
"It's understandable, I mean, we can't cancel Celine's training after all. But it was great." Mira said between bites.
"Yeah." Zoey continued, brightening a little. "We went to this cool spot Bobby booked for us, got some nice facials, and then went out to eat. We're sorry you weren't there, though. It wasn't as fun without you."
"Maybe you could come with us to the bathhouse next time." Mira added softly. "Trust us, you'll love it."
Rumi shrugged. "Sure... though I don't really get what you guys find so entertaining."
"Well, you've never tried, so how would you know?" Zoey laughed slowly, trying to keep it light. "We should probably plan ahead next time, right? Like... a month in advance or something. And maybe, if you're not so fond at the idea of bathhouses, we could try an indoor waterpark! Those are funnier than some lame spa treatment."
Rumi forced a neutral smile, keeping her tone calm. "Maybe. We'll see." Rumi's mind ran through the patterns along her arms and the idea of showing herself like that, and she stiffened just slightly.
Mira looked up at Rumi after a moment. "Are you cold?"
Rumi hesitated. Was Mira asking because of the strange choice of clothes for someone who had just rolled out of bed or because she'd been making it too obvious how carefully she kept her arms covered? She silently hoped they hadn't noticed anything off about her. The usual lie surfaced on instinct.
"A bit, yeah. Are you guys not? I think I didn't close my balcony door properly. It was freezing when I woke up." Even as she said it, she realized the penthouse wasn't really that freezing, not even in the morning. But then she remembered that it was winter and somehow, that made the excuse feel safer.
The other two exchanged a glance, both struck by a strange sense of déjà vu like they'd heard this excuse last winter, and the one before that too.
"Are you okay, Rumi?" Zoey asked, trying to sound casual, but the slight edge of worry slipped through.
Rumi shrugged, forcing a small smile. "Yeah... well, aside from maybe catching a cold soon. Hopefully it won't affect my voice, haha."
Zoey tilted her head and pushed a little further. "I hope not... but really, are you okay?"
Rumi blinked, shifting her gaze between the two of them. "Yes... are you guys okay?" Zoey smiled faintly, and Mira subtly nodded beside her. Rumi frowned slightly, suspicious but playing along. "Okay... is this like a guessing game? Did something happen? Fill me in, please."
"I don't know..." Zoey squinted and leaned a little closer across the table. "Did something happen to you?"
Rumi shifted nervously, right hand covering her left sleeved arm, with an awkward smile tugging at her lips "Um, what do you mean?"
"No, but I'm genuinely asking becau—ow!" Zoey yelped, pausing mid-sentence as Mira lightly kicked her foot under the table, careful to look away so Rumi wouldn't notice. Zoey blinked, a little flustered as she realized her small slip up. "—becauseeee, um... I'm just checking up on you guys! Mira... what about you? Are you okay?"
Mira kept her gaze neutral, giving a slight nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine. What about you Zoey? Are you okay?"
"Yep. Peachy! See? I'm fine too. Glad you guys are as well. Just... checking in on my favorite girls! I believe that's necessary requirement for long lasting friendships, wouldn't you say so?" she added with an awkward laugh.
Rumi was utterly confused, unaware why her friends were suddenly acting so weird. "Okay..."
"I think the fall from earlier damaged her brain too." Mira tried to shift the conversation.
"Oh, Mira, c'mon, you know I love you both." Zoey said, stretching her arms across the table toward Rumi and Mira, waiting for them. They each reached out on their own, their hands meeting in the middle in a perfectly awkward embrace.
"We love you too, Zoey." Rumi said around a mouthful of food, still chewing, which made the moment trivial.
"And that's exactly why." Mira added, glancing more pointedly at Rumi, "I want you guys to confide in me — in us — if anything happens."
"Of course." Zoey and Rumi said together, but only one of them sounded truly genuine.
Rumi wasn't used to such sudden shifts in mood and she was even less used to being on the receiving end of this much attention. As grateful as she was for their warmth and the way they filled the morning with easy positivity, it left her slightly off balance. Uncomfortable creeping way. She'd finished her kimbap anyway, which gave her the perfect excuse to escape. "I think Im gonna take a quick shower." she said, pushing her chair back. "Thanks again for the breakfast."
The moment Rumi disappeared down the hallway, the table felt too quiet. They both waited, careful to give enough time to ensure Rumi couldn't overhear them.
Zoey exhaled and slumped back in her chair. "Okay... I think I went a little too far."
"You think? Zoey," she said, exhaling through her nose. "That... wasn't subtle at all."
"I know! I panicked."
Mira rubbed her temple, then dropped her hand to the table. "You didn't just panic. You lunged."
Zoey groaned and let her forehead fall into her palms. "I hate that I do that. The second something feels off, my brain just—" she made a vague exploding gesture. "—decides we have to deal with it now."
"And that's exactly how you make people shut down." Mira said, not unkindly. "You saw her. She was already halfway defensive."
"I know." Zoey muttered. "I saw the arm thing. The second she covered it, I knew."
"Yeah. Me too."
There was a brief silence. The hum of the penthouse felt louder without Rumi in it.
"I just hate secrets." Zoey said after a moment. "Especially from people I care about. It feels like... being locked out."
Mira nodded slowly. "Same. I spiral. I start connecting dots that maybe aren't even there. I don't want to think that maybe you overreacted a little."
Zoey glanced at her. "Yeah, but... You always notice first and most of the time your worries become reality. So, I thought..."
"But I'm terrible at what comes after." Mira replied flatly. "My instinct is to go straight for the sore spot and poke it to see if it hurts."
Zoey huffed a weak laugh. "Guess I tried that today."
Mira leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "And it clearly wasn't the move."
Zoey stared at the hallway Rumi had disappeared down. "Do you think we were wrong to assume something's going on?"
Mira hesitated. That familiar tug-of-war settled in her chest. "Maybe." she said carefully. "Or maybe we noticed something real and jumped to the worst explanation."
Zoey frowned. "But you saw how she froze. And I didn't think my questions gave away that much."
"I did notice. But I also saw someone who looked tired, sore, and overwhelmed by two people staring at her like she was a problem to solve."
Zoey sighed. "When you put it like that... But, I don't know how else to deal with this."
"I want to believe she's okay." Mira said. "I really do. And if she isn't, I want her to tell us because she wants to, not because we backed her into a corner. I think that's the best thing we can do."
Zoey nodded slowly. "So... we tone it down."
"Way down. No interrogations. No loaded questions."
"Okay. Normal. We act normal."
Mira stood, gathering the dishes. "As normal as we ever do."
· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·
Rumi stared at her reflection in the fogged-up mirror. Wet strands of hair clung to her skin, sending cold shivers down her spine. Even though the steam from the hot shower had warmed the bathroom, she couldn't stop trembling, though it had less to do with the cold and more with anticipation.
She didn't need to wipe the mirror clean to know what she would see. In fact, she avoided doing so; she hated that even more. The patterns had started to spread again. She wasn't sure when it had happened since she rarely let herself look at them this closely without being utterly disgusted, but now they reached past her elbow. For a brief moment, she wondered if they'd even been there when she woke up this morning. The thought made her pause since it didn't make sense. They couldn't have spread that quickly. Not over breakfast. And yet, staring at them now, it was hard to convince herself otherwise.
And damn it, her arms were red and irritated from scrubbing at them over and over, as if that might make them disappear. She'd done this for as long as she could remember, ever since she was a child, fully aware even then that they wouldn't budge.
She'd have to watch herself more carefully. What she wore, how she moved, how much she let show. There was no room for mistakes. The only real comfort was the promise of the Honmoon turning golden. If it happened soon enough, the patterns would disappear faster than they could spread. If not...