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Gwi-Ma sensed Jinu was falling for her.
During one of Jinu’s visits to the demon realm, Gwi-Ma crept into his mind and sensed some mild affection toward… one of the hunters? That couldn’t be right. He dived back into his lackey’s mind and found that it… was.
How could Jinu like her? She was a hunter, the very thing he swore to destroy. How could affection be rising inside him?
Gwi-Ma frowned internally. If this were the case, Jinu had a chance of being compromised by her. Once Jinu left the demon realm, Gwi-Ma immediately called upon a couple of his loyal oni to sabotage Huntr/x’s upcoming performance at the Idol Awards. He instructed them to shapeshift into Mira and Zoey when the time came, and he forced them to learn the choreography as well to make it more convincing. They wouldn't make it very far if they didn't know the dance moves.
Gwi-Ma smiled eerily as the two onis he selected performed the choreography perfectly. He had spies and loyal demons scattered throughout Seoul, and he'd sent some demons to watch Huntr/x's practice sessions through mirrors.
"Very good." he rumbled, "Jinu and the hunters will have no idea." With that, he laughed an evil, cruel laugh.
~~~~Idol Awards
“…You know, together we're glowing! Gonna be, gonna be golden.” Rumi sang passionately while Mira and Zoey watched from the sidelines.
“She’s killing it out there!” Zoey exclaimed excitedly.
“Let’s finish this.” They were about to reenter the stage when they heard a muffled struggling noise towards the back. They turned just in time to see Bobby- their precious manager, Bobby, getting dragged off by security guards.
Without a thought, Mira and Zoey raced after him, ignoring the fact they were on in twenty seconds, because it was, well, Bobby.
As Rumi continued singing onstage, the girls sprinted towards Bobby, but just as they reached him, his eyes flashed yellow and he turned into a demon, disappearing in a puff of smoke.
“Bobby?” Zoey said, confused, but as she and Mira turned around to return to the stage, the doors closed shut all around them. They were trapped.
“What’s going on?” Mira demanded to anyone who could hear them, but no one could through the thick walls of the doors.
“Mira?” Zoey looked at her worriedly. “We’re missing our cue.”
Just then, the lights flickered out for a couple of seconds, and then the backing track for “Takedown” started playing.
“Why are they playing ‘Takedown’?” Zoey cried, and Mira shook her head.
“We can’t do anything right now. We’re locked in here. Our weapons wouldn’t do us any good here.”
Zoey bit at her fingernails nervously as the intro to their horrible diss track started playing live for thousands of people.
Back onstage, Rumi was just as confused as everyone else. “Takedown? They put this back in?”
It’s a takedown! The lights flicked back on, and Rumi had no choice but to sing and dance to the horrible song they never released. Mira and Zoey were beside her, singing along with her, looking completely unfazed.
That was strange. Just a couple of hours earlier, they’d talked together about how this song didn’t connect them, and was hurtful to Rumi, as she was half-demon, so why were they enjoying performing it now?
Somewhere backstage, Jinu was watching their performance, eager to hear the song that Rumi had gushed on about how excited she was to perform it. One moment, she was having the time of her life, and the next, the lights went out, leaving her looking terrified and confused. He listened anyway.
“So sweet, so easy on the eyes, but hideous on the inside.” Huntr/x sang hateful lyric after hateful lyric, and Jinu’s eyes widened in shock and hurt as he watched the girl he loved spit out horrible lyrics full of venom.
He’d never heard this song before, but he had a feeling the lyrics were aimed toward him. “When your patterns start to show, it makes the hatred want to grow out of my veins.”
…Hatred? Did Rumi hate him? Just the night before, he was sure that they had something, that what they had was real. Had it been a lie? Had she been manipulating him this whole time?
Jinu continued listening to the song, but became more distraught as the lyrics slowly got worse and started digging into his skin.
A demon with no feelings don’t deserve to live. It’s so obvious.
Eyes narrowing, Jinu balled his hands into fists, trembling slightly. He thought that they had something. Apparently, he was wrong.
“Take it down.” Rumi finished the song, still looking slightly distressed, her chest heaving from the choreo. The fans in the stadium were also confused from the secret song, combined with the lyrics that were somewhat confusing as well as hurtful.
The lights flicked off again, except this time it was because the song was over, and Huntr/x left the stage.
Zoey and Mira sat on the floor of the room they were trapped in, and then, the doors all suddenly opened at once. They scrambled to their feet and rushed out, weaving through the clusters of staff members bustling about.
“Where’s Rumi?” Mira and Zoey rushed around backstage, looking for their leader. They eventually found her sitting on a bench with a bottle of water, looking frazzled and worried.
“Why’d you perform ‘Takedown’?” Mira demanded, and Rumi capped her bottle, brows knotted together.
“I don’t know. It shouldn’t have been played. I- I had to perform it and not- wait.” Rumi looked at them in confusion. “You guys were up there… Was that not you?”
Zoey and Mira exchanged a look. “No! What do you mean?”
“You- you guys were up there- performing it with me- you were dancing!” Rumi stood up out of her seat, the plastic bottle of water forgotten on the floor.
“That… wasn’t us,” Mira said slowly. “Those were… probably demons.”
“What?” Zoey exclaimed, “How did they know the choreo then?”
Mira shook her head. “I… I don’t know. I didn’t share it with anyone except for us, the staff, and Bobby. Is… one of the staff a demon?”
“I don’t know. Why would they…? What’s the point? I already told you about these,” Rumi said, gesturing to her arms.
The three girls racked their brains, but could not come up with any reasons as to why demons had sabotaged their performance. And how?
I’ll be your idol. Their attention was drawn to the Saja Boys performing onstage. They were clad in all black clothes- black tees, black jeans, black sweaters, and even black hats. The atmosphere of their performance seemed darker, and as Rumi listened to the lyrics, so were they.
Her eyes focused on Jinu’s face as he performed. His eyes looked dark and angry, and the edges of his face had hardened, as if he was clenching his jaw. Rumi frowned slightly, but brushed it off, thinking it was just a trick of the light.
“Now we running wild! You’re down on your knees, I’mma be your idol!” The Saja Boys ended their performance with their hands up in the air, and the crowd went wild.
The stage went dark again as the Saja Boys filed offstage and the announcer’s voice came on again across the stadium, exchanging some words with the crowd and entertaining them as well.
Rumi ran up to Jinu when she spotted him drinking a can of soda backstage, staff members tidying him up. “Hey, great job out there.” She nudged his shoulder lightly, but he didn’t budge an inch. In fact, he stayed silent, not even cracking a smile. Rumi found herself missing his usual annoying smirk, and she began to think something was wrong.
“Jinu?” Rumi tried to talk to him again, but he stood and walked away from her, shoving her shoulder much like he did when they first met, without even sparing a glance in her direction.
Rumi rubbed her shoulder, wincing in pain. He had actually hit her pretty hard. Why was he acting like this? Was Gwi-Ma controlling him? Yeah, Gwi-Ma was definitely controlling him. That had to be the answer, right?
It wasn’t the answer.
Jinu returned to his temporary bedroom, walking through the streets of Seoul with his head down.
The door swung shut, and he cast a glance at the open notebook on his desk. Shuffling over, Jinu peered at the lyrics he’d written previously, to catch up on where he’d left off.
You’re the greatest gift that I’ll ever have, the only one who makes me glad.
And the sparks you set off inside of me are going to drive me mad.
Why do I feel like this when I’m around you?
Why do you curse me accidentally to fall for you?
You’re the greatest gift that I’ll ever have, my one and only star.
And when I’m lost, I’ll find my way back to you, my shining light in the dark.
Jinu frowned at the lyrics scrawled across the page, and before he could stop himself, he tore them out of his notebook. He looked at the ripped pages in his trembling hands, becoming aware of how fast he was breathing. He crumpled the lyrics up and tossed them in the bin, collapsing on a chair and sprawling out.
Gazing at the ceiling, Jinu bit the inside of his cheek and blinked rapidly to keep the tears from spilling over. He didn’t know when they formed, but they were there, and Jinu didn’t want them to be.
He rubbed his hand over his face, wiping his eyes and sniffling.
That’s when he heard his voice.
She doesn’t love you. She hates you. Did you hear those lyrics? You’re unworthy of being loved.
Jinu froze, Gwi-Ma’s voice echoing through his mind, a constant reminder that he was a failure.
When your patterns start to show, I feel the hatred wanna grow out of my veins… Was that about him? Did Rumi really hate him that much? Sure, there might’ve been some resentment, but hate? That couldn’t be right… But she sang those lyrics. She performed them for thousands of fans.
Rumi spoke the truth. His patterns were disgusting. He was disgusting, a filthy creature that didn’t deserve to walk the human realm. He was a demon.
Jinu was distracted by a high-pitched beeping coming from his wrist. It was his human watch, which was telling him his heart rate was dangerously high and elevated. With a grunt of frustration, Jinu tore it from his wrist and hurled it across the room.
Looking around for something else to take his anger out on, he grabbed the nearest item within reach- his lyric notebook. Without thinking, he threw it across his room, knocking a lamp over and causing it to shatter.
Jinu barely flinched. The glass shards rained everywhere, most settling near the place of impact. He walked over to the notebook, hardly registering the glass shards piercing his skin through his socks, barely registering the pain that came with it.
He shook a few stray splinters from the notebook and shoved it in the bottom drawer of his desk. It was not something he wanted to look at.
The tears finally spilled down his face, and Jinu didn’t rub them away because he thought he and Rumi had something, he really thought they had something, but apparently not.
Gwi-Ma’s voice spoke faintly in the back of his mind, and Jinu gave in and let himself be taken to the demon realm.
“There you are, Jinu.” Gwi-Ma thundered. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“We need to defeat Huntr/x, particularly Rumi.” Jinu blurted immediately. Gwi-Ma’s devious smile grew wider.
“Oh? And why the change of heart, Jinu?” Gwi–Ma taunted.
“It does not matter. What does matter is that she has shame. She’s told me, and we can use it against her, to tear her apart.” Jinu started pacing. “She’s always hidden herself, trying to fit in, and lying to do so. She’s lied to her friends, her fans, and the whole world. She’s worthless.”
“Very good,” Gwi-Ma rumbled. “I’ll enter her mind tomorrow, to give you time to prepare whatever it is you have in store for her. The hunters need to be defeated.”
Jinu gave a curt nod and teleported back to the human realm, jaw set and eyes cold. Rumi wasn’t going to know what hit her. And he was going to destroy her, no matter the cost. It was his duty as a demon.
Rumi jolted awake, shivering and soaked in sweat. She was having a pleasant dream about her friends when a dark voice whispered in the back of her mind, and then was gone.
The Idol Awards still haunted her, even though they had won. The images of Mira and Zoey dancing beside her, unaffected during ‘Takedown,’ were printed across the back of her eyelids. Even though she knew they were not the real Mira and Zoey, they still haunted her.
One of the many reasons why Rumi hated that song was the fact that many of the lyrics could relate to her, because she was half-demon. It was the reason why Huntr/x had agreed to not perform it in the first place.
Just as she was about to fall asleep again, the voice came back, louder and clearer this time.
You can’t fix yourself. You can’t. The Honmoon will tear apart again, but this time it’s your fault. You’re not even real. You’re fake. Rumi’s eyes widened as she listened to the voices whispering in her head. “No,” she whispered, “Please… Stop…”
But the voices didn’t stop. They came in with full force. Nobody likes the real you. You’ll never fit in. You’ve spent all this time hiding yourself that no one even knows the real you. Maybe it’s a good thing, too. You’re a monster. A foul creature. You don’t deserve to walk this earth. You’re worthless.
The voices got louder in her head, and she couldn’t tell which was hers and which wasn’t, but was there even a difference? She was worthless. She was a monster. And no, she didn’t deserve to walk this earth, did she?
Rumi’s head felt as if it would split in half from the pain, a searing hot, burning pain splitting through her skull. She was going to tear herself apart from the inside and out, because she loathed herself, oh, how she loathed herself.
She was half-demon, and she didn’t deserve to live.
“It’s working, Jinu,” Gwi-Ma thundered. “She’s falling apart. Without her, Huntr/x will be no more. And I know I can trust you to finish her off.”
“Right,” Jinu said faintly, hesitating slightly. “Finish her off.” He had to. He had to. But why did it feel so wrong? He didn’t want to, he couldn’t, but he had to. He had to, or Gwi-Ma would torture him further.
Besides, why did it matter, if she hated him anyway?
Jinu sent Rumi another letter. Meet me at the pathway overlooking Seoul at 17:00. You know the one. -Jinu
When Rumi received the little slip of paper via the usual slimy tongue of Derpy the Tiger and the sassy chirps of Sussie the Magpie, she was surprised. Jinu had been mad earlier, and now he wanted to meet her? Perhaps he had just been having a bad day.
She bottled up the voices in her head and shoved them to the back of her mind, trying to focus on looking her best and showing up on time, while still juggling multiple other duties.
“Where are you off to?” Mira seemed to appear out of nowhere at the doorway, arms crossed in her oversized pajama sweater.
“I’m… er- going to see Jinu.” Rumi said awkwardly, arms swinging at her sides.
Zoey poked her head out of her room. “You’re going to see Jinu? You two are so cute! Good luck!” With that, she winked and retreated back inside.
Rumi groaned and rolled her eyes, but her cheeks flushed slightly. Mira cracked a smirk. “You two lovebirds have fun.” She drawled jokingly before returning to her room.
Rumi breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t told them about the voice in her head that’d been beating her down for days, because they would start to fuss over her, and tell Bobby, and then he would come and fuss over her, and she wouldn’t be able to get any work done, and oh, it was just too much.
By the time Rumi left the Tower with a hoodie pulled over her head, it was nearly 16:45. She would be early. Well, it was better to be way too early than late, right? She had thought that was obvious. Jinu certainly wouldn’t be early, would he? Maybe he’d take the chance to jump-scare her.
The corner of her lips twitched up into a smirk as she thought about the time they’d met up and she’d scared him. He’d looked so funny, eyes as wide as saucers and hand over his chest, dramatic as always with his hoodie sleeves pulled partway up.
He’d thought it was a date.
Was it one now?
She would never know, unless he directly told her, which would not be very likely at all. He didn’t like her like that, right? This was just a casual meeting. He didn't like her like that, but oh how she wished he did…
Foolish Hunter. You really thought someone would like you? No one in their right mind would ever like you for who you truly are. You’re worthless, meaningless.
Rumi’s pupils dilated, and her breathing quickened. “No, no, no, no, no…” Her hands gripped at her shirt as the voices pierced through her head sharper and louder than ever before. She was visibly trembling, her skin clammy and forehead beaded with sweat. To make matters worse, the patterns on her arms flared up, and she could partially see them through her turtleneck sweater. Tugging her sleeves down lower, Rumi began to pace.
“Go away, go away, go away…” she muttered under her breath, her hands grasping onto the hems of her sweater. “Go away, go away, go away…”
Rumi felt like shit. Her arms were shaking, her knees were weak, and she could hardly stand up properly. The voices in her head grew louder, and she couldn’t tell their lies from their truths. Everything they said just seemed to blur together into one endless line about how she was a pathetic excuse for a living being, and that she didn’t deserve to live.
Maybe it was true. She was a disgusting abomination of a creature that couldn’t do anything to save herself or the world.
Maybe she was better off dead.
“No, no, no, no, don’t go there, go away, go away, go away…” Rumi kept muttering things under her breath, chanting a mantra, begging the voices to retreat.
“Wow, I just got here, and you want me to leave already? My poor, fragile heart.”
Jinu’s mocking, sarcastic voice startled her out of her reverie, causing her to wipe her hands on her sweatpants and try to compose herself. “No– it’s not that, it’s… well, I wasn’t talking about you.” Rumi fumbled awkwardly.
“Alright,” Jinu tilted his head forward slightly. “Let’s walk.”
They walked in silence for a while, and they eventually got to a smaller sheltered area, one with trees blocking out some of the cloudy night sky and small lanterns shining in the distance. Twinkling lights decorated an overhanging canopy, and Jinu sat down on a nearby bench.
Rumi sat next to him, distancing herself away safely, shoulders still tense and guard still up.
“Are you okay? You seem a little tense,” Jinu commented.
“I’m fine.” Rumi said shortly, pretending not to notice that Jinu’s knee, too, was bouncing nervously. What was he nervous about? Why were they both so tense around each other when they had exchanged easy quips back and forth only a week earlier?
She chewed on her lip, scrunching her eyes tight in an attempt to block out the voices causing her a migraine. Still, she said nothing.
You can’t even show yourself, you’re so ashamed. No one wants you. You deserve to die.
Rumi suddenly cried out in pain, covering her eyes and shutting them tight. Jinu took this as the perfect opportunity to strike.
I’m sorry, he thought, before extending his sharp, claw-like fingers and raising them to strike. He screwed up his face, not wanting to see the destruction he’d create along the arms and back of the woman he loved.
Just as he was about to release the blow, Rumi uncovered her face and caught him with his arm raised up high with claws out, no doubt going to finish her off. Her heart plunged towards her stomach, but she dropped her arms in a mixture of defeat and relief.
“Go on,” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Do it. I want it to happen.”
Jinu’s eyes flickered slightly, and his heart broke a little inside. “W-what?” He slowly lowered his arm, guilt filling him up as he looked at her, so broken and vulnerable.
“You heard me. Do it!” Rumi’s demon voice unleashed a ground-shaking ripple in the Honmoon, and she grabbed his arm and held it to her throat, but Jinu resisted.
“No, Rumi, I can’t. What are you doing? What am I doing?” Jinu retracted his claws and dropped to his knees beside Rumi. “W-why do you want this?” His voice wavered slightly, and it pained him knowing that she was going through so much, and he was about to… kill her.
“I’m a monster,” Rumi whispered, repeating all the horrible things the voices spoke to her, which she now believed were true. “I’m a filthy abomination. I was never meant to be born. I’m so fake. I don’t deserve to live.”
“Rumi, no, Rumi… you deserve… the world. All of it. You… you are my world.” He admitted, even when Gwi-Ma’s voice ripped through his mind, roaring. Do it! Finish her! Kill her!
Jinu winced but pushed the voices down, despite the burning pain it was creating through his head.
“That’s a bad choice,” Rumi whispered. “There are so many people out there that are so much better than me. I’m the worst person ever.”
Jinu shook his head. “I’m so sorry, Rumi, I’m so so sorry. You’re the best person I know. I never should’ve ever put you through this. I’m so sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for, it’s not your fault.” Rumi mumbled, wiping away the tears that had crept their way down her cheeks.
“But it is,” Jinu admitted, the guilt overwhelming him. “Those voices telling you those things… don’t believe them. They’re not true. Those were… Gwi-Ma’s attempts to tear you apart and overwhelm you with shame. I… I asked him to do that.”
“What… why would you do that?” Rumi’s eyes sparkled with tears, and she stared at him with a look full of betrayal.
“I’m so sorry, Rumi. I… I thought you were manipulating me.” Jinu murmured, looking at the ground. “I thought that… I thought we had something, but then you sang that song, that horrible song, and I thought… maybe it was too good to be true.”
“‘Takedown’ wasn’t on the setlist!” Rumi cried. “I don’t know why it played! I didn’t want to perform it!”
“What?” Jinu gasped. If it wasn’t on the setlist, then how did it get played? It wasn’t on the setlist… oh, god, that made Jinu feel worse. He’d put her through so much pain because of something she had no control over. He was such a jerk.
Rumi nodded tearfully. “I hated that song. We wrote it before I got to… actually know you. It was never any of our plans to perform it.”
“God, Rumi,” Jinu breathed, burying his face in his hands, pulling at his hair. “I’m so, so sorry. I’m such an asshole.”
Rumi sniffled. “That, you are.” She turned away for a brief moment before sparing a sideways glance in his direction. “It was a mistake. You’re sorry. I’m sorry too, for making you feel… manipulated. It’s… okay now.”
Jinu shook his head. “I put you through so much that you never should’ve experienced.” His shoulders shook, and he tried not to sob. “I’m not sure I’m worthy of forgiveness.”
“Hey, really, it’s fine,” Rumi said soothingly. “As long as I don’t believe these voices or let them get to me, I should be able to block him out. I might even… embrace the shame, so it… might go away.”
Squeezing his eyes shut tight, Jinu rubbed his nose and stood to face Rumi. “I’m still so sorry.”
Rumi bowed her head. “I forgive you.”
Jinu pulled her into a hug, embracing her tightly and trying to convey all his endless apologies through it. “I’m so sorry.” He whispered again, stroking her locks of purple hair. “I’m so, so sorry.”