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The dressing room was almost uncomfortably quiet – no sound but the soft hum of the AC and the tapping of Zoey’s pencil on her notebook.
Rumi and Mira were both on their phone; Mira scrolling on social media, Rumi watching some video.
“Ugh,” Zoey groaned, throwing down her pencil and twisting on the sofa she was lying on, so she hung upside down off it.
“Why do we even have to be here already? We’re not on stage for like…”
Pausing briefly to glance over at the clock on the wall – then squinting and lifting her head a little, not able to quickly decipher the time while upside down – she continued,
“We’re not on stage for another hour.”
“Yeah, well,” Rumi muttered, taking the one earbud she’d been using out of her ear.
“We had to be here for the…” she added, glancing at the clock as well, “for the introduction an hour ago. It’s just bad luck that we’re the last to go on stage.”
“They just want to finish the evening with the best performance,” Mira said, half joking.
More serious and with a mild scowl, she added,
“It just pisses me off that we perform right after the Saja Boys. Those arrogant, smug demons should’ve never gone as viral as they did. Since they crashed our fan event and only got positive resonance, event managers keep throwing them and us together, and seriously, at some point I’m gonna smash their faces in with a chair.”
Zoey snickered, a grin tugging at her lips.
“Whose faces – the event managers’ or the demons’?”
Mira blinked, only now realizing the double meaning of her statement. She huffed, dropped her phone into her lap and crossed her arms, suppressing the tiny smirk threatening to sneak onto her stoic expression.
“Both.”
“Save it for the stage,” Rumi commented, dryly. “I’m just still hoping that if anyone wants to put us in an interview together or something, Bobby declines the request. Sure, it would be great publicity, but… No. Nope. Not gonna sit on a couch with those jerks to laugh and answer silly questions.”
Mira made an exaggerated gagging motion and noise at that, and Zoey sat up on the sofa again.
“I also feel like that could get pretty dangerous,” she pointed out. “Like, that Jinu guy turned our presence at the gameshow against us way too easily. I don’t even want to know what trouble he could get us in in an interview.”
Mira hummed at that, picking up her phone again.
“True,” Rumi muttered.
She’d met Jinu alone in the past week, twice… Would he really get them in serious public trouble? He didn’t seem malicious enough to her to pull a stunt like that again, but… Well, wasn’t that technically the whole reason for them to be there in the first place?
They had come to ruin Huntrix, go after the fans and destroy the Honmoon on the long run.
“Hey,” Mira said after a moment of silence, looking up from her phone.
“You guys feel that, too?”
Of course they did.
Rumi and Zoey exchanged a glance, getting up from their positions simultaneously.
Demon.
Specifically, a Saja Boy.
The three of them had quickly learned to recognize the presences of the sajas, memorizing their energies through the Honmoon. By now, after a whole week of repeatedly having to be way too close to the five demons almost daily due to the public, the Honmoon alerted them of the Saja Boys’ presences if they were just close enough.
“Hallway,” Rumi said curtly, moving to the door.
Did one of them stray from the group? That would be unusual… Unless it was Jinu. But what would Jinu be doing in their hallway, three turns and several doors away from his own dressing room?
Slowly, quietly, Rumi opened the door a little and peeked into the hallway – face falling at the sight that greeted her.
“What is it?” Zoey hissed in a hushed whisper, trying to see past Rumi. She had her shin-kal at the ready, glinting in her hands.
Staring at the demon in the hallway in something close to disbelief, Rumi whispered back,
“It’s Baby Saja.”
Both Mira and Zoey blinked at that, dumbfounded.
That made absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Not once had they seen the Saja Boys’ maknae anywhere without either Mystery or Romance practically glued to his side. And now he was in their hallway alone?
Managing to squeeze up to Rumi and glance into the hallway as well, they both frowned.
Indeed.
The almost uncomfortably young-looking demon – really, he looked no day older than a teenager; maybe 17 or 18 at max, when for all they knew he could be several centuries old – with turquoise hair and baby blue eyes, wearing ripped jeans and an oversized sweater in bright colors as always, was near the next corner of their hallway.
He held a cup of boba tea in one hand, idly chatting with two people wearing backstage crew vests. A lighthearted smile was plastered on his lips – a smile so perfect, it couldn’t be anything but a mask for cameras and fans.
“What is he doing,” Mira muttered to herself, and Zoey nudged at Rumi’s back.
“What if he’s going to steal their souls?”
If he tried that, they’d have to move fast. So fast, Rumi wasn’t sure they could reach and stop him in time before he consumed at least one of the two souls in front of him.
Contrary to their expectations, he didn’t move an inch when the two crew members finished telling him whatever they’d stopped him for. He just looked after them as they walked away again, probably called elsewhere on the job. Idly, he put the straw of his boba between his lips and took a sip of his drink – the smile fading from his features quickly, replaced by a stoically blank expression.
He blinked and stilled for a moment, his hand holding the cup lowering a little.
Then, he turned his head and looked right at them.
Rumi winced at the sudden eye contact.
He’d sensed them looking at him.
His expression didn’t change; it remained blank and empty, the look in his eyes unreadable.
Just when both Rumi and Mira called their weapons to their hands as well, hidden from Baby’s gaze by the door, he turned and walked away.
“What,” Rumi spat, opening the door all the way – almost hitting Zoey in the face with it in the process – to follow the demon along the hallway.
When he was about to round the corner he was close to, she sped up and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
“Absolutely not, you’re staying right here.”
She pulled him back forcefully – the strength she’d used would’ve yanked a human back so hard they would’ve probably stumbled and fallen if they hadn’t been prepared for it.
Baby on the other hand followed the tug on his clothes relaxed and without stumbling, as if he categorized the pull as just a friendly request to stop and step backwards.
With a frown, she tried to yank him against the wall by his collar, her sword glowing in her other hand… and again, he just took two steps backwards and leaned his back against the wall. Just following her suggestion to move.
He looked completely unbothered, sipping on his drink, the other hand casually stuffed in the pocket of his jeans.
“What are you doing here, demon?” Mira hissed, her gok-do pointed at the saja with a tight grip.
Unimpressed, Baby glanced at the various weapons currently pointed at him.
Was he counting them?
“Answer the question, Saja Boy,” Zoey pressed, a deep frown on her face.
He looked at her for a moment, then straight ahead and right through Rumi. There was absolutely no emotion visible in his eyes or expression.
It threw them off a little. Usually, demons were afraid when surrounded by them like this – or at least hissing and growling at them in a flare of aggression.
But this one… seemed downright bored by his current predicament.
“You’re either really brave or really stupid,” Mira commented, watching as he didn’t even react to the tip of Rumi’s sword now resting right under his chin.
“You know,” Rumi said, eyes narrowing, “Usually, demons are at least a little afraid when they’re at risk of dying any moment.”
With a very, very soft sigh, he took his hand out of his pocket slowly. In a slow movement the Hunters could observe, he lifted his hand and lightly, almost gently, pushed the tip of Rumi’s sword to the side a little, away from his chin. Just a few inches… Just enough so he could take another sip of boba.
What the fuck?
“Okay,” he said then, plainly. His deep voice still threw the three Hunters for a loop every time they heard him talk.
A dumbfounded look snuck on their faces, and they knew it.
“What? Okay?”
“Okay,” he repeated. “And I’m supposed to do with this info… what exactly?”
Rumi felt disbelief add to the confusion on her face.
“Are you even realizing what trouble you’re in right now?”
He raised a brow at that – ah, so he did have muscles in his face that he could use.
“I’m not in trouble.”
“Uh,” Mira said, putting her blade even closer to him. “Yes, you are.”
“No,” he responded, sounding bored. Slowly, he stuffed his hand back into his pocket, adjusting his stance with his back against the wall to stand more comfortably.
“I’m not.”
That wasn’t even… confidence in his voice. It was absolute certainty. Like he was just stating facts, nothing else.
That demon clearly didn’t feel threatened at all, and it threw all three of them off.
Zoey stepped closer, and his gaze fell on her again.
“Then what is this to you, if not trouble?”
There was a challenging tone in her voice – she’d never seen any demon act with such indifference.
He sighed, as if inconvenienced.
“An annoying delay on my way back to the others.”
“Why are you even away from them in the first place?” Rumi demanded to know, pointing her sword at his throat again once she managed to shake off her confusion about his behavior.
“Uhm.”
His eyes narrowed slightly and he lifted the cup in his hand a little, as if to ask ‘what do you think’.
“You really just left the safety of being near your group to get boba?” Zoey asked, skeptically, and he shrugged.
“Yeah.”
He clicked his tongue, still looking completely unimpressed by the way they looked at him with resentment and with their weapons at the ready to just run him through.
“Listen, if you’re going to stab me, get on with it already. Otherwise, get out of my way. I’m not in the mood for this bullshit.”
Okay, what?
“Seriously, something’s wrong with you,” Mira pointed out, her gok-do lowering just a little.
“You’re not even going to fight if we kill you now?” Zoey huffed, and he hummed softly.
“I didn’t say that.”
He didn’t move, looking right through Rumi again.
“If you attack me, I will fight.”
Rumi frowned at that, shifting a little to catch his gaze that clearly wasn’t on her. Managing to make eye contact with him, she asked,
“Do you really think you can take the three of us? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not delusional. Of course I can’t take all three of you.”
He took his time to take another sip of his drink, the cup now half empty.
“But I can take down one of you while the other two work on killing me.”
Tilting his head a little, he added tonelessly,
“Do you want to choose which one of you goes down with me, or should I choose?”
The absolute lack of doubt, the unwavering certainty in his voice… It was mildly unsettling.
“How many have you fought before?” he asked then, tone unchangingly stoic just, like his expression.
“Demons? You think we count-“
“No,” he interrupted Mira immediately. “Sajas.”
They paused at that, hesitating.
“What?”
“Jeoseung Saja,” he said, slight annoyance sneaking into his tone now. “How many of us have you killed before?”
His eyes narrowed again, brows pulling together lightly.
“We know you mostly run into dokkaebi. Maybe water and wind demons here and there. But how many sajas do you run into?”
None.
That was the simple truth.
Rumi, Mira and Zoey exchanged a look, all sharing the same thought.
The Saja Boys were the first Jeoseung Saja they’d ever encountered personally – they’d only heard stories from Celine during their training.
What was he getting at…?
“That’s what I thought,” he muttered, taking their silence as an answer. Sipping on his boba in nothing but sheer boredom, he pushed off the wall and all three Hunters fell into defensive stances reflexively, weapons at the ready again.
Baby stopped mid-motion again, head tilted.
“This is getting ridiculous,” he pointed out flatly.
They frowned. He wasn’t exactly wrong. They’d jumped at him just straightening his back as if they really expected him to be able to take down one of them before dying – which of course, he couldn’t. None of them believed that.
They didn’t.
… Did they…?
“So, you really think you can be fast enough to even move if we decide to kill you?” Zoey asked, attempting a taunting tone – instead, she sounded tense.
“The question isn’t what I think I can do,” the saja said plainly, “The question is if you are willing to risk it and find out if I can or not.”
Frustration bubbled up in Mira, and she took a step forward. He was right.
He could be bluffing. He could be. But… what if he wasn’t?
“You-“
“Well,” he interrupted again with a shrug.
“You need to be on stage in like… one hour. Even if I only manage to scratch and bite you, maybe break a bone or two… you’ll have to be on stage with those injuries then. I know you can’t heal yourselves within minutes like we can.”
He was right…
“If you think you can perform as always with injuries more severe than just a bruise, be my guest. Keep in mind though that I won’t be affected at all. You stab me with those weapons of yours, I just return to the demon world… and Gwi-Ma will send me right back to the others, fully regenerated. We will be able to perform as always… but will you?”
He was right.
He took two large sips of his boba – the cup now almost empty.
With a frustrated groan, Rumi stepped back and lowered her sword.
Fuck.
“Fine,” she hissed, signaling for Mira and Zoey to back off as well.
They walked a few steps towards their room, and Zoey spat,
“Next time we won’t be so lenient, demon.”
“Oh, trust me, Hunter,” he said darkly, his voice dropped noticeably lower, a growl resonating in his words.
“Me neither.”
The Hunters froze at the sudden change in tone and whipped around to him again, suddenly feeling unsafe to have their backs turned to him.
Baby hadn’t moved… but he had changed.
His human disguise seemed to have slipped from him a little, revealing his true eyes – blazing yellow with narrow, slitted red pupils, and an ice-cold look in them. His youthful features were hardened by a way too dark expression.
Apparently, that last comment from Zoey had been the last drop that caused his self-control and stoic, indifferent façade to crack.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mira snapped, grip tightening again on her gok-do.
“Whatever you’re planning,” Rumi said, pointing her finger at him in bubbling anger, “won’t work out for you. Not for you, and not for the rest of your group. We’ll end this for good, soon. Once the Honmoon is sealed, you have no chances for anything anymore.”
His shockingly piercing gaze fell on her, and she almost winced. Unable to look away from his eyes, she felt like the oxygen was sucked out of the air around her; an odd feeling nestled in her chest and rushed through her veins like ice water.
Fear? She had been afraid before, but… this felt different. More intense.
“You’re foolish and delusional if you believe we’ll let you seal the Honmoon,” he said, a demonic tinge to his voice now.
“Hey, back off, Saja Boy,” Zoey hissed, her shin-kal raised and ready to embed themselves in his body if he moved.
“What are you going to do to stop us from sealing the Honmoon? Don’t be ridiculous. You’re way out of your league here.”
His gaze snapped to her immediately, and Rumi felt like she could breathe again – now, it was Zoey’s turn to feel dread seeping into her bones.
What was that? Was he doing that? Did he have such a power?
“No, Zoey,” he said coldly, almost hissing her name – she hadn’t even known that he knew their names in the first place.
“You are way out of your league.”
Rumi swallowed hard. She’d never thought Baby – either acting sweet or stoic – could act like this.
Cold. Calculating. Concerningly confident.
“What are you saying?”
“You stupid girls don’t know what you’re dealing with,” he all but growled, and suddenly he sounded like the demon that he was – perhaps much older than they could even imagine.
“You’re bluffing,” Mira said, voice strained.
That blazing yellow of his eyes seemed to draw all three of them in, dangerously so. That eerie shine drowned out everything around them, his aura sparking to feel like needle pins in their skin.
“No,” he responded bluntly. After a brief pause, he added,
“You know, the other four made deals to be here. They made yet another deal with Gwi-Ma – now here to impress him and get their wishes fulfilled.”
He paused again, his voice somehow dropping incredibly lower and darker yet again.
“I didn’t make another deal.”
“Then why are you here?” Rumi demanded to know, lifting her sword again. Not to threaten him… but to defend herself.
She didn’t feel like she had to fight.
She felt like she had to defend herself.
Even though Baby still hadn’t moved.
“What’s your reason to be here if not to get a wish fulfilled?”
Jinu had told her that Gwi-Ma would erase his awful memories, his shame, if he freed him. Did the others have similar wishes? All but Baby…?
His expression changed at that, to something neither of the three had expected.
His slitted pupils widened, as if he thought of something that brought him joy, a downright sadistic glint in his eyes. A smile that was nothing but cruel revealed his undisguised, sharp fangs.
“I’m here to watch you suffer and die,” he said, something akin to a purr vibrating in his chest. The noise and his words seemed to make the Honmoon ripple like water around him.
Rumi felt her blood run cold and her face fall at that.
What?
A brief glance at her two friends let her know that they were apparently just as taken aback as she was. Mira’s shoulders were tense, her grip on her weapon so tight that her knuckles turned white. Her eyes were wide and she swallowed hard, noticeably so. Zoey drew in a sharp breath of air and twitched, as if she just barely managed to stop herself from taking a step back.
This wasn’t right.
Demons were afraid of Hunters; they had been since the creation of the Honmoon because their weapons were the only thing with which humans could harm them.
Demons served Gwi-Ma and followed his will to be free, like bees in a hive following a queen; they didn’t have own desires beyond feeding on souls.
Zoey felt an unusual flicker of sheer terror rush through her body like a wave – a burning hot, then ice-cold sensation starting in the pit of her stomach, then numbing her limbs. Her fingers were locked around her shin-kal like her life depended on it.
She felt like it did.
Baby noticed their fear, of course. Reaching out with his powers towards the slightest cracks in their composure and confident façade, he dug into their minds solely to induce fear; reached for their souls and tasted the growing terror in them, paralyzing their bodies.
He broke eye contact to glance at their souls.
The lights glowing in their chests, securely protected by a body of flesh and bone, immediately drew him in like a flame a moth. He felt his mouth water at the thought of finally being allowed to consume them, or at least one of them.
That had been a condition of his to join Jinu to aid in his plan. Yes, he was mostly here just for the fun of it… but he had insisted that he would get to consume at least one of the Hunters’ souls himself. Jinu had agreed – and Baby would hold the older demon to his word.
Swallowing hard and trying to ignore the itch in his mouth to just open it and take their souls right in that moment, feed on them now as they’d somehow completely dropped their guard – well, not dropped it, more like lost it unexpectedly – he allowed a growl to build up and rumble low in his throat.
His grin widened at the look in Rumi’s eyes – the half-demon. Should he blow her cover now? It would be fun. Then again… the stains on her soul let him know that keeping that secret was what was slowly but steadily breaking her. Who was he to end that suffering earlier than it had to?
Taking the last sips of his boba, he let the cup go up in flames in his hand. Not even ashes fell to the floor.
The three Hunters were utterly caught off guard by the change in Baby’s demeanor. Gone was the quiet, indifferent demon they had just been talking to, and there was no trace left of the sweet and cute Saja Boy he let the fans see.
Instead, this saja had turned into a demon straight from their nightmares – yellow eyes blazing with sadistic glee, baring his sharp fangs in a wicked grin as he seemed to feel nothing but absolute joy at their reaction to his sudden change. There was a burning, deep-rooted rage in his eyes, barely suppressed even when he grinned – a grin that would haunt them and their dreams for a long time.
Instinctively, Zoey wanted to take a step back – in her entire life, she hadn’t felt this small and powerless. This terrified.
Even when Celine had thrown them in the middle of a demon attack for the first time, when they’d mostly just screamed and swung their weapons around uncoordinatedly, nothing on their minds but sheer survival, she hadn’t felt nearly as terrified as in this moment.
Before she could move, she felt herself pinned by that piercing gaze again. It felt like he was looking right through her body and straight into her mind and soul – really, he most definitely was.
“You know, when this is over,” he said then, tone cold and matter-of-factly. “I might just kill Jinu for making me act all cute and sweet for his plan.”
He licked his lips, dark tongue running over his fangs like he already imagined them in the older demon’s throat. Jinu was tense around him already, sensing the growing resentment the younger saja felt towards him. Their leader expected nothing but having Baby at his throat at some point, even if he tried to not show it.
Yeah… He kinda was looking forward to seeing the older demon at his mercy, bleeding out at his feet. Gwi-Ma surely wouldn’t stop him. Why would he? After this, he’d have no further use for Jinu anyway.
“And then, I can finally get to you three.”
His pupils dilated even more at the thought alone, almost round now, and he took a slow, lazy step towards them – like a predator.
Usually, they were the predators, and the demons the prey.
Rumi wanted to move backwards, gain some distance, but her feet felt frozen to the floor. Somehow, she managed to lift her numb arms to point her sword at the demon in front of them again. When had she lowered it?
Her arms felt heavy, like her sword had weights attached.
Digging even deeper into her resolve and composure, clawing through it like through the Honmoon, he pinned her with his gaze again. He called to her soul to leave her just enough to make the Hunter feel dizzy and close to passing out, body frozen like a statue.
How he hated her.
That disgusting little half-breed that shouldn’t even exist. That half-demon that Jinu somehow started to take a liking to. That fool. Falling for his own lies.
Baby could clearly sense demon in her, and he could very clearly see the patterns covering her body, dormant under her skin. Just… waiting to be released. He felt the power coursing through her veins; a power she was not even aware of.
Whoever her father had been… must have been – for one, completely and utterly insane for getting close enough with a Hunter to have a child with her – and two, old.
Power came with age for their kind, and if even his offspring had this kind of power in her from birth… Well, her sire was probably a demon that could wipe out all five of the Saja Boys with one hand while drinking coffee.
Not that it mattered – he was either killed or imprisoned by Gwi-Ma when the little half-breed was born.
“I’m here to watch you suffer, to crumble and break beyond repair. I want to tear your soul into pieces, watch it put itself back together just to do it again.”
At this point, he was really just talking directly to Rumi.
“I’m going to dig your mind inside out, rip it open and lock you inside it to relive your worst nightmares and fears over and over. I will shatter you in ways you can’t even fathom.”
Feeling almost giddy at the sight of her trembling hands, holding her sword unsteadily, he felt a low purr rumble in his chest again.
Oh, he could do this all day.
Stalking closer and closer as he spoke, like a lion closing in to his paralyzed prey, he continued,
“Just when you start begging for death as a mercy, I’m going to turn you against each other. I want to watch as you fall apart trapped in your minds as you can’t help but break each other. I wonder which one of you would be the first to break free from herself, to try and show mercy and kill the other two to free them, save them. Then, I will tear your throat open with just my claws, rip out your vocal cords and make you eat them. And then…”
He felt his mouth water again, swallowing hard before licking his lips again.
“And then I can finally feed on your souls. Souls of Hunters are way too tempting to resist.”
He was close enough now that the tip of Rumi’s sword touched his chest, just lightly… but his patterns responded to it instantly. They crawled across his skin, the dark purple a stark contrast to his ashen pale skin.
With a snarl, he finally dropped the last bits and pieces of his human disguise entirely, not bothering to look like anything but like what he was. In something way too close to excitement, a faint pink glow grew and spread in his patterns, even shining through his clothes a little.
“I can’t wait to tear your flesh off your bones with my teeth, and to feel your bones break under my hands as I take your souls and bodies apart bit by bit. I want to hear you scream and beg; see you writhe and fall apart in desperation as your precious world burns down around you. You will learn what it means to suffer,” he spat. Only then did he break eye contact, glancing at the other two Hunters with a wicked grin and bared fangs.
“All of you.”
Baby could practically taste it, feel it. Their soft flesh between his teeth as he pulled, fibers snapping and ripping clean through. The scent and taste of fresh blood, of prey still alive. The hits and kicks he would have to take when they fought him as long as they could.
Never before had he been so excitedly looking forward to getting hit and kicked.
Generally, demons were after the souls. But… they weren’t at all opposed to the flesh, either. Sometimes it was just fun to eat through the physical body until the soul tried to flee its cage of meat and bones all on its own.
And really, souls just tasted so much more delicious when his mouth and throat were already coated with blood.
His teeth started aching at the thought of making bones splinter and break between them, in a way that made him clench his jaws and press his tongue against his teeth and gums for stimulation, to make the phantom sensation more bearable.
An itch he wanted – needed – to scratch soon. It was driving him feral, slowly but surely.
Holding their gazes for a moment, he savored the absolute and naked fear that rolled off them in waves like heat off a radiator. The taste was delicious on his tongue, making him feel almost drunk.
Baby couldn’t feed on their souls yet – but he could feed on this.
He was hungry.
He was starving.
He was the youngest of their group – meaning, he was forced to eat last. To feed last. If they didn’t manage to find enough secluded souls to feed all of them during one hunt, it was always him who didn’t get his fill.
Not only Gwi-Ma had an insatiable hunger for souls, energies and emotions.
After basking in the dizzying delicacy that was their sheer terror and enjoying their nothing but horrified and disturbed expressions – Zoey even had tears in her eyes, he realized, and it made his breath hitch – he decided that it was enough and that he should get back to the others.
He would need more of that eventually, though. Much more of that.
“Anyway,” he said cheerfully, clapping his hands and withdrawing his powers from their minds and bodies. All three of them gasped and swayed on their feet as they snapped out of their trance, finally able to stumble back a little. Their weapons dissolved instantly, returning into the strings of the Honmoon.
Rumi had had a great chance there to run him through with her sword where it had still been touching his chest.
Oh well.
“This was fun…,” he said lightheartedly, taking a step back and putting on his human disguise again like slipping on a coat. That’s what it was. Poorly fitting clothes that he hated to wear. “… but I should get going.”
He called his sweetest smile to his lips, nothing but a friendly glint in his eyes – not a trace of the burning rage or the unhinged and completely open sadism and cruelty.
“Good talk. I’ll see you on stage later!” he added, giving them a wink and a finger heart before teleporting away, disappearing in a puff of pink mist.
Shaking the dread from her bones, Rumi grabbed Zoey and Mira by their wrists and pulled them back into their dressing room, swiftly closing and locking the door.
Zoey swallowed hard and rubbed at her eyes to get rid of the tears stinging in them.
Mira was breathing heavily, holding her head.
Rumi felt herself trembling, shaking like a dry leaf in the wind still.
“What the hell,” Mira rasped out eventually, making both Rumi and Zoey flinch as if the sudden sound of words startled them, “was that.”
“I don’t know, I couldn’t move no matter how hard I tried,” Zoey gasped. “I’ve never felt anything like that before. Like, I was… I was scared before, but this…”
She was interrupted by a violent shudder going through her body, throat tight all of a sudden.
“He tore our guard down way too easily,” Rumi muttered, one trembling hand pressed to her chest, feeling her racing heart beating like it wanted to jump out of her ribcage.
He had called to her soul, tugged on it. She’d felt it.
“We can’t allow something like that to happen again. He…”
She trailed off, the realization dropping like a pile of rocks in the pit of her stomach.
“He could’ve easily taken our souls just know, and we wouldn’t even have been able to fight it.”
Mira and Zoey both paled at that, nodding numbly.
Not one of them had seen it coming. That sudden change in him. That sudden drop of whatever act he was usually putting on for the sake of the Saja Boys’ plan.
Nausea rising in her throat, Rumi remembered how the feeling of his aura had changed, from pins and needles on her skin like a blanket, to winding around her like ropes; paralyzing her body, slipping through any and all cracks they found and curling around her very bones, her heart, her mind, her soul.
Zoey appeared to feel similarly about what just happened – she gagged dryly, then hurried into the bathroom of their dressing room with a hand pressed over her mouth.
“What the fuck is going on in that demon’s head,” Mira whispered in horror, thinking about how he had talked not only about the awful mind games he wanted to break them with, but also how he had implied to want to eat them alive.
Rumi rubbed her face, managing to get the tremor in her hands under control only now.
Mostly.
“Whatever it is,” she whispered. “I feel like this was only a glimpse of it.”
Entering the Saja Boys dressing room, Baby immediately had all eyes on him.
“Where were you?” Jinu demanded to know, tensely.
He was always tense before a performance. Tense, and not paying attention to what was right in front of him.
“Just went to get some boba,” he said with a shrug, walking over to his chair. “Drank it on the way here.”
“Don’t leave without letting us know first,” their leader ordered with a firm, but distracted tone before turning back to his notebook.
He couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. “Yes, dad.”
Amusement rising, he met the gazes of the other three sajas.
Abby, Romance and Mystery were all staring at him in silence – paying attention, contrary to Jinu.
There was a look of something close to envy in Abby’s eyes, and a sly grin sneaking onto Romance’s lips. Mystery licked his lips and swallowed hard enough that it was noticeable, which was rare enough for the quiet saja already.
They could smell the terror he’d just been feeding on as a pre-show snack; it was clinging to every fiber of his being, and it made their mouths water as well.
They didn’t say or ask anything, though.
They knew better than to mess with the youngest of their group, not fooled by his sweet appearance.
Not anymore. Each of them had made that mistake already.
With a grin that didn’t match the soft and youthful features of his human disguise, dripping with sadistic joy and cruelty, he gave his bandmates a playful wink.
That had been fun.
It got even funnier when Huntrix called off their performance that evening.