Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mira didn’t plan the conversation that would change everything.

It was all she could do to contain the red, gripping rage as Rumi rose up from behind the couch, smile stretched wide, arms even wider as she held their new promo outfits up to their necks, like she was already seeing them where she wanted them.

Zoey wailed “No more relax-y time!”

But Mira’s “mom-friend” override kicked in and she reached behind the white jacket with the golden chains and snatched Rumi’s wrist. “Sit down, now.” She demanded.

Rumi’s smile vanished and Zoey stopped crying in surprise. Mira took the costume from Rumi and threw it to the other side of the coffee table before pointing down to the wooden rim of it, picking a place for Rumi to sit.

Rumi didn’t move. “What?” she asked.

“We’re talking about this now,” Mira said. “Sit down.”

Rumi shrunk a little. “What do you mean?”

“I’m about to tell you what I mean,” Mira snapped. Her arm was getting tired in the air, waiting for her teammate to move. “Rumi, now.”

Rumi shied away from Mira but crept around the couch. Instead of sitting on the table in between her and Zoey, she picked a place on the corner of the couch and grabbed a pillow to shield herself with. Mira opened her mouth, about to say “I didn’t say there,” but a voice strangely like her mother’s rang through her head. This situation reminded her far too much of the “pep talks” she got growing up. But just because she didn’t like a stern conversation didn’t mean it wasn’t needed sometimes.

Mira sighed and got up and moved to the other side of Rumi, putting her equally in-between herself and Zoey, whose outfit laid forgotten on the back of the back beside her.

“What the hell were you thinking?” She asked, doing her best to bite down the anger. No, no, too confrontational. She smoothed her hands over her knees, took a deep breath, and tried again. “Why did you do that?”

“B-because… it’s so important,” Rumi said, lamely. “And… we’re so close.”

“Yes, it is important,” Mira said. She rehearsed everything her teenage therapist and the internet had taught her about resolving conflict. Use “I feel” statements. Explain yourself. Give the other person room to talk. Don’t corner them… though Mira was choosing to ignore that one because she knew Rumi and she knew Rumi would run off unless she made it harder by putting her legs in the aisle. “I’m angry because this is important,” Mira said slowly. “Why do Zoey and I not get a say in something as important as our new single?”

Rumi’s fingers dug into the pillow. “I… didn’t think you’d be mad?”

“Why?” Mira asked, keeping her voice as steady as possible.

“Well, it’s… important.”

Mira’s tongue moved in her mouth with at least six replies, but she sealed her lips. Staying calm… staying calm. “Rumi,” she said, “We’ve always released our singles together. I feel-“ she grit her teeth, “-that you didn’t tell us this time because you knew we’d disagree, and you’re hoping we’ll just go along with it now because it’s done.”

“Look, let’s not fight about it,” Rumi said suddenly, getting to her feet. She vaulted herself over the couch with a hand and made towards her room “I’ve got the message - I’ll never do this again. Next time, you can choose when we release the new single. Honestly. I-“

“No, that’s not enough,” Mira interrupted. She stood up. “And if you walk out of this conversation, then I’m not going to do the promo.”

Zoey gasped. Rumi halted. Mira didn’t flinch.

Rumi swallowed. “You’re serious?”

“I am,” Mira said. “I won’t do the promo. Or the choreography. Or any live performances. So sit down or go without me.”

“But…” Rumi put her hands out, like she was trying to grab onto an idea to pull the conversation back into her favor. “But we’re a team! And the honmoon - you saw the gold. Please, Mira, I’m so close-“

“You’re so close?” Mira repeated. “Why is this about you?”

“I-I,” Rumi took a deep breath. “I just… I just… I feel… I feel so much pressure to turn the honmoon gold, that’s all. Like…” She reapproached and braced her hands on the back of the couch. “Like people will die if I don’t. And soon, everyone will be safe.”

“Rumi, we’re all working on this together,” Mira reminded her.

“There’s a reason there’s three of us,” Zoey piped up. “Don’t feel like you have to do this all on your own. You need us.”

Rumi cracked a smile. “I… I do. I guess I’m just stressed because, well, Celine always told me it would be my voice. Of course, I think yours are amazing! Don’t get me wrong. I guess I just I feel like everything is depending on me. My life’s goal… the reason I was born… I’m afraid of letting everyone down.”

Mira and Zoey exchanged looks around Rumi’s bowed head. Then Mira sat down. “Rumi, you can’t make a decision, put us in a bad spot, then call us a team to guilt-trip us into agreeing. It doesn’t work like that. If you want to pull the team card, you need to play with the team.”

Rumi looked to Zoey, who was pulling on her hair as she thought. When it went quiet, she looked up at Rumi. “I… love Golden,” she said. “But you’re putting a bad taste in my mouth because of this. I hope you know… we all worked hard on that song. Not just you.”

Rumi’s shoulders slumped. Zoey sank further into the couch. “I… want to do the promo. I didn’t want to do it now. I wish you’d asked us beforehand, instead of putting us on the spot.”

Mira shifted her gaze in between the two teammates. “So… is this going to be a promo-less single?” she asked. “Or-“

“No!” Zoey and Rumi exclaimed together.

“No, no - I definitely want to do the promo-“

“-the gold! Please, we’re so close!”

“Okay.” Mira held up a hand. “I agree. We have the best chance of turning the honmoon gold if we do the promo. But, I’m still disappointed that my plans are ruined. And Zoey’s, and Bobby’s. After you knew how much we were looking forward to them and how hard we worked on the tour. You literally just sent him away to that resort and we’re going to have to call him and let him know what you did.” Mira leveled her gaze with Rumi. “How do you plan on making this up to us?”

It was a line Mira’s parents had often used against her.

But, she reminded herself, just because it had been used to put her in a box before didn’t mean it couldn’t be useful now to explain how serious she felt.

“Make it up to you?” Rumi repeated weakly. “Isn’t… turning the honmoon gold reward enough?”

“It’s going to go gold either way,” Mira replied. “Isn’t it?”

“But… this is faster.”

“And a betrayal of our trust,” Mira replied.

Rumi finally cracked. Her shoulders slumped and she looked at the floor. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have sidestepped you. I just got… excited to… finish everything.” She wrapped her arms around herself and exhaled. “I won’t do this again. Without asking you. And we can push the promo back a bit so you still have time to rest. I’m sure it won’t make any difference if we do a few days-“

“A week,” Mira suggested.

“Yeah!” Zoey smiled at half power. “A week sounds nice. It’ll give everyone time to learn the words.”

“It’ll also give Bobby time to enjoy his resort, which you encouraged him to go to,” Mira replied. Rumi nodded. It was clear the guilt was starting to weigh on her. Mira decided it was time to ease up. No use beating a dead horse.

“And…” Rumi hesitated. “How about I make food for you both? While you’re resting? And… after the honmoon is gold we can take a real hiatus. We can chill out. Maybe… go to the bathhouse together?”

Zoey gasped and the last of Mira’s anger fled. “What?” She demanded, then raised her fist triumphantly. “I will fight for a spa day with you.”

“Really? You’re not kidding? Eee! I can’t wait!” Zoey jumped off the couch, dancing in excitement.

Rumi chuckled softly. “Yeah. For sure. So… are we okay?”

Mira nodded. “Yeah, we’re good.”

“Oh, get over here!” Zoey squealed. She ran across the white cushions – the tower of snacks tilted dangerously towards the white velvet – with her arms outstretched to them both. Rumi and Mira laughed and hurried into her embrace. Mira made sure to hook her arm around Rumi’s back in a show of emotional solidarity(another term she’d gotten from the internet). Rumi looked up gratefully and then buried her forehead in Zoey’s shoulder.

The whole thing had happened because Mira had been mad and wasn’t going to let Rumi slide. But in hindsight, that conversation had changed everything.

Because Rumi, the next morning, got up and noticed her patterns had receded slightly. Her voice was solidly in the clear. No problems. The week of rest and chatting with her teammates helped further, so that by the time the first live performance rolled around, they nailed it.

There was never any reason to go to a shady healer in a quiet alleyway. They never ran into a small music group trying to debut a live performance when they had no songs available for streaming. And even though “Soda Pop” began streaming that same day, Huntr/x didn’t notice anything odd about the group. Nothing that would merit showing up to a gameshow in full leather battle armor. And since they never showed up, the Saja Boys never went viral. And since they never went viral, “Soda Pop” crept up the charts at a normal pace, only to be quashed by the success of Golden’s first live performance. The “Pride” wasn’t able to garner a sufficient fan base before the Idol Awards and so Huntr/x had no real competition.

They performed Golden live for the second time. Fans described it as a spiritual experience – sobbing as the band sang and danced.

Gold shimmered through the honmoon, blooming in small bands at first, and then turning a bright, blinding light. Zoey gasped and took Rumi’s hand, squeezing tightly. The gold bloomed outward, spreading, whirring by them. As far as they could see, it was gold.

Backstage, the Saja boys watched in horror as a janitor mopped up the remains of a bottle Abby had dumped over his head. They were minor acts who had been hoping to sabotage the main event, but it was too late now. The gold soared towards them. Their patterns flared up, bold and pink, and each of the five were yanked into the ground. The janitor gasped and dropped his mop. Then carefully, he stepped forward and prodded the ground where the boys had stood.

Mira took Rumi’s other hand and squeezed as they looked around in wonder at what they’d accomplished. Rumi clenched them both tightly, smiling as the crowd screamed and clapped, and then they turned and left slowly. Mira and Zoey threw their arms around Rumi as they exited into the hands of the stage crew, who began to di-mic them.

The moment Rumi’s mic was removed, she bolted. Tore around a corner and jumped into the first bathroom she could see. She locked the door and yanked the zipper of her black jacket down. It hit the ground with the sound of a smack. And Rumi’s smile vanished.

The patterns remained, zig-zagging up her biceps, completely unchanged. Not a shade darker or lighter. Not an inch in either direction. Exactly as they’d been before she’d gone on stage.

It hadn’t worked.

Rumi gulped for air as the world went grey around her. Her head grew lighter and lighter, until she felt herself approaching the ground. The world became grey and still for what only felt like seconds before she blearily got back off the ground and thought, “This isn’t my room. Why am I waking up here?”

Someone was banging on the door. “Anyone in here?” a man shouted.

Rumi yanked her jacket back on, pausing in the mirror to trace a pattern on her bicep, and then zipped herself up. She opened the door and nearly collided with a member of the maintenance staff, who was holding a master key. Behind him, another man was babbling to a coworker. “I’m telling you! The Saja boys just-“

“Huntr/x!” the man who’d been about to open the door exclaimed. “Erm, Ms. Huntr/x?”

Rumi gulped for air. “So sorry,” she said. “I must have dozed off. What time is it?”

“Um…” The man tucked the key into his pockets. “I believe people are looking for you, ma’am. You won. Idol of the year. Your teammates already accepted the award.”

She must have been out for some time, then. Zoey and Mira would be so worried… Rumi didn’t know what to do. She nodded at the man, then began to hurry away. She found her dressing room – private from the other two girls – and gathered her phone and clothes. Threw a hoodie on so no one would spot her. The honmoon continued shimmering golden around her. She called a cab and found a back entrance to slip out of.

She got into the back of the cab with the hoodie pulled tightly on her face and stared out the window so the driver wouldn’t talk to her as they took her away from the stadium, away from the fans, and away from Zoey and Mira. They passed Huntr/x tower and then stopped at a place any hunter would recognize. Up a long dirt path, Rumi could see Celine waiting.

She jumped out and began to run. The cab pulled away. When it was out of sight, Rumi pulled off the hoodie, huffing with every breath. Celine reached out in excitement – she could see the gold, of course. But her arms faltered when Rumi threw the hoodie at the ground.

“It didn’t work,” Rumi huffed, catching herself on her knees. “Why didn’t it work?”

Tears burned her face. She couldn’t meet Celine’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do!” She exclaimed. Her shoulder heaved and her throat cinched. She gave up on holding her knees and sunk to the ground instead. “I… I don’t want to be a monster anymore.”

The despair grew darker and darker, and Rumi felt her brain shutting off again.

Chapter Text

Every muscle felt ready to peel off her body and abandon her. She’d ignored their protests too long, and they were about to abandon ship. But she just couldn’t get this stupid dance down.

Rumi watched herself in the mirror. Her black workout outfit covered everything from her ankles to her wrists and even flaring a bit at the top of her neck, so to cover her chin. She struck her first position, glancing to make sure she’d hit the angles and motions she needed, and then began to move through the other motions. Out, in, up, out. Then elbow to the ground and kick… her forearm slid across the polished stone of the studio.

Too far left. Not tight enough.

But she finally couldn’t push herself anymore, and so she collapsed against the stone and let her gaze focus on the scenery outside. The top of Celine’s tree was visible in the distance. It was so hot outside that Rumi thought she could see the leaves cooking on the tree. Steam was rising from the grass.

“Global warming,” Rumi thought. “Yet another reason to consider kicking the bucket.”

No, no, not a good thought. “We’re trying to have good thoughts,” she whispered to herself, peeling her face off the stone and peering back into the mirror. “Good thoughts are helpful. They get you ready to go back out.”

But really, why was she even bothering to try? She’d left Celine’s house nine times since she’d arrived after the Idol Awards two years ago. Each visit had been for some treatment, some surgery. None had worked.

She had tried skin bleaching. She’d tried grafting. She’d tried the knife. But the patterns remained, now spiderwebbing down her forearms and her calves. And only a month after she’d used it to turn the honmoon golden, they had stolen her voice as well. She hadn’t sung in ages apart from breathy whispers and low vocal warmups that never helped.

No singing meant no music. Huntr/x had been on hiatus since the Idol Awards as well.

Rumi closed her eyes against the ghosts of the studio where she’d trained while growing up. Where Mira and Zoey – along with a few other potentials – had come to practice with her. The routine she was working on would look so incredible with them… but she hadn’t seen them since the Idol Awards either. They came knocking a few times in the beginning, asking if she was okay and what had happened. Celine had sent them away each time.

Rumi pulled herself up using the balance bar. The door of the studio opened and hot air rushed in, disturbing the air conditioning that Rumi’s outfit was shielding her from anyways.

“Rumi,” Celine said. “Take five.”

Rumi sank back down. “I just did,” she replied blandly.

Celine sat down cross-legged a few feet from her with a sharp frown. She had her cell phone on and extended it to Rumi to see the few notifications on it. A message from Bobby asking how she was doing (after all this time?), a notification about the Saja Boys’ upcoming album, and a news app notification reading “Freak Explosion caused by man claiming to summon demons.”

Rumi’s eyebrows knit together. “Is that… clickbait?”

“It’s all over the news inside,” Celine said. “He blew up the Seogang Bridge.”

“But… it couldn’t actually be demons, could it be?” Rumi asked. She tapped on the article and gaped at the picture of the collapsed bridge, with wreckage being carried away in the water underneath it. “The honmoon is still golden. It shouldn’t need recharging.”

“No, it shouldn’t,” Celine agreed. “This man claims he summoned a demon using instructions he found on the internet. I’ve taken a look at what he did and, unfortunately, it seems legitimate.” Rumi scrolled and found a picture of a summoning circle drawn on the sidewalk near the bridge. The inside was scorched black. “There are no bodies on the bridge,” Celine admitted. “He said he promised the demon the souls of everyone on the bridge if he would destroy it in the process.”

“But he can’t send the souls back to Gwi-ma through the honmoon, right?”

“No,” Celine agreed. “But before the honmoon was sealed, demons would feed on the scraps Gwi-ma left. They are all probably very, very hungry.”

And trapped. Until summoned. “A perfect deal for a demon,” Rumi agreed.

“He’s not the only one,” Celine said. Rumi looked up. Celine’s face was set in stone. “It started small. An internet trend. People promising tastes of their own souls in exchange for favors. Gifts. Sometimes, they’d offer up the whole soul of someone they wanted dead anyway. Not many are taking stock in the trend. But this… this is big. It will spread.”

“How can the demons get here if the honmoon is fine?”

“It’s different when they’re summoned,” Celine said. “It must offer a path through the honmoon. A trained and experienced summoner should be able to send them back afterwards. Though I’d be shocked if everyone who’s summoned them has known how to put them back.” She reached out and took her phone back. “Rumi, it’s time to rejoin Huntr/x.”

She should have expected this.

“Celine…” Rumi’s voice cracked. “I can’t. I can’t sing.”

“But I don’t have time to train anyone else,” Celine replied. “Or start a new group. You’ll have to be enough.”

A feeling like a deep cut ached in Rumi’s chest. “I haven’t seen Zoey or Mira in years.”

This didn’t faze Celine either. “You made a promise to protect this world from demons. Together. They will keep their promise.”

Tears welled up in Rumi’s eyes. If it was this painful going into it, how could she possibly go through it? She sniffed, but didn’t protest.

Celine got to her feet and touched Rumi’s face – one of the last unmarred parts of her body. “I’ll call Bobby to come pick you up,” she said. “We’ll let you know what day you’ll head back.”

Chapter Text

Bobby beeped the horn twice in his car before getting out and walking up, like he was trying to warn her. Rumi sat at the kitchen counter with her suitcase beside her, picking at a single strawberry. Her appetite had been ruined since the honmoon was sealed. Sometimes she could eat to maintain the dance practice she still put herself through. But most of the time, she starved and didn’t notice until her head grew light and her hands shook.

Bobby let himself in the front door. “Rumi?” he called.

Rumi decided it was time to abandon the strawberry – or at least save it for later. She got up, using the counter for balance, and turned around.

Bobby smiled at her. He was so genuine. Like she hadn’t left and he hadn’t called every hour for a week trying to reach her. “I’ve missed you so much!” he exclaimed, stepping up and giving her a hug. Rumi was relieved to find he hadn’t changed his cologne. It took her back to before all this. She squeezed him tightly. “Now, I’m going to be real with you, Rumi – Mira and Zoey are cautious about this. But you and I will talk PR with them and the actual public in the car, and I’m sure we can work it out. They’ve missed you so much, you know.” He patted her back. “How was rehab?”

Oh. Rumi’s breath caught in her throat. “It… was,” she replied. As in, it had definitely happened.

Bobby squeezed again, this time feeling constricting. “I know it’s not easy. But I hope you got some help.”

Right. Help. Good enough that she was wearing long sleeves in August.

“I’m trying, Bobby.”

“And that’s all anyone asks.”

Someone cleared their throat behind Rumi. Celine had come in from the back door. She held a bag of what Rumi assumed were weapons, probably with additional bits of information on them. Rumi reached out for them. “Work hard,” Celine said. “You’ll do a great job, Rumi.”

Bobby clapped his hands together. “Always great to see you Celine! My oh my, you look younger every time I see you. How are you aging in reverse?”

Celine cracked a smile. “It’s good to see you too, Bobby,” she said, much more warmly than Rumi could remember her speaking in the last two years. “Are you managing anyone else lately?”

“Oh, no,” Bobby waved Celine away. “I could’ve, but I don’t need the money and I’d miss my girls too much! Like I’ve missed this one.” He wrapped an arm around Rumi’s shoulders and took her suitcase with his other hand.

Rumi exhaled. It all felt so much more real, suddenly. Bobby rubbed a comforting circle into her arm with the hand around her and then asked, “You ready to hit the road, Rumi?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Bye, Celine.” She hovered for a moment, unsure of whether to move in for a hug or handshake. She and Celine hadn’t been very touchy-feely these last two years. But today was apparently an exception. Celine stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Rumi. Bobby let his hand drop.

Rumi didn’t melt into the hug. Instead, she counted mentally the patterns Celine must be touching through her clothes. Every intersection of arm and mark.

Bobby wheeled her suitcase out and put it in the back of the car, and then opened the front passenger door for her. Apparently, it was just the two of them. No security or dispatch or anything. Rumi climbed in and buckled in. The weight of the seatbelt helped her feel more grounded in reality. Celine stood near her front door and waved as Bobby got in and they headed out.

“I’m so happy to see you again,” Bobby said, making motions with his hands behind the wheel as he talked. “And honestly, the girls will be too. But we do need to chat a little bit of PR. There were questions about what happened to you, obviously, but I told everyone that the tour and the Idol Awards had been really tough for you back-to-back, and you were taking some time for yourself. No one knows about rehab or any of your treatments or anything.”

“Treatments?” Rumi repeated.

“Well, I saw some of your expenses for things,” Bobby began delicately. “And just so you know, this is a judgement-free zone! Whatever you needed to do to feel comfortable in your own skin, you needed.”

Rumi cracked a smile. “Thank you, Bobby.”

Bobby nodded eagerly, then paused. He glanced in the rearview, like something might be following him. “You… are feeling better, right?” he asked. “Celine isn’t just pushing you out?”

“I’m a lot better…” Rumi picked her words carefully. Better than before the Idol Awards? No. Better than last year? Probably. “And I think it’s probably time. I’ve got some things I need to do… I want to get back into singing… and I need to patch things up with Mira and Zoey.”

Rumi adjusted her braid over her shoulder and picked at the end of it. “Are they… good?”

“Oh yeah, they’re good,” Bobby assured her. “Have you kept up with them in the news, at all? No? Well, they’ve both been doing some solo experiments… Zoey did a rap competition last week in America. Mira’s teaching dance and her classes are booked out to next year. They ghost write and, um, yeah.” Bobby drummed his hands on the wheel. “As far as reconnecting with them goes, Rumi, I would recommend to just… be honest with them. Really rely on them. I think they want to be part of your life, Rumi.”

They left the quiet streets behind and got onto one of the main roads into Seoul. Traffic picked up. In the far distance, Rumi could see the skyscrapers towering up like long grass. Bobby continued chatting about what he’d told Zoey and Mira the last two years – oh honmoon, it had been two years – and what the fans thought. Rumi felt her chest constrict and her breathing grew shallow.

“Bobby,” Rumi interrupted, watching the scenery outside begin to shift into a cityscape, “What if I can’t do this?”

Bobby let out a dry laugh. She heard him move his hands on the wheel. Then he cleared his throat. “Rumi, can I be honest with you?” he asked.

“I need it,” she replied.

He didn’t answer right away, so she looked over and found him gritting his teeth as he leaned towards the wheel. “I have never liked Celine,” he said.

“What?” That was shocking to her. They’d always seemed to get on so well. When Rumi had been younger, she’d wondered if maybe they got on more than well.

“I’ve never liked her,” Bobby repeated, voice darker than Rumi had heard it before. “I never liked the way she pushed you girls. Like if you weren’t perfect, you weren’t worth it anymore.” He pushed himself back into the chair and glanced over at her. “When my halmeoni died while I was in school, I fell into a deep depression. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t move. I thought I was a failure. It lasted for months. I almost lost everything. All my friendships. My schooling. My life.”

Bobby reached over and touched her arm. “I don’t know exactly what you’re going through,” he whispered. “But I’ve been through similar and you’re not a failure. You’re strong. You’re smart. You’re kind. And if you can’t do this, or if you don’t want to, then you can come and stay with me until you figure out what you want to do. You’ll always be good enough for me.”

Rumi felt a lump rise in her throat. “I never knew,” she sniffed, and wiped her eyes. “You’re the best manager ever, Bobby.”

“It’s because I’m not just your manager,” Bobby said, opening the center console of the car and pulling out a box of tissues without drama or flourish. “I’m also your friend.”

Rumi began to cry more earnestly. “I missed you,” she hiccupped. “I missed you and I missed them and-“ she completely dissolved. Bobby occasionally reached over to pat her shoulder, but mostly just listened as the tissue box dwindled and Rumi babbled without any true explanation of why her life had taken such a tight turn.

She patched herself up before they arrived at Huntr/x tower. Now that she’d cried so much, this didn’t feel as hard. It was weird to be back, she thought as Bobby got out of the car and found a trash can, which he brought to her side and held while she swept the used tissues inside.

The jitters returned as the elevator ascended. Rumi found herself gulping for breath. Hopefully Mira and Zoey would be as forgiving as Bobby had been. Would they be mad? Or happy to see her?

The elevator opened up to a familiar short hallway. Rumi could see straight into the living room, at the white velvet couch. The apartment was quiet.

“Girls?” Bobby called, guiding Rumi forward with a hand between her shoulder blades and still wheeling her suitcase behind her. The bad Celine had given her was balanced atop it.

“Kitchen!” Rumi heard Mira’s voice around the corner and her voice caught in her throat before her heart plummeted into her stomach.

There was her answer. If they’d been happy to see her, there would have been squeaks and squeals. Bare or sock-clad feet would have whizzed around the corner. Arms so wide she wouldn’t have seen the face of who they’d belonged to before she was engulfed in a hug.

Or, option number 2, if they had been excited to see her, they wouldn’t have called out where they were. No, they’d be huddled down, whispering and giggling, until she trod too close, and then they’d have sprang out into view.

But this? She knew where they were. They weren’t coming to her. And the silence was stretching for miles.

Bobby continued guiding her like she’d never been here before. As they passed through the hallway, Rumi noticed the pictures on the walls, which had been pictures of all three of them when she’d lived here. Together on stage, relaxing, doing meet and greets…

Now, they were all of Mira and Zoey. Some still looked professional – those must be their new pursuits Bobby had mentioned. Most were of the two of them hanging together and relaxing.

The kitchen and island bar came into view as they left the hallway. A few stylistic changes had been made. Instead of the pink, yellow, and green rug, there was now a light blue carpet with turtles swimming on it. Pillows shaped like turtles had replaced the old one atop it. A chandelier made of swaying silver bars swayed just slightly as wind blew against the building.

Zoey was sitting at the bar, eating ramyeon and wearing a tank top that matched the new rug and white joggers embroidered with her name. Mira stood behind the bar, stirring her own ramyeon and wearing a maroon t-shirt dress. Beside the sink, a kettle was bubbling away. The automatic light flicked off and the boiling ceased. Mira exhaled and straightened up. She picked up a purple ramyeon cup and held it up to Rumi. “Ramyeon?”

Rumi’s heart was shuddering through every beat. “Yes, please,” she said.

“Bobby?”

“I’d love some! Do you have any more spicy-“

“Coming right up!”

Rumi carefully took the chair beside Zoey. “Can I… sit down?”

Zoey nodded. She still hadn’t cracked a smile or said anything. “You helped pay for it,” she said.

Bobby sat down beside Rumi with a loud sigh. His presence was filling most of the space in the apartment. Mira slid the ramyeon across the table to them both, plus chopsticks. “Oh, this is wonderful! Now, girls, I haven’t told the label that you’re back yet. I know you’ll need some time to chat, rehearse, come up with a plan… I want you to know I’m here for you all and I can do or hunt down anything you need, okay?”

“It’ll probably take us a while to come up with an album or anything,” Mira said. “We have some ideas for singles that might be useable… and some old stuff from our last album we could touch on.”

“Gotcha. Of course.”

“And we wouldn’t want to compete with the Saja Boys anyway,” Zoey remarked. She picked up her cup and tilted it to get the broth, which prevented her from answering Rumi’s next question.

“The Saja Boys?” Rumi furrowed her brow. “Was that the group who did Soda Pop?”

“The very same!” Bobby agreed. “They’re very talented! They took a short hiatus right around the time yours did – kinda risky with just one single out – but then came back with a whole album and ended up winning the Idol Awards last year! I’d say their following is probably around the same strength as Huntr/x’s. They call themselves the Pride.” He took a quick bite of his ramyeon, then smiled. “Of course… I don’t think that’s the reason Zoey doesn’t want to overshadow them…”

Bobby leaned around Rumi with a raised eyebrow towards Zoey, who giggled and dropped her noodles on their way to her mouth.

“Yeah Bobby, any word on that potential feature?” Mira asked, scraping the last of her noodles out of her cup.

“Demon Records hasn’t replied,” Bobby said. “I can follow up later. You said you were interested in Mystery and Abby in particular, right?”

“Definitely Mystery…” Zoey giggled.

“I mean, they all seem nice,” Mira said. “And it’s not like we can actually date them, what with us all being idols and such. But for like, a teamed gameshow or something…”

Rumi got the feeling a lot of this dialogue was being pointed towards her not knowing anything.

“Got it,” Bobby said. “I’ve been thinking… I mean, assuming they’re willing to do things separately and not as a group… I would prefer to avoid having you girls do anything with Romance? I’m just nervous his name is foundation for fan obsession, you know?”

Mira nodded and then glanced at Rumi. “Maybe let them pick whoever for Rumi, so it doesn’t seem like we’re trying to set ourselves up with them? She doesn’t know who they are anyway.”

Rumi and Bobby began nodding in tandem. Bobby slurped up the last of his noodles and got up. “Right, perfect. Great idea! I’ll get right on it.” He threw his cup away and opened the dishwasher to stow his chopsticks. Then he hugged Mira, went around the island to hug Zoey, and enveloped Rumi from behind.

“Call me if you need anything,” he whispered. “I’m never too far.”

Then, backing away, he said, “Bye girls!”

“Bye Bobby!” they chorused together. For two seconds, the atmosphere felt comfortable again. Bobby disappeared and seconds later, the elevator dinged and the doors opened and closed.

Rumi turned back towards the two girls. Zoey was finishing her ramyeon. “I guess…” she began, “That real talk begins now?”

Mira binned her empty cup and stowed her chopsticks beside Bobby’s in the dishwasher before straightening up. She wasn’t meeting Rumi’s eyes. “Yeah, I guess it does,” she agreed. “Let’s sit on the couch.”

Chapter Text

The ramyeon kept Rumi’s hands warm as she settled carefully onto the couch. One would think that the long sleeves and high collar and leggings would be keeping her well-cooked, but her blood was running icy today.

Mira and Zoey sat cross-legged closer to each other than to her. Neither was really looking at her. But Rumi assumed Mira would be the first to speak, and so she waited with baited breath for her to get her bearings.

Finally, Mira sighed. “Look, Rumi… we know mental health is hard and… hard. Zoey and I don’t know what you’ve been going through these last two years. And… we’re not trying to…” she paused and then glanced to Zoey.

“We don’t mean to make you feel like we’re not taking your mental health seriously,” Zoey said.

Mira nodded. “Exactly. But… it was sudden. And it was weird. And so we want to hear it straight from you. Not Bobby, or Celine.”

Finally, Mira’s eyes met Rumi’s. She felt like she was pinned in place.

“Where have you been these last two years? What happened?”

Rumi inhaled. She didn’t know where to begin. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Part of her didn’t even remember, as silly as it had sounded. The days had blended together so well. Time had felt unconcreted.

The silence stretched. Zoey finally spoke up. “Did you… really go to rehab?”

That was an easier question. Rumi shook her head. “No. I… Bobby congratulated me on making it out today and that was the first I’d heard about it.”

“What happened after the Idol Awards?” Mira asked. “We accepted the awards without you. No one knew where you were until Bobby saw the receipt from the Uber. And then Celine lied about you being there for a month before telling us we weren’t welcome there for the time being.”

“She did?” Rumi had known they’d tried to drop by… but hadn’t known Celine had told them to not come at all.

The solemnity in her teammates’ faces seemed a lot deeper than just confusion and worry. Betrayal was running through their auras from multiple sources.

Rumi swallowed. “I… fainted. Backstage. Became incredibly sick and… went to Celine for help.”

“You fainted?” Zoey looked alarmed. “Was it, like overdose?”

“I wasn’t on drugs, Zoey.”

“Yeah… and I don’t think that’s how drugs work anyways,” Mira said. “Why didn’t you come to us?”

Rumi stirred her ramyeon. It was getting sticky. “I… didn’t want to ruin your night. I was embarrassed. I’m sorry.”

Mira exhaled through her nose. Rumi looked up through her eyelashes at them. Mira and Zoey were staring at each other, and Mira was shaking her head in disbelief. Zoey was shrugging, like this was going better than she’d thought it might. Mira tilted her head back and looked at the ceiling.

Rumi scrambled for a subject change. “Do you… want to talk about the demons?”

Mira laughed and looked back at Rumi. “Um, no. No, I don’t. Thanks.”

Rumi shrank under Mira’s gaze. “Then…”

“Look, Rumi… I’m about to lose my cool, and we’ve only been sat down for two minutes.” Mira stood up and covered her hand with her hands in frustration. “So I’m just going to lay down some ground rules and leave before I say something I’ll regret. Zoey and I aren’t taking you back as things were before. If we’re doing Huntr/x again… then you need to step up and be part of Huntr/x. For real.”

Rumi glanced at Zoey, who was nodding along and refusing to look at her.

Mira counted on her fingers. “If we’re doing this, you need to spend at least an hour every day outside of practice and songwriting with us. Second, you’re not ‘the face’ of Huntr/x. Especially since you have no idea what’s going on in pop culture lately. You don’t get to call shots for the group. You’re not getting all the big parts anymore and you won’t be centered on every cover. Third, we’re sharing a dressing room.”

Rumi’s back was stiff from Mira’s energy already when the third ultimatum was spoken. Then, she jumped. “Wait! No. I… I can’t do that last one. Please?”

“Okay, first, that’s not the last one. That’s the third one.” Mira held her hands up, like she was slapping points on a wall in front of her. “And yes, you can do it. You don’t need to have your own private space because you’re not better than we are. Zoey and I are only going to go into this as equals. You can join or you can walk.”

Rumi’s lower lip trembled. She remembered their hurt and confusion when she’d first insisted on a private space, back in their debut. Bobby had pulled her aside to ask about it as well. Celine had shut him down. They hadn’t brought it up much, but she knew how it came off. “I’m above you.” “I’m better.”

Briefly, she thought, “Could we all do private spaces?” But steam was almost pouring out of Mira’s ears already.

“Okay.”

She’d worry about that problem later.

Mira calmed down. “Okay. Good. Fourth one is the last one. Communication.”

“Right. More of it.” Rumi guessed.

“From you,” Mira agreed. “You left us in the dark about how you were feeling. When you left, it hurt. Whatever you’re still working through mentally and emotionally, you also put us through a lot. So this time around, if you stay, you need to talk to us. And if Zoey and I don’t feel like you’re telling us enough, then we won’t move forward.”

“I will,” Rumi agreed. “For sure.”

“Don’t be offended, but I don’t believe you will on your own. You never did when you said you would before, and it’s been two years since we last spoke,” Mira said. Her voice was barely above normal speaking volume, but her tone trembled with anger. “We’re not going to accept answers like ‘I’m dealing with something’ or ‘I’m just tired’. We reserve the right to press and if you won’t tell us, we’re done. You need to talk to us. I don’t care how uncomfortable the topic is. If you’re sneaking out to smoke pot behind the dumpster or if you’re-“

“Mira, I’d never!” Rumi was horrified at the thought.

“-Or if you’re going demon hunting by yourself, or if you’re sneaking in at 3 am because you had sex with a hobo behind the subway, then you’d better tell us or we. Will. Walk.”

Mira’s voice echoed off the walls. The chandelier trembled. Rumi was shaking.

“We won’t turn you into the police,” Zoey said softly. “Within reason, for safety, of course. We might call an ambulance. We won’t tell Bobby unless it’s too much for us three to handle on our own. We’re not talking to Celine anymore. But Mira and I… feel like you never treated us like a team. We feel used by you, Rumi. Like we were only part of your goal to turn the honmoon gold or to be an idol. So this time… we need proof that we’re a team. You learning to talk to us is the only way we’re going to get that proof.”

As much as it hurt, Rumi did understand. She nodded. “I get it,” she whispered. “And… okay. You can press. I’ll talk.”

Mira and Zoey both relaxed marginally. Mira huffed. “Okay,” she said. “Zoey and I have game night tonight at seven. You’ll come. Let’s meet this afternoon beforehand… talk comeback and such. For now… all your stuff’s in your old room. Settle in.”

Mira left, heading towards her room. Zoey sat up on her knees on the couch. “Wait, we still don’t know where Rumi was,” she called.

“Sorry Zoey. I need five. We can ask later.”

A moment later, Mira’s door thudded closed. Zoey sat back with her lower lip jutted out. Rumi searched for a short, easy answer. “I… was just at Celine’s. In the studio sometimes, but most of the time just up in my bedroom. Sick.”

Zoey glanced at her, then shrunk down and pulled her knees to her chest, twiddling her thumbs.

“Zoey?” Rumi asked, softly.

Zoey glanced at her. Rumi couldn’t tell if she wanted to talk or not. She was never big on confrontation. It’s why Mira had done most of the talking today.

“Did you get my cards?” Zoey asked, very quietly.

A memory was yanked up from the depths of Rumi’s brain. Christmas and birthday cards. She’d read the first two. Not the second two. It had become too painful.

“Yes. Thank you. For writing to me.”

Zoey’s lower lip trembled. “Why didn’t you write back?”

“I couldn’t hold a pen,” Rumi answered honestly.

Zoey’s eyes filled with tears and her shoulders trembled. Rumi moved to hug her, but Zoey put a hand up. “Not yet,” she whispered. “Not yet… I…” She jumped up from the couch and left quickly, heading for Mira’s room. Rumi watched her knock and then turn the handle and disappear inside. A second later, intense sobbing leaked out from the crack between door and floor.

The ramyeon had turned to slush in her cup. Rumi stared at it, then got up to bin it without a word. Had her first interaction been a success? Or had she already failed some test she wasn’t aware of?

How was she ever going to fix what she’d done to Zoey and Mira?

Chapter Text

400 years in the demon world and hell was only getting hotter.

And most days, Jinu wondered whether he preferred the demon world to the human one. He’d never thought he’d reach that point. But one thing had become clear – he had definitely preferred serving Gwi-ma to his new master.

When the Huntr/x had turned the honmoon gold, Gwi-ma had sensed it. Rather than allow the Saja Boys to remain topside and freed from him, he had pulled them down to be trapped with him here. Immediately afterward, the souls had stopped coming. And everyone began to starve. Gwi-ma had always feasted on the souls and then cast the scraps to his subjects. Now, there was nothing.

But not long after the honmoon had been sealed, someone had been called into the human world via a summoning. A witch had asked them to dispose of her enemy. The demon had only been too happy to feast.

The nature of the summoning was that a demon circle would be drawn and a command given. If a demon were called by name, they would be summoned immediately. But if no name were given, the summoning soared down from the skies of the demon realm in much the same way that souls used to. Now, demons clamored together, waiting for those calls. They would fight for them.

The demon, once summoned, could agree to a task and would be bound by the conditions that the summoner outlined. They were summoned into the human world for murders and errands and sometimes just conversations – kids trying to prove to friends that demons could be summoned. Afterwards, the summoner could end the summoning and banish the demon back to the demon realm. But not everyone knew that they needed to do that to send the demon away.

Those inexperienced summoners were saviors for the demons. They were bound to however specific the summoning was, and the caller was able to send them away with just a word. So a kid saying “show yourself” and not knowing how to send the demon back… you could walk free for as long as you wanted. Go anywhere. Feast on souls without needing to send anything- back to Gwi-ma.

Some demons used flimsy commands to create their own loopholes. “I want you to kill someone” would be the summoning. And after the demon appeared, before the caster could specify who, their own soul would be reaped. No more being sent back, then.

Jinu, unfortunately, wasn’t allowed to always be among the demons clamoring for new requests, complaining about how hungry they were. Indeed, he was rather satiated with the food he was able to eat in the human world and the few whisps of soul aura he was allowed to consume(never a full soul). But his new master limited the types of offers he was able to receive. Nothing that would interrupt the very busy schedule of a KPop Icon. Nothing that could potentially attract media scrutiny or legal charges.

Somehow, someone had realized that the Saja Boys were demons. And they had been summoned up to continue what they’d begun. They were easier than normal icons to control – if way more dangerous. They were summoned up for events, then pushed back down in between, but not released from their summoning. No chance of telling anyone in the human world they were being controlled. No chance to accept another request. No way to reject the call. Just sing and dance on command, write new hits, and then back to hell you go.

Their new master was determined to never release them. He was mortal, so he’d eventually die, but none fo the Saja Boys wanted to wait the fifty plus years that might take. They weren’t allowed to steal his soul while they were in the mortal world on his summons – it had been part of his summoning.

Jinu spent every moment he was in the demon world searching the sky for the falling stars of the calls. He and all the other Saja Boys. But so far, they’d been unlucky. Any new call needed to near enough in the human world to their manager that they could find him while still obeying their new call, but not too big to be noticed or illegal in any way(because their manager had stipulated this no matter where they were). That ruled out almost any reason a mortal would summon a demon. But once they’d reaped his soul, assuming no one else had caught on to their being demons, they’d be free. Even if they remained trapped in the demon realm afterward, they would be free.

But every time they caught one, it was illegal, noticeable, or couldn’t be accomplished quickly enough, and they’d had to give it up to other demons not bound by repeat summonings.

He jumped at slightest suggestion of a change in the sky. Had it been the honmoon? The weak summonings sometimes barely had the power to creep through.

Jinu’s eyes felt like they were bulging out as he stared intently at the sky. There was another shimmer of the honmoon, and then a weak summoning fell like a drop of sunlight.

Jinu sprinted for it. Across the surface of the demon realm, the ground stirred. Demons crawled out of their hiding holes, shivering with hunger, and began to run for it. Some were much closer than he was, but he had an advantage; he’d eaten when he was last in the human realm. The starved dokkoebi fell behind him easily as he raced.

Someone pink was racing for the summoning from the opposite direction. It was Romance. Jinu wasn’t worried. So long as one of the Saja Boys got to it first, they’d all be free. They split up while hunting for summonings for that reason. Romance seemed like he might be closer, but Jinu didn’t break his sprint. Baby and Mystery had learned that the hard way. They’d both been running for a weak summoning when the landscape had tricked both into thinking the other was closer. They’d stopped running, and it had been snatched up by a demon who so far, hadn’t returned to the demon realm. He must have wandered free.

Some demons tried grabbing at his ankles as he dashed by. “You’re not hungry!” they cried. And this was true, the Saja Boys were fed. But every other demon was free, where they were not.

He’d been right to not stop running. He was closer than Romance. The summoning looked like glitter sprinkling down now. Thirty more seconds, though his lungs were aching, and-

The patterns flared up on his arms and feet and Jinu’s muscles constricted. He was thrown forward by the momentum of his own speed. “No!” he screamed, throat constricting. “No!”

Demons who had run after him began to run on top of him now. Their feet smashed him into the ground. Up ahead, Romance had also fallen. His patterns were glowing bright pink.

They both suddenly shot up into the air, and were blasted through the honmoon. Jinu found himself with his cheek to the carpet, gasping as first Romance, then Abby, then Mystery, and then Baby Saja were heaped on top of him. Good thing demons didn’t need breath – he was suffocating underneath them.

“Good morning, gentlemen!” a voice that would haunt his nightmares if he had any left called. “I’ve got some big news.”

Mystery and Baby Saja groaned as they got off the pile. They helped Abby and Romance up, and then Jinu saw a hand in his vision. He got to his feet.

They’d been summoned directly to the office of Do Gyeom. The CEO of Demon Records. Once a lowly janitor working at Inspire Arena, he’d discovered the secret of the Saja Boy’s orgins and learned how to harness them for his own doing. When they’d first been summoned by him, he was broke and hungry – just like they were. Both willing to do anything to get out of their situations. But Gyeom had had more time to prepare. He’d been an excellent actor, spelling out the terms as if he’d only just thought of them, though every word had been specific and binding.

You perform, you eat. You come when I call. I’ll arrange your schedules. We climb together.

Looking back, Jinu wished he’d chosen to starve a little longer.

In the beginning, the Saja Boys had had a tiny bit of freedom as they jumped back into what they already had experience doing. Gyeom hadn’t known what being a KPop manager meant. But soon after, he’d begun micromanaging. He’d formed a company with the Saja Boys as the sole act. He’d booked, then overbooked them. Always demanding more. Always pushing. Now, Demon Records were a sizeable corporation. Many different acts. Many employees. The janitors started with a ₩50,000,000 salary.

“How was hell?” Gyeom asked, almost conversationally. A wicked grin covered his face. He was tall, and a little older. Still thin, as if he were still starving. Like Anton Ego from that Pixar movie they’d watched at a charity a few years ago, but with tiny eyes. And Jinu almost found it funny – he wore purple suits that could have matched Gwi-ma’s flames. He paid for one too many surgeries and his upper lip had paid the cost of looking a little too puffy and round to be natural. The Saja Boys had a bet for how long until he fixed it again. Jinu thought it depended on how long the female interns would agree to sleep with him anyway.

He looked into the cold, dead eyes of his jailer and thought about the summoning that had almost been his. It was now in the hands of some other lowly demon.

They say it’s no use crying over spilled ramyeon, but that’s all Jinu wanted to do right now.

“Quiet,” Baby said. “Peaceful.”

Safe, oddly enough.

Gyeom’s smile stretched wider. His teeth were chalk white. “I hope you’re ready to get back to the excitement!” he said. “I’ve just received the most interesting proposal from my favorite has-beens.” He picked up a white piece of paper and made as if he were going to hand it to them, though none of them moved. “I don’t think I mentioned this, but the ol’ Huntr/x label reached out to me two weeks ago about potentially having two of you star with their two girls on a game show. Friendly competition, you know?”

Jinu’s eyebrows spiked into his hairline. The other Saja Boys shifted in front of him. Romance looked over his shoulder to check if he was hearing this right. Jinu flashed him a warning look.

“Of course, I could see right through that!” Gyeom exclaimed. “People would be shipping you into the eternities. You’d think Huntr/x of all labels would get that idols don’t date. Bad for the image, right? I thought, these girls are definitely crushing on them, and Huntr/x is a sinking ship. We don’t need that bad publicity!”

Gyeom threw the paper back onto his desk. Jinu’s fingers itched for it. Mystery actually reached for it when Gyeom turned to look out the window behind his desk, laughing. Abby smacked his wrist.

“But today,” Gyeom cackled, “they revised their request. Three Saja Boys, or the whole group, with one person playing on Huntr/x’s side, to make it even. Three. Well, there’ve been no official announcements from the label, but it’s obvious to anyone with eyes what must have happened. Either their lead singer is back, or they’ve finally found a good replacement for her.”

Jinu wasn’t breathing anymore. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears.

Gyeom took a seat in his big chair, grinning like a cheshire. “We’re signing you boys up. You’ve got a gap in your schedule on Wednesday next week… It’d be short notice for Huntr/x, but that’s all the better, because we wouldn’t want to put it months out and then they announce the band’s back together and we don’t get any of that hype. I’ve got a contact at “Play Games With Us” – you know, they loved having you back when you debuted. I’ll make sure they’re available and then I’ll let Huntr/x’s manager know. If Huntr/x doesn’t want to do it then, we won’t do it at all and you’re off for the night. But if they do, then everyone will be tuning in to see them, and they’ll see you too.”

The boys all looked at each other. Jinu read their facial expressions carefully. “You are a genius,” he told Gyeom blandly, buying them time to read each other.

“You aren’t worried about the shippers?” Romance asked, eyes on Mystery in particular. This, too, was only said to get Gyeom talking again.

“No, I think that with all you…”

Jinu tuned out, thinking hard. After two long years of suffering like he’d never suffered in the 400 years prior, he’d give his left arm to throttle Huntr/x. The band that had turned the honmoon gold. Specifically the lead singer, since it had been her voice that had done it.

Technically, Gyoem had forbidden them, in his initial summoning, from stealing the souls of fans. Jinu doubted the girls were fans. The request likely came from their management, trying to save their image in the wake of the lead singer dropping off the face of the earth.

But even if they were fans… they wouldn’t be if they knew what they truly were, right?

As a last resort, they could reveal their natures, and then Huntr/x’s souls would be theirs for the reaping.

“Sounds good,” Jinu said finally, glancing at each of his teammates in turn. “Thanks for letting us know in advance.”

“Of course, anything for my stars.” Gyoem leaned back in satisfaction, drumming his hands on the leather. “Do we need to talk album release at all? How’s the choreo coming for that music video?”

“I need to finish a few things up,” Abby replied. “Let’s meet in a day or two.”

“Of course.” Gyeom continued smiling from ear-to-ear. “Might not hurt to put another single in your pocket. Just in case Huntr/x releases anything usable.” He cackled as if this was not a very realistic thought. Then he nodded and said, “Dismissed,” and snapped his fingers.

The Saja Boys fell through the floor and through the honmoon. After this happening so many times over the years, they caught themselves somewhat gracefully and stood gasping for breath for a moment.

“We’re all thinking the same thing, right?” Mystery asked.

“We’ll only have a shot or two at this…” Abby rubbed the back of his head.

“…but it’d be worth it…” Baby muttered.

“…to kill those hunters.” For confirmation, Romance glanced back to Jinu.

Jinu nodded and chuckled as he brushed his robes off. “Those girls?” he said, “Are done, done, done.”

Chapter Text

Rumi’s room had been given to the ghosts in the two years she was gone.

The cleaners still came through to keep everything tidy – there was no dust and the vacuum lines seemed deeper than they’d normally be since they’d been done-over so many times without anyone walking in here. It was mostly the way she’d left it… aside from a few details of the past two years.

An empty vase sat on Rumi’s nightstand table. It had probably contained flowers once-upon-a-time, in hopes of a more imminent return. A brown line indicated where the water had been, and that something natural had been contained there. Beside it, a card with a turtle on it saying “Feel Better Soon!” Probably Zoey.

Poor Zoey. And Mira. She’d left them waiting so long.

On her bed were piles of stuff. Some of it she recognized. Her noodle bowl and her mug and a select few snacks and sodas she liked that Mira and Zoey didn’t. Her shoes and hoodie that used to be by the door. Her umbrella. Her water bottle. And then all the pictures she’d noticed were missing from the frames in the hall. Mira and Zoey must have just left everything in here when they cleaned her stuff from around the household.

Rumi couldn’t really fault them for erasing her when she’d dropped out of their lives without even a goodbye on what was supposed to be the happiest night of their lives. She knew she couldn’t have it both ways – erase herself and be surprised when she was erased. But it was still eerie.

A stack of fan mail and pictures was also on her bed. The ones on top were recentish… spread out over weeks or months… and many also read “Get Better Soon”.

She’d left so many people hanging. And the two most important people in her life, she’d left in pain.

Rumi wheeled her suitcase to an empty corner of the bed and hefted it up. Her arm shook. The world went a little blurry. Hopefully, she wasn’t about to start crying. She unzipped her suitcase and pulled out a pair of shoes and a turtleneck sweater. Bag… where was Celine’s bag?

She turned and realized everything had gone a little grey. The colors of her room didn’t seem as vibrant all of the sudden. The door seemed taller than when she’d walked into the room. The floor closer. She closed her eyes and heard a thump!.

“That’s okay,” she thought. “I’ll just stay here for a moment.”

“Rumi?”

Rumi opened her eyes again and found Zoey approaching her from the door, looking confused. “Why are you on the floor?”

Rumi put a hand to the carpet and pushed herself up. The room seemed back to normal proportions. The colors were vibrant again. The sunlight had crept across the room, though. “I guess I was just tired,” she said. “How long was I out for?”

“Did you… mean to be on the floor?” Zoey asked.

“Um…” Rumi thought hard. “I guess.”

Zoey furrowed her brow. “Mira!” she called. “Rumi’s on the floor!”

“I’m fine, Zoey,” Rumi sighed, tucking her knees underneath her. “I guess I’m just really tired.”

“She’s awake?” Mira asked from the doorway. She had a notebook under her arm and a pencil behind her ear. Upon seeing Rumi, she said, “you don’t look so good.”

“Thanks,” Rumi replied. She kept a hand on the bed to steady herself. “I, uh, was too tired to clear off my bed. How long has it been?”

“Since we saw you last?” Mira asked, chewing on her cheek. “Four hours. Did you faint?”

“No, just fell asleep.”

Zoey was still hovering, hands out like she was anticipating needing to catch her. “We, um, just wanted to talk comeback album. If you’re ready.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Rumi agreed. “Uh… couch? Studio?”

“Couch,” Mira said. “You sure you’re good?”

“Yeah! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you were just on the floor and you look like a ghost, that’s why.”

“I really was just tired. But I’m excited to talk comeback!”

“Okay…” Zoey still seemed unsure, but she followed Rumi to the couch. A stack of paper and pens were on the center table, ready. “Well, it’s been a while since we worked together. I was wondering if, instead of just jumping into songwriting, we chat about what we want this to look like… maybe some themes or color palettes or such?”

“I think…” Rumi thought for a moment. “I mean… this is like a rebirth for us, right? A return but… better than before?”

“Back from the dead,” Mira drawled.

“Yeah…” Zoey drummed her fingers on her notebook. “I… don’t think a sad or angry album would be good for me right now. Or any of us.”

“No, I agree,” Mira said. “I think most of the content Zoey and I have worked on the last two years will be unusable. Maybe instead of us-“

“You’ve worked on content?” Rumi blurted out.

Mira and Zoey exchanged looks. “Now’s not the time to show it to you,” Zoey decided. “Not while things are still fresh. A lot of it was Mira and I working through some things.”

“We’re artists,” Mira said, shrugging. “It’s what we do.”

“Oh. So, what do you both think?”

“I think it would be fun to come at this album less from the perspective of hey everyone, we’re back and more from a place of-“ Mira displayed her hands palm-up. “This is what we’ve learned.”

“Ah.” Rumi hummed. How much would she have to contribute? She cleared her throat. “So, uh, what falls into that category for you two?”

“Well, I think choosing our futures, communication and having each other’s backs – and Rumi, this is just like… a general thing we can incorporate. I’m not trying to… like…” Mira looked at a loss of how to explain herself.

“I get it,” Rumi agreed. “That’s what Huntr/x was about. Having each other’s backs.”

“I’m getting sun-risey vibes,” Zoey mused, doodling a little sun with sunglasses on the cover of her notebook. “Maybe this album can be reddish-yellow? I’m thinking unity, perseverance, healing-“

“I do have a lyric proposal,” Mira announced. “But I’m not sure yet, Rumi, what space of mind you’re in.”

“Oh,” Zoey said, glancing up. “Is it the-“

“Yeah,” Mira replied, cutting her off quickly. “See… Rumi…I’ve been toying with this lyric for a year now and I really want it on the next album.”

“Okay,” Rumi said. “Let’s hear it.”

Mira cleared her throat and held her hands up. “We are Hunters, voices strong,” she said. “Our faults and fears were never wrong.”

Rumi’s brain short-circuited. Mira didn’t take her hands down as she waited for Rumi’s opinion. “It’s… Celine’s song,” she began, then trailed off.

“Yes, but I want to change it,” Mira said. “Because her method, frankly, sucks. I know you just barely came from being with her, and it’s okay if you still believe in that… I’ve just moved on personally.”

Rumi looked to Zoey. “And… you feel the same way?”

Zoey nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah! The therapist Bobby found Mira and I taught us a lot about inner strength and self-acceptance. Mira actually rewrote that as part of her healing journey. So I’d love it if we could put it on the album! Like a real comeback moment! If you’re comfortable with it.”

“I… need to wrap my head around it…” Rumi said. She reached forward and snagged a few sheets of paper – enough she could use some as a hard surface – and scribbled the lyric down. “I guess… you’re not worried about what Celine will think?”

Mira scoffed and leaned back into the couch, rubbing her shoulder blades against the velvet to get deeper into it. “Not really. She’s not spoken to us in over a year.”

“If she does have anything she wants to say to us, she can say it to Bobby, and Bobby can filter back to us,” Zoey agreed. “Or to you, Rumi.”

Rumi stared at the lyrics. So they weren’t talking to Celine anymore. She didn’t know what to think of that. “So, this lyric… what does it mean?”

“It means that… we can still be strong even if we’re not perfect,” Mira said. “I have a few other ideas. I want this song to be like Golden, but for real. Like, I really am doing hiding who I am or what I’m thinking or feeling. I’m not too emotional or too problematic. And if I say, hey, I’m scared, or, I’m angry, that doesn’t make me less of a Hunter. Hiding your faults and your fears is a waste of energy because there’s no net good from it anyway.” She pounded her finger into the couch as she spoke.

“No net good…” Rumi repeated to herself. It resonated with her, but she didn’t know if it was correct. Hiding your faults and your fears kept other people comfortable around you. It helped them know you were dependable. That was important for a Hunter. “I, um, think I’d want to see the finished song first. But I can see this is important to you and, well, I think that’s important to bring to the album. Things that are important to us.”

“What about you, Rumi?” Zoey asked. “Do you have any ideas for things you want on the album?”

Rumi sighed as she thought about the last two years. What had she learned? Most of what she remembered was lying on her bed, staring out the window and watching the seasons change. Surgeries and procedures – some ending worse than others. She put a hand to her side as she thought. She remembered days in the dance studio and sitting with Celine, and studying on how to remove her patterns. Consulting with doctors who were more concerned with counting her ribs and taking her blood sugar than with the fact the purple marks were spreading every day.

Mira and Zoey were both looking at her. Waiting.

“I’m not sure yet,” she said. “I guess my angle was just… we’re back! Ta-da!” She spread her hands out. “I don’t know what I can offer this theme.”

“Well, we don’t expect you to write the whole album, but we do want you to pitch in,” Mira said. “You haven’t had any breakthroughs the last two years? Anything that impacted or inspired you?”

“What did you call what Mira went through?” Rumi asked Zoey, thinking hard. “A healing…”

“Healing journey,” Zoey supplied. “It’s like, the road out of your mental or emotional breakdown.”

Rumi rested the clicker of the pen against her lip. It felt warm and concrete. She exhaled and felt like some of the stress in her body was leaving with the carbon dioxide. “I think… you and Mira seem to be at the end of your healing journeys. And I’m still in the middle of mine.”

Zoey scooted closer and put her hand on Rumi’s knee. Rumi jumped, but Zoey didn’t mention it. “Well,” she said with a small smile, “Mira and I are happy to be part of your journey if you’ll let us.”

“Thanks, Zoey,” Rumi smiled. “I think… this is going to be the best Huntr/x album yet!”

“Best K-Pop album yet!” Zoey winked and did finger guns, miming out “pew, pew, pew” before throwing her hands up.

“Best album yet!” Mira said. “The Idol Awards next year won’t know what hit them! Look out, Saja Boys!”

“You might be cute, but if you think you can take Huntr/x, you’re wrong!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

“Yeaaah!”

Rumi burst into laughter, leaning her head over the back of the couch. Her ribs ached and her head felt like it was floating, she was so happy. She’d missed this. She’d missed them.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Rumi got up after Mira, but before Zoey. Game night had wiped her out – she wasn’t sure how Mira was already up and at ‘em. Rumi showered – her towels were exactly as soft as she remembered. Had they been replaced while she was gone?

When she opened the door, the smell of whatever Mira was making made her stomach turn. She gagged, then got ahold of herself and called, “Good morning!”

“Good morning!” Mira called back.

Her gravely voice made Rumi smile. She wandered into the kitchen, her slippers thumping against the floor. “What are you having for breakfast?”

“Kimchi eggs. Want some?” Mira stood with her back to Rumi, stirring food in a massive pink frying pan. She was still in her pajamas. A pink t-shirt and red shorts. It made Rumi feel a bit matronly. She was wearing a black turtleneck and grey slacks. But at least her patterns were covered.

“Erm…” Rumi passed by the frying pan and the smell made her stomach vehemently protest. “I think I’ll just have a strawberry. I didn’t finish mine yesterday.”

Mira finally looked at her with a furrowed brow. “I’m sorry, what?”

“My strawberry,” Rumi replied. “I started it at Celine’s but didn’t finish it. I think it’s in a bag…” She opened the fridge. It was filled with stuff. Boba flavors and kimchi and eggs and a lot more vegetables than Rumi remembered there being in this fridge during her time. “Wow. Did one of you learn to cook?”

“Me. Rumi, what are you talking about? You can’t have a strawberry for breakfast!”

Rumi found the strawberry in one of the side slots of the fridge door. She frowned at Mira. “Why not?”

“Because you need to eat more?” Mira said, as if this were obvious. “Come on, I made enough for us to share. Zoey and I usually eat together.” She took the pan off the stove, threw a heat protector onto the counter, and set the pan down.

Rumi’s stomach twisted as she peered down at it. It seemed to be mocking her. It laughed as it crackled and popped.  The fridge and the strawberry in her hand starting chilling her. But she didn’t really notice until the fridge beeped that it had been left open too long. “Oh,” she said. “Okay.”

Mira didn’t notice the kimchi eggs cackling at Rumi. “Zoey!” she called as she circled the island. “Breakfast!” A few seconds later, Rumi heard pounding on a door. Then, it opened, and seconds later, she heard a shriek.

“Ah! Mira!”

Frenzied laughter spilled out of the room. Rumi hurried over just in time to see Mira and Zoey fall off the bed, tangled in her turtle bedspread, laughing. “Stop!” Zoey was giggling. “No tickling!”

“Come on!” Mira disentangled herself from the blanket, still laughing. “First team breakfast of the new era! Umph, Huntr/x, we are so back!” She pumped her fists in the air and struck a Greek god-like pose.

“Five more minutes…” Zoey cooed from beneath the covers.

“Or, we can just eat all the kimchi eggs without you…” Mira kicked the bundle and Zoey squawked.

“No! I’m coming… I’m coming…” Zoey picked up the bedspread, which settled around her like a robe, then stood. She made it about five steps, then said, “Actually, it’s too warm for this,” and dropped it. She, too, was wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

“Good morning, Rumi!” she said cheerfully, stretching. Then, she blinked and gave her a once-over. “Um... what are you wearing?”

Rumi shrugged. “It’s comfortable. And I’m a little cold.”

“You look…” Zoey put her hand to her chin as she thought. “Like you’re going to a funeral? Or a very solemn business meeting.”

“Come on, let’s eat,” Mira said. “Maybe that should be what we talk about next. Outfits.” She put her arms around each of them and led them out.

Three plates came out of the cupboards. Rumi’s stomach was still turning as she stared at the eggs in dread. Much to her horror, Mira began dishing her up. “Not so much!” she yelped when Mira turned the first spatula full onto her plate.

Mira tilted the plate with a frown. “How much?” she asked. Barely a fourth of the plate was covered.

Rumi shrank. “That’s plenty,” she said. “Thank you for cooking.”

“You’re welcome…” Mira said, then glanced at Zoey, who shrugged. They both dished up three times what Rumi had and then Zoey began recounting in detail a dream she’d had about being back in her old high school underwater.

“And then, Senor Martinez – he’s the one who hated me – was teaching the sharks to conjugate vowels. And Senor Iglesias was trying to get me to do vocal warm-ups, and-“

Rumi scraped as much onto her fork as it could possibly hold, hoping if she got this done fast, it’d be better. Her mouth throbbed as she put it all in, chewed as quickly as possible, and then washed it down with half her glass of water. She shuddered.

“Oh, by the way Rumi,” Mira said, turning in her chair. Rumi flipped on a smile. “We need to talk about the schedule for today. Bobby will be here in about two hours. It’s my therapy day and he usually takes us  to lunch beforehand. I’ll be back around three but depending on the day, I might not be good for anything until after dinner.”

“Yas!” Zoey cheered. “Therapy!” She took a big bite of eggs with the same victorious bravado as if she’d killed a demon.

“We do this every three weeks now,” Mira continued explaining with a smile. “It just happened to land on this week. Thursdays are my day, Zoey’s are Tuesdays. So just expect us to be out of commission about once a month.”

“Oh.” Rumi had never heard anyone talk about therapy so… celebratorily? And unashamed, too. “Okay.”

“It used to be every week,” Zoey said, attacking another forkful of eggs. “I think if we tour this album – which I really want to do – then this schedule should be good. Right, Mira?”

“We could always put them same-day again,” Mira said. She finished her plate and went for seconds. Rumi was glad to see the frying pan being emptied without her help. “If things get crazy.”

“But then we don’t get our separate Bobby-Hunter dates,” Zoey said, pouting.

Rumi laughed. “Bobby-Hunter?”

“It’s a play on a daddy-daughter date,” Mira said. “Zoey’s dad used to do it with her. Rumi, if you’re ever interested, we’re our therapist’s only clients. I’m sure she’d be willing to take you on.”

“She’s a mom,” Zoey said. “And she’s such a good one. She’s got fun toys and she’s so patient and it’s cute! Being at her place just makes me think, ooh, I can’t wait to have kids of my own!” She crouched and leaned forward, pinching her fingers like she was imagining pinching little cheeks. “I’m going to dress them up as turtles, and Mystery’s gonna-“

“Mystery?” Rumi snorted. “Wow, you’re not just kidding around about the Saja Boys.”

“She’s got plans,” Mira chuckled. “And, well, we’re not going to let dispatch hold us back. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You could lose your career?” Rumi asked, not certain they were actually searching for an answer.

Mira scoffed. “If a two-year hiatus, me being estranged from my family, Zoey being Korean-American, and you being a nepo-baby didn’t do that, I think we’re good.”

“Fair point.” Rumi looked back down at her eggs. She scooped more onto her fork and, noticing Mira was watching, did her best to keep a straight face as she ate.

Two more bites. She could do this.

She felt like she was six again, and Celine was watching to make sure she didn’t throw her vegetables away.

Rumi had just barely swallowed the last of her eggs when Mira said, “Oh, here’s that strawberry you wanted.” She picked up the tiny plastic bag with the single fruit and made to pass it to Rumi. Rumi quickly shook her hands. Her stomach was rolling.

“Oh, you know what, I’m actually stuffed. So thanks, but, I think I’ll eat it later.” She picked up her plate and hurried to the dishwasher.

“Okay… I’ll put it in the fridge.”

“Thanks!”

Rumi sprinted from the kitchen, back to her bedroom, and made sure to shut the door as she entered. Then into the bathroom, shutting that door with her foot before throwing herself to the floor in front of the toilet. Her stomach rolled and she gagged, and then everything she’d just put down came back up. The smell of returned kimchi made her eyes water.

She stayed by the toilet until she felt she could stand back up. No one came knocking, so she assumed that meant no one had heard. Though, it seemed the sound-proofness of the two enclosed doors wasn’t immune – fifteen minutes later, Rumi heard Zoey cheer, “Bobby!” through them both as if she’d been in the room.

That meant she needed to get her crap together quick.

Rumi flushed the remains of breakfast away, gargled water and then brushed her teeth, and exited her room right before Mira was about to knock. “I heard Zoey,” she explained, gasping for breath just a little. “Is Bobby here?”

Mira pointed to the corner of her mouth. “Toothpaste,” she said. Rumi quickly wiped it away.

“Rumi!” Bobby exclaimed from the couch. “Oh, good! I have good news! And, well, news. I don’t think it’s good or bad. Come sit down!”

Mira continued examining Rumi as she hurried to have a seat on the couch. “Hi Bobby!” she exclaimed.

“It’s good to see you up and at ‘em!” Bobby stood up to hug her quickly. “Turtleneck? Okay, just don’t overheat.” He sat back down, clapping his hands together. “Well, like I said, news. Good news is that the Saja Boys agreed to do a show with you!”

“Yay!” Zoey clapped furiously and kicked her feet in excitement. Mira laughed. Rumi, caught up in the moment, whooped for her friend softly.

“However,” Bobby continued, “They are super busy preparing for the release of their new album. You can imagine – we’ve been there. They already have plans to be on Play Games With Us next week and said they’re sorry it’s so last minute, but they’d be honored to share the stage with you. How does that sound?”

“Next week?” Zoey repeated, sounding like all her wildest dreams were coming true.

“Next week?” Rumi repeated, shoulders dropping.

Bobby reached over. “I know it’s soon. How do you feel about that? We can always wait a little while longer, but it’s not like we’re going to be announcing an album anytime soon. It’s just putting you back out there, letting people know you’re still here and you’re still a group.”

“Oh please?” Zoey batted her eyes at Rumi.

She looked so excited and happy. More happy than since Rumi had seen her after their last Idol Award win.

She owed them. A lot.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Let’s do it! And… it’s Mystery, right? Let’s make sure you and he get to, I don’t know, sit next to each other? Rub shoulders? Something?”

“Oh, this is going to be the best night ever!” Zoey exclaimed. She leaned over and hugged Rumi tightly. Rumi smiled and hugged her back. A moment later, Bobby joined in, then she felt Mira’s weight drop over her shoulders.

This felt good. Comforting. Strengthening.

They broke apart and Rumi heard Bobby say, “Mira, want to head out early? We can try that kimbap place that’s a little further out…”

“Bobby, you’re the best! Let me grab my shoes.”

“Want to do a song writing session while they’re gone?” Zoey asked her. “Or we could play games, go out walking… ooh! We could go to the aquarium!”

“Aquarium sounds fun!” Rumi agreed. “Let me grab my shoes.”

“You’re already incognito,” Zoey said, looking down at herself. “I need to get out of my pajamas. I’ll be right back!”

“Bye girls!” Bobby called from the doorway. “See you later today!”

“Bye Bobby!” Zoey and Rumi called. Rumi glanced over her shoulder. Mira was walking out behind Bobby. She flashed a peace sign and a bright, wide smile.

Zoey crouched into a sumo stance on the couch, balled her fists up, and in a deep, throaty voice bellowed, “Yes! Therapy!”

Across the room, Mira mirrored her. “Yes! Therapy!”

The two burst into laughter. Zoey waved and Mira headed out. Seconds later, the elevator dinged.

“Do you always do that?” Rumi asked. She felt lightheaded from the exchange.

“Yeah. Just to hype ourselves up.” Zoey got up  and Rumi made to follow her. “I’m so excited to spend time with you again. This will be so great! We of course have to stop and get snacks… Hopefully I can find some Saja Boys merch to show you what they look like. They’ve got new outfits since their debut… ugh, they’re all dreamy…”

“Yeah?” Rumi followed Zoey around the couch, only to realize she suddenly wasn’t looking at her friend’s braids. Instead, she was looking at her legs, walking further and further away.

“…the best and – huh? Rumi!”

Rumi closed her eyes and heard another thump.

Chapter Text

Two people took her arms and lifted them up, over their heads. A third grabbed her feet. She opened her eyes and found the ceiling that Mira and Zoey so loved staring at when they were relaxing. She groaned.

“… gotcha… we gotcha… set her down here.”

“Bobby?” she asked.

“I didn’t know what to do!” Zoey was exclaiming. “Her face went really white and her knees buckled and she tipped-“

“Did you see her hit her head?” Mira asked in the distant background. A flashlight appeared in Rumi’s vision. She groaned and squinted against it.

“No, I don’t think so. She kinda went down like a ragdoll?”

Someone picked up her arm and began rolling up her sleeve. Rumi yanked her hand back. “No!” she exclaimed and then moaned. Too fast, she’d moved too fast.

“I’m just trying to check your pulse,” Bobby whispered. “Rumi, tell me what’s going on. Are you dizzy?”

Rumi curled up on her side, hid her face in the dark, and took a few deep breaths. “I’m fine,” she said, finally. “I think I just moved too quickly.”

“What has she eaten today?” Bobby asked.

“Like, two bites of eggs,” Mira replied. “She was planning on having a single strawberry for breakfast.”

“Just one?”

“Just one.”

“Ah, Celine…” Bobby muttered. “Okay, Rumi? What did you eat yesterday?”

“She had ramyeon and-“

Rumi shook her head and grumbled.

“What? What was that?” Bobby asked, trying to discreetly take her wrist again.

“I didn’t have the ramyeon,” Rumi said. “I didn’t finish it in time. It went slimy.”

“So all you had was tteokbokki and jolly pong at game night?” Zoey asked, alarmed.

“Zoey found her on the floor yesterday in her room, right after you dropped her off.”

“Can you please just let me rest?” Rumi grumbled. She pulled her hands into her sleeves and bunched the cuffs up in her fists so Bobby couldn’t roll them up. Everyone went quiet. She took a deep breath and the dizziness began to subside. Her stomach was pinching. “Mira? Can I have my strawberry, please?”

She heard footsteps in the darkness and then something cold touched her cheek. She opened her eyes, took the strawberry in its little bag, and then sat up carefully. Bobby was kneeling on the rug in front of her. Mira stood behind the couch and Zoey hovered at the end of it.

Rumi unwrapped the strawberry and took a small bite, then sealed the bag. Bobby watched her. With a glance towards each of the other girls, he leaned forward and whispered, “Rumi… you know you need to eat more than that, right?”

“I’m not hungry, Bobby,” Rumi replied.

“Okay,” he whispered, like he was trying to keep this conversation as private between them as possible. “But… your body needs it. Even if you’re not hungry.” When Rumi didn’t reply, he whispered, “I think we need to get you to see a doctor.”

“I’m not going to do that,” she replied firmly. The doctor would tell Bobby about the patterns and Bobby would mention it to Mira and Zoey and Mira and Zoey would hate her, and-

“Mira, Zoey,” Bobby said softly, looking between the two of them. “Could you give us some space? Mira, you can wait in the car if you want… Zoey, she can’t go out today.”

“Of course,” Zoey agreed, bobbing her head. “I’ll just… be in my room… coming up with lyrics… with headphones on…” She retreated like she was afraid something might chase her if she moved too quickly. Mira gave a thumbs-up and retreated quietly to the elevator. Bobby waited until she’d descended to say anything.

When it was quiet, he got up off the carpet and sat on the coffee table, knee nearly to knee. “Rumi,” he said, “I want you to see a doctor. You need to see a doctor. What’s it going to take?”

“Bobby, I’m not sick. I’m just… not hungry.”

Rumi had never seen Bobby look so serious. His hair cast shadows as he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if you’re not hungry at this point, Rumi. Your body isn’t going to tell you it’s hungry if it knows you won’t feed it.”

When Rumi refused to reply, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, I don’t want to play the manager card. If you and I can make a deal on what it’ll take to get you to a doctor, I’ll make a deal. You want me to bribe you with a… a teddy-bear chair? Or bath bombs for a year? I’ll do it. What’ll it take?”

“I’ve seen doctors,” Rumi argued. “Come on, Bobby, I’m fine now.”

“Rumi, I’ve seen this before…”

“You really haven’t.”

“I was an idol too, once, remember? I know the pressure to be stick-thin and have perfect skin and everything. This is all too common, unfortunately. I've been trained on the basics of treating these things.”

Rumi grumbled. He wasn’t going to see things her way. She opened the bag with the strawberry back up and took other bite. Then, forcing away the feeling of being full, she finished it off.

Bobby’s stone-cold heart wasn’t softened. “Okay,” he said. “Option number 1. You see a doctor today. No-“ he held up a finger to interrupt her protest. “-I’m serious. Option 1, you see a doctor today. If they clear you for the collab with the Saja Boys, I won’t call it off. You follow whatever prescription they give you to the letter. Option number 2, you eat with Mira and Zoey monitoring you and see if you can get a little stronger by next week. Then, you get cleared by a doctor the day before. Otherwise, I’ll call it all off now. Which way do you want it to go?”

“Bobby, Zoey will be so disappointed if we call that off!”

“I know.” He folded his hands and looked into her eyes. “But not as disappointed as you’ll be if you faint on live television.”

She sulked. “I’ll just get the one she likes to catch me and it’ll be fine, right?” But Rumi knew that couldn’t happen. If her first live anything in two years resulted in her fainting… everyone would assume she was dying. She couldn’t live with the embarrassment. Her faults and fears couldn’t be known.

“You’re not going on that show without a doctor’s approval,” Bobby said. “Both because it’s a liability for the label and because I want to make sure you’re healthy. So how do you want to swing this? I know you’re not going to be hungry, but we have to start helping your body out.”

“If I’m not hungry,” Rumi said, frustrated, “Then how do I know what to eat? I already threw Mira’s eggs back up!” Sayign that probably wasn’t helping her “I’m fine” case.

“Broth with vegetable puree in it,” Bobby replied, like he’d done this a million times before and could now do it in his sleep. “And sports drinks. Smoothies. You sip a small amount every two hours, even if you’re not hungry. We set a timer on your phone. You obey it, or I show up and monitor you myself.”

“And then I see a doctor next week?” Rumi asked. “Before the TV show?”

“You’re not wiling to see one today?”

Rumi shook her head.

Bobby sighed. “Okay. One week. I’m going to text some things to Zoey to help you make. She’s going to supervise you today. Whatever you decide on, measure out one cup every two hours and sip on it.” He got up and paused on his phone to text. “Right. Call me if you need anything else. If you faint again, call a doctor. I mean it!”

“Bye Bobby!” Rumi called. She heard the elevator ding and deflated into the couch.

Zoey’s door opened. She was bent over her phone. “Bobby just sent me a folder…” she said uncertainly, then perked up. “Ooh! Berry smoothies! I can make those! Do those sound good to you? This’ll be so much fun! Let’s make everything and taste-test it!”

Rumi snorted. At least Zoey could find a way to make being babysat fun.

Chapter Text

“Again.”

Without any protest, each of the Saja Boys whipped back into their starting formation. Each of them were drenched in sweat. Their muscles were shaking from how many times they’d run this choreography. Each of them were silently gritting their teeth. But none of them protested.

Sometimes, Jinu welcomed the pain of aching muscles. It drowned out the voices that remained in his head, even after Gwi-ma had been mostly diminished. Today, he was watching the clock along with the others – estimating how much more time they had before Gyeom had to run to his next meeting.

“Good job,” the villain said instead, smiling. “I think that’s ready to shoot. You’ve done an excellent job.”

They each relaxed their frames, rolling their joints and rubbing sore spots. Gyeom cracked his knuckles. “Now, a few notes for tonight. We’ll meet each other there – and Huntr/x, of course. Try not to pair off with any of the girls too obviously on stage unless the hosts divide you up. You’re going to be playing “Back to Debut”, so make sure you rehearse the original Soda Pop choreography before tonight. Huntr/x has to go back seven years after a two-year hiatus. We can’t do worse than them.”

Gyeom pointed close to Jinu and his heart jumped in his chest. “Baby,” he said, and Jinu almost breathed a sigh of relief. “They’ll also be doing speedy lip sync battles. Do your best to keep up with that gyopo. Try and keep it professional, gentlemen. We don’t want to accidentally woo the ladies.”

Indeed. Bleck.

“Any questions?” Gyeom crossed his arms and leaned against the balance bar of the practice room, examining each of them.

“Yeah,” Abby said, stepping forward. “Have they confirmed whether the original girl is coming back to her group? Or is it a new one?”

“They’ve not, but that makes me think it’s the original,” Gyeom replied. “They wouldn’t risk the fans being shocked on live TV that it’s not her.”

Good point.

A beat of silence passed and then Gyeom clapped his hands. “Well! Rehearse Soda Pop. I’ll book your music video filming… by the way, how’s that new single coming along? The one in case Huntr/x drops anything?”

“We have a whole album coming out,” Abby said. “We don’t need a single.”

“Get a single,” Gyeom replied, his voice hard. “Get it on my desk by Friday. Or I’ll have you rehearsing until your legs fall off.”

“Already halfway there,” Mystery muttered.

Jinu kept his eyes on Gyeom, wondering if he’d heard, but he didn’t seem to have. He opened the door and disappeared out. When the door had thudded closed, he glanced over his shoulder. Everyone was looking at Mystery. “You have a death wish,” Jinu observed.

“I do, but not my own,” Mystery replied. “What’s the plan for tonight?”

Jinu looked between his group. That was something he’d gotten better at, since they’d originally started. It used to be Jinu calling all the shots. Now, they all had voices. “Before?” he asked. “Or after?”

“Could just act confused,” Romance suggested. “Oh no! Where’d they go? They were just here!”

“Gyeom’s going to know,” Baby muttered to himself.

“So, we get extra rehearsals for months,” Jinu said. “But Huntr/x will be dead.”

“Well, I’m just thinking… maybe if we kill them after, and the show’s already been successful, he might not be so mad.”

They each considered this.

“After, then,” Jinu said. “Unless a good opportunity presents itself? We do have to remember that they’re elite warriors. They’ve killed really, really good demons before. It’s in our best interests that they don’t know what we are until its too late.”

With nods of agreement all around, they snatched up water bottles for a short break before returning to rehearsal.

The Saja Boys arrived everywhere early. It was part of the charm of being able to poof into existence almost anywhere, true, but it also made for great publicity, a show of respect, and gave them the ability to scope out the perimeter.

Two dressing room doors were labeled with the band logos. Huntr/x’s fancy knot on one and the lion on the other. Jinu’s teammates slipped inside their dressing room, pretending not to notice him pausing to listen to see if there was anyone on the other side. He’d heard rumors about what Huntr/x was like – apparently, they were prone to bringing snacks and a punching bag into their dressing rooms, and they could be very loud when happy. But behind the door, there was just silence.

Jinu pushed the handle down carefully and peeked in. It was completely dark. They’d beat the hunters.

He was a bit nervous. He’d watched plenty of demons fail to take this trio out before the Saja Boys had debuted. He’d watched some never come back. They were dangerous.

But there was also a part of him that felt alive.

He followed the rest of his team into their dressing room. “Just thinking out loud,” Abby said, snapping the door closed behind him, “D’ya think Gyeom would still make us perform with four? I mean, if the hunters do get one of us?”

“Worth considering,” Jinu replied, dropping his bag onto a spare chair. “Why? Are you volunteering?”

Abby snorted. “No. But I did have an idea on the way over here. Gyeom’s hunch is they might be crushing on us, right?”

“I doubt it,” Jinu replied. “I bet it’s their management trying to save their image. But keep talking.”

“Well, if they are, and we can figure out who on who… we can just invite them back. Girls do that group thing, don’t they? For emotional support?”

“Not a bad idea,” Jinu admitted.

“One thing we haven’t considered,” Mystery said softly. Everyone turned, tuning in hard. “We’re absolutely sure this isn’t the Hunter’s trap, right? And they didn’t figure us out and invite us to this to finish us off, right?”

“They requested two of us originally,” Jinu said. “I think they’d have gone with the whole group right off the bat if they knew.” He couldn’t deny that Mystery’s question terrified him, though.

“Wish we knew who they’d requested,” Abby muttered.

Jinu ripped open the zipper of his bag and dug in, searching for the sports drink he’d left at the bottom of it. When he didn’t find it, he flipped it upside down and hair products and costumes all came raining out. He sorted through it, then turned with a glare on his group. “Who took it?” he asked.

Everyone pointed at someone else.

Jinu huffed. His patterns flared. “You’re all lucky there’s a vending machine down the hall,” he muttered.

“Grab me one too, Jinu,” Romance called.

“Two!”

“Three!”

“Yeah, you’re all the worst.” Jinu ripped open the door.

Abby stopped him slamming it with his foot. “Be professional!” he winked. “And make that four, please.”

Jinu pulled the door on his foot. Abby’s human form flickered for a moment, and he quickly moved his foot out of the way.

Jinu took a deep breath to compose himself, then heard, “Ah! I see the Saja Boys are here already! You’re always so respectful!”

Show time. Game face.

Jinu spun on his heel. “Doni! Coni! You look so great! It’s a pleasure to be back!”

They shook hands – Doni and Coni were big fans, so permanently off the meal list. “Oh, Jinu! You know we love having your group! What kept you away for so long?”

“You know, advertising an album is hard work! Let alone touring it!” He gestured towards the vending machine. “I’m just coming to grab some drinks for my group. We’ve been rehearsing a new bit all day today.”

Doni and Coni laughed. “Ah, you make it look easy! Come on, drinks on us!”

“Oh, you’re too kind…”

Doni continued chatting with Jinu as Coni punched in numbers as directed by Jinu and fed the machine a few thousand won for the purchase. Doni was impressed Jinu knew all his group’s preferred drinks – as if he hadn’t known them for over 100 years at this point.

“Now what about you,” Doni said, as Jinu was figuring out how to balance the five drinks. “How have you-“

He was interrupted by the sound of someone retching down the hall. The three of them turned and looked down a hall adjacent to where the dressing rooms were. A door wasn’t all the way closed and a light coming out from the crack. “Does someone need help?” Coni called.

“Here, can you take these back for a moment, please?” Jinu asked. He passed three of the drinks back to Coni and then hurried down the hall. Normally, he wouldn’t care about some mere mortal losing their guts in a family restroom an hour before he was set to go onstage. But with Doni and Coni here… he needed to be on his best behavior. Keep up the reputation of being respectful and kind.

He opened the door and found a person with a black hoodie holding the sides of the toilet, puking. He crouched down beside them and touched their back carefully. They shuddered and lost more of their stomach into the bowl. The smell was more bland than he was expecting. When the person paused, he flushed the contents away for them and then whispered, “Are you okay?”

A cracked voice replied, “Just fine. Thanks.”

Doni and Coni appeared in the doorway, hovering nervously. “Everything okay?” Doni asked. “Do you need a place to lie down for a bit?”

“I have a place.” The person said. She sounded feminine, though it was hard to tell from the direction. “Is that Doni and Coni?”

“Uh, yes!”

“Huntr/x is arriving. You should forget about me and go say hello.”

“Oh!” Coni jumped. “Well, Jinu, do you think you can help this person to where they need to go?”

“Definitely,” Jinu replied. “You go say hello to Huntr/x.”

“Oh, and here are these…” Coni set the three drinks he’d been holding down. Then he and Doni headed away.

“Can you stand?” Jinu asked softly. He wondered if this person was a fan. Then again, he was the last person to have been seen with them. If they went missing, he’d be questioned. Gyeon would guess what had happened.

“I’m fine,” The person said, and wretched her hands off the toilet bowl. Her fingernails were painted purple. She didn’t look at him as she moved to the sink. There wasn’t a mirror, so there was no way to see her face as she quickly washed her hands and swished water around in her mouth.

“You at work?” Jinu asked. “You should probably go home.”

“Unfortunately, I just got here,” she replied.

“You came to work sick?”

“I’m not sick. My electrolytes are just… out of wack.”

Jinu was getting the strangest feeling listening to her. She seemed familiar to him, but he was positive she was a stranger. But the feeling was enough for him to find the drink that was going to be his and unscrew the lid. “Here,” he said. “Glacier freeze okay?”

She finally turned to see what he was offering. She was pretty, though her skin seemed a bit transparent and she was pale as fog. Her hoodie obscured most of her face, but he still saw her inhale when she saw him. Her cheeks went pink underneath the pale. Her eyes went dark. He watched her brown eyes scan him – something he was used to – and then settle on the drink. “Thank you,” she said. “Um… Jinu? Was that your name?” She took the drink and sipped it slowly. Some color retuned to her face aside from the receding blush.

“Yes, I’m Jinu.” He paused, sure she’d want to comment on the Saja Boys. She must know who they were, of course. She was working tonight. All of the employees had to have been briefed on who was coming. But she didn’t mention anything as she sipped his drink carefully, so he said, “What’s your name?”

She hummed around another sip. “I’m-“

“Rumi!” Someone moved beside him so quickly that Jinu jumped. A black and blue blur blitzed past him, arms outstretched for the girl in front of him. “Did you throw up again? Has it been two hours? How are you-“

“Zoey,” the girl in the hoodie grit her teeth.

Jinu felt like a cat. All his hair was standing on end – he was sure of it. But he smiled and forced himself to be calm.

The person who had just blitzed into the bathroom was in an outfit he’d recognize on sight. A sleeveless shirt with a sweetheart neckline. Blue and black bracelets up and down her biceps. Black slacks with blue embroidery on them. Zoey of Huntr/x.

Which meant… Jinu let his gaze creep to the first girl. No wonder she had seemed so familiar. He’d been having nightmares of her sealing the honmoon for two long years now.

“Rumi?” he asked. “Of Huntr/x?”

Zoey squeaked and her eyes grew wide. “Oh, it’s Jinu!” she exclaimed, and looped an arm through Rumi’s. “You ran into Jinu!” she reached up and flipped Rumi’s hoodie off her head. Bright purple hair in the iconic braid was revealed. Zoey gestured frantically at him. “Of the Saja Boys!”

Rumi closed her eyes. “You’re a Saja Boy?” she asked, sounding light-headed.

“I am,” Jinu agreed. Interesting, she didn’t know what they looked like. “I was looking forward to sharing the stage with you tonight… but I understand if you’re not in the best state for-“

“Oh my goodness!” Zoey squeaked again. “Did you… did you get all these for Rumi?” She pointed at the one remaining bottle in his hand, and the three abandoned by the door.

“Oh, um… actually they were for my teammates. But I can see-“

“I’m so sorry,” Rumi said. She set the drink down on the sink and pulled the hoodie over her head. More of the braid was revealed, along with a form fitting black shirt with purple decals all over it. It ended in attached gloves and went all the way up her neck.

Why wear the hoodie when the shirt basically covers everything anyway, Jinu wondered. Was she really that cold?

Rumi procured a wallet and pulled a bill out of it. “Here, for the drink. I’m so sorry you had to see me like this.”

“No, no, it’s alright!” He pressed the bill back into her cold hand. “You clearly needed it more than I did. Can I walk you both to your dressing room? It’s right beside ours.”

“Oh, I insist,” Rumi said, trying to push the bill towards him.

“Oh, no, my treat. You’re sick. Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not sick,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“And don’t forget this,” Jinu said, picking up the drink she’d put down. He capped it quickly for her, and then gathered the other three into his arms.

Zoey was still hanging on Rumi’s arm. She looked very, very excited to have run into Jinu. Perhaps… this had really been requested because of a romantic attraction. Just not Zoey to Jinu, because then she wouldn’t be as excited Rumi had run into him alone.

Jinu took Rumi’s elbow as they walked, still balancing all the drinks. He made it look like he were just being present to help her if she needed it, but in truth, he was feeling her arm through her sleeve. Rumi didn’t seem like the powerful and strong hunter she’d been two years ago. She seemed weak and ready to tip over. Her arm was thin. Jinu could count her ribs through her shirt.

What happened, Hunter? What went wrong after everything went so right for you?

When they made it to the Huntr/x door, he held it open for them. Their final teammate, Mira of Huntr/x, was already inside and setting up the legendary punching bag. She frowned when Jinu let the other two girls in and handed Rumi the drink she’d started, but he didn’t hang around for the explanations. He quickly shut the door behind them and then jumped into his own teammate’s room. “Huntr/x is here!” he announced. “Including their original lead singer. Who is deathly ill. I just saw her lose her dinner in a restroom around the corner. You can count the bones on her and she looks like a breeze would knock her over.”

“Huh,” Romance said.

“You don’t say?” Abby muttered.

“This’ll be easier than we thought,” Baby said.

Jinu held aloft the four remaining drinks. “Now, who took my drink? I’m holding these hostage for answers.”

There was silence, and then three fingers grudgingly pointed out Abby as the perpetrator. Abby sulked. Jinu picked out the watermelon flavor. “Just returning the favor,” he said, and set the other three down. “Dig in.”

Chapter Text

It was just Rumi’s luck she’d been overheard losing her guts by an unfairly attractive co-star.

She’d been doing so well at keeping things down, too.

She still wasn’t feeling hungry most of the time, but Mira and Zoey were both very good at following up on her timers. Occasionally, if they made something that smelled really good for their meals, Rumi would give it a shot. Doing that had resulted in her throwing it back up only once in the last week. Aside from that, she’d been in the clear.

But tonight, they’d tried to revive the pre-show ramyeon tradition, and Rumi’s stomach didn’t agree with the team-building effort.

“Was that Jinu?” Mira asked as Rumi sank onto a cushioned chair.

“So…” Zoey leaned over the arm of the chair, smiling ear-to-ear. “First impression of the Saja Boys… what do you think?”

Rumi chuckled. “He’s nice. Do they all look like that?”

“Jinu is the most conservative looking of them all,” Mira said, having a seat. “Why’d he walk you back?”

“He heard me losing my ramyeon,” Rumi admitted, scowling. “I… don’t know what’s going on with me all of the sudden. I wasn’t like this at Celine’s.”

“Are you still good to go for tonight?” Mira asked.

Rumi nodded. “For sure. I’ve got my doctor’s note… Jinu gave me his sports drink…” She held up the bill she’d been trying to use to pay him back. “I think I’ll sneak this to him before he heads out.”

“Put it in his back pocket,” Zoey suggested.

Rumi guffawed. “You think you’re funny!” she said.

Someone knocked, then opened the door without a pause. “Girls!” Bobby exclaimed.

“Hi Bobby!”

He paused, smiling, and then said, “Wow. It’s so good to hear you three together again! Okay, I’ve got your team assignments here. Looks like you’re going to be doing a back to debut dance practice. It’ll definitely be easier for the Saja Boys than for you, but just go out and have fun! I’m confident in your skills.”

Bobby straightened out the paper he was reading from and exhaled. “Um… skill battles! Baby Saja versus Romance, Abby versus Mira, Rumi and Jinu-“ Rumi grimaced, “-and…” Bobby leaned towards Zoey, smiling ear-to-ear.

Zoey squealed in excitement. “Zoey and Mystery?” she shrieked.

“Zoey and Mystery!” Bobby confirmed. “I pulled some strings. Just for you. Happy early birthday.”

“You’re the best! The best!” Zoey threw her arms around Bobby, then flopped back onto the couch in the dressing room, throwing her arms up and over her head. Rumi and Mira both laughed as she wrapped her arms around the frumpy velvet pillow and squeezed it.

“I have high expectations for Mystery,” Rumi said. “Considering Jinu was, well, Jinu.”

“You met Jinu?” Bobby asked.

“She threw up in front of him,” Mira supplied.

“You threw up?” Bobby repeated, alarmed.

Rumi glared daggers at Mira as Zoey rolled back over to them and said, “Okay, Rumi, be real here. Promise you’ll be real?”

“Why?”

“I’m not asking if you’d date him, but between the four of us, what would you rate Jinu? On a scale from one to ten. Is he a seven? Or maybe a six? Or…”

“A six?” Rumi blanched, then blushed. “I… I mean…”

“Higher than a six, then,” Mira laughed. “Wait til she sees Abby.”

“Because I’d put Jinu at, like, a seven-point-nine. But Mystery…” Zoey swooned. “He’s a ten.”

Mira shook her head. “I’d put Mystery at, like, a six.”

Zoey shrieked in outrage and Rumi found herself laughing along. “Jinu is definitely the most conventionally attractive man to ever see me throw up,” she said. “I’d put him up… maybe a nine. Maybe.”

She expected Mira and Zoey to tease her, but both just nodded. “A nine. Okay,” Zoey said. “Oh, Bobby, what’s the last teams thing going to be?”

“Four and four,” Bobby said. “Abby will join our side.” He smiled when Mira gave a short fist pump. “Oh, and a lip sync battle!”

“Oh my gosh!” Zoey popped up like she’d been electrocuted. “It really is my early birthday!”

Someone knocked on the door. Rumi got up and opened the door. A man with a navy blue beanie and a white and blue button-down shirt was leaning against the doorframe. He had pink hair that was almost curly. As he leaned, his shirt robe up on his stomach, revealing a very fine set of corncob abs.

“Can I help you?” Rumi asked.

The man whistled softly. “Rumi of Huntr/x,” he said, as if he couldn’t believe it. “The rumors are true. Your beauty precedes you almost as much as your voice does.”

Rumi squirmed internally. “I’m afraid you have the advantage here. I’m guessing you’re one of the Saja Boys, but – ah – I’m not familiar with your names.”

“Abby!” Mira said, crossing the room in four long strides and putting an arm around Rumi. “I’m Mira. I think we crossed paths in a gym once, but never got a proper intro.” She stuck her hand out.

“Abby?” Rumi repeated. “What’s your real name?”

Abby’s eyebrows spiked. “I don’t get asked that very often. What if it is Abby?”

“Is it?”

“It’s Cho,” he replied. “But I prefer Abby at this point.”

He stretched the arm not against the doorframe up above his head, making the shirt rise even more. Rumi snorted. “Clearly.”

Abby chuckled. “She gets it.” He got off the doorframe. “Well, we were going to do a group backstage picture with Doni and Coni. Thought you might like to join in.” She gestured down the hall, where four more very attractive men were chatting amicably with their hosts. She recognized Jinu from the back of his head and understood now what Mira had meant by Jinu looking the most conservative of them. One had dark red hair deeper than Mira’s that fell in a heart shape in front of his face, while being buzzed up his neck a little in the back. White shirt and red pants and shoes with hearts in the sides. Another had blue cotton-candy colored hair, a yellow cap, and a blue-embroidered pink suit. One had half his hair grown out so you couldn’t see his face, and the other hair buzzed. When he turned, Rumi could see the band’s lion insignia shaved into his fuzz.

Huh. She had put Jinu at a nine so that Mystery would have some place to go. But looking at all of them… she peered back at Abby to double check… Yeah, she was revising Jinu to a ten. Followed by Abby. The other three… wait, which one was Mystery?

“Sure, let’s do it,” Mira said. “Zoey! Photo!” She squeezed past Rumi in the door and, keeping her composure, joined the group, excitedly throwing her arms around Coni.

Which one was Mystery?

Rumi hurried over and put her hands on Zoey’s shoulders as she leaned into Doni’s side. Mira stood on the other side of Coni, crouching down with her arm around him. Seconds later, Jinu was pushed by Abby to the edge of the photo. With a good-natured laugh, he mimicked her leaning pose and put his hand on her back.

“Feeling better?” he whispered.

Rumi’s stomach flip-flopped. “Oh, don’t worry about me.”

As the Saja Boys shuffled around them, Rumi put her mouth to Zoey’s ear and whispered, “Which one’s Mystery?”

Zoey turned her head and cupped her ears around Rumi’s ear to whisper, “The hottest one!”

Rumi glanced up at Jinu. A smile was pulling at the edge of his lips as he glanced between his teammates and the camera held by an increasingly impatient stage crew helper. Was Mystery his stage name?

As everyone settled into smiles, Jinu’s hand slid an inch up her back and his fingertips curled around her ribs. She felt color bloom into her face, though she didn’t let her smile falter.

She imagined herself, after this picture was taken, turning around to him and declaring, “Excuse me, but who gave you the right to be that hot?”

And he’d laugh and she’d put her hand up on his shoulder and-

“Everyone say Play Games!”

“Play Games!”

They broke apart, laughing, and Rumi turned around to Jinu. She gestured at everyone around them. “What are your group’s names?” she asked.

Jinu raised an eyebrow, then began to point. “You met Abby. That’s Romance. Baby Saja – we just call him Baby. Mystery’s over there, and-“

“Mystery?” Rumi’s mouth dropped open. Mystery had to be the least hot of the group. You couldn’t even tell if he had a face! Let alone if it was a good one!

She heard snorting over her shoulder and saw Mira struggling to hold in a laugh. Jinu also looked amused. “Is something wrong?”

She probably looked scandalized. She wanted to mouth, “that guy?” at Mira, but instead she shut her swinging jaw quickly. “Nope. Romance, Baby, Mystery, and Abby. Got it.”

“And Jinu.” Jinu said.

Rumi nodded. “And Jinu.”

They stared at each other for a few long seconds, and then Doni interrupted them by shouting, “Let’s play some games!” It made her jump, but she quickly dissolved into laughter with the others.

“Let’s go!” Mira shouted, putting her arm around Rumi and tugging her away. “Gaja, gaja, gaja!”

“Yay!” Zoey exclaimed, grabbing onto Zoey’s other arm. “Gaja gaja gaja!”

Rumi laughed, then heard someone go “Woah!” behind her. She looked over her shoulder. The Saja Boys had put their arms around each other’s necks in a long line. “Gaja gaja gaja!” they yelled together and then began rushing forward. With shrieks, the girls dove out of the way. The stage hand holding the phone was laughing uncontrollably as the Saja Boys suddenly changed direction and ran sideways to get through a door. It was much easier for the three Huntr/x girls to follow them.

Playing games just got more and more fun. They started with the “Back to Debut set to introduce themselves. Thank goodness it was lip-syncing – Rumi still hadn’t sung around Mira and Zoey yet. She didn’t know how to bring it up. The Saja Boys went first and Rumi could immediately tell Huntr/x was going down, and she was cool with it. She’d never seen Soda Pop before. It was so clever, she thought, how they’d integrated the peace sign into the drinking action right before the chorus. And the shoulders… she’d begun moving her own until Mira put her hands on them and whispered, “Control those shoulders.”

She almost forgot how nervous she was to be on stage again. In front of fans again. There was a half-beat of silence as the Saja boys moved over to make room for them, and Doni began to address the crowd, but then she heard the serunai began to play, and heard her own voice say, “Ugh. You came at a bad time!” Her mind went blank. Her body snapped into gear. And with Zoey and Mira, they stepped out in perfect formation.

The audience screamed. People began to sob their eyes out. A fan hit the floor in the front row, bawling.

How had she left this? How had she forgotten how much she loved it?

She and Zoey and Mira moved like they’d never taken a day off ever. The way they still moved in her dreams. Every action purposeful. Every movement on beat. They switched places. They made levels. They winked and made faces for the fans. Rumi saluted the audience and felt dozens of phones zoom in on her face.

How could she have ever left this behind?

When the music ended, the audience got on their feet, clapping and screaming and dancing. Rumi took it all in, breathless. She looked at Mira, who looked carefree. Zoey, glowing. Then, she chanced a look at the Saja Boys. There was something different in the way they were standing. Were they impressed? Intimidated? She couldn’t place it.

In groups of four, they did formations. Then Zoey and Baby Saja did speed rapping to their own songs at first 1.5x speed, then double time. Baby Saja was red-faced and out of breath at that point, but Coni turned a Huntrix song up to 2.5x, and Zoey took a deep breath, then let everything out, on beat. The crowd went absolutely wild and Rumi saw Mystery’s jaw swinging.

Zoey ended up on the floor and had to be picked up by Rumi and Mira and held up for support, but she was shining.

They did silly competitions – balancing things on their heads and then their noses, small games, and trivia. Bobby had scratched off anything to do with food, so Rumi didn’t have to worry about hot sauce chugging.  

Doni and Coni thanked them for their time, and then they all bowed for the audience. Rumi reviewed the evening. She already knew which parts would go viral. Abby lifting the three of them effortlessly during their team formation, Zoey rapping at more than double time, and probably many clips of herself. Her first public appearance in two years.

The curtain fell and Huntr/x wound arms in celebration. Bobby appeared from offstage, telling them how amazing they had done. The Saja Boys also spoke with their manager briefly – a tall, thin man who looked like if corporate greed was a person. Actually… Rumi counted quickly and realized one Saja Boy was missing.

Someone touched Rumi’s wrist. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Jinu standing behind her. “May I speak with you quickly?” he asked.

Rumi unwrapped herself from Mira, who barely noticed, and stepped away. Jinu started walking backwards, leading her away. That wasn’t really what she’d planned. She wasn’t planning on leaving Mira and Zoey. But she followed him into  the curtain and then went no further. “Where are you wanting to go?”

Jinu must have sensed she wasn’t going any further. “Oh, just away from ears,” he said, stepping closer. “I wanted to say welcome back. You did brilliantly for your first time in two years. Especially on your performance.”

“Thank you,” Rumi replied. “You also did-“

“If the Saja Boys don’t have to run anywhere tonight,” Jinu interrupted, “would Huntr/x be interested in some post-gameshow drinks?”

Drinks. Rumi’s stomach flipped. “Well, probably not me,” Rumi replied. “Just… alcohol when you’ve…”

“Of course, but…” Jinu stepped even closer, leaned in, and whispered in her ear. “Perhaps you would join me anyway?”

His chin was so close to her cheek. Rumi’s face heat up. She reached up and brushed at her neck. Her high collar seemed restricting all of the sudden. “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “It’s been nice to meet you… I just…”

Her hands dipped below her neckline and itched at the back of her shoulder. Jinu suddenly stepped away. His face was stony. His eyes were cold. Rumi dropped her hand. “Is something wrong?” She felt along her neckline.

“No,” Jinu replied, somewhat strangled. “Let’s just… head back to our groups.”

He reached behind her and guided her to step in front of him. His hand rested at the top of her spine, pressing her back towards Bobby, Mira, and Zoey. A hot feeling spread across her back. Not just underneath Jinu’s hand, but along the length of her patterns.

Could patterns react to a person? Did it work like that?

She glanced back at him. His face was impassive. None of the kindness of before. That was… weird.

“Rumi!” Zoey said, looking over. “Where’d you both go?”

“N-nowhere,” Rumi stammered.

“Unfortunately, the Saja Boys need to run,” their manager announced. “Big day ahead tomorrow. Huntr/x, it was an honor to share the stage with you. Glad we could make this happen.” He crossed the stage and held out a hand to Rumi. “Especially you, Ms. M.I.A. We’re looking forward to seeing you back in action.”

His hand felt cold and clammy. Sticky, even. He gave off a sickening feeling. One that Rumi immediately associated with the word, “Warning”.

“Thank you,” she said, numbly, then gestured to Mira and Zoey. “I couldn’t have done it without my best friends.”

The Saja Boy’s manager turned towards them and released Rumi’s hand. In the time that he’d approached her, Jinu had slipped away and was speaking furiously with the other Saja Boys. Mystery looked taken aback. Romance’s mouth was swinging. Baby Saja was holding onto Abby for support, who was shaking his head.

When they noticed her looking, they all straightened up in smiles and perfectly relaxed postures. But she wasn’t fooled.   

“Boys,” their manager called, walking away now.

Each of them turned and left without a backward glance.

Chapter Text

Jinu had guzzled half the watermelon sports drink in one go before he began sorting through his overturned bag. Abby sulked in a corner, but didn’t protest.

Jinu had just found his outfit for the night when Romance said, across the room, “For sure. I’ve got my doctor’s note and Jinu gave me his sports drink.”

Jinu looked up, confused, and then saw Romance had found a section of blank wall and had his eyes closed and his ear pressed against it. “You can hear them?” he demanded. Demons did have remarkably good hearing, but he was shocked the walls didn’t have better sound protection.

“I think I’ll sneak this to him before he heads out.” Romance said. “Put it in his back pocket. Ha! You think you’re funny!”

“Sneak what? Her number?” Jinu demanded.

“No way, man!” Abby laughed. “It’s Jinu? They’re interested in Jinu? Girls have got bad taste.”

“Who’s talking? Tall, short, or sick?” Baby asked.

“Sick is talking,” Romance replied. “Their manager just walked in.”

“No way!” Abby cackled. “Jinu, your face card’s so strong that you brought the girl out of retirement just so she could stand on a stage with you!”

“Too bad the sentiment’s not returned,” Jinu drawled. “That’ll just make it easier to draw her away and steal her soul.”

Romance was still talking as he heard conversations next door, not bothering to differentiate between speakers. His face twisted into wistful longing as he said, “It’ll definitely be easier for the Saja Boys than for you but just go out and have fun! I’m confident in your skills.”

All of the boys quieted down. The practice they’d had with Gyeom earlier was probably ringing in their ears just as much as it was in Jinu’s. They’d gone straight from Gwi-ma in their heads to Gyeom, and it wasn’t exactly an improvement.

It must be nice to have a manager who actually cared about you.

Thankfully, Romance’s face brightened only seconds later, and his voice rose as he tried not to laugh. “Rumi and Jinu and – oh, she’s squealing – Zoey and Mystery? Zoey and Mystery!”

Across the room, Baba Saja spit out his drink, shaking in laughter, and doubled down on the floor. Mystery had been pulling his outfit on and tripped, tumbled into the wall on the opposite side of the room, and then over the couch.

“Mystery?” Abby’s jaw dropped. “They like Jinu and Mystery?”

Romance finally couldn’t hold back the laughter and fell from his place against the wall. Baby Saja leaped towards it and pressed his ear against the paint. “I have high expectations for Mystery considering Jinu was Jinu… You met Jinu?” Baby went quiet, listening for something interesting, and then a wicked grin spread across his face. “Between the four of us, what would you rate Jinu? On a scale from one to ten.”

“Stop,” Jinu said. His face was beginning to burn. “Tell us if it’s anything new, okay?”

“Higher than a six! Wait til she sees Abby!”

“Finally!” Abby sighed in relief. “Which one was that? Tall girl? I always liked her better than the rest.”

The door to their dressing room opened unexpectedly and a shadow darkened the room. Baby rotated his head to look like he was casually leaning against the wall instead of pressed up against it like it was radio.

“Are you ready?” Gyeom demanded. “We’ve got a half hour left til mic checks – come on!” He shut the door and curled his lip at them. Jinu was finishing buttoning up his shirt. Mystery was still on the couch, finishing fixing his outfit as well.

The boys quickly finished tucking clothing into place and pulling shoes on, then hustled into a line in front of the couch for inspection. Baby reluctantly left the wall behind.

Gyeom circled them, arms crossed, his gaze lingering on each member. “Mystery, make sure you’re not wrinkling your jacket before you go onstage.” He barely waited before turning to Jinu. “And Jinu, the last set, your harmonies were a little behind the beat. Let’s tighten that up. We’re supposed to sound polished, not good enough.” Then he flicked his eyes at Abby. “Abby, when you’re on the left side, you’re standing too close to the edge of the light. It throws off the symmetry for the cameras.”

He checked his watch, not looking directly at anyone. “Before this show was announced, Huntr/x hadn’t made headlines since their lead dropped off the face of the earth. The expected views for tonight are astronomical. Everyone is tuning in to see them. However, I don’t want them walking away talking about Huntr/x.” His tone was even, but the words were pointed, every suggestion laced with the implication that their best was just barely sufficient. “You need to be better than you’ve ever been before. On beat, on point, every time. Let them know their time is past.”

With one last critical glance, Gyeom’s nostrils flared. “One last thing - let’s keep it professional. Be kind and respectful, but don’t show any special care for any of the girls. I don’t want to field any awkward questions later.” He picked up the sports drink Mystery hadn’t yet opened, cracked the lid, and sipped while he thought. “Do… demons feel attraction?”

“No,” Romance answered for the group. “Unbridled rage, hunger, and resentment. Not attraction.”

“Well, you do a decent job of hiding it.” Gyeom said. “Well, go on.” He sat down and put his feet up, then began flicking through his phone. The Saja Boys filed out into the hall, and upon meeting Doni and Coni, ended up interrupting the girls for a photo anyway.

Since they’d clearly had an edge with each of the girls having a minor attraction, they’d agreed on a pronged approach. Get them to stay after, then feast on their souls. Abby went for Mira. Mystery went for Zoey. Jinu targeted Rumi.

In hindsight, proposing drinks was a stupid thing to suggest to a girl he’d met losing her stomach two hours earlier. But she had clearly been tempted to agree. Then, she’d rubbed her shoulder, and Jinu glimpsed the pink cracks glowing faintly under her neckline.

His brain short-circuited.

Wasn’t she human? She was a hunter. And not just any hunter – she was The Hunter. The one who’d turned the honmoon gold.

They couldn’t be real. Not a chance in hell – and he would know! They must be an insensitive tattoo she’d gotten at some point.

But to double check, he’d ended the conversation, turned her around, and put his hand to her back. Thinking about his mother and sister always caused his patterns to flare, and so he did carefully, and watched Rumi’s answer, glowing faintly through the black fabric, with pink pinpricks at the base of her neck.

What the hell? The actual hell? How could she have patterns?

Jinu had looked up and with a single glance had gotten Mystery and Abby to step away from Zoey and Mira for one second. The five Saja Boys had circled up, and Jinu whispered the secret so quietly that unless you had demon hearing, it would be lost forever.

“Rumi has patterns.”

A quick glance over their shoulders and she was checking her reflection in her phone, pulling her neckline up.

“You’re sure?”

“They glow. I’m sure.”

“You’re kidding,” Baby whispered. “She’s a hunter! That’s… screwed up. Even for a demon.”

“How did a demon become a hunter?” Mystery whispered. “Are they all demons?”

“Doubt it – Mira and Zoey aren’t covered like she is.” Romance reasoned.

“No wonder they’re so good,” Abby muttered.

“Boys, break it up, you’re still onstage. People can see you,” Gyeom said, jostling into their group and breaking them apart. “Unfortunately, the Saja Boys need to run! Big day ahead tomorrow. Huntr/x, it was an honor to share the stage with you. Glad we could make this happen.”

Jinu watched Gyeom and Rumi shake each other’s hands and his blood boiled. “What do we do now?” Romance whispered. “Just jump them?”

“Can’t,” Baby whispered back. “They’re fans. We need to reveal ourselves so they won’t be, anymore.”

“Technically, they’re competitors, not fans.”

“I don’t need to eat a soul to hide a body,” Abby muttered, glaring at their manager.

Gyeom clapped his hands together, rallying the group with a bright grin. “Alright, Saja Boys, let’s keep the energy up! We’re heading out for a quick team-building activity—trust me, it’ll be fun and we could use the break.” Jinu’s shoulders slumped – there went any chance of cornering Huntr/x this time. They should have killed them before the show.

With a sweeping gesture, Gyeom ushered everyone toward the backstage exit. There was already a car waiting there. They’d left their stuff in the dressing room, but Jinu didn’t ask. He had a feeling it’d turn up eventually – Gyeom would never let them be known for leaving dressing rooms anything less than immaculate.

In the car, their manager’s smile turned from warm and welcoming to cold and calculating. “How do you feel that went?” he asked.

Jinu felt the lecture oncoming. “Fine.”

“It was meh.”

“No compliments.”

“Meh.”

“Eh.”

They had learned not too show too much enthusiasm.

Gyeom pointed at Baby, “No compliments? Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I thought I told you to rehearse Soda Pop?” He fumbled with one hand in a briefcase and then flipped open the pad of a tablet. “Huntr/x’s… back-to-debut… has already been remixed two-thousand times! Yours has only been remixed a little over two-hundred.”

On his tablet was a side-by-side of Huntr/x wagging their fingers during the “la-la-la-la” of their debut song with tonight’s performance. An AI transition morphed them into a pose they had struck on tour that was mirrored in the choreography. Jinu noticed that Rumi didn’t quite move the same as she used to, but when she saluted the camera, she had a little bit of her old spark back.

Whatever had sealed the honmoon, she still had it. They all did.

Gyeom set the laptop to the side, where it began playing through TikTok shorts of tonight’s performance with the sound off. “So,” Gyeom said, leaning back and stretching his legs out. “What did you think of the girls?”

Jinu pursed his lips for half a second. He heard Baby sigh beside him. “I don’t really have any thoughts.”

“Same.”

“Nothing.”

“Fine.”

“Sick.”

Everyone’s heads snapped towards Mystery, who stiffened. “I mean, they are sick. The lead singer. She’s ill. That’s what I meant.”

Gyeom hummed, then snapped the tablet onto the seat with a sound like a smack. “I think we’re through looking at them, hmm? Like you didn’t get enough of that during the show. All of you! Sneaking looks like human teenagers! The nerve of you!”

“Gyeom, we couldn’t care less about them,” Abby tried to break in.

“Tell that to Twitter!” Gyeom snapped. “Do you know what’s trending in Korea right now? SajaBoys, number five. Huntr/x, four. And then the top three! Mirabby, Zoestery, and Rujinu!” He stuck a finger out with each listing and his face turned a bit more red on each one.

“I thought you said you didn’t care about the shippers,” Jinu snapped.

“When did I ever say that?” Gyeom demanded. “And the five of you, cuddling backstage, compliments about their performances – could you be any more obvious?”

“What, complimenting them about their careers is flirtatious?” Romance demanded. “Gyeom, they did a good job.”

“Which doesn’t mean-“ Jinu interrupted with his voice rising, “That we feel anything towards them! We’ve lived for hundreds of years, existing in misery. There isn’t any room in our heads for sonyeodeul.”

“They may be good performers,” Abby said. “But we’re demons. We’ve had thousands of years of experience.”

“Well, don’t count on adding them to your experience,” Gyeom sneered. “That’s the last time I arrange anything with Huntr/x.”

The car stopped. Baby, still fuming, was the first to glance outside. “A bathhouse?” he asked.

“I’ve decided we’ll shoot your new music video here,” Gyeom announced, smoothing back his hair with his hands. “It’ll be the new single for your album. The other isn’t good enough.”

“Again Again?” Jinu demanded and all the other Saja Boys bristled. “You’re kidding. We were releasing it in two days!”

“I always had my doubts-“

“You said you loved it a month ago!”

“Be quiet!”

“Make me.”

Jinu rose out of his chair and towered above Gyeom. His skin turned purple. His night vision came on sharper. Blood-curling rage filled him.

But Gyeom wasn’t fazed. “Do it,” he chuckled. “We’d all like to watch you shred your own existence.”

Jinu’s muscles trembled with rage. But Mystery and Romance both grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back.

Gyeom smiled and got up to get out of the car. “Come along, then,” he said. “Demons don’t need rest anyway.”

Chapter Text

Mira, Zoey, and Bobby laughed all the way home. They fed off each other’s energy in giggles and jokes, celebrating everything. Rumi laughed just enough to be a part of things. Bobby dropped them off at the tower and bid them adieu. Zoey was especially giggly all the way up the elevator. It was easy to keep her going.

But when she and Mira got to the kitchen and pulled out boba to celebrate, Rumi decided to call it an early evening. She bid them goodnight and hid herself in her room.

Had she offended him? Maybe she had given him the impression, in her pause, that she wasn’t interested in him.

Which she wasn’t! Or… she didn’t know if she was or wasn’t.

No, wait, it would ruin her career, and she couldn’t show him her patterns. So yes, she was sure that she wasn’t interested in Jinu.

On that thought… she’d been messing with her collar… could he have seen her patterns? But then, how could he have known what they meant? She’d never heard of male demon hunters.

Not that… it couldn’t be done.

She wasn’t sexist, of course. A man could do her job just as well as she could, if they worked as hard as she did. The Saja Boys were especially talented.

Perhaps he thought they were tattoos? And he had… something against tattoos?

Rumi was just pulling her pajamas out of her drawer when her two-hour timer went off and she groaned. Ten seconds later, she heard banging on her door.

“Rumi? Soup or smoothie?”

“I’m trying to go to bed!”

“Or a banana? Is a banana good?”

Rumi sighed and opened her door. Mira and Zoey stood, waiting to take her order. “I can do a banana,” she decided.

Mira pushed off the wall and went to fetch one from the kitchen. Zoey, meanwhile, leaned in. “So… what’d you think of the Saja Boys?”

“I can’t believe you think Mystery is the hottest,” Rumi admitted. “He’s like, a solid four.”

“What!?” Zoey shrieked and almost fell off the wall. “You take that back!”

“Oh, you should have seen her face when Jinu pointed out Mystery to her. She was like-“ Mira pulled a face like she’d just discovered a hair in her food. Or a dead mouse under the sink.

“You’re so mean!” Zoey exclaimed. “He’s gorgeous!”

“Abby’s the real ten of the group,” Mira said, returning and holding Rumi’s banana out. “Right, Rumi?”

Rumi took the banana but shook her head. “Abby’s, like, an eight. He’s nice.”

“You put Jinu above Abby?” Mira asked.

Rumi paused in peeling her banana and glared at her. Mira held up her hands. “I’m not teasing you. Just asking. Like, just because I think Abby is the hottest out of them all, doesn’t mean I have the hots for him. Would I bang him? Yeah, maybe once to know how it felt-“

Rumi choked on her banana.

“But, like, boyfriend-girlfriend stuff?” Mira shook her head. “I’m just not interested.”

“You’re both so…” Rumi swallowed. “Forward.”

“It’s just part of life,” Mira said nonchalantly. “They’re hot and respectful and I am twenty-six and have a sex drive I’ve never given in to. A girl’s allowed to have an imagination.”

“Just not about Mystery,” Zoey reminded her.

“Or Jinu?” Mira raised an eyebrow at Rumi.

Rumi swallowed her second bite of banana. “No comment.” She held up the rest of the fruit to see how much more she had to get through.

“No, now I’m curious,” Mira said. “Like, if Jinu were to knock on our door right now and ask you out, would you go?”

“I’m getting ready for bed,” Rumi replied, peeling the banana’s skin down faster.

“Answer the question!”

“Come on, we’re trying to bond with you!”

Zoey looked so hopeful that Rumi had to laugh. But then she remembered Jinu’s stone-cold expression. “I might’ve… but he… kinda acted weird with me tonight,” she admitted. “When he pulled me aside, he asked if we’d want to go get drinks with their group. I said I wasn’t sure I could drink because, y’know, I’ve been throwing it all up. And he got kinda… cold. And then walked back to his group.”

“How did you say it?” Mira asked. “Like you were trying to get out of it?”

“I don’t think so,” Rumi said. “But… maybe he took it that way?”

“Huh,” Mira looked at Zoey. Then back to Rumi. “Did that ruin how hot you think he is?”

Rumi cracked a smile. “No, he’s super hot.”

“Ugh! I know!” Mira put her hands up by her head. “Like, who made you that attractive? And-“

The honmoon flashed red around them. Zoey squeaked. Rumi accidentally squished the base of her banana into pulp. Mira groaned. “A summoning,” she muttered. “Zoey, are you coming?”

“You still get warnings?” Rumi asked.

“Yeah. We do. Um…” Mira paused halfway to the door. “Rumi, do you want to come with?”

Rumi popped the last of the solid banana into her mouth and held a thumb’s up to Mira. She’d been here a week. It was time to get back to work.

Twenty minutes in, she was sooooo out of practice!

Mira and Zoey stalked the streets in perfect, quiet harmony. Rumi tripped over her shoes and struggled to find the lines of the honmoon to pull her weapon out. Neither of the girls said anything, but Rumi couldn’t help and be envious of their ability to dip into the honmoon at will. Both for tracking demons and pulling weapons-

“Want some turtle chips?” Zoey said, turning around and offering a glowing golden bag to her.

Rumi felt her eyes bug out. “Did you… pull chips out of the honmoon?”

“I have a secret stash,” Zoey explained. “Turns out, you can keep lots of stuff in the honmoon!”

Rumi took a chip in between her fingers. It was glowing dimly. “Is it… safe?” Celine would be horrified. 

“Um…” Zoey turned the bag around and squinted. “I guess it expired a month ago. But it should be fine other than that.” She stuffed a handful into her mouth.

“Careful,” Mira said. “Don’t make yourself sick.” She thrummed her fingers through the honmoon, then pointed up ahead. “In there, I think.”

Zoey gasped. “We finally get to go to the bathhouse with Rumi!”

“It’s a men’s bathhouse!” Mira snapped. But then she looked over her shoulder at Rumi. “But hey. We should go soon. Before comeback. You promised we’d go after Idol Awards.”

Rumi’s blood ran cold.

Zoey started creeping forward, but Mira threw an arm in front of her. “Wait!” she exclaimed and pointed.

Across the street, there was what looked like a deep blue puddle on the side of a building. It gurgled and bubbled, like raindrops were plopping into it, but was perfectly vertical. As Rumi watched, the puddle detached itself from the building, took on a humanoid form, and began walking across the street, moaning and crying to itself.

“What is that?” Rumi whispered, horrified.

“Shh!” Mira hissed.

“It’s a Gwishan,” Zoey whispered back. “It’s a soul with unfinished business. They can be summoned just like demons can. Sometimes accidentally.”

“How come I never knew about these?”

“We weren’t dealing with summonings before.”

The Gwishan moaned louder. It sounded distinctly female. Its hair was cropped ugly and it hid its face as it cried. It’s clothes were hard to make out, but seemed to consist of some sort of simple robes.

“Why are we hiding?” Rumi whispered. “Are they mean?”

“Shh!” Mira repeated.

“We don’t always know,” Zoey replied. “I think it depends on what they haven’t moved on from. Mira and I have met a few nasty ones from some wars. Oh, and that one guy who thought Mira was his lover. That one wasn’t fun. But some don’t care about us.”

The Gwishan wept and passed into the wall of a building on the other side of the street and disappeared. Rumi never got a clear look at her. But Mira straightened up. “Looked like a wianbu. She probably wouldn’t have hurt us. But you never know.”

“A wianbu?” Rumi repeated. “What’s that?”

Mira lowered her gok-do and Zoey her bag of chips. They both stared at her in confusion, like she’d asked, “What’s a demon?”

“Are you… being serious?” Mira asked uncertainly.

“Um… yeah?”

Mira and Zoey exchanged looks. “Huh. I guess it’s not something Celine would have focused on teaching you…”

“Yeah… I guess it’s not that surprising you don’t know.”

Rumi held her hands up, waiting. Mira nodded, pursing her lips into a duck face as she thought. “Wianbu were the ten thousand plus women who were kidnapped from Korea and raped daily by the Japanese Army during Je-i-cha Segye Daejeon.”

“The Japanese destroyed most of the records when they surrendered. After the Americans dropped the bomb,” Zoey added. “Lots of girls were rejected by their families when they returned. They found it hard to build their own families because, well, would you want anyone to touch you if you were raped by forty different people every day throughout the war?”

Rumi realized her jaw was swinging. “Oh,” she said, lamely.

Mira shrugged. “It’s fine if you don’t know. It’s just surprising because it’s still a big deal to most Korean women. It’s why I wasn’t ever thrilled to tour Japan.” She shrugged and jutted her finger behind her. “Bathhouse?”

“Bathhouse,” Zoey agreed. She stowed the bag of chips back into the honmoon and retrieved her shin-kals.

It was deceptively warm inside the bathhouse. The girls ducked around corners as men in various stages of dress wandered through. Rumi kept her eyes solidly on the ground or on Mira’s shoes until something made the back of her neck prickle. She looked up and saw dim pink cracks along the ceiling.

“What the?” she whispered.

“Rumi!” Mira snatched her arm and yanked her away. She drove her gok-do into the ceiling. It clanged against the stone. A demon went up in a poof of smoke. Rumi saw only their outline before their body disintegrated. Their skin was patterned to match the ceiling.

“What?” she exclaimed, baffled.

“Yeah, it’s one of their new tricks,” Mira explained, brandishing her weapon protectively as they looked around. “Shapeshifting demons will try and blend into the walls. They finally figured out they’re really bad at pretending to be humans.”

“Where’s the other one?” Zoey asked, also holding her knives at the ready. “If the cracks were showing… there has to be two.”

“Two?”

Mira’s shoulders sagged in exhaustion. “Oh my gosh. We need to give you the updates. Demon markings react to each others when ones’ flare up. They’re bright pink. Did you see cracks anywhere else?”

Rumi resisted the urge to grab her shoulder. “Um… no, sorry.” She held her sword aloft.

Mira and Zoey continued to scan their perimeter, glancing up and down occasionally. Rumi was starting to feel ill again, but she had a feeling it wasn’t the banana. She was covered up in full black leather – was it her patterns that had caused her would-be attacker’s to flare? She didn’t even know how to flare her patterns, whatever that meant. She just knew that if she tried to remove them, they became permanent and wouldn’t recede again.

A door opened from one of the bathhouses and a rush of steam escaped. The girls all stowed their weapons, but had no time to hide before a larger group of men exited and turned to walk past them, towards the dressing rooms. But they stopped in surprise to see three women, still dressed, in the hallway.

“Rumi?” one asked.

Zoey squeaked. “Oh! It’s the Saja Boys!”

She was kidding. She had to be kidding. Rumi refused to live in a world where Zoey wasn’t kidding.

But she pulled her eyes up. Lo and behold, there they were. Abby was at the front of the group, with a towel riding low on his hips and another, nearly soaked, around his neck. Mystery and Baby Saja were both robe-clad, while Romance had a towel for both his arms and legs. Jinu only had the one around his middle.

“Who is it?” someone said from inside the bathhouse. The boys all glanced over. “Um, Huntr/x,” Baby said, while Abby said “no one.” Hereafter, Abby pursed his lips closed.

“You girls… need anything?” Romance asked.

Their manager appeared around them, also in a towel, and frowning. A chill ran down Rumi’s spine. He gave her the creeps. Especially the way he looked them up and down… appreciatively, yet obviously not pleased to see them.

“This is the men’s bathhouse,” he said. “Why are you dressed like that?”

“It’s a long story,” Mira said. “We’re honestly as confused as you are. Nice to run into you so soon, though. Team activity?”

“Business meeting,” the manager replied. His glower felt… stifling.

“Well,” Jinu said, “Nice to see each of you again.”

“Yeah, and while we have you here,” Zoey said, putting her hands on Rumi’s shoulders and making her go stiff. “We loved being on the show with you! And when we turned down your offer to hang out after the show, that wasn’t because we wouldn’t love to chill together sometime.”

The Saja Boy’s manager narrowed his eyes at them, then turned his glare on the Saja Boys, who seemed suddenly tense. Zoey tensed – she could feel it too. Something was off about this guy. It felt weird.

Rumi found a marker and a piece of paper in her back pocket – remnants of a life always ready to give autographs. It was that practice that allowed her to blitz off a note at lightning speed. “Well,” she said, breaking the tension. “Like we said, great to run into you again…” She bumped fists with Abby. Romance took her hand and kissed it. She reached out to shake Jinu’s and slipped the note into his palm with quick discretion. Then shook Mystery and Baby’s hands for good measure too. “We’ll be on our way now.”

The girls turned and headed for the exit, walking quickly.

“Sheesh,” Zoey whispered as the door swung closed behind them. “I’ve never been more grateful for Bobby. Their manager is creepy!”

“What’d you give Jinu?” Mira asked.

“My number,” Rumi admitted. “Not for romance. Just for… help, if he needs it. And to clarify what happened earlier.”

“You don’t think their manager could be the demon we were looking for, right?”

“He blends into the human realm really well, if so. I’m not sure.”

Rumi’s phone buzzed against her side. She whipped it out. Text from an unknown number. Just the letter J.

“That was fast,” she announced. “What should I say? Is your manager a demon?”

Mira and Zoey chuckled. Rumi paused and spoke aloud as she typed, “Hey… your… manager… seemed… weird. Did… we… get… you… in… trouble?”

Then, as an afterthought, she asked, “Do you need help?”

Jinu read the message. His next reply was thrilling for dozens of reasons.

“Well, since it sounds like you’re offering, do you think the Huntr/x label would be interested in a boy band?”

Chapter Text

Huntr/x’s return had old social media accounts lit up. The reaction definitely wasn’t as strong as it would have been if they hadn’t taken such a long hiatus, but it was nice nonetheless to see people so excited, making mashups and mixes, sharing theories…

Mostly nice, anyway.

Rumi scowled at her phone and marched into the kitchen in a huff. Mira was already up, as was becoming usual for Rumi, and so was Zoey, which was unusual. Both raised an eyebrow when Rumi plopped into her seat with a huff. Her phone snaps against the counter.

“Good morning?”

“What did the phone do to you?”

“It’s…” she drummed her fingers on the counter. “The fans, actually. They say I look anorexic!”

Mira paused in assembling breakfast—acai bowls, it looked like—and deadpanned at her. “Right,” she drawled. “And what is anorexia?”

“Well it’s…” Rumi sputtered, “Not...”

“Define it.”

“It’s like… forcing yourself not to eat.”

“And the difference between anorexia and what you have is what?”

Rumi fumed.

Mira snorted. “The fans have a point, is all I’m saying. Now, do you want some of this? I can also make you a smoothie.”

Rumi’s stomach turned a little bit, but the food did smell vaguely good. It was weird how two opposite urges could exist in her brain. “Yeah,” she decided. “I’ll try a little.”

“Eeee!” Zoey cheered and whipped out her phone. “Rumi’s eating breakfast with us! I’m taking a picture to show Bobby!” She held it up to frame the bar. “Everyone say healthy!”

Rumi groaned, then forced a smile. “Healthy!” she and Mira said. Rumi heard a bowl being slid across the counter to her. She could already tell it was too full for her to finish, but it was worth the shot.

Before she could take her first bite, her phone buzzed on the counter. She flipped it over, and her heart did a funny dance in her chest. Jinu had texted, “I think I can slip away after lunch today. Can you meet?”

“This is strictly a business meeting,” she told herself. She just needed to slip away from Mira and Zoey.

After breakfast, they packed up and went to dance practice in a studio two floors down. Dance practice was the one area of her life where things with Zoey and Mira felt normal. Because with everything she had lost – strength, agility, cardio, focus, her voice, trust – she had kept up on her dancing.

Mira and Zoey had also gotten better and so the three were moving better than they ever had before – Mira coming up with moves for them like never before. They mostly moved to click tracks of songs that had backbones and nothing else, while Zoey muttered half-formed lyrics to herself.

That was something else Rumi liked about dance practice – she wasn’t needing to come up with anything. So far, she’d written only short rhymes and limericks. Nothing seemed to mesh well with the theme of this next album. And she hadn’t done any singing. Just humming here and there. If Mira and Zoey had thought that was odd, they hadn’t said anything.

Rumi watched the clock closely, inventing a excuse for when lunch rolled around. She could always claim the food was disagreeing with her, even though she’d only eaten half her bowl, but then the girls would tell Bobby.

At eleven-thirty, Mira wiped sweat off her brow and hit pause on the music. “I think that’s enough for today,” she said. “But before we head to lunch, I thought we should have a team check-in.”

“A team check in?” Rumi asked.

“Great idea!” Zoey exclaimed.

“You hit a week back yesterday, Rumi,” Mira said. “I thought it’d be good to chat about… how we feel we’re doing together after two years. If there’s anything frustrating each other. Where we want to go from here.”

“Oh,” Rumi said. Zoey pulled her teal dance mat at an angle to Rumi’s and she figured she had no choice. She helped Zoey pull Mira’s closer so that they were all sitting on different sides of a triangle. Then they all took seats on their mats.

“So…” Mira trailed off, then bit her lip. “This is something Zoey and I started doing after Celine told us we couldn’t come by her home anymore. We used to check in with each other to see how things were going. I know this is probably going to be newer to you… so I’ll start.”

Mira and Zoey were both sitting criss-cross on their mats, Zoey leaning towards Mira with a smile and Mira sitting stiffly as she thought. “I think we’re doing really well together so far. I… can see you’re really making an effort for Zoey and I, Rumi, and I appreciate that. I do feel that we’re not writing together as well as we used to, but we still move really well together and I’m getting more used to having you around again.”

Rumi looked in between Mira and Zoey, then exhaled. “I’m… glad,” she said. “And I agree. I know it’s still… new. But it’s familiar, too.”

“It almost feels like we’re debuting again,” Zoey chuckled. “Except this time there’s no pressure to turn the honmoon gold.”

“Yeah, we just have to figure out how to get people to stop summoning demons.”

The three of them laughed, and then Mira nudged Zoey’s knee with her own. Zoey perked up. “Oh! My turn! Um, I’ve been having so much fun… and meeting the Saja Boys last night was awesome and I was wondering if you could ask Jinu for Mystery’s number, please, Rumi?”

“I… could ask.”

“Has he even replied?” Mira asked.

“Um…” Rumi squirmed on her mat. “Yeah, but he hasn’t sent any… specifics.”

Mira narrowed her eyes. “You’ll tell us when he does, right?”

“Right.”

Mira and Zoey exchanged a look. Mira seemed much more dejected and annoyed suddenly. She sighed. “Well, Rumi, how has this week been for you? How do you feel we’re doing?”

“I…” Rumi had been about to reply quickly, but her mind blanked. How had the week been? Weird. Very weird. “Good.”

Mira and Zoey both stared at her. “Just good?” Mira asked.

“Maybe try, like, one thing that stressed you out? One thing that got you excited?” Zoey shifted on her hips a little as if she were dancing.

“I mean… I got cleared by the doctor to do the show. That was good. And it’s been good being back with you. I know it’s still a little awkward sometimes, but…. I think it’s coming together.”

“How are you feeling?” Zoey asked.

Rumi sighed. “I seriously do feel fine. I never felt sick in the first place. But… I am noticing I feel a little stronger. While I’m on Bobby’s… diet.”

“I know this is between you and the doctor, but I’m curious – what did he think?” Mira asked, switching the way she was sitting so she could lean on her leg.

Rumi frowned. The doctor had been irritated she refused to let him uncover any part of her, so he’d counted her ribs through her shirt and taken her blood pressure around her sleeve. “He said I was a little underweight. He approved of Bobby’s thing.”

Mira and Zoey exchanged looks again. Rumi glanced at the clock behind their heads. Eleven-forty.

“Do you have any concerns, Rumi?”

“No, not really.”

“Okay. My main concern is our lyrics,” Zoey said. “I just want to make sure, Rumi, that the direction Mira and I are going is one you want to go in?”

“Um, yeah. It’s great.”

Zoey seemed even more dejected by this reply and sank back into her mat. Mira pinched her lips together. “My main concern is that you’re going to start hiding from us again,” she told Rumi. “In fact, I’m getting the hunch you already have.”

“What?” Rumi was genuinely startled by that. “No, no, I promise I won’t.”

Mira’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re perfectly healthy, you’re on board for the theme we talked about, the Saja Boys haven’t texted you back, and you think everything’s great?”

“Uhummm…” When put like that, mostly. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m definitely healthy. Honestly, it’s been a good first week back.”

Mira sighed. “Maybe your real problem was never hiding anything from us, Rumi,” she said. “Maybe your real problem is that you’ve got so many walls up, you’re hiding from yourself.”

“Walls? I don’t have walls.”

Mira shook her head. “Well. Good talk. Let’s go get lunch.”

She and Zoey got to their feet and started rolling up their mats. What had just happened? Why did the situation seem even worse than it had before they’d sat down?

They broke for lunch and showers. Rumi spent a few minutes in her closet and picked out a nice beige hoodie – something that could help her get across town undercover. Jinu had picked the place – an aquarium where the Saja Boys were doing a fan meet just next door. He figured it was his best chance of slipping away undetected.

Before leaving her room, Rumi paused in the mirror. Her skin looked almost yellow. Her cheeks were thin. With a small growl, she snapped open a drawer and set about combining products so she didn’t look so… meh.

Zoey, bare-faced and with her hair up in a towel, had beaten her out of the shower. She was eating noodles from out of the fridge while Mira finished mixing up some sort of salad. Rumi joined them in the kitchen and pulled out the other half of the acai bowl from this morning. Was it a good idea? Her stomach was doing small flips every time she thought about meeting Jinu.

“Maybe we should hit the studio after lunch,” Zoey suggested to the three of them. “I think I came up with some ideas over dance practice.”

“Oh, um, no thanks,” Rumi said. “I’m actually going out.”

Mira turned and gave Rumi a once-over. “Oh?” she asked. “Where are you going?”

“Just out.”

“Out where?”

Rumi frowned. “Out for air.”

“You did your makeup. This wouldn’t have anything to do with the Saja Boys, would it?”

“No.”

“Rumi.”

“Mira, why does it matter?”

“Because what if you faint somewhere and we can’t find you?” Mira asked. “You haven’t exactly been getting out and about lately. When was the last time you walked longer from the car into a building? Where are you going to be? And for how long?”

“Rumi,” Zoey said from across the bar, “It’s fine if you want to go out. But you should take your cell phone and share your location with us in case something happens and you need us.”

“I won’t need anything.” Rumi grit her teeth. “I haven’t thrown up since…”

“Yesterday,” Mira reminded her. “Don’t make us call Bobby, Rumi.”

“You told us you’d be honest with us, Rumi,” Zoey added.

Rumi deflated indignantly, then sighed. “I… Jinu texted me. The Saja Boys are doing a meet and greet across town. But there isn’t a time all of them can get away at the same time – their manager would notice. So just Jinu is breaking away. He asked me to meet him so we could… talk about their manager.”

“And you didn’t tell us because you wanted to meet Jinu alone?”

“Well, he texted me-“

“You only gave him your number and haven’t put him in a group or anything. He only has the option to text you.” Mira looked at the ceiling.

“It’s fine!” Zoey said. “Like I said, share your location with us for the day. Just in case you end up going anywhere other than the meet and greet. How long will you be gone? Mira and I will give you, like, an extra few hours, then we’ll text to make sure you’re okay, and if we don’t hear back, we can come check?”

Mira’s nostrils flared. “And you won’t make any agreements with the Saja Boys without talking with us, right?”

“I promise,” Rumi said. “This is strictly a business meeting. It’s just to figure out what their situation is.”

“Okay,” Mira said. “But share your location, like Zoey suggested. Or we’ll call Bobby and he can tell you to stay put. You haven’t been cleared by the doctor to go out and about as far as I’ve heard. What time will you be back?”

“Jinu didn’t sound like he could break away for long,” Rumi said. “Probably… three or four?”

“We’ll check in at five,” Zoey said. “Text back by five-thirty or we’ll come check in.”

Mira sighed to herself, but didn’t protest.

After lunch, Rumi headed to the door without announcing she was leaving. But as she pulled her shoes on, she heard Zoey’s lighter steps enter the hallway. “Hey,” she said softly. “Uh, quick boundary check. Just… want to emphasize that we’re a team. So, do not agree to help the Saja Boys or talk to the label or fight anything without us agreeing.”

“What if their manager attacks me?” Rumi asked.

“Is there a chance of that happening?” Zoey asked. “Because in that case, we’re coming with you. You’re still not interacting with the honmoon like you used to.”

“No,” Rumi admitted. “It’s just going to be Jinu and I.”

“Right, and like, Mira and I aren’t going to hang over your shoulder if you two hang out,” Zoey said. “But there is a different between a business meeting and a date. The moment you start talking Huntr/x collabs, or your manager is a demon, or any of that, Mira and I need to be included.”

“I will,” Rumi agreed.

Zoey nodded but didn’t look convinced. “Okay. Have so much fun. Don’t faint. Call us if you need us. Grab a smoothie when your timer goes off – and text us Jinu’s number so he can confirm you ate.”

“No.” Rumi’s face erupted into flames. “I’m not doing that.”

“Or, we can call in two hours? But we do need his number anyway.”

“Okay. Okay.” Rumi covered her face with a hand. “You can text. I’ll reply. I promise. And if I don’t, you can call. Jinu doesn’t need to know my eating schedule.”

Zoey held up a solemn pinky finger. With a sigh, Rumi locked pinkies with her. “I promise I’ll text you. I’ll share my location. And I won’t make any business deals without you.”

“Okay,” Zoey mumbled. “Bye.”

Chapter Text

It was impossible to sneak all of the Saja Boys away at once. They knew not to attempt it. But one? They could do that. And out of the five of them, the one who always had the most success blending in happened to be the one texting Huntr/x.

This particular meet-and-greet was chaotic enough that Jinu managed to sneak out the back under the guise of a water break. Gyeom, thankfully, wasn’t present today. They figured they could manage without him for an hour.

And in that hour, hopefully the aquarium would be dark enough that one Saja Boy could get the jump on three elite, highly trained demon hunters.

The mission parameters made Jinu sweat – there was a chance, he knew, that he wouldn’t make it back to the other Saja Boys at all. Which is why he was determined to wait as long and as patiently as possible before striking.

None of the Saja Boys had ever been to know anything about an aquarium other than it was where fish lived in the city.

Shortly after Jinu had made it out the back exit and gotten his hoodie on, he received the first indicator that their plan wasn’t going to work. His phone buzzed against his stomach, and he pulled it out and saw a text from Bnog. It was a misspelling of Bong, which was the same name as one of their schedule coordinators. Just in case anyone noticed the Saja Boys were receiving texts from someone. He signed in and read, “I’m fifteen minutes away.”

I’m? As in, one?

Also, she was late? Rude.

Cautiously, Jinu replied, “Brown hoodie, by the fountains.”

He ducked into the crowd and disappeared into the stream. The aquarium wasn’t gigantic and seemed to be doing slightly worse for business than usual with the colorful Saja Boys banners everywhere. Jinu ducked to further avoid recognition.

There were two lazy fountains sprinkling water in circles and creating small rainbows. The area was enclosed by a sloping stone wall and benches here and there. Jinu took one that still had all its paint. He wished he had the time to take the view in, but he was cautiously waiting to be kicked back to the demon realm, then summoned straight to Gyeom. That was what normally happened when he noticed them missing. There was no way for him to tell where they were.

There were so many people going to the fan event. Jinu didn’t envy his band at all.

He watched a small boy run up and stick his hand into the fountain’s stream and shake the water off, then felt something warm near his cheek. He turned and – “Gah!” He leaped back, catching himself on the ground, breathing hard. It was the Huntr/x lead singer - Rumi. She’d jumped up onto the wall behind the bench and leaned in, arms crossed to see how long he’d take to notice her. And judging by her smug look, it had been a moment. “You came all this way out to jumpscare me?”

“It took you a whole minute to realize I was there,” she replied.

Was he already that much off his game? If she’d known he was a demon… well, he could imagine his head would be rolling on the ground.

He didn’t blame himself for the fact the spike of fear from getting jumpscared didn’t fade. She was a very real danger with a black heart. She’d killed hundreds of her own kind.

Jinu caught his breath, righted himself, and his heart dropped a little. His suspicion had been correct. She was alone. “It’s just you?” he asked.

Rumi suddenly looked confused. “Um, yeah. Well, you said it was just you, so…” Her cheeks turned pink. “I thought… you were only expecting me?”

Jinu furrowed his brow. “This… I’m confused now.”

“Why?”

“Well…” Jinu wasn’t born yesterday, that’s why. Except maybe he was, because he’d somehow forgotten he was texting a girl who’d rated him as a nine on a scale from one-to-ten and had forgotten to clarify he wasn’t asking her on a date to the aquarium. “This is strictly a business meeting,” he said. “In case there was any confusion, or…”

“Of course,” she agreed. “I just thought… three on one…” She shrugged.

“Right.” Jinu’s concerns weren’t soothed.

“Well,” Rumi gestured to the aquarium. “We can go in, or we can talk out here. Whatever you’re more comfortable with.”

Darkness, Jinu thought. He took a step towards the building and Rumi followed.

Inside were lit areas with small tide pools for small children to splash in, interacting with anemones, starfish, and very tiny fish that made them giggle as they swam through fingers. An attendant watched each carefully, making sure nothing was removed from its environment. “So,” Rumi began, as they wandered through the children’s area, “Your manager seems… odd.”

“Odd how?”

“Mean, for starters,” Rumi said. “We were wondering… well, we know not all managers are created equal. How would you describe him?”

Jinu chuckled. Perfectionist. Cruel. Demonic, ironically. And normally he’d automatically peg anyone who was attempting to summon a demon as an idiot, but Gyeom was unfortunately competent and clever. “He… is difficult to please,” he began. “I don’t think he’s been completely pleased with us since he acquired our contract.”

“You’ve been chart toppers for two years now,” Rumi said. “It’s not enough for him?”

“It never is. We never have enough new music coming out. Enough music videos. Enough promo.” Jinu sighed. “He’s got a reputation for running people to the bone.”

“You sound like you need a hiatus.” Rumi scuffed her foot against the floor.

“Saja Boys don’t do hiatuses. We move from one project to the next.”

“I guess that’s me, too. Mira and Zoey will relax between projects. I was always jumping to the next thing.” Her breath came out in fog as they passed into a cooler room. “Well, you asked if Huntr/x, the label, might be interested in acquiring you. What might that look like for you?”

“It was a joke,” Jinu replied. “I doubt Demon Records would let us go for anything. It’s the kind of company you sell your soul to.”

Rumi looked up with a frown. Her eyes narrowed. “The company you work for is called Demon Records?”

“Do Gyeom founded it,” Jinu explained. “We were one of his early sign-ons. We had Soda Pop, but nothing else. He decided to take a chance on a group with nothing left to lose.”

Rumi nodded and rubbed her hands together. Jinu wasn’t sure if she’d realized, but the tips of purple patterns were peeking out from under her wrist cuffs. He fumed silently and almost forgot to pay attention when she asked, “How… does being around him make you feel?”

“My manager?”

“Yeah.”

“What is this, therapy?”

“There’s a business purpose behind it.” She scowled.

Jinu rolled his eyes. “Exhausting. Why?”

“Well, I know this may seem a little out of left field, but have you ever noticed…” she hesitated, “Purple lines like cracks on his arms or neck? Or anywhere else?”

Jinu stopped walking underneath a blue light. Rumi stumbled as she turned about to face him. Purple lines like cracks?

She thought Gyeom was a demon. That was why she’d set up this meeting. Jinu snorted – he couldn’t help it – and then gulped down a laugh. The irony of it all.

Then he realized his reaction had completely blown any guise he had of his knowledge. “Purple cracks?” he repeated, and a flare of anger surged through him. “You mean, like yours?”

Rumi’s hands leapt to her neck, like she was about to attempt to strangle herself. Then, she snatched at her wrists, glanced down, and pulled the cuffs where the cracks had been showing. “You… you saw… my tattoos?”

“Tattoos?” he repeated, incredulously. “Tattoos that have grown since yesterday? I know you have patterns, Huntr/x.”

“And you know what they are?” she asked, with fear lacing her tone. “How?”

Jinu sensed his own death was imminent and wisely decided to avoid judgement a little longer. “I’m a demon hobbyist,” he replied. “I’ve been following the demon summonings people keep trying for years now. I know how to recognize one… and I’m also aware that every generation, a trio is trained to hunt them.” He took a step closer and watched her shrink. “I just wasn’t aware that demons were allowed to become hunters.”

Rumi had been shrinking into herself, breathing hard, but at his words, snapped back to attention. “Jinu, I’m not a demon!” she said. “This isn’t what you think it is.”

“Then how’d you get the patterns?”

“That’s none of your business.” She forced her arms back to her sides and forced a breath out. “Look, demon hunting… runs in my family. My mom was a Sunlight Sister.”

Ah, he remembered them. He actually held them in high regards. They were a group that wasn’t so vain as to put their secret mission into their music group’s name.

But… they had all been human, hadn’t they?

“So you’re… part demon?”

Rumi met his eyes briefly, then looked back at the floor. “Yes.”

This would be a perfect time to kill her. She wasn’t on guard. She was terrified. But Jinu was so astonished by what he was hearing that he couldn’t think straight. “I… didn’t think that was possible.”

She shrugged. “The… the honmoon was supposed to take the patterns away, when it turned gold. But…” she pulled the wrist cuff down just slightly and held her hand out for Jinu to see the beginnings of the cracks at the base of her palm. “…it didn’t. And they’ve been getting worse and worse, and I can’t stop them.”

“Worse?” Jinu was completely baffled now. “How can patterns get worse? They’re just shame.”

“Shame?”

“You have shame,” Jinu said, sure this was completely elementary. But Rumi’s brow furrowed, and Jinu’s curiosity squashed the voices reminding him that his mission was to kill her. “May I see?” he asked. Since she'd already showed him, she must not care. Most demons didn't care. 

Rumi withdrew her hand and held it protectively to her chest, then carefully let it drop again. Jinu stepped closer, sealing the distance, and then carefully rolled her cuff up once. The cracks were solid against her pale skin – easy to read.

“Lied to my friends,” the closest ones to her fingers indicated. “Shut them out because I liked a boy.”

“Are these from today?” he asked. “You lied to your friends about coming here?”

Rumi snatched her wrist back. “How did you know that?” she demanded.

Jinu made the connection between her astonishment now and the embarrassment he’d seen when she’d asked if she’d come alone. And he also realized that, well, Rumi seemed clueless about what she’d let him just see. “You don’t know anything, do you?” he asked. “Patterns are readable. They’re each caused by a shame. You can read what the shame is.”

“You can read patterns?” Rumi repeated softly.

“I can.”

She looked down at her wrist, then back up at him. “How can I make them go away?”

Jinu laughed. “That, I don’t know. Demons never lose theirs. Er, from what I know, at least. But… I didn’t know a human-demon girl was possible either.”

“Just hunter,” Rumi reminded him. “Not demon.” She picked at her sleeve, then rolled it down. “Jinu, I came here today to see if I could help you. But if you can help me…” she voice went scratchy, and she stopped to breathe. “Can you please keep a secret?”

“I can,” Jinu agreed, though he knew immediately he’d be sharing it with the Saja Boys.

“I’ve… completely lost my singing voice since the honmoon was sealed. Zoey and Mira don’t know, and we’re supposed to be working on our comeback album. Do you know anything, anything at all, about demon patterns stopping a voice from working?”

She couldn’t sing? That was poetic justice, and he felt a surge of triumph. But strange. “I’ve never heard of patterns stopping a person from singing,” he replied. “I’m not certain it can happen.”

“The patterns reached my throat,” Rumi explained, touching the place her adam’s apple was. “And I stopped being able to sing.”

“It…” He suddenly realized what it was.

Jinu knew he was giving away far too much information. But he was so curious and so intrigued by the situation that he threw the mission out of mind – it definitely wasn’t going to happen today anyway – and took Rumi’s wrist and pulled her towards a bench in front of a large tank filled with big, mud-colored fish. He sat her down on one side, still clutching her wrist, and said, “Rumi, it sounds like you’re about to be condemned to the demon realm.”

She gulped. “That’s possible?”

“I didn’t think it still was… maybe the honmoon is the only reason you haven’t been dragged down yet.” His mind was racing, trying to figure out where she was.

“Dragged down?” Her eyes were going wide.

“Yes. Patterns are harmless. But the shame will steal your soul from you. Gwi-ma is nearly powerless now, otherwise he might have already pulled you down with the voices in your head. If what you’re saying is true, and you can’t sing, then you wouldn’t normally have much time left.”

Rumi covered her face with both hands. “What can I do?”

Jinu laughed. Hell if he knew. He'd finished the process. “I… don’t know, Rumi. You might not be a demon now, but any more shame, and you’ll become one officially.”

The cracks under her cuffs lit pink. Underneath her chin, more flashed. It was beautiful for a moment, which made him pause, but then Jinu came to his senses and leaped away from her.

Too late.

His patterns shimmered into view over his skin in a dizzying array of pink and purple. Rumi squeaked and fell off the bench in a moment of chaotic surprise. “You – you have patterns?” she exclaimed. “You-“

The honmoon reacted shimmery gold under her hand and Jinu braced for her weapon to be withdrawn, but none came. She scratched at the surface of the honmoon to no avail while she continued staring at him. “You can’t access the honmoon anymore?” he asked.

“I… of course I can. I’m just choosing not to.”

Jinu laughed. “If you can’t access the honmoon, that doesn’t say good things about your current state.”

Rumi deflated and nodded. “You’re a demon,” she said to herself. “I suppose you’d know.”

She could definitely still fight him without a weapon. And Jinu wasn’t keen for a black eye at the moment. But he sensed the fight or flight instinct had fled from her, so he stepped back and offered her a hand up. Her patterns were still pink and his flared into visibility again as he neared her. He felt them all over his face. All over his hands.

Rumi let him take her hand and help her back onto the bench. She was probably so weak she might have needed the help anyway.

“You knew coming in today that I’m a demon hunter,” she said as soon as she was sat again. “Why did you come today?”

It suddenly became hard to meet her eyes. “Probably the same reason you would have showed up if you’d known I was a demon.”

She exhaled. “Oh.”

Jinu examined the black-painted floors, noting the scraps of paper and other trash that had been kicked into the corners. The blue light from the tank shifted in intensity whenever fish swam in front of the glass.

“The other Saja Boys are demons too, aren’t they?” Rumi asked.

He exhaled. Explaining this to his team – that he hadn’t killed Huntr/x because only one had shown up and it turned out she wasn’t a demon who’d betrayed her kind and also he’d let her walk free with their secret – was not going to be fun.

“Yes,” he admitted. “We were sent by Gwi-ma to weaken the honmoon. But we weren’t successful enough. You were too good at your job.”

“And do you still work for Gwi-ma?” Her voice was clipped – if he answered yes, her response wouldn’t be good.

“No one has heard from Gwi-ma in quite some time,” Jinu admitted. “Everyone is starving in the demon realm. We can’t die from starvation the way you mortals can, but we waste away until our essence becomes so weak we lose consciousness.”

“You don’t look like you’re starving,” Rumi said. “But you didn’t jump on the chance to steal my soul before I knew what you were.”

“I considered it multiple times,” Jinu scoffed. “Give me a little credit, hunter. But no, I eat human food. The demons in the demon world have neither, and so they starve.”

“Human food? That’s an option?”

“Yes, and one you could stand to learn yourself.” Jinu gave her a pointed look.

Rumi glared. “I eat plenty, thanks.”

“You look like you’re about to blow away. I can count your ribs.”

“I’m perfectly healthy!”

“Have you already forgotten how we met yesterday?” Jinu demanded. Then, before she could argue, he asked, “What are you going to tell the Huntr/x?”

Rumi wrapped her arms around herself and sank back into the bench. “I don’t know. We thought it was your manager. But… he must be your summoner, right?”

“Right.”

“I don’t understand how this summoning works…” Rumi rubbed her forehead. “Because… we’re not trained to kill humans. Even really bad humans. And, well, you’re not hurting anyone, are you?”

Jinu gave her a look. “No, our summoning we’re here on is very strict. But do you really think I’d tell you, if we were?”

“Summoning you’re here on?” Rumi echoed.

“Let me ask you this, hunter.”

“I do have a name. It’s Rumi.”

He wrinkled his nose. “If I let you walk away today, the next time we see each other, will you kill us?”

The pause he received wasn’t promising, but eventually, she nodded.

“Maybe we can work out a deal,” Jinu suggested. “The Saja Boys want to stop doing this. We want to walk free. Not to feast on souls, but just for freedom’s sake. We can provide you with information on demons, summonings, and Gwi-ma. In exchange, you look the other way when we steal his soul – just his – and then let us walk free to have our lives back.”

“How do I know you won’t go back on your word?” Rumi asked. Her voice had gone hard and clipped again.

Jinu debated telling her that in order for this to work, she’d need to summon the Saja Boys from the demon realm – somewhat ironic for a hunter. It’d need to be at a time they weren’t booked for anything. Probably at night, when Gyeom was asleep. And after being summoned, they’d be bound by the terms of the summoning. Unable to go back on their word.

“I guess you’ll have to trust me,” he said.

Chapter Text

Zoey and Mira were in full relaxation mode when Rumi came into the apartment, still a little stunned. Zoey peeked over the couch. There was the sound of water sopping. Her hair was up in a towel. “You’re back!” She exclaimed. “How did it go?”

Rumi removed her shoes by the door and almost made to remove her hoodie before she remembered that would be a bad idea. She was so overwhelmed by everything that she didn’t even know what half of it Zoey and Mira already knew. “It…” she deflated. “We need to talk.”

“Yeah we do,” Mira muttered, out of sight, from the couch.

The two of them had set up home base with a mountain of snacks between the two of them, iced drinks in easy reach with curly straws, and their feet set in two jet-powered foot spas with steaming water in them. Zoey’s was vibrating. The buzzing tickled Rumi’s bare feet as she came to sit beside them. It must have some sort of massage function.

On the TV, a movie was playing. Rumi could tell it was a kdrama on sight. Whether Mira or Zoey had picked it was beyond her, but Zoey quickly fumbled the remote as Rumi stepped over her foot spa and began to examine the mountain of snacks between them. Mira just glowered at the glass walls.

“So…” Zoey said, casting the remote nearly into her drink before scooping it up and sipping. “We need to talk?”

Rumi picked out a kimbap and smelled it carefully. Mira watched her out of the corner of her eyes. “You’re going to eat that?” she asked.

“I’ll try,” Rumi replied. “Jinu said I look like I’m about to blow away.” She set it down on her knee for now. “So… the manager isn’t the demon.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Zoey said.

“But there is a demon?” Mira asked.

Rumi nodded and swallowed. “The… the Saja Boys. They’re all demons. Jinu has patterns.”

There was a small explosion from Zoey. She snorted her drink up her nose, then began to choke it into a free hand. She knocked the rest of it over Rumi’s hoodie in her haste to set it onto the coffee table and then jumped up to run for the kitchen sink, gagging. Her bare feet slapped on the floor, spraying water droplets and leaving puddles as she went to hack up everything into the sink. As soon as her airway was clear, she wailed, “No….” into the abyss.

Mira’s mouth had dropped to hit her chest. All the color left her face. “What?” she demanded. Her voice echoed off the walls.

“They started their career to weaken the honmoon. Do Gyeom summoned them back for profit.” Rumi touched her hair, then remembered the patterns peeking on her hands, and stuffed them into her hoodie. “Jinu didn’t try to hurt me! I mean, he would have, if you had been there… which I also need to apologize for.” She exhaled. “I liked him, and I think that caused me to forget that he thought he was talking to three of us. Not just me. And… you should have come with me today. Maybe it’s better that you didn’t, because he admitted he was thinking of jumping us and then switched plans when he realized it was just me. But… I played this thing up in my head and shut the two of you out… and when I realized he was expecting all of us, I realized how stupid I’d been. I’m sorry. Can you please forgive me?”

“I’m not even thinking about that anymore,” Mira replied. “The Saja Boys are all demons?”

“Right!” Rumi nodded. “And… Jinu was wondering if we could strike a deal. They want out of the Idol industry.”

Zoey returned with a red face and napkins for Rumi to dab up the rest of the drink. Rumi dabbed most of it, but was mostly focused on explaining everything. “He’s willing to teach us about summonings, demons, and Gwi-ma in exchange for… us letting them kill their manager and walk free.”

“No!” Mira announced. “Hell no! Rumi, I swear against everything in this world that if you told him yes-“

“-I told him I’d ask,” Rumi blurted out. “I said… I’d ask you.” She squirmed. “But… I do think… it’s an idea.”

Mira deflated with a finger in the air. She looked to Zoey.

Zoey’s lower lip was trembling as she picked at the drink stains on her white robe. “We can’t let them kill someone,” she whispered. “Can we?”

“My understanding is that he’s nasty,” Rumi muttered. “But… I’m not very comfortable with it either.”

Zoey shook her head and then looked to Mira. “I… I can’t make that decision,” she whispered. “It’s someone else’s life we’re talking about. I can’t live with that on my hands.”

Mira nodded, looking back to Rumi, who deflated, but nodded. “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll tell him we can’t look the other way. But there’s also no way the Huntr/x label can buy the Saja Boy’s contract… if that was what we were hoping. And… I don’t want to kill them if they’re not hurting anyone.”

“How do you know they’re not hurting anyone?” Mira demanded.

“Jinu says they eat human food and the summoning keeps them from stealing souls.”

Mira scoffed to herself and shrunk into the couch, but didn’t protest. Rumi twiddled her thumbs, then said, “Like I said, you definitely should have been there for this conversation. I really am sorry. I’ll put Jinu’s number in a group chat… right now.” She pulled out her phone with shaking hands and found the texting app. “Here… he’s, um… there.”

Mira and Zoey’s phones buzzed from their pockets. Biting her lip, Rumi quickly jumped back to Jinu’s contact outside of the new group chat and texted, “Don’t mention my patterns to Zoey or Mira.”

He couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He won’t. She’d die of shame if he did.

Shame. That word meant something different now.

“We… didn’t talk about much else,” she admitted. “Jinu and I. He… complimented us. Said we were good at our jobs. But to be honest, I think he and the Saja Boys resent us for turning the honmoon gold. He seemed-“

Their phones all buzzed at the same time and Rumi seized hers in a blind panic. She could only imagine his first text would be demonic and he’d revealed her secret without a second thought and-

Jinu(Saja Boys) added 10-3928-6745

Jinu(Saja Boys) added 10-5173-2980

Jinu(Saja Boys) added 10-8249-1567

Jinu(Saja Boys) added 10-6431-7820

Rumi exhaled. She was still safe.

Her phone buzzed alone and a notification from him appeared at the top of her screen. He’d replied back to her message with two words.

“Watch yourself.”

She swallowed. It was ominous, but a good point.

The group chat lit with activity. Names rolled in behind numbers.

Ah, thanks Jinu, for remembering you’re part of a team. Ladies, this is Romance.

This is Baby Saja. Hunters, what are your names, again?

Mystery.

Zoey made a soft squeak. “I finally got Mystery’s number,” she whispered, then set her phone face down. “And… he’s a demon.”

“Are you still interested in him?” Rumi asked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Don’t we have to kill them?”

“They’re too high profile,” Rumi said. “And… I don’t want to, so long as they aren’t hurting anyone. They do seem really nice.”

“Demons are never nice,” Mira reminded them.

Zoey seemed more inclined to side with Rumi. “It’s a lot to take in. I don’t know how I’m feeling right now. What about you and Jinu?”

Rumi’s cheeks heat up. “I’m not interested in him anymore. I think he’s similarly disinterested because I’m a hunter.”

Her phone buzzed with the last Saja Boys message. She looked down and her blush grew infinitely worse.

Hello to Jinu’s girlfriend and Jinu’s girlfriend’s girlfriends. This is Abby. ;)

Mira snorted. “I don’t know what that’s about!” Rumi stammered. “I didn’t… he and I…”

“They’re just teasing,” Mira said. “But I wouldn’t be shocked if Jinu does reveal a crush on you later on. Most friends don’t tease without substance.” She turned her phone off and covered her eyes with a hand. “I can’t believe… all this time!”

“What are we gonna do?” Zoey whispered.

Mira shoved her feet back into her foot spa. “We’re going to worry about it tomorrow,” she muttered. “Sleep on it and regroup.”

Rumi smiled. “Good plan,” she said, then hesitated. “Can I… join you both?”

Zoey perked up in surprise. Mira opened her eyes again. “You’re going to need to put your ankles on display,” Mira said. “Think you can handle it?”

“You’re totally welcome, Rumi! There’s plenty of couch for us all – come on, we’re not too far into our movie!”

“Let me get my pajamas on,” Rumi said, scooting back around Zoey’s foot spa. “I’ll be right back.”

She disappeared into her bedroom, shut the door, and pulled her hoodie over her head to see how bad the patterns were. With the new ones on her palms, maybe fingerless gloves would be – wait.

Rumi turned her hand from front to back, first the right and then the left. The patterns had receded up her wrists. They weren’t on her hands anymore.

How? Where had they gone?

Jinu had said they were from today – because she’d lied to her friends about meeting him. But she’d fixed it. That shame was gone now.

She yanked the neck of her turtleneck down and sprinted to her mirror. The patterns around her neck were still in place, like dark purple bruises. But suddenly, Rumi had hope.

She yanked her phone out and texted Jinu, ignoring his message about “ignore Abby, he’s irritated I let you live”.

I need to see you again as soon as possible.

Bonus scene:

Jinu didn’t have the energy for the meet and greet, so he snuck back in and stayed in the breakroom near the water machine and headphones turned up to head-splitting volumes as he waited for everyone else to call a break. He put Golden on repeat and listened to it about fifty times. Rumi’s second verse was screwing with his brain. Put the patterns in the past… he’d always thought that had meant to move on from demon hunting. No, she had been talking about her own patterns.

Around lunch, the door opened and Baby appeared, only to stop in his tracks to glare at Jinu. Romance, Abby, and Mystery all bumped into him, then craned around him to see what had him stalled. Their faces all darkened.

“Tell me you didn’t mess up,” Romance said.

Mystery kicked the door closed while the other three circled him. “They got away?” Baby asked.

Jinu sighed and removed an earbud. Golden paused in the other ear. He twirled it in his fingertips. “They didn’t all show. It was just one of them.”

“Which one?”

Jinu scowled. “You know which one.”

They all pulled up chairs with various expressions of dejection, frustration, and caution. “Well, you obviously didn’t do the job, or you wouldn’t be hiding out in here,” Abby pointed out. “So you let her go. Did you learn anything?”

“A lot.” Jinu took his other earbud out. He drummed his fingers. “Rumi is not a full demon. Her mom was human.”

Romance and Abby’s jaws dropped. “That’s possible?” Baby asked.

Jinu snorted. “Apparently. And she thought Gyeom was the demon they showed up to the bathhouse in pursuit of. Rumi… sounds like she’s about to be condemned. She can’t sing. Can’t access the honmoon. Patterns down to her palms.”

“A Hunter, condemned?” Abby chuckled. “I’d love to be there when she is. She’s going to be eaten alive.”

“And they’re absolutely clueless about demons and demon markings,” Jinu finished. “She had no idea that the patterns were linked to shame. Or that they can be read. The basics.”

“Had?” Romance narrowed his eyes. “So she knows now? You gave that information away for free?”

Their stunned silence turned into four menacing glares. Jinu could only see one of Mystery’s molten eyes around his haircut, but it’s all he really needed to see.

Jinu sighed. “Uh… yeah, she knows now. And, well, I bet you’ve already guessed… our identities are blown. Her patterns flared up and mine reacted. But she couldn’t get into the honmoon to do anything. And she said that the next time she sees us, she won’t be trying to kill us unless we’re stealing souls.”

Romance covered his face with both hands. Baby banged his head on the table. “Jinu!” he hissed. “You had One Job. How could you have messed up this badly?”

“We all knew it was a steep order,” Jinu snapped. “One versus three was the original plan.”

“You couldn’t even take her out one-v-one and she’s the weak link!” Abby complained.

“I know!” Jinu shouted, then took a breath. “But I have a plan. Or, most of a plan.” His phone buzzed on the table. He glanced at it.

Bnog added you and two others to a group chat.

“There’s a group chat now,” Jinu muttered. “Standby.” Rumi sent another message, but he didn’t have time to read it before he’d finished adding everyone. Then, he smiled. “The other two girls don’t know that Rumi has the patterns.”

“Huh,” Romance hummed. “How’d she keep that from them?”

“She dresses like a nun, that’s how,” Abby scowled.

Jinu watched the introductions flood the chat. Here’s what I’m thinking…” he began, then scowled at Abby’s message. “The hell did you say that for?”

Abby set his phone down nonchalantly. “It’s just strange,” he said, “That you let a hunter who couldn’t access the honmoon go. And you know, it’s a lot harder to kill someone after you’ve let them go once.”

“If I had killed her, we’d still be bound to Gyeom,” Jinu replied. “I let her go with a deal proposal. My thinking is… what if we get the demon hunters to summon us so we can kill Gyeom, and then we’re free to get them?”

They thought about that. Abby traced a canine with his tongue and finally smiled. “Diabolical,” he said.

“I can get behind it,” Romance agreed.

“Sold,” Mystery muttered.

Baby sighed, shaking his head. “Okay. We’re in. What exactly did you tell her?”

Chapter Text

“Attention Huntr/x!” Zoey announced across the apartment from the elevator. “I have a very important update on the new album and I want to share it with you right now…!” Her voice trailed off into a sing-songy note that made Rumi smile. Even though they’d sang for five years together, it was clear Mira and Zoey had put a lot of work into their voices in the two years Rumi had been away.

She peeled herself off her bed, where she’d been doom-scrolling and checking her texts to Jinu every five minutes – he still hadn’t replied to her request to meet – and headed into the living room.

Zoey had pulled a whiteboard from the studio and was busy on the not-visible side, attaching magnets and sparkly pieces of paper with a bright smile. When Rumi neared, she shooed her enthusiastically to the couch. “Gaja, gaja,” she said, and put the finishing touches on something on the other side.

Mira was in dance clothes when she opened the door to her room. Wet patches were under her arms and in several spots on her shirt that almost looked like-

“Do you have abs?” Rumi asked.

Mira wiped her brow with a triumphant smirk. “I do!” she confirmed, and pulled her shirt up. “Took, like, six months of crunches, and they’re hell to keep up with snacking, but I do!”

“Mira, sit down!” Zoey demanded.

Mira hopped over the couch and melted into the velvet. “Okay, Zoey, what’ve you got?”

Zoey flipped the board over. “Ta-da!” Then, she panicked. “Wait – that makes it upside down. Um…” She turned the board around quickly, stubbing her toe on a wheel in the process, and then flipped it again. “Ta-da!”

In bright pink, sparkly letters was the word “Comeback” across the top. A shaky tracklist had been assembled with 9 slots and only three potential songs filled in. Pink hibiscus flowers were taped onto the board, and doodles of potential album covers that Zoey had drawn. Themes were spread across the remaining space in the board. Revival… strength… learning…

“I finished what I think could be the first single on the new album,” Zoey announced. “And I love it so much that I think it could be the whole album name. I’m calling it “Comeback”. Because, y’know, it’s our comeback!”

“We’ve never had a pink album,” Rumi thought aloud. “But I like it.”

“I mean… you both know I love the pink, but this does remind me of a Saja Boys album color,” Mira said. “You know the one, Zoey?”

“Yeah, but their color is more bubblegum. This is mugunghwa.” Zoey peeled one of the flowers off the board. “It’s Korea’s national flower. Symbolizing endurance, resilience, and an eternal nature.”

“I do like that,” Rumi admitted.

“That’s cool,” Mira nodded.

“Mugunghwa means inexhaustible abundance,” Zoey continued. “I mention them in the song. By the way – lyrics!” She passed them both a pink piece of paper with black words on it.

Mira sniffed hers. “Did you scent these?”

Zoey flung her hands at the board. “It’s the aesthetic, Mira!”

Rumi skimmed the words. “Welcome to our comeback. Back from the grave, back in the day, back to where we first started. This is our comeback, back into town, back being loud, back together again. 돌아왔어 – like the sun, like the gun, like the hush of morning thunder.”

“Wrote a thousand letters to the me I left behind,” Mira muttered. “That’s excellent, Zoey.”

“Thanks!” Zoey preened and rolled on the balls of her feet.

“Every ember calls our name…” Rumi muttered. “This is really good. I have to ask, though… Is this song about mostly you?”

Zoey faltered. “It… I mean, I included a lot of me in there.”

“I’m with Rumi on that question,” Mira asked. “I love the song. You did incredible – as usual. I see a lot fo things in here I know you did and tried. It doesn’t feel like a group song at the moment. Are you wanting us to sing this with you?”

“Well, yeah. I was thinking Mira could do the intro, and the first verse, and I kind thought Rumi could do the second… are you okay with that?”

“I just don’t want to barge in on a song that’s about you,” Rumi explained.

“I want it to be us.” Zoey sat down beside them and extended pens. “Let’s change it then! How can we make it about us?”

For a moment, Rumi doodled. Then Mira cleared her throat. “Here’s a few things… I think we should make the chorus a tad longer.”

“I was thinking that too,” Rumi said. “How about, “Like we never left, like we had it best, back from the brink of starvation?”

Zoey snorted. “I like it, but the fans are going to continue to think you’re anorexic.”

“But it’s good,” Mira said. “I like the part about it being like we never left.”

They all exchanged glances, smiling, and then Rumi’s phone buzzed against her leg, She jumped and checked it, but it was just Bobby, checking in on her. Zoey elbowed her. “Anxious?”

“I…” Rumi bit her tongue. “No. I was just wondering if the Saja Boys had texted.” The group chat had been awkwardly dead since introductions.

“They’re probably doing promo for their new single. It dropped this morning,” Mira said.

“Oh. Gotcha.” That explained the radio silence from Jinu.

Zoey plucked the lyrics out of Rumi’s hands and began fiddling with them.  She covered most of them with a flower and then took a picture. Moments later, Rumi’s phone buzzed. She picked it up and then sat straight up. “Zoey, did you just send them that?”

“I thought it’d be funny,” Zoey replied.

“You sent them our lyrics?”

“Yeah, the ones about demons in the rap-“

Mira and Rumi arched over Rumi’s phone together, jaws swinging as they skimmed the lyrics, “Demons on a leash, I taught them all to beg. Lessons in the ledger, pain’s a private pledge.”

She’d accompanied the photo “New lyrics, what do y’all think?”

“Zoey, unsend it!” Rumi yelped. “Before they see-“

“Abby’s typing,” Mira announced with a wicked grin.

Rumi dropped the phone and covered her face. Forget shame. She was going to die of embarrassment.

“Ha! He says, You girls into that stuff? Zoey, can you grab my phone?”

“Where is it?”

“In my bedroom plugged in.”

“You go get it.”

“I can’t, I’m writing this message.”

“On my phone?” Rumi yelped. She reached for the phone desperately, but Mira was already hitting send.

“I signed it me, don’t worry.”

Rumi shrieked. Mira had written, I wasn’t thinking about it until you suggested it, but it’s clearly on someone’s mind. ~Mira.

Three of the Saja Boys laughed at the response. They all began typing. At the top of the screen, a message from Jinu appeared. “I can meet tonight after…”

Rumi’s face heat up. Mira brought the phone closer to her face. “You’re… still meeting Jinu?” she asked.

“Erm…”

“Mira! Phone!”

Zoey pitched Mira’s phone across the room and Mira jumped off the couch to catch it with a whoop. She immediately tossed Rumi’s into her lap and then began texting on her own with a wide smile. “Oh my gosh, they’re actually funny!” she exclaimed.

“Wait.” Rumi got to her feet. “You… don’t care if I meet Jinu?”

“You’re meeting Jinu?” Zoey looked surprised.

Mira shrugged. “Would it matter if I did care? You’re going to anyway.”

“Even though he’s a demon?”

“Well, don’t be stupid about it, obviously,” Mira said, still punching away on her phone. “Use the honmoon. Tell us when you go out so we don’t panic. Keep following the doctor’s instructions.”

Rumi looked back down at her phone. The group chat was blowing up with memes and jokes. Even Jinu was joining in, putting barf stickers on some of the more obscene jokes and rolling eyes on others. “@Jinu, Killjoy,” Mystery told him.

Baby: @Jinu we’ve been working for two years straight let us have a joke, you old fart

Jinu: You’re older than us all!

Romance: Respect your elders.

Jinu: This was supposed to be a business chat…

Abby: This is the best kind of business.

Everyone – even Mira and Zoey, thumbed that message up.

Mira: @Abby drop your workout routine pls?

Mira: And y’alls haircare routines, while we’re at it.

Baby: Secrets like that don’t come cheap, hunter. Have you thought about our proposal?

Mira: Not ready to make that deal yet. I’ll trade a dance routine for it?

Romance: I already sold my soul for dance steps once.

Rumi thumbed away from the chat and looked at Jinu’s message. “I can meet tonight after an interview. It’d be late though. Also, you have to summon me.”

I can’t summon you. It’d set off a warning through the honmoon and Mira and Zoey would come running.

You must not want to speak badly enough, then.

Give me some options.

When we’re not at work, we’re put back into the demon realm to keep us from getting into trouble. I already left my group fending for themselves yesterday. It’s not like I can get through the honmoon myself. Someone made that impossible…

Rumi grit her teeth. What does a summoning entail?

Jinu’s message seemed to take years to come through. When it did, it was an image of a very elaborate circle, with symbols on the perimeter, angles, and such. For a larger group, he wrote. Then, a simpler one, with only a few markings on the perimeter. For one demon.

The circles were sinister to look at and made her feel like she was full of sticky tar just looking at them. The air felt colder. She felt weaker.

Alternatively, you may be able to summon me by name alone if you’re ever visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Her brow furrowed. Odd place. But fair enough. Let’s meet there tonight.

I’ll send a guide to show you to the best place.

Chapter Text

Abby: Hot Take: Golden is not a bad song.

Romance: Banger

Mystery: True

Zoey: aw, you listen to our music? so cute.

Abby: Wrong group chat.

Romance, Mystery, Jinu, Baby, and Zoey laughed at a message.

Mira thumbed down a message.

Romance: Your done-done-done song is bad tho. Definitely a career misstep.

Our debut song that hasn’t left charts seven years later? Yeah, keep dreaming. :Rumi

Where’s Soda Pop on the charts again? I can’t find it. :Rumi

Jinu: You must need to get both your eyes and your diet checked. It’s charting five spots above your done-done-done track.

Romance: Your song is only charting because you danced to it on Wednesday anyway

Zoey: Do you even know what it’s called?

Zoey: Also, Soda Pop’s not a bad track either! It’s very catchy.

Abby: Naw, it’s bad.

Abby: Your done track. Is bad.

Jinu, Mystery, Romance, and Baby thumbed-up a message.

Rumi, Mira, and Zoey thumbed-down a message.

Mira: Wow. I can’t believe a group of demons doesn’t like a song about… *checks notes* killing demons.

Jinu: On that note, have you figured out what Soda Pop is about?

Zoey: wait

Zoey: nnoooo

Mira: Welp. Scrubbing that from my workout tracks. Be prepared to lose half your monthly streams.

Zoey: whyyy did you tell us?

I haven’t heard that song in two years. Let me go catch up. :Rumi

Zoey: rumi you’re ancient on pop culture

Mystery: Baby’s like 1000 years old and he’s more in the loop than you are

Shut up it’s only two years :Rumi

Mira: ONLY

Jinu: Where did they lock you up that you couldn’t listen to music?

Jinu: Do you even know any of our songs?

Zoey: don’t worry - we’ll fix this.

Zoey: rumi! kitchen!

Zoey. We’re in the same apartment. My door is open. I can hear you. :Rumi

Zoey: then why are you texting, weirdo. get in here.

Jinu, Romance, Abby, Mystery, Baby, and Mira laughed at a message.

Their songwriting session went late. Rumi was enjoying it, but kept glancing at the clock, cautious that she’d miss the moment she needed to call it quits and run late.

She was slowly learning though, that it was tough to get anything past Mira.

“What time are you meeting Jinu?” Mira asked when Rumi glanced over at them, both bent over their notepads, for the fifth time to check that they weren’t watching her.

Rumi jumped. “Erm…”

“It must be soon, because you haven’t written anything down in three minutes.” Mira blew on her pen ink, then raised an eyebrow at Rumi.

“The Saja Boys interview is scheduled to end at nine,” Rumi admitted, deflating. “I’m just not sure… because demons can teleport…”

“Where are you meeting him?”

“Er, Geunjeongjeon.”

Mira and Zoey both put down their pens and squinted at the clock. “Eh. It’s like a 12 minute drive,” Mira muttered. “Do you want Bobby to take you? He’s just downstairs.”

“Isn’t the palace closed already?” Zoey asked.

“Nothing’s closed if you don’t get caught,” Mira replied. “This isn’t an overnight meeting, right?”

“No!” Rumi’s cheeks burned and she held her hands up in defense. “No, absolutely not. Like… fifteen minutes max.”

“Fifteen minutes?” Mira wrinkled her nose. “You might as well just text. Why is this in person?”

“Just… because…” Rumi said, uncertainly. She supposed it could be done over a facetime… could a video call work from the demon realm? Did demons have cell service? But she took a deep breath. “Just… an unresolved topic from yesterday’s conversation. It’s more fitting in person. That’s all.”

“Well, if it’s only going to be a fifteen minute conversation, you might as well have Bobby drive you,” Mira said. “You’re already driving for more time than you’re spending there.”

“I’ll text him and ask,” Zoey chirped. “He’s probably just on social media anyway.”

Bobby was the best sport. He came up to the apartment, made the rounds with hugs, and then escorted Rumi down to his car. Meanwhile, he filled her in on the response to their show on Wednesday - most outlets had agreed that Huntr/x had shone, seemed united, and full of energy. They also agreed that Rumi looked half her original weight.

“But they’re just blaming the industry, not you,” Bobby explained. “The world’s gotten a lot more aware and fans are still protective of you.”

“How’s engagement?”

“Um, low. Comparable to your debut numbers. But it’s there!”

Rumi groaned and covered her face. “Hey!” Bobby exclaimed. “Don’t feel bad. No one is asking you to feel bad!”

“But it’s my fault!”

“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is,” Bobby said. “The potential is there, you girls are excellent performers, and it’s going to be okay. Just… take what you learned from the experience, and let’s move on together. Up and over.”

The car stuttered to a stop outside the locked gates of the palace. Bobby frowned as the map stopped giving them directions. “Um, here?” he asked.

“Yeah. This is the place. I’ll just be about fifteen minutes… maybe less.” Rumi checked her phone battery and put her hand on the handle.

Bobby grabbed her arm before she could get out of the car. “Rumi,” he said, deadly serious, “This is not a drug deal, right?”

“No,” Rumi assured him. “I’m meeting a friend for a quick face-to-face chat. I promise.”

Bobby released her. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll just be doing manager stuff. Call if you need me.”

Rumi hopped out of the car and headed down the sidewalk. She turned into the first shadowed area she could find to be out of Bobby’s sight, then quietly hopped the stone wall and landed on the grass on the other side.

The Gyeongbokgung palace loomed quietly in the darkness. Rumi had been dropped near the gate – which was half-illuminated by the distant glow of streetlights. Beyond the fence, the ground was mostly sand, with small trees and shrubs spread around a small… creek? River? She couldn’t tell.

The palace itself was beautiful. Green breams in the roof and red painted walls. The traditional slope of the roof… but it was certainly an odd place for a meeting.

Why was this place special? What made it so that she didn’t need to draw a demon circle here?

“Jinu?” she whispered uncertainly. “Are you here?”

She heard a chirp and nearly leaped out of her skin. But it was just a bird that had landed on the wall. Rumi squinted… maybe it was just an odd shadow… no, the bird wore a tiny hat.

What?

It stretched, and two additional eyeballs opened underneath the one that had been visible to her. Spider-bird? It flapped its wings and then flew over her head, towards the sparse trees. Something in them moved, and Rumi stiffened to see a larger-than-life bright blue tiger, whose face seemed to permanently be stuck in a derpy grin. The bird had landed atop its head.

Some gardeners had left a pail of tools out and that was the only thing in between the tiger and Rumi. She backed up, preparing to leap the wall again if she had to, but then the tiger bumped the pail with its paw and looked down in… concern?

It pressed its paw against the side of the pail in an attempt to right it, but the pail rolled away, spilling a trowel and a rake. The poor thing continued, and Rumi finally cracked a smile. She headed forward, picked up the pail, and when the tiger seemed concerned about the rake and trowel, she replaced those too. Satisfied, it turned its smile on her. “Are you the guide Jinu was planning on sending?” she asked.

It opened its mouth and a slobbery letter plopped onto the ground.

She winced as she picked it up and read the inscription. “Greetings.” And when she opened it up, it confirmed her suspicions. “Follow the tiger.”

When she looked back up, the tiger was already wandering away.

It led her to a window that had been left open in the palace. Rumi was a little hesitant to go in – she didn’t need the publicity of breaking into a national landmark. Plus, Bobby was waiting for her. She paused to send him a message – “I’m having a little trouble finding my friend” – and then carefully slipped in.

Inside, dark brown parquet creaked under her floors. Tiny electric lamps lit the hallway. Rumi pulled her hood over her head, kicking herself for not doing that sooner, and spotted the tiger as it rounded a corner.

She ran after it, keeping her feet close to the walls and thus making her footsteps mostly silent. When she rounded the corner, she smacked into the poor thing. It had moved to block most of the hallway and she’d run headlong into its hip. It didn’t seem to mind, but it did step carefully in front of her, as if it didn’t want her to move.

Up ahead, the wall was bubbling. A gwishan melted through it moments later. It was a man wearing a crimson robe with broad sleeves. A dragon was embroidered in a circle on his chest, with more embroidery on his shoulders. He wore a black ikseongwan and seemed comparatively serene to the wailing gwishan Rumi had seen outside the bathhouse. In his arms, he carried scrolls and books, which seemed fairly solid.

He looked familiar.

He also stopped to peer at her. “위대한 사냥꾼,” he called. “I mean you no harm. Enjoy your visit to my earthly home.”

Rumi stammered, then said, “Who are you?”

He inclined his head with a smile. “I am Yi Do, but you may know me as Sejong.”

“Ah… ah…” Rumi knelt down, cheeks burning, and averted her eyes. Of course he looked familiar. He was the greatest king in Korean history. He’d invented the Korean alphabet. And he seemed, even now, to be pursuing knowledge and science.

The tiger moved and she dared another glance up. Sejong had disappeared, and the tiger was lumbering down the halls.

Finally, it led her into a courtyard with an open roof and turned about, as if to check she was there. She looked around, but didn’t see anything. “Here?” she asked it.

A blue circle appeared around it in the ground and the tiger began to sink out of sight. The bird chirped as it disappeared.

Rumi rubbed her hands and looked around the courtyard again. Nothing but four white walls and the entrance she’d come in. The slanted black tiles of the roof. “Jinu?” she called softly. “Are you here?”

“I am now.”

She jumped and spun and found him leaning in a corner, dressed much more casually than she’d seen him before. He gazed up at the moon but kept to the shadows. He wore a black coat over a grey hoodie and jeans. When he glanced over at her, his eyes were a smoldering gold. “I’m glad this worked. I’ve never tried it before.”

“The… palace lets you through the honmoon?” Rumi asked cautiously.

“Sort of.” Jinu held up a hand and Rumi watched the human flesh contort into a claw. She’d known he was a demon and it shouldn’t really shock her, but she hadn’t seen him look so… not human yet.

In a flash, he leaped at her. Rumi jumped, but he slashed with a hand. She expected contact with her arm, but he simply faded through her, like a mirage. She skidded in the dirt, keeping her balance, but gasping as she grabbed her arm. He examined his hand again.

“As I suspected,” he muttered. “I can’t interact with this world like this.” His hand returned to the way she knew it – a human’s hand.

Rumi caught her breath. He hadn’t been trying to hurt her. Just scare her.

“How?” She asked.

“Um… not going to tell,” Jinu replied. “My band’s already mad I told you as much as I did.” She put his hands into his pockets and strolled around in the dirt. “So. Do your bandmates know you’re here, this time?”

“Yes,” Rumi said. “My manager’s waiting for me in the car.”

“I guess I don’t need to ask if Huntr/x has decided to help us out,” Jinu chuckled. “Otherwise… we wouldn’t be meeting here.”

“We’re uncomfortable… letting you kill someone. We don’t feel it’s our decision to make.”

“You know what a horrible person he is?” Jinu asked. His eyes flashed more gold. “It’s not only us he’s controlling. We’re just the ones who can’t leave. He plans to work us until the day he dies. We haven’t had a break in two years.”

Rumi remembered seeing that in the chat. She said nothing.

But her silence made Jinu scoff. “Of course you don’t care about what demons feel.”

“Feel?” Rumi demanded. “Demons don’t feel anything.”

Jinu stopped walking and stared at her. “Is that what you think?” he demanded. When she didn’t reply, he shook his head. “You are the greatest demon hunters to exist, and you still know nothing about us,” he mused. “I guess you don’t need to know about demons to seal the honmoon, though.”

He returned to his place against the wall, leaning on it. “What did you need to see me for, then?”

“My patterns,” Rumi said, pulling up her sleeves and walking closer. “Yesterday, they came down to my wrists. You told me that it was shame because I wasn’t clear with my friends on meeting you. I told them, and the patterns retreated.”

Jinu made to take her wrist to examine them closer, but his hand melted through her. He grumbled and leaned down to squint in the low light. “How?” he muttered.

“The shame is gone,” Rumi explained. “So I need you to tell me-“ She pulled the turtleneck down on her neck to show him the patterns there, “-what these are?”

Jinu didn’t even glance down. “And why would I do that,” he asked. “When you aren’t going to help us?”

Rumi let the turtleneck fall back into place. He made an excellent point. She sighed.

“What’ll it be, hunter?”

Mira and Zoey would be furious if she agreed to help him without their permission. But they had lyrics now… Zoey would be wanting to record demo takes any day. Studio sessions were upcoming. And live performances and tours…

“Will you accept anything else?” Rumi asked.

Jinu laughed. “I don’t need anything you’re willing to offer.”

“Well, what do you need?”

“Freedom,” Jinu suggested. “Time. As long as Gyeom is alive, we’ll be slaves to him. You’re not willing to let one man die for five to go free?”

“It’s not the same.”

“Because we’re demons?” Jinu rolled his eyes. “Gwi-ma promised to erase my memories. When you sealed the honmoon, that ended up not happening. But you don’t have the power to do that.”

“What if,” Rumi began slowly, “I make a deal with just you, and I allow you to stay on this side of the honmoon… but I don’t promise to look the other way if you kill Gyeom. That way, you can be free…” She trailed off.

“No,” Jinu said. “I won’t make a deal that just gets myself out. My band comes with me, or no deal at all. Five, or none.”

They stood at odds with each other. Rumi’s mind was racing as she tried to figure out the best way to do this. If she summoned the other four, then Mira and Zoey would feel the shift. They wouldn’t need to come running to know what she’d done.

“Need to phone a friend?” Jinu asked. “Or no deal?”

Rumi wilted. “No deal yet,” she whispered.

Jinu nodded. He’d seen it coming. “Until next time,” he bid, and then disappeared in a poof of red dust.

Instead of going back through the corridors, Rumi vaulted herself up to the roof and started making her way back to Bobby. The palace was active for tonight. She saw several Gwishan as she passed by, but none noticed her and she didn’t have the strength to bother them. She didn’t recognize them, but they seemed to come from all different time periods. They didn’t seem to care much for each other either.

Bobby was anxiously awaiting her in the car. “You okay?” he asked. “How was your talk?”

Rumi buckled her seatbelt and sighed. “I… they’re good. Thanks for driving me out here.”

Bobby patted her arm. “You know, you can always tell me anything. Or Mira or Zoey. We’re all here for you.”

Rumi smiled. “Thanks, Bobby. You’re the best.”

Chapter Text

Voting for “The Cutest Maknae” has ended. Results:

Mystery – 0

Zoey – 8(Abby, Mira, Romance, Baby, Mystery, Jinu, Zoey, Rumi)

Abby: Justice for Mystery

Abby: Even though I didn’t vote for you either man

Mystery: I also did not vote for me

Mystery: I know when I’m beat

Romance: Is Zoey allowed to vote for herself? I feel like we should have excluded both of you.

Baby: She’d have won anyway. It’s literally unanimous.

Baby: It was the lower caps yesterday when she was sad that did it for me.

Zoey: Yay!

Zoey: I’m still bummed – you ruined the song!

You were singing it at breakfast today. :Rumi

Zoey: Yeah, but I felt guilty doing so.

Bobby took Rumi to the doctor early the next morning so they could gauge her progress back to normal food. Unfortunately, she didn’t entirely pass, and the doctor recommended she keep up Bobby’s two hour timer. But she did get cleared to regularly attempt more textures. Rice was on the list of things she could try to begin eating again.

Bobby spent the ride home trying to convince Rumi to see a therapist to figure out why she’d stopped eating in the first place. “This is both a psychological thing, and a physical thing,” he said. “It’s great that you’re eating again, but we need to figure out why you stopped eating in the first place. So it doesn’t happen again.”

Rumi brushed him off with vague assurances but was frustrated because she didn’t remember any decision to eat less. The doctor they visted kept asking about whether she liked her body shape, or if she felt the need to punish herself. But Rumi’s memory of the last two years was nearly blank. The only food-related thought she could remember having was not to eat the night before a surgery because of the anesthesia. (Whether or not she’d been eating regularly anyway was beyond her memory.)

Bobby gave up halfway through the ride and stayed quiet until they were nearly to Huntr/x tower. They passed a store Rumi, Mira, and Zoey had been photographed several times at, grabbing snacks, and he pointed to it. “Remember how many times you got caught there and then gave all your snacks away to fans before you made it home?” he asked, laughing. “Gosh, that are the only times I can remember you getting mad at your fans. When they were interrupting your snacking.”

Rumi finally laughed. She remembered Zoey and Mira and her, pouting in so many places because of that. On the couch, in different venues, even on a plane when that one group of demons had hijacked their private jet.

“When did you stop?” Bobby asked, neatly steering the conversation back where he wanted it.

Rumi drummed her fingers on her knee, feeling the texture of the fabric. It grounded her. And she tried to remember… when. But all that came to mind was the hollow ache of loneliness. “I don’t think I wanted to snack without Mira and Zoey,” she whispered. “So… when I left?”

It was so weird, sorting through the mush that was her memory. “I mean… Celine doesn’t buy snacks. And we didn’t really eat together. So…” Rumi trailed off. Celine had gotten used to living alone, when Rumi had left to be an Idol and seal the honmoon. She hadn’t exactly… reverted back.

Bobby opened the door to the garage under Huntr/x Tower and the conversation ended.

Mira and Zoey had been asleep when Bobby had dropped her off last night – which actually touched Rumi more than if they’d stayed up. They were trusting her to keep her word and come back. When she returned from the doctor, they were holed up in Mira’s room. It looked like they’d started writing lyrics, but ended up giggling and taking pictures together.

Zoey was leaning back with her phone extended at a 60 degree angle while she held a heart to her face. Mira was sticking out her tongue and keeping Zoey from falling off the bed. Rumi slid in and caused them both to shriek before Zoey took the photo.

“You’re back!” Mira exclaimed. She let go of Zoey, who tumbled to the floor with a thump.

“Ah! Hi Rumi! I hope we got that…”

“Let me see.”

They leaned in. Thankfully, Zoey had been taking a burst. There were two photos of Zoey and Mira in their intended poses, then a blur of color. One single photo with Rumi smiling with them, and then two of Zoey and Mira’s surprised faces. The rest were Zoey tumbling off the bed.

“Oh, that’s hilarious!” Zoey exclaimed. “I’m sending it to the Saja Boys.”

“You… you what?” Rumi asked. Her phone buzzed in response against her leg.

“Welcome back. How was the doctor? Oh, and your trip last night.”

“It was good, um… I can eat rice now, they think.” Rumi pulled on her braid a little. “Which is stupid, but…”

“Stupid?” Zoey asked.

Rumi shrugged. “I feel like I just had it last month and now I’m being given permission to eat it again.”

“Did you throw it up?” Mira asked.

Rumi squinted at a spot beside Mira’s bed frame, trying to remember. “I… might have? I kinda remember… it felt really fatty.” She shook her head. “My brain is like mush. I feel like I can’t remember anything!”

“You disassociated yourself so hard you don’t remember developing an eating disorder?” Mira deadpanned.

Rumi wrinkled her nose. “Don’t call it that.”

“Don’t call it what it is?”

“Meeting Jinu was also great,” Rumi said, raising her voice. “Actually, I wanted you both to explain the whole Gwishan thing to me, please.”

“Gwishan?” Zoey repeated. “Did you see one?”

“So, I saw a few. They were just hanging around the palace. Most of them didn’t bother me and I didn’t bother them, but I did run into King Sejong, and he seemed friendly.”

“You ran into Sejong?” Mira’s jaw swung. “What kind of unfinished business would he have?”

“I think he was just studying,” Rumi mused. “He had books and scrolls.”

“Oh my gosh! You know what this means?” Zoey demanded.

“What?” Rumi asked.

“It means we’re all going to be Gwishan together!” Zoey exclaimed. “We’re going to wander the earth, forever making music and looking for demons to fight.”

“Uh, speak for yourself, I intend to depart from this earth in peace.” Mira held up a peace sign. “But that’s… interesting. I didn’t realize something like learning could keep you here…” She held her hands up as she thought, but Rumi wanted to pull the conversation back on track.

“And… I’m also curious that I was able to meet Jinu at all. He said he’d never tried it before, but a tiger guided me to an empty courtyard. I said his name, and he appeared, but he wasn’t able to interact with the world. He could walk on the ground, lean on the wall, but couldn’t touch me.”

Both Mira and Zoey looked as confused as she felt. Zoey held a finger up, like she was tracing a path for herself. “So… Jinu was in the demon realm? But still managed to appear in this one?”

“He doesn’t sound like a Gwishan,” Mira said. “But the way he appeared does sound… similar to a restless spirit situation.”

“Sejong said, enjoy your visit to my earthly home,” Rumi recalled. “Jinu wouldn’t tell me why it was at the palace he could appear, but I wonder if maybe…” she paused. “I mean… could he have lived there?”

“I don’t think so,” Mira said, collapsing onto her bed. “Gwishan start out as people. Demons… aren’t they always demons?”

“We could ask the Saja Boys,” Zoey suggested.

“I don’t think they’ll tell us,” Rumi sighed. “And I don’t blame them. Jinu said, last night, why would he help us if we won’t help them?”

Mira and Zoey both looked up at her, thinking. Rumi deflated. “I… think I want to help them.”

“Help five demons walk free of the honmoon we spent five years trying to create?” Mira said. “And let them destroy how many countless people?”

“They promised just Gyeom,” Rumi pointed out. “And… we could always kill them. If we needed to.”

“And how are you justifying Gyoem’s blood on your hands?” Mira asked.

“Jinu said something last night… he said, You’re not willing to let one awful man die so five can walk free.”

“Those five have probably done some awful things as well, Rumi,” Mira said. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to be making deals with them.”

That was true. Rumi nodded in acquiesce. But it did still mean that she had no way to figure out how to fix her patterns.

Zoey perked up on one of the buzzes of Rumi’s phone in her pocket. “Ooh! Mystery said cute!” She rolled over onto her back with a big smile.

“You’re still interested in him, then?” Rumi asked.

Zoey groaned. “I don’t know…” she let her arm flop out and Rumi spotted what looked like a private chat between her and Mystery. “Because, well, he’s cute, and he’s so nice over text and phone-“

“Phone?” Mira raised an eyebrow.

“But, like… he’s a demon, and I’m a demon hunter, and I really, really, really, really want to be a mom after I’m done being an idol. And I don’t know, like, how that works? If demons have DNA? I mean, is a half-human demon child possible?”

“Woah there,” Mira said. “Even if it were possible, that sounds like a bad idea.”

“Yeah,” Rumi agreed, feeling hollow. “I’m not sure, Zoey.”

“I wonder…” Zoey picked her phone back up and sat up to type. “I bet the Saja Boys would know if it were possible.”

“No!” Rumi and Mira both shouted at the same time. “They’ll think we’re asking if, like, we and them…” Rumi couldn’t get the words out.

Zoey’s smile turned into an unfortunate grimace. “Oh… I already hit send.”

“UNSEND!” Rumi sputtered, but a buzz against her leg told her she was too late. She sighed so deeply her vision blurred.

Mira covered her face. “Zoey, I love you, but you need to think just a little bit more about these things, please.”

Rumi pulled out her phone. The first responses were just images from Abby. A man raising his eyebrows suggestively. Another man spitting out his drink. A cat standing in the snow wearing overalls with the words, “Da heck they doin ova der”.

Jinu, per usual, had jumped into the chat to pull it back on track. “Pretty sure you ladies have been told the price for information from us several times now.”

As Rumi finished skimming, Romance messaged, “I hope there’s a legitimate hunter business purpose to this question.”

“It came up in passing,” Rumi wrote to the group. “Zoey didn’t think before she hit send. Was not in regards to any of you.”

More lies. But for a better purpose.

The elevator dinged in the other room. “Girls?” Bobby yelled.

“Bobby!” Zoey exclaimed, leaping off the bed. Mira and Rumi rushed behind her and the three squished into the doorway together to trill, “Hi Bobby!” together.

Their expressions fell immediately.

Bobby didn’t look happy. And he wasn’t alone. A very tall man in a black suit holding a thick folder was with him. “Girls,” Bobby said, “Meet Mr. Honjab… he wants to ask you a few questions.”

“Oh.” Rumi, Mira, and Zoey unsquished themselves from the door. “Yes, of course.”

Mr. Honjab seemed almost seven feet tall. He had a very small nose, large dark eyes, and very little hair. His lower lip was so big that he looked like he were wearing a constant frown. At the moment, the frown was pulled deeper.

“Mr. Honjab, this is Huntr/x. From the left, Zoey, Rumi, and Mira. Why don’t we, uh, have a seat at the bar together?”

Bobby seemed tense. It put them on edge too. They carefully took their seats at the car – including Mr. Honjab, who rose even taller when sitting.

“Huntr/x,” he began in a voice so deep Rumi couldn’t understand him for a moment. “I’m a lawyer for Demon Records. Our CEO has raised some concerns that you may be stalking some of our idols. We take their security very seriously, and I’m here to ask you some questions about where you’ve been the last few days.”

“Stalking?” Rumi looked around Mr. Honjab at Bobby, whose face was a little white.

“Sir, we were scheduled to appear on a gameshow with them,” Mira explained. “Our schedules would obviously overlap for that event.”

Bobby laughed nervously, putting a hand out on the cold marble of the counter. “Ah, girls, Mr. Honjab said that, well, you visited a men’s-only bathhouse earlier this week.”

Zoey squeaked. Rumi almost said, “Oh,” but bit her tongue at the last moment and looked to Mira.

“Bathhouse?” Mira asked smoothly.

Mr. Honjab took a photo out of his file and slid it across the counter. It must have been taken by a security camera at the bathhouse, because it showed the three of them in their gear, creeping in. Each of their faces had been captured.

“Right,” Mira agreed. “That bathhouse.”

“Were you aware it’s men’s only?”

“Nope,” Mira replied. “But once we were told, we left.”

“And were you aware that the Saja Boys were filming the music video for their Bubbly song there?” Mr. Honjab asked.

“We… we had no idea they were there or that anything was being filmed,” Zoey stammered. “There weren’t any signs or anything… we were just at the bathhouse.”

“Twenty miles from home,” Mr. Honjab said. “On a Wednesday night, after a big event, dressed up like that?”

“Yup,” Mira agreed.

“We didn’t know the Saja Boys were there until we accidentally ran into them,” Rumi said. “And we left immediately after their manager asked us to.”

“Well, I can only imagine what would’ve happened if he hadn’t been there,” Mr. Honjab said.

“Excuse you,” Mira said in a hard tone. “What do you think you’re implying?”

“I think your, uh, outfit in this picture implies everything,” Mr. Honjab replied with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, is dressing up illegal now?” Mira snapped. “For your information, we were given some incorrect directions. As we told the Saja Boys’ manager, we were as confused as he was.”

“And why the need to sneak in in the manner you did, holding, oh let’s see here… weapons?” Mr. Honjab pulled another, much larger photo out of his pocket. There they were again. Each of their weapons was visible, glowing in the dark and looking a lot like regular metal in the shot.

“That’s just a light trick,” Mira replied. “We used to use it at all our shows. We were going to perform for a private party. It was a surprise. That’s why we dressed up.”

“I love this story,” Mr. Honjab said. “First, you just happen to be at the bathhouse. Then, you’re performing for someone who-“ he pulled out an itinerary that looked like it had been collected from Bobby, “- is not on your schedule for that night.”

“What can we say?” Mira asked. “Life happens.”

“Indeed,” Mr. Honjab replied. “Well, consider this your official cease-and-desist. Demon Records is willing to forgo pursuing litigation for this on the condition that nothing further comes up connecting you and the Saja Boys without clearing Do Gyeom’s desk first. Any method you have of locating our idols must be surrendered, and all unofficial communication must cease. Do you have any such methods now?”

“No,” Mira said.

“Are you sure?”

“I said no, didn’t I?”

Mr. Honjab and Mira glared at each other for several seconds, then Bobby laughed and patted the counter. “Well, Mr. Honjab, there you have it! I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.”

“I’m not convinced,” Mr. Honjab replied. “We’ll probably see each other again.”

“Ah… alright. Feel free.. you have my card, let me walk you to the elevator… you need a key card to get down… security will meet you on the bottom floor. Have a nice day!”

Rumi exhaled. She’d never been so grateful for Mira’s nerves of steel. Plus her family background – her dad had been a lawyer as well.

Bobby came back around the corner and pointed between the three of them. “Okay, you three,” he said. “Are you or are you not in contact with the Saja Boys?”

“Yes,” Zoey and Mira said at the same time Rumi said, “No.”

Bobby turned his finger on her. Mira nudged her. “It’s Bobby,” she said.

“Um…” Rumi squirmed. “Yeah. We are.”

“We have a group chat and Mystery and I are texting personally,” Zoey said.

“Abby and I did a workout session together today,” Mira added. “Romance and I are sharing memes.”

They both looked at Rumi, who was unsure of what to say. “You, uh… you dropped me off to see Jinu last night.”

“Thank you for telling me,” Bobby said. “Is that the only time you’ve seen Jinu?”

Rumi shrank under his gaze. “No,” she admitted. “I saw him the day before yesterday too. At the aquarium.”

“You went all the way to the aquarium by yourself?” Bobby asked.

“Mira and Zoey made me turn my phone location on,” Rumi explained. “And I got a sports drink while I was there. For my two hours timer.”

Bobby exhaled and she could tell he wasn’t pleased with them, but he let it go. “No other times?”

“Not since the bathhouse, no.”

“How did you know they were at the bathhouse?” Bobby asked.

“We really didn’t know,” Zoey asked. “We were out exploring together. We wanted to go celebrate. I thought it was a karaoke bar. And we were laughing too much to look at the signs going in.”

“Girls, I really want to believe you, but that’s three different stories you’ve given now,” Bobby said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Frankly, I would have preferred if you’d come up with the karaoke story with Mr. Honjab here, because then I wouldn’t have to figure out a way to explain why you’re going to perform at something you’re not booked to perform at.”

When they offered no further explanation, Bobby sighed. “Girls, they’re threatening to file charges and unfortunately, their case that you were showing up to hurt them has some pretty strong evidence. I can do damage control, but I need to know – are you sure the Saja Boys want to be in contact with you?”

“We’re sure,” Mira said. “They asked us for advice on getting away from their label. They want out of the idol industry, but their contract is tight.”

“Problem for a different day,” Bobby decided. “I need you three to promise me – promise me – that you’ll tell me any updates on what you’re doing with the Saja Boys. It sounds like they don’t have the best relationship with their manager, but maybe ask if there’s something they can say to stop this on their end.”

“I promise, Bobby!” Zoey said.

“We’ll ask and we’ll update you. Promise,” Mira said.

Again, they glanced at Rumi.

“I promise I’ll update you, Bobby,” Rumi said with her tongue feeling like cardboard in her mouth. “We’ll all keep you in the loop.”

Chapter Text

Mira: Your manager is threatening to sue us for stalking you and trying to kill you at the bathhouse.

Abby: Welp. Been nice knowing y’all.

Mira: Is there anything you can do to call him off?

Romance: Technically you were showing up to kill us. They’re not wrong this time.

We didn’t know it was you we were showing up to kill. :Rumi

You also had plans to kill us at the aquarium. :Rumi

Mira: This time?

Jinu: Unfortunately this happens often. You must have met the lawyer assigned to us. He keeps us from having friends, affairs, relaxing time… y’know, any private moment that might be used to steal a soul.

Baby: Huntr/x label has pretty good lawyers, don’t they?

Mira: We do. But they got a picture of us with our weapons out.

Abby: Well. Wouldn’t want to be you right now.

Mira: So there’s nothing you can do? You can’t say, “we invited them” or some other BS?

Jinu: Technically there is something we can do that would put a stop to this rather quickly.

Jinu: But as for saying something, no, because half the point is to keep us away from people who have souls anyway.

Abby: You girls are getting a bargain at this point! Think of all the questions you’ve already asked! Mira, I’ve got my workout sheet printed and waiting for you.

Baby: Just one soul. (Maybe two if we have to take out the lawyer). And the lawsuit goes away… all your questions get answered… and no more competition from the Saja Boys.

Jinu: You can even have the songs we’ve written that Gyeom makes us shelf when he’s moody.

Mira: Thanks. We’ll think on that.

Huntr/x’s lawyers came by to collect statements from the girls. Mira fumed as they were forced to recount, in greater detail, the flimsy lie they’d told the Saja Boys’ lawyer that they now had to stick with for risk of contradicting themselves.

Zoey was texting every moment she wasn’t talking to the lawyers, Mira, or Rumi, and made sad sounds every time she picked up her phone. They all had plain rice for dinner in a show of solidarity for her. Mira and Zoey gagged because it was so plain. Rumi gagged because it felt like she was eating lard. She didn’t blame Mira and Zoey for cracking open a jar of kimchi and picking pieces out with chopsticks afterwards, though she didn’t have the desire for any.

Rumi stayed up late scouring the internet for information on demon summonings.

She figured that if that’s where everyone else got their information, then it should be good enough for her. It was fairly informative.

She finally decided to call it quits near one in the morning and plugged her phone in and turned out the light. But before she could drift off, she heard the patter of slippers outside her door, a soft knock, and then the knob slowly turned.

“Rumi? Are you awake?”

Rumi flipped the light on. Zoey was standing in her doorway. “Yeah. I haven’t fallen asleep yet,” she admitted. “You okay?”

Zoey shut the door softly, wandered over, and crawled onto the bed with her. “I just got off the phone with Mystery,” she whispered.

“Oh?”

Rumi offered Zoey a pillow. She tucked it under her arms and laid on it, picking at the edge. “I was just wondering,” Zoey asked, “If… you imagine yourself with Jinu at all? For real.”

“No,” Rumi answered honestly. “I don’t. Not since I found out what he is. But… I’m guessing your feelings for Mystery aren’t changing?”

Zoey stuck her lower lip out, faceplanted into the covers, and groaned. Rumi jumped, then touched her shoulder carefully. “I don’t know what to think! He always makes sure the others can’t hear him talking but we talk about everything, Rumi. Like, what if we got a house and… and… we picked the ceilings bright blue and he wants, like, four dogs and I want five kids and he says that if they look and act like me that he’d be okay with that…”

“Oh.” Rumi sounded exactly as surprised as she felt. She swallowed and carefully rubbed a circle into Zoey’s back. “Um… that’s a lot.”

“I’ve always been a lot.”

“But not too much.”

Zoey giggled and rolled over, so her head was in Rumi’s lap. “I know I probably sound like I’m hard-launching this way too soon. It feels so right though. I don’t know if he’s just messing with me, to get me to agree to the summoning? Y’know? Do you feel Jinu’s doing that?”

“Jinu’s been pretty straightforward with me about how he really wants me to summon them. But… maybe Mystery’s more indirect.”

“He said he wants to learn to ride horses,” Zoey said, “Because he’s never seen a live one before, in all his 200 years of living. He said that we could go riding horses together down by the beach and see if we can see any turtles on the sand.”

“You talked about turtles?” Rumi couldn’t stop her smile.

“Yes! And snacking and Burbank and how I could still write music and then I’d come home and we’d have a porch swing…” Zoey flung her eyes in the air. They hung for a moment, and then she let them fall and covered her eyes. “Rumi, I think I’m in love. I’ve never done this before, but I think this is what people talk about.”

“Aren’t you… afraid?” Rumi asked. “I mean… I know you never wanted to talk about this before. But I know when your parents split… that was hard for you.”

Zoey sighed. “It was hard. But I think I was more afraid than angry at them. I thought no marriage could work because theirs didn’t. I think I told myself I didn’t believe in marriage, but in my heart… I always wanted someone to love me so deeply that… they wouldn’t leave.”

The tone in the room shifted from wistful to reflective. Rumi felt a pang in her heart. She looked away. “Zoey… I’m so sorry I left,” she said. “It… wasn’t because I didn’t love you. I was just scared.”

“It… was hard,” Zoey admitted. “I was really, really mad at you for a while. And afraid too. Because I felt like you had taken Huntr/x with you. My career was gone. My plans were gone. My friend.” She sighed. “But honestly I’m fine now. I realized that… I’m my own person and no one can take that from me. Not my parents, dividing their stuff. Not you.”

Zoey sat up and turned to face Rumi. She bit her lip as she thought, then said, “I never told you this because of that whole “faults and fears must never be seen” thing, but before I joined Huntr/x, I felt like my thoughts and lyrics and all my notebooks were just useless and weird. Being part of Huntr/x made them mean something. And it made me mean something.”

Her eyes flit down for a second, just to find Rumi’s hand and squeeze it. “When you left, I felt like you took my meaning with you. But now I realize that life is just the meaning you feed into it, cycled back through the universe to you. I don’t need Huntr/x to give me meaning anymore. I don’t need you to give me meaning, though I love having you as my friend.” Zoey giggled. “I can pursue what has meaning to me and that’s where I’ll find meaning in my life.”

Rumi thought about that. It was such a broad concept that she struggled to wrap her head around it. “Huh,” she said, finally, feeling a little stupid. “That’s… beautiful, Zoey.”

Zoey shrugged and smiled and thought. She squeezed Rumi’s hand again. “Let’s do it,” she whispered, like she were sharing something scandelous.

“Do what?” Rumi asked.

“The summoning!” Zoey whispered. “I know you want to. Do you know how?”

“But… what about Mira?”

“Two to one, we outvote her.”

Someone knocked on the door. “If you’re summoning demons, you’re not doing it alone!” Mira called.

Zoey shrieked and got off the bed quickly. Rumi watched her move to the door, looking like she was dancing as she went. “Yay! We’re all agreeing? Gaja gaja gaja!”

Mira stepped in, rubbing her eyes. “Rumi, you know how to do this, right?”

“How’d you know?” Rumi asked. “That we were in here?”

“I heard Zoey get off the phone and come over,” Mira replied. “Here’s chalk. We can vacuum this up afterwards, right? It won’t ruin the carpet?”

“Erm… I have no idea.”

“Can we call them?” Zoey asked. “Let’s call them. They don’t need to sleep anyway. They’re probably just hanging out in the demon world and looking for falling summons anyway.”

“I have no idea what that means,” Mira said. “Come on. Before 2 am.”

“Jinu sent me the circle,” Rumi admitted. She reached for her phone – the poor thing had just barely cooled down – and hurried to her texts. “More complicated circles, more demons at once. The demon can reject or alter your offer. If they reject it, they sink into the ground and the circle is destroyed. We’d need to replace the carpet. If they accept it, they’ll shake hands with you.”

Mira passed Rumi a piece of hot pink chalk. To be safe, Rumi headed to her balcony, tugged open the door, and started pushing the furniture back to make room. Then, she began drawing the circle.

“Anything you say between them appearing in the circle and you shaking their hand is considered part of the summoning,” she explained as she drew. “The demon is completely bound by the terms of the summoning. They cannot leave the circle before shaking hands with you, but beware standing on or too close to the circle when chatting with them, because they can still steal your soul before an agreement is reached.”

“Okay, so what are our terms?” Mira asked.

Rumi paused in drawing some of the circle. “Maybe you should do the talking. You’re the best at this.”

“Well, maybe, but I’ve also got the least experience with demons,” Mira said. “Do you honestly think I’d be the best?”

“Yes,” Rumi said, and then looked to Zoey.

“I mean, I think you probably have the most information on demons, but Mira is really good at speaking clearly and such.”

“That’s what we need,” Rumi said. “And we need to close all loopholes. Make sure to specify that they cannot kill us or anyone else-“

“Except the manager?”

“What choice do we have if we want them to agree?” Rumi asked. “And since they technically already have a summoner… we need to offer them flexibility, because they’ll need to obey him first.”

“Until he’s dead?”

“Right.” Rumi’s stomach twisted. The circle was nearly complete and gave her the same sticky, ominous feeling that it had on her screen. “Should we check I’m doing this right?”

“Looks right to me.”

“Jinu sounds the most helpful out of all the Saja Boys. Should we ask him?”

Rumi pursed her lips, then downsized the photo and hit the call button before she could chicken out.

It rang only once. Then Jinu picked up. “Hunter?” he asked. “Burning the midnight oil?”

Rumi turned her camera on. He accepted the video call, but turned his camera off. She directed the camera at the circle. “Is this right?” she asked.

“Oh – you’re doing it?”

“Jinu, is this right?”

“Er, you’re missing symbols in the right… there… no, you got them. Sorry, it’s dark. Yeah, that should bring all five of us through.”

“Kay. Bye.” She hung up and then looked between Zoey and Mira. “Mira, I think you have to be the one to open the summoning.”

Zoey and Rumi both took a step back. Mira cracked her knuckles, then looked down at herself. “Should we change? We’re in our pajamas.”

“I can’t wait!” Zoey exclaimed. “Let’s do it, Mira! Full send!”

Mira shrugged and touched the circle. It lit pink underneath her hand. “Bring me the Saja Boys,” She said. “Abby, Romance, Jinu, Mystery, and Baby.”

She took her hand away. The circle beamed. The honmoon trembled in warning. Five circles appeared – these turned into hats, rising from the ground. Faces they were familiar with, but now purple and covered with patterns appeared. Animalistic golden eyes. Black flowing robes instead of pink and teal clothes. The five Saja Boys materialized in front of them in reaper form.

Zoey’s hand was squeezing Rumi’s arm so tightly that it was cutting off circulation.

“We’ve summoned you for information,” Mira told them. “On the demon realm, summonings, demons, and other related subjects. You’ll give us accurate information to the best of your abilities. We know you have another summoner. You can leave whenever you’re summoned by him. While you’re in the human world at all, you may not steal souls from us or anyone else unless they’re a direct danger to you, or we’ve pre-cleared it. When we don’t need you for information, provided you aren’t posing a danger to anyone, then you can walk free in the human realm.”

Jinu glanced at his comrades to see if anyone had any complaints. “And we get to kill Gyeom,” he said.

Mira exhaled. “If there’s no other way.”

Jinu extended his hand. Rumi saw Mira hesitate, flexing her fingers. Then she put her hand forward and shook Jinu’s. Jinu’s demon exterior turned back into his human form. He wore the same grey hoodie and black jacket Rumi had seen at the palace. He stepped out of the circle, smiling.

Mystery shook Mira’s hand next. The moment he was human, he was moving to Zoey. Zoey finally released Rumi’s arm. She nearly jumped in Mystery’s arms and he held her like a man returning home from war.

Romance kissed the ground outside the circle on his turn. Baby collapsed into one of Rumi’s chairs to gaze out at the city. Abby, right before he shook Mira’s hand, said, “we have to work out sometime.” And so that was sealed into his deal with her. She didn’t seem to mind the small trick.

“What time is it?” Jinu asked.

“Bedtime,” Mira replied. “It’s two in the morning.”

Jinu nodded. “Then today’s no good. Gyeom is getting up at four for his trip to Japan. We’ll never make it.”

“Do you have a place to stay while you’re in the human world normally?” Mira asked.

Jinu’s mouth tilted at the corner. “We don’t live in the human world normally. We work here and then get pushed down.”

“You can stay downstairs,” Mira said. “We have guest bedrooms and such.”

Rumi caught Mira’s arm. “Um… what are we going to tell Bobby?”

Zoey pulled herself away from Mystery long enough to share a look with Mira. “Don’t worry about Bobby,” Mira said. “I’ll chat with him.” She snapped her fingers. “Boys, if you’ll follow me? This is Rumi’s room. We’re in our apartment. There’s two underneath us we can split you lot between…”

Mystery did end up following them, hand in hand with Zoey. Jinu paused at the door, waiting to see if Rumi would say something, but she only waved him ahead. “Goodnight,” she said. “We’ll talk in the morning.”

She swept away the last of the smoldering demon circle with her shoe and turned back to her bed.

Chapter Text

When she woke the next morning, it was raining. The sky had turned a dreary gray. The tower was swaying imperceptibly against the wind.

Rumi took a blanket with her from her bed as she looked out at Seoul. Where she remembered drawing the demon circle last night, there was nothing.

Impossibly, Zoey had beaten her to the kitchen and was eating cereal quietly. The smell of kimchi filled the kitchen, and Rumi could hear the scrape of a pan. Not a good smell, she decided, despite the fact she loved kimchi. Not yet.

Rumi took the bar stool beside Zoey. “Did…” she hesitated. “Did we summon demons last night?”

“I know what you mean,” Zoey replied. “It feels like a dream.” She was watching a blank space on the wall like it was telling her a story. Then, she giggled. “Celine would be soo… mad.”

Mira snorted and looked over her shoulder. “Yeah, Rumi, if you tell her, be careful.”

The elevator dinged and a yawn filled the space. “Did someone say breakfast?” a man called. Rumi couldn’t tell whose, then Romance came around the corner in a pair of long-sleeved white pajamas with Huntr/x embroidered on the front pocket. He picked up Mira’s hand and kissed her knuckles, then leaned across the table and picked up Rumi’s, taking a moment to cup hers in his hand. “Your hands are cold.” But he kissed her hand and then moved to Zoey’s, who giggled.

Rumi pulled the blanket around her shoulders and resolved to warm up. Another Saja Boy appeared – Baby, who wore the same pajamas in a size too big. Mira snorted. “We need a picture of you all in those.”

“Mystery’s on his way up,” Baby told Zoey, who perked up. “Thanks for letting us sleep in the human world. These modern beds are really nice.”

“I’m telling the others not to change,” Mira said, texting with one hand and turning eggs with the other. “Kimchi eggs, anyone? Rumi, I can make a clean batch for you.”

“No,” Rumi declined immediately. While she could probably eat a whole scrambled egg, she wasn’t keen on trying. “I’ll grab some yogurt.”

Romance snickered at her. Before Rumi could do anything, the elevator dinged again. “Good morning!” a familiar voice called.

“Hi Bobby!” Rumi found herself reflexively singing along with Mira and Zoey. Then, she touched her throat. That had been a fairly high pitch. And her voice hadn’t cracked.

Bobby rounded the corner with the three remaining Saja Boys, all dressed in matching Huntr/x pajamas. Abby paused to pose around the corner. His shirt was straining against the buttons, making everyone laugh. “Hold it!” Mira commanded, snapping her fingers and balancing her phone with one hand. “Okay, group photo! One just the Saja Boys, one with Bobby. Ready?”

The Saja Boys grouped together in front of the couch, posing like they’d been doing so for thousands of years. They changed the pose each time Mira took a photo, and then gestured Bobby into the middle, who spread his hands like he was cheering. He stayed that way for only one photo, and then Abby lifted him up and each of the Boys held their hands out so he could lounge, hovering, in front of them all. Zoey squealed. “I love this!”

They broke apart. Mystery went to Zoey and took her head in his hands. “Cutest Maknae,” he whispered, and kissed her nose. She giggled with a smile stretching from ear-to-ear.

Mira passed out plates. Each of the Saja Boys were impressed and extremely grateful.

“Wow, this smells really good.”

“I haven’t had someone cook for me in about a hundred years.”

“This is so nice!”

“You’re a really good chef!”

Mira was very pleased with herself. Rumi watched her chest puff out. “Thanks,” she said. “It’s just eggs, but I appreciate it! Dig in!”

She looked so pleased that Rumi turned down her stomach’s inclination to yogurt and took a plate with everyone else. Immediately, Mira’s smile faded. “Er, you sure?” she whispered in Rumi’s ear.

“Yeah.” Rumi tried to sound convincing. “It’s just eggs.” Still, she only grabbed a single scoop and fought the smell the entire time she was dishing up.

Since they didn’t have enough bar stools, everyone sat down on the couch. Zoey and Mystery were sat so close that they were only taking up the space of a single person. Meanwhile, Abby had his legs across a portion of the couch between him and Romance that Rumi assumed was for Mira when she finished overseeing her eggs.

Bobby squinted suspiciously at her plate as she passed, but thankfully didn’t say anything in front of the Saja Boys. She sat on the edge of the couch and listened to Baby, sat on the coffee table, regale them with his account of their sheets in comparison to something that had come out of China at the beginning of the Silk Road.

And decided that kimchi eggs were out to get her.

One bite at a time, she coaxed herself into them. One bite at a time, her stomach protested. Bobby watched her like a hawk out of the corner of his eyes. His frown pinched tighter and tighter.

Jinu sat beside her with his own plate of eggs as Rumi shoved the last bite into her mouth and jumped up. She wasn’t trying to avoid him – hopefully he didn’t get that impression as she hurried back to the kitchen. She doubted anyone else would notice. By that point, everyone was engrossed in conversation. Abby and Baby were bickering about Egyptian versus Chinese Silk. She’d scarcely gotten her plate into the dishwasher when she was skirting back to her room, shutting the door quietly behind her, and then hurrying towards the toilet.

Yup. Kimchi eggs were definitely her enemy.

She’d just barely hit her knees in front of the toilet when she felt a steadying hand on her back, in between her shoulder blades. It provided just enough warning before a second hand smoothed her hair back, away from her face, and she lost the contents of her stomach.

When she was done throwing up, she leaned back and felt a warm, wet cloth to her face. She flinched – how embarrassing. “Is this Jinu, or Bobby?” She asked around it.

“Both,” Jinu replied.

She sighed and took the cloth from him. It had to have been one of them. “Did anyone else see me leave?”

“Pretty sure Baby was entertaining them all.”

Jinu had crouched down at her left side. Bobby was by the sink, wetting down another rag and glaring at her. Rumi quickly averted her eyes. Jinu chuckled. “You make a habit of this?” He asked.

“Say one more thing about my diet, Jinu. I dare you.”

“Or what? You’ll pull a sword on me?”

Rumi glanced urgently at Jinu, flicking her eyes to Bobby and hoping he’d get the hint. Jinu’s mouth twitched.

“Jinu, out.” Bobby hiked his thumb towards the door.

“Actually, Rumi asked to talk to me,” Jinu said, examining Rumi for any protests. But Bobby didn’t budge.

“Then you can wait in her bedroom. Out. Now.”

Jinu raised an eyebrow, but got off the floor and left. Bobby shut the door behind him. “Rumi,” he began, “You knew those were going to make you sick.”

“I know…” Rumi muttered.

“You’re only allowed to eat foods off your approved list if you’re hungry for them,” Bobby told her.

“Everyone else was eating eggs though.”

“Everyone in there knows you can’t have them,” Bobby replied. “If you do this again, then you’ll come have breakfast with me every day. Do you understand?”

Rumi nodded.

Bobby picked a glass off the counter. “Water?” he asked.

“Please.”

“Great. Here. Did you actually want to talk to Jinu, or was he making that up?”

“I did ask to talk to him.”

“Okay.”

Bobby opened the door. Jinu was standing a respectful distance from the door, gazing out at Seoul. Rumi got up and walked out. “Sorry to make you both panic,” she said. “I won’t touch the eggs again. Promise.”

“Yup,” Bobby said. He opened Rumi’s door and slipped out.

It took some considerable courage for Rumi to look Jinu in the eye. “Thank you,” she said.

“No problem.” He looked away from the view. “Well. You kept your side of the deal. Do you want to know what the patterns on your neck are?”

“Yes.” Rumi brushed her turtleneck down. “Can you please-“

He pulled her braid back and then pinned the turtleneck under his fingers at the crook of her shoulder. His fingers felt heavy. Then he squinted at the pattern across her voice box.

Rumi watched his face. It was uneasy, to let him see something no one had ever seen before. She had no way of knowing if it was one of her deepest insecurities or not. She just knew she had to know how to get rid of it to sing again.

Jinu’s face changed in degrees. He softened and looked sad. It made her squirm.

“Is it bad?” she asked finally.

He looked up at her face, then down at her neck again. “It says, I left them.” he said, and the released the turtleneck. It slid back up her neck.

“I left them,” Rumi repeated. A dark cloud settled on her chest. “It… okay. I know how to fix that.”

“Do you?” Jinu snorted. “How’s that?”

“Well… I think I’ve already fixed things with Zoey… actually-“ Rumi turned and hurried back to the bathroom. She flipped on the light and leaned into the mirror.

The patterns, last she’d checked, had been nearly touching her jaw. Now, they were only at her voice box. “They’ve already gone down,” she whispered. “About… halfway.” She glanced over her shoulder at Jinu, who looked… moody. “What is it?”

“You’re acting like it’s no big deal.”

“It is, but now I know how to fix it. I mean…” she gestured to her neck. “It’s already halfway gone from before I talked with Zoey.”

Jinu shook his head. He seemed disgusted – like she’d offended him.

“What?” she asked. “Seriously, what?”

Jinu joined her in the mirror. His human façade faded and patterns like scars flicked over his face and hands. He pulled his sleeve down and held it beside her neck in front of the glass. “We match. That’s what.”

Rumi squinted and traced the dips and sways of the patterns. She saw what he meant. The patterns were the same, well, pattern. They moved at the same cues.

She reached out and brushed his wrist. “You left someone too?”

“How do you think I know about condemnation?” Jinu asked. “You are getting rid of the very marks that made me a demon.”

Rumi was still touching the skin of his wrist, breathing slowly. “Were you… human?”

“Yes,” Jinu replied.

“How long ago?”

“Four hundred years ago.”

“And you lived in the palace?”

Jinu chuckled and pulled his wrist away. “I wondered if you’d figure that out. The palace was the only permanent home I had in my life, but it wasn’t a happy place. For most of my life, my family was poor and miserable. My only possession was an old bipa. I busked the streets, but it didn’t get me anywhere. I became desperate. We were starving. Gwi-ma offered me a way out. Overnight, I was praised for my voice – including by the king himself.” Jinu’s voice suddenly cracked, and he had to pause for a moment. “My family lived in the palace and our bellies were finally full and our clothes clean. But the patterns spread, and eventually, I was condemned to the demon realm. Prisoner of Gwi-ma for all eternity. My family was worse off than they were before without me.” He rolled his other sleeve up and displayed the marks to her. “These are a constant reminder of my shame. A shame I will never escape.”

Rumi traced the marks with her eyes, then glanced back to the mirror. She ran a finger along her own patterns at her neck. “If I can escape, you should be able to as well,” she whispered.

“I was condemned, Rumi. Before the honmoon was sealed. You were born like this.”

“Yeah… but you didn’t know I could get rid of the patterns either. There could be a lot you don’t know.”

Jinu dropped his hands, unimpressed. Rumi pulled the turtleneck back up to cover her patterns. “We should get back in there. They’ll all start thinking things.”

“They already do.”

She froze. “Er… what?”

Jinu tapped his ear. “You don’t have good soundproofing in here,” he told her. “But don’t worry. It just means the Saja Boys know for sure that nothing’s going on.”

“THAT’S NOT TRUE, JINU!” Someone bellowed from next door.

Rumi turned beat red. “Wait. So they know…” she touched her neck.

“I don’t keep secrets from my bandmates.” Jinu rolled his sleeves down, glaring through the mirror in the direction of the voice. “Though I may butcher some of them later if they keep making jokes.”

Rumi laughed. “By the way, you have a lovely voice.”

“Thanks. I sold my soul for it,” Jinu replied. He narrowed his eyes. “Also, you’re not helping our case. Come on.”

“They won’t… tell Mira and Zoey, right?”

“Mystery might eventually. But he said he wouldn’t last I checked.”

Jinu opened the door for her and let her back out ahead of everyone else. Rumi stepped through the door, then froze. The four remaining Saja Boys were still lounging where they’d been before, but were now displaying their patterns.

“Well it’s funny to watch their dynamic because they’re both the grandparents of the group,” Mira was saying. “Like, Jinu’s deadpan and serious, and Rumi’s so ancient in pop culture that they’re basically the same age.”

“What are you saying?” Rumi demanded.

“That you’re so old,” Jinu replied, heading back to his abandoned plate on the couch.

Mira crossed her arms and huffed. “I told you I could make you your own eggs,” she called.

Rumi glared and hunched her head into her shoulders. Every spot was taken except for the spot by Jinu, which she didn’t feel like sitting in, and so she went to the kitchen, got a few spoonfuls of plain yogurt, and sat at the bar while the conversation resumed. Baby was showing off his patterns. “I honestly don’t remember which one condemned me,” he said. “I think I lived before they counted years. So I just remember the big events I was around. I remember when they figured out writing!”

“Which time?”

“I dunno.” Baby shrugged. “Honestly, I still remember the shame, but I don’t remember the circumstances anymore. This one here-“ He pointed at his elbow, “Says I killed them. But it doesn’t list names. And the list is a little longer than when I first got the pattern for it.”

“Wow,” Zoey said. “I can’t imagine.” She shivered, then looked down at her phone. “Oh! We also asked you about half-demons. Is that possible?”

Baby’s expression fell. “Seriously? That was a real question?”

Abby coughed, “Good luck Mystery,” into his arm, and Mira cackled.

“We’ve recently learned it is, in fact, a possibility,” Jinu said, all business and no jokes.

“Recently?” Mira’s eyebrows shot up. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

“Ha!” Jinu scoffed. “Good joke. But no, we’ve heard of one. Apparently, the mother didn’t survive the birth. Whether that’s because of the nature of the child or not, we don’t know.”

“What Jinu’s trying to say,” Abby announced, “Is that we don’t recommend it.”

“Now let’s change the subject,” Jinu suggested. “You’re all ruining my appetite and-“

His fork stopped halfway to his mouth as his patterns blazed bright pink. He shoved the plate off his lag, onto the sofa, barely keeping everything on it, and then his whole body went stiff. Zoey yelped – the same thing had happened to Mystery beside her. Abby fell forward, completely immobile. All five Saja Boys were lit like broken glow sticks. Their bodies were constricted like they were tied up.

Then in a poof, they were gone.

Mira frowned. “Back to work for them? That looked painful.”

Zoey covered her mouth in horror. Rumi felt sick again.

Mira picked up Jinu’s eggs. “Come on,” she grumbled. “I guess it’s time to get to our day as well.”

Chapter Text

Rumi was just finishing getting dressed when she heard a banshee-like shriek from the living room. If not for her patterns, she’d have dropped everything and sprinted to the door. Halfway through her wrestling her turtleneck on, she heard Mira shout, “WHAT IS THAT?”

“NO! DON’T KILL IT, MIRA!”

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ITS EYES?”

“NOTHING, HE’S PERFECT!”

“HE’S BLUE!”

“HE’S-“

Rumi threw her door open in a panic and flung her hand out. “JINU’S!” she shouted. “The tiger is Jinu’s!”

She’d come in just in the nick of time. Mira was standing on the sofa, gok-do balancing her as she paused mid-strike. Zoey was on the coffee table and had flung her body in between the tiger and Mira. The tiger didn’t seem to notice it had escaped death by a mere few seconds. It turned in two small circles beside the coffee table and then settled down like a blue bean bag. It closed its eyes. A black shadow skimmed Rumi’s braid. It was the bird, which settled on the Tiger’s head. Mira gestured to it with a pointed expression. Rumi nodded. “The bird too.”

Zoey’s coo was half-shriek as she slid off the coffee table and onto the tiger. “Oh, you’re the cutest ever!” She wrapped her arms around it and peppered its face with kisses. “Who’s the cutest? Who’s the cu-u-utest? Yes, you are!”

The tiger hummed happily and allowed Zoey to lift its paw and roll underneath it.

Mira lowered her attack stance. “If that thing wanted to kill you,” she said, “You’d be dead.”

“I’ve got a thing for cute and dangerous!” Zoey’s voice was muffled under the tiger, but legible. Rumi hid a giggle behind her hand.

“Why does Jinu have a tiger?” Mira asked.

“Erm, it’s a spirit guide.”

“Does it shed?”

Rumi shrugged.

“What’s its name?”

She had no idea.

The Saja Boys didn’t come back before dark, which meant a long day of lyric writing and album planning.

And the first demo takes of their comeback.

Zoey sounded beautiful in the sound booth, laying down the backbones of the tracks. The parts she was going to do – the chorus and the rap – she took a few shots of. Mira filmed and sent clips to the Saja Boys. Rumi just took deep breaths and hummed to herself.

They were going to be so mad at her. So furious. She hadn’t written almost anything of the song. She’d barely contributed to the album at all. And she couldn’t sing. Couldn’t carry a tune to save her life.

Mira was right there. Dancing and bopping her head to the music. Rumi felt like her voice was just out of reach. All she had to do was patch things up with Mira… figure out what to say… and she could sing again.

But all too soon, Zoey was stepping out of the sound booth and holding it open for Mira.

Rumi couldn’t remember the last time she’d sweat. But here she was, growing damp as she thought about getting into the booth again.

Maybe it’d be like the stage. She’d get on and remember what she’d loved about it. Her voice would flow out of her like she was a songbird.

Mira started a second take of her verse and Rumi let herself out of the studio.

She hid in the bathroom, taking deep breaths. This felt so much like after the Idol Awards. She splashed water on her face and dabbed it on the back of her neck. Her breathing continued to pick up. She took a deep breath and then closed her eyes. “You…” she paused. “You came at a bad time. And you just crossed the line. You wanna get wild? Okay, I’ll-“

Her voice came out a screech that made her wince. Hot tears stung her eyes. “No more hiding, I’ll be shining, like I’m-“

Her throat protested, clenching down, and Rumi dissolved into coughs.

Someone banged on the door. “Rumi?” Mira called. “Are you sick again?”

“No!” Rumi gasped, not sounding convincing at all. She juggled the handle and opened the door. Mira was standing in the hall next to chair, a table with a succulent, and a framed debut poster that had probably lost seventy percent of its value in the last two years. “I-I’m fine.”

“Your timer’s going off,” Mira informed her. “Do you want something light? I think we still have broth in the fridge upstairs.”

“No,” Rumi said. “Mira… I need to tell you…”

Her throat seized up. Mira waited, tapping her foot once… twice… She checked her watch. “We’ve got to go,” she said. “Let’s get some nutrients in you.”

“No, wait…” Rumi took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say… and I’ve been wanting to tell you…”

Mira looked more uncomfortable with every gasp Rumi took. “Do you need to sit down?” she asked.

A tear finally escaped Rumi’s eye and she hunched in on herself. “Mira, I’m so sorry that I left,” she said.

There was a long silence.

“Seriously?” Mira asked. “Now?”

“I’m so sorry,” Rumi gasped. “It was awful… and I shouldn’t have… I’m sorry.”

Mira stayed stone still. Rumi couldn’t tell who was waiting for who to speak. “Mira?” she asked. “Say something, please?”

“How about you tell me why you left,” Mira said. “And then I’ll decide how I feel about you.”

Rumi twisted her hands. She pulled at her sleeves, still sweating. “You’ve seen me. I got sick. I fainted backstage.”

“So why weren’t we good enough to rely on?” Mira asked. “We were right there.”

Rumi’s tongue felt fat in her mouth. Her face felt hot – her eyes stung.

Mira stared at her as she caught her breath. She didn’t seem touched or concerned. Her face was completely blank. Finally, she shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about this right now,” she said. “I’m going to go get you some food. Last chance for you to pick before I just grab something.”

“Mira, it’s eating me up,” Rumi gasped. “I… I was scared and…” She reached for Mira’s shoulder, but Mira spun with her eyes blazing.

“Oh, SHUT UP!” Mira snapped.

Rumi was stunned out of her tears. She took a step back.

Mira’s face was turning blood red by the second. She was shaking in rage. Her eyes seemed entirely black. “YOU WERE SCARED?” she bellowed. “SCREW YOU, YOU’RE AN AWFUL FRIEND. Just…” She picked up the succulent off the table and pitched it behind Rumi. Rumi ducked, covering her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. The succulent smashed against the wall and almost disintegrated on impact. Dirt and pebbles rained and clattered across the counter. The sheetrock was left with a hole from the impact.

“You were scared? How about watching YOUR CAREER DIE IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES, Rumi? How about seeing your mother figure tell you that you aren’t welcome anymore? Figuring out the new rules of demons ALONE!”

The studio door opened and Zoey blitzed down the hall. “Hey!” she shouted. “Hey, let’s all calm down!” She threw her body in between Mira and Rumi.

“No, you know what, I’M GLAD YOU FEEL HORRIBLE!” Mira shouted, stabbing her finger towards Rumi as Zoey tried to push her back. “I HOPE YOU FEEL HORRIBLE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE! Because you USED US and you USED ME and then you Left Us Like Trash!”

Mira pushed Zoey away into the chair and Rumi finally got the good sense to move out of the way. Mira snatched the soap off the counter and threw it – not at Rumi – but at the ground. She screamed – a real, feral scream of rage, and kicked a glop of the soap at the wall. Glass bounced off.

Zoey bolted to the studio. Rumi was backing up but the hallway didn’t go on forever. Her body was shaking again. Not from lack of breath, but from fear.

“You abandoned us! Celine discarded us! That told us everything we needed to know about how important we were. You always thought you were more important to the honmoon than us! And you have the gall to show up after two years, and you’re SORRY? We don’t even get an explanation? You’re not going to tell us what happened? After I spent MONTHS begging you to ANSWER YOUR TEXTS?”

Mira ripped the debut poster off the wall and swung it into the wall. The frame busted open and the glass shattered. She stalked through the mess and shoved Rumi so hard she tripped and hit the back wall. She raised her arms to cover her face. Mira kept advancing, yelling. “Who relied on you, Rumi? Who tried to invite you to everything? Who picked up ZOEY after you BROKE HER HEART, you MISERABLE CREATURE? You HEARTLESS MICHILYEON. I LOVED YOU like a SISTER and you wouldn’t even stay to celebrate with us on what was supposed to be THE BEST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES YOU B-“

As Mira was reaching for Rumi’s shoulders, someone hooked their arms around her middle and yanked her back.

Rumi peeked through her fingers.

It was Bobby. He put his knee into Mira’s and forced her to buckle, then got her around the shoulders and pulled her away. With the height difference, Mira couldn’t stand right away. She continued to shout and struggle, and then suddenly began to cry. Bobby met Rumi’s eyes and nodded towards the elevator.

She had to leave. She couldn’t stay here anymore.

The mission to put Huntr/x back together again had failed.

Rumi shivered against the wall for a moment and then jumped to the side of the hall furthest from Mira and around the pile of debris. Zoey was in the studio door, clutching her phone and crying and shaking. Rumi wondered if she should stop to say goodbye

“We leapt out of planes together,” Mira was sobbing as Rumi stabbed the down button for the elevator. Her voice sounded hoarse. “I trusted you! I thought we were family, Rumi. You left us. I just wanted my friend…”

The elevator dinged with the down arrow indicated.  She swung herself inside. “Upstairs, Rumi!” Bobby shouted. “Don’t you dare leave this building!”

Rumi’s finger hovered in front of the ground floor button. This was it. She’d ruined their chance at starting over again. She needed to go back to Celine’s. She needed to not hurt them anymore. But her finger wouldn't move.

Zoey got in the elevator with her. She pushed the button for their apartment floor and fixed Rumi with a hard stare. “We’re going upstairs,” she said. “And we’re waiting for Bobby.”

The doors closed, and they were cut off from the sound of Mira’s crying.

Chapter Text

Zoey pushed Rumi out of the elevator and to the couch, still sniffing. Both hands on her shoulders, she drove her forward, then shoved her down. “You need food,” she decided. “Rice? Fruit? What?”

Rumi shook her head. “I can’t eat now, Zoey. I’m-“ She extended her shaking hand.

“I’ll eat with you,” Zoey decided. “Stay right here. Don’t move.”

Rumi got to her feet. “Zoey, I-“

“STAY RIGHT THERE AND DON’T MOVE!” Zoey raised her voice, stamped her foot, and pointed to the couch. “You are NOT leaving me again, Rumi!”

Rumi sat down, shaking again.

Zoey disappeared into the kitchen and came back with Mira’s tub of strawberries, a tissue box, and water. Their water bottles had been left down in the studio. And Rumi’s phone.

Zoey shoved the container into Rumi’s hands, set everything else down on the coffee table, then sat down on the couch and pulled her feet to her chest. “I’m sorry I yelled,” she mumbled against her legs. “But I swear, Rumi, if you go back to Celine’s, I’ll never forgive you again.”

Then she reached over and picked up the largest strawberry and then bit into it with tears running down her cheeks. She was trembling just as hard as Rumi was.

Rumi and Zoey picked their way through the strawberries, sobbing intermittently without comforting each other. Rumi kept replaying Mira’s blood-red face. The succulent shattering in the bathroom. Worst of all, her words.

You used us. You used me.

“How did Bobby know?” Rumi asked.

Zoey blew her nose with a sound like a truck. “Bobby’s always there for us,” she replied. “He picked up on the first ring.”

Rumi covered her face. “This is all my fault. I didn’t mean to make it worse.”

Zoey sniffed. “You don’t even know what you’re trying to apologize for,” she replied.

The sun set. They didn’t turn on the lights, and shadows made ominous patterns across the apartment. Every time Rumi felt like she had no more tears left to cry, Zoey would force her to drink something for hydration and they’d start all over again.

Finally, the elevator dinged. Rumi and Zoey flinched and hunched down together.

“Girls?” Bobby called, sounding exhausted. They listened to his footsteps as he came around the corner. Rumi finally chanced a glance over. He was alone.

“Bobby? Where’s Mira?”

Bobby exhaled. “She’s staying at the hospital tonight,” he explained. “And we’re talking about getting her a hotel for a few days.”

He wandered over, around the couch, and sat in between Zoey and Rumi. Then, he held his arms out to Zoey. “Come here, little turtle,” he whispered. Zoey began to cry again but broke out of her ball and leaned into him. Bobby held her tightly, rubbing her back, and whispering, “it’s going to be okay,” in her ear.

It felt like an eternity before Zoey finally stopped crying and started hiccupping and then moved back. She looked a lot stronger and wasn’t shaking anymore. Bobby slid closer to Rumi and, without asking, put an arm around her and hugged her.

He was warm. And even though he was short, he seemed to cover her. She closed her eyes and curled into his side and felt the tears begin to scorch her cheeks again. Bobby wiped a few away with his thumb, then rubbed up and down her arm. Rumi slowly stopped shaking. She stopped replaying Mira’s face and the flying plant. The words still echoed in her ears, but she felt like Bobby was somehow protecting her from the world.

Finally, she, too, felt strong enough to pull away and dry her eyes.

Zoey looked puffy and swollen, but much better than she had all day since she’d gotten in between Rumi and Mira. Rumi figured she probably looked the same way. Bobby gestured Zoey closer and then put one arm each around them.

“Are either of you hurt?” he asked.

They shook their heads.

“Are either of you scared?”

“Not anymore,” Zoey mumbled, and Rumi nodded.

“Is there anything you want to tell me about what happened today?”

Zoey sniffed. “Thanks for coming,” she said. “I tried to stop Mira. But… I think she’s been carrying a lot.”

“I’m always here for you. You’re my girls.”

Rumi shivered. “I was trying to tell her I was sorry,” she whispered.

Bobby’s fingers up and down her arms were grounding her to earth. He didn’t tell her it was okay, or that she’d done the right thing, or anything. He just listened.

“Is Mira okay?” Rumi finally asked. “Why’d she go to the hospital?” She sat up so she could see both Bobby and Zoey. Bobby rubbed the back of his neck, then folded his hands in front of him.

“Ah… You know… a strong response from Mira, like that… it’s unusual. She’s a steady person. Been a few years since she responded like that to something. I think she’s gotten stretched too thin. She and I agreed that the hospital was probably a safe call for her. To make sure she’s okay and give her space and time. So she’ll be there overnight. Maybe a little longer. And we’ll start figuring out… where to have you girls… she may stay in a hotel for a day or so while we patch things up…”

“Mira can’t stay with us anymore?” Zoey squeaked.

“Well, I’m not going to jump to conclusions,” Bobby said. “But-“

“Do I have to go?” Rumi interrupted. “I mean… it’s my fault.”

Bobby put a hand on both their shoulders. “We’re not going to make these decisions without Mira. She deserves a say. But, Rumi, I’m not going to let you and her stay together if she’s going to throw plants at you.”

“But what about Huntr/x?” Rumi asked. “What about the album?”

Bobby shook his head. “You’re thinking too far down the road, Rumi. If she cannot share an apartment with you, she cannot share a tour bus with you. Huntr/x is on pause until we get this figured out.”

That was scarier than everything else that had happened today. Rumi and Zoey met each other’s eyes. Zoey nodded, picked up a tissue, and blew her nose. “Thanks for checking on us, Bobby,” she said. “I think… it’s time for us to get some sleep.”

Bobby nodded and stood up. Before Rumi could get up, he leaned down. “You,” he said, very firmly, and Rumi braced herself for a lecture on starting fights. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Do not go back to Celine’s,” he said. “Do not call her about this. Do not tell her about where Mira is or what she did. I know you wanted to run away again. We can still fix this. But if you leave again, it might be over for good.”

His brown eyes bore into hers. “Do you understand?”

Rumi swallowed and nodded. “I promise I’ll stay here,” she agreed. “I won’t go back.”

Bobby nodded. “I’ll check on you in the morning,” he said. “No Saja Boys overnight. Just, please.”

“Bye, Bobby,” Zoey said. “We love you.”

Bobby stopped to hug her again. “I love you girls,” he whispered.

They listened as he returned to the elevator. It dinged when it took him away. Despite what Zoey had said about needing sleep, neither of them moved.

Rumi exhaled. Her breath felt warm in her chest for the first time in a long time. “I tried to fix it,” she sang low. Slow. “I got to fix this. How do I fix this? I want to fix this.”

Zoey slowly joined in, first singing the words Rumi was looping through, and then backing off and beatboxing a sort of backing track to Rumi’s thoughts. She got to her feet, thinking, and Zoey sat on the back of the couch, bobbing her head while Rumi thought. “You say I used you. But really I used to. Think that you were someone I needed to be more like and I hoped I could be someone in your life and…”

“And we’d reach all of our big plans.”

“And we’d grow squeezing our joined hands.”

“And we’d make something of this chance.”

“Because I knew that-“ Rumi’s voice cracked, but she didn’t care. “You were a best friend.”

“So I gotta fix this. I tried to fix it. How do I fix it?” She and Zoey met eyes and Zoey laughed. “I’ve never heard you sound bad before,” Zoey said. “It’s… nice?”

Rumi snorted and touched her throat. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Zoey agreed. “It… feels important.”

Rumi chuckled and then held out her arms. Zoey stood on the couch to hug her, so she was a good two feet taller than Rumi. “Thank you for trying to protect me today,” Rumi whispered. “And for keeping me here. And letting me be a mess.”

“I’m a mess,” Zoey mumbled above Rumi’s head. “Bobby’s a mess. Mira’s a mess. We’re all messes.” She let Rumi go, and picked up her phone. “And now, I’m going to be a mess who’s going to call Mystery, if that’s okay with you. And record what we just wrote.”

“Yeah,” Rumi agreed. “I… might work on it. I’ll let you know.” She paused. “I love you, Zoey.”

“Ohh!” Zoey squeezed Rumi tightly, but she was up so much higher that she was mostly crushing Rumi’s head to her ribs. “I love you so, so much! And Mira does too! Honestly!”

“I know. But… I probably need to give her space,” Rumi mumbled into Zoey’s shirt.

“Yeah, probably.” Zoey released Rumi and hopped off the couch. “Well… goodnight. Come knock if you need anything.”

Rumi nodded and watched Zoey retreat. She was on a video call with Mystery before she closed the door to her room.

Rumi wiped her eyes one last time, but felt strong enough she didn’t need to bring the tissues with her. She headed back to her room and was planning on collapsing into bed when she saw the large blue tiger curled up on the far side of her bed. It perked up when she entered the room. The bird sitting on its head chirped.

It opened its mouth and a slimy letter plopped onto the carpet. Rumi wrinkled her nose, laid on her bed, and looked down. It said, “Hello Friend.”

She pried it open with her fingertips.

“Heard about what happened with Mira. I’m here if you want to talk.”

She hummed softly to herself. Were they here? In Huntr/x tower?

“Okay, Jinu,” she said. “I’ll take you up on that.”

The tiger sank into a circle in the floor. Seconds later, there was a tapping on her windows. Jinu was out on the balcony, locked out.

She got up and opened the doors. “Are you coming in?”

“No,” Jinu replied. “I heard what your manager said. Plus, the Saja Boys can hear everything we say. I know a place we can go.”

Chapter Text

The place Jinu knew was a park overlooking the city, only about a five minute walk from Huntr/x Tower. Well lit, and serene. It was eerie looking back up at the tower – at the place her room was – after Bobby had so firmly told her not to leave.

“He wasn’t putting you under house arrest,” Rumi told herself. “He was telling you not to go to Celine’s.”

“We performed here a few years ago,” Jinu said aloud. “There was a festival. Baby pointed out that was your tower. And I thought, how cruel that you were that close.”

“And you couldn’t come up and kill us?”

“Exactly.” Jinu mocked a hiss at the building and his fangs appeared for a moment as he glared. Rumi snorted, then touched her own mouth. She’d never had fangs. She wondered if she would, if she were condemned.

“I actually used to come here myself,” Rumi admitted. “To see the honmoon.” She stretched her fingers out and felt it pulsing, out of sight, under her fingertips. “Do you want to see it?”

“My prison?” Jinu asked. “Not especially. But go on. If it’ll make you feel better.”

Rumi laid a hand on the honmoon, but it didn’t wake up for her. What had once felt like playdough to her, bending and responding, now felt as immovable as steel. She stopped walking to push harder on it, grunting, but nothing happened.

“Rumi,” Jinu said behind her. She glanced at him and didn’t like the look on his face. “I’m worried for you.”

“Why?” she asked blandly, knowing it must be bad if a demon were worried.

“Abby said something, when I first told him I thought you could be nearing condemnation,” Jinu admitted. “He said, ‘I’d love to be there when she is. She’s going to be eaten alive.’ You may not realize it, but you’ve made a lot of enemies, being a hunter. Once the other demons realize who you are, you won’t be the hunter anymore. You’ll be the prey.”

Rumi took her hands off the honmoon. “Well… if I’m condemned on this side…” she trailed off, then put her hands to her throat. “Jinu.” She pulled the neckline down. “Is it… worse? Than before?”

Jinu tilted his head and skimmed the patterns. “Yes,” he confirmed. “But… new ones. I used them. I hurt them.”

Rumi let the neckline go back up, deep in thought. “Jinu,” she said. “Could you read more of my patterns? Because… if I can’t work on the ones on my neck, then…”

“Rumi,” Jinu said, “These are your darkest thoughts. I can read them to you, but… I’ll know them.” Then, he chuckled. “And I probably shouldn’t read the ones that are in places I don’t want to see.”

“No, of course not,” Rumi agreed. “Just… my arms… my back… maybe my legs?”

Jinu glanced around the park. “If I read them at your place,” he whispered, “The other Saja Boys will hear.”

Rumi exhaled. “I wish… there were coed bathhouses or something,” she said. “I’ve never been, but I hear it’s not a thing.”

“I’m sure we can find a quiet place,” Jinu said. “But we’ll need to leave the park for sure.”

So they left the park and found a side street. Rumi eyed a 24-hour mini mart for a moment, then pulled Jinu in. There was a card section near the back of the store, lining a section of the wall beside refrigerated beverages. Rumi skimmed the cards, then held two with polar bears up. “Which do you think?” she asked Jinu. “Get Well Soon, or I’m Sorry?”

“Call me crazy, but maybe don’t say the thing that set her off last time,” Jinu said.

An unfortunately good point. She checked out with the Get Well Soon card. “I wish I had access to the honmoon,” she told Jinu on her way out. “Zoey can put anything in it nowadays. When we were on our way to the bathhouse, she pulled turtle chips out of it.”

“She keeps snacks in the world’s demon-proof sound barrier?”

“Yeah, and the chips didn’t taste off. They looked radioactive, but…”

Jinu flung a hand in front of Rumi’s path. She frowned at him, then traced his gaze up ahead, to where a wall was bubbling. “A Gwishan?”

“I think it’s just leaving,” Jinu muttered.

“Why so many?” Rumi asked. “I never saw one before we sealed the honmoon. That’s the third time I’ve seen one now.”

“They’re solitary. That’s why they’re more active at night.” Jinu took his hand back, brushing his hoodie off. “And why you wait to let them pass. They just want to be left alone, usually.”

“Sejong spoke to me. He actually recognized that I was a hunter.”

“I have never heard of a Gwishan who wanted to talk,” Jinu replied. “I wouldn’t treat that as a normal Gwishan experience. Most just scream at me or run at me to get me to leave faster.”

“What’s the difference between a Gwishan and a demon?” Rumi asked.

Jinu wasn’t impressed. “That sounds like a bad joke.”

“Legitimate question.”

“You can’t touch them?” Jinu suggested. “They don’t have patterns? They live in this world? I mean, what would make you think they’re remotely similar?”

“Well, they dwell on the past constantly and they’re abrasive.”

Jinu glared so hard that his eyes lost their brown hue and lit gold in the dark. “Not funny.”

Rumi turned away, smiling. “I wasn’t trying to be.”

“Hey. Here.” Jinu paused in front of a gap in the buildings that led down a dark, narrow alley. Rumi peered in and wrinkled her nose. “Here?”

“Look ahead.” Jinu stepped into the alley and headed down. He nearly disappeared in the shadows.

“Jinu, I can’t see,” Rumi protested.

She heard him sigh. Then pink light lit the alley, emanating from his hands and the back of his neck. With a swallow, Rumi stepped into the alley and followed him.

It went back about fifteen feet and then widened abruptly into a small garden. A twisted bonsai-esque tree growing atop mossy stones and a few benches, all unoccupied. It was still dark, but between Jinu and the moon, she could see.

He turned around to look for approval and his brow furrowed. “Your turtleneck,” he said.

“What?” Rumi looked down.

Under the knit fabric, she could see dim pink traces. “It’s not thick enough to stop the light,” Jinu said.

“You can read them like this, right?” Rumi twisted from side to side, trying to get a good look at her shoulders to see how far up they spread.

“Um, no,” Jinu said. “Sorry, but it’s not like letters. I’m reading the way they move. I guess I could try…” he moved slowly, and took her arm and stretched it out. Rumi watched him bunch the fabric of her sleeve under her arm to pull it tight across her forearm. He leaned down, then shook his head. “No. You’ll need to slide the sleeve off. Sorry.”

Rumi nearly did, then paused. “Can I… should I… will you freak out…”

Jinu rolled his eyes. “Oh no,” he said sarcastically. “In 400 years of living, I’ve never seen a girl without a shirt.”

“Shut up.” Rumi picked at her hem, then tugged it off her torso. Up and over her head. The patterns were much, much brighter now. She glanced cautiously at the alleyway they’d come from. Jinu stepped strategically toward it, so that anyone who came through would see him first, and she could hide.

She balled the shirt up and put it on a bench for safekeeping and then held her arm back out to Jinu. He didn’t comment on her taking off her shirt. Didn’t comment on her bra or her body or anything. Rumi couldn’t tell if he’d looked for more than a cursory glance over her patterns.

He took her arm and examined the patterns up and down it. Pointed to one without touching it, and said, “Can’t sing anymore.”

“Helpful,” Rumi muttered.

“I’m just the reader.”

“No, not you. You’re…” she let out a breath. “You’re helping me a lot. More than you realize.”

“Back at you,” Jinu murmured. “It’s nice to be able to walk around topside again.” He gently twisted her arm to read the underside of it. “Weak. A lot of these are feeling weak. This one is missed birthdays. This one is failure… Celine? Do you know her?”

“I know her,” Rumi agreed. “Wait… how much detail can you read?”

“Depends on how big the pattern is,” Jinu said. “Moving to your shoulder…” He touched her shoulder and rotated, then froze. “Wait… what?”

“Oh, do you see-“

“How do you have black patterns?” Jinu asked. His touch settled on the back of her neck, at the top of her spine, and in the middle of her back, under her left shoulder blade. “What the hell did you do, Rumi?”

“I… I tried to remove them,” Rumi admitted, closing her eyes against the creeping cold. “The one at the top of my neck… she stretched her hand and touched the numb, tingly area, “was a surgery where they tried to cut them off. Down here…” she rotated her arm to graze the area under her shoulder blade and brushed his lingering fingers. “um… skin lightening. They targeted the area… you can see the white skin around it. And here…” she touched an area on her right hip. “Tried using a tattoo remover myself. There’s… probably six or seven others.”

“Why would you do that?” Jinu whispered.

“To get rid of them?” Rumi asked. “Uh, duh? What do they say?”

“Nothing. They’re completely illegible,” Jinu said. “You’ve ruined them. I didn’t even know that was possible.” He traced the numb spot and a stab of random pain caused Rumi to flinch violently to the left. He caught her waist for only the amount of time she needed to right herself and then lifted her left arm to peer at the other marks she’d mentioned. When he turned her again, she caught him shaking his head. His eyes were golden again. His patterns seemed brighter.

“What?” she asked.

He dropped her arm. “Do you really hate them that much?” he asked. “I mean… I think you’re foolish to have cut into them once. But multiple times? Didn’t you learn?”

“Do they look worse?”

“Worse?” Jinu rubbed his face. “What? You think they look bad?”

He sounded incredulous. She could have laughed. “They are demon markings, Jinu. I’m a demon hunter. I feel it’s merited that I wouldn’t want them on me.” Though, when she looked at the marks glowing softly on him, she supposed… “They’re not, ugly, I guess. Physically. But the meaning is ugly.”

“Well, ugly is… stupid. It changes so often. Ugly isn’t the problem. The problem is just…” he gestured to her, frustrated, then deflated. “Actually, it doesn’t matter. It’s your body and it’s done now. And I’m certain you could pull off anything you wanted. They don’t look bad. They’re just… new.”

Rumi’s cheeks felt warm. She hoped she could blame the pink light. “But you can’t read them?”

“No. Um…” He took her arms and guided her to lift them up. “Most of these… this is one big pattern… Most of these just say I have patterns. And hiding. Lots of hiding. Jeesh, Rumi, yours are thick.”

“Thick?”

“Yeah. You have more patterns than I do.”

More patterns than a demon? Rumi swallowed.

“Jinu, I’m getting cold. Can you hurry?’

“Yeah.” He traced the patterns on her back until they led him to duck under her side and continue tracing her torso. It was too soft to ignore, and too firm to tickle. “Hiding,” he repeated. “Lying. Hiding. Your whole torso is just shame from hiding your patterns and heritage. Um.” He stepped back, hands up. “Do you want me to…”

“No,” Rumi declined, cheeks pink. “I mean… I can look myself. If they’re all the same pattern on my torso then it’s probably all the same on my chest too.”

“Well, they curl.” Jinu took her arm to show her. “See, this one starts here and ends there? It’s a new pattern.” He paused, skimming, then tapped it. “that one’s a different pattern from your other arm, by the way. It says, Ruined my body.”

“Is it new?” Rumi asked. “I mean… did it just barely…”

“It’s tiny, Rumi, I don’t know if I can read any more.” Jinu pulled out his phone and turned the flashlight on. He leaned in, squinting. “Starving,” he said. “No, I don’t think it’s new.”

Rumi scowled.

Jinu stepped back, picked her shirt off the bench, and tossed it at her. “You done?” he asked.

“Almost.” She pulled the shirt on. “If I pull up my pant leg, could you please read those, too?”

Jinu nodded and crossed his arms. Rumi straightened the turtleneck, though the patterns weren’t really hidden while they were lit, and then put her foot on the bench. She was glad she’d worn wide-legged jeans. She was able to hike the fabric up to her mid-thigh before it bunched too much to be comfortable. Jinu sat down. Her patterns lit in proximity to his glow. He used the light to skim her leg from her ankle up. “Abandoned my friends,” he said. “Lying. Lying.” He passed her knee, still going. “Hiding…” He finally brushed her inner thigh and paused on a pattern that moved differently from the rest. “Um…” he straightened up and tapped it, sending an electric shock to her brain. “That one says, killed my mother.”

“Right,” Rumi ducked her head. She’d wondered about if that was one. “Please don’t tell the Saja Boys about that one.”

“We already wondered,” Jinu’s voice was barely above a whisper. “But the point of leaving the tower was so they wouldn’t hear anyway.”

“So you won’t tell them?”

Jinu took his hand back. “I won’t tell them,” he said. “Do you know, then, for sure? What killed her?”

“Me,” Rumi said. “She never met me. Never woke up.”

“Well, what I meant was…” Jinu pursed his lips. “And… I’m mostly asking because I think everyone is suddenly wondering about Mystery and Zoey. But women do die in pregnancy. They used to die all the time back in my day. Was it… just the pregnancy? Or was it… a demon pregnancy?”

“Technically, I don’t know,” Rumi admitted. “Celine might know. She’s the Sunlight Sister who raised me. But Bobby really doesn’t want me to contact her right now. He blames her for the way I am right now.”

“The patterns?”

Rumi chuckled. He was so naïve. “Bobby doesn’t know about demons. Or patterns. He’s mad at Celine for not noticing that I… wasn’t eating. And… not letting him or Zoey or Mira see me for two years. And being too much of a perfectionist.”

Jinu’s expression was absolutely unreadable in the darkness, but when he spoke next, he sounded amused. “Bobby’s your manager, right?”

“The one and only.”

“Hmm,” Jinu said. “Okay.” He pulled his hand off her leg – his fingers had been on her thigh for so long that they’d adhered and left small red marks on her leg. “It’s getting late,” he whispered. “Other one?”

“It might be mostly the same. I didn’t have patterns on my legs before we sealed the honmoon.” But Rumi switched legs on the bench, hiking up her jeans again. Jinu skimmed and declared them the same. He removed his jacket while Rumi put her foot back on the ground.

Rumi brushed her hands on her jeans after smoothing them back down, but Jinu stopped her from walking too far. “Real quick,” he muttered, and lifted the hem of his hoodie. His shirt came off with it, and his patterns were revealed, glowing just as brightly as hers had. But he had astonishingly fewer than her. “This is what I meant when I said yours were thick,” he said. “Do you see…”

“I see,” Rumi interrupted. She held her hand up and found a place where, if she touched him, she wouldn’t be touching any of his patterns. There was no such place on her body. “That means if I get rid of my patterns, you’ll have no excuse.”

“Ha!” He pulled his shirt on, then his hoodie. Rumi watched the patterns vanish. “How have you kept your pattens lit this whole time?” she asked. “Is it me?”

“No, it’s me,” Jinu said, blandly. “Yours will light up if mine are. It’s how I figured out you had them in the first place.” He laughed. “I wondered if they were just a really insensitive tattoo at first.”

“No.” Rumi watched him pull his jacket on over his hoodie. “So… how do you do it?”

Jinu’s smile turned wry. “I think of my family,” he said. “The way they died is the source of my shame.”

“I see.” Rumi turned the corner back into the alley ahead of Jinu and then jumped back just as quickly. In the alley were not one, but two dimly-lit Gwishan, huddled together and crying softly. She jumped right back into Jinu, then jumped. “Oh, uh… er… Gwishan,” she said, stupidly. “Two of them.”

“Two?” Jinu tensed up and then glanced around the corner to see it himself. Then he sighed. “They’re not moving.”

“We could try and talk to them?” Rumi asked.

“Bad idea,” Jinu said. “Just because Sejong spoke to you doesn’t mean they will. Absolutely-“

“Please, can you help us?” someone asked around the corner. “Please, we’re starving.”

Jinu’s face went white. Rumi peeked around the corner. The two Gwishan had noticed them. They hadn’t moved, but one held up a dirty hand. “Please?” she called. “Any rice? Please?”

The heat from Jinu over her shoulder vanished. He crouched against the wall with his hands over his ears and struggled for breath like he was running a marathon. Rumi dropped beside him. “Calm down!” she said. “They’re not going to hurt us…”

But Jinu began to sob. “Make it stop,” he whispered. “Make it stop!”

Rumi put her hands on Jinu’s. Her fingertips tangled in his hair. “Jinu,” she whispered. “Jinu, do you know them?”

Tears were streaming down his cheeks. She’d had no idea that demons could cry, but the proof was on her hands as she wiped them away. “Just breathe. Breathe.” And since she couldn’t think of what else to do, she pulled him into her the way that Bobby had pulled her into him hours ago. Trying to be just as steady. Just as protecting. Just as warm.

Jinu sobbed and shook and when a small fit of rage swept over him, screamed in agony. Rumi wondered if the police would be called before he was done. But finally, his patterns faded back to purple on his skin. He stopped squeezing his own head like he was bracing for an explosion. And when he pushed Rumi back, she dared another glance down the alley. “They’re gone now,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”

Jinu shook his head. All the energy had left him. “They should be,” he whispered. “They should be.”

Chapter Text

Rumi had to help Jinu home. He stumbled like he was drunk. They’d only been minutes from the tower, but it took nearly a half-hour to get back. She scanned them past a concerned security guard, got him in the elevator, and then ribbed him twice. “Jinu? Jinu, what floor are you on? Jinu?”

Finally, he reached out and stabbed a button a floor underneath Bobby.

When the elevator opened, everything was quiet. A light was on in the kitchen. Rumi and Jinu made their way around the corner and then came face-to-face with Abby, who was sitting with a soda pop at the counter, reading of all activities, and already prepared with a raised eyebrow. That vanished into a furrowed brow.

“Which room?” Rumi asked.

“I got him,” Abby said. “Shoo. Shoo.” He took Jinu’s arm. Rumi retreated into the darkness. She returned to her room in a daze and passed out on top of her bed.

When she woke, it was nearly noon. The sun was coming through the windows and baking her alive. It was probably too late to escape a sunburn.

She crawled to her phone and found a list of notifications she didn’t care about. Timer notifications. Bobby asking if she’d eaten. Apps asking her to pay attention to them. The only thing mildly interesting was a calendar update reading, “2/3(Rumi) Huntr/x Doctor Visit” from Bobby.

She didn’t quite understand it, because she’d already seen the doctor twice, but didn’t ask. She hauled herself out of bed, stripped from her sweat-soaked turtleneck, and began undoing her hair to shower.

As she showered, she traced the patterns and tried to remember what each was. Most of them were just… hiding. Leaving. Hard to get rid of. But she felt optimistic about them somehow. The feeling reminded her of before they’d sealed the honmoon. And she’d thought, “just a little longer. A little longer.”

She traced the one about her mother dying. It was the oldest she could remember. Just a stripe inside her leg It had been there probably since she was seven or eight. Shortly after, the ones on her shoulders had appeared.

Also, her body wasn’t looking as thin as it had at Celine’s. It almost looked unnatural, but she’d felt so wrong in her skin for years that it didn’t create any new feeling.

After her shower, she stood in front of the mirror, shaking out her sheet of hair, and examining the patterns. On her, they felt… gross. Slimy. But she remembered them on Jinu and a pain formed under her tongue. On him, they had felt… normal. Part of him.

And something about them being normal was… attractive.

She blew her hair dry, braided it again, and finally emerged from her bedroom at 2 pm. Everything was quiet. “Zoey?” Rumi called. She wanted to call for Mira, but knew she wouldn’t be back yet.

Nothing.

She was actually hungry. With no one to cook for her and no one to judge her plain food, Rumi went foraging in the kitchen and made herself a smoothie. In a small act of rebellion, she threw greens into it. She technically wasn’t cleared for greens – they needed to be steamed or boiled first and only in small amounts. But no one was around to know and it felt like a good choice.

She was just finishing her smoothie when the elevator dinged and Bobby and Zoey emerged, chatting enthusiastically. Rumi frowned. Was it her therapy day? She’d only been here two weeks – it should be next week, right?

“Hi Rumi!” Bobby called when he saw her. “Have you eaten?”

Rumi toasted her empty glass. “In process! Zoey, where have you been?”

Zoey turned beat red and ducked. That was unusual. Rumi looked to Bobby, who was trying not to laugh. “We’ve made a management decision,” he told Rumi. “You know how we can tell you to visit doctors and put you on vitamin prescriptions if you need them?”

“I’m aware,” Rumi replied, flatly.

“Well, the label has decided that they’re going to begin requiring you girls to be on birth control,” Bobby said. He paused in putting takeout food in the fridge only long enough to glance at Rumi’s dumbfounded expression and then burst into laughter.

“What?!” Rumi demanded. “Why?”

“It’s not just us, Rumi,” Zoey said, resembling a tomato. “Bobby let the Saja Boys know they have to be on a men’s pill for them to continue staying here too.”

“You already told them that?” Rumi felt like shriveling into a raisin.

Bobby was busting a gut laughing. Rumi glared. Though he may point fingers at the label, she wasn’t fooled. It had probably been his idea to begin with.

“You do get choices,” Zoey offered. “I got a shot that lasts for a year.”

Bobby leaned against the kitchen counter to stay upright and took a breath before he said, “Your appointment is tomorrow, Rumi. I’ll take Mira last.”

“How come Mira gets to go last?”

Zoey turned so red she almost became purple. Bobby shook with laughter for several more seconds, then straightened up and said, “We’re going in order of most concern.”

“Most concern?” Rumi flung her hand out to Zoey. “Her I get, but – oh.” He thought her and Jinu… because of him coming to help her in the bathroom… and wanting to talk afterwards. That was why she was 2/3. She flopped back on the couch, covering her face, and groaned. “No, Bobby! It’s not like that!”

“Ah, well, things can go from being not-like-that to like-that really quickly, Rumi,” Bobby said. “Don’t take it personally. Wouldn’t you do the same thing if you were the label? Keeping all of you together in one tower?”

Rumi groaned. “What if I quit the label?” she called.

“Don’t you dare!” Bobby called back in a sing-songy voice.

Rumi hauled herself up from the depths of embarrassment and went to put her glass in the sink. “Um, does that mean Mira will be back… soon?”

Bobby stopped laughing and took a breath. “I think I’d prefer her to have more time on her own,” he admitted. “I’m not going to just throw her back in with you girls. She’s going to be discharged tonight, and you can have a video call with her if she’s up for it, but I’ve already booked her a hotel for a few days.”

“And then she’ll be back?” Rumi asked.

Bobby shrugged. “We’ll see. I know you want her back, but I need to do what’s best for each of you.”

Rumi nodded. She could accept that.

After Bobby left, she and Zoey sat on the couch and played guitar and wrote a little more. They played a game and then Zoey decided to put on a movie and Rumi started reading on her phone. After last night’s encounter, she was determined to learn more about Gwishan. It was difficult to find things on the internet because Google kept defaulting to the Japanese version and Rumi was more concerned with Korea’s, but she managed to find some lore on them.

Gwishan, she already knew, were people who had lived who hadn’t broken their ties with the earth. They were held back by something. Most seemed restless – the sobbing wianbu and the spirits of the palace came to mind. But others were just… there. Passionate about something they hadn’t let go of. Like Sejong.

Most, if she were to go off of Mira, Zoey, and Jinu, were violent and unapproachable. But certainly not all.

They reminded her so, so much of her experiences with demons. Most you didn’t want to associate with. But a few select few…

What she hadn’t known about Gwishan was that people could sometimes lay their spirits to rest. If she hadn’t known they were real, she wouldn’t have given it any substance, but since she knew they were real, reading “A Mudang enters a trance to communicate with the spirit, identify the cause of its unrest, and negotiate a resolution” didn’t seem cooky.

It sounded like spirit therapy, almost.

“Ultimately,” the website she’d landed on read, “the primary requirement for a gwishan to find peace and move to the underworld is the resolution of their unfinished business or the cause of injustice that keeps them tied to the living world.”

Rumi hovered on the words, “cause of injustice”. Her eyes then shifted to the word, “keeps”.

Present tense. Keeps.

She was sure – positive – that Jinu’d recognized them. They were the people he had left behind. The source of his patterns.

Mira had said they could be summoned. Jinu had been thinking of them to make his patterns light up. He’d mentioned them seconds before Rumi had seen them. Had they been summoned by his thoughts? Or maybe him saying aloud, “my family”? Rumi had been able to summon Jinu as a transparent being with his name, but she’d been in a place that Jinu had called home.

His family had had no home, though. Maybe they were vaguely tied to the area they had lived, begged, and starved to death in.

Rumi typed, “How to summon Gwishan.”

Her timer for more food went off. Rumi groaned and got to her feet. “Zoey, do you want-“ she cut herself off. Zoey had passed out on the couch, hair undone, and face pressed against the cushions.

Rumi was alone.

She pulled a turtle blanket out of a basket to drape around Zoey, heat up some of the broth that remained in the fridge, and sipped it slowly out of a water bottle as she pulled her shoes on and left the house. She put her headphones in and jogged.

The alley they’d been last night was barely a song away. When she arrived, she put the earbuds away, sipping more of her broth, and crept into the darkness.

She thought about Jinu’s family. The little she knew about them. She thought about the bits of their faces she’d seen. She thought about his reaction last night. “Jinu’s family?” she asked. “Hello?”

She stumbled over a rock but caught herself on the wall. Inspiration suddenly struck. “I have some broth for you,” she called.

No answer.

Rumi took another step, and then a chill struck her foot and she jumped. Behind her, in nearly the same place they’d been last night, was the transparent images of a woman and her young daughter. The woman’s hand had passed through Rumi’s foot.

“Please,” the woman said, “Do you have anything to spare for my daughter and I? We’re sick, and we’ll die soon.”

Every muscle in Rumi’s body was frozen. It took all her focus to extend the bottle. The woman tried to take it, but it fell through her hand, hit the ground with a clang, and the warm broth sloshed everywhere. The woman and her daughter shrieked as it splashed on them, though it went right through them. Then the girl desperately threw herself onto her face and tried to suck the broth from the stone. Where she touched, it turned to ice, frosting across the stones. Both women began to cry. Rumi hurried to scoop up the bottle. She offered what was left to them, tilting it up so that they might be able to drink even if they couldn’t hold it, but nothing came out. She held the opening up to her eye and saw that everything that was left had frozen solid.

“I… I’m so sorry,” Rumi sputtered. “I don’t know…”

The mother and daughter grabbed onto each other, sobbing, and the ground turned yellow and bubby around them. They sank into the ground in a manner similar to Jinu’s tiger. Rumi watched in horror as they disappeared.

A caw sounded at the end of the alley.

Maybe Rumi’s thoughts had summoned him, because the tiger was there, waiting for her. It seemed more stern than usual. It reminded her of Bobby, actually.

Rumi stood up and took a step forward and gasped. Her foot was throbbing. She tried to put weight on it, but it ached so badly she couldn’t move it. So instead, she hobbled forward, using her hands on the walls, and finally fell onto the tiger’s back. The bird cawed at her.

The tiger began to move and Rumi squeezed onto it’s neck and then – she was flying. She looked down and saw the ground getting further away. What?

The tiger was running upwards, into the sky, towards Huntr/x tower. It landed her on her balcony, then plodded into her room until she was near enough on her bed she could roll onto it.

Rumi bit her lip and carefully worked off her shoe. The tiger watched as she stretched her sock down and revealed her ankle. It was swollen and a bruise as black as the Saja Boy’s demon skin and shaped like a hand covered it.

Dang. She was going to need medical attention.

“Zoey!” She called. “Zoey, wake up please!”

No answer.

With a sigh, Rumi pulled her phone out and dialed the one person she knew would pick up, no matter what unholy hour of night it was.

Two rings in and the phone clicked.

“Hello?”

“Hi Bobby,” Rumi grimaced. “I need some help…”

Chapter Text

“At least we don’t need to visit the doctor anymore,” Bobby said cheerfully. “Though I’m still interested in knowing how you managed to get second-degree frostbite in under a half hour on a walk in September, in the shape of a hand.”

Rumi just ducked her head and didn’t bite. There was no explanation she could give.

“The most severe case of frostbite the hospital has ever treated,” Bobby continued. “Just magically appeared.”

“Bobby…” Rumi whined.

“Rumi, give me something to work with here!” Bobby sighed. “I’ve got to tell the label something – you girls are wracking up all these hospital bills… I thought boys were more prone to these visits.”

“I don’t know… I was just walking and…” And now her foot was wrapped in two inches of gauze and she’d defied thermodynamics and she was a career-defining case for those doctors. At least she didn’t need to worry about her appointment for birth control – the doctors had given her an implant along with the gauze boot.

At least she’d had a bit of time to herself to think about what had gone wrong.

Jinu hadn’t been able to interact with her either, but he was a demon, not a Gwishan. The honmoon might have protected her from frostbite… or hellfire burns.

Bobby finally gave up on interrogating her and left her alone on the couch. Apparently, Zoey was off somewhere, gallivanting. The Saja Boys had been summoned somewhere by Gyeom and she had no idea where. She hadn’t seen Jinu for, like, two days.

Wow. That was weird.

Bobby brought her food and then set up a game for him and her to play. He kept his phone nearby and every so often would tune out to send a message or squint at an email. But he was good company. He ordered takeout that she could actually stomach.

The food hadn’t arrived yet when Bobby paused their game to check his phone again, then set it down and touched Rumi’s knee. “Mira would like to come home for a visit,” he said. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yes!” Rumi agreed immediately. She wasn’t sure why, since the last time they’d seen each other, things hadn’t gone well. But she was excited to see Mira again.

“She won’t stay the night,” Bobby warned her. “But she’ll come up to say hello.”

“It’s fine. Honestly.”

Bobby hesitated. “You seem… a lot calmer than I expected.”

Rumi twiddled her fingers. “I’ve just been thinking… Mira was a lot calmer than I expected her to be… when I came back. I don’t really understand why she was mad, but she doesn’t understand why I’ve been gone, either.”

Bobby pursed his lips. “Okay.”

Takeout arrived and Zoey returned and Rumi asked Bobby to fetch the card she’d bought with Jinu so she could sign it and have it ready for when Mira arrived.

The elevator dinged near seven and Rumi spun, thinking it was Mira, only for the five Saja Boys to haul themselves in, groaning. They were sweat-soaked, walking with dropped shoulders, and wearing the expressions(for once) that people associated with climbing up from hell. Bobby panicked and ordered more food, even though Baby Saja and Romance were already at the fridge. Mystery came to sit beside Zoey, who offered the last of her food.

Jinu walked by the couch, intent on sitting down, then paused and squinted at Rumi’s boot. His hands fell out in a silent full palm point.

“I know,” Bobby grumbled.

“Don’t ask,” Rumi sighed. She wanted to say, “I’ll tell you later,” but knew Bobby would be really, really mad if she did.

Jinu made a sound like, “uyeh,” and stepped over her to sit on Bobby’s other side. Bobby patted his leg. “What can I call you?” he mused aloud, peering at the group. “Saying you’re my boys feels off for some reason.”

“Who?” Jinu asked, confused.

“Bobby calls us his girls,” Rumi supplied. “He’s trying to figure out what he can call you.”

“We’re the Saja Boys,” Jinu said, as if this were obvious. “We are all boys.”

“Yes, but boys feels like…” Bobby waved a hand from side to side. “Like we all go to skate parks and smoke together.”

“I’m down!” Abby said, draping himself on the other side of the couch. He raised an eyebrow at Rumi’s boot. “What’d you do?”

Rumi grumbled and sank deeper into the couch.

“You break it?”

“Who broke what?” Baby called.

“I didn’t break anything,” Rumi muttered.

“Rumi broke her foot!”

“I didn’t break anything!”

Baby rolled his eyes. “Just when I thought my opinion of you couldn’t fall any lower,” he said.

“You really are the weakest hunter,” Romance called. “I thought the person who sealed the honmoon would be tougher, you know?”

“She’s a nepo baby, what’d you expect?”

“I’m not-” Rumi felt her own nostrils flare. She touched the honmoon and it lit around her. “You know what, if you want to go, we can go now?”

Silence. Romance and Baby exchanged glances, like they were daring the other to move first. Abby slid down the back of the couch, out of sight and reach of her sword. Rumi barely dared to hold her breath.

“Who’ll win?” Mystery whispered to Zoey, barely loud enough for Rumi to hear.

“Oh, they’re dead,” Zoey replied cheerfully. “No offense to them, but – OH, Mystery! Look at this turtle!” She squealed and curled the phone closer to herself without showing Mystery the screen.

Romance shrugged. “Okay hunter,” he ceded. “You called our bluff.”

“Braver demons that you lot were murdered by them,” Jinu said aloud. “Demons used to go up in groups to face all three of them at full strength. You won’t face one with a foot brace.”

“Whose side are you on?” Rumi demanded. “Are you encouraging me to murder your bandmates?”

“He’s on his own side,” Abby called. “Jinu never does anything that’s not for himself. He’s trying to justify not killing you at the aquarium.”

“The thing is,” Baby said, pointing with a spoon over the counter, “He would have caught you unaware. We don’t have that option. Because of him, actually.”

“Please continue to eat our food while you wish we were dead,” Rumi deadpanned. She scoffed and crossed her arms, but was secretly relieved the Saja Boys still considered her a threat. Sure, a threat they were willing to poke at, but a threat nonetheless. Even though they’d heard her throw up her eggs on day one and knew what her patterns were.

Bobby was still thinking, looking like it was difficult to do. “Collectively, I feel like I can call you my kids,” he mused aloud, effectively bringing himself to the center of everyone’s attention. “Boys and girls together, I feel like I can call you my kids and everyone would understand.” When no one replied, he glanced around and said, “Right?”

Baby and Romance seemed indifferent, if confused. Abby couldn’t seem to tell if Bobby was being genuine or not. Jinu was uncomfortable. Mystery looked as sold on the idea as Zoey was. “Yes!” She exclaimed. “Now I can tell everyone I have three dads.”

“Three?” Mystery asked.

“My mom remarried. Oh! Imagine if my dad marries a guy – then I’d have four! I’m collecting them!”

It was almost hidden by Zoey’s squeal, but the elevator dinged. “Woah,” Rumi heard. “Everyone’s here.”

“Mira!” Rumi exclaimed, twisting on the couch. She hissed a little as she moved her foot. Zoey leaped to her feet on the couch, jumped over Jinu and Bobby, and the leaped over the couch to run for the door.

“Mira! We missed you so much!”

“Oh, um-“

“You have to come to me! I can’t come to you!” Rumi called. “Bobby won’t let me!”

“I’m not gonna hit you… what did you do?!”

Mira rounded the couch with her arms still around Zoey, who was clinging to her like a sloth. Her arms and legs were wrapped around Mira’s neck and torso. Mira was wearing a white shirt and red trousers and a ball cap for anonymity. When she saw Rumi’s boot, her jaw swung. She pointed at it. “Did I-“

“No, no, you didn’t do this,” Rumi assured her. “I have frostbite. Mira, I’m-“

“Frostbite?” Mira asked.

“Frostbite?” Abby echoed from the floor. “Cap. It’s September!”

“No, she definitely has frostbite,” Bobby grumbled. He got to his feet, using Jinu’s shoulder as leverage. “The doctor confirmed – sorry Jinu – and it’s black and blue!” Bobby got up and leaned over Rumi’s propped foot to give Mira a hug. “Scale of one to ten?” he asked.

“I’m so confused,” Mira replied. “How did you get frostbite?”

“That’s the question of the day,” Rumi sighed. “Hey, I don’t know if you’re happy to see me, but I’m so happy to see you. How are you feeling?”

Mira stared at Rumi like she was wondering if the welcome was covering something else up. Zoey slowly climbed off of Mira and hovered, like she was expecting to need to mediate and hadn’t been called upon yet. “I’m fine,” Mira said. “The… I mean… they think I just had a breakdown. From stress.”

“But you’re feeling better now?”

“Yeah. I… I should be good.” Mira swallowed. “And… about what I said… I didn’t mean… I mean…”

“I know you meant it,” Rumi said, “And that’s okay. I know there’s a lot I need to make up to you. So take all the time you need to get better. And if you’re willing… I want to patch things up with you.” She reached for the coffee table and held up the card. “I got you this.”

Mira looked at the polar bears, opened the card, and then took an abrupt seat beside Rumi and put her arms around her. Rumi didn’t hesitate – she hugged her back. “I was so worried…” Mira whispered, taking her shoulders and searching Rumi’s face for any hint of a lie, “That I’d ruined things forever. You’re seriously okay? To be around me after that?”

“Yes,” Rumi said. “It’s like you said. If a two-year hiatus, me being a nepo-baby, you having family drama, and Zoey being half American didn’t ruin Huntr/x, then you throwing a potted plant at my head won’t do anything.”

Mira laughed. “That is not what I said.”

“It’s most of it!”

Mira let go of Rumi, bringing her arms down from around her neck and taking her hands instead. “I… thank you. I know I’m… kind of a difficult person. Overly blunt, short-fused, highly aggressive. My whole life, those things were a liability. But somehow, with you guys, they’re okay.”

Rumi squeezed Mira’s hand with a smile. “We wouldn’t have you any other way.”

Abby coughed, “gross!” and dropped off the back of the couch.

Romance swooned from the kitchen. “Kiss, kiss, kiss!” Baby shouted. Everyone laughed.

Mira looked over Rumi’s shoulder. “Bobby?” she asked.

“You’re still sleeping at the hotel,” Bobby replied. “At least one night.”

Mira sighed. “Right.”

“You can come back after your appointment tomorrow,” Bobby said. “But if I hear of one more potted plant being thrown-“

“Appointment?” Mira looked between Rumi and Zoey, whose smiles dropped. “What appointment?”

Bobby put a pin in his declaration with a laugh. “The one on your calendar.” He was clearly enjoying watching Rumi, Zoey, and some of the Saja Boys squirm.

“What calendar? I just got out of the hospital, Bobby.”

Rumi touched Mira’s shoulder and leaned over. “We’re all getting put on birth control,” she whispered. She knew there was no level she could whisper at that the Saja Boys wouldn’t hear but felt it prudent anyway. “Boy and girls. New company policy.”

“New company policy my a- Bobby!” Mira complained.

Zoey shook her head. “We all already tried,” she said.

“At least you didn’t have to go first,” Rumi said.

“Hey!” Zoey squeaked.

“No, my problem with it is that I’m unaffiliated!” Mira said. “Zoey and Mystery we all understand-“ Zoey squawked again, “-And maybe Rumi in a year or-“

“Hey!” Rumi protested. “You’re the one who said you would-“ The thought occurred to her: Shut Up. She pursed her lips together and shrank back into the couch. The Saja Boys were laughing again. Abby was writhing on the floor behind the couch, cackling. Mira was glaring daggers at her again.

“Thanks, Rumi,” Mira deadpanned. “You know exactly when to not say anything.”

“If there’s a real victim in all of this, it’s Baby,” Jinu said. “Just saying.”

Baby posed like he was dying in some epic battle. Mira groaned and covered her face. “Welcome back indeed.”

Chapter Text

By the end of day 2, Rumi had grown confident in her ability to hobble. Mira returned home fully that same evening. On the week-long anniversary of the Saja Boys being summoned, Rumi was proudly limping. Do Gyeom was due to return from his trip at the end of the week.

Wednesday night at 3 am, almost a week after she’d frozen her foot, Zoey shook her awake. “Rumi!” she called urgently. “You need to wake up!”

“Wa time’si?”

“We’re having a dance battle!” Zoey explained.

“Wa?” Rumi sat up in the middle of a huge yawn and saw all the lights out into the living room were blazing and… “Is that a disco ball?”

“Hurry and get dressed! Come on!” Zoey skipped back to the door. She was still in her pajamas. Rumi looked down at hers. Dressed? In what?

Apparently, “get dressed” meant “get into nicer pajamas.” The boys were all in their matching Huntr/x pajamas, warming up with great enthusiasm. Mira was stretching her arms with a wicked grin. Bobby sat at the bar, filming with a bright smile. The couch, the coffee table, the rug, and the bean bags had been pushed up against the walls. A disco ball had been hung and some stage lights plugged in along the wall.

How long had this been a plan? And how had they done it without waking her up?

“Problem!” Rumi announced, approaching Mira and Zoey. She pointed at her foot. “I can’t dance.”

She’d graduated from gauze sock to boot, but didn’t have much flexibility.

“It’s okay, just do your best,” Zoey said.

“Okay, ready?” Bobby shouted. “Action in three, two, one!” He pushed a button and Soda Pop began playing. The Saja Boys jumped together in excitement, paused, and then came in on beat. This wasn’t their usual picture-perfect choreography, though. Baby did a flip halfway through. Abby hoisted Jinu and Romance up on his shoulders, just for fun. Rumi was dying of laughter it was so ridiculous.

“Boo!” Mira called, jamming her thumb down in their direction. “Boo!”

“Our turn! Our turn!” Zoey shrieked, waving her hands and dancing on the tips of her toes. “Play our debut song!”

“No!” Abby shouted. “No! Absolutely not! That is the worst song EVER!”

“Shut up!”

“You’re just jealous!”

Jinu had set a plastic water bottle beside the wall. He knocked against Rumi’s shoulder as he passed, then leaned against the wall to take a sip. She waited, then shoved him. He toppled over, laughing. “Okay, okay, geesh,” he said.

She offered him a hand. He made to take it, rolling his eyes, but at the last second, she withdrew it and dusted off the shoulder he’d bumped. Jinu’s mouth dropped so far he couldn’t even retort. He got himself up, still shaking his head, and bumped her shoulder a lot lighter. “I’ll admit,” he whispered near enough she could hear. “I don’t like the done track. Too uncomfortable. But there’s something about the way you do the come for the crown line that scratches an itch in my head.”

Rumi smirked and raised her hand in her trademark salute. She’d done it offhandedly while writing the track with Mira and Zoey and it wasn’t ever going to leave the choreography. Jinu's cheeks turned pink. 

“Rumi!” Bobby called, snapping his fingers. “Focus! You’re on right now!”

“Play Golden!” Baby jumped onto Jinu’s shoulders. “Play- woah!”

Jinu lost his balance and the two of them tumbled towards the girls. “Stop it!” Mira shouted through giggles. “You’re going to break Rumi!”

“And your necks!” Rumi laughed.

“Alright, coming up next – Golden!” Bobby called.

Rumi tried to snap into stage mode – she really did. But it was impossible with as hard as she was laughing. Mira pushed her away from the wall, towards the camera, and Rumi stuck her tongue out at Bobby. Zoey had an arm still around her when they snapped into formation and began moving their arms.

It wasn’t the choreography they’d practiced. They kept laughing too much to hold it, so they kept having to improvise. But boy, did they dance. Mira and Rumi leaned back and linked arms so that they could lift Zoey in the air atop their shoulders in a pose. Rumi kept an eye on Mira out of the corner of her eyes and saw Zoey doing the same, and whatever she did, they did. They ended up throwing some of their newer choreography they’d been working on in, laughing and singing as they did.

Near the end of Golden, Rumi thought, “who’s that person hitting that note in the background?” She didn’t remember putting it in the track.

Where were the laughs coming from? And the cheers? Who was making them?

Her ankle wobbled and Abby came in to the rescue, lifting her up and over his head by holding her hips. Rumi raised her hands over her head like they’d planned it and opened her mouth and sang and – oh, that’s who was hitting the note. It was her. She opened her eyes, beaming, and the Saja Boys and Mira and Zoey all cheered and celebrated. Bobby was crying.

She was smiling so widely her face felt that it might split. She’d sang. She’d sang.

“Bobby!” Mira shouted. “Put Soda Pop back on! I can do that choreography better than any of the Saja Boys!”

“Oooh…!”

Rumi was set back down with her foot throbbing. Jinu appeared the moment Abby disappeared and put her arm around his shoulders to help her limp back to the bar. “Think that’s enough on your foot for now?” he laughed.

“Who came up with this?” Rumi demanded. “This is so much fun!”

“Uh, Mystery,” Jinu said, rubbing the back of his head.

As soon as she was sat, Rumi pushed Jinu back towards the group. “Hurry! You’re missing your song!”

“Don’t worry,” Jinu laughed. “I’ve been replaced.” He pointed. There, in the center of the group, was Mira, moving like Jinu never could. Rumi covered her mouth in sheer delight. Mira hit every beat like she had a vendetta to settle with the song. Zoey was hyping everyone on, bouncing on her toes and cheering.

Rumi felt fingers at her jawline. Jinu pulled her turtleneck down slightly. He raised his eyebrows at her. She smiled. “I sang,” she said.

“You haven’t looked yet, have you?” he asked. She shook her head.

“Rumi! Rumi! Rumi!” Zoey called, pulling their attentions away. “Let’s sing our new song! Gaja gaja gaja!”

“A new one?” Rumi asked. “Which one?”

“Are we doing comeback?” Mira called.

“Ah!” Bobby made a sound at the back of his throat. “Ah!”

“Actually…!” Rumi got off her chair and found Jinu’s hand to steady her as she walked in front of the camera. “Mira, Zoey and I wrote a song! For you! Can we sing it?”

Zoey wrapped her arms around Rumi’s arm. “Can you sing it,” she corrected.

“I don’t want to do it alone,” Rumi frowned. “No, come on… Romance, can you grab my guitar? And maybe can we have chairs – my foot is killing me!”

“How developed is this idea?” Bobby asked, fumbling the camera slightly.

“Um… written but in development? No recording has been done.”

“Would you be okay with me sharing lyrics for hype?”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds good!”

Someone brought out three chairs – one for Mira, even though she was just listening. The strap of Rumi’s guitar was put around her neck for her. She strummed a couple cords and glanced at Zoey, who began beatboxing a simple tune.

The Saja Boys all sat down on the floor. Romance laid his head on Rumi’s knee until Jinu nudged him and made a face. Then he leaned back with his head on Jinu’s shoulder instead.

Rumi began singing, quietly gauging her volume based on the atmosphere in the room. Bobby kept gesturing at her to amp it up. Rumi smiled over at Mira, then paused to adjust her fingers on the strings when she got to her favorite part.

“You say I used you,” she sang, and Mira’s smile dropped. “But really I used to…Think that you were someone I needed to be more like, and I hoped I could be someone in your life but, you never needed me to break my stride. You lifted me up knowing what I was like and I knew we’d reach all of our big plans, we’d grow squeezing our joined hands. We’d make something of this chance because you’d always cheer me on as a best friend.”

Abby whistled. Each of the Saja Boys clapped and cheered while Rumi held her note. “우리 다시 빛나,” she sang. “We’ll shine again.”

Then she strummed up and down on her guitar to make it vibrate and make everyone laugh. Mira almost tripped over Jinu as she stood up and leaned over to hug Rumi. “That was so… beautiful!” she said. “I can’t wait to record it!”

“Maybe don’t mention anything about recording right now!” Bobby called. “Just saying.”

Rumi finally grew suspicious. “Bobby, what are you doing?”

“Oh, just holding the camera.” Bobby was smirking a little bit though, and that didn’t put her at ease.

“Just recording?” she asked, squinting at her manager.

Jinu and Abby began shaking their heads before Bobby did. “Oh no!” Bobby drawled. “Is that what I’m supposed to be doing? Gosh, it’s so late and I’m so tired-“ he yawned. “I must have accidentally done a livestream.”

Rumi, Mira, and Zoey’s mouths dropped open. “What?” Mira asked. “Bobby, you’re kidding!”

“Nope! Everyone say, hi Korea!”

“Hi Korea!”

Rumi was laughing so hard she forgot to strike a pose and so she mimicked the person closest to her – Jinu, who was holding a heart by his cheek, and leaned into him. Bobby shouted, “Cut!” and then dropped the camera with a flourish on the counter. “I uploaded all the backstage footage from your variety show last night. It’s already going viral.”

“Wait!” Rumi demanded. “W-why would you do that? Now their manager will know they’re here!”

“That’s why we did it at 3 am and not 3 pm,” Mystery said.

“Our newest press plan,” Bobby assured her. “The boys and I have worked it out. Don’t worry, Rumi. Your surprise gives you some immunity.”

“But…” Rumi was so confused. “What about the lawsuit?”

“This is how we’re fighting the lawsuit,” Romance smirked.

“Demon Records has no legal grounds to sue for the Saja Boys appearing anywhere else,” Bobby explained, cracking open a bottle of water for himself as he headed towards the ground. “Meaning they’re technically free to appear anywhere they want. Our goal is to drive engagement for both groups up together. The Saja Boys also have some projects that Demon Records has declined to publish. If Huntr/x label starts seeing major drive from them, then I can convince the label to let them release that music here instead. Which will short Demon Records their major act, unless they’re willing to make a bargain with us.”

Bobby leaned down, fist-bumping the boys with a wide grin.

“Oh,” Mira said aloud. “And if they’re willingly appearing anywhere they want, with us, and we’re clearly not expecting it to be livestreamed and they are…”

“Hole in one,” Bobby agreed, nodding. “It’ll be a lot harder for Demon Records to prove you’re stalking them.”

Rumi chewed on her lip. She had no idea what Bobby had been told about the Saja Boy’s contract, but wasn’t convinced he knew what he was getting himself into. No one else seemed worried though. Even Mira, who was skeptical of everything.

But… Bobby was a good manager. He knew what he was doing…

She hoped.  

Chapter Text

Do Gyeom was apparently on a plane. It was probably the only reason the Saja Boys hadn’t been summoned anywhere by the next morning at 7 am. He probably thought they were still in the demon realm. What a rude awakening he was going to have when he landed and got connected to cell service again. Huntr/x had seen their biggest engagement numbers since the Idol Awards two years ago last night, and the Saja Boys their biggest yet(according to Romance). Golden had returned to radio overnight. People were obsessing over their offstage dynamic. They were analyzing all the details. And everyone was excited for new Huntr/x.

Screenshots circulated. Rumi got on social media briefly before getting out of bed and tensed to see edits of Zoey and Mystery speaking to each other with bright smiles. Mystery blushing. She almost leaped out of her skin when she saw the first screenshots of her and Jinu too. Offering him her hand… him helping her off… his face when Romance put his head on her knee.

Rumi was up before Mira or Zoey and sang to herself as she got ready for the day quietly. In the bathroom, she poked her turtleneck down and saw that the patterns had diminished to her collarbone.

Meaning, for the first time since probably her third year of being an idol, she could wear a normal long-sleeved shirt if she wanted to.

She opened the door into the living room. Nothing had been put away. It was kind of beautiful to see everything scattered about. The evidence that they’d had a good time last night.

“You’re not covering your neck.”

Rumi’s eyes shot to the kitchen. Jinu was sitting on a bar stool, leaned against the counter and sipping a steaming mug of something. He was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt that wasn’t buttoned. Striped across his chest and lingering on his face were his patterns.

Rumi hadn’t looked, when they’d been in the alleyway together. But she glanced now and remembered why she’d decided to revise Jinu to a ten. He looked good. Really good.

And he was raising his eyebrows at her, waiting for her response.

“I don’t need to,” she replied.

“You never did.”

She snorted and moved into the kitchen, putting the bar between herself and his abs. “I actually kinda did.”

“Why? Because your… fans would panic? And Mira and Zoey and Bobby would leave forever?”

“Shh,” Rumi hissed.

Jinu tapped his ears. “They’re asleep,” he whispered.

Still, she glared at him. “Yes, actually, that was the reason. And… I thought I could get rid of the patterns. They’d never know.”

“What did you say?” Jinu asked. “If Mira throwing a potted plant at your head couldn’t ruin Huntr/x, then patterns definitely-“

“That is not what I said.” The tips of her ears felt piping hot.

“I think you need to have more faith in them,” Jinu said. “Also, I made you rice.”

So he had. In a corner on the counter was Mira’s pink cooker, letting off hot air while it waited for her. The gesture was so mundane, so thoughtful, that it softened Rumi’s irritation at him. “Thank you,” she said, and pulled a bowl out of the cupboard.

Soon, she was sat beside him with the bowl warming her hands. “I‘ve been reading about Gwishan,” she whispered. “It’s been interesting.”

Jinu went very stiff. “Oh?”

“Reading about how people negotiate with the spirits, to help them resolve what’s keeping them behind and allow them to pass on in peace.” Rumi reached out and touched Jinu’s shoulder. “Did you know that they can be summoned?”

“Oh hell, Rumi, you’ve got to be kidding me.” He turned in the bar stool to face away from the view of the sun coming up over Seoul and the shambles of the living room. Her hand was knocked away. She paused as he raked his hands through his hair. “No. Bad idea.”

“Why?”

“They’re… not themselves, Rumi. They aren’t.”

“Neither are you, from when you last saw them.” Rumi moved her hand, on a whim, to his knee. “Look, Jinu, from my research, it seems that… they won’t be able to leave this state until someone helps them move out of it. They’re stuck.”

“I know.” Jinu sounded angry with her. He covered his face. “I know, Rumi.”

“I don’t want to leave them like that, Jinu.”

“They won’t want to see me, Rumi.”

“You tried to help them,” Rumi said. “But… you made a mistake.”

“Rumi, it’s not that simple.”

“You were just trying to help them and-“

He reached out and touched her lips, shaking his head. She went completely still. His fingertips were soft on her mouth. “I’m not ready.”

 “They still don’t realize they’ve died,” Rumi said. “They still think it’s coming. That they’re still starving.”

Jinu inclined his head. “You’ve talked to them?”

Rumi put her bad ankle forward in answer and gestured to it. Jinu groaned as he made the connection and covered his eyes.

“And you still want to do this?”

“You don’t?”

Jinu faced the wall, so she couldn’t see his expression. “I don’t want to see their faces when they recognize me,” he said with his voice cracking. “Or yours, when you…”

She was nervous, but she squeezed his knee. “Jinu, you made a mistake. But… I am a mistake. You know I am. Have been since the day I was born.” Jinu began to shake his head, so she spoke faster. “You helped me to get better. To be healed. But you deserved that opportunity more than I ever-“

“I lied to you,” Jinu interrupted, raising his voice over hers. His patterns turned pink.

Rumi froze. A million things came to mind. What had he lied about? Her patterns? Condemnation? “W-what?”

Jinu covered his face. “I left them,” he whispered. “I only made a deal with Gwi-ma to get myself out of that miserable life. I let them starve. While I slept in the palace in silk sheets, with my belly full every night. That’s how I became a demon. I left them, Rumi. I left them.”

His patterns shimmered in the morning light. Jinu whispered, “You are not a mistake. Your only crime – if you can call it that – is existing. Me? I deserve to suffer for eternity for where my family is right now.”

She pulled his hand off his face and ended up lacing their fingers. “But that’s just your demon talking. You have to fight it.”

“Rumi, that’s not how it works!” He snapped, and the honmoon pulsed red around him.

“Yes, it is!” Rumi snapped back, and an equally strong blast rocked the barrier. They both flinched and glanced at Zoey and Mira’s rooms. Jinu shook his head in confirmation, and Rumi calmed down and leaned towards him. “Look at me, Jinu.”

“I can’t.”

She took his jaw and pulled him towards her. Her other hand she put to her throat. “Yes, it is,” she repeated. “I know because you showed me the way. We can be free. I want to set you free, Jinu.”

He scowled. “That’s nice, but-“

“I have more patterns than you anyway,” Rumi interrupted. “If I get rid of mine, then you’ll have no excuse for not trying.”

“I was condemned. It’s different,” Jinu insisted.

His eyes seemed to be focusing anywhere but on her eyes. Oh, this frustrating… stupid… She shook him. “You said you didn’t want to see my face when you told me,” she said. “Look at me? How do I look? Like I hate you? Do I look like everything you did for me doesn’t matter-?”

He looked at her and his gaze shut her up. Like he’d slapped a hand over her mouth. He examined her face. Then said, “Beautiful.”

She frowned. “What?”

“You told me to look at you,” Jinu said. He took her wrist and pulled her hand away from his chin. “You asked how you looked. You look beautiful.”

Funny how her body could have so much feeling and yet feel so numb and tingly. Funny how her brain could seem hyper-aware and cloudy at the same time. She let her wrist fall slack. It felt so nice in his grip. “So do you,” she whispered.

“That’s the problem,” Jinu said. “I’m a demon. You’re a demon hunter.”

Where was he going with this? What was he saying? Where did she want him to go with this? What did she want to say to him?

“What you want to get rid of, I’m stuck with forever,” Jinu said. “You’ll die. I won’t. I’ve lived four hundred years and the things I’ve done – in my life and as a demon… I don’t think you can imagine. There’s a reason my family won’t want to see me. There’s a reason… you shouldn’t.” His gaze faltered and he looked away. The loss of that look almost killed her. She touched his face with her free hand and brought it back up immediately.

“Maybe,” she whispered, knowing everything he was saying was either true, or what he believed to be true. “But… you are the only person I’ve ever thought the patterns looked beautiful on.”

The secret sailed out of her along with every trace of her breath. She watched the purple marks slope across his face, crossing his nose, scraping his chin. Half of one eye was molten gold. It was the most incredible feeling, looking at him.

“Don’t you want me to get rid of them?”

“I…” Did she? “I just want you to feel… at peace with yourself. If you want to keep your patterns, that doesn’t matter to me. I still want to know you.”

His thumb stroked an artery in her wrist that had her seeing stars. “I thought the same thing about the patterns only being beautiful on you,” Jinu admitted softly. “Whenever I was reading yours. They were always ugly on me. Maybe the reason we don’t think they’re beautiful is because we spend so much time not looking at them. But… I want to look at you… all the time.”

He slid his hand up from her wrist until their hands settled palm-to-palm.

“Jinu,” Rumi whispered. His face was filling her vision slowly.

“Rumi.” His breath warmed her lips. He smelled like the tea he’d been drinking. In four seconds, Rumi had a million different desires for him awaken. Suddenly, she wanted to get high off the brush of his skin on hers. She wanted to inhale his scent. She wanted to taste his tongue in her mouth – not something she’d ever wanted from anyone before. There had been idols she wanted to kiss, but there hadn’t been anyone she wanted to take their tongue over hers, on her skin, down her neck.

Bobby had been right. “Not like that” could change to “Like that” almost in an instant.

Rumi closed her eyes and was already hallucinating the incoming kiss when the elevator dinged. She and Jinu leaped apart from each other. “Ay, ai…” Rumi scooped up her bowl of rice and ate a spoonful. Jinu gulped about half his mug down in one go, then began to cough violently.

“Good morning!” Bobby said, rounding the corner with a big smile. “Still here?”

“Heading out soon,” Jinu wheezed. “Probably.”

“Anyone else up?”

“Um…” Jinu pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned at it. “Yes,” he grumbled, and Rumi glimpsed him send a text out of the corner of her eyes.

Moments later, her phone buzzed against her thigh. Assuming it was from Jinu, she pulled it out carefully, only to be greeted by a message from Abby to the group chat. “I love Bobby so much but I’m so ready to throw him off the tower rn.”

Rumi glanced at Jinu, who was already typing a lecture, by the looks of it. He’d completed a paragraph before he erased it all and replied, “Quit eavesdropping.”

“Plans for today?” Bobby asked them as he pulled out his phone and whistled. “By the way, your numbers have skyrocketed! Both of you! Congrats. Of course, numbers don’t mean everything, but they’re something to feel good about occasionally.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to go for a walk,” Rumi said. “Just to the park and back. Then record comeback with Mira and Zoey.”

“Take your phone with you,” Bobby said. “How’s rice?”

Rumi shrugged. It was plain but plain was good. “Maybe I’ll pass fifty kilograms before October’s over.”

“But if – if -  you tour, then you’ll want more than that.”

“Most idols wish they could weigh this much.”

“You’re not most idols,” Bobby replied.

The group chat had begun popping. A blush was creeping up Rumi’s neck. Zoey texted, “What happened?” and Mystery dropped three sobbing faces into the chat.

“Apparently Rujinu almost sailed and then the elevator dinged,” Romance explained. He sent a screenshot from a group titled “back from dead boys” that, underneath a meme from Baby, showed messages from just a minute before. Abby had texted, “PLEASE tell me you kissed her before Bobby got there.”

“No,” Jinu had replied. “Mind your own business.”

“NoooOOO!” Zoey shrieked from her room. Her voice echoed off the walls and made Rumi blush and duck her head. “BOBBY!”

Bobby jumped. Rumi groaned and put her head fully on the counter.

“You okay, Zoey?!”

“BOBBY!”

Right, I’m going to head out,” Jinu muttered, jumping off the bar. “Before they try to make this a democratic decision.”

Rumi caught his wrist. “Um, that thing… do you know when you’ll have to leave?”

“We could be summoned at any time,” Jinu replied in a whisper. “I have no idea when Gyeom will call us. But… he has to sleep. And he’s not stupid enough to leave us alone on his summoning while he sleeps.”

“So…” Rumi tried to imply with her eyes what she meant. Stupid Saja Boys and their through-floors hearing. How’d they do that anyway?

Jinu deflated. “Tonight? Or whenever I’m back?”

She released him and he quickly fixed the collar of his shirt and headed towards the elevator, swallowing the last of his tea.

She kept her eyes on her rice and focused on making sure her stomach liked what she was putting into it. She didn’t notice anyone else was in the room until Zoey tapped her shoulder and made her jump. “Hey,” she said. “Team check-in. Let’s go.”

“Coming!” She put her bowl in the sink and dashed to join them.