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It didn't take long for Mira to catch up to Rumi. Not that Rumi was trying to run. Her footsteps were slow and staggered, a sedate pace that she set when she wasn't looking to get away, just thinking. Mira quickly caught up and then started walking alongside her, following Rumi's lead.
For the longest time, they were both silent, which suited Mira just fine. She didn't have that many words to say—that was always Zoey's thing, not hers—but she still wanted to offer Rumi a shoulder to lean on or a listening ear to speak to.
It was what Zoey would have wanted. What Mira wanted to do, too.
Their steps took them all the way to the city, winding through packed sidewalks, bustling streets full of humming cars, and the vibrant livelihood of Seoul. It was still golden hour, the sun's warm rays beaming through the streets and casting a warm glow against Mira's back as she walked. She felt almost hot in the thick black leather that she was still wearing, but she did not comment on it, just as Rumi didn't say anything either. The two of them continued like this for a long while, even as decorative hanok homes gave way to towering pillars of glass and steel, and it wasn't long before Mira started recognizing some of the structures around them.
They were headed for the Tower. Their home.
Rumi started to pick up her pace once they got closer, probably hurrying to get to somewhere more comfortable. Mira followed close behind, almost in lockstep as they quickly went from city center to HUNTR/X Tower, and then swiped in with their keycards with mirrored efficiency.
It wasn't until the elevator was already on its way up that Mira chose to speak. "Rumi?"
Rumi didn't answer immediately, not verbally anyway. Her body tilted slightly, angled in just the right fashion to let Mira know that she was listening. So Mira continued, trying her best to navigate her best friend's emotional turmoil without committing any major grievances. "How… how are you feeling?"
"I don't—I think…" Rumi gave a frustrated sigh. Her gaze turned towards Mira, a mildly tortured expression inside of them. No, not tortured, just confused. Baffled maybe. "I'm actually not sure how I'm supposed to be feeling? Like—I liked it, yes—and… but also Zoey, and she's—"
Rumi pressed her palms against her face as she made a noise. "Augh… I just… don't know."
Mira understood the feeling—when words couldn't quite describe all the emotions that she must have felt. She wasn't the most equipped to help traverse through it, but she tried anyway. "So… did you like the kiss at least?"
Rumi gave her a flat look that could have killed any other human. It was definitely mildly threatening, with a slight promise of retribution.
Mira is unfazed. "So?"
"Yes, I liked the kiss," Rumi said, and then mumbled, "I liked it enough to kiss her again."
Zoey will be at least pleased to hear that, Mira almost said, but didn't. This wasn't about Zoey, no matter how much she hated having left her alone to fend for herself. This was about Rumi, and about whatever feelings she might be feeling.
"And?" Mira prodded deeper.
"And what?"
"And why did you decide to walk away?" Mira started and paused. She dreaded even asking this, but it was a necessary question. "Was it… Zoey?"
Rumi opened her mouth to answer, but they were interrupted by the elevator's loud ding! to indicate their arrival. The door slid open to greet them with their lounge space, still slightly messy from their planning session this morning. Both of them immediately walked over to the couch—whatever this was, this was definitely a couch kind of discussion.
Rumi slid down into her usual spot, but Mira took this chance to sit down next to her. She had considered sitting on her usual spot on the ottoman, but that didn't feel right, not without Zoey here, and especially not when Rumi still looked so uncertain.
"So," Mira started once more, once they were both comfortable on the couch. Sunlight streamed in through the window, although it was rapidly dimming and would soon set. "Zoey?"
"Oh," Rumi said, as if recalling their short conversation. Her nose scrunched up slightly, and her lips pressed flat, her mind deep in thought. "No, it wasn't that. If anything, it being Zoey helped."
"Okay," Mira breathed. She could work with that. She wasn't entirely sure what she would have done if it turned out that Zoey's feelings weren't reciprocated, but it almost definitely wasn't going to be easy. Zoey would have gotten over it over time, Mira was certain, but that didn't mean it wouldn't have sucked for either her or Rumi.
"So you liked the kiss," Rumi nodded at Mira's question, "and you liked that it came from Zoey," Rumi nodded again, "then… what are you thinking?"
Mira cringed at her wording. It wasn't quite what she meant to ask, but Rumi answered anyway. "I just… I don't know. I think I didn't expect that?"
She waited.
"Like I knew that she had a crush on me—"
Mira snorted. "She really wasn't being subtle, was she?"
"No, she wasn't," Rumi smiled. Her head shook slightly as she continued, "And I didn't mind it, but I also didn't want to say anything. Because between my patterns… and my…" she gestured at herself, like Mira was supposed to pick up on what she meant with that singular statement, "I didn't want to push her. I didn't even… I don't know, feel it until like… recently."
Recently?
There was an image forming here, but Mira needed more data. She wasn't aware of how in-tune with all the queer terminology Rumi was (the only reason she was even informed about any of it was that Zoey wouldn't stop talking to her about it that one time), but some of it seemed relevant here.
Mira asked, as gently as she could. "What do you mean by recently?"
"I…" Rumi wrapped an arm around her own shoulder, clutching her forearm with a hand. She was feeling uncomfortable, Mira realized.
"It's okay," she hurried to say, adding, "you don't have to tell me."
"No," Rumi's head shook fiercely, "No, I want to tell you. I think I need to talk to someone about this."
She took a deep breath. "Zoey is… amazing. You are, too, and for the longest time, I felt really lucky that I had the two of you by my side. I know we've recently talked about the Golden Honmoon, and how it might not—"
Her head shook again, eyes scrunching together with frustration. Mira recognized it as not feeling like her words not coming out right, so she didn't say anything, just leaned in closer and waited.
"But I was so scared," Rumi spoke, her voice quivering. "Scared of showing you guys my patterns. Scared of what the two of you might think. Scared that everything I've ever worked so hard for might not make it in time. I was… just really lost. I was pretending to be fine, but I wasn't really."
Rumi paused, probably still thinking through her words. Mira decided that this probably wasn't easy for Rumi to talk about, not when it was still so raw. So she leaned in and murmured, "Do you want me to hold you?"
"Yeah," Rumi said and leaned closer, so Mira wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She tried to be cognizant of how Rumi might be feeling, so she left her arm like that, just loosely holding Rumi. It was working, though: her breathing smoothed out, and her next words came out calmer.
"And Zoey saw through that. She saw through all of it. She saw me." Rumi stared down at her hands. "And instead of… being afraid of me, she helped me. Helped me tell you about this, about my patterns. She hasn't stopped helping me, and I am…"
Rumi's voice faltered for the briefest of moments and then steadied. "I am just… so grateful to her. For her. And she's always been like this; she's always been so considerate and caring and… comforting. So I didn't want to say anything about her crush because I didn't want to… hurt her."
"You know that you don't owe her anything, right?" Mira asked, even though she hated bringing it up. But there wasn't a guidebook for guiding your best friend through your other best friend's confession, so she had to make do.
"I know—" Rumi whirled to face her, brows furrowing in slight anger or frustration. "I know that. I was going to… let her down gently. But something changed. Ever since we talked about my patterns, I… I've been feeling things."
"Feeling things?" Mira raised an eyebrow.
Rumi huffed, a furious red streaking across her face. "Yes. Feeling things. I don't know if it was always there, or a recent thing, but I've been having feelings for Zoey, and I don't…"
She looked away as she mumbled lamely, "I just don't know."
There was a momentary lull in the conversation that Mira used to look at Rumi a bit more closely. She was biting her lower lip, her jaw clenched tight with tension—all signs that she was still hiding something. Once you got past the walls that Rumi tucked herself behind, she was a remarkably easy person to read.
Mira decided to loosen her up.
"You've been having feelings for Zoey?" she asked, a smirk already forming. She was already having so much fun teasing Zoey about this, and now she got to tease Rumi, too. "That sounds kinda gay."
Rumi whipped her head back to face her, already sputtering. "I—what? No, I'm talking about—you know what, why am I even talking about this to you?"
Mira leaned back and drawled, "If not me, who else are you going to talk to? Celine? Your plants? Derpy? Please don't tell me you were thinking of talking to a magical spirit tiger about your feelings."
"Derpy at least wouldn't tease me about my feelings," Rumi shot back, huffing with exaggerated pompousness. "Are you here to help me or not?"
Mira rolled her eyes. "I can help you and tease you at the same time. It's what I do."
"I'm starting to seriously doubt that," Rumi mumbled under her breath. Yet, she didn't move away, so Mira took that to mean that she was open to more.
Mira asked quietly, "So what are these feelings?" And then, in case she read her wrong, she added, "You don't have to say anything either."
Rumi shook her head. "No, it's fine."
She was quiet for a long time, playing with her braid in her lap—a nervous action, Mira knew—but Mira waited for her to gather her thoughts. And then, when Rumi started speaking, it was with a slow and measured cadence, like her thoughts were still forming mid-sentence.
"I… I like how safe she makes me feel. Like I could tell her anything and she would know what to say. She always has so many things to say about so many different things, and she knows so much but is always excited to share it with me, with us."
Rumi started picking up rhythm as she continued to speak. She spoke more words than Mira thought her capable of speaking, all of it pouring out like a garden hose unleashed. "I like how she cares so much about everyone; the fans, random strangers, or us. I like her silly dances and her random facts and her…"
She chuckled, raising a hand to her hair to brush it back. "I like her laugh. You know, the one that she does when she's looking at memes or cracking a joke. It's so silly, but it's also just so… her."
Mira nodded. "Yeah, that's Zoey for you."
"Yeah," Rumi brought her hand back down to curl her fingers together. "She's special. She really is. She's had a crush on me for a long while now, but she's never said anything. And… I really never understood that."
"What didn't you understand?"
"The crush," Rumi said, and then immediately added, "N-Not that I'm upset about it, just… I've never really had one, so I didn't know why she would be feeling that way."
Oh. Mira could feel her suspicions being confirmed the more that Rumi talked about this. She wished she had Zoey here to properly explain it, but she was fairly certain that she would at least be able to do a passing job. Worst comes to worst, she could point her at Naver search until Zoey got back.
Rumi continued, unaware of Mira's realization, "Like, she's her, and I'm… me."
"You know that we're all kinda hot, right?"
"Yes, I know that, but not like that." Rumi's lip turned upwards as she hurried to add, "Objectively, I know that we're all pretty, so it was only natural for Zoey to be at least… attracted to me in that way."
"Speak for yourself," Mira drawled. "I don't happen to be attracted to you in that way."
Rumi glared at her, and Mira shrugged unapologetically. She was bi, and had told Rumi and Zoey that ages ago… but that didn't mean she was into them.
"It's more the fact of… her liking me," Rumi continued, promptly ignoring her interruption. "I couldn't imagine liking her back before."
Mira hummed, taking note of her last few words.
"And now?" she asked, bringing her hand down to press on Rumi's shoulders. Mira wasn't the most touchy person—that was more Zoey's thing, not hers—but it seemed like the right thing to do.
Rumi exhaled a deep breath. "And now I… like her, I think? But I can't tell if it's because she has been so kind, or… if it's something I didn't think about because of my patterns, or because of… me."
There it was again.
"You keep saying that," Mira spoke, bringing her other hand forward to point toward her. "Me. What do you mean by that?"
Rumi's answer wasn't what she expected. "Jinu told me that all demons do is feel."
Ugh Jinu. Mira should have known he was somehow involved. She definitely should have smashed his face when she got the chance. Maybe she'll do it the next time she sees him for good measure.
"So I thought that… when I started feeling… stuff," Rumi started, and Mira couldn't help but snort. Rumi glared at her again but didn't stop speaking, "I thought that it was because of the… demon part of me."
Nevermind. She was definitely going to smash Jinu's face in. Maybe slice a part of him with her gok-do for good measure. Just because they needed him, they didn't need all of him, right?
"And, and I can't help but think that… I shouldn't be like this for her. Like there's something wrong with me and—"
Mira cut her off, "Rumi, there's nothing wrong with you."
"What do you mean?"
"That's not a demon thing, that's a human thing," Mira explained calmly. "Have you ever considered that you might be demi? Or ace?"
"Demi? Or ace?" Rumi asked, looking just a bit uncertain. She didn't look confused, although the pinch in her brow might have been an indication. "I don't think so? I mean, I like people—I like Zoey, I think?"
Mira took the moment to pull her arm away from Rumi's shoulders to grab her phone from her handbag. She flipped her browser tabs until it landed on something she had been looking into recently, too, albeit for a different reason.
"Here," she said, in lieu of an explanation. Rumi took the phone from her and started reading, her head dipping to glance down at the screen's words.
Mira also spoke, not only to fill the silence, but also to reassure that Rumi—whatever her feelings were on the matter—was seen and heard. "I don't think I can tell you what you are or aren't—that's not on me to tell you. But I think even if you don't have it all figured out, you are allowed to… feel things."
Mira waggled her brows at the last bit, but Rumi was still too busy reading to have caught it. No matter, she just thought it was mildly funny how Rumi could sound so immature yet so refined at the same time.
"Oh," Rumi said after a moment, handing the phone back. She was biting her lower lip when she repeated, "That explains a lot."
She turned to her and asked, "So… what now?"
Mira shrugged. "It's your feelings. What do you want to do?"
"I…" Rumi shrugged too, her shoulders moving slowly with uncertainty. "I think I should probably… talk to Zoey?"
Mira hummed. "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for, Rumi. Zoey will understand, you know that, right?"
"No, I know," Rumi's lips quirked into a half-smile, its edges weakly raised. "I just realized that I left Zoey without an answer, and she's probably still worried if she did something wrong, instead of it being my thing."
That did sound like Zoey.
"I can call her and see where she's at. See if she needs a ride," Mira said, picking up her phone. She quickly dialed Zoey's phone number. It went straight to voicemail. She tried again. Voicemail again. A couple of text messages also went nowhere, so she checked the Location Sharing feature. It was off, a singular gray dot still at the Hanyangdoseong.
She groaned. "I think her phone's out of power. We might have to get Bobby just in case, too."
"No, it's fine," Rumi said. At some point, she must have also acquired her phone because she was looking down at it when Mira looked up. It closed shut with an audible click! once Rumi realized that Mira was done with her futile attempts to reach Zoey. "She's probably already on the way back."
Mira hummed in agreement. Zoey was self-aware enough to know that they were bound to worry if she was gone for too long. As Hunters, the first thing Celine had taught them was that staying alone for extended periods of time would ultimately lead to tragedy. A bit morbid for Mira's taste, but she understood the sentiment.
Rumi was still leaning back into the couch, so Mira used this moment to look her over. She looked tired. Emotionally, and probably physically, too.
It's been a long day for all of us, Mira realized, glancing back at her phone's clock. 7:16. It was still rather early by their usual schedules—it wasn't uncommon for their daily routine to run into the late evening hours—but Mira felt like she was ready to lie down and sleep until tomorrow. Today had been a day full of emotionally-charged revelations, and Mira couldn't blame Rumi for feeling so out of it at this time. Not when she was feeling the same, too.
Rumi must have caught onto that because her eyes drifted over to Mira's and shone with a glimmering brightness. Her lips quirked into a soft but weary smile.
It struck Mira how she hadn't seen Rumi like this before.
This was a Rumi without her faults and fears tucked behind a placid mask.
Mira leaned forward and whispered, "Can I hug you?"
Without even saying a word, Rumi nodded and pitched forward, her arms slinging around Mira's back with firm enthusiasm. Mira pulled her closer and wrapped her arms around Rumi as well, until they were pressing against each other. It was a genuine closeness that she hadn't had the chance to share with Rumi before. Until now.
They stayed like that for the longest time.
Finally, when Rumi pulled back, her limbs retreating slowly like vines, her face was radiant. There was still a bit of lingering uncertainty in the shape of her brow, but she looked a lot more like the confident Rumi she always projected herself as.
Mira chose this moment to speak, "You know that I'm happy for you, right? No matter what you choose to do, I'll be on your side. And Zoey's. Both of yours."
Rumi giggled, her mouth widening into that dorky smile. "Yeah."
She said softly, "Thanks, Mira."
Mira hummed and leaned back. She wasn't sure what to do now except wait for Zoey. But she was pretty confident that whenever she did, they would be able to have that talk that Zoey so desperately deserved.
Privately, she was cheering both of them on.