Work Text:
‘Hey. Wanna meet up tonight?’
Jinu thoughtlessly pressed his thumb down on his phone’s ‘send’ button in between getting dressed after his shower. His turbulent night was rough and plagued with nightmares. Upon waking up in a cold sweat in the dark…all he could think about was a temporary escape. That escape was Rumi.
He glanced at the mirror behind him, which displayed all of the violet patterns that cursed the skin of his back. He wasn’t the only one with these patterns…and he wasn’t the only one to know of the pain they carried. Sure, his situation and Rumi’s weren’t the same, but they were similar in their own ways. Maybe that was why they kept meeting up every other night in secret to talk.
To say that the two of them understood everything about each other was incorrect, and confiding in one another was a fine line. He hadn’t told Rumi everything he had done, everything that made him the monster that he was. He wasn’t sure if he ever would…because he strangely didn’t want to be hated by Rumi more than he already was.
It took a lot of convincing to even get Rumi alone with him for one night, let alone several. But after they talked that first night and shared their similarities, every succeeding encounter had been easier. That was especially true for Rumi, who seemed far less guarded around Jinu than she had been in the past. The more they had been meeting up, the more the lines between friend and foe began to blur for Jinu. He listened to the rowdy snickering of the rest of the Saja Boys outside of the bathroom. They were cracking jokes about taking souls and stealing the limelight of HUNTR/X. At the same moment, his phone pinged a reply from Rumi.
‘Sure. Sounds nice.’
Jinu conflictedly pulled his shirt up over his back, hiding his demonic patterns once more. He wasn’t sure…if he wanted to steal Rumi’s soul. He buttoned up his shirt and headed out of the bathroom, shoving his existential crisis to the back of his mind for the moment.
“Finally done in the bathroom, pretty boy?” Abby teasingly asked Jinu with a smirk, the dark haired demon narrowing his eyes in irritation. He wasn’t in there that long, was he?
“Did you forget that we have a fan signing to get to this morning? Don’t wanna keep them sweet souls waiting.” Mystery reminded Jinu with a hint of fascination, one that rubbed Jinu the wrong way. When Mystery looked those fans in the eyes, he wouldn’t be thinking about how happy he was for their support. He’d be thinking about how good they’d taste.
“Whatever; let’s get going.” Jinu flatly responded to his group, heading on his way with his team in trail.
Their demon manager led them into the van they’d be taking to the venue. Thankfully, the ride wasn’t too long, which came as a relief to Jinu. He aimlessly stared out the window for the entirety of the ride, continuing to listen to his members lust over the souls they’d be taking in the night. He could only think about the one soul he’d keep hiding from them…the one he’d be encountering tonight.
It wasn’t long before the Saja Boys arrived at the venue for their fan signing, which took place shortly after the fact. As always, Jinu put on a compelling expression for his fans as he spoke with them and signed their merchandise. The idol world was honestly very hard for him to comprehend. Life was so different now compared to the one he lived prior to becoming a demon. In that life, idol culture wasn’t present…and adapting to something he had little knowledge of was definitely a challenge. Nonetheless, he felt that the Saja Boys had picked up the traits of idols rather quickly. He wasn’t sure if it was something to be proud of but…he felt like they had become a group worthy of standing among their competitors. Maybe that was why fans liked them so much. Perhaps it wasn’t good in the long run…to have so many dedicated fans.
“Jinu, are you looking for any romance this Valentine’s Day?” A fan asked as she got her photocard signed, puzzling Jinu slightly. What was ‘Valentine’s Day’? That was a term he had never heard before in this human world. Regardless of his perplexity, he glanced to his right.
“Don’t I have enough of that around already?” He playfully assumed as he placed his hand under Romance’s chin. Romance laid into the fanservice by resting his face into Jinu’s hand, causing fans around them to squeal in excitement.
“Oh come on, you’re gonna get Rumi a gift, right? I mean, you guys are pretty close, huh? I’m sure she’s anticipating something!” Jinu’s fan blurted out before being nudged to approach Baby, the next member in line.
The lack of clarity on the situation left Jinu’s eyes slightly wide with confusion. Why would Rumi expect something from him on this ‘Valetine’s Day’? Although he tried not to let it show, his curiosity of it all began to swallow him whole.
He did his best to get through the rest of the fan signing, which lasted for about an hour or so. As soon as the Saja Boys were returned to their van to head for lunch, Jinu pulled out his phone and began discretely searching up ‘Valentine’s Day’. The more results came up, the more he felt his stomach twist into knots.
Apparently, Valentine’s Day was a holiday for romantic couples in which guys often bought the girls they adored chocolate, flowers, and did other grand gestures to demonstrate their love. He genuinely had no idea what this holiday was prior to the fan signing. How could he when he was hundreds of years old? Surely, Rumi knew that too, right? It wasn’t like she was expecting their encounter to be a date because he asked to meet up with her on a night that happened to be Valentine’s Day…right?
Suddenly, he could feel his heart pumping beats at a pace faster than he was familiar with. Oh God…what if she did? Did Rumi expect a Valentine’s date from him? It wasn’t like they were anything more than friends. In fact, they might not have even been friends. Who could really say? Their relationship was pretty undefinable right now. But Rumi was more human than he was, and she was probably very familiar with Valentine’s Day and what to expect from it. If a guy asked her out on Valentine’s Day, she probably did expect something. She did say that meeting up sounded ‘nice’ in her text. Maybe he was just reading too far into it. It probably meant nothing. But he couldn’t be sure of that…and it was rapidly consuming him.
He carefully put his phone away with distracted eyes. Should he get Rumi something? Or should he just let on that he had no clue what today really was? Would Rumi be disappointed if he didn’t get her anything? Or would she be happy that he didn’t? Damn it, he was falling apart with all of these questions burning a hole in his brain. He didn’t want Rumi to be disappointed in him.
Regardless of their relationship, what would she think…if he did get her something small? It didn’t have to mean anything really; maybe he just wanted to do a nice gesture without considering that it was Valentine’s Day. Yeah…that sounded like an acceptable pass. Maybe he could just call it a ‘peace offering’. Who didn’t like getting gifts? One way or another, Rumi would be happy with something from him…right? So maybe…maybe he should get her a gift…just something small.
“Hey, Jinu, what kind of sub sandwich do you want? Manager-nim’s gonna make a food run for us.” Baby asked as the van halted in the garage of the Saja Boys apartment complex.
“Whatever’s fine. You guys go on up; I have to make a pitstop real quick.” Jinu informed his members as they stepped out of the car, to which he headed on his way towards the street. He threw a hat and facemask on, hoping to avoid bringing attention to himself as he shopped around.
As he made his way down the busy sidewalks, he noticed how many couples were out and about on dates. It definitely did seem like more than usual, which pressured him for one reason or another. He stupidly began to wonder if anyone had already bought something for Rumi on Valentine’s Day before. Surely, this wouldn’t be a first for her, right? How could it be…when she had a soul that beautiful.
Jinu pulled his mask further up his nose in embarrassment, feeling his face redden just a little. It wasn’t unnatural to find an idol to be so attractive. He had nothing to be ashamed of. Still…why did he have so many insecurities about their encounter tonight? It should be stress-free like the rest of their nights. Maybe he was just blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Maybe Rumi didn’t know it was Valentine’s Day either. They were both too busy to worry about such dates, right?
He stopped near a shop by the crosswalk, standing off to the side as he pulled out his phone. Refusing to let his curiosity kill him any more than it already was, he visited HUNTR/X’s social media page to see if anything was posted about today. He found a post from Rumi, with a picture she took in front of her practice room mirror with Mira and Zoey. It was captioned, ‘Galentine’s Day with my girls’.
Jinu felt a brief discomfort swirl into the pit of his stomach. That post pretty much confirmed that Rumi did in fact know that it was Valentine’s day. Now he was once again left with the question of whether or not she expected a date out of him.
“Good afternoon, young man. Care to buy some flowers for your special someone today?” The older lady at the shop asked Jinu, showing off her display of flowers.
The sudden comment caught the demon off guard, but he couldn’t deny that he was slightly drawn to the floral arrangements. They were quite exquisite…and so delicate. They were fragile and colorful…much like the someone on his mind.
“Umm…what do you recommend for Valentine’s Day?” He cautiously asked, though additional words began flying out of his mouth as soon as the woman split her lips to speak. “Actually, what do you recommend for friends? Or is there something for friends meeting up on Valentine’s Day? Wait, is there something for two people who have never specified what they are?”
The woman closed her mouth with a glare, and her silence left Jinu feeling intensely awkward and ready to jump into a ditch. Had he said too much? It seemed like she was expecting him to speak more. He remained silent to let the woman speak. Without a word, she brought a purple rose over and placed it in his hands.
“The color represents admiration and respect. One rose is significant and simple at the same time. That’s ambiguous enough for you, isn’t it?” She assumed, Jinu only able to let out a sheepish chuckle. Guess his conflictions were evident to anyone looking, huh? Even so, her explanation of the flower summed things up elegantly. This should be enough, right?
“Thanks…I’ll take it.” He softly told the woman, handing it back to her as he pulled out his wallet.
“Would you like any chocolate with that?” She wondered as she placed the flower in a closed jar to put into a bag, concealing it from anyone who might sneak a peek at it.
Jinu looked towards the chocolate stand, questioning if he should add something to his order. Everyone liked chocolate, right? He was sure that Rumi would eat anything. Maybe it’d be nice to get her something he knew she’d enjoy having. All of the posts he saw online had guys buying their dates big luxurious boxes of chocolates, so maybe it’d be better if he went for something that wasn’t traditional to maintain the ambiguity.
“I’ll take the sticks, please.” He pointed towards the pepero, earning a laugh out of the woman for one reason or another.
“You’re quite the interesting man, aren’t you?” She assumed, leaving Jinu unsure of how to take that comment as he handed her the money. Had he made an odd choice? Maybe that was because he was less of a man…and more of a demon. He didn’t really know what humans liked anymore…not as well as he once did.
“Have a nice day.” He chose to end the encounter simply, taking his gifts and heading on his way back to the apartment. If he didn’t get there soon, he knew his always hungry members would eat his sandwich.
Between imposter and this monster, I've been lost inside my head
Ain't no choice when all these voices keep me pointing towards no end
It's just easy when I'm with you
No one sees me the way you do
I don't trust it, but I want to
I keep coming back to
“Did you hear those stories, too? They were completely ridiculous!” Abby remarked as the Saja Boys laughed out loud while finishing up their meals.
“Yeah, Valentine’s Day…what a stupid holiday made up to earn money out of idiotic humans!” Mystery agreed with Abby, everyone continuing to joke about the romantic day…everyone except Jinu.
“Yeah…ha ha…” Jinu awkwardly forced on a smile and tried to agree with his members to seem less like the idiot they were discussing.
He briefly glanced back towards his darkened bedroom, where he hid the bag with the gifts. Maybe the Saja Boys were right. This was ridiculous. Why was he buying random gifts like flowers and chocolates for someone he was supposed to take down eventually? Wasn’t he expected to…steal Rumi’s soul?
“Actually, the idea might be genius for someone like us. We could lure in anyone we want on a day like this.” Romance informed his members, and Jinu hated to admit that he was probably right. Unexpecting souls easily fell into their charms.
“That’s true. Doubt we’ll go hungry tonight. It’s thrilling just thinking about it.” Baby agreed with an exhilarated smirk, Jinu rubbing at his forearm underneath of the table. The patterns tainting his skin were suddenly aching. Maybe the inhumane part of him was craving souls too. He hated it. He hated himself. He hated the demon he was.
“Hey, you guys wanna watch a Valentine’s Day movie and make fun of it?” Mystery suggested, quickly earning his members’ enthusiasm.
“Hell yeah! Let’s do it!” Abby agreed, the rest of the guys jumping up from the table and running over towards the couch and TV. Jinu remained in the kitchen alone with his thoughts for a moment.
“I think I’m gonna pass. I’ve got work to do...” He quietly told the others, who didn’t appear too disheartened with his absence.
“Uh oh, do I sense a talk with Gwi-Ma in your future?” Romance questioned, Jinu praying that wouldn’t be the case. Even so, maybe it’d be better to lead on to that possibility.
“Seems like it…” He fibbed in a low voice before heading into his bedroom. He closed the door behind him to keep out the obnoxious laughing of his members as they poked fun at a holiday they couldn’t comprehend.
With a sigh, Jinu flopped down onto his bed and pulled out his phone to relax for a while. For once, he just wanted to pretend that he was human again and waste time online like most people of today’s world. While browsing the web, a notification from the Weverse app came through to signal him of a HUNTR/X livestream. Unable to tame his curiosity, he tuned in to the stream. The three girls of everyone’s favorite group were sitting on the floor of their practice room, lightheartedly talking about their day and sharing TMI’s. Somehow, Rumi’s presence even through a screen put Jinu’s heart at ease…even if they were far apart.
“‘Do HUNTR/X have Valentine’s Day plans?’. Of course we do! That’s why we’re here, to spend it with you guys!” Zoey answered a fan question from the livestream chat, Jinu cracking a sideways smile at the textbook response. Still, he admired how dedicate the group of girls were to their followers. He knew those words were spoken with truth rather than only being a media-trained answer.
“Is there something you guys have always wanted to get on Valentine’s Day?” Mira asked her friends with genuine curiosity, to which the two stopped to think about it.
“Honestly, I’ve always wanted someone to sing a song about me. Is that weird?” Zoey gave a slightly quirky reply, to which her members only chuckled. It seemed like that might have been an expected response, judging by all of the laughter in the chat too.
“No, I think that’d be cute. Guess we better get to writing something, huh, Mira?” Rumi joked as she nudged Mira’s arm.
“What about you, Rumi?” Mira wondered about her previous question, Rumi taking a moment to think about it once more.
“Well…I guess a poem might be nice. You know, one of those cliché ones…like, ‘roses are red, violets are blue’…something simple like that.” She responded, the idea going over well with her members.
“Okay, guys, let the creative replies roll in!” Zoey encouraged the fans to fulfill Rumi’s wish, earning a cute chuckle out of the hopeless romantic.
A smile widened across Jinu’s face as he read the onslaught of poems dropping into the livestream chat. Some were sweet, some were funny, and some were ridiculous. Regardless, HUNTR/X seemed to find them enjoyable and read off some of their favorites.
“‘Roses are red, violets are blue, Ramyeon is better in cups of twos’.” Mira cackled out one of the replies, earning loud laughs from her friends.
“‘Roses are red, violets are blue, HUNTR/X are Grammy artists, that’s true’.” Zoey read off another comment, getting the girls rather giddy thinking about their success.
“‘Roses are red, violets are blue, Rumi couldn’t ask for a better crew’. Aww, thank you, guys. These are all sweet.” Rumi chose one more poem to share with a smile, appearing to touch her heart. It seemed like Rumi really did adore poems. Jinu found his eyes sliding towards his desk, where several sheets of paper resided. Maybe…Rumi would like a poem from him, too.
Even if it was sort of difficult to look away from the group that always held everyone’s attention, Jinu turned off the livestream and put away his phone. He headed over towards his desk, staring at the blank sheet of paper. For one reason or another, his heart began to pick up speed again. What was he nervous for? Those fans shared poems with Rumi without a second thought. Couldn’t he do the same? It didn’t have to be too significant. The rest of his gifts weren’t. But maybe…Rumi was worth something significant. Could words on a page make up for that? It didn’t matter that they were only friends or…whatever they were. Rumi deserved more, even if she had all of the love in the world. She shared her heart endlessly…and so she should feel that love endlessly too, no matter who shared it with her on behalf of everyone else.
As Jinu picked up a pen, he noticed Derpy and Sussie eying him from his window. It seemed like they were letting him know just how late it was getting to be based on the setting sun.
“I know I’m supposed to be meeting Rumi soon. Just…give me one more minute, okay?” He gently assured his fluffy onlookers, who watched him with anticipation. Choosing to ignore the pressure they were putting on him, Jinu dropped his pen onto the notepaper before him. He wasn’t going to leave home without this.
Why does it feel right every time I let you in?
Why does it feel like I can tell you anything?
We can't fix it if we never face it
What if we find a way to escape it?
As the moonlight overtook the shadows in the city, Jinu halted in his tracks and huffed out a nervous breath upon seeing Rumi waiting in their usual spot. She peered down on the night view of the world, appearing a little lost in thought as she stroked her hand down Derpy’s head. Jinu glanced down at the flower in his hands before placing it behind his back. It was better to make it a surprise, right? How was he to know? He had never done Valentine’s Day before. Despite how fast his heart was racing, he didn’t think he should keep Rumi waiting too much longer. He was already a little later than he usually was. He slowly made his way over to the beloved idol, who eventually looked his way upon feeling his presence.
“There you are. Thought you stood me up for a second.” She admitted, leaving Jinu feeling a little guilty. Guess he had wasted too much time contemplating how to make all of this right after all.
“I would never do that to you.” He didn’t skip a beat to assure Rumi, who appeared more comfortable having that knowledge.
“Good to know…” She replied, Jinu shoving down his insecurities to take several steps closer to her.
“I, um…have something for you.” He timidly informed Rumi, who tilted her head in perplexity.
“What?” She blurted out, as if the thought of receiving anything never crossed her mind. Guess that meant she wasn’t anticipating this to be a date this whole time. Even so, Jinu didn’t think he could regret giving her things she deserved.
Without a word, he handed her the violet flower from behind his back. With big, shimmering eyes, she took it into her hands and eyed it thoroughly. Her fascination was a good sign, right? Still, maybe he should try and explain things.
“I heard it was Valentine’s Day and people give gifts on this day, right? So I researched what kind of gifts to give and…thought this flower might be nice. I just kinda passed it on the street at a shop, so…” He downplayed the reality of things, a warm smile crossing Rumi’s face as she clutched the flower in her hands.
“It’s beautiful, Jinu…but you didn’t need to get me anything.” She assured the demon, who felt something click in his head for the first time.
“I know…but I wanted to.” He admitted as he fearlessly stared into the vibrant eyes of the girl before him.
“Why?” Rumi quietly questioned, the answer Jinu had been searching for all day rolling off his lips without a second thought now that they were here together.
“Because you’re worth it.” He confessed, pulling the note from his pocket before handing it over to Rumi. In slight awe, Rumi took the envelope into her hands and began to open up the letter.
“‘Roses are red, violets are blue…there’s no pattern more perfect than you’…” She recited out loud, embarrassing Jinu just a little.
He knew Rumi didn’t like to talk about her patterns, and it truthfully only brought hurtful memories for Jinu when he talked about his own. Despite that, it was a pain only they knew…a pain they could relate to. Although Rumi hated the patterns on her skin, they might have been the one thing leading to this relationship they had now. They were the one thing that kept Jinu from taking her soul early on. If he were being honest with himself…he liked Rumi’s luminous patterns, even if they were tinged with pain. That pain only made her stronger, right?
Rumi was rendered speechless at the poem, and the eyes she admired Jinu with now were unlike any he had ever seen on him before. She looked more than just touched…and it worried him that he couldn’t read what was going through her mind. He began to panic internally at the thought of Rumi likely figuring out that he was watching her livestream earlier to have the knowledge of her interest in poems. As a result, he anxiously took out the candy and shoved it into her hands.
“I also got you these candy sticks. You can eat them all or share them with HUNTR/X, I don’t care. I just thought they’d go well with the flower, at least, that’s what the lady at the shop said.” He rambled out an explanation, pulling Rumi out of her daydreams. She giggled as she looked over the chocolate in her hands.
“Wow, you’re quite the character, aren’t you?” She pointed out as she climbed up onto the rooftops as they often did.
“The lady at the shop said something similar…” Jinu informed Rumi as he followed her up, still puzzled by what that meant.
“Well yeah, handing me pepero in conjunction with these other sweet gifts. I’m sure a very specific evening was playing out in that lady’s head when you asked for these.” Rumi sort of elaborated on the reaction he received earlier, though Jinu still failed to comprehend. There was a lot he had to learn when it came to today’s human world.
“I just wanted to go for something different than all of the other chocolate people kept buying, so I grabbed those. Do they taste bad or something?” He genuinely wondered, earning a chuckle out of Rumi.
“Don’t you know what people do with these? Haven’t you heard of the pepero game?” She asked as she waved the snack box around.
“Can’t say I have.” He admitted as he sat down on the rooftop, Derpy and Sussie laying at his side.
“And you call yourself an idol.” Rumi teasingly remarked as she sat down next to Jinu, a tiny pout of embarrassment crossing his lips. It wasn’t like he had time to research everything before jumping into this world.
“One person bites the end of the stick while someone else eats the remainder, inching closer to see how small of a bite they can leave between them before their lips touch.” Rumi explained the game, Jinu feeling his heart backflip upon hearing the story behind the candy. Suddenly, everything made sense.
“Oh…” He could only think to mutter out, and he began to see that he probably, or maybe definitely, bought the wrong candy for the type of relationship they had. But maybe Rumi thought otherwise.
“Wanna play?” She wondered with a smirk as she popped open the box of candy, spiraling Jinu into inner turmoil.
“Um…I don’t know if that’s…” He fumbled out, though failing to even finish the sentence. He was completely short circuiting right now. The two of them so close…that had to be dangerous, right?
“Come on, you know I’m just trying to help you. You’re so going to get asked to do this with the Saja Boys. What then? Are you gonna disappoint the fans?” Rumi told Jinu, who felt his heart begin to pound even harder.
“Me and my members?” He blurted out, slightly alienated at the thought of nearly locking lips with his wild group. He strangely felt like Abby or Baby would devour him. Romance was the only one he trusted to treat him with delicacy. As for Mystery, well…who could say? Was watching a game like that really entertaining to fans? Guess it wasn’t considered ‘fanservice’ for nothing.
“Yep; now, bite down but not too hard. Hold out your hand to catch the last piece, too.” Rumi suggested as she nudged the pepero stick into Jinu’s mouth.
With a racing heart pounding loud enough to hear through his ears, Jinu submissively did as he was told. They were already way too close and Rumi hadn’t even taken the other end of the stick yet.
“Should I close my eyes?” He cluelessly wondered as he attempted not to crush the stick in his mouth as he talked.
“Only if you want to.” Rumi answered before taking the other end of the stick.
As she bit down and the distance between them began to shrink ever so slowly, Jinu found his eyes attempting to focus on anything but this. Except then he saw Derpy’s massive eyes on him in anticipation from behind and Sussie squeaked at the sight. Jinu quickly grabbed the magpie’s beak and forced it closed, Rumi gently taking a hold of the demon’s face to hold him in place as his breathing began to rapidly increase.
Jinu released his hold on Sussie and began to close his eyes seeing how close Rumi was to him. He could feel her breath against his lips, her scent invading his personal space. She smelt pretty nice. Was it strange to think about a thing like that when they were only playing a game? The warmth from her hand was sending heatwaves into his body…making him forget that this was only a game. It had been a long time since he felt such warmth. It was the one thing he craved in souls. Maybe it’d be nice…to stay here for a while.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he felt the last piece between them drop into his hand. The two looked down at the miniature bite of chocolate, which had to be a centimeter or less. If they were playing competitively against others, he was certain that they probably would have won. Noticing that Rumi’s hand hadn’t left his face yet, Jinu looked over at her…only to find that she was eying him too. The distance between them hadn’t widened since the candy dropped from their lips, and it seemed like there was a reason for that.
Rumi gently pressed a kiss onto Jinu’s lips, instantly dissolving Jinu’s apprehension for one reason or another. He closed his eyes, taking in the warm kiss to the fullest as he threw their last bite back to their furry friends. He wasn’t sure if he should return the kiss, because he didn’t really know what it meant. But that didn’t stop him from returning it anyway. As a result, it turned rather deep. It was fascinating, and a little mind-blowing. Maybe that was because…he had never shared a moment like this with anyone else before.
The whole day, he kept denying significance to any of his actions, any of his feelings, anything they said to one another. But he couldn’t deny that this was significant. There was no such thing as an insignificant kiss…especially not when it felt like this. The two separated after a long moment, and Jinu wasn’t sure if he had ever felt his head this fogged up. It seemed like the heat had definitely gotten to the better of him.
“Wow…” He breathed out in a low voice, a tiny smile crossing Rumi’s lips as she let her hand slip off of Jinu’s face.
“That was…some pretty good chocolate, right?” She quietly voiced, once more bringing Jinu back to reality. Right, the candy is what they should have been talking about.
“Uh…yeah…nice and warm…melts in your mouth…pretty sweet.” He awkwardly fumbled for ways to describe the chocolate…or maybe he still wasn’t talking about the chocolate.
“Yep…totally…” Rumi softly agreed as she put some distance between them. Jinu failed to keep his eyes off of her, no matter how hard he tried. No, he absolutely wasn’t talking about the chocolate…and neither was she.
“Come on, let’s not beat around the bush, alright?” Rumi suggested, even if she appeared a little shy about it. “I just thought…you deserved to be kissed at least once in your life. That’s not something you’ve done before, right? With everything you’ve been through…”
“No…which is actually really sad since I’ve been alive for hundreds of years, but…” Jinu replied, quickly realizing how pathetic his life actually was. His comment earned a tiny giggle out of Rumi though, which brought him a sense of comfort.
“I’ve had a really nice time tonight, Jinu. Thank you for everything, especially the poem. It means a lot to me.” Rumi sincerely expressed her gratitude, Jinu’s worries from earlier in the day dispersing into nothingness. Guess he had nothing to worry about this entire time.
“Thank you…for showing me what makes Valentine’s Day so special to others.” He responded, bringing a smile to Rumi’s face as she stood up.
“I should…get going. I’m on Inkigayo in the morning, so…” She informed Jinu, who felt a wave of reluctance overtake his heart hearing of her impending departure.
“Be safe getting home.” He caringly asked of her, which she seemed to take comfort in hearing.
“I will…you too. Goodnight, Jinu.” She responded before heading on her way. Before she jumped to another rooftop, Jinu found his mouth impulsively opening once more.
“Rumi.” He called out, earning the golden idol’s iridescent eyes. “Thank you…for the kiss.”
There was brief silence between them, though not at all uncomfortable. A hint of blush tinted Rumi’s cheeks, though a smile crossed her face.
“You’re welcome.” She replied, jumping rooftops with Derpy and Sussie at her side.
Jinu watched her in enchantment, spellbound by her gracefulness and long violet locks that glimmered in the moonlight. Once she was out of sight, he made his way back to his apartment. He snuck back in through his bedroom window, hoping the other Saja Boys failed to notice that he was missing. If they had, they’d probably just assume that Gwi-Ma had temporarily dragged him back to Hell.
He flopped his back down onto his bed with a heavy sigh. Memories of his night kept flashing through his head, ones that he figured would stay with him even into his dreams. He ran a finger across his lips, a smile widening there shortly after. It was nice to know what a kiss felt like, even if he had never considered it before. Guess that was something Rumi thought about though, wasn’t it? Did Rumi think about kissing him often? The thought of that left him feeling giddy for some reason.
He grabbed his pillow and stuck it under his head, his heavy eyes catching sight of the drawing a young fan had given him some time ago on his nightstand. He had never believed he had a beautiful soul, but if he did…he felt like he had Rumi to thank for its existence. Rumi was the reason he had a soul…and the reason why he didn’t feel the need to own another. Maybe someday…he wanted to return it as selflessly as it was given to him.
Yeah…that sounded right. His soul belonged to the perfect pattern that was Rumi.