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"We're getting closer," Rumi announces as they look for the tear on the Honmoon.
"That felt really big…" Zoey mentions, furrowing her brows in concern.
"Yeah, there are probably more demons than usual," Mira points out while looking around.
"I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle." Rumi turns around to give them a reassuring smile. "Stay focused though, don't let them sneak up on us."
They find the demons moments later — a big group.
The demons lunge at them, and the girls swing their blades at them, harmonizing as they move in synchrony. But there's too many of them.
Rumi ends up separated from Mira and Zoey during the fight, and a larger demon claws at her.
With some struggle, they finish off the demons, but before Rumi can ever process the end of the battle, a shin-kal flies by her head.
"Zoey…?" Rumi turns to look at her; she's still in fighting position.
"Where is Rumi?" Mira steps forward, pointing her gok-do at Rumi.
"What do you mean?" Rumi grimaces, walking to them.
"Stay back!" Zoey threatens to throw a shin-kal. "You led us to a trap! What did you do to Rumi?!"
"Mira, Zoey, I…" She raises her hands in surrender, and that's when it hits her — the demon that had clawed her also tore her shirt, exposing the patterns on her upper arm and stomach. "Girls, wait-"
But she doesn't have time to explain as both of them swing their weapons in her direction.
All she can do is run.
Mira and Zoey chase after the demon wearing Rumi's face.
They can't believe they let themselves be fooled like that, let the demon guide them to a trap and surround them. What did it do to Rumi for it to be able to take her place?
They must admit the demon was very dedicated, even getting Rumi's fighting style right and somehow summoning a replica of her saingeom.
But Rumi doesn't have patterns.
They chase the demon until they arrive to an alley, cornering it. Zoey throws one of her shin-kal that sinks into the demon's side.
It doubles over in pain and screams, and Zoey thinks that it's odd that it hasn't disappeared yet, but maybe it's just stronger than the others.
Mira closes the distance between, her gok-do ready to strike, but before she's able to do so, a magenta cloud appears and disappears with the demon before they can do anything.
Zoey groans and throws her shin-kal on the floor.
"What are we gonna do?! What if they have Rumi?!" She takes her hands to her head.
Mira grabs Zoey's hand and move them down.
"We can't panic now, we need to think." She moves her hands to Zoey's shoulders. "Let's check if she's home first, maybe she's okay."
Rumi feels herself being pulled into some kind of other dimension, and a moment later, she's in the middle of Bobby's living room.
She does not know how to teleport.
"Hey, Rumi…" A familiar voice calls.
She looks up to see Bobby, standing in front of her with his shoulders tense.
Or rather, a demon pretending to be Bobby — and doing a terrible job at it.
His skin has a purpleish tone and the patterns are visible on his arms and face. He has sharp claws and teeth, and his eyes are golden with slit pupils.
Rumi tries to summon her saingeom, but collapses on the floor before she's able to, clutching her side.
"Rumi!" The demon approaches with his hands reaching out to her.
"Stay away from me! Where is Bobby?!" She yells, backing away until her back hits the couch.
The demon raises his hand in front of him.
"Okay, so, I know this might sound weird, but uh, it's me! I'm Bobby!" He smiles nervously.
"Bobby is not a demon!" Rumi argues.
At this point, the shin-kal embedded in her side disappears, and she starts actively bleeding out.
"Look, I know it's a lot to process but we need to take care of the bleeding first!" The demons imposter exclaims.
"I am not letting you near me." Rumi extends her arm, summoning her sword, pointing it at the demon.
"Rumi, please…"
She tries to stand up to run, but the room starts spinning as soon as she does, and her legs give out on her.
Everything starts to go black and she braces herself for the fall — but she never hits the ground.
She feels herself being carried and placed on a soft surface before drifting into unconsciousness.
Rumi wakes up and takes a moment to realize she's in Bobby's guest room.
She tries to sit up, but lays back down when she feels the pain on her side, and then realizes it's been bandaged. She also notices the IV she's hooked up to.
Bobby walks in not too long after she wakes up, holding a paper bag in his hands.
"Hey, Rumi." He leaves the bag on the bedside table and sits down on the edge of the bed. "I'm glad you're awake. I asked my doctor friend to come take a look at you," he explains. "They gave you some stitches and painkillers and antibiotics, and said that those were all you needed for now." He gestures at the bag. "I got some snacks delivered in case you're hungry; luckily they had all of your favorites."
Rumi can see the tension on his shoulders and his jaw, as well as the sweat dripping down his temple and how he's struggling to keep his smile on his face.
Then she remembers the events from before she fainted.
She suspiciously takes a quick look inside the paper bag. All of her favorites are there, the ones Bobby always makes sure to stock for them.
No demon imposter would go through all the work to find out what her favorite snacks are.
"You… You're a demon?" Her voice shakes.
Bobby doesn't confirm or deny it, just keeps watching her with a hesitant expression.
Rumi forces herself to sit up and raises her hand, ready to summon her saingeom, and then clutches her hand to her chest like it got burned.
Bobby is her friend. She can't hurt him.
But if he's a demon, was he ever her friend?
Then she remembers something.
"Wait, you were the one who got me out of the alley, weren't you?!" She leans foward. "How did you know I needed help?!"
Bobby scratches the back of his neck
"I felt it through the Honmoon that you were in trouble so I-"
"You know about the Honmoon?!" He's a demon of course he does. "Why did you do that?!"
Bobby grimaces.
"Why did I do what?"
"Why did you help me?!"
"What do you mean?"
"If you're a demon, why wouldn't you just let them kill me?!" She explains. "That would make things a lot easier for you."
Bobby looks at her incredulously.
"Rumi, I- Wow… Okay, so let's unpack all of that," he starts. "First things first, why would you dying make things easier for me?!"
"Well, Gwi-ma sent you to get rid of us, right? That's why you got so close to us! So we'd let our guard down and you could finally strike!" Rumi gestures widely.
"Gwi ma?!" He leans backwards, repulsed by the name. "I don't work for that guy, he sucks!"
Rumi frowns in confusion.
"Wait, what?"
"Well, the literal demon king is not a very good boss, you know?"
Bobby must have seen the engines turning behind Rumi's eyes, because he lets out a big sigh.
"Look, whatever question you might have, I'll answer it," he gives her an encouraging smile. "But you might want to open your mind a bit," he adds.
Rumi stares at him for a moment, and then at her bandaged torso and the bag is snacks still on the bedside table.
She takes a deep breath.
"Okay. I'll do my best to understand."
"How long have you been a demon?" Rumi asks after Bobby comes back from the kitchen to make them tea.
"A really long time," he replies from his chair next to Rumi's bed. "I've been one the entire time you've known me, I first turned decades ago."
Rumi grimaces.
"I thought you were 35?"
Bobby chuckles and stirs his tea.
"I am, in a way."
Rumi taps her nails on the cup and looks down.
"How did it happen?" She finally asks, looking at him again.
He hesitates for a moment.
"It was a very long time ago," he starts. "When Korea was still under Japan's control."
Rumi chokes on her tea.
"You were alive during Japan's occupation?!"
"Yeah… Times were hard back then. I wanted to make it as an artist ever since I was young, but that's not easy when your entire country is going through extreme poverty under an authoritarian government," he pauses. "When I was young, I worked in a farm and earned barely enough to keep my family and I from starving to death, until the day I started listening to a voice inside my head."
"Gwi ma," Rumi guesses.
"Yes," Bobby confirms. "He told me he could me make thrive while doing what I loved, and then everything changed overnight. People would gather around to hear me sing and dance the songs I wrote, and I started earning enough to keep my family comfortable and safe. But then the patterns kept spreading , and Gwi ma's voice in my head grew louder and louder while he tried to drag me to the demon world to work for him."
"So he took control over you?!" Rumi asks, bracing for the worst.
"Come on, give your manager some credit, okay?! I'm not easily susceptible." He straightens his shoulders, proudly. "I told my family what was going on, and I was planning to leave them with the money I had made and run away, but instead, they decided we should all relocate somewhere isolated and safe, so we moved to a small and unknown village in Jeju."
Rumi raises her brows, surprised in learning her manager had lived in the same place she grew up in.
"My family has always been really supportive and loving, so they helped me a lot through my hardest times," he continues. "And whenever Gwi ma would try to get to me, I would think about all the good things my loved ones have said to me, and eventually, his voice got replaced by theirs, and the patterns faded until they looked like healed scar tissue."
That makes Rumi glance at his arms, and she sees that he's right — the patterns are still there, but nowhere nearly as visible as before.
The doorbell echoes through the apartment.
"Oh, that's probably my doctor friend. They said they'd stop by later to check on you." Bobby gets up and leaves the room.
Rumi hears the click of the door opening.
"Mira! Zoey! What are you two doing here?!"
After looking for hours and calling several times with no response, Mira and Zoey decide to go to Bobby's apartment to ask if he's seen Rumi.
"Mira! Zoey!" Bobby opens the door, looking almost startled. "What are two doing here?!"
"Hi, Bobby!" Zoey greets. "Random question but uh… Have you seen Rumi?"
"W-Why do you ask?" He inquires.
"We haven't seen her this entire morning and she's not answering her phone," Mira replies. She then glances down at his arms and notices something she's never seen before. "What are these?" She asks, pointing at the jagged and faded lines.
"Oh, just some old scars from a childhood accident," he explains. "I usually have them covered up." He smiles, but there's sweat running down his temples. "About Rumi, no, I haven't seen her, but I'm sure she's fine, you know how reserved she is," he chuckles. "But I'll let you know you're looking for her if I run into her."
Mira squints at him.
"Thanks, Bobby! You're the best!" Zoey gives him a quick hug.
"No worries, see you later!" He closes the door a little too quickly.
"Did Bobby seem kinda odd to you?" Mira asks once they're a few steps away from his apartment.
"I think he was just as Bobby as ever," Zoey shrugs. "Anyway, what are we gonna do now?"
They step into the elevator and Mira presses the button to the penthouse.
"I don't think we have another choice. We have to call Celine."
"Crisis averted." Bobby wipes the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. "At least for now," he mutters to himself. "Rumi? Are you okay?" He enters the guest room to find Rumi with one leg out the window, IV still attached. "What the heck are you doing?!" He teleports by her side to help her back inside.
"They can't find me! They're gonna-"
"Hey, hey. They're already gone," he assures her.
"They are?!"
"Yes, I sent them away." He guides her back to bed and sits by her side.
Rumi sighs in relief.
"Look, I know that's none of my business, but…" Bobby fidgets with his thumbs. "Isn't it kinda dangerous for them to not know you're a demon when your entire thing is to kill demons? I mean, that's how this happened, wasn't it?" He points at Rumi's bandages.
"What?! Demon?! Me?!" Rumi laughs forcibly. "What are you talking about?! Imagine being a demon hunter and a demon?! That would be insane!"
Bobby grimaces at her.
"How did you know?!" She finally lets out.
"I saw you patterns when I brought you here, but also… I've sorta knew this entire time," he admits.
"What?! How?!"
Bobby starts listing items while counting on his fingers.
"Well, you have an infinite appetite, you constantly walk into dark rooms without turning on the lights, you turn your head toward sounds no one else can hear, once Mira tried to take the last piece of kimbap and you growled at her… And of course, that's not even counting how fast and strong you are, even for a hunter."
Rumi hugs her knees and rests her chin on them.
"Is it that obvious?" She asks without looking at him.
"Well, not for everyone, but after you've been living as a demon for almost a century you know what to watch out for," he replies. "I did always think you seemed a bit too young to have made a deal though." He confesses.
Rumi starts fidgeting.
"I'm not… I didn't…" Rumi stutters then lets out a sigh. "I was born like this. My dad was demon."
"Oh," Bobby exclaims in surprise, raising his brows. "That explains it."
Neither of them say anything for a moment.
"Hey, you need to get some rest so I'm gonna leave you alone." Bobby gets up and walks to the door. "Just call me if you need anything."
Celine picks up the phone almost immediately after Zoey pressed the dial button.
"Zoey? Is everything okay?" She goes straight to the point.
"Hi, Celine," Zoey greets. "Actually we might have a problem…" She looks at Mira for support.
Celine doesn't say anything for a moment.
"What kind of problem?"
"We were out on a hunt earlier this morning," Mira starts, with the phone on speaker. "We thought Rumi was with us but turns out it was a demon pretending to be Rumi."
"And we don't know where the real Rumi is now," Zoey adds. "She wasn't back home, and Bobby hasn't seen her either."
Mira swears she can hear Celine's breathing getting faster through the phone.
"Did you kill the demon?"
"I hit it with one of my shin-kal but it got away", Zoey replies.
There's the sound of someone typing in a keyboard.
"I'm flying to Seoul first thing tomorrow. If you see the demon again, do not kill it."
"What?"
"Just do as I say." Celine uses a tone they hadn't heard since their training days, and it compels them to obey.
"Yes, Celine," they say in unison.
"I'm going to start packing, call me if you find out anything else."
With that, she hangs up.
Mira and Zoey grimace at each other.
It's the first time Celine ever tells them not to kill a demon.
Whatever her reasoning might be, it has to be important.
While unsuccessfully trying to take a nap, Rumi's cellphone starts ringing and she sees Celine's name on the screen.
"Hello?" She picks up.
"Rumi, are you alright?!" She asks urgently.
"Uh… I'm fine, why are you-"
"Mira and Zoey called me. They told me about what happened," Celine reveals.
Rumi has to hold her phone with both hands to keep herself from dropping it.
"I- I'm alright," she stutters. "I got help from… someone."
"Who?! Rumi, where are you?!"
"I have to go, I'll call you back later."
"Rumi-"
Rumi hangs up before she can hear whatever Celine has to say.
She screams into her pillow, shaking the Honmoon.
Rushed footsteps come from the other side of the door.
"What's going on?! Are you alright?!" Bobby opens the door.
"I don't know what to do!" Rumi cries. "I- I can't go home… I'm gonna have to disappear, I-"
"Rumi!" Bobby's voice catches her attention. "Try to breathe, okay?"
Rumi does as she's told.
"Now what's going on?" Bobby asks.
Rumi sighs.
"Mira and Zoey. They saw the patterns. They know," she starts. "They didn't know it was me, they think it was a demon pretending to be me. I could just go back and cover up again but for what?! To go back to living in constant fear of them finding out, and now knowing what will happen if they do…"
"But… they didn't know it was you, right? Do you really think they would've hurt you if they did?" Bobby asks, awkwardly rubbing Rumi's back.
Rumi clenches her fists on her lap and looks down.
"Celine has always said they would. That's why I never told them," she explains.
"They love you, Rumi. I'm sure they would understand."
"You don't understand, this changes everything."
"How so? You're still the same person." Bobby gives her an hesitant smile.
"Not that." Rumi stands up. "You."
Bobby grimaces at her.
"I don't think I understand what you mean."
Rumi starts pacing.
"My entire life I thought I couldn't possibly be a demon, because I'm good and demons are bad, right? But you're one of the best people I know, and you're a demon, so does that mean I'm also one?! And does that mean there are other good demons out there? If so, where are they? Have we been killing them?! For the Honmoon's sake, I tried to kill you!" She gestures at Bobby and stops on her tracks. "So how does that change things? How does that change Huntrix?!"
Bobby approaches her.
"Rumi-"
"Don't- Stop," she interrupts, defensively raising her hand in front of herself. "I just… Want to be alone now. Please." She glances at him and then looks back down.
Bobby nods and leaves the room.
Bobby is worried about Rumi, so he decides to do the only thing he can think of that might reassure her.
He steps into the elevator and presses the button for the Huntrix's penthouse.
When the doors opens and he steps inside their living room, he finds Zoey sitting on the floor with her laptop open on the coffee table, reviewing security camera footages, and Mira pacing around, obsessively checking her phone.
"Hi, girls," Bobby greets.
He doesn't receive their usual "Hi, Bobby!" in response.
He walks up to Mira and taps her shoulder.
"Mira?"
She screams, making Zoey also turn around.
"Bobby!" Mira takes her hand to her chest, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Zoey adds, getting up from her spot on the floor and walking up to them.
"I did, actually. But you two seem kinda distracted…"
Mira and Zoey exchange a look.
"Sorry about that," Zoey apologizes, scratching the back of her arm.
He brings his hands to the girls' shoulders.
"Hey, no worries there," he assures, giving them a smile.
"Sorry about the bluntness, but why are you here?" Mira asks, always straight forward.
"Right. There's something I need to talk about with you both."
"Hum… Can it wait?" Zoey takes a step back and glances at her laptop. "We're in the middle of something important…"
"I promise it won't take long, but I do need to do this now." He marches up to the couch and takes a seat. "Let's all sit down for this, shall we?"
He tells the girls the same story he told Rumi.
By the time he's done, Zoey is teary faced and Mira has her jaw on the floor.
"You're a demon?" Mira asks.
"Yes," Bobby confirms.
"You. Bobby. Our manager. Are an actual demon?" She repeats.
"Yes." Bobby nods.
"Bobbyyy..." Zoey sobs, throwing herself onto him. "Your story was so sad! I'm so happy you're okay…"
Bobby pats her shoulder in consolation.
"Zoey. Demon!" Mira points out.
"Who cares?!" Zoey spits. "He's still our Bobby! Our Bobby is a nice demon…" She cries.
"Demons are never nice!"
"But Bobby is!"
Mira stands up and stares down right at him.
Bobby feels the sweat running down his neck.
"Ugh, okay, fine!" She throws her arms up. "I guess some demons can very rarely be nice!"
Bobby sighs.
"Thank you, Mira. For a second I thought you were gonna kill me," he chuckles.
Mira looks down and doesn't reply, then sits by his side on the couch.
"Why are you telling us this now?" Zoey asks, finally letting go of her hold.
"Because," Bobby starts. "Maybe it will help you the next time you meet a demon that seems a little bit different from the others." He offers them a smile. "Yeah, some of them are bonfire-following-soul-sucking jerks, but… Some of us are just trying to get by… Just like humans."
After a moment of silence, Zoey gasps.
"Zoey?" Mira turns to her.
"Mira… That demon we fought the other day, the one who looked like Rumi," she starts. "Did you also notice it wasn't fighting back?"
Mira curses under her breath and gets up in a jump.
"You know where she is, don't you?!" She grabs Bobby by the shoulders.
"I-"
"Please, Bobby…" Zoey pleads. "If it was really her, then I… I…"
Bobby gently pulls Mira's hands away and keeps holding them in his.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I should-"
"Bobby," Mira cuts him off. "We don't give a dang to what Rumi is."
"She can be a vampire for all we care!" Zoey adds. "But if she's hurt — if I hurt her — we need to see her, please!"
Both of them stare at him with teary eyes.
Bobby has never been good at saying no to them.
After a very teary reunion, they carefully move Rumi to the penthouse, where she's settled in her bed and have her injuries taken care of by Mira and Zoey.
Bobby stays, and Rumi finds herself alone with him again when Mira and Zoey leave to buy her stronger painkillers.
"I'm sorry I told them," he starts. "I know it was your secret to share but-"
"It's okay. I'm actually kinda glad you did," Rumi admits. "I don't know if I would've done it myself." Rumi leans forward and hugs him. "Thank you. For everything."
He hugs her back as tight as he can without worsening her injury.
After Rumi wakes up from her painkiller nap, Mira and Zoey are both in bed by her sides.
"Hi," Mira greets.
"Hey."
"How are you feeling?" Zoey props herself on her elbow.
"Better," Rumi replies, sincerely. "Thank you."
"Rumi… I'm so sorry I…" Zoey's eyes start to tear up.
"If we knew it was you we'd never…" Mira adds.
"I swear I'll never forgive myself for it." Zoey is crying now, crushing Rumi in a hug for possibly the fifth time since they got her back home, before Rumi winces in pain and Zoey pulls away apologetically.
"Well, I do," Rumi takes Zoey's face in her hands and presses a kiss on her forehead, then turns her head and kisses Mira's cheek.
They just hold each other for a moment before Mira breaks the silence.
"You know Celine's coming tomorrow, right?"
Rumi groans.
"Are you okay with meeting her?" Zoey asks. "We can come up with some excuse for her not to come."
"No, it's fine," Rumi replies. "It's about time we have a talk about this anyway."
"Are you sure?" Mira adds.
"Yeah. It's gonna be okay." She smiles reassuringly at her girls.
Things are already okay — more than she thought they'd be. And she knows they can get through anything together.