Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Although Mira was annoyed that Rumi had moved up the release of Golden: Like c’mon they had just wrapped up their global tour; they definitely needed and deserved a break, she could also understand it.

She, like Rumi, had seen the gold shimmering in the Honmoon. They were so close. And she could feel it too. The Honmoon itself crooning with anticipation. Still a break would have been appreciated. 

Instead Rumi had, without asking, pushed up the promo and release of Golden. It was frustrating. Instead of sinking into the couch, wearing a bathrobe, eating her favorite snacks, and basically just lounging around with Zoey doing nothing for two weeks, Mira was at the studio prepping for the first live performance of golden.

Fucking Rumi.

“Cheer up!” Zoey told her. They were in their shared dressing room, getting the final touches done for hair and makeup.

“Here come closer and smile,” Zoey commanded, brandishing her phone for a selfie. 

Mira forced herself to relax and to release the tension in her shoulders. This was good. They were going to release Golden, they were going to turn the Honmoon gold. And once that happened they really could take a break, a hiatus. So what if it was full speed ahead right now, the break would come.

Maybe even Rumi would be convinced to relax. Unlikely.

Mira smiled for the selfie leaning into Zoey’s shoulder. The Honmoon crooned in her ear. Everything was going to be perfect.

—

Rehearsal went smoothly. Golden had been their pet project, their goal for so long. Mira had spent months behind the scenes workshopping the choreography to get it just so. Even though they had never performed it, it was still deeply engraved in muscle memory. It helped that it was an easy song for Mira and Zoey, Rumi doing the majority of the work.

“No more hiding, I'll be shining,” Rumi sang, and the Honmoon purred to life. “Like I'm born to be,” Rumi continued pleased. 

Mira, who was providing backing vocals, took a moment to appreciate how incredible Rumi’s voice was. Even after all these years, it still impressed her. The Honmoon had already lit up even though it was just staff watching the performance. 

“Cause we are hunters, voices strong,” Rumi continued before slowing down to sing, “And I know I believe.”

At the end of the rehearsal, Bobby, who had danced and sung along said, “That was incredible girls! I’m so excited for the performance.”

Rumi grabbed both Zoey and Mira’s hands in her own. “We’re so excited too Bobby,” she told him before sharing an excited smile with Zoey and Mira. Zoey put a hand on Rumi’s shoulder and squeezed. 

—

It was even better with a live audience. The Honmoon glowed and shimmered. It wrapped itself around the crowds and around the three of them, beaming with excitement. It had never seemed so alive and so full of love before. Mira knew; this was it. The Honmoon was going to turn gold. This was the moment they had worked so hard for. This was what the last five years had been building towards. 

Rumi sang the ending verse, “You know that it’s our time, no fears, no lies.”

“Oh, Oh,” Mira and Zoey provided. Then all three of them came in to finish, “That’s who we’re born to be.”

The crowd immediately went wild, surging forward, screaming and shouting and clapping their praise. The Honmoon vibrated with pleasure and Mira could see the gold threads spreading over the blue, each strand changing until all she could see was an overwhelming golden hue. 

Zoey grabbed the three of them in a hug exclaiming, “Oh my gosh we did it! I love you guys so much.” 

Rumi laughed, but she, like Mira was staring at the Honmoon with awe watching the strands change,“I’ve waited so long for this!” she said in a tone of disbelief. Mira smiled at Rumi, “It's really happening,” she told her. 

Mira turned away from the two of them to more fully take it in. The crowd was still alight with energy cheering, and Mira was pleased that they’d prepared an encore to reward them with. The Honmoon was splendent radiating joy. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” ripped across the space. The sound was discordant: like fingernails on a chalkboard. Mira threw her hands over her ears wincing in pain. Her whole body scrunched up. The Honmoon was wailing, crying, a panicked wave of energy rising from it. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,” it screamed. It was so loud that Mira could not hear anything else, could not understand what was happening. The fans shouted in pain. Mira did not understand. The Honmoon was golden.

Why was it screaming?

She felt a hand grab her shoulder. Zoey. She turned but Zoey looked horrified, devastated, staring at Rumi. Mira turned to look.

Rumi. Rumi who was covered in purple patterns. What the fuck.

Rumi, who had been so pleased just a moment before, was now screaming in an animalistic chorus with the Honmoon. Rumi’s whole body was contorted in pain and purple patterns swirled around her skin burning a raw red color. 

The Honmoon roared, “NOOOOOO,” and Rumi cried with it. 

“Rumi, Rumi,” Zoey cried. Mira went to touch Rumi, to pull her back, but when her hand made contact she screamed. Her hand was on fire, burnt beyond repair. Was this what Rumi was experiencing?

The purple continued to spread. A demon, Mira realized. A demon was devouring Rumi, taking her to the other side of the barrier, stealing her soul away.

How had a demon snuck in? 

The Honmoon was inconsolable. Mira could smell burnt flesh, hers and Rumi’s. She felt nauseous. Flames flicked around Rumi’s skin. Rumi’s chest heaved, her skin melted. She screamed. Mira could do nothing, but clutch her burned ruined hand. Zoey cried desolately next to her. They watched as Rumi burned and the Honmoon screamed. 

Mira felt the spot in her chest, the spot where she was tethered to Zoey and Rumi flickering and failing. Rumi was dying, Mira could feel it. The Honmoon wailed and thrashed.

“NOOOOOOOO NOOOOO NOOOOO,” it cried. It kept trying to wrap a protective blanket over Rumi, but every time it did, it made it worse. The protective barrier turned to flames the moment it touched Rumi. 

“Stop,” Zoey begged, “You’re hurting her.” 

Mira wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or to cry. No demon was going to listen to them. The demon was eating Rumi, taking her soul; Mira could feel it in her chest. 

“Please, please stop being golden,” Zoey begged and Mira realized she was talking to the Honmoon. The Honmoon roared: its energy spilling all over the place. Rumi collapsed on the ground onto all fours convulsing in agony. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOO,” the Honmoon cried. And then it tugged hard. Mira felt it in her very soul, a painful pinch right at the core of her, pulling and twisting her. She screamed as she unravelled. There was a blinding light, a burning tear, the ache of her burnt hand, and the unbearable wail of the Honmoon.

Is this the end? The pain encompassed her. It was a relief to collapse. 

—

Chapter Text

Mira woke with a start panting in the darkness. She was in her bed, in her bedroom.

What the fuck?

She felt panicked and confined under the blankets, twisting to escape them until she haphazardly fell out of the bed.

“Ouch,” she muttered before pulling herself up. It was 3 am. She could tell from the clock shining on her bedside table.

Mira clutched her right hand expecting pain, but it was smooth and unharmed. Confused and jittery she turned on the lights and stared. Her hand was untouched as if it had never been burned. She grabbed her phone, turning it on.

The date read August 8th, the same as yesterday. She didn’t understand.

What is going on?

She slowly crept out of her bedroom stopping by Zoey’s door. She could hear the slight sounds of Zoey peacefully snoring through the doorway. She breathed out a sigh of relief.

Had it just been a weird fucked up dream? It had felt so real.

She made her way to Rumi’s bedroom. It was dead silent. A sense of dread rose in Mira’s chest. Normally Mira would never dare to go into Rumi’s room uninvited, but right now with the image of Rumi burning seared behind her eyeballs, she needed to know that Rumi was okay.

She softly pushed the door open and felt her whole chest collapse in relief. Rumi was sprawled across her giant bed sleeping. Mira stared at her for a moment, memorizing the sight of Rumi existing without pain, before slowly closing the door and backing away.

She clenched her right hand. It continued to act like a totally normal hand.

Okay. It was just a nightmare. No big deal.

She made her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of cold water. She drank it slowly, focusing on calming her breathing. In and out.

It had felt real.

Mira remembered the smell of burning flesh, of Zoey’s begging, the Honmoon screaming, and Rumi being eaten alive.

It had felt real. It had smelled real.

Mira had approximately two seconds to make it to the sink before she was violently hurling into it. Her throat hurt and tears stung her eyes. She could not get the smell of burnt flesh out of her mind. She stood there for a moment, tears sliding down her face.

But it hadn’t been real.

—

The rest of the day felt like torture. Mira had tried to go back to sleep, but it had eluded her. Eventually she had started watching some of Zoey’s turtle videos desperate for a distraction.

At breakfast she had gone through the motions. They had a pretty consistent routine for concert days, and Mira had let her instincts guide her; drinking her coffee, preparing Rumi and Zoey’s for them.

She watched Rumi and Zoey out of the corner of her eye, but they seemed unchanged. Zoey scrolled on her phone occasionally sharing clips with Mira, while Rumi ate her normal pre-concert bar. They seemed quieter and more subdued than normal, but Mira was pretty sure it was just because they were responding to her own negative energy.

It was worse when they finally left the penthouse and had to interact with others. The deja vu was all encompassing. Mira walked through the day in a fog, panic slowly clawing up her chest.

The dream was happening again.

“Alright I think I’m almost done,” her makeup artist was telling her. When the makeup artist concentrated, she stuck out her tongue a little bit, just like she had in Mira’s dream. Mira was pretty sure she had never met her before.

“Cheer up!” Zoey interrupted. Just like before.

“Here come closer and smile,” Zoey commanded, brandishing her phone for a selfie. This time Mira couldn’t manage a smile.

Zoey looked at her, “You okay?” she asked. But before Mira could even respond they were being led to rehearsal.

—

She didn’t know what she was going to do. She could not let things play out the same. She needed to find the demon that had attacked Rumi. She needed to kill it. She needed Rumi to be okay. She needed the dream to not repeat.

How was she supposed to do that when her every moment was scheduled?

Mira’s sense of panic and despair rose with every minute that they got closer to the stage. The Honmoon, normally so in touch with its hunters, was silent.

She needed to stop this. She needed a game plan. She needed an excuse besides, “Hey I had a bad dream, so maybe we don’t go forward with this?”

She had no idea what to do. Breathing was becoming difficult. In out. In out.

Rumi was singing, “Now I'm shining like I'm BoRn To B—”

And then Rumi was coughing. Mira whirled, “You okay?”

This hadn’t happened before.

Rumi reassured her, “Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Let's take it again. From the top.”

She began to sing again, “I'm done hiding. Now I'm shining like I'm BoRn To—”

But she broke out into a coughing fit.

Bobby asked, “Um, Rumi, are you okay? Do you need some water?”

Rumi shook her head, “I just need five. I'm gonna take five,” she said before running off the stage. Mira and Zoey shared concerned looks.

A stage hand muttered, “Five minutes? We go live in ten!”

They waited five minutes and then ten, before it became clear that Rumi wasn’t coming back.

Relief ran through Mira’s system.

It hadn’t been real. It wasn’t happening again.

Sometimes during a tour Mira would forget what city or even country they were in. All the concerts and days would start to blend together. She’d probably had that same makeup artist at a different gig, she rationalized.

She’d had a nightmare; it didn’t mean anything. She needed to focus now on Rumi, who had unsurprisingly given how much of a workaholic she was, overdone it and hurt her voice.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Zoey was worriedly asking, “Should we go look for her?”

Mira shook her head, “No she’ll come back to the penthouse. We’ll wait for her there.”

“Are you mad?” Zoey asked tentatively.

“What? No!” Mira reassured. And then after a pause, “I guess I’m a little annoyed that she pushed all of this up, when she clearly needed a break.”

“She doesn’t know how to stop working,” Mira grumbled. Zoey smiled.

“Maybe, we can convince her to take a break now?” Zoey suggested. Mira smiled at Zoey, looping their hands together before heading back towards where the car to their home was waiting.

—

“I- I'm sorry about the show,” Rumi said later that night over dinner. She looked remorseful. She had slunk back into the penthouse just a few moments earlier.

“It's okay, Rumi. I’m sure everything will be fine,” Zoey told her.

Mira chimed in, “Yeah we can always schedule another live show in days.”

Or never. That would work too.

Rumi sighed, “I-I don't know if that's going to be possible. My voice, it's in trouble,” she told them.

Mira felt the old frustration crawling up her throat, “Wait, in trouble? Then why did you push up the Golden release?”

“Because we're so close, and it's so important,” Rumi told her. Mira frowned. It was important, yes. But so was Rumi’s health.

Zoey and Mira locked eyes before Zoey asked, “Rumi, why don't we take a break? We'll skip the Idol Awards this year and…”

“No. No way. It's our most important show. It's when we strengthen the Honmoon for the entire year. We can't skip it. We just can't. Not when I'm so close,” Rumi interrupted.

Mira sighed.

“Hey, we'll get through this. We can get through anything. Together,” Zoey told them.

Not everything.

—

Chapter Text

When Mira woke up the next day the first thing she did was check her phone. It read August 9th. She let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding.

She did not, however, approve of Zoey’s solution to Rumi’s voice problem. On the way there Zoey had explained, “He's got this special tonic. Apparently, it can heal anything from sore throats to relationships.”

It was about as legit as Mira expected, which was not at all.

“You have lots of walls up,” Dr. Han, the herbalist, was telling Rumi. Mira tuned back in from the magazine she’d been paging through, satisfied that someone else was calling Rumi out on her bullshit.

Rumi of course argued, “Walls? I don't have walls.”

“Uh, yeah, you do. He is kind of good,” Mira interrupted. Rumi grumbled.

It was even more satisfying when Dr. Han called out, “I bet she refuses to go to the bathhouse.”

Mira wasn’t going to say that having someone agree with her and Zoey was cathartic, but it felt pretty damn good.

It was too bad that even with Dr. Han’s ability to read people, his tonics were definitely not real.

—

Stepping out of Dr. Han’s shop was a relief; it had smelled strongly of medicinal tea. Turning down the alley Mira stopped.

“So hot,” she muttered. Zoey perked up too.

There was a group of guys walking towards them. Their hair, their abs. Woo.

“Ugh. You guys are so gross…” Rumi said to Mira and Zoey.

Unfortunately it turned out the guys were jerks, with one of them knocking Rumi over and then not helping her back up.

“They're so…” Zoey said while making vomiting sounds. Mira did the same and the two went back and forth until Mira was viscerally reminded of vomiting the day before in the kitchen sink. She shuddered.

“I'm gonna throw up,” she said.

Luckily there was a distraction. Music coming from one of the main plazas. Confused, the three of them headed over to check it out. But when they got there it was the same boys from before, singing a strangely infectious tune.

“My little soda pop,” the boys sang.

The people in the plaza were eating it up, even Zoey started dancing to the music and then it caught Rumi and Mira too. Mira stared at the boy band confused. And that's when she saw it. Purple patterns.

“They’re demons!” she and Rumi exclaimed at the same time that Zoey said, “Magicians!”

Mira turned to stare at her.

“Demons. Obviously demons,” Zoey corrected.

Mira hadn’t fought any demons since she’d had her nightmare. Looking at them now she was filled with anger.

“A demon's a demon. We kill them,” she said.

“No, it's too public,” Rumi argued. Mira wanted to laugh. A Huntr/x concert with a sold out crowd hadn’t been “too public”. It hadn’t stopped a demon from attacking Rumi.

Relax, that wasn’t real.

Zoey frowned at the two of them. “It almost seems like they're nice demons?” she questioned.

Mira and Rumi turned on her, “Demons are never nice!” they yelled. Zoey flinched.

What was Zoey thinking, Mira wondered. Demons were evil, soulless creatures. Demons killed your friends and tore up the Honmoon, and stole people’s souls. She tried to lock eyes with Zoey to understand what was going through her head, but Zoey wasn’t looking at her, instead watching Rumi.

Luckily Rumi was still on track, “Oh, those are demons. And we're gonna kill them. Let's get battle ready,” she announced.

—

Attacking the demons had largely not gone well. In the bathhouse when Rumi had disappeared Mira had frozen, worried that something had happened to her. She thought Zoey might have had the same panic, both of them calling, “Rumi, we need you!”

Luckily at the last moment Rumi had reappeared slashing apart the water demons in their path. The victory though had felt hollow and they’d returned to the penthouse tired and worn out.

The Honmoon was full of pink.

“How do we go from gold to this?” Rumi asked. Mira stared out over the Honmoon. Rumi was right, it didn't make sense. The Honmoon had been so strong, just hours away from being golden and yet now it was so weak, letting in tears that it easily would have suppressed just days ago.

The Honmoon was normally like a warm blanket over Mira’s shoulders, but the past two days it had been quiet, restrained as if it did not have the energy for even the smallest affirmation.

It had been completely silent during their rehearsal of Golden. Mira had been too close to panic to really notice, but now that she thought about it, it was strange. Strange and wrong. Usually even just a hint of the three of them singing was enough for the Honmoon to perk up.

The Honmoon, for some reason, was weaker than normal, and the demons were taking advantage.

“Gwi-Ma must know we're so close to sealing it for good,” Rumi said and Mira startled, turning to look at her.

Oh.

The dream, nightmare, hadn’t made sense. They had turned the Honmoon golden and then suddenly a demon was attacking, destroying Rumi. Nothing should have been able to make it through the golden barrier.

Could the nightmare have been sent by Gwi-ma to derail them?

Mira felt cold. She’d been off yesterday. She’d known her negative energy was dragging the other two down.

Had it been enough to cause Rumi to choke, Mira wondered.

She shook her head. There was no use blaming herself or thinking about what ifs. Right now they needed to deal with this pink Saja boy problem. They could focus on a golden Honmoon at a later date.

Maybe never, a small traitorous part of Mira thought, thinking of Rumi burning alive.

—

It was a relief to focus solely on taking the Saja boys down. Mira set aside any worries or concerns about the golden Honmoon and instead channeled all her pent up frustration and anger towards the demons.

Takedown was cathartic and enjoyable. Mira loved it. Loved how it curved around her. It was easy to find the lyrics. “A demon with no feelings doesn't deserve to live" sprouted organically.

The three of them were in their element; they’d never written a diss track before, but the lyrics came seamlessly.

But the Honmoon was silent. It worried Mira, worried her almost as much as Zoey and Rumi did. They were acting strange. Mira was pretty sure she’d caught Rumi trying to talk to a demon mid-battle. Zoey kept bringing demons up too, especially after sessions when just the two of them were workshopping Takedown.

“Do you think some demons could be good?” she asked.

“No,” Mira responded, annoyed by the conversation. Zoey had tried out three or four different variants of the same question in the last few days.

“Just because you find Mystery hot Zoey, doesn’t mean he’s going to magically become a better person. He’s a demon,” She told her in frustration. Zoey flinched and bit her lip.

But Mira could tell she wasn’t going to drop it, “Demons are evil. Period. End of story.”

Why were they both questioning everything now?

—

Mira decided Rumi was worse than Zoey after the “Woo Jinu” episode.

What the fuck Rumi?

She could hear Rumi changing the lyrics to Takedown behind her door.

“When your patterns start to show, I see a pain that lies below,” Mira heard Rumi sing softly.

It made Mira want to scream. Was she the only sane one left? Was she the only one who realized that demons were evil? That demons devoured and destroyed and burned.

Mira considered her options. A large part of her wanted to walk away, to go lay down in her bed and just pretend this wasn’t happening. But Rumi was one of her best friends and it felt like something was going on with her. Mira should check in.

She didn’t want to.

She knocked anyway. She tried to start off nice, she really did, “I heard you singing. You sound good.”

But before she knew it she was accusing, “So, why are you changing our lyrics?”

“Oh, I just... Do you really think this is the right song to beat Gwi-Ma? It's so hateful,” Rumi asked.

And Mira didn’t know. The Honmoon had been silent.

But she could safely say, “Yeah, because we hate him, and we hate demons.”

It was truthful at least.

“No, I know,” Rumi said. But it didn’t sound like she was actually agreeing.

“Okay, what is up with you? I could swear, the other day, you were talking to a demon,” Mira questioned. And now that she had started she couldn’t stop, “And Woo, Jinu? What was that about?”

Rumi was quick with a retort, “Playing him up to psych him out. Get in his head.”

But it didn’t sound like the truth. Mira sighed. This was not how she wanted this chat to go. She just needed Rumi to open up a little and tell her what was actually on her mind.

“Look, I'm pretty good at reading people. Actually, I'm kind of an expert at it, and I just can't shake this feeling that you're keeping something from me,” Mira tried.

This time Rumi did sound sincere, “Mira, I'm not keeping anything from you. I promise.”

It made Mira feel bad. Bad enough to apologize, “Sorry. I sound nuts.”

She paused for a moment before continuing a bit ruefully, “I guess these demons are just getting to me.”

“I can't wait until every one of them is destroyed and sent back to suffer with Gwi-Ma for eternity. Right, Rumi?” Mira offered absentmindedly. God that would be great. The golden Honmoon with none of the hiccups.

But Rumi’s voice was tight when she responded, “Yeah. Eternal suffering. Sounds fun.”

It made Mira feel like she had missed something, something crucial. How could she explain to Rumi that demons would make Rumi suffer, that they needed to be locked away? She had missed her chance. The conversation was over.

—

It did not get better from there.

“What's going on? Why are we stopping?” Mira asked during the final Takedown rehearsals for the Idol Awards. In a weird parody of their Golden rehearsal, Rumi had stopped partway through the song.

Rumi sighed, “It's just that these lyrics are throwing me off. I don't think they're right just yet.”

Mira wanted to scream.

“Seriously? Now?” she asked, turning to Zoey for support. But Zoey was silent. Zoey pulled out her notebooks and flipped through them with a crease on her forehead.

“It's the second verse right? When your patterns start to show, it makes the…” Zoey trailed off.

Zoey frowned and then, “I don’t know how to fix it,” she said in a quiet voice.

Mira interrupted Zoey’s spiral, “Rumi, we don't have time to change the lyrics even if we wanted to. The Idol Awards are in two days.”

“Well, I don't think I can sing this song,” Rumi told them.

But before they could get into it more, all three felt a jolt. The Honmoon. A tear.

—

They had never been so out of sync.

“Why are you questioning everything we stand for? What are you not telling us, Rumi?” Mira angrily asked as they approached the tear. “What are you hiding from us?”

“Not everything is about your insecurities, Mira!” Rumi responded sharply. But then she immediately winced, regretting it. “Mira, I didn't mean…”

“Would you two stop fighting each other and look?” Zoey interrupted.

The tear was huge, larger than any they’d seen before.

“If you're with us, prove it,” Mira told Rumi before jumping into battle.

—

They lost the passengers.

Mira stared limp and boneless at the stuff they had left behind: a phone, a backpack, a magazine. Their souls were gone. And Mira was exhausted. How had the Saja boys weakened the Honmoon so much so quickly? How could Rumi and Zoey see this and believe demons were anything but evil?

“Whatever you think about the song, it doesn't matter now,” she tiredly told Rumi. “Everything is at stake, and we just need to get through this together.”

—

“Should we talk about it?” Zoey asked once she and Mira were back at the penthouse.

“Talk about what?” Mira questioned. “We lost the passengers. The demons won. I’m going to take a nap.”

Zoey followed after her, “About Rumi.”

“I don’t understand Rumi right now,” Mira said and then pointedly, “Or you.”

“The Saja boys, the demons, they’re evil. I don’t get why you guys are questioning that,” Mira told her. “We just need to get through this and defeat them.”

She was at her door.

Zoey bit her lip. “Right,” she said. Her hands fidgeted in front of her.

“But what if,” she started.

“Zoey, I can't right now,” Mira interrupted. Zoey’s face fell.

Mira slipped into her room. She was bone-tired and deeply wrung out. But her nap was not restful. She saw over and over again, Rumi burning and Zoey sobbing, begging. She tossed and turned.

She glanced at her clock. An hour and a half had passed. She lay there in silence. She rolled over. And then with a groan, she pulled herself out of bed.

She should apologize to Zoey.

She stopped first at Rumi’s room just to reassure herself, but Rumi wasn’t there. She sighed. She walked to Zoey’s door and knocked.

“Hey. You want to get Boba?” she asked.

—

Zoey sipped on her strawberry milk tea, swinging her legs back and forth with pleasure. She’d added tapioca and lychee to it, which Mira thought was monstrous. Mira had settled for a classic milk tea.

On the walk to the boba shop they’d studiously avoided talking about demons, Rumi, or the Saja boys. Instead Zoey had pulled up different animal reaction memes to entertain Mira with.

But now that they had drinks and were back home, Mira brought it up.

“I’m sorry,” Mira told Zoey, “I think I’m just overdue for a break.”

Zoey exhaled, “A break would be nice. All three of us could go to the bathhouses.”

Mira laughed, “Rumi would never go with us. She’s too modest.”

Zoey was quiet, contemplative. Mira stretched out on the couch lazily.

“Let’s just do whatever Rumi wants for the Idol Awards,” Mira told Zoey, “I think if it was up to either of us we’d be at a spa in Busan.”

“Ooh or we could go to Jeju island,” Zoey said, but she was nodding, agreeing to Mira’s plan. She rested her head against Mira’s chest and closed her eyes. Mira let herself relax. Rumi was their leader. Whatever was going on with her would pass. Mira just needed to trust her.

—

The next day bloomed soft and bright. Rumi gathered the three of them on the couch.

“Look, the last few weeks have been hard. And I admit, I haven't been at my best. But I know we can win tomorrow. We just have to sing the right song. And Takedown isn't…” Rumi started.

“It's okay, Rumi,” Mira told her. She touched Rumi’s hand.

“We agree,” Zoey said.

“It's not the song that's gonna connect all our fans,” Mira continued.

“It can't even connect us,” Zoey said with a shrug.

It was a relief to be on the same page again, to be back in harmony. To share their fears and concerns and be part of a trio. A family.

And then Rumi said, “And then we can take a hiatus. Maybe go to the bathhouse?”

It was everything Mira had recently wanted.

“Let's do it!” Zoey said and then, “Wait, what song are we singing?”

"Golden," Rumi and Mira said in sync. But Zoey said at the same time, “Takedown!”

“I mean Golden. Definitely Golden,” she hastily corrected. Mira glanced at Zoey with confusion even as Rumi continued, “It's a song about the best of us.”

Zoey’s face kept doing weird things. Mira frowned, distracted but asked, “Rumi, is your voice good to go?”

“Never been stronger,” she said. Mira looked at her two girls. Rumi didn’t look like she was lying. She did look ready to go, peaceful now that a resolution had been reached and a game plan established, but Zoey was fussing. Mira stared at her.

But Zoey didn’t notice. She was deep in thought. Mira nudged her and Zoey looked up and asked, “Happy fans?”

Mira relaxed.

“Happy Honmoon!” the three of them said in harmony. Everything was going to be okay.

—-

The rapid knocking came at 2 am. It was Zoey outside of Mira’s door. It didn’t look like she’d slept. She was pacing wildly, hair askew.

“We can’t sing Golden!” she blurted out in anguish when Mira opened the door still half asleep. Mira blinked at Zoey in confusion before guiding her into her room.

“I.. what?” she managed.

“We can’t sing Golden, tomorrow,” Zoey repeated. Mira frowned at her deeply confused.

“I can’t tell you why, but we can’t. We just can’t,” Zoey was telling Mira. Mira stared at Zoey.

Oh. Oh no.

Mira ran for the bathroom. She barely made it to the ensuite toilet before she was vomiting. Her chest hurt and tears flowed down her face.

No no no!

She felt Zoey’s presence. A hand holding her hair and the other rubbing comforting circles on her back as Mira leaned over the toilet.

“Hey it's okay, I got you,” Zoey whispered. Mira gripped the side of the toilet to stabilize herself. Her right hand ached.

“You were there?” she asked in disbelief and then a realization, “It was real.”

“Hey breathe. It's okay. Breathe in and out,” Zoey told her, trying to walk her through the panic.

Mira was shaking. Her throat ached, and her mouth tasted of vomit. She stared at Zoey.

“I don’t understand. If you were there…” she started.

“Rumi’s our best friend,” Zoey said with an air of desperation like she was begging Mira to understand.

“And a demon ate her!” Mira said, baring her teeth in anger. Zoey flinched away from the anger before her eyes widened at the words.

“I…” Zoey started. She looked devastated.

“No,” Zoey said after a moment. She sat down next to Mira on the floor, their shoulders touching leaning into Mira for support.

“I… Mira, Rumi was the demon,” Zoey told her.

—

Chapter Text

Mira flinched away from Zoey. That didn’t make any sense. But suddenly Zoey’s strange insistence that some demons must be good made sense. Because if Rumi was a demon…

Mira’s mouth opened but no words came out. 

“We’d know if Rumi was a demon,” Mira eventually managed. Zoey frowned. 

“Would we?” she questioned, “She’s always been more closed off.”

Mira shook her head stubbornly, “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would Rumi make a deal with Gwi-ma especially when we’re so close to sealing the Honmoon for good?”

Zoey fidgeted with her hands, “I don’t know! Maybe she made the deal a long time ago?” 

“You think the Rumi we’ve known has always been a demon?” Mira questioned, disgusted. “Don’t you think Celine would have noticed?”

Don’t you think we would have noticed?

“I don’t know!” Zoey repeated. “I haven’t been able to make sense of it,” she moaned. 

“Because it doesn’t make sense,” Mira argued. “Rumi would never make a deal with Gwi-ma. She loves being a hunter and she’s always been 100%, maybe honestly too, committed, to the mission.”

“She is a work-aholic,” Zoey said fondly. She leaned more fully into Mira who wrapped her arms around her. Mira was suddenly aware that they were sitting on the bathroom floor.

“C’mon lets move to the bed,” Mira offered. As they got up Zoey pointed at the sink and Mira nodded. She moved towards it and pulled out her toothbrush. She brushed her teeth, getting rid of the taste of vomit. It was good to take a moment to think. Zoey leaned against the wall watching her.

Afterwards, they migrated to the bed. They stayed close, Zoey’s arms wrapped around Mira and Mira leaned her head against Zoey’s shoulder for comfort. 

“‘I’ve been thinking… maybe, it was a nightmare sent by Gwi-ma to distract and divide us. We had a chance to turn the Honmoon golden and we choked,” Mira told Zoey.

Mira continued, “And then the Saja boys literally showed up the next day.”

Zoey thought about it. “The timing is a little suspect,” she agreed. “But it felt real.”

And then she was crying into Mira’s chest. Zoey’s tears set Mira’s off and they both cried, a mess of water works. 

“I’m glad we’re talking about this. I felt so alone,” Zoey offered once they had calmed down.

“I felt alone too,” Mira confessed. They leaned against each other. Mira’s hands ran down Zoey’s side in long comforting strokes. 

“It’s just… Rumi being a demon doesn’t make sense,” Mira told her after a long pause, “The dream must have been a trick.”

She pressed a light kiss to Zoey’s forehead. Zoey sighed.

“You’re right,” she said. “But I still don’t feel good about singing Golden. What if it happens again?”

Panic crept into Zoey’s voice. She twisted on the bed.

“Hey it’s gonna be okay,” Mira comforted. “You know one good thing about the Saja boys, the Honmoon is so weak,” Mira told her sardonically.  “Even if we sing Golden and knock it out of the park, the Honmoon isn’t gonna turn golden.”

She let that hang over them for a second before continuing, “Not that it matters, since Rumi isn’t a demon.”

Zoey nodded against Mira. She was closing her eyes, falling asleep and Mira leaned back pleased, ready to do the same.

“Rumi!” Zoey shouted, sitting upright. Mira jumped.

“Rumi choked on Golden,” Zoey said, turning to stare at Mira. Mira looked back confused. “She had the nightmare too! That’s why she couldn’t sing. It freaked her out too badly.”

“Poor Rumi,” Zoey continued, “She’s been all alone.” 

And then she turned her puppy dog eyes on Mira. “We’ve got to go comfort her,” she said. Mira glanced at the clock: 2:45 am. 

“She’s probably asleep,” Mira said. “We shouldn’t wake her.”

But Zoey kept pouting and Mira said, “Fine, but you’re knocking.”

—

A very confused and half asleep Rumi opened the door for them.

She looks cute, Mira thought.

Rumi wore pajamas Zoey had gifted her. They were covered in little tigers. She rubbed her eyes and peered at them in confusion from the other side of the door.

“Sleepover!” Zoey told her before sliding into Rumi’s room before Rumi could say no. Rumi glanced at Mira confused, but Mira shrugged and also slipped past her. 

It was rare that the two of them were allowed in Rumi’s room. Rumi had left the lights off and Zoey and Mira climbed into Rumi’s bed like it was a normal occurrence. Mira tensed waiting for Rumi’s reaction. She half expected Rumi to kick them out at any moment, to put a wall between them.

She watched Rumi warily, waiting. She could just barely make her out in the low light. She could tell Rumi had turned, so her back was now to the door, and she was facing them. She waited with baited breath. 

“I… okay,” Rumi whispered. And Mira let her shoulders relax. Rumi slowly walked back to the bed, stopping at the edge, like she was hyping herself up to join them. Mira pretended not to notice. 

Rumi carefully climbed in, but she kept herself at the end, curled up into a small spot, ensuring not a single point of contact between herself and Mira. Mira frowned. Rumi was clearly uncomfortable.

“Silly you have to be in the middle, it's your bed,” Zoey told Rumi from Mira’s other side. She made grabby motions with her hands and then commanded, “Move over Mira.”

“Bossy,” Mira complained but she rolled towards Rumi, who stared at her. It was dark but Mira thought she saw a red flush on Rumi’s face. Mira laughed and pulled Rumi over her. She gave Rumi plenty of time to stop her, but Rumi didn’t. She simply scrambled into the middle spot.  

Zoey wrapped her arms around Rumi like a koala and Rumi froze, body tense. Mira waited. She could see Rumi struggling to decide what to do, before slowly Rumi relaxed into it. Mira smiled. She rolled herself back towards Rumi and let their hips and shoulders touch. Rumi did not stop her. 

This was how it was meant to be. The three of them.

“I had a bad dream,” Zoey told Rumi. “Mira did too.”

“We sang golden and then you died, Rumi,” Zoey continued. Rumi tensed.

“It was horrible. Mira thinks Gwi-ma sent us the dream to mess us up. But I’m scared about singing Golden tomorrow,” Zoey said. She sniffled at the end.

The moment Zoey said she was scared, Rumi went back into leader mode, “Zoey we’ve got this. There’s nothing to worry about. Trust me when I say everything’s set for tomorrow.”

“Did you have the dream too?” Mira asked. She tried to keep her voice light and unaccusing. 

“I…” Rumi started. 

“It’s okay, Rumi,” Zoey said. Mira let her hand rest on Rumi’s shoulder trying to comfort her.

And then Rumi was crying big sobbing gasping tears, like she’d been holding them back for weeks.

“I.. it hurt,” she cried. Zoey and Mira both moved closer to her. “It's okay we got you,” Mira whispered.

“I thought golden was supposed to…” Rumi cut herself off. 

“It wasn’t real,” Mira told her. She rubbed Rumi’s shoulders. 

“We love you,” Zoey told Rumi. She glanced at Mira for a moment before looking away. 

Rumi shook her head, “You’re right. It wasn’t real. And tomorrow we’re going to sing Golden and seal the Honmoon.” 

And then more quietly, more like a mumble, “And send all the demons back to Gwi-ma where they belong.” 

Zoey squeezed Rumi more tightly. Mira watched the two of them. Rumi’s face was pale, scared even as she pretended to be confident. 

“We are hunters' voices strong, slaying demons with our song,” Rumi sang softly as if trying to comfort herself and Mira leaned her head against Rumi’s shoulder. 

“It’s going to be okay,” she told Rumi. The Honmoon was silent. 

—

Mira woke up to the sun. No wonder Rumi was always the first one up. The sun in the morning through her windows was blinding. 

Mira glanced around. She was relieved that Rumi and Zoey were both still there, sleeping peacefully intertwined. The clock in the room said 5:15 am. Mira should try to go back to sleep, they had a big day, but the light was too strong.

She looked around taking in Rumi’s room in the light of day. 

It was… sad . 

It reminded Mira of the endless impersonal hotel rooms they stayed in while on tour. Nice, but empty. This room, it didn’t have Rumi’s personality, her essence. It felt like at any moment Rumi could leave, walk-away. There was so little of her here.

There was a teddy bear, some plants, a picture of Rumi’s mom, some guitars, but that was it. They’d lived here for years. Why hadn’t Rumi filled in the space more? 

Zoey’s room was an explosion of Zoey, covered in things she’d picked up, fan gifts, notebooks. It was also often strewn with Zoey’s clothing. Mira’s room was less overwhelming, a more carefully curated aesthetic rather than an explosion of personality, but anyone who stepped into her room would know it was hers.

This room could have been anyone's. It made Mira sad. She looked over at Rumi who was curled up next to her and sighed. Sleeping, Rumi looked peaceful, relaxed. There was no weight on her shoulders, no walls to maintain, no perfect leader composure to keep. 

She looked beautiful.

Mira traced Rumi’s profile with her eyes. Her shirt had crumpled up at her neck and Mira leaned forward to fix it. She paused right before she did it.

She glanced at Zoey, still asleep. It was tempting to pull Rumi’s shirt back just a little, just to check.

To check what? 

It would be an invasion of privacy. Mira bit her lip. 

She wasn’t sure what compelled her. But the sad room, Rumi’s verses, ”When your patterns start to show, I see a pain that lies below.” Her flinching at sending all the demons to Gwi-ma. It could just be that after burning alive in the dream, Rumi didn’t want that for anyone, even demons.  But still Mira’s hand hovered.  She remembered Rumi’s pale scared face from the night before.

What was she doing?

Mira leaned forward, and slowly she pulled Rumi’s shirt up and away from her skin, just the barest amount just enough to see the skin underneath. 

It was covered in purple patterns. 

Mira fell back. Her chest felt cold. Everything felt icy all of a sudden. She sat silently for a moment before tapping Zoey awake.

Zoey blearily woke up. She saw Mira’s face and her expression fell. Mira pulled Zoey out of the bed, careful not to wake Rumi and Zoey glanced over at Rumi laying on the bed. Her eyes widened at the patterns. Mira expected her to shout and make a fuss, but Zoey also descended into shocked silence. Mira led her out to the hall and then to the living room and the couch.

—

Zoey’s silence didn’t last very long. She paced back and forth in the living room, “But what how… How long has she had the patterns?” a stream of consciousness pouring out from her.

Mira did not respond. She wrapped herself in a blanket and folded herself onto the couch. She wasn’t listening to Zoey. Her whole chest felt cold. 

Rumi was a liar. 

Rumi was a demon. The three of them, everything they had, all built on a lie. It had all been fake. Her best friends, her family, just a figment of her imagination. Mira should have realized.

I don’t get to have nice things. 

The Honmoon was silent. Mira continued to spiral. She should have realized, should have realized that it was too good to be true. 

You don’t get to have a family. 

Mira summoned her Gok-do. She needed something to lean on, something to comfort her. Zoey stared, frightened.

“We can still fix this,” she told Mira. But even Zoey didn’t really believe that. She collapsed on the floor. 

“I.. how does Rumi have patterns?” she questioned. Mira shrugged. It didn’t matter. 

—

Rumi walked into the living room slowly like she was approaching her execution. Her eyes widened when she saw Mira’s Gok-do and for a moment her eyes flickered to the door as if she was thinking about running, before she steadied herself. She took a deep breath and continued towards them. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. She sat on the floor making herself small and vulnerable, making it clear she wasn’t a threat. “You weren’t supposed to see. The golden Honmoon, it was supposed to get rid of them.”

“You’ve been hiding this the whole time?” Mira asked angrily. She gripped the Gok-do harder.

Rumi was quiet, desperate, “I had plans to erase them.”

But Zoey interrupted before she could continue, “How… how do you have patterns?” 

Her voice was small, sad and betrayed.

“I was born a mistake,” Rumi told them, “My dad was a demon. I’m a half-demon. I shouldn’t exist. I guess the Honmoon figured that out too,” she said softly. 

Mira did not understand.

“A half-demon? Since you were born?” she asked. And then, “Does Celine know?”

Rumi nodded. The cold feeling was back. The whole time she’d known Rumi, the whole time, Rumi had kept this from them. 

She’d never trusted them.

“You didn’t make a deal with Gwi-ma?” Zoey was asking. Rumi shook her head. Zoey stared at her confused, looking to Mira for guidance.

“I didn’t know half-demons could exist,” Zoey said once it became clear Mira wasn’t going to step in.

Rumi hunched in on herself on the floor, “They’re not supposed to.”

Zoey reached out a hand as if she wanted to comfort Rumi, but then seemed to second guess it and pulled her hand back at the last moment. Rumi flinched.

“I know you must be upset,” Rumi told them, “But we’re so close. We just need to do our duty one more time. We can still seal the Honmoon,” she told them urgently before continuing more softly, “And then you won’t ever have to deal with me again.”

Mira lurched. She thought of Rumi’s room, how she hadn’t ever really decorated it. Ready to leave at any moment. 

She thought of Celine, knowing Rumi was a half-demon. Her stomach churned. Celine had said everything with patterns was evil, soul-less, not worth saving. But she’d known , known the whole time that Rumi had patterns. Did that say more about Rumi or Celine? Mira didn’t know. Her heart ached, and her right hand throbbed. 

She wondered if Rumi also felt phantom pains from burning alive. She saw Rumi, burning, burning as the Honmoon turned golden. And now she was offering to do it again. 

Had Celine known? Had Celine known that the golden Honmoon would destroy Rumi? Her heart twisted more. 

The Honmoon clearly hadn’t known. It had been inconsolable, desolate at Rumi’s pain and suffering. Mira stopped for a moment. The Honmoon. It had broken the laws of time and space to save Rumi. It had twisted and pulled on their very souls, to pull them back to try again. 

The Honmoon had saved them, but it had broken the rules, and even a cosmic entity had to pay the price.The Honmoon was dying; it was failing. 

“We’re not turning the Honmoon golden,” Mira told Rumi harshly. “We’re not getting rid of you,” she said more softly.

“I’m mad, so mad at you, for lying, for keeping this from us. For not trusting us. But I’m not mad that you’re…” Mira gestured at her, “I don’t get it, the demon thing. I don’t know what it means. But the Honmoon destroyed itself so you wouldn’t die. We’re not turning it golden,” Mira repeated.

Zoey glanced at Mira, relieved. “You’re our best friend Rumi,” she said, “You’re not allowed to leave.”

“This is what we have to do!” Rumi told them.  Her voice was desperate. Zoey shook her head.

“No,” Mira told Rumi. She leaned against her Gok-do for support one final time, before vanishing it away. 

She reached out a hand to Rumi who was still sitting on the floor, “We’ll figure something else out,” she said before glancing at Zoey, “together.”

Zoey nodded. “Together,” she repeated. Rumi still hesitated, her eyebrows furrowing. 

“You don’t have to do everything alone,” Mira told her with frustration.

Rumi took her hand. “I.. okay. Together,” she said. 

—

Chapter Text

“Celine will know what to do,” Rumi told them reluctantly.

Mira and Zoey exchanged looks. Celine had kept this from them too. But Rumi wasn’t wrong. If anyone would know what to do, it would be Celine. 

“Should we tell her we’re coming?” Zoey asked as the three of them climbed into their car. They’d texted their driver to pick them up, the moment the decision to visit Celine had been made.  

In the car, Mira sat as far away from Rumi and Zoey as she could manage.  Not a single point of contact between any of them, instead of huddled together in a single row like normal. 

Everything had been a lie. 

Mira shook her head and then rested it against the window. She didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to think. She wanted to go to sleep and for none of this to be happening. 

But her thoughts kept going. This might be a waste of time. What if Celine already knew? What if she had always known? What if Rumi dying had always been the plan? 

“How come you didn’t go to Celine right away?” Zoey asked Rumi, interrupting Mira’s train of thought. Rumi flinched.

“I wasn’t… I didn’t… I thought I had it under control,” she said. But she didn’t make eye contact, instead staring fixedly past Zoey. Zoey frowned.

“It's okay to ask for help,” she told Rumi. 

But Mira understood. She wrapped her arms around herself feeling chilled. Rumi hadn’t gone to Celine, because just like Mira, she hadn’t known where Celine stood. Hadn’t been certain. Rumi hadn’t been willing to reach out, to find out, because she already feared and suspected the answer. 

Rumi would rather try to figure it all out herself, even sacrifice herself a second time, than go talk to Celine. Mira shuddered.

It was not a good sign for this visit. What would they do if Celine told them Rumi was supposed to die for a golden Honmoon? 

She watched Rumi, who was looking out the window. Rumi was hunched, her eyes red from crying. 

Could demons feel sadness?

Zoey gave up on conversation after that. The three of them sat in a cold silence the rest of the way to Celine’s. 

—

When Celine opened the door for them she was confused and then upset. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked. “The idol awards are tonight,” she told them frantically.  “The Honmoon,” she waved at the sky, “needs strengthening now more than ever.” 

Rumi stared at Celine, clearly uncertain, unwilling to proceed. Mira sighed. Might as well just rip off the bandaid. 

“Rumi’s a demon and if we make the Honmoon golden it’ll kill her,” Mira told her matter of factly, holding the door open in case Celine decided to slam it in their faces. 

Celine’s whole face dropped. A series of complicated emotions worked their way across her face, before her eyes turned accusingly to Rumi. Rumi flinched.

“I didn’t tell them!” she said. “They figured it out themselves.”

Finally the second part of Mira’s sentence seemed to register.

“The golden Honmoon won’t kill Rumi, it will save her,” Celine told them.

“Yeah, no,” Zoey said. “We did that, would not recommend 0/10.”

Celine frowned at the three of them. “That’s not possible. Once the Honmoon turns golden, Rumi will be fixed.”

Mira pushed her way inside the house. “Like Zoey said we already tried that and it didn’t work. The golden Honmoon tried to kill Rumi.”

Celine shook her head in disbelief. It made Mira feel a bit better. Celine hadn’t known. 

“There must be something else we can do?” Zoey questioned. Celine shook her head again. She turned to stare at Rumi. Slowly she reached her hand out to rest on Rumi’s cheek. 

“The golden Honmoon didn’t fix you?” she asked. Rumi shook her head no, eyes wide, tears starting to escape at the edges.   

Celine’s hand receded and she ran it through her hair in an anxious motion. She shook her head again. She looked at Rumi devastated. 

“The golden Honmoon, it’s the only way to defeat Gwi-ma,” she said. “It’s the only way to fix,” she trailed off but her intent was obvious, Rumi. 

“By killing her?” Zoey asked. Celine shook her head frustrated.

“It was supposed to take away her patterns, to make her whole, to save her,” Celine said.

“That’s enough,” Mira said. She was reminded of her parents. 

Not good enough. Born wrong. 

Rumi was shaking, distraught. 

“But she was born with her patterns,” Zoey said, confused. “They’re part of her. You can’t take them away.”

She glanced at Mira clearly upset. “There’s nothing to fix,” Zoey said.  

Celine clamped up at that. And Mira hated that she understood Celine. Because it was one thing to not fit the family mold, and quite another to be a demon. 

Soulless, evil.

What had Rumi said? That she was born a mistake. Mira wondered in how many ways Rumi had meant that. How much of the Rumi that Mira knew had even been real?

0%? 50%? 

Rumi was half-demon, did that mean half a soul? Was that what Celine was trying to fix? Had Rumi ever…?

Mira stopped herself. This was Rumi. Rumi, who Mira had known for years, had seen cry, and laugh. Their fearless leader. 

Rumi, who Mira noticed, was shaking like a leaf, clearly distressed. Purple patterns were starting to spread onto more parts of her body without her noticing. Her right hand was beginning to turn clawlike. Zoey clearly wanted to comfort her, but didn’t know how. 

Demons might not be able to feel emotions, but Rumi could. 

Suddenly, Mira didn’t want Rumi around for this conversation.

“Rumi, why don’t you wait for us outside?” she offered, voice as soft and kind as she could make it. “We’ll be there in just a sec.”

Rumi glanced at Zoey, who nodded. Rumi didn’t need another excuse; she fled the house clearly wanting to put as much distance between herself and Celine as possible. Zoey bit her lip and made a move as if to follow her, but restrained herself. 

Instead the moment Rumi was gone, Zoey turned on Celine angrily, but Mira held her back grabbing her shoulder. 

“Rumi’s a half-demon,” Mira said. “Her father…?” she trailed off. She didn’t want to finish the sentence, didn’t want to follow her thoughts to their logical conclusions.

Celine didn’t pick up on Mira’s hint. “He’s dead,” she said. “Gwi-ma killed him.” 

“But how did Rumi come to be? He was a demon,” Mira said more directly. 

Celine shrugged. “They were in love.”

Mira felt relief and then confusion. “But he was a demon,” she said.

“I know. I don’t know what Mi-yeong saw in him,” Celine said, an old frustration rekindled. 

“Wait, demons can be in love?” Zoey asked, surprised. “You told us demons don’t feel anything at all.” 

Celine frowned. “Rumi’s dad was special, unique. Most demons can’t feel anything at all. They are soulless creatures. Mi-yeong changed him.”

Mira thought about Rumi shaking, her fear the night before. She stared at Celine utterly crestfallen.

“Was he excited that he was going to have a kid?” she asked. 

Celine shrugged annoyed by the seemingly random question before finally, “Yes. They were both ecstatic.”

But Zoey understood. Zoey let out a sound somewhere between a hiss and a sigh. “I think we’re done here,” she said, face stony. She turned to leave. But then she turned back upset, not able to let it go.

“If you knew Rumi, if you knew Rumi’s dad, why would you teach us that all demons are evil?” Zoey asked, frustrated and devastated at the same time.

Celine stared at her perplexed. 

“I taught you the truth,” she said. “Rumi…” Celine paced back and forth, “her patterns, they need to be fixed.”

Celine sighed. “If I knew of a different way, I’d tell you. I do love Rumi.”

Zoey stared at her clearly not convinced. 

“I did the best I could,” Celine told them apologetically. 

Mira wanted to break something. Celine’s face was tempting. She was so mad, at Celine, at herself.  

“Fuck you,” she said instead. 

Rumi hadn’t been born a mistake; Celine had taught her that. 

Rumi, who cried during animal documentaries, who bought all of Zoey’s favorite snacks, who endlessly checked in with Mira when she was having a bad day, who planned team outings with type A precision because she just wanted the two of them to have a good time. 

And yet Celine still thought Rumi was wrong, something to be saved.  

That’s two cases of demons that weren’t evil, Mira thought. How many more did Celine need? How many more did Mira need?

“No Zoey’s right, we’re done here,” Mira said, grabbing Zoey’s hand.

—

Outside of the house, Mira anxiously looked around for Rumi and felt a sense of rising panic when she didn’t see her. Had Rumi run away?

Zoey squeezed her hand. “C’mon,” she said, guiding Mira towards the back of the property, towards Mi-Yeong’s grave. 

Oh, Mira thought, of course. 

She and Zoey didn’t usually go to the grave site. It was Rumi’s and Celine’s place, and they didn’t want to intrude. But Rumi was there now. She sat in the grass playing with it with her fingers, her back to them, facing the grave stone. Her patterns had grown barely peeking out of her clothes. Mira hesitated unsure if they should interrupt, but Zoey pulled her along. 

Zoey released Mira’s hand once they reached the grave, and plopped down next to Rumi. Their shoulders touched and Zoey leaned in trying to provide comfort. Mira watched them for a moment, before she sat down on Rumi’s other side. She leaned her shoulder into Rumi’s too. 

Rumi glanced at them, and Mira could tell she was relieved, that she had worried they weren’t going to come get her. It made Mira’s chest ache. She leaned more of her body into Rumi trying to wrap herself completely around her. 

Rumi asked, her voice trembling, “Why… Why couldn’t she love me?” Zoey and Mira exchanged glances. 

“She does love you,” Zoey said. “Just not…”

Zoey sighed unsure how to finish that. Mira tried instead, “My parents couldn’t love me…” 

“That’s different,” Rumi interrupted. “Your parents, they were wrong. Anyone would be lucky to have you Mira,” she said. 

Mira raised her eyebrows at Rumi, at the hypocrisy. Rumi flushed.

“It’s different. I shouldn’t have been born. I shouldn’t exist,” she said. Zoey’s eyes widened, devastated to hear Rumi say that.

“No, Rumi,” Zoey said. “It isn’t different. Mira’s parents,” here Zoey gave Mira an apologetic look knowing it was a sore spot, before continuing, “the issue was them, not Mira.”

Mira continued, “You aren’t something that needs to be fixed. Celine needs to change, Rumi, not you.”

Rumi wrapped her arms around herself. “But why wasn’t I enough for her to change?” she questioned, voice soft. Mira’s heart clenched. She’d asked herself the same question countless times. 

“Because she sucks?” she suggested half-heartedly. Zoey snorted at that and even Rumi gave a small smile. Mira thought about what her therapist would say.

Some bullshit about how she couldn't control other people, just her own response to things, she couldn't force people to change, and people evolve at their own speed and blah blah blah. It hadn’t made Mira feel better, and she doubted it would make Rumi feel better either. 

She lay her head against Rumi’s trying to make Rumi understand: you are loved.

The three of them sat there, leaning into each other, the breeze passing between them.

“So any more big secrets, we should get out there,” Zoey asked jokingly. Rumi tensed. 

Zoey and Mira’s heads swivelled to look at her in disbelief. 

“I… I’ve been meeting with Jinu,” Rumi told them, burying her face in her hands.

“I knew it! Woo Fucking Jinu,” Mira said launching herself to her feet vindicated. Zoey glanced at her annoyed. “Not the time, Mira,” she hissed.

Mira flushed before sitting back down. “Well, I was right,” she muttered. 

Rumi shrugged. “I.. he was the only one who knew about my patterns.”

“You told him?” Zoey interrupted, surprised and hurt. Rumi laughed, but it wasn’t a nice laugh.

“Of course not,” she said. “He saw them at the bathhouse. But he was the only one who knew, besides Celine.” She shrugged. “I… it was nice to talk to someone about it. I felt like I was choking, and talking to him made it better.” 

“He is pretty hot,” Zoey mused. Mira clenched her teeth to prevent the instinctive, “Demons are not hot. They’re evil Zoey,” that had clawed up her throat.

Rumi flushed. “It wasn’t like that! I was using him. I told him if he helped us he could be on this side of the barrier when it was sealed. He could be free from Gwi-ma.”

Zoey frowned. “But then he would have burned to death?” she questioned.

This time Rumi flushed with shame. “I… I didn’t tell him that,” she mumbled, turning away. 

Mira smirked, “Nice.”

Zoey gave her a disapproving look. 

Mira ignored it and asked instead, “Why’d he want to be free of Gwi-ma? I thought he was like their king.”

Rumi frowned. “I think Gwi-ma lives in his ear, and makes him regret his life decisions over and over.”

Mira stared at her. She did not know what to say to that. That sounded like Mira’s worst nightmare. She shuddered. 

“Ugh,” Zoey said. “Do you think he’d have ideas on how to defeat Gwi-ma?”

Rumi blinked at her. “He’s a demon,” she said. 

“Yeah, so?” Mira asked, like it wasn’t a big deal. She folded her arms and leaned backwards, daring Rumi to challenge her on it.

“I… maybe,” Rumi said. Zoey nodded.

“Ok how do we get in contact with him?” she asked. 

Rumi frowned. “I, you really want to do this?”

Mira shrugged. “We don’t have any other better options, do we?”

Rumi sighed. “Visiting Celine really was a bust,” she muttered unhappily.

But Mira didn’t think so. Yeah, Celine had kind of sucked, like a lot, and they still didn’t have a plan for the Honmoon, but the icy cold feeling that had followed Mira around all morning had dissipated. 

Mira reached out to take Rumi’s hand. Rumi had lied, yes, and Mira was still mad about it. But the three of them, best friends, family, that hadn’t been a lie. 

—

Chapter Text

“We should head back to the city,” Zoey said, brushing dirt off her legs as she stood up. “Do you have Jinu’s number to text him to meet up?”

Rumi gave Zoey a bewildered look. “He’s 400 years old,” she told Zoey. Mira’s eyebrows rose in surprise and she let out a long whistle. “I don’t think he has a phone,” Rumi continued, ignoring Mira. 

“Oh… so how do you get in contact with him?” Zoey asked, perplexed. Rumi shrugged. 

“He has pets?” she said. But Mira wasn’t paying attention. She was staring out at the edge of Celine’s property.

“Is that a blue… tiger?” Mira questioned. She rubbed her eyes, but the tiger was still there. And it was still blue. And it was walking towards them. Mira scrambled half a step back. The tiger continued forward. It walked very calmly and very slowly towards them. Mira stared.

“Like I said, pets,” Rumi said, sounding smug. Zoey squealed and darted forward. Mira grabbed her by her shirt sleeve.

“Zoey, no,” she said, jerking her back.

“Zoey, yes,” Zoey said, trying to break free. “Look how cute and fluffy he is,” she pouted. “I have to go pet him. Please Mira please,” she begged. 

Rumi laughed. “It’s okay Mira. He’s harmless,” Rumi said. Mira glanced at the two of them, and sighed before releasing Zoey who sprinted forward. The tiger didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh my god you are so cute,” Zoey said as she got closer. “What’s his name, Rumi?” Zoey asked, turning back to the two of them.

“Jinu just calls them tiger and bird,” Rumi said pointing at the bird that was fluttering near the tiger. 

“What?” Zoey asked, outraged before she was distracted by the bird. “He has a hat!” she crowed, excitedly. 

“Jinu made it for the tiger, but the bird kept stealing it,” Rumi explained. Zoey stopped in her tracks, mouth agape.

“I can die happy now,” she said. But then she paused. “Wait no, I have to pet the tiger first.”

She twirled back towards the tiger who was still ambling towards them, his pace unchanged. The tiger's eyes were empty, its smile large and, Mira thought, a little unhinged. 

“Oh my god look at him,” Zoey said, close to conniptions.

Mira stared at the tiger. It stared back. The tiger was blue like the Honmoon, almost the exact same shade. A weird feeling crawled up Mira’s chest sticking in her throat like foreboding or foreknowledge.

“Zoey, I think you should come back,” Mira said, eyes locked with the tiger’s. 

But Zoey was on a different frequency. “I can’t believe Jinu didn’t give you a name,” she was telling the tiger. “Look at all your fur, your eyes, your teeth!” 

Zoey gave an excited twirl before throwing herself on the tiger. “You’re so soft and fluffy,” she cried. Rumi laughed. 

Mira froze. Her eyes remained locked with the tiger. The tiger stared back with its big empty eyes. They were yellow rimmed with orange, and Mira stared wordlessly. 

She was falling, falling, falling.

There was a realm of fire and brimstone. A purple jagged mouth. 

She jerked backwards. The image changed. The Honmoon, golden, Rumi burning, Zoey begging. Mira shook her head. The image changed again. Was that Jinu, playing a bipa? There was a little girl crying. The world shifted. The Sunlight Sisters singing to a sold out stadium. Celine screaming at a grave. 

Mira jerked out of it. She was still in Celine’s backyard. She put a hand on her stomach deeply unsettled.

Zoey was shrieking with delight, petting the tiger. The tiger’s mouth curved upwards into a smile. The bird laughed, all six eyes showing. Mira stepped backwards away from them. 

A celestial being. Like the Honmoon.

Mira opened her mouth to say something, but found she could not. She stared at the tiger. It stared back, eyes vacant. Mira closed her mouth. 
 
“And not a thought in his head,” Zoey said, impressed and pleased, as she inspected the tiger. The bird twittered, amused. The tiger nuzzled his head against Zoey. Mira flinched.

Zoey, no, Mira thought desperately trying to send her thoughts telepathically. It was in vain. 

“His name is Derpy!” Zoey declared. Rumi snorted.

So this is how we die, Mira thought, smited by a celestial entity.

She closed her eyes. 

Nothing happened. She opened them. 

The bird landed on a huff on the tiger’s head.

“Don’t worry you get a name too,” Zoey told the bird. Mira groaned. The bird turned away, like it wasn’t interested. 

“Sussie!” Zoey said. The bird chirped. Zoey put up her hand for a high-five. 

“I’m really good at this naming thing,” Zoey bragged. The bird eyed Zoey’s hand before snubbing it. Zoey shrugged unbothered. “What about you, buddy?” she asked the tiger. 

It stared at her hand, and then very slowly, almost in slow motion, it raised its paw and gave Zoey a high-five. Zoey squealed. The tiger’s head turned at an unnatural angle, so it could look at Mira as it high-fived Zoey. Mira shuddered.

Celestial being.

“He can take us to Jinu,” Rumi told them, gesturing at the tiger, who obediently sat. Mira watched him suspiciously. The bird landed on her shoulder, amused, and Mira jerked in surprise. 

“Ah Sussie likes you!” Zoey cooed. The tiger made a sound; it sounded like laughter. 

—

“Never again,” Mira groaned, clutching her stomach. Humans were not meant to travel that way. Her whole body recoiled at the unnaturalness. One moment she’d been real, the next not, off of this plane of existence, and then suddenly back into reality. She shuddered. 

In the backyard, Zoey and Rumi had put their hands on the tiger’s head without a thought, but Mira had hesitated. She had not wanted to touch the tiger. The tiger had stared at her, and Mira had reluctantly joined. 

Once they were all touching, they had melted through the ground, through reality. Mira felt sick. They’d been in-between the real and the un-real. She’d seen into other plains of existence. Her brain hurt. She never wanted to do that again.

“What are you talking about?” Zoey asked, completely unbothered by their trip through the ether. “That was so fast and convenient!” she exclaimed. “Oh my god, Derpy can you take me to California?” she asked. The tiger blinked at her. “No more 16 hour plane rides!” Zoey danced around. 

Mira shook her head, horrified. 

“You okay, Mira?” Rumi asked.  

“You didn’t…?” Mira asked. Rumi shook her head. “It was fine,” she said. “We were here before I even noticed. I’ve got to agree with Zoey, way more convenient than flying.” 

Rumi smiled at the tiger. Mira pursed her lips. The tiger wove through Mira’s legs, pleased.

Why am I the only one who realizes the tiger is a cosmic horror? 

She glowered. 

The tiger had deposited them in a garden overlooking Seoul. It tilted its head down the path and Mira glanced that way. She could see in the distance Jinu. She was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed them yet. His back was to them and he was staring out at the view deep in thought. It made Mira want to laugh. He looked like a movie poster, an angsty boy band member perfectly framed by the city below him. 

“Maybe, maybe I’ll go first?” Rumi asked. Mira shrugged. “We’ll be right behind you,” she promised. Rumi nodded relieved. 

Rumi and the tiger walked forward. The bird landed on Mira’s shoulder. Mira glared at it, but it didn’t seem to care. 

“C’mon,” Mira said, grabbing Zoey’s arm. She wanted to hear what Jinu said. She walked them off the path, so she could see what was going on. 

Right when they got in position, Jinu turned around and saw Rumi. He was surprised and Mira saw him glance at the tiger in confusion. 

He called them tiger and bird, Mira realized. No nicknames. Maybe, he also understood their true nature.

“Jinu,” Rumi said. “I need your help.”

Jinu was looking at her patterns, how they had grown. “Do you need help hiding your patterns?” he asked.

“I, no.” Rumi glanced at the tree where Mira and Zoey were hidden. Mira took it as her cue.

“Hi Jiiinuuu,” Mira said smugly, rolling his name over her tongue, as she emerged from the trees. Jinu jumped in surprise. Mira smirked, pleased. She watched his face closely: surprise and was that fear before his face smoothed over?

He turned to Rumi. “You told them?” he asked accusingly. It was a weird parody of earlier with Celine. But this time, Rumi steeled herself and raised her chin. “They’re my best friends,” she said. “Of course I told them.”

It took everything for Mira to keep her face straight. She wanted to share a conspiratorial look with Zoey but she resisted. “Liar, liar pants on fire” played in a mocking loop in her head.

Jinu took this in. Mira could see his eyes widening, reassessing the situation. She didn’t trust him for a moment. 

She gripped her thigh, nails cutting into the muscle to ground herself. Stop. You’re not here to fight him. She bit her lip. Deep breath. Lead with curiosity not anger. 

“We need your help, pretty boy,” she said. Jinu scoffed at her. He flipped his hair. “I’m a demon,” he said, voice silky. 

Zoey glanced at Mira. “A demon who hates Gwi-ma,” Zoey offered. “Just like us.”

Jinu looked at all three of them confused, before focusing on Rumi. “I already said I’d help you,” he said. 

“Everything’s already set,” he continued. Mira thought she caught a hint of frustration.   

“Well turns out we can’t turn the Honmoon golden,” Mira told him conversationally. Jinu frowned at her, confused.

“Why not?” he asked.

“It’ll kill you and every other demon on this side of the barrier,” Mira said and then pointed meaningfully at Rumi. 

Jinu glanced down at the ground deep in thought, considering his options. Mira held her breath. Please, she thought, please. 

He raised his face: purple patterns. 

Mira stared horrified. Jinu looked bored. He shrugged. “Not my problem,” he said. Rumi stared at him, surprised.

“Don’t you want to be free?” she asked, her voice pleading. Jinu laughed. He was covered in patterns. Zoey took a step back. 

“Ah Rumi,” Jinu crooned. “Sweet naive Rumi. You thought I was on your side?” he taunted. “I was always planning on betraying you.” He laughed. Rumi shook her head desperate not to believe him. 

“No! It was real! What we had was real. I know it was!” Rumi cried.  

Mira wanted to stab Jinu with her Gok-do. What had she been thinking? Demons are evil. She went to summon her weapon, to kill him. But. The tiger. The tiger was still standing by Jinu’s side. It was staring at Mira. A celestial being. And it had chosen Jinu. Why? 

“The things I said? I just needed you to trust me. That's all,” Jinu told Rumi. 

“No! No, I know your story. You were a good person, and you still are. You just made a mistake,” Rumi pleaded. 

“I LEFT THEM!! That's right, I lied to you. I only made a deal with Gwi-Ma to get myself out of that miserable life. I left my sister, my mother, alone while I slept on silk sheets in the palace with my belly full every night!” Jinu told Rumi. 

But then he repeated, ”I left them. I left them.” 

Mira stared. It sounded a lot like regret. It sounded like something Mira would say after she messed up again, after she said or did the wrong thing. It sounded human.  

Rumi wasn’t convinced either. “But that's not all you are. This is just your demon talking. You have to fight it!” she begged. 

Jinu screamed, “THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!”

“YES, IT IS!” Rumi screamed back, desperate. But her scream ripped through the Honmoon turning it pink. Rumi stared at it frantically. Zoey whimpered. Rumi was covered in patterns. One of her eyes glowed gold. Her right hand was a claw again. She looked at herself horrified.  

“Listen to yourself. Is it working?” Jinu mocked.  “You're a demon, just like me. All we get to do is live with our pain, our misery. That's all we deserve.”

Oh. Oh no. Mira glowered at the tiger. Was she destined to only meet self-hating demons? Mira hated Jinu more in that moment than she had ever hated him before.

But she could see Rumi in him, in his shame. Rumi’s “I was born a mistake” and Jinu's "this is all demons get”.

She glared at the tiger. It stared back at her waiting. She scowled.

And then she threw her head back and laughed. Three heads swivelled towards her in confusion. The tiger smiled. 

“Really Jinu?” she asked. “Rumi told us all about your sob story,” she said dismissively. “If I were stuck living 400 years ago starving to death, I’d sell out my family too,” she told him. “I’d do it for free now. My parents… ugh,” she said.  

Jinu snarled at her.

“Chill,” Mira said. She inspected her nails, as if she found this whole conversation boring. “It’s been like 400 years. Pretty sure they're over it at this point.”

Jinu’s mouth opened wordlessly, shocked. Zoey giggled. 

“Real question. Why aren’t you over it?” she asked pointedly. Jinu hesitated. 

“Gwi-ma, he won’t let me forget,” he said. He raised his chin defiantly. “Once he gets what he wants, he’ll erase my memory of them. That’s why I did all of this,” he said. “For myself.” 

He was smug, as if this proved that he really was an evil unsalvageable soul. 

“You’ve spent 400 years tortured by Gwi-ma and your solution isn’t to get free of Gwi-ma?” Zoey asked, confused. “It’s to work for Gwi-ma?”

Mira laughed again. “Hey be nice Zoey. He’s doing his best.”

Jinu flushed. “I’m the bad guy here,” he reminded them. Mira ignored him. 

“Okay, we need a way to permanently defeat Gwi-ma so we can free sad sack demons like Jinu from him,” Mira said. Zoey snickered. Rumi stared at the two of them like she’d never seen them before.

“You want to save demons?” she asked, confused.

“Just the pathetic ones,” Zoey said before reconsidering. “And the hot ones.” 

Mira rolled her eyes. 

“Any ideas Jinu?” she asked. 

“I’m not helping you!” he said. The tiger nudged his leg. He glanced down at it and deflated.

“You can’t kill Gwi-ma. Trust me, if it was possible, I’d have done it already. The best you can do is keep him contained. He’s invincible,” Jinu told them unhappily. “He can’t be killed.”

Celestial entity. Fuck.

Mira wanted to bang her head against the ground. “The Honmoon’s a celestial being,” she said instead. “And it's dying.”

“Because it broke the laws of time and space,” Rumi muttered. “Don’t think we can trick Gwi-Ma into that.”

The tiger was pawing the ground. Zoey patted it before whispering, “Now’s not really the right time to dig a hole.”

Jinu and Mira turned to look. They glanced at each other. 

“Would we be able to kill Gwi-ma if he was on earth, away from his domain?” Mira asked him.

“He’s invincible in the demon realm,” Jinu muttered. He continued to mutter to himself before admitting, “I don’t know. Maybe?”

But Mira wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at the tiger. The tiger, who had nodded. 

Jinu continued, “Even if you could kill him on earth, he wouldn’t come. He doesn’t leave the demon realm. He sends others to collect souls for him. The Honmoon doesn’t let him.” 

They were all quiet for a moment.

“But if there wasn’t a Honmoon?” Rumi asked quietly. 

Mira felt her blood freeze. Panic rose up in her. She felt like she’d walked into a trap. What if I’m wrong? What if the tiger’s in on it? She tried to steady herself. Breathe. In Out In Out.

Rumi was her best friend. Jinu was annoying, misguided, but not evil. What about all the souls the Saja boys already stole? The passengers? Mira shook her head. Rumi trusted Jinu and Mira trusted Rumi and that would have to be enough. 

“I don’t know that he’d be able to resist,” Jinu admitted.

“Ok,” Mira said. Her voice shook. “Let’s say no Honmoon, we get Gwi-ma to earth, and we defeat him.”

Jinu scoffed. “The three of you won’t be able to take him down alone.”

Mira rolled her eyes at him. “That’s because we won’t. You and every demon like you, who would like to not live under Gwi-ma’s rule will be helping us. Better get recruiting,” she told him. She snapped her fingers at him. 

Jinu saluted her mockingly, but he didn’t otherwise protest.

Mira continued, “Okay, let's say we do defeat Gwi-ma. There’s no Honmoon. What happens then?”

She turned to look at Jinu. She could see him hesitate. She could see him taste the lie, smell it, pick it up and touch it. Could see him thinking about how to word it to make it believable. She could imagine how he’d say it, “Without Gwi-ma humans and demons could peacefully co-exist”. It would sound believable because it would be what they wanted to hear. But then Jinu’s shoulders deflated and the spark left his eyes.

“Demons,” Jinu said. “Demons would come for the souls. More than you could stop.”

Mira nodded. “And where will you be?” she asked. Jinu didn’t hesitate this time. 

“Playing my bipa at the end of the world,” he told her. 

Mira believed him. He wouldn’t be devouring souls, but he wouldn’t be saving any either. He’d fight Gwi-ma but only for himself. 

She could work with that. 
—

Chapter Text

Jinu sunk into the ground, his hand resting on the tiger’s head. The bird sat on his shoulder. The tiger watched Mira as it slowly melted away. Mira rolled her eyes at it. She was glad to see it go. Zoey waved goodbye.

“See you later, Derpy! You too Sussie!” she called.

“Good luck,” Rumi whispered. She bit her cheek.

“Do you think he’ll be able to recruit enough demons?” Mira asked after Jinu disappeared, eyebrows knitted together.

Zoey shrugged, unbothered. “I bet a lot of demons hate Gwi-ma’s guts,” she told her. “Plus Jinu’s got a pull.” Mira rolled her eyes. Zoey code for he’s really hot.

“We’ll have a demon army before we know it!” Zoey said. Zoey put her fingers together and began to cackle manically.

“Ok super villain," Mira interrupted with a deadpan, but she was smiling. They didn’t have a full plan, but something was coming together here.

Rumi shook her head.

“A demon army,” she muttered. Her frown deepened. She glanced at the two of them.

“Are we really going to work with demons?” she asked. Mira shifted confused. Rumi was agitated, patterns dancing on her skin.

“We can’t trust them!” Rumi said. Zoey glanced at Mira with alarm.

Mira went to put a calming hand on Rumi’s shoulder, but Rumi shook her off. She paced back and forth. Her right eye was a bright burning golden.

“This is insane,” she said, shaking her head. “We should be strengthening the Honmoon, not tearing it down.”

Mira raised an eyebrow at her, unnerved by the change of heart. “You want to trap all the demons like Jinu with Gwi-ma? Eternal suffering?”

“It's better than letting Gwi-ma and other demons devour everyone’s soul!” Rumi argued.

Zoey tried next. “That’s not going to happen, Rumi. We’re not going to let that happen.”

But Rumi ignored her. She stared into the distance frustrated. Her pacing continued, before she abruptly stopped.

“Celine’s right,” she told them. “We need to turn the Honmoon golden. It’s the only way to defeat Gwi-ma.”

Mira wanted to scream. Zoey whirled on Rumi.

“No!” Rumi said before Zoey could say anything. “We don’t have a plan! We can’t just destroy the Honmoon! Demons aren’t worth it!”

Mira froze. Because what Rumi was really saying was: I’m not worth it.

“Shut up Rumi!” Zoey yelled. Her hands were balled into angry fists. “You don’t get a vote,” she told her. “We’ll ask the Honmoon what it wants to do.”

She spun on her heel. Rumi gaped at her.

“This is what we have to do,” Rumi told her. “For all we know Jinu is betraying us right at this moment!”

“Na na na not listening to you,” Zoey sang as she walked away. Once she was a few feet away, she turned around to glare at the two of them. “C’mon!” she said.

Zoey marched them back towards the Huntr/x tower, back towards home. When they were almost there Mira said in her softest voice, “Rumi, you’re more important. Zoey and I would destroy the world for you.”

Rumi’s ears flushed pink. “That’s stupid,” she said stubbornly. Mira shrugged. “You wouldn’t do the same for us?” she asked. Rumi looked away.

Zoey did not lead them back into their apartment much to Mira’s dismay. Laying down on the couch sounded amazing right now. Instead she took them to the roof.

“We need to sing something,” Zoey told them.

Rumi sighed. “I was a ghost, I was alone,” she sang. Mira flinched. She did not want to sing Golden. But she joined anyway. The three of them, their voices rose together in harmony.

The Honmoon, weak and barely present, glowed to life. It chirped at them happily. It was faded, and the shimmering blue was coated in pink, but it was still there. Mira felt a sharp tug in the center of her chest. Zoey turned on Rumi.

“Rumi, explain your plan to the Honmoon,” she commanded. Rumi blanched. The Honmoon was so weak, so fragile. Rumi ran her hands through it.

“You did this for me?” she asked instead. The Honmoon trilled. It enveloped Rumi as if in a hug. It was so pleased that it could touch her again without causing her pain. Rumi stared at it and then began to cry.

“Thank you,” Rumi said. The Honmoon flashed iridescently.

“We need to defeat Gwi-ma,” Zoey told the Honmoon. At that the Honmoon circled all three of them and began to chant, “YES YES YES.”

“Gwi-ma won’t come to earth if you are here,” Mira told the Honmoon softly. The Honmoon stopped its twirling and considered this. It grumbled displeased. It pulled on the thread in Mira’s chest as if to remind Mira that they were connected, that the Hunters were its.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Mira said. The Honmoon whined. It was thinking, considering. And then it was nodding. It circled the three of them one more time crooning at them, and then it faded again.

The three of them stood there for a moment. “We’ll come back later,” Zoey said softly. They exchanged looks. Were they really going to rip out part of their soul? Could they really destroy the Honmoon? It was so clearly a living essence.

“It’s already dying,” Zoey said, as if trying to convince herself.

Mira felt it in her chest. It did not make her feel better.

—

The three of them collapsed on their couch exhausted. Zoey pulled out her phone to order food. With everything that had happened, they hadn’t eaten anything all day.

“We should call Bobby,” Mira said. She didn’t want to. She’d already had more emotionally draining conversations today than she wanted to have for the rest of her life. Rumi groaned into a pillow and Zoey was busy on her phone putting in their lunch order. Mira sighed.

Bobby picked up after three rings. “Hi Mira!” he chirped. “Getting everything finalized for the Idol Awards tonight. Anything you need?” he asked. He sounded busy and a bit out of breath.

“Can you come to the penthouse?” Mira asked. There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Now?” Bobby asked, confused.

“Yes,” Mira said.

“I really need to get everything ready here,” Bobby said. He dropped off the line to yell at someone in the background.

“It's kind of important,” Mira said.

Bobby hesitated on the line before he said, “I… okay. I’ll be there in 30.”

Mira thanked him before hanging up. She turned to Zoey. “Make sure you order food for Bobby too,” she told her. Zoey nodded.

—

Bobby arrived just a few minutes after the food and the four of them sat down to eat together.

“Is everything okay? Is one of you sick?” Bobby asked, concerned as Mira passed out silverware. Zoey stared at Bobby confused and then looked at Rumi. Rumi who was covered in purple patterns, and whose eye was still glowing.

“You don’t notice anything different?” Zoey asked, slightly bewildered. Rumi flushed. “I can get a sweatshirt,” she said, already moving to get up. Mira pulled her back down. Bobby just glanced between the three of them confused.

“No, not really,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“We’re not doing the Idol Awards,” Mira told him. Bobby choked mid-bite.

“What? Why not? Is everything okay?” he asked. “Did the Saja boys do something?”

His tone was laced with concern.

“Yes, actually,” Mira said. “They’re demons.”

Bobby’s eyebrows furrowed at her in confusion. “I know you don’t like them, but demons seems a bit harsh,” Bobby said.

Rumi sighed. “No, Bobby. They are actual demons,” she told him. Bobby stared at her and then blinked rapidly.

“I.. Rumi, are you okay?” he asked. His hand reached out towards Rumi’s, towards her markings. He looked up at her face. “You’re covered in…” he stopped and shook his head.

He kept shaking his head as if he was trying to dispel a strange vision.

“Rumi’s eye is glowing. You’re not imagining that,” Zoey offered helpfully. Bobby glanced at Zoey and then turned back to Rumi. He stared at her, taking in the patterns.

“Girls, what is going on?” he asked. He looked a little overwhelmed.

Zoey bit her lip. Mira waited for Rumi, their leader, to explain, but Rumi was distracted. She was looking down at her patterns at how they had grown, ashamed.

“We’re demon hunters,” Mira told Bobby. “Our job is to protect humanity from demons, who want souls for their king Gwi-ma.”

Mira waved at their penthouse windows. “We’re not doing a great job right now.”

“We need your help, Bobby,” Zoey continued. That put Bobby right back into gear.

“I’ll always help you!” he told them. But then he paused. “But demons? Did you guys eat something weird last night?” he asked.

Mira rolled her eyes and then without any prompting summoned her Gok-do. Bobby jumped back in surprise. Mira twirled it.

“Do you need other proof?” she asked. Zoey frowned at her.

“Mira, be nice,” she commanded. “But yes, demon hunters. We’ve been fighting the demons, but we really need to get rid of their king Gwi-ma.”

“And you think I can help you with that?” Bobby asked, still confused.

“Yes!” Zoey said pleased. “He’ll only come to earth, where we can actually defeat him, if he thinks he’s already won,” she told him. “We need to convince him that the three of us won’t stand in his way,” she said.

“I.. okay? But what do you need from me?” Bobby asked.

Zoey smiled at him. “We need you to start a rumor,” she said. “That we’re fighting and that’s why we didn’t show up for the Idol Awards.”

Rumi hugged herself and her patterns self-consciously. Bobby glanced between the three of them in concern.

“You’ve never fought before,” he said. “I don’t know if people will buy that.”

Mira shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if people buy it. We just need Gwi-ma to.”

Zoey said, “Rumi’s a half-demon. We need Gwi-ma to think that us finding out, that it ruined our bond.”

Rumi grimaced. Bobby turned to look at her surprised. “A half-demon?” he asked. There was a hint of fear in his voice.

Mira waved her hand. “Her dad was a demon, forbidden romance with a hunter. Blah blah blah. Very K-drama.”

“Ooh,” Bobby said, intrigued. Rumi flushed.

“I have some ideas,” Zoey said, getting Bobby back on track. “Some hidden messages, some easter eggs we can drop that will get the fans going make it more believable. I have a few clips we can probably use too.”

Bobby was nodding. Mira tuned them out and focused on eating. She was hungry, and social media was more Zoey’s area of expertise anyways. She prodded Rumi.

“Eat,” she commanded. “You’re going to need the energy.”

—

“We’re really going to do this?” Rumi asked Mira after lunch, watching Zoey and Bobby. They’d handed them their phones, so Bobby and Zoey could fabricate whatever fight they wanted with real receipts.

Mira ate directly from an ice cream container. “Yes,” she said. She pulled lightly on the place in her chest where the Honmoon connected her soul to Rumi’s and Zoey’s, trying to send reassurance down the bond. She couldn’t imagine severing the connection, the emptiness she would feel. The Honmoon was part of her.

To distract herself, she glanced at Rumi, at the purple patterns. Rumi looked away. Mira reached a hand out slowly to touch the patterns on Rumi’s wrist. She gave Rumi plenty of time to stop her, but Rumi didn’t. Her mouth tightened but she let Mira rub her thumb and then her fingers against the patterns. It felt a little bit like a tattoo.

“It was wrong,” Mira said quietly, “for Celine to teach us that everything with patterns was evil.”

Rumi flinched, and Mira removed her hand. “They’re kind of pretty,” she offered. But Rumi shook her head. She turned away from Mira.

Mira understood. If Rumi surprised her at night covered in patterns, her instinctual response would still be to draw her Gok-do. You couldn’t break associations and instincts like that in a single day. Mira watched the patterns undulating on Rumi’s skin. She hadn’t been lying, they were kind of pretty. But they still made Mira’s skin crawl, and her hand itched for her Gok-do. This time, Mira turned away.

—

Mira was exhausted by the time Bobby was saying his goodbyes. After he left she grabbed Zoey’s shoulder and then with only a moment of hesitation Rumi’s too and herded them towards her bedroom.

“Nap now,” she said. “Fight later.”

Rumi stopped and Mira wanted to kick her, but then all she said was, “My bed’s bigger.”

But Mira didn’t want to go back to Rumi’s sad unfinished bedroom. Luckily, Zoey saved her from explaining.

“Mira’s bed is comfier,” Zoey said with a yawn. “Plus I bet Mira wants to be in the middle,” Zoey said teasingly. Mira rolled her eyes.

Mira clambered into her bed. She didn’t look at Rumi, didn’t want to see her hesitate. She pulled herself into the middle and waited with her eyes closed for Zoey and Rumi to arrange themselves around her. Zoey draped herself around Mira and made a few pleased sounds before rapidly falling asleep.

Rumi took a while, but then slowly hesitantly she leaned into Mira. Mira waited for her to get settled and then she wrapped her arms around her. Rumi’s whole body froze and then she relaxed into it.

“I love you,” Rumi whispered into her side, so quietly Mira could have imagined it. Mira nuzzled her hair. “Enough to burn the world down for me?” Mira asked back. Rumi didn’t answer.

Mira fell into sleep, but it wasn’t restful. She dreamed of the blue tiger. Its big wide eyes stared at her. And then she was falling. Falling, falling, endlessly falling. She fell through the void slipping in and out of reality. Other parallel worlds beckoned. Un-reality was just around the corner. And throughout it all, the tiger, always present, smiled at her ominously.

She woke up with a gasp. She glanced at the clock. It was time. Time to destroy the Honmoon.

—

Jinu kneeled at Gwi-ma’s feet. Gwi-ma was pleased, exultant. It made Jinu shiver.

“Everything’s going to plan?” Gwi-ma crooned at him.

“Yes,” Jinu told him. “They’ve turned on each other.”

Gwi-ma laughed. “How delicious,” he said. “A hunter wearing my mark. Enough to destroy the sacred Hunter bond.”

He laughed. The demons behind Jinu laughed with Gwi-ma, even if they didn’t understand the joke.

Jinu nodded. “We’re so close to total victory,” he told Gwi-ma. Gwi-ma hummed. He was pleased, full of souls for the first time in eons.

Jinu felt it first. A shiver ran through him. A shield was falling. Dread filled Jinu.The demons behind him began to mutter. Gwi-ma froze.

“The Honmoon,” he muttered. He rose triumphant. His teeth folded into a sharp, pleased smile. He grew to three times his normal size looming over the demons below him.

“The Honmoon has fallen,” he announced, jubilant. “It is time to feast!”

Chapter Text

It felt like the world was ending, had ended. Mira felt sick, untethered, unconnected. There was an empty spot in her chest where the Honmoon was supposed to be, where Rumi and Zoey were supposed to be.

This was wrong. A mistake. The Honmoon. The Honmoon was supposed to be there. Mira needed it like she needed air. She gasped for breath. The unnaturalness, the wrongness did not go away. Mira tried to summon her Gok-do for comfort, to lean-on. But she was grasping at threads that did not exist.

There was no Gok-do without the Honmoon. No weapon to summon. How were they supposed to fight Gwi-ma? Despair settled over her. She collapsed to the ground. Her soul wailed in agony. She was missing part of herself.

They had made the wrong call. They had fallen into the demon's trap. Demons were coming and they were defenseless. Not good enough played on repeat in Mira’s mind. She dragged her nails into her arm trying to gain some clarity, but the grounding just reminded her of the missing pieces. She heaved.

Zoey was crying next to her. Rumi stood above them horrified, covered in patterns. They had spread further covering even her face now. She clawed at her chest in pain. The scream Mira had been containing for weeks boiled out of her.

“The Honmoon,” Zoey croaked, devastated. “It’s gone.”

Rumi flinched back on her heels. Mira had expected it to hurt, but she hadn’t been prepared for this level of agony.

“We have to go on,” Zoey said as if she was trying to convince herself. Mira shook her head. Rumi fled.

Zoey watched her go. She did not try to stop her. She turned to Mira. Everything felt like a fever dream. Where was the tiger? Mira wondered. Zoey waved her hand in front of Mira’s face. Mira lurched away.

Where was Rumi? No, Mira remembered. Rumi was a demon. Rumi was a liar. Rumi had run away. Mira’s chest was empty, empty, empty. The Honmoon was gone. Was she burning? She stared at her right hand stricken, but it looked normal.

Suddenly a screen lit up. It was Jinu and his stupid face. He was on the screen, he was talking to them. Mira heard his words through a fog.

“Hey, everybody. You must all be so sad about the Huntr/x breakup,” Jinu said. His tone was taunting. Mira howled at him, but Jinu continued.

”We are too. So, to cheer everyone up, we're going to do a special live performance tonight. Midnight, Namsan Tower,” he said. Mira glowered at him. She wanted to throw a rock at his stupid shining face. Jinu continued more ominously, “Don't miss it for the world.”

Mira shook her head. She hated his pretty boy guts. But she needed to go to Namsan Tower. Why? What had she been doing? Everything hurt. There was a voice in her head, but it wasn’t hers.

“You’ll always be alone. You don't deserve a family. You never have,” it whispered. Mira shivered. She looked for Zoey. It was a relief to grab Zoey’s hand.

“Love you,” she told her. “Everythings wrong, but I love you.”

She squeezed. Zoey squeezed back.

“We got this,” Zoey said through her tears. Her teeth were clenched in pain. She let go of Mira’s hand, and then she too ran off. Mira was all alone.

—

The walk to Namsan Tower was agonizing. The voice, that sounded like her, but was not her, did not stop its whispering. Mira could not turn it off.

Not good enough. Not deserving. All alone. No one wants you.

But the emptiness in Mira’s chest was even worse. She was too dependent on Rumi and Zoey, and the Honmoon. Without them, everything was too much. She wanted to collapse to the ground, but she had to keep going. Stick to the plan. She wanted her Gok-do. Instead she clenched her nails into her palms so hard that she bled.

After what felt like hours, Mira made it to the stadium. She was converging with a mass of people and it felt good to succumb, to just be another faceless entity in the crowd.

Jinu was on the stage, and Mira noticed with a jolt Gwi-ma was behind him, a smirking purple slash in the sky. Jinu was singing.

“I’ll be your idol!” he sang. It was hard to focus on him though, above the glaring wrongness of the missing Honmoon. It felt like vertigo.

“Keeping you in check. Keeping you obsessed! Play me on repeat kkeuteopsi in your head! Anytime it hurts, play another verse. I can be your sanctuary!” Jinu continued. The Saja boys converged on the stage.

“Know I'm the only one right now. I will love you more when it all burns down!” they sang. They were dressed as if they were soul reapers, Mira noticed out of the corner of her eye. She shivered.

“More than power, more than gold,” they continued. Gwi-ma above them was radiating joy. He was delighted by his triumph.

“You gave me your heart. Now I'm here for your soul.”

For a second, Mira felt like she’d been dunked in cold water. She had a moment of clarity. Not the souls. And then she was back underwater back to struggling under the weight of her missing fragments. Is this what Celine feels all the time?

The Saja boys were still singing, but it was incomprehensible to Mira. She wanted to die. She wanted this to be over.

—

When Rumi showed up, Mira initially felt nothing.

Rumi sang softly, “We are Hunters. Voices strong. Slaying demons with our song. Fix the world and make it right. When darkness finally meets the light.”

It meant absolutely nothing to Mira. There was no tug in her chest, no connection, nothing. Gwi-ma laughed.

“You come here like this? You think you can fix the world? You can't even fix yourself,” he taunted.

“I can't,” Rumi agreed.

Gwi-ma continued, “And now everyone finally sees you for what you really are.”

Rumi nodded at this. “They do,” she said.

Gwi-ma continued to gloat. “And the Honmoon is gone,” he said, satisfied.

“It is,” Rumi told him. And then she started to sing.

They had agreed ahead of time that Rumi was not allowed to sing Golden or Takedown, and the three of them had argued back and forth what song Rumi should sing. None had felt right. Eventually Rumi had shrugged and said she’d just sing whatever she felt like at the moment. Zoey had been horrified by that.

“We need a plan, Rumi,” she’d said. “We can’t go in blind.”

“I’ll know it in the moment,” Rumi had argued back.

Mira worried about that decision now.

“Nothing but the truth now. Nothing but the proof of what I am,” Rumi sang. But there was no Honmoon, no answering tug in Mira’s chest. Their songs had no power anymore. Gwi-ma laughed.

Rumi continued undaunted. “The worst of what I came from. Patterns I'm ashamed of. Things that even I don't understand,” she sang.

On the words “don’t understand” a blue tiger appeared in front of Mira. It was smiling. Mira stared at it. She was pretty sure she hated the tiger. She didn’t remember why. It put its head forward towards Mira. Mira hesitated. She did not want to touch the tiger; she knew that in the core of her being, even if she couldn’t remember why. You have to, part of her whispered. She rebelled at the notion.

The tiger remained patiently waiting, head lowered. Its big eyes watched Mira. She hesitantly put her hand on the tiger’s head, and immediately regretted it. She was falling, endlessly falling, spiraling downwards. She could still hear Rumi singing.

“I tried to fix it. I tried to fight it. My lies all collided,” Rumi sang as Mira fell through the darkness with the tiger. They were looking for something.

What were they looking for?

Mira popped out of existence. The tiger pulled her back.

“My head was twisted. My heart divided,” Rumi sang.

Mira cried. She was lost. She wanted to leave, to turn around. She was on the verge of nothingness. Again she popped out of existence and again painfully the tiger pulled her back.

Mira heaved in the darkness. Her chest ached. She cried endlessly. Time did not seem to exist in this vacuum. She was drifting. It could have been seconds; it could have been eternity. She pulled on the tiger.

Take me back!

But the tiger continued stubbornly forward. Or was it downwards? Mira could not tell. There was no path out, no escape.

She was looking for something. She was trying to find something. What was she looking for? She could not remember. She was falling, falling, falling. She opened her eyes. That made it worse. She was falling through worlds, each a kaleidoscope of smells and sounds. In one second and gone the next. How many worlds had she fallen through? Thousands? She didn’t know where to look, where to go. The tiger made a sound. Mira thought it was supposed to be soothing.

But she was falling endlessly, eternally, painfully. Why was she here? She saw Celine. She saw versions of herself, worlds that looked nothing like hers. Places she didn’t exist. She saw Rumi, dead, blood dripping from a Gok-do. She looked away, chest heaving, bile rising in her throat. She saw a golden Honmoon and Rumi burning. She saw Zoey smashed to pieces. She saw worlds where they failed and failed and failed.

She begged the tiger, “Please. No more. Take me home.”

But the tiger merely cocked its head at her unrelenting. It pulled on her, marching her forwards further into the depths. Mira screamed. But no one answered. Why was she here? It was right there right on the tip of her tongue, but just out of reach.

“I don't know why I didn't trust you to be on my side,” Rumi sang, interrupting the void. Mira desperately ground herself in Rumi’s voice, in Rumi’s singing. She focused solely on Rumi. She was looking for something. She was here for a reason. She tugged on her soul where Rumi was supposed to be and was shocked to find nothing there. No Honmoon connecting them.

The Honmoon. She was looking for the Honmoon.

—

They hadn’t been able to kill the Honmoon, hadn’t had the stomach for it. The three of them had been desolate, unsure of how to proceed.

“If you suggest the golden Honmoon one more time,” Zoey threatened Rumi, “I will knife you.”

Rumi nodded frustrated and Mira shrugged. “We just need the Honmoon to disappear for a bit,” Mira said. Zoey snorted.

“What like send it on a vacation to the US?” she asked. The Honmoon did a small little dance at that. And Rumi giggled.

“I don’t know,” Mira said. “We could just send it out into the void,” she threw out jokingly.

“The void?” Rumi questioned. Mira frowned at her and clutched her stomach. She thought of her dream of falling and the tiger creepily watching.

“Yeah, the messed up in-between place that the tiger travels through,” Mira said with a groan. Zoey leaned forward in confusion, but the Honmoon perked up.

“Derpy doesn’t do that,” she said, confused.

Mira frowned at her. “Yes, he does. How do you think we got to Seoul?”

Rumi shook her head. “We were at Celine’s and then we were in Seoul. There was no in-between.”

The Honmoon and Mira looked at each other. Mira looked back at Zoey and Rumi. “You really didn’t notice?” she asked, confused.

“No,” Zoey said. “You think we could stash the Honmoon there?” she asked. The Honmoon twirled around the three of them excited by the notion.

“I don’t know if we’d be able to find the Honmoon after,” Mira said. She touched her stomach. “Its a totally different plane of existence.”

Mira shivered. She didn’t want to go back there ever again. But Rumi and Zoey and the Honmoon were all perking up at the idea, and Mira could see out of the corner of her eye the fucking tiger. The bird was perched on its head. The tiger was sitting watching them, and he was fucking smiling. Mira hated his guts. She growled. The tiger walked closer. It sat and waited. Its eyes on Mira. She sighed.

“We could stash the Honmoon, with the tiger's help in the void, but then one of us would have to go retrieve the Honmoon at the right moment,” she explained.

The Honmoon brightened, pleased by this suggestion and Mira groaned. She covered her face with her hands in despair.

“I could do it,” Zoey offered. “Derpy and I are best friends.”

The tiger came forward at these words and nuzzled Zoey’s face.

Zoey smiled. “See! Hi Derpy! Hi Sussie!”

But the tiger then turned its smiling face towards Mira and stood in front of her and waited. Mira groaned.

“No. I think it has to be me,” Mira said. Zoey grumbled at this and Mira rolled her eyes.

“You can’t even sense the in-between,” Mira told her.

“I could try,” Zoey offered, petulantly. The tiger padded over to Zoey and extended its paw. Zoey grabbed it with no hesitation. Mira flinched. The two of them melted through the floor and then after a few minutes reappeared. Zoey was smiling.

“We went to the beach!” she happily proclaimed. The bird squawked in disapproval and shook its head.

Rumi frowned. “No in-between?” she questioned.

Zoey’s mouth opened and then closed before she finally said unhappily, “No we were here and then we were there.” She gave the tiger a betrayed look.

“I guess that settles it,” Rumi said. “It’ll have to be Mira.”

Mira groaned. The Honmoon twirled around Mira and the tiger in excitement.

Zoey frowned and glanced at the tiger. “Why couldn’t I sense the in-between?” she asked sadly. The tiger nuzzled her head comfortingly.

But the Honmoon wrapped itself around Mira, like an apology, like a band-aid and Mira understood. She remembered when the Honmoon had tugged them into the past. She'd arrived before Zoey and Rumi because the Honmoon had pulled at her soul first. But the Honmoon hadn't known its own strength. It had tugged too hard.

She had felt it in her very soul, a painful pinch right at the core of her, pulling and twisting her. She had screamed as she had unravelled. She shivered. She could see the in-between because she’d already been there, already come undone.

—

The Honmoon. She was looking for the Honmoon.

Suddenly she and the tiger were yanked in a different direction. They were no longer falling, they were being pulled. The tiger made a pleased sound.

“I broke into a million pieces, and I can't go back,” Rumi continued, and Mira let that guide her. She let her connection, her lack of connection to Rumi lead her. She and the tiger were being pulled faster and faster now, and Mira closed her eyes and thought of Rumi and Zoey and the Honmoon, and tried to pretend she wasn’t trapped in the in-between.

Rumi sang, “But now I'm seeing all the beauty in the broken glass.”

And Mira opened her eyes. She had stopped falling, stopped being pulled. She was face to face with the Honmoon. How could she have forgotten? The Honmoon trilled pleased at being found and wrapped itself around her like a cloak. Something in Mira’s chest settled. The tiger hummed.

“The scars are part of me. Darkness and harmony. My voice without the lies. This is what it sounds like!” Rumi sang, and Mira focused on it, letting Rumi’s voice guide her, the Honmoon, and the tiger back to where they were supposed to be.

When Mira emerged from the ether, Gwi-ma was still laughing, content in his victory. He didn’t even notice at first the re-emergence of the Honmoon. But Zoey did. Her chest lit up.

“Why did I cover up the colors stuck inside my head?” Zoey sang. The Honmoon and Mira lit up in response.

“I should've let the jagged edges meet the light instead,” Mira sang back. The Honmoon hummed and Mira felt the connection in her chest. The relief was immediate. She was no longer drowning. Her soul was whole again.

Rumi turned to look at the two of them. She smiled wide. “Show me what's underneath,” she sang. And even though they hadn’t rehearsed it Mira already knew the lines.

“I'll find your harmony. The song we couldn't write. This is what it sounds like!” the three of them sang together. The Honmoon sang it with them. They laughed together, joyous and relieved at being reunited, at being made whole again.

“Stop this song!” Gwi-ma roared, outraged. He was no longer laughing.

Mira summoned her Gok-do with pleasure. It was such a relief, such a comfort to hold it in her hands again. Words, music poured out of her, her voice rising with the Honmoon with Rumi and Zoey and with the crowd who was waking up from their stupor, and Mira noticed with some surprise, with some of the demons.

She looked over at Jinu, but he was watching Rumi, his eyes lit with something that looked like pride. Huh, Mira thought, we’re really going to do this. The Honmoon nodded in affirmation. And then it curled itself around Mira, and around Rumi and Zoey, and the crowd, and even around Jinu and some of the demons singing its song. The Honmoon purred and Gwi-ma screamed.

“Your voices cannot defeat me!” Gwi-ma yelled. But even as he said it the Honmoon was swelling up, strengthening, growing larger and larger and beginning to turn iridescent. Gwi-ma screamed, opened his sharp edged teeth and sent a power beam straight towards Rumi.

Mira and Zoey were fighting the remaining Saja boys, but there were demons fighting on their side, and they were able to sprint forward and join Rumi against the tidal wave of Gwi-ma’s energy. Jinu joined them next and Mira smiled at him. Another demon joined and then another. The power beam which had felt like it would dissipate them, now felt like something they could fight against. Zoey shouted in triumph and the Honmoon surged forwards.

Together they sang, “This is what it sounds like!”

The Honmoon glowed with all the colors of the rainbow.

Gwi-ma screamed. The power beam dissipated and Rumi moved forward ready to strike the killing blow. Gwi-ma clenched his teeth at her.

“How is this possible?” he fumed. He glowered at the Honmoon who was rising in triumph swirling with happiness. Colors reflected off of it in all directions. Gwi-ma stared at the Honmoon, stared into its depth and then pulled back in surprised revulsion.

“You cheated!” Gwi-ma declared, angrily. He gnashed his teeth. Rage emanated from him. The Honmoon reared back affronted.

Rumi glanced back at Mira and Zoey, undecided, unsure of what was happening. Mira nodded. It was time to finish this. Rumi turned back around, sword in hand and leapt forward. But Gwi-ma continued to pull backwards away from her, utterly enraged. He and the Honmoon were engaged in some sort of conversation but it was happening on a plane that they could not understand.

The sounds coming from the Honmoon were distorted and dissonant. It was trying to wrap itself around Gwi-ma, to stop him. But Gwi-ma could not be placated.

“YOU CHEATED,” Gwi-ma insisted. He growled and bared his teeth. And then he began to pull. The Honmoon cried out, trying to convince Gwi-ma not to proceed, but Gwi-ma could not be reasoned with.

“Two can play at this game,” he insisted. He pulled harder. The Honmoon screeched and whimpered, trying and failing to convince Gwi-ma to stop. Mira and Zoey shared looks of confusion and worry. Rumi ran faster towards Gwi-ma. But she was not fast enough. He laughed in her face, and then he pulled harder. Mira reached out, tried to grab the threads that were coming undone but she could not.

Gwi-ma tugged hard. And the world unravelled.

—

Mira woke up to the sun.

No wonder Rumi was always the first one up. The sun in the morning through her windows was blinding.

Mira glanced around. She was relieved that Rumi and Zoey were both still there, sleeping peacefully intertwined. The clock in the room said 5:15 am. Mira should try to go back to sleep, they had a big day.

—

Chapter Text

Like a broken record, the day repeated.

Mira woke up to the sun, in a room that could have been anyone’s.

She leaned forward, and slowly she pulled Rumi’s shirt up and away from her skin, just the barest amount just enough to see the skin underneath.

It was covered in purple patterns.

—

Mira had the same realizations, the same spirals.

Rumi was a liar.

Rumi was a demon. The three of them, everything they had, all built on a lie. It had all been fake. Her best friends, her family, just a figment of her imagination. She should have realized.

I don’t get to have nice things.

—

And the three of them had the same conversations.

“I know you must be upset,” Rumi told them, “But we’re so close. We just need to do our duty one more time. We can still seal the Honmoon,” she told them urgently before continuing more softly, “And then you won’t ever have to deal with me again.”

“You’re our best friend Rumi,” Zoey said. “You’re not allowed to leave.”

—

They chose to go to Celine’s. How could they make a different choice, when everything was the same?

Again, Mira watched Rumi and wondered:

Could demons feel sadness?

—

The conversation with Celine didn’t change.

“If you knew Rumi, if you knew Rumi’s dad, why would you teach us that all demons are evil?” Zoey asked, frustrated and devastated at the same time.

“I did the best I could,” Celine told them apologetically.

Mira wanted to break something. Celine’s face was tempting. She was so mad, at Celine, at herself.

“No Zoey’s right, we’re done here,” Mira said, grabbing Zoey’s hand.

—

They found Rumi outside by her mom’s grave. Where else would she go?

Rumi glanced at them, and Mira could tell she was relieved, that she had worried they weren’t going to come get her. It made Mira’s chest ache. She leaned more of her body into Rumi trying to wrap herself completely around her.

“So any more big secrets, we should get out there,” Zoey asked jokingly.

—

Everything played on repeat.

“Visiting Celine really was a bust,” Rumi muttered unhappily.

But Mira didn’t think so. Yeah, Celine had kind of sucked, like a lot, and they still didn’t have a plan for the Honmoon, but the icy cold feeling that had followed Mira around all morning had dissipated.

Mira reached out to take Rumi’s hand. Rumi had lied, yes, and Mira was still mad about it. But the three of them, best friends, family, that hadn’t been a lie.

—

They still decided to contact Jinu.

“Is that a blue… tiger?” Mira questioned. She rubbed her eyes, but the tiger was still there. And it was still blue. And it was walking towards them. Mira scrambled half a step back. The tiger continued forward. It walked very calmly and very slowly towards them. Mira stared.

“Like I said, pets,” Rumi said, sounding smug. Zoey squealed and darted forward. Mira grabbed her by her shirt sleeve.

“Zoey, no,” she said, jerking her back.

“Zoey, yes,” Zoey said, trying to break free. “Look how cute and fluffy he is,” she pouted. “I have to go pet him. Please Mira please,” she begged.

Rumi laughed. “It’s okay Mira. He’s harmless,” Rumi said. Mira glanced at the two of them, and sighed before releasing Zoey who sprinted forward. The tiger didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh my god you are so cute,” Zoey said as she got closer. “What’s his name, Rumi?” Zoey asked, turning back to the two of them.

“Jinu just calls them tiger and bird,” Rumi said pointing at the bird that was fluttering near the tiger.

“What?” Zoey asked, outraged before she was distracted by the bird. “He has a hat!” she crowed, excitedly.

“Jinu made it for the tiger, but the bird kept stealing it,” Rumi explained. Zoey stopped in her tracks, mouth agape.

“I can die happy now,” she said. But then she paused. “Wait no, I have to pet the tiger first.”

She twirled back towards the tiger who was still ambling towards them, his pace unchanged. The tiger's eyes were empty, its smile large and, Mira thought, a little unhinged.

“Oh my god look at him,” Zoey said, close to conniptions.

Mira stared at the tiger. It stared back. The tiger was blue like the Honmoon, almost the exact same shade. A weird feeling crawled up Mira’s chest sticking in her throat like foreboding or foreknowledge.

“Zoey, I think you should come back,” Mira said, eyes locked with the tiger’s.

But Zoey was on a different frequency. “I can’t believe Jinu didn’t give you a name,” she was telling the tiger. “Look at all your fur, your eyes, your teeth!”

Zoey gave an excited twirl before throwing herself on the tiger. “You’re so soft and fluffy,” she cried. Rumi laughed.

Mira froze. Her eyes remained locked with the tiger. The tiger stared back with its big empty eyes. They were yellow rimmed with orange, and Mira stared wordlessly.

She was falling, falling, falling.

There was a realm of fire and brimstone. A purple jagged mouth.

She jerked backwards. The image changed. The Honmoon, golden, Rumi burning, Zoey begging. Mira shook her head. The image changed again. Was that Jinu, playing a bipa? There was a little girl crying. The world shifted. The three of them singing, Rumi covered in patterns, the Honmoon a rainbow of colors, and then Gwi-ma pulling, pulling on the threads of the world.

Mira jerked out of it. She was still in Celine’s backyard. She put a hand on her stomach deeply unsettled.

The day stopped repeating. The inputs had changed.

“What was that?” she demanded. The tiger tilted its head at her. Zoey paused in her ministrations, confused. “Show me it again,” Mira commanded.

The tiger stared at her. And then it smiled. Mira shivered.

A celestial being. Like the Honmoon.

Mira shook her head. “Show it to me again. Show it to us,” she insisted.

The tiger glanced at the three of them and smiled wider. Its big eyes widened even more. It sat down on its haunches and extended its paw for them. The bird landed on the tiger’s head and surveyed them. Mira warily looked at the tiger’s paw. She did not want to touch it. She looked at Rumi and Zoey for support, but they both seemed confused.

She sighed and slowly reached her hand out to touch the tiger’s paw. After a moment of hesitation, Rumi and Zoey did the same. They were yanked forward. It was them, but not them. Mira watched with some shock as the three of them confronted Jinu, as Rumi argued that she wasn’t worth it, as Bobby was brought into the fold. She saw them decide to hide the Honmoon, and she watched with horror as she dived into the void to retrieve it.

She stared at the images unfolding. She saw demons team up with them against Gwi-ma, and the Honmoon, which had been dying, turned iridescent and lit up with colors.

And finally, she watched as Gwi-ma tugged reality apart and sent them backwards, just like the Honmoon had after it turned golden.

She landed back on earth on her butt, disoriented and discouraged. They’d been so close to defeating Gwi-ma. Rumi made a frustrated sound next to her.

“It’s okay,” Zoey said. “We can do it again.”

But Mira shook her head. She physically could not compel herself to go into the void again. Her whole body rebelled at the idea. She clutched her stomach. She felt sick just thinking about it. She could not enter the in-between space, could not force herself to do it again. The suffering had been incomprehensible. No. Never again.

Rumi interrupted her spiralling with a more pressing concern. “Gwi-ma won’t come to earth this time,” she said. Mira turned to her.

“Why not?” she asked, confused and still disoriented. But Zoey understood.

“Gwi-ma sent us back, so he’ll remember. He’ll know it's a trap. Shit,” she said. Rumi nodded and Mira ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

“Shit,” she agreed.

Zoey patted the tiger on the head for comfort, carefully avoiding dislodging the bird.

“Thank you for showing us,” she told the tiger. “You’re a good boy,” she continued in a baby voice. Mira cringed. She went to correct Zoey, to tell her that the tiger was a celestial being and very much not a “good boy”, but found the words would not come.

She glowered at the tiger, who stared back at her guilelessly. Zoey continued to pet the tiger leaning into his fur.

“What are your names?” Zoey asked the tiger and bird. The bird squawked at her, all six eyes showing. The tiger nuzzled Zoey’s head and then stretched out its paw again. Zoey reached for it. She glanced at Rumi and Mira, entreating them to do the same. Rumi grabbed the paw immediately, but Mira shook her head. Zoey pouted. Mira sighed and then slowly she reached out and touched the tiger's paw.

“Derpy!” a voice said. It sounded like Zoey. The tiger smiled even wider and lowered his head, a clear acknowledgement that the name was his.

Before Mira could properly take that in the voice that sounded like Zoey's said, “Sussie!”

The bird squawked happily at this and Mira groaned. She exchanged a look with Rumi. Why did the bird and tiger have such strange names? What idiot had named them?

Zoey clapped excitedly.

“Those are such great names!” she exclaimed. “They’re perfect!”

The bird preened with pride and the tiger lifted his paw for a high-five. Zoey squealed. The tiger’s head turned at an unnatural angle, so it could look at Mira as it high-fived Zoey. Mira shuddered.

“I wonder if Jinu knows their names,” Rumi muttered to herself. Mira shook her head. They needed to get back on track.

“We need a plan,” she said. “Let’s ignore Gwi-ma for now. The Honmoon is super weak. We need to strengthen it.”

Zoey lay sprawled across Derpy and frowned at this. She leapt up after a second.

“Wait. The Honmoon’s super weak because it sent us back in time!” she said. Mira and Rumi glanced at her confused. Zoey leaned her head forward waiting for them to get it, but after a few seconds when it became clear they weren’t keeping up she continued.

“Gwi-ma sent us back in time,” she said. “You’re not supposed to do that. It's cheating. It's breaking the rules.”

Rumi was getting it now.

“And the punishment is you lose your power!” she finished. She and Zoey exchanged excited looks before looking at Mira.

“And unlike the Honmoon he doesn’t have us to strengthen him!” Zoey said with delight. Mira raised her eyebrows at this.

“No he’s just going to consume all the souls instead,” she said sardonically. Zoey frowned at her.

“I think he’d have to come to earth for that,” she said. She glanced at Rumi for confirmation. Rumi chewed on her lip.

“He’s going to be weak and desperate,” she contemplated. “I think Zoey’s right. He’ll have to come to earth for the souls if he wants his power back. And then we can defeat him.”

She smiled at Mira and Zoey.

“Alright we just need to get Jinu on our side and this will be a breeze!” Rumi proclaimed. Mira snorted. Arrogance had always looked good on Rumi.

Derpy and Sussie perked up when Rumi said Jinu’s name. Rumi smiled at them.

“Can you take us to Jinu?” she asked. Mira groaned. She did not want to travel through the void. She’d just have to meet them wherever it was.

But then to Mira’s surprise, the tiger shook its head no. It had for the first time stopped smiling. The bird let out a mournful hum.

Rumi furrowed her brows at them confused. “But you took us to Jinu last time. Why can’t you take us this time?” she asked.

Derpy and Sussie exchanged looks but did not say anything. Zoey glanced at Mira meaningfully but Mira just shrugged at her confused. Zoey bit her lip.

“Rumi…,” Zoey started. “If Gwi-ma remembers… then he remembers that Jinu betrayed him,” she said carefully. Mira winced. Rumi’s eyes widened in horror. Derpy hunched in on himself.

“I don’t think they can take us to Jinu,” she continued softly. Rumi shuddered at this.

“Do you think..” she trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought.

“It’s okay,” Mira said. “We’ll save him,” she promised. If there’s anything left to save.

She glanced at Zoey who was biting her lip, clearly having the same thought. But Rumi was nodding, soothed by this notion. Derpy was smiling again. He nuzzled his head against Mira who grudgingly accepted it. Sussie landed on her shoulder.

“Ok,” Mira said. “Gwi-ma’s probably gonna have to come to earth to get the souls he needs. He’ll be weak so we can take him down.”

Zoey hummed. “What if we strengthened the Honmoon at the Idol awards? We could sing the song that turned the Honmoon into a rainbow.”

Rumi nodded. “It would be a good layer of defense against Gwi-ma,” she said. The bird squawked unhappily on Mira’s shoulder and the tiger headbutted Zoey lightly, a clear correction. Zoey frowned at the tiger.

“Derpy thinks it's a bad idea,” she said, confused. She crossed her arms at him.

“C’mon, Gwi-ma won’t know what hit him,” she argued. Mira’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh,” she said. “Gwi-ma remembers. But he doesn’t know that we do too. If we do something too different from last time, he’ll know,” she said.

Derpy smiled at her, pleased she had figured it out. Zoey furrowed her brows.

“Why does it matter if he knows that we know?” she asked. Mira thought about it.

“We need to think like Gwi-ma,” she said.

“Gross,” Zoey said. She made a gagging sound. Mira shrugged.

“Ok. I’ve come back in time and now I am super weak and need souls. But I can’t trust Jinu, so I throw him in like demon jail,” Mira speculated. Zoey snorted. Undeterred Mira continued.

“I need to get to earth to feed on all the souls, but the hunters are in my way. I need to distract them or defeat them,” Mira said. Rumi nodded.

“Gwi-ma thinks we fought because of Rumi’s patterns,” Zoey said. “He doesn’t know that isn’t true.”

“If I were him,” Mira continued, “I’d be wanting to make that fight even bigger to get the hunters out of the way so I could consume all the souls while they’re distracted fighting each other.”

Zoey frowned. “Wait. So our biggest strength is that Gwi-ma doesn’t know that we already know that Rumi’s half-demon and don’t care?” she asked.

Mira flinched slightly. She couldn’t say with 100% honesty that she didn’t care. Rumi hugged herself.

But Derpy smiled at them. Zoey shook her head at him.

“So we just pretend to fight? So that Gwi-ma will be comfortable showing up to his soul feast?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Rumi nodded.

“And then we take him down,” she finished. Sussie chirped in agreement.

“No void?” Mira asked rhetorically. “I’m in.”

—

Gwi-ma had never been so weak, so powerless before. He was furious, but still alive. But he was dying.

He had retreated away from his normal pit of fire to seethe and plot. He did not want his minions to see him so diminished. He needed souls desperately and immediately.

He frowned. Jinu, who he had trusted to always be self-interested, to always put himself first had found something in the Hunters, something that had changed him. Gwi-ma gnashed his teeth. Jinu was his eyes on the ground. He needed him to be loyal. But clearly he couldn’t be trusted. That ended now.

“Jinu,” he summoned. Jinu appeared before him surprised to be summoned again so soon. His eyes widened at Gwi-ma’s current state.

Gwi-ma waved him off. “I am fasting before the feast,” he said.

“We are so close to success,” Gwi-ma continued in a silky voice. “I’ve reconsidered.”

“Reconsidered?” Jinu asked, confused.

Gwi-ma smiled at him, all teeth.

“You’ve done such a good job. It seems only fair that I reward such loyalty,” Gwi-ma told him. Jinu narrowed his eyes in surprise.

“Ready to forget it all?” Gwi-ma asked. He was gratified to see Jinu’s eyes widen and his whole body lean forward desperate for Gwi-ma’s gift. Hook, line and sinker. Gwi-ma smiled.

“Whatever you have planned for the Hunters, double it. No triple it,” he said. “I want them to tear each other apart.”

“Do you understand, Jinu?” he asked. Jinu nodded, eyes transfixed.

“Good,” Gwi-ma said. He smiled his sharp pointed teeth at Jinu, and then with some of his remaining power, he granted Jinu’s greatest wish. No more pesky human memories. Gwi-ma smirked. Whatever the hunters had snuck into Jinu’s psyche had now been safely removed.

The new improved Jinu smirked back at him, face covered in purple patterns.

“They won’t know what hit them,” Jinu promised.

“Good. I'm ready to feast,” Gwi-ma told him.

—

Chapter Text

Mira absolutely refused to hitch a ride back to Seoul via Derpy no matter how much Zoey pouted.

“But it’s so convenient, Mira,” Zoey begged. But Mira resolutely shook her head. She was never touching the in-between space ever again.

“It’s fine Zo, you can take Derpy back and I’ll meet you there,” Mira told her. But Zoey continued to pout. She gave Derpy one more mournful pat on his head before turning back towards the car.

“No,” Zoey said. “We should stick together.”

Rumi also gave Derpy a saddened look. It would be so much faster, but she regretfully followed Zoey and Mira towards the car.

“Bye Derpy! Bye Sussie! We’ll see you later!” Zoey promised, waving goodbye as she climbed into the car. Mira gave the two a wave goodbye as well relieved to be leaving them behind.

“Ok. What next?” Rumi asked once they were on their way back to Seoul.

“Jinu was originally planning on betraying us at the Idol Awards right?” Zoey asked. “Do we think that will still happen?”

Mira frowned.

“Demons can pretend to be other people. Maybe Gwi-Ma will just have another demon pretend to be Jinu?” she speculated. Rumi’s eyes flashed at that, concerned for Jinu. She bit her lip.

“But yeah I agree with Zoey, whatever they’re planning it's going to be at the Idol Awards,” Mira continued.

The three of them sat thinking.

“They’re probably planning some kind of dramatic reveal that Rumi’s half-demon,” Zoey speculated. “I bet there’s like a video or something,” she said.

Mira snorted. “That does seem like Jinu’s style.”

Rumi frowned. She wrapped her arms around herself self-consciously.

“But they’d have to sneak that in somehow, though,” Zoey mumbled, confused. The three of them sat with that for a moment before they glanced at each other eyes sparking with the same thought.

“Bobby!” all three said at the same time. Rumi pulled out her phone. Mira stopped her.

“Maybe we leave out the demon thing this time?” she suggested. Zoey frowned at Mira surprised. But even worse, Rumi’s ears flushed red with shame. Mira regretted saying anything.

“I… not like that,” Mira tried to explain. “It was just a lot for him last time and if something fishy is going on with the Idol Awards we want Bobby at his best.”

Zoey frowned at her.

“Wouldn’t knowing about demons help him see past any tricks or glamors?” Zoey asked. Rumi glanced between the two of them, trying to decide what to do.

“No, I think Mira’s right,” she finally said. “We want Bobby at his best and not distracted by an existential crisis.”

Zoey blew out her cheeks in frustration, but didn’t argue, even if she clearly didn’t agree. Mira glanced at the two of them warily. But it seemed like the decision had been made. She nodded at Rumi.

It took two rings for Bobby to answer.

“Hey Rumi!” he said.

“Hi Bobby!” Rumi said quickly before Bobby could say anything else. She radiated nerves.

“You’re on speaker phone just so you know,” she told him.

“Hi Bobby!” Mira and Zoey chorused.

“Hey girls! Everything okay?” Bobby asked. He sounded busy and a little out of breath.

Rumi glanced at Mira and Zoey for support, and then said nervously, “We think the Saja boys might have something unsavory planned for the Idol Awards.”

Bobby made a surprised sound.

“What makes you think that?” he asked, concerned. Rumi glanced at Zoey and Mira panicked, clearly unsure how to answer.

“Jinu tried to warn us about something, but he got cut-off,” Mira answered smoothly. And then with a cat-eyed smirk at Rumi she continued in a low voice, “He and Rumi are friends.”

She put special emphasis on the word friends. Zoey giggled. Rumi’s face flushed bright red. She shoved Mira and hissed in embarrassment, “Mira!”

“Oh,” Bobby said, voice surprised. “Um congrats, Rumi?” he offered. Rumi scowled at Mira horrified.

“We’re just friends, Bobby,” she corrected. “But he did try to warn us about something.”

“Hmm, that’s not good,” Bobby said. “I’m at the venue now, getting everything set up, and it all seems above board. But I’ll keep my eyes peeled for any kind of sabotage,” Bobby offered.

“We’re still good for Golden?” he asked. The three of them glanced at each other considering it.

“We could do Takedown,” Zoey softly offered. Mira flinched. She didn’t dare look over at Rumi, she didn’t want to see what her face was doing.

“No,” she said. “It’s not the song that’s going to connect us… or our fans,” she said softly. And then louder for Bobby’s benefit she said, “Yes Bobby we’re still good for Golden.”

“Ok,” Bobby said. “I should go, but I’ll keep my eyes peeled. I’ll call you immediately if I find anything weird,” he promised.

“Thanks Bobby!” they chorused. Mira bit her lip worried. What if Bobby didn’t discover anything? What if they walked into a trap? Relax, she commanded herself. Breathe In… Out. They already knew that Rumi was a half-demon. Whatever Gwi-ma tried to throw at the three of them wouldn’t work. She closed her eyes trying to meditate on that.

But she couldn’t concentrate. She could feel Zoey fidgeting. Mira opened her eyes.

“What?” she asked. But Zoey wasn’t looking at her, she was watching Rumi.

“Rumi…” Zoey said, seriously. “If we’re singing Golden, you have to promise not to try to make the Honmoon go gold.”

Rumi put her hands up in a defensive position. “I won’t,” she promised. Zoey watched Rumi closely, still not fully convinced.

“It’s okay, Zoey,” Mira offered. “I’m pretty sure the Honmoon will refuse at this point, too. We’re fine to sing Golden.”

Zoey slowly nodded, eyes still carefully watching Rumi.

Rumi said softly, “We should probably tell the Honmoon what we’re up to.”

Zoey nodded, relaxing convinced that even if Rumi couldn’t be trusted on this one the Honmoon could.

“Lunch first though!”

—

The Honmoon had been excited to see the three of them and even more thrilled when it had discovered that Gwi-ma was weakened. It had lit up and happily chanted, “YES YES YES.”

It had seemed unbothered that victory had been snatched away. When Mira brought up their uncertainty about exactly what Gwi-ma had planned, the Honmoon had been unperturbed. It had wrapped itself around the three of them; its message clear: together we are unstoppable.

“The Honmoon’s right,” Zoey said, smiling up at the blue strands. “Together, we can do this.”

Mira tried to let that certainty infuse her, but found she could not. Breathe.

“Nothing is going to tear us apart. Nothing,” Zoey emphasized. She locked eyes with Rumi and then grabbed both Mira and Rumi’s hands and squeezed. Mira smiled back, but Rumi’s face was pale, unconvinced. Her eyes flickered down to her patterns and Zoey squeezed harder.

Mira looked away. She took a deep breath. Rumi had lied, but she was still her best friend, demon patterns and all. She took Rumi’s hand completing the circle. She squeezed. After only a second of hesitation, Rumi squeezed back.

The Honmoon trilled in happiness. Rumi glanced at Mira, shy, soft, and vulnerable. Mira pulled her into a hug.

“You’re ours,” she whispered into Rumi’s ear. How many different ways did she have to tell Rumi that she was the most important thing to them? Zoey squealed and hugged Rumi from the other side. Rumi made a choking sound, but didn’t try to escape. The Honmoon swirled happily. Mira let the moment ground her. They could do this.

—

But back in the penthouse, Rumi paced agitated. Mira watched her, her eyes locked on the purple patterns barely peeking out of Rumi’s clothes, studying them. They’d grown during the conversation with Celine, but didn’t seem to be spreading any further now. Instead they moved across Rumi’s skin expanding and contracting with every step she took. Mira stared. Zoey batted her shoulder, a clear reproach and Mira snapped out of it.

She forced herself to look elsewhere. She was relieved that Rumi hadn’t seemed to notice her inspection. Rumi was too distracted. She kept checking her phone anxiously, waiting for a call from Bobby.

“We should take a nap,” Zoey announced. Mira and Rumi both turned to look at her surprised.

“What?” Zoey asked. “This clearly isn’t working. You're both keyed up and we have a big night ahead of us.”

“What if we miss a call from Bobby?” Rumi asked, anxiously. Zoey frowned at her.

“You don’t have to turn your phone off. C’mon it's my turn to be in the middle,” Zoey whined. Mira frowned at that.

“I don’t know,” she said. “My turn got undone by the whole time travel thing. Isn’t it still my turn?” she asked innocently. Zoey scowled at her.

“No,” she said. Her tone brooked no disagreements. Mira snorted, but followed her towards her bedroom. Rumi hesitated glancing down at her phone but then she too followed Zoey. Zoey let out a satisfied hum.

Mira took the far side of the bed and wrapped herself around Zoey. Zoey patted Mira’s forehead fondly and then turned to cuddle Rumi. Mira smiled at the two of them.

Zoey yawned and then said softly to Rumi, “We’d do anything for you Rumi.”

Zoey fell asleep, so only Mira was awake to hear the quiet, “I love you.”

It was so soft and muffled that Mira could have imagined it. Maybe, she had.

“Celine shouldn’t have…” Mira started.

But Rumi interrupted with a sigh, “I know. You already told me.”

Mira thought carefully about what she wanted to say. But by the time she had a response ready Rumi’s breathing had already evened out. She frowned, unsatisfied.

Mira fell into sleep, but it wasn’t restful. She dreamed again of the blue tiger. Its big wide eyes stared at her. And she was falling. Falling, falling, endlessly falling. She fell through the void slipping in and out of reality. Other parallel worlds beckoned. Un-reality was just around the corner. And throughout it all, the tiger, always present, smiled at her ominously.

Mira woke with a gasp. Bobby still hadn’t called.

—

Rumi’s anxiety seemed to grow with every second. They were backstage at the Idol Awards in their dressing room. She kept glancing at the door as if she hoped Jinu might appear. And then back at her phone. She paced back and forth. They still hadn’t heard from Bobby outside of a text that had said simply, “Still investigating!”

Mira bit her tongue angrily and even Zoey seemed less relaxed. Rumi’s nerves were infectious. Mira stood up. She grabbed Rumi by the shoulders who stared at her surprised.

“Sit,” she ordered. “Relax.”

Rumi scowled at her but did as asked. She grumpily played with her hair. Her eyes kept going to the door. She groaned. She spun in her chair so her back was to the door.

“I don’t like not knowing,” she grumbled and then more softly, “I’m worried about Jinu.”

Zoey gave Rumi’s hand a squeeze. “It’s okay. We’ve got this.”

Rumi nodded. Mira turned on the TV. She put on something soothing and mindless as a distraction. It was a soap opera they’d all already watched before. They got through a few minutes of it before Rumi got up from the chair. Mira and Zoey exchanged a look.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” Rumi said, pointing into the hallway. Mira snorted amused. Zoey frowned.

“I’ll come with,” she offered. Rumi shook her head.

“I’ll be back in a second,” she said. “I just need a moment.”

The “by myself” was implied. Mira frowned. She glanced at Zoey and saw Zoey also hesitate. She nodded.

“I… okay,” Zoey said. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she commanded. Rumi gave her a salute.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Zoey watched Rumi leave, still conflicted. Mira put a comforting hand on Zoey’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. If she’s not back in two minutes we’ll go grab her,” she said. Zoey nodded. They were at the one minute mark when Bobby called.

Mira picked it up immediately.

“Hi Bobby!” she and Zoey said breathlessly.

“Hi girls.” Bobby said. He sounded confused.

“Were you guys planning on singing more than one song?” he asked. Mira and Zoey glanced at each other.

“No,” Mira said. “Why?”

Bobby made a confused sound over the line. It sounded like he was arguing with someone. And then he said, “They have you queued up here in the production booth for Golden and then part way through they have it switching to Takedown.”

Mira froze. She and Zoey shared disbelieving looks.

“Girls?” Bobby questioned over the line.

“Give us one second,” Mira told Bobby before muting the line. “What do we do?” she hissed at Zoey. Zoey sat thinking about it.

“We need Gwi-ma to see us fight right?” Zoey asked. “Takedown must be what Jinu planned. Do we just go through with it?”

Zoey was muttering to herself. And then she smiled.

“This is good Mira!” she said with a laugh. “We know what they’re planning now and we can just pretend to go along with it. We’ll pretend to “Takedown” Rumi, and then Gwi-ma will show up and we’ll really take him down.”

Mira frowned at Zoey.

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that,” she admitted. “It was one thing to stage a social media fight, but an in-person one?”

Mira shook her head clearly uncomfortable.

“We’ll be acting,” Zoey said. “All three of us will be in on it.”

Mira sat still conflicted.

“Girls?” Bobby questioned on the line. Mira glanced at Zoey.

“Trust me?” Zoey asked. Mira nodded. She unmuted the line.

“We’ll stick with that Bobby,” Zoey said.

“I… you sure?” he asked, surprised. Mira looked at Zoey for confirmation. Zoey nodded.

“Yes, Bobby, we’re sure,” Mira said.

“I.. okay. Good luck girls!” Bobby offered over the line. They hung up.

Mira glanced at Zoey conflicted. This was why Rumi was the leader. She was the best at making decisions like this. She glanced around the room and felt her blood freeze.

“Zoey,” she asked. “Where’s Rumi?”

Zoey’s face dropped and she sprang to her feet. She glanced at the clock. Too much time had passed. She and Mira shared panicked looks.

Mira was already running out the door, a step ahead of Zoey when she felt it: the Honmoon. It felt wrong. She summoned her Gok-do without another thought. She tugged on her connection to Rumi letting it guide her. She didn’t care who saw her running through backstage with a weapon. Something was wrong and she just needed to get to Rumi as quickly as possible.

The closer to Rumi that Mira got the more discordant the Honmoon got. It was still weak but Mira could hear it chanting, “NO NO NO” in the back of her mind. Something was seriously wrong. Panic shot up and down Mira’s veins. How could they have let Rumi go off by herself? They had needed to stick together. This was Mira’s fault. She raced around the corner, desperate, Zoey right behind her.

She heard Zoey gasp and at first she didn’t understand what she was seeing. Rumi lay sprawled across the floor covered in blood, bleeding out.

“Please, please!” she was saying. Mira’s blood burned. The Honmoon was screaming discordantly. Mira could not hear her own thoughts. Two demons covered in purple patterns loomed over Rumi menacingly.

Mira did not have time to think. She needed to save Rumi. She leapt for the closest demon swinging her Gok-do savagely. But he jumped out of the way laughing at her. Jinu, Mira realized. She turned on the other demon, swinging wildly out of control with rage and fear. The Honmoon screamed in Mira’s ears.

The demon in front of Mira did not dodge. It had not seemed to occur to the demon that Mira would attack it.

“Mira no!” Zoey called. The Honmoon cried.

It was too late.

Mira’s Gok-do swung down and true. The first inkling Mira had that something was not right was the splattering of blood. Mira froze in place. Jinu laughed. The Rumi at Mira’s feet who had been crying, laughed too. It turned into a demon, and then it vanished.

“What?” Mira managed, horrified.

She felt her heart stop. Slowly Mira turned towards the demon she had stabbed. It had not cleanly vanished like it was supposed to. She stumbled backwards.

Rumi.

She had stabbed Rumi. She had seen patterns and she had not hesitated, had not thought. She felt light headed and sick. Rumi was clutching at her side where Mira had sliced her open. Blood was pouring out of her side. Her eyes were wide and confused. The Honmoon was crying.

“I thought…” Rumi started, but she was bleeding too much and collapsed before she could finish the sentence. But Mira understood.

I thought you loved me.

Jinu laughed again.

Zoey turned on him angrily, desperately flinging shin-kal at him. He raised his hands defensively, still laughing and then he vanished. The curtains fell. They were surrounded by a deathly silent crowd shocked at what they had witnessed.

Mira was still holding her Gok-do. Rumi was bleeding out on the floor.

Suddenly Bobby was there.

“We need to go,” he said. The rest was a blur. Mira was on auto-pilot. Everything was wrong. She picked up Rumi bridal style and carried her to a van. There was so much blood. Too much blood. Zoey and Bobby were talking but Mira couldn’t hear them. The Honmoon what little was left of it was desperately circling Rumi, trying to heal her wounds, but it was too weak. Mira could feel it in her chest both Rumi and the Honmoon fading away, disappearing. Zoey made a keening sound.

“We’re going to the hospital,” Bobby said, determined as he drove them away from the venue. Zoey shook her head.

“We won’t make it in time,” she cried. Zoey turned to the Honmoon.

“Please, please,” she begged. “Please save her.”

The Honmoon desperately surged around Rumi, but it was too faded. It gave out a sad desperate trill. It was slowing down the blood loss as best as it could but like Rumi the Honmoon was losing strength fast. Mira buried her face in her hands, desperate tears falling down her face.

“Send us back then,” Zoey begged. But the Honmoon couldn’t do that either. It was too frail.

“No, no, no,” Zoey chanted.

“You have to. We need to go back. You’re a celestial entity, isn’t there anything you can do?” Zoey asked desperately. But the Honmoon just cried with Zoey.

Mira sat bolt upright. A celestial entity. She thought about Derpy and Sussie desperately.

“Please, please,” she begged. Derpy appeared. Sussie sat on his head. Neither were smiling. Zoey stared.

“Send us back,” Mira begged. Derpy and Sussie shared looks. The bird went to sit next to Rumi like it was keeping a somber watch. Its back was to Mira. Derpy frowned at Mira. He shook his head.

“Please,” Mira begged again.

“Please,” Zoey joined in.

Derpy shook his head again. He seemed frustrated.

He raised his paw to Mira. Mira’s soul screamed. It did not want to re-enter the void. Mira ignored it. She shot a glance at Rumi, the color draining out of her, and grabbed Derpy’s paw.

She was falling falling falling.

Chapter Text

The void was more terrible than Mira could have imagined. She’d witnessed her other self experience it, and known with certainty the horror, but it was so much worse now that she was thrust into it. She was part of the in-between.

Worlds rushed by endlessly. She was pulled in all directions. She saw endless variations, enough to drive anyone to madness. She closed her eyes to block it out. She focused on Rumi. She needed to help Rumi.

Mira desperately ignored the blood drying on her clothes, on her hands, on her face, even in her hair. She could not think about that. But focusing on the void was somehow even worse. It unravelled her.

She popped out of existence. The tiger slowly and painstakingly brought her back. It hurt. Mira’s body ached everywhere. Her right hand throbbed. She clung desperately to the tiger’s paw, trying to steady herself in the chaos.

But there was no comfort to be found. The tiger zigzagged through the void following a route only he knew, pulling Mira along. Mira closed her eyes. She saw Rumi bleeding out. She opened her eyes and saw the terror of the in-between. She closed her eyes again.

She didn’t know how long they stayed like that; the tiger pulling Mira along while Mira clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out the void while also desperately trying not to think of Rumi. Of Rumi’s face after she’d been sliced open. She’d been so surprised. She hadn’t even tried to dodge. She had trusted Mira. Mira’s chest hurt. She had broken something. Something that could not be fixed. Rumi had trusted her, and Mira had sliced her open.

I thought you loved me.

Mira shuddered. That could not be Rumi’s last words. Her chest where the Honmoon, where Rumi, and Zoey were supposed to be felt empty. She was losing them. She had already lost them. She needed to go back. The day needed to reset.

“Please send us back,” Mira begged. Derpy ignored her, deeply focused on whatever route he was taking them on. Mira’s mind replayed the scene over and over. She analyzed every moment, every mistake. She shouldn’t have let Rumi go off by herself. The three of them should have stayed together. If only she’d taken a moment, if only she’d stopped to think.

If only she hadn’t swung. Zoey had screamed at Mira to stop; the Honmoon had cried and Mira hadn’t listened. Why hadn’t she listened?

It replayed over and over. Rumi’s surprise, Zoey’s devastation, Jinu’s laughter. It was all Mira’s fault. She had fucked up. She had rushed in. She had swung too quickly. She had seen patterns and she hadn’t hesitated. Mira wanted to scream. She opened her eyes. The void rushed by her.

This time she did scream. She screamed until there was nothing left. When she stopped, Derpy nuzzled her and Mira cried into his forehead. They had stopped moving. She opened her eyes. They were still in the void but it was as if they had zoomed out. Mira stared below her, confused and bewildered. She and Derpy were very much in the land of non-existence. She looked down at what looked like a spiderweb.

Derpy sat calmly surveying it. He looked at Mira and then looked back at the spiderweb. Mira stared at him and then looked below squinting at the lines. It looked like worlds, Mira realized. Parallel worlds all sitting next to each other connected by thin white lines. The moment she perceived it, she heaved. Her head hurt. It was not something she was meant to see. This was a cosmic unveiling. Derpy didn’t seem to notice her discomfort. He nudged her towards a specific part of the web.

Mira forced herself to look. There was a world barely connected to the rest of the web. It was hanging on by only a single thread, very close to falling into the void. Looking at it made something in Mira’s chest burn with fear.

Derpy offered out his paw and Mira squeezed it.

She saw the spiderweb, but it was different. The web was unbroken, the world well-connected. Derpy hummed with contentment. They zoomed in, and Mira saw herself, Zoey, and Rumi performing Golden. Mira watched as the Honmoon turned golden, and then as Rumi lit up with purple patterns. Mira flinched away, but Derpy pulled her back.

He made her watch as Rumi burned and Zoey begged the Honmoon, “Please, please stop being golden”. She saw her past self clutching at her horribly ruined hand. And then the Honmoon tugged, pulling them back in time. Derpy and Mira zoomed back out.

Threads connecting the world broke. The world pitched towards the void before stabilizing. Mira’s eyes widened. The threads slowly healed. Derpy hummed.

But then Gwi-ma pulled the threads again.

Destruction followed. The world pitched violently. It was saved from falling into the void by a single strand. Derpy made a sad sound deep in his throat. Mira stared horrified.

Their world was barely hanging on. The realization made Mira release a desolate cry. Derpy nuzzled his head against her trying to offer comfort. He showed her the threads slowly regrowing, healing; their world eventually connecting back to the web. But Mira didn’t care. She shook her head devastated.

“You can’t send us back,” she said defeated. She understood now. The thread would break. They would fall into the void. Derpy solemnly shook his head. Mira felt tears falling down her face. She couldn’t stop them.

Her sadness rapidly morphed into anger. “Why did you bother showing me this!” she raged. “Rumi is dying!”

She was furious. She’d wasted time coming here, time she could have spent by Rumi’s side. Oh god, Rumi was going to die. Mira felt sick. Mira had killed her. She tilted back towards sadness. Derpy watched her with his big wide eyes. Mira hated him.

“What good are you?” she questioned, angrily. “A celestial being… and you can’t even save one person,” Mira asked. Tears flowed freely. She hiccuped. Derpy continued to watch her. He seemed annoyed. Mira frowned at him. Derpy stared back pointedly.

“Take me back to Rumi,” Mira ordered. Derpy grumbled under his breath, frustration clear, but he moved forward ready to comply. Mira stumbled backwards.

“Wait,” she said, quickly. Derpy stopped. She watched him carefully. He seemed almost hopeful? “You can’t send us back?” Mira asked slowly. Derpy nodded.

“Can you do something else?” Mira asked. The tiger tilted its head. It did not respond.

“You’re a celestial being,” Mira said more confidently. “You can’t send us back, but there must be something you can do.”

Derpy watched her, but he made no motion to move.

“Help me save Rumi,” Mira ordered, more confidently. This time Derpy smiled.

His forehead came up to Mira’s and then they were flying through the void. It was as horrible as before. Mira desperately shut her eyes. She focused on the tiger’s fur against her face and tried to block everything else out. The in-between space pulled at her, and she felt as if she were coming undone. Her right hand burned endlessly.

—

She gasped with relief when she emerged from the void into the night sky. She pulled at her chest. There were faint echoes from Rumi and the Honmoon. A larger answering response from Zoey. No time had passed in the void, but now she needed to move quickly. Rumi and the Honmoon were both fading away too quickly.

She glanced around trying to get her bearings and was surprised to see she was back at Celine’s. She turned to Derpy in confusion, but he gave no indicators. He’d deposited her right outside the door. Mira shook her head. She knocked.

The door swung open immediately as if Celine had been waiting on the other side. Celine’s face was pale. She looked exhausted. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“Mira?” she asked, shocked. “I thought..” she shook her head.

“We don’t have time,” Mira said. “Rumi and the Honmoon are dying,” she told her.

Celine’s face was a sickly grey color. “I know,” she said. “I felt it. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t…”

I couldn’t make it in time.

Celine shook her head as if pushing a thought away. She pulled out a vial and handed it to Mira. It was full of a pale grey liquid. It shone with an unnatural light, like the weapons they pulled from the Honmoon.

“It heals injuries from hunter’s weapons,” Celine told her.

“How did you…” Mira started. She didn't finish the sentence. How had Celine known?

“Hunters hunt demons,” Celine said. She said it the same way someone might say the sky is blue, an irrefutable fact.

Mira stared at her torn, mind racing. The serum could save Rumi. Her immediate first reaction was relief.

But Celine had created this serum ahead of time, perhaps years ago. Mira felt sick thinking about it. Horror slowly infused her.

Mira and Zoey, they vanquished regular demons. Only a half-demon, only Rumi, would need something like this. Mira wanted to think that Celine had created the serum as an extra precaution, perhaps for a training accident. But she knew it wasn’t true. No, Celine had expected them to hurt, to kill Rumi if they ever learned the truth.

Suddenly Celine’s insistence that Rumi keep her demon heritage a secret made more sense.

Hunters hunt demons.

Mira felt sick. Her stomach hurt. The serum was a hail mary. An extra precaution so Celine could try to save Rumi. An extra precaution she’d needed.

Mira’s hands shook as she took it from Celine. She didn’t have time to ask questions, but they burned. Celine watched her, staring with horrified fascination at the blood that coated Mira’s skin.

“I thought…” Celine started. “I was surprised it was you at the door,” she finally said quietly. She shook her head. Her eyes stayed rooted to the blood on Mira’s skin.

Mira swallowed the lump in her throat. She understood instantly and wished she didn’t. Celine had been waiting for Zoey, not Mira. What made it worse was that she’d gotten it right. Mira turned away from her ashamed. It was Mira who had stabbed Rumi. Mira who had turned on Rumi, not Zoey. Mira who had not hesitated at the sight of patterns.

And suddenly Mira was furious. If Celine had just taught them differently. If she hadn’t… If she’d just told them the truth. This was Celine’s fault. She’d known Rumi was a half-demon and still taught them to hunt all demons. To hate everything with patterns. Mira was infused with anger.

She glanced down at the serum in her hands and deflated. It wasn’t Celine who had stabbed Rumi. She had done that.

“Please save Rumi,” Celine implored. Mira nodded.

She wanted to scream at Celine, to apologize, to beg for forgiveness, to burst into tears, to thank her. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. But she didn’t have time for the confusing array of emotions she was experiencing.

Instead she fled out the door. She knew it was petty, but she didn’t want Celine to come with, to see what had happened to Rumi, to be near them. She wanted to escape the torrent of emotions that Celine evoked. So even though it would've been smarter to take Celine with, to have her help in the fight against Gwi-ma, Mira turned on her heel and ran before Celine could even make a move to join her.

She had absolutely no desire to go back into the void, but it was the only way. She grabbed Derpy’s paw.

“Please take me back to Rumi,” she said. Derpy didn’t hesitate.

They sped through the void. That did not make it better. Mira kept her eyes tightly closed, but her body ached and she could feel them spinning around worlds. She saw, over and over again, Celine’s face, surprised to see her at the door; her eyes staring horrified at the blood on Mira’s skin. Mira’s chest ached. She clenched the vial tightly. Breathe In Out.

The void felt endless, like she would never escape. Just when she was giving up hope, they emerged from the ether.

—

The first thing she smelled was blood. The van reeked of blood. Zoey was leaning over Rumi, begging her to hold on. Blood coated Zoey’s hands. The Honmoon, barely a shadow of itself, zoomed around Rumi desperately trying to keep her afloat, even as it also faded. The bird kept a silent vigilant watch. Mira had been gone maybe two minutes, but the situation had gotten more desperate.

She lunged forward with the vial and forced Rumi to drink it. For a moment nothing happened, and Mira worried. But then Rumi gave a choked cough and then more coughs like a drowning victim spitting out water. The injury on her side knit together, a silver like magic slowly stitching Rumi back up. Zoey squeezed Mira’s hand with her own bloody one coating Mira’s hands with fresh blood. They waited silently, Derpy by their side.

Rumi was woozy when she woke up, not fully there. She flinched away from Mira.

“What’s going on?” she asked Zoey confused.

“We’re going to the hospital,” Zoey told her. “You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

Rumi closed her eyes. She didn’t respond. The Honmoon, still weak, faded into Rumi’s skin. Mira could just barely feel it in her chest, a dormant dying entity.

—

They arrived at the hospital. Bobby had called ahead, and the staff was already waiting. They put Rumi in a stretcher and moved to take her away, but Zoey interrupted.

“We have to stay together,” she told the staff earnestly. She was covered in blood. She moved closer to Rumi, her hand touching the stretcher. The staff stared at her. Two of the nurses in front exchanged looks, drawing lots, before one of them reluctantly stepped forward.

The nurse glanced at Bobby, the only member of their party not covered in blood, who shrugged. The nurse opened their mouth, probably to ask if they were family or tell them it wasn’t possible, but Mira stepped forward instead, interrupting them. She put her hand on the stretcher. She gave the nurse her best unimpressed look.

The nurse closed their mouth. They looked at the blood coating Mira and Zoey, and at Bobby and seemed to decide a fight was not worth it. “OK,” they said instead. Bobby, Zoey, and Mira followed Rumi’s stretcher directly to her room.

—

In the room, nurses and doctors bustled in and out. Mira sat down on a chair exhausted. Rumi was still passed out. A nurse came in and started first an IV and then a blood transfusion after confirming Rumi’s blood type with Bobby. A doctor came by. And then another. They didn’t seem to notice the purple patterns that covered every inch of Rumi’s skin, even her face. They all seemed confused by the blood loss with no sign of external injury.

Mira didn’t respond to their questions. Bobby just shrugged also at a loss. Zoey chattered endlessly to the doctors but about everything besides Rumi.

Eventually the doctors gave up. They did another blood transfusion and prescribed rest. Mira nodded numbly. She watched them leave relieved.

The tiger and bird reappeared to continue their watch over Rumi. Bobby jumped. He turned on Zoey and Mira.

“What is going on?” he asked. His voice was anguished.

“How is Rumi’s injury gone?” he asked and then clarified hastily, “Not that I’m not glad about that, but what the heck?“

“Also, is that a tiger?” he asked. Zoey frowned at Mira.

“We should have told him from the start,” she hissed, upset. Mira shrugged. She’d been making bad calls all day. What was one more?

Zoey turned back to Bobby to respond but before she could, their TV lit up.

“Hey, everybody. You must all be so sad about the Huntr/x breakup,” Jinu said from the screen. His tone was taunting. Zoey lurched forward in anger. Mira pulled her back and gave her back a soothing rub. She could see the purple patterns coating Jinu’s face and skin. It made her hands itch.

”We are too,” Jinu continued. “So, to cheer everyone up, we're going to do a special live performance tonight. Midnight, Namsan Tower,” he said. “Don't miss it for the world,” he ended ominously.

“They’re demons,” Mira told Bobby. “The Saja Boys.”

Bobby’s eyes widened.

“Jinu set us up,” Mira told him. “And we fell for it.”

“Jinu stabbed Rumi?” Bobby asked concerned. “Do we need to involve the police?”

Mira ran her hands through her hair, frustrated.

“No,” she admitted. “I stabbed Rumi. But it was an accident. I didn’t mean to,” she confessed. Bobby stared at her confused. Zoey nodded.

“It was an accident,” she agreed.

“Jinu works for Gwi-ma, the king of the demons. They steal souls. We stop them. They needed us out of the way,” Zoey explained.

Bobby shook his head clearly confused.

“Did you guys take something?” he asked carefully. Zoey frowned and went to summon her shin-kal as proof. She froze in confusion when they didn’t appear. She sent a panicked look to Mira.

“The Honmoon,” she cried, concerned. Bobby glanced at the door, as if he was thinking about leaving or summoning help.

“Bobby,” Mira said in a calm voice. “Rumi’s injury disappeared. There’s a blue tiger sitting at your feet. And I know you saw me disappear and re-appear in the van’s rear view mirror. Are demons that hard to believe?”

Bobby sat back down in his chair. He covered his face with his hands.

“I… okay this is happening,” he said. “The Saja boys are demons.”

He sat with that for a moment clearly overwhelmed. Mira tugged at her connection to the Honmoon. It was nearly gone, so weak they couldn’t even summon their weapons. She winced. Zoey hovered anxiously over Rumi’s bed watching to see if she would wake.

“We need to strengthen the Honmoon and stop Gwi-ma,” Zoey said. “But we can’t do any of that without Rumi.”

Bobby nodded. He seemed to be recovering. He slipped back into manager mode.

“Alright we need a plan for when Rumi’s awake,” he said. “We’ll need something to combat all the bad PR.”

He sat thinking about it.

“Do you think we could write it off as fake blood? Like a stunt gone wrong?” he asked. Zoey turned to him intrigued. She glanced at Rumi checking that she was still asleep before she sat down in the chair next to Bobby.

“If we said it was a practice stunt that went a little sideways, it could explain why Mira had a weapon too,” Bobby speculated.

Zoey was starting to get into it as well. “Mira’s been seen with her Gok-do before at other concerts. And the demon theme is a repeating motif for us.”

“Yeah it was in the last world tour as well. Lots of people pointed it out,” Bobby said.

Mira tuned them out as they plotted. Instead she watched Rumi’s breathing. In Out.

—

Rumi awoke with a gasp. She glanced around the room with wide eyes, and then deflated when she saw the blood. She didn’t look at Mira.

“It wasn’t a dream?” she questioned softly. Zoey shook her head. Rumi deflated more. She looked tiny in the hospital bed.

“Rumi! You’re okay!” Bobby exclaimed. “I was so worried!”

Rumi smiled softly at him. She looked down at her side and seemed surprised not to see any injury.

“Mira gave you a vial that healed you,” Zoey explained quietly. Rumi’s eyes widened and she shot a glance at Mira.

Mira shrugged feeling awkward and uncomfortable. “I.. it was Celine’s,” she muttered, stilted. Rumi looked at her waiting for her to continue, but Mira didn’t know what else to say. Zoey frowned at her. The moment hung suspended. Mira looked away.

“How do you feel?” Zoey asked, changing the subject. Rumi winced. She looked weak, like a stray wind might knock her over. There was no point in lying.

“Not great,” she admitted. Bobby nodded, face full of sympathy.

“Now that you’re awake, we’ll go back to the tower, get you cleaned up, eat some food, and you’ll be feeling better in no time!” he offered optimistically.

“Zoey and I have been strategizing,” he explained. “And I think we’ve got a good plan, if you’re up for it,” he said.

Rumi nodded slowly. She didn’t look at Mira.

—

Derpy took the four of them back to the tower. Mira wanted to protest, but they were running out of time.

Instead she closed her eyes and willed the experience to be over. But it hurt. Her right side ached as if she had been stabbed there instead of Rumi, and when she accidentally opened her eyes, she saw images of Rumi impaled by her Gok-do over and over. The void was relentless. Mira snapped her eyes back shut and tried not to cry. By the time they popped back into existence in their penthouse, she was exhausted. Derpy nuzzled her lightly rubbing against her in support. Mira leaned into him.

Zoey’s head turned toward the kitchen. She could smell the food Bobby had already ordered. Bobby noticed.

“Shower first. Then eat,” he ordered the three of them, before he headed to the living room, to give them some privacy. Mira nodded. She was eager to clean the blood away. She turned to Zoey and Rumi, unsure. But Zoey’s focus was on Rumi, and Rumi seemed a million miles away.

“I’ll help you,” Zoey offered quietly to Rumi, gesturing at her hair. Rumi slowly nodded her acceptance and the two of them vanished into Rumi’s room. Mira silently watched them go, leaving her behind. Derpy nudged her legs urging her to follow them. Mira ignored him. She turned robotically towards her room.

She was all alone. She tried not to think about it. Instead she showered methodically scrubbing every inch of her skin. She needed to ensure that not even a drop of Rumi’s blood remained. She tried not to think about Zoey and Rumi across the hall, also scrubbing away Rumi’s blood.

When she emerged from the shower she carefully dried her hair, applied her makeup, and put back on her world tour outfit. She stared at herself in the mirror. If you didn’t look too closely at her eyes, you couldn’t tell that this was the same person who had stabbed her best friend earlier that day. She didn’t know how long she stood there, staring at herself in the mirror. She didn’t want to face Zoey and Rumi. But eventually she knew she had to go.

She hesitated before she entered the main room, steeling herself. Bobby was on the patio talking heatedly on the phone with someone, probably the person who ran their official PR account. Sussie sat perched on a plant outside watching over him. Zoey and Rumi were sitting on the floor. Zoey was slowly braiding Rumi’s hair for her. Derpy was curled up next to them sleeping. It was more obvious now that the blood was gone that every inch of Rumi was covered in purple patterns.

Mira slowly walked into the room. Even then Rumi still startled at her appearance. Mira froze. She didn’t know what to say.

I’m sorry I stabbed you. I’m sorry I didn’t hesitate. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you and a demon apart.

Everything Mira thought up in her head sounded like shit. She’d fucked up in a way that a simple apology couldn’t fix. She couldn’t fix this. She’d messed up. She sighed. Zoey watched her carefully waiting. Rumi looked pointedly away.

She still had to try.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. She didn’t qualify it. She was sorry for everything. Rumi’s shoulders hunched. Zoey nodded at her to continue.

“I.. I didn’t mean to. It was an accident,” Mira told her. “I would never want to hurt you,” she said, sincerely.

“But you did,” Rumi said quietly. Mira flinched. Her instinctive response of “I didn’t know it was you” and “I won’t do it again” sounded weak even to herself.

Rumi wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Bobby walked back in. He blinked at the three of them, at the tense energy in the air.

“We should eat,” he said. “Everyone will feel better after that.”

—

Chapter Text

Mira wasn’t hungry, her appetite destroyed, but she forced herself to take a few bites. Zoey and Bobby didn’t seem to have the same problem, devouring the food. Rumi just pushed it around on her plate. She seemed to be contemplating something. Mira watched her out of the corner of her eye and waited.

“I still want to save Jinu,” Rumi eventually said. Derpy perked up from where he’d been sleeping on the floor. Sussie squawked.

Mira had never seen Zoey’s head turn so quickly.

“What, no. He hurt you, Rumi,” Zoey said, angrily. Rumi’s face hardened, something cold overtaking it. Her patterns pulsed.

“Mira hurt me too,” she said. Mira gripped the table for support, and took deep breaths. She willed herself not to react. Zoey winced.

“That was an accident,” Zoey argued. “Jinu set you up,” she told Rumi. Her face creased thinking about it.

“And in another world he fought on our side,” Rumi argued back. Zoey threw her hands up in the air.

“When it was clear we were already winning! He can’t be trusted,” she argued.

“Because he’s a demon?” Rumi asked, pointedly. Zoey leaned backwards like she’d been slapped. Her mouth opened in surprise. Mira interrupted before things could escalate more.

“What happened?” she asked. Zoey and Rumi turned to look at her. “With Jinu,” she clarified.

—

Rumi frowned at the TV, too anxious to pay attention. They still hadn’t heard from Bobby and no word from Jinu, though Rumi kept thinking she saw him out of the corner of her eye. She glanced at the hallway and then glanced again. She could've sworn she saw a glimmer of something. She got up out of her chair.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” she said, pointing into the hallway. Rumi thought she heard Mira snort but she wasn't fully paying attention. The shimmer in the hallway. Was it Jinu?

“I’ll come with,” Zoey offered. Rumi shook her head.

“I’ll be back in a second,” she said. “I just need a moment.”

It was possibly just a trick of the light.

“I… okay,” Zoey said. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she commanded. Rumi gave her a salute.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

She really did mean to be back in a minute. She’d just go take a quick look and if it was something, if it was Jinu, she’d come back and grab them. She was done going off by herself, keeping secrets. She was supposed to trust them, to do things together.

Rumi went out into the hallway. The odd glimmer was there right in the corner of her eye. It looked a little bit like Jinu. She followed it.

“Jinu?” she questioned. No response. She glanced back at the dressing room. Rumi hesitated. The glimmer was fading. It was moving down the hallway away from her. She didn’t have time to second guess. Rumi followed the glimmer until she was chasing it through backstage.

She reached a clearing at the end and a feeling of relief rose.

“Jinu,” she called. She could see the outline of him. He laughed at her. She moved closer until she could actually see him. He was covered in purple patterns.

“You’re okay?” she questioned, relieved.

“Oh, Rumi,” he said. “I’m more than okay.”

He smirked at her his patterns undulating on his skin.

“Join us,” he said.

“What?” Rumi asked, confused before shaking her head. “Look I know you’re planning on betraying me, but I know deep down you’re a good person. You love your sister and mother. You hate Gwi-ma. We’re on the same side!” Rumi told him.

Jinu smiled at her amused.

“You’re right. We are on the same side. Aren’t you sick of hiding your patterns, of pretending to be something you aren’t?” he asked. “Don’t you want to be free?” he whispered in her ear.

Rumi jerked away from him confused.

“This isn’t you. You hate Gwi-ma,” she said. Jinu shook his head.

“Gwi-ma can grant all your greatest wishes. You just have to let him in. The hunters hate you because of something you were born with. You’re better off without them,” he told her whispering poison into her ear. Rumi shook her head bewildered.

“This is just your demon talking. You have to fight it!” she told him. “What about your mom and sister?”

Jinu tilted his head at her. He threw back his head and laughed.

“Oh sweet naive Rumi. I don’t have a mom and sister,” he told her with a laugh. “I just said that to get you on my side.”

Rumi frowned and took a step back.

“That… that’s not true,” she stuttered, confused and betrayed. Patterns were spreading on her skin. She didn’t understand what was happening.

Jinu smiled at her. “Don’t fight it Rumi. You’re a demon just like me, like Gwi-ma. Join us.”

"I’M NOTHING LIKE GWI-MA” Rumi screamed back, desperate and afraid. Her scream ripped through the Honmoon turning it pink. Rumi stared at it frantically. The patterns spread. One of her eyes glowed gold. Her right hand turned into a claw. She looked at herself horrified. Jinu laughed.

“You sure about that?” he questioned. Suddenly he glanced up. He frowned.

“I guess we’re out of time,” he said regretfully. “You don’t seem fully convinced. Guess we’ll just have to do this the hard way,” he said with a shrug.

He snapped his fingers. Another demon appeared in front of them. It looked like Rumi, but without the patterns. The real Rumi stepped towards it, baffled by its appearance. Jinu snapped his fingers again and suddenly the demon was on the ground, bleeding out and begging, “Please, please.”

Rumi turned to Jinu, unnerved by the display.

But then a wave of relief. She felt Mira and Zoey’s presence before she saw them. She was pleased they were here. They’d help her get through to Jinu. Something was clearly wrong with him.

Mira leapt forward swinging wildly at Jinu, who dodged out of the way with laughter. Rumi was annoyed. They needed to talk him down, not attack him.

Zoey shouted, “Mira no!” and the Honmoon cried out. Rumi first thought it was because they agreed with her. She hadn’t noticed that Mira hadn’t stopped swinging. Rumi didn’t understand until too late.

It hurt.

Her whole side was in agony. Rumi clutched at it horrified. There was so much blood. She stared at Mira wide eyed and confused. She didn’t understand what was happening. Mira’s Gok-do was covered in her blood, but Mira wasn’t even looking at her.

Slowly Mira turned to look at her. Rumi stared back betrayed.

“I thought…” she started. But she was losing too much blood. She collapsed.

—

“Gwi-ma did something to him,” Rumi explained to Mira and Zoey. “He wasn’t himself.”

Zoey bit her lip. “Maybe he really wasn’t himself?” she questioned. “Maybe another demon was pretending to be him?”

Rumi shook her head. “No, I'm almost positive it was him. But something was wrong. We need to save him.”

“You didn’t think about it?” Mira asked quietly.

“What?” Rumi said, confused.

“About joining him?” she said, softly. Zoey’s eyes darted between the two of them anxiously. Bobby also tensed up sensing the uncertainty in the air.

Rumi stared at Mira. Her face was hurt.

“Would you join Gwi-ma? I’m the same person I’ve always been,” she hissed, upset.

“Not Gwi-ma. Jinu,” Mira clarified.

Rumi stared at Mira bewildered. “What?” she questioned.

Mira didn’t respond. She sat watching Rumi, waiting for an answer. Rumi jerked back, away from her.

“No, I didn’t think about it,” Rumi said eventually, angry and resentful. “Why don’t you trust me?” she asked, frustrated. She threw her hands up in outrage, overturning the food on the table.

“Why don’t I trust you?” Mira parroted back in disbelief. “You lied to us for years!” she responded furious. “And even after promising we’d handle this together, you went off on your own! We were supposed to stick together!”

“Are you blaming me?” Rumi asked angrily. Mira seemed to come back to herself.

“I… no,” she said. But then she asked, “Why did you have to go after Jinu by yourself? We were right there!”

“I don’t know, Mira,” Rumi said coldly. “Why’d you stab me through the side?”

Mira flinched.

“Stop it both of you!” Zoey said. “We all made mistakes. But fighting about it isn’t going to make it better. We need to work together.”

Mira glanced at Rumi out of the corner of her eye and sighed.

“If Rumi still wants to save Jinu, then that’s what we’ll do,” she said. Rumi blinked at her, surprised by the olive branch.

Zoey’s face pinched, but she didn’t disagree. Derpy hummed from his spot on the floor. Bobby clapped his hands together relieved the fight was ending. He looked at his watch.

“I don’t want to rush you, but we should probably shoot the video now rather than later,” he told them.

—

The video was simple but effective. Mira tried to ignore that Rumi was wearing her stage face, the one she put on when they were running on three hours of sleep and she just needed to get through something. It hurt that pretending everything was okay between the three of them required that from her. Mira shared a concerned look with Zoey. But then they were rolling.

Rumi smiled playfully for the camera. “Hi Hunters! Long time no see,” Rumi said with a wink.

“We’re so sorry that the rehearsal of our stunt earlier today caused so much drama,” Mira said with a hand over her heart. She made sure she stood close enough to Rumi that they were touching. Bobby had said they needed to make it as obvious as possible that there were no hard feelings.

Zoey laughed. “It was a lot of fake blood,” she said. Mira willed her body not to wince or give anything away.

“To make up for it we’re offering a free concert!” Rumi said. She stretched her arms up as if she were excited. But it was really to show that she had no debilitating injuries.

Mira smirked at the camera. “Namsan tower. Midnight!” she said.

“See you there!” Zoey said. She blew a kiss at the camera.

—

The internet exploded.

Bobby was gleefully checking his phone watching public opinion about Huntr/x surge back upwards. But Mira didn’t need to check her phone. She could feel the Honmoon strengthening and growing. She thought about summoning her Gok-do, so she could lean on it for support, but one look at Rumi quashed that notion.

Zoey wasn’t so restricted. She was gleefully cradling her shin-kal, relieved that she could summon them again. Mira leaned against Derpy on the floor for support instead. His fur was warm and soft. Sussie landed on her shoulder. Rumi watched the three of them and then after a moment’s hesitation Rumi sat down next to her also leaning into Derpy’s fur.

“It’s so soft,” she quietly marveled. Mira glanced at her. This, Rumi coming near her, was a peace offering. Mira offered one of her own back. She slowly leaned her head against Rumi’s shoulder. She waited with baited breath, but Rumi didn’t stop her.

“You’re so important to me, Rumi. I was so scared to lose you, that I didn’t stop to think,” she said quietly. Zoey paused in her celebrations, catching up to the mood. She plopped down on Rumi’s other side.

Rumi sighed. “I’m always going to have patterns,” she said softly.

“We know,” Mira said. But Rumi didn’t let her continue.

“Don’t say it doesn’t matter to you, when that’s not true,” Rumi said. Her mouth was set in a stubborn line.

Mira sighed. “Maybe it shouldn’t matter. In the other timeline a bunch of demons fought on our side.”

“I thought it was because they could tell we were going to win?” Rumi asked, giving Zoey a side eye. But there was no bite to it.

Zoey threw her hands up as if Rumi were arresting her.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m mad at Jinu, but I didn’t mean that. I shouldn’t have said that.”

The three of them were quiet for a moment.

“I’m sorry too,” Rumi said finally. “I went off by myself even after we’d promised to do things together.”

Mira held Rumi’s hand. Things weren’t okay between the three of them. They probably wouldn’t be for a while, if ever. Mira had broken something fundamental, something that couldn’t simply be fixed over night. And Rumi had lied for years. But hopefully they could at least paint over it enough to save Jinu and defeat Gwi-ma. She squeezed Rumi’s hand. Rumi squeezed back.

—

The three of them teleported to Namsan Tower with Derpy and Sussie. They’d had to convince Bobby to stay at the penthouse, that it would be safer for him there. Mira was pretty sure he was still going to sneak in, but at least this way he wouldn’t be seen arriving with them.

Before they’d left Zoey had double checked with Rumi that she was up for it. Rumi had nodded, but with both Mira and Zoey’s stares on her she’d crumbled and admitted that she still didn’t feel great.

“It makes sense,” Zoey told her. “You lost a lot of blood. And you’re supposed to be resting. You sure you’re up for this?”

Rumi laughed. “What else are we going to do?”

Zoey and Mira exchanged worried looks. “We’ll cover you,” Mira promised. “But are you going to be able to fight at all?”

Rumi nodded. Mira thought it might be a lie. She didn’t call Rumi on it. Rumi was right. What else would they do? They had no backup plan.

—

Transport through the void was as tortuous as ever. Mira clenched her eyes shut, but it only helped a little. She was surrounded by Jinu’s laughter. She knew if she opened her eyes she’d see Rumi bleeding out, sliced through by a Gok-do. She clenched her eyes shut harder. However images of Rumi bleeding out, created by her own mind, tormented her. But the void was not satisfied. Derpy whined. Sussie’s claws raked her shoulder.

Mira slowly and with a great deal of reluctance opened her eyes. Over and over again, she saw Rumi, covered in patterns, choosing Jinu, joining Jinu. Her stomach clenched. She spiraled. Derpy nudged her, reminding her of reality, taking her away from the images. Mira gratefully shut her eyes. The void relented. They emerged at Namsan stadium. Mira felt sick. She glanced at Rumi, for grounding, to remind herself that she was still there, that she hadn’t, that she wouldn’t pick Jinu. She desperately hoped that was her last time traveling through the in-between.

—

By the time they arrived, Jinu and the rest of the Saja boys were already on stage singing. Jinu was glowing, purple patterns running freely over him. Zoey glowered at him.

“I’ll be your idol!” he sang. “Keeping you in check. Keeping you obsessed! Play me on repeat kkeuteopsi in your head! Anytime it hurts, play another verse. I can be your sanctuary!”

He smirked when he saw the three of them. He took off his hat and bowed to them mockingly. Mira’s chest heaved. She ignored it and instead rolled her eyes at him, like he wasn’t a threat.

Zoey elbowed her in the side.

“What?” she asked.

“Gwi-ma’s not here,” Zoey said horrified. She and Rumi glanced around alarmed, but Zoey was right. There was no purple smirk in the sky. There was no sign of Gwi-ma.

They didn’t have time to contemplate this further. The Saja boys were descending on them. The three of them summoned their weapons. Rumi flinched at the sight of Mira’s Gok-do. Mira tried to not let it bother her.

—

Jinu came straight for Rumi like a shark sensing blood in the water. The rest of the Saja boys pressed in. Rumi was clearly not at her best. Her reflexes were slow and she was distracted trying to reason with Jinu. Mira and Zoey had to spend most of their time covering for her and defending against the other Saja boys. They were barely keeping up.

The Saja boys continued singing, drawing energy from the crowd.

“Know I'm the only one right now. I will love you more when it all burns down! More than power, more than gold,” they continued.

“You gave me your heart. Now I'm here for your soul.”

Mira frowned.

“They’re going to send the souls back to Gwi-ma,” she told Zoey and Rumi panicked. “We have to stop them. We need to sing.”

“I guess Gwi-ma decided it was safer not to come to earth to collect the souls,” Zoey said surprised. She barely avoided a slash from Mystery, dodging at the last moment.

“Well he has Jinu to do his dirty work,” Mira grumbled. “So why bother?”

Rumi ignored their complaints and focused instead on singing.

“Nothing but the truth now. Nothing but the proof of what I am,” Rumi started, desperate. But Jinu was ruthless, moving in on the attack. Mira fell back to cover Rumi’s back. But that just brought Abby and Romance into the slashing range of Rumi as well. It was three against two and Rumi was more of a hindrance than a help.

Zoey was busy with Mystery and Baby. But she was outpacing them. She fell back to provide more support to Rumi as well, to give her a moment so that she could sing her lines.

Rumi managed to get out, “The worst of what I came from. Patterns I'm ashamed of. Things that even I don't understand.”

Before she had to pause to pull her saingeom out to block a direct attack from Jinu.

“Please,” she begged, but Jinu ignored her. “Jinu, I know you’re in there. I know you’re a good person.”

It was fruitless. Jinu used Rumi’s distraction to nick her side. She hissed in pain. Mira came in tight swinging at Jinu to force him to back away. Rumi flinched slightly away from her. Jinu laughed, jumping backward.

“You got this, Rumi,” Zoey cheered from the other side. She was heaving shin-kal as quickly as she could at the Saja boys, covering Rumi as much as she could. Rumi nodded.

“I tried to fix it. I tried to fight it. My head was twisted. My heart divided,” Rumi sang. Jinu was no longer smiling. He came in fast and hot. Mira stepped in front of Rumi and blocked him. She gave him her best unimpressed look.

“My lies all collided,” Rumi sang from behind her. Mira let herself relax just a little. They were almost through the second verse.

“I don't know why I didn't trust…” Rumi started. Her voice cracked on the word trust. Mira’s heart froze. Jinu laughed. Rumi was silent behind Mira. For a moment it seemed like the silence would last forever.

“I don’t know why I didn’t trust you to be on my side,” Zoey sang instead. Mira blinked, the trance broken, and picked up the next verse.

“I broke into a million pieces, and I can't go back,” she sang. Tears were coming down her face now, but she still managed a smug smile for Jinu’s benefit. He slashed at her in rage. Mira kept singing. Zoey joined her.

“But now I'm seeing all the beauty in the broken glass. The scars are part of me, darkness and harmony,” they sang.

And then Rumi’s voice joined back in with them. “My voice without the lies, this is what it sounds like,” the three of them sang together.

They kept singing.

“We're shattering the silence, we're rising, defiant,” the three of them sang together. But Mira’s voice cut out on defiant as Abby clawed her left shoulder. She’d been too focused on blocking Romance from Rumi that she’d missed him coming in.

But in a moment he was pushed back, a panting Rumi pointing her saingeom at him. Mira shared a smile with Rumi, thankful for the save. Her shoulder burned. Jinu stepped forward taking advantage of the opportunity. But Zoey jumped in front of him using her shin-kal to push him back.

“Shouting in the quiet, You're not alone,” felt natural to sing after that. Mira wasn’t alone. She had her two girls fighting by her side. And the crowd was waking up and joining them. Worry started to appear on Jinu’s face.

“We listened to the demons, we let them get between us,” they sang. Mira locked eyes with Jinu. She had let him get between them. She pivoted forward, coming at him strong. He cursed and moved backwards. Mystery and Baby came in to cover for him. Mira retreated back to Rumi and Zoey.

“But none of us are out here on our own,” they sang together. The crowd joined them. The Honmoon surged. It layered itself over the three of them, strengthening them. It trilled with happiness. They formed a triangle against the Saja boys.

“So we were cowards, so we were liars,” the three of them sang. Rumi flinched a bit on the word liars. Mira understood. She tried not to take the next line, “So we're not heroes,” too personally. But she felt called out.

Zoey gave them both an annoyed look.

“We're still survivors,” she sang insistently. Mira and Rumi exchanged looks and then Mira couldn’t help it, she and Rumi were both giggling. Zoey threw her arms around them happily. The moment couldn’t last. They had to part quickly to defend against the Saja boys. But Mira’s chest felt warmer.

They sang together, “The dreamers, the fighters, no lying, I'm tired. But dive in the fire, and I'll be right here by your side.”

Mira found herself relaxing into it. Rumi and Zoey were right by her side, and so was the Honmoon and the crowd. She shared a smile with Zoey and moved in front of Rumi to shield her more from the brunt of the attack. The momentum was shifting.

The Honmoon danced with happiness as it swelled. Rainbow reflected in every direction. The Saja boys' attacks became more aggressive, more desperate. It made them sloppy. Abby overextended trying to claw Mira for a second time. Mira vanquished him smugly.

Romance was next. He tried to retreat to Jinu’s side, but he was too slow. Mira swung her Gok-do down on him. She glanced around to see that Zoey had already dispatched Mystery and Baby. She and Zoey flanked Rumi facing Jinu. He stared back at them coldly.

Together the three of them sang the final line, “This is what it sounds like!”

The crowd joined them. Mira thought she heard Bobby's voice too. She smiled.

The Honmoon surged around them, buoyed by the crowd, vibrant and rainbow. Rumi’s patterns shone with an iridescent light. But Jinu’s patterns remained an ugly purple.

She and Zoey exchanged glances behind Rumi’s back. They could take Jinu out now, the two of them. Mira thought about it. Zoey did too. She saw Zoey clench her shin-kal ready to send them flying. It was tempting. But it wasn’t what Rumi wanted.

Zoey and Mira shared one more look and then with a sigh Zoey slowly lowered her guard and Mira silently vanished her Gok-do. The Honmoon hummed. The decision had been made.

They had promised to help save him. Mira wanted Rumi to trust them again, and stabbing Jinu when they’d promised they wouldn’t, would go against that.

Instead she pointed at Jinu and said, “Derpy, fetch.”

Jinu blinked at her. And then stared as 400 pounds of tiger raced towards him.

“Wait wait,” he said panicked, but it did no good. Derpy pounced. The two of them disappeared into the ether. Rumi opened her mouth surprised. She turned to Mira.

“Do you think he hurt him?” she asked, panicked.

“Derpy wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Zoey promised. But she exchanged a worried look with Mira behind Rumi’s back. Mira shrugged, confused. She’d thought Derpy had liked Jinu.

Luckily they didn’t have to wait too long for answers.

The Jinu that re-appeared from the void was not the Jinu that had disappeared. His eyes were red from crying and Derpy was wrapped around him like a protective blanket. He stopped in front of Rumi and knelt.

“I’m so sorry. If you want to kill me, I understand,” he said. He offered her his neck fully exposed. Rumi stared at him horrified.

“I just wanted to save you,” Rumi said. Jinu smiled at her.

“You did,” he said, pleased. His patterns shifted from purple to a bright white matching Rumi and the Honmoon. Mira watched the two of them quietly. She glanced at Zoey, who was also watching Jinu and Rumi closely.

“Gwi-ma?” Rumi questioned.

Jinu nodded. “He’ll have to come to earth. He needs souls. He’s too weak,” he said. Rumi nodded back. She glanced at the Honmoon which thrummed in approval.

Rumi pulled out her saingeom preparing herself. Mira moved closer to Rumi’s side. She re-summoned her Gok-do. She put her hand on Rumi’s shoulder. Zoey joined them.

“Together?” Rumi asked.

“Together,” Mira and Zoey responded. The Honmoon twirled around them, and then it opened a small part of itself, an open space. They waited.

Gwi-ma appeared, but he was a shadow of his former self. A small floating mouth. He was not smiling. He howled.

“You fail me again, Jinu,” he complained.

“Happily,” Jinu said back.

Gwi-ma ignored Jinu’s response, his attention focused instead on the Honmoon. He bared his teeth in contempt and spat. A final act of hate. The Honmoon twirled around him unbothered. It knew it had won. Rumi raised her sword. Together the three of them brought their weapons down on Gwi-ma.

—

Chapter Text

The night went away. The Honmoon remained a bold bright white. It reflected every color Mira had ever seen. It dashed around the three of them and Jinu, excited and pleased, healing them with a touch. Mira felt the cut on her shoulder knitting back together; her exhaustion lifting. Rumi’s face, which had been pale, took on more color. The Honmoon hummed. It murmured. It sang. It was glorious in victory. Zoey laughed. It was hard not to when the Honmoon was so full of love and was singing in their chests.

It blanketed not just them, but everyone, their world. The crowd clamored and cried with joy. Mira smiled. They had done it. Derpy rubbed against her legs smiling at her and Mira allowed herself to lean into him. Sussie chirped with delight from Jinu’s shoulder. Mira smiled at Rumi and Zoey.

She found herself staring at Rumi’s patterns, entranced. She couldn’t help it. They were incandescent, beautiful. They matched the Honmoon, reflecting back at it, dancing with it. Jinu’s patterns danced with them, matching. Rumi’s hand snagged Jinu’s and Mira looked away. She glanced at Zoey, but Zoey hadn’t noticed. Her focus was the Honmoon. She was mesmerized, swaying with it.

Mira’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She glanced at it. A text from Bobby. It was gushing. Mira smiled. She let herself enjoy the Honmoon, enjoy the victory for a few more minutes. She closed her eyes, feeling the Honmoon in her chest. It soothed her. She opened her eyes.

“Couch?” she asked. Zoey and Rumi turned to look at her. Jinu blinked confused.

“Couch!” Zoey said in affirmation. Rumi giggled. She was still holding Jinu’s hand.

“Couch!” Rumi joined in. Mira nodded.

“C’mon. Bobby said he’ll have a car waiting for us behind the stadium,” she told them.

“You don’t want to take Derpy back?” Zoey teased. She rubbed under Derpy’s chin who made a happy content sound. Mira rolled her eyes. Zoey didn’t push the point. They headed to meet Bobby.

—

When Bobby saw Jinu with them his face did a bunch of strange contortions.

“Isn’t he a demon?” he hiss whispered to Zoey. Zoey nodded.

“But he’s a good demon,” she told him very seriously. Jinu flushed.

“Honmoon approved!” she continued. Mira squinted at the Honmoon.

“He’s our friend, Bobby,” Rumi explained. Jinu gave Bobby an awkward smile. It reminded Mira of Rumi’s smile, so incredibly off putting, and she couldn’t help it, she snorted. Jinu rubbed the back of his head. This seemed to satisfy Bobby as he switched gears.

“The three of you were so incredible!” Bobby gushed. “I knew you’d kill it! My girls!”

He opened his arms for a hug and the three of them happily obliged.

“Today’s been a lot,” Bobby told them. “But I knew you could do it! I’m so glad you’re all okay.”

At this he burst into tears. Zoey patted his back reassuringly.

“I… these are happy tears,” Bobby tried to explain. He smiled at them. “Let’s get you home! You deserve a break after all this!”

Mira smiled at him. Even though the Honmoon had rejuvenated her she still could not wait to lay down on the couch. She wanted to sleep for days. She clambered into the car. Zoey followed her in. But Jinu didn’t. Sussie sat on his shoulder and Derpy leaned against his legs.

“You’re not coming?” Rumi asked, surprised. Jinu smiled at her, but shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll drop by soon,” he told her. Rumi frowned at him. Her patterns flashed unhappily.

“You promise?” Rumi asked. Her voice was soft. Mira shifted away from the car’s door. She didn’t want to hear this conversation. Zoey leaned back in the seat next to her with her eyes closed and sighed.

“I promise,” Jinu said easily. “We can always send messages via Derpy too,” he said. Derpy perked up next to him. Rumi snorted.

“Or you could just get a phone like a normal person,” she complained. Jinu shrugged. A mischievous smile overtook his face.

“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked. His eyes were lit with happiness. His patterns glowed. He clasped both of Rumi’s hands.

“Thank you,” he said. Rumi smiled at him, but her unease was still obvious. Her patterns still flickered uncertainly.

“Don’t worry,” Jinu said once more. “You freed me, so now you’re stuck with me,” he told her. He smiled sincerely at her. Mira’s fingernails dug into her palm. Zoey made a huffing sound next to her. Rumi smiled at him, and then she climbed into the car as well.

—

The three of them collapsed on the couch back at the penthouse. Bobby smiled at them fondly.

“Don’t forget to eat!” he ordered. “I’ll check back in, in 24 hours. Take a break!”

“Aye, aye captain,” Zoey told him with a salute. She grabbed Rumi’s arm. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t do any work for at least the next day.”

Rumi grumbled. “I’m not that much of a workaholic,” she complained. Mira snorted.

“You dropped Golden the night we ended our world tour. The same night!” Zoey hissed at her. Mira nodded in agreement.

“Have we had a single day off in the last 6 months?” Mira asked Zoey, mainly rhetorically. She already knew the answer was no.

The two of them turned to look at Rumi with raised eyebrows. Rumi shrugged.

“Does the day we got tonics not count?” she asked.

“If we don’t have enough time to go to the bathhouse, then it doesn’t count,” Zoey told Rumi. Her tone was bossy. Rumi sat thinking about it.

“I mean technically we did go to the bathhouse,” she eventually said.

“The men’s bathhouse does not count!” Zoe interrupted. Her whole body vibrated with outrage. Mira laughed.

“February? Maybe?” Rumi questioned, eventually. Mira raised her eyebrows at her. She spread out more on the couch making herself comfortable. Zoey’s head rested on her chest and Rumi lay sprawled next to Zoey. Rumi bit her lip.

“I just… I wanted to seal the Honmoon, so I could get rid of my patterns, so I could be normal,” Rumi explained quietly. “I’m sorry I was so full speed ahead. I’m sorry I didn’t let you guys take a break.”

It was like the wind had been taken out of her sails. Rumi’s voice was soft, contrite. Her patterns dimmed.

“Oh Rumi no,” Zoey said, wrapping Rumi up in a hug. She ran her hands through Rumi’s hair.

“We didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” Mira explained, though perhaps she had meant to a little. “We’re just saying we’re due for a break now. All of us,” she said pointedly.

“The Honmoon’s sealed now!” Zoey said happily. “We can finally relax. We can even take a short hiatus?” she questioned hopefully.

Mira blinked at that. The Honmoon was sealed. Technically they never had to ever make music as Huntr/x again. They could all go their separate ways if they wanted to. She blinked the thought away. Her chest tightened. She glanced quickly at Zoey and Rumi to see if either of them had realized. It didn’t seem like they had.

“I… okay,” Rumi said. “I’ve never really taken a break before,” she said quietly. Her voice was subdued. Rumi looked worried, as if she would somehow fail at this task. Mira leaned back amused.

“Oh it’ll be so fun!” Zoey said. “We can go to the aquarium, and Jeju island, and to the spa, and the bathhouse of course! I’ve got like five notebooks of ideas!”

“We can rot on the couch and do absolutely nothing,” Mira interrupted amused. Zoey nodded.

“That too!” she said. Rumi smiled. She yawned.

“Okay,” she said. She closed her eyes. Mira smirked. Hell had frozen over. Rumi was agreeing to take a break.

—

When Mira woke up later that day her back was stiff and her neck was tight from sleeping on the couch. She stretched slowly. Zoey still lay sprawled across the couch snoring softly. Rumi was gone. Mira frowned at that. She glanced around the apartment but didn’t immediately see Rumi. She shuffled around opening doors. She was about to give up when she spotted Rumi on the patio hunched over a notebook.

She walked outside. It was nice out. The sun was still out shining down on them. She slowly crept up behind Rumi glancing over her shoulder at what she was writing. It was the lyrics for What it Sounds Like. Mira raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“This doesn’t look like you taking a break,” she complained. Rumi jumped up, startled by her presence. Her chair toppled over. She desperately pulled her saingeom out of the Honmoon whirling around to face Mira with it. Her patterns flashed darkly matching her distress. The Honmoon made a discordant sound. Rumi’s eyes were wide and panicked. Mira stepped backwards, horrified. She raised her arms up defensively.

The two of them stood staring at each other. The only sound was Rumi’s heavy breathing. Mira’s lips pinched together. She had forgotten. Forgotten that things were different now.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Rumi stared at her for a moment slowly coming back to herself. Her patterns slowly switched back to a white color. They weren’t as bright as before. She shook her head and vanished her weapon. She flushed lightly.

“It’s fine,” she dismissed. “You just startled me.”

She pointed at the notebook now abandoned on the ground.

“I just wanted to get the lyrics written down as soon as possible, just in case,” she explained. Mira nodded. Rumi glanced past her back towards the couch inside.

“Is Zoey still asleep?” she asked. Mira nodded. The silence stretched out between the two of them. Rumi picked back up the notebook and straightened out her chair.

“I should probably finish this,” she said quietly. A clear dismissal. Mira glanced at her. Her chest felt tight. She should say something. Instead she nodded. She retreated back inside. She glanced at Zoey on the couch sleeping peacefully. She kept walking. She walked back to her room, to her bathroom. She took a shower. It was peaceful, warm, mind numbing.

It came back to her then. They had sealed the Honmoon. They could do whatever they wanted now. Huntr\x no longer needed to exist. She wondered when Rumi and Zoey would realize.

—

Mira slept fitfully that night. She dreamed of her other self. The one who had hidden the Honmoon in the void. In her dream, her chest was empty. There was no Honmoon, no connection to Zoey or Rumi. It hurt. She could not go on without them. She clawed her palms as a distraction. Her soul was incomplete. She felt as if she were underwater drowning.

She woke with a snap, disoriented and sweating profusely. She breathed. In out. She cried softly into her pillow. What would she do when Zoey and Rumi realized they didn’t need her anymore? The Honmoon tried to wrap around her to soothe her, but Mira pushed it away.

She felt the connection in her chest to Zoey and Rumi. It should have soothed her. It was strong, stronger than it had ever been. But it did not.

The Honmoon was sealed. It was time to get on with their lives. The thought filled Mira with dread. She thought about Rumi holding Jinu’s hand. She thought about how they hadn’t taken a day off in 6 months. They’d been together constantly. And yet Rumi still hadn’t felt like she could share her biggest secret with them. She’d said she felt as if she were choking. Mira shivered.

Zoey and Rumi were her best friends, her family, her everything. Her whole support system in two people. And yet Rumi had still lied, and Mira had still hurt her. Mira sighed. She scrolled through her phone idly. She needed a break, and she needed to re-build her life in such a way that when Zoey and Rumi moved on to the next chapter of their lives, Mira wouldn’t be left drowning in their wake.

She sat with that thought for a while letting it bake. Eventually though, there was a knock at her door. Mira blinked back into reality. She slowly got up from her bed and opened the door. It was Zoey. She looked shy. She was carrying a blanket.

“I didn’t want to be alone,” she said quietly, embarrassed. Mira stared at her, surprised.

“Where’s Rumi?” she asked. She glanced at the clock. It was a little after midnight.

“She’s at the gym,” Zoey said. “I think she’s punching the punching bag.”

Mira thought about that. Rumi had been stabbed, healed and then stabbed and healed again, and she was already training again.

“Sounds healthy,” she mumbled. “Should we go check?” she asked lightly. Zoey glanced at her surprised and then pleased.

“OK,” she said. The two of them piled into the elevator. Zoey was still carrying her blanket. They went one floor down to their gym. Zoey hadn’t been wrong. Before they even entered the gym Mira could hear Rumi wailing on the bag. Rumi was wearing sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt, but Mira could still see her patterns. They were glowing an unhappy reddish color. Not as dark as earlier, but Rumi’s negative mood was obvious.

Mira made sure that she and Zoey were loud as they entered so they couldn’t surprise Rumi. She didn’t need a repeat of earlier. Rumi stopped and turned to look at them. When she saw they were both in pajamas she frowned at them confused.

“It's time to go to bed,” Zoey explained. Rumi’s mouth ticked up in amusement. Her patterns lightened.

“I thought we were on a break?” Rumi asked. “Doesn’t that mean I don’t have a bedtime?” she questioned. Zoey pouted.

“I was thinking a six month hiatus,” Mira offered into the air. The two of them turned to look at her.

“That long?” Rumi questioned. Mira shrugged.

“I think it’d be good for us,” she said.

“Zoey can visit her family. You can hang out with Jinu. I could do a dance showcase with some old friends. It’s enough time to take a course or two at the local university,” Mira said with a shrug. Mira glanced meaningfully at Zoey at that. She knew Zoey had been wanting to take a creative writing class for a while.

Zoey stared at Mira as if trying to understand her intentions. She narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. Mira sighed. Might as well be honest.

“I think it’d be good for us to have friends and connections outside of the three of us,” she explained. “It's not super healthy. We’ve been so busy with work that it hasn’t been possible, but now it is.”

Rumi flushed lightly. Zoey continued to watch Mira closely, like she wasn’t fully convinced. But then she shrugged.

“I guess you’re not wrong,” she finally said. “And six months off will be so fun!”

Zoey turned her puppy dog eyes on Rumi. Mira bit her lip. It would be fun, especially for Zoey. Would they even return to being a band after six months, she wondered.

Rumi hesitated. She seemed to be thinking about it.

“Six months is so long,” she mumbled. She glanced at Zoey’s puppy dog eyes and Mira’s resolute expression.

“It’ll be good for you,” Mira said. Rumi didn’t look like she agreed.

“It’ll be good for us,” Mira corrected. At this Rumi deflated.

“Okay,” she said. Zoey jumped up and down excited. She ran out of the room.

“I have to go tell Bobby!” she explained. Mira didn’t bother explaining that Bobby was probably asleep. She just shared an amused look with Rumi.

“C’mon,” she said. “It's past your bed time,” she teased. Rumi rolled her eyes at her. She gave the punching bag one last longing look before she followed Mira back to the elevator.

Once they were back in their living space and before Rumi could escape to her room, Zoey loudly exclaimed, “Sleepover! My room!”

Mira waited with baited breath for Rumi’s reaction. Rumi blinked.

“Isn’t it my turn?” she asked. Mira snorted relieved. Zoey ignored her.

“Ooh! Let's go shopping tomorrow!” Zoey suggested instead. Rumi frowned. Zoey grabbed Rumi’s wrist and led her towards Zoey’s room.

“We can get stuff to decorate your room!” Zoey explained. Mira paused. She glanced at Zoey. So they’d both thought Rumi’s room was sad.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Rumi mumbled, confused.

“We can sleep in your room, when it doesn’t feel like a hotel room,” Mira explained. It came out harsher than she intended. Rumi flushed. Mira winced. She tried to soften it.

“You’re here to stay,” she explained with a squeeze of Rumi’s shoulder. Rumi flushed harder. Her patterns danced on her skin.

“Maybe I’m just a minimalist,” Rumi argued. Zoey gave her an unimpressed look. Rumi somehow managed to flush further. Her face resembled a tomato.

“Shopping could be fun,” she finally acquiesced. Zoey cheered. Mira squeezed Rumi’s shoulder. They piled into Zoey’s room. Rumi blinked.

“I still need to shower,” she said. Zoey made a groaning sound.

“Just shower in here,” she said pointing towards her ensuite bathroom. Rumi hesitated. She bit her lip. And then she shrugged. She headed towards the bathroom.

“There’s extra towels in the closet,” Zoey shouted after her. Mira smiled fondly.

“What’s she going to do about brushing her teeth?” she asked Zoey.

“She’ll just have to use her finger,” Zoey said with a shrug. “Now that I’ve got both of you here, I’m not letting you leave.”

Mira felt a blush spreading up her face. She buried her face in Zoey’s shoulder to hide it. Zoey hummed content. She wrapped herself around Mira. The Honmoon purred. Zoey was quiet for a while, just listening to the water from Rumi’s shower.

“There’s nothing wrong with the three of us being close,” Zoey said quietly. Mira tried not to flinch.

“I didn’t say that,” Mira whispered back. “I said it’d be good for us to have other stuff in our lives too,” she said. But Zoey frowned at her unconvinced.

“We’re world famous popstars who also fight demons,” she grumbled. “What more do you want?”

Mira shrugged. “Well we don’t have to fight demons anymore,” she explained. And we don’t have to be popstars anymore either. She didn’t say that part out loud.

Zoey smiled. “I guess that’s true.”

Zoey paused. It was so unlike Zoey to pause that Mira sat up. Whatever Zoey was going to say next was probably important.

“It's just...” Zoey trailed off. Mira kept her attention focused waiting for Zoey to continue. Zoey hesitated.

Eventually she said, “We’re allowed to be each other’s most important people. You know that right?”

Mira squinted at Zoey. It didn’t seem like what she’d initially intended to say.

“Yeah, yeah,” Mira agreed. She buried her face in Zoey’s shoulder and listened to the sound of the water from Rumi’s shower. Before she knew it, she felt herself drifting back into sleep.

—

When Mira woke up the next day, it was late. Zoey was still sprawled on the bed in the middle asleep. But more surprisingly Rumi was still there. She was scrolling on her phone leaning against Zoey. And even more cute, she was wearing Zoey’s pajamas. Rumi must have felt Mira’s gaze on her because she glanced over.

“It’s late,” Mira grumbled. Rumi shrugged, but her eyes were soft.

“It seemed like you guys needed the rest,” she said. Mira glanced at her surprised. Normally Rumi was the one forcing them out of bed or on to the next thing. That she had actively let them sleep in was big for her.

“Thanks,” she muttered. “We should probably eat something. You want to eat in or out? We can go shopping after,” she offered.

Rumi tilted her head thinking about it, but before she could respond Zoey perked up.

“Eat out! There’s this new bbq place I’ve been wanting to try and they have private rooms,” Zoey said. She lurched forward with excitement. Rumi giggled. Her patterns turned light pink for a moment. Mira shrugged her acceptance.

They headed to lunch. Zoey was incessantly texting with Bobby, while Mira and Rumi occasionally looked over her shoulder. She was sending him lists of things she wanted to do during their six month hiatus: obtain her scuba certification, take the creative writing class at the local college, visit her family in California, practice skateboarding, go to the spa. The list kept going. Rumi and Mira exchanged amused looks. Neither of them wanted to tell Zoey that her ambitions exceeded the time frame. Thinking about it made Mira feel queasy. There was so much Zoey wanted to do without them.

“Derpy and I are going to go on so many field trips!” Zoey said with a twirl. Mira blinked, bemused and worried.

“No,” she said immediately. Zoey twirled towards her amused.

“Yes,” she said, hands up happily. She cuddled Rumi closer to her. “You don’t have to come. Rumi and I will go on fun adventures together without you. We’ll be the DRZS.”

Mira ignored the tight feeling in her chest.

“That literally makes no sense. Also I doubt Derpy will agree to be your personal chauffeur,” Mira complained. But just as she said his name Derpy and Sussie appeared. They ignored Mira. Derpy wrapped himself around Zoey happily. Rumi laughed. Mira rolled her eyes.

Derpy hummed. It sounded like he was trying to say, “DRZS.” Zoey made a very smug sound. Rumi continued laughing.

“It’ll be so easy to visit California!” Zoey said happily. Rumi’s face dropped at that, and she glanced at Mira finally understanding the concern.

“Zoey,” she said. “You can’t cause any crazy rumors,” she said. Zoey blinked at her confused.

“What do you mean?” Zoey said with a pout. Derpy made a sad sound next to her.

“She’s going to cause the biggest conspiracy theories,” Mira said with a snort. Sussie made a sound of agreement. Rumi glared at Mira.

“You cannot be spotted in California and Seoul or anywhere else on the same day or in an amount of time that would not be logistically possible,” Rumi said very sternly. “Do you understand?”

Zoey and Derpy exchanged looks at this. And then they both gave Rumi their most innocent faces possible, widening their eyes. “Rumi, I would never,” Zoey said with a hand over her heart. Mira snorted.

“I give it a week,” Mira said. Zoey twirled towards her, to scold her, but Derpy beat her to it. He sat on her feet making it impossible for her to keep walking forward.

“Derpy!” Mira scolded, but there was no heat to it. She smiled at him and he smiled back. After a moment, he very politely got off her feet and the five of them continued towards the restaurant in companionable silence. Mira ruffled Derpy’s ears as they walked. Zoey kept glancing at Derpy and then making faces. Mira waited patiently.

“Ok, Ok. But think about all the things I could speed run!” Zoey finally said. “I could get chocolate croissants in Paris for breakfast, hike in the alps in the morning, lay out in the Maldives in the afternoon, go get tacos in LA for dinner and still sleep in my own bed!”

Mira snorted into her hand. Rumi frowned.

“No,” Rumi said. Zoey raised her hands placatingly.

“It’ll be like this awesome cryptid things that our fans will love! Instead of Big Foot sightings it’ll be Zoey sightings!” Zoey said. “Think of everything we could do!” Zoey continued. Rumi groaned. Mira laughed.

“No, Mira’s right. Your Derpy privileges are taken away. Only with supervision,” Rumi said, but her amusement was clear. Derpy made a sad sound next to Mira. Mira scratched his ear consolingly. Zoey pouted. But neither Rumi or Mira gave her any leeway.

“Okay, fine. You guys win. Never let me have any fun,” Zoey said sadly, face contrite. But once Rumi seemed satisfied and they were finally heading towards the restaurant again, she winked at Derpy.

Mira gave Sussie a two fingered salute, a clear signal that he was to stop any Zoey and Derpy shenanigans. In response, Sussie landed on Mira’s shoulder and pecked her. She sighed. Yeah, it was an impossible mission. Zoey the cryptid was a go.

As they approached the restaurant Derpy and Sussie peeled off, much to Zoey’s sadness.

“Don’t you guys want yummy bbq meats?” she asked. Mira snorted. The smell from the restaurant was already wafting out towards them, and Mira realized how hungry she was.

“I think they qualify as a health violation,” she told Zoey. Derpy snaked around the three of them two times rubbing his head happily against them before he and Sussie disappeared into the ether. Mira shivered.

“We totally need to get merch of them,” Zoey said as she watched them fade. Mira thought about it.

“That’d be sick,” she said with a nod.

“Maybe a sweatshirt that’s as soft as Derpy’s fur,” Rumi said dreamily.

“No more sweatshirts!” Zoey interrupted. She patted Rumi like she was an unruly dog. Rumi blinked at her in surprise before grumbling.

“You can have a tank top,” Zoey told her very seriously. Mira snorted.

“Can I have a sweatshirt?” she asked Zoey. Zoey thought about it very seriously for a second before shaking her head.

“No, because then Rumi would steal it,” she said.

“I would not,” Rumi said, offended.

“Wow, way to ruin everything for me,” Mira told Rumi in a joking tone. Zoey laughed, but Rumi’s face paled and her face fell.

Shit.

“I guess a tank top’s fine,” Mira said quickly, watching Rumi closely. But before she could say anything else, Zoey pulled the two of them into the restaurant. Mira adjusted her baseball hat and glasses hoping they didn’t stick out too much.

Luckily the staff was discreet and quickly led the three of them to their own private room. It had a small table and in the middle was a coal fire grill for cooking the meat. Mira lounged on one side of the booth while Rumi and Zoey poured into the other side. Zoey snatched the menu from the table, too excited to wait, before Mira could even look at it.

“Don’t eat too much,” Mira warned. “We’re still going shopping after this.”

“Yes mom,” Rumi said back sarcastically. Zoey snickered. Rumi picked up the other menu, and put it in front of her face before Mira could properly respond. Mira leaned backwards into the booth closing her eyes.

“Pick out something I’ll like,” she commanded.

“Can we get tea?” Rumi asked. Mira nodded. Zoey and Rumi picked out things on the menu together, while Mira halfheartedly listened. The sound of the two of them chatting was soothing.

“Do you think that’s too much?” Rumi asked Zoey after they’d made their selections. She was squinting at the menu.

“Maybe we switch the pork collar for the appetizer portion?” Zoey said back. Rumi nodded.

“Are you ordering any vegetables?” Mira asked them.

“Lettuce wraps count, don’t they?” Rumi asked back. Mira snorted but didn’t disagree.

“We’re here for the meats!” Zoey interrupted. Mira smiled. Their waitress came back and Mira watched, entertained as the waitress’ eyes slowly got wider and wider as Zoey and Rumi listed off the order. She listed it back slowly to make sure she had gotten it all. It also felt like she was giving them a chance to change their mind. Mira snickered. Zoey and Rumi were such bad influences on each other when it came to ordering food.

Their food arrived in waves and they took turns grilling it. Whenever they went out for bbq, Zoey wanted to grill first; she was always excited about the experience at first but very quickly her interest would wane and Rumi or Mira would take over.

“It's nice that I have you guys to do all the work for me!” Zoey told them gleefully as Mira loaded pork belly onto her plate. Zoey coated it with large amounts of raw garlic and sauce before shoving it into her mouth unceremoniously. Rumi smiled at her. Mira folded some of the pork belly into a lettuce wrap. She added some extra salt to it and bit down on it enjoying the way it crunched and melted in her mouth.

The grill was almost empty. She put the remaining pork belly onto Rumi’s plate, who ate it with just a little sauce, and then laid out the ribeye to cook. It sizzled when it hit the grill. It smelled good. This was nice. The three of them eating a late lunch, and nowhere they had to be. She cut up the ribeye depositing it on each of their plates, making sure to give Zoey the fatty pieces since she enjoyed them the most.

Rumi took over the grill for the short rib. She liked them cooked a very particular way, and Mira found it endearing how much she concentrated as she watched over the grill. Her brow was furrowed and her lip stuck out just a little bit. Her patterns undulated on her skin a bright luminous white. Mira and Zoey exchanged amused looks as Rumi poked at the meat moving it around on the grill trying to get it just right. She took it off the heat with a flourish, flushed with success. Her face was red from leaning over the fire.

Mira bit her lip and glanced down at her plate instead. Looking at Rumi right now was doing funny things to her stomach. But Rumi didn’t notice. She was focused on dividing up the ribs, putting some on each of their plates. She moaned with satisfaction as she bit into them and Mira felt her face heat up. She glanced at Zoey for support, but Zoey was wide-eyed watching Rumi. Mira kicked Zoey under the table, who jumped. Rumi glanced at the two of them confused.

“You guys okay?” she asked about to bite into another rib.

“The meat is just so good,” Zoey said with gritted teeth. Rumi frowned at her confused but then turned back to the ribs. She moaned again. Mira was pretty sure she didn’t even realize she was doing it.

The food kept coming.

“Maybe we’ll go shopping tomorrow instead?” Zoey offered. Mira smiled, amused and unsurprised by this turn of events.

“Do you know what you want to get?” she asked Rumi. Rumi shrugged. Mira waited.

“I guess… I don’t want it cluttered, but it would be nice if it felt more homey?” Rumi said eventually.

“You get such good sunlight!” Zoey said. “We could get you a bunch of plants! I know you like them.”

“But they’ll all die when we’re on tour,” Rumi said softly. Mira raised her eyebrows at Rumi.

“We can pay someone to water them when we’re gone,” she told her. Rumi shrugged, but Mira could tell she was thinking about it.

“Rugs, lighting, and mirrors are all really good ways to change a room’s ambiance without necessarily adding clutter,” Mira suggested. Zoey nodded her agreement.

“A rug could be a good way to make your room more welcoming! And if it's really soft you can throw yourself on it after a long day,” Zoey told her. Rumi’s lips twitched and she nodded. She thought about it for a bit.

“It might be nice to have some pictures,” Rumi said after a while.

“Ooh like a corkboard?” Zoey asked, excited. Rumi glanced at Mira for support.

“I think we can probably manage something more tasteful,” Mira said a little haughtily. Zoey stuck her tongue out at Mira and mumbled something about her being rude, but Rumi smiled at Mira, relieved that she understood the vibe Rumi was going for.

“What were you thinking? Like aesthetic photos?” Mira asked. But Rumi shook her head.

“So like pictures of the three of us, Bobby, maybe Celine?” Mira continued. Rumi’s shoulders tensed when Mira said Celine, and Mira instantly regretted it. Of course she put her foot in her mouth.

“We could probably get a picture of Jinu too,” Mira said, quickly diverting away from Celine. Zoey gave Mira a nasty look at the mention of Jinu.

“Ah that’s so cute,” Zoey interrupted, distracting Rumi from thoughts of Celine or Jinu. “You want pictures of us in your room!” Zoey smiled brightly at Rumi who flushed red, embarrassed.

“You both have pictures of me all over your room,” Rumi said, wrapping her arms around herself self-consciously.

“It’s because we love you,” Zoey said very sincerely. Rumi blushed even darker. Her patterns glowed.

“And you love us too,” Zoey continued in a sing-song voice. Rumi rolled her eyes at that. Mira smiled at the two of them.

“We can go shopping tomorrow,” Mira said. She leaned back in the booth satisfied. “I guess that means it's my turn to host the sleepover,” she told them.

“We don’t have to have a sleepover,” Rumi told her quietly.

“Of course we don’t have to,” Mira easily said back.

“But don’t you want to?” she asked. She felt her smile tighten slightly worried about the response, even as she tried to act casual. Zoey glanced at Rumi too, waiting for a reply. Rumi glanced between the two of them. Her patterns dimmed for a moment before they lit back up.

“A sleepover sounds fun,” she said quietly. But Rumi’s hand clutched lightly at her sleeve, and she glanced down at her exposed patterns with a small frown. Zoey and Mira exchanged worried looks. Zoey interrupted Rumi’s spiraling.

“Ooh! In honor of Rumi getting a bunch of plants we should watch The Private Life of Plants!” Zoey said. Mira smiled at Zoey and Rumi turned away from her patterns distracted by Zoey’s antics.

—