Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-- At the Mall --

“Ah come on Baby, it’s not that bad.” Abby teased lightly, resting his elbow on Baby’s shoulder.

Baby scoffed, about to make a comment on how they didn’t have to act like a child when he spotted her.

She was standing in the aisle and her soul-

It was one of the brightest he’d seen, but that wasn’t even what caught his attention first.

What he noticed was how it wanted to pull him in.

As he was about to move forward and go say hi, she suddenly blushed and turned away, heading down the aisle.

Abby grabbed his arm as his body unconsciously took a step to follow her. He turned around, fangs bared, eyes flashing yellow. When he looked at the other demon, though, he noticed that Abby was staring after where she’d just been.

“Did you feel it too?” He asked, voice still a little raspy as he settled back into his human form.

Abby shook his head as if he was coming out of a trance before looking down at Baby. “I did.”

-- At the Saja Boys House --

“What do you MEAN you talked with her???” 

Jinu didn’t flinch when Baby screeched in his face. Abby was holding him back, and the only reason Baby didn’t lash out at him is because he was leaning in towards Jinu, too.

“Are you sure it was the same person? What are the chances we all feel a pull towards one soul?” Abby questioned, trying to get a look at Jinu’s phone screen.

“It would certainly be an explanation for our… connection,” Mystery drawled, gesturing towards the group with a flick of their wrist.

“Show me the damn picture Jinu,” Baby snarled.

Jinu sighed. “You guys are so dramatic,” he said as he tapped on a picture and flipped the screen around.

Baby and Abby smushed their faces together trying to get closer to the screen.

“Is that her?” Jinu asked, leaning his head on his other hand.

Baby and Abby’s eyes both snapped up to meet his. “Yes,” they said in sync.

Baby’s eyes immediately shifted gold again, but Abby was ready. “You got to TALK TO HER while I was being forced to play DRESS UP DOLL? Abby put me DOWN.”

“Maiming Jinu, or the house, isn’t going to get you to talk to her sooner,” Abby growled, muscles straining to hold back the slightly smaller demon.

“It’ll make me feel better,” Baby growled, but he stopped struggling as much. He instantly whipped out his phone, fingers moving rapid fire. “You don’t get to keep her for yourself-”

“I never said-”

“-so I followed her on Instagram, too.” 

Jinu ran a hand over his face. “Okay, but we can’t all just, dive bomb her DMs.”

“If she even is connected to myself and Mystery,” Romance interjected.

“Oh so you get to talk to her?” Baby asked.

“Yes because I already have talked to her, so it wouldn’t be weird.”

“We can’t scare her off,” Abby agreed just before Baby could launch himself at Jinu again.

“AGH! Fine. FINE, whatever, I'm gonna go play Valorant.” Baby grumbled, all but stomping back to his room.

Abby immediately slid up next to Jinu. “So what’s her @ again?”

Chapter Text

-- At the Saja Boys Show --

“Who the hell do they keep staring at?” Mira grumbled.

“Are you sure they're not just working the crowd?” Zoey asked, tilting her head. “We're told to look around, too.”

“If it's crowd work, it's bad crowd work- and they're demons so what do they know about crowd work?” Mira snapped. “Just watch them.”

Rumi focused for a moment, looking between the boys when she spotted what Mira was talking about. All five of them kept glancing at a specific spot.

Was it another demon they were looking at? A planned victim?

And then, all five boys suddenly locked eyes on the spot. The three girls turned to look and their eyes widened at what they saw.

They knew souls came in different intensities. Celine once explained that the soul's light was an indicator for how much they can help power the Honmoon. They'd seen brighter ones before, and also dimmer, but this?

It was one of the brightest souls they'd ever seen up close. 

“I bet they want her as a fan so it'll weaken the Honmoon more,” Rumi said under her breath. “We have to stop them. They can't steal our fans.”

Chapter Text

-- At the Saja Boys House --

Somewhere through the bath house, they’d lost sight of Jinu. Once they made it outside, they waited for a moment before the four of them teleported back to their apartment. 

“God that idiot,” Baby grumbled.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Abby said, sounding only slightly unsure.

“If he’s not fine, I’ll kick his ass myself,” Baby said with a scowl. “I’m not gonna be the one that tells Y/N some stupid hunters got hold of him because he slipped on a puddle.”

“Shit, did we text her?” Abby asked.

“I’m texting her,” Mystery drawled. “I can’t control what you all do.”

Romance pulled his phone out of his pocket to check their text thread. While they’d been on the show, Y/N had sent them two messages. One was a clip of Abby on the show with her laughing. The other was her asking about the Huntr/x girls.

Romance watched Abby and Mystery’s messages fill in the chat. He stared at the screen for a moment before typing out his own message.

“We just got back to our place for the evening. We would love to meet up with you tomorrow <3”

He watched the screen for a moment, wanting to see her reply back. He hoped Mystery’s message was enough of a reassurance for her about Huntr/x. They certainly hadn’t thought that she would clock the animosity between their group and the hunters.

Maybe it was a soulmate thing.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated. The second he realized it was Y/N calling, he started to walk out of the room, putting the phone up to his ear as he did.

“Hello darling.” He answered. 

He didn’t expect her to sound panicked when she spoke.

“Ah, sorry, I shouldn't have called without asking. I know some people don't like that.” She rambled, hardly taking a breath as she kept going. “I was just- I don't know I wanted to make sure you guys were okay which is weird because you're clearly fine-”

“Hey,” he interrupted softly, wanting to stop her spiraling. “It's fine. I could never be upset at the chance to hear your voice.”

He heard her sigh softly through the phone speaker. “That’s very sweet Romance.” 

He smiled at that, one hand going up to rest on his chest. “It's just the truth, I promise. Now what were you concerned about?”

“Wait, are you talking to Y/N?” Baby shouted down the hall.

“It’s silly,” she said as Romance heard Baby approaching. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to give her his attention while also teleporting away from Baby. “I don’t know. I just- I love Huntr/x. I went to their concert a few nights ago! So I don't know why seeing them next to you guys set me on edge-”

Not that he loved hearing her talk about the hunters in such a positive manner, but how was she to know what they were to them? 

Of course Baby chose that moment to teleport into the room, landing on Romance’s back and trying to wrestle the phone away from him.

“And it wasn't jealousy, either. I was- I felt scared for you guys.” Y/N’s voice continued through the speaker as Romance bared his teeth at the teal-haired demon.

Romance covered the mic on the phone and glared at Baby. “She called me and she is upset. Just give me two minutes.” He growled under his breath before shoving the other demon back.

Of course, his pause seemed to make Y/N stress further.

“I know it’s ridiculous-” she started again and, as much as he hated interrupting her, he knew he needed to stop her train of thought.

“Sorry,” he breathed, “Baby was trying to steal the phone from me.” He chuckled lightly but wasn’t sure the humor reached his voice. “It’s not as ridiculous as you may think.” He admitted, not wanting to lie to her but knowing the boys had all agreed to tell her later.

Plus, this was a conversation that deserved to be had in person, not over the phone.

“It’s complicated,” he continued, “but I promise we’re okay. They won’t hurt us.”

He could hear a hint of frustration in her tone when she spoke again. “Will you guys explain that more eventually?”

“Of course we will,” he immediately reassured her. Before she could press further, he shifted topics. “Now, would you like to meet up tomorrow? Perhaps we could go grab coffee in the morning?”

Since this part of the conversation would include the other boys, most likely, he started to make his way back out to the living room so they could at least hear. Baby was waiting in the hallway and immediately walked alongside him.

With their sensitive hearing, he knew he didn’t have to put the phone on speaker for them to pick up what she was saying.

“That’d be nice,” she said, her tone sounding much more relaxed now. “I have to go to work tomorrow, anyway. There's a cute cafe not far from my job. I can text you the address if you'd like?”

Romance smiled. “Please do darling. Just let us know the time to-”

Despite being the youngest of the five demons in the group, Romance knew the pull of Gwi-ma as well as anyone else. 

Abby described it as electricity seizing all of his muscles.

Mystery described it as falling rapidly towards a burning inferno.

Baby said it felt like claws grabbed him by the neck and dragged him back.

For Romance, it felt like there was fire consuming his veins.

Which is why he was surprised when, this time, the feeling was slow- creeping. It had always been rapid, there in a flash. All consuming.

He saw it happen to the other boys. Their purple patterns flashing onto their skin, twisting in shades of pink as their eyes widened in pain.

They were being called back.

But where he would normally already be falling into the abyss, much like the other boys were, something about the call was muted.

It was slowed.

His whole mind focused on Y/N in that moment.

She laughed into the phone, though it sounded a bit strained. “Is Baby trying to steal the phone again?”

He put all of his effort into resisting the call- the burning. Her voice in his ears gave him a renewed strength.

He just needed a moment.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” he rasped, clenching his teeth as the patterns were rapidly covering his skin once more. “I have to go,” he apologized. “We’ll see you in the morning, I promise.”

He barely managed to hit the end call button, his heart aching for having to leave her so suddenly, before the abyss finally dug its claws into him, dragging him under.

Chapter Text

“...Anyways, I was walking home and these two guys started harassing me.”

When you said those words, everything came back. It was like you were narrating something straight out of his mind.

Abby could picture it clearly, despite it being a lifetime ago. He'd been heading to the southern gate of the town when he'd seen the two men quickly approaching a young woman.

He hadn't hesitated to step in, not when she was clearly so frightened. He stepped up, hand on his blade.

“Move along, soldier boy,” one of the men sneered at him.

“... He had a geom and scared them away by threatening to cut off their hands.”

He could picture his blade out in front of him as he glanced between the two men.

“While I'd rather a woman not see such violence, you don't need both hands to live.”

He had been serious, too, but thankfully didn't need to follow through as the two cowards bolted after his threat. 

Abby could feel Romance's gaze on him. He wasn't sure what his own face was doing, but he was sure it wasn't neutral. 

Mystery grabbed her attention by asking a question just as Romance stomped on his foot to pull him out of his thoughts. He hissed lightly, but nodded to Romance in thanks.

Romance and Mystery, and the other boys, knew of his past. They all knew of each other's pasts. While he wasn't sure if he'd ever shared this story specifically, they knew enough to piece it together.

This was him in the story, not just someone who looked like him.

Which means…

That had been Y/N there, in one of her past lives.

How many other lives had she had alongside them without them even realizing it?

Chapter Text

When they teleported near the park, Mystery immediately went on the search for Y/N. They’d always been the best tracker of the group, and it took him just a few seconds to focus in on her soul.

“This way,” they snarled, already feeling themselves slipping between human and demon.

He always hated the feeling of in-between. It reminded him of his past life… It made them feel disconnected from themselves. There were times when he wasn’t sure if he was human, demon, or something else entirely.

But when they turned the corner, leading the group, and saw that demon up in Y/N’s face - they knew exactly what they were in that moment.

Their claws and fangs were out in an instant, eyes flashing a deep gold as they snarled at the other demon, tackling them to the side. 

The other demon bared their teeth, but Mystery wasn’t phased. They snarled and gnashed their teeth in return, ripping into the demon without hesitation.

How dare they try and touch what didn’t belong to them.

All they felt was the gore under the claws, the flesh tearing under their teeth, the snarls ripping from their throat.

Until someone touched their shoulder and he spun back, snapping at them.

Baby was standing there, patterns glowing faintly on his skin, though he wasn't in his full demon form. “Hey Min, it’s alright,” he said, hands up. “They’re dead now.” 

He tried to focus, but his breathing sounded like panting. The world felt less vibrant. His skin felt itchy, like it didn’t belong to him.

Baby gently guided him to sit back against the wall. “Easy, just take a moment.” 

And so they did, staring out at the alleyway with a blank gaze, trying to focus back on the present. The only shift they felt was when the small spot of warmth a few feet away from him disappeared.

Immediately he was on his feet, looking around. 

“Woah, Min, chill-”

“Where is she?” they rasped.

“Who- Y/N? Romance and Abby took her back to our place,” Baby explained. He took a deep breath. “Look, we don’t want to freak her out yet, okay? If you can get your claws and fangs back in check, I’ll take you right to her.”

Mystery focused, taking deep breaths as they tried to account for their body parts again. After a bit, he was finally able to shift back into a mostly human form.

“There ya go,” Baby said softly, slipping under Mystery’s arm to help support them better. “Now come on, let’s get back to Y/N.”

Chapter Text

Rumi stepped back onto her balcony later that night, mind still replaying the encounter she just had with Jinu- the demon.

She'd expected him to question her patterns. What she hadn't expected was him to talk about how demons feel-

Much less ask her a question about soulmates.

“Do you not hear him in your ear?” He asked her, clearly surprised. 

“What are you talking about?” She snapped.

He scoffed. “You're lucky. I'll never forget the first time I heard him. It was 400 years ago…”

Rumi wasn't sure what to think of his story, despite it pulling on her heartstrings a little. What he said afterwards is what threw her off, though.

“Now, I live with a constant reminder of my shame. We don't get a way out, not unless we find our soulmate, if they're even real to begin with.”

“A soulmate?” Rumi asked, confused.

Jinu glanced at her, squinting slightly. “Do you not know about soulmates? We've always had stories, rumors, that if a demon can find their soulmate they can be released from the curse.”

Rumi scoffed. “Sounds like you'd be cursing your poor ‘soulmate’ instead, if those were even real.”

He hummed. “I wouldn't be so sure about that.” He stepped closer to her. “Hope is a dangerous thing for us, but when you live with the weight of your shame on your back constantly, sometimes it's the only reprieve you get.” 

He reached a hand out, his patterns glowing a rich pink color. She was frozen as he gently brushed his hand against her shoulder, making her patterns glow for a moment, too.

“Your patterns mark your shame, too. Don't let them grow, like I have.”

She scowled. “I'm not taking advice from a demon. I am nothing like you.”

Rumi sighed as she sat on the edge of her bed, burying her face in her hands. If Jinu wasn't lying, and his patterns did stem from a mistake he made, who's to say hers aren't following the same path?

But if he isn't lying about that, he might not be lying about the whole soulmate thing either.

Something about the soulmate topic itched at her brain. Maybe she'd ask Celine about it tomorrow, see if she knew anything about it.

It could be worth knowing in case it could help her, too.

Chapter Text

That morning Baby had been half dozing, Mystery lying on his chest as the two of them casually scrolled on their phones.

He contemplated taking a nap, or at least zoning out for a little bit until he got hungry enough, when a text notification popped up.

His whole body froze because of four words.

“Is your name Yujin?” 

It was from Y/N.

He immediately called her, mind racing as his breathing quickened.

He didn't even give her a chance to say hello. “How do you know that name?” He snapped the second he heard the line pickup. 

Mystery was looking at him now, phone placed to the side as they tilted their head in confusion.

“I thought you had beef with the sunrise,” she teased weakly.

“Y/N,” he said slowly, through clenched teeth. “How. Do you know that name?”

They all knew she'd lived several lives, and they knew at least one of those overlapped with Abby's.

He didn't want hers to overlap with his.

“It was in my dream last night,” she answered quietly. “I knew you.”

Instantly he teleported out from under Mystery and started pacing, a slew of curses falling from his lips. Mystery was now sat up in bed, eyes narrowed in concern. 

“Tell me you weren’t who I think you were,” he pleaded into the phone, but his heart already knew the truth.

“I was the tutor's daughter,” Y/N replied after a short pause.

“Fuck! Shit, I can't-” he held the phone away from his body, looking over at Mystery pleadingly. “Min, come take the phone. It’s Y/N. I need- I just-” 

The second Mystery lifted their hand, Baby tossed the phone at them and teleported out of the room.

It was her and she knew.

He had teleported on to the roof of the building. He snarled, hands gripping his hair as his gaze stayed, unfocused, on the horizon.

All he could see was her face, the shrine, the tree, her empty room.

Images that had haunted him every single day since he was brought into the depths for eternity. 

“You were never going to be enough for them,” Gwi-ma whispered in his ear. 

He winced, closing his eyes as he clutched his hair tighter. His scalp screamed at him, but he didn't care.

He never thought he'd get to apologize to her. He'd given up hope of that centuries ago.

And here she was, despite it all. 

He had to talk to her.

Before he could overthink it, he teleported back to their place, landing in front of Abby.

To Abby's credit, he didn't flinch.

“You're up early-”

“I'm walking Y/N to work this morning,” he snarled before Abby could finish.

Abby narrowed his eyes. “No, you were going to pick her up after work today. I already said-”

“I need to talk to her.” He snapped. “I'm walking her.”

Something in his gaze must've made Abby realize how serious- how desperate he was, because he backed off with a simple nod.

“Fine. I'll pick her up after work instead,” he said slowly.

Baby was still scowling, but he nodded curtly and stomped back to his room. He grabbed one of Mystery's oversized hoodies and took his phone back from them with a quiet, “thank you” before he left to go to Y/N's place.

Now he just had to hope she'd even want to speak to him.

Chapter Text

Between meeting up with Jinu, losing her voice, the tears in the Honmoon, and trying to write a new song – Rumi had all but forgotten about the soul they'd noticed at the street performance the other day.

That was, until they spotted her again at the first round of the Semi Finals.

She was sitting in the front row, holding a Saja Boys light stick.

That was simply too coincidental to not be related to how the boys had acted around her at the street show.

She knew Zoey and Mira had clocked it, too, but with the lights and cameras on them, they couldn't say anything about it.

The second they were off stage, however -

“Am I crazy or was that the same soul we saw at the street show?” Zoey asked.

“No, you're right. It totally was,” Mira agreed.

“That can't be a coincidence,” Rumi mused. “And she had a Saja Boys light stick, too.”

“I was standing closer to her. I saw that she had on a Saja Boys VIP badge, too,” Mira said. 

And then, of course, they ran into you again but this time with the Saja Boys.

Now the three girls were back at their penthouse, sitting on the couch thinking about the evening.

“So clearly they're using her in some way, right?” Mira asked.

“But for what?” Zoey questioned.

“I don’t know. I definitely thought so at first,” Rumi agreed quietly, “but… did you see the way her soul, like, reacted to them?”

“It was like… surrounding them,” Zoey said. 

Mira crossed her arms with a sigh. “I’ll admit, I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Also, they listened to her?” Zoey pointed out, sounding a bit confused by it. “They started to growl at us but she told them to stop, and they instantly did.”

“Okay so they’re whipped?” Mira asked with a smirk.

Rumi looked down at the floor for a moment, thinking. “What if… it’s more than that?”

Mira and Zoey both looked at her. “What do you mean?” Zoey asked.

“Have you guys heard of soulmates?”

Mira snorted. “Like the cheesy romance trope?”

“Maybe? But like for real, like actual souls that are meant for each other,” Rumi explained.

“Where did you hear about that?” Zoey asked.

“I…” Rumi sighed slowly. “So I may have met up with Jinu the other night.”

Zoey gasped. “You what?”

“With Jinu??” Mira questioned.

“I- I know I should’ve told you sooner,” Rumi immediately said, putting her hands up. 

“How did that even happen?” Mira asked sharply.

“He sent me a note, asking to meet up,” Rumi started, sighing. “I wasn’t going to go, but then I thought about it and figured I could maybe learn something?” She shook her head. “I knew he could lie, or just fully manipulate me. Honestly, I went there with the full intention of just killing him, but then he started talking and I thought- what’s the worst that could happen? Sometimes there’s truth in the lies, and if we could learn more about their plan, it could maybe be helpful.”

“Okay but, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Zoey asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“It was just so sudden, and I honestly panicked a bit,” Rumi admitted. “I didn't want to scare him off if we all showed up, but I really should've said something I'm sorry.”

Mira sighed. “I mean, you're telling us now at least. So what did the meeting have to do with soulmates?”

“During our talk, Jinu told me about how he lost his soul and became bound to Gwi-ma, and that the only way out that he knew of was if you found your soulmate,” she said. 

“This all just feels like a ploy to get us to trust him,” Mira pointed out, crossing her arms.

Rumi put her hands up. “No, I agree,” she said before pausing, “but… I did ask Celine if she knew anything about soulmates.”

Mira and Zoey both leaned in. “What did she say?” Zoey asked.

“She said she didn't know much about them but had heard of it before,” Rumi shrugged. “I don't trust Jinu, but what if that bit was true?”

“How does that help us?” Mira said.

“We could look into it, maybe there's something there we could work with?” Zoey suggested. 

Rumi nodded. “I think, worst case scenario, it changes nothing, but best case scenario… it helps us take down the Saja Boys.”

Chapter Text

When you've existed as long as man has walked this earth, you learn to have a degree of patience.

It's not something he had to use regularly, but in order to maintain control, you sometimes had to know when to wait.

Since he had first noticed the absence of the “demon boy band,” he'd been keeping a close eye on them. He knew what was happening. It was something he'd worked hard to ensure would never occur.

He told his minions to go for the bright souls for a reason. 

Yet as the hunters continued to grow stronger, more souls slipped by his watch, giving them time to grow and live.

And interfere with what was rightfully his. 

A soul able to block not one, but five of his hoard from his view - it had to be old, ancient even.

Despite sending demons out to search for it, he knew they'd never be able to find it on their own.

And that's why he had to wait.

There were always moments when he was able to sense one or two of them, but never all five.

They were hovering around her, doing what they thought was protecting her.

But they were only delaying the inevitable.

The moment he could sense all five of them again, all at once, he'd reel them in. 

It was only a matter of time. 

Chapter Text

It only took a moment.

He knew they’d slip up eventually.

They’d seemed to always have at least one of the five near the soul at all times, whether it was intentional or not.

He was patient, though.

And his patience paid off.

All five of them were within his grasp, so he grabbed-

-and yanked them down back to him.

Watching the five of them collapse on the ground in front of him, faces twisted in pain was satisfying, to say the least.

“Did you really think…” he drawled as the boys slowly sat up, “that hiding behind that pathetic soul was going to keep you from me forever?”

Yujin and the dog both snarled at him, which made him laugh.

They were nothing compared to him, and they needed to be reminded of their place.

“Do you really think you can escape?” He snarled. “I already have demons out looking for it. Let me give you a reminder of who you truly belong to.”

Their patterns flared a vibrant pink, bodies shifting into their true demon forms as they clutched their heads in pain.

“Oh Dae-hwan it was her who died, was it? You were never meant to save her, then or now.”

“You abandoned her in your past life, Yujin, and this one will be no different.”

“You’ll never be enough for her, Hasam. You’re meant to be unwanted.”

“Min-seo, do you really think a beast can live any life but one on a chain?”

“Oh Jinu… You’ve never truly cared about anyone else but yourself. Did you really believe this would be any different?”

He felt their agony as he showed them moment after moment of her dying. He couldn’t see her exact likeness in their thoughts, but he didn’t need it. Her screams were good enough.

He spared no time. He wanted to break them. They needed to be reminded of their place, and he would spend days doing it if he had to.

Suddenly, though, Dae-hwan, Yujin, and Hasam disappeared from his sight.

He doubled his grip on Jinu and Min-seo, but it wasn’t enough. Moments later they were ripped away from him too.

“N̴̹̖̹͖͙̈́͒ó̶̝̩͈͚̃,” he snarled. His flames roared higher. “Demons, find that girl and bring her soul to me. I want her g̸̢̰̟͒́͂̃̄͆̚o̶̢͂̇̌͆͝n̸̨̒͑̈́̈͘ė̸̫̱̱͙̀̃̓̒̊͝.”

Chapter Text

Jinu hadn’t contacted her since their first meeting, so when she received another invite more than a week later, she decided to bring it to the girls.

And she was glad she did. The talk that ended up happening between the Saja Boys, their soulmate, and the three of them was nothing she could have anticipated.

They revealed things about themselves that made her question what she knew about demons, and yet they didn’t reveal her secret to the others.

It made guilt gnaw at her gut even more than it already had been.

“So, do we think they’re being honest?” Mira asked as they stepped into the elevator that led to their penthouse.

“I think about some of it at least,” Zoey said. “I mean, the soul doesn’t lie, and theirs were totally intertwined with hers.”

Mira nodded. “It's just weird. We were always told demons don't have any feelings, but they clearly did.”

What if that's how her parents were? What if her dad looked at her mom like the Saja Boys had looked at Y/N?

“What if… some of what Celine taught us was wrong?” Rumi asked quietly. 

“We've seen plenty of demons who clearly didn't care or were even enjoying fighting us,” Mira argued. 

“Okay but… maybe we don't usually see the ones who are reluctant because they don't come out,” Zoey offered. 

“... What if not all demons are evil, what if it's just Gwi-ma,” Rumi whispered. 

The girls are quiet for a second before Mira throws her hands in the air. “So what, do we have to interrogate every demon we see before we stab them?” 

“No, just, maybe we test this out? Working together with people who know Gwi-ma could be beneficial,” Rumi suggested.

Mira sighed. “I mean… I didn't feel like they were lying.”

No but she was.

Celine's voice rang in her ear, telling her to hide. Telling her they wouldn't understand. Telling her-

“Guys, I- I need to tell you something,” Rumi blurted out. 

Both girls looked at her expectantly. 

Not a hint of judgement or fear in their gaze, just curiosity. 

And trust.

Her heart clenched more. She dug her nails into her palms. “I- I'm part demon.”

Zoey's eyes widened and Mira's eyes narrowed.

“What?” Mira asked, deadpanned.

She crossed her arms, hunching in on herself slightly. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys. I wanted to but- Celine always told me you'd be upset. She said once we sealed the Honmoon, my patterns would just go away and you'd never have to know.”

Mira's gaze softened slightly and Zoey looked like she wanted to cry and hug Rumi at the same time.

“So, like, are you okay?” Zoey asked hesitantly.

Rumi felt a tear escape her eye as she let out a laugh. They were supposed to hate her, and they were checking on her instead.

“I- I guess,” she answered, shrugging. “I think it's what messed with my voice. Jinu said their demon patterns spread because of shame and, well, I've certainly been ashamed of them my whole life.”

“Wait Jinu knows?” Mira snapped.

“He saw them when he ripped my jacket at the bath house,” Rumi admitted. “I'm sorry. It's part of why he met up with me the first time, too, I think. I didn't tell him and not you guys-”

Zoey stepped up and wrapped her arms around her, hugging Rumi tightly. Rumi stuttered but instantly hugged her back.

“We've hunted demons for so long- I can't imagine being raised to hate them when you are part one,” Zoey said. “I'm sorry Rumi.”

“Yeah, I… I'm sorry Rumi if I ever made you feel like you couldn't tell me,” Mira mumbled.

“No, you guys, I trust you so much but I thought- I thought I was a mistake,” Rumi admitted, voice breaking on the last word. “But then I see the Saja Boys with Y/N and now… what if that's what my mom had with my dad, too?” 

Mira stepped into the hug and Rumi felt her whole body relax. A few more tears escaped as relief coursed through her. 

After a moment, Mira pulled back slightly. “So, do you have any cool demon powers or what?”