Chapter Text
It took a lot of manpower and tears to help restore the broken stadium, especially the fans who were injured or had their souls sucked. Zoey helped direct the possessed victims to the hospital and made sure that those who just recovered their souls stayed safe even with their minds clogged. They also helped out with the donations which Mira chose to help with the reconstructions. Rumi visited the fans from time to time in the hospital, giving them small presents which they are more than grateful to receive.
It wasn’t easy to forget the event, mainly the girls, as Mira and Zoey finally listened to Rumi’s whole story. They could already fit in the puzzles as to why Rumi refused to go to the bathhouse with them or chose to constantly wear long sleeves and turtlenecks. Either way, they like how their friend looks, the marks made her skin glow and she never looked better.
They hugged it out and their friendship stayed the same, maybe more closer than ever as Rumi decided to not hide her real self around them. Not that she was hiding too much besides her demon heritage, ever since she met the two, they could read her like a book. She finally promised them that there will be no more secrets to hide.
Rumi already decided the hiatus would start right after things have calmed down, there was still confusion around the incident but with the help of Bobby, the media about the issue has started to die down. Special effects is what they call it and it’s what they all called the demons they had ever encountered. What remains left is the Saja Boys' whereabouts. Ever since their death, the clueless fans began to wonder what happened.
As the fans slowly returned and recovered, more news began to pop out as well as theories. The popular theory that Rumi always sees is that the group disbanded right after two songs and while ‘Soda Pop’ is still a ringworm with many people using it on stores, it became a remembrance to her. If Jinu was just like the other demons then she wouldn’t have felt so.. Guilty.
For now, there was no demon activity ever since the Honmoon was strengthened, the girls can finally relax. It was quite foreign for them after so long hunting but it’s definitely not unwelcome.
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“Couch! Couch! Couch!”
Rumi, Mira and Zoey cheered as they got their snacks and makeup supplies on their hands now heading over to the massive couch where they quickly melted once they sat on it.
Zoey was the first to recover from the bliss. “Okay! Since we finally get to have Rumi in the bath house with us, we need to see her without anything covering her arms and neck this time!”
“Won’t it be too much? We just found out about her marks not too long ago.” Mira mused now, placing the bowl of chips down. “Let our girl breath.”
“Come onn!” Zoe laughs now, shaking Rumi’s shoulder but gently so as to not further overwhelm her.
Rumi laughs with her. “It’s fine. You guys will just be the one to see it.” She removes her bathrobe, revealing her tank top and loose shorts, the patterns shimmer from the exposure.
“Woah.” Zoe pokes her skin. “I will never NOT be surprised. You know, when I see it on my dear friend it looks really pretty instead of scary.”
“Yeah, but it looks like tattoos. If its not demon patterns, Bobby would freak out.” Mira lets out a small smirk now grabbing the remote to turn on the television to watch some k drama.
“Oh absolutely! He would faint!” Zoe lets out an exaggerated expression as if to mirror what Bobby would look, causing the other two to laugh.
Rumi quickly recovers and looks over to them, a relieved smile stays on her face.
“We’re not gonna tell him though right?”
Mira sighs. “While I’m glad Rumi finally shared this with us, roping other people into our business is still a no go.”
“Fair enough.”
Rumi looks towards the screen, her hand rubbing her other arm as she shivers a bit from the cold wind of the air conditioner. It’s definitely gonna take a while for her to get used to not covering herself as much, she almost has gotten used to the warmth that it kinda feels like she’s naked most of the time.
“And Celine would definitely be mad.” Zoey rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. “But! I’m glad we got to sit down on this couch for more than thirty minutes!”
Mira hums, pointing a chip to her. “Right?!”
“Literally!” Rumi almost jumps on her spot. “No offense to Bobby but after the whole Saja Boys shtick, he would never let us rest on the news about them.”
“Yeah!” Zoey nudges her before playfully swinging her shoulders. “You’re my soda pop~.”
“Stooooop.” Mira slowly melts down in a tired tone. “I don’t want that song to invade my mind any longer.”
The girls then pause what they’re doing when they hear a knock on the door. Rumi quickly puts her bathrobe on as Zoey stands up to answer it. Opening the door, their manager greets them with bags of souvenirs and free snacks.
“How are my favorite girls doing?”
“Hi Bobby!” The three echoes.
Rumi keeps a nervous smile before noticing her robe falling from her shoulder but Mira quickly puts it back on despite him not noticing it due to not being a hunter. She kept a tight hold on it as Bobby began to walk in and place the items on the table.
“Since you three are already starting on the hiatus, I already contacted a hotel with a buffet, free spa entrees and a pool park- just in case of course!” Bobby said as he scrolled through his phone.
“Really grateful for that but no thanks.” Rumi smiles at their manager. “We’d like to relax on our own way.”
“Yup! And by that we still get to meet up with our fans and do some shopping!” Zoey said, jumping in excitement.
“Shopping!” Mira and Rumi both cheers, now holding each other's hands.
“Well you do that and I’ll get myself to relax too.” Bobby winks before muttering to himself. “I could book in the hotel and enjoy that free spa..”
“Go for it!” Zoey encourages, placing her hands on his shoulders. “Our manager needs some days off too, and don’t forget to get a pic of some delicious food in the buffet.”
“Definitely won’t. I got you.” Bobby grins now walking towards the door. “Welp I gotta go, just here to drop off some things from the fans, have a good rest girls!”
“Goodnight Bobby!”
Once their manager leaves, the girls go back to relaxing on the couch.
.
.
.
It’s only been a couple of days and Rumi can’t stop the guilt from dying down. Most of the time she would have nightmares replaying that memory and it would wake her up early in the morning sweaty and heart beating. She would constantly place her hand on her chest, imagining Juni’s soul. She wonders if he’s still alive would he be glad that things have gone for the better, slow but definitely better, that’s what she hopes anyways.
Tonight was one of those nights as she is unable to fall back to sleep. Rumi hugs her pillow as she sits up looking down mindlessly. ‘Don’t think too much about it’. Somehow those words did the exact opposite. She knew there was something there, a connection, she wonders if Juni felt it too, something more than simple camaraderie. She sighs, tightening her hold on the pillow.
Suddenly tears fall out, she quietly sniffles, wiping the tears away with her knuckles. Heat slowly swells up as well. Rumi quickly shakes her head, nope, stop thinking about it! In desperation she smacks both her cheeks.
“Ow-!” She yelps. Too hard!
A knock on the door then startles her.
A faint muffled voice sounded from outside. “It’s Mira, can I come in?”
“O-Oh sure!” Rumi rubs her cheeks as the door opens revealing her friend. “What’s the occasion?”
“Nothing much.” Mira shrugs now sitting down on the bed. “Just.. some thoughts.”
The purple haired girl blinks. “Oh, wanna share with me?”
“Those thoughts were about you.” She specified causing the other to purse her lips. “It’s nothing bad or anything just..” She hesitates for a while as if finding the right words to give out. “Were you having trouble sleeping?”
Rumi stiffens. “What.. gave you that impression?”
“You don’t have to hide it.” Mira smirks. “Don't worry, I’ve got the same problem too but it seems that you dealt with it for a couple of days.”
“Just- stuff..” Rumi mumbles.
“Rumi, you know it’s not ‘just stuff’.” You don’t have to tell me everything but you can just at least give little hints so I can help.” Mira softly places her hand on Rumi’s.
Rumi clenches her jaw as she can feel Mira’s gaze towards her. Is it best to tell her everything? If she tells her what happened between her and Juni, especially the details of their meetings.. “I’m just starting to believe that we don’t know much about demons than we thought we did.”
Mira raises a brow. “And what makes you think that?”
“Just..” She hesitates. “Jinu.”
“Oh, so that’s what it’s about huh.”
“Only a small part of it!” Rumi squeaks before groaning. “Okay, maybe that's the whole reason why I’m like this.”
“You told us that he sacrificed his life for the honmoon and we saw it too. Sure I was mad but he showed us that not all demons are that bad.” The pink haired idol said. “You too Rumi.”
Rumi finally looks back at her, hand gently tightening her hold around Mira’s. Mira then leans forward causing the other to lean back in confusion.
“Wait.. why are your cheeks red?” The corner of Mira’s lips twitch upwards. “Did you slap yourself before I came in?”
Rumi sputters now turning bright in embarrassment. She thought she was about to say something else when she pointed out her stinged red cheeks. Did she really smack herself too hard for her skin to have hand prints?
Her reaction is enough to make Mira chuckle now letting go of her hand. “Need some beauty sleep, let’s continue this talk tomorrow. Also we’re going shopping with Zoey in the afternoon, but still, don’t wake up late alright?”
The purple haired idol smiles as she gives a nod.
Mira smiles back now standing up and walks towards the door. She gives one last reassuring look before leaving the room.
Rumi softly sighs, turning her head to the window. It be nice to meet the cat and crow again, despite Jinu’s passing, they helped her get some things off her mind.
Well she better prepare for tomorrow, lying back down she closed her eyes as she silently prayed for an eventless dream.
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“Oh my gosh! Look at that cute blouse! Fifty percent too!” Zoey lets out a squeal as she presses her hands and face on the glass of the store.
“I think we bought more than enough.” Rumi almost dropped her balance when holding the piles of bags they got during their shopping spree. She swears this is going to make her have neck pain as she tries to see through small gaps of the bags.
“Too late, she’s already in.” Mira places a hand on her hip as she watches Zoey running inside like it's Black Friday.
Rumi leans her back on the window now placing a few of the bags down as they wait. She lets out a puff of air as she fans herself from the heat, even Mira has to adjust her shades. She never really thought much about it but their disguises weren’t really great, she wonders how even the biggest fans weren’t able to notice them.
Good day, no demons, no red warning signs of the shield, just peace right underneath the burning hot sun. She cursed herself for even being covered with multiple layers today, shows how her paranoia still gets to her.
Adjusting her turtleneck she heard a swoosh as if something passed by from above, she swore she also saw a shadow. Rumi slowly lights up, is it the big cat? Jinu unfortunately never really shared her its name. If it’s not the cat nor the crow then she’s definitely imagining things, or maybe it’s the demons, but it is impossible at the moment.
“Guys!” Zoey’s voice took her out of her stupor as she and Mira turned their heads to their friend. “The owner noticed me and let me have that gorgeous blouse before it went out of stock! And get this, their store was playing one of our songs, Golden!”
“Good taste.” Mira’s smile played on her lips. “Will probably check that store out sometime.”
“Where to girls?” Rumi asks as she grabs the bags from the ground, luckily Zoe offers to grab a few off her hold.
“I’m hungry, let’s eat some hot pot!” Zoey exclaims. “After that we’ll put the clothes we bought back home.”
“Sounds good.” Mira said. “Though we got a lot of bags. If anyone dares to steal one of them then they’ll have to face my wrath.”
“Yeah- none of these are cheap..” Rumi mumbles. Good think they’re fit enough to chase down some thieves.
Once they began walking through the streets, they underestimated how stable their hold and view was when they were met by a passing crowd. They bump through a few people and the three are having a hard time, Zoey clutches the bag that got her new blouse close to her chest and Rumi has to look sideways to watch where she’s going.
Mira helped guide the two to where it’s easy to breathe. “Okay.. I feel like we need to place the bags back in our rooms first.”
Before Rumi and Zoey would agree, someone nudged harshly straight to her side. Mira had to catch herself and the paper bags from her stumble.
“Woah what the- hey!” She barks at the nearby group who passed by them. “You better apologise, you nearly knocked someone over!”
Rumi turns to the group of boys and she nearly jumps when she notices a slight hint of blue hair in one of them, her blood runs even colder when the other boys look back at them, each gorgeous and bare hateful glances.