Chapter Text
She had gone to see him once, just once, but now she wasn’t sure if that courtesy had been a mistake. Obviously, the slowly creeping doubts about the true nature of demons have been eating at her, and that fan meeting where they were interjected with the Saja Boys was a disaster, but there was this arguably worse, more incessant reminder that wouldn’t budge.
Seriously, Jinu must be a terrible pet owner.
Because his tiger and his bird have made themselves more than at home in her room, and they weren’t budging.
Truthfully, Rumi didn’t mind their presence, aside from the fact that they served as a jarring reminder of that oh too perfect face and soothing voice. They kept her company, and she had to admit, they were kind of cute. But when she woke up that morning, they were still there, and when she had left that afternoon for practice, they were still there, and when she got back that night, they were still there.
Are these just her pets now? She didn’t exactly sign up for this. And they haven’t eaten, she realizes with a bit of panic. She doesn’t have any pet food, and as far as she is aware tigers don’t eat ramyeon.
What do demon pets eat anyways, souls? She’s not feeding them souls. That quite literally defeats the whole purpose of her mission, and where would she even get souls? Shes pretty sure the local Family Mart doesn’t sell that.
The tiger stares back at her with big beady eyes, and the bird does the same but with three. She ruffles through her mind on what to do, as the thought of being in their position, not having eaten for a day, sends her stomach growling.
The tiger gently opens her mouth, revealing a letter. The same one she took yesterday; an invitation that only ended in argument. She didn’t want to take it, the less she spoke to this moron the better, but surely, the pet owner, no matter how terrible he may be, knows what to feed the strange demon-tiger-bird duo.
So she takes his invitation, and the pets disappear down the back alleyway. She changes her pants — no more teddy bear choo-choo trains, she doesn’t feel like being made fun of again — and makes her way down, following the pets.
“Didn’t expect you to miss me so soon.” Juni says from a distance, and despite his back being turned, Rumi rolls her eyes in retort.
“Didn’t expect you to repeatedly take a girl to a dingy ass alleyway.” She shoots back. “Way to treat a woman.”
Jinu chuckles, just a bit, and turns around to face her. “You didn’t specify you had a preference.”
“And I shouldn’t have to tell you I have standards . Seriously, someone else’s rooftop then my own fan-signing. I’d appreciate some courtesy around here. Was chivalry already dead 400 years ago?”
Jinu laughs again, and his hand grazes upon the tigers head. It leans into his touch, purring. “Apologies princess, will keep that in mind next time.”
“And I didn’t miss you.” Rumi adds, trying to add as much bite to her tone as possible. “I’m only here cause of those two.” She points at Jinu’s pets and he raises an eyebrow.
“Are they causing trouble?” Jinu asks, his quickly tone changing from smug to genuinely concerned, and Rumi holds back a laugh.
“Do they cause you trouble back home?”
“Not really, but the tiger keeps knocking down things then failing to put them back up.”
Rumi smiles to herself. “Same thing happened with my pots.” She says, walking over to pet the tiger too. It purrs into her touch, and moves closer. “Seems he likes me more, considering he’s spent the whole day in my room. Are you abusive by any chance? Is that a demon thing?”
“I’ll have you know they love me.” Jinu retorts. “And they’re only in your room to spy on you.”
“What?!” Rumi yells, and Jinu laughs at her reaction. She pulls out her sword, and points it straight at him. “You sly little shi-“
“I’m joking, I’m joking.” Jinu says, but his laughs are seeping through and his hands are resting sarcastically by his head, feigning surrender.
“Hmph, so they do like me.” Rumi says, putting her sword away.
“No, they just hate the demon world.”
“And they like me.” Rumi adds, to which Jinu rolls his eyes.
“Yeah, because you’re obviously soooo likeable, with your sword and choo-choo pants.”
“I changed my pants.”
“To impress me? Cute.”
Rumi makes a mental note to wear the choo-choo train teddy beat pants the next time they meet. She is not trying to impress him. Heck, she isn’t even thinking about what he thinks of her! Why would she care. Shes going to like, oppose the care, you know.
“Did you feed them?” She points at the pets and Jinu raises an eyebrow.
“What?”
“Your pets Jinu, they haven’t eaten yet have they? You can’t just make me your pet sitter and not tell me what to feed them, thats irresponsible parenting.”
“Is that what you came to see me for?” Jinu asks, and Rumi can’t tell if she’s imagining it, but he sounds very slightly hurt.
“I need to feed them.” Rumi answers, making a face. “Your tiger keeps staring at me with those big cute eyes and I’m starting to feel like a bad person for letting it starve.”
Jinu sighs, looking slightly amused. “What do you think demons eat?”
“Souls? Happiness? My precious time and sleep?”
“No.” Jinu frowns. “We’re basically undead, so we… don’t really have to eat anything.”
Rumi raises an eyebrow and stares down at the tiger. It looks perfectly fluffy, and plump, and well fed, and she can’t kept but notice Jinu doesn’t exactly look malnourished either. She supposes it makes sense, then. She doesn’t think there is much food in the demon world.
“They do like treats though.” Jinu adds. “Sometimes, I like to steal some from stores to feed them.”
“Anything in particular?” She asks, her fingers running through the tiger’s fur.
“Not really. They kind of eat anything.” Jinu answers. “You seem fond of them.”
“Heh, much more than I am of you.” Rumi says, but it dawns on her just how comfortable they are being with another. She should have her sword out, pointed straight at him; or better yet, she shouldn’t be here.
But Jinu doesn’t budge. He smirks, leans in just a bit, and places his hand over hers. “I think that’s a lie, if you’ve come to see me two nights in a row.”
Rumi yanks her hand away, and scowls at him. “And I think you’re an egotistical ass, if you can’t recognize that the only reason I’d ever come to see your smug face is for your cute pets.”
“You know, my favorite pick up line to use on girls is the whole ‘your pets are so cute thing’!” Jinu shouts, but Rumi is already walking away, hands in her pockets, with a tiger and bird following her.
“Like you can pull girls!” She yells back, but she is obviously lying; those good looks could charm anyone, and she can’t help but wonder, or feel just a tad bit jealous, of the girls he had charmed before her.
She shook her head as she continued walking away. It didn’t matter. And it certainly mattered even less, when she turned her head back to check on him, and Jinu was gone.