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Rumi has always felt fulfilled in her life, like she had a purpose; whether it be performing on stage to the beat of her fans' hearts or slaughtering demons with each laboured breath. Her heart had always felt full and heavy, only dragged down by the weight of her patterns on her aching soul.
Defeating Gwi-ma only made that fulfilment burn brighter and despite the fact her patterns still decorated her skin, Rumi found that her soul didn’t feel as heavy… especially now that another soul hummed alongside her own.
Rumi had struggled a lot with her demon heritage between hiding it from her closest friends and cutting down creatures that she saw in her own reflection every time she looked at herself.
But Jinu…
Mira and Zoey still didn’t know about him nor the chasm he had left in her life, leaving only the burning embers of his soul to kindle her own. It was the best parting gift he could have left, it was perhaps one of the only things keeping Rumi afloat in the aftermath of the Idol Awards.
Allowing her friends to see her patterns, finally letting herself unwind in the bathhouse, performing to her fans without the hanging pressure of the Honmoon distracting her from the adrenaline rush, it was amazing but having a freed Jinu by her side would have made it all perfect.
So she cherished what she had of him, seeking comfort and quiet moments with the weight his soul left in her chest. It was heavy in a good way, a constant reminder of how his hands had felt in hers and how his smile had persisted as Gwi-ma’s blast consumed him.
Don’t think about the bad, Rumi. Think of what good he left behind
That was the mantra that carried Rumi through Huntrix’s latest comeback, the mantra she had repeated to her bandmates (emitting some… demonic connotations) . when rehearsals loomed over them and the mantra that had fuelled Zoey’s pen for their newest album. No one else would ever know about it but Rumi would keep Jinu’s spirit alive within her and she would do her best to let his goodwill thrive.
And then Rumi was empty.
There was nothing particularly alarming about that certain day; Huntrix promotions at MNet had dragged throughout the entirety of the day and whilst Bobby looked like he’d been to and from war Rumi, Mira and Zoey were all in relatively good spirits as they marched to their well deserved couch.
Their table was littered with empty ramyeon bowls, soda cans and corner store kimbap wrappers and their television had taken to autoplaying the newest streaming k-drama flick. Zoey was halfmindedly scribbling in her newest notebook with a snoring Mira’s feet propped on her feet as their dancer sprawled herself across the couch, finally ending with her head drooling onto Rumi’s pyjama pants.
Teddy bears and choo choo trains.
Rumi’s eyes were closed as she focused on her breathing for the first time that day, feeling her eyelashes brushing her cheeks, feeling the air moving through her airways and feeling the familiar weight of Jinu’s soul sitting comfortably behind her ribs.
Until it wasn’t.
She sat up with a gasp, heart hammering and hands clammy. She hadn’t felt so hopeless since that day on the Idol Award stage with her patterns burning on her skin for the whole world to see, hadn’t felt so alone since Celine forbade her from the bath house again and again and again.
Jinu had given her his soul, had given her his life, and now it was gone. What had she left of him now? What did she have left to prove Jinu and his courage ever existed? What did she have left to reassure herself that not all demons had to be monsters?
“Hey, Rumi, you all good?” Mira’s voice was scratchy from sleep as she blinked up at her bandmate from her horizontal spot on the couch, roused from her rest from Rumi’s outburst. “Don’t tell me you seen a spider.”
Zoey was also now paying rapt attention, her dewy eyes wide with worry as her pen drooped, forgotten, in her hand.
God, Rumi hated worrying them, she hated lying to them. She thought she was past this now. Her patterns were the worst of the worst and everything else was supposed to fall into place now they were in the open but the entire world felt like it was falling apart.
She missed him, she missed him desperately. He saw her in a way no one else could and that was no fault of her friends. They loved her but they would never understand her the way Jinu did.
Did.
They’d never get to see each other again now that she had lost him for good.
Rumi choked on a sob, catapulting herself from the couch and running towards her room, ignoring the worried yells from her friends as she slammed the door shut behind her. Her head was spinning, stomach twisting itself in her intestines until it felt like all she could do was vomit. She felt incomplete, like half of her being had been violently ripped away from her.
The world seemed to grow dark as her patterns glowed violently, feeling as if they were burning their presence into what was left of her, reminding her of what she would always be regardless of how much she believed she’d gotten better. She was a demon, she would always find herself alone, all she would ever feel is pain and shame and misery and-
Her thoughts were pried away from her by a sudden rough, wet sensation on her cheek, a warm presence purring into her ear. Her eyes blinked open, sticky with tears and she took a moment to orient herself, finding that she’d collapsed into a heap on the floor in the midst of her breakdown. Only then did she turn her head to find her newfound anchor and it was like the world stood still when she met the eyes of Jinu’s tiger.
It’s tongue lolled dumbly out of its mouth, dripping with saliva that now similarly coated Rumi’s tear stained cheek and its mouth was pulled into a now comforting eternal smile. It’s tiny bird counterpart was perched in its usual position, tiny feet jittering as its tiny hat wobbled with every curious twitch of its head.
How were they here? How were they alive?
All the demons are supposed to be gone, Jinu is supposed to be-
The tiger grumbled, closing its mouth for a moment with a burp before its tongue rolled back out into the open, a tauntingly familiar postcard lying in wait on the muscle.
Save the date!
The tears bubbled back before Rumi could stop them, jumping to her feet so fast that her vision swam but she ran all the same, leaving the tiger and bird meowing in confusion in her room. The prospect of Mira or Zoey finding them was lost on her, it was the last thing on her mind as she bolted across the rooftops of Seoul, the soggy postcard gripped so tight in her fist she could feel the ink bleeding onto her hand.
She hadn’t read it, she didn’t need to read it.
She knew.
She had gotten him his soul back, he had given it to her and she had kept it safe.
And now Jinu was back, he had to be.
She was at the rooftop before she even had time to truly process her realisation, that damned place where he had first confronted her about her patterns; she could still see the scuffs on the tiles where they had danced around each other, scrapes in the foundations where her sword had cleaved and missed its target.
Rumi could see him.
She ran, a laugh bubbling in her throat as she finally found her voice again, crying out a joyous, “You’re alive!” as she crashed into his back. Only for his severed head to fall from his shoulders and land with a hollow thud, wig fluttering in the evening breeze as the remains of the mannequin collapsed from the force of her embrace.
She changed her mind, he could stay dead.
“You’re an asshole!” she grumbled into her shoulder, aiming it to the space behind her where she heard a nervous chuckle in reply.
“I thought it would be a better icebreaker the second time around,” his familiar voice was sheepish but Rumi found she didn’t care because he was there, he wasn’t baring his soul to her and disintegrating into dust, he was pranking her on a rooftop with a dopey grin on his stupid face.
Rumi sniffled as she finally took him in again. His patterns were gone, only faint scars remained tracing the paths they had once taken across his skin but other than that it was like he never left. His hoodie and jacket were the same she remembered, his hair parted as precisely as always and he was so unbearably alive Rumi couldn’t contain herself as she charged for the second time.
Jinu met her halfway, the pair crashing together like stars preparing for a supernova and they slotted together so perfectly as if they were never meant to be apart. Rumi buried herself in his hoodie, inhaling the smell of him as her tears melted into his clothes, crumpled postcard falling from her hand as she grasped onto his sleeves like her life depended on it. “I hate you,” she smiled into his chest, feeling his chin settle on her head as his hands settled on the small of her back to hold her close.
“I love you too,” he whispered, his smile just as audible.
“How are you alive, how are you here?” Rumi whispered, forcing herself to pull away but allowing herself to keep her grip on his sleeves.
Jinu’s smile wavered for a moment as he struggled to meet her eyes again but he found the courage, just like she knew he could, and took a deep breath.
“Gwi-ma destroyed my physical body but like any other demon I ended up back under his foot in the demon world. He used me like a punching bag, he knew I was useless to him now without a soul, I was a grunt but I could still feel it, my soul I mean, I could feel it thriving within you and bit by bit I crawled my way out. You were like a lighthouse, Rumi, you helped me find myself again,” he confessed, slipping an arm free to gently wipe the tears away from the hunter’s face. “You helped me find you .”
“You really are hopeless,” Rumi laughed wetly, sniffling as she huddled close to Jinu once more, trying her best to memorise how his body slotted against hers, praying for his heat to imprint on her skin, for his scars to echo her patterns and complete each others souls.
“Well if I’m hopeless what does that make you?”
Rumi grinned. “Six time Idol Award Artist of the Year,” she screamed playfully as Jinu pulled her close, tickling her ribs and setting a flurry of butterflies loose in the gap in her chest. It somehow didn’t feel so empty now.
“Think you can pull off seven? I might just have to make my solo debut,” he teased back, ceasing his attack to brush some flyaway hairs from Rumi’s braid off her face. “Or maybe I can leave the idol life to you, I think I’ve had enough of the whole music industry life.”
Rumi hummed in lighthearted agreement, shuffling closer and rocking onto her tiptoes. “Maybe you can follow that granny’s advice and get yourself a girlfriend-”
Jinu’s lips met hers before she could finish her sentence, fangs nipping at her chapped post-cry lips without care. They held each other like a lifeline, desperate to pull each other closer as their first kiss burned bright between them, leaving Rumi’s patterns glowing iridescent once they finally pulled apart.
“I’ve already found her.”