Chapter Text
She can't stop staring at Celine.
She was worried, what happened to make Celine, her little Cece who was always up to the challenge, react like that?
"How are you alive?" Celine turned around and Mi-Yeong for the first time, he could see the girl's face clearly.
Covered in dirt and blood. Expression marks on her face and gray hairs in her hair.
"… What? Cece we've always been alive, what are you talking about?" Poppy laughed nervously, her hands still on Celine's back.
Moving herself to look at the younger's face, finding the same as Mi-Yeong.
Mi-Yeong's hands wonder. She retracted her hands, making them a fist and then moving them closer to Celine's face.
Touching her cheeks softly. Celine couldn't resist nuzzling in her hands and close her eyes, even if they still smell like… that.
"Cece you look… older." Mi-yeong said. Her thumb doing circles in her cheek and the other hand now touching Celine's neck.
"… Wow. I didn't think you would look hotter as a milf."
Mi-yeong slowly turned around, her face scowling, and scanned Poppy from head to toe with judgmental eyes.
"Shut up Poppy, help me here to calm Cece."
And it was necessary. At this moment Celine is feeling that she could faint in any moment but…
"You are not real" Celine bring the heel of her hands to her eyes, rubbing them hard.
"You are not real and I'm dreaming" She repeat, her eyes watering and tears falling beneath her hands.
"Cece, we need to know what happened. Please, tell us" Poppy crawled closer, her hands entangled in Celine's hair, as she always did when she was alive.
Except that they are alive again and don't remember how they could have died.
"This is a dream. I'm dreaming" She bring her hands to her hair, cupping it in her fists and without looking her directly in the eyes.
"Cece, Cece it is ok, we can deal with anything if we are together" Mi-Yeong grabbed Celine's hands, detangling her fingers out of her hair and preventing her from hurting herself further.
While Poppy lifts her face, looking around her, at the big tree, her favorite hill in the hunters' cemetery, the gravestones where their names can be read.
"Ssi-bal, Mi-yeong, look at this" Poppy points to the stones on the graves, rising slightly from her position.
Ryu Mi-yeong
사랑하는 어머니, 사냥꾼, 연인, 지도자 햇살처럼 사랑받으셨네
200X
Jeo Ha-Joon Poppy
야생의 사냥꾼, 사랑하는 자이자 사랑받는 자, 별이 지기까지
200X
"… Cece, how long has it been?"
"… A lot."
Then the panic arises.
"How long!? Celine we — we couldn't have been dead!"
"I don't remember, I don't remember! How—"
"Celine were is my baby? Were is Rumi!?"
"She couldn't be dead too— please tell me she's not dead."
"How old is she? Tell me please that she's ten. Im begging you—"
"She must be the one who gave you gray hair early—"
"If not, please, fifteen, sixteen. That's a lot of time, I would still have time to see her grow—"
"What does she like? Sing like you? Does she prefer dance or write?"
"She have friends? Does her patterns hurt? Her patterns bother her?"
"—or cars? She still likes trains? I could—"
"What happened? I don't remember how we could—"
"STOP." Celine almost scream.
"Just. Stop. I can't. Let's — Let's enter the hanok, we need to process this… We need time. And I need to call Rumi" Celine stopped the barrage of questions with an authoritative voice, the voice she only used when she was in board meetings or coaching Rumi, Mira, and Zoey. A voice her girls only heard when she was arguing with her manager and producer about changes to her songs.
"Oh… she's alive, thank Honmoon"
After that, only the sound of the summer wind broke the silence for a few minutes, until Poppy decided to speak again.
"You look so good, I wouldn't be mad to have an older girlfriend" She said as she took a strand of her hair and wrapped it around her finger, avoiding her gaze.
"Oh yeah me neither, even less if she look this hot and raised my daughter—"
They were always a menaces.
"Let's enter. Now. Im having a headache. Can you walk? Need help?" Celine interrupted Mi-Yeong, rising from her position on the floor and offering both hands for them to take.
"Just… let me try" Poppy took one of the offered hands, pushing herself up.
"Yes, couldn't be hard" Mi-Yeong laughed, took her hand and then.
Both fell.
From the impulse, both managed to hold on to Celine, causing all three of them to almost fall to the floor again.
"Ok no we lied—" Poppy grabbed Celine by the neck, her legs and arms trembling from the effort.
"We need help Cece, please" Mi-Yeong on the other hand, clung to the cardigan that the younger/older sister was wearing.
Celine sighed again, it looks like she's going to do that a lot these days.
She grabbed Poppy first, lifting her piggyback and then tangling her legs at her front. Then Mi-yeong. Lifting her in a princess carry.
"Celine! I'm too heavy!" Mi-Yeong she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Wait! I can walk!" Poppy screamed even though everyone knew perfectly well it was a lie.
"Shush. You two weigh nothing."
As Celine start walking, in the path between the cemetery and the hanok, she couldn't stop thinking about it.
They weighed nothing. And it wasn't like they were type ghostly or something like that. No, they were almost skin and bones.
She couldn't remember if they were like that when she buried them.
They were that light? She thought for the third, fourth, or maybe fifth time.
She needed to feed them. Quickly. They needed to gain weight.
First… first that? And then a bath? Yeah. Then sleep. They need sleep. And then she needs to call Rumi for their weekly call. Or visit her.
With the schedule planned, she moved faster. Finally entering the house and move directly to the kitchen. Leaving both girls in her sight while she cooked lunch.
"Just, stay here, please. Im going to make food"
And then she entered the kitchen, her steady hands (even in the worst moments) started to grab ingredients and some fruit to eat immediately.
"She's strong" Poppy said, looking directly at Celine. Who was cutting fruit.
"… She must be. Watch this." Mi-yeong answered, taking a photo that was placed at the kitchen table, wich was different from how they remembered it.
It was a sweet, old photo, even when they didn't knew that.
It showed Celine and Rumi , where Rumi was a kid and she was sitting on Celine's lap, showing off her toothless smile and a dragon braid in her lilac hair. In front of them was a cake with the number seven on it.
"She's so big… how old is our baby now?" Poppy stared at the photo.
"I… I don't know." And that hurt. The only way that she recognized her baby was that iconic lilac hair, because the last thing she remembered was a chubby one-year-old baby who had just learned to walk.
It hurted know that her daugher grew and she couldn't be there, that neither of them could be there for her or for Celine.
As they had sworn.
For them, in the end, death felt like nothing more than a dream. A dimming and brightening of lights. Waking up inside those coffins was like waking up from a nap.
Celine returned and placed chopped fruit in front of them. Strawberries, apples, and oranges—their favorite fruits.
"Eat while you wait for the food" Then she left.
They stared at her, watching her carefully.
"Im… concerned. This is real? We died?" Poppy whispered, her hands trembling but reaching for one of her soulmates.
"I can't remember. Why?" Mi-Yeong raised her other hand, the one that wasn't holding the photo frame, and took the hand Poppy offered her.
"If we are freaking about this I can't imagine Celine"
"The look in her eyes… She's dissociating this. Hard."
The sound of their stomachs growling interrupted their conversation. Sharing a glance, they began to eat the fruit.
Celine finished adding the ingredients to the pan, placed her hands on the counter, and looked in his general direction, her gaze lost.
An absolute silence in the kitchen.
"Is this real I'm not dreaming?"
Her gaze fell on one of the knives she had used to cut the onions. She picked it up and quickly ran it across her palm.
"Tsk— Fuck. Yes is real"
"I think our diets don't matter anymore, right?"
"I don't think so"
"No. It doesn't matter anymore. Eat up, fill yourselves up, if there are leftovers we'll eat them later." Celine returned with giant plates of reheated and freshly made food. She placed them on the table and sat down with them.
A silence filled the dining room, interrupted only by the cutlery of the two revived hunters as Celine made sure they were eating.
When the girls had eaten half of their plates, she began to eat a little.
"Let's take a bath" Celine stood up when she saw that they had finished eating. There was still a lot of food on their plates, but they were visibly satisfied.
She reached out her hand to help the girls up and support them.
With Mi-Yeong and Poppy now a little stronger and able to lean on her as they walked, she slowly made her way through the house, heading for the traditional bathroom.
Passing through the living room, filled with photos of Rumi, Mira, and Zoey in their teens. Photos she had taken in quiet, funny moments, or moments she wanted to remember with a physical reminder.
"Aww they are so cute! Rumi is so big…" Mi-Yeong commented, still in Celine's arms, her voice tinged with deep sadness.
Finally resigned to the fact that yes, many years had passed, more than she wanted, and her little girl had grown up.
Gold and silver discs on a specific wall, awards of their own group, and some Idol group called Huntr/x.
Their first Rookie award, one that they recognize, next to it another Rookie award, newer, the name Huntr/x repeating again.
Their first Golden disk, another besides it, Huntr/x again.
Grammys, Billboards.
And next to theirs, were always Hunt/x ones.
"Huntrix… Who are they Cece?" Poppy asked.
"They are… the new hunters, you would meet them later"
They entered the bathroom of the hanok, which had a shower and a large tub, perfect for several people. The woman led the girls to the shower, sitting them on the floor for a few minutes while she fetched two benches and placed them under the shower with the girls inside.
They began to remove their clothes, worn out by the years and the decay of their bodies. It was then that Celine correctly identified the smell that was bothering her so much.
She almost vomited again.
Just as they removed their clothes, Celine took them and threw them in the bathroom trash can, grabbing the bag and throwing it out the window.
"Im going to burn that later" She wispered to herself before coming back were the girls were at.
When she turned around, they were staring at her, sitting naked on the benches.
They looked... skin and bones. Thinner than she remembered seeing them last, but her memories may be distorted by time. She thinks she remembers them being on a diet, if Mi-yeong and Poppy's comments were correct.
Scars on their breasts and abdomen, perfectly located where they were—.
Where their bodies needed to be—.
She shook her head, trying to get that image out of her mind, except that they were right there in front of her. Celine removed her clothes, stained with holy soil and blood, and put them in the basket.
They were still as beautiful as the last day she saw them.
Se acercó, encendió la ducha a una temperatura apta y se sentó a gachas frente al chorro de agua.
"Is this too hot? Or too cold?" Celine asked them, reaching out to test the water temperature, finally turning to look them directly in the face.
"… Too hot."
"Too fucking hot."
"You have muscles."
"Abs."
Celine stare up at them. Blinking. Then kneeling completly in front of them. Taking another minute in silence. Then started.
"Let me get this straight. You still see me attractive. Even though I'm probably twice your age right now?"
“I've always had a thing for older women, thank you.” Poppy joked.
"You have mommy issues, that's what you have. Bath. Now." She pointed to the shower again, getting up to fetch the utensils to clean herself properly.
"I don't have your favorites anymore, because I had to trow them and they don't… they don't do those anymore. But we can try to use Rumi's if you want."
Celine said as she brought over three bottles and watched the two girls clumsily take Rumi's things.
She began to shower them. Taking the sponge to rub the girls' backs while they cleaned their foreheads with different sponges. Then she cleaned their hands and her own body.
When she saw Mi-yeong struggling with her own hair, She stood behind her again, gently rubbing her scalp and long hair.
It was shorter than Rumi's.
By far.
"Wait wait, are you telling me that the song in that movie wasn't planed?" Mira asked while eating her personalized ramen.
Huntr/x girls were doing a mukbang streaming,one of the girls' favorite types of streams when they are on hiatus, nine months after Gwi-ma's figth and the announcement of their comeback album and its promotional activities.
So they decided to take a break for a while before going on tour again.
"Oh nop, it was totally improvised, we sat that day at the studio and then we let the flow help us." Zoey was eating shrimp chips, her favorites, at that moment.
"Thad ish amazinf, jusd like us! Wait I saw a question reffering to this. Did you like to produce, write and sing this song with another people out of Huntrix?" Rumi began speaking with half of the kimbap barely chewed, while looking at the comments and finishing swallowing her food.
"It was challenging, but really fun, working with my girls for some reason makes everything easier, ideas flow differently than when I'm alone or with other people." Zoey answered with a pleased smile.
"Ok, we have another one, how has the hiatus treated you? Well, Rumisleftfang, we have been enjoying this week, resting a lot and having couch time every night."
"Yeah, we will be completely ready for the tour of Asia in three months if there are no problems during this next month of hiatus." Mira said.
"We know is long but—" The Honmoon vibrating, strong, almost like an earthquake for the hunters.
A bad signal? At least a signal, the new Honmoon had never done that before.
Their heads whipped in the direction of the disturbance. Falling silent in a matter of a millisecond. They sat there processing the feeling, which hadn't stopped. It wasn't bad, it was just strong. They couldn't identify where it was coming from.
Except when they did.
"Celine" Rumi got up, faster than the fans had ever seen her before. She was followed by Mira and Zoey.
"Im going to call Bobby" Zoey picked up her phone from the table, out of the stream's frame.
"Mira grab the backpacks, Zoey the keys—" Rumi yelled, grabbing her phone and calling Celine, cursing when she didn't answer.
Both of them came back to her side, with the requested items and Zoey on the phone with Bobby.
"Sorry guys we need to go, have a nice day" Mira approached the camera, suddenly cutting off the stream.
"Bobby is doing the papers but at this moment we don't have a pilot, Rumi? What do you say?" Zoey ended the call and looked up.
"Let's pilot that jet, we need to go. Now."
When they finished bathing, the girls and the woman came out and headed to the master bedroom, where Celine now had her room.
Celine sat the girls on her bed, went to her closet, and took out clothes for the three of them. While she was doing this, her cell phone rang with Rumi's personalized ringtone.
She left the closet, left the clothes next to the girls, and took her cell phone from her desk, where she had left it earlier.
"Celime! Are you okay!? I've been trying to call you for hours!"
"Rumi-ya, yes I am doing… well. Something happened. Sorry I didn't have my phone nearby."
"I imagined that but you scared me. We felt something from the Honmoon coming from Jeju and you didn't answer so… We have just landed in Jeju. Thank Honmoon that you are fine, we'll be home in two hours."
"That is perfect, just… don't panic when you arrive. I'm going to take a nap."
"Ok, that just made me panic. What happened?"
"I think nothing bad, just get home. We are going to talk when you see this. When you get home, could you wake me?"
"Yeah Eomma. Love you"
"Love you too aegi, take care."
When she turned around, Mi-Yeong and Poppy were already asleep under their sheets, without having put on any of the clothes she had laid there for them.
They left only a space in the middle, as they always did when they wanted her to lie down with Rumi on her chest.
And she was already sleepy, that day had been too busy, emotionally and physically. She was already tired.
She dropped her bathrobe, letting it fall to the floor, and moved to lie down in the space they had left to her.
Quickly, both young women wrapped their bare limbs in it, and for the first time since Rumi stopped coming into her bed because of nightmares or whenever she hurt herself in a hunt or grew up enough, she slept accompanied in her bed.
She slept deeply and peacefully as she hadn't done in years, skin to skin, heat against heat.
Almost the perfect nap.