Rumi shouldn’t be here.

Sneaking through the outskirts of Seoul wasn’t exactly on-brand for a K-pop idol, but it was very on-brand for a girl living with a dangerous secret. Keeping Mira and Zoey in the dark had been the hardest thing she’d ever done. But Celine had been clear, brutally so. If they knew, they’d see her differently. And that, Rumi wasn’t ready for. So, the secret stayed buried.

But lately… it was cracking.

The golden Honmoon was soooo close, but Saja Boys were closing in, and her patterns, glowing bright and wild and spreading when they shouldn’t, were flaring more often. Holding it together was becoming damn near impossible. Which made this even dumber. Reaching out to you? Meeting you out here, off-grid and totally exposed?

Bad idea. Terrible idea. And yet, here she was.

At first, you’d been infuriating. The only girl in the Saja Boys and, somehow, the most arrogant of the bunch. All swagger, smirks, and that maddeningly magnetic voice that had even Huntr/x fans swooning. And okay, yeah, you were gorgeous. Like, infuriatingly so. But none of that mattered because you were a demon. Rumi had seen it herself, your marks were unique, your moves, the way you could teleport mid-fight just to taunt her.

And the kicker? You knew about her patterns too. Could’ve exposed her at any moment. One word to Mira or Zoey and it would’ve been over. But you didn’t.

Then came the conversation.

You'd sent your dumb little pet spirit- the weirdly fluffy bear-thing that still creeped her out sometimes- and insisted on talking. Rumi almost didn’t show. But curiosity got the better of her, and now she kind of hated that it did. Because what she learned? Changed everything.

You weren’t just tagging along with the Saja Boys for fun. You were there to keep them in line. Because some demons still had trouble focusing on missions when chaos reigned. And apparently, your dad trusted you to keep them grounded.

Yeah, your dad? Was Gwi-Ma.

Rumi had almost passed out when you said that—just casually like you were talking about the weather. You were half-demon, half-human. Your mom had been human. And she passed away when you were young. And then your dad pulled you down into his world and raised you in it. That was your life. Normal didn’t even register.

But what hit Rumi most… was how uncertain you looked. Not fake. Not evil. Just… complicated. Like you’d been playing a role so long you weren’t sure where it ended and where you began. That’s probably why Rumi kept coming back. Because, in you, she saw herself. Someone trapped between complicated worlds in something bigger than they ever asked for.

If only she could forget how easy it was to talk to you. How light she felt around you. Like maybe, for once, she wasn’t a walking hypocrit. You already knew her worst secret. Somehow, that made her feel… safe.

So yeah. She was here. On a rooftop, hoodie sleeves pulled down over her hands, legs tucked up as she picked at a thread and waited. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Her phone buzzed. Zoey.

“Where r u? Mira tried calling. U okay???”

Rumi sighed and thumbed out a reply:

“Jog. I know you hate jogs. Didn’t wanna bug you. Srry.”

She turned her phone off and muttered under her breath, the city skyline flickering in the distance like stars in the sky.

“What am I even doing here…”

Then- whoosh. Barely a sound like wind blew past her, but she should've known better.

Your voice, smug but smooth next in her ear:

“Waiting for me?”

Rumi whipped around so fast her hood slipped off. Her face lit up in the dim moonlight, flushed with rage, embarrassment, and that stupid heart flutter she hated.

“You!! STOP doing that! Shit, has no one taught you to say ‘Hi’ like a normal person?! And you’re late, don’t even pull the ‘I can teleport’ card when you can’t show up on time!”

She started smacking your shoulder, light but persistent. You didn’t flinch, didn’t move. She knew you could’ve dodged. But you didn’t.

That made it worse.

Because part of her loved that you didn’t. And that terrified her more than any demon or secret ever could.