Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Rumi remembers all the times Celine has warned her about making sure no one ever saw her patterns, ever since she was old enough to understand what it meant.

She must have been 4 or 5 years old the first time Celine had the talk with her — they were getting ready to go out as Celine slipped a cardigan over Rumi's arms.

"Rumi," she had started, her hands gently resting over Rumi's shoulder. "You know how us hunters do something very important, right?"

"The hunters kill demons to keep the whole world safe," Rumi had replied, reciting something she'd heard countless times, gesturing widely as she does.

"Yes, good girl." Celine offered a smile in praise. "But do you know how we can tell demons apart from humans?"

"They're ugly! They have horns and sharp teeth! And they try to eat you!" Rumi replied confidently.

Celine sighed.

"You're right, demons do look like that sometimes, but sometimes, they look just like normal people." Celine looked down from Rumi's face to her arms. "How can we tell them apart then?"

Rumi furrowed her little brow as she thought as hard as she could, but ultimately gave up and looked at Celine for an answer.

"They have the same markings your dad had, because your dad was a demon," she explained. "They're called patterns." She slid Rumi's cardigan off her shoulder on her right side to reveal her strange birthmark. "They looked exactly like this." She gently ran her thumb over the purple stripes.

"I'm a demon?!" Rumi inquired a little too loudly.

Celine shushed her and covered her birthmark again, then looked out the hanok's hallway to see if there was anyone who could've heard her.

"No, you're not a demon," she reassured. "Demons gain their patterns when they start working for Gwi-ma, you were born with yours because your dad worked for him, but you don't. You're a hunter, just like your mother was." She paused, looking somewhere beyond Rumi. "But not everyone knows that. Some people will see the patterns and think you're a demon. If that happens, they're gonna try to hurt you, and I… I won't be able to protect you."

Rumi yelped and reached out for Celine, hoping for comfort.

Celine held her as she continued.

"That's why, Rumi, you have to promise me, that you'll never, ever, let anyone see your patterns." She adjusted Rumi's cardigan, that had started to slip off again. "You have to keep them covered, always." She took Rumi's face in her hands to make her look at her. "Promise me."

"I promise, Celine," she agreed before burying her face in Celine's shoulder.

Now, kneeling down at Celine's feet with her arms bound to her back with the threads of the Honmoon she fights so hard to protect while her mentor pleads for her life to be spared, she wishes she kept her promise.

She doesn't know what's going on when she's ripped off her bed by two older hunters in the morning. They don't tell her anything as her hands are chained to her back and a muzzle is shoved on her face, both made out of the same element as the weapons they summon and the Honmoon they fight for.

She screams. For Celine, for Mira and Zoey, for anyone, but the hanok is strangely empty, with no one to be seen besides Rumi herself and the two women scorting her.

They drag her to the back of the hanok, where they keep the cells for captured demons, also made out of blue celestial steel, which is what keeps them from teleporting.

Except now it's being used to contain Rumi.

"Please! What's going on?! Why am I here?!" She asks as the older women lock the door. But they just walk away without listening to any of her cries.

She grunts as she struggles against her restraints until…

"Stop that. You'll hurt yourself."

Rumi turns her head toward the voice to see Celine on the cell next to her, sitting on the floor with her hands folded on her lap and her posture as perfect as ever.

"Celine?! What-"

"They found out, Rumi," she reveals, not looking directly at her. "They know you have patterns and that I've been hiding it from them."

Rumi feels the back of her head turning cold as she thinks back to every moment of the past few days.

"I… I'm sorry." She drops to her knees. "I've been careful, I swear! I don't know how they found out, I-"

Celine raises her hand, cutting Rumi off.

"Come here." She gestures for Rumi to get closer to the bars keeping them apart.

Rumi scooches closer. Celine fits her hands through the bars and cups Rumi's face lovingly around the muzzle.

"Here's what's going to happen," she starts, brushing a strand of the hair Rumi didn't have time to braid out of her face. "They're taking us to trial, where they're going to decide your fate. When they do, all I need you to do is to stay quiet." Celine stares more intensely at her for a moment. "No matter what they tell you, no matter how they try to provoke you. You will not speak unless they talk to you and won't make any sudden moves. Address them respectfully and tell them what they ask you and nothing more. Any trace of aggression you show is going to be used against you, and you know what's going to happen then." Celine pauses for a moment, her hold on Rumi's face tightening just a little. "Don't you?"

Rumi swallows thickly; she's been aware of this ever since she was a toddler.

"Yes…"

Celine stared at Rumi with something unreadable in her face.

"Look at me." She tilts Rumi's head slightly so that she's looking directly at her. "I am not letting them hurt you. No matter what happens there today, you are getting out alive. Do you understand me?"

"But-"

"Rumi. Do you understand me?!" She uses her teacher voice, the one that compels her to obey.

"Yes, Celine." She nods unenthusiastically.

"Good girl." Celine presses a kiss on her forehead. "Now let me see if I can make your hair presentable for the trial."

Chapter Text

When Mira first arrived at the hanok, she felt like a scruffy stray cat being brought inside for the first time after quite a while.

Well, maybe because that was what actually happened.

She was 10 when she ran away from home — and her parents didn't look for her.

Spending the nights in the cold of the streets and being forced to shop lift convenience store snacks for meals did take a number on her; she was very light for her height and age, hadn't had a shower in weeks, and had nothing but the clothes on her body and a tiny cat plushie keychain (stolen from a stationary store when she was feeling particularly lonely).

She saw them in the park one day. She was sitting on the swings when a pretty older lady with black hair passed by, with a little girl with purple hair just a step behind her.

And she saw the pretty blue lights glowing around herself and the little girl with purple hair.

She followed the two of them to the ice cream shop across the street. She waited outside as they made their orders and stood there staring at them — not as discreetly as she thought — as they came out.

The little girl met Mira's eyes for a moment and then turned to whisper something in the woman's ear.

The woman smiled and nodded, and the purple haired girl walked up to Mira.

"Hi, I'm Rumi. Do you want ice cream?"

Mira nodded shyly.

After the ice cream was acquired, the three of them sat at the park and Celine asked Mira countless questions about her family and her home as she enjoyed her Samanco — and then went back to the shop to get her a second one.

On the next day, the two strangers were back, and Mira went home with them.

She shared a room with Rumi until hers was ready, and even then, they'd frequently have sleepovers.

Mira told Rumi about her family, about the ways they used to hurt her before she ran away. About how she missed her brother, who was now probably being punished in her place. About how she felt scared every time she was bad and broke the rules, because it felt like she would be hurt again.

Rumi never talked much about herself.

Of course, Mira couldn't ignore that she was also part of a secret demon hunting guild now.

She started training with Rumi as soon as she was in good physical condition, after weeks of doctor's and dietitian's appointments and eating enough to achieve a healthy weight for a growing girl.

She found training fun, and was excited to become a demon hunter like Celine and the other women that lived in the hanok; when Zoey joined then, 4 years later, she couldn't wait to debut with the two of them and make a living off music and fighting monsters.

But ever since the beginning, no one had ever worked harder for it than Rumi.

She worked them to their limits, and still they were never able to keep up with her. She would tell them to rest, but they'd never seen her doing it herself. Getting her to take a break was like trying to wrestle with a kangaroo.

When they'd ask her about it, she'd just brush it off and say it's because they've never been closer to conjuring the Golden Honmoon and sealing the demons and Gwi-ma away for good.

But Mira had always been able to tell there was more to it than that; achieving the Golden Honmoon meant something for Rumi personally — it wasn't just a sense of obligation to the world.

Mira had theories about it; maybe Celine put more pressure on Rumi behind closed doors, or maybe she wanted to achieve her late mother's goals as a way to honor her.

So when she saw a glimpse of patterns under Rumi's jacket, she knew that couldn't possibly be the real Rumi.

Mira sits up on her bed with a grunt when the entire hanok is woken up earlier than usual, being told they have a trial to attend in a couple hours.

She has no idea what that could possibly mean.

She gets dressed as usual and exits her room, hoping to find Celine or Rumi and ask them about it.

That reminds her, she hasn't seen Rumi ever since she and that demon imposter parted ways last night.

When she told the older hunters about her discovery they told her not to worry, that they would take care of it, and to go to her room and rest. She also knows Rumi can take care of herself, but she's worried about her.

If she's not safely going through her morning routine right now, Mira is going to go look for Rumi herself — with Zoey tagging along, probably.

She soon finds out neither Rumi or Celine are anywhere to be found

She asks her elders about it. They tell her not to worry, she'll see them soon.

Ominous.

She finds Zoey, who is also concerned about their absence.

"I have a bad feeling about this," she says.

Mira offers her comfort by rubbing her back, telling her it's going to be okay.

But she doesn't feel good about it either.

They walk hand in hand to the hanok's patio, where they were told the trial will take place.

She knows something is wrong the moment the doors open and Celine walks in, not escorting a demon, which she assumed would be the culprit, but being escorted instead, with Rumi following behind her, with chains around her wrists and neck, and a muzzle on her face.

Not Rumi, she reminds herself. Rumi doesn't have patterns. It's just a demon wearing her face.

Still, she doesn't like how human it looks. How it wears the same scared expression Mira has seen on Rumi's face before. Doesn't like the way it leans on Celine's leg when it's forced to kneel, like a child leaning on their mother for comfort.

And she doesn't like the way Celine pats her head in return, as if it were…

"Kang Celine. You are now facing trial for hiding Ryu Rumi's patterns from the guild," says one of the elders.

No.

That can't be right.

The demon she saw… It wasn't Rumi, was it?

It was an imposter, she was sure of it!

She wouldn't have told them if it was actually…

Zoey clings to her arm with a soft gasp. With one glance at her and the other hunters' faces, she has her answer.

She made a mistake.

She has to fix it.

Chapter Text

When Zoey last saw Rumi last night, they were saying goodnight. She gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before turning around to go to her own bedroom.

“Aren’t you going to bed?” She asked Mira when she realized she was going the opposite direction after Rumi had already closed her door.

“I will. I just have something to do first.” She pressed a kiss to Zoey’s forehead. “You should go rest though. See you in the morning.”

“Good night.” Zoey disappeared into her room.

Zoey knows people see her as naive, because that’s the truth — at least, to a certain extent.

But that doesn’t mean she’s completely oblivious.

Ever since she first arrived to the hanok at 12 years old, she had the feeling Rumi was hiding something.

One day, she accidentally walked in on Rumi changing as she was just pulling her hoodie up her arms.

And she saw them — the patterns they’ve been fiercely taught to fear.

Rumi looked panicked when she saw Zoey standing at her door.

Zoey shook away her shock and offered her a kind smile.

“Are you feeling okay?” She asked Rumi, pretending she didn’t see a thing.

And Rumi seemed to have believed her act.

“Just fine!” She replied, smiling a little too widely. “Let’s go, Celine is waiting.”

She never told anyone what she saw.

Sure, they were taught that demons are evil and have no soul, but she would rather trust her own experiences than blindly believe what someone told her, and her experiences have taught her that Rumi was good.

Rumi patches her up after particularly rough sparring sessions, comforts her when she’s feeling homesick and protects her when they go out on supervised hunts.

No amount of patterns she might have will change that.

Zoey kept that secret for years, afraid of what might happen if anyone else found out. She wasn’t sure why Rumi was hiding or who else knew about it, but she supposed that if she hid it even from her and Mira, then maybe there was a non-zero chance that someone would hurt her over it.

A demon living amongst hunters. A sheep in wolf’s clothing.

Well, that would be the case if hunters were wolves, which they weren’t, because they were protecting the sheep from being hurt by the actual wolves. So that would make hunters livestock guardian dogs, which would make Rumi a wolf in a guard dog’s clothing, which is a very a disturbing imagery, but then she thinks about a wolf pup being found by a pack of dogs who think that the pup is also a dog and take them home, and now the little pup is scared for their life that their pack will find out they’re actually a wolf and hurt them when they’ve done nothing but protect the sheep with their pack this entire time.

Rumi is a wolf pup. A very tragic wolf pup.

She didn’t want to believe the people who have been taking care of them for years would attempt to do the unthinkable to Rumi, but when the trial was announced, a part of her already expected the worst. Seeing Rumi chained up and muzzled, on her knees in front of everyone proved her suspicions right.

The eldest hunter, Hayeon, announces the beginning of the trial, and Zoey wants to scream at everyone for doing someone so cruel to her friend — she’s not even being treated as a culprit, just as evidence to Celine’s crime.

She swallows back her tears and lightly slaps her own cheeks a few times to help her focus, granting her a few weird looks.

“Celine,” Hayun starts. “The guild has been suspicious about Rumi for years and yesterday someone told us they saw patterns on Rumi’s arms. Is it true that you’ve been hiding this from everyone this entire time?” She inquired, her face unreadable.

“Yes, it is true,” Celine admits, but Zoey doesn’t think she looks very regretful; her posture is as elegant and her face is as neutral as ever. She looks at Hayeon in the eye and doesn’t waver an inch, the only sign that she could be in any distress being her hand occasionally moving to pat Rumi’s head.

On the other hand, the guilt she couldn’t see in Celine’s face was present in Mira’s.

Rumi whimpers as another hunter pulls up the sleeves of her hoodie, revealing demon patterns all over her arms.

There are quiet gasps in the crowd. Most of the others don’t look particularly hostile, some are even looking at Rumi with pity.

“I've known since you were a little girl, Celine,” Hayun analyzes Celine from head to toe. “And I must say, I’ve never thought you of all people would do something like this.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint,” Celine replies, politely bowing her head. “However, I am not sorry for my actions.”

“Really?” Hayun raises a brow impatiently. “How so? The Honmoon could have been destroyed because of your lies. How can you justify that?!”

Celine takes a step in front of Rumi protectively and speaks with her chest puffed.

“Rumi has always been a good kid. She doesn't deserve to pay the price for her mother’s mistake.” She runs her fingers through Rumi’s hair. “My lies gave her a chance to grow up, to prove to everyone she’s not a monster before all of you could have made your own assumptions. And I was the one who made her keep her nature a secret. Whatever punishment you may have in mind should be directed at me and not her.”

So Celine has known this entire time. Zoey had suspected this was the case, but wasn’t sure of it.

“I will decide on your punishment once the demon has been dealt with.” Hayun looks at the hunter who’s the nearest to her. “Minji, do it.”

From beside Zoey, Mira summons her gok-do before anyone else can do anything.

“Are you out of your minds?! You’ve all known Rumi ever since she was a kid! You’re just gonna ignore all of it because of a few lines on her skin?!” She shouts as she takes a few steps until she’s standing in front of Rumi, gok-do protectively blocking the way.

Zoey follows her lead and summons her shin-kal.

“If you wanna hurt her you’ll have to go through us!”

“I appreciate the gesture but this was a very poor decision,” Celine whispers at them, rubbing her temple.

“Don’t worry teacher! We’ve got this,” Zoey whispers back, winking at Celine.

Hayun sighs.

“Will you show Mira and Sohee their way out please?” She turns to two older hunters who grab them by their arms.

Zoey yelps as she feels herself being moved. Maybe they haven’t got this.

She struggles against the older woman’s hold as Mira does the same — if they’re going to be barred from the trial anyway, they might as well give them a hard time while doing so.

“LET THEM GO!”

Everything goes still for a moment as a voice that sounds like the combination of several voices combined shakes the Honmoon.

Chapter Text

Rumi recoils at the sound of her own voice.

She didn’t mean to, she swears! That has never happened before. Why now of all times?!

She raises her head. Every single pair of eyes in the room rests upon her.

They look shocked. And scared. Even Celine, even Mira and Zoey.

“Minji!” Hayeon urges, gesturing at Rumi.

Minji summons her weapon, a type of spear.

"Wait! Please, I didn’t mean to!” Rumi struggles against her restrains and tries to get up, only to be forced back down by another hunter — Hana, the one that used to sneak Rumi candy when she was little and was always nice to her.

She sees Minji raise her spear.

"Please…” She attempts to beg one more time, but there’s no use. A demon isn’t worth their mercy.

She closes her eyes as the spear goes down.

Rumi never feels the impact.

For just a second, she thinks she’s crossing the veil between the mortal world and the afterlife.

She half expects to hear her mother’s voice at any moment now, telling her it was time to go, that she was done being scared now, that there was nothing to fear, that nothing that could hurt her anymore.

Just for a second, she was relieved that dying didn’t hurt.

That is until she hears the sound of metal clanging against metal, and looks up to see Celine blocking Minji’s spear with her ssang-geum before sending her falling backwards.

Then, Mira takes a swing at Hana, forcing her to let go of Rumi, and then cuts her free of her bindings and pulling her behind her.

"I’m sorry,” she says, without looking at Rumi.

"What-”

"Now’s not the time for this, we need to help Celine!” Zoey exclaims, blocking a flying blade with her shin-kal.

"Do not try to fight them,” Celine orders. “Just stay behind me.”

“But-”

"You’re no match to them. They have years more experience than you.” Celine gives them a sharp “teacher” glare that always compels them to obey.

Crossing her swords together above her head, Celine creates a shield around them with the Honmoon. Rumi knows how good Celine is at manipulating the Honmoon, but every hunter has influence over it — that means it’s not going to hold for long.

Rumi can see the sweat on Celine’s face as she tries to keep the shield up, but each strike of the other hunters’ blade weakens it.

As she watches what she knows will be the last strike before she shield vanishes, an axe comes flying and blocks it before landing on the ground, making everyone go still.

Rumi furrows her brows at it. The axe doesn’t belong to anyone in the guild, she’s sure of it. So who's-

"So, Celine finally got in trouble, huh?” A strangely familiar voice comes from the patio’s doorway.

Rumi looks at the voice’s direction and gasps. She’s seen that face countless times before on videos and magazine covers, but it’s her first time seeing it in person.

"Jia,” Celine whispers.

Rumi turns to her and sees Celine’s eyes glowing with tears threatening to fall. If Rumi’s memory isn’t failing her, Celine is encountering her former bandmate for the first time ever since their third passed away — ever since Rumi was born.

Hayeon takes a few steps toward Jia as the crowd mutters her name.

"Under any other circumstance I'd be happy to see you, Jia,” she starts, not looking very joyful. “But now I need to know why you came at such time.”

Jia crosses her arms over her chest.

"The Honmoon urged me to come.” She walks up to the rest of the guild. “Whatever you’re planning on doing, it’s not happy.”

“Of course it’s not happy!” Minji exclaims. “Celine has been raising a demon!”

“You’re the demon!” Rumi yells, pettily. She knows it’s a bad decision but she is getting tired of just standing there and letting people insult her like she’s not in the room.

“Rumi.” Celine glares at her and pulls her behind her, but Rumi still manages to throw an angry look at Minji.

“You’re the ones the Honmoon is angry at!” Jia clarifies. “Why do you think it’s protecting Celine and the kids?” She gestures at the shield around them.

The patio grows silent as Jia’s words are taken in.

Even Rumi needs a minute to process it. As a hunter, she’s always had a connection to the Honmoon and had always been able to handle it with ease, but realizing that it’s protecting her is news to her.

She takes a moment to close her eyes and slightly bow her head, thanking it in silence.

"Take the demon back to the containment cell,” Hayeon orders. “Let’s settle this privately.

Rumi sits in the middle of her glowing cell in a dark room with her forehead resting against the bars for a while before Mira and Zoey show up, arms full of snacks.

"Hey!” Zoey smiles at her.

Although seeing them brings her some relief, Rumi knows they’re definitely not supposed to be there.

"Go away before you two get in trouble with me,” she advises.

"I don’t care about getting in trouble,” Mira protests, sitting in front of Rumi and handing her a bag of chips. “We’re not leaving you alone.”

"What about my patterns?” She tears into the bag, only now remembering she didn’t get any breakfast before being tossed in the cage.

Mira and Zoey exchange a look.

"You’re our friend and we love you,” Zoey states, reaching out through the bars to lay her hand on Rumi’s shoulder. “You’re our girl. We’ve got you.” She gives her a soft smile.

"And if any of those jerks try to get to you, we’ll get them.” Mira summons her gok-do and slams the staff on the ground.

Rumi chuckles.

"No, you won’t, they’ll kick your butts.” She starts laughing, but her laughter slowly turns into crying.

And that’s when she falls apart.

She is trapped here while her fate is being discussed. She had her fellow hunters — who she’s known since she was a baby — point their weapons at her, having been ordered to kill her. Celine is in trouble because of her, and she can't do anything from this tiny cell.

"Rumi…” Mira starts, but is interrupted by the room’s door opening and Celine walking in, followed by Jia and Hayeon.

Chapter Text

Jia follows elder Hayeon and Celine into the room where Miyeong’s daughter, Rumi, is being kept.

After seeing the girl’s patterns, things started clicking into place for her; how secretive Miyeong was about the baby’s father, how Celine would insist on keeping Rumi as close as possible all the time…

Jia wishes she had noticed the signs sooner. If she had, she would never have left, or she would have convinced Celine to leave and bring Rumi with them, instead of raising the girl in a lion’s den.

Alas, it’s too late to change that. All she can do is to try and keep the girl safe now.

When the doors to the room open, Rumi’s partners — Mira and Zoey — jump in front of her holding cell with her weapons in hand.

“It’s okay, girls,” Celine reassures. “We’re only here to talk.” She turns to Hayeon. “May we have some privacy?”

“Mhm.” Hayeon nods. “Come on, girls.”

“They’re staying!” Rumi puts her foot down.

“You're not in position to request anything, demon!” Hayeon replies.

“It’s okay, Hayeon,” Jia intervenes. “It will be good for the girls to know as well.

Hayeon sighs.

“Very well then.” She disappears behind the closed doors.

Jia opens the door to Rumi’s cell and gestures for her to step out, and she’s immediately taken into Celine’s arms in an embrace like she’s afraid she might get taken away again.

“Everything is going to be okay, I promise,” she whispers while cradling the back of Rumi’s head.

“That’s one way to say everything is going downhill,” the girl with pink hair, Mira, snarks.

“What’s going to happen?” Rumi pulls away from Celine, and Jia notices the pained expression on her friend’s face.

“There are some… measurements being put in place,” Celine reveals.

“What measurements? Is Rumi gonna be okay?” The other girl, Zoey, asks.

“Conditions are not ideal,” Jia admits. “But you’re all going to be safe.”

“Jia will explain everything soon but for now, we don’t have much time,” Celine takes over. Jia gives her shoulder a squeeze; although Celine’s expression and tone are back to being as neutral as ever, she knows how heartbroken she is.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Rumi demands, looking from Celine to Jia.

“Rumi.” Celine cups Rumi’s face with one hand. “Just listen, alright?” She sighs. “The others are convinced you have some kind of demonic hypnotic powers and that you’ve done something to me.”

“I would never!” Rumi scowls, clearly offended.

“I know, that’s obviously ridiculous,” Celine assures. “But they want to keep me under observation for a while so they can find a way to break me out of your influence.” Celine rolls her eyes at that, and then her face gets just a little bit darker — something Jia can only pick up on because she’s known Celine for decades. “And that means they won’t allow me to see you indeterminately.”

“What?!” Rumi pulls away from Celine’s touch.

“At this point we might as well just scram!” Mira throws her hands in the air. “Let’s just pack our things and leave.”

“If we do that and they find us they’re definitely going to kill Rumi,” Jia points out.

“And you still have a responsibility here,” Celine adds. “You’re still hunters, you still need to complete your training.”

“But how can we do that if you aren’t going to train us?” Zoey asks, teary eyed.

There’s a knock on the door — they’re running out of time.

“Jia will explain. You need to go with her now.” Celine takes Rumi’s shoulders and gently pushes her towards Jia. “Take her now.”

“Take me where?!” Rumi tries to reach out to Celine, but she takes her daughter's hands in hers and as she pulls away, glowing shackles are summoned around her wrists with a chain connected to them. “Celine?!”

Celine hands the chain to Jia and turns away so they can’t see her face.

“It will be okay, Rumi, Jia will take care of you.”

Jia wraps the chain around her hand and reaches out for Rumi’s shoulder.

“Come on. They’ll think you’re sucking our souls if we take too long,” she tries to joke, but there’s no laughter.

Jia escorts Rumi to her bedroom, with Mira and Zoey following closely, trying to ask questions she can’t answer in the middle of the hallway.

She enters Rumi’s bedroom with the three girls and seals the room with Honmoon threads.

“What's… What’s that for?” Rumi asks, pointing at the barrier on her door and window.

Jia grabs her hands to disperse the shackles.

“It was one of the conditions for you to be allowed to leave the holding cell,” she explains. “From now on, I’ll be your keeper, and you’ll only be able to leave your room if I’m with you.” She turns to Mira and Zoey, who are visibly fuming. “You two are able to come and go as you please, the barrier only stops Rumi and other demons from exiting.”

She explains the other implications of it, aware of the unhappy responses she would get.

“That’s so unfair!” Zoey exclaims.

“You’re literally treating Rumi like a prisoner!” Mira points at Jia’s chest.

“Stop!” Rumi gets in front of Mira. “She’s just following orders, remember? Celine told us to do what she says.” She glances at Jia.

“Thank you for trusting me.” Jia bows her head. “And I’m sorry this is happening. I really am. I’ll give you a moment.”

“How did they take it?” Celine asks her in private not long after Jia leaves Rumi’s bedroom — outside the room they talk in, two hunters guard the doors.

“They’re treating the girl like a dog with behavioral issues, what do you think?” Jia replies.

Celine looks down at her tea.

“Fair enough.” She takes a sip.

“I’m sorry.” Jia reaches for her hand. “It’s just… You could’ve told me. This could’ve been avoided, you know?!”

“I do.” Jia feels Celine squeezing her hand. “Just take care of her for me. Please, Jia.”

Jia moves to hug her friend.

“I will. I promise.

When she goes back to Rumi’s bedroom to see if she needed anything, she finds all three girls curled up on Rumi’s bed, with Mira and Zoey holding Rumi as she cries.