𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

I was a ghost, I was alone. Eo du wojin, ap gil sok e.

Y/N woke to the sound of her sister's voice once again, groaning as she rolled out from beneath the covers. Ever since the release of the new single, Y/N had altered her alarm so she would wake up every day to the sound of her sister's voice. It was far from what Y/N wanted to hear, but it was enough right now. Enough to satiate the longing to hold her little sister in her arms again and tell her that everything would be okay.

Turning away from her phone to give herself a few moments of peace, Y/N glanced outside to the world that lay beyond her curtains. As always, a large tiger was curled up at the edge of her bed, looking less like a demon and more like a protector, and a sleepy one at that. Bathed in the morning light, the fangs of the tiger seemed a little less menacing, and the hulking shape seemed a bit more like a large plush than a beast. 

Reaching out towards the tiger, Y/N gently stroked the back of its head, her fingers drawing lines through the fluffy fur, tracing the patterns that marked them both as demons. The tiger moved towards her touch, a loud purr rumbling from its chest as it shifted closer. Y/N smiled, rolling a little closer to the edge of her bed. The tiger didn't seem to think she was so bad. Yes, it was technically a demon, but it was far from the only animal Y/N had met who had curled up to bask in her affection.

Given the throne, I didn't know how to believe I was the queen that I'm meant to be

But sadly, Y/N couldn't stay in bed all day. As a full-time employee at a nearby cafe, she would be needed to cover the morning shift, as always. Coffees needed to be made, tables needed to be cleaned, and the average angry businessman running late for work needed to be appeased. She wasn't a manager by any means, nor was she the one with the most seniority, but she was often given the morning shifts. Y/N never liked waking up early, but she would rather wake up early to suffer through a morning shift rather than lounging about all day doing nothing while she waited for her afternoon shift to start.

Picking up her phone, Y/N turned off the alarm and switched to the full song, before heading into the bathroom to get ready for the day. She desperately wished that she had been given the day off, but she hadn't. With one manager on leave as he recovered from surgery, and another out on vacation, she would be needed at her job. Even though she wished she could spend all day listening to her sister's voice, she couldn't put her life on hold because she wanted to cling to her memories. With any luck, she would be able to get control of the music in the cafe and would be able to play some of Hunterix' songs. 

Upon entering the bathroom, Y/N wasn't at all surprised to find a little six-eyed bird perched on the counter, wearing its usual hat as it smirked at her. It's gaze lowered to her pajama pants, as if judging her for her choice in sleep clothes. Y/N pursed her lips and frowned at the little creature as she stepped into the room. "I thought I told you no more spying in here." She crossed the room to the window and opened it. "C'mon, out you go. Go cause trouble somewhere else." 

The bird refused to move until Y/N started to swat at it, threatening to take the hat that it seemed to covet more than Gwi-Ma hungered for mortal souls. "Go on. Go bug the cat." She swatted at the bird again as it flew out, before shutting the door behind it.

"Stupid bird."

I lived two lives, tried to play both sides, but I couldn't find my own place

Once she was ready for the day, Y/N left her apartment, heading down to the garage of her apartment building, where she found her motorcycle waiting for her. For the first few years after leaving, Y/N had relied on public transit to get her through the city, but now, she had her own ways of getting around. Sometimes she would use her car, especially if she was going on a long drive for one reason or another, but when parking in the tight lot behind the cafe where she worked, it was much easier taking her motorcycle. 

In all honesty, the cafe was close enough that she could walk if traffic was bad, but it was a fairly long walk, and most mornings, Y/N didn't feel like walking. Eight hours on her feet was long enough. Add an extra half hour or more and Y/N would be lucky if she could stand for an hour the next day, let alone the whole shift.

But as she approached the bike, Y/N noticed a tiny blue card resting on her seat. Sighing, Y/N took the card and tucked it into her pocket. She didn't have to look at it. She already knew who it was from, and she already knew what it was about. She received one of the cards nearly every week, sometimes more than once a week. It all depended on how he was feeling, or how loud Gwi-Ma was whispering.

Called a problem child, 'cause I got too wild, but now that's how I'm getting paid! Kkeut eop si on stage!

By the time Y/N got to the cafe and parked her bike, there was already a line of patrons outside the door, eagerly waiting for their morning coffee or tea. Once again, Y/N was all too thankful for the employee entrance at the back of the store, which prevented her from wading through the thick crowd, suffering from questions about why the cafe wasn't open yet when the employees were already inside.

Officially, the cafe opened at seven, being one of the busiest for the businessmen who worked in the square and the surrounding blocks. It was popular both as a sit down and to-go coffee shop, with a wide variety of baked goods that could serve as a sweet breakfast should a customer wish for a pastry instead of something else.

"Morning, Y/N!"

Y/N smiled at the sound of her name, lifting her hand to wave at her coworkers who were busy cleaning up after the night crew. The night crew was supposed to clean the cafe before leaving, as the nights were often much slower than mornings, but there were always the few customers who came just before closing, and sometimes there was a sudden and unexpected rush of patrons, so it wasn't uncommon for the morning crew to have to clean up here or there. 

Y/N had accepted the job offered by the cafe to pay her way through university, and now, she kept the job while trying to find another job in her chosen field. It was sometimes a struggle to pay the rent, especially living in the city, but in Y/N's mind, it was all worth it. Especially if she could stay close to Rumi.

I'm done hiding now! I'm shining like I'm born to be!

Stripping off her jacket and hanging it up in her locker, Y/N grabbed her apron and threw it over her outfit, tying it around her waist before returning to the front of the cafe to help her coworkers in their final preparations. At six-fifty-nine, Y/N took the keys from the manager's office and headed to the door, unlocking it and stepping aside to let the patrons in. She greeted those she knew, telling the regulars that their orders would be ready soon, and welcomed those she didn't recognize. There wasn't much time for conversation first thing in the morning, especially at seven in the morning, but there were always a few people who were willing to chat for a moment or two.

We're dreaming hard, we came so far, now I believe!

One elderly lady in particular, who always seemed to be wearing the same green puff jacket and pink visor, was one who loved to chat. So, as Y/N set out the sign, making sure that it was free of dust and that the chalk hadn't been rubbed off while it was leaning against the wall, the lady wandered over to Y/N, greeting her as she always did.

"Y/N!"

Y/N, though she enjoyed talking with the woman, recognized the tone immediately. With no grandmother of her own to pester her about her love life, the woman had decided to take on the role. Today was no different, and soon, Y/N found herself disappointing the woman, and the woman's friends who often met her at the cafe, that she hadn't gone on any dates the night before. She was rewarded for the lack of a date with some scolding, a few comments, a few offers of grandsons, sons of friends, or some men who just happened to be passing by, and some well wishing before the women went on their way.

We're goin' up, up, up, it's our moment. You know together we're glowing!

Gonna be, gonna be golden, oh, up, up, up, with our voices

Making her way back into the cafe, Y/N let out a sigh of relief. Yeo-Na, one of the people in Y/N's life that toed the line between friend and acquaintance, smirked upon seeing Y/N's expression. "Did they corner you again?"

"Every morning," Y/N sighed. She took her place beside Yeo-Na, helping her to make various drinks for the patrons waiting by the counter. "I swear, they know my schedule by heart."

"You're as regular as they are," Yeo-Na objected. "You work the same days and same hours every week. It's not hard to memorise your schedule, even if you are just a customer here." 

That was how Y/N liked it. She liked the routine, at least at work. Elsewhere, it didn't matter to her as much. Sometimes she would go for a walk, other days she would hole up in the library to read, sometimes she had a job interview. But with work, she liked having a stable schedule. It was far easier to plan things around her schedule if she didn't have to worry about it changing week to week.

It wasn't a surprise at all to hear her sister's new single playing on the speakers in the cafe. It was everywhere these days. Y/N had already heard it several times as she was making her way through the city, nearly every electronics store was playing either their music video, or the live feed of the interview they had that morning. It also wasn't a surprise to find out that a new drink had been launched almost overnight to celebrate the new release of Hunterix' single.

This was one of the many reasons like this why Y/N kept her relation to Rumi a secret. For one, people claimed to be related to the three girls nearly every day, hoping for fifteen minutes of fame from the people around them, and though Y/N knew she and Rumi bore enough of a resemblance to each other that people would likely realise she was telling the truth, she didn't want Hunterix finding out about her. They knew Rumi had a sister, but if people started posting online, it was only a matter of time before people found out she was a half-demon.

Y/N sighed, making her way over to the counter per her manager's instructions. Based on the rush she had seen that morning, it was going to be another long day. Most of Hunterix' fans were elsewhere, either watching the live show, or lining up outside the venue where they were going to be performing Golden for the first time. But sadly, that didn't mean that the rest of the world got to experience a lull in business. The cafe was just as busy as ever, with businessman and students alike pouring into purchase their favourite drink and pastry before heading out for the day.

By the time lunch rolled around, Y/N had lost track of how many conversations had mentioned Hunterix in some capacity, and her mouth was starting to hurt from smiling at everyone as they tried to explain to her why she had to be more excited about the new release. Sadly, people didn't seem to understand her quiet excitement, or the pride that overshadowed the excitement. How could Y/N be anything but proud of her sister? She had come so far.

And yet, Y/N still feared what the future held in store.

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

Y/N had decided not to go to the first live performance of Golden. Bobby had offered her a ticket, as he always did, but after interrogating him about the venue, Y/N had decided that it would be better for her to stay home. It was a venue with limited seats, and far smaller than any stage Hunterix had performed on since they rose in popularity, and Y/N didn't feel safe attending the concert in such a small space, both for Rumi's sake and her own. Once, her patterns had been able to be concealed, should there be a day when she needed them to be, but now, the patterns had spread across her body, curling around the edges of her face, and stretching across every part of her. They formed rings on her fingers and spiderwebs on her neck. It was impossible to cover them all.

So Y/N had decided to stay in for the night, listening to the video again as she sat on her couch, her head pressed into a pillow as she listened to her sister's voice. It hurt to be so close and yet so far. Rumi had been kept in the dark about her sister's proximity, due to Y/N's insistence. Rumi wasn't supposed to know that Y/N was still watching over her. Tonight, Y/N had chosen to pull herself back, enjoying a night in her apartment with a particular demon tiger that never seemed to leave the space, and the little bird that always stole its hat.

Waited so long to break these walls down, to wake up and feel like me

Rumi's part of the song had hit Y/N harder than nearly every one of their songs. She hadn't expected the bridge to convey the secret that her sister had been struggling with, nor did she expect to cry every time she heard her sister mourn the dark patterns that covered her skin, reminding her of Celine's words and her ancestry.

Put these patterns all in the past now, and finally live like the girl they all see

Choking back a sigh, Y/N scratched the tiger on the nose, her fingers moving absentmindedly as she remembered a day when she and Rumi were young, sitting beside their mother's grave, singing softly together as Y/N braided her sister's hair.

♡–•–🎶FLASHBACK🎶–•–♡

"We are Hunters, voices strong. Slaying demons with our song. Fix our world and make it right. When darkness finally meets the light."

Y/N sighed as she listened to Rumi's singing. She was singing a song that Celine had taught her. Y/N had never taught her that song. She hadn't wanted Rumi to see herself as anything more than the little girl she was. She wasn't a Hunter, not yet. Her voice could power the Honmoon, just as Y/N's voice could, but she was still a child. Y/N had wanted to preserve the innocence in her sister's life, while Celine had wanted to move forward, pushing for Rumi to become a Hunter as soon as she could. Celine feared for the Honmoon, Y/N feared for Rumi.

"Rumi," Y/N said softly, pausing in her braiding to set a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Maybe we should sing something else now. There's a song I've been wanting to teach you for a while now."

Rumi said nothing for a moment, her mind a turbulent storm. Celine encouraged the song. Y/N always tried to suggest singing something else. Something more like what the rest of the children their age sang. The songs that Y/N sang to put her to sleep at night, holding her close as she whispered that she would always protect her little Rumi.

"Unnie?"

Y/N continued braiding, but hummed, signaling to her sister that she had heard her. She reached behind her and pulled a ribbon from her  hair to tie it around the end of Rumi's braid. Celine had told Y/N to braid Rumi's hair. Y/N had wanted Rumi to keep it down, but Celine had insisted. Rumi would start training to be a Hunter soon. So, Y/N had taken Rumi to their mother's grave, where they went every week, to braid her sister's hair away from their house. There, Y/N wove flowers into her sister's hair, humming and singing softly as she tried to shield Rumi from the fate of their family, and the mantle that Rumi would one day have to uphold.

"Do Hunters kill all demons?"

Y/N sighed, her hands stilling in Rumi's hair. "Not all of them, Rumi." She glanced at her mother's grave. Her mother hadn't killed their father. She had loved him.

"But Celine said that the Hunters killed everything with patterns." Rumi lifted her sleeve to reveal the start of her patterns. The same dark marks that had spread across her sister's body, covering most of her arms, her legs, and torso. Her hands were still free, as were her neck and face, but both sisters knew that the patterns would continue to spread until they marked every part of Y/N's body.

Y/N pursed her lips, trying to think of something to say. She finished the braid and pulled Rumi into her lap, holding her sister tight as she rocked her back and forth. She hummed softly as she tried to find the words to ease her sister's worry. She had worried about the same thing when she was young. She had feared that she would be killed if the Hunters discovered that her mother had fallen in love with a demon and produced a half-demon child. For the first several years of her life, she had lived in fear of what might happen if the Sunlight Sisters found out that she had patterns. There were still days when she feared what might happen.

"Rumi, you need to understand something."

Rumi leaned against Y/N, peering up at her sister as she fiddled with a loose thread on Y/N's sweater.

"Not everything is black and white. Not everything in this world is as clear as we wished it could be." Y/N turned to her sister. "Most of Gwi-Ma's demons were created by him. They were born from his power. But there are a few who are more like us." She took Rumi's hand in hers, intertwining their fingers as she squeezed her sister close. "Your patterns do not make you a monster, Rumi, no matter what anyone might tell you."

Y/N noticed the hesitant expression on Rumi's face. "Hey." She pulled her hand from Rumi's and tilted her cheek so Rumi met her gaze. "You don't think I'm evil, do you?"

Rumi shook her head quickly. Not Y/N. Not her big sister. Y/N was as far from evil as Rumi could imagine. Y/N was the girl who fed the little birds when they came to rest on the balcony. She was the one who read to her sister and sang her to sleep when Rumi had a nightmare. She was as patient as she was kind, never failing to comfort her sister. Rumi had never doubted for a moment if Y/N was evil, or if she loved her. Y/N showered her with love every chance she had.

Pulling off her sweater, Y/N revealed the patterns that had spread like a bat's wings across her shoulder, the edges curling around her shoulders like wicked fingers that were trying to pull her away. "I have patterns too. We have our patterns because Appa and Eomma fell in love. That's all they are." She turned Rumi's gaze to their mother's grave, where Y/N had placed a single flower, a reminder of the love shared between her mother and father.

"What are you doing?!"

Y/N sighed, dropping her head so her forehead met the side of Rumi's head. She had hoped to have a little longer with her sister before Celine came to find her. Celine had been ruthless with training as of late, and Y/N was growing sick of it. She had never wanted to be a Hunter. It was expected of her, because she was a daughter of a former Sunlight Sister, but Y/N had never wanted to sing on a stage, or dance in front of a crowd.

"Cover your patterns!" Celine rushed towards the girls, grabbing Y/N's sweater and throwing it over her shoulders. "What are you doing?!"

Y/N frowned at her aunt, holding Rumi a little tighter as she turned to face the woman. "What if I don't want to cover them?"

Celine glared at her niece. "You have a responsibility, Y/N. You're a Hunter, just like your mother was. It is your job to strengthen the Honmoon. Only when the Honmoon turns gold, and all the demons have been sealed away, can you walk free. Until then, you must hide your patterns."

"I don't want to."

Celine's stare only grew colder. "That doesn't matter, because you must." She grabbed her niece by the wrist and pulled her up, careful not to drop Rumi as the little girl got to her feet. "What do you think the others would do if they knew you had patterns? What do you think they would do to Rumi?" She gestured to the little girl, who clung to her sister's arm like a lifeline, hiding behind her older sister as she tucked her head against Y/N's arm.

Y/N sighed, turning her head to glare at the fabric that Celine had draped over her shoulders. The edge of her patterns were still peeking out beneath the fibres. "Fine. I'll cover them. For Rumi's sake."

"Good. Now go. The others are waiting for you." Celine jerked her head in the direction of the house.

Y/N glared at her aunt. "I wanted to spend today with Rumi. You said I could have the day off from training."

"I changed my mind," Celene said, her voice firm. "I will stay with Rumi. Go."

♡–•–🎶FLASHBACK ENDS🎶–•–♡

Y/N's hand curled into a fist as she recalled the memory. She had never wanted to be a Hunter. Ever since she had met her father, she had realised that it would be hard for her to kill any demons, let alone seal them away forever. She didn't want her patterns to disappear. She wanted to remember the man who had loved her mother enough to defy all reason and all of Gwi-Ma's laws to help bring her and her sister into the world.

She had started refusing to train, and she had left Celine and Rumi a few years later. When she had started refusing to train, Celine had started to train Rumi harder. Celine eventually gave up on Y/N and focused entirely on Rumi, especially when Rumi's voice began to strengthen the Honmoon, and when Rumi had shown a dedication to becoming a Hunter. Her dedication was greater than Y/N's had ever been, even when her mother was alive, and before she had met her father.

Y/N had both been relieved and saddened by Celine's choice to train Rumi. Rumi had still been a child when her aunt had started to build the idea of Hunterix around her, and had stood on the stage for the first time at thirteen. Rumi had been overjoyed, even more so when she found out that Zoey and Mira would be able to work with her as Hunters. And Y/N was left to stand in the shadows, watching as her sister blossomed into a Hunter, leaving her childhood too early, and learning to kill rather than be a normal girl.

'Our faults and fears must never be seen.'

Y/N had refused to teach Rumi that lesson. She wanted to be the place where Rumi could feel whatever she was feeling, without any shame as to what scared her or what worried her. Celine had been the one to instill that idea in her mind, driving a wedge between the sisters, to the point where Rumi would often cry herself to sleep rather than seek comfort with her sister.

Y/N hadn't known how she reacted when she found out that Y/N had left in the middle of the night.

As if sensing her distress, the tiger bumped its nose against Y/N's hand, and she chuckled, scratching the beast again. "I'm fine, big guy. Just lost in thought."

The bird seemed intrigued and abandoned the birdseed on the table to fly over to Y/N's shoulder, where it perched before turning to stare at her.

Y/N smirked. "You know, you don't need to know every detail about what I'm thinking." She reached out to tap the bird's beak. "Especially since I know that you're here as spies."

The bird turned away, but didn't move.

Groaning, Y/N relented. "I'm thinking about my sister, okay?" She scratched the tiger again, patting him on the head and running her fingers through its fur. "I wish our aunt hadn't pushed her so hard to be a Hunter or be ashamed of her patterns."

Suddenly, Y/N's phone began to ring, and Y/N shuffled out from beneath the weight of the tiger, grabbing her phone from the coffee table.

"Bobby?" Y/N was surprised to receive a call from Bobby, especially considering that he normally didn't call her on the day of a performance. He was normally way too busy with the girls, making sure that everything was perfect so their performance could run perfectly. If he was calling, it was cause for concern. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, but I need your help!"

Y/N's blood ran cold, her patterns flashing pink for a moment. Lifting her hand, Y/N watched as the glow flickered again. One thing she had learned after leaving Celine and Rumi behind was that her patterns would often glow or burn whenever Rumi was struggling. Whether she was in physical pain from pushing herself too hard or if she was struggling with doubt or shame, her patterns seemed to know. As if Gwi-Ma was trying to control Y/N with the reminder that she had left her sister behind when Celine had forced her to leave. He wasn't able to whisper in her ear, but he could hurt her in other ways.

She had never given into the shame. She knew she should have stayed. She was regretful, but she owned her mistakes. She didn't wrestle with the weight of her decisions. She had learned now that her decisions were what had led her to where she was in life, and though she wished that she could have kept Rumi close, she had done well for herself, and she had never lost track of her sister. She had kept an ear to the ground, watching over her sister from afar as she rose to the top.

"It's Rumi, isn't it?"

Bobby was panicking on the other side. "Yeah, she-she just ran off! And now I have thousands of angry fans outside the venue, and I don't know what to do!"

Y/N was on her feet immediately, grabbing her keys from the counter beside the door, and pushing open the door of her apartment. "Bobby, listen to me."

"What?!"

"You need to breathe." Y/N switched her phone to the other side of her head and pressed it between her shoulder and her ear as she locked her door. "Those fans care about the girls. They might be angry but you need to explain to them that Rumi is still human. She's not perfect. She will have days that she struggles to be the pop star they all know and love, and today is unfortunately one of those days."

"But they'll be upset!"

"So let them!" Y/N's patterns surged with an almost blinding light as her anger started to grow. She wasn't upset with Bobby. How could she be? Bobby was doing everything in his power to support the girls, sticking with them through thick and thin. "Fans will get angry. You can't make everyone happy, Bobby. But right now, you have to ask if you care more about the fans or more about Rumi. There will always be another concert!"

Y/N didn't bother taking the elevator. Instead, she booked it down the stairs, taking two at a time with an agility that surprised even her, and was soon in the garage of her apartment building, clicking the button to start her motorcycle's engine. She grabbed her helmet from the compartment at the back and slipped it over her head, tucking her phone into the pocket of her jacket as she switched to bluetooth.

"Just... find her, Y/N. Please."

Bobby hung up immediately after, and Y/N tore out of the apartment, hardly obeying the traffic rules as she drove through the streets of the city.

One thing that Y/N had discovered about the patterns after leaving Rumi, was that they would always pull her towards her sister. This, she knew was Gwi-Ma trying to remind her of the girl she had left behind. Gwi-Ma could peer into Y/N as easily as he could his demons, and he knew that her strongest source of regret was Rumi. And he manipulated her weakest point at every chance he got. But now, Gwi-Ma's manipulation was serving Y/N. She could use the tugging of her demon blood to find her sister, no matter where she was.

It took only a few minutes before Y/N found her sister, crouched atop a building, her jacket lying on the ground beside her, her shoulders bare, her patterns exposed. Y/N stood on the stairs leading to the roof, watching her sister silently.

Did Rumi even want to see her? It had been years, and Y/N hadn't tried to contact Rumi in those years, unsure if Celine had wanted Y/N to stay in contact with her sister. When she had left, Celine had warned Y/N of returning. She had promised her sister that she would protect Rumi, the last part of her sister, but had she promised to protect Y/N? It had never felt like it. Even when they were children, Celine's attention had been focused on Rumi, leaving Y/N to her own devices for the most part.

"WHY?!" Rumi slammed her fists into the metal beneath her as she shouted the question to the world, and a pink glow flickered across the Honmoon, shooting out across the city like an omen. She faltered immediately, falling back onto her hands as she panted for breath, trying to gather what nerves she had left.

Sighing, Y/N pulled her helmet off, knowing it was now or never. "Rumi?"

"Unnie?"

♡–•–🎶–•–♡