𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

That evening, as Y/N got ready to take a shower before relaxing for the night, her phone began to ring, and she smiled when she saw her sister's name pop up on the screen. She accepted the call and set the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"Hey, Rumi." Y/N pulled off her uniform, tossing it into the laundry basket on the far side of the room. "What's up?"

"You can't go to work tomorrow."

Y/N frowned, standing up a little straighter at Rumi's words. "Why not?"

"Zoey and Mira saw you today. They know you work there."

Y/N sighed, taking a seat on the edge of her bed as she ran a hand across her face. "You shouldn't be calling then, Rumi. I don't want them finding out about you."

"But Y/N –"

"I appreciate your concern, Rumi, I really do, but I don't want them to find out that you're my sister. What would happen if they were to hear you now?"

Rumi paused, likely listening to see if Zoey and Mira were listening to her conversation. "I don't think they can." But Rumi's voice was softer than it had been. "But please, unnie? Don't go to work tomorrow? Just... maybe let this cool down for a bit."

Y/N smirked. "You aren't too busy trying to kill the Saja Boys after that little performance in the square today?"

Rumi groaned on her end of the line, and Y/N laughed at the sound of her sister's annoyance. "We're gonna try and get them after their show tonight."

The smirk fell from Y/N's face almost instantly. Her worlds were colliding. She had managed to keep Jinu and Huntrix apart for years, but she had known that the peace wouldn't last forever. Not when Huntrix was so dedicated to sealing the Honmoon and killing every last demon that lurked above the surface, Jinu included. Y/N had warned Jinu about drawing attention to himself, but now, he had painted a target on his back.

"Y/N?"

"Sorry," Y/N muttered, running a hand across her eyes again. "Just lost in thought."

"Is something wrong?"

Yes. Something was wrong. Rumi was going to try and kill one of Y/N's friends. Scratch that, Rumi was going to try and kill Y/N's best friend. And the man who had managed to capture a fragment of her heart. She had an idea of how Jinu felt about her, but neither one of them had ever made their feelings clear towards the other. And now, Y/N wondered if they would ever have a chance to move past their flirtatious friendship, especially if Huntrix was out to kill them.

"Unnie? You there?"

Y/N hummed.

"There is something else I wanted to ask you about. If you have a minute."

Y/N smiled. "I always have time to talk to you, Rumi. What's wrong?"

On the other side of the phone, out of sight of her sister, Rumi lifted a hand to her throat, pressing her fingers against the patterns that were creeping over her skin. "Did you..." She paused, glancing at the door to her room. Thinking that it might be a better idea to step outside for some more privacy, Rumi opened the door to her balcony and stepped outside. Mira and Zoey were both inside, getting ready to go after the Saja Boys, so Rumi knew she was safe to talk outside.

"My patterns are ruining my voice," Rumi confessed, feeling as though a weight was being lifted from her shoulders. "I can't sing, and I don't know what to do. Has anything like this ever happened to you?"

Y/N was silent for a while as she tried to think of a time when she hadn't been able to sing. She had stopped singing before the patterns had risen to her throat, but she could remember a time just after leaving, when the patterns had burned her throat every time she thought of Rumi.

"Once," Y/N said. "A year or so after I left..."

Rumi remained silent, waiting for her sister to continue.

"My patterns really started to burn. Gwi-Ma was using my shame to try and control me." Y/N sighed, leaning forward over the edge of her bed as she pressed her phone to her forehead. "We should talk about this later though. In person. This isn't something I can talk about over the phone."

Rumi was disheartened by the fact that Y/N couldn't help her immediately, but understood.

"Okay. I should go get ready for tonight."

"Stay safe," Y/N said, unable to think of anything else to say. "Remember what Celine taught you. Make sure you girls have each others backs, okay?"

Rumi hummed. "Love you, Unnie."

Y/N smiled despite the situation. "Love you too, Rumi."

The sisters ended the call and Y/N rose to her feet, setting her phone aside as she headed to the shower. Turning the water to almost too hot and turning the showerhead to a torrential downpour, Y/N stood beneath the water spray, her hands pressed against the back wall as she tried to think of what to do. As the daughter of a Hunter, she was supposed to support her sister in her annihilation of the demons that plagued the surface. But as the daughter and friend of a demon, her sister's task felt like a knife twisted in her back.

Was she supposed to warn Jinu about Rumi? No doubt Jinu already knew that Rumi was a hunter and that she was out to kill him and the rest of the Saja Boys, but did he know that Huntrix would be crashing the reality show tonight? Was she supposed to hope that Rumi killed Jinu before Y/N found herself in too deep? Where was the line here? What was she supposed to do?

Turning off the shower, Y/N stepped out, feeling the same as when she had got in, despite having scrubbed the grime and sweat off her body for a solid half hour as she thought. Wrapping one towel around her body and another around her hair, she headed back to her room, where she paused almost instantly.

Sitting outside her balcony door, concealed behind a curtain, was a dark shadow. A familiar dark shadow, large and squat, with an almost feline outline. And as always, a little bird with a hat sat on top of the large beast. Y/N sighed, and quickly changed into some casual clothes before going to the door and pulling it open.

"All right you two, come on in."

It wasn't a surprise to find the large demon tiger and bird outside, waiting for her to let them in. Y/N saw them nearly every day, often finding them in her living room when she woke up, or in the kitchen searching for snacks. They were usually there when she woke up, and though they disappeared for most of the day, especially if Y/N was out, they usually returned before night fall, finding their usual spots in Y/N's place to bunk for the night. 

In all honesty, she wasn't sure how much they came here of their own volition and how much they were here for Jinu. Jinu had never struck her as the sort of guy who would want to keep tabs on her every moment he couldn't be with her, but she had never asked. She had also never asked how much he could understand the tiger and the bird, if he could understand them at all. Were they spies for Jinu, or did they just enjoy her company?

After getting some food for the two intruders, Y/N headed to the living room, where she flopped down onto the sofa and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. The tiger immediately joined her, hopping up onto the sofa and stretching out so its head rested on Y/N's thighs. The bird, however, remained at the island, happily pecking away at the birdseed Y/N had left out for it.

Y/N wasn't normally the sort of person to enjoy celebrity TV shows. The only ones she watched were the ones with her sister, and even those Y/N would turn off as soon as her sister's portion of the show had ended. But after the demonstration in the square, and Jinu's announcement that they would be on Play Games With Us, Y/N felt compelled to watch the show for once in a blue moon. She knew the show was usually fun, and often had amusing challenges for the guest stars to partake in, so, she grabbed a bowl of popcorn, hunkered down in her sofa, made sure that the tiger was comfortable on her lap, and got ready to watch.

"Welcome to tonight's episode of Play Games With Us!"

Y/N could never remember the names of the two hosts. She never watched the show enough to care, nor did she really pay attention to them if they weren't participating in the challenge themselves.

"Today our guests are none other than the new superstars, the Saja Boys!" A picture of the Saja Boys flashed up on the screen behind the host. 

Y/N helped herself to a handful of popcorn, tossing an unpopped kernel into the air for the bird to catch. It did so with ease before returning to the kitchen to continue munching on the birdseed. The tiger was perfectly happy with the raw meat that Y/N had fed him earlier, and was now curled up on her lap, half asleep as she ran her hand through its fur. Though it did occasionally swipe a piece of popcorn that had fallen out of her bowl.

"If you haven't heard of these guys yet, let me tell you, you are missing out! The Saja Boys have risen to fame faster than possibly any other group, since their surprise concert this afternoon.  So let's get these guys out here so they can introduce themselves!" As the host waved his arm, lights suddenly flooded the stage, and the Saja Boys appeared on stage, in outfits that Y/N never would have expected.

Y/N didn't pay much attention as the host introduced the members of the group, besides listening to their names as the spotlight fell on each of them. It was hard to pay attention to them when they were dressed in hot pink clothes, wearing large baby bibs with their names ironed on in what looked like felt. The entire setup seemed incredibly baby-ish, especially once Y/N had noticed the six high chairs on the stage.

The five members of the Saja Boys were fairly distinctive. Jinu was easily the most recogniseable, even beyond the fact that Y/N had known him for years. The most distinctive feature of the boy was his dark hair. He was the only one in the group with a normal hair colour, and despite his current outfit, she knew he prefered to wear clothes that were generally neutral in tone, or colours on the colder side of the spectrum.

The other boys were much more colourful than their lead. 

Baby was by far the most vibrant in the group, with his bubblegum green hair. It seemed less like the sort of colour you wound find in someone's hair, and more like a colour you might find at a carnival. But even as she stared at the boy, Y/N debated whether his hair was more green or more blue. In some lights it seemed to lean one way or the other, while in other lights, it seemed to be somewhere exactly in the middle of the two. She had been surprised to find out that he could rap, considering he had such a baby face. He was the only one of the group who seemed to fit the hot pink baby getup that they were wearing, even with the bib on. 

Abby and Romance seemed to follow Baby in terms of vibrant hair colour, though Abby's seemed to be a few hues more rich than Romance's. Romance's seemed to almost be more of a rich pastel than the vivid pink of Abby's hair. Between the two there were more than a few differences that were far easier to spot than the hair colour. For one, Abby was far broader in the shoulders and torso than anyone else in the group, and this broadness was only accentuated when his wardrobe seemed to consist of shirts that were far too tight for any sort of movement. And while Abby favoured short hair, Romance kept his hair long enough that it reached past his shoulders. Romance also had a much slimmer frame than Abby and seemed to prefer a more romantic and flowing style to his clothes than Abby's tight-fitting tropical attire.

And then there was Mystery, who had been aptly named. How was anyone supposed to know what he was like when his hair covered everything but the end of his nose and mouth? His hair toed the line of grey and lilac, as did most of his clothes, and like Romance, he supported a much slimmer build than the other members in the group.

Y/N couldn't have imagined a better end to her day when the host announced that they would be playing a fan favourite game, Who Can Chug the Most Hot Sauce? The rules were in the name, and Y/N couldn't help but laugh when she saw Jinu's face fall a fraction. She had learned early on in their friendship that he could hardly take any sort of heat, and when cooking for the two of them, she often left spice out of his food entirely. 

As bad as the outfits were for the Saja Boys, it was nothing compared to the outfit that one of the co-hosts was wearing, which was completed with a bonnet, and a lacy bib. Y/N laughed at the sight, and only laughed harder as the contestants struggled to get into their high chairs. They looked nothing short of ridiculous. Their baby bottles of hot sauce did nothing to help the ridiculous aspect of the show.

Before the game started however, the host announced a small commercial break, and Y/N took the opportunity presented to her. She quickly rose from the couch, grabbing one of the cards she kept handy for when she wanted to send Jinu a note, and scribbled out a note. Then, she handed it over to the tiger, who took it without hesitation, dropping through the floor into a ice blue portal. 

Y/N wasn't too interested in any of the commercials, but sat through them as she waited for Jinu's response or the start of the show. Whichever came first. 

Surprisingly, Jinu's response came back in a few minutes, and Y/N grimaced as the card dropped out of the tiger's mouth, falling onto her lap. Thankfully, the card missed her bowl of popcorn. She picked up the note, carefully unfolded it, and flushed bright red when she read Jinu's response. 

Too bad I can't get a good luck kiss instead of just a note.

Y/N turned her gaze to the television as the host came back on, her flush growing a thousand times worse when she noticed Jinu wink at the camera. She reached into her bowl and pulled out a half-popped kernel of popcorn, tossing it at the tv screen, cursing Jinu for being so smug. He knew her well enough to know that she was blushing on her side of the screen.

'I'm putting hot sauce in your food tomorrow, Jinu.'

"Welcome back to Who Can Chug the Most Hot Sauce?"

Chirp

Y/N glanced beside her and found the little bird making his way towards her, waddling down the edge of her sofa with a teasing smirk on its face. Y/N narrowed her eyes at the bird.

"What are you smirking at?"

The bird flapped over to the note that Jinu had send and pecked at it expectantly. Y/N's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

The bird turned to her and smirked again, its eyes narrowing teasingly as Y/N's cheeks began to burn.

"You're teasing me? Are you kidding me?"

The bird's smirk only grew.

"Oh, that's it, mister." Y/N slid out from beneath the tiger, murmuring a quiet apology when the tiger chuffed in annoyance. " I'm putting hot sauce on your bird seed. See how you like that." She was halfway to the kitchen when the bird landed on her head, tugging at a strand of her hair as if to pull her away.

"Ow! Let go you insufferable --" She batted her hands to try and swat the bird away, but only succeeded in smacking herself in the face. She groaned, giving up this round, and making her way back to the couch, where the tiger licked the red spot on her face, slobber dripping all over Y/N as the tiger tried to ease the pain.

Y/N laughed, trying to push the tiger away. "I'm fine, I'm fine." The tiger finally backed off. "You wanna help me one of these days? Eat the bird."

The bird squawked indignantly.

"You heard me."

The tiger seemed less than inclined to follow through with Y/N's wishes and settled down on her lap again as they both turned back to the TV.

By the time the teasing had finished between the three, Jinu was suffering through his bottle of hot sauce along with the rest of his group. The fans in the audience seemed to find the entire situation hilarious, as did Y/N, though she did little more than smirk. 

It was no surprise to her that Jinu was the first to yield to the challenge.

"That's one flaming-hot Jinu."

In the three seconds Y/N had looked away to grab another handful of popcorn, Jinu had slammed down the hot sauce, unable to drink any more. He seemed about ready to pass out as he leaned forward, squeezing the hot sauce bottle like a lifeline as he pressed the other hand onto the tray table to support himself. Y/N snickered at the sight, picking out another piece of popcorn to toss at the screen.

"That's what you deserve, Jinu." She stuffed another handful of popcorn into her mouth. "Your just reward for teasing me."

Squawk

Y/N glanced to the side, smirking when she noticed Jinu's avian companion now happily perched on the back of her sofa. "You're not gonna let him forget this, are you?"

The bird only returned Y/N's smirk, and Y/N laughed before turning back to the TV.

"And Abby is down!"

Abby was the next to yield, falling back in his high chair and all but slipping out the bottom as he tried to retain any sort of feeling in his mouth. Or the rest of his body for that matter. The camera panned down for a moment to allow the fans at home to catch a glimpse of the man's abs as his shirt pulled a bit behind the table of the high chair.

"Mystery is history!"

Mystery let a few tears slip, and Y/N could have sworn she heard him whimper through the camera, but his tears were enough to signal to the hosts that he was finished as he set the bottle down. 

"Looks like Romance is out due to heartburn?" 

Romance was the next unfortunate victim and slumped over entirely, nearly passing out as the hot sauce continued to burn. Before he passed out, however, he exhaled a heart identical to the ones he had blown to the crowds earlier that day, save for the fact that this one was on fire and disintegrated in seconds.

"It's a dead heat between my handsome co-host and Baby Saja."

Y/N laughed. "Dead heat?" Baby Saja was clearly enjoying the challenge, chugging the hot sauce like it was the last bottle of water in the middle of the desert, while the co-host was clearly struggling.

"Can our host catch up?"

Almost immediately, the co-host passed out, and Baby Saja was declared the winner. He all but slammed the bottle on the table, seemingly bored now that he had won.  

"Goo goo, ga ga." That was enough to get a small chuckle from Y/N. Without the bottle and the kicking feet, Baby seemed less like his namesake and much older than he first had. But as he clambered out of his high chair to join the rest of the Saja Boys, who were all now standing and feeling better after a few minutes, his baby face returned.

Y/N sighed, running her hands across the tiger's stripes as she took a sip of her drink. "And that, gentlemen, ends the fun."

"Hard to say goodbye when we're having so much fun," the host said, turning now to the camera. 

"So hard. So hard."

She reached for the remote, about to turn of the TV and move on to something else to pass the evening, when Jinu's voice caught her attention. "Then why say goodbye when we have extra special guests coming up?"

She glanced back at the TV, her fingers releasing the hold on the remote as she set it down again, her fingers sliding from the remote down to the tiger's head.

"Please welcome, Huntrix!"

Y/N's eyes widened when the camera switched to show Huntrix hovering over the top of the stage, clearly dressed not as performers but as Hunters. But Y/N supposed that too the fans, the leather getup would look like nothing more than a costume, especially compared to the hot pick outfits worn by the Saja Boys. 

"Curse you, Jinu!" Y/N rose to her feet, stomping over to the kitchen, pulling open the fridge and cupboard to make sure she had lots of hot sauce in stock. She wasn't going to kill him, but tricking him into eating just a little hot sauce seemed like a fitting punishment. 

Even through the TV, Y/N could feel Rumi's panic. But Rumi was used to somewhat awkward television appearances after years in the spotlight, and she quickly adapted to the situation, lifting her hand to wave at the fans in the audience. "We just wanted to stop by and congratulate our hoobaes on their debut and –"

Jinu cut her off. "And of course, Play Games with Us! Bring out the slides!"

The Saja Boys didn't even wait for the stage crew to get the slides before rushing offstage to get them, pulling them out onto the stage and setting them up for the Huntrix girls to slide down. Y/N winced. Leather on plastic slides? It was far from an ideal situation, especially for three girls who hadn't been expecting to be on a TV show tonight. None of them were dressed for it, or prepared for it.

Rumi tried to get them out of it. "Oh no. We couldn't possibly."

But the crowd's chanting managed to persuade the girls to subject themselves to the slides. Y/N couldn't help but laugh as she watched Rumi, Mira, and Zoey attempt to slide down the slides in their leather Hunter attire. It was an embarrassing sight to see, but one that amused Y/N nonetheless. But she knew that had the situation been reversed, she would have been flushed and wishing for the ground to swallow her whole. Just another reason why she was glad she had chosen to move away from the life of a Hunter.

At least the sound was enough to make even the Saja Boys wince. Y/N was happy she had the power of a remote to silence the whining of the leather.

"Well, this was fun," Rumi muttered, clambering out of the balls. She was smiling at the crowd, but Y/N knew her sister well enough to know that she was silently considering how best to kill the demons. Y/N would have done the same, after all.

"It was truly an honour to share the stage with you," Jinu said. The Saja Boys bowed to Huntrix, getting nothing but amusement out of this situation.

"Ever the pleasant face," Y/N muttered, her emotions crossed between frustration and amusement. She picked up a piece of unpopped popcorn that had yet to be snapped up by the bird, and tossed it at the screen, smirking when it smacked Jinu in the face. The bird quickly flew over and tossed it at Jinu again, almost mimicking Y/N's annoyance. Y/N laughed, feeling a little more relaxed now that the bird was helping her take her frustration out on the TV.

"Oh, no." Huntrix bowed in return. "The honour is ours."

The two groups started bowing lower and lower, until their heads were touching their knees, and Y/N sighed as the curtain closed, concealing the two groups from the fans.

"What a way to end the evening," Y/N sighed, turning off the TV and rising to her feet. "What do you boys wanna do now?"

The tiger immediately hopped off Y/N's lap and headed over to the kitchen, pawing at the pantry. Y/N understood and rose to her feet, the bird fluttering over to her shoulder to take its usual place as Y/N opened the door to the pantry. "So, food?"

The tiger purred and bumped its head against Y/N's thigh as the bird chirped happily, hopping up and down on Y/N's shoulder.

"I swear, you two are bottomless pits."

♡–•–🎶–•–♡