𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟗

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

"JINU! YOU COME HERE THIS INSTANT!" 

Y/N was once again grateful that her apartment had sound-proof walls. She didn't need her neighbours to know why she was screaming Jinu's name first thing in the morning, her tone somewhere between angry and livid. Furious enough that her patterns pulsed with light when she screamed his name, standing in the middle of her apartment as she let her voice tear through her throat. 

Y/N wasn't entirely sure why she was screaming. She didn't know if Jinu was capable of hearing her scream in the demon world, or if he was even in the demon world at the moment. Would he hear her if she called for him? His pets hadn't been there when Y/N had woken that morning, likely sensing that tensions would run high for the next little bit until Jinu and Y/N managed to talk things out. Had they gone to tell their master that Y/N needed to talk to him? Or were they just hiding at the Huntrix penthouse?

She stood on the edge of her kitchen for ten minutes, glaring at the door to her balcony, waiting for Jinu to appear. She wasn't moving until she tore him a new one. He had some explaining to do.

"JINU!"

"No need to shout, princess. I heard you the first time."

Y/N whirled around, her hand curling around the handle of a frying pan she had used to make breakfast for herself, lifting it like a weapon as she found herself standing face-to-face with a familiar demon. But now that she stood before her friend, the words seemed to die on her lips. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do? There was no history of a demon and the daughter of a Hunter being friends? At least, there wasn't besides her mother and her father, and Y/N knew how that had turned out. What was she supposed to do now that she was standing in front of Jinu? Kill him? She had debated that. He had set an army of demons on her sister, and she had promised when they had first met that if he ever lay a finger on her sister, she would sever the finger from his body. And that was if he was lucky. 

Huffing, Y/N turned away from the demon, deciding to try and calm herself by tending to her plants. She needed to water them anyways. Maybe taking the time to water them would help her calm her mind.

Y/N stomped out to her balcony, seizing the handle of the watering can with the viciousness of a viper, and stomped back into her apartment to fill it at the kitchen sink. She was glad Jinu was watching her in silence. He knew better than to try and talk to her when she was like this. Speaking to her when she cracked like a live wire was asking for an explosion. 

When she turned from the sink, Y/N found herself staring at Jinu. While she had been standing at the sink, he had moved to stand behind her, far enough away that he wasn't breathing down her neck, but close enough that she could feel his presence. He was calm, for the most part. A little apprehensive and a little worried about what lay in his immediate future, but he wasn't on edge. Not yet, at least.

Sighing, Y/N pushed past Jinu, heading to her plants to begin her usual routine. Jinu took her audible sigh as permission to speak. 

"You never told me your sister was part demon."

Y/N's hand tightened around the handle of the watering can. So Jinu knew now. Rumi had failed to mention that the night before. Y/N had seen the wounds, and that had been enough for her to be furious with Jinu, but now that she knew Jinu had unintentionally discovered Rumi's secret, her anger was joined by fear. Instead of answering, she continued to water the plants, using her usual soil inspection to try and calm her mind enough to figure out how best to go about this. Once she was satisfied that her plants had been watered, she moved on, setting the watering can down outside on her balcony.

The half-demon sighed. After years of friendship, Jinu could read Y/N like an open book. It didn't help that patterns were telling in a way. Especially from one demon to another. Even without a visible glow, the shift in colour or the change in pattern when a muscle tensed beneath the skin was enough to know when a demon was thinking. It was far easier to see a pattern shift than it was to see a blank canvas of skin tense. 

As she passed Jinu, she paused for a moment, turning to stare at him, her mind still writhing in her head. He was so kind to her. How was it possible for him to work with Gwi-Ma to destroy the very thing Y/N's family had sworn to protect? How could he act so charming and nice and human, while listening to every whisper Gwi-Ma hissed? How had she fallen for it? How had she trusted him?

Hoping to break the tension, Jinu forced a grin onto his lips, crossing his arms as he leaned down towards Y/N. "What is it, princess? You see something you like?" 

Jinu was much too smug for Y/N's liking. In fact, she was half tempted to lock him out of her apartment rather than talking to him as she had intended to do when she had called for him. She knew she should, but she really didn't want to. Especially if he was messing with Rumi. So, she turned away from him, making her way into her apartment, allowing Jinu to follow at his leisure.

Jinu found her cold shoulder amusing and he happily followed her into her apartment, flopping onto her couch as he usually did, and folding his arms across the back as he watched Y/N grab something from the kitchen. "You gonna give me the cold shoulder again?" He wasn't surprised when Y/N failed to respond with anything more than taking a long swig of water, downing the entire glass she had poured in seconds, before refilling it again.

"Tell me what happened." Y/N turned to Jinu, her fingers tensing around her glass.

Y/N guessed that Jinu knew exactly what Y/N was referring to, as there were only a few things he knew that would irritate her quite so much, but playing coy was often much more entertaining for him. "What do you mean, princess? A lot of things have happened recently. You'll have to be more specific."

Y/N glared at Jinu for a moment, before stomping over to him and promptly dumping the glass of water on his head.

"Hey!" Jinu shot to his feet, appalled that Y/N would even consider dumping a glass of water on him. He scoffed, holding his hands out to either side as he glared at Y/N, shaking his hands slightly. "What was that for?!"

"What do you think," Y/N snapped, leaping over the couch to stand on the cushions as she glared at him. Her anger was starting to take over, and her patterns started to glow, a soft pink light rising from the patterns. Standing on the couch, she was as tall as he was, maybe even a little taller, and she took full advantage of the opportunity, prodding his chest with her finger as she scolded him. "I warned you, Jinu. You stay away from my sister, or I kill you myself."

Jinu glared at Y/N, acting braver than he felt. Y/N had never been as mad as she was now. "You wouldn't do that."

Y/N's lips curled into a snarl as she dug her finger into Jinu's chest, her nail threatening to draw blood as she pushed it deeper. "Try me, Jinu. Just try me." She leaned closer to Jinu. "I may be your friend, but my sister comes first." She stabbed him at the end of her sentence. "Every. Single. Time."

Jinu's expression softened. He knew Y/N was protective of Rumi. She had been for as long as he had known her. There hadn't been a day when she hadn't spoken of Rumi, wishing that they could be together again after their years apart. That's all this was. She was less angry at him and more angry that her sister had gotten hurt because of the demons. "Can't we just talk? I didn't mean for your sister to get so beat up last night." He reached out to try and comfort Y/N, but she batted his hand away, stinging more than Jinu's skin with the aggressive motion.

Y/N scoffed. "You and I both know that's a lie. Gwi-Ma would reward you with your soul if you managed to kill the Hunters and destroy any chance of a Honmoon." She turned away from Jinu with the intent of heading for her room. Y/N didn't feel like talking right now, especially after her late night meeting with Rumi that had confirmed her earlier worries. The Saja Boys were here to destroy the Honmoon and free Gwi-Ma from the demon world. And if they killed the Hunters in the process, it was a job well done.

Jinu's hand shot out, gripping Y/N's wrist. "Where are you going?" 

"Away from here. Away from you." 

Y/N had decided to heed her sister's words. She had no idea if she was still high on the list of demons the Hunters wanted to kill, but since Rumi hadn't called to say one way or the other, she had decided to play it safe and had called in to work, claiming she had come down with a cold.

"Not yet," Jinu snapped. "We need to talk."

"Talk about what," Y/N asked, turning back to Jinu. "You want to talk about me and Rumi? The fact that we're sisters? That our father was a demon? You already know all about that." She yanked her wrist away from Jinu. "My life is none of your business, Jinu. Especially after you started going after my sister." Y/N's fingers twitched at her side as she wondered whether or not she should summon a weapon. "My sister comes first in every life."

"Then why did you leave her?"

Y/N's anger faltered, her hand curling into a fist as her anger surged again, her patterns rippling with a familiar glow as Gwi-Ma tried to whisper in her ear. There were still days when her shame and regret got the best of her, no matter how hard she tried to fight it. "Leave, Jinu. Now." She spun away to hop over the back of the sofa, but Jinu darted forward, tackling Y/N to the sofa, pinning her hands on either side of her head as he loomed over her, his knees pinning her thighs to the cushions. As soon as her back hit the couch, Y/N's anger surged again and she wrestled with Jinu, trying to throw him off of her. "Get off!"

"Not until you talk to me!" Jinu wasn't going to let her go so easily. He wouldn't let her go until they talked.

"You think I would talk to you after the stunt you pulled yesterday?!" Y/N threw Jinu off of her, forcing him back onto the opposite side of the touch, and pouncing on him, pinning him as he had done to her, save for one difference. Y/N's instinct had taken over, and she had reached into the Honmoon without thinking, summoning a spear which now rested against Jinu's throat. A deadly reminder of the past she rarely acknowledged. 

Jinu's heart pounded, his breath shaking as he stared at Y/N. Her e/c irises were shining with the light of the stars, the spear forged from the Honmoon glowing in her hands. Jinu had seen Mira's spear the night before, but Y/N's spear was noticeably different. Mira's blade was curved, like the ones Jinu had seen when he was still human. Y/N's spear was sharp and thin, more like an arrow, than a sword's blade.

Y/N fought every thought in her mind that was telling her to put the weapon down. "I warned you to stay away from my sister. You and your demon friends. Stay away from her, and stay away from me!"

"I can't!" Jinu didn't care about the weapon. He wasn't keen on dying, but this was Y/N. As much as she threatened him or screamed at him to leave her alone, he doubted she hated him enough to kill him. "I can't stay away from Rumi, and I can't stay away from you!" His voice quieted as his chest heaved. "I've never been able to stay away from you."

Y/N could see something flickering in Jinu's eyes as they searched her gaze. His body was still beneath hers, allowing her to manipulate him as she wished. But Y/N wasn't interested in whatever thoughts were going through his mind, or the quiet declaration that had left things unsaid.

"Why can't you stay away from Rumi?!"

Jinu sighed, his head falling back against the arm of the sofa. "Because she's a Hunter." His gaze met Y/N's. "And I'm a demon. Gwi-Ma sent me to destroy the Honmoon. You think Gwi-Ma would let me wander freely up here if I weren't trying to help him?"

Y/N's lips pressed together, forming a thin line. "Of course. Gwi-Ma." She chuckled darkly. "You know you're not helping your case, here, right?" Her grip on Jinu slackened and she released him, sitting back on her heels as she stared at the man, her hands tightening around the weapon. She began to lift the spear, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "I should have killed you when I met you." Her chest shuddered, her muscles tensing as her heart tried to reason with her, pleading for her to hear Jinu out. 

Jinu didn't know what to think as he watched Y/N lift the blade. He could see the pain in her eyes, and the tears threatening to spill. She had hardly every spoken about her past as the daughter of a Hunter. Jinu had gotten the feeling that once she had been trained to be a Hunter, before she left that world behind. But now, her worlds were spilling into each other, threatening to drown her in a hurricane of thoughts. And Jinu could see them all clear as day. He could read her pursed lips, the tremble in her jaw, the shaking of her hands, he could read it all. She didn't want to kill him. She had never wanted to be a Hunter. She didn't want to kill, even if it her victim were demons. But if it meant protecting her little sister, she didn't have a choice. Y/N refused to give herself the choice. She had told him time and time before that she would let the world burn if it meant protecting Rumi. 

"I'm sorry..."

As she lifted the blade, her mind lashing at her for killing one of her only friends, Jinu made the choice for her. 

Before she could swing the blade down, Jinu tackled her off the couch and to the hard floor below.

"JINU!" The weapon clattered as it fell from her hand, disappearing as the two tried to pin the other, one fighting for his life, the other fighting to prove a point and possibly kill him. Thankfully, for perhaps both parties, Jinu ended up managing to pin Y/N, this time pressing so hard into her wrists that the floor started to make her joints scream in pain.

"Get. Off." Y/N was seething now, her words like venom as they spilled from her lips. She refused to give in and continued to writhe, flexing her muscles and joints as she tried to escape. But was this fear, relief, or anger? Or some twisted combination of the three?

"No. You need to listen to me." Jinu had expected that they would talk about Rumi and Huntrix when he came to see Y/N. No doubt she and Rumi had spoken the night before, and it was entirely likely that Rumi had let her sister see the wounds inflicted on her by the demons. But there was more that Jinu wanted to talk about. Jinu knew he couldn't go much longer without telling Y/N everything. Every deep, dark secret that he had kept buried for centuries. With each passing day, it was getting harder and harder to keep everything a secret. Y/N was far from the most open of people, but even with all of her secrets, Jinu trusted her unconditionally. 

"Not happening."

"Yes, it is. I'm not letting you up until you listen to me."

Y/N's head fell back against the floor as she rolled her eyes, her fight leaving her as she turned away from Jinu.

"Are you going to listen to me now?" Jinu knew she would. As soon as the fight had left her and her body started to relax, he knew she would be willing to listen. As angry as she was, he was possibly the only person who could rival the love Y/N had for her sister, and he knew that. He hated to abuse his place in her heart, but he needed her to listen.

Y/N said nothing, weighing her options. Listen to Jinu or try to kill him to protect her sister and the other Hunters? Celine would expect the second, though Y/N doubted she could. She was decent with a blade, but she was nothing compared to her sister. And Jinu had become a close companion in the years that Y/N had been separated from her sister. He was her tether in a way, making her feel a little less resentful of her decision to abandon Rumi in Celine's care.

"Are we interrupting something here?"

Y/N dropped her head back against the floor with a groan as a new voice entered her apartment. She knew the voice well enough from the endless videos of Soda Pop she had seen on social media, and she recognised the voice from the TV show the night before. Turning her head to the opposite side, she was loathed to find that she and Jinu now had an audience. The rest of his boy-band had turned up, searching for their lost member, just in time to see Jinu pin Y/N to the floor of her apartment in a rather compromising position. Y/N doubted that their fight up until now would do anything to discourage the demons from believing the fact that she was debating whether or not she should kill Jinu for daring to mess with Rumi, Zoey, and Mira, and decided that shoving him off of her was the best option. So, she started trying to pull her hand out from Jinu's grip, but his hand only tightened around her limb, holding her in place.

"Don't move," he snarled, his voice faltering as his demon voice returned for a second in the presence of the rest of the Saja Boys. "We still need to talk."

"Don't tell me what to do, Jinu."

The other demons made their way into Y/N's apartment, humming to themselves as they looked around, seemingly making themselves at home, enough that the one in the hibiscus shirt, Abby, flopped down onto her couch, his arms flopping onto the back. Y/N hated how at home he looked. Was her apartment now a rest stop for every demon who managed to make it into the human world? If that was the case it would only be a matter of time before the Hunters were breaking her door down, slaughtering every demon inside, her included. 

"Hey," Y/N shouted, struggling against Jinu's grip. "Get out of here! I don't recall saying you were free to come in." She cursed the boys, whispering names and threats beneath her breath that only seemed to amuse Jinu.

"You don't want to talk to us," Abby asked. "One demon to another?" He picked up a photograph that was sitting on the table beside him, of Y/N at her graduation. He smirked at the photo before setting it down again and turning to observe the rest of the apartment. Noticing that Y/N's sweater was draped over the back of the sofa, he picked it up, holding it out in front of him as if debating whether or not it would fit him.

Y/N huffed, her head falling back to the floor. They didn't think there was anything strange about her. Her demon patterns weren't concealed. But that didn't mean she was at all comfortable with them, especially if they were in her apartment. "No. Now get out before I kick you out. I'm not above throwing you off the balcony." She glanced at Abby, who was now standing, using the floor-length mirror in Y/N's living room to see how her sweater compared to him. "And put that down before you rip it."

One of the boys, this one with long pink hair and hearts sewn onto his pants, Romance if Y/N remembered correctly from the night before, loomed over her, crouching at her head as Jinu continued to hold her against the floor. "You're cute when you're trying to intimidate us." He reached out with his finger, as if to brush Y/N's cheek, and she snapped her teeth at him, causing him to stumble and fall back.

Jinu smirked. "I'd be careful. Her bite is worse than her bark."

As if to prove a point, Y/N lunged for Jinu's wrist, her teeth snapping around empty space as he yanked his wrist back. Y/N took the opportunity and shoved Jinu off of her, rising to her feet with a slight stumble that caused Romance to catch her in his arms before she fell to the floor. Romance seemed to find Y/N's stumbling endearing, but Y/N shoved him off of her, muttering incoherently about infuriating demons as she headed down the hall to her room.

In her room, Y/N leaned her back against the door, her mind swirling like a hurricane as she tried to figure out where to go from here. She could call Rumi and let her know that the boys were at her house. She was sure that they would want to kill them, but there was the significant chance that Zoey and Mira would see her patterns as well. And how would Rumi get them to her apartment without introducing her? It was strange to go to a stranger's house because they said that the Saja boys were in her living room. Calling Rumi was out. Rumi wouldn't be able to handle the five boys on her own, even with Y/N's help. Y/N didn't have half the training that the girls did, and she doubted she would be able to keep them at bay while Rumi held them off.

But what else was there to do?

Y/N slid her hand into her pocket, pulling out her phone and scrolling through the contacts until she found Rumi's number. Should she call her?

A knock on the door startled her and Y/N nearly dropped her phone in surprise, fumbling with it for a moment before catching it. Thankfully, her thumb missed the call button, though only by a fraction, and Y/N glared over her shoulder at the door. Closing the app and shutting her phone, Y/N stormed to her door, nearly wrenching it off the hinges as she glared at the boy on the other side.

"WHAT?!"

It surprised Y/N that it wasn't Jinu. Instead, it was Abby. Sighing, Y/N lifted a hand to massage her forehead, where a headache was starting to build. "What do you want," she asked. "Why did you guys come to bother me? Don't you have other things to be doing? You know, pop-star demon things?" 

Abby grinned, leaning down towards her. "We just wanna get to know you a little more. Especially considering..." He grabbed Y/N's hand and lifted it to inspect the patterns covering her skin. "You're the only demon we've seen walking around free up here." He pressed his thumb to the pulse point on her wrist. However, his grip was nowhere near hard enough to hurt, and as his gaze found hers, Y/N got the sneaking suspicion that he was trying to flirt. 

Y/N pulled her hand out of Abby's grip and stomped off down the hall.

She made her way back to the sitting room, where Jinu was still sitting on the floor, while Romance had made himself comfortable on the sofa behind Jinu, lounging on the piece of furniture like it was a chaise lounge, flipping through one of the magazines Y/N had left out on her table from the mail delivery that morning. Mystery and Baby had made themselves rifling through Y/N's pantry, much to her chagrin, but since they hadn't destroyed anything yet, she didn't feel like scolding them. It was too early in the morning for this.

"Why do you keep walking away from me," Abby asked, slumping over onto one of Y/N's shoulder as his arm fell across the opposite shoulder.

Y/N's body tensed at the physical contact and she glanced down at Abby, trying to shrug him off as best as she could. Groaning, she turned to face him. "Fine. What? What do you want, Abby? What is so important that you come to bug me?"

He smirked, leaning down to her. "You remember my name? Were you watching the show last night?"

Y/N pursed her lips, crossing her arms as she leaned back on the edge of the counter. "Yeah. It was amusing watching you pass out in a high chair and a bib." Her lip curled into a smirk as Abby's faltered slightly, a flush creeping up his cheeks at the reminder that he had been the second one to lose. Y/N reached up and patted him on the cheek mockingly. "Don't worry, sweetie. Everyone got a wonderful look at your abs." She poked him in the stomach before heading to the sitting room.

She hated how comfortable she felt around these demons. They felt less like demons to her and more like troublesome college boys who had followed her back home to work on a group project. Irritating college boys, but college boys nonetheless. She was less concerned about them telling Gwi-Ma about her and more concerned about whether or not they would break something. 

"I'll let you in on a little secret," Abby hummed, getting over his split-second embarrassment as he stepped in front of Y/N, blocking her from taking another step as he leaned closer.

"What?"

"My abs are even better in person." A sudden convenient gust of wind rushed through the open door, lifting the bottom hem of his shirt.

Y/N scoffed, shoving Abby away from her and stomping over to Jinu and Romance. At least they weren't trying to pester her. She flopped down into one of the chairs, watching as the demons made themselves at home. How had this become her life? The tiger and bird was one thing. Jinu was a second. These boys? They were chaos tied up in a haphazard bow.

"Why are you guys even here," Y/N asked, directing the question at Jinu rather than Abby, who had plopped down on the floor beside her chair. He was currently amusing himself by fiddling with the buttons on his shirt, as if teasing Y/N and testing her to see if she would react if he popped one open.

Romance answered for Jinu, and jerked his head in the direction of her patterns, exposed for the world to see on her bare arms and shoulders. "You're a demon living in the human world. Gwi-Ma doesn't have any control over you." He smirked at her, rolling over slightly so his elbow rested on the armrest of the couch, his shirt pulling tight across his torso. "And..." He gestured languidly to Jinu, "you've intrigued Jinu enough. We were curious."

"Well, I'm sure you have your own secrets, bubblegum, so unless you want me snooping around into what prompted you into making a deal with Gwi-Ma, I suggest you keep your nose out of my business." She huffed, leaning onto one arm of her chair and dropping her forehead into her hand. "And preferably out of my apartment."

Her eyes flickered to the kitchen, and they narrowed when she noticed Baby Saja eating some of her cookies. "Hey!" She was out of her chair in a second, stomping into the kitchen. "That is it!" She seized the boy by the wrist, grabbing the elbow of Mystery. "OUT! All of you out, now!" Mystery tried to bite her, for some strange reason, but a single golden glare from Y/N quickly put an end to that. She threw the two demons onto her balcony, not being careful about whether or not they fell over the edge, and slammed the door shut behind them. She was well aware that demons could teleport, but the act of slamming a door in their face was satisfying.

"Me too," Jinu asked, lifting his head a little to watch Y/N try and chase the Saja Boys out of her apartment.

At the moment she was trying to catch Abby, who seemed to find amusement in dancing out of her way. Until, that is, she leapt over the kitchen island, tackling him to the ground, pinning him to the floor. She pulled Abby's arm behind his back, ignoring his insinuating comments and mischievous wink, and carefully got off of him, pulling him up without much care for his well being.

"Yes," Y/N hissed. "You brought this headache to me, you can take it with you." She frog marched Abby to the door, glaring at the other two through the glass, daring at them to try and come inside again. She wrenched the door open and shoved him out, kicking him out with her foot so he slammed into the two other boys. Y/N was far from a Hunter, but she was more than capable of keeping a few demons out of her apartment. Celine had taught her enough for that.

"But –"

"Out, Jinu." Y/N gestured to the door, tapping her foot impatiently, like a mother waiting for her sons to do as demanded.

Jinu struggled to his feet, shuffling towards Y/N and giving her the look of a kicked puppy. He stood beside her for a moment, meeting her gaze and trying to silently plead for her to let him stay. But when she refused, her glare only growing harder, he was forced to relent. He sighed, but obeyed, not wanting Y/N to ban him from visiting her entirely. He would have to try and talk to her later, when the other Saja Boys weren't around.

Y/N counted the boys she had thrown outside, pausing when she realised there was still one more. But it wasn't too much of a hassle as Romance appeared behind her, folding his arms behind her head so an elbow rested on either of her shoulders as he leaned on her.

"Miss me?" He stroked Y/N's cheek with his finger and was rewarded by stumbling straight out of Y/N's apartment as she ducked under his arms.

"If you're only going to come here to bother me, then leave me alone!"

There was nothing to be said by the demons as she slammed the door shut, stomping away into her apartment, and disappearing into the shadows.

"She's fun."

♡–•–🎶–•–♡

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞: I ended up writing this chapter just for fun, in all honesty, just to kind of see where it led, and this is what happened. I know it's not really necessary to the plot, but I thought it was fun, so I decided to keep it in. I hope you enjoyed it :)