Who is Hunter? A Paint my Frozen Heart with Fire theory.
Hi guys, I’m back with a new theory! This time about Paint my Frozen Heart with Fire, one of my favorite ongoing fics. (Coda, Wolfish Behavior, PMFHWF, Pull me to the Ground, Build me up (before I break again) for anyone curious)
This fic is really good! Go read it. And give @arendellesfirstwinter a follow. There’s lots of mysteries, between Rumi’s strange condition, Mira’s past, Zoey’s family, etc. But the largest mystery has yet to be solved: who is Hunter??
This question has plagued KPDH fandom spaces for far too long, so today, I set out to solve it.
Full fic spoilers ahead! Up to ch4.
So what do we know about Hunter?
Feminine lower voice, she/her pronouns
Face, neck, arms, hands covered by sleeves. Also wears a hood.
Excellent at singing, dancing, lyricism (according to Mira and Zoey).
An idol under Sunlight Entertainment
Launched 7 Years ago (from Ch1)
Active in Sunlight Entertainment Tower
Hosts live shows, very rarely talks.
Rumi doesn’t like her, or at least thinks she could improve.
Okay! So! Let’s go down a list of characters and eliminate them based on whether or not they could be Hunter.
Zoey/Mira- The easiest ones to mark off. They stayed at home during a Hunter concert, which was live. So they cannot be Hunter.
Celine- Celine was already an idol under Sunlight, many years ago. She already had a successful career. It is true that the girls rarely see her, signaling she may be busy as Hunter, but they have also heard her sing during her idol years. If Celine was Hunter, they’d probably recognize her singing voice. Also, Celine is older now, and probably couldn’t keep up with Hunter’s busy life and demanding choreo.
Jinu- Jinu is a guy. However! Hunter is completely covered. He may just have excellent voice training and control. He is rarely in the fic, matching Hunter’s busy schedule. He also is shown to have scars on his chin, explaining why he would wear a mask as Hunter. Rumi also is annoyed by him, so it would make sense if he was Hunter, Rumi’s annoyance is probably constant.
Jinu also mysteriously was able to get tickets to a Hunter concert. And when Mira/Zoey cancelled, he still went. Maybe he had to go, due to being the main performance. He also gives a vague reason for having to go, like “Supporting a friend.” Maybe he’s talking about himself in third person. He also states he can easily get them more tickets in the future. Him being Hunter would explain this.
So it appears Jinu is a fine contender, but there may be more! Let’s keep going.
Rumi- Most people would probably point to her. However, there’s a few issues with Rumi being Hunter. One, Rumi criticizes Hunter a lot. And if she were Hunter, this would show severe self worth and perfectionism issues. And that would be sad. I don’t want Rumi to be sad.
Rumi in this fic also wears long sleeves, with a mask. But she’s shown while eating around Mira/Zoey to reveal her mouth. In the latest chapter, we also saw she had scarring on her chin. Hunter covers her entire body, staying completely anonymous. Hunter is less concerned about covering “flaws”, and more concerned about staying hidden. Rumi is very not hidden to Mira and Zoey.
And speaking of Mira and Zoey! They’ve seen Rumi dance, and Mira noted it wasn’t perfect. But Mira thinks Hunter is perfect. Are you implying Mira has some sort of subconscious idol worship? No, that would be sad. Also, surely they would figure it out by now, them not knowing is a ding against Rumi.
Rumi still covers her arms and hands religiously, like Hunter. However, there’s an easy explanation for this. She is half demon, and is hiding glowing vibrant patterns. It just makes sense.
Rumi is mysteriously absent during Hunter concerts, but this could be a coincidence. See the mountain of evidence above that she isn’t Hunter.
Overall, I think Rumi is a close friend of Hunter’s, who is concerned about his or her progress as an idol and she’s just a good friend. (another point towards Jinu).
Mi-Yeong- Mi-Yeong is dead. So probably isn’t Hunter. Also, Rumi being mean to her mom would be sad. Mi-Yeong did die in a tragedy, so perhaps she was left scarred in an attack and now has re-debuted as Hunter. However, the Celine issue of recognizing her voice still applies. I doubt Mi-Yeong is hunter.
That little sick girl at the park- This little sick girl has one mention. It would be narratively interesting if all three girls were at the same park growing up, but I doubt this is Hunter. We didn’t even see her sing! She did love flowers, but we haven’t seen if Hunter loves flowers.
Elsa- This may seem like a wild pick, but think. Arendellesfirstwinter. Arendelle. From the movie Frozen. Elsa wears sleeves to hide her ice powers. Aren has also written Frozen fics before, and people have pointed out the similarities between Frozen and KPDH before. What if Hunter is Elsa? Maybe she hides due to being previously cancelled for casting Arendelle into an eternal winter.
Aren- Hunter could be Aren. Perhaps it is a self insert. I doubt it, though. I don’t think Aren is a KPOP idol. Also, Aren’s favorite character is Rumi. Surely, Aren would make Rumi Hunter. But we already established Rumi isn’t Hunter.
The reader- Meta. The story is Meta. The story is about how the characters are inspired by the reader, how they only exist in the minds of the reader. How the reader is perfect to the characters, for the reader translates the words into a world. It’s meta commentary about how KPOP idols are nothing without the fans, so it’s a story about how these up and coming idols look up to the ultimate: the reader. Probably not though. The reader isn’t absent during Hunter concerts, and we don’t see Hunter’s pov.
Me- Maybe I am Hunter. I can’t sing, though, and I’d probably know by now. Also, Hunter isn't a shark.
Well dang. It appears as we’ve run through our options. From all of these, our strongest contender was Jinu! There’s one piece of evidence that seals this pick.
Jinu, canonically, dressed up as Olaf for halloween. That’s a costume. A mask. He’s used to being hidden, another self. And it’s Paint my Frozen Heart. Frozen. Arendellesfirstwinter. Aren loves Frozen. Jinu is the only Frozen mention. Aren loves Jinu. She has called him her little Meow Meow.
It just makes sense. Jinu is Hunter.
