Mira is losing her fucking mind. She's losing her mind because Rumi has apparently made it her God given mission to torture Mira in every way possible.
Ever since Rumi's patterns and heritage had been revealed she seems to have doubled down and decided "You know what? If I'm part demon I might as well be evil. "
That's the only explanation that Mira can come up with anyway because nothing else makes sense.
Case in point:
It's a rainy day in Seoul, and the girls had decided to take a quick trip down the road to get some snacks at the convenience store and spend the rest of the day rotting on the couch and catching up on movies they missed during their last tour. Mira and Rumi finish their shopping first and move to wait outside. When they're all together they tend to draw attention and Zoey is probably planning on buying enough food to feed them for a week.
Mira leans against the wall with casual ease, out of the way of pedestrian traffic but still under the awning so she can stay nice and dry without worrying with her umbrella.
Instead of being a decent human being, Rumi chooses violence. She drops her bag by Mira's feet and presses the full length of her body against Mira's. Nose to toes!
AND THEN, like crimes against humanity are her new thing, Rumi wraps her left arm around Mira's waist to hold her close and cuddles her face into the crook of Mira's neck. And because she wants mira to die while on fire, she lays her right hand ever so gently right over Mira's pounding heart (which feels like it's trying to drill its way through her ribcage).
Mira is not proud of the noise that escapes her in response, because, you know, she cool and calm and unbothered. Nonchalant as the kids would say. It's kind of like a squeak, maybe the sound a mouse would make if it were stepped on.
Rumi huffs a breath of a laugh against her throat.
"Um...Rumi?"
"Mmm?"
"What are you doing?"
Rumi's pretty mouth (FAR TOO CLOSE) turns down in a frown. "It's cold, and you're warm."
It is mildly chilly, at best, and Rumi is wearing her usual hoodie "disguise," so that's bullshit. And, ok, Mira isn't trying to discourage Rumi's newfound desire for affection. She and Zoey have been gently coaxing Rumi into accepting casual touch the way one lures a feral cat with a can of tuna for the past six years. And with the new context they have, Rumi's previous skittishness makes total sense. But this is a lot for a woman who would nearly vibrate out of her skin at a private side hug two weeks ago.
They are in broad daylight (cloudy, raining, post lunch rush) in the middle of Souel on a crowded street (no one is looking at them).
Rumi adds fuel to the fire she is immolating Mira in (Napalm Era indeed). She reaches up and scratches at the line of Mira's jaw with her acrylics, not harsh, almost tickling really, and Mira's soul tries to vacate her body.
"You smell good."
Mira clears her throat, like a fucking loser. "Thanks, it's the usual."
Rumi grows a conscience for a moment. She leans away and looks up into Mira's eyes. "I'm sorry. Am I bothering you?" Her expression is so full of concern and that edge of self-loathing that Mira only just learned to identify that she feels like she just got stabbed.
The speed at which Mira wraps her free arm around Rumi's back like an iron bar should embarrass her. "No." Bothered is not the word Mira would use, pretty low on the list actually.
Rumi's satisfied smile is both the sun shining warmly on Mira's face and another way to needlessly torture her.
She wants to kiss Rumi so fucking bad, want to tear her apart, worship her for hours, hold her like this for the rest of their lives. How dare she, honestly. They are in public!
Rumi tucks back in, and because she's embracing evil now, says, "Mmm, good," with her LIPS on Mira's SKin!
Mira isn't sure how she makes it through the next four minutes of her life. Part of her just wants to enjoy it, because God does she want this. And she tries to stay relaxed, but it's pushing against every single natural instinct she has to just flip their positions, shove Rumi against the wall, and devour her until they get arrested for public indecency.
She is equal parts incredibly relieved and viciously disappointed when she hears Zoey squeal, "Cuddle puddle!" in English just before she smashes into Rumi's back like a freight train.
All of Mira's air is forcefully evacuated from her lungs and she spends the first several seconds of Zoey's group hug wheezing while Rumi laughs against her neck. "What the fuck!? Ow!" There's no heat to it because she can't breathe, but two sets of doe eyes look up at her and it just makes her breathing problems worse.
"Sorry, Mimi!"
"Oh my gosh! Mira are you ok?"
Mira waves them off even as she winces. The brick wall was not kind to her back. "Let's go home. I'd rather not be abused in public."
Rumi pouts (evil). Zoey grins (also evil). Mira opens their umbrella (because of course they only brought one, and of course she's the one who has to carry it). And if both of her favorite girls walk home with an arm around her waist, she's not gonna complain about it.
Celine holding newborn baby Rumi, Mi-yeong has been dead maybe 30 minutes, and she sees this pale wine colored mark on Rumi's arm and she prays to every god she can think of that's it's just a birthmark.
And for a long time, years, it stays exactly the same. It doesn't get darker or lighter, it doesn't grow. She doesn't realize when the marks first start to grow. Rumi doesn't realize it either.
Babies don't know anything until you teach it to them. The first little babbling sounds they come up with are just natural noises, they don't mean anything unless adults give them meaning. Ma ma ma and da da da are just noises. Celine decides very early on that she can't stomach the thought of Rumi calling her Omma. Motherhood hadn't been something she wanted in the first place. She teaches Rumi to say her name, but Celine is a very complex set of sounds for a little mouth to make. Rumi calls her 'Seen' until she's about 5. Once she's able to make more complex sounds she calls Celine by her proper name. Celine can't explain why it hurts.
Celine maybe waits a little too long to explain their family dynamics to Rumi. Kids understand more than they're given credit for, but complex topics are difficult for adults too. Celine explained demons and the Honmoon to Rumi though stories from birth, but talking about Rumi's mother hurt too much, and her father...well.
Rumi asks why she doesn't call Celine 'Omma' when she's around 4.
Celine is startled by the question, and she speaks without thinking. "Because I'm not your mother." She doesn't say it in an aggressive tone, just very matter of fact.
But the thing is, that's news to Rumi. Earthshaking news. She's so small and the world is so big and confusing, and the safe space she's always had feels different now.
The damage is done without either of them realizing it. The mark on Rumi's arm spreads under her sleeve, just a little.
They buzz through in quick succession while she's in a meeting and she isn't able to check them for about half an hour. When she does, she responds immediately.
Celine has barely set her phone down before a cloud of red smoke is materializing in front of her desk. She summons her sword instinctively and then falls back into her chair with a gasp when she sees that it's Rumi and not some demon.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Rumi has her hands up in contrition.
"Mon Deiu," Celine wheezes as she dismisses her weapon. "Warn me next time." She slumps bonelessly in her seat for a just a moment before straightening back up and indicating one of the chairs in front of her desk for Rumi to sit.
Rumi winces and nods before choosing a seat. She's wearing comfortable clothes, joggers and a yellow hoodie Celine could have sworn was Zoey's. But no turtle neck underneath. The iridescent patterns on her face and neck are fully visible. Celine can see the slight shimmer in them when Rumi moves and they catch the light.
"This must be quite the issue for you to rush in so quickly. I assume everyone is okay?"
"Oh! Yes, everyone is fine. It's nothing bad? It's just important and..." she hesitates for a moment, "something that needs to be handled quickly."
"Okay?" Celine prompts when Rumi doesn't elaborate.
"I need to see a doctor."
"Oh," Celine relaxes and turns to her computer. She opens a few files and finds the correct NDA documents. "Did you already have one in mind? I can have these sent to their office today and I bet we can get you an appointment set up by end of day."
Celine notices Rumi sink down a little and start playing with her fingers. "Um, no, I was hoping you could recommend someone?"
"Of course. What do you need to be seen for?" Sunlight Entertainment already had a list of approved doctors that have signed NDAs on file.
Rumi flushes and sinks down a bit further in her seat. Her visible patterns start to pulse with a soft pink glow in time with her heartbeat, which is speeding up. She won't look at Celine. "I've recently started being... intimate," the word sounds like it's bitten out, "with someone that can get me pregnant, so I need to go on birth control. Zoey says she has some sort of implant that lasts for years so I was thinking maybe something like that."
Celine blinks. She takes a deep breath and tries to stay quiet when she lets it out. Rumi's having sex. Her child is having sex. With another person. And now she's telling her about it. This is fine. It's perfectly fine and normal and she's not freaking out at all. "Okay," she looks for her spreadsheet of doctors. "I think an OB would be what you're looking for. Would you prefer a man or a woman?"
Rumi looks up sharply. "That's it?" She's still a little flushed but now she looks almost angry.
Celine hesitates. "I'm sorry? They might be non-binary but I don't have that information. I just have to judge based on their name."
"No! Not that!" Rumi rubs her forehead. "Aren't you going to like, tell me how disappointed you are in me and how I need to be more careful and worry about my image?"
Celine regards Rumi seriously. "You're a grown woman. And clearly you have...needs."
Rumi covers her face with both hands. "Oh God." Her patterns are pulsing a deeper pink now, almost tinged purple.
"There's no need to be ashamed, Rumi. It's perfectly normal." Though it is awkward to be discussing.
"I'm not ashamed, I'm embarrassed. This is just really awkward to talk about with your mom. It was weird when I was twelve and it's weird now."
Rumi isn't looking at her but Celine carefully schools her expression into neutrality when Rumi calls her her mom. She feels a flutter in her heart.
"Well, first of all, I'm not disappointed in you. I'm honestly impressed that you made it through your teen years without any... indiscretions. As for being careful, were you?"
Rumi looks away again and blushes. Her lips are pressed into a thin line and she shakes her head quickly.
Celine nods. "Is that something we need to be concerned about?" She looks pointedly at Rumi's belly.
Rumi crosses her arms over her stomach. She's now so low in her seat that she might melt into the floor soon. "I took a pill."
That must have been awkward for Bobby. Unless...no, surely not. "Okay, good. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that a baby is a huge responsibility."
Rumi groans like she's dying. Celine bites the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
"And where your image is concerned, you might not have been being careful but you have been incredibly discreet. I haven't heard even a whisper of a rumor of...anything. That's impressive. You know you're being watched near constantly."
Rumi sits up and curls forward at the waist to hide her red face against her knees.
Celine can't help a small chuckle this time. Rumi tilts her head up just enough to glare at her. "So about that doctor. Man or woman?"
"Woman," Rumi grouses.
"Very well. I'm going to suggest Dr. Eun-young Lim."
"That name sounds familiar. I think that's who Zoey goes to."
"I recommend most of our girls to her," Celine confirms. "She's very gentle and she'll take good care of you. We already have an NDA with her too."
Rumi nods.
Celine quickly types up an email and sends it off. "You should hear from her office today."
Rumi stands and bows a little. "Thank you, Celine."
Celine holds out her hand, palm up, over her desk as an offering. Rumi eyes her shyly before reaching out and taking it. Celine gives her a squeeze. "I will be here for you, for anything, as long as I live."
Rumi sniffs roughly, her eyes a little shiny. "Yes ma'am."
"Can you promise me something?"
It's a testament to their rebuilt relationship that Rumi doesn't even hesitate. "Sure."
Celine smiles. "Try to be a little careful until your appointment."
Rumi rips her hand away. "Oh my God! I'm leaving." Rumi turns on her heel and marches toward the door.
She lets Rumi get a hand on the doorknob before she calls out. "Rumi-ya?" Rumi pauses and looks over her shoulder. "Is he treating you right?"
Rumi flushes and looks down at the door handle. "She," she corrects.
"Ah, I see." No wonder she hasn't heard anything. The girls are together all the time in various configurations so no one would find a rendezvous between them unusual. "Is she treating you right?"
Rumi nods bashfully. She coughs into her fist. "The best."
Celine pretends to be busy arranging things on her desk. "Good. Let Mira know if she hurts my daughter that no one will ever find her body."
Zoey clocks the look on Rumi's face as soon as she walks into the living room. Though she has only seen that barely concealed grimace and tightness around her eyes once or twice before, the message it conveyed was clear.
Rumi is in pain.
Rumi marches across the room to the kitchen and rummages in their medicine cabinet, shoulders pulled up to her ears, paying them no mind. Zoey taps Mira's thigh to get her attention and gestures toward Rumi with her Switch. Mira joins her observations over the top of her glasses.
Rumi growls quietly when she doesn't immediately find what she wants.
"What are you looking for?" Mira asks when Rumi knocks something over with the tinkling of glass.
Rumi tenses and looks over at them. The patterns on her face are glowing the faintest purple. She grimaces, her lips curling back in pain. Her grip on the cabinet door is so tight her knuckles are white. "Are we out of Tylenol?"
"I probably have some in my room," Zoey pops up from where she was reclining against Mira. "What's wrong?"
Rumi rubs at her cheek. "I've had a toothache for the past few days but it's really bad today."
"Awww, poor baby." Zoey pops a gentle kiss on Rumi's opposite cheek as she passes her to fetch the medicine. She takes a quick step back and eyes Rumi with concern. "You feel a little warm. Mira, come check."
Mira unfolds herself from the couch, placing the book she was reading down on the coffee table. She's over to them in two long strides and has the back of her hand on Rumi's forehead. She hums and then gently pinches one of Rumi's earlobes between two fingers. "Bring the thermometer back when you get the pain killers," she tells Zoey. Then she takes Rumi by the wrist and pulls her over to the couch.
Zoey scrambles away with purpose. When she returns within a minute, Mira has Rumi between her legs on the couch in Zoey's previous position. Zoey puffs up her cheeks in frustration at losing her comfy spot but blows it away quickly at the sight of Rumi's pained grimace.
Rumi is opening and closing her mouth in an odd stretch, shifting her lower jaw from side to side. She rubs at both sides of her upper jaw and whimpers.
Zoey hands Mira the pills and thermometer and runs off to fetch some water next. She adds some ice at the last second.
Mira already has the thermometer in Rumi's mouth when Zoey gets back. It beeps after a minute and Rumi checks it with a grimace.
"38.4."
Mira takes it with a click of her tongue and hands Rumi the pills instead. "Yeah, you have a fever."
Rumi whines pathetically and takes the medicine. "I've never had my mouth hurt like this before. Even when my wisdom teeth came in crooked." She rubs at her face aggressively, her face set into a permanent scowl.
"Let me see?" Mira asks, gently pushing Rumi's hands away. Rumi opens her mouth as wide as she can and Mira and Zoey both lean in to examine her teeth. They all look clean and even, no cracks, no visible cavities, no blood. Zoey looks at Mira and shrugs. She's no dentist.
Mira shakes her phone so the flashlight comes on and tilts it to light up Rumi's mouth.
"Well, fun fact, you have a pattern on the roof of your mouth."
"Wha?"
"Woah, really?" Zoey tilts her head so she can see and yep, there it is, glowing the tiniest bit.
"Tate a pitcha," Rumi says without shutting her mouth.
Mira quickly snaps one and shows Rumi, who relaxes and closes her mouth to look. Then she immediately sticks a finger in her mouth to touch the ridges of her hard palate where the pattern is. "Weird," Rumi says around her own hand.
"Is that what hurts?" Zoey asks.
Rumi shakes her head. "No, it's like in my bones, like my jaw. On the top and bottom. It's pulsing, like my heartbeat." She grimaces and rests her head on Mira's shoulder. Mira rubs her back in soothing circles.
"Just try to rest, the medicine should kick in soon."
Rumi nods pathetically, her face scrunched up and her bottom lip stuck out in an exaggerated pout. It's very cute. Zoey wants to lean over and kiss her right on the tip of her nose, but that would probably be a step too far. Instead, she sits at Mira and Rumi's feet and rubs Rumi's shin.
Mira returns to her book, still holding Rumi, who is now curled up in a tight ball in Mira's lap. Mira sticks her feet under Zoey's thigh and Zoey goes back to her video games. They pass an hour that way with Rumi occasionally shifting to rub at her face. At one point she sits up completely to reach for the water cup and fish a piece of ice out. She pops the ice in her mouth and lays back on Mira, who tuts in fond displeasure when Rumi wipes her wet fingers on Mira's shirt.
Zoey can count on one hand the number of times she's heard Rumi curse. So it's especially startling when Rumi sits bolt upright with a strangled "Fuck!" while grabbing at her mouth and breathing like she just sprinted a marathon (probably the only distance that would actually wind her).
Zoey actually drops her Switch. Mira sits up so fast that her book goes flying across the room. They both start asking a series of questions about what's happening that has their voices overlapping in a tangle. Zoey's hands are hovering uncertainly over Rumi's shoulders and back but Mira has fewer hesitations. She takes Rumi's wrists in hand and pulls her hands away from her face.
Rumi is whimpering in pain and has her eyes shut tight, but her mouth is wide open. There, both her upper and lower canines have grown significantly longer, at least a centimeter. Her gums are red and swollen around the teeth in a way they weren't earlier. There's even a small hint of blood at the root of each of the teeth where they pushed through suddenly.
Mira and Zoey make slightly panicked eye contact.
Rumi, consumed with the pain, starts crying.
"Oh Rumi," Mira coos, melting in the face of Rumi's pain. "It's going to be okay." She doesn't know that of course, but what else are you supposed to say in situations like this? She releases Rumi's wrists and rubs her shoulders comfortingly.
What happens next seems both like it's in slow motion and so fast that Zoey and Mira can't react other than to watch.
Rumi flexes her mouth a few times, almost like she wants to close it but can't quite do it, and then, with no warning, she turns her head and bites deeply into her own bicep. Her eyes slip closed and she lets out a long relieved groan. The tension she had been holding in her shoulders all morning bleeds out with the sound and she slumps in the direction of her bitten arm.
Zoey and Mira watch in horrified fascination. Zoey, a yell lodged in her throat, shoots a frantic look at Mira, but Mira is staring at Rumi using her own arm as a chew toy with a slack expression.
"Uh..." is all Zoey manages after a few long seconds.
Rumi's eyes slit open and she looks at Zoey, her right eye is the usual lovely brown but the left is shining a brilliant gold. Rumi breathes in with a low rumbling growl that Zoey feels zip down her spine and settle strangely in her belly.
"Rumi...are you ok?" She asks, ignoring the feeling.
Rumi nods, arm still in her teeth. There’s no sign of blood so far, but her jaw looks like it's shut tight. She says something like, "feels better."
"Oh! Um...that's good?" She glances at Mira for direction but Mira is still staring with her mouth hanging half open. "Doesn't it, like, hurt?"
Rumi hums an affirmative.
Mira clears her throat, coming back to herself. "Could you...stop?" She rubs at Rumi's cheek with her thumb, trying to coax Rumi's jaw open like you might with a dog that has something they're not supposed to.
Rumi whines. Her eyes slip closed again and she leans into Mira touch. Then with the wet click of spit, she releases her arm and hangs her head.
Rumi's new longer teeth didn't pierce her skin, but they did leave four rapidly bruising marks surrounded by a perfect red ring from the rest of her teeth. Zoey reaches out without thinking and touches one of the marks. The muscle twitches under her fingers and Rumi whines again but it sounds much more human and embarrassed than before.
"I don't know why I did that." Rumi's voice sounds a little different as she tries to talk around the sudden change in her teeth.
"Probably instinct," Mira offers. She tugs at Rumi to get her to lean into her embrace again and Rumi goes willingly, cheeks pink. "Does it feel any better now?"
Rumi nods. "A little. I still feel like I need to..." She trails off and flexes her mouth a few more times. "I want to gnaw on something. The pressure helped." She slumps against Mira and covers her face with a groan. "Why is this happening to me?"
Zoey reaches under the couch cushion for the notebook she keeps stashed there. Mira rolls her eyes when she sees the title (Rumi Vol. 2). “I actually might have an idea about that.”
Rumi’s eyes narrow when she sees the title. She points at it. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve been keeping notes, obviously.” Zoey starts flicking through the pages, looking for one in particular near the middle. “I started the first one when we met, but ever since we had that conversation after the Idol Awards I’ve been writing down anything I could think of that you used to do or do currently that seemed odd in this second one, now that I have context. Trying to find patterns and figure out what was the influence of your demon heritage, or the way Celine raised you, or just your little quirks. You know, to understand you better.” She pauses and meets Rumi’s eyes, one still gold. “Is that weird?”
“Yes. But it's also kind of sweet so,” Rumi shrugs and looks away, the apples of her cheeks a little pink.
Zoey grins. “I have one for Mira too.” She pulls that one out from under the cushion next. Mira Things. She’s going to have to find a new hiding place for them now.
“What?” Mira reaches out to try and snatch it but Zoey pulls it away.
“My eyes only,” Zoey chides. She can feel that she’s turning red and hopes that the other two don’t comment on it. She doesn’t want to share the drawings in that one. “I keep present ideas in here too, so stay out of it.”
Mira looks unimpressed.
“Anyway,” Zoey tucks her Mira notebook under her thigh and gets back on track, “I’ve noticed a few things that have changed since last week, other than the color of your patterns. Like the purring thing.”
Rumi crosses her arms and scowls. Her ears start to turn red. “I don’t purr.”
“You definitely do,” Mira disagrees immediately. “Especially when you sleep.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely new. You used to be silent when you slept but now you do a little purring snore thing.”
Mira snaps her fingers at a sudden thought and points at Zoey’s notebook. “Did you write down the forehead thing?”
Zoey beams at her. She loves vindication. “Of course I did! I’m glad you noticed too.”
Rumi looks between them, brow furrowed in confusion, arms still crossed. “Forehead thing? What forehead thing?”
“You’ve been bumping us with your forehead when you greet us now. Like a cat.” Zoey bounces in place with excitement. She needs to add a note that Mira has noticed the forehead thing too. She reaches between the cushions and digs around. She knows there's a pen in there somewhere.
“No I do not!”
“You literally did it this morning,” Mira argues with a smirk. “I was making tea and you bumped my shoulder with your forehead. And you purred.”
Rumi’s face is bright red now with them both pointing out these new quirks.
Zoey gives up on her pen search and decides to forge on for now before Rumi gets too embarrassed and flounces out of the room. “Yeah, so maybe this is something related to you accepting your more…demonic, question mark, traits. Like, now that you're not hiding your patterns and you’re accepting yourself, these new aspects are emerging.”
That idea seems to deflate Rumi’s indignation. She uncrosses her arms and pokes at her longer canines instead. “Do you think these are permanent?”
Zoey certainly hopes so, they’re hot as fuck, but Rumi isn’t ready for her to be thirsty on main so she just shrugs. “Maybe? Or maybe it’s like the claws and your eye. They kind of went away once you calmed down after the Idol Awards. By the time we got back home your hand was back to normal. Your eye was gold a moment ago but it’s brown again now.”
Rumi reaches up and rubs under her eye at that. “I didn’t even realize.” She trails into thoughtful silence.
Zoey lets her ruminate only for a moment. She's definitely learned by now that you can't let Rumi sit too long with her thoughts or they'll spiral into negativity quickly. “Did it hurt when your hand grew claws? Because the teeth coming in clearly hurt.”
Rumi looks down at her perfectly human looking left hand like it might give her the answer. “I don’t really remember. Everything was happening so fast and it was all so horrible.” She clenches her hand into a fist. “I don’t think it did. Definitely not like my teeth for sure.”
“So maybe the claws are magic and the teeth are real,” Mira supposes. “Can you close your mouth? Or do the teeth get in the way?”
Rumi closes her mouth and bares her teeth at them. The canines definitely stand out as being longer, but they line up perfectly.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Not really,” Rumi says through her clenched teeth. “Still kinda sore.”
“Close your lips too,” Mira commands, looking closely. Rumi does. “Yeah, can’t even tell with your mouth closed all the way.”
"You know what we should do?" Zoey asks no one in particular, slapping the notebook shut. "We should do some experiments."
Mira groans. "Oh god."
Zoey jabs Mira in the ribs with her fingers. "Shut up! It's a good idea."
Rumi looks as enthused as Mira does. Rude. They should know by now that Zoey has great ideas and great follow through. "I don't know," Rumi hedges. "What kind of experiments?"
Zoey feels the excitement building with her racing thoughts. She hugs her notebook to her chest and starts rattling off ideas. "Oh, you know, stress testing, physical endurance, reactions to stimuli, ugh this is gonna be great. And, I'm going to write it all down, so that makes it science."
Mira and Rumi share a concerned glance that Zoey very politely pretends not to see. It's fine, they'll get on board.
"First though," Zoey jumps up and both of her friends flinch back in surprise at the sudden movement. She giggles at their startled expressions. "We need to get Rumi a chew toy."
Rumi's expression shifts on a dime to a complete lack of amusement. "No!"
“You said you still want to bite something,” Zoey points out. “You can’t just keep biting yourself.” Not the time to offer up herself. “You look like you got mauled, and not in a fun way.”
“I’m not a dog!”
Mira hums in agreement. “Yeah, definitely more ‘big cat’ vibes.”
“Not helpful!”
"Oh yeah, I'm texting Bobby right now!" Zoey grabs up her Mira notebook as well and takes off toward her room.
"No!" Rumi tries to leap after her, but she is still entwined with Mira's legs on the couch and ends up pulling the both of them onto the floor with a flurry of curses from Mira.
Zoey shrieks with laughter and then with a little bit of fear when Rumi scrambles up and comes barreling after her. “I was joking! I was joking!” Rumi fully rugby tackles her around the thighs and her notebooks go flying down the hall. “I don’t even have my phone.”
The quick tap of slipper clad feet comes up behind them and Zoey watches in horror as Mira darts past them and scoops up the notebook about her with a triumphant “Ha!”
“No! Mira!” Zoey cries, struggling to escape the iron grip Rumi has on her. “You’re gonna make fun of me.”
“I already do that anyway,” Mira points out, flicking through the notebook. “I might as well have some context.” She pauses on a page, turns it sideways with a confused look, and right way up again.
Zoey smacks her forehead on the floor. That’s definitely the page she didn’t want Mira to see.
“My legs are not that long” Mira comments. “And you really don’t understand physics. I was joking before, but no, it’s true.”
“Your legs are that long and I barely passed that class.”
Mira tuts. “The American education system fails again.”
“What are you two talking about?” Rumi demands, she releases Zoey and clambers up. Zoey grabs her ankle to keep her from getting to Mira and Mira slams the notebook closed.
“Nothing!” they say in tandem.
“No more secrets,” Rumi says mockingly.
“That doesn’t mean ‘no more privacy,’” Mira argues. She tucks the notebook under her arm.
“That’s rich,” Zoey gripes, eyeing the stolen notebook as she sits up.
Mira shrugs and flicks her hair over her shoulder. “Yes, well, I’ve always had expensive taste.”
Rumi is not a medical professional. She went through the same extensive first aid training as Mira and Zoey and has had to use some of it. None of them have ever been hurt badly enough that the hospital was even a consideration though, and at most she's had to tightly bind her ribs for a night before the honeymoon can heal her.
So, not a medical professional at all. But she is fairly certain she's in shock. Mira and Zoey might be right there with her. None of them have said a word since their escape from the crowds at Nansen Tower and even there it had just been things like, "this way," and "come on."
They also haven't let go of each other. It hinders their walking speed but Rumi hardly cares. She feels like if she doesn't touch them she'll shatter into a million pieces. And they have their hands on her as well. Mira's grip on her shoulder is almost bruising, and Zoey's hand keeps migrating from Rumi's belt loops to her side and back like she needs proof that Rumi is real.
They walk back to their tower. Which, it's kinda wild because they were literally flying forty-five minutes ago. Rumi would laugh...but she can't make any noise actually. She opens her mouth to say something about it, but there's nothing there.
Zoey gently knocks the top of her head against Rumi's chin. Rumi nudges her back. Mira squeezes her shoulder. That seems like all they're capable of in the moment.
The closer they get to home the less chaotic the streets are, most of the insanity was centered at Nansen Tower, so here it's almost like the city is empty.
They get to their tower and go in through the garage. Mira swipes her key card before the other two can even bother looking for theirs. And then they're in the elevator. Still silent, slumping a little more maybe now that they're nearly home.
The elevator dings, the doors slide open, they step into the hallway as an awkward unit because they still haven't let go of each other. And Rumi is in shock. That's what she'll tell herself later anyway, because she doesn't notice anything is different. And then suddenly Celine is there at the end of the hallway. Rumi opens her mouth to say something, anything. And then Celine isn't there anymore because she's crushing Rumi to her chest and holding her so tightly she can hardly breathe, and her arms were still around Mira and Zoey so now her shoulders are pinned back as they both try to understand the situation. And everyone is talking, everyone but Rumi, because her ear is pressed to Celine's chest and she can hear the rapid pace of her heart and her hands! She's holding Rumi's head to her chest with one and the other is tight around her back and Mira and Zoey have let her go now so Rumi's arms are just kind of...there.
Celine hasn't held her like this in so long. Years. Maybe when she was nine and that kid in the village made fun of her for carrying her bear around? But your faults and fears must never be seen was something that had been baked into her from a young age and so as she got older the hugs had slowly disappeared.
And people are still talking. Or, maybe it's just Celine? And maybe she's just saying one thing.
"You're okay. You're okay." Over and over again.
Rumi isn't sure why her body isn't working, but after a minute Celine pushes her back just enough to look at her face. She cups Rumi's cheeks in her hands. Touches her hair. Hovers her hands over Rumi's bare shoulders for a second before she runs her hands firmly down her arms, like shes trying to warm Rumi up.
It's such a mom thing to do. And Rumi has thought that so many times. Over all the years. And she knows that Celine never wanted to be her mom and she always held space for Rumi's mother, never tried to take her place. But Rumi didn't know Mi-yeong. She knew Celine. And now probably isn't the time to deeply examine it, but Rumi wants her mom. She wants her eomma.
She's crying. She's sobbing actually. And it might be a trick of the light but it looks like Celine is as well. Rumi collapses forward and wraps her arms around Celine. Celine returns the embrace immediately, again holding her so tight it hurts. But Rumi needs it, this way she won't float away.
And they need to talk. Rumi and Celine and Rumi with her girls. But Rumi can't talk right now anyway, and she can feel two other sets of hands on her, Mira and Zoey are there. There will be time for talking.
Mira has always been a light sleeper. Her brother was a monster growing up and would sneak into her room to play pranks on her, so she learned from an early age to keep vigilant. Then it never really went away. A door opening is enough, a light touch, a soft word, movement in the bed, she’s awake. Luckily, most of the time is also able to go back to sleep quickly, as long as what wakes her was dealt with.
So, it could have been anything that wakes her, but she wakes up in a kind of heaven she's been hoping for for years, so she isn't at all upset about it.
She is on one side of a Rumi sandwich, Zoey on the other side flat on her belly and snoring quietly. The covers have slipped down to her lower back leaving her top half bare to the late morning light. The defined musculature of her back and shoulders is juxtaposed to the soft waves of her dark hair, messy and tangled as it is.
And Rumi is tight against Mira's side, soft and warm, her cheek on Mira's chest. Mira's arm is under her and wrapped around her waist. She holds on to Rumi's naked hip and allows herself the thrill of recognizing that Rumi's bare breasts (possibly the most perfect breasts in the world) are pressed to her side. Her hair isn't undone, though their earlier activities had certainly loosened her usually impeccable braid.
She wishes she could take a picture and memorialize this moment, but having something like that on her phone is probably asking for trouble. She will have to make do with her own memory. She traces the graceful curve of Rumi’s cheek, first with her eyes and then with her free hand. She pushes several loose purple strands behind Rumi’s ear. She’s in the process of mapping the edge of Rumi’s jaw with her fingers when she brushes one of the marks that she or Zoey left earlier and Rumi twitches into wakefulness.
"Mmm." Rumi stretches and groans and then settles back against Mira's side. "How long were we asleep?" Her voice is rough and she has to clear her throat a few times.
Mira bites her lip. She can still hear the way Rumi had sang for her. For them. Her screams, moans, whimpers. The memory has her stomach clenching. "Not long I don't think," God her voice is soft right now. The moment warrants it, but still. She reaches blindly toward the bedside table and grabs her phone to check the time. "It's not noon yet." She drops her phone and turns back to Rumi, who is gently playing with lock of Mira's hair.
She tilts her head down and presses her lips to Rumi's cheek, her chin, her mouth. She can do that now. It’s allowed. And Rumi moans and clutches at her arms and sinks into it. She’s so soft and pliant, arching into Mira. One of Mira’s legs is between Rumi’s and Rumi clenches down on her thigh. The memory of wet warmth is replaced with something fresh. Mira holds back from pushing up into the grind. She is legitimately tired and she isn’t looking to start something that she’s not up to finishing.
"How are you feeling?" Mira asks when she pulls away for air. Whispers more like, as she traces Rumi's mouth with her thumb.
Rumi bites down on Mira's thumb gently. "Good." Color blooms in her cheeks and she glances away, bashful. "Really, really good." Mira feels her shifting legs under the sheets, tilting her hips away just a hair. She keeps Mira’s leg between hers. "And also sore, and kinda gross." She freezes and her eyes go wide in panic as she looks up at Mira. "Like physically gross, not emotionally gross! I need a shower." She waves her hands franticly then, "not because I want to wash you off of me or anything. I just feel dirty. Wait no-!" It’s probably a little mean of her, but Mira does let Rumi flounder for a little longer before she can't hold her laughter in anymore. Rumi has rolled away and buried her bright red face in her hands, so Mira takes her by the wrists to peel them away.
"I get it, baby. I understand."
Rumi stills and her big soft doe eyes met Mira's. "Baby?"
Mira rubs at the side of her nose like a goddamned anime protaganist. "Is that...okay?" They hadn't exactly talked much in-between that first kiss in the kitchen and waking up now.
"Mmmhmm." Rumi rolls back and tucks her face against Mira's neck. She runs a hand up Mira's belly, between her breasts, and then up to her neck to cup the opposite side. Mira relaxes into her hold. "I like it." She kisses Mira's throat. Mira’s heart skips and she feels Rumi’s lips curve into a smile against her skin. "I can be your baby." She kisses her again.
From shy to a monstrous flirt in two seconds flat. That has to be a record. Mira groans. "You're fucking killing me."
Rumi giggles. "Sorry...jagiya."
It’s Mira's turn to cover her face. "I'm literally dying. My heart is going to explode."
"Sounds like you like me or something,” Rumi teases in between soft kisses that start to migrate up Mira's neck to the hinge of her jaw, her cheek, the corner of her eye.
Mira groans and kicks her feet. "I'm trying to be good partner and check in with you ‘cause I know it was your first time and you're breaking my brain."
Rumi coos. "You are a good partner," Rumi affirms. "You and Zoey took such good care of me." She props herself up on one elbow and starts running her free hand through Mira's hair, gently untangling the snarls. "But you don't have to worry about me so much. I'm not completely clueless, you know. I've done some stuff before."
Mira peeks through her fingers at Rumi, expression flat with disbelief.
"What? I have!"
"Like what?"
Rumi's cheeks seem to be stained permanently pink and her patterns are flashing in a rhythmic pulse that probably matches her heartbeat. "I've...you know." She gestures toward her lower body with her hand.
Mira gives her a blank stare. Rumi shifts and tries to hide her face again but Mira reaches up and stops her. She tilts her head in question.
Rumi looks away and mutters, "touched myself."
"Was that so hard?"
"Yes!"
Mira laughs and lets Rumi hide her face in her neck again. They lay like that for a while, touching softly, hands exploring bare skin, finding places that make breath hitch or muscles quiver. Zoey continues snoring beside them.
“What about me?” Rumi asks eventually.
“Hmm?”
“Was I…ya know…good?” Rumi doesn’t look up when she asks but her embarrassment, or maybe anxiety, is palpable.
Mira wraps both arms around Rumi and holds her tight, ducking her head into Rumi’s hair. “You were so perfect. I bet Zoey would say the same.” She snorts a little when they both look over at Zoey to see her mouth wide open, laying spread eagle, and snoring. “Looks like you really tired her out.”
Rumi smiles softly and then nuzzles the underside of Mira’s chin. “Good. I wanna be good for you.” Her cheeks are bright red, but she doesn’t flinch away from Mira’s resulting stare.
Mira feels her heart explode in her chest. “Oh my God.” She has to take several calming breaths before she reaches equilibrium. “I hope you realize what you just did,” she teases as she lets her hands drift down Rumi’s strong back, lower and lower. “You’re going to do something that annoys me some day and I’m gonna say,” she leans in and whispers in Rumi’s ear, “I thought you wanted to be a good girl for me.”
Rumi stiffens in her arms. Mira pulls back to see that she’s staring blankly at the center of Mira’s chest. Her patterns are oscillating from dark pink to iridescent in waves. She very slowly looks up to meet Mira’s eyes and her pupils are blown wide. Mira smirks. Rumi opens her mouth, but all that comes out is a little squeak. Mira pushes her hands down further until she has two handfuls of Rumi’s equally perfect ass.
“Liked that, huh?”
All the air in Rumi’s lungs rushes out in a protracted groan. She melts against Mira. “Oh God.”
Mira allows Rumi to vegetate as a pile of goo for a moment. When she feels the last of the tension seep out of Rumi’s spine (and when she’s moved her hands to less dangerous territory) she says, "we really do need to get cleaned up."
Mira can't see Rumi's pout but she can feel it in the air. "I don't wanna move."
Mira chuckles. "You're the one that said you feel gross. And I can definitely feel your cum on my thigh."
Rumi fully straddles Mira and slaps her chest in outrage. "Oh my God, Mira! Don't say it like that!" The covers fall down her shoulders and pool at her waist.
Mira laughs hard enough to jostle Rumi, who is watching her with an angry little frown that quickly melts into an expression of such open affection that Mira can hardly stand to see it.
She cups Rumi's face in her hands. "Do you want this to be a one-time thing?" She tries to keep her tone light. No pressure. With the way Rumi has been acting lately and the way the morning has gone she isn’t expecting an affirmative, but there’s still that wounded corner of her heart that anticipates rejection at every turn. (She is also trying very hard to not stare at Rumi's breasts like a freak. But they’re like...right there.)
Rumi looks stricken at just the thought. She grabs Mira's wrists and holds her tightly. "No! Of course not."
"Well then," Mira squeezes Rumi's face until she has fish lips. "You're just gonna have to get used to me talking about how you came on my thigh, and in my mouth, and on my d-" Rumi squirms out of Mira's hold, bright red, and slaps her hands over Mira's mouth.
Mira is laughing hard enough that it becomes difficult to breathe, especially with Rumi's hands covering half her face. The movement and noise is enough to draw a questioning little groan from Zoey beside them.
They both freeze and look at her. She’s looking at them with a sleepy pout.
“What are you guys talking about?” Zoey folds her arms under the pillow, stretching out her legs under the sheets. She groans in satisfaction, eyes half lidded, and then snuggles back into the mattress. She’s gorgeous in the sunlight. Her eyes are shining with warmth and affection. Rumi must agree because she rolls off of Mira and scoots up to Zoey, bumping the foreheads together and nuzzling at her. Zoey giggles happily and meets Rumi with multiple quick kisses to her face.
"Rumi said sex with me was gross and made her feel dirty."
"Mira no!" Rumi rounds on her, horrified and Mira can't help but cackle.
"Mira! Don't be mean to her!" Zoey is laughing as she grabs Rumi's face and pulls fer flush to her chest, in theory protecting precious Rumi from mean old Mira but actually just forcefully shoving her tits in Rumi's face.
Rumi flails for a second, bright red down to her shoulders, before she relaxes and accepts her lot in life. Smothered by boobs isn’t the worst way to go. Mira wouldn't mind.
“She also said she wants to be good for us.”
Rumi’s whimper is muffled.
“Oh yeah, that absolutely tracks.”
Rumi forcefully extracts herself with a gasp and looms over Zoey. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Baby, be so for real," Zoey coos patronizingly. “I’ve known you for years. Of course you have a praise kink.”
Rumi scowls and rolls off Zoey. “You’re both being mean to me. I’m going to go shower.”
“Aww, Honey, Baby, Sugar, Princess, Doll, I’m just teasing you.” Zoey says in a placating tone. She doesn’t attempt to stop Rumi from leaving.
Mira reaches out and lets her fingers trail over Rumi’s wrist, also not trying to stop her. “Yeah, Baby, you’re just so cute. We can’t help it.”
Rumi snatches her wrist away dramatically and crosses her arms over her chest with a pout. She then seems to remember that she’s fully naked and turns away from them slightly. Mira slips out of bed behind her and presses up against her back. She caresses Rumi’s shoulders and follows the line of her arms to her elbows, subtly tracing her patterns. She feels Rumi lean into her, just a little, and smiles. She glances back at Zoey, now propped up on her elbows and watching them both with dark interest.
“Why don’t you let us join you?” Mira asks, dipping down a little to let her lips skim the edge of Rumi’s ear. “We can all get cleaned up together.”
Rumi shrugs, pretending at disinterest, even as she looks back at Mira and then over to Zoey. “I guess.”
Zoey’s grin from the bed is predatory.
The shower is…interesting. All that wet skin. Hands sliding over each other’s bodies. Though Mira's sexual exploits in the past haven't been frequent, she's no virgin. She has enough experience to have a baseline understanding of what she likes and doesn't like in a sexual encounter. But this is the first time she's showered with someone(s) she's slept with. It takes far longer than it reasonably should for them to actually get clean, even considering all of Rumi and Mira’s hair.
She's ready the smut books and seen movies with sex scenes that show bathing together to be this salacious activity, and it's not exactly tame between them by any stretch of the imagination. But it is incredibly tender. They take turns washing each other's hair (Zoey and Mira have to tag team Rumi's. There's just so much!), Zoey washes Mira's back, Rumi discovers the ticklish spot on Zoey's ribs, and Mira's glasses fog up from the steam (She just wanted to be able to see!).
Afterwards is just as sweet. They mostly dry off individually but Zoey does wrap Rumi up completely in her largest towel ("Look! She's a Rumi-rito!" "The fuck?"). Mira doesn't even try to avoid looking in the mirror. It's harder to feel dysphoric when two beautiful women are wolf whistling and purring at you.
They end up back on Rumi's bed, Zoey air drying in a beam of sunlight while Mira helps Rumi comb out her obscenely long hair. She has a wide toothed comb, a fine-tooth comb, a detangling brush, and a whole host of hair ties to help her through the endeavor.
They bask in silence for a while, only the occasional sound of Mira placing a smacking kiss on Rumi's head or shoulder when she gets the itch. Mira is most of the way through the first section when Rumi speaks.
"I've been thinking of cutting my hair."
"Oh yeah?"
Rumi hums in affirmation.
Mira continues to tease through the wet tangles with the comb. "How short?"
"I still want it to be long. I like my braid too. Maybe to my mid back."
Zoey sits up and reaches across them, placing her hand at Rumi's back to measure. "Wow, that's like three feet of hair gone."
"Is that too much?"
"It's your hair. You could shave your head bald if you wanted too."
Rumi giggles. "I would never. What if my head is a weird shape?"
Mira snorts. "As if. Everything about you is beautiful."
Rumi doesn't respond. Mira leans around to meet her eyes and sees the most pitiful expression on Rumi's face. When their eyes meet Rumi sniffles and leans forward to plant a chaste kiss on Mira's mouth. "You too."
"Gay."
Rumi and Mira both shoot Zoey a glare.
She stares back at them with a cocked eyebrow like "what? It is."
Mira rolls her eyes and turns back to Rumi's hair. "If you're going to cut yours, I should do something with mine too. I've kind of been wanting an undercut."
Zoey leans forward with interest. "Ooooh that'd be so sexy. Like it looks the same when it's down but then you put it up in a bun or something? Arf."
Mira laughs. "Did you just bark?"
Zoey sits up on her knees like a begging dog and howls. It's comically bad. Mira shoves her over. ("Gah! Rude, see if I beg for you again."
“Oh, you’ll beg.”)
“Oh! I know! I’ll shave my head. That way all three of us have a different look for the comeback,” Zoey says once she rights herself and flops back into her sunbeam.
Something about that niggles at Mira’s memory. “Didn’t you say you’ve shaved your head before?”
“Yeah, when I was like thirteen. It was horrible. My head looked like a peanut.”
“Why would you do it again?”
“Someone has to.”
“No, we really don’t,” Rumi and Mira say simultaneously. They then both scramble to try and pinch each other but Mira loses quickly.
It takes an hour and two hairdryers to get Rumi’s hair mostly dry and by that time it’s early afternoon and none of them have eaten. The eggs Mira made earlier are long cold. They all get dressed in casual clothes (Mira strips the bed because she’s the only responsible person in this house.) and then pile onto the couch to order takeout. After a brief argument about Zoey always getting to choose where they order from, (“I’m the baby! It’s my right.”) they settle for comfort food and Zoey puts on a documentary about Machu Picchu.
Mira ends up with her head in Rumi’s lap and, after a brief hesitation, Rumi’s fingers combing through her hair. Zoey is curled up beside them with her head on Rumi’s shoulder and their hands clasped. They listen to the drone of the narrator for a few minutes before Rumi breaks the silence.
“So are we…” she trails off and looks between them.
Mira rolls onto her back to look up at her and then shoots a glance at Zoey. Rumi doesn’t continue.
“What?” Zoey asks, so gentle, rubbing her cheek on Rumi’s shoulder.
Rumi clears her throat and looks up at the ceiling like she’s asking a god for help. “Are we…dating now?” Her voice is pitched a little higher than usual.
“Oh.”
Mira looks at Zoey in surprise. “Oh?”
“I mean yes.” Zoey looks a little lost. “I mean, if you want that. I want that. I thought…”
“You thought…?” Mira questions, she’s looking at Zoey upside down.
Zoey shrugs. “I thought that was kind of a given but we didn’t talk about it so, yes. I want to date you both. I don’t have sex with people I’m not in a relationship with.”
“I also want it,” Rumi says it like the words are being yanked out of her forcefully. She’s sitting so stiff and straight that it looks like pole got inserted in her spine. Mira has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing.
“Ok,” Mira says. She can’t help but smile. “That’s settled then. Girlfriends.”
Mira isn’t sure what she did to deserve this. Maybe in a past life she racked up a lot of good karma. Maybe the Honmoon is thanking them for rebuilding it better and stronger. Maybe she’s just lucky. Whatever the truth is, she’s not going to take it for granted. She wants to feel this loved and safe for the rest of her life.
Rumi flips over the back of the couch backwards so her head is hanging off the seat and she is looking at Mira upside down. Mira doesn’t look up from her copy of Vogue Korea but she does raise an eyebrow in silent question. Rumi huffs dramatically but otherwise doesn’t respond. They sit in comfortable silence for a moment but Rumi can't stand it long. She reaches across the small gap between them and lets her hand creep up Mira's thigh slowly.
Mira still doesn’t look at her. "Rumi, baby, you've gotta give me a break. I'm gonna start chaffing."
Rumi whines pitifully and slaps her hand back on her own stomach. "I'm sorry. I'm just so bored."
Mira turns the page in her magazine. "Well sorry, this boredom buster is closed for maintenance."
Rumi pouts and doesn’t even have the grace to blush. "You and Zoey have ruined me. You turned me into a... a... a sex fiend!"
Mira freezes. She completely stops moving, it even seems like she isn't breathing. Rumi glances up at her in mild concern. Had she said something wrong?
Mira's lips are pressed so tightly together that they’ve gone a little white, she is staring at her magazine blankly, and her neck is slowly getting redder and redder until the color reaches her ears.
Rumi, now actually worried, goes back over their conversation. She doesn’t think she said anything rude or otherwise unacceptable.
Before she can spiral too much, Mira brakes the tension with a loud snorting laugh. In fact, she is fully guffaw-ing, slapping her hand on her knee and with tears in her eyes, the whole shebang. "Sex-fiend," she wheezes, struggling to get enough air.
Watching her usually composed girlfriend fall into hysterical laughter because of something she did has Rumi giggling along.
At first.
But when the over-the-top laughter continues past the point that Rumi feels it is truly warranted, she starts to get a little annoyed. Offended maybe. She had been very serious, after all. And sure, maybe the way she said it was a little funny, but really, this is getting excessive.
Rumi puffs up in indignation. Mira, actually, legitimately, crying with laughter, sees Rumi's expression and her puffed up cheeks and just falls deeper into her hysterics. She points at Rumi’s face. Literally points and laughs at her. Wow. Mira collapses on to her side, clutching at her stomach as she cackles.
“I’m going to tell Zoey you’re being mean to me,” Rumi huffs. She kicks her legs up and over to complete her flip, but it ends up being a bit awkward and results in Rumi landing on her knees instead of her feet. She scrabbles quickly on to her feet and looks down her nose at Mira before turning on her heel to march away with a whip of her braid and runs smack into Zoey. She screams. Zoey screams right back and grabs Rumi by the arms so they both don't fall to the floor.
Behind Rumi, she can still hear Mira wheezing things like, “Oh my god,” and “I can’t breathe,” and “I’m gonna pee,” and “sex-fiend.”
Zoey looks over Rumi's shoulder in amusement. "Did you break Mira?"
Rumi rolls her eyes. She glances back at Mira when the laughing gets quieter to see that her wonderful girlfriend has stuffed as much of her fist as she can in her mouth in an effort to muffle the noise. It's ridiculous that Rumi still feels attracted to Mira in this state, red from the neck up, tear tracks running down her cheeks, as she struggles to both stop laughing and breathe.
Zoey starts giggling too.
Rumi puts her face in her hands and tries to hold in a scream.
Mira pulls her hand out of her mouth and tries to explain. "Rumi said," laughter, "Rumi said," more laughter, "she said we," obnoxious cackling, "we turned her...into a sex-fiend."
Zoey offers an amused chuckle and slings an arm around Rumi's wilted shoulders. "Hell yeah, we did." Rumi groans.
Mira rolls on to her back and starts fanning at her face with her hands. She's muttering a string of "sorry"s as she does. She takes a deep breath, a second one, wipes the tears from her cheeks. "It was the way she said it."
Rumi peeks through a gap in her fingers just as Mira looks at her. She feels a dawning horror when Mira makes a motion like she's going to vomit, but instead of their earlier lunch all that spews out of her is more laughter.
Rumi throws her hands in the air. "That's it! I'm converting to Catholicism and moving to Europe and becoming a nun. A demon fighting nun."
Zoey giggles. "I've seen that show."
"It was so good," Mira agrees with a wheeze.
Rumi, left out of the joke (fairly typical) and also the butt of the joke (incredibly rare), isn't sure what to do in this situation. She looks to Zoey, who just shrugs.
"She is being pretty obnoxious."
"I can't help it!"
Zoey ignores Mira's feeble arguments. "Wanna smother her with blankets?"
Rumi snatches the blanket off the back of the couch immediately and grins in a way that she's been told is unsettling. Zoey just returns it with a mischievous grin of her own. They approach Mira in tandem.
Mira had asked for some alone time and normally Rumi would never intrude on that, but this was an emergency.
Mira's door was open as it always was. Even though she had wanted some solitude it was excitingly rare for her to close the others out, even before they started dating. She could see that Mira was lounging comfortably on her bed, scrolling through TikTok if the sounds coming from her phone were any indication. Rumi knocked on the door frame and stuck her head in.
"Sup?" She asked even as she scrolled to the next video.
"Something's wrong with Zoey."
Mira looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
"We're taking a break from working on some song ideas and I asked if she wanted me to get her some ramyeon and she said no."
Mira dropped her phone and sat up. "Oh, shit." Zoey never said no to ramyeon. They could have just had a massive bbq feast and she would still eat ramyeon even if her stomach was exploding.
"Yeah."
"Was anything off when you were working?"
Rumi shrugged. "Everything seemed normal. Maybe she's a little less energetic but she was so focused so...I don't know." Rumi neck began to flush. "Some of the lyrics were a little..."
"Sexy?"
Rumi's whole face lit up bright red. "I was going to say provocative, but yeah. That."
Mira gave her a flat unimpressed look. "You were literally choking on my cock last night but you can't say sexy?"
Rumi sputtered in indignation. Mira was astonished that her face got redder without her bursting a blood vessel. "Excuse you, I did not choke!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That's not important."
As amusing as riling Rumi up was, Mira agreed. "Right. Ok, let's think." Mira patted the bed beside her and Rumi joined her. "She seemed fine at breakfast. She ate plenty. She told us the story about her cousin falling in the cactus."
Rumi laughed. "Classic Jose." Neither of them had ever met Jose but Zoey's stories painted him as very reckless and accident prone.
"What happened when you went to the studio?"
Rumi shrugged again. "We worked on some old ideas, got a couple of beats worked out. She was working on some new lyrics too. We were getting a lot done and then-" Rumi gasped suddenly and sat up like she'd been hit by lightning.
Mira was startled enough by Rumi's sudden movement that she jumped off the bed. "What? What?"
"Right before I decided to take a snack break she was looking at her Insta! Maybe someone said something mean."
Sure they were the number one KPop group on the planet, but some people lived to be haters. They all got their share of hurtful and rude remarks. Often, their loyal fans would handle the problem before they even saw it, and all three of them were judicious users of the various block buttons.
But still, words could hurt, and if it was bad enough the Zoey didn't want ramyeon-
"Let's go."
They made their way back to the studio swiftly and found Zoey right where Rumi had left her, nestled into one of their oversized beanbags, notebook open on her lap and phone lighting up her face. She looked up when they came in and smiled at Mira joining them, but they could both see it wasn't a truly happy smile. Tight, perfunctory, painted on.
"Zoey?" Mira's low voice was wheedling.
Zoey rolled her eyes and sent a half hearted glare to Rumi. "What did you say to her?"
Rumi was unapologetic as she prowled over to curl around Zoey in the beanbag. They nearly both toppled out of it and Zoey did let out a short little happy squeal at that, wrapping her arms around Rumi and dropping her phone off to the side.
Rumi pouted in an entirely fake way. Very dramatic. A masterclass in pitifulness. "You were being weird. You never say no to ramyeon."
Zoey sighed. "My stomach just feels weird."
Mira snorted and approached their opposite side. "That has literally never stopped you before." She glanced down at Zoey's phone and saw it opened to her most recent Instagram post, a shot of her in a crop top and an oversized jacket flashing a peace sign and her stupid sexy abs.
"I got a new follower." Zoey's tone was distinctly unhappy, petulant even.
Mira quirked a brow at that statement though. They all got new followers daily, so for Zoey to notice one in particular and have that reaction didn't bode well.
Zoey reached over Rumi and picked up her phone, shoving it into Mira's hand. The post was still open on the screen. It had already received over 100 thousand likes and 900 comments, but Mira looked at the most recent one.
All_naturall_jess: wow your skincare regimen must be insane!!!
Mira clicked through to her profile and gave it a cursory glance. It was mostly attempts at artful nature photography and selfies of a generically pretty white woman, sometimes with other people but usually alone. There were a few photos of her showing off flowy sundresses and other outfits that have a distinctly hippie vibe. Mira lived and worked with the two most beautiful women on the planet and had met 1000 more who blew this woman out of the water so it wasn't especially impressive.
"Who is All_naturall_jess? Also, that handle is obnoxious." Mira handed the phone down to Rumi so she could look too.
Zoey's lips quirked a tiny bit. "Just a girl I knew in school."
Mira kept a neutral expression but Rumi's immediately darkened. Zoey had of course told them of some of her difficulties in school as a teenager. There's no way Zoey would be upset over "just some girl."
"Okay, well she's not exactly wrong. We all have extensive regimens." It was kind of an expected part of being an Idol.
This was clearly the wrong thing to say. Zoey's lips thinned into a tight line and she nodded.
Rumi sat the phone in Zoey's lap and curled closer to her. "What is it, Zoey?" she asked, running the bridge of her nose along Zoey's jaw. It was a critical hit. As a recipient of that move multiple times herself, Mira knew how devastating it could be.
Zoey sighed and tilted her head back to give Rumi more access to her throat. Dangerous move. Rumi was definitely going to bite her. "Maybe I'm reading too much into it."
"Doubtful." Mira dropped down on the floor beside her girls, criss-cross applesauce.
Rumi rumbled in agreement against Zoey's neck. Mira and Zoey called it purring, Rumi flushed all the way to the tips of her ears and vehemently denied it whenever they brought it up. Zoey cast a side eye at Mira and they shared a private grin over it.
Mira gently grabbed Zoey's closest knee. "What'd she do?"
Zoey stared up at the ceiling. "I had really bad acne as a kid. Like from ten and up. And she and her friends were really mean about it. And I mean like really mean, not just regular kid stuff. First she spread a rumor that I didn't bathe and that's why my face was always broke out. And then later she spread another one that it wasn't acne at all but bed bug bites."
Mira scoffed. "Wow, all natural bitch, more like."
Zoey snorted a laugh at that. "Yeah, for real."
Rumi chose that moment to strike. Clearly, despite the fact that Zoey had just shared something deeply personal and upsetting, the lure of an exposed throat was too much for Rumi to ignore. She latched her teeth onto the soft spot just behind Zoey's jaw.
Zoey jerked and collapsed, a squeak that quickly turned into a groan falling out of her mouth. Both of her hands shot up to the back of Rumi's head to hold her in place. Rumi busied herself there for a moment before breaking away. Her expression was livid.
"I hate her. I'm going to get Bobby to find her address and then I'm going to teleport there and steal all of her left shoes."
Mira burst into startled laughter at that and the dazed glassy-eyed stare Zoey had fixed Rumi with, still clearly processing what had just happened. When she blinked back into awareness Zoey guffawed, laughing so hard she nearly fell out of the beanbag chair again. Rumi pressed quick kisses all over her face until Zoey had to shove her back a few inches with a "stop, stop I'm gonna pee."
It took them all several minutes to calm down, but when they did Mira was the voice of reason. She picked up Zoey's phone from where it had ended up on the floor and passed it back to her.
"Let's just block her. We can't stop her from seeing you in the media but that doesn't mean she should get to see what you chose to post for the world."
Zoey unlocked her phone but then hesitated. Her thumb hung over the button for a moment. She looked sideways at Mira and Rumi and both of them were looking back at her. Watching with open concern and love. "Is it bad that I kind of don't want to?"
"What do you mean?"
"She was so horrible to me, her and all her friends. But...I made it. I'm an internationally known Kpop Idol. I've sold songs to wildly famous artists. She's just some girl from California who low key peaked in high school. I'm better than her, and like, I kind of want her to see that. But is that...? That feels bad too? I don't know."
Mira reached out and wrapped an arm around Zoey's waist. She pulled her out of Rumi's grasp ("No! My Zoey!") until she was practically in her lap. "I get it," she said after Zoey's giggles calmed down and Rumi gave up trying to wrestle her back. Rumi ended up on her belly in the beanbag chair with her chin resting on Zoey's thigh. "I want my parents to see me on every billboard in this city. I want to rub it in their faces how wrong they were. And I will also never speak to them again. I want them to beg me for my attention and then I want to turn away from them. I want the satisfaction. I know I'll never get it, but the desire is still there."
Rumi cut them both to the bone in that insightful way that she could only manage for other people but never for herself. "Wanting to win doesn't make you a bad person. Either of you." Zoey reached out and cupped Rumi's face. Rumi definitely didn't purr.
"If I blocked her though, wouldn't that just prove to her that she still bothers me?" She ran her thumb over the pattern at Rumi's temple.
Mira squeezed her firmly. "Look, I obviously care more about you than anything else. Is it going to bother you everytime she comments on one of your posts? Because if it is, then block her. Fuck whether she thinks she won or whatever."
Zoey threw her arms up in the air in rage. "Ugh! I can't stand her! One time she put half of an opened banana in my jacket pocket at lunch and I didn't notice until sixth period and it was slimy and gross! I hate even thinking about her."
Rumi pushed her upper body up off the chair. "Wait, she's the reason you hate bananas? Screw her! Block her right now." She reaches for Zoey's phone.
"Rumi!" Mira chastised. "Watch your language."
Rumi stuck her tongue out at Mira and then yelped sharply when Mira lunged for her, snapping her teeth playfully.
"Fuck it. It will bother me, you're right." Zoey pulled their attention back to her. She unlocked her phone and decisively pushed the block button. Then she exited Instagram, locked her phone again, and threw it on the couch across from them.
Rumi, refusing to get up like a normal person, rolled off the beanbag and took her own phone off the low table next to them. "I'm gonna block her too."
Mira kissed the side of Zoey's head. "My phone is in my room so I'll do it later."
"You guys~~~" Zoey's tearful whine was full of affection.
"Shut up, she obviously doesn't get to see you through us either." Mira squeezed at Zoey's sides until she squirmed away. "Now come on, show me what you were working on before. Rumi said the lyrics were sexy."
Zoey gasped in delight while Rumi turned bright red. "No she did not!" Disbelief.
