what we were
pairing: huntr/x zoey x fem! sound engineer reader
summary: when a five-month-long situationship went south two months ago, going back with your parents in korea and find another thing to take your mind off is only the logical decision to do. being offered a job as a sound engineer in korea doesn't seem so bad. what could possibly go wrong?
featuring: y/n, zoey, mira, rumi, bobby, celine and third sunlight sister member [mentioned] (who i will name harin for the purpose of this piece)
type: sfw, romantic, will be divided into three parts
parts: 1 (you are here), 2, 3
tags: angst, no beta we die like jinu, zoey and reader being ex situationships; calm and collected reader x hyper energetic zoey, ex situationships ex situationships ex situationships; black cat reader x golden retriever zoey, i cannot spoil the rest, english is not my first language
warning/s: none
words: 5.6k
note: this will take place after the movie, lowercase intended
song: the truth untold by bts is playing…
"i don't get it... how did everything go like this?"
it has been almost two months since your situationship end on a bad note with a woman named zoey and as much as you want to stay because your relatives are in california, you couldn't stand passing by a random street and not think of the moments you two shared, especially the hill you two frequented whenever zoey likes a moment of escape from her life as a child of two people with two entire lives.
after the day everything went downhill, you couldn't function and think clearly, as if her presence still lingers around you, like a ghost remained unrest after their death. it drives you crazy how even in your own room, you are not safe from her, the sound of her giggles, her voice.
so you finally decide to leave california and the memories behind and move back to south korea, where your parents welcomed you with open arms. they were totally on board with and have supported your decision, like they always do throughout your whole life.
so when you finally come to korea with your luggage, you see your parents holding up a paper with your calligraphed name on it and a few red hearts, which you guess was your mother's doing.
you let out a chuckle and pull them in an embrace, a bit too tight than the last hug you shared with them. you sigh and bury your face in their shoulders, like you usually do whenever you seek comfort and peace from them since you were just a child.
you let out another sigh and sniff, getting hit by a smell of nostalgia and the perfume your parents always wear ever since you were a toddler. you then pull away and smile at them, one that didn't quite reach your eyes. your ever-loving mother raises a hand up to your face and caresses your cheek with her calloused thumb, wearing a loving smile on her lips.
you look at her and sigh in relief as you lean against her touch, relishing in the familiar loving warmth.
"i miss you, mom," you whisper as you look at her, your eyes slowly filling up with the pent-up tears. your parents share a look at the sight of their only child, their hearts being twisted at the pain across your face before your father pulls you in a hug and kisses your forehead as he whispers, "it'll be okay, honey, we're here, don't worry. we got you."
it still feels surreal to be back in south korea, to be back in the childhood home where you used to dance with your father in the living room, where you used to help (miserably) your mother prepare dinner. it brings you back to the moments where everything is still simple and mundane.
as if peaceful life had simply chosen them.
not even a half an hour had passed since you arrived and your cousin, haru is already at your house, singing along to a song you couldn't guess who it was from as the house becomes more noisy with her fangirling and singing along. you were just relishing in the peace and quiet not long ago until haru decides to disturb and break the silence with her poor attempt of a high note.
you look at her and raise a brow as you remark, "are you perhaps singing in a high note or doing a fantastic imitation of a seal?"
it got you a smack on the arm, but at least, the noise's gone, for a moment. you then cross your arms as you ask haru, "what song are you even singing?"
"how it's done by huntrix."
you look at her as if you never heard of them before (which you really never did). you answered, "okay...? good song, but never heard of them."
"are you serious–" you hold up a hand and that stops the start of a long ramble from your cousin.
haru grumbles but does what she was asked, still humming as she has her eyes glued on her phone, listening to the song. you lean back against the couch and close your eyes, the soft humming of the air conditioning system fills the room as it slowly lulls you to sleep but haru decides to break the silence, "heard you're looking for a job."
you flutter one eye open and look at her. "yeah, why do you ask?"
haru pauses the video on her phone and turns to face you as she inquires, "does your degree perhaps fall under the job of a sound engineer?"
you raise a brow and open the other eye as you cross your arms and retorts, "yeah...? why are you asking?"
"i saw a flyer somewhere of a company hiring for a sound engineer, i thought you could try and apply there. it wouldn't hurt to try, right?"
you sigh and ask, a bit skeptical, "where?"
"huntrix is looking–"
you raise your brow higher and interrupt, "wait what? your favorite band? are you kidding me?"
haru places her phone down and raises her hands in defense. "just hear me out here, i'm not doing this because i want to get near them, but i'm doing this so you could take a break. i heard from mom how your behavior lately is unbecoming of you and she suggested getting a job would at least let you get your mind off it and at the same time, earn money for yourself.”
you sigh. “fine."
it didn’t take long before haru ordered you to get dressed nicely, dragged you out of the house, and drove you to the company huntrix is working under in a span of half an hour. the moment you two arrived in the company, haru, being the extrovert she is, talked her way in and everything became a blur of her talking until you found yourself getting escorted to a room.
you look behind your shoulder and haru gives you a reassuring smile and two thumbs up as she mouths, ’you got this’. you then look forward as the staff leads you inside a meeting room and instructs you to wait inside for a man named bobby to interview you. you sit down on one of the chairs and look around, admiring the interior design.
while waiting, you start humming a familiar tune you heard from haru’s and drumming your fingers against the metal table. at the sound of the door opening, your ears perk up and you see a short man walking inside with a sunshine vibe around him as your eyes dart down on his shirt, the word huntrix across his chest.
you then meet his eyes and immediately stand up, bowing at the man. “good morning, sir. thank you for meeting us at such short notice.”
the man waves his hand dismissively and smiles. “it’s all right, the girls are still rehearsing their songs in their practice room so it gives me the time to meet you. i’m bobby, by the way, manager of huntrix.” he then offers you a hand while he looks up at you. “and what is your name?”
you immediately hold his hand with two of yours and give it a shake, smiling down at him. “[y/n], jeong [y/n], sir. it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
"the pleasure is all mine.” he then lets your hand go and sits down across your seat and so do you. “take a seat. as you probably already know, huntrix is currently looking for a sound engineer and apparently, many people have applied too considering their popularity is rising each day. so tell me, miss [y/n]...” he pauses and clasps his hands together on the table as he stares at you down, as if he’s sizing you up.
“what makes you think you’re qualified for this job?”
you blink and immediately say what you thought of without hesitation, honesty laced in your voice. “i admit, i don’t know who they are and that could help me work with them better than anyone else applying for this job because i won’t waste their time fangirling over them. while i agree that their group has great songs and has been reigning kpop group among groups for some time now, i do not have any knowledge of them like an avid fan does. i wouldn’t treat them like royalty, but instead, the treatment they will get is mutual respect and equality as coworkers should be. as what everyone knows, time is gold, and i believe it’s essential to respect their time knowing they are busy with their idol life and their personal one.”
a few minutes of silence envelops the two of you and you start to sweat as you hear the loud pounding of your heart against your ears, your palms getting sweaty. then suddenly, he smiles like he finally found a light at the end of a dark tunnel as he claps his hands together with a sigh in relief. you blink, your eyes focused on him as you notice the look on his face, like you were the savior he was looking for.
you clear your throat and ask in a whisper, “a-are you okay, s-sir..?”
“more than i ever did before you stepped inside.” bobby exhales loudly and stands up as he offers his hand out to you, a huge grin all over his lips. “congratulations, ms. jeong, you’re hired. come back tomorrow to start your job.”
you scramble to stand up and hold his hand with two of your own, shaking as you still haven’t finished recovering from the sudden surprise and shock. you then bow and respond, “thank you, sir, thank you. your trust in me won’t be misaligned.”
“i know you won’t.”
“whoa, you finally found us a new sound engineer?”, rumi asks as she looks at bobby who is sitting beside zoey, who is happily munching on her ramyeon. the three idols look at their manager as he nods, facing them with a huge grin.
“yes, and she looks promising. i mean, graduating as a magna cum laude for audio engineering at sejong university? that sure is something.” he blinks when he hears nothing from his girls and looks at them only to see their mouths open, all of them shocked with their food now discarded.
“what?!”
“yes, let’s go! my cousin is officially huntrix’s sound engineer! yay!”
the moment you step out of the meeting room, haru immediately drags you around the city as if you didn’t spend almost all your life there and brings you to a cafe, an arcade, and finally, an amusement park to end the day on a good note. but the celebration doesn’t end there because the moment you two stepped inside your house, haru had dragged you to the living room where her parents and yours were talking while drinking tea before your cousin broke the news with that huge grin of hers.
now you are sitting in the middle on the couch with a party hat that haru managed to get from gods know where as the parents celebrate with a drink of soju. you look over to your cousin and sigh, seeing haru with a lopsided smile and an empty shot glass in her hand as she tries not to look like she’s already experiencing the effects of the alcoholic beverage.
haru only had one shot of soju and she’s already over the yonder. such a lightweight, you think to yourself as you excuse yourself since they understand that the smell of soju is disgusting to you and the loud noises are deemed unlikeable by you.
you leave the festivity and climb upstairs, seeking solace and a sense of indescribable comfort from your bed. you plop down, your face first and let out a sigh. the day didn’t even end yet and you’re already tired. talking with such sudden confidence to one of the top ranking groups’ manager takes so much of your energy even if it’s only for a few minutes.
you then turn over and sprawl across the bed, your eyes looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling for the past years with the faint car horns outside the window. you sigh and sit up at the same time you sense a sudden ripple in the honmoon, making a groan escape your lips.
before you even go to california, there was this training you did with your aunt before she had dementia and later on succumbed to her deathbed after two years of battling brain tumor. your aunt, harin was once an idol, a part of the so-called group called sunlight sisters. before she gets sick, she always recalls to you how they were famous and great along with a few stories of her bond with her fellow members, celine and miyeong, and you still listened even though you already heard her stories multiple times. you even indulged in the training she claimed she did, getting acquainted with the world she grew up in and even though your parents didn’t see the sense of it, they kept letting you do whatever you want as long as they could only see the smile and enjoyment on your face whenever you train with your aunt.
but one thing you always notice is the sad smile that lingers whenever your aunt tells her stories about her fellow member, miyeong, as if… that woman was just a memory, likely already deceased at that time. after your aunt’s death, you did your best to find and seek the woman named celine with the address your late aunt had left you—your aunt’s final wish. it didn’t take long before you stumbled upon celine and some other kids training near an ancient-looking tree with several pendants hanging from the branches.
with your sudden arrival, you later found yourself meeting the other kids though the memories of you have of them is already a blur to you now that you’re older and definitely wiser because even though you respect your aunt, her wish granted you an ability to see the barrier called honmoon from demons and whenever you encounter a demon before (california surprisingly doesn’t have them), your fight mode always gets activated and even though your body is already exhausted, your guilt is always ready to ruin the rest of your day if you even let one demon get away.
and now you’re back in korea, it reminded you of the reason why you took a break and stayed in california for two years.
you then stand up and grab a hoodie that seems like it has been washed despite being stuck in your closet for two years, slipping into the garment with the hood over your head and put some sunglasses on before you open your balcony door and slip into the night, running on the roofs like a cat quiet with its footsteps.
the red ripple means that a demon or a group of them is causing a disturbance again. sigh
meanwhile…
the huntrix members was about to relax on their couch after a busy day and a packed schedule when they saw a red ripple in the honmoon and a chorus of groans escape their lips as they begrudgingly stand up from the couch and immediately flee to the source of it, equally tired from their idol lives.
but when they arrived, they didn’t expect the sight that would welcome them. their eyes fall on a tall and hooded figure holding up a big scythe with the same glowing aura as their weapons as the figure stands in front of a group of hungry demons. the girls were so focused on wanting to get a good look on the mysterious figure they didn’t get to see how the demons got sliced in half with the scythe, a scythe as big as the grim reapers use in the horror movies they used to watch.
they all blink and look at each other before the figure tenses up a bit and looks behind them, looking at the girls through the sunglasses. the figure then speaks up with a deep voice, “good night,” before they jump up to the roof and run away, the three girls too surprised and shocked about the figure to follow.
rumi then crosses her arms and whispers to herself, “who was that…?”, while she looks at mira and zoey who share the same look as hers, utterly speechless at the scene they had witnessed. “how come she didn’t use a song to kill the demons?”
after running for several minutes, you finally arrive on the roof of your house and jump down from the roof, dropping on your balcony. you then exhale loudly as you pull the hood off your head and take the hoodie off, throwing it away somewhere in your room and plopping down on the bed with a sigh. when you came home, you could still hear the festivity downstairs with music blasting and haru slurring her words as she tried to sing with gibberish words slipping out of her lips.
you then close your eyes and remember what had happened earlier. you saw three girls standing behind you, but you unfortunately couldn’t make out what their faces looked like considering the moon was facing their backs when you looked at them. one of them has hot pink hair, the second one has her hair in a bun, and the third has purple hair with patterns you could distinguish as demon markings.
a hunter with demon markings…? how is that even possible?
you groan and cover your face as you close your eyes and whisper to yourself, “please no more surprises, no more.”
the next day, you wake up early at six in the morning and get dressed, donning an oversized maroon button-up shirt with a white t-shirt underneath and khaki pants matched with white sneakers and a brown bracelet. you fix your hair in front of your mirror and grab your messenger bag that could fit your laptop just fine before running out of your room.
you then run downstairs and see your parents by the front door with your father straightening his coat, all dressed up for work and your mother helping him put on his necktie. at your sudden arrival, the couple turn their head and meet your gaze before your mother finishes doing the tie and turns around to face you. immediately, your mother holds your face and kisses your nose and your forehead, just like she always does whenever you’re off somewhere.
your mother then lets your face go and speaks up, “hang on, dear. wait here for a moment.” she steps out and heads inside the kitchen while you stand there with your father beside you as he adjusts his collar.
your father then turns to you and places a hand on your shoulder as he says with the most serious expression over his face, “good luck with your first day today, honey. as you always say, you’re gonna be awesome-sauce, my little rockstar.”
you then let out a groan as you dramatically roll your eyes, a small smile appearing onto your lips. “dad,” you’d said — not just out of embarrassment, but out of love and affection because at that moment, he still remembers the part of you in your childhood that no longer exists—shy and awkward and a bit on the nerd side.
he always calls you his little rockstar, though the word little isn’t the right word to describe you now that you’re taller than him and all grown up, but he always says that no matter what happens whether you start towering over him and becoming stronger than him, you’d still be his baby. and that never fails to tear you up whenever you remember.
“you’re awesome-sauce too, dad. good luck with work.” you immediately pull him into a hug and nestle against his chest, like you always used whenever he goes to work before you went to california.
your mother then steps into the hallway and walks up to you with your black tumbler, giving it to you. “here you go, dear. always drink water, okay? i love you two.”
“okay, mom. see you later, i love you.” you crouch down a bit and place a kiss on her cheeks when you used to stand on your tippy toes just to kiss your mother’s cheeks. your mother then escorts you outside and watches as your and your father walk to his car and he opens the door of the passenger seat, closing it gently after you hopped in. your parents share a short kiss and your father then steps inside the driver’s seat. he then starts the engine and drives off after the seatbelts are fastened.
it doesn’t take long before you see huntrix’s company building but your father just drives past it and you immediately turn your head to look at him. he chuckles when he senses your gaze and states, “you haven’t had breakfast yet. did you think i’m gonna just drive you there and not let you eat first?”
“but you’re going to be late for work, dad.”
he glances at you for a moment before looking back at the road. “so what? i’ve been going to work on time for the past two years, so why should it matter now that i’m driving my daughter to her first day on the job?”
“all right, all right.” your father had gone through the drive-thru of some fast food chain and got you fried rice, egg rolls, a burger, and a soda—enough to get you through the morning. he then takes a u-turn and drives back to the company building. he stops at the front and you lean in towards your father, kissing his cheek and waving a hand goodbye before you step out of the car and close the door. your father then drives off as the taillights blink three times and you smile, his sweet gesture not lost on you. you keep your eyes on the car before it turns to the right, disappearing from your sight.
after stepping inside and eating your breakfast—that consists of fried rice, egg rolls, and a soda after deciding to save the burger for later—in the lounge room, you managed to finish it in record time and headed to the restroom to throw the trash, pulling out your hygiene pouch and brushing your teeth. once finished, you step out of the restroom and walk back to the lounge room, waiting for bobby to show up.
minutes later, he finally arrives as he steps out of the elevator, a relieved smile across his face and he looks at you. “good morning, miss jeong. it’s nice to see you again. shall we go?”
you nod and he turns around as you follow him to the elevator. he then pushes a button with number 5 on it and the elevator closes with the faint music of a song, which you recognized as how it’s done from huntrix due to the familiar verse being rapped—thanks to your cousin. once the elevator opens, bobby steps out and you follow behind, gripping the strap of your messenger bag with one hand and the other holding the tumbler.
bobby stops in front of a door which is the last door on the left and turns to you before he opens it and you follow, hanging your head low while following bobby inside.
you’d be lying if you said you’re not nervous. sure, bobby had that air of warmth and comfort and he looks like he could pull you in a hug and adopt an introvert like you, but you weren’t so sure about the idols you’re doing to work with and even though haru’s endless rambles about these girls being nice and kind and gentle, you’re still nervous.
“girls, gather ‘round. i want you to meet your new sound engineer.” even bobby’s cheery voice makes you more nervous. “girls, meet miss jeong [y/n], your new sound engineer.”
you bow with your torso as you speak up, “it’s a pleasure to meet you all,” and manage to not to stutter. you stand straight, hoping nervousness won’t be obvious before you hear bobby speak as he walks up to the girls—one with purple hair and demon markings, the second with hot pink hair and the third on a bun.
“[y/n], this is rumi, mira…” you shake their hands before you look at the last huntrix member.
you should care more about the fact that the same girls in front of you were the girls you saw last night—the girls that witnessed you killing demons, care more about the fact that one of them possess the demon markings, but it disappears the moment your eyes lock with zoey’s and you feel your heart drop—like the time you finally realized that she ghosted you after weeks of being involved with each other. you couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes widened a bit, as if she had seen a ghost in front of her.
“and zoey.”
you hear bobby finish as you force a small smile and shake her awaiting hand politely, her touch too familiar and too haunting for your liking. you hold back from looking other than polite and calm as you finally let her hand go, leaving hers in the air for a moment before she stands up straight and places her arms against her side, rumi and mira noticing her odd behavior.
her presence keeps haunting me in california and now, in korea too?, you think to yourself as you grit your teeth subtly. can’t i catch a break?
you bow your head and remark, “i’ll look forward to working with you all,” as you place your hand behind your back and cross your fingers, something zoey had noticed .
liar, zoey thinks to herself — and so do you.
“well!” bobby claps and you stand straight and turn to him, seeing a smile on his face as he acknowledges you. “now that everyone’s acquainted with each other, there won’t be any heavy load to do today considering the girls are still doing promotions for their new song. feel free to use the studio however you want, [y/n], and get comfortable. this will be your second home, after all.”
you smile and nod. “of course, i cannot wait to help the girls with more songs.”
bobby claps his hands in excitement and soon his phone rings. he excuses himself as he picks up the call and slips out of the studio. you then sit down on the couch in the room and place the bag on your lap, pulling the zipper open and slipping the laptop out of its confinement. you place the laptop on the bag and open it before you hear someone clear their throat and you swear, you already know who did it.
you clench your jaw and take a moment to count to five before you look up from the loading screen of my laptop, meeting zoey’s curious gaze, as if she’s searching the reason why you would be here, right in front of her. you sigh when you see her fellow members look at her with questioning looks. you couldn’t blame them for that, considering they believe it was zoey’s first time meeting you when it is not.
“so… everything about you is a lie, [y/n] jeong? i thought you’re in california,” zoey starts in a whisper with her hands gripping her pants tightly, her manicured nails against the fabric as she looks deep into your eyes, noticing the pain and indescribable betrayal in her gaze. “and i thought your name is [y/n] [y/l/n].”
“no, zoey. everything about me i told you is not a lie, and besides, why should i even explain myself? you clearly didn’t when you ghosted me, anyway.”
while you and zoey are engaged in a heated, glaring contest, rumi and mira remain silent as they watch the scene unfold, putting each piece of the pair’s conversation together until…
“what we had wasn’t real.”
zoey quietens down and steps back at your bold statement as she looks at you with the gaze you swore you wouldn’t want to see before. you could feel your heart getting squeezed and your throat getting tighter, but now, all you wanted is for her to feel the pain and hurt she caused after just disappearing into thin air for two months with nothing.
no note, no warning, no explanations, nothing.
i’m sorry, but if i hurt, you need to hurt too.
you sigh and look back down at your laptop screen, holding back the tears that start stinging the corner of your eyes. you clench your jaw and start typing on your laptop as zoey hangs her head low and steps out of the room with mira following her behind, worried for her fellow member. you sigh and speak up, loud enough for rumi to hear, “tell zoey i’m sorry, but we brought that up to ourselves. besides, she clearly had moved on with her life, so i should too.”
you sigh again and look at rumi, tears now streaming down your face as you keep a blank expression. “take care of her and see you wherever, rumi-ssi.”
rumi then finds herself nodding and running out of the studio, following behind her members before you close your laptop and cry silently inside the comfort of the studio, your shoulders trembling as the tears you were holding back weeks ago are now waterfalls, your tears staining your shirt while you stare blankly at the glass between the recording booth and the control room, your eyes focused on the pathetic reflection of yourself.
”would you still look at me like i hung the moon if i suddenly became a worm?”
you and zoey were laying down on a picnic blanket you had brought on the spot you two only knew, the sky filled with stars located lightyears away from earth. you two were cuddling under the stars, her ear against your chest as she listens peacefully and smiles to herself whenever your heart skips a beat.
it wasn’t even planned for you two to be here, not exactly. zoey was tired of hearing her parents argue on the phone, tired of being a child of divorce whose parents are living from different countries on opposite sides of the world, tired of being a child jumping from one life to another. she grew tired of her parents choosing the future that seemed the best for her, which it wasn’t knowing her heart wasn’t in it.
so she ran out of the house and escaped, even for a moment, seeking your presence despite what her mind was telling her. zoey couldn’t describe it—the feeling she feels whenever you’re around. the way you’re so calm and collected brings such comfort to her hyper and energetic personality. she knows that you’re always down to slip out of your house and hang out with her and she’s thankful for that; for you. calm and listener you, quiet and ever-observant you.
you chuckle at her question and look down at her, placing a finger on the tip of her nose as you smile down at her. “of course, doll. i’d still look at you the same, i mean, it'd be pretty hard not to. with a pretty face and a kind heart like yours, i’d be a fool not to.”
you two knew how much you are dancing around your feelings, like a sick game that no one wants to quit, a drug that no one wants to give up. neither of you wanted to confess and yet the excitement of being together and knowing each other’s feelings are the reason that keeps you two coming back for more.
you watch as zoey looks up and leans forward, her eyes darting between your eyes and your lips before you smile and hold her chin, pulling her close. a hum of relief could be heard from her as your lips touch in a soft kiss, your thumb gently caressing her skin. soon, zoey pulls away and moves on top of you, her hands on each side of your head before she leans down and catches your lips again, a chorus of satisfied hums escape her lips as she feels your hands against her waist, your warmth against her cold skin enough to make her shiver.
no matter what she does, zoey always searches for you and your presence, as if you’re her sole anchor in her stormy and chaotic seas called life.
until the day she didn’t.
you weren’t angry because she left you behind, alone to yourself and your quiet mind. you were angry because she stirred so many things—feelings, ideas, everything—in you and you felt… loss without her ray of sunshine and her sudden infodumping about turtles, even the way she talks about turtles could make you smile no one else could.
but you know, deep down, you weren’t angry at her. you were angry at yourself for letting yourself get attached and be dependent on her when you knew one day, everything will just cease to exist.
you wipe the tears away with a low sigh.
“i’m sorry, zoey."