Chapter Text
Hello, little songbird. Did you miss me?
You're not supposed to be here. Get out of my head.
I understand. You really thought I was gone for good? We used to have such fun, my Jinu.
I'm free of you now. I have Rumi. I'm not yours anymore.
A few months with your Hunter and you've already forgotten your place. You'll always be mine, Jinu.
Go away.
Don't you want to come home? You could do such great things if you accepted who you truly are.
I'm not who you want me to be anymore. I've changed. I'm... I'm a good person.
Is that what your precious Rumi wants you to believe? A demon like you could change? She has no idea what the two of us did together.
I said stop!
But I'm just getting started. We'll see how long it takes for you to crack. I look forward to meeting you soon, songbird.
Jinu woke with a start, heart fluttering in his chest like a caged bird. Flashes of pink flames still burned behind his eyelids, but he blinked them away. It was a dream, that's all. Just like the dreams he'd had almost every night since the Idol Awards. But it had felt so real.
He glanced at Rumi, who still slept peacefully. It still amazed him that he was allowed to do this, allowed to fall asleep beside her. He shouldn't have this happiness, not after everything he'd done -
No. He couldn't think like that. She had forgiven him; she'd told him so right after she'd saved him from Gwi-Ma's flames that day. These past few months had been some of the hardest of his centuries-long life, but they had also been some of the happiest. He and Rumi had started dating shortly after the Idol Awards, and every day he spent with her made him realize just how lucky he was. Still, it was difficult to snap himself out of the self-destructive thoughts that had filled his mind for four hundred years.
It was just a dream. That was all.